xVicesAndVirtues

As most of us know thanks to the handy calendar at the top of the forum index, Saturday, April 9th, 2011 was opening day at Six Flags Great Adventure! I was happy to start my 2011 season with this park, even if the day kind of felt like a "dress rehersal" for the park... Got to the park around 1PM after some TERRIBLE traffic on the way, to find a promisingly not-so-full parking lot. As soon as you pull into the lot, you really can see how Green Lantern is changing the Great Adventure skyline, while leaving a sad memory gap of the red and white giant that used to be in it's place. So, we got into the park to find it was some kind of Boy Scouts event, so the crowds were a tad heavier than the parking lot suggested at first glance. We immediately headed over to Nitro, to find the line extended around the out-of-station dip, but not quite as far back to go into the switchbacks. The line overall took only about 25 minutes, with a friendly, excited crew dispatching the two trains running today very efficiently. Strangely enough, the third train was nowhere in sight, not even in one of the storage sheds. This would become the theme for the day. I will say, though, that Nitro was running the best I've seen in a while today. I rode in the 8th row and found plenty of airtime to be had, and none of the shuffling that I experienced the last few seasons that really caused it to drop in my rankings. After Nitro, headed over to Batman The Ride, to find another theme of the day, that it was experiencing some downtime. Waited in the queue just outside the station for about 25 minutes while they cycled trains but continued to run into issues. Finally, we just decided to re-visit it later. We then headed over to the giant wheel for some photo opportunities, especially for those of the now greener skyline over in the Boardwalk/Golden Kingdom. Rode the Skyway for the same purpose, but also to get a little closer to El Toro the lazy way. Went over to El Toro, just to find it down for the count like Batman. To our luck, though, Toro being down made us remember that my friend's bag was sitting in a locker that was about to time out over by Nitro, so we immediately took the Skyway back to retrieve it. Since we were in Movietown with the smells of the Character Cafe and several other eateries enticing us, we decided to grab a bite to eat. I got the $8.99 pizza slice/fries deal at Primo's, formerly Papa Johns. I must say...THANK GOD for the end of the cardboard Papa John's frozen garbage they sold for the past couple of years. This new pizza is pretty good and I'd highly recommend it. I mean, it's no Ray's that you'd experience a few dozen miles to the north, but it was definitely great for theme park pizza. Primo's also had some really awesome and enthusiastic employees running it. This would be the most positive theme of the day. I found all the employees attitudes and care for the guest to be on par with what you'd expect at a Universal park. We then headed over to Bizarro, which had a pretty full queue, but it always tends to move quickly. Again, two trains running as efficiently as possible, with the third train M.I.A. Bizarro also ran the best I've seen it run in a few years, if not the best I've ever seen it run. Sadly for me, they strangely chopped the end of the soundtrack after you hit the final brake run, so no more "Bizarro #1!" and "Bizarro, Bizarro, Bizarro!" chant at the end. I always liked that. After Bizarro, we went back over to El Toro. This time, it was up and running, but with only one train, and again, the other train not even there! What the heck? And on top of that, there was a full queue, making the wait time a little over an hour. But, for me, no wait for an Intamin woodie is not worth waiting. As always, El Toro ran like it knows it's the best damn wooden coaster in the country and feels the need to show it off. Amazing drop, tons of awesome airtime, smooth, you know the story. It was getting kind of late, so we decided to head over to what always seems to be my evening coaster, Kingda Ka. Ka was attempting to run three trains today, but it wasn't working out too good. Three lengthy breakdowns while I was in line meant an hour's wait, but at least we got to witness a sweet rollback, which is something I hadn't been fortunate enough to ride on, let alone witness in person. The crew was doing all they could to try and please the crowd, though, which really helped the overall experience. Then, we again attempted to get our Batman ride for the day. Went over there to find a huge line with a one-train operation. We decided to just say screw it for Batman today. To end the night, we headed over to Superman, which ended up being a four-rides-in-a-row deal. No line at all for Superman Ultimate Flight?!? I barely ride this coaster once a year because of the line, so I took what I could get. While it's no Manta, it's definitely a fun little flyer, and everyone loves a good pretzel loop. Overall, it was a really fun day. I'm a pretty big fan of Six Flags Great Adventure and I've never gone earlier than late May, so I'm more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for some of the technical difficulties and operations. I can understand that opening day might be difficult and may not run as smoothly as desired. Either way, I'll be back in a month for when Green Lantern opens, I just hope we'll see all the coasters with their additional trains present, if not running. Now, enough text, onto the pictures. Sorry for some of the quality, they were all taken with my iPhone 4. Oh, hey, it's been a minute. ...you're not Ron. The new skyline walking in More Flags, More Arthritis! Nitro needs some love, too! Green Lantern Fort. There are no wooden roller coasters at this park. Only packs of gum. There is something in this picture that does not exist in the state of Massachusetts. Some scenery. I've always loved how nice Runaway Mine Train looks over the water. El Toro's turnaround is also a beautiful element. The boardwalk, now with a new skyline "I'm not too concerned about this new roller coaster. Let me know when there's new grass." Taller than your trees. New perspective from the Superman queue Some station work And finally, the dive loop from Superman's queue ...and a great way to end the night. Thanks for reading!

