805Andrew

Nice pics of Hershey Park. I'm not a fan of their regular chocolate (though it is good for S'Mores) but their chocolate with nuts (almonds, etc) is better and they make some products I like (Reese's Cups and Pieces, Almond Joy, Rolo, Heath, Skor, Hershey's Cookies N Cream, Kit Kat (they make it in the US, but Nestle makes it elsewhere in the world), Hershey's Special Dark (with nuts), and Good and Plenty (liquorice candy)). I wouldn't compare Hershey's to Lindt, Milka, Ritter Sport, Perogina, Chocolove, or a gourmet chocolate brand. Hershey's is more of a candy company and I would compare them to Mars (makers of M&Ms, Snickers, Twix, Skittles, Starburst) and Nestle (makers of Crunch, Butterfinger, Baby Ruth, Wonka).

Nice pics to a set of parks of been to many times. I enjoy getting an outside CA perspective to these CA parks. Looks like DCA and the Cali Disney Resort will be great in a year and in coming years. Looking forward to it.

Here's a recent post on SFMM's Facebook page. Looks like they lost a few customers to Knott's. And here is the post directly below on the same Facebook page (which is liked by 3 people) Another comment down the line from the same Facebook page So Lex Luthor is going to be exactly like Freefall apparently And another comment even more down the line, a really long one I didn't know X and X2 were the same coaster, that paint job and better seats really fooled me. And the 1990 Viper coaster was somehow in the 1980 Vacation movie, and whatever movie Revolution was in was pathetic. Someone try to find a GP Facebook post that tops this last one, I dare you!

I miss Freefall at SFMM. I remember in 1997 (before Riddler's Revenge was built) I rode it with one of my sisters and my parents and my youngest sister (who was 6 and barely 48") were on the next car (each car holds 4 people, we were 5 people so we went 2 on one car and 3 on the other) and they stopped at the top right before the drop for several minutes (between 5 and 10). When they finally dropped, the ride operators offered them to stay on and ride again. My mom said no but my dad said yes so they went again. My sister and I wished it would have happened to our car instead so we would have gotten a double ride. I thought it was cool that my 6 year old sister wasn't even scared, it was my mom who was scared. I remember after Riddler's Revenge was built around Freefall how puny it seemed and its popularity plummeted. It wasn't nearly as terrifying as before but it was still intense. I'm glad I got one last ride on it in 2007, and at least SFMM is getting another drop ride (an awesome one).

Great photos of Knoebels. That park is in a beautiful location with all those trees. Reminds me Northern California a couple hours north of San Francisco (without the rides ). All the rides look great too. Makes me wish we had a funky park like this out west (I guess the closest we have to this is Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk). I didn't know anything about Knoebels before reading about it on TPR several months ago but it is now one of my "most wanted to visit" parks. Looking forward to more pics of old school PA coasters and parks.

Most water parks make you put your arms across your chest but when I went to Raging Waters San Jose it was arms behind the head on all their body slides. I thought this was interesting and I'm glad you brought it up. I'm guessing its up to park management or their corporate policy. I'm wondering if the other Raging Waters also has arms behind your head as well as the other Palace Entertainment water parks. Next time I go to a Six Flags water park (probably Hurricane Harbor in Valencia) I will take note of which way they do it. I am going to Wild Rivers on Sunday Sept 25 and will take note of which way they do it also, although it won't really matter as they are closing a week or two later forever.

Totally agree. I'm more interested in sightseeing in Italy and eating lots of great food and maybe go to Italy's biggest/best theme park (or two) but in the mainland of Europe I would definitely want to do Europa Park and Disneyland Paris. I've been to Port Aventura in Spain and love it and I'm interested in seeing more great European parks. Alton Towers and Blackpool Pleasure Beach are also on my European bucket list although they are not mainland Europe.

Hopefully a lot of people will be too intimidated by the height of the drop to ride to shorten the line a bit (even though it will probably still be long enough with the 16 person capacity). I know this isn't the best comparison, but when I went to Raging Waters San Jose in July, Bombs Away was their newest slide with the capsule drop and was the talk of the park yet had one of the shortest lines there since most of the GP were too intimidated to ride it. I wonder if Lex Luthor Drop of Doom will create a lot of buzz among the GP being attached to the sides of Superman, yet most of the GP will be too intimidated to ride it once they walk by it.

Looks awesome, this will put Hopi Hari on the map if it gets built.

