robaroo723

This makes me happy. I worked on this coaster back in 2002. It was truly a great ride, aside from the multitude of issues it had. I know that the in-line twists beat the hell out of the wheel assemblies, which ultimately contributed to their removal.

I remember that Top Gun ride! When you fired and "hit" another fighter, their ride arm would lower itself to the position it was in when the ride started. I believe that the winner from each ride cycle (the last fighter left standing) was allowed to ride again.

^^ Side note: I really hope that's not what they're calling "snug" nowadays.

The first part of the ride does remind me of Nitro (with some tweaks, of course). I really like the look of the turnaround, like an updated version of Nitro's hammerhead.

I'm pleased with this announcement I'm interested to see the 2nd hill in person, because it looks like you turn to the right, dive down, and then turn back to the left towards the bottom. It looked cool in the POV video, so I want to see how it translates to the actual ride.

OK, so after I ride it opening day next season I will be allowed to say "it would have been a lot better with lap bars only, too bad"? It's not so much that you're not allowed to have an opinion, but more so the fact that you're saying the same exact thing over and over and over again. You think it would be better with lapbars. Got it. Done.

The same guys who had to remove a certain infamous element from Maverick just before opening? I guess even the "pros" make mistakes sometimes. I knew that was going to be mentioned, it was only a matter of time lol, but guess what, they corrected their error. Its not like they said screw it, we messed up, o'well, they recognized the problem and fixed it. So i'm sure if they make a mistake they will fix it. Anyways i'm still looking forward to this coaster and can't wait to ride it. Also: ^ I'm not a Nascar fan, just a sports fan in general, and even I respect him as a great driver. Exactly. Look at how quickly Intamin corrected the problem and replaced the track. Not to mention, I'm sure that particular situation was embarrassment enough to ensure that it doesn't happen again. If OTSRs are going to ruin the ride experience for you, then don't ride it. Simple as that. I'm 6'3, and I personally have no issue with Intamin's OTSRs. Do I prefer them? No. Do I realize that they were obviously chosen for a reason? Yes. I'm really looking forward to this coaster. I just visited Kings Dominion for the first time towards the end of July, and this is definitely a reason to go back.

Incredible report! Some friends of mine just left for Peru today, and this report makes me want to plan my own trip.

I don't know if I can recall the last time an online petition truly changed anyone's mind. Sure, it's nice to see how many people don't want the coaster removed, but like I said before, the park obviously has (what they consider) a good reason for its removal, and I doubt that a list of names is going to stop them in their tracks. As someone said before, I love the Busch parks and as much as it sucks that they're removing the BBW, I'm going to trust their decision, even though it may take a few years for their plans to fully materialize.

Agreed. Hydra is a nice coaster, but my least favorite floorless out there. The area seemed like it presented the perfect opportunity for a great floorless coaster, but I just feel like it misses the mark. I really did like Hercules in its first few seasons, as it was a pretty intense ride.

^^ There's currently a promotion where you can get an adult ticket for a children's ticket price. It's only a $10 difference, but it's something. The promotion is actually on Busch's web site. I think it's $39.95 as opposed to the $49.95 regular admission. So, it's probably the same price as the twilight, but you obviously have more time at the park. That's what we used this weekend. Edit: I provided more info.

I don't think anyone's getting anything backwards. Different families visit different parks for different reasons. If you like atmosphere and shows, then BG may be your park.

I couldn't agree more. Prior to this trip, I had never been to Kings Dominion, but I had been to Busch Gardens multiple times. While Kings Dominion definitely has some decent coasters, Busch Gardens is a complete experience. I felt like Kings Dominion didn't have much of anything BUT rides. While I liked the rides at Kings Dominion, I'm not in any hurry to go back anytime soon. On the other hand, I go to Busch Gardens every other year. So, while rides are important, they don't make the park.

Ahhhhhh ... Hercules. When I first rode it (the year that it opened), as we crested the lift hill, my thoughts were, "this is going to be awesome." When I rode it during its last season, my thoughts shifted to, "Oh god. This is going to hurt."

