
shepp
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Everything posted by shepp
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Steel Poll Results are in
shepp replied to ParkTrips's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
^ Having ridden both within days of each other, I'd say the opposite. But that's what makes a horse race. Or whatever. -
Six Flags Price Increases
shepp replied to GAcoaster's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
One thing to keep in mind is that SF, unlike Uni and Disney, regularly run widely-advertised deep-discount programs. (Two-thirds off with a Snickers wrapper! Children free in months with a vowel!) I keep thinking that absolutely no one but a negligent spendthrift would ever, ever pay retail at a Six Flags gate. But maybe that will change soon, too. Meanwhile, I'm getting my $55 SFMW pass while the getting's good. -
The slow Death of A Classic Park
shepp replied to gravitywolf216's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
While it's nice to have all the extra beasties at SFMW, the bump in attendance is really due to only one: Shouka. SFMW (which had killed off - um, "lost" - its previous whales), publicized the hell out of Shouka, and sure enough the stadium is always packed. That girl is a crowd-pleaser. I went to GL shortly after the changeover, and the place just seemed grim. -
The US Disney Park Prices...
shepp replied to arrowfanman's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Yeah, I stand corrected. Forgot about the Coke can thingy. I'm not sure, though, that deal was around in '04, the last year went. (I think it was another discount - like residents with a Burger King coupon or some such.) In any case, I was getting to FL a day or so before going to Uni and was worried about the event selliing out, so I pretended I'd moved in with my Mom in Delray Beach. Worked like a charm. -
Anyone Have a SF Season Pass Promo Code?
shepp replied to Tour2ma's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
[quote name="Nrthwnd" Not to re-mention that the Six Flags Season Passes are good for the other Six Flags parks the same season' date=' yes? [/quote] Yep. Say what you will about Six Flags, their passes can be an incredible bargain. My 55 bucks for the SFMW AP got me three days at SFGadv, two at SFA, 6 or 7 at SFMW, 2 at Waterworld...and free weekday morning parking at SFMW, too. I'm wondering whether the new management will put an end to that kind of it's-a-steal pricing. Hope not. -
^ I thought it was because they were rollback bait.
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Your 2005 Year In Review!
shepp replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
--Your 2005 year in review: Not a bad year at all, thanks to a trip that got me to SFGAdv, BGW, SFA and PKD, first time to all. --Your First Coaster Of the Year: Medusa at SFMW, my home park --Your last coaster of the year: Medusa at SFMW...it's like, um, a tradition --Best new steel to me: Apples and oranges. 4-way tie-ish: KK, Nitro, S:ROS at SFA, Alpengeist --Best new flat ride to me: Tomb Raider at PKD...great for a Top Spin --Best new water ride to me: Escape from Pompeii...short but hot --Best new dark ride/walk through to me: Curse of DarKastle...props to the Borg thingy at Star Trek: The Experience, but it's not really a dark. --Best new water park attraction to me: Tornado at SF WaterWorld, Concord..sorry, but I love the funnel --Best new park to me: SFGAdv for rides, BGW for the total experience --Best park "moment" of the year: Realizing that KK was running the morning I got there, especially since, in early June, it had been down for weeks (and would soon be down again) --Best overall park "trip" of the year: Well, that East Coast jaunt --Most disappointing new attraction (any kind) to me of the year: Hypersonic XLC...Jesus, that thing is painful...Oh, and Volcano being down both days I was at PKD --Best non-park related moment of the year: Hiking around Chimborazo, an 18,000-foot volcano in Ecuador. (I was "only" at 15,500 ft.) The other moments I can think of are rated NC-17. --Favorite TPR post/thread of the year: # 1 - the endurance and good manners of the Sexual Orientation thread at Random --Best Amusement related news of the year: Six Flags Management Turn Over --Worst Amusement related news of the year: Six Flags New Orleans. 'Nuff said. --Hopes for 2006: That when I get to BGT in two weeks, SheiKra will be running...and will be a walkon. And that I'll be queuing up for some great ride when I hear Bush has resigned. -
The US Disney Park Prices...
