ECZenith

Wow! Nice looking train, love the aged look.

I think they can put this thing up in two months, the theming, I would be surprised if they could get it to look like in the animation so quickly. I was surprised at how long this coaster actually is, very nice!

Tiger, the name of the water ride that goes backwards and drops is "Maelstrom" , found in the Norway pavilion. Very well done attraction!

In the construction I see both a mouth and a ship, isn't the mouth for the first drop and the ship for the inversion?

Don't worry, I'm sure if it does well in Jersey you will soon get one in Valencia. I love the look to this slide, and good to see so much positive attention to it hear in this thread. Between this and the Star Flyer gadv is certainly being generous with the thrills this year! Bravo! (Wouldn't mind a wingrider next year though SFGAdv

This plan sounds fantastic, Atlantic City to me is a place I went a few time sbut never really had any draw to go back, this might change that. I have memories of being a kid and going to Tivoli Pier (the old indoor amusement park at the Tropicana) Does anyone else remember this place? They had a bizarre indoor coaster if I remember correctly... would love to see photos of the place if anyone has some.

I was under the impression it was a GCI coaster using a steel support frame. http://rcdb.com/10348.htm

Griffon's 200' drop, by far is my favorite drop of any ride I've been on. Probably my favorite all time moment on any coaster too.

Nice artwork TB, would like to see some more, you should do a Griffon one!

I see Leviathan coming after Behemoth a lot like when a park builds back to back wooden coasters. Holiday World being a good example, Raven, Legend, Voyage... same type of ride but with very different layouts. That's why I'm surprised some people aren't receiving Leviathan well, it's not going to FEEL like Behemoth.

I love the colors, love the name, layout looks fantastic. I do find it a little odd the park now has 2 B&M speedcoasters, but that doesn't mean I won't enjoy Leviathan! The two coasters have distinctly different layouts, Behemoth being focused on airtime, Leviathan looks like it has more sharp turns and some low to the ground elements. I hope this isn't the only B&M Giga Cedar Fair ordered for 2012, one of these would be GREAT at Knotts.

I've got to say... this is the most excited I've been for an announcement, ever... Beautiful aqua blue B&M track showing up by the truckload, with some potential record on the chopping block. So looking forward to tomorrow, this is sure to make an already awesome park even better.

The supports are my favorite color! I hope it's a B&M!

My friends and I had a great time, thank you Robb, Elissa, Hersheypark mgmt and coaster crews and everyone else that made this day special, and thanks to my friend Matt R for the photos! New to me, Fahrenheit Twisty indeed. Your photographer, Matt Ritchote It's just so beautiful! I have a train to catch Morning ERT also included Storm Runner! One of the tours today was through the massive maintenance facility, here we see a Sooperdooperlooper nose cone I swear we behaved... In the sign shop Overview diagram of the park They gave us free beer! Best day ever! I can has a screech owl? Skunks have long claws. That is all. After a few beers, I swear I was standing next to a giant candy bar... After lunch, we went to ride Great Bear which was quite busy Awesome ride Great Bear is gonna have a big neighbor next door come next year As long as no one steals its supports as they drive by them Despite the rain and thunder, it was still hot, so we basked in the AC vents for a while Yet another awesome photo from Matt, Lightning Racer

I will see you guys there, for my first east coast event in many years! I'll be wearing a black Ghost Galaxy tee if you would like to say hello. Will be great to see some of my old friends again. Will be riding Fahrenheit for the first time and I couldn't be more excited! Thank you Robb for making those 3 tickets available, clutch!!!

When I went to KD a few weeks ago, I rode Timi first and greyed out on my first ever ride. My 3 friends who went last year said the greyout is much less intense as it was last year but they actually prefer the modified, rising turn into the camelback. Grey/Blackouts don't bother me, I know my vision will return immediatelty, and I'm sure this is not dangerous. The only other coaster that ever made me blackout was Tatsu, during the pretzel loop and I think it was even more of a blackout than i305. My friend John told me he tightens the muscles in his legs at the bottom of the drop and he hasn't greyed out since he's been doing this. I have personally not tried this as I think greying out is part of what makes this ride inrecibly intense and fun. Definitely don't miss out next time you're at KD, and if you're there, look for Dale, he's an awesome, funny ride up at i305, every op should be like him! Dale kept the crowds happy on the 4th of July with his sense of humor.

Sexy! I wish B&M flyers went that steep.

Congrats man, that's one hell of an accomplishment!

@Coasterfreak, I'm pretty sure they were indicating that that the barcode is some kind of clue, because those are the weapons found in the game "Clue".

