rcdude

Out of the four summer trips, the UK trip was the one I never even considered going on. Even though most of these parks don't interest me that much (Alton Towers and Blackpool being the only exceptions so far), I really enjoy reading these updates. Seeing all the fun everybody is having over there just makes me more excited for the IntimidaTour in August. I'll have to remind my friends and family to watch for updates from that one.

If you are looking to visit a theme park, you could probably do Universal Studios Hollywood. From the website, it doesn't look too difficult to get to using public transportation, and the park can be done in half a day, even in the summer, unless you are dead set on seeing every show. Land at the airport, get to the park, eat lunch at Citywalk, enjoy the park for the day, then ride back to the airport in time for your next flight. I've never used public transport in LA, but I'm guessing it would take an hour or so to get from the airport to the park if the schedule works out well. Here's the park's website: http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/visitor_info_transportation.html If you aren't going to Universal Studios, Santa Monica Pier/Beach/Shopping is probably your best option. Knott's is really too far away (unless you rent a car) and you wouldn't have enough time to do everything anyway so you should probably stick to one of the above.

In general, if a park has the money and they don't want a completely unique one of a kind ride, B&M is usually the best company to go with for a major coaster. They have the highest capacity rides and the most reliable rides, and they are also very popular due to their smoothness and intensity. In addition, B&M offers a number of different train configurations that have all been proven to work well and numerous styles of ride layouts ranging from incredibly intense inverted coasters to airtime-filled mega coasters. In the US, at least, it seems that every major coaster park has some type of B&M coaster. I know of only one or two that don't, but that is because they are smaller parks. For a minor park, getting a B&M used can sometimes put them on the map, and is likely the reson that B&M coasters are sold rather than scrapped when they are removed from a specific park. As long as there is someone willing to buy a ride, why scrap it? I highly doubt that any B&M coasters will be scrapped in the immediate future, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a few of them find new homes, especially the first three stand-ups. I doubt a B&M will be scrapped until one has run long enough that the maintenance costs don't justify the benefits of having the particular ride and it is in such bad shape that no park wants to buy it.

Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland is the oldest steel coaster I've ridden, but I don't think it's possible to get much older than that one.

My friends, family, and even a couple of my teachers all know that I am an amusement park enthusiast. A couple of them are as well, but I don't think any of them have accounts on TPR or on any other coaster website. I find that they will sometimes ask me which rides are best at a certain park, what order to do things in, how (insert statistic here) is (insert ride here), etc. I still think it is funny how the first time I wore my TPR hoodie to school one of my teachers and some people in my class thought I actually reviewed parks. I spent ten minutes telling everyone about this website, but that didn't stop a few of them from asking me about (insert ride or park here) on a scale of 1-10. Fortunately, it was during a study period and not an actual class. I still sometimes get asked if I'm reviewing a park when I wear a TPR shirt and go on a ride alone.

1. Terminator Salvation: The Ride (night) 2. Tatsu 3. X2 4. Goliath 5. Terminator Salvation: The Ride (day) 6. Riddler's Revenge 7. Scream 8. Deja Vu 9. Batman The Ride 10. Superman The Escape 11. Viper 12. Colossus 13. Revolution 14. Ninja 15. Gold Rusher 16. Canyon Blaster

Question: I registered for Club TPR around a month ago and added my brother, but now my dad is interested in joining. Is there any way I can add him onto my account at this time and, if so, how do I do that? I told him I couldn't add him right now I could add him when I renew my membership, but is that correct or am I mistaken?

This is kind of an expansion on an existing inversion, but how about a linear tophat? The train goes up vertically, twists 180 degrees, goes over the top, twists another 180 degrees while going vertically down, then levels out. This would probably need to be the first inversion on any ride that had it due to its size but I think it could be quite popular and would provide a really nice place to enter the coaster.

Colossus and Terminator are really two completely different rides that are difficult to compare to each other. Colossus consists of four or five decent drops with a few small hills and slow turns in between them. Terminator consists of one good drop followed by a series of twists and turns that never really get more than twenty feet off the ground. Neither one is really that rough, although Colossus can be a bit shaky when it gets going fast. I'm more of a twister guy, so I prefer Terminator over Colossus. If there wasn't a midcourse brake, I would probably like Colossus better than I do now because it would be uninterrupted, but I still don't think it would be better than Terminator. Even though I like Colossus less, it is still good enough that I'll ride it whenever I visit the park (unless it has a huge wait for some strange reason) and still think it is better than half the wooden coasters i've been on (5th place after Terminator, GhostRider, Giant Dipper (SCBB), and Roar).

I would not mind seeing Colossus get steel track installed as long as the ride was going to be made into something different. It can still be a dual tracked out-and-back coaster, but I'd like to see some of the types of changes that are occurring on Texas Giant apply to Colossus as well (increased height, steeper drops, high-speed turns, more airtime). If the park installed steel track but kept the ride exactly the same as it is now, I would rather the ride just be demolished. However, if Colossus is removed from the park I think it should be replaced with something better than the ride was when it originally opened.

