Scaparri

I can't believe this!?!? Are you people seriously THAT disappointed with the ride? It's a 2700 ft long looping coaster that HAPPENS to have a beyond vertical drop. Gimmicky? I don't know. Is building a ride that has a train below the tracks that gimmicky these days? Beyond vertical drops seem to be the new trend, not a temporary gimmick. This coaster has the steepest drop in the nation, an inversion element never seen before in the country, and 4 other inversions to boot, and people are seriously this disappointed in the ride? Heck, the only reason why it's any shorter than the arrow inversion monsters from the late 80's is probably because it doesn't have an enormously long lift hill! I know, I know, I'm prepared to get thrashed by all the people who say they are entitled to their opinion. That's fine. I agree, you are entitled to your opinion. I just don't get it. Maybe I look for something different in coasters? Maybe I'm not spoiled? I don't know. I just can't believe that there is so much negativity about what looks to me like a bad ass ride. I don't get what some of you people want these days? It just boggles my mind. But whatever. I'll end my rant. Bring on the criticism.

I don't see myself walking off the loading platform after riding Montu, Superman Krypton Coaster, or Magic Mountain's Viper with just a lapbar. I don't think anybody else can either. You've obviously never ridden any of the Premier LIM Bowls. If you knew how intense they are and how fast the trains go through the inversions, then you'd be saying "why not?" along with Joe and I.

OTSRs are rarely, if ever, necessary. Especially in Intamin's case. Their's don't provide neck/head support, they don't even really touch you except the lap bar portion. It just seems to be more of a "in case somebody tries to do something really stupid" prevention harness. Take a look at Premier's Mr. Freezes or FoFs. The FoFs are crazy intense, but they do better without the OTSRs, and they still go upside-down four times at incredible speed. Then you have the Mr. Freezes, where on the return trips through the top hat, you lose so much momentum that all your weight is hanging on the lap bar. Still, no OTSRs. OTSRs never seem to be necessary. They just seem like more of an extra "just in case" safety precaution.

Three nominees: Oh Zone!- ARM tower at Lake Winnie... it never pauses. It rises and then suddenly drops without warning. Cyclops (back seat)- I think we've all heard the stories. Legend (back seat)- it doesn't matter where you are sitting, that first drops curves over ridiculously quick. When you're in the back seat, you just get flung over it at crazy speed. It's terrifying.

^Aside from the thread being a year and a half old, Maverick isn't an accelerator coaster. Anyway, of the ones I've been on, Storm Runner easily wins. It's not a one trick pony, it's a very unique ride, the launch is sick, and it really packs a punch. I could ride it over and over.

^Not really. Architecture and engineering are actually significantly different fields. Anyway, I'll shut up about the job hopping and focus on what you want to do to give you a little advice. As a few people have mentioned, the roller coaster design industry is a very small, competitive one. Of course, it's possible to get into it, but you have to keep in mind that there are only a few coaster companies in the U.S. and most of them only have a handful of engineers on their design team. Also, as people have mentioned, being a CSI isn't going to be like the TV show. Plus, I'm sure it's not the easiest job to obtain either. I don't bring these points up to discourage you or to say it's not possible, because obviously it is. My point is, whatever you decide to do, choose the subject that interests you most as a whole. Don't study to be a coaster designer if you don't like most other engineering careers, and don't study to be a CSI if you don't like most other forensic science careers. If you can see yourself working for a car company or a construction firm, then go into engineering. Likewise for forensic science. Shoot for what you want, but understand that the odds are extremely against you so just be prepared to do something else with that major if your dream job doesn't work out.

"Search" by String Cheese Incident

^I think he's referring to the fact that the two parks don't have the same clone. Yeah, SFNE has clones, but SFGAdv doesn't have any of those same clones.

Compare this: With this: Photo taken from rcdb.com It's pretty much the exact same layout. I'm guessing Six Flags is playing smart and instead of looking bad incase they have to delay the opening, they are giving themselves a cushion so they can open it when it's ready without disappointment. Either way, they are getting a new GCI!!! Jackpot!

WHERE'S THE CRANE!? I like Deja Vu, but it's about time!!! It's fun and all, but it's more irritating to me seeing an awesome looking ride that either isn't running or has a 3 hour line consisting of 100 people than it is not having the ride all together.

