Xcoaster

Wow, that's awesome! As is, it's a fun park, but they really could use a good signature ride. Hopefully this will fill that gap.

I wonder if Little Flash would tie into a DC themed area, or if it's entirely unrelated. I don't recall a character named Little Flash, but it's close.

They mentioned Canyon Blaster and Wile E. Coyote for 1999, with the later being a former name of Percy. Maybe they plan on rebranding it back (along with the rest of that area).

On Sunday I went to USH's HHN with Albert/Corkscrewed. There wasn't a ton of stuff to do (I finished around 11:30, he stuck around to take some more photos, and by then the lines were all pretty long), but the mazes and scare zones were pretty amazing. House of a 1000 Corpses is probably the best maze I've ever done. Friday the 13th and Saw were both awesome. There was one particularly fantastic scare in Friday the 13th where it appears that Jason is hanging out behind a window (Nightmare on Elm Street was full of this), but then the lights flash, and he's up in your face. Nightmare on Elm Street, Vampyre, the Terror Tram, and Bill and Ted's were all very good too, but not at quite the same level as those three mazes. We also had time for the Simpson's Ride, and before HHN I did the tour, Mummy, and Jurassic Park. King Kong 360 3D was ok. I'd like to go to Queen Mary and Knott's, but probably I'll only make it to Fright Fest (still never done backwards Colossus). There's also the Haunted Swamp at our base that I might check out. I guess it has a boat ride. Oh, and I'm sad that I missed the TPR Knott's event, but I was still on my Oktoberfest side-trip.

^It does look weaker than most. Hopefully the theming makes up for it. Also, two lifthills? I'm getting a strong "Italian Phantasialand" vibe from this park. Anyways, it's looking fantastic. This was one of many parks that seemed like it was in development for so long that it was never going to go beyond the concept art, but it's great to see that it's actually going forward. Rome could certainly use a nice theme park. My only complaint - what happened to the SLC from the concept art?

The Superman makeover was expected, but Green Lantern is very surprising. My experiences with the ZacSpins: I only had one ride on Insane at Gronalund (same layout shown for Green Lantern) due to a long-ish line, but I wasn't too impressed. I just felt like I was getting tossed around, and didn't enjoy the crotch smashing. However, I have heard a lot of praise for it from others, so it might've been partly due to the variation between rides, as it depends a lot on weight is distribution. Also, I think the backwards facing seats might be safer, as the crotch smashing usually seemed to happen when hitting the final brakes. I've also had a couple rides on Kirnu, and in contrast, I really enjoyed it's crazy weird drops, despite the much shorter layout. Anyways, while I'm not yet totally decided on ZacSpins, it does seem like a great fit for the park, as it provides a very unusual experience each time, it has a small footprint, and the theme fits the ride. And Superman looks pretty cool. I'm glad they're doing something to improve what was otherwise a somewhat pointless ride. I like that Six Flags is starting to take the approach of fixing what's broken, instead of just installing something new. Anyways, despite what seems like some negativity, I'm very excited with this announcement. After 2001 I'd never expected we'd see anyone crazy enough to add 3 coasters in a year (or somewhere between 2-4, depending on your whorishness). It's obviously not fitting so much with their attempted family-friendly park image, but if they can keep up the quality of the rest of the park, I won't complain, as this is probably a better direction for them. I even like the names (except maybe the kiddie coaster, but I really could care less). Plus, unlike 2001, this time their 3 coasters are all a much safer, smarter, cheaper investment, as they aren't installing a set of massive, expensive prototypes. I never thought I'd say this, but I think Six Flags knows what they're doing.

Great video! The "Sweet Caroline" segment should help keep that song stuck in my head for another couple weeks.

That was a deadly amazing park. One of the bunny hops on Wild Train completely felt like a "punch you in the gut" top hat. It's hard to believe it was under 1000' long. My first time on the slide something must have gone wrong, but the second time I pushed off and was flying. Awesome.

^^ I heard it was good, but most of us didn't get to ride it due to its weird operating schedule. It only ran about once every hour, and then its last show wasn't long after we arrived and still a couple hours before closing, at which point most of us were at the inflatable rapid-flume ride. Also, because you had to pay for the park map and because the signage for it was so terrible, I only knew it even existed through word-of-mouth. I felt about the same regarding the park. It really felt like a theme park on a budget, with a very bare-bones theming and rides package. Belantis reminded me somewhat of what I've seen with Hard Rock Park, but worse in all respects. Both seemed to lack the attractions and depth that make a theme park really immersive, but unlike HRP, Belantis seemed totally uninspired and only there to make a quick buck. On a more positive note, I really enjoyed Plohn. El Toro probably stands as my number two GCI behind Thunderhead (I haven't ridden almighty Prowler though). Even with its small size it was wonderful and very reridable. I don't think it had a single dull spot.

