Hilltopper39

I rode Gwazi on New Years eve just a few days before the rehab and honestly it felt a lot better than it usually does, like the re-tracking in places is really starting to break in and smoothen the thing out. I really hope the Millennium Flyers can return this thing to its former glory. Gwazi was one of my favorite coasters in its first two season.

^^ "new B&M's" hahaha

^^ I completly understand that but I still think that they could sell less impressive versions of their popular attractions to other parks and make some decent money doing it. I'm just talking about the ride systems that are exclusive and proprietary to Disney property like Soarin, Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, Buzz Light year, not the rides like Everest or Kali River rapids of Crush's Coaster where they amp up the theming on a ride built by an outside vendor. I just think from a business standpoint its a shame that they invest so much money in development of they're ride systems but can only ultimately build them at 5 locations. Take Tower of Terror for example, its a great ride still very unique and Disney has versions in Cali, Orlando, Tokyo, and Paris. But the ride system/concept is also 16 years old. I think if Disney sold the same ride system maybe not as tall not as fast not as nice much less theming and no pre-show to a park like Dollywood or Cedar Point or Busch gardens or even Alton Towers or Eftling those parks could get a very nice attraction and Disney could get a lot of Money for selling a design that they have perfected. A design that is basically sitting on a shelf and wont ever get used again after they build one in Hong Kong. As far as exclusivity goes I mean a ride system that is 16years old and everyone in the world has been on isn't all that exclusive anymore anyways. Theres a huge difference between Big Thunder Mountain and The Runaway Mine Train at any old Six Flags Park. Not that the Mine Train at Six Flags is a bad ride but its just not as good as Thunder Mountain. I think if done properly they same thing could go for a non Disney version of Tower of Terror , or non Disney version of Soarin, or non Disney version of Test Track. They would be great additions to a park but still not as good the real full versions at Disney. Think about Darkastle at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, pretty similar to Spiderman, not anywhere near as good but still a great attraction for that park. I doubt anyone ever rides Darkastle and says well hey no need to ever go try spiderman now that Ive been on this version of the ride system here. I think the exact same results could be achieved if Disney sold some of their ride systems, and I think they could make a TON of money doing it.

Very nice shots, and I agree with Scott this place looks so much better at night although it may just be your pictures.

Ive often wondered my self why Disney doest try to "sell" some of their rides to other parks in the world. Take a technology like Toy Story Mania. Disney spends a ton of money developing it, and then can only build 4 of them. Why not try to sell a dumbed down version of Toy story mania with a different theming and design and what not to a park like this one in Israel or even somewhere in America. A crappy version of Toy Story mania would probably still be better than some of the Scooby Do style rides out there. Or the ride system in Tower of Terror. Incredibly expensive to develop and build (so Ive heard), yet Imagineering can only capitalize on the design at 4 locations in the world. I'm sure Disney could have sold a less cool version of the ride system to a park like Busch Gardens Williamsburg for a decent amount of money. Then the new Busch Gardens drop ride would be better than the generic free fall the'yre getting, but still not as good as Disney's Tower of Terror. Seems like there is plenty of potential for profit to me, but hey who knows.

Weddingmoon cruise with 37 friends this Thursday !! Honeymoon in Ocho Rios, Jamaica in March Cheetah Hunt opening weekend (hopefully, if not opening weekend then sometime this summer) Legoland Florida at some point this summer Finally check out Harry Potter Six Flags over Georgia for Dare Devil Dive Hall-o-Screams at Busch Gardens or Horror Nights at USO in October Possibility of an overseas vacation late summer early fall (maybe Oktoberfest) Hopefully lots of sporting events and concerts over the spring and summer

I had a pretty decent ride on Gwazi this past weekend, not nearly as brutal as my last few visits. I think the re-tracking of certain spots is finally starting to show. Now if they would only get a few Millennium Flyers that thing could be great again.

Anyone know what the anticipated opening date of Cheetaka Hunt Chase is? i know spring but has Busch Gardens set an estimated grand opening date or anything? I'm going to the park tomorrow for New Year eve (during the day) and am very excited to see how this thing is coming together.

