2012jarrett

I'd like to see a compact giga coaster in the spot where Gwazi is now. Something like the prefab giga designs RCT2 came with where it's just a mess of turns and airtime hills. I could see B&M pulling this off and it looking really nice. The issue with a giga is that there's really not much they could theme it to. The only aggressive African animals I can think of would be the tiger (now that Gwazi's gone) and rhino (while they have Rhino Rally, there is Falcon's Fury and SheiKra), maybe the wildebeest. I think the tiger would be the best option, but it still doesn't scream "giga" to me in my opinion. But still, paint the track orange with teal supports as a Gwazi tribute and I could see it working well.

Is it too late to count out the RMC rehab for Gwazi? I always thought that the only issue that would prevent that would be lack of maintenance, and I want to say they've been maintaining the Tiger side, though I could very well be wrong. Restoring Gwazi to more than its former glory with RMC iron horse track and the like would be great. Paint the rails the respective color of the track (yellow rails on Lion, blue rails on Tiger) and get Rocky Mountain or Gerstlauer to make trains and it'll be good as new AND a people eater! Maybe even add a high-speed barrel roll/upside-down high five element on the two airtime hops where the trains intersect each other. I've not ridden it (I get to go through such a painful rite of passage to the online coaster community in a couple days) but it looks beautiful on Google Streetview and it'd be unfortunate to have to tear something that looks that pretty down. That being said, how painful is it compared to Son of Beast, Mean Streak, The Beast, and Thunderhead? Just out of curiosity. My dad wants to know because he doesn't like rough rides and I'm honestly wondering the same thing.

^^^ That dive loop was big before but those pictures made me realize the shear scale of this thing! I thought it was going to be WAY smaller! That thing's HUGE, and I didn't realize how huge until I saw that panorama! And that really close footchopper with the ground needs some gravestones around it. That would look epic! REALLY hoping to be able to make it down there for media/opening day!

Has it been established what kind of restraints this has yet? The concept art looks like normal LSM coaster restraints (Maverick, Cheetah Hunt, ect.) but I wonder if those restraints would work well for that. They absorb vertical and lateral Gs well but 1 g of forward acceleration? I really think that might put too much stress on them to keep using that foam material (though it might be stronger than I think), could we be looking at I-305-esque harnesses here? The thing with this is that if it tilts you down that much, you'd want restraints like a flyer IMO. Intamin has yet to make anything flyer-like if I'm correct. Maybe they'll stick with the LSM restraints like they have on zacspins if I'm correct. Though those loose restraints + looking straight down 330 feet = HOLY CRAP!!!!!

I have a few: *Floaty or Forceful? *Kings Island or Kings Dominion *Above the tracks (traditional coaster), below the tracks (invert), or beside the tracks (wing coaster)? *Six Flags: East Coast vs. West Coast (SFGAdv or SFMM) *Iron Horse or Topper Track? *LA Area (Disneyland, SFMM, and KBF, Universal) vs. Orlando (Universal, WDW, Fun Spot Orlando) *Tokyo Disneysea or Epcot? *Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach? *Would you rather ride Cannonball Loop at Action Park or Son of Beast at Kings Island? Not sure if any of those have been done before, but those are a few.

That dive loop... That looks drastically different from the shaping they've been using on some of their newer ones that are supposedly forceless. There's enough of a height discrepancy between the top of the drop and the dive loop combined with how tight it is at the top to safely assume that this WILL be forceful! Kings Island really needs another forceful coaster to join Vortex and Flight of Fear, and I think this'll be it! I really can't wait to go ride this thing for myself! Hopefully I'll be able to make this my first media day!

If Cedar Point were a pickle, what kind of pickle would it be?

Don't remind me, I get to get on this thing next year probably... Anybody recommend a specific pain reliever? Tylenol? Ibuprofen? Aspirin?

Yeah, you should probably tamper that expectation quite a bit or expect a massive disappointment. They may both be Intamin multi-launch rides, but Cheetah Hunt isn't in the same stratosphere as Maverick.... Yeah, don't know what led you to believe that Cheetah Hunt was on the same level as Maverick. Cheetah Hunt is a family-launched coaster and a very good one at that. You will still have a lot of fun riding it, but you need to lower your expectations for it. The thing is it doesn't look intense, it looks fun. I like fun rides more than intense rides, usually. Looki g at some of the rides in my top 10 (Intimidator, Millie, GateKeeper) you can see good examples of this. Cheetah Hin looks like Intamin's hardware on B&M floatiness that I love in instances like that. The creeping through the wind catcher looks sick, the drop off the wind catcher looks sick, the s-curves in the canyon look fun, and the entry into the final brakes is just...wrong! I like a good, long ride that sustains its speed nicely, and that's why I think Cheetah Hunt looks great. I admit my taste in rides looks different from that of other enthusiasts (I think I might be one of very few people to have GateKeeper, Wild Eagle, or Intimidator in my top 10. I might be disappointed, but it honestly looks like my type of ride. Falcon's Fury is going to be beautiful! The colors remind me of Knotts Windseeker a bit.

