azza29

Count me as one Aussie enthusiast whose is totally for this ride - looks like a good use of what is currently useless space and at 475ft tall will definitely be a record breaker! Unlike Tower of Terror this doesn't appear to be a one-shot gimmick and should give a decent ride on thrill and 'scenic' modes. The park has long since abandoned the 'movie studio' theme for comic-book thrills so this will fit right in with that. At any rate, good to see WVTP continuing to invest in their parks - especially when the best Dreamworld can do is a haunt maze.

Rumoured 2014 addition for Movie World Gold Coast - 145m tower that is kind of a blend of Windseeker with a troika-type triple-gondola going up and down it. Riders sit on the outside and there would be thrill and scenic settings. Just a concept at this stage, but taller than Kingda Ka which is all that matters

^^Completely agree Robb. Either separate out the theme and amusement parks, or change the award name to "most popular theme park" instead of "best".

Back to the Future trilogy Blues Brothers Ghostbusters

^Yes! Coney Island is a bit of a mixed bag. There's only one coaster of note (Cyclone), and you might be too sore to want to ride that more than twice. But it does have an air race, which is one of the best flat rides around, and if you've never been on a Zamperla Volare before it's definitely a unique ride with its spiral lift hill and iron maiden-style restraints.

These awards always seem a weird mix of stating the obvious and bizarre controversy. CP still #1? It's a great park but when you've got Disney and Universal in the mix I'm not so sure it deserves top spot. As for the coaster rankings, Mitch Hawker's poll does a better job of considering voters' overall coaster-riding experience and relative preferences, whereas the GTAs seem to oversimplify with most votes going to the usual suspects. Boulder Dash is a very good ride, but #1 ahead of El Toro? How Knoebels' Haunted Mansion ends up with more votes for 'best dark ride' than Indiana Jones I do not understand. maybe this is a cultural/nostalgia thing? All that said - I find a lot of the awards fairly non-controversial. Kings Island definitely has an excellent kids area (although one could argue that the whole of Disneyland is essentially a kids area), Busch Gardens does have beautiful landscaping, and Knoebels' food is great for sure. Might sign up as a voter for next year, so I can contribute to this madness.

Thanks for the updates - looks like everyone's having a great time at WCB!

I wonder how much of a consideration that kind of noise is these days. I took the VIP tour at USH a few months back and the guide told me most dialogue is re-dubbed in post production anyway, especially for scenes shot outdoors.

Have ridden: Bizarro, Medusa, Batman, Scream!, Hydra, Dominator, and Griffon Of these, Batman is definitely my favourite, with Bizarro a close second. That said, front row on Griffon as it crests the top of the dive is something special.

I'd just go Cedar Point. Especially if you haven't been there before it'd be worth the full two days at the park. KI is a great park but I wouldn't want to rush CP just to head there. Save it for another trip when you have more time.

Any one of Millennium Force, Maverick, Flight Deck (CGA) or i305 would be just fine with me.

All away from my home park... 2013 Gatekeeper - Cedar Point Music Express - Waldameer Coast Rider - Knott's Stratosfear - Knoebels 2012 Constrictor - Wet'n'Wild Justice League - Movie World 2011 BuzzSaw - Dreamworld Ariel's Undersea Adventure - DCA Shockwave - Dreamworld

Wall-E World Think about it...

This is the most exciting sentence I've read today.

I actively avoid visiting parks during peak times, especially if I'm on vacation, so I've seen quite a few sets of switchbacks and thought, "damn, would anybody really wait that long?!" Millennium Force has a lot of queue space but it wouldn't surprise me if it fills up during the summer, ditto for Kingda Ka. My brother and I got into an argument the first time we went on Flight Deck at KI because he didn't believe the queue/path would be so long and thought we were heading in the wrong direction... The Monsters Inc ride at DCA has a big outdoor queue that I've never seen used, same goes for the long trail down to It's Tough to be a Bug (although this may be intended as a footpath and not a queue.)

Questionnaire completed! Absolutely in for Scandi!