shepp replied to arrowfanman's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
^ As we know, available discounts on day passes to WDW are pretty miniscule. I understand the rationale of giving locals discounts on season passes, especially ones restricted to off-season dates - it encourages repeat visits. (There are also suspicions that Disney, in particular, is extra-nice to Floridians as a bribe, so they can continue to run their property as a private fiefdom.) But, e.g., when I went to HHN, there were discounts for Floridians only, though the thing sells out just about every night, anyway. So I, already flying cross-country partly to do HHN, end up in effect paying a premiium price that subsidizes the park-going of locals. Why not just average it out and have everyone pay the same, no matter where they come from? I live in San Francisco, a tourist trap, too - though with hills instead of hurricanes - and, except for the zoo and one less-visited museum, I'm unaware of any attractions that would charge Floridians more than they do me. (That includes the cable cars, which were once a usable means of transportation, but are now so swamped by tourists that they're just another theme park ride.) I've traveled to a number of developing countries, like India, Ecuador, and Sri Lanka, that have two-tier local/tourist pricing, partly to shore up staggering economies, partly to give their own disadvantaged citizens a break. Does that put Orlando in the same classification as Calcutta? -
SFMM Mark Shapiro meeting for employees
shepp replied to wrs28330's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
I don't know, doesn't that strike anyone else as...odd? "I drink a lot of coffee, which is why I feel qualified to be CEO of Starbuck's." And while my home park, SFMW, is a relative success in the chain at least partly because - IMO - it is so "family-friendly," and the make-up of the crowds reflect that, the ride selection pretty well sucks... -
Um, no... But thanks for playing.
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Isn't it cutely ironic that the most-often-malfuntioning attraction at a theme park be themed after...a theme park where everything goes wrong? Very postmodern, that.
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I can't believe we're having this discussion six months after the (much-discussed-at-the-time) fact... Oh well, I guess off-season is a Slow News Day.
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The US Disney Park Prices...
shepp replied to arrowfanman's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
I remember ranting about this on another thread...Disney prices have, year in and year out, feast or 9/11 famine, risen much faster than the general rate of inflation. (And in Orlando, Disney generally sets the pace and others follow.) And while, yes, 10 bucks for a movie also seems pricey, you don't have to stand in line in the sun for an hour or two to see it, with the everpresent danger that the film will break just before you get to the climax, or will be delayed for an hour because somebody threw up, or cancelled altogether because of rain. And Robb, virtually all the entertainment options in Las Vegas are pricey...$36 for the Star Trek Experience, which is essentially two cool rides and a bunch of props? $12 for Manhattan Express? $10 minimums for blackjack...if you can find 'em??? Even taking into account overpiced parking and overpriced food, paying $60 for a day at a theme park can be worth it. But hey, I go weekdays offseason, get there early, all that good stuff. I've heard people complaining that at peak times, they barely got to ride anything all day...UNLESS they shelved out a bunch for whatever upcharge express option the park offered. Let's face it, if you subtract out the time spent walking from one ride to the next, the hours in queues, getting food, arguing with the family, etc., the average parkgoer at peak season probably doesn't get more than a few hours of actual entertainment for his money...I mean, if you figure that the average coaster ride lasts maybe 3 minutes, that means that you'd have to ride 40 times to match the two hours you've spent at a movie. What I truly don't understand is why Floridians...whether close to Orlando or across the state, are the only ones to get good breaks? But then, I'm in San Francisco, and none of the resident deals offered by SoCal parks extend this far north, so it's no doubt sour grapes. -
Cheapest way to travel through LA?
