SFOGdude25

^I'm a bit of a hotel snob, but Wingate is your best bet if you have the option and are willing to pay a bit more. The Wingate is the only hotel of the three that I feel safe in. A friend and I stayed at the cheapest hotel on the street a few years back (it was a Howard Johnson at the time). It's outdoor entry, and our door never locked properly. We feared for our lives every night we were there LOL.

My personal favorite would be King's Island's original Beast commercial from 1979. It's so timeless and a perfect representation of the ride. Plus as a bit of an animation geek, I appreciate the dedication to all the (what look like) hand-drawn frames that make up the video. Also, as racist as this Six Flags ad campaign may have been, I still found it hilarious. Still not as good as dancing Mr. Six though.

Holy crap this thing despite its smaller size manages to have the rapid pace of Medusa and Outlaw Run! All of a sudden my excitement for Storm Chaser just went through the roof. Can't wait to check it out!

Dollywood on April 13th and 14th!

^If you mean the swinging gate, it's there as a safeguard to keep guests boarding the front row from falling onto the track in front of the train since the trains are floorless and have no zero car in front of them.

I freaking love Thunderhead! I have never once found it to be overbearingly rough. Sure it jostles you a bit, but that coaster is still non-stop fun. It's not too intense, but it rides really fast and and takes the elements at a rapid pace. In my opinion it's the best GCI I've ridden.

So the entire launch system may be replaced huh? Not sure how long that would take, but it sounds like Lightning Rod may not be open until May at the earliest. Oh well. I got a season pass this year, so I'll be back multiple times. Dollywood is still an amazing park, with or without Lightning Rod. I'm going in a few weeks. Still looking forward to my trip.

The 3rd webcam is showing that the go-cart tracks have been totally ripped up already. There's just dirt there. RipCord is still in it's current spot.

I think I read somewhere that the cobra roll is 108 feet tall. Don't quote me on that though.

If GCI can redesign sections of existing woodies (see Boulder Dash and The Legend), I don't see why they couldn't redesign Hurler's entire layout and add more hills, high turnarounds, or other new elements using Hurler's existing footprint. It could be potentially almost as marketable as an RMC conversion if done right. Just throwing out other options.

That actually makes a lot of sense! I always thought the same thing how the ride seems to end rather abruptly. I could picture a figure-8 element with an airtime pop thrown in between the iron butterfly and the brake-run. The layout is just begging for it! Oh well, it's already a great coaster as it is!

More like the next Raven to me. Except that GCI has never built anything as forceful or intense as Raven so I'd say it's going to be more like a ride that *wants* to be the next Raven! LOL you have a point there.

More like the next Raven to me.

Yay! They are using the other side of the station as a storage track! Two train operation!!

The first bents for the bottom of Legend's first drop are now going vertical.

Perhaps the most ironic part of this is that SeaWorld itself was the lead cause of society developing a passion for protecting orcas in the first place, and that ultimately backfired on them in the end...

Well judging by the latest testing video, progress seems to be going well despite the delay. The way I see it, Dollywood did want the ride to be ready for opening, so they seem to have been working as hard as they can to get the ride ready, and they simply weren't sure how close they were to opening the ride until now. Look at it this way. The flak Dollywood is getting from the delay is a FAR better situation than the ride opening early and an accident happens as a result. Once the ride opens, all the bad publicity will be forgotten.

My gosh Medusa just looks amazing. As great as all the RMC conversions look so far, it just seems like they stumbled across some extra magic with this one, perhaps accidentally. It's kind of like a hit song from an artist that shoots to #1 immediately. It's not too different from his/her other songs, but something about it just pushes it far ahead of the rest. All this and I haven't even ridden it yet!

I read on another thread that the CGA Vortex conversion may have been put on hold or cancelled because Rougarou ended up costing more than expected, so I'm not sure if it would happen here. Speaking of Vortex, I'll be riding it this year, and it will be my first time riding a stand-up coaster. Since most enthusiasts say stand-ups are painful or unpleasant, is there any way I should ride it so that I have a decent ride? When you get in the seat, adjust the height to where your knees are ever so slightly bent. That way, when you stand up straight (don't lock your knees), your weight won't be on your crotch but on your feet. It's actually not all that uncomfortable when you do it right. Do NOT put the seat all the way down. I've seen people do this, but it puts ALL your weight on your crotch, kind of like riding on a bike seat, but with g-forces.

Isn't the playground in BoomTown relocated from WhistleStop Park? If so, does that area not exist anymore? That area could be a great location for a new attraction.

^Good lord, 4 hours for Goliath??? I mean it's a great ride, but no way would I wait that long for it. Did you ever get on GA Cyclone? Any track work done for it? I'm honestly fully expecting Six Flags to announce its closure later this year with the amount of woodies in the chain being converted to RMC recently.

Whoever is at the park today, please get some pics of BoomTown, and the DC Super Friends area that's supposed to open in a few weeks. Looking forward to seeing what they've done there!

Lol, that post was a prank, he DMd me and told me that. Then he deleted the post. LOL I was gonna say. Those trains would've been awful on Ninja, not that it's a super great ride to begin with.

Well surprise surprise... It will be weird to see Ninja as a blue coaster, but a paint job is a paint job. Those trains sorta worry me though. The restraints look like those on the Goliath train at SFNE, and we all know what people think of that ride. I never liked Ninja all that much, but I don't hate it. It does hold a special place in my heart as the first roller coaster I ever saw with my own eyes as a kid, but I couldn't care less about what SFOG does with it.

From an off ride standpoint, Mako has to have one of the best looking layouts of all the B&M hypers that I've seen. I love the way the ending interacts with the guest pathways!