Immel Man

While showing a co-worker a video of the Crystal Beach Cyclone: "It reminds me of Colossus."

Usually it's because I'm too ripped. Have to back off on the bench press for a couple weeks until my chest dimensions decrease to a coaster-suitable size.

It's an absolute crime that no Japanese parks have done this. Premature to assume anything before it opens, but I think Wodan could easily be GCI's best.

Glad to see this officially announced as a lot of people have been expecting this for a while. Looks like it will be positioned between the main hotel and wedding pavillion. I'd like to see the older Grand Floridian hotel rooms upgraded to the new standard as well. Last I was there they lagged behind some of the newer/remodeled deluxe offerings.

I worked front desk and concierge at the Yacht & Beach Club as a CP in 2009, so I'm more than a little biased, but I do feel that all things considered it is the best all-around resort at WDW. Only drawback is the lack of monorail access (plenty of our guests just assumed the monorail stopped here when they made their reservations and they made a very strong point about coming to the desk to yell at us once they realized it didn't), but being a few minutes walking distance from Epcot makes up for it. I remember several times when one of my managers would offer me an early-out on slow days and I'd simply walk out the back door of the lobby and spend the rest of my day playing "Drunk Mission Space" at Epcot! Yacht Club was always the easier of the two to work at. More business travelers and fewer familes with kids. Beach Club also had the DVC villas which gave us a few hundred more guests to deal with on that side. Yacht would get painfully slow though when there wasn't a convention or something. I stopped back in this past summer and one of my old bosses mentioned they're planning to close the resort in phases some time in 2012/13 to remodel the public areas and add proper quick service dining. The rooms were redone in 09 so I wouldn't expect major changes there. Hopefully its done in the same tasteful, upscale manner as the rennovations to Grand Floridian's lobby.

Guys, attendance at Knott's is not going to simply nosedive in one season just because other SoCal parks announce new attractions and Knott's doesn't. They'll be just fine and won't be "left in the dust." Wait- here's an idea! Why doesn't Cedar Fair just announce that they will be putting California's Great America INSIDE Knott's Berry Farm! Solves two problems for CF and then Knott's will never decline....

Living in a city with real theme parks again after I peace out from Vegas at the end of this year... That and Skyrush plus finally riding some decent wooden coasters on my midwest/east coast trip!

Marathoning Dueling Dragons in the rain with about ten other people for me! Didn't make it to any new parks this year and my only new credit was Cheetah Hunt. That should change drastically in 2012 though.

I don't see a problem with B&M's having similar layouts at all. All of the older B&M's built in the early 90's had many features no one had ever seen before. A few Vekomas had their version of the cobra roll (boomerang in Vekoma speak) and Arrow had their own batwing element, but who had ever seen anything like interlocking corkscrews, dive loops, immelmans, zero-g-rolls, inclined loops, or loops circling lift hills. Plus every element B&M built was far larger and more impressive than the competition's. You could not have asked for them to be any more innovative. Each time they come out with a distinctively different type of coaster they always come up with some new features for it. B&M simply found combinations that works and the continued strong sales of their decade-old models more than justifies sticking with a proven formula. They throw something new at us every now and then. Besides the same exact elements often feel very different from one ride to the next.

I'm all for a record breaking-looper as long as there is at least some substance to the ride. That means a custom layout (no Colossus derivative) with a few non inversion elements thrown in as well. An air hill and helix somewhere along the circuit would be enough. An entirely new inversion would be a great idea too if they could come up with something good.

I can't wait to hear some more reviews! The finished product looks great. Black Mamba should give Voyage some tough competition for best new coaster this year.

Rattler at SFFT is in a whole nother league of roughness compared to Psyclone, Mean Streak, and Son of Beast. I held my hands up on the first drop and ended up knocking heads with the guy next to me. It didn't just feel rough, it felt like the cars were practically jumping around from rail to rail.

Not all Cedar Fair parks strictly enforce it. I've gotten multiple re-rides on Xcelerator, Silver Bullet and Supreme Scream at Knott's in the last month. If crowds are light they usually let it slide. Another thing about Cedar Fair people have to keep in mind is that they won't automatically pour concrete everywhere and strip a park of it's atmosphere just because they can. Knott's and Dorney are exceptions because they had hardly any room left to expand. They had to overhaul entire areas to add any type of major attraction (they still could have done a better job though). These Paramount parks don't have that problem. They are not going to lay down a big slab of concrete over an existing area at King's Island when they still have a few hundred acres left.

What's with all the Coke enthusiasts on this site? I'm practically doing cartwheels around the house right now for the prospect of seeing Pepsi at all these parks. One of the things I'm most worried about is how they will treat the woodies. I know none of them are exactly world class in their current state, but CF's track record for maintaining woodies is well, bad. King's Island is a much stronger park than Geauga Lake was when they bought it, so I doubt it will be neglected to protect Cedar Point. No matter what Cedar Fair would realistically add to it it still will not eclipse CP in coasters. I think Great America and Carrowinds have the most immediate potential. I'm not expecting a rush of new coasters for either, but they will give CF presence in new areas that could hopefully stimulate some new development. I don't think any of these parks will get the Knott's/Dorney treatment since they have a lot more room left to expand before redoing existing areas.

I know a lot of engineering went into Imhotep, but I personally don't think it was as well spent as it could have been. Body movement is fine, but his face doesn't move an inch when he talks like some other recent animatronics do. I may have been a bit too critical, but I still think it could have been pulled off a bit better.