ahecht

That's so weird with all the rides behind glass. It makes the place look a bit like a zoo. Was that for noise reasons?

Looks like the reach envelope hits the railing on the walkway, so we may see some reconstruction before testing begins.

Does Midway Munchies still have the fried mini perogies? The website only lists french fries, fried pickles, funnel cake fries, jalapeno poppers, and popcorn chicken.

It's neat to see how different stadiums can be from each other. I've only been to Dodger's Stadium, Angel's Stadium, Fenway Park, and Camden Yards. I've also been to the Astrodome, but it was 3 years after the Astros moved out.

Sketchy park is sketchy.

Are they going to be running both types simultaneously?

The only time I was in Mystic we didn't get to the Seaport (which, oddly enough, is in the Mystic River, not in the sea). I did get to try a slice at Mystic PIzza (lousy) and see the aquarium (very fun).

If you're saving up for a rare park trip, wouldn't you want to spend a little extra to ensure that you actually get to ride everything?

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^^Think of it as a soft opening. I'm sure that Hershey wants to get a handle on how it affects operations before selling more.

According to the Project 2012 group on Facebook, Skyrush, Soaker, and Mouse are excluded from FastTrack, there will be dedicated rows set aside for FastTrack/ADA people (to be filled from other rows when no one is in the FastTrack/ADA line), and initially Hershey will be limiting FastTrack to 100/day.

I can see both sides of the argument. I used to think the way you did when I was in college, had huge amounts of free time to visit parks, and mostly visited parks within a day's drive. However, now that I have a job with limited vacation time and have started visiting farther away parks, I have seen how having a skip-the-line system makes the park much more accessible for those coming from out of town. Day visitors who live nearby can forgo the pass, since any rides they don't get on can wait a few months or until the following year. However, when you're coming from out of town and have just spent $600 on airfare for two people, $150 on a hotel, $150 on a rental car, and $100 on park admission, spending an extra $100 to make sure that you actually get on every ride is definitely worth it. Especially when you consider that it may be years before you return to that park, if ever. When I visited Magic Mountain last summer and got the Flash Pass, most of the people I talked to in the FP lines were international visitors or Americans on once-in-a-lifetime trips to California. You really think that those people have no business in an amusement park? These days there is no way I would plan a trip to a far away park unless I was going to an event with ERT, some sort of skip-the-line system was offered, or I knew that I wouldn't have any trouble experiencing everything I wanted to in the time I had allotted. Despite generally being a huge cheapskate, I will definitely spring for the Fast Track Pass when I fly down for the Skyrush opening.

I haven't really been following the project, but did Disney ever put out a timeline or was 2013 an assumption made by someone. The original re-annoucement of the Fantasyland redo (when they replaced Tinkerbell with the Dwarfs) said "Most experiences will open by 2013". At D23 2011, they revised that to say that the new coaster would open "late 2013 or early 2014".

Then they better have Lo-Q provide waterproof ones. I see no reason why a Q-Bot can not be made in a waterproof fashion. I hope so. Every park I've used Q-bot at (I haven't used the water park wrist bands) has warned that if I get the device wet that they will charge $250 to my credit card. This includes parks where you can use Q-bot on water rides. I've had to carry a ziplock bag with my to put the Q-bot in.

But if Universal's qbot is anything like those at other Parks, it means you have to carry around a $250 replacement-value electronic device that isn't waterproof. A paper ticket, even if they had a nominal replacement fee, sounds a lot better to me.

Congrats on finding it! As proof that I also found it when I said I did, I edited this old post with a link to the picture at 10am EST. I happened to be looking through the list of Mikestery cards when I found it. I'll have to make sure to complete at least one of the other challenges so I'll be prepared if Big Mike runs the contest again. However, back to contests I AM eligible for, here is my entry for the 2012 "SUPER EPIC" CONTEST. I hope no one has done Canobie Lake yet. I was doing more shopping on my day off in tax-free New Hampshire, and decided to stop by Canobie Lake. There were construction trucks filled with soil and mulch going in and out, so it looks like they are busy preparing the landscaping for opening day (less than a month away!). This is the entry for AHECHT.

I'm not eligible, but I actually did find the WIld Card photo! Nice hiding place!

I'm really disappointed that SkyRush only has a one word name. I find that I enjoy coasters with multi-word names much more (Superman: Ride of Steel, Intimidator i305, El Toro, The Voyage, Boulder Dash, Space Mountain, Taxi Jam, Dragon Wagon, Wacky worm, etc.). Just look at how much better "Intimidator i305" was than "Intimidator". What was Hershey thinking?

Well, two months actually, but who's counting?

Looks great! Which course did you prefer?

Their website is at http://www.experiencetheride.com/. It's $70/pp with various discounts available for families and groups.

According to the presentation at Holiwood Nights a few years ago, switching between the Timberliners and the existing trains is actually quite difficult. The various sensors along the track count the brake fins of the trains as they pass, and the Timberliners have more brake fins than the existing trains. Reprogramming and retesting the PLC each night is apparently a very complicated, risky, and time-consuming process.

The plans submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers showed a permanent gravel maintenance road underwater in the middle of the creek. http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Regulatory/PublicNotice/Pennsylvania/10-00631Rev.pdf

You claim Fahrenheit cost 12.1 million to build. He's not saying SkyRush cost 10 million to build, he saying that design and track fabrication alone was in the ballpark of 10 million, and the rest of the cost went to other things like transportation, excavation, construction, landscape and hardscape design, etc. Don't forget all the costs for mid-air excavation and plumbing! I have no knowledge of what these things actually cost, but let's make sure we're comparing apples to apples before you start "haha"ing people.

I would imagine that the terrain is a major factor in the cost. i305 was built on a flat field, whereas Skyrush construction involved rerouting a river, reconstructing the river bed, building new retaining walls, moving several rides and facilities, and reconstructing parts of the Comet's queue. They also had to work around existing midways and rides, conduct all sorts of engineering and environmental studies related to changing the river, and build structures designed to withstand regular flooding. Not to mention the engineering costs associated with the new trains and new track gauge.