BC

I say go for the combo trip: Day 1: Disneyland + Disney's California Adventure (right next to each other) If you have already been to a Disney park before this is totally feasible. Start off with the thrills of DCA (half a day is plenty if you start early), then head for Disneyland and concentrate on the big and exciting rides: Splash Mountain and Space Mountain are definates. As for the rest, try what you have time for and enjoy the atmosphere. Day 2: Knott's Berry Farm. I found this a super friendly park with a good mix of thrills and family rides, and it is only about 15 minutes from Disney (so an overnight between these parks or either end is a good option, and not too expensive). Coaster definates: Xcelerator, Silver Bullet, Ghostrider and Montezoomas Revenge. BUT If you are after thrills only... Six Flags Magic Mountain really IS the place. And it's really not as bad as some here say. Yes, it may be poorly run (which means that some rides may not be running). And you may encounter a couple of queue-jumpers. But it's worth it. Check out the various ride line-ups on www.rcdb.com

So, to those of you who have tried The Odin Express at Tivoli Gardens... Do you not count that as a roller coaster ('cause it's listed on RCDB as one, and in my opinion it does rely on gravity on it's way down... sure feels like it) I think this is a Mack powered coaster, but perhaps there are different models. More or less powered?

I really liked Toshimaen too. Ok, they are lacking a couple of coasters, but as a fan of Schwarzkopf, I of course loved the Shuttleloop (in fact it's the best Schwarzkopf shuttleloop I have tried and then it even has a water-effect during launch). Plus the waterpark was Awesome - well worth half a day in itself.

I would like to add my TOP 10 as well. I lived there for 6 months from august 2000 to february 2001. So please note that this was before Dodonpa, Thunder Dolphin etc. 1. Fujiyama (Fuji-Q) 2. Orochi (Expoland) 3. Steel Dragon 2000 (Nagashima Spaland) 4. Bandit (Yomiuri Land) 5. Shuttleloop (Toshimaen) 6. White Cyclone (Nagashima Spaland) 7. Big Thunder Mountain (Tokyo Disneyland) 8. Ultra Twister (Nagashima Spaland) 9. Cyclone (Toshimaen) 10. Linear Gale (Korakuen) Even though I have heard so much bad stuff about Fujiyama recently, I swear that it was absolutely brilliant back in 2000 when I first tried it. But will admit that I am a bit coloured by the fact that it has the best view from any coaster lift hill in the world... WOW! Can't wait to go back soon and try all the new coasters on offer. Will follow TPR's next trip closely and with much interest and anticipation...

YES!, possibly unoriginal, but nevertheless still a possibility... How about some ORIGINAL ideas for theaming then... (considering colour and position of coaster) Also, the TNT/Dynamite theme could still work for an AquaTrax...

Are there no signs at Port Aventura of this ride yet? There hasn't been any news about this ride for a long time now...

Has CP set a date for the press release (revealing what the ride is)? I think the idea of a TNT/Dynamite theme (mentionend earlier) sounds fitting for the colour of the track... and the area.

Great 1st part. Looking forward to the rest... Really good to see and hear your opinoins of many of the parks that I went to when I lived there 5 years ago. I went to Fuji-Q twice in my time there. First time was in the autumn. No problem. Everything open and running although the Hamster Coaster (formerly The Birdmen, before the accident) was a veeeeery long wait. And this was before Dodonpa. Second time was just after New Year. Only came to re-ride Fujiyama... and it was closed because of winds. After hours of hopeful waiting in the park, we gave up and walked towards the bus. Once outside the park, Fujiyama started testing. We decided to miss our bus and ran back into the park where we ended up waiting for over an hour in a not very long line in the freezing cold (-5 degrees celsius). I was happy as I achieved what I came for, but my boyfriend was not happy, as he had lost all feeling in his hands and feet. It was a cold and pitch black experience never to forget.

Really made me smile too! Thanks for that. Tjeck out the boy behind... could this perhaps be a future credit-whore??? Glad you had a good trip. Wow 300... You're a MONSTER. Slightly strange choice of coaster for your number 300 (or was that deliberate?) I'm behind big time... Only 137... and going slow...

Sorry to have missed your post... Hope you found out everything you needed before your trip. Did you have a good trip? The coaster-whore you are, did you get your two 'Tivoli'-credits?

Well, I did mention this idea 15 posts before you... Not that it matters. OK, it does matter if it does turn out to be a racing Intamin woodie in the end... he he. Also, the name Maverick couldn't fit any other kind of coaster better than a woodie...!

Ooops. Had no idea that was a Togo (how embarrassing!) Yes, I did try that one, but it is tiny, and I didn't think much of it... (Brings my total TOGO count to 11...)

