A.J.

Oh. Whoops. Something to remember the next time I go.

A better question might be, did Klotten ever finish that mountain / castle / whatever they were building around Heiße Fahrt?

Seems to be a recurring theme with all of the European parks. I kind of like that approach, honestly.

Yeah, Dollywood could get away with a wing coaster because they really didn't have a major multi-looper (Tennessee Tornado is a little obscure and not typical of a B&M looper like Wildfire, Kumba, etc). If Silver Dollar City were building a B&M they'd probably have to make it pretty different, like a dive coaster, inverted coaster or flying coaster. A wing coaster would probably still fit but it would need to set itself apart - either with a launch like Thunderbird (but that's stepping on Powder Keg's toes) or with wing coaster specific elements like keyholes and a dive drop.

Never been on one myself, so I'm probably not the best person to talk here, but I would agree that all of their coasters look, at the very least, pretty similar to each other. But that's pretty much equivalent to saying that all of the early B&M inverted coasters (Batman, Top Gun, Nemesis) are similar / "equal" as well. Most of the Rocky Mountain coasters do share very similar characteristics - incredibly steep drops, heavily-banked turns, variations on the zero-G roll (heartline roll, regular zero-G roll, zero-G stall, top gun stall), layouts that feel more like a fun drawing than a logically-laid-out design (not necessarily a bad thing), experimentation with outward-banked turns, and other things. But it's a formula that works, apparently, so they're having well-earned success with it. If Busch Gardens Williamsburg were to get an installation, I'd want it to be a little less extravagant - a little more humble, like Storm Chaser. Maybe they could do a design that has the "Rocky Mountain brand secret sauce" that we love but is a little more accessible and less intimidating to younger riders. I think it's also time for another coaster or attraction at Busch Gardens that doesn't break the treeline.

Rephrasing - it's not so much the path itself but the bottleneck between that corner of Festhaus and the green barrier next to Autobahn. During Howl-O-Scream last year that little corner was packed with people going in both directions, very claustrophobic. Though, I'm pretty sure it would be against Busch Gardens' many best landscaping awards to get rid of those trees and such...

Yeah, that's a tricky one. Not only is the path back there hidden, it's also pretty narrow compared to the other major thoroughfares in the park. You'd have to get rid of or relocate the Autobahn / Junior Autobahn to make that path wide enough, and the coaster would likely need to be an anchor of a new country or German territory so that there's more to do back there for guests. You'd also have to build some sort of wall or grow enough trees to hide Verbolten's show building from guests at ground level. It's not so much an issue at night with the haunts or during concert days, but when you're actually incorporating a themed, story-based area back there, it becomes important that the Black Forest appear to be an actual forest. I'd say that they'd be better off in that open area between Festa Italia and San Marco, but that's another haunt spot, right? As much as I'd love a new coaster or expansion losing those kinds of spots would likely hurt the park's bottom line.

In layman's terms; If you can run a multi-coaster, and multi-ride park in NoLimits2 at full specs, then you should have little to no issues with Planet Coaster. I'm not 100% sure on this, but it's still a fair comparison. I mean, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 was pretty bad though in terms of computer power vs graphics quality. You needed a workstation grade machine to run the game at any setting above the lowest. I'd bet that a gaming computer from several years ago would be able to run Planet Coaster with little issue at a "good" setting, same with NoLimits 2.

Sorry, slight tangent, but...are those buildings under construction ALL high-rise apartments?

The Wonder Wheel was designed and built over forty years before Intamin was even founded, it's sometimes called an "eccentric wheel" too. Technically, Disney [lovingly] ripped off the design for the Sun Wheel, an Austrian company built it, and Intamin brokered it (and still continues to broker the design as well).

Is this Mack's spin on a Euro Fighter? It may just be the perspective of the photo of that last track piece but the track seems to be very wide.

