Woodie Warrior

Fury 325 looks like a great addition to Carowinds. I hope I can make it down south to ride it someday, it looks like it would be near the top of my list. The first drop looks incredible, and I love the funky curve before the drop into the tunnel.

Looks very classy and elegant. But what are those glass covers on the tops of the towers closest to the center?

This is like the fifth time you've claimed that you're quitting. Stop being so dramatic about everything.

Metal detectors just to get in line for a coaster? This is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. I'm sure they'll be gone soon enough. People are going to be complaining to the park like crazy. Maybe if parks had free secure lockers for guests right before boarding, this problem would go away. Guests want to have their phones while waiting for a ride and they don't want to leave them in an open loose article bin. I always wear cargo shorts to parks so I can just put my phone in a secure pocket. Disclaimer: I'm not trying to defend those that hold them on rides, those people are giant idiots, but asking guests to hand over their stuff before they even get in line for a ride is dumb. If people stopped being such idiots, this issue would go away.

Medusa looks incredible! Don't think I'll make it down to Mexico City anytime soon, but hopefully someday...

Is that part of the new Harry Potter land to the left of Stu's Disco?

It might just be me but I would be fine with a little bit more downtime if it meant having significantly better capacity. Then again, in the eyes of the park, it may not be worth the extra money. I don't get why they aren't adding a single rider line. I can't watch the videos, do they give any reason for not adding one?

Still hasn't made its way to SFSTL. Kind of thinking it never will, which is kind of funny considering they tested the idea here first.

There is no flat land left at SDC that is big enough for Ozark Wildcat. It's going to sit and rot until they eventually tear it down for new construction.

I hate to say I agree.. I think its a neat idea in theory, and it does look awesome traveling up the lift backwards, but it's to disorienting to really like IMO.. It's another reason I'm afraid to revisit SFSTL or SFOT, because I've not rode Mr.Freeze since they turned it into reverse blast, and I'm afraid it'll drop out of my top 5. Mr. Freeze is even more incredible backwards.

Yeah, there are a handful of people that really like GateKeeper, yet there are still a bunch that don't have a single positive thing to say about it. I don't really get it, but to each their own, I guess. I rode it during CoasterMania, so that'll be in the next report.

I've never been to BGW so I can't really speak on if Tempesto really fits in, but I do really like the color scheme, although it seems like it would've made more sense to have blue supports and orange track. Unless the park's goal was to make it stand out as much as possible. I do like the logo as well, and the name is started to grow on me.

Well since they are moving all the Frozen stuff towards the center of the park, it seems that construction will be starting soon on the left side of the park. And the snow area isn't going to be there this year, which is sort of a bummer.