Never did the night ERT, but I had some really awesome Millennium Force/Maverick marathoning during morning ERT. How can that get better? Oh, Raptor is included too!

Just got done! Top 25: 1. Favorite Wood (El Toro at SFGAdv) 2. Intimidator305 3. Bizarro (SFNE) 4. Millennium Force 5. Maverick 6. Superman Ride of Steel 7. Storm Runner 8. Kumba 9. Apollo's Chariot 10. Talon 11. Raptor 12. Fahrenheit 13. Montu 14. Dueling Dragons Fire 15. Nitro 16. Ride of Steel 17. Incredible Hulk Coaster 18. Goliath (LaRonde) 19. Dueling Dragons Ice 20. Manta 21. Dominator 22. Favorite BTR (Le Vampire) 23. Top Thrill Dragster 24. Kingda Ka 25. Hydra The Revenge I ranked all my other 100 credits 26-30, then did a slightly difficult bottom 5 (I find the bottom 5 easier on the wood ballot): 31. Iron Dragon 32. Dark Knight (SFGAdv) 33. Shockwave (KD) 34. Hollywood Rockit 35. Vortex (CGA) I really hope to see Intimidator305 do well in this year's poll. I only rode it with the trims, and it was still a huge hit with me. Bizarro was my #1 for years, but those new plastic trains kill the pacing for the last two-thirds of the ride. It can still be pretty awesome on a really hot day with a full train, but in cold weather, might as well call it Steel Force. Shame.

I'd call it....Orlando Thrill Park! But, in all seriousness: El Toro Expedition GeForce Talon i305 Maverick

Hopefully now the Steel ballot will be released with the closure of the wood ballot. Can't wait to fill mine out!

The wood coaster ballot always makes me feel like I've barely been on any coasters. This was a tough one to rank, in a lot of ways. El Toro SFGAd NJ,y,y,1 My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere **,y,y,2 (i305) Boulder Dash Lake Compounce CT,y,n,3 Ravine Flyer II Waldameer PA,y,n,4 Comet Great Escape NY,y,y,5 Roar SF Discovery Kingdom CA,y,y,6 Wild One SF America MD,y,n,7 Hurler Kings Dominion VA,y,y,7 Wildcat Hersheypark PA,y,y,8 Lightning Racer - L Hersheypark PA,y,y,9 Lightning Racer - T Hersheypark PA,y,y,9 Comet Hersheypark PA,y,y,10 The Grizzly Kings Dominion VA,y,y,11 Cyclone SF New England MA,y,y,12 Roar SF America MD,y,n,13 Blue Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,14 Gwazi-Tiger Busch Gardens-Tampa FL,y,y,15 Gwazi-Lion Busch Gardens-Tampa FL,y,y,15 Thunderbolt SF New England MA,y,y,16 Wildcat Lake Compounce CT,y,n,17 Thunderhawk Dorney Park PA,y,y,18 Rebel Yell Kings Dominion VA,y,n,19 Mean Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,20 The Grizzly Great America CA,y,y,21 Predator Darien Lake NY,y,n,22 Comet Waldameer PA,y,n,23 Le Monstre La Ronde QU,y,y,24 Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ,y,n,25

Sadly, Boomerang Coast-to-Coaster at The Great Escape.

