chickenbowl

Have you ever been to/seen pictures of Mt Olympus? They don't have much security keeping you from the rides... If there's any park that's easy to sneak into, it's probably Mt Olympus in the winter...

wut? The park literally JUST CONFIRMED 2018. It's time to accept what the park says as truth.

I agree that Cedar Point/RMC using a 20-month construction timeline is ridiculous and unprecedented (it's even 6 months longer than NTG) - But it's VERY hard to argue with a video from CP confirming a 2018 RMC... It's pretty silly to imagine that CP including that screen in the video is just a way to troll a small group of internet enthusiasts... Source: I was strongly on team 2017 until this morning...

^ Thank you, it seems they definitely have a substantial roller coaster planned! I'd kill to work on that development team! They keep talking about how strong of a relationship they have with B&M. Although SeaWorld/Busch have used B&M, Intamin, Premier, Mack, Zierer, and GCI in the past 5 years, so it's anybody's guess at this point. I definitely think SWSD is due for an attraction geared towards teens/thrill seekers. I'd be happy with any large coaster this chain has built in recent times. (just please not a Tempesto-clone - Please god anything but that!) Also, I emailed the Community Planning Group listed on the notice and got a response from Darlene Walter (SWSD's VP of Engineering): I'll definitely go to the community presentation in two weeks to hopefully report some new info! I'll try not to get my hopes up for a B&M in my backyard in the meantime...

No, dude. As against logic as it seems, It's now confirmed 2018. We have to get over it and realize that this thing won't open for 17 months...

I seriously don't understand this construction timeline... They better make it huge I guess

Can you link to that video? 320 jobs across 11 parks really isn't that many...

There actually isn't a height restriction (look at JTA, Sky Tower). Manta was built under 30 ft in order to not have to go to the coastal commission. Hopefully this application means that they are planning on going over 30ft. We will see!

I live within a mile of the park and received this notice in the mail today. I thought you all would find this very interesting. Phrases of note if you're not reading the whole thing: "SeaWorld 2018 attraction", "new roller coaster ride", "aquarium building", "remove existing shade structure" Joel Manby apparently said that 2017 is for children, but 2018 will be for "for teenagers with more of a thrill factor" I plan on attending the hearing to find more information, whenever that may be!!

I'm sure you guys are right, and I caught it on a bad day (despite it being a warm day in July), but I have to rate it on what I rode and not what it should have been, you know? Even with the ending feeling sluggish on my day, it was still a top-20 coaster. RMC is seriously killing it with their collection of coasters! Every RMC has placed in the top 6% of my coasters

Same. I know most enthusiasts don't like the inverting drops because they "take away the extreme ejector time" But it's like they fail to remember there's an entire rest of the coaster filled with extreme ejector time after the first drop. That being said, I highly doubt we will see an inverting drop, unless the are going to go higher and try to market it as "the world's tallest inversion." Oh god, please no. That drop is the worst part of Medusa's layout. And the second worst of Storm Chaser's (that final helix is ).

I really like this one I took on Saturday!

Another update for the thread. Finally had a successful trip up north for Joker this past weekend! I'll preface my review by saying this was my second attempt at riding this coaster after failing to ride it in June when it closed unexpectedly for a week or so. So a few of the report's pictures come from that visit! Joker - After riding my ninth RMC, I still cannot believe how much these coasters surprise you. First, the drop is amazing. In the back you are stop up and to the right. The laterals are much stronger than I anticipated. Next, the step-up inversion caught me WAY off guard - Transitioning from roll to downward helix is a very hard feeling to describe, but it's unlike anything I've ever felt (especially in the front where it feels like you're being launched into it). The stall is pretty standard, but still fun. The following outward-banked double up is a bit strange - it's fun in the front, but really wonky in the back. The next sequence is what makes this ride stand out. The wave turn overbank is great followed by an ejector double down. The next slightly outward-banked airtime hill is excellent (Similar to the one on Medusa after the zero-g). There's a quick banked turn-around where you catch your breath before the weird double-airtime element I've heard called "Asian camel back". This thing is a pretty cool element in either the very front or back! The next banked turn is surprisingly strong and pulls you straight into a slow roll (probably my least favorite part of the layout). The last couple bits of airtime are ejector - So much better than WC's similar-looking ending (which crawls through the ending 1/3 of it's layout with little airtime). Overall, this coaster has a great mix of inversions, airtime, and pacing - But doesn't necessarily excel in any category individually. It doesn't have the amount of airtime on New Texas Giant or Twisted Colossus - It doesn't have the pacing and intensity of Medusa Steel or Outlaw Run - And it doesn't have speed and size of Iron Rattler. What it does, it does very well though - it sits solidly at my #6 RMC and #13 steel coaster! 1. Outlaw Run 2. Medusa Steel Coaster 3. Iron Rattler 4. New Texas Giant 5. Twisted Colossus 6. Joker 7. Storm Chaser 8. Wicked Cyclone 9. Goliath This trip's main purpose was Joker, of course, but my friends and I went a little out of the way to ride the new custom Miler kiddie coaster at Sonoma TrainTown before SFDK opened. It was actually very neat! One last look at probably my favorite sub-100 ft drop anywhere! Up next: Lightning Rod in the Spring! Overview of some of those pretty hills - The track colors worked well, IMO Ahhh, cool facade (this was it for theming though) [RMC #9] And in the front, this thing launches you into some of the strangest forces ever! Will it finally open for me, or no? In the back, this thing tries to kill you! Joker is definitely the best coaster in NorCal - And second best in California! Yup, still ejector until the very end Airtime into the brakes Some night rides at 45 degrees... Cold doesn't matter - This thing was still flying!

