Jon Sabo

^^Were you one of those members who received the "Coming next Spring" card during Christmas time when the action figures weren't available yet? (I think it was HASBRO). I think I remember the "empty-box' promise. I remember getting that card and was pissed because-no action figures~!

Hmm....the Traver/Prior & Church era sounds exciting. Especially some of the rides that were coming online during those times. But, I would have loved to talk to Walt too and just 'pick-his-brain' on how much of a visionary he was during his time era.

^Not your style of music or the new show is very similar to last years?

Bathing suit, suntan lotion (XPF-8000000). Hawaii Sun is roasting today!

Kite-Surfing. It's really hot fad going on in Hawaii now (not sure if it reached Cali-yet). But, it's similar to sailboarding with the exception that you have a kite to catch the wind. Now, mind you that I am not professional by any means, but it is fun to learn and experience it. Ho'okipa Beach Park is best place to catch the action.

Most of the weathermen lie when it comes to posting temps. in Hawaii, but on Maui today is roughly about low-mid 90'F. Thank-goodness the tradewinds help with the natural 'air-conditioning'. Kona-winds suck and you really feel the humidity then.

He's going to become a 'flip-flopper' just like John Kerry was. Remember it's election season....hmm. I agree. Shapiro may not know what will happen himself, because the Staubach Co. still is in the final stages of their report on each park analysis, the estimated cost of sale of the potential park(s)..etc.. The report is hope to be completed by end of the summer or by October at the latest (I think the next major shareholders meeting is in Oct. as well).

I could also have sworn that I heard "mid-August" timeline for that announcement. It was stated in the Paramount purchase shareholders webcast. I think those blue tarps are intriguing and could be the final clue as to the ride (or they could very well be components for the lift motor---blah blah). The shape of one of those photos (on the Pointbuzz site) looked similar to a boat-style coach/car. Oh well, im tired of guessing; August will be here sooner than most of us think. By then, we may have already hit the milestones on this forum/post of: 1. 60,000 viewers 2. 1000 posts 3. 100 pages (and counting).

On one of the civil-tort case sites, there is a report that last week alone their were over 180+ lawsuits currently pending/litigation regarding amusement ride incidents/injuries. There is a 'shortcut' link to the site and I will post it here when it is back online (states that it's down for maintenance today). I agree with an earlier post that we, as a society, can be some greedy-a** people in certain situations/incidents. I've often stated that myself on other topics/forums as well. Grant it, there are some situations by which we need to sue over certain injuries or rights, etc., but it is many of the 'frivolous' lawsuits that tie up our legal system. I haven't really paid attention to when this trend started, but I would venture a guess around the mid-80's when we became a 'sue-happy' nation. One of the first incidents I still remember was when the person sued McDonalds for burning herself with hot coffee. Now look at all of the labels on cups, they specifically state "CAUTION-HOT DRINK/ITEM"...blah blah.. I have to recall back to a comedian (Bill Engval-Blue Comedy Tour Show/Movie) when he said: "Here's your sign!"

Can you provide us with a link to the report? Or, is the article stated word-for-word?

Host: William Bernstein, Jr. of CWN interviewed Diane Centeno, PR-Mgr for BGE/WC/Kingsmill, today and discussed many issues with the park. Interested parties can watch the video at the following: Credit Link: http://www.coasterworldnews.com/v2/?cat=media&page=player&address=EXCLUSIVE%20BGE%20INTERVIEW.wmv **Another interesting note. If you go the BGE website, click on RIDES (upper left corner). The New 07 sign is giving various clues (and changes often).....It reads: "Our Newest Ride-Opening Spring 2007" Then....it fades-Immense Strength---Vertical.......Flight.....Menacing. Link: http://www.buschgardens.com/bgw/ar_rides.aspx

Top 3: 1. Dan Marino/John Elway 2. Emmit Smith 3. Troy Aikman

^Exactly. They already ran out of business cards. I was just thinking of that same post after I posted this one.

