rcdude

I've got to remember to set the DVR this weekend. Unfortunately, I'll be in Europe when it premiers, but once I get back I'll certainly give it a watch. I was going to watch it anyway, but Robb being in the show is certainly a bonus.

I'd say Silver Bullet at Knott's Berry Farm. It's not because it's isolated, but because it is too dominating. That ride ruined the atmosphere of the park more than anything else Cedar Fair has done. For isolated rides, there's a whole list, but the worst offender is Bizarro at SFGAdv. You can't really see it unless you are nearby, and it is quite a walk from the next nearest attraction. I don't think Scream quite qualifies because if the right track of Colossus is running you exit right into Scream's entrance plaza.

24/30. I'm no expert on Schwarzkopf, but I actually did better than I thought I would.

If I manage to find a way to squeeze it into my Europe trip and I can get everyone to approve, it will be Disneyland Paris (both parks) on July 12th or 13th. Otherwise, it will be Seabreeze on the day before LeviaTHON begins (July 25th).

Definitely agree with this. I don't mind it when a park gives a general idea of when something is going to open, and then they miss that. However, they shouldn't be announcing a specific date unless they are 100% sure they'll make it. When a media day and season pass holder ERT is already scheduled, it just makes the whole thing even more of a mess, and I'm guessing doing this type of thing repeatedly (SFMM has done it 2 or 3 times in the past two years) probably will lead to a loss of visitors. When you're local to the park, it isn't a huge deal. However, for people travelling from some distance away (say more than 2-3 hours drive), it is a major inconvenience. If I was visiting a park specifically for their new attraction and it wasn't a day trip, I would never plan the visit before late July (and as BGW showed last year, that isn't always late enough), especially where any Six Flags or Cedar Fair park is concerned.

Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios Hollywood on Tuesday. Most likely I won't get on another one until LeviaTHON.

As of now, I have visited (* indicates fairs/carnivals): -Knott's Berry Farm (x3) (January, February (WCB), May) -Disneyland (x5) (twice in February, twice in March, once in May) -Disney California Adventure Park (x5) (twice in February, twice in March, once in May) -Six Flags Magic Mountain (February (WCB)) -Garden Grove Strawberry Festival* (May) -Universal Studios Hollywood (June) Parks I have plans to visit: -Seabreeze (July) -Martin's Fantasy Island (July (LeviaTHON)) -Conneaut Lake Park (July (LeviaTHON)) -Waldameer (July (LeviaTHON)) -Darien Lake (July (LeviaTHON)) -Canada's Wonderland (July (LeviaTHON)) -Marineland Theme Park (July (LeviaTHON)) -SeaWorld San Diego (August) -Disneyland (x3) (September, October, December) -Disney California Adventure Park (x3) (September, October, December) -Knott's Berry Farm (x2) (September, November) -LA County Fair* (September) -Six Flags Magic Mountain (October) Possible, but no definite plans yet: -Disneyland Paris (both parks) (July) -Orange County Fair* (August)

My first guess for a new coaster would be a spinner. I'm hoping they'd opt for a Maurer Sohne design instead of a standard mouse. If the park is looking for something a bit more thrilling, I'd say El Loco. A Eurofighter would also be possible, but that would probably require the removal of a couple additional rides since those generally have slightly larger footprints.

That's a tough one. I would guess that Monday may be slightly more crowded since Southern California passes are good that day and not on Friday, but both days will probably be fairly equal. I'd say just pick whichever day fits your schedule better and make the best of it.

Space Mountain is best for overall ride experience. Flight of Fear is best as far as the actual coaster goes. Revenge of the Mummy is the most well themed while on the ride (mostly due to the dark ride section).

Positive: Boomerangs pull 5.2 g, so it's a tie between the five boomerangs I've ridden Negative: Probably El Toro's hill over Rolling Thunder Lateral: Difficult to say, but I'd have to guess Legend Linear: Xcelerator's launch

