CedarFlags

Did anyone else catch The Killing Joke? Having only a very cursory knowledge of the source material, I thought the movie was okay, but the story telling wasn't great. The first 30 minutes of the movie exists only to establish Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon's complicated relationship/feelings for each other... which could have been effectively established in about 10 minutes. Seriously, it takes over half an hour for the actual story of The Killing Joke to start. The overall pacing was very odd. Some relatively minor scenes (from a plot moving perspective) went on for longer than they needed to, and some really major moments happened way too quickly for my taste. The actual moment of Joker's psychotic breakdown, that the whole thing has really been building up to, happens in the blink of an eye and has basically no weight to it. He just appears and is crazy and that's it. The ending is really anti climactic, but (I think) for a purpose. It seems, in their reverence for the comic, the film makers forgot that they had the opportunity to fill in the gaps between the panels and make a real MOVIE. Kevin Conroy is still great, and I think this is Mark Hamill's best Joker voice work, but Mask of the Phantasm was a WAY better movie overall.

Just got home from Ghostbusters. What a DELIGHT!

Also: Pony is back open again as of yesterday.

You should be fine with Bullet and Xcel. I've noticed more maintenance days during the lull before and after Spring Break season than I have in the fall. Ghostrider usually gets a little TLC just after Halloween ends, but it may not need much this year with being freshly renovated.

I've seen it hovering right around 1 hour, but I don't even try on Saturdays or Sundays.

That is perfect. I wish Cedar Point had that system. I spent 10-15 bucks on storage throughout the day, trying to limit constantly going in and out, and I never had any of my stuff with me. And then I'd have to schlep back to where the last location was that I used. It was such a pain. I would have gladly paid a 10-20 dollar flat fee to be able to store my stuff for one ride, then take it with me to another and store it there. Magic Mountain did something right, you guys!

Thing about new Ghost Rider that is really driving me nuts and is totally fixable... the programming of the brakes and station. I was timing dispatches while bored in line, and it would take nearly 3 minutes from sending one train to sending the next, partially because the control system on the brakes makes the returning train stop and start about 4 times on its way back into the empty station. It's also super awkward while you're riding. If they could streamline this and make it quicker, I'm sure they could add 5-8 trains an hour to the capacity, which would make a difference to wait times during the busy summer season. Also, when the train parks, the seats are about a foot off from lining up with the queue gates, leading to a lot of people walking into the wrong row (happened 3 times while I was close enough to see).

The street performers stay for the Hoedown at 5:30 and then they go home. The Calico stage Circus of Wonders show is at 9:00 and it's sort of an extension of GTA (the circus comes to town). There are bands (jazz, swing, soft rock) that play right across from the Boardwalk Circle fountain in the evening leading up to CoW.

An employee at Knott's tried to tell me that post-refurb Ghostrider has a new top speed of 67 mph (instead of 56), despite not having any height added to the first drop. After a brief "that doesn't sound possible", I decided to drop it and not make things weird. Plenty of other rides have gotten new trains, and none of them have ever added 20% to their top speed.

The thing that drove me crazy about the ptc lap bars was the bend in the side the would dig into my thigh... This isn't GR, but it had the same bars...

I guess it's more of a personal thing than I thought. Even the pitiful new first drop bothered me less than losing that other moment.

That's the one part of the ride I thought needed re-profiling the most as that particular turn always felt like it was going to tear the train apart. I'm surprised that this part saw so much re-profiling though — it never seemed quite that bad at that spot. Original: Screen Shot 2016-06-10 at 5.18.14 PM.png[/attachment] I for one, would disagree. My ribs were not a fan of that turn. But these complaints are about how it felt when the ride was at its worst overall. I have a pretty low threshold for ride discomfort, and that turn was never an issue for me until 5-ish years ago. With new track and new trains and different material, there's no reason they couldn't have retained some of that banking (even if they reduced the angle)

Finally got myself over there and on it yesterday. WAY more comfortable, but I definitely noticed the reprofiling in some places, and I don't think it was changed for the better. One spot in particular stood out instantly, and I was pretty disappointed about it: the first bunny hop after the midcourse turn around drop. Old GR: New GR: Notice how in the original design, the hill itself was banked before going into the turn. So it was a crazy mix of air time and lateral that made it feel really out of control. In the refurb, they have leveled out the first part of the hill and the banking doesn't start until you crest the top. Looks like a small change visually, but I think it makes a BIG difference in the experience.

A radio commercial today mentioned the phrase "gravity defying" when describing a coaster...

It's pretty darn popular. 90 minute-2hr wait times aren't uncommon during peak season, and its one of the highest capacity rides in the park.

Literally, who are ANY of these people?

Well I guess that asking where a Diary Queen is would be better then asking where the Diarrhea Queen is. There's one right across the street from Breakers Express. I guess it depends on how generous of a "nearby" you're using.

Some HILARITY happening on the Scary Farm Fan group page on Facebook. Someone mentioned a (totally stupid) rumor about the possibility of Haunt getting canceled this year because of the new GM. It started as semi-serious rumor discussing, and it's devolved into mostly trolling and gag tributes.

This ride in England literally just stopped on the lift hill. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-36389196?ns_campaign=bbc_south_today&ns_source=facebook&ns_linkname=english_regions

Craft Barn. It was a Merchandise location, and it's been renovated. Here's an aerial view. The Barn is in blue, and Wilderness Dance Hall is Red. Yellow is Birdcage and Green is Saloon (for reference)

I won't be sad if they remove PE entirely. Oh and it's not a dance hall anymore. Now it's a hands on horse stable. That's the Barn ( next to the Western Trails Museum). Wilderness Dance Hall is still the same.

I don't know how this managed to stay so quiet, but Pony Express had a pretty serious mechanical failure on Friday that resulted in a very loud bang that had pieces of the flywheel machinery flying off onto the train tracks and the back of Wilderness Dance Hall. Nobody was hurt but the ride has been down all weekend.

Totally agree, as much as I like the Sky Rocket II coasters, the park doesn't need another low capacity launched coaster. Plus Xcelerator is right next to the site and it's a superior ride. I'd love to see a big B&M (hyper, dive, winged, take your pick), but I'd take an airtime filled Megalite, Chance GT-X, or Mack anyday. If they were to remove the 2 buildings by Calico Mine Ride & Boomerang they could possibly fit a B&M Dive Coaster in the spot though it would be very small. I say a Hyper GT-X that goes over or under Timber Mountain Log Ride and does a turn around by Silver Bullet's helix would be the way to go. I drew a layout for the coaster and what it would look like in its spot. Not happening. Boardwalk Ballroom is a money maker for special events, plus it houses an employee cafeteria, rehearsal space for entertainment shows, and there are some offices right behind it. Also... Matt Ouimet hates the way the Bullet was constructed so obtrusively on top of and around everything else. I doubt he would be okay with doing it again.

Goes to show you that the "tallest, Fastest ____ coaster" marketing works. People thought Fury was the record breaker when it opened, now this. The parks figured out that people don't pay attention to details. Which is SHOCKING, I know...

According to New York Magazine, Valravn is the tallest and fastest coaster on earth. You can see both MF and TTD in the video... [fbvideonew] [/fbvideonew]