Tiburon503

I'd ask why Six Flags felt compelled to plunk $40M down on the Dick Clark Production company. What synergies did Shapiro imagine between the companies? Outside of the AMA's, what value can Six Flags realize with their parks, that spending that $40M on either capitol improvements or rasing seasonal employee salaries wouldn't bring? Does DCP have any standout properties outside the AMAs or Golden Globe Awards license that would appeal to a family demographic? Wouldn't a sponsorship deal with the Grammys or more youth relevant MTV Awards have been a cheaper, more practical solution seeing the fiscal situation that Six Flags Inc. currently finds itself in? Six Flags under Red Zone was supposed to be a family focused company. Any word on when we can expect to see shows return to parks outside of Fiesta Texas? Fireworks return? This is not meant to be flaimbait. I'm honestly curious to know his opinion in these areas. Is the return of multiple coaster installs this season, as well as the slashing of park entertainment budgets during Shapiro's watch an admission of failed initial strategy? Six Flags has made great strides in increasing seasonal employment levels, while actually lowering costs of staffing (slashing full-time year-round employment wherever possible) as well as improving park cleanliness. What is the plan to improve the park experience other than smaller coaster installs and ride eliminations? Is he concerned the general public might see that constant removal of rides, whether operating daily or not, an appearance of a devalued product? When Kieren Burke intially announced the closure of Six Flags Astroworld (a move prompted by many factors, including an attempt to stave off the ourtight sale or RedZone take-over of Six Flags), Daniel Snyder voiced his opposition to the move. When Red Zone took over, why didn't the company stop the closure or seek injunctions barring the ride removals during the proxy fight? Was the $70M sell price a huge disappointment considering the initial sale forecast for that prime property? Wouldn't building a parking garage on the southeast section of the property (Fannm Street & West Bellfort St., across from the MetroLink Station), as well as moving the entrance there, been a better solution than junking a profitable park? Has the increased emphasis on Season Pass sales generate increased in-park product movement? Has the increased pricing of food actually hurt sales (not profits)?

Viper in red has officially been re-christened WestGASM™. I keep thinking of The Great American Scream Machine (so pretty yet so brutal) at SFGAdv. Perhaps SF got a better deal on red than orange? Jay Thomas posted at Ultimaterollercoaster.com during his SFKK days. He seemed very approachable as well as enthusiastic about his job and park. SFMM is in great hands with him. Hopefully RedZone doesn't pull the rug out from him to buy more SD-only (sans American Dreams) production houses ($40M for DCP is a total WTF move. I still can't believe they were able to fleece $135M from shareholders, with a stacked board, for acquisition costs without lawsuits). I know I'm beating a dead horse here. It just seems that $175M could have been used to hire more employees, raise salaries, or replace/repair rides and infrastructure. P.S. Mr. Thomas, please save the troll!

IMO, Chiller was Shapiro'd as soon as Premier Rides found a buyer. Mark Kane probably had no say in the matter.

AFAIK, TNA iMPACT (pro-wrestling) is the only working production at USF.

Question is, how old is the "Wet Hoffman Girl"? That might change the whole reaction from "Oh My God!" styles> to "Oh dear lord!"Hibberd> Relating to this actual thread, the Euro parks seem pretty. I really liked PortAventura (Furius Baco looks beautiful, but you might want a wine barrel after de-training) and Parque Warner Madrid. Mark Shapiro could borrow a few ideas from the latter. Warner's theming could be easily incorporated into a Six Flags park. Then again, that would involve spending real capital on the parks instead of production companies (with little value in an HD future).

I haven't been to Busch Gardens since 1984. It's always nice to see how pretty this park remains. My dad wasn't crazy about the steep inclines on some of the walkways. He described the park as "hilly". Has this changed? Perhaps many people here haven't noticed/cared or the park has been altered. Maybe it's just his opinion.

That lady's costume works for me. You're right about the Justice League costumes however.

Actually, it looks like they're thinking "Do you see dat [buttocks] on the blonde?" Or perhaps making plans with each other for later.

The ray of sunshine on this NYC rainy day. Gorgeous pics.

Thank Burke and Story for that. RedZone had NOTHING to do with it.

From what I remember, Exodus 24:10-16 and 2 Corinthians 6:14 were used as "biblical justification" for banning interracial marriage in the US for some time. EDIT: I just did a bit of research, I stand a bit corrected. Those sections were more in reference to christians marrying non-christians, as opposed to being about race. I do know they were used in the past as a tenuous way to say that interracial marriage was not allowed. My point is still valid, should we disallow people of different religion to get married because it is in the bible? The scriptures quoted in Exodus don't even REMOTELY advocate what you suggest. Exodus 24:10-16 (King James Version) King James Version (KJV) Public Domain 10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. 11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink. 12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. 13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God. 14 And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them. 15 And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. 16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. As for 2 Corinthians 6:14: 2 Corinthians 6:14 (King James Version) King James Version (KJV) Public Domain 14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? This scripture instructs not to marry people with different religious beliefs. It is not suggesting that interracial marriage is wrong. Religious beliefs are deeply passionate issues. A Zionist marrying someone affiliated with Hamas certainly will have a hard time staying together (even if they can get past their issues, the families will compound the problems). I actually think this is good advice. Light with darkness refers to good vs. evil, a recurring theme in the bible. The bible also advocates "love thy neighbor". Jesus suggested people do this above all else.

