Rai Fox

Yep.

Well, not quite. First modern inverting coaster, yes. First safe inverting coaster, also yes. But first? No. Copying and pasting from Wikipedia because I'm lazy >.> The first inversion in roller coaster history was part of the Centrifugal Railway of Paris, France, built in 1848.[1] It consisted of a 43-foot (13-meter) sloping track leading into a nearly circular vertical loop 13 feet (3.9 m) in diameter.[4] During the early 1900s, many rides including vertical loops appeared around the world. These early loops had a major design flaw: the circular structure produced intense g-forces (hereafter "Gs"). The Flip-Flap Railway, designed by Lina Beecher and built in 1898 on Coney Island of Brooklyn, United States, had a 25-foot circular loop at the end which though initially popular caused some discomfort in passenger's necks, and the ride soon closed.[5][6] In 1903, the same person built Loop-the-Loops, another looping coaster, in the same park. This time the loops were slightly oval-shaped rather than circular, though not clothoid in shape like modern loops.[7] Although the ride was safe, it had a low capacity, loading four people every five minutes (48 people per hour, compared to 1800 riders per hour on Corkscrew, an early modern coaster that opened in 1976), and was poorly received after the discomfort of the Flip-Flap Railway.[7] As their novelty wore off and their dangerous reputation spread, compounded with the developing Great Depression, the early looping coasters faded and disappeared.[1]

There are a few of them still around. The old Rocky Point Corkscrew is now the Wild Thing at Wild Waves in Washington. Canobie Lake Park still has one of the even shorter, loop-less models, though possibly not for much longer according to some rumors I've been hearing, which is rather sad since last time I was on it, it was a surprisingly smooth, well-maintained example of a slowly dying breed. Far different from a few years before when it felt like it was on the verge of falling apart.

As far as I heard (and it's all third-hand info so take it was a grain of salt), Hercules had a TON of construction defects; the builders took a lot of shortcuts, made a lot of design errors, and used a lot of inferior materials, and the poorly built coaster ended up tearing itself apart to the point that it wasn't really going to be feasible to keep it in good repair no matter what they did. The fact that they had to add brakes on the first drop (ugh) just to keep the first fast corner from tearing apart definitely supports that. I only rode that coaster once, after it had deteriorated quite a bit, and it is VERY solidly in last place on my entire list; it's the only coaster I've ever refused to ride a second time.

Most likely Canada's Wonderland, end of the month. There's always the chance of the impulse striking me to go hit Lake Compounce some weekend before then, though, and I've been thinking I should get to Rye Playland too, in case it ends up not being around too much longer.

I don't know how far you're looking to travel, but there are a couple other great parts in the Southern New England area. If you're in Boston, then Canobie Lake Park is less than an hour to your north. It's not a big park, but it's a very pretty, classy, family style park with some fun, if mostly pretty common, flats and a few good coaster credits (classic woodie Yankee Cannonball, nicely themed eurofighter Untamed, and an old Arrow Corckscrew that, last time I rode it, was the smoothest I've been on in a decade). The other good ones I know of are a bit further away, in Connecticut. A bit over two hours away, in Bristol CT, Lake Compounce is a fantastic small park, the oldest continually operating amusement park in America, pretty and well kept-up, and home to Boulder Dash, one of the top-rated wooden coasters in the world. If you're a coaster lover and haven't been on Boulder Dash yet, it's an absolute must do. LC also has ACE landmark Wildcat, a 1927 Herbert Shmeck wooden coaster (painfully rough in most seats, but I love it anyway) and Zoomerang, a Vekoma Boomerang coaster. Some other fun perks at this park too, like really good, reasonably priced food and unlimited free pepsi products all day. A little further than that, you have Quassy as well, which is a tiny little place without a lot to offer, but they do have the small but very well received new Wooden Warrior coaster. I'm local to this area, so I'd be happy to help with any questions or any more information you might need if you want to get to any of our parks. Unfortunately I can't offer many tips for SFNE, I haven't been there in a few years now, and it's changed quite a bit since then.

Great report, and a very enjoyable read. I agree with you on the vast majority of opinions, as well (though I've had far too many poor experiences at Hershey to be very fond of that park anymore.) Thanks so much!

I'm sure this isn't going to be all that productive; it's been argued so much, I'm surprised there isn't a word replacement filter for FastPass yet. But... The difference is, when you get a better hotel, you don't lower the quality of a cheaper hotel. They don't go and take the blankets off the cheaper hotel's beds if you want more in the expensive one. When you buy a more expensive car, they don't go take extra parts from the cheaper cars to build the luxury bits. Fly first class, you don't get extra food taken from the people in coach. Most extra services don't take anything from people not paying for it, or lessen their experience. With Fastpass though, you get to cut other people in line, making -them- wait longer than they would have, even though they were in line first. It can be intensely frustrating to see someone just walk in front of you, and really put a damper on the mood, even if the overall difference in wait time isn't that significant. I'm not saying it's a terrible, horrible, evil thing. I don't -hate- it, I don't get upset at other people using it, or make any sort of fuss about it at parks. I see the need for parks to pull in extra money with it. I just don't particularly like using it. I don't like being the one who cuts in front of someone who's been waiting an hour or more for a ride. That's all. However, as much as I may not like it, it looks like it's going to be all but required to have a good time at CW, and I'm determined to make sure my friend has the best weekend possible, so I guess I'll be going with it. Maybe my opinion on it will change somewhat after I've used it...but I suspect I'll mostly just feel a bit guilty.

