Airtime&Gravity

For me, it is essentially a toss up between Ravine Flyer and Zippin Pippin. Both are intense, fast paced, and a lot of fun. In the end, I'll go with Zippin Pippin, mainly for the ridiculous hill at the end. This hill is one of, if not the most extreme air time moments I've experienced on a coaster. Unlike other moments that I've only experienced once, such as the first drop on Lakeside's Cyclone, this little hill right before the brake run provides an OMFG moment every time.

I saw this project on a skyscraper/city forum, and I think it looks really good. It looks unique compared to other towers, and it should become an iconic landmark. I would like to see it be a little taller, but it still looks like a great project as it is.

Roller Skater: Spacely's Sprocket Rockets at Six Flags Great America in 1998/1999. SLC: T2 at Kentucky Kingdom in 2005/2006 Boomerang: Boomerang at Elitch Gardens in 2006 GIB: Deja vu at Six Flags Great America in 2006 Flying Dutchman: Firehawk at Kings Island in 2011

Well, this was a surprise. Link

^I think they mean 4.5 million visitors for the whole complex, not just the park. If Kemah really does bring in 4 million a year like an earlier article says, 4.5 million for Grand Texas is a possibility.

1. Every coaster at Holiday World - It didn't help that is was in the 90s with a heat index well over 100, but I hated the three major coasters at Holiday World. They were all very rough while the layouts did nothing for me. All three probably rank among my top 6 roughest coasters. The next two aren't hated by me, but they were severely disappointing. 2. Thunderhead - It was fun, but the ride experience was average. Despite the fast pace of the ride, it still seemed rather tame. 3. Comet at Great Escape - Another ride that did nothing for me. This might have been another case of being affected by the heat as it seemed like had it only been going a little faster, it would have been crazy. As it was, there was no airtime despite looking like it would be filled with it.

There are two location by Santa's Village Azoosment Park. Santa's Village The first is Van's Frozen Custard located at 16 E Main St East Dundee. They, relatively, recently moved to this larger location and added an expanded menu. They have vanilla, chocolate, and whatever the special or two of the day is frozen custard, as well as sundaes, shakes, malts, etc. Additionally, they make everything fresh daily. The new location has also added hot foods. I will usually get the Peach Melba Crisp or the Sweet & Salty(vanilla with pretzel sticks, rasberries, and cheesecake bites) sundaes. http://www.vansfrozencustard.com/index.html Located behind Vans at 8 S. River St. in East Dundee, Benedict's Eggs and More is a pancake house. They are only open from 7-2, and they can draw large crowds, especially on weekends. I will usually get the potato pancakes. They give you a lot of food here, so come hungry. http://www.benedictseggs.com/ Both of these are located just a couple minutes northwest of Santa's Village. Six Flags Great America Pita Inn While not really close, it is on the way to the park from the south. This is a chain of Medeterrain cuisine restaurants with locations in Skokie, Glenview, Wheeling, and Mundelin. I will usually get the lunch special($4 or $5 depending on if you get chicken) or the hummus and shawarma plate. The lunch special is a great deal and could easily provide two meals if you weren't going anywhere. Again, it is a bit of a drive as Mundelin would be the closest, but it is well worth it. Plus, it easily beats the chain restaurants outside the park. http://www.pita-inn.com/index.php Timothy O'Tooles across the street from the park is also supposed to be good. I think I had their food at Taste of Chicago one year, but I'm not sure. Even if true, my personal experience with the restaurant is not enough to say anything more, other than, I heard they are really good.

Here is my dog Heinz. He is a Schipperke-Chow Chow-possibly Australian Cattle Dog mix. He is 7-8 years old, but can still act a lot like a puppy. While he is(usually) all bark and no bite, he will still be brave when he has to/thinks he has to. He got a pit bull that escaped its yard to back down, and once tried to silently watch over me as I slept during a thunderstorm even though they typically terrify him.

The worst recent ride I've had would be my ride on Boomerang at Great Escape. For some reason, I went to the park thinking this had the new shoulder strap restraints, and I also visited on a very hot day. The ride itself is probably one of the roughest coasters I've ridden, and I got off with a headache from the ride, as well as feeling sick(due to the ride and heat). It was just an unpleasant ride that lived up to the Vekoma stereotype. The park's mine train was also bad, but I got on that knowing it would suck. Before I rode Boomerang, I had enjoyed 50% of the sit down Boomerangs I've ridden. Granted, I had only ridden two at the time, but still, I was optimistic.

So far: Six Flags Great America Knoebels Great Escape Six Flags New England Indiana Beach Quassy* Well, I entered the park, but Wooden Warrior was closed Possibly to Come: Six Flags St. Louis Timber Falls Mt. Olympus

When I heard that Cedar Point wasn't getting a dark ride this year, I thought maybe Knott's would be getting it where the old Kingdom of the Dinosaurs ride was. This sounds like an interesting concept, and hopefully similar ride systems find their way to other parks in the chain. The storyline sounds like a lot of fun, and hopefully it turns out to be as well themed as it sounds like it will.