^ I'm not sure exactly how they feel about the rides, but I should think they like the fair, seeing that the entire population of the city is there everyday. I wouldn't be surprised if there are bigger fairs in terms of sheer number of rides, but I'd be surprised if many had a higher quality of awesome rides. For example, just the coaster collection at the fair are far better than those at many parks, and coasters usually aren't a strong point for a fair. I didn't notice a scrambler, but it'd be very easy to overlook. Was there something special about it, aside from the usual pluses of the fair? I don't think anyone plans on visiting the Stuttgart fair. Anyways, I think my neck has healed from falling while on Toboggan (I did something similar to Joe's first attempt in the video), but now I'm still feeling ill from all the non-flatride spinning this morning. Every day has been pretty crazy.

Great TR! The park looks much bigger than I'd expected. Both of the free-upcharges are new to me, and it looks like they have a ton of other neat stuff. I'm now very excited to be going there.

I saw you guys a few times on Saturday, but I didn't have a chance to say "hi" without lots of crazed shouting and waving. I didn't get a Quick Queue pass, and while the park was busy, the lines moved quickly. My waits were all under 30 minutes (though I left around 5pm, and the lines were only getting longer). Griffon had the longest line I've experienced for it, looping over toward the splashdown, but it never took more than 15 minutes. The operators announced that they were sending through about 40 trains an hour, so they were close to capacity. Also, in a slightly relevant bit of news, the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg just changed their mascot to a Griffin.

I go to local parks with other people much of the time, since if I don't have a season pass I'll usually only visit on special occasions. My main exception is with SFMM, since it's so close that I can spend half a day there alone without getting bored. However, outside of California my traveling companions usually have no interest in parks, so I've been to most foreign parks alone, except when I'm on vacation with my family or on a TPR trip (a major plus of TPR trips is visiting foreign parks with like-minded folks). The worst part of going alone is sitting in the lines or restaurants by yourself, but it is especially nice for new parks, since I'm able to do everything I want even if I don't know my way around the park, and there's no one to complain when I'm going out of the way for run-down kiddie coasters. Plus, even my coaster liking friends usually aren't interested in ride-marathons. It's always nice to have friends to hang out with for the day, but I rarely pass up a good opportunity to visit a new park. Actually, the absolute worst part of going to parks by yourself is when you come across rides you aren't allowed to ride alone. My main problem rides have been Thunderbolt at Kennywood and some of the Puyallup Fair.

I'll be at work on Friday, so I probably won't make it until Saturday or Sunday.

Darn, I'd hoped this was the ride that S&S was referring too when they mentioned the possibility of upgrading their tower rides. I do agree that SFMM would be a better fit, as I usually skip it at DCA, especially since ToT opened.

There's one of those on Del Mar Heights Road in San Diego too. The Bistro Gourmet portion is kept somewhat separate from the McDonald's, but I think you can order most of the same things from either side. We often stop by for gelato.

I'd probably say Sequoia Adventure. Now that it's beaten out the North East trip, I must say that the Intimidator trip is a fantastic deal, with several world class parks and impressive new coasters in a short time. If I hadn't just visited most of the included parks with either the Deep South tour or work travel, I'd definitely do it. As is, now I'm hoping UK or Middle America will work out somehow.

