bonsaiisuperstar

Just got back from media day. Banshee is awesome! It's pretty forceful! Not quite Raptor forceful but close! The second zero G roll gives weird side airtime. The second drop into the pretzel loop is intense!! GREAT THEMING! All the lights project Banshee images on the walls and ground! Fog everywhere! The station lights flicker and dim! Son of Beast has it's own tomb with an eternal flame! Another great media day from Cedar Fair! I also found Rob Decker's Marriot hotel room key on the ground and gave it back to him. He was quite grateful!! Had a good chat with him, i can't believe he remembered me from last year too!

Wow. That looks great!!

Everybody bundle up for tomorrow morning. Looks like it will be around 35 degrees at 4:30 AM and being on a coaster going 68 MPH might make that feel a bit more like 20 degrees

So what do you all think of getting a Team TPR picture at Banshee Media Day? Say...everyone meet in front of the Banshee 3D sign at a certain time? 9Am, 10AM, 11AM?I'm flexible. Not sure if everyone is staying until the end. Maybe take it after everyone has had a chance for some rides.

Since I am doing For A Kid Again for Banshee also, i feel have have already bled my friends,family, and co-workers (Donor list) dry. Time to roll up the sleeves a bit i suppose.

I have decided to participate in my first Coasting for Kids! I will be part of the King's Island team. Happy to help Club TPR and Kids all over who need a helping hand!

I don't know about you guys, but i'm about to jump out of my skin. I'm SO EXCITED for media day. Not just for Banshee, just to ride a coaster since it's been since October and this winter was as brutal as any i can remember. Twelve more days.....uuuggghhh.

From the Ki Twitter.

They added seat belts to Diamondback? That sucks bad.

It would be going about 95 mph into the helix.

I'm a huge fan of topper track. I just would prefer to keep it original as they do a great job of maintenance.

Check out the below video at 4:08. The drop into the helix has no trims as far as i can see. The trim there in 2013 seemed very strong.

I always felt it went a bit faster with the old skid brakes in the rain. I assume i am correct. This is dating back to my first rides in 1980 with the lap bars and me weighing 50lbs and all.

The (former) biggest, baddest, tallest, fastest wooden coaster in the world needs no topper track, updates or other such nonsense. It is a classic and arguably one of the most famous coasters in the world. It still holds the record for longest wooden coaster 30+ years later. I still think it has the best double helix in the business. It's famous for its night rides (October rides in the fog on wet track!). Yeah the trims feel unnatural and although It barely cracked the top 50 in the Mitch Hawker poll this year, it is quite a respectable for its age. Cedar Fair has done a great job rehabbing it recently. There was evidence of extensive work at the beginning of the 2013 season. It was smooth as butter in fact. Of course it cannot compete with the likes of modern woodies. It was built by hand with mathematics on paper, no computer aided stuff. Enjoy the ole Beast for what she is.

I found this on Reddit. It's title was "My friends and I rode Son of Beast two weeks before it closed forever. Their reactions are priceless" HAHAHAHAHA So true. I'm glad that thing is gone. It was menacing in size, but sucked big time.

It puts perspective on the massiveness of the entire coaster actually.

Anyone know the guys name to the right of Don? I assume he is a electrical engineer from B&M as he was running Gatekeeper manually on media Day.

B&M roar is good. Looks like it moves through the first loop with some speed too!

Do they melt down all that steel i wonder? And yes, Son of Beast did deserve it. A three minute car accident ride experience.

Wonder if they are testing tonight after dark? I heard a rumor.

You can't fire people these days because you will be sued. You have to let them go to rehab and other nonsense, then let them have their job back.

Arrow. They were habitual line steppers.

Happy Birthday KidTums! Pretty soon you will be riding the big coasters!

i305 is #1. I'm not trying to be a hater. Its great to have an accurate coaster poll but......even with idiot's guides, drag and drop ballots etc. etc. this poll can be summed up as "Wall of text hits you for 8000 damage...... you die". Mitch needs to team with a GUI designer and make a easier ballot for everyone. Seems like only about 500 people vote because they open it, start reading the wall of text and decide to not bother. It's an elitist coaster poll because of the low voter numbers, but way more accurate than Golden Ticket and others for sure. I did not bother filling one out last year. I filled them out this year but not while thinking it could be done easier with a proper user interface. So go ahead and flame me. I'm not trying to be a butthole. I just think we can make a better looking Mitch Hawker poll.

She's lit up like a Christmas tree! Also, load testing starts next week according to some sources.