thrillseeker4552

Wildcat is the PERFECT candidate for the RMC treatment in my opinion. The park has several other (actually good) woodies, and Wildcat's layout is pretty bland and has some nice potential for a cool hybrid. It would also fit in the lineup perfectly, and there aren't any other RMCs immediately nearby. I think it's only a matter of time.

Just had a nice visit to Knott's this morning and rode all of the major coasters, so I won't be back for a while. My next parks will be SFDK and CGA on July 22nd and 23rd!

Update: I LOVE Railblazer, but Twisted Colossus is still my favorite coaster in California. South Carolina is now Copperhead Strike. I love that ride way more than I should. 2nd favorite in the park. New state: Georgia: Goliath at SFOG. I love Twisted Cyclone, but Goliath was an awesome hyper and more along my taste in rides.

Luckily, that Superman tower isn't going anywhere even in a massive earthquake. That thing is ultra sturdy (since it is mounted horizontally along the mountain as well as vertically). It would be terrifying, but sitting at the top of that tower would actually be quite safe if you can (mentally) deal with the shaking. That sky tower though... yikes. If a "big one" hits the area anytime soon, out of all of the structures in the park, that red sky tower would be the one that worries me the most, even though it's not open. I wonder if the park is still performing daily/weekly/monthly inspections on that structure despite it being out of service for several years now. We all know rides are much better (and more accurately) designed and constructed now than when Ninja and Psyclone were back in the late '80s and early '90s. I wouldn't *want* to be on a ride during a quake, but I do think there are several worse places to be. This stuff interests me a lot. I guess being half way through my structural engineering degree is paying off...

I recently visited both parks literally back to back. Went to Carowinds on Friday and Saturday, then SFOG on Sunday and Monday. You said you wanted honest thoughts... SFOG is nice and definitely better than other SF parks, but I still think Carowinds is a vastly better park. It's more than just rides: Cedar Fair parks are just more well-run. The food lines are actually manageable, food service is always good and efficient, the food itself is better (ya'll have Harmony Hall!). Operations are better at Carowinds. You can pretty much expect all coasters to be running at Carowinds any day throughout the summer. I greatly prefer Carowinds and honestly almost every other Cedar Fair park to SFOG, expect maybe Dorney or CGA. However, I do think SFOG's ride line-up is more well-rounded. At Carowinds, there is a pretty large drop off after the "big 4." There are several bad coasters at Carowinds: Hurler, Vortex, Nighthawk, Cyclone... they're all mediocre-to-bad coasters. At SFOG, I don't think there is a bad coaster in the park. I enjoyed all of them and they have some excellent "underdogs" like Mind Bender, DDD, and Blue Hawk (I'm sure you read my post above). There are some slight advantages to SFOG, but overall I would much rather visit Carowinds again. It's just a less frustrating experience. Six Flags does some things well, but a lot of their operations and services just make you roll your eyes and say "I wish I were at Carowinds" lol. Sorry if that seemed negative. You asked for honest. I really do like both parks, but Carowinds is just so much less stressful to visit. And, well, Fury. Yeah. Fury... Luckily the parks aren't *that* far from each other! (at least from the perspective of us west-coast people)

I visited on the 26th for the first time since 2016. A few notes: 1. I was disappointed to find Batwing closed. I guess I got unlucky since it supposedly opened a couple days later. 2. I'm pretty sure the blue train on Superman is about to fall apart. Obviously that's not true, but it sure felt like that. 3. Firebird is trash. I despised Apocalypse when I rode it in 2016, but aside from Firebird's amazing new paint scheme and theme, the ride is still terrible. I really do love the color scheme though. I would so much rather watch the ride. It's gorgeous. Don't worry, I have a few positives to say as well: 1. Joker's Jinx is totally awesome. Why don't people talk about these rides more? I think it's my favorite coaster in the park to be honest. Front row is surprisingly intense and loads of fun. 2. Wild One is excellent. One of my favorite old-school, traditional woodies. 3. The clientele was much better this visit. When I came in 2016, I mostly wanted to leave because I found almost every person I came in contact with extremely irritating. Bouncing basketballs off of Roar's station, line jumping, several near-fights, terrible customer service, etc. This time was MUCH better around - both guests and employees. I'm still not a big fan of this park, unfortunately, but Joker's Jinx, Superman, and Wild One are definitely rides worth riding. Unless they get an amazing new coaster, RMC Roar, or something large, I likely won't be back for several years. But my 2019 visit was definitely more enjoyable than my 2016 one, so I'm glad the park is slowly improving.

After riding Twisted Timbers for the first time last weekend, I can confirm that Kings Dominion BY FAR has the best one-two punch of any park I have visited. Intimidator 305 is still my favorite coaster in the park (and favorite coaster of all time), but Timbers is also an excellent ride and a top-tier RMC in my opinion.

