Canobie Coaster

Even when trimmed, the ride had some decent airtime up front. It just tried to kill me if I rode it in any other seat. I'd love to ride that coaster at its full potential one day.

The new group owning Indiana Beach did an amazing job last year so I'm optimistic they can improve Clementon Park. Realistically, it can't be any worse than my 2017 visit.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas Many people consider Six Flags Magic Mountain or Six Flags Great Adventure to be the best park in the Six Flags chain; however, I think there is one park that stands above the rest. It's a park with a beautiful setting, some theming, and friendly service. It's a park that doesn't feel like a Six Flags park outside of the thrilling ride lineup. And that park would be Six Flags Fiesta Texas. Ever since I set foot in this park in 2017, I knew it was my favorite Six Flags park. And I only liked it more after my 2020 visits. I visited during Holiday in the Park. Lines were very minimal outside of Joker and Wonder Woman. The weather was a comfortable 60-70 degrees. And the lights added around the park made Fiesta Texas look even better. My favorite ride at the park (and one of my favorite coasters anywhere) is still Iron Rattler. While it was one of the older RMCs, this one stands out for the unique quarry setting and several amazing elements. Iron Rattler's first drop is my favorite drop in the world. Getting sustained ejector airtime while simultaneously performing an S-bend down a quarry drop into a tunnel sounds like something out of a fantasy park in Planet Coaster. The rest of the ride keeps riders out of their seat as well in a myriad of ways- ejector airtime, sustained hangtime on the zero-G roll, and lateral hangtime on the wave turns/90 degree banks. 10 out of 10 Next door is Road Runner Express, an Arrow mine train that also uses the quarry wall. You can tell Arrow was getting more ambitious with their later mine trains since this one has an airtime hill and some forceful helixes. And it's smoother than the earlier ones. 6.5 out of 10 The final coaster to use the quarry wall is Superman, my favorite B&M floorless coaster. This ride has two thrilling drops twisting off the quarry and six strong inversions. I'm not a fan of the cobra roll, but the zero-G roll gives excellent hangtime, the two corkscrews are snappy since the MCBR does nothing, and the vertical loop offers a mix of positive Gs and hangtime. 8.5 out of 10 Wonder Woman was the coaster I typically went to first. It was the hardest attraction to ride since it wasn't eligible for Flash Pass and was one of the only coasters skipping rows between parties. Wonder Woman had two trains going and seating a maximum of 4 riders per train. I rode it several times and was reminded just how relentless this coaster's pacing is. The first drop, turnaround drop, dive loop, and S-hill are four of the most powerful ejector airtime moments in the world. And the latter two elements also mix in great laterals too. The second half is a little tamer, but it still has two nice inversions and a forceful final turn. 9.5 out of 10 The park has quite a few clones in their supporting coaster lineup, which is fine since most of them are good clones. Poltergeist is the park's only launch coaster and it's a fun ride. The launch may not be as strong as other launch coasters out there, but the twisted spaghetti bowl section has a mix of forceful inversions and snappy turns. I prefer this to Flight of Fear for the visuals and lack of a mid-course brake run. 7.5 out of 10 Goliath has an awkward location to the left of the main entrance and a weird name, but it's a fun Batman the Ride. You'd never be able to tell this one was relocated twice because of how smooth it is and the inversions pack the usual mighty punch. 8 out of 10 The coaster actually called Batman the Ride is the original S&S free spin. This one ran a lot crazier for me in 2017 and 2018. It still flipped more unpredictably than the other ones in the Six Flags chain, but Batman only was giving 2-3 flips for me this time as opposed to the 5-6 I got in my prior rides. It's still a fun and chaotic ride though. 6 out of 10 Due to covid, Pandemonium was loading one party per car which guaranteed an off-balanced ride. Since I couldn't visit Six Flags New England last year (and I really hope they get permission to open this year since I think MA is the only state still banning theme parks right now), I was glad I could at least ride one Pandemonium in 2020. 6 out of 10 I was skeptical the park would run their water rides during Holiday in the Park. While Gully Washer was closed, Bugs' White Water Rapids was open. I love this ride's medieval themed queue and this flume has two great drops. The first has some funky coaster bits to it while the second is taller and gives a faint pop of airtime. Just watch out for that dragon. 8 out of 10 Joker had the longest line in the park because of its long cycle and severely reduced capacity, but thankfully it was eligible for my member skip-the-line passes. This frisbee has an awesome fun house themed queue line that could be an attraction in itself. As a comic book nerd, it was cool seeing each villain get their own themed room with some gags and light effects. The ride itself was fun too. I actually prefer the Giant Discoveries to the Giga Discoveries. I find the former to offer airtime on more swings while the giga ones take a very long time to start up and slow down. That being said, the max swings did deliver some sustained floater airtime and a gorgeous view of the park. 7.5 out of 10 The two other flat rides I rode were Scream and SkyScreamer. Both give great views of the park and quarry. Scream is unfortunately one of the tamer S&S drop towers though, even though it does run the superior combo program. I just missed Dare Devil Dive by a few weeks, but I did see them testing the ride and fire at points. One ride that I was looking forward to and rode far more than expected (due to a rainy day I'll touch on) is Pirates of the Deep Sea. This retheme of Scooby Doo has a much better queue than you'd expect from any Six Flags park and all the targets worked on this one. It was a unique theme for one of these shooters and I enjoyed it. 7 out of 10 There were only two negatives in my visits in 2020. My first day was spoiled by rain. I knew the park would close early, but I was shocked how early they closed. They closed after just 2 hours of operation. I got the first train of the day on Iron Rattler and then almost all rides closed for the next 1.5 hours. Even the covered Fender Bender Bumper Cars closed due to weather. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but the ride reopened once the rain let up and ran fine the other days I was at the park. SeaWorld San Antonio also closed early that day and kept the outdoor rides closed, but thankfully ZDT's stayed open all day so I had a back-up option. The other were these awful French Fries I purchased by Iron Rattler. I couldn't even finish them. Thankfully, the park is home to one of the best food items I've had at any theme park, the brisket sandwich. I don't know if I just went to bad BBQ places in Texas and New England doesn't know how to do BBQ, but this is the best brisket I've had anywhere. It was moist, juicy, and extremely flavorful. Six Flags Fiesta Texas feels like a SeaWorld/Busch Gardens park in terms of the overall atmosphere and when you combine that with the park's ride lineup, you have a winner.

