Geauga Dog

Thank you for the excellent coverage of Knott's new offerings. They did a great job on both the Boardwalk and Timber Mountain. The bright colors of the Boardwalk are quite sharp and the area is such a huge improvement over Perilous Plunge. I rode Timber Mountain in 2001 but don't remember much except for the hidden drop in darkness midway through the ride. Congrats to Knott's for preserving this classic attraction. I'm somewhat out of the loop but did they paint Xcelerator pink or is that how faded the track has become?

Though I haven't ridden it but based on the opinion of most TPR members something compact like iSpeed in Iron Wolf's spot would be ideal. It's compact enough to fit in that spot.

^Didn't stop them from putting a Windseeker in both park and I'm sure if this is a giga there will be people asking why put a giga at KI when CP already hoas one. Heck at this point no matter what KI builds it will probably be compared to something at CP anyway.

One that immediately came to mind was Cedar Point's old Pirate Ride where you were swallowed by the whale.

Larry, Here's a couple of photos of Waldameer's new Music Express. Hope they are sufficient for you. It is not an easy ride to get a good full frontage photo since the Scrambler is right in front of it. View from the L. Ruth Express station. Not the greatest photo of the Music Express but you can at least see the new LED lighting on the Scrambler.

The surprising thing is that Intamin was the first to create the wing coaster concept with Furius Baco and yet they haven't sold another one like it. I'd like to see them try to take that concept and make their own version that uses a more traditional lift and layout to make a more solid comparison (yes, there's Skyrush but it's technically not a full winged coaster, i.e. all seats on the side of the track). As for the B&M version I really like them as it's a different sensation from the more traditional sit down loopers. Whether or not I get airtime is not a big deal to me, though it's a plus if a ride can get my butt off the seat, but when it comes to loopers I look at the various elements that comprise the layout. The wingover drop on a wing coaster is one of the best new style of inversions out there.

Kentucky Kingdom I saw the thread and it stated is was green square Intamin track. I know Intamin makes a square track but IF this is going to be a giga I would think they would use the beefier track like what's on I-305. I guess we'll have to wait and see if its spotted at KI.

That looks pretty close. Is this the closest a fire has come to SFMM?

Retheming Action Zone to the original jungle/safari theme would mean they would need to rename all the rides in the area to match it and we all know how great CF is with their names. Whatever is done to that area I just hope they plant some trees and add landscaping to break up all that concrete and while they are at it they should remove Timberwolf. Other than the Christian music festival and maybe a cheerleading competition how often is it really used?

That's a very nice looking ride. I like how it tries to blend into its surroundings.

Does not surprise me. Since the lifts have speakers wouldn't the ride ops back in the station make an announcement? If I was on the ride I'd be sitting there enjoying the view.

My visit last year had a nasty storm brew up in the late afternoon that resulted in a monsoon hitting the Point. Two hours after the storm passed, with bright sunny skies, many of the bigger coasters were still down while smaller coasters had reopened.

Just checked out the POV video and that train really seems to haul through the course. I really like the little twisty section on the return trip right before the train turns right and towards the brake run. That's supposed to be a ninety dregree bank on the turnaround? It didn't look like it but neither does the ones on Gravity Group's coasters when you ride them.

Thunderbolt still has a no single rider policy, the main reason I don't ride it that much.

Some parks enacted no single riders for their antique car rides. I know when Geauga Lake was SFWoA they enacted that rule on the Merrie Oldies. I also believe I saw a no single riders sign on Martin's Fantasy Island's antique cars. Speaking of MFI, you cannot ride Flight as a single rider but I believe that is due to balancing the ride. Do the Six Flags Skyscreamers have a no single rider policy?

Thanks for the video, Robb. It does seem like the train slows a bit before taking the cliff drop, at least from the POV, but the ride overall just seems epic. I also love the lighting in the tunnel.

Thanks for the update. It's already looking like a very different park already. I really like the way the Viper trains look. As far as the relocated entrance, where is it now in the park? Also did they finally repaint the station? It was still shabby looking last year even after they repainted the entire ride the year before.

Was surfing the Net and came across these cool aerials of Darien Lake taken from the blog of a private pilot. http://warrior481.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html These were taken during the PARC era since Motocoaster is visible towards the bottom of the full park aerial. Ride of Steel and Predator

Robb, just wanted to thank you for the awesome video of Gatekeeper. For being media day there was no media reports on our TV stations since the story of the three missing girls found alive still dominates our local news programming.

I've been looking forward to seeing the new map and it's very interesting in how they "themed" the park, which I don't think any of us were expecting. It makes it even more interesting in what Herschend will do in the future to enhance those themes. I noticed the mini golf that was inside Viper is gone. Just as well as that course needed a makeover badly and I hardly saw anyone golfing. BTW, I don't find it wrong they have Viper in Rowdy's Ridge. Ranger doesn't exactly fit in that area either.

Wow, that looks incredible! Only thing missing is the train going through it.

I agree as I loved front left on X Flight, the slow roll over the track, hanging there looking straight down while the rest of the train catches up. From what I recall my very first ride on X Flight was back left and I thought I was going to get a good yank into the wing over drop but it wasn't as strong, though still fun. Maybe with the drop being bigger on GK that might change.

Thanks for sharing. Some very unique photos of Racer and any photo of the Bayern Kurve is a win. They did a nice job on the Black Widow cave entrance since that was not built when I was at the park last year. It definitely would creep out someone with arachnophobia.

With Seabreeze having a standard Maurer Sohne like Waldameer's and Martin's Fantasy Island having a Zamperla that doesn't spin (lol) a Gerstlauer wouldn't be all that bad. Tony Hawk/Pandemonium at Six Flags St. Louis was quite a surprisingly good spinner that would be somewhat unique at least in this part of the country as it would be larger than the aforementioned rides. A ride the size of Tony Hawk won't fit in the Galaxy Theater but why not make the ride part indoor, part outdoor? Does it really have to totally be in the building? As for expanding I had always thought they could use the part of the campground around Twister and the go-carts. Lots of space there for something substantial.

That's a really cool video and the photos are top notch as always, Hanno. While watching the clip in the pre-show part, waiting to launch, I had this idea that Kings Island could take the old Crypt building and use it for something similar (even though I know they've turned it into a Haunt attraction). The ATV trains look sweet.