megametal

Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood. Always have to have a night ride to cap off the night there.

Well, considering it just came up from a pretty decent refurb with the station getting new airgates, the train getting new seats, paint, and a re-branded logo, it doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. That's good news! I don't follow what goes on in the west coast parks as much as I should. Will have to finally make it out to Cali sometime, as I've never ridden a shuttle loop. (Either that or go to Brazil or South Africa to ride the ones that used to be at KD and Carowinds.)

Makes me wonder how much longer Knotts Montezooma's Revenge will be around.

Mean Streak this past Tuesday. OUCH! I had forgotten that it needs to be ridden wrong to have a good ride. Putting your back against the seat = pain. Have to lean forward and sit in the front to have even an okay ride.

Well, I guess technically, they could have made it an LIM launch. I believe one Schwarzkopf shuttle loop has been redone that way. Still, sad to see another one go, but maybe Gerstlauer will introduce their own version with an LIM/LSM launch one day if someone asks. And I mean not as a special project, but as a catalog item.

Went to Kennywood yesterday. It was the second time I'd been there. Last time was July 2008. I wish I could say it was as good this time as it was last time. I was mildly disappointed by a few things, but other than that, it's still a great park. I didn't like that so many rides were closed over an hour before the park closed. And these weren't just rides next to the lagoon that were closed for the laser show. No, this included The Whip and Noah's Ark. I suppose Noah's Ark is understandable though, as a safety precaution. Of course, Volcano and Pirate never opened, as had been the case most of this summer. I also found the employees to be some of the most lackluster on last week's trip (out of Conneaut, Waldameer, Ki, CP, and Kennywood). I don't think I saw a smile once by a worker, and ride operators frequently had to be told by restraint checkers to start the ride. Had to wave their arms in the air and then call the operator's name to get them to pay attention. This happened mainly on Thunderbolt throughout the day, but operations for the most part were going at a snail pace, especially on Black Widow and Noah's Ark. Also, the TVs in the queue lines no longer play. They were off all day. Is the park having staffing and money problems or something? I mean, my day was enjoyable, but operations were SO slow and the workforce seemed positively lethargic.

Looks kinda like Steak N Shake's logo, but that didn't come around until the 1930s...

Coming up to the park on Thursday. Going to be a very busy day, as we're going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until 1 PM, then going to Conneaut and Waldameer for the rest of the day. Going to be a struggle to get it all in, but we'll manage. I see that Conneaut closes at 9 PM, but that's dependent on attendance and weather. Do they close early often? Thinking of going to Conneaut first just in case.

I'd rather a tall and large land area Steak N Shake.

Oh my!

Kings Island next Monday. Will be my second trip there. Last went in 2008.

Grizzly at KD. Was running pretty well yesterday.

That's a relief. Thanks for the reassurance, guys. A friend of mine who I plan on going to the park with next year is afraid of looping coasters, but wants to ride one, and I told him that Shockwave would be a good starter at the park. His first and only looping coaster was the other Shockwave. The one at KD, which I told him was not indicative of other looping coasters, as it's definitely not a great coaster. I always think a classic Schwarzkopf is a good starter looping coaster.

Ah. I was just saying they might since parks always cite issues getting parts for their Schwarzkopfs these days, even though Gerstlauer now supplies them. I mean, we even only have one shuttle loop left in America made by Schwarzy!

I hope this doesn't push them to get rid of the ride. I'm visiting next year mostly to ride Shockwave. Hopefully the most they do is fix it and buy some new Gerstlauer trains like SooperDooperLooper at Hershey has.

BGW: Wild Maus/Wild Izzy and Big Bad Wolf Carowinds: Flying Super Saturator Cedar Point: Wildcat and Disaster Transport Dowdy's: Tornado (though it may not count, as it was powered.) KD: Hypersonic XLC KI: Son of Beast (sans loop) Knoebels: High Speed Thrill Coaster and Whirlwind Myrtle Beach Pavilion: Hurricane SFA: Two-Face SFGAdv: Viper and GASM

^^^^ I think the ski lift is now allowed for wristbands. It's weird. The website says its extra, as do the maps. The sign on the lift says differently, and people were just walking up with wrist bands and riding it last week when I was there. I was very confused, but decided to do what the other wristband people were doing, and no questions were asked. Just showed my band. The bumper cars are amazing! The best I've ever been on. Also, one of the few parks where you don't have to pay extra (if you buy a wristband) for the bumper boats, too.

Agree on KD's Shockwave. Tear it down and the weird flying ride in the former Nickelodeon area, and they could fit a nice wing-rider in there. Even more if they took out the show stage there too, but I doubt they'd do that.

Did Looping Star get one of the trains from one of the shuttle loops of one of the Great America parks? I noticed that Great America is written on the side of the train.

So... Has anyone heard a peep about what KD may be doing next year in terms of ride additions/removals?

Phoenix at Knoebels on Monday. Was our last ride of the night before the park closed.

I'm getting really excited now. I'm eagerly awaiting beta testing this.

Awww. I love the arcade with all the old pinball machines. (The only arcade games I really love to play.) Hopefully if they do that, they move the arcade to the old pirate building or something.

This is reason enough to finally get me down to Tampa. (As if I really needed any besides more coaster credits!) Now, I want a drop tower where you face up towards the sky the entire fall... or are upside down the entire fall. Hmmm. I'm sure they are in the pipeline now!

Oh my! Trees?! In Gotham City?! In Six Flags America?! Inconceivable!