COLORADO SPRINGS CARNIVAL RIDE CRASHES 4 of 6 People On Board Taken To Area Hospitals With Reportedly Minor Injuries. by NEWS CHANNEL 13 Staff 7/15/2006 Hope this trend doesn't continue for the rest of summer.

^Didn't one of the band members pass away recently?

I just hate when this happens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxFaPn0i0_s Need a new car? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUOoM_-K8kM

I would just simply add ANY of John Williams works since he composed most of the music scores listed in this thread. But the Star Wars saga (all of them) and the JP movies as well as the Indiana Jones movie trilogy stand out in my mind. Jaws is certainly a classic also. One of my all time favs: SW-Empire Strikes Back: The Imperial March (Darth Vader theme). Simply awesome sound score. Now, you even hear it at band-sporting events, etc.

Same with BGE (and wow! How many people take uniforms or partial uniforms). I heard of a girl who had $300 taken out of her check for that.

Island Hopping: 1. Hawaiian Air 2. Aloha Airlines. Doesn't matter which, because the company pays for round trip(s) between all of the islands. 3. Mainland flights-depends on best rates, but usually American Airlines.

1.2001 ES300 Lexus and 2. Ordered a new Steeda Mustang (Mustangs Rule!) http://steeda.com/ 3. 2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD/Xtra cab.

Some of the best television commercials I have a kick at seeing is the recent one's from Capital One (and those gnarly Viking-peeps). Several recent themes: 1. Christmas "jobs" 2. Summer camp-jobs 3. The one when they are walking around the street (like NYC) and they kick over the hot-dog stand. Some of my favorite classics: 1. The OLD Anheuser-Busch commercials with the 3 frogs (any of them).

Spam is HUGE in Hawaii (not the internet-type). SPam Musubi rocks with the locals and the Haole's!

^ Not always the case. In many Arrow chassis/axles they ARE spring loaded. I had to change them quite frequently when working on LNM/BBW/DF...etc. and inspection on other Arrow coasters around the US. Now, around 94 or so, some modifications were made to eliminate the spring-loaded versions, but some are still in operation today (BBW/Nessie/DW-coaster). Viper (SFMM) had the same spring-type rollback, but they were having issues with them and changing them ALOT, they adopted to the new rollback dog (and assume they still use it today). Depends on the ride and if a park made the retrofit (or chose not too). I believe Arrow put out a TSB on those and it was up the the parks if they chose to do an upgrade. In the case of the ride being discussed on this topic, it supposedly still had a 'spring-loaded' rollback dog(s). In the comments I had posted earlier, I was referring to the "steel" coaster and not anything about a wooden coaster. I never worked on wooden coasters (maintenance).

Great photos/trip report. I had a hard time deciding which was better, the photos? Or, the classic captions to go along with them? Well, I say its a tie. If your daughter needs a good lawyer in collecting those royalty fees, I can give the name/number..lol (There goes your mutual funds/retirement and their college $$ now) **Was the new Shamu show any good? Some people I talked with hated it and some enjoyed it.

Good pic find. Looking at the pic and the inspectors/maintenance guys around the lift, it really looks as if the "teeth" on the rollback channel are not within spec. Essentially, the material is worn out and the channel needs replacement. The rollback dog could have failed also, or a combination of both scenarios created the event. Just an observation from the picture supplied. Rollback dogs use a heavy-duty spring to "spring back" to its original location (starting point) and if that spring wasn't replaced or is worn out, or lost its tension, it could have easily not engaged into the rollback channel. Another common cause for rollback failure? Someone forgot to put the cotter-key within the rollback dog and the 'key' fell out. It has happened on several rides in the US. But, in some of those cases, the train has already engaged in the lift and the 2nd rollback dog already engaged within the channel. Most of the 'dogs' are located on axles 3 and 7 (desired locations based on train weight and balance of that weight).