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Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/10/2021 in all areas

  1. This is a pointless argument, go back to complaining about Mystery Mine's new track or something.
    5 points
  2. Kennywood had a sweepstakes contest for the Jack Rabbit's 100th anniversary last year with 100 winners of a season pass. They postponed the party to this year, but it finally happened yesterday, Opening Day. Since I was one of the winners, we got to enter the park early for an hour of ERT. Of course, Kennywood really took a nosedive this past offseason with the removal of four rides. But the rest of the park is not even close to being up to standard. Steel Curtain apparently valleyed, despite being hyped up by the park to be ready for opening day. You could see one of the trains in pieces from the Jack Rabbit (along with pieces from the Paratrooper). Black Widow is also now officially in its third season of being closed. The third train on Thunderbolt is gone and isn't coming back because they built a fence around where it was kept on the transfer track. They never used three trains at once but just kept a spare like the Jack Rabbit, which also has three. I'm hoping that they'll still run two in the future, but on Opening Day, just one was being used. Phantom was on one train too. Shocking, right? You can see how they're filling every row, which is done now on every coaster. Alright, here's the four pictures you might be interested in! You could mistake the Volcano as just being down for the day if you didn't look too closely. The social distancing markers are even still in the queue line. The most depressing fence in the world took the place of Bayern Kurve. I heard that it may have been sold to California's Great America for parts (not to Knoebels for parts). Paratrooper had some trees planted on its plot. But I was glad to see that the door still may be open to a return of the Kangaroo. Like the Volcano, the control system, operator booth, and queue line all still exist. If the park has a profitable summer, I think it could come back in the future. I mean, If you look at the Kennywood Facebook page, literally every post - 6 months after its removal was announced - has at least one troll saying KANGAROO or whatever. The simple move of bringing this one ride back would get them so much good publicity and would make people forget about the other three ride removals. Along with Racer (my favorite KW coaster - weird, I know) the Old Mill is one of my favorite rides in the park even though it's a low-budget retheme. At the complimentary lunch in the pavilion next to the Jack Rabbit, there was a trivia contest, and I was very happy to win an old decorative piece from one of the trains for answering a nerdy question. Crowds were high all day, but I wonder how many of these people are just using their free passes from last year (like me). I would guess that they made up the majority of people visiting. Not the best of times at the park, but at the end of the day, I can't complain about a free season pass and a free lunch!
    4 points
  3. I think the 'Intamin rides are unreliable' trope is generally pretty outdated now, just like when people say 'Vekoma rides are rough'. People judge Intamin's reliability on rides like TTD, just like people judge Vekoma's smoothness on their SLCs. Hagrids was a mess, but the opening of that was really rushed and honestly with seven launches, three (?) switch tracks, two drop tracks (and a partridge in a pear tree) it is maybe the most technologically advanced coaster in the world, especially when you factor in the number of trains, conveyor loading etc too. Air at Alton Towers was hilariously unreliable in the first year and that's B&M (which, like many Intamin rides was a world first full of technology).
    3 points
  4. Living in KCMO and only having ridden USA coasters, I feel disadvantaged here. At the same time, all my flights are short, so....
    3 points
  5. I'm assuming you know that the unlimited pass is really expensive for what you get. It was $130 in 2019. I saw some people using it last weekend but don't know any details. You have a sheet of paper which the ride op has to sign, holding up the line for everyone while they walk across the train to fill out their name, birthday, and favorite color. Only if you're lucky will they then open the queue gates.
