MrSum1_55

^I have seen the park get some insane crowds during the time of Winter Break, but this is usually the absolute worst time for SoCal parks. Typically, you can expect an hour wait on Manta with 4 trains running. And Manta usually loads and dispatches in under 60 seconds. But on the other hand, everyone always talks about capacity issues when one of these gets announced, and they are rarely as bad as people think. SFDK, my own home park, has one of these. I would say that the capacity on this thing was totally fine, before Six Flags put on those seatbelts. (But even now, the wait is still usually not too much worse than the other major rides). I have also heard that Busch is doing a pretty good job operating theirs. My ultimate hope for this thing is to have a double circuit, double station, three car trains, and no shoulder pads. I highly doubt we will get all of these, but I can hope.

^Or even better would be dual loading station and a double circuit.

^^I would not really say that an SRII is better than YOLO. But I would say that an SRII is far less wasted potential than YOLO. (No coaster with brakes along its entire largest drop should exist) But I do doubt that you can find any coaster that packs more thrills into a small space and budget than an SRII. (With the possible exception of the competing designs from other companies)

SFDK, so clearly The Joker. I mean, when your home park gets an RMC, do you really have any other options?

^Since it takes up that small of a space, I am fairly certain it is a Skyrocket II. However, I guess there is a small chance we could see a different design. Or maybe, it could be something more like Gale Force? Or it is possible that Premier came up with a different design similar to the Skyrocket II. I would think that another clone would be far more likely, but there may also be a small chance of a different design.

I would not really call California an airtime desert anymore. Sure, that may have been true five years ago, but now every big park in the state has at least one coaster with descent airtime. (We now have Colossus, The Joker, Gold Striker, Ghostrider (now that it is actually a good ride again), Manta, and California Screamin (which has pretty extreme airtime by Disney standards)). Since we are talking about a park that has only two coasters, they could add almost anything and it would be a good fit for the park. I would much rather have a junior hyper than a Skyrocket II, but given the evidence, this design seems like the best fit. The only argument I could see against a Skyrocket II is that there does already exist one in California. However, SFDK and SWSD are a full day's drive away. Most people in SoCal will also likely never ride a roller coaster outside SoCal. So, the only group this would negatively effect would be tourists from NorCal. But I also imagine that Skyrocket II designs are cheap enough compared to any other design of equivalent size that it would make for a better investment overall.

Doubt it, it's been practically confirmed that it's going to be a hyper (or just short of one if the height from RCDB is correct - a little strange to build a coaster so short of a hyper) so I'm expecting something like Flash with a drawn-out layout, airtime hills, maybe one or two inversions thrown in too. Regardless of what it is, it looks like it's going to be a massive coaster and definitely one of the best for 2017. It is actually common-ish to have a coaster slightly short of a hyper outside the US, mainly because most of the rest of the world uses the metric system. If Colossos (196 ft) were built in the US, I guarantee they would have built it to be slightly taller to be over 200 ft. However, 196 ft is about 60 m, which is a pretty even number. The hyper measure does not mean as much when it is based on a measurement system in an even number your country does not use. The main exceptions I can think of are Behemouth/Leviathan, but these are over the boarder of one of three countries that use the imperial system (and Liberia and Burma are not quite known for their roller coasters).

Awesome! This feels like something I have done in Roller Coaster Tycoon way too many times.

Knoebels? Silverwood? Are you taking note of this?

^Wild Mice are terrible with capacity, but Maverick's capacity is actually fairly descent. I always remember the lines moving at a fairly descent speed. Considering that there is less than a minute of track between the first two blocks, a minute between three car trains is still better than most major corporate parks can do.

^^I would think Carowinds could find at least some value in a Vortex conversion. Considering that we have seen this conversion happen at both Cedar Point and Great America (a large park and a small park), I am sure that a medium park could also find enough marketing value in a ride to justify a conversion. You could say that Vortex may have the disadvantage of not being one of the main attractions as Mantis was to Cedar Point or Vortex was to Great America, but also Magic Mountain was able to market Revolution as new with new trains, and Revolution is not really the type of ride their target demographic goes for anymore. I think it is more likely than not that Vortex East will get the floorless conversion at some time. For any size park, it is a cheap way to market a new-ish attraction. That would also make it the only standup left in the Cedar Fair chain. That conversion might also make Vortex the fourth best ride in the park (After the big three of Fury, Intimidator, and Afterburn). ^Or maybe put the Mack spinning cars on this thing? That would be amazing! It is just, I do not know if Mack would do that for B&M track, and I know Cedar Fair kind of likes to play it safe with intensity of coasters.

