ImmelMatt

Last Sunday was my first time having visited Fiesta Texas. Right away I was struck by how nice all the scenery was even though it could all use some paint, how insane SKC was, how phenomenal Sky Screamer was, and also got credits for Pandemonium, Poltergeist, and Goliath all before lunch. We were gearing up to do Scream! which I was really excited for because most S&S towers I'd ridden were only Super Shots or Turbo Drops but Scream! seemed to do both in the same ride. Also, the log flume which I loved how it was situated in the park... but first, we wanted to do the train ride so we could take some pictures. Upon pulling out of the station, I was assaulted with the most ghastly and unimaginable nails-on-a-chalkboard screeching I had ever heard. I mean, there is squeaky and then there is ear-piercingly godawful, and this was most certainly the latter. To my utter dismay, the screeching was incessant and I thought I was going to cry when we went into the quarry tunnel and it got worse. Eventually though, me and my friends were off, and joking about how SFFT could stand to invest in some grease for the rails. We made our way to Crackaxle Canyon. I insisted on doing Road Runner Express first, but Rattler was more important to the rest of my party. Rattler... this ride is going to haunt me to the end of my days. The fact that I had to wait 30 minutes for an RCCA creation already had me anxious. The squeal of the track as the cars lazily made their way around the final turnaround was bringing back horrible thoughts of my most recent encounter with the train, but then came the end of the queue where it was so illustriously spelled out to me that unlike every other ride we had ridden today, Rattler had assigned seating. Well, at that point I started praying to the coaster gods that they would put me up in the front half. I didn't need the front seat. Just please, anything but the back. And so the coaster gods heard my pleas... and ignored them as I took my seat at the back of the last car on the right. Now I am just praying this is like Mean Streak or Hurler, or some other coaster I thought was going to be the worst coaster experience of my life that, while they were bad, did not leave me crying. Rattler, as you are all no doubt aware, provides no such mercy. I was already bracing with my hands clasping the bar in front of me, hoping to whatever god could hear me that I was going to come out of this alive. As the car jackhammered its way out of the station, my heart followed in time. As the track curved downward to the lift hill, the train grew more violent, and screeched like a banshee in my ears. As we hit the chain, I turned to one of my friends and asked him why he wanted to ride this so bad. I've never been more terrified of a single roller coaster, while on the roller coaster, in my entire life. He assured me it would be fine. Then came the drop. I felt like I was being shaken up like a can of paint at Home Depot as it bottomed out and swung us up into the large diving helix. The drop downward had the rails screeching so high and loud I thought my eardrums were going to burst. Wasn't there supposed to be topper track on this ride? Where is the topper track?! All I could feel was pain! Then we went up into the triple helix. Rattler's triple helix is the worst roller coaster element that ever existed. The jackhammering was awful, the repetition was ungodly, and the screeching of the rails had become so bad I had to cover my ears which made the jackhammering worse as, being on the right side of the train, my body was being thrown to the right, toward the supports, which just made it all the more unnerving. When it finally spit us out onto the MCRB, my friend noticed a camera. I flipped it the bird so fast I didn't even think of the consequences until we dropped out into the quarry tunnel where, again, I had to put my hands over my ears just to make the excruciatingly awful screeching bearable. Finally, we were spit out once more into the flyby and final turnaround into the break where all I could say was "make it stop! for the love of god, someone make it stop!" and when it did, I was crying. This ride was so bad, so painful, so excruciating, it made me cry. I honestly don't know why I didn't punch the ride operator getting off. As it stands, this coaster is only useful as a US Government-sanctioned interrogation device or as firewood, and if RMC doesn't convert it, I suggest one of those two methods be put in place immediately. It was pushing 100 by then, I had a splitting headache from the ride (and there was no OTSR! How is that possible?!), so we called it a day at 3 PM. I hope to go back one day to reclaim the credits I lost to the Rattler, but who knows... it's a beautiful park and SKC is phenomenal, but SFFT, if you don't remodel that monstrosity you call a roller coaster soon, you better burn it to the ground and use the terrain for something better. And for the love of Pete, invest in some paint for your older rides and buildings, and some oil for anything with wheels that doesn't have a steel track!

Six Flags America did a great job breathing new life into that coaster. As long as people can figure out how to ride it without suffering a concussion, it looks like it could be very popular there.

Millennium Force's lift hill. Looks gorgeous on the shore during the day, and then maybe more so when they light it up at night. Pics taken from RCDB.

