GwaziBSRider1

List time! I can't pick a favorite, and these are in no particular order. Noah's Ark at Kennywood (before they let it go downhill) ET at USF Monster Mansion at SFOG Ghostwood Estate at Kennywood Curse of DarKastle at BGW Spider-Man at IOA and several others that I'm most likely forgetting about.

Don't feel bad. I'm the same with Mean Streak.

I never noticed this until now, but the twisted hill after the first drop looks a lot less violent than the standard design. I rode Steel Hawg at Indiana Beach this summer and I got pretty banged up at that spot. Looks like this one will hurt a lot less.

I like the inversion right before the brake run. This definitely looks to be one of Intamin's more interesting designs. Maybe I need to go to Istanbul!

^ It would cost a fortune for Liseberg or Mack to ship the car to the US and back to Sweden. They did have it on display at the IAAPA Euro Show this year.

I was talking to one of my friends here at my college, and apparently her sister was at the launch too. Small world.

That's a sexy looking lead car ride there. Maybe I'll have to go to KK next year and check it out. It looks like a damn good coaster to me.

Skull Mountain was a fantastic ride. It was one of my favorite rides in the park. I never understood why they decided to close it. It was such a unique attraction.

I was at Geauga Lake (SFWA at the time) ten years ago, and I was in line for Double Loop. There was somebody nearby telling his friend that it was the smoothest ride in the park. WRONG. Double Loop's helix beat the crud out of me.

This may be an odd question, but does anybody know why SFOT closes Gotham during Holiday in the Park? I'm visiting for the first time during the weekend after Christmas, and it irks me that Batman and Mr. Freeze are going to be closed.

Hit the low capacity ones first like Invertigo or Firehawk. Flight of Fear, Flight Deck/Bat, and Beast all get really long lines during the day, so you may want to ride those early as well. Don't miss a night ride on the Beast. You'll regret if if you do.

^ I agree. Personally, I find the pretzel loop on SFOG's to be the most intense out of the ones I've ridden. I nearly greyed out at that part.

^ Most of the newer wooden coasters use Southern Yellow Pine because of cost and availability. If I'm not mistaken, Dinn Corp. was the pioneer of the use of the pine. Fir is a much harder wood that holds up a lot better. Many of the older wooden coasters were originally built with it.

I was able to ride the old Phantom in its very last season. To me, the inversions weren't all that bad (I was 8 when I rode it though). It was that %#&@-ing turn at the bottom of the second drop! The only way I could survive it was to plaster my head against the headrest as hard as humanly possible. It's still by far one of the roughest coasters I've ridden to date. Also, if we're commenting on dark rides at Kennywood, I want to see a Noah's Ark refurb. I've been watching that ride waste away for the past few years, and it makes me sad to see it so decrepit. Half of the effects don't even work anymore, the figurines on the inside badly need to be repainted, and the Kennywood Bathosphere has been closed off for a few years now. It's sad that the last major refurb was successfully maintained for nearly 30 years, but our current Ark is showing its age at 17. Grumpy teenager, I guess?

^^ It's a real shame to hear that about Zeus. It's one of the rides very high up on my "To Ride List." I wonder why so many of the CCI coasters are simply turning into crap now? I'm a huge fan of CCI, and it makes me extremely sad to see these rides change for the worse.

My first Vekoma was the Wild Mouse at Idlewild (1997), but as for the clones: Boomerang: Sidewinder at Hersheypark (2002) Flying Dutchman: X-Flight at (then) Six Flags Worlds of Adventures (2003) Invertigo: Two-Face the Flip Side at Six Flags America (2005) Junior Coaster: Woodstock's Express at Cedar Point (2010) MK-1200: Ninja at Six Flags over Georgia (2013) Mini-SLC: Flying ACE Aerial Chase at Carowinds (2009) SLC: Serial Thriller at (then) Six Flags Worlds of Adventure (2003) I happen to live in a part of the world that lacks many Vekoma rides, and it's absolutely wonderful.

The finale of Sky Rocket at Kennywood is so weird. The random, slow trick track is just so confusing.

Honestly, most of the park could use a refresh. It's not what it was like in '05, but it still has potential to be a nice park. Once they get this Mardi Gras retheme done, they should really move over to that empty space between Batwing and Superman. That's a nice sized area and they really should make the most of it.

Thanks for sharing this, Robb! This is a really awesome TR! This makes me wish I lived closer to Florida to go do all of the cool stuff down there. Completely random, but for some reason it's so weird seeing you wearing pants. I've only seen you wear shorts on the tours!

These two pictures seem to have really similar rides. The airtime hills look really similar, but something else catches my eye. If you look at the aerial photo, you can see a fence around the trough prior to the airtime hill. This fence is also present in the family photo around the same trough. Looking even closer at the two photos, the trough seems to be really close to the ground. I may be crazy (it's been known to happen), but I think they're the same ride.

I've been really curious about the Topple Towers, but I just can't seem to find one that's still open. Marineland's was SBNO during my visit and had already been confirmed to be ready for demolition. Are there any even left in the US?

It's a real shame how much crap this park has gone through over the years, but it's great that they (somehow) keep coming back. With all of this, I'm really wondering how much longer Conneaut Lake will be operating. It would suck to lose this park and the awesome Blue Streak.

It's hard to tell when Selva Magica will open up Bullet. If you go on their Facebook page, they have pictures of the track fully completed. It's just a question if they'll get it open before the end of the year. Either way, I can't wait to go back there and ride it!

Intimidator at Carowinds! It's not the last for 2013 though!

Great update! This custom El Loco is looking really awesome!