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I would argue that point. A new Hyper would be in the 20 million range... Moving a Hyper, much much cheaper.

One more thing I want to do now that I've ridden every American B&M Hyper is rank them and also rank them based on what my wife calls them 1. Raging Bull, 2. Goliath, 3. Diamondback, 4. Nitro, 5. Thunder Striker, 6. Apollo's Chariot, 7. Mako, 8. Candymonium (if we're including gigas, Fury 325 would rank under Raging Bull and Orion would rank under Nitro for me). My wife is Nitro's #1 fan, so she calls each B&M Hyper the following: Bovine Nitro, Y'all Nitro, Snake Nitro, Nitro, Earnhardt Nitro (guess that needs a new one lol), Mythological Nitro, Shark Nitro, and Chocolate Nitro.

Day 12: Six Flags Darien Lake and then my ride home turned to shit The day started well enough, the weather turned to showery and cool which was a welcome change from the ridiculous heat and humidity of the past 7 days. Arrived at the park to a slowly building crowd due to an incoming Kesha concert. It was my first time at the park since 2003 when I was 12 and we did a CP trip when TTD opened. First stop was Tantrum which was about a 20 minute wait running 1 car (everything here only runs 1 train). Much smoother than Rock Bottom Plunge which I rode on Saturday, but the layout was extremely short and sort of meh. Lots of positive G's to start but that may be the shortest coaster I can think of. Moved over to Mind Eraser which was a station wait. Happy to see the new SLC trains. It tracked okay, some slight jackhammering but not terrible. Good enough ride. Next was Viper which was another station wait but it's a large, deep station that was pretty full, so about a 20 minute wait. Rode in row 2 and it's still a fun ride with a cool layout, but the entry to the boomerang and the corkscrews offered a few clocks to the jaw. Far from the worst Arrow I've ridden this trip! Continued along to the Motocoaster. About a 25 minute wait. Got the front row. This has a surprisingly punchy launch, TT2 would be jealous. The layout is lame and the bikes aren't the most comfortable things, but the kids must love this thing. Did the bizarre act of exiting the park through Darien Square just to re-enter a few hundred feet away, but headed over to Predator next, about 15 mins for back seat. This thing used to get lots of hate but they titan tracked the living crap out of it. Most of the ride is glass smooth now. The layout has a lot of fun drops and turns but I hate that the last leg before the turn into the station offers no good airtime hills, mostly just straight track. Final ride of the day and trip was Superman...err...Ride of Steel. 10 minute wait for row 2. Was nice to ride this with comfortable lapbars. Awesome ride to end the trip! Very enjoyable day. Between the weather, relatively uncrowded park, and the relaxed atmosphere (and the fact that NOTHING BROKE DOWN) it was a nice rebound from the Cedar Point shitshow. Shortly after leaving my battery light came on in my car. Took it to AutoZone in Rochester and it's the alternator. I need to be at work at 6:45am, so I had to rent a car at Rochester Airport and had my car towed to a garage which I then have to pick up when it's ready (likely after work tomorrow) so that's a fun added expense and a huge hit to getting a good night's sleep at home tonight before returning to work, should be home by 2:30. If this happened any other day on the trip it wouldn't have been a big deal at all. Might have put the nail in the coffin on my Wildwood trip in August.

I am heading there the weekend of Aug 15-17th. After missing out on Astroworld's closing 20 YEARS ago, I vowed not to miss out on any other park and coaster closings. On the flip side, not making a special trip to Six Flags America since I've been there 3X, and every visit was worse the prior one.

I stand corrected. Thanks for the info. I ,for one, do hope that something big will come SFSTL's way. If S:ROS is to be relocated then hopefully it will come to this park.

