cal1br3tto

I absolutely love the queue and station buildings for Lightning Racer. They have such a beautiful classic feel with arches, cupolas and other thoughtful details. I like stations of any age with old-school elements like latticework, carnival lights or interesting design or architecture. Some of the "futuristic" stations are attractive as well.

Great start Kevin! I'm hungry now.

I don't think this is disturbing or inappropriate. But I am pretty liberal with regards to what I find entertaining. On some level I kind of want to see this built, just for shock value. But no riders, please.

I do wonder what they're looking for in a "well-traveled" enthusiast. While that's an easy term to understand, I think the threshold in terms of park and coaster counts can be pretty arbitrary depending on context and individual opinion.

Yay for a new Kang'A'Bounce! Those rides are adorable (and fun).

^Oddly, I had never heard of Cedar Point before becoming an enthusiast. It's also not a park the general public brings up with me. I'm not sure if I just need to talk parks with more people, or if people are assuming "everyone" knows about the park when in reality, people in my region might have no reason to know or care about it.

^^I rank plenty of hypers above Magnum (and mostly ones that aren't all that popular). Same goes for Bizarro, Nitro, and Goliath at La Ronde.

I figured I'd miss some flat rides since I don't really care. I rode the CP and KI Windseekers this year. I also rode the newly relocated Little Dipper at SFGAm in 2010, so it looks like an edit is already in order.

^^I was able to ride Lil' Phantom without a child, but I'm not sure if the policies are consistent or based on lines.

I just realized Coaster-Count makes it really easy to figure these out without having to, you know, think. American Eagle (red) Boomerang, La Ronde Colossus (right) Flitzer, Playland's Castaway Cove Goofy's Sky School Kettle Creek Mine Matterhorn Bobsleds (right) Minor Mike, Zuma Fun Center Ninja, SFMM Roller Coaster, Country Mercantile Roller Soaker Runaway Train, Gillian's Wonderland Pier Son of Beast Star Jet, Casino Pier Superman: Escape from Krypton (right) Xcelerator Child required Marche du Mille-pattes Roadrunner Express, SFDK Taxi Jam, CGA Adults prohibited Dragon Wagon, Funtown Pier Kiddie Coaster, Rye Playland Lil' Coaster, Puyallup Fair Little Titans Percy's Magic Wile E. Goliath Clown Flyer Jr. Damn, that's 19 coasters I could ride, most of them easily. Plus 5 I could never ride, unless I attend an appropriate event at Rye. The list of brand new credits I need at parks I've visited is steadily climbing as well, but that's a given.

I clearly ate the wrong food at Knoebels. Didn't particularly care for any of it (not counting the lovely birch beer). But I don't really have a valid basis for my opinion, as I disregarded the common advice to eat your way through the park. No complaints from me about aspects like prices, customer service, selection, or eating areas, though.

2010 Little Dipper, SFGAm (relocated) 2011 Fiesta Express, Gillian's Wonderland Pier (relocated) Gotham City Gauntlet, SFNE (relocated) Green Lantern, SFGAdv (relocated) New Texas Giant, SFOT (re-designed) Soarin' Eagle, Scream Zone (relocated) Steeplechase, Scream Zone Untamed, Canobie Lake Park Wacky Worm, Gillian's FunLand (relocated) Wooden Warrior, Quassy Amusement Park Ten coasters, but only three original coaster installations. Of note, I was the first public rider of Vertigo, a StarFlyer-like ARM ride (first in line, first to board, first cycle). Yes, I realize I'm far from the literal first rider, but I did ride at its debut carnival. Also, I rode NTag on its first official operating day. Again, I know this means thousands rode before me, but I still think it was a neat opportunity.

I agree with a fair number of the awards. I'm always happy to see the love for Holiday World, Knoebels, Silver Dollar City, and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I also appreciate the continued recognition for two great ring carousels and a double-decker, and some quirky and well-developed walk-through attractions. (But did anyone else think the Kennywood carousel was really quite...bad?) As for the coaster lists, I've been on just under half of the steelies and just over 3/5 of the woodies, and I think quite a number of them have been overrated here. However, I'm glad to see the oft-maligned or ignored Steel Force and Mamba, as well as the Giovanola siblings, get some positive attention. I've always loved most underdog hypers more than most perennial favorites.