From what I've gathered from this thread, Six Flags America will keep their rides open in rain. Does this park tend to close early on a rainy day like Great Adventure?

That back car surprised me the first time I rode Shock Wave. People need to talk about this coaster more.

I agree. Thanks! While there is a dropoff after the standouts, I think the supporting coasters are so diverse that they compliment the elite rides well.

I think the system has potential indoors, but the targets were hard to hit out in the sun (for me at least).

This news is a buzzkill. One, Haunted Graveyard was the best single haunt at any theme park. It was nice having a reserved time for a single 45-60 minute haunt versus having to queue a long time for several 2-3 minute haunts. I hope their replacement event would use a similar set-up, but I'm skeptical. Bare minimum, I just want the park to be open after the sun goes down so I can at least guarantee some night rides on Boulder Dash.

I enjoyed the crazy airtime on Blue Streak's first three drops in the back car. The airtime was so crazy that the seat itself got airtime and lifted off the train and spanked my behind on each drop. The ride was extremely shaky in the valleys though. I rode it a few times, but my fiancée could only take one ride on it.

Does the reprofiled drop on Mystery Mine still provide a pop of airtime like the old one? The biggest issue with Mystery Mine in 2020 was that they loaded one party per car. So as a single rider last year, I got an entire train. Are they still doing that?

I didn't bother going to the breakfast area since it was packed. I get enough food with my meal plan.

Thank you! I had to stay somewhere. I just chose rooms with a view.

Glad you enjoyed it. The Texas parks are great.

Those were actually from the nearby hotels since Oil Derrick was closed. Iron Rattler is still one of my favorites. I much prefer it to New Texas Giant.

