CoasterComet

^Holy hoo-ha! You are a saint for posting those pictures! Those are really great! At least everyone seems to agree on the 'rainbow' tapered stripe. I've heard people telling me that they waited like 3 hours to ride it that first year! Very 'Beast-epic'

Really?? I found Chiller (Robin only) to be one of the best steel coasters anywhere, around 2005 after the shoulder bars were removed. It was the only thing that kept me in that park more than an hour (I didn't even get out of my seat for like 15 rides!) That inline/out of line twist was rough but the creme de la creme with only a lap bar! I left the park in the early afternoon (as usual) but damn, I'm sad they too out such a superb ride! I gotta stop watching Dracula movies! It was truly a great coaster ride!

When I rode Kinda Ka, I actually felt my eyeballs compress. Forcefully, impressive, but it was just not a lot of fun to me. But that was the most positive force I think I have felt on a ride. Enjoyable, NO! The most enjoyable force would have to be the tummy tickling launch of Stormrunner at Hersheypark. It did something to my tummy every time. The old Anton shuttles are really the best. The 1979/1980 models use the flywhell/motor/clutch and have a faster acceleration, but the older models give you the 9.81 m/s^2 tummy tickle! I'm sure someone can make more sense of this than me, but the old coasters are just more fun!

I mean, you gotta think 1978. I barely remember it. Roller skating, old chicago. That's where those names came from. I'm glad it's not 'Riddler' (even thought they did want to rename it). That ride is too good for it. As for shockwave, a great incredible ride. Pretty much equal (well, little less than Mindbender in my book, but so close, who cares!). I just wish they would give Shockwave an 'ok' paint job. This new electric blue/green is ugly, but not as bad at the 1995 white/beige/peptal bismal pink loop-interior look. It was nice when TG opened, the dark blue supports and silver structure, that was nice!

Mustabeen! It sure looks a very rich green-metallic (very 70's) in my Rollercoaster Fever (which is falling apart). I do have an old brochure where it looks more blue/grey, so you must be right. For years, I thought it was metallic green! Geez, my first ride on Mindbender was quite a shock. I mean, nearly switching seats with my bud Matt (hey Matt!) going into that helix. It's really amazing that Six Flags has a somewhat 'wild' ride w/no seat dividers (please, DON'T get any ideas). The ride is genius and one of the single best coaster experience out there.

^It's really a boring ride. I can't figure out why so many people rave about it. Anyway, that's what I tell people before they ride Thunderbolt, Mindbender, CI Cyclone and a few others. I guess after so many super fast nuclear like B&M and Intamin rides, these kind of pale. But guess what!? They are FUN, comfortable, and the same, even when you go back to ride them, like 20 years later! Here's another video I took last summer. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=25720314

^I've never heard of it running 3 trains. Shockwave, I believe, had the same set-up. It was possible to run 3 on both rides, but didn't happen as far as I've heard. Both rides had 3 trains though I think after the first loop, at the top of the helix (or 'horizontal loop') the train can stop there. Maybe before the 2nd loop as well. There was a Mindbender accident where a train 'stopped suddenly' injuring a few people. I wonder if it was at one of these trim/block brakes.

Last time I rode Texas Giant was '95. When it opened in 1990 it was fast AND very smooth (common for a woodie). The entrance to the helix was near-lethal. I banged heads with someone at least once. It had airtime and laterals galore. The 2nd and 3rd drops were nearly terrifying. The double up was outta control. In 1995, it was still sorta smooth and fast, but had lots more brakes and had been reprofiled. What its like now, from what I gather, is a similar situation to coasters like GA Cyclone and Predator (similar but much smaller rides). Those 2 are damn painful. NOT fun. The original TG was out of control, fun, NOT painful. But very rough in a 'fun' way. NOT a 'OMG my back is hurt' or headache sort of way. You should NOT get headaches on woodies! That should be reserved for steel coasters with shoulder bars.

^What blue? For anyone who has 'Rollercoaster Fever' the pic, high quality sure looks to be very much a metallic -Green. Sure would like to confirm/deny this, does anyone have any old pics, pre-brown? There was a recent pic in Rollercoaster mag (the article on loops by Paul Rueben) that shows a pic of the ride that looks silver/grey. Also, the tapered stripe on the train back then was rainbow-color. I have pics of the ride I took when it was brown, and there were 3 trains (but not run at the same time). The stripe colors on the trains were yellow, orange and red. Also, I remember they would put one of those 'glow sticks' on the back of the train at night to see where the train was through the trees.

Arrow did a lot of "experimenting." including a (tubular) take on the Virginia Reel. I interviewed Ron Toomer last year and learned A LOT about Arrow's early endeavors ... -S ^you interviewed him recently!? Do you have the interview!? I'd love to see that! I really want to ask him about the criticisms of his rides being rough and tearing themselves apart. I mean, some are gone. And the whole shoulder bar hitting you while entering the corkscrew - was that NOT an issue anyone ever brought up? It was on all their rides, seems like a little tweeking could have resulted in a better ride.

