rcdude

For me it's definitely Twisted Colossus as that's the only one I know I'll be riding next year and it certainly looks like the most unique of RMC's creations to date. If I'm able to get to any of the others it would most likely be Batman The Ride at SFFT or (long shot) Fury 325 at Carowinds. Wicked Cyclone looks outstanding, but that and Roar-o-Saurus are the only new North East coasters since I visited so I'll hold off on a trip up there, and I'll wait a couple years for Thunderbird at Holiday World since I just visited the park this summer. I don't pay all that much attention to the international projects but the Gerstlauer Hyper and the two B&M Dive Machines are the most interesting of those to me. Can't forget about Shanghai Disneyland or the Chinese B&M Flyer either (the Japanese one is just a clone, so it's not all that interesting as I won't be riding anytime soon).

My top 5 smaller parks are: 1. Knoebels Amusement Park & Resort 2. Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park 3. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk 4. Waldameer 5. Lake Compounce (or Six Flags Discovery Kingdom if you want to count it...it's small for Six Flags) All of these parks are great. Knoebels in particular is an outstanding park, and I would rather visit any of these five than some of the major parks out there. In addition to the above, Lagoon, Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park, and Canobie Lake Park are the other small parks I've visited that stood out to me.

I got the following new states this year: -Colorado -Idaho (pass-through) -Kansas (pass-through) -Massachusetts (upgrade to full credit) -Nebraska -New Mexico (pass-through) -Pennsylvania (upgrade to full credit) -Rhode Island (pass-through) -Wyoming I'm up to 33 states, and I've now completed both the West Coast and Pacific Northwest. Most of my missing states are either in the Deep South or right in the middle of the country, although I am still missing a couple on the East Coast and one Midwest state. Visited states as of October 2014.

Where did it get stuck? I can't think of too many places where that ride would be likely to valley given how well it tends to maintain speed throughout the course. Other than the high turn after the drop and the turn onto the brakes you're probably moving 30+ MPH the whole time.

I rode a total of 7 new for 2014 coasters. The top three are all outstanding (all in my top 15 overall), and it's hard to pick a best, but I rank them as follows: Banshee: Easily the best B&M since Tatsu, this ride has become my favorite inverted coaster. It's a long ride with a good amount of speed, good layout, strong forces, and a great first drop. The only issue I have is the rattle of the trains, but it's a minor issue and didn't detract from the ride much. This is a top 5 steel coaster for me. Goliath: I honestly thought this would be the ride to beat in 2014, but while it was outstanding it certainly wasn't best coaster quality. This ride does things no wooden coaster should do, especially the Zero-G Stall, but it felt more like a steel coaster than a wood coaster to me. Unlike a lot of people, I didn't feel the ride was too short, though it certainly wasn't a long ride. Overall, however, I consider it a top 5 wood coaster. Lightning Run: While this ride is short, it is non-stop airtime and is deceptively intense for its size. I was expecting a good but not great ride and ended up getting a coaster good enough to make my top 10 steel list. The main issue I have with the ride are the uncomfortable trains, and if those were fixed this could possibly be the best new for 2014 coaster. Other 2014 coasters I rode, best to worst: El Loco: Liked this ride, but didn't love it. The coaster just felt too repetitive to me, and it was a very short ride. Still a good coaster, but I don't know that I'd pay $10 for another ride. Thunderbolt: This should be higher than El Loco, and if the exact same layout was built using Gerstlauer's Eurofighter track and trains it certainly would be. Unfortunately, Zamperla has produced a ride that should never be duplicated. Not worth $10, and definitely just a credit coaster. Cocoa Cruiser: Zamperla kiddie coaster. One of the best of the type I've been on. Speedy Gonzales Hot Rod Racers: Zamperla kiddie coaster. Not as smooth as Cocoa Cruiser and a worthless addition for SFMM.

Thanks a lot. For Diamondback, I did it using only the premade supports so that is why they aren't quite right. For future steel coasters I'm going to try using custom supports whenever necessary. There is definitely a learning curve to NoLimits, so I figure I'll take it one step at a time. Thanks. As a rule, I won't do a recreation of I ride I haven't actually been on. Unfortunately, Valleyfair is a park I still have to get to, so for now I don't plan to do a Renegade recreation. Depending on how long I keep this going I may make one in the future (once I've gotten a chance to visit). If you like GCI coasters, there are a couple more I plan to do recreations of at some point, though for now I'm focusing on the top coasters of the mid-west. For now, I plan to keep this going at a rate of one coaster/park per month until I get through my current list.

Thanks. Although I don't always comment, I do read every Mini New Hotness/Mini East Coast report to see how similar (or not) my thoughts are to others with the same experience. Your report is great as well. Thanks. If it weren't for Kentucky Rumbler and the Haunted House, Beech Bend would definitely be little more than a permanent carnival. There were things to like there and Kentucky Rumbler is a must ride for any wooden coaster enthusiast, but it is one of those parks I'm glad I visited but probably wouldn't go out of the way to visit again. Thanks. At Kings Island, I thought Coney Mall was a bit saturated but the rest of the park had a good spread of attractions. There were certainly areas with nothing but above-average landscaping, but at the same time it wasn't a huge trek between rides. If you get time I highly recommend a Ohio trip to Cedar Point and Kings Island, as both are among the best coaster parks in the country. Add Holiday World and one or two other parks and you've got a really nice one week trip. I'll definitely give your Mini East Coast report a look when it's posted...I'll be on that part in a month or so here. Thanks. Sorry to disappoint, but I don't have any. We did see it from the bus the next day, with a majority of people booing the hotel as we passed.

