Six Flags Enthuseast

Nice report, Jer! When I visited SFGAm in 2005, I never realized how special it was in the SF chain. Now, though, I know more its good variety of rides and how it seems to value its older rides more than other SF parks. I think it's awesome that they're celebrating Batman's 20th anniversary; I don't see many other parks do that. It's good that SFGAm has good operations and many open rides in bad weather, because I know some parks shut down with a single drop of rain. X-Flight looks excellent, even better than I was first expecting! I really liked Raptor when I rode it in August last year, and I'm sure X-Flight be just as good as it looks once I get the chance to ride it. Once again, great report! I hope I can get to SFGAm again to check out X-Flight, as well as the other improvements the park has made over the last 7 years.

I apologize for such a long delay. My trip to Germany made this last week a little busy. Now that I do have a little bit of time, here's part 2: The graffiti here in Sabadell is actually pretty awesome! We were pleasantly surprised yesterday by how cheap the tolls here in Spain were compared to Italy. We decide to stop at a Medas for breakfast. This place is similar to an Autogrill in Italy. For my fellow Americans who have no idea what I'm talking about, Europe has various over-the-road restaurants and shops that are generally constructed over major tollways. In Italy, they're called Autogrill, and here in Spain, they're called Medas. Here's our small breakfast. Just enough to fill us up. Here we are once again. It's a little cooler than yesterday, and there are a few less people. Ok, so I guess the crowds aren't THAT much better. Still the most beautiful part of the park, even on a cloudy day! Stampede time! Choose your side! We decided to go with red. rumblerumblerumble The lift speed isn't bad! Hmmm... Universal? These trains look great! The restraints were actually very comfortable and allowed for great views and sensations. Gotta love the giant Elmos! Wassup, rock dude? Still just as impressive of a view as it was yesterday. The amount of B&M twistyness in this picture may be too much for the slight-of-heart to handle. This Zero-G is just as intense as the ones on all other B&M sitdown and floorless coasters! The corkscrews on this beast aren't quite as up-close and personal as the ones on Kumba, but you definitely get a good dose of the B&M roar! Driving school looked interesting. Too bad it was sponsored by the makers of our rental car. We head into this theater for the bubble show. This guy did some really awesome tricks with bubbles! "As you may know, Spain's economy has been down, so I've decided to save money and build myself a bubble house!" We really enjoyed this show; this bubble dude really does have some good talent! I'd certainly recommend seeing this show if you have the time and desire. Jackhammer funstruction, stealthily hidden by the fence. We checked out this store, which had some relatively interesting merchandise. Mom liked these dolls. Pandas. Pandas everywhere. Speaking of pandas, I think this is on the same level of 'WTF?!?' as the pandas on the side of that one food place next to Viper at SFMM. Day 2 to continue soon!

Port Aventura does have a feel and look that's similar to IOA. I went there last February and I noticed that while the ride selection and theming was different from IOA, it still had that great quality feel of IOA. Dragon Kahn was a great ride! That new paint job really makes it look so much better; I saw pictures of it with its original paint from a couple years ago, and I think it really needed it. I think it's an absolutely beautiful park! There's a decent amount of shade in some areas and lots of great theming, along with a very nice setting near the port with views of the surrounding area. Yes, the park is multilingual. There are some signs around the park and a few ride announcements in Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, and Dutch (mostly the first 3). Some of the staff speaks English, but as ^ suggested, most of the park staff speaks little more than Spanish. I'd recommend brushing up a little bit on some basic Spanish. I'm currently in Germany and I won't have much free time to work on the TR until Friday night. However, I wanted make sure you guys knew that I'm still checking on the report every now and then, and that I do have a few more shots of Shambalah taken from Dragon Kahn's lift (with permission, of course).

