Ed Farmer

Sweet that people are going to act like No Lo-Q is going to throw a wrench in their plans.

Yeah, it actually looks a bit like Demon's first drop and it will be taking it with more speed. Not bad at all.

Shame that the drop out of the tower isn't as steep as the ascent into it. Oh well, still looking good.

http://on.mktw.net/evzRmJ Not much else can go wrong.

Something I've wondered about is would Texas Giant have been on the chopping block now or in the near future if something like Iron Horse or Topper Track didn't exist?

Glad to see it work out. Wonder what effect this will end up having on the SOBs and Mean Streaks.

To assume that the only reason one coaster beat out another is because people wanted to spite the site is taking a defensive stance on the matter. As Jarmor points out, the B&M has it's fans too. If I'm misinterpreting your post, then my apoligies. : - )

I think you should all be blaming the Green Party (Sky Rocket). Really, since they both opened I've seen half prefer the B&M, and half prefer the Intamin. That's just about what the poll says. I haven't ridden any of the coasters on that list, so I just didn't vote. To act defensive about this "most scientific of polls" because one site bombarded the B&M with votes while the other is doing the same for an Intamin is a headscratcher though.

What I find so odd about this ride is that Chiller really was a *GREAT* ride, and made even better with the lap bars. But yet it's rarely ever discussed or mentioned since it closed. The zero-g roll taken backwards after the retrofit was really a thing of beauty. In a way, I'm actually glad I didn't get a chance to ride it after the rolls were replaced with whatever that was.

You didn't notice a difference in Gwazi because you hadn't ridden it in 3 years,3 years ago I enjoyed riding it.Before they closed it for the refurb and new trains the ride was getting to the point were you were lucky if you didn't break a rib on it,it just wasn't fun at all to ride,after 1 ride I was done riding it for the day.I rode it last month and sure it vibrates like a normal wood coaster but you can actually enjoy the ride,I could have stayed on it all day. Hm. Sounds like the park went ahead with their plan to replace the wheels with squares, half-circles, and triangles immediately after I got my dozen or so blissfully pure rides (with PTC trains) on it this past November.

I *will* jump on specialty chains (particular to certain areas). We used to have lots of Checkers up here in Chicago (and still have one or two left IIRC, nowhere near me), so when I'm down in Tampa, I'll make sure to stop there. Portillo's in Chicagoland serves hands down the best Italian Beef Sandwich I've ever had, and probably the best burger too. If I ever find myself on the West Coast, In n Out is on my agenda just so I could compare.

Either this, or if you absolutely need to change your park's skyline, go pre-fab.

When it comes to large chain restaurants, I have two exceptions- Taco Bell and Chik Fil A. I can deal with Wendy's chili and nuggets. No McDonalds, BK, etc. unless I have absolutely no way around it. It's been over a year since I've had a McD's or BK sandwich of any sort.

I paid $3.87 for premium in the west suburbs of chicago last night. In the city it's roughly $4.20 for premium.

I dunno, all Busch Williamsburg is doing (so far) for their 2012 coaster was announce that there would be an announcement far in advance (essentially what Hershey is doing sans the viral campaign) and it's getting talked about and speculated on long before it opens too.

Some moved dirt, fences, and survey markers are more than enough to spawn dozens of pages of speculation on a coaster discussion board.

I like to wait until an announcement too. Don't see anything wrong with what Magnum PA wrote. Corny games or not, the target audience is still going to ride it once it opens.

Ozark Wildcat (Celebration City)* Shockwave (SFGAm) Great American Scream Machine (SFGADv) Batman and Robin: The Chiller (SFGADv) Viper (SFGAdv) Drachen Fire (BGW) Big Bad Wolf (BGW) Python (BGT) Villain (SFWoA) Double Loop (SFWoA) Big Dipper (SFWoA)* Raging Wolf Bobs (SFWoA) Orient Express (WoF) Twisted Twins (SFKK)* Greezed Lightnin' (SFKK)* T2 (SFKK)* Thunder Run (SFKK)* Hurricane (MBP) Corkscrew (MBP) Mad Mouse (MBP) Son of Beast (KI)* King Cobra (KI) Slippery When Wet (HRP)* Maximum RPM (HRP)* *SBNO/In Storage but just as good as gone. I didn't include rides that are SBNO such as Led Zep, which will undoubtedly be relocated, or rides such as X-Flight, which were relocated. I'm really surprised at the length of my list. Some of those rides weren't too shabby either.

Opening Day following a Championship is not to be missed. After the White Sox won, my split-season tickets included Opening Day. There was a 2 hour rain delay that turned a sold-out crowd into literally a few hundred by the time play resumed towards 11pm (IIRC). I've never seen the place so empty, it was surreal. Jim Thome jacked one out into the empty bleachers in his first game as a Sox and they beat Cleveland. It was my favorite time at the park, even moreso than all the playoff games, and Mark Buehrle's no-hitter against the Rangers (he walked Sammy Sosa only to promptly pick his ass off). The only thing I could imagine being more fun would be attending a win to clinch the World Series.

Drachen Fire was fine when I rode it a few times in the mid-late '90s. I think Busch Williamsburg would be a better park if it had remained. Based on my handful of rides (maybe 15, spread over three visits) I think the stories of trauma and battery are exaggerated, much like they often are with SLC's or Boomerangs. I don't remember if my rides happened before or after the modification, or both. It was '94, '96 and '97. Didn't get to visit BGW again after that until 2006.

/\ From last-est-er to last-est, or just last? I'd love to see a decent team in Pittsburgh. PNC Park is such a great looking ballpark. Second only to SF's AT&T Park IMO.

fixed

I think the majority of people fail to grasp that it has nothing to do with "standard" or "custom" layout. Throw your favorite SLC's train onto your "custom" layout and it will ride like it always had in the past. The SLC is a well designed ride. They're really not bad coasters. I've been beaten so much worse on one of my favorites (Shockwave, SFGam) than any of the numerous SLC's I've tried. Anybody saying otherwise is a tool who needs to apply gobfuls of vagisil onto their whiny ass vag. It gets really old to read that one needed "spinal reconstruction" and 3 years of therapy just because it wasn't B&M smooth (and since about 2000, forceless like paralyzed people sex). It's not funny anymore. Has anyone ever laughed at "take the tunnel","ninety degrees" or "through the trees"? No, never. Those are some of the supidest things I've ever read. It stopped being funny three hundred thousand years before the first zit faced virgin internet poster posted it. Vekoma coasters are fine. I waited longer for Top Gun than Behemoth.

I love Vekoma SLC's. I think it's a great ride. No way does it touch Batman: The Ride, though. That is the epitome of steel coasters. B&M got it so damn right with that one.

Pure, and QFT.