Kings Dominion, July 4, 2011 To celebrate Independance Day, we were going to take advantage of our Cedar Fair Platinum Pass and visit Kings Dominion which is fairly close to Busch Gardens. We yet again lucked out with crowds and were the first passengers on both Volcano and Flight of Fear. While in line for Intimidator 305, a stuck brake fin caused a 20 minute delay but it was well worth the wait. I-305 is fast, wicked, and intense. The cable lift flings you over the 305' summit before you even have a chance to think about it. We rode after a rainstorm and the coaster felt like it was easily pushing a hundred miles an hour. The park has a great variety of coasters and flat rides, but to me, the awkward names and theming, as well as customer service and food are in serious need of some help. I understand it was a busy, hot day and many of the staff were working double shifts but after being amongst BGE's smiling ride crews it was like night and day. We do want to acknowledge Dale, an older gentleman working at I-305 who was clearly an outstanding, funny and efficient ride op. A thunderstorm did shut down most of the park for a few hours, but it was just enough to scare away the crowds in time for the parks awesome fireworks show later on that evening. When the storm passed, we were able to get night rides on Dominator, Volcano, and I-305 which has easily become the best coaster in the park. I am glad Cedar Fair is now in control of this park and look forward to improvements over the years. Volcano (x2): Intamin LIM Launch Inverted Flight of Fear (x2): Premier Indoor LIM Launch Intimidator 305 (x2): Intamin gigacoaster Anaconda: Arrow multilooper Backlot Stunt Coaster: Premier launcher w/ show elements Shockwave: TOGO Standup Ricochet: Wild Mouse Drop Tower: Intamin circular drop tower (270' drop) Grizzly: Wooden coaster Rebel Yell: Racing wooden coaster Dominator: B&M Floorless, perhaps the greatest ever Coasters: 4/5 Staff Courtesy: 2/5 Landscaping: 3/5 Food: 2/5 Cleanliness: 3/5 Thank you for reading my report. Special thanks to John, Nina and Matt for the photos throughout the trip! Unfortunately there's only one for today, and that's the awesome Mr. Dale! Please clone him and redistribute him as needed KD.

I'm a former ride op for Indiana Jones Adventure, at one point before the ride was built, the plan was to not only have the EMV ride running through the show building, but also a looping mine car roller coaster, walkthrough, and parts of the Disneyland Railroad and Jungle Cruise would go through the building making it a giant complex of attractions. Due to budgetary reasons, we only got the EMV ride, which don't get me wrong... is still awesome. Even the electrical circuit boxes backstage at the attraction read "Indiana Jones Expeditions", a reference to what this supercomplex would be called: Indiana Jones and the Lost Expeditions. I wish this concept didn't have to die...

Busch Gardens Europe, July 3, 2011 We arrived at the parking lot at 8:00 a.m. as our group had reserved an Insider's tour of the roller coasters of this amazing park. Busch Gardens Europe has been one of my favorite parks since I was very young, many of my fondest memories have been created here and today was no exception. Our $65 tour packet does not include park admission, however, it does include free parking, 2 rides on each of the parks adult coasters and a quick queue card for later use on each coaster for one more ride each. We were also granted access to Loch Ness Monster, Griffon, and Alpengeist's maintenance bays, a photographer to capture the experience on film, and a ride to the top of Griffon's 205' summit via gas powered evacuation trolley. We were introduced to our awesome tour guides, Nate, Greg, and Chelsea, and were brought to the Loch Ness Monster for a comparitive talk of old vs. new steel coasters. We were then allowed into the maintenance bay to meet the crew that keeps the beast alive, as well as hold and examine parts of the coaster like the wheels and chain dogs. The next part of the tour was a ride to the top of Griffon's lift hill by the gas-powered evacuation/inspection trolley. I've posted some photos our tour guide snapped from the top. The tour group which consisted of myself, 3 friends and 3 staff then moved into Griffon's maintenance bay where we got an exclusive view of the 9 ton, 30 passenger, floorless dive machine trains. We were able to hold Griffon's road wheels, which weigh an astonishing 45 pounds each! Next up was Grffon's control tower, complete with impressive touch screen controls and an amazingly friendly and efficient crew. We then were given two front seat rides on the world's largest dive machine. It quickly became my #1 coaster out of the 250+ I have been on. We moved on to Alpengeist's maintenance area and rode it twice in the front row. Alpengeist is my favorite inverted coaster, even with the trim brakes the layout is awesome and the coaster's second half has some nice carving elements close to the ground. The park was now open to the public so our guides walked us up the exit for the parks other 3 coasters, allowing us to sit wherever we liked. They also gave us a quick queue card to skip the lines for the 4 coasters later in the day. I just want to thank Chelsea, Greg, and Nate the supervisor for providing what was easily the best park experience I have ever had. I highly reccomend this tour if you plan on visiting Busch Gardens. We lucked out yet again with crowds later in the day, we assume the 100 degree weather kept most people indoors with their air conditioners. We waited no more than 5 minutes for everything at the peak of business hours. Here are the rides we checked out today. Griffon (x3): world's largest B&M dive machine Alpengeist (x3): B&M Inverted Loch Ness Monster (x2): Arrow looper Apollo's Chariot (x3): B&M Speedcoaster Busch Gardens Railway: miniature railroad/park transit Roman Rapids: circular rapids ride Escape from Pompeii: Intamin spillwater w/ dark ride The Curse of Darkastle: 4D Dark ride (amazing!) Europe in the Air: Motion simulator To wrap things up, you've got to love Busch Gardens. The service is top notch, the rides are world class and there's a perfect variety to choose from. Let's not forget that BGE has been voted the world's most beautiful park for many years. For those planning a visit, be aware that the park is still waiting for parts needed to open the new Mach Tower freefall ride, but the delivery is expected soon. Verbolten construction is moving right along, and can best be viewed from the bumper cars queue. Well done Busch Gardens, you never cease to amaze me. Photos are different sizes due to being from different people's cameras, thanks to Matt and Nina for taking so many of them! Busch Gardens Europe for the first time in about 10 years Nate, one of our tour guides It's interesting to compare LNM with the much more modern B&M beasts across the river. This is the maintenance car used to get to Griffon's summit The gas powered trolley goes much slower than Griffon's actual lifting chain Alpengeist and LNM far below One of Griffon's three trains resting before the holding brake Griffon is impressive to say the least One of Grif's massive road wheels Let's take a look at the trains What an impressive wingspan! Even the upstop wheels are larger than most coasters road wheels The entire bogey assembly is extremely flexible to maneuver the Immelmans and tight turns Let's get these puppies rolling! Griffon control panel We are locked in and ready for dispatch The holding chain at the top of the first drop keeps you in place to let you take in the view of what lies ahead Griffon's first, large Immelman Coming down from Immelman 1 The second drop is nearly, but not quite vertical and sends you into another Immelman After a small bunny hop, the gigantic trains splash into a pool of water My favorite inverted coaster was next, Alpengeist Lots of replacement wheels for Alpy Inside Loch Ness Monster's maintenance bay, we find ingredients for an Arrow train Loch Ness Monster's chain dogs and antirollback mechanism See how small LNM's upstops are compared to Griffon's? Let's head across the park to Apollo's Chariot and take a look at Verbolten's plot Footer Much of Verbolten will follow the Big Bad Wolf's former ride path, here are new footers leading from the final drop up to the station We were given two rides on Apollo, once in the very front and once in the back row, this is an awesome tour, I highly recommend it.

