PhantomNick

^ Agree with this 1000%! That's exactly how I feel about drop towers....I love 'em, but they still scare the crap out of me. As for my favorites of the ones I've ridden thus far: 1. Pitt Fall, KW (I'm excited for Black Widow, but I will really miss this tower! If you faced the river, it felt like you were about to drop 400-500 feet!) 2. Drop Tower, KD (Holy poop!) 3. Big Shot, Stratosphere (Being 900+ feet up certainly heightens the thrills!) 4. X-Scream, Waldameer (As someone else said, this rather unassuming-looking tower is balls-to-the-wall intense!!) 5. AtmosFEAR, Morey's Piers (See above, haha)

Thanks for all the great updates and photos! Looks like an incredible event. I think when I finally decide to venture out to California for some park visits, this event would be the way to do it!!

Pictures like the sixth one of this post make me forget that a new B&M wingrider is being built an hour from my house. That sixth picture jumped out to me as well! So many beautiful hills criss-crossing one another.....and ohhhh, the potential airtime!! Cannot wait to hop aboard this baby....preferably in an outer winged seat!

Ahhh, I do love this time of year while excitedly planning our park excursions for the spring/summer/fall! This year will be a bit light, but I'm still really looking forward to it..... Definites: Kennywood, many times (Season Pass) Cedar Point in May (going with some good friends who have never been there, which is always loads of fun!) Hersheypark (Skyrush, here we come!! ) Maybe/Possible: Waldameer Kings Island Kings Dominion Six Flags Great Adventure Darien Lake/Seabreeze (visiting friends in Rochester, so who knows?) Bring on the coaster riding season!!

That station is looking really sharp! I too am looking forward to seeing what they do with the entry plaza. The coaster itself still looks amazing and is a definite must-ride for me. The only coaster I'm more excited to ride is Skyrush at Hershey. I'm hoping that Leviathan delivers the kind of forces that it looks like it will.

Sounds like someone trying to make a quick buck to me..... As for Stinger, I have to say I'm really impressed with how it looks! The colors are vibrant and nice, and Dorney did a great job making it fit right in at Lazer's old spot. Granted, I would've preferred Lazer staying put, but Stinger does look really good. I've actually still yet to ride an inverted boomerang. I've always been a fan of Dorney, so this one may be the first. Oh yeah, and the logo is pretty kick-ass!

^ Couldn't agree more! The pictures that have been posted following the construction are gorgeous! This coaster looks so amazingly awesome!! And I love that they are adding theming to it as well. American parks really should take a class from these European parks on how to theme a coaster! (although I'd think that Disney and Busch would get an exemption from said class)

I think if anyone has a shot to turn this place around and get it up and running again for locals, it is the Koch family. They really seem to have their wits about them in the theme park business. I wish them the best of luck!

What the heck, I'm gonna throw one out there that I think is pretty one of a kind: Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood - Pretty sure it's the only Arrow mega-looper that was given new life and morphed into an airtime-machine of a hypercoaster! Yeah, I'm a bit of a fan

I cannot get over how simply phenomenal Skyrush looks!! This coaster looks like it has the potential to have absolutely everything I love in a coaster crammed into one heavenly ride! I will be there at some point this spring/summer to ride this beast - there is NO question about that! And the general look of the coaster, for me anyway, is gorgeous. Their color choices were so spot-on with this one. Not to mention, Hershey is one of the masters of weaving rides/coasters in and around one another. The interactions between rides are part of the fun! As for that first drop? Ummmm, yeah.....

On a lighter note, the way that obnoxious post by "tigers" started (and how it subsequently played out) reminded me instantly of this: I said "with all due respect Robb"!!

I do realize that B&M coasters (especially the recent ones) aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I do still like them quite a bit. Not to mention, a giga is still a giga, so I am VERY excited about Leviathan! Seeing the pictures of the construction progress, this coaster looks massive and quite impressive. I'm guessing that it won't have quite the same "OMFG" moments that Intimidator 305 did, but I also feel this one may surprise some folks and be a bit more forceful than people think. Definitely need to take a trip north of the border really soon to check out the park and ride this beast!

This GCI looks absolutely stunning! Europa is very high up (if not tops) on my list of European parks I'd like to check out someday. That is one impressive looking skyline, and the effort they put into theming their rides looks top-notch!

^ BEST. Coaster. Name. EVAR!! I dunno, I don't really feel that CP desperately "needs" a big new steel coaster. Not saying I wouldn't be excited if one was announced, just don't think their steel collection needs added to at the moment. I'm still holding out hope that the park will add a better wooden coaster. I really think a GCI along the lines of what's being built over at Europa would be fantastic!!

