DBru

Is BGT known to ever soft-open new rides?

Has anyone seen the Chriss Angel CDS show? Unfortunately my first two choices won't be showing the nights that I'll be in Vegas (Zumanity and MJ One), but that one looks like the next most interesting option to me. Also, we're deciding between the Flamingo and Luxor. Both are very similarly priced. Do you recommend one over the other?

Beech Bend makes impressive announcements every year, but this is an incredibly exciting step for them to take! 4 unique Proslide products is a huge, awesome investment.

Beech Bend started out in a very similar way and it has turned into a very nice little park that is continually expanding with large, permanent additions. Hopefully this park finds the same success!

Can we also talk about the radius of that drop after the flat turn? Da fuq is this coaster?

Do Six Flags parks typically still discount their gold passes online for a while after this Black Friday deal expires? I would love to save $100, but I'm not going to make it to any of the parks by the required date to process the passes with this deal.

Well, if you don't go and don't attempt to network, your chances of getting an internship are very slim. I'd say if you're a charming guy with a great resume, attending IAAPA would not be a wasted opportunity. However, you should attend the event your junior year of college so that you can intern the summer between your junior and senior years. Good luck!

^Here. http://rcdb.com/11155.htm

I always thought this one was interesting. Chang was built after Mantis with a taller, much lamer first drop.

Please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please... ...don't let Kings Island's giga be a B&M!

If you get the chance to ride again, once at the top, try closing your eyes, tilting your head down toward your crotch, and don't hold on. You may look stupid doing it, but this method will absolutely change your opinion of Zumanjaro...and every other drop tower. Please take my word for it. My friends and I do this on every drop tower we ride and any coaster with a long, steep drop. It has completely changed our lives. We call it "The DBru Method," or "The DBM" for short.

With the announcement of Valravn today, I have noticed a lot of differing opinions on B&M's new over the shoulder restraints (OTSR's). I am interested to know what the general consensus is on the new restraints versus the old restraints. Which do you prefer and why? Please vote in the poll and explain your opinion below. Personally, I can't stand the new restraints. Though the latest versions of the vests no longer lock tighter and tighter against you during the ride, I still hate the constant pressure the vests put against your shoulders and that the hydraulic system allows the lap bar portion of the restraint to fall harder and harder on you at the bottom of every element. I find the whole system very uncomfortable. I also hate how these new restraints are accompanied by more reclined seats. I prefer the freedom in the shoulders of the old harnesses, even if that means occasional headbanging. How about you? New version Old version

I think all of us who are underwhelmed by this announcement feel that way because of one common issue: there's nothing about this coaster that makes it "special." There's nothing new here that will set it apart from anything we can experience at another park, or even in our own park. A big, smooth, generic coaster. Will it be fun? Sure. Will people, including enthusiasts, enjoy riding it? Of course. But honestly, when it comes to Cedar Point, the Roller Coaster Capital of the World, I expect to be wowed or at least surprised in some way with the introduction of a new coaster. Unfortunately, nothing about this addition is unique or surprising. This is why so many of us are disappointed in the lack of a tunnel, a splashdown, theming, ect. While on a ride such as Millennium Force, these things may be trivial, many of us were hoping to see some of these elements on this coaster because it would add SOMETHING to make it significantly more "interesting" than a giant coaster on a big plot of grass. In my opinion, this is a really valid "complaint." All in all, SheiKra and Griffon are my favorite coasters at their respective parks, so I am looking forward to riding Valravn. But I would be more looking forward to something that was just a little...different. (Also I freaking hate those new trains with the reclined seats and the smothering vests. )

This policy has always frustrated me, as well. Few things ruin the end of your day at a park more than running to your favorite coaster, only to discover the line has been closed off 15 minutes prior to closing time. This is especially frustrating after my experience working at Cedar Point, where we wait until AFTER the park has officially closed to chain off the lines so that every guest can end their day with one last awesome ride. I would much rather have the park close at 6:30pm and close the lines at 6:30pm than have the park close at 7pm and close the lines at 6:45pm.

While Diamondback and Flight of Fear have bins on the platform to leave your belongings in, Banshee and Firehawk do not. None of the new Cedar Fair coasters are being introduced with bins in the station, probably because of the very quick interval and the need to move riders through as quickly as possible to keep guests from waiting in slow-moving lines. Firehawk already has a lengthy loading process, so not allowing loose articles helps that process move much more quickly. As far as your problem with the inconsistency at Firehawk, please keep in mind that ride hosts on major coasters at major parks usually encounter 10,000-15,000 guests per day. Inevitably, they aren't going to catch every bag that comes through the line, because everyone is susceptible to human error. Honestly, it discourages me to come on here and see that people in OUR community (i.e. roller coaster and amusement park enthusiasts) share no understanding or empathy for that.

Slight headbanging > Tight vest digging into my shoulders

Yessir.

^I'm sorry, but that is completely false. Unless you go on a Saturday, you can get everything done at both parks in a day (with some rerides, even). And if you must go on a Saturday, using a little strategy will still allow you to complete the whole parks.

What an awesome start to HoliWood Nights 2015! Tonight was as close to perfection as a coaster event could get. Walk-on rides, wonderful weather, incomparable hospitality, and fantastic food (can we talk about those "Hors d’oeuvres" at Splashin' Safari ERT? ). To top it off, Thunderbird completely took me by surprise. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from it at all after being seriously underwhelmed by all the other US wing coasters, but this one is certainly different and superior to GateKeeper, Wild Eagle, and X-Flight in every way. The launch is legitimately forceful and fun, the flow of elements is flawless, the train flies through the course with great pacing, and to bring it all together, the coaster looks really, really great. I'm so happy that Holiday World has such a winning attraction on their hands. I can't wait for tomorrow! Hopefully the weather holds out for us. This is such a great event! Thank you Holiday World for hosting us and showing us such an awesome time.

Thanks for the kind words, Ed! It was nice to meet you and I look forward to seeing you around this season.

^What you're basically saying is that Six Flags will never invest in a major coaster again, and that just isn't true.

Exterminator is one of the park's hidden gems, in my opinion. It feels like a completely different ride than your standard spinning mouse. I'd highly recommend taking it for a spin.

Why can't this coaster run with only lap bars? I've never understood this.

Banshee consistently has one of the shorter lines in the park.

I had forgotten this change was taking place. I might literally start crying. I'm so happy right now.