Electerik

Love the restraints. Actually, I like the layout, too. Especially the hammerhead and that tilted helix finale thing. The second hill looks a bit odd from some angles. I'll be interested to see how that rides.

^ I agree. Best "track sitting in a parking lot" shot ever! Still cautiously excited about this one, restraints-notwithstanding.

The day Cedar Point builds a dark ride, I'll eat my hat. And then I'll go to Cedar Point, because that would be awesome. But still, no. They friggin' hate that stuff. /Pop quiz: What's the last dark ride Cedar Fair had built?

No love for "Night of the Giving Head"? I think that's my new favorite porn movie name. (Replacing "Homo Alone.") /Also, this is the best "zero-day" segment ever.

Well, what do you mean by "big"? At the moment, I just can't imagine how they could build a proper "world's biggest coaster" without making Top Thrill Dragster feel irrelevant. I'm certainly not married to this spinning coaster idea, but I'm pretty sure it would be easy to build the world's biggest one. If they were just hinting one of those, I would agree. But since they've hinted both--and it can't reasonably be both--then I really think it could be any type of coaster. (In fact, I think they're just hinting that it will be a coaster.) But, obviously, I could be wrong.

At the moment.... 1. Busch Gardens Williamsburg (with Big Bad Wolf) 2. Indiana Beach 3. Islands of Adventure 4. Kennywood 5. Holiday World 6. Dollywood 7. Disneyland 8. SeaWorld Orlando 9. Disney’s California Adventure 10. Knott’s Berry Farm (mostly still on here out of nostalgia)

So...this argument is relevant because of whether or not Intimidator will be the biggest coaster in the South? You do know that even if you settle this, Cedar Fair isn't bound by your group conclusion, right?

Based on absolutely nothing, my official prediction is: custom giant Gerstlauer spinning coaster.

Thank you for posting this TR. The park does definitely have an impressive-looking coaster line up.

While I totally understand what you're getting at here, I most certainly would mention it. In fact, I would rank BGW's coasters thusly: Apollo's Chariot Big Bad Wolf Griffon Alpengeist Loch Ness Monster But as disappointed in BBW's removal as I am, I would still choose Busch Gardens over King's Dominion. Different people are into different things. But I spent 3.5 days at BGW last year and wasn't bored for a second of it.

Knott's Timber Mountain Log Ride is my favorite. Great pacing, awesome old-school theming, some cute tricks, and not super wet. For log flumes, I also really like Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls at IOA, Big Timber Log Ride at Enchanted Forest in Oregon, and Daredevil Falls at Dollywood. Popeye & Bluto's at IOA is my favorite rapids ride, but Kali at Animal Kingdom and Blizzard River at SFKK are pretty good, too. As for shoot-the-chutes, I might have to go with something borderline like Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland. I also like Journey to Atlantis at SeaWorld Orlando, but I'm not quite sure how to classify it. There's no doubt in my mind that IOA has the best collection of water rides, though.

Sigalert is SoCal speak for "bad traffic ahead." (The "sig" part is short for Sigmond, the last name of the guy who came up with the warning system.) And EV stand for "electric vehicle." Nice TR, by the way. /The more you know.

It struck me that it's sort of an amalgam of Cedar Point's big, popular Intamins: Millennium's basic size and feel during the first half, Maverick's high-speed transitions and tone during the second half, and Dragster's race theming. And with that, a new thought has occurred to me in regards to the restraints: Maybe they went this way because of the transitions. Yes, it can create some uncomfortable neck-chops, but maybe it avoids potential back injuries as peoples' upper bodies are slung back and forth (especially if they lean out the wrong way). I might be totally smoking dope on that one, mind you. But based on what I think I know about Cedar Fair, that sounds a lot more plausible to me than that they suddenly care about fat people.

Cannon Ball is my current favorite, though that probably has more to do with Lake Winnie and the way they operate/maintain it than it does any particular design advantage.

