Ed Farmer

As if another reason was needed to return to this fantastic park. Glad to see something finally come of Gwazi- it felt inevitable- and really looking forward to yet another giant RMC!

Steel Vengeance Zadra Twisted Timbers Storm Chaser Goliath Close call between Steel Vengeance and Zadra. I'll give the edge to Steel Vengeance for it's length.

Umphrey's McGee -Lakefront Green (8/10) Joe Russo's Almost Dead - Red Rocks (8/29) Phish - Dick's Sporting Goods Park (8/30-9/1)

The park is a little weird. I walked through it, but didn't bother with anything other than Zadra, Hyperion, Formula, and Mayan. It absolutely does feel like a temporary fair here and there. The new area, hopefully a sign of what is to come, is top-notch, though. One nice surprise, at least for the rides I rode, were operations. I don't know if this is standard, but they were pumping trains out like it was no one's business- without fail. I wasn't expecting that at all. Two trains going on each of the four coasters I rode, all day, apart from an apparent technical issue on Zadra late in the day. They put the second train back on around 8 pm (park closed at 21:30/9:30 tonight). I don't know of any Six Flags park that would have given a damn about putting that second train back on, and I've never seen a Six Flags park that gets trains out of the station at the pace that this place did (at least today). I only bring up Six Flags, because that was the bar I had set coming into my visit. A funny thing I noticed is that riders on Zadra actually listened to the announcements and weren't constantly holding up dispatches by lowering the lap bars themselves. That's been, without fail, an issue every time I've ridden an RMC coaster, Cedar Fair or Six Flags. Energylandia is the only European park I've had the chance to visit to this point (so I'm sure my standards are set low by default) and apart from 12 of the 16 or however many coasters they have being of the kid variety, and the really temporary-looking scenery here and there, it seems like it could be a promising place. I know they're expanding at a crazy pace- it would be nice to see some investment thrown at the shoddier parts of the park. I'll definitely visit again, when next I get the chance to go to Europe, because of Zadra and the next eleventy coasters they put in.

I got four laps on it today. It's a very aggressive (in a good way- not uncomfortable at all) ride. There is airtime everywhere. I preferred last row (rode three times in the back, once in the front). It doesn't let up. This one pulls less punches than Steel Vengeance, but it lands all of them, directly. I don't rank or keep lists, really, but I do know that at least at the moment, I can't decide between the two. Energylandia definitely has a big winner with Zadra.

Z-Force was 86 ft high, operated for parts of 3 seasons at GAm, and Michael Jordan wore #23. I'm with Andrew/ytterbiumanalyst on this one.

They're rocky mountaining the queues to include water fountains for the anniversary next year. I saw the trucks already.

Phish- Alpine Valley (7/12, 7/14)

Spring Awakening Music Festival (6/9) Dead and Company - Wrigley Field (6/14) Phish - Blossom Music Center (6/19) First time catching a show at Blossom Music Center (Cuyahoga Falls, OH). What a tremendous venue.

Backlot Stunt Coaster

Late to the party, but nice pics from the media day (and the 5/17 update). Firebird looks fantastic! I greatly enjoyed this coaster as a Stand Up at SFGAm, and was happy to catch a few last laps on Apocalypse before it closed in 2018. I think it has a great layout, so I'm glad it got the refurb rather than getting scrapped. Hopefully it'll stick around for many years to come.

I thought I was the only one! Lightning Racer is great, but I thought it's a bit fluffed- fun, but kind of standard. Wildcat, on the other hand, is out of control and much better than it's reputation.

Zombie tiger eel Superman. on fire

That is the same crane RMC uses!

This thing? Just a gut feeling, but I don't see that happening. If they replace it with a similar coaster, it'll be the one they've been putting in all their other parks.

I've come to expect to read about yet another new coaster being announced anytime this thread is bumped. This is a bummer. Was cautiously optimistic that they could get this done in time for late August- that remains to be seen, but this won't help. Glad it happened while no one was around. Looks like that area got hit by storms pretty hard...