I agree completely, the operations at BGT are horrible and have been every time Ive visited which is really a shame. Ive worked rides before, and its not that hard. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to make to dispatch a train in a timely manner but that never quite seems to happen at Busch Gardens. Sea World is deceptively bad at is as well. Ive had visits where Manta should take about 10 minutes but ended up taking 45, and Journey to Atlantis is by far one of the worst operated attractions I have ever seen. SeaWorld/ Busch Parks have never seemed to have great operations which to me is a shame because everything else about the parks is really great. *exception, Discover Cove operations and guest service is excellent

No PSA from Elissa for the ladies to protect their cooters? This site is sexist. Oh wait, this site is almost all dudes so that PSA would be useless, never mind.

I loved his comments on the Busch Gardens Tampa episode how he so passionately described Montu as the 'Longest, Tallest, Fastest Inverted coaster in FLORIDA!!!"haha. According to the show Maxair is also somehow the largest ride of its kind in the world?, must be 6 inches wider and 2 mph faster than Delirium haha. Maybe I'm wrong here but Ive been going to Cedar Point for a long time and have never heard of the Fearsome Foursome Challenge until that show. Even if the thing is real you can hardly walk from Magnum to Wicked Twister to Millinium to Dragster in an hour none the less ride all four coasters in an hour. That whole thing had to be fake, or they let him to the front of the lines which would again make it fake. The show is clearly not targeted towards coaster enthusiasts so I cant be that mad at it, but as an enthusiasts it does kinda piss me off a little bit. Probably the same way that real food fans get mad at shows like Diners Drive in's and Dives or Man vs Food.

Robb I completely agree with you on the show, I can't stand it either. Did anyone see the Cedar Point episode? Maybe I'm wrong, but Ive been going to Cedar Point a long time and have never heard of a "fearsome foursome challenge". And the way they portray what are in my opinion just average coasters like they are all World Record holding intense mega coasters gets really annoying. Although I will give the show a little credit, they do feature some parks that don't usually make any travel/discovery channel shows like Canobie Lake, and Lagoon, and Dollywood. Which is kinda nice because I am getting tired of seeing the Stratosphere rides and Millennium Force featured on every single coaster show that ever gets made.

looks like Goliath at SFOG to me

I find it interesting that they say they got into coasters because there was a low demand for civil companies designing buildings and bridges as if there is a high demand for companies who design roller coasters. I guess when B&M got into the game in the early 90's there weren't that many companies designing steel coasters. it seems like now there a still a relatively small number of companies who design coasters and getting into that type of work is very difficult and competitive. I would guess there are probably hundreds of companies that design buildings and bridges compared to probably less than 20 companies who design coasters. B&M coasters are truly amazing works of engineering art that set the bar for the industry but i definitely think those guys got into the industry at a great time!

I love older brochures where all the pictures are actually of rides in that park (as fas as I can tell), and not just stock pictures from the corporate flagship park.

I love older brochures where all the pictures are actually of rides in that park (as fas as I can tell), and not just stock pictures from the corporate flagship park.

1. Im glad B&M is finally getting a little creative with their flying coaster layouts. I was really getting a little tired of dive drop, pretzel loop, turn turn, roll, turn end. But this one look unique, and should be really good! 2. Why does every new park not in America look better than almost every park in America not in Orlando? Seriously! every park that gets built in China Dubai Japan and Europe seems to have incredible theming, including this one.

I have a quick 3 day cruise on the Carnival Sensation scheduled for January 6th traveling from Port Canaveral to Nassau and back with about 40 friends as part of a wedding/honeymoon cruise. I know carnival is not the greatest and Nassau is pretty much the worst but with our group it should be about perfect. Im looking to book a real honeymoon cruise later in march or April of this year and have been considering Celebrity, Princess, and Norwegian. We are considering 5 days on the Celebrity Century or 7 days on the Celebrity Eclipse, 7 days on either the Crown Princess or Ruby Princess to easter and western Caribbean, or 7 days on one of the giant newer ships like the Norwegian epic or RCCL Oasis of the Seas. Any suggestions form the TRP cruise world? The princess and Celebrity cruises seem considerably cheaper than the Norwegian and Royal Caribbean even though to me they look a lot nicer.

