sfog1985

The RC-48 coaster provided by Wade Shows for the NY State Fair at the end of August. Although it had a few notable rough spots, particularly at the base of the first drop, it was nice to ride a portable coaster that wasn't a Zyklon or Crazy Mouse variant. I'm hoping to check out the new Park at OWA in Alabama within a few weeks though...

When I tried it again later (doing a hard power off/on in the process since I don't usually leave the ipad in stand-by), the app let me play one game of each type successfully, then kicked me out when I tried to switch back to photo trivia again. I guess it's just more finicky now, as I never had any problems with it on IOS 6.1.3. Edit: Updated to IOS 7.0.2 this morning, deleted and re-installed the app, and am still having the same crashing issues...

I just updated my ipad mini to IOS7 today, and it seems like the trivia app doesn't like it. Each time I've tried it, it's just booted me back to the home menu when I try to start a game. It's too bad, since it's a nice way to kill a few minutes otherwise...

^^ Yeah, I could see a Eurofighter going in there, as from what I understand Dare Devil Dive has been pretty successful for SFoG, and if the track length is around 2300 feet, that would match up too. Given the prevalence of the Gerstlauer spinners in the SF chain, I kind of expected it to be cloned (or have other similar models) eventually too.

I seem to remember reading during the park's development that the flume is from Interlink, who I'm not familiar with at all. http://www.interlink-lg.com/index.html

Would the Crystal Beach/TGE Comet possibly count for woodies? It's certainly not as tall or large as some others overall (like the B&M's mentioned), but it is over 4000 feet long...

I've been on Seabreeze's Maurer model and three of the Six Flags Gerstlauer models, and I'd have to give the edge to Maurer, although I'd say all of them work quite well as quality family rides that can be fun for anyone. I prefer their outward-facing seats over the Gerstlauer face-to-face car design, and the greater variety of turns helps accent the spinning with some interesting visuals as well. This'll be a great addition to the park.

Boomerang - Knott's Berry Farm Boomerang - Six Flags Fiesta Texas Boomerang Coast to Coaster - Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom Boomerang Coast to Coaster - Darien Lake Flashback - Six Flags Over Texas Flashback - Six Flags New England Sidewinder - Hersheypark Zoomerang - Alabama Adventure Zydeco Scream - Six Flags New Orleans Seen, but didn't ride: Bat - Canada's Wonderland 9 out of a possible 10 for me. I still enjoy them, but they're only worth one ride now, ideally with a short line. Hershey's was definitely the worst (back in 2004 with the old-style Vekoma train) of those I've ridden. Most of the others are pretty comparable to each other, although I think the ones with Arrow trains (KBF, SFOT, AA, SFNO) tended to run a bit smoother than those with Vekoma trains. That may just be my warped perception though...

I have to agree with the Arrow and PTC lift hills for their very distinctive sounds one associates with parks in general. Although not really coaster related, I also love the loud whoosh of an S&S Space Shot air tank filling up shortly before launch...

1: (kiddy/powered) Go-Gator, NY State Fair/Strates Shows (around 1989-90 or so) 1: (full-size) Dahlonega Mine Train, SFoG, 1993 100: Apollo's Chariot, BGW, 2003 200: Runaway Mountain, SFoT, 2010 (Intended to be Titan, but I miscalculated my total beforehand!) I'm currently at 212 now, but I haven't specifically kept track of the order apart from those listed.

I never ended up making it to Fantasy Island, but as someone whose former home parks were Seabreeze and Darien Lake it's great to see Seabreeze still doing well for itself. It's always been just a nice and fun traditional park, with a decent coaster collection and nice waterpark for a place of their calibur.

I think this may be one of the unfound kiddie rides (the former Marvel City Speedway): http://www.italintl.com/detail_page.php?record_id=1286 The year and model would be logical, as would be the fact that they had a number of other Zamperla kiddie rides as well.

Actually, I wouldn't be that surprised if they did keep it. It's located right off of the main entrance area, so they wouldn't need to do anything special to allow access to it as is while also closing off the other pathways to the former ride side. I suspect the flume and rapids ride are goners though, they aren't particularly close to the waterpark stuff. Edit: Never mind, I didn't realize it's for sale now too...

