Movieguy

It may be hard to explain, but I think I'm understanding where you're coming from. As a matter of fact, the more I think about what's in the expedition videos, I think you do a great job pointing out the unique cultural aspects of these parks. Take the bow and arrow shooting game at that one park (Was it in Mitsui Greenland? I can't remember now.)...The Japanese must be an incredibly non-litigious people. I also just remembered reading a book about Japanese Parks in College, about a bazillion years ago. It even mentioned Parque Espana in quite a few sections, as I recall. It said that one thing the Japanese try to do with their parks, is make the visitors feel like they're traveling to another country, without actually leaving their own. There are also other parks that simulate trips to old Holland, and Canada, as it appears in the "Anne of Green Gables" book series, if I remember correctly from the same book. This is probably why Tokyo Disneyland is so similar to aspects of our Disney World and Disneyland in a lot of ways. They want their Japanese guests to feel like they've actually traveled to America when they go into the park. They tried to have one Japanese themed attraction, I believe, when the park first opened, but it wasn't very successful.

And I forgot in my wine-induced haze about one TOGO contribution to Japan's parks...the Ultra Twister! I've so wanted to ride one of those things for a long time.

^ By god your're right...that in itself is a wonderful reason to visit.

I've seen you guys go to Japan more than once through all the years that TPR has existed. I can see two very big reasons to go there...Tokyo Disneyland, and Disney Sea. Those look like awesome places that I would kill to get tickets for. But the other parks you visit seem to run the gamut from OK to just plain awful, IMO. Fujikyu immediately comes to mind, as does the defunct Nara Dreamland, and Laqua, with the reportedly crappy Thunder Dolphin. I'm sure some of these parks are pretty good, but it just seems that a whole lot of them just aren't worth the time to park and coaster enthusiasts. Japan just seems to have a whole load of TOGO death machines, Vekoma death machines, and Arrow death machines as well. I'm not Japan bashing in any way, because the US has more than its share of death machines as well. I love Japan, actually, it just seems that most of their parks are pretty lackluster compared to the ones in the US, Europe, and Even South Korea in some cases. So what is it that keeps you guys going back there? Is it some intangible thing that the expedition videos don't accurately describe, or is it something else? I'm just curious is all.

Loved this TR...especially the "stuff happens" pastry. My sides still hurt from seeing that one I was gonna make a "no fun girl " comment with Elissa and the spinning coaster, but someone beat me to it. Kudos to you, Meteornotes. Sorry to make yet another comparison, but seeing KT on the butterfly reminded me of when my sister was that age, and we went to Kennywood. She decided she wanted to ride the Jack Rabbit, and my parents took her on. By the end she was crying...because the ride was over! So nice to see what looks like another coaster kid in the making.

Speaking of Kennywood, I can't believe I left out The Potato Patch. They really do have some of the best park fries that I've ever eaten. Believe the hype!

I think both Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and Knoebels have some of the best park food I've ever tasted. Knoebels with their pizza and desserts, and Busch with their international fare, particularly the BBQ in New France, and the German Fare at Festhaus.

^ Very good point. I was just being dramatic anyway. I tend to do that.

I didn't used to think Mean Streak was that bad...then I rode much better woodies at Hershey and Knoebels, and my eyes were opened. It's obvious that this coaster's time has come, just another failed Summers/Dinn venture that has a lot of negative public opinion behind it. I'll even go as far to say that this fire was a message from god..."Tear this unholy SOB down, and get GCI on the phone, PRONTO!" OK, maybe not, but still...they should consider replacing this one.

Too bad to hear about Belantis. It's so hard to imagine a park with 2 Gerstlauers as being so crappy... I love seeing all those pics of Kidtums, and how she's growing, hair and all. She reminds me so much of my sister when she was that age...my little sister, who is now 18 all of a sudden, has wowed people with her acting and artistic skills, and is now starting her first year at NYU, complete with classes at Tisch. Sorry to ramble, I just miss her a whole lot now that she's away. But, I know she'll be home for the holidays soon enough. That's one advantage of when you reach my age, and time starts to move a little quicker for you. Anywho, glad to see you enjoyed Oktoberfest so much, in spite of its touristy aspects. I'd like to get over there one of these days, being part German myself.

Don't watch if you're pregnant, or easily offended...otherwise,

I do, much more so than I used to. Ever since my dad suddenly died of a heart attack four years ago, I know I'm at risk. I've been exercising constantly, and I'm improving on my diet steadily. I still have a belly and man-boobs, though...I also have a slow thyroid, I found out last year, so I'm taking medication for that for the rest of my life. As of my last doctor's appointment a few months ago, I have a 159 cholesterol level, which I'm happy with, and my blood pressure's in good shape as always . I recently stepped things up big time, and started cooking much more of my own food. I already haven't been to a McDonalds or any other burger joint in ages, but I was still cheating and getting stuff from Mexican places, wing places, Chinese places, and local Pizzerias. But now, we recently got a rice cooker and are expecting a cookbook to use with it. Last night, we fixed a lovely dish of ground turkey and black beans with salsa verde on tortillas. I also eat a LOT of fruit, either fresh or dried, and I've recently been fixing myself a bowl of warm Grape Nuts once a day to help with my fiber intake. The only other obstacle is that I tend to eat too fast, and any effort to eat slowly feels very unnatural to me, so I'm still trying to figure that out. As for Food INC, I tried to watch that once, but switched it off a few minutes in. I just saw it mainly as propaganda for the Vegan lifestyle, and I've always found Vegans and Vegetarians to be rather annoying, constantly pushing their lifestyle on other people. No offense to anyone like that here, I'm just speaking from personal experience.