Tail? ^^ Hmmm... ...okay, maybe not the forum for it, but I have to ask what sort of tail... >.>

Okay. I'm not usually one for Fastpass; it's not an issue of money, but I just don't like the whole basis behind it, people with more money getting to cut people who often just don't have it to spend in lines. But, I may have to swallow my pride and go for it this time; I'm not likely to get back there any time soon, and I'm taking a friend who doesn't get to get out much, and I want to make sure she has a great weekend. I'll see what weather and crowds are like when I get there, but it sounds like it's worth it. I want to make sure we get on everything there in the day and a half or so we have planned at the park, if at all possible. Thanks.

Sorry, I wasn't really clear. A long weekend for me, as in I can take a day or two out of work. Not an actual holiday weekend.

To anyone familiar with the park, how bad is CW for crowds? How much worse is it on weekends than on weekdays? I'll be heading up there in late August with a friend (finally! Been waiting years...seems like a good time for it now with Leviathan!), but it's going to have to be a long weekend. It looks like we'll have sat/sun/mon in the area, and we can probably afford to do two days there if we need to. I assume Saturday is the worst day, but how are crowds are Sundays and Mondays? Also, anyone know of any really good deals for tickets? Thanks!

I was at Knoebels the same day you were. The weather certainly was...interesting... It was the only day I had to get there though, so I didn't feel like letting it get in my way. Got on pretty much everything there...after a certain point of "wet," you pretty much stop noticing any more rain, anyway!' Power surge is amusing in the rain. The shape of the arms scoop up tons of rainwater, and then dump it on your head when you're up the ascending part of the spin. Wetter than the flume in weather like that.

Great report so far, I can't wait to see the rest. These days, Dorney is a great, underrated park. To be fair, last time I was there before this year, maybe eight years ago, it was pretty unremarkable, but it's come a long way, and I just fell in love with the place when I got back there last month. It's definitely not "mediocre" in any way at all anymore. Great rides, friendly staff, solid operations, top-notch appearance and maintenance....I've never had a park climb so far up my favorites list in one visit before. Still do need to work on the food a bit, though.

I stayed at the Red Roof Inn in Allentown, about 10 minutes from Dorney, a few weeks back. Very inexpensive ($79 a night or something like that), and surprisingly nice for the price. Well kept up, friendly staff, reasonably comfortable beds. Definitely wouldn't hesitate to stay there again next time.

So much love for Nessie ^^ Still such a great, beautiful coaster.

Either Canada's Wonderland, or Lake Compounce if I decide to make use of my season pass before the trip to Canada.

I read about Steel Phantom in '91, when it first opened up. Seeing pictures of it and hearing about its famous drop was what turned me into a coaster fanatic, and I was determined to get on it. I finally did get to ride it (sort of - never did get on the original version pre-transformation into Phantom's Revenge) nearly two decades later- 2008, I think. Absolutely worth the wait, and possibly still my favorite steel coaster.

I love the view of the mountains from the top of Knoebels' Twister.

Having just come from Dorney and Knoebels myself, I'm going to also have to say go for the two of them. It'd been a while since I'd been to Dorney...eight years or so? I remembered it as being a pretty mediocre park, but it took me by surprise this year. Operations were absolutely top-notch, staff was friendly and efficient, the park was beautiful with everything in gorgeous condition, well maintained and painted, and all the rides were running great. Even the food, which had been one of my major gripes in the past, was decent. The place definitely climbed waaaaaaay up towards the top of my favorite parks list in one trip. Definitely worth giving it a try this year. Knoebels...well, Knoebels is Knoebels. You'd be crazy to skip it.

I remember being the only one stupid enough to ride Escape from Pompeii at BGW on a cool day a few years back. Not a smart move, really...but I can't say I really regretted it anyway.

Hmm. They were running two trains each on Phantom and Thunderbolt all day Thursday, and it wasn't all that crowded then either. It wasn't even that hot when I was there though; maybe 82, if I remember right. Pretty much a perfect day. The ride ops still seemed entirely uninterested in actually doing their jobs. Not -all- of them; there were a few bright spots, but overall, just not up to KW's standards.

