Leaderboard

Very strong, solid episode of Picard Season 2.

One time back during HITP 2016 I kinda uhhh got stuck at the park and couldn't get an Uber/Lyft to come pick up and take me to the Trenton train station and during my panicked and fruitless attempts with my phone dying that very outlet right there saved me, at least until I wound up begging a friend to come scoop me just before park close. RIP trusty outlet, I'll never forget you.

It's pretty minor news, but Harry over at GreatAdventureHistory is able to confirm the Liberty Square Gazebo, a longtime park structure, is being removed this offseason with a new seating pavilion next to Johnny Rockets coming in its place. It's held a lot of shows over the years but it's honestly outlived its purpose at this point and removing it is the right call.

Agreed! My mom and I managed to get eps 9 & 10 of Season 1 done early enough last night that we went on to ep 1 of Season 2. So good and the trailer showing what's coming in the new season looks amazing!

Oh, ok I see where you are coming from now.

We went to the park again on Friday to get one last day (for us at least) of passholder previews before Iron Gwazi opens to the public next week. As my bf and I both have busy and conflicting work schedules, coupled with not being all that interested in visiting any of the parks during spring break, we likely won't make it back out to the park again until sometime in April. After fighting absolutely horrendous pre-weekend I-4 traffic, we were dreading a busy park and prepared to buy QQ just in case, but we got to the park around 3:00 PM and we got a bunch of Iron Gwazi rides with 2-4 train waits, max. Operations were super fast and consistent, and as on our first day riding it, Iron Gwazi was kicking all sorts of ass. One thing we either didn't notice before or was added since the VIP event was a small selection of pre-mixed drinks sold at the popcorn stand outside Iron Gwazi's entrance. We got the Iron Gwazi Fizz, which was some kind of gin-lemonade drink and it was really good and fairly strong. We also love that SeaWorld continues to be the only park chain to do a passholder discount on alcohol! After some of these, we headed up the left path and found SheiKra operating with riders, a surprise we didn't expect to see. The park finished maintenance work early and decided to re-open it a day early, sweet! They were only using one station but operating 3 trains, so the 10-minute or so wait moved fast. We also rode Kumba, which was running two trains with zero wait, so we rode our hearts out on what was Florida's best coaster for like 25+ years until these new gen-Zers came in with their iron alligators and velociraptor nonsense. While I'd say it's now the third-best coaster in Florida, Kumba still kicks all sorts of ass and is still a top-15 or so coaster for me. Ride it in the back on an edge seat for positive-G bliss. We saw Montu cycling and got excited for a second, but it was to cycle past park close with no riders. It wasn't scheduled to re-open until Saturday anyway, so oh well, but we definitely miss our only B&M invert in Florida. We went back and got some more rides on Iron Gwazi, with a line that at first was 30ish minutes, then died completely out again. Overall we were in the park for about 5ish hours and got to do everything we wanted to do. Operations were good and we're happy that the park continues to improve. The fact that we've now been able to get something like 20 rides on a brand new RMC so easily in just 2 visits is so, so awesome. To compare, I think I've been on Steel Vengeance like 15ish times total and we've gone every year with multi-day stays onsite with Fast Lane. This isn't a knock to Cedar Point, as we also take kind of a "chill" approach to parks we go to and don't get there at the crack of dawn nor run around like maniacs to ride every coaster during every possible moment until we're blue in the face, but it shows how easily accessible Iron Gwazi has been during just two visits during passholder previews. I already can't wait to get back to the park when it's off-peak again.

^ avail from KISS online

^ You should enjoy the first episode of this new Picard season. No spoilers but could be described as Very (dare I say?) Deep. We loved it. Oh, and SPOILER ALERT ~~~~~~ Goldberg found out she was being re-invited in, on The View, when Patrick Stewart was a guest there. It was all pre-planned and he publicly (on live tv) asked her if she would like to come back, on "ST:Picard", and "bring back Guinan"....? She literally fell into his arms laughing and crying, with the audience going nuts. Very cool video segment, when you find it. She is a very revered/legendary Star Trek character now, thanks to the writers and Whoopi Goldberg, herself. ....... And then there's Q ...... (To be continued...)

All that stuff about the park is nice. But the real big deal here is that Rock N Roll Over mask! Love it.

