dj snow

Nice photos, thanks for posting. The original Santa statue is almost (but probably not) visible from the Freedom Train, I believe. It's on top of a hill inside the curve where route 245 turns south just past the stoplight. Kinda-sorta across the street from the Candy Kitchen. And Schnitzelbank is great. They've got a nice selection of beers, including Hacker-Pschorr on draft! Glad to see you found it.

DO NOT MISS THE CAVE! It's nice and cool underground, it's a nice long tour, and it's awesome!

You're talking about two different things. The wave chambers (caissons) may look scary, but they can't pin you down there, nor can they disembowel you. Any water they suck in ends up being blown right back out again; there's nowhere else for it to go. Pool drains are another thing entirely, and are tied to the pumps feeding the filtration system or in some cases to the pumps feeding the waterslides. Older drains and filtration systems unfortunately have been tied to some of the tragic cases that have been cited above. So I wouldn't worry too much about the consequences of getting too close to the back wall grates of a pneumatic (forced-air) wave pool, but I still would respect the park's rules of staying away. If nothing else, during a wave cycle you're likely to get repeatedly slammed up against the back wall if you get too close, and that would be uncomfortable.

Enjoying the thread. On Pink Taco: A couple years ago, they opened a location here in Arizona (Scottsdale, to be specific). In a pre-opening interview the CEO of the chain (if you can call it that, as there are only two) said about the Phoenix area: "there's no good Mexican here." Riiiiiiiight. The place closed down a couple months ago. Good riddance!

Hooray for the City Museum! That tunnel that you access from the fountain-like opening goes under the floor, across the lobby, and ends up in the Enchanted Caves, near the Puking Pig, if I recall correctly. So glad to see another TR on the City Museum; it's such a special place!

Yes, but it has been relocated to Parque de Attracctiones in Madrid if I'm not mistaken. That is correct. I saw it myself at Parque de Atracciones last week. The cars still say "Bobejaanland" on them, too. (They'll probably address that before the ride opens to the public, though.)

See, what did I tell you? Shamu stopped hogging all the rock, and now the track is nearly complete, lickety-split. There was never any need for worry!

All this talk of "who owns the rides" took away from the main point of my initial post: This could be a preemptive move by the city to hang onto some of the future revenue from the lease agreement. If Six Flags declares bankruptcy, the lease is probably going out the window, and the city couldn't expect to see any more money from Six Flags. Contracts such as leases can be thrown out in bankruptcy, but lawsuits to my knowledge can't.

I'm not so sure. Especially since I have not once seen any claim from the city that Six Flags didn't have the right to take that property. It's entirely possible that Six Flags bought the rides, while continuing to lease the land and buildings, as part of its agreement to take over the park. Similar arrangements have been made before in other cases.

Where does it say anywhere that Six Flags "stole" anything from the city? I don't think that's a claim that the city has made at any time. I'm not a legal expert by any means, but I wonder if the prospect of Six Flags filing for Chapter 11 might have forced this action. In Chapter 11, a company can often ask a judge to void contracts, and I'm sure their lease with the city would be on their list of "Contracts We'd Like to Void." Filing a lawsuit prior to bankruptcy might allow the city some hope of collecting additional funds down the road. If New Orleans were to sit on its hands and wait for the lease agreement to be canceled under Chapter 11, then they probably have already received their final lease payment from Six Flags, like it or not.

Absolutely do not miss the cave tour! It takes about 45 minutes, so check the schedule and plan accordingly. The entrance is in the main gift shop up front, but don't let that fool you--there's no extra charge for the cave tour. It's something so absolutely unique to a theme park, and is about as hidden as an attraction can be, especially when you stop to ponder just how massive it is. Give it a try and then report back.

We all know that rock is a critical part of this ride--indeed, it's part of its name. If there is in fact a delay, I think it may be related to SeaWorld just down the street, and their spring break Shamu Rocks show schedule. You see, rock is a finite commodity, and because Shamu rocks so hard, spare rock might be a little hard to come by in Orlando right now. This Saturday is the last day that Shamu Rocks will be performed at SeaWorld for a while. Consequently I wouldn't be surprised to see the pace pick up at Universal next week, as the supply of rock will finally be restored.

A bit of trivia: Before it was at Geauga Lake, the Americana wheel was part of Old Indiana Fun Park. For the sake of Kings Dominion, I hope this ride doesn't carry some sort of park-dooming curse.

I have to imagine the park would have offered some sort of compensation, be it a comp ticket or parking refund, to those who asked. I've seen this park hand out comps at Guest Relations to crowds of people under similar circumstances. Remember: "You don't ask, you don't get!"

Check to see if there are any big concerts or other major events going on at the Giant Center or Hersheypark Stadium/Star Pavilion on either day. If so, go to Hersheypark the other day. An evening concert will often mean a full park during the day. Here's a handy link for May! Here's a handy link for June! At the moment it doesn't appear there are any major events either day, so if I were you I'd go to Great Adventure on Sunday with a Gold Flash Pass, then hit Hersheypark on Monday. Hopefully there won't be too many school groups in the park on Monday, but even if there are, remember that they usually have to leave in the late afternoon, and the park is open until 10pm. Have a good time!

