805Andrew

Avatar sounds like a good fit for AK. The natural setting of Pandora fits better at AK then at DHS in my opinion, besides there is probably a lot more space at AK then DHS. Hopefully DHS will get an expanded Star Wars area or an Indiana Jones ride in the future. Avatar is definitely Disney's answer to Wizarding World of Harry Potter. While the new Fantasyland was never going to hold a candle to WWOHP, this Avatar land might if its executed correctly. I'm pleased with what Disney did with non Disney properties like Star Wars and Indiana Jones, so I'm looking forward to what they do with Avatar.

If this ends up being true then its a smart move for Disney. This could be their answer to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Though I hope they eventually bring Avatar to California. A couple of the best rides at Disneyland are based of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, which aren't Disney.

I have never been on an alpine coaster, so I would have to ride one first before I decide whether to count it as a credit. Seeing how many pathetic kiddie coasters get counted as credits , if an alpine coaster felt more like a coaster than those, then I probably would count it as credit. There are a few Scenic Railway/Side Friction Coasters left with a brakeman on the ride controlling the speed, so I guess you could compare that to an alpine coaster too, the only difference is on an alpine coaster you're the brakeman.

^Thanks! I always thought SCBB was alright, but after visiting it at night I totally became a fan of this place. My three hours at SCBB were more memorable than a whole day I spent at CGA ten days later.

I got the feeling Cedar Fair was trying to do something with the park but they were getting stonewalled by the city and stadium plans. Possibly, but JMA is working with the 49er's owners and they may have better connections to get things done.

I'm glad I went to CGA in August. I finally got the Psycho Mouse and Woodstock's Express credits and the Boomerang Bay water park credit as well. I only regret not riding Demon one last time (I made to the station at 8PM moments after they dispatched the last train of the night). On a positive note though, I could see JMA running CGA with a entertainment complex and 49ers stadium next door. CGA is small enough where they could change it to a free admission park with a pay per ride (ticket) or wristband like Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and they could get people wandering around the park before and after 49er's games paying for the rides they want. They could keep the park open on weekends in winter through the end of the NFL season and on Friday nights (and just close the water rides if its cold). They could do midweek specials like SCBB does and they could take out the rides that don't work, like Grizzly, and eventually replace them with new rides (like a Gravity Group woodie like Wooden Warrior ) if the park is profitable enough. Hopefully they would clean up the lake by Flight Deck so it doesn't look disgusting. JMA may be a property management company, but they also operate two ski resorts in Lake Tahoe and another one in Montana, which are kind of like "winter-time amusement parks". Maybe they are looking into expanding their portfolio with this being their first "summer-time amusement park". Cedar Fair wasn't really doing anything with this park, so I am glad to see someone else take a shot at it, and hope for the best.

My top three coasters in California are X2, Tatsu, and Goliath. The highest ranked California coasters on the Golden Ticket Award poll are X2, Tatsu, and Goliath in that order. I guess I agree with them on something. Though I would rank X2 higher up the poll as its one of the most intense and funnest rides I've been on, I guess its too rough or intense for a lot of people. I noticed coasters with inversions don't rank that high on the poll. ^^I thought it was strange that nothing from Tokyo Disney was awarded. It shows how US centric these awards are (like many people in our govt). Just by seeing the pics, videos, and rave reviews of Journey of the Center of the Earth, it should be in the top three dark ride list. And Tokyo Disney Sea should be in the top two best parks list. I also agree about having two separate food categories. Some people going to Knoebels who have been to Epcot may be disappointed when they they try the food expecting it to be like Epcot after seeing the "Best Park Food" banners across the park.

Sounds like a GP comment. If Cedar Fair (the owners of Knott's) bought Alabama Adventure it would keep the same name. They didn't turn any of the other parks they acquired into a branch of Knott's.

Park City looks awesome, but would look more awesome in the winter of course. I definitely want to go to Park City one day to ride the alpine coaster, but in the winter so I can also ski and/or snowboard the mountain. If the alpine coaster was on a coaster track, was gravity powered, and felt like riding a coaster, they I would count it as a coaster credit.

