Geauga Dog

^But do take into account that under Kinzel all the Cedar Fair parks were pretty much getting the same attractions. Even though Valleyfair was the first to get the Chance hyper who would have thought that a smaller park like that, as well as Dorney, would be home to a large coaster like that? In the Six Flags model that would not happen. Now all these years after Millennium Force CF is building gigas. I don't find it odd that a park like Carowinds would receive one as I feel it's based on location and who the competition is. We all know that SFOG is the king of coaster parks in the South. Even though Intimidator is taller and faster Goliath is the better ride overall. If Carowinds wants to make a name for itself and stand out as the South's "thrill capital" then a giga makes total sense. I'm sure the sheer size is going to turn heads all the way down to Atlanta.

When I went in 2010 I stayed at the Super 8 that was practically right next door to SFStL that was decent.

The first few years Mean Streak was a pretty good ride but not fantastic. I remember seeing Curtis Summers standing near the exit on opening day watching the ride and seeing the rider's reactions. Even though Mean Streak looks impressive I was always in awe over how Texas Giant looked in comparison.

^If you look at Gatekeeper's first drop and Immelman it looks like a pretzel loop so technically they do have one. As for Mean Streak I'd say let RMC do some of it's magic to the ride but keep it a wood coaster by putting topper track on it while making some radical changes to the layout like NTAG. Just because they did it to Texas Giant, Rattler, and Medusa Mexico it doesn't have to have steel Iron Horse track.

I used to stay at the Hampton Inn (before the prices got ridiculously high) and take the short walk to the park though at night it seems a bit creepy as there are no street lights on Grand Ave. As for County Fair, when was it ever fully themed to America? Demon and the late Iron Wolf and Splashwater Falls doesn't/did not scream "America" either. I actually liked Buccaneer Battle despite how tiring your arms get from shooting water at other riders and bystanders. If you want to "Americanize" the ride to fit County Fair then they should have gone with a Boston Tea Party or Revolutionary War theme.

^Whizzer is the only true family coaster at SFGAm outside of LIttle Dipper and Spacely Sprocket Rockets. Plus being the last of its kind in the U.S. makes it something special. Big Bad Wolf was tearing itself apart. Back to Darien Lake, if they kept the bridge over the entrance pathway then it seems obvious that the old Cuda Falls site would be for water park expansion. Unless they decide to relocate the parking entrance/exit, which more than likely will not happen, then there is no other way to expand Splashtown unless they decide to A) fill in one of the lakes that surround the water park and/or B) relocate the catered picnic area.

While looking up several of the Vekoma MK1200 models on RCDB my answer is yes, I'd like to see more of these mid-size loopers in parks even if they don't really cater to the larger parks. With the newer trains like on their Boomerangs I think Vekoma could deliver quite a smooth ride. On a personal level I like the look of the Arrow-style track. With a lot of companies building coasters using either the box beam or lattice style track the skeletal look really adds to the theme park landscape.

Astroworld would not have been Geauga'd if CF had taken over. They would have finally had a property in the South, a region they do not have any parks in, which would have given Six Flags a bit of competition in Texas. I never got a chance to visit AW,w hich I regret, but if I had to take a "what if" approach to AW I could see CF remove some of the smaller coasters and replace them with newer, customized ones or have moved some of Geauga Lake's rides down there.

^I agree, the Voyage trains did make a difference in the ride experience. There are still a few rough spots but it's nowhere as bad as it was with the old trailered PTC trains, which really beat you up. Granted I usually only ride Predator in the front seat for the best rides.

Yikes, that looks so wrong in so many ways. Did they use the Corkscrew in RCT2, which has the unbanked turns,to design this ride?

Vortex is still quite a popular ride it's just that it can be a people eater despite stacking trains outside the station.

The view of Goliath from the front of Eagle is fantastic. Really makes the ride seem intimidating in a sense. Looking forward to hitting the park in July.

Great trip report. The park looks so much better now than it did when I was there in 2001. I agree that the first photo of Gold Striker is awesome.

^Also SDC has Wildfire so Wild Eagle isn't the only B&M Herschend has built.

When it comes to these types of rides location is important to get the best views and it looks like Adventureland put theirs in a great spot. Love the view of Tornado and Dragon. It does seem weird that Storm Chaser opened before Steelhawk.

At Kings Island yesterday I was surprised that at Diamondback the employees were taking the loose articles from the riders before they boarded and placed them in the bins themselves and at Banshee they had riders leave their flip flops and the employees would move them to the appropriate area.

I finally got my Banshee ride(s) in today. Thanks to my platinum pass I got three rides in during the half hour early rides at 9:30. No front or back seat rides as all my rides were towards the middle (Row 3, 4, and 5). Got to ride green train once (I really like the shade of green they used) and purple three times (I did get a fourth ride in a little after 12 and waited 45 minutes, which isn't bad as the line moved well). What a great ride! The first drop is excellent; love not having a pre-drop on this ride. The second half is amazing. The drop out of the aero-G felt like a second first drop as it felt like a much longer drop than the actual first drop. It seemed like there was a little intensity at the bottom of the batwing. I love how the train just whips through the second vertical loop and the floaty feeling of the in-line twist afterwards. It seems the screams from riders are louder when you go through the in-line. Can't wait to try a few night rides when I'm on vacation in a few weeks.

Oooh, I like the colors on the arms. I wonder if the lightning bolt design has anything to do with the name.

I'm quite impressed with how this ride turned out. Looks like floaty air time in the loop and zer-G and some good air time on the hills back to the station. Glad to see Zamperla build a bigger coaster compared to what their catalog offers at the moment.

Great article! Thanks for posting the link. Love reading the backstory/history of parks and coasters.

In the past I've noticed that on the ABC Rides page under coasters they show pictures of SFMM's Goliath so I wonder if they absorbed some of Giovanola's former designers. Actually I'm happy that B&M is trying the family route for their coasters. Of all the coaster companies they need a bit more diversification in their product line.

Thank you, DarkMaxim, for answering my question. I don't know why I find it hard to believe that the Canadians seem to be the main groups attending the park but I guess with the park's sort of "out in the middle of nowhere" location I can see how it can be considered a getaway for them. I'd like to think that Martin's also receives some business from them as well since they are on the lifeline between Darien and the border. As for CNL giving up Darien Lake I wonder how much of a cash cow is the park since, IIRC, it is the biggest property CNL has in their portfolio, which I would think makes DL their flagship property. Maybe if CNL doesn't give up the property maybe they would be willing to loosen the purse strings a little more to get the park and the resort up to its potential. I think we'll see more waterpark expansion before another big ride comes in since that seems to be where most of the crowd goes.

Awesome, another Troika has been saved!

Even with a campground and hotel does Darien Lake advertise itself as more of a local destination (Buffalo,Rochester, and Niagara Falls) or more of a regional destination ((beyond the Niagara region)? It seems, based on what I read here in this thread more locals go to the park than anyone else besides enthusiasts looking for a few credits. I will admit though that my first rime hearing about Darien Lake was back when I was a kid and my dad taking me to the Sport, Travel, and Outdoor show that used to be held every year here in Cleveland as well as Funtime putting their family of parks on the drinks cups at Geauga Lake.

Great TR, thanks for sharing. Glad you had a good time. Just like Invertalon stated I, too, hate getting to and from Kennywood but the park is well worth the hassle. Phantom's Revenge is awesome though the way they operate it (one train only the first half of the day while the line snakes out onto the queue bridge) really sucks. You were were smart to get Exterminator out of the way first.