Movieguy

^ Again, I was being dramatic, joking around. I'm sure Syracuse is fine overall. I've been to the Carousel Mall and I go to the NY State Fair every year. But, i can also remember waiting at the Greyhound station, where I got to hear a clearly drunk man arguing for a ticket at the counter, and I also remember buying a wig for a show in a downtown shop...where two young punks suddenly got into a fistfight outside, and the owner had to go break it up. Plus, all the reports of shootings, and other murders on the local news don't help perceptions of the place down here in Ithaca, where I live. Don't get me wrong. I have very fond memories connected to Syracuse as well.

^ All good points. I was being a bit dramatic earlier (I'm an actor/singer in my spare time, so that's my style ), but yeah, Upstate NY has its qualities too. In a way, I'm kinda glad that it's spent all this time as an "undiscovered" part of the country. Just stay the hell out of Syracuse, though. That place is the Detroit of the northeast.

^Wow...didn't even here about that one. See, those of us who live here know the biggest problem with Upstate, and most of NY in general...NOTHING ever gets done.

I still wouldn't hold my breath with Herschend. I still feel burned by SF, giving DL the worst of the Intamin Superman coasters (from what I hear) and then proceeding to do nothing with the place afterward. We got the sh*t end of the six flags stick, I don't see that trend changing with Herschend. I think it's all because of were DL is. This is really the story of Upstate NY in a nutshell. Constantly losing out on all opportunities (A major mall expansion in Syracuse.), only being recognized for bad things (Buffalo sports teams always choking, the legless man who was allowed to go on ROS and died.) and always in the shadow of NYC within the state. Whenever I tell people I'm from New York, they always assume I'm from the city. Cities like Cleveland and Detroit may be dumps, but people at least know they exist. Nobody is even aware of Upstate's existence, which is even worse.

I don't know..Fantasy Island at least has a decent woodie.

You know, this is why I changed my home park to Seabreeze, other than the fact that Seabreeze is a shorter drive from where I am. Darien Lake, quite frankly, has always been a sub-par park compared to all the others I've been to. If it manages to stay open within the next decade, I will be very surprised.

Like I've said before, somebody needs to tear down that Dinn monstrosity ASAP. It's once again been a long time since this park added anything new, so why not take Predator out and get either GCI or the Gravity Group on the phone.

They could always put a "Drop Tower" near the new coaster.

You know, I would kill to get some video of what DT was like when it first opened in 1990. Not likely, of course, but I can dream. I heard there were quite a lot of FX that were turned off over the years as things deteriorated. Was anyone here lucky enough to ride it when it first opened, so they could at least provide some details?

Yeah, I was just having a little fun. I love CP.

That's a great idea! Just imagine the kind of queue they could build for it, and the type of theming the people could use while making their way to the coaster. They could even have... Oh wait, this is Cedar fair we're talking about. How silly of me. I'm sure it'll be named something nice and generic, with a boiling outdoor queue to match. Besides, who cares about details when you're queuing for an awesome, gigantic coaster, am I right?

^ Oh...I didn't know about that. Drawback of not being back there for years.

I never thought much of DT as a ride, but it sucks to see CP's only remaining indoor ride closing at the same time. Especially the fact that it's on the front of the park, which is nothing but concrete. I'm all for big and thrilling coasters, but not at the expense of the park and its range of appeal. I haven't been back to CP since 2002, and frankly, I don't miss it that much. Great coasters, yes, but no shade, no places to sit, and frankly sub-par food. I'm in my 30's now, and I'm looking for more than rides now from a park. That's why I'm going back to Knoebels this year instead. Corporate parks like this attract more and more adolescents from rides like TTD, MF, and Maverick, that's a fact I can't ignore. However, when they exclude families from the equation, they're hurting their chance for broader appeal at the same time. One of the great things about one of our first trips to CP, was that it had rides like DT to appeal to my little sister as well. I'm fine with CP wanting to get rid of this old attraction to keep up with their competition, but I'm hoping they're not looking to appeal only to teenagers in the future.

This ride looks neat. Reminds me a little of Abismo at Park de Attractiones in Spain.

