ytterbiumanalyst

From what I understand, SDC plans a Geyser Gulch refurb/expansion in 2015, and that sounds awesome to me. My kids love Geyser Gulch, and having a few more rides around there would be perfect. It's kind of an empty area since they removed the Wilderness Waterboggan.

Interesting topic. The three closest parks to me are: 1. Silver Dollar CIty, Branson, MO - 45 minutes 2. Route 66 Carousel Park, Joplin, MO - 75 minutes 3. Miner Mike's, Osage Beach, MO - 90 minutes

We were there back in 2007, back when it was called "The Park at Mall of America." And you're right, that light rail is awesome! We stayed downtown, and even though we had driven to Minneapolis, we left the car at the hotel and took the light rail to Mall of America. I'll take light rail over a highway every time, so much easier and more convenient. That Ninja Turtles ride looks really awesome. We've been thinking about going back to the Twin Cities within the next couple of years, and I"m glad to see that Nickelodeon hasn't just rebranded what was there already but has added all kinds of new things. I love what they've done with the place; looks like enough new stuff to make this a required stop when we do eventually get back to Minnesota.

To me, the Christmas festival is defined by cinnamon bread and wassail. If you've never had the wassail, you must. You have wassail, you're gonna have a good time.

Well, we don't get too far from home any more, so my favourites from last year are: 1. Outlaw Run 2. Wildfire 3. Prowler

I would argue against this. A small amusement park in Omaha, sure. But the population of the Midwest is focused on the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. For this reason there will not be a major park west of Kansas City and east of Denver. Quite simply there's no one around to use it. Besides, you can always go to Kansas City, about three hours from Omaha. I'm about the same distance south of KC, very doable trip. I've actually driven all the way to Omaha and back in a day for a concert, about 10 hours total. So eastern Nebraska is pretty well served by Worlds of Fun alone, not to mention Adventureland is not that much farther.

Golden Abyss is great. It was one of the initial PS+ offerings in November 2012, and I subsequently platinumed it. It's not done by Naughty Dog, but it's still a top tier game in my opinion. Retro City Rampage is awesome too, really reminds me of a mashup between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on NES and the original Grand Theft Auto on PS1. I haven't bought Thieves in Time yet, but I have played the one hour trial. It's absolutely the Sly from the PS2 with all the goodies the PS3 era brought to open-world platformers. Still waiting for that one one a good sale or free PS+. I don't pay full price for any games anymore. Too many good ones are already on my backlog. I bought God of War Ascension when it went to $10 a couple weeks ago. Slowly making my way through it after the kids go to bed. It's visually the best thing I've seen on PS3, even above Assassin's Creed III. Looking forward to Bioshock Infinite--I'll get it on Tuesday when it goes free and start it once I finish God of War. I can really only have one late-night game going at a time.

I would highly recommend Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack. I picked it up at launch for two reasons: First, that I had played its predecessor, Tales from Space: About a Blob, on PS3, and second, that it was $8. One of the best side-scrolling platforms out there. Also I would also recommend if you are of a certain age, Soul Sacrifice and Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward. Both are amazing.

Then again, that new park in New Caney, TX is going to be themed to Texas history. And Silver Dollar City hasn't done too badly being basically about the bat guano mining town that was actually on that spot in the 1880s. So it's not impossible if it's done really well. And really, as long as this place isn't Mount Olympus, they'll be okay.

That's wise. It usually takes a year for any console to really come into its own. There are more RPG exclusives on Playstation than on Xbox, but there are a few good ones on Xbox too, Blue Dragon shining above them all. Fable is a great Xbox-exclusive, as well, if you haven't gotten the chance to play it. Also, a lot of games, especially the big budget ones, are released for both systems. Dragon Age: Origins was completely underrated; I've played it through three times, and I still don't feel like I've done everything with it. Dark Souls is great, so is Dragon's Dogma, and Skyrim is quite possibly the best RPG I've ever played. Then there are shooter-RPG crossovers Mass Effect and Borderlands. All these are on Playstation and Xbox both. So if you haven't played any one of these, go get it for Xbox 360 before you start looking to the new consoles. Each is a little different, and all of these are among my absolute favorites from the last console generation.

Thunderation. The entire coaster is pre-lift, with only one drop into the station after it.

Probably the closest games to it are Chrono Trigger (which also has characters by Akira Toriyama) and to a lesser extent its sequel, Chrono Cross. Chrono Trigger was originally released in 1995 for the Super NES and Chrono Cross in 2000 for the Playstation. Both really worthwhile games, but unfortunately neither is on Xbox. Chrono Trigger is on Wiiware and Playstation Network, and Chrono Cross is only on PSN. Of course, you could track down one of the old consoles too. Sadly, Xbox is really lacking in RPGs. Recently I've been playing Rainbow Moon for the last week on Vita. I bought the game day 1 one for PS3 and then again day 1 on Vita. It's the 16-bit RPG we all wanted 20 years ago, but the technology wouldn't allow it. Amazing game, more than worth $15.