It's been almost one full month. Let's see how this little segment of the report... ...has held up. Woman attacked by jaguar while taking selfie in restricted area at Wildlife World Zoo in Arizona. We live in truly special and blessed times.

If by "prolonged", you're referring to his very last season, which was injury-shortened and split between two teams (71 games split between Toronto and Oakland), then yeah. Maybe he should have retired in 2007, while he was still a top hitter in the game. Frank Thomas had an OPS of .926 (w/ 39 HR) as late as 2006- he was a legit MVP candidate for much of the year. He dealt with injuries towards the end of that season, IIRC, which nixed his chances at the award. I definitely agree with you that kids would have been pretty thrilled to see a monster hitter/MVP candidate/one of the greatest of all time at the local YMCA. He wasn't too shabby in 2007 with Toronto, either. *Edit* I see I'm responding to a post from 2017... but yeah, Frank Thomas was as legit a hitter as there ever was. Injuries were his downfall. Martinez and Ortiz are known cheaters. Frank Thomas, by all accounts, was clean, and he was the best right handed hitter of our time. I'm a White Sox fan, and this one hurts- not so much because Manny Machado is not on the team- more because it brought to light the ineptitude with which the team's management continues to operate. The GM/Front Office planned for the winter of Machado/Harper for two years, assuring fans the wallet would be open, and walked away with nothing. They got cute and acquired Jon Jay and Yonder Alonso- two garbage ballplayer who don't add to the team at all (prior to any actual commitment with Manny Machado- which never ended up happening! What the fuck?!) in the belief that this is somehow what would make Chicago the most attractive destination (Jay is a close friend of Machado's, Alonso is his brother in law- we'll call it the Friends & Family Plan). Meanwhile, they were low-balling him on the terms of the deal the entire time- declining to throw in an opt-out, not guaranteeing years nine and ten (there was a ridiculous at-bat incentive that never would have been realized). San Diego (a late entrant to the bidding) happily did both of those things. The White Sox had the opportunity to improve their proposal, but assumed that Manny's team was bluffing. Now Machado is in San Diego, and the White Sox are left dancing with themselves, with Jon Jay and Yonder Alonso as season-long mementos of their failure. It's not the first time this has happened- the White Sox highest ever free agent acquisition rang in at 68 million over the life of the contract- one of only four teams in baseball that have never gone to nine figures. They play in Chicago, as big of a market as there is, but operate as if they were Oakland or Tampa Bay. Since whiffing on Machado, there has been radio-silence on Bryce Harper (I thought that wallet was open?). Instead, there was an Ervin Santana signing (would have been nice...10 years ago), and they're rumored to be after Denard Span (again, a little late to the party). Apologies- I just needed to vent. It's been a very tough pill to swallow. Hopefully, anyone who has invested into a sports franchise for as long as I have can see where I'm coming from. I don't want to sound whiny, or ungrateful- I'm just legitimately hurt. I've held tickets for the past 15 years (absolutely not renewing for 2019). There has been very little in way of reward in that time, not just in terms of results- the effort has been bare minimum. My godson and nephew are probably going to grow up Cub fans because the White Sox are an incompetent franchise- that is something I can't forgive ownership and the front office for. It's been ten years of this. The 2005 World Series Championship was among the happiest moments of my life, but it may as well be a figment of Sox fans' imaginations. Never happened, according to the rest of the world.. I doubt it will be any different by the time I have kids of my own.

Those bracket looking things on the descent are for brakes, I assume? Should feel great, if so. Ha! Awesome .

Ouch. I visited Kings Dominion for the first time this past summer and thought the park was great. Volcano standing there dormant was a definite bummer, though. I had tentative plans to give it another shot this year, but I'll likely put it off for the time being.

Ah, memories.

Aqueous @ Chop Shop - 11/29 Illennium @ Aragon Ballroom - 12/22

Batman The Ride @ SFGAm on Saturday. It was so pure.

Slow Arrow double-corks are life.

I thought I read that Six Flags was inquiring about the Mack Power Splash in surveys recently. While that doesn't guarantee anything, it would seem they're at least kicking the tires on something like that.