Yeah the SLC seems to be only weak link in the line-up although if it opens with the new style Vekoma SLC trains it might not be awful. I'm strangely optimistic about the idea of this park. I live 2 hours from Orlando and don't regularly visit the major park chains. I visit Orlando a lot for various events, sports, shopping, concerts etc but all the major parks are expensive and not that easy to drop into for a few hours here and there. This place just might be. And I think i could justify driving 2 hours to ride a 4-D and a Intamin Rockit once every couple of months. It may not be the best idea but I sure hope this place sees the light of day.

Was the mean streak ever good? I rode it for the first time in 1995 which was only 4 years after opening and at that point it was allready rough and not very enjoyable. Was that thing ever fun? Ever a top 10 caliber kind of ride?

I have seen a few trip reports from this place and it just looks cooler and cooler every time I see another one. Im surprised this type of park concept hasnt taken off more in America. The Schlitterbahn park in Padre Island Texas is like this with the lazy river transportation system and multiple master blasters, but its has fairly poor attendance and could really use some more slides. But Wild Wadi looks like it really got the concept done right and the park looks amazing. Id love to get over there one of these days, and would love to see a park like this in America.

I'm thankful that Halloween events have gotten so popular specifically HHN, Halloscreams, Haunt, Phobia, and every other event that keeps seasonal parks open through the end of October. And to everyone who complains about how bad their halloween event sucks in comparison to Halloween Horror Nights just be thankful that your coasters are open for night rides in late October! Also thankful for TPR for giving me a wonderful place to waste time every day thankful for Illuminations, you can never have a bad day at WDW as long as your in Epcot around 9pm thankful for Dole Whips, enough said Thankful for jellyrolls and the entire Boardwalk Resort, such an amazing place Thankful for jersey shore for giving me people to make fun of at amusement parks Thankful for Wet n Wild for secretly being the best water park in Orlando, but shhh don't tell anyone Thankful for Vekoma making painful coasters, without them we wouldn't know how good Intamin and B&M really were

Websites like Geauga Lake Today really make me appreciate TPR more and more. I never realized how much animosity there was in the coaster world towards Robb Elissa and TPR until recently and its all over this ridiculous Big Dipper Project. Oh well, I guess being a member of TPR and reading this website for the past 10 or so years has shielded me from the suckfest that is every other theme park site Ive ever been to.

Son of Beast, Rattler, Mean Streak, Hades, and Ghostrider are all rides that seem like the obvious coasters that everyone would like to see rebuilt with new topper track/iron horse treatment but heres a dark horse candidate: The Beast. Now before all the Kings Island fan boys stone me to death (I kinda am one honestly)just hear me out. The Beast is a ride that I used to absolutely love and still do but its honestly not the same ride it once was. Maybe its the re-tracking, maybe its the magnetic trims brakes whatever the reason its a ride that isn't as god as it used to be. But imagine if they could raise the lift and drop heights 10 feet or so, make a steeper drop, add in some crazy air time hills and banked turns over the course or of the existing first 1/3 of the ride, remove the second long brake shed so it maintains its insane speed until the second lift hill, then completely rework the final double helix finale. Have steeper initial drop into the flat entrance of the existing helix, then after the two all new over banked helix rotations have the trains dive back down into the the woods for a second finale before the brake run. It could also add a few hundred feet of track length to the ride and maybe have the Beast retake the longest coaster in the world title, while also restoring some quality to a ride that has lost a lot of its luster over the years. Just a crazy idea but I'd rather see The Beast get the treatment than the Son of Beast.

First off every coaster to me seems to have a little extra umph at night, it just feels a little more intense and exciting than in the light of day. Obviously The Beast, Raven, Voyage area ll well known night rides. I really enjoyed Hades (when it was still running decent), the two tunnels under the parking lot were incredibly dark, probably by far the darkest on any coaster. Also I really like Magnum at night (was even better before the water park took over the entire north side of the island).That long slow lift hill with the views over lake Eerie at night are pretty amazing.