200 feet doesn't look likely here. I disagree, but it's irrelevant because it's not a woodie.

Rode Joker for the first time on Saturday - The cold did not slow this coaster down - WOW!

Uhhh no, we didn't...

I love how he says a flyer will open 2019 and then he says 2018.

Yeah it's pretty terrible... But they do have locals that check in frequently. It's the same way with TowersTimes and a few other park-specific forums that fan-boy way too much over their single park.

Just read a report that "Mean Streak's track has now been taken down from the top of the hill. They are now working on the bracing to make it just a little taller." Would love some pictures

I agree completely, I've been so confused by it's praise based off my experience. Perhaps we rode it on the same day?

Could you give a link to that twitter?

Oh wow, you've ridden the Nanchang Intamin? And it was worse then backwards Hollywood Dream?! That's pretty disappointing, tbh. I would've expected it to be better than every other hyper on your list.

I think most people can agree on the fact that the coaster should also be non launched, steel and non inverting, otherwise Manhattan Express, Some Intamin rocket coasters, Wild Eagle, X2 and Son of Beast are hypercoasters and we (mostly) all know that's ridiculous. I assumed the big debate would be with coasters in the same style that are less than 200 feet, not with a ride that opens the door for Wild Eagle and X2. Lol I mean, I don't care what you guys do but I think a little common sense is necessary here, kind of like when counting coaster credits. Anyway, this is much dorkier than I'm comfortable with so I'm stepping out. But yeah... best hyper coaster ever is Wild Eagle. So Phantom's Revenge is a hyper but Steel Phantom isn't? Even though they literally had the same 200'+ drop? I think the inversions are irrelevant

^ Bill, you can't have attractions from the same park! As far as things I usually ride in a theme park, this place would be perfection! I don't usually eat park food. 1. Coaster (Carl Phare, Playland Vancouver, 1958) 2. Fire Dragon (B&M, Islands of Adventure, 1999) 3. Expedition Everest (Vekoma, Disney Animal Kingdom, 2006) 4. Mountain Flyer (GCI, Knight Valley, 2011) 5. Helix (Mack, Liseberg, 2014) 6. Lightning Rod (RMC, Dollywood, 2016) 7. Mega Coaster (Intamin, Energylandia, 2018) _______________________________________ 8. Aeronaut Skyride (Von Roll, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, 1975) 9. Tower of Terror (WDI, Disney Hollywood Studios, 1994) 10. Giant Barn Swing (S&S, Silver Dollar City, 2007)

I can totally see where you are coming from, and in fact this right here made me hesitate to start the thread. For me its not its height (200ft+) that makes it fall under the "hyper" title, but the style. For instance, the 3 U.S. dive coasters are all over 200 feet but the style of the ride is totally different from the "usual" style of hypers which again is about tall coasters with consecutive large drops, no inversions, and a focus on airtime. I did say "no gigas" cause I knew that they'd make tons of peoples lists (MF and I305 would easily have made mine) so I thought I'd up the degree of difficulty, if you will. Cool, yeah I agree about Dive coasters as well as 200'+ Intamin accelerator coasters (Xcelerator, Stealth) or shuttle coasters (Mr Freeze, Wicked Twister). I don't think I'd count Cannibal either... I'll exclude the shorter airtime-based rides like Mega Lites, RMCs, etc. too. Well here's my top 10 hypers (and how they rank overall in my favorite steel list): 1. Skyrush (3) 2. Superman the Ride (9) 3. Behemoth (11) 4. Goliath (SFOG) (12) 5. Diamondback (13) 6. Nitro (17) 7. Superman el Último Escape (27) 8. Goliath (La Ronde) (28) 9. Intimidator (29) *10. Hollywood Dream (31) (Don't know if 144' is too short to count? but it's only a few feet shorter than LR's Goliath) 11. Raging Bull (33) 12. Apollo's Chariot (39) 13. Magnum XL-200 (41) 14. Thunder Dolphin (42) Others that didn't make the list: Goliath (SFMM), Titan, Desperado, Steel Eel, Manhattan Express (is this a hyper?)