Been out of the loop for so long...

Dopey turtles are boring, and I like to twirl around and listen to jam bands.

The park formerly known as SFNO still isn't open.

^^^I have never posted under the screen name "Swoosh" on any website.

A Legoland Park opened in Florida in the former Cypress Gardens site.

Marriage is so gay, but not at Dollywood.

If Great Adventure needed a hotel, it would have already built one.

Richard Bannister said:

Well, the fastest coaster is now in Dubai.

No, it's not -- it's in Abu Dhabi, which is a different emirate.

Erratum! I meant to say UAE....I prolly got distracted.

WOF Guy said:
^^^I have never posted under the screen name "Swoosh" on any website.

Interesting. Your use of quotations give you away, though.

Ghost Town in the Sky is threatening to reopen...oh wait...;)

Some things never change...

The gay Muslims still think Disney is pricing themselves out of business, Virtual Queuing is ruining parks, and Superman: The Escape (now Escape from Krypton) is not a roller coaster.

And Moosh died. (RIP)

To me the most interesting thing to come along in the past few years has been B&M's new wing riders (Gardaland, SFGAm and Dollywood) and their giga (Canada's Wonderland). All new for this year! The New Texas Giant (replaced the wood track with steel I-beam track, complete with 3 overbanked turns) is pretty rad too and could revitalize a lot of the old woodies.

The tale of amusement parks over the last decade is largely a bittersweet one. Larger chains, and a few independent parks owned and operated by dedicated families, have survived years of downturn and today thrive. But many have gone the way of the passenger pigeon and the dodo: Astroworld, Jazzland, Geauga Lake, Bushkill...the list goes on and on.

Others (Conneaut Lake, Kentucky Kingdom, Ghost Town in the Sky) have faced the proverbial and apparent death's door--in some cases multiple times--but continue to hold on to at least a small measure of hope of survival.

Unfortunately, as the number of parks continue to dwindle, no new ones are coming about to replace them. The bar to establish a new, successful park is almost impossibly high, and the industry is littered with stories of overreaching individuals with grandiose plans gone awry.

Still, quite a few parks remain to offer their guests thrills, spills, chills, and the occasional cotton candy- and corn dog-induced ills... :)

A couple "new" US parks are on the horizon...in a sense. Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier is doing a grand opening in 2012 and debuting a new custom Eurofighter (with lapbars), and Fun Spot Action Park Orlando is entering the coaster community in 2013 with a new GCII and a kiddie invert.

Apparently long names for parks are "in" these days... ;)

BIG DIPPER'S COMING BACK!
Wait, no it isn't.
YES IT IS!
Oh, no it isn't ...

But the original mystery buyer really IS a nice guy!

Flying Turns at Knoebel's STILL isn't open.

Don't defriend me Kozmo.

I read every post hoping to be the first to comment on Flying Turns... In other news Kozmo did defriend me for asking about it on Facebook and pointing out that in 2011 their website still said they believed it might be possible to open the ride by the end of the 2009 season.

Neither Kozmo, nor Jerry is your friend.

I am with this guy, haven't set foot in a park since 2008, I still follow things however. The hobby just became too expensive for me as other priorities like Mortgages took over. I do miss things though and long for the carefree enthusiasts days of my 20's.