Jackdude101

The Tweetsie Railroad has a unique distinction: one of its locomotives, the No. 12, is the only amusement park locomotive on the US National Register of Historic Places.

The steam railroad in Dollywood is definitely impressive for a theme park railroad. I researched it and it looks like the Dollywood Express has the most powerful fleet of steam locomotives out of any theme park railroad based on the average tractive effort (i.e.: how "strong" they are) of its locomotives (Tweetsie Railroad, its former sister park, is #2 and the one at Knott's is #3). That's a good thing because Dollywood's railroad has one of the steepest max grades out of any theme park railroad at 5%, which means at its steepest it climbs 5 feet during a single 100-foot stretch of track (typically, railroad companies frown on having grades steeper than 2%, as it can put too much strain on the locomotives). Hooray, for preserved mountain railroad trains!

For those interested, I wrote a Wikipedia article in 2014 listing all of the Disney park trains and have updated it extensively since that time. I created almost all of their route diagrams, as well. Also, several non-Disney trains with very similar traits to Disney trains are listed in the article's "See also" section. By "similar", I mean amusement park or amusement park-ish trains that have at least one historic (built before 1960) steam locomotive running. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Walt_Disney_Parks_and_Resorts

Try the link now. I typed it wrong before.

Dry Gulch, U.S.A. is located near Adair, Oklahoma northeast of Tulsa, and operates as a Christian summer camp...which has a legit historic narrow gauge steam train, a carousel, bumper cars, go-karts, an arcade, restaurants, and a sprawling Wild West-themed town (they don't have any roller coasters, because that would just be silly). In addition, the site switches gears during the Christmas season when it opens up to the general public and runs as "The Christmas Train" (you'll never guess which of their attractions is the central focus), with everything decked out in Christmas flair, retellings of the birth of Christ, and so forth. Supposedly, each season when the limited number of tickets are put up for sale, they sell out within the first few hours. If any of you ride credit hunting enthusiasts are interested in this place, you better make plans to get tickets and fly out to Oklahoma this season, because the church that owns the property put it up for sale this year, and normal operations for the site are only guaranteed until the end of this year. On a related note, I wrote a brand-new Wikipedia article this week about this place here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_Gulch,_U.S.A..

Nanchang Wanda Park is particularly impressive, in that a couple of its roller coasters have broken several records. Coaster Through the Clouds (the INTAMIN hypercoaster) is now the tallest and fastest roller coaster in China (242.78 ft.; 84.51 mph), Python in Bamboo Forest (the GCI woodie) is now the tallest and fastest wooden coaster in China (160 ft.; 62.1 mph) and the longest in China of any kind (5,111.00 ft.), and Soaring Dragon & Dancing Phoenix (the Chinese SBL invert) has the most loops out of every Chinese-built roller coaster (6). I think it's safe to say that Wanda Group is in it to win it in the Chinese theme park industry, and were dead serious when they said they are going to compete directly with the likes of Shanghai Disneyland opening next month, per this article: https://www.yahoo.com/movies/chinese-developer-wanda-opens-theme-032439699.html

Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain in Indiana Beach is the only wooden roller coaster on Earth with an elevator lift.

Per my research, one type of location with rides that I find interesting are the ones with a legit steam train and a legit carousel, but no roller coasters. They tend to have a lot of traits of amusement parks, but with lower crowds and ticket prices. I know of at least 20 of these places within the English-speaking world and have attached them to this post below. If you like parks and don't mind if there aren't any coasters, you may be interested in visiting these places (if you haven't already, of course).

I'm really glad the Smiler is coming back. I'd give an arm and two legs to ride that thing!

Kumba at BGT. 1994, I think, one year after it opened.

Most of your staff doesn't know the flags of the countries referenced in the name Six Flags. On that note, I'll bet you a dollar that if that becomes common knowledge, the park chain will panic and rename themselves "Five Flags." Why? Just read the list below of the flags referenced by the park chain's name and judge for yourself. Spain France Mexico Republic of Texas United States of America Confederate States of America

That's interesting because not more than a week or two ago I added that to one of my spreadsheets, as it has a legit old timey carousel. The only thing remotely negative about these non-roller coaster places is that talking about them makes me feel like a dirty hipster. "My favorite park without roller coasters is this one. You've probably never heard of it." *adjusts hipster glasses* lol

This topic may turn out to be a wall of posts stating "Epcot," but whatever. Also, it doesn't have to be a theme park. It can be a city park, museum, mall, you name it. It just has to have at least one ride or attraction commonly found in a theme park or an amusement park.

Special mention to the Roy O. Disney (#4) locomotive on the Walt Disney World Railroad, which turns 100 years old this month. That effectively makes it the oldest ride in Walt Disney World (the only other ride close to that is the carousel, which was made in 1917).

...and even after they expire.

You collect stats for thousands of roller coasters and place them on spreadsheets, which you bring up in IRL conversations.

This is a little prediction I made of where the new lands will be in Hollywood Studios. This is assuming that the Toy Story Land will be the same size as the other Toy Story Lands around the world.

Does anyone happen to know the exact opening date for Fire in the Hole? I know it was opened sometime in 1972, but I have not been able find anything more specific. The exact start date of SDC's 1972 season is probably a good bet, but I have not been able to find that either.

The two presently-active Royal Caribbean Oasis Class cruise ships (the largest cruise ship class on Earth) Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas each have a brand-new wood-carved carousel for passengers to ride. They were made by Carousel Works from Mansfield, Ohio, which is pretty much the only currently-active company on Earth (afaik) that still makes entire brand-new wood-carved carousels. Attached is the one on Allure of the Seas.

Math was never my strongest subject, and I'm certain you need to know a thing or two about calculus to design a roller coaster. I took two introductory courses on the subject in college and I barely passed both. I can push the button to start the ride and that's it.

Having shame tends to hold you back, so I recommend discarding it. If anyone gives you lip, just start singing the chorus from the song "Hate On Me, Hater" at the top of your lungs.

Orphan Rocker. It could totally happen at any time, r-right?

Yeah, it's a little experimental ranking system meant to see what happens when you rank rides by key tech specs. At first it was just roller coasters, then people mentioned I should add other types of rides. I added steam trains (ones actually powered by steam) and carousels (legit historical ones with wood or metal figures), as those are on the opposite end of roller coasters in terms of ride intensity and would offer a wider spectrum on what the park offers (they are also hard to get + hard to maintain, so their presence tends to indicate a higher quality park). I added data for weather, too.

Let's see what my special park list thingie says. Note: Six Flags Mexico is not on the list, but if it were it would be somewhere near the bottom, specifically between SFA and SFDK.

Let's see what my Magical Park List of Mystery™ has to say about it.