    2 points
  6. This Saturday marked the day when Belgium finally started to open back up - Bars/Restaurants for outdoor seating, theme parks, etc. I met up with a friend in Brussels to his favorite bar Dynamo and one of my favorite bars - Moeder Lambic. It started a little rainy, but ended up being a great day to finally enjoy beer in terraces! Moeder lambic original in Saint-Gilles Brussels. First draft Cantillon Kriek I've had in brussels in almost two years! Can't go to Moeder lambic without getting a vintage bottle of Cantillon. Cantillon Gueuze with 7+ years is always beautiful. Alright, on to Walibi! Sunday morning I hopped on the train down to my new home park From where I'm living in Leuven, it's a whopping 20 minute ride! After processing my season pass, I headed straight to the back of the park to Kondaa. It was a bit cloudy early, with a little rain in the afternoon, but the sun came out for bits later. Entrance plaza. They did a pretty good job with the theming. It's no Taron, but it's more than good enough. The coaster definitely 'pops' visually. The outer banked turn delivers. I have only ridden a few RMC, but the airtime I would associate with this kind of element is more lateral airtime (with respect to seat position), where as this turn, the airtime is still perpendicular to the seat, while going through the banked turn. And it's straight ejector air the entire turn. It's killer. Of course the first drop reminded me a lot of Expedition GeForce, however I think this is slightly more forceful, especially in the back, as the train hauls up the lift hill. The first airtime hill is classic Intamin, a good 3-4 seconds of sustained ejector air. This hill did have a decent pop of airtime These final three mini-hops left me wanting more. They definitely delivered floater airtime. I just would rather one or two classic ejector bunny hops. Theming was plentiful. The station was pretty intricate with a lot of stuff hanging from the ceilings and there was intense tribal drum music being played. It was a good atmosphere. My Thoughts: I still don't completely have my head wrapped around the non-inverting cobra roll, I feel like it acts a bit differently depending on where in the train you are. The transitions are really smooth and I think there's a little floater airtime as you hit the peaks. Interesting element, but I'm not sure I'm completely sold, however it definitely is better than a regular cobra roll, and I'm probably just nitpicking.The following turns and airtime hills are really really good. In general, all the valleys and turns pull pretty strong positive g's. I was slightly underwhelmed by the finish. Basically from the double-down kinda of thing until the break run, there are all these quick little elements. The train is still flying through here, however none of the transitions are as sharp and forceful as Taron, nor is there really any ejector air from here out, it's mostly floater air. It could also just be it still isn't running as fast as it will once the weather warms up, I imagine just a slight increase could dramatically increase the airtime. I guess my issue is I prefer the 'basic' ejector bunny hops you get on Expedition Geforce to the quick-punch elements in general. Kondaa absolutely blows Taron out of the water though. The claim was also '15 moments of airtime', which I guess isn't inaccurate. However, I'd count it closer to 11 or 12 moments, but that's in my 'ejector air fanboy' opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. There were a few moments I thought might be a tiny bit of floater air, but like hall of fame voting, if I have to think and don't immediately go 'Holy Sh*t! Airtime', I don't consider it airtime . I got maybe 7 or 8 rides in, a few in the back, middle, and 2 in the 2nd row. Hard to say yet if I prefer front or back, the first drop is insane on the back, but I think maybe the finale is better in the front. I was also really REALLY impressed with just how good the middle-of-the-train rides are. My first ride I got stuck like dead center and was pleasantly surprised that the thing was still really intense, that usually isn't my experience. All in all, I think it challenges Expedition GeForce as my favorite steel coaster (and maybe overall). GeForce was my favorite coaster in Europe I'll need to wait to get to ride Untamed (hopefully) later this summer, but I think Kondaa makes a very strong case. And GeForce is a hard one to unseat as it's exactly my ideal kind of coaster and I finally got to ride it two years ago, after almost a 2 decade wait, so it isn't entire objective. I think I'll just need to make another trip out to Holiday Park to compare again. But then we do have the issue of reliability with Intamin.... I spent about half the day at Kondaa and the ride went down 3 separate times, each time requiring evacing a train from the brake run and walking up