BitterOldHag

Cedar Point needs to build a great wall around Mean Streak to prevent folks from taking ANY pictures of the ride. The wall would be yuge, and also tremendous. I really do hope CP screws with picture takers this summer by strategically blocking views of the ride. Like maybe close the CP & LE Railroad for the year, re-route the entrance to Maverick and close the midway used for Tombstone Terror-tory to any public access. You know, just to get under people's skin that are so completely obsessed over being "f!rst!!!" to post pictures of a ride the park politely asked fans not to post pictures of.

So did anyone else get a Dollywood survey where they asked for opinions on four potential new themed areas? The themes were Music (which seemed to dominate the survey), Roadside Attractions, Snow and Farming/Agriculture. The survey showed some very preliminary artwork of the concepts and mentioned that each area would have "8-10 rides the family can enjoy together ranging from mild to wild" along with shows and food that relate to the theme of each area. I unfortunately completed the survey before I had a chance to take screen shots, so my apologies there. But it is nice to see Dollywood looking to expand yet again. Now I just need to find a way to move a little closer so that 9 hour drive is shortened.

Of all the coasters I have been on, even though it's gone now, I thought The Big Bad Wolf had the greatest ending of any coaster. Diving down a pretty steep drop to the river below only to swing uncontrollably to 3 110-degree angles was pretty awesome for a so-called family coaster. And while I will add my name to "The List" of those who think Adventure Express has one of the worst endings, my award goes to any Chance Toboggan. If any ride needs a "You Will Pay" soundbite, it's a Toboggan. I think my neck and back have been paying for 10 years now.

Things all Musik Express/Himalaya rides should really have: - Loud music - Running at full intended speed (both directions preferrably) - Tons of lights in good working order - Strobe Lights/Siren/Foghorn for when ride hits full speed - An operator that talks up the ride and asks if the rubes want to go faster - Oh, and a "tunnel" backdrop. I appreciate that Carowinds is adding a classic Musik Express to their lineup, but as others have pointed out, with this being Cedar Fair, this will probably be as basic as Cedar Point's ironically-named Super Himalaya. Compared to Waldameer's insane Music Express, there's nothing "super" about it!

In case anyone is wondering what Seabreeze's new ride for 2017 is, it's a Technical Park Super Miami called Time Machine. It is supposed to be located "just north of the Tilt". http://seabreeze.com/park-attractions/whats-new.php

This. I walked through Screamworks twice tonight and saw numerous scare actors standing off to the side talking with each other and texting on their cell phones. The lone bright spot was a girl near the entrance to CornStalkers that was out in the open and was joking that she couldn't scare anyone because everyone sees her. I actually got a kick out of that. Tombstone Terrortory is awful as it is in a bad location and the handful of scare actors seemed bored. The kids that had their "No Boo" necklaces didn't really need them. Very disappointing. Also the food lines were insane, especially at the French fry stand near Raptor. Perhaps Cedar Fair should consider offering a "FoodLane" pass to skip the food lines. And finally, night rides on Maverick are crazy. With Mean Streak not being illuminated, the lights out on Maverick due to the haunt underneath and the fog drifting up, it is truly one of the best night rides I have ever had.

The ride at :47 is a Venture Cobra. Wisdom makes a "modernized' version of it called the Viper.

That's interesting to hear. Last summer I filmed the Devil's Den (the lights were all on for some reason) with no issues whatsoever. About 30 minutes later, a different ride op was there and said that filming is not allowed and I need to put away my camera or I will not be allowed to ride (my camera is a very small Sony HandyCam). Same went for the Blue Streak. I rode in the front seat and the ride op told me that I wasn't allowed to film the ride. I had no intentions of filming the Blue Streak without park permission anyhow as I am afraid of the Internet Forum Camera Police showing up at my house and stoning me to death. Maybe since they are the "New Conneaut Lake Park", they have changed their rules this year!

According to the ride list on the IX Centers website, the log flume will not be in attendance this year but the Crazy Mouse will be. No new rides will be present this year... Just the old standbys like the KMG Freak Out, the ARM Vertigo, Chance Zipper, Larson Shock Drop and the ARM G-Force.

Unless it's a typo, the article states that the incident occurred in 2012. Um, it took her 2 years to figure out that she wanted to sue?

And saturating a park with B&M's is a bad thing? They are reliable, people-eating rides that the General Public seem to enjoy... so why not add more B&M's? I'll take a Leviathan, GateKeeper, Apollo's Chariot or Banshee anyday.

I didn't think Cedar Point allowed photography from the Sky Ride unless proper permission was given. Their website states that photography is only allowed on the CP & LE Railroad. Since I know how fast people are to jump on others here and across the internet in general for not following park rules, I thought I'd point it out.

It’s interesting how many horrid reviews there are of Mt. Olympus online. I have only visited once, back in 2010, and thought it was a pretty decent park. Granted, I got there when the park opened on an early June Saturday, got on all the rides I wanted in under 2 hours (including 3 rides on the coaster then known as Hades) and didn’t eat there, but aside from the long uphill climb to leave, I really had no problems with the park. I also thought it had some halfway decent theming. Perhaps if I would have visited later in the season or spent more time there I would have seen the negative things that people point out. But during my brief time there, I actually sort of enjoyed it. Then again, I also was a fan of Son of Beast, Drachen Fire, and the original Steel Phantom, so I doubt my opinion of MTO means a whole lot!