Great video! I'd have to put Thunderbolt at my #1 woodie, since all my other #1s are gone or have been changed so much. There is nothing better than riding a single-bench wood coaster with good curves. And drops for that matter. No matter how hard I try many new coaster trains (in perticular, RMC, sorry guys...) just don't do it with me; I appreciate a good design, but the trains make or break the coaster for me. I like to be able to move my legs and enjoy real air time - where my butt moves away from the seat. Thunderbolt has a great variety layout. I'm sad to hear the park isn't running as well, in addition to Thunderbolt only running one train frequently. They used to have 3 in the station; 2 running and one in transfer. Let's get them trains moving! I was bummed about the seatbelts, but let's hope Kennywood keeps it in it's present form for many years. We don't have many classic wood coaster trains running anymore, just a handful really. I'll enjoy them as much as I can while I can.

If I am correct this season should be able to shape up to be better then the previous seasons The batmobile, which were were supposed to get last year, should return. I believe it came From the closed Batman stunt show in New Jersey. I would assume it would be placed in the concrete Batman pad in the queue, it would be nice if we saw the return of some other features in the queue. Another thing we were meant to get last year, is the new adventure cove, that is replacing the previous hooks lagoon water play structure. I must admit the adventure cove looks rather to be a downgrade from hooks lagoon, adventure cove does not look as elaborate at hooks lagoon. Also it looks like it will no longer have a tipping water bucket. But nonetheless it is great that we get something new, especially that works better with families with little kids, it can help draw in that group of people and can help the park get something even better in the future. Before I get onto catwomans whip I would like to discuss something that was not given enough credit last season. The new lighting! The lighting on the coasters was phenomenal! Including Ninja, It looks really great on the white and black. The biggest addition of all, once again a thing we were meant to get last year, and the year before, Catwomans whip! It is great to have a new thrill ride in the park, it is unfortunate it Replaced Superman, as it easily could have gone into its original location, by the boss, it finally allowed the Illinois part of the park to get some Justice! I am glad that arcade, which we have too much of, is gone! It hopefully will open up more space and it means that the original queue building for Screaming Eagle is finally open again! One thing I noticed in the park that I was a bit upset about last year, was the removal of the freestyle machines. It was nice to get drinks in the park that they don’t even make in other forms!

The Seat Belt is on the end of the restraint. .it comes down and then clicks into the latch on the side. Tho it does seem really to be more of an afterthought. . perhaps to make riders feel a little safer. you can see it better in this pic from Saturday at the Passport to Thrills preview (I just pulled the restraint down for the picture, but not clicked in yet): as to the things embedded in the ground? those are the magnets that slide back and forth to engage on the arms and slow them down at the end of the ride - so it comes to a full stop very quickly. by comparison, on one ride (just after the above pic, actually), the ride faulted out during the cycle (bad reading from an empty seat) and the magnets did not engage. .and we slowly swung back and forth a good 60 seconds before coming to a complete stop. . . everyone got off a little green. .LOL But when it works properly, the magnets bring the arms to a stop pretty quickly. and it's kind of cool to see the magnets slide back and forth as the arms approach.

^ If you don’t plan on going anywhere else in the area besides Carowinds and the hotel, a taxi/Uber should suffice. If you’re planning to walk to nearby restaurants or other establishments, be aware that Carowinds Blvd does not have crosswalks and would not advise attempting to cross as it’s always a busy thoroughfare.

^I know you're joking but a lot of people online elsewhere have seriously said they think it will run at 75mph at Knoebels ha. All of them failed basic physics it seems. None were ever proven to go anywhere near that fast, older rides just always lied in marketing.

For anyone looking for the Jersiest thing to ever exist: lol

Adding a Bayern Kurve in 2023. This comes from the two they bought over the last couple years. One is from Fun Spot, IN and the other was in the carnval circuit traveling around the US and Europe.

Unnecessarily long lines for the same experience as you could have a week later for a fraction of the wait time. Plus the rest of the park will be equally swamped with the people who didn’t realize the Iron Gwazi line would be so bad. If you truly “must be first” you’ll need to plan to get to the parking lot early (several hours before park opening) and be prepared to wait in your car until the toll plazas open. There may be some gratification that comes from riding on opening day or being among the first, but ask yourself how much that is worth. The ride operated previously for employees in 2020 and has been doing passholder previews for weeks. You’ll be far from the first to ride. What can you expect from attending on opening day? A less enjoyable version of an enjoyable day at Busch Gardens a week to two weeks later.

^Agreed. My friends and I enjoyed trying some different cocktails at the Chocolatier but the food itself was quite meh.

totally missed it by a day this year, Bill Happy Belated!

If I'm already spending the money, and driving seven hours (or anything more than 50 minutes to SFSTL) I'll be damned if I'm not getting a skip-the-line pass. Although, you may be hard pressed to afford it with gas $4.00. Right up there with the FL+ and lodging increases. Try not to eat, or you'll be spending more there, too. Things are going swimmingly. But, Cedar Point raised their gate prices $10, so the world is ending and f*** all that other stuff.