Six Flags Over Texas Six Flags Over Texas is the original Six Flags park and it's also one of the best parks in the chain. Not only does it have a strong ride lineup, but I think it's among the prettier parks with its abundance of trees and better than usual theming. The park also tends to run their rides at their maximum capacities. My one issue with the park in the past has been the rule banning single riders from the back row. There haven't been many good things caused by covid, but one silver lining is that Over Texas suspended this rule and I hope it never returns. It was great being able to ride New Texas Giant and Shock Wave to my heart's content in the back row. Typically, I get a large chunk of my photos at Over Texas from atop the Oil Derrick observation tower. When I approached the ride it was closed. An employee informed me someone jumped off the top (no seriously, the employee actually said that as a joke) before saying it was closed due to it being converted into a Christmas Tree for Holiday in the Park. So most of my photos came from the hotels I visited around the park. I got some really neat angles of Titan and New Texas Giant. Great Escape dictated my first stop at Over Texas. I have visited Great Escape almost a dozen times over the past two decades. And I have only been able to ride Alpine Bobsled on three visits. The ride is usually closed due to rain (either that day or the days prior), mechanical issues, or noise and if by some miracle it opens, it's a ticking time bomb until it breaks down. It's at the point Great Escape lists the ride as closed by default on the app and at the main entrance even if it actually is open. Meanwhile, I have never seen La Vibora closed in any of my visits to Great Escape. Not even for a brief breakdown. I do prefer Alpine Bobsled for a few reasons. That one feels wilder because of the heavier bobsleds and I prefer the two abreast seating. If you aren't careful on La Vibora, your legs can get smacked by the side of the train. I found a way to ride this comfortably by jamming my feet into the side of the bobsled. While this one isn't as fast as Alpine Bobsled, it's still cool riding in a trough that large. Especially since it's a rare thing for me. 5 out of 10 I also got to see an operational ABC Tourbillon. Cyborg at Great Adventure was closed for almost the entire year. It finally opened towards the end of the year and unceremoniously broke again almost immediately. I actually enjoy these rides if they never stop flipping, and the one at Over Texas did just that. The most problematic ride to experience at Six Flags Over Texas in all my visits has been Mr. Freeze. And it was no different in 2020. The ride had some minor hiccups throughout the day, but I was able to get three consecutive rides at night before it closed again. The ride is short, but intense. I think the launch is actually the tamest part of the ride, but it's still pretty good. My favorite part is the mindbending inverted top hat. That element starts with crushing positive Gs, switches to giving an upside-down pop of airtime, and then lays on even more positive Gs. The pullouts and overbank deliver even more Gs and the vertical spike delivers some great weightlessness. 8.5 out of 10 I also never noticed the dilapidated Mr. Freeze statue adjacent to the operating booth until my most recent visit. That statue looks like it was hit with Joker gas. New Texas Giant may have been the original RMC, but it's still a very good roller coaster. It has a few extremely strong ejector airtime hills mixed in with some overbanks and floater airtime hills. It may be the tamest RMC, but its length and abundance of airtime still makes it the best ride in the park. It's really impressive this was a prototype and it's impact on the industry and the top 10 lists of enthusiasts cannot be overstated. 8.5 out of 10 Shock Wave is a close second. This is my favorite Schwarzkopf in America (until Indiana Beach opens Quimera). The drops deliver some shocking ejector airtime in the back row and the vertical loops deliver the powerful positive Gs you'd expect from a Schwarzkopf. And this coaster still runs like a dream after all these years. 9 out of 10 Sorry for the blurry windows, but I don't think the hotel cleans the hallway windows as frequently as the rooms. I made the foolish decision to wait until after dark to ride Judge Roy Scream. The coaster is a pain to find by day and near impossible at night. You have to go up a hill around the backside of Sky Screamer and go under the road. All that for an old wooden coaster! Judge Roy Scream is mostly uneventful, but the first camelback and final speed hill deliver shockingly strong pops of airtime. I don't remember the ride giving airtime like that in my prior rides. The coaster is definitely bumpy on wheel seats, but it's very ridable if you avoid those. 6 out of 10 Runaway Mountain had a Christmas overlay, but I honestly wasn't a fan of it. The overlay caused the show building to be illuminated just enough that it spoiled the layout. The coaster was still fun though as it was very smooth and I love the demonically twisted fourth drop. 6 out of 10 Runaway Mine Train is the original Arrow mine train. The ride has a great setting in the woods. The first 2/3 is sort of jerky, but the ride travels so slowly you can properly brace yourself. And I love this coaster's finale. You travel up a lift hill in a saloon and the final drop delivers some surprising ejector airtime if you're in the back car. 6 out of 10 I also made sure to ride Batman. Yes it's a clone, but it's a great clone. This one rattled pretty badly in 2018, but it was running much more smoothly in 2020 with all the usual forces. 8 out of 10 Titan is the tallest and fastest coaster in Texas. While it doesn't provide the airtime I typically expect from a hypercoaster, Titan does deliver strong positive Gs and have a good sense of speed until you come to a full stop on the mid-course brake run. 6 out of 10 Beyond the coasters, Over Texas has a strong non-coaster lineup. I skipped most of them this visit in favor of re-rides on the coasters, especially since they often had longer lines. Six Flags Over Texas is a great park. While it's only the second best Six Flags park in Texas, that's not fault of Over Texas. That's more a testament to how amazing Fiesta Texas is, but I'll go into more in my next report.

At least it sounds like they'll open Alpengeist if the park gets busy. I'm deliberately going to visit on an upcoming Saturday to see if I get lucky. Otherwise I'll keep eating pretzels and plunging 200 feet on Apollo and Griffon.

I prefer the Larson and Intamin towers too, but I suspect the park would want a drop tower that does something different than Superman.

I've never seen two trains on Superman before so that's an encouraging sight so early in the season!

Good to know!

Great report! Was Wild One closed all day or just when you tried to ride it? That's my second favorite ride at that park after Superman- partially for nostalgia reasons since it grew up just 15 minutes from my parents' house. It sounds like Superman was running slow if you didn't get airtime on the first hill. I've never had that issue on my April or October rides on it. I had two nice visits to Six Flags America last year. I think a lot of the issues with masking and distancing at Six Flags- from my experience- was during F(r)ight FEst, which tends to have the rowdiest crowd of the year anyway.

I hope Superman gets replaced with another drop tower in the same location down the road. That hill is ~90 feet above the main entrance per Google Earth, so you get one heck of a view. I could see them going with an S&S launch tower since it would give a radically different ride blasting you up.

Wonderland's location and limited operating hours make it a challenging park to fit on a road trip. But since I had already hit all the other major parks in Texas, I thought it was worth the sidetrip.

The loops on both this ride and Desert Storm are bizarre. Glad you enjoyed it!

I really enjoyed that drop tower since it had a great location atop the hill, but at least half the carriages have been broken in all my visits to that park. I'm not surprised that ride appears to be a removal candidate.

That's a bummer. I hope Six Flags will at least consider replacing it with another drop tower in the same location if it does leave. With the elevation change, it's roughly 300 feet above the main entrance.