rcdude

^They don't have an old train anymore. When it was transformed to X2, the park replaced all three trains. On rare occasions, I have seen X2 run with all three, but usually only two are used (I assume the third is only a minimal capacity boost, as it will stack 100% of the time with three).

Anyone else think this is the one originally announced for SFGAdv, and it was sent here because Six Flags didn't have anywhere else to put it? That's what I thought when I saw the announcement (SFGAdv's was originally 150 ft tall, just like this). It's nice to see Six Flags putting money into this park, but I think it would be better for them to clean up the park and improve operations first. Even by Six Flags standards, this park's operations were horrible (45 minutes WITH Gold Flash Pass!), and if it weren't for small issues like that it would actually be a decent park. If I ever visit again and I had time to ride this, I would, but not if the line is excessive.

I'm really surprised CGA is getting Fast Lane, as there never seem to be crowds. Both times I've gone (summer weekdays), nothing outside of the waterpark had more than a 10 minute wait (except Stealth and the Barney Oldfield Motor Speedway). Perhaps this will be one of those parks where it is only available select days that they expect to be crowded. I noticed on the calendar for Knott's that most low crowd days (weekdays outside of summer and holiday periods) were listed as unavailable, so I could see the same happening for CGA.

January 3rd, 2012-Park City Mountain Resort Park City Mountain Resort When people think of skiing in Utah, they often think of one of two places: the Cottonwood Canyons or Park City. Of course, of the three Park City ski areas, Park City Mountain Resort is the most well known. Covering an expansive 3,300 acres, with a vertical drop of 3,100 ft., Park City Mountain could keep most occupied for several days. Sixteen lifts (3 Doubles, 6 Triples, 3 High-Speed Quads, and 4 High-Speed Six-Packs), provide access to 114 trails. About half of Park City is suitable for intermediates, and a third is black diamond terrain. Surprisingly, outside of the beginner area, there are few good beginner trails (though there are a handful of them). Layout: Trail Map: http://skimap.org/data/229/607/1322853081.pdf Park City is a very easy mountain to get around, with many runs funneling into a common area. The mountain is really just a series of ridges, with chairlifts ascending at various points along them. Due to the trailmap dividing the ski area into several different areas, it is also easy to reference parts of the mountain when describing it. Crescent The Crescent area of Park City is probably the largest developed portion of the mountain. At its base are the First Time Lift and 3 Kings Lift, the two main beginner chairs on the mountain. 3 Kings is also the primary terrain park lift at Park City, and is the most popular lift during night sessions. The longest lift on the mountain, Crescent Lift, is also found in this mountainzone. Over 7,000 ft. long, this chair is perfect for intermediates who wish to improve their skills, as many of the black runs on this part of the mountain are groomed. The fourth lift here is the Eagle Lift, but unfortunately the good advanced terrain under it is often closed for competitions. Jupiter The entire Jupiter area was closed when I visited due to a lack of snow, but it is basically all lift-serviced backcountry terrain. Although the area is labeled experts only, anyone who is comfortable with ungroomed conditions could probably find a route down (most of the terrain was about as steep as PCMR's average single black). King Con On my visit, the King Con mountainzone had the best conditions out of anywhere on the mountain. The main lift here, the King Con Lift, provides access to a number of intermediate trails. Unfortunately, half of them were closed. The other two chairs in this area are somewhat pointless, as Silver Star Lift is just an access lift for the condos at its base, and Eaglet Lift only serves a terrain park. McConkey's I have little input on this area, as only two trails down from McConkey's Lift were open. What I can say is that it looked like a good intermediate area, but due to the thin conditions and rocks scattered all over the place, it wasn't worth skiing. We did it once, and as soon as we got down headed to a different mountainzone. At the time of our trip, this area had the worst conditions on the mountain. PayDay/Town Unfortunately, the Town chair was closed when we visited due to mechanical issues (it has since reopened). However, we did do a couple runs on the PayDay Lift. This is a good area for intermediates, with nice long runs that are challenging but not too difficult, and is the area open for night skiing (in addition to the beginner chairs). Due to conditions, only half of the trails off this lift were open, but the ones that were had decent coverage. Silverlode/Bonanza Surprisingly, the two chairs here gave access to completely different runs. While both serviced intermediate terrain, the Bonanza Lift had pretty good coverage for the most part, and was the less crowded lift of the two. The Silverlode Lift, on the other hand, led to runs that were ungroomed and had weeds poking up all over the place. The trails were also steeper on the Silverlode side. Thaynes/Motherlode The Motherlode Lift was a great intermediate chair. Good runs, above-average snow (once you got past the top part under Silverlode), and no crowds. However, it does have one big downside: It is an 11 minute ride. This chair is my candidate for the next lift to be upgraded to a High-Speed Quad. The other chair in this