Cameron

Next time I visit your town, I'm going to hit him with my net!

The swings were there originally, but for the past two years they were situated over by Steel Hawg (don't ask..!). Great report, thanks for posting! I love Indiana Beach (less-so over the last 5-6 years, but I still consider myself a fanboy), so it's great to hear from new visitors. I've actually not made it down there yet this year - really trying to go. Perhaps I'll take a day off work some time. Cameron.

The park *desperately* needs more TVs blasting ads and crappy music videos.

^ Erik will steal your favorite Animals .. be warned!!!

^ Just wait until the night-club opens, and the hookers start moving in! One of my Animals (Margie) moved out today .. thank-god! She was nasty, I caught fleas from her about 4 or 5 times. Each time she's feigned embarrassment, but I guess that's what one gets when one spends too much time up against walls with sailors. Then there's Lucky .. I admit that Lucky is my favorite animal in the town. Sleeps a lot, always looking for snacks, and spends an inordinate amount of time staring blankly at trees. A total stoner, but he has my heart. The other day I found a lost item, turned out it was one of Lucky's baggies!

Viper has always been significantly better at the front of the train - more air, more laterals. My one backwards ride yesterday, in the back row, was a snooze-fest. I never really cared for Eagle backwards either - so maybe backwards wooden coasters just aren't for me; which is fine. I got my backwards rocks off on Batman many times, which was awesome. I'm still sorry I never got a chance to try Mr. Freeze backwards.

^^ I had to resist the urge to start pulling weeds when I was at Six Flags yesterday!

DING! We have a winner! I think this sums up, quite perfectly, why Raging Bull *seems* to rage a lot less now than it did when it first opened. It's a perfectly good ride, but personally I'd rather be on Batman, V2, Viper, X-Flight (seriously) or even Whizzer. Cameron.

^^ The ride runs correctly with the trims .. they're part of the design.

^ Agreed - All trims were there when the ride opened in 1999. They are not stronger now than they were .. the ride was built with them. At this point it seems extremely unlikely that the trims will go away, so just deal with it. The first half of the ride sucks anyway, it's all about the second half (which isn't trimmed) - so really, who gives a crap?! (Can we get "The ride was built with them, shut up" t-shirts?! ) If that's not good enough - think of it this way: Raging Bull was (presumably) engineered to be traversed at a particular speed. The trims ensure that the train is going that speed. If the trims were to be removed then the ride would be "too fast", and the actual ride elements would have to be adjusted so that the train traversed them at the same speed as it does now - so really there would be no difference. Raging Bull isn't my favorite ride in the park (by a long shot); but that's because of the layout (particularly the first half), not because of the trims. However, the public still loves this ride - 14 years later. That's what matters to the park, and it's the park who builds the rides. So again - deal with it Cameron.

You all have serious balls.

^ I got the fishing badge this morning. The other day I was bit by some spider, passed out, and woke-up out front of my house. I think the Animals may have raped me while I was out. I don't trust any of them .. walking around, with that dopy smile on their faces. None of them work, how do they afford these houses? And what's with the Nook Family and their hold they have over the town? It's like a mafia. There's definitely some shady **** going on.. I also have funded the second bridge, and then only ONE animal showed up for the little ceremony. ONE ANIMAL! They're all a bunch on ingrates! My town now has apples, oranges, pears and coconuts. I'm still waiting for the mangoes to bare fruit. I left my 3DS at home today - lord only knows what sort of debauchery is going on in my absence...

I need to not be so busy during the week so that I can visit more towns. I do now have apples (native), pears and oranges growing in my town and baring fruit. I also have some coconut trees growing on my beaches (not yet baring fruit), and a pallet of mangoes in my house. I'm hesitant to plant the mangoes because I already have a lot of trees and I'm worried the mangoes will have a low survival rate. I really need to buy an axe and do some re-forestation. I'm close to paying off a second bridge .. haven't paid even one cent toward my house (after the first expansion), I *really* want that second bridge! Should have it by the weekend. Cameron.

^ I've had a supremely busy week and only had time for Animal Crossing here and there. Tonight should be better. I've started one public works project - a second bridge. I'm sick of tromping all the way down to the bottom of my map to cross the river! Cameron.

Donating fossils to the museum is cool as you can build up entire collections of things - it's fun to go and look at stuff (and read the descriptions). You can even build entire skeletons of many creatures. Name: Cameron FC: 1607-2297-8272 Town: Boopville Fruit: Apples AC Name: Cameron

Now there's no way I can be absolutely sure about this, but I'd wager that yes you are the only one who thinks that First off, as Jon mentioned, Green Lantern is low capacity. Second, it's a horrible horrible ride. The great people of Chicago and Milwaukee rejoiced when Iron Wolf left - none of us want it replaced with another horrific torture device! Personally I'd love to see the Iron Wolf space filled with something like Sky Rocket at Kennywood - or perhaps even something Maverick-esqe. Or - if this really is a trust and true Universe - that space would be filled with about 5 Bayern Kurves! Cameron.

