Invertalon

The ride itself should have not allowed this to happen, regardless of what the operator did or did not do. The ride obviously had control issues to allow the restraint in that position. I dont forsee blame on the ride operators at all here, unless some type of override occured, which I doubt, unless they have maintenance mode capabilities. Flawed engineering here.

Oops, thanks for the correction! And yeah, still plan to try... Cant hurt! But the fact that Intamin has a height limit due to that support, which could have been designed to be non-issue, is just so... Intamin.

Be at the park in a few weeks, somewhat hoping the height limit goes bye bye or gets modified by then... As it stands, no chance for me with it's current silly limit of 6'3"... Why is it that a brand new ride opens with such a stupid height limit? I am 6'6" and have been turned away from only one single ride in my entire life (Green Lantern at SFMM!). Been close on a few, but never denied. Even KIDDY COASTERS! I could ride Taron, Velocioaster and other similar rides without issue... But this one, nope. Really dumb. Oh well... Don't look nearly as good as the others, anyway But honestly, there is no reason why Intamin could not design this thing in such a way that allows for people that are in the mid 6ft range to ride a modern day adult attraction.

That explains it! Thanks!

I much preferred Baron at Efteling with the smaller trains over any of the larger dive coasters. It does indeed feel more agile and less like a freight train, plus normal OTSR's which on a dive coaster are a must (vests ruin Valravn, IMO). We were at SWSD a few weeks ago and the ride looked great. But why the hell is every single coaster in this park the same shade of blues? Is it some weird city requirement or is it just Sea World trying to make everything look this way? Genuinely curious. Skyline would look so much better with some variance in color with their large structures.

Twisted Colossus about three weeks ago.

Excellent photos! Refreshing to see proper (well done) photos that are not coming from a phone. Makes me miss my camera gear that I sold a few years back! I can't wait to get back to Phantasialand to ride FLY! Looks so much fun (and I love that park!).

Our pizza of the week... Supreme Detroit Style! This one was layered with a mix of Munster, Provolone and whole-milk Mozzarella. A touch of Asiago. Sauce was San Marzano tomatoes, tomato paste, EVOO, fresh garlic, salt, oregano and a touch of sugar. Puree'd and allowed to sit overnight to meld together. Fresh made Italian sausage, peppers, onions, olives. Absolutely loaded up topping wise. Girlfriend said "top 3 of all time!" so I'd say it was a success! The way the mozzarella melts/caramelizes on the crust is just insane... Its SO GOOD! Now to debate what we do for next weekend! Probably back to the Neapolitan-Style crust, thinking maybe Buffalo Chicken and Cheesesteak (beef, onion, peppers).

Originally, was supposed to head back to Germany/Netherlands, but postponing, yet again. Maybe until fall, but probably to next year. Instead, taking this opportunity to hit up some US parks that have been in the backlog. Feb - SFMM, Knotts and Sea World (Been to SFMM/Knotts before back in 2017, never to SW) March - Silver Dollar City (never been) April - Busch Gardens Williamsburg / Kings Dominion (Not at either parks since like 2006!) May/June - Likely just staying local (Cedar Point, Kings Island). October - HHN at USO in Orlando and BGT Would tentatively like to get to SFFT/Sea World (never been to either) this year if possible for a quick trip. If we end up going to all the parks listed this year, that would basically wrap up my entire US park 'want to get to' list for now. Then hopefully next year can start hitting up the European parks once again... Realllllly need to cross off Alton Towers, Blackpool and Thorpe from my park bucket list...

Thanks!! Out of all the varieties, probably the simple Neapolitan with fresh mozzarella, basil and a raw/fresh tomato sauce. Simple and so delicious! And especially delicious if I fire it up in the Kamado at 600F+ over hardwood. Second to that, would probably be supreme in the "Detroit Style" for me with the freshly made Italian sausage. I like to throw in some more robust cheeses as well, like Asiago or aged Gouda for sharpness. So good! It's fun each week deciding what style of pizza we want to do, then figure out the toppings/flavors. Our next up is on Christmas, in which we are planning a nice Chicago-Style Deep Dish of some sort. We make pizza once a week, on the weekend. Sometimes we throw in a second night, but usually it's just the one! But trust me, we could eat it every day that's for sure! So a trio of the latest pies... Tried something new we saw... I forget if it was Argentinian or something like that, but basically a style of pizza that is really just a giant calzone, if you will. Basically made a dough, placed a pile of cheese in the middle (mix) and laid another dough on top, pressed the edges and topped with a garlic butter/olive oil blend, onions, fresh rosemary and salt and pepper. It was HEAVENLY. Absolutely will do again! The other two feature the same 3-day sourdough crust, but in traditional form. One pizza was sausage, pepperoni and black olive... While the other was broccoli, olives and goat cheese. If you can't tell, we love black olives on pizza!