area, Thaynes, was closed due to lack of snow, but it looked like it was probably the best area on the mountain for groomed black diamond terrain. Overall Thoughts If I had the chance to ski all three Park City resorts again under ideal conditions, I have a feeling that PCMR would probably be my favorite. However, due to the shortage of open terrain and the poor conditions on some of the runs, I didn't enjoy it too much. It wasn't horrible, but I certainly felt like there were plenty of other, better, cheaper places to ski than here based on what I saw. Best Bet for Beginners: First Time and 3 Kings, or Homerun if you can handle crowds Best Bet for Intermediates: Warm up on Payday, then head to King Con, McConkey's, and Silverlode Best Bet for Advanced: Thaynes if you like groomers, Jupiter otherwise The Alpine Coaster Being an amusement park enthusiast, there's no way I would forget about this. The Alpine Coaster is pretty much a cross between a traditional roller coaster and an alpine slide. You buckle up, then ride up the hill on a series of four lifts. 5 minutes later, you are at the top. How long it takes to get down depends on whether or not you use your brakes. I didn't use mine at all, and I'd estimate it took slightly over two minutes to get back to the bottom. My dad took about thirty seconds (give or take) longer due to some brake usage. How was the ride? It was actually pretty good. Unlike a normal coaster, there are no real drops, and the ride consists of turns and helixes winding their way down the mountain. I'm guessing the vertical drop might be as much as 600 ft (probably less, but not by too much). Even though the top speed is approximately 25 MPH, due to the combination of tight turns and minimal banking the lateral forces are very strong. There was at least one point where I would have probably fallen off if not for the seatbelt. It was a good ride. Was it worth it? Well, I don't know if I'd pay $20 to do it again, but it was worth it for one ride. I'd definitely recommend it, and if the ride was in the $5-10 range I would do it at least once per visit. Is it a credit? I personally don't count it since you are in control, but I can definitely see how some people would. For more about the Alpine Coaster, see Robb's Park City trip report (which includes a POV). After Skiing Although we quit around four, that wasn't the end of our winter activities for the night. That evening, we went snow tubing at Gorgoza Park. This is definitely the best tubing place I've been to, and they have a great setup. At the bottom of the hill, there are two moving carpets. The shorter one is not more than 100 ft, and is reserved for kids. The longer one is about 400 ft long and provides access to three tubing lanes. At this point, the lanes are about the average length for a tubing park. However, if you want a longer run, there is a tubing tow at the top of the moving carpet that goes up an additional 500 ft or so to the top of the hill. It is the four lanes from here that are the ones to do. When riding down, you have several options. The first is to go by yourself, but almost everyone knows that is generally not as fun. The second is to go in a group of up to eight, which is fun but the number of tubes creates drag and slows the group. The third, and best (at least in my opinion) way is in pairs. My dad and I did this for most of our runs, and we went so fast we almost always overshot the brake mats at the bottom. For anyone interested in going here, a few notes: 1. If you are under 42 inches, you are restricted to the two carpets. If you are over 42 inches, you are permitted on the tow and banned from the short carpet. 2. If at all possible, go on a weekday evening. There were minimal lines when we were there, but it still took 10-15 minutes per run. If the line for the carpet and the line for the tow are both full, I could see it taking 30-45 minutes just for one run. I know from my experience at other tubing parks that they are usually packed on weekends. Finally, 3. Tickets can be purchased in 2 or 4 hour increments. However, if you only want to do one or two runs, single runs are available for $8 each. When we were done tubing, we went back to the hotel and got changed, then walked over to the Good Thymes Bistro to grab dinner. It was decent. After walking around the shopping center for a little bit, we headed back to the hotel for the night. Photos: This is the Crescent Mountainzone, as seen from the parking lot. Technically, this and the next picture were taken at the end of the day, but they work best here. The Payday area of Park City. Payday Run (the one on the left) is the primary nightskiing trail. We decided to begin our day on the King Con Lift. On the open runs, the snow was pretty good. However, others showed how little natural snow had actually fallen. A good comparison of the groomed and ungroomed trails. One of the things I thought was nice about PCMR were the restaurants spread all over the mountain. It wasn't necessary for everyone to crowd the base lodge at mealtimes. We went to Motherlode in the morning as well. This doesn't even show half of the chair's length. The open runs on this area of the mountain were great. Unfortunately, just out of sight at the top is a weed-filled mogul field. Overview of the closed Jupiter area. It is really difficult to find the chairlift here, but if you look closely you might spot it. I didn't take very many pictures at PCMR (I'm not sure why). To end, here is a picture of the tubing park. The runs in the foreground are from the long carpet, and the longer runs are just visible in the background. They are about twice as long as what you'd find at an average tubing park.

