rollin_n_coastin

Agreed about turning Boulder Dash, the best terrain wood coaster out there, into a steel coaster. Makes no sense. I didn't think that Palace Entertainment would be sharing their five year plan info but it makes sense. This park is always a great visit because of its quality.

Had two great visits to Lake Compounce this past Friday and Sunday night. Over the past 8 years, a fall Halloween trip for Graveyard and Boulder Dash has pretty much become a really fun tradition. The weather was muggy and hot on Friday night, which made the park look fantastic with natural mist/ fog combined with the dry ice fog. T-shirt weather in late October is a great thing. We got 11 rides in on Boulder Dash in the foggy dark and six rides on on Phobia. The weather was back to regular fall temps on Sunday night. Boulder Dash is still in my top three and was running super fast both days. The triple up has a bit of a pot hole, which I assume will be fixed in the off season. I just stood up a bit, sort of riding it like a motor cycle over the triple up to help with that jack hammer. I love the ride so much and that triple up doesn't ruin it for me. It's still relentless and fast. I'd recommend riding in the front half as it's not as annoying there. Phobia is the third of these Premiers that I've been on and it's a lot of fun. A perfect fit for the park. I started going to Haunted Graveyard in 2008 and this was one of the best years ever. I miss the death stilt walker in the last room after the manor house. Back in 2008, there was more fog and the actor had glowing mouth in addition to being on stilts. It was a cool effect. Over all, they did a fantastic job as always and walking through this attraction just never gets old. This year had the most actors I've ever seen throughout the Graveyard, especially on Friday night. Sunday night was great as well with a film crew there. Personally, I think the Haunted Graveyard is the best haunted attraction out there, even compared to others that I've been to, including Universal Orlando, Busch Gardens, Cedar Fair and Six Flags events. The park looked great as always for this time of year. A few things I missed compared to past years are Wild Cat, the pumpkin monster at the front entrance and s'mores over an open fire pit. This is the second year that I've been with Wild Cat not open. The beer and soup stations are always a nice touch. Roadsmary's Baby, from Two Roads Brewing, is one of the better pumpkin beers that I've had. Another awesome year at Haunted Graveyard. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

They all may be different but I still think B&M makes the best inverts. 1) Montu 2) Nemeses 3) Afterburn 4) Banshee 5) Talon

Leviathan was running on Saturday. Even Sledgehammer was running, and that's what matters most

This is assuming that you have absolutely zero interest in seeing the incredibly impressive collection of marine and land animals or riding the awesome drop ride and fun flats. We easily spent an entire day at Marineland and didn't get to see everything. It's a fair assumption based on asking about spending half a day. That said, I''ve done the shows, deer, exhibits and rides in half a day with family, including the long hikes in between attractions. The beautiful animals are always impressive. The tired property that looks and feels the same as it was since first going in the 80s is far from impressive. Personally I love Dragon Mountain and would go for the coaster primarily. For years, it was better than any of Wonderland's steel coasters.

If you're coming in October, you won't need more than a day at CW, so could easily check out Niagara and Marineland. A Marineland visit really depends on whether or not you want a coaster credit for $43.00. Dragon Mountain was quite iconic, claiming to be the world's longest steel coaster for a long time, which you'll definitely "feel" to be true when they run one train only

I don't agree with this at all personally. I found Leviathan fun, but it rides like any other B&M hyper, it's just larger. Fury has a ton of low to the ground speed elements. That's fair but I think Leviathan rides unlike any other B&M before it with a focus on speed rather than multiple hills and floater. So Leviathan has a hill in place of low ground stuff, but it's still the first B&M speed coaster. I still feel that Fury rides like a combo of other B&M megas I've been on, including Leviathan and Shambhala (speed plus some cool maneuvers). That's not a bad thing at all. All fun. The best, not to me but that's me.

I've actually been strangely curious to hear their thoughts on it once they get up there. I know their thoughts on Leviathan and the B&M hypers (fun but nothing amazing) and while I don't expect Fury to be their new #1, it really is a totally different type of ride than anything else B&M has ever built. Obviously my opinion of the ride is that it's fantastic and nothing can or should change that opinion but it's always interesting to hear feedback from seasoned riders with tons of coasters under their belts. To be fair, Fury is like at least two rides that B&M has built before: Shambhala and Leviathan. So, really, nothing new with the exception of being taller and faster. It's a lot of fun, but after riding i305 the next day, it just blew Fury out of the water for me. To an extent, I even thought Volcano is more fun than some B&Ms hypers out there. But then, I just prefer that type of ride, with Maverick and GeForce being my top steels. I can completely understand that Fury, even though it is like some other B&Ms, is popular. Like MF, it is a lot of fun, even though it lacks the amazing surroundings of MF in comparison. Just wondering how the GTA categories work? Is it split between theme park and amusement park for each category with a "Best in Show" for top winners? Do they split up by region to be fair, as I'm sure most on the panel are not well travelled? Just asking as GTAs to me seem to be primarily a North American thing from my limited understanding/ knowledge, which throw in some worldwide stuff as an after thought.