The next day at sea was a relaxing one with time spent in the ship's pools, and enjoying activities onboard. But the day was less important than the night because it was the always-anticipated Pirates Night onboard! Pirates in the Caribbean is a staple Disney Cruise Line offering across the fleet, and there's plenty to enjoy about it when experienced on the Disney Treasure... Some of my favorite art on the ship can be found along the side of Disney's Oceaneer Club. On the Disney Treasure (and the Disney Wish), guests can access the Disney On Demand content normally found on the stateroom TVs from their phones while connected to the ship's WIFI. Even better, this service is absolutely free! Watching a Muppets film during a Disney Cruise is kind of a tradition of ours at this point. Pirates Dinner is hosted in every rotational dining venue on Pirates Night. The samosa is one of my favorite items! The seafood pasta is my go-to entree during Pirates Dinner. Tia Dalma's Jerk Chicken is a great option for the less adventurous eaters. Can't forget dessert! What a delicious and refreshing ofrenda! Mickey & Minnie's Pirates in the Caribbean is the first of two entertainment experiences offered during Pirates Night! Mickey and the gang come out to teach guests how to serve as a proper pirate crew. The show is exceptionally cute! The show is interrupted by Captain Hook who arrives to put Mickey's new pirate crew to the test. A must visit! Another great towel animal! The second of the entertainment offerings during Pirates Night is the Pirate's Rockin' Parlay Party. Captain Redd and her pirate crew come out to sing and dance to rock and roll tunes. The show is a great time! And there's ;yro! Action shot! One of the highlights of a Disney Cruise for sure. But wait, there's more! Of course Captain Jack Sparrow arrives to kick off the fireworks. And it is quite a show, especially for one being performed live at sea. After Pirates Night activities ramped down, I snuck away to Hook's Barbery, a barbershop by day and a speakeasy bar at night... On this night I did the Premium Whiskey Reserve tasting experience. The five pours are well worth more than the $100 price of admission! Just outside the lounge is this awesome art piece inspired by Luca. And it is filled with lots of hidden details if you look closely enough! The night came to a close after this experience but there were still a few more nights ahead of us.

If they do decide to relocate S:ROS then I would definitely want to see it go to SFSTL. The park is in desperate need of a major new attraction, even if it's relocated from another park.

Um, what? CF has historically had NO issues relocating coasters. Off the top of my head: Stealth (CGA)->Nighthawk (CW) X-Flight (GL)->Firehawk (KI) Invertigo (CGA)->Stinger(DP) Dominator (GL)->Dominator(KD) Head Spin (GL)->Flying Cobras (CW) Steel Venom (GL)->Possessed (DP) Thunderhawk (GL)->Thunderhawk (MI) Most of those were relocations from a park they owned and closed (Geauga Lake) to other parks in the chain. There is no reason to think that moving a coaster from SFA to any other park is off the table for that reason. If anything, I'd say it's substantially cheaper to relocate an existing ride, especially given the current tariff situation going on.

Hoping to get back to the park (at least) one more time, before The PNE officially opens (Sat.Aug.16~11 am) That said here's a PNE Photo Blast from The Past .... Here's hoping Santa will be back, grillin' ribs during his "off season." (PNE 2023)

Nope--it's just part of your park admission.

Thanks, and yes other than Cedar Point and the ride home everything else went great! I don't totally blame Cedar Point for my bad days, I was getting tired and after being spoiled by all the wonderful little parks in the Midwest it was a bit of a harsh reality. Obviously I'll be back there sooner than later. But they definitely need to get their shit together on the maintenance end of things. Also thanks for the fun house recommendations, especially the one at Indiana Beach which I probably would not have even looked into. Don't really have the energy and patience to update my top lists anymore, but I decided to look back and categorize how some of the coasters on this trip feel to me. Wildly exceeded expectations: All American Triple Loop, Raging Bull, Hades, Zippin Pippin, Sirens Curse Met my pretty high expectations: Ravine Flyer, Shivering Timbers, Lost Coaster, Cornball Express, Wrath of Rakshasa, Viper, Cyclops, Renegade Disappointing compared to expectations: Goliath, X-Flight, Wild Thing, TT2 Flats/other things that were memorable: Flume, Fun Houses, and Larson tower at Waldameer; Frankenstein's Castle and the waterfront flats at Indiana Beach; Flumes and Sky Striker at SFGAm; Eli Bridge wheels at Little Amerricka and Bay Beach; Flume at MOA; and Scat at Bay Beach.