^That is pretty sweet, I must say. The Great Escape, Six Flags' red-headed, forgotten, beaten, neglected stepchild is my home park. then... SFNE - 1.5 hours LaRonde - 3 hours SFGadv - 3.5 hours

I love Inverts. This is a tough list for me. I like Talon the most, and I know there's tons of people who have said they don't "get" Talon, but I guess I'm one of the people that do, and for me, it blows the rest away. I've only been on it on three different days, but total about 35-40 times. Also, I LOVE Montu, but I find that sometimes the MCBR grabs the hell out of the train and ruins the ride. So, Montu sans MCBR would probably be my #2 invert...but I find that the MCBR grabs much more often than not. As for the Batman clones, Le Vampire at LaRonde was NUTS compared to Batman at Great Adventure. Maybe mirrors make you prettier. Oh, and lastly, Flight Deck at CGA is freaking amazing, but it's a shame that it's only about 30 seconds long. 1. Talon 2. Raptor 3. Montu 4. Chinese Fireball aka DD Fire 5. Flight Deck 6. Le Vampire 7. Hungarian Horntain aka DD Ice 8. Alpengeist 9. Batman The Ride (Gadv) 10. Great Bear

This is going to be one awesome season in 2011... -Six Flags Great Adventure opening day April 9...can't wait for Green Lantern as I LOVE Mantis, and of course El Toro<3 -Florida in April for a week, hopefully Cheetah Hunt will be open -Hopefully visiting SFMM sometime between now and spring -Doing a Niagara Falls/Martin's/Marineland/Wonderland/Toronto trip in summer -New and improved i305! -Coastal Maine/Funtown-Splashtown/Canobie/My first Eurofighter ...and hopefully more!

Definitely Intamin Prefabs...but also the evolution of the Intamin Giga Coaster. The evolution from Millennium Force to Intimidator305 is crazy. I really hope more Intamin Gigas start popping up everywhere in the next 10 years ahead.

Of the Summers/Dinn coasters I've been on, I found that both Predator and Mean Streak were both pretty rough, except for in the front row. I'm definitely sharing the anti-PTC feeling in this topic here...out of the GCI woodies I've been on, Gwazi and Roar East are by far the worst, and they're the only two I've been on with the PTC trains. Roar West, Wildcat, and Lightning Racers, on the other hand, all run fantastic even after they've been around and subjected to the elements for years, so it definitely seems like the Millennium Flyers help. Government Millennium Flyer stimulus package for all the PTC-cursed woodies, anyone? I have to say, though, there are some woodies out there that I've found to be a LOT worse than any Summers/Dinn coasters. Rolling Thunder at Six Flags Great Adventure is god-awful, and Cyclone at Six Flags New England used to be absolutely terrible before they started giving it tons of TLC over the past 5 years or so. I have to add...there's one Dinn-built coaster that I LOVE, but wasn't designed by Curtis Summers. It's Wild One at Six Flags America...John Miller designed, Dinn-built.

Nice TR! Great Escape is my home park...and it's kind of one of those love/hate things for me. There are never any lines, so once you've been there a million times, you basically cover the entire park in 1.5 hours tops. The Comet is always worth riding, Alpine Bobsled is amazing and has sadly been reportedly up for removal for years, Sasquatch was a great addition for 2009 and is actually Sonic Slam and Bayou Blaster from Six Flags New Orleans, and Steamin Demon is always worth a good back-seat ride for some good drop airtime. Other than that, the park has been horribly neglected by Six Flags. With the operational cuts made this year by management, the already short business hours were cut even farther, and it's been years since the days where you could have night rides on The Comet. It's really nice to see someone cover this park every now and then, though. Thanks!

