FeelTheFORCE

You're not the only one, I've always thought that's what it looked like at night also!

SFMM is a great park for thrills, but I'd set your operations expectations extremely low, or you're going to be disappointed.

Took the words right out of my mouth, I completely agree! I don't mind a good mix of props and screens, but something like Gringotts where you're in an elaborate coaster-type vehicle, only to sit still in front of various screens the whole time is a bit disappointing.

It's said that all year. I saw it back in June and posted about it. It's probably just Tony being Tony and teasing us.

I'm really excited about this if it's real. Ever since I was on Sheikra in 2009, I've wanted to take a trip down to BGE to ride Griffon, but the 8 hour drive was always just a bit too much. Now there will (presumably) be a bigger, faster, and badder dive machine only 3 hours away?! That's awesome! I can't wait!

Yeah I rode it multiple times when I was there earlier in the year and had zero problems. It was smooth as glass.

Though I've never tried it, I've always thought it looked possible on TTD for someone with a longer reach to reach forward and touch one of the wheels if you're in the first row of a car. Maybe it's an optical illusion.

If CP is doing things like floorless trains on Mantis and better restraints on Maverick just for the enhancement of the guest experience, not because they're great ROIs, then I trust they have some sort of long term plan for Mean Streak.

This, and why it's still my number one since 2006. The most insane, out of control, and WTF coaster I've ever been on...and I love it.

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned already, but I was in line for Raptor yesterday and an interesting trivia question came up on the screens in the line. It was "What type of ride will Cedar Point open for the 2017 season?" The choices were roller coaster, thrill ride, water ride, and none of the above...with the answer being none of the above. Also, one of the "clues" that popped up was "it won't be a high roller."

It was a figure of speech, meant to not be answered, but thanks, I'm well aware of when Maverick was built. I was standing there watching them test with the heartline roll. I've also been on I305 and don't really consider them the same. They have similar elements, but are apples and oranges. On the second bit, you're missing my point. The fanboys think that the only capital investments at Cedar Point are roller coasters and thrill rides, and don't care about anything else. The point was, just because we don't see a new record-breaking coaster pop up every year, doesn't mean there isn't cash flow and capital investments being made elsewhere on the property. It would be a terrible business model to spend that much renovating the Breakers in one year, PLUS add everything the fanboys want.

How so? There are only 9 Dive Machines in existence, and 2 in the US. That's pretty uncommon to me. I'm sure most people thought 400 feet was also back in 02/03...especially since MF was brand new. Never say never. I love the idea of a massive Dive Machine for CP. They're fun and thrilling, and much more comfortable and re-rideable than a flying coaster. Sure, being a modern B&M it won't be the most forceful coaster in the world, and I'd love to see an I305 clone at CP as much as the next guy, but they're so massive and intimidating at 200ft...I can only imagine what a 250+ft one would look and feel like. As long as the layout isn't really simple, I think it would be a great addition for CP. Keep in mind also, they are well aware that Mean Streak is what it is, and Cedar Point is in need of a modern wooden coaster. Tony has (jokingly) acknowledged that. I'd be willing to bet something will happen with that sooner rather than later...whether it's a conversion or whole new coaster altogether. Most people also forget that the Breakers renovation was in the ballpark of $50+ million. That's equal to adding MF and TTD in the same year. The fanboys just need to hold their pants on...everything isn't going to happen all at once.

Not taking weather into account, I've been to the park when Dragster has run flawlessly all day long, and also when it's had hiccups all day long, having trouble staying open for more than an hour or so consistently. Even 12 years later, it's still so hit or miss with that coaster.

The same trains that were fitted to Steel Dragon 2000 would not work on Magnum. Magnum was manufactured by Arrow, and SD2K by Morgan. Magnum's track is such that the trains' wheels are on the inside of the rails, whereas on SD2K they are on the outside, like every B&M.

I see a lot of the same on Gatekeeper and Raptor usually. Not because they aren't popular, but because they simply chew through people, combined with the slower early-season days in May. Those coasters are capacity machines. Mantis wasn't as much because of the time it took to adjust the seats, but I'm sure with quicker load times the capacity on Rougarou has drastically increased.

I hope so, but they were supposed to build their own hotel and indoor waterpark after the Kmart purchase, and that never happened. The expressway being canceled kind of fouled up Kennywood's plans a bit. They purchased that land not long after the Kmart purchase in 2006, but never got it finalized until 2012 because of the highway never happening. They are supposedly going to refurbish and repurpose the old locomotive repair building for storage, but I'm not sure what else they'll use the land for. Honestly, it's fairly disconnected from the rest of the park, so walking there would be a hike anyway. Unless they foresee a MAJOR expansion where that area would be a whole new "land" (to loosely borrow a term from IOA) in the park, I don't see that being used for anything other than storage, or if a massive coaster were built in that area. I'm not sure if we'll ever see an Intamin or B&M at Kennywood, but you never know. A modern wooden coaster would be a nice compliment, maybe a custom RMC like Outlaw Run or Goliath is more feasible for a park like Kennywood.

