simon8899

1. X2 2. Scream 3. Goliath 4. Riddlers Revenge 5. Log Jammer 6. Viper 7. Revolution - did I mentioned this was runied with OTSRs? All other below that.... And before anyone asks about Tatsu - the restraint pressed my lower belly and I farted nearly all the ride so I dont really liked it.... Batman and Green Lantern were closed when I was there.

I didn't think the Giant Dipper at Belmont was too bad. Considering its age it was okay for me - GhostRider was IMO as rough and was mostly broken down while Giant Dipper at least worked properly. And yes: Xcelerator is also a great coaster!

Great pics! This is one of the Schwarzkopf coasters I hope to do some day - Mindbender in Edmonton is the other. And if Mexico gets its crime under the roof there waits a long overdue re-ride on Thriller - the last was on the carnival here in germany....

As I only visited some parks during my California visit last summer my vote is somewhat limited in experience.... Best: X2 and - as a proud Schwarzkopf fanboy - Montezooma's Revenge Worst: GhostRider Scream and Riddlers Revenge are also great coasters - especially Scream will always be remembered as they trained new staff with two trains and no crowds when I was there resulting in an hour of non-stop riding.... On Tatsu the restraints were pushing against my lower belly which tunred it for me into "fartcoaster" so I dont liked it that much - only did it once. And Revolution was ruined with OTSRs....

okay....was just an idea....thanks for the answer...

A fine Springbank 10 years old 100 Proof scotch single malt.

When you come to germany you might want to check if a major fair is on - maybe even timming your travel to hit the Olympia-Looping. Informations sadly in german only at: http://www.kirmesforum.de http://www.olympia-looping.de/standorte.html I also quite liked some european budget hotel chains on my travels like Ibis and Etap (both Accor Group) and MotelOne. They offer basic but clean rooms with shower (on Etap sometimes shared showers!), LCD-TV and WiFi. For Heide-Park you can take the DB train from Hamburg to Soltau and from there the Prüser Bus to the park - check both timetables in advance. From Hamburg you've to take a so-called Local Express train as ICE/IC high-speed trains mostly dont stop at Soltau. At last you often talk "overnight train" - western europe is only a little bigger than Texas. I dont know for sure but except for Paris-Germany there might be no overnight trains. For example the ICE train from Hamburg to Munich takes about 6 hours. The distances Berlin-Amsterdam and Hamburg-Mannheim are even shorter - so you may have to travel by daylight train. ICE and TGV normally travel at 200 kmh to 300 kmh (120 mph to 190 mph) - much faster than US trains were compared even some of our subways or commuter-rails run faster. As every country has their own high speed trains like ICE in germany and TGV in france you may have to change trains in Cologne or Frankfurt as the highspeed trains need special equipped tracks and control systems that are different in each country. And yes: Make sure to get a seat reservation - especially trains to/from Berlin can get crowded and without one you've to sit in a walkway for hours. Another idea would be to travel by plane - Lufthansa for example offers "early-bird" inner europe fares for €99 - €129 per flight plus taxes. This is often even cheaper than a train fare and flight time is always under 2 hours. Be careful when using "cheap" lines like RyanAir - for Hamburg they land at a small airfield near Lübeck which is about 60mins to Hamburg by train! Luggage: Take only 1 carry-on piece plus maybe a rucksack if you wanna travel by train - there're no luggage cars on trains anymore. In parks you can take your luggage and put it into a safety-locker - bigger pieces can mostly be put at the information desk. I wontz recommend "stashing it in the woods" at it might get removed - if your're lucky to Lost&Found - if not it may get "recycled" into a garbage container with an hydraulic press....

I've seen that you come to germany next year and I wanna ask if its possible to join for the days you're at my home parks - most likely Hansa-Park and Heide-Park? I'd be ready to pay an "TPR Event" price for that day!

I always like the Volare at Prater when I rode it in its first year. Maybe that one aged bad.... The Huss Take Off is a great ride! At full speed one of the few rides that makes me tipsy....

Of course you're always smarter after sinking aproject. But this is a pure ongoing waste of taxpayers money and I hope they stop it sooner that later.

In retrospect its the general opinion in press and public that it was a very bad idea to hire S&S Power to built the coaster - who at the time had no experience doing launched coasters. Intamin already had the Xcelerator working at the time as is considered to have been the far better choice. Next to that the whole Nürnburgring project is deep in a swamp of bribes, corruption and politics so I think this will never be a success - they should tear it down to finally stop the endless spendings off taxmoney on it and make it a simple racetrack again.

Spreepark is closed for years now. The owner showmen Witte took off to south america leaving the park in bancruptcy. Some rides were sold but most of them are left to rot.

I'll do a Scandi City Tour comming June - and this wets my appetite....

I rode the new Vekoma trains on the Boomerang "The Speed Of Sound" at Walibi Holland and it was a great ride - including an onboard sound-system. I'm also eager to check out the lapbar-only trains on the Vienna Prater Boomerang in Sept. 2012.... The MK-900 family coasters are also okay - at least the ones I rode so far. Next to that the Inverted Boomerangs are way better than the stnadard SLCs - wonder why... I think I've read something about that coasters were the wheels grip from inside - Arrow, Vekoma, Meisho, div. chinese - are by design rougher than coasters were the wheels grip from the outside.

Final Weekend pictures So long. Now nearly 4 months until my next coaster ride... Massive crowd on the city square christmas market. Christmas tree on the left - city hall on the right - and public transit bright LED advertising banner in the middle...

Happy to have rounded up a great year with 3 rides on the Olympia Looping! But knowing I've to wait nearly 4 months now for my next ride....

Clearly my California tour: - Disneyland - Knotts with Montezooma's Revenge and the Intamin Accelerator - SFMM with X2 and tons of B&Ms - Two Giant Dippers - Crossing the atlantic on board Queen Mary 2

I'll likely even stay at a Disney hotel... A little more than a year now and this thread really wets my appetite for it.

Berlin has no theme park in or around it. The closest would be Belantis.

I wasnt in Europa Park for ages now - Tivoli Gardens is way closer from where I live for example. But might do a week with Europa and Holiday Park as well as Walygator just over the french border soon.

Like with all parks look when hours are limited and the hotels offer value packs or off-season prices. For 2012 its the 3rd and 4th week of Jan as well as the 1st and 2nd week of Feb. First week of Jan is generally a bad idea as some might extend their xmas holidays. If you've no children do all holidays as far away from the school holidays and public holidays as possible! As Disney also gathers international crowds I'd Disney parks on weekdays and the other parks on weekends.

Here in germany showmen also get the quite cheap "industrial power" on fairs that only costs a fraction of "private power" for you and me. This way for example we still have aluminum plants....and big rides on fairs.... Private users pay higher prices so high-energy industries can be competitve on an international scale.

You can also try seaching for "Opened" year over at RCDB Advanced Search. However I don't know how complete the database is for such long-gone times. But after riding Rutschebanan and the Gaint Dippers in California I guess those times were good coasterwise....

We've the flashy fairs with the big Schwarzkopfs - and you've the big parks....I think that evens things out....

I was some times in Miami during that time and wanna go to Orlando for two weeks in Jan/Feb 2013. Weather is mostly dry and temperatures are mostly nice and not too hot - during summer I avoid Florida as I hate temps over 100F. During the time you plan most hotels and rental-car companies offer bargain prices. Make sure to hire a car if you wanna do BGT or Kennedy Space Center - public transport in Florida is nearly non-existent.