*Time for the bump* There was a guy two rows ahead of me who drank a whole can of beer on the Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Magic Mountain may be open during the week if it is during their Spring Break. Check their website in the coming months (early 2012) to see their March 2012 schedule. If not, then go there on a Sunday if possible and it shouldn't be too crowded. Make room for SFMM on your schedule, it is definitely worth visiting for the awesome collection of coasters. X2 and Tatsu are not to be missed. Three of my top 5 coasters in CA (and 6 of my 10 in CA) are at Magic Mountain. March is a good time to visit SFMM if the weather cooperates, as it is a lot less crowded than Summer or October. Discounts are plentiful for SFMM: on their website adults pay the kids price, hotel lobbies will have coupons, sometimes McDonalds will have coupons (or another fast food place), and sometimes they do the Coke can promotion where you bring an empty Coke product can (Coke, Sprite, Fanta, etc.) and you either get a 2 for 1 admission or pay the kid's price (check with the park first by calling them). I would put Disneyland ahead of Universal and Knott's, especially if you have never been to a Disney park. Disneyland has Indiana Jones Adventure, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Matterhorn, and the new Star Tours which are all very fun and kind of thrilling. Disney California Adventure has California Screamin' (one of my top 5 coasters in California), Tower of Terror, Grizzly River Run, and Soarin' Over California which are all great as well. If you are by yourself you may be able to do both of these parks in one day and it will leave you wanting more so you will want to come back to visit it with your family/friends in the future. A Disney park hopper is really expensive, I would check out LAFunTickets.net and consider buying a one day hopper from them. I used them last September (2010) and got a one day hopper ticket for $55. They normally range from $55 to $70. You pick the day you want to go (can be a few days or a few weeks in advance) and reserve your ticket and pick it up and pay for it (in cash) the morning you go to the park. They have a office in a Shell station near the park (listed on their website) where you pick up the ticket and return it at night (unless your the last day on the ticket card like I was, so I got to keep it). It sounds sketchy but it worked for me. On Knott's, if you have time for a day here, I would go here. Knott's is more than just coasters, it has some good water rides like Timber Mountain Log Ride (not to be missed), Perilous Plunge (bring a water poncho if you don't want to get soaked), and Bigfoot Rapids. Knott's has some interesting older rides like Calico Mine Ride and the Stagecoach though they are not thrilling. Knott's also has a good selection of flat rides (unlike SFMM) like Supreme Scream, Rip Tide, Screamin' Swing, and of course the new Windseeker. Knott's best coasters are Xcelerator, Ghost Rider (though it is kind of rough), Montezooma's Revenge, and Silver Bullet. You easily get a discounted admission to Knott's with a coupon from Burger King or Ralph's (supermarket chain) or hotel lobbies, or buying from Knott's website. Universal Studios is a place I would go to if you are a movie fan or have an interest to movies, how they're made, and like movie based attractions. USH only has a handful of rides, so you'll want to see some shows here too. The Studio Tram Tour is not to be missed and takes 45 minutes. King Kong 360 3D is part of the Studio Tour and is not a separate attraction like the park markets it to be. After the Studio Tour, Jurassic Park is the best ride here in my opinion. The only thrilling part about it is the final drop, but the rest of the ride is interesting with great theming and animatronics (and no hippos get shot at). The Revenge of the Mummy (the park's only coaster) and The Simpsons are other must rides in the park. I would definitely do the Waterworld show here as it has great special effects, and Shrek 4D and Terminator 2 3D are also worth doing. Too bad you going to miss the new Transformers ride by a few months, a much needed addition to USH. Tickets for USH are pretty expensive for what the place has, and I would rank USH the 2nd most overpriced park in CA, after Sea World in San Diego. You can shave a few dollars off that ticket with a coupon at many hotel lobbies, if Coke happens to be doing specially marked cans at the time, or from buying a ticket in advanced from Universal's website. Las Vegas has some fun attractions worth checking out since you are going there. If you are driving there you'll notice a hyper coaster going around a casino at the state line. It is Desperado at Buffalo Bill's and might be worth a quick stopover to get the credit (if its open). There is another hyper coaster going around the New York New York Casino on the Strip in Vegas. While a lot of people don't like that coaster (its a Togo), I rode it in the front row at night in April 2010 and enjoyed it. It is quite pricey at $14 a ride (or $10 a ride if you print a coupon online like I did - Google search "New York New York Rollercoaster Coupons"). I would definitely go up the Stratosphere. For about $30 you get a tower admission plus three rides (one on each). The view alone is worth it, the rides at the top of the tower would not be exciting at ground level, but up at the top it makes all the difference. The Vegas Strip has a lot of cool casinos worth checking out (if just for the theming) like The Bellagio (my favorite), Caesars Palace, The Venetian, The Mirage, Treasure Island, Mandalay Bay, Luxor, New York New York, Paris, MGM Grand, Aria, and many others. Las Vegas also has the indoor Circus Circus amusement park, which has a coaster, but I haven't been there so I can't comment on it. Hope this helps and have fun in So Cal and Vegas.

