downunder

I personally don't like the purple track, the red and blue colour scheme is so striking and strong, purple much less so. I doubt they will but changing the name would be silly, SROS is most identifiable name in the coaster world, it would be like changing the name of Coke to Shazam or something. Maybe the purple colour scheme is in anticipation SF selling SFNE to Prince.

Wow RCDB update fast, I checked RCDB yesterday and Deadwood wasn't there.

Awesome TR, that place is too cute. I'm sure Big Mike is heqading for his car right now.

Yeah it was a pretty good season: 1. Got to 300 coaster credits. 2. Added 4 coasters to my top ten. 3. Rode Phoenix and Boulder Dash for the first time. 4. Rode my top 4 in copious amounts - Phoenix, Dash, Toro, SROS @SFNE. 5. Went to a stack of parks I've long wanted to go to - Knoebel's, Compounce, BGE, Canada's Wonderland, Darien Lake, Waldameer and so on.

This looks really interesting, I've been hoping a Eurofighter would get a launch. Wicked looks very similiar to a Eurofighter (well it almost is, just a different manufacturer), what was that first drop like with the launch?

Give Mr Cricket a go with © against his name, I don't think Clarke has what it takes.

The last couple of years I've just appended new to me coasters to my old ballot but I had so many new coasters this year I just decided to do it from scratch. I've still got a fair bit of work to do on my steel poll, and I don't group, I rank every coaster individually so I really have to think about it.

It's funny, High Roller is probably the lamest coaster I have been on but I have also never been more scared on a coaster, I was totally numb from the waist down with fear. Put that coaster at ground level and it's nothing. You never know with Speed, it may turn up somewhere else, probably not Clementon though. BTW have renamed Hellcat yet?

^I think the cricket's you are talking about are much smarter than the captain of the Australian cricket team. I heard on the radio today that Ponting thought it was in the spirit of the game to get the over rate up. Say what? That's a turn up, the Australian cricket team has always been a gang of ruthless, pisshead, thugs for the most part - the only spirit they care about comes out of a bottle. I think if Ponting was serious he should be put in the women's team.

Lakemont Part 1 I was looking forward to Lakemont, mainly to check out Leap The Dips which was the Millennium Force of the previous millennium. The fact that Leap The Dips had been running since 1901 just fascinated me. The park itself was a gravel patch with rides, I think Busch Gardens Europe much further south may have monopolised all the landscaping talent. Still, there is some classic rides at this place. The Toboggan, the travelling torture device which will be featured in the film Saw 6. The concrete budget was expended out the front, it was dust, undead grass, and gravel beyond the entrance. A Cedar Fair opportunity, Lakemont needs concrete and trashcans?

Thanks, this looks like a very interesting park. Everyone I know who has ridden Anaconda rates it, and I, like many others, are very curious about the Tower of Terror (maybe someone will get a POV some day).

Hey Matt, nice report. How come you didn't go x-scream, was it down? Did you try and get the Miner Mike credit at Circus Circus, I've never tried - I don't know if they have any restrictions.

^Thanks Jason, Idlewild was so cute and fun to explore. Finally, my next TR will have some point of view videos. I wanted to edit them, add some subtitles and overdubs, but I have no idea how to use editing software yet - I'll leave that to the experts. I was happy to just be able to get the videos small enough to upload.

The ride policies on Superman Escape are the most draconian I have encountered in the world. This girl op when I got on SE once didn't believe me that I didn't have anything in back pockets and made me stand up and patted me down. It's also frustrating that they are blowing $10 million or whatever on such mediocre attractions as Mick Doohans Motocoaster, I think they could have done so much better for the money.

WTF, he took 8? I was out last night so I haven't even checked the scorecard, wow just wow. Getting excited about this test now.

^Right on, I don't see Americans eating Eagles or the Poms eating Lions, another reason we are so badass.

My opinion of Aussie parks is a bit harsh because I have been to most of the best parks in the US. What do I think? Dreamworld: I haven't been since 2003 even though I have been to the Gold Coast at least 6 times since then. I swear you could have timed the progress of Cyclone queue with a sun dial. Giant drop is great, Tower of Terror ok. Personally, not worth the effort for me. Movie World: plenty of quality but lacks quantity, unless I go with friends I'll wait for some more attractions before I go back. Sea World: I haven't been since 2003 but I would like to go, 3 hour park max on a quiet day but plenty of quality. I did Sea World Orlando in 3 hours, so what chance does this place have. Wet and Wild: I'm not a big waterpark person, but it's not bad, the half pipe was a great addition. Luna Park Sydney: just sad, Wild Mouse is OK, Coney Island is fun, and the flats are OK, barely classifies as a park. Brilliant location, I wish they would put something like Indiana Beach there.

Great TR, I totally forgot about the tour so it was nice to get a view of that. Dorney was a lot better than I thought it would be, Talon and Hydra really rocked and I was expecting to ride them once and be off. Steel Force was a lot better than I thought it would be and Thunderhawk was not bad. Though the Wild Mouse queue would have given the Dalai Lama the sh!ts. When I looked up "glass" in the dictionary it had a section on word uses like "Smooth as glass" and lo and behold it just had a picture of Laser, it was odd but very cool to have that much smoothness and force in the one coaster.

^That's a classic, if I was ranking using the funny on-ride photo/video system. Then Magnum would be number 1, I put a couple of newbie friends in the ejector seat on the midwest trip. Poor Chris, eyes closed, mouth agape in total pain being neutered by Magnum's bunny hills. #2 would be Dark Knight at GAdv, we got one photo of us all asleep, another with us all giving our thumbs down. #3 would be Son of Beast with the girls flashing their tits for the on ride camera, that was hilarious.

^Will do, Freddie. Working hard on my ballots, the good wood, my top 20: 1. Phoenix Knoebel's 2. Boulder Dash Lake Compounce 3. El Toro SFGAd 4. My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere 5. Ravine Flyer II Waldameer 6. Hades Mount Olympus 7. Raven Holiday World 8. The Voyage Holiday World 9. Cornball Express Indiana Beach 10. Kentucky Rumbler Beech Bend 11. Viper SFGAm 12. Avalanche Timber Falls 13. Lightning Racer - L Hersheypark 14. Lightning Racer - T Hersheypark 15. Silver Comet Martin's Fantasy Is. 16. Thunderbolt Kennywood 17. Cyclops Mount Olympus 18. Comet Hersheypark 19. American Eagle SFGAm 20. Thunderbolt SF New England

SFNE Rules wrote: Hey Freddie, that is good news if it happens, I'll definitely include Compounce in a possible east coast mini trip next year if there's no trims on the Dash.

You'd think Nathan Brown was coaching (only the chosen few will get that reference) and selecting the Australian Cricket Team, just mystifying.

Was the Voyage significantly better at night? That was one of my regrets on the midwest trip, not doing the Voyage at night. I put Raven ahead of Voyage too, I just enjoyed it more. I have Phoenix at No. 1, I just love the way it throws you around.

^I'm not saying it wasn't smooth just that the structure is copping a lot of stress, that's just what I heard from someone. If anyone knows more please tell. I gave Compounce Wildcat my bottom wood vote for the pain and anguish it gave me, Grizzly at KD and Predator at DL made up my axis of evil at the bottom.

Boulder Dash & Phoenix were major surprises for me this year, it's a shame Dash won't be the same next year when they put that trim in. I also hear Ravine Flyer II is tearing itself apart, so who knows what they will do to that. Another big question is will the GCI work on Mean Streak make a big difference?