coasterdime

I was behind a group waiting for Tomb Raider. The rest of the group was trying to describe to the TR virgin what the ride was. She told them she knew what the ride was, because she rode it "back when it was still Top Gun." Another funny thing happened just a couple of Saturdays ago. There was a 14 or so year-old girl dancing to a Michael Jackson song. She was near Racer's station, and she was nailing all of Jackson's dance moves perfectly. The funny part was how about 100 people gathered around to watch, and actually clapped when she (and the song) were finished.

I don't really think it's overrated, but TR:TR is just a little tame for my taste. Don't get me wrong, I like this ride quite a bit... but I've ridden other Top Spins, and I love what they do. TR will never be wild. I think with the difficulties they've had (prototype down times) the ride will always be a little tamer than similar, yet smaller rides. I just wish the ride would include more 'top spins.'

In that case, Happy Birthday to Jeff Siebert, too! Jeff was born THE SAME DAY PKI opened to the public. Weird, huh?

In May 2002, the Travel Channel was filming the ride. There were about 20 of us riding over and over. In the morning, we had to ride about 10 times. (with the camera on the train) That afternoon, we had to ride 24 times(!) Most of my rides were 4:2...but I had to move up a row for the last 10 or so rides. Jeff S. was in the station the entire afternoon, and could see the toll the ride was taking on us. He did his best to keep us energetic...and laughing during the short pause between rides. After that day, I had no need to climb aboard for a while....

I'm pretty sure they still offer a return visit discount. (at least they used to) There is a small building just to the left of the entrance. They cash checks, sell Timberwolf tickets....and I think offer a discounted next-day admission.

I'm a Skyline guy myself. I just don't eat it in the park anymore. I'm not sure what's happened in the past few years, but I've had terrible luck with the food quality there. Smells great, though.

I remember it being called "Salt Water Circus." I remember the show. As a kid, it would bore me to tears. There was other stuff that I would have rather been doing....

It's funny, some of us were talking about that very incident over the weekend! They jumped out of the cars over the the Eagles, right?! On a related note, I wish the park would either spruce up, or demolish the Rivertown side's station. That area is very beaucholic, and that building just sits there, rotting away in the middle of it.

As was said above, the new waterpark expansion should shorten lines in the main park during the day. I would usually stop by for a dip in the wave pool, or just stand under that fountain to cool off....then head back for more riding. I'm just not much into slides anymore.

I think International Street is fine. Rivertown is OK...I hate country, but it fits there. Coney and AZ could really use some help. I've noticed that Nick Central plays newer music...Why can't AZ? You'd think with parent company Viacom, they could play better stuff, geared toward younger people. AZ is where teens and young adults hang out...I just wish the music could reflect that.

Smoking in lines is my biggest park-related pet peeve. (just ahead of those bouncing basketballs) What some smokers don't realize- or maybe just don't care- is that some people are violently allergic to the smoke. I watched a family (at another park) that was forced to leave a line because one of the kids was suddenly unable to breathe. The rule-breaking smoker got to ride, the rule-obeying family didn't.

I was never really able to ride the Smurf ride, as I lived out of the area for most of the "smurf years." I did love the HB voyage that was there before it, though. That ride just blew my little childhood mind. If the Smurfs were anywhere as elaborate, th ride must have been just as incredible.

I'm glad someone brought this up. I keep seeing "Grouch in a garbage can" prizes. Where is everybody winning these?!

I think that all people are different, regardless of age. As others have said, there are 17 year olds who are more responsible than 30 year olds. This whole thing is very subjective, and a bill like Markey's is like trying to kill a fly with a cannon. Ages of the ops has little to do with their work ethic, maturity, or responsibility; and Markey's bill is simply designed to harm already labor-strapped parks. It also gets us thinking about how DANGEROUS parks can be....he does this every Spring..... What it all boils down to for me is this: If PKI trusts a person-after inteviewing, hiring, and training them...then I trust PKI's judgement. They've been doing this for a long time with a very good safety record. Most parks aren't going to risk their entire business if they thought a 16 year-old was incompetent. With an extensive training program in place, I can ride worry-free, no matter who is driving.

I honestly wouldn't worry about Rep. Markey too much. This guy has been unsuccessfully trying to over-regulate the amusement industry for a long time. A few years ago, he tried to make amusement parks and their safety fall under federal jurisdiction, instead of letting the states handle them. There was a whole line of B.S. coming from this guy for a while....all of it went nowhere. He grabs headlines for a while, and fades back to where he belongs. I'm pretty sure his new bill has NO co-sponsors, and will not make it to a vote. This guy needs a life.

By the way, The Beast/Eagles crew was outstanding this weekend. I really think this is the best (Beast/Eagles) crew in recent memory, and it's still April! I managed 40 rides on the Eagles this weekend, and each was perfect. A few newer faces this weekend...Andrew, Ricky...and even Josh {a few names I can't remember} were really great. They were good enough for a group of us to stop by GR...both nights. My back hurts a little now.

