Oldiesmann

Sounds interesting... I'll definitely be there if I can.

I've got two of them... Adventure Express - nice family coaster, but not much theming, and the ending is really lame. Yogi's SkyTours - great views of HB, but not all that exciting. There are pedals in the helicopters, but nothing happens if you pedal. The pre-recorded announcements during the ride are also rather lame. And yet, people wait 20 minutes or more to ride this (on really busy days, the line is 45 minutes or more).

5'10" here and no problem either... The trick is to sit all the way back in the seat and sit straight up, with the lap bar down as far as you can get it and your legs straight up against the front of the seat. That way you won't have too much trouble with knees banging.

I thought the fireworks show was pretty impressive this year, but I felt that PKI didn't provide enough information about the show... TV ads still showed fireworks being shot off of the tower, even though that wasn't part of the plan. The in-park announcements regarding best viewing areas were rather vague (clear view of the top of the tower and the open sky to the left - this puts you at many different angles, some of which would result in the fireworks being behind you). There was never any mention of being allowed to put a blanket or towel down in front of the fountain to view the fireworks - although this is a great idea, you wouldn't have known this unless you strolled by there and saw it. The additional entertainment was good (I particularly enjoyed the River Rats band in Rivertown - made the theming seem even more authentic), but PKI pretty much left guests to discover this entertainment on their own and provided little additional information about the entertainment, even to employees.

My sister went to it and had a great time, although it seems that Pillar wasn't very impressive in concert this time. I would have gone, but I had to work two out of the three days. I didn't request any time off for the concerts because the promoter didn't post a time schedule (other than what artists were playing on each day), and I didn't want to request time off if I'd only be riding rides part of the time.

The only advice I can offer you is to visit during the week, because it's less crowded then, and you'll be able to do more.

Not that I know of. The only riding I've ever done before the park opened was test-riding on Beastie and SkyTours.

National Weather Service says 50% chance of rain tomorrow.

I love the "Delirium is out of service" message on that sign. Apparently they didn't think we could figure that out...

Yeah, I was a little surprised to see The Beastie line so long yesterday - by noon it was all the way back to the brick wall with all the queue lanes open...

Adventures For Wish Kids had their annual PKI event yesterday, and the Shriners also had a huge group out there (patients of their Burns Institute and the patients' families).

The crowds have been pretty small during the week, although that's partly due to it being so hot here recently. I wouldn't expect to wait real long for most rides, although Flight of Fear and Tomb Raider will have longer lines since they're indoors.

I've never been to Stricker's Grove since it's mostly used for private parties, but it does sound like a great place to visit.

lol Ripping out the waterpark right at the height of the season is a dumb idea in my opinion... Nobody's going to be able to use the new attractions until next year anyway, so why rip out stuff now?

How can you only stay at PKI for 3 and a half hours?

That's definitely not a good way to appeal to families...

I will be there for all three nights of the fireworks - I'm off on Saturday (will be spending a lot of time at the water park...), working 3:45-close on Sunday and 11:50-8 on Monday. Not sure what time HB will close before the fireworks, but you can't beat getting paid to watch fireworks for 30 minutes or so

PKI would be stupid to remove Scooby Doo stuff considering how many kids all know and love Scooby Doo these days. I still don't want to see any of the current theming gone, but I doubt there's much that can be done to stop it. Hanna-Barbera is nothing more than a "brand" of Warner Brothers Animation now (as far as I can see), and it appears that most cable providers in this area only carry Boomerang on Digital Cable (looking at the three biggest - Adelphia, Insight and Time-Warner)...

Front Seat on SoB isn't all that much smoother than the rest of the train, but is a nice experience.

The only time we can't take a bag from someone is if it has money in it. Otherwise we're just not responsible if something should happen to it while you're riding.

HB West Pie... Huck's Hot Rods, Yogi's SkyTours, Fender Bender 500 (load/unload), Beastie (checking bars and height / co-dispatching) and Alley Cat 500.

Glad to hear my suggestions are being considered

During the week the park usually isn't too crowded. However, July 4th weekend it will probably be pretty crowded. The current weather forecast for July 2nd (according to weather.com) is quite nice - sunny with a high of 82, although it's hard to say how accurate that is since it's hard to predict stuff that far in advance.

I'm working all day Saturday (third all-day shift this month...), so I will be there.

Membership is "open to all Survey Panel members". Therefore, unless you're on their survey panel, you probably shouldn't join that board...