DirkFunk

Man, you know things have changed in the hobby when people start talking about Millennium Force being a "forceful" or "intense" ride.

I liked the Zacspin in Grona Lund, but Magic Mountain's is a POS thanks to their method of weighing/operating it. I'd rather do just about anything else than ride that pile of future scrap metal again. And because of that, it is pretty difficult for me to get a hard-on for seeing one go up at Kentucky Kingdom. I'd seriously rather see them try to resurrect Quake.

I'm imagining a bunch of Russian mobsters showing up as the Pax squad.

What's your point? That cables are better than chains? I think it is the slow lift hill that allows Leviathan to run 3 trains. As for Carowinds new coaster, I'd be surprised if this was Intamin and not B&M. Cedar Fair seems to be pleased with their products as they keep buying more and they havn't gave as many headaches to parks like some Intamins have. Most enthusiasts on this site won't love a B&M giga, but the GP sure will, and that's what matters the most to the park. That's my point exactly. Cables are MUCH better than chains. The cables on MF allow it to run three trains. It's just another thing that makes Intamin better in my opinion than B&M. Being catapulted over the lift hill adds more excitement to the ride for me. I'm not interested in the never ending Manufacturer debate, but the cable/chain debate is silly. The one that works better is the one that works most consistently. Blocking for 3 trains on either ride has absolutely nothing to do with the mechanisms that bring the coaster to the top of the hill and everything to do with the number of zones which the train can be "parked" in, for lack of a better term. What lets MF run three trains is block at the separate unload station. What lets Leviathan do it is the super long brake run before the train.

Budgetary concerns are why I believe that they would keep them standing, but when you're supposed to be a major regional theme park with 6 million+ attendance and not Clementon or Adventure City, I would expect that they *wouldn't* do that sort of thing. But I shouldn't veer too far off topic.

lol what? I'm ecstatic... not sure why you wouldn't love this, even if it does turn out to be a B&M. I can't believe people are complaining about a potential giga coaster. Haters gotta hate, I guess?

I'm not gonna complain about another 300ft coaster somewhere. Still, I don't know that it'll get me to rush down to Carowinds unless it does something particularly amazing. Hopefully a chunk of that $30 mil gives the park some charm and revamps some of the tired concrete spaces it has like the former Wayne's World area.

I know Korea is not America and theoretically there may be cultural reasons to leave decrepit rides standing, but I authentically think if any other park in the world did this (cough*SFMM*cough) they'd probably get taken to task hard for it. I've just never heard any solid foundational reason for why Everland should keep stuff like Eagle's Fortress rotting away when every other park in Korea and the world in general seems to, you know, replace old, non-operating rides with new ones.

If you're the sort of person into that thing, there's a Fascination parlor in Long Beach that plays for money.

No, I know that. I'm just saying that the theme of the park seems a strange one in South Korea where they have a real race track and a real F1 race that loses real money. Not that I really care that much; it is someone else's money and maybe they'll build a clone of Formula Rossa that won't be troubled by high temperatures and sand storms and that I can fly to nonstop from my local neighborhood Delta hub. I'll save business analysis for someone else who cares.

Given that the Formula 1 race in Korea is losing tons and tons of money, yeah, I don't know how this is a great idea or how it is going to appeal specifically to Koreans, but it isn't my money. If Sheikie Something-Something wants to blow a couple billion, let him I suppose.

I'm sorry. I can't process what you just said. If I read the words on the screen correctly, you're indicating that somewhere on the internet, someone has said that they don't want the original language version of fairy tales re-told/butchered by the Walt Disney Corporation because, somehow, they have become "Americana". If that is correct, this person or persons, whoever or whomever they maybe, would the dumbest and wrongest human beings ever to grace Earth. I thus will have to believe that I did not read this and go on with my evening, and hopefully, my life, without ever reflecting again on the possibility that I read exactly that here today.

Does this mean that Canada's Wonderland will get rid of the laser gun dark ride they already have that pushes about 50 people per hour? Because that wouldn't be the greatest tragedy.

Actually, Intamin only has built one wood coaster for Six Flags. American Eagle was built when Great America was owned/operated by Marriott's.

Dan Koch has said a lot of stuff online, including some now mysteriously departed posts at Coasterbuzz. He's also suing Will's wife for control of the park, so he doesn't actually have any say at the moment. I'll just leave it at that.

Then I'll apologize to Al Lutz for thinking that he ended up in the ranks of scooter people because of a lack of physical maintenance. Unless that's what led to the condition that put him there, in which case, :shrug: Also the more I read of that thread, the worse it gets. When Yee is defending himself as comparing himself to a first time theater goer expecting a CGI movie spectacular and being disappointed, I get almost physically angry with someone who flaunts being that purposefully and intentionally ignorant. I want to forget that I've ever even heard his name or know of his existence. That's just straight up shameful, like trying to talk down to people because they're literate or have stable lives or something.

Formal nights will be dead and gone in 10 years. A lot of upscale & boutique lines got rid of them; no reason to believe that Royal Caribbean will hold onto the formal night as their older passengers die when Azamara doesn't do them anymore. also LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL @ Kevin Yee. Between this and seeing a picture of Al Lutz in a Rascal Scooter today, every negative stereotype I have about this particular breed of theme park expert is met.

