rollin_n_coastin

Lo-Q: Would you ever see your mobile/ smart phone apps being used beyond the theme park industry (Building on another question above)? For example, to manage the queues that people dislike most (DMV, government agencies, passport offices, post offices, etc) by telling customers who register online to show up within a certain window of time at government agencies and receive express service for a nominal fee?

^Am I the only one that would take Baco over Swarm/ Wild Eagle/ X-Flight? It is a phenomenal ride. North America should be so lucky to have something as fast, intense and awesome as Baco. But after Skyrush's mixed feelings, who knows? Heck, they may even smoothen it out a bit this time around. A bit of roughness doesn't make it a bad ride by any means. Now Vortex on the other hand is unnecessary roughness, quite possibly the roughest Arrow in existence. It does look cool though, I'd give it that at least. Whatever they replace SOB with, I don't think Cedar Fair will worry too much about similar rides between CP and KI. The parks are really not that close together. A really good invert at KI would be fantastic.

My first was The Bat at CW, as introduced by Count Floyd below in 1987. I found it scary then and still do today--the backwards part gets me every time. The GIBs are the freakiest of them all. Other than SLCs, I personally don't mind Vekoma rides. Ok, the odd corkscrew can be brutal

^I think the glowing eyes are awesome! Really a great touch and overall, Thorpe has really done a fantastic job with the overall experience here. ^^Elissa, it's really well done and I think the diving through the 'scene' is really cool and would make up for any of a wing rider's apparent short comings. I actually liked this wing rider thing much more than the flyers. Not be overly facetious, but the best theming of all has to be diving and flying over the endless queue line crammed with people that really makes it looks like there is only one way out of the disaster. The natural theme of people looking irritable while waiting up to two to three hours to ride this really fits in well with the "after disaster" feel. Yes, I think the queue is massive and just when you think you're almost there, you're really not. Nope, not even close

Very intersting and cool that the park continues to sponsor an important training exercise like this. Thanks for sharing some great pics Chuck!

I tried test track this time last year for the first time and loved it. For anyone that's been to a GM plant, a car really does go through the same series of tests as soon as it's driven off the line. The one element missing is the water test, which would be cool to add if the vehicle had a retractable roof or the entire experience turned into a water ride just before the acceleration test. Other than the queue and vehicles, it seems like the spirit of test track will still be there, which is a good thing.

I can't believe I completely forgot to write about Hex! It is absolutely the best Mad House out there. I love them personally. I look forward to going back one day as I'd love to actually check out more of the gardens and above all, try out the new ride. ^Thanks very much, it's always fun re-living travels after the fact. Thanks for understanding that my thoughts on UK rides and Nemesis are an opinion . I guess if Nemesis wasn't practically all underground I'd rate it much higher. Sure the Batmans are all clones but they pack as much of a punch, if not a bit more. More of them is a good thing. Regardless, there is no arguing the fact the Nemisis is a great, solid and forceful ride.

Just based on the coaster and not my ability to get to them, for me I'm most excited about Projekt Helix at Liseberg, Outlaw Run and Full Throttle.

Early morning meant an early train ride to London. Virgin train time! One of the days in the London area involved a trip out to Thorpe Park. I've heard a lot of things about the place, in particular the clientele. Those stories were for the most part true but I have to say, I loved the rides at the park, although Nemesis Inferno was a little short. Swarm was fun, had some crazy theming and was my first B&M wing rider. It looked menacing in grey. If the wait wasn't so long, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. It was a fun for what it was for sure. What Swarm did do was peak my interest for Gatekeeper come next season. Thorpe was also home to my favourite coaster of my UK trip leg, Colossus. Oh, and for those that count, I figured out that a great coaster called Stealth was my number 400! A great day with awesome weather! A first for me in the UK Here is.... THORPE PARK The night before involved taking a look at the hotel bar. So that we could have a little something on our London roof top patio. Unexpected upgrades are awesome. The morning was early but hey, it provided us with a virgin. Everyone hop on? Looking forward to putting this to good use! We were luckily swept in through the Merlin seasons pass holder entrance No metal detector for me...I lost my inner hooligan I guess. I see you 400.. I really do heart this, very, very much. Inversion number 10,521.. Inversion number 11,001....take that Alton One of the better Eurofighers around in terms of theming and a pretty good ride overall. Loved the line cutting proof queue line! Oh, yes. There will be blood. Just a short detour to the flume and a little reminder of home... Hello 400! After riding TTD and KK, I just with this was just a wee bit higher and longer. Still a great ride though. We'll end with the cause of a downed plane and pure chaos. The Swarm... The twist off the lift hill to... ...the current highest inversion? Gate...errr...tower fly throughs. The suspenseful climb up Swarm does look fantastic. Before heading back to London, this little hidden gem was a great way to end the day!

I realized that I kind of look at standard type Eurofighters in the same way that I look at SLC's. Anyone else in the same boat?