I'm not scared of heights either, but my hands were sweating just thinking about it while watching the video. This drop is going to be insane!

You didn't see my post on the other page? It IS a hyper coaster according to SFNE's website. But kidding aside, I think it makes sense a little bit, yet it doesn't. I mean we can say the same thing about Fiesta Texas' Goliath. I didn't see that post until after I had already replied. They are claiming 190 feet to be a hyper? They are 10 feet short IMO. If they remained the standard Boomerang David and rethemed that area to David vs. Goliath then they would totally redeem themselves for putting two Boomerangs next to each other (although they are very different ride experiences) and it would be hilarious.

They should have renamed the regular boomerang to "David" since they'll be right next to each other. I was totally thinking that too. I was going to post that but you beat me to it. I don't think they should call it Goliath since every other Goliath is a hyper unless, like you said, they rename the regular Boomerang David, then it would make total sense. They should at least paint it to the other Goliath colors. If it keeps the same colors, they might as well just call it Deja Vu. At least they are not calling it Giant Inverted Boomerang

This looks like a great addition for Great America and will put them back on the map for enthusiasts who want to ride something unique. X-Flight is probably the most unique thing SF Great America has gotten since they got the original Batman. The riding through the key hole of the building is especially awesome. And 32 riders per train with probably two trains running will mean pretty good capacity. My only complaint is the ride seems a bit short by the POV of the video, but that could just be the video.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is great and is my favorite aquarium of the ones I've been to (Monterey Bay, Aquarium of the Pacific (Long Beach), L'Aquarium Barcelona, Maui Ocean Center, aquarium at California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco), aquarium exhibits at Sea World San Diego, aquarium exhibits at Six Flags Marine World, Morro Bay Aquarium (sad and pathetic)).

If so then that would be one cycle per half hour.

Just saw the video. This ride is even more awesome then when I saw the concept art leaked last night. Hopefully it will have a dual/sliding loading station track or else the capacity will be worse than Lex Luthor Drop of Doom at Magic Mountain. If it has the sliding loading track with the second train that will bring capacity up to 24 which won't be great but will be close to V2's capacity and will be manageable for a park with SFDK's attendance. I haven't been to SFDK since 2005 and Tony Hawk/Pandemonium and Sky Screamer weren't enough to get me to return to this park but Superman Ultimate Flight definitely is. Yes, the name isn't very original but it is Superman and it goes into the sky in the Sky area of the park, so it could have been worse. As for Pandemonium, they haven't said where its going yet, but I don't think its going to Magic Mountain. Six Flags Over Texas, Six Flags Mexico, and La Ronde haven't announced what they're getting yet, I bet its going to either Six Flags Mexico or La Ronde. I never got the Pandemonium credit, but I don't really care anymore as this looks way better.

This looks good. Hopefully they have it open for the New Hotness Trip in 2012.

My guess is they would close one side of Superman while installing the Lex Luthor drop on that side and then reopen that side of Superman while closing the other side of Superman to install the Lex Luthor drop on that side. That way they can keep Superman open, even if it is just one side (especially since they just redid it and it is "new"). They probably would do the bulk of the construction during the week when park will usually be closed in the off season.

