Satchboogie3

T Express Balder Voyage X2 Every Intamin I have yet to ride (Maverick, Fahrenheit, Thunder Dolphin, Expedition G-Force, Goliath, all the mega-lites, etc) Behemoth Hades Thunderhead Ravine Flyer II Steel Dragon 2000 Nemesis Defunct coasters I'd want to ride: Drachen Fire Crystal Beach/Revere Beach Cyclones Tornado (Coney Island) Skyclone Coaster (central park, Allentown) Puritas Springs Cyclone Bobs (Riverview Park) Aero Coaster (Rye Playland)

10. Smokers (actually, in general, not only parks) 9. Annoying teens (again, in general) 8. GP arguing with me about roller coasters/parks (countless times I have enlightened people about parks/coasters only for them to not believe me and continue to be ignorant) 7. Que jumpers 6. Expensive/crappy food 5. Crappy parks (Not well maintained, stacking riding opening times (Kindka and El Toro opening 2 hours late everyday, etc), parks only caring about money, etc) 4. Rude park staff 3. Stupid park rules (no re-riding without getting off, closing everything if they even think it will rain) 2. Stupid ride-ops. (stupidity, inconsistencies, power-trips, ... stupidity) 1. Stapling.

That book looks very interesting, would you have any idea where I might be able to find a copy? I read that it's out of print and I searched ebay, amazon, barns&noble, and a bunch of other book sites without any luck.

Hi folks, does anyone know where I might be able to find info (stats, layout/plans, pictures, etc) on the circa-1932 Giant Coaster at Paragon Park? Almost all of the pictures and information I have found is based on the redesigned ride post 1932, I'm having trouble finding the original 1917 John Miller design. It's purely out of curiosity, I've ridden the Wild One and as a Massachusetts native I'm interested in the origin of the ride. The one picture I've seen of the original roller coaster (The Incredible Scream Machine: A History of The Roller Coaster) shows a far different layout from the 1932 redesign.

I believe Viper at SFMM is in the beginning of Space Cowboys, I think Clint Eastwood was an engineer for it or something like that before they got him back into NASA.

I prefer intamin because they build the most intense roller coasters. When I'm looking for a top 10 roller coaster, I'm looking for tons of ejector air and near-blackout +g's, fun and fresh layouts, and a fun ride. Intamin always delivers. Kinda Ka and TTD are probably the most intense roller coasters on the planet, 4 of the top 5 wooden roller coasters are Intamin, the top 2 steel roller coasters are intamin... see a pattern here. I still love B&M for some of their great inverts (Alpie, Top Gun, etc), but they really don't have any ground breaking or extreme roller coasters. They're nothing to brag about.

If you think Superman: Ride of Steel at Darien Lake was amazing, just wait until you ride the REAL Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England. Looks like you guys are having fun so far, I'm jealous!

Yeah, I think a lot of parks go overboard with the loose article rules. I remember a couple years back I was at Darien Lake. I was getting onto Superman with my sunglasses (the year before no one cared) and the ride Op said I had to give them to him, so I took them off and held them. He said I couldn't hold them, so I unbuttoned my cargo pants pocket, put them in, and then buttoned it back up... and the ride op STILL refused me to ride with them even in a buttoned pocket. After threatening to throw me off the ride, I just gave into him. Just a week or 2 ago when I was at SFNE a lady was on superman with a cape on. The ride op saw it and made her take it off, but because she was sitting on it, she couldn't remove it without having the restraints unlocked again. I was just thinking to myself "If she can't even get it off with the restraints locked, how the heck is it going to come off on the ride?"

I first rode S:ROS at SFNE before riding the clones at SFDL and SFA and talk about a total letdown. For me, those two S:ROS coasters are the 2 of the worst roller coasters Intamin has built. Not only do the helices suck, but the re is WAY too much straight track and the first and second hills give almost no airtime. Granted, they are still decent coasters... Diamondback does look like it has potential to be one of B&M's best hypers, but some of us were just hoping for something a little more "ground-breaking" or insane with the way they were hyping it. Either way, I'll be making a trip to Ohio next summer.

