JFrombaugh

You weigh 260 lbs Robb? I believe that's what Homer weighed when he got stuck on the H2Whoa slide, and decided to lose weight! What a coincidence!

I've ridden both Great White and the BTR at SFOT...they both felt the same to me! I've ridden almost all of the coasters in Texas and I'd say that they're definitely worth your while if you're making a trip there, but the only ones that I'd consider to be in the Top Ten tier are Boardwalk Bullet and SKC. The others are all "good" but not really anything you can't ride elsewhere...I mean we've got two Boomerangs, two Gerstlauer spinners, three BTRs, etc...

If that happens...oh I hope Dorney gets Maximum RPM. Those parks in the Pennsylvania area have all been on my list for quite awhile and the 2010 CoasterCon just happens to be at Kennywood...

I'm a fan of some of Robb's POVs too, like the Manhattan Express one, and the Ravine Flyer II with the "NINETY DEGREES!" (don't forget the Eejanaika POV either). For this poll I was referring more to a play-by-play style, like this Griffon POV from ThemeParkInsider. I do kind of like the sound he makes on the first drop though.

This was a super bowl commercial two years ago. Yeah, when that wall spun around, I could already see the tragedy coming... Bud Light commercials are usually pretty funny, this one was a real classic years ago that I still remember:

I was wondering what other people thought of videos where the person filming/being filmed talks you through the ride, such as: "Okay, here comes the 120-foot drop! Whoo! And now we're going through the Vertical Loop! Into an overbanked turn...", etc. Most of the time, this is done in a professional video promotion of the ride, although there are some amateur videos that do that. I kind of like onride commentary, it gives newbies a lot of info about a ride layout and it's interesting to hear some of the comments made by some of the people who do it. I know there are some people out there who find these kinds of videos very annoying, though.

I was wondering if anyone who has ridden an Intamin Half Pipe (like the one at Elitch Gardens) or a shuttle "Sky Loop" X-Car Coaster (like the one at Magic Springs) can input what they thought about the rides. I've ridden coasters with spinning cars before, and I liked Wicked Twister at Cedar Point, but for some reason combining them both on the Half Pipe looks like trouble. I forsee a high level of nausea. I can vaguely remember the hanging sensation from the X-Car at Drayton Manor, but I've never been through a Sky Loop inversion and I hear they pull a lot of Gs at the bottom of the pullout and in each back-and-forth. The possibility exists that I will be riding one of each type of coaster next year, and any input you guys may have would be appreciated. Thanks!

Prior to my Ohio trip, I liked B&M better, but now I have to say Intamin. Both manufacturers have coasters that made my Top 10 Steel, but for me, B&M loses out because most of their inverts and floorless coasters provide a pretty similar experience (with the exception of a few really notable ones like SKC, Dueling Dragons, and presumably ShieKra/Griffon - haven't ridden those though) and they also have built a number of overrated and/or nausea-inducing coasters, namely the stand-ups. Intamin has more rides that really stand out in my mind (TTD, MF, Maverick, and California Screamin', to name a few) and they just have a LOT more types of coaster to offer - for example, the ball coaster in Spain shouldn't knock anything too high off my list, but it is something I'm really looking forward to if I'm able to make the ACE Spain Trip in 2009.

http://www.quizilla.com/quizzes/104053/what-is-your-element-compatibility-outlook-plus-more I enjoy personality tests in general, and have uploaded a few to my site. This one tells you what "element" your personality is most like, and gives you compatibility with the others, as well as an outlook fortune. And best of all, unlike most other element quizzes, it makes it so it is very difficult to score an element, for exmaple, there's no question about where you would live with obvious tie-ins to each element. I also like the World of Warcraft reference in one of the answers for Question 8! Possible results: -Air -Water -Fire -Earth -Plant -Metal -Ice -Lightning Here's mine:

No. Have you ever posted a thread that got closed by Wes or some other mod?

Wow, Ohio residents have MF, TTD, Maverick, and a bunch of other cool coasters like Firehawk and Steel Hawg within a day's drive away...and their schools do the gallon of milk chug as a school event? Man, Texas should take lessons from Ohio, I'm bored of Katy ISD, S:KC, and Texas Giant. You guys are way cooler.

I've heard about a lot of people (read: my Dad) who need to wait for about an hour or so after eating lunch before getting their next credit. But it seems a lot of experienced enthusiasts aren't even affected by full stomachs on coasters at all. I mean, at many coaster events breakfast is served during morning ERT (how thoughtful), and there's always the ACE buffets. It also seems to depend a lot on the type of credits I still have left. For instance, I could easily handle a mine train after a meal, but definitely not a B&M Stand-up. On my Ohio trip a couple months ago, I knew that to avoid long lines I would be riding Maverick and Dragster in the morning, shortly after breakfast. I had made up my mind that no matter how hungry I was that morning, I was going to eat a very light breakfast. Fortunately it wasn't a big deal, my food had settled by the time I got to the front of Maverick's line. So what about you guys?

Wow, basing the ride off Saw V wasn't what I thought they would do! I thought they were going to come up with an original storyline, like Mystery Mine, where the sawmill is a hideout for a serial killer (Dylan), and the ride reenacts a murder that took place on Friday the 13th, or something like that. Having said that, there still are five more videos that will be released on the web site that should hopefully tie it all together, such as who Dylan is, why the number 13 is important, etc. And the first drop is 100 degrees instead of 97? I bet Oakwood and Hersheypark are pissed, 3 degrees steeper than Fahrenheit and Speed. Whether or not the park decides to try to impose the age restriction, is up to them, but I'd bet my computer that if it doesn't have the age restriction and the horror level is not toned down at all from the movie (like with Jaws and Revenge of the Mummy), I'll see at least one crying 10 year old on the exit ramp when I go back to England and ride it... Feeling too scared? There's always Mystery Mine.

