Mr Stratosphere

I too am interested on how this will turn out, I did an interview for the Desperado at Buffalo Bill's. It was great fun!

Thank you so much for the updates, I cannot wait to experience this in person, there looks to be so much detail in the park now. I didn't realize how they spring "Glow With the Show" with you all. A lovely touch!

Thank you for letting us know about it, we had an absolute blast today at Buffalo Bill's with the Travel Channel Taping!

Thats amazing! She will totally be well rounded and very cultured at a very young age! Way to go!

Silver Bullet at KBF, had a really great day at the park on Wednesday, everything was a walk on. And somehow stayed dry on Perilous Plunge! Everything was open except Windseeker and Rip Tide

Great point! I'd also agree, when I worked at the big pointy tall building in Vegas, things happened all the time as well. Do you believe it's just the media looking for anything in the cruise industry right now? If anything, this made RCCL look good no?

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2012/04/articles/fires-1/fire-breaks-out-aboard-allure-of-the-seas-cruise-ship/ Fire Breaks Out Aboard Allure of the Seas Cruise Ship Posted on April 20, 2012 by Jim Walker Tweet17Tonight I began to receive text messages from passengers aboard Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas stating that a fire broke out in the engine room. Heavy black smoke billowed out of the stacks. There was initial panic by some passengers. The cruise ship made emergency announcement and altered its course so that the prevailing winds would not blow smoke into the ship. There are no reports of injuries to passengers at this time. The Allure is continuing its cruise and there apparently remains propulsion, electricity, lights, and air conditioning. The ship is heading from St. Maarten back to Fort Lauderdale, and is somewhere east of Turks and Caicos. We do not have a statement from the cruise line at this time. It has not been a good year for the cruise industry, as everyone knows. Just last month there was a disabling fire in the engine room of Royal Caribbean's Quest cruise ship operated by its subsidiary Azamara. In February, there was a disabling fire aboard the Costa Allegra. Cruise ship fires are not uncommon. There have been 79 fires on cruise ships since 1990. This one makes 80 in 22 years. Almost 4 a year. Read our article "Ten Years of Cruise ship Fires - Has the Cruise Industry Learned Anything?" If you are on the cruise and have info, photos or video, please leave a message. Update April 20, 2012: Several readers pointed out that my reference to and photos on the webcam were dated April 19, 2012 (yesterday). The webcam is not active now. I deleted the image. Sorry for the misleading reference to normal events yesterday - but why is the webcam not showing what's going on tonight? I suspect the cruise line shuts the web cams down during emergencies. Update April 21, 2012: Here is the official cruise line PR statement: "At approximately 7:45 pm (ET) Royal Caribbean International's Allure of the Seas experienced a small and short lived engine fire. The ship's high fog system was immediately activated, which contained and extinguished the fire. There were no injuries to guest or crew. The ship is sailing towards Port Everglades, Florida, where it will arrive on Sunday, April 22 as scheduled." Royal Caribbean wrote a masterful PR statement. "Small" fire which lasted "short" time and was "immediately" extinguished. But let's have some real information? What caused the fire? Why did a new ship touted as having new generation technology catch on fire in the first place? All fires start out "small." A small fire on a huge ship in the middle of the sea is not a good thing. The 2006 fire aboard the Star Princess started out with a single cigarette smoldering in a towel and then barely erupting, yet it led to 100 cabins being destroyed, one death and multiple injuries.

Can you snap a couple of photos and email them to me? Robb, I will try and get some photos after I get off working today. The weather in Vegas has been really crappy the last couple of days.

I was just told by a friend they started to take the ride down today. I will try and post some photos later pending on the weather out here.

^ It just shows that Carnival isn't Klassy enough even for the Jersey Shore. What are Carnivals' embark and disembark procedures? I thought Royal Caribbean has a very smooth system in place.

There is just something very regal and majestic with the color scheme with the Disney Cruise Line's Ships. I absolutely love them!

It is really nice to see some TLC going on at Knott's. When I was there in January I totally loved it. There is just a lot to do, not just coasters, at the park.