I often wonder about what, exactly, the anti-complainer complainers would like to discuss. Whether it's going to be super-awesome or super-duper-awesome? There's no reason anyone should hold their tongue and be "grateful" for this ride. Cedar Fair is not a charity. They're building a new coaster at King's Dominion because they think it will bring them a greater return on investment to do so. And it's an Intamin giga because the park down the street already has a B&M hyper, not because they love the KD fanboys more than they love you and your local park. I think it looks pretty good--except for one flaw. Unfortunately, for me, it's a really big flaw. Sure, I could be proven wrong and end up loving the ride anyway. But if I can't hold a negative opinion until after I ride it, then y'all cant have a positive one until you ride it. Which means that you can't tell me the restraints are no big deal.

Everyone does. And since mcjaco has "Pave Big Bad Wolf" in his signature, this is as good a time as any for me to say this: Once BGE disfigures itself, IB will officially become my uncontested favorite park. /OTSR suck.

I was really excited until I heard about the restraints. I love MF, but I don't much care for Maverick. I really like the look of the first two hills, though.

LIES!!! /I was not able to verify that score. //Also, I let her win.

Scattered along the strip throughout Pigeon Forge are Go-Cart/Laser Tag/Arcade type fun centers. Most are fairly interchangeable, but at least Lazerport has ice cream and mini golf! And that's it for Lazerport. It's amusing enough--especially if you like murals. Leaving out the side entrance. Swag. What 1000 tickets may look like. But I'll show her. Smisty thinks she can outdo me by winning 300 tickets at the roll-a-token game. Note the different spelling of Lazerport. Note also that I got 410 at Skee-ball. I believe that's a personal best. One of those "build your own space coaster" deals. But I love this one's name: Virtual Simulator. Yes! Two credits! And now for the arcade. Seriously, now that I'm an adult (allegedly), I'll sometimes just spring for $20 worth of tokens and go nuts for a while. Not ghetto at all. Just throw your putters in the trash. That seems bad. More alien stuff. Though it looks pretty nice here, the course has seen better days. Graffiti, especially, is a problem. The low, slanted ceiling is where the go-cart track passes overhead. While the doorway in the back connects to the wrong end of hole #10--leading me to believe that this was once two 9-hole courses instead of one 18-hole course. I think that yellow rock thing was once a fountain or something. No water in it now, though. Misty's mom and sister are now famous on the internet. Alien bondage. You can't beat that. The mini golf is themed to aliens and spacemen and such. Lazerport does have some really cool murals. I'll give them that. Back inside is laser tag and mini golf. A bit ghetto 'round the back end, though. (And no, that go-cart does not have an umbrella sticking out of it.) Looks interesting enough. Yes, it's a roller coaster "style" go cart track. Now that that's out of the way, let's go check out the go-carts. I believe I shall. (It's Edy's by the way. That's the same thing as Dryer's for you folks on the west coast.) Ice cream, you say? "Hi, I'm a big crazy alien thing with a gun. And my friend here is a professional golfer."

^ I've never even heard of this, and it's right down the road from me. Maybe it's just because I have an aversion to school in any form.

The English have an odd sense of publicity. I agree that this sounds less than entirely sincere. They just want attention.

Yay for mini golf! Mt. Atlanticus looks pretty cool. I've only played, like, one mini golf course in Myrtle Beach--and it turns out it's a chain we have here in Pigeon Forge, too.

Sevier County certainly does not want for pancake houses. And while I can't yet say that I've tried all of them, I have been to quite a few. And my favorite so far is Red Rooster. Nothing like farm equipment to make me hungry! Wait, actually that does kind of work. The Red Rooster Pancake House. You should go there. They also have chocolate eclair pancakes. In a vain attempt to outdo me, Misty decides to eat a whole baby. Uh-oh. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea.... MORE FOOD!!! MOON PIE PANCAKES!!! Moon Pie pancakes and the Red Rooster house omelet. Yes, Moon Pie pancakes. And they are heavenly. The inside. Red Rooster is located where the Apple Tree Inn Restaurant used to be, near traffic light #6 in Pigeon Forge.

It came out 58 years ago. I guess you missed it. /The African Queen was allegedly the inspiration for Jungle Cruise.

Prepare to be surprised. (It's actually really dull.) Glad you had fun at Dollywood. Great TR of your entire trip. Thanks for posting it!