jynx242

Personally - I much prefer the Universal Resort experience to the Disney Experience. BUT - I am certainly much more a member of the Universal Demographic than the Disney demographic. I have seen Universal go down a bit over the years, and am happy to hear that there is a reversal in that trend. I love the place (both sides, and City Walk.) To me - Disney is just WAY TO EXPENSIVE! I don't have kids and am an adrenaline junkie, so Disney doesn't do it for me. I will say that it is an absolutely GORGEOUS place and the staff has always been exemplary to me, but I prefer the thrills and atmosphere at Universal and IOA. Therin, in my opinion, lies the reason for the discrepancy. Two completely different markets to date, and although they are adding things like Potterland, I don't think Universal will ever really try to compete with Disney for the family market share. Disney freaking wrote the book on it and do it VERY VERY well. Thanks for this topic, I like all of the responses and it makes me look at the "Orlando Situation" in a different light. David "I'm fairy princess enough without all those other ho's" McCollum

^The last one got me! Awesome.

Elissa - thanks for the "inside edition" perspective. I am always fascinated by how much we get to do on a TPR trip (which is why I've been on one every summer since my first trip 4 years ago.) I'm going to choose to think that that bonus park experience was a fluke. Something in the water perhaps??? I can't remember any train dispatching on any of the trips I've been on where we were not cheering and generally acting like fools . Heck - I remember checking into The Breakers after sitting in a hellish traffic jam, extremely late at night, during a power outage and having a BLAST!! Hope you keep up these posts, because they make me appreciate the trips and all the work that goes into them! Looking forward to seeing y'all in a couple of weeks!! David

^ Go you! Coming up on 4 years myself! ^^ It's happened. Keep reading, it's funny. I refer to "Death Rock" as kind of the Hard Core goth music I liked in the early 90's when I was a go-go dancer at "Club Fetish." Nizer Eb, Sisters of Mercy, The Sisterhood, Pansy Division (more queer-core, but splitting hairs there,) Throbbing Gristle and the like. I still love my Erasure and Pet Shop Boys though, and at different times I wanted to be Robert Smith from The Cure and Pete Burns from Dead or Alive (before he became a lady .) Here's me hangin' with the devil back in the day. I'm on the left.

Still here!

Thanks Yamez! I want to reiterate, I don't want to see anything bad happen to this park, and it has been a long time (from an enthusiasts standpoint) since there was a major install. From improvements I've heard of since the TPR visit on the East Coast Tour, they are working on it and this is a good thing. As I said earlier - SFoG went through a REALLY rough patch a while back. That was my first job (a long time ago now,) and has always been my home park. It took a lot of work and a LONG time to get the park turned around. It isn't the smallest or the biggest, it just is. It does a good business and is now a gorgeous and family friendly park with some kick a$$ thrill rides. I see this kind of transformation possible for SFA and I see them working towards that. It is all in the numbers and it is important to remember, that no matter what WE want to see happen at a park, it is still a business with budgets, Profit and Loss, Labor Costs, Capital Expenditures, etc... David

^I had to have bi-lateral hernia repair. Screwed myself up lifting heavy objects while restoring my old house. I decided to have this done BEFORE the Middle-America TPR Tour next month. P.S. - the short hair looks good.

Recovering nicely from Surgery two weeks ago. Am about to complete my first week back at work and am proud that I've made it. Go to the doctor tomorrow for a follow up, a re-fill on pain medication and hopefully to get some stitches out. All-in-all, pretty groovy.

Perhaps there were no replacements because the parks operating budget, maintenance budget and staffing budget were not in line with keeping the existing rides, let alone replacing them with something newer which would require training, more staff, etc... This is just speculation, seeing as how I am not a corporate decision maker for SF. Parks that did get rides, etc. just had more budget. Budgets are most likely done on a park-to-park basis, and not company wide. Like I said - the addition of Thomas Town speaks volumes for the way the park is moving. Face it - it got a pretty bad reputation for a while (some deserved, some un-deserved.) This addition shows that they are working on correcting that. I remember when SFoG got pretty shady. You just didn't feel safe there and crime in the area was pretty crazy. They have turned that around now and are doing fine. (Also - the last couple of years held a re-furb of an awesome dark ride and a Thomas Town - nothing really big.) Keep the faith - it's going in the right direction. NOBODY can change the past and what happened under previous regimes - so look forward. David "motivation is my middle name" McCollum

