rcdude

From what I've heard, Snoopy Bounce, Log Peeler, Joe Cool's GR8 SK8, and Timberline Twister are leaving and a new family coaster and 2 new flats are replacing them. Of course, none of this has been confirmed so take it with a grain of salt.

These rides could use some significant retracking: Apocalypse the Ride (SFMM) Legend (HW) Roar (SFDK) Grizzly (KD) These rides could use a topper track replacement (limited layout modifications): Voyage (HW) Boss (SFStL) GhostRider (KBF) These rides could use a full I-Box makeover (essentially a complete redesign): Cyclone (SFNE) Colossus (SFMM) Monstre (LR) Predator (DL) Mean Streak (CP) These rides could use a bulldozer : Hurler (both) Wild Beast (CW) Wildcat (LC) Grizzly (CGA)

Voted for option 2, but I like both of them. The twitter bar just seems unnecessary to me, hence my vote.

I've never really greyed out on a ride, but I have noticed the effects of it beginning on a few: -Batman clones -Goliath (SFMM) -Intimidator 305 -Nitro -Tatsu

^If Tidal Wave was ever an upcharge (unlikely), that was long, long ago. I believe it currently has two boats (at least that's how many it's generally been using when I've visited). Sadly, the boats are often stacked on this ride when I've seen similar rides elsewhere use two or occasionally three boats with no stacking.

I personally prefer option 2. I'm not a huge fan of the twitter bar, partly because I don't use the site and partly because it just seems like it distracts from the image, plus it seems like the information there would be somewhat redundant for those that follow the twitter feed. Option 2 has a much more attractive image section that may be just a tiny bit too large but otherwise seems perfect. Of course, I'd be happy with either of these as they are both a massive improvement over the current front page.

Technically the closest park to me is Boomers (about 20 minutes away), but as that is a FEC with a few amusement rides I don't count it. Therefore, the closest parks to me are (times represent no traffic transit times): Disneyland Resort: 30 minutes Knott's Berry Farm: 35 minutes LEGOLAND California: 40 minutes Scandia Amusement Park and Castle Amusement Park are within an hour as well. I also have Universal Studios Hollywood, SeaWorld San Diego, and Six Flags Magic Mountain within 2 hours of where I live, in addition to Mundo Divertido in Tijuana (which I've never been to and don't plan to visit).

Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

^If they scan your pass and there isn't a picture, they'll check your ID and remind you that you need to get your picture taken that day. Just as an FYI, when you take the printout to the turnstile, they will scan it, take it, and give you a paper card that will work in the Fastpass machines. Unless you arrive super early (45+ minutes early) or there is no line at the ticket booths, I'd recommend just going into the park and stopping by a ticket booth when you decide to hop over to the other park (usually ticket booth lines disappear by around noon), where you'll exchange the paper ticket for the actual AP card. Thursday shouldn't be all that crowded, but Disneyland is rarely dead anymore so you'll definitely want to be inside the park as early as you can for the best rope drop positioning.

I've always thought Xcelerator at Knott's looked quite impressive, not due to the massive structure but rather the lack of one. I've got a feeling that approaching the ride and seeing a 200 ft. tall arch of track completely unsupported is one of the main reasons why the ride scares people off (it typically has a shorter line than Silver Bullet and GhostRider). Photo from RCDB.

I agree with Robb and others that there should have been more El Toros. Not necessarily clones, but just more parks with Intamin Wooden Coasters. I've got a feeling that if Six Flags hadn't gotten into financial trouble shortly after El Toro's debut (resulting in the next new large coaster chainwide not coming until 2011) at least SFGAm, SFMM, and probably SFOT as well would have ended up with an Intamin woodie. At least now it looks like Rocky Mountain is the preferred large coaster manufacturer of Six Flags, so we've got a chance to see one of those in every Six Flags park in 10 years. As it is now, Dare Devil Dive, Green Lantern: First Flight, and X-Flight seem like the most likely coasters to become mass produced if the chain goes back into installing cloned coasters. In the event that Six Flags started installing clones again, my guess as to what each park would get is: LR: Dare Devil Dive (with theming removed) GE: Green Lantern (with alternative theming) SFA: Green Lantern SFDK: Dare Devil Dive (with alternative theming) SFFT: Dare Devil Dive SFGAdv: X-Flight (possibly with alternative theming) SFGAm: already has X-Flight SFMM: already has Green Lantern, possibly add X-Flight SFM: Green Lantern SFNE: Dare Devil Dive SFOG: already has Dare Devil Dive SFOT: X-Flight SFStL: Dare Devil Dive

I'm guessing it will end up being something at Knott's Berry Farm (likely Xcelerator, GhostRider, or Silver Bullet), but it could also be at Disneyland (the new Big Thunder Mountain Railroad) or, much less likely, Six Flags Magic Mountain (probably Full Throttle). The only plans I have right now are to go to Disneyland sometime between when Thunder reopens and when my pass expires (late March), but I did get both a Knott's pass and a SFMM pass for Christmas.

