harper83087

^wow!! It's funny, I knew how ugly the building was before but seeing it mostly gone now shows how much cleaner that corner of the park will look. Has there been any word on if that strip of games is getting a facelift as well?

Nothing tickles my fancy more than the iconic sound of magnum climbing the lift then the chain dog rapidly passing the remaining teeth as it crests the hill...mmmmm good stuff

Here's a thought, do you think it'll be filled with sand or have the classic B&M roar? Personally I hope it's quiet that way it'll belike it's soaring above the entrance keeping watch from above .

I've only had a slight interest in the wing coasters up until this point. Gatekeeper looks friggin' fantastic and the nice clean looking B&M style will make the entrance look amazing. I cannot wait until next season, just wish this thing could be transported from the future so I could ride it when I'm there in a couple of weeks haha.

Hoping somebody out there has an answer for me. I haven't played with NL for a few months now and during that time I got a new computer hoping it would run the simulator better. When I went to install and tried entering the key I got with the purchase I got a message saying the key is no longer valid. Is there a way to recover the key or do I just have to program again? I don't really have an issue with buying it again but I'd like to avoid it if I could.

Great pics! Thanks for posting them. I'm interested in those markings by DT, could the forever rumored removal be near?

I love the screen removal, it's opened it up so much! I too am a fan of the fix-ups going on. The last few times I've been to a park I find I'm taking my time through the day now and observing the surroundings, not rushing to ride as much as possible not caring what it looks like. It's definitely been needed here.

I was sold on trying to get to Hershey this summer by watching the construction, now I HAVE to be in one of those outer seats. I love that idea but isn't the SkyRush track a lot wider than the standard intamin track? In order for the idea to happen another version of the trains would have to be designed.

The other day I passed a Tesla Roadster on the highway and after a little bit of research that thing looks like a pretty sweet ride. Anybody have thoughts on it?

That's my thought as well. Is it possible? Barely. Is it likely? Probably not. I was just speaking as a fan and a fan of his saying I'd like to see him here. Ok, I have to go on a little rant here; I want to see if there are any other markets that see this issue. Unfortunately I live in a city dominated by football and basketball fans and next in line is baseball. It's the desert, not an ideal location for hockey, I get it. BUT, it's the quiet time of year, football is in its dead zone, baseball has just barely started and the Suns flat out blow this year. What absolutely floors me is that the media would rather talk about a terrible basketball team, the NFL Combine, how the Cardinals can get Payton Manning, countless hours on Jeremy Lin or “Linsanity”, whether or not you’re going to watch the Daytona 500 because Danica Patrick is in it. All of these get brought up more than a local hockey team that has gone 10-0-1 in the month of February, a truly phenomenal act and a story of the NHL let alone the city. Yes, I understand that the point I’m trying to make comes very biased because I could care less about most things in sports other than hockey, a little bit of baseball, and U of M football. But the fact still stands that national stories like Lin or the 500 get hours of air time on a local sports talk show compared to a local team that has strung together a fantastic stretch of games. The most I hear about the Coyotes on any of the sports radio shows is “The Suns suck *Talk for 15 minutes on this*. Hey by the way check out the ‘yotes they’re playing great!! They really are the story of this city right now *get a few stats and the next game time.* Now how can the Cardinals get Manning? *talk for the rest of the show on this*” If they’re the story of the city why not report on them? Why not talk about them for more than two minutes every 4 hours? They are always saying that the Coyotes are struggling to get fans, struggling to get attendance during the week night games. If the city would actually jump on the bandwagon and talk about the team I believe things would get better. More than half of this city is made up of people from the Midwest and Canada, hockey fans, yet nobody supports the team. If I, a devout Red Wings fan for the first 21 years of my life, can say “screw the Wings I’m joining the Coyotes camp!!!” I believe more can too, or at least support the team when their home team isn’t playing them. I guess my point is this, do any other NHL teams that struggle a little bit (the ‘Canes, the Jackets, the Oilers etc) get shoved into the corner and basically ignored? I’m just a frustrated fan watching a team get almost no love from their city when they are playing great, entertaining hockey.