Bat and Ninja are very close in my rankings, and I think it is the strong finish that gives Bat the edge. On Ninja the ride seems to lose speed and intensity through the final few turns while Bat keeps up the pace all the way to the brake run. The final lift on Ninja has never really bothered me as it feels like a long return to the station and not a part two of the ride. While Banshee Bash was definitely one of the trip's highlights, it was only the beginning. The next day of the trip was a roller coaster ride itself, with some high points and low points. Trip 2, Part 4: Kentucky Kingdom & Beech Bend-July 26th, 2014 Nobody was fully awake on Saturday morning. I would be surprised if anyone had managed more than 5 hours of sleep (most probably got closer to 4). However, when the bus leaves at 6 A.M. and is going out of state, you do not want to miss it. The early departure combined with a helpful time change allowed for Saturday to be a two park day. Our morning began with a 3 hour bus ride to Louisville for a visit to the recently reopened Kentucky Kingdom. Kentucky Kingdom When Kentucky Kingdom closed following the 2009 season, I didn't think I'd ever get to see the park. There were attempts to reopen the park, but after they all failed (especially the Holiday World attempt) I was certain the park would become just a memory. Fortunately, I was wrong. Under the leadership of Ed Hart, Kentucky Kingdom has reopened to continue its reign as Kentucky's largest amusement park. It is clear that Ed cares about the park, as he spoke with our group about the park and even asked for our opinions on the park's rides. Our day at Kentucky Kingdom began with a two hour film shoot on the park's two main coasters. Originally we were to film on Lightning Run first, but due to technical difficulties we started with Thunder Run. After 45 minutes of riding (during which I rode three times), Robb had all the necessary footage and we moved over to Lightning Run. Four rides and one hour later, the park opened to the general public. I spent the morning riding the few rides I cared about. After the group lunch at noon I headed to the waterpark, Hurricane Bay, for the remainder of the visit. Coaster Reviews: Kentucky Kingdom's coaster selection is fine for the park as it is now, but is below average compared to similar sized parks. Lightning Run and Thunder Run are a great duo, but that's all the park has right now. For 2015, the park will be reopening T2 as T3, but given the reputation of Vekoma's SLCs it would surprise me if the ride is anything but average. However, with a Rocky Mountain treatment supposedly underway for Twisted Twins in 2016 the park is on the right track as far as coasters go. Thunder Run: Thunder Run has received a re-track for the reopening, and the ride is now running better than ever. While not the greatest ride ever built, it is a solid coaster with some airtime, decent laterals, and a relatively smooth ride. The ride does get less and less thrilling as it goes on and it is a little on the short side, but I still enjoyed this coaster and it is absolutely the best Dinn ever built (at least in my experience). When Ed Hart asked, I told him 7/10, which translates to a B-. Lightning Run: I wasn't expecting much from this ride when it was announced, but it turned out to be a top tier coaster. The ride is short, but it offers loads of airtime and is very smooth. The one issue I have with the coaster is the trains, which are highly uncomfortable and make it difficult for more than a couple rides in a row. If the trains were modified, this coaster would possibly make it on my top five list, but as it is I still consider it a top ten coaster. I'd give this 9/10, a score equivalent to an A on my scale. Roller Skater: This is just a standard Vekoma Junior Coaster, and probably the worst I have been on due to a lack of theming and only one lap. If you count credits and there isn't a line, go ahead and ride, but otherwise it is just a waste of time. As usual, kiddie coasters don't get an official rating, but this one would be a 4/10 (D-). Surprisingly, it wasn't the worst coaster of the day. Non-Coaster Summary: Kentucky Kingdom's non-coaster selection is pretty bland without anything noteworthy, so this is where the park needs to focus their new additions in order to be competitive. Fortunately, 2015 will be bringing a few new flats and a refurbished water ride, so Kentucky Kingdom is going in the right direction. As for their current rides, I did not ride too many simply due to time constraints and lack of interest. The best flat I tried at Kentucky Kingdom was Fearfall, a very good drop tower despite its short stature. In addition, I enjoyed both Breakdance (a standard model, though slightly less intense than some) and Professor John's Flying Machine (one of the better Larson scooters, though the cycle felt a bit short). The only other non-coaster I rode was Tin Lizzies, a fairly average antique car ride with some good views of Lightning Run. There were about a half-dozen other family/adult flat rides, while the rest appeared to be for children. In addition, Kentucky Kingdom does have one current water ride (Mile High Falls, a splash boat), but if you want to get wet you're better off at the waterpark. Speaking of which... Hurricane Bay: On its own, Hurricane Bay would be just okay as it is a medium sized waterpark with some redundancy in attractions (2 wave pools, 2 lazy rivers, etc). However, at Kentucky Kingdom it is the star attraction. I spent roughly half of my 5 hours of free time at Kentucky Kingdom in Hurricane Bay and if I were to go back I would definitely spend more time here as I missed out on several major slides, including Deluge (the world's first HydroMagnetic water coaster), Plummet Summit (the new family raft slide), and Tornado. Slide Reviews: Wikiwiki Wai: This is the park's new ProSlide tube slide tower, featuring a serpentine slide, a bowl slide, and a funnel slide. My favorite of the three was Kilawaya, a half enclosed/half open slide that featured three mini funnels. The ride was actually more intense than I expected and I ended up being flipped off my tube in the last funnel. Waikiki Wipeout was a standard ProSlide bowl, though the ride was made more thrilling by rubbing my foot on the flume, causing the tube to spin while going around the bowl. Calypso Run, the serpentine tube slide, was good but not great, as it consisted mainly of slow helixes. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good slide complex. Speed Slides: Kentucky Kingdom's speed slide tower features the tallest slide in North America, Deep Water Dive. This is a trap door slide with a 12 story free fall. I loved this ride, and it is probably the best at Hurricane Bay, though it didn't feel any different from the standard sized versions. Wave Runner was great as well, as the slide was really smooth and gave some airtime. Mt. Slide Hai: This is Hurricane Bay's original slide tower, featuring serpentine body and tube slides. By the time I made it over here the lines were getting longer and I was running out of time, so I only had time to try Vanishing Falls. Fortunately, this ended up being one of the best serpentine body slides I've been on, as although it's a bit short it does get going reasonably fast without going fast enough to blind riders with water. The tube slides all looked pretty standard, so I don't think I missed much. Overall Thoughts: I had a nice time at Kentucky Kingdom, but overall I thought the park was just okay. The ride selection is decent, but there needs to be more, as the place is only worth about 3 hours if you don't do the waterpark. There are landscaping issues, as many of the newer rides are simply on concrete pads with dirt around them. While none of the lines were extreme (Lightning Run looked to be 30-45 minutes), the park definitely would have capacity issues if it was much more crowded than it was on the day I visited (note: While the ride park was busy but not terrible, the waterpark was packed, but other than Deluge and Tornado nothing was more than a 20 minute wait). I'm not sure how food quality is in the park, but this was my least favorite of our fried chicken and hot dog lunches. The layout of Kentucky Kingdom is a bit confusing, though I'm not sure if that can be helped. Shade was a little hard to find, particularly in the front portion of the park. Finally, while operations were nothing to complain about they were a tad on the slow side and the employees were merely average. Now, I may have a number of negative things to say about the park, but I will also say that those alone do not represent the whole picture. Yes, it was the park's reopening year and it did show. However, Kentucky Kingdom managed to exceed many of my expectations, and it was not the write-off park I expected it to be. Given all that the park had to deal with they were doing great. The guests seem to love the park, and based on what Ed Hart told us and next year's plans I have faith that Kentucky Kingdom will do nothing but improve. I doubt Kentucky Kingdom will ever be a major park, but who knows? Perhaps in ten years it will have grown enough to seriously compete with Holiday World and Kings Island. In short: Kentucky Kingdom as it is now is a 6/10 park, but after all the improvements are complete and everything is fixed up I could easily see it reaching an 8/10 or possibly higher. At 4 P.M. the bus pulled out of the parking lot. Thanks to a favorable time change, we arrived at Beech Bend just an hour later. The good news: Beech Bend's management was very welcoming, perhaps the most of any park on the trip (though several other parks, especially Holiday World and Knoebels would give them a challenge for that). The bad news: We had less than 3 hours of free time here, and we happened to be visiting on the busiest day of the year! Beech Bend Beech Bend was the smallest official park of the trip, and it is not a place most would know of if not from the area. The park started out as the world's largest campground, with the ride park being added to attract customers. For the most part, rides are what you would expect to find at a typical carnival, but the park has a good balance between thrill rides and family rides. The park's employees are great as well, and for the most part operations were efficient. Being with a group of coaster enthusiasts, we started off by collecting the credits. First stop in the park: Dragon. Dragon is a Wisdom kiddie coaster, specifically the double helix Orient Express model. The