gk

I think you're thinking of Darien Lake. Six Flags still owns The Great Escape, and it sounds like they want to keep it & make improvements, which is good. All this Great Escape talk made me head up there last night. Nice airtime towards the back on Comet! Canyon Blaster's not bad, it'll be better when some of the trees get bigger and hide some of the course from view while riding.

One decent coaster? I'm pretty sure it is just a collection of crap. I absolutely loved the park itself though. Nah, I think Comet's quite a fun ride.

I think Steamin' Demon has good placement in front of the park. It could use a nice paint job and some landscaping. Cedar Point keeps Corkscrew well maintained & looking new, and it's still beautiful after all these years. GE should do likewise with Steamin' Demon. I haven't noticed the upstate NY crowd being in awe over Boomerang. When we want to be amazed, we drive over to SFNE and ride Superman.

I never got a chance to visit GL - I remember going to Sea World of Ohio as a kid, though, and we were watching some water ski show on the lake, and I was watching the trains run on double loop across the water and wishing I was over there instead!

The park is definitely worth a visit. Whether it's worth repeated revisits for anything other than the waterpark is debatable.

It's probably gonna be Serial Thriller. They sorely need SOMETHING though. One decent coaster and a collection of crap is just not enough. I'd prefer a hyper or at least a baby hyper, but whatcha gonna do.

5000 ft., that's more like it. Can't wait until the official details are released. I guess I need to plan a KI trip next year.

I'm betting they mean helices. However I hope they're wrong about 4200'. That's pretty short for a hyper.

Millennium Force SFNE Superman Nitro Boulderdash The Beast (honorary position in the top 10) Kingda Ka Top Thrill Dragster Maverick Magnum XL200 SFOG Mindbender (loves me some Schwarzkopf loops w/ lapbars)

I was specifically excluding SOB.

"as big as 200ft"? I'd hope 200ft would be the minimum. Preferably 230+ ft. KI is one of the last major parks without a hyper - so I sure hope it is one even with a splash gimmick.

Millennium Force front row last Friday 6/27

'bout time KI got itself a hyper! I may have my reason to visit there for the first time in 17 years (pre Paramount era). CF should be commended for making such a big improvement to a park so close to CP.

It rained off and on when I was there last Thursday. There was lightning and high winds on one of my MF rides, and we were the last train before they shut it down temporarily. We had to exit prior to the normal exit station since there was already an empty train in there, so they had to get a supervisor to unlock the trains to escort us off (don't exit on the left.. ha ha). I don't know why they didn't just run an empty train so that we could exit normally. It was back up within 15 minutes, so we got on again - rode in the rain, and AGAIN we stopped outside the exit station. I thought they were shutting it down again, but it was because they were removing a train. Apparently they can run in rain (not lightning) but only with two trains on MF.

Is there a "Best overly bashed coasters" thread? I finally rode MF for the first time ever this past Thursday/Friday - and loved it! I got seven rides over two days, three in the front, 1 in the back and three more in the middle. The lift hill is great, no noisy clanking with the elevator lift, and the first drop in the front seat is practically a religious experience. The speed never lets up, there are a few good floater (if not ejector) hills, and how many rides manage an overbanked turn on the turnaround to the station?? Yet it still stops gracefully at the station and doesn't slam you into the restraints like some rides. Yes, it's not an airtime monster - but then I think airtime is probably an overhyped ride quality anyway. It's important but not the only thing I look for in a coaster. MF has a couple decent pops of air, anyway. It's fast, fun, and tied with SFNE S:ROS as my #1 now. Maverick, now that was overhyped. The restraints kept whacking into my neck, and while it was fun I didn't even bother a reride, while I couldn't get enough of MF. I like TTD more than Mav. Maybe I'm just a speed freak.

No matter how strict the make the security, if someone is intent on breaking the rules in place to keep them alive, they'll find a way. It is tragic that this kid was killed. I feel bad for his family & those who witnessed it. However, it was his own abject stupidity that caused it. I'm just glad that he somehow didn't manage to hurt anyone else in the process.

^If they got a decent woodie it'd probably only stay decent for a year or two - Cyclone and Thunderbolt suck IMO. Shame about Superman - I was there on Sunday and got three rides. Into the afternoon the wait was 30 minutes or so.

SFNE Superman: Ride of Steel tonight, front row.

Great pics. That really takes me back. Love the Beast construction pics.

It's hard for me to imagine how someone could get hurt like that on a Tornado even if they fell off the raft. The kids bonking their heads together as they slid down seems to be a likely scenerio. To me, this falls under the "stuff happens" category, and while Six Flags should make nice to them (pay medical bills and offer free season passes for the family or something), which should be the end of it. Very unlike the situation at SFKK, IMO. That poor girl should be well compensated by Six Flags and possibly by Intamin, since she's now debilitated for life. She certainly had a reasonable expectation not to be in that situation.

The Beast in 1979. Crystal Beach Cyclone (though maybe I wouldn't ride so much as watch) Idora Park Euclid Beach Park Palisades Park The original Elitch Gardens

After reading the thread on Coasterbuzz it seems to me that she has something of a case (the park should have liability for the medical costs, IMO - it sounds like the girl got at least a concussion and needed 23 stitches) but the mom wasn't there and even she doesn't seem to know what really happened. Without knowing how much she's suing for it's hard to tell if she's seeing dollar signs or if Six Flags is being unreasonable. However since fairly minor incidents like this happen all the time at parks without generating lawsuits I'm inclined to think she's being unreasonable. A couple points: - The 4 person rafts are fairly bulky and heavy - I find it hard to believe a 10 and 11 year kids carried one to the top by themselves. At Great Escape they don't have 2 person rafts on the Tornado so I have no experience with those. But since four person rafts can be used by 2 or more I don't see why there'd be a "safety rule" about using 2 person rafts. - one kid may have panicked and let go, falling off the raft and either causing the raft to tip or causing the other child and the raft to land on top of her. It's hard to know for sure but stuff happens sometimes.

If I was gonna recommend a place to someone from the UK wanting to visit the US, I'd recommend Southern California. Thus, SFMM if you want to ride a floorless and a mega coaster (as well as a bunch of others). SoCal is great as a vacation destination, there is so much to do there.

It's a great ride. Just a little short. The launch is pretty intimidating the first time but once you've done it it is less so. If you wear contact lenses I don't recommend the front row.

1. None. Some parks are cheaper (Great Escape) but you get less value. 2. SFOG 3. SFGAdv, runner up SFMM 4. 5. 6. SFMM (hard to beat SoCal for stuff to do)