Geauga Lake Discussion Thread

[Sir Clinksalot]

Robb has never threaded anyone.

 

Not true ... how do you think I got my supercrack ...

[robbalvey]

I think they need someone to proofread:

Overnight a massive boycott and media compaign has been launched against Robb Alvey and his website Theme Park Review by enthusiast across the world.

LOL! And overnight we had one of the highest traffic days ever on TPR. I guess the "compaign" was a success!

 

--Robb

[fatdaddy]

I think instead of boycott, they meant boy c*ck, I think they are planning to rape Robb. Oh, and good luck with the herpes chadster.

[ernierocker]

Media campaign?!? Wouldn't be hilarious if this was actually more organized than the awful Save the Dipper campaign?

[cfc]

^Not "campaign." A "compaign."

[robbalvey]

^Not "campaign." A "compaign."

Yes, there is a difference. One of them is something done by a group of professionals that often garner respect of the organization they are campaigning for, the other is a group of internet rejects who don't know how to use spell check.

 

--Robb

Edited October 8, 2010 by robbalvey

[chadster]

Oh, and good luck with the herpes chadster.

 

yes, thank you, I must go get my scrip refilled now

[Not For Sale]

Honestly, a "boycott" is fine with us. We don't have ads on this site, and the people that would boycott TPR wouldn't ever buy something, so they're just eating up bandwidth. I see no reason to discuss this further.

[fatdaddy]

All those spelling errors, I think as a gesture of kindness we should send them larrygator.

[Cyber.Fiber]

I had a great laugh (a continuious laugh spaning 30+ pages) while following this thread! However, I still cannot comprehend how one does not realize the amount of promotion Prince Desmond generated for the .org site! Good luck to their efforts, and thank you Robb and Wes for the laughter I received this week!

[Jew]

We've all had our fun with this...I think it is best if we all just move on. Acknowledging anything anyone chooses to do or say only adds more fuel to the fire.

 

And just for the record, whether or not anyone chooses to believe it, the whole point of the parody was to point out how amateur the save the big dipper effort comes off as. I am sure many TPR members would gladly support the cause if the "project directors" would be willing to address the concerns we have here and did not leave themselves open to such jokes. TPR is the #1 theme park website in the world, so you would think someone from the project would want to post on here instead of referring to us as "villains." Believe it or not, they would actually be welcomed here if they presented a solid plan that made sense. In fact, I would argue that most of the ridicule comes from the fact that they chose to write off TPR instead of addressing us.

Edited October 8, 2010 by robbalvey

[CardCraze]

Overnight a massive boycott and media compaign has been launched against Robb Alvey and his website Theme Park Review by enthusiast across the world.

 

Bravo to these people! You know it's people like this we can trust with our money. Let's ignore the obvious lack of proffreading, because we all make mistakes right?

 

The fact that they can stand up to the obvious injustice of this total scam site is incredible! I mean everyone KNOWS there is no such thing as joking in the cut-throat world of Amusment Parks.

 

So let's all give a round of applause to this successful campaign. With only 318 users active at the present time I think we can chalk this one up as a complete and total success.

 

Guys, they may not have a plan, or any background with the industry, they may be resorting to name-calling rather than foccusing on any single one of their issues, they may be making false Twitter and Facebook accounts, instead of ones dedicated to their cause, but they have determination. After all, who need's more than pure determination? After all, it's just finding the intruments to remove nails from wood!

[dandaman]

Heh. https://twitter.com/#!/SaveWindjammer

[let1gre]

Considering

 

EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT IT!

 

I think this is just another enthusiast site who was late to the party trying to take a slice of the (now a bit stale) pie.

[jray21]

I think Prince Desmond should have his own Ann Landers style thread!

[traincrossin]

A plan is slowly being made.

AURORA -- It was love at first sight for Kat Jones as she gazed at the weathered wood, soaring and twisting in the sunlight.

 

"I want to ride it," said Jones, of the 85-year-old, wooden roller coaster known as the Big Dipper. "And I won't feel like we've been successful until we've got it rebuilt and we can actually ride it."

 

Jones, a college student from Dayton and self-admitted roller coaster junkie, travelled to Aurora Sunday to see the Big Dipper.

 

Jones and New Zealander Harold Garmonsway are co-owners of the roller coaster.

 

The pair, who met online in a forum for roller coaster enthusiasts, saved it from the wrecking ball last month after there were no bidders for the Big Dipper during an internet auction.

 

Garmonsway bought the Big Dipper for an undisclosed price.

 

"I think it was in a matter of 24 hours that we went from everything being a possibility," Jones said. "And then all of a sudden, we owned a coaster.

 

"He's never ridden a wooden roller coaster," she said of Garmonsway. "He wants this to be his first one."

 

On Sunday, Jones walked on and around the Big Dipper at the site of the former Geauga Lake amusement park. The Big Dipper was designed by John Miller, the reigning coaster architect of his day.

 

"It's actually in wonderful shape," Jones said. "If the cars were ready to run and if they were on the track and it had power, you could run it today."

 

The next step, according to Jones, will be to secure an engineering company to consult with to come up with a plan to dismantle the coaster.

 

"They'll be able to help us organize that," Jones said. "Take it down in a proper order and have everything documented on how it goes back together."

 

The ride's smaller components and electronics may be removed before or during winter.

 

Jones said the hope is to have the roller coaster dismantled by next summer. The work won't be cheap.

 

"We're looking at about roughly $2 million to take it apart, move it and store it, and reassemble it in a new location," said Jones.

 

She's been scouting out possible locations in Northeast Ohio

 

"We want to keep it in the Cleveland area because that's where its heritage is," Jones said. "And we want to open it back up for the coaster fans and the people in the Cleveland area to enjoy.