Well this is unfortunate. As someone who'd visited AA/Visionland back in 1999 and 2005, it's sad to see almost all of their non-water stuff (aside from Rampage, an Enterprise, 2 kiddy rides, and a Space Shot tower) offered up like this. I can't say I was a big fan of the park or its overall ride offerings (aside from Rampage, which was incredible in 99 and still quite good but notably rougher in 05). However, it would still be sad to see what is technically my home park become just a water park, although that had always been its biggest local draw and where most of the additions and attention over the years were focused. At least the waterpark stuff is decent for a park of their size and scope, but not really enough for a standalone experience IMO. Even the park-based water stuff was quite poor, with dull layouts and very little wetness involved (at least for the flume and rapids ride, I can't speak for the splashdown put in last year; it's probably better for getting wet). And yes, Rampage is primarily built on a hillside, so moving it elsewhere would probably be very difficult.

That theme song/jingle is incredible. So irritating yet so memorable...and it even makes for a suitable go-along to the pics as you noted, with its major cheesiness factor providing a nice complement to them.

Mind Bender at SFoG back in 1995, at the age of 10. It also served as only my second "true" (non-kiddie) coaster after having first ridden their Mine Train 2 years earlier. I've never been quite the same since then, some 200 or so coasters later...

I've been on two of them; Demon Drop at Cedar Point (2001) and Freefall at SFoG (2002). I enjoyed both of them, and didn't find them particularly rough, although I knew to lean forward a bit at the transfer off the brake run to reduce its impact. It's pretty easy to see why their numbers have dwindled though, given that they take up more space and are far more mechanically complex then current stuff from Intamin, S&S, and the numerous smaller companies that make drop towers now.

I've always been amazed by the sheer size of those portable Schwarzkopf coasters. As someone who has ridden the former Texas Tornado (Thriller) back at SFAW (which was awesome to both look at and ride), it seemed incredible that a coaster of that magnitude had previously traveled around like the Alpina Bahn and Olympia Looping still do. Plus, OL is even bigger than TT was, and Alpina Bahn isn't that much smaller either!

Rode in debut year: 1996: Nightmare at Darien Lake (former home park) 1997: Mind Eraser at Darien Lake 1999: Dueling Dragons, Incredible Hulk, Pteronadon Flyers at Islands of Adventure Serial Thriller at SFAW Superman at Darien Lake 2000: Megazeph, Muskrat Scrambler, Zydeco Scream at Jazzland 2001: Talon at Dorney Park 2002: Superman at SFoG 2003: Batman, Jester at SFNO 2004: Space Invader 2 at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (if the refurb and new cars count) Storm Runner at Hersheypark Whirlwind at Seabreeze 2005: Pandemonium at SFNE Italian Job Stunt Track at Canada's Wonderland Zoomerang at Visionland 2008: Goliath at SFFT 2011: Dare Devil Dive at SFoG (home park since mid-2007) Seen in their debut season but not ridden: 1995: Viper at SFoG (skipped/was still unsure about coasters then) 1999: Gwazi at BGT (still under construction) Rock n' Roller Coaster at Disney-MGM Studios (still under construction) 2004: Spinball Whizzer at Alton Towers (closed as a precaution due to a then-recent incident on Chessington's spinner where some scaffolding collapsed) 2010: Air Grover at BGT (closed for the day) 2011: New Texas Giant at SFoT (still under construction)

Hi, I'm Ben. I've been coming here off and on for many years (mainly for the videos and photo trip reports) and just recently decided to make an account here. I currently live in Mississippi, although I lived in Syracuse, NY until the summer of 2007. I've been a coaster enthusiast since my first "big coaster" experience back in 1995 on the Mind Bender at SFoG, and have been on just over 200 coasters in the years since. I'd still consider SFoG as my home park, although Alabama Adventure and the former SFNO are actually closer to me. I'd had an account on CoasterBuzz from the early-mid 00's, although I haven't been there in quite a while, so it's probably gone by now.

Steel: Millennium Force Wood: Rattler