I rode Thunderhawk in the very front row back in 2012. I thought it was a pretty fun coaster, and I did not think it was too rough at all. The most infuriating thing is the trim at the end which ruins the final airtime hills. Still, I am glad I was able to ride it while it still had the buzz bars. However, I will say that Thunderhawk and Comet are both on the lower end of intensity compared to other classic wood coasters. I do much prefer Wild One, Santa Cruz Giant Dipper, Thunderbolt, or Phoenix. Especially Phoenix. Even so, I still love old wood coasters, even the less intense ones.

I find it kind of a shame that two out of three Giovanolas are hypers. It just seems like their design style would have great for looping coasters, considering the great things I have heard about Anaconda. They seemed to really lack the right style to build hypers, but I can imagine that this style would kick some serious ass on any looping coaster.

^How so? Aside from having two inversions, I would say that the layout of NYNY is quite hyper-like. The first three hills are fairly big, and it mostly has hills, turns, and helices after the two inversions. If it had the two inversions taken out, but the rest of the layout remained the same, there would not be much conflict over counting that as a hyper. I actually really wish this is what they did, as a version of NYNY with lap bars would be a pretty okay coaster. I feel like the inversions are mostly there for show. I wish this coaster had been designed in the first place as a regular hyper, or even kept the same ride it is now with lap bars or Intamin style OTSR's. Granted, the coaster would still not be winning any awards, but it would be a pretty fun coaster. Even so, I do not think that NYNY is quite as bad as many people say. I would rather ride NYNY than an SLC, for sure. And, I would probably take it over most giant Arrow loopers other than Tennessee Tornado (like Viper, Anadonda...). But the reality is that if B&M built this, it would have been awesome.

I will tank all my hypers, from best to worst: 1. Skyrush. So perfect, this ride might have actually ruined other hypers for me! The airtime is insane, and there are also plenty of positive G's and laterals throughout the course. I rode 21 times the first time I went to Hershey after this thing opened. (I ride every other coaster one or two times). 2. Phantom's Revenge. This is a very good coaster with lots of ejector air (especially in the back row). It is a little bit inconsistent on pacing, but it also gets bonus points in my book for having a very unique layout, and also some awesome restraints. (The restraints are the loosest of any hyper I have ridden, guaranteeing some real airtime). 3. Apollo's Chariot. It is a somewhat standard B&M hyper, but I give this one bonus points for having a cool location 4. Nitro. Quite possibly the most intense of the B&M hypers. 5. Diamondback. Standard B&M hyper. 6. Superman: Ride of Steel. There are some really amazing parts to this ride. The airtime hills in the back row are great! But anything that is not an airtime hill just seems out of place. (The helices and straight sections). 7. Intimidator (Carowinds). A fine hyper, but I rank this one a bit lower for being basically a parking lot coaster. (Though that sort of fits the theme). 8. Magnum. The layout of this coaster is great, but the roughness and restraints do detract from the enjoyment. Though it does help to tighten the seatbelt. If this coaster had some of its bad turns smoothed out, and got better trains, this would be my favorite coaster at Cedar Point. 9. Steel Force. The layout is fine, but the shape of the trains do limit the sensation of speed. There is plenty of floater air, though. This is a very fun coaster, but it does not give the thrills it could given its heights. 10. Titan. This coaster is all about intensity and positive G's. It does very well in the intensity category, but it does not do much else. 11. Goliath. Basically Titan without one of the helices. It is basically a big forceless ride with one intense moment. While this has the weakest layout of any hyper I have ridden, it is smooth and still enjoyable. 12. New York, New York. I decided to rank this one among the rest because the layout is "hyper coaster" enough. (It is technically over 200 ft). There are some good parts to this ride, as in, you get descent air on the second drop, and the dive loop is pretty cool. Other than that, this is not a good coaster. This would be a perfectly fine coaster if it did not have those OTSR's. With lap bars, and without the inversions, this would make a fine hyper coaster. Not one of the better ones, but a fine ride. I have not ridden Desperado yet, but it is safe to assume that it would either be second worst or the very worst on this list. Only my own state could screw up two hyper coasters.

SFGAm is a bit of a odd case, because it is a park with lots of 'good' roller coasters, but not really any that are universally considered 'top ten' material. The closest has to be Goliath, but many still consider this to be the weakest RMC. It is saying a lot that Cedar Point added both a dive coaster and the largest wing coaster since I last visited, but I do not have that intense of a drive to go back, because I do not see either of these as too major increases to the lineup. This is really saying a lot about how impressive Cedar Point's selection really is. By contrast, SFGAm is not really a park that gives me too intense a drive to visit, even in spite of its large number of coasters. To me, it is only a park I would go to if I were in the area for other reasons. (And I actually will be going there, but mainly just because I will be in Chicago for different reasons).

