A.J.

The seating arrangement for most S&S towers is either 4-2-4-2 or 3-3-3-3, so the 24 riders thing makes sense if there are two towers. Probably one Space Shot and one Turbo Drop.

Let's see if I can fill in some blanks for you. In regards to your itinerary - Sandusky to Hershey is around six hours. Considering that you're going to get Fast Lane Plus, I'm not sure that you'll need that extra time at Cedar Point. Get the extra sleep in the morning before your drive, so you can enjoy your time at Hersheypark that night. Then, only spend a portion of the next day at Hersheypark so you can drive to Jackson at a reasonable hour, and have the full day at Six Flags Great Adventure with no trouble. Stay overnight at Jackson, drive to Allentown, spend some time at Dorney Park, then drive to Elysburg. You will NOT need Fast Lane, at least from my experience. Now, your questions. #2 - I don't think that Fast Track is worth it. You only get one ride per coaster, and not all of the coasters are included. I don't remember which ones aren't on the pass, but I'm pretty sure the Intamins are okay. #4 - Whether or not you get the wristband depends on your riding habits. One go on all six of the coasters will run you $16 using tickets. You'll likely have ample opportunity for re-rides, and you'll want to ride Phoenix twice (once near the front, once in the back row). Plus, you've got a lot of great flat rides, including [what is apparently] one of the best drop towers in the US. The pay-one price plans have gotten somewhat expensive over the past few years, so I don't usually get them unless it's a discount day like during Phunfest. Also, you get $2 off for every $20 book of tickets, so there's that. #6 - Nope. Next. #9 - There's a small park called IdleWild near Pittsburgh. It's along US-30. It has a classic terrain-ish wooden coaster and the only wild mouse ever built by Vekoma. It might be worth checking out.

This seems like a good way to think about it, evolution vs revolution. I'm still in a bigger hurry to ride all the Intamin coasters though.

RMCs also offer more things the rides can do. In pretty much every respect, it is a superior product and from everything I've heard, cheaper. And that's why no one is even rumored to be looking at that Plug N Play track tech. Is that only based on Outlaw Run and Goliath? That's not a large enough sample size if you ask me. The I-Box coasters aren't really wooden coasters, so they don't count. That also doesn't prove why none were built between T Express and New Texas Giant. Also, the Intamins were probably more expensive than the Rocky Mountain coasters because they're much more substantial rides. There's over a mile of track for T Express, 4,400 feet for El Toro and Colossos, and 3,500 feet for Balder (which is shorter in drop / height change than Outlaw Run).

For all we know they could be the worst-tracking trains in roller coaster history, even with the previous example set by Arkham Asylum Shock Therapy. Just because there's no head banging doesn't mean that the train will run glass smooth. I'd rather have a little bit of head banging than a constant vibration.

Bowser or a star power theme. Plenty of options... Yeah, but all of Universal's attractions are based around a complete story, save for like...Rip Ride Rocket and maybe Storm Force Accelatron - probably one or two more that I'm forgetting. The Wizarding World has really set the bar high in terms of detail, storytelling and immersion. Simply slapping a new "theme" on the existing Marvel Super Hero Island attractions just won't cut it, at least in my opinion.

Yeah, I'm totally in this camp. It's one thing when a park like Six Flags just jams a pre-show in guests' faces to communicate a theme (like Terminator Salvation at Magic Mountain), but a completely different and more meaningful thing when the coaster is built as an integral part of the experience.

Wristband only, it's $10 for access to all the rides.

It looks like ProSlide is taking a page from WhiteWater and doing the "larger diameter slide, super-tight spiral" thing.

...and I completely blew past that on the website.

I wish that Hersheypark did a "general" evening admission for a reduced price. I've driven through Hershey twice now in the past few months but have decided not to stop because it wouldn't be worth the full price of admission (sorry, Skyrush).

Do Dorney Park and Knoebels on the 20th. If you get to Dorney Park at around 10 AM or 11 AM, that will give you plenty of time to ride the stuff you want (Hydra, Steel Force, Talon and Possessed should probably be priority) in a few hours, and you can have lunch there too. Then, you can make the hour and forty minute drive to Knoebels to be there around 4 PM, where you can take advantage of the sundown plan for $28, which goes from 4 PM to 10 PM - enough time to probably get you on Flying Turns with little hassle, and grab dinner as well. Last time I showed up at the park on a weekday I was able to ride the three wooden coasters and Impulse in under an hour and a half, and that was with me being in a hurry.

Duinrell looks really cool! It looks like the supports for all of the attractions are trees.

I hope that they're traditional Intamin mega coaster trains and not those new ones that they're putting on the looping coasters. I like the older style because the headrests / backrests don't get in the way of the people sitting in the second row of each car.

This makes no sense. What makes Topper Track any worse, especially if it has a crazy layout like the other Rocky Mountain coasters?

What are you on about? Power Surge has consistently been one of the most popular flat rides in the park.

I was just there a few weeks ago and it looked like it was operating without any issues. Weeeeeeeird.

I hope that they do something else with the site quickly - isn't that right smack in the middle of a bunch of streets where everyone can see it?

I've merged this with the old Coaster Park Tycoon thread, considering that Planet Coaster is the final name for the game.

See how difficult it is to find a definitive answer to this question? Granted, there are definitely a few parks that stick out, but the "best amusement park ever" is going to be different for each person, because each person has different entertainment needs.

Yep. To me, Knoebels is just an absolutely wonderful place to be. I can just go there and take a single lap on a coaster on my way home from doing something in south-central Pennsylvania, or I can spend the whole day there with my friends or family. The park doesn't tell me to be someone else as part of a story, or to reserve a Fastpass to get on my favorite ride. To me, it's the absolute shining example of "great guest experience".

You can't answer this question. You look at the TEA / AECOM attendance numbers, and Magic Kingdom is the "best amusement park ever". You ask me, I say it's Knoebels. You ask Robb, he'll probably say EPCOT or Tokyo DisneySea (right?). You ask a person who loves completely immersive experiences in theme parks, they'll probably say a park in the Orlando area. You ask a Copenhagen local, they'll say Tivoli Gardens (probably). The sheer variety of amusement park experiences - from old-school wooden coasters like Phoenix to dark rides like Spiderman - means that there's a "best amusement park ever" for just about every culture in the world.

Doesn't the audio system add an insane amount of weight to the trains, even with the one row of seats removed?

Such is the state of the enthusiast community. Yet, I'm just sitting here waiting for the next Mack bobsled to be built.

I feel like simply removing the audio equipment and replacing the missing row of seats would make the coaster feel worlds better than it does now.