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General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Cable on February 20, 2016, 07:34:47 PM
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Getting closer to that season for most in the US! :tup
I thought about resurrecting this thread about Vacations, https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=37856.105, but that is vacations. Even though Walt Disney World (WDW) took a huge part of that.
I am planning a WDW vacation at the end of this year, and am in general an amusement park person. I try to downplay it, but it's part of what I grew up doing. I used to have a season pass to Cedar Point for seven years from age 18-25. But for a lot of reasons, I stopped having one, and am refusing to go there for other reasons. I enjoy parks still as an adult, but I am trying to step out a bit to go to other places. Shifting to be a Disney fan, it has made me appreciate more of the theme behind things.
As such, I'm planning a spring trip to Holiday World. Wood coasters will always be my favorite, and The Voyage is one of the best apparently. It looks amazing via on ride videos, although it seems to have been tamed a bit via trim brakes halfway thru. Which is always a bummer on rides.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/TheVoyage_Autumn.jpg)
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I really have enjoyed Six flags great adventure in Jersey
I absolutely love EL toro. Yeah its wooden, which usually I don't care for, but this is my favorite roller coaster ever. The drop on this thing is insane and it is so intense. I love it
(https://www.dirkschreurs.com/gallery/roller/ElToro.jpg)
Also at this park was the great american scream machine. Built around 89, it was the first coaster that I fell in love with and until it was torn down, i could ride as many times as I wanted since it was so old, nobody wanted to go on it.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fe/49/f7/fe49f7ca55ed32be202ccc815a93b875.jpg)
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I'm a big amusement park fan, I'm only forty minutes from Bush Gardens and an hour and a half from Disney World. My favorite ride is Shikra at Busch Gardens, 90 degree drop is amazing and it's one of the smoothie at coasters around.
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I really have enjoyed Six flags great adventure in Jersey
I absolutely love EL toro. Yeah its wooden, which usually I don't care for, but this is my favorite roller coaster ever. The drop on this thing is insane and it is so intense. I love it
(https://www.dirkschreurs.com/gallery/roller/ElToro.jpg)
Also at this park was the great american scream machine. Built around 89, it was the first coaster that I fell in love with and until it was torn down, i could ride as many times as I wanted since it was so old, nobody wanted to go on it.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fe/49/f7/fe49f7ca55ed32be202ccc815a93b875.jpg)
My home park. I love El Toro and dearly miss Great American Scream Machine, but my favorite ride in the park (favorite ride in general actually) would have to be Nitro.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Nitro_coaster.jpg)
It's quite the adventurous roller coaster, with over a mile of track, 9 hills, and a very forceful helix. Night rides are especially great because there are no lights on the track other than the lift hill so you can't see anything. This is the roller coaster that made me an enthusiast.
Another great park is Cedar Point in Ohio. A lot of great rides there but my two favorites are the 300 foot tall Millennium Force and insanely wild Maverick.
(https://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a7/62/80/a76280ee3ff9d2856584dd922a194641.jpg)
(https://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/ac/fc/6d/acfc6d35855a3c8bbcb25717ea067dcc.jpg)
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I am a huge fan of parks and rides, but about 1,000 miles from anything here in the PNW :'(
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I'm a huge roller coaster fan! Of course the first two rides posted are the ones I'd most wish to go on. El Toro looks amazing, and Voyager has always been well known as one of the best. I'd love to visit them one day. My home park is Six Flags Great America, and although it apparently is one of the better SF parks, I don't find myself going there as much any more. This is definitely not a unique opinion, but Cedar Point has been my favorite park for coasters. I usually make it a point to go out there once a year.
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Big coaster fan, though I don't see myself being able to ride them anymore without coming away with a seriously bruised kidney.
Since SFoT is the bastard stepchild of the Six Flags organization (kind of bullshit since it pretty much invented the thing), I adopted SF Magic Mountain as my preferred park. Between Tatsu, Full Throttle and my personal favorite Scream, it really delivers the goods.
(https://www.thecoasterguy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SFMM-_Tatsu_30-1024x768.jpg)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Full_Throttle_at_Six_Flags_Magic_Mountain_%2813208648693%29.jpg)
(https://www.themeparkreview.com/jahan/SitePhotos/Scream/SFMM%20Pics%202%20025%20%28Custom%29.jpg)
I love how Scream has you do a diving sprial down to the parking lot. The stripes give a perfect frame of reference, heightening your awareness of what's going on.
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I love roller coasters, and have traveled 1000 miles+ to ride specific coasters. I grew up going to Cedar Point and Kings Island (both in Ohio). As much as I still love those Parks, Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey has the best 123 coaster punch in El Toro, Nitro and Kingda Ka. My favorite wooden coaster is still "The Beast" at Kings Island. As long as the woodsy area that the ride goes through remains undeveloped, it will be hard to surpass that experience.
But also, I love Disney World - which is really great so long as you can immerse yourself in the "Disney Magic" and suspend any angst for corporate greed. They do it right, and I not only enjoy the parks, but also the resorts and restaurants (mostly). Oh, and if you can find a way to swing it, going off-season without the largest crowds and heat makes the parks a much different experience - so much better.
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I've been working for the Disney Parks, both Disney World and Disneyland, for almost 10 years now. Let me know if there's any advice I can give ya'll :tup
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I've been working for the Disney Parks, both Disney World and Disneyland, for almost 10 years now. Let me know if there's any advice I can give ya'll :tup
Will do! Disney parks are my favorite, and a good piece of that are the Cast Members (employees). So many good stories I have heard, or experienced myself as a result.
Big coaster fan, though I don't see myself being able to ride them anymore without coming away with a seriously bruised kidney.
Since SFoT is the bastard stepchild of the Six Flags organization (kind of bullshit since it pretty much invented the thing), I adopted SF Magic Mountain as my preferred park. Between Tatsu, Full Throttle and my personal favorite Scream, it really delivers the goods.
(https://www.thecoasterguy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SFMM-_Tatsu_30-1024x768.jpg)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Full_Throttle_at_Six_Flags_Magic_Mountain_%2813208648693%29.jpg)
(https://www.themeparkreview.com/jahan/SitePhotos/Scream/SFMM%20Pics%202%20025%20%28Custom%29.jpg)
I love how Scream has you do a diving sprial down to the parking lot. The stripes give a perfect frame of reference, heightening your awareness of what's going on.
I have never noticed Scream- looks awesome. Cannot go wrong with floorless B&Ms.
I still have not made it out to SF:MM. I will eventually. But to me, Cedar Point and MM have always competed. To me, from a distance, I think MM is ahead of CP for best collection. Especially since CP has removed two to make room for two different ones. If I compare similar type rides at each (Raptor to Batman, Mantis/Rogagoru to Riddlers etc), I feel MM edges CP out. Plus MM has X2! It is like MM, outside of wooden, has a coaster of basically every type.
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Cannot go wrong with floorless B&Ms.
Can't wait to ride Mantis's conversion at CP. I've always enjoyed stand up roller coasters even though B&M was particularly bad at making them smooth.
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I have never noticed Scream- looks awesome. Cannot go wrong with floorless B&Ms.
I still have not made it out to SF:MM. I will eventually. But to me, Cedar Point and MM have always competed. To me, from a distance, I think MM is ahead of CP for best collection. Especially since CP has removed two to make room for two different ones. If I compare similar type rides at each (Raptor to Batman, Mantis/Rogagoru to Riddlers etc), I feel MM edges CP out. Plus MM has X2! It is like MM, outside of wooden, has a coaster of basically every type.
Scream's probably my favorite coaster out there. As you said, floorless B&M. Add to that the parking lot is really unsettling. There's a pass where you curve around sideways for a good clip a couple of feet off the asphalt and you can still see the stripes keeping everything in perspective. Add to that, it's old so the lines are often nonexistent.
Full Throttle is a definite contender. The launch over that enormous loop is pretty great, and the return over the top of it is probably even more intense.
X2 isn't particularly good, IMO. It's just sheer chaos. You're spinning so fast you never see enough to really figure out what the hell's going on. The ride up (facing back and down) and the initial drop are the entertaining parts. Once you pull up it's just a blur until you pull into the station. And MM has one very good woody and one famous one that's being remodeled into something quite unique. Terminator might be my favorite wooden coaster, fast and out of control. Cyclops, famous for John Candy and the Griswolds, was converted to a hybrid with some remarkable features. It's an old racing coaster, but since it now has inversions the two trains can cross over each other in opposition.
(https://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site568/2015/0521/20150521_092005_twister.jpg)
Cannot go wrong with floorless B&Ms.
Can't wait to ride Mantis's conversion at CP. I've always enjoyed stand up roller coasters even though B&M was particularly bad at making them smooth.
The only standup coaster I've ridden was Riddler and both times I didn't get much out of it. Just didn't think standing up really added anything.
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I live not far from six flags great America... Went last year. It's always fun. Raging bull is the shit.
Growing up in Green Bay I always had bay beach. Seriously if you are looking for classic amusement park rides... Like fair rides... Go there. Open basically Memorial Day to Labor Day (weekends before and after) and tickets are 25 or 50 cents each. Yes you read that right. Some rides are like 4 tickets, but still. You go to a fair or a festival and it's like 3 times that amount. It's a complete ripoff.
Anyways, few years back the city purchased the Zippin Pippin... Apparently it was Elvis' favorite coaster. It's one of the oldest wooden coasters in the US (Obv they've refurbished it), but it is classic FUN.
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Wood coasters will always be my favorite
Could you explain this? I'm not a connoisseur or anything but I've been to my share of parks growing up, and I remember even the newer/well-maintained wooden coasters always being a rickety crapfest that left me with a sore neck and back. Couldn't enjoy the actual ride because there was so much bumping, etc. But I know of other people who share your opinion. Just curious.
-J
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I've been to Carowinds a number of times (around 90-100). I'm a big amusement park nerd, and draw plans for parks all the time! Also I'm working on a 3-D model of a B&M giga coaster.
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Wood coasters will always be my favorite
Could you explain this? I'm not a connoisseur or anything but I've been to my share of parks growing up, and I remember even the newer/well-maintained wooden coasters always being a rickety crapfest that left me with a sore neck and back. Couldn't enjoy the actual ride because there was so much bumping, etc. But I know of other people who share your opinion. Just curious.
-J
Not speaking for Cable, but the best wooden roller coasters tend to be my favorite as well. It's usually because if they are done well, there is much more of a focus on fast hills, drops, and airtime, which are my favorite aspects of coasters. Yes, some rides are terrible because they are too rough and painful, e.g. the Mean Streak at Cedar Point.
But some of the best wooden coasters are some of the coasters in general, e.g. El Torro and The Voyage.
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I've been working for the Disney Parks, both Disney World and Disneyland, for almost 10 years now. Let me know if there's any advice I can give ya'll :tup
Will do! Disney parks are my favorite, and a good piece of that are the Cast Members (employees). So many good stories I have heard, or experienced myself as a result.
Big coaster fan, though I don't see myself being able to ride them anymore without coming away with a seriously bruised kidney.
Since SFoT is the bastard stepchild of the Six Flags organization (kind of bullshit since it pretty much invented the thing), I adopted SF Magic Mountain as my preferred park. Between Tatsu, Full Throttle and my personal favorite Scream, it really delivers the goods.
(https://www.thecoasterguy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SFMM-_Tatsu_30-1024x768.jpg)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Full_Throttle_at_Six_Flags_Magic_Mountain_%2813208648693%29.jpg)
(https://www.themeparkreview.com/jahan/SitePhotos/Scream/SFMM%20Pics%202%20025%20%28Custom%29.jpg)
I love how Scream has you do a diving sprial down to the parking lot. The stripes give a perfect frame of reference, heightening your awareness of what's going on.
I have never noticed Scream- looks awesome. Cannot go wrong with floorless B&Ms.
I still have not made it out to SF:MM. I will eventually. But to me, Cedar Point and MM have always competed. To me, from a distance, I think MM is ahead of CP for best collection. Especially since CP has removed two to make room for two different ones. If I compare similar type rides at each (Raptor to Batman, Mantis/Rogagoru to Riddlers etc), I feel MM edges CP out. Plus MM has X2! It is like MM, outside of wooden, has a coaster of basically every type.
Even though Magic Mountain has more, Cedar Point's overall roller coaster collection is generally considered to be better (Six Flags Great Adventure's collection is considered better too for that matter). Looks can be very deceiving as far as rides are concerned (Manhattan Express at the New York New York hotel in Vegas is a great example of a roller coaster that looks fun but is actually terrible). I have never been to MM either but the general consensus among enthusiasts is that MM is great but CP is tops in the business.
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I'm a huge coaster fan, I've always wanted to go to Cedar Point but have never found the time or had the opportunity. I do live 40 minutes from Busch Gardens in Florida and it's a great park. If you're a Florida resident you pay for one days general admission and you get a year long ticket.
Anyway Shikra and Cheetah Hunt are some of my favorite there. They are opening up another new coaster this Spring called Cobra's Curse that from what I understand the car is open to free rotation while you're on the coaster.
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I f---ing love rollercoasters. :tup
A few years ago I went to Thorpe Park in England where they had the Saw coaster. My buddy who I went with had special members passes to go to the park on members only days so there were no
queues anywhere. We must have gone on everything like 5 times.
Saw was amazing. vertical ascent - which is scary as crap and then a beyond vertical drop. We went straight back around and went on again :biggrin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW6t_MiUy1w
I had released so much adrenaline that at the end of the day I was the most exhausted i'd ever been. Got home and slept for like 18 hours in a row.
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That is awesome Kotow, I love the start when it comes out the outside track.
Here are cam videos of my two favorite local rides:
Shikra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp5Dw4pBbns
Cheetah Hunt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDma8WzHT2o
Kumba (a classic at the park): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4usNzWNcz_k
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There is a theme park not far from where I live in Wales called Oakwood with Europe's largest wooden coaster. Sitting at the back, the first drop is awesome.
Plus it has a vertical ascent coaster called Speed.
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That Sheikra one looks awesome !!!!
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Yeah Busch Gardens Tampa has some great coasters
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Yeah Busch Gardens Tampa has some great coasters
I went to Busch Gardens Tampa in 1998 for my 8th grade class trip. It was my first time on real rollercoasters, outside of Disney World. I lost my prescription glasses on Montu. My vision uncorrected is TERRIBLE, and I had to have a friend essentially guide me around for the rest of the day. But Damn! those coasters are sweet!
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oh man 1998, that's around the time montu first opened up. Montu was my first real rollercoaster, I was scared out of my mind going up that first hill.
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Montu is the best inverted coaster I've been on. I'd say it's probably the best ever, but I haven't had the pleasure of going on Nemesis yet.
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When Montu first opened, there were live crocodiles in the ditch coming right out of the station :metal. But like animal rights and all... no longer there.
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Oh yeah, that ride delivered. A guy in my class was sitting up front with a hat on (shows how much we knew about roller coaster physics :rollin) and it blew off. A kid in the back reached up and grabbed it out of the air. One gets off cussing that he lost his hat while the other guy says, "Who lost their hat? :biggrin:"
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Well thanks to all this talk in this thread my gf and I are heading to Busch Gardens this Saturday.
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Wood coasters will always be my favorite
Could you explain this? I'm not a connoisseur or anything but I've been to my share of parks growing up, and I remember even the newer/well-maintained wooden coasters always being a rickety crapfest that left me with a sore neck and back. Couldn't enjoy the actual ride because there was so much bumping, etc. But I know of other people who share your opinion. Just curious.
