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Breaking News:
One of these people is very happy. One is not. Every time a bell rings, a roundish coaster enthusiast gets his wings! Sorry to inform you that "Mister Donut" translates as "Pastry filled with feces" "What do we want? BRAINS! When do we want them? BRAINS!" "And then we sold this man a fifteen-year-old Walkman for $200 and told him it was the next-generation iPod!" Okay, really, now you're just photoshopping in the same stupid pose in front of stock photography for each park. Costumed worker at Japanese park on day TPR visits: Worst. Temp. Job. Ever.
More headlines below the ads...
Hello, Japan! We will be annoying you for the next several days. This is almost like interacting with another human. More gravy, fewer noodles, please. "Hey, we're in Japan! Let's, um, bowl! That should really expose us to new cultures! "...and then let's go to Denny's!" "I wonder if I could get an on-ride video of this drum..." Why exactly would the photographer yell out "Act like utter morons, anyway? ...and dozens of Japanese commuters collapse from the smell at once Dude, that's totally Spicoli in the middle. It's so nice to be somewhere that's open to different, er, preferences What Has Happened to CoasterBuzz? Wild West World Owners Next Spending $40 Million on Roller Disco-Themed Park Hollywood Horror Nights to Feature Enormous Animatronic Goldie Hawn In Further Improvements to Son of Beast, Cedar Fair to Add Whiny Guy with Body Odor Tapping Patrons' Shoulders Repeatedly, Asking "Does This Bug You?" Hard-Hitting Journalist Rather Proud of Transitions Sunglasses, Intense Journalistic Stare Q. Why Don't Enthusiasts Get Dates? A. Here's a Start. Hundreds of Enthusiasts Simultaneously Discover Working in Amusement Park Sucks, Fellow Employees Hate Them Six Flags Right In Touch With Hot Trends Intamin Admits Maverick Designed by Ron Toomer with Bendy Wire Hangers; Says, "Computers are Expensive!" Enthusiasts Practice Saying "Mas Tapas" Repeatedly Gravy Futures Way, Way Up Carowinds Employees Assimilated
All information guaranteed absolutely accurate or your money back.
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Friday, August 22, 2003
Kings Island to Replace Water Park with Water Sports Fetish Section Many stories have reported the fact that Parmount's Kings Island will be removing its Water Works water park after this season. Most speculation has focused on a bigger water park taking its place, in particular noting publicist comments suggesting that patrons bring their swimsuits. But ARN&R can now exclusively report that those reports are wrong, or at least misguided. In fact, PKI will be replacing the entire section with a water park...but a water park of a different kind. Called "Golden Showers Lagoon," the 20-acre section of the park will be entirely dedicated to "water sports" fetishists -- those for whom urination and all of its variants are arousing. "This is really an underserved market in the Cincinnati area," said Michael Poland, park spokesman. "If it goes well, we're thinking about retheming a lot of the park to other fetishes. Like maybe an inverted coaster with an area below it for foot fetishists to really get a good look at the riders' feet. We like to think outside the box here." The equipment for the new park will be provided by NBGS International of New Braunfel's, Texas, and BucketsOfPee.com of Tijuana, Mexico. Patrons will be required to shower before and after leaving Golden Showers Lagoon and proper identification will be required. Posted at 7:56 AM | Link | 0 comment(s)
Thursday, August 21, 2003
Ex-Girlfriend Exposes Credit Fraud The track record of enthusiast Jeremy Abernathy was exposed as fraudulent by an embittered ex-girlfriend Wednesday. Joining the Coasterbuzz and Roller Coaster Talk forums under the screen name “Jeremyisatool21”, Deanna Wonskilasti, 23, posted the following statement: “I know that coaster enthusiasts take track records and credits seriously. I want all of you to know that Jeremy Abernathy, aka “NephewofBeast”, lied about his coaster credits, insulting whatever it is you guys stand for.” Ms. Wonskilasti proceeded to list 9 coasters, including most notably Top Cat’s Taxi Jam (Paramount Kings Island), Vapor Trail (Sesame Place), and Ice Dragon (Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.) “He’s never even been to Sesame Place.” Said Ms. Wonskilasti, who was unceremoniously dumped by Abernathy after she told him she preferred the Beast Roller coaster to its follow up, Son of Beast. “I had to go public with this information to clear my own conscience, and to expose him as a complete jackass.” “Why Mr. Abernathy would falsify his track record is a mystery,” said Jeff Putz, Coasterbuzz Webmaster and President in an exclusive ARN&R interview. “Nobody is judged on their track record -- and there is absolutely no pressure to ride coasters for the sake of ‘credits.’” Jeremy Abernathy could not be reached for comment at press time. --MMS Posted at 9:05 AM | Link | 0 comment(s)