"Prominent" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. It's a mile and a half from the freeway in the middle of an industrial area. No one accidentally goes there.

There were a good amount of rowdy and obnoxious teens roaming around, so I wasn't sure if the policy was in effect or not. There were few lines, but I did see some bad behavior and line-jumping by kids that was clearly orchestrated by adults. There was a huge family milling around the NebulaZ ride, and the kids would get off one cycle, then adults standing in line would have them skip so they could jump right back on without having to wait. It seemed like had a system going, and ride ops were pretty checked out.

^ looking forwards to hanging out with ya Sat. Night at Fiesta!

Day 11: Cedar Point Today was somehow much, much worse than yesterday. Maybe part of it was bad luck. Some of it is just me getting tired after a long trip and the awful humidity. But I can assure you none of what I'm about to post is hyperbole, but rather exactly how my day went. I arrived a little before noon (despite wanting to be there early I just couldn't will myself out of bed after a late night last night, and I know it cost me a few rides this morning) really just with the goal of riding Gemini, Millennium Force, Steel Vengeance, and Sirens Curse and anything else would be a bonus. As posted earlier, all of those except Sirens Curse were closed when I parked. As I walked in, I figured I would start the day with something up front. However, Gatekeeper and Blue Streak both ended up going down right at that moment and Raptor and Valravn ended up with big lines. I checked the app again and noted that Gemini had opened, soni went over there. Just as I got to the station the ride went down. They sent a few test trains but then announced it might be a more significant delay, so after about 30 minutes I gave up. Another challenge on the way in was finding a place to get a drink. Every restaurant and refresh station on the Main Midway had a massive line. Finally came up on the Pretzel place near Magnum which has 4 machines and each one was out of any type of Powerade or Hi-C and only had soda which I didn't really want on a hot day. So after the failed Gemini attempt my Sprite and I went to Frontier Town which was much quieter and finally found Powerade at the refresh station back there. With Steel Vengeance still down for the count I hopped on the incoming train and set off for Millennium Force which had reopened by that point. App was showing a 40 minute wait, however I could tell upon arrival that it looked a good deal longer. Part of that was because Sirens Curse and TT2 had just gone down and an influx of folks hit the MF line. Luckily there would be no breakdowns here, but 3 minute dispatches and lots of Fastlane meant that posted 40 minute time ended up being 1:10. Rode in Row 2 and the ride was great as always. While in line, Sirens Curse came back up so I headed over there next. After about 15 minutes the ride went down. They sent a test train or two but then nothing for a bit and then they announced it could be over an hour before it reopened, so I got out of line after 45 minutes. I watched TT2 running from the line (however at that time, Gemini, Iron Dragon, Raptor, AND Valravn were all listed as down) and saw the app was posting a 40 minute wait so I headed there next. I got in line for about 30 minutes (and was still nowhere near the frontt of the line) and...you guessed it...the damn thing went down. I was getting pretty tired of it and got right out of line. Gemini was finally showing as back open but with a 30 minute line, which seemed like a lot but I wanted to make sure to ride it in case it's my last time on it. Figured out quickly why it had a 30 minute line...only running the left side. I think this was the first time I've ever waited more than a train or two for this thing. Anyway, I rode in back and had a fun time as usual. By then it was about 5:00 and I had accomplished riding 2 coasters all day! Had dinner in Frontier Town and noticed Steel Vengeance managed to get a train out to the midcourse but it was stuck there for a while, so I took the train again to the front afterwards. Longing for something more reliable, I got in line for Iron Dragon and was on in about 15 minutes. Another fun ride that I wanted to hit just in case. I was exhausted and wanted to get out of dodge at that point, but figured I could hit something up front on the way out. I headed down the boardwalk figuring I could finish up on Gatekeeper aaaand...stuck on the lift. So, I just gave up and headed out after that. Grand total of 3 coasters in 7 hours today. Between the horrible ride uptime and the awful humidity, it really was a terrible day. I had heard CP has been slipping in ride maintenance but I had no idea how bad it could be. I wanted to do so much more these past 2 days but it just wasn't meant to be. Three things are apparent to me after this stop at Cedar Point. First is not to put it into a long park trip. The park is way too big and tiring and after stopping by a ton of small uncrowded parks, it just feels that much bigger. 2nd is not to go during the summer. I've had great days there in May in the past and I think I want to return next spring to hopefully get some better days in. Even on weekdays the park is mobbed like most other parks only see on the weekend. It's Orlando park level crowds. The 3rd is that this park really sucks in the heat (more reason to go in May) as they just can't keep up with the crowds looking for drinks and A/C. Lots of unshaded areas and some of the longer lines under tarps are almost worse than standing in the sun. I actually thought Gemini has a nice line under some natural tree cover and it was much cooler over there than say Millennium Force and TT2 where they have covers but it just seems to hold the heat in. It's a brutal park when the sun is beating down and the humidity is sky high, more so than most other parks. Losing indoor restaurants like Melt and Chickie's & Pete's and not replacing them really hurts. They have multiple restaurants that could have indoor seating but instead just have massive mazes inside and then force you to outdoor tables. Just be forewarned if you're planning on going to CP this year that they're not close to firing on all cylinders. As for me, this trip wraps up with a quick pit stop at SFDL tomorrow. The Motocoaster and Eurofighter (and the SLC since it was closed last time I was there) will be new to me. It will be nice to ride Ride it Steel, Predator, and Viper for the first time in over 20 years.

