BitterOldHag

Is this where I get to say "Get over it. It was a business decision."

I’m no business expert, but my wife works in tax and said that the surcharge might not be considered “income”, so they don’t have to pay taxes on it… which is why they decided to not just raise the price and make it all-inclusive. I’d say she could be wrong, but that never seems to go over very well! Regardless, the fact that everyone has to pay it is a pretty crappy move, especially when other parks in the area aren’t doing it (yet).

If it was the 3m version of the selfie stick, I am very surprised that Disney allows those in. When fully extended, that thing is a hinderance to anyone in the vicinity. And hopefully it wasn't the "bullet-time" selfie stick. Seeing people swinging those around in circles at a place like Disney would be an epic fail on all fronts! HK Disney looks pretty amazing. Absolutely love the mountains behind the castle. Really gives the park a unique look. Thanks for sharing your pics and TR!

On a Non-Sirens Curse related note, Cedar Point will be running the Midway Carousel backwards for the rest of HalloWeekends. Midway Carousel

I woke up and saw this on FB and immediately checked the calendar to see if it was April 1st. Seriously, this caught me completely off guard. My initial thoughts were 1) why a tilt coaster when you already have a dive coaster? The gimmick is relatively similar, and they even went and put it right next to Valravn! Then I saw the drop being twisted and realized that should be different enough so that's it's not too redundant. 2) 160 feet tall seems almost like a junior coaster when it comes to Cedar Point. I don't have any issues with it, and they are calling it North America's tallest, longest and fastest tilt coaster... so I guess it's not a big deal. 3) I sincerely hope they maintain the onboard audio. That is such a cool touch on coasters. 4) With Rapterra already complete at KD and there being little to no work done other than clearing the site at CP, will this be like most Six Flags rides and open "later in the season"? And finally 5) It is awesome to see Cedar Point adding a new-gen Vekoma. The only new Vekoma I have ridden was Snoopy's Soap Box Racers and that was glass smooth. Looking forward to seeing if this ride will be the same way. Being an old man, I truly appreciate a smooth ride Again, this one was a complete shock to me, so kudos to Cedar Point for the genuine surprise. If they can get TT2 up and going next year and have a new coaster to go along with it, I guess I'll be renewing my season pass again after all!

I'm curious as to the No Single Riders policy on Morey's Flume and especially the Pirates dark ride. Is this manufacturer recommended? Is there a history of people offing themselves on these rides when they are alone? Is it the lack of restraints? It seems that there are more and more rides lately that enforce this rule. I was at a local fair last month and they had a No Single Riders rule on a Chance Music Fest. Hadn't seen that one before. I also believe their Paratrooper had a No Single Riders deal. And in regards to their Ferris Wheel, does anyone know why there are 3 cars then an empty space all the way around? I'm assuming it has to do with weight distribution, but I'm no engineer. It just looks, well, odd that way! Morey's has always been a bucket list place for me, but it sounds like between the insane prices, poor operations and several No Single Rider attractions, I may have to go through life having never experienced one of the gems of the Jersey shore.

Waldameer just posted on their Facebook page that the new ride is indeed a Zamperla Nebulaz called Time Twister which will replace the Spider. And yes, Paratrooper being moved is for an updated Water World entrance.

You know, I wonder what people think is a better look. Something like Holiday World, where parking is free, but admission is a bit higher. Or this model of "Welcome to Six Flags. Now give us $40 just to get into the parking lot"? Also wonder which is the better business model for the park. Regardless, I'd rather spend that $40 at Waldameer where I can get a ride all day pass (minus the waterslides) for less than that...

I had no idea that bridge had a skywalk attraction. I did the one at CN Tower about 10 years ago and loved it (after my knees stopped shaking when I first stepped out onto the ledge!), and I think this one might be just as scary since that catwalk looks extremely narrow. Thanks for posting this, and glad you enjoyed your time at Cedar Point. It may be having a bit of a rough year, but there's still plenty to do there that makes it worth the trip.

In case anyone hasn’t heard, TT2 is down for an “extended closure” while Zamperla makes modifications to the trains.

^ You know it's funny because I saw the vibration of the trains in the videos, but I honestly didn't even notice. Both of my rides were on the blue train and I was assigned row 7 and then 9 (second from the back). You do feel a little bit of a shuffle, but the original Dragster had some shuffling as well, so I don't think you'll have anything to worry about. (Not sure how the other trains are though, so don't hold me to that!) As for the lockers, I'd actually suggest renting one over at Magnum's entrance and then heading over to TT2. There should be less of a cluster of people just milling around not knowing how to operate the lockers, and retrieving things should also be way easier as I thought the TT2 locker area was a congested mess... and I went on a slow day!

