Midgetman82

Honestly? Kind of incredible.

I never really got the hate for the coaster, I thought it was pretty decent apart from the super stellar non-inverting loop and high g-forces on the turnaround. Then one day I was assigned row 3, and I've not looked at the coaster since. Major ow, you really get a fishtail effect of being thrown around back there. It has a lot of visual appeal, but I'm looking forward to a replacement for it.

I'll be honest with you, this phrase has haunted me since when I first read it.

I'm curious about the throughput. How long have waits been for anyone that's gone? FastLane? Stand-by?

Lack of ridership at the later hours? Last I was there, I had a (nearly) zen backrow ride on it within the last hour of park operations, and they were cycling three trains on it sending several empty trains.

I'm very happy about Celestial Park, primarily for the fact they're treating some very flagship anchor attractions with original theming rather than attaching an IP to them (which I don't view as a negative, it just feels rare to see otherwise nowadays). Starfall Racers looks incredible!

I'd normally keep stuff like this to myself, but maybe it's fine to let this off my chest. Last year was a whirlwind of things that felt like an unseen force wanted me out of the coaster community. Technical issues kept me unable to log back in to this account most of last year (since April). Twitter became even more unpleasant (than it already was) to the point of not wanting to use it anymore. All of my favorite local events now sell out in mere minutes after opening (or uncapped ones overselling). To top it and other small things off, more looming debt payments restarting and rising cost of living forcing me to cut back. Forced to travel less, unable to come back to my usual spaces, I ended up spending much of my 2023 elsewhere both online and in real life. Not all a bad thing though. I have other hobbies, and even picked up new ones to replace the void in that time. It's a nice refresher doing different things now and then. But much of the changes in last year still left me feeling very detached from the community. Despite now drastically pulling back from irl and online theme-park related things, I'm at least glad to have this account back. No Facebook group or Discord server could ever really replace a proper web-searchable online forum, imo.

I got to take a spin on this coaster last Summer. First time there, I stopped by for a couple quick hours, which I liked (compared to a full-day's commitment seemingly needed for SFOG). Particularly hot day, so I didn't do many laps, but wowee this thing was an absolute beast. Likely the most intense RMC I've ridden. 4 front laps and 1 in back, and basically walk-on waits, sending mostly empty trains. I must also add, the other major coaster in the park, Hurricane. That was... quite an experience itself. Really fun lil bunny hill hops on that, but oh my goodness those turns were so violent, lol. Made me giggle, but that was a one and done.

My heart goes out to the family affected by this, very sad indeed to hear of a fun day out turned so bad. Snow sports are still inherently risky even on a slope as tame as Big Snow (they have rails and jumps), but never good hearing of incidents like this on any slope. Let alone within American Dream with its current reputation already.

It'll be nice to see what they might have in store in the future. Judging off of the vibe Herschend has had for the park, I think if they do any major additions for the park, it'll be geared towards more family stuff. A side note, but between my last few visits and seeing it be closed during PaKK event, T3 has not been fairing all too well. It had been operating with just one train, and on my previous visit, it closed at some point in the day to have some issue fixed with the train. I don't really like to speculate too much on things, but something in my gut tells me we might not be seeing that coaster around for too much longer. (Again, 100% going off of gut feelings, not any rumors. They could very well spend the $$$ to get the trains fixed and it's good as new next season.)

Hope it's still cool to drop photo TR's in discussion threads... let me know if otherwise. Happy month of spooks! Yesterday I got to squeeze out some time to come check out the Pumpkins at Kentucky Kingdom event. Kentucky Kingdom's been doing a huge "family friendly" push this year, and this event certainly epitomizes it, imo. It's a night and day difference between 2019's HalloScream event with haunted houses, spooky sculptures, and even playing a shortened version of Friday the 13th movie in the 5D cinema. Now it's all about Pumpkins! Lots and lots of pumpkins! Frankly speaking, I think this event works really well for Kentucky Kingdom. It's a very local-focused event geared toward families having a place to bring their children without any worry of scares or safety issues (decent security and police presence throughout the park). There were multiple new shows in the park including a glow drumming show, a magician, and a country singer from Bardstown, KY named Will Wright. Thrill seekers can still get night rides on all of the park's major coasters (except T3, which is closed for the rest of the season). People of all ages were out in the park donning halloween costumes, and there were booths set up throughout the front circle of the park for kids to trick or treat at throughout the day. Here's something I don't think I've ever seen at Kentucky Kingdom before: a parade! The Glow Drummers as well as some familiar and new mascots marched the full front circle of the park twice a day starting and ending at the amphitheater. In front of Prof. John's Flying Machines, they cleared out some tables to put in a very small hay maze. The walls are just high enough that most kids can't see over. The two new shows playing in the amphitheater are Glow Drummers and local magician David Garrard (didn't catch his show unfortunately). They do two shows, a daytime show and a nighttime show. There's a second stage with two other acts, including Bardstown country singer Will Wright playing his songs between the carousel and Thunder Run. And last but not least... the pumpkins! And another friendly reminder, night rides are back as well! They're not quite the pitch-black rides you'd expect at other parks, but still nice getting to experience these rides during unusual hours of the day (and in the colder weather). I managed to be on the last train of the night on Storm Chaser which was also cool.

There's a little selfish part of me that is a little sad to see this tower go. Ended up as my favorite to ever experience. But this was definitely their best option all things considered. I also hope it finds a new home at least, and maybe goes the same route with adding those seatbelts for peace of mind like that similar tower in Germany. Also saw on Icon Park's website that the slingshot group is creating a scholarship in his name at Tyre's school, which is nice as well.

Was at the resort last week and got to experience Cosmic Rewind finally. There's a ton I could unpack about it, but overall yeah, I can see this being a lot of people's favorite roller coaster in all of Walt Disney World! Quite thrilling, and surprisingly longer than I expected! Loved it! Not my favorite overall attraction at Disney (RotR is still king), and personally not my #1 coaster at Disney (I'm a sucker for Everest), but dang is it a top contender! I rode it twice, first time with virtual queue, and also had a Lightning Lane callback to get back in line later in the evening, and boy am I glad I did. I could ride that almost all day! I can't wait until they drop Virtual Queue, because it's very, very efficient with capacity too. I'm gonna try to still not spoil anything for anyone who's avoiding those (you should probably stop reading now if you're that person), but... There's one one thing I think I could critique with it, and it's that the story pacing during the actual coaster section itself is so fast that you miss a ton of what's actually happening. Now, no one needs to know what's happening, it's still just suuuuper fun to sit back and enjoy the ride! But if you're trying to follow along the full story as well, you'll miss a LOT on that first ride-thru. With regards to spinning: My dad is NOT into spinning rides and was worried it would make him too sick for the rest of the day. He was assured by many others he might like it and to give it a try anyway. Him and I rode together for our first ride. He said he did enjoy it, but it was very borderline for his limits and still made him a lil disoriented for a good portion of the day after, but he felt fine by the evening. I rode alone on my second lap . (Maybe spoiler for ride layout ahead) The coaster doesn't free-spin like a wild mouse, but there's a ton of sudden fast helixes throughout the ride that might still throw off those with weaker stomachs.

Family and I have been considering for a while trying out Camp Cedar with an RV. We may end up doing it some time before the end of the year, most likely during Haunt, but Winterfest is also an option of course. Has anyone here ever stayed there? Any takeaways, likes/dislikes, or things we should consider before going?

Rocky Top Mountain Coaster in Pigeon Forge, TN over Labor Day weekend. New credit too, along with Goat Coaster before this!