netdvn

One of the cool things about wing coasters is that you have a lot of opportunities for environment interaction (keyholes, near-miss supports, water effects, near-miss props). XRaptor looks like a lot of fun, especially if you include all the near misses.

Was the lake underneath the helix really supposed to be that nasty algae green color? Sounds like something Magic Mountain would do

Not sure if these should be posted here since it's drama. Still interesting tidbits nonetheless.

Sequoia Adventure looks pretty painful the way it sorta drags you hanging upside down into the next element. Probably not a coaster I'd make a priority to ride. Now Wodan on the other hand, that looks fantastic. That would definitely be a coaster I'd make a priority to ride.

Picture quality is good, about on par with the other videos you've posted, although a bit on the shaky side. Audio sounds even more muffled than before and doesn't sound very good (worse than the GoPro audio quality on other POVs). Kraken was a pretty good ride when I rode last May. Definitely one of the major highlights of visiting SWO.

Both ROS coasters could seriously benefit from having props, tunnels, and flamethrowers on the flat speed portions. It would definitely make for a more interesting ride.

I like how ROS flies over the water. Even if it does look a little murky, it's a nice setting. Looks like it should be repainted though. The red color is pretty faded.

From the video, Colossus seems more like El Toro without the second half. Still looks fantastic, but the other prefabs seem to do a bit more with the layout. We could definitely use a few more of these in the states, but then again, we have RMC for the crazy stuff here.

CW isn't a US park. That article is meant to be about US parks. Still interesting to still see it at the top of the most visited seasonal regional parks in North America. I thought it slipped a few places. Then again, it's sat at the top for at least a few years. I'm also surprised to see KI ahead of CP in attendance.

I've heard a lot of reviews of people knocking the ride for being forceless despite the impressive theming. Phantasialand is definitely a must-visit park for me regardless.

For a while, Canada's Wonderland was one of the most attended regional parks in North America. Seems it's slipped a few spots since then. Wouldn't surprise me to see it still sitting close to the top of though.

Those Vine videos are perfect for posting trip highlights. I'm looking forward to seeing more of those on future trips/trip reports.

Bullet looks fantastic. Perhaps a stateside park could look into picking one of those up as a family-style launch coaster. As for the flat, I know Kentucky Kingdom had one of those at one point. Anyone know if any other stateside (or even foreign) parks picked those up?

If this rumor is legit, call me excited. It's about time Williamsburg gets a wooden coaster. Shouldn't be too surprising to see rumors pointing to Tampa finally putting Gwazi on the chopping block. The ride ran pretty poorly last year when I rode. I'm looking forward to seeing what its replacement is. - It would be an interesting spot for a new coaster or the planned drop tower.

Wow KT definitely has balls. Something I definitely didn't have at her age coming from someone who was afraid of riding the kiddie rides let alone a skycoaster. Joker is a pretty cool addition to SFM. Well-themed and it looks like it provides a pretty decent ride. Glad to see it got a new home (and original name).

Might as well join in on the fun. Same deal as usual. Message me if you see something you like.

I have Wednesday free. Would you like to do a meetup? I could give you a tour around the park and you won't have to worry too much about lines/crowds. Speaking of lines/crowds, that's usually dependent on the weather. If it's warm, expect the park to be slammed. In other news, Mach Tower officially reopened today. I got no rides on it, but definitely saw it running with people on it.

I prefer a good theme over a bunch of rides placed over a concrete pathway. When I look at pictures of a park like Cedar Point or Magic Mountain, I think "hey this park has nice looking coasters," but looking at pics of an amazing theme park like DisneySEA or Europa Park, I think WOW. Good theming can really enhance a ride.

Based on looks alone Outlaw Run has - Steep near vertical first drop - Rollover dive camel toe thingy - Half of a high five airtime hill - Double barrel roll - Awesome looking trains - Amazing setting with amazing theming Iron Rattler has - First drop reminiscent of the original, legendary, terrifying Rattler's first drop - Texas Giant-style overbanks over a cliff face and in the spot of the old helix - Zero G roll over the cliffside - Outward banked high five airtime hill thingy - Dive off the cliff into a tunnel - Awesome looking trains - The thing is built on the side of a damn cliff. You can't ask for a better setting. Iron Rattler takes the cake in having more interesting elements. The first drop should be pretty insane with that shimmy, edging out Outlaw's rollover dive thingy. I'd take all of Iron Rattler's overbanks and tunnel dive off the cliff over Outlaw's twists through the forest and double barrel roll. Plus the whole ride sits on the side of a cliff. - Oh and the new iRat has its own app store, has Siri access, can make calls, and almost kill you with its map function. Let's see Outlaw Run do that

You only live once, so you've gotta live life on the edge. I probably won't ride either anytime soon, but I'm only living once, so I have to vote for the ride that speaks for me through that. A ride with cool gimmicks and unique elements. Which is why I'm voting for Full Keeper Gate Throttle. - I totally voted for Full Throttle though because, well YOLO

Didn't everyone say Ultimate Skyloop would have terrible capacity too? Even with three trains, you would still have to account for spacing, so one train would have to clear the top hat before you dispatch the next one, so one train would sit in the station and the other would sit on the brake run (like what a few people said). Not sure how that affects capacity. The ride isn't very long either and it uses lapbars (like Ultimate Skyloop), so if operations are good, capacity shouldn't be that big of an issue. - Then again this is Magic Mountain. YOLO! - The hot wings look really good though.

So the park isn't changing their map design? That one looks just like the other (meh) CF maps/KD maps from previous years. All the other major changes are totally awesome for the park. I'm definitely glad to see them trying to improve.

The park's opening times are staggered so if you arrive at rope drop, the first ride you'll be able to hit is Loch Ness. Just follow the opening times (Apollo, Verbolten, then work your way around the back of the park or go against the flow of traffic to Griffon/Alpengeist). Unless you're visiting on a Saturday or holiday, lines shouldn't be that big of an issue really.

[youtu_be] [/youtu_be] Fiesta Texas just released their full-length animated POV for Iron Rattler. This will definitely give Outlaw a run for its money.

Having ridden both, neither is really all that great. Since Griffon is much closer, I've had the liberty of riding that far more than its older sister. That being said, I personally prefer Sheikra. Sheikra's theming really puts it over the top. While Griffon's farm house is nice, I prefer Sheikra's stylistic buildings and the splashdown/tunnel against the path over Griffon's bridge and tucked away splashdown. Sheikra's cool loading platform with the bridges is totally awesome too. Ride-wise, they're both about even. I could never find this magic intensity outside of the impressive ejector you'd get going over the drops. Even then Tampa/Williamsburg have more impressive and forceful coasters out there. If I actually ranked them, they'd probably make my top 20 (but only because my coaster count is still pretty small).