PhillyGirl

You indicated you're narrowing things down a bit and neither the Taiwan nor the Singapore & Malaysia Tours were listed. Is it safe to assume they won't occur in 2013? (I apologize if you answered this question earlier and I overlooked it.)

I'm excited about the opportunity to help others, while doing something fun. www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/staceyfbryant/DorneyPark1

Hi Big Mike, I may have overlooked the age of the child riding the starter coaster. However, I can say Cameron's first two coasters were Little Leaper (Steel Pier) in Atlantic City NJ, followed by the Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland CA. (He was younger than 2 years old, but enjoyed both of the rides.) Please note the Matterhorn age restriction appears to be 3, I don't think I knew. From a child's prospective, the first coaster he ever asked to get on was Vapor Trail at Sesame Place. When he was a couple years older his preferences were Runaway Mine Train and Skull Mountain at Six Flags Great Adventure. Cam's first harnessed ride was Big Bad Wolf, since that is no longer around: domestically - I would suggest Iron Dragon (possibly) at Cedar Point and internationally - I would suggest Vampire at Chessington World of Adventures.

I'm really sorry to hear about your loss Big Mike. Cam and I will keep you and your family in our prayers.

1. Millennium Force 2. El Toro (SFGAdv) 3. Expedition GeForce 4. Boulder Dash 5. Maverick 6. S:ROS/Bizarro (SFNE) 7. Troy 8. Fluch Von Novgorod 9. Goliath (SFMM) 10. Colossos

Great TR.... Coincidentally my son and I are in one of your pictures.

Happy B-day Big Mike. Msg from Cam: I'll use my new train mold to bake you a special cupcake. I just need to know when I can get it to you.

My son purchased a book entitled "Thrill Rides" published by Meredith Books, written by Mark Shulman. (Copyright date of 2007) On the cover it says: Top 10 Roller Coasters in America I recognize everyone has the right to their own opinion and I realize opinions can vary. With that said, I opened the book with an open mind. As with many roller coaster books, this one provides some history on coasters along with a high level explanation of the mechanics of a roller coaster. There are pictures of El Toro, Raptor, Wild Thing, Twisted Sister, Talon, X and many others in conjunction with the explanations. However, the meat of the book is the top 10 list which is: 10 - The Cyclone (Coney Island) 9 - The Beast 8 - Dueling Dragons 7 - Son Of Beast 6 - Millennium Force 5 - Superman Ride Of Steel (New England) 4 - Boulder Dash 3 - X 2 - Top Thrill Dragster 1 - Kingda Ka With any top 10 list enthusiasts could argue about the ranking order and raise an eye brow about some of the selections. However, this list caused more than an eyebrow raising. I could not get past the fact that this list, created in the last year or so, would include Son Of Beast and exclude El Toro. I believe my anger/disappointment/sadness stems from the fact that this is a published book. There will be people who read this book and think their experience on the Son Of Beast represents that of a top rated coaster. Others who read this book will not realize El Toro should be given recognition for its greatness. If there is anyone who believes the Son Of Beast is a better coaster than El Toro, please help me understand why. Please note: An address was provided on page 2 of the book for comments and suggestions 1716 Locust St., Des Moines, IA 50309-3023 or meredithbooks.com. I would encourage those that care to send a comment or two.

Although I had to cancel most of my road trips in August, September and October I can't complain about the number of parks I was able to visit in the earlier part of 2008: Six Flags Great America Paramount’s Kings Island Kennywood Morey's Pier Hershey Park Jardin d’Acclimatation Parc Astérix Walibi Belgium Bobbejaanland Toverland Efteling Drievliet Family Park Walibi World Movie Park Germany Heide Park Schlobbeck Phantasialand Tripsdrill Holiday Park Europa Park Walygator Parc Disneyland Resort Paris Disney Studios Six Flags Great Adventure (May, July 2x, August 2x and October) Casino pier - Seaside Heights Funtown Pier - Seaside Heights Seabreeze Darien Lake Martin's Fantasy Island Canada's Wonderland Marineland Waldameer Idlewild Lakemont DelGrosso Keansburg Amusement Park Jenkinson's Boardwalk Playland Park - Rye Krazy City Quassy Lake Compounce (August and November 1) Six Flags New England Sesame Place (June and August) Six Flags Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom Astroland – Coney Island Deno's Wonder Wheel – Coney Island Dorney park & Wildwater Kingdom (July2x, August 2x and October 2x) Six Flags America

This is great, navigating through the forum is much quicker for me. Thanks.

IMO BGA is the better park. BGE is nice, but there are rides/attractions which are not found in your standard park such as Rhino Rally.

I agree with something some else said previously, this appears to be a way to "sock" it to Six Flags. In the long run, the city is hurting it’s self. The surrounding merchants such as the restaurants and gas stations are losing the revenue they would have gathered from additional park patrons. I can speak for the other non-locals, but I wouldn't take to time to travel to SFNE to see the parade. I really enjoyed their version of SROS when I rode it about 4 years ago, but I don't feel compelled to travel just to ride that again. However, a new roller coaster would have been an encouragement. With regards to SFA, I also believe it would be nice if they get a new coaster assuming they would take care of it. Every year SROS seems to get rougher. When are they going to address that?

Maverick is better because: It's longer It has a variety of elements If I remember correctly you can feel a hill or two on Maverick; since TTD twist you don't feel the drop.

Thank you for this TR. I have a weekend in August on my calendar which has Hard Rock listed with a question mark. I was waiting for someone to create a TR to determine if I was going to head down south this year or wait until 2009. As a result of your write up I've made that decision. Thanks again

Happy Birthday Elissa