PREMiERdrum

http://www.10best.co...Vote/best-zoos/ Also, Columbus is now home to the largest elephant in North America: Hank! Hank the Asian Elephant is more than 15,000lbs and 9 and a half feet tall! He is the largest elephant in North America and thought to be one of the largest captive elephants in the world. We saw him for the first time today and he is quite impressive. The zoo is also home to three other elephants: Phoebe, Connie, and baby Beco. Some other pictures from this beautiful, sunny Sunday at the zoo: Polar Frontier, one of the zoo's polar bear sisters sleeping in the grass The zoo's other polar bear sleeping on the rocks American Black Bear in the North America region Another view of Hank, who lives in the AsiaQuest region Getting to know an African Lowland Gorilla An Amur Tiger sizes up some young visitors A trip to the zoo isn't complete without a spin on the historic 1914 Mangles Illions Grand Carousel

I've always heard of it as a breeding ground. Dunno how accurate it is though Yep, it's an off-site breeding facility. This isn't unheard of in the zoo world.

Correct me if I am wrong Gordon, but didn't the pyro also come on and fall to the floor at the end of the ride as well? It has been quite a long time since any of us have rode Tomb Raider with all the effects working, but I, for some reason, have this nagging feeling that the spark pyro did come on a second time as the ride was finishing its cycle. I remember this as well, a sort of punctuation to the orchestral "pop" at the end of the ride. This triggered a blackout as the gondola parked itself, before the dim load/unload lights slowly came back up.

Meanwhile, at Carowinds...

Then who sold him his ticket? Or, if he were a passholder, who let him thru the gate?

I'd love to know which cast member thought it was OK to continue serving this gentleman? I've seen guests refused service at Epcot for being too inebriated, and I'm sure the same serving rules apply in the CA parks as well.

I've never seen this pic before.. From... LINK: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2002/03/12/dip.DTL#ixzz1msUY75xq

Cedar Point's John Hildebrandt is also on Twitter now, @cpgmjohn. It's funny that all these little things finally happen right after Kinzel leaves. Anybody still doubt he was a micromanager?

Until the supports are painted as well, it looks like an absolute thriller. A Serial Thriller, perhaps.

Doing some homework, Polin manufactures their slide segments using RTM (Resin Transfer Molding) as opposed to the hand-lay molding of conventional slides (which is what leaves the "rough" fiberglas backside surface). RTM is used to make exterior panels for the space shuttle, or at least it was . RTM would not allow for a "baked in" finish like is seen on King Cobra, so it appears to either be paint (less likely) or a printed medium under a clear gelcoat. Now, gelcoat (I belive it's a marine gelcoat used here is great), but as a resilient finish eventually something is going to gouge through it and require repair. My concern would be if the gouge is deep enough to damage the artwork, a large area of the gelcoat would have to be removed for the art to be replaced before reapplying the gelcoat. I would have long term concerns with keeping these slides up, but they do look great at the outset.

These products look good. I'm curious as to the artwork on it, and how long it will last in that shape. Is it a gelcoat? That's what is typically used in these applications, but I can't fathom how that would work with this design. Is it some sort of applique? If so, how will they handle touchups? So many questions.

Looking good, primary colors are far too played out across the FUN range (Kinzel's executive stranglehold over P&D, I'm sure). A new vision for Action Zone? Be still my beating heart. Now let's do something about the nonsensical guest flow!

Did somebody say Ed Alanzo?

Perhaps an "I survived" above the Flight Commander logo?

It's hard to believe just how small the tanks were at both Cedar Point and Kings Island, especially compared to the multi-pool complexes you see today and Sea World and the like. Excellent thread guys, keep up the good work!

I'm not that old and I remember sending plenty of SASE's for more information (typically from theme parks [i wish I had saved some of the late '80s, early '90s stuff I got from WDW] and circuses [which landed me an awesome backstage tour and experience with Royal Hanneford when they played Columbus back in the early '90s]). Good times.

They were being used as props at the Aurora property also, before the CF takeover.

http://www.chancemorgan.com/rides/electric_cars.html

Two of my interests collide in a television spectacular! DVRing, for sure.

More of this?

If you'd like, you can sit in a Kroger cart, we'll push you down a graveled hill and blast you with a fire hose. No Snoopy or elephant or even gushing coconuts required. If the Kroger cart had goofy overhead restraints, yes. I didn't mind the ride when the water effects were "dialed back", the placemaking and general atmosphere are quite nice (especially when compared to CP's track record). BUT the watercannon at the end absolutely kills it for me.

1960's and older Cedar Point info can be a bit sketchy, but everything I have says 1968.

Shoot the Rapids was built in 1968 with the beginnings of Frontier Town. It was razed in 1981 to make way for White Water Landing. Mill Race was built around 1967 at the front of the park. It remained until 1993.

This is correct. Mill Race was at the front of the park, while the original Shoot the Rapids was back in Frontier Town and was replaced by Whitewater Landing (which was replaced by Maverick, as the Shoot the Rapids name was used on the new flume on Millennium Island). Got all that?

I find it interesting that zoos (Columbus and Cincy, namely) have found such success with their wintertime events while Paramount's efforts floundered. In Columbus, the zoo typically sees its highest daily attendance records broken not during mid summer or even Ohio's pleasant fall, but during the cold, December "Wildlights" dates. Sure, the zoo's smaller infastructure might make it easier for them in terms of ROI, but the park's dramatically larger scope and attractions roster, one would think, would lead to a very successful event.