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So what would happen if this is true? Would S&S just go under and another company would supply parts to their rides? I honestly don't see how this could happen. Tower rides sell every year, and their newest batch of rides seems to have done OK. A couple of Screaming Squirrels and some Sky Swatters sold. Did they expect to sell more?

This is cool. It's sort of a cross between the saxophone turns on the Screaming Squirrel and a wild mouse. Maybe it's the beginning of the craziest wild mouse coasters ever.

If Stan Checketts weren't in charge, why did he go to Cedar Point for the opening of SkyHawk? I don't really believe this. S&S still sells many rides a year, and they just opened a 4D. How could they be closing?

It hasn't been announced yet, so you can't be 100 percent certain. Everything so far seems to be pointing to an Aquatrax, but it still may be something different.

I love it when people claim they know what's being installed, and they totally show off, thinking they're tricking people. Dude, you're not fooling us. Maybe it's not an Aquatrax, but you don't know what it is.

Man, I was planning on seeing this show sometime. Now with the possibility of the park closing forever, and this show being closed indefinitely, I'm really upset.

I once waited 15 minutes for a solo ride on Mean Streak. It was hilarious. The best solo ride I ever got was on Raptor. Front seat! It was so awesome. I should have bought the photo. I got that after a big rain storm scared everyone else out of the station. It was four people and myself. The ride opened, and they went to the front seat. I told the ride hosts to let me on the next train in the front and to not let anyone else on. Once I got on, they closed the gates. That was the single best ride on Raptor I've ever had.

Where did you guys get the name "Griffon" from?

Anyone have any idea what this brick structure may be? http://www.pointbuzz.com/Gallery.aspx?i=4835 I think it could be the station, an electrical room, the PLC or a hydraulic room. Hmm.

"Getting stuck" and "stopping" are two entirely different things. Getting stuck implies that it's not budging. Stopping can happen in brakes and lift hills. It's not a big deal. It happens to every ride.

Good stuff. I'm glad it was in USA Today too. That's the most-read newspaper in the States.

I'm going to venture and say the same problems every single Intamin rocket coaster had.

Dragster would roll back every single morning I saw the first test launch of the day. Except one. In my three years working at Cedar Point and the numerous tests I saw of TTD, I've seen it clear the top on the first test launch of the day once. It rolls back because they've stopped it. Rain has nothing to do with it. The bearings cool down, so there's more friction, which causes the train to roll back. Intamin rocket coasters rolling back is not uncommon. I'm sure Storm Runner has rolled back with a train full of people, even though it's not super tall.

It seems to me that if Speed Monster were to barely clear the first inversion, it has a chance of rolling back in the middle of that element. Has that happened?

"I hope this trend doesn't continue this year!" It's not a trend. Since I've been visiting roller coaster and amusement park websites, I've noticed that every year a number of people get injured or die at amusement parks. But every year, planes crash and people die. Cars get in accidents. People die. Those are never seen as trends. It's not the "in thing" to get hurt on a ride. It's not a trend. It's just something that happens. We're in the middle of the year and in the peak of amusement park business. County and state fairs are starting up and will run through the fall. Accidents will happen. They will be reported. It's nothing new.

I heard about this at work tonight. That sucks. I wanted to make another trip to the park this week. Any idea what exactly happened? What happened with the red train last time?

I am. I hope you guys keep me in the club. I don't want to get kicked out and have to make another signature.

It's not a Golden Ticket Award. It's a really small magazine that probably ranks the biggest. Coney Island's Cyclone is probably No. 1 on that list. I think the magazine is Theme Park Magazine, which I've never heard of, but I can't really read it in that picture.

This thread made me have to join the Guy fan club. I even made a signature. Great trip report. El Toro looks freaking amazing. I've really heard nothing but good reviews. And better than Voyage? Wow.

