rollermonkey

Ooh, it looks like Elissa has some competition in Deutschland! :o Chris

Mrs. Alvey, Now that I have worked my up through the ranks of predetermined donkey status, I would like to change my donkey status to: Donkeylicious I feel that it is both pertinent to the tone of the site, and delicious too. Thank you, Quartermaster First Class Rollermonkey

I must get down there before I leave Japan. The flight isn't so long from here! What is going in at Dreamworld? Should I wait? Chris B

I just thought of something so cool, it can't possibly ever actually happen: DUELING, Flying Bolliger & Mabillard Coasters Yummy. There's room, and it would explain why there's so many markers. This idea was rumored for CP for a while, then it evaporated. Chris B

I guess all the talk of "waiting to see how the park performs to avoid the DLParis experience" was all BS if they were planning park #2 already. I agree they should expand the existing park before opening a 2nd one. Could it be even smaller than WDSParis? That place is postage stamp sized! Chris B

Since I live in Japan, the coaster install I'm anticipating the most is the suspected 4D coaster at Fuji-Q. As I haven't been to Magic Mountain since 1999, I haven't gotten the chance to ride the prototype, X. Since this isn't the first of the type, all the bugs from X should be worked out, and this should be a great ride. Back stateside, the coasters I'm watching construction closely are the B&M installation at Magic Mountain, The Voyage at Holiday Park and Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom. If the B&M turns out to be the flyer that most people seem to think it will be, it should be the first of that style to truly provide a birdlike experience, darting through trees, racing along the ground, and it should probably be very acrobatic. I really can't wait to know more about this ride, it will probably be the one to make me want to go back to California. The Voyage seems to be the most interesting wood installation of the year. Huge, lots of negative G's and with Holiday World's history of great wooden coasters, this should be this year's Thunderhead, but less of a surprise to afficianadoes than that intallation turned out to be. Expedition Everest is the most expensive ride installation ever by any company and it is by a company known for immersive ride experiences. (Disney, not Vekoma) This is the ride that will make Animal Kingdom a destination, not just a side trip in Walt Disney World. I would bet that there will be some nice surprises as well, and I can't wait to see what they are! Chris B

F L A M E Hmmm, It fits the blanks, and it is just plain terrible for a coaster name. Oh, it's 6F, so that must be it! Chris B

I always seem to forget about AR&R, so it's always a riot to be reminded of it. Chris B

NCF, that is truly terrifying to behold. R&E, that's a credit you definitely don't have! I've seen photos of another backyard woodie called Elijah's Chariot, It's not as big as the one in OK, but it is also a complete circuit like that one. It's actually in a small neighborhood park, but it has a station and lifthill! I'm not positive exactly where it is, but there are bunches of pics if you know where to look! Chris B

Someone mentioned this earlier, referring to Step by Step. I thought that this was the final shot in the opening of an equally terrible show, but one that lasted much longer: Full House. (Set in San Fran.) Chris B

Is that where that opening was filmed?!?! I remember that so well, but the show is so old. The best part is the simple observation that those costumed characters were trippin' on something as they rode those rides! Wasn't the lion upside down in the boat on the log flume? Chris B "One banana, Two banana, Three banana, Four. Five bananas make a bunch, and so do many more."

Have you actually ridden Air? I'd rather ride that B&M beauty 1000 times than those flying dutchmen clones once! With the immense room this ride seems to be taking, I think we will all be very happy with the ride experience offered by this new flyer. I just hope the park improves other areas of operation instead of relying on a new ride to bring in guests. But that's the 6F way, isn't it? As for 200' I'm skeptical, remember that the G-forces on flyers feel much more intense, which is why they are all so (comparatively) slow. Chris B

I've heard good things about the Texas Cyclone, I'd love to hear the Knoebels are recreating their first coaster save, TX to PA again. What could a renamed cyclone be called? Is this coaster disimilar enough to warrant interest by them? As for the rest? I couldn't say, but lots of validity to most of the points brought up so far. Cheap expansion projects for the rest of the chain, but age is a factor for most of these rides, and 6F isn't reknowned for outstanding maintenance at most of the chain. Chris B

