DanM64

Upcharges like sky coasters, games, and go karts are a noticable portion of a park's income. Would you rather pay more to get into the park?

Kingda Ka has this ability as well. I believe the PLC button for it says "Launch Boost Enable" I'd love to ride either one with that turned on! You'd get some nice air on the top hat! I believe they used it on KK for TPR once, as seen in this video: Maybe Robb or members that were riding when this pov was filmed can confirm?

One of the yellow cars seemed to spin a good deal slower than the rest, and the purple was the craziest. I would guess the cars will all be rehabbed which would correct that problem. I took tons of rides on it at SFGAm being that it's my home park, and never once had one with heavy trims, and it always spun like crazy no matter how you distributed your weight, Laura's observation is definitely the norm. It's a Reverchon all the way! I'll be stopping at SFA for my first visit ever in May, I'm looking forward to it! Hopefully Cajun is up and running by then. It had horrendous capacity, but it really was a blast to ride!

I received my packaged on Monday. Sorry it took so long to post a pic! Thanks so much, Kara!! You completely nailed it! The shirt fits perfectly, and the popcorn is the perfect compliment for these lovely -10° nights we've been having in Chicagoland this week. I'll be getting lots of movie watching in this weekend! Happy ChrisHanKwanSivus!!

The CityWalk revamp should be awesome! I'm always a fan of hot dog and pizza places! Hopefully I can get back out to Orlando in the next few years and check it out.

LOL!!! I was your "Secret Santa" this year. I hope you enjoyed the gifts. Merry ChrisHanKwanSivus to you and everyone else!!

I will be the first to admit both are "one trick ponies". They also happen to be 2 of my favorite coasters! That launch is so insane I don't really mind there's nothing else after the top hat. Of course, if somehow both parks decided to add to the ride course I would have NO complaints!! I agree that both are far better in the front row. I'm one of the few that prefers KK to TTD. TTD is MUCH closer for me to ride (4 hour drive vs 13), a way cooler theme since I'm a car guy, and the lap bars are WAY better than the OTSR's, but I think KK has a more powerful launch, you seem to stay at the top of the top hat longer, and the "bouns hill" is cooler than TTD's flat brake run. I fully expected KK to have the launch in stages or bursts as some of you mentioned you felt. When I rode, it was the very first day it opened after the very significant downtime in 2009. They completely replaced the launch engine. From the rumors I heard (take them for what you will) the launch cable incident in 2005 actually caused pretty sever engine damage. When it opened back up, it did indeed have a burst launch where you would feel a few distinct power surges. In May 2009 it got struck by lightning and fried a whole bunch of electronics. During that extended downtime, they supposedly also replaced or refurbished the launch engine. When it re-opened in August 2009, it was launching just as hard as TTD (even harder, IMO), and it wasn't launching in a burst mode any more. The 2 days in 09 were the last time I rode, so it's entirely possible they launch it burst again, but when I rode, it was definitely 1 stage, and more powerful than TTD!

Got my AWESOME gifts Monday, opened them today. I'll post up some pics later!

If you haven't been on a Q coaster, then please let someone else take a turn, don't just skip it. X Flight- Six Flags Great America

I hadn't heard that. Ridiculous!! No Fun League, indeed.

The worst for me was when I was working at SFGAm. They were holding a "Preview Night" for Fright Fest which was open to only employees. I got on King Chaos (Top Spin) and it decided to go down while we were at the top. We were up there about 10 minutes when it started to rain heavier than I've ever seen it rain! We were stuck on the ride for over an hour, with a thunderstorm the entire time. It finally stopped raining, and within 5 minutes of the rain stopping they finally got the harnesses released. (Why it took 1 hour 15 minutes to get us off of a Top Spin, I'll never know)

Viper and V2 at SFGAm used to have HORRIBLE stations. Ever since Lo-Q came around having a grouper made those much better. My pick is Skyrush. It's one of my favorite coasters, but that one sided station has to go.

Awesome pics!! I haven't been this excited about a coaster in a very long time.

