MrSum1_55

Hello! So, great news! I can fit Coastermainia into my travel plans! Bad news: Finding a hotel at this point will be difficult and expensive. I will be staying from June 1 and checking out on June 3. I was wondering if there was anyone out there who would be looking to get a double room and split the cost? If so, feel free to PM me, as this would be awesome. Thank you!

^I already had Hansa in my travel plans as well. (Plan was to do both parks). However, if I only have time to do one park, it will certainly be Hansa over Heide.

Looks like I picked the wrong year to go to Germany! I do have something interesting to say about my rides on El Toro last summer. El Toro has begun to develop some rough spots as well, particularly in the turnaround and on the hill after the turnaround. If I was sitting in a wheelseat, that drop after the turnaround seemed to have a unique bit of roughness to it. I mean, the roughness combined with the G's on the drop just hit my spine in such a way that it gave me a massive neck pain. I wonder if Colossos was getting that same amount of roughness. My crazy rediculous idea would be to give it the RMC treatment. Imagine an RMC'ed Intamin? I could only imagine how insane the enthusiast community would go. With this news, I am becoming increasingly tempted to cut Heide Park out of my travel plans in favor of another day in the Hamburg area.

^I would say that TTD is much better. It is much smoother and you can actually get some airtime on TTD in the back of the train. Not to mention that I would rather have the view of a park and a lake than a parking lot. I have been to Great Adventure twice, and I have only ridden KK one time each visit (even with a Platinum Flashpass). I actually think that KK is my least favorite Intamin, and it is up there for one of my least favorite coasters over 200ft. NYNY is on the bottom, and second is a tossup between Goliath and KK. (Even Goliath is only because I dislike the layout, not because it is rough).

^So basically Knoebels combined with the crappy version of Knoebels? I would take Cedar Point's rides and put them in Disneysea. And theme all coasters to the level of Disneysea, and build this somewhere near me. Heaven would truly be a place on Earth.

While I agree with the point of this, this represents my major problem with The Beast. I love the coaster at night. I would even rather ride the Beast at night than El Toro. But my day ride on it was rough and forceless, like a more scenic version of CGA's Grizzly. I do share the same love of night rides as anyone else, but I also believe that you should not have to ride any coaster in a certain seat at any specific time to get a good ride. While I do have favorite seats and times on Phoenix and El Toro, I know that I will get an awesome ride no matter where I sit or when I ride them. The Beast does not do this. Therefore, I consider it to be my most overrated coaster my far. Millennium Force comes in a relitavely distant second. (Though MF is almost so overrated it's underrated).

My most recent ride on Apoc was 2 years ago. It is certainly one of the worst, if not the very worst, GCI's. I am truly not certain if it was any better than Wildcat or Gwazi (before that closed). While the latter two did have more roughness, Apoc suffers from having stronger laterals, which can become brutal very easily. Before it got rough, I would say that the layout was okay. Not really GCI's best, but fine for what it was. Now it has kind of lost its specialness with the addition of Twisted Colossus.

Yeah, I actually forgot to mention, do not actually stay anywhere near the city center of Harrisburg-unless you want to get shot. I did stay in Hburg, but it was more on the outside of the city in a much better area. I did not think that 10-mile stretch had congestion issues. I must have gone both there and back in an off time-I think that I left after morning rush hour, and I left the park after 10pm when traffic is rarely an issue. I never knew that was a problem, and I am glad I avoided that when I was there!

^Of maybe you could stay a couple nights in the Harrisburg area. I think Harrisburg is pretty central to a lot of those locations. Hersheypark is right outside the city, Gettysburg is an hour south, and Knoebels is an hour and a half north. The last time I went to Hershey, I took the Amtrak Keystone Service to Harrisburg and stayed there overnight so I could visit Hershey.

Yeah, SFGAdv is one of those parks every enthusiast should visit at least once, but in hindsight, Knoebels might actually be a better 2-day park than GAdv. I am also in the club that likes Phoenix better than El Toro. Yeah, I think El Toro is kid of overrated. A coaster everyone should check out, but everyone seems to forget that there is only one good airtime hill in the entire second half. That one airtime hill is amazing, though. (Please don't hurt me)

^Maybe he got lucky and got in a good ride on it? I have actually scored a couple good rides on Kong; it can be pretty tolerable if you ride it earlier in the day. Most other times, it sucks.

^Also, the trouble with Goliath/Titan is that the drops stay at the same angle for almost the entire length of the drop. The drop would actually be much better if it only sloped to a 55 degree angle, then gradually moved down to a 60 degree angle, as opposed to going down at 60 degrees the entire way. The gradual slops technique is that B&M uses on their hypers. However, the Giovanola hypers are not the only offenders of this. Phantom's Revenge's main drop is also shaped like this. Phantom's Revenge does have an amazing shot of airtime while entering the drop, but once the full slope is hit there is no airtime. (But In spite of that drop being overrated, Phantom's Revenge is still a great coaster). But it also should be noted that the GP love Goliath. A surprising amount of people in the LA area will even say it is their favorite coaster in the park. I would bet that it is probably one of the top five coasters in the park, judging by GP opinion. I hear that a lot of people in the Dallas really love Titan as well, to the point that I am not really sure if even Texas Giant is more popular among the GP than Titan. As much as these coasters could really benefit from a modification, at least not in the near future. Maybe it could happen in the very distant future, like 15 years in the future or more, if their popularity began to dwindle.

