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If you're wondering why this ride looks familiar, it's because it's the same layout as the now-cancelled Vekoma coaster Wildcat at Magic Land in Bosnia

Visited the park today and it was very busy, but I can happily report that operations were outstanding. Everything was open and running multiple trains. Of course there were a few "Six Flagsy" moments here and there like Bizarro crew getting thrown off their stride by 3 guests coming through the handicapped line and some food service employees who had no clue what a mobile order was...lol but generally everything was very well-run and consistent. Bizarro and Nitro were both running 3 trains, El Toro 2, Kingda Ka 3 and Kingda Ka's crew was fastest in the park. We really liked Jersey Devil and it does a great job of splitting the difference between Nitro and El Toro. The restraints are awkward, though. We got Platinum Flash Pass and Jersey Devil was indeed unlimited on it. Upon arrival, the parking lot was pretty full and it steadily got busier as the day went on. You already know this is the best sh*t ever. If I really want to nit pick, there are some spots on El Toro that could use a little TLC, mostly coming out of the second large airtime hill, the bottom of the turnaround, and right before/after the speed hill. It wasn't brutal or anything, but a little bit headache-inducing when marathoning. But this is still basically the best coaster on the planet. We got one ride on Kingda Ka. It went down temporarily once or twice, but that's the sort of thing you expect with these. The operations were extremely fast and they were cranking out trains and it was running very smooth. Nitro was also running great. Super fast, great airtime, smooth, and they even got new restraint covers so the plastic wasn't all picked apart like in previous years. And we got a few rides in on Jersey Devil. It's still doing the thing where it breaks down a lot, but it's only for like 10 minutes at a time. There's a sign out front saying they're still calibrating it, but it really wasn't a big deal. Sometimes it would come back up and the flash pass would still show "delayed", but the ride attendants would just let us go through. The coaster was great. It wasn't as crazy nor as intense as the clone models like Wonder Woman. But it was still a very intense ride, just much more re-rideable. The elements flow very well together and the transitions are smooth and way less janky that some of the ones on the clone models. The restraints are different and more comfortable than Wonder Woman's, but they still manage to not be that comfortable. The lap bar sits awkwardly on your legs and if you accidentally pull it too tight, the drops can be a little uncomfortable. I think restraint and train design are RMC's biggest opportunity for improvement. It's not terrible or anything, just a little bit awkward. We also rode Skyrush the day before so maybe that contributed. The sea of people leaving the park. Honestly, I'm glad for Six Flags that they were so busy. I really want the industry to recover quickly and there's clearly a ton of demand right now. The fact that the park was so prepared to have a "normal" busy day impressed us. We've had several experiences this year with parks that have been a hot mess, like Busch Gardens Williamsburg basically falling apart on a busy day. I never thought I'd say that Six Flags as a company is handling such a major disruption better than the competition, but here we are. Go to Six Flags Great Adventure, you won't regret it.

Steel Curtain was running two trains today!

Walt Disney World has released new details about the reimagined guest rooms at Disney's Contemporary Resort, featuring a new design inspired by the monorail and The Incredibles. https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2021/06/first-look-inside-a-reimagined-guest-room-at-disneys-contemporary-resort/ When Walt and Roy Disney dreamed of a magical new future at Walt Disney World Resort, part of that vision became reality with Disney’s Contemporary Resort. With the Monorail running right through its A-frame tower, the resort was an instant icon at The Most Magical Place on Earth – a tribute to the future of imagination and progress. As Walt Disney World prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary this October, Walt Disney Imagineering is continuing to build on the optimistic spirit of Disney’s Contemporary Resort, enhancing the retro-modern aesthetic evoking Tomorrowland … with a dash of something Incredible, too. Currently all nine floors of guest rooms in the tower are being completely refurbished, and here’s a first look at the new décor debuting this fall. As you can see, these rooms will blend a sleek Monorail motif with some favorite characters from Pixar Animation Studios’ Incredibles films, including Jack-Jack, Frozone and Edna Mode. New custom artwork in guest rooms and along guest corridors will be modern, futuristic and oh so stylish, dahling, complementing the resort’s architecture while putting the Supers’ powers on display. In the lobby, you’ll soon see a collection of modern art pieces as well as historical, behind-the-scenes photographs of Disney’s Contemporary Resort in development and under construction. The resort’s lobby restaurant, The Wave… of American Flavors, will also soon close to make way for a reimagined dining experience in time for the Walt Disney World 50th anniversary celebration. And once the tower guest rooms are complete, work will begin on the rooms inside the Garden Wing out on the shore of Bay Lake. All the excitement at Disney’s Contemporary Resort is part of the ongoing evolution of the Disney Resorts Collection at Walt Disney World, where the magic you find in our theme parks extends to every moment of your vacation. We’ll have more to share on this project in the months to come as we get ready for “The World’s Most Magical Celebration” beginning Oct. 1, so keep checking back with us here at the Disney Parks Blog for all the details.

