defrocker

Ah the Center of the Universe! Believe the hype! Woot Woot Ashland is where I stay when I go to meetings/training at Corporate HQ. The town never manages to disappoint.

I went in late September on a cooler day and on our runs it was a little slower, but likely just to me since I've ridden it countless times. I think the cause was not the temperature, but the half-full trains they were dispatching due to no crowd. I told my buddy it was running a little bit slow today. His response? "That was slow!?" Lol. I think you'll be fine. Like Bill, I've ridden it in the lower 50's, in the 90's, in the rain, morning, night... It takes names any day of the year.

I don't know why I'm surprised to see how big Mystic Timbers is looking. It really is going to change the look of that area more than I originally thought.

It always brings me down to earth to see someone visiting BGW for the first time. That was the park I grew up going to in the 90's. I never realized how fortunate I was to have such an awesome place so close. I'm really glad that it did not disappoint. I am really looking forward to making it back out there next year. I'm glad you enjoyed both of the parks in my home state. I hate that Nessie didn't really live up to your expectations and Grizzly treated you so bad. Just a few questions for you: Now that you've had time to let it soak in, do you like Nitro or AC better? Any beers at BG really stand out to you that I should try next time I go? Did any southerners threaten to beat you up when you called a roll a biscuit? (We're very serious about these things 'round here)

I've done a few of the past Sundays at Carowinds with no Fast Lane. It was walk-ons on everything. They weren't even assigning seats early in the day anywhere. I guess that was one good thing that came out of the Charlotte riots...

Come on man, you usually make really good posts but none of us have any idea if any of this is actually true. A B&M seems totally plausible but we know nothing about ridership numbers, return on investment or anything like that. I don't know that I'd state any of this as fact. Sorry, I started off by saying "In my opinion," which is all I have to go on. Being relatively local to both parks, Fury just *felt* different for me, like it was more of a "big deal." Granted this could be the lapse in time between the two openings speaking here. I didn't mean to come across that way, like I quoting facts. My bad.

B&M. It isn't even a question, IMO. If you compare the successes of Fury vs I305, it isn't a contest. Fury has received massive amounts of popularity, rave reviews, and was voted #1 steel in the world (I don't care about anyone here's opinions on the Golden Ticket awards, they are important to parks and the GP.) I305 didn't achieve all that Fury did. Also, with CF's current use of B&M, the writing is on the wall. The real question should be, "Will B&M's next giga be able to top what they did with Fury?"

From what I saw, the "Flying Cobras" are an aerial stunt team at the county fair. It's the equivalent as to why the "Blue Angels" is plural.

They're just flat out embarrassing Busch Gardens at this point. lol

Someone hasn't spent much time at Harmony Hall.

^^ Johnny Rockets in the best restraint in the park ^ prevent formed burgers What's going on here? Is the world out of coffee?

I'm with you here. I really enjoyed the ride, but when the best part of an invert is a super slow motion barrel roll, they did it wrong... B&M has a proven formula for inverts and banshee parts with that. And I don't know what it is but it rides with a bit of a vibration whereas I've never felt a single bump on any other "old school invert." It didn't make me not enjoy the ride, but it was noticeable since I was expecting the usual glass smooth.

To everyone discussing alcohol, VA ABC laws are a little bit hokey. You cannot purchase alcohol for consumption and leave the establishment with an open container. Even restaurants and wineries will sell you a bottle of wine, but in order to leave with it, they have to re-cork it. It's possible that at KD each restaurant is considered an establishment and at BGW the entire park is? That's an interesting circumstance that I wasn't aware of. Not sure how they get around it.

Take this with a grain of salt. The only experience I have is about 4 years ago on opening night of the Halloween festivities. The park was fairly crowded but ride lines were very short(station-wait to walk-on) with the exception of Volcano and Dominator. The midways were pretty crowded so I assume the haunts were rather busy, but I don't do them. Again, probably not super helpful, but it's what I got.

Probably not a bad decision for the park. I'm going to be going on Sunday during the day so I don't anticipate any issues. I think a bigger concern that day would be the Panthers game.

I see what you wrote, but all I read was "business as usual" Also, we did see a fairly rough winter (as far as regionally) in Pigeon Forge for Lightning Rod as far as I recall, and they still cranked through the construction fairly well. The crews in Sandusky amaze me with their resolve in the elements when building big stuff. As I said earlier, I'm not swayed one way or the other, but I agree it's "strange" for RMC to show up this early.

I was wondering how much affect this would have on Carowinds. I have a trip planned on Sunday. Hopefully no issues. I don't understand all this rioting nonsense but sadly such is the state of the country/world we are in at this point.

The one at KD is probably in better shape than this one here. Some of the guns don't work at all really, and some of them you can point the gun anywhere and it'll hit targets. Maybe half of the targets work, but I still love doing it (even if it isn't Scooby.) I like it better than Plants vs Zombies. That thing just gives you cramps in your trigger finger.

RMC shows up this quick. Does this bring any more hope of seeing this done for 2017? I've generally been firmly in the 2018 camp. But Cedar Fair can crank through putting rides up. Still, this is cutting it super close. We're only 7 months out from May. But I can't see them starting now to get it done for May 2018. That's a long time from now, granted this has to be a huge undertaking.

1. In the entry plaza, pass the ticket sales that are on the left side and turn left immediately after them. There's a sidewalk that goes down the "alley" a ways and you go in the back of the processing building. You feel like you're going in an employee only area. When I went, I had already uploaded my picture and it took less than 5 minutes. If you go opening weekend, you'll be waiting a while, otherwise, no worries. 2. There are no negatives. A platinum pass is recognized universally as pretty much the exact same thing at any of the parks. 3. That I do not know. We have the season dining pass so I have no experience with this one. But considering it's a different entrance fee, I would guess your dining pass would not be eligible.

Honestly, one of my favorite places is up I77 a ways. Exit 36 maybe? It's about 25 min (depending on traffic) from the airport. It's a place called Duckworth's. They have a huge rotating selection of local and international taps. Their beer menu is on tablets at every table so that you can peruse the menu without pestering a server or a bartender about your options. Food is great too. A word of caution, Don't go if the Panthers are playing, it's a madhouse.

The Old Mecklenburg Brewery is a kinda cool place. It's also on the way to the park from the Charlotte Airport. You could certainly kill some time there. If you decide to brave downtown, you have tons of options.

I don't disagree at all, just wondering if maybe some people don't spend the money due to price so they aren't garnering as many votes even though they are likely amazing restaurants. Same rationale can be applied to the fact that there isn't that much representation on the lists outside of the US. The awards are what they are, and here that's certainly been a conversation starter! The down side to all this is that now I want a steak for dinner. lol

What are prices like at these restaurants at Epcot? I've never been, but I'm just curious if that would possibly scare some people away from buying their food. I just can't pronounce half of the names, and generally if I can't pronounce it, I can't afford it.

You have to keep in mind though, this is the first year for both of those rides on the list. They never place as high as they will get during their debut year.