Shockwave

Along with Psyclone at Magic Mountain getting demolished, I have never been happier to see a ride meet a wrecking ball. No flowers.

82 worldwide. Hopefully will have a couple more by the end of this year.

I've seen it on a few individual rides in a few parks, but nothing park wide like DIsney. Alton Towers used to get guests to raise their own lap bars on the Runaway Mine Train up until about 7 years ago. Now they perform hands on checks and given the unfortunate recent history I can't see that policy changing. It's a shame because it worked just fine, and it cut half a minute off the dispatch time which really adds up on busy days. The ride op didn't check my restraint on the Gerstlauer bobsled at Klotten, but this happened for every train as they trust people enough not to be stupid.

I've yet to go to Discovery Kingdom or Great Escape, but here's my view on the rest of them. I've marked the one that I used a flash pass at. 1) Six Flags Great America - Wasn't bowled over on my first visit, but my day there last year was really good. Surprisingly good operations, great ride selection and one the best coasters on the planet (Goliath). Even Raging Bull was running well! Slight let down was that Viper was broken, but it didn't make a huge different when there's so much other stuff to do. (No FP - quiet/medium day) 2) Six Flags Fiesta Texas - Very pretty setting, some gr

^Exactly. Trims or no trims, it'll still be an incredible ride.

^It specialises in disappointment.

Seems like good progress so far. I might be able to get back to Kentucky Kingdom next year if I can get myself to the Indy 500 again, and if so, fingers crossed it'll be opened in good time. There isn't a bad RMC out there, so I can't wait to try this one out.

Got my 1000th on Monday at Silver Dollar City on Outlaw Run! Also turned out to be my 100th wooden coaster! I never make signs to mark milestones, but I couldn't not do it for this one!

I'm gonna be there this weekend, and even though I'm not expecting miracles I will be genuinely gutted if I miss out on it. It looks amazing!

Wow, that is shockingly efficient! At Six Flags of all places!

Thanks Larry. And yeah, in all seriousness I'm giving up on that idea given the timing and the long day afterwards. If I fly through Little Amerricka and Santa's Village (which looks extremely likely given what I want to go on at each) I'll be able to dedicate time to Indiana Beach on the Saturday. I could give it a miss, but I have a soft spot for El Locos and I like the park enough to spend a bit of time there.

Little Amerricka won't be taking up much of my time. It's a 12 noon opening and I can't see myself being there longer than an hour. I missed it on my last trip because of a scheduling conflict with Indiana Beach where I ended up spending most of my day, so this is to go and tick that box. Absolutely. A huge pack of water bottles and a cool bag is always a good idea, especially considering where I'll be driving. That would be good! I'll PM you soon with my details. I'm also going to be at Great Adventure the day before to process my season pass.

Thanks Robb. Larry - after doing all my research including on this site, I'm allocating an ample amount of time for each park, depending on what rides they have, which ones are/will be worth re-riding, etc etc. A few of the parks on this trip will be revisits, and from previous experience I can say that some of them simply won't need my full attention even with new additions. I've also edited the first part of the topic as the first list I posted was a very early draft, from which I've since removed a couple of things which simply aren't feasible such as the Castles 'n' Coasters l

Oachkatzl - Märchenwald im Isartal

I thought I'd put this post out as this year I'm doing something a bit brave/stupid/borderline insane. I'm quitting my job next month and gonna be visiting the USA/Canada for 2 months, and have saved a load of money up to hit a lot of theme parks. I'll be in the States driving around, visiting some old and some new amusement parks. Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with some of you that I've met before from TPR trips in the past, and as long as you're not an axe-murderer, some of you that I haven't met. The trip is gonna be broken up into 3 main parts which I'll go in to in more detail