SeanS

Man, I'm really upset I didn't ride the Demon when I was there last month. It is hard to beat the first drop if you sit in the back, and you gotta love the tunnel. Do they play the Demon song in the queue again, or is that only during Fright Fest? It's been years since I've heard that ...

SoCal members: How annoying is it to be an regular visitor to DLR right now? It seems like something major is closed all the time. Installing this overlay -- which does sound awesome -- will close Space Mountain for another couple weeks, overlapping with the Mansion's closing. I want to go out there this year or early next year, but I'm apprehensive to do so until the big DCA revamp is finally done. I guess the resort plays more to a regional audience that makes more than one trip a year, but for those of us here in the Midwest who don't want to shell out WDW money every year, all these closings are frustrating.

I'm 30, and the first coaster I ever rode was the great Schwarzkopf ride at SFGAm, The Whizzer. I rode it again about a month ago and still love it -- it's like no other ride I've ever been on.

It's not my overall favorite coaster, but my favorite single ride on a coaster came on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland. That ride is infinitely better at night than it is during the day, and on a chilly January night with a nice breeze, the train started up the second lift hill just as the grand finale of the holiday fireworks began. They were going off directly ahead of us, and it made for a really special moment, one that can not easily be duplicated. (If only I had pictures of this moment ... !)

Without question, Expedition Everest. The track-switching portions are good in theory, but take way, way too long to happen. As a result, the ride almost feels episodic in nature, and that's not something you should ever be able to say about a coaster. Then of course there's the stationary, strobe-lit Yeti, which is nowhere near as scary as the Abominable Snowman on the Matterhorn, despite the fact it's about four times larger! The queue for EE, however, is extremely impressive. While the ride is a letdown, the attraction as a whole is a must-see because of the immense amount of detail put into the story. But should a queue ever be more impressive than the roller coaster that follows it? I think not.

That Space Shuttle America ride was like the biggest letdown ever. Being a huge fan of Star Tours and the Days of Thunder ride at PKI, I was so psyched for a simulator ride at my home park. The queue theming was OK, but the ride left much to be desired (to say the least). A shooter dark ride like Buzz or MiB would be a great addition to SFGAm, and that site might be a good place for it. I shudder to think what the wait times would be for something like that, though.

On the steel side, I have to throw in a vote for Iron Wolf at SFGAm. I rode it about a month ago and found it to be as unpleasant an experience as I can ever remember having at a park -- and it used to be one of my favorites. The stand-up restraints were as uncomfortable as always, but the ride itself was even worse. I ended up putting my hands over my ears after all the head-banging.

TPR newbie here! I went to SFGAm for only the second time in the last 7 or 8 years a few weeks ago. Had a great time, but found the signs proclaiming it to be the "cleanest theme park in the world" rather laughable. I can hardly blame that on the employees, though; it's hard to keep things spotless when the people in the park think nothing of tossing trash into waterways and spitting gum everywhere -- like on the canopy under the Superman lift hill. Yuck. I have to wonder if different sections of the park have totally different management teams; on my last trip, it seemed like Southwest Territory and County Fair, for instance, have really enthusiastic ride ops, but the rest of the park doesn't. Southwest Territory is easily my favorite part of the park; it's the one part that actually feels like a theme park. I want to go back on the 31st because one of the bands playing that night, The Veronicas, is incredible. I saw them at Metro two Saturdays ago and they absolutely blew me away. And I know from the band's Twitter updates that they love roller coasters, too, so maybe they'll be out and about in the park before the show. Sweet.

I was toying with the idea of going to Cedar Point for the first time later this summer, but these last two updates have me thinking Dollywood...

Howdy, I'm Sean, a newspaper editor and designer in the Chicago area. I discovered TPR a couple months ago and absolutely love it. I'm a total Disney Parks nerd, and I far prefer the tone and attitude of this site and its users to those Disney-only sites. The trip reports are endlessly entertaining! SFGAm is my home park, and I really want to make my maiden voyage to Cedar Point this summer ... provided I don't end up going to Disneyland again, of course. Favorite rides: Raging Bull (SFGAm), Test Track (Epcot), Jungle Cruise (Disneyland), The Beast (KI), Tower of Terror (DCA ... yes, I actually prefer the DCA version)