More often than you'd think, especially on weekends, and Thanksgiving is a hugely popular time. They have a few lots scattered throughout the Indian Point peninsula. It's really not a big deal to park there; they have plenty of people directing traffic, and unless you pay for valet parking, you're going to be taking the tram or bus in. Even the preferred parking lot is about a quarter mile from the entrance and still has a tram stop. Not a whole lot of flat ground to put a parking lot, so that's how it's always been.

It simply must be a dark ride that's bigger on the inside.

What I would like most from SDC is this: 1. Get Outlaw Run working so that it doesn't have so many shutdowns (they have been working on this all year, and it does happen less now than it did at the beginning of the year, so just keep improving). 2. Fix all broken animatronics on American Plunge and Flooded Mine (especially the drowning man in the whirlpool on AP--horribly neglected). 3. Expand the gluten-free menus and add dairy-free options as well (Gluten-free pizza that has cheese is still inedible for us). 4. Add more benches around the Grand Expo and Half-Dollar Holler. There never seem to be enough. That's it. Otherwise, don't change a thing. SDC has something for everyone, even my 2-year-old.The park is so much bigger now than when I was a kid that you can't possibly do it all in one day--which means every visit is just a little bit different. We always have a good time. The changes outlined above would just make a great day that much better.

Definitely one of the best around. We went for SDC's Christmas the first weekend in November. We'll try to go one more time if there's another warm weekend. For anyone who hasn't been yet, get the wassail. It's the absolute best part of the festival. And you can buy wassail kits to make at home too.

That looks absolutely amazing. Just the thing Houston needs. Seems like a whole lot to put up in 2 years, though. Assuming this does come to fruition, we'll likely see all the small flat rides, the transport rides (boat, stagecoach, train), the kids' rides, and Greezed Lightning ready to go for the 2016 season, with the rest added in the following years. What they have planned on the concept art can certainly be done by 2020, and at that point it will be a great regional park. All speculative still, but they've got a solid plan. All the best to them; if they do get this up and running, we'll be there. We've been wanting to get back to Texas anyway.

We went to see Death Cab for Cutie this summer. They put on a great show. We were of course in the balcony with all the other old people. Ha, you teenagers, you can have your mosh pit. The balcony's where the bar is.

All the Geico commercials post-gecko. Every single one of them is irritating, and so pervasive on streaming video sites that I now associate Geico with mind-numbing stupidity--not exactly the sort of association one wants with their company. Getting people to remember your advert isn't enough; they have to actually want to buy the product too.

It's due to temperature. Superman cannot run when temperatures fall below 55 degrees, which can be quite common during December. What? Does water freeze at a higher temperature in Texas? I've never heard of such a high threshold to close a ride. What's the rationale for this?

The one launch game that is on my Must Buy list is Octodad. And the console just isn't worth it for that. All the other launch games either I don't care about, or they're already out on PS3 or Steam. The one I'm really waiting for is The Witness. I love a good point-and-click adventure game, and this one reminds me so much of Myst. Telltale's really brought sexy back to that genre; the Walking Dead is hands down the best game I played on PS3, bar none. I don't get a lot of time for video games in general these days, and especially so for violent ones that I can't play with the kids. But the Walking Dead made me think about subjects I've never seen touched on in a video game before, and I felt each character's death in a way video games just never do.

Ha. Detroit's already got Cedar Point nearby. What else do you need?

Wildfire in the dark, twice in a row. Even 42 degree air at 60 miles an hour can't make it any less awesome.

Okay, so I've really just been to a handful of parks in the Midwest. On the Cedar Fair side, I've been to Worlds of Fun and the Park at MOA. The two Six Flags I've been to are St. Louis and Fiesta Texas. In general, Six Flags has poorly maintained rides and a complete lack of attention to theming: St. Louis has three rides themed to DC characters, only one of which is actually in the DC Plaza--an area that also contains a ride themed to Scooby Doo, which was Hanna-Barbara, not DC. Awful. Cedar Fair's parks have a much more regional park feel, not nearly as ambitious or grandiose as Six Flags, but overall a lot more enjoyable experience. On our visit this past summer, I was impressed by how well some of WoF's older and less popular rides were running: Even Scrambler and Flying Dutchman, never headliners even when they were new, ran very well. Maintenance makes a big difference.

It's done that off and on throughout the season. I imagine it's most noticeable just before some sort of maintenance. Periodic wheel replacement would make sense.