Geauga Dog

It's not so much that I'm getting too old to ride I definitely cannot power ride like I used to. As for spinning rides I usually stick with just my favorites at a given park. I used to think that CP's flat rides ran such a short program but now I'm thankful they are a bit short. Case in point - CP's Troika vs. KI's Shake, Rattle, and Roll. CP runs their Troika at the right program length whereas KI runs SRR a bit longer and I really start feeling it. I'm also seeing that I can't stay at parks a full day, missing out on night rides, which sucks if I'm at a park out of state or a new to me park.

It's really amazing how quickly things can spiral downhill in just 9 years... I was at SFGAm in 2012 when X Flight was new and had a great time but am quite disappointed in reading how bad it's become in such a short time. My pick for underrated parks are SFStL and Hersheypark - both going well beyond my expectations when I visited.

But that still wouldn't fix dispatch intervals. More seats to check equals longer wait for dispatch and longer stacking on the brake run, if they decided to run two trains.

Definite Cedar Point Kings Island Possible Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World (added to KI) Have my eyes set on but too early Midwest Swing - Adventureland, Worlds of Fun, Valleyfair, Nick Universe, SFGAm

Stand-ups and flyers. Georgia Scorcher is the exception as far as stand-ups go but Mantis and Carowinds Vortex were rather painful. Flyers are usually one and done for me.

Looping - Drachen Fire (RIP), KI Vortex Suspended - Big Bad Wolf Mine Train - Adventure Express Hyper - Magnum

I also pick Raptor. Back right seat is great for the whip off the lift hill and the layout just feels more fluid. Did not want to go to CP this year so I can't say if Rougarou changes that but even though Mantis was bad I've always liked its layout, which is why I put it second. I like Gatekeeper but it comes in third in the B&M bunch and it's a much better ride at night.

I've had rougher rides on Racer, especially the blue side, than I've had on Beast and I don't see people clamoring for RMC treatment on that. Son of Beast was temperamental though mostly it was just in a bad mood all the time though I had some decent rides under the right conditions (first ride of the day and right after a rain). Now that ride deserved the treatment though I am thankful for Banshee. I have yet to ride any style of RMC to get what all the hype is, which puts me in the wrong for my previous post, but it seems those three letters have easily popped up in a lot of threads lately. I'd like to think that the rolling stock has a lot to do with the roughness - after all it's what's tearing up the track in the first place. The Beast has a very unusually long PTC train of six three seaters - that's a lot of weight on that wood.

Are we becoming a bunch of pansies that the slight hint of roughness everyone cries out "RMC, RMC"? If we end up RMCing every wood coaster out there, and I'm referring to Topper Track not so much Iron Horse, I think we'd lose the traditional feel of what a wood coaster should be like. The Beast is not rough, it's actually had a few sections retracked and rebuilt in the past few years and was running great as of my visit back in July (Hope to get down there for a Haunt Friday night this week - fingers crossed). The ride is way too iconic to tamper with.

Outside of the shallow coaster drops the game looks good. How many different rides does the game offer now?

Haven't bungee jumped but I prefer the Skycoaster over the Sling Shot. The old S&S Thrill Shots, i.e. VertiGo at Cedar Point, was awesome and better than a Sling Shot.

thanks for that one final look at DL for the year. What a beautiful ending to the season. I would have liked to have visited one more time but there's always next year. Of all the times I've been to the park I must admit that the merchandising was top notch this year. I didn't buy anything but I really liked a lot of the ride shirts that they had.

I'm surprised they are still offering the Topple Tower as the ones they did sell have closed and been removed since the Dollywood incident or is there one still in operation somewhere? You don't hear much about the King Kong ride either though I know there are at least two in Europe.

Thanks for the TR. Turbulence seems to be the forgotten new ride of 2015 and it looks like a great ride for its size. I really like the logo.

Those are some very, very nice looking trains and it's great to see something new on the coaster scene. How would a traditional chain lift hill be incorporated on something like this given it's just one solid piece of steel?

I'd be fine with a them as well as long as they continue investing in the park. Their two new additions this year was a step in the right direction. The important thing is getting the park a full-time owner, not one that is just leased out by an outside management company. At least a Eurofighter or a Premier Skyrocket II would still be unique if you think about it even if they are cookie cutters.

A Music Express would be a great addition, they are very popular yet I don't understand why Darien never had one in the first place, but with Martins just adding one this year wouldn't it seem like DL is copying them and Seabreeze? BTW Screamscape is reporting that Martin's has put their Chance Giant Gondola Wheel up for sale on the ITAL used rides site. With the log flume and Over the Falls rides gone this could open up a nice chunk of land for something eye catching along I-190. The Crazy Mouse could be easily relocated.

Huss is still around. They announced a few months ago their new second generation Enterprise. Shame they don't have the ride catalog they once had though I'd love to see new second generation models of some of their classics. Sartori also makes a Rainbow type ride as well but I think ARM's Rock Star themed Ali Baba would look great by RoS.

Makes perfect sense given that Grizzly Run is basically right there and I've seen people come off that ride drenched (which is why I have never ridden it - I don't mind getting a little wet or semi-soaked but not completely head to toe soaked).

^Granted that will happen again when you get those nice Saturdays in October and Halloweekends gets insanely crowded. Remember it was just a few years ago it took people hours to get off the peninsula after the park closed due to the traffic. To me it seems inevitable that they will have to build an overflow lot on the mainland and shuttle guests in.

^Plus add in the fact that Banshee was a good four or five years after Diamondback it's too soon for another new scream machine at Kings Island.

I'd prefer the hyper over an RMC conversion, especially now that RMC is building within driving distance of SFStL (Goliath at SFGAm and Storm Chaser at KK plus it wouldn't surprise me if Holiday World used them for a future project). While I love the park a big steel coaster seems to be what's missing most, whether a hyper or a nice multi-looper to replace Ninja.

That moose ride is extremely popular with the younger set, and a real blast to ride to boot. To each his own. Considering how bland that area around Scrambler/Grizzly Run was before Moose on the Loose and Rowdy's Ridge it was a huge step forward for Darien. I was expecting someone to say replacing UFO with Rolling Thunder but that was also a good move on their part.

Cedar Point, and CF in general, are not into theming their rides like Busch or Disney and that is just fine with me. Why theme something if the theming goes to hell in a couple years after opening (see Disaster Transport 1993/1994 on for example). Come to think of it, the whole front of the park is themed as one giant bird aviary with Gatekeeper, Raptor, and now Valravn. They just need to rename Wicked Twister and Blue Streak to fit in. They had to take the theming off of Dragster after one of the large tires fell off of it. On the plus side it meant they were able to add another row of seats in the back. The trains are still among the coolest out there without the extras they used to have. Now that Robb posted the bigger quality photos I seriously think this will be my second or third favorite ride in the park (nothing can beat Maverick IMO). Night rides are going to be sweet next year and look forward to what atmospheric lighting they will put on this ride.

I didn't catch the live stream so how do you pronounce the name? I've been calling it Val-ravn. I'm glad that they are going to make the ride guest friendly, i.e. bring the ride up close to midways so that guests can have some interaction with it unlike Gatekeeper. I'm actually quite surprised by the new midway that goes behind Cadillac Cars - will make it easier to get to Blue Streak and Valravn without having to go all the way to Raptor to access them. Great job CP!