rcdude

If I can positively identify that a traveling coaster is indeed a ride I haven't done before, then I will count it. Since most are stock models (at least in the US), this usually means identifying the carnival operator. In a couple cases, I was unable to do this and thus I didn't count those coasters, but as they were small Dragon Wagons or similar it doesn't bother me one bit that they're missing from my count. I've counted everything else I've ridden, but I think the total number of traveling coasters in my count is probably only 10-15 (out of a total count over 350).

When I visited Kings Island (Banshee Bash in late July), the Diamondback crew was getting trains out in about 90 seconds. While it isn't as good as a B&M hyper with just a lapbar, it's not bad by any means. Kings Island had better than average ride operators by Cedar Fair standards (and the Banshee crew was absolutely amazing), so it would really surprise me if dispatches were actually taking five minutes.

Classic.

Piercing.

Stretch.

You might want to try asking this again a week or two before you visit. There are plenty of people on here who visit the park semi-regularly, but unless someone is traveling from out of state it would be unlikely they would make plans months in advance. You might be able to find someone willing to give you a lift and hang out for the day (heck, I'd be up for it if I was available and you happened to be staying somewhere convenient), but you'll have difficulty planning for a May or June trip at this point. If you can't get a ride, your best option would be to rent a car, or if absolutely necessary use Uber or similar. Taking the bus to SFMM is not worth it, IMO. Also, if you're hoping to ride Twisted Colossus I wouldn't plan your trip before mid-June. While it's looking like a Memorial Day weekend opening is likely, delays have been known to happen with recent Six Flags projects. I absolutely would not expect it to be open anytime before late May based on the current state of construction.

Based on that video, this definitely looks like it will be a pretty good ride. Cannibal is certainly one of the travel-worthy 2015 coasters and if the ride gets good reception Lagoon is going to become a must visit enthusiast destination.

Another excellent trip report! I was a little worried that 16 hours would be too much time for Kings Island, but with all that the park offers and all the perks arranged for Banshee Bash I enjoyed every minute of it. Banshee, Beast, and Diamondback are an excellent trio of coasters, and the rest of the attractions at Kings Island make it one of the best parks out there (it's my second favorite Cedar Fair park after Cedar Point). You're also one of the few who seems to think Vortex is at least decent...I liked it as well, but once per visit is enough. Looking forward to the upcoming reports, and also looking forward to seeing how many times I end up appearing in your report. I always find it amusing when I randomly see myself in other's trip reports.

Overrated.

^You are correct!

Mine tend to be easier than I expect, so no hints for now.

That looks like the Vekoma Tornado model. Judging by your location, Loopen at TusenFryd would likely be the specific attraction referenced.

If they paint the beams, then great. If they don't, whatever. I will say that I have seen reports that the beams will be painted on several sites and I imagine SFMM will want the ride to look as good as possible. While I do think an all-white structure would look better, I don't think the current look is bad, and the appearance won't affect the ride one bit so it's not a big deal.

In general, maple bars. However, if a donut shop has a really good jelly donut (my favorite is DK's Donuts, a small shop in Costa Mesa, CA) I like those better. Also, at Krispy Kreme I prefer the hot glazed donuts to anything else they serve there.

Yet another great report. The Kentucky day was a nice slightly intense day following the (good) insanity of Banshee Bash. Lightning Run was one of the biggest surprises of the trip for me...I was expecting a good but not great ride, and it ended up being a top ten steel coaster. The ERT session on Kentucky Rumbler was one of the best I've experienced, and was my favorite of the Mini New Hotness tour (though the next day's came very, very close). I just wish we had more time at Beech Bend. Looking forward to the next update, as it's from one of my favorite parks.

Why don't giga coasters have steeper drops? Well, probably because no park has requested one. It's definitely possible to build a beyond vertical drop on a 300+ ft coaster, but doing so would result in so many design modifications that the costs would likely outweigh the benefits. You'd need to redesign the support structure and redesign the trains, and depending on the design you'd need either a larger radius of curvature at the bottom of the drop or a trim during the drop, both of which negatively effect the drop itself. Lastly, if having a beyond vertical drop isn't going to make the ride more popular with the public (and might actually make it less popular), why would a park invest extra money to do it? Why don't giga coasters have inversions? Pretty much for the same reason. Due to the scale of the ride, the inversions would need to have some design modifications, and with the price of a giga coaster to begin with most parks can't justify the additional investment. Also worth considering is that more members of the general public seem to prefer non-inverting coasters, as in most parks with a hyper/giga coaster that is the park's most popular attraction.

Thunderbird looks great. The stations Holiday World has on their coasters are all excellent, and Thunderbird is no exception. I hope I can get back to the park soon to ride it (probably not 2015, but hopefully 2016).

^This! Most people aren't going to go out of their way for a scrambler, and nobody is going to regard it as the greatest ride ever, but they are a perfect bridge ride that will entertain the whole family without scaring anybody off. I've always enjoyed them, and they're one of my favorite classic flats. It would be a great fit for Kentucky Kingdom, and is somewhat of a less intense version of the Breakdance. If Kentucky Kingdom is indeed getting a scrambler, and if they're getting something for the waterpark as rumored a little while back, that would make up all of the KingdomSeven attractions. T3, Cyclos, Raging Rapids, Sky Catcher, Enterprise, a scrambler, and a Kraken Racer (or similar)...sounds like it would be an excellent line-up of new for 2015 attractions for the park.