Part 5: Yosemite National Park Zero pictures of rollercoasters in this post: you have been warned! At this point in the trip it was time to take a break from coasters for a few days. It might be a national park rather than a theme park, but Yosemite is probably one of the most incredible places I've ever had the good fortune to visit. There is something very special about falling asleep to the rumbling sounds of a waterfall, and then waking up in a valley surrounded by massive granite walls. So after visiting for the first time in winter a few years back, I knew I had to check the place out when it wasn't quite so snowed in. And then take photos to shamelessly show off on TPR... An easy walk from the valley floor, Yosemite Falls is nothing short of spectacular. I can't imagine ever getting used to this view. Lens flare alert. Lower Yosemite Falls. 100m tall, or slightly higher than Millennium Force (I include this comparison in the name of relevance to the TPR audience). If you were Yosemite Falls, this is what you would be looking at all day. Another awesome view from the valley floor. The first major hike we did was to the top of Nevada Falls. This is the start of the trail - that's Vernal Falls in the distance, which would be our first stop. Australians don't really get why foreigners go crazy over kangaroos and koalas. But we will absolutely stop and stare at a squirrel for hours. After a fairly easy walk you end up at the base of Vernal Falls. Then it's only a third of a mile to the top. What they don't tell you is that this is entirely up a steep granite staircase. At the top of Vernal Falls you can take in the view of the valley below. It's a long way down... "Only" another mile or so to the top of Nevada Falls. The trail gets considerably less busy at this point. Most of the trail is like something out of Lord of the Rings. Every so often you stop to catch your breath and enjoy the view. In my case, this happened roughly every thirty seconds. More lens flare looking up at Liberty Cap. This rises 520m up from the valley floor, which is the height of four Top Thrill Dragsters! More photo-taking while I take a break to breath. The air is thin! Some fancy depth of field. Almost at the top. Then only 4 miles to get back. 900 foot climb and I'm finally at the top. The top of Nevada Falls. Nothing short of spectacular. The rain clouds on the right would drench us on the way down. Liberty Cap and more ominous clouds. Our luxurious accommodation featured three walls and a canvas curtain. Bears do not respect private property so anything with a scent had to be stored in a special box. You too can have all this and more for just 0 per night! Next stop was Glacier Point. This is almost a kilometre (more than ten I305s!) above the valley floor. To get up there you can either hike up five miles of switchbacks, or take the bus. My brother was determined to hike so I took the bus alone. Pretty sure that makes me the smart one... Yet more lens flare. Just going to let this speak for itself. Some more fun with depth of field. Pretty impressive vista. On the right hand side you can see Nevada Falls, the one we hiked up the day prior. Doesn't seem so big from up here... Looking down into the valley - our plush accommodations are near the beach you can see at the bottom of the picture. One more look down into the valley. Just stunning. But we're not at the top yet. While I waited for Jon to get up to Glacier Point I hiked up the top of Sentinel Dome. It was a nice walk through the woods. Sentinel Dome. This is 8100 feet above sea level, or higher than the highest mountain in Australia by a good 800 feet (or two Lex Luthor Drop of Dooms!). On top of the freaking world. More depth of field nonsense. 8117 feet up. So pretty high. Not many places in the world you get this kind of view. I did walk back down into the valley though. If Six Flags owned this place they would probably start attaching drop towers to some of the walls. The view up from our campsite was pretty special too. Mucking around with my camera settings gave me this pic. You can see where the stars moved during the exposure, which is kind of cool. That's all from Yosemite for this trip. Definitely somewhere worth checking out, even for the most ardent theme park enthusiast. Next up: New York (I promise there will be some coasters in that one!).

Great TR! Cedar Point is such an awesome park, seeing these photos makes me want to go back!

Vekomas with updated trains seem to go pretty well - thinking Arkham Asylum at Movie World and Hersheypark's Sidewinder. As for the rest of their SLCs/Boomerangs... at least with the consistent layout you know when to brace.

We saw dolphin, tiger and sea lion shows, but no killer whale. I think that area was under renovation for the Cirque show that debuted later in the summer. The entertainment options at SFDK are definitely a cut above other Six Flags parks, and the zoo/theme park combination works well. The Bay Area wouldn't be a bad place for a theme park enthusiast to live. We had a great time at both SFDK and CGA, and I think they demonstrate that you don't necessarily need to have the biggest and fastest rides to give people a good time.

I encountered a similar error when previewing - not reverse order, just out-of-order with the first dozen or so photos appearing near the bottom of the post. Otherwise the new tool works great, definitely makes it easier to write up TRs!

So many great coasters coming up - this list is largely based on what I might have the chance to ride next year: 1. Helix 2. Part 2 of Harry Potter World 3. Falcon's Fury 4. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train coaster (might not be the most thrilling ride but it looks really cool).