Leviathan looks like its going to be awesome. Even if it isn't the most forceful ride, I'm sure it will be a winner. I love how small this makes Dragon Fire look as well.

Since it is now the 2011/2012 ski season, I think it is time to revive this. Due to this being the driest winter on record, I will probably not be making as many updates as last season, and I will also (in general) not be repeating anywhere covered last year. So, without further ado, here is my schedule for this winter. December 10th, 2011-Big Bear Mountain Resorts (no update, covered last year) January 1st-6th, 2012-Park City Ski Trip -January 2nd: Deer Valley Resort -January 3rd: Park City Mountain Resort -January 4th: Canyons Resort -January 5th: Sundance Resort -January 6th: Brian Head Resort Late March-Mammoth Weekend Trip (conditions permitting) Not as much as last year, but still a decent amount. Of course, we usually don't plan local ski trips very far in advance, so if So Cal gets a couple good storms one of those might get added as well. Now, we begin... Park City Ski Trip January 1st, 2012-Drive to Utah Like both previous ski trips to Utah, we began at 6:30 A.M. We stopped at the same Ihop in Baker for breakfast, then headed on, past Las Vegas and through Arizona, only stopping for gas. Once we got to Utah, we got a snack and I took a turn at driving (my dad drove most of it, but he needed a rest). We stopped at a Carl's, Jr. for dinner (the same one we stopped at on our Cottonwood Canyons ski trip last year), then drove onward to our hotel in Park City. I forget what time it was when we got there (I think around 8 P.M.), but we were tired from getting up early. As a result, we checked out the hotel, then relaxed in our room and went to bed early. January 2nd, 2012-Deer Valley Resort As was the case everyday on this trip, the alarm was set for 7:30 A.M. We got up, grabbed breakfast, changed into our ski clothes, and drove to the Jordanelle Ticket Office at Deer Valley Resort for our first day of skiing. Deer Valley Resort Deer Valley has been rated as the best ski area in North America for a number of years. It certainly is a decent mountain, with 100 trails spread over 2,026 acres and a vertical drop of 3,000 ft. The ski area is serviced my 21 lifts (2 Doubles, 5 Triples, 2 Fixed-Grip Quads, 11 High-Speed Quads, and 1 High-Speed Gondola). The terrain is definitely geared toward intermediates, although there are a number of black diamond trails as well. In addition, there are two learning areas, each with a couple conveyors for beginners, as well as a handful of beginner runs scattered over four of the resort's six peaks. However, it is not only the mountain that is well-known here. Deer Valley is often said to be a very upscale ski area, with $100 lift tickets, high-speed lifts all over the place, and fine dining establishments right on the slopes. In addition, they reportedly have the best grooming in the United States. Layout: Trail Map: http://skimap.org/data/223/607/1322852985.pdf Deer Valley is divided up into six different areas: Bald Eagle Mountain, Bad Mountain, Deer Crest, Empire Canyon, Flagstaff Mountain, and Lady Morgan. Due to the conditions on my visit, the entire Empire Canyon area and about 50% of Bald Mountain was closed. Most of the remaining trails were open, although conditions weren't very good on most of the advanced runs (fine on the beginner and intermediate trails). Bald Eagle Mountain For most visitors to Deer Valley, Bald Eagle Mountain is their starting point. This is the location of the only base lodge on the mountain (Snow Park Lodge), and is also where the primary learning area is located. Burns and Snowflake, two short beginner chairs offer access to an isolated area free from others racing down the mountain. Burns is the public lift, while Snowflake appears to be reserved for ski school (or is at least primarily for them). For everyone else, it is necessary to take either the Carpenter Express or the Silver Lake Express in order to reach the remaining runs. Two additional comments about Bald Eagle Mountain before I move on. First, due to the topography, it is necessary to take either the Crown Point or [/b]Homestake[/b] chairs to return to the base. Beginners