-J
Not speaking for Cable, but the best wooden roller coasters tend to be my favorite as well. It's usually because if they are done well, there is much more of a focus on fast hills, drops, and airtime, which are my favorite aspects of coasters. Yes, some rides are terrible because they are too rough and painful, e.g. the Mean Streak at Cedar Point.
But some of the best wooden coasters are some of the coasters in general, e.g. El Torro and The Voyage.
Pretty much what Implode said! For distinction purposes, I refer to wood rides as having square shaped rails. Rides such as The Beast, The Cyclone, The Phoenix and so on are wood rides. Something like the Gemini at Cedar Point has a wood structure, but actual runs on steel rails. Because wood rides in general are not super high, nor generally have no inversions, the focus is indeed on those the drops, hills and turns. If you look at the enthusiast favourites, wood and steel, and the overall opinion, you will see a focus on negative G's aka "Airtime" as Implode noted. Using Cedar Point again, look at Millennium Force. That ride is consistently rated #1 or near the top of Golden Ticket's awards. It is very much wood inspired- all drops, speed and turns. Even better, the Magnum XL-200 at CP (my favorite there). It is out and back design, and all about hills. Out and back is a classic design, done in the days of wooden only rides. The ride actually isn't designed the best, so it is actually rough like a wooden ride.
I like the aggressive nature- call me a sadist or something. It also scares others away. But there is nothing better to me than a quick, sometimes unpredictable run through a wood structure. To that end, the traditional wood track never produces the same exact ride twice, as the train has more room to bounce around. A steel ride stays glued precisely to the rails. Traditionally also, the restraints are not what they are now. Rides like Millennium Force and El Toro (I think) have more form fitting restraints. They used to have a bench seat, with a shared or simple bar restraint. A ride like the Blue Streak at CP at one time had a restraint like this, and then they put in a seat divider and individual restraints and seatbelts. To many I guess, that destroyed the ride.
On the issue of the Mean Streak, I actually rode that ride when it was full speed. Now the drop is trim braked, and really destroys the ride. On top of course of the painful nature. But when the ride was new, it was amazing. My guess is the structure itself is flawed, as they gutted the Texas Giant in SF:Texas as it was by the same designer. But I am no engineer.
Montu is the best inverted coaster I've been on. I'd say it's probably the best ever, but I haven't had the pleasure of going on Nemesis yet.
Same here. I want to make it out to BG:Williamsburg though, because Alpengeist is like the highest interverted B&M ride. Nemesis looks to be a true mastery of theming and natural features, which can make a ride so much better. Not the best analogy, but something like The Tower of Terror (WDW version) vs. Dr.Doom at Universal or another 200+ ft drop ride. ToT is usually a lot better because of all the stuff involved.
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On the issue of the Mean Streak, I actually rode that ride when it was full speed. Now the drop is trim braked, and really destroys the ride. On top of course of the painful nature. But when the ride was new, it was amazing. My guess is the structure itself is flawed, as they gutted the Texas Giant in SF:Texas as it was by the same designer. But I am no engineer.
I would love to have ridden it when it was new and with no trims on the first drop.
Same goes for Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America. It's a decent ride, but I bet it would be more than twice as enjoyable if they got rid of the trims on the second hill. I've heard stories about people who've ridden with them turned off, and they all say the ride is so much better.
Maverick is another example, though I understand why the brakes are there (I'm referring to the ones right after the boost halfway through the ride. It literally shoots you to 70mph straight into brakes :lol). I'm not sure if the brakes were always part of the design or if they were added at the same time the barrel roll was removed. I complain about this one a bit less because those tight turns at the end are still pretty dang forceful even if the ride was slowed down.
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On the topic of Mean Streak, that thing absolutely needs a retracking like what Texas Giant got. As it is right now, it's the roughest roller coaster I have ever ridden. I had heard that it gives you a beating but I still was surprised by how rough it really is. It's a shame because you look at the size and overall layout and there is an amazing roller coaster hidden in there somewhere. It's just being held hostage by its age and the crap job that the construction crew did when building it.
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Busch Gardens, Tampa shut down their only wooden coaster, Gwazi, a little over a year ago. I couldn't ride it without getting a headache, and everyone I know who rode it during the last few years says the same thing. It was built to be a dueling wooden coaster, and once you stop running the trains together, these rides just lose something.
Who's with me here: I'll ride anything but, those little "Wild Mouse" coasters scare me more than anything. Convinced I will either die falling off the edge of one of those, or being eaten by a shark.
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Who's with me here: I'll ride anything but, those little "Wild Mouse" coasters scare me more than anything. Convinced I will either die falling off the edge of one of those, or being eaten by a shark.
I'm with you on this. I can ride the 300 ft, 90+ mph coaster at one of my local parks without any issues, but the non-banked turns on those Wild Mouse rides terrify me. The same park has a ride that's based on the Wild Mouse; it has the same types of turns, but starts with a big drop and doesn't follow the exact layout. I never want to ride one of those things again.
RE: Wooden Coasters. I hated them until I tried riding one in the front car. The first two or three rows, depending on the car design, is a great experience. Everything after that makes my sides numb. My favorite wooden ride is Collosus from Heidepark in Germany, though I have yet to try some of the more famous ones in the US.
The two parks I really want to go to are Six Flags: GA and Cedar Point. Maybe this summer...
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Even though Magic Mountain has more, Cedar Point's overall roller coaster collection is generally considered to be better (Six Flags Great Adventure's collection is considered better too for that matter). Looks can be very deceiving as far as rides are concerned (Manhattan Express at the New York New York hotel in Vegas is a great example of a roller coaster that looks fun but is actually terrible). I have never been to MM either but the general consensus among enthusiasts is that MM is great but CP is tops in the business.
The general consensus is a 50/50 split. I checked several polls and reviews from the coaster sites and there is no winner between the two.
As for me personally, I get the impression that CP is more interested in breaking records than making kick ass coasters. That's why you get Top Thrill, which does one thing, and they lag behind everywhere else. They're just now opening a floorless coaster, 10 years after Scream. Seven years behind Tatsu for a flying coaster. Still no 4d coaster 14 years after X first opened. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to ride everything at Cedar Point, and I get that it's an awesome park. The important thing is that as long as MM and CP compete with each other everybody wins. MM just seems to be more style, and it's by no means a consensus better park.
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The general consensus is a 50/50 split. I checked several polls and reviews from the coaster sites and there is no winner between the two.
As for me personally, I get the impression that CP is more interested in breaking records than making kick ass coasters. That's why you get Top Thrill, which does one thing, and they lag behind everywhere else. They're just now opening a floorless coaster, 10 years after Scream. Seven years behind Tatsu for a flying coaster. Still no 4d coaster 14 years after X first opened. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to ride everything at Cedar Point, and I get that it's an awesome park. The important thing is that as long as MM and CP compete with each other everybody wins. MM just seems to be more style, and it's by no means a consensus better park.
CP and MM were going at it for most coasters in one park- MM has pulled ahead probably for good. The issue with CP is they are a peninsula, and really have been out of room since after Mean Streak. Ever coaster since has either moved or replaced at least one ride. Now, they are gutting existing coasters- Disaster Transport, which despite it not being a fan favorite was unique due to being a bobsled, was removed for GateKeeper.
CP was indeed concerned with the "biggest _____ ride ever!" They actually still are. This has been going on since at least the 70's, but they really didn't quicken their pace until Magnum. Only two rides since Magnum in 89 were not the "biggest and best" of their category- Wicked Twister (02) and Maverick (07). Every other coaster were record breaking in their categories. Well, they claim that for Millennium Force- I always felt that was bogus that it was bigger than Superman because it was a complete circuit.
My other issue with CP is theming. No park can be Disney & Universal at this point. But at least SF and others try. I went to SF:Ohio when it was open, and at least the rides there had unifying themes. CP's most recent best attempt was TTD. I was actually there when they decided to cut a big part of the theming. I was there for one 3 day chunk opening year. My bro and I went on it once, and the next day it was closed. The third day, with my friend who hadn't been on it, waited and were bummed with it being closed. They opened it, *after* they had removed the drag tires from the back due to one flying off the previous day. How the heck does that happen!?! Forget to tighten the nuts? Which was great, because they were able to add extra seats, and as a result impacted it cresting the hill IMO.
Cedar Fair has gutted many a rides from their Paramount park buyout- their response were the licenses had lapsed. Bullcrap. Overall, it is often split from what I have seen yeah on opinion. CP I'm sure has the natural setting going for it. And it's not like one ride is worlds better than its counterpart. From a distance, with only being to one of the places, I feel MM holds more weight at this point.
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The general consensus is a 50/50 split. I checked several polls and reviews from the coaster sites and there is no winner between the two.
As for me personally, I get the impression that CP is more interested in breaking records than making kick ass coasters. That's why you get Top Thrill, which does one thing, and they lag behind everywhere else. They're just now opening a floorless coaster, 10 years after Scream. Seven years behind Tatsu for a flying coaster. Still no 4d coaster 14 years after X first opened. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to ride everything at Cedar Point, and I get that it's an awesome park. The important thing is that as long as MM and CP compete with each other everybody wins. MM just seems to be more style, and it's by no means a consensus better park.
CP and MM were going at it for most coasters in one park- MM has pulled ahead probably for good. The issue with CP is they are a peninsula, and really have been out of room since after Mean Streak. Ever coaster since has either moved or replaced at least one ride. Now, they are gutting existing coasters- Disaster Transport, which despite it not being a fan favorite was unique due to being a bobsled, was removed for GateKeeper.
CP was indeed concerned with the "biggest _____ ride ever!" They actually still are. This has been going on since at least the 70's, but they really didn't quicken their pace until Magnum. Only two rides since Magnum in 89 were not the "biggest and best" of their category- Wicked Twister (02) and Maverick (07). Every other coaster were record breaking in their categories. Well, they claim that for Millennium Force- I always felt that was bogus that it was bigger than Superman because it was a complete circuit.
My other issue with CP is theming. No park can be Disney & Universal at this point. But at least SF and others try. I went to SF:Ohio when it was open, and at least the rides there had unifying themes. CP's most recent best attempt was TTD. I was actually there when they decided to cut a big part of the theming. I was there for one 3 day chunk opening year. My bro and I went on it once, and the next day it was closed. The third day, with my friend who hadn't been on it, waited and were bummed with it being closed. They opened it, *after* they had removed the drag tires from the back due to one flying off the previous day. How the heck does that happen!?! Forget to tighten the nuts? Which was great, because they were able to add extra seats, and as a result impacted it cresting the hill IMO.
Cedar Fair has gutted many a rides from their Paramount park buyout- their response were the licenses had lapsed. Bullcrap. Overall, it is often split from what I have seen yeah on opinion. CP I'm sure has the natural setting going for it. And it's not like one ride is worlds better than its counterpart. From a distance, with only being to one of the places, I feel MM holds more weight at this point.
Wicked Twister is actually the tallest and fastest impulse coaster so it falls into the record holder category as well.
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As for me personally, I get the impression that CP is more interested in breaking records than making kick ass coasters. That's why you get Top Thrill, which does one thing, and they lag behind everywhere else. They're just now opening a floorless coaster, 10 years after Scream. Seven years behind Tatsu for a flying coaster. Still no 4d coaster 14 years after X first opened. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to ride everything at Cedar Point, and I get that it's an awesome park. The important thing is that as long as MM and CP compete with each other everybody wins. MM just seems to be more style, and it's by no means a consensus better park.
Well, you can't blame Cedar Point for not getting a coast like X. It was way ahead of its time and put A&D into the ground. Only in the past 8 years have other companies like Intamin and B&M have started experimenting with wingover coasters (which Cedar Point has added to its repertoire), and even now, the seats are still stationary.
Also, I haven't been to MM personally, but SF in my experiences are no better than CP at theming. It's all cattle pens and concrete as far as the eye can see. Busch Gardens, Disney, and Universal are tiers ahead of those two.
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As for me personally, I get the impression that CP is more interested in breaking records than making kick ass coasters. That's why you get Top Thrill, which does one thing, and they lag behind everywhere else. They're just now opening a floorless coaster, 10 years after Scream. Seven years behind Tatsu for a flying coaster. Still no 4d coaster 14 years after X first opened. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to ride everything at Cedar Point, and I get that it's an awesome park. The important thing is that as long as MM and CP compete with each other everybody wins. MM just seems to be more style, and it's by no means a consensus better park.
Well, you can't blame Cedar Point for not getting a coast like X. It was way ahead of its time and put A&D into the ground. Only in the past 8 years have other companies like Intamin and B&M have started experimenting with wingover coasters (which Cedar Point has added to its repertoire), and even now, the seats are still stationary.
But there's a theme here. SF-MM strives to be innovative. It's not just X, but floorless and flying coasters, as well. Now they've gone and converted an old wooden racing coaster to contain inversions where the cars pass each other. A few years ago they made a single element that's the world's tallest loop, but also a top hat on the return back. CP, from what I can tell, just keep trying to make tradidtional rides taller or faster.
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I won't argue with you there. You're absolutely right.
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As for me personally, I get the impression that CP is more interested in breaking records than making kick ass coasters. That's why you get Top Thrill, which does one thing, and they lag behind everywhere else. They're just now opening a floorless coaster, 10 years after Scream. Seven years behind Tatsu for a flying coaster. Still no 4d coaster 14 years after X first opened. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to ride everything at Cedar Point, and I get that it's an awesome park. The important thing is that as long as MM and CP compete with each other everybody wins. MM just seems to be more style, and it's by no means a consensus better park.
Well, you can't blame Cedar Point for not getting a coast like X. It was way ahead of its time and put A&D into the ground. Only in the past 8 years have other companies like Intamin and B&M have started experimenting with wingover coasters (which Cedar Point has added to its repertoire), and even now, the seats are still stationary.
But there's a theme here. SF-MM strives to be innovative. It's not just X, but floorless and flying coasters, as well. Now they've gone and converted an old wooden racing coaster to contain inversions where the cars pass each other. A few years ago they made a single element that's the world's tallest loop, but also a top hat on the return back. CP, from what I can tell, just keep trying to make tradidtional rides taller or faster.
You can look at it as a way of playing it safe to ensure a good ride. With prototypes come problems. Cedar Fair make sure a type of ride is successful before placing one in their park. X had so many problems when it opened and took almost 7 years before it was running properly. Cedar Fair has built innovative rides before. Xcelerator at Knotts Berry Farm for example was the first hydraulic launch coaster. Cedar Point was the first park to build a complete circuit roller coaster over 200 feet (Magnum XL-200), 300 feet (Millennium Force), and 400 feet (Top Thrill Dragster) which may not seem like a big deal now but it was when the rides first opened. I would much rather a park focus on making a quality ride from already known technology than take a big risk just for the sake of being innovative. Sometimes it works line with 4th dimension coasters but sometimes it ends in disaster like with standup coasters. Cedar Fair chooses to not risk disaster and instead build rides that are almost guaranteed to be successful should everything during the construction process go smoothly.
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Well, that's certainly a way to look at it. The problem is that while playing it safe they've gotten left behind. Look at the wiki pages for each park and their respective histories since 2000. It doesn't seem that CP has started to get back into the game since Gatekeeper in 2013. MM as been successfully launching innovative rides the whole time. Meaning that a lot of what they have to offer just doesn't exit at CP yet.