Part 4: Six Flags Discovery Kingdom After an unplanned intermission (Mr Computer has been away for repairs), it's time for the next episode of this saga - Discovery Kingdom! On what turned out to be another sunny day everywhere apart from downtown San Francisco, we made our way across the bridge to see what Vallejo's number one theme park had to offer. I hadn't been to a Six Flags park before but was cautiously optimistic about SFDK, and it certainly felt like a quality park in most respects. Well, except for the M&M-branded stairs. The shows we saw were all pretty good as far as that sort of thing goes - although the dolphin stadium seemed kind of tiny for such big creatures. For a Saturday the park didn't seem too crowded, but we were still glad to have Flash Passes to fit everything in. When it comes to coasters, I thought the park was a mixed bag. Medusa, V2 and Superman are great, very re-rideable. Boomerang is a boomerang. Roar has seen better days, and Kong wasn't too bad (which is about the highest compliment one can pay an SLC). Some stats at the end of this leg: 5 parks 24 coasters (22 steel, 2 wood) 2 boomerangs 3 log flumes 3 rapids rides 3 drop towers 1 ride themed to Superman and, due to a certain travel companion insisting on breakfast there every day, 4 visits to Boudin Bakery... Some photos for your viewing pleasure (brought to you by the new multi-image uploader. Hooray!): If nothing else, Discovery Kingdom is colourful, and this was helped by some awesome weather. On the lower left is the only giraffe we would see all day. This is either a fountain or some kind of dolphin porn I accidentally photographed. Accidentally. It's called Monsoon Falls for a reason. I've taken baths and emerged less wet than from this ride. Also they have some water guns where you spend a quarter to help drench anyone who isn't already soaked to the bone. I could have spent the whole day here. Aww... penguins! There is something inherently hilarious about sea lions. This show was great, something about lost treasure or stolen fish I think, but I'm always impressed that you can even train animals to perform like this. V2's unique design make it my favourite Intamin impulse coaster. Not sure why a 45-degree twist is better than a vertical one but it just is. Seats at the rear of the train seemed better. You got upside-down 'hang' time on the midway end and a higher climb on the vertical end. Awesome. For the avoidance of doubt, this is mostly a photo of Kong's lift hill. You'll never hear the end of it? Sounds like a threat more than any sort of inducement to ride. Anyway turns out you do hear the end of it after a little under two minutes, and this version is better than the one in Maryland in that it just gives you a headache rather than back problems. I don't care what people think, paid skip the line passes are awesome. We waited 5 minutes instead of the 45 in the regular queue. I assume this was an awesome coaster when it was new. It had some great curves and bounces. But in its current state it's just a little rough to really enjoy. Most of these people are holding on for dear life. This seemed like a bigger, badder version of Dreamworld's Buzzsaw. And it totally delivered! I'm not sure what Superman is doing that requires him to perform a mid-air barrel roll but it definitely works on a rollercoaster. We were lucky and got in early enough to only wait 10 minutes for a ride, by the time we got out the line had blown to 1 hour! The waterfalls exist to amuse the river gods as raft after raft of humans pass by. Futile attempts to stay dry by covering one's head with one's hands will be punished! Another super-wet ride. I mean, the raft is basically underwater at this point. Love it. This elephant has a rollercoaster coming out of his trunk! Never mind, it's just a boomerang.... I really don't mind these rides, people say they're all the same but that simply isn't true. For example Knotts has a yellow and green one. This one is yellow and blue. See? Different! This ride did, however, have the most entertaining ride ops of the entire trip. Impromptu Taylor Swift karaoke just cuts right through the boredom of waiting in line. I wonder if other tigers make blonde jokes about white tigers. Who do? Voo Doo! Literally moments after this photo somebody lost their lunch. So we didn't ride because I didn't want to end up in "that" seat. I know it's likely happened on every ride I've ever been on, but, you know, this time it was just so REAL. I assume this is called Kong because the it represents the abusive relationship between a giant gorilla and his lady-captive/lover. Why do parks name rides after things that kill people? Didn't Medusa turn people into stone?! But no matter, it's a great coaster. While personally I don't really see much of a ride experience difference between floorless vs floor-present trains, Medusa was definitely a lot of fun. On the inversions you are reminded that they didn't paint over the carpark lines. Funtime is an Australian company, so it was my patriotic duty to board this Star Flyer. Park sure looks great at sunset. Thanks for an awesome day, Discovery Kingdom! In the next part of the report, coaster-free Yosemite, and then New York!

Nice addition - the park needs a drop tower and they'd have been crazy not to use the Kingda Ka structure. Would love to ride it on a foggy day - an ascent up through the clouds without being able to see the ground below would be incredible! Might be a bit of trek out to the ride though, still at least you can watch Kingda Ka while waiting in the queue I guess.

Not bad. Looks like woodie inversions are all the rage for the next little while at least!