A.J.

The process is automated but somewhat curated. For example, we had some testing and adjusting last year because we had certain rides be super-highly ranked but only had one or two people ranking them. That led us to develop the rule that a coaster's yearly ranking is "provisional" (marked with an asterisk instead of a number on the results) when it has less than a certain number of riders. Soaring With Dragon at Wanda Hefei is an example of one of those coasters.

Respectfully guys, this is why we let the polls be open for a month (or more), to iron out these sorts of problems. It's really challenging for us to deal with this stuff when these sorts of problems aren't brought up until the last possible moment. I believe I was able to reproduce your problem. I moved a few of my coasters around and immediately clicked the done button, when the page reloaded none of my changes were reflected. DBru, what I want you do to do is as follows: In the spreadsheet mode, make your changes the way you want them, and then WAIT. Wait until you see a little green box automatically show up that says "saved your new order, It'll be live soon", and THEN click the "Done Ranking" button. It should show up about 5-10 seconds after you've made your most recent change. See if that works. And don't worry, we'll do everything we can to make sure the system is working properly before we compile the results.

Here's a Twitter user with a decent video taken from the park's Ferris wheel. It looks to be running at full speed, at least based on the lift. https://twitter.com/cyupao/status/1107191845619011585

We don't typically report on leaked plans out of respect for the park, obviously they didn't intend for what could be the best coaster in their history to be let out of the bag so early. It kind of goes back to Busch Gardens Tampa's "reveal" of their own 2020 coaster project, you only want to let out so much information otherwise people will delay trips and annual / season pass purchases to wait for the new attraction. Plus, those leaked plans could completely change... Tomorrow! You can talk about the rumor all you wish, but please only share images and links to stuff like public information (permits) or non-trespassing construction photos, for example.

That track theming will not be convincing at all for a few years.

This is frowned upon but technically will be okay, the ranking system considers negative numbers to be higher ranks than zero. Not sure about this one, we'll check on it.

It is 11:59 PM Eastern. We've had this up for an extra two weeks too. That being said, there's nothing stopping you from at least getting those rankings down now so you don't have to go through the song and dance next year. Get your like... best 50 or 75 on your list where you want them before 9:00 PM Pacific, and then submit. You can always come back tomorrow and, if the results haven't been tabulated yet, your changes will be reflected when they are. You just click the yellow button to release your rankings, and then the green button to lock them in again.

Hey everyone! Remember that today is the last day for voting! Most importantly, when you're done ranking your coasters, be sure to click the green "done ranking" button to submit!

Don't even worry about pre-purchasing Knoebels tickets, pay as you go once you get to the park. Pay-one-price wristbands won't be available during most of June and the entirety of July anyway, so you'll only want to buy as many tickets as you think you'll need. Alternatively, Knoebels often does a deal with Weis grocery stores where you can get a $20 book of tickets for a discount.

I wonder if they called up Gerstlauer to do the new trains. Whatever keeps these fantastic old Schwarzkopfs running well, I suppose!

It would be dastardly if they started moving the carriage down slowly, like maybe a few meters, and THEN released it to free-fall.

You answered your own question before you asked it. It's not what they do, with the exception of a few individual attractions such as Black Diamond. As a former local who visited several times a year every year since childhood, I have never cared.

Even die-hard fans get burned out. There's a reason why intellectual properties in a theme park are only represented as single lands, single attractions, or hotels.

They also have a gigantic swinging ship that might...be the world's largest?

As far as we can see, you'll have one entrance from Toy Story Land and one from Grand Avenue. I don't recall if there will be a third one.

Yeah, I'm going to wait until like... a month or two after both attractions are open and go on some random weeknight. Though on the bright side, I bet I'll be able to get on Avatar Flight of Passage more often now.

I'm happier that they're restricting the attraction(s) to stand-by only in the short-term.

The Skyride lets you off in Stanleyville near the log flume. You'd be better off just walking from Montu to Pantopia.

Yeah... Plan for at least the Gold level of Flash Pass. I waited a long while for Joker Funhouse Coaster and I'll be hard-pressed to ride a coaster "for the credit" ever again. On the other hand, Blue Hawk was a pleasant surprise.

Cheetah Hunt and Cobra's Curse often get the highest wait times. Cheetah Hunt is close to the front, and Cobra's Curse is new hotness family coaster. Consider doing one of those two right as you enter. The others? It's hit-or-miss, really, with the exception of Kumba, which rarely has a wait longer than a few train loads. Scorpion moves slowly because they only ever run one train. SheiKra can sometimes move slowly if they are only staffed for one station platform. I personally have never had any issues just going around and doing the coasters in a loop, and that's on a weekend. Kumba and Montu are really great on outer seats because they have elements that whip you around. SheiKra is pretty freaky in a front row outer seat because you're basically hanging over the edge with nothing anywhere.

It looks like Snake (their new Chaos Pendle flat ride) will be a brand-new installation. Check out some photos on Grona Lund's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10156875327965667&type=1&l=beeca1ae8c

I can't really say, for obvious reasons. What I can tell you that the work that I've done (so far) has mainly been for hotels, resorts, and retail / dining / entertainment complexes. I have done some work for an upcoming theme park or two as well. But I was talking less about the ride itself and more about the challenge of designing for a different country and / or culture. People have different expectations, different needs and wants. What's classified as an "intense" coaster is different in Japan vs the United States. What's classified as a "luxury" resort might be different in Germany vs The Bahamas. An "upscale" retail store might even look completely different based on the shopping mall it sits in! It's a challenge that I think pretty much every ride vendor or design firm faces.

I can confirm from experience that designing is not easy.

Not every roller coaster has to make its riders feel like they're being shot out of a cannon every time they go over a hill. Actually, that description you gave about it being more drawn-out makes me think I would like it better than other Rocky Mountain coasters. And like Elissa said, you can't just have a blanket design style for every country or region. For some people, a Steel Vengeance might be too intense or aggressive. The teams at Rocky Mountain Construction and Ride Centerline likely know this, and I'll bet that they've done the necessary research and prep work to make sure Hakugei will be just right for Nagashima. That's the luxury you get when you order a custom design, as opposed to a clone.

I believe Skyrush's lift is 50 degrees.