Untamed and Mystery Mine are by far the roughest I've been on. If you take a whole package of theming, smoothness and overall ride, Fluch Von Novgorod is my personal favorite. Easily re-ridable for the most part. I remember it being smooth throughout until that last jump into the station where it feels like it knocks your head off. Saw was also pretty good and a close second. Agree this type of poll has a bit of golden-ticket-itis In that very few have been on all of them to properly vote.

LOL Thanks Bill. I figure, better to suck the fun out now rather than at Christmas when people try to receive our gifts. I just don't want my gift recipient, if outside of Canada, to be dinged with any taxes or duties For example, if sending something awesome to Bill or I, lets say very awesome Prime Ministers of Canada Place Mats, even if it is a gift under $60.00 but you forgot a card or notice, customs will not see it as a gift and ding us for full duty, taxes and fees that can sometimes cost more than the value of gift.

How do you re-track a steel coaster, without building a new coaster? Agreed that Phantom's Revenge is an entirely new coaster. In any case, I really thought it wasn't possible but Vortex has to be the worst Arrow coaster that I've ever been on. I tried that, "Maybe if I ride it correctly or in the best part of the train" theory after riding it an excruciating four times in one day since I was with Vortex's biggest fan that day No position or seat made a difference. GASM was and Anaconda is as smooth as butter in comparison.

I'd love to do this and ship internationally! Just as a suggestion, would it help if international participants post their country's gift rules for those of us willing to ship internationally so that our recipients don't have the fun sucked away by crazy brokerage fees and taxes just to pick it up? Given the limit on value that this gift exchange has, I doubt this will be an issue but thought this info could be helpful for a smooth, fun and pure awesome gift exchange For example--Shipping Gifts to Canada: Any new items with a value over $60.00 will trigger brokerage fees, duties and taxes that the recipient will have to pay to receive it/ pick it up. Even if you are sending an item that you came across for free or for less than retail value/ MSRP, customs will go by MSRP. Customs declarations should be filled out with the actual item + Gift and not general info like "Gift". A card or notice must be included indicating that it is a gift.

I totally forgot about High Speed Thrill Coaster! I think I would want this back over any of the Jersey Shore coasters in the ocean.

Mean Streak actually runs sometimes without its trims? I knew that Mantis and Magnum sometimes ran like that, but never Mean Streak. The only chance I've had was when it was raining hard and Mean Streak was open. The train just slid through the drop trims, what a great ride...even in the back seat! Oops, I meant no trim in the first drop. It was definitely fast. I'm not sure if that happens regularly or if something was wrong that ride? It was fun and much welcomed regardless. Gatekeeper, however it ends up riding, will look fantastic and be such a great replacement for Disaster Transport. Having that space along the beach open again has totally changed that area's look and feel for the better. Plus, if it means any shorter of a wait for Maverick and Millennium Force, I'll be the happiest person on earth.

^This is so true. I'm really looking forward to doing all that I can to get back on a trip this year. So are you finally going to get on one again Eric? I'd say a very small part of any of these trips is worrying about credits. That said, with the way they are planned, you will get on everything possible, even stuff that you may have never even known about. The only disclaimer being the usual stuff about weather or technical issues.

This year was the first year that I've had Mean Streak ride with no trim on the lift hill and pretty much throughout and it was actually really good speed wise. That combined with a ride weaving through and around its majestic structure almost makes up for a lack of anything substantial in its elements. It didn't seem that rough, but them we rode near the front

After recently selling Ducati to Audi, Italian private equity firm, InvestIndustrial, buys the remaining 50% stake in Port Aventura.

Hanno, another great perspective on Chinese parks. Happy Valley looks like one of the nicer/ nicest parks on the mainland so far. Love the random theming

GASM? I really miss Jaws the most at this point, followed by Big Bad Wolf. ^^Really wish I could have ridden Eagles's Fortress just based on the TPR footage.

I guess we can all have one-off experiences but the places that can maintain a consistent level of lacking service in all areas that impact the guest experience truly deserve a special award. I'm not exactly sure if a place just digs deeper into a black hole of funk once morale and motivation are gone or if that it's just the norm and no one knows any better. The parks for me that just felt like employees thought we shouldn't be there or that staff didn't know how to handle large gatherings of people and run this type of business for me are Hershey Park, Mount Olympus and Six Flags America.

