thrillseeker4552

My thoughts exactly. The name is horrible, but the coaster looks so freakin' good regardless. I low-key forgot about this coaster over the last couple months but I am now super pumped, I definitely plan driving up from FL to ride.

Thanks for the photos. I am stoked for this repaint. I have some relatives who literally refer to the ride as "pink" because that is how well-known the faded color is. Only my earliest memory of visiting the park (circa 2004 when Silver Bullet was under construction) do I remember Xcelerator being remotely red! This is going to look so good.

I don't think there is any denying that the need for a hyper/giga has always been there. The park's attendance is one of the highest, and Cedar Fair loves this park and continually invests in it. And they could really use a high-capacity roller coaster. Everything in the park has mediocre-to-bad capacity except Silver Bullet. Another large B&M with 2 or 3 train operation would do wonders for spreading out crowds and accommodating the large attendance on some of those insanely busy days like Veteran's Day.

I would be extremely impressed if the park (and B&M, presumably) managed to squeeze in a Hyper, much less a Giga. Not only would the coaster have to maneuver around the existing maintenance buildings and roadways, but it would have to not disturb the hotel to the east or the residents and businesses to the west and south. I suppose the good news with this potential location is that it will not disturb the theming and atmosphere of Ghost Town / Wilderness at all. They could easily theme the station and queue to fit right in to the area and have the coaster itself be completely away from the park. I really don't want to get my hopes up, as much as I (and literally everybody) wants this. Cedar Fair also said somewhat recently that no major capital additions are planned as a result of COVID, but with so many parks bouncing back and still adding coasters perhaps that could've changed. I will always be skeptical of this project until it is announced.

LOL. Hopefully during the summer months! For a park with this many coasters, I'm sure the winters and slow season will see closures for maintenance or construction. Can't keep everything always open all the time, all year long.

Great news about HangTime. I was hoping it would be open in time for my visit in December.

I completely agree about Texas Stingray. I was expecting a "solid" ride but it turned out to be one of my favorite wooden coasters.

I will add that when they re-painted Silver Bullet and Sierra Sidewinder in early 2014, neither ride shut down at all. However when they painted Montezooma orange in early 2017, I believe they shut it down, but I could be remembering incorrectly. And yeah, tons of coasters are being painted at the moment. Don't forget Mr. Freeze at SFOT being painted back to blue as well! Coasters will be shining next year!

Hell has frozen over, everyone. Not only is Tatsu getting repainted but so is Xcelerator. I had a bet with myself about whether Tatsu or Xcelerator would get repainted first, I guess I never considered simultaneously. I wonder if this gray is a primer (probably) or a final track color. It looks shiny - I don't think it's just raw track where the pink was blasted away, but it could be. Photo credits to @Ryanthemepark on Twitter

Despite not making sense, the coaster really did need a paint job and an upgrade in general so I am happy to see this. Tatsu is finally getting painted too (I never thought I'd see the day), so Nitro's day will come... eventually...

You will have no issues getting on every coaster on a weekday in January (or really a weekend too) from a crowd perspective. Any roadblocks will be random rides closed here and there for maintenance, like ^^^ said, and potentially weather since any possible rain will shut down most rides because it's California and it's a weird phenomenon when water falls from the sky. Even with slow dispatches and potential closures, this is a great time to go to the park. Most rides *should* be open, just single-train ops on about everything except maybe Twisted Colossus if you're lucky.

I think an Invertigo would fit nicely in that spot.

This definitely screams "small independent park", particularly one that is year-round since they said a late 2022 opening. One of the Fun Spots would be great but honestly any FEC getting a sizable ride like an Infinity Coaster is a great thing.

Hmm, what? That would really surprise me. Where did you hear this? Like others have said, this "upgrade" probably isn't ideal but it's better than removing the ride all together. I am most surprised they didn't maintain the 7-car trains. The shorter trains is probably a big reason it isn't running as fast or intense. Now that we have seen Revolution and Mindbender make this upgrade, I bet Shockwave's turn isn't far off. Enjoy it in its raw form while you can!

This looks great! I like the final wave turn over the pathway as an "extension" of Jersey Devil's layout. That will create some cool visuals from the ground. And yeah, I am not holding my breath for anything before a June or July opening. I'd love to be pessimistic and make fun of them because of their WCR construction timeline but, to be fair, they are much farther along with this already (with all foundations seeming to be poured and track/supports on site) than West Coast Racers ever was in the preceding October. And I imagine this coaster is much easier and faster to construct than the complicated mess of supports and obstacles that WCR involved. Also, 20 coasters is a huge milestone! And they beat Energylandia! lol (for now)

Seems they pushed Manta's closure back a week too. Hopefully they repaint Kraken, too, during its closure.

Very happy to hear Manta is getting a repaint.

I never thought "wow Cheetah Hunt really needs a paint job" but new paint, of course, is always a good thing. After all the ride is 10 years old now. SEAS should send the painters up to SWO. All three of those B&Ms could really use some paint!

One of my visits in late October 2019, it was in the upper 30s in the evening if I recall correctly and they were running everything. They will definitely run rides in the 40s unless there is severe precipitation or thunder. Lagoon's weather and operation policy is actually quite good and reliable. If the forecast is in the 40s and 50s you should be golden.

I think green supports and solid yellow track would look great on Tatsu. I just hope it's not green and orange... yuck!

The two cities that immediately come to mind are Houston and Phoenix. Both cities are in the top 5 for largest populations in the US. At least Houston had a theme park for several decades. People always point to the extreme heat in Phoenix but it's not like it doesn't also get hot in SoCal, Texas, or Florida. Despite the heat, people still recreate and go outside in the summer. Parks in both of these cities could be year-round too. Perhaps an indoor park in Phoenix would work best - like Adventuredome. Las Vegas' climate is pretty similar to Phoenix. Seattle, Miami, and Memphis are also contenders. At least Miami has a bunch of world class parks a few hours away. Seattle is very isolated with nothing substantial until Silverwood, I think I would place that 3rd behind Houston and Phoenix. Memphis would be a bonus.

Great report. I really like CGA too, based on my 2018 and 2019 visits. It's a well-kept park and I really had no complaints at all, it's just that most of their ride lineup is pretty old and outdated excluding RB and GS. They desperately need that B&M Hyper. I hope it still comes one day.

Nice report! BGW is one of the last major parks in the country I have yet to visit. I am heavily considering going sometime next Spring, like April or May. It seems like a wonderful park that has a lot of similarities to BGT but also a lot of differences. Also, I agree, there needs to be a B&M Hyper west of the Mississippi!

Looks very nice. I'm happy that Six Flags is breeding new life into these Impulse coasters, especially after Wicked Twister's demise. Although the one at SFDK literally never operates ever so maybe "life" is a bit of a stretch.

Especially after being closed for over a year. I am surprised about HangTime. When did it go down, June? Over 3 months now? Must be a pretty serious issue because obviously they'd open it if they could given the crowds the park is seeing this time of year.