should not choose Crown Point, as there are no easy trails down from this lift. Secondly, Bald Eagle Mountain, despite having a large number of trails, is really not that interesting of an area to ski. Even though some runs are rated black diamond, a strong intermediate could handle every run here (especially if they are all groomed). Besides, they are really a bit long to do laps on, so this is the type of area would probably ski once or twice before moving on. This was my least favorite area of Deer Valley. Deer Crest Technically, this is called Little Baldy Peak, but most people refer to it as Deer Crest due to the housing developments on the gondola face. We began our day here at the Jordanelle base (just the gondola loading station and a ticket office). The run down to the Jordanelle Express Gondola is actually one of the best intermediate trails on the mountain, and it is quite steep at a couple points. The other lift on this peak, Deer Crest, has some decent, but relatively short, advanced trails on it. Although there is a beginner trail here, beginners should probably avoid this part of the mountain as it is a steeper than average beginner run. Bald Mountain Bald Mountain is probably the most challenging of the four peaks. Although there are a number of blue trails, the terrain in this area is is rated advanced is true advanced terrain. Intermediates looking to move up should restrict themselves to the Wasatch Express and Sterling Express, as even the blue runs down to the Sultan Express are quite steep compared to the rest of the ski area (if ungroomed, Perseverance would definitely be a black run). Advanced skiers could spend half a day on the Sultan and Mayflower chairs, and intermediates have a number of good trails on Sterling and Wasatch. Although there is a beginner trail down from the top, beginners should avoid this area. There are better places from them at Deer Valley. Bald Mountain was probably my favorite area of Deer Valley simply because it's got a number of good trails and they are just the right length to do laps on. In addition, no matter which way you come down, everyone can meet up at one location. This allows a group to split up at the top, go down trails of their preferred ability, and meet for the lift ride back up. This area also didn't feel as crowded as the other two main areas, which is always a good thing. Flagstaff Mountain Flagstaff Mountain is the largest area of Deer Valley, and the best one for a group of mixed ability level. For beginners, almost every trail down to the Silver Strike Express is suitable, and there are routes down to every chair except Northside Expressthat a beginner could handle. Intermediates pretty much have reign of this entire mountain, and could spend a couple hours on Northside Express alone. Finally, for advanced skiers, there are only a couple of runs off Red Cloud, but they are typically ungroomed and are challenging enough to be fun. Four additional things to note about this area: 1. The trails down to Quincy Express are longer than they appear on the map, 2. The trails down to Ruby Express are steeper than the other beginner trails in this area, 3. The top of Flagstaff Mountain can get very crowded due to four High-Speed Quads ending at the same spot, and 4. When returning to another part of the mountain, use Judge instead of Viking unless you are going straight to Silver Lake Lodge, as there is a giant flat spot you'll have to traverse otherwise. Empire Canyon This area was closed when I visited (it opened a few days later), but it appears to be a good intermediate/advanced area. Nothing looked particularly challenging (especially if it was all groomed), but it could be fun for an hour or so. Lady Morgan Lady Morgan is not that large of an area, so it makes a big impact when three trails are closed. However, unless you are an advanced skier or are looking to challenge yourself (if you're an intermediate), I'd avoid this area. There is one intermediate trail and a cat track, but everything else here is a bump run. If I come back in better conditions, I might try some of this terrain, but with minimal snowfall the non-groomed trails have weeds all over the place. Overall Thoughts Deer Valley Resort is