Like most enthusiasts, the one park I've been dreaming to visit was Cedar Point, the coaster capital of the world. Ever since I saw Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster in a book I had, I knew I'd have to ride them one day. After years of trying to find a time to go, we settled on going for CoasterMania and Coasting for Kids in early June of 2014. We drove up Wednesday and stayed at Maui Sands Resort that night. They had a large indoor water park, but we weren't in Sandusky to ride slides. We were there to ride coasters. However, we had to get our tickets first. We were going to stay at Breakers Express Thursday night, so we went and checked in and purchased tickets, which we had a discount on thanks to CoasterMania. Finally, we set off for Cedar Point. Driving onto the peninsula is an incredible feeling. The second you see the Cedar Point skyline, you can't help but smile. When we headed in, our first stop was Raptor. We waited around 15 minutes, which wasn't too bad. Now, I'd heard lots of amazing things about Raptor, and I'm sad to say it was a bit of a letdown. The layout itself wasn't bad, but my head kept getting thrown back and forth. It wouldn't have been that much of an issue if the part hitting the restraints wouldn't have been my ears. Hopefully my opinion will change when I ride it next year, but as of now it's my least favorite B&M invert. Raptor going through its loop Flying over its queue line Moving on, we headed next to GateKeeper. I believe we waited 20 minutes. Unlike Raptor, GateKeeper seems to be hated by a large part of the coaster enthusiast community. As for me, I loved it. It's not too forceful, and there isn't much airtime, but all around it is the most fun ride in the park (not the best, though). The one downside is that I really didn't like the vests. Headed towards the sky Soaring over it's hill We took a ride on the Giant Wheel next to take some pics of the park from above. It was a relaxing ride, although the line moved extremely slowly. It was about a 20 minute wait with less than 30 people ahead of us. But you couldn't beat the views. You can get a nice view of Power Tower and Millennium Force Lake Erie seems to go on forever GateKeeper dominates the front of the park Raptor looks quite nice too We then went to ride Iron Dragon next. It was better than most Arrow mine trains, but the only "exciting" part was the finale over the pond. The rest was just plain boring. After that, it was time to ride Mantis. It was my second stand-up coaster (after Iron Dragon at SFGAM), and overall the ride was very uncomfortable, like most stand-ups are. It wasn't horrible, but I'm glad they are changing up the trains; Rougarou should be a much better ride. Mantis may not be that great of a ride, but it sure is photogenic (like most of the coasters at the park) Speeding down the first drop Its loop is very intimidating from below Next, we headed to Cedar Point's most famous coaster: Millennium Force. With this ride, enthusiasts either claim that it is by far the best coaster on the planet, or that it is a forceless piece of garbage. I mostly side with the former group. While it may not be the best coaster I've ever been on (Outlaw Run takes that award), it is by far my favorite steel coaster. The first drop is incredible, there are some nice pops of airtime, and the speed is breaktaking, from the first drop to the brakes. I can see why it keeps winning the Golden Ticket (even though I disagree with most of their awards). Millennium Force's finale comes right by the queue line We took a much needed break after that and enjoyed some Panda Express. Not wanting to ride anything right away, we hung out at the petting zoo for a few minutes. They have a wide variety of animals, from chickens to llamas. It is a nice touch, and while I believe the rest of the park is a bit generic appearance-wise, the Frontier Trail was nearly as nice as Silver Dollar City, which even has its own hidden petting zoo area. The animal's must love the attention For our next ride, we went straight to Maverick, and had to wait around an hour. I have to admit, I am one of those p*ssies Robb was talking about. While the ride was spectacular, the restraints were a bit painful. Not only the shoulder harnesses, but the lap bar section was pushing down extremely hard on my thighs by the time we got to the station. That didn't stop us from riding again the next day though, and Maverick ranks #2 on my steel list. Maverick rockets through an inversion Our next two rides were Mean Streak and the Mine Ride, which were both mediocre. Mean Streak wasn't rough in my opinion, just slow and boring, which a ride of its size should not be. Dinn was a terrible roller coaster designer. Mine Ride was also slow and boring, and a bit rough, although most mine trains are that way. Cedar Creek Mine Ride and Top Thrill Dragster (I'll get to that one later) We then took a ride on the Antique Cars to make my sister happy (she absolutely adores these rides). I did enjoy the little themeing and landscaping around the ride. After that, Gemini (Blue side) was next. It didn't blow me away, but it is a pretty good ride. A surprising amount of airtime, and the racing factor adds some more excitement. Next we were off to Magnum, which didn't have too much of a line. It's a fun ride, but not all that exciting. I did like the bunny hops at the end, but other than that there wasn't much to it. I don't get how people can claim it's the best ride in the park. Magnum coming out of it's extremely retro station Up the lift hill Sadly, Top Thrill was closed as we walked by. Maintenance was working on it, and rumor had it that it would reopen for CoasterMania, so we kept walking. I rode Power Tower twice by myself (both times on the Shot side which was a walk-on, since the Drop one had a line). It was fun, since I'd never been on an S&S tower that was actually tall (although I do prefer their shorter versions, like Liberty Launch at Holiday World). To end the day, we took the Skyride to the front entrance and took a few pics with GateKeeper going over the entrance. We were exhausted but still excited for tomorrow's big event: CoasterMania! The SkyRide has lots of gondolas The entrance to Cedar Point is beautiful

I can't wait to return here for HoliWood Nights this year. Launching out of the station in the darkness will be an awesome experience!

I got a chance to see Into the Woods again today, and I liked it a lot better the second time around. Yes, the final act does seem to drag on a bit too long, but overall the movie is awesome. The music is great, the production design is amazing, and the cast is spectacular. The first time I saw it I really had to go to the bathroom so sitting through the ending was just plain agony (pun intended ). This time, I actually got to enjoy the film, and I like it a lot more now.

How do you smooth out transitions into elements? I'm building a wing coaster and I added a loop but there is a big jerk going into it.

People seem to be thinking that this means that SeaWorld will eventually buyout Herschend. I don't think it's going to happen, but that would be interesting.

From the look of it, Tiki Twirl is taking the place of Wicked Twister's plaza with the flags.

My name is Fierce Slingshot... That is by far the worst "name generator" thing I've ever seen. I vote for Tempesto's word filter to be changed to "Oopsy YOLO".

I totally agree. I hope Manby helps them find a replacement that's just as good as he was. SeaWorld definitely needed a better CEO though, and I'm sure he'll really help the company improve. Hopefully he'll help them market their parks better.

This would work if it was themed to a storm, but the theme still seems like they didn't want to give up Diavolo. The ride is based on a daredevil whose name was "Tempesto", according to the leaked ride description on the website.

I don't see any problems with the back of the theater other than those black things above the doors.

TPR retweeted this a day or two ago. It shows how Splashin' Safari is going to pass under a bridge that will connect the two parts of the Thanksgiving area.

It may just be me but when the train goes behind the building after the overbank, doesn't it look like there is a little launch into the weird twisty section (zero G roll followed by another one the opposite way)?