I never really thought the audio added much on Terminator. During the actual ride, I found it was usually difficult to hear for the most part and it was just annoying while sitting on the brake run because it was too loud. The only part of the ride where I actually liked it was the lifthill and the "TAKE THE TUNNEL!" part, which I somehow always heard once I discovered where in the ride it happened. I've been skeptical about the audio ever since this ride opened because it just seemed like the system would get damaged on a wooden roller coaster. It also seemed like it would be hard to hear because a wooden coaster usually is louder than a steel coaster and the speakers aren't right by your ears on Terminator like they are on many other rides. I was right about the second one, and the first one may be why the audio won't be returning. Even without the audio, Terminator is still one of my favorite coasters at Six Flags Magic Mountain (4th by day, 1st at night). Besides, if you look at roller coasters in general most of them don't have soundtracks. It may be awkward at first with the audio missing, but I'm sure the GP will forget it ever existed in a few years (if it even takes that long). I also think that we need a new WCB tradition: during Terminator ERT, everyone has to yell "TAKE THE TUNNEL!" to keep the only memorable part of the audio track alive.

I have a ton of parks within two hours of where I live, so I consider all of them home parks. However, how often I visit each one varies significantly. Disneyland Resort: I used to have a pass and visit monthly. However, since it is more expensive now I no longer have one. I still try to visit once a year since Disneyland is my favorite park in California overall. Knott's: I visit this park three or four times a year and have a pass for it as well. However, I have found that when the park is empty and there is a major ride closed (especially Xcelerator) I tend to get bored in about four hours. Now, I will rarely visit the park if one of the three major coasters or another major ride is scheduled to be down unless it is for a special event. Legoland: Used to visit this park once a year since my grandfather has a lifetime pass. I now try to visit at least once in any given three year period. Universal Studios: One visit every three years is enough for me. SeaWorld: One visit every four years is enough for me. Six Flags Magic Mountain: I usually will visit this park twice a year in addition to visiting for special events such as WCB or company picnics. This is my second favorite local park. Minor Parks: I can't remember how long it has been since I last visited Adventure City or Scandia, but I don't really care to visit them again. However, I usually visit Castle Park every couple years to see if they've added anything new and ride my favorite flyers and S&S tower.

My top five dark rides are all at the Disneyland Resort in California. 1. Haunted Mansion 2. Indiana Jones Adventure 3. Pirates of the Caribbean 4. Toy Story Midway Mania 5. Alice in Wonderland My favorite dark ride outside of a Disney park is the Lost Kingdom Adventure at Legoland California (comes in 8th on my list overall). For my ranking system, I consider a dark ride to be any ride that is fully or mostly enclosed in a building with show elements and that does not have any thrill elements. For this reason, I do not consider rides like Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, or any dark roller coasters to be dark rides. Indiana Jones is really in a gray area but since I don't have anywhere else to put it I consider it a dark ride. In addition, rides like Jurassic Park are disqualified because they are outdoors.

^That ride looks identical to this thing: http://www.rcdb.com/4257.htm. If it is the same, that inversion would be a sidewinder. Looks like a pretty forceful little ride, or it least RCDB says it is. The one they built in the US was assembled at three different parks and never opened due to excessive g-force.

I don't know about all of Orange County, but Capistrano Unified doesn't get out until June 23rd. I've heard they are one of the last ones out, so the rest of the county probably gets out a week or two earlier. If you can get to the park on a weekday between the end of Thanksgiving week and the beginning of winter break, the park is usually pretty empty. I did that last year and got on all but one major ride in both parks combined with a couple re-rides. Longest line was 25 minutes for Toy Story Midway Mania and most lines were in the 10-15 minute range.

Exactly. If this ride was outside in the middle of a field I'm guessing it would be similar to Pony Express or one of the Backlot Stunt Coasters, but with all the theming it is a pretty good ride. In other words, the attraction overall is great but the roller coaster alone isn't much.

I think this may have been the best report so far. The Mummy tour definitely looked like one of the highlights of the trip, and the lights on POV really shows that the ride isn't much more than I thought. Surprisingly, I like that ride quite a bit, but if you placed outside it wouldn't be too much more than Pony Express. Again, great report, and I can't wait to see the rest of the trip. I always enjoy seeing what other people think of the parks I visit relatively often.

