coasterbill

It does? Is it as horrible as it sounds? Wow I got a headache just thinking about it.

I agree that the logical thing to do would be to wait until we ride it to speculate, but then this board would be kind of dead in the offseason. Speculation is kind of necessary.

The more I look at this the more I think there's absolutely no way this thing is going to be forceful. Every element is long and drawn out. It looks like it's going to be fun (I'm actually a fan of some of the "less intense" inverts like Silver Bullet even though other inverts are much better) but I can't see this on the same level as rides like Batman and Raptor. Then again, you never know until you ride it.

I know everyone complains about single-side loading and unloading but I haven't seen any mention of the Wingriders. Gatekeeper for example beat the numbers of every other coaster at Cedar Point this year by a mile, and they got those trains in and out incredibly quickly. I understand why flush loading is more convenient, but does it really make THAT big of a difference? I know Cedar Point's numbers aren't entirely based on capacity and popularity / up-time plays a part too but for Gatekeeper to handily beat Raptor's numbers the way it did is impressive, and Gatekeeper is load / unload on the same side for obvious reasons. I've never operated a coaster so I'm just speaking from my own personal observations. I'd love to hear from someone who has a little more knowledge on this about how much of an issue this really is.

In 2008, both Laser and Possessed (then Voodoo) operated at the same time. Stinger was built in Laser's spot a few years after laser was removed.

Podcasts Always In the Loop The Opie and Anthony Podcast Depending on the Episode CoasterRadio.com (Too much Disney on this one, so I generally avoid the Disney episodes, it gets repetitive) Season Pass (I look through the interviews and listen to the ones with interesting guests / parks). Radio Shows Opie and Anthony (XM / Sirius) Boomer and Carton (WFAN NY) Michael Kay Show (ESPN Radio NY) Thanks to Opie and Anthony I despise almost every radio jock (if you ever listen to their "Jocktober" shows you'll hate them too) so I either stick to satellite radio, sports talk or stations that just play music (with Jack FM in Los Angeles being my favorite).

Laser for Stinger really is the biggest downgrade I can think of at any park in recent memory. Laser was easily the 2nd best coaster in the park after Talon... Stinger is the worst coaster in the park. Plus, every coaster at Dorney is pretty much forceless (even Talon which I like) and Laser was incredibly intense. In addition to that Laser was extremely reliable and Stinger routinely valleys and strands riders for hours at a time. Plus on opening day this year they had to run it with half of the train full of water dummies so they were only loading a maximum of 12 people per cycle and it was STILL a walk on.

Wild Eagle at Smoky Mountain Christmas.

Spoken like someone who hasn't experienced the wonder of Chickie & Pete's Crabfries

Damn... when I mentioned El Toro and Millennium Force as my favorite coasters I totally forgot about Skull Mountain. I need to re-evaluate my list now, especially since they put all of those light up skulls with phallic noses in there to spruce up the theming (no really.... look at their noses).

Oh absolutely. And Phoenix doesn't even have individual lap bars. There's honestly almost nothing for them to check and because of that they can unload, load and dispatch a train in less than a minute. When they've been running 2 trains I don't think I've ever seen them stack them. The train is always long gone from the station and usually about 1/2 way up the lift by the time the other one gets back.

I almost didn't respond because over the last few days I can't shut up about this park and you're all going to think I must work for them or something but... again, Knoebels. This is nothing against the Cedar Point crews, they're amazing and they have a lot more checks they need to do because it's regulated by the park and they need to check seatbelts as well as lap bars on the coasters but Knoebels dispatches trains on Phoenix at an amazing pace... and they're really just as fast on their flats too.

I like it, I hope they paint that ramp area in front of it too, that would look great.

Based on what? By the way if they ever replace an Intamin Gyro Drop with one of those mediocre S&S towers I'm never going back to that park. lol

And the Bumper Cars, and Flyers, and StratosFear, and the Haunted Mansion, and Downdraft, and the Paratrooper, and the Skyride, and... yeah pretty much everything. Just keep everything.

My apologies for that. Being the noob and starting multiple threads is probably frowned upon. Oh no I didn't mean that at all... I was just hoping to get an idea of what you had in mind for the trip which is why I asked if it were still a Cedar Fair only trip. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we love to see new posters and new coaster enthusiasts on this board. Welcome aboard.

The problem with SFA isn't really the lack of good coasters, it's absolutely everything else. Hopefully they do a good job theming this new area because I think the biggest problem with this park is it's appearance. The park isn't dirty, it's just really ugly. The western area is pretty nice, so if they actually do a good job on this area the front of the park will be in pretty decent shape. Then they can hopefully move on to Gotham City which is embarrassingly hideous.

I'm not very observant, I just realized you're the same person who asked about taking an east coast trip yesterday to which I responded with the same thing... go to Knoebels. How come yesterday you only wanted to go to Cedar Fair parks but today you're wondering about Great Adventure and Hershey? Is it a different trip or are you changing the plans? If it's the latter then I think it's a good choice. It would be a shame to pass up parks like Great Adventure and Hershey since you'll be close by.

We went to Cedar Point on a weekday in the summer this year and Millennum Force, Raptor, Dragster, Maverick and Gatekeeper were all over an hour (Raptor and Gatekeeper were 2 hours + in the morning), but we were okay with that since we were there for 3 days and Raptor and Gatekeeper had shorter lines later on. I would say that Great Adventure is a little better, but not much. El Toro, Kingda Ka, Green Lantern and Superman are typically 45 minutes to an hour on summer days, Nitro, Sky Screamer and Batman are usually about 30 minutes. Safari Off Road Adventure can be anywhere from 1-3 hours. Hershey gets pretty long lines as well, but they have a skip the line program so it's no big deal. If lines bother you that much I highly suggest taking advantage of the skip the line programs because even though they're a little pricey if you're going to Hershey and Great Adventure all the way from Detroit it's a minimal expense compared to the cost of the trip and it will make a world of difference. By the way if you're looking for a great park with manageable waits I'll suggest the same thing I suggest to someone on this forum pretty much every day... Knoebels! Knoebels is the solution to all of life's problems.

Okay that coloring book is amazing.

I was thinking either Titan or Goliath. It's tough to tell the difference from that angle.

Screw the coaster... they're adding Chickie’s & Pete’s! Just another reason to love this park.

I love this thread already... - Any Paratrooper - Any Skyride (Von Roll Especially) - Any Log Flume regardless of temperature, time of day or weather. I'm serious about this one, I LOVE log flumes... and I kind of love them even more at night.

I guess it's just me, and maybe because I only ride either coaster in the front but I don't think Kingda Ka is rough at all. Personally I think TTD is slightly better because of the view from the top, and I like the theme of TTD more but that has nothing to do with the ride experience. I really think they feel exactly the same with only extremely minor differences. I actually ride Kingda Ka a lot more than TTD when I'm at the park because TTD has much longer waits for the front because of the station design and because of the fact that the line moves slower once you're in the station because they have 2 loading platforms. Great Adventure is actually really good at getting KK trains out quickly even though they're only using one of the 4 platforms now and a maximum of 3 trains. The biggest factor is the station setup though... there isn't as much room for a front seat line to form, so it doesn't get as long. On TTD it forms along the entire back railing of the station. Personally I don't care for either coaster in any row besides the front. I'm not like that on any other coasters but it makes a huge difference on KK and TTD.