coaster1000

^ Thanks for the informative reply. After reading that and a couple of other TR's as well, we're definitely going to opt for the highest level express pass. Shambhala marathon, here we come!

Hi! Has anybody been to this park recently? I am headed there on the 2nd and 3rd of August and was wondering if the horrible operations I remember from a few years back have gotten any better at all? I am ready to bite the bullet and get an Express Pass for at least one of the days, but if anybody has been in the last few weeks I'd love to hear their experience...

Nice reports! I enjoyed reading everything. I really appreciate your more in-depth writing on the different coasters, and that analysis on Raptor was spot-on. Looking for a narrative and/or development of some sort in roller coasters is a big (nerdy) thing for me as well.

thrillseeker4552, clem2754, thanks so much for your tips! I'll aim for a weekday. I did go one time before, but it's years ago (before Twisted Colossus, YOLO: THE RIDE, and the New Superman), so I'm excited!

Hi! I haven't posted here for a while and hope this is the right forum, I apologize if it is not. I'll be visiting LA from 20th-29th of June from Denmark, and definitely plan on going to SFMM (and Knott's as well)! I'm sorry as this might be an oft-repeated type of question, but do any regulars have any tips, especially about which day within my time frame might be best/least crowded to go? I do plan on getting a Flash Pass if it is crowded. And any other general advice for the park? Best place to eat, any underrated rides, etc.? I'd much appreciate it. And if anybody will be at the park those days and wants to meet up, send me a message! Thanks!

I think Eurosat at Europa Park gets the 1st prize from me! The brakes throughout the whole ride are very harsh, especially on the final brakerun...

Mean Streak.

Super cool theming, great to see!

Hmm... On a 700 foot drop, wouldn't the train reach terminal velocity at some point due to air resistance and friction? I imagine it would stop accelerating after 500 or so feet, in which case the shorter ascent makes sense and wouldn't need brakes...? I'm just putting this out there and it might be stupid, please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm terrible at physics.

^ Haha, indeed! The likelihood that he'll ever come across it, though...

One time when I went to Heide-Park on a school trip... Of course I was going crazy being the geek I am, wanting to ride everything. So we were in line for Colossos (such a great coaster!) and I ended up in the backseat with the 'badass' of my class, who was always being the 'cool guy' doing all sorts of stupid and dangerous stuff. Anyway, we were going up the lift and he was getting more and more nervous, but tried to stay cool nonetheless. As we reached the top, he broke down though, going "oh my god oh my god oh my god please hold my hand" So I rode Colossos holding his hand, and after he insisted that I would never tell anybody. (Which I didn't.)

My first B&M was the cute "Dæmonen" @ Tivoli. Must have been the year it opened or so...

Great thread! I still remember following Heide-Park's failed Giga-coaster project as a kid in the early 00's. It's a pity it never became anything, it was on/off until Desert Race was announced in 2006. The sketch strongly reminds me of Intimidator 305.

Oh man, even the lift will be rough.

Looks great! I can't wait to see how the tower will look. As of now, it's a bit of an eyesore, but I'm sure Hansa-Park will pull it off nicely.

^ Oh, yes, that zero-g-roll. Best one I've experienced! I went to the park years back (before Shambhala) and due to the parks terrible operations I only got to ride Dragon Khan once after waiting 2 hours. But it was worth it. For me, it's a tie between this and Tatsu for the most intense B&M, even though they are so different (and I have yet to go on a lot of coasters!)

I pretty much agree that Gerstlauer can be hit and miss, and as was just mentioned, Kärnan is NOT a smooth ride, but for instance Karacho is very smooth. I definitely think Mack is the right choice for this ride, too. EDIT: I was wondering... Couldn't this likely be some sort of tilt coaster? http://www.mack-rides.com/en/products/coasters/e-motion-coaster/c-ec-info/c-ec-info.html For me, this would make more sense than a spinner, which would be really quite extreme with that layout! Or has it been confirmed already...?

Isn't the new ride at Walibi Belgium a Mack, too? Of course it's just speculation, but they could have gotten a 'package deal'.

I completely agree with this! Some of the elements look pretty bizarre, for instance that super-steep airtime hill after the banked tophat. Or the extremely tight first drop. But I think strange is a pretty good thing in this case, I can't think of anything I've been on that I think rides like this. I'm actually really excited to ride this!

So, judging from the concept art the trains will have the old restraints. Has anything been confirmed on this yet?

What a great documentary! Very different from the usual, honestly often trashy ones we get. I really hope a lot of people will watch this (I'll be showing this to friends who 'don't get it' !) Thank you!

I couldn't choose one! Millennium Force, Expedition GeForce, Maverick, X2, Kärnan. But there are many coasters I have yet to ride!

Comment of the year.

No matter which kind of trains we'll have, I'm sure this will be a pretty great ride and maybe the "sleeper hit" of 2016. The quality and smoothness of Mack coasters is really amazing and, in my limited experience, blows B&M out of the water...

Beautiful! It's really coming along.