I agree with Elissa, in terms of "most extreme rides for your money / time", the mid-Atlantic can't be beat. You've got some big parks: Canada's Wonderland up north, with Leviathan and Behemoth Six Flags New England, with Superman, Goliath and Wicked Cyclone Six Flags Great Adventure, with Kingda Ka and El Toro Dorney Park, with Hydra and Talon Hersheypark, with Skyrush and Storm Runner Plus, some great traditional parks that, while less "extreme", are better experiences: Knoebels, with Phoenix, Twister, Flying Turns, and everything else OMGBESTPLACEEVER Kennywood, with Sky Rocket and some historic wooden coasters Quassy, with Wooden Warrior (nice stop between Six Flags New England and states further west / south) Lake Compounce, with Boulder Dash and Phobia And further south: Kings Dominion, with Intimidator 305 and Volcano Busch Gardens Williamsburg, with Alpengeist, Verbolten and Tempesto

^ But there you go! The reason why Wodan isn't a Mack is because Mack doesn't make wooden coasters.

Yep, Luna Park is operated by Zamperla, I'm pretty sure that the only thing that isn't a Zamperla attraction is their Skycoaster. Also, Mack owns Europa Park, and there's just as much exclusivity there in terms of ride systems, the exception being Silver Star. Though, I'd be willing to bet that Silver Star wouldn't be a B&M if it were built today. There's a few more of these, I think ProSlide and WhiteWater have agreements with one park each to act as a sort of "test bed" for their new innovations.

Eh, I'll take crashing through fake Hollywood signs over a seizure-inducing light show any day of the week.

Now that you mention it, that is a definite issue when taking children along. I completely forgot that each seat is walled on three sides. I was thinking Gringotts was "scarier" due to more big, scary things coming after you, but being alone is in some cases more scary.

Spinning coasters deliberately have turns that are either un-banked, not banked enough or banked too much so that the laterals get the cars spinning. Tornado fans out there, that sort of design is why it spins so much.

Forbidden Journey has a 48" height restriction, so your child might possibly not be tall enough, though Escape from Gringotts is 42", so they might be good there. Escape from Gringotts is much more of a traditional forward-facing attraction than Forbidden Journey is, but it still has a little bit of spinning. It's also a "start-stop" attraction where you basically move, have a show scene sitting still, and then move again. Though, while it's definitely less of a toll on the body than Forbidden Journey, I would argue that Escape from Gringotts is a much "scarier" attraction.

Pretty much anything that can be dismantled gets dismantled, though you won't see a park take apart their permanent roller coasters because they're welded together. The trains will come off and be disassembled, flat ride cars / seat assemblies will be removed. It's really a safety thing, as they can replace individual parts if needed.

If my feet don't touch the floor (or there isn't a floor at all), I should be able to extend my legs outward, even a little bit. If you're going to put a wall in front of my feet, let me put them flat on the floor. B&M mega coasters, as well as Skyrush, have nice open fronts that let me ride hands up, legs out. The Mack coasters, as well as this one, have the wall in front of your legs that means that you have to keep your feet down the entire time even though you can't touch the floor. Obviously this is a safety thing which is why I'm not like, "DESTROY THE TRAIN WITH FIRE", but it's just how I like to ride. I'd much rather feel like I'm "in control" unless a train is completely open on all sides like the previous examples.

Looks to be a high seating arrangement like Mack mega coasters. I'm not sure if I like that.

Honestly, this is probably one of the strangest-looking coasters I've ever seen in my life.

Disney currently broadcasts a new series based around Mickey Mouse and friends on Disney Channel, but "episodes" are only four minutes long. They're slotted in between current stalwart shows, and new episodes are very sporadic, though apparently the show is one of the best animated series they've ever produced. It's not my favorite cartoon but it's pretty freaking good. But, you won't see this variation of Mickey in the parks anytime soon... Honestly, I think Cartoon Network is the current frontrunner in terms of short-length animation. They have many original shows that appeal to a bunch of demographics (Adventure Time, Clarence, Gumball, Steven Universe, Uncle Grandpa, We Bare Bears) that are constantly cranking out new episodes, plus they have their Adult Swim block specifically targeted at people like us. The rest of Disney's crop of shows are either too good to continue (Gravity Falls), good but still trying to make themselves known (Star vs the Forces of Evil), or a little bit outrageous (Wander Over Yonder).

Looney Tunes as a brand has really struggled to remain relevant as of late. They tried a sitcom-style cartoon several years ago, and now it's just Bugs Bunny with the problem of the day (usually Yosemite Sam). Honestly, the equivalent of Looney Tunes in 2016 is Pixar, specifically their short films. Maybe WB could give Looney Tunes a legitimate shot using the short film format again.