Jonathan

Well, technically, it's returning to Carowinds also.

Here's a park I've been working on the last couple of weeks: http://jonathan-hawkins.net/index.php/rct3-park/ I'm planning on adding a waterpark (you can see where it is going to be in the game) and another wooden coaster when I get the chance. There are two coasters: Trail of Fears (trying to be as offensive as possible I suppose), a woodie inspired by Hades, and Excevator, a mine train that was inspired by Thunderation.

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=ticket_to_hell

^^ The mini-game was built into the game. The patch simply unlocks it. That was the issue; the fact that it already existed within the software.

Charlotte - 4 hours Nashville - 3.5 hours Asheville - 2 hours Knoxville - 1 hour

As usual Wes took the words right out of my mouth. It's all fun and games until someone's pants come off.

I missed it last year, and have been regretting it ever since. Not even the disturbing thought of Ted's attire will stop me from coming this year, though. Let the thunder roll!

The Island Ewan McGregor has worked with the likes of Tim Burton and Ridley Scott. Scarlett Johansson has been directed by the daughter of one of the greatest directors of all time in an Oscar-nominated movie. Steve Buscemi has frequently been on the set with perhaps the godfathers of independent filmmaking, and Sean Bean has experience with just about everyone in Hollywood. So I have to wonder what went through the minds of these performers as they headed from their trailer to the set each day to find out the latest use Michael Bay had for his $100 million budget. "I should have read this script a little closer"? "My agent is so fired for this"? "At least I'm making a ton of money"? "I wonder what we get to blow up today"? For that matter, I would be curious to witness what Michael Bay is like on the set. Surprisingly, "The Island" does not open to explosions and carnage, but actually begins with drama. In fact, Bay makes it through the first act before going buck wild. You can feel the tension mounting as the film progresses. You can picture Bay offscreen, gripping the arms of his chair, repeatedly glancing at his wristwatch. And then, he can wait no longer, and he leaps to his feet, flailing his arms wildly and screaming "ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE LET'S BLOW SOME **** UP!" And with that, all logic is abandoned. Things explode. Automobiles spiral wildly through the air. People scream. Guns blaze. And boy does this excite the filmmakers. The editor is having the time of his life, making a cut once every tenth of a second, and the cameraman is jerking the camera around as if he has completely lost his mind. Whoever is composing the score is sitting back and drinking coffee, having already taken the five minutes necessary to copy and paste an annoying jungle techno loop to run for two hours. Around the time railroad axles began falling off of the back of a truck demolishing cars (having just learned that in this futuristic world trains do not even use wheels, but levitate above the ground), I started laughing. I laughed without stopping until the credits rolled, and then I laughed my way out of the theater. In fact, "The Island" was unintentionally one of the funniest movies I have seen in years. The incredibly over the top action and the abrubt transitions between story and mindless chaos are so ubsurd that you cannot help but smile at how delightfully terrible this movie is. "The Island" does in fact have a plot, and at first it actually is a decent one. Sure, quite a few of the scenes seem to be ripped straight out of "Logan's Run" (Logan 5=Lincoln 6?), but heck, maybe it was just an admiring nod to the 70's cult classic. Before it degenerated into madness, I was quite optimistic about where the film was heading. The dialogue, as you would expect, is incredibly cliche at times, and a somewhat experienced movie-goer should be able to finish a lot of the actors' lines for them. One particular line near the end of the film certainly falls into my list of the cheesiest lines ever. "The Island" is mindless and has things exploding, which means it should attract the masses. It also makes summer blockbusters like "I, Robot" (which I did enjoy) look like a best picture nominee. There are a few things this movie will teach you, though: Cadillac, MSN, X-Box, Aquafina, Johnny Rockets, and Puma shoes are all excellent products, and stem cell research and cloning are evil Nazi practices. May the box office slump continue... 1 star (out of 4)

I was there the same day as Canobie Fan, and yes, it was a very bad day for Raven. It was running incredibly sluggish, and was a shell of its normal self. I was told that was due to the new train, but who knows. Maybe just a bad day.

