ginzo

That's pretty amazing since the two top steel coaster companies are Swiss. And it's been that way for a long time. Sure the US can still make a great wooden coaster, but for steel it's like comparing a Ford to a Mercedes. Or a Timex to a Rolex.

1) I really like the idea of priority placement on trips. 2) I'd like it if somehow this membership would get me into coaster events, like HolliWood Nights, etc. 3) Yes, I am interested. 4) I would be less interested if premium membership became so widespread as to render priority trip placement irrelevant. 5) I think this is a great idea if it can help keep the site free of ads.

^He wants detailed coverage.

Upon further reflection, I remember some wooden coasters that aren't nearly as fun with ratcheting lap bars as they were with buzz bars. Probably every John Allen coaster that was converted falls into this category. The Beast definitely falls into this category. Can we say that all woodies that don't run with a buzz bar or less aren't real woodies? Ratcheting lap bars certainly aren't a traditional method. How about we call everything with parabolic hills "not real woodies" while were at it? How about under friction wheels? LaMarcus Thompson would have never dreamed of using those!

It's just an obnoxious way of expressing their preference for traditional woodies. Those people might have more cause for dismay if Intamin woodies were displacing the construction of traditional woodies. But they're not. And, due to the cost, they never will.

Now that we have Insane, who needs crappy Arrow rides? Original OTSRs on Outer Limits gets my vote for WORST COASTER EVER. In fact, I still take a very jaundiced view towards Premier for that reason alone. Maybe it's also the fact that I had to take a relative to the ER for whiplash because of that ride.

A lot of people have complained about that trim after the helix on Goliath. It reportedly can be quite harsh. I didn't have this experience though.

Strong might be the wrong adjective for this decision. More like "least sucky".

^It's not a surprise with Bizarro. Bizarro/SROS has been at or near #1 since it opened.

^Awesome! My favorite European country now has a decent looking coaster.

Anth actually got some???

The results all look pretty standard and expected to me. The only big surprises to me are Diamondback and Prowler being so high. I think this is the only time we'll see Prowler ranked over Phoenix. Anyway, I look at the top 10 lists as more of a guide to "coasters you are likely to enjoy" than anything else. Getting caught up in the exact order is retarded.

http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge.html

I felt sympathy for poor Patrick Swayze, who was hounded by photographers while dying of one of the nastiest cancers known to man. Every week those ghouls would have photos of him on the front pages of the tabloids. Disgusting. Also, he dealt with the situation with as much patience and good humor as anyone ever has. Yes, it is a minor injustice in the grand scheme of things.

Just because I love zebras: Myocarditis from Coxsackie B virus. It fits the sequelae of heart attack secondary to flu-like symptoms. I guess we can't leave drug abuse off the differential, but I like my zebra better!

^Yeah, I've ridden a fair amount and have Tele2 Insane right at the top of my steel coasters list, above biggies like EGF, SFNE Bizarro, Piraten, Goliath Walibi World, and several B&M megas. I don't think B&M would even attempt a ride as unpredictable as Insane. Also, the forces are way beyond anything B&M has done, from what I've seen. But, I think I'm a bit unusual in ranking Insane so highly.

Nothing has changed though. Poorly performing parks were at risk of being closed before the buy out as well. See: Geauga Lake.

^Well, it's mostly up to the parks to order the things. Mega-Lites may be too small for the size-obsessed larger US parks and too expensive for smaller US parks to afford. At least we're getting a new 300 ft. Intamin next year!

^If he wanted to be really hardcore, he could dump all the Mega-Lites into one category as well. I was kind of disappointed that Kirnu got included in the generic ZacSpin category.

^Oh, I'm not knocking it. I think it's a fun little chart for what it is.

It is a rather crude chart. I'm sure much of it is up for debate scientifically. However, by your own admission, there are individuals that use hallucinogens habitually. It is not implausible to display LSD at the lower end of Y-axis on that chart. LSD "dependence" is clearly nothing like cocaine dependence, but some LSD users might behave as if they are dependent. If you want to have a real scientific debate, however, the thing to do is not to dismiss the data out of hand. Instead, read through the footnotes of The Lancet article, figure out where their data on LSD comes from, and analyze that paper more carefully. Is it a well-designed study? Etc.

Liz is going to be super excited. I guess we're going to WCB after all.

Raven ranks higher than Voyage on my ballot as well. Raven is surprisingly fierce for its size. The night ride is one of the best. Granted, I think it only shows its real character when you ride it repeatedly. So, I could see how a lot of "one and done" people might not like it that much. Also, I could see how people would be disappointed if they had to wait a long time for it. But, thankfully, it's never had much of a line when I've been at HW. If I ever do any sort of ERT thing at HW, I'll mostly likely spend all of the time at Raven.

^The hedge maze is in the Disneyland park, not the studios side. It wasn't too crowded when we were there over a fairly busy weekend.

^^If he responded to even one email, he's ahead of many professors. A lot of the older ones don't use email at all. It's best to just avoid the crap professors when possible. Make friends with upperclassmen and get the scoop on who is good and who sucks from people you trust. That RateMyProfessor site is NOT reliable because a lot of lazy students bash good professors on there just because they didn't rubber stamp them with the easy A.