cgodsey

^I wouldnt be so sure And this HAS to be a B&M coaster. Look at the Cedar Fair trend. They are reliable, safe, and they are a people eater. Can you say B&M Floorless?!?!

Attention West Coast Bash Attendees: The folks at Universal Hollywood has offered a special discount coupon for those attending WCB. To download the coupon, visit http://www.rideworld.com/images/flyers/06-TRA-4113ThrillRide.com.pdf

For those attending the event: Keep in mind that your SF season pass MUST be processed by your home park prior to the event. If it is NOT processed, you will need to call the park and pre-purchase tickets. It seems that some individuals have called the park to complain about this. This has been the procedure for the past 3 years! If you renewed your pass and they sent your new pass in the mail, it is already processed and can be used. Thank you! Chris

I will be sending out confirmation emails a week before the event. By then, I should have the time for the Tatsu tour. If you sent an email to me, I am pretty sure I have received it. Chris

No, a RW or ACE membership is not required to attend this event. Keep in mind that anyone that attends this event is subject to our safety code of conduct though since we are sponsoring the event. Chris

I have posted the link to the flyer above. Also, don't forget to email info@rideworld.com to let us know the number of people in your party. Remember, you MUST pre-purchase your tickets. There will be NO onsite ticket sales! See you in a month! Chris

I have also received notice that Universal Hollywood is going to extend the discount coupon to us like they have in the past. Once I get that posted on RideWorld, I will let everyone know so they can print it off and use it if they are planning to hit Universal while they are in Southern Cali. Chris

Keep in mind the station would be at least 20 feet high so the lift would start around that height. I think there is a right hand 180 degree turn out of the station to the lift, then the almost vertical drop into that first raven turn that is already up. Also keep in mind that S&S/Arrow markets this ride as being able to be all on one plane (like a frequent faller). They can easily cram a WHOLE LOT of track into a small area.

