rcdude

Terminator Salvation: The Ride has a pretty good one because you approach it at speed instead of directly off the lifthill. This leads to airtime, especially in the back of the train. I also like the first drop on Ghostrider because it is the smoothest part of the ride (right into one of the roughest parts).

From my experience: Best: Splash Mountain at Disneyland Worst: Logger's Run at California's Great America

Hmmm...maybe I should do my own credit whore day this summer and go to Castle Park, then over to Scandia, and finally end up at John's Incredible Pizza for dinner. Wait...I already have five of those six credits. Oh well, something to keep in mind when Castle Park adds their next coaster. Great update. I was expecting Universal Studios but I guess that will be a later update. I've been wondering if John's Incredible Pizza was any good since I first heard about it two years ago. Next time I'm in the area I'll be sure to check it out.

To me, and it may be just me, but it almost seems that the newer DVDs spend more time showing the trip participants doing stuff than they do general park stuff. On the older DVDs, it seems like when a shot was focused on someone they were usually enjoying the attractions the park has. The newer DVDs also seem to show more stuff that the tour group did that most visitors can't do. It is almost like the older DVDs are "look what all you can do here" while the new DVDs are "look what we did here," almost like older was more of an advertisement (I hate to call it that though) and newer is more like a trip report. Personally, I would rather see what I can do at a park if I visit than what I'll do there if I go on a TPR trip. All of the volumes have some great segments and some not-so-great ones. For volume 9, however, I think that, although the best ones were way up there (especially PortAventura, my favorite European park segment), there was just an unusually high number of segments that I wasn't such a big fan of or liked other segments of that park better (Parque Warner, Holiday Park, Phantasialand all had other segments on other DVDs I liked better, and I wasn't a huge fan of most of the smaller park segments (Isla Magica, Terra Mitica, Toverland) although I did like Parque Zaragoza and Klotten a bit). This may also be due to the location (Spain doesn't interest me) and it could also be because this was kind of the transition DVD from the older style to the new style. I really, really hope you contine making these DVDs. Even my least favorite in the series (volume 9) is still a lot better than any other amusement park show or DVD I've seen. These DVDs really show how to have fun at the parks, whether on your own or as part of a TPR trip. Maybe my opinion of the newer ones will change after I've experienced a trip for myself (IntimidaTour) or if I ever visit some random smaller parks and have firsthand experience of what they are like. If you keep making these DVDs, I'll have to see how I like the one with the West Coast tour because I've been to all those parks (I'm guessing that would probably end up being 15).

I purchased Coaster Expedition Volume 13 way back when it was first released. Since then, I think I've probably watched most segments three or four times, but I only sat down and watched it straight through once. Now, I have all 13 volumes on DVD and have watched them all several times, so I knew what to expect. These DVDs do a really good job of showing off parks and how to have fun at them. They are by far my favorite theme park DVDs. However, lately I've found that I'm not enjoying the recent volumes that much. CE 13 is certainly not the worst one in the series, but it is a long way from my favorite. If I were to rank them all from favorite to least favorite, I'd probably place them in the following order: 3, 6, 7, 8, 1, 2, 12, 5, 4, 13, 10, 11, 9. I don't know why it is, but I like most of the pre-TPR trip era videos better than the newer installments focused on a trip or a couple trips. I think it may be partly because the older DVDs showed parks from a variety of different places in the world while the newer ones tend to cover only one specific region. They all have some really good segments on them, but on average I've got more enjoyment out of the older DVDs. I think the other problem is that parks are being covered on multiple DVDs and the newer segments just don't seem as entertaining as the ones on older DVDs. For example, only about a quarter of the segments on CE 13 cover parks that haven't been shown before. Of those, the only one that felt like one of the early TPR video segments was Waldameer. The other segments don't seem to show off the park enough and only show off random antics of the trip group. Now, I still plan to keep buying these DVDs as long as they are made, as even though I don't like the newer ones as much I still really enjoy watching them occasionally, but I think I would like it better if they went back to Coaster Season (fill in year here) where there was one DVD per year that showed off all the new or significantly changed places TPR visited that year. I wouldn't mind if a DVD didn't cover every park on a trip when half the parks have been covered previously and haven't added anything significant in that time period. Oh, and as for CE vs. RAW, I've found that over a year I watch every segment on every CE DVD at least once but I rarely will watch the RAW segments more than once unless I'm visiting a park with that coaster (I've only watched about ten segments on the RAW discs more than once and I own all four of them).