I was in town for my cousin's wedding this weekend (congratulations, Nicole!) and after making sure I wasn't violating any mandatory family time scheduled for Sunday, I hitched out of Schaumburg first thing this morning and made my way to Gurnee. My last attempt at this two weeks ago had... unsavory results. Not wanting to let my childhood hometown park leave a bad taste in my mouth, and having a season pass, I gave it another go. WOW were things better today! Weekend in June, 75 degrees, partly cloudy, and manageable crowds. My word, I couldn't have asked for better. Started with TDK and Little Dipper, the two credits I wanted to snatch up last time but couldn't. I have to say, I enjoyed them. This is most likely due to both being walk-ons as I rode them first thing in the morning before even the smallest of lines could clog them up. I imagine if I had waited any longer than 15 minutes for either, I would have a gross unappreciation for the both of them. The queue theming on TDK was just abysmal. It's honestly sad they gutted Theater Royale for a drab overflow queue. The ride itself though was rather enjoyable. What theming they had was nice and it was really dark to the point I had difficulty seeing the track, which is always a plus on enclosed coasters. Little Dipper was exactly what I expected. Shamefully, though I grew up in Chicagoland, I had never gone to Kiddieland, so this was a new credit for me. It's a cute little ride with some nice dips and turns, and it's encouraging and welcoming to see another solid coaster that kids can enjoy before getting ready to conquer the B&Ms. This also has the dubious distinction of being the only credit I have picked up so far where I was the only person riding it. Next was X-Flight, and this time I was going to do it right. Front left and back right. My god, this was like night and day to when I rode 3rd row right two weekends ago. The front row is just an impossibly smooth with a gorgeous view with some amazing head and footchoppers, but I was astounded by how forceful you are pulled through the course in the back row. Being dragged down that first drop ranked up there with Superman's pretzel for me in intensity. More than any other type of coaster for me, these wing coasters seem to have the greatest difference in ride perspective between front and back row, though I may need to ride one or two more before I make that opinion solid. Of course, the X-Flight crew in top form and the ride was just devouring the queue. I waited 30 minutes max. Riding Demon again, it's still the same ride I remember, but I nearly squealed, walking up to the station and hearing the original audio in full. Oh my god, Six Flags DOES listen to us Demon aficionados! Keep in mind, I haven't been on this ride in seven years so I don't know if this is brand new or been around for a few years but awesome is awesome! Got my obligatory ride on Sky Trek Tower for the season. There's nothing like seeing how the park has changed over the years on that. I hope they never get rid of it. After that, I headed over to Screams and Dreams Volume II at the Pictorium. Being a 90s kid and a coaster geek, this was just damn awesome to see. I was a little sad watching half of the people walk out in the first five minutes. This really has a lot of technical terminology and stories that aren't entirely accessible to the GP so I understood. Better they leave five minutes in than sit there and whine for the full thirty. This was probably the best part of my day too, for a very special reason. When they covered the Southwest Territory segment, they showed the commercial that I was cast in. I got so freakin' excited seeing my 9-year-old self 50 feet tall on the Pictorium screen! From there, I saw the train was back up and running again. Nice job with the quick track reconstruction, Six Flags! Took a ride to see X-Flight from the backside. Not as impressive as from the front or in the middle of it. I did see the pink survey markers, but no picture as they were out of sight by the time I got my camera out. After a ride on Viper, I tried the ropes course, having never done one before, and after metaphorically crapping myself on the balance beam on the second level, I had a lot of fun and I can see why everyone likes them. Definitely want to do more of these! By this time, it was three in the afternoon and I had a five hour drive back to Cedar Rapids, so after a few more picture taking, it was time to call it a day. I grossly misjudged what had happened to the park since my last update. The advertising was everywhere, but I didn't see a single coaster wrap. The music was mostly the park music. I didn't hear "Sexy and I Know It" once! Maybe the last time I went, the fact that I felt miserable amplified everything I hated, because this time, it was amazing. Now for the photos, taken from my cellphone that isn't as crappy as I thought it would be! Also, this was my first trip report so any positive or negative criticism is encouraged. Just please be civil Good morning, carousel in bad need of a paint job! Still holding down that world record, I see. Hey, this didn't entirely suck! OH YEAH. Good morning, X-Flight! My, aren't we looking sexy today? Oh yeah, baby, work it for the camera! Oh, X-Flight, you just love showing off, don't you? More, X-Flight, more! The camera loves you! *insert innuendo here* Six Flags management has deemed upskirt shots of X-Flight's tower to be too awesome coaster porn for mortal men to behold. All pics attempted to get this shot will be censored until further notice. Time for some backside shots! Now, now, X-Flight, don't be shy. Mmmmmm... sexy B&M curves <3 This really is the most photogenic coaster I've ever seen. Pictures do not do it justice Yes, I see you, Raging Bull... Still the biggest attention whore in the park I see... Oh, Finn, YOU'RE awesome. I love these mini-misters. Now someone please direct me where to throw money to get one that has Rainbow Dash saying it will make you "20% cooler". Hi Superman! Bye Superman! Pity shot of V2. I still don't understand why Six Flags had to neuter it Identity Crisis: The Ride. We didn't think it was possible to replace IW with something more painful. We were wrong. Obligatory Batman shot. Black is best, but it's still beautiful 20 years later. Bye, Six Flags! Thanks for being amazing!