Ok, here's the rest of Day 1: You can see how much B&M twistyness is now in the back of the park. Standing on a bench next to DK's photo booth, you can see what will be Shambalah's main entrance. Them are some big blocks! Seriously, Shambalah is friggin' huge! More hard workers. It was supposed to open this spring, but it seems to be pushing on summer. Does anyone else spot what's messed up with this shirt? The area surrounding the park is beautiful. That rock looks awfully comfortable to sit on (and of course mom decided to sit there 5 seconds after this picture was taken). Here's another area that's under construction. I could've gotten a picture of the brake run from inside the bathroom right next to here, but I decided against it. Dad thought he was thirsty. "I command you to go over here and conquer the Intamin tower of awesomeness." More twistyness. Great landscaping here. This area gives a great view of Shambalah's towering profile over China. Next: The mine train with seat-bolstering from hell! Doesn't look too bad... It's very well themed, I must say. This queue offers a few good views of Shambalah. Seriously, this ride would be so much better if it didn't have those bad seat bolsters! Now it's time to take on Hurcan Condor! I hope we get the floorless-tilt side! We didn't get the floorless-tilt, but it's still amazing nevertheless! Hold on, what do the Spanish know of Pennsylvania? New favorite freefall drop tower? I think so! It's peeking over the trees. Now it's hiding from us. For those who think Spanish food is exactly like Mexican food, it isn't (especially here in Catalunya). Temple of Fire, complete with 'Sorry, we're closed' trash cans. We head back to China for a show. I rode DK one more time, and we watched the 'Music Generation' show. It consisted of several songs starting with the Beach Boys in the 60's and went through all the decades since then all the way up to Adele. It was good show (and I swill have the theme song for the show stuck in my head). "Hey, look! Shambalah is testing!... Ah, made you look." Grabbed an obligatory Nutella crepe. Something tells me this would be a much more fitting buy in the Mediterranean area of the park. Hey there, random parade! This looked kinda fun, but I skipped. This vulture would come alive randomly and sing. Kinda creepy, actually. "I sit here all day, staring at people and freaking them out with my amputated leg." Injins! WAFFLES!! And yes, that sandwich is VERY American! "Please don't take off your shirt. We'd rather not see your chest, or your bra." Looks like fun... ... that is, until you get to the sprayers! UPSIDE DOOOWWWNNN! Baco is such an amazing looking ride. If only it rode as smoothly as it appears to... The brakes are probably the smoothest part of the whole ride! Seeya later, Port Aventura! This pretty much sums up our day: lots of walking, lots of rides... but lots of fun, too! And we get another day to conquer what's left! Unfortunately, the traffic is bad thanks to it being a Spanish holiday. That also means that most restaurants are closed, save Hamburgesa King. And now we get to the fun part: ordering in Spanish! I'm going to be in Germany for the week, so progress on the trip report may be slow, but I'll work hard to get as much of the update as possible posted! Thanks for reading! =D

