Geauga Dog

From what I remember... The queue was split into three rooms and they would hold the line until a room was almost emptied out. The first room was a basic "airport" ticketing area with posters of various places. The second room had Dave, an animatronic robot that would talk and interact with pilots on a large screen. This didn't last but for a few years . The third room was the repair bay, which used to have a supervisor trying to motivate workers who were repairing one of the sleds. As for the ride itself, all I remember there were more lighting effects on the lift than what is there now. I think there was a little smoke effect as you left the station but I do remember there was a light that used to blind you as went up the lift. As you began to drop to the right I believe there used to be some sort of satellite object right there. The turn after that was dark and you went up to the next block. Then as you dropped to the left there were asteroids hanging from the ceiling and a large screen that showed something being blown up (I remember there being a large fireball projected there) and then the turn to the next block. There might have been some "scenery" in the middle of the turn. Then after the next block there was the "I"m losing control" voice as you dropped and finally a shot of Alaska right before hitting the brakes.

Glad to see Chiller saved. Though I only got to ride the Robin side in 2005 I was quite impressed with the ride. Though I hope the inline twists come back I highly doubt they will.

SFGAm on Monday and Tuesday. Looking forward to X Flight and also being reacquainted with Raging Bull and Viper after seven years.

Sounds almost like something the Huss Troikas do before coming to a stop. The cars tend to fling out when the star wheels change their directions while the whole ride spins. Though your idea does have some potential to it.

Wouldn't want to scare the Irish all over again now would we? So as not to scare the Irish there's these alternatives: Iron Banshee Steel Banshee Banshee Hawk

When I went to CP last month I took a ride on Space Spiral for one last ride and not only was it hot in the cabin but the windows were badly scratched up that you couldn't really see out that well. I didn't ride DT as I quit riding it a long time ago. One last view before it disappears forever.

Do you think they will take a year like they did Texas Giant as Rattler isn't as massive a structure as NTAG is/was?

Is that Hopkins flume? I've never seen a traditional log flume have that much splash at the bottom of the drop. Pretty impressive.

It's great to finally see some progress on the construction. It's probably been explained before since they did the same thing with Apocolypse but why are they using a concrete pad instead of footers? Is it a stronger foundation this way or more economical in the long run as you won't have to worry about crumbling footers as time goes on?

The first time I saw the Great American Revolution in the movie "Rollercoaster" way back when the movie was first realeased to theaters in the 70's I knew someday I was going to ride it. I finally did in 2001 even though it already went through its modifications.

I love SFStL and those pictures brought back a lot of memories from by visit in 2010. This is going to sound stupid but I never saw the Mr. Freeze character in any of my rides and it was one my most ridden coasters. Thanks for posting that and the rest of your photos.

I was really surprised that Lex Luther made the news here in Cleveland. Channel 5 did a brief story showing footage of it with the Superman cars running at the same time. Looked pretty sweet.

I used the Fast Lane system on my visit a few weeks ago and FOF is on the list. You just go through the exit. You cana also use Fast Lane on Backlot Stunt Coaster if you want to add that to your list.

Over the years that I've found and looked at who all the different ride manufacturers were and what they offer I always wonder why some parks go with certain companies over others for their new rides. I'm sure price has something to do with it but I also figure it's a chance for a new or lesser known company to finally get some attention they might not otherwise get. I sort of thought it was strange BGW went with Moser for Mach Tower over Intamin but I thought it was a great move, despite the problems with Verbolten, that Zierer finally got the opportunity to get away from its Tivoli coaster image and join the big boys. It's nice to finally have a company that could easily stand along with Intamin and B&M (though they have a little ways to go to reach that pinnacle). I only got to ride Verbolten three times when I was there a few weeks ago and thought it was a very good ride, definitely on the border line of family coaster. Very smooth, two nice launches with a hint of intensity, and a surprisingly potent freefall track section in darkness. I hope we'll see more Zierer coasters in the future.

