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When this request was first posted, I thought about going in, but I noticed that there were a lot of people in there already and that I'd have to wait a looonnnggg time to get a word in edgewise. That, and I didn't have a FastPass. Eric

"...Space Mountain!!!! I've waited 14 years to ride this (no lie, I have)." You got in early...the sign on the right says "15." Nice TR. I hope to visit this park someday. Of course, I hope to visit all Disney resorts someday. Right now, I've been to both North American ones... Eric

^^ When American car companies start building reliable, economic vehicles, people will start buying them. Till then, I will continue to buy from Honda and Toyota. The sad truth is that we're more than capable, but choose not to. Eric

Isn't SFMM supposed to get a new coaster for 2010? Seriously, it's too early to tell where this track is headed. I don't recall any rides with a yellow track or a theme involving the color yellow. Eric

^ On that note, maybe they're called "Millennium Flyers" just to throw us off... If you read the TR from the TPR China trip, you'll see how one Chinese company tried to copy the Arrow ride style, so an attempt to duplicate a successful line of coaster trains wouldn't surprise me. Eric

Check out the bowling alley at the White House. Eric

TOGO. But I won't repeat the "ruff ruff" joke because it's obvious here... Eric

^ Actually, Deja Vu is the only ride at SFMM with a dedicated single rider line. But you can go up the FlashPass entrance on Riddler and tell the attendant that you're a single rider, and they'll put you on a train when there's an empty seat. The thing is, you can't choose which seat. If you use FlashPass, they'll send you down to where the regular line splits into the eight rows and you can choose which row. At Goliath, it works as I described above. Same with Batman. I haven't tried anything like that at Tatsu or any other coasters. Eric

Sounds like you had some good fun at SFMM. I thought of going this weekend, but it's supposed to rain, so I may just go to the Convention Center for the Go Green Expo...that sounds interesting. Some comments about a few things from your TR... "If the ride was a little smoother I would probably ride it more often." (about Ninja) I'm not sure how Ninja could be smoother---to me, it's one of the smoothest in the park. There are some strange noises as well as an odd push-pull effect at some points on the ride, but I think that's just the nature of the suspended design. "It may be because of the lack of crowds, but the locker policy was not being enforced. This didn't bother me much, but it did seem kind of strange that the guy hired to make sure people use the lockers let people with backpacks proceed to the station." I find this annoying to be honest. The park put in lockers and claims that all loose articles need to be stored in lockers or left with non-riding friends, but some ride stations still have the storage cubbies on the side or allow guests to put their stuff aside and then run back to get in the train. That really slows operations and reduces capacity. If SFMM is going to have the lockers, then they need to enforce the policy. "When we went to go on X2, we found out it was closed. They said the wind was making it too dangerous to run with the fire. When I asked if they could just turn off the fire, they said that they couldn't." They do only turn on the fire when wind/weather conditions permit, but I've ridden X2 without its fire turned on. I don't see how they couldn't just turn off the fire and still operate the ride. Someone who works there could answer that one a lot better. "I don't know why Magic Mountain doesn't tell people the front is full and they need to pick another row like other parks do. It seems like it would help improve capacity." (about Batman The Ride) When Batman first opened, they had groupers in order to evenly disperse the crowd into the various rows. I think one good way to increase capacity is to use a single rider line. That way, any empty seats are filled by people who usually don't care where they sit. Oftentimes, I go up the exit ramp at Goliath, Riddler, and Batman and tell the attendant that I'm a single rider and will sit in any empty seat. To date, no one has ever told me that I couldn't do that. They always let me in when, say, only one person sits in a particular row on Goliath. Eric

I filled up for $2.07 earlier tonight. Gas is creeping back up, but at least it isn't going up as fast as it came down during the fall. Eric

I'm taking out the trash after I log out of here. Eric

"I'm 6'1", and drive a Toyota." (mrjaco) You'd like the back seat of my CR-V. Even you could stretch your legs out and be comfy. My only problem with coaster trains are the Arrow suspended ones. For some reason, I just can't seem to get in without tripping over the side. But that isn't the train's problem...'tis just me... Eric

^ I broke tradition with my normal right leaning political stand and voted for Obama. This country needs a major slap upside the head after the last...well three to five years---I won't say all eight years of Bush were bad. What is bothering me is the fact that Obama is being hailed as our "first African-American president. Remember, he's half black. To hoot and holler over his black side completely ignores the white side of his family. Let's just support the man and get this country turned back around---and not make race an issue. Eric

"Am I the only one who found the "BeatTiTudes" sign to be obvious blasphemy?!" (HerBlackWings) Speaking as a Christian, I just found it an amusing play on words with a Biblical theme. No blasphemy there. Now if they built a Temple somewhere and had people selling stuff inside, that might border on blasphemy. Eric

I still say that it would be ideal as a teppan grill style (like Benihana) restaurant. Not only would it fit the theme of that area, but it would be quite popular. Eric

One interesting note is that this type of track is also used on the Schwarzkopf-designed Shock Wave (SFOT) and Mindbenber (SFOG) rides. I believe those are the only two Schwarzkopf rides to use that track. But if you look at the track, supports are placed rather far apart; the track serves not only to guide the train, but acts as an additional support structure as well. In a way, given the terrain at SFMM, I'm surprised that it didn't use that track style, but it was built in 1976---before the other two rides were. Eric

Within the last week, I've been to two of Ventura County's motorcycle dealerships to look for a casino print silk shirt that one of our dealers from Gold Coast Casinos was wearing. There were no shirts at either place. Eric

Even more fun are the looks you get when you're white, your better half is Asian, and your kid is...somewhere in between. Eric

I wonder if we have any closet concrete enthusiasts around here. If so, HEAVEN AWAITS!!! Maybe it helps drainage or makes it easier to retrieve items lost or dropped down there. Whatever...we're getting what looks like a great ride, and it's only four months away! Eric

Just got done. I hope I've helped you out. Eric

If Six Flags is indeed focusing on a more family friendly environment, I don't see how some Asian guy shouting, "MORE FLAGS!!! MORE FUN!!!" would bring more families in. Mr. Six may have scared children, but he could always be toned down just a bit to come across as a hip, old grandfatherly type. That's what kind of grandpa I plan to be anyway, though maybe without all the dancing... Eric

Interesting thing, too, is that I've heard the "Mr. Six" music played at SFMM long after he "retired." To me, it didn't make sense to play music from an old campaign. Eric

Porn industry bailout = FAIL out. Too much bailing out going on. I figured that the government could have given each of the approximately 300 million Americans about $2300 for the same price as the $700 billion bailout to the banks/real estate. Who do you think can use it more? Eric

"The big concrete foundation is going to make the view ugly as hell though." (MixedDrink) I heard something about having a bunch of short, parallel lines painted on the slab. It works for Scream! As for me, I think next weekend is open, and I need to see if the season pass booklets are in, so a visit might be in order. Hopefully the tower will be open so I can get a bird's eye view. Eric

^ Does the asterisk on your grade denote something? Sorry, I'm kidding...had to ask. Eric