Man, I've been so behind on TRs, it's not even funny. My family and I went to Barcelona for Spring Break last week, and we had a great time! It was planned on a whim (literally, we didn't even start planning until a week before the trip), but ended up being quite a bit of fun. We managed to hit up Port Aventura for 2 days and went through Barcelona for the remaining 3. Here's a summary of the first two days: We left Sunday morning from the Naples airport, flew to Milan-Linate, romped around a bit during our layover, and then arrived in Barcelona. We picked up our rental car (a Peugeot 207) and drove to our hotel in Sabadell, just north of Barcelona. Being Easter, many restaurants in this already sleepy town were closed, so we had to resort to pizza (which was not a good start, considering we had just come from Italy). For those of you planning on visiting the Barcelona-area or anywhere in the Cataluna region of Spain, make sure you know at least a little bit of Spanish; it will be very useful if you want to go anywhere outside of major tourist-areas. Monday was a Spanish holiday. Despite this, we decided to go to Port Aventura because the weather was predicted to be decent in Salou. We opted for a 2-day ticket, anticipating a few crowds and knowing it was a relatively big park. When we left the park, we encountered a very long holiday-traffic jam on the AP7. And after several failed attempts to find an open restaurant off the freeway (that spoke English), we gave up and ate Burger King for dinner. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble finding some of the photos I took at the very beginning of the first day. However, it doesn't require much effort to say that we arrived at the park about 30 minutes after opening, got our 2-day tickets (although we think we could've knocked it out in 1 with some efficiency), walked in, and went to Furious Baco. Overall, I enjoyed it despite the roughness which many have complained about. The theming of the whole ride was great; it mixed in very well to the Mediterranean area of the park. After Baco, we walked into Polynesia and grabbed a quick lunch. Now, without further delay, here are the photos: We're so excited to head to the park! Unfortunately, we have to do it in a Peugoet 207. We greet Woody at the entrance of the park. Notice anything unusual behind us? In the words of Robb Alvey, SKLOOOOSSHH! We decide to have lunch here. Decent looking menu. This is probably the most American theme park food we've had since we last had some stuff at Florida parks last year! We take a second to review this lovely photo of mom and I riding Baco. Our seat had the perfect view of the first mini-splash. The atmosphere in here was pretty nice; relaxing Hawaiian-style music and good theming. They're getting ready to make a big splash! Mom and I braved a ride (and I a POV with my iPhone, with permission), while dad stayed off and got some soak-shots of us. I swear these time boards lie to us. This area looks very nicely themed. Which way should we go? Arrrrr! You can really tell that this was once a Universal park when you pay attention to the theming. It's superb, even among European parks! I'm ready to get a little loopy! Loopy times 8, to be specific. Marco! Polo! Let's take a short break from China and look over at Mexico. Ok, break's over. Now for the part you've all been waiting for: Shambalah! Dragon Kahn isn't the emperor of China anymore! Before I go Shambalah-mad, let's take a moment to appreciate this awesome B&M classic. Dragon Kahn was an original attraction at Port Aventura when the park opened in 1995. For those who have never ridden it or don't know about it, it's very similar to Kumba in terms of intensity and element content, only there's an extra loop after the MCBR, making for a total of 8 inversions. I'm quite excited to be riding my first 8-inversion coaster! Rawr. Dragon Kahn's queue gives you some great views of Shambalah's latter half. MCBR. Silky smooth. They're working hard to get the ride ready to open by June (that's what I heard)! You can also see how close Port Aventura is to the port of Tarragona. Close-up of the trains. I was able to tell immediately that they were the newer Panoramic trains. A 256ft tall hill or 8 inversions: which is more impressive? I wonder when Dragon Kahn was repainted... It seems like it was done pretty recently. You definitely notice how Shambalah REALLY has presence in this area of the park. You can see it from all around the park and you can get some idea of its higher bits once you reach China. It completely towers over Dragon Kahn! Dragon Kahn's drop used to be totally unobstructed. Now it has to duck under Shambalah's legs! Another train shot for good measure. Zero-Gs, through the trees. (See what I did there?) I'll leave you guys with 1 final shot of Shambalah for the night. I'll post some more photos tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Excellent pictures, Hanno! The ride interaction is very cool; some very close calls and interesting elements. The theming of the ride seems to be very good, no different from the rest of Europa Park. This definitely makes me much more excited for the Europe trip!

Awesome trip report! I learned a lot about both of these parks. I have a Six Flags park book from 2007 that listed SFM's rides, and I was somewhat underwhelmed by the ride selectoin. However, after seeing this TR, I noticed how there were a few additions, and that it's actually a pretty nice park. It seems to have that 'not your average SF park' look to it, kinda like SFDK. Considering the setting in Mexico, theming, and ride selection, SFM is kinda like the best of both worlds, taking the big names and rides from SF parks while being uniquely Mexican. And LFC is packed for such a small park! Heck, 2 Schwarzkophs, an old woodie, and a great selection of flat rides is hard do find in some medium-sized parks, let alone a little one. I've known for a while that the border areas of Mexico are much worse than Mexico City, but even so, this trip report certainly gives me a different impression of Mexico City! Perhaps I should work on my Spanish a bit...

