ZeroGravity55

The Golden Ticket Awards are really nothing more than glorified awards for the amusement industry. When marketed correctly by parks, they can be used to help enhance the image of the park to the general public. Perfect examples of this would be Holiday World, Cedar Point, ext. In my opinion, this is the sole reason this poll even exists and will continue to each and every year. Since Holiday World is my home park, I will say Wildebeest deserved best waterpark ride, so at least that doesn't seem questionable. Other than that, I really don't know what to think about it.

^^ They did so this year as they've found that reducing the ride to six cars has less wear and tear on the track as opposed to the seven car trains. There really isn't that much of a difference between the six and seven car trains other than the seventh car giving a rougher ride than the sixth! Great trip report! I always love hearing about other peoples experiences at my home park, especially those who don't get to visit the park that much

^ Ahh okay. They did a pretty good job of not putting a whole lot of track out in the open for us enthusiast to get pictures of it.

Maybe Paula can answer this, but Clermont hid the track until after the announcement or at least that is the way I'm interpreting it?

I just ran across this on HW's FB page and can't believe I missed it a few days ago. I always look forward to seeing the design of the parks corn maze for Happy Halloween Weekends! Awesome!

Remember people, this is a RMC crew building this, not some crew SF hired off the street. Don't even bring up Goliath last year either. Considering they started in September, the fact they had the ride completed by June is quite remarkable.

^ That was actually my thought. Plus the station, and Thunderbird plaza.

I love seeing progress, but I much rather see that track coming toward the camera rather than going away from it (telling myself to be patient). Given how relatively short this ride is, am I the only one who thinks they could have the track work completed by January?

Yeah, because Cedar Fair is SO much better at taking care of their aging wooden coasters. *Cough*.. Mean Streak.. *Cough* Thunderhawk.. *Cough* Wild Beast.. *Cough* Ghostrider.. I think I'm catching a cold. Seriously though, if there is no contract, it's only a matter a time for someone else begins stealing Six Flags' thunder with hybrid conversions. I hope it's Cedar Fair. Funny thing, I keep hearing about how great Mean Streak has been running, though I can't speak for the others. Honestly, I think it varies from park to park on how much they spend on maintenance, but overall, Cedar Fair as a company has done a better job than SF has at maintaining their older coasters, even though it might not be by much.

^ I'm gonna guess that has more to do with the trains rather than the track and if parks would ask B&M or tell them that this is a problem, I'm sure B&M would help them figure out how to fix it.

I actually talked to Dave Roemer about this "contract" that everyone has been talking about. Basically unless corporate is hiding something from hi, that contract is just a rumor. Either way, he said that it has, to his knowledge, no impact whatsoever on the Boss getting converted. If that's the case then it really surprises me that no one else has taken the bait. Probably because other parks would rather be known for maintaining the rides they have and building great new rides from the ground up rather than being known for letting rides go to crap and then having to pay to convert them into great rides. I said there would be no RMC without SF, but where would SF be without RMC?

No offense, but why does everybody assume that RMC and SF will stop working with each other once this "exclusive contract" expires (still don't understand how they have this contract if RMC has been advertising their I-Box track at IAPPA since they invented it, but can only sell it to SF)? RMC is expanding their manufacturing warehouses and their full time staff. Who says they won't be able to manufacturer 5+ coasters in one year? Plus, RMC will probably still give priority to SF considering there would be no RMC coasters without SF.

Honestly, I don't think it really matters where you try and put a park in New Orleans, tourist don't go to New Orleans for an amusement park. It's very much like Hard Rock Park being located in Myrtle Beach, people didn't go to Myrtle Beach to go to an amusement park. If they were to build one, I think it would have to take on an edgy persona, much like the one you would find on the French Quarter, but that limits who you're attracting to the park. The best bet in this situation would be to get outside of New Orleans and find good location near a major interstate. I would then build a combo park with a decent sized waterpark to sustain business and allow me to expand accordingly. I would market this park to the families of Louisiana, and wouldn't even worry about trying to draw the tourist crowd.

^ I'm hopeful on Iron Boss, but I wouldn't expect a big new coaster. Wasn't there talk about the park getting a kiddie coaster?

They sound like some of the older folks over at SFSTL thread. At least they have a somewhat legitimate beef, unlike KD. But SFSTL hasn't had a major coaster for quite a long time, and the biggest thing they have gotten was a relocated boomerang. If they got an I305, you KNOW they would shut up and thank the Six Flags Gods. I can't deny that, they would shut up. If KD got another coaster, the kids on KD thread would want another one within two years.

Surprisingly, Holiday World has some very good food options outside of Pizza. You just have to venture around the park to find them.

I feel like this needed a bump. Just curious, how many people were you guys expecting?

They sound like some of the older folks over at SFSTL thread. At least they have a somewhat legitimate beef, unlike KD.

Actually, it is missing a whole section from the original ride, as is Texas Giant. Alright Mr. Engineer, please do the math and re-design this sucker for us. If you think it's going to be a great ride, then why are you bitching about it? Who cares if it could have been longer? The parts they cut out where basically dead spaces in the original ride and they probably couldn't do anything innovative with the structure that those elements utilized. Personally, I'm amazed they were able to take this 1970's layout, and turn into something that is very modern and innovative. The same goes with Wicked Cyclone.

Being able to see The Voyage when you pull into the parking lot and watching it get bigger right before your eyes as you get closer. Other than that, I have to say the incredible pacing of Iron Rattler, Medusa and Outlaw Run really grabbed me when I saw the off-ride shots. Those coasters haul some serious ass.

Oh don't get me wrong, I know there are people who understand and totally get it. I appreciate the hell out of those type of people. It is the ones (in general) who complain/ say it is the worst service they've ever had and then threaten to never come back who drive me nuts.

The same people who are/who will complain about us talking about the pathways will probably be the ones complaining about having to walk through the waterpark to get to T-Bird or will complain about the long walk back. Seeing how they do this will probably give us a better idea of how this area is going to shape up. That is why it's interesting to me. Excuse me for being interested in how the park might look in 5 years... Edit: Let me clarify why it's interesting. If they try and separate the pathways (which appears that won't be the case), I thought it was going to be permanent and Thunderbird would be the end of the line for the Thanksgiving section. Now that it appears that they're going to have guests go through the water park, I think it's only temporary until they're able to wrap the Thanksgiving section around Hyena Falls. When that happens, the new pathway will go straight under the launched section and the temporary pathway will become another entrance to the waterpark.

However, the compliments/complaints that go through Guest Relations actually go through a system where not only departmental supervisors see them, but park directors see them as well. Did you know that Dave Roemer actually personally goes through every single compliment given, as well as a lot of complaints. Yea Six Flags is a corporation, but there are still real, good people who would take your feedback seriously. As soon as I saw the complaints I figured the park had more people show up than expected. Then you weren't staffed accordingly and I can totally relate to how much that sucks. You try the best you can, but nothing goes right. I wish people would understand and recognize when it happens.

This was straight from Screamscape with details on Justice League: Battle of Metropolis. Sounds like Six Flags has went all out on this one and I'm looking forward to getting out to the park and checking it out next year!

I don't think it's fully connected yet (assuming you're talking about the transfer track section and the station track section).