Love the idea! Hopefully this can also expand to include transit systems other than buses to link all four parks. (The current bus system is just not that efficient). This would make visits to WDW much easier and more interesting if it became possible to zip between parks more quickly in the way that you can take the monorail from Epcot to Magic Kingdom.

Currently at 36 now. But if my travel plans for the year all pan out, I will be at 44. That would place me in the top 15%. However, I prefer to say that I've ridden 45/101. (I refuse to accept the fact that Skyrush is not in there).

^And indo love how the original one (at Liseberg) was called HangOver. Accurately describes riding a Vekoma.

This seems like one that is rarely discussed, but I would actually say that the ending of Skyrush is a little anti-climatic. After the final (insane) airtime hill, it sort of just rolls through a wave turn then glides to the brakes. But this is one case where I really do not care. Skyrush is just so amazing and keeps up its pace so well, one dead turn at the end does not affect my view of the ride.

So apparently a Larson Loop got frisky with an SRII. I blame SFDK for this, because I think this is the only park with both of these ride types, and there are plenty of sketchy, cheap hotels in Vallejo. After the success of the Sky Rocket II, it seems like every company is in a rush to come up with a compact, thrilling design. I am interested in how one of these would turn out (if built). I know that non-inverting loops can vary in thrill level. The one on Rip Ride Rockit is pretty intense, but the ones on SRII's are just okay in my view. I think the winged seating element would cause the loop to be more on the intense side (and it better be, if that is literally the only ride).

Heres how I think parks should do VR: At opening, start with no VR. Then until closing hits, continue to not use VR. I am all for parks trying out a new experience, but too many US parks have demonstrated that they cannot properly use it. My only experience with it was at SF America, and the 12 minute dispatches combined with the bad graphics of the VR did not sway me toward wanting to use this. If parks are going to use VR, then I agree with what others have said, that they should only use it on lower rate attractions. It does not help that SFNE, SFA, and SFM Mexico placed the VR on arguably their best coasters. To me, this should be left to the coasters with low popularity or declining in popularity. (Revolution or Demon are not terrible choices for this). But having on a star attraction that is already popular only worstens load times on a ride most people like anyway.

Maybe they could place new soft-vest trains on Viper and market it as a new attraction? Or better yet, Phantom's Revenge the thing! (Remember the time before RMC hybrids were a thing and everyone's dream was for a particular coaster to get the Phantom's Revenge treatment?)

One thing to note is that many of the major parks in the Northeast are from the Golden Era, but they have had to adapt to the new era to some extent. Cedar Point, Kennywood, Knoebels, Hersheypark, Waldameer, Dorney Park, Lake Compunce, SFNE, and more. Most of these have adapted to more modern full day parks, but some of the parks on this list have done a much better job than others at maintaining the tradition. (Knoebels, Kennywood, Hershey vs Cedar Point, Dorney, SFNE).

^Yeah, I could see CGA going with the older seating design, as it is a bit friendlier to more compact designs. with CGA being a smaller park, it could make more sense to build a hyper with that configuration. Plus, after riding a couple hypers with both the old and new configurations (Intimidator, Diamondback, Nitro, and Apollo), I do not really think that the newer one adds much more to a ride compared to the older one. If anything, I would rather see B&M use something like the Skyrush style seats.

^I would say that whichever one is the "premier" park has gone back and forth the past few years. SFDK was ahead for a while, but I would say CGA pulled ahead when they got Gold Striker. SFDK claimed that title back then they built The Joker, but with CGA's new plan, they might regain that back again. I am just really happy to see investments into both parks. I would say that they both went through a dry spell for a long time. In the last 5 years alone, CGA has gotten what is arguably the best wood coaster in this half of the country, while SFDK got an RMC and an SRII. As long as competition between the two parks encourages more investments like these, I am all for it.

