DBru

Darn. For a second there I thought I might be spared the $20 I'll inevitably spend on this thing next time I'm in Vegas.

It's back!!! Great report, per usual, Andy. Lech Coaster truly is fantastic. It has everything I look for in a coaster. Of course I'd prefer no vests at all, but these are probably the best vest restraints on the market. Much thinner and more flexible than B&M's or even the one's Vekoma still seems to be using on their boomerang upgrades. Also, if you'd joined me for Särkänniemi, you'd know this isn't the first station fly-though inversion. Legendia was a highlight of the trip for me. I loved it's small, local, city-park vibe. While I was definitely sad to miss out on many

Interesting, every time I’ve ridden Kings Island’s Flight of Fear for the last 8 years or so, the mid course has brought the train to an complete halt before releasing it into the second half of the layout. That includes this summer. The Flight of Fears also have a block between the load and unload stations, so they could run 3 trains, regardless. Unfortunately, Kings Island’s now only has 2 trains on site. Neither Poltergeist nor Jokers Jinx even have the mid course brakes installed, so those things run like bats out of hell. While most of the Premiers track smoothly, Kings Isl

Those Premier spaghetti bowls are works of art. Hopefully one day Kings Island will stop destroying theirs with that mid course brake... Thanks for the report!

Looks like the Schwarzkopf shuttle loop is going, too. Hopefully it finds a new home, as well! But do I see dueling family shuttle coasters in the top right of the concept art? Not sure if those red and yellow lines are coaster tracks or decorative pieces...

That was super helpful—thanks!

Have any season passholders/members here gone yet? Are they just scanning cards at the beginning of the drive-through?

Superman is really unique in that the cars drop at different times, making every cycle different and the anticipation at the top even more thrilling. In my opinion, it’s one of the main draws of the park. I’d really hate to see it go.

DAMMIT 2020!!! In all seriousness, this could be a totally false rumor. However, I feel like there are lots of ears on the ground at SFStL. Most of the rumors we see come out of there seem to come true.

Super cool to see that Intamin has already sold one of their Hot Racer coasters. It’ll be really interesting to see how these compare to the RMC Raptors. While the layout looks a bit tamer, I think the train/restraint design looks MUCH better on Intamin’s version. With that being said, Big Dipper doesn’t seem to be a very lucky name for coasters in this park...

Great news! Racer was absolutely brutal this season. Now just turn one side backwards and it might be worth riding again!

Yikes. It’s kind of crazy to see how big of a failure the topper track has turned out to be. Granted, I’m sure it would’ve fared better on less extreme coasters, but it certainly hasn’t saved on maintenance costs or had the long-term durability that RMC (or these parks) originally envisioned.

^My thoughts exactly! 20 years ago Premier were industry leaders in improving rider experience by retrofitting their trains with lap bars only. Then 10 years ago they showed us these exact trains (Sky Rocket @Kennywood) don’t need OTSRs... and now they’re putting them on every one of their new coasters?! Do Premier and these parks not realize how much the “comfort” collars suck? Because they do. So frustrating and a super disappointing trend. Looks like they’re going on the new Manhattan Express trains too. Such a wasted opportunity.

While that pricing does sound ridiculous, the Stranger Things drive-thru experience happening 30 miles south is charging $79 for 2 people and it’s sold out through mid FEBRUARY! Angelenos are desperate for fun things to do.

^I wouldn’t be surprised by that at all. But I assume this is the most cost-effective solution for now.