Thrill_Biscuit

!!! I met Gary a couple years ago while attending a sales meeting in the Garfield. I started looking at a picture of the Island Queen hanging outside his office, and he came out and struck up a friendly conversation. We had an in-depth discussion about it, and I was amazed with his knowledge and detail about the ship, about Coney Island, and was even able to share with him a story my dad had told me about his seeing the ship for the last time when he was just a small boy. I had no idea I was talking to the man who created my favorite place in the whole world!!! ...I've seen this video before, but never made the connection. D'Oh! The conversation I could've had!

Of course, if you've heard me rant long enough, you'll know that I miss dearly the orchestral music they used to play "over the fountains" on International Street. It gave entering (and exiting) the park a completely different feel than does the modern, voice-intensive music they play today. The symphony was awe-inspiring and relaxing at the same time (even before it was all movie themes, which could still work!). I miss it. I mixed together something of an audio "painting," using clips of several pieces (adhering carefully to fair use)... It's not perfect, but sitting next to the fountains sounded something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TltZMEfCA5M&feature=youtu.be

Hey, I miss those "Ghost Chasers" dogless leashes, the tall 7Up bottles in Glass Blower's shop, the spontaneous, roving small bands, the RC boats called "Scooby's Schooners," and (weirdest of them all) I miss the way the Eiffel Tower used to be lit up; including the warm, glowing red ACW lights (vs. the dim, white one atop the mast). Don't ask me why, but it really made the tower look like a jewel against the night sky! Now it looks, um, cheap.

What kind of measuring? Was he using a survey scope, or a measuring tape? Was he wearing a hardhat? He could be measuring the drainage slope or something like that.

How about a record-smashing, 800-foot launcher that criss-crosses at the top, and drops back into, well, use your imagination... Remember to drop off your safety glasses and oxygen masks in the bin at the end of your ride

Has the Adventure Express line ever been two hours? Even on busy days, I've never waited more than 30 minutes. I don't have access to any data that would prove otherwise, but in my many years of riding Adventure Express, the longest I've ever waited was 35 minutes (BAFF day '04; the line was almost to the ladder game). Therefore, I don't believe AE's line has ever been 2 hours. PS - Cap'n Planet. Nice.

Favorite band: Rush. Favorite song: "The Garden" (new, and by far, probably the best song they've ever recorded [in their freakin' 40 year history!!!]). Keep slappin' da bass, mon!

I expect that you'll find at least three of your four favorite rides operating when you arrive.

[EDIT] Was meant as a PM... sorry

A quick study of physics (and, perhaps, human behavior when distracted whilest under the influence thereof) will reveal the depth of the wisdom of the "no filming" rule. You'll understand one day, hopefully without ever having to sit in a courtroom. I'm just sayin'.

Made from 90% Post-Consumption, Recycled Materials! Tb, thinking green.

^LOL Boy, talk about short-attention-span journalism! I can just see the reporter, texting while pretending to listen to Mr. Helbig: "Yeah, yeah, Roller Coaster. Got it. Yep. Big coaster, going away. Got it. What was your name again? Ok, thanks, Jim. No D- Don, Don. Sorry. Don. Ok. Thanks for the interview, Mr. Helborn."

Etchings of X-rays showing broken vertebrae, cracked ribs, and MRI's of supposed busted blood vessels. Oh, yeah. That is kinda the legacy of that coaster, isn't it? Yeah. Fine. I'll just break out in song.♫Goodbye, Son of Beast, Though I never rode you at all You had the strength To shake apart the nerves of all who did, When they took your loop, How the fanboys hounded you, how the forums had to say, Whether Sonny was found to be lame. It seems to me, you lived your life, Like some kindling in the wind Never runnin', always sittin' there When the fans came in... I would've liked to have ridden, but I was just a kid Your kindling burned out long before My height restriction di-hiiii-id.♫

I can imagine making some very interesting souvenirs with some of that wood. I envision plaques made from the lumber, beveled, sanded and polished with a laser etching of the coater's image burned into one side, with a basic inscription about the coaster's lifespan, story, etc. Well, or maybe just toothpicks, I dunno.

Adventure Express and Flight Deck are going to feel like very, very different rides for me. SOB was like a huge wall that kinda held the other two coasters in something of a large room. I'm trying to imagine AE with the open sky to the north-northwest.

Well, I hope they choose a balanced book end...

I think "Family-Friendly" is a concept that is nearly impossible in a city whose chief industry is based around capitalizing on addiction and vice.

Clever how you, ahem, danced around that.

What's so hard about pronouncing "Zizzexic?"

I prefer the one with the Brady Bunch, Partridge Family, Fresh Horses, Evil Knievel, Robbie Knievel, Paul Revere, Wallenda, Dick Van Dyke, Carmen Electra legacies, which happen to be in my beloved hometown. But that's just one biscuit's opinion.

Are you expected to write purely technically, or are you allowed to be creative? If the latter is true, then you might be able to use sentences like, "To help its towering, steel lift hill remain suspended high above the wafts of deep-fried potatoes and funnel cakes, massive, tubular columns of tempered metal rise 230 feet above the teeming crowds at precise angles, distributing the load evenly as each precision-designed train plummets its screaming riders along its precarious drop." See if you can add the color of your experiences in the park with the technical aspects of it.

I like the talking skull ghost about 20 seconds or so into the ride. I never can hear what he's saying, though. They can use a lot more of this effect throughout, as LED technology gets more and more affordable, imho, to make the attraction 'cooler' (no pun inteneded; I'm aware of BBoBH's epic air conditioning feature).

There are already some nice condos to the south of the park. I heard the HOA might be a little bit on the despotic side, but the free fireworks would be a perk.

The nerve of that guy! I mean, how dare he so deliberately disrupt their operations like that. Who does he think he is, anyway? ....SUPERMAN?!? Tb, tongue firmly in cheek