DerekRx

Check is in the mail. Oh wait, wrong event, sorry. Count me in for this one. I'm still kicking myself that I missed last year's event. Mummy, major cleavage, T&A at Bill and Ted, and alcohol. I won't make that mistake again! Now if I could just find airfare that didn't appear like I was actually purchasing the whole plane!

Crap, now I'm really mad at Robb. I have to go all the way to Germany next September to ride Olympia Looping and it doesn't even come with a fire breathing robot dragon. At least Orphan Rocker wasn't there, nor was Balder or any coaster themed to Michael Jackson. I think I'll definitely have to go to the Wisconsin State Fair next year, maybe for a whole week! SD2K is some kiddie coaster! All clear...Dispatch, enjoy your ride, Derek "Wes is Good!" Ruth

Checks in the mail! Can't wait for some Balder, Inferno, Rita, as well as some old favorites like Grand National, Nemesis, X:\No Way Out, and Apocalypse. Hope we get some Southport Funhouse action too, my scars are starting to fade from the last time! Wonder what the odds are that we'll actually see a working Jubilee Odyssey and actually get to ride it this time! Better alert the Skegness Bird Committee, we're bringing a bus this time around.

If I could turn back time, I'd go back 5 minutes ago before I was so disturbed. My poor closest park, now I will be very skeptical to return there without thinking about this video the whole time. Not that I've been to Dutch Wonderland more than once, like 6 years ago. What's up with that!?

Nice photos and trip report. One thing I'd like to point out though is that Joey is "Jew-boy", the dude in the picture with Elissa on the Wacky Mouse. I, the guy in the orange Wildfire shirt, am Derek (Dr. Ruth if you're formal). Not that I'd mind being confused with Joey, he's a great guy and very mature for being as young as he is. I just don't want to be called Jewish, because I'm anything but! I eat pork, blow my money foolishly, and only get presents for one day in December, definitely NOT Jewish. All clear...Dispatch, enjoy your ride, Derek "I am not a Jew" Ruth

Sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately for me, I won't be in Florida again until late October, and most likely won't get back to either of those parks this year (unless I go back for New Years). Hope you get some interest, and that the hurricanes stay away this September!

I was all excited about it reopening and planning a trip down there this weekend. Then I remembered the 5 hour lines it had back in May. Then they showed the new Kingda Ka commercial 3 times in 15 minutes on TV and I decided that instead of standing in line for another 2-5 hours to possibly NOT ride it (like I did back opening weekend) I decided I'll just wait until the fall. Either it will be broke again by then, or crowds will hopefully become reasonable again. Or I'll actually take off work for the next media invite I get. Either way, its good to see they got it reopened within 2 months. Now hopefully its uptime will outlast its downtime.

Awesome find Greg! I turned out to be Indiana Jones Adventure, my favorite ride at the park and one of the main reasons why I try to go to the park only when I know it's gonna be opened. The Indiana Jones Adventure: An excavation of an exotic temple promises to reveal its mysteries until something goes terribly wrong! You are a wild jeep ride through a vengeful ancient temple that has been treaded upon one to many times. Your experiences read like an action adventure flick (could it be that you are based on one?) and your John Williams-esk score makes you grandiouse, purposeful, and larger than life. Fully immersive and completely themed, you really do give your passengers a wild ride and work hard for their sastifaction... in fact each trip through your caverns of fire, snake pits, lightening illuminated ruins, and dart filled passages is just a little different. You are chaotic, but to the point and somehow you bring out the noble side in everyone, the inner Indiana Jones in every soul, even if Disneyland couldn't secure the rights to the likeness of Harrison Ford.

It popped into my head during a Nyquil induced dream. What else do you do with a castle built in the vintage era but put it in a vintage game.... When Mario found out he waited in line at DCA overnight for this news, he was pretty POed.