coaster is so small it can only accommodate 3 or 4 adults per train without a rollback. To put it bluntly, this was the worst coaster I rode on the whole trip, but now that I've got the credit I never need to ride again. The park's other credit coaster is Wild Mouse. a Zamperla spinning mouse. This wasn't the worst of this model I've been on, but still only gets a D since the ride didn't spin much. It did seem to be having operational issues, as the coaster broke down multiple times during the 45 minutes I waited in line. Due to limited time, I only managed to ride three other rides at Beech Bend: the dark ride, log flume, and drop tower. Beech Bend's dark ride, Haunted House, was a good old-school dark ride that felt completely home-built. This ride also is the only dark ride I've ever seen operated as a cycle ride: all four cars are loaded, they all go through the ride, and then they are unloaded all at once. Beech Bend's Log Flume, White Water Express, is just a standard carnival flume with two lifts and two drops. Lastly, Zero-G, the park's drop tower, was virtually identical to Fearfall at Kentucky Kingdom. I really wish we had more time at the park, as there were several other rides I would have liked to try, including Vortex, Sea Dragon (which came from Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch) and Scat 2, an insane looking flat that was broken down most of the night. We had a catered dinner at Beech Bend, consisting of hot dogs and fried chicken once again. Of all the hot dogs and fried chicken, however, this was probably the best, and they also had fresh brewed sweet tea instead of soda (Fun Fact: Beech Bend is an RC Cola park). The park manager held a Q&A session at dinner, followed by a raffle of various park souvenirs (I won a T-shirt). They then announced that we were going to have two backstage tours: a tour of the Haunted House followed by a tour of Kentucky Rumbler. After dinner I walked around the park to take a few pictures, then it was time for the Haunted House tour. Dark rides are my favorite type of non-coaster attraction, so I loved getting the chance to walk through one. This one felt like it was built inside an old barn and while the ride was quite simple it was good. The only negative is that everything must be hidden behind chicken wire due to disrespectful guests. Following the tour, I headed over to Kentucky Rumbler. Due to darkness our tour on the ride was cancelled, but the park made up for it by extending our hour of ERT to 90 minutes. Once the park closed and guests were cleared, ERT on the ride began. Kentucky Rumbler: I am a fan of GCI coasters, so I've known about this ride for some time. It is probably the company's least known American project, but that's a shame as the ride is really good. Some went as far as saying Kentucky Rumbler is the best GCI in North America. In my opinion, it's right at the bottom of the top tier of GCI coasters, and just barely misses a spot on my top ten wood list. The ride is a little on the short side and isn't quite as crazy as some of the new GCI coasters (particularly Gold Striker), but it is still an excellent coaster that makes the trip to Beech Bend well worth it for any wooden coaster enthusiast. A- Our ERT on Kentucky Rumbler was unlike almost any other ERT session I've done. On each run, the park manager would give us tasks to complete during the ride. These started out relatively simple (count the airtime moments, etc.) and got progressively more difficult with each run (we eventually got as far as count the nails). After about 30 minutes of riding, the coaster started to get faster and faster so we attempted something from TPR's Scandinavia trip a month before. Dubbed the "Fat Train," the goal was to load the train with as much weight as possible, get into an aerodynamic position, and see if we can break the speed record around the track. Despite our best efforts on several runs, the fastest time we got was 79.5 seconds, not a record but still pretty good for a ride that typically runs 81 to 83. One other game attempted was the coaster chain: Everyone links arms with the riders in front of and behind them and you see if the train makes it around without breaking the chain. The group that tried this was successful, though I heard it was a painful experience. As if all this craziness wasn't enough, toward the end of ERT it started to rain and lightning could be seen in the sky. Normally this would have halted operation, but we just kept going around and around. Yes, this is how TPR does an ERT session. During the course of the 90 minutes of ERT I managed 15 rides. Eventually it was time to call it a night, so with the small group of people who made it the whole time I headed out to the bus and the tour headed off to the hotel. Overall, Beech Bend was a decent park, though with the exception of Kentucky Rumbler there isn't much worth traveling for here. That said, I did enjoy the park more than Kentucky Kingdom and wish we had more time to explore the park. I have a feeling three hours would typically be sufficient for the place, but we just had the misfortune of hitting the park on the busiest day of the year. That night, an unpleasant TPR first happened. Our hotel for the night was supposed to be Santa's Lodge right next to Holiday World. Elissa had called them several times over the past few days, verifying all the details of our arrival and ensuring our rooms would be ready. Well, when she called the hotel after leaving Beech Bend, we discovered that due to a computer glitch the hotel didn't have rooms for us. Fortunately, we were able to find a Days Inn in Owensboro, Kentucky that had enough rooms for our group with a little creative rooming (Elissa managed to fit 26 rooms of people into just 19). Trust me, it could have been way worse. The owner of Satan's Lodge (as it was known for the remainder of the trip) was very apologetic for the incident and offered a substantial refund for the inconvenience, but I have a feeling it is unlikely TPR will use the hotel on any future tours. We're here at...what is this place again? Where is everybody? It's a Saturday in late July at Kentucky's largest amusement park and the parking lot is empty. That's right: Kentucky Kingdom & Hurricane Bay. The park Six Flags tried to kill, but just couldn't finish off for good. The flyers were reasonably good here. Their surroundings, on the other hand, were pretty uninspired. The Giant Wheel is actually in the back half of the park, on the far side of the road. Turn the clock back 15 years to the days of Chang and Vampire and this park resembled a certain RCT scenario (if you've played Corkscrew Follies, you know the one). Time to head out. A second park awaits this day. Let's check out some other attractions. Here's the Himalaya, a returning attraction from the Six Flags days. I forget what movie was playing in the 5D cinema. I think it was Rio, but that may be incorrect. Enterprise was down for the count this season. For fans of this classic, check back in 2015. Half of the new rides were kiddie rides, including this teacup attraction. The front half of Kentucky Kingdom actually looked pretty good (aside from the area around Lightning Run). The back half, which I don't have pictures of, is where most of the neglect shows. These always look like fun kiddie rides. Spontaneous crowd explosion! Okay, I didn't take any of these until after lunch, but the park did fill up very quickly after opening. Lightning Run is the most prominent of Kentucky Kingdom's new hotness for 2014, so of course everyone was riding. The world could use more breakdances. They are excellent family attractions. The ride isn't huge, but it is more fun than most coasters twice its size. If you've never experienced true ejector airtime, ride this coaster. Every hill had some amount of airtime. I would not recommend one of these for a major park, but for mid-size parks it's a great fit. On this particular day, Kentucky Kingdom was actually using both trains on Lighting Run. That meant 800 riders per hour experienced a large dosage of negative forces. Even the tiny hills at the end of the ride provide ejector air. One warning, however: This is the most uncomfortable part of the ride. That's right, we're here for the kiddie coaster. Credit whores! (who am I kidding, I rode it too) This coaster is somewhat less whorish, but waiting 45 minutes for it is still pretty low. Okay, did the park run out of money for a second story or is this simply a joke? Discount Winchester Mystery House, perhaps? Oh my, this can only mean one thing. That's right, it means... That this is thriller, thriller night. I think I see some TPR members taking a ride on Michael Jackson's Sea Dragon. Kentucky Kingdom may have a Himalaya, but here it's all about the Flying Bobs. We're now at Beech Bend, Kentucky's only other amusement park. New for this year is Vortex. It's certainly better than the Kings Island version, but we're not here for this. Jitter bug is an interesting swing ride. I've never seen anything like it before. How about Zero-G? Nah, we've already rode one of those today. Time to go inside the Haunted House. If you don't want to be spoiled, do not look at the remaining pictures. OMG it's windows! The horror! Glad we didn't have that for dinner. This is what controls the entire ride. Several of these are mounted at various points inside the attraction. Beware the hitchhiking skeletons. Beware this random guy. Beware the dead dude in the coffin. He's got blood all over his face. "When the crypt doors creak and the tombstones quake..." Okay, I'll stop now. This is merely a house, not a mansion. Every corner of this attraction has a different figure. Most are simple animatronics, but unlike some rides practically everything works. It's a shame everything has to be behind chicken wire, but other than that this is actually a good old-school dark ride. In the dark, you don't realize how homemade everything looks. I mean, it isn't any different from a mainstream dark ride other than the power strips and extension cords. I half-expected one of these doors to be several feet off the ground. So are these things vampires or bats? Perhaps they're both. No comment on this guy. Thanks for checking out our house. Now get out of here, ERT is about to start. But for us, there's 90 minutes of ERT to go. Okay, TPR, let's get ready to rumble! (sorry, no ERT pictures...read the report for details) The sun sets on another day of the TPR Mini New Hotness trip as Beech Bend's busiest day of the year comes to a close.

