coasterkid124

I must have a family truckster. I think if I had the choice between a new BMW or a truckster, I would still take the truckster. Or maybe I would take the BMW, then sell it for 10 trucksters.

^ Big Kahuna was added in 2006, and I know that these are upcharge but the Slingshot and a Turbobungy were added in 2002. There were a few major additions that were always in discussion while SF was in the picture. A drop tower was always being discussed, as was a water park expansion after the success of Big Kahuna and Tornado. I've also heard rumors of more DC branding when I worked at the park years ago. I do believe that an RMC Predator would have happened, because even the smaller parks in the chain are getting them. SF was constantly pumping money into retracking it, and even shut it down for the end of the 2006 season before they left to do work. The articulated trains don't do as much damage because they don't shuffle side to side, but they are also a lot heavier and that is taking a toll on the track currently. If I had the choice between Herschend and SF I would still pick the former hands down. I just hope that they still have interest in the park.

Arrow - 4D Coaster B&M - Invert Chance - Hyper GTX Gerstlauer - Eurofighter HUSS - Enterprise, Top Spin Intamin - Blitz, Hyper Larson - Super Loop Mack - Sea Storm Mondial - Windseeker Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters - Phoenix/Comet Premier - Sky Rocket I RMC: Ibox S&S - Space Shot Schwarzkopf - Enterprise Vekoma - Boomerang Zamperla - Motocoaster Zierer - Impulse

Poor Great Escape When will parks give up on these GIBs? The are nothing but problems, and it wouldn't be much of a loss considering they already have a Boomerang. Replace it with a 4D Free Fly. SFNE is perfect for one of these.

Considering they would need to make an artificial pond for a splashdown, couldn't they just put in a drainage system that adjusts the water level if needed? This way the splashdown could work on hot days, and it could be lessened or shut down on cool/windy days. I'm pretty sure that Mack has a system like that for their flumes and water coasters to adjust the splash it creates.

If I ran a park, I would be worried about the VR headsets getting damaged. If somebody gets motion sickness mid-ride, and tries to take it off, what if they drop it? It would most likely break and could cause injury to other riders. Or somebody could just be an a**hole and throw/break them on purpose. I could just see some sweaty jock already saying "Yo, I'm gonna throw this and see how many pieces it breaks into"

For next season? I know there isn't currently, but it sounded like they are building a new entrance for it so that they could apply that.

^^Hope you enjoy your visit! Try to hit the water park early too, because lines pick up in the afternoon. Don't skip over Motocoaster, it is a surprisingly fun ride for its size. Viper and Predator are also underrated. Try to rid near the front of the Predator. I like the back better but it is extremely rough. The Anchor Bar, I believe, has the same prices as the actual restaurant, so that could be a good choice.

The only thing that irks me is the separate admission. Normally parks that have it, I don't go in the water. Not that I don't like water parks, which I do, but I don't see a reason to pay extra if I can get wet on rides in the park. I'm guessing that they don't want it to get too crowded right away.

Sometimes I think the exact same thing. Of course people bash SF all the time, and I'll agree that some of their decisions are questionable. But I believe that the following things would have happened if they stayed. 1) The park would receive steady additions every year. There would be no years off in the middle unless something BIG went in. 2) With Six Flags' relationship with RMC, "Lake Monster" would have likely been done by now or closer to happening. 3) The waterpark expansion would have likely still happened and possibly branded under the Hurricane Harbor name. 4) Motocoaster would have still happened, but maybe a Gerstlauer model instead, and the park would probably have built one more big coaster. 5) The Looney Tunes/DC theming would have stayed leaving the rides with not such generic names and themes. Most of the rides in the kiddie area would have looked a lot better. 6) Many of the older rides would still be retired and replaced by a SkyScreamer, Rolling Thunder, Aqua Twist, etc. These are just what I believe what SF would have done. It really isn't all that different to what other operators have done/would do, just with different branding is all. Would the park be better off with SF still? Maybe yes, maybe no. But SF does really get a bad rap when in reality they could be worse. People complained about the "maintenance" of the park back then, but actually the rides ran very well and almost always 2 trains, even on off days. I would know, I used to work there in the late SF days in maintenance, and believe it or not, a lot of the maintenance guys from the SF days stayed after the park was sold because their job was year-round. The current manager of maintenance actually worked for the park in the SF days. If I had to choose between Herschend and SF I would still have to go with Herschend, but SF definitely gets a worse rap than they deserve.

^Yeah, I was sure that after the offseason last year, that the quick, cheap fencing would be replaced. But it's still there so it could probably be taken down easier if machinery needed to be brought in. Many of the posts on the fence aren't even secured that tight, and somebody could get hurt if they really tried. So it's definitely a possibility.

