GayCoasterGuy

^Great memories, thanks! I would do anything to go back and ride TC with those PTCs - both versions! I think the reason for no single riders was the accident in 1979 when the girl got thrown out on the first drop. Then, Six Flags later instituted a "no single rider in last seat" policy across the board and every coaster in the chain. There needed to "be a witness" in case anything happened.

Mt. Olympus, hands down. Six Flags is very random and inconsistent ... whenever I got to any of them, always a gamble. (I don't know why people single out SFOG as above par in terms of operations. I've had several *facepalm* situations at that park... but I must go - they have Mind Bender!) Unfortunately, in the last 4 years, we gotta add Indiana Beach to the "bad" ops list. Under the new management, everything has quickly gone downhill... very sad for what was formerly one of my favorite places anywhere.

^Lucky! I only rode it a few times in 1990 and then again in 1995. Both times with the dreaded Morgan "coffin" cars. I heard it returned to being a very good ride when they took off the coffins, but no where near as great as when it ran PTCs. Did you ride it when it had 4 bench and 3 bench PTC trains? The stories I have heard... it's near the top of my list of coasters to travel back in time to ride.

Very commonly rated #1 coaster in the world from 1976-1986 (before the dreaded Morgan trains were put on). Anyone remember this bad boy (Texas Cyclone): Riverside Cyclone (Six Flags New England) was tops for a couple years too - but it's reign was much shorter lived. Out of all those coasters that were always rated high through the 80s, only the Phoenix and Beast have remained. I guess Coney Cyclone - depending on how you look at it. Kennywood Thunderbolt (still one of my favorites!) was always in there, too. Beast?! The Beast that earned its reputation died around 1989-1991; somewhere in there it was slowed down permanently. It was SO huge and SUCH a fast and fun ride for so long that the legend was somewhat future-proof. Like Blue Streak at CP - Beast is still a *very* popular ride, but like BS - a *very* different ride.

Blue Streak ran GREAT until the PTC chop-job on the trains. It very rarely needed trackworkd with the "original" trains in classic form; aside from some bolt tightening here and there - its was a very low maintenance ride. Look at it now, with all that extra wood and steel (!?) in the structure. The old coaster formulae were made with a certain weight train... the PTC 'upgrade' trains with all their extra weight (and weight distribution) have completely torn the ride apart. Although BS is still very popular - it's a COMPLETELY different ride experience than it was when it was still "classic."

This makes me think that I should count Timberwolf, GA Cyclone and Texas Giant (not the new one) as 2 "credits" each as they all became something very different after the first few years... all the cutting and changes made to them.

^Well now we might see something like the inverted cross-over stuff that is on Dueling Dragons (Dragon Challenge) at Universal IOA but opposite and not inverted ... All this new inversion/loop/upside-down stuff on woodies (hybrids, etc.) has really opened up the door to a whole new realm of exciting possibilities. (On a side note - I always kinda thought Mind Bender at SFOG was like a "smooth woodie with loops" - with all it's air time and laterals. But I'm a total geek for that ride.)

The backbone of the track going up the lift - notice how it goes directly to the ground and sits on it's own concrete footing. X-Flight and I would think several other recent B&Ms have the same "truss going into the ground." I think Leviathan has it on both sides of the first hill; the base of the lift and on the drop... And Corkscrew. When I worked at the Point years ago, we would joke that at CP everything had to be either blue or "pretty" in some way. No black coasters (like Demon!) or anything too intimidating.

^The smoking areas can be really gross if a ride goes near one or you have to come too close to them. Demon at (SF) Great America's final curved into the brakes used to go over a smoking area. Odd, a Demon with smoke (the ride used to have smoke! Or was it steam?) is cool, but not that kinda smoke. I often joke that I like Demon so much it's often worth the headache - but going over a smoking area really amped up that headache. Do the parks sell nicotine gum? I could see that being a small area for profit if a park went totally non-smoking.

My last trip to Mt. Olympus resulted in us just leaving the park and backtracking to Great America. It's always a gamble going up there. A few trips on Cyclops is *usually* worth it, though.

You could also find an event that is closer to you. Holiday World has HoliWood Nights (HWN) every year, which is a great time - and the flyer has just been released: http://www.holidayworld.com/clubs HWN was always the "do not miss" event of the year for me (even back when it was called "Stark Raven Mad"!) until I went to Phoenix Phall Phunfest this year at Knoebels. Now I have 2 "do not miss" events every year!

Those are some really great pictures, thank you! Really brings back memories of my summers working at the Point. There was some stuff I saw in the pictures (shops, food places, etc.) that I don't ever remember. Part of it is that some stuff has changed, and another part is that we were always so busy riding rides when we weren't working. We were always going to "play in the park." Good times!

