MrSum1_55

Another B&M looper is basically the last thing Florida needs. I hope that the hyped-up Florida hyper coaster does not turn out to be a wing coaster. While these things are appealing to the masses, I have found that riding on the side of track only minimally increases the thrill factor. To me, what makes a ride good is having a good layout and nice old-fashioned forces, not impressive looking trains. If it is a B&M hyper, that would add something very different to the state and would be a good fit. However, I still think that H:RRR would be seen to me as Florida's airtime machine. I actually like the airtime on Rip Ride Rockit better than that of Nitro, and I think that H:RRR might be the most overlooked airtime coaster in the US. While it is nowhere near as smooth and graceful as a B&M, I would take it over another repetitive hyper any day.

There are not many problems with the ride itself. The park manager actually stated it well, calling it a transition ride. In fact, as flat rides these things are not bad fits for the parks they are at. Where the problems arise is in how shamelessly they are marketed as roller coasters. When even the entry sign states that they are coasters, it seems like they are trying really hard to convince many people that they are roller coasters. Even on the Facebook threads of the parks, you can see many of the GP calling out the marketing and stating that it is not a roller coaster. Still, the addition itself is fine for the park, especially one lacking flat rides.

That happened in the opening days of Full Throttle. In the morning, the queuing area was overflowing, and the line stretched around the path past the ride station. Later in the day, it was barely past the ramp leading up to the station. It basically went down from a 90 minute wait to a 30 minute wait. When I go down one day this summer, I might devote an entire day to Colossus. I may just keep reriding no matter what the length of the line is.

I do think that SWO's new coaster will most likely be a B&M. However, the chain has shown an increased willingness to hire other companies in the past few years; all of the last four coasters they have built were made by different companies. (Intamin, Zierer, Mack, and Premier). While I am hoping for an Intamin, I could also see them going with a company like Mack Premier, or maybe even chance. I see quite a lot of potential in all of these companies.

As of this writing, every major park in Texas has a Batman clone. (Though all of them have different names) Also, 3/4 of all Intamin prefabs are located next to Intamin accelerators.

CGA would absolutely be a great park for any type of Mega-Lite, from any manufacturer. Of course, the Intamin one is the best one, but I would could also see something like a Chance or Mack Mega-Lite being great for this park. The sizes of these rides will not intimidate the average park-goer, but the forces would still impress any serious rider. I cannot see any big-budget rides in this park anytime soon, but big budgets are not needed to make stellar rides.

It is hard for me to pinpoint what I think is the very worst pick on this list. I would say any of the super loop selections, especially New Jersey. They have the top ranked coaster in the state right in the picture, and they pick the super loop? But, the abaolute worst pick on this list is Pennsylvania. It is arguably the best state to live in for thrill rides, with coasters like Skyrush, Ravine Flyer II, Phoenix, Phantom's Revenge, or even Steel Force. And all they can pick is a water play complex. That is especially pathetic, considering that Hersheypark is actually one of the most well-known parks in the country outside of a Disney and Universal park.

How is this any less repetitive than rides like Texas Giant, El Toro, and Phoenix? Only in California do people complain about having too much airtime.

Let us face it, no one remembers Michagan Adventure. I did not include Xcelerator or Dragster in that calculation. While both are over 200 feet, they do not give an experience that is anything similar to a ride like a full length hyper.

If you discount Gilroy Gardens, there are an average of 1.167 hypers/gigas at Cedar Fair parks. Every Cedar Fair park that does not have a hyper or giga is located in California. As much as I would love to see a real hyper come to the west coast, I am generally not a huge fan of the trend of having a giga compliment a hyper. When I see a new attraction, I would rather see a new ride that rounds out the park lineup than one that is similar to a ride that was just built a few years prior. Granted, I am only saying that from an enthusiast perspective, as from a financial perspective it seems to be working very well. In terms of new attractions, I like what Six Flags is doing better with their mass RMC installations. Personally, I wish that these two chains could switch trends, because Cedar Fair parks tend to be far better operated. I would much rather have to go to a CF park for some RMC than a Six Flags park. Part of me is actually hoping that Cedar Fair has plans to capitalize on the RMC trend, but they are waiting for Six Flags to finish adding theirs before they start on their own. While the chances of that actually being true are very unlikely, that is just what I hope is happening in the back of mind.

