QueerRudie

That thing looks demented, psychotic, homicidal and utterly amazing. Kinda looks like what might happen if a ride engineer had too many 'funny mushrooms' in his spaghetti last night...

So many conflicting emotions- I can still remember going to BG:TOC and riding Le Mans as a very young child- Going to BGW and getting hammered at the wine bar next to Le Mans and trying to drive (NOT EASY; REMEMBER KIDS DON'T DRINK AND RIDE!) Goint to BGE and taking my last ride there last year on Le Mans. On the other hand- Three Beemers. One Park. A very rare title to hold indeed.

Another Bird/aviary themed ride- Well gosh-diddly-iddly-arn-it, there goes my idea for a great name- Guilliotine- Can you imagine the 'splashdown' ending? Oh well- can't wait for another Beemer in BGE(w)!

A classic from Herr Achterbahn himself... sooperdooperLooper at HersheyPark

Here's a couple odd-balls of the same coaster- "Where Angels go, Trouble Follows" AND.... The classic John Waters movie "Hairspray-" Both feature "Thunderhawk/Coaster" From DorneyPark.

TOGO- Hmmm... I can think of a few taglines about riding a TOGO coaster- "TOGO. Fast, Cheap and Out of Control." "TOGO. Well, At least it's not a Vekoma." "The Japanese Run-Of- Luck ran out after Toyota, Honda and Olympus." "TOGO. Feel what it's like to be plowed into by a few linebackers." "TOGO. Necks. Who needs em'?" "TOGO.If there are theme parks in Hades, we will build them!" "TOGO. If looks could Kill." "TOGO. When you care enough to build the very least." "TOGO. Sponsored by Advil, Bayer, Nuprin and Aleve." "TOGO. Keeping Chiropractors in business since 1984." "TOGO. Pain in the 4th Dimension."

As far as I remember (Which can be quite fuzzy)- The lump sum payment due in 2008 is a whole payment debenture based upon the Premier Parks takeover back in 1998- A secured note due in 2008. Another point from soemthing I read earlier in the post Re: New rides and closed parks (I think it was on Tatsu...) Opryland USA installed Hangman just prior to the park being closed and turned into a mall (Opry Mills, where you can still see the old River Rapids ride while walking between Opryland Hotel and the mall) In any case, they've paved paradise, and put in a parking lot (next to the shops, shows and restaurants.) Six Flags inc is deep DEEP into the red-ink with the massive debt overhanging it right now. Massive expansion and the first round of 'flagging' some of the smaller parks was beneficial to certain parks becoming real leaders in the chain, but came at a very steep price when money was already becoming tight (interest rates) While it brought AdventureWorld out of the dust, as it did to a few other parks, they should have slowed down their growth plans a notch or two. But that's saying that hindsight is a perfect 20/20. Right now they've got to concentrate on servicing the debt to satisfy the banks which hold the loans, and QUICKLY. I cannot emphasize that enough. Cedar Fair's takeover of the Paramount Parks chain will put a squeeze in certain markets (Say, for example, the SF bay area or Washington DC) where they (Cedar fair) can and have the ability to build newer and larger crowd draw attractions. This could cause some serious grief for SFInc in those markets. Bankruptcy is not a realistic option. Although it can bequick and effective, the reconstruction of the bankruptcy laws this year make it difficult to come out in the same way now (Look at how long United and USAirways spent in bankruptcy court) If you realistically think about it, if SFInc were to go into CH. 11. think about how many parks would be sold off to the highest bidder (and not necesarily Cedar Fair;) and how many would not see the light of day again. If you think that losing SFMM would be bad, imagine how people in other markets might feel- parks where land is already at a premium due to city expansion would most certainly get the ax first, as land values would be much higher. Some of the original parks could see the end of the line as well- imagine a 'last day' party at SFOG, for example, where the encroachment of people could easily spell the end of the line. SFInc needs a real leader here, not just a 'sell-this, sell-that' kind of person. Selling off parts just reduces the available equity the company has for a quick fix of cash right now. While this might bring down the debt, it also puts revenue in jeopardy as some parks generate quite a bit of cash. This is very remiscent of what happened to America's first Airline- Pan Am. They had a great cash generator in the Pacific division- but hocked it to United in 1986 for cash. United survived (as a whole until 2001) but Pan Am was gone by 1991.

Already planning on making the journey this September- Two Schwartzkopf Coasters. One park. Two EXCELLENT Schwartzkopf Coasters. One Park. OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYESSSSSSSS! Love the new colours. Much more becoming to see her with a blue dress and yellow ribbon. Very nice indeed!

Vegas usually has rides open during the winter, especially the AdventureDome and Speed:The Ride (Which isn't that bad for a Premier LIM coaster- it's quite good, really. Mexico City might also be an alternative as well.