a good ski area. If you want all the luxuries of a five-star hotel at a ski area, this is the place to go. If you want groomed cruising runs that don't present too much of a challenge, you'll enjoy it here. If you hate snowboarders, you're in luck, because they aren't welcome at Deer Valley. However, if you are a serious skier who is there for skiing and nothing else, or you are looking for expert terrain, this probably isn't your mountain. I enjoyed Deer Valley, but I don't think it is the best out there. I'm sure some people rate it as such simply because of all the upscale features, but when you aren't looking at those you have to rate based on how the mountain itself is. Similar to a lot of the Lake Tahoe ski areas, this is a place that I enjoyed and would visit again but don't have any specific desire to return to. Even though only two-thirds of the trails were open, it felt like I saw the whole mountain, and other than an additional hour or two on Empire Express and Mayflower, there isn't that much more to explore. For someone visiting, I could see skiing 2 to 2.5 days here, but not more. It is the smallest of the three Park City resorts, but it did seem to have the best conditions of the three (possibly the result of having the best snowmaking system). Best Bet for Beginners: Green trails on Flagstaff Mountain Best Bet for Intermediates: Empire, Northside, Sterling, and Wasatch chairs Best Bet for Advanced: Mayflower and Sultan chairs After Skiing That evening, we went over to Utah Olympic Park and checked it out. They've got a small museum there, but it was much better seeing the actual ski jumps and bobsled track used in the competition. The bobsled looks like it would be one wild ride. It's just a shame that it is so expensive. We also got to watch some kids practicing on the practice slope. I guess they've got a junior athlete's program or something. Once we were done here, we went and got dinner at the Loco Lizard Cantina, a Mexican restaurant. Not my favorite Mexican food, but it was still good. Service was also very fast. When we were done here, we just went back to the hotel and watched TV, then went to bed. Photos: Our day begins at the base of the Jordanelle Gondola. It's really nice when you are parked only 100 ft. from the lift. From the top, you get a decent overview of the ski area. Snow Park Lodge and some slopeside condos. There's also a fancy hotel with a funicular up to it. I can't remember what the name of the hotel is, however. We decided to start our day on Flagstaff Mountain. Red Cloud terrain. I liked how Deer Valley had signs on lift towers telling you which runs where which as you rode up the chair. Looking back down at the Silver Lake Lodge area. This is where we had lunch. We went and skied Lady Morgan before lunch as well (right side of picture). It's a shame Empire Canyon was closed. After lunch, we moved over to Bald Mountain. The Sultan Express had two main trails down to it that were open. This one was Perseverance. The other was called Tycoon. Here I am on top of Bald Mountain. Here's my dad. I rarely go skiing without him. There's a little snack stand on top of Bald Mountain. Warning: The following photos of Wasatch Express contain lens flare. Half the run was groomed, and the other half was left moguled. Artsy shot of Wasatch's upper terminal. Once you are ready to return to Bald Eagle Mountain, you can use Crown Point to get there. Wizard Tycoon: It's like RCT for Potterheads. On the upper mountain, the ungroomed/closed trails usually looked something like this. However, lower on the mountain we got conditions like this. Fortunately, the groomed runs all had excellent coverage. Before heading down for the day, we skied the Deer Crest chair a couple times. From over here, you've got a good view of downtown Park City. You can also see Park City Mountain Resort. The two ski areas are so close that at points only a rope separates them. Skiing down to the parking lot, I noticed this. Turns out the Deer Crest houses have their own access trails that aren't on the trail map. They've also got a real estate office next to the top of the gondola. Back at the car after a full day of skiing, with a last look at the gondola to end the day.