Some of my latest pizzas the past few weeks! (Sorry for pic overload... But this is a pizza topic, after all!)

Two day fermented sourdough just came out of the oven this morning.

Yep... I blame my mom, who was a chocoholic, so I naturally picked up her habit. I basically eat some form of chocolate every day. Preference wise, I am fond of a local chocolate maker here in Cleveland called Malley's. Their dark chocolate nonpareils are heaven. Or dark chocolate pretzel bars. But I love me some plain old Hershey's (was just at the park and had my bar with me the entire night to enjoy inbetween rides and such...). But Reese cups of course, Fastbreak... Peanut Chews are also great. Could go on, but mostly I just dig plain old chocolate most of all, preferably on the darker end of the spectrum.

Drove out to Hershey on Friday to attend the holiday lights event. Having been a handful of times before, not much different in the lights and such (if not less coverage than in years past in certain areas), but the main reason we came out is to ride Candymonium and see the new entrance, which was beautiful. (On a side note, crazy to think this event used to be like $20-25 to attend if I recall, and now it is basically double in price with no real additional attractions/areas open beyond what it was many years ago. Really happy Candymonium is on the ride roster list, but would be awesome if they could add one or two additional 'big' attractions for the full-ticket pricing... Skyrush, Great Bear? Thankfully, it was completely dead... Candymonium was walk-on or a single train wait front seat dead all night (two trains running). The ride was hauling and still catching on the two trims, it surly was not feeling the cool weather at all in terms of pacing/speed. Couldn't ask for a better time to go try this thing out! Grabbed a few front and back seat rides during the night, along with the other stuff going on at the park. Great airtime on all the hills in typical B&M fashion. Smooth as can be, no rattle to be found anywhere on this thing. Because they are most similar, between Mako and Candymonium, it's a tough call. I think Mako has a stronger first half with some stronger elements outside of the typical hammerhead/airtime hills up to the MCBR. I really dig that first turn as well as the twist dive and small airtime pop sequence on Mako. Just some additional uniqueness to the B&M typical formula. From around the MCBR on (or low speed hill in the case of Candymonium), I really liked the helix/twist dive of Candymonium and the helix finale much more than how Mako finishes out. Both great rides, but I think the edge might go to Mako between these two. Such a fantastic addition to Hershey though. The way they integrated it with the beautiful new main entrance is just stunning!

Yeah, this exactly... Hell, for one, I am excited to see some new talent behind what is RMC is doing if Schilke was driving most of the ride layouts. While I appreciate what he has done, I can't say I absolutely love Schilke's style with the repetitive barrel rollin', bucking-bull abrupt airtime, etc... So I look forward to some more dynamic, balanced rides coming out of RMC in the future.

Expedition GeForce was a top bucket list coaster for me... I still have flashbacks of TPR's original EGF video playing "Stay Together for the Kids" by Blink 182 completely hyping up the ride for me many years ago. When we finally made it to Holiday Park back in 2019, to say I was excited was an understatement! Having been on it's other siblings from that era (SROS @ SFNE and Millennium Force) I was excited to finally ride all three and see which came out on top. I was able to get 5 laps on it, mixed between front/back and middle. They only ran one train, otherwise I would have gotten a few more. Smooth, insane airtime, fantastic layout... Wish Intamin still produced layouts such as this! Between the three, I would throw SROS at the bottom believe it or not... But between EGF and MF, it's splitting hairs and completely different experiences. Intensity and airtime focus on one, the other with speed and an epic setting along the lake. Both are stunning. As far as in Europe, that we have been on, I think Taron just edged it out. EGF was a killer time, but Taron left me breathless which is a rarity that few rides have done after the first ride. It's just too bad Holiday Park itself is so forgettable IMO... Planning our return next Spring on a similar trip and planning on skipping the park this time (but making sure we get back to Europa and Phantasialand!). I'd consider Expedition GeForce in the top 10 of ultimate steel coasters somewhere, that's no question. It is still that good after all these years!

Not to be biased, but my favorite pizza provider would be myself! Sometimes I do more traditional pizzas, and other times crazy flavor combinations... I love to play around with the styles/regions such as thin crust, NY style, Chicago Deep Dish, Detroit, Neapolitan, etc... I will make different doughs and sauces for the various pizza styles, as well as playing around with cooking methods (wood fired, oven or even one of my smokers) and ingredients to get the flavor I am after. We make pizzas every weekend, these were the most recent ones. Made a Margherita and Detroit style. Two different crusts, scratch made sauce of course. First up was a Margherita style pizza... Overnight fermented sourdough crust topped with sauce, whole fresh mozzarella cheese and a light shredding of parmesan reggiano. And of course, plenty of fresh Basil from the garden and a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Was heavenly! Yeah, it's a lot of basil, but that is just how I like it! Yum. Next up was our Detroit-Style pizza...Whole different crust recipe of course, spread into a 9x13" pan coated in olive oil. Topped the crust directly with Provolone/Mozzarella mix, fresh Asiago and then topped with freshly cut pepperoni and green peppers. Crust was covered in fresh mozzarella cubes to crust/char around the edges and the three signature lines of sauce added on top. As well as some more fresh basil. This one was so good, we are remaking it again this weekend but subbing out the pepperoni for scratch made Italian sausage and likely some onion thrown in.

