Randomman295

^^Has Cedar Fair ever gotten a Top Scan? Not meaning to be condescending, I genuinely want to know if it's possible.

This. Same goes for Ninja at SFMM. I also have to update my entry in this thread from last time after having been to SFFT and Valleyfair. Good lord, Acme Express and Excalibur are uncomfortable as hell and shake like crazy.

Something closer to Daemonen at Tivoli or that fancy new Nitro in India in terms of a medium-small scale floorless would be top notch. I agree with this fully. Am I still aloud to dream for RMC retracking one half of Rolling Thunder and getting an Iron Horse for the other half? Same thing for Colossus (SFMM).

So I did a quick check on Google Satellite and it looks like the Windseeker's going to leave an empty space about 80'x90'. According to Zamperla's website the Air Race is only 75'x75' so that's not out of the question. If it is a roller coaster, it would have to be something REALLY damn small like an E&F Miler Kiddie, which IMO doesn't have any reason to exist with a Tivoli next door. Just throwing it out there for reference, and by the way, I guarantee nothing is going to happen here for another couple years. Also. Hoh man that revamped log ride is fantastic. What company did that?

While another Huss flat would be great, the Chance Revolution two doors down seems sufficient for now. Besides, there really isn't enough room for something that big unless they were willing to extend over the lake, which I can't see Knott's doing. My money's not on another restaurant (knott's has tons already), but maybe a medium-high thrill flat something along the lines of an Air Race. I for one would love to see that. And while we're wishing for gold I might as well say that I really want Knott's Boomerang to be replaced with a giant ferris wheel.

Well Knott's has officially begun the deconstruction of their god-forsaken Mondial Windseeker starting with the top. Good riddance, that thing was never open anyway and it never fit into the Fiesta Village. Any speculation as to what's going to happen next in its place? A new restaurant sounds likely but I'm not sure about another BBQ. Edit: Also it's definitely worth mentioning that Ghostrider was completely hauling ass-and-a-half a couple nights ago. The section between the MCBR and the second turnaround has never been more intense.

Having recently been to Knott's for about the tenth time I can confirm that almost all of the rides there have very strange layouts. Xcelerator starts out strong but it has two redundant and boring elements padding out ride time until the brake run. Pony Express starts out forceless and boring and gets really interesting just before it ends about a thousand feet short of a decent length. Silver Bullet, while I love this ride, has an obnoxiously prominent turnaround before the first corkscrew that goes too far into ghost town, as well as a first drop and lift that go too far into Fiesta Village. The rest of it is amazing. Ghostrider's layout starts strong with the first half of the ride until the first turnaround, gets really boring and forceless until the MCBR, goes bonkers until the second turnaround, and ends with a painful helix strongly reminiscent of the old school Rattler that feels really out of place. Too inconsistent for my taste, regardless of roughness. Same thing goes for Jaguar. This ride has a few great moments (i.e. the turnaround next to Sierra and the turnaround just before the log ride) but too many straight sections padding it out until then. In not-Knott's layouts: Goliath at SFMM: Three decent hills followed by the most unnecessarily spine-compressingly forceful helices I've ever seen. Iron Rattler: Although it was fun (especially compared to the former), the middle section of track on the cliff edge ripped the speed away from the ride, only to be given back towards the end for a few seconds before hitting the brakes. I really wish that this ride went from the lift hill to the slow section to the quarry drop. Maverick: Well paced and fun, but really redundant. Banked turn. Banked turn. Transition. Banked turn. Banked turn. Pretty much any Arrow Mine Train: Goldrusher, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Excalibur, Road Runner Express, Trailblazer, and especially ESPECIALLY Adventure Express suffer from bizarre placements of lift hills and waste of speed.

I just got back from a day at SFFT. I may post a full update if I get the time later, buy here were a few quick points worth mentioning (All of which are nothing more than OPINIONS). Iron Rattler was fun, but far more tame than it looked. It's going to be in the top 3 coasters of the park for years to come, but the better moments of the ride were too short. It's loads of fun though. Poltergeist was the surprise ass-kicker of the trip. Incredibly intense and has absolutely FLAWLESS pacing. I preferred this a bit more over iRat. Superman Krypton Coaster was easily one of the smoothest B&Ms I've been on, which was a surprise as I got forced into the back seat as a single rider. Very well paced, some great forces that weren't too strong, and it's one of my new favorite B&Ms ever while being my most preferred coaster in the park. Goliath, even though it doesn't fit in with the park at all, was surprisingly good because it was the most forceful ride I've ever been on... Next to Goliath at SFMM. It's also worth noting that SFFT has the BEST Scrambler and S&S towers ever.

