Carnage

I would stay far away from any refurb 360. I'm currently on my third 360, and am really just waiting for it to die at which point I'll get one of the newer models with HDMI. Though if you do buy new, look for Jasper, that's the latest version to come out. The chance of a refurb eventually dieing is very high. So many people like myself are on #3+ because whenever you send a console in, they just send you back a refurb which has been patched up. The odds of it crapping out again are fairly likely. Buying used is alright, but if it specifically says refurb I wouldn't touch it. (especially if the warranty is up)

Not a co-incidence, that picture seems to be used online as CGA's Grizzly. Just seems like a few places are using the wrong picture, passing it off as a different ride.

That's what I thought as well, although the train is going the wrong direction. The picture could just be flipped though.

And it was even showing Stealth, one of the worst movies ever made.

The wild mouse scared me pretty good too. And the kiddy coaster rolled back on the lift hill on us.

Interesting that I read this news on the same day I read about $99 flights out of Niagara Falls to Myrtle Beach. "if" it re-opens I might look at getting down there before it closes again. Although that "if" seems like a bit of a long shot.

Well, running somewhat. Ride closures and break downs are more frequent the earlier you go as they work out the kinks. The way the holidays work this year, the May long weekend in Canada is the 16th/17th/18th, being opening weekend and physics day on the Monday. That's the weekend I always go, so hopefully it's not too crazy busy due to opening weekend or physics day.

Inverted drops tend to be much less steep then standard sit downs. The curve and drop have more to do with the smaller clearance between cars then they do stress on the track.

^ From what I understand that's not the reason the newer B&Ms lack the pre-drop. It's because the chain speeds up at the top of the hill reducing stress on the chain.

Both days I had last May Maverick was fine, and we managed to get two quick rides in before heading off to MF. If Maverick is on early entry, you really should head back to it anyways, and then continue on to MF,etc. If it happens to break down, then just head off to one of the other open rides.

Just go back and read the TRP trip reports from the 2006 UK trip. I'd expect the 2010 trip to be pretty similar.

The trick with wind though is that the direction it is blowing is as imortant as the actual wind speed. Certain rides can be affected by a slight wind in one direction, but can handle a strong wind if it's coming from a different direction.

What??

^ If you're talking about that small flight of stairs at the end of the break run, it's there for easier access to the train when stopped on the brake run.

Well there's still alot of work to be done before the ride can cycle. Lots of electrical work, etc to do. Also, unless I'm mistaken they don't even have the trains yet. I'd guess it doesn't cycle until March.

Behemoth is shaped the same, and has a decent amount of airtime. It's not going to rip you out of your seat like an Intamin hyper, but it should still be good.

I don't know, the $8 snack box I had to buy was crap. But I've only flown AA on shorter flights. Long haul inter-continental would probably have better food.

I thought Dorney was kind of average. Although I went pre-Hydra. Worlds of Fun could have a decent mix of wood and steel with the addition of Prowler. Renegade is really the only good woody in the entire chain at the moment IMO. But Prowler will probably be the 2nd. Some of the parks have terrible woodies. Beast and SoB at Kings Island are awful, Wild Beast at Wonderland is terrible, and then there's a whole bunch of average at best woodies at the other parks.

^ It typically goes without saying that if someone is asking for advice, they want it from people who have actually experienced these parks.

Do you have any preference to wood or steel? If you want a good wooden coaster, Valleyfair is really your only choice with Renegade. Canadas Wonderland and Kings Island both have horrible woodies. Though both parks do have new B&M hypercoasters. Kings Dominion and Carowinds aren't really all that special for wood or steel.

^ All of what you listed I've seen under both CF and Paramount. Paramount was just as anti camera as CF, and operations were always somewhat slow.

I see no difference between CF and Paramount to be honest. To the OP, Canadas Wonderland and Kings Island are pretty much your only options if they have to be within driving distance of Detroit. Valleyfair, Kings Dominion, and Carowinds are all pretty far away. Probably too long drives for what you'd want.

Maybe for those of us from the north a light jacket would be enough in May. But for someone from Texas I'd definetly suggest they bring some pretty warm clothing. The mornings especially tend to be pretty chilly, with the afternoon warming up quite a bit.

Some nice pics. Although they would have been better without the date stamp.

I'm white and I sometimes feel out of place at Cedar Point. Especially if you spend anytime in Sandusky itself. Sandusky itself is pretty damn sketchy.