^It's not that some people can't have fun. It's just that some people don't care enough to spend hours trying to get small clues about an unannounced ride. They'd rather just wait for the announcement than try and decode a bunch of stuff. If that's your bowl of soup, then cool, glad you had fun with it. But if you just don't care that much, then it's nice to have it out of the way. Anyway, I don't want to take the thread away from what it's really about. Just wanted to throw both sides out there 'cause I'm one of those people that is kinda glad the speculation thread is closed now. But again, I understand that's what some people like to do. That's cool. As I mentioned before in the thread, this ride just looks sick. I only wish Hershey wasn't so far away. It'll make for another fun road trip though! I think I'm becoming a Hershey fanboy.

Looks like I'm headin' back to Hershey next year! It's kind of funny because for me, this single announcement trumps all the SF announcements today. I loved Maverick and I'm an inversion kinda guy. I'm just so freakin' excited this US is finally getting one of those crazy inverted loops like on Speed Monster. I can't wait for this thing.

You have got to be kidding! Well, maybe not kidding, but St. Louis deserves everything it's getting. Prior to this year, the last coaster they got was Boss in 2000, which has pretty much gone to crap. For such a huge market St. Louis is, it's ridiculous that the park hasn't grown more than it has. All of this is well deserved. Look at the other original SF parks. SFOG is great. SFOT is great. SFStL got the shaft! Now they are hopefully realizing it's a major market and giving it what it deserves! I'm amped about this. It's nice to finally be getting some GCIs in the area. I agree, painting the ride white would make it look slick and fit well with the theme, but at the same time, after a year or two, the rides really start looking like crap. Either way, it's about time. THBS was a nice addition this year, but this definitely raises the caliber of the park.

^True, but when somebody advertises their poor decision making skills, they are kind of bringing it upon themselves, aren't they?

^I love the expressions on the faces of those in the crowd.

I'm really looking forward to the Avs vs. Oilers games. I really hope Ryan Smyth and the Avs take it to them every time. Seriously, what on earth was the Oiler brass thinking when they traded him away?

Wait, didn't you pass up a full ride scholarship to work at Disney?

Wild Adventures seems like a completely logical selection for Herschend to me. I mean, yeah, the rides aren't anything to shout about, but the previous owners made an effort to make the park look nice and throw some theming in here and there. I was really impressed with it during my visit, honestly. With the park's setting around the swamp/lake, I feel like Herschend could over time turn this into an awesome tropical/southern theme park. Plus, as it's been mentioned, there is tons of expansion space around. More nice settings, plus a decent SLC! Seems like a perfect "fixer upper" for Herschend. Another attempt at theming Nice setting An attempt at theming

MGM Studios Animal Kingdom Magic Kingdom EPCOT Busch Gardens Tampa Six Flags St. Louis Six Flags Great America Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom Holiday World Cedar Point Stricker's Grove Indiana Beach Indianapolis Zoo Knoebel's Hersheypark Kennywood This is the best year I've had yet.

Wow, Cedar Fair just keeps losing points for me. It took a major hit with this. I just hope Big Dipper gets a home. I'd like to see Villain get a new home. I think I'm the only person that actually really likes that ride.

I envision a good, classic punk song on a ride that is something like Son of Beast, T2, and Furious Baco rolled into one so that you get the simulation of the hundreds of idiots around you at a punk concert that think moshing is cool. Great TR though! I love those pics alongside Led Zeppelin, and the sand sculpture is impressive. I'm really amped about this place. I can't wait to visit next August.

School is back in session and I have an insane course load, so I'm probably going to become a hermit and not post much at all on TPR for the next 7 or 8 months. Hooray engineering.

I'm a die-hard St. Louis Blues fan and I'm amped about this season. We improved a lot last year and this year we added Paul Kariya and Dan Hinote to the roster. Plus, Manny Legace is back in the net. If Kariya can stay healthy, I definitely think we'll have a playoff run this season. That's all I'm hoping for... a trip back to the playoffs.

I'm amped about this. I really hope this becomes a world wide craze for major parks with SLCs. I've always claimed that SLCs are actually REALLY good rides if you can keep them smooth. Personally, I'd like to see all looping coasters with restraints like this. It's a comfy restraint that isn't bulky, but is still very effect and pretty much eliminates any head/neck pain resulting for collisions with the restraint itself.

Yeah, I'm going with a ProSlide Rocket for the main attraction. I'm not sure what the dry attraction will be.