I've often wondered how this worked, because currently the trains are longer than that platform. Were the trains shorter when the ride first opened? Also - there's no need for the park to run three-trains on Eagle, the ride just isn't popular enough anymore. I also don't think it's fair to accuse the crew of "stacking" the trains on Eagle, since most of the time they actively wait for the previous train to hit the brakes before dispatching the next one. Even if everyone is ready, they just wait. No idea why this might be necessary (I see it on Whizzer too), but it definitely seems intentional. As for "arrow was the last manufacturer to build high-capacity rides", Raging Bull is a capacity machine .. with three trains running, and an active crew, the line never seems to stop moving. But if you want to see real capacity, head over to Europa Park - those guys are insane with how quickly they move people through rides. SFGAm is definitely having an off year; which is a huge shame. I'd love to see the park more open about the state of things - their facebook/twitter usage is kind of useless at the moment. I'm no hospitality expert, but if something is going on that the park is too ashamed to admit publicly, then that should be the sign that it needs fixing Cameron.

"Early in the season" is no excuse. If the park is open, they should be fully functional. They're the ones who set the date for opening day, they need to be ready for it. They have six months to prepare for the season, it's not like it's sprung upon them at the last minute. If a flat-ride or two (or three) isn't ready, ok - but X-Flight? Seriously? That's the Big New Ride - it needs to be running at full capacity: both trains, and full staff. Opening weekend, across the park, was a disgrace. Do you think I can go to my job after a long weekend and just do nothing for a few days? No, of course not - it's expected that I *work*, because that's my job. Otherwise I get replaced. Six Flags job is to have rides running for people - not repulsive loud TVs or hideous advertising banners ... every guest hates that stuff. We're there for the rides. If management can't get the rides running, then find people who can. Cameron (I've stuck up for Six Flags for over 10 years - no more, I'm done with them) Silver.

Seems to me that the park should focus on getting the rides running correctly *forwards* before they start with more backwards nonsense. I was planning to go tomorrow with about 4 other people, all of whom were planning to get season passes - but with this news we've decided to go do something else instead. Really bummed to see the park in such shambles this season. At least all the in-park advertising is working!

I saw a billboard today that stated Batman will be backwards "until July 7th". Cameron.

Damn - I want a Batman cookie! Seriously though (actually I was serious - I really do want a Batman cookie) it looked like a fun day. Thrilled to hear that a second train is in the works! Running backwards is really a surreal experience - I used to joke "Oh I know the Batmen backwards", how wrong I was Thanks for the awesome coverage, Jeremie. Cameron.

Other than the weather being a bit crap yesterday, I didn't notice anything bad about Cedar Point at all. Operations all seemed pretty much standard - rides were well staffed, and the staff all seemed to have a handle on things. I'd imagine that there were a few inefficiencies due to inexperience, but I didn't notice anything first-hand. It's always disappointing when rides go down for weather, but you can't blame the park. In fact the park really seemed like it was in great shape for opening day ... unlike a certain Gurnee park which I won't mention. I know it's been a long off-season .. how about we get some rides in before we start the bitching Cameron.

Erik has definitely broken the Opening Day Curse (it always rains) .. next time Erik is in town I'm going to take him to a Cubs game. (Speaking of which: GO CARDS!!) Cameron.

It seems a bit over-done to us because we get information from parks from all over the country - but a coaster or two that runs backwards at each park can be a really cool thing for the locals. Riding Batman Backwards was totally insane/surreal - I'm thrilled Six Flags has tried this; I'm really eager to get more rides on it, but I'm also glad it's not permanent. There is currently only a single train on the track, and it's backwards. There were no other trains visible - so I'm not sure if a second backwards train will be added, or if there will just be only one. A second backwards train would be nice, but given the amount of work it must take to flip everything around, I can excuse them for only running one train. The crew in the station was really moving, getting the train dispatched quickly - it was great to see. There were lots of problems at SFGAm this weekend, but Batman was certainly not one of them. Just the opposite actually: Batman was a genuine highlight.

Rode it earlier today, in row 1 (first row out of the station), and loved it! It was smooth, fast and very forceful. Didn't notice any head banging at all. It is intense, though .. I was shaking a bit after the ride (in a good way), and I definitely could not marathon on it; but I'm thrilled that Six Flags has done this - I love interesting creative stuff like this Only one train, and I couldn't really see any evidence of a second train, but the crew was awesome - they were really moving. Listening to comments from other riders, it seems like this is a winner. Cameron. PS: Matt, you could really use a shower.