The absolute worst day I have ever had at a park occurred at Knott's Berry Farm on Veterans Day weekend 1999. For as long as I can remember, Knott's has had a promotion for Veterans Day. Currently, the promotion allows a Veteran and one additional person free admission, plus the ability to purchase discounted tickets for additional members of their party and it is good all November (until Thanksgiving). However, it used to be different, allowing more free admissions and lasting only a weekend. Since my grandfather is a Veteran, we have gone almost every year for the promotion for as long as I can remember, and usually it was a good day at the park. However, in 1999, we were forced to attend on Saturday instead of the usual Sunday. When we got to the park, it was clear the day would be filled to the brim. The line to enter the park stretched past the entrance to the chicken dinner restaurant, and this was around a half-hour before opening. Once we entered the park, there was nothing but lines, lines and more lines. I remember only going on three rides that day: GhostRider (which was new and had a 3 hour wait stretching all the way to the photo shack), Jaguar (at least an hour wait, it filled up the entire pyramid), and the Timber Mountain Log Ride (close to an hour, the line started about as far away as possible in the permanent queue). I know some other members of my party did Boomerang and Windjammer Surf Racers (neither of which I rode at the time), and I declined a ride on Kingdom of the Dinosaurs due to a 45 minute wait (this was before the modifications, so capacity was relatively high). I don't think we did anything else that day, because by dinner time we were all tired of waiting and left the park. I have been back almost every year since, either on a Sunday or a weekday (and even on Veterans Day itself), and have never encountered unusually large crowds, but I think the combination of a major new coaster (GhostRider had been open less than a year) and Saturday crowds combined to create an unbearably crowded day. I have to think that day was partly responsible for the expanison of the promotion to a full month, as the change occurred a year or two later.

I can't remember how many coasters I've been on in the rain, but the best seem to be good wooden coasters. Both Apocalypse and Thunderhead are much more fun in the rain. However, I think my favorite wet ride was on Mystery Mine at Dollywood, simply because the rain complemented the attraction's theming so much.

In my opinion, most of these should be present at any medium-sized or larger park (excluding the destination parks, which have their own fancy attractions). Roller Coasters: One coaster may fall into more than one of these categories, but at least one should fit into each category. -Kiddie Coaster -Family Coaster -Looping Coaster (any type of coaster containing inversions) -Launch Coaster (any type of coaster powered by any launch mechanism) -Wooden Coaster Kiddie Rides: -Carousel/Merry-Go-Round -Dumbo-style Spinner (any theme) -Frog Hopper -Playground Thrill Rides: -Drop Tower -Pirate Ship -Scrambler -Swing Ride (Tower style or Waveswinger/YoYo) -Tilt-A-Whirl -Any inverting flat ride Water Rides: Any two of the following -Log Flume -River Rapids -Splash Boat Gentle Rides: -At least 2 dark rides (one shooting, one traditional) -Bumper Cars -Car Ride -Ferris Wheel -Live Show(s) -Observation Tower -Walk-through attraction(s) (Haunted House or Fun House) Transport/Scenic Rides: At least one of the following -Railroad -Skyride (Chairlift or sky buckets) In addition, a park needs to have enough landscaping and theming that it looks permanent and not like a carnival, and needs to have enougl food stands, shops, games, and restrooms to service visitors. Finally, it must have some type of signature attraction, which can be any of the above or something else.

Universal Studios Hollywood in a couple weeks. Not sure of the exact day, but it will probably be Thursday the 21st.

Since I've got several places I consider a home park (I live within two hours drive and visit more than once per year), I'll list each one. Disneyland: Space Mountain Disney California Adventure Park: California Screamin' (if treating Disneyland Resort as one, this wins) Knott's Berry Farm: Xcelerator Six Flags Magic Mountain: Tatsu during the day, Apocalypse the Ride at night

Jaguar at Knott's Berry Farm yesterday.

I'm glad to hear all the positive reviews of this ride. I've always thought it would be good, but it semms as if it could possibly exceed my expectations. Sounds like its time to pay SeaWorld and Belmont Park a visit (last visit was 2006). Unfortunately, despite this being my most anticipated single California attraction (Cars Land doesn't count since it's more than one ride), I'll probably have to wait until August since my sister isn't out of school until late June and July is totally booked.

Assuming the restraints are the same as the ones used on other Premier coasters, the lapbars are much more snug than the ones on Goliath (which often feel loose to me, but definitely not enough to be unsafe). The lap part of it is much larger and can be clicked down uncomfortably tight if desired, and there is an additional ankle bar to lock your legs into place. I didn't once feel loose on Flight of Fear, Mr. Freeze (which has a bit of hang time in the center of the train), or the roller coaster at NYNY in Las Vegas (which has the same type of lapbars and even more hang time), so I doubt this will be a problem. You might be nervous, but if the ride was at all dangerous the park wouldn't let paying customers anywhere near it.

29/40, with approximately 2/3 being guesses.