Trip Report- January 22nd- The Georgia Aquarium (Photos at the bottom) Natalee and I have been trying to get down to Atlanta since the “World’s Largest Aquarium” opened in November. Her sister is moving to a suburb of Nashville, so we decided to make the drive down when we were there looking for an apartment for her. We drove down to ATL via Chattanooga on Saturday night (1-21). After checking out the opening times at our hotel the night before, we got up around 10am Sunday and heading downtown. As we were driving, I thought about the crowds that day. Thinking it was a Sunday morning, most of the locals would be in church. Atlanta IS in the Bible-belt you know! As we approached the Aquarium, you can’t help but notice how big the world’s largest aquarium really is. We circled the aquarium and made the block to park. We noticed signs saying that all walk-up tickets were sold out. We became concerned about this and even pondered heading home. But, we decided to risk it and pay the $10 parking fee and try to score some tickets. Since there were only 3 in our party, we wouldn’t make a huge dent in the sold out crowds. After speaking to a member of management about our long drive to see the aquarium, they decided to sell us tickets! NOTE: If you are planning on visiting the aquarium on a weekend, I urge you to pre-purchase your tickets on the aquarium website (http://www.geogiaaquarium.org). If you don’t you might not be so lucky in getting walk-up tickets. We purchased our tickets and made our way into the port-of-entry. Wow, this place is really enormous! The aquarium has 5 separate exhibits, a nice food court, a 4D movie theater, an event ballroom, and of course the gift shop at the exit. We decided to start our day with Cold Water Quest-The home of the Beluga Whales, California Sea Lions, African Penguins, and other cold ocean fish and mammals. This exhibit, like the others was jammed packed full of people, especially in the Beluga Whale tank. But, the aquarium built a dual level viewing area to help ease bottlenecks. The Beluga Whales were purchased from an amusement park in Mexico. One whale in particular had an awful skin bacteria growth which caused some fin damage. But thanks to the wonderful marine biology team at the aquarium, he is on the road to a full recovery. After seeing the Beluga Whales, we made our way to the Sea Otter and Sea Lions area. From our trips to LA and San Francisco, we had definitely seen our share of these animals. We then headed to the African penguin area. These penguins in particular are warm climate penguins so the warm Georgia climate will suit them. After visiting the Beluga Whales again in the upper viewing area, we made our way back to the main hall and over to the largest exhibit, Ocean Voyager. This exhibit boasts the World’s largest tank at a whopping 6 million gallons! The tank is bowtie shaped and has moving walkway in the middle so guests can concentrate on seeing the nearly 100,000 different fishes in this mother of a tank. This tank holds sharks and fishes from the Meso American Barrier Reef of Central America (MAR) and the Great Barrier Reef. The size of fishes ranges from the small seahorses to the world’s largest fish, the Whale Shark. The Georgia Aquarium has two of these monster fishes that can range from 30-60 feet in length. Their names are “Ralph” and “Norton”. They dominate everything that is in that tank even though their diet consists of Krill. In the large viewing gallery of the exhibit, they show videos of the Whale sharks being transported to Atlanta via UPS as well as the monster fish during a feeding. With its 4 foot wide mouth, the Whale shark “vacuums” its meal in one swift movement. This area is definitely the highlight of the aquarium and is its main draw. After spending almost an hour in this area, we headed towards the next exhibit, Tropical Diver. This exhibit is one of the most relaxing areas in the aquarium. Laid out like a gallery of living art, this area has an impressive collection of jellies (“Jellyfish”), Seahorses, jaw fish, and other coral reef inhabitants. This area also has one of the largest coral reef exhibits in existence filled with living corals and a host of colorful reef fishes. We even found Nemo! For our next stop, we decided to break for lunch. But, before we munch down, we stopped by the 4D Theater to get some advance tickets to a later showing. We’ll get to the show after lunch. Once we got our tickets, we went to the food court area. We grabbed our trays and got into the large line to enter the court. They were actually sending a number of people in at a time to help traffic flow which was a good idea on their part. After about 5 minutes, we were let in to grab some grub. They have a wide variety of kid and adult “friendly” food that ranges from burgers to pizza and pasta. They also have a large variety of bottled Coca-Cola products including most of their different juice and water offerings as well. After all, they are a main sponsor (FYI, they are building a World of Coke right next to the Aquarium that will open in 2007.) After our tasty meal, we headed up to the “Deepo Theater” for the 4D presentation. The main character of the show is a clownfish aptly named “Deepo”. The show blends in some live action similar to the Terminator show at Universal just not to that degree. The show has a conservation and awareness message that really hits home with the kids and adults alike. The show also has some typical 4d effects (bubbles, water squirts, and some other surprises I don’t want to spoil.) I would recommend the show to everyone as it was a neat 4D presentation that’s unique to the aquarium. After the 4D show, we continued on to the next exhibit called Georgia Explorer. This exhibit shows of some of the Georgia coastline inhabitants. It is filled with “touch tanks” which allow you to touch Horseshoe Crabs, Sea Stars, Stingrays, and Shrimp. This area also features Whales that live right off the Georgia coast! This gallery will connect you with Right Whales, which are one of the most endangered mammals on the planet. They spend the winter and give birth to their calves in Georgia waters. Right whales are featured in a video presentation, and a large-scale model of a whale allows kids to crawl inside. There is also a kid’s play structure that includes a whale slide. After Natalee and Heather had some fun on the slide, we headed to the last exhibit called River Scout. River Scout hosts a wide diversity of animals found in the rivers of Africa, South America, Asia and right here in Georgia. This area includes the infamous piranha as well as electric fishes of South America and the Asian small clawed otter. This area is one of the most themed areas with logjams, waterfalls, and a simulated river that runs overhead. After finishing up in River Scout, we had completed all of the exhibits. In all, it took us about 4 hours to see everything there was to see, including the gift shop. We purchased our token magnet for the wall of fame and decided to get a head start on our 8 hour drive back to Memphis. All in all, I must say that the Georgia Aquarium lived up to its hype and then some! I have been to almost 10 different Aquarium around the US and this one by far is the best one I have ever been to. If you are in the Atlanta area and I know a lot of you will be to ride Goliath, this is something you DEFINTELY don’t want to miss! The building looks like a big boat from the outside! A shot of the main hall... at least part of it! Its really frickin' huge! One of the great reef tanks. Natalee holding up the line AS USUAL! She is such a kid! The Whale Sharks overshadow everything else in that tank for sure! DUM DUM... DUM DUM... Look out its Jaws... uhhh, it sure looks like him! This is my favorite photo of the day. These are redneck penquins. They DO live in the south! One of the Beluga Whales "hanging out"!

^^ Sounds good Elissa. It will be nice to partake in of one these "get togethers" the kiddies seem to be raving about. Also, in case anyone is interested Tatsu's opening is tentatively scheduled for Easter weekend. Of course that could change at any time. Chris

Hello All! West Coast Bash Flyer is up! Visit: http://www.rideworld.com/images/WestCoastBash3Flyer.pdf I received the "go-ahead" to publically announce that RideWorld's West Coast Bash III is officially scheduled for March 12th, 2006. Come and enjoy two solid hours of ERT on X, Goliath, and Viper before the park opens* We will also be hosting an exclusive construction tour of Tatsu sometime during the day as well. See you there! Chris *ERT is subject to change due to circumstances beyond our control.

