coolhandluke

Dido=annoying musical artist. Ditto=used to indicate that something already said is applicable a second time. This thing looks solid. That first drop almost reminds me of a Falken-esque design, though the renderings don't show any indication of the final product looking like that. I used to not like trying to follow the structure of wooden supports, because I'd tend to get lost and confused in the mazes of beams. Watching projects on here are alleviating that, though I still prefer standing at a distance and taking in the structure as a whole. They are quite amazing. That's the only thing SoB is good at.

Here's my first ever entry using the newly-acquired Gimp package. While I despise the Yankees, I do admire this fellow. My official entry

^^Don't ever go to Heide Park.

Judging by those dummies in the train, you will have to ride them with your hands up. Awesome. These do look very open, which is always a good thing. Boy, PTC is suddenly getting some more and more competition. BTW, does the "single bench" mean one row per car, a la Millennium Flyers and the new PTCs? If so, cool.

If you're traveling at the beginning of September, you're going to want to really look at the dates of the parks anywhere outside of SoCal and Florida, as the majority of parks (especially in the midwest and east--CP included) switch to weekends-only around the first week of September. There's also a thread or two somewhere around here that talk about SFMM vs CP, which could give you more information than you care to know about both parks.

^^Yeah, a lot depends on length of stay and budget. If you're going to be here for a week or more, you could hit up a lot of parks on the east coast/midwest by driving around (from Mass. across to Ohio or Indiana). Or if you're visiting for just a handful of days, west coast/SoCal or central Florida have several parks within a much smaller radius. I know you said you're going for thrills, but I think Orlando would still be something to at least look at, especially with their 2 brand new credits and Busch Gardens being a short drive away.

That will be one strangely-placed parking lot, way back in the corner of the park like that.

Yeah, they charge almost twice the admission for a gold one because they can and they will still sell. I've heard that GAdv consistently sells out on weekends. As ridiculous as the prices are, though, I'll admit that I'd cough up the dough for one if I was somewhere other than my home park.

What is a titil fairy? Pain-inducing, apparently. I can't see Cyber's avatar either.

^^Life in the Fast Land = Quest for the Shrubbery. Led Zeppelin = African Swallow: The Migration. I would totally go there.

Wow. Florida must be in some crazy time zone.

^That's a lot like how I feel about it as well. NOTE: I don't intend to sound condescending, unsympathetic, or otherwise oblivious to anyone here. I've noticed that it seems like the people who get really upset about moves like this are typically those who have been going to the parks for years. I, for example, have never been to Knott's. If I were to visit it for a day next year, I think I'd have a good time based on what it does have to offer, and also because I'm not attached to what the park used to be (I believe there are a couple TRs from other ppl on here who express similar reactions). I don't remember the "glory days" of Knott's, so the fact that I'm not experiencing those doesn't bother me much. As a fellow enthusiast, however, I can easily understand why the long-term patrons are upset. I'm all for tradition, charm, etc. I am disappointed that I can't see what Knott's was like years ago, and I will surely admit that I feel a bit crestfallen when a reported "classic" is taken out. But it doesn't disappoint me like those who grew up in Ghost Town or the kiddie areas. I suppose ignorance is bliss in that regard. [/obvious observation]

I found it a bit ironic that right now (as the blue continues) this is receiving the inversed color scheme from the other "transformed" ride by SF. I'm sure it's just coincidence though.

Good analogy. From the stories I've heard about the ride that thing gives, I'm surprised those trains aren't in every other week for "wear and tear" maintenance.

^Smart edit.

^^Exactly. Of course they can work on the ride during HHN, but they are somewhat limited in what parts they can work on with all the festivities. Similar to how Diamondback didn't have much built over the paths during the year. It wasn't unexpected, just an event they planned around by avoiding *big* construction around paths/mazes/whatever. And considering how much of HRRR appears to be over paths and plazas, that's a nice chunk of work.

^Yeah, and I don't think it'd be too hard to "stay open" when you don't waste much money on operations (or anything for that matter). Something tells me that these guys aren't needing a few million dollars for their new B&M Invert next year.

I'd give Six Flags more credit than that. They could mess around with the name more than that. They haven't used the "Name: The Ride" title since SFNO's B:TR in '05. They've moved on. Maybe Lex Luther: The Coaster.

Lex Luther: Ride of Scalp Instant winner.

^^While I too am anticipating Prowler a bit more than Terminator, I don't know that I agree with your reasons, as nothing really strikes me as unique on either coaster, to be honest. While sprawled out terrain coasters are a bit of a novelty for GCI, they certainly aren't unique. However, GCI has proven that they don't need stand out gimmicks to make awesome coasters. They will both be fantastic.

The KI blog says 40 degrees for the lift. And also, I love the drop. A lot.

^He's averaging 3 to 4 posts per page in this thread and the SFMM discussion one. Methinks he doesn't have much else going on aside from this. But I'm looking forward to watching this take shape. I think vertical construction on this will be more enjoyable to follow than Prowler, since it's much easier to see the coaster as a whole (especially with the tower) than the tree-hidden WOF ride.

^Not at that place.

Yes. Hell, they don't even need all those bells and whistles they're adding. Just take off the trims on Raging Bull and you'll probably get a bigger transformation than the entire Medusa project will be... Seriously though, I am a fan of SF's current strategy. My only regret about it is that I haven't been able to ride the coasters pre-transformation, to see the improvements. Of course, that isn't really their problem.

^That wasn't Canobie's story. Sometimes NOT cutting in line lets you ride sooner. My friend, his brother and I were approaching Invertigo at KI to find that most of the opening switchbacks were chained off. We slid under a chain to reduce the walking distance, but realized halfway across that there was a family of 4 taking the long way around, and had to have queued before us. Before we could back out, a group of all-that Hollister/Abercrombie teens had entered the queue behind us. So we continued across to the spot where our line joined back up with the queue...and stopped. The group behind us got really upset with us not moving into the wide open queue ahead, but had no way to get around three 17-19-year-old dudes. The family passes us with surprised smiles, and we chatted with them for the remainder of the wait about how we hated line cutting and weren't going to be hypocrites. At the airgates, the family let us go ahead of them so they could ride as a group and we could ride sooner. Not sure what happened to those kids behind us, but they never got ahead of us.