I heard similar speculation and knowing how important it is, I could see them doing that. Maybe that 3D glass stuff I think they use in the Nintendo 3DS? It sounds like it would look realistic.

I didn't say it would be a good move on their part, I said I would have liked to see it. You have a point about the fact that the parks are open and it speaks volumes. I'd just like to see a documentary/program put out by Seaworld before picking a side. The thing the bothered me the most was how they took some of the whales away from their mothers too early. In addition to how it allegedly emotionally scarred the mothers and babies, I'd honestly find it more interesting to see a family of whales performing instead of a fabricated pod. I'm no marine biologist but if they could perform as a family I bet it would cut down on the fighting seen on the program and make it a bitter comfortable for the whales. Not trying to start a fight and I admit I don't know as much about the topic as I'd like to, this is just assuming Blackfish was correct. I'm allegedly going to BGT next week, if it rains we're probably going to Seaworld instead. I'd like to see one of these shows and learn more about them. It's definitely a topic I'd like to be more informed on.

I practically look at that webcam habitually and I can see when most things go up. I feel like they're working 100% of the time they're supposed to be in the day, but some of it isn't on ride construction. I wonder what the other things they do that aren't that visible on the webcam are. Probably putting bolts in and the like, but I wonder if that's all it is. It'd be cool if they could get the loop up tomorrow with it being the last weekend of the season (I think). Most people will envision that loop, dive loop, and lift when they think of Banshee, and having the "iconic" part of the ride up to close out the season and give a nice sneak peak at the next season would be cool. I'd love for the park to end the season sending the message "Look at this big thing. This Action Zone view has changed. Come back next season to ride it. She's ready for you in 2014." I can't wait!

I saw that and didn't make a final opinion because I didn't hear Seaworld's point of view of the story. A lot of the stuff they said seemed legit to various degrees but I saw that Seaworld had declined an interview for the show, and I wish they hadn't. It's a topic I don't know much about that I'd like to, but there's so many different viewpoints it's hard to get a clear message. I find it interesting, though. I'd definitely like to get more informed on it. Though if it really is detrimental to the orcas and can psychologically scar them (strong arguments for both sides, not sure who to side with) I think the best solution would be to release all of Seaworld's orcas and use the existing structures for non-releasable ones in a learning exhibit like Cheetah Run. Again, not sure if it's the cause of these accidents, but if it is, I think this would be a fair solution. That's just me, though. Like I said, I'm not as well informed on the topic as I'd like to be.