You know, you're right. B&M does a lot of cloning as well. For some reason though it's a little less conspicuous, to me anyway. Strange though, since it was always right in front of me, seeing all those similar designs on Roller Coasters in The Raw. Doug "always comes away from these threads feeling embarrassed" Booth

$1.2 Million? That's highway robbery if you ask me, just for new restraints. But then again, what do I know about park economics?

It's not just the headbanging, it's the fact that nearly everything they build is a clone. from boomerangs to SLCs that have the exact same layout. I know it's probably more affordable for some parks, but it just makes Vekoma come off as rather dull and generic. I know they've put out some some decent woodies in Europe, but most people over here don't know about them. I wonder why they don't replace the restraints on more of their coasters, like they did for the Great Nor'Easter? I understand the need for OTSR's on certain steel coasters, but really, why do they have to be so bulky?

This sounds pretty cool. Nice to hear that SF is giving the whole Batman/Superman thing a rest for a moment, and giving another superhero a chance to shine. I've been hoping to see Great Adventure for the first time at some point in the future, and this gives me yet another reason to try.

This is why I currently don't own an Ipad...it's also the reason I'm not getting into 3-D television right now as well. The technology is still a little too young. One thing I've learned in my love of gadgets is that you always want to wait until the second or third generation. It's a good rule of thumb for pretty much any gadget. The Ipad looks really cool, yeah, but as it is now, it looks too much like a larger version of my Ipod touch.

Well, that's good to know. I like it when any place tries to update, redo, anything they can to please their guests, and Schlitterbahn certainly seems to have done all that and more from what I see here. Do you think your initial "bad" visit, and your ensuing word of mouth had any bearing on their decision to update and revamp the place?

That's really too bad...but what are you gonna do? I saw this coming, honestly, back when GL first closed. Doesn't make this announcement any less painful, but in truth, Big Dipper was an Ohio coaster. It would have just been out of place somewhere else. Goodbye Big Dipper, and thanks for the fond childhood memories.

Ahhhhhh OK. Thanks for clarifying.

You know...I remember seeing the volume 5 expedition video, at the section where you guys went to Fujikyu Highland Park...there's a clip where Elissa says "You know, this park is just like Schlitterbahn, where you hear all of this propaganda for the place, and when you get there, the park sucks!". (That's what I remember of it anyway.) So, it's a bit confusing to hear you guys laying all this praise on Schlitterbahn today all of a sudden. Did you have a change of heart in the time after the original Japan-a-Mania video came out? Anyway, I loved this TR, like I love pretty much anything you guys post here. So thanks again for doing it.

^ Personally, I think that's because a ride on Storm Runner ends before you get a chance to really enjoy it. In fact, I've never seen the appeal of Intamin Launch coasters like TTD or Kingda Ka. So many of them are just a launch, high hill, long drop...and that's it. That just seems to be the mentality with a lot of Steel Coasters since Magnum came along. "Who cares about the ride? Let's just climb em' and drop em' as far as we can. It's all about height!" Meanwhile, you can get in line for Farenheit and have a much more fulfilling experience that most people seem to feel is worth the wait. Plus, with Great Bear, not only do you get a great custom designed Beemer, but you can also catch a short line for it, if you're lucky. As I said in my TR, Great Bear was a lot more exciting and wild than I remembered from last year. Not only that, But Hershey's got three woodies, two good, and one that's really great. I've really grown to love wooden coasters as of late, because riding a good one makes you feel like you're on an adventure.

I'm a Steelers fan, and I went into this season both hating Big Ben for making an ass of himself in the off-season yet again, and nervous about how bad my Steelers would get their butts kicked without him. After seeing them slip past a fairly strong Falcons team, though, I'm a little less apprehensive. Lets just hope they can keep it up until he returns...maybe we'll even luck out, and have a season like the 2000 Patriots, when Bledsoe went down and Tom Brady came out from nowhere. A fan can dream, can't he?

Wow! What a wild water park. Italy must be an incredibly non-litigious country. Great TR as always. I love seeing you guys go to Europe and turn up all the crazy stuff they have at the amusement parks over there. This park has to be right up there with the wackiest I've seen in that area. Not as effed up as BonBonland, of course, but then again what is?

I'm surprised that Storm Runner was only a 15 minute wait for you. When I went there last month, it had the second longest wait behind Farenheit, because they kept one train in the station for what felt like an eternity, until the other train unloaded and loaded after the last ride, essentially making the ride a one train affair. I agree that Wildcat is a bit rough, but was still fun for me. I can tolerate a little roughness on a woodie. Lightning Racer is way better though, I agree.