I've never been to Soak City, but based on looking at it I'd skip it if you only have two days. If you have three, it might be worth spending a few hours on one of your non-Fast Lane days there. Some of the slides look decent, but they're all old-school tube or body slides. I've got a feeling the short water coaster at Castaway Bay is better than anything in Soak City attraction-wise.

I went for two days in late July this year, so here's some advice based on my experience: 1. Both days I visited the park (a Tuesday and Wednesday) were moderately crowded by Cedar Point standards. The headliners had 1-2 hour waits, other major coasters were around 30 minutes, and most other rides were 15 minutes or less. It did rain on one of the days, which reduced crowds in the afternoon and evening somewhat. If you have the money, I would absolutely recommend buying Fast Lane for one day of your visit and use that day to get as many laps on the major coasters as possible, then hit the smaller coasters and non-coaster rides on your other day(s). It may be a good idea to ride Maverick and Top Thrill Dragster on your first day and buy Fast Lane on your second, as you'll want to be sure you want several rides each on those if springing for Plus. If money isn't a constraint you can buy Fast Lane for a second day, but you really only need one day of Fast Lane (especially for a three day trip). 2. If you get early entry, use it on Maverick. Most people will go straight to Millennium Force, so during early entry you'd probably only get two or three rides on it (versus four to six on Maverick). You can either ride Top Thrill Dragster right at opening or later in the day, as the line shrinks in the late afternoon/early evening. If you go there at opening and it isn't testing, leave and come back later. If you do not have early entry, start at Maverick one morning, Top Thrill Dragster another morning, and Millennium Force the third morning (if applicable). As for coaster order, just do the back half of the park first (Maverick, Top Thrill Dragster, Magnum XL-200, Gemini, Millennium Force, Rougarou, and surrounding coasters) and go to the front (GateKeeper, Wicked Twister, Raptor, etc.) mid-afternoon. We managed to get on all the coasters (except Millennium Force) in 8 hours (starting at 2 P.M.) with no Flash Pass by going in the following order: GateKeeper, Wicked Twister, Raptor, Blue Streak, Iron Dragon, Mantis (Rougarou), Mean Streak, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Maverick, Gemini, Woodstock Express, Magnum XL-200, Corkscrew, Top Thrill Dragster. 3. Skyhawk, Power Tower (Turbo Drop only), Witches Wheel, Cedar Downs, and MaXair are the must ride flats. I also strongly recommend riding the Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad, at least the portion from Frontiertown to the Main Midway. The other flats may be ridden as time allows and are worthwhile if you've never been on something of that type before. I recommend skipping the three water rides unless you feel like getting drenched (even the least wet, Shoot the Rapids, will still leave you dripping and will flood your shoes). 4. My preferred seats (these seem to be different depending on who you ask): Blue Streak: Front and back car are both good; avoid third row in car Cedar Creek Mine Ride: Middle of the train Corkscrew: Front GateKeeper: Front, left side Gemini: Back half of train Iron Dragon: Front Magnum XL-200: Front car and middle row of back car Maverick: Slight preference for front, but everywhere is good Mean Streak: Front; avoid the back row of any car Millennium Force: Front (if you only wait for one front seat ride, do it here) Raptor: Front Rougarou: Front Top Thrill Dragster: Second row (so you avoid the huge front seat wait), but it doesn't make that much of a difference Wicked Twister: No preference 5. I rode this one twice (once in the front, once in the middle) and didn't really find it that rough. I think the park has done a lot of recent retracking, as when I rode in 2008 the ride was very shaky. Either way, it's a pretty dull ride. Just avoid the wheel seats and you'll probably be fine. 6. Can't help much with this as I never really looked for deals. I can say that I've stayed at Castaway Bay and Breakers Express, and Breakers Express was definitely the cheaper option, but it is a very basic hotel. If you want something on the peninsula, however, you're pretty much stuck with Hotel Breakers (haven't stayed here so no comment).

What I find interesting is that even though SFMM's operations are poor compared to other major parks, they are actually better than average for the Six Flags chain. Two trains without stacking used to happen frequently and still does if a ride has a good crew (in fact, I've seen it on every coaster except Batman and Tatsu). As far as 3 trains goes, I know the park used to do it but I've heard they don't anymore because the capacity gain from the third train doesn't justify the added maintenance cost. Considering other Six Flags parks double stack with three train operation, I don't fault SFMM for this decision. The biggest issue I have with SFMM's operations is lack of consistency: For any given ride, you can go one day and the crew will hit the clock every cycle, then on your next visit the average dispatch time is 4+ minutes. There are some good crews there, but there are also some that would be considered unacceptable by the standards of any other chain. As for Twisted Colossus dueling, every two-tracked coaster I've been on was improved when racing/dueling. Depending on the ride, it could be a minor improvement (ex: American Eagle, Rolling Thunder) or a major one (ex: Lightning Racer, Racer, Thunder Road). Given that Twisted Colossus is designed to duel, I've got a feeling it will duel as much as possible, and it will probably feel like something is missing when it doesn't. I thought somewhere it was stated that a computer would control syncing on the lift and unless only one train was running you would still duel for at least half the ride, so I've got a feeling all this debate and worry is for naught. Either way, I'm sure it will be one of the park's top two rides even if dueling doesn't happen for some reason.

