kraxleRIDAH

^ Yeah. It's weird. Some say the colder climate in Gurnee is a reason why the Great America installation had a lot of operational issues. Not sure if that's the problem though. It has the least amount of total operational days of the three Giant Inverted Boomerangs in the States.

It actually depends on how the park wants the ride, not really something B&M will just do because they feel like it. The more of a ride that's needed to fit into a smaller area or assigned area designated by the park, the hill slope will increase as the maximum height increases.

^ LOL. That looks ridiculous.

Definitely one of the best photographs I've seen of Millennium Force. And believe me, I've seen MANY.

The two Vekoma Flying Dutchmen coasters that were relocated (Stealth and X-Flight) are pretty good sized permanent coasters that were moved. Each are over 100-feet tall and over 2700-feet in length.

Okay, this just in: Cedar Point to debut HELLO KITTY™: FELINE FURY for the 2008 season. The slogan/tagline for the new coaster is "Meow at the Speed of Fear." I'll keep you all posted.

It is, in a sense. I mean, if they have nothing to compete with, then why bother adding major attractions? I see that if GA did close, then attendance would spike but after a while, with nothing to compete against there could be potential for the park to slack off as there's nothing to compete for. (Ok, maybe Santa Cruz, but I don't really count that as being a competing park as it's so well known/tourist attraction. Okay, I should clarify. I meant the elimination of Great America would not be a bad thing for Six Flags. BUT, for enthusiasts that love seeing new attractions introduced every year, lack of competition for Six Flags will tend to mean less new things to see and do every year. But for the company, no competition for Discovery Kingdom means a reduced capital plan for that park as they would now require a less aggressive marketing strategy. And for a company that's carrying a current debt load of $2 billion, that's a good thing.

That would explain it.

Thanks for bringing that up Robb. Never really thought about why no more Tilt coasters were ever built. To be honest, I haven't really even thought about Tilt coasters in awhile.

Aside from Chang, the rest of that park looks like a big-budget carnival.

You make it sound like Six Flags having no competition in NorCal is a bad thing. If anything, a paved over Great America would see a spike in attendance at Discovery Kingdom. What used to be a choice between two major theme park players in one market leaves everyone in that area seeking a day of theme park fun with only Six Flags as an option. The city of Santa Clara owns the park and the land it sits on. Cedar Fair operates the park under a lease with terms and conditions. The lease ends after the year 2039. Because of the contract Cedar Fair entered by acquiring Great America, they have a right to make the decision as to what they decide to do with the park. If Cedar Fair chooses to do so, they can sell the remainder of the lease and all the interest. However, Cedar Fair AND the city of Santa Clara must come to an agreement when it comes to unloading the park for other purposes besides operating it as an amusement park.

Some important notes -- an excerpt from the San Jose Mercury News article:

A wooden coaster with a Floorless coach will have over-the-shoulder harness restraints. To me, that would be more confining than the lack of a floor. There's no way for the vehicles to have a lap-bar only configuration given the fact that the coach's chassis is very minimal and no place for a lap-bar to pivot and safely secure riders of most sizes -- even if it "comes in from the side of the train." I'm pretty sure B&M at one time had mulled over the ways to make their hyper-coaster trains floorless, but due to the nature of the Floorless coach, the lap-bar approach is practically impossible.

The scare actors are NOT allowed to touch park guests. They CAN and WILL get right in your face, but physical contact is prohibited due to potential legal prosecution for alleged sexual harrassment or assault. Some notes: Freaking out in the slightest bit or screaming will draw attention to yourself from monsters around you and they will go out of their way to scare you even more. I have had friends that have screamed real loud at just the SIGHT of a monster approaching and the monsters would CHASE them on foot. On the flipside, not reacting to the monsters makes them go away. They know if they can't scare you the first time, they'll just be wasting their time.

