bill_s

Rode Fireball ... closest I've come to throwing up on a ride, ever. Pouring sweat. I've probably felt as bad but it's hard to imagine. I'm sure I was not ready, definite could have chosen a better time to ride. This was after 3 rides on Roar and 3 rounds with the Mind Eraser, for one thing. I don't think I'll be trying it again, though. Suffice to say exercise caution if you can't tolerate circles or have ever been a bit sick on Berserker, etc.... As to the ride itself, wonderful restraints compared to Berserker's death clamps or a county fair Ring of Fire, totally comfy, quality. It appears smaller than Berserker and definitely circles faster and a bit different. And it does sound a lot like a coaster. Enjoyed Roar again but the bottom of the 2nd decent is shocking. I found that rain cool the ears on Mind Eraser. Enjoyed Renegade Rapids, the real white water raft ride, not water roulette. Skipped Apocalypse (maybe that would have made me skip Fireball ) on to JJ and the big S. Still haven't ridden Ragin Cajun because I rode Fireball first this time. Did manage a few rides on Wild One.

Actually I think I305 has had a delayed effect. A lot of people were still intimidated by it through 2011. This year's been maybe a little more crowded than last, which is more than for a decade. I think more people are getting passes. The weirdest part was a surge of crowds immediately after the announcement in 2009, whereas the park was downright eerie back in June, I expected to see tumbleweeds blow through. Their reputation as the coaster capital of the region, even if nothing else, was slipping. They need merely to not let BGW outbuild them now and grow by growing in all areas. I think there is room for improvement, more in quality than quantity of course. I hate the idea of anything being taken down but replacing a ride of poor repute with a top notch one would make it simpler for the public to compare. That, practical considerations, and the unlikeliness of them interlacing rides or adding means to get around an even larger park makes me think they are only biding their time before this happens.

My first thought of that seat picture was he was saying "what the...?" but my second thought was video game controllers, with those green buttons on top of the handles. That video looked smoooth. If it is a big improvement, this is something that could affect a bunch more rides, although that idea's probably just a tease.

^^-- that's bad in that AC at night is one of the best things in the park, but maybe you can grab a twilight ride, but if you'd be leaving early anyway ... KD's good late too. The one thing is if going to BGW first might help get your wife into big coasters, or if that's just too much of a stretch to hope for.

^^-- that contrasts with every other coaster on this list in that it is brand new. They should get Millenium Flyer trains on it ASAP before the track is damaged by what appears to be PTC trains. Any shaking of the track you're seeing is normal, wood coasters flex so they don't break. I also see on Wikipedia this cost a mere $3M !?! at which price other parks ought to be adding them left and right, that's less the price of most flat rides, and a third to a fourth the cost of a full "RMC treament". Interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boardwalk_Bullet www.kemahboardwalk.com/boardwalk-bullet.asp

No. Maybe in the sense that those who tour the US on park-hopping trips would want to skip it, but as a local absolutely not, it was lots of fun in that "learn to ride it" way. Sans trim brake that is, since 2010 it has been running with a trim brake and is really sad, and still slightly rough. When last running correctly, it was a little rougher than KD's other 2 big woodies (although not nearly as bad as RY in 2008), which of course are brutal enough in the wheel seats, but no more so than most others with PTC trains, which meant that Hurler's wheel seats were traumatic. The problem was, this was with MORE maintenance than the other woodies. I really don't think the trim brake is considered a long-term solution, I think it's to avoid having to do major work right before replacing it, or close it prematurely. But maybe they just want to be able to run the ride. There are at least 2 possible routes to "RMC'ing" a Hurler. The point I have made is that the roughness was entirely in those first 2 curves. The rest of the coaster was, and is, perhaps smoother than average, and the final curve is wonderfully profiled. RMC shows on their site an on-ride video of a ride topper tracked in one curve only, and it is just what the doctor ordered! 2 turns Topper'd, and probably the bottom of the drop, remove trim brake, presto better than new, and cheap too. Might even need a tiny trim after the 2nd curve due to it going faster than ever. But not front page news. The other route would be extensive mods using the Iron Horse system. I haven't wrapped my head around how they re layout the track to add all these extra elements and bits, so I can't say if Hurler is really suitable, but I think what they could do would be limited. Grizzly, no idea. (Roar, seems impossible or redundant.) There was probably skepticism as to how well these modified rides could be promoted, but should be gone by now.

While Hurler displays lots of fresh wood this year, it all relates to steps and railings. I think maybe there was some crackdown from the county or OSHA, or just internal to meet standards. Check out Woodstock: new railings added to the drop on top of the originals with spacers, that raise the railing. I think Hurler's been kept "barely running" with the trim since 2010 -- without the trim it would have required more trackwork to still be running (to make it better without the trim in 2010, and again by now due to wear and tear). I don't think they've done anything to it that surely indicates it will stay around.