Well, this is SFMM we are talking about after all. I can only imagine how long each cycle will take when they are running one train.

An individual check of the seatbelt and lap bar on a GCI? Normally, I would be blaming these extra measures on the NTAG incident, but even on that ride they do check the seatbelt qnd lap bar at the same time. (Despite this, Texas Giant still suffers from Tatsu dispatch speeds). It would be great if SFMM and Knotts could but that may be asking too much in most cases. However, SFMM is purchasing an extra train for Colossus. They bought four, so three trains will always be available. I wish they would do that for some of their other marquee attractions, though.

I have yet to visit one Cedar Fair park that I did not 'like,' so this is my list from most to least favorite: 1. Cedar Point One of the best coaster lineups in the world, combined with some good operations. 2. Kings Dominion A decently operated park with a great lineup, especially with I305 3. Carowinds I think that this is the nicest CF park out there. The lineup is pretty solid, with an intense B&M, a unique flying coaster, and a nice hyper. 4. Kings Island A large coaster selection that mixes classics (Racer, The Beast) with newer designs (Firehawk, Banshee, Diamondback) 5. Knott's Berry Farm Has the best theming of any CF park. However, it is no higher on this list because it has by far the worst operations. 6. California's Great America Has a great 1-2 punch with an intense B&M and a great new GCI. However, there is not much else in this park to write about. 7. Dorney Park This is a pretty well operated park. But, the coaster lineup is just 'meh.' I would still rank it above at least half of my Six Flags parks, though. More notes on Dorney: Dorney Park is a bit of a conundrum for me. It has everything that a coaster lineup should have to be amazing, including an invert, floorless, hyper, and classic wooden coaster. On paper, this sounds like it would be such a fantastic selection. However, their coasters in all four of these categories are some of the weakest I have ridden in all of them. The shuttle coasters are fun, but nothing to write home about. I still feel bad placing it in last, as it is well-operated.

I would agree with most of the criticisms about Goliath, as it is my least favorite hyper. (I think I even like Steel Force a little better). G forces in any direction are almost nowhere to be found anywhere but the helix. The first drop is also by far the weakest I have seen on a hyper. Goliath was by first hyper, and at the time I was just beginning to break into the enthusiast world. I remember stepping off confused, and I wondered why enthusiasts loved hypers so much. It was not until later on, when I was able to visit parks with real hypers like Cedar Point and Kennywood that I realized how great rides could be without any inversions. As for the state in the operations, I know that it has been noticeable. However, has there not been a general decline in operations in the chain in general? I have heard quite a few things about SFOT having gone downhill.

It is generating generally positive reviews, but rarely are people calling it amazing. And, that is exactly what I was expecting. Honestly, I actually forgot for a while that this ride was even being built, because it is not my favorite coaster type. (And I live on the opposite coast). I have been to Carowinds before, and I enjoyed the park a lot. I would love to go back whether they had this coaster or not. And, I am sure that if I were able to make it back there, I would have fun with this ride. But, I would more likely be spending the rest of my day riding Afterburn. Though, this is to say that I have not ridden it, and it could still surprise me. To me, it is a ride that exists that I have minimally followed because I do not live close to it, and it is not my favorite ride type. But, I see absolutely nothing to complain about. The north side of the park was seriously needing more attention, and I am glad to see it get that.

