Xcoaster

Wow, this looks like a high quality addition for Yomiuriland, and it adds a lot of new things to do. Yomiuriland was at best a "half-day" park, especially after they lost two coasters (though to be sure, they were pretty terrible coasters) and Twist Coaster Robin, so this definitely helps make the park stand out. This also seemed like a park in need of more indoor attractions (all my visits were either crazy hot or freezing), so that's a big plus. The spinning coaster looks really cool and the instant noodles rapids ride looks to be surprisingly well done. To answer an earlier question, it looks like the Bungu Factory is themed to a stationary and school supplies factory, with three kids rides and some kind of giant Rube-Goldberg machine play area thing (the "ball coaster"). Also, I really like that each section has some kind of relevant hands-on activity. For example, the Food Factory will have a "make your own instant noodle bowl" thing.

Thanks Andy! Sending $10 your way!

After my first hand experience of nearly getting kicked out of Chessington for taking a photo of a closed ride, I'd guess that Merlin is very wary of having any media in the park.

I'll be there Tuesday for the filming. I'm excited to be able to get to ride it early, since otherwise I wouldn't have been able to ride until later in June. I'll probably wear one of my less offensive Hawaiian shirts (no pot leaf prints).

^ Jason, I'll take you up on that. l'll send you $30 later this evening.

Thanks, Matt! I really appreciate it!

Here's some of the stuff that's either on display, or might be worth displaying once I put up more shelves. Here's the stuff in the hallway. Going to left to right: Lake Winnie Cannonball parts and model train, Xcelerator launch cable, Maverick model train, Arrow wheel from King's Island (probably from Vortex), Dragster model train, Dorney Park Laser train I made, Belmont Park Giant Dipper bolts (I've got an upstop somewhere too), Wooden Warrior wood, Skull Mountain wheel, Ghostrider axle, Texas Giant bolt, GCI train axle, model Euro-Mir car I made, KBF Boomerang wheel (I like this one, since it has KBF stamped into it, plus a bunch of dimples that look to be from hardness testing). Left to right: Disneyland Carousel miniature model (more on this below), Helter Skelter thimble (eBay...), Cyclone model, SFMM Tower thing, Dumbo model (see below). Ok, so I found a bunch of miniature models from Disneyland CA at a model shop in Akihabara, Tokyo. The carousel and dumbo were among these. I seem to have gotten models of about 1/3 of Disneyland, but I haven't found anything on the internet of anything similar. Anyone seen any of these before? I'll have more from this haul coming up. Big Thunder Mountain model and train (including another of those mystery Disneyland CA models I found in Japan), Expedition Everest model car, Journey model car Mirabilandia model (from when they still had the wooden coaster), bunch of Merlin parks ride models (I keep the one of Nemesis at my desk at work). Disneyland miniature models, including dark ride facades (more of the random Tokyo models), a Matterhorn ride car, and a Matterhorn mountain model (also found in Tokyo). So most of the rest of this is stuff that isn't on display. These are more of the models I found in Tokyo. Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye Disneyland Main Street buildings Tomorrowland models. The inside of the Star Tours building actually has a Starspeeder model. Not sure what I did with the rest of the spinning satellite dish thing that sits in the middle of Tomorrowland. Small World is the last of the Disneyland models I found in Tokyo. Bunch of Disney ride vehicles More ride vehicles and stuff. Jaguar wheels, Coast Rider wheel, and an old stein from Magic Mountain (found at a thrift store). Most of the rest of this is ceramic stuff I've found at thrift stores (I sell a lot of other stuff I find on eBay). Behold, California Past-o-Rama! I got the Santa's Village plate a week or so ago, pretty cool. There's also POP, Busch Gardens Los Angeles, and some old Knott's stuff. Zoomed in on one of the Knott's plates. Cycle Chase! More ceramics. I also collect stuff from World's Fairs. And the last of the non-display stuff. Mostly mugs. Nice old Magic Mountain plate Ashtray from the California Pacific International Exposition in San Diego in 1935 (held where Balboa Park is today). I don't think they had any coasters this year at the Novel Midway (bottom left), but in previous years there was a wooden coaster. That's all the nerdiness I can handle for one night. Next time... shirts and wood!

Yeah, I'd completely forgotten this was happening until seeing those photos of the track in place (and still wrapped up in plastic, neat). This is looking and sounding awesome! It seems like my next Europe trip will need yet another visit to Phantasialand.

$20 thrown your way, Matt.