That's a close call. I used to ride with a friend about 270 lbs. and at least 6', could ride everything but Drop Tower (go figure), later approaching 300 lbs. couldn't ride much. Even wood coasters too uncomfortable. Did fit on Anaconda but he wouldn't have been able to handle I305, so never found out. We used to love SLCs, only recently I realized that's because the oscillation frequency of our car was different that everyone else's . Have you tried other parks? Shouldn't be that much different.

^^-- the throughput would be reduced by the actual ride time including the slow lift. Clearly, the second train doesn't double the capacity, like it would on many coasters, as it sits there on the brakes. I have seen, over 5 years ago, them only run one train due to rain. Since the rain also kept crowds away, it was a much better time to reride Shockwave (I suggest 3x).

It's becoming my view that ALL of that is part of the I305 plan. Surely they knew then that the 40th was coming up. They just chose to put in the coaster first rather than do minor improvements for 5 years first, or do the coaster someplace in the middle. It makes sense. Add a coaster every few years for 35 years. Take a break, then start replacing one every few years -- for up to another 35 years before the next break! Give people a chance to start speculating on replacement, then give them at least another couple years to ride the old ones so they don't complain about losing them before their time. KD reached the enviable position of being full of coasters, where at least for a while they could focus on other details.

Sitdown TOGO, possibly the inspiration for Rougerou: LoL ... Check out the forwards-facing cam at the end -- fast and smooth. TOGO's designs have become archaic but the construction quality still holds up. But no, not at all likely. A great replacement for Shockwave would be a small standup of comfortable design. Shockwave is the ideal length for a standup, and it is something different. I don't know who would make it, the existing B&M restraints are horrible and all of theirs have been too ambitious; most are too long. Frankly, most of Shockwave got it right. The Screamscape thing sounds like fantasy. But who knows, there is a lot of parking lot. I would like to see addition rather than replacement, but I really think replacement would be better for the park. Quality at the present quantity. It just looks better. And the need is coming. At 3 years a coaster, it will still take 'til 2022 to replace 3 aging beasts of dubious comfort. If you think they're bad now ... They don't have the weird floaty this-shouldn't-be-this-scary airtime of Apollo but in every other respect I305 and KD crushes BGW on total airtime. I agree that something like that would be a good addition, though.

^^-- yeah, only 3 rides a visit now An interesting line. It probably is about average for a B&M but what's not to like about that? I find the strong finish with the high-G final curve kind of bumps it above most. And floorless is way more than a gimmick. I also really enjoy Grizzly (some precautions required) and about the only thing I don't like about Shockwave is waiting to be let off. You didn't mention Flight of Fear.... I think as a local park, if you have a choice of where to live or how much you prize your local park, it also goes up a notch. In that case, a larger number of average quality rides helps sustain variety. You're not comparing rides to the rest of the world at that point, only against others in the park and vs. just not riding them, and can learn the tricks. Meanwhile BGW goes downa notch as a local park because of their quality vs. quantity approach. KD also tends to be considerably less crowded than the few parks with better coaster line ups, from what I know about them.

Roar has one of the most complex layouts out there so large modifications would be a waste. Topper track might be worthwhile (begs the question of new trains though), or just major retracking and MF trains all at once. Both it and Wildcat show their age and the use of PTC trains compared to Lightning Racer which is just amazing, newer and smoother than anything I can remember. Roar has some seats better than Wildcat and some a lot worse. I can enjoy Roar as it is, a lot. If they added a brand new RMC this would be a woodie park to contend with. A launch would knock it over the top.

The average speed of I305 is clearly above MF or probably any other non-launched coaster on the planet. Of course we don't really go by that. I would be curious to see the average speed of other coasters. I wouldn't be surprised if previous to I305 the highest average speed in the park was Hurler (airtime was fine thru 2009, you just had to pass through some rough spots to get there!). Probably not but a lot closer than you'd expect. As to this announcement, good move, 2 parks at this level 75 miles apart is hard to beat (although is that as the crow flies?). As to Saturday 7/25, that's basically 2 weeks past peak. I recommend never ever going on a Saturday. It could be done OK without flash pass if you're not greedy and are willing to be there before opening and past close etc., but would avoid a lot of annoyance probably.