I have 2 'somewhat educated guesses' as of now: Place #1: Southern California. Although not very strong compared to my other guess, I still can't rule it out as a possibility. GREEN Lantern was built last year at SFMM. CNN has a studio in Los Angeles. Manta will be built later this year at Sea World San Diego. Los Angeles is shown on Citylicious. House of Blues is currently based in Los Angeles. Gateway is currently based in Irvine. The Spanish airport sign could just be helpful for the large hispanic population of Southern California. On the big U board, there's an ad for Club Lucky. And there are Club Lucky locations in San Diego and Los Angeles. Lastly, Los Angeles is listed on the L cities. Place #2: Australia. There are more strong clues for this. GREEN Lantern, recently built at Warner Bros. Movie World Outback Outpost is a reference to the Outback desert in Australia. Best Buy has locations in Australia. CNN is owned by Time Warner, which owns Warner Brothers. Manta rays are common in Australia, and SeaWorld Australia has a ride called Manta. Tower Heist could reference Giant Drop, which is (only for a limited time) the tallest drop tower in the world. Elissa would never dare visit a country without at least 1 McDonalds location (making Iceland a no-go), and Australia has a few. Sydney is shown on CItylicious. Australia was a British colony and could've been ruled by the queen of England at one point. The mighty rock could be a reference to Ayers Rock. The Love Boat often took place in or near Australia. On the giant U, there is an ad for Bridgetown, which is a town in Western Australia. The QR code goes to Delta, and Delta has flights to and from Australia. Liberia somehow made me think of Bibra, Australia. Those are my hypotheses based on the photos given.

This happened to me too. When I went to Cedar Point in 2008, I got to ride Millennium Force in the front row right as it started to rain. It felt as if I was being sandblasted (with both bugs and water) and is not an experience I would like to relive... Although of course my ride on Mantis after that was much worse. Aside from those two mentioned experiences on rides while raining, I haven't ridden many coasters in the rain. I do remember riding Coaster Thrill Ride at the Puyallup Fair in the rain when I visited in 2008, and although it had an e-stop on the lift for a few minutes, it wasn't overly unpleasant. In fact, I believe it went slightly faster than usual, which is obviously a plus.

Nice report! I've only had the chance to ride a few Schwarzkopfs, but they are decent rides. This trip report makes me want to go out so I can ride some more!

I love the supports of many roller coasters, so I'll shorten the list for you guys. I really like Intimidator 305's lift hill supports because they are very efficient; only 2 large columns hold up the 300ft tall structure! The overall supporting of both X2 and Viper is nice in my opinion. The supporting of the lift, first loop, and turn after the first loop on Viper and the lift, inside raven turn, and the banked turn on X2 appeal to me. I've always appreciated the supporting of Vekoma GIBs; no particular part, the whole thing is nice IMO. And finally, who couldn't love the interlocking loops and arch supports of Loch Ness Monster?

I've heard a bunch of things from people, but I can only remember 3 right now. At Wild Waves, either last year or in 2009, I was waiting in line for the Ring of Fire with a kid who claimed that it had split in half. He said that the state had tried to shut down the park but that Wild Waves had fixed the ride and promised that it would not have any issues after that. Obviously, I've never heard of any accidents like that on RoFs and I think he was just trying to scare me into not riding or something. (Although I was reluctant to ride before that because I hate RoFs. ) In 2008, when I visited Silverwood for the first time, I was talking with a lady in line for Timber Terror about how I thought it could use a second train. She said something about how how it was impossible to do so because it'd be unsafe. I wonder if she's ever ridden California Screamin'. Finally (but I'm not completely sure if this counts as 'GP'), I was talking about Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland at school before my Italian class started, and a kid from Canada said that he had heard of it and it was supposedly based on a ride that was successful at many other theme parks in Canada. Obviously, he had no idea that it was the VERY FIRST B&M Giga-Coaster.