Oh the memories... This very important photo was taken in 2000 at SFNE. The sign has since had the phrase "to your town" added to it.

Not arguing any of your points, but I do think SFKK has plenty of direct competition. Holiday World is a bit more than an hour away, and Kings Island is probably about two. Both of these parks have higher annual attendance than SFKK. There is also Beech Bend Park, although it's not quite as large a park as those other two.

Sorry to disappoint you, but I believe the closest one to Spokane is still over 600 miles away. The only In-N-Outs are in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. They are pretty good, but I think their relative scarcity plays a big part into their legend. Still, they're many steps up from a typical fast food place.

Yes and yes.

I'm so glad I brought my trusty camera to West Coast Bash this year, because I literally took a HANDFUL of photos. Read on: Finally, a group photo. On the left, Erik. On the right, Cameron. The cups represent, from left to right, Ryan (Coca-Cola), myself (vanilla latte), and Wes (mocha latte, I believe). THE END PuBean This was the 523rd photo of hailstones taken in the park on this day. My good friend Andy says there's no such thing as too many portable toilets. This got far less notice than I would have thought. Then we all visited the construction site. In between exposing the goose's chicanery and the Terminator Salvation tour, I took this photo of the inside of my pocket. It was on purpose, I swear. ...but I saw right through its ruse. "BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME, GOOSE!" -Me Most who walked past thought this goose was asleep... Fortunately, the rain didn't last for long, and blue skies prevailed for most of the morning ERT. (Hello, goose!) The morning began with rain, rain, rain. Many came prepared with umbrellas, while I adapted by standing under a handy roof.

An article in today's Charlotte Observer provides some more details about the plans for Hard Rock Park. One thing that disappoints me is the apparent plan to do away with the current dark ride. I haven't been to the park, but that ride in particular always intrigued me, and I was hoping to make it out there this year to give it a try. Without that strange dark ride, their ride lineup seems quite run-of-the-mill to me.

Actually, Six Flags owns essentially all of the land on the far side of the bridge, while they lease the land inside the perimeter road. I'm sure they own pretty much all of the equipment (rides), regardless of which side of the road a piece may be located on. A while back, I know that some rides, notably the Ferris wheel and Chang, were leased, but I would think that by now there's a good chance those are owned as well. Just wanted to clear that up. As for how a bankruptcy might affect SFKK or any other park, I have no idea. It seems rather premature to even think in terms so specific.

Their ticket site seems to hold lots of secrets, and it changes regularly. I would think that you should still be able to order that VIP ticket using the link you saved, since it appears that the item is still fully functional. Enjoy your trip!

The Two-Park Express Plus looks like it's $25.99 on the day(s) of your visit. A lot of the time if you consider that cost for everyone who'd be staying in your room, you find that the added cost of a Universal hotel room (that is, the portion above and beyond what you'd pay at a similar off-property room) is about the same or less than buying Express Plus passes a la carte. (I hope that made sense...) Though I suspect at $25.99 per Express Plus when you're visiting, the above may not hold true. If your mother wouldn't make use of that hotel benefit, then maybe you're better off buying an Express Plus pass for only those who'd use them. Just keep in mind that the Express Plus passes are good only once at each attraction (versus unlimited use with a hotel key card). And both Dragons together count as one attraction, so you'd have to wait in the regular queue at least once if you wish to ride both tracks. If you're going to do both Universal and IOA in one day, you probably won't have much time for rerides anyway, so once through each attraction is likely enough.

The main attraction at Sea World is the animal displays and shows, so if you decide to take all those in, you should plan for most of the day at Sea World. If your main interest in Sea World is the rides, though, it can make for a short visit. Assuming you stick mostly to the rides, then, here's what I'd suggest: Do Busch Gardens either first or last. (You probably figured this out, but I want to make sure.) Book a room for at least one night at one of the on-property Universal hotels (Portofino, Hard Rock or Royal Pacific). Don't fib about how many people are in the room, because everyone will need to have a room key. Plan to hit Sea World, Universal and IOA on the day before and the day after this night's stay. Buy Universal two-park unlimited tickets at universalorlando.com for everyone in your party. Day 1: First thing in the morning (like 7:30 or 8:00 a.m.), check into the Universal Resort hotel that you've reserved. They will give you keys to your room, even if the room isn't ready yet. Then go to Sea World in time for opening, and ride the rides and see the shows that interest you. That afternoon, you'll probably be done with Sea World. Drive back to your hotel to park the car, then proceed to Universal and/or IOA. The two-park unlimited tickets will allow you entry to either or both parks on the same day, and your room keys will allow you to use the Express Plus entrances at all the major attractions as often as you want. They will ask everyone to show a room key to gain entry, which is why you need to make sure you have room keys for everyone. Enjoy a restful night in your lovely hotel room. Day 2: Go back to Universal and IOA for a second day, using your hotel room keys for unlimited Express access once again! The unlimited Express access that you get from having a hotel room will really help you cover a lot of ground. Since it's your first visit, and you're coming from some distance, you should really consider it. It takes away much of the worry about crowds. Enjoy your visit!