I used to love Hurler. The trim brake they added for the 2010 season ruins the ride. They now bill it as a milder ride but it's not that comfortable. I think it's totally boring and it even loses so much momentum by the end I wonder for a moment if the train will complete the course. It may have hurt before, but it hurts me worse to see it like that. The wheel seats did cross the line, but then a lot of the best woodie experiences are with another row diverting the punishment away from yours. I presume by RMC the Grizzly you mean their full treatment. I think it may be a little too good now to justify that. However, adding partial Topper Track to the Hurler would be one of the most cost-effective upgrades imaginable. 2 big, smooth fast banked curves replacing the jackhammers. Maybe even faster and more ejector through the bunny hops. The third elevated turn was never a big problem, and the last was one of the best profiled turns I can think of. It wouldn't be the best coaster in the park, but it would do its own thing, as intended by the designers, for the first time in company of a great coaster lineup. (Yeah, I know I've said all that before.) P.S. Diamond Falls story, amazing. I rode it and liked it but it was kind of scary, think I was too young to realize it wasn't really supposed to be like that.

I'd love to see KD do some major (total) maintenance or ride improvements instead of replacement, but doesn't seem to be their style. I think I305 was a short and long-term strategy, get the coaster first so to have time to do other things. I also think it may be the last coaster they add without replacing one. They're probably bracing themselves for "end of service lifetime" for Shockwave and Anaconda, but don't want to hurry it.

I forgot to say -- want a spike, I don't even care if the coaster is launched, although spikes kind of need a short train (then launch gets better capacity). Yeah. Or take the brake off Hurler a while before they take it down, at least. Rope off the wheel seats Re: Grizzly plaza, no I don't remember, wow!

I thought they were pretty pictures and I think that was the main purpose except possibly advertising Larsen. It would have made more sense if they had excluded coasters. In one of the Larsen Loop pics, the wooden coaster in the background takes up more space in the picture, funny.

^^-- Steel Phantom had inversions and they took them out. But those were tacked on at the end. I'd like to see an inversion over 200' OR a zero-G corkscrew at high speed instead of as a low-speed element (think I305's second hill except going upside down, or even lower, faster and more stretched-out than that). I'd also like to see a post-RMC approach to element design and use of simulation to craft new shapes and sensations. I also think KD could use some kind of "extreme family coaster", while not my first choice overall it could include some good things. I'd like to see a coaster with interesting interaction with complex terrain with tunnels and ravines. As KD is basically flat, this would have to be a manufactured terrain, but could be worth it. (Thinking about it, it would have been cooler to use the mountain to have a coaster wrapping around its surface as if it were a real mountain, but as it's not a real mountain it would have been too much for too little to support it.)

I'm a relatively poor person and find amusement parks, or at least the closest one(s), one of the best entertainment values. It's true a poorer person might not do $60+25 but most parks have discount days, seasons passes, and one can car pool or even take the bus, but even at full price, almost anything else vacation-like costs more. It's very important that parks make a lot of their money on optional purchases rather than admissions, and this is the main justification for Fast Pass. It sounds like some parks are selling too many. The comparison with restaurant reservations is apt, especially that on busy days, it should have to be done in advance so those who really care about it and plan ahead get it. I think it would be even fairer if they were only sold to people coming at least a certain distance, but that's complicated. They do make sense for those making an expensive trip to a park. I didn't get one on my only major park trip in recent years because I couldn't really afford it, waiting would have put the trip into another year, which doesn't help.

I find all videos are completely lacking compared to the experience of riding, so if you're there, enjoy!

I didn't find it rough. It was a little disappointing. You see the casino from all its ugliest angles. The drop is OK. The funky TOGO inversion section is on the building roof and slow and small due to lost momentum. The ride through part of the casino is good but over quick. Decent coaster if it were in a group of coasters, but it's not. Speed The Ride was more fun.

To take inversions to the next level requires a new level of speed and power. This hasn't even reached the hyper level of height yet though, and is only touching that speed in a few launchers. A giga size coaster would require large inversions even towards the end, due to a massive train. Also more complex inversions limit train length. This is one reason launch coasters are more likely to get inversions and spikes. High speed inversions are definitely possible. I'd like to see a massive, long floaty zero-gee roll, just like I305 uses its raw speed to get ejector air on a low, shallow hill that is almost equal in every seat (usually rolls and screws are put near the end since they can function at low speeds). Still have some good curves. A massive loop couldn't be faulted either though, or even a Drachen Fire-style elevated dive loop that isn't part of the first drop.

Morey's is at least 10x better at night, open 'til midnight or later.

I'd say that upside down can be airtime, but it has to be perfect. It doesn't get the pass that ejector air does, where you're firmly contacting the restraint, but since you're right side up that's all the more impressive in a way. With sideways curves, it's more a matter of clear intent. Haven't tried it yet (although I proposed a similar element before any existed) but I expect that's pretty obvious .. and awesome.