It's hard to say having only gone on Top Thrill Dragster once while riding Kingda Ka multiple times. I voted Kingda Ka, but due to both rides having unique pros and cons they are pretty much tied in my rankings. Xcelerator (the only other accelerator coaster I've been on) has a much better launch, but I don't like the overall ride quite as much (it's very close, but slightly lower in my rankings).

I'm breaking this up into three categories. Will definitely see, regardless of reviews: -The Avengers -The Amazing Spider-Man -The Dark Knight Rises -Skyfall -The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Will likely see unless it gets negative reviews: -Men in Black III -The Bourne Legacy -Brave Might see if I'm bored, but otherwise probably won't: -Red Tails -Dr. Seuss' The Lorax -The Raven -Titanic -Battleship -Snow White & the Huntsman -Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter -The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 2 -Les Miserables -The Great Gatsby Anything else is pretty much "I'll go see it with my family if they choose to go, but otherwise I'll skip it."

I'll be buying tickets tomorrow. I've just got to find out who in my group is doing which day.

I don't mind waiting in lines, but it is very rare that I encounter something longer than an hour. I think my longest wait was probably 3.5 hours for X in 2003 (one train and breakdowns), and I would not do that again. Even my favorite coaster, Bizarro, would not merit a five hour wait, and I would probably not wait more than two for it or any other ride. The one exception would be if it was a notable ride that I had never been on and knew I would likely never get another chance (for example, if New Texas Giant was closing after 2012 and I could get to SFOT, I'd wait five hours to ride it since I've never done it and it is reportedly one of the top ten steel coasters in the USA). Otherwise, it is just too great of a percentage of your day (I don't feel many rides are worth more than a 10% investment, even if you've never done it). Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever waited five hours for anything. The closest would probably be 4.5 hours for the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 midnight showing.

There are some shows I would like to be on, but Fear Factor is not one of them. Like others have said, it is mainly the eating challenges I would have a hard time with. Even if I was guaranteed $50k, I'd turn it down because of those.

Out of the three I've been on, probably Roller Coaster at New York, New York Hotel & Casino. If it was at an amusement park, it's probably the type of ride I'd do if it was a station wait. However, they would have to drop the price to about $6 for me to consider doing it again.

Merry Christmas! Let's see if I remember everything I got. From my Mom: -2 movie scores (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 1 and X-Men: First Class) -Knott's Berry Farm Season Pass (or the equivalent value toward a Cedar Fair Platinum Pass) -Lord of the Rings PEZ Dispenser set -Minor presents/Variety of Candy From my Dad: -2 Hot Chillys (thermal shirts for skiing) -Plane tickets to Buffalo (for LeviaThon) -Minor presents/Candy From my Sister: -Random book (can't remember the title, but I'll probably never read it) -$20 From my Brother: -Pokemon: Black for Nintendo DS From my maternal grandparents: -Mini Texas Hold'Em set -Roller Coasters in the RAW 6 -See's Candy -Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 -$200 -Minor presents From my paternal grandparents: -Sherlock Homes: A Game of Shadows score -$100 Despite intending for this to be a "light" year in terms of spending, I ended up getting quite a bit. Maybe my grandparents didn't get the memo.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad last Wednesday.

25/26 with a handful of guesses. I knew all of the North America and Europe ones for sure, but I wasn't 100% on most of the others.