I tried summer '06 to ride the Blue Streak, after having want to ride it for years and years (like since the 80's). I guess it got hit by lightning just a few days before I was in town. It's really sad to see so many coaster geeks (on another site) so "o well, it's old, it's no fun anyway." That coaster/park enthusiasts are very much into CF stock, fast passes and large boring B&M's, it's just a dissapointment. Blue Streak and Big Dipper are great rides (I rode Dipper many times) that totally need to stay around. Some people just cannot think outside of corporate thought, rules, etc. It's pretty pathetic and just "lame" to me.

I'm still trying to find out the original paint job on Mindbender. It looks in this pic below (from Rollercoaster Fever 1979) that it was metallic green (very cool!) Later pics showed it being more of a plain silver or a gun-metal grey (before the brown/beige job.) What do you guys think/know? Either way, enjoy this picture! I know alot of folks don't have a copy of Rollercoaster Fever, it was kind of a bible for coaster geeks in the 80's before internet, etc., and guide to ride. Notice the round "screw hole" cover thingys are still primer color mindbender 1978.bmp

Mindbender kicks the pants off of any B&M I've seen. The big ones are just that. They are big. And fast. Mindbender to me, is like a very smooth woodie with loops!

I have a dream! Well, I have lots of them! But imagine, if Anton/Werner built Loch ness, Demon, Vortex, Orient Express, DRACHEN FIRE! could you imagine the coaster geek world!

One of my favorite coasters anywhere, the Mindbender at SFOG. Don't care for the park (anymore) and had some pretty AWFUL experiences there last summer. But the Mindbender is a shining star and I had 25 GREAT rides on this classic. I think the ride was first painted silver, or 'gun metal grey'. But the picture in Rollercoaster fever! looks metallic-green?! Very cool looking!? Can anyway confirm/deny this? I first rode it in 1990 when it was tan/brown. The Ga Cyclone had just opened (IT wasn't even finished getting a paint job!) and was a top 5 woodie. Fast wild and smooth, even with the trims. This was long before they reprofiled the first drop and post turn drop, and it was out of control! I have a few videos of Mindbender in action from last summer. Great stuff! For the life of me, it amazes me that people are more impressed by tall, multi looping B&M's than this. I mean, yeah, those B&M's are nice to look at.... http://tinyurl.com/6mhuvm

This is a great thread! The most 'pound myself in the head' thing I have heard from another person was when I was working at CP on the Blue Streak. "When is the ride going to open?" When it was raining. In light rain, we could run one train. Heavy rain, the train would shoot the station. GP: "When is the the ride going to open?" RO (Ride Op.): "When it stops raining." GP: "When will that be?" I mean, I understand, they just wanted to ride... Man, I miss that ride (before it was screwed up). One time I was mopping the drag brake and someone came up to the fence to ask me when the ride would open. I turned around and one leg went straight down between the cat walk and track. Ripped open, my face laying against a wet greasy track, I said "when it stops raining." I had to go to first aid, those screws ripped through my shorts and it hurt. Remembering good times about BS, I thought I'd through this pic in:

^YOU, have issues? Can I sign up!? They are building an all new Zambezi Zinger Making good on their *stupid* mistakes. Next is to redo Timberwolf like when it first opened. Then of course, a new Orient Express, this time built by Intamin. Geesh... gotta love CFair... NOT!

Hmmm... I'm SO glad I'm close to Six Flags Great America and Indiana Beach! A few years ago (like early 90's) I would say I was in a boring coaster ho-hum part of the country. Now, I think I have some of the best coasters and parks right by me! We have Whizzer - a top 10 steelie for me. It's NOT at every park (only speed racer in the country) and is consistently a great fun ride. Demon is pretty much as good as you get for an Arrow looper. I mean, a kick your ass first drop, loops, tunnels. We have all the ooh-aaahh big impressive B&M machines. Not my favorite thing by a long shot, but people love them, they're dependable and eat crowds (most of the time). We also have American Eagle. For all the 'big woodies' I think it's the best out there. After the steel tracks were put in (well, not totally a woodie in some books) it's a pretty damn good ride. I'd rather ride the Eagle than El Toro. And Viper. A very underrated top 10 woodie. Fast as hell at night, smooth as new and airtime on every freaking hill! Something that is especially nice about these 2 woodies that no one seems to notice is that they have ratchet lap bars that DO NOT fall down. Only PTC trains I know of that are like that (Viper has specially fitted reverse-shocks and I think the Eagle's were done in-house in the mid'80's) Indiana Beach is a coaster geeks dream come true. Free (sometimes front-row!) parking. Cheap, good food. Admission is cheap and you can always find discounts. Cornball is a wild, well maintained top 10 woodie in my book. The atmosphere riding Hoosier Hurricane is hard to beat. Lost coaster went through some TLC makeover and is now a great wild ride. Put on top of that a great (and super-ly located) Tig'ger. No seatbelts to beat And the Galaxy - all built under and on top of other rides. These 2 parks beat the hell out of Cedar Point. I Haven't been to Magic Mountain since 1999 but the place has amazing potential. MM sinned when they screwed up Revolution. CP sinned via the Blue Streak. I can see MM getting much better, especially with Jay Thomas out there (I worked under him at SFOT in 1995, great guy!) I'd much rather go to a place like Lake Winne, Holidayworld or Kennywood. Those places are just more 'all around fun'. They don't have the numbers, but the tired old saying 'bigger doesn't mean better' is especially true when it comes to parks/coasters. As far as BIG PARKS, I'm glad I have Great America. For the life of me, Great Adventure is the worst experience I have ever had. Every time I've been there (except 1 single time) I just wanted to leave. And I did leave, once after only 2 hours.

