Xcoaster

It's interesting that they may have originally been considering a Euro Mir style Mack spinning coaster. The windcatcher tower does seem more like what you might expect on one of those, as it's analogous to Euro Mir's towers, but otherwise it seems like they made the right choice with the ride system, as Cheetah Hunt looks fantastic (and a spinning coaster certainly wouldn't fit the current theme). Still, it's nice to know that there might be hope yet for a stateside Euro Mir. Anyways, great photo TR! It's neat to see how many details went into this attraction. I certainly hope that I'll be able to make it out there again fairly soon.

I'd like to go, but I won't know for certain that I can until closer to the day of the festival.

I'd be interested in joining in on a Flash Pass. I'll be there part of the day tomorrow, so maybe I'll get some credits out the way, but I'd still be interested for Saturday. I'll be at dinner Friday night after about 10pm, so maybe I'll catch someone there.

I saw "Cagliostro" in the name, and it looks to be housed in some kind of weird castle, which makes me think it could be themed to Count Alessandro di Cagliostro and/or The Castle of Cagliostro. In terms of the actual ride, probably some mysterious occult magic, hidden passageways, traps, etc. That's just speculation on my part though. I am interested to see what they do with it, since it looks like it might be a more effects and story driven ride.

^ (...& ^^^...) No monies. Probably something to do with the fact that no one is ever there riding it. At the very least, they need to sell a few rides every hour to pay the ride ops, not to mention maintenance fees, their lease, needing to turn some sort of a profit, etc. It was totally dead when I visited too (granted, it was raining occasionally, but from the other reports I gather that no riders and some rain are the norm). Again, hopefully Boomers picks it up at a bargain price, as I seriously doubt anyone is going to pay to relocate it when they could buy a brand new coaster for nearly the same price.

That's too bad, it was a good ride. Back when I ranked coasters consistently, it was in my top 30% overall, and top 50% for wooden coasters, so it was a solid ride, if not a particular favorite of mine. It's also the only decent coaster on that end of the state, which makes the loss even suckier. I hope Boomers would at least consider buying it at a bargain price, rather than just demolishing it (or letting it rot), as I doubt it's likely to be relocated (From what I understand, relocated wooden coasters have to be mostly rebuilt from scratch, minus the non-structural components).

I was also thinking of going on Saturday, and was curious how the crowds would be. It's opening weekend, so I expect it'll be crowded, but it's also early in the season and supposed to rain, so I'm not sure. Probably I'll just stick with the historic triangle things. As far as what rides, I'd probably head to the back and hit Alpengeist and DarKastle first, as those usually have the longest waits for me. Griffon and Apollo I've never waited over 30 minutes for, but I also usually make use of the single rider line for those when I can.

I was thinking of visiting SFOT on my return from the North East / Cedar Point trip, but this sounds much better, and the airfare is pretty reasonable. I think I might do SFFT and Sea World afterward, then fly out of SAT on Monday night.

^ Yes, both morning and nighttime ERT, 2 meals, and "surprises": http://www.sixflags.com/magicMountain/events/CoasterEnthusiastDay2011.aspx Back to WCB: I want a shirt, but I probably won't know by Friday that I'll definitely be able to make it to WCB. Is there any chance I could reserve a shirt and just pay extra for the shipping if it turns out I can't make it to the event? I'll probably be there, but I've been warned to keep my schedule open.

Darn, I'll have to check this out next year. I've been wanting to try some of these food trucks, but I usually avoid LA as much as possible.

^^ Yes, it includes as much admission as you can handle (but only for yourself, and only for that day). ^^^^ Knott's did offer a credit, but when I went to see about buying a pass, Guest Relations said I could only get $25 credit for the $55 ticket. I can understand why it wasn't full credit, but the season pass processing line was huge and slow, and I was already somewhat on the fence, so I decided against it. As it turns out, I most likely would've only gotten a couple uses out of it anyways, so it was probably for the best. So regarding the tickets being non-refundable, I'll just wait until I'm fairly certain work won't send me across the country, then I'll buy them using the Club TPR guaranteed ticket perk.