I've given Andrew Lloyd Webber a lot of crap for much of his work (Phantom sequel? Really?), but there's one work of his that i have a soft spot for, and that's Starlight Express. When I was 7 years old, my parents took me on a wonderful trip to NYC with their theater connections. I got to see Phantom, Into The Woods, and Anything Goes with Patti Lupone. We had also planned on seeing Les Mis, but they couldn't get enough tickets, so we settled for Starlight Express instead...in retrospect that was a good choice, as seeing the little boy, Gavroche, getting shot dead in Act II of Les Mis would have scarred me for life at that age. I recently got a recording of Starlight from 1984, and while it may not be at the artistic level of my other favorite shows, I still found it pretty catchy. I know it gets a lot of grief from musical purists, but I think it's pretty well done for a rock musical. I like it waaaaaaay better than Cats, I know that much. Also, I came up with a theory for the plot that makes this show much more interesting than the obvious bells and whistles. . I think that control, the voice of the boy, isn't really the boy at all, but really an outside force in what is clearly a dream world. I think that the boy and the main character, Rusty, are one in the same. The boy is dreaming that he's this underdog steam train, that feels the urge to race against the very trains he plays with, in order to prove his own worth in the world. Plus, remember that Starlight Express is an allegory for god in this show. If you think about it, the story really about this boy, who through his dreams, is discovering his own spirituality, and learning how to use it. Again, that's just my theory. The fact that it's all on roller-blades doesn't hurt this show's appeal either. I know there have been broadway shows like Xanadu and Little Mermaid recently, but to me, there is only ONE rollerskating musical. Plus, I think it's the kind of show Kidtums would enjoy at her current age.

Amazing. This park seems to get better and better every time you guys visit. Two of the best steelies in the world, and now one kickass looking water coaster as well. All they need now is a GCI, and they'll have everything.

It's good to know that the spirit of Action Park is alive and well in places like Italy (NJ folks know what I'm talking about )

Geez, what is it with Italy and waterslides? First the one at Movie Park, and now this one.

*SPOILER ALERTS ALL AROUND* 1. Probably some type of security recording, since it was obviously a military ship. 2. I think it was because David closely analyzed the control room of the one ship. 3. I don't think so. 4. Because David infected her lover with the stuff from the vase. It was on his finger, and he dipped it in Charlie's drink before the love scene. 5. It wasn't what David said, but what he was...when the Engineer put its hand on his head, and discovered that Humans were creating life forms of their own, it freaked out. 6. I think that the goo is pure, chaotic DNA, that was being altered and weaponized before things went awry. 7. I believe the Engineers got scared of how fast Humans were developing, and their militant wing decided to wipe them out. 8. I think the opening scene was an Engineer sacrificing itself to create Humanity on Earth (Yes, I think the opening scene is on Earth). Remember in the last shot, you see strands of DNA shaping themselves into multiple patterns, and also remember the discovery that Human DNA and Engineer DNA are a complete match.

The sad thing is, As Dan O'Bannon even said, Alien isn't even as novel now as it was back in 79. It only has a fraction of the impact now that it did back then. That's mainly because its conventions have been overused to death by other movies in the years since. That's probably why Prometheus, while still a good movie in my view, was up against this issue from day one.

I remember feeling like I'd been bashed nearly to death after riding Predator at Darien Lake a few years ago. I also have vague memories of riding Raging Wolf Bobs at GL when it was brand new, and I was a kid. I don't know how it really might have gone, but I felt like I was about to fly out of my seat if I didn't hold on tight enough at one of the turns.

Whoa...Kennywood has a giant Frisbee now? I've never ridden one of those! I was there last summer, now I need to get back there ASAP.

I'm surprised that Kidtums seems to actually like spinning coasters, unlike her poor mother.

OK, on my list of places to see before I die, Italy has jumped to the top after this TR. Lovely beach! Gotta love the parks, and the food, too.

^ Actually, it's not the same planet. For a moment in Prometheus, you see that the planet is called LV-223, or something in that range with a 2 at the start. The original Alien planet is called LV-426, so this was obviously a separate incident. If you look at how fossilized the Jockey in Alien is, that Incident most likely happened ages before Prometheus.