^^Most times I have gone, Kong has been running only the yellow train. Thing is, Kong can be a VERY moody coaster. I have gotten some truly awesome rides on it, but have ridden later in the day in the exact same seat of the exact same train and experienced a very rough ride. I actually think time of day matters more than which train or where you sit. (It is much better to ride earlier in the day than later). Kong is usually bad for me no matter where I sit, but I have gotten the occasional good ride on it. But I have also had rides on it that made me wish I was riding New York, New York. (I actually think that New York, New York is overall a better coaster than an SLC. Average roughness for me is about the same, but at least NYNY has a cool location and an original layout).

^That would actually be pretty significant. Nowhere in the American west does there exist a good, long, full circuit hyper. Goliath is my lowest-ranked hyper coaster, even ranking a good deal lower than Steel Force. Goliath was actually a huge letdown to me even when it was the literally first hyper coaster I had ever ridden. This was because I went to SFMM for the first time relatively shortly after I first started getting into coasters. I had been reading online things about how coaster enthusiasts love hyper coasters so much, and I was excited after finding out Magic Mountain had a hyper coaster. After riding Goliath, I had no idea why enthusiasts kept talking about hyper coasters so much. I seriously thought that hypers must be the most overrated thing ever. However, I was given the opportunity to go to Cedar Point a few years later, and I was able to experience rides like Millennium Force and Magnum. (Neither of these are my favorite coasters now, but both are much better than Goliath). Then, I began to understand the hype for hypers. So basically, I thought hyper coasters were stupid for a couple years because Goliath was the only one I had ridden. Now that I have ridden Skyrush, Nitro, Phantom's Revenge, Diamondback, Magnum, Millennium Force, Steel Force, Superman (SFA), Apollo's Chariot, I305, I232, and even Titan, I can really say that Goliath does not match the quality of any of these. (I will also be able to add on Raging Bull, the wood Goliath, Expedition GeForce, and Silver Star to this list, and will probably emerge with the same view). I am glad I have gotten the opportunities to ride some real hyper coasters, and I would be every excited if California were to build one, even if it is a B&M. Also, this could be a major game changer, considering that CGA is often considered the butt of a lot of jokes about California theme parks. (Though the new-ish Gold Striker is very well liked). But if they built a coaster type that even Magic Mountain cannot offer, then that would change quite a lot. This might even shift the balance in power of which NorCal park is considered to have the best coasters. (Almost everyone in the Bay Area/Sacramento/Western Nevada area believes that Six Flags has the better coasters. But I really can see a hyper changing that, even if I would still prefer an RMC over a B&M hyper in my own opinion).

Theme park tip: if you do not have cargo shorts or any form of button-pocket, use saftey pins! I used to wear cargo shorts, now saftey pins are my go-to pocket security method.

Haven't been yet, but I will go this summer, and I think it is safe to assume Colossos. How about Phantasialand?

Why does it take them that long to load Millenium Flyer trains? Even Magic Mountain can load Apocalypse faster than that. The Gold Striker crew is usually pretty good at not stacking as well. Why is it that a park in the same chain that operates on a lower budget can dispatch the same exact coaster train in consistently under 2 minutes, while I have been hearing reports of 4 minute dispatches at Knott's?

^I cannot really see this going to a "big, corporate park" in the US. Should it end up here, it will probably end up at a park like Silverwood or Knoebels.

You root for Ohio State when they play Michigan just because of Cedar Point. You have ever legitimately wondered where sex ranks compared to your top coasters. (Good sex is my #2, behind Skyrush).

A bit off topic, but I have no understanding as to why Batwing and Firehawk even get brought up in conversations like these. These two rides are as smooth as B&M's. And yet, B&M built a ride with the exact same order of elements, just with a 540 degree roll added in (Starry Sky Ripper in China), and suddenly it is the best thing ever. I somewhat understand the hate for Nighthawk (it is the roughest of three three by far, but the hate for the other two makes no sense to me. Also, having a mediocre layout does not make for the "worst coaster ever." Yes, maybe S:UF clones do waste some potential, but worst coaster ever? Not in this universe. To find a truly bad coaster, try any SLC, or New York New York, or recall that there used to exist Togo standups in North America. I only rode Shockwave. Skyrider/Freestyle must be awful, though. Who would want to ride a Togo standup with a trick track in it?

1. SFDK (190 miles) 2. CGA (250 miles) 3. SFMM (483 miles) I live in Reno. I have had east coasters give me shocked looks telling them that these are the actual distances to my three closest parks. I also feel like it is work noting that I almost moved to Portland, OR. Besides the crappy weather, my deciding factor was the fact that the closest real park is Silverwood, 400 miles away!