GayCoasterGuy

A simple and beautiful ride! The yellow really pops in the Iowa sun. I haven't been to Adventureland since 1990! Time to get back.

Can you elaborate on this for me? I have seen you and others say this time and time again, but I simply do not understand. Sorry for the delayed response, but it looks like a few others hit on what they love so much about the Whizzer. I'll add my 2 cents. It's a nice long and laid-back ride; just enough thrill for anyone, but not too much. The seating is great; easily one of the most comfortable coaster trains ever. Ironic the Schwarzkopf looping trains are also super comfy - Anton knew what he was doing. Just enough to keep you very safe, yet still feel free and unencumbered. The design of the hills and curves sprawl all over the place. Nothing is rushed. The trees have grown thickly around the ride - especially that ground level/hugging curve. Probably not. Not everyone has to be in love with the Whizzer... but it certainly is special to many local folks who grew up on it (and coaster nerds, of course). For many of us, it was our first "big" coaster. Anton coasters are rare. They feel and look very simple - and they kinda are. They are simple roller coasters. No fancy this or that; there is a little 'heartlining' in the design, but it's not overdone. One thing to note is the attention to detail. Where Arrow coasters were built with a bunch of tubes welded together, the Anton coasters had joints all over the place. Whizzer has hinged track at every support - similar to the hinges that have now shown up on RMC coasters. Mind Bender and Shockwave have ball-and-socket joints at nearly every support. There is a certain smoothness and movement to the rides that is unique. It's very subtle, but special. During the 80s, when bigger and badder-assed stuff was being built, I would always give Whizzer a courtesy ride. But over the years, I've been bitten by the Anton bug and Whizzer gets more and more important to me as a coaster fan. Every Schwarzkopf coaster seems to get better with age (except for one on the west coast which is now covered in silly hardware; but I best not go there!) Mind Bender has never left my #1 spot. We have all these great new steel coasters, but not one does what the Anton rides do. Designs these days feel rushed and even truncated. They don't have the same grace (or sprawl) that some Anton's do. Even the little portable models like Scorpion at BGT and Tig'ger at Indiana Beach have that special Anton magic to them. But like anything in life, you certainly don't have to love it. There are plenty of coaster nerds that could care less about the Anton coasters they've been on. I can understand that as I feel that way about B&M rides. I like em, but I'm not interested in spending much time on them.

I love that old coot. Ha! I love Demon, too. When I take non-coaster-nerd friends to the park, they always want to ride the B&Ms. So we do, then I say "now let me show you some REAL roller coasters." Off we go to Eagle, Whizzer and Demon. So grateful we have Whizzer It's one of the crown jewels of the chain.

A coaster that is not super aggressive (they have 3 already) is JUST what Holiday World needed and this will fit the bill perfectly. I've never been this excited about a B&M Note to big parks: see how the ride goes by trees and around another coaster? A design with a soul.

The coasternerdom internet is about to explode.

If you miss out on a front car (seat #3 is the best) ride on Viper, you are missing the real Viper. Same for American Eagle (red). Don't underestimate the Herbert P. Schmeck Moment Of Torque seats! Oh yeah, both are better and faster at night

This whole campaign has me really wired tonight. Can't wait til tomorrow! I'm so excited I can barely think I'll have friends at the park, I'll be watching from Chicago

6 giant loops in a dirt field (plus a helix and inline twist). I realize it filled a void at Kings Island, but there isn't much to the design. The coaster nerd in my always wants tunnels, trenches.. a pre-lift section

You can thank the parks for the super-conservative and plain designs. B&M will do what the park wants...

What if it's not a steel coaster at all? I was thinking "worlds first"... and I came up with a double/racing water coaster. A long, wild and high capacity monster! With a launch, of course

The video is private now

^Wearing those vests feels like you're holding a baby during the ride. I prefer lap bars Every other company is installing lap bars, even Intamin on it's 10 inversion coaster in Italy. It's the way to go. B&M are way behind here.

Vest restraints suck. It's a trade off; you don't hit your head/neck, instead you are held back and down. Uck. I'd rather have the freedom with a little head banging. Lap bars only is the way to go.

^That's a shame. I don't know what's got into people. A couple years ago, I asked a woman (probably in her 20s) on American Eagle if she wouldn't mind if I rode with here (2 friends were riding together, and I was gonna go solo). She had this whatever/annoyed/shocked look, raised her hand to her cheek and turned around. It was so strange, I thought I was in the Twilight Zone. That wasn't my only strange/odd experience lately attempting to pair myself up with another single rider. People are slowly losing the ability to connect with each other. People used to be happy if you asked to ride with them... of course, I was a kid/teen back then. There was a death on Texas Cyclone around 1979 where a girl was alone in the back seat, and was seated improperly. She was either seated sideways, standing, or somehow "sitting on her feet." Either way, she was fell out as the train *snapped* over that first drop (which was re-profiled by 1984 to remove the snap). The Texas Cyclone most likely already had seat dividers, but those are removable (plus, there is a video with 3 kids riding TC together in one seat when the ride was new-ish). This may have been the incident for Six Flags to have a chain-wide "no single riders in last seat" rule. There was something about there needed to be a witness to the rider(s) in the last seat (with there being no one behind the last seat, there had to be 2 in that last seat.) I can understand the reasoning, but that rule was dropped sometime in the early 90s (can anyone confirm exactly when?) Unfortunately for me, I haven't been on a Zipper since 1999. I grew up riding them and never had a problem going alone as a kid, but totally understand the new rule. People do stupid (or ignorant) stuff, and things have to change. All you gotta do is take a glance at all the stupid high fences with aggressive warnings around Six Flags rides. From pictures I've seen, European rides sometimes have no fence around them. I could never understand why we have (now) have such stringent amusement park rules/fences/gates, etc., but the El (subway) here in Chicago (and anywhere, for that matter) can run with no gates on the platforms whatsoever. It makes some sense that people are more likely to act-out in an amusement park, but the level to which it's come is staggering!

