PeoplemoverMatt

^ I'm not sure a quick-service chicken restaurant is exactly the magic bullet that would single-handedly rejuvenate the former PI area. I know fried chicken isn't the only thing on the menu, but I have something of a hard time with a place that sells fried chicken advertising its food as "healthy."

That Austrailia trip could be rather interesting... Could also have some implications with my 2010 plans...

Y'know...maybe it's me...but I would put much more stock in a direct conversation with SFMM brass over what comes out of any sort of Twitter account.

"My title sparked 5 pages of Height Requirement debate"?

Robb, you might want to segregate out the Arrow mine trains that have seat belts in addition to the lap bar. Gold Rusher has no additional seat belt. An individual seat belt per row would remove the potential problem I described. Past that, I'm just speculating here, but my first thought for the reason in the variance of the height requirement is each coaster's respective layout. I'd venture to say that Gold Rusher has a more intense layout in terms of drops & terrain. It might have been a consideration that went into establishing the height requirement. Perhaps the question of why Gold Rusher has a 48" height requirement as opposed to the other Arrow Mine Trains is a good one to pose during the Q&A at this year's West Coast Bash? Furthermore, I remain insanely jealous of KidTums' incredible access to various coasters in the USA & around the world.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Gold Rusher's 48" requirement present because if a sub-48" rides with adult, the adult would keep the lab bar too far away from the kid, allowing him/her to possibly slide out from under it?

Great to see the priorities on theme, on fun, and on inclusion of the entire family shine through again for a "new" ride for SFMM.

Missed this last year... Worked at Six Flags Magic Mountain's Finance Dept since last March. Since I work backstage, I'm not visible to any guests while on the clock, but I have been known to do some hi-how-are-ya's out in the park before work starts and I go into hiding.

^ And if he was smart, Christ would build the bypass as a toll road similar to Osceola Parkway. That way the people would have to choose either the toll road, or the 20 mile romp past all sorts of local businesses. It'd be an economic win-win. I hear all the complaints about the drive from I-4 to Cypress, but, do you folks honestly think that the drive would turn people away from a LegoLand park, as opposed to some no-name Cypress Gardens place? Seems to me that a long drive off the freeway would frustrate people & keep them away, but Cypress had far more problems than that when it comes to how guests are attracted into Orlando-area theme parks. I'm not a FL local, though I have been to the Orlando parks a few different times. To me, Cypress always looked like the unbranded drawless park whose only reason for me to make a visit was some coaster credits. So, for a family who didn't care about coaster credits, there was no reason at all for a stop @ Cypress. The addition of the LEGO trademarks changes that equation entirely. Transforming Cypress into LegoLand immediately puts that park right up with Disney, Universal, Sea World & Busch Gardens in the Orlando theme park conversation. All those booths in the Orlando area at the Turnpike stops, in the various hotel lobbys, in the airport terminals, in the travel agencies, everywhere can now put Legos in with the rest, and that alone, I'd think, would help drive up attendance, regardless of how the park is accessed from the I-4. All Merlin really needs to do is to work with the Polk County people on installing "THIS WAY TO LEGOLAND" signs on every traffic signal, and people will make the drive no matter how lengthy it is. So I think this idea is great all around. It's great for the local area. It's great for the park itself in terms of it can stay open as a theme park. The $150M initial announcement is kind of a low-ball, but the follow-up investment can always be announced later after the initial reception has been made, and it becomes clear how LegoLand integrates itself into the conversation along with Disney, Universal, Sea World, & Busch Gardens. Rental car agencies also have to be grinning from ear to ear at this news.

Just to clarify... SFMM closed on Sunday at 5pm. SFMM will NOT be open on Monday due to weather.

The insanity that was the B:TR line...how about the insanity that was the Flashback line? Flashback, when it first opened, saw massive queues that would reach 2-3 hours. What does they really tell you about popularity/wait times/what makes a good ride?

Instead of making a scene, it would be much, much, more productive to leave a note at Guest Relations about what you saw.

If GM does go away, the pre-show video will have to be significantly altered, if not completely replaced, as well. Many GM references & mentions in there.

Well I'm sure someone probably asked "Maybe there is a reason a coaster never went 100mph or up 40 some odd stories before?" when Superman was having problems. I'm sure someone probably asked "Maybe there is a reason a coaster was never built like X before?" when X was having problems. I'm sure someone probably asked "Maybe there is a reason why a coaster never had a loop before" with Revolution. I am really surprised that, with SFMM's history of coaster firsts, people think that SFMM is either unaware of Terminator's running with empty rows as a problem, or is aware & is just unwilling to do something about it. You know that SFMM is reading your concerns as you voice them. You know that they'd be willing to make changes, but you also know by now that having the guests watch the pre-show in its entirety is something that they do not want to change. I think we could all do well by relaxing a bit over this. One thing I'd also like to see is a little less taking of the pre-show for granted. Being able to mouth the words to it doesn't make the pre-show not worth watching. I've been able to mouth the words to the Haunted Mansion's stretching gallery since I was 8 years old, even the strange, long words like "cadaverous." I agree that it can be frustrating knowing that there are trains with empty rows flying around while you're watching the pre-show, but can we have a little faith that that will not happen forever, and that it's certainly no reason to disregard a pre-show that SFMM worked very hard to create for your enjoyment when they could have just slapped a name on their new GCI woodie and been done with it?