Had a great day at the park today on Mother's Day. Here are some observations: -Black Widow had issues with the restraints not closing all the way. I rode it early on after being told to get off once already due to mechanical issues, but it closed shortly after and I never saw it reopen. Still a kickass ride though. -The new scenes on Noah's Ark are cool, and it's good to see a ride like that get some love. I'm a bit disappointed the gorilla is gone though. -The Parkside Cafe renovations are nice and give it a more "modern" feel. -The 4D theatre is coming along. It's a little smaller in person than I thought, but still interesting to see what it will be! -Not everything opened with the park, or within the 30 minute window after opening, but from what I could tell, everything was eventually open. Aside from the Black Widow issues, it seems as if all the rides are running smoothly. -Not really a "new" thing, but it's also nice to see every single effect on rides like Exterminator and Ghostwood Estate still working. It shows they really care about the upkeep of those rides. -One thing though I'll never understand is why Kennywood INSISTS on running one train on Phantom during days early in the season. I get that it's slower, and one train ops on other rides like Thunderbolt and whatnot are understandable, but your flagship attraction? All of those people waiting in line on a hot 90+ degree day could have been buying lemonade, ice cream, Rita's, etc. instead of unnecessarily waiting 20-30 minutes in a line. -Like I said, all-in-all a great day. Kennywood still has that great overall charm to it, and I really hope the fighting incident on opening day doesn't hurt their business this year. That said, one other thing I'll close with is that the park's (newer) coasters are getting a bit stale to me. Exterminator is extremely fun and underrated, but it's still just a mouse in a box. Phantom is a great ride, but it's slowly losing that dominating presence it once had. And Sky Rocket is a great addition that has Kennywood written all over it, but it's hit that 5 year old mark, and is nothing more than just "fun." Maybe it's just the coaster enthusiast or thrillseeker in me talking, but they've only added ONE coaster since the Phantom overhaul 14 years ago. I understand it's not all about coasters, we're in a different era, and there have been many other capital investments since then that have greatly improved the park, but in my opinion Kennywood lacks that dominating presence of a monster coaster that the Steel Phantom once gave it. Without knowing what their budget is or what would actually be feasible for a park like Kennywood, something like a Banshee-style B&M invert, Skyrush-style Intamin (even with regular trains), etc. would be a nice compliment. Those are just my thoughts.

Nothing more than opening day bugs I'm sure. It happens every year.

I wasn't at the park today, but here are some updates on what's new, via social media: -It's confirmed that the park is building a 4D theatre in the Pirate/Music Express area, set to open sometime this year. -Noah's Ark supposedly has a few new scenes this year, although the "flooding" bit at the end is still not operational. -Aero 360 has new LED lights. -The Parkside Cafe has been upgraded a bit with new seating and whatnot. -Oreo Churros? -New Rita's Italian Ice locations (one being next to Racer). Also, there was apparently a large fight that broke out in the Kiddieland area of the park tonight involving about 100 people. They were kicked out and the fighting continued at the McDonald's across the street. http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/breaking-large-fight-reported-kennywood/nk7yn/

I've been using a strap for about a decade with no problems. My glasses were about $600 and I never think twice. Some of the parks I've been to while using it are CP, CW, KI, KD, Kennywood, Hershey, IOA/USO, SFMM, BGT, etc. You'll be fine!

Probably for a light pole or something.

My eyes always well up a bit whenever I ride Iron Dragon. My grandma (who is no longer with us) and I used to ride that all the time when I was 10 or so...that was *our ride.*

I love Cedar Point and the huge thrills it offers, but Disney wins. I could spend weeks upon weeks at Disney World and never get bored, whereas one or two days at Cedar Point is enough for me.

Those MIB behind the scenes pics were really cool! I've always wanted to go down there!

So how exactly did they do this logistically? How did they get people from IOA into Diagon Alley and what did they do to stop you from leaving Diagon and just entering the park during HHN? Around 4:30 they put up barriers at both sides of London with employees posted, only letting people in who had park hopper tickets. If you had one they gave you a blue wristband. Around the same time, or shortly after, employees started walking around the whole area and asking people who didn't have a wristband if they needed one, or informed them they had to leave at 5 if they didn't have park hopper. They were pretty strict about this, there were employees even posted up outside the restrooms in Diagon Alley. Around then is also when they closed off the Gringotts line (posted 30-minutes) to non-wristbands. It seemed as though anyone with that wristband could freely travel back and forth on the train pretty close to 8:00, although I'm not sure what they did about the people over in IOA. I left DA a bit after 7, and there were still people getting off the train from IOA, so they must've had some type of system. The only way out of London/DA, however, was the train...I don't know what would've happened if it had broken down. All in all it was a very smooth process. As soon as I found out what was going on, I was cringing at the thought of what could become of the whole situation, but they handled it well.