Kevin Conley's "How High Can You Go?" (8/30/04 New Yorker) is an informative read. Unfortunately, it's not available in the online version of the magazine.

A good portion of the article concerns the WDW Animal Kingdom's Expedition Everest, that 200-ft-tall coaster now being built. Interesting point from Imagineer Joe Rohde: The type of rides he calls "...hell coasters," like Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster, are meant to appeal to the twelve-to-twenty-four-year-old market, a particularly thrill-seeking demographic that Disney largely concedes to its competitors. Rohde and his team design with children, parents, and grandparents in mind.

"Hell Coasters" ? Sounds like Rohde maybe the last person to design a coaster. The problem is that if they compromise the design to appeal to 80 to 8 year olds, any ride will wind up failing. They simply have to take into account that some attractions will appeal to different age groups and people with different tastes. It's perfectly okay for a park to try to strike a balance between attractions that appeal to little ones, big kids, tweens, older teens, young adults, adults, and grandparents. But to try to do that on a per attraction basis, you will wind up with a series of compromised attractions that end of creating a entire park of unfullfilling experiences.

I'm in my mid-to-late 30's and am a boring parent, and I *love* TTD. I guess I'm destined for a toasty eternity, unless the Disneyfied portion of my soul saves me. ;)