Big-M

14/20 Finnish. Really?

I've really enjoyed this TR so far, especially the Knoebels portion. Luna Park will be getting the Volare from Elitch Gardens.

Those are some awesome photos! You deserve to be on the front page!

From the Japan Times:

Runaway Train @ Elitch's only operated for a year. However, rcdb says that it was purchased from a defunct park in Germany (although that is all the info it gives), and I'm not sure how long it operated there.

CEDAR POINT! I loved Great Adventure when I was there, but Cedar Point has much better variety. Another thing I would like to point out is that if the new Six Flags management runs all of their parks like SFMM (as seen in Robb's recent trip report) , then you probably want to avoid Six Flags parks altogether.

^ I am too. In addition to Knoebels, Lake Compounce is another nice little park (which happens to have my favorite coaster)

^ From Dictionary.com Sold: to transfer (goods) to or render (services) for another in exchange for money; dispose of to a purchaser for a price Closed: to bring to an end

Here are my Top 5 First Drops: 5. Nitro 4. Maverick 3. El Toro 2. Bizarro SFNE 1. Millennium Force Yes, I do have a thing for Intamin first drops.

I rode BB in it's early years, and got one of those brutal, rough rides. I then rode it this year and it wasn't quite as intense, but it was pretty smooth. I think that the Bullet, in its current state, is probably the best fit for the park which draws more families than anyone else. Do you agree that even though it isn't as intense, Kemah is better off with Boardwalk Bullet running the way it does now?

Looking at how most of you voted, I am beginning to think that Voyage won't make the top spot this year. Do you guys agree? Where do you think it will place?

^ You only consider your favorite.

Just reading through here, and thought it was funny that my top three are exactly the same as yours (but in a different order), but your number 4 wood (Bordwalk Bullet) is probably in the bottom 10% of all the woodens I've ridden, if not in last place! It's funny how people's opinions can be so similar but so diferent. I agree it is strange how people's opinions differ! When I first rode Boardwalk Bullet in 2007, it beat me within an inch of my life, and I absolutely hated it. However, when I got the chance to ride it again this year, it ran much more smoothly. I actually rode it in the back seat and loved it!

^ and ^^ It's great to see some love for Boulder Dash! Here is what I came up with: Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,1 Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,2 Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,4 Out of Control Feeling/Directional Changes_,y,y,3 Positive G's/Loops_________________________,y,y,6 Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,5 COASTER NAME PARK LOC <--Please leave this Boulder Dash Lake Compounce CT,y,y,1 My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere **,y,n,2 El Toro SFGAd NJ,y,n,3 Phoenix Knoebel's PA,y,y,4 Boardwalk Bullet Kemah Boardwalk TX,y,y,5 The Beast Kings Island OH,y,n,6 Cyclone Lakeside CO,y,y,7 Thunderbolt SF New England MA,y,y,7 Blue Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,7 Twister Knoebel's PA,y,y,7 Cyclone SF New England MA,y,y,8 Cyclone Astroland NY,y,y,8 Mean Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,8 Twister II Elitch Gardens CO,y,y,8 Wildcat Lake Compounce CT,y,y,9

I thought that the old header was starting to feel tired, and I really like the new one. However, I do agree that the yellow is a bit too harsh. EDIT: ^

Elitch Gardens- 20 minutes I'm not a fan of this park. If it had a headlining coaster, the experience would feel way more complete. Lakeside- 30 minutes This place is a lot of fun. The atmosphere is wonderful, and Cyclone is a fairly good woodie.

Got a snow day tomorrow!

You know a LOT about past history, like since the middle ages, right?

I have to say, I really didn't like the looks of Cheetah Hunt after first seeing the animation, but with each new update it looks more and more awesome. Great TR!

Wildcat @ Lake Compounce. Very rough and forceless. I really didn't enjoy it at all.

Home Parks- Location Elitch Gardens- Sidewinder (It is the one that I hate the least) Lakeside- Cyclone (Best ride in Denver) Home Park- Visits Cedar Point, Maverick (closely followed by MF)

I went to Elitch's one day with a friend of mine who pointed to Flying Coaster and said, "Wow! Is that the Mind Eraser?" For the record, he has been to that horrible park MANY more times than I have. It was my first time at the park in years and I knew what the Mind Eraser looked like. It also annoys me how so many people are convinced that the Mind Eraser is the best coaster EVER, when in reality it is a rough, cloned, and downright horrible ride.

I think that Cedar Fair's reasoning behind turning the MCBR up completely could be that it would decrease maintainance on the ride without having to close the ride to put a trim on the first drop (which may be easier said than done because it is covered). This is pure speculation, but I think this could even be a temporary way to decrease maintainance for the next few months before they trim the drop. I haven't been on GhostRider, but I found it surprising reading how it has reportedly gotten so brutal and hadn't been trimmed (This is CF we're talking about). I think it has had this coming for years now. Hurler, Timber Wolf, Mean Streak, Beast, Thunderhawk, etc. have all gotten the same treatment. Cedar Fair hasn't put trims on, Renegade, Prowler, Blue Streak, Grizzly, Racer, or even, Son Of Beast just to name a few. I think, Cedar Fair gets bashed too hard for putting trims on their wooden coasters. Tell me, would you rather actually suffer the pain of Mean Streak without trims? I'm guessing not. If anything, all trims on their wooden coasters are rides that would be way too rough otherwise. Just a thought. I agree with you. In retrospect, I wish I had put something in my original post about trims tending to go to rides that are rough or hard to maintain. For example, I would say Mean Streak got them for both reasons (BTW, I might want to suffer through Mean Streak ONCE trimless just to see what it feels like ) Most of the examples you provided, however (excluding SOB) are smaller, easier to maintain rides (Blue Streak, Racer) , or relatively new rides (Prowler, Renegade). Thank you for responding. I agree Cedar Fair gets too much BS over trims. I was just noting the general trend of their rough woodies getting trimmed at the point they become unridable.

I think that Cedar Fair's reasoning behind turning the MCBR up completely could be that it would decrease maintainance on the ride without having to close the ride to put a trim on the first drop (which may be easier said than done because it is covered). This is pure speculation, but I think this could even be a temporary way to decrease maintainance for the next few months before they trim the drop. I haven't been on GhostRider, but I found it surprising reading how it has reportedly gotten so brutal and hadn't been trimmed (This is CF we're talking about). I think it has had this coming for years now. Hurler, Timber Wolf, Mean Streak, Beast, Thunderhawk, etc. have all gotten the same treatment.

In my opinion, the audio on Bizarro (SFNE) really sucked the life out of the ride. It was way too loud and tinny as hell. I was also not really paying attention to what it was saying because I was paying too much attention to what was going on. Thankfully it was off in one train, so I only had to endure it for one of my rides. The coaster rocked. The audio, not so much.