After making my first visit to Kings Dominion during Haunt last year and, of course, knowing what was on the way for 2010, Kings Dominion was on the top of my list to visit for 2010. At the beginning/middle of the summer, I was starting to become skeptical of whether I'd make it there or not, but, with just a few days notice, decided to make on on-the-fly visit on August 11th. There are so many things I have to say about this park. I LOVE this park, and it has SO much potential, and is definitely one of my favorite parks. I hope that Intimidator305 is only the beginning of the future for Kings Dominion. I'd have to say, though, some things about the park annoyed me quite a bit. We arrived 15-20 minutes past opening, to find that every path to the back of the park was blocked off by security. I really don't get why a park would open at 10am, let people into the entrance plaza/Dominator area, then restrict access past the back side of Ghoster Coaster and past the back side paths behind the Eiffel Tower. I've seen Six Flags parks contain everyone for opening...but not PAST the posted park opening time. The next thing I'd have to say is that operations were pretty inconsistent. The worst operations of the day were on Dominator. The coaster would run two trains on that HUGE layout, yet the 2nd train would stack for 1-3 minutes EVERY time. This made for a 45 minute wait on what would be a one train or walk-on at any other park. On the other hand, it was as though they took all their best operations team members and all their resources and threw them at Intimidator305. With a one-train operation and full queue, the wait was barely over 20-25 minutes. I don't even know how they managed to pull that off. Overall, though, the park had a great atmosphere, amazing assortment of flats and coasters alike, above-average food at a decent price, and plenty of ways to cool off on what was a 105-degree, humid, sunny day. Now, onto the coaster reviews: Intimidator305: The reason I came. This coaster was NUTS. Crazy fast elevator lift, followed by a perfect drop. The trims were definitely noticeable, but the parabolic curve over the top gave a great thrill. The turnaround was ridiculous...I'm glad I didn't experience it at 92mph, because I blacked out the entire second half just going 79.5mph. The hill after that gave a nice moment of relief, followed by a crazy mass of twists, directional changes, and airtime. The 90-degree-left to 90-degree-right transitions were crazy intense, and made me VERY thankful for the shoulder straps. Maverick should REALLY get those. Overall, this is my new #3 coaster, edging out Millennium Force by just a hair. My top 5 steel now looks like this: 1. Bizarro - Six Flags New England 2. El Toro - Six Flags Great Adventure 3. Intimidator 305 - Kings Dominion 4. Millennium Force - Cedar Point 5. Maverick - Cedar Point Dominator: I loved this just as much this year as I did last year. Dominator is CRAZY huge for a B&M Floorless. I'm a really big fan of Hydra the Revenge, and tend to prefer the smaller, tighter B&M floorlesses, but Dominator is SO large, fast, and intense that it makes a great case. I'd probably have to call it my favorite floorless...or possibly tie with Hydra. Volcano The Blast Coaster: This coaster feels like your typical dose of Intamin awesomeness. The intensity is there, especially in the beginning with the launches. I really wish that more of these were built. I like Impulses, but why not build a full-length creation with the LIMs instead? The only thing I slightly dislike about this coaster are some of the slower barrel rolls at the top of the mountain. Hypersonic XL...oh wait, nevermind... Anaconda: I have to admit my appreciation for these older Arrow multi-loopers. It's sad that they're starting to bite the dust, with Great American Scream Machine going away just recently. Anaconda isn't quite a Loch Ness Monster or Viper(DL) as far as smoothness goes, but it's still thrilling and intense. The over-water location is very picturesque and thrilling, too. I just wish that they'd skipped on the coat-hanger turn of hell in the middle of the ride, and some of the transitions before/after the MCBR. But overall, I really enjoy riding in the back car and getting pulled smoothly through classic Arrow double-corkscrews. Oh, and awesome overviews of Intimidator305's layout from the lift hill. Hurler: I LOVE this woodie. It seems like every older wooden coaster you ride does some series of drop, airtime hill, high-turnaround with anti-rollbacks, out, back, whatever. I LOVE how much time this coaster spends zooming along on the ground, and the huge banked 180s are refreshing. This coaster reminds me of Wild One at SFA in how under-rated, yet fantastic, it is. Grizzly: Average woodie, cool tunnels, thrilling ride. Kind of blends in with the rest of the woodies out there, though. Avalanche: I love Bobsleds. I prefer the Intamin ones, but I believe this is the only Mack bobsled in the United States. It's definitely thrilling, and it feels odd the way the floor of the cars can flex on the track. Definitely a relaxing ride with a short wait. Flight of Fear: For some reason, this is a lot less thrilling than Joker's Jinx at Six Flags America, even though they're the same. It's a shame, because Flight of Fear is in the dark and Joker's Jinx is in a field. Every park should have a Premier launched coaster, though. They're just as smooth as Intamin and B&M coasters for the most part, and they're very thrilling. Shockwave: Thrilling, but feels like it was designed by somebody in their backyard. The restraints/trains are frightening to look at...my friend said "what the hell is this contraption?" when we were getting on. These are the types of coasters that I enjoy because they truly scare me. Definitely a true Togo Death Machine. We skipped on Back Lot Stunt Coaster (rode it last year, it was fun), Ghoster Coaster, and Ricochet. Rebel Yell was down and appeared to be getting some much-needed TLC and track work. Aside from the coasters, Drop Tower is terrifying and The Crypt is an awesome flat. I wish all top spins were floorless. Overall, it was a fantastic day at Kings Dominion, and I want to make a point to visit this park every year. I'll post pictures soon, just need to do some re-sizing.