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Celebrate 350 Years of ARN&R by Giving Us Money Why, it just seems like eleven months ago that we started this fine journal of amusement park news and rumors. And yet here we are, 350 years later, still going strong with tens and tens of readers. How can you help celebrate, you ask? Why, by buying crap! In particular, you can buy a special 350th anniversary shirt, featuring headlines from those centuries! See what ACErs had to say about the earliest Russian ice slides and Paul Ruben's reaction to the very first Boomerang! Also, it looks like we'll be out in force at Knoebel's fall event (which we refuse to name because of the constant and annoying use of "ph" in all materials...though we admit to some amusement at being directed not to have costumes that are too "phat"). Drop us a line if you too want to be part of the 350th Annual AbsolutelyReliableCon. There will be gravy.* * if demand exists. Frankly, beer is more likely. Posted at 11:18 AM | Link | 0 comment(s)
Wal-Mart Stores To Start Selling Vekoma Roller Coasters The Wal-Mart Corporation announced today that, based on the outrageously successful sales of the Six Flags Cool Coaster toy at Wal-Mart stores nationwide, the discount department store chain will begin stocking full-size Vekoma suspended looping roller coasters at all of their North American locations later this year. In an exclusive interview with H. Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, ARN&R learned that Wal-Mart and Netherlands based Vekoma Rides were in the final stages of negotiations concerning the pricing and product positioning of the coasters. "There are just a few minor details to iron out. Vekoma wants to be sure that their superior product receives premium end-cap placement in high foot traffic areas within all of our stores, and we want to be sure that we get the best possible cost savings. We're working on a compromise right now. As soon as those negotiations are complete, the coasters will be on our shelves, hopefully in plenty of time for the 2003 holiday shopping season," said Scott. Wal-Mart expects that because of the chain's tremendous purchasing power, they will be able to buy the coasters in bulk from Vekoma, thereby significantly lowering the cost per unit. Those cost savings will be passed on directly to consumers. The expected shelf price for a no-frills cookie-cutter suspended looping coaster will be somewhere around $119.97. "You never know though. The price could go down even lower than that if that price-cutting little smiley face guy happens to swing by and do his magic price-lowering whistle thingy," said Fairfax, Virginia Wal-Mart cashier, Maxwell Cunningham. The Six Flags Corporation has already placed several hundred pre-orders with Wal-Mart for the discount coasters. "At that price, we can afford to put ten or twenty Mind Erasers in every single Six Flags park," boasted Six Flags COO, Gary Story. Wal-Mart is also reportedly in negotiations with German flat ride manufacturer, Huss Rides, and hopes to be stocking Giant Top Spins and Giant Frisbees in time for the 2004 holiday shopping season. --JWS Posted at 9:48 AM | Link | 0 comment(s)
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Cathy Lee Gifford Appointed Visionland GM This past week, the theme park world was thrown into turmoil with the announcement that Visionland General Manager Terry Lee Mackey had been arrested, and was later fined, for child labor law violations. Cited for forcing child employees to work past 9PM and to work 14-hour shifts, both Alabama state violations, Mackey was sent to the “Time-Out Chair” by Visionland and relieved of duty by Park Superintendent William Chalmers. There was previous speculation that Mackey would be disciplined for giving paddlings and for making employees wash his blackboards, but these charges were eventually dropped by the state. In a hastily called press conference, Chalmers announced that the park had seen the error of its ways. “We have seen the error of our ways,” he stated. “We know that our previous manager would run his child labor force into the ground, driving them before him like sweaty, broken animals. The very sight of these poor, flea-bitten, glazed youngsters carting rocks up and down a quarry filled me with weepy sadness. So, in order to rectify our now-sullied image, we are making a bold hiring decision that will demonstrate to the world just how much we care about children and fair labor practices involving them. May I introduce our new general manager, Cathy Lee Gifford!” Gifford declined to comment to reporters, as she was already busy converting Visionland to a dank, mosquito-infested sweatshop. “Churn those shoes out, you little f%*ker!” she was heard to scream at an eight-year-old Montgomery native, Benjamin Wilkins. Cruelly lashing her bullwhip across the buttocks of several ride attendants who weren’t working fast enough for her satisfaction, Gifford was heard to yell, “My precious Cody needs a Rolls Royce, his own Six Flags park, and mountains of beautiful designer gravy, and I’ll flog anyone who stands in his way!” Alabama chief labor inspector Wolfgang Trammel told ARN&R that he was “somewhat concerned” about Visionland’s commitment to protecting its child labor force, but that his department would “take a wait-and-see approach” to the situation. --JCK Posted at 3:17 PM | Link | 0 comment(s)