I was there last Thursday. Would post a full trip report but I have almost no photos so it would be rather boring. Short version though is that the park was amazing as always, however, operations this year are incredible disappointing. I've never seen that issue there in five years of going there annually now, but this year, the operators on the vast majority of the rides seemed far more interested in chatting about high school drama nonsense (It's really hard to listen to "OMG! Would you date Dave!? But...would you date him if he was like...taller?" while we sit in the ride waiting for them to bother checking harnesses and starting it...) Some of the rides were taking ages to load and dispatch, and the operators just didn't seem to care, or care about things like line jumping. That's not how it's ever been when I've visited Kennywood before. At the risk of sounding too negative, I'm only bringing it up because it's so unusual for an amazing park. Everything else was spectacular. The rides and coasters were running great, the weather was beautiful, the food was quite good and very reasonably priced, Black Widow is fantastic - maybe my favorite flat ride yet, and Phantom's Revenge is still one of my favorite coasters on the planet. ...and apparently it likes me too, because it wouldn't let me go. After I rode (front seat, right side) and we pulled back into the stations, the restraints came up...except for mine and the person directly behind me. The ride operators couldn't get it open, and regretfully told me they'd have to send me around another time so they could clear the other train out of the way, then work on it, and they hoped that was okay with me. So, I suffered through a second front-seat ride >.> before the mechanics had to pretty much dissect the car around me to get the restraints open. Couldn't have been too horrible an issue though, since they had both trains running again shortly thereafter, so it was mostly an amusing incident and a free ride. The ride ops and maintenance also assured me that the park would do anything to make up for it, and if I went to guest relations, they'd give me free food for the day, or a free ticket, or pretty much anything else I asked for. I passed on that - I wasn't about to demand the park -pay me- to have to take an extra ride on what might be my favorite steel coaster. Back to Black Widow though...wow. I was a bit intimidated walking up to it, but it ended up not actually being a particularly -scary- ride for me at all. Maybe it's just because it's -so- high and fast that I never even really had the chance to mentally process the height? I underestimated the speed of its swing though; you really get moving at the bottom of that arc, and while I didn't actually try to count out the air time, my brother was riding with me and says he timed nearly 4 1/2 seconds out of the seat, and that sounds about right... Loved it so much. I wish I could have gotten on a second ride, but the line was getting long at the end of the day when we went back, and we had somewhere else we needed to be, so we couldn't risk staying any longer. Next year, though!

Mr. Hyde's so was unreliable at Geauga Lake that when Cedar Fair took over the park, the ride idled for the whole of the 2004 season. Im sure the problem became more pronounced under Six Flag's management, but yeah that thing broke down more often than it ran. Quite humorous actually. Hmm. Makes me wonder if it has something to do with the number of times it was moved, too. Seems like, if a ride isn't designed to be portable, taking it apart, moving it halfway across the country, and reassembling it is bound to risk a few effects on the ride. Or maybe it was just Six Flags; it's not like they're known for taking care of their parks. Let's see, other rides that scared me - Drachen Fire. The last coaster I was ever really -scared- of, and the one that turned me into a real coaster lover. Also, Intamin Flight Trainer. The cars rotate so slowly, and the restraints, at least on the one at KD when I rode it, were quite rattly and didn't feel particularly safe at all. Hanging upside down from them and desperately willing the car to turn right side up again...definitely quickens the pulse a bit.

I'm not sure it was actually the modifications that made it so unreliable. After its accident at SFGAM, but before it went to GL, that ride was the Freefall at my old home park, Rocky Point Park in Warwick, RI (RIP ='<). It had been modified by that point, but it was never unreliable that I know of; I never saw it fail or closed at all in all the days I spent at that park. Actually, it would be one of my stories for this thread, too, there. When I was 12 or 13 or so, shortly before Rocky Point closed (and there is no death horrible enough for the people who embezzled the park's money away and killed it), I was at the park with my summer camp group. A friend of mine wanted to go on the Freefall, but I was terrified of it then; I just wanted to get on the flat rides, especially the tilt-a-whirl - which my friend refused to ride, insisting he was scared he'd get sick from the spinning. Of course, we were on the buddy system with our camp group, so we couldn't go on anything the other wouldn't. In the end he agreed that he'd go on the tilt-a-whirl if I went on the Freefall first. It seemed fair enough until the restraints on the Freefall lowered, and I realized that there was likely a certain difference between being afraid of spinning in circles, and being afraid of being dropped from thirteen stories in the air. I cursed him the entire way up the lift shaft...and even more loudly while we hovered over the drop... We never got on Tilt-a-whirl though. After the first ride on Freefall, we got off and right back into the line for it, and ended up just riding it until we had to leave for the day. I miss that ride, and the park. Sunday I'll be at Dorney Park though, with Demon Drop, one of the last surviving Intamin first gen freefalls,and a bit ironically one that's kept running now by a donation of spare parts from the now-scrapped Freefall I used to ride. Nevermind the three new coaster credits there since the last time I got to that park; it's that drop tower that I can't wait for.