jmicha

^That's not going to happen. It isn't old, filled a gap in the water rides list in the park, and was a sizable investment. If anything it'll see work done to improve its reliability. It isn't going anywhere though.

Bouldedash and I want it to be the next coaster I ride but sadly it is many hundreds of miles too far away

^Seatbelts are added for redundancy. The restraints already have built in redundancy. There really isn't an actual need for seatbelts on most coasters these days other than to appease lawyers.

^^I think it's just the survival instincts kicking in. Being restrained underwater I'd imagine is a pretty common fear. And as safe as rides are it's one that I'm unable to really get over. Was anybody on these boards at Cedar Point today that has any information to share?

^It may be a somewhat irrational fear, but it's one that I share and I'd imagine many other enthusiasts do as well. Obviously waiting for official details on what happened, but doesn't this have an anti rollback? That's a pretty serious thing to fail if these initial reports are indeed accurate. The thought of being trapped in a restraint upside down is really making me uncomfortable. I'm glad people were able to help and hopefully none of the injuries are dire.

^I know I'm in a very small minority, but when riding that when in Georgia I actually quite enjoyed myself. It wasn't smooth, but it wasn't uncomfortable either. And that element is certainly something that is incredibly odd and disorienting.

^^That's from March. It's definitely just ice still there from the winter. Ice forms on the lake pretty easily in the winter. Being shallow, Lake Erie drops and rises in temperature much quicker than its Great Lakes counterparts so ice is a pretty regular occurrence.

^I was also there yesterday evening. I didn't notice any long lines though...maybe we just managed to hit rides at the right time. Got there at 5 and got in... 3x Diamondback 2x Beast 1x Racer 1x Firehawk 1x Backlot Stunt Coaster 1x Flight Deck 1x Adventure Express 1x Vortex The park looked great and operations were pretty awesome. Dimaondback was having a 'power hour' the one time I was in line and they were FLYING. Never have I seen people cycle through the ride so quickly. The train would be going down the first drop as the one in front of it was just hitting the splashdown/brakes. They were averaging a cycle/minute. It was pretty insane. The hustle was awesome and made the wait super short. They said they broke a record for cycles/hour so that should say something (don't know if that's for this season or what though. Regardless, quite fast operations). I've never done just an evening at Kings Island and really enjoyed it. 5 hours was a great amount of time to get in a decent amount of rides. I'll for sure be doing this after work again sometime this summer.

Not only do I love the look of this massive addition to this park, but I think the way they are interacting with TPR and the community is amazing! Constant updates that wouldn't be possible without the work of TPR and the park in collaboration to keep us all informed help build the hype. I think it's only going to help the park be successful with this expansion and all future expansions. Keep it up

^Wow, you're right, that looks a LOT faster through that final bit. Interesting how much difference a change in wheels can make in terms of pacing. Thanks for the cool video comparison.

^I'd imagine it's more the solar panels that made them say that...

Is there anywhere even that large and open/flat at BGW that Gwazi could even be placed without serious reworking of the structure to fit the landscape? ^Also, why would BGW need Gwazi's trains? I'm drawing a blank as to what they would use them for. This all being said, let's pretend for a minute that they somehow did move Gwazi to BGW, I think it would be a great addition to that park. I loved BGW and thought a big wooden coaster would've been icing on the cake.

I honestly like both. But a lot of times it depends on the type of hill. For instance, the massive hills on the out-runs of B&M coasters that offer sustained amounts of floater are tons of fun for me. But the small floater hills on the return run don't do as much for me. In general I only like floater air on big hills where it can be sustained for an extended period of time. On small hills I really like ejector airtime. That all being said, I also have absolutely no problem with large hills offering ejector airtime. I think the gist of what I'm trying to say is that ejector airtime is always good in my opinion and floater airtime is best suited for large, sustained hills in my opinion. I think this is why I liked The Voyage so much. The large hills on the out run offer nice floater airtime and then the bat poop crazy return run offers small hills with pops of ejector airtime mixed in with other forces. All around nice mix of forces.

^It would, but that's not necessarily an issue. Steel can easily handle being under a constant load without issue, to an extent. Although it appears to be off by quite a bit, steel is a lot more flexible than many people would imagine it to be. I'd imagine that there is a range of safety given to the construction crew as to how far off a piece could be before it would be an issue to force it into place. Once it is bolted to the surrounding pieces, the entire structure will likely shift slightly to absorb this new force and that will be that. I'm an architect, not an engineer, but this is quite common in building design and construction as well. You'd never imagine the allowable tolerances in structures. Without knowing better it looks scary but really isn't a big deal. Unrelated, but until I took structural engineering classes in college I never knew concrete could flex to absorb a load as much as it does.

