Jew

In this particular case, I see it as shareholders seeing right through the real intent of the buyout: to bail management out. They clearly have no idea how they are going to pay off the debt from buying Paramount Parks. Pulling the dividend was the backup plan, which would be fine if they had enough revenue to eventually restore it...but right now, they don't.

Looks like the "good old boys club" might soon be shutting down. There's no way the management team survives this mess if the deal doesn't go through.

^^It really depends on what you are looking for. Luxury or value? What are you visiting for? nightlife, gambling, food, etc. Monte Carlo is a good combination of value and quality. Wynn & Encore are the best for luxury and service. Mirage is slightly more expensive than Monte Carlo, but is still a good value right in the center of the strip.

I've never in my life heard of a major roller coaster being leased to a park.

There's no life to the casino floor. Despite looking really nice, it's decor is boring (just more of the overdone "modern" look---almost like a supersized M resort), it's too dark at night because it relies so heavily on natural light, there's nothing unique to make it stand out, and it's laid out in a way where even if someone was winning big at a table or slot machine you wouldn't hear the excitement unless you were right next to them. I guess what I am trying to say is that it feels more like an indian casino floor, not the casino floor that is supposed to be the centerpiece of the most expensive vegas project ever.

So I had never been to a casino grand opening before...Until Aria opened. I got a great offer in the mail, so I decided to head out to Vegas for a few nights to catch the opening night fireworks and be one of the first official guests of the hotel. My overall impression of Aria is that it looks really nice, but doesn't feel like Vegas. It's just more modern and boring with no personality. Like the M resort on a bigger scale. On to part 1 of the photos, which are random photos of the property. Party two will be a feature on the standard room @ Aria. The exterior at night OMG!!! WORLD OF COLOR!!!! This was actually kind of cool. At the main entrance, the giant water wall flow changes patterns and stuff. I guess it was designed to drone out the sound of the cars. The lobby. A real wide open space. Behind the window is the pointless "park", which is really just an open space with some grass and trees. A random picture of the casino floor. It looks nice, but has no personality. Here's their 24 hour cafe that almost tried to kill me with chicken wings that weren't cooked. The 2nd floor, which features most of the restaurants had a completely different interior design. It felt really out of place with the darker casino floor. Felt like it was thrown together. Here's the buffet. And some random expensive restaurants And a frogurt place. Why is yogurt trendy again??? The lobby of the Elvis Cirque show. What does a giant blue shoe have to do with Elvis? FIST PUMP! The airport terminal disguised as City Center's convention area. Inside Crystals. The shopping mall with 5 stores. And everything is at least $1000. But it does have random art features like this one. The slot machines all feature small LCD touchscreens that provide players club info, resort info, etc. Now burning money is even easier! yay! Vdara tower Mandarin Oriental tower at night. The lobby of the Mandarin Oriental has incredible views!

SFMM doesn't need a hotel.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Letterman commercial. That was my personal favorite.

Gotcha. Wasn't exactly sure how the braking system was on there. I guess the problem with the LSMs being the brakes is if they lose power, the situation of it rolling through to the emergency brakes happens. With rides like Dragster or Kingda Ka, power failure would never make a difference. They act as brakes when there is no power. As you mentioned though, the reason there is rollbacks is because the ride doesn't know how much extra stopping power to apply when the drive trips/loses power/etc. There's always a magnetic field, but it needs the extra power to slow it down properly.

^^But if the landlord approved for you to make physical changes to your place (say for example, you put new shelves in your closet)...You'd either be stuck leaving those behind or returning it to its original state. The foundations/footers/etc for rides and their support buildings are actual physical changes to the property. I'm guessing that's the logic the fair board is using. They may not have a right to the rides themselves that SF put in on their own, but they possibly have the right to force Six Flags to spend extra cash on the ride removals to return things back to how they were (or even force them to leave the rides there if that is the only possible solution). It may very well be a fair argument depending on the wording in the lease.

^Essentially, S:TE already has fixed magnetic brakes. The LSM's act as the brakes as well. The only moving brakes are in the station, which are only used to bring the car back to its home position in the station.

The Packers won Super Bowl I and II, The Dolphins VII and VIII, The Steelers IX and X+XIII and XIV, The Niners XXIII and XXIV, The Cowboys XVII and XVIII, The Broncos XXXII and XXXIII, and most recently the Patriots XXXVIII and XXXIX. That's almost 40% of all the Super Bowls played... I guess in your eyes it's just not possible because aside from 2 years ago, Peyton has done nothing but choke in the playoffs.

How long does everyone think it will be before we read the news article stating they declared bankruptcy and need excessive salaries for themselves to "keep trying to find investors"?

^^^^^It never hits those brakes at anywhere close to full speed.

^Exactly. If he said "Hi, I'm John Jacob Jinglehiemer Smith. I was the former GM of Blockoland, and here is the letter I wrote to be included with new hire paperwork when I was there. I thought you guys would find it interesting!" I would be less confused as to why I am being preached to.

I'd say the star attraction losing what I'd guess to be at least 100pph (to the point where they have to sell specific time slots on the Q-bot for it, instead of including it with the price of a gold Q-bot because its such low capacity) is a pressing issue. Especially when it can be easily fixed.

^You mean to tell me that correcting an obvious operational flaw with their newest coaster isn't one of their pressing issues?

My question is this: what is in it for the state to NOT work with Six Flags? Six Flags asking for no rent is slightly ridiculous, but for the state, are they going to make up the tax revenue by using the SFKK property for something else? I'd be curious to know just how much revenue is generated for the state between the income taxes of employees (and subsequent taxes on anything they spend with their wages) and sales tax from stuff sold at the park. Plus I'm sure Six Flags had to pay all sorts of other random taxes/registration/licensing/etc. fees to the state too. It's obvious Six Flags was looking for a way out by offering such ridiculous terms on the lease, but I'm also thinking that the fair board is going to be kicking themselves for not working harder to reach a deal with Six Flags.

^It would help if you actually read everything that has been posted so far. Not one person here has bashed SFMM for their effort. We've all acknowledged that what they have is great, and a very nice touch for a place like SFMM that hadn't seen any sort of real attempt at a theme since Goliath...but ultimately that experience is ruined waiting an extra 30 minutes while trains go empty because of the pre-shows. Especially more so for those people who have already seen the pre-show once and just want to ride the ride! Nobodies faulting the ride operators. People are faulting a good idea (themed pre-show) that was poorly executed, which is what causes the empty trains. Also, they CAN predict crowds. Obviously sometimes they will be wrong, but parks have all sorts of data (previous years attendance, online sales, weather reports, knowledge of any groups/events at the park, and so on) that allow them to make pretty good predictions as to what the crowds will be.

Just heard this on Sportscenter.... Peyton Manning is 9-9 in the playoffs. Sounds like "being back" is no sure thing.

The Saints deserved it because they had more USC alum (3 to 1) than the Colts.

^^Perhaps you should post some of the links/sources. 153 does seem quite high.

^You're right, Knott's doesn't waver in their cost cutting decisions. I don't think they try to hide the fact they will be closed if there is constant rain in the forecast. I find it hard to believe that SFMM ever intended to operate for the full day (if at all) given the forecast and their recent history with rain. No need to make the decision so late.

^Long story short, the place failed already as a shopping center with some attractions/shows, so the owners of the different attractions formed a partnership to screw investors in order to save themselves.