The bible also says interracial marriages should not be allowed. Should there be a law against that too? Would you care to point that scripture out? I'm not here to espouse religion, but I don't like seeing people crap on ANYONE's beliefs.

At $8,000+, why would anyone want to get married at Disney/anywhere? I'll live in sin for free!

Is that a Peter Griffon? *rimshot*

Shapiro might have sold Magic Mountain to ACE for $7,000.

$10/pile? Have the ACErs lined up at SFMM's front gate?

mmm...Tara Conner. I want to say so much about her, but I'm afraid I might be banned (soooooo hot! want to touch the ...). Any word if the equally hot Miss Teen USA (she's 18 folks) is included? That's a park hopper worth the extra money!

I think Six Flags *should* have removed B&R:TC, and sued Premiere Rides. Since its inception, the ride has been plagued with issues. It missed its entire opening season (minus 2 or 3 days in 1997). The ride is popular and intense, but I think Kingda Ka fills the void Chiller's removal would create. I simply believe Chiller will never perform reliably like its brothers in St. Louis and Texas. With all the rides being removed from SFGAdv. this off-season, I'd rather see Chiller join those ranks and utilize that cash to improve and/or fix some of the flats (like contracting Intamin to fix the Enterprise for starters).

God, I miss shooters. I liked Phalanx back in the day. Thank god I have a copy of Ikegara for Dreamcast. (If only Sega of Japan wasn't run by inept management. They wouldn't have been acquired by Sammy)

I have a real hard time buying the earthquake damage theory. If the ride was irreparably damaged, how was it certified to operate? I can't see the ride's insurer even remotely covering the ride if this is true. The most likely scenario is the rolling stock is killing the track. Mark "Spend no money on coasters that don't spin, or Magic Mountain" Shapiro decided it's cheaper to rip the ride out than re-track it. I think PTCs might have made a huge difference for this ride. Most people here probably could care less either way. In any case, we'll never know.[/i]

I want to ride the drunken Anneliese van der Pol! The Raven side will probably be dull.

I've re-encoded the file using h.264 for video and AAC audio. I also managed to edit out all the ads, trimming the run time to just over 43 minutes. The file now complies with the MP4 file format. I took liberty to test encoded at various bitrates. The 512kbps (video bitrate), clocks in at 194.6MB. The 769kbps file is 279MB. At 1.5mbps, the file size is 497.2MB. I also have the original file w/o re-encoding the MPEG-4 libvcodec edited for ads. Let me know which of these you would like. IMO, the 512kbps is the optimum for size and quality. I did one last file at 256kbps; clocking in at 114MB. If I had an original source w/o compression, I could have made them look even better. All files are ready for streaming (you choose the protocol). Let me know how and where you'd like them.

Do you still want a re-encoded file of the Tatsu/Discovery Channel video? I can also set it up for streaming. I'll encode it an MPEG-4 Standards compliant file (vs. a pseudo MPEG-4 .AVI container. The bit-rate is more efficient, and compatible with various media players.)

That someone was me. I personally feel GCI may not WANT to put Millennium Flyer Rolling Stock on anything but their stuff. However, if SFI offered to buy a coaster, and give them a couple restoration contracts coupled with the MFs; do you really see them turning it down? Money talks. Granted, the point is moot as SFI isn't buying coasters for the foreseeable future (i.e. RedZone sale or attendance tanking), but companies don't stay in business long turning down easy money. Even Honda sells V6s to GM (Saturn Vue). As long as money is green and stacks high enough; anything is possible.

Actually, The Golden Kingdom would be awesome for Magic Mountain. I'd say take out Baja Ridge for it. A re-theme of X, coupled with an jungle-themed "Curse of the Dark Castle" would be spectacular. This section would have something for everyone. X could serve as an anchor coaster, with a ton of kid rides, some non toddler swatting tigers (take that Disney!, ours merely maul you to death!), and a dark ride. I think would be a huge step in this park's turnaround. I'd say they should scrap the Viper and Flashback together and recycle the metal for a new coaster elsewhere (mmm...Dive Machine). I'd also look into buying the flats Disney plans on gutting from DCA. The Orange Stinger and Sun Wheel would be nice additions to the former Psyclone Bay. Slap a GCI there and make a Paradise Pier-lite. Disney may even sell them cheap.