Woah. Uhh. You have a few problems here. First, if you're planning on staying at Breakers, you're going to have trouble trying to get to the Peninsula at 5:35AM on Friday morning. They probably won't even allow vehicles in until check in time at the resorts (3 or 4PM). You could stay off property then, but you have the issue of getting around. There isn't usable public transport that meets your needs in Sandusky. You'll need to rent a car, but neighborhood car rental locations like Enterprise aren't likely to open until later in the morning that Friday. You'd probably need to take a taxi to a hotel offside, you may not have a room, meaning you'll end up spending quality time in the lobby, at which point then you might be able to take public transport (which is very limited), another taxi, or walk some distance to a rental car facility. None of these options are particularly great options, but if renting a car one way is out of the question, then you're going to be inconvenienced no matter what. As far as Sunday night stays go; if you're renting a car, you'll probably need to return it Monday morning anyhow, so staying off the peninsula doesn't seem to me like a big deal. The downside you'll have not staying there is not being able to get in early. You could get a room at Breakers anyways and then stay off property the final night just to get early entry. In my mind for those crowds, it is probably worth it. As far as the other locations go, the truth is that car rental is almost certainly your best option. Jackson, NJ and Valencia, CA are really suburban locations far from city centers and lack solid public transport. Hell, in LA, public transport sucks out loud to begin with. I would not suggest it under any circumstances to do these parks utilizing only public transport, if for no other reason than that it is mind-blowingly inconvenient. There are really incredible things to go see (and even amusement parks to visit) much more conveniently located to public transit. If you're not willing to rent a car, I would seriously rethink some of these themers.

Times change. If the Riverside Cyclone or Texas Cyclone suddenly appeared in prime year one form, internet enthusiasts would probably hate them because of the start-stop pacing and violence of the rides doesn't match what it means to be a smooth wood coaster in the year 2013. Some people aren't going to like Voyage and barring the ride being completely redone to remove a huge number of lateral forces, they can make the track of any substance and it won't matter as long as steel wheeled wood coaster cars are rolling over it and not bleeding speed like they would with poly wheels for the 2nd half. That doesn't make those people wrong. The question earlier in thread about "what old time style wood coaster built over 75 ft wasn't a maintenance nightmare?" is a faulty one. It assumes that being a "maintenance nightmare" is the sort of definition that hasn't changed with time either. Most parks with a wood coaster have a corporate overlord and most have steel coasters as their primary drawing attraction now. Costs are going to be cut and what would be considered "standard" 50 years ago isn't going to be approached that way anymore. Maybe it is that those rides are obsolete, but then they aren't any more obsolete than rides without 85 different restraints, fun houses, dark rides without guns, and so on at the regional park level.

That was the sale price when the Kiddieland one was sold last year. I think it's probably in a private collection or something.

Here's the ebay listing for its sale: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kiddieland-German-Auto-Carousel-1950s-Museum-Quality-/320674607341 There's no doubt that it is post-war IMO. It is still a very rare ride given how few were imported in the US. I think it's also a different attraction: it looks like there's a bus "chariot" in your pictures in place of the fire truck on the Kiddieland one. Oh, hey, I should be asleep but I'm posting about german kiddie rides on the internet. This is the life?

The carousel pictured is pretty reminiscent of a ride that used to exist at Kiddieland outside Chicago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JZkTis2qHE The magic of family relations and the interests of commercial developers taking out a profitable amusement park so that this ride could disappear into the ether, ladies and gents. Glad to see that something similar might re-emerge.

Spacewise most of the rooms in Sandusky aren't great. They're aged motel units that get spruced up once every two decades. Honestly, there's way worse options than the two places I named. I've heard the Maui Sands isn't bad along route 250 and they have some cheaper rates that don't include their waterpark, so that's something you may want to keep in mind.

Cleveland was, historically, a hub for Continental, now merged with United. It's been de-hubbed but most of the flights into and out of Cleveland will be on United these days. Southwest/AirTran has a strong presence not only in Cleveland but in nearby Akron as well. There's no mass transit to the park. For convenience sake, you're renting a car. The alternatives feature lots of uncomfortable transfers on public transport before ending up in a cab. If you were to somehow take a bus from the airport to an Amtrak station in Cleveland to Sandusky and then take a cab, you would need to stay on the Peninsula at Cedar Point to get there on a daily basis or face cab rides. So yeah, rent a car. It is October, so more than likely you're looking at highs during daytime in the low-mid 60s and lows at night in the 40s. It could be much colder. It could be much warmer. You should probably expect to pack pants. You should also expect the park, should the weather be decent, to be packed to the gills on Saturday. The nicer it is, the more people will show up. Sundays are usually not too bad. Sandusky's hotel choices are awful. If price is the primary concern, the Knights Inn and Maples Motel along Route 6 are probably your best bet.

Meanwhile, in a nearby courtroom... http://www.ibj.com/holiday-world-family-takes-dispute-to-indiana-appeals-court/PARAMS/article/42864