Mantis finally gets an appropriate paint scheme! Sit down trains with lap bars, perhaps? Is B&M finally ready to catch up with the other coaster manufacturers? I hope so. It would be such a great ride...

Good to hear people are having fun on Ragin Cajun. Some of us around Chicago want it back It had operational issues here. Rumor was the insurance company wouldn't let them run more than 5 cars at a time, and no more than 3 adults in car. Is it in the same at SFA?

Got up to the park late in the day yesterday. My friend and I used exit passes to get on Goliath and I couldn't believe how the thing was operating. Everything seemed very organized with the queue. Every single seat was taken and every train went out as the other was coming off the brakes. There were 4 ride ops checking restraints - one seemed to be a supervisor. This was late in the day, and I figured by then they'd be taking a breather, but nope. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it at a Six Flags park. Ever. The crews at Demon and Whizzer were sending trains out faster than normal; a very odd sight to see - especially after 9pm. But a ride on Raging Bull showed the same YOLO-ish stacking of 3 trains every single time. Except for Bull, I couldn't believe what I was seeing at the other coasters. I mean... Goliath is the new hot ride, so it makes sense, but why were trains being sent out so fast on the 2 oldies? Strange. Maybe there is some sort of new program at the park. Whatever was going on last night, I hope it continues. I never thought I would see anything like that at a SF park. This was my first time in the park since media day, and Goliath has surprisingly broken in very nicely! The 2 inversions don't let you hang out of them anymore (which is great for me; I like a zero-g inversion here and there, but the "hang-time" stuff that people seem to rave about isn't for me.) The turn to the lift is still squealing badly. It's too tight and the poly wheels sound like they are tearing apart around it. Goliath is fun, but it's just too short. Sorry guys - I'm a fanboy of my home park... Goliath is a good 1,000 to 1,500 feet too short for it's height and the energy at the end. It was never a space issue. You can build a coaster over, under and through anything. It's a money issue. I almost think of it as a sort of testing grounds or test track for RMC. Don't get me wrong, I still had fun on it and I look forward to future rides (especially in the front seat, which I've heard is awesome). I'm sure at the end of the day, the park has a winner (especially in terms of ROI, etc...). Night rides on Whizzer Pure bliss. It only improves with age. So dark and cool under those trees on a summer night. Zen rides, for sure!

Thanks to someone on facebook, I'm now looking around for any footage of this coaster (Thunder Eagle). Can't seem to find any... anyone? It's former trains are running incredibly on Zippin Pippin

I knew there was a scheme Coaster nerd waiting for next clue. How Paula feels planning the next clue.

^No :/ But PPP in October! I know it's not a TPR event, but lots of us still go

^^Teehee Plus another train, the single rider line, and training for the ops.

^For someone that tends to be very restraint sensitive (I'm a fan of buzz bars, Anton trains.. that sorta thing), I didn't think Goliath was too bad. I was expecting bad/tight/uncomfortable, so that was my frame of mind. They do staple, for sure, but I've experienced worse. However, due to what the ride does and that hard plastic hump in the seat, it does knock around the boy parts.

^I guess that depends on the mass between the 2 adults. Plus, gotta figure in I grew up riding it, so I know right where the legs go.

Great pictures! Looks like the park really have a huge hit with Goliath. Yes! Those transitions sorta remind me of transition into the spiral/twist thing on the long-gone Chiller at Great Adventure. One thing about your review really stuck out - I've never heard anyone describe Whizzer's seats as uncomfortable. Different, unusual maybe unique, but certainly not uncomfortable. It's one of the most comfortable coasters I can think of. But if we all had the same opinions, life would be boring Interesting thought! There would be some major trade-offs. We'd probably have GREAT operations/hourly capacities on the coasters, but we may not have Whizzer (or at least most of the trees around it.) We probably wouldn't have 1/2 mile long walks to and from rides... No one told you Eagle Red is better than Eagle Blue :/ Also, the sweet spot on Viper is the front car - specificially seat #3. You wouldn't believe the real air time in that seat.

One Big Thing. It could be a B&M that has one huge element after the launch, then follows the contour of the land along/around Voyage. You know, a fast low-to-the-ground ride (less structural steel = less cost). I still hope it's not B&M, but if it is, I have a feeling Holiday World knows how to pull it off. High capacity, too