Invertalon

Just got back from our HHN trip on Monday after spending (4) nights at HHN. We had express for each night, so we were able to reach about 38 "laps" thru the houses. Our final count: Chance: 1 Horror Story: 8 Texas Chainsaw: 5 Halloween: 5 Ancients: 3 Krampus: 6 Exorcist: 5 TWD: 2 Ghost: 3 As you can see, there is quite a difference between the good and bad houses. Chance was atrocious, didn't even waste our time going more than once (even with express). TWD was pretty bad as well, simply because it's just so old and overdone at this point... Nothing new, just all rehashed stuff from the past years. My survey asked about TWD for next year again, so OMG... Please stop Universal... Just NO! As a big fan of AHS, the house was just awesome. The characters looked incredible, it was a really good house. I don't really get scared in houses, typically because I am so tall I see over everyone and can see the upcoming scares, but they are still fun just to see. Krampus was tied for #1 spot with me with AHS... I wish there was more Krampus action, some more animatronics or puppets or something like Hollywood's, but otherwise still real good. Exorcist and Texas Chainsaw were also really good. Many of the houses required at least 3 or 4 laps to really see everything or get the good cast or timing of everything. Could never judge a house with only one or two laps (except Chance house, it was that bad... No potential there). Zones were OK, wish they would do more with them. The chance midway was extremely lame, as expected. Terrible icon, too... Anyway... Bill and Ted was ok, not my favorite year. The midway show was pretty awesome though, near Transformers at the end of the main midway (forget the name...). Worthwhile show to see. Overall, it was a solid HHN. Hope next year TWD is finally retired and the rumors of a second AHS house are true (the other three seasons not done this year). We can only hope!

Stopped at SWO this past weekend while in town for HHN, mainly to ride Mako. Walked back to the ride near open and had a solid hour or so walk-on. Ride op's let us sit wherever we wanted when we asked, even though they were assigning seating. Rode front, back a few times and in the middle. My impression? Very impressive, better than expected. I like B&M hypers/giga's, but this one moved up right under Fury for me. The airtime was very strong. The first drop is one of my favorites of all time in the backseat, it was fantastic! The first turn was a lot of fun, a bit different in sensation. The first airtime hill was fantastic, again, very strong air. The turnaround is good/typical and the trim before the third hill was on, but still got decent air (not as much as the first hill, though). Love the headchopper on the right hand turn before the low airtime hill which was GREAT. Very nice pop of air into the MCBR as well. Didn't slow us down too much, thankfully. The bunnyhop following was a bit on the weaker side, but the left hand side in the turn to the right has a cool airtime/lateral sensation I didn't expect. Ending is nothing special, but it's different so I give credit for that. No rattle anywhere on the course in any seat, super smooth. Love Mako! I prefer it over Nitro, Raging Bull, Apollo's Chariot, Behemoth, Diamondback, etc... It falls again, right under Fury for me (which is a whole other level of B&M). Afterward, rode Kraken and it was horrid. I have been on this many times before and never felt it so bad... It was completely brutal. Train needed overhauled, BAD. Was a great short visit to the park, we bought the funpass for $99... So we hope to stop back again in April to get more rides on Mako!

I have an account but never posted, only read, and I literally just deleted both instagram and twitter this morning. Why? Honestly, Facebook is enough for me. It's the best way to keep in touch with friends and the companies I most care about paying attention to. Twitter is borderline annoying due to the posting restrictions and Instagram offers no benefit over Facebook. Redundant. I tried/used them for months now, but I just don't care for them. Facebook limits news/updates, yes, but I can get over it. Typically if something important is going on I will either be on a website, dedicated facebook page, etc.. So at this time, FB is my one sole social media "outlet"... I am cool with that.

I just can't get excited for this this stuff. I don't want VR when I am riding a coaster, unless it's something that's boring on it's own (say Iron Dragon, which made sense). But Kraken? Superman ROS at SFNE? Don't get it.