I'm glad to see Six Flags Washington up again! I remember seeing it last year, and it was a very nice work, but it wasn't as great as it could've been. This version seems to have improved considerably, especially in the custom rides section (that musik express, for example) and the use of the park's land. Keep up the excellent work!

Nice update! I visited Legoland California in 2007 and enjoyed it, but felt it didn't have enough flat rides. This park not only has more flat rides, but also more coasters, a beautiful landscape, and better theming. As I said in earlier TRs, I think this place could be a great family-oriented and less expensive alternative to the big Orlando parks for families that are willing to drive away from the city to get here. I think Merlin did a great job of picking this location for the park and utilizing the already existing rides, gardens, and facilities from Cypress Gardens. I think Legoland Florida has a successful future ahead of it! SFE

Part 4 Let's ride Cagliostro again! This would be an awesome night park with all of this Halloween theming! Ian wanted to ride Huntik again. Why not? Short lines are cool! Our journey begins! Ian pwnd me once again. If he were to attend a TPR trip, he'd do pretty darn well! It's sooooo preeeetttyyyyyyy..... Vekoma guys walking away from L'Olandese Volante. Hope he's better than the one TPR caught fixing Deja vu at SFOG! Stop! Gelato time! What could be going on over there? Let's check it out from the air! Roman Arches, not Golden Arches. Facebook-style! There's plenty of room for more parking back there! I see 3 things here: Italians talking, a Shock car stopped, and a rotating transfer. I never knew how the transfer on Shock worked until looking carefully at it! "This doesn't do that much, but it's better than nothing!" TWIISSTTTEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYY! Halloween merchandise was quite varied. They also have plenty of non-Halloween merchandise, including this giant-A$$ alarm clock! "I've been waiting on this shelf since May for an Italian kid to buy me... still ain't happening. I'll have to wait until 2012." Skloooooossssshhhhh! Yes, this ride does indeed break the tradition of acceptably-wet Italian water rides (although that mostly depends on where you sit). "I've been forced to hold this place up for centuries..." The other Americans must have gotten to the Olandese Volante shirts in my size before I did. =( Native American CDs priced as T-shirts? I see people working... And I also see another train that appears to have had a failed launch. They appear to be adjusting a LIM. Rather interesting ghost inside there... Who doesn't love a Nutella crepe? "I like cotton candy. Do you?" The creepers are coming out of the shadows. Ciao, Gatto! "NOT AMUSED!" You can actually walk right behind the float and touch it! What could this be? Bye bye, Bombo Run! If you're allergic to monsters, don't get within a mile of here! It's time to say goodbye to the Griffons one final time... Arrivederci, Rainbow Magicland! It's hard to believe how much this park has improved in just over 5 months! I went there the day after its grand opening (May 27th), and returned 3 times over the summer, each time better than the last! I had a great 2011 season, starting off at Busch Gardens Tampa in February, and ending here at my new major home park, Rainbow Magicland. Thanks to everyone who's read my updates! I love sharing my experiences with everybody and giving tips and advice to those who like to travel, and it's partially thanks to everybody here at TPR that I love roller coasters so much. Thank you very much for reading my updates and sharing your comments! This update officially closes out my 2011 season. Here's to a great 2012 coaster riding season! =D Patrick Carnahan Six Flags Enthuseast

