speedracer

Watching the Murphy video reminded me of another once amazing animatronic dragon: That dragon was so jaw droppingly awesome to see live, USH were idiots to have removed this show. Still the best show they've ever done at the park.

This could be said about alot of things at DL. The new blood running Disney now is doing a decent job of correcting many of the mistakes of the past penny pinching corner cutting regime who didn't give a crap about quality (TL and DCA anyone??). Can blame them for the ghetto looking dragon-head-on-a-stick we've been stuck with for the past 17yrs. If they were still in charge, we'd still be stuck with it forever. So I actually applaud the new management for caring enough to refresh a old show to make it as fantasmic as it should have been from the very start. Just from a technological standpoint, a 40ft fire-breathing Animatronic dragon should be quite a sight to behold in person! Can't wait to check it out!

True, but there's also that 3rd gate Disney will have fill in once DCA is built up to a full day park. Would LOVE to see a Marvel adventure park built out here to diversify the resort's offerings from strictly Mickey/Pixar!

^^ Unfortunately one of the biggest sacrifices of being managed first by Paramount, and now by CF, was the food quality/offerings. When Bonfante ran the park, the food was absolutely incredible (the guy did come from the food industry), far and away the best of any theme park in the state. I rated it right up there with the Busch parks, it was that dam delicous! Now it's your basic CF mass produced overpriced garbage, oh well . . . Great TR and comments so far, always fun to read about my home parks from an outside perspective. Looking forward to the rest, thanks!

BP yes, SCBB no. The Morgan prototype trains are actually half the reason why SCBB's is so much fun (fixed lapbars + roomy seat dividers + no seatbelts = happy happy joy joy airtime!) Those heavy MF lapbars and restrictive seatbelts/dividers would most likely significantly decrease what little floater air there is. Unlike all the other Morgan trains, these are actually not bad and track great (also helps that the ride is so meticulously maintained).

Ridden both numerous times, definitely SCBB. The only area I would rate SD's better is the first drop, other than that, there's a valid reason why it's the best rated Cali woodie on Mitch Hawker's 2008 poll.

From wikipedia My exact feelings too. And it's actually been 4 movies now (easy to forget the craptacular TOT movie!), makes the odds even worse for another dud.

This is why SF scores major points with me with their costly Schwarzkopf preservation program. The millions they spent weren't marketable and probably didn't cause a single bump in attendance, but they did it anyway. A visit to SFGAM, SFOG or SFOT just wouldn't be the same without these amazing classic park favorites, a very big part of the park's heart and soul. BBW is also a very big part of the heart and soul of BGW, I have to wonder if AB still owned the parks if they wouldn't have spent the money to keep BBW going for more generations to enjoy. With their obvious pride in their namesake parks, the ride's notoriety and being a GP favorite, things might have turned out very different. As a purely business decision I can understand InBev not being able to justify the cost vs ROI, but it still sucks. With the replacement being the first new addition planned by InBev, can't say I have high hopes it'll be anything as spectacular as we've seen in the AB days. Whole new owner, whole new way of doing business, it's now all about the numbers.

Sounds as if Nut Tree will live on, sorta! Can only hope they'll also move the Miler, but it was definitely more of a family sized coaster than a compact kiddie, so there might not be room for it in the new downsized park. At least the classic original train ride will be resurrected yet once again!

^^ Actually, according to Blue Sky Disney, ground has already been broken back on the 8th!: http://blueskydisney.blogspot.com/2009/07/it-has-begun.html DLR also added some new construction video clips to their youtube page: Love this beginning "soarin' over DCA":

^ Interesting to know, have only heard mixed/bad reviews, didn't know they already had more flicks planned. ^^ Don't know for certain either, I just recall hearing that even Paramount Parks had to pay license fees to it's own parent company Viacom at the time for the use of the Paramount franchises. And even Universal still pays Speilberg license fees for the use of his franchises. SF could have a different arrangement but I thought this is how it worked.

LOL! Might not be that out of the question. Realistically, how much longer will the cash strapped SF care to continue paying the inflated licensing fees for a franchise that's pretty much dead in the water? With the movie just out, there's some interest now, but a year or more from now, will anyone really care enough about the Terminator theme for it to continue to be a draw? I could totally see them saving big bucks by eventually removing any references to the franchise and just go with a generic post-apocalyptic theme. Can still have some sort of pre-show, onboard sound and other efx, just nothing directly related to Terminator.