I'm like a week behind on these, so... Tagada: I really want to ride one of these, but from this I can clearly see why none would ever be built in the US. Dead Fall Maze: Looks like a good maze from what is shown here. Maelstrom: Do I wish I had gotten a chance to ride Maelstrom? Yes. Do I think a Frozen ride is a good idea? Absolutely. Should it go in World Showcase? Depends what direction Disney is going with Epcot. Thunderbolt: What the heck did you do, Zamperla? I'm convinced a Gerstlauer Eurofighter with the same layout as this ride would be great, but when I rode it I found the coaster terrible. Someone in our car came back with a bloody nose, and any ride that does that has major issues. Balder: Doesn't look like the greatest wooden coaster ever, but does look like an extremely good ride. One of these days I need to do a trip to Scandinavia, ideally with TPR. Catastrophe Canyon: As I've never been to Disney World, I never got to experience this in person. Do I regret that? No, not really. Desperado: You know, I rode this coaster in June and thought it was still a decent ride in a middle seat. There are certainly much better rides out there, but I didn't think it was bad and still consider it the best coaster in Nevada. That said, it is the most awkwardly placed coaster I know of and isn't really worth $10 more than once. Eclipse: This looks awesome. I'm guessing that was the highlight of the trip for those who did it, and I'd absolutely love to do that.

How I ride depends quite a bit on the ride, but in general the following hold true... Steel Coasters: For Intamins, B&Ms, RMCs, and Lightning Run, hands up all the way around. On Morgans, Arrows, Macks, and Schwarzkopfs I'll usually put my hands up if it is a lapbar restraint and hold on for a shoulder harness. I don't white knuckle the ride, just hold the handles firmly. I generally don't put my hands up on other steel coasters except for airtime/hangtime moments on Premiers and SFMM's Goliath. There is one exception to the above: On X2 I loop my arms through the harness and hold my pockets as that is the one ride I worry about losing something (even with buttoned pockets I don't trust that ride). Wood Coasters: For my first ride on a wood coaster, I usually hold on (excluding Intamin and Rocky Mountain woodies). If the ride is smooth, I'll go hands up on successive rides. If not, I'll hold on. In general, Intamin, Rocky Mountain, GCI, CCI and some Gravity Group coasters are smooth enough to go hands up all the way around, while most others are either hands up for airtime moments or hold on. For out and back rides with slow turns, I usually will rest my arms around the turns even if it is smooth. Non-Coaster Rides: Generally I'll just let my hands sit in my lap on these, although I will do hands up on drop towers and flume ride drops (with a brace at the bottom). I do hold on for inverting flat rides or particularly forceful ones.

For only coasters I've been on: 1. Vortex (Canada's Wonderland) 2. Sidewinder (Hersheypark) 3. Anaconda (Kings Dominion) However, for all coasters that opened in 1991: 1. Phantom's Revenge (as Steel Phantom...Kennywood) 2. Vortex (Canada's Wonderland) 3. Ultimate (Lightwater Valley) Bullet also opened at Flamingo Land the year I was born, but as that was a relocation I'm excluding it.

Only counting parks I've actually visited... Disney: Disneyland Merlin: LEGOLAND California (only Merlin park I've visited) Universal: Universal Studios Hollywood (only Universal park I've visited) Six Flags: Six Flags Magic Mountain (Six Flags Great Adventure and Six Flags Great America are runner-ups) Parques Reunidos: Lake Compounce Cedar Fair: Cedar Point Cedar Fair (non-CP): Kings Island (Canada's Wonderland is a runner-up) SeaWorld: Busch Gardens Williamsburg Independent: Holiday World

I found a couple to add to my overrated list this summer: Skyrush: Everyone makes this out to be the most extreme ride ever, and while I did find it quite intense it wasn't as insane as I was led to believe. I also do not like the trains at all and think the ride would be significantly improved with standard trains. Not a bad ride, but the fact that I only rode three times over two days (even with an ERT session) says something about my opinion. Talon: I hear this often cited as the last forceful inverted coaster, but I found it to be on par with Silver Bullet. The beginning is good, but after the immelmann the ride seems to just meander around until it runs out of energy. It's still a decent ride, but between the two B&M coasters at Dorney Park I prefer Hydra. I think I posted in here before, but other popular coasters on my overrated list include Intimidator 305 (based on opening year rides only), Flight Deck (California's Great America), Bizarro (Six Flags Great Adventure), Mr. Freeze, Raven, and Wooden Warrior. None of these are particularly bad coasters, I just never understand how enthusiasts think so highly of them when I see the poll results every year.

Getting caught up on these... Xcelerator: This one is a great ride. It may be short, but it's one of the top five coasters in California and the best ride at Knott's, plus I have yet to find a coaster with a better launch. Rutschebanen: For an old scenic railway this one looks like a decent ride. It definitely seems faster than you would expect one of these to run. Twister: While not the greatest looking wood coaster ever, it looks like a fun ride and does quite a bit for being crammed in a relatively small space. Journey to the Center of the Earth: Why can't we have rides like this at the American Disney parks? This ride looks amazing. I don't know anyone who's been on it and doesn't consider it one of the best rides in the world. Hopefully I'll get to Japan one day and give it a try. Roar: I've always liked this ride, and it is a great example of a first generation GCI coaster. Sure, it's gotten a bit rough, but there are still many wooden coasters out there with less tolerable rides. Lynet: Never seen anything quite like this. It somewhat resembles a Eurofighter, but almost looks like Gerstlauer's imitation of an Intamin launched coaster. At any rate, it looks like a fun ride. Also, KidTums looks tiny in those restraints (she probably barely made the height restriction on this one).