I'm not surprised about Lightning Rod. For anyone who was able to ride it this year, it is a fantastic ride. The downtime is frustrating, sure, but to me doesn't take away from it. Some TPR members who rode Wild Fire told me Lightning Rod was better overall so that says something I'm sure, since Wild Fire also looks just incredible. Valravn, by simple fact that it's been done twice before and not as exciting, puts it at the bottom of the list of best new attractions in field of really new and creative attractions. The steel coaster list, as always to me, has no basis in rational thought and is most likely the result of a lot of marketing spend/ promotion to voters, like most "magazine/ newspaper" rankings. The wooden coaster list always seems much more rational at least. As far as RMC woodies go, they are amazing attractions but I'm not sure where I'd stick them on the wooden list. Topper track feels the same as a steel coaster or their ibox track coasters to me. It's tough to categorize something like Outlaw Run, Lightning Rod and Wild Fire on a wooden list for those of us who enjoy the top few coasters on the list that actually feel/ ride like a wooden coaster. Should be interesting where all three topper track RMCs end up over the next few years.

Very cool! After visiting parks where after riding the coasters and finding absolutely nothing to do for thrill seekers for the rest of the day, especially hard for anyone twho may not like coasters, these are great additions. I'm always in awe of how many different types of attractions are at CW. It's great to see them keep adding unique flat rides. I absolutely loved SkyHawk this year and these two new attractions seem like another great fit.

Kennywood is always full value. Got to head back a few weeks ago for the first time in a few years and loved it. Sure it was odd and annoying that rides just opened whenever throughout the morning, but they eventually all opened. Sky Rocket is still a lot of fun and Phantom's Revenge is just as good and intense as ever. Thunderbolt is still crazy. Oh and got to ride my first Giant Discovery and loved it way more than the one we have at Canada's Wonderland. Being in seats that felt more open and a longer/ higher cycle makes a huge difference. Of course, the double cone ice cream with a cherry on top ended the day.

^What does this have to do with Darien Lake or Wonderland? Wonderland is busy because it's a city park that had new attractions added in order to bring their attractions in line with other comparative Cedar Fair parks, like Cedar Fair did when they had Morgan add hyper coasters to all of the parks in their first round of park acquisitions. Darien is a destination park and the only one in their market so are really resting on their laurels, like Wonderland did under Paramount. In order to build attendance, they need to add attractions to up the number of people coming for camping and hotel stays. Darien expanded their waterpark, kids area and spent on general park maintenance and appearance most recently. Also, they had to deal with the RoS accident. The recent changes in management and ownership haven't helped any with respect to developing a stable plan and adding a large attraction, which they need to do to bump up attendance, if they want to of course. Maybe stable management/ ownership and a stronger dollar will help them score a new coaster finally.

I'm so happy that GCI and Gravity Group woodies are still an option. The best wood coasters (traditional feeling) out there. I enjoyed Thunderhead as much as Lightning Rod at Dollywood as both are completely different ride experiences. Sometimes you just want a wood coaster to feel like one and this one definitely will along with feeling out of control like all of their coasters. I'm sure it'll have a lot more air than Beast or Racer, while being more ejector than Diamondback. Definitely a great addition. As for the shed, either it goes backwards under the track or a drop track.

I doubt it would be going anywhere.....it is still actually one of the "newer" coasters in the park if we are talking last 10 years. Also...it hardly takes up much of a land footprint..so even if it was removed....I doubt there would be room to put in the launched giga invert RMC with flyer and winged elements that some of the fans would like. Even though it's one of the newer coasters, it's rough and unliked by many. Also to address the small footprint, they could remove Flight Deck as well (another ride that is rough and unliked by many) that is nearby. Together, they would free up a lot of land if they were taken down. These rides are perfect for smaller parks. If SkyRider sold, these will sell no problem. I also really miss SkyRider. It was so much fun had the best ejector airtime in the park, which was even crazier standing up. We're missing a really good sit down steel looping/ inverting coaster, launched or not. I keep wishing for a world class looping/ inverting Intamin coaster like Taron or Maverick to really round out Wonderland. Even Premier and Gerstlauer build some great stuff (Karnan at Hansa Park looks amazing). I'd even take a third hyper coaster if it was a clone of Superman, Goliath or Expedition Ge-Force to show Canadians what an awesome hyper is really like. Only thing is Behemoth's queue would keep shrinking if that happens . I just hope we're done with B&M coasters for a while, with the exception of inverts since they honestly build the best in that category.

