steel

Unfortunately, I will no longer be working at Adventureland after this Friday. This is the case for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to: -lack of organization -minimal training for rides positions (almost to the point that it could potentially be dangerous) -high gas prices -low, low, low salary (below minimum wage) If you do visit the park today, tomorrow, or Friday, though, I'm at the north Sky Ride station this week. Name tag says: SAM 1 YEAR Stop and say hi.

On SplashOver at Adventureland (Moser topspin), if it's windy, the water jets will blow over and drench part of the queue. When I was working there last Saturday, it was very windy, and the line was already soaked. One of the wettest of the patrons asked me if she would get wet on this ride. Also (and this is borderline off-topic), in line for the log flume yesterday, a girl wearing nothing but a bikini commented that she liked my friend's shirt. To which my friend replied, "Thanks, you should get one!"

Ladies and gentlemen, a new low has been acheived. Yesterday, I was asked if the Sky Ride goes upside down.

Yes, but what about Patriot? Sounds like a lot of fun. Glad to see all this love for Mamba. I swear it has gotten better over the last two years. I assume by saying that getting stuck is not the holy grail of coastering, one must be implying that the holy grail is a rollback from the front row at night.

^^That's him. I blocked him after this message.

I think you'll find this quite amusing. This is a message I received on YouTube after telling this guy that Kings Dominion really is not the best park in the world. "We all know that olny one park is better than Kings Dominion and thats Cedar Point. What the f*** is wrong with people these days thinking the h*** hole S*** Gardens( Busch Gardens ) is better than Kings Dominion well. If you think S*** Gardens is better well you can go f*** the owner and die. Busch Gardens also has kiddie rides. Dollywood and Busch Gardens are kiddie playworlds compared to Kings Dominion and Cedar Point." I chuckled to myself for at least thirty seconds after reading this.

Voyage comes to mind. That ride will beat you to a pulp and convince you that you're about to hurtle into a tree, but it sure is fun.

Uh, maybe that roller coasters are statistically safer than every major form of transportation, or that fewer people die every year at amusement parks than in the shower in the moring. I don't know. Something that actually illustrates how safe amusement parks are. It's good that they say that safety is the number one concern, but those are just words, not evidence.

It's so clear to me that this girl honestly doesn't understand how safe amuesement rides are. She has assumed that her accident reflects all rides. And the really sick thing about it is that the media will listen to her, because she's the victim, but not the parks, because they're the big, evil, company that's trying to destroy everything good and happy in the world. Has anyone ever seen a report about ride safety in which the quote from the park or park company was anything other than "safety is our number one concern"? Because I really don't think I have.

I would have done what every employee should know very well to do: e-stop the ride. At Adventureland, we have emergency procedures in three places: the phone box, the control panel, and the rides manual, and Adventureland could be doing a heck of a lot more with employee safety training, so I consider that a basic requirement. It's very clear in all three of these places that the first thing you do, always, is STOP THE RIDE. There is no excuse whatsoever for failing to use the emergency stop function during an accident if you time, and ten seconds is ample time. So I think there were two possibilities here: either the employee did not know where the e-stop button was or the employee was not properly trained. Obviously, improper training is sort of unacceptable at an amusement park and especially on a ride of this size, and the e-stop button is supremely easy to locate, given that it's enormous and red (and may even be labeled "E-Stop" or "Emergency Stop"). I think it's probably more likely that the employee's training was bad, and that is a direct reflection of the quality of the park's operations. No matter how you spin it, the park screwed up big time.

I think that in this special case, the family is completely justified in its anger, but only really at its anger at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom itself. Beyond that, they are blowing it totally out of proportion, assuming that every park is always handled the same way as SFKK, which, as we all know well, is far from the truth. I whole-heartedly support parks being as strict as they need to be about safety, but I don't think that this girl understand how awful KK really was in comparison to other parks. I was there the day of the accident, and with the way things were running, I was amazed that something had not happened sooner.