If I'm not false to assume that iRat has the same lap bar system as nTag, then why are we arguing about all of this when we haven't even truly found out if it's a system malfunction or a human error? Everyone is making huge assumptions on here and it's not helping this conversation in the least bit. Let's just wait until we have a full autopsy and a systems report, and maybe a few more words from SFOT.

This is a little eerie considering I was on Iron Rattler last week. I really feel sorry for her, but I also feel sorry for the ride operator who's probably getting a LOT of crap for this. Also, I really wish that news sources would do a better job of informing the GP that this ride DID go through a lot of testing before opening. And speaking of news sources, the comments section of the CBS article is sad in the other sort. Every single one seems to see it as manufacturer error.

I keep hearing lots of hate for Ghostrider. Sure it isn't in as good of condition as it used to be in the late 90s, but if you're in a defensive riding position, I think it's actually one of the more enjoyable CCIs out there. The only gripes I have with it are the poor station upkeep and the pace-wrecking MCBR. Least favorite woodie of mine has to go to Mean Streak. Off roading at 65 mph will never be enjoyable, especially with its largely forceless layout.

The layouts on the Intamin and the looper are honesly a little bland and choppy, but I absolutely ADORE the scenery around the looper. Keep it up.

Since I'm in the area and heading to Fiesta Texas next Thursday, I have a few questions to ask the locals: -What rides are best early? I know Goliath is closest to the entrance but it might be swarmed the same way X2 is at SFMM. -Which seats are best for which rides? This may seem like an unimportant question to ask, but I really want to make the most of the park if the crowds are larger than expected. -What would you rank the shows? 10 being a must see and a 1 being an "avoid at all costs" situation. -Any suggestions as to what websites might give me the best ticket prices? Thanks in advance.

iSpeed Speed: No Limits Something else with "speed" in the name El Toro Balder Screw it, all of the Intamin prefabs Screw it, all of the Intamins Black Mamba Voyage Grona's Twister Gold Striker Joris en de Draak Pretty much all of the Gravity Group and GCI woodies