Boulder Dash's triple down makes Mean Streak seem glass smooth, seriously. To be honest, I never had much issue with Mean Streak in any seat the past few years. The roughness on that coaster seems over-dramatized IMO. So many rides are much worse.

Kennywood for next year. Mean Streak for 2018, not 2017. Both of these I was informed of months before any signs/rumors the past few weeks/months. Seems to be right on track, though. So we shall see if they are true.

At the park yesterday for the first time. Been looking forward to Boulder Dash for many, many years. Amazing layout, fantastic ride overall. Until... That triple down massacre! Wow, that is so so bad. Honestly, who in their right mind signs off on this ride each morning? That literally is a safety issue at this point. We rode it twice (front and back) and we were done. It is the worst tracking issue, pothole or whatever you want to call it I've ever experienced. It's violent. Too bad that part alone ruins the entire ride experience, as someone else mentioned all you can think of is how to brace for it all ride. Phobia was an awesome ride though, surprised how quick and crew was working it as well. Super freaky ride, loved it.

Rougarou is perfectly smooth. Anyone who complains about roughness or headbanging on any B&M floorless coaster is not worth listening to. Maybe you should stay home and sit on the couch to avoid any potential headbanging. There is a nasty jolt coming out of the dive loop that has been there for many years... More of a track issue then train/maintenance... All else is good though for the most part.

What's the best plan of attack at this park? Will be there in a few weeks, I believe on Labor Day (Monday). I assume with VR, get on Superman first before the switchover. How about Cyclone and the rest? Also, do they really enforce the height limit on the rides here? I am 6'5"-6'6" and really worried about Superman with the 76" height limit. Not sure how closely they watch and/or care. Been wanting to ride this thing forever, so hoping it won't be an issue. CP has limits on nearly everything but I am never asked/checked except at Gatekeeper.

Is it bad that I would vote for John Cena over both of our present candidates? No, I would as well.

I highly doubt Mean Streak is coming down completely. When at the park a few days ago, we rode MS (which is running really well, actually) and I took a careful look at all the foundations. Only certain areas are marked, not all of them. It leads me to believe either the ones marked will be going (or staying). Otherwise, why mark and note specific foundations? Pretty clear to me what is going on at least.

I love the look of the layout, the manufacturer and the name. I am in the minority, it sounds like. I am extremely excited for this, but only wish it was coming to CP instead...

Take it for what's it's worth, but one project I heard is for Kennywood. Another was CP, but for 2018 opening. Not sure how reliable the info is though.

Decent is how I would put LR as well. After riding Storm Chaser a few times before hand, it is a far better ride. The restraints on LR, being a tall person, absolutely SUCK. The shin bars were extremely uncomfortable and each airtime hill ended up being painful as every time there was air. I had some pretty bad bruising on my shin after only one ride. Those last few bunny hops I couldn't wait for the ride to be over. Didn't care for it... One ride and I was done. Not only the terrible trains, but the layout was just quirky. Kind of like an amped up wild mouse... I dunno... Just was disappointed.

No, it's not. Launch systems are the same regardless if steel or wood coasters and have been around for 20 years or so (see flight of fear using LSM's...) I don't get why people think because it's a "wooden" coaster that the launch is different. It's not. Uphill? See Mummy, California Screamin' and whatever else launches up a hill. I don't personally buy that excuse, but that's me. Obviously a design fault somewhere.

Only two so far, Goliath and Storm Chaser (sadly Lightning Rod was closed on our visit...)... Will be able to ride SNFE's in a few months. Storm Chaser was considerably better than Goliath though. Goliath was my first RMC and I was pretty underwhelmed, but still a fun ride.