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And now onto a completely different aspect: safety. A few years ago when SFoT let that fat woman fall to her death on The Texas Giant, I started thinking about the process. I have a great deal of faith in the safety components of a modern coaster. They're designed to failsafe and if used properly they will. Even if they're not ideally maintained they'll still failsafe. The problem is the human element. While Six Flags has long been known as a cool place to work if you're a teenager, it's still a pretty shit job. It's really only something that teenagers would do. You don't see 30 year olds doing ride ops. Therein lies the problem. In the case of TTG, the problem was that the kid checking restraints A: didn't feel like he could tell the lady she was too fat to ride, and B: believed the mantra that 1 click equals safe. I don't think either of these are things that happen with an older person supervising. I'm 45, and I wouldn't want to tell somebody they were too fat to ride, but I would. I understand consequences. My 19 year old self wouldn't have thought twice about letting her aboard. Aside from a lack of assertiveness at that age (what if instead of an older Mexican woman it'd been a 35 year old dude with a beer gut?), I just wasn't particularly concerned about responsibility and the consequences thereof.
Moreover, the response of SFoT was to sue the manufacturer and to essentially blame everybody but its own practices. It reminds me of the Ford/Firestone thing. This doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. I've got to say, since that happened I've been a bit more wary about roller coasters. I think people allow the relative safety and some good ole fashioned idealism to outweigh their judgement sometimes. The dead woman did not want to ride in the first place, but when her kids egged her on, the ride operator convinced her that it was safe and she sadly didn't act on her concerns.
I just don't think this is a very sound system in place.
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Exactly why selfie sticks are banned from Disney parks. Too many people were pulling those damn things out on thrill rides, and not only harming themselves and others, but shutting down attractions. For instance, we had issues in Disney California Adventure where people were having selfie sticks out on California Screamin' (excellent coaster by the way) to get video or pictures of themselves reacting to when they get launched or when they go upside down. The sticks would slip out of their hand and find themselves on the track. There are sensors that will cascade the entire attraction, then the attraction Cast Members have to evacuate the attraction, maintenance and engineering Cast Members have to find the source of the problem, fix it (in this case, remove it) and then reboot the attractions systems, then attractions have to cycle the vehicles, do paper work, and etc before the attraction can be opened again. That takes hours, factors, and money to do so.
I have a lot of safety and dumb guest stories in my time working at Disney Parks. Makes me lose faith in humanity sometimes.
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That's the result of an automated process, though. What I'm wondering is how many dipshit 20 year old castmembers would have the cojones to shut a ride down like that because of something that "just didn't seem right."
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Our local theme park got a bad rap recently because someone fell out of a rollercoaster - because they pretended their seat was fastened when it wasn't and at the top of the drop - she took her
restraints off and fell out.
:clap: you're a fucking idiot and you got what you deserve.
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If someone was able to "pretend" their restraint was secure and the ride launched anyway, the park deserves every bit of that bad rap.
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So Cable, if you like wooden coasters the best have you ridden The Beast at Kings Island. Used to be the world's tallest, fastest, and longest. It's still the world's longest. It's a little over a four minute ride.
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Last airhead death I heard was someone going into a restricted area of an inverted B&M. Was kicked in the head by a rider. *sigh*. So there is that.
I'm mixed about the weight thing, but if the ride cannot safely close, then of course don't ride. But Millennium Force gradually shortened the seatbelts due to Intamin's other issues/lawsuits. That is kind of crappy.
So Cable, if you like wooden coasters the best have you ridden The Beast at Kings Island. Used to be the world's tallest, fastest, and longest. It's still the world's longest. It's a little over a four minute ride.
Yup, I have ridden it a few times! I don't "get" the Beast honestly. It is an ambiance beauty, with the ride through wooded areas. But its hills are not steep, and was just made to go on for awhile IMO. That is evident to me by it's design. They had the space, so just left it go on and on. It also used multiple lift hills, but that can be accounted for with its length. My top two wooden rides I've been on that are still decent, Thunderhead (https://rcdb.com/2451.htm) and Shivering Timbers (https://rcdb.com/478.htm), are just much more thrilling and cool to me. Thunderhead actually is an incredibly brilliant design. Here it is bird's-eye;
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f5/f6/0d/f5f60d4fa7d89594d63183456e6130ba.jpg)
But the Beast is awesome in that it is still the king of duration of ride. It also is very fast, especially considering the time period it was built. I should note that it probably couldn't have lasted duration wise if it had a bunch of hills and twists. And from what I remember, it did not need trim brakes. Then again, I haven't been on it since Cedar Fair could mess with it really.
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For instance, we had issues in Disney California Adventure where people were having selfie sticks out on California Screamin' (excellent coaster by the way)
+1! It gets overlooked a lot, even within Disney itself. With the state that Expedition Everest in is since basically opening (no active Yeti), I would easily take California Screamin' over it. Probably Rockin Roller Coaster too.
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Expedition Everest is the most overrated roller coaster on the planet. Everyone raves about it as being this masterpiece of a ride and I got off of it very underwhelmed. The theming is incredible and I'll gladly give it that but theming means nothing if there isn't a good ride to support it. Expedition Everest has terrible pacing, no real thrills, and is overly long for a ride that boring. I guess it's not fair for me to judge it since I had gone on rides like El Toro and Storm Runner before I ever went to Disney, but if the only thing that's interesting about a ride is its theming, then that's a huge problem. This is the problem with most rides in Disney. Everyone went crazy over Soarin' but that isn't even a ride. It's literally a movie theater with elevated seats. It's a Small World is the amusement park equivalent of torture. And Expedition Everest is the worst offender of the bunch. Rock N Roller Coaster is far better and truthfully so is Space Mountain. It's unfortunate too because Everest was one of the rides I was most looking forward to riding when I went to Disney and I was sorely disappointed by it.
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One of things about Disney rides is that storytelling is the backbone of every attraction. Story comes first before the thrills. From when you enter the queue till you get off the ride, there is a beginning, a middle, and end.....unless you went straight for the single rider lane lol. Everest is a prime example storytelling and detailing.
Sorry you didn't like Everest. I personally think it's one of the best coasters on WDW property! Love how you get stuck at the tracks that were broken off by the Yeti then you go backwards!
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I have a lot of safety and dumb guest stories in my time working at Disney Parks. Makes me lose faith in humanity sometimes.
I would love to hear any and all that you can share.
Just got back from a week in Florida with my 10-year-old. It was not to be an amusement park-centered trip, but we were in Florida, and I am a Disney fanatic, so we HAD TO do a day at Disney. We also ended up doing a day at Sea World since it is literally about 2 minutes away from my mom's house in Orlando, and he really loves the animal shows and wanted to try some big coasters for the first time. Some highlights/thoughts:
Disney: My boy really loves animals. And he has been to Disney Land a few times. That made Disney's Animal Kingdom the logical choice. I had never been to that park either. It ended up being a GREAT choice. I was initially a bit concerned about the limited number of rides. However, the length of the safari ride combined with the detail involved in the animal filled zoo-like trail walks made up for it all. And then there is Everest. Oh, Everest! LOVED it. I am glad I had not read up on it, as the backwards part was a true surprise that I am glad I did not have spoiled in advance. So good that we had to do a repeat and get on it again. A real advantage of going when we went was that the crowds were not bad at all. Despite not having a fast pass available on the second time through, we only stood in line maybe 20 minutes. Can't beat that! But what a ride. Sorry, Count, but I cannot agree with your take. It is definitely up near the top of my list for Disney rides.
As a whole, the reason I love Disney is the storytelling and atmosphere of the Disney parks. It is a total experience. The vast majority of the "thrill" rides at Disney may not come close to the level of extreme that you get in some other parks, but Disney is about much more than the thrill, and that is what appeals to me. That is why, given the choice, I would almost always choose a Disney park over any other amusement park out there.
And back to my trip to Disney... I mentioned earlier that I did not choose Magic Kingdom because we have Disneyland out here, and Magic Kingdom does not offer anything Disneyland does not offer. That being said, the dilemma was that Animal Kingdom closed at 6:00 p.m. So we got a park hopper ticket and left for Magic Kingdom a bit before Animal Kingdom closed. The crowds were bigger, but still not unmanageable. I have been to Magic Kingdom twice before, but it has been a long time. Despite my familiarity, it was disorienting at times being in a park that is so similar to Disneyland, but not having quite the same layout and having some things that are just in entirely different locations. :lol Another thing I noticed that I had not noticed before is that the park is darker (i.e. not as well-lit) than Disneyland. To me, part of the magic of Disney is the meticulous attention to detail in their parks. At Disneyland, lighting plays a major role in this area and creates a special, magical atmosphere at night. I found that a bit lacking at Magic Kingdom, and it honestly bummed me out a little bit. ...but not much. :biggrin: Anyhow, we got to do some of our favorites to end the evening: Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, etc. And got to try out the new 7 Dwarves Mine coaster. It was about what I had expected, given the things I had heard: It was a very good ride, but not a great one. Very enjoyable, but not one I would spend an hour or more waiting in line for if we were there during a crowded peak time. We even got to catch a big chunk of the electric parade at closing time, which is something I have not done in YEARS.
Overall, it was a great day. If this sounds like a Disney PSA, that is only because I love Disney so much. Heck, we even went to Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) twice to pin trade and just soak in Disney ambience. I like that Disney's resort in Florida has so much to offer. But the flip-side/down-side to that is that each separate park individually has less to offer than the California Disney parks. That is all well and good if you have time and money to do a multi-day Disney vacation. But if you only have a day or two to see Disney parks, it can be a bit of a bummer that can leave you feeling a bit short-changed. Or maybe I am just spoiled based on my experiences here in California, or possibly just have not discovered other fun, hidden things to do at the Disneyworld parks that add other fun layers to the experience. But I found "bigger property/fewer attractions" to be a common thread in the other Orlando-based non-Disney parks we visited as well. I also am not crazy about how the fast passes work in Disneyworld. You can get much more out of the system in California. But oh well. Those are relatively minor gripes in an otherwise great experience.
Sea World: I had actually never been to either Sea World park before. But we do have Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, formerly known as Marine World, which I have been to many, many times since I was a kid. Once again, I felt SW has less attractions spread over a larger property than its California counterparts. But nice park. My son LOVED getting to ride his first big coasters. Kraken was pretty typical. Really nice coaster with a smooth ride and great drops. Not too short either. But I really liked Manta. I am not familiar with all the modern coaster lingo, but this was a bit of a different experience from what I am used to. I have been on suspended coasters before, so that was not new to me (although I have to say, I think I tend to like the suspended coasters the most). What was unique was that after you get fastened in, each row hydraulically tilts forward so that you are suspected belly down, basically in position like if you were flying like Superman. That was REALLY cool. And there is part where the G-forces completely reverse as you go into a loop that sucks the air from your lungs more than any drop I have ever experienced. Great coaster. Nice park. Would do again.
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One of things about Disney rides is that storytelling is the backbone of every attraction. Story comes first before the thrills. From when you enter the queue till you get off the ride, there is a beginning, a middle, and end.....unless you went straight for the single rider lane lol. Everest is a prime example storytelling and detailing.
Sorry you didn't like Everest. I personally think it's one of the best coasters on WDW property! Love how you get stuck at the tracks that were broken off by the Yeti then you go backwards!
Good, I don't have to reply fully as I planned. Thanks Accel! ;D
I understand CountyOfNYC. Outside of Mission:Space, Disney cannot compete at all with thrills and what not. I felt the same way in my teen and a chunk of my 20's years. I was like this is great and all, but where are the 6 inversions and 200+ feet rides?
But Disney doesn't want these. Speaking of Disney World (WDW), as Disneyland Resort (DLR) exceeded this I think, and I cannot speak for Eastern Disney's. But at WDW, presently NO structure is over 200feet tall. Why? Florida law/ordinances say any structure 200ft and over require a light for planes. At WDW, they feel this will impair their "show." So basically on purpose, WDW will never have a huge tall ride.
Take this illustration further. Radiator Springs Racers at DLR, which is the spiritual successor to Test Track. I haven't been on RSR, but I'm guessing from what I have seen and heard, it doesn't go faster than TT's 65mph. But how much did Disney spend on RSR? $200 million. By comparison, Cedar Fair spent $25 million each I think on Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster.
In addition, Mission:Space which is the closet thing Disney has to a full white knuckle thrill ride. $100 million was spent on that. It is four centrifuges, which out in the open wouldn't be anywhere near that cost. My point here is that it is themed so well, and so much thought was put into making guests/customers not feel sick; everyone sits close to their own screen, and cool air is pumped in the capsules to help with motion sickness. i am VERY prone to motion sickness, especially on traditional motion simulators. I asked my brother when getting off the ride; "when did the ride spin?" To me, it was done THAT well.
What I think Bosk, me and Accel are basically saying is that if you go into a Disney park expecting Six Flags MM or crazy fair rides, you will be let down. Disney is all about the "show," which boils down to spending insane amounts of money on theming, not 95mph and 10 inversions. Disney rather have a ride that the majority of a family can go on I think, and not just thrill seekers. It's why, on top of the 200 ft thing, that Tower Of Terror doesn't do drops outside of 130 or 140 feet. It's tall, but not too tall.
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Disney: My boy really loves animals. And he has been to Disney Land a few times. That made Disney's Animal Kingdom the logical choice. I had never been to that park either. It ended up being a GREAT choice..
Glad you enjoyed yourselves! I figured Animal Kingdom would be awesome for you and your boy to visit :)
I have been to Magic Kingdom twice before, but it has been a long time. Despite my familiarity, it was disorienting at times being in a park that is so similar to Disneyland, but not having quite the same layout and having some things that are just in entirely different locations. :lol Another thing I noticed that I had not noticed before is that the park is darker (i.e. not as well-lit) than Disneyland. To me, part of the magic of Disney is the meticulous attention to detail in their parks. At Disneyland, lighting plays a major role in this area and creates a special, magical atmosphere at night. I found that a bit lacking at Magic Kingdom, and it honestly bummed me out a little bit.
I remember my very first visit to Disneyland in 2012, and being more familiar with Walt Disney World, I too had the same disorienting feeling walking around Disneyland. It's true! It's so similar, but it's the slightest differences that make you go "Wait a minute!" :lol
I actually think both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom were meant to have dim lighting at night time in general, but I actually feel like Disneyland is more dimmer in terms of lighting than Magic Kingdom, mainly DL's Mainstreet, New Orleans Square, Adventureland, and Frontierland. It was one of the first things I noticed when I made the move to California and decided to work in production for Disneyland while doing my freelance thing in LA.
I like that Disney's resort in Florida has so much to offer. But the flip-side/down-side to that is that each separate park individually has less to offer than the California Disney parks. That is all well and good if you have time and money to do a multi-day Disney vacation. But if you only have a day or two to see Disney parks, it can be a bit of a bummer that can leave you feeling a bit short-changed. Or maybe I am just spoiled based on my experiences here in California, or possibly just have not discovered other fun, hidden things to do at the Disneyworld parks that add other fun layers to the experience.