As a local, I'm going to offer you some very different advice based on my experiences. SFMM: Although the longer hours on Saturday may seem like a good thing, Sunday is the better day. Saturdays are significantly more crowded than Sundays, and a concert will only increase those crowds. I've never been in September, but I have been most other off-season months and typically on a Sunday nothing will be more than a 30 minute wait, and most attractions should be under 15 minutes (non-headliners are often walk-ons) unless only one train is operating. I've easily rode every coaster two or three times in a day without a Flash Pass. Speaking of Flash Pass, if you go and it is busy for some reason, it is definitely worth it. Get Regular or Gold level, depending on how crowded it is and whether or not you want to reserve a ride on X2 ($15 extra per reservation, only available on Gold or Platinum). Platinum really isn't worth it, as you can get almost as many rides in with a Gold and you won't annoy everyone else in line by taking their seat. Honestly, unless you want to reserve rides on Green Lantern ($15 extra per reservation, only available on Platinum), you are best off saving a bit of money and sticking with Gold. Even if you went on Saturday, crowds could be low enough that you wouldn't need one, but I've had mixed results with Saturday visits (just in case, don't pre-purchase one). Best plan for getting everything done efficiently depends on crowds. If it isn't very crowded, get the lower capacity coasters (Green Lantern and Superman) done first. Other than those, your order won't matter too much since the lines should be minimal on everything else all day. If crowds are more significant, start at Tatsu and go clockwise (Apocalypse, Riddler's, Green Lantern, Batman, Goliath, etc.), or start at Goliath and go counter-clockwise (in my experience, yields a shorter Green Lantern wait but a longer Tatsu wait). Do not start at X2, as most people head there immediately and it rarely opens on time. Instead, save that one for mid-afternoon when the line is usually shortest. In the event that you'll be purchasing a Flash Pass, go to X2 first, grab your Flash Pass, then get to Green Lantern since those two are not included on the pass. Disneyland: September is one of the low crowd periods for Disneyland, but due to the number of passholders there are no dead periods at that park. If you visit on a weekday, most lines should be 15-30 minutes. As long as you are up for an all-day visit, both parks in one day is definitely possible if you have a strategy and take advantage of Fastpass. You won't be able to hit every single ride and see every show, but you should be able to get all the major attractions in both parks done. The only possible issue is Cars Land, as the impact of that is currently unknown, but I don't think it would be enough to make two parks in one day on a September weekday impossible. If you are visiting on a weekend, two parks is still possible but a lot more difficult. Lines for major attractions can get into the 45-60 minute range. Sundays are not any better than Saturdays, and can actually be worse. If you are required to visit on a weekend, I'd say either stick with one park or have a really good plan and be ready for an exhausting day. Universal Studios Hollywood: The Front of the Line pass isn't worth it. There are not enough rides in the park to justify it, and in September lines should be short to non-existent. Even during the summer, I've usually been able to get everything done here (all rides and all shows) in about 2/3 of a day. Hope this helps. I'm sure others have their own advice as well. Regardless of what you do, crowds should be low enough that you won't have any problems.

I've been on two, Mystery Mine and Untamed. Mystery Mine is one of my top 25 steel coasters and was probably the biggest surprise of the IntimidaTour trip (well, on an individual ride basis, at least). Other than a small but tolerable amount of roughness, I have no complaints about the ride, and it is a well-themed ride that is right on the border between a family and thrill coaster in terms of intensity. Untamed, on the other hand, is short, rough, and overall not nearly as enjoyable. It ranks in the bottom quarter of my steel coaster list. Rode it four times when I visited Canobie Lake Park last year, and didn't specifically care to ever ride it again (although I likely would if I happen to return to the park some day).

Based only on coasters I've been on... B&M: Vortex at California's Great America. It is the only B&M that I'll skip if the line is more than two trains. Intamin: Including every Intamin I've been on, it would have to be Woodstock's Express at California's Great America. Excluding that, it would probably be Disaster Transport, although La Ronde's Cobra is a really close runner up. GCI: I really like all four GCIs I've been on, but Roar at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is definitely my least favorite.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland at 10 P.M. on Thursday night.

^I'm pretty sure those are only for hotel guests staying in suites, and either way they would almost certainly be out of our budget range (knowing Disney's prices, I'm guessing it would be $150+). Additionally, my dad doesn't like paid skip the line systems. July 14th being Bastille Day is the main reason I'm not sure we'll have time for a park, since several of the other things we want to do will either be closed or have reduced hours that day. If we can't afford to devote a full day to a park without skipping something else, we likely won't be able to do one. I just wish my brother wasn't so insistent on being in Paris on Bastille Day.