ytterbiumanalyst

^ That's a really great story. Love hearing stuff like that.

^ Awesome, thanks for sharing that! Very busy. Be prepared for Trailblazer, lines will exceed an hour.

Coasters don't turn to the right. They turn to the left three times.

I disagree. There's never a good reason to go to Arkansas.

There's a lot of cool stuff around here these days. The Branson Ferris Wheel (former Navy Pier Ferris Wheel) gives great views of the mountains, and there's a ton of cool mini golf places along 76. Ripleys Believe It or Not and Titanic are worthwhile museums, and downtown Branson has the Landing outdoor mall with good chain restaurants like Laredo and an excursion train that goes into Arkansas and give views only accessible by rail. Wilson's Creek National Battlefield is one of the few Civil War battlefields west of the Mississippi, and is historically significant as the site of Gen. Nathaniel Lyon's death. Downtown Springfield is about the only nightlife area in the Ozarks. I love Harbell's on Park Central West for wings and Civil Kitchen on Park Central East for chicken and waffles. Both great beer selections. Speaking of which, we have 3 breweries in Springfield, Springfield Brewing Co. at Market & McDaniel is the oldest. Try the Greene Ghost (with an e for Greene County). Mother's at Grant & Walnut is great, with a variety of beers and a big lot called the Backyard that's open on Saturdays when the weather is good. Hanging out and chatting with new friends, horseshoes, sometimes live music. It's probably the most fun of the three. Try the Loopty Loop there--yep, a roller coaster themed beer! The newest one is White River on Commercial Street, or "C-Street" as we call it here. It's a second downtown north of the actual downtown. It used to be a town called North Springfield that was incorporated decades ago. Cool vibe on that street. White River does not serve beer, but you can find it at many of C-Street's restaurants. I love Cusco, a Peruvian restaurant at Commercial & Robberson. Their specialty is rabbit in peanut sauce. As for White River, try the Table Rock Red.

Are you suddenly British? Not British, and not suddenly. When I was growing up, my next door neighbour was Canadian, from south Ontario between Toronto and Buffalo. They moved in mid 90s sometime, and I think he was the first non-American kid I ever met. I liked the way the words looked aesthetically, so I've been doing that ever since. Relax brah, just breakin yer stones. Oh I'm fine. Just an opportunity to tell the story.

Cool, yeah I'm enjoying the community events. Got a bunch of Dratini and 2 Rayquaza this weekend myself. They're doing a lot to improve the game recently, and it still is the best incentive I've had to get out on walk on my lunch hour.

Thanks for the shop photos, Matt. Very cool. Are you suddenly British? Not British, and not suddenly. When I was growing up, my next door neighbour was Canadian, from south Ontario between Toronto and Buffalo. They moved in mid 90s sometime, and I think he was the first non-American kid I ever met. I liked the way the words looked aesthetically, so I've been doing that ever since.

I've had U2's "Zooropa" stuck in my head all day for unknown reasons. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

Very cool. I'm a fan of U2 and national parks, so I do hope to make it out to Joshua Tree one of these days. Looks really great.

I absolutely love mine trains; they're one of my favourite coaster types, and I always ride one whenever I'm in a park that has one. I've ridden Thunderation at Silver Dollar City probably more times than any other coaster. Cedar Creek Mine Ride sucks ass.

I'm convinced that this is the current state of the industry in general. The 90s era where everything had to be XTREEEM!!! just isn't what anyone's trying to do anymore. Smaller unique rides (at least unique to the region) can pull in almost as many people as a giant headline grabber like Fury 325, and that's good enough for most parks. That said, SteVen is Cedar Point's fifth coaster in the last 6 years, beginning with Gatekeeper, so even though some of those were smaller projects, they're really not slowing down.

Well, they pulled out all the stops for Top Thrill Dragster, and then there was Maverick. Innovation is often surprising.

Front page, woohoo! Well deserved.

9/10. Last time I saw one was in L.A. a year and a half ago, and they're way taller than I expected. Gives that real California vibe. Olympics closing ceremony

Sleep

That's because the food in the photos isn't entirely made of food. https://petapixel.com/2016/03/24/photos-show-secret-tricks-food-photography/

Wow, that's awful. I got no words other than that. Glad you survived, and I wish the best for the others. Undoubtedly left some scars.

Sorry to hear that, really sucks. I wish people weren't awful.

I swear, the more I see of SteVen, the more impressed I am. Good to hear, planning on hitting that up in June.

Because there aren't enough turtles to hold it up. Where did Plinko get its name?

Good riddance. Hoping his son hits this thread next. He's even worse.

Salad

Now I'll know where not to go, when I'm (ever) at the park, again. Yep. It's not like the U.S. has a shortage of fried chicken, fries, and milkshakes. Pretty easy to find a person selling those who doesn't hate you. Thanks for sharing that map, Mark! Love things like that. I'm guessing that bath house is where Wicked Twister is now?

Molasses