thrillseeker4552

^What he said. And also, the Log Ride and Rapids run year-round unless they are going under annual maintenance. Calico River Rapids just re-opened in May and the Log Ride typically goes down in February/March, so you should be just fine riding everything in November.

I didn't expect them to open any of the B&Ms, but I am a little surprised they didn't even open a single roller coaster like Silver Streak, Thunder Run, or Guardian.

I wonder how much longer Holiday World is going to pour money into maintaining Voyage season after season before developing a long-term solution like topper track or even prefabricated wood. It would still keep the classic wooden coaster feel while significantly cutting maintenance costs (I assume). And like Canobie Coaster said, the old-to-new track would flow seamlessly and would only be necessary on the most intense parts of the ride. Another example is Roller Coaster at Lagoon. Obviously that ride is no where near as tall, fast, or intense as Voyage, but there are a few spots on that coaster with topper track (or something very similar) and it works wonderfully.

I'm sure they could handle that giant helix just like they handled the ones on Rattler and White Cyclone. I still think RMC-ing American Eagle is unlikely, but RMC has proven by now that they can work with literally any wooden coaster layout. Classic cyclone layout? Done. Re-work a GCI? Done. Large woodies with helices and super boring straight sections? Done. A coaster that literally only turned right? Done. Dueling coaster? Done.

There is no mid-course break run on Fury. I am confused how we are comparing Orion to Fury "up until the MCBR." Fury is non-stop from the lift to the final brakes!

^I completely agree. I would argue that Fahrenheit (and even Storm Runner) are the most underrated coasters I have ever ridden. I would also say Dare Devil Dive is a candidate. I was expecting a ho-hum ride but it was incredibly smooth, very forceful, and the restraints are fantastic.

My next park will be Lagoon on either the 12th or 26th of October (not sure which day yet). After that I will be visiting Knott's and SFMM during Thanksgiving weekend.

And like I said, just because it isn't summer doesn't mean it's not peak season anymore. Magic Mountain gets slammed during Fright Fest and HITP. They reached capacity on December 30th last year, and they almost never reach capacity during the summer. When it comes to opening new rides at year-round parks, you have to shift your mindset a little bit. If this park was open through Halloween and would barely open their new ride by then, I totally get that. But you can visit this park any day of the year, so who cares if their new coaster opens in November? Silver Bullet and GhostRider both opened in December, for what it's worth.

Glad to hear Apocalypse is running well. It has a great layout and is tons of fun when it doesn't beat you up.

Magic Mountain is open 365-days a year. I don't think opening a brand new coaster in the peak of summer is really necessary when they get just as crowded (if not even MORE crowded) during Fright Fest and Holiday in the Park. While of course I would have liked it to open this summer, it's kind of exciting to have something brand new to look forward to riding once my semester is over! Holiday in the Park is my favorite time to visit, and a brand new coaster will make it even better. But that's just me.

Maybe I haven't kept up enough, but is there a pathway to get to Apocalypse with all the WCR construction? Are there even restrooms or services back there yet?

I find it funny that both SFSTL and WOF both have A GCI, A Spinning coaster, a Boomerang and and a B&M invert in a somewhat competing market Worlds of Fun and Six Flags St. Louis do seem strikingly similar in terms of “class.” I haven’t been to either park, so I won’t comment on the quality of experience at either, but speaking strictly in terms of ride lineup and their rank in their respective chains, they share many similarities. But on the topic of CGA, that’s what would be so great about them getting a B&M Hyper one day. It would be the biggest coaster in the area (because NorCal is essentially a separate state than SoCal) and would be highly visible among the very populated area. If they can eventually cut through the red tape on noise and space issues, I feel like it would be a MASSIVE hit for the park.

I find it interesting too. That same could be said for La Revolucion at Knott's. Even on dead days, that ride still has a 2-3 cycle wait. People love them.

^This. Plus, given how much love Cedar Fair has given this park in the last 5 years, I have no doubt Carowinds will continue to greatly expand in the future. Anybody who lives near this park should be thrilled.

Bring on the Intamin! This is still the best-looking 2020 coaster in my opinion. Or at least this and RMC Gwazi.

^I agree the trims can sometimes hit a little hard, but I have never had an issue with Cannibal's length personally. Glad to hear you liked the park. I honestly like some of their flat rides more than many of the coasters. Rock-O-Plane, Centennial Screamer, Samurai, and Air Race are all tons of fun.