Here's one for the fish lovers Sure beats at little scuba guy and fake treasure chest

More pictures from KennyKon Jack Rabbit may now have an ugly logo, but it still has great airtime! Or checking out Gluttenfree's package? Dodging the rain? Is it from watching the African acrobat show? Why is Janna tired? The Aero 360, usually has a wait, but today it did not Although it was a weekend, it wasn't very crowded

Arriving at Kennywood shortly before ERT started, I noticed the new front entrance. This one really stands out and makes it look really nice. Getting our admission, badges, and itinerary, we were off to ride. First up was Racer ERT. It was only running 2 trains, but the line moved fast. Soon we were off doing hand-slapping with other enthusiasts, handcuffing, trying every trick to speed up and win, and even got double laps. After a ride, it was getting hot, sowe went to the Log Jammer. It was nice and cool and not too wet. Most ACErs had made their way over to Thunderbolt, so we decided to rack up a few more rides on Racer before heading over. Both were running really well, but neither one is a top woodie for me. They’re more classic feeling. After a ride on T-bolt, the park was opened to the public and we queued up for Phantom’s Revenge. It was only running 1 train, but we didn’t wait too long. Wow has this thing improved in my eyes. Although it is pretty short, its extremely fast and has violent airtime. They removed the mid-course trim this year and that makes the ending even more amazing. It made its way up on my list right below the Intamin hypers. The law of Kennywood kicked in at this point and we rode Pitt Fall, Exterminator, the Whip, Noah’s Ark, and then Gold Rusher with a stop for tacos along the way. The park never got too crowded, mainly because of the threat of rain and a nearby free Grand Prix in the city. This would enable us to ride pretty much everything in the park with no wait at all. We headed over to Jack Rabbit for our ride and took in the Kangaroo, Aero 360, Swing Around, Carousel, Volcano, Magic Carpet, Auto Race, and even managed to ride Lil’ Phantom thanks to the newly removed “Must have a kid to ride” rule. A bonus “cha-ching!”. We also rode the newly renovated Old Mill/Garfields Nightmare. None of us were happy. The ride basically makes no sense at all, and although cute for kids, its lost all of its classic charm. If they're going to go the awful blacklight paint route, they may as well add guns and targets and let us shoot at Garfield. Then it decided to rain again, but we saw it coming and took cover in the arcade for some hockey, Rampage, and other classic arcade games. Then it was over to the Picnic Grounds for some chicken, pasta, macaroni salad, fresh fruit, sodas, nachos, and pork sandwiches. I left shortly after eating, skipping the Phantom ERT, because I had to drive 4+ hours home depending on traffic or accidents on the Turnpike. I’m not sure how good Phantom was at night, or how crowded it was, but my 3 rides during the day were great, so it couldn’t have been bad at all at night. In short, it was a great weekend with a fantastic group of friends. KennyKon went really well, especially compared to some other ACE events I've been to or heard about in the past couple of years. The event was well organized, the park was prepared for us, and everyone had a lot of fun. Thanks to all the organizers of the event, the park for continuing to host it, and Coaster Team Pittsborg for helping me whore around their region. The Kangaroo has some great airtime for an older ride The group is not happy at the changes to the Old Mill Car 54, where are you? Which means Cha-Ching! Oooh, big change this year! Phantom throws in some violent airtime after the Turtle turn Showing off my blingage in the giftshop The Whip sans roof We rode Exterminator for Rat Tums Pitt Fall, named for being in Pittsburgh, not for the classic Activision game of the same name. The obligatory shot of Phantom's big drop into Thunderbolt When the heat arrives, cool down on Log Jammer, the parks "water coaster" ERT on Racer Mmmm, Intamin Drop and a sweet Arrow/Morgan coaster (did I just say sweet and Arrow and Morgan in the same description??) Kennywood's new entrance