Disneyland's website lists Space Mountain in the "Closed For Refurbishment" section of their calendar through at least the first week of May. Soarin' is currently not on that list, but is still clsoed as far as I know. Apparently, Matterhorn was slated to be down this week and next for refurb, but as of now, they are leaving it open to compensate for Space Mountain being down, along with Big Thunder which is closed through October or so. Going in two weeks, I am mildly disappointed, but since DCA is new to me and I am a huge fan of DL's dark rides, I think I will survive without Space Mountain and Soarin' being open.

Video of the ride in action from this past Saturday. MUCH faster than I expected!

This is probably a stupid question, but does anyone know what graphic design program is used by artists that draw the maps we see at our favorite amusement parks? I’m not a huge fan of the Cedar Fair maps, but there is a lot of work that goes into one and I was wondering if anyone knew what was used to create them. I’m trying to learn how to draw freehand in Adobe Illustrator, but I can’t get the drawing style down yet. I tried Autodesk Sketchbook Pro as well, but I’m having a problem when zooming in on a particular section of the screen as the program seems to crop it and I lose the rest of my drawing. If anyone has any input, it would be greatly appreciated. I know there are some excellent graphic artists here and I figured someone would probably know!

Lisko and Sons were the "fine" operators of Conneaut Lake's rides from 2008-2010. I seem to recall them bringing their dilapidated Chance SkyDiver to Conneaut for the few seasons they were running the rides. Lisko provides the rides for the Lake County Fair in Painesville,OH and I have to say that they are quite possibly the worst travelling amusement rides I have seen in this area. Their Gravitron had exposed wires hanging from the sign, the Sizzler looked rusted out, and their stripped down Flying Bobs (renamed Flashback) barely went at half speed. I also recall there being giant pieces of black duct tape on that swan kiddie ride. How they can be proud of their ride appearance is beyond me. The only cool piece they had (which was now about 5 years back and I haven't seen it since) was a strange early Enterprise-type ride that spun horizintally, then the entire wheel climbed up an arched support to reach its near-vertical spin position. I was informed the ride was from Heinz-Fahtz and it is the only time I had ever seen one. Wish I would have had my camera that day! Thanks for the fun TR though. Ghetto carnivals always make me laugh!

How about these- The ARM G-Force (shuttle coaster or thrill ride?) And the Conneaut Lake/Camden Park Pretzel Dark Rides. They use a chain lift, have a drop, and are powered by gravity. I find it interesting to see what some people count as a coaster. This has been a good read.

My favorite things about the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride are the mannequins out front to make it appear that there are actually people waiting to get in, and the awesome "Now Open!" sign even though the place has been around for 8 or 9 years now. Hauntings down in Gatlinburg has the same sign and they have been around since at least 1983. I do have to say that I actually have TPR to thank for bringing the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride to my attention. I probably would have skipped this state-of-the-art attraction on my visit to PF last year, but instead, I got to experience the "Plan Nine From Outer Space" of dark rides in all its glory!

The fair usually runs somewhere around spring break for the local schools, so a good estimate is Easter. This year's fair runs through April 15. The G-Force ride pictured (the u track ride from ARM) does not have spinning seats. It simply pulls the cars to the top of he hill and drops it. The car rolls back and forth until it stops. It is really quite lame. YouTube has some videos of it if you do a search. And if I recall, the very first IX carnival was held in November. I guess the spring break time frame must bring in more visitors.

I believe the ride duties are split between Bates and North American Midways. The Crazy Mouse is booked in through Amusements of America. The mid 90's were the best years for this event. In addition to the aforementioned Galaxi and Reverchon Log Flume, there was a Pinfari Looping Coaster, a Larson Crazy Train, the first ever Top Spin in North America, and the most evil ride ever created, the Tivoli Force 10 (known as the Black Out). Based on your TR, I may pass on this year's installment. Thanks for posting and I look forward to seeing the rest of your photos.

These are the "new" rides Fun Slide: Jitterbug Swings: I believe these are from Swank's Steel City Shows who seem to have partnered up with CLP once the Lisko's left town. The Roll-O-Plane is being retired as well based on a sign posted at the ride's entrance. The Train and Bug were also undergoing maintenance.

Anyone who loves CGA should hope it isn't a Cornhole game...

Wouldn't that have been Light Magic? At least the locals even turned against that one. My disappointments: - Violence at amusement parks. Seabreeze had to close over Memorial Day weekend because of rumors that a gang fight would be held at the park. Over at Kennywood, two girls got into a fight and one ended up being stabbed. When I was at Waldameer in July, two guys were hurling f-bombs at each other in line for RF2 and kept making threatening comments. When a ride op asked what was going on, one of the guys said "You'd better shut the f--- up or you'll be next." Thankfully it ended well with security escorting a very irate guy out of the line, but still, at a family park, leave that crap at home. - Wild Thing at Valleyfair. What I expected was a decent ride like Dorney's Steel Force. What I got was anything but. - The fact that someone at Cedar Fair thought the updated music for Cedar Downs was great. It's simply awful and I feel sorry for the ride op that has to listen to that infernal song over and over and over again each day. Ray P (trying to have more fun and take things less seriously)

Great pics G-Dog. I loved Haunted River and still rate it in my Top 5 Flumes of All Time. I remember there being a Rotor inside that mountain too. One question though- would Drachen Fire have been considered "groundbreaking"?