Here's a rough "credit list" for each preliminary trip plan. I just copied the lists of coasters from rcdb, so some of these may be powered coasters (you might not count), or double tracked (you might count twice), or kiddie coasters (you might not ride). I'm also not accounting for any possible bonus parks, unforeseen closures, changes to schedule, the fact that I have no involvement in planning these trips and everything is still extremely tentative, etc. UK Tour(63-69) Alton Towers (8): Air, Beastie, Nemesis, Oblivion, Rita - Queen of Speed, Runaway Mine Train, Spinball Whizzer, unknown Blackpool Pleasure Beach (10-11): Avalanche, Big Dipper, Grand National, Infusion, Irn-Bru Revolution, Pepsi Max Big One, Roller Coaster, Space Invader (SBNO), Steeplechase, Wild Mouse, Zipper Dipper Thorpe Park (6): Colossus, Flying Fish, Nemesis Inferno, Saw - The Ride, Stealth, X:\ No Way Out Oakwood (4): Clown Coaster, Megafobia, Speed: No Limits, Treetops Rollercoaster Chessington (4): Dragon's Fury, Rattlesnake, Runaway Train, Vampire Flamingoland (8): Corkscrew, Dragon Coaster, Go Gator, Kumali, Mumbo Jumbo, Runaway Mine Train, Velocity, Wild Mouse Lightwater Valley (5): Caterpillar, Ladybird, Rat Ride, Twister, Ultimate Drayton Manor (4): Buffalo Mountain Coaster, G Force, Shockwave, Troublesome Trucks Runaway Coaster Camelot Theme Park (5): Caterpillar Capers, Dragon Flyer, Junior Dragon Coaster, Knightmare, Whirlwind Botton's Pleasure Beach (4): Big Apple, Queen Bee, Rockin Roller, Runaway Train Funcoast World (2): Dragon, Wild Mouse Gulliver's World (3): Antelope, Runaway Train, Wild Mine Ride New Pleasureland Southport (5?): Big Apple, Circus Clown, Indiana's Lost World - The Ride, Wild Cat, Wild Mouse Mainland Europe (31+Aqualandia) Gardaland (5): Blue Tornado, Magic Mountain, Mammut, Ortobruco Tour, Sequoia Adventure Mirabilandia (6): Explorer, Family Adventure, Katun, iSpeed, Leprotto Express, Pakal Movie Studios Park (1): X-Smile Aqualandia (0?): I couldn't find it on rcdb (is it the waterpark with soaped football?), but while searching for it I did notice that a lot of smaller Italian parks have been getting new stuff. Europa Park (10): Alpenexpress, Atlantica SuperSplash, blue fire Megacoaster, Euro Mir, Eurosat, Matterhorn Blitz, Pegasus, Poseidon, Schweizer Bobbahn, Silver Star Nurburgring (1): ring racer Holiday Park (2): Expedition GeForce, Super Wirbel CentrO.Park (1): Speedy Efteling (5): Bobbaan, Joris en de Draak, Python, Vliegende Hollander, Vogel Rok Middle America Trip (66) Six Flags Great America (12): American Eagle, Batman The Ride, Dark Knight, Demon, Iron Wolf, Ragin' Cajun, Raging Bull, Spacely's Sprocket Rockets, Superman - Ultimate Flight, Vertical Velocity, Viper, Whizzer Holiday World (4): Howler, Legend, Raven, Voyage Valleyfair (8): Corkscrew, Excalibur, High Roller, Mad Mouse, Mild Thing, Renegade, Steel Venom, Wild Thing Worlds of Fun (7): Boomerang, Mamba, Patriot, Prowler, Spinning Dragons, Timber Wolf, Wacky Worm Silver Dollar City (5): Fire In The Hole, Grand Exposition Coaster, Powder Keg: A Blast in the Wilderness, Thunderation, Wildfire Six Flags St. Louis (8): Batman The Ride, Boss, Evel Knievel, Mr. Freeze, Ninja, River King Mine Train, Screamin' Eagle, Tony Hawk's Big Spin Indiana Beach (6): Cornball Express, Galaxi, Hoosier Hurricane, Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain, Steel Hawg, Tig'rr Coaster Nick Universe at Mall of America (5): Avatar Airbender, Back at the Barnyard Hayride, Fairly Odd Coaster, Pepsi Orange Streak, SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge Adventureland (4): Dragon, Outlaw, Tornado, Underground Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park (6): Cyclops, Hades, Little Titans, Opa, Pegasus, Zeus Timber Falls (1): HellCat North East USA Trip (37) Six Flags New England (9): Batman - The Dark Knight, Bizarro, Catwoman's Whip, Cyclone, Flashback, Great Chase, Mind Eraser, Pandemonium, Thunderbolt Lake Compounce (4): Boulderdash, Kiddie Coaster, Wildcat, Zoomerang Quassy (3): Little Dipper, Mad Mouse, unknown (Gravity Group family coaster) Great Escape (6): Alpine Bobsled, Boomerang, Canyon Blaster, Comet, Road Runner Express, Steamin' Demon Canobie Lake Park (3): Canobie Corkscrew, Dragon, Yankee Cannonball Funtown Splashtown USA (2): Excalibur, Wild Mouse La Ronde (10): Boomerang, Cobra, Dragon, Goliath, Marche du Mille-pattes, Monstre, Super Manège, Toboggan Nordique, Vampire, unknown (Vekoma SLC) IntimidaTour (44) Dollywood (5): Blazing Fury, Mystery Mine, Tennessee Tornado, Thunderhead, VeggieTales Sideshow Spin Busch Gardens Williamsburg (5): Alpengeist, Apollo's Chariot, Griffon, Grover's Alpine Express, Loch Ness Monster Kings Dominion (14): Anaconda, Avalanche, Back Lot Stunt Coaster, Dominator, Flight of Fear, Grizzly, Hurler, Intimidator 305, Rebel Yell, Ricochet, Scooby-Doo's Ghoster Coaster, Shockwave, Taxi Jam, Volcano, The Blast Coaster Freestyle Music Park (5): Hang Ten, Iron Horse, Round About, Soak'd, Time Machine Family Kingdom (2): Speedy Gonzalez, Swamp Fox Carowinds (13): Afterburn, Carolina Cobra, Carolina Cyclone, Carolina Goldrusher, Fairly Odd Coaster, Hey Arnold's Taxi Chase, Hurler, Intimidator, Nighthawk, Ricochet, Rugrats Runaway Reptar, Thunder Road, Vortex