After enjoying the carp and Saco, we drove back to Conneaut Lake Park to get me some of my last remaining Pennsylvania credits. We got to the park shortly before the night wristbands went on sale, and instead of purchasing a full price POP, we decided to wait until 7. We walked around the park, looking at all the rides not yet opened this year for the poor struggling park. Its sad to see a place barely functioning, and although its hard for places like this to compete with Disney or Six Flags, its also hard to let go of something so old and classic. I wanted to walk around and look at the whole park, but unfortunately the skies were about to dump some rain on us again, so we took refuge at the Beach Club. After getting our beers and watching the locals in the water from the pier, it started to rain again. This one lasted about an hour, and then the rides started to reopen. First to open was the Blue Streak. I hopped on with Greg and we were off in the back car. The ride was pretty good and smooth. It reminded me a bit of the Lakeside Cyclone, only without the laterals. A good old fashioned woodie, not too high on thrills for this era, but its nostalgic, and doesn’t need any sort of gimmick to obtain ridership. I took 4 more rides on the Streak before heading over to Devil’s Den. I saw the infamous “gum wall” which is disgusting as we made our voyage on this shopping cart on a track. I’m not sure if it’s a roller coaster or not, but it fit’s the criteria enough to count it as one. It had some pretty decent tricks in it as well. Finally I needed my Toboggan credit. They took the roof off the ride this year, ridding it of its “bang”. The ride was closed when I got to it, but they opened it up after getting approval and running a few test runs. As I made my way towards the lift, I rolled back. The op attempted a few times to get my car to engage with the lift, but it wouldn’t. I was evact-ed from the car, they put the dogs back down, and sent it through. After it made it all the way around, they put me in the other car and tried again. This time it made it made a connection with the lift and I was going up. “Cha-ching!” We then decided to have dinner at Hotel Conneaut. Sadly we saw no ghosts of Elizabeth, some little boy, Mr. Peanut Carp, Saco the fisherman, or the Blue Steak ghost. On the way back to Pittsborg, we stopped at Hank’s Custard for some vanilla and banana custard. Good stuff that should always be had on the way to or from Conneaut Lake. Next up: KennyKon! Hotel Conneaut. Is that a ghost in the window? No, its just a lamp. Tim breaks out the N'atmobile at the parks cruise night I'll get this credit even if it takes every op in the park to push! It may be a coaster, it may not be. But its definitely a runaway shopping cart on a track! or your coaster hat and sacrificial blade Don't forget your picture of the old Pope! Conneaut's gift shop, home of stuffed Otters named Connie (get it Connie Otter, Conneaut; they sound the same!!) The Down Under Bar, where none of us were brave enough to venture With nothing else to do, we kick back at the Beach Club with some brews* *Please note, none of us would EVER drink a Miller product. The sky opens up for like the 4th time that day. Is PA still in a drought? Thankfully its not home to the first invisible Blue Streak and an invisible Turtle! Conneaut Lake Park, home of the world's first Tilt A Whirl with invisible tubs We would have ridden the flyers, but we couldn't find an op The park's main entrance. What a bad color selection

Originally this past weekend I was supposed to move my office and lab to the new cancer center at the hospital, but since it was nowhere near ready for us to move in, I was free to spend my weekend doing what I usually do, ride coasters. Leaving Friday night after work I arrived in Pittsburgh at 10:30, it would have been 9:30, but some truck driver was too busy jamming to Willie Nelson to notice the concrete divider in front of him, thus causing me and everyone else on the Turnpike at that time to sit in traffic and go 8 miles in 1 hour! Saturday morning I’d meet up with the Coaster Team Pittsborg edition; Greg “Gluttenfree” Legowski, Tim “N’atman” Melago, Dave “Borg” Sandborg, and Janna (Jenna) “Banana” Rasmussen at Ritter’s Diner for some breakfast before the start of the journey. First stop on my credit whoring weekend was to the fairly new Fun Fore All in Cranberry, PA. Its basically a family fun center with go-carts, arcade, kiddie rides, loads of mini golf, and our reason for the stop, Fiesta Express. This was probably the fastest I’ve ever been at a park. At most we were there for 10 minutes, just enough to pay for our ride, get our ride, take a few pictures, buy a Coke, and leave. The place is small, and the coaster is just a typical Zamperla mini-mouse, but the place overall has a nice atmosphere. The golf courses are nicely groomed and maintained, food service seemed good, and the place even has a map! Comparing it to the similar Blue Diamond Park in Delaware, this place is nicer. (it actually has a few small trees!) About 2 hours later we would pull into Waldameer’s parking lot. It was hot, fairly crowded, and like 100% humidity. We got our wristbands, ran into a few other ACErs up there for the day, and took our ride on Comet. The line for this junior woodie wasn’t too long, but with only 1 train running, it took some time. The ride was cute though, not the same layout as the Scooby’s, and it was nicely shaded. Walking towards our next possible credit, the skies opened up. Luckily my arthritis sensed it coming and I felt the first couple of drops hit as we took shelter in the nearby cookie shop. About 10 minutes later it would stop raining, and we’d attempt to ride the Ravine Flyer 3 kiddie coaster. Normally you need a kid to ride, but since there was no line and we weren’t teenagers, we were granted access. it’s a normal Miler kiddie coaster with a helix, but its location all over water was really neat. Before the rain reorganized, we wanted to get the last credit out of the way, so we went over to the newest coaster, Steel Dragon. The wait wasn’t too bad, and they were running like 4 or 5 cars on it, so we only waited about 10 minutes. I like the layout and the seating arrangement. We spun a bit, but not too much nor not enough. After that we made our way towards the dark rides, Pirates Cover walkthru and then the Wacky Shack, when the skies once again opened up. Luckily we were under the shelter of the Wacky Shack queue, and by the time we got off the ride, it was done raining again. We then rode the sky ride, ferris wheel, ate, and took my family train around the park before heading back down to Conneaut Lake. Before stopping at the park, we’d make a stop to Tim’s family’s summer cottage in Conneaut, and then take a visit to the Linesville Spillway, home of the sickest amount of carp ever. This place has so many carp that the ducks can actually walk on them! Equipped with several bags of hot dog rolls, we’d feed the carp, including the elusive Mr. Peanut Carp, and be entertained for several minutes at the wonders of the carb-loving carp as well as Saco, the Fisherman. Next up: Conneaut Lake All the carp go in a frenzy over bread. Look! In the middle is Mr. Peanut Carp. Good show! Dave and his bag o' bread for the carp Stealing a shirt from Jesus, that's low man! I find my family's lost train ride Dave finds a squishy face SharkTums Tim finds moosen in the giftshop A Ferris Wheel view of the kiddie coaster. Cha-ching baby! Tim doesn't have food or a cane, so he's allowed to ride We take cover in the Wacky Shack, one of 2 darkrides in the park The sky opens up! Waldameer, where the 80's live on! The worlds only operating Steel Dragon Ain't it a cute little first drop? Comet, the parks Jr woodie is nicely covered in trees This scary frog marks the entrance to Waldameer's waterpark Gluttenfree and N'atman just clowing around We attempt to hand-slap, but we just aren't Neanderthalistic enough to do it. Darn evolution! First stop, Fun Fore All. Can you find the coaster in this HUGE place?

