ArgoZ

X2. Busch Gardens Tampa:

Thanks for the tip. Looking forward to riding the famous Coaster. First time in Vancouver, so spending a few days around the city pre cruise. We are actually driving from Calgary and going to ride the Pipe coaster at Revelstoke too!

Looks like 2017 might be a quiet year for me. Only confirmed park so far is Playland @PNE in Vancouver, prior to an Alaskan Cruise vacation. Other thoughts: Cedar Point if the new Mean Streak opens. Luna Park during a New York visit. Hershey Park for a long weekend.

I used to make fun of the stereotypical cruise ship crowd. You know, old people dressed up for supper, then gambling. Why would anyone who's younger and fun want to be around them? Then I cruised Disney and Royal Caribbean. Nothing could be further from what I imagined. Days were packed with fun, even on sea days. Awesome shows, water slides, and eventful dinners, were the norm. Waking up at a new port or country to explore after traveling while we slept was so cool. I now love cruising and currently have a Celebrity Alaska trip booked for June. For your first cruise, I would recommend the Disney Dream for a 4 night trip to the Bahamas and Castaway Cay. This is a great introduction to the industry, while still relatively affordable, considering the choice.

I like Montu better than Banshee. The way it dives into the trenches and how it never lets up. The awesome floater air, back row on Diamondback makes for a better ride than Mako. Don't underestimate Kraken (my favorite floor less) and Sheikra, the best Dive machine.

I'm not losing any sleep over the thought parks will first consult the Golden Ticket Awards when making capital decisions. Parks buy what brings people to the park, what people ride, and what makes people return. They also buy something that is reliable and easy to maintain. B&M is pretty good at this right now. Companies such as RMC are up and coming, and I'm sure as they continue to master their great attractions and more people ride current ones, you will see more listed highly in the polls. I agree with everything you said, no park is going to simply consult the awards. However, this is a gathering of industry executives that highly influence and make these decisions. Many do not even ride coasters anymore. It's all about ROI and the reasons you listed. Everything you mentioned is why we will see more "B&M Intimidators" instead of "Intamin Intimidators", if you will. The Golden Tickets are one part of that equation and reflect it well.

To become a voter, you basically just have to hand in your résumé of park visiting experience. They are always looking for more international voters, if anyone is interested. I decided to join a few years ago, as I feel if more true enthusiasts voted, the results would modestly improve. I think the wood coasters are much improved and solid selections. Not including SkyRush honestly ticked me off. Hopefully I get included next year, but it's up to them. Awards like safety, publishers picks, Park of the Year (Cedar Point pity award) and etc are handed out how they see fit. I see it as a way to congratulate each other.

I contacted Tim Baldwin to inquire about the absence of SkyRush (my #1 steel coaster) in the drop down selection menu of best coasters. He informed me that it was mistakingly left off the list however, I could still write in the selection and what place I would put it in. Obviously, no one is going to take the time to do that, so I decided to withdraw from this years voting due to the inaccuracy of an already questionable poll. Carowinds Intimidator in the top 10, while I305 isn't? That's a disgrace and a victim of ridership numbers. I hope parks don't think they should build more boring B&Ms instead of awesome 305's, that's my fear with these awards. While I do enjoy voting, I feel there is a need for a remodel. It's become a tired and repeated. There should be amusement and theme park awards (Disney is a completely different experience than Cedar Point). Best park food and sit down food (Epcot). I can understand Kings Island winning best Kids zone in a hypothetical amusement park category, but a theme park like Magic Kingdom BLOWS it away as the whole park is almost for kids, big kids too. I guess what I saying is Disney gets shafted. I'm not even a huge Disney fan, but I know quality.

The article has since corrected the value to $780 million.

The best time for the two mountain coasters in Pigeon Forge is at night! Be warned though, if you go right after Dollywood closes, there is usually a huge line. The coaster at Ober Gatlinburg is slow and uneventful, the worst one I have been on.

It's not up to Intamin to build a ride at the parks, it's up to Six Flags to build a ride at their parks. Intamin just can't go in and build a ride when they want to, you know! True, I apologize for wording that wrong. I should have stated that I was surprised various North American parks didn't hire Intamin to build more pre-fabs, due to the success of El-Toro.

I've often wondered this myself. The coaster is near perfection and has been an almost unique ride for 10 years. Aside from a few models overseas, I am surprised Intamin didn't plop similar pre-fab clones of El Toro, all over America at various Six Flags.