It totally looks like Knott's went all out this year for TPR, so sad I missed yet another West Coast Bash! I will totally do whatever it takes to make it to Knott's next year. It looks like everyone had a total blast!!! Thanks for posting!

Happy Birthday! I cannot believe how much time has flown by!

Sorry, I know this thread is about One (or two) of a kind coasters. But I have to include a One of a Kind ride. Stratosphere's Insanity I know there were plans to build another one on top of the Crown Regency Hotel in Cebu, Phillippines. But we have yet to see that happen.

Ah, I remember a few years ago, we had a freak hail storm in the middle of the day. Ninja really hurt in the hail.

Wow Carnival just cannot seem to get out of the negative media's eye can they?

From http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9047774/Costa-Concordia-will-take-10-months-to-be-removed.html Even though this is a tragedy and there were lives lost, I find that the photos that have been taken are very interesting, and in a way beautiful. Again this isn't something that you see every day. But amazing how poor (stupid) decisions can cause so much damage and loss.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9047774/Costa-Concordia-will-take-10-months-to-be-removed.html "Costa Concordia will take 10 months to be removed The Costa Concordia cruise ship will take up to 10 months to removed from Italy's coast, according to officials, as rough seas off the Tuscan coast forced the suspension of recovery operations. Officials called off both the start of operations to remove of 500,000 gallons of fuel and the search for people still missing after determining the Costa Concordia had moved an inch and a half over six hours, coupled with waves of more than three feet. A 17th body, identified as Peruvian crew member Erika Soria Molina, was found Saturday. Sixteen crew and passengers remain listed as missing, with one body recovered from the ship not yet identified. Officials have virtually ruled out finding anyone alive more than two weeks after the Costa Concordia hit a reef, but were reluctant to give a final death toll for the Jan. 13 disaster. The crash happened when the captain deviated from his planned route, creating a huge gash that capsized the ship. More than 4,200 people were on board. "Our first goal was to find people alive," Franco Gabrielli, the national civil protection official in charge of the operation, told a daily briefing. "Now we have a single, big goal, and that is that this does not translate into an environmental disaster." University of Florence professor Riccardo Fanti said the ship's movements could either be caused by the ship settling on its own weight, slipping deeper into the seabed, or both. He also could not rule out the ship's sliding along the seabed." From the picture, the ship looks to have gone under water a bit more.

So what is the new music like? I'm sure the Riddler's crew is happy about this!

Personally mine has to be the NBC Universal Building at Universal Studios Hollywood. Sometimes, depending on how you look at it, it just looks like a set piece.

The first time I went to SFMM on my own, I too stayed at the Good Nite Inn in Sylmar, first and last time. My door knob to the bathroom came right off and I was locked inside the bathroom for about 45 minutes waiting for maintenance. to get there. I say, spend a little extra and get a nice, comfortable hotel with nice amenities.

I normally stay at the Holiday Inn Express which is right across the street from the park. Heck it has free breakfast which is always a bonus. And if you are a rewards member, the points are a bonus too!

I really wonder what it must have felt on the ship when it hit the rocks. I would think its absurd to believe them saying it was a power outage. I'm sure someone would have noticed the ship taking on water, am I crazy? I also read that this ship was cursed from the get go with maritime traditions. If maritime superstitions are to be believed, the Costa Concordia was doomed from the moment it was launched. When a grand christening ceremony was held in July 2006 in the port of Civitavecchia, the ceremonial champagne bottle failed to smash against the hull of the luxury liner. Just two years later, on November 22, 2008, the Costa Concordia suffered a second stroke of bad luck. The ship was attempting to enter the post of Palermo, Sicily in a storm when it hit the dock and was damaged. All coincidences I'm sure, but interesting nonetheless.

Thanks so much for the info! I'm so excited! Unfortunately we have such a huge diverse group and coming from all around, we didnt have much time to get similar shirts. We have a group of 21 now! So excited! I will be sure to share the experience! I actually did make a shirt. It's a shirt when my parents met Drew out here in Vegas! Something I've been looking forward to so in a long time!