ytterbiumanalyst

I've never been on an Intamin I didn't instantly love.

Raven, Voyage, Thunderbird are all great at night. Legend at night was painful, but it probably wouldn't be if I were more familiar with the layout. Screamin Eagle and Prowler are both great at night also. But the best night ride of them all goes to Powder Keg. SDC isn't normally open at night, but for 2 precious weeks at the end of summer, it is. The park is very dark because they don't have very many path lights (not much use installing them if they're never used), so it's DARK. Powder Keg's Pyro effect goes off behind you, and it's really effective at night. You see the flash, you feel the heat, and you feel the acceleration. Everyone should experience a night ride on Powder Keg.

Typical peak summer times for Silver Dollar City: Outlaw Run: 15, 30, 15 Powder Keg: 15, 45, 30 Wildfire: 15, 30, 45 Thunderation: 30, 30, 30 Grand Expo Coaster: 30, 60, 45 American Plunge: 30, 90, 60 Lost River: 30, 90, 60 River Blast: 0, 10, 5

Yeah, I was really surprised; the shows are always very popular. Maybe they're having trouble getting international acts these days? Whatever it is next year, they should continue to focus on shows in the spring. Weather is really unpredictable, and if you're coming for shows, it will have the least impact on your day.

Okay, in that case, don't go. Hang time is all X-Coaster is, and nothing else there is any good. Adventureland and Holiday World have good water parks too, and I believe about the same distance from you.

Ranking doesn't really do this justice, since even some down near the bottom are fun. I'll try to remedy this by grouping. World Class (one of the best anywhere): 1. Goliath Excellent (good in every seat and can easily headline): 2. X-Flight 3. Whizzer 4. Batman Good (may be better in some places than others; may not headline but can support well): 5. American Eagle (blue) 6. American Eagle (red) 7. Vertical Velocity 8. Spacely's Sprocket Rockets 9. Demon 10. Viper 11. Little Dipper Merely Okay (rough, uncomfortable, or otherwise underwhelming): 12. Raging Bull 13. The Dark Knight Tear It Down Now (Right Now!): 14. Superman: Ultimate Flight

Not that I think this would happen, but what about instead of a "gate coaster," it's a "parking lot entrance coaster"? The new coaster could have a station near Steel Venom, then run east and cross the road, going over the main parking lot entrance. That'd be a cool effect, I think.

I can agree with this. Thunderation had backwards cars for several years (and SDC is a better analogue for HW than Six Flags is), and they were quite popular. I don't think I personally would want to ride Legend backwards though. I took my first ride on it in the dark, and the dark there is so dark I couldn't see a thing. I didn't like it at all. It wasn't until I went back the next morning when I could see where I was going that I liked the coaster. With significant changes to the layout, backwards could be fun. But not on the current layout.

Personally not me! Been there, done that, got the credits... and I have no desire to ever return to that park. . . But that's just me. That's how I feel too, and I even missed the Arkansas Twister since it was down for maintenance on the day I went. It's not a good theme park. It is a very good waterpark, though, and worth it for a waterpark fan who's not too far away. X-Coaster is the best ride they have, by far. It's more intimidating to look at than it is to ride. The vertical lift actually isn't too bad, considering that you can look up at the track the whole time. There is AMAZING hangtime at the top of that lift and on the slow barrel roll. The rest of the ride feels a lot like a Vertical Velocity type. I loved it; if you haven't ridden one of those, do so. Gauntlet, on the other hand, is possibly in the running with Ninja (SFStL) for the worst full-size coaster I've ever ridden.

They announced 2016 about 2 months ago. There's a lot of info in this link, but I'll post a rundown here too. http://www.silverdollarcity.com/2016?icid=2016-main-carousel-1 - LAST YEAR for World-Fest. If you've never been at this time, go. It's all about the shows, and most of them are very good. Plus, lines for rides are short, since it's all about the shows! NEW EVENTS: - Founders' Weekend May 6-8. Not much info about this yet, other than that it celebrates the Herschends. - MOTHERS' DAY May 8 - Special one-day gift shop and special brunch - FATHERS' DAY June 19 - BBQ Lunch! - HEROES' MONTH - All of September. Not much info about this either, other than that it celebrates police officers, firefighters, veterans, etc. This has been a trend recently; 2012 and 2014 were also festival/show years, with no new ride additions.

This report is absolutely incredible. I just read the whole thing. This is definitely going on the bucket list! So glad you got to experience this!

Flooded Mine's music gets stuck in my head. And now that I've written that, I'm humming the tune. It perfectly fits the ride, evoking both fun and carefree emotions as well as a sense of impending doom. For those who don't remember, in the original Flooded Mine, sans light guns, all the prisoners died and came back as ghosts to haunt the jailers who literally worked them to death. The present escape scene is certainly more family friendly, but I miss the original--made for a more dramatic story.