Ragin Cajun hasn't done well with the crowds at SFGAM due to its low RPH. It always seemed to be popular until last year I believe when there seemed to be a strong decline in riders. I wasn't a fan of the ride though, and hopefully it is replaced with something like an Aqua Twist, Sky Screamer, or something unique like a Sky Fly or Sky Roller.

^I've seen Eagle's line get up to the switchbacks at the entrance, and again by Dare Devil Dive, so yes, it does need to be as long as it is. My issues with the park is the lack of shade apart from the bridges and the go-karts located in Yukon Territory. I can't wait to hear the specs on this new coaster, while it looks to have a short but compact layout, given what we've seen from RMC, this should be a great coaster.

Given the location diagram posted, it looks like a double out and back design with a possible immelmann or dive loop at the turnaround by the station. It also looks like the old theater will also be staying which is a bit of a surprise. However, it looks like two, possibly three picnic pavilions will be removed to make room.

This news is a surprise, and if true, we could be looking at something that can be one of the best coasters in the world. I was happy with the possibility of just getting a Sky Screamer, but a great wooden coaster will be a great addition to the park. I like Great America's coasters, but they haven't added one that I try to visit every time since 1995. Having something on par with Outlaw Run or El Toro will change that, and it'll be interesting to see what the ride does given the, as of now, small area of land. Even with the removal of the theater, it might still require some creative thinking to get a coaster that tall and fast to fit in such a space.

B&M: Raging Bull Intamin: American Eagle(Blue) Arrow: Iron Dragon PTC: Blue Streak Premier: Mr. Freeze Mack: Dark Knight Zamperla: Ragin Cajun CCI: Zeus Gravity Group: Hades GCI: American Thunder Vekoma: Spacely's Sprocket Rockets Schwarzkopf: Whizzer Dinn: Predator Morgan: Phantom's Revenge* Gerstlauer: Pandemonium Maurer Söhne: Steel Dragon National Amusement Devices: Thunderbolt Miler Manufacturing: Kiddie Coaster(Como Town) S&S: Hellcat/Avalanche

This has happened to me once. I don't remember the site as I quickly closed the page, but it occured when I clicked on the forums tab on the home page. I'm running Chrome on a Mac.

The Comfort Suites in Bloomsburg was really nice. It a bit to the east of the park along I-80. I think we used tripadvisor when we stayed there.

Indiana Beach might have some big plans. While the information came from a ride op, she seemed to know what she was talking about. Galaxi will be removed to make way for a water park expansion/renovation. Additionally, the flying bobs will be removed due to a $20,000 part still not fixing the ride. The rest of the park will undergo a major renovation as well. I heard about this when I overheard the ride op at the drop tower talking about it to someone on the side of the tower to my right, and then I inquired further.

I'm not a big water park person, but this new slide complex looks amazing. Hopefully we'll see more like this open up, and it is cool to see such a diverse variety of styles packed into one tower.

That is a tough choice as my two favorite parks are very close, and consist of a park in each category, those parks being Knoebels and Dollywood. In the end, I guess I would go with independent, but that might be my recent trip to Knoebels talking.

Cool find I wonder what the backstory to the coaster is though. It would make sense for it to be set up if it was at say a local private picnic park or was being restored, but its just in a random field. It almost looks like someone just wanted to say they had their own roller coaster, but then again, why would they set it up away in some field? Given that the grass in the immediate area is mowed, either the ride just arrived, or maybe the owner does plan a restoration.

Everywhere - Michelle Branch

Great to see vertical construction now, and the new paint job should make it stand out. The location near the road should also be great at drawing attention. Did Wildcat receive a total refurbishment, or just new paint and lapbars? Is there an opening date in mind? Azoosment Park looks great, and it looks better every year. Hopefully I find the time to visit this year.

Batman: Dark Knight at Six Flags New England was a big surprise for me. I don't recall hearing many good things about this ride, and I was expecting a fun but forceless ride. I found the ride to be fairly intense, and while it's no Batman: the Ride, it was still far more intense than I thought it would be. The ride didn't let up until the end, and while it doesn't place in my top 10, it is one of my favorite coasters with inversions. However, the ride did seem pretty rough. I don't recall much head banging, but the ride train did seem to shake a lot through the course. Comet at Great Escape was a letdown. The ride was fairly smooth, but there was little airtime when I rode it. It was fun, but I recall hearing reviews that talked about it being a pretty decent, albeit not great ride. Maybe I was just spoiled riding Phoenix five days earlier.