the lift (manual override?). It appeared there was a sensor issue that was causing the train to sometimes stop before clearing the first break run (at least I think). I get it's opening weekend of a new ride, but 3 times is a bit much... I thought ops did a pretty solid job. Two trains with very little stacking. More often than not, the train was heading up the lift as soon as the other hit the break run. There is also a single rider line, however they had it closed today. After a few hours at Kondaa, I headed to checkout the rest of the park and get the 'credits' Next up was Tiki-Waka, just on the other side of Kondaa. Kinda fun Gerstlauer, but nothing too exciting. Theming in the section was alright. Definitely a 'premium' Six Flags kinda vibe, without the stupid marvel branding and adverts. Then I headed to Calamity Mine, which was a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting much, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable mine train. Again, not at the level of the mine train at Phatasialand, but still pretty good theming. You actually can get a little wet here! Don't think I've seen this on a mine train before. Great view of Kondaa's non-inverting Cobra roll from the station and viewing platform above. Then it was time to actually get wet on Pulsar! (I didn't actually get very wet, I got the lucky seat ) This was my first water coaster like this, I found the launch and forward/backward idea pretty cool and unique, though I probably would prefer a more traditional style with more theming. The next three credits were all about getting them over with and surviving . Vekoma woodie, SLC, and boomerang. Worst trio ever? I don't think there are any real good ways to get photos of Loop-Garou. I must say, I was actually a bit pleasantly surprised by Loup-Garou. I was expecting a suffer fest with a boring layout, but it actually ended up being not 'that' rough (of course it had it's Vekoma moments...) and the layout was much more interesting. I would actually ride this again, something I usually wouldn't ever say about a Vekoma woodie. That said, this would be a perfect RMC project.... .... .... Next is arguably my least favorite roller coaster of all time - the dreaded SLC! Vampire at least had some theming and very nice gardening and flowers, it looked way better than the typical parking-lot theming SLCs get. As I was approaching, I was praying it had the vest style harnesses.... nope, the old sh*tty restraints. Oh well. I found the first half actually not too rough, the second half was typical jerky though. Needless to say, I have no desire to ride this again. Last of the crappy credit trio Cobra. Another problem with boomerangs, they almost always have similar crappy theming. I forgot to take any photos of Psyké Underground, but I thought the theming was OK. I hadn't ridden a Schwarzkopf shuttle looper in maybe over 2 decades and I think this was the first with any real theming. I look forward to venturing down to Walibi on a semi-regular basis and see how Kondaa continues to grow on me. Not having ridden a decent coaster in over two years prior to yesterday makes it hard to judge Kondaa without recent reference points. I would say the rest of the park isn't really trip worthy, but Kondaa alone lives up to the hype and make Walibi Belgium a must visit.
    2 points
  7. Yep. I'm sorry to offend anyone in denial, but our area is a shithole. It just is. It's surprising we have as good of a park as we do. If SFSTL was a true reflection of our greater metropolitan area, the entirety of it would look how it does around Superman. (Imagine living in the STL metro area combined with being an Illinois resident. FML)
    2 points
  8. Thanks for the report. I'm still surprised they haven't RMC'd The Boss yet, it certainly must be high on the list but I just don't think corporate seems to care a lot about this park right now.
    2 points
  9. Two trains are on Sky Rocket now! (Sorry for the troll post.) There was some major maintenance issue with the second train last year.
    1 point
  10. In case anyone was wondering... from a population stance St. Louis is not a great bet. Above is STL metro population. It appears to be growing for the most part, but let’s compare to KCMO across the state: Notice how the population growth remains positive? Now let’s compare to NW Arkansas: In an economic sense, STL is not very investable right now. There are areas with much more potential nearby.
    1 point
  11. Yeah, I’ve found references to 2019 pricing… I was looking at the standard (non-unlimited) option that looked closer to $50 but I’ve found mixed references to it having assigned times for each ride. We’re stopping at Kennywood (for our first time) for 4-6 hours before driving to Hershey, so I’m just trying to figure out an economical way to experience the best of in the park that works for our schedule.