In theory, probably when I was four and my mother bought me the Disney Sing-Along Songs that was filmed at Disneyland. I had never seen a roller coaster before. My mother must have noticed I was enamored, because she bought me Kidsongs' Ride the Roller Coaster afterwards which I watched so much I wore the tape down. I was very young when I went to my first amusement park, Paramount's Great America, and was only big enough to ride the Blue Streak, though I did get to ride Logger's Run with my dad. I'd been fascinated by roller coasters ever since then. I remember cutting out magazine articles of roller coasters and looking up roller coasters in the early days of the internet. This was fueled by the fact that for the early part of my childhood, I lived in the subdivision across from Six Flags Great America, which turned my fascination into a full-blown obsession that has lasted to this day. In practice is a different story. I loved the idea of roller coasters and what they were capable of. It wasn't until I was five, shortly after we had moved next to Six Flags Great America, that I stood in front of Whizzer and realized... these things are HUGE. I mean, the little kiddie coaster I rode at PGA not a year earlier was maybe 20 feet tall max? Here I was in front of 70 foot tall Whizzer and I was just crying. Yes, I was one of those kids who makes a big show at the air gates when they realized they were in over their head. My fear lasted for about three years, until the fateful day when my father had had enough. By this point I was able to do Whizzer on and off, depending on how I felt that day, but he was convinced I just needed a good kick in the pants, metaphorically speaking, and that metaphor was Demon. He told me he would give me five bucks (a fortune when I was eight!) to ride it once, and if I didn't like it, I would never have to ride another roller coaster again. That day, I got five bucks and realized I loved roller coasters. Been riding happily ever since

Boyfriend for two years. If we're still together when he graduates college, we're getting married X3

June 18th or 19th: Six Flags Fiesta Texas August 11th or 12th: Nickelodeon Universe @ MOA

Got my X-Flight credit yesterday, after driving five hours from Iowa for it. Smooth as butter and lots of fun. I can't say it's better than Raging Bull but its a GP magnet if I ever saw one, and one of if not THE most photogenic coaster on the face of the earth. I would have taken pictures, and put them up, but I got horribly, violently sick and had to leave after throwing up in front of the Whizzer. This was really sad too because this was my first time back to SFGAm after seven years, and the first time I had the "pleasure" of taking my boyfriend to show him how much I loved it. Also, I don't know if this has become the norm since I first went to SFGAm, but what is with the ungodly blaring of pop music over every speaker in the park? Six Flags, do you know what it's like to drive home, pulling over to vomit every hour, and you have "I'm Sexy And I Know It" stuck in your head because you played it EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES? Maybe if I come back later this year, without the incessant involuntary urge to hurl, I'll have a better time.

Going next weekend. Can not wait

Oh, you lucky lucky Europeans... that has to be the sexiest B&M hyper to date.

Just counting stuff currently airing... Archer Breaking Bad Community Mad Men My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic One Piece Parks and Recreation

Mike & The Mechanics - The Living Years Absolutely timeless.

I saw Childish Gambino perform in Iowa City on Monday. He killed it, as was expected. Man is a lyrical genius.

18/26. Some nice trick ones in there

$50

As the saying goes, you can't win if you don't play. I'll buy a ticket

Six Flags Great America - Whenever X-Fight opens

Ew ew ew! Why would they change the seats but keep the gross harnesses?!

Golden Earring - "Twilight Zone"

Probably due to all of Swarm's pics being taken up close with nothing nearby that's bigger to compare to scale. I'm sure if Swarm was next to Stealth you'd think it looked smaller too. Man oh man, is it May yet? I can't wait to ride that monster!

Haven't been on any Intamin rockets yet, unfortunately, but of the ones I've ridden, I'd tie it between Rock n' Roller Coaster (DHS) and The Incredible Hulk (IOA). RnRC has the best anticipation for a launch I've ever ridden with Steven Tyler screaming the countdown. Hulk's ties though because of the way the launch is positioned, rocketing you out of the enclosed lift into a 110 zero-g roll. There's nothing else quite like that I've ridden and it is awesome.

Oh man, SO MANY Definites - Chronicle - The Secret World of Arrietty - The Hunger Games - The Avengers - Brave - The Dark Knight Rises - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Django Unchained - Lincoln - John Dies at the End Most Likely - The Woman in Black - The Lorax - 21 Jump Street - American Reunion - The Five-Year Engagement - Prometheus - Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - Warm Bodies - Wreck-It Ralph - Gravity Definite... When I Can See Them Here in America - Evangelion 3.0: You Can Not (Redo) - Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 2nd A's - The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki

Pretty sure you just answered your own question there. Thorpe Park and Dollywood definitely have more going for them with theming and location respectively. It's still a Wing Rider though, and for that, there should be reason to be excited

Oh man, that woodie looks delicious

My first Mitch Hawker poll! I told myself I wouldn't do one of these until I had ridden 50 coasters in my lifetime and this year was the year. 1. My Favorite Steel (Intimidator 305) 2. American Eagle, SFGam (albeit there's a lot of nostalgia behind that one) 3. Outlaw, Adventureland ... 14. Hurler, King's Dominion I gotta get on more woodies...