^I also dream about Knoebels fairly often, and this started before my first visit there. There are several other recurring themes and images in my dreams. Naturally, a common one is coasters. I generally have a definite feel for what coaster I'm dreaming about, even if it's drastically different from real life. My most frightening recurring dream involves driving improperly (brakeless, in the wrong lanes, etc.). I've ended up half-thinking these were real-life incidents, which is completely untrue.

^Neat find! There can't be all that many people who would recognize the place.

I had a realistic but simplistic series of dreams set at Knoebels. Later I dreamed I was ranting about the current state of education to my mom. Today I had to confirm with her that I did not actually bring up the topic with her. Since I hadn't, I repeated the rant in real life.

Yes, I am including racers that also duel, as well as racer-style double-track coasters that rarely or never race. Judging the racing aspect, my favorite is easily Lightning Racer. The dispatches are always timed perfectly for racing, and the winner is made clear each time with both visuals and announcements. The layouts are perfectly imaginative and satisfying for a racer-dueler. Of course, winning, whether easily or in a close race, is always fun, but I also enjoy losing because I love the visual effect of "chasing" the other train. The other two racing racers I particularly like are Racer at Kennywood and Gemini. Both feature hand-slapping opportunities and a well-executed racing, chasing aspect. This is how I rate and rank them as overall coaster experiences: 1. Lightning Racer, 8/10 (with a racing bias since they would be mediocre alone) 2. Racer, KI, 7/10 (rough, but some powerful airtime) 3. Gemini, 6/10 (approximate as I rank steel separately, overrated, a bit of airtime) 4. Racer, KW, 6/10 (slight racing bias, as there is only one good drop) 5. Colossus (left), 6/10 (more airtime than expected, but nothing special) 6. Monstre, 6/10 (interesting layouts, decent sensation of speed and one pop of airtime per side) 7. Rolling Thunder, 6/10 (a bit of a fast feel, cute classic layout, not too rough) 8. American Eagle (blue), 5/10 (boring, no airtime)

^Looking forward to it. Despite all the controversy, I always enjoy perusing the results, especially the top coaster lists. I'm not personally bothered by the America bias, since that just means I've ridden many more of the top coasters according to these awards than I have according to the Mitch Hawker Poll (which I find more interesting and valid).

I'll have to summarize since my last dream was so vivid and complex, but here are parts of it: - I had plans to depart on a full Washington coaster trip, including some parks that aren't even in or near Washington. - I was very delayed in getting ready; thankfully, my fellow travelers showed up late, but then I still wasn't ready! - I discovered I owned three identical copies of my aging wallet, including one in perfect condition. - An indoor car show mysteriously appeared in front of my eyes. - Some other creepy stuff. - I finally woke up after having serious semi-wakeful thoughts about some park mixed with dreaming.

I don't always pay close attention, but these two just might be the longest: New Texas Giant, about 2 hours on its official opening day Top Thrill Dragster, about 1 1/2 hours Thankfully, both of these lines moved at a reasonable pace. I'm one of those people who loves moving forward in a line, even if it doesn't always mean much.

I'm glad to see most of the best rides are fine. I didn't want to overreact to what happened, but I just never knew how worried I should be about the park. Thankfully, they seem to be recovering well.

Faygo Rock & Rye I want more damnit!

Even if the pricing for this weekend only reflects the operating hours, I guess it doesn't change my point: it should be easy for people to get their money's worth. Incidentally, Knoebels is the only normal-sized, desirable park where I actually prefer using individual tickets. I love how the low prices help your money go further than it seems like it should, and it's actually kinda fun to check prices and prepare tickets for each ride for a change.

I don't bother ranking most Boomerangs anymore. Most are either slightly fun or completely forgettable. 10 Boomerangs Boomerang, KBF Boomerang, SFFT Boomerang, WOF Boomerang Coast to Coaster, SFDK Boomerang Coast to Coaster, TGE Flashback, SFOT Flashback, SFNE Sea Serpent, Morey's Piers Sidewinder, Hersheypark Zoomerang, Lake Compounce 2 Invertigos Invertigo, CGA Invertigo, KI 2 GIBs Aftershock, Silverwood Deja Vu, SFMM

Reducing prices seems like a nice gesture. Although the closure of a few well-loved rides is surely disappointing to some, overall there seems to be enough open for guests to easily get their money's worth. I'm glad the park has such understanding and supportive fans.