So I was near Philly for work this past weekend... Finished up in the morning on Saturday and was driving back home to Ohio... Thought I'd stop in at Knoebels since I was passing right by at open (around noon). It's been a minute since I have been to the park, so it was a perfect time to go and grab a lap on Phoenix, maybe Flying Turns (last time I was there it was still under construction).... Or so I thought. Even if busy, I would just walk around as a pit stop along the way to stretch the legs. But by the time I got to the parking lot entrance, it was complete gridlock into the parking lot. Decided to give it a big fat "NOPE!" and just drove on by to head home (thankfully was traveling opposite direction of most people incoming) and the line stretched bumper-to-bumper a solid mile or two from the entrance with heavy traffic beyond that past Sheetz in Elysburg (about 3.5 miles away). I can't imagine how long it would have taken just to wait in line to park, or how busy it would have been inside the place. I had a ~6.5 hour drive back home (around 5 or so from Knoebels), so I just wanted to get home after making the drive out the day before. Oh well, maybe next time... I may be back through in September again, might try again then but I think I might stick to my "skip park visits in 2021" unless it's a park in Orlando

We spent the weekend at Universal/IoA on Sat/Sun/Mon. In that time, we managed 15 rides on Velocicoaster. A handful of front and back seat rides, including a few at night (which is just epic!). I can say that this is a ride that can hardly get any better. From the theme, trains, layout, setting, etc... It's just stunning. I can't really say which part is my favorite, to be honest. It just has so many strong points that you're picking at straws. The paddock section is just great fun, especially with those raptors which are far more effective than I thought they would be (for being stationary). But the audio effects really amplifies them. Plenty of head/hand shoppers with the rock formations. That second element, the dive loop, is just crazy-go-nuts! Fun little "Easter Eggs" too, such as the dino chow and the paradactyl eggs on top of the tallest rock formation if you look closely. Airtime is everywhere. The first launch isn't too shabby strength wise, it does it's job. The second half is like a completely different coaster... "Turn it to 11!" is what comes to mind. Top hat is fantastic of course, the view from the top makes it seem much higher than it is. It's beautiful to look around, especially at dusk/night. One of the best views on a coaster that I have been on, for sure. Plenty of ejector air in the back of the train, no question there. It's hella-intense. I absolutely love the following stall element, especially in the back (right side). It's different from the stall on say, Goliath at SFGam of course, but it's just as fun in it's own way. It's just, aggressive. The helix portion following is (another) highlight for me, actually. It's great fun and a perfect mix of forces with it's pops of airtime, the reverse banking (love that so much on this!) and of course the hop/roll finale. The final heartline is as crazy as you read about, being ejected out toward the water at such high speed is quite epic. That last S-bend hop as well is extremely intense and when you hit the brakes, you're kind of just like "wtf". I heard nothing but "this is the best coaster I ever been on!" or "wow, that's insane!" among many other things from everyone riding... Did not hear a single bad thing or criticism from anyone at any point. Everybody loves it! I enjoyed my final rides as much as my very first rides... If it wasn't for the bruises I developed on my thighs, probably would have snagged a few more rides... But it literally got to the point that it was becoming painful from all the airtime from riding too many times in a short duration. For example, the first night we managed 4 rides, which was fine with no issue. But the next day? After about 3 rides (7 total that day) the pain kicked in. I had to start bracing myself as best I could but there is no point... So yeah, it will leave it's mark with enough rides. I still can feel a bit of soreness a few days later! I find this ride extremely reridable, the thigh bruising aside... Many rides I can't really 'marathon' anymore (nor do I really care to), as I will begin to get queasy usually depending on the ride, but not this one. For as super intense as it is, it doesn't bother me one bit. Compare to say Steel Vengeance by the time you hit the brakes after two rides I'm done for (mainly because those horrible final bunny hops...). So that's a huge thumbs up from me. So yes, it did become one of my favorite coasters of all time, no doubt about that. I don't really have a "top 5" or anything, but it's certainly there if I did. It absolutely exceeded my high expectations. Big, big thumbs up to the team at Universal that made this ride a reality. On a side note, finally got on Hagrids after a few years of avoiding due to long lines or no luck with virtual-queue on the past trip... Waited about 30 minutes and it's a really fun ride, but.... but.... Dragon's was a FAR better ride in every way, sorry. One ride was good enough for me, unless the line is short I don't see myself going out of my way to go ride it again. Oh, and Bourne Stuntacular at Universal is quite insane... Had no expectation given what was there prior, but was really blown away by the technology going on there. Very cool stuff, don't miss out on that like we almost did (yet again!).

