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Cool. If I ever feel the urge to "complete" New Jersey, I'll hit this up. I've certainly been tempted to do so, since I'm only missing, like, 5 coasters there.

Did we all take the same quiz here? I got 7/20! I don't even know the layouts of coasters I've actually ridden. Plus, this time I didn't have a picture of Olympia Looping on my wall to help me out.

Yeah...I'm not sure what the motivation would be for that. The world does not need more of those things. Maybe they just wanted a cheap option for a gimmicky coaster? I will admit the forces are pretty interesting in parts. But overall, these are terrifying and painful in a not-good way. And I know most people hate them more than I do!

^Quite possibly it will be on a TPR bus somewhere, late one evening...

That event looks terrifying, in a good way...I think. No, no, that is exactly what you're supposed to do! Seriously, on any Gravitron where you're required to remain in a standing position, I just spend the entire time turning my head every which way.

I like how the vehicles strongly call penguins to mind, instead of tackily trying to replicate actual penguins. Very pretty and streamlined. The trackless system looks like it'll be put to great use here. I'm glad this ride will give me something extra to do whenever I'm at SeaWorld Orlando next; I'll be happy to go back and enjoy their small coaster collection some more, and this will help fill out my day at this beautiful park.

^Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a good pic of it in action like that. Definitely looks nerve-wracking! I've heard it actually is a good ride, despite being a Vekoma.

That name is all kinds of clever.

When I came across the Magic Steed one day, I thought, "That has to have the smallest-ever vertical loop." I mean, the ride itself is only 39.3' tall! I didn't even remember it was a Pax creation, but that makes perfect sense. However, the dreaded Pinfari ZL-42 coasters are only 36.1', with a 31.8' tall loop, so they may be the winners here.

I just bought some makeup from Clinique. The only Black Friday-specific benefit appeared to be a free bonus consisting of three items, but I also was able to enjoy free shipping, a free sample item, and hopefully some Southwest points. I'm not a "fan" of Black Friday (or Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday), but more and more I don't care to bother with trying to avoid it. Speaking up against it might very well influence exactly no one (though you never know), and observing Buy Nothing Day (do people still do that?) certainly isn't going to have any meaningful effects.

^Wow, that looks truly disturbing. I had no idea!

01. Batman: The Ride 02. Montu 03. Flight Deck 04. Alpengeist 05. Talon 06. Raptor 07. Silver Bullet 08. Afterburn 09. Patriot 10. Great Bear 11. Dragon Challenge: Fireball 12. Dragon Challenge: Hornball I don't rank Batmans individually anymore, and the honor for the best one goes to SFOT. Most of my other favorite Batmans are ones not named Batman, and several of the rest would be at the low end of my list. Although they're not near the top of my rankings anymore, I did enjoy Silver Bullet and Patriot more than most people. Great Bear may not deserve quite such a low ranking, but then again, it does have some pretty stiff competition. Dragon Challenge definitely felt lacking in comparison to what it once must have been.

Clever name, I guess...good thing I didn't spend any time wondering what kind of ride this would be, since it isn't one. How many other portable hotels are out there? They look a bit sad, but I might not mind staying in one, because I (still) love bunk beds.

Sometimes I have trouble with this issue, so it's still a case-by-case basis for me. Mr. Freeze: NO (have ridden both versions at SFOT) Texas Giant/NTAG: YES (have ridden NTAG) Rattler/iRat: YES (will have ridden both) Otherwise, not sure where to draw the line. I think it's interesting to note in which forms I've ridden a coaster, and that could take the form of counting it as a new credit, but it's not a big deal. I will probably just go with the majority in each case unless I have a really good reason to differ.

^They (or at least the rumor mill) sure did a good job of teasing us about a potential overhaul for a while. I think many of us agreed that it was probably a lost cause, though.

^^^I was warned about Batwing and Joker's Jinx before my visit, and sure enough, Joker's went down for a while before I got a chance to hit it. I would've been very disappointed if it hadn't opened back up before I had to leave. Hope to hear more news about this Invertigo soon!

