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Very interesting. I'd like to see them show up at SFMM and do something like that. Trouble is, though, I don't think it would be appreciated as much. Eric

^ I'm sure they did that on purpose. But rest assured---you're plenty far enough away for that NOT to happen. Diana and I might be out there tomorrow. We'll see. Eric

^ That girl must be rich to have kicked so many shoes into that truck and still have so many more. Eric

They should make this movie. It'd be a smash hit! Eric

"I think its Mayan." (Top Thrill Dragster) No, it's not yours, it belongs to Knott's... Eric

^ Not an Olympics fan. < Not a mushroom fan. V Grows mushrooms on his feet!

^ Needs to watch more Olympics. < Watches Olympics on TV. V Watches Olympics on the radio!

Going back a page or two, I do miss the Wacky Soap Box Racers. It was a lot of fun, well themed, and unique in this area. From station to station, it lasted about two minutes---just right. As for Pony Express, I personally don't find it uncomfortable at all (I'm 5'-8", 170lbs.). I do find it to be too short. Maybe if they'd have added about half again as much track it would have been better. A spiral over the rapids or an extra out-and-back part, or something. It's kind of dumb to have one train already at the final brake while the other is still halfway through the loading process. You spend more time on that final brake than you do on the ride itself. Sierra Sidewinder also might have benefited from a slightly longer track. Eric

^ Labor Day weekend + Gold FlashPass = Your friend. Actually, though, on a three-day weekend, I've found that going to a park on the holiday itself is less crowded because anyone from out of town is using that as a travel day to return home, and others are having their barbeques, family get togethers, etc. on that day. Eric

From what I understand, Ireland is quite affordable. I have a couple of friends that go there regularly, though not for the parks. Being part Irish, I should make a trip there sometime. Eric

Scream! certainly isn't the best ride at SFMM. But it's not that bad, either. Parking lot location? Pfft...who cares? Lack of intensity? So what---there's nothing wrong with a coaster that's just good fun without the powerful forces that other rides have. Remember, the park is trying to attract families, and middle-of-the-road thrills fit that bill. There are plenty of high-intensity thrills there, and there will be more as time goes on. Eric

^ It's quite possible that I wrote it that way on purpose... Eric

A couple of years ago at a special event, I got to pet a lion cub. They had a tiger cub there, too, but didn't let anyone pet it. But it must have been quite an incredible experience mingling with big cats. Looks like you had a great time! Eric

Today is Mom's 73st birthday. Eric

^ I'm quite surprised that there isn't another Legoland in the U.S. yet. It's proven to be quite successful here; no reason why it couldn't work elsewhere. It's definitely a great idea for a theme park. Eric

Matt, from another railfan, I greatly appreciated your very nice report. You'd like living where I do---a busy Union Pacific line about 100 feet behind the house across a busy state highway. ^ That has passed behind my house. I haven't seen it personally, as it went by when I wasn't home. But it uses that track to get to points north from L.A. Eric

Sometimes I'm amazed that the Phoenix and/or Tucson area doesn't have a major theme park, being that there is certainly the population to support it. But maybe the extreme desert heat is the roadblock to such a project. Anyway, nice TR. Looks like you guys had fun. Eric

^ What I do is type "Deja Vu" in a word processing program---Microsoft Word in my case---and it automatically adds those accent marks. Then I cut and paste that into my post here. A roundabout way to do it, but it works. Generally, though, I don't do that anymore because, while correct, it's sort of unnecessary because around here we all know what "Deja Vu" is. Eric

My opinion is that when people die as the result of a coaster ride, if there was no mechanical failure on the part of the ride itself, then it was probably due to a pre-existing condition. Unfortunately, not everyone knows when they have an aneurysm or some other conditions. Sometimes, the human body do the unexpected. Regardless, it's always sad to hear that someone passed away during or after a coaster ride. Eric

^ They may be, but too many people are still typing "break" when they mean "brake." Eric

This was a great TR. It'd be nice if more parks offered such tours. They don't have to give away any "secrets," but allowing interested guests the opportunity to see how rides work would be really cool. BGE is a park that I've yet to visit, and, unfortunately, by the time I ever get there, I'll never get to ride Big Bad Wolf. Eric

^ Thinks I'm on my way to Hawaii. < Was last in Hawaii when the Olympics were last in L.A. V Was last in line for brains---and they ran out!

I never realized that one of my silly puns would cause so much confusion. Honestly, I thought this was pretty straightforward. Eric

^ I've never ridden an Evac. Are they fun? Eric

I had one on Monday. Do you use drive-up ATMs?