Off the top of my head I can think of: 1.) Skipping Batman and Robin: The Chiller at SFGAdv and Mr. Freeze at SFoT. Both skipped due to long lines and such. Was in line for both and bailed. Mr. Freeze is not a big deal as I can still ride it somewhere, but missed out on B&R. Always a small regret I left the line that day. 2.) Wish I took another ride on Black Mamba at Phantasialand (front, ideally). Only rode it once while there and was a touch underwhelmed, but I think front would have made a huge difference. Given B&M inverts are my jam, wish I got another ride or two on it while there. Taron was just so good though... Priorities...!

Ideal: Marchish - Domestic Trip of some sort... Cali/Texas combo trip? Also thought about a 10 day trip starting off in Hawaii for 3 days, then to LA/San Diego for a few days, then to Texas for Sea World and SFFT, then back home. May/June - Europe trip (had planned to go back to Germany this year, but that was axed of course). We really want to go to Ireland, so might default to that with a 2-3 day stop in Amsterdam prior to flying back home. September - Orlando for HHN Small chance, but we have also thought about a Dublin trip by itself a few days over a long weekend (4-5 days) and then going again back to Germany again later in the year for 10 days or so. Still have lots to see and do that we just ran out of time for last year when there. Realistic: March/April - Domestic trip to Orlando and/or New England area. Maybe Texas for Sea World and SFFT. May/June - Road trip to Hershey for a weekend? September - HHN if it happens. Maybe depending how Rona' does, a quicker trip just to/from Dublin mid to late year depending how things go. So hard to plan with all that is going on... Hopefully things get back to normal though soon!

Sounds to be like RMC screwed the pooch on it, honestly. If the ride was too 'dynamic' for the topper track, it should never have been an option from RMC on this particular ride. They designed the thing, they surely understand the limits of the track, structure, trains, etc... Sounds like some mistakes were made and I'm sure RMC is working with Dollywood to correct said issues. There is no doubt in my mind that Dollywood is getting a nice deal on the rework package to fix the design flaws. Hope it does make it more reliable going forward! Kind of the forgotten RMC given it's terrible reliability, since, forever.

For me, it really doesn't take away anything from my enjoyment of said ride and doesn't bother me one bit to know what to expect. I just enjoy the rides for what they are. It's cool when things are unexpected and whatnot, but it won't make or break how much I enjoy a ride, especially beyond the first lap. Watching a POV ahead of time ruins nothing for me, but I absolutely get an idea of what to expect given the manufacturer, the elements used, trains utilized, etc...

I never really have an issue watching a POV, having an expectation and the ride meeting said expectation. As in, it is rare a ride is vastly different than I expect from watching the POV. For example, Steel Vengeance was actually a bit "worse" than I expected, while a ride like Silverstar was better than expected. Was it Drastic? Absolutely not. They met the expectation plus or minus some small fun points. Being on enough rides, you kind of just know what B&M's, GCI's, RMC's and so on will feel like. It's rare that a ride does something totally unexpected from what I think a specific element or transition will 'feel' like. This is also the reason it's very rare for me to be 'blown away' by rides anymore, because of the great POV's and animations taking away any unknowns like in the past before the YouTube era. An exception for me as of late was Taron at Phantasialand. I knew it would be an epic ride, but in person with the theming, amazing trains, etc... It just made that 'experience' better. These days, the things that will catch me off guard will be theming and small details that make up the experience, not so much the ride itself per say. If that makes sense.

It's been that way since the beginning, they are pretty consistent on their 'style'. Surely, they love their barrel rolls and outward banks. For that reason, it's hard for me to get excited for RMC's honestly. Once you been on a few, they all are pretty much similar in the elements utilized (much like people claim with B&M's for example) and the pacing/forces. Not much changes ride to ride in that regard. All fun rides though, don't get me wrong. I am also surprised for as 'extreme' as they are, they have not pushed into some more unique elements aside from 500 ways to enter or exit a barrel roll. I love the dive loop on SFGAm's Goliath for example, wish they did more larger element stuff. Or longer, sustained airtime moments like that first bunny hill on Storm Chaser (compared to the abrupt ejector hills). I personally think Iron Gwazi looks to be one of the stronger ones layout wise, as the elements are a bit more drawn out and not rapid-fire succession one after another. Steel Vengeance has such a strong first half, but the second half just ruins it for me. This doesn't look like it will have that issue, the ending sequence looks really solid.