Hunter S. Thompson = genius

Ditto.

I think you are really reaching with this. I assume by the launch part you are referring to the acceleration part, which is merely explaining how fast the train accelerates due to gravity travelling down the first drop. And as for the "vertical drop"; it is vertical. Vertical does not necessarily mean 90 degrees.

Wedding Crashers Better than I expected, actually. Beneath the surface of what is essentially a straightforward "Frat Pack" comedy, there is actually a small amount of substance. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn have great onscreen chemistry, and Rachel McAdams shines, and hopefully has a bigger future ahead of her. Vaughn is a source of endless laughs, and there is plenty of crude humor, but at the same time a little more heart than your typical generic comedy. It never strays from the boundaries that these films usually have, and drags a little with a running time of two hours, but overall is a pretty good movie. More than likely, it is this year's movie that annoys the *** out of you because people talk about it endlessly and herald it as one of the greatest comedies of all time. I guess that is no fault of the film, though. 3 stars (out of 4)

Awesome; I actually finished a whole lot higher than I expected. The 4th Dimension definitely deserved the recognition it got; it was very creative. It was a lot of fun watching all of the videos, and I'm looking forward to next year.

Too bad the Hurricane is down, but it does disprove my theory that they never do any maintanence on it ever. I'm sure you'll love the Swamp Fox, though. It has some pretty insane airtime in the backseat at night.

"The horror… the horror…" I've never seen the original "Apocalypse Now", but I recently watched the extended "Redux" edition, which was stunning. It is one of the more unrealistic war movies, but at the same time one of the best films ever made. The psychological epic will certainly leave most viewers pondering many issues long after the credits roll. Francis Ford Coppola is one of the finest directors ever, and he is helped here by a stellar cast, including Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne, and a brief appearance by Harrison Ford. 4 stars (out of 4)

http://www.jonathan-hawkins.net/index.php/videos/ Part IV is now up! A few people will love this video, but most of you will absolutely loathe it. I did not have much footage for this day, and was really having a hard time motivating myself to edit the video, so I started messing around, and 2 hours later came out with the final product, which is a really weird and probably extremely irritating video. Enjoy. The video from Six Flags New England on last year's East Coast Trek is also up for those who did not see it last year.

^ Shivering Timbers is wood structured. I don't mind the Gerstlauers myself, but PTCs will make for a much more re-rideable coaster I'm sure. ^^ Off the top of my head, I know that Cornball Express and Hoosier Hurricane both have PTCs, and are also both still running extremely well. Much smaller coasters than The Voyage, though.

I suspect the park would want to avoid using the term "ejector airtime" for obvious reasons...