It was an idea from Herschend, but they no longer operate the park, so it is on hold until ultimately somebody buys the park and is willing to invest in an attraction like that. Fortunately, I think time is on our side. Two factors that would make this happen are a) CNL is looking to sell the park and b) Predator won't last forever. I'm sure that soon, a decision will have to be made as the ride does not get any smoother and it is aging.

This isn't really big news, but Google finally updated their aerial view of the park. It is really interesting to see what the new sections of the park look like compared to the old ones. The Boardwalk, Rowdy's Ridge, and RT plaza really stand out and look a lot more modern/cleaner than the others. I hope that whoever gets control of the park continues to revamp areas like this and continues to do away with the blacktop. Also, taking a look at the open plot where a certain slide complex used to stand (I won't mention a name ), It is very large, and could be a great size for a major expansion in the future. I would hope for a coaster, but a major plaza could do just as well. If the Slingshot were removed, that would open up even more possibilities.

Virtually everyone outside of the enthusiast community loves it and it's an absolute home run. The last 2 years it's had the highest ridership numbers in the park. Personally I like the ride quite a bit, it's not forceful at all but it's fun and I think enthusiasts are way too hard on it. Again... just my opinion though, your mileage may vary. I totally agree with this. I think most people were expecting a forceful, breakneck fast ride, but that wasn't the point of this. I thought it was a very comfortable and fun ride.

CP needs another coaster because that's what brings more people to the park. Me personally, I live 4 hours away from Cedar Point, although it is my favorite park, whenever I travel I have been trying to hit parks I haven't been to yet, or just built something unique and new. When CP builds new coasters, it gives me a reason to come back other than me just liking the park. Say CP wasn't building a new coaster next year. I just visited this year, and I've never been to SDC or Kentucky Kingdom, so next year I would probably do a trip to those parks (plus Dollywood and HW) instead. But a new coaster will give me a reason to come back and move some other trips around. I understand your pain that your home park may have not gotten something new in a while, but CP and WoF are very much apart with crowds and size. Most people have heard of CP and know it is a major coaster destination, whereas many haven't even heard of WoF.

If this indeed the layout, here are my thoughts... The layout is a little short, but that's what you have to expect with a Dive Coaster. As I have said earlier in the thread, no matter what the layout looks like, I will just be excited to finally have a Dive Machine closer to me. Sheikra was short, but I enjoyed it from beginning to end. Judging from the elements, it looks like this will be a quicker paced forceful ride. There will be 3 potential moments of airtime in the course, which is a big plus. It's good to see that B&M might still be going back to their old ways. I'm hoping for a splashdown, but it seems like there are no moments where one is possible from the renders. There are no flat sections of track near the ground, and the long brake run will be another angled magnetic version.

Looking back, PARC was not so bad as an operator. They did add two big things for us, and had very consistent operations with the rides. But I did not like their one year on, one year off pattern with attractions. While they couldn't add big things every year, I would trade it in for Premier's "every year promise"; even if they are smaller additions. I'm still kind of torn between Premier and Herschend. I would love to see Herschend step in and start building big right away, but the 2014 season really worried me. Operations were pretty awful, they couldn't make up their mind what to do with the fall event, and the only new thing was the Nik Wallenda show (which I never even watched). Scrambler was "new", but even then it was a very late addition for the year. Of course, this could all could be because they knew that they were on their way out. If so, it doesn't concern me so much, but I believe to build the park back up, it will need yearly investment for at least a little while.

^And onboard audio!..... Oh wait, that didn't work.

I'm not sure about skipping the line, because there isn't a separate line. But inside the station, Hershey blocks off the middle seats on the trains and reserves them for Fast Lane only. It hurts capacity, and gives you the worst seats to ride in.

UFO is likely done just like the Ranger. It is so hard to find parts for those rides, and it cost nearly the same amount to refurb the hydraulic system as it would to buy something new.

My last visit, it started to rain the first night of my stay. They operated the coasters well until it started to thunder and lightning; and then it started to POUR. It was one of the hardest rain storms I have ever seen. But right after the rain stopped, they started testing the rides and reopened. So I think that they do a better job than most parks.

I personally like the Batman clones, as they are some of the more forceful B&M inverts. Sometimes you have to trade in some roughness for force, especially on a coaster with OTSRs. Great Bear is probably the smoothest invert I have been on but at the same time you're trading in a lot of force for that.

Then the moment of truth happens and this is really just a dark ride, and everyone on the forum in unison screams NEWMAN!

GCI would need to create one hell of a coaster to impress me at this point. I don't hate their coasters at all, but I don't necessarily love them to death. Lightning Racer is the only one that I felt was an amazing ride, with the rest lying somewhere in the lower portion of my rankings. Wake me up when they create a coaster with a real first drop (besides LR), and can impress me once more. I am happy with a dive coaster coming closer to me, as I won't have to travel all the way to Virginia to ride one. Both that I have been on were pretty solid attractions.

The teaser looks suspiciously familiar to this David Gilmour ad I just got on a website. Pink Floyd: The Ride?!!?!???