TombRaiderFTW

Fair enough. I was about to try to make a point about Kennywood, but then I remembered how many coasters have come and gone there since Racer and Jack Rabbit. They keep the ones that still make business sense to keep. I WAS misunderstanding.

Do places like Kennywood and Knoebels not count, or am I not understanding the point of what you two are saying?

I've been wondering forever what the translation is of the line that's said after the "mountain" starts lighting up. It's always sounded like "clack clack clack clack, je poisson" to me, which, translated, means "I fish." Except it's the noun kind of fish and not the verb kind of fish, which isn't grammatically correct. And, regardless of grammar, it doesn't make sense for that show to be talking about fish. I saw the 7:00pm show last night, and they enunciated a little more, or else I happened to understand what I heard more than normal. I think I have a better idea of what's said--I think it's "je pleure seul," "j'ai peur seul," or "j'suis pas seul." Translated respectively, that would be "I cry alone," something along the lines of "I feel nothing but fear," and "I'm not alone." I personally am leaning towards the last one because it would make the most sense at that point in the show and uses what I understand to be Canadian slang (j'suis), but unless they're really not enunciating, the beginning of that line does not sound the way "j'suis" sounds in my head. It sounds like "je ____ seul," but I can't seem to find a verb that fits there that makes sense to say. The performers do such a good job with that scene that it doesn't need a translation. That's one of many reasons I'm really going to miss Cirque when it leaves. I'm just very curious to know what the lines are.

There's some part of me that wonders if it's Haunt-related. A brown stage doesn't exactly scream "new ride teaser" to me.

I'm pretty sure it actually is NoLimits 2, based on the pictures. The track and supports are NOT that sharply detailed in NL1. It's still not a great video, especially with the low framerate. Am I bummed that one of a handful of dueling CCI's will essentially be demolished? Yeah. I love CCI rides. I was just as bummed when Medusa was redone, even though I also never rode that one. I kinda wished that Twisted Twins would have been reimagined (or at least retracked) by The Gravity Group. (No, that wouldn't have been as easily marketed, but I also didn't expect a budget as large as has been quoted for the ride they'll be getting.) That being said... Honestly, I think Storm Chaser looks great. It'll be enough to get me back into Kentucky Kingdom at least once next year. Even though I disagree with Kentucky Kingdom on some topics like many here, that doesn't change the fact that I'll have an RMC within a day's driving distance from home. I submit that anyone who finds this ride disappointing will change their tune once they ride it. RMC does good rides. (They're just not allowed to touch Boss, as far as I'm concerned. ) For what it's worth: I'm relatively certain that I've read somewhere that Ride Centerline designs the profile (i.e., the forces/layout) of RMC's rides. Ride Centerline also did the profile of Lightning Run, which features elements I've loved from Iron Rattler and New Texas Giant. Assuming RC is still doing that for RMC, and it looks like they are, I think we're in for a treat.

How are we less than a month from the end of Cirque?! This year is absolutely flying by, and I feel like I haven't seen Cirque even 5 times yet. I need to fix this while I can.

You need to go to Six Flags St. Louis. Theirs has a marginally longer ride time than Top Thrill Dragster. I'm only slightly joking.I agree that this ramp very likely isn't a hint at all, but I actually wouldn't mind an antique car ride, albeit a short one, that uses that area and some of the land around Backlot Stunt Coaster. A couple nice rockwork bridges over the paths and especially some trees would go far in that area, I think. It's probably a prohibitively small area for such a thing, though. Doesn't hurt to dream!

I only rode it after the Topper Track (can't remember if that was in 2012 or 2013, for some reason) but there was a definite difference between the Topper Tracked first drop and the rest of the ride. The TT portion rode like the average GCI.

Terp: Oh! I misunderstood that. You have my condolences. At least you'll be close to... um... The other Roar? For comparison? RollerNut: If they announce anything else happening to Georgia Cyclone, I might cry.

Look at it this way: SFA is a whole lot closer to NJFTP than SFOG is!

Right name, wrong ride... I do wish Six Flags would give me a reason to want to go to SFA.

Ah. Yeah, I have no clue. Next time I'm there, I'll be sure to check.

I didn't. (I feel like I haven't really seen them at the park since 2010 or 2011. I know for a fact they were there in 2010, as that's when I bought mine.) I did notice then that the signature appeared to be sunk into the page (the way your handwriting would be if you wrote on the page at the top of a stack of paper) because I looked at it at an angle to check--I was surprised to see it and wondered if it was a stamp or part of the printed page. It looked to be the real thing.

If it's true that she's no longer welcome at the park, it makes me uncomfortable and somewhat incredulous that they're still selling those "historical picture" books of Holiday World that feature her handwritten signature in the front and picture in the back. I witnessed them myself in Voyage's gift shop last weekend.