Back in Detroit it was 101.1 WRIF. A good rock station and for 19 years it was all I knew, but i've noticed on the last few trips home that it's not what it used to be. Then I moved to Phoenix and discovered 97.9 KUPD the Big Red Radio. I will never look at rock stations the same again. There's nothing like having a group of dedicated DJ's who truly enjoy rock/metal for what it is and not being in it for the paycheck. They believe in old fasioned festivals and setting up their own concerts. Most staions now take a summer tour like Ozzfest and call it their own, KUPD will call bands directly and say "Hey, we're thinking about getting you and these other bands together for a show. You up for it?" and next thing you know there's a concert that is one of a kind. Example, three years ago they had a fest with a few local bands, Austrian Death Machine (their second show ever), Five Finger Death Punch, Ra, Theory of a Deadman, Tantric, the Deftones and Alice in Chains. Not to mention they have the best morning sho I've ever heard in Holmberg's Morning Sickness.

There are rumblings here in Phoenix about going after Nash. I wouldn't mind seeing him here. He is a fantastic player when he is on his game, and maybe a fresh start will kick start that. Plus his hard, gritty, power forward style will fit perfectly into Tip's way of coaching the game. But like you said, what will Nash cost. We got Vermette from Columbus pretty cheap in my opinion with two picks and a rookie goalie, but Nash could come at a greater price and we can't really afford to lose many players.

While I am happy with just about anything (I can easily go from classical to jazz to pop to the brutalest of death metals without batting an eye), my favorite genre is melodic hard rock/metal. Favorite bands are Godsmack, Volbeat, Metallica, Amon Amarth and on and on and on haha.

^^ I understand that the Penguin franchise is a cash cow and pulls in a large number of fans. My point is even when the pens aren't playing in that particular game on NBC, it seems they always work the team or at least Crosby into the conversations. When I'm watching the Detroit vs Phoenix game or the Tampa vs Boston game or whatever game, I don't care to hear how great Pitsburgh is.

^HA! that's great!! I love it when the Pens get spanked. I have nothing against the Pens as a team, they're fantastic, but I do have a problem with them being NBC's end all be all of hockey teams. Last nights game wasn't anything like that, it was just an extremely entertaining, hard fought, highly defensive game between two team battling for a playoff spot.

Wow I lost track of this thread haha, just read through 14 pages. Did anybody happen to watch the Phoenix @ LA game last night? 40 minutes of penalties and 3 fights in the first period. It was good to see Doaner drop the gloves and stand up for Klesla. We're going to really struggle if Rusty is out for a while, AGAIN. Unlike the majority of people I've talked to about that hit though, I belive Brown delivered a good clean hit with an unfortunate outcome. And I have to mention the wall in net, Smith has stopped 147 of 150 shots in his last 5 starts and has 2 shutouts in a row, a 0.980 Save% and something like a 1.67 GAa.

Whoever is taking those pictures is amazing! I don't think I've ever seen a ride construction documented so beautifully.

Off topic question, I'm putting together some numbers for a family trip to the mountain March 29-31ish. The sfmm site doesn't have any of the flash pass pricing up anymore (not sure if it's due to the offseason or what?), would anybody be able to give a ball park prediction of what gold prices will be for groups of 4 and 5? If not it's no big deal...Thanks in advance

I was doing pretty good this off season, keeping busy with work and watching hockey...but now that Wild Eagle is testing, Leviathan track work is complete and SkyRush is coming along beautifully I'm starting to get very, VERY antsy. Trying to make plans for a SFMM trip in a few weeks and to make it home for Coastermania and a Hershey trip.

That turnaround looks fantastic!!! I hope B&M keeps that element in their arsenal and puts one in the US. Also, I'm going to start calling it an "hourglass" turnaround because at certain angles it looks like the curves in an hourglass.

I personally hope they throw the extra gemini trains on CCMR. I really enjoy the ride but even at the average height of 6'1" the original trains are extremely uncomfortable for me.

^ Oops! My apologies. Thanks Larry!

CoasterMania is my new goal this year since I'm unable to attend WCB like I wanted. Having never looked into this event I've got a newb question. If I join Club TPR is the event completely free or is there a one day admission needed as well? I couldn't find a clear answer in the release.

Today is possibly the saddest day of my 2012 year, It has struck me that I will not be able to attend WCB Money, time and the fact that my brother bought us NHRA tickets for that weekend have botched my original plans.

After seeing the Log Jammer area again on the pic a few pages back I'm going to say again, Intamin Blitz and/or Rocket ala Storm Runner meets Maverick. I think this would be perfect for that area, there's a bit of terrain to play with, some elevation changes and it could interact with S:EFK and Gold Rusher at points.