Swimace

I hardly think that Team Disney would "ruin" any expansion going into Florida. Disney has a responsibility to its shareholders to make sure that any major investments make business sense. They're not going to spend huge money on projects that aren't going to see a return on investment. If they're looking at cutting corners and scaling down a DCA-style revamp of DHS, there's probably financial reasons, not just Team Disney being "greedy" or "cheap". Frankly,what makes sense for DCA may not make sense at DHS. I'm SURE they have more qualified people than Al Lutz analyzing strategies for DHS. Heck, I'd be thrilled to see ANYTHING added to studios. I'm not going to complain about it... I'll leave that to the Disney fanboys

For those of us who aren't "in the know" about Disney... who is TDO?

Noooo! The boomerang was the only credit in that park that I'm missing! Oh well, one less boomerang in the world can only be a good thing

Is it just me, or does the Ultimate Roller Coaster guy just sound like a whiny entitled enthusiast? His whole story sounded so smug. Not to say that SFFT is right, but he's acting like a brat. As someone who works in management in this industry, I mostly agree with you. I would have tried to get into some better guest service recovery. Also, whenever I get an irate guest, I have no issue giving them my name, my boss's name, and even my executive's name if they ask for it. Trying to hide that information only makes you look like you're being dishonest.

Great trip report Divv! I only got to spend about a half day between the two parks when I went, so there's still a lot I have to do. I'm going back to the West Coast in September with multiple days at DL, so this is TR is making me excited!

My experience with "no pretzel trims" occurs occasionally during the evening ERT at Coastermania. Not every train get this experience. I was there this year (last Friday), and didn't get any of those rides. Several years ago I had a front seat no trim ride near midnight -- AMAZING!!! I got a trimless ride on Magnum this year. I felt so lucky.

I'm in the intro riding Top Thrill Dragster. I might be in the height and speed episodes as well. I know several TPR members went to the shoots, but what footage the producers choose to use is anybody's guess.

^I honestly don't think that anybody in theme park management in any company is going to lose sleep over silly nicknames that enthusiasts are calling them on message boards.

This seems to be Universal's version of Art of Animation. There's such a high demand for family suites, this makes perfect sense for Universal. Personally, I'm not too crazy about the theme... but that's just me.

Who the fuck cares if the show blows... I'M FAMOUS!!! I MADE THE INTRO!!

"We didn't feel any weightless moments" is not the same thing as "this is dull there's no forces, nor positives or negatives." So... it is their opinion that bothers you, since you obviously want them to change it

Seems like that would be a way to unnecessarily decrease capacity, though. Not really. Each side holds what, eight people? So you're essentially running a 16-person drop tower, it just so happens that those people are separated on opposite sides. It's no different from any other Intamin drop tower in the entire world. The only thing that decreases capacity is that this thing isn't a gyro drop that holds 56 people at a time. Yes, really. Because if a guest is being slow to load/doesn't fit the noodles/etc, it will hold up the dispatch time of the other side. If they were to both load and dispatch independently, they could have a higher operational capacity because each side could dispatch immediately when it was ready. It can't lower a capacity that didn't even exist. It was given a capacity estimate based on this setup - again, the same setup found around the world on countless drop towers. There was no capacity to be lowered because this is the capacity, plain and simple. And there is likely no way for the ride to have been set up to run independently - there isn't room for two sets of pulleys and winches and everything necessary to run the ride. I'm not even sure what you're trying to argue here. Look, here it is, plain and simple: would the ride have a higher capacity if both sides were able to function independently? Yes. Done. Thank you. I never said that Intamin or Magic Mountain didn't have a reason to set up the ride the way the did. I never said that other drop towers aren't set up the same way. I was simply responding to your incorrect post that implied that capacity wouldn't be decreased by this.

^I'm not saying that the park didn't think about it or that there isn't a good reason it was designed that way. I'm just saying that it will lower the ride's operational capacity.