This ride isn't quite my favorite, but there is no denying its power. I'll usually stick to just riding it in cooler temps....or in the morning. I seem to have better luck, and a more comfortable ride. The loop's the ride's saving grace, at least for me. It is the single best loop I've ever encountered. The hang-time is perfect, reminding me of Batman Knight Flight at SFWoA.

Yep, it took me a little while of trial and error until I found a style that works for me. Everyone has a slightly different method. For me, I straighten out my "rudder"...just as I bottom out. This makes incredible noise, and sends me flying back up. Good stuff.

Sorry I didn't see this topic, or I would have replied much sooner! The Eagles are actually my favorite ride at PKI. Do what SoBrider suggests, and get back there at opening. The ride is much more fun with people who know how to snap. (well) I'll be there tomorrow morning, look for a guy with dark, spiked hair. I'd be glad to show you. Also, the last hour of each day, the ride is taken over by a few park regulars. My only advice is this: When you do get a snapping addiction, beware of the riders around you. I've been confronted and theatened by other guests about 6 times in the past year. I've talked to a few other regulars, and they've had the same experience. PKI's flyers are rather easy to snap, and when you get it, you'll love it.

Tanner, Like most storms of this nature, it just came out of nowhere. I'd say within 5 minutes, the skies when from perfect blue to deadly. When this thing did hit, believe me...coaster riding was the farthest thing from anyone's mind. None of us really feared tornadic activity, we were really bowled over by the amount of lightning. It was literally hitting everything around us. Common sense was simply to stay put! By the way, no phone rang or anything, the crew told us how badly they wanted to leave from the start. It was much safer for them to retreat than it was for us. Also, if the crew was scared, fine. We all were. My only gripe is how they pushed us into the lightning-charged air....and were quite rude about it. As I said in an earlier post, there were entire families caught off guard on that platform. We all weren't suicidal thrill seekers, I promise you. Also, I'm not REALLY complaining about anything. I was posting in a thread about my scariest time. I didn't complain to anyone then, and not really complaining now. I'm just reaffirming my original point, and answering a few questions. For what it's worth, I've visited PKI hundreds of times in the past 30 years. I've had the questionable honor of waiting out dozens of storms. This one sticks out in my mind still...simply for the amount of lightning it possessed. As for another question, (when did this happen?) My memory tells me it was August 2001.

First of all, I'm not sure there even WAS a tornado barreling toward me, and we definitely weren't informed of any impending [weather related] doom. Ideally, I could think of a few places I would have RATHER been, but we were stuck in that station. A tornado wasn't the immediate danger here. The real danger was the frequent and intense lightning. That's what those of us ejected from the station that night were trying to dodge. Again, what THEY were told or weren't told about the weather really isn't the issue. Neither is the strucural stability of one building versus another. My issue, and the reason for my fear that night, (in the context of the subject at hand) was not only the lightning and debris...but how we were just rudely pushed out- without a suggestion for a safer alternative. Tornado, microburst, bad thunderstorm- whatever...I felt safer under ANY structure than I did running unprotected down Coney Mall, dodging lightning. And I still feel that the way we were pushed out, to fend for ourselves; was probably not in keeping with PKI policy.

Things looked pretty well-spaced on that tour in January. Attractions were not too far apart, but not shoehorned together. I would have LOVED another tour, but I guess they wanted to have a high level of anticipation for the May opening. I was thinking about one thing, though. Jeff showed us a place for smokers to indulge. The smoking lounge, if I remember correctly, will be between Sharky's and the wave pool. Please correct me if my memory is a little foggy here. I'm worried about people leaving this lounge while smoking. If any of you have ever stepped on a "live" cigarette, you know what pain I'm talking about. Does anyone know if there will be a staffer policing the lounge? Also, I was hoping they'd make the pathways out of a more pourous material...to disperse heat. I now think they're using concrete, but breaking it up, by using giant planters. I'm confident the new area will LOOK great, with a generous portion of the budget being dedicated to landscaping. I'll see soon enough I guess...

Beast is my favorite, for all the reasons others have listed. Top Gun probably ranks as my favorite steel. It's a fun ride, with rarely a long wait. I long for the day PKI builds that state of the art, top quality steelie. I visit other parks for a good steel fix in the meantime.

Nah, didn't say anything at the time. I was simply too shell-shocked by the experience. I just left when the storm passed. There were about a dozen or so with me....some were parents with crying kids. I'm confident someone spoke up. Everyone involved was irate. Maybe that station wasn't the safest place at the time. (although it's still standing) Just being told to go out into the belly of the storm without seemingly any care for our safety was enough to label that crew as one of the worst of that season. Too add insult to injury, (and as I implied before) the crew was just so rude about it.

I was mad because those of us forced to leave, were simply left to run down the midway...lightning EVERYWHERE, tree branches flying around us....with no plan as to where to go. It seemed as if we were sacrificed for the crew's safety/convenience. Had we been directed to a safe place, fine. But "You guys gotta leave, NOW!", just didn't seem proper procedure in a park that is built around guest safety!