Hilltopper39

^Yeah, there is a LOT of football left to be played, Notre Dame still has USC, Oregon still has Stanford, Oregon State and probably USC, Kansas State still has Baylor and Texas, then Alabama still has to play a one loss Georgia in the SEC title game. Don't sleep on Georgia, they're arguably playing some of the best football in the country right now, and if they can pull off an upset over Alabama, then I would think they would get the BCS Championship bid over other 1-loss teams.

^^^ Is there any chance that the Wingrider concept kinda fades away in a few years like the Stand-up, flyer, and Floorless sort of did? I mean I rode WIld Eagle, and it was fine, it was fun, but I didn't like it nearly as much as Raptor, or Montu, or Dueling Dragons or several other B&M inverts. Maybe the next generation of wing riders starting with Gatekeeper will take that concept to the next level but maybe these things will get built like crazy for 3 or 4 years then disappear. (I think the concept will last because it seems to be very well received by the GP, but you never know)

Yeah I don't really "get" the giant Ferris wheels either, but maybe it's really easy to sell up charge tickets to it in combination with Madame Tussauds and the Sea Life Aquarium ?

I hardley consider Orlando (or central Florida) "The South", while their per capita number of waffle houses is acceptable there needs to be more K-Marts, gun shops, and churches to really count . Looks like a great addition to I-Drive, I've always loved that part of Orlando and with the expansion to Fun Spot and this it should be even better!

Here's a question for Gravity Group (or any of the design companies), but how much influence do the parks have in the final design of their coasters? Do they request certain elements or a certain type of ride experiences, or do they pretty much leave it up to your professional experience? For example, a ride like the Voyage, would Holiday World say we want a ride that is 160 feet tall and 6,000 feet long with a ton or airtime, or do they approach you and say here's your plot of land show me what you can do? (I'd be interested to hear the response for this question from other manufactures especially B&M concerning Gatekeeper)

I can answer the second part of your question...Absolutely Not! Sorry, I'll break it out into separate posts, but Gravity Group- do you think a ride with the High Five element could ever be built in America? (don't listen to Elissa! we want one!)

Gravity Group- What was your inspiration for the Dauling Dragons "High Five" Element?

^What about a glass that holds an entire bottle? (who has Piers in the gift exchange?)

I haven't been on very many Eurofighters but Dare Devil Dive was a lot of fun and one of the biggest coaster surprises I've had in a while. Mystery Mine is a great "attraction", but just kind of an average coaster to me.

That was something that I discovered in my engineering curriculum, half of it I loved, half of it I absolutely despised. I too was more creative than technical but unfortunately I found that there wasn't a lot of room for creativity in my (and probably most) undergraduate programs, some sure but not that kind that I was expecting. Also, to address your last statement, I've discovered that there are a LOT more opportunities in this world that involve "maintaining" things that there are "creating" things. Wish someone I had been told me that a long time ago because I think with the right mindset certain maintenance and operations position could be a lot of fun.

^Yeah, I've always thought that mean Streak is one of the best looking wooden coasters in the world even if the ride on it leaves a lot to be desired. I'm a fan of it getting re-profiled by RMC in some form or another, but that may or may not be financially feasible.

I predict an average of 9 sacks and 3 interceptions for the SEC team in this game every year.

Let the bottle tampering techniques discussion begin! (just kidding) Seriously this is good news, it is nice to be able to have bottle in your state room to enjoy at your convenience. Now if I could only convince them that if it's in a wine bottle it must be wine.......

Intamin- I know that there are a LOT of factors that a park must look into when considering to build a new ride, but is there a specific reason that no mega-lites have been built in america to date?

B&M- After hearing the amazing reviews of Starry Night Ripper during TPR's China trip, are there any plans for more custom flyers?

Yeah, this project has been fairly quiet with Outlaw Run already having completed it's track work but this thing is going to be insane, easily the 2013 ride I'm looking forward to the most.

Here's another one for RMC- If you could choose one existing wooden coaster in the world to "re-profile" with your iron horse track system what would it be and why?

I've never had what I would consider a "brutal" ride on Vortex but it is getting a little old and something new (invert, wing rider, crazy custom flyer) would be a welcome addition. For me Vortex in the last car still has one of the best first drops around.

Second question for RMC- Is there any maintenance (weekly, monthly, annually, off season etc.) that is required for topper track after it has been in installed ?

RMC- Could your iron horse track system be used to re-profile existing steel coasters like some older Arrow Mine trains?

Siting that close to the beach should adds some cool perspective to the ride. I still wish they would have found a way to design this thing with the lift hill facing the park instead of the parking lot. The view from the top of the lift will be of a massive parking lot instead of one of the most iconic park skylines in the world. Still should be an awesome addition though.

^^Love the Buddy Christ costume.

^If Saban has a month and a half to prepare for one game I'm not sure the Packers could score 60 against him. Which is another thing that I think hurts Oregon in these big bowl games, their offense is really dynamic and difficult to prepare for on a week to week basis, but if a team has 4 weeks to practice against it and familiarize themselves with all of their sets prepare for that ridiculous pace of play then it really levels he playing field. I think Oregon puts up impressive number on some teams that are poorly coached unprepared to defend that style because it's so different, but with 5 weeks and a national championship on the line they aint fooling anybody.

Yeah I don't think Oregon can put up 60 points on Alabama or anything but I do think they're explosive enough that they can make some big plays here that could add up to maybe 20 or so. I would definitely rather see Oregon vs Bama instead of Kansas or Notre Dame, I don't think Kansas State is athletic enough to hang around with them.