xVicesAndVirtues

Awesome report! I know what you guys mean about Raven. I visited the park for the first time last year and actually did a similar "night before, morning after" trip. My first ride on Raven was in the back at night, and despite some of the hills having some jackhammering moments, I'll never forget how terrifying some of the drops were, not knowing the layout and being pitch black outside. I think we rode it two or three more times in the back just for pure shock value. That coasters kicks ass, I hope they give it a little maintenance.

Wow this looks like such an incredible experience. RMC's innovation combined with their rockstar popularity the past few years is really breathing fresh air into the typical B&M cookie-cutter additions of old. For those worried about capacity, maybe they should build one at Europa Park in Germany first and then have the Six Flags ride ops train over there. They'd still somehow manage to move a full queue in 60 minutes max.

Take this with a very large grain of salt, as it's honestly on the level of "the Dippin Dots guy told me ___", but while at the park today, an employee who I ended up talking to (whom I do not know) told me that they had an issue with the coaster on Monday that's likely to keep it down for the coming days. Again...I don't know this person, so they could have been talking out their a$$ or lying through their teeth.

Hey guys, quick question about Dollywood rain/thunderstorm policy. Going to be at the park tomorrow evening and Tuesday and the weather is looking like 90% chance of rain. Does Dollywood follow a strict Cedar Fair-like rain policy of closing everything down or are they more likely to keep most coasters open in the rain? I'm really hoping to get some quality time in with Lightning Rod!

Fantastic for him, since Great Adventure is probably the only Six Flags park that seems like it's been consistently ran decently for the past couple of years. Being one of their largest parks, I'm sure that had to be one hell of an undertaking, so he deserves it. I'm sure he also is getting a pretty nice paycheck to go along with the CEO title. Now I just hope that whoever fills his shoes at Great Adventure can actually fill his shoes. I've visited or re-visited most of the Six Flags parks in the past two years and they've almost all been a total coin toss of what to expect in terms of operations, quality of service, etc. As stated above, if you asked me "which Six Flags park seems like it's ran the best", I'd say Great Adventure all day. New England and Fiesta Texas have been mostly good, too. Just don't send the PP from over Georgia...or over Texas....

^I thought it was "Pennsatucky"? But for real, this looks great from the video. If it's anything like White Lightning at Fun Spot down here in Orlando, it'll be less of a "aww cute little tiny GCI" and more of a "holy crap this thing flies through its course!"

54 of 126 items (43%) Rank: #103 of 547 users (top 20%) Guess I have a ways to go. Some of them I had the opportunity to ride, like the Woodstock Express coasters at Kings Dominion and Kings Island, but I'm kind of whatever about the "kiddie woodies". (I did ride the one at Carowinds, though)

Aww, this made me really miss the way the Orlando parks used to be. For anyone who hasn't been since 5+ years ago, they basically took 100% of their efforts and budget in maintenance, service, food quality, employee talent, etc and just dumped it into the Potter sections, yet managed to make all of those things worse at the same time. For the guy that compared USJ to Six Flags...I think I'd be more likely to compare the non-Potter areas of USO to Six Flags...in the way that they build a new dark ride or whatever then leave it and expect it to stand on it's own while it rots away and the paint peels off.

^^I agree, i305 definitely eats MF and craps it all over Cedar Point... ...however, after about 3-4 rides, it eats me and craps me all over the midway outside the exit. And I need to wait an hour before I can be subjected to those kind of forces again. I'll agree on Fury, it's sooooo good. I did not expect that from post-1998 B&M

^Same. For example, a lot of people knock on Millennium Force because it's "not enough" or whatever, but it has the kickass old Intamin trains, awesome drop (especially in the back), then you get to go 90mph through the course losing very little speed, plus it rides like an Intamin. I rank it in my top five and I don't think I've ever had a Cedar Point trip where I didn't ride it 15-20 times.

I did the same thing with Goliath at Magic Mountain. It's so amazingly mediocre that I had to edit my post and add it in because I totally forgot that it even existed. I haven't been on Goliath at SFMM since WCB 2012, but I'll say that when I rode Titan over the summer, it seemed like it had aged 20 years past how I remember Goliath riding. I probably would have ranked Goliath towards the middle/bottom of the more boring Moragn hypers like Mamba or Steel Force, but Titan might actually be my least favorite hyper.

^It's not that big of a deal. If you want to include the NYNY coaster on your hyper list, go for it. No one is going to stop you. Top Thrill Dragster is my favorite hyper that's one hyper giving another hyper a f*cking piggy back ride. Banshee is my favorite hyper that's a B&M invert that was built in place of a demolished hyper woodie that wasn't a hyper woodie because it had a loop, then the loop was removed so then it was a hyper woodie.