Woah, that is interesting. I am definitely taking it with a grain of salt. For all we know, couldn't it be a part/component for Silver Bullet? The park did buy a third train for the ride a few years back, but this is dated very recently so... hmm. A mini-B&M Hyper at the park is my dream, but given that Cedar Fair said there will be no major capital investments in the near future, I'm skeptical. I would be genuinely shocked if they got a B&M in the next few years.

"It's no kiddie coaster." Colors will be red, white, and blue. Seems they recently trademarked Aire Force One name. Sports teams tie in fell through, so that might be for this. They have broken ground in Atlanta.

True but at least Mind Eraser they like half-painted before giving up on the rest of it. Which kinda makes it visually worse when you think about it. Haven't been back to Darien Lake since re-becoming Six Flags but not surprised about ROS.

Not obese by any stretch but I definitely prefer the vest restraints...no headbanging whatsoever.

Oh, trust me, FireChaser Express is one of my highlights at Dollywood, too. But I prefer when parks add coasters that bring a new experience to their collection, rather than something similar to what guests can experience right down the midway. (See my ramblings about how Orion is a fine ride but would've been a better addition to nearly any other park than Kings Island) Additionally, between FireChaser, Dragonflier, Whistle Punk Chaser, and Blazing Fury, it’s not like the park is exactly hurting for family coasters.

*NEW VIDEO!* Take a ride on Orion at Kings Island! VIDEO:

Honestly, even though Firechaser only goes like 35 mph, I found it to be one of the best rides at Dollywood. Maybe I'm just getting older and my tastes are changing, but I'm becoming more and more a fan of fun "quirky" rides these days. I'm all for something like this if it's true.

Georgia Scorcher at SFOG is looking amazing these days too.

^Is this who SFFT is currently using? I was truly impressed at how every ride in the park had beautiful sparkling paint, and the only one that didn't (Poltergeist) is about to be repainted. If this means more of this kind of attention to detail chainwide this is great news!

Life Hack: Streamline your experience and avoid all of these trips to guest relations at Palace Entertainment parks by not going.

That saves about three hundred, but I'd need to stay over another day too, and then make the 7 1/2 hour drive from Chicago to Kansas City again. By time I figure in the extra hotel and gas, I'm not saving a lot of money; probably not enough to deal with the extra full day of driving. Thanks though!

