Geoff

We've just got back and the only ride I couldn't get on was Millenium Force at Cedar Point. The seat belt on there must be sooo tight. Had no problem on anything else including Top Thrill Dragster. Re Busch Gardens; I had no problems at all there. Couple of big boys seats in each car on Alpengeist (although I managed to get on the normal seats, hurrah!) and loads on Griffon. I didn't have any problems with any of the B&M mega coasters during my trip. In fact they were my favourite ride type of the whole trip, especially Nitro which was amazing and definitely the best coaster we rode, closely followed by El Toro which was insane!!

We were at Cedar Point on Wednesday and there was a group riding Gemini constantly all day for charity. Whilst we were queuing the chap loading with the microphone was explaining about the group and said that they were super excited especially as they had just found out about a new coaster.

Six Flags Great Adventure on 21 August Busch Gardens Williamsburg on 23 August King's Island on 25 August Cedar Point on 26/27 August Coming over from London. Counting down the days!!

^ Glad you had a great time f3aredricka. I'm off in 18 days. Going to be on a strict diet until then to make sure that I'm able to get on everything. Can't wait especially as I'll get to ride Big Bad Wolf before it closes. I've always wanted to go on this ride since I saw it on laserdisc years ago.

Hi all We're are off to the US on August 20th for three weeks. Flying in to New York and visiting some theme parks for the first week. These are Six Flags Great Adventure, Busch Gardens Europe, Kings Island and Cedar Point. I was wondering if the American Summer Break will be finished by then or are the parks still going to be pretty crowded? Other than BGE, we are visiting parks during the week. If they're available, would it be advisable to get fast passes or the equivalent for the parks? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Sounds like I might have some trouble then. Fortunately I'm a little shorter than you so that might help. I remember going to Cedar Point the year Raptor opened. Someone had queued for over an hour only to be told he couldn't fit on and everyone cheered / laughed. Don't want that happening to me. At least there are the test seats I suppose

Thanks for this. Very helpful. I think in the past I've had problems mainly with B&Ms, which are my favourite, because of their bucket seats and my fat ass! I'm sure I'll be fine on the big boy seats but fingers crossed I can manage the standards ones too so that I get a chance to sit in the back and the front too.

Thanks to all for your replies. I think I'd best stick to salads for the next five weeks to make sure I can get on. Can't wait

Hi We’re setting off a trip to North East USA next month and will be visiting Six Flags Great Adventure, Busch Garden Europe, King’s Island and Cedar Point. I’ve read with some interest about some size restrictions when getting on some coasters and was wondering at what size it gets difficult to get on. When we visited Orlando two years back, I was okay getting on the big boy seats on B&Ms but this means the choice of where I could sit was severely limited. I’ve now lost about 30 pounds and so am hoping that I won’t have a problem again. I’m now 250 pounds and have a 48 inch chest. I’m about 5 foot ten inches tall. Do you think I’ll be able to get on non big boys seats or should I stop eating for the next month?! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Geoff.

I thought that they were filling in the lake near the hospitality area for a new land / coaster. It's situated to the right as you enter the park, sort of adjacent to Stealth and Tidal Wave.

Excellent... Glad you like the new stuff Robb. Most people only really know the stuff from the 80's up until Cowboy which is where many believe they lost it. But the new album contains some of their best songs yet. They're really are amazing live. Roll on September 25th when they're playing the Royal Albert Hall in London

Looking at the video it looks to me a like another waste of money accelerator. Surely it could have done so much more? I really can't understand why parks spend so much money on these 30 second rides.

For all those that think Maverick isn't all that, I'd like to know how you'd react if UK style coasters, which are half the size and do no where near as much as Maverick, were installed in the States. I'm sure most UK coaster fanatics would have loved Rita to have been more like Maverick. It sure looks good to me. I suppose you can't please everyone.

I thought Quicktime downloads were available on the official site aswell as the iPod download.

Think about this... Maybe the thread wouldn't be so long, and would be easier to catch up on, if everytime someone said something that had already been said 3 or 4 people didn't lash out at them.

If the leaked pictures are a true representation, it looks like the initial drop is a bit more than 107 feet. Just compare the height of the airtime hill and corkscrews with the height of the 1st drop and the drop seems to be 4 times higher than both elements. Then look at actual pictures of the hill and corkscrew and in reality both look around 40-50 feet high.

Interesting reading. Wonder how Mickey would have fitted in with it??! Check out this link for additional artwork http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/2825/america.html

They're supposed to look like that! It's called the weathered effect

Different story over in the UK. MacDonalds are doing really badly at the mo, losing out to Subway I think. They've just had to close 25 branches. Go figure.

Won't work Did you have to pay to view?

It always amazes me how much Americans complain about how every thing is so expensive (not accusing you though). I dread to think how they feel when they visit London and see what expensive really is! We'll be visiting California in 3 weeks (hurrah! But Boo! coz we'll miss Tatsu ) and have done a lot of research about restaurants. Our blowout meal is at The Dining Room at The Ritz Carlton in SF. This is apparently one of the best restaurants in the US and even this is cheap compared to those in London.

200 pounds is not that heavy. I weigh about 220, but am not fat, and only just fit into some rides due to being quite broad etc. So maybe yes manufacturers should accomodate larger riders as this doesn't always mean fatter riders.

How about 'Escargot', as it's a new style B&M that runs REAL SLOW!!

Welcome to Nemesis's successor!! I cannot wait to ride in September Do we know any stats re height, length & speed yet?

^Gotta luv the 'jugga-potimus', bless her!! Bet all she wants for Christmas is to see her feet!