XYZ
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Everything posted by XYZ
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California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread
XYZ replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
^I still see Whizzer foundations! It's going to be like SDC with the woodie being built early on and opening on the opening day 2013. From reading old TPR posts, Terminator (SFMM) was at this phase in September and it opened in late May, so that means this coaster could be ready in late January. Well, of course the park isn't open in January so I see this open by opening day 2013. There is now way that this is going to open in October. -
Silver Dollar City (SDC) Discussion Thread
XYZ replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
I think it's going to be like Hercules with a height not so amazing but a magnificient drop. The only problem I ever have with woodies with drops going down a hill is that the ending is usually weak, but I hope RMC will do a good job on making an epic coaster start to finish. -
Photo TR: Mall-O-'Merica
XYZ replied to Midgetman82's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Really good trip report! I now want to fly from CA to MN to go here. The closest things Californians have to this is the Adventuredome but that's far from how good Nickelodeon Universe is. -
Thanks for the report! It seems that Superman is doing well in construction now. This is not going to open for Memorial Day. Also, the photos proved that Pandemonium's station isn't being re-used and that my thoughts that the south tower will be triangular was correct. I'm just waiting for them to get some more supports into the air.
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California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread
XYZ replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
I don't know if this is going to the best woodie in California, but it definitely will be the best woodie in Northern California. This coaster might be better than Flight Deck. Anyways, I am happy that CGA finally gets another standout coaster and this WILL put CGA back on the map. -
^I was just going to post that. Anyways, I thought that was pretty hilarous and made my morning much better.
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Short answer: The haters are just jelly. Long Answer: Find any of Robb's excellent posts about why they work, and how people are bitter simply because they're not willing to pony up the extra cash for them. I can't believe people are still trying to demonize queue skipping measures nearly twelve years after they were introduced. Don't people know how to get over it? By the way, I'm *thrilled* that Universal is moving to Q-Bots. I love the system and look forward to using it on a future trip. I'm not against an up-charge queue measure, but I do think that it should be fair for those in the stand by entrance as well. Disney's Fast Pass has had some problems (mostly minor) here and there but generally seems to work for what it is intended. Bush Gardens and SeaWorld seem to work pretty well with their Quick Queue with little headache, though that could be do to their being a little "less busy" than the other parks. Yet, there have been a lot of times when I was at either the Studios park or IOA that the express line just raped the stand-by entrance due to their employees mismanagement of it. On multiple occasions, I've waited behind a chain in the boarding room of Ripsaw Falls, while the employee slowly scanned everyone's card before passing them through. Standby was posted at about 30 minutes, but really was only a few minutes (5 to 10 max) up until that chain... The Express queue was empty, save for whatever family was at the scanning "post" before boarding. Once the employee was done with them, another would come down the hall and the process would repeat. Every time they got the express line to no one for at least 30 seconds, they would then chain it, come over to the Stand-By and proceed to let us through only as long as no one stood in the express line. The second anyone came to the Express chain, the Stand-By entrance was blocked, and the situation repeated. It was probably 15 minutes plus with only about 10 people in front of us at that gate. I understand that people are paying extra (or choosing to stay at your resort) for the perk of limited waiting, but this doesn't seem to be a great way to do the queue... I've had something very similar with Men In Black. In the dispatch room, while they usually keep one side for stand-by and the other for express pass, or so it seems; I've seen the greeter take all 4 (2? been a bit, and going off memory) load zones from the express pass line if it was getting up the stairs at all. Effectively cutting off the stand by entrance for minutes at a time. I've even seen people try to leave the queue thinking it broke... To counter this, I usually do Universal through single rider lines with my party, but it is not always possible when you have your young cousins and nephews with you. I get why companies are doing them. I don't hate them for the up-charge; more revenue = more profits = bigger, better expansion opportunities. But, at a certain point, you have to agree that you cannot forget those who paid for the entrance ticket, but not the queue jumping one; especially as ticket prices soar higher and higher. With that said, if I was at a park that I will not have the opportunity to visit regularly, you better believe I will be investing in a Q-Bot if it is offered. From what I've read about them, and seen on these forums, it seems like a great, fair way for the park to implement these kind of privileges.... As for the talk about having to place them in the fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo after they've been "activated"... could the problem not be solved by a plastic card or lanyard similar to what you see at the Disney queue lines for measuring waits? They're a RFID card... Activate the card when you bring in your Q-Bot, it will stamp the time issued. Have the guests take care of their loose articles, return with the lanyard/card and scan it again to give the "end time." It shouldn't take too long to stow your gear, and checking the issue/receive times would help dampen the misuse or "illegal" use... Thoughts? This is exactly why I don't like the Q-bot system is how it is sometimes implemented. I get bothered frequently in Six Flags parks as they don't manage the Flash Pass that well. I don't like a Q-bot system to be an Exit Pass. I never use "not wanting to pay for it" as an excuse for not liking a Q-bot system.