These days I don't see how you do a new hyper under $25M. Not even a Chance hyper. Moving Superman could be half that.

The latest from that thread is "close to opening but still actively working on things." I realized that I could have said that in my other reply LOL.

Thanks John. I did see the website posting from the park. I've been hearing it's getting close to opening. When I check it out on "ride times" all it says is open. For the other major parks I go to this site the times have been accurate. Normally if it's open, there would be a time. I was just looking for someone that has been there or a local...

I understand that this is a huge pipedream, but SFA's Superman could fit well in this footprint. The Boxes represent the Helixes. And No it is not to scale, but there is plenty of wiggle room for it to fit.

I'm planning on going on a Saturday or Sunday, from what I've seen they started closing more of the park during the weekdays.

Yep, that's what I'm thinking. I did email the park and got the following non-answer answer: "The park hours are 11am-7pm on week days, then 11am-8pm on weekends. Our park won't be closing until November 2nd. That is subjected to change later in the summer." Love the disclaimer at the end!

A few weeks ago I had a chance to visit Universal Studios Florida and it gave me a chance to see a bit of the construction progress on the successor to Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit as well as checking out the park's offerings celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jaws. Construction on the new coaster is happening all around Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, despite that coaster still being in operation. Over in the San Francisco section of the park, a mini version of Amity had sprung up in honor of the 50th anniversary of Jaws. It was nice to see this iconic sign back up in the park. Featuring food booths inspired by the food locations that used to be found in the former Amity section of the park. Chez Alcatraz continues to serve up Jaws-inspired alcoholic beverages. There's a neat Amity Boat Tours photo ops featuring imagery from the former Jaws ride and at times, former Jaws skippers come out to perform the ride's spiels live for guests. The San Francisco Candy Company has received a temporary overlay to match the outside Jaws theme. Some former props from the film and former ride queue can be found in this display case. Eagle-eyed fans will notice this lanyard which was given out to riders on the final night of operation for Jaws at Universal Studios Florida. Theme Park Review was there on the final day of operation, filming two different POVs before the ride's closure. Props inspired by the former park land can be found throughout the shop. I love this poster! Fans of the ride will surely recommend these boathouse doors. There is even a neat 3-D map of the ride's layout and show scenes. The candy shop even has a few Jaws-inspired treats. Just totally normal theming... Totally normal. Amity Fried Chicken certainly brings back memories... Time to take the plunge... Geronimo. This trip report being posted two weeks later confirmed one thing... I lived. This was actually quite good. Another Amity throwback. But I passed on this menu. Shifting from one extinct attraction to a soon-to-be one... This view will be very different soon. I wonder if the firehouse will be restored once Rockit is removed. Artsy. A new resident from The Secret Life of Pets can now be found in the New York section of the park. Not long for this world. Going down... The non-inverting loop does have a neat silhouette. This fly-by turn has always been one of the coaster's better elements. Oh those ringy-ding-ding-a-lings. Only a few more weeks to Rockit. Outside the park, the path between Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure has become a city of walls while preparation is under way for the new coaster. On my way out I noticed that the Hemisphere Dancer, the famous plane once belonging to Jimmy Buffett had been restored and placed back at its home at the Lone Palm Airport bar. Apparently this was the bar's grand reopening. A little bit of backstory to close out this report...

Guests were quite good actually. I think the chaperone policy helps. I was just at Canada’s Wonderland before this trip and the amount of kids/teens line jumping is frustrating. Wonderland needs that policy too. Employees were good for the most part. Not a whole lot of effort put into filling trains (sending superman out with only 2 people in a row when you’re down to 1 train and an hour wait is hard to watch), but they all seemed to have a good hustle, especially for how hot it was.

