HowieP

Am I interested? Abso-FREAKING-lutely! Plus it'd be just me coming if I come, but I'd still see if someone would go with me.

My father and my family are planning a cruise for next year and this looks like one awesome ship. I'm suggesting this one to him when I see him.

Got a big to-do list for 2011. Included in my itinerary is Kings Island and Coney Island when I visit my cousin in Cincinnati; Walt Disney World, which I've been to many times, but never been to Animal Kingdom; and Boomers (Dania Beach Hurricane) when I visit my brother in Miami. Also on tap is weekend one-day park trips, including my yearly trek to Michigan's Adventure (my home park), and a return trip to Indiana Beach (since 2007). This is shaping up to be a crazy amusement/theme park year! UPDATE (4/28/2011) Florida in October is a GO! Miami is on hold. Cincinnati is also still on. UPDATE (5/3/2011) Miami is for sure on hold with the closing of Dania Beach Hurricane now. Still plan to go next year, though. UPDATE (6/28/2011) Just did Indiana Beach this past weekend. Got a Photo TR posted now!

Why??? Don't you get it? Texas Giant used to be an AWESOME coaster "back in the day" and the goal of this project is to revive that. I don't think Mean Streak or Son of Beast were ever "awesome" coasters. Why give a mediocre coaster in the first place this treatment? Give this treatment to a coaster that ONCE was great...awesome...amazing...but has since turned to crap. Just think about what Timber Wolf, Ghostrider, or even Colossus would be like if they actually went back to those original designs, and did nothing but gave it this treatment. All of a sudden you'd have coasters like Ghostrider, which can't even crack the top 50 anymore, becoming a top 10 ride again. What about SFOG's Cyclone? Holy crap, can you imagine what that ride would be like if it had this makeover??? This all of course, is making the assumption that this treatment is going to rock and change the wood coaster world forever.... I get what you're saying, Robb.

The first time I rode Viper at Six Flags Great America, it was at night. I thought it was fast, furious, and fun. It still is in my opinion.

I'm also gonna say Cornball Express at Indiana Beach. It's fast, smooth, and proves that you get big thrills in small packages!

I am thankful for Inverted Coasters like Montu and Raptor to name a couple, as well as those ol' school Schwarzkopf coasters.

I'm hoping Cedar Fair is taking notes! Mean Streak and Son of Beast comes to mind!

Of Dinn/Summer coasters I've ridden, I've only rode two: Wolverine Wildcat (which was my first wooden coaster experience: I rode it the year it opened!) and Mean Streak. Wolverine was, and is, still a good runner. It may not be the most exciting coaster, but it gets the job done. Then there's Mean Streak. I rode this back in 1999 and it was good. Then I rode it again last year, and man oh man! It was rougher than my 5 o' clock shadow, never mind the fact that Cedar Point added trim brakes it at the top! On a side note, Shivering Timbers is also starting to show its age. While the airtime is still there, when I rode it this year I was shocked at how much it left me hurting. It was always one of my favorite coasters; now I don't know anymore. But as stated, it has to do with maintenance. I think it's time Timbers got some Timberliners from GravityKraft!

I'm just loving every minute of this. Following the Prince myself on Twitter! The folks at ".org" must be the real idiots if they don't get it.

That just makes me sick, but still not surprised about the outcome of Big Dipper. I also wonder about the fate of Raging Wolf Bobs which is also still on the property.

I'd say somewhere near Detroit could use an amusement/theme park. They haven't had an amusement park since Edgewater in 1981, and Canada's Boblo Island in 1993. The closest thing Detroit has right now is at Comerica Park (Home of the Detroit Tigers) with an all-tiger carousel and a baseball-themed ferris wheel. Right now the nearest park for folks in Motown is Cedar Point and, when it was still an amusement park and not [just] a water park, Geauga Lake. Maybe place the park not in Detroit itself, but very close by.

Went back to Michigan's Adventure this year and boy oh boy there are some changes to some of our favorite coasters there! Shivering Timbers from the parking entrance! Got bad news and not-so-bad news! The bad news is Timbers now has a trim brake on it. The not-so-bad news is it's near the end of the ride, in this case, before the helix finale. Also Timbers got some retracking done as of late, but I couldn't tell because it seemed to have gotten rougher than it used to be. It's still fun, but it left me hurting. Here's Zach's Zoomer. If you rode the kiddie wooden coasters at Kings Island, Carowinds, King Dominion, Canada's Wonderland, or its mirror image Sea Dragon at Jungle Jack's (aka the former Wyandot Lake), you know what this one is about. The layout is the same, only one train instead of two (in the case of the former Paramount Parks) Mad Mouse was, and still is, one of the scariest coasters to ride, despite its size. That right turn after the lift always freak me out. It's like you're about to go out into the parking lot. The new kid on the block, Thunderhawk. Thus far, the only Vekoma SLC I ever rode and it seemed like it's gotten more intense from last time I rode it, like it's going faster than ever. Not rough, but faster. MiAd's original woody, Wolverine Wildcat! My first wooden coaster (rode it the year it opened in 1988; I was eleven at the time). Just like Shivering Timbers, WW got a trim brake added, but it's just before the final turn before the brake run.

Did it, voted on it. Still in first.

^^^Ditto on Freestyle being the bigger epic fail of the two.

..and OJ is still looking for the real killer... From a Las Vegas jail cell no less!

I went to Indiana Beach in 2007 (one year before Steel Hawg) and I loved every minute of that place. Great pics!

Wood category: Comet at Hersheypark being the oldest 2nd oldest would be Blue Streak at Cedar Point 3rd oldest wooden coaster is American Eagle at Six Flags Great America Steel category (UPDATED 4/3/2015): Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland being the oldest 2nd oldest is Wildcat (?) at Cedar Point 3rd oldest is Galaxi at Indiana Beach

That popcorn stand at Canobie has all the makings of a Roller Coaster Tycoon item!

If FMP doesn't ever open again, let's just pray that the rides will be saved and not scrapped, especially the B&M coaster.

Also be lucky that they don't have (wait for it) Over-The -Shoulder restraints!

They'll probably make them as a custom order, but not as part of their regular catalog.

I got six words: Watch out, Mean Streak!!! YOU'RE NEXT!!!

Seen it and bookmarked it!

I also voted "NO". While the economy didn't help, the biggest issue was location, location, location! Had this have been built at Universal Orlando as a third gate, it would have worked better. Or even, at the risk of being biased because I'm from Michigan, brought it to Detroit, which is rich in music history (Motown, Bob Segar, Eminem, etc.).