Yes, Disneyland park itself has more attractions than the Magic Kingdom, albeit being the smallest park. Part of that reason is that when Walt starting designing his Florida project, he wanted it to have the same feel as his California but make it bigger so that more guests around the world can come and enjoy it. He also realized he shot himself in the foot not buying more land for Disneyland, and unfortunately could not expand that park because the city of Anaheim was building neighborhoods, restaurants, and hotels around. Disney World has become the mainstay vacation destination for the company. Disneyland's business approach is to the 64% local Annual Passholders that make up the resorts yearly gate. Walt Disney World gets roughly 16% APs and the rest are vacationers every where around the world. Huge difference in stats in the parks when it comes to the annual pass holder/vacationing guests, but now having lived in Southern California for nearly three years now, it all makes sense....THERES NOTHING TO DO IN ORANGE COUNTY :lol
Hopefully when you come back to Orlando (I use to live in Hunters Creek, which is near Sea World), you'll be able to have more a Disney World experience, especially since more attractions are about to be built all around the resort. Disney's Hollywood Studios will be getting Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land that should be nearly built in 2018. Animal Kingdom is about to become a nighttime park now. They are nearly done with Pandora (the Avatar-land), and next month will premiere "Rivers of Light", which will be a night time show by the big lake next to Everest, and it'll be similar to "World of Color" and "Fantasmic!" Here's a latest video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L51_VUrNRIo
What I think Bosk, me and Accel are basically saying is that if you go into a Disney park expecting Six Flags MM or crazy fair rides, you will be let down. Disney is all about the "show," which boils down to spending insane amounts of money on theming, not 95mph and 10 inversions. Disney rather have a ride that the majority of a family can go on I think, and not just thrill seekers. It's why, on top of the 200 ft thing, that Tower Of Terror doesn't do drops outside of 130 or 140 feet. It's tall, but not too tall.
Correct. It all goes back to Walt's vision of building a place that everyone can go and feel like a kid, whether you are 20, 30, 50 years old.
“To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past...and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America...with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.”
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Last airhead death I heard was someone going into a restricted area of an inverted B&M. Was kicked in the head by a rider. *sigh*. So there is that.
I'm mixed about the weight thing, but if the ride cannot safely close, then of course don't ride. But Millennium Force gradually shortened the seatbelts due to Intamin's other issues/lawsuits. That is kind of crappy.
So Cable, if you like wooden coasters the best have you ridden The Beast at Kings Island. Used to be the world's tallest, fastest, and longest. It's still the world's longest. It's a little over a four minute ride.
A few changes were made to the ride over the years. It used to have three tunnels, but one was eliminated and the other two combined into one. The tunnels were great in that they altered your perceptions so much due to the high rate of speed. There also used to be a few additional whip hills, but they were altered as well because a few people were injured early on. Still, that super loud, machine-gun like clack-clack-clack of the wooden rails, the speed, and the duration make it a great wooden coaster ride.
Yup, I have ridden it a few times! I don't "get" the Beast honestly. It is an ambiance beauty, with the ride through wooded areas. But its hills are not steep, and was just made to go on for awhile IMO. That is evident to me by it's design. They had the space, so just left it go on and on. It also used multiple lift hills, but that can be accounted for with its length. My top two wooden rides I've been on that are still decent, Thunderhead (https://rcdb.com/2451.htm) and Shivering Timbers (https://rcdb.com/478.htm), are just much more thrilling and cool to me. Thunderhead actually is an incredibly brilliant design. Here it is bird's-eye;
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f5/f6/0d/f5f60d4fa7d89594d63183456e6130ba.jpg)
But the Beast is awesome in that it is still the king of duration of ride. It also is very fast, especially considering the time period it was built. I should note that it probably couldn't have lasted duration wise if it had a bunch of hills and twists. And from what I remember, it did not need trim brakes. Then again, I haven't been on it since Cedar Fair could mess with it really.
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So can we talk about the beast that is Shanghai Disneyland Park? It opens in 25 days, and the park is being called that most technically advanced theme park in the world. And based on the videos i've seen of Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure and TRON Lightcycle Coaster, I wouldn't put that label past it. They've been doing soft openings, and already had a million guests visit. I have friend there right as part of the park's opening task force, and they keep making me peanut butter and jealous.
I mean, just take a look at this TRON ride. I mean, at some point, they gotta bring this bad boy to EPCOT or Disneyland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdBjrURwg-Q
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DUDE, WTF! That was awesome! Put that shit in Epcot asap. Replace Ellen's energy whatever with that and I'll be there opening day. Do you sit on it like a cycle, and the seat back folds down to hold you in?
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That is awesome, and I would expect something like that in EPCOT. Or perhaps puttting it in Hollywood Studios and instead of making it Tron oriented make it Star Wars oriented because they are putting in an entire Star Wars themed area of the park.
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They haven't announced ALL of the attractions going into the Star Wars land, so it's possible we could be getting a similar coaster. Disney likes to retheme ride systems (Disneyland's Indiana Jones - Animal Kingdom's Dinosaur, EPCOT's Test Track - Disney California Adventure's Radiator Springs Racers)
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That ride looks fantastic Accelerando! It totally gives me Tron: Legacy vibes as I'm sure they were going for. Looks like quite a thrill too. The only thing I heard about Shanghai Mouse was bad news, but I was it was delayed for good measure!
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This will be an enthusiast style write up, so I will be using some bs jargon. I won't be using my actual photos as they are Facebook, and I keep my online stuff separate pretty much.
Ok, so partly what I started this thread on; The Voyage at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari.
Incredible!
So as a baseline, the Golden Ticket awards are given yearly to basically all the parks but Disney and Universal. They are in there, but they seem to focus on everything else, which I get. https://goldenticketawards.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/AT-GoldenTix-2015-LoRes.pdf (https://goldenticketawards.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/AT-GoldenTix-2015-LoRes.pdf) So what I'm drawing attention to here is Holiday World (HW) has the #4 (The Voyage), #12 (The Raven), and #25 (The Legend) Wooden coasters of 2015. To kind of put that in perspective, Cedar Point (CP) has four of the top 25 steels. Not even SF:Magic Mountain can claim three in the top 25. What is even more amazing; HW has five coasters, one of which is a kiddy one! So they nailed it on all of their wood rides.
Further, both the Voyage and the Raven have been rated #1 by the same awards more than once in their lifetime's. And sure, the point can be made that wood coasters may be easier to win awards or something, as it is more niche. But to me there is just the same amount of ratio of crap for wood as there are steel.
The Voyage is easily the best wooden ride I have ever been on (I haven't been on the top 3 yet). I would argue El Toro is not a true to heritage wooden ride based on its description. Any who, I would go so far as eventually saying The Voyage is my favorite coaster ever. This ride does everything perfectly. It is over 2:30 minutes long. It has the most negative Gs ("airtime"), something like 24 seconds, of any coaster in the world. It is second longest amount of track only to the Beast. It is high for a wood ride, and fast. It has 90 degree banked turns. It has tunnels.
(https://www.lifthill.net/berichte/voyage/voyage18.jpg)
All that said, this ride is unpredictable. And I don't mean the apparent belief that wood rides are never the same twice due to natural movement in the rails and the frame. After the first two hills that not only look like the Magnum XL-200, but feel like it; you hit the first tunnel, and the ride shifts tone. If you are not in the front, good luck finding out where the ride goes. Watch a POV of it, or better yet, a non-front row ride of it. And even then, it is insane. The lateral G's are intense, but just the twists and dips are hard to predict. It also had lush wooded scenery, so much so that only the first hill and the ending curves can really be seen from the walkways. The ride is just awesome. The only knock is they trim brake the second half of the ride, which is probably why I feel it is no longer rated #1. It is easy to accept, because it is still nuts after the brakes. I cannot even find good enough pictures to show what the ride is like.
(https://www.rollercoasterking.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/3.jpg)
The Legend was my next favorite, and I feel it should be higher. Similar to the Voyage in that it is unpredictable, but lacks the full punch of the Voyage. However, it has the most insane lateral Gs i have ever experienced on a ride. I literally had to drop one of my hands to hold on so I didn't mash into my brother any further. It was only apparently a double helix done in a different way and time of the ride, but felt like it was more than two revolutions.
(https://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/files/legend2_197.jpg)
The Raven was more of a classic styled wooden coaster. Not too long, but had nice elements (a 180 turn by a lake,) and there were no trim brakes. So the ride felt like it became more off the rails as it went on.
(https://www.holidayworld.com//wp-content/gallery/newsroom-roller-coasters/6-21-13-raven-vert1.jpg)
The newest coaster is a launched B&M wing coaster. I still am unsure about how cool Wing rides are, but this had a launched start, so that is nice. It's a similar start to The Hulk at Universal Florida. Concept art for the photo, but is telling of the ride. Plus it has the Voyage represented well in it. It had an inline roll at the end that I have never experienced on a ride- quite cool on a wing coaster.
(https://www.amusementtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Thunderbird_Aerial_11x17_300dpi.jpg)
I would be cheating the park to not mention the water park. I haven't been to Schlitterbahn, but for the ones still open I have been to are CP's, Kings Island, Michigan's Adventure, and both WDW's water parks. HW's water park, if we remove WDW's theming as a factor, mops the floor with it. It has not one but two water coasters of The Wildebeest (red and yellow) and Mammoth (red, yellow, blue in photo), and for the uphill bursts they use water jets vs. a conveyer belt that was on Crushing' Gusher at Typoon Lagoon. So those jets make a world of difference, because it was smooth and produced many moments of airtime. After thinking the Wildebeest was amazing and full of airtime, I didn't think The Mammoth could top it. Not only is Mammoth longer, but it is better still. It is a giant shared raft, and therefore like those downhill giant raft rides, the raft twists in different orientations. So I got nailed with being backwards down almost all the drops- quite a thrill hanging onto raft handles and not knowing when the drops are occurring!
(https://www.woodallscm.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/6924054170_c1071bd1a5_z-600x301.jpg)
But they also have two funnel rides, more than two tube slide structures, this surfing type halfpipe that was closed, but it is similar to the Proslide funnel, and the usual water park fair of wave pools, lazy river and a kiddy area. The park was excellent.
So if you like these type of rides, and/or are not far from Indiana, I *highly* recommend this park. On a non-busy day, you can nail out all the major attractions in both parks without any issue in one day.
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A bump on this. Did anyone go anywhere, and/or enjoy some local flavor rides this season so to speak?
Or go to that other place in this thread? :D
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=40546.msg2309019#msg2309019
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I didn't go anywhere this year, I still want to go to Carrowinds since it's 15 minutes from my house and I've never been, some of the coasters look great.
My gf tells me it's nothing compared to Busch Gardens back home (tampa park) which is where I'd go ~5 times a year.
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I didn't go anywhere this year, I still want to go to Carrowinds since it's 15 minutes from my house and I've never been, some of the coasters look great.
My gf tells me it's nothing compared to Busch Gardens back home (tampa park) which is where I'd go ~5 times a year.
Carowinds has Fury 325 (at 325 ft tall it's one of the tallest roller coasters in the world), Intimidator (a 232 ft tall beast of a ride), and Afterburn (a fairly intense and extremely fun inverted coaster). For those three rides alone, Carowinds is worth the price of admission.
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I've only really experienced ones in So Cal, but I love Space Mountain at Disneyland. I love the whole outer space theme and the fact it's all indoor. It's like its own world.
Also the Cars ride at California Adventure is good.
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Went to the water park today. For the first time ever, I got to go on one of those water slides where you step in the chamber and stand on a clear platform, then it counts down from 3 and then just strait drops down in free fall and then funnels into a regular water slide with a crap load of speed. I loved it.
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/fbb6bb14377f1e07facefeb79f9e056fd8e92f5a/c=170-0-2831-1996/local/-/media/Springfield/2014/05/29/kapaudrop2lifeguardrr.jpg?width=534&height=401&fit=crop)
(https://mk0proslidemxg43lxit.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/SuperLOOP_SFGA004.gif)
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I haven't been to a water park in a long time. Some of my best memories as a kid was going to adventure island in tampa.
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The Flight of Passage ride at the Pandora portion of Animal Kingdom is without question the most awesome ride I've ever been on. Seriously, Avatar subject matter aside, that ride is absolutely mind numbing. The ride is in 3D, so the video below is a little weird, but you can still get a really good gist of it.
Keep in mind, that while on the ride, you'd be subject to temperature swings, scents, water effects, and the shaking and breathing of the ikran between your legs. The entire ride pitches and shifts, violently at times, in sync with the ride. It's stunning.
Ride starts 0:15 in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SiLDQKvcIk
(https://www.coaster101.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/flight-of-passage-seat-motion-449x600.jpg)
(https://insidethemagic.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/77490ac2-83d8-47c3-b054-03bedfa0adc0-original.jpeg)
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That’s awesome. Looks like a much more intense version of soar’n
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+1 on the Flight of Passage ride
We waited the 90 minutes (which isn't that bad, we got there right as they opened but without an early entry) for it and I must say it was worth the wait. Everyone I talked to said it was worth the 4 hour wait that it often has which had me kind of questioning their sanity to hear but I think it's legit.
For one, I don't like roller coasters. The feeling in my stomach is very uncomfortable for me, they are not my thing. Now this isn't one at all, but there were lots of signs as you get close saying it's an intense ride and it got me worried a bit honestly, but this was totally fine. It was intense but not in a way like a typical roller coaster is I guess.
Maybe because it's all in your mind. You are totally immersed with the screen so large in front of you that you can look all around and feel like you are there. Plus as chino mentions, all the other additions like the water and temperature just add to it. It's so visually impressive. It's only a few minutes but I didn't blink the entire time. I know this because I was crying afterwards :lol well just had tears because my eyes were so exhausted, but I like to think they were tears of joy of experiencing something so amazing.
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Went to the water park today. For the first time ever, I got to go on one of those water slides where you step in the chamber and stand on a clear platform, then it counts down from 3 and then just strait drops down in free fall and then funnels into a regular water slide with a crap load of speed. I loved it.
First time I went on something like that (at Raging Waters in Socal), I got water somewhere you don't want it. I felt terrible until I took a break and dealt with the situation. When I took my son there for the first time and warned him that there was something he needed to do in addition to crossing his legs and arms, he thought it was hilarious. After the ride, he completely understood!
The Flight of Passage ride at the Pandora portion of Animal Kingdom is without question the most awesome ride I've ever been on. Seriously, Avatar subject matter aside, that ride is absolutely mind numbing. The ride is in 3D, so the video below is a little weird, but you can still get a really good gist of it.
Keep in mind, that while on the ride, you'd be subject to temperature swings, scents, water effects, and the shaking and breathing of the ikran between your legs. The entire ride pitches and shifts, violently at times, in sync with the ride. It's stunning.
What the heck is "breathing of the ikran"?
That aside, I find these "rides" where you basically stay in place and get shaken around while being shown a video a little annoying. Give me a REAL roller coaster every day.
On another subject, we have friends who apparently went to Disneyland yesterday to see whatever the new Star Wars attraction is. Looks like they recreated some of the sets really well. Unfortunately, until Disneyland puts limits on admissions (which will never happen $$$$$), it will remain the crappiest place on Earth.
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If I had to pick a favorite type of roller coaster, it would be the hanging type a la Batman the ride
(https://www.sixflags.com/sites/default/files/batman_the_ride_1_0.jpg)
It always had a great feel, and the POV going through a loop only seeing sky is awesome
And while I never really liked Wooden coasters, Ironically my favorite roller coaster I have ever been on is El Toro
(https://live.staticflickr.com/2393/2074550533_e66356c6c9_b.jpg)
Pure insanity, :hefdaddy
What about you guys?