Cedar Fair. Hands down. My bottom three least favorite parks from best to worst: 1. Kings Island- Lackluster park, walk away feeling disappointed each time, their only good coasters aren't very reridable unless you go at night, and then are either Team Diamondback or Team Beast (I'm personally Team Beast. Just because you rank one ride over the other doesn't mean you think it's also the better night ride). Luckily, the two debated best night rides are about to be joined by Team Banshee (I at least expect to go from Team Beast to Team Banshee) so I expect it to shoot up at least two spaces in my park countdown after next year. 2. Carowinds- This is past the threshold where My enjoyment of the experience becomes noticeably obstructed by the crappiness of the park. I can sometimes leave Kings Island happy, other times I can't. I can never leave a park below here happy. Carowinds has two good coasters, and only one of them breaks my top 10 because it's unique and really reridable (Timmy!). The other good one is my favorite invert, Afterbun, which I like but not enough for it to be top 10 like I expect Banshee be when it almost certainly steals this title. Kind Island at least ha a few decent backup coasters behind their flagships (FoF, Flight Deck, and Adventure Express <3), Carowinds has two decent flagships, a horrible flagship (Nighthawk, ew!), an the rest is poo. Not to mention that all of the park bar Carolina Boardwalk is ew. I do enjoy Cyclone, though, I have to admit. It's my second favorite Arrow looper only to Corkscrew. Hideous park, that giga coaster has to be at least a Golden Ticketer to save this sorry excuse for a park. 3. SIX FLAGS OVER GEORGIA- This park is NASTY. It's hotter than heck, there's no shade, awful rides, rude employees, my least favorite roller coaster (Ninja <\3 , that's the only way I can describe how bad it is. That thing MIGHT be the only coaster out there not worth the credit.), outrageous prices (my 10 year old sister just about got heatstroke and they still charged us five dollars for bottled water and refused to help any other way!), and for some reason when someone puked on Ninja and the ride ops needed HAZ MAT suits to clean it! I had been on Diamondback when someone threw up on it and they still normally dispatched the train as opposed to the 15-minute Ninja downtime! They have a meh B&M hyper to save it and that's it. Only good thing I have to say about it is the ride team on Goliath. We were there the day tragedy struck when someone had a heart attack and passed away on it and they handled it extremely well. When we got there after it reopened the cattlepens were full when we got in line and got on in 45 minutes. I'll spare you hearing about my favorite park list, but at the top is Cedar Point. Stellar flagships, great background rides, great location, great employees, the park isn't exactly themed but it still has an ambiance to it that makes it fun. The Dragster midway, for instance, doesn't have much theming bar Dragster's placemaking, but walking down that stretch with colorful track twisting all around you with Dragster in the center of it all feels great. GateKeeper midway feels great because it's on the beach and it's nice and open with GateKeeper dominating the area, the park entrance isn't even that well themed but Raptor and GateKeeper (blue and green, both of the park's colors), that old carousel, and colorful skyride buggies flying overhead is the park's way of leaning in your ear and telling you "YOU'RE AT CEDAR POINT AFTER DRIVING THREE HOURS THROUGH NOTHING!!!!!" And the back half of the park near Maverick has some rustic theming, and the Gemini midway with Gemini, Jr. Gemini, and Magnum towering over it currently feels like you took a time machine and are visiting a park in the 80's, and I expect the renovation to not kill that but update it, making the experience a bit more intentional. And I've not actually been in Camp Snoopy except to credit whore Woodstock Express but it looked like it was nicer than Kings Island's kids area, like how it's actually themed. So it's not exactly theming but just simple things that make the park just as nice to visit as a themed park like BGW or Dollywood but with more rides. And the staff is really friendly. We went in May and lake effect wind shut down everything so we went to guest services for some possible compensation and we got 50% off our next visit. That park is really special, I'm very happy to potentially there next year. So sorry for the lengthy post but that's my exact amount of experience. Two less-than-favorable Cedar Fair parks (at least one of which about to become a bit more desirable, potentially both), and one Six Flags park that was, in my honest opinion, foul, but with nothing to compare it to and no idea where it ranks with other Six Flags parks. In addition to that, Cedar Fair's baby that they pump big buck into and try to make its absolute best. Not sure if I'm that qualified to talk about this with my lopsided experience with the two but that's my opinion. I also went to Kings Dominion but that got ruined by rain around midday, but I did get on Anaconda, I-305, Volcano, and Flight of Fear. (if you're curious, I thought it was middle of the road. Park operations sucked but Congo was really well themed and I-305 is currently in my top 5 and Volcano was in the lower 5 for quite some time, though Anaconda is my least favorite Arrow. I didn't get a good visit but I left wanting more, particularly the Dominator credit since I haven't ridden a floorless.) Again, I'm a Cedar Fair person, I gave you everything you need to gauge the accuracy of what I know about both chains, take it as you will.

*In line for Maverick once, a friend of mine and I made up a very long elaborate handshake that we still do to this day. *I usually try to meet new people around me if they're friendly. We usually talk about our respective home parks. *I was in this long Flight of Fear queue once and everybody in the indoor cattlepen was goofing off. Random cheering, slow claps, I started a wave, fun stuff. *I make music videos of my park visits, so sometimes I go over footage I've taken. *Whine about how hot it is and how there's no decent shade and how loud the ride hardware is. (Dragster queue line only)