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" Warning: This review contains no explicit spoilers, but if you've somehow managed to avoid reading the novel, seeing the 1971 movie, or the endless parodies done over the years, do not read on, as important plot details are revealed. Regardless of the strong attempts to separate 2005's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" from the 1971 "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", the comparisons will undoubtedly be made. The classic film, with its memorable performance by Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, still holds up just as well as it did nearly thirty five years ago, and it is likely that a large portion of the "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" audience will have seen the first version. Thankfully, the new adaptation of Roald Dahl's beloved novel, directed by Tim Burton ("Edward Scissorhands", "Big Fish"), distances itself quite well from the 1971 movie, and offers a new perspective to the story. Many have billed the new film as an adaptation more true to Dahl's novel than the Gene Wilder version, as Roald Dahl reportedly hated the 1971 movie. Dahl's widow Felicity is onboard this time as executive producer, and she has expressed her belief that Dahl would have loved Burton's take on his novel. Screenwriter John August never even watched the 1971 film until after he had drafted the screenplay, and the result is a script that does not get tied up with trying to avoid and outdo its predecessor. I honestly hate to compare and contrast the two versions of the story, as I am sure we will all be reading plenty of that over the next few weeks, but it is practically unavoidable, so I suppose I will just run with it. The major flaw with the Gene Wilder Wonka was that the film lacked much character depth, and never truly developed the relationship between Charlie and Wonka. The point at which Wonka selects Charlie as his successor arrives abruptly, and comes across more as process of elimination than a true connection between the characters. This is not an issue in Burton's version, as we see Wonka's appreciation of Charlie grow throughout the journey inside the factory, and his disgust with the naughty children is immediately evident. Furthermore, with Tim Burton's Wonka, played by Johnny Depp ("Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas", "Finding Neverland"), we see the humanity of the eccentric chocolate maker. Burton has always made movies involving turmoil between a father and son, so I suppose it should not be a surprise that he has brought this new element to the story of Willy Wonka. Through Wonka's constant nightmarish flashbacks, we learn the origins of his love for candy, involving his strict candy-hating dentist father, played by Christopher Lee ("Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith", "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"). Wonka's emotions are more apparent as well, as he expresses a genuine child-like joy at times when proudly displaying his factory, and becomes furious when Mike Teavee (Jordon Fry) insults candy. He displays an innocent inability to deal with people, and a complete lack of courtesy. Johnny Depp has always displayed himself as a very versatile actor. As far as I'm concerned, his bizarre depiction of Hunter S. Thompson in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is one of the best performances of the 1990's, and his recent portrayal of author J.M. Barrie in "Finding Neverland" may have been the best performance of 2004. In "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", he once again disappears into character, and his depiction of Willy Wonka borders on downright disturbing, while also being completely hilarious. The Michael Jackson comparisons everyone seems to be making are, quite frankly, dead on. His fellow "Finding Neverland" star Freddie Highmore is outstanding as Charlie Bucket, and further proves that he may be the most promising child actor in Hollywood today. The other children do a great job as well, as do the actors playing Charlie's family members. The grandparents provide a substantial amount of humor. And then, there is Deep Roy. Roy plays every Oompa Loompa in the film, wonderfully showing off endless personalities and providing a lot of humor. While Roy's performance is outstanding, the Oompa Loompas were a bit of an issue for me. Visually, the depiction was excellent, and quite true to the novel, but the musical numbers left something to be desired. For the most part they were hilarious and fun, but also sometimes hard to understand, and the pop music was an unnecessary addition in my opinion. The 1971 Oompa Loompas and their songs, while not as true to the book lyrically, had a much more timeless feel to them. That is the biggest issue for me with the 2005 film; I'm just not sure it will hold up over time in the same way that the Gene Wilder version did. It is a wonderful film, but a classic? I'm just not so sure of that, and only time will tell. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is pure Tim Burton, with each frame bursting with color and imagination, and the pacing is nearly flawless. Overall it is a very warm film, and Burton's direction keeps the movie extremely bizarre without becoming completely surreal (not that I would have minded that at all). The orchestral score by Danny Elfman is perfect, and sets the mood of the film immediately while accompanying Burton's sweeping camera movements in the opening sequence. Tim Burton fans will recognize quite a few familiar faces, and may notice a number of subtle references to past films. I really cannot choose between the two adaptations, but they compliment each other very well, and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is an outstanding effort. I would definitely recommend it. 3.5 stars (out of 4)

http://www.yousendit.com You can upload files up to 1 gig. The only problem is it expires after 7 days or 30 downloads. There is a site that allows you to upload a file up to 500 mb, and has unlimited downloads and no expiration, but I can't remember the URL right now. :shock: I'll let you know when I remember it.

Out of those I have been on Italian Job, Powder Keg, and Hades, and my favorite was Hades. I honestly doubt I would like any of the others better than Hades, because I prefer wood over steel usually, and well, Hades is my favorite coaster... ever.

Well, there was not an old official site, but there was an unofficial site at the same URL before B&M took it, and it was quite comprehensive.