Adventureland (Altoona, Iowa) Park Management -First of all, expect to be treated well at this park. The admission price is a little hefty, but the employees are some of the friendliest in the midwest, and, IMO, rival those of Holiday World (not to toot my own horn, of course), so you may end up considering it completely worth it. -If you just want the credits (which I do NOT recommend - to enjoy your Adventureland experience, you need to take it slow), I would go left immediately from the entrance and walk all the way back to Outlaw, since that usually has the longest lines (if there actually are lines, which there more than likely won't be). Backtrack from there to Dragon, but only if you are absolutely sure you really do want the credit. Then do Tornado and Underground on your way out. But don't do that. That's a terrible way to spend your day. -For maximum enjoyment, begin with a lovely skyride to the back of the park, followed by a short walk to Outlaw Gulch. There, it is in your interest to ride Sawmill Splash. The line will be outrageous later, even if the weather is less than favorable. Once finished, explore and enjoy at your leisure. Best Time to Visit -Super-hot days are NEVER good, no matter how beautiful or ugly the sky is. Iowans see "88 degrees" in the paper and think "Adventureland!", even if there's also a 75% chance of precipitation. -Go on a cooler day at the beginning or end of the season. Food -Mini-doughnuts. Way better than anything you'll find outside the heart of the midwest. Do not skip these if you live on a coast. If you don't live on a coast, you know how delicious good mini-doughnuts are and you won't want to miss them either. -There's not all that much else to speak of in the food department. If I were you, I would pack some sandwiches and feast with a hand stamp. Rides to Ride -Splash Over: New for 2006. Splash Over is a Moser topspin with some interesting effects. Guys: don't sit on the end if you are happy with your current gender. -Sky Ride: It's not much to look at, but I really do consider it one of the better sky rides still in existence. Taller park-goers may brush a few treetops. -G-Force: A simple Breakdance ride. It's nothing you haven't seen before, but it's always fun to take a spin. -Falling Star: DO NOT SKIP THIS RIDE. It looks just like every other Falling Star on Earth, but it runs way better. -Sawmill Splash: This unique attraction is the perfect way to cool off, even for guests who aren't big on the whole "soaking wet" thing. Typically, you won't get drenched if you have fewer than four people in the raft. Plop down with five of your closest friends, though, and you're in for some serious water damage and possibly a hair-raising moment or two of airtime. -Tornado: Classic out-and-back woodie. Good airtime, good speed. Decent ride all the way through. -River Rapids Log Ride: Don't ask me why the Log Ride is called River Rapids. I don't think it makes sense either. This is one of those rare rides that can be enjoyed by both waterphobes and near-fish. With the proper seating, the H2O-haters will barely get sprinkled and the swimmers will get soaked. -Raging River: This is the actual river rapids ride. It's a little out of the way, but I like it. -Space Shot: After exiting this ride, you may ask yourself, "Did I really just get all of that extroadinary airtime on an S&S tower?". Yes, you did. This baby is substantially shorter than its twin sisters at Cedar Point and its brother at Valleyfair!, but it's a heck of a lot more powerful. -Sidewinder: Beautiful Moser frisbee. Personally, I'd rather ride this than maXair some days. -Outlaw: Saved the best for last. This rascal barely hits 70 feet, but it's wilder than a pack of hungry jack-russel terriers. Rides to Skip -Inverter: Yes, unfortunately there is an Inverter at Adventureland. -Dragon: Dragon is, I believe, the last OD Hopkins coaster to use OTSRs. And they suck. A lot. They are totally useless. All they do is try to collapse your lungs and cause a lot of ear pain. Even without the OTSRs, the ride would be utter crap. It has nothing going for it. The drop is nearly as steep as the lift hill, the loops are all positive and no interesting, the helicies are jarring and the finale is nonexistant. As I said earlier, this is only for true credit-whores. -Underground: Don't feel bad if you're pressed for time and have to skip Underground. I promise, it's nothing you'll ever feel any need to do again. In fact, you may wonder why you decided to do it in the first place. Underground hast to be the lamest excuse for a roller coaster in America. The theming is boring and badly done, some of the transitions are jarring, and the whole thing is taken and a whopping ten miles per hour or so. The area could have been much better used. I deem this ride a waste of space. Extras -No need to check out the whole show, but every so often, a stage rises out of the ground to reveal a troupe of performers singing horrible arrangements of tacky songs: an amusement park staple. -Adventureland is the only park I know of that offers Bingo. It's only $.25 a game, you get two boards, the room is air conditioned, and the prizes aren't too shabby. -New for 2008 is Kokomo Kove, a large water play area behind Outlaw. It is slated to open in June. -Also behind Outlaw is the Royal Hanneford Circus. I'm nut a circus nut myself, but it seems to be fairly popular.

Well, the big three (GCI, B&M, Intamin) are all still there. I'm officially rooting for GCI starting... now.

First of all, this is superbly written. Kudos there. That's exactly the style I try (and usually fail) to use. On top of that, the photos are beautifully done. Second, it's a pity you didn't get on Comet. That was a highlight of my day at Hershey when I was there. There's quite a bit of airtime that really sneaks up on you from nowhere. But more importantly, I'm glad you enjoyed Fahrenheit. I do need to get back to Pennsylvania one of these years.

The mystery isn't solved at all. The haunt building is going in the Orient. http://kivaweb.kcmo.org/kivanet/2/permit/address/index.cfm?fa=3&pin=87969&ain=946207&pid=1314873&jur=KCMO Either way, there was never any way one building could have covered up all those flags.

WoF is getting a new Haunt building, that's confirmed. http://kivaweb.kcmo.org/kivanet/2/permit/summary/index.cfm?pid=1314873&jur=KCMO

^^Well, first of all, that isn't the movie's fault. That was in the book, which means it was in the play, which means it was in the musical. But what you have to remember is that Sweeney is not a sane man. That, I think is the only problem with the performances of Depp and Bonham-Carter in the movie - they're not crazy enough! If you listen to the orignal cast recording with Angela Lansbury as Lovett and Len Cariou as Todd, you'll see what I mean. Cariou is deliciously terrifying in Epiphany. Anyway, Sweeney is a brooding, vengeful person who obviously doesn't mind killing. A character like his would not hesitate to murder a person, even if that person were an old friend.

This park reminds me of Ned Flanders' "Praiseland." I'm not sure what I think of it yet.

As cool as it is, I do think it's a little - no, very over-the-top. I mean, clouds? Come on, aren't the constant cleanliness, spectacular theming, and the international fame enough? Clouds? I'm both completely baffled and utterly impressed.

Yeah, these have been around for years and years. My first Dippin' Dots were from a storefront location (granted, that one was quite a bit less fancy than this, but nonetheless). But it's cool that you have one there now (no pun intended). Soon, they won't be able to call it "the ice cream of the future" anymore.

Name o' Sam. Working at Adventureland. Don't know which rides; we change every week.

Yeah, sorry about this. I sort of failed at getting construction photos. Not that there's much to speak of right now. I was out there about two weeks ago and all that was done was land clearing. The attraction is set to open in June.

I did this last year. Apparently, one of the English classes got extra credit for staying silent (which is crap, because I have that teacher this year and she won't give extra credit for anything). I got mad at my Chemistry teacher because he threatened to actually take away points for not participating in class.

You ranked the coasters without having ridden them. That's all.

I didn't feel it. I didn't even know it happened until school.