This looks a bit weird but it is really cool. It certainly has many more moving parts than I've seen on any similar costumes. I'm sure that everyone will love it, so I'm avoiding Mickey's House until they have these at general park locations for character meet and greets. The only downside I could see to this would be children being upset when their favorite character won't talk to them because that costume doesn't have the technology yet.

I really don't understand the logic behind all of this. To me, it seems like it would make more sense to have the shows at 9, 10, and 11. They would close Paradise Pier down at 8 and leave the rest of the park open until 11 when the final show starts. I just really don't get the point of having a show that plays three times a night have two showings that don't even start until after the park closes. Oh well, I guess I just will be avoiding that park after 6 from now on. No more nighttime Screamin' . I really hope the general public likes this show and thinks it is worth the massive time investment it will take. From everything I've heard, you will be using around three hours of your day for this one show. I'm certainly not planning to do that. If they ran this like they do with Fantasmic, I'd go see it but I would never invest more than an hour in any amusement park show. This one really doesn't interest me that much, and I'm guessing there is a reason most water shows are around five minutes, not twenty two. From the videos it just seems like it would get repetitive. Nevertheless, I'm sure people will love it because it's Disney, and I certainly hope they do. If this show fails, I could see it killing DCA completely.

I've never gone over Memorial Day, but people I know have gone at that time and reported 2-4 hour waits for most coasters. Even the rides that rarely get waits were still close to an hour. You are better off not going if you only have five hours since the Flashpass will probably be sold out by the time you arrive and you will be extremely lucky to get on more than three or four rides. Memorial Day weekend is one of the worst times to visit any park in the Southern California area. (after fourth of July and Christmas).

I'm almost certain that the coaster that this person was on was Top Thrill Dragster. That's the only coaster I know of that reaches 120 mph in 4 seconds. Apparently the moral of the story is listen to the safety recordings that tell you to face forward and don't ride sideways and you probably won't have any severe problems.

I really think one would fit well at Knott's except for the fact that they don't have that great of capacity. It's probably better than a shuttle coaster, but I have a feeling Xcelerator has better capacity than a mega-lite and it would probably draw people away since it is twice the size. Realistically, I think the first mega-lite in the United States will end up going to a minor park that has room for it. I wouldn't be surprised to see the first one appear at a park similar to Alabama Adventure, but you never know what might end up happening. I can say, however, that due to the capacity issue I will be very surprised if a Six Flags or Cedar Fair park gets one.

From my experience, the audio on Terminator is so difficult to hear that the ride isn't much different without it once you've crested the lifthill. Even when it is working, the audio track isn't that good (especially on the brakes) and the only time I've enjoyed it was with the WCB audio track. On X2, however, the ride seems strange now when there is no audio because it actually fits with the ride and you can hear it. Even without it, X2 is a great ride. The audio is really just something added to increase stimulation during the ride. On the other hand, rides like Revenge of the Mummy and Space Mountain (and to a lesser extent California Screamin') have audio tracks entirely written for the ride that fit perfectly. When those rides are missing the audio, it seems like the ride is missing something. I've never felt that way on X2 or Terminator when there is no audio.

I've found that the mic people are actually funny when there isn't really a wait, but get very annoying after two or three cycles with one train running. The only time I've been annoyed by them was when they were talking about personal details over the mic, such as what they did last night (early morning on Silver Bullet, of course). Usually I don't pay much attention to them unless I'm the only one there and they actually talk to me. As long as they don't hinder operations and are not being inappropriate I'm not bothered by them. And yes, the Silver Bullet crew was awesome during ERT at WCB.

That was really cool. I've always wondered what it actually looked like in there. The compensation must have also helped to brighten your day. Seeing this made me remember of when I had to be evacuated from Mr. Toad's Wild Ride when I was around four years old. Even then, I was really interested in everything there, and since we had to walk backward from the train crash (second to last room) we got to see almost the entire ride. They gave each person evacuated an exit pass good for two people so we used them to skip the lines on Peter Pan and Splash Mountain (which I didn't like). This was in the days before Fastpass so it was extra cool to be able to skip the long lines.

^Ghostrider in the back is usually a bad idea. The ride is way too rough in that part of the train. When I ride, I usually stay with the first three cars. If they are crowded, I may go to cars four or five if those cars have a short wait, but I will never ride in cars six or seven. Despite it being rough I still rank the ride as my second favorite wooden coaster (after Terminator).

^^The schools down by where I live are getting out on June 23rd, but I believe that is on the late end. Anyway, they are a bit too far to influence SFMM crowds significantly (but will affect Knott's and Disneyland crowds). I'm guessing to be safe go either before Memorial Day or the first week in june. Most California schools get out sometime in June but are typically still in session the first week.