^^I used to use numerical rankings and got some flack for it, but haven't really heard anything since I switched to letters last year, so I guess people don't have an issue with the letter scale. I'm glad some people do appreciate that my trip reports are somewhat of a review as well (it is Theme Park Review, after all). Nice to have met you as well. ^It's difficult to tell from the outside if the building is still in use or not, but if it is it's probably only for a couple events each year. Now for the real start of the TPR Mini New Hotness tour. Trip 2, Part 3: Banshee Bash at Kings Island-July 25th, 2014 The first full day of the TPR Mini New Hotness tour was arguably the best (only one day really challenges it), as it was Banshee Bash at Kings Island. I've been to a number of TPR bashes throughout the years, and although some are better than others all have been great. Banshee Bash ended up being somewhere in the middle: it doesn't quite match the recent Knott's days of West Coast Bash or Leviathan Bash two years ago, but was definitely better than Bizarro Bash in 2011. Although our hotel was not far from Kings Island (outside of walking distance, but within taxi distance), we still had an early departure at 7:45 A.M. We arrived at the park approximately ten minutes later, received our schedules, tickets, and Fast Lane vouchers, and then waited to enter the park. Kings Island Of all the parks on this trip, Kings Island was probably my most anticipated for several reasons. The park was the biggest park in the country I hadn't visited yet, as well as the last large park in the Cedar Fair chain. It also completed a number of sets for me, including the former Paramount parks and all associated duplicate coasters. However, I had heard from a lot of people that Kings Island really wasn't that great of park and only had a few noteworthy rides, plus crowds were nearly as bad as Cedar Point. Perhaps it was due to Banshee Bash, perhaps it was due to Fast Lane, or perhaps it was simply due to those I hung out with for the day, but I was not disappointed in the slightest. Banshee Bash began with an hour of morning ERT on Banshee, Bat, and Delirium. During this time, I did ride Bat a couple times, but most of it was spent on Banshee. All the coaster reviews are below, but for now I'll say this about Banshee: Best new ride of 2014 and best new B&M since Tatsu. Following this ERT, we were given a half-hour on Diamondback before the park was opened to the general public and we were free to roam. When ERT ended, I joined up with Caroline, Judd, and Nathan and we all decided to head to Beast, then see how many credits we could pick up before lunch at 12:30 P.M. We didn't quite get to all of the credits, but did manage to get on every major coaster except Invertigo, plus a couple minor ones as well. Lunch consisted of fried chicken and hot dogs once again. Not the worst of these on the trip, but not quite as good as Coney Island's. During lunch, we also had a Q&A session with park management and got to hear stories about Beast and Cedar Fair TV. After lunch, it was time for backstage tours. The first tour was a basic photo tour of Banshee, not too interesting but it allowed everyone to get photos from some unique angles. The second tour took us out into the woods around Beast and Diamondback, and was much more interesting as those areas cannot be seen from within the park. It wasn't until doing this tour that I realized how hilly the terrain around Beast actually is (the base of the second lift is probably a good 50 feet below the station). Once the tours ended, we had free time for a bit, so we got the remaining credits out of the way, did a few re-rides, and tried out some of the park's non-coasters. At 7 P.M. we had reserved seating for Cirque Imagine, Kings Island's new show for this year. I'm not much of a show person, and there are only two theme park shows I consider must-see attractions (Aladdin and Waterworld, excluding nighttime spectaculars), but this was actually pretty decent. There is no dialogue in the show, and it is essentially a 30 minute Cirque du Soleil act. We also got to talk with the cast of the show afterward, which was interesting. After the show, we grabbed dinner, then did a few more rides until it was closing time. After watching the fireworks from a private viewing area in the International Restaurant, we were released into the park for night ERT. Night ERT began with an hour on Banshee. I wasn't sure how much difference the darkness would make, but it was best riding in the dark. Once Diamondback opened, we headed over there but only managed to get two rides in before the ride was closed for the night. Finally, it was time for Beast ERT. We had a full hour for the Beast, which was just the right amount of time. Once again, I don't want to spoil my Beast review, but I will say this: You have not experienced the Beast until you have ridden it under the cover of darkness. Beast ERT ended at midnight. Once the final train returned to the station, everyone took a brisk walk/jog out to the parking lot to take the bus back to the hotel. It was a very late night after a 16 hour day at the park, and with a very early departure the next morning I doubt anyone got much sleep. However, though the day at Kings Island had been extremely tiring, I knew it would be difficult to top. Coaster Reviews: It is difficult to classify Kings Island's coaster collection. In terms of variety, only Six Flags Magic Mountain seems to have a more diverse line-up of coasters. In terms of quality, however, Kings Island's line-up is fairly average outside of their three headliners. There is definitely a skew at the park toward kiddie and family coasters, as half of the park's coasters fall into that category. In fact, Kings Island's collection contains a lot of the same issues Cedar Point's does, though due to the presence of an above-average wooden coaster and lack of anything truly awful I feel Kings Island has a slightly better line-up overall. Banshee: It is a fact that B&M has lost their reputation with many enthusiasts. I, however, am a B&M fan, so when Banshee was announced I expected it to be a good ride, probably on par with Raptor. However, the ride blew me away. Not only was Banshee the best new credit I got this year and one of my top five coasters on the trip, it also became my favorite inverted coaster and one of my top five steel coasters (top ten overall). The coaster is just right in so many ways: long with no dull moments, good drop, good speed, good layout, good number of inversions, etc. and it has one of the fastest crews I've ever seen (seriously, 45 second dispatch on an inverted coaster). If there is one complaint I have about the ride, it is that the ride has a bit of rattle, but it is not enough to significantly detract from the coaster. Lastly, while Banshee is great during the day, it is absolutely a top ten ride at night. A Bat: As far as Arrow suspended coasters go, Bat is somewhere in the middle. It is reasonably intense, yet tame enough to be a family coaster. The ride also has a good amount of swinging, definitely more than Iron Dragon. However, it is a short ride. This was the last Arrow suspended in North America for me, and I would probably rank it second (better than Ninja, not as good as Vortex). C+ Diamondback: Most people I talked to though this was the best coaster at Kings Island. While I really enjoyed the ride, I personally found it somewhere in the middle of the B&M hypers. In my opinion, the first half of the ride was good but the second half didn't really do much for me. Perhaps I had too high of expectations, as this is often considered the best of the Cedar Fair hypers, but although I still consider it a top tier coaster I do prefer Intimidator and Leviathan (and Nitro as well). Maybe I just need to ride it more, as I only got four rides total on Diamondback and didn't get to try everywhere in the train. A Beast: I'll be honest...after my first ride on Beast, I thought it was just okay. Sure, the ride is unique and very, very, very long, but other than the first drop and the helix it felt more like a high speed train out in the woods than a roller coaster. After riding at night, however, I can see why the coaster is so highly regarded. At night, the Beast is, well, a Beast. In the dark, you can't see where you're going, so running out through the woods on an out of control train is a very thrilling experience. In fact, Beast is probably the second best night ride (after Boulder Dash). If the ride was more interesting, I would give it a higher grade, but just because the coaster is slightly above average during the day I have to take away some points. A- Racer: Racer is not the most exciting coaster out there, but when the ride is racing it may be one of the most fun coasters. Who would think taking a simple out and back and adding a second track would make the ride so much better. Now, I did get the chance to ride both racing and non-racing, and while it is a fairly average family coaster with one train, this is a top five in the park with both trains running. The coaster probably has the most airtime in the park (excluding Diamondback), and while it isn't the smoothest ride out there, racing your friends on the other train is so worth it. B- in general, B+ when racing. Flight of Fear: I expected this to be like the Kings Dominion version of the ride, and it more or less was. However, the Kings Island version is inferior for four reasons: 1. less dark, 2. rougher, 3. much stronger midcourse brakes, and 4. no Fast Lane. Other than that, it was the same short, intense, disorienting spaghetti bowl in the dark that Kings Dominion has. Also, this ride seems to have problems with overheating, as the crew was waiting two minutes between dispatches. Shame the 45 minute wait meant we could only get one ride. B Firehawk: Many people will tell you this ride is terrible. However, I really enjoyed the coaster. In fact, I would take Firehawk over the Superman clones. While Vekoma calls this ride a flying coaster, it is really more of a lay-down coaster as you spend most of the ride on your back. This leads to some very interesting maneuvers, and for first time riders it can be a terrifying experience (seriously, the motion of the first drop totally feels like you are plummeting to your death). Maybe it's because I only rode in the first row, but I thought this was one of Vekoma's best rides and wish there were more of them. B Vortex: Every coaster park has a dreaded coaster, and at Kings Island that is typically Vortex. However, I am one of maybe three people on the trip that didn't mind the ride. No, it is not great, but I didn't think the ride was terrible either. Yes, it is true that the ride has a good first drop and you more endure than enjoy the remainder, but unlike some others I'd ride it again on a return visit. C+ Backlot Stunt Coaster: Of the three Backlot Stunt Coasters, this was the best because most of the effects are still in use. Yes, the coaster is still just a short family coaster (almost like an outdoor Revenge of the Mummy, actually), but it's still a fun ride if you can get on with a short wait. B- Invertigo: I'm not the biggest fan of shuttle coasters, so while this