There are many parks in the Six Flags chain that could greatly benefit from a ride like Maxx Force (SFOG and SFNE come to mind). Hopefully they would develop custom layouts, but if Six Flags were to clone this ride I personally wouldn't mind at all. It's also nice to hear the ride is running fairly consistently and efficiently. Given the issues Gale Force and Merlin's Mayhem had, it's nice to see S&S have a major win. I hope the same for Steel Curtain.

Looks like a clone of Sierra Sidewinder, which is a GREAT thing. That coaster doesn't get enough credit and will work perfectly at Paulton's Park. I really like the name of the area too!

1. Cedar Point. Do I need to say any more? And I haven't even ridden Steel Vengeance yet. 2. Carowinds. With the addition of Copperhead Strike, this park has a SOLID top 4. 3. Kings Dominion. I305 and TT are probably the best one-two punch out there. Plus the park is beautiful. 4. Kings Island. A well-rounded lineup with some solid rides but lacks the big standout coaster. Until next year... 5. Knott's Berry Farm. My home park and most visited park. Has a solid ride collection and a great history. 6. California's Great America. A good top 3, but not much else besides that. Can't wait to see this park grow. 7. Dorney Park. Nothing "bad" at this park, but it is simply average across the board.

^OMG I totally forgot to mention Monster Mansion. YES! We rode it and loved it. Totally bizarre in every way. It didn't feel like we were in a Six Flags park. I can't believe I forgot to mention that. That was definitely a hidden gem of the trip!

Sorry for the double post, but I thought I'd give a quick little report on my first ever visit on Sunday and Monday. We arrived around mid-day on Sunday and, to be quite honest, my opinion of the park was quite low when we first arrived. Twisted Cyclone was stuck on the lift hill with no people anywhere near the ride, the line to get into the parking lot was quite long considering we arrived around 4:00 on a Sunday, food lines throughout the park were absolutely horrendous, and ride operations were terrible. We stayed for a few hours and left a little before closing, hoping the next day would be better. It definitely was. We spent a full day at the park on Monday and SFOG definitely redeemed itself. Twisted Cyclone was operating with two trains and decent dispatches (something we did NOT expect considering the state it was in the previous night). Goliath was pumping out trains left and right, and all the coasters were operating very well. The park was also considerably less crowded. I ended up riding my 200th coaster at the park, Batman. I wanted to make TC my 200th, but I didn't want to risk it closing later in the day for the sake of saving it for my 200th, so Batman it was. I really didn't care. I count my credits, but stuff like this doesn't matter much to me. Batman clones are AWESOME anyway! Overall, I don't think this park has a single bad coaster. GASM is a bit rough, and Blue Hawk has some jarring moments even with the vest restraints, but no coaster in the park made me scream in pain or want it to end. SFOG has a SOLID collection. Here is a brief rundown: 1. Goliath is an excellent B&M Hyper. It does run a bit rougher than Intimidator, Nitro, or Diamondback, but I think I prefer it to all of those. The mid-course helix is forceful, and the returning airtime hills over the park entrance are stellar. Usually I prefer the back row on hyper coasters, but the front seat (with a slightly loose lap bar too) is the place to be on this ride. 2. Twisted Cyclone pretty much met my expectations exactly. I rode Twisted Timbers a few days prior and knew that TC wouldn't top it, but I still very much enjoyed the ride. I also preferred the front seat on this ride and it warmed up throughout the day too. In terms of RMCs, I think the only one I prefer this to is Joker. I personally think Twisted Timbers, Twisted Colossus, Wicked Cyclone, and Railblazer are all better rides, but as we all know, even the worst RMC is still VERY good. And even though I never rode the original Cyclone, I can't imagine somebody not preferring this awesome RMC. 3. Dare Devil Dive and Mind Bender are two "underdogs" in the park IMO. I hear people rave about Mind Bender and I agree with all of it. The loops are forceful, the layout is unique, and there are even a few airtime pops to boot. With that being said, I think DDD surprised me the most. It is by far one of the smoothest roller coasters I have ever ridden, and the lap bars are extremely open and free. And despite the terrible capacity, they were running 4 cars and dispatch quickly, so I ended up riding it three times in total. 4. Georgia Scorcher is widely regarded as one of the best Stand-Ups and I definitely agree. I think, overall, I still prefer Riddler's Revenge due to its sheer size and wonderfully unique layout, but I would say Scorcher is the most "comfortable" Stand-Up. I am an advocate for the center two seats on B&M Stand-Ups (see my list of tips a few pages back), but I rode on an edge seat both times and still find this coaster incredibly smooth. Also love the color scheme. I hope they don't convert this to a Floorless. I think it is excellent as is. 5. Batman is, well, a Batman clone. It felt exactly the same as the other two I've ridden. That being said, I do LOVE these rides. They are very high up on my "Invert list." 6. Superman felt like the other Superman I've ridden (SFGAdv), however this one is... messy. To start, the ride never ran more than one train. It was open, then closed, then open, then closed all throughout my time here. Many of the seats on the train were closed off, and the operators had to MANUALLY lock and unlock several of the restraints (which, on a flying coaster, was a little unsettling). Overall I enjoyed the ride and its terrain interaction, but I really hope it becomes more reliable and efficient in the future. I only rode this once because trying to get on it (even with Flash Pass) was a royal pain in the a$$. 7. Blue Hawk was much better than I was expecting, thanks to those great restraints. The color scheme is wonderful and it ran quite smoothly, however there were a few moments on the ride where it threw you around quite a bit. I can see why Ninja was so hated. It's also very foreful, and those head choppers are CRAZY in the front row! 8. Scream Machine was fine. I didn't ride in a wheel seat and it wasn't smooth by any means, but I think I was also expecting it to be much rougher. It ran one train all day, so I rode once with my Flash Pass and didn't bother again. 9. Dahlonega Mine Train was cool. I wasn't expecting three lift hills. Felt like most other mine trains, although that final drop in the back seat was surpising! I guess that turned out longer than I was expecting, but I just thought I'd share. Sorry for no photos. I didn't take too many worth sharing since I was busy riding all day. To those who made it this far, thanks for reading! I overall love this park's coaster collection quite a bit. Throw in a Free Spin and maybe a launched coaster in the future and you have a top Six Flags park.