^I gave a shout out to this section in the original post. (When I was talking about the 'first drop' that was what I was referring to). However, everything between that drop and the second lift seriously detracts from the ride. (Somehow both slow and rough)

Mystery Mine is the epitome of a mixed bag for me. The theming and effects are amazing, as well as the first drop and final few elements. However, the middle section of this ride is just awful. This part contained no thrills whatsoever, but still managed to be almost as rough as an SLC. Strangely, the thrilling bits of this ride are perfectly smooth, so I do not know what happened here. The theming is amazing, and the track layout has some truly amazing parts. It could have been one of my favorite rides if the middle section of track were anywhere near as good as the rest of the ride.

^^TC will no doubt have its moment of fame, but I anticipate that crowds will be running back to X2 within a few years. I also think that this would be a good thing, because I will still be running to TC. I am certain that it will be their best ride, and I also doubt that they will build anything better than it in the next 10 years.I would love to be marathoning this thing while all the GP are over at X2 and YOLO.

Generally, Six Flags parks tend to be the easiest to navigate, while Busch parks tend to be the most difficult. The two Busch parks I have visited are the only two in which I cannot give you a good description of the layout after visiting once. A silver lining to the confusion is that both parks are well-themed, making the atmosphere more immersive and easier to 'get lost in the theming.' I like my parks to take a middle-way on layout: just complex enough so that you can get lost in the atmosphere; not too simple so as to be boring, and not too confusing so that I do not have to look at a map every couple paces on my first visit. Most Disney parks are pretty good examples of this.

I agree that this looks better than Fury. I would actually say, from the looks of the designs, WCyclone>TColossus>Cannibal>>>>>>>>>>>Fury 325.

It does seem like roller coaster games are starting to make a comeback, which is always great news. However, none of the recent ones besides TPS have looked overly promising. This one might be another exception to that rule!

Honestly, I think that this attraction may be the biggest 'game changer' attraction in the US of 2015. While the pure scope of the addition may not compare to that of a new giga coaster or have the same level of excitement as the new RMC's, what sets this one apart is the market it is located in. We see parks with the markets of places like LA, Dallas, Orlando, NYC, Philly, Charlotte, etc... make large announcements on a somewhat frequent basis. The market of Salt Lake City simply does not hold a candle to any of these, yet a coaster is being added there that beats out most of the additions in the country in terms of scope. There are many people, even moderate enthusiasts, who have probably never heard of this park. Now, it can truly be on the map. There is only one thing that perplexes me a bit about this addition: Phoenix: 3 million+ metro area: Has only a ghetto park with two coasters Denver: 3 million+ metro area: Only park has not received a new adult coaster in over a decade Seattle: 3 million+ metro area: Has a park with one decent coaster and nothing else significant Portland: 2.5 million metro area: Largest coaster is a Pinfari looper Las Vegas: 1.5 million metro area+ huge tourist market: No real, full-sized parks But then you have: Salt Lake City: 1.2 million metro area: Is getting a record-breaking coaster, after the same park added their current largest coaster five years prior Spokane/North Idaho: 700,000 metro area: Can keep a park open with a working GIB What is up with the west sans California?

Skyrocket is skippable? I actually think that Sky Rocket is Premier's best coaster to date. It has far more airtime than most compact loopers.

I would not condone taking cameras on rides, but at least you can say that a hand held cam is easy to hold. (Though it can be dangerous if dropped over a walkway). So, if taking an easy to hold camera on a ride is bad enough, taking an inverted pendulum on a ride has to be one of the worst ideas ever. And, they are incredibly rude during shows. It is bad enough when people have their phones out in movie theaters, so imagine if someone took one of these into a theater.

^That is actually very true, not that I have that pointed out. I actually like the Flying Dutchman layouts a little better than the B&M flyers in the US. In fact, I like Firehawk better than Tatsu and Manta. It is very smooth with far more variation to the layout than the American B&M's. Oddly, Nighthawk is considerably rougher, especially in the end. (This made me very glad that they changed the ending for the new ones).