I have a feeling this was probably posted long ago, but here: Hades stalling - as it happens. Its funny to see the guy in the front seat with his hands up for a second after the trains stops. "Oh wait! The rides not moving." I guess I felt the same way on my one coaster 'rollback'. That hilltop definitely had a little boost of air time when it was new. Hopefully the Timberliner(singular!) train will in fact do what it was meant to do from the start - cut down on track wear. It's really a shame Mt. Olympus has such poor operations and what seems to be a *very* low maintenance budget. It really could be a spectacular park. Here's another video after they installed the American Eagle-esque "wings" (but Hades' are perfectly vertical with no angle.)

With all the bickering about "first inversion" or "first wooden loop" In the late 1890s: Double Trouble! Look, a 'hybrid'!

Hades opening year was top-notch. It quickly went down hill. The bigger issue at Mt. Olympus is the operation of the rides/park. I hate to say the worst I've ever experienced, but it probably is. Painfully slow dispatches - with one train operation and always single seats empty. It wouldn't be easy to just add a 2nd train - but with the help of Gravity Group - they could. When asked a few years ago about why they don't have 2 trains on their coasters, the park owner replied "we don't EVER want a possibility of a collision." So there you go. The good thing (for me!) is that Cyclops being the *small* coaster, most guests head to Hades, then Zues. So Cyclops - with it's scary air time - usually has a short wait. It's really a shame. With the cool theme and really good coasters (well, when Hades and Zues were really good when they were new) it could really be a GREAT park. I have a feeling they settle with the idea 'it's just a tourist stop' and most guests only pass through occasionally. The park is 3 hours from me, but we usually settle for Great America as we are much-more-guaranteed a good time. My friends and I left the park a couple years ago to back track to Great America, it was really bad.

^I think you guys will be stopping in at my home park, Six Flags Great America. I'm always up to meet new coaster friends! If I can make it the day you are at Great America, I'll be there to join in for a few rides.

It's easy to make fun of Vekoma boomerangs as coaster geeks... it's a given that we make fun of them and generally don't like them much. But (I'm sure this has been said numerous times) - it will make sense for the park. People *love* these rides. They are great spectator rides as well. It's a good 'business choice' most likely. In one of the parks poster (at the park) advertising the new ride, they have a rendering of what looks like the lift hill of a Vekoma flyer. Hrm... that kinda thing isn't new, but it's so clearly not the correct ride. This (sorry if it has already been posted): This was my first boomerang back at the ACE coaster con in 1990. It was a late night ERT, they were serving up pop and snaks; lots of good friends - a great memory. In it's new home, it will be one of those "well, I can have fun on it if I'm in good company" type of rides... I had a good time riding Ninja this year with a friend. The fun wasn't really the ride, the friend made it fun. It was like "what's the least painful way to ride this?!" and of course, making fun at the wire-hanger design. (The head chopper under the lift on Ninja is great, though!) I find (in my *old age* someone noted) that it's less and less about the specific coaster and more about the company. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a coaster critic!

^Some of us do not go to bars (But for those of you that do - by all means - enjoy it!) It's historically part of our culture, but things are-a-changing (thankfully!). I have wondered why there are so many tlbg/glbt/bacon-lettuce-tomato folks in coaster fandom. Maybe some sort of power of the force Disney connection? Or maybe just a coincidence.

I have yet to get to Lagoon, but I hope I get there before they remove anything. I'm mainly concerned about the Anton coasters, as I'm a big nerd of his work.

^Congrats! That's a sweet story

Knoebels! Holiday World Kennywood Dollywood as far as the BIG BIG parks go, my favorite is SF Great America (my home park, I'm biased!) I used to be a big CP fanboy decades ago... but I will admit, it is easy to have *fun* there with so much to do and a great operation! After being such a *critic* over the years, I'm finding I can have fun at even the cruddiest park if I'm with good company. I'm getting soft in my old age

^Supposedly we are "not supposed to look" for our soulmate, and they will somehow just come to us. Good things come to those who wait .. and all that. Heck, your young, you have plenty of time

As old and *retro* as they may be, I'll pick the old Anton/Intamin trains. I guess they don't look "the coolest" but they ride great; they're safe and you actually get real air time and even lateral time.

Let's not forget MACK and Gerstlauer are becoming bigger and bigger with steel loopers. They are capable of building a more "classic looper" (2 across seating) than anyone else. Vortex was ok in it's first few years, but those curves and transitions always hurt. If they could replace the trains with nice lap bars models of some sort (and perhaps make a few other changes) - that could make a great ride. But I doubt CF/KI would go that route. CF is more about scrapping things...

Yes, it's tough to find a suitable one! But at least we are closer to all having the same rights.