I tried 10 TOGO coasters in total while living and working in Japan for 6 months in 2000-2001. Fujiyama is the best TOGO I have been on, and was for a long time my overall favourite coaster. But people say that it is now very rough. Back then it was pretty smooth. What a shame! Bandit was also excellent (don't know what it is like today). Great scenery and good airtime. Other noteworthy TOGOs were Cyclone (Toshimaen) and Ultra Twister (Nagashima Spaland). The rest was nothing to write home about. Here is my full list: 1. Fujiyama, Fuji-Q Highland 2. Bandit, Yomiuriland Cyclone, Toshimaen Ultra Twister, Nagashima Spaland Jet Coaster, Nagashima Spaland SL Coaster, Yomiuriland Standing & Loop Coaster, Yomiuriland Zola 7, Fuji-Q Highland Geopanic, Korakuen Fujin Raijin II, Expoland

No no nooooooooo! It must be an Intamin Woodie. They are the best!

Has nobody thought that it might be a racing Intamin woodie. That could potentially give them several world records - if that's what they are going for. Also Balder (in Sweden) is considered one of the best coasters on the planet. Perhaps it would be more interesting for CP to have the best rather than JUST another record-breaker... Anyone think the same?

When visiting Walibi World in Holland last year I saw a pretty cool trick to re-ride any two-seater ride with just one train running (in this case Goliath): Three people in line. Instead of waiting for two different carriages (= all three getting on the same ride), all three waited for the same carriage. Two of them got on the first ride. When the train came back to re-load, only one of the guys got off, the other shiftet one seat, and the third guy got on. That way one of them got to ride twice, and everyone was happy. Even the people waiting for that particular carriage, as it was no extra wait for them anyway. Clever if you ask me. Perhaps this is also depending on whether the op of the ride allows people to leave and enter at the same time. Cause if it's one of these rides where everyone have to have left the platform before they let in the new riders, it probably wouldn't work. So a great trick - but not for all rides.

I am not too familiar with parks in france, apart from Disneyland and Parc Asterix (both near Paris), but I can tell you that France has the worlds fastest trains (together with Japan) so I wouldn't think that 200 miles takes much more than 1,5 hours depending on how close to a station where these trains stop you are... Also, most of europe is very accessible and indeed cheap to travel within. There are so many low-cost airlines, and europeans take many weekend breaks because of this. Barcelona (Spain) would be a good bet. Only over an hour by train south of Barcelona is Port Aventura. This is a fantastic park. But really, if you have the time to do weekend breaks (and the money, although cheap) you could pretty much do some foreign parks in a daytrip, ie: Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark Liseberg, Gothenburg, Sweden Just examples but both very accessible. They are actually situated in the city-center. Also, don't rule out parks in Germany. Just south of the border from Strasbourg, is Europa Park. And a little further north by Mannheim is Holiday Park (with the amazing Expedition G-Force) Hope this helps a little...

This was a tough one for me, having been a big B&M fan for years... But in the past three years Intamin has slowly but SAFELY pushed my top B&Ms off the top of my favourites list. ...and no one has argued the fact that Intamin also makes the best wooden coasters in the world!!! BALDER RULES! My vote goes to Intamin. 3 Intamins in my top 5 (No. 1: Goliath @ Walibi World, also in top 5: Balder & Xcelerator) 0 B&Ms in my top 5... That says it all I think However, do have 9 B&Ms in my top 20 (which is more than any other manufacturer), including Medusa (SFMW), Dragon Khan, Orochi, Nemesis... They are just not the best! Anymore... for me.

Has the opening date been set, and if so, when is it?

1 word: BALDER

Did ride another Meisho coaster at Fujiu-Q Highland called Double Loop http://www.rcdb.com/ig1191.htm?picture=3 ...and that was so rough! Possibly the roughest coaster I have ever ridden. This is now closed...

I would say that the B&M floorless coaster Dæmonen/The Demon at my home park Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark qualifies as a compact coaster as it has a very small footprint... Afterall it is the smallest B&M in the world (I think)... but it is brilliant and very intense! http://www.coastersandmore.com/pic/daemonen/daemonen84g.jpg http://www.coastersandmore.com/pic/daemonen/daemonen80g.jpg

Thanks. I will mail them and ask... Was there once on 2. Jan (waited 1.5 hours for an absolutely FREEEEZING ride on Fujiyama), so I wouldn't understand why they wouldn't be open in march as well...

Hey Rob Do you know if Fuji-Q is open in march?

Wettest ride in Europe has to be the new Splash Battle at Walibi World, Holland (former Six Flags Holland)... at least it is when I am behind that first waterpump... Otherwise Tidal Wave at Thorpe Park gives one hell of a soaking. Liseberg in Sweden has an awesome logflume with not only one final big drop... but two... IN A ROW! Favourite overall waterridde: Splash Mountain, WDW