I was in Seoul yesterday, but I had a really bad string of luck! Of ten coasters visited, 4 were closed, and I had ridden one of the open ones on a previous trip. I missed: Lotte World: Atlantis Adventure AGAIN! (Down for 4 days for maintenance?!?! WTF!) Children's Grand Park: 88 Train (Meisho custom layout loopscrew) Crazy Mouse (Unknown, and seriously SBNO, the car tops were on the loading platform, but the car bottoms were stranded around the track!) :? Seoul Land: Double Loop (Meisho, closed 3 hours before the rest of the park!) So my last coaster ended up being a Speedy Gonzales themed kiddy coaster named Mini Coaster. What a crappy day! Chris B Next time in the area, I'm going to Everland!

(Kicking self, repeatedly) I wasn't even thinking that I had seen the Bobkarts on the Japan DVD, and passed them up believing they were just gokarts. SIGH. I guess if SD2K reopens before I leave Japan, I'll be back down there for the credit and check these out. Chris B (continues kicking self)

X:GF. I like it a lot, it is indeed a great coaster. However, I still prefer both S:RoS at 6FNE and MF. All of this is PERSONAL PREFERENCE! Chris B

#1. I want my very own Millenium Force for my back yard. I love inverting coasters, but MF is still my #1. #2. Thunderhead at Dollywood, but I hope against all hope I don't get let down when I finally get to ride it! Chris B

Must ... Check ... Airfare ... Narita ... to ... Sydney ... Chris B

You have listed som great good endings, I would include: Bandit at Yomiuri, like T-bolt gets faster and faster until the end. Kumba, very intense final helix Worst? Thunder Dolphin, after the annoying tricktrack, drops 3-4 stories at nearly 55 mph into the brake run, what a waste! I have to agree that putting the lift hill at the end is so anticlimactic, but at least the one on Ninja makes sense. Is the arrangement on Adventure Express similar? Chris B

Coaster # 17: Operational, For Now! Chris B

I meant that sarcastically, but my didn't show up!

Er, Elissa, how could we send you the whole amount for the trip if we don't know how much that will be yet? Chris

I know that (surprise, surprise) DL's Splash mountain was the steepest drop on a flume when it opened, but I believe that Dudley Doo Right took almost all the categories upon it's opening. Wettest, though I have often heard attributed to the Boston Tea Party at Canobie Lake Park, but it's such a small park not a lot of people get to see the rediculous amount of water that thing throws up when it hits. It sometimes knocks people over who are waiting on the bridge! Out of all the giant splash boats I've seen, though that's the wettest one to me. Chris B (I've got to get to IOA!)

5. Space World 4. Europa Park 3. Busch Gardens Williamsburg 2. Tokyo Disneyland 1. Tokyo DisneySea SW was a huge surprise with it's parkwide single theme, excellently carried out. EP is gorgeous, and has great rides of all types. BGW looks almost like a garden with european villages dropped in! TDL, IMO the best looking "Magic Kingdom," I've only not been to HKDL. TDS, jawdroppingly amazing. Best looking Disney park, and that's saying a lot! Water everywhere, Med really looks like Italy (but clean) and the New England Village could be just about any town on Cape Cod (but with a volcano looming behind.) Honorable mentions: Alton Towers, but it's more a garden with rides than an actual theme park. Universal Studios Port Aventurra, this park needs a little growth, but it is a collection of well executed themes. Universal Studios Japan, a collection of rides from the US parks, in a very realistic themed setting. Chris B I need to get to IOA!

I have a few that I really, really want to hit: Universal: IoA didn't exist yet on my one trip to FL. Holiday World: Drove right by it when I was a Coasternewbie, and I kick myself regularly for this. Kijima: Has the only woodie in Japan I haven't been on! 6FMM: The last time I was there, Flashback was operating smoothly and regularly, and Goliath was brand spankin' new, so I have yet to go 4D. Chris B