I think Beemer Boy was referring to ejector air. B&M hypers have some good floater air, but I have yet to ride one that has ejector air that is anywhere close to what many Intamin hypers deliver. Yes, floater air can be fun, but for the "big" coasters, I'm looking for an intense ride, lots of ejector air and some bone-crushing helices. B&M hyper are definitely more "family" friendly when compared to their Intamin competitors (or even the plug 'n' play woodies). Some of us are just disappointed that parks are choosing B&M hypers over superior Intamin hypers. I'm not saying the ride will be bad, I'm just worried that it won't deliver a ton of air time. Some of those hills seem too high. As an enthusiast, I'm looking for intensity, not "looks" or size. The problem probably is that these are built for the GP, not us crazies. Hopefully it will have plenty of airtime and will be great...

Why does everyone refer to Goliath as a Hyper/mega coaster? It's technically a kilo-coaster, as it isn't at least 200ft tall. Its a mini hyper.

I think it looks alright, but nothing great. Some of the hills look a little too tall to give any good airtime and the layout is pretty standard. It's better than nothing, but I think I'm starting to get sick of seeing the same old B&M hypers that exert little force. I agree that we need more Intamin Hypers. You can also put me down for "Splashdown sucks". I for one would rather have another airtime hill in it's place.

I've been thinking about visiting La Ronde this summer (its only about 4 hours from me). I have a question though, do you need your passport to re-enter the US? I know that Canada only requires gov't id/birth certificate, and you have to have a passport for air-travel, but I've heard that you can still get back into the US by car with just your license. Is that true?

Well, I think the idea of VOTING for "Titletown" to be extremely flawed. Voting is great, but just because people voted a town "titletown" doesn't actually mean they are the most consistent winners. It's not a democracy, it's pretty much just fact. The town with the most PROFESSIONAL (or at least college. Highschool sports really shouldn't count) titles/success are "Title" towns. It's really that simple. Voting for you're home team doesn't make them great, just popular. In truth, the most successful cities are Boston, NY, and LA. Period.

Greatest movie ever! Yes, I said ever. The Joker is stunning in this movie. It truely is THE joker, not heath playing the joker.

The Dark Knight. Greatest action/superhero movie ever made? I've seen it twice so far (once in IMax) and it is amazing. One of the most gripping, memorable, kickass movies I have ever seen. Ledger made the greatest movie villain of all time in this. I've never wanted to say lines from a movie so much before! If you haven't yet seen the Dark Knight, Go NOW!

Wood - Cyclone at SFNE Steel - Viper at SFGADV I was just at SFNE yesterday and for some reason I wanted to see how Cyclone was doing, if it was just as bad as I last rode it a couple years ago. It didn't take long to remember why I hate this thing. The laterals were out of control and the train was constantly jackhammering. I think if the ride lasted any longer, my spine would have given way.

Superman: Ride of Steel (last car, first row, left seat) at SFNE right before the park closed. The park didn't have any of the lights on around SROS, it was awesome.

How about re-tracking the beast and getting rid of the trims and then tearing SOB down and replacing it with a terrain intamin woodie. A back to glory beast, new hyper, and new intamin plug 'n' play would make KI a must visit park.

This sucks.

Its possible, but I'll believe it when its official. Oh, and just to let you know, Alpengeist isn't technically a hypercoaster, its really close, but it only stands at 195 feet tall (170 foot drop), so it is just too short to be classified as a hyper. Still its ridiculously tall for a invert.

Am I the only one who think the SROS at SFA and Darien Lake are boring? Little airtime, little speed, way to much straight track, and lack of forces in the helices. The rest of the coasters are decent (Roar and Wild One are good), but I've always thought those Superman's were ridiculously over-rated.

1. El Toro 2. SFNE S:ROS Honestly, I think those are the only 2 coasters I've been on that really stand apart, above all else. So here are my other favorites, in basically a random order: 3. Nitro 4. Kinda Ka/Top Thrill Dragster 5. Goliath (SFMM - love the helix from hell) 6. Alpengeist 7. Raven 8. Bolderdash 9. Beast 10. Storm Runner Honorable mentions: Apolo's Chariot, Montu, Millennium Force (little airtime keeps it out of my top ten), Raptor, Talon, Coney Island Cyclone.

A kiddie coaster at a carnival in Wilmington last night. No, I'm not a total credit whore (maybe just a little ).

I'm sorry, but those policies are dumb, especially the one train operation. What on Earth would allow one train to operate, but not 2 or 3? It makes NO sense what so ever. Closing rides due to rain is just stupid. I've been on some fast coasters (SOB, SROS, ETC) in downpour conditions and it wasn't that bad... well I guess it did hurt a bit, but it was worth it. Closing a ride BEFORE it rains is just insane.