I'm also joining pretty late. This will be my first year riding for Coasting for Kids, and I'll be participating at Carowinds (!) since I'll be in the area. This is only my second visit to the park, so it should be a lot of fun. Here's my page: http://support.gktw.org/site/TR/CoastingForKids/General?px=1124165&pg=personal&fr_id=1370 Thanks!!!

^^ Same, Speedy Gonzalez Hot Rod Racers at SFMM during WCB. I'd tried on a previous visit and didn't fit, but tried again during WCB and just barely made it. And before that I finally got my Castle Park spinning mouse credit!

Silver Dollar City SFStL WoF Indiana Beach Lagoon PortAventura Kolmarden Ferrari World Lotte World Hong Kong Disneyland Shanghai Disneyland Universal Studios Singapore Everland A ton of Chinese parks (the ones with good coasters)

As a disclaimer, I've been to most of these only once or twice... Coney Island - Totonno's - 1524 Neptune Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11224 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totonno's It's a short walk from the boardwalk at Coney Island. One of Scott's recommended pizzarias. Still the best pizza I've ever had (though it's hard to go wrong in New York). SFMM - Rustic Eatery- 25343 Wayne Mills Pl, Valencia, CA 91355 Remarkably terrible name, but great Asian style sandwiches, salads, and plates. Also, beer. To get there, drive away from SFMM (always good advice) under the 5 freeway, and it'll be on your right. Pork belly sandwich... Santa Monica Pacific Park - PierBurger - 330 Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, CA 90401 One of the few interesting food establishments on the pier. They have solid burgers and, best of all, actual Midwest-style thick frozen custard. CGA - Smoking Pig BBQ - 1144 N 4th St, San Jose, CA 95112 Excellent BBQ with a nice selection of sauces, though it's about a 10-15 drive from the park. On the subject of BBQ, is Pierce's still rib-less? I would often order their sampler plate (chicken, pork, ribs) but the last time I visited they'd replaced everything "rib" on the menu with "shank". While meatier and still tasty, I didn't think the shanks matched up in flavor. Alas... Still on the subject of BBQ, I went to an amazing BBQ place after my first visit to SFFT, but I couldn't find it this last time. I seem to remember buying meat by the pound with seating outside at picnic tables. Anyone know where I'm talking about?

Soon... This was one of my favorite parks of the trip, as there were a ton of great rides (Piraten, the jungle ride, and the rapids all come to mind) and lots of weird little activities. One of my favorites was the obstacle course that included a little pond with stepping stones to get across, and timed water sprayers (I recall someone falling in). And later someone found that some of those ground-level trampolines were conveniently located above large puddles of water. On a nerd note, I think their log flume was the same model as the ones at BonBonland and Farup Sommerland, with the 3 drops all located in one central pile. I think this was also the park with wave-swinger that would spin in reverse.

I should be in the 100-200 range for Xcelerator, Silver Bullet, X2, and Goliath. For non-home parks my most ridden would be in the 30+ range for i305, Dominator, El Toro, and the BGW B&Ms.

Yes, on the whole, San Diego has the best Mexican food in Southern California (probably Northern too, by my experience is limited). Personally I prefer the regular Carne Asada burrito (Carne Asada, Pico de Gallo, Guacamole) to the California Burrito (Carne Asada burrito + fries, sour cream, cheese) but you really can't go wrong with any cheap little hole-in-the-wall Mexican place down there.

Since you've done Knott's, Six Flags, and Disney all fairly recently (and at least two of those will be pretty busy), I'd suggest going to San Diego if you've never been. Everything is pretty close together (except LEGOLAND and the Safari Park; they're about 45 minutes from downtown) and not as crowded, and you can easily squeeze in some culture/sightseeing on top. I'd suggest one day of the Zoo and Balboa Park (the zoo is basically inside Balboa Park) and another day of Sea World and Belmont Park (again, very close together). On top of that you could probably manage some time in Old Town, Gaslamp, Coronado, or Mission Beach/Pacific Beach, even if just for dinner. There's also the ship museums near downtown and there are a few missions nearby.