^Well, now I completely understand why Robb and Elissa do not do open trips anymore! (I am kind of sad about that, because I have always wanted to go on one, but with people like that, it is understandable to burn out on this) The simple act of liking roller coasters is not weird. Theme parks are a multi-billion dollar industry that, as in the case of Orlando, can cause an entire major city to be built. I think the real question is why being a coaster enthusiast is such a polarizing hobby. And, as others have said, the answer lies in how difficult it is to get active in it. For example, I live in Nevada, but I like the Baltimore Orioles. If I want to watch them play, I can find a medium, whether through television or online, to watch the game from my own apartment. I do not have to physically fly myself to Baltimore to see them play. Granted, I have seen them play in Baltimore in real life, but I was also visiting the city for other reasons. But my favorite roller coaster is Skyrush. Yes, I can watch a POV of Skyrush at any time, but if I want to ride it, I have to physically buy a plane ticket to Philadelphia (which is probably a 2-legged flight and full day of travel from where I live). Then, I either need to rent a car, or buy a train ticket to Harrisburg to get out to Hershey. By this point, I have already spent a couple hundred, so the $70 or so admission fee is a drop in the bucket, and not to mention the extra $50 I would spend on a fastpass (because I already traveled that far anyway). So in short, I need to spend hundreds and a full day of travel just to ride my favorite roller coaster. For these reasons, coaster fans are very polarizing. Most people do not really take the time to look up manufacturers or theme park news simply because there is no need for them to do this. Your average person in California might follow what the California parks are doing, but that is about it, because most people in CA will never visit another amusement park outside CA. So, even if he likes roller coasters, there is really no need for the average person to follow what is happening in Pennsylvania, if he does not have the drive to visit the state for that specific reason. So, we rarely hear about people like this for that reason.

1. What is the name of your home park? Six Flags Discovery Kingdom 2. Do you own a coaster related T-shirt? Yes. I have shirts from Cedar Point and Knoebels. 3. Do you enjoy Vekoma SLCs? Mostly, no. But I have gotten the occasional good ride on Kong 4. Name the first 3 coasters that come to mind. Skyrush, Maverick, Phantom's Revenge 5. One park you would definitely never go back to is... Maybe Oak's park in Portland? 6. Have you ever ridden a drop tower taller than 200 feet? Yes. (Lux Luthor, Drop Tower (CGA, Kings Dominion, Kings Island, Carowinds), Power Tower, Zumanjaro, Pitt Fall, Supreme Scream, and more) 7. What is your favorite roller coaster? Skyrush 8. When you go to a park three things you must have with you are... Phone, wallet, keys (I travel as lightly as possible) 9. How many times did you visit your home park last season? Once 10. The first Intamin coaster you rode is... California Screamin' 11. Have you ever spent an entire day at a park alone? Yes (Twice) 12. The independent park you go to the most is... Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk 13. Does B&M or Intamin make better hyper coasters? Intamin! 14. If it was free, what upcharge ride what you jump on right now? Skycoaster (Especially the one in Kissimmee) 15. What is the best food at your home park? The Cold Stone near the entrance 16. The name of the worst GCI you've ridden is... Gwazi 17. When you're not riding something at your home park where are you? The animal shows in the back 18. Favorite water ride in a dry park (flume, rapids, etc) Splash Mountain (WDW) 19. Do you get your photo taken with park mascots? No 20. Name one personal item you've lost at a park. I lost a season pass coupon book on X2, and I lost a saftey pin in my pocket on Sidewinder at Hershey 21. Name of the worst B&M invert you're ridden is... Silver Bullet 22. Name your favorite steel coaster under 125 feet tall. Maverick 23. Name your favorite coaster/ride manufacturer? Rocky Mountain Construction 24. What waterpark have you visited most often? Golfland Sunsplash (Roseville) 25. The name of the fastest wooden coaster you have ridden is... El Toro 26. What is the name of the flat ride you've ridden the most? Drop Tower (CGA) 27. Name a ride-related injury you have suffered. Got a bruise from Ghostrider, pre-renovation. I also had Zumanjaro spill track lubricant on me, if that counts for anything. 28. Favorite Halloween event at a park? Universal Hollywood 29. Name the most recent Arrow ride or coaster you've been on... Corkscrew (Silverwood) 30. Name of your favorite ride that never leaves the ground (safari, train, bumper cars, etc) Train ride at Disneyland 31. What ride makes you laugh the most? Silverwood's train ride 32. How many RMC's have you ridden? Three (The Joker, Colossus, Texas Giant) 33. Best flat that goes over 100 feet is... Maxair? 34. When you are on your way to your home park what is one worry that you might have? The Joker not opening 35. Favorite park that is NOT your home park is ___________. Hersheypark 36. How many different parks did you go to last season? 14 (All 4 WDW parks, both USO parks, Busch Gardens Florida, Silverwood, SFDK, SFGAdv, Hersheypark, SF America, Kings Dominion, Knott's), I guess 15 if you count Oak's Park 37. The indoor coaster/dark ride you ride most often is... Space Mountain (California) 38. When you spend the day at the park what do you drink all day? Water 39. The name of the best B&M you've ridden is? Afterburn 40. Name three other forum members that will fill this out... I have no friends

^I actually think that a Batman clone is a better ride than an SRII. Batman has better pacing, and feels like a more "complete" ride (even if the duration from the lift to the brakes is around the same as the ride time on an SRII. While an SRII is a good addition, I wonder if this will open the possibility for some even better additions in the future. This is to show that SWSD wants to focus more on rides, so maybe one day we could see the next (Florida) Manta, or the next Mako, or the next Kraken. There is a possibility that this could be the gateway to a promising future.