No way?! You mean to tell me you DIDN'T see the big obvious kennel in the parking lot that apparently everyone else in the world is aware of?! You mean you DIDN'T go to the Six Flags site and see the information that takes 2 clicks to get to at the bottom of the page? How could you be so dumb??!?! /sarcasm You don't have to be so harsh on someone for not noticing something... He was being sarcastic. Its a moot point now anyway as this lady has been reunited with her dog.

Hopefully they are reopening next season as they are already selling four-packs of 2012 season passes for $44.44 a person on their website and this offer expires October 1st. I think they are selling these hoping to get enough cash to make improvements for next season. If they don't open next season, like someone said, they going to have a lot of pissed off season pass holders. I hope they stay open as Indiana Beach looks like a quirky, fun place from the TPR pictures and videos I've seen, especially Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain.

Agreed. Those city shots are incredible! Same here! All the lights are just beautiful! Me also. Hong Kong looks great at night especially.

No way?! You mean to tell me you DIDN'T see the big obvious kennel in the parking lot that apparently everyone else in the world is aware of?! You mean you DIDN'T go to the Six Flags site and see the information that takes 2 clicks to get to at the bottom of the page? How could you be so dumb??!?! /sarcasm In all fairness to Six Flags though, I don't have a pet dog, but if I did I would be on the lookout for kennels at various places and probably would have spotted it (though I wouldn't bring a dog to a theme park).

Ghostrider Morey's Piers or Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk?

I would go on every TPR trip

Becoming paralyzed like a vegetable for life. What's worse than someone suing a theme park for breaking into their car to rescue a dog and having that dog escape?

^ Or a PBS special?

Wow! I miss the SFMM thread for a few days and all this happens. I didn't know SFMM had a kennel and it was free of charge. They could totally get away with charging for it like they do for many other things, but no, they provide it as a convenience. I don't know who would bring a dog to a theme park knowing they can't take it into the park (does any park allow you to bring a dog on a leash?) unless they are traveling with a dog and are far from home and are taking advantage of SFMM's free kennel. This woman looked like an emotional wreck, she should have gone to SFMM with another human companion, perhaps a family member, who could have told her "Hell no! Bitch you gotta put that dog in the kennel." At least she gave her dog Smart Water. The Sunday night ERT of DejaVu for SFMM's Facebook Fans sounds cool. If I did plan a day trip to SFMM in October (I'm thinking about it) I would do it on a Sunday. Even if DejaVu gets super crowded with Facebook fans (who knows?) at least that's one extra ride after park hours. This sounds like a proper send off for DejaVu.

What joke? I thought your cause was for real. You even have a .org website. That means your a non-profit. I expect those animatronic hippos to be saved!

I wouldn't mind if they ad-wraped the older rides or the less popular ones. But when they ad wrap the nicest coasters (and ruin the El Toro cars) its tacky. I would rather have a ride presented/sponsored by a company/brand instead like what Disney parks do and have the sponsors name on the ride sign and park brochures. But it isn't too much of an annoyance for me, just a minor one. If the ride is awesome I'm going to forget the tackiness of the ad-wrap on the coasters.

The last episode of Entourage airs tonight on HBO. I'm going to miss that show. But if you are just starting on Entourage, you got eight seasons to go.

Michigan's Adventure since I live a lot closer to CGA. Would you rather have Six Flags Magic Mountain raise its parking price to $20 a car and lower its soda bottle/fountain cup price to $2 OR lower its parking price to $10 and raise its soda price to $5?

X2 hands down! Tatsu comes in a close second.