Geauga Dog

For me it's Adventure Express at Kings Island. The ride is not visible from the midway and the entrance sign just seems to blend into the landscaping. Flight of Fear is another one even though it's not a big loss for me as I have sworn off of the indoor Premier spaghetti bowls for the rest of my life. After riding KD's last year I just can't handle the ride anymore.

Just saw the video posted on the Orlando Attractions show and just the brief parts of the tour at Sally and BSR were amazing. Thanks for showcasing the behind the scenes views we very rarely get to see. BTW that Wacky Worm at Adventure Landing looked a bit intense.

I can see one of the stand-ups going to either South America or India since that's where a lot of U.S. coasters have reappeared over the years.

The loop looks great. I, too, was surprised at how steep the drop was. Maybe it will deliver the insane airtime like the first hill on Kennywood's Sky Rocket does since that has a brake on it (even though the brake is on top of the hill).

I've been a little behind on updates for iRat and finally saw the testing video several pages back - this ride will be insane. I like how it pauses at the top of the lift to build up anticipation. The drop off the cliff looks as though it will provide a nice pop of airtime. I'm somewhat jealous that Texas has two kick-butt looking coasters.

I'm probably the only one who thinks a wood coaster would not be a wise addition to BGW though it would add an organic look and feel to the park so heavy in the steel department. I can hear the complaints from the neighbors over by Kingsmill about the noise. Besides if Busch would have been happy with Gwazi the Williamsburg park would have received one already. It seems the usual trend between both Busch parks was what one park gets the other one gets something similar a year or two later, of course the objections would be a hyper coaster, multi-motion dark ride, and a freefall in Tampa (though the freefall seems to be in the planning stages). If a wood coaster is in the cards what's so wrong with GCI? Since Tampa has the flyers why not utilize them and get their money's worth out of them? I'd like to see a new country developed with the wood coaster as its centerpiece.

^Take into consideration that Knott's is open year round compared to the rest of the chain.

Absolutely beautiful! A sure sign that spring has finally hit Ohio. Now I can't wait to hit this on vacation in June.

For an inverted coaster Afterburn is defintely one of the best layouts. I also like Talon's layout. For wood coasters I prefer twister layouts as I like the headchopper effects since the layout is usually tight and compact.

I wonder what parts of the Beast have been rebuilt/retracked this year. Last year it was the turn before the shed brakes and the year before that the turn after the shed brakes. Less than a month to go to find out (it's about time - lol).

That's very interesting especially since for years majority of the parks have a no raincheck policy in case of closing due to inclement weather.

Based on my visit in 2010 the old swings looked like they were in bad shape so I would consider Skyscreamer to be a vast improvement. Even though I've only been to SFStL once it was a park that I fell in love with. Sure it deserves more than it has but I get a feeling that the park is becoming Astroworld's replacement, i.e. just getting hand-me-down rides while throwing in a new ride every once in a while.

And if the jokes continue to be bad you can always rename it The Rim Shot (cue drummer - ba doom tish).

I never thought we'd see Chinese knock-offs on this side of the Pacific. I guess I feel spoiled with having all the legitimate manufacturers producing our rides.

I wasn't able to see the photo of the Trabant/Matterhorn ride on the Twitter page but it sounds like it might be one of those Dancing Fly rides Sartori offers. http://www.sartoriamusement.com/en/prodotti_dettagli.asp?ID=104 I wouldn't mind seeing something like this in a U.S. park.

Sorry to hijack the thread but to answer the question vacoaster asked: I do remember rumors back in the day that stated that SFWoA's hyper was going to be a Morgan but the plan was cancelled at the time due to complaints from the neighbors regarding the proposed location (on top the hill where the Woods Arena was behind the Sea Lion Stadium. The ride would have crossed over Squires Road (which was access to and from the Wild Life side parking lot), which was what the NIMBY's didn't want). Considering where they were going to originally put it a ride with Superman's layout would have worked at that location. Then Superman ended up in Mexico. Once the park and township agreed to a deal for Six Flags to add more rides to the Wild Life side the hyper rumor started up again and then it was rumored a B&M hyper was to have been built at a new location in the park, behind the Waterski Stadium. Back to our regularly scheduled thread. Glad to hear you were not affected by the earthquake and everyone is safe.

^The photo looking down Medusa's first drop also reminded me of The Boss. Superman seems a little short but looks quite unique for a Morgan. Best part - the mid-course brakes didn't appear to slow the train down to a crawl like on some Morgans. Six Flags Mexico looks like a very nice and well taken care of park, sans the paint Superman needs. How does it compare to some of the other Six Flags?

This is a question that I can't really answer as I enjoy both equally the same. If both have a great atmosphere and a good selection of rides and attractions then it doesn't matter if the park is themed or not.

Gatekeeper - it's only an hour from my house and I was quite impressed with X-Flight.

Everyone has their opinion but I also don't consider Martin's Fantasy Island ghetto. It's just rather quirky in spots. The front area and the western town are actually rather nice compared to the big midway where much of the thrilling rides are located. If they can get that midway from Silver Comet/Mind Warp down to the Ferris Wheel/Old Mill Scream to match the rest of the park, i.e. a little more landscaping, it would feel a bit more complete. Darien Lake was starting to get a little ghetto in spots until PARC and now Herschend have made some significant improvements to the property.

Thanks for the report, Chuck. Pretty cool that the park goes out of their way to do presentations of what's coming for the new season to the passholders. Change is always good but the new logo has to grow on me as I always liked the old one. I guess the "coaster tree" was inspired by Cheetah Hunt.

Robb, that off ride footage is spectacular! The train just hauls through the course. Thanks again for the awesome coverage of this ride and congrats to RMC and SDC on this new addition.

I'm also bummed that the ticket booths have been reduced to rubble. They added some character to the front of the park however I'm all for moving the metal detectors away from the entrance as it will speed up the process of getting in. Moving the ticket booths to the side seems to be a trend at most parks. Kings Island did the same thing under Paramount by demolishing their ticket booths for metal detectors that Cedar Fair eventually removed.

Thanks for the footage, Robb. Outlaw Run may be short but looks to be a very solid ride since there's so much going on after the first drop. And how much sweeter it will be once all those trees begin to fill in. I'll have to get to SDC one of these days.

The pretzel loop on B&M flyers. The intense G's at the bottom of the element is uncomfortably strong.