azza29

MouseSavers have a fairly extensive list of discounts, you might be able to take advantage of one of these: www.mousesavers.com/disneyland-california-vacation-discounts-and-deals/disneyland-ticket-pass-discounts/. Most only save a few dollars though, nothing huge. Alternatively if park hopping isn't critical you could save $30 by getting a one park per day ticket instead.

Well... my name is Aaron, Aussies tend to shorten names even if they're already pretty short, and my birthday is the 29th. Hence azza29.

I've only visited one park I'd consider "ghetto". It's probably not too bad compared to some others but for a while Dreamworld just bummed me out every time I visited: - rides that have been SBNO for years - an algal bloom on their 'river' - zero thought given to sightlines when placing new attractions (RCT approach) - broken/run-down theming in much of the park, including no longer running the water effects on Wipeout even though the drought ended five years ago - the world's crappiest car race simulator - despite having a water park next door, they put a FlowRider in the regular (dry) park! - not one of the five coasters has any kind of decent capacity, even when the ride ops are working quickly New Dreamworks land looks really good so hopefully this is sign that things are improving. I remember this place being awesome when I was a kid, hopefully the park can turn it around soon.

Just when I thought this show was getting boring, Brandon comes along and demonstrates that his uncle was the normal one! Part of me loved it for being great TV, but the other part of me wonders if that kid is seriously messed up in the head...

^I'll definitely be checking out Newsies when I'm in NY in a couple of months. Looks great! Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is playing down here at the moment, I had heard mixed reviews but ended up really enjoying it, probably more so than I did Mary Poppins. Anyone who's seen the film will know the songs, but it was the car that was the highlight. Whatever machinery they had to move it was completely hidden due to well-positioned lighting, so it actually looked like it was flying. Not just up and down, either - it was going in all directions, very impressive!

Great, thanks for the advice. Tolls aren't a problem, especially if it means less time stuck in traffic.

Just started playing the new SimCity. Great game! Haven't had any server problems and honestly I don't get the people who are complaining about the smaller map sizes, region-based gameplay and everything else that makes it different from the last game. It's not SimCity 4 and that's a good thing - crazy how much some people demand 'fresh' games but hate change! Anyway it's just as addictive as ever, I was up way too late last night, forfeiting sleep for the sake of my virtual metropolis!

Bump. Hoping some NY/NJ locals can give provide travel advice. On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend we will be picking up a rental car (early, around 8am) at Newark airport, driving to Quassy to ride Wooden Warrior at opening, then continue to Lake Compounce. Google maps suggests that the best route is to take the I-95 north, cross the George Washington bridge and then I-87 (goo.gl/maps/tZsBg). But I've heard traffic on that bridge and the NJ turnpike can be a nightmare, so I was thinking of taking the McCarter Highway, then Garden State Parkway, and then drive across the Tappan Zee Bridge (goo.gl/maps/Qn4g0). Is anyone able to comment on which route is best, or is there a third option I should consider?

So a combination of long weekend + heatwave + almost-expired movie vouchers saw me heading to no fewer than five films this weekend - a real mixed bag too! 21 and Over - I liked this, typical trashy boys night out flick but it was fun, and less of a Hangover ripoff than you might expect. Broken City - loved it. Great cast, script and plot - Russell Crowe can't sing but he makes a good villain, and good to see Catherine Zeta-Jones get a role that's more than just window-dressing. Oz the Great and Powerful - really wanted to like this but something just didn't click. As others have mentioned, Mila Kunis' character makes no sense - she's with the guy for what, a day? Then she's heartbroken when he sort of leaves her and without even asking him what's going on she bites the apple and suddenly is evil incarnate. But I guess... women... right? There was a lot to like about it apart from that, I thought James Franco made a great Oz and the visuals were stunning. Still worth a look but not the blockbuster Disney was hoping for. I Give it a Year - meh. The worst kind of date movie, one that might leave your girlfriend wondering if she should dump you for some old flame. Funny in parts, but I'd give it a miss. Cloud Atlas - I know, a little late to the party on this one but it only just came out locally. There were some great sequences but the story was largely lacking, and the idea that all these events across different time periods tied into each other wasn't as fully realised as it should have been. The story keeps you guessing about how all these stories intertwine, and doesn't resolve it - so basically for a 3 hour film the payoff wasn't quite there. Still Hugo Weaving as a nursing home matron is worth the price of admission.

A warm start to autumn in Melbourne - has been above 32C (90F) every day for the past week and a half! I like warm weather but it would be nice if the temperature dropped below 25 degrees at night so I could get a little sleep sometime...

Just building the one slide though? Seems like capacity will be an issue - they have a similar one at White Water World and the queues get pretty nasty. I wonder if the marginal cost of adding a second slide is all that high?

^Societies or SimCity 4? I honestly haven't had too many dramas with the new one but the local servers probably aren't as crowded as those in North America and Europe. Back on topic - St Patrick's Day update is pretty cool. I like the green water, wonder if they'll do anything based on the episode where Bart gets drunk?

It's the same reason people get upset over video game reviews where the reviewer hated something they liked or vice versa. Some people just need others to agree with them in order to validate their own opinion.

^^I dropped 20k there before I decided it wasn't worth it. Would be cool if this was a minigame rather than random chance.

The results make for very interesting reading - kudos to Mitch for organising this and collating the votes, and to everyone who participated. I find it intriguing that the highest 'grouped' coaster (favorite Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop) is at #158. Suggests that perhaps unique coasters rank more highly simply because they're unique?

^Clearly they've received word of my May 12th visit and are timing the opening to coincide with that.

Australia represent! Let's just ignore the fact that our next best is Scooby Doo at #150... Interesting that "Favourite El Loco" has come in at #182 - Green Lantern at Movie World is fairly high on my own list. Perhaps the 4-across seating improves the ride experience compared to other El Locos and it just hasn't been ridden by enough people yet. Ditto for "Favourite Motocoaster" (#262), although I may have just been on the better ones. The fact that there are still some really fun rides sitting two-thirds of the way down the list suggests that coaster enthusiasts have plenty to be happy about!

^Every time I see that phrase, I think "that is the most optimistic sentence ever written..."

Decided to splurge 99c on a golden scratchy. 100 donuts!

^^The guy who's funding these little projects, Clive Palmer, is definitely doing his best to redefine just what it means to be an eccentric billionaire! Oh, and apparently he's running for Parliament too.

^I'm on level 26 but my XP is way ahead of my in-game progression, only just built the Muntz house so still plenty of content left to go. All the same I would like to see some minigames - the scratchies are a good start but something that was a little more involved would make it more interesting. For example, Simpsons trivia where you can answer one question every few hours, rewarded with cash or donuts depending on question difficulty. Or one of those match-up games where the faster you complete it, the bigger the reward. Personally I don't mind the odd grind if it'll get me premium items - I've spent as much real money on this game as I care to so anything where I can occasionally win a donut or two would be useful.

If you're specifically interested in Cedar Point then PointBuzz (a CP fansite) has a sub-forum for current and potential employees - you might find this to be a useful resource: pointbuzz.com/Forums/Topics/3.aspx (mods - hope it's OK to link to another forum, just trying to be helpful )

Thanks for the great trip reports! Did they mention an opening date for Gold Striker?

So many hilarious entries this time around - the lightning round format was a great idea too!

Would love to get my hands on one of those souvenir tiki mugs!