 

"I know that it's all going to be worth it in the end," she said. "It's going to be a great ride."

Article

[robbalvey]

A plan is slowly being made.

Where?

 

EDIT - Wow. I just watched the video clip. How embarrassing. She nearly said, and you can hear it come out of her mouth and then she stops herself "We want to save it for the enthusiasts" and then it cuts to the shot of her and some dude in the train with their hands up.

 

I'm sorry, but if you need $2,000,000 and according to their website (which has not been updated in 11 days and is still requesting you give them money, yet presents not an ounce of a plan for action), and you only have $179 to show for it so far, how can anyone believe this is ever going to happen?

 

Everything she said in her interview had epic fail written all over it - "We need 2 million dollars", "We want to keep it in Cleveland", "I've never even seen this ride in person before..."

 

I also have a very, very, very hard time believing that "If we had power, The coaster could run today" when it hasn't been looked after in over 3 years.

 

I commend them for getting the press, but actions speak for themselves. Technically http://www.savethebigdipper.com has been updated more recently then their website!

 

--Robb

Edited October 19, 2010 by robbalvey

[ParkTrips]

^ At least they are being more realistic now with regards to cost

 

"We're looking at about roughly $2 million to take it apart, move it and store it, and reassemble it in a new location," said Jones.

Only $1,999,831 to go!

 

 

"If the cars were ready to run and if they were on the track and it had power, you could run it today."

I wonder if that's her opinion, or one of a ride inspector. I can't imagine a woodie sitting with zero maintenance for the past 3 years being ready to go again like that

 

 

edit: I missed your edit, and said pretty much the same thing

[chadster]

It's somewhere in here, you just have to read between the lines, you also have to insert your own plan...

 

The next step, according to Jones, will be to secure an engineering company to consult with....They'll be able to help us organize that

 

*Edit* I can tell you from first hand experience that we(we being my employer) spent 100k in labor and crane rental to help Robbie Bell take down Zingo several years back, that's on top of the rentals and labor he was out for, somewhere around 200-250k, not to mention they were using a sawsall to take it down with. The track bed was thrown away, or given away as momentos by the Bell family. The early estimates were 1 million to reassemble, probably more. So far, he still doesn't have a good plan, location, or investors. Granted he does have a leg up on these two as he built it by hand himself from a set of plans. Most of it was old wood from torn down homes and the labor was cheap (free) from local students. The county who recently offered him land and a ballot initiative for raising taxes to rebuild the park eventually had two of three commissioners vote against it. And why did they vote against it, no plan. Hopefully the two dipper savers are reading this and will take a few notes. Oh who am I kidding.

 

On the bright side, at least he plans on popping his cherry on his own woodie.

Edited October 19, 2010 by chadster

[robbalvey]

^ At least they are being more realistic now with regards to cost

 

"We're looking at about roughly $2 million to take it apart, move it and store it, and reassemble it in a new location," said Jones.

Only $1,999,831 to go!

Not according to their website - they still only need $299,821!

 

Seriously, what a joke. So now everyone knows the $300k number was pulled directly from her sphincter. Now I just wonder what orifice that $2 mil number came from?

 

They have presented absolutely nothing. Other than the ability to get a couple of news articles, which, let's be honest here, her story is sandwiched in between a story about fish, "Penny Stones", and an interstate closure.

 

I mean, I know first hand it's not hard to get press. We do it all the time during our trips and events. It takes one phone call or an email.

 

I'll be impressed when they actually have a plan of action. And tell people what that $179 is going to be used for. When is that going to happen? Hey, here's an idea, maybe they can offer to BUY the .com domain with it!

 

Again, I do not have a problem with the ride being saved, but I take issue with how all of this is being presented.

 

--Robb

Edited October 19, 2010 by robbalvey

[traincrossin]

A plan is slowly being made.

Where?

It might not be a big plan, but they have an idea of what they need to do. They are working on finding an engineering company to help them dismantle the coaster hopefully by next summer, they might remove the smaller components and electronics before winter, and they have a very rough estimate of how much it will cost to take the coaster apart, move it, store it, and reassemble it.

 

Will it work? Probably not. Best of luck to them, but I don't really think that they're looking at this realistically at all.

[robbalvey]

It might not be a big plan, but they have an idea of what they need to do. They are working on finding an engineering company to help them dismantle the coaster hopefully by next summer, they might remove the smaller components and electronics before winter, and they have a very rough estimate of how much it will cost to take the coaster apart, move it, store it, and reassemble it.

That's not a "plan", that's "common sense!"

 

I could come to the same conclusion with 5 minutes of Google Search.

[chadster]

now now Robb, you are being too generous with 5 minutes of google search, I found this in 30 seconds

 

how a roller coaster is made

[derek_lentz]

I'll be impressed when they actually have a plan of action. And tell people what that $179 is going to be used for. When is that going to happen? Hey, here's an idea, maybe they can offer to BUY the .com domain with it!

 

Again, I do not have a problem with the ride being saved, but I take issue with how all of this is being presented.

 

--Robb

They could get a good amount of gasoline and a pack of matches and then they would be able to start a nice bonfire to keep the people of Cleveland warm in the winter.

[PAL]

^^"Kutos to the author." Google whiz.

 

It strikes me as crazy someone would take on the liability of a massive and aging wooden structure without FIRST engaging an engineering firm for an assessment and estimate. You have to know what you're getting into beforehand. Time pressure never justifies such an apparently irresponsible leap.

 

I have to wonder about the terms of the purchase. How long can they leave it on the property, and if they fail to move it, what are the consequences? Best of luck to them, 'cause they should be stuck with one hell of a mess when events reach their natural conclusion.