I would need more info on your plans to offer the best recommendations. When I travel, I make sure to see the country and cities, as well as plan for the theme parks. In London, I would recommend a bike tour. You can travel far and see so much in a day with a guide. Thorpe park is ok, worth a visit of course. Alton Towers is my fav England park. Tucked away in the middle of nowhere, the drive there was our first part of fun for the day. It's a beautiful park to walk around too. From London, your a short 2hrs+ Eurostar ride from France. A visit to Disney and then touring Paris appeals to most women I would say. It's a bit more of an adventure to get to Europa Park, 3 separate train rides from Paris and then taxi or Bus, but it's the best park in Europe by far, nestled in one if the nicest, quaint towns (Rust) that I have ever been to. After that, if you base yourself around Frankfurt, you can easily make day trips to Holiday Park (Europe's best coaster), Phantaisaland and Hyde Park. The city of Cologne (Phantaisaland) is very cool, especially the gothic church.

Or the Apex of the lift hill could be increased to enable the train to match the speed it currently reaches on the drop. Transforming the Dolly humps into a higher, fast cable, single lift hill, might be a better ride for all we know.

Speaking of booze in Tampa, I would highly recommend Cigar City Brewing (CCB). The brewery, which has tours and tasting and Brew Pub are relatively close to Busch Gardens. Puppies Breath Porter is my fav!

I've done a very similar road trip. The driving will tire you and your craming a lot in. Personally I would end the trip in St. Louis and spend more time at each destination, but you traveled far, I get it. I think you are not spending enough time in San Antonio though. Seaworld and especially Schlitterbahn (world's best water park) are awesome. The Alamo and River Walk are a nice day/evening also. JFK is very good, you only need half a day MAX. I am a bit of a history buff and only spent 3 hrs there, but it was fantastic. I have never pre bought a Flash Pass / Fast Lane and have never seen them sell out. I would recommend waiting until you enter the park before deciding. SF sells them all day. St. Louis has a very nice Zoo. Ted Drews Frozen Custurd is an American tradition. The Archway is quite disappointing, but nice to look at anyway. The city has great baseball fans and an eye catching stadium. Your driving right past Kings Island, one of the better Cedar Fair parks. Top of my head stuff.

Diamondback is my favorite hyper. The back row floating airtime on the drop and subsequent hills is so awesome. You are exciting me for my Labor Day weekend trip to Seaworld.

My opinion is that there may be a good variety of coasters in the West, but there is not a lot of high quality ones. Twisted Colossus is great, but one of my least favorite RMC's. X2 is an awesome ride, but it's not for everyone. Nothing else stands out to me, although I do love rides on Matterhorn. Wood: 1. El Toro 2. Lightning Rod 3. Pheonix 4. Outlaw Run 5. Boulder Dash 6. Voyage 7. Goliath 8. Hades 9. Beast 10 Ravine Flyer II Steel: 1. SkyRush 2. Superman The Ride - SFNE 3. Intimidator 305 4. Top Thrill Dragster 5. Iron Rattler 6. Wicked Cyclone 7. Diamondback 8. Expedition G-Force 9. Fury 325 10. X2

^ Awesome post! I loved how you illustrated your perseverance and it paid off. Crazy, what some people have to do to ride this new coaster. At least for now, you can brag (like me), that you've rode it, LOL. Welcome to the brotherhood.

It means you can walk to the entrance, instead of taking the tram. However, the walk to the tram in your lot is often shorter than the walk from preferred parking to the gate. Preferred helps if you frequently visit your car, don't want to wait 10 minutes for a tram at park closing, or want to give more money to Dollywood.

I am not so sure that's the best advice at your age, LOL. You can't have to many years left at 101! Me. Once it was officially announced as "open", I took the chance and drove 12h to visit the area. Even though it suffered extended downtime on the two days we visited, I got two rides in on what became my #2 woodie. It is that awesome!

Awesome vacation! Your family sure did it right with an added cruise. I will always remember my first trip to DW. Special memories. I like the Everest picture. Now, you have to come back and do all the Universal and Busch parks.

Excellent information. The sensors/computer rumours seem to be more likely then. I wonder what the sensors are picking up though. Could this all be related to the latest recall? I know we should all be patient and ride it when ready, but I find the subject interesting, oh and I got to ride it! HA!!

As I mentioned earlier, my family arrived Thursday to find the ride closed until 8:30pm, where it opened for the night. Today it was running at least until we left at 2pm, however when we returned around 6pm, signs were up claiming "extended commissioning" and it will be closed for the rest of the day. The coaster is not reliable enough to count on riding on only one day attendance, however if you were in the area for a few days, you will probably ride it. They are running two trains. Dispatch times are very slow though. It's hard to tell if it's on purpose, but I got a hunch it is. I noticed a ride mechanic crew always on hand. Frustating for everyone involved, especially because it's such an awesome ride. I am really curious what is causing all the sudden down time. Overheating and the subsequent damage sounds like the most logical theory. I feel very lucky we got to ride twice and at night, but coasters should not be this hit or miss, hopefully they figure it out. No night rides for me tonight.

This week I have rode notable coasters such as The Voyage, Lightning Run, Storm Chaser and Kentucky Rumbler. Yesterday I rode Lightning Rod, the greatest coaster I have rode in a few years.