It's really sad to see a place I've visited nearly every summer for fifteen years disappear. I remember my visit in September two weeks before closing and thinking, "This place may not be the best, but it is one of the most unique. It's too bad nobody else will get to experience it." Looks like I was right. When I last drove by this place in late October/early November, it was still standing and looked pretty much like a normal offseason. Wow, it came down quick. As far as slide relocations go, Bazooka Bowls opened in 2002 and Patriot was 1998 (I remember going opening year for both of those). Those two slides, as well as Chaos (a early/mid 1990's slide) were the only ones I could see potentially being relocated, as they were built on flat ground instead of integrated into the mountain. I've always expected all the concrete and foam slides (Congo River Rapids, Bombay Blasters, Sweitzer Falls, Serengeti Surf Hill, etc), would probably be lost for good. I really hope Wild Rivers reopens as a new park, and I hope that they will try to build more unique attractions (at least for this area). Until then, I'm stuck with Knott's Soak City (probably a better waterpark, but Wild Rivers was 1/3 the distance from where I live).

^^I rode Wildcat twice as well (wanted to try both the front and back), and while it wasn't horrible it is what I consider a D-level ride (I'd ride it again, but wouldn't wait in line to do so). It is in the bottom five of my wooden coaster list mainly because the ride really isn't very eventful, although it was rougher than I expected from a ride that size. Submitted my ballot today, and even doing the text method it only took around a half-hour to fill out. There really isn't a reason to not do this, unless you have never been on a wooden coaster (which I'm guessing is a very small percentage of enthusiasts).

Looks like I'll have to talk with everyone this weekend and figure out who's going to which day (I'm doing both, but I don't know about my brother/sister/dad/etc.). If this is anything like the past couple years, I'm sure the event will be great.

I still prefer the text ballot, so I'll fill it out and submit it sometime this week. However, I've got my rankings: 1. My favorite steel (Bizarro (Six Flags New England)) 2. El Toro (Six Flags Great Adventure) 3. Voyage (Holiday World) 4. Boulder Dash (Lake Compounce 5. Thunderhead (Dollywood) 6. Apocalypse the Ride (Six Flags Magic Mountain) 7. American Thunder (Six Flags St. Louis) 8. Legend (Holiday World) 9. Raven (Holiday World 10. Comet (Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom) (Insert remaining B-level coasters) (Insert C-level coasters) (Insert upper D-level coasters) 31. Woodstock Express (Carowinds) 32. Rolling Thunder (Six Flags Great Adventure) 33. Wildcat (Lake Compounce) 34. Mean Streak (Cedar Point) 35. Grizzly (Kings Dominion)

Here's my opinion on SFMM's next coaster removal: The park won't remove a coaster unless they have to, but if they do it will be either Viper or Batman. Why those two? Both of those are older coasters that are not too popular anymore. Even on crowded days, 30 minute lines are rare if the coasters are being run decently (other than the first three hours of the day, I've never seen longer than a 10 minute wait for Viper). Plus, both of these rides would clear up a decent amount of space that could be used for a replacement attraction, and Batman would be an easy ride to relocate to another Six Flags park (likely replacing an SLC). A case could be made for Scream, but my thinking is that it is still too new to remove (give it five years and it might be a candidate as well). The two other coasters I most frequently hear in this discussion (Ninja and Gold Rusher) are both unlikely because they are family rides that the park needs. Besides, in Ninja's case, Jetstream would have to go too or there wouldn't be that much room for a new coaster, and the park needs at least three water rides with the temperatures it gets during the summer (they currently have three), and Gold Rusher wouldn't clear up as much room as people might think (especially if the Log Jammer replacement is a large coaster).