    1 point
  12. Yep, the 10:30/11 thing has been the norm for as long as I can remember.
    1 point
  13. Oh I remember those days. Was one of the first to get on Kingda Ka aka a few of us took a day off school to go haha bragged so hard how we waited 3 hours for it. Now 45 mins (depending on the ride, some are lower) and I want to die XD But glad to hear all the positive reviews! Absolutely stoked to visit, (still need to try Hargrids as well!) Yeah to Bill and Elissa and I agree, I almost always prefer an Intamin even when it does have reliability issues which I'll concur seem a bit overhyped, but still they just are better rides than most B&Ms so yeah, gimme an Intamin any day!
    1 point
  14. Great report! Although, I don't think I'd complain too much about a few short breakdowns of a giant new Intamin on opening day. That seems like par for the course! Especially after the year we've had!
    1 point
  15. Surprised no one has mentioned the very obvious, that removing Grizzly Run is an obvious indicator for an "rMc RaPtOr 2 b InStalLeD!!1!!!" It's an obvious clue. I guess the enthusiast community is being lazy now... Personally, I just hope any cost savings this brings can allow the park to acquire second trains for the coasters they do have.. but that's a crack pipe dream too.
    1 point
  16. Hi everyone ! I created a chrome extension : Coaster Credits Counter This extension will help you count your coaster credits,everything will be synced to all your devices as long as you are connected. Adds a button on rcdb website to help you count the coasters that you have ridden ! This extension can : Keep track of the coasters you've been on Export your list in a text file Import a list (in case you erased your browser settings) Remove coasters from the list When list is saved it is synced with all your other devices (as long as you are connected) Display a level depending on how many coasters you have ridden (there are 25 levels have fun !)
    1 point
  17. Hi Valenz - Thanks for your contribution! However, your post violates the TPR Terms of Service: I've left the thread intact but I've removed your links. Please contribute to the forum! We don't know much about who you are. Thanks!
    1 point
  18. Yep--you have me beat by a little over 100 miles.
    1 point
  19. Probably Diamond Python at Merimbula's Magic Mountain in Australia. It's a little less than 10,000 miles from Williamsburg.
    1 point
  20. 1 point
  21. Thanks for the report, hopefully they at least get all of their current rides operating soon.
    1 point
  22. West Coaster at the Santa Monica Pier - Total distance: 2,147.37 mi (3,455.86 km) (from Erie PA)
    1 point
  23. I am not sure I hear the boo-hoo-ing going on here. This park is still great, and it will continue to be as the improvements come. St. Louis is a stagnant market, the improvements will meet the demand. Be happy you don’t live near Worlds of Fun like me!
    1 point
  24. Corporate doesn't care about our park. That's a simple fact. Corporate neglected the park with simple maintenance for years and it turned people away, and since then people would rather go to holiday world, or six flags great America. Which is unfortunate for those of us who really care about the park.
    1 point
  25. Made it to the park yesterday with my husband for the first time in many years. I don't recall when it last was, but my best guess is 2014 because Boomerang was in but not Fireball or Spinsanity. That said, I used to frequent this park and had a season pass in the 2007-2010 timeframe. The main reason for visiting was to activate our season passes for 2021, which we got for $50 with parking included. We arrived at the park around 2:30 pm. The new sign is not impressive. That is all. The new front entrance was very nice, but the season pass processing was even nicer. How long have you not had to go to member services to activate your pass? I was very impressed that our pictures were taken at the gate and we were handed our season passes immediately as we walked in. It didn't take long to realize it was dead at the park. Since we already had our passes, we figured we would ride a few rides. A nice cool day with rain potentially in the forecast kept crowds low. We immediately walked right onto Batman. The new queue cut-through is smaller than I thought, but it will still be nice. Batman has so much reserve queue available it needed a shortcut. The dividers in Batman's queue were the only ones with plexiglass, all of the others were still little caves. This is new to me, but it had a line and we were not about lines today. My husband used to work in this pizza place before we knew each other. Now it is another boarded up building in the Screamin' Eagle area. Along with this (Superman is in the background here). And all of this. And all of this. Hopefully Catwoman revamps this area. Eagle was a walk-on though and it still holds its place! There might be people here. I see you former double helix! Boss was open, as was pretty much everything (including Excalibur and Thunder River). I have to say, I love Boss and always have, but it has gotten BRUTAL. I LOVE THE BOSS. The layout is the best of the best, as are the elements. The airtime and laterals are still strong, but the jackhammering is just too much. The MCBR doesn't kill the speed as much as I thought it would, but the ride is just too rough. Something has got to give. Even the new helix was terrible. Supergirl was fun and has a great lighting package. Some new wood in the Boss queue. Boss had the cave theme going on too. Headache ensued after this picture. The former Catwoman area. Anyone know what they are doing with the go karts now? We went to Mr. Freeze after this, then American Thunder. Both were fantastic. I think American Thunder might be my favorite GCI I have ridden still to this day. Great airtime today. And the only ride of the day with a significant line goes to DC blaster masters or whatever it is these days. I didn't ride Scooby Doo for years because the line was always long, I guess this one will be the same. Dark rides aren't my thing anyways. Overall we spent about 2 hours at the park and got to ride everything we wanted and more. Off to new parks we haven't been to we go!