Hey Everyone! Ahh...2021...the year of changes for Silverwood. Who would have thought, that after 4+ years of general stagnation, the subtle cancellation of Light up the Night, and COVID; that so many things would change all at once? But alas, here we are! I made the pilgrimage across the coaster desert for two days of fun at the best theme park in the PNW (no contest!). So here we go, all of the changes (plus my thoughts), the good, the "ehh", and the bad for the 2021 season at Silverwood! Lets start with the good (and the part that everyone is interested in), and mostly that means Stunt Pilot. I'm not gonna lie, I had to do a legit double take in the parking lot to make sure I was at the right theme park. "Really? A modern, brand-new, not (technically) relocated steel coaster, this can't be Silverwood..." And let's not beat around the bush...THIS RIDE IS AMAZING!!!! Smooth, fast, great airtime, amazing inversions, great theme, it's just all around a great ride! From the moment you enter the queue to when you get off the ride it's just incredible what RMC and Silverwood did. The theme is perfect, and well executed. Silverwood history buffs (like me) could probably spend a good 30+ minutes in the entrance building alone, just looking at all the photos, reading the old park "newspapers" that are hanging up, and watching the queue video that plays constant footage of the old airshows the park had. The vintage bi-plane hanging over the queue sets the mood, and really works with the theme. Getting to walk SO CLOSE to the coaster (like seriously, your like 3 ft from the first drop in the queue) is super fun! I wish more coasters let you get this close. The ride even has it's own THEME SONG that plays in the queue and station (AND IT SOUNDS GREAT!!!). While the station itself, kinda leaves a little to be desired (it's basically a shed, which I guess is what real airplane hangers are...), the ride itself (and the rest of the queue) more than makes up for it. Now for the ride itself...ITS A FREAKIN RMC RAPTOR, THERE'S LITERALLY NO REASON TO COMPLAIN!!!! Sure, the drop isn't 90 degrees. But does it make a difference? NO! The first drop is AMAZING, the inversions are fun, smooth, and a little floaty, and the rings and barn just add to the whole experience. If I had to pick a "dud" element it would probably be the cutback, but even that was fun so I can't complain much. I know some people don't like the restraints on these Raptors, but honestly I have no qualms with them. Do I wish it had lap bars? Sure. Do the OTS restrains ruin the ride for me? NO!!! I actually really like these restraints, and (for better or worse...) they might be the best restraints in the park. You don't have to battle them coming down during the ride, they're not uncomfortable (at least to me), and they don't hurt! (Gee, imagine that, a steel coaster that doesn't hurt in some way...what a great idea Silverwood! ) I just really like this ride, and I definitely think it's the best in the park! If you are thinking about making the trip to Silverwood because of Stunt Pilot, believe me when I say...IT'S WORTH IT!!! While I don't think that Silverwood is quite in that major/elite park category yet, I think with additions like Stunt Pilot it could be well on its way. Also in the good changes category is the new 208 RetraK (man, RMC needs help with naming stuff...) on Tremors! This truly makes the ride great again! The helix area was really starting to...umm...age poorly? (Is that a nice way of saying it?) I was not a huge fan of Tremors in the past, but having this new track really helps me to see this rides full potential. The track is really smooth, no rattle or shuffle. It actually feels as though the ride speeds UP on the track, leading to some pretty wild/out of control feeling forces. It does run a bit odd with the PTC train, but that's not RMC's fault. I hope more coasters that have issues with maintenance add this (or GCI's Titan Track, if its basically the same thing). I don't think its for every wooden coaster, but those that need a little help in some select areas would really benefit from it. It's not all good for Tremors though. Even though the new RetraK helped in the warped helix (it stretches from the end of the first section of topper track, all the way to the exit of the helix), the airtime hill immediately following is in pretty rough shape, with some nasty jackhammering, although you still get some pretty good airtime on that hill. Word on the street is that this airtime hill is supposed to get RetraKed this off season, which I hope is true. I said Stunt Pilot was my favorite coaster in the park, but a little more RetraK on Tremors might change that... Other than Tremors and Stunt Pilot, the coasters at Silverwood seemed to be in good shape. Corkscrew still needs a paint job, although it got a new pneumatic exit gate (whoo hoo! That's what I'm used to celebrating as far as new additions go at Silverwood). It was a little more rattily than I remember, but still fun, and I guess it kinda is what it is, being that it's almost 50 years old and has been relocated twice. Timber Terror was good as always, and celebrating 25 years! Let's here it for the coaster that made the creation of RMC possible!! Still miss the buzz bars, but it got a new station voice over recording this year (Corkscrew got one too), and it was the first time I heard a voice over being used on TT out of all the years I've visited. There is still a little bit of shuffle in the last bit of the helix, but not as bad as last year. Always a great time! Aftershock was down the first day due to inclement weather (rain and wind), and up and down the second with technical difficulties so I didn't get a chance to ride it on this trip. I'm honestly starting to worry about the park's resolve and dedication to this ride and it's maintenance needs, especially now that it's a one-of-a-kind in the US and they have a new major steel coast in Stunt Pilot. I know that they just replaced the rides cable, so that hopefully bodes well for the ride, because I think it would be a bummer for it to close. The last good change is more of a minor one, but there is a new food stand underneath Corkscrew's first corkscrew, called Caselli's (the Theater of Illusion pizza is now just called Theater of Illusion Pizzeria), and a new seating area is across the path (where the old Cold Springs Pizzeria used to be) that features great views of the Log Flume, Stunt Pilot, and Corkscrew. It looks pretty good, and the stand sells personal pizzas, breadsticks, and beer on tap! We now turn to the more "ehh" changes at the park. I'm mostly indifferent to these changes, but they're there and probably should be pointed out, because someone will have an opinion on them... The first of these is that Garfield and Odie are now completely gone from the park. Garfield has been replaced with coaster or water slide art on the height stick signs, and the kids area is now "Critter Camp". While Garfield never had that big of a presence in the park, it was kinda fun knowing that such a small park like Silverwood was connected to a (comparably) large IP. That being said, I'm not sad nor surprised that he's gone, and I hope that the park replaces him with something else (Here's to original characters!). Next, up is the relocated and refurbished Coaster Alley sign! While I do prefer the signs old style and location (it was about where Stunt Pilot's entrance is now) the new look and location definitely works. I especially like that they brought back the old coaster eating tree for Timber Terror, which I think is awesome (if they put that tree on a shirt I would totally buy it!)! All in all it's a neutral change for me. Lastly for the "ehh" changes is the park redid the Ferris Wheel and Kiddie Kopters. They both got new fences, magnetic entrance/exit gates, and fresh paint (Hey Silverwood! Could you do that for Corkscrew here soon? Thanks!) I rode the Ferris Wheel for the first time, and thought it was just ok, with the nearby trees blocking most of the view. I also am not a huge fan of the red pain job, finding it a bit obnoxious, but that's just me. Now for the bad, and unfortunately it's pretty bad. I don't know what happened, but the train show took a HUGE drop off in quality. No bandits, no stunts, no Marshal Jack, no cryptozoologist, no fairies, no 6' 1" fence joke. All that's left is a lady who is a "ranger" who is looking for bigfoot, who than interacts with the guests for most of the journey, stops to help another ranger put some dynamite in the mine, a "mechanical puppet" (I won't disgrace the park by calling it an audio-animatronic) of bigfoot then pops up and and blows up the dynamite, which then causes the other ranger to fall in the well, and then we leave and go back to the park. It really was a big disappointment for me. Last year, I thought that they were so close to having a fun and unique train show centered around western bandits and bigfoot shenanigans, and when I heard that they were adding more bigfoot stuff this year I had high hope. Unfortunately what we now have is a cheap and cheesy show that lacks all cohesion and is a major disappointment. Coaster101 recently called the train show the second best in the country (based on previous years shows), but based on this years show, I think it's doesn't even belong on the list, it's that bad. I don't know if its budget cuts, or if somebody walked away from it, or what happened but it's just bad. So bad that I would rather have no show, and a quiet ride threw the woods past the buffalo and stagnant sets than what we have now. Maybe that's just me though. Does anyone know what happened here? Is this just the week day version of the show? Other minor changes include the Theater of Illusion Pizzeria getting a new sign, new panini's at the High Moon Saloon and Panhandle Lemonade (Didn't try either but they both look good), and the removal of the temporary lockers by Thunder Canyon's entrance. Boulder Beach was exactly the same, as last year. Other than that, the park seems to be in pretty good shape with some minor maintenance needed to get them back to pre-COVID levels of beauty it seems. Pharaoh's Curse was still sitting in pieces at the end of the runway, next to some pieces of Tremors old track, in what is quickly becoming the park's boneyard. Didn't see any advertising for Scarywood, but I'm assuming that it will make a return this year. Also, all of the park's COVID measures (except "reservations", and random hand sanitizer stations, and cashless operations) are gone, so if your at all worried about COVID I would advise you to steer clear. Looking towards the future...an RMC crane/truck was still on site, and they seemed to be surveying/digging around in the dirt behind Riptide Racer and Pollywog Park...so obviously a 500' RMC T-Rex with 25 inversions is coming for next season!! In all seriousness, it could be just them installing utilities, but I thought it was interesting with the timing. I've always wanted to see a water coaster come to Boulder Beach, although I would want them to put it more in the back by Avalanche Mountain and Ricochet Rapids, rather than in the front of the water park. Plus Boulder Beach really is due now for a new and unique slide. All in all I think the park has a bright future and a new direction. For the last few year I was really starting to get worried that the park was entering a time of stagnation, or even slight decline, with the lack of changes or new additions of any kind. When COVID came along, I thought all hopes were dashed for SW ever adding a new coaster in the short term, especially an RMC Raptor. But who knew that 2021 could bring so much change to our little park in north idaho. I hope Stunt Pilot works out positively for them, and we see a series of additions on that level of both ride quality and theming. Even if they add stuff half as good as Stunt Pilot, I think the park really does have a very bright future, and I cant wait too find out what else the Norton family has up their sleeves!