Six Flags Announces Park Rotation Program for 2004 The Six Flags Corporation unveiled plans today for their new "Theme Park Rotation" program scheduled to begin in early 2004. The exciting new program is reminiscent of the chain's existing and enormously popular roller coaster rotation program, in which the company moves many of their roller coasters from park to park throughout the country every few years in order to keep a park's coaster line-up fresh and ever-changing. The new program will not only involve rotating the coasters from park to park, it will actually entail moving entire Six Flags theme parks from one location to another. Everything right down to the bare ground will be taken apart and loaded onto flatbed tractor-trailers to be trucked to another Six Flags property elsewhere in the country and then everything will be reassembled exactly as it was at its previous location. Six Flags COO, Gary Story, had this to say about the new theme park rotation program: "Our extensive consumer research has indicated to us that our guests are, quite frankly, sick and tired of visiting the same old local Six Flags theme parks year after year. I mean, how many times can you actually make yourself believe that you really did have a good time at Six Flags America, especially when you realize that there are nineteen other Six Flags owned theme parks scattered throughout the country, any one of which might be far better than that piece of crap? Furthermore, since people have been hesitant to travel too far from home lately, we thought that we would bring the parks to the people instead. After all, at Six Flags, guest satisfaction is our number one priority. Finally, we believe that the program makes a great deal of economic sense. We can move underperforming Six Flags parks to an area where no one knows yet how appalling that particular gawd-awful park is. Of course, people will flock to the transplanted parks initially because they will be new and fresh and exciting. By the time people figure out how much the relocated park -- say, Frontier City -- truly sucks, it'll have already moved on to another state and a whole new population of suckers... er, I mean guests. We are completely convinced that this park rotation program will turn the Six Flags Corporation around and get us back on the track to profitability." According to information ascertained from official company documents, Six Flags plans to start the rotation program slowly at first moving only two parks in 2004 when Six Flags America will switch places with Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. By 2010, however, every Six Flags park will have moved from its current location to another site somewhere else in the country. Six Flags anticipates that the parks will return to their original locations approximately once every seventeen years, which will give people plenty of time to forget how much they hated a particular Six Flags park the last time it was in town. If the rotation program is successful in the United States, Six Flags will incorporate their international properties into the mix starting in 2010. --JWS Posted at 8:59 AM | Link | 0 comment(s)
Sunday, August 17, 2003
Six Flags to Replace Batman Stunt Show with Puppetry of the Penis; Other New Shows Announced Cast members of Six Flags America's "Batman Stunt Spectacular," many of whom had upwards of two months of acting experience, got bad news on Saturday, when park management informed them that the park chain had decided to change the show for the balance of this season and next, having hired cult favorite stage show "Puppetry of the Penis" to replace them. The show (known to its fans as "POTP") features "genital origami," where the stars form their penises into a variety of shapes while narrating humorously. The audience watches on enormous video screens behind the pair. Simon Morley and David Friend, the show's creators and holders of the titular penises, said they were thrilled to be approached by the park. "Apparently the park manager came and saw our show in Arlington [Virginia] and just had a great time," said Morley. "He came up to us after the show and said he'd been making puppets with his penis for a long time and saw this as a way to share this unique art form with the world," added Friend. "He offered to show us some new moves, but we declined." The Batman amphitheater will be completely revamped with seventy-foot screens installed along with 150-foot phalluses towering above the audience. The genital origami will be part of a series of unique additions to SFA's entertainment offerings for the 2004 season. Spokesman Fred Sweetbreadsman shared some plans in an exclusive ARN&R interview. "We've booked Laurie Anderson to perform her unique blend of pop music and performance art -- that'll take the place of that country music medley crap. Karen Finley will be slathering herself in chocolate -- naked of course -- on the hour, every hour, in the entry plaza. And we're going to have a whole series of modern art installations taking the place of Roar and the Typhoon Sea Coaster; they'll really explore the parkness of amusement parks, and what it means to be amused, or to be parked, and really unpack all of the thematic narratives that run through Six Flagsness, and take a serious look at how amusement rides reinforce the patriarchy in society." According to initial reports, the first installation will consist of a milk-bottle game, where participants attempt to knock over three milk bottles at a time. Instead of a stuffed animal, however, winners will receive a bottle filled with the artist's urine while a full gospel choir sings Jane's Addiction songs out of key. Posted at 3:27 PM | Link | 0 comment(s)
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