After much anticipation, my friends John, Nina, Matt and I were ready for the first leg of our journey. After driving and staying overnight in Virginia, we continued the next morning to The Carolinas. Carowinds, July 2, 2011 This was my first time visiting this beautiful park laid across both North and South Carolina. Our Cedar Fair platinum passes got us great, free parking in the season pass lot very close to the entrance of the park. We got right to work riding coasters, starting with Nighthawk as suggested by the locals. Here are the rides we experienced in order... Nighthawk: Vekoma Flying Coaster Carolina Goldrusher: Arrow Mine Train Carolina Cobra: Vekoma Boomerang w/ new train Carolina Cyclone: Arrow Loopscrew Drop Tower: Intamin 2nd gen. drop tower Ricochet: Wild Mouse Hurler: Wooden Coaster Vortex: B&M Standup Intimidator (x3): B&M Speedcoaster Afterburn: B&M Inverted Thunder Road: Double Racing wooden coaster Boo Blasters: Shooting dark ride Sky Tower: Observation cabin Bumper Cars We were fortunate enough to go on every ride we wanted to with wait times ranging from walkons to 10 minutes. This was especially amazing considering it was the Saturday before a major holiday. The park looked great, the coasters were ample and thrilling and I would definitely visit again. Next up, Busch Gardens Europe, featuring the roller coaster insider's tour! (Photo credits: Nina R. and Matt R.) The entry plaza of Carowinds, on the bricks is a line splitting the park between North and South Carolina. An aerial view of the back corner of the park We started off with Nighthawk, formerly Stealth at Great America An aerial view of Nighthawk Carolina Cyclone can't decide what color it is Going up on the drop tower, can't we think of a better name? Vortex, one of the original B&M standup models, definitely a little rough these days. Afterburn packs the punch of its big brother Montu, but without a midcourse brake run the speed never lets up till the end. Intimidator, a lot better than we all expected, easily the best B&M Speedcoaster out there. The 240' lifting structure To give you an idea of what the layout looks like Intimidator has something you don't normally find on a B&M speedcoaster, relentless airtime!

Amazing layout! Loving the colors too.

Simon, the ride you are referring to is called a "Star Shape".There are two I know of, one that travels the German fairground circuit (High Energy) and a permanent installation at Blackpool called "Bling". Are there any more that you know of? It's the flat ride I want to try out more than anything. It's a like an Evolution and a Top Scan put together. Zierer has been building big rides for some time now, Verbolten at BGE will surely be there biggest hit and put them on the map.