coasterbill

This holds true for pretty much every park. Those things are insane.

This depends on the park more than anything. While it happens everywhere theming is usually maintained at parks like Dollywood, Silver Dollar City, Universal and Disney. At Six Flags whenever a new ride is announced with cool theming in my head I'm trying to guess how long it's actually going to last before it breaks and they never fix it.

It's pretty exciting that they're already teasing 2015... it must be something big. Every thing Knoebels does ends up being awesome (even if it takes almost a decade) so whatever it is will probably be great.

Flying Eagles is on Fastlane and the line gets really long so I guess it makes sense. They probably figured they'd throw in a family ride so it appeals to families and enthusiasts and they probably picked that one because pretty much every age group enjoys it (including the enthusiasts).

I totally agree with you here. I loved Laser and always liked it's paint job too. Too bad Dorney got rid of it. In all seriousness it kind of depends but if I had to choose I'd probably pick the insane-airtime filled ride. Most of my top coasters fall into this category. That being said even with over 200 coasters under my belt Mystery Mine is in my top 10, and without the theming that ride might not even break the top 100 so I love themed coasters too. I'm in the minority but Mystery Mine might be my favorite coaster at Dollywood (even though they're all exceptional). I'm blown away by the theming on that ride... I'd expect it from Disney or Universal but not from a regional park. Obviously that's just one example of a themed coaster but it's the one that stands out to me.

You're right, but if you interviewed Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Derek Jeter, Kobe Bryant, Henrik Lundqvist or Robinson Cano right after they made a game winning play they wouldn't act like that. When you're a professional and you get paid to compete at the highest level then you should act like you're a professional. I've heard this a lot and it's infuriating. No matter what the race of the player was people would have a serious problem with anyone acting like that. This is not a racial issue. Just because someone is a certain race and many of the people criticizing him are of a different race doesn't make the people criticizing that person racist. That's ridiculous. America loves a good racial special interest story (Paula Deen, Don Imus, Reverend Wright) but the fact that people look for racism in every story when it usually doesn't exist and jump on everyone and everything they think might be racist forces people to be overly cautious when publicly speaking of or to people of a different race. Ironically this is probably the biggest thing keeping race relevant because it really shouldn't be anymore.

^ Knoebels does have Wipeout over by Fandango so they're not lacking in the Trabant department.

I don't think it's totally an age thing. I'm 25 and I think he's a jerk. Then again I'm really more of a baseball and hockey fan than a football fan in those sports the culture is much different. Baseball is all about "unwritten rules" and "respect for the game" (two terms that are used ad nauseum with baseball) and while there is a little more showmanship in hockey it's still nothing compared to what goes on in the NFL after every play regardless of the score or situation. I know comparing baseball to football is like comparing apples to oranges but when the importance of these unwritten rules is drilled into your head every minute of every day in MLB you can't help but feel like every sport should be the same way since the justifications for these unwritten rules apply to every sport. For example... it's an unwritten rule that you should never show up your opponent. Not only is it unprofessional but it gives them extra incentive to beat you. There's nothing to gain from doing it and a lot to lose (you give your opponents something to pin up in the locker room and you look like a jerk). It's also an unwritten rule that when you're being interviewed you need to be humble. Praise the opponent, talk about how "you were in the right place at the right time and you're glad you got the opportunity to help your team win" or something like that. It makes for some boring interviews but it also prevents huge news stories like this that make you and your team look bad. A lot of football players who are more conscious of the fact that they're representing themselves, their team and their brand understand this too and follow the same formula. You won't see Tom Brady or Peyton Manning acting like Richard Sherman did. This shouldn't be the case but unfortunately professional athletes are considered role models for kids. I understand there is a lot of raw emotion in sports but players need to be conscious of this. I'm not excusing this because most professional athletes are terrible role models and it is the job of parents to explain this but it doesn't change the fact that as crazy as it is these players still end up being role models. It comes with the territory.

Obviously we don't see the numbers so it's hard to tell, but are the crowds halfway decent or is the place pretty much deserted?

I remember riding Fahrenheit for the first time. That drop scared the bejeezus out of me! Off topic but even though I want to like Farenheit it does nothing for me at all. Besides the lift and first drop it's kind of a snooze fest. Is it just me?

If it's on RCDB then I consider it a coaster... that's good enough for me but then again I'm a filthy whore.

I dont really think they'd re-theme the ride, but just an interesting question to ask. I can't seem to shake the jet theme since its all I've known. I tend to agree, I think a "Jets" theme would be way better than a "49ers" theme.

Out of curiosity how have the offseason crowds been since the park switched to year-round operation? Does this seem to be a hit or is it too early to tell?

If this happened I'd move to Elysburg and never leave.

^ Looks like it to me. It looks like they can finish this up either today or tomorrow at the rate they're going.

That's the thing... it's really not worse in NY this year. We're getting a decent amount of snow but it looks like it's snowing every single day on the KI webcam.

I've had this same thought. While it sounds like all of the plans for Playland point towards keeping the Derby Racer if any of those plans fall through or if they don't prove to be profitable I would love to see Knoebels buy that ride. Then again I hope this never becomes necessary as I'd like Playland to stick around for a long time.

This looks great. Personally I hate X2 but love the concept of X2 (if that makes any sense). It's too jerky to be enjoyable which is a shame because it's such a great idea. I've been hoping for a similar concept to X2 with better execution for a long time and I'm really excited to see that we might finally have it in the works.

It looks like it's snowing again. Is this normal for the Cincinnati area? They're much further south than we are in New York but they're getting punished this year with snow.

I'll probably head out there to ride this and pick up a credit but I really wish they would have gone with something less terrible.

Okay I'm loving this. I'm assuming Club TPR is considered a "recognized roller coaster club" for the Millennium Force walkback right?

I never understood why the lift was red but it's nice to see it getting some new paint.

Not major news but it's nice to see... it was pretty insane that a building that looked like this. Didn't serve ice cream. Then again it's Great Adventure, the same place where this stand didn't serve hot dogs. Courtesy of Great Adventure History

Good for you, I'm doing the same thing. We're heading to Orlando on Vacation next month and added Sea World to our itinerary specifically because of this Blackfish thing. They need our support. There's nothing wrong with running a for-profit business where you have animals that are treated exceptionally well and would never survive in the wild anyway... especially when you spend a ton of money and time (that you're not obligated to spend) with conservation efforts. Also, Sea World is helping animals indirectly by teaching children about the power of nature and giving them an appreciation for these animals which may inspire them to help animals in the future (even if it's something as simple as not littering on the beach). This may sound ridiculous but it's really not. Baba Dioum said it best...

I actually enjoy Silver Bullet (I love every B&M invert) but it's not one of my favorites. The only memorable thing about it is the turn before the cobra roll.