For the sake of harmony, perhaps I should pretend I don't, but, yeah... Now everyone on that trip is wondering if was them. I think I remembered to wear it that day...I hope at least. Does the fact that there were very few women on the trip and yet he still specified "his/her" mean it's probably me? I only hope I'm just joking here. Seriously, though, I do reapply when convenient in the car/bus/hotel, and I'd rather do so in front of others (no big deal) than not at all.

While taking off my pants (disempanting?), I found a Busch Gardens Quick Queue in my back pocket.

01. American Thunder 02. Prowler 03. Thunderhead 04. Renegade 05. Lightning Racer 06. Roar (SFDK) 07. Gwazi 08. Roar (SFA) 09. Wildcat 10. Apocalypse Three new GCIs for me this year! Plus, there are now 5 total in my top 20. Thunderhead: good airtime in the front, an interestingly twisted layout, and a well-above-average setting (though it doesn't give the flying-through-the-woods feeling of, say, The Beast). Definitely one to marathon. Gwazi: While it's pretty terrible and definitely not something to re-ride, I swear there were small amounts of airtime that were not just bouncing around from the copious jackhammering (though others argue differently). The layout is impressive, particularly since you have the bonus of a whole 'nother coaster to admire as you ride. It's a shame they don't duel anymore, especially considering the success of Lightning Racer. Roar East: Boring! I actually thought Roar West was a lot rougher; Roar East was pretty tolerable, even in the back. But at least Roar West had airtime. This just seemed like it didn't accomplish much, despite its decent layout. I must admit, every year I feel more and more embarrassed about not caring for Apocalypse. At least the hype has died way down, now, so I don't feel like I'll be eaten for sharing this. Plus, I'd be happy to give it another chance.

^Yeah, I was all ready to go, but you just HAD to drag me to Universal and Islands of Adventure instead... On a more serious note, I definitely hope to work this park into my next Florida trip!

100% down for this. I think I've decided it's pretty much a given that, no matter exactly when or where or why I am in Europe next, I will head to Europa Park as well.

The best response I can think of to this news is simply: "adorable." Yay for Rudolph and friends!

Too bad Excalibur is having issues. Then again, I found it fairly tame in comparison to Butler Amusements' Evolution at the California State Fair, which scared me half to death.

1. Mystery Mine: I could do without the roughness, but the ride mostly makes up for it with extensive theming and a few thrilling surprises (that I truly did not know to expect, despite a basic knowledge of the ride). The combination of elements and theming make it feel pretty complete, and I remember some decent forces as well. 2. Iron Shark: Wow! This one is surprisingly intense from start to finish. While it would still be exciting if you stuck it in an average park, the setting by the water does add a lot to the overall experience, even moreso than I was expecting. The first drop delivers what feels like it would be stand-up airtime with a higher lapbar (and the comfy lapbars do allow for a decent amount of ejection and plenty of freedom overall). Then the ride provides all kinds of fun and perhaps-unexpected forces. While it's short for a major coaster, it's definitely more than satisfying for a Eurofighter. 3. Dare Devil Dive: While not the most memorable coaster out there, this felt like it had a bit more to it than some of the other Eurofighters. Of course, I'm fully in favor of the lapbar trains. Plus, a bit of plane theming never hurts! 4. SpongeBob: This ride had some fun forces in a couple spots but definitely felt short, so I'm only a minor fan. I do like the unusual indoor setting, though. 5. Untamed: The only full-on disappointment of the bunch. Uncomfortable, short, and boring past the first drop. While I did ride it 10 times in a row, stopping after 1 or so would've been fine, too. One thing I've noticed about Eurofighters: it's not the number of inversions that matters!

Hmm. I did like Vortex a little...Anaconda and most similar rides, however, are just kinda "there." No great loss to me or most of the enthusiast community, though. The real question, of course, is what improvements will crop up in place of these rides.