thrillseeker4552

Cedar Fair is a pretty well-oiled machine when it comes to building coasters. Begin groundwork during the summer season, announce the ride in late summer, begin vertical construction in the fall, finish track work by late January, and begin testing in February. Then open it on the park's opening day. That's why it is so obvious to predict which parks are getting new coasters for the following year - they begin the process quite early. The only Cedar Fair coaster in recent memory that didn't open on the park's opening day is Railblazer, I believe. Likewise, I don't think Six Flags has ever opened a new coaster on the park's opening day in the last 10+ years? Of course excluding the year-round parks, which Six Flags has more of. Just different strategies. I do like Cedar Fair's strategy more since they are more reliable to plan trips around, and opening the new coaster in the spring allows kinks to be worked out before the busy summer season.

I think this is fantastic news. That area of the country is quite dry in terms of coasters. Throwing an RMC Raptor at a small park in the middle of nowhere actually makes sense. Its capacity won't be an issue, and it will draw people who have likely never heard of the park. Sweet!

Apparently there are construction walls up at the park advertising something big coming in 2021. They have dammed up some water from the lake and begun ground work. Does anyone who went this weekend have photos? If this is another large coaster, my goodness. The SeaWorld chain is officially losing their minds.

Nice report so far! I like seeing reports from first-timers at one of my home parks. Can't wait to read about your visit to Knott's too.

I am willing to bet they are taking a look at Steel Hog and possibly a few flat rides. Steel Hog is probably dirt cheap, and it's very compact, high-thrill, and adequate capacity for the park. That coaster just screams Fun Spot to me.

^I agree that Jersey Devil may become a sleeper hit. So far, most of the 2020 attention is on Orion, Pantheon, and Iron Gwazi. However, those other coasters are probably grabbing the most attention because they are complete or nearly-complete. I think people will gain more excitement for Jersey Devil when the coaster actually begins to take shape.

^My thoughts too. Schwarzkopf coasters run like an absolute dream. None of the ones I have ridden have included a single rough spot at all.

Sad news. I never visited Indiana Beach, but I heard good things. Hopefully Steel Hog finds a home. I think it would work great at the Atlanta Fun Spot park.

The first rides to shut down in high winds are X2, Lex Luthor, and Superman. Most rides should operate unless it is incredibly, abnormally windy. My favorite location to sit down and eat is in Food etc. (to the left of Goliath's entrance). Lots of seating, climate controlled, and spacious. Some of the booths on the bottom level can be pretty gross and outdated though. This place includes nachos, tacos, Greek food, and I believe sushi as well. However, my favorite food in the park isn't necessarily located there. I really like the sandwiches at Twisted Witches down near Twisted Colossus, and the BBQ place near Riddler's Revenge and Tidal Wave is also quite good (I believe it's called Ace of Clubs). Although apparently all the seating has been ripped up due to the mysterious construction, so perhaps that restaurant is closed entirely, and if not, there is definitely limited seating there now. EDIT: Also, I forgot to mention that there are several new food options in the WCR area, but I have not tried them yet. I rode WCR during it's technical rehearsal when the food facilities weren't open yet.

Thanks for the photos. I'll be at the park in 2 weeks. I can't wait to check this thing out in person!

Is there official confirmation that this will only operate one boat? Or are we just assuming based on the animation and concept art?

Regardless, this ride will be a great addition to the park. I visited in December, so I can't speak from experience, but I imagine it gets scorching hot in the summer. This ride will pull a huge line during those days I imagine. I'm really hoping we get one of these at SFMM next year. With all these shoot-the-chute rides leaving, I'd love to see modern water coasters like this gain popularity - especially in the warmer states.

^Or they could repaint it invisible.

Northern Utah is... depressing. It will completely dump snow for consecutive days all week and stay in the teens and 20s. Then the sun will come out, and it will reach maybe 35 degrees. Then you get one beautiful, perfectly cool day (which was Thursday this week), then boom - snow again. Rinse and repeat. I guess that's what you get at the higher latitudes and higher elevations. I'm just looking forward to going home to California for Spring Break in a couple weeks and escaping this depressing weather!

Oh yeah, I totally get that. I was just making fun of Six Flags since I wasn't expecting vertical construction until at least March or April. I meant two months ahead of the "Six Flags schedule."

Wow! About half of the track is in place, and it's only mid-February! They're two months ahead of schedule!

I am not surprised. Tidal Wave has been rumored to be removed for many years now. However, I do find it surprising that work is already starting on something so soon after WCR. That was a huge project for the park (clearly, since it took so dang long). Next year is also their 50th anniversary. I know, I know, anniversaries don't mean anything. But SFMM did add three "new" coasters for their 40th in 2011. Remember that cheesy announcement video of Green Lantern, Superman EFK, and Road Runner lumped with them advertising 40 years of thrills? Adding their 20th coaster during their 50th anniversary year in 2021 could be tons of easy marketing. I would be thrilled with a Mack PowerSplash, and if turns out to be the new concept with a loop, then even better.

^One month away and track isn't even complete yet? Yeah, um, definitely not. I think May is most likely, just like the other SeaWorld coasters opening this year except Stingray.

I am very interested in what they are doing to the ride. I mean, it was basically already themed to the Riddler. But with the whole Revolution train thing, color me intrigued.

I am pretty sure I am the only person in the world who actually liked Green Lantern and thought it was one of the most insane, crazy, holy-sh*t-what-just-happened coasters ever built. Yes, painful, but I'd take it over some boring, predictable coaster any day. I'm actually a little sad it's gone. But then again, most people who hate it rode it only once or twice. I rode it probably 15-20 times over its 6 years of operations at SFMM and had a healthy mix of good, bad, and OK rides on it. Not gonna lie, I'll miss the darn thing.

I am very interested to see what happens with the Revolution train. I wish SFMM had a third train for Revolution (a blue one would be great) so the ride isn't on one train ops while the red one is in Georgia.

For what it's worth, Electric Eel didn't open until mid-May and had a very similar construction timeline as Emperor. I am anticipating a mid-May opening. If it's earlier, then great!

Looks great. I don't mind the vest restraints too much either. They also make much more sense on these dive coasters with inversion-heavy layouts that include wing coaster-esque elements, like slow zero-g rolls and corkscrews. If the ride's drop was the only feature, it would be more irritating. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the B&Ms with vest restraints have a slightly lower height requirement, so maybe that was favorable to SeaWorld.

Also, the most intense part of the ride for me was the first helix, on the yellow side (when white is above you). That part pulls some serious Gs. Likewise, the second portion of the helix is more forceful on the white side. It's a great, fun ride. Fills a nice gap in the park's lineup despite its similarities to Colossus and FT.

$35-$40 million is a relatively steep price tag. That sounds like big B&M to me.