ytterbiumanalyst

That's an accurate assessment of Magic Springs. The waterpark is legitimately great, up there with Holiday World and Dollywood, seriously. The rest of the park besides X-Coaster just flat out sucks. I really wouldn't mind if this place becomes only a waterpark in the future. Stick to what you're good at.

Brilliant trolling IRL. I've occasionally run into people like that... yikes. I absolutely love that my son is now over 48", so on most coasters I no longer have to worry about sitting next to a weirdo. This looks like it was a great trip through all the weather issues (hard to avoid those in the spring in the Midwest). Millennium Force is utterly perfect, and the way I would choose to end every trip if that were possible. So are you actually caught up to the present now?

Seems pretty simple to use. If this had been around last fall, I would totally have used it. $10 per person per day is a steal. Maybe that's coloured by my being from the Midwest, where a Disneyland trip is a once in a lifetime thing for most people, but I really feel like people will jump on the opportunity to make the most of their trip in this way.

Glad you enjoyed the park! That Mardi Gras festival was fun, and much better than I expected it to be. Turned out to be a good day to go. Normally I'd say you're crazy, but you actually enjoyed Mt. Olympus, so I have every confidence you'll have a good time at Magic Springs. X-Coaster is really great and unique in the U.S.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Most schools here go back mid-August (my kids go back the 17th), so that's still going to be peak summer. Best plan of attack is Powder Keg first, because of its 42" height minimum and temperamental nature. Then do American Plunge and Lost River next. After that, you can really proceed as you will. Outlaw Run is the best coaster in the park, and you'll want to ride that several times for sure. Take the cave tour. Eat cinnamon bread.

Wow, everything here sounds very exciting. Lots of changes for these parks in the next couple of years. Can't wait to see the results--if that Star Wars land is anything at all like the pictures, it'll be awesome!

Yes, Knott's is Cedar Fair. This Silver Bullet is a Schwarzkopf Looping Star at Frontier City. EPR Properties bought the former CNL Lifestyle Properties parks (Frontier City, Magic Springs, Elitch Gardens, Darien Lake, etc.) last year.

Been a while since I posted here, so this is a very different list now. Six Flags: Twisted Colossus Cedar Fair: Millennium Force Disney: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Universal: Mummy Herschend: Outlaw Run EPR: Silver Bullet Independent: Voyage

Wow, all of this sounds super awesome! Looking forward to the report!

Ok so only independent parks then? 1. Voyage 2. Thunderbird (Holiday World) 3. Lightning Run 4. Storm Chaser 5. Monster 6. Raven 7. Legend (Holiday World) 8. SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge 9. Cornball Express 10. Silver Bullet (Frontier City) I would be shocked if this list is not drastically different after I go to Hershey and Knoebels in about three weeks.

Hmm....let's see what we come up with. 1. Magnum XL-200 2. Mystery Mine 3. Beast Those are legitimately in my top 10 overall. I don't rank anything below 10, so the rest will just be the first coasters I think of that I like a lot, in alphabetical order but not ranked. The Bat (KI) Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (DL) Flight of Fear (KI) Mr. Freeze (StL) Space Mountain (DL) Tennessee Tornado Thunderation

Oh yeah, Zumanjaro is a must ride. I loved its cousin Lex Luthor last year, so it's definitely happening. Drop towers are one of my favourite flats. Fun to read of your transformation. Sometimes what it takes to overcome fear is just to do it.

This looks like it might actually be fun! Plus, being here would mean I would be in one of the coolest European cities, so that's a nice bonus. Always appreciate the work you do with these videos. Top quality.

Very cool trip. Cliff's looks a lot improved since the only time I was there (2002, when New Mexico Rattler was new). Can't wait for more!

Wow, awesome day at Cedar Point! Millennium Force is my absolute favourite steel coaster, and maybe my favourite overall (I really can't decide between it and Outlaw Run--they're both awesome in so many, and so different, ways). It is just the best at what it does. Rougarou is pretty great as well. It definitely suffers from being next to Millennium Force in my book, because as much fun as I was having on Rougarou, Millennium Force is just a few feet away. Thanks for posting so frequently! Looking forward to the next update.

You really shouldn't care about White Water. It's tiny and doesn't have anything you can't find elsewhere. November is a great time, as it generally stays warm enough that the coasters can remain open even at night. The shows are best during Old Time Christmas as well, which runs all of November and December. The park is open more or less Wed through Sun 1 to 9, but it can vary, so check the schedule when you're making plans.

You might not want to plan it for opening day. Just sayin'.

News of the Antarctic iceberg has gotten this stuck in my head:

Six Flags St. Louis this weekend. Excited to get back on Batman. It's been too long.

Only $10? That's a steal for what they're offering. Expect that to go up soon.

Great report! The whole area looks nice, and Magic Mountain really needed a ride like this. They really went all out for this one (at least by Six Flags standards). Those superheroes sell tickets amd generate merch sales, so keep them coming.

That trip sounds great! I haven't been to England, but I have been to Paris. Since I see you have a couple free days and are going to be flying out of the hellhole that is CDG, I would definitely suggest a couple of days to see the city. You appear to enjoy museums, so do yourself a favour and go to the Louvre. It's easily a multiple-day museum. I spent one entire 8 hour day there, and I really just got to see the essentials: Rennaissance French, Spanish, and Italian art, and Egyptian antiquities in the basement. Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa. Go see it. Montmartre and Sacre-Coure are worth seeing as well. Montmartre is actually higher up than the Eiffel Tower is, and I think has a better view of the city. It's the old artist enclave of the city as well, and was home to Picasso, Dali, and other refugees of the Spanish Civil War. Also, one of the best things you'll ever experience in Paris is some random hole in the wall wine bar. Don't look up reviews, don't ask where the best place is. When you're ready for dinner, stop walking, look around you for the place that looks like sh*t, and go there. Order the house wine and whatever they've fried to keep you sober. It will be the best meal you have in the city.

FTFY. Glad you had fun. Any place can exceed sufficiently low expectations. Next time you're up in this area, hit up Little Amerricka; it really is worth the trip.

Glad you at least overall enjoyed Holiday World. It was a little surprising to read your evaluation of Raven and Legend, but then I love the Boss, so maybe I'm just more willing to overlook roughness than any reasonable person should be. Voyage is absolutely incredible, and I'm glad you got to experience this beauty. It's definitely HW's hyper coaster, and is maybe the most intense coaster I've ever been on. It would certainly be part of that discussion. Gobbler Getaway is amazing and one of the best dark rides at any park that isn't owned by a movie studio. And I'm with you on wing coasters. They're almost universally panned by enthusiasts, and I'm not sure why. I've been on all 4 of the US ones, and each is one of the best rides in its park. Thunderbird is my favourite of the 4, and for all the reasons you listed. Wing coasters are so much better than flying coasters; any park considering a flyer should just build a wing coaster instead. We're totally used to storms out here, but I'll admit that particular one was really bad. You're right that when you see the locals slowing down, you know it's bad. We were driving to Dollywood that day, and there were times I had to slow down to about 40 just to be able to see out the windscreen, even with the wipers on full speed. You got a true Midwest welcome!