Made a trip out to Waldameer on Saturday for Opening Day. Thunder River was closed for testing (a sign was posted stating it would be closed all weekend), the Flying Swings were down, and Chaos was suffering some sort of issue but was running early on. Aside from that, everything else in the dry park was operational. The main thing I noticed was the extensive amount of new wood on Ravine Flyer II. The entire turnaround on the opposite side of Peninsula Drive looked like it had new wood and there were other sections that appeared to be new as well. The result was the smoothest ride I have had on RFII in years, and it was never really a brutal ride to begin with. So kudos to Waldameer for their incredible upkeep of one of the best wooden coasters out there. It was so good it crawled back into my Top 5. Mr. Gorman was out and about making sure things were going smoothly. He even "assisted" me as I purchased my Wally Points for the day. Always nice to see a park president out mingling with the common folk! And speaking of Wally Points, I think the park added new kiosks over by the Scrambler and arcade for purchasing them. They looked like those slot machines with the big screens that are all the rage at casinos these days. Nice to see new technology being used as the older terminals (like the one Mr. Gorman assisted me with) are a bit confusing. Whacky Shack was in prime form with all of the stunts working. Again, props to Waldameer for maintaining this classic dark ride. I rode this first thing when I arrived and there were probably about a dozen people in line. Rode again immediately afterwards and the line had doubled. By the end of my third ride, the line had filled the entire first switchback. Nice to see the Shack is still loved by park goers! Rode the Music Express for the first time in several years and I forgot just how fast this ride is. While it seemed a bit bumpy, especially when running in reverse "turbo time" mode, the speed this thing travels at is pretty crazy. Rode the train, Giant Wheel and Sky Ride, took in the sights and just enjoyed my brief few hours at the park. The place looked good as usual, the employees I encountered seemed happy, and I look forward to seeing what the park has in store for 2025 (and beyond).

Rode TT2 for my first time this morning and all I can say is wow. Went in with low expectations, came off so pumped up I got right back in line for another lap. To me, it seems like more of a complete ride now. The backwards launch is unlike anything else I have been on and the trip up and over the top hat now is absolutely crazy. CP has a major hit on their hands and I am looking forward to riding again soon.

In case anyone was curious, Marineland has updated its website. Let's just say it looks like a massive "Geauga Lake-ing" is going on this season. Attractions include: Friendship Cove (beluga whales) Polar Splash (water splash pad area) And that's it. There is only one mention of amusement rides, and that is buried on the visitor information page, so since the park went through the effort to remove any pictures of the rides, this was most likely an oversight. On the plus side, admission is just $14.95 CAD and parking "is always free"...

The "Zarantula"? I had no idea Zamperla had that in their catalog. Looks pretty cool, despite the OTSR's. Now you have me wondering as well!

Great interview with Mr. Gorman. Waldameer is in good hands with him at the helm. So, new family ride in 2025. Seeing that the park has worked well with Zamperla, my guess is one of those Nebulaz or Windstarz rides that are popping up more and more. With Spider on its way out, maybe this is the plot the new ride will sit on? Regardless of what they add, it's great to see the park expanding and continuing to do well in a time where other smaller PA parks were not able to make it (Conneaut, Lakemont).

Does anyone know if there was ever a Bayern Kurve in the US that ran at 70 mph? Seriously, that sounds illegal... but I'll be in line for it when it opens!