For those of you who have never heard of the Milk Challenge/Milk Chug, here's a video of the guys from Jackass trying it (Warning: Due to gross scenes, viewer descretion is advised) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3Ebd40Gjoc Basically the goal is to drink a gallon of milk as fast as you can, without having thrown up along the way. Few people have gotten the whole gallon down before this happens - even fewer have been able to hold it down! Since the human stomach has a limited capacity, and the brain is programmed to make you throw it up before it's in any danger of bursting, this makes it so that barely anyone can accomplish this feat. I tried that challenge a couple times with friends, but I've never been able to do it. (my record is about 3/4 of a gallon, or 3 quarts) The domino effect of puking crossed my mind...I was worried that if Person A pukes, then Person B is gonna puke, if Person B pukes, then Person X is gonna puke - basically if one throws up, everyone's gonna throw up. Has anyone else done this kind of contest before, and if so, did they do it successfully?

I'm gonna have to go with TheHulk and Alpengeist04 on this one...I'm a Harry Potter fan too and I've had many visions of things like a Quidditch roller coaster and a Hogwarts dark ride fitting into a theme park like IOA very nicely, but... Despite its failings I rather liked the original version of Dueling Dragons, the Fire vs Ice theme seemed very classic, as did the queue walk through with all the skeletons and Merlin's warnings. It seems to me like the decision to change it is really trying to fix something that's not broken, but I'm going to hold my judgement until I see the new version. I just hope they don't make the same mistake that Disneyland Paris apparently made with Space Mountain Mission 2 and they put in some really good stuff to make up for what they take out...

OHHH...Corkscrew was my first coaster. I would've thought it would be interesting to go back, 150 coasters or so later, to see how it has held up since that time of major humiliation I rode it in 2003. Oh well.

I've got a couple PERFECT matches for videos of certain parks or certain coasters: -Fantastic Voyage by Coolio (Holiday World/Voyage) -Chocolate Rain by Tay Zonday (Hersheypark) -Rawhide Theme (Maverick) -Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz (Firehawk)

The loudest coaster I have ever heard would have to be Superman The Escape at SFMM. It makes such a deafening airplane-like roar whenever a car climbs the tower, it can be easily heard from way over at the waterpark, and probably from miles down the street on a quiet day. I'd say that "airplane roar" is at least as loud as the speaker system on Twister at USF, maybe louder!? Loudest coaster with a chain lift is probably Firehawk at King's Island...that chain makes such an incredible racket you can barely even hear the person next to you talking. Oh, and the Vekoma Boomerangs are pretty loud too, whenever the train comes roaring through the station.

Remember that I said without the compact tight turns. I was referring to the small bunny hills, which Boardwalk Bullet has plenty of, and the fact that they both have the same top speed (51mph) and similar height.[/b]

Doesn't seem all that noteworthy to me...at first glance anyway. I can see it being a surprise hit, but it kinda reminds me of Boardwalk Bullet without the compact tight turns. BTW, everyone remember their bets that the markings for this coaster were for a water pipeline repair?

I haven't been to either park, but if you want my opinion, out of the coasters each one has, only one of the ones at SDC would I consider to be one of my sought after coasters to get to (Powder Keg) where as Dollywood has two coasters that are currently on my "must ride" list (Mystery Mine and Thunderhead). The others all look kind of "interesting" but nothing I would make the long drive for. Although SDC is only a few hours away from my Uncle Frank's house, and a couple of my family friends have been there, and next year's CoasterCon is being held there...the powers that be clearly want me to go to SDC, although like I said, Dollywood looks to have the better ride lineup. Both parks look like somewhat of a western themed counterpart to SeaWorld...and country music is not exactly my favorite either!

I'm not really digging that layout too much. It looks hella painful, and only a step above the Volares. I'd put money down I enjoy Firehawk more than this...

Wow it's really coming along! The maximum speed of the ride is still unknown for some reason, though - I wonder when it'll be revealed? I'm guessing it'll be around 50-55 mph, based on the ride height.

Really? I can remember the music for both rides quite clearly (And particularly with rides like CA Screamin' and Space Mountain I was blown away at how well they had worked it in) Are you sure you haven't damaged your hearing at some point or anything? I mean its not as if they would have speakers, and then not have them loud enough to overcome the ambient noise (wind, wheels etc) No I haven't damaged my hearing, as far as I know. I run my iPod a lot, and I've had to listen to many loud people at school, but I passed the hearing test the last time I took it. I really like the music on Space Mountain and California Screamin' too, and I could follow it on Space Mountain pretty well, but on California Screamin I just remember the music they play while you're waiting on the launch track, the thumping bass on the lift hill, and some ambient rock at the midcourse brake sections, but I wasn't even able to make out the "Daa daaaa daaaa da da da da daa DAAAA" until I listened to the soundtrack on headphones.

IMO onboard audio on a coaster is kind of a gimmick...seriously, on California Screamin' and RNRC the roar of the wind is so loud you can't really hear the music. Even though I haven't ridden this coaster, I can see why OTSRs in the new trains would really murder it. I read in one of ACE's magazines that one of the reasons Maverick has OTSRs (besides the presence of inversions), is to bring the ride to a wider range of audiences based on guest size.