We went to Motor City Furry Con this past weekend and, not to spoil things, we didn't have a great time. I haven't had the energy to start writing that up yet so you're getting a double dose of Six Flags America photos, from the full day we spent there.
But I can at least share a small side anecdote from today when I went to ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunnyhugger's parents' home to pick up our pet rabbit. (bunnyhugger had to work; I had the day off for the state holiday.) Besides getting them a half-dozen paczki to thank them I wanted to get a pop for myself and the nearest Freestyle coke machine --- so I could get a Mello Yello Zero Citrus Twist --- was at Wendy's. The drive-through line was about 362 cars deep so I went inside, instead, and asked for a large fountain drink cup. The clerk handed it to me, I started to pay, and she said ``nah, you're good''.
I offered again to pay and she said nah, she didn't care, it's just the cup. Part of me wanted to protest that I was also getting the pop but I finally remembered I could act like a normal person instead and say thank you and maybe that's kind of you. And to appreciate that sometimes something's going on at a Wendy's and the cashier just does not care about collecting money for the pop machine. Lucky break, huh?
As promised, Six Flags America pictures:
The seats for the Firebird ride, which much like Mantis-to-Rougarou was converted from a standing train to a floorless. Here, the floor's in hiding.
Track of Firebird, with The Wild One behind it. In the middle you can see the miniature railroad, which wasn't running any of the days we visited.
Six Flags America logo that finally shows some localization to it.
The entrance I mentioned that goes underneath The Wild One, into the inevitable Gotham City part of the park.
I was excited to see they had a super-round-up ride; I always like those. Ah, but ...
That's right, the ride wasn't running. The promise it would open later in the season seemed touching; we wondered how much effort they were putting into getting a ride open for at most three months or so.
Riddle-Me-This's ride inspection sticker and certificate, showing the ride was looked at that year at least. The Certificate of Inspection lists as governor Larry Hogan, which was most recently true in 2023.
bunnyhugger pointed out the Joker's Jinx ride had some nice HA decorations around it. Or, from this point of view, a bit AH on top of these poles.
The elevated swings ride was not as tall as Windseeker, but was down part of the day anyway.
And the ride is Wonder Woman themed --- the ``Lasso of Truth'' --- with an entrance that kind of suggests Wonder Woman unwisely gazed upon Medusa and got petrified. Although I guess she was created from stone originally? In some versions of the story? So maybe she's just being normal.
Here I noticed there was a good angle to show what kind of a spaghetti bowl the Joker's Jinx was, and now you see it too.
The last big bit of money put into the park was for Steam Town, a redevelopment of the western area into something More Steampunky. There's a roller coaster in there too, so we're in there.
Trivia: Germany's team won the four-man bobsled team in the 1952 Oslo Olympics with a team weighing a total 472 kilograms, about 1040 pounds. After this the international federation for bobsled and tobogganing limited the weight of future teams to 400 kilograms, 880 pounds. Source: Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement, Editors John E Findling, Kimberly D Pelle. (They actually voted for the limit shortly before the games --- team weights had been spiralling --- but it did not take effect until after.)
Currently Reading: The Red Planet: A Natural History of Mars, Simon Morden.