was better than a standard boomerang it was still my least favorite coaster at Kings Island. The ride wasn't too rough, but wasn't as smooth as CGA's version from what I remember. I do think the seats make the ride, however, and with a standard SLC train these wouldn't be much fun at all. C- Adventure Express: Not the best mine train, but one of the better ones IMO. The ride is a total family coaster, but that's all it needs to be. I like that there is actually a bit before the first lift hill and the fact that the ride has a lot of tunnels (I think I counted four), but hate the ending as it seems to be building to something other than a brake run. In fact, this replaces Revenge of the Mummy for the most WTF ending. C Flying ACE Aerial Chase: I've now been on four of the suspended family coasters. This one is the original, but I think it is the best. The coaster is a bit jerky, but the restraints are wide enough to prevent headbanging and for a family coaster the ride is mildly fun. I'm glad this coaster has Fast Lane as the wait looked quite long with only one train. As a side note, this was credit #300 for me. C Woodstock Express: A family wooden coaster, and the last of four for me to ride. This one was probably my favorite of the four, as it was smooth (although not very memorable). Good family coaster, but not worth much of a wait (no Fast Lane here, either). C+ Kings Island Coaster Ranking: Must Ride: 1. Banshee 2. Diamondback 3. Beast Good Coasters: * Racer (racing) 4. Firehawk 5. Flight of Fear 6. Racer (not racing) 7. Backlot Stunt Coaster Average Coasters: 8. Bat 9. Vortex 10. Woodstock Express 11. Adventure Express 12. Flying ACE Aerial Chase 13. Invertigo Non-Coaster Summary: Like Cedar Point, Kings Island has one of the best non-coaster collections of any major park. Due to time constraints, however, I did not ride many of them, but I enjoyed most of those I rode. My favorite non-coaster ride at Kings Island is Drop Tower. It isn't the world's best drop ride, but it is an above average one and the rotation adds something unique to the attraction. The only other flat ride I rode was Windseeker, which is pretty much the same as all the others (though I do like that they still play film music at Kings Island). Even though we had ERT on Delirium, I did not ride as I am not a huge fan of this type of ride. In addition, I did try Kings Island's dark ride, Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. The ride itself was better than the other Boo Blasters incarnations I've tried, and thanks to a unique omnimover system the line seemed to move fast, but unfortunately we found the guns didn't work so well on this ride. I also rode Race For Your Life Charlie Brown, a fairly average log flume with an acceptable amount of wetness, and went to the top of the Eiffel Tower for some nice views. In addition to what I rode, Kings Island has a number of other flat rides, two other water rides, and what appeared to be one of the best kids areas in any park. Now that I've been to most of the Cedar Fair properties, I would say Kings Island probably has the best non-coaster collection in the chain, excluding Cedar Point. Overall Thoughts: I went into Kings Island expecting to find it just okay, but after visiting I would say it's my second favorite Cedar Fair park and one of my top ten parks overall. For rides, the park has a decent coaster selection (including three top tier coasters), a decent dark ride, a great collection of non-coaster rides, and one of the best kids' areas in the industry. The park is also very well landscaped (with plenty of shady areas), reasonably themed, and has employees who are not only friendly but also fairly efficient as well. The only significant issue I have with the park is one I have with many Cedar Fair properties: food quality. While the lunch wasn't bad (probably the best group lunch I've had at a Cedar Fair park, Mrs. Knott's chicken excluded), the chicken strips I got for dinner were pretty mediocre with a side of slow service and my friends had a poor experience at an in-park Subway. The one food exception is the Banshee ice cream, which is quite good (though not the best ever) and is something I would probably get on every visit. Overall, however, I really enjoyed Kings Island and would definitely go back. If a few minor issues were fixed (excessive braking on some of the coasters) and the park received a couple needed additions (one or two new slide towers for the waterpark and one more top tier coaster), Kings Island could be the best thrill park in North America. Ride Totals: Adventure Express: 1 Backlot Stunt Coaster: 1 Bat: 2 Banshee: 5 Beast: 5 Diamondback: 4 Firehawk: 2 Flight of Fear: 1 Flying ACE Aerial Chase: 1 Invertigo: 1 Racer: 4 Vortex: 1 Woodstock Express: 1 Boo Blasters on Boo Hill: 1 Drop Tower: 2 Eiffel Tower: 1 Race For Your Life Charlie Brown: 1 Windseeker: 1 Total: 35 rides in 15 hours (2.33 rides per hour) Welcome to Kings Island, the better sister park to Kings Dominion. Unlike most inverted coasters, Banshee starts things off with a dive loop. Banshee is the first US inverted coaster built in 8 years and is possibly the best one yet. No other inverted coaster features a loop around the lift hill. It might not look it because the loop is so large, but this ride is intense. Drop Tower! Excellent ride, but the name could use a little work. When on a backstage tour, you have two options for your coaster photos: with or without enthusiasts. It's too bad the tour didn't continue down to the lower area of the ride, but I'm still happy with what we got. Cedar Fair may not go all out with theming, but it was nice that they scattered tombstones around the area and made the station look nice. I love it when inverted coasters get close to the ground, and Banshee does it more than once on the ride. One final shot of Banshee before leaving the tour area. Best new ride of 2014 for sure. Random slingshot picture. At this time, I'd never been on one, but that will change by the end of the trip. Unlike some of B&M's previous designs, the first drop on this one is great. The track itself is almost at ground level, so riders are just a couple feet from hitting dirt at this point. After the loop comes a zero-g roll, and then riders drop off into a valley. I won't say what happens next, but I will say this: the ride isn't even half over at this point. I heard a lot of people call Delirium an inferior version of MaxAir. I didn't ride it, so I'm not sure how it was. We're here for the new hotness: Banshee! Kings Island has a floral clock, and unlike Coney Island's this one is an actual clock. It's nice when you can find open empty areas inside of parks. Not every square foot needs to be occupied by a ride, game, or shop. Backlot Stunt Coaster doing it's thing. Of Kings Island's numerous family coasters, this is probably the best (excluding racing Racer). Splashdown. I believe this is still the only hyper with one of these (pretty sure Shambhala's is fake). I didn't mind Vortex, but according to most people it can go and die. Random Diamondback picture while walking to the second backstage tour. For our second backstage tour, we got to see a new haunt building. What do you mean that's all we get for the Beast backstage tour? I can barely see it from here. Just kidding. For the Beast tour, we were led deep into the woods to see this coaster from areas not accessible by the general public. The first drop on Beast is the only decent drop on the entire ride IMO. Yes, there's that drop into the helix, but it's more of a ramp. No, you don't get to see the legendary helix. The picture I took of it didn't turn out very good. Here's a shot of the train after the legendary helix. The train begins its plunge into the second part of the ride: the legendary helix. It's not very common that you can get this close to an operating coaster. From here you can see that there is quite a bit of terrain difference in the back of Kings Island. I'm guessing the lowest point on Beast is probably a good 50 feet below station elevation. The chain return for the second lift. On a similar tour on a previous TPR trip, we had to play limbo under one of these things. The next three pictures comprise the nerd section of this report. Following the drop, Beast runs out into the woods and doesn't come back until the second lift. This was the last we saw of the train for at least a minute. This is the mechanism that makes the lift hill work. You could always tell a train was approaching by listening for this to speed up. One of these days I'm going to skip a backstage tour just to ride the ride and see what it all looks like to the riders. Moving on, we got to go over and tour Diamondback as well. I like this picture. It would make a lot of GP think the ride is massive. Unlike some of B&M's other hypers, Diamondback features an appropriately placed midcourse brake. Floater airtime over this hill. Goodbye train. We'll be watching for the next one in about 15 seconds. It appears that Kings Island has suffered a massive infestation of coaster enthusiasts. Fortunately, these don't seem to be of the ACE variety. I honestly forgot Kings Island had a train ride until I saw this picture. On the map, the station appears to be near Diamondback but I never remember seeing it. I didn't take many pictures of Planet Snoopy, but it looked like one of the best kids' areas anywhere. I spy several enthusiasts on the train. Don't worry, Woodstock Express is not a credit whore coaster (Flying ACE Aerial Chase, on the other hand...). The biggest ride in Planet Snoopy is Woodstock Express, a family wooden coaster. One more random shot of Planet Snoopy. The building directly ahead houses Boo Blasters on Boo Hill, the best dark ride in the Cedar Fair chain not located at Knott's Berry Farm. I never rode Viking Fury, but it looked like a reasonably good pirate ship. And I'll end this update with an overview of Banshee. That's Kings Island. If you haven't been, tack it on to your next Cedar Point visit. You won't be disappointed. A view from the top of the Eiffel Tower. As you can tell from the parking lot, Kings Island was busy today. I doubt we would have got all the coasters in without Fast Lane and/or ERT. For some reason, an all blue wooden coaster doesn't look that odd to me, though I definitely prefer white or natural. An overview of Planet Snoopy. I believe everything except the log flume is visible here. There's one with the log flume. As a side note, the land is relatively featureless in the Midwest. Diamondback towers over the park. Kings Island does a good job of dispersing tall rides rather than clustering them together. Which is your favorite coaster in this picture: A. Backlot Stunt Coaster, B. Beast, C. Racer, or D. Vortex? I imagine Revenge of the Mummy would probably look something like this if placed outdoors. Probably not as compact, but still the same general elements. Oh no, I think Windseeker's stuck. Oh wait, it's a picture. Flight of Fear and Firehawk feel like the Kings Island rejects as they're all out on their own. A random picture of Coney Mall as a whole. I imagine this view was quite different in 1972. A view straight down from 300 ft up. If you're afraid of heights, this picture is not for you.

