SFOGdude25

That overbanked turn is lower than I thought it would be. This thing is going to be FAST!

Aren't these newer flying scooter models harder to snap? I know the ones at Holiday World are pretty much impossible to snap, but I don't think I've tried a Larson model yet.

Disney World!!! Look I love Cedar Point and its rides, but I could probably cover the whole place in 3 days. At Disney, I could be there for 2 weeks and not be bored once. There's SO much you can do there! Plus I prefer the immersive theming of the rides and the environment over a standard amusement park environment. Disney for the win!

It'll be the return of Shake Rattle & Roll, and probably a new Flying Eagles. I'd like to see a freshening up of Coney Mall (new paint, new LED lights etc.), and I'd REALLY like to see a repaint of Racer to its original red, white, and blue color scheme. They'll probably announce a new show or two as well.

WOW! News reporters are so dumb when it comes to parks! This especially makes me cringe as a journalism major...

I'm really happy the hat is leaving, as I much prefer the view of the Chinese Theater. My last visit to Hollywood Studios was 2011, and I remember that after riding all the major attractions in about 3 or 4 hours, my friends and I were kinda bored with the rest of the place. If it wasn't for Tower of Terror, Rock'n'Roller Coaster, Toy Story, and Star Tours, the park could honestly be skippable. After visiting California Adventure in 2013, I realized what Hollywood Studios could be. The Buena Vista Street area reminded me so much of the Hollywood and Sunset Blvd. sections. Hollywood Studios really does need a big make-over, and hopefully the removal of the hat and the backlot tour is a sign of things to come.

^When you look at the pictures of the cars being taken off the track, look at the height of the seat rig. Pushed all the way down, it appears to be about the height of the seats on floorless trains.

Someone check the date. Did we go back to 1995? Joking aside, not a huge fan of the all-one-color look, but it's better than the ugly faded grey that it used to be.

Got 550 points. Cool game!

Overall, I'm most excited for Wicked Cyclone. It looks like it could be a top 3 coaster for me. Practically, though, I'm really excited for Rougarou, as it'll be the new ride I'll most likely ride next year. I've always wanted to experience Mantis as a sitdown coaster, and the conversion turns what was a passable stand-up into a super solid steel looping coaster that will fill a great need in Cedar Point's coaster line-up IMO.

I gotta say, Mantigarou's paint job is growing on me. That orange really pops!

^It was on the ravine drop out of the zero-g roll. It was really small and was almost never used, so it makes sense how they don't need it.

Being not quite as well-travelled as some people on this forum, I only rode two of the 2014 coasters, and I rank them like this. 1. Banshee: Ok, my opinion may have a good bit of sway, because I love Kings Island and visit every year, but this coaster is just awesome! It's huge, long, fast, and powerful! On my first visit to Kings Island this year, I think I clocked around 20 rides on Banshee over two days. I was just so impressed by it that I couldn't stop riding! As of now, I would probably call it my favorite invert (I have ridden Montu, but only once, and my memory of it is pretty fuzzy). 2. Goliath: The coaster on which I finally lost my RMC virginity. Wow, what a ride! If I could use one word to describe it, it would be crazy. Crazy first drop, crazy airtime hill, crazy dive loop, CRAZY ZERO-G STALL. It was an all-around great coaster that was leaps and bounds above every other ride at SFGAm. Definitely a great introduction to the RMC family for me. However, it was super short and didn't really feel like a complete ride. For that reason, Banshee edges it out as my favorite coaster of 2014. I was SO close to riding Lightning Run this year, but I decided to put off visiting Kentucky Kingdom until more of the park opened up. It honestly looks like it could be a top 3 in my book.

So long, Maelstrom. I am at least glad I got the chance to ride it a few years back. Though, I found it a really weird ride that didn't make sense, especially the end. You go down the drop (really a ramp), you see a bunch of off-shore oil rigs...and that's the end. I won't miss it at all, and I'll welcome the new Frozen ride with open arms.

It sits at #2 on my wooden list. It's a great coaster, but Outlaw Run takes #1 (on both my wood AND overall lists). And yeah, HoliWood Nights is awesome. Hoping to have my quick report from Kentucky Kingdom up within a couple of days. See I haven't been on Outlaw Run yet as it's a rather lengthy drive from where I live. It's one thing for me to watch videos of it online and study its layout and kind of gauge how it would stack up to rides like Voyage, but it's a WHOLE other thing to actually ride it. It's (obviously) impossible for me to judge the coaster fully until I've ridden it. The only RMC I've done is Goliath, which I really loved, but it was pretty short and barely top 10 material for me. I tend to prefer longer coasters over shorter ones, hence one reason why Voyage is my favorite. Outlaw Run seems a little on the short side, so I was making my initial point on just that observation. I'm just rambling at this point LOL.

That pre-lift track looks like something I would make in NoLimits 2 as a joke! I would be laughing so hard riding through it.

Great report! Holiwood Nights is always a good time! Man I love Voyage. I haven't ridden any other coaster that comes even remotely close to its level of epicness. It may be a little rough now, but it still comfortably sits in my #1 spot. The only way it could be topped for me is if RMC or Intamin built a wood coaster in a similar style and length, like Outlaw Run but twice as long.

Here's some painting progress on Mantis/Rougarou from Bryan Edwards' Twitter page. This probably doesn't mean anything at this point, but notice how the trim brake section of track and trims have not been painted over yet. Take that for what it's worth.

A properly filmed POV was just posted to Martin & Vleminckx's Facebook page. This looks pretty fun! Certainly not as intense-looking as Voyage or Ravine Flyer II, but certainly not boring either!

I've had good rides and bad rides on old Vortex, but mostly bad. I forgot how smooth an old Arrow coaster could be until I rode Demon at SFGAm this past summer, which I found pretty enjoyable by comparison. To me, Vortex is one of Arrow's better designs. It's got a really fun first drop, and the sequence of inversions feels like a good build-up to the end. The problem is it suffers really badly from coat-hanger transitions and gives me a sore neck every time. I wouldn't be opposed to Kings Island removing it. The ride is a park icon. It's been at the park for over 25 years, so if they do close it soon, it would be a good idea to give it a proper send-off.

Woohoo!! No more crotch pain and leg pain!!! Cedar Point fanboys everywhere are crying tears of joy right now. I've always thought Mantis's layout had a lot of potential that was ruined by the stand-up trains, and now (hopefully) it will run much much better! I wonder if the trim brake on the first drop will be removed with this transformation?

I love seeing the RMC track plunge through the original structure. I know it will be gone eventually, but it looks cool right now!

It was only a matter of time before this happened. It will definitely bring in the crowds for sure. I've always been indifferent to Maelstrom. I kinda liked it, but I'm not sad it's going away. I think that if Disney does the attraction right (as in not make it like a traditional disney storybook dark ride), it will fit in with the Norway area just fine.

You might be a coaster nerd if you can recite Beast's automated lift hill spiel word for word from memory. Totally guilty. I've ridden Beast a LOT.

^I do agree with you about the second half of the ride being too rough at the moment. I've always thought of Voyage as a coaster that's made specifically for enthusiasts. It really seems like The Gravity Group and Will Koch tried to make the "perfect wooden coaster." The Voyage is absolutely amazing on paper, but the real thing is a bit of a problem for the traditional wood track. It's coasters like Voyage that are the PERFECT candidates for topper track.