No, but mostly because I already have the complete dvd set from the Black Friday sale.

That's an awesome design, one of my favorites. I'll definitely be getting one now. Are WCB tickets refundable? I've yet to miss a year, but there's always a chance work will throw something at me last minute. Or being a Club TPR member, I suppose I could just wait to buy until the last minute, but I'd rather not.

I've got about half-a-dozen attempts in, and I still haven't gotten anything. Of course, I've only been going for the ones with stuff inside. I've mostly been going for whatever boxes are in the middle.

Not in any particular order. 1. Cherries (Rainier, black, red, as long as they're sweet) 2. Peaches 3. Blood Orange (or a fresh Navel orange) 4. Raspberries 5. Strawberries 6. Guava 7. Watermelon 8. Hawaiian Papaya (tends to be a bit hit-or-miss) 9. Passion Fruit 10. Pineapple Honorary Mentions: Tomato (important for cooking), Avocado (same), Blueberries (they've been moving up my list lately), Blackberries (hard to find ones with a good flavor), Pomelo, Lychee, Mango, Granny Smith Apples, Apple Bananas

I only had one ride on Flashback. It wasn't especially rough throughout, it just had one spot where it starts to bank one direction, then it slams the other way, smashing your head into the restraint. My ear hurt for the rest of the day. Even if the restraints were changed, I think it would only have been about on par with a Hurricane/Windstorm. It definitely seemed like a portable design. Enclosing it would've been cool, but it still probably wouldn't have been a success worthy of the investment.

It sounds like the theme will stay basically the same, they just can't reference the word "Terminator" Also, Eric, I'll probably check out that Toppers today, especially since I have a gift card that's been burning a hole in my pocket.

