CaptainUnknown

I'm with you on that. Having grown up around here, I've come to terms that SDC will never serve alcohol. I'm honestly impressed that Branson has a winery and a distillery. Plus Springfield just opened its third brewery. For an area that actually still has dry towns, this is progress. I agree that it IS definitely progress! While I have no problem with the wholesome family approach of SDC and Dollywood, sooner or later someone is going to get into management that is going to realize the high profit margin that comes with serving alcohol in a theme park. Now before the teetotalers all come with their axes swinging saying how it would kill the charm of the park and bring in the wrong type of crowds, I'll say up front that I know that alcohol can bring out the bad in a lot of people. But pricing it to the point where some redneck alcoholic that downs an 18 pack of Busch Light every day is going to say, "Dang, I ain't payin' no $8 for a Bud Light, yo!", you've already eliminated a high percentage of those who are going to get drunk and ruin the family vibe. And chances are that if they are a falling down type of drunk, they're likely to just leave the park and go get drunk at their car in the parking lot or go to a bar and come back anyway. Alcohol sales at parks has never been a problem at any other park that I have visited. Obviously if more and more parks are doing beer & wine with food festivals, they know what type of good revenue is coming in with it. They likely wouldn't do it otherwise. If SDC would ever do it, and I do not anticipate that happening as long as the current generation of the Herschend family are still in charge, I think a food festival would be how they would introduce it. Beer and moonshine during Bluegrass & BBQ, cider during Harvest Festival, proper wassail and eggnog during Christmas. It could be done very classy. SDC for all its kitsch has always been a classy place. We're dreaming here, of course, but it's nice to dream. There would also likely be beer jail.

Spinballing off this, I wonder how a relocation would fit in. I know a number have predicted that the Knotts Boomerang will be relocated somewhere. And I personally have predicted that Carowinds' Vortex will be relocated to MiA and get the floorless treatment during the trip north.

It seems like a lot of folks have given up on a new coaster at Valleyfair but at the rate this park is going, I could see one coming sometime in the next 3 to 5 years. We're being realistic. My prediction has the next coaster in 2020. It's a question of where the coaster would go. We can rule out replacing Excalibur. I think Corkscrew has a good few years in it yet. But if the Dinos Alive contract does end in 2019 as some have claimed, that's a lot of space that can be used.

I swear, if Knoebels and Hersheypark weren't an hour away from Dorney, it wouldn't get as much flak. Knoebels is one of the most awesometaculararrific parks in existence, and Hershey draws all the crowds.

Was there ever any doubt?

So with your opinions of Drop Towers, I take it Falcon's Fury is out of the question? I used to hate drop towers too, and then I spent 2 years operating one.

Neither can I. I don't know if it's intentionally supposed to clog things up or if it's to make everyone drive in a circle, but it's annoying. Sadly, I think their intent IS to "encourage" people to drive in a circle, and to "prevent" head-on collisions. Which, IMHO, pretty much defeats a lot of the fun of bumper cars! (I mean, I don't actually TRY to hit people head-on, but still, driving in a circle is terrible...) The island is essentially a CYA move on parks to prevent head-on collisions. More than a few times, bloody noses from children have resulted from head-on collisions. As one who has operated an islandless bumper cars, we are required to make the spiel that says "try to avoid head-on collisions" but no one enforces it. I can also imagine that the island makes it harder to clean the attraction.

Forget SFA, I'm going to Escalator Land!

Riptide: *calls dispatch* Dispatch: We don't give a sh!t about wait times. *hangs up* Riptide: *down and loaded*

Since you're on that crew, does it seem like the shed has any affect on the ride's capacity, or is the crew just that good?

I will remain firm in my opinion that a frisbee will replace Riptide next year until I hear any convincing argument otherwise. And I don't think the Soak City expansion/Excalibur removal will start until the Cedar Fair revamp begins in earnest as it did with Carowinds and is picking up with CGA.

The visuals But is the story easy to follow? Does it redeem the movie's story at all? Also, is that avatar in a tank in the flight of passage queue animatronic, a projection, or other?

Yes, because it's always easy to predict how hard a blizzard will hit several months from now and how long after that the ground thaws enough to put shovels back into the dirt. They need to dig up enough dirt to have a space for this thing, pour some concrete, wire electrical outside of guest view, erect and test the thing. A couple years back in Minneapolis, they poured salt onto the roads before a large blizzard. But before the blizzard hit, a rainstorm washed most of the salt away. And the blizzard hit before more salt could be placed. That winter completely shredded the roads. "The best laid schemes of mice and men/Go often askew," -"To a Mouse" by Robert Burns

Agreed. I'm waiting for a "boat" a la Cedar Point during Valravn construction.

I was working a garbage collection shift one time when I caught a preteen line jumping. After some protesting from her and her party, she did leave the line. Not 5 minutes later, the girl's mother (who was not in line, thus did not witness the incident) berated me for 10 minutes for calling out the girl on line-jumping, ending by saying that I had no idea what customer service was. And another, I was wanding out front for security when one teen as part of a school group came up. I asked him if his pockets were empty, he said yes, so I began wanding him. Spoiler alert, his pockets weren't empty as the wand detected his phone. After the phone was out, I asked again if his pockets were empty to which he again responded in the affirmative. FALSE, the wand beeped at his wallet. By this point, I was getting a little miffed, so when he again said his pockets were empty, I scanned him only to find a KNIFE! Robb, I don't know how you've managed not to strangle anybody with all these tales you've told; and for that, you have my respect (for what little it's worth). While I envy the fact that you can afford to do all these amazing trips, I refuse to envy how many idiots you have to deal with.

I take it it would be more disturbing if it wasn't for its removal for some (speculated) shiny piece of new hotness? I know bets were placed, but I saw more for it going to Valleyfair than Dorney. Though my money is on either MiA or a junkyard. I wonder what Vegas thinks...

*Sees how much fun you're having* *Wants to go to UAE* *Checks bank account* *Cries alone in the corner* *Tries to set realistic expectations* Curse my college student budget!

Because what's not hilarious about Robb yelling "My titties are jiggling" on Dodonpa?

You've never really dealt with stupid GP until they ask you if an S&S drop tower inverts. Or my personal favorite "Am I going to die?" Yes, but not on the ride...hopefully. Because that'd be a big ol' mess and I'd rather not have to deal with that paperwork...again. *Walks away with Sh!t-eating grin while the guest screams*

Good choreography/spectacle, absolute sh!t story/dialogue. Hopefully it's replaced with a good script.

CP is already trying to keep their guests safe. They have security. Metal detectors don't increase security; they just increase its visibility. This is a CYA move, plain and simple. They're avoiding lawsuits, not incidents. A million signs, a big ol' fence, a warning from the ride ops that loose articles should be left with a non-rider, a dropped phone, and one stupid decision later, the park comes under fire for being unsafe. People will complain, whine, and grovel to every lawyer in the world if they get so much as a nightmare about getting a paper cut at an amusement park.

Thanks to everyone for the replies. KD/BGW will be enough for that trip. I'll pick up the SFA credits some other time.

I'm looking at potentially booking a trip to BGW/KD summer 2018 with a Base of Operations in Williamsburg. Since SFA is close-ish, what are the odds I'd collect all credits/decent flats arriving at 1 pm with no Flash Pass in 1 day. Is it worth it to make the 3 hour drive?

#Krampusisintheshed