A.J.

Agreed. I used to be a "whirlwind tour" kind of person but really, it just ruins the experience.

Here's an interesting development. Multiple news outlets are reporting that Genting has filed a suit in the United States against 20th Century Fox and the Walt Disney Company for dragging their feet on the development of the park and pulling their license / IP agreements. Here's the Los Angeles times: https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-fox-disney-malaysia-lawsuit-20181126-story.html

Purely curious, is it not possible to shove those "in-between" ads to the sides of the site (specifically the left, which seems empty)?

Instead of going to amusement parks to ride the coasters, perhaps you would consider looking at them from a different angle? Maybe you look for super-cool theme park architecture. Or maybe look for the best theme park that's connected to a major city (Liseberg > Gothenburg for example) and experience both the park and the city at a relaxed pace. EDIT: Bill, you took the words right out of my mouth. I don't really set my own expectations for coasters anymore unless they have some significance in my life (like seeing Kumba in a roller coasters book at a really young age and always wanting to ride it). I just...go! I realize I'm still a youth but my outlook has dramatically changed since I entered the theme park industry as my full-time job. I used to be a "count the coasters" kid until I, ahem, "matured" and began to look at theme parks from a different perspective - understanding what makes them work. Because of this, my motivation for going to parks is different now. I want to go to the parks in the Nordic countries not just for their coasters, but also because they as parks and as places have been and continue to be an inspiration to my own work as a designer. To me, it sounds like you really want to keep going to theme parks, but you just need that one reason to get yourself to not have such high expectations of the coasters.

For one thing, the "seating" process is much more involved than it is for a regular coaster. You basically have to hold the seat height in place until the operator at the booth locks the entire train. If it locks when you have it too low, you can't stand up and have to sit awkwardly on the bicycle seat. If it locks when it's too high, you may be riding on your crotch the entire way. I knew this going in so I was able to prepare for it, but whether the seat locking actually gets telegraphed verbally depends on the operator and can really make or break your ride. Some also think that the [b&M] stand-up coaster was a failed fad considering none have been built since Georgia Scorcher opened in 1999, and several of those existing have been converted to floorless trains. If it's any consideration, B&M will still sell you a new one if you want. Interesting thing about those floorless trains - they're not "regular" floorless trains like you find on Kraken or Hydra. They actually sit higher than typical floorless trains (which already sit pretty high) to get closer to the center line of the original stand-up coaster layout.

Was a pleasure, my friend. I'm still reeling over Twisted Cyclone, for what it's worth!

Think about it. If you were Disney, wouldn't you want the marquee attraction of what's going to be the most popular land in your park to be something more than "just" a 4D show?

On the California Adventure side, Radiator Springs Racers is pretty freaking great, but you'll want to do single rider (which will unfortunately separate your group). Soarin' is also worth it if you haven't seen the new version of the ride film. At Disneyland you also have their "classics" which are better than Magic Kingdom's in my opinion - Haunted Mansion with its actual elevator stretch room, and Pirates of the Caribbean with its longer ride time and legitimate drops.

Apparently the blue coaster is a small Intamin along the lines of Playland's Gale Force (small-footprint multi-launch with inversions). Some social media people have been calling it a "short loop".

No, you aren't. Intamin and the parks made the press announcement at the IAAPA Expo late in the week as opposed to on Tuesday with all the others. On top of that, neither Intamin nor the parks have released any official video to the public, and the stats were only given out at the show, on printed pieces of paper. The coasters don't have names yet either. For everyone else (lurkers included), please don't hate on Intamin or the parks for doing it in this way. Those coasters aren't coming for several years and it's very likely that the public won't get any official information until closer to when they start construction - and the designs may change! I'd be willing to believe that the announcement was less for the press and more for the potential client base to know, "hey, we can do crazy unusual coaster designs like those other companies too". It seemed very low-profile to me and the parks wouldn't even let Intamin loop the video on their screen after the announcement was over.

Yeah, it was fun to watch for a few minutes. The platform slowly creeps up the lift into position and they release people without flipping the car back down. Once everyone on the car is out and down the stairs, they move on to the next one. This happened at around...2 PM-ish today? My friend and I were actually in the queue. The ride went down for a "brief delay" for about 15 minutes and then "temporarily closed". They buzzed the lift starter as we were exiting and...nothing, then they started evacuating around 3:30-4 PM. Even as we left at around 5:30 the train sat there, empty, near the top of the lift hill, as they tried to start it up again. Those who are going to the park on Sunday, prepare yourselves, because Manta might not be open.

Here at the park today, and Manta had an evacuation...

