Scaparri

There's no competition, easily Maverick. Dragster is fun and all, but it doesn't do much. It's very thrilling, but as far as a "roller coaster" goes, it's pretty lame. It's like a drop tower; really thrilling, but only for a few seconds. Maverick, on the other hand, is an awesome, complete ride. The ride has a sweet beyond vertical drop, inversions, airtime, a launch, and some insanely intense turns. The thing is just rambunctious and one of the most well rounded coasters I've ever been on. The two rides are on completely different levels in my opinion. Personally, I could probably name at least five other coasters in the park that are better than Dragster.

Does anybody else find it slightly ridiculous that both of the 2008 THBSs were announced back in September and weren't even up and running on each park's opening day? It seems especially ridiculous given how fast they are able to throw them up. I don't know, I'm not trying to flat out bash Six Flags. For all I know, it could be Gerstlauer's fault. However, it just seems a little absurd that two coasters that were announced early last fall didn't even start construction until almost a half year later. Anyway, nice TR, dude.

^Touche. Well done. I stand corrected.

That isn't dive machine track. The cross ties on dive machine track goes straight across. These don't. They are more like the traditional B&M track. I would bet it's probably for Kings Island. See:

"Both Ways"- Quietdrive

Yeah, I wish they would start the ride over near Tomb Raider and just have it fly through the woods instead of starting over by Swan Lake. I just feel like it's going to ruin what's left of the atmosphere if you have a giant coaster towering over the walkways by the Beast. I'm also slightly bummed it's B&M (assuming the rumors are true, that is) simply because I feel that B&M is really losing there touch these days and just producing good-but-not-great rides. However, that's all I'm going to say about that, 'cause I'm not going to be one of those people who complains that the new coaster at their home park isn't as good as they want. No matter what, I'm just pleased to be getting a 'real' major coaster for the first time since 1996.

Snap, I missed out during my indentured slavery at CP. I don't think we had a water spout once. That's awesome though, minus the whole 'you being terrified of tornadoes' part. I've had a couple tornado experiences, thankfully nothing too bad. The first was in '92 when I was in first grade. My family was coming back from lunch near Indianapolis when the clouds suddenly became very dark. Out of nowhere, we just drove into a wall of torrential rain and debris. A tornado had dropped a couple hundred yards away and we were stuck in our van as it rocked back in forth. Fortunately, we were fine and were able to drive off. To this day though, you can still see signs from where the twister went through. Number 3 is the one that we encountered. The second was slightly more bizarre. During my junior year of high school, our principal came over the intercom and called everybody to their severe storm positions. Most of the classrooms in my high school where interior rooms that had no windows, and I hadn't heard thunder or anything, so I assumed it was just a drill. We just sat in our positions within the school and talked amongst ourselves. At one point the power went out but again, we hadn't been hearing anything, so we weren't terribly worried. They kept us in our rooms for quite a while though, and eventually, we realized something had actually happened. After about an hour and a half, they finally let us out and we discovered that a tornado had torn through the town. It was just amazing to drive around town and observe all the damage. I always figured a tornado would hit my town at some point, but just couldn't fathom that it had actually happened. A friend of mine lived on top of a large hill in town, and when I went to his place a few days later, I could see the path the tornado had torn up through a corn field. It was unbelievable. There's a couple pictures here, under Ellettsville.

Last time I checked, there aren't any vital organs or arteries in the mouth. Any gunshot wound is life-threatening And any wound to the mouth is dangerous because of infection alone. I've seen people die as a result of dental work. Yes, but my point is just that it's not like a shot to the mouth is necessarily a major life-threatening injury. Sure, any gunshot wound can be life threatening (like Sean Taylor who was shot in the leg), just like any injury, even a scrape, can potentially cause infection. I acknowledge this. My point is that it's not unbelievable for a gunshot to the mouth to not be life threatening, like your original post suggested.

Oh no, I know that it's not your original rule. I figured it was a universal rule with these things and I just didn't know about it because I'm a noob to NL, so I don't blame you at all for it. But yeah, I got the g's under the control so count me still in for the competition. One question though, I've heard some contradictory views on the tunnel test. There are a few sections from my track where the tunnel from one section comes into the tunnel of another. However, if I remove the tunnel from either of these sections, then there is no problem. So, given that you created the contest, what's your verdict on this? Does the tunnel test include the tunnels caused from other sections of the track? Thanks for the help.

Well, though I still stand by what I said earlier about the g's, I was mostly frustrated because it felt like more of a program glitch than anything. It just didn't make any sense that my g's would be around 1.0 and then jump to about 4.0 for a split second while under 25% speed, and then hop right back to around 1.0. So, I was fairly frustrated and didn't feel like fixing what I felt was a perfectly fine ride. However, I didn't really want to withdrawal, so I went ahead and tried some precise tweaks and finally got the split second red's under control, so yeah, I am back in. Sorry if I came off like a dick. I was just frustrated, more so with the program.

Last time I checked, there aren't any vital organs or arteries in the mouth.

Holy crap! I can't believe how fast Tony Hawk has shot up. I was at the park a month ago and they were just starting to drill the holes for the footers. That's fairly impressive. Nice TR, dude. This is what it looked like exactly a month ago.

Wait, if you we can't even have red g's at 25% then I withdraw, 'cause that's just ridiculous. That kind of g-force is negligible. I mean hell, you absorb a ton of g's just from jumping up and landing on the ground but you don't notice because it's a split second. I'll still upload my track once I finish the supports, but I'm not going to worry about the contest 'cause I really don't care if my g's are 0.9 and then pop red and back so fast at 25% speed that I can barely even make out a number. Even the Typhoon track done by NL has red g's at 25%. Quite a few actually, for a more sustained time than my track. Thanks though, sorry for the trouble. Lookin' forward to the other entries.