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What the heck is "breathing of the ikran"?
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/LegalOrganicBorderterrier-size_restricted.gif)
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my favorite is the setup that sheikra has (https://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/coasters/pictures/sheikra/img/busch-gardens-sheikra_3588.jpg).
You're legs are dangling but you also don't have the track above you. Inverted roller coasters are awesome but unless you sit up front your going to have a hard time seeing anything.
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And while I never really liked Wooden coasters, Ironically my favorite roller coaster I have ever been on is El Toro
(https://live.staticflickr.com/2393/2074550533_e66356c6c9_b.jpg)
Pure insanity, :hefdaddy
What about you guys?
That picture is pure beauty.
My all-time favorite was Colossus at Magic Mountain. I took my son there a few years ago, and I think I remember Goliath being really good. Not a huge fan of suspended coasters.
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If I had to pick a favorite type of roller coaster, it would be the hanging type a la Batman the ride
(https://www.sixflags.com/sites/default/files/batman_the_ride_1_0.jpg)
It always had a great feel, and the POV going through a loop only seeing sky is awesome
And while I never really liked Wooden coasters, Ironically my favorite roller coaster I have ever been on is El Toro
(https://live.staticflickr.com/2393/2074550533_e66356c6c9_b.jpg)
Pure insanity, :hefdaddy
What about you guys?
My favorite coaster is in the same park: Nitro. My first night ride on her was the moment I became an enthusiast.
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Nitro is also my favorite steel coaster. I've been on others like it, some newer, but still prefer Nitro. My gaming name for years is NitroBeast - my two favorite coasters put together.
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El Toro has been on my list to ride for years. I need it.
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I got on El Toro years ago and came out with neck pain, rough ride.
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Of all the ways you can get stuck on a coaster this is the one I'd want. They got their money's worth.
https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/cedar-point-roller-coaster-stops
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On Gatekeeper? That'd be hell. That ride does not feel good; always gives me a headache. :lol
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There's always the good ol' Tooth Chipper!
https://imgur.com/r/TheSimpsons/ZplKi
I have a limited sample size, but my favorite is Space Mountain at DL.
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Six Flags NJ is building a new coaster (Finally). It called the Jersey devil. Looks cool
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0deAWWEKElc/maxresdefault.jpg)
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That looks pretty good. Although SFGA is one of two parks they like to build good coasters for, so I'm not sure what the "finally" is about. You guys are spoiled. The last real coaster SFoT got was in 2001. This year they're getting some idiotic shoot-the-ride. :lol
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Green lantern was opened in 2011. That's 9 years ago.
Since that time, as far as coasters go, we had the lame as hell El Diablo in 2015 which I wouldn't even call a roller coaster. Its just some fair ground loop thing, which was so shit they closed it. And besides that there's The Joker, which aint all that great either. Looks cool as a concept, but I never found it that fun to ride.
So yes, because its been 9 years for something that actually seems pretty decent, I am saying Finally. But from the mid 90's up until 2011, I totally agree, we were spoiled as hell. It was like a new huge, cool new coaster almost every 2 to 3 years, but that pace has slowed down big time since 2011.
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So I've been knocking around a roller coaster tour this spring and fall to ride some of the great ones. I hauled ass down to San Antonio to blast through SF Fiesta Texas just to see if I could still ride them. Concern was lap bars banging the bejeesus out of my kidney. As it turns out the kidney and lap bars are no problem at all. The rest of it's a bitch, though. I'm gettin old. :lol
My plan was to hit 6 Midwest and East Coast parks in the Spring and five NE parks in the fall. After Friday evening I've realized that's stupidly optimistic. Looking like the Spring trip will just be Cedar Point, SFGAm, King's Island. Maybe Holiday World just to ride The Voyage. King's Dominion and Busch Gardens will have to be a different trip. Fall would most likely be Canadia's Wonderland, Darien Lake, Knoebel's, and SFGAd. Between all of these parks that covers a massive chunk of the best coasters in the US.
What I will say is that now is a great time to be doing this. Six Flags is limiting capacity with a reservation system (though that'll probably be axed before too long), and right now they're only open evenings on Fridays. All of the rides save for one were essentially walk-ons when I was there. Want the front seat? Wait one extra cycle. Moreover, SF is offering free parking at all parks with their season passes this year. With the already discounted admission costs, a season pass cost $5 more than a single day ticket+parking, and will get me into 3 of their other parks this year. So basically, dirt cheap (relatively speaking), and very little waiting in line. I'll probably hit SSoT this Friday just because there'll never be a better time (and I need to ride two I skipped in SA).
For what it's worth, Fiesta Texas is a nice park. It's built into an old granite quarry, so two thirds of the park is surrounded by a sheer 90' rock face. Several of the coasters go up, down, and through the cliffs. 3D map view (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Six+Flags+Fiesta+Texas/@29.5978757,-98.6117494,466m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x865c65169b579e37:0x235fc0938c92ce9d!8m2!3d29.5991156!4d-98.6105607) Really quite scenic. They've got a great B&M floorless that takes great advantage of it, and the Iron Rattler is every bit as good as advertised. I wasn't sold on the RMC conversions, but now that I've ridden one I think it's a marvelous idea. You get the creakiness of a wooden coaster with the smoothness of a steel track. I didn't much care for the roughness of the Texas Giant, but now I'm really keen to ride the RMC conversion.
On the downside is the single track coaster. Phoenix posted a picture of the [still] upcoming Jersey Devil, which is the same ride as Wonder Woman at SFFT (one of the prototypes). Everybody seems to love the thing but I didn't like it a bit. It's so fast but compact you can never really tell what's happening, and the new style of restraints are just barbaric.* That was the second coaster I road, and it took half an hour before I wanted to get on another ride, and my collarbone was sore for days. There aren't many rides I have no desire to ride again, but any RCM single rail will make that list. It's like being tossed into a Cuisinart.
*The Jersey Devil picture makes them look so minimal and comfortable. They're anything but.
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I'm looking at possibly Busch Gardens, VA in connection with a D.C. trip. We've been wanting to do a family D.C. trip forever, and it kept getting postponed for a variety of reasons (the latest of which, last year, was Covid). With an 18-year-old soon starting college, this may be the last chance as a family, so we're going to do it this summer, even though summer is less than ideal.
Not sure whether I will attempt all the coasters. My 16-y-o probably will. Maybe we need to bring a buddy for him.
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Ive always wanted to go to a big mid west country fair carnival. when I see that show "Carnival Eats" I see so much amazing fun food and I love to try creative unusual foods
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EB, if you make your way to Great Adventure, let me know.
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EB, if you make your way to Great Adventure, let me know.
That may well be the Gojira fandango.
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EB, if you make your way to Great Adventure, let me know.
That may well be the Gojira fandango.
:metal :metal
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My plan was to hit 6 Midwest and East Coast parks in the Spring and five NE parks in the fall. After Friday evening I've realized that's stupidly optimistic. Looking like the Spring trip will just be Cedar Point, SFGAm, King's Island. Maybe Holiday World just to ride The Voyage. King's Dominion and Busch Gardens will have to be a different trip. Fall would most likely be Canadia's Wonderland, Darien Lake, Knoebel's, and SFGAd. Between all of these parks that covers a massive chunk of the best coasters in the US.
I'll be expecting a call! :) :) (SFGAd is about 7 miles from my house now; it'll be a little farther when I move. Maybe 15.)
I'm old enough to remember when it was an unaffiliated park (Riverside) and even had a racetrack there that hosted NASCAR events.
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My plan was to hit 6 Midwest and East Coast parks in the Spring and five NE parks in the fall. After Friday evening I've realized that's stupidly optimistic. Looking like the Spring trip will just be Cedar Point, SFGAm, King's Island. Maybe Holiday World just to ride The Voyage. King's Dominion and Busch Gardens will have to be a different trip. Fall would most likely be Canadia's Wonderland, Darien Lake, Knoebel's, and SFGAd. Between all of these parks that covers a massive chunk of the best coasters in the US.
I'll be expecting a call! :) :) (SFGAd is about 7 miles from my house now; it'll be a little farther when I move. Maybe 15.)
Can I come and play too?
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Man, now you guys are putting pressure on me to make it happen. :lol
(SFGAd is about 7 miles from my house now; it'll be a little farther when I move. Maybe 15.)
How does that work? Great Adventure is in New Jersey. You thinking of SF New England?
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Man, now you guys are putting pressure on me to make it happen. :lol
(SFGAd is about 7 miles from my house now; it'll be a little farther when I move. Maybe 15.)
How does that work? Great Adventure is in New Jersey. You thinking of SF New England?
He was probably thinking of the one in Agawam MA. I'm not sure if there's another one in NE besides that one.
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Man, now you guys are putting pressure on me to make it happen. :lol
(SFGAd is about 7 miles from my house now; it'll be a little farther when I move. Maybe 15.)
How does that work? Great Adventure is in New Jersey. You thinking of SF New England?
He was probably thinking of the one in Agawam MA. I'm not sure if there's another one in NE besides that one.
That's exactly right. Agawam is just over the border from me. My stepdaughter actually used to work there before she got out of school.
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Six Flags NJ is building a new coaster (Finally). It called the Jersey devil. Looks cool
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0deAWWEKElc/maxresdefault.jpg)
wowwwwwzah Ive done all their coasters and free fall along with the Batman coaster ...good times
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I went to Six Flags Great Adventure for the first time in three years on Mother’s Day. Didn’t go on too many of the big rides this time as we were with my one year old niece, but I got on Kingda Ka, Zumajaro, El Toro, and Nitro, which are my favorite rides in the park.
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By the way, the Six Flags in Agawam has a roller coaster (that used to be called) Thunderbolt that was built in 1941 and is still operating. Sometimes those old coasters are fun, if not a little scary. That "Jersey Devil" looks like... uh, I'll meet you in the beer line.
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By the way, the Six Flags in Agawam has a roller coaster (that used to be called) Thunderbolt that was built in 1941 and is still operating. Sometimes those old coasters are fun, if not a little scary. That "Jersey Devil" looks like... uh, I'll meet you in the beer line.
You ever ride the Mad Mouse at Quassy? That thing was built in the 60s and was terrifying. Not because it was a good coaster, but because it felt like it was going to collapse at any moment.
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By the way, the Six Flags in Agawam has a roller coaster (that used to be called) Thunderbolt that was built in 1941 and is still operating. Sometimes those old coasters are fun, if not a little scary. That "Jersey Devil" looks like... uh, I'll meet you in the beer line.
You ever ride the Mad Mouse at Quassy? That thing was built in the 60s and was terrifying. Not because it was a good coaster, but because it felt like it was going to collapse at any moment.
It's been a long time, but yes, I've ridden that, and it WAS absolutely terrifying for exactly the reason you mention. It's gone now but I can remember spending a lot of time looking at and contemplating the pipes that were holding it together.
For those that don't know, it was metal, and didn't have the heft or density of those older wooden coasters. It looked like track laid between a bunch of light poles if you really want to know.
Here is a picture: https://rcdb.com/378.htm#p=86414
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I'd be more concerned about the cars coming off the track. Doesn't look to me like there are any upstops on the wheels. As for the structure, I can't tell how interconnected any of it is. If the poles are all sufficiently tied to each other it's probably pretty safe. That company's been making wild mouse coasters for a very long time. They probably know their business.
Off to SFoT to re-ride some classics and hit a couple of stragglers I skipped in San Antonio. I didn't realize that their 4D coaster wasn't a typical Zac Spin, which suck, so I skipped it. Apparently the newer S&S models are pretty good. They also have an Endeavor ride, which is the modern replacement of the old Enterprise rides that we all grew up with.
Also, I didn't realize until yesterday that the 43 year old Shockwave sill holds the record for most Gs in a normal coaster (5.9). Those loops really are pretty tight.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Shockwave_coaster_sfot.jpg)
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By the way, the Six Flags in Agawam has a roller coaster (that used to be called) Thunderbolt that was built in 1941 and is still operating. Sometimes those old coasters are fun, if not a little scary. That "Jersey Devil" looks like... uh, I'll meet you in the beer line.
You ever ride the Mad Mouse at Quassy? That thing was built in the 60s and was terrifying. Not because it was a good coaster, but because it felt like it was going to collapse at any moment.
It's been a long time, but yes, I've ridden that, and it WAS absolutely terrifying for exactly the reason you mention. It's gone now but I can remember spending a lot of time looking at and contemplating the pipes that were holding it together.
For those that don't know, it was metal, and didn't have the heft or density of those older wooden coasters. It looked like track laid between a bunch of light poles if you really want to know.
Here is a picture: https://rcdb.com/378.htm#p=86414
Now that looks like it will collapse by the touch of a feather.
There's a ride that comes to our state fair similar to Mad Mouse, it might even be called that, but I know it was something Mouse.
Do the cars spin at certain spots too? If not, then it could be a newer upgrade of that ride.
I just remembered...it's called Crazy Mouse..
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By the way, the Six Flags in Agawam has a roller coaster (that used to be called) Thunderbolt that was built in 1941 and is still operating. Sometimes those old coasters are fun, if not a little scary. That "Jersey Devil" looks like... uh, I'll meet you in the beer line.
You ever ride the Mad Mouse at Quassy? That thing was built in the 60s and was terrifying. Not because it was a good coaster, but because it felt like it was going to collapse at any moment.
It's been a long time, but yes, I've ridden that, and it WAS absolutely terrifying for exactly the reason you mention. It's gone now but I can remember spending a lot of time looking at and contemplating the pipes that were holding it together.
For those that don't know, it was metal, and didn't have the heft or density of those older wooden coasters. It looked like track laid between a bunch of light poles if you really want to know.
Here is a picture: https://rcdb.com/378.htm#p=86414
Now that looks like it will collapse by the touch of a feather.
There's a ride that comes to our state fair similar to Mad Mouse, it might even be called that, but I know it was something Mouse.
Do the cars spin at certain spots too? If not, then it could be a newer upgrade of that ride.
I just remembered...it's called Crazy Mouse..
"Wild Mouse" is a type of coaster, and there have been gazillions of them. Most of them named some variant of Wild Mouse. My favorite is Wilde Maus, but I'll bet there's an El Ratón Loco out there somewhere, and that sounds even cooler.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_mouse
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I loved those style of rides, there was one in Busch Gardens Tampa called sand serpant.
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I played hooky from work on Wednesday to attend season passholder previews of Jersey Devil Coaster. It’s a great ride and definitely helps to round out Six Flags Great Adventure’s coaster lineup. I still think El Toro and Nitro are the king and queen of the park, but Jersey Devil is definitely number three.
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I played hooky from work on Wednesday to attend season passholder previews of Jersey Devil Coaster. It’s a great ride and definitely helps to round out Six Flags Great Adventure’s coaster lineup. I still think El Toro and Nitro are the king and queen of the park, but Jersey Devil is definitely number three.
I rode one of RMC's smaller versions (Golden Lasso at SFFT) and absolutely hated it. I suspect this one is better simply for having more space to spread things out, but honestly it was the restraints that ruined it for me. Fucking barbaric. You had zero movement and it was way too tight over the chest. I was actually sore for the next couple of days because of that thing. Since JD'strack is actually long enough to actually appreciate the various elements I'm sure it'll be an improvement, though. GL all happened so fast you never had any idea what was going on, and combined with being bolted into the seat I couldn't wait to get off of that damn thing and swore to never ride one like it again.
