Swimace

I'm just happy to see some monorails without those stupid balloons posted all over them. This is much cooler!

^While I understand that some families may be limited by this height requirement, I think it's hard to pass judgment until we actually know more about the ride and how intense it will be.

Friday the 2/27/10- Manchester Orchestra at the House of Blues at Downtown Disney, Florida. Epic as always.

^That's what it sounds like to me too. So is this going to be a steel coaster now? I wonder if they will be using the steel track for just the overbank element or if it will now cover the entire ride. Are we looking at a new Son of Beast (wood coaster with a steel loop) or a new Gemini?

I think this line pretty much sums it up how much of a inflated ego some celebrities have. Matt Damon's not a fan, time to pack it up and go home.

^That is an interesting trend in Central Florida. The University of Florida has become increasingly selective over the past years and it's REALLY benefiting UCF. A lot of people I know growing up were all about being a Gator, but after UF has gotten so extreme on admissions they've chosen UCF as their second choice instead of FSU. I really think the more intense of a school UF becomes the better UCF is going to become as a result of so many talented students being turned away. While in most college rankings FSU is still put ahead of UCF, I think that over time this could cease to be the case. The biggest problem for UCF IMO is that their transfer admissions are so absurdly easy that a lot of.... "less academically inclined" students are still getting degrees from that school. As far as I know UCF has an open door policy for students with a 2.0 or higher gpa from any Central Florida community college. If they could stop letting in so many people I think they would become a lot more respected in the long run. Whatever... I'm a Gator and proud of it!

No... I think the negative talk about USF's undergrad programs is more related to its academic reputation and standards. Growing up in Central Florida MOST of the best students end up at UF... if you can't get into Florida (which gets harder and harder every year) then you go to UCF or FSU... then there's USF sort of at the bottom. I'm not saying it's fair, but there is truth to that statement. Obviously grad programs are different as they vary from school to school, I'm strictly speaking about USF's undergraduate reputation.

It looks like Busch Gardens has launched a new offer to promote the new Sesame Street Safari of Fun area. Free admission in 2010 for kids 5 and under as long as you register them online for the pass. Sorry Kidtums, only for Florida residents http://www.buschgardens.com/bgt/safarioffun/Pass.aspx

I disagree, nobody likes a snitch. It'd just get you picked on even more, or at the very least it wouldn't help make new friends. I'd just stand up for myself, self-esteem goes a long way and it's really easy to victimize someone who has none. Sulking doesn't solve the problem, and telling your teachers might get the other guys in trouble too but it's not going to help your social situation. I'd say stand for myself whether or not I'd get in trouble, but that doesn't necessarily mean physical violence. I'm not really buying this sob story though, it seems a little bit too dramatic to be true.

I'm glad they're doing something to make the box less obvious. I still think they should have themed it to Ingen though with the way it sticks into JP. Thanks for the update Adam

I haven't been to those parks during that time, so I can't help you there. Kings Dominion and Kings Island are pretty similar, they have a lot of the same rides and several areas of the park look kind of the same. Kings Island is bigger and nicer than Kings Dominion and their rides are generally better maintained. Kings Dominion is worth a visit because of Intimidator 305, but the rest of the park sort of seemed like a more rundown version of KI in my opinion. The Busch Gardens are completely different; one is themed to Africa and the other is themed to Europe. In my opinion Tampa has the better coaster collection while Williamsburg is the nicer park. BGW is a really nice place and is really well landscaped and themed. If you liked Tampa then you'll definitely like Williamsburg. Hope that helps.

^Having the park live up to its potential essentially means relocating the entire thing. The park is really nice and I had a very enjoyable visit last summer, but it's location is just awful. It seemed like most people in Myrtle Beach had no clue that the park was even there. To me Freestyle Music Park is like the Cypress Gardens of South Carolina... You can have a really nice looking park but it doesn't do you much good if you're so far out of the way that you can't get people through the gates.

^I agree, B&M mega-coaster have become really redundant and bland IMO. There's a ton of them out there already and they're all becoming really similar. I'd rather see something more unique at this park; I certainly wouldn't complain about an Intamin project or a dark ride.

I'm not sold on the SDC theory, at least not the drawing that has it in the area around Thunderation. For anyone who has been to the park you'll remember that Thunderation's station sits at the top of the ride and it starts doing the coaster portion right out of the station (i.e., the station is at the highest point of the ride). This layout doesn't make sense for that area unless somehow that lift hill is at the middle or end of the ride. That area is really steep and it wouldn't make sense to have the queue going all the way down the hill away from the park. At SDC the park is located at the top of the hill, not the bottom. Does that make sense?

fixed.

Nothing says "serious" like 6 total posts.

^With a username like "Lady Gaga" I'd expect no bias from you in that statement.

I working Every night this week except for Friday. I also have a 10 hour day on Sunday! I'm happy about this, I like to whore as many hours as I can when I'm on a break so that my bank account will have a little bit of a cushion when the semester starts.

That system seems like it's going to need some adjustments before it is going to work smoothly. It seems fine if there are two adults waiting in line, but if there is only one adult with a kid then I guess they have to completely leave the line and then cut back in? I'm not sure that's really too great of an idea as they're pretty much telling people to leave the line and cut back in. Hopefully Disney will find a way to make this work better.

Are they adding trim brakes to it or something? IMO what makes Dueling Dragons awesome is that it's an extremely intense roller coaster with a unique dueling aspect. Call it whatever you want, but as long as Fire keeps hauling ass I'll be happy. Sure, Harry Potter may not be the most appropriate theme for such an awesome coaster, but I think saying that the ride is ruined is a WAY too dramatic, especially since none of us really know the full extent of the changes at this point. Wait... what am I saying? Yes! The ride is RUINED!!! (Shorter line for me...)

The site lists both Diamondback and Behemoth as giga coasters... Cedar Fair is the best! Oh... and The Grizzly at Great America is the third highest ranked ride on the site! Nice!

Awesome TR dude, I want some of your turkey!

Awesome trip report! It's not my fault you have poor taste.

I voted for SFNE/Lake Compounce because in my opinion that is the better combination. I've actually been to all of the parks on the poll;, I feel like a lot of people who voted haven't actually been to all of these places. I love BGE, but honestly I think Kings Dominion is a crap park that is only worth visiting because they're getting a really huge addition next year. Superman/Bizarro at SFNE isn't my number one steel, but it certainly has more forceful airtime than any of the B&M hypers I've ridden. If you're looking for the better ride, I think most people would agree that SROS/Bizarro is better than Apollo, it's simply a much more forceful. Boulder Dash is just plain awesome, and honestly Kings Dominion doesn't have any good wooden coasters. Will Intimidator 305 turn out to be a better ride than SFNE's Intamin? Nobody can really say until the ride opens. I'm just saying that based on my visits to these parks Lake Compounce and SFNE will give you a much nicer park experience than KD/BGE.

Here's my list: Top 10: 1) El Toro 2) Ravine Flyer II 3) Boulder Dash 4) The Voyage 5) Raven 6) Tonnerre de Zeus 7) Thunderhead 8) Kentucky Rumbler 9) Evel Knievel 10) Prowler Bottom 5: 1) Texas Giant 2) Gwazi-Tiger 3) Gwazi-Lion 4) Boardwalk Bullet 5) Son of Beast (SBNO)