I just got back home from a multi-park trip on the East Coast, so my next park will be either Knott's or SFMM. However, we do have plans to go back to Northern California later this month and visit CGA and SFDK.

Holiday World swapped out their hydraulic restraints for ratcheting restraints. I’m guessing S&S gave parks the option to either add the lap seatbelts or switch out the shoulder harnesses. Supreme Scream at Knott’s also has ratcheting restraints now, but no lap belts.

Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia. An awesome B&M Hyper!

Superman - Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Over Georgia.

^Oh believe me, we didn’t! My whole family is enjoying the crap outta that ride. We’ve ridden it three times already!

Twisted Cyclone opened today! Rode it for the first time and it was awesome. Acrophobia still closed. Having a great day so far!

I did some perusing on Twitter and somebody said it closed yesterday (Saturday) while they were in line and has been closed since. I’m crossing my fingers, I was really looking forward to riding it. On another note, Dare Devil Dive exceeded my expectations! That is probably the smoothest roller coaster I have ever ridden.

What’s up with Twisted Cyclone? I’m here at the park today for the first time and it’s stuck on the lift hill. I’ll be back all day tomorrow. Anyone know what’s up? How long has it been closed?

I find there is a very particular technique to actually enjoy B&M Stand-Ups. I've ridden all of them except Scorcher (which I will actually be riding this weekend), so here is what I found: 1) Sit in one of the two middle seats. I have found the outer seats to be more "off-heartline" and rougher. 2) Sit in the front row if possible, but inner seats is more important IMO. 3) Bend your knees and squat slightly before the seats lock. Depending on how tall you are, you may have to bend a little or a lot. The end goal is to have your shoulders right at the top of the OTSR once the seats lock. This puts your head in the safest position. 4) Enjoy classic B&M goodness that doesn't quite exist the same way anymore. I know, I know. You shouldn't have to ride a certain coaster super defensively to enjoy it. I'm not even saying they're "great" rides. But to avoid nut-smashing and severe headbanging, this helps...

Would someone mind explaining how this coaster... works? Sometimes backwards and sometimes forwards? Not so much about the voting, but how the coaster physically 'transfers' between the two? It runs two trains, right? Switch track? Super quirky ride, but it looks like it has some good elements. Definitely a few moments on the ride that remind me of HangTime.

^Great! I'll be there on Wednesday and would like to get a ride on it, especially since Firehawk is now gone.

Six Flags America on the 26th, Kings Dominion on the 27th, Carowinds on the 28th and 29th, and SFOG on the 30th and 1st. I've already been to these parks except SFOG, but I'm still excited to get on Twisted Timbers and Copperhead Strike for the first time as well as experience SFOG for the first time!

I wonder what category Volcano falls in. The park clearly took good care of the ride and tried their best to keep it running as long as they could. Didn't they even revamp the controls and load/unload system in... 2015-ish? Then they just suddenly closed it (albeit after a season of being SBNO). I suppose it reached the end of its service life of only 20 years? The ride was extremely iconic for the park and the industry in general, and I'm sure removing it wasn't an easy decision, but I wonder what ultimately lead to that decision beyond general maintenance stuff. I mean, Cedar Fair pours loads of money into rides like Xcelerator, Dragster, I305, and their other problematic Intamins. I really wonder what pushed them over the edge for Volcano. Interesting topic!