This was a light year for me, as I mainly stayed in California (I did visit a couple Pacific Northwest parks as well, but there was nothing notable about them). New Coasters: 3. Superman Ultimate Flight 2. Gold Striker 1. Full Throttle All Coasters: 3. Xcelerator 2. Full Throttle 1. Tatsu Non-Coasters: 3. Haunted Mansion 2. Pirates of the Caribbean 1. Indiana Jones Adventure Parks: 3. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk 2. Six Flags Magic Mountain 1. Disneyland

I went and saw Saving Mr. Banks while I was in Utah last week. Excellent film. Acting was outstanding (Emma Thompson definitely deserves an Academy Award nomination), the story was interesting, the numerous flashbacks didn't annoy me like flashbacks typically do, and there was enough minor comedy in the film to keep my attention (I generally find serious dramas boring). I do wonder how accurate some parts of it are, but if you look at the movie independent of real life it doesn't really matter if everything was portrayed perfectly or not. Definitely recommended for fans of Merry Poppins, Disney, or true story movies, and one of my favorites of the year. Now that 2013 is over, here's my rankings for the 18 movies I saw in theaters (best to worst): A: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Gravity Saving Mr. Banks The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Star Trek Into Darkness B: The Wolverine Pacific Rim 42 Rush C: Oz the Great and Powerful The Great Gatsby Thor: The Dark World Iron Man 3 Now You See Me Man of Steel World War Z D: Identity Thief A Good Day to Die Hard

I'll go with GhostRider. The trim brakes really kill the second half of the coaster, and they don't really reduce roughness at all. There are a few that are pretty bad at SFMM as well, but as I never rode them in their original configuration I won't consider them, and I haven't ridden any coaster out of state in multiple seasons to see changes to the ride.

I definitely use Facebook the most, and the only other one on the list I use with any frequency is YouTube. I haven't even visited about half of the others on the list as far as I can recall.

That's really disappointing consider that it seems to take quite a bit of work to mess up a GCI coaster, especially one of the newer ones that were designed with the Millennium Flyers in mind. At this rate, will it just be Son of Psyclone in a couple of years? Here's the thing about Apocalypse (at least for me): Back when it opened, Apocalypse was my favorite wooden coaster. Even though I had little experience outside of California at the time, the ride remained in my top five up until last year despite getting on some truly great wooden coasters elsewhere. This year, however, it dropped out of my wood top ten. It is not a terrible ride, but it is almost as rough as SFDK's Roar yet is less than 5 years old. I get the feeling SFMM doesn't take care of the ride and defers maintenance until absolutely necessary (as evidenced by the sudden closure in the middle of summer this year for emergency trackwork, regular one train operations, and loose boards in the support structure) and that is what has caused the coaster to deteriorate so quickly. My dad noticed a large increase in the roughness of the ride between WCB 2012 and WCB 2013, and on my most recent visit to the park my cousin and her husband (both of which had never ridden the ride before) thought it was rougher than a "new" wooden coaster should be, though not unbearably rough. I now consider the coaster a second tier ride at the park, and although it is still a good ride I think it will become California's worst GCI in a few years if the park doesn't start taking care of it.

I've been on all the standup coasters in North America except Apocalypse and Georgia Scorcher. Aside from Riddler's Revenge, there isn't a single one I'd wait more than 15 minutes to ride again. Riddler's Revenge is outstanding, but most of the other B&M Stand Ups are decent but give an uncomfortable ride, and the CGA Vortex is unpleasant. Standup coasters are my least favorite type of B&M, though I have yet to ride a Wing Coaster (which look like a lot of fun but get terrible reception from enthusiasts). As for other manufacturers, Togo can actually build a decent standup (SkyRider is easily my favorite Togo coaster), but their rides still have the issue of roughness all Togo coasters seem to have. Finally, the only Intamin standup coaster I've been on (Cobra at La Ronde) was downright terrible and is not only my least favorite standup of all manufacturers, but one of my least favorite major coasters in general. As for the appeal of standup coasters, it is mainly the fact that you ride in an atypical position. The ride experience is a little different, so I don't think they are as much of a gimmick as some other types (like a floorless coaster). The big issue with standup coasters is that the restraints must be adjusted properly or you can receive a very unpleasant ride, and depending on the coaster and rider adjusting the restraints may be easy or difficult. As for the suggestion of converting the coasters to a sitdown ride, I'm guessing this could be done on the B&M's using floorless trains (or using standard looping trains on the Togos) but for the most part this type of investment probably wouldn't pay off.