When I first came out I was mostly under the 'take what I can get' impression at first. I started doing more things associated with gay culture such as going to gay bars, befriending drag queens, etc. and felt really happy about being out. My best friend had a friend who I met and started seeing casually and over the course of that month I very quickly realized I didn't want casual. That was about 4 years ago when I had just turned 20. I met several guys and went on several dates in the following years but was never really interested in any of the guys I met so they rarely lasted longer than a date or two. Then this past summer I met someone through a friend who I've come to really like and enjoy spending time with. It has had its ups and downs as any relationship will, but it has been really good for me. I've learned a lot about myself in the ensuing 8 months and am excited about where things go one way or the other. The point of all this being, try different things out when you first come out. I'm not saying go crazy and fall into bad habits, but just explore a little. It helps you find who you are and what you want and, as cliche as this sounds, when the time is right the right person will come around. I'm still waiting to see if the guy I'm seeing turns out to be 'the one' since it is still too early to be able to really know that, but I'm excited to find out

Whoa...I've yet to go on a cruise unfortunately, but this ship is looking pretty enticing. I'd love to try that indoor skydiving. And those LED walls? Amazing!

Thanks for posting that! Not only was it full of fun information, the footage was awesomely shot and great to watch. I need to get out and ride this ride this summer.

I'm really enjoying the way the upside down portion is cantilevered off of the support structure. Should make for a much more intimidating looking element. I'm excited to see this finished and hear initial reports. And that low lying overbanked hill looks like it is going to be taken with some serious speed. Should be a fun improvement.

^My friend and I were just discussing this the other day. How awful it would be, after all this time and energy, if they weren't an improvement at all. I hope for the park's sake they turn out great because they deserve an award for staying positive and committed to making them work.

I keep looking at these photos attempting to follow the course the trains will take and just give up. This thing is so twisted, it's incredible. I need to find my way over to England and get to Alton Towers. This ride is looking like an awesome addition to an already impressive lineup.

^That's not going to happen. Not only are they still incredibly popular meaning there wouldn't be a need to 'scrap' them, there would also be no reason to scrap just one side and sell the other to another park. The scenario you're stating would have very little likelihood of ever happening. Just because they no longer duel doesn't mean they're suddenly worthless. Same with Incredible Hulk. Immensely popular, still a really good ride, and not incapable of being rethemed. It's not like the ride's layout is embedded within the story of the Hulk. It could just as easily be themed to anything else if the park decided to drop the Marvel theming, which in and of itself is also unlikely. There isn't any reason for them too currently. The only ride you've listed that really makes any sense is Vortex. Mantis isn't the most popular ride at Cedar Point, but it still gets a good sized line when it's crowded and is still one of those rides that the general public 'brave' to ride. Standing up might be seen as gimicky to some of us, but it is still intimidating to the general public and offers a unique experience. Cedar Point isn't in the market of removing relatively young rides and I don't think they're going to start with Mantis.

Led Zepelin would be a great ride though for some smaller park to pick up for a deal (assuming it doesn't need a ton of deferred maintenance obviously) and get a product that would normally be out of their price range. That is completely luck though whether or not the ride gets saved before it's too late to be able to offload it to another park. I'd also imagine it would be either one of the old standups, or as someone else said, one of the B&M's not in an overly established region in terms of amusement/theme parks. I could see a park in Asia somewhere closing for one reason or another and their coasters possibly just going to waste. Probably unlikely still, but definitely a possibility. Although their rides have gotten less intense as time has gone on, the fact that they don't have a single defunct coaster says a lot for how much quality you get with the money. They may not be cheap, but they're a sure bet in terms of popularity, maintenance, capacity, etc. They really are great rides that most parks are lucky to have.

^Well we'll all just be that more excited about seeing a POV once the weather cooperates. An offride video will be more than enough to get me excited to ride. Can't wait to see it.

^^Although it is unfortunate your family is not currently supportive, your attitude is envious. Keep your head high, stay proud of yourself, surround yourself with those who love you for who you are and hopefully one day your family will come around.

^I think part of that is merely that you get what you pay for. Arrow coasters of the early 90s were cheaper than their more advanced rivals such as B&M's first coasters. The less money you have to work with, the more you need to find ways of saving. Straight transitions are easier to fabricate and design and thus are significantly cheaper as they remove a lot of the most expensive part of any design project, human labor. Not only that, but changing out how an entire office does their work is an extremely expensive and cumbersome ordeal that Arrow probably didn't feel the need to take on for pretty much all of their existence since their coasters were popular and parks and the public weren't screaming for something better until something significantly better came about in the form of B&M. Their last coasters showed their progression towards trying to be competitive with companies like B&M and Intamin. Tennessee Tornado is a really intense, fun ride that shows their progress towards parabolic shaping, heartlining, and smoother transitions. Unfortunately they weren't able to make enough coasters before going under to really prove they could consistently replicate this.