Seems like that would be a way to unnecessarily decrease capacity, though. Not really. Each side holds what, eight people? So you're essentially running a 16-person drop tower, it just so happens that those people are separated on opposite sides. It's no different from any other Intamin drop tower in the entire world. The only thing that decreases capacity is that this thing isn't a gyro drop that holds 56 people at a time. Yes, really. Because if a guest is being slow to load/doesn't fit the restraints/etc, it will hold up the dispatch time of the other side. If they were to both load and dispatch independently, they could have a higher operational capacity because each side could dispatch immediately when it was ready.

Can anybody post a picture of exactly what building is being discussed here?

How many of Cedar Point's daily park guests are even aware that SFMM even exists? Much less have ever visited it? I'm sorry, but regardless of whether or not you think SFMM is a better park, the notion that it is somehow a substitute for Cedar Point is just ridiculous. If there is any park that could cut into Cedar Point's core customers, it's Kings Island. (Which, by the way, is exactly why Cedar Fair bought it!!)

100% Agreed.

From Busch Garden's Twitter today: Stupid Intamin cables

This looks like a really nice addition to DCA. A great family thrill ride/dark ride combo should do really well at this park. Just out of curiosity, when has Disneyland ever fixed something that was damaged as extensively as the Yeti? I'm pretty sure DL would do the same thing that WDW did if they were in the same situation.

It's the new Disney CEO! He understands that there is a correlation between time spent in the park and guest spending. He's just coming up with inventive ways to do it!

I don't think Intamin is doing the stapling, I think the park's ride operators are I personally felt no discomfort on El Toro. But truth be told, I think that comfort and restraint style can vary depending on a person's body type.

I rode both on Saturday, and I'd say I prefer I305 better. SkyRush beat I305 in terms on strong airtime and intensity. However, I loved the insane transitions and speed that I305 had that SkyRush didn't. I also preferred I305's restraints, which seems to be a matter of split opinion on here. I found SkyRush's restraints to be uncomfortable, but certainly not to the level of being painful or detracting from the ride. The bottom line, however, is that those two rides are (IMO) the two best steel coasters in the country. Some may like SkyRush better, and I wouldn't consider them "wrong", just to have different taste. My top 5 would go something like this after the weekend: I305 > SkyRush > Nemesis, Mega-Lite, and Bizarro/S:ROS (all three tied)

I'm glad to hear that Alton has improved the ride experience. As a huge fan of themed attractions, I thought this thing had potential to be a nice "alien encounter" sort of ride. It's good to see that the park is making changes for the better.

^While I am getting kind of sick of the complaining that's been going on in this thread, I will agree with you on the terrible state of HP operations this weekend. It would be understandable if it was just limited to SkyRush, but unfortunately it was on all of the rides. It's like nobody told HP operations that they should value efficiency or be friendly to their guests. Not only were they slow, but they were also rude, which is a huge negative for me personally. A couple of examples: We were waiting to board Storm Runner, and they weren't dispatching. The operator on the platform was YELLING up to the op in the control booth about how she was tired of checking restraints and didn't want to do it anymore. Seriously, bringing the entire line to a complete stop because you're tired of checking restraints and making a scene about it in front of guests? Rude, and totally acceptable at Hershey. Waiting to board Xtreme Cup Challenge for about 20 minutes. When we finally get to the front of the line, the grouper is leaning over her height stick, and loudly says to the operator "Fuck, I hate being on load, it's so boring!!". Again, the priority of the Herhseypark staff member is to loudly complain about their job in front of guests, rather than keep the line moving. Also, swearing in front of guests on a family attraction? Really classy, and totally acceptable at Herhsey. 5-6 minute dispatch times on Comet? The thing has buzz bars. Nuff Said. I don't want to write a whole novel complaining about Hershey ops, because I really do love that park. It's just unfortunate that there seems to be a culture where slow and rude is the norm.

Unlike Magnum, SkyRush doesnt try to give you internal bleeding. I don't think the two are even close to the same category