shepp replied to coastered's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Yeah..choosing the hotel is important if you want to avoid car rentals...there are plenty of cheapish motels within walkinng distance of DLP, and as I recall, there's a Greyhound station nearby. There's a Radisson right at Knott's - not a cheap hotel, but I successfully pricelined it really cheaply for a friend, and if you subtract the cost of a car for that day... SFMM is tougher, I think. I pricelined a Hampton Inn (I think) that was pretty close, but not within any sort of walking distnce, and I question if public transport would be reliable from any hotel nearby. Since you're not a U.S. resident, a car may be costly...but unless you move from one hotel to another, I have the feeling that doing the major L.A. parks solely by public transport will be a major pain. -
Six Flags Season Pass "Select Days"
shepp replied to momo1tx's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
I'm sure it depends on the park and the year. I've had an SFMW pass for a few years, and there's been a cutback in bring-a-friend days. Last year, there were lots of 50% discounts (but anyone who can't get into a Six Flags for 1/2 price isn't trying) as well as Father's Day coupons and the like. Absolutely free days were Sundays in June, August 23-Sept. 3, and Sundays Sept. 11-Oct. 2. That's significantly fewer days, as I recall, than the year before. So whatever you'll actually get is probably a crapshoot at best... -
Um, sorry fanboy, but having ridden both multiple times... Yes, the Christmas tree lights are pretty swell. But KK's in a thoroughly, cooly themed area all its own, and the jungle-themed queue and station are, IMO, much nicer than TTD's "let's hang some racing flags above concrete and queue rails" motif. But if it makes you happy to believe that TTD bears some non-random relationship to what's around it (um, racing cars, drop tower, old corkscrew...yeah, genius theming, that), have a Happy New Year.
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TR: SFMM 12/22/05
shepp replied to lapseofreason's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
So is it obviously an old cup? I have a Mr. Six-topped cup I picked up at SFGAdv last year (literally - it was lying on the ground beside the Nitro queue) and there's no way it's not going to look out of date next season... And geez, it's finally losing that weird plastic smell... -
^ These days, 10 bucks isn't that out of line, and I'm guessing it's part of SFI's strategy: "Make the printer cheap and charge a lot for ink." My SFMW SP will cost just $55 again this year (and has, at least till now, included free weekday morning parking, yippee) , and when I go to Magic Mountain and get in the gate free, paying $10 to park will seem like a relative bargain. On the other hand, I cheaped out when I went to Waterworld Concord (also free admission with the pass) 'cause I didn't want to pay $8 to park, and ended up with a $28 ticket. Note to Waterworld-goers: You know that thing on the left just before you get to the park that looks just like a car-filled parking lot? According to the police, it's not.
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Photo TR: Las Vegas 12/9-12/11
shepp replied to Coaster Palooza's topic in Photo Trip Report Archive
If you're going to do an IMAX ride in Vegas, Race for Atlantis at Caesar's is much, much better than In Search of the Obelisk. Much. (Actually, I found the simulator at Star Trek to be kind of a letdown, too, but the Borg thingy was great.) -
Um...I was one of the first people to post in this thread EIGHT AND A HALF MONTHS AGO! But because I basically only visit the coaster forum, I had no idea this puppy was still alive. Like I said way back then, it's heartening to see the general air of civility that's been maintained. One thing (and I know it's kinda political, but it's been brought up many times here)...I'm of an age to remember when this thread could never, ever have taken place in the way and tone it does now. And part of that change..maybe most of it...is because of "activist," in-your-face queers. Maybe the time for that is past, now that we all live in It's-A-Small-World utopia. Still, that's no reason to diss activism; without it, there'd prolly be whites-only drinking fountains at SFOG. And gay sex would still be illegal there, too... Rant over. Oh...I'm gay (duh), but I have no problem with straight people as long as they don't act all masculinate or insist on flaunting their straightness by wearing non-rainbow wedding rings...
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Best Theme Park Show You Have Seen.
shepp replied to methos's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
^ Hell, when I saw that, Lucy lost her thong!