Yeah, Arrows are somewhat old and outdated by today's standards, but I do think historically they may be the most significant steel coaster manufacturer. They were one of the most innovative and are almost solely responsible for the existence and evolution of major steel coasters. I do think they were limited by the technology of their time, however, and if the company was still around they could be the best coaster designers in the business. As for their rides, I do like X2 and Arrow's hypercoasters tend to be pretty good. I've had mixed results with their suspended coasters and looping coasters...some are really good, but some are barely worth riding for the credit. I also like some of the quirky rides Arrow has come up with, such as Gemini. Overall, they're in my middle group of manufacturers, right between Schwarzkopf and Vekoma. As for my favorite Arrows... 1. X2 (Six Flags Magic Mountain) 2. Magnum XL-200 (Cedar Point) 3. Vortex (Canada's Wonderland) 4. Tennessee Tornado (Dollywood) 5. Gemini (Cedar Point)

Colossus is looking great. After seeing the blue I-Box track, I've got a feeling this may be the best looking RMC to date. I'm also interested to see what happens to the station building...I'm guessing it will get a remodel and they'll cover the left side loading platform for more queue space. As for those asking for a dual station, forget about it. It's not going to happen unless SFMM decides to completely demolish the existing station building (which they almost certainly aren't doing) and the capacity increase would be negligible as we all know the park will rarely (if ever) run all four trains. Although, I will admit that one of my original ideas for the ride was to use both loading platforms and have different pre-lifts with a merge at the base of the first lift, but then would it be one credit or two?

Of the modern manufacturers, B&M. They may be a little more conservative than some companies, but B&M is the only company that can consistently deliver a major crowd pleasing steel coaster that doesn't have any significant issues. They produce a wide range of coaster types (and were the first to make several), and while some enthusiasts find their rides gimmicky or cookie-cutter they typically have the longest lines at any park with a B&M. No B&M has ever had a serious accident, and no B&M has required modification following construction due to issues discovered during testing. I've heard several parks say B&M is the best coaster company to work with, and while some of B&M's coasters are lackluster or uninspired, are any truly bad? Of all manufacturers in history, however, Arrow takes the cake. They are almost solely responsible for the existence and evolution of major steel coasters. The company was very innovative, and I can't help but think they may have been limited by the technology of their time. If Arrow was still around today, I'd bet they would be the #1 roller coaster manufacturer. Think about it this way: Most Arrows pale by comparison to modern coasters, but what would your top ten steel list be excluding anything built 1990 or later? Chances are it would be mostly Arrows. Given what they did with hand calculations, and given their last traditional coaster (Tennessee Tornado), this company could have done great things had they not gone bankrupt.

While my next project is still a work in progress, I feel it is at the point where it's worth sharing. This is a recreation of a relatively obscure coaster: Kentucky Rumbler at Beech Bend in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The layout is complete, but I'm still tweaking a few sections to get g-forces to a reasonable level and trying to modify some of the supports. I hope to have a great Kentucky Rumbler recreation eventually, as I don't think one exists anywhere. Therefore, I will continue working on it concurrently with other projects. I plan to work mostly on wood coasters for a bit (particularly the CCI style), as they seem to be the easiest type to create in NoLimits, and for my next project I'll start focusing on terrain and scenery as well. Game Exchange Link: http://www.themeparkreview.com/game_exchange/track.php?id=3190

California Screamin' at Disney California Adventure Park. Even though it was my 34th coaster, it was only my 4th big coaster.

My comments: -My main YouTube viewer is my desktop computer. Since this is where I spend the majority of my time (while at home), this is primarily what I use to watch YouTube videos. Occasionally, I will watch a video on my iPhone (usually if I am out somewhere and something interesting pops up on Facebook), but I do not like viewing videos on the small screen and must mute the volume to avoid disturbing those around me (I don't typically carry headphones). I do not have an easy way to watch videos on my TV so I don't do it except in very special cases. -I rarely watch playlists created by YouTube Channels. When I am looking for a video, I usually am only interested in one specific video, not an entire playlist that may contain videos I've seen before. Unless a playlist is all recent videos that are connected in some way (ex: a trip's worth of POVs all uploaded in the past month), I won't bother with them. -I find most YouTube videos through social media. I do have a YouTube account, but I don't use it much and have not subscribed to any channels. There are a handful that I check regularly (including TPR), but other than that I watch videos that I see on Facebook or relate to a topic I'm searching for. -I rarely share YouTube videos on social media. Unless I think a video will be of interest to all my friends, I don't share it as I don't want to bombard everyone's Facebook page with excessive content they won't care about. -YouTube comments rot my brain and I stay far away from them. Some of the comments on the TPR forums can be very dumb, but even the worst are typically better than 90% of what is found on YouTube. I treat the comments section on that site like it doesn't exist.

Goliath is the only one I've been on so it's my favorite by default. That said, I personally think all the other RMC coasters look better (except possibly Medusa Steel Coaster). Either way, Goliath is one of my top five woodies so it's still an outstanding ride.