Not necessarily for 2012, but realistic for the near future (three years or so). I'm only going to do parks I visit regularly. Disneyland: -Upgrade Tomorrowland, including replacement attractions for Captain EO, Rocket Rods, and Innoventions, and a general retheme of the whole area -Reduce the admission price or at least stop raising it -Redo the AP structure as it leads to overcrowding in the park Disney California Adventure Park: -Offer a one day DCA ticket for $40-50 dollars instead of forcing visitors to pay $80 -Install Fastpass on Toy Story Midway Mania Knott's Berry Farm: -Install a major new coaster, preferably an Intamin/B&M Mega/Giga -Build a new dark ride to replace Kingdom of the Dinosaurs -Increase the reliability of Perilous Plunge or replace it -Replace Boomerang with a couple non-coaster rides -Improve the food quality and/or lower the price, as it is ridiculous to pay $15+ for something lower quality than McDonalds -Try to restore some of the theming to the park, especially in the Ghost Town and Calico Square areas Legoland California: -Expand the popular waterpark area -When installing new attractions, try to find higher capacity versions if possible Universal Studios Hollywood: -Significantly reduce the admission price until Wizarding World of Harry Potter is complete, as the park barely has enough for a 2/3 of a day visit Six Flags Magic Mountain (a lot here): -Install an Intamin launched coaster to replace Log Jammer -Install a smaller coaster (Eurofighter or similar) or a couple flats to replace Deja Vu -Add 5-6 flat rides to the park to help balance it out a bit -Improve food quality and/or reduce the price, and redo the menu so all items may be ordered individually -Rebuild the Sky Tower museum -Retrain or replace the Tatsu crew, and ensure that dispatches take 90 seconds instead of four minutes -Remove Flash Pass from the low capacity rides (mainly Green Lantern and Superman), and make it included on X2. -Take down the Metro track and Thrillshot, as they are both permanently closed -Stage a permanent show in the unused theater by Riddler's Revenge -Consturct a simple transportation ride (perhaps a chairlift) on the back of the mountain so hiking is not required -Finally, repaint Scream and replace the parking lot below it with grass

I don't have one favorite flat ride, as I keep them in separate categories and don't rank the categories against each other. However, I'll list my favorites for each category: Bumper Car: Sandblasters at SFMM Carousel: The Carousel at SCBB, closely followed by Cedar Downs Racing Derby at Cedar Point Drop Ride: Tie between Scream at SFNE and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at DCA Ferris Wheel: Mickey's Fun Wheel at DCA Pendulum: Skyhawk at Cedar Point Scrambler: Astrosphere at Funtown Splashtown USA Simulator: Curse of Darkastle at BGW, closely followed by Soarin' Over California at DCA Spinner: La Revolucion at KBF Swing Ride: Windseeker at KBF Undefined (rides that don't fit nicely into another category): Tie between Catepult and Houdini's Great Escape, both at SFNE In general, my favorite types of flats are drop rides, followed by swing rides, pendulums and good simulators. My least favorite flats are Ferris Wheels, not because I don't like heights but because I generally find them boring. Also, I have yet to ride a decent bumper car ride, hence my choice for that category.

^^I believe one of the IAAPA videos posted confirmed that there will be only one train. What this will mean for capacity, I'm not entirely sure, but my bet is that a realistic maximum is around 200 people per hour (20 dispatches per hour would be 240 if each train was full, and I can't see more than that with SFDK's operations).

I don't know...maybe it's because I haven't had much experience with Premier's shoulder harnesses (only Speed-The Ride), but I don't think these new restraints look that bad. Unless you used a vest, I doubt there's any other way to do the restraints on a GIB. The end of the ride (where it latches back onto the catch car while facing straight down) would be extremely uncomfortable and possibly unsafe without some kind of upper body support. While I think something like Intamin's newer soft harnesses (I305 style) would be ideal, these should work out fine. Also, Deja Vu never seemed that rough, so I don't think headbanging will be too much of an issue. I'm guessing it was more the really quick transitions than the roughness that caused Flight of Fear to be horrible with the original restraints (I've rode it with lapbars and you do get thrown around a lot). This is probably also the reason Speed-The Ride isn't that bad. Since Deja Vu doesn't have any of those, and is significantly smoother than the average Boomerang or SLC, I'm guessing it will be successful.

Knott's actually does run their water rides in the winter, so the Log Ride and Bigfoot Rapids should be open (although the Rapids will have reduced hours). Perilous Plunge is hit or miss any time of the year, but I've ridden it in January so it could be open (I've actually had better luck with it in the spring/fall than in the summer).