the one opening next year at SFMM

They took the article down, it was posted prematurely (giggity). You can still find the article in Google Cache(just without the pictures) Six Flags unveils new attractions for every park in 2012 Six Flags unveils new attractions for every park in 2012 By Brady MacDonald Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 1, 2011, 3:30 a.m. Six Flags unveiled its 2012 lineup of new roller coasters, thrill rides, water slides and live shows at the amusement park chain's 12 North American locations. New Six Flags President and Chief Executive Jim Reid-Anderson said a full slate of new additions would become an annual event, promising to add a new attraction at "every Six Flags park every year." Six Flags' 2012 attractions include two new roller coasters, two relocated coasters, three tower rides, three water slide complexes and at least one show. Among the highlights: Six Flags Great America (outside Chicago) – Billed as the only wing coaster in the United States, X-Flight by Bolliger & Mabillard will feature barrel rolls and high-speed drops with seats that straddle the 3,000-foot-long track. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Northern California) – The Superman: Ultimate Flight launch coaster will rocket riders at 60 miles per hour through a towering 150-foot-high inversion and a pair of vertical twists. Six Flags Magic Mountain (Southern California) – The Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom drop tower will be attached to both sides of the park's 415-foot-tall Superman: Escape from Krypton coaster tower. The new thrill ride will rank as the world’s tallest (400 feet) and fastest (85 mph) drop tower. Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey) and Six Flags Fiesta Texas (San Antonio) – Both parks will install Sky Screamer swing towers for 2012. Six Flags built Sky Screamers of varying heights at Six Flags St. Louis (236 feet) and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (150 feet) in 2011. No word yet on the ride heights at Great Adventure and Fiesta Texas. Six Flags America (outside Washington D.C.) – The 100-foot-tall Apocalypse stand-up coaster will travel at 55 mph through a loop and a corkscrew along a 2,900-foot-long track. The 1990 Bolliger & Mabillard coaster, formerly known as Iron Wolf, will be relocated from Six Flags Great America near Chicago. Six Flags New England (Massachusetts) – The 192-foot-tall Goliath inverted boomerang coaster will travel forward and backward at 65 mph through a cobra roll and a loop along a 1,200-foot-long track. The 2001 Vekoma coaster, formerly known as Deja Vu, will be relocated from Six Flags Magic Mountain near Los Angeles. Six Flags St. Louis (Missouri) and Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey) – Both parks will add a Bonzai Pipeline looping water slide to their respective Hurricane Harbor water parks. Great Escape (New York) – The Nordic-themed Alpine Freefalls water slide complex will be added to the Great Escape's Splashwater Kingdom water park. Six Flags Over Georgia (Atlanta) – A 45th anniversary tribute show will join the park's entertainment lineup. Six Flags Over Texas (Dallas/Ft. Worth), Six Flags Fiesta Texas (San Antonio), Six Flags Mexico (Mexico City) and La Ronde (Montreal) – Each of the parks will add a still-undisclosed ride, attraction or show in 2012. Great job getting that article. This ride is going to be so awesome. The capacity is going to suck but it would have been hard to fit more seats on the sides of the Superman tower. It has been my dream for years that a drop tower would be put on the sides of the Superman tower and it looks like its coming true. I can't believe it!

I have only been on two: Riddler's Revenge at SFMM and Vortex at CGA. One is awesome, and the other is mediocre. Can you guess which one I like better?

Another Windseeker, what a surprise! These Windseekers may seem like cookie cutter attractions, but each one will have a different view. The view alone at 300 feet in the air will be worth riding a Windseeker at each park that has one, whether one has been on a Windseeker before or not.

Wow. If this ends up being the coaster they announce then I'm definitely going to SFDK next year. This will fit well with the Sky themed area of the park. My only concern would be after the loop does it come straight into a halt at the station or is there more track behind the station that I can't see. It would be a shame to waste the momentum occurred after the loop. Also capacity will be an issue as it looks like only two train operation with very few seats per train (8?) will be possible unless a bunch of trains are stacked in the station.

There definitely was miscommunication between the different parties involved and it could of been handled a lot better. First of all, the riders involved should have followed park rules, either take off the head wear or get off the ride. If they wanted a refund, they should have politely stated their case and asked for one. It looks like the park ended up giving some refunds after the incident occurred. Second of all, the Muslim American Society of New York were warned that headscarves were not allowed on the rides there and should have warned their members as it would most likely be an issue for some of them. They should have looked into other parks in the area without head wear/gear restrictions (maybe Coney Island?) and possibly have their event there instead. Third of all, the park should have better prepared itself for a group of over 3000 Muslim American Society of New York members and had their staff warn members of MASNY (or those dressed in headscarfs) at the ticket booth or front gate that "head gear of any kind including what your wearing will not be permitted on the rides". At least then, those opposed to this rules could have the option of not buying a ticket and turning away. Its not like there were a few Muslims attending, there were over 3000 attending, so there was bound to be an issue with the headscarf. Finally, it seems like the police were very vigilant. Was 100 police officers necessary for a few park guests arguing? Or closing the park for two hours? If the police officers were less vigilant this probably would have been a lot less of a scene, but sometimes they are "shoot first, ask questions later", not just in this country but many countries (especially the Middle East). I wonder if so many police officers would have been sent out if there wasn't a group of 3000 Muslims there (even though only a few were involved). To be fair, the park guests shouldn't have raised their voices at the police officers or seemed aggressive/threatening - I mean come on, don't mess with the police! I'm just trying to see this from all points of view. It was sad for the park guests not involved just trying to have a good time to see this incident occur.

Great TR of So Cal attractions. There is so much fun things to do down there if you can afford them. As Eric Cartman once said, "anything that is fun costs at least eight dollars".