IAAPA Attractions Expo bonus round coming at you! Back at the show for another few laps! It's good exercise, right? Does everyone remember when this happened to Golden Horse a few years ago? This booth wasn't them. Some of the higher-profile vendors have HUGE booths! WhiteWater, ProSlide, and SBF Visa, to name a few. Here's Zierer's booth! They're showing off that fun French coaster with the horse and stagecoach seats! Of course, no IAAPA Expo would be complete without a credit on the show floor! This one is going to Jenkinson's Boardwalk in New Jersey, and it's pretty fun! Would anyone like another go at the Sky Trail ropes course? I sure would! Gerstlauer was showing off the Nickelodeon Universe coasters once again. Can't wait until they're open! In a late-week press event, Intamin and Compagnie des Alpes announced TWO massive new coasters! Once again, Zamperla brings their latest flat ride to show on the floor. This time, it's a smaller version of their popular Windstarz ride! The IAAPA always brings the last twelve issues of their magazine to the show and gives them out for free! Who wants one? Theme park operators sometimes have booths at the IAAPA expo too! Here's Fantawild's, and no, it isn't named "Jungle Trailblazer". What happens when fellow theme park creatives get together for some beers? Great friendships and conversations! Thanks to the TEA for putting on their mixer every year!

But wait, IAAPA coverage isn’t over! Intamin and Compagnie Des Alps have announced two new coasters - a Mega Coaster for Walibi Belgium and an LSM Launched Coaster for Parc Asterix!

Yeah, they're still in it. Huss still makes and sells new Enterprises, Condors and Top Spins too. The market is just incredibly saturated.

I'm sure we'll see and hear more at the IAAPA Attractions Expo this week, but Vekoma has detailed the improvements to their flying coaster designs on their shiny new website. Take a look! https://www.vekoma.com/flying-coasters Specifically, they're now confirming the rotating seats that we've come to understand will be on Phantasialand's new coaster. There's also some cool new concept images of new layouts for their existing coaster types.

Let me tell you what, I would rather ride Georgia Scorcher ten times in a row than Great American Scream Machine once.

Even with the discounts factored in, it would take you three or four visits at the least to get your money's worth out of the gold pass as opposed to purchasing the "regular" season pass and paying for parking. Not very attractive in my opinion, unless you can go to Dollywood on a whim.

Technically, if you go so far west that you end up crossing the Pacific Ocean and over two-thirds of the world, you'll end up in Spain where you can ride Dragon Khan.

Yeah, I'm not sure Barnstormer's relative lack of popularity is the ride's fault - Owens Farm and that pathway near it are kind of tucked away.

Seriously. SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment is growing. I really don't think that they have any reason to seek out someone to buy / bail them out of a jam. I also think that unless Six Flags just acts as a non-intrusive parent, the logistics of such a change to licensing agreements, season passes, staffing, creative talent, and about a million other things would be completely nuts. Add me to the "I don't think that this is a good idea if by some tiny chance it turns out to be true" camp.

Hey, now! I was on a roll getting front seat rides on all the coasters, and the second time I rode I just made a bee-line for the row with the least wait in the station and it happened to be row 2. I'll be back in a few months...

Well, I think they are! Should've said "the bottom of the drop" in hindsight but I think that both valleys (before and after the loop) are pretty intense (though a little bit more controlled than what happens afterward).

I rode twice, both times at or near the front. Kumba is now #6 on my (somewhat short) list of coasters, behind Skyrush, Phantom's Revenge, and Twisted Cyclone on the steel side. I had set high expectations for it and it managed to exceed them easily. The drop and loop are intense as expected, but once you start going through the dive loop everything breaks loose and it's just an unrelenting coaster from that point until the final brake run. I have never said "holy [censored]" so many times in one ride on a roller coaster, and I was nearly out of breath when it finally stopped. I can see why you might get jack-hammering coming out of the mid-course brake seated in the back, for sure. But I got smooth yet snappy trips through the corkscrews both times, even when sitting on the outer seats. I was never uncomfortable, though I did get a bit sick after I did a near-immediate re-ride. Next time I go I need to remember to bring my glasses strap with me so I can wear them on the ride, I bet that I would be fine if I did so. But if I just spaced my rides out throughout the day I would gladly take three or four spins total.

I hear you, but the feeling of nice air conditioning is negated when you're stuffed in a pre-show room like sardines with exactly 300 of your closest friends. Yeah, I didn't notice them. Perhaps they moved or were under some refurbishment. Yeah, playgrounds in theme parks have always been huge for me. Perhaps they open Jungala up seasonally or based on predicted crowds. Children and tweens were certainly all over the place (some in places they shouldn't have been, mind you), so it's not like it's unpopular.