I just got back from two days at USO, so I might as well put in a quick trip report. Our first day was a Saturday in IoA, and I was accompanied by my two sisters, my thrill-avoiding mom, and my disabled dad (Anybody who thinks that wheelchairs have it easy in this park are mistaken; most of the lines (minus Mummy and HRRR) can entirely be accessed by using the normal standby line). All of the reports below were in the order that we rode them in. The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman: I hadn't been on this ride since the high-definition makeover, and I can tell you flat out now that because of it, the ride is now amazing. The effects are much more convincing than last time, but the ride system itself hasn't been updated (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). It was good, now it's great. Jurassic Park: It was a great ride from what I can remember, but on our only ride of the trip, we got evacuated due to a "human error" with the ride. Took us a good hour to get my disabled dad off the ride, but the good news is, we got to see what was inside of the lift/drop building: Offices! At least it's not entirely laid waste. We also got a few one-time use express passes to use in the next two days. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey: Not as good as I remember it being. The small, non-3D screens might not seem like a hindrance to the ride experience, but it really felt like it this time. Rides like this make me wish there was no screens on it and it was entirely setpieces (which IMHO are the best part of this ride). Dueling Dragons (Still refusing to call it by its lamer name): It's pretty tragic not seeing it duel anymore. The ride is incredibly disappointing now, knowing that what it could be doing is nearly smashing two Inverts together. Now it's just two terribly paced B&Ms that happen to be close to each other. The ride definitely fell down my list several spaces. Flight of the Hypogryff (I really hope I spelled that right): Decent capacity and good theming, but too short to be a substantial family coaster. I am glad they didn't get rid of it though. The 8th Voyage of Sinbad: Pretty good as far as stunt shows go, but the pop culture references are horrifically cringe-worthy. That is, unless, you don't mind the cheesy nature of the show's one-liners. Poseidon's Fury: So 90's it hurt. I don't remember this show being this cheesy at all. Cat in the Hat: This was actually my first time riding this. I really enjoyed the well-made setpieces and theming, and the way it followed the story of the book exactly. The Incredible Hulk Coaster: I was lucky enough to catch this on a good day. Forcefull, great layout, fantastic pacing (I hardly noticed the MCBR at all), great theming, and more intense than I remember it being. It's back on my list of my top 3 B&Ms next to Tatsu and Silver Bullet. Our second day was a Monday at USO, which to my surprise, was actually busier than Saturday. We still had all of our express passes from yesterday, so it wasn't hard to ride everything we wanted to today. Revenge of the Mummy: One of the two rides that we got a cheap pass with the wheelchair. Luckily it wasn't hard getting dad on and off; kudos to Universal for making their rides well accessible. As for the ride experience, it felt incredibly forceless and hokey for some reason this time around. All of the special effects looked makeshift, but at least the ride was good up until the fake station, and from that point onward, the ride was really slow moving. However, having the ceiling above you light on fire is never going to get old. Beetlejuice's Graveyard Review: This was my first time going to this show, and now I can honestly say that Universal needs to replace this show with something else. Preferably something horror related, but not nearly as cheesy. This was pretty much the only show I had ever had an urge to walk out on. Men in Black: Alien Attack: This was really an unexpected pleasant surprise. Sure the theming and anamitronics are cheesy, but as far as shooting dark rides go, this is one of the best... That is, if you get a gun that works. This ride literally is a hit-or-miss. E.T. Adventure: Basically Peter Pan's Flight with aliens. Not that that's a bad thing, I really ended up liking this ride for the first half of track and the beautiful queue. Curious George Goes to Town: This is the single most underrated, undermentioned attraction in both parks. Hurling foam balls and streams of water onto the heads of unsuspecting parents is literally the most fun I've ever had at any theme park ever. Next time you're at USO, no matter what age you are, do yourself a favor and go here. Horror Make-up Show: We caught this show on a really good day. A couple of interesting twists and turns that don't usually happen made this show into an impromptu comedy show that I was laughing all the way through of. Terminator 2 3D: Lots of 3D gimmicks, but the amazing live special effects were enough to make me love this show. I still haven't figured out how the actors can walk through the screen with the picture still rolling. Shrek 4D: Still a funny story, but it needs to be updated. The seats are too loud, the 3D isn't convincing anymore, and the queue minus the preshow is completely boring. Despicable Me Minion Mayhem: Both of the preshows were hysterical. The ride is good, but the terrible capacity and the sheer cheesiness of the end of the ride kind of put me off of it. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit: This was the only ride that I managed to catch more than one ride on because of the Express passes. Two rides, with one in the front left and the other in the back right, gave me completely different rides, which was a surprise to me due to the tiny size of the trains. The back seat has insane ejector air while the front is smoother, but pretty much anywhere in the train is a great ride as long as you're willing to put up with a little roughness. And to my surprise, the MCBRs actually added a bit to the ride because the ride completely changes styles on each section of track. The pacing was better than expected, and the music does wonders to add to the excitement of it. I really love this ride. Twister: Ride it Out: This is also an incredibly underrated "ride" at USO. Great special effects and there's never a line? Sounds like two things that would make for a great attraction, and Twister delivers. I really hope that USO keeps Twister for a long time. And finally, Transformers: The Ride 3D: HOLY BANANAS THIS RIDE IS AMAZING. The queue is well themed, the ride motions are smooth and flawless, the 3D is used to its full extent with train interactions and convincing effects, the elevators are nearly impossible to notice on your first ride through, the plot is engaging, and MAN IS THIS THING INTENSE. This easily takes over Tower of Terror as the most intense dark ride I've ever been on, and it easily takes over Indiana Jones as my favorite dark ride ever. It's the closest to perfect I've seen a non-roller coaster ride, and the things I would change about it are so minuscule they're almost unnoticeable. This is my new favorite ride in all of Florida. Totally worth waiting 90 minutes to be one of the first riders. Overall the trip was good, but not great. I wish I had more time to do some of the stuff in Toon Lagoon, but I'm happy with what I got, which was a couple of days at the best parks in Florida. I have the feeling that this little guy is going to be a landmark of the Universal parks for a long time.

Looks like Blue Fire and The Smiler had a kinky love child in Sweden... With dubstep. I fully approve of this.

Good trip report, glad to see that the JP Spiderman is getting the HD makeover too. Will the Stan Lee cameos be in this version too? Wait... What is that thing in the bottom left?

Looks great. I'm going this weekend, is anybody else?

I can't believe nobody has said this before, but the sound of an S&S tower falling. It makes this weird kind of sonic boom as it hits the brakes for some reason.

I don't know how you laugh through that transition; that thing is intense. I can't help but laugh all the way through Tatsu. I trust the restraints and Gs too much to treat it like an intense ride, in which I would yell "woah" the whole time. See B&M inverts and GCI woodies for that. All other rides I usually end up shutting up and smiling on.

I love the sound of Premier LIMs, the roar of GCI woodies, the chain lift hill sound of B&M Inverts, and the "scream" on Intamin Impulses.

It's time for the mandatory Manta post.

I've come into this thread a bit too late. Are you talking about the Simpson's expansion or the Transformers dark ride? I was told the opening for that was in two weeks so I'll just assume that until told otherwise.

This sounds absolutely amazing! What's the estimated cost?

^About a week and a half is my best guess. I'm going to IOA and USO in two weekends. Any suggestions as to what I should do? Will any of the new rides be open then?