First of all the animal exhibits at BGW only take up a small area between Killarney (Ireland) and Acquitaine (France) and features wolves and eagles along with the animal show theater. That area is also a nice, quiet respite from the rest of the park. It's also a bit hilly so you couldn't just throw a couple of rides there. Busch Gardens isn't all about rides and shows. They also focus on and bring awareness to conservation as well.

Premeir does make good launch coasters but their trains need a serious makeover. It's very hard to get in and out of their trains due to lack of leg room (see Sky Rocket at KW as an example) Glad to hear that Superman is an excellent coaster and despite the capacity it's at least something unique. Thanks for the reviews, photos, and videos.

It's even worse now as you have to go through the Dinosaurs Alive gift shop to get to Grizzly. Even though it mentions Grizzly in the sign in front of the gift shop they should still make it stand out more along the Old Virginia midway.

Motocoaster at Darien Lake. You have to leave the park to get to it. Also Darien's Boomerang is in a very strange location next to the Beaver Brothers restaurant. Backlot Stunt Coaster at Kings Island. Smack dab in the middle of the park. Resulted in removing the Antique Cars and relocating the Flying Scooters to Carowinds to put this average ride in. Dominator at Kings Dominion. Right on a former parking lot. At least CF planted grass. Would have looked awesome in Hurler's spot.

I've ridden Carolina Cobra and loved the new Vekoma trains and didn't feel any pain at all. The only downside, though very minor, was how the vest felt against my shoulders. I also like the Vekoma bullet trains you'll find on Darien Lake's and SFDK's Boomerangs. I really wish Arrow was still in business. It would have been very interesting to see how they would have competed against B&M and Intamin as well as what new styles of rides they would have developed along the way.

Ravine Flyer II has a better view from the lift than Magnum as I think Magnum's best view of Lake Erie is from the top of the second hill, even though you only get a brief view before plummeting to the left. The view of the James River from the top of Griffon is absolutely stunning. Dominator, when it was at Geauga Lake, had an awesome view of the front part of the park from the top of the lift though the view of the Eiffel Tower at KD from the top is pretty cool as well.

Thank you for posting these fantastic photos of Mindbender. Despite seeing most of the layout from the parking lot I do love how it seems secluded from inside the park. It is a true gem and I'm glad that SFOG keeps it running the way Anton wanted it to be ran, i.e. no additional modifications to ruin the awesome ride experience.

Just remember that Dragster had a LOT more downtime when it was brand new in the same time period since Verbolten first opened. The roast turkey sandwich at Festhaus is very good but my favorite is the chicken parmagian and spaghetti at Ristorante della Piazza. Actually you can't go wrong at any of the main eateries in the park.

I understand the lower capacity on Volcano but is adding a third train even possible given how short the ride is? When they had one train loaded and ready to go the other train was already right behind it unloaded and waiting. It is a great ride and I'm all for increasing the capacity but I have a hard time seeing how they will be able to do it. For them to redo the station might be a big undertaking given what little room they have to work with.

^I was there this past Wednesday and I have to agree with some of the employees. Many looked sooo thrilled to be working that day. I realize temps were in the 90's but very little to no enthusiasm to get you excited to ride. I know it's part of how they operate and it bugs me to no end but really one train on Phantom and Thunderbolt all day while Jack Rabbit and Sky Rocket ran two? It wasn't really crowded (Phantom's line would only be as far as just beyond the overpass to Lost Kennywood and T-bolt's would stretch to the midway but withouit the need for extra queues to be open) but for being your two most popular rides there should always be two trains. They had the staff for it. I agree with Black Widow. Definitely a great addition to their lineup. I don't recall the air time but the overall ride experience is better than the Huss models. Pretty cool that it spins in both directions.

Europe In The Air is horrible. It actually made me nauseous. Felt like I was sitting still and the room was moving around me. Corkscrew Hill wasn't too bad from what I remember. How much space is in there for them to just gut the entire building and put a totally new ride system in there? Ireland is the only country without a marquee ride. Would a Mad House be a good replacement (probably would be a better fit for Castle O'Sullivan and you could tie a whole story around it).