The Interpreter

What PCW? PCWo or PCWi?

I would think that the Thunderbolt at Kennywood would have the claim as being one of the first terrain coasters. Actually that would have been the Pippin. The Thunderbolt is relatively a new thing, composed, in part, of Pippin. In any event, right chain, wrong coaster. Think Rollo Coaster at Idlewild. Obviously a terrain coaster. http://www.rcdb.com/ig272.htm?picture=10 And there are many others, too.. Saves on the building expense, you know. Even Son of Beast takes tremendous advantage of the terrain it is on, or it would be even larger! It would have taken far more wood to build, were it not for the terrain. I remember what a big deal Jeff Seibert made of this at the time.

Why? Holiday World will give you free soda with no coupon and they don't charge for parking either... I can just see the ads HW would run with that one! Why pay $11 for a soda and parking when you can get both in Santa Claus, Indiana where your admission gets you FREE soda all day and FREE parking! And a ride on The Voyage, our new wood coaster, too! Yep, Pat Koch and Will would have a field day with that one!

Thank goodness for that! I am very much looking forward to riding Flight of Fear Friday. Some people have PPPP, I have FFF--Flight of Fear Friday!

And Flight of Fear isn't a current coaster? Are you trying to tell us something? Thanks, Bodda!

Yep, I wondered why he left it out! Maybe he thought the list was for Paramount's Kings Dominion! Then again, if it were, I'd be voting for Volcano: The Blast Coaster!

Yep, it would be a return to Kings Island's....roots!

Meanwhile, at Six Flags, almost all rides now have greeters, and they even tell people why rides are down in many of their parks... What is the world coming to?

My favorite coaster at PKI is Flight of Fear. My favorite wood coaster there is Fairly Odd these days. I always loved the Bavarian Beetle....and still can't believe that Ghoster Coaster is gone!

Speaking of which, Paramount's Carowinds has ended its single riders line for Borg. Drat!

Minimum of four people required, or it's $400 (with at least two people...)...

and they do SUCH a good job of maintaining their wooden coasters (like Mean Streak). And their shows are so great! And their food... Sigh.

$350 a person. Go to http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/visit/vip.cfm You get: By the way, Cedar Fair is not alone in doing this. Six Flags offers it, too...

Having made opening day at Six Flags Over Georgia, Paramount's Carowinds, Six Flags Great Adventure and Paramount's Kings Dominion, I MUST be at Paramount's Kings Island on opening day. I fully intend to be, too!

Right, it was called FREElane or FREEway, I forget. And they don't offer the FREE whatever it was anymore... They do quietly offer exclusive front line access, for a very large fee...

Great TR! Ah, Dollywood! FIRE IN THE HOLE!

Why? Because too many of the voters in this area have only visited Cedar Fair parks (mostly Cedar Point), and have no idea how wondrous Busch Gardens Europe and Busch Gardens Africa are. In any event, the buyer's decision won't depend on an Internet poll, so don't worry!

Yes. It's called Flash Pass, and it costs money at most parks. BIG money. As in an extra $50--less for larger groups, less at some Six Flags parks, too--puts you at the front of every line in the park. Cedar Point is quietly doing something similar, but only for very large amounts of money. Universal just quietly ended their free version too (though you can still participate if you stay on property, which is hardly free). Six Flags also has a system where you wait the same as other people, just not in line. It costs less, but it is also additional to either admission or a season pass. That's what worries me about these express pass systems. If the parks are going to charge (and Disney does NOT), they may as well go back to tickets per ride....

Six Flags is charging $15 for parking (but not at Kentucky Kingdom, as Six Flags does not own or control that lot..the Commonwealth of Kentucky does). But, for that $15, you get frequent tram service, a fully staffed lot with guides directing you to an empty space, and a receipt. For my $10 at Paramount's Kings Dominion, I got...a receipt. That's all. I wandered around the lot about half an hour at one point (why not? Most of the roller coasters were closed), and no one even noticed. Oh, wait...there was an occasional call box with a blue button on it to use in event of emergency...

Voters who would have favored TTD all snuck off to....New Jersey? --The Interpreter, who just had to: a. it's open for the season. b. it's taller, faster and IMHO, more fun...plus it has one more hill! c. it makes this one wonder, "What's the Point?"

...which means, of course, that the ride must be certifiable!

Not when it is 40 degrees! Besides, dodging the water (or pretending to) is half the fun. Mr. Elephant normally makes that QUITE impossible. I think he should only blow his snout about half the time, in a very random fashion! That would be much more entertaining. At least to me.

And that is not necessarily a bad thing! That thing's snout can SOAK you!

Yep, they are now Busch Gardens Europe and Busch Gardens Africa. Busch does stuff like this from time to time. BGW, er BGE has the signs up all over the park, as does BGA in Tampa...

I'd be more than happy to live off the profits from BGE and BGA (formerly known as BGW and BGT). I am quite sure those parks do very well indeed.