That's probably what they do. There isn't much point to listing something on a website when there are very few parks that would be interested in it.

My ranking of the rides that I've been on: 1. Raptor 2. Flight Deck (CGA) 3. Silver Bullet 4. Wicked Twister 5. Deja Vu 6. V2: Vertical Velocity (SFDK) 7. Invertigo (CGA) 8. Batman the Ride (SFMM) -big gap- 9. Kong (SLC at SFDK)

I can't believe I haven't posted in this thread yet. Anyway, this is my dog, Boo. She is about 7 years old and is a German Shepard mix. We got here at the Irvine animal shelter when she was a small puppy (I think about two months) and have had her since then.

I don't care when it opens as long as it's ready by mid-July when I'll be visiting the park next. No, really, I'm pretty sure they'll have it up in a month. If I remember right, Castle Amusement Park built their junior coaster in about three weeks so I don't see why Six Flags Magic Mountain can't do the same (assuming we don't get any rain delays of course).

I chose no because: 1. I do not own a Blu-Ray player (although I may be getting on in the not too distant future aka within a year) 2. I already have all the Raw DVDs and don't really want to pay more for segments I already have access too. 3. I don't watch the Raw DVDs that much. When I got them, I watched them all through once non-stop over a week long period (one disk per day), but now I tend to only watch selected segments, and usually only right before I am visiting that park (or a park with a similar attraction). Compare this to the Coaster Expedition DVDs, where I think I have watched every segment on all thirteen disks at least three times since I got it (even the latest one). I'm assuming that all the segments on Raw Blu-Ray will probably end up on Raw 5 or a later volume, so I see no reason to get it even if I do get a Blu-Ray player. That being said, if I do get a Blu-Ray player and future Raw volumes with all new material are released in that format, I would definitely be interested in those.

Given that this will be a (mostly) stand-alone attraction, the GCI is a much better choice. Wooden coasters work well on their own outside a park, but I've never seen a stand-alone inverted coaster. Something similar to Terminator in size would probably be pretty good, and I believe that ride only cost $10 million so it would be a bit cheaper than an inverted coaster as well.

I've seen: Two trains on Gold Rusher (no stacking) Two trains on Revolution (no stacking) Three trains on Colossus (minimal stacking) Two trains on Ninja (no stacking) Three trains on Viper (minimal stacking) Two trains on Batman (minimal stacking) Three trains on Riddler's (stacking) Three trains on Goliath (stacking) Three trains on X2 (heavy stacking) Three trains on Scream (minimal stacking) Three trains on Tatsu (minimal stacking with both stations) Two trains on Terminator (no stacking) All in the past three years. It seems like everything at the park runs better with two trains because they can usually avoid stacking on anything with only two (except Batman due to it being so short). I don't know what a good dispatch interval is for most roller coasters, but I would think it might be something like a minute for real simple restraint systems (lap bar or shoulder harness with no belt), 90 seconds for most rides, and two minutes for rides like X2 or Riddler's Revenge that have more complex loading procedures.

I was thinking pretty much the same thing. There are really only a certain number of new slide ideas that can be created. Even this idea has been around for quite some time, as the half-pipe water slide (which the funnel is based on) probably first appeared about 15 years ago. Now, I love funnel slides and they are probably my favorite type of water slide, but to be honest this looks like it won't be that great. The concept sounds good, but I doubt it will catch on. How long until we get a slide that combines a funnel, bowl, and uphill water sections into one ride? That would definitely be worth riding.

Flight Deck is awesome. That is my favorite B&M inverted coaster in California even though I've ridden it the least out of the three. It's interesting that it is the smallest inverted coaster yet is one of the best. Grizzly, on the other hand, is my least favorite wooden coaster. The ride isn't rough, and it does have a couple decent drops, but other than those two drops the rest of the ride is very slow and boring. Everyone who visits the park still needs to ride it just so they can claim they've been on the worst wooden coaster in the world. These updates are really coming quickly. At this rate they'll be finished by the end of the month.

Canyon Blaster is a pretty good ride for its size. Of the four Arrow custom looping coasters I've been on, it's probably my favorite (barely better than Viper). It is a little rough, but isn't that bad compared to most other similar coasters. Of the four coasters in the Vegas area, however, I would only rank it third. Speed is the best by far, and Desperado is a pretty good ride if you are in the middle seat of a car. The Roller Coaster (aka Manhattan Express) looks like it would be fun but is rough and not that interesting.