The little bit I've gotten to "know" you over the past few months tells me that the Old Dark Rides will DEFINITELY be your cup of tea. I love dark rides. Journey into Imagination at EPCOT in the 80's was AWESOME. Also - the boat ride in Mexico at EPCOT is just a blast. Love Monster Plantation (it will always remain MP to me) at SFoG is awesome, as was its predecessor, Tales of the Okeefanokee Swamp. Knoebels Haunted House was AMAZING also. I like dark rides with a cheese factor of 10 or better

Ah memories. That was the craziest movie ever. Has anything in your queue topped it yet? Jason - close second was "The Gay Bed and Breakfast of Terror." Absolutely laugh out loud hilarious and gory as all get-out.

Okay - I've got to chime in here. Executives don't "spoil" one park because they like it better. Period. You don't get to be a CEO of ANY corporation by making decisions like that. I can guarantee you that a WHOLE LOT MORE goes into the decision than "I don't like Six Flags America." First and foremost, these are businesses. Improvements and capital expenditures go where a whole group of analysts figure they will do the most good. Yes - I think it would be AWESOME if SFA got a new mega-super-dooper-awesome coaster. I'm not saying that it wouldn't be great, but, the park needs to improve its existing infrastructure, maintenance and staffing issues. That isn't making something out of nothing. Quiet the opposite. Everything is already there - it just needs to WORK CORRECTLY. They are on the right track, and I believe they will see the capital expenditure that you all want to see sometime down the road. But please, it makes no sense to say that one park is "spoiled" over another. That thought is frankly ridiculous.

I am horribly afraid of spiders. Not like "eek, a Spider!" but like hyperventalate, cry and pass out (not necessarily in that order ) There is a reason though, I was stung by a scorpion in my crib as an infant, and have been bitten - not once, but twice, by a Brown Recluse. Also afraid of large bodies of open, deep water. All that space, and you can't see what is underneath :::shudders:::: Shipwrecks, for example, horrify me. Those huge things under the water that you can't see are just awful. Clowns are evil. David

^I live in an "up and coming area" RE: tha' 'hood. Evening people watching through the windows or from the front porch (glassed in) is always a treat as well

Phoenix at Knoebels. GASM at Six Flags Over Georgia also has some nutty airtime. Goliath has a lot of Floater Air. Magnum at CP has painful air that I love!

^ Same! I love seeing our group in the press! I remember unexpected coverage on the Deep South tour. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy that people actually write about us in our fun insanity. Thanks for sharing this post with us BA! Over here in the states we would probably not have been able to see the piece without you.

Did Cameron go with you on this excursion, or did you go alone?? I'm truly impressed at your daring-do. Not many people would do what you've done and braved the wilds for a park. That is just awesome! Keep it up and take care. David

^Check out the Kia Soul. I bought one last year and it is AWESOME. Since my other car is a Toyota MR2 Spyder, I needed somthing that could transport, well, anything. The Soul is quick, gets great gas mileage, has the 100K mile warranty, Sirius, Ipod, Bluetooth, Moonroof, Flashy Speakers , looks cool and can fit things in the back. Just some food for thought.

Danny - I always love reading your trip reports, and this one definitely qualifies as EPIC! I almost went to India for a month this year with the Rotary Club as a professionals exchange program. The logistics just didn't quite work out this time. After reading this report, I'll definitely make it work if they offer it to me again next year. Thanks again! I'd really love to hang out with you guys at a park some time. You always appear to have a blast and that's how I roll as well. David

Jay (eltoroextreme) and I are thinking of getting an Intamin Zero-Gee Roll tattoo around the bicep. That is an awesome looking element.

Thanks for the trip report! I love love love Indiana Beach! Just a fun place, and proof that you don't need a 200+ foot hypercoaster to make a park fun! David

I, as others, was blown away! I browsed through it a bit, but decided to wait till later this week to actually go through it thoroughly. Reason being - I'm having surgery on Thursday and will be couch/bed bound for about a week. Decided to have TPR help me through the boredom of recovery. Thanks again guys! Great job. David

I didn't know Dave Thomas had a different FB profile?

^Good luck. The old addage, "to thine own self be true" is very important. Once you tell the folks that you need to tell - the ball is out of your court and in theirs. Basically, you've cleaned your side of the street and their reactions are their business. Take care. David

^^ Tyler - I totally agree about everyone having nerdness somewhere. I call it "Flying my Dork Flag." Everyones got one somewhere