From what I've seen, my vote would probably be for Phoenix at Knoebels. Never really timed them, but its fast! Haven't seen it in action yet, but I'd say the fastest loading ever though would probably be Olympia Looping Bahn at Oktoberfest in Munich. The thing can run 5 trains without stacking. That's impressive! (especially when you factor in all the intoxication in its riders!)

OK, so now I have to add Holiday World to my list of places to return to in 2006. No problem, as I was already planning on getting to Bowling Green for their woodie. Looks like a great addition, as is the Turkey shooting darkride. We were just saying back in May "Holiday World needs a darkride of some sorts." And they're adding a Lazy River to the new section, talk about a cornucopia!

^Yes, you are correct. The Caterpillar starts off with you sitting in an opened car, it goes around in a circle, and then at one part a canopy covers the car and you continue to spin around. After the ride is over, the canopy returns to its folded position on the inside of the car. If you look at the picture closely, its right as the canopy is falling, so some portions of the car aren't totally covered yet.

Yes, they have, but keep in mind I only got big into roller coasters at the age of 17, graduated high school at 18, THEN started taking trips to other "known" parks like PKD, Kennywood, BGW, PCWi, IOA, BGT, etc. After 2 years of college in PA, I moved to Florida to pursue Pharmacy, thus leaving my PA time down to only a few weeks a year. I only came back to PA last October. As of this weekend, hopefully the only coasters in the state that will elude me are the kiddie coasters and that one in the Poconos (which I may also attempt to hit this summer yet)

More pics from Idlewild and Billy's Grove: Dante's Inferno's best gag, the ride op chick, ready to run to the end of the ride and scare the ba-Jebus out of the riders. Here's the train "station". No fences, no queue, just hop on! The one coaster I was proud to say "I survived", the Williams Grove Cyclone, in all of its glory It was Sunday, so a trip to the Church of Lazer Tag was at hand. Services every 15 minutes Enter someone's backyard, trudge over the weeds, fight off the bees (and the dogs with bees in their mouths) and you'll end up at Willy's Wildcat As you can see, its difficult to compare Idlewild and Williams Grove, especially at first sight. At Idlewild, you can easily sit down, enjoy the scenery, and get bit by mosquitos by the waters edge Urban thugz run rampant at Idlewild. Bling Bling Baby! This shows just how steep tilt houses such as Confusion Hill can be And speaking of new rides, here's the worlds shortest log flume, and the parks newest ride. You can pretty much see the whole thing in this picture (with the exception of the drop and turnaround) Greg thinks he may have possibly found the location for next year's junior B&M flyer