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Next time I go to great adventure I will check out jersey devil, but I will say that El Toro is my favorite roller coaster that I've ever gotten on. And that is coming from someone who typically isn't really into wooden coasters.
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Man, I wanted to travel out to the San Diego County Fair, last year. Mainly, because one of the bands I've followed for a long time, Daughtry, was going to be playing in it and for County Fairs, if you purchase a ticket for a show there, you get a ticket for the fair itself. Of course, the pandemic happened and so I didn't get that opportunity to go. I don't mind going to county fairs, especially if there is a concert there. I went to two concerts at the OC County Fair in 2019 (Lindsey Stirling and Bush/Live) and gorged on the fair food. My first ever concert was Shinedown in the LA County Fair in 2013 that I was able to get a free ticket to the fair (and a free ticket to the show) due to my community college having free tickets for that day.
Hopefully, in 2022, I get a chance to go to more concerts in County Fairs and get a better chance to do more of the usual fair stuff than I did in 2019.
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I played hooky from work on Wednesday to attend season passholder previews of Jersey Devil Coaster. It’s a great ride and definitely helps to round out Six Flags Great Adventure’s coaster lineup. I still think El Toro and Nitro are the king and queen of the park, but Jersey Devil is definitely number three.
I rode one of RMC's smaller versions (Golden Lasso at SFFT) and absolutely hated it. I suspect this one is better simply for having more space to spread things out, but honestly it was the restraints that ruined it for me. Fucking barbaric. You had zero movement and it was way too tight over the chest. I was actually sore for the next couple of days because of that thing. Since JD'strack is actually long enough to actually appreciate the various elements I'm sure it'll be an improvement, though. GL all happened so fast you never had any idea what was going on, and combined with being bolted into the seat I couldn't wait to get off of that damn thing and swore to never ride one like it again.
I’ve never been to Fiesta Texas (the furthest west I’ve been is Ohio) but I can confirm that based on what I’ve heard about Wonder Woman: Golden Lasso along with my experience on Jersey Devil, JD’s elements definitely have more room to breathe. It’s honestly the perfect coaster, as it’s intense enough to keep the most hardcore thrill seekers interested while not being so intense that it scares off the majority of riders who are just looking to have fun. The restraints are probably the worst part of the ride, but honestly they aren’t too bad and with the ride’s pacing being a bit less crazy than the other RMC Raptors, the restraints don’t take away from the experience. As I said, I still consider Nitro and El Toro to be the best two coasters in the park, but Jersey Devil is definitely number three, and with Kingda Ka there as the ultimate thrill ride, Great Adventure now has the best top four in the entire Six Flags chain, and I only rank Cedar Point’s top four of Millennium Force, Maverick, Top Thrill Dragster, and Steel Vengeance (which I have not had the privilege of riding yet) ahead of it. With this new addition, Great Adventure just pulled ahead of Great America for the number two spot in the Six Flags hierarchy, although Magic Mountain is still clearly the flagship park.
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Looks like SFMM is getting a clone of the Jersey Devil, and they're not removing anything to add it. At this point the roster of coasters they have is downright insane.
Apocalypse--Woody
Batman--Standard B&M inverted
Full Throttle--Launches in both directions through big-ass loop
Goliath--Hyper coaster
Ninja--suspended coaster
Revolution--historic looper
Riddler's Revenge--standing coaster
Scream--B&M Floorless
Tatsu--flying coaster
Twisted Collosus--RMC conversion
Viper--Arrow Hyperlooper
West Coast Racers
X2--4d
Unnamed RMC Raptor
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I loved the original Colossus as a kid, and it still held up as of the last time I went there about 10 years ago. I watched the video for Twisted, and it looks pretty cool.
Best thing about Magic Mountain is that they built it in an area where they had TONS of room to expand.
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I loved the original Colossus as a kid, and it still held up as of the last time I went there about 10 years ago. I watched the video for Twisted, and it looks pretty cool.
Best thing about Magic Mountain is that they built it in an area where they had TONS of room to expand.
They've pretty much used it up at this point. Looking at the new Raptor they're building, they've actually got 2 coasters and a water ride overlapping in that area now. That's one of the things I've always liked about SFMM. The way the rides will go over, under, around, or through each other.
I didn't much care for Colossus, but that was compared with modern coasters. Way back when I would have loved it. That said, I've been pretty impressed with the RMC conversions, and I'm looking forward to riding the new version.
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I loved the original Colossus as a kid, and it still held up as of the last time I went there about 10 years ago. I watched the video for Twisted, and it looks pretty cool.
Best thing about Magic Mountain is that they built it in an area where they had TONS of room to expand.
They've pretty much used it up at this point. Looking at the new Raptor they're building, they've actually got 2 coasters and a water ride overlapping in that area now. That's one of the things I've always liked about SFMM. The way the rides will go over, under, around, or through each other.
I didn't much care for Colossus, but that was compared with modern coasters. Way back when I would have loved it. That said, I've been pretty impressed with the RMC conversions, and I'm looking forward to riding the new version.
I don't know who owns the land, but there is enough undeveloped land to the south to build another park of the same size.
I attended a Catholic elementary school, and a good chunk of the boys in my grade served as altar boys. At the end of every school year (I guess 5th through 8th grade), we got to go to Magic Mountain on a school day in late May or early June. It was one of the highlights of the year because they basically turned us loose unsupervised, and Magic Mountain was the first of the southern California parks to have all-inclusive passes. We'd get on the bus at the end of the day and compare how many times we rode each ride. It was 3-5 times for Revolution and Colossus because we could all but ride and get off and run around and get in "line" again. Good times.
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Man, it's been a bad year for coasters in the Midwest. First El Toro derails and rips up most of the track, and now TFD nearly kills a woman waiting in line. Apparently Nitro had to shut down, as well, due to restraint failure. Suddenly I'm kind of glad I didn't get to make that trip this year.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/woman-injured-by-falling-ohio-rollercoaster-piece-fighting-for-her-life
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El toro is my favorite coaster. That sucks
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I'd suggest that anybody who lives within a reasonable distance, and has an interest in these things check out SFGAd's Wed and Thur night Power Hours. (other parks may be doing it too, I don't know) It's already a discounted ticket, and there was nobody manning the booths, so parking was free. There were very few people there, and all of the coasters were running the max number of trains. Every ride out there was a walk-on, and if there's nobody in the stall for your car when you return to the station you just sit put and ride it again. You can honestly ride every coaster out there as many times as you want. The only waiting you'll do is after the ride to get back into the station because they're running 3+ trains. SFGAd is not my favorite park, in fact a couple of times I got hopping mad enough at the place to burn it down, but it really was a helluva way to enjoy the park.
I’ve never been to Fiesta Texas (the furthest west I’ve been is Ohio) but I can confirm that based on what I’ve heard about Wonder Woman: Golden Lasso along with my experience on Jersey Devil, JD’s elements definitely have more room to breathe. It’s honestly the perfect coaster, as it’s intense enough to keep the most hardcore thrill seekers interested while not being so intense that it scares off the majority of riders who are just looking to have fun. The restraints are probably the worst part of the ride, but honestly they aren’t too bad and with the ride’s pacing being a bit less crazy than the other RMC Raptors, the restraints don’t take away from the experience. As I said, I still consider Nitro and El Toro to be the best two coasters in the park, but Jersey Devil is definitely number three, and with Kingda Ka there as the ultimate thrill ride, Great Adventure now has the best top four in the entire Six Flags chain, and I only rank Cedar Point’s top four of Millennium Force, Maverick, Top Thrill Dragster, and Steel Vengeance (which I have not had the privilege of riding yet) ahead of it. With this new addition, Great Adventure just pulled ahead of Great America for the number two spot in the Six Flags hierarchy, although Magic Mountain is still clearly the flagship park.
Jersey Devil is much better than the smaller raptors. No comparison. It's still a little rough for my taste, though. The restraints still suck, but not as bad as the ones on WWGL. If they'd just leave them fabric, like a seatbelt, it wouldn't be so bad, but the plastic they put over the shoulder straps is terrible. As for the ride, that breathing room makes all the difference. WWGL is like all of JD packed into a quarter of the space. It's a nightmare.
I thought Nitro was alright, but nothing spectacular. In retrospect I should have ridden it again. Bizzaro is my favorite ride out there, but I'm a sucker for a B&M floorless. My favorite style. I think it's a clone of Scream at SFMM, but with theming rather than just a parking lot coaster. El Toro is still closed. That derailing must have really torn it up something awful. Kingda Ka is certainly an experience. Not much of a coaster, but certainly exhilarating. I think the problem is that you go so fast you can't make out what's going on.
Weather permitting, and it's looking favorable, Canadia's Wonderland is up next.
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Was at Fright Fest last night, and I got the best ride on Nitro I’ve ever experienced. Front row, outer left seat, dead of night, with a slightly loose lap bar. There was only one other person in the row with me as well, so the whole experience felt so open and free. That ride reminded me of my first time at the park 18 years ago, where my first night ride on Nitro made me the coaster enthusiast I am today. I love this roller coaster so much, and while there may be better rides out there (hell El Toro is in the same park), Nitro is so important and special to me that it will always be my personal number one.
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My favorites there are:
1. El Toro
2. Batman the ride
3. Kingda Ka
4. bizarro
And I truly loved the Great American Scream machine, but its long since gone
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It's a shame I didn't get to ride El Toro. People think quite highly of it. The things torn up. What are you gonna do?
TCoNYC: One of the things that pissed me off about SFGAd was forcing you to put your stuff in lockers on half the rides. Have they always done that? I've been to 4 Six Flags parks this year, and they're the only ones that do that. Obviously they're trying to sell single use lockers, which is annoying AF. I'm in cargo shorts, with buttons and velcro on the front pockets, and I'm far more concerned about losing my phone than they are. My stuff isn't going anywhere. "Don't care, give us a dollar."
Was it crowded on a Fri night? Pert near deserted on Thur night.
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The locker thing is total BS and they just started doing that a few years ago.
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I love theme parks and I almost never go to any.
Theres one not far form here we used to go to when I was a teen. It had some cool rides including the UK or even Europe's biggest wooden coaster.
It was great. Not too expensive to get in but you had to bring your own food / water if you didnt want to buy fast food / sodas all day.
When I was on my music degree - one day a buddy of mine asked if I wanted to go to a theme park with him as nobody else wanted to go.
He had a members pass to get in when it wasn't open to the public. We had to queue for a while to get in but after that we were off to the races.
I think we went on every ride like three or four times and by the end of the day I was so exhausted I barely managed to get home ( public transport )
and I went straight to bed and didn't wake up for almost 18 hours!!! :eek
Fun though. The best ride we went on all day was definitely the SAW coaster. It's a vertical ascent and more-than-vertical drop. Such an epic ride.
I've never been worried about a ride breaking as I watched a video once that was like - some of them are filled with gas inside the tubing and like a valve with a needle on it
so if there's any sort of crack anywhere - the needle will obviously drop and you can see that instantly. Stuff like that.
The rides I never go on are the ones that come to your town every year and are set up and gone in a day. When I was in school my friend mentioned
he didn't trust any ride "you can put up and take down in a day" and I always remembered that ;D
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So it turns out that the problem with Six Flags is that it's too damn cheap. :lol
Don't know if anybody's read anything about this, I just heard about it myself, but there's a fascinating transition going on at SIX. They installed a new CEO at the beginning of 2022, and he's absolutely running amok. The game plan at SIX is that it's better to be Target than Walmart. In his words, Six Flags has become cheap daycare for obnoxious teens. He wants to price them out. If anybody here buys season passes, they noticed that this year the price skyrocketed. Gate prices, parking, and food have all increased similarly. At SFMM if you pay at the gate rather than online you'll shell out $120 for an adult ticket. It's $70+tax online. Parking's up to $40. Season passes work for me because I travel enough to hit multiple parks. I'll be at SFMM next month, in fact. This year they changed the tier structure so you have to buy a surprisingly expensive pass to visit more than just your home park. I've visited and parked at two parks so far, and I'm not sure my pass has actually paid for itself yet (it certainly will, though).
I was obviously being a smartass with the beginning of this post, but in fairness this might actually work as a strategy. Honestly, huge crowds are one of the biggest problems with visiting a Six Flags. I've make a point to go on weekdays so it's not terrible, but it can still be damned crowded in the evenings. What I've learned is that it's a helluva lot more fun when you don't have to wait in long lines. And in fairness, there is a good amount of riffraff (myself included). His idea is to decrease attendance and increase per capita spending. If done correctly it could pan out. Or, it might be a disaster. I'm not an economist, so who the hell knows. One thing I can say is that I shop at Target a whole lot more than Walmart for that very reason.
Problem: I said that it might work as a strategy, but it's an absolute disaster the way it's being implemented. By all accounts, and it certainly looks this way to me, Selim is an absolute loon. All of this came to light in the briefing for their quarterly earnings report. When the sector is absolutely booming SIX tanked something awful. People are itching to get out and do things right now, and attendance at SIX was down 22%. This is actually what he wanted, but spending was way down, too. That could just be growing pains, so we'll see. What is a legit problem is his operation of the company. They've sacked 25% of their fulltime employees. Many of them long-timers who helped build the thing, who were fired for not going along with Selim's approach, or resigned in disgust. This includes 5 park presidents.1 By all accounts they've lost all of their in-house talent. Moreover, his future spending will not be on new rides--the very thing that attracts people to SF. Rides are expensive. Better and more pricier food is not. Proprietary payment apps to better take customers money aren't. Landscaping and upkeep are expensive, and don't matter much, so that'll be ignored.2 For his strategy to work they need to have better offerings to make the higher prices work, and he doesn't seem to understand what that actually entails at a theme park. The stockholders seem to be behind Selim, but by all accounts he might very well sink SIX (and they do have a history of bankruptcies already).
1I actually met the president of Six Flags America. Super-nice guy. I walked up to the first gold badge I saw and his said Park President. When I asked if he'd indulge a petty complaint he said "yes, please, I'd love to." My kind of manager. :tup He's "retiring" in 3 days.
2At SFA, for the first time ever I looked at a coaster and said "no way I'm getting on that thing," and it was entirely because it looked so dilapidated. It was an old, historic coaster, and looked like it hadn't seen a coat of paint in 20 years. I assumed it was SBNO when I got there, and was amazed when I saw trains running.
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I would pay a little more if it meant less lines.
Like you Barto, I go on the weekdays. Its such a huge difference.
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What was your "petty complaint?"
Theme parks aren't really a thing around here, and we don't travel to places where they are, so this is out of my wheelhouse. But I found the economic analysis (decrease attendance and increase per capita spending) interesting. My wife goes to Target like it is a bodily function, but I shop at both Target and WalMart occasionally for specific purposes, so I recognize the differences. But I don't understand how it translates to how he views theme parks.
I am also pondering the comment about keeping out the teens. Depending on how riff-raffy they are, I guess, wouldn't you want kids spending their parents' money at your park rather than the mall, movie theater, or wherever else kids go these days?
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What was your "petty complaint?"