Did my ballot today. New woodies for me this year are Gold Striker and Timberhawk. Apocalypse also took a bit of a drop due to the current state of the coaster. RANK THE FOLLOWING RIDING SENSATIONS <-LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,1 Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,2 Out of Control Feeling/Directional Changes_,y,y,3 Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,4 Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,5 Positive G's/Loops_________________________,y,y,6 COASTER NAME PARK LOC <--Please leave this My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere **,y,n,1 El Toro SFGAd NJ,y,n,2 The Voyage Holiday World IN,y,n,3 Boulder Dash Lake Compounce CT,y,n,4 Thunderhead Dollywood TN,y,n,5 Ravine Flyer II Waldameer PA,y,n,6 Gold Striker Great America CA,y,y,7 American Thunder Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,8 The Legend Holiday World IN,y,n,9 Raven Holiday World IN,y,n,10 Apocalypse S. F. Magic Mountain CA,y,y,11 Comet Great Escape NY,y,n,12 Giant Dipper Santa Cruz Bch Bdwk CA,y,y,13 The Grizzly Kings Dominion VA,y,n,14 Thunder Road Carowinds NC,y,n,15 Roar SF Discovery Kingdom CA,y,y,16 Excalibur Funtown USA ME,y,n,17 Rebel Yell Kings Dominion VA,y,n,18 Silver Comet Martin's Fantasy Is. NY,y,n,19 Blue Streak Conneaut Lake Park PA,y,n,20 The Boss Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,21 M.Can.Mine Buster Canada's Wonderland ON,y,n,22 GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA,y,y,23 Screamin' Eagle Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,24 Yankee Cannonball Canobie Lake Park NH,y,n,25 Cyclone SF New England MA,y,n,26 Colossus S.F. Magic Mountain CA,y,y,27 Le Monstre La Ronde QU,y,n,28 Jack Rabbit Seabreeze NY,y,n,29 Thunderbolt SF New England MA,y,n,30 Blue Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,31 Hurler Carowinds NC,y,n,32 Timberhawk Enchanted Village WA,y,y,33 Giant Dipper Belmont Park CA,y,n,34 Ghoster Coaster Kings Dominion VA,y,n,35 Hurler Kings Dominion VA,y,n,36 Wooden Warrior Quassy CT,y,n,37 Ghoster Coaster Canada's Wonderland ON,y,n,38 Woodstock Express Carowinds NC,y,n,39 Predator Darien Lake NY,y,n,40 Wild Beast Canada's Wonderland ON,y,n,41 Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ,y,n,42 Wildcat Lake Compounce CT,y,n,43 Comet Waldameer PA,y,n,44 Mean Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,45 The Grizzly Great America CA,y,y,46

I'll do all the So Cal parks since I'd consider them all local parks. Disneyland Resort: I'd like to see a major project underway for both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. I don't really care what the attractions are as long as they aren't just clones of something at another park and are actually new rides (not a redo of an existing attraction). I would also like to see no more admission increases until these projects are complete, but I feel that is far too wishful thinking. Knott's Berry Farm: I'd like to see a replacement flat ride for Windseeker and a new dark ride for 2015, along with a partial/full retrack of GhostRider using Rocky Mountain's Topper Track. The layout is perfect the way it is, the ride just needs to be smoothed out a bit. I'd also like to see something new for Knott's Soak City. LEGOLAND California: I'd like to see a copy of Polar X-plorer from LEGOLAND Billund with one or two small attractions to compliment it. SeaWorld San Diego: I'd like to see a new version of Antarctica from SeaWorld Orlando, but with a more complete ride portion closer to what the original concept art shows of the attraction. Six Flags Magic Mountain: I would like to see the park take a break from building new attractions and instead focus on upkeep of everything currently at the park. I would also like to see the park begin work on Iron Colossus and do the transformation well without destroying the original ride concept (aka 2 tracks that are designed for racing trains). Universal Studios Hollywood: I would like to see construction accelerated to have Harry Potter Land open summer 2015.

Saw the flower pot on Friday when I was at the park. I think it's the best thing Knott's can do at the moment to cover the space, and it's actually a nice feature that is worth looking at. I still hope they'll be a ride here in either 2014 or (more likely) 2015, but for now it doesn't look bad at all.

I was at the park today and it was packed. Every non-kiddie coaster had a full (or nearly full) queue except Gold Rusher, and several were spilling into temporary queues (namely Full Throttle, Green Lantern, Goliath, Superman, and Tatsu). They even extended the park operating hours due to the crowds. I don't know if this is normal crowds for winter break, but if it is I would strongly advise anyone planning to visit in the next couple weeks to purchase a Flash Pass if getting all the coasters is a priority. Also note that Ninja only has one train due to maintenance and X2, Sky Tower, and the three water rides will all be closed until March.

I like the emails, but since I visit the site daily (or at least every other day) I've usually seen everything that is mentioned. Still, there's occasionally something that I saw and didn't have time to read that the email reminds me of.

And I was just going to send them a message too . Once again Real Art has a very creative and very entertaining toy to play with. I wonder how much time I'll end up wasting on this thing by the end of winter break.

^I've heard they would be off Black Snake Summit, but what rides they're replacing I have no idea. It wouldn't make sense to replace three body slides with two body slides that have lower capacity, but then again this is SFMM we're talking about.