Amarillo, dude, this video is awesome! I think this is my favorite yet. I want go back so bad. I gotta say, the music selection is perfect. Well done, man!

^I like your ways, Joey. Colin, BEST. TR. EVER!! I'm still really jealous. Part of me wanted to road trip down to the race, but common sense prevailed. Ha, no, I've learned not to care 'cause I know you just try to get under my skin. Now I just enjoy reading/listening to your verbal diarrhea. Again, sweet pics dude. I miss ALMS. Those things are amazing. Not F1 amazing, but still amazing. However, I am, and always will be, an Indycar fan first and foremost!

I saw them last week in Atlanta with Manchester Orchestra. Awesome show. Ahhhh I know. Why!? Why!?? WHY!?? "Swans"- The Format

Biggest offenders for me: Kings Island- This park used to be stellar, a must for every summer. It was a really nice park with an awesome ride collection, but in the past five years, the park has fallen into neglect. Son of Beast was the beginning of the end. It was an awesome idea gone horribly wrong. The park began to lose some of its character, and the Cedar Fair take over has only made it worse. Holiday World- As much as I love their wooden coaster collection, overall, the park has gone significantly downhill since the turn of the century. The park has simply grown too fast for its own good. No matter what day of the week I visit, the park always feels uncomfortably crammed due to the small size of the park coupled with the large amount of people that visit daily. And the more they expand to try and cater to this large crowd, the more it starts to feel like a Cedar Fair park. The water park has turned into a giant, foot-blistering, concrete palace pack full with water slides that almost always have an hour wait each. Every time I visit, I notice something new that makes the park feel more and more corporate. Sure, they've added a couple of amazing coasters and the free drinks are awesome, but sometimes, I can't help but miss the days when all the only coaster in the park was the Raven. On the fence: Six Flags Great America- Honestly, this is still one of my favorite Six Flags parks, and the addition of Hurricane Harbor was great, but the park has still had a few downfalls. Over the past five years, I've visited this park more than any other, and very rarely have I spent a day where at least one or two coasters weren't closed. Deja Vu was a mistake from day one. Even if the ride had been mechanically sound, it's capacity would have been doomed just from the horrendous loading procedure. Many other coasters have seen better days. Once a top-ten coaster, Raging Bull is just a figment of the ride it once was due to brake raping. The same can be said for American Eagle. Iron Wolf used to be arguably the best stand-up in my opinion, but it has fallen by the wayside so hard that I refuse to ride it anymore. Then you have the new Wiggles World which was stuffed in such an unusual part of the park, it just feels awkward. The same can almost be said about Ragin' Cajun. It's positioning and theming makes the ride look so cheap sometimes, that it seems like it doesn't belong. However, these downfalls are somewhat overshadowed because the park still has some of the best theming at any Six Flags property, and has an atmosphere that I can't get enough of. Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom- First of all, this place has greatly improved over the last couple years! However, the majority of those improvements are just getting it back to where it was before it was flagged. They are finally paying attention to the aesthetic aspect of the park, which was always one of the biggest downfalls. However, most of the coasters have significantly deteriorated (even Chang is getting some nice jolts), and I would prefer that half of them be taken out. T2 is another ride that I refuse to experience again, and the entire Twisted Twins area is the largest, most awkward waste of space I've ever seen in an amusement park. The improvements they are making are huge and I'm really looking forward to what comes about in the future. However, as of right now, I still would take "Kentucky Kingdom- The THRILL Park" over the flagged version.

Count me in for this one!

^Awesome. Thanks a lot, dude! I appreciate it.

Well, though I just got NoLimits last week (Just finished my first coaster yesterday actually), I think I'll go ahead and give this a try. Just a few clarifications though... the tunnel test just means that if the entire track were a tunnel, that no outside objects (trees, supports, etc.) can be visible/enter the tunnel, right? Is there an easier way to change the track to a tunnel than clicking every individual piece and changing it to a tunnel? Secondly, the E-stop test... does that just mean that after you reset the E-stop the trains/cars will make it back to the station on their own power once released from their block? Sorry to sound like such a noob, but thanks for the help. Lookin' forward to this.

After my pilgrimage to SoCal, I don't think I'll ever complain about gas prices out East ever again. $3.80 a gallon is ludicrous. I remember when I first got my license, gas was $0.99 a gallon! Bring on the switch grass, folks!

"Kenny The Jet"- Louque

"I gotta say it was a good day!" Dude, awesome report so far! You've got some crafty camera skills, fine sir. The 'My Bitch' pic was just awesome. Can't wait for the updates!

The one thing I've noticed after my lone trip to the park is that most of the bashing seems to come from people who are simply pissed that the park is losing its independent charm, but from an outsider, the park really isn't that bad. While I'll probably never personally know what KBF's exact charm was that is now gone, I can relate in other cases. There are multiple parks that I have a bitterness towards because they have sacrificed charm in favor of bland change. I tend to notice that people will enjoy these parks more than I usually do. In KBF's case, I feel like the park has change so much, that the people who were in love with its former charm are now extremely resentful to a point that they make the park out to be much worse than it really is. I generally hear nothing but bashing when Knott's is the topic. However, I personally don't think the park is that bad. I was actually fairly impressed with it, partly due to the fact that I had this horrible vision prior to visiting the place. For the most part, it has better theming than 75% of the parks I've been to and I didn't see much of a problem with the ride collection outside of Ghostrider and Boomerang's roughness. Operations-wise, I didn't have much to complain about either. Now granted, I recognize that my operations experience is based off of a single visit. Overall, I don't doubt that it's lost a lot of character, especially given the company that has owned it for the last decade. However, I personally don't feel the park is half as bad as it's reputation in the coaster world.