:lol Basically they overcharged me for fries and a soda. It only amounted to about $4, but it was so outlandish I wanted somebody competent to explain it to me, and the gal at the counter wasn't qualified. Gold tag means supervisor so when I saw his I went up to him. Like I said he was eager to sort things out, and when I mentioned that I'd be at Great Adventure in a few days he immediately offered up a free meal on them. :lol Funny thing is that he found it as outlandish as I did and wanted to figure out if it was a human or a technical problem. I told him it was almost certainly personnel and he pretty much said "yeah, but our software isn't very good either." :rollin
Theme parks aren't really a thing around here, and we don't travel to places where they are, so this is out of my wheelhouse. But I found the economic analysis (decrease attendance and increase per capita spending) interesting. My wife goes to Target like it is a bodily function, but I shop at both Target and WalMart occasionally for specific purposes, so I recognize the differences. But I don't understand how it translates to how he views theme parks.
I am also pondering the comment about keeping out the teens. Depending on how riff-raffy they are, I guess, wouldn't you want kids spending their parents' money at your park rather than the mall, movie theater, or wherever else kids go these days?
I found the economics of it fascinating, as well. That's why I brought it up here. I have no idea how it'll work out. What I can tell you is that I'm the same way. I was at Walmart a few hours ago because it had the exact 4 things I was looking for, and I was going to be right in the neighborhood of a nice one. I'll shop at either. It's just that all things being equal, I'd rather shop at Target. I'd rather shop at a nicer Walmart than a low rent one. Don't know how it is in WA, but I suspect you feel similarly. He wants to attract the Target customers and jettison the bottom rung of the Walmart customers. And if we're being honest, demographics almost certainly does come into play here.
As to the second point, I think you'd rather having the undesirables blowing their money at a movie theater if their presence is detrimental to the product. Let them make the AMC look awful, while at the same time making your own product more desirable to the uppity folk.
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All agreed on the second part, I just don't know how "undesirable" someone has to be to decide you're better off not taking their money because it is keeping "uppity" money away. But I am in the county/state fair mindset, not the theme park one, which is a different audience.
And to segue... I went to a local county fair recently. Been going to them my whole life; one of the biggest state fairs in the country (at least it was when I was a kid) is about 30 minutes from where I grew up, and that was a staple of my childhood. For most of my life, the fairs had tickets for rides and games. These things:
(https://www.lifebuilderstc.com/uploads/4/2/8/0/4280388/s615747952753621297_p35_i2_w500.jpeg)
Easy to keep track of, easy to pay with, and you knew exactly how many you had left. Now you have to buy a card, which is scanned by the ride/game staff. It fits in to your pocket nicely, but how I miss those little tickets. Scanning those cards seem to take longer than handing the carny a few tickets because the damn things are so flukey, and you have to remember (or write down) how many tickets you have left after each transaction.
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Also, it seems like we've probably seen the end of El Toro as it has been. It was shut down easily a year after the derailment, and this most recent "pothole" incident will have it down another 6 months. Stands to reason that if they do decide to keep it operating it'll probably get a significant rebuild, possibly along the lines of the RMC treatment. Certainly does seem like it's not tenable in its current form. Glad I got to ride it when I did last year. Good ride.
Also, it doesn't bode real well that this was a known problem with the ride for months and they let it get so bad that it caused injuries. They've had to shut it down a few times this year to try and get it resolved and it keeps reappearing.
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What was your "petty complaint?"
:lol Basically they overcharged me for fries and a soda. It only amounted to about $4, but it was so outlandish I wanted somebody competent to explain it to me, and the gal at the counter wasn't qualified. Gold tag means supervisor so when I saw his I went up to him. Like I said he was eager to sort things out, and when I mentioned that I'd be at Great Adventure in a few days he immediately offered up a free meal on them. :lol Funny thing is that he found it as outlandish as I did and wanted to figure out if it was a human or a technical problem. I told him it was almost certainly personnel and he pretty much said "yeah, but our software isn't very good either." :rollin
Theme parks aren't really a thing around here, and we don't travel to places where they are, so this is out of my wheelhouse. But I found the economic analysis (decrease attendance and increase per capita spending) interesting. My wife goes to Target like it is a bodily function, but I shop at both Target and WalMart occasionally for specific purposes, so I recognize the differences. But I don't understand how it translates to how he views theme parks.
I am also pondering the comment about keeping out the teens. Depending on how riff-raffy they are, I guess, wouldn't you want kids spending their parents' money at your park rather than the mall, movie theater, or wherever else kids go these days?
I found the economics of it fascinating, as well. That's why I brought it up here. I have no idea how it'll work out. What I can tell you is that I'm the same way. I was at Walmart a few hours ago because it had the exact 4 things I was looking for, and I was going to be right in the neighborhood of a nice one. I'll shop at either. It's just that all things being equal, I'd rather shop at Target. I'd rather shop at a nicer Walmart than a low rent one. Don't know how it is in WA, but I suspect you feel similarly. He wants to attract the Target customers and jettison the bottom rung of the Walmart customers. And if we're being honest, demographics almost certainly does come into play here.
As to the second point, I think you'd rather having the undesirables blowing their money at a movie theater if their presence is detrimental to the product. Let them make the AMC look awful, while at the same time making your own product more desirable to the uppity folk.
The problem as I see it, though, is that the details matter to a Target buyer in a way that they don't at Walmart. Not everything, but I imagine that some of the tasks done by that 25% that won't get done MIGHT matter. I don't care if the flowers are pretty, but I don't want to sit on gum and soda when I take a break from my hard core riding. :) :) (Not kidding about the seats, but I'm not a hardcore rider either).
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My favorite roller coaster again is having issues :-[
https://www.themeparktourist.com/news/20220902/32935/further-details-revealed-about-el-toro-malfunction-six-flags-great-adventure
almost did a trip there around that day too. yikes
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Not sure if anyone here watches defunctland but a while back I saw a great video talking about the history of the fastpass at Disney. https://youtu.be/9yjZpBq1XBE
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My favorite roller coaster again is having issues :-[
https://www.themeparktourist.com/news/20220902/32935/further-details-revealed-about-el-toro-malfunction-six-flags-great-adventure
almost did a trip there around that day too. yikes
The problem with SIX's statement is that there have been posts and tweets about the problem for months. It's also bee shut down for that pothole before, IIRC. However, it's not that maintenance has been ignoring it. Maintenance has dealt with it on several occasions, but did remedial repair work rather than addressing the fundamental problem. As I understand it this was an issue with the subframe. If this is the case an actual repair would be quite a lot harder, and there's a strong likelihood that other supports might also be compromised.
This is just scuttlebutt based on reports from normal people, but it does seem to be panning out.
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Not sure if anyone here watches defunctland but a while back I saw a great video talking about the history of the fastpass at Disney. https://youtu.be/9yjZpBq1XBE
Watched the whole thing and enjoyed it.
I've experienced every one of the systems he describes from purchasing lettered tickets individually at Disneyland, all the way through to Genie+ earlier this year at Disney World. By far, my favorite was the original FastPass system--easy to understand for every guest and completely fair, IMO. Genie+ isn't as bad as it's critics make out, but it certainly gives preference to guests with higher disposable income. It had the added benefit of allowing us to experience the new (to us) attractions in one day and not having to spend multiple days at DW...which meant more time riding this.
Velocicoaster (https://youtu.be/FJe42WzToFE)
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I love Defunctland. The topics are so interesting.
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I love Defunctland. The topics are so interesting.
Yea I agree, that and Bright Sun Films are some of my favorite youtube channels.
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Another mishap, and top thrill dragster will now be no more
https://sports.yahoo.com/cedar-point-closing-top-thrill-153330790.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALo77TukUD1ZfIxz7ig7pwIFKRwwMbe6MqG3tHOBAvrcMjyx-zKEnz3NPAk3VLk1cYz7ErHC_LnIKE5fqI41vZjxFUIkxKssr50oEsIbU1i8ClVETvHsLvPcu90A-RlQ78yY0j475wp7r2QkjoGvbIY3PJgf0sGK5NWwF5ng9gFN
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Damn that sucks. My brother and I are planning a trip to Cedar Point and Top Thrill was one of the rides we were looking forward to.
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There wasn't another mishap. It was the same mishap from two years ago. Cedar Point is finally just hinting at their plans for it. Most likely (or at least hopefully) they'll convert the hydraulic launch to an LSM launch and reopen it for the 20th anniversary season. Fingers crossed.
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There wasn't another mishap. It was the same mishap from two years ago. Cedar Point is finally just hinting at their plans for it. Most likely (or at least hopefully) they'll convert the hydraulic launch to an LSM launch and reopen it for the 20th anniversary season. Fingers crossed.
Doesn't sound like the type of launch is the problem, but rather major stress from years of super-aggressive launches. It'll need more than just a new launch system. Curious to see what they'll do with it.
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Right. The issue that caused the incident was a lack of proper inspection, which is basically what's caused most of these COVID era mishaps. But given that Intimin has discontinued hydraulic launches and similar rides owned by Cedar Fair are also closed, if they intend to reopen TTD in the future, these kinds of modifications are likely to improve reliability in general.
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The issue that caused the incident was a lack of proper inspection.
Agreed and I would argue that this is the cause of most issues that go down. Now and again there will be unforeseen stuff, but complacency is definitely an issue at some places.
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Watched a video last night on the plausibility of converting TTD to a LSM launch. It would be possible, probably, but it would be a very different experience. In short, the hydraulic launch gets you up to speed in the first third-half of the track. The final two thirds/half of the track is needed to slow the catch car. LSMs can't come close to that sort of acceleration. To go that route the LSM motors would have to run the full length, and perhaps onto the hill itself. It'd be a slower, longer acceleration rather than a "shot out of a cannon" type of launch.
Another consideration is the cost of the two. LSM uses a ton of electricity, but there are no moving parts. The hydraulic launch was pretty complex, and parts were needed to be replaced constantly. Not sure how the two would compare cost-wise.
Also, and this is just my speculation, the new theming could be in place to protect people back in the station. Perhaps shoot people out of a fairly long tunnel. If it were a halfway tight fitting tube, and long enough, you could go from dark to light about halfway through the launch, which would be interesting and also protect people close to the launch (save for the riders :lol). In any case, whatever re-theming they do should include adding a hill to the back run. I haven't ridden TTD, but I have ridden Kingda Ka, and that back run was better than the launch/hill, I though. Partly because the hill was fun, but also because you get to appreciate the speed without the acceleration.
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Was it ElToroRyans video? He does such a great job at explaining the mechanical side of things I otherwise never really got to know.
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Was it ElToroRyans video? He does such a great at explaining the mechanical side of things I otherwise never really got to know.
Yeah, in this case he actually operated TTD for a spell (and KK for longer, I imagine).
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Today was my first visit to Hersheypark in twelve years. After today, it just leapfrogged both Six Flags Great Adventure AND Cedar Point and is now my new number one favorite amusement park.
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I always liked Hersheypark. haven't been there in a while
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I discovered this subreddit this morning. Thought this would be a good place to share.
https://old.reddit.com/r/AmusementDark/
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I discovered this subreddit this morning. Thought this would be a good place to share.
https://old.reddit.com/r/AmusementDark/
oh god :lol
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We’ve had a trip scheduled to Universal in Orlando for the last week of September for 6 months and it looks like a hurricane is expected to hit Florida at the same time. Awesome.
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We’ve had a trip scheduled to Universal in Orlando for the last week of September for 6 months and it looks like a hurricane is expected to hit Florida at the same time. Awesome.
I had a trip to Florida planned in 2017 when a monster of a hurricane (Irma I think) was scheduled to hit. We ended up pushing the trip a week and landed on Monday shortly after the hurricane made it's last gasps over the coast. Disney was closed for that Sunday and Monday, which is apparently extremely rare. Someone at the park told us it was the first time since 9/11 the park was closed for more than a day. Anyway, Florida was decimated, but when Disney opened on Tuesday, it looked untouched. We went to Animal kingdom and it was deaaad. We didn't have to wait in line for more than 10 minutes for any ride except for the two new ones in Pandora, which were only 30-40 minutes.
If you time it right, a hurricane can make a trip to the parks awesome.
Edit: Cool! According to FB memories, that was 5 years to the day.
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We’ve had a trip scheduled to Universal in Orlando for the last week of September for 6 months and it looks like a hurricane is expected to hit Florida at the same time. Awesome.
I had a trip to Florida planned in 2017 when a monster of a hurricane (Irma I think) was scheduled to hit. We ended up pushing the trip a week and landed on Monday shortly after the hurricane made it's last gasps over the coast. Disney was closed for that Sunday and Monday, which is apparently extremely rare. Someone at the park told us it was the first time since 9/11 the park was closed for more than a day. Anyway, Florida was decimated, but when Disney opened on Tuesday, it looked untouched. We went to Animal kingdom and it was deaaad. We didn't have to wait in line for more than 10 minutes for any ride except for the two new ones in Pandora, which were only 30-40 minutes.
If you time it right, a hurricane can make a trip to the parks awesome.
Edit: Cool! According to FB memories, that was 5 years to the day.
We have 24 hours to make up our minds whether to go and I’m leaning towards no, as even if the system moves one way or the other it looks like rain outs everyday anyway. We’re big Harry Potter fans and I laughed when I saw the hurricane would be named Hermine (for those not familiar with Harry Potter, one of the main characters is named Hermione).
ETA: we first went down to Universal in February of ‘19 and the day we were to fly in to Orlando a TSA agent killed themselves at the airport thus cancelling our flight. It was a real fiasco getting things re-arranged for that. I’m starting to wonder if Orlando has it out for us.
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I'm just coming back from a week at Disney and we were fortunate enough to get on Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind twice. It's definitely topped Expedition Everest as my favorite coaster in the park and I'll highly recommend it to anyone even if your not a Marvel or GotG fan. For those not familiar it's basically Space Mountain mashed up with Rock'n'roller Coaster where the cars spin 360 degrees so you're banking tight turns sideways. Some might complain about lack of huge drops and loops but it's an indoor coaster and on its own it's incredibly fun, especially with the music playing. We got Disco Inferno and Conga which worked well but I was hoping for I Ran. Always next time!
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I hit Fiesta Texas over the weekend, since it'll probably be my last season pass. It really is an excellent park. It seems to fit in between the premier parks on the two coasts and the forgotten and neglected parks that make up the rest. It's certainly not MM or GAd, but it's a far cry better than most of the others. Iron Rattler is the best of the RMC conversions I've ridden by far. I also got to ride one of the B&M Dive Coasters. I'd seem them before and they looked kind of boring, but they're actually quite fun. Hanging down face first is always interesting, and because it's only 4 months old (and the park was closed for a couple of them) it's still absolutely smooth as glass. In this case even the theming was good for a SF park. Only knock I'd give the park is that Superman (B&M floorless) is getting pretty rough. It was one of my favorite examples of that type, and it's getting downgraded on my list. Interacting with a cliff face is still loads of fun, but the second half just beats the hell out of you.
Kind of a drag that Six Flags is going the direction it is.
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Been at Universal Orlando all week with the wife and kid and we did Halloween Horror Nights on Wednesday.
I love Halloween and all but standing in line for 90+ minutes, multiple times, to see a <5 minute Haunted House that isn’t scary was not a good use of time or money.
The scare zones were pretty fun though.
(https://i.imgur.com/ztHl2XD.jpg)
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I love those Halloween nights. They have been decent in NJ luckily.
Sorry to hear yours was kind of a bummer.
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...since it'll probably be my last season pass...
...Kind of a drag that Six Flags is going the direction it is...
Is the one the cause of the other, or something else (if you don't mind my asking)?
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...since it'll probably be my last season pass...
...Kind of a drag that Six Flags is going the direction it is...