I just got back from a weekend in Virginia. We went to Kings Dominion on Friday and Busch Gardens on Saturday. I had heard that the Big Bad Wolf was on the chopping block, but didn't read the news that it was definitively being removed until Saturday morning, right before we left for the park (it was an awesome day, by the way, as our longest line was for Le Scoot). The Big Bad Wolf was by far my favorite coaster at the park, so I'm grateful that I was able to get in my last ride. It's funny, while waiting in the queue, there is a clip playing on the video monitors that says something along the lines of "The Big Bad Wolf continues to entertain riders after 25 years," which I thought was kind of funny given the news. The Wolf was riding slightly rougher than I remember (especially following the final drop) from my last visit in 2007, but it may just been because I was riding somewhere other than towards the front of the train. As upset as I am, Busch obviously has a valid reason for putting such a popular ride out to pasture - whether it's necessary for park expansion, or becoming unreasonably expensive to maintain. When I was in the gift shop, there were at least 10 or so people that came in to ask the cashier if the park was really getting rid of the coaster. One of the parents said that it's the only "big kid coaster" in the park that her children would ride. Well, Big Bad Wolf, you will be missed. I bought myself a stuffed wolf, wearing a red Big Bad Wolf t-shirt. I have some pictures from Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens that I'll try posting once I download them from my camera.

Pennsylvania does have a state fair. It's held at the Philadelphia Park Race Track in Bensalem, PA (outside of Philadelphia, obviously).

I am so happy about this news! Golden Nugget was one of my first rides ever, so I'm VERY glad Knoebels has decided to save the ride. I'm sure they'll get Flying Turns up and running before they decide to do anything with the Golden Nugget. I agree that it was probably a "take it or it's going to be demolished" type of situation, where Knoebels had to act now in order to save the ride. GREAT NEWS!

I know! My family used to take an annual trips to Dorney when I was a kid, and a lot of my favorites rides are gone. I remember when Laser was called Colossus. Before Laser was built, wasn't there a pond with user-driven whale boats?? I know I have pictures of me driving a whale, but I may be mixing up locations. Either way, another piece of my Dorney childhood is going bye-bye.

I loved the Laser! Granted, it wasn't the most comfortable coaster, since I'm 6'3, but I thought that it was one of the more intense coasters out there.

The Jumbo Jet and the Katapult! Those really were the glory days of Wildwood. While I never rode the Katapult, I did ride the Jumbo Jet, and remember always being terrified as we ascended the lift, because the ride was at the back corner of the pier. I also rode Canyon Trip once. It was interesting. For some reason, I remember the backdrop of Canyon Trip including Mount Rushmore in it. Thanks again for the post! I love these little strolls down memory lane.

Well there goes Wildcat, Great Bear, S:UF, B:TR, and every kiddie coaster on the planet.

Just think ... if SFMM had built their own copy of The Dark Knight coaster, they could've started their own Christian Bale area of the park. Maybe re-name Deja Vu as American Psycho Hehe.

Trust me, I completely understand that you want SFMM to be the best park in the world. I just felt like we had this exciting announcement, and a lot of people were concentrating on what SFMM isn't getting, rather than what they are getting. Hey, before we got Kingda Ka and El Toro, I felt like we had Nitro and Medusa and that's about it. So I do understand, and don't meant to come off as aggressive.

Yeah, I can't agree with that either. SFMM has Riddler's Revenge, Tatsu, and Revolution. In fact, those rides were the exact reason why I flew out to CA to go to SFMM. The only coaster that I can think of right off the bat that may be similar to Goliath is Titan at SFOT ... I wouldn't even compare Goliath to Nitro. And, in my opinion, Tatsu and S:UF aren't even comparable. I understand wishful or positive thinking. However, we've known for a while now that this was most likely going to be a family-friendly coaster. Not to mention that, since SFMM was probably your best shot for getting a West Coast El Toro, and we now know they're not getting a West Coast El Toro, I guess I don't see the point in complaining.

First off, I'm glad that SFMM decided to team up with GCI on this project. I am a big GCI fan, so I can't wait to get out to SFMM to ride this one. While GCI may not design the most intense coasters, you'd be hard pressed to find someone that didn't have fun on a GCI coaster. As far as the "West Coast El Toro" argument ... I don't know if that's what Magic Mountain needs right now. The park has come a long way in the past few years. They've become more family-friendly, rather than just concentrating on building the biggest and craziest attractions. I think that slapping down a massive, extreme ejector air El Toro clone would sort of counteract the lengths they've been going through to create a more family-friendly atmosphere. So, those of you that want a West Coast El Toro will just have to fly to the armpit of America for now. People complain when they slap a coaster down in a parking lot, and then people complain when they actually make an effort to theme a coaster. Honestly, most of the theming is probably going to be confined to the queue/station area. So, I don't really mind the Terminator theme, because hey, it gives you something to look at while you're standing in line. If there was theming on the coaster itself, chances are you'll be going too fast to pay that much attention to it anyway. Anyway, even I'm excited about this ... and I have the East Coast El Toro in my backyard. Oh, and I'm glad they're not painting this thing. I think that'd be completely tacky. It's not steel, so why paint it silver?