I'm actually a defender of dive machines and Valravn. As evident throughout my posts regarding Valravn's progress in this thread, but your favorite steel? Those are super high expectations, the kind that made everyone dislike Gatekeeper. I've always had high expectations for B&M's, and I'm rarely disappointed by their coasters. I suppose favorite is a strong word, but Valravn will probably be in my top five. I've always liked dive coasters, anyway. I also am very excited for Valravn, but not because I think it will be the "best ever." I try to stay away from expectations like that. I'll put it in a list once I've ridden it, because I'm a nerd and I make lists of almost everything. Really, though, what matters most to me is which of these two lists it falls into: "Rides I enjoyed" or "Rides I didn't enjoy." I'm excited for the total Cedar Point experience more than any individual coaster. Provided I get to ride everything I want, it will be one of several new experiences for me: First full-circuit steel Intamin - whichever I go on first, probably Millennium Force (the two at SFGAm are my only two Intamin coasters to date) First hydraulic launch - Top Thrill Dragster First beyond vertical drop - Maverick First giga coaster - Millennium Force First strata coaster - Top Thrill Dragster First Arrow hyper - Magnum XL 200 First dive coaster - Valravn First fast carousel - Cedar Downs Racing Derby Plus several others that won't be firsts for me, but look to be very fun (Sky Ride!)

Best (it's really hard to decide between these): Outlaw Run: The double barrel roll is awesome everywhere, but in the magic seat (front row of the last car), it produces the best hangtime I've ever experienced. Thunderbird (Holiday World): The barn fly-through has great footchoppers and a barrel roll finish quite similar to Outlaw Run's. Worst: Wildcat (Frontier City): The ride was designed for a splashdown, but it doesn't splash any longer. Instead, you get a really abrupt brake on the crest of the hill right before where the splashdown would be. I rode several times, as otherwise the ride is quite good, but every time without fail the entire train let out an audible "ouch" when we hit the brakes.

My thought exactly. The ride itself is pretty lackluster other than the pretzel loop, but add to this that it was the only roller coaster I've ever been stuck on, and I was stuck in the flying position for about 15 minutes. It was without a doubt and by far the worst coaster experience I've ever had. Although, props to SFGAm to this, for my suffering I was given a front of the line pass for Goliath!

I like music that is introspective and philosophical, and my tastes have changed as I've gone through different stages in my life. At the moment, here are a few that really speak to me: Belle & Sebastian - "If She Wants Me": This is probably the most honest evaluation of human relationships ever put into a song. It's not a love song or a breakup song; it's a song about difficulties in a relationship. The protagonist wants to badly to be the best at something, but finds happiness in giving up that goal and learning to be happy about being just good enough. Spiritualized - "Don't Just Do Something": The song is filled with inverted witticisms; the title line is "Don't just do something; sit around instead sometimes." I have a tendency to worry, overplan, and overthink; this song is a wonderful reminder to me to slow down and take time to relax and enjoy things. Pulp - "Bob Lind": This song is a brilliant reminder that everyone, ahem, messes up. This is a great mood lifter when I just can't seem to get anything right. Depeche Mode - "A Pain That I'm Used To": This is a great song for stress release. It acknowledges that suffering is ever-present and cannot be eliminated no matter how hard one works. The protagonist learns to accept the devil he knows, as suffering is at least made easier by knowing what to expect. The Mars Volta - "Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)": A ghost story in beautiful poetic verse, set to some of the best progressive rock ever composed. It's part of a rock opera, but stands well on its own. The protagonist is in a coma brought on by morphine overdose and imagines he is being chased by an insectoid spectre. The dreamscape parallels his own past decisions and present addiction.

It's hard to name just ten, let alone rank them. These are ten that I can play again and again and they do not lose their appeal (if it's part of a series, I'm naming my favourite entry of that series): Chrono Trigger Civilization V Final Fantasy VII Harvest Moon: Back to Nature The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Metal Gear Solid Okami Sim City 4 Super Mario Bros. 3 The Walking Dead (Telltale)

Ben Folds is coming to Springfield in May, and we have our tickets now! First concert I will have been to since Death Cab for Cutie came to town in 2014.

I don't want to see changes to the hospitality house area. Hopefully it still stays the same lush and beautiful area it currently is It's a horrible bottleneck. I would love to see the whole entrance area from the tram stop to the square redone, with all paths widened. It was built at a time when they had crowds in the hundreds, not thousands, and it just doesn't work for the 20,000+ they get on weekends in the summer and December.