One of the best new non-news threads I've seen in a long time. I totally feel the same way about the "definition" of a hyper, such as how Expedition GeForce isn't in the height category but is still a hyper for all intents and purposes. The older I get, the more I find that I appreciate the constantly re-rideable coasters that still have great forces more than some of the new ones that really push the envelope. Like, I love Skyrush as much as anyone else because it's insane, but you can't ride it all day like you can Superman the Ride. Kind of like how you might like to get beaten by a dominatrix, but if you did it every day, it would be hard to go to work. 1. Expedition GeForce. What they say is true. If you haven't been on it and can only afford one international trip, it should include this. I think I rode it like 20-30 times, only limited by an unfortunate one-train operation that day and the fact that it's in a really nice park. It's good in the front, good in the back, good in the middle. Amplified airtime that feels good but doesn't brutalize you. 2. Superman the Ride. It used to ride a little more EGF-like with the old trains and the drawn-out layout kind of slows the new trains down a little. I wish they'd do something like a cable lift replacement and send it into the layout a little faster, or something. But this is probably the best actual layout ever designed for a coaster as a whole. The tunnels and spaghetti bowl section are both brilliantly done. 3. Skyrush. For aforementioned purposes of enjoying a little pain from time to time. It's really scary and will hurt you if you don't hold on. 4. Superman RoS/Ride of Steel. They're kind of the same, because they are. I know the first halves are kind of whatever, but they ride like Intamin coasters and the bunny hills are nutso. 5. Magnum XL-200. Also some pain, but if you kind of put your arms on top of your legs and hold onto the lapbars in an upside-down manner, you can prevent it...just don't break your wrists like I almost did once. Then some kind of order of Phantom's Revenge followed by Nitro/Apollo's, then the rest of the B&M hypers, followed by the Morgan hypers. I was really tired the last time I went on Intimidator at Carowinds and actually started to doze a little.

I think the only coaster I've been the slightest bit disappointed to lose to RMC-ification is Roar at SFDK. The rest, as has been said before, were mediocre at best or completely terrible. Cyclone was fun sometimes if you got it immediately after a re-tracking and sat in the front row. I rode it in the back once and I think I lost some years of my life to this decision.

The new area's pre-rendering looks like it'll greatly improve the look of that area. The wild mouse coaster being a non-permanent model didn't match up with the theming of the rest of the park, which is otherwise heavily done. Not sad to see it go, though I was glad that the wild mouse coaster was there for me, to serve as credit #249 and subsequently, dorkily make EGF #250.

^Looks like it was an oops on their part and pulled. Link didn't work for me.

^Agreed. Especially since the change of ownership/IPO resulting in no more free beer in the hospitality house. I agree with coasterbill that it's also my favorite park in Florida. Is Disney a better overall/resort experience? Yes, but if you go to Busch Gardens on a weekday for 75% of the year, you have the place to yourself other than Cheetah. If you like your theme parks in a laid back, mosey your way through the park, ride everything, enjoy beers, and see everything manner, Busch Gardens Tampa is the place. And Falcon's Fury to remind you that life is real.

Another thing that's great to check out at lunch time or early before Busch Gardens is the Yuengling brewery tour, which is right around the corner and also free. Beer is a great thing. Also, Kumba.

Woah, I'd never even heard of this park before, but the level of detail on those buildings and the theming/landscaping is really outstanding. Very atypical of what you usually see in American parks, more along the lines of how the Europeans take care of their parks. Nice photos and a very good read!

From one subaru owner to another ::wave:: They really are amazing machines! Loving your wheels and roof rack...I'm bone stock other than a slightly illegal tint, for now. Until that loan is paid off

^Maybe they can take Vortex's out-going stand-up trains and make it the first Floorless to Stand-Up conversion.

Very interesting thread, here! I've read through some of the pages and who knew there were SO many gay coaster enthusiasts in this world. I'm a gay guy, and I've seen a lot of posts where people kind of have that asterisk of "...but I don't look/act/show it". I used to subscribe to this sort of thinking when I was younger, living in one of the smaller cities in upstate New York. So much has changed since getting a little older and moving to Orlando about 6 years ago. This is one of the most gay-friendly cities I've visited and it's a great place to learn other cultures and in turn, learn more about yourself. Sometimes you can find me working under the hood of a car. Sometimes you can find me dancing at Parliament House. I guess sometimes you could call me straight-acting, I guess sometimes you could call me gay-acting. I'm me. You be you.

I'd consider myself a pretty big car enthusiast, having owned a few cars in my approximately 11 years of driving, including the following past vehicles: 1996 Mercury Mystique 2001 Ford Focus 2009 Mazda3 1998 Mercedes SLK230 2002 Mercedes SLK32 AMG 2015 Mazda3 Currently, I think I've found the ideal two vehicles to own as a pair for the young car enthusiast: "The Rocket", my Subaru WRX STI. This is my "don't touch it unless you've just washed your hands" car. "The Shadow", my Focus ST. This is my daily driver, and it's pretty much the ideal daily driver. Practical hatchback, plenty of power, comfortable and quiet on long journeys (usually to theme parks).

^You could always spend your 10 Dratini candy powering it up to 49! I'd consider myself a casual player of the game, occasionally extending a Publix visit by 30 minutes driving slowly through the parking lot in my car trying to catch something I don't have. Just living my life in another city chuck-full of dirty Rattatas.

Oooh, I've just wandered into this area of the forums in, I think, ever. Me standing in front of the Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery a few months ago.