This is definitely one of the best trip reports I've ever seen from LaRonde. You really covered most of the park in your pictures. I have to say, as far as LaRonde goes...I just went two weeks ago for my first time, and operations were god awful. One train operations on EVERYTHING. Luckily, it poured that day so the park was 99% dead...but I still had to wait a little for Le Monstre, and never saw Cobra open =( Also, the parking lot toll booth attendant went from being pleasant to terribly rude to me the second she saw my Six Flags New England season pass, and then told me LaRonde wouldn't honor my SFNE parking pass. On Goliath, I also thought it was crazy how they pronounce it "goalEEauth", but say the "goal" and "auth" so fast that it's nearly impossible to hear what they say. I REALLY liked Goliath as well, but I have to say, it's nothing compared to Apollo's Chariot, and Nitro is a *little* better too. But, the first drop gives an amazing pull, and every hill delivers some substantial floater airtime. Not quite what you'd expect from the least of Intamin's airtime hills, but definitely nice and floaty. I'd also have to agree on the turnaround and the twisty jump-over on the return trip. The turnaround was better than Nitro's hammerhead, and the jump-over twist was more effective on Goliath than on Apollo's Chariot. I'd call it a solid top-25 ride. Le Vampire is incredible. I've only been on two BTRs...this one and Batman at Six Flags Great Adventure. Batman is my least-favorite of all the B&M inverts I've been on, and Le Vampire has to be one of the best. Such an intense, smooth, consistent ride. Before I rode Le Vampire, I didn't quite "get" BTRs...now I get it. You didn't miss anything with Le Boomerang or Ednor. Le Boomerang kicked my a$$, and I normally like Boomerangs. It was just awful...those old trains have hard "padding" on the back that pushes into your shoulder blades, so you have to deal with that plus headbanging. I just wanted it to end. Ednor...average for an SLC. I wish they had invested in the new trains like Morey's did. It wasn't as hellish as Mind Eraser at Darien Lake, nor was it as smooth as Mind Eraser at SFA. It was in the middle, about on par with SFNE's SLC. Definitely ride-able, but only a few times, and not worth more than a few trains' wait. Now, there is one thing I have to completely disagree on. I HATED Le Monstre. Maybe you got a good seat, but this is right down there with Rolling Thunder for one of the worst coasters I've ever been on. It shuffled, shook, re-adjusted my spine, and then to top it off, every time the train hit a coat-hanger turn, the metal seat belt attachment on the side of my seat would jam into the side of my leg. The bruise still hurts if I poke it, 2 weeks later. I had a decent day at the park overall, but then, when we left, I was stopped in traffic on the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, and got SLAMMED from behind by a guy in a Dodge Ram not paying any attention. Dodge Ram + Mazda3 = not good. My baby is still bruised and waiting through the international insurance process =(

Hey guys, just thought I'd pop by and ask...how long are i305's lines usually on a summer weekday? I looked back quite a few pages, but haven't been able to find anything. I'm planning on going Wednesday the 14th, and I've only been to the park once last October. I'm really trying to be able to squeeze as many i305 rides into one day as possible. I really can't wait to get back to this park again.

While my top few here are VERY close...here are the ones I've been on 1. Montu (sadly, my first ride was just a few weeks ago and the MCBR was on HARD...but still some great forces) 2. Talon (almost a perfect invert...if only it had a Batwing and was a little longer) 3. Raptor (again almost perfect...amazing forces) 4. Dueling Dragons Fire/Chinese Fireball (I'd have to say the airtime hill is the only *slow* moment the whole ride) 5. Alpengeist (this was actually a real let-down for me...good coaster, but I expected a LOT more out of 200 feet) 6. Dueling Dragons Ice (zero g roll and cobra roll against the castle wall elements are both awesome...too bad the ending is so slow) 7. Great Bear (sky helix is cool...some decent elements, but too much straight track) 8. BTR (Great Adventure) (cool and forceful layout...just a little too short for my liking) I have to say, though...inverts are pretty much the best overall "genre" of coaster out there. I can re-ride a B&M invert over and over and have a great time.