I want someone to design the "Lazer Snake Horse on Fire" version of the Club TPR membership card.

Has any park tried to combine a pre-show of Terminator's length with a coaster of its style before? Is there really a precedent for that to follow that isn't apples vs. oranges like a comparison to Tower is?

SFMM continually takes steps forward like this, which is always great to see. The NYE Rock N' Ride looked to be very well-received by guests, and seeing pyro shoot off the top of Sky Tower like that was absolutely tremendous to witness, especially when it kept on going like it did. Then the "WOW" moment came with Valencia Falls' spinny sparkler pyro. Loved it. Rock n' Ride was a great way to kick off a 2010 in which the park sports many newly refurbished/repainted areas & rides (including the guest parking lot) and has a new coaster coming to the Deja Vu/Terminator area. Here's to a great 2010!

This gives a little bit of proof to my theory that we on the USA West Coast really have no idea what a "good" woodie is like. If Terminator only made it to 22, I can't imagine how good those other coasters are. I'd love to ride them for myself someday.

As long as your pass says "2010 Xtreme Play Pass" on it, you should be fine. If you bought/renewed an Xtreme Play Pass and you received something that only says "2010 Play Pass" then I'd absolutely recommend calling SFMM.

1) $15 TPR store credit means very little to me. I'd personally MUCH rather have a lower price point than $40 in trade for the credit. Trip perks also don't mean a whole lot because I can't afford the trips, but even if I were to do one, I'd make sure I did everything possible to get myself on the list and not have to fall back on the Premium Member placement perk. I'd also feel a little guilty about taking someone's trip spot just because I spent a little bit more than that person (or family). I'm a little confused about the "park sponsored events" bit. What's stopping TPR members from having access to them now? How does charging TPR members $40/year change things? Same goes for "park discounts and other perks." 2) Something regarding cruises? Others have mentioned they'd like to see TPR offer something cruise-related in some shape or form. 3) Honestly, no. There's just not enough in it for me to justify a $40 price point, or a $25 price point given what I would likely use and not use out of the list of offerings. Moreover, I simply do not like the idea of tiering memberships at TPR & all the wonderful "I'm better than you" thinking that comes along with it. It changes the TPR dynamic in a way that I'd prefer not to see. 4) For reasons stated above, and because in reality there's no possible way non-PM's will NOT be affected at all by the existence of a premium membership. While nothing's being taken away initially, many opportunity costs are being created that non-PMs will pay. These include, but are not limited to, whatever parks non-PM's miss out on on a TPR trip because of the PM-only trip (i.e. Non-PM's won't be going to Tokyo Disneyland in an Asian trip because the PM-only Japan tour already went there recently, or something to that effect.). Finally I'll just ask this question. Is it a good idea for people who don't travel a lot, but do frequent parks around where they live (daycationers) to become Premium Members? If so, why? If not, why not? 5) If you do decide to start up the Premium Memberships, PLEASE do everything you can not to continually throw "you should have become a TPR Premium Member because if you did you would have gotten ______" in the faces of non-PMs. There's nothing wrong with suggesting the upgrade in membership, but there's a line between that and going overboard with it. If I went on a TPR trip as a non-PM, I wouldn't want to see any kind of tiering, or miss out on any parts of the trip because I was a non-PM. Given the cost of a TPR trip, having that kind of barrier for $40 or whatever it is would rub me the wrong way, and as said before, NOT make me want to throw in the extra $40 just to make it go away. I know that TPR is doing this in order to supplement the costs of running the site. While I can understand that, this kind of change at TPR isn't something that makes me real happy to see. I'd much rather TPR find some way of offering those extra perks for certain fees at the time of the perk, instead of having them lumped into an annual cost such as how the Bash events have been done. Perhaps the PM route is simpler, but I'd prefer to avoid tiering if at all possible. I'm just not a big fan of it.

^ Oh...right...THAT South Point. Never been in there.

The PR comes out on Monday, and the next day there are Sylvania logos in both the "Hello Room" and "Goodbye Room". The slogan: "Sylvania: Making our Small World a little brighter."

Hmm...the only "South Point" I've ever known is in Las Vegas...

Actually, it's rather beautiful, especially from the top of Tatsu's lift hill.

What's funny to me is that after all the speculation that Six Flags, SFMM specifically, was going to be sold, we've seen Busch, Universal, and now Cedar Fair all sold first! There'll probably be some consolidation, but I think what we'll see the most of are actions meant to secure a lasting profitability and viability of CF's properties. To describe a park like Cedar Point as "as good as gone" would be a gross exaggeration at this point. Knott's will likely benefit greatly due to its ability to be open year-round, and its proximity to Disneyland makes it an attractive potential recepient of major investment in the eternal struggle for marketshare. It'll be very interesting to see what this means for the future of KBF.