The $125 deposit is to reserve your spot for the trip. Your remaining balance would be $600 if you needed a single occupancy room. The double remaining balance would be $325. We tried to make the price as affordable as possible. With the price of fuel high and hotel room fees higher than last year, we did our best to get the price as low as we could. If anyone has any questions, post them here or email me. I will be happy to answer them. Chris

Texas Two-Steppin' Trek Flyer is up! It should be another great group trip! HERE We are now accepting deposits via paypal (send to cgodsey@godseyconsulting.com). Be sure to add 5% to the total to offset the paypal fees. Payments via 2checkout.com will be available next week. See you on the trek! Chris

I think that club (jeff hates you club) is pretty large Robb. Welcome brother! I would like to point out that RideWorld club members can attend this event (one of 9 clubs). We are also the cheapest enthusiast club out there at $10/year. plug>

I hate to say I told ya so, but.... I think this is just a taste of things to come. Six Flags might actually...dare I say it...turn a profit! Its about fricking time!

New for 2006! PGA Presents "The Chamber of Farts" interactive darkride Sorry, had to do it!

I completely forgot about the "darth vader v. batman" battle in the Wal-Mart parking lot.. good times! See, our trips ARE fun! Chris

Holiwood nights is HW's park sponsored event that is scheduled for May 26th and 27th. But this year will be a little different than past events. Clubs that have formed a "partnership" with the park will be allowed to attend and also receive the ticket and season pass discounts throughout the year. We are a partner with them so our members will be able to attend. Chris

I always thought that more people would make the poll more accurate. Also, have you ridden Thunderhead in the dark? Just curious because I have ridden all of the ones you have listed there at night and for me and THEY dont even come close to Thunderhead in the dark. But, opinions are like $#%holes. We all have one!

For those that are interested: From now until December 31st, RideWorld is offering a fantastic deal on their RideWorld premium memberships. Any new or renewal memberships will receive a second year of membership for the price of one. Use your RideWarrior club card to attend Winter Coaster Solace or Holiwood Nights for the next two years! To receive this offer, register on the RideWorld forums and click on "My Controls". Then, click on "Purchase Paid Subscriptions" in the lefthand menu. Only online payments will be accepted for this offer. Happy Holidays from RideWorld!

Hey all! Mitch has posted the results of the 2005 wooden coaster poll. You can see the results at http://www.ushsho.com/woodrollercoasterpollresults2005.htm Once again, this poll is very non-biased and I think it represents the world's best wooden coasters. Congrats to the parks on the list! Chris Here is a quick recap:

According to what I have been told, they intend on having the entire ride structure of Tatsu done by Feb 1st. I dont know if that will give them enough time to wire and test, but we will see.

Hey all! I just wanted to post a list of our upcoming events for 2006. We will have concrete days for all of the events by January 1st. We hope to see you at an event! MARCH SFMM Event- If Tatsu is open by then, we will be hosting a large scale event that weekend. If not, we will be doing 2 hours of morning ERT on 2-3 coasters like in the past. The park intends on having Tatsu done by Solace, but you never know what could happen. As soon as we know something, I will post it. If Tatsu is NOT open by Solace, we will be hosting a large scale event when it does open later in the year...probably in April/early May. MAY- Attend Holiwood nights and enjoy The Voyage! JUNE Texas Trek- Right now the plan is to spend a total of 5 days on this trip. We will probably give participants the option to begin in Memphis on Friday. We will leave from Memphis and visit Magic Springs on the way to Texas and try out their new coaster. Then, we hit SFOT, SFFT, SeaWorld, and Schlitterbahn with a visit to some of the sights along the way (Alamo, Riverwalk, Kennedy Museum). July- No events planned. AUGUST- New York Trek- The plan is to start off with the New York City area parks. We will hit Coney Island and Rye in one day and have one full day to sightsee! We hope to hit all big tourist attractions and catch a broadway show. Then, we head south and hit Clementon and the piers in Wildwood. Finally, we hit Six Flags Great Adventure and check out the new El Toro. The trip will run from Friday-Tuesday. SEPT- Coaster Conclave- It's back. The two finalists for this event are Kennywood/Conneaut Lake/Waldameer and Silverwood/Puyallup Fair. Both events would be pretty awesome to say the least. Please make plans to join us in early September. Night of Thunder 3 at Dollywood- Join us for the third installment of this great event! Come ride the new Timberrr Tower and the World's number one rated wooden coaster! LATE FALL Super Secret Event! This is one I will keep secret for now. If it happens, it will be one event you can't miss! Let me know your thoughts on these events. We should have concrete dates by January 1st. I want to have them all set in stone so we dont collide with other events going on. Thanks! Chris

Well, it looks like its official: http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh18500_2005-11-29_16-09-48_n29316931_newsml Get those season passes people!

I would say you DEFINITELY want to purchase those season passes as soon as possible. I would expect to see season passes at least double, if not triple in some locations. I just renewed our SFOG passes for $49.99 plus tax. Chris