I visited Six Flags Great America for the first time this week. I haven’t posted here in a long time but my flight home is currently delayed so I decided to write up a trip report. My home park is CW and I don’t have a lot of parks under my belt, but SFGAm has been close to the top of my bucket list with a strong line up of coasters. Overall, I was very impressed by the park. I was surprised that the park didn’t have a bigger footprint, as they cram a lot of rides into this park. This park has such a strong lineup of quality roller coasters. Unfortunately, Maxx Force was closed while I was there (rumor is it’s closed for the rest of the season?) however I was able to ride everything else. It was extremely hot while I was there and I don’t know if that kept crowds down a bit but it wasn’t crazy busy. Wrath of Rakshasa - This is a phenomenal dive coaster. I only have Yukon Striker & Valravn to compare it to, but it reminds me of a mini Yukon Striker. My biggest complaint about Valravn is how it hits the MCBR so early. Wrath hauls through its entire layout, and really whips you through the entire ride. Maybe a little shaking in the outside seats, but minor in my opinion. This is a slam dunk and I love how the queue and midway interact with the entire ride. The unique theming incorporated with this ride is a very nice touch too. Demon - A fun, classic Arrow looper. I love the vertical loops of an Arrow looper. I wish the lights in the tunnel were working. It’s a minor complaint, but I always think it makes a park seem cheap when there is an obvious feature of a ride that doesn’t work. Whizzer - My first time riding this type of roller coaster, and it was great! It’s obviously a great family roller coaster and has a nice setting as well. Superman - This was my first B&M flyer. I loved the pretzel roll, but besides that it doesn’t do a whole lot. They were only running 1 train and weren’t honouring Flash Pass on it (I paid for Ultimate so this rubbed me the wrong way with Maxx Force already closed as well). I can’t wait to try Manta & Tatsu after riding this. The Dark Knight - A fun wild mouse indoors. I wasn’t sure exactly what the layout was going in so it was fun to experience it in the dark. Families seemed to love this ride. Joker - This was a lot of fun, and spun more than I thought based on some reviews I had read. A short ride but fun when there’s not a line. Batman - My first of the Batman clones, and this lives up to the hype. One train operation which wasn’t great when it had a bit of a line. The inside queue before the station was a million degrees. Mix in the red lights and fake smoke, and it felt like you were being cooked. Even the station was warm enough, at least they had fans for the employees working in there. V2 - This was down for a lot of the day but I got lucky and it opened up as I was walking by. This was my first impulse and I really enjoyed it. The accelerating backwards is a lot of fun, which makes me want to get back to CP to try TT2. Aqua man - It was crazy hot while I was here. I jumped on to cool down and it was a fun ride and got myself more soaked than I was expecting which felt good when it was so hot out. For a park that seems to be lacking space, these water rides do seem to take up a lot of valuable real estate. I wouldn’t be shocked if this gets tore down someday for a new coaster, especially when they make people pay a separate admission to enter Hurricane Harbor. Goliath - An awesome RMC! I had pretty high expectations for this ride, and it delivered. Such a short ride it seems when you’re hauling through the course, but the airtime is great and the hang time is even better. American Eagle - A fun classic coaster, I got some night rides which were a