Every time I have been there late evening it's been shorter, but still long compared to the others you had mentioned. While Raptor, Gatekeeper and in your example Banshee are walkon at the end of the night... Valravn I have yet to see shorter than 20-25mins perhaps. It's not on the same capacity monster scale as the others... Trains often stack and line moves pretty slow for a beemer. If they only had a dedicated unload station...! For a line that looks only like a 10-15min wait, it ended up being 35mins due to the slow operations. If that same line length was at Banshee, it would have been 1/3 the time.

FWIW... On Friday, lines were VERY short. We got to the park in the evening and there was 8 people on each Raptor train, 4 people on Rougarou, MF was near the station, Magnum and Gatekeeper walkon... Crazy for how beautiful the day was, perfect weather! I guess people are preparing for a 4th of July trip (avoid like the plague...)

This is the biggest paragraph of truth in this topic! haha A close friend and her family went to Disney last year for the first time, and they couldn't believe just how "micro-managed" their trip was. Trying to pick what you will be riding, when, at what park, months ahead of time was quite shocking to them. They ended up liking the parks, but LOVING Universal for this very reason. They didn't need to plan every tidbit, the express passes were far better to use and they just enjoyed their visit more. Mind you, this is a husband and wife and four kids (6-16 years old or so). Kind of the ideal Disney clientele. In my personal experience, I have been to Disney World quite a few times, but never really love it. It's fun, sure, but they just fall so flat for me in terms of overall experience. Insane lines, sold out fastlane or I need to stop back 6 hours later or something silly. I dunno... Beautiful parks, great employees and all that... Sure.. Even a nice selection of rides at a few of those parks... I just don't get the "magic" most others do.

Lines =/= popular. Gatekeeper I believe gives more rides per season (if I recall) than MF, Maverick, Dragster, etc... It has excellent capacity, resulting in lower lines. Just because Maverick always has a long line doesn't necessarily mean its popular, just that capacity sucks on it (truth). Did you ride Dragster in the front seat? 120mph in the front feels a LOT different than in any other seat on that ride. Yes, CP is loaded with bugs. Fall is the worst when any legit arachnophobiac will likely have to leave the park ASAP when dusk comes around. You will see hundreds of spiders on a single fence, it's crazy. Cedar Point easily has the best views in the US as far as I am concerned. Nothing compares.

Double post, oops. Please delete.

Looks like a terrain GCI to me (perhaps RMC, I suppose). Only shows some structural stuff near the top half, so perhaps the rest of the ride is low to the ground and stuff. Will be interesting!

After riding Storm Chaser recently, it's hard to imagine how crazy this ride will be at those speeds. We bought a season pass early this season, just in case we do drive back down. If this bad boy actually opens, it is getting more and more tempting to make the trip. To be one of "those people", I wish it was a little bit longer!

Intamin trims plenty, too... Maverick, I-305 and many of the new POV's I watch have trims on many of the hills. It's not just B&M! I think RMC and GCI may be the only ones not putting trims all over the place these days!

People being giant pansies. I kinda want Togo to have a resurgence in America so these people would properly understand what "rough" means. Having been on a few Togo's, that is a whole different type of rough. People like to get pissy when you talk about B&M's being rough, but those people also need to realize we are not talking Son of Beast or Togo rough here... A vibration is a very obnoxious and disruptive sensation on these rides. It’s not about slamming your head around and making your ears bleed. No, in that sense, Banshee is butter smooth. But when at the bottom of every drop the train vibrates severely it makes the ride far less enjoyable. I will admit I am the last one to ever say anything about a "rattle", and most of the rides people complain most about I shrug off or don’t care. But Banshee was a whole different story the two nights this past weekend we rode it (Row 2 middle, Row 7 Right and Row 4 right). It just doesn’t feel like any other B&M I have been on and wasn’t isolated spots of a vibration, it was at the bottom of every drop and very intense at that. For those who have not been on it this year, don’t try to pass this off like we are all exaggerating… Wait until you ride it (if they don’t do some type of maintenance up until that point on the chassis) and then offer your opinion. It’s bad. Not like any other B&M “rattle” I have experienced.