I too would like to see a drop tower of some kind return to the park in the future. As for placement, what about in King Kahuna's old location? It's still towards the front of the park and would be visible as people drive up to/enter the park. I'm not sure about tower sizes however and if it would even fit there. I like the idea of a ride in that area by Phantom's first drop, although for some reason I think a drop tower there might look "cluttered". What type of tower would you guys like to see? The type up at Waldameer, as someone else mentioned, packs a nice punch. I wouldn't mind seeing one of those around the 200-foot range. And while we're talking about rides we'd like to see there, can we please add a Ferris Wheel to the park again? Maybe it's just me, but a traditional park like Kennywood just seems naked without one.

Probably bees/wasps for me, although a close second would go to snakes. Don't know why, but even in a zoo seeing snakes slither around kinda creeps me out!

Quicksilver Express

Merry Christmas to all the fine folks here on TPR!! It has been a great holiday season visiting and spending time with our families and friends, which is definitely one of the best parts of Christmas for us. My wife and I tend to keep the gift exchanging rather subdued, which is nice. We'll fill up each other's stockings then exchange a couple "bigger" gifts. As for this year: Got from the wife: - A remote starter for my Subaru Forester! - A Kennywood book - Steelers hat - Daughtry CD Gave to the wife: (my favorite part) - A new purse she really loved (but would otherwise never buy herself) - Tickets to see "Beauty and the Beast" in April - Glee CD Vol. 7/Live concert DVD - Harry Potter 7 (Part 2) DVD We got plenty of other things from the fam, but I won't get into listing all that. Hope you all have a great New Year's!

I'd first like to send out a huge thanks to those of you who have been supplying the AWESOME photo updates of the construction! We definitely appreciate the hard work to keep us coaster nerds happy! As for Skyrush itself? Holy Moses, this coaster looks stunning already! What's completed of the first drop looks sick. This thing has the potential to be truly world-class, without a doubt. And I am totally digging the color scheme on it too. I really cannot wait to ride this puppy in 2012!!

Skyrush at Hershey by far for me! We had already planned to make a trip out there this spring/summer, so when they announced the coaster, that was a large added bonus!! And what I've seen so far in pics of the construction already has me drooling!

I may have posted in here before, but since I've ridden some newer coasters I figured it wouldn't hurt to update it: Steel: Intimidator 305, either row of the back car. WOW! Wood: El Toro by a mile, especially in the back car. Triple-WOW!!!

First off, my wife and I absolutely LOVED the Holiday Lights event at Kennywood!! They did a marvelous job with it. And I'm excited to hear that it was such a success that they are looking to expand it next year. Their website already mentions it will start in November next year. As for Black Widow, I am thrilled with the addition! I loved Pitt Fall, but since it had to go, I just hoped we would get a thrilling replacement. Giant Frisbees are one of my favorite flats, and I've only heard great things about the Zamperla models. I've heard some mention on other sites that this is "too close" to Cosmic Chaos, but I totally disagree. Chaos spins faster while not getting very high, while Black Widow (at its peak swings) will be nearly as high in the air as Phantom's lift hill!

I have to say, I'm really liking the look of Verbolten! When we visited BGW for the first time in 2010, my wife and I commented that their coaster collection would be rounded out perfectly with a more family-oriented coaster, just a step below Nessie. I think this coaster fits the bill perfectly, and it looks to have some thrilling elements to boot! On a side note, for those more familiar with the event, do they ever run Apollo for their Christmas event? By the looks of things, it appears that Griffon and Alpengeist are the only coasters open for it. I only ask because my wife and I are seriously considering going down for that maybe next year, since we were so impressed with Kennywood's Christmas event this year, and since we both loved BGW! I only ask about Apollo because that was my wife's favorite coaster there (and mine too for that matter)

Absolutely!! I still think Leviathan looks amazing!! Strata and Poop Your Pants. This post still has me laughing! I want to know what park will finally install the world's first Poop Your Pants model! On another note, I think we got a HUGE glimpse into the future plans for CF Giga installations - there will be 3 more: with 305 and 306 feet checked off, they have left room for a 307, 308, and 309 foot coaster to be built, thus keeping the "golden child" coaster as the tallest Giga in the chain!! Don't get me wrong, I love MF, but it is hysterical to me that 310 feet is so untouchable to them!

WOW!! Thanks for such an extensive photo tour through SFMM's awesome-looking coaster collection! Your photos are spectacular by the way! I have to say, of all the parks on my "I must go there" list, SFMM sits at #1, without question.