Part 3 Here's another one of those dirty Ice Street things that hardly works. They do help somewhat with the heat during the summer, though! It says fast, but nothing in southern Italy is fast! (except for some drivers on the roads) Rainbow Magicland seems to be taking TPR's suggestion for getting more shade! This would be like a big tilt-loop if it did invert. I spy a camera... could Shack: The Ride finally have a purpose? This is about as far as the airtime goes. Canopies in October... About time! Comfortable seats and restraints + awesome train design = a nice train overall S:TR is a photo booth! "Do not wave your hands in the air like you just don't care!" Photo point is broken. =( I think they should make this photo booth darker; this was the best I could see of our photo! Smooth magnetic brakes to the rescue! "I am the Great Pumpkin! Send my homeboy Linus to talk to me!" I spy a game stand, just like the ones at Miragica. We rode the Pop Tower, and our hands hurt for a while afterward. Pixi-Sticks River seems to be popular today! (Even though it's October and freakin' cold!) These boats were pretty popular, too. And now for the Wacky Worm named after the guy who named America! I see some construction over there... Up the slow lift hill they go. Wheeeeee! THEY HAVE A CAMERA ON THIS WACKY WORM TOO?!? WHERE'S THE PHOTO BOOTH?!?!? This one was even harder to see. I like this angle of Shock. I learned that this is a planetarium. Thanks, park map with a list of shows and events! Part 4 to come soon!

Italy has quite a few decent parks that are worth visiting and are relatively good value. However, the drive down the A1 and other toll roads can get expensive when driving from north to south and back. But overall, there are some unique credits here that are totally worth the trip! ^I usually have a bunch of pics at my disposal that are from side ventures. Perhaps I should include more of them? I apologize for the delay with this update. I've been pretty busy at school and only have time to work on this during the weekend. Anyways, here's Part 2! Once again, time for the no-bull shooting ride, also known as Untik (as Italiains would say it). We watch the cartoon prologue thing in line, though we do not understand it. Our chariot awaits us. "I'm ready to blow the heads off of some alien cave thingy scum!" "I hold my two guns sideways, like bank robbers do!" After all was said and done, this was my score with both guns... but of course Ian did a lot better! I completely forgot about the picture at the end and thus had this "Man these glasses are rea-" *SNAP* kind of pose. Let's go ride Shock again. After all, there are NO LINES FOR IT WHATSOEVER! Italians hate being scared, which is exactly why this woman is standing next to the entrance of the gift shop scaring people! Will we have another rollback? He shoots!... He scores! Once again, I hear the electrical shock of the train coming to a stop. Perhaps that's why they call it Shock? *whooshh* The Flying Island wasn't taking to the skies today. Will more Shock work for you? Of course it will! It always does! I have a nice chat with our food server before she gives us our meal, and we get to the eating! They say not to swim for 1-hour after you eat... but it's just an old-wives tale! (Note the cheaters in the pink ponchos) The dragon seemed to spray a decent distance today. Wow, they already need to replace this window! The Italians seemed to like these dryers, although I'm not sure if they really work or not! "RAWR! STOP! YOU DIDN'T PAY YOUR BILL! RAWR!!" Time for an acceptably-wet water ride during a cold-but-clear Italian fall day! Not quite as refreshing as during the summer. This rapids ride is a little disappointing as there is no finale or any type of added element to make the end of the ride special, like with many river-rapids rides. They sorta managed to get the line system down, but there is still a lot of work to do! This would be an unacceptable amount of wetness any day of the year! There were actually more American riders than Italian riders! They fixed L'Isola Volante, so we decided to take a ride. ZEEERRROOOOO-GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSS! Here's a look at the children-oriented section of the park. I like the view from up here. I like this one even more! Ride 'till you're tired, and then shop 'till you drop! Why doesn't SFMM do something like that? That'd really help in marking parking spaces, producing a little energy for the park, and keeping guests' cars cool! The Eagle Has Landed. On Earth, that is. Part 3 to come soon!

Great TR! I'm surprised by how many TPR people are managing to get here; I'm glad a bunch of other people get to experience this unique new park! I would agree with the above: Shock is a great coaster (the 3rd best I've ridden so far in Italy), but it's not a top-10 overall for me. Still, there's a good amount of airtime and that ultra slow zero-G roll with lap bars is a pretty neat experience.