If they decide to get rid of SFMM, perhaps somebody would be smart enough to figure out how to rebuild a terrain layout for Revolution. It would be a terrible shame to eradicate Herr Achterbahn's first looper for the sake of condos, even if it's been modified all to hell over the past decade or so. Just because there are lawyers out there hell bent on ruining rides does not mean that we should give up on a classic masterpiece of steel engineering. Second: If SFMM did disappear, would anybody really be sobbing for too long? Yes, I know, I'm being harsh on this one, but having had a rather disappointing trip there 18 months ago, I felt that a carnival was better run. When you have a single train and a full queue house when the ride is desgined to hold many more people than that, it shows a lack of forethought on the part of management. If there is trash on the ground, and few garbage cans, it shows a lack of care for a park. When paint is peeling off a ride, and the trains look battered and worn, it shows a lack of detail that needs attention. Six Flags might be having difficulties financially, but there is no excuse for letting a 'flagship' type park go into disrepair that way. The same could be said for a few other parks in the chain, including the local SFA. The staff is rather unruly as a general rule, and that's something that a GP would notice right off the top. Considering what most parks charge for a single day ticket, they could really use a tip or two from a few of the other better run parks out there. I'm not saying that they should sell of SFMM per se. But if SFInc/RedZone entertainment is going to turn the company around they need to worry less about making records and more about the guest experience as a whole.

ANYTHING, and I do mean ANYTHING must be an improvement over the Manhattan Express Death Machine's existing trains. I rode it in 2001, and had bruises for three weeks after from those Godawful restraints. If they really wanted to improve the ride, replacing it would be a better choice. The ride's layout is good, and it's got decent pacing, but that aside, it's still a TOGO, and therefore evil.

This is an easy one. Daddy's Beautiful Girl- Loch Ness Monster, BGE. Nothing else is like her, nothing else will be like her. Just about the finest set of steel pipes in the world. Graceful, fast, Paced well, nice drops, pozGs in the right places, a long, cool dark tunnel, thrilling curves and a nice smooth ride. How could anything out there compare?

I'm a Schwartzkopf enthusiast. PUSH ME THROUGH THE FLOOR. The harder I'm pulled, the happier I get. Give me G's, G's, G's.

Easily, Drachen Fire at BGW- Great design with terrific elements, and plenty of pacing to it, BUT... The 'intensity' of the ride would have scared off even those with the strongest of necks. The rising curve off of the 'batwing' element, especially in the front few rows was enough to send anybody to the hospital, and the crackover curve out of corkscrew following the midcourse block brack was pretty damn rough (Even after they 'edited' their desgin by removing the offending corkscrew it was still pretty harsh.)

I'd have to go with HersheyPark on this one- I've (in 15 consecutive years) never had a bad trip. Nice people, Nice rides (Including one of my favs, sooperdooperLooper) great food, CLEAN RESTROOMS (Very important to me!) easy access and terrific atmostphere. Although, I do have to hand an honorable mention to Kennywood on the same token. Great rides, MOST EXCELLENT FRENCH FRIES, and wonderful terrain usage. (Although, one of these days I'd surely like to take a spin on Storm Runner. Three consecutive trips, and Storm Runner wasn't.)

God yes. Take for example a park where theming is 'understated' or in some cases missing. Two good opposite examples are SFA (which, although has different 'theme' areas, does not have a consistant theming throughout the park- I.E. the wild west area has good theming, as does the 'Main Street 1776' theme, but the back 40 does not. Contrast that to BGW where you have a definite theme difference along each section, with complete immersion in each theme. Diffrentiation between themes also helps out a great deal. Hersheypark has different theme areas, but they're often blended into each othere (I.E. Comet Hollow tends to flow without breakup into Mine Country) and with some smaller parks this could be very difficult. Separating rides out between areas could help greatly, but with some parks running out of land, there is always going to be overlap within theme areas.

Hmmm- checking my bruises- lets see... Hypersonic, of course- ShockWave, also at PKD Vortex (Arrow's Suspended one)- at PCW Togo's DeathMachine Manhattan Express

My first was the Scooby Doo at PKD. My first 'adult' ride was the Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens in 1987. The ride that hooked me permanently was Space Mountain, Alpha Track, on 8 March 1988.

(Putting on my Doc Martens and starting to skank happily in circles)- Wow. Now I know I've got to cash some of my FF Miles and head there- a Schwartzkopf SHuttle Loop AND Drier Looping in one park- WHOA!!!!

I will say this about the vast majority of Vekoma coasters- OUCH. But that's a segment of them- A few have been downright smooth, with very few bits of turbulence (I.E> SFA's TwoFace)- and last week I was on SideWinder at HersheyPark- it was just about the roughest I have ever remembered it. I've have yet to find a Inverted class (I.E. Mindbender at SFA, Kong at SFMW) that was smooth- but SFA's is a bit tolerable in the front seat. Having ridden both types of Flying Dutchman, I can say this- not bad at all. In fact, they were as smooth as any early Arrow-

SFA's Two Face- Never been disappointed by that one.

Hmmmm... Schwartzkopf Enterprise Huss Rodeo (Two speed model)

Work Hard. Fly Right. Continental Airlines.

Either the Specials, Pietasters, the Beat, Madness, MMB, Rancid, Bim Skala Bim, Toasters, Selecter, Skandalous All Stars, King Django- I guess just about anything chequred-

Very easy- I'm a gay man (Queer) and I'm a Rudeboy (Rudie)- Although, nowadays, it would be QueerSkinhead, but that's another concept-