    1 point
  26. Actually after the dive show it became the Robin Hood Show (Sherwood Forest Theater) and then replaced by Pandemonium
    1 point
  27. I really liked the Bluegrass covers played throughout Silver Dollar City. Companies should never put profits first. Shame.
    1 point
  28. ^Fixed! Oh, and I may be able to win this one! Offhand my guess would be the time I rode the mall roller coaster in Adelaide, Australia when I lived in Sarasota, FL. Total distance: 9,992.86 mi (16,081.95 km)
    1 point
  29. Everland have announced the water park will finally reopen May 21st after being closed down in August last year due to corona, although the park will have a reservation only system in place for the foreseeable future. They've also announced the new Safari World (same ride, jeeps and trailers instead of the buses) will open May 14th. The park has virtual queues that they allocate to the rides depending on the day and how busy it is so I probably won't be heading out to ride anytime soon. Wednesday was Children's day, one of the busiest holidays for Everland, and some virtual queues had 4 hour waits... if you could even join them, with the most popular rides selling out 20 minutes after opening and all of the rides operating them booked up by lunch leaving most people having to wait until 3PM when the real lines opened up.
    1 point
  30. Oh for goodness' sake. Herschend is not going to change anything about the freaking music because family / gospel stuff is their brand. Dollywood especially has successfully toed the line in making their religious values known, but not so in-your-face that it is alienating. I really don't see that changing, especially considering that mindset is anchored in tradition.
    1 point
  31. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you and all the "little things" the park is doing. They can definitely improve a day. Just the way it was being hyped and all "Don't wanna spoil it," I was expecting something bigger, like what I'm about to respond to @Danrarbcabout. It's not even about new rides...personally, if I frequented any SF park, I'd be clamoring for them to do something about the horrific food service experiences before any kind of prettying up of the park. But maybe that's just me.
    1 point
  32. Hallelujah! I ran back and forth like an idiot last year getting line tickets while my son marathoned SV. Although I am not sure we will make it up there until October this year due to several other trips planned but we are intending to go for a weekend to do Halloweekends never having done CP at that time.
    1 point
  33. Cedar Point No Longer Requiring Face Masks -Face maks no longer required on rides, though it is still recommended -Temperature checks for guests have been discontinued. -Health-screen questionnaires will be conducted at entrance gates, not through the Cedar Point mobile app. Also Cedar Point said face coverings would still be required while guests are indoors, unless actively eating or drinking. “In addition to continued guidance from health professionals, none of our rides are long enough to meet the criteria that’s been established by the CDC as consistent exposure,” -Tony Clark
    1 point
  34. I forgot about the ferris wheel. Luckily, she's considered advanced in her observational skills and attention span. That makes it fun to see her actually pay attention to things and interact with her, instead of just being constantly on the move. She'd love the ferris wheel.
    1 point
  35. I'd honestly be more desirous of going if this were an upcharge day.
    1 point
  36. Maybe they need placement Logs for the ride? it is 50 years old
    1 point
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