And now, finally, for my last park of the season. Once again, I make the trip to Rainbow Magicland with a friend of mine, and we have a great time! Though it was my final park of the season, it was probably my best visit to Rainbow Magicland yet! I witnessed a rollback on Shock, learned that the Pixi-X-thingy-castle was actually a planetarium, and got to ride almost all of the major attractions at the park! Read on to get the full scoop! Ok, ladies and germs. Welcome to a sight you have already seen several times, and a sight which you may not see from me in a while after this visit. Hello once again, Mr. Griffon! I'd heard that Italians don't officially celebrate Halloween, but Italians are interested in it. Rainbow Magicland had some mascots out on patrol, which clearly shows that interest! Gatto Baleno has his Halloween costume on! The park also has some theming! But we're not here for special theming; we're here for this! Thankfully, it was open. And even better, it had a very short line! They're getting ready to head into a galaxy of airtime! (Yes, I really did just call it a galaxy of airtime) Whoosh! We had a good ride, and I'm sure these people will, too! Well, actually... They got a rollback! The ride-op had to explain to the riders that the fata$$ Americans broke the ride. =P At least this ride can't be broken by Americans... or can it? I wonder how they reset the ride when it rollbacks like this... Walking toward the other side of the park, I notice this fountain filler. Graves with Italian names and text. Yucatan was having issues, or was testing. Which way shall we go? Right it is, and L'Olandese Volante we shall ride. Another familiar sight. Yup. 'Nother shot of the dual Vekoma lift hills. After having our spines rattled slightly, we headed toward another big attraction. Time for me to once again conquer a very strange drop tower! Mystika: A very strange drop tower that would have a lot more potential if it didn't have so many darn brakes. Here's how Mystika works: Loud buzz, pause, another loud buzz, painfully slow chain lift to the top, slow down near top, stop at top for 20 seconds, buzz, drop, slow down 2/3 of the way down the tower, moderate speed fall to the bottom, finish. Those brakes are waaay too weak to really be of any use. They slow the vehicle down early but don't slow it down enough to make the landing at the bottom smooth. MC Escher: The Ride's building is still funky as always! The theater has a Halloween-themed show going on! Part 2 to come soon!

2011 was certainly one of my best years. Going from first to last, I visited: Busch Gardens Tampa Sea World Orlando Fun Spot Kissimmee Old Town Islands of Adventure Universal Studios Orlando Magic World Rainbow Magicland Miragica Gardaland Zoosafari/Fasanolandia Gwazi Tiger at BGT was my first coaster of the season (and, with those new trains, a good one to start off with). Cagliostro at Rainbow Magicland was my last coaster of the season.

I will be busy as well, but I'll join in. I haven't done an RCT2 contest in a while, and I'm sure it'll be fun!

The construction on this ride is good so far! I'm not going to go and say that it's the year of something, but this is the 2nd B&M this year which seems to be going up pretty quickly. Although I think it's weird that the first B&M Giga is being built at a park that's already home to a B&M Hyper, I can certainly tell that the rides are going to be different in several ways. I'm sure the general public won't mind, and what coaster enthusiast can complain about having 2 great B&Ms over 200 ft at the same park?

Awesome TR of Great America! It's been a while since I visited and I'm realizing how much of the park I missed! I got Deja vu and Iron Wolf before they left, but Batman, Giant Drop, some of the kiddie coasters, and the new rides that have been built since 2005 are all ones I still have yet to ride. Hopefully I can get back and get 'em done! I also looked at the WIld Waves TR from June, and it's very nice to see my old home park. The last time I went was during summer of last year, and with the new bowl slide and other updates the park looks great! I'd seen the scrambler once before but I never knew that it was good, and I never knew that I-5 Dive got pink paint this year. With just a couple more good thrillers and continuous park improvements, I think Wild Waves could become a much better place!