I had a good visit to the park today (er... yesterday, 12/30/2010). I arrived around 11:30, parked in the second lot (the shameless-marketing "Snickers" lot), skipped processing my new season pass since I was already late, and headed straight into the park. Revolution looked to have about a 15 minute line. The line for X2 was running under the bridge, maybe because the gate was closed and it wasn't really that long, but I didn't check. Viper's line was running down the midway, but again it looked like they were holding it outside the station, so I'm not sure how long the wait actually was. With the way they were controlling the lines, it looked like they'd just opened both rides, but it might just be their new way of doing things, as I saw them controlling rides more than usual today. I continued up the hill, saw that Tatsu had a 0:45+ line, and somewhat discouraged, continued on down the hill. I got in line for Terminator, with its line taking up only about half of the outdoor queue. I lost track of time fiddling with my iPod, but it seemed to be about 0:45 before I was in the station. I had a good ride in the back. It's still one of the better GCI coasters, especially for its size, but it is disappointing how it starts off so strong, then has such a dull finale. The first part is pretty awesome though. The fire effect was working on my first ride, and I didn't miss the audio. From there I had a walk on for Goldrusher, then noticed at the new coffee shop that they've installed one of these Coke Freestyle Dispensers. I desperately wanted to test it out to see what Fanta flavors it has, but the place had a bit of a line, and it didn't look like they'd really planned on selling soda, as the only option besides the souvenir cup was a large soda for $5. I considered just playing with the machine to see what it had, but I was afraid it might start spraying Beverly everywhere. I finally tried the new BBQ place near Riddlers, lunching on the brisket and sausage sliders. I'm biased because I love BBQ, but I was happy with it, other than that it wasn't entirely filling. From there I used the Riddler's single rider line for my first time to get two rides in the front (my first ride had the guy next to me holding his hands out, with one smack in front of my face, which seriously damaged my calm and led to taking the second ride). The line looked to be just outside the station, so it was probably about a 0:30 wait. From there I had a 0:15 wait for Batman in the back row. It's probably just because I was in an inside seat in the back, but it did absolutely nothing for me. I might just be jaded. From there I had about a 0:30 wait for Colosssus (right side). It was running pretty smooth; I even got a little air on a couple drops. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing it eventually getting the Texas Giant treatment, as the park could use an airtime machine. Not to open a can of worms, but the main reason I prefer CP's coaster collection is because their rides have more of a focus on speed and drops, while SFMM's tend to be more inversion/turn heavy. So Colossus getting turned into something more like Balder would help close that gap, which would make me happy. But since it's already running fairly well, I wouldn't make it a big priority. Scream looked to have about a 0:30 line (basically the entire queue), probably the longest I've ever seen for it, so I skipped it (it's skippable). Goliath's queue was about 0:30, starting near the other side of the station. Goliath is usually somewhat skippable for me, but I had a nice ride on it in the back. It's become one of my least favorite hypers, as the hyper-twister thing really doesn't excite me anymore (same with Raging Bull), but it is a solid ride. From there I left the park around 3:30 to get my new season pass. There was no wait, and as mentioned elsewhere, they already had the coupon book available (which is great, since I forgot it altogether last season). From there I went back in and had a nice front-seat ride on Revolution after a short wait. My only big to-do left was X, so I queued up for that. The line stretched to near it's queue entrance, but they were running two trains, and not all of the queue was being used, so it was only about a 0:45 wait for the back row. I was impressed with how they were managing the line, as after the split it was fairly short, and the station was uncrowded. I had a great ride on it, pretty smooth, still easily one of my favorite coasters (though I think I now prefer Eejanaika slightly for it's added flair, even if it is a little rougher, but that's another story). Viper and Tatsu looked to still have lines around 0:30, so I figured I'd check on Ninja instead, since I saw it cycling an empty train earlier that day. I found it open, and got a couple rides in, one in the back car, and one in the front seat. Both times I had to wait an extra train due to Lo-Q, which is always a little irritating. I came back from my the second ride and the station was deserted, so I got two more re-rides, for four total. After that they closed it due to the cold (it was chilly, probably 40-45*F). Ninja is still a great ride, one of my favorites at the park, even if it feels a bit rattly. Hopefully they can keep it running for years, without the problems BGW experienced. I still had about 20 minutes before the park closed, so I went down to Terminator, and basically had a walk-on, minus waiting for the pre-show. I got a couple great rides in, seated near the middle of the train. I lost my seat for the last train of the night, but I was happy just to get those last two rides in. So in summary, the park was more crowded than I've seen it in a while, but that's not saying much since it's usually pretty dead when I visit. Luckily no one coaster seemed to be hogging all the crowds, so all the waits were tolerable. The closed rides I noted included everything mentioned in the earlier post, plus Raging Rapids, and minus Ninja (for at least part of the day). Everything was running well, I had no bad rides (except maybe my Batman ride, but that might've just been me), and I thought the line management was especially well done. I had a slow start, but I ended up having a nice day. Happy New Year!

Is the paint really that faded, or does it just need to be cleaned? During a backstage tour I ran my hand across a support and it seemed like it was just covered in a light film, with the brighter colors easily revealed underneath.

All I'm saying is there wasn't a massive outcry regarding it because there weren't massive numbers of people who rode it. Nothing to do with its quality, I know all about it shooting up to #2 after everyone visited it, but you're not going to get much of a response over a coaster that most people have only seen a video of. I'm sure the loss of Eagle's Fortress was a much greater loss to its park *and* to the community at large (though it sounds like the locals didn't feel it was a huge loss, but I'm sure I would've been upset).