Is the one the cause of the other, or something else (if you don't mind my asking)?
Absolutely.
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=46091.msg2913757#msg2913757
The pass that cost me $60 in 2001 was ~$150 in 2002. And while I'm generally close enough to several parks each year to make it pan out, there are other problems. Upkeep on the rides has been an issue, with many of them down extended periods and an uptick on, eh, incidents. Not adding new rides and neglecting the ones you have doesn't make me eager to continue being a patron. Also worth noting that he'll almost certainly unload some of the parks (including the one up the street from you). Fewer parks doesn't work for me, either.
And strangely, if his goal is to keep the riffraff out, he's going about it the wrong way. The basic season pass is still like $60. That's what makes it affordable daycare. It's only the passes that the bigger spenders will get that have increased in price so much. It's not the teens that will hit 5 different parks in a year, but the people like me, that he ostensibly wants more of.
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I love those Halloween nights. They have been decent in NJ luckily.
Sorry to hear yours was kind of a bummer.
I thought Fright Night at SFGAd was very good. After being infuriated the first hour or so I was there it turned into a very nice evening. That ugly green lake certainly helps with the spooky ambiance. :lol
I will say that SFFT had an interesting Fright Night setup. The theming wasn't so great, but they put on a fine fireworks/pyro/laser display at the end. They setup fireworks across three hundred or so feet of the cliff face that surrounds the back of the park, giving them a pretty wide launching angle. They also had a fireworks laden drone, which I hadn't seen before. Clever on their part, it also served a double purpose. It also discouraged people from getting into lines about half an hour before closing.
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Big breaking news from Disney: Bob Chapek is out and Bob Iger back in as CEO.
This is potentially huge, and I think it bodes well for the parks.
I visited the California parks twice under Chapek's watch and was REALLY disappointed about who quickly the environment had deteriorated from what it was. The parks just felt different. A lot of the Disney magic was still present, but you could feel that things were different. Both times, I encountered more cast members that were less friendly and enthusiastic than the norm established over the decades, there were a LOT more attraction breakdowns and closures, and things looked more run down. I really hope Iger makes a concerted effort to restore the things that really set the Disney parks apart and made them something truly special.
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Very huge news indeed. I'm hoping they overhaul their godawful Genie+/Lightning Lane reservation system and revert it somewhat back to the old Fast Lane system. It feels shitty to spend $100+ on a park ticket and only be able to get on 5-6 attractions in a day.
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Big breaking news from Disney: Bob Chapek is out and Bob Iger back in as CEO.
This is potentially huge, and I think it bodes well for the parks.
I visited the California parks twice under Chapek's watch and was REALLY disappointed about who quickly the environment had deteriorated from what it was. The parks just felt different. A lot of the Disney magic was still present, but you could feel that things were different. Both times, I encountered more cast members that were less friendly and enthusiastic than the norm established over the decades, there were a LOT more attraction breakdowns and closures, and things looked more run down. I really hope Iger makes a concerted effort to restore the things that really set the Disney parks apart and made them something truly special.
I think a lot of fans share your sentiment but there is also concern because a lot of Bob I's focus/expertise seems to be more in the media realm than parks. Also while Chapek shoulders a lot of the blame many of the efforts in the parks were started or already underway during Bob Iger's tenure.
It should be interesting, and from a leadership perspective I am fascinated by who will eventually succeed him (the board announced he'll stay on as CEO for 2 years). Iger had a number of talented leaders depart because they weren't able to get that coveted CEO job. Is there another quality internal candidate in the pipeline or maybe they will bring in someone else? Maybe Bob has another acquisition on his mind? Hmm...
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Yeah, I hear you. Regarding the second paragraph, while all that may be true, I think the one big difference between Iger's prior run and Chapek's is that Chapek made a LOT of employees really unhappy, which caused a lot of talented people to leave and caused a big change in culture. As a guest, you could really feel that in the parks. Even if none of the visible substantive changes that people are hoping for ever happen, just a change in the attitudes and enthusiasm of the case members, as well as just keeping things looking and running smoothly in the parks again will go a long way in making those parks feel special again.
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I just got back from Islands of Adventure, first visit since I moved out of FL to NC. I rode Velocicoaster and I gotta say it's been a long long time since a coaster has given me a rush like that. Everything from the harness to the theme to the ride elements was just next level. I still can't stop smiling. For those that haven't ridden it, if you get an opportunity to please do.
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Big breaking news from Disney: Bob Chapek is out and Bob Iger back in as CEO.
This is potentially huge, and I think it bodes well for the parks.
I visited the California parks twice under Chapek's watch and was REALLY disappointed about who quickly the environment had deteriorated from what it was. The parks just felt different. A lot of the Disney magic was still present, but you could feel that things were different. Both times, I encountered more cast members that were less friendly and enthusiastic than the norm established over the decades, there were a LOT more attraction breakdowns and closures, and things looked more run down. I really hope Iger makes a concerted effort to restore the things that really set the Disney parks apart and made them something truly special.
Just saw this and got back from Disneyland a few weeks ago. I hadn't been since I was a kid but I was thoroughly impressed with every part of the whole experience. From the park itself, to the logistics, to the cast members, I thought it was an A+ presentation all the way around. Two rides did shut down when we were in line for them, and I saw two other rides that were closed, but I noticed all four up and running either later that day or the next.
Very huge news indeed. I'm hoping they overhaul their godawful Genie+/Lightning Lane reservation system and revert it somewhat back to the old Fast Lane system. It feels shitty to spend $100+ on a park ticket and only be able to get on 5-6 attractions in a day.
We didn't sign up for Genie+ or Lightning Lane and I never thought waiting for rides was onerous. By my count (I am writing a journal of our trip) we went on 12 rides the first day, and 9 the second, and that includes seeing the Parade and a Royal Theater play both days, plus standing in line for the princesses at Royal Hall.
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I just got back from Islands of Adventure, first visit since I moved out of FL to NC. I rode Velocicoaster and I gotta say it's been a long long time since a coaster has given me a rush like that. Everything from the harness to the theme to the ride elements was just next level. I still can't stop smiling. For those that haven't ridden it, if you get an opportunity to please do.
That looks like a helluva ride. I bet the launch into the second lift hill is a hoot.
It's an interesting time for coasters. Most of them are pushing new ideas. Some for better and some for worse. The single rail coasters don't work for me. The new dive coasters are a hoot, though. Only a few parks are wiling to push old ideas into better places, like that Velocicoaster thing, and it's great when they do. My problem is that I can't justify going to a park to ride one great coaster. I have to stick with parks with plenty to choose from. Looking at the Ohio-Chi parks pretty soon, but those will mostly be old ideas done well. Nothing particularly creative like that.
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Just got back to my hotel after my first trip to both Florida Universal parks. Today was possibly the single most amazing day I’ve ever had at an amusement park. Universal takes everything that Disney World does and does it better. I didn’t even go on everything at both parks, that would be impossible to do in one day, but I hit everything I wanted to, and all but one ride was great. Velocicoaster is my new number one roller coaster, and as much as I dislike JK Rowling and therefore try to avoid engaging in anything Harry Potter related, I can’t deny that Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is an incredible ride, and it also found a place in my top ten coasters. I’ve been on vacation in Florida all week, and while I loved Busch Gardens Tampa and had a great day with my family at Sea World, Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure are just on another level. I only left the parks two hours ago and I’m already thinking about when I can go back. Islands of Adventure specifically is probably my new favorite amusement park. It was the perfect way to end an amazing and much needed vacation.
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Anybody here been to CP lately? I'll be hitting it (and KD, and SFGAm) pretty soon, and I'm not sure what to expect. It'll be on an early June Thursday, so it shouldn't be all that crowded, but you never know. What I'm curious about is if popping for their hotel for the one hour early entry would make sense. There are a lot of rides, so hitting Maverick and Millennium Force before lines get long couldn't hurt, but if it's deserted it might not be necessary.
Also, anybody know if the food from Frontier Fest is any good? Another perk from the hotel route is free drinks and a bunch of food coupons for FF.
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Anybody here been to CP lately? I'll be hitting it (and KD, and SFGAm) pretty soon, and I'm not sure what to expect. It'll be on an early June Thursday, so it shouldn't be all that crowded, but you never know. What I'm curious about is if popping for their hotel for the one hour early entry would make sense. There are a lot of rides, so hitting Maverick and Millennium Force before lines get long couldn't hurt, but if it's deserted it might not be necessary.
Also, anybody know if the food from Frontier Fest is any good? Another perk from the hotel route is free drinks and a bunch of food coupons for FF.
That's my backyard! If you can, I would definitely opt for the early entry...the park fills up quick (I've never seen it deserted, even on a weekday), and even when it 'appears' to be dead, the line-waits tend to balloon.
My advice...go into the park early, and head straight to the back (where the waits will be nil).
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Anybody here been to CP lately? I'll be hitting it (and KD, and SFGAm) pretty soon, and I'm not sure what to expect. It'll be on an early June Thursday, so it shouldn't be all that crowded, but you never know. What I'm curious about is if popping for their hotel for the one hour early entry would make sense. There are a lot of rides, so hitting Maverick and Millennium Force before lines get long couldn't hurt, but if it's deserted it might not be necessary.
Also, anybody know if the food from Frontier Fest is any good? Another perk from the hotel route is free drinks and a bunch of food coupons for FF.
That's my backyard! If you can, I would definitely opt for the early entry...the park fills up quick (I've never seen it deserted, even on a weekday), and even when it 'appears' to be dead, the line-waits tend to balloon.
My advice...go into the park early, and head straight to the back (where the waits will be nil).
Great. Thanks for the input. :tup
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That's my backyard! If you can, I would definitely opt for the early entry...the park fills up quick (I've never seen it deserted, even on a weekday), and even when it 'appears' to be dead, the line-waits tend to balloon.
My advice...go into the park early, and head straight to the back (where the waits will be nil).
You were right on pretty much all parts. Managed to get Millennium Force, Wild Mouse, and Maverick out of the way by about 1015. That helped. Added bonus is a great parking spot. :tup
Now that I've been to both I'm pretty confident saying that Magic Mountain kicks the living shit out of CP, but that's only as a park. No theming, poor layout, and ridiculous wait times. As for coasters they're not too far apart. I haven't tallied it all up, but CP might have a slight edge there. And in truth, King's Island is probably a better park, too, despite falling short in the number and quality of coasters (though The Beast is, well, a beast if you ride it after dark).
A lot of the most famous rides were pretty underwhelming. I honestly thought MF was kind of boring, and while Maverick is a great idea, the seats are just miserable; didn't like it. At the same time, I've ridden a good number of RMC conversions, and Steal Vengeance is easily the best of them. Fantastic ride. The mandatory lockers kind of pissed me off, though, and because of a snafu cost me a fair amount f time to get my stuff right. Highlight is easily Gatekeeper, which might be the best steel coaster I've been on. I road it twice, once from each side, and it was fantastic both times.
So far, I've probably found my new favourite woody, RMC hybrid, and steel coaster this week. Not too bad.
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Tomorrow I'm heading to Carowinds for the first time, I've lived in Charlotte for 6 years and the park is less than 10 miles away and I've yet to go. I've heard great things about Fury 325 from ElToroRyan so I'm hyped to get on it.
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That's my backyard! If you can, I would definitely opt for the early entry...the park fills up quick (I've never seen it deserted, even on a weekday), and even when it 'appears' to be dead, the line-waits tend to balloon.
My advice...go into the park early, and head straight to the back (where the waits will be nil).
You were right on pretty much all parts. Managed to get Millennium Force, Wild Mouse, and Maverick out of the way by about 1015. That helped. Added bonus is a great parking spot. :tup
Now that I've been to both I'm pretty confident saying that Magic Mountain kicks the living shit out of CP, but that's only as a park. No theming, poor layout, and ridiculous wait times. As for coasters they're not too far apart. I haven't tallied it all up, but CP might have a slight edge there. And in truth, King's Island is probably a better park, too, despite falling short in the number and quality of coasters (though The Beast is, well, a beast if you ride it after dark).
A lot of the most famous rides were pretty underwhelming. I honestly thought MF was kind of boring, and while Maverick is a great idea, the seats are just miserable; didn't like it. At the same time, I've ridden a good number of RMC conversions, and Steal Vengeance is easily the best of them. Fantastic ride. The mandatory lockers kind of pissed me off, though, and because of a snafu cost me a fair amount f time to get my stuff right. Highlight is easily Gatekeeper, which might be the best steel coaster I've been on. I road it twice, once from each side, and it was fantastic both times.
So far, I've probably found my new favourite woody, RMC hybrid, and steel coaster this week. Not too bad.
I’m happy it helped!
And I agree with pretty much everything you wrote…King’s Island is a great alternative and highly recommended to anyone in this part of the country looking to spend a day or two riding coasters.
You know, there was a time when Cedar Point reigned supreme (back in the ‘90s), largely bc they were the only game in town. Hell, they had 19 coasters at one point and held most of the records, but the competition has totally caught up.
Having been there too many times to count, I may have lost perspective, but today, CP feels claustrophobic and overpriced. I absolutely respect anyone who loves the park, but it’s no longer the yearly trip it used to be for my family.
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Wrapped up the coaster part of the trip with SFGAm in Chicago. Not a bad park, and it's an interesting change from a couple of Cedar Fair parks. Insofar as coasters go, it has all the usual suspects, but all just a little inferior. I love a B&M hyper/giga, and there's just wasn't up to snuff. Their wing coaster was half the size of Gatekeeper. Their RMC conversion woody was short and boring. For the most part the rides are fine, just underwhelming when compared to better examples.
Two exceptions, though. The compressed air launch from MaxxForce really is something else, and I'm pretty sure they're leaving some speed on the table. You can feel the acceleration drop off before you hit the hill. And the cannon sound when it launches is a hoot. When it comes to being launched straight into a hill, Full Throttle (SFMM) is better, but I actually preferred this to Kingda Ka (and presumably TTD, had it been open). And I actually found Final Flight better than Tatsu. You've still got that monster pretzel roll, as hardcore as coaster elements get, but the rest of it is less chaotic, so you can appreciate what's going on.
Probably added 33 coasters to my roster this trip, and it's been a hoot. Found some new favourites, too.
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Wrapped up the coaster part of the trip with SFGAm in Chicago. Not a bad park, and it's an interesting change from a couple of Cedar Fair parks. Insofar as coasters go, it has all the usual suspects, but all just a little inferior. I love a B&M hyper/giga, and there's just wasn't up to snuff. Their wing coaster was half the size of Gatekeeper. Their RMC conversion woody was short and boring. For the most part the rides are fine, just underwhelming when compared to better examples.
Two exceptions, though. The compressed air launch from MaxxForce really is something else, and I'm pretty sure they're leaving some speed on the table. You can feel the acceleration drop off before you hit the hill. And the cannon sound when it launches is a hoot. When it comes to being launched straight into a hill, Full Throttle (SFMM) is better, but I actually preferred this to Kingda Ka (and presumably TTD, had it been open). And I actually found Final Flight better than Tatsu. You've still got that monster pretzel roll, as hardcore as coaster elements get, but the rest of it is less chaotic, so you can appreciate what's going on.
Probably added 33 coasters to my roster this trip, and it's been a hoot. Found some new favourites, too.
Wayta be about 5 miles from my house. :)
I haven't been to Great America in about 20 years and there have been a lot of changes to the rides since then. Glad you had fund there!