DanM64

Agreed! Even though it has awful capacity, I always have a blast riding it. If you can balance yourself just right you can spin like crazy.

Six Flags Great America is my home park- 65 miles away- right around an hour drive or so. I'm also 1 hour 45 min from Indiana Bach, 3 hours from both the Wisconsin Dells an Michigan's Adventure, and 4 hours 15 minutes from Six Flags St. Louis, Cedar Point and Kings Island.

The "wing invert" seat design rumor sounds like it might be spot on. If I'm imagining it right, are we talking about a Vekoma GIB seating layout? EDIT- ^You beat me to it! A Deja Vu/GIB train is exactly came to my mind as well.

I didn't go to CP at all last year. In 2010 and 2011 I went during HalloWeekends, and for both trips Mean Streak was closed- they had some type of attraction in its place. I am about the only person around that doesn't hate Mean Streak. Does anybody have any idea if MS will be open during HW this year? I'm thinking of going for the first weekend of HW- Sept. 13-15.

I still hope to do Cedar Point for Halloweekends and get my GateKeeper credit. Already done: SFGAm Indiana Beach Kings Island Dollywood Michigan's Adventure

^This! The article probably meant to say SOB. I really hope Stengel was involved with this project. Old school B&M inverts are among my favorite coasters anywhere!

^I actually love the idea of a shooting dark ride with a western theme in Southwest Territory!

I think Shockwave is a great ride, but I wonder how much longer the ride will be able to last if parts have to be special made...can't imagine Six Flags wanting that expense forever. I wonder who makes the spare parts for The Whizzer at SFGA?? Keep in mind that Whizzer used to run 5 trains, now at most it runs 3. The other 2 trains were kept to donate parts to the 3 they do use.

^This x100!! I didn't find the restraints to be all that bad when I rode last year a few weeks after it opened. There is pressure on your legs in spots, but you'd feel the pressure no matter what restraints they used. The airtime is so insane even the B&M clamshell everybody seems to like would hurt! I wouldn't want them to change a thing! Skyrush is hands down the best steel coaster I have ever ridden (though I have yet to experience I305)

^^ & ^^^All the "junkpile" theming was removed from the Batman clones right when Six Flags started with the "Cleanest Theme Park in the World" stuff. I guess Shapiro decided the theming looked too "dirty." I really wish they'd bring it back. You're entering the station to a freaking storm drain, it's supposed to look dirty!!

^^Viper inherited the blue and yellow trains from Shockwave at SFGAm for parts when it was taken down. I agree that for SFMM having spare trains only to be used if one breaks is a bad investment. They can't even seem to keep the ones they have in running condition! You hit the nail on the head. Having spare trains from a dismantled coaster is completely different than paying for brand new ones to be only spares.

^^My mistake!! I was referring to the last page when the discussion was about a bunch of different coasters. ^I assume Full Throttle is short enough that a 3 train operation would likely do nothing do improve capacity, let alone that the entire thing would have to be redesigned to run 3 trains at once. In fact, in some cases you get better capacity with 2 trains than 3. Mantis at CP has 3 trains, but only runs 2, because they found that capacity with 2 was actually better than with 3. I know some parks order spare trains in case one has a problem, but we're talking about Six Flags! That would never happen.

^I know, I'm not talking about Full Throttle. I'm talking about Scream, RR, and every other coaster that runs 3 trains. Why would Six Flags, or Cedar Fair for that matter, invest in a spare train for one coaster when they don't do that with any other coaster they've had. I'm sure Full Throttle will get its train repaired and running as quickly as possible. Then again- maybe not! My point is that SFMM has a lot more room for improvement, and at least if they loaded trains more efficiently, it might not matter that RR had only 2 trains running instead of 3.

I was more or less kidding. I meant more of the difference between 2 and 3 operation as opposed to 1 and 2. Full Throttle would most definitely be running both trains if the one wasn't broken, which without any information you can't really blame SFMM for. As for the one train operation on other coasters- that's another story entirely!

Does it really make that much of a difference if they run multiple trains anyway? Running more trains won't improve capacity when they all just stack on the brake runs anyway.

I also love the back seat on "our" Demon. CGA is one of the parks I'd really like to visit in the next few years- if nothing else I's love to ride Eagle's Flight! Does the CGA Demon play the whole soundtrack? I have a clip of that song on my iPod.

^You are correct. The fasest (and tallest) invert is currently Wicked Twister at CP- 72mph and 215 feet. Knowing Cedar Fair, I wouuldn't at all be surprised if the KI invert comes in just below those stats, assuming the KI coaster is an invert, so they can keep the bragging rights in CP, just like they did with I305 and Leviathan for MF.

The "royal baby" video on that site has to be the best one yet!! It gets funnier every time I watch it! http://www.tomonews.net/2013/07/24/107113/

More wheels = more friction. Assuming equipment and tracks are properly maintained, and the train is handled properly, it shouldn't derail, either. I'd be more than happy to explain more, but the SFoT thread probably isn't the right place. Feel free to PM me if you'd like!

Ejector! Floater airtime or inversions?

That is exactly why I think NTAG and IR should be open by now, in my opinion. Since amusement rides aren't a necessity for people, those who don't feel safe riding right after an accident can just make the choice to not ride! I'm sure the vast majority of people would be in line riding today if it were to open.

I don't know why people can't understand that accidents happen. If there is a real safety problem with something, then yes, obviously it should be corrected. As bad as I feel about the NTAG incident and those invloved, it's time to move on. Riding coasters is probably the safest thing I do. There's a good reason you never hear of an incident like this- it's already safe! That Spanish train video is crazy- the train was going 105mph over the speed limit for that curve! It really shows you how far behind our transporation system is in the US, as 99% of our trains don't even go 105! Maybe the politicians and media worried about NTAG and creating federal amusement park guidelines should be more worried about why our transportation system, and other things, are so far behind the rest of the world?

That video is HILARIOUS!! Unless they got the animation done for free, they paid too much.

The endings of Magnum and Phantom's Revenge are fantastic! Airtime everywhere!! The ending on the S:UF is horrible. After the pretzel loop those things do nothing.