^I have yet to find a stand up coaster that I've enjoyed!! They're my least favorite coaster type by far. I've only been on 3 flyers- Superman: Uninspiring Flight at both SFGAm and SFGAdv, and Firehawk at KI. Obvjously the B&Ms are a snooze fest except for the pretzel loop which is ine of my favorite elements on any coaster. Firehawk was pretty good, aside from ridiculous loading times and being blinded on the lift. I can imagine B&M flyers would be amazing if they were designed by old school B&M. I just can't see ANY standup ever being good. I've been on some bad SLCs also, but if you can find a fairly smooth one (hard to do), they're actually pretty decent! The same applies to standard boomerangs.

Expedition GeForce and Skyrush immediately come to mind! I always thought Deja Vu was actually a pretty good name for the GIBs as well. Here are a few others: Iron Rattler Thunderhead Outlaw Run Hades (that ride is EXACTLY how I imagine a trip to hell) Dueling Dragons (before they got renamed- and worse yet-stopped dueling!!) Cheetah Hunt

^Nailed it, Chuck!! I noticed a theme here. Every single band that pulled out to show support against the "evil" Sea World had done literally NOTHING in 10 years or more. Washed up acts doing anything to try and get in the spotlight.

Every time one of these stupid movies come around, it becomes a "hip" thing to protest whatever some no name filmmaker decided is "wrong." I definitely agree all the bands are just doing it for the publicity- just like why the film was made in the first place. Fortunately most people are morons, and they'll soon become distracted by some other meaningless "news" story, it iust sucks that Sea World has to weather this. Seriously though- have these people ever WATCHED the trainers work!?!? If you can honestly say they don't love their animals, you're either blind, deaf, or completely stupid.

Interesting- thanks! I work for one of the largest transportation companies in the world, and I know we don't carry any type of insurance policy. I just assumed that if the company has enough money to cover any possible incidents, it's not really needed. I would think with premiums like those you posted it would be easier and cheaper to just set up your own insurance program? I definitely appreciate the clarification, that's exactly why I asked!

I enjoyed Dr. Doom, but my favorite S&S (by FAR!) is Double Shot at Indiana Beach.

^Does Six Flags actually have "insurance"? Most large corporations just insure themselves. I don't doubt the lawyers mandated the seatbelts to try to limit liability for the company, but I don't think they have an actual insurance policy with an insurance company.

^THIS!! Cornball Express is really good, too.

The longest line I ever waited in was 3 hours for Raging Bull in 1999. I got in line right at the bathrooms across from The Orbit. I was only 13 years old then, we were there on a band trip- young and dumb! I won't wait more than 30 minutes for it now, and I won't wait much more than an hour for my favorite rides.

I think they will end up selling Time Machine cheap. While I agree they won't want to sell it cheap, it's better to sell it at whatever someone is willing to pay than to just let it sit there and collect absolutely nothing. I think the real question is whether it's cheaper to sell it to another park, or just scrap it? There aren't many who know the answer to that, but I'm sure they're working to figure that out as we speak.

1. Top Thrill Dragster 2. Maverick 3. Millenium Force 4. Magnum XL-200 5. Raptor 6. Blue Streak 7. Mean Streak 8. Disaster Transport 9. Wildcat 10. Gemini 11. Wicked Twister 12. Iron Dragon 13. GateKeeper 14. Corkscrew 15. Mantis 16. Cedar Creek Mine Ride 17. Jr. Gemini EDIT- Really, I'd call TTD and Maverick a tie. Maverick is one of the best steel coasters there is, and yes TTD is a one-trick pony, but OMFG I love that launch more than anything on any other coaster- except Kingda Ka's launch- which is even better! I must also add that I've ridden GateKeeper twice- both rides were in seats with unlocked vests. It still sucked.

Lightning Run is going to be a pretty awesome coaster!! Not sure if I'll make it to KK this year, but I'm going to try! Behind Goliath, this is the coaster I'm most excited to try.