I could see Mr. Six's Dance Coaster working at SFMM if it is a part of a new area. If the park added an area with three or four family-friendly flat rides and this coaster it would probably work. It could probably be made better if the area had one or two more thrilling flat rides and a smaller thrill coaster (probably something by Intamin). Oh, and it would be really nice if it had a drop tower as well. I doubt this will happen due to Six Flag's financial state, but it would probably be the best way to attract families. I could see Mr. Six working really well in that type of situation, but as a stand alone coaster it doesn't seem like the best fit. Given where the ride is planned to be located, it seems like very few people within the target audience range will venture back there. I just really don't think the ride will give the park much of an attendance boost or family appeal boost on its own. Therefore, it would probably be better off at a park that either doesn't have a kidde coaster, or has a gap between a real tiny coaster (Percy sized) and a milder thrill coaster (Terminator or similar). Six Flags Magic Mountain has always had a reputation as the most extreme roller coaster park in the west, and I think it would take quite a bit to change that. I have no clue what's going to happen with this ride, but I don't see much advantage to building it.

Well, no big loss here. I was planning to ride it this year, but considering it's just a generic junior coaster I don't really care. I'm guessing that either the park is having permit issues or they just don't want to open the ride without getting the height requirement changed first. Either way, this makes sense. Who knows, maybe they'll be able to have it open in time for WCB 2011 (unlikely, but possible). I just really hope this doesn't alter any plans they may already have for 2011 or beyond. Now that I won't be able to ride this, my 100th credit will probably end up being Intimidator on the IntimidaTour. I hope the next three months go by quickly.

Steel: California Screamin' (not a traditional out-and-back but still follows the same general layout) Magnum XL-200 X2 (not traditional) Wood: Giant Dipper Ghost Rider (L-shaped but still an out and back)

^Saturdays are always busy, but Saturday of Memorial Day weekend (the 29th, which I assume is the day you are talking about) will be ridiculously busy. Last time I went to the park on a Saturday of a holiday weekend there was a three hour wait for GhostRider and almost everything else had a one to two hour wait. This was in 2000 or 2001 and was Veteran's Day weekend, but I assume that Memorial Day weekend will be similar. If that is the case, you will have a hard time getting on ten rides during the whole day (I managed six or seven with only three of those being roller coasters). If you go on a different Saturday, it will be crowded but you should have enough time to get on everything. Knott's rarely gets lines over an hour when they are running rides at capacity, even in the summer (except on holiday weekends as previously mentioned). Regardless of when you visit, it is always a good idea to ride GhostRider first if you want to ride it. That ride seems to give the best rides in the morning because it hasn't warmed up yet, therefore it is running slower and smoother. It doesn't have as much airtime in the morning, but I personally prefer a ride with lower roughness and less airtime to more airtime with high roughness (the airtime difference isn't that great, anyway). Afterwards, I usually go to Pony Express, Sierra Sidewinder, Silver Bullet, Xcelerator in that order. After finishing those five, you can kind of do everything else in whatever order you want. On a Saturday, the above will usually work, but you may wish to switch it around to Sierra Sidewinder, GhostRider, Pony Express, Xcelerator, Silver Bullet because Sierra Sidewinder has the lowest capacity of those five and is right by the entrance while Silver Bullet (usually) has the highest capacity. Also, Pony Express isn't worth riding if the line is more than ten minutes even if you need the credit, but fortunately it usually takes people around a half-hour to get back to that area of the park. Even so, if you really want to ride it but don't want to wait in a long line save GhostRider for later and head to Pony Express immediately after Sierra Sidewinder. I do not know if the park will be running one or two trains on the rides, but when I visited earlier this month it looked like Silver Bullet, Pony Express, and Xcelerator had a train in maintence. To be safe, I would say count on one train on those three, although Silver Bullet and Pony Express may have finished work by now. Xcelerator's second train wasn't even present so I doubt they're ready to start using it again yet. Fortunately, Xcelerator has the fastest moving one-train operation line in the park (in my experience). Just don't wait for the front car. Good luck with getting on everything you want to whenever you go. The park hasn't really added anything you must ride since Silver Bullet opened, but I highly recommend Sierra Sidewinder if the line isn't too bad.

I think it should explode when it hits the top of the tower like in RCT2.

I've only been on two, but Ninja is definitely better than Iron Dragon. I really want to ride Flight Deck or Vortex as I've heard those two are best ones currently operating.

The best launched coaster I've been on is Maverick. However, the best actual launch is Xcelerator.

^It looks like you had a pretty good day. I really should have labeled option A "Flash Pass" and option B "Non-Flash Pass" because, as you said, by running to X2 first you would probably get on with around a half hour wait (once it opens, and depending on how close to the gates you were when they opened them). Glad to see it still worked fine for you. In general, visiting on a weekend in the summer or a Saturday any time of year it is better to get a Flash Pass. I've only visited the park three times on a saturday before, and on all those the lines were around an hour for the major rides. The only time I actually had a really good day on a Saturday was when I visited for WCB 2010. However, when I typically visit on Sundays during the winter there is nobody there and I've gone on everything in the park multiple times during the day. I haven't actually used the Flash Pass since they got those q-bots because I visit the park so frequently (at least 2-3 times a year) but I would certainly use it at any out of state park if it was crowded when I visited.