Today Miceage has also confirmed the big-budget makeover for a Spring 2011 opening: http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al070709a.htm

From what is said to be a pretty reliable source, will indeed be in 3D and get this, will have hundreds of versions to address the early expiration date issue!!: http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/200906/1248/

^ LOL! Sure wish you had been on my train that night! Thanks guys, at least I now know it wasn't just my bad luck. Hopefully this is all just growing pains as they work through the typical prototype kinks and such, and not the beginning of the end for the efx.

So anyone know what's up with Terminator? Rode for the first and only time Friday night, 2hr wait, which was expected for a holiday weekend, so no big. Not being local, was my one and only opportunity to check it out, probably won't be able to get back again for a long, long time. Wanted to experience it in all it's glory with all the efx intact while it's still new, so it would have been worth all the effort. Unfortunately, the train I was in had no sound, so no "take the tunnel' for me . And worst of all, no fire efx whatsoever! Didn't see any fireballs the entire time I waited, so it wasn't just off for our train. Didn't watch any previews of the preshow either, so I don't know if everything was working in there too. But it seemed odd, like something was suppose to happen in there, but didn't. Just some loud inaudible forced onscreen drama, moved from room to room for more of the same, then up to the loading platform. All this aside, the coaster itself was completely amazing! Totally craps all over my Roar, would never even think the 2 were made by the same company they offer such completely different ride experiences. The unexpected pops of air throughout sent me into coaster heaven, and zipping in and out of the tunnels was a blast. Love woodies and this is one of the best I've been on, so it was totally worth all the traveling expenses and cost to get there. But a small part of me feels cheated I didn't get the full experience, I figured it would be awhile before SFMM let all the efx lapse, but not this soon! Was this just a really REALLY off day or have they already given up on keeping up the efx??

3 new lands, with what sounds like custom variations of BTMRR and Haunted Mansion according to BlueSkyDisney: http://blueskydisney.blogspot.com/2009/06/middle-kingdom-grows.html

It's always that way during Holiday In The Park. It's offseason and only a few rides and certain areas of the park are included in the event (why the admission price is also significantly reduced). It's mainly about the holiday offerings, but hopefully as the event gains more popularity, they can someday justify eventually opening/operating the entire park. Good to hear my baby getting some love! Still the best Left Coast sit down looper IMO. Although now I guess we can all start calling her just Medusa? Or maybe now, Medusa North? Place was definitely craaazy packed last Sunday, huge lines for everything. Including all the food stands, was good to see those cash registers reeling! Hopefully busy registers in Vallejo will deter any potential sell off incase SF does end up having to shed more parks or assets (well, they can sell off Kong if it'll help any!).

Very sad shocking news indeed. Even though he turned into a wackjob after Thriller, my best memories are of the old school MJ. Grew up with the Jackson 5 and saw him and his bros on their 1981 Triumph tour, was completely blown away! Still far and away the best performer I've ever seen, no one since has ever come close. Unfortunately a few years later he came out with Thriller and all the plastic surgery and weirdness began, so thankful I was able to see him perform live at his peak, such a tragic loss of a great talent. Trippy video and amazing song they opened the 1981 show with:

^ Exactly, I wouldn't expect to see any mega coasters at ANY SF park ever again. Well maybe in 10 years or something when things hopefully turn around, but from how Shapiro talks, definitely not anytime in the near future. For a bankrupt SF, those days are history. If not Bizarro, I wouldn't expect to see anything more major than a THBS clone for 2010.

Yay! A P:TR from Mooshy! Cute report, looks like you guys had alot of fun. - John (the artist formerly known as jomo)

Totally awesome guys, congrats!! Where's the honeymoon pics!

Just WOW!

Looks amazing, thanks for the report and videos! Just hope the weight distribution issue is just due to breaking in and not an ongoing issue. Otherwise constantly having to match up people of similar weights could be a potential loading/capacity nightmare.

The past two years they have been in October. For the one in Anaheim at least. I know this year is October 2-4. But its an unofficial thing. Its mostly that a bunch of people plan a weekend where gay people are encouraged to go and wear red shirts. I can't wait to go this year! Not quite Disney, but there is Gay Night at KBF coming up on May 15th to tie you over! http://www.odysseyadventures.com/