^Why so down? At least someone used the search function and we can talk about this ride again. This ride seemed so polarizing at the time. I think it's one of B&M's better floorless coasters. Combined with Talon, Dorney has a great set of B&Ms, if that's what you're into. Have any first riders ridden it since opening year? Any new opinions on this versus other floorless coasters out there? ^^These questions give you something else to add

Thanks for the comments everybody! I did spend the last week enjoying the awesomeness that is Italy--food, wine, family, friends, beaches, etc etc Since my flight was round trip from Heathrow, I planned on visiting an old Canadian friend and some awesome Brits in the UK for the weekend prior to heading home. Andrew had finally made the move to Manchester and had finally found an apartment! There was a lot to celebrate. I wasn't too sure if the need to throw in a park or two was necessary. Ah, who am I kidding, with an invite to check on some of the UK's best, how could anyone resist? Arrival night was a lot of fun catching up over a few drinks and experiencing being a passenger on the wrong side of a car for the first time. ALTON TOWERS TPR is about parks and coasters so on to those! The first day was a nice drive up to Alton Towers. This has to be another of the most beautiful parks that I've ever been to. I've heard that three parks in Europe and the UK offer amazing surroundings--Port Aventura, Europa Park and Alton Towers. So glad I've been able to check out two of those so far. The setting at Alton is exactly what I imagined the UK countryside to look like. They've done a phenomenal job incorporating some good attractions into the landscape. Now, about those rides. The theming is great and sure, some may view Merlin's marketing as over the top but I see it as something to have fun with and not take too seriously rather than criticize. When you suffer from height and noise restrictions, you have to be creative and Alton has succeeded in spades. My favourite rides at Alton were Air, Th13teen and Oblivion. Best show is Nemesis sub-terra--Over the top and cheesy but a good concept that was really fun if you're not expecting too much. The thing I found with UK rides is that they were either not high enough or long enough, always leaving me with wanting more, especially after experiencing amazing "full size" versions of similar rides in other countries. It was a like having high quality appetizers before the expected real meal, which never comes. This was especially so after riding Khan and Furious Baco a week earlier. My three favourites at Alton suffered from these issues somewhat but made the best of them by working themselves exceptionally well into the landscape and using their length and ride style to their advantage. Nemesis was definitely a forceful invert but not being that high off the ground took away a lot more than it gave for me personally. I still rank Montu, Talon and the Batmans ahead. I haven't been on Katun yet. Nemesis was definitely an example of the awesome theming and creativity throughout Alton, without a doubt. As an overall package, I can understand how Alton Towers is considered the best in the UK. Just a beautiful and fantastic place to walk around with some solid attractions, if not the most thrilling. I'm really glad that I had a chance to go and can't thank Andrew, Brad and MIke enough. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they're building next! Ok, here are some pics! Up next, London during the Special Olympics and a trip to Thorpe! Arrival night at the new flat and already, evidence of duelling Brits are everywhere Congrats again on the new flat guys! Really awesome that Mike was able to join us. This has something to do with tomorrow's road trip.... Alton demands plenty of rest? Morning! Not so much hung over after few interesting drinks the night before. Just a quick stop for gas and tissues to take care of the cold I was catching and we were off. A really nice drive down some crazy roads, some with cows. Ug, runny nose....hold up a second let me grab the box of.... ...travel sized tissues, which is all the gas station had. I understand that for certain fans of Alton Towers, this type is preferred for other reasons Here we go! This was really exciting. The old Corkscrew looks awesome outside of the front entrance as well. The grounds are spectacular. Heading to the rides section. I had the best wild mouse ride here, not because anyone working there knew anyone of course A little Rita! I loved how everyone was lining up for all but the front row when we were there. We just walked up the first set of stairs with no front row wait whatsoever. Very happy that our group was the only one who could apparently read signs. That or the Brits were just too polite and cleared the front row for foreigners Mike leads the way. I see something verrrrry unlucky through there.. The lineups weren't too bad at all. I really liked Th13teen. It was like a really smooth mine train with the best ending ever that scared the poop out of me. Our no line front row ride. MIke and Brad test to make sure that new cable is working flawlessly. After hearing so much about Nemesis, this was such an exciting moment. This is without a doubt a solid and forceful ride. Andrew mentioned the water was red before? Great theming. The best invert out there? It's very good, yes. But, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's the best compared to some other old school inverts in the US. I think this could be my favourite flying coaster. Not too long and not to short. This just seems like what flying is meant to feel like. Looks fantastic and packs a punch. Oblivion is a great ride. I just wish it were a bit longer. Thanks Brad, Andrew and Mike for a great day at Alton! It was back to Manchester. Up next, London and Thorpe Park.

^^Klassy Kruze was one of the best photo sets on this site....ever This year was again a whole lot of fun! Leviathan charity auction and opening day. Random road trips and weekend trips with awesome TPR friends, which meant finally getting to Kings Island and seeing Son of Beast for the first and last time and also getting to check out Port Aventura, Alton Towers and Thorpe. The near death experience in the back row of the Conneaut Lake Park Blue Streak. A Cedar Point storm so serious that we had to go to storm shelters--I even twisted my knee while evacuating Millennium Force. Learning what my tolerance is for riding a roller coaster repeatedly for a day during Coasting for Kids and taking my "GP" friends on the resulting VIP tour who had the best day ever. Leviathon! As always incredible ERT and a chance to see old friends and meet a lot of other great people. The last road trip of the year to Lake Compounce, SFNE and SFGA, while these areas were in a State of Emergency, staying ahead of Sandy each step of the way. Ready for 2013!