prozach626

I suggest a road trip to Holiday World, so you can see what a big construction project looks like. That's going to be as close as it gets.

^They are now in direct competition with KK. This is a win-win for everyone. I've been thinking that the whole time. Either enthusiasts or theme park goers in general. Well... I guess we're all pretty much big kids when it comes to coasters.

It's exciting to think the train isn't even broken in yet and the lift hill isn't at full speed. I wonder if Goliath will have any gray-out moments?

I don't either... they're high capacity, smooth coasters with great capacity that are very popular. Like any good nerd I was watching the new Cedar Point video cam yesterday at rope drop and the majority of people ran right for Gatekeeper (Dragster has been closed for a least 3 days or some people may have gone there I guess). Enthusiasts generally don't like them (I actually really enjoy them myself) but everyone else seems to as they usually have long lines despite their great capacity. They are very expensive though so I'd be surprised if Holiday World went that route. Although I've only ridden X-Flight, I found it to be really fun. My not-so-enthusiast wife loved it. I know Wing Riders are expensive, but didn't X-Flight cost around 15 Million? I think we could reasonably expect a 20 Million dollar expansion with the success that Holiday World has had. On another note, I was looking at the layout of Pilgrim's Plunge. It looks like it could easily be converted into some kind of traditional boat ride or interactive boat ride. I definitely think we're looking at a Multi-Ride expansion.

HAHA! Is it wrong that I laughed at this?? It seems that way lately, which is why I love the idea of coasters like Lightning Run and Banshee, which are two examples of companies going back to the basics. (Although Banshee is marketed as the "Longest/Fastest" inverted coaster...) I don't think a Wing Rider would be terrible. Isn't Wild Eagle well thought of? Since B&M has made several Wing Riders including Gatekeeper, which received mixed reviews, maybe they will want to break the mold. Their motivation could be the success of Banshee. On another note, I don't 'think' that the pit will be the station/transfer track, just because it seems so far away from the park pathway, expansion or not. This is going to make the Thanksgiving section massive. I also wonder how they are going to keep the water park with the new slide complex separate from the new expansion. I'm sure HW has a carefully thought out plan for this, but if you look at the google map, this looks like it may be a difficult thing to do without making a jumbled fenced off mess. This leads me to my worst fear that the pit WILL be the station/transfer track and will be accessible to the water park... My concern with this is that it would mean the coaster would be a water "coaster." Being an obvious pessimist... I can't help but to fear a let down. (sfstl this is your fault) Is there any chance the footers could still belong to some kind of shoot the shoots ride? Although a coaster seems probable at this point, it's still not necessarily confirmed.

And >200 feet... with flames..... fog.... and splash downs. For the family! OR!!

Has the ride done anymore testing? It seems strange that there has only been one test run, so far.

I'm really picky about hotels. I would normally never pick a Day's Inn, but this one is actually very clean. It's about 15 minutes away: http://www.daysinn.com/hotels/indiana/jasper/days-inn-jasper-in/hotel-overview

This is also what I was thinking. I just hope it's anything but a water coaster.

You're looking at it through a trained eye. The average non enthusiast will have a hard time seeing that. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if it weren't posted on the forums, but I pay less attention to detail when it comes to coasters, as opposed to a lot of enthusiasts.

The clearance issue is probably Six Flags' fault, somehow.

It could be on order.

Hah! I don't want to hear anything about blues... seeing as your Blackhawks turned MY Blues into the biggest disappointing finish in the NHL this season. You guys had a good run, but being a rival, I'm glad it's over!

I don't get it, either. People said the same thing about Banshee, yet it turned out much faster and more forceful than expected. If that can happen with a B&M, I'm sure we have nothing to worry about with RMC.

The finger pointing has gotten to the point of entertaining... I really wish we (SFSTL) had a beautiful exciting new coaster to complain about. Hell, you can pack it up and open it in our park in August of next year and we'll still take it gripe free... Can we take it to a vote?

You're probably pretty close to the truth.

Maybe a little time and TLC now will prevent down time while the ride breaks in. Someone else said it perfectly. This little bit of a delay, although inconvenient, compares to a few drops in the bucket throughout the life of this coaster (hopefully). To me, this seems normal, if not expected, for most large structures.

Not to mention Banshee, with its lighting package. Now there are going to be three great rides to choose from at night.

Yeah, well they said Texas Giant was safe to ride and look what happened! (joking)

No offense, but I'm sorry to disagree with you from personal experience, as opposed to hearsay from a friend. You're far more likely to be around shady activities and shady people if you go with a cheap hotel as opposed to a more expensive hotel. The town I work in is very diverse and we have several hotels. The difference between call types and 'clientele' between the $50 and below price range and $80 plus price range is night and day. A good example of a fun statistic in my town might be to compare the number of Heroin overdoses in our $50/night (hotel A) as compared to our $100/night (Hotel B). I can personally think of at least five heroin overdoses in the past year that I've been to at Hotel A as opposed to zero at Hotel B. There's something about seeing hidden used heroin needles, fresh hepatitis c blood, green vomit, and dead people brought back to life that really makes me want to pay a little extra for a better chance of a clean room and a peaceful stay. Will there still be a chance that I might have to hear a drunken domestic battery or witness a "dope rip" at the nicer hotel? Absolutely. However, in my experiences, these chances are far less. The types of situations I'm thinking about are things that most people have had the luxury of never realizing take place. To the fortunate untrained eye, most of the activity I'm talking about is unseen. Without trying to sound arrogant, I'm sure your friend has plenty of stories that would sound G rated to me.

^Thanks. I had a hard enough time remembering what it was called. hah. We don't have them in my area.

I can vouch for Hyatt Place. We always stay with Hyatt when we get a chance and it's always worth it. Being a cop and knowing what people do in cheaper hotels, I'm very picky about where I stay. I've never had a bad experience with Hyatt. Check on Expedia, hotels.com, etc. and you should be able to find something around the price range you were looking for. I think the Hyatt place in Mason is also close to a Greeters, if I remember right. It was nice to relax and grab a scoop after the park last year.

Alternatively, Six Flags could avoid disappointments to media outlets and guests and travellers by actually starting construction at a normal time. I mean, how many Six Flags rides get delayed each year? Meanwhile, you've got coasters like I-305, built through three blizzards and torrential downpours, that open as-scheduled. I understand that delays happen - I work on engineering projects too. I just don't see how a company like Six Flags can be so willing to promise opening days year after year and consistently fail to meet them. Either announce an opening day of June 21 for every new ride, or start groundwork earlier. No decent business (or contractor, whoever it is that they keep using) should feel that it's acceptable to provide products so late so reliably. How do you know that this is Six Flag's fault and not RMC? Maybe RMC made a promise on a date they couldn't meet. Either way, it's really not that big of a deal. I'd try to get a little more experience in the engineering/construction world, before passing harsh judgements like that.

I don't mean to pick your post apart, but I don't think they have "changed the face of coasters." What they have done is perfected the basics without using any gimmicks. They put together a product that delivered more thrills than something that costs as much as gatekeeper. The ride is really genius in its simplicity.

Did anyone else not get an idea of how massive this thing was until most of the track was finished? This coaster is a compact giant.