How bad was it storming? They definitely can't operate in lightning, but I was wondering if Florida gets day long rainouts like we get here in Ohio sometimes. I'm honestly debating on canceling now. I'd rather not go at all than go and not get on the coasters. Trying to talk my parents (who spent the hotel points and miles and such) into letting me reimburse them so I don't get dragged onto a plane (I HATE flying and this might be the only thing that could motivate me onto a plane that isn't professional, I actually temporarily called this trip off in the summer after flying to Mexico for vacation and finding out just how scary it is) for nothing. Well it was raining badly and very windy. However, everything was still open. The park was still packed for a rainy day so we still had use quick queue for the rides. I wouldn't cancel your plans, the park like other Florida parks are used to getting showers. I would just go to the park regardless of what the weather is. You might end up with a empty park and coasters are fun in the rain. Plus BGT is worth it. Thanks! I'd love to ride Cheetah Hunt, especially in the rain! We got launched into a sprinkle on Maverick in 2011 and it rocked, and with me expecting Cheetah Hunt to top Maverick in the top 10 that would be epic! And when we went to Dollywood last year, we roll into Pigeon Forge, it's raining buckets, buckets let up, we walk on Wild Eagle! Hoping for a situation like that! Thanks! And even if we get lightninged out, a plane full of people still get to see a fat kid freak out all the way to Florida! I'm dreading the flight! So we should likely be fine? Sorry for all the questions, it's just that 2 years and 5 pounds of pretzels (DON'T ask... ) have lead up to this trip for me and I'd like to know how it rains in that state.

Define too heavy, like a total downpour? And how long does lightning close the rides? How bad was it storming? They definitely can't operate in lightning, but I was wondering if Florida gets day long rainouts like we get here in Ohio sometimes. I'm honestly debating on canceling now. I'd rather not go at all than go and not get on the coasters. Trying to talk my parents (who spent the hotel points and miles and such) into letting me reimburse them so I don't get dragged onto a plane (I HATE flying and this might be the only thing that could motivate me onto a plane that isn't professional, I actually temporarily called this trip off in the summer after flying to Mexico for vacation and finding out just how scary it is) for nothing. No offense but that seems a silly reason to cancel a trip, parks located in these areas are used to the weather and know how to deal with it and so are usually pretty good at re-opening rides, if you are going to base a trip on whether or not it might rain or a storm goes over for a while there are lots of parks you could never visit. Hong Kong, Japan, Korea & Singapore are all places where the weather forecast reads 50% chance of storms or rain all summer long, having lived here I can tell you half the time that doesn't happen or if it does its very rarely all day. Pretty much for most of august I carry an umbrella in my backpack because the forecasters say 50% chance of storms despite the fact its sunny and 32C out. Some of my best days have been on days where there is rain or snow since the bigger rides are closed people leave early and then when they re-opened in the evening for a few hours it's empty. I almost didn't go to tokyo disneyland because of heavy snow meant thunder mountain, splash mountain, autopia and most of fantasyland was closed but in the end I went, all the rides except space mountain and the new monsters inc were walk on and Disney managed to get the outdoor rides open in the late afternoon. I got a day at Tokyo Disney where rides were walk-on due to bad weather and I really doubt no matter how many times I go back i'll ever get a walk-on day at tokyo disney again. Except Fuji Q.... Never go there unless the forecast is perfect blue skies and 0 wind. Thanks! I just wanted to know what the patterns were like in terms of on/off rain. In Ohio you can get downpours all day and it would ruin your trip to Kings Island in a heartbeat. Sounds like Charleston, SC, where it just stays wet and nasty for most of the day with a few sprinkles and a thunderstorm that last thirty minutes or so when it gets nasty. The reason I'd rather not go if I can't ride the rides is flying. I have four major fears that everybody in my personal life knows; bees/wasps/hornets, tight enclosed spaces, heights, and being buried alive. Planes basically combine heights and claustrophobia and I hate them. I'm never going on another unless I absolutely have to. It sounds like the worst worry we have is a wet nasty day of riding walk ons and a lightning closure or two. Thanks so much for the help!

Wasn't Time Machine a sit down? I unfortunately haven't ridden one but I'm going to Florida soon and I'll probably get Hulk or Kumba.

How bad was it storming? They definitely can't operate in lightning, but I was wondering if Florida gets day long rainouts like we get here in Ohio sometimes. I'm honestly debating on canceling now. I'd rather not go at all than go and not get on the coasters. Trying to talk my parents (who spent the hotel points and miles and such) into letting me reimburse them so I don't get dragged onto a plane (I HATE flying and this might be the only thing that could motivate me onto a plane that isn't professional, I actually temporarily called this trip off in the summer after flying to Mexico for vacation and finding out just how scary it is) for nothing.

So weather sources conveniently expect a rainout the day we go to the park, and while I'd rather not go than go and not get on Cheetah Hunt, it's set in stone for the most part. We're less than ten days out too. What's the rain policy for BGT? Accuweather says a 65% chance of .31 inches of rain, which sounds like a light mist. Can they run the rides in that? I can't imagine Cheetah Hunt's magnetic equipment unable to run in that. And anybody going to the park soon, just shoot me a PM if you want to meet up! And I might try Stanley Falls, but Busch's other flume at BGW is my favorite flume as of now, so I'm sure BGT's is pretty nice. It looks very tropical-y from the pictures I saw. It's like BGW's, a little location goes a long way.