Living in PA for 20 out of 25 years, I figured it was about time to try and get every coaster credit in the state. I mean, I’ve been to California, Texas, England, Germany, France, even Idaho, but yet I still am missing credits from my own home state. To alleviate the situation, I planned another weekend venture, this time to the central and western parts of Pennsylvania. Friday night after work I drove 4 hours to Pittsburgh where I stayed at Greg “Gluttenfree” Legowski’s humble bachelor pad. Watching a little TV, thinking about other trips to take this year and next, and drugging myself up so I wouldn’t die from his cats, it was about time to call it a night. The following morning we made the 2 hour drive back to Altoona to head to Delgrosso’s Amusement Park. On the way we decided to stop off at Lakemont and see how Leap the Dips was holding up. Unfortunately for us, the ride was to be closed for the day for some maintenance. We were kind of bummed, as I haven’t been on the ride since it reopened in 1999. Luckily we didn’t pay to get into the park or we would have really been angry. The park was hosting some radio giveaway and was filled with bikers. So back in the car we went onward to Delgrosso’s. About 15 minutes later we had arrived at the little park in Tipton. Paying the $10.95 for the all-day ride wristband, we made our way into the park. Our first problem was that the Crazy Mouse was on the non-operational list. I really wanted the credit, but it was just a standard crazy mouse, so I wasn’t too upset. We went right to the Wacky Worm for the credit. Cute little kiddie coaster. I wanted to look at the Crazy Mouse, as I saw a crowd gathering upon driving by on the way into the park. Sure enough , the ride was cycling, but without people. A few short minutes later and it was opened, and we were on in no time. It spun pretty good, but not like the one from Blackpool. Coaster credits achieved, Greg showed me the other good things at the park, namely the food! First up was Murf’s Potato Salad. It was really good, with some awesome secret ingredient. I would have gotten some to go, but I knew it wouldn’t survive the rest of the day without refrigeration. Next I went for the pizza. Also very good for park pizza, but its no Knoebels pizza. We walked around, looking at the rest of the park and its rides, then grabbed some sauce to enjoy at a later time and headed out. The only ride that was actually closed was the indoor catepillar. I had never ridden one, but Greg reminded me that Idlewild had one. DelGrosso’s was a very cute little park, perfect for a few hours with the family or friends. Its also cheap, has good food, and friendly staff. If it had a small wood coaster, it would be a really awesome amusement park that one could spend more time at. About an hour and 30 minutes later, we were at Idlewild. What a cute park. I got my 100th woodie in the Rollo Coaster, really enjoyed the Wild Mouse, and took in the usual stuff; Mister Rogers Neighborhood and its Chug N Bong party, Confusion Hill (tilt house), Dizzy Lizzy (haunted swing), and my first catepillar. Good classic traditional rides. Had some patch fries, loaded mine up with ketchup and BBQ rub. Good stuff. Rode the worlds newest and smallest flume, which may be small but definitely needed to complete the park. I also checked out the adult hand cars, which I managed to get all the way around with only using one hand. Awesome park, definitely the kind of place to bring the little kids and enjoy the whole place as a family. I wouldn’t really call it a kiddie park, so much as StoryLand or Santa’s Village. Its more of a family park geared towards children. But it also has plenty of stuff for everyone to do, not just rides that go around in a circle making obnoxious noises. The park is a great summer place, lots of trees and shade, areas to just sit and enjoy, and then big rides areas, as well as some great themed sections such as Hootin’ Holler. Then it was back to Pittsburgh for dinner, which was at The Church Brew Works. The place used to be a real working church that closed down. It was bought and remodeled, the alter is now where the vats are, the confessional the giftshop. The pews were turned into seats for the restaurant. I had 2 types of beer, the Pious Monk Dunkel dark lager and the Pipe Organ Pale Ale. For dinner Greg and I both had center cut steaks in an herb crust with a tomato demi-glaze. Greg then showed me the sites of Pittsburgh; CMU, Pitt, downtown, the strip, squirrel hill, and the waterfront, where I had to stop at the Rock Bottom Brew Works for another beer, this time the North Star Amber Ale. Then it was off to the original Primanti Bros for a loaded Capicola and Cheese, with french fries, tomatoes, and slaw. The next morning we went to Pamela's for breakfast, then I headed back towards home. I stopped at Williams Grove for the credits. Wildcat is in the middle of nowhere, Cyclone is rough and histerically fun! The funhouse was good, but the best was Dante's Inferno. I was the only one on the ride, and it had some good gags. Then when I was getting to the end, I could see the doors and thought "I wonder what the big finale could be?" Next thing I know, the ride op puts her hands on my shoulders and goes "boo!" I jumped, and started laughing uncontrollably. It was great! Strange little park, scary to the eye, but really quaint and fun. In short, the weekend was no Coaster Con, but it was fun never the less. Greg was an awesome host, and it was great to get to some parks I never could find the time to get to before. Next weekend its back to Pittsburgh for some Kennywood, Waldameer, and Conneaut. King Friday and his friends celebrate their Hug N Song, or as we like to say, the Chug N Bong The kiddie turtle ride Gluttenfree enjoys the Adult Hand Cars Of all the parks I've been to, this is my first catepillar ride. It was pretty sweet And Alton Tower's old wild mouse, the best Vekoma steel ever built! Like this junior wood coaster, my 100th, kinda like a mini-Boulder Dash Here's Idlewild, home of lots of trees, a strange admission procedure, and some pretty cool traditional rides. This dessert tent was deserted, and so it was time to leave DelGrosso's. Enjoying some Murf's potato salad. Apparently Murfs are the Smurfs that aren't blue and they are the secret ingredient in this salad! Sadly this was closed, though mechanics were working on it, we didn't stay long enough to see if it reopened. As was the Round Up. Way to get the closed rides opened, DelGrosso's! After a quick call to Coaster Team member "Rosencrantz", the Crazy Mouse was amazingly opened. Ut oh! It looks like both the Crazy Mouse and Roundup are closed. Crap! My first trip to DelGrosso's. Here's Leap the Dips. It wasn't Leaping, nor was it Dipping.