Just had a “premium” time at Kings Dominion today. I sincerely hope the Six Flags era isn’t starting early. Took me 9.5 hours to get to Doswell from my place near Cleveland Hopkins airport. The number of crashes on I-495 and 95 is just mind boggling. Now I have not been to KD since 2009, and I have been visiting Kings Island numerous times a year since 2020, so for me, it was like walking into Bizarro Kings Island. I will say that KD’s International Street is really quite nice. The extra trees add a nice touch, and the fountain doesn’t seem to be as long, so it is much easier to traverse. I Got my FL wristband from a friendly girl at one of the gift shops inside the front gate, which saved me from having to wait in a rather large line at the “Upgrades” counter and headed to get the 3 credits I didn’t yet have. First stop, Twisted Timber (credit #277). Posted wait time for standby was 75+ minutes. Unfortunately the same prison-style shakedown in effect at Cedar Point’s Steel Vengeance is in effect here too. Also rather unfortunate- single train operations. My FastLane wait was 30 minutes, so I can only imagine what the standby wait was. My opinion of this ride is that it is completely insane. The first drop inversion was crazy and the constant airtime and quick direction changes made me completely forget this was once a Hurler. Good ride, and I was hoping to ride it again, but the line never seemed to die down. The main reason I wanted to visit KD was for Project 305 (credit #278), the lone North American giga I hadn’t yet ridden. One train ops here and about 4-5 minute dispatches resulted in a 30 minute FL wait here also. I was excited as the train climbed the 305 foot lift, and I was preparing for the much discussed grey out turn. And yes, it did indeed cause quite the vision blur! The rest of the ride is basically just high-speed s-turns, which is cool and very Maverick-esque, but as a whole, the ride just didn’t impress me. I’ll take Fury, Millennium Force and even Orion (I know, “not a giga” lol) over this any day. Since I had to pass Flight of Fear on the way out of P-305, and the posted wait time here was 75+ minutes, so I asked if it too was one train operations. the guy at the entrance said “no, two!”. So I figured I’d give it a whirl. 25 minutes later, I was boarding my train. The family behind me said they had waited 90 minutes. Ugh! Anyhow, I think this FoF is better than Kings Island’s as the train doesn’t sit on the mid-course for 5 seconds, and it seemed overall darker inside the spaghetti bowl, creating a very disorienting ride experience. Good stuff, but someone needs to turn the volume of the music and sound effects down a bit. It was truly ear splitting! My final new credit was Tumbili (#279), my first S&S free spin. Two cars were being used (not sure if there are any more) and the FastLane line was only 10 minutes, so that was a plus. I actually kind of liked this ride. I got 2 full (and very forceful) flips and while the ride is insanely short, it’s smooth and it made me smile after the park was kind of a let down thus far. Reptilian was closed when I first arrived, but it was open after I exited Tumbili. The app said a 60 minute wait, and the FastLane line looked like there was only about 20 people in it so I got in line. 40 minutes later, I was climbing aboard. One train ops and the limited capacity made this a slow moving line. Too bad because I absolutely love this ride. Why didn’t we get more Mack bobsleds in the States? Fast, smooth, and the second half feels like you’re going to slide ride out of the trough. Great ride, but that line… the standby line stretched way back to near Tumbili’s entrance. Yikes! The singing mushrooms never sang. Boo! I wrapped up my visit with a one cycle (FastLane) wait for Flying Eagles, which run VERY fast, and a walk-on FastLane ride on the Blue Ridge Tollway antique cars. This had to be the worst antique car ride I have ever done as the steering wheel did absolutely nothing. I bounced off the rail through the whole course. Other things that sort of irked me: Racer 75 had one train and one track operating. Grizzly’s line said <15 minutes on the app. The line stretched all the way to the gift shop with, yes, one train. Don’t think that was 15 minutes! Delirium, Anaconda, Backlot Stunt Coaster, Drop Tower, Windseeker, and the Log Flume were all down. There were no “merger people” for FastLane and ant Tumbili annd Reptilian, no one was even checking. And lines for food were just ridiculous. Yes, I know it was Good Friday and the weather was quite nice. But this was a pretty bad day all around and I sincerely felt sorry for people without FastLane as they probably didn’t get on much at all. So that’s my review of Kings Dominion. Doubt I’ll be heading back again anytime soon… and that’s a shame because it is a nice park that has a lot of good things going for it. Thanks for reading…

Looks like they are adding some sort of Disk-o style ride called "Wave Twister" for 2025. This video (at 0:58) shows a very brief glimpse of what appears to be a rotating two armed ride vehicle with rotating seats that rock back and forth along the track. Edit: I saw on Twitter (which of course makes it true) that the ride is from RES

It seems each summer I keep saying I am going to finally visit Coney Island and make stops at Rye Playland and American Dream. Obviously that hasn't happened, but based on Bill's (and others) comments, it sounds like I should just go to Coney Island. Oh, and maybe Adventureland to ride that bizarre RES Fireball "coaster"...

I hope they roll these out at all CF parks this year. About time they had something like this!

I thought it already had been closed... Regardless, whatever is left will be gone soon and in its place a shiny new music venue (which I thought was already something there, but again, shrug!) Coney Island to close permanently

Been a few years, but according to the park’s facebook page and an email sent to Seabreeze passholders, the park will be installing a Zamperla Windstarz ride in 2024. Unfortunately, this new addition comes at the expense of the park’s Flying Scooters. . Nice to see the park adding something new though, and I have a feeling this ride will be well received by the family crowd that Seabreeze caters to. Seabreeze new Windstarz for 2024

Apparently Primordial is now open to season pass holders: Primordial open i didn’t know it was going to be like a bigger version of Wonder Mountain’s Guardian, but that is what it sounds like based on the article. It’s been 11 years since my first and only visit to Lagoon. I loved the park and really enjoyed the SLC area. Guess I need to start saving!

Tornado at Stricker's Grove. Who knew a wood coaster built in-house at a park that is only open to the public 4 days a year would have a jolt of airtime that will shock the heck out of any new rider? Definitely was not expecting that!