Hilltopper39

Lebron dropped a triple double last night against Australia, which really doesn't sound all that impressive considering Lebron is the best basketball player in the world (arguably ever) but I was shocked when they said it was the first triple double in USA Olympic basketball history. Of all the great players America has had compete over the years it's amazing that no one has ever had a triple double until now. I still expect USA to win gold in basketball but the next game against Argentina could be entertaining. The past 2 games against Argentina have gotten a little chippy, and Louis Scola has some bad blood with several members of Team USA from previous seasons in the NBA. Even though America will probably win by about 20, Argentina won't go out without a fight maybe even a real one!

Is the the "Wave Turn" or the "Outside Bank Turn" on the layout picture?

Is the the "Wave Turn" or the "Outside Bank Turn" on the layout picture?

Um.... yeah, that looks insane! I thought the Texas Giant photos were impressive, this is just a new level.

6They created the buzz months ago, now they're just teasing me!

^ I was wondering about the re-location myself but I guess that ride was old enough that it was probably near the end of it's life cycle and probably wouldn't have been the best investment for another park. I was also wondering if they maybe saved the trains or any other hardware to potential sell as spare parts to another parks with that same model, then I did a little research and realized that there are only 3 rides like this left operating in the word so the spare parts market is probably pretty small.

^That is equally ridiculous haha

A teaser 2 hours before the announcement, jeeze just go ahead and announce this thing already! Can't wait to officially see what they have in-store here.

Will be cool to see how they use the land not only for next years new attraction but future additions to that area. I would think an area that large could be used for several new installations other than just a coaster, a new restaurant, new shop, new flat ride, new section etc. Should be an exciting announcement. Then again it is Cedar Point so I probably shouldn't get my hopes up too high, probably will just be a wing rider over a parking lot.

Krake looks like an awesome little coaster, I'd love to see one of those get built with a longer layout and a few more traditional B&M inversions in addition to the vertical drop. Great pictures as usual Hanno.

That might be the worst commercial I've ever seen.

Blue Beard- Band of Horses

Great pictures from what looked like another fantastic TPR event. I've had a half circuit lights on ride on Flight of Fear at kings Island one morning but would love a full out ERT session. Sometimes indoor coasters are scarier with the lights on because of the added head choppers and transitions you can't see (FoF, Space Mountain). I've always thought Flight of Fear was a tad bit underrated too, after the lab bar only modifications to the trains that thing became so much fun, great launch, great inversions, great transitions, great little all round ride.

It's time of year, Fall camps starting up and the first games less than a month away but no one wants to get into full pads quite as bad as Auburn does this year because full pads means they can get out of these awful practice shorts. Seriously, at some point there had to have been a meeting where these new practice uniforms were presented, and someone had to of given them the okay. That someone needs to be fired.... Seriously, wtf? Have fun with this one Bama fans......

I'm guessing Wing Rider as an early prediction, I got a feeling X-Flight was first of many for Six Flags.

Why is topper track impractical? Unless there is something I am missing topper track simply means decreased maintenance costs over time, and a smoother faster more consistent improved ride experience, how is that impractical? I have not ridden it this year, but I rode it 2 years ago and it was really, good probably the best it had been in years. The point is, and the reason this whole discussion got started, is that just about everyone agrees that the ride was much better before the magnetic brakes were installed. Not that there is anything wrong with it now, it's just not as intense and memorable as it once was, and the idea what the ride could be with the help of some modern technology is pretty exciting. How many people out there were turned off by the modifications to the Texas Giant? Seems like those changes have worked out pretty well....

And Kings Island would forever be a better place because of it.....

Starlight Express! I thought I was the only person who ever liked that show! It's so cheesy and bad, but has so much character and great music. I saw it once in London when I was a kid and was fascinated by it and always wondered why it wasn't more successful, other than the fact that it appeared to be an incredibly difficult production to produce. Another show I love that never quite gained popularity in America was Sunset Boulevard, I think it opened briefly in New York and L.A. but never quite gained the popularity I thought it deserved. I geeked out just a little two days ago when I found out that Book of Mormon is coming to Tampa during the 2013-2014 season, I did a fist pump and a cheer in the middle of a restaurant at lunch that got me a few funny looks but I don't care. Can't wait to see it finally.

I mentioned that the flat sections are rather boring now, but they certainly didn't used to be. When that thing was still hauling around those curves before the magnetic brakes were installed that was one of my favorite sections of the ride. They banking and pace of it all was so funky and insane that it was just awesome. BUT, even with the insane speeds I still think some additional reprofiling and air time hills could make that section even more incredible. Imagine the finally of the Raven, but 3 times as long. Also, in my 20 plus years of riding that coaster I have never once in any seat gotten any sort of air time on the second drop before the long brake shed, thus I approve of turning that into some type of wicked double down. I'm not normally in favor of heavily re-profiling and extensively changing "classic" coasters but I feel like the Beast has such a unique layout that it could fairly easily be transformed into a top 5 modern wooden coaster with a minimal investment.

Yeah, the Beast was definitely a lot better in the pre-magnetic brakes era. It's still a personal favorite, but not quite the same ride experience that it used to be. I've always thought that a major rehab for the Beast would be a great thing, get new trains, new track work, and maybe even throw in a few small air time hills on those long straight (and rather boring) sections between the first drop and second lift. Breathe some life back into that monster. I could be crazy here, but for some reason I remember GCI doing some off season track work on the Beast at some point a few years ago, but maybe not.

Basketball is probably the most interesting sport to me, even though America has a huge advantage and are an odds on favorite to win it all it's fun to see NBA superstars who normally compete against each other playing together. And as a Kentucky fan it's a lot of fun to watch Anthony Davis when he gets in, I have a feeling he might end up getting more playing time before the games are over. Other than basketball women's soccer is fun to watch, and I'm looking forward to wrestling whenever that takes place.

^your right, this demolition announcement is probably some "Elaborate hoax by a local amusement park as a publicity stunt for their latest attraction".....

^So your telling me there's a chance.....

Kings Island should have kept the ride open, added some scare actors in the que line then only operated it during Haunt as the most Terrifying Coaster in the World: Ride at Your own Risk!

^Well then you clearly are not a real coaster enthusiast because everyone knows that SOB was a non-wheel seat coaster, probably a top 10 non wheel woodie in the world, amateur .