^heheh! I love wild coasters. Hell, I once rode the Screechin' Eagle at American 64 times in one day. I love the CI Cyclone, Voyage and a bunch of other coasters that are wild and maintained properly. I think there are some that are 'rough' in a way that is not really supposed to be the way to run them! How do you put it? Ones I have ridden recently that are in that category are the GA Cyclone and Predator at Darien Lake. Both had very nasty pot-holes and were very jarring. When you have a HEADACE from a ride with NO shoulder bars, that is a problem. Those coasters, unless brought up in quality, will hurt someone or just be torn down. BOTH of those rides were once FIRMLY in most top 10 lists. One coaster that used to be very painful but is much better now is the American Eagle. When the out run was still all-wood track, it got unbearable. Now, even though it has the 'steel I-beam track' in place, it is pretty smooth. And of course, we all know about SOB. That was a nightmare. There is a big difference between 'wild-rough' and 'maintenance-rough'. One is good and the other is b/c the ride is not being maintained properly (and there are MANY woodies that were built so wild, it is a struggle to keep them up. Just look at the the top rated woodies of '89-'99, most are pretty cruddy rides now. Luckily there are places like Holidayworld, Indiana Beach and Silverwood up to bat.)

Mean Streak opened in 1991 and it was fantastic. It was fast and VERY smooth! After Texas Giant opened in 1990, Cedar Point wanted one. Then they found out TG was tearing itself apart (it was!). So they wanted something tamer. What they got was basically a Texas Giant, with 1/2 as many hills in the same size footprint. I worked at the point 91-93, so I rode that ride alot. It was so fast and fun the first year. Still, it was nothing compared to the Giant. I think by around '93 it started showing serious signs of wear. The 3rd drop - one of the best spots on the ride and one of only a couple air time moments - was reprofiled. The trim brake was added to the first drop, etc. I think it was Bill Cobb who said when you build a woodie over 100 feet, you're "asking for trouble." As far as the Blue Streak goes, that is one in a LOOONG line of Cedar Fair travesty/makeovers. I'd love to do a story sometime on what it was like to work on that ride the last 2 years before they ruined it. It's rough now b/c (even with all the extra supports) all those headrests and lap bar mechanisms add like 200 pounds to each car. It's very sad to even look at the ride now. I will never ride either of those woodies again. In fact (not like anyone cares, just giving my opinion) I have no reason to go back to the Po!nt until something REALLY cool is added. Haven't been since 2000 and I don't feel I'm missing anything (I've been on Kingda Ka, and some great Intamin rides like Storm Runner - so CP is just hype to me and obviously is not as well-run as it used to be). A GOOD woodie or something really innovative I guess. But I can go to Great America here in Chicago and get much better rides than at the point (including a top 10 woodie and another one that is both BIG and Fun! very rare thing...)

Thx1138, devo was right, its time for carousel. Cute, but I'll take a ride on the Kennywood Thunderbolt or CI Cyclone.

Great pictures! I love that park. I'm not exactly a PETA member, yet, but I can't help but thinking about the welfare of those 'kept' animals. Good to see Scorpion is still popular! Do they ever run 2 trains on it? Last summer, a ride op told us that the 2nd train was off in some maintenance shop. Best ride pretty much! Now when will Gwazi get proper trains! That already brilliant ride deserves to be headache free!

Hmmm.... I have an Engineering degree and have ridden quite a few coasters, and I don't find the 'more supports more rough' to be true at all. Have you been on Viper at Great America? Amazing ride, amazingly fast forceful and smooth. And almost NO new wood since it was built. Sokay to disagree, I just don't see that being valid. If the track/trains are maintained properly, the ride should NOT be painful. It's about 50/50 in the states. About 50 percent of woodies have uncomfortable spots (MOST six flags woodies have downright painful spots - I can speak for back cracking rides on Predator and GA Cyclone - formerly a top ride).

Couldn't agree with you more! It's the whole 'machine/corporate/brainwash' thing that unfortunately, is a BIG part of the United States Of America. I was lucky to work on the Blue Streak before it was neutered and lost it's 'classic status'. To me turning around the Racer is a slightly less crime than removing the last hill, adding awful ratchet lapbars, ugly headrests and seat dividers. The damage was done along time ago, I'm afraid.

Seems it's been changed - there were 6 parts, now only 5. When there were 6 parts, seems part 6 wasn't to be found. The story abruptly stops after 5. Anyone know what happened? I'd really like to see part 6.