I've only been there on a Friday in summer, but when I visited, they seemed to randomly open/close the drop tower throughout the day...so if you see it operating, run to it. I missed out =( I honestly have to be the one to say, though...after all the slamming reviews it constantly gets, I loved this park. Right on par with New England or Great Adventure, from my experience. Great operations, friendly staff, and clean facilities. Superman and Wild One are both awesome coasters. We got in probably a good 20 re-rides on Superman, Joker, Roar, and Wild One, all waits of 10 minutes or less. Batwing had a long line (60+ minutes) with only one side open, but I can't call that a damper on an otherwise great day...the way I look at it, it's one of those things where it's generally acceptable for ONE thing to go wrong in an entire park. While the area around it wasn't exactly the nicest, I didn't have any problems. And trust me, I was VERY nervous, because my car was only two months old when I visited last year. It's just one of those things where you don't leave your GPS unit attached to your windshield, your cell phone out charging, and your ipod and laptop on the front seat, all with the doors unlocked. We also went to an Applebees not far from the park after closing, and didn't have any issues there, either. But basically, just go and have a good time. You'll like this park, it has a lot of good things in it.

I hate to be the bomb in the cherry pie here, but that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I could see if it were turned into a super AquaTrax, but no track work/trims/anything was done to SROS to make it Bizarro. It was purely cosmetic, and the new trains were added to replace the aging/restraint modded ones, and to add the audio. The coaster experience is exactly the same, and the overall experience is just more interactive. To take it off your #1 spot because you hadn't rode it this year is like me saying I have to take El Toro off my #1 wood list because it rained every single moment of every single day of the park operating season this year, and I've never been on it in the rain. Even THAT would make it a more different experience than putting a few paper cut outs around it.

Because I don't pay attention at all to my credit order... #50 Zoomerang - Lake Compounce #75 Wicked Twister - Cedar Point #100 Griffon - Busch Gardens Williamsburg

You're not alone lol...while it doesn't come as close to the top as some of my other top coasters, it really is a kick a$$ ride.

Newly updated steel list, after my most recent trip. Might as well make it top twenty...keep in mind, I put my top wood in my steel list and vice versa. 1. Bizarro - Six Flags New England 2. El Toro - Six Flags Great Adventure 3. Millennium Force - Cedar Point 4. Superman Ride of Steel - Six Flags America 5. Maverick - Cedar Point 6. Apollo's Chariot - Busch Gardens Williamsburg 7. Talon - Dorney Park 8. Storm Runner - Hersheypark 9. Nitro - Six Flags Great Adventure 10. Ride of Steel - Darien Lake 11. Fahrenheit - Hersheypark 12. Raptor - Cedar Point 13. Dueling Dragons: Fire - Islands of Adventure 14. Alpengeist - Busch Gardens Williamsburg 15. Top Thrill Dragster - Cedar Point 16. Kingda Ka - Six Flags Great Adventure 17. Griffon - Busch Gardens Williamsburg 18. Incredible Hulk Coaster - Islands of Adventure 19. Dominator - Kings Dominion 20. Great Bear - Hersheypark

Planning on my last park being Six Flags Great Adventure next Sunday, the last day for most northern US parks. Probably will make El Toro my last ride. If I can't get the day off, then my ride last night on Apollo's Chariot in the back row would close it off.

At the end of August this year, me and my friend were in line for Millennium Force during Early Entry, and as soon as we got on front row, it started pouring on the way up the lift. 93mph front row rain drops hurt like helllll. I actually had a few welts on my face.

LOL, that has to be the most unintelligent, over-exaggerated post I've seen on here in a long time. My point was that everyone just uses every single little accident to point the finger at Intamin, the company which, as Robb stated before, probably hasn't touched the ride since it was built nearly a decade ago. By the way, I don't know what calendar you use, but the Xcelerator incident happened in September. It is now October, and Expedition GeForce's cable broke THIS month. So your "omg multiple times a second" post is retardedly exaggerated. Do you need to go back to school to learn the way the calendar works? Parks aren't taking a "sh*t happens" attitude, we are, in defending those who just point the finger automatically. I'm sure most parks replace the cables as prescribed by the manufacturer, and sometimes, accidents happen. Oh, and in case you haven't noticed, the way the cable systems are designed for Intamin's lift hills, when cables break, the cable doesn't shard up out of it's housing and hit people. The boy on Xcelerator wasn't *almost* sliced into 10000000 pieces like you're trying to exaggerate it to be. Nor were the riders on TTD a few years ago. The shards gave people minor cuts. And the SFKK incident had nothing to do with Intamin. It was found that the park replaced the tower's cables with the wrong type of cables not up to par with the stress handling levels they should be. I've personally seen my local park replacing cables and chains on coasters/skycoaster/rides in the off-season. Parks try everything in their power to avoid an embarrassing or life-threatening situation. They don't just say "screw it, the rusty chains are fine".