The media loves to find any kind of event and exaggerate the crap out of it just to make it sensational. Because that's what they cater to. Americans just love to see anything violent or "horrible" on the news and the media has to give it to them in order to compete with other media outlets. This reminds me of that one "BREAKING NEWS" story that a local Texas TV station did when a train on Titan at SFOT was E-Stopped on the lift-hill and they had helicopter footage of it and had "up-to-the-minute updates on all the terrified people on the ride." So stupid.

Thanks for all the input Robb, I really appreciate it. That really gives me a better idea of where to take my friends this October. Since I've been to Haunt in the past before (and the last visit wasn't as great as my previous visits) I'll probably check out Horror Nights this year. Thanks again for the help.

I've never been to Horror Nights before and since a few of my friends have never been to a theme park Halloween event and want to go, would any of you recommend this over Knott's Scary Farm? I've seen the Horror Nights TV commercial with the new Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface and it looks pretty scary. I've been to Knott's Halloween Haunt before and think it's an absolute blast...just wondering how the Universal event compares...any thoughts would be appreciated! P.S. I'd especially like to hear from people that have gone to both this year -- just to know how this years events stack up to each other.

^ Ugh the last thing Magic Mountain needs is another unreliable shuttle coaster.

I haven't ridden that many: 1. Raptor 2. Silver Bullet 3. Batman The Ride (Magic Mountain) 4. Top Gun (Great America)

CF doesn't do theming? I guess you haven't seen Xcelerator, GhostRider, Top Thrill Dragster, Maverick, or Sierra Sidewinder in person.

Not a big deal...but does anybody else find it funny that Magic Mountain's Looney Tunes area is called Bugs Bunny World while a few other of the same area at the other Six Flags parks is called Bugs Bunny National Park? If it's any park that the area name would be most appropriate as Bugs Bunny National Park would be at Magic Mountain...I mean the entrance is a giant faux redwood tree for crying out loud in dead center of the "High Sierra Territory" themed area.

^ Do you know how the capacity is for the Thomas train ride? I know it only has two coaches and it has about 4 rows each? With the popularity among families with little kids, I would think wait times would be a bit unreasonable. Which leads me to think why Six Flags didn't add a second engine on the lines such as a James the Red Engine or a Percy the little Green Engine to help with capacity or use it in the event the Thomas train goes into rehab.

Last year I took some friends to ride Tatsu after it had first opened. We first rode in the front row and they were crazy about the ride. We then rode again in the back row. One of my friends asks me afterwards - "Did you notice how this time during the first drop it felt faster like it was accelerated? They must've like launched it that time or something." Not wanting to sound like a know-it-all enthusiast, I just replied with -- "Yeah, probably."

^ Elissa, how would you personally compare the Fuji-Q Thomas area to the ones that are already at some of the other Six Flags parks? I've heard before that the Japanese one is pretty well excuted, but haven't had the chance to see any of the American versions first hand. I really hope SFMM takes the time to do this area carefully and not half-ass it. It's one thing to half-ass a coaster but another to do it to an area that's meant to immerse kids in a fantasy-like environment. From what I read in the press release, the SFOG and SFMM Thomas Towns will only have the train, a meet and greet spot, and a merchandise store. It doesn't mention any other rides like the Harold the Helicopter or Bertie the Bus that the SFNE area has.

The worst time of the year for Magic Mountain locals/fans. Where so many new and upcoming things are happening and there isn't a single CLUE as to when and if they are going to happen! So many unanswered questions such as... When exactly Flashback will be taken out. When exactly Metro will be fixed or taken out. When exactly X's trains will be delivered and the details of this big change. If X's station will be reconfigured/redesigned for the new vehicles. Whether Thomas Town will go into Psyclone's old spot or the rumored Granny Gran Prix/Petting Zoo area. And if Thomas Town goes into the Granny Gran Prix/Petting Zoo area, what will go into Psyclone's old spot? What could possibly replace Flashback. Whether or not Deja Vu be removed like Over Georgia's Deja Vu. Whether or not Tidal Wave will be rethemed to Aquaman like Six Flags Over Texas' Tidal Wave. Is Freefall going to operate into the 2008 season or will it be removed like SFOT, SFNJ, SFOG's freefalls.