Yesterday, it rained very hard for a 15-20 minute stretch. Kennywood kept most things open during that time except Steel Curtain. The bigger issue is if the park uses the rain as an excuse to close the park early, but while they're open, they're good about keeping rides open as long as there's no thunder and lightning. I would prioritize Steel Curtain if its clear when you arrive at the park. The ride is only on one train and a lot of people will head there first since it was closed all of last year. The line was around 45-60 minutes most of the day, which the employees were saying was less than the 2 hour waits it has been getting most weekends.

I've been to KI when they had 10PM fireworks like 6 times and they never closed the lines early. I always timed my rides on other coasters so I could get in line for The Beast at like 9:50. The ride is usually already shut down for the show, but they allowed people to get in line right up until 10. About 15-20 minutes after the show ends they would usually get the all clear to re-open and they would cycle everyone in line through for the last ride of the night. Actually one of those nights they actually got a call that they could NOT reopen for some reason and instead they told us the park had kept Diamondback running so we could get one last ride on it.

"What more can we do to piss off our guests today?" -Cedar Fair, probably

He can always say "grab them by the p####" or just make fun of disabled people, but that doesn't fit in with the Disney way of things.

Yeah, it would be a bad move politically, but a Muppet History show would be better than the Hall of Presidents. Even so, I'd be curious to hear the Trump animatronic give it's little speech. It would probably just make lots of goofy faces and flail its arms around. That being said, Disney should replace the Great Movie Ride at the Studios park with the old Muppet version they were toying with years ago.