As for my personal preference, my favorites are the Hyper, followed by the Dive Machine, and then the Invert (so basically, BGW). The first two are because I prefer airtime, drops, and speed, and Hypers and Dive Machines are the best coasters they have for this, and the last is because their Inverts are some of the most intense coasters around. As for what I think they actually do the best (that is, their best product, compared to the industry as a whole, not just my preference), I'd say Inverts, Flyers, Floorless, and Wing Coasters (in that order). Their Inverts and Flyers are miles better than anything similar (though I'm personally not a huge fan of Flyers), and their Floorless and Wing Coasters are popular, visually impressive, and fairly unique in the industry. While B&Ms Hypers are probably a superior product in some respects, I feel that in ride experience there's no comparison to the Intamin Hypers. And as for Dive Machines, I think the less costly competitors (Eurofighters, mostly) could give them run for their money (though I'd personally take the Dive Machine). They were the best in the industry at Stand Ups, but that's not saying much, and I feel like the standard Sit-down coaster was just a stepping stone to the Floorless coaster.

Most of my memorable ones are from Disney. There's been plenty of other times of stopping on the lift or brakes though. * I have two from Space Mountain at Disneyland. The first was that as our train exited the station, we turned left into the maintenance area (so dusty), instead of right to go up the lift. We were quickly offloaded and put onto one of the next trains. * Another time, shortly after Space Mountain went through its long refurbishment, I got stuck on a midcourse brake. The lights got turned on, and after some waiting we completed the rest of the ride with the lights on (I was impressed by how it still seemed to be going full speed at the end). * At Disneyland Paris on Big Thunder Mountain we stopped just as we were making the final dive under the water on the way back to the station. We were unloaded (which involved a sizable jump to the ground) then walked back to the station and got ride passes for later. * During the 2012 Europe Trip, we got stuck at the top of the Winja's elevator, just before the drop. That was unnerving, since it seemed like it could drop at any time. Eventually I think we got lowered back down. * During WCB at SFMM a couple years ago, we launched on S:EFK, but the train never got up to speed, and just barely went up the tower. We came back down, got stuck on the brakes for a while, and eventually they winched us in part of the way. * As for non-coaster, once we went around the Wonder Wheel at DCA about a dozen times before we were let off. We were in a swinging car, so it got to be a little nauseating. Ken and I being evacuated from Big Thunder Mountain in Paris Stuck on Disneyland's Space Mountain with the lights on.

Definitely: SFMM and KBF Mexico Possibly: A bunch of Midwest parks I've never been to or want to get back to (mostly in/around Missouri) Disneyland Pretty Unlikely: Japan (Nagashima, small Nagoya area parks, DisneySea, LaQua, Yomiuriland, Sea Paradise) BGW and KD Florida Vegas

My loneliest experience was probably on Nitro at SFGAdv. We started ERT over there then most of the group moved on to Green Lantern and Kingda Ka, so I got a lonely ride before I realized everyone else had left. Other than that, I've ridden a ton of coasters in Japan by myself, since the smaller parks tend to be deserted when I visit. Oh, and every Batflyer I've ever ridden.

I don't feel like talking about LA (my home parks), so I'll mention that that the Winchester Mystery House is nearby California's Great America in San Jose. I did both when I was up there last year.

Lots of flatrides, especially those with lateral spinning (looping doesn't do much to me). There was this ride at the San Diego County Fair, Storm, that'd do me in. As for coasters, Tatsu and some spinning coasters (the worst I've been was after riding Sky Rider, the suspended spinning coaster at Skyline Park). I also started to a feel a little icky after riding Helix a bunch of times.

Twisted Colossus for me (it doesn't hurt that it's also the closest coaster to me), followed by Wicked Cyclone. I'm also very interested in seeing what happens with Cannibal and Schwur des Kärnan, since they're both still a bit of a mystery (and I loved what Hansa Park did with Fluch von Novgorod, and Kärnan sounds very similar).

I'd rank the ones I've been on as follows: Steel Dragon 2000 (old trains) - I loved my rides on it with the old bathtub trains, but felt it was kind of "meh" with the new B&M trains. The B&M trains felt a bit rougher, the restraints were a lot tighter, and I didn't notice any airtime on the hills. With the old trains I thought the turns seemed crazy fast, and there was lots of airtime on the return run. Maybe it was just the time of day, my imagination, or some unrelated variable, but I suspect it was due to the tighter restraints or decreased weight in the trains. Steel Eel - Tons of floaty airtime and a fun ride. Nearly a tie between this and Phantom's Revenge, but I like Eel's more floaty air. Phantom's Revenge - Definitely their most unusual layout and some great airtime. Steel Dragon 2000 (new trains) - See above, still a fun ride, but for whatever reason not as impressive to me as before. Steel Force - Solid ride, some good airtime. Wild Thing - Fun, but not much airtime Looking forward to Superman and maybe Mamba next year.