So far this year I've been on Hydra, Sheikra, Powder Keg, Mr Six's Pandemonium, and sat on Kingda Klosed for 30 minutes. Haven't been on any IJST yet, nor Hades, which I will amend in a few weeks. Of them, I'd say Sheikra is the best. Its got a ride, and though short, its fun, thrilling, and feels complete. Powder Keg is a close second, but with the lifthill and not much after it, it falls just short. Besides, Sheikra's watersplash actually works, and is VERY effective. What's the purpose of Powder Keg's water base at the bottom of the first drop? Will that ever do anything?? Both have excellent theming though and are excellent rides.

Yep, as I thought, I found some pictures of "site prep" way back in March. Looks like if you see dirt at Magic Mountain, its gonna turn into something. Be amazed at some samples of our magical predicting powers: Robb demonstrates how retarded you'll look and feel going into the intense pretzel loop found on the Flying Dragon Fence Queue Ride. Elissa says: "Why should we take a picture of this? Because it won't be here next year, thats why!" Moving dirt. This will surely become the queue building! Behold! Cracks in the sidewalk with orange spraypaint. This could only mean 3 things: 1. They are going to patch up the cracks. 2. Hoodlums were practicing their mad graffiti skillz 3. SFMM will just rip out the crack and replace it with a ride

I think the funniest part about all this is that when I was at the park back in March, we pointed out the "construction dirt" next to Orient Express and told Dan to take pictures of it. In fact, I think both Robb and I have pictures of it way back then. I'll have to check my photo cds. Maybe some bigwig at the park saw Dan in his "professional attire" and thought he was a higher-up who looked at the site and approved it, and they're all going off of what he said.

As of this moment in time, I'd also have to say Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England. Now how it will hold up in a few more years, a few more pitched people, and ever decreasing maintenance budgets, that may not be true. I'm not too fond of the park, the clientelle, or the operations of the ride, but the ride is kickass from lift to brake. Kumba has been running for over 10 years, and its still just as forceful, fun, and efficient as the day it was built. It may not be as smooth as it once was, but its still a great ride, and may be the best looping coaster in America, though it isn't very rerideable due to its intensity. As for wood, it may not be the tallest, fastest, or longest, but I've always had a consistently great ride on Phoenix at Knoebels. Add in the fact that it IS Knoebels and they are proud of their coaster and put some TLC into it every day, and I'd say Phoenix is the best coaster. Its definitely the best wood, IMHO. If a park like Knoebels had a monster like SROS, you know it'd be running great every day for the next 30 years.

Darn it, now it looks like I gotta try to get there next year too. Hopefully I can add it into the England trip, otherwise I'll be taking a weekend flight there The first inversion looks pretty cool, as does its location. The name may sound dumb, but no more so than Kingda Ka, X, Zonga, or Rita. And the list of new rides for next year continues....