thrillseeker4552

^Very interesting. I may have to buy that book just to check out that information! lol It makes sense though. Hopefully one day CGA will get their new B&M Hyper - even if it's a "mini" model that's 200 feet or less. Or Knott's. Or literally anywhere out West...

I went to SWSD in March 2020, just days before the shutdown, and I completely forgot Tidal Twister existed. It was closed of course. And Harley Quinn was closed during my July 2018 and 2019 visits to SFDK. These Skyline "coasters" are really cool in concept, but man, it seems they have been executed quite poorly - both reliability and comfort (from what I've heard). They've got some other cool concept layouts from IAAPA that look interesting but I wonder if parks are eyeballing SFDK and SWSD and saying "yeah... no."

Hahaha, sorry @Nrthwnd. To be honest, I don't know where the "A" came from. I guess if it came from abbreviating Texas, it would technically be NTXG. I just remember people using NTAG around the time it was new and it just became habit. I should've clarified! But yeah, unless some small random park totally splurged, I think there is a high chance this is a Cedar Fair park. I suppose Kings Dominion is also a possibility, although Volcano's plot wouldn't be the first "challenging location" that comes to mind since it is quite large and open.

Not that I know of, at least major coasters. I do know that Gerstlauer has said (somewhere, I think at IAAPA one year) that their Infinity Coaster trains can go up to 8 rows long, but the maximum length for a vertical lift is 4 rows. So a 32-passenger train is possible if the coaster doesn’t have a vertical lift.

“Record-breaking”, “challenging location”, and “custom layout” screams Cedar Point to me. We know Six Flags has bad blood with Gerstlauer ever since the NTAG accident, and Cedar Fair has a renewed relationship with Gerstlauer after HangTime, so Cedar Point seems plausible. I suppose a SeaWorld/Busch park is also possible, but they can’t even get their 2020 coasters open yet so I’m hesitant about them purchasing a ride like this already. This will be exciting to follow!

^Exactly. California is such a huge, diverse state... the rule just makes no sense at all. I do hope this vaccination card thing extends to theme parks though, or they just eliminate the in-state rule completely.

I am 100% on-board with Flash Pass on my phone. I've never been a fan of the Q bots, and I'm an even lesser fan of the watches. And no more atrocious line to get one. Sounds like a win-win, if it happens.

Very smart to install dividers, so they can fill every seat. The tower looks very tame, but at least the theming is top-notch! I feel like there are lots of opportunities to theme drop towers that most parks don't even consider. Props to Chessington for presenting it nicely.

Perhaps I missed it, but I assume the park is open daily for passholders from May 6-21? Or is it weekends only?

Nice reports! I am excited to get back to SFFT in June. I really enjoyed my visit during HITP 2019. I will admit I was a bit underwhelmed with Iron Rattler though. Perhaps it was running slowly, even though it was warm out. The section at the top of the quarry wall just kills all the pacing and excitement for me, personally. I also only got three rides on it that progressively improved throughout the day, so who knows. Still a very good ride. SeaWorld also looks like a nice park. I've never been and will likely visit in June when I also go to SFFT.

Definitely some different shaping on the dive loop versus the other clones. This is looking great!

Nice report. I am happy to hear that Tatsu and X2 are running at full capacity - as they should. I also hear Batman is getting repainted, which could be part of the reason it is closed. I saw a photo on Instagram of the track getting sandblasted.

^I completely agree. I am visiting for the first time with my family on June 8-9. We are really crossing our fingers that Iron Gwazi will be open. Even if not, the lineup is already stellar - especially for first-time visitors.

^That's nice to know about the crowds flocking to the water park in the summer. I will be there on either June 1 or 2 (depending on which day we do SWSA). My last visit in December 2019 was right before Christmas and actually had pretty light crowds to my surprise, even with the perfect 64-degree weather. I can deal with the heat - but waiting in a 2 hour line in the heat is where I draw the line!

Nice photos. I have always been intrigued by Wild Adventures. Even though their coaster collection is mostly off-the-shelf clones, the park seem pretty well-kept with nice paint jobs and rides and lots to do outside the coasters. I'll definitely make a trip there sometime in the next couple years once I move to Florida in a few months.

Looks excellent! There must be a ton of foot choppers on this. The fact that Grona Lund and B&M were able to squeeze this around and over existing buildings is extremely impressive.

^Thanks for sharing! I knew it did that, but I don't think I've ever seen a photo of it.

It's funny because my family was planning our Florida trip for that week already. In fact, we may have scheduled Universal for that day regardless - before they even announced the opening day. I would definitely never travel just to attend opening day - like Coasterbill, there are other things I'd rather do...

With Velocicoaster opening on June 10, I wonder if we will see an announcement for Iron Gwazi soon? Or maybe BGT doesn't care at all? I imagine they are still dealing with the financial issues with RMC that were brought up last year. I can't think of another reason they're holding off opening such a highly anticipated coaster.

^My thoughts exactly. I am moving to Florida, so I'm not too worried about riding it immediately, but my family will be with me during that week of June. Of course they announced the opening that week. I'd really like to attend opening day but... is that a death sentence? lol

Looks great. The off-axis hill seems to have a steeper bank and slightly different shape than Railblazer/WW. I am curious to see if there are any other slight layout modifications, presumably to accommodate the 10-car trains.

Great report. It is so wonderful to see the park operating again. I believe the final count was 384 days of closure... Given how quickly the park turned around and reopened after the Governor released new guidelines, they should be applauded. I'm sure things will only get smoother from here on out.

^I will be interested to hear back after your visit. It could be anything from an honor system (click this button if you are a resident) all the way to checking IDs at the gate and monitoring IP addresses from where the reservations were made. I am inclined to believe the former is more likely.

I am curious to see how the "SoCal residents only" rule will be enforced. I am personally in a gray area for this, because the billing address for my pass is in CA, the IP address of purchasing the pass is CA, and my phone number is CA. But I am a college student in Utah who hasn't been living in CA for several months, so I am technically out-of-state? Kinda strange. I really don't understand this rule anyway (I know it's California and not Six Flags). Anybody can come visit Knott's right now for the festival, but once the coasters open, only SoCal residents? I don't know. I'm just crossing my fingers that I can visit the parks when I come back home in May. Of course I will adhere to whatever rules they have in place. It would just be a bummer if they consider me out-of-state.

This perfectly sums up my thoughts. Between this and Velocicoaster (not to mention Hagrid's too), I am stoked that Intamin has a new presence in the U.S. I really hope they can form a new relationship with Cedar Fair because that is the only other chain I can see spending the money needed for a large scale Intamin like this. Also, I hate saying things like "[this] will be the best in the world!" but, uh, yeah. That 95-degree drop off the top hat towards the river with no trims is going to be one of the best drops in the world.