I'd like to participate! I like t-shirts, hats, key rings, mugs (preferably large), and especially Coasterdynamix models. Do we have to mail it personally or can we just put in our assigned shipping address on an online store? Because if I get park merchandise for someone the internet's the only place you can around that time. And does it have to be coaster related or can it be anything? (As in, practical items or trinkets or ugly Christmas sweaters. Not getting into specifics or examples, but I can tell that this could escalate quickly if we could just mail anything we want! ) Looking forward to this! I love Secret Santas! EDIT: This isn't just theme park things? Okay, umm, other things I like are photography (I've needed a tripod for a while if there's one in that price range), models and other building/engineering-y things, I wear a lot of hats and sweaters (I'm an XL if you decide to get me a sweater or t-shirt, by the way), but my number one interest is roller coasters. I'm a busy college student, I don't have time to be into multiple things.

I ate at Red's Hall of Fame with my cousin, her husband, and my sister and I was the one who paid, it wasn't outrageous at all. Forget the exact number, but it was just like eating out at a chain sit-down restaurant. I had the hot dog and it was really good, and so are their homemade chips!

Is this over now? I'm assuming it's over at the end of today because there hasn't been a post about it. This one was based on a true story and I was genuinely upset over it. Looking back, I didn't need those Firechaser Express construction photos and it brought my count for celebrities I've seen up to 7.

I hear the area around the park isn't that nice but are there any good places to eat near BGT? I'm looking for mostly seafood and the opportunity to try key lime pie in Florida (I make it myself at home with my own recipe but I'd like to see how it stacks up to the real thing), and any other good Florida food. If you're going to Carowinds to ride their new giga in 2015, there's a good Mexican place called Azteca near the park that has some of the best shrimp enchiladas I've ever had and you can have guacamole made tableside and pick what you want in it. I've both eaten there and had my dad go out and bring it back to the hotel and my family ate it in the courtyard gazebo overlooking the pool at night and it was fab. There's also a German place called Waldhorn in the area that has amazing schnitzel and gulaschuppe. And just in case you don't want pancakes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, midnight "I can't sleep, to heck with it" snack, and afternoon snack at a pancake house in Pigeon Forge, there's a quite a few places around the park that are definitely worth trying. Huck Finn's Catfish has some pretty good fried seafood, especially in such an area where not much fresh seafood is available. I loved the catfish I had. There's thousands around the Smoky Mountains, but my favorite pancake house is Ye Olde Pancake Pantry. I had some pretty good peanut butter and chocolate pancakes there. Calhoun's has really good barbecue, but for some reason they felt the need to explain to me that the ribs I was about to order had bones in them. And as pricey as it is, if you have the time, I recommend doing Dixie Stampede. In addition to the show being incredible, the food is great. I loved the barbecue chicken I was served (I don't usually like barbecue chicken!) as well as the vegetable soup. And it isn't really local, but the Famous Dave's at Cedar Point's marina (not sure if it counts as outside of a park, but you need a reentry stamp to leave the park like that) is my favorite place to eat when visiting Cedar Point because while there are other Famous Dave's around, this one's extremely unique due to its location. In addition to having the best barbecue I've ever had, you can get an incredible view of either Raptor/Blue Streak/GateKeeper or one of Millennium Force and the back of the park across the marina while you eat and watch the boats go in and out on Lake Erie. Only thing I don't like about it is that the walkway leading to the door has no railing to keep you from falling into the lake, and I'm a big klutz. Both of the following shots were taken from that Famous Dave's. So yeah, that view + the best barbecue in the world. Why eat anywhere else? Sorry for the long post; I'm a bit of a foodie.

I didn't say Sling Shot was leaving or that it wasn't popular. It's a great moneymaker, just not one I want to do. I hate heights! XD I meant I think it's good for Kings Island and Cedar Fair and they shouldn't take a wrecking ball to it, just move it somewhere else in the park so they can undo the lockin in that Paramount did that's blocked them off from the rest of the land the park owns. I could see a round path winding around under Banshee's drop connecting Action Zone to X-Base. I'm watching them put the dive loop up right now and HOLY CRAP it's big! I take back what I said about it looking stupid, that's going to look great with the train storming through it, there's no way it doesn't suck all the blood out of your head. I'm thinking something like Afterburn's Immelmann. And I got my driver's license a few hours ago! It's official, this'll be the first coaster I drive to!