lot of fun. I love that you have to walk a mile in the queue to get back to it. They were running both sides but not racing them unfortunately. (Side note while I’m talking about this area, the kids section back here was extremely depressing looking. It looks like they just threw some rides in an old theatre, and it looks like a haunted house is just left there permanently? This back section of the park could use a re-vamp if they were going to fix an area of the park up.) Sky Striker - My home park is CW, and this blows Psyclone away as this thing was running such a long cycle with so many full swings back and forth. The light package on it is amazing as well. It held a good line and was clearly one of the most popular rides in the park. X-Flight - A solid wing coaster, felt like a smaller Gatekeeper. It doesn’t really fit the County Fair theme (does any ride in this area?) but the flight theme for X-Flight itself was executed well for Six Flags with near-misses and landscaping. Justice League - This was a better interactive ride than I was expecting. The end scenes where you are racing through the city actually feel like you’re moving if you only focus on the screen. The air conditioning felt so good too on a hot day. Raging Bull - This thing is awesome. The airtime you get in the back was way better than I was expecting. The queue and overall theming of this entire area is very well done. Viper - I was very surprised at how good this was. I was expecting a rough old wooden coaster, but it delivered a great ride. Again, the ride’s little bit of theming in this area is great too. (While I’m talking about this area, the six flags app is not great. For some reason it was calling my home park “Six Flags Over Texas” and when you get close to Hurricane Harbor it kicks you out of Great America and shows you Hurricane Harbor instead). Overall, besides the one-train operations on Batman and Superman (and Maxx Force being closed) I was very impressed by this park. I see a lot of potential that the merger could bring (landscaping, consistent theming and ride ops could be slightly better compared to my home park of CW) but this is a park with several quality roller coasters that I’m glad to have had the chance to visit. (I attached a few quick pics I snapped as well).

We had a fantastic time. Thanks for asking. I took a ton of photos for a TR. I just haven't gotten around to it, yet.

Six Flags has quietly announced the name and theme of the park's new family boomerang coaster, Speedway Stunt Coaster! This new attraction is slated to open in 2026!

ZDT's Amusement Park has announced that they will close after 18 years of operation. The park's final day of operation will be August 17th, 2025. The park's assets including its attractions have been put up for sale and the property's buildings will be open to lease. https://www.zdtamusement.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopCy3KOGA8Zkl7N6nUXQuPLbdESJunZrKF4EKPkSUP2wsIooQmV Thank You for 18 Amazing Years! ZDT’s Final Season Ends August 17, 2025 For more than 18 years, we’ve had the privilege of filling your days with smiles, thrills, and unforgettable memories. After much consideration, we’ve made the difficult decision to close ZDT’s Amusement Park. Our last day of operation will be Sunday, August 17, 2025. We would love to see you one more time before the gates close. If you’ve been holding on to ZDT’s gift cards or "any day" tickets, please plan to redeem them before that date. Current members: Keep an eye on your inbox—we sent an email explaining how memberships will be handled going forward. Thank you for making ZDT’s part of your story. We truly couldn’t have done it without you. Hope to see you around the park, The ZDT’s Team