Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from everyone here at CoasterRadio.com!

Sun 7 News

Of course, you can have a video like this for yourself too!

Holiday Gift Guide - Creating Magic

I had the opportunity to interview a lot of great people through the CoasterRadio.com podcast.

One of my favorites was Lee Cockerell, who just retired as Executive Vice President of Operations at Walt Disney World Resort.

I got to interview Lee during the Grand Opening of Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom and was totally impressed by his candor, knowledge and passion for the resort.

Lee has written a book called Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney.

The book focuses on the magic ingredients that Disney uses to provide great customer service. Even if we don't work at a theme park, we can apply the same methods to whatever line of work we are in.

The best parts of this book, and the reason I think you'd like it, are the many behind the scenes stories from the Walt Disney World Resort.

So if you're looking for a good Disney World read that just might teach you something too, check out this book!

A "Monster" Deal!

One of the coolest rides around is "Monster Plantation" at Six Flags Over Georgia. When, EB visited the park in 2006, he said it was his favorite ride in the whole park.

The ride is currently being renovated and some of the old monsters are "moving out" to make room for new tennants.

Six Flags Over Georgia has come up with a great idea to raise money for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. They are auctioning off one of the monsters to the highest bidder! That means YOU can own one of these classic creations!

The monster's name is "Scout," and he is one of the members of the "Little Monster Club." He was designed and created by Gary Goddard Productions for the ride opening in 1981. Scout is approximately 42" tall, 33" wide and 35" in depth. The animatronic figure used air compression for movement, and Scout comes with the air valves still in tact inside of him.

All proceeds from the sale of Scout will go towards Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. An adoption certificate will accompany Scout.

Weekend Theater - Mario Takes On Drop Zone

An Oldie, But Goodie!

Give it up for Screamscape

There are literally hundreds of websites devoted to theme parks and roller coasters. Because any "geek with a computer" (including this geek) can start a website, the quality between the sites varies greatly.

Since I've been a theme park enthusiast, I've probably visited most of the major theme park sites at least once. But it takes a special site to make me come back again and again.

I can say honestly, that the only site I have continued to visit repeatedly year after year is Screamscape. In fact, I probably visit the site once a day.

I've never met Lance Hart, the man behind the site, but he strikes me as a guy who loves visiting the parks and most importantly as a man with connections.

The amount of news and rumors that Lance obtains each week amazes me. The lame-ass CoasterBoys out there love to harp on how some of those rumors turn out to be false. But throughout my years of reading ScreamScape, I've noticed how Lance's rumors turn out to be true most of the time.

The best thing about ScreamScape, and the one thing the CoasterBoys fail to understand, is that it's supposed to be fun to read. Who cares if some of the rumors are far-fetched? Isn't it more fun to read something crazy and wonder if it could be true? Plus, there's no better place to go for amusement industry news. Screamscape is updated often, sometimes multiple times in the same day.

And from what I've seen and heard, Lance is a really nice guy...which I've found is somewhat of a rarity amongst theme park webmasters. He is always quick to give shout-outs and promotion to others in our enthusiast community.

So please raise a glass to Lance Hart and ScreamScape....and visit his site often.

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