Fair enough and makes sense if you like the RMC style . I could never fully judge a coaster by a POV. Even after riding a few RMCs, including Lighting Rod over the past year, this is still my most anticipated ride this season. I guess since all RMCs ride like steel coasters to me, I lump them together and just love that Intamin insanity a bit more

Guess that could be true as Lightning Rod also seems to be closed until next week, look at the Dollywood thread. That's interesting. Each "empty queue/ close ride" we had while waiting for Lightning Rod happened when the restraints wouldn't open, causing the ride to be down for a long period of time. Maintenance had a single battery pack controller to manually unlock one row at a time for the train in the station and the train on the brakes outside of the station to let people off. In any case, it was good to know that without that very slow and specific procedure, there was no way those restraints could ever open and even when they tried to send the train around again, it wouldn't dispatch.

Every train had someone who looked like they would have no problem fitting have an issue fitting. When they got up to walk out, it looked like "beer" bellies/ larger abdominal areas were to blame on otherwise regular looking smaller framed guys that couldn't ride and just larger abdominal areas in general on others preventing the lapbar from sitting properly on thighs. But really, this didn't hurt wait times materially and isn't a big deal. The ride constantly faulting and going down is what's really hurting wait times

Define "as much." Seriously, though, Thunderhead is great, and it seems to never generate a line when I'm there, even on Saturdays. Haha! Ok maybe not as intense but for sure as much . It was running great.

I like your strategy. It reminds me of how my wife and I automatically go to a restaurant expecting terrible service. These are just normal expectations for 2016. Well, it depends on the restaurant and on how much you want that food, regardless of what you have to endure to get it . There hasn't been one day yet where LR has run problem free so until that happens, why would anyone expect anything different? The meal in this case is truly worth it.

I'd like to stress that as busy as the park is today, there's a wooden roller coaster at the other side of the park that offers as much air time as Lightning Rod and is still so much fun. Seriously, Thunderhead has been a walk on all weekend, even this afternoon. Run over and give it some lovin' I totally understand how frustrating it can be being in line and the ride closing down. It happened to us a few times, once when we were at the end of the queue. Just make sure you go in to LR with patience, and a lot of it. It's not like they don't want us riding. Who knows when all the kinks will be worked out but wouldn't expect it to be running problem free for the next few weeks at least. Also, a ride attendant mentioned that time saver won't be available during the opening period over the next few weeks, so keep that in mind.

In line for the fifth ride of the weekend before heading home. LR unofficially opened on Saturday morning with no restrictions on lines and hours, other than some downtime here and there, which engineers solved relatively quickly. They kept the line open right until 10pm on Saturday night. It also opened with the park on Saturday. Night rides on LR are insane. Once you're whipped over the hill, it's pitch black the rest of the way. Just incredible. Sunday the park was relatively quiet and the evening was basically park ERT, which was a blast. Five minute wait for everything except Lighting Rod, with the line starting near the last set of stairs on the second floor. Sunday night the ride closed at 9:30pm or so since there was an issue that engineers couldn't get to before park closing at 10pm. I would plan for LR to be down anywhere between 15 minutes to 45 minutes, up to three times while in line, while they fully work everything out. This has been the experience this weekend and again this morning. Overall, the crew is fantastic. The ride is fantastic. It was awesome seeing other TPR friends around this weekend. What a great second visit to Dollywood, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Can't wait to come back soon.

Just to bring this thread back to Lightning Rod's status for a post or two, I last saw that it was running as of Wednesday. Is this still the case? Just wondering what to expect if wanting to ride Lightning Rod over the next few days while it's in technical rehearsal, from those that have been riding? Thanks, all!

Interesting to hear about the new boats on Mammoth. That ride really was out of control insane in a great way with the old boats. Looking forward to trying it again with the new boats.

That's good to know about the length. I know Wicked Cyclone is different but it was the shortest RMC that I've been and length didn't even matter. It was just kick a$$ fun and did so much in its space.

Yes, that was a concern. However, even when the park owners were adamant that the ride would be built, posters were explaining how that would be, in all likelihood, impossible. The owners were right after all. I'm looking forward to hearing bout how WildFire is. Two amazing RMCs in one year is something incredible. It's really great to see everyone posting and sharing thoughts about the ride. The excitement comes right through. Really looking forward to heading back.