I rode it for my first and last few times on July 1st & 2nd, 2009, shortly before it was announced that it was closing, so I think I was fairly unbiased. Personally, I thought it was a great ride, and maybe only one or two brackets below their B&M's in quality (versus 5 or so with Nessie). It certainly wasn't an amazing top ten thrill ride, but I thought it was a lot of fun (suspended coasters are one of my favorites of the "less popular" varieties), fairly smooth (I've never had a problem with suspendeds, except for some clunkiness), and very rerideable. It became my favorite suspended, with Flight Deck and Ninja a little further behind. One of favorite ride experiences is from it, during a night ride in the front seat where all I could see were the fireflies around the car. Since its closing I've been to the park about half a dozen times, and while the park is still great for a day here and there, it's lack does hurt revisits. Don't get me wrong, the three B&M's are great rides, but besides them, what else in the park is really worth riding more than a couple times on a slow day? DarKastle? Loch Ness I've probably only bothered to ride three times total. The park has a fair amount of things to do, but for attractions it's a little sparse considering the spread out park layout, and anything missing hurts, especially with one of their signature rides. It's loss certainly hasn't kept me from visiting, but I do miss it once I'm in that corner of the park. So in short, it's not necessarily just the quality of the coaster, but also the quantity at the park. If a comparable ride at a larger park got removed, I don't think people would care much largely because there are still plenty of things to compensate. I think it's removal would instead be more on par with Mt. Olympus removing Cyclops, SWT removing Steel Eel, or Dollywood removing Tennessee Tornado, where it's a fair sized chunk of the park, unlike if KI were to remove Flight Deck, SFMM removing Ninja, or Hersheypark removing Great Bear, where it wouldn't significantly hurt the park experience. Regarding Eagle's Fortress, I'm not denying that it's the best coaster on the planet, but no one really seemed to notice probably because virtually no one had actually ridden it. I would estimate maybe under 0.1% of enthusiasts have ridden it, versus a fairly large percent for BBW (30%+?). Plus, even fewer people would actually notice it's absence, given their likelihood of revisits.

I'll probably go on Friday. I guess they're not doing the New Years event this year, as the park is still closing at 6 pm. I've been trying to get to the park for the past couple months, but it seems like it always rains on the weekends or I have other plans. I don't think I've been since WCB, so I'm looking forward to getting one last use out of my 2010 pass. On that note, are there any good deals on 2011 season passes, aside from the buy 4, get Hurricane Harbor free thing? I'm thinking I might buy the $125 Xtreme Pass and get the renewing out of the way while I'm there.

Awww, I was thinking about going to SFMM or USH, I could've met you. Anyways, Small World looks impressive.

El Toro at Plohn is awesome, but it might be disqualified due to its height of 80' (it's drop is only 70' though). Otherwise it'd be my pick, as it packs a ton into its small layout, and it's highly rerideable. Coaster at Playland is pretty crazy. It has insane airtime on the drops due to the lapbars that fall well above your lap, forceful turns, cool trains, and it's older (1958). It does take a good bit of defensive riding to really enjoy it though, as it's almost too much. Cyclops and Jack Rabbit both have some great airtime, but for both it's just the one drop that's really the highlight of the ride (though Cyclops is still a pretty good ride for a rest of it). Joris en de Draak is fun, not on par with German El Toro in intensity, but the dueling aspect is nice. I haven't been on Cornball Express, so I can't compare with it.

Probably my best year to date (though last year was nice too). These are mostly in order. * = return visit, # = more than one visit in 2010 Local Six Flags Magic Mountain - West Coast Bash & other visits (*#) Knott's Berry Farm - West Coast Bash (*) Universal Studios Hollywood - HHN & other visits (*#) Work - East Coast Busch Gardens Williamsburg (*) Kings Dominion (*) - i305 opening weekend Work - Florida Epcot (*#) Hollywood Studios Old Town Magic Kingdom (*) Animal Kingdom SeaWorld Orlando Universal Studios Islands of Adventure (*#) Universal Studios Florida (*#) Busch Gardens Tampa (*) Work - Japan Tokyo DisneySea Tobu Zoo Tokyo Dome City (#) Yomiuriland Aqua Stadium Tokyo Joypolis Sea Paradise Tokyo Disneyland Fuji-Q Highland Nasu Highland Park Yokohama Cosmoworld Toshimaen Hanayashiki Amusement Park Scandinavia Trip Tivoli Gardens Grona Lund Linnanmaki TPR Oktoberfest Trip Oktoberfest (#) Maerchenwald im Isartal Lollihop Freizeitpark Plohn Belantis Erlebnispark Strasswalchen Bayern Park Skyline Park Legoland Deutschland Oktoberfest Side Trips Wiener Prater Erlebnispark Tripsdrill Europa Park (*#) Phantasialand Movie Park Germany Toverland Efteling Bobbejaanland Walibi Belgium Walibi World