Bump. I was thinking about this thread, so I figure I would update mine. 2011: Green Lantern: First Flight 2012: Manta (SWSD) 2013: Coast Rider, Full Throttle 2014: Banshee 2015: Twisted Colossus 2016: Joker (SFGAdv), retracked GhostRider 2017: Mystic Timbers 2018: HangTime, Electric Eel, Railblazer 2019: Copperhead Strike, Firebird at SFA (if you count that), and West Coast Racers if it opens in 2019 lol As for 2020 rides, I think the only guaranteed one is Mako at SWSD. I want to get back to Ohio and ride Orion, but that's just a dream at this point.

Could someone please explain how they get these results? Who votes? Year after year I laugh at the results, but I've never really understood how the whole process works that makes it so biased and laughable?

I know I posted last year, but 1999 was such an iconic year for roller coasters that it is pretty much impossible to come up with just three. The Top 3 from 1999 that I've Ridden: 1. Afterburn 2. Joker's Jinx 3. Georgia Scorcher Bizarro is also an honorable mention. The Top 3 from 1999 that I Haven't Ridden but *Seem* the Best: 1. Dueling Dragons 2. Incredible Hulk 3. Apollo's Chariot Not to mention Raging Bull, Roar, Gwazi, Tennessee Tornado, Invertigo, Two Face, Poltergeist, Ride of Steel, and the list goes on... Obviously I was far too young to care, but how did you guys even process the amount of coasters added in 1999 and 2000? Looking through the list on RCDB, I can't believe that many coasters were added in North America alone with some parks receiving multiple coasters. It's fascinating.

^It is nice to hear you had a good time. Knott’s has really turned around for the better in the last 8 years.

I have ridden 9 B&M Inverts with 3 of those being Batman clones (which all feel identical to me). 1. Banshee. I know this ride is a little controversial among Inverts, but I still love it. The first drop is fantastic, several of the inversions have good forces going in and out of them, and the final inline twist is a blast. I also like the restraints and think they work well on an inverted coaster. Oh, and the theme is awesome. 2. Afterburn. I suppose you could say this is my favorite "traditional" B&M Invert. The elements all flow perfectly, the batwing has insane whip, and the final corkscrew tries to rip your legs off. 3. Batman clones. I have ridden three (SFMM, SFGAdv, SFOG) and like them all equally. Super forceful and tons of fun. 4. Great Bear. I think this is the most underrated B&M Invert. The first three inversions are awesome, the lake fly-by is cool, and the final corkscrew has great whip. Yeah it does meander a little, but I like it's unique layout. 5. Raptor. It's a good ride, but there are some parts of the layout I'm not too fond of. The cobra roll is pretty uncomfortable, and the final snap into the brakes is... weird. I will say I love the first drop, loop, and zero-G roll though. 6. Flight Deck. This ride definitely brings the forces and whip of an old-school Invert, but I wish it had a few more elements. It just feels cut short. 7. Silver Bullet. I feel bad putting this one last because it's my most-ridden Invert and first B&M overall, but I will admit the first drop is very tame and the layout doesn't quite bring the "whip" of the '90s layouts. I still think it's a great ride though. Very smooth, awesome overbank turn and zero-G roll, and the corkscrew-helix finale is fantastic. There isn't a B&M Invert I've ridden that I don't like. They're all great, just some more exciting than others.

September 12th is also the day SeaWorld Orlando announced their new coaster, right? That's definitely a day to look forward to now.

And what makes you think they'll do any better of a job timing the dispatches on this one? WCR will almost always race, according to the park. This is for a couple reasons: 1. The “pit stop” feature allows the train to sit and wait for the other train to load, however long that takes. There is no “timing” involved. 2. Syncing up launches is way easier than syncing up lift hills, logically. I think the only time this ride would not race is when it runs only two trains (which will happen eventually as we all know), in that case it would happen every other dispatch.

Vertical construction has started with the transfer/maintenance platform. Photo posted on the KI Blog two days ago. I'm sure some more work has been completed since then. Might I also add that I LOVE the color blue for this coaster. It's going to look fantastic in the skyline.

The boats were modified in April. I don't know the exact reason why, but it probably has to do with people "sliding forward" during the final splashdown and injuring themselves. They are definitely not as comfortable as the old ones, but at least there are still no seatbelts.