haiderodes

in no particular order: i-305 el toro hades x2 desperado (the combination of roughness and violent ejaculatory air) batman (sfmm)

New for 2011...the triumphant return of XK-1 No but seriously, when I saw the rendering of this concept, it reminded me a bit of those Intamin Flight Trainers. Imagine how scary a 400' tall version would be! Upside down 400' over Knotts.

since they got rid of the water slides, there's not much to look at at Lake Delores/RockaHoola. its funny, when they added the big waterslides in the late 90s, we never saw the place open.

Big Thunder Mtn Railroad at Disneyland - Saturday 8/14

^^^Mater is looking good! Francis Ladybug Boogie is a fun little ride when there is no line. I've long wondered how they could expand on that ride system. I guess they got all the kinks worked out it had previously...such as the cars failing to disengage from one table to the next. Looks like they put mater where the "bugs" would be and added a swinging car on the back. The increased capacity is welcome as Boogie can hold a line for a while.

^Sounds like a fun way to start your 30's. Its a controlled fall/drop. Base price is $99 for a single jump. $115 for jump & dvd, $130 if you add a photo and a dollar more for a t-shirt. Other info can be found here... http://www.skyjumplasvegas.com/

Seems fun. I wonder how the spinning of each arm is controlled.

That crazy ferris wheel is a Chance Sky Diver. Don't see many of those these days...especially outside of a carnival setting.

At nighttime the jump unit has a VERY bright LED attached to it. If I have a clear view of the tower, I can see whenever someone is jumping (or the unit going back up the tower) all the time...and I'm all the way on the other side of town. I'm sure its to allow nighttime filming, but its still pretty cool looking nonetheless.

Not sure you knew this, but the cable car/tram system came from right here in Las Vegas. It was originally built with Grand Slam Canyon (now The Adventurdome). Seems like the only difference now is that they've removed the glass from the cars.

wow its like we are back in 2000-2001 all over again. same things were said about britney & christina...the difference is that this time the girl is under 18.

For me, I'd say Prowler.

5.) Batman: The Ride @ SFMM 4.) Dueling Dragons - Ice 3.) Talon 2.) Raptor 1.) Montu - insanity...especially if you can get a good night ride in. love them trenches! Honorable mentions include Alpengiest (at night only) and SFGAm's Batman.

I did the After Dark thing last summer and I have to say I was pleased with their offerings, except Shamu Rocks. Perhaps it was due to a smaller locals attendance in Orlando, but San Diego's Shamu Rocks seems to have so much more energy. There was such an excitement over the crowd especially with the sea of blue light-up wands. People went crazy for it. AND the fact that you can see the fireworks after the show without leaving the stadium also helped. It just didnt seem to "gel" in Orlando...at least during my experience. I saw both last year before the incident and from what I remember the traininers spent a lot less time in the water than during Believe so that wasnt it.

^When I was there in May, Raptor was an early entry ride...not sure if this changed some time over the summer. Dragster is a tough call. I'd say if it isnt testing during early entry, go ahead and hit up Maverick first. When I was there people who got in line during early entry ended up waiting the full hour of early entry, PLUS an additional hour before the ride finally opened for the day.

I too agree that SFMM's Batman is one of the more intense of the clones. The only domestic clone I have yet to ride is the SFGAdv installation (was closed when I was there last month), but the others seem to lack the "kick" that the west coast version delivers. The weakest seemed to be a tie between Goliath at SFFT and Great White at SWOT.

What if all the markers turn out to be for something "silly" like a large infrastructure project? You know, something like burying fiber optic cables?

As mentioned, it seems like the earthquake didnt cause the cancellation afterall... The lagoon still doesnt have a drain so it takes FOREVER to pump it dry...hope its not that serious.

^^Basically you visit the Grizzly River Rapids Fastpass area and pick up tickets for a designated show time and viewing area (no seats, standing room only). They have a return of approximately 30 to 45 minutes before the show, but if you have any good hope of getting your choice of spot, you need to get back to the holding area at least 60 to 90 minutes ahead of time. Luckily from what I hear they don't hand out so many tickets that the areas are packed to the gills, but its the waiting, holding, waiting situation that has people annoyed. Hotel guests can get in via the Grand Californian gate 30 min early to get their tickets. Once the tickets are gone, they go back to being GRR machines. I understand the reasoning behind severely limiting preview/soft opening performances due to marketing reasons, but I think it has hurt them operationally. It didn't give them the time to experience the growing pains of launching such a large and invasive addition to the park. I envision ongoing refinement to the load in load out process, but like many have mentioned, I still don't get why they'd design the show so that the main viewing area is so restricted that they'd need to institute a ticket system as the ONLY way to get in. AND even with the ticket system you still have to commit nearly 2 hours to see the show. They realize this with the addition of the lil puppet preshow and GlowFest, but even that cant make up for the time commitment. Not to mention they are still closing EVERYTHING in Paradise Pier before the first show...and the park is already low on attraction count. For me the beauty of Fantasmic at DL and Illuminations at Epcot is that you can usually walk up right at show time and find a decent spot (depending of course on preference of view). Of course you can (reportedly) see WoC from the backside, but I imagine you lose a lot standing back there. I almost rather prefer they restrict a portion of the viewing area for those with the dining option/hotel guests and leave the rest open. It still causes a line of sorts, but its nothing different than those folks who layout blankets and park strollers in advance of the first Fantasmic of the night.

^^I wonder if it is a requirement to either A.) keep the operating license for both elevators or B.) keep the back elevator in operating condition by running it ever so often. I imagine it would be better to have it fully functionally so it could be used as a backup. But like you, I thought they never would use the second elevator again since I havent seen it run in like forever.

Xcelerator is still my favorite followed by the Mr Freezes.

I believe this was pre-recorded. They were at the park last month just before my visit. They did the same thing a few years ago at SFStL, but they did in the parking lot.

^wtf?

To date the roughest coaster I have been on is Texas Giant followed by The Rattler in 2nd place and Hades in 3rd (even though I love it).

^The park closing for capacity isnt anything unique to Aquatica...it happens at most of the Orlando area water parks especially this time of year. As far as your visit, I suggest hitting up Dolphin Plunge and Taumata Racer (mat slide) first as those lines build the fastest. As you know this time of year is good for afternoon thunderstorms so some of the best time to visit is right after the storms have passed since those people who got there early in the day tend to bounce once the storms hit.