I went to Six Flags Elitch Gardens and rode Twister II 16 times. Then I went to Lakeside Amusement Park. This was my first time at the park, and I was really impressed. I bought a wristband and went straight to Cyclone. There's an ACE plaque outside the station saying it's an ACE Coaster Classic. It opened 66 years ago. I was really excited about the trains and restraints. The trains are classic and look awesome, and the restraints are just like Jack Rabbit at Kennywood: a leather strap with a hook. Sweet. You don't get to choose your row until you get in the station, and some people had already got in the last car, the fifth car. I sat in the fourth car in the back seat. I buckled my seat belt on the loosest setting because I'm stupid-crazy. There's a tunnel right out of the station, and it turns to the right then the left. The lift hill is pretty quick. The airtime on the first drop was amazing. I was completely out of my seat. I had to grab onto the grab bar because it was pretty scary. Immediately after the first drop is a big left turn. It's banked, but you get crazy lateral G's in it. I was totally pressed into the side of the seat. After that are hills and turns and incredibly odd banking. The odd banking really caught me by surprise. It happens a few times on the ride too. There are some straight segments that are banked, so you slide to the side of the seat. Then there's a hill, so you sort of slam into the side. The bunny hops are cool, though there's no airtime. The turnaround has good laterals. I really enjoy the skid brakes. They're a complete smooth stop. The handbrakes in the station are great too. Cyclone is an excellent classic ride. I'm glad I got to ride it. It was my 124th coaster. 8/10. Wild Chipmunk wasn't open yet, so I decided to take the train ride around the lake. It's relaxing and about 10 minutes long. I got some good views of the park from the other side of the lake. The Flying Scooters was closed, so I went to Whip. I like Whips. I had to ride with a stranger who probably thought I was crazy. Everyone else hopped in the cars really quickly, so I couldn't get to one in time. 7/10. When I was on Whip, they started testing Hurricane, the Flying Scooters. There was an employee on her day off in line, and she was joking around with the ride host. She told him to tap the foot pedal, and he did about halfway through the ride. It really sped up, and I was able to fly all over the place. I couldn't get it to snap. I've heard these aren't too good to snap. 4/10. Wild Chipmunk opened, so I went to it. I've ridden Tree Top Racers at Adventure City, so I knew what to expect. This ride has no restraints at all! There are some places where there's airtime, but the highlights of the ride are the insane turns. You enter a hill then take a really sharp turn. I love that. No. 125. 8/10. The sun was setting, so I went to Cyclone. I was determined to ride in the back seat because this was going to be my last ride of the night. There were about 80 people in front of me. I figured that because 20 ride in a train, and I waited four trains. I ended up being the second person in line after the line went down. The guy in front of me went to the front seat. I took the very back. Oh. My. Gosh. I'd almost forgotten what ejector airtime was. I was completely out of my seat, and I white-knuckled the grab bar. Every drop was more fun back there, but the first drop is where it's at. The laterals amazed me back there. They were more violent than before, and that's probably thanks to the back seat and the night. What a great coaster. I wandered around and took pictures of the park at night. Wow. This park is amazing at night. It's incredibly retro, and there are lights on everything. I wish I had my tripod with me. Lakeside is a great park. It's got a great atmosphere next to the lake. The night lights make the park come alive. It's got an excellent wooden coaster and a great steel coaster. I'd love to make another visit before I leave Denver. 8/10. And a random shot of a FUN ball game. The other ball game isn't fun. That cool tower. The sun setting. Round-Up. Roll-O-Plane at night. Hammer at night. After the sun sets. Amazing. Autoskooter before the sun sets ... Awesome lights! A hill on cyclone. Most of Cyclone from the train at other side of the lake. Hey, it's open! Wild Chipmunk before it opened. The train's engine. Hey, look. It's the world's most exciting ride! Everyone already knows this, I just wanted to take a picture. The Flyers were working! So I rode Whip. The Flying Scooters weren't working. Super cool train. Cyclone's Art Deco station. Cyclone's ACE sign.

The absolute weirdest thing that happened to me at a park was when I visited DCA in January. My friend, my brother and I were standing in line for Sun Wheel. I'm lazy, so here's the story copied and pasted from my trip report: In line, some creepy guy was checking out young girls waiting in line in front of us. The line splits near the station so more gondolas can be loaded at once. We split to the left, and creepy guy split to the right. A few seconds later we found out that he was right next to us! Great. Hopefully he won't get on the same gondola as us. They load one gondola and stop him before he boards. Great. He's riding with us. We sat on the other side of the gondola as the creepy guy. Aside from him, this ride was really crazy fun. The swinging was insanely scary, and there was nothing to grab on to. ... While we were yelling and talking, the only thing creepy guy did was widen his eyes and let out a quiet noise every so often. Creepy! When the ride ended, we got the heck out of there. Creepy guy walked in another direction. Seriously scary. He was looking at the girls every time they moved or climbed on the queue railings. Ugh.

They're not so much test headrests as they are just an earlier version of them.

Ha. I was at the park today before work! I was with two people from work. I'm glad to see that someone enjoys Elitch's. Naw, I like the park. I think Twister II is the best ride. I hope I can get 50 rides before my internship ends. I'm at four now, but if I can hit the park on days like this, it should be easy.

I hope S&S can update X's trains with this style. These seem a bit more comfortable.

How is that ironic? The park's not called "Never Shuts Down." Sometimes things like this happen. They're big machines that run on electricity. Machines stop working every so often, and electricity goes out sometimes.