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Weirdest Things The 'GP' Have Said
XYZ replied to maliboomer's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
^On that same video, I found these gems: -
Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread
XYZ replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
With my views on classic coasters, the only classic coasters that I really wouldn't want to leave is if they were: -A world's first coaster: I would be upset if the Corkscrew (Silverwood) was scrapped, but I wouldn't be sad if the Canobie Corkscrew was scrapped. -A coaster in which only a handful are left: Arrow Launched Loop (only 4 in existence) -They are really amazing coasters: Schwarzkopf Looping Coasters in general Wildcat is no way a World's First in anything, there are still 10 Wildcats still in existence, it isn't that amazing of a coaster. Would I like to see Wilcat stay? Yes, but it doesn't make me that sad and doesn't make me want to create a Facebook page "Save the Wildcat!" -
^^That looks amazing. I always thought it would be neat to have a coaster that goes over water with this big "water bombs", this comes the closest to that fantasy. I really like how this interacts with its environment very well and it seems to interact better than Swarm's interaction. Here comes the Thorpe fanboys...
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California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread
XYZ replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Back in 2003, wasn't Carowinds basically the same size and had about the same attendance as CGA? Back in the late 90s, CGA had around 2 million visitors a year. -
California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread
XYZ replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Though, wouldn't giving it to Carowinds would bring the problems there also? So, Paramount really doesn't benefit much from it. -
Canada's Wonderland Discussion Thread
XYZ replied to BDG's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
The restraints are exactly the same as every B&M Hyper. -
Thorpe Park Discussion Thread
XYZ replied to Rooey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
I really hope that other parks don't start copying this, because this is really horrible in my opinion. EDIT: RollerCoasterSmi's post a few posts down cleared the confusion that you have to pay for front seat. -
California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread
XYZ replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Also, wasn't Stealth a failure and the return on investment wasn't so good? That might have been the reason Hypersonic was pulled because it probably would do better in Kings Dominion. Remember, Stealth costed $17 million so it wasn't some cheap investment and Hypersonic was another $15 million planned to be built one year after Stealth, so it might've been better to ship Hypersonic somewhere else. Though, the decision to remove Stealth for Boomerang Bay I always thought was a terrible decision, they could've planned the enterance somewhere else rather than remove CGA's star attraction. -
California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread
XYZ replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
I never said they needed to level the land, i just said that the only thing that really needs to be cleared out is a few trees and bushes. Also, I feel sad that Hypersonic was never built, it would've been amazing for CGA to have such a large coaster. I heard somewhere that Paramount was responsible because they wanted a "family amusement park", so they cancelled Hypersonic and removed Stealth for Boomerang Bay. This information may not be correct. -
Hey, I like your attitude! That's a great way to look at it! Everyone should relax cause roller coasters open when they open, and there's nothing us enthusiasts can do, and complaining won't make it come faster. Well, I'm moving out of Nor Cal in June, so I'm not very relaxed. Though, I can come back in September if I have the money for the airfare.
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California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread
XYZ replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
There's really not much to clear out, it's just a few trees and bushes literally. Also, half of the land the GCI is on is currently jsut dry grass. So, don't think of some huge demolition going on. With the wooden coaster construction, I can see Star Tower being closed for the last part of the 2012 season. -
Canada's Wonderland Discussion Thread
XYZ replied to BDG's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
The tunnel isn't finished. I'm not giving my thoughts on the tunnel until it is done. -
Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread
XYZ replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Well, that means SFMM is now holds the coaster crown again. I can see Cedar Point fanboys crying, knowing that Cedar Point no longer has the most coasters in the Cedar Fair chain, it's tied with CW. Honestly, I thought it was nice to see the Schwarzkopf at CP, but it was "ovedue" for the removal of it.