I certainly agree that 2 Euros per ride isn't bad, although it becomes expensive if you're a multi-rider like I am TPR will certainly have fun on the monkey train when they come in June! Part 3 "Get me off this accursed ship and I'll assure you free rides on Euro Fighter for the rest of the year!" More of Rapid River. You must be at least this tall and not a dog in order to pay 10 Euros to watch the dolphin show. Up these steps is a Russian Mountain. Russian Mountain means Roller Coaster in Italian. These single cars are a lot better than the double cars on Magic Mountain at Magic World. They deliver a smoother ride overall and are less jerky. This ride still has old-fashioned manual brakes. SKLOOOSSSHHHH! These Italian guys obviously approve of this ride for its reasonable wetness! One of these is different from the others... one of them does not belong... This motion simulator didn't look so good. Carousel. One thing I love about Italy is the cheap bottled water. This 2-liter bottle was only 2 Euros! People were actually riding Red Mirage! More rapidity. In all honesty, it doesn't seem to be that fast. Obligatory crepe stand credit! You can sorta see and hear the dolphin show from here... who needs to pay 10 Euros to get into the stadium? I always thought Batman queue theming was missing something... and I just learned that it's missing a dirt mover! Who doesn't love a beyond-vertical drop? You can bet that I do! Oh what a feeling, Gerstlauer! See? I was right, it is a Gerstlauer! One more ride! Aww, the ride's over already. )= UPSIIDE DOOOOOWWWWNNN! Two thumbs up for 5 rides on an awesome new Eurofighter! I like the view from here. Closeup of the loopage. The lift hill takes up a very small area. Smooth vertical and horizontal curves. I now know why TPR loves these little things! One thing you'll have to watch for in some Italian theme parks that you'd never deal with in an American park is a car just randomly driving through. I liked X's old colors, so this is a nice throwback for me. Dad decided to give the claw a shot. He inserted 2 Euros... And he got Eva on his very first try! Riders of this drop tower are usually surprised by the sudden interruption of their 20 minute stay at the top. Get me out of here! Because everybody will want to watch 'Godzilla 2: New York City'. Finally, for the part you've all been waiting for! A few people threw some little sticks into the chimpanzee enclosure, and I didn't understand what they were at first. Then he lit up and smoked. While I honestly disapprove of smoking, I thought this was rather entertaining. Dad liked all of these trucks. Goodbye, Zoosafari and Fasanolandia! Thanks for reading! =D

Part 2 This ride was built in 2000, but it seem older than that. I don't think this ride will need a 2nd train today... or for the rest of its life. Fabbri seal of 'This is probably going to suck!' Those wheels look pretty old. I'm smiling now, but I won't be soon! Way too rough and jerky for my liking. The transitions between turns were NOT smooth! Bumper boats. Heading toward the Dolphin Show. Log Flume. "I've been stuck here for years." Car ride. Could it be? Another Wacky Worm! This one has the wackiest name of them all! Patrick-approved Italian Wacky Worm! What could be going on back there? This drop tower is just like the one at Magic World. The park's Ferris Wheel. The Rapid River. (This name made me laugh) There was no ride operator when we arrived, so dad and I just waited until he came back. Ready to go! Goin' up! We stayed at the top for a REALLY long time! Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... It's the moment you've all been waiting for! Ascend these stairs, and you'll reach.... The Eurofighter! This ride is brand new! It was built in August, and this is only September 17th. This ride doesn't need a fantastic name to be good. You can see almost the whole ride here. Time to ride! This ride will certainly need its 2nd train when TPR comes to town! The ride op let me take a few photos of the train. He also told me that this ride is 400 meters long. We had a bit of a conversation about the Eurofighter at Fuji-Q Highland, and he wanted to show me a video of it. While the video was loading, he let me take a few pictures below the ride! You usually can't look up the ride's skirt like this! Closeup of the wheel assembly. I couldn't quite understand what he meant by "Eurofighter in Tokyo", but then I saw the video and remembered that Fuji-Q got one. This turn is taken pretty smoothly. You can see some of the helix from here. Magnetic brakes = Unbelievably smooth slowdown I have now ridden my 2nd favorite roller coaster in Italy! Vertical lift hills are the shiz. Part 3 to come soon!