CoasterBuzz Podcast #139 - May 11, 2009

Jeff and Mike review this week's news in the amusement industry.

• Mike is now Daddy 2.0 with the birth of his second daughter. A long discussion on raising babies ensues.
• Swine Flu mania sweeps the nation, while Six Flags Mexico closes for a few days.
• The draw of Harry Potter and a Chicago museum. Mike says they have cool stuff, including a submarine in a building.
• Wild West World developer goes to jail, but we feel pretty strongly that the "victims" are just as stupid as the accused.
• Pilgrim's Plunge opens to the public, and Santa is all wet. Holiday World posts very cool photos all over the Interwebs.
• Schmeck gets his due love. Mike suggests that measuring the importance of a ride might not be best served by its age. Rather, the ways that it pushed forward the art and science of roller coaster making, that's a better gauge.
• Results week puts everyone down a bit, though with Easter falling in a different quarter, it's hard to make a good comparison to last year. Disney offsets declines with deep discounts that keep up attendance, and may benefit from people being exposed to the parks who might not otherwise go.
• Mike notices the changes around his local Six Flags park after a two year skip, now roaming the midways with his daughter in tow.
• Ride renaming continues at Freestyle Music Park.
• Teens versus grown-ups in a battle for seasonal jobs!
• Terminator trains arrive at Magic Mountain, and we're surprised at how enormous and heavy they look when they're not on the track.
• Alton Towers laying out plans for expansion, while the Adventure Dome in Las Vegas says it will invest in new rides as soon as the economy picks up. Jeff and Mike have still never been there, despite many trips to Vegas.
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