Yay, I hope that pans out. I'm missing a lot of Florida credits, and the parks I have visited I'd like to go to again. I'd absolutely love to do the UK Tour, but it's looking like it won't work out with my schedule. Maybe I can make it when you go again in 5 years or so. Most of the remaining trips look cool, but again they either don't mesh with my schedule, or they include a lot of parks that I've already visited (though I'd still be seeing quite a lot of new stuff on any of them). As such, I voted for the North East Tour, since I've only been to a couple of the smaller parks there (and it's been a long time), and I could almost certainly fit it in my schedule. Plus, I've been dying to ride their former S:ROS, and I'd like to see if Boulderdash is still my #1 wooden coaster.

Most of the comments so far reflect how I felt. Between the Space Shot, Rampage ERT, train #2, the oppressive heat, and the lack of help from the water rides, it seemed like the park was trying to destroy us. But we survived, and it was a lot of fun. Rampage was smooth-ish in the very front row, but every other row had at least three pretty consistent potholes, with the third hill one being the worst (I think there was another one a few hills before it, and another closer to the end). I tried to stay in the back row of the second-to-last car, or thereabouts. The back was generally rougher, but it provided some fantastic rides. And I think I preferred the second train, but it was mostly eliminated as time went on. Two other unusual features of the ride were the way the brakes were set up, and the ride having four classic CCI swooping turns. Anyways, thanks to the park for a great day (and lots of swag)!

Plus, KD already has 4-5 wooden coasters (depending on your whoriness). None of them are fancy new GCI's, GG's, or Intamins (or even CCI's for that matter), but that's still not bad, and excluding Hurler, they're all decent (and even Hurler isn't terrible). In fact, I thought Grizzly was great, at least on par with many CCIs I've been on, and Rebel Yell is one of the best of the racing out-and-backs.

This looks very nice, and it's on a large scale. It would definitely get at least a bronze, probably a silver, maybe a gold.

I forgot about a few fair coasters (a mouse in Germany, and three at the Del Mar Fair), and Cyclone at Williams Grove. I got there a little after the park closed for the day, and now it's SBNO. However, I've also heard that it was the definition of rickety.

Yeah, but I also don't think Cedar Point would've let them get away with another error that could cause injuries, especially given Intamin's track record. They make awesome rides, but they also don't seem to mind going back for re-work. Anyways, it looks like Millennium Force and Maverick had a baby. The MF aspects of that should be awesome, especially since it was looking unlikely that we'd ever see another giga coaster, but as with everyone else, I'm worried about the snappy transition/OTSR combination, as my neck didn't appreciate that on Maverick. Still, it looks like a great layout and an excellent addition to the park. I'm looking forward to it, especially since there's a good chance that I'll make it out there next year, and it'll be a lot of fun even if my neck must suffer a little.

Various kiddie coasters (I either didn't bother, was too tall, or it was closed), the invertigo at King's Island (I didn't have enough time; I just barely made it on Vortex as-is), Windjammer, SFAW (I was reasonably close and didn't go), Montu (thunderstorms), one side of Gwazi (closed), Rye Playland (we were outside the parking lot a few hours before it opened, but didn't have time to stick around), and various other parks I've driven by but didn't go to.