It definitely won't be better, as the week before Easter is one of the most popular spring break weeks in Southern California. It will probably be about the same as the weekend, or possibly slightly busier since deluxe passes are valid. If you wanted to arrive early and stay late in order to do both Disneyland and SFMM on the trip, you could visit one of the parks on that day, but if you have to pick one or the other I would pick the weekend before. In regards to Innoventions, it's about time that attraction closed. Other than perhaps Tarzan's Treehouse, it's the worst attraction at Disneyland and is only popular due to the Marvel meet and greets. As for a replacement, I'd like to see an original concept there that isn't tied to one of Disney's franchises, but if not it would be a great place for a Marvel attraction (a clone of the Iron Man Experience could probably be fast-tracked into there and opened by the end of 2016).

If everything was open or you hadn't been before, three days would be ideal, but given the current circumstances I'd probably stick with two. The benefit of Magic Morning will be limited as only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are open, so unless you want several rides on Space Mountain and/or Star Tours I wouldn't worry about that too much. To avoid the parking fee, stay at a hotel on Harbor Boulevard that's within walking distance of the park.

I can't wait for this ride to open. Usually I wait a couple weeks before going to try a new ride, but Twisted Colossus may be an exception. It keeps getting better and better, so perhaps I'll brave the opening day/weekend crowds and likely 4 hour waits for once.

That is a very difficult decision, and ultimately it comes down to two key factors: How soon you'll likely have another chance to visit, and how important Cars Land and the closed attractions are to you. If you think you'll have another chance to visit in the next year, I would absolutely recommend delaying your visit until then, as you will get a much better value for your money when everything is open. However, if it is unlikely you'll get a chance to visit for some time and you're okay with paying the price with the current number of closed attractions, I'd opt for Disneyland over SFMM. It will be spring break, and no matter what park you visit it will be crowded. At Disneyland, expect 60+ minute waits for headliners, and don't count on Fastpasses being available beyond mid-afternoon. That said, you can get a large amount done in a single day, even when the parks are busy, as long as you have an effective touring strategy. Here's what I'd recommend as a basic one day, two park touring plan during the time you're visiting: 1. Arrive at the Disneyland Resort at least 45 minutes before opening (an hour would be ideal). Head into Disneyland first. Wait on the Adventureland side of the hub for rope drop. 2. When the park opens, head directly to Indiana Jones Adventure and ride. After riding, cross to Tomorrowland and grab a Fastpass for Space Mountain, then do anything you want to do in Tomorrowland while waiting. 3. After using your Space Mountain Fastpass (or before if desired), do any attractions of interest in Fantasyland and Toontown. Once done with these areas, check the time. If it is before noon, do Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, then head to DCA. If it is close to (or after) noon, head over to DCA and save the New Orleans Square attractions for when you return. 4. As soon as you get to DCA, head to Paradise Pier and get a Fastpass for California Screamin', then do other Paradise Pier attractions until it is time to ride. If nothing else in Paradise Pier interests you, you may ride California Screamin' through the single rider line to save time. 5. After riding California Screamin', grab a Fastpass for Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, then explore the rest of DCA while you wait. Use single rider on Radiator Springs Racers for a manageable wait. After redeeming your Twilight Zone Tower of Terror Fastpass, head back to Disneyland, grab a Fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (if they are still available), then explore the park at your leisure for the remainder of the day. If you decide to do two days at Disneyland and would like to save money, I'd buy a two day, one park per day ticket and do one day at each park. If you decide to do one day at Disneyland and want to go somewhere else on Sunday, I would pick Knott's over SFMM, especially if you need to pick up a coworker at John Wayne that day. As you have visited the parks before and several major attractions are closed, one day would probably be sufficient for Disneyland even with the crowds, but I will leave the decision up to you. Alternatively, if you decide to skip Disneyland completely, do SFMM on Saturday (with at least a Gold Flash Pass) and Knott's on Sunday (if you want a second park).

Elitch Gardens has a park model, and I'm betting Darien Lake (as well as the Six Flags parks) will be getting a park model as well. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the 22M Giant Loop only comes in a park model and the Fire Ball is the trailer-mounted version.

For wood coasters, Wooden Warrior. I wasn't expecting it to be a top ten ride by any means, but based on the hype I thought it would be a noteworthy ride. Unfortunately, while it was a good ride I didn't think it was significantly better than other family wooden coasters and I probably wouldn't go out of my way to ride it again. For steel coasters, Intimidator 305. All the hype about this ride made it sound like the best coaster in the country, but after riding I just didn't get it. Yes, it was a very good ride, but it wasn't even my favorite coaster in the park. Now, I did only ride during the opening season, so that may have something to do with it, but I just thought the ride was more of a B+ coaster than the A+ it was made out to be.

Has this been confirmed at the park? I'm still holding out hope that it's a poor wording on their website because Superman was the one ride that made SFMM's Flash Pass actually worth buying to me. I'm down with the no riding twice in a row thing, but once per visit? For a ride that's nearing 20 years old?? That's insane. And the Platinum is $110!! For that much money, I'd be better off spending the day at Disneyland. I'm really do hope that what they're trying to say is that both rides are actually available now on all flash pass levels, just with the restriction that you can't ride twice on Platinum. (One can hope, right?) But then again, Six Flags is known for doing silly, unreasonable things all the time, so it's probably the worst-case scenario. The wording is exactly the same as that found on Six Flags Great America's website for Goliath, and I know from experience that Platinum was required and it was one ride with Flash Pass, period. I have to assume the same policy will exist at SFMM for Full Throttle and Superman. I understand the reasoning behind it, as Full Throttle has been there long enough that few people would probably still buy an upcharge for it yet the ride has capacity issues, and Superman is probably the park's lowest capacity coaster and still routinely posts hour-plus waits despite it's age. Personally I'm more surprised that they still have the X2 upcharge, but I guess since many GP visitors regard that as the most insane ride ever there are still plenty of people wiling to buy it.