I don't know why, but it's really striking to me how different the capacities of those rides are compared to Banshee. Of course, these numbers are rounded one way or another and don't truly take into account all of the riders for this year, but I think it's accurate enough to get the point across: In 43 years, Woodstock Express has averaged 1,046,512 riders a year. In 33 years, Viking Fury has averaged 909,091 riders a year, and Character Carousel has averaged 363,636 riders a year. In 20 years, Xtreme Skyflier has averaged 50,000 riders a year. In 19 years, Flight of Fear has averaged 789,474 riders a year. In 16 years, Invertigo has averaged 625,000 riders a year. In 8 years, Firehawk has also averaged 625,000 riders a year. And in one year, Banshee thrilled 2,000,000 riders. That's almost as much as the total average ridership per year of Flight of Fear, Invertigo, and Firehawk combined. I guess I never really perceived the capacities of those rides as being as low as they are, but then again, that's why people around here tell you not to base a ride's popularity on the length of the line. I mean, I knew Invertigo and Firehawk especially don't have great capacities, but this just kinda put it in perspective for me.

It really floors me that this happens, it closes, they replace the cable and reopen in the same day, then close to do an investigation. What on earth was the train of thought there? Your ride just failed with riders on it... and you try to just play it off and hope no one noticed? Did they close when they realized a news station had picked up the story? Did the state of Wisconsin step in and force them to shut it down? Was there seriously no concern about why it happened? I seriously can't think of a well-intentioned and logical reason as to why it reopened in the same day. If the incident happened unexpectedly, then the operator appears very apathetic about safety. If it was expected, then that is neglectful. It is extremely, extremely difficult for me to believe that the failure was analyzed and remedied and the ride was legally approved for reopening in the course of an afternoon. It makes me sad when people are cynical about parks' safety. It makes me even more sad when events like this justify it.

On the subject of St. Louis: I really can't describe how much I love and recommend the City Museum. It's really a one-of-a-kind place that kinda defies explanation, except to say that it is most definitely NOT what you're picturing in your head when you read the words "City Museum." Think museum meets Chuck E. Cheese (but appropriate for grown-ups) meets a repurposed industrial factory meets a lawyer's ultimate nightmare. If you can swing it, I implore you to spend an afternoon there. It's so worth it. For example: The building it's in used to house a shoe manufacturer, and instead of tearing out the spiral chutes that shoes would slide down from the top floor down 10 stories, they added a cage over top of it and turned it into an endless spiral slide that you can ride. The outside of the place has the craziest metal structures for people to explore, and the only way I can think to describe it to people is to say, "It looks like someone's mom told them that they can't go to welding school, and so they decided to spite her and go to welding school and weld every piece of scrap metal they ever found afterwards to each other. And then they called it the City Museum and started charging admission to climb all over it."

^^ Racer is decent, but I've never really noticed a strong difference between day and night or red and blue, personally.

Mandatory suggestion: The Beast. It matters. It might not seem like nighttime would matter, but it does, moreso than any other ride I've ever ridden at night. It feels so much faster than it does during the daytime, and the darkness of the helix swallowing you may give you goosebumps. If you can only ride one at night, make it The Beast. That being said, I personally think Adventure Express is an under-appreciated night ride, especially when its theatrical lights are functioning and turned on (although the second-to-last tunnel can be really disorienting when the lights aren't on.) It too feels faster and more forceful at night. Banshee has some nice lighting at night, from its signage to the queue to the station to the ride itself. For me, the ride itself feels pretty consistent between day and night... which isn't a bad thing by any means, as Banshee's a great ride! Certainly something worth experiencing more than once. I personally don't get it, but there are folks here who love Diamondback at night. Then again, I'm not much of a Diamondback fan during the day, either. I'm certainly not going to discourage you from trying it out--for as many people as there are that like it, there's obviously something there I'm missing. It's all in what you like in coasters!

Wow. You did an incredible job. It sounds wonderful! I listened to your clips all afternoon while I was working. Out of curiosity, how on earth did you get so good at working on Wurlitzer band organs? Do you own one?

The only place I've ever heard of getting tickets for SFStL is at the park or online (online being usually a better deal.) As with many Six Flags parks, a season pass is usually very comparable to any multi-day ticket deal, so if you are planning a multi-day trip or a trip to another Six Flags (e.g. Great America, which is only around five hours away), you may want to consider a pass. Whichever way you do it, I hope you have a great time. I personally love Six Flags St. Louis (so much so that someone is probably groaning while reading that I am once again talking about how much I love the place) and especially The Boss, Mr. Freeze, and American Thunder. The new dark ride looks pretty dang good, too. You should post a TR!

You know you've been around here a while when Terp posts things like that and there's still this really small voice in your head that goes, "Was that a hint?"

I've actually been dealing with a hacking issue with my email since around the time all this started. I wonder if my account here was affected. Someone was attempting to use my email for spam--I got oodles of "failed email" emails from my email provider saying that I was trying to email people all over the world.

Awesome. You're the best. Thanks again!

There's one at Kennywood, if that's any closer for you.