Before reading this, if you haven’t read Part One of ThrillNetwork Special Feature Series, click here!

So in Texas, I can officially say that it is Winter. About two weeks ago, it snowed in Houston. Like, real snow, as in frozen precipitation that’s definitely not sleet or hail. And although it’s now currently a balmy 79°F as I write this, and with Christmas days away, it truly is Winter! Now, associating snow, winter and Houston often creates an odd mix, but at one time, a place in Houston was able to pull it off, and in an exciting matter at that. If you ask someone who’s lived in Houston for most of their life, many people remember one of Houston’s biggest winter events at Six Flags AstroWorld called Holiday In The Park.

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As we move into the October month, many people think of Halloween, fall colors, leaves, raking and candy corn. I think of going to Six Flags AstroWorld. Although Six Flags AstroWorld, located in Houston, TX, closed in October of 2005, its legacy lives on not only in memories of the Houston park, but also through its very own rides that thrilled and created memories during its existence. Join James in a two-part Special Feature as he takes a candid, yet nostalgic look back at the park and rides, through interviews and photos, investigating the park’s past, and a glance as to what has happened to AstroWorld now.      (more…)

I am just a glorified webmaster.

What people don’t know is that this is my 10th year running a Web site or a chat. If you’re one of our members who are around 15 or 16, I was just learning how to put together a Web site and run an Internet Relay Chat at that age — when those of you in that age group were of kindergarten age. I got my start with using Linux and FreeBSD at that age as well. While I am only 26, it amazes me that it was so long ago already.

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I figured it would be about time to add to my original editorial about what it takes to run ThrillNetwork. While I did scratch the surface when it came to the look and maintaining some aspects, I know I can add a lot more.

In October, we finally moved to our long-awaited new server, which is the core of ThrillNetwork. For those who frequent the forums, I’m sure that you already know what we are currently running for a server. For those who don’t, we upgraded our Pentium III-733Mhz server to a Dual Xeon-3.0Ghz server, with Intel EM64T technology, which enables us to run 64-bit applications.

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Chip, Steven, Kyle L., Matt M. and Kyle Rehm got together to tell their surprises and opinions of the 2004 season and upcoming 2005 season.

Biggest surprise

Chip: Cedar Fair acquiring Six Flags Worlds of Adventure and renaming it Geauga Lake took me completely by surprise. I almost spit my drink on the screen when I saw the headline. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine Cedar Fair buying a Six Flags park, especially one so close to their flagship park. But they did it, and things already seem to be looking up for Geauga Lake.
Steven: I would definitely have to say the Cedar Fair buying Geauga Lake took me by surprise. The fact that it was bought and renamed back to Geauga Lake didn’t surprise me at all. What did surprise me was that it was Cedar Fair that did it, and to top it off, fellow Grand Valley State University alumnus Bill Spehn was named general manager. Spehn deserves to run a park. If only it could have been sooner (with Michigan’s Adventure, then he can catch some Grand Valley football on the weekends).
Kyle L: The biggest surprise for me of 2004 was the announcement of SheiKra. The idea of this incredible vertical coaster, with one inversion, two vertical drops and a water splash is a completely crazy, yet logical idea. I feel that a quality coaster such as SheiKra will blow any record-breaker out of the water any day. Things got going with the announcement of Kingda Ka, but SheiKra for me just blows it out of the water.
Matt M: The biggest shock of the year for me was B&M’s new approach to building rides. They added unique elements on mostly every new coaster. Silver Bullet has the overbank, Hydra has pretty much everything and Sheikra has the two vertical drops. Who knows what’s in store for the future? Another thing that shocked me was the announcement of Europa Park’s second Mack water coaster. They already have one, and they’re installing another. This took me completely by surprise, and I didn’t see it coming.
Kyle Rehm: The selling of Six Flags Worlds of Adventure and the sale of Six Flags European Division was quite a surprise to me. I was quite surprised that Cedar Fair would want to buy another park that was so close to its flagship park. And with the European Division it was looking like there might be a profit in there for Six Flags. Even so, the sale will help relieve their debt load, which in the long run will be a good thing for all of Six Flags key locals.

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The views expressed in this editorial are solely the opinion of the author and may not reflect the views and opinions of ThrillNetwork, its staff, or its members.

It was about three years ago.  I had to give a speech in a class in college about amusement ride safety. At that time, the biggest incidents had occurred on Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain, when a woman died from an aneurysm, and Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce, when a grounds worker was struck and killed.

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Raptor is 10 years old and will operate for its 11th season starting May 8. Designed by Bolliger and Mabillard, this masterpiece soars through six inversions along 3,790 feet of track in two-and-a-half minutes.

For Raptor’s 10th anniversary, Kyle L and Chip put together a two-sided review of the ride. You can find the link to Kyle’s portion at the bottom of this review.

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On May 6th, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has a big episode planned to try and lure viewers away from NBC (this is the same night as the Friends series finale) and to CBS. This sort of tactic is common in television, of course, but the topic of this episode is not. Entitled “Turn of the screws,” this one is set at the fictional Las Vegas Sphinx Amusement Park and centers around a roller coaster crash.

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For the record, I don’t plan on doing these very regularly myself.  Why?  Well, I simply don’t have that much time to even write these regularly myself.  For the most part, it will be other editors doing this, writing about anything that doesn’t quite fit in any of the story categories we have. (more…)