bluestreak

Personally, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom's skyline is just beautiful to me even though I've sadly only seen it in pictures. And of course CP's skyline is great as well.

Yea but then you have parks like CP or KI that are closed from now until the end of April/Beginning of May. So yea it's pretty terrible

The other day I was at CP and getting off of Rougarou. I was walking behind a father, mother, and their about 13 year old son. So I hear the mother say, "Lets go ride The Dragon I just kinda rolled my eye and decided that that was a reasonable mistake, but then after that the kid goes, "yeah then we can ride The Mantis!"

The cost of paving new parking lots across the street and building tunnels would be counter productive, at least at this stage when there is still space to expand within the park. If you consider the averages for parking lots, each car takes an average of 200 sq ft on the low end (this includes the aisles, parking spots, roadways in the lots, etc. Darien Lake would need approximately 4,000-5,000 spots. Mutiply that by 200 and that's how much sq ft would appropriately be required. Now the average cost of paving per sq ft is $1.25-1.50. Based on these figures, we are talking about $1.5 million just to pave some new lots. Since this would also require a new toll plaza to be built, add a couple thousand more onto the request. The tunnels you propose would also be costly, likely driving the total cost close to $2 million at this point. But wait, since the plan involves moving the front gate there's even more construction needed, add at least another 100,000 onto the bill In the end it would cost likely well over $2 million and that's even before any rides have been added. Now can we stop talking about this ridiculous idea? Although it is an awesome idea, I agree with Golddisk. Too much $ and not even a ride built yet.

That's what Kanye said the first time Kim took her pants off You just made my day

I can't tell for sure, but I believe that is a silver rocket ship that is used as a prop for the scare zone on Frontier Trail during Halloweekends. I'd have to see it in person to tell for sure though.

They are similar. Ninja Turtles is a Gerstalauer Sky Fly, and Skyhawk is a Gerstalauer Sky Roller. Sky Roller stays level: Sky Fly tilts: Oh ok thanks!

Correct me if I am wrong but I believe that is the same style of ride as the Ninja Turtles Shell Shock ride at Mall of America

Yes Soak City is included with KI

Ok so after leaving Busch Gardens in the early afternoon we were on our way to Carowinds. We arrived at about 8:30 and saw that the South Carolina gate was open and since the theme of tonights trip to Carowinds was to get a ride on Thunder Road we opted to head over there since it is a much shorter walk to the ride. Once we got to the ride there was only about a 15 minute wait and both sides were open. We got in line for the second row on the right side (which ever state and color that is my memory isn't being nice to me right now ) and throughout the 5 or 6 train wait chants of "Thunder Road!" and "Lets Go Blue!" and "Silver Silver Silver!" were rocking the station. It was obvious that a lot of people were going to miss this ride, including me and I hadn't even rode it yet! We saw a few people holding back tears, but for the most part people were happy to relive their memories of the ride one last time. So what did I think of the ride? Well pretty much as soon as I hit the brake run I immediately turned to my son and said "Why the hell would they get rid of such a good ride?!?!?!?" and he agreed. The ride was just as smooth if not smoother than Rebel Yell at Kings Dominion and had great pops of airtime and held good speed throughout. What made it better was that we won the race too. After we got off we wanted to go on the left side and got in line to do so. As we soon figured out they had shut down that side so they could prepare it for the final ride and since the line for the blue side which we had already ridden was all the way back to the ride's entrance we opted to ride Afterburn a few times, get some ice cream, and watch the fireworks. So was it worth leaving a great park like Busch Gardens early just to ride Thunder Road? Yes it was for sure. It was really a cool experience to be around all those people that were so passionate about that ride. Seriously words cannot describe how loud it was on the ride platform. The platform was shaking with how loud it was in there. I might change my mind on August 27th when they announce their new waterpark stuff, but for now I am very disappointed that Carowinds would get rid of a ride that it seemed like so many people loved. To me it doesn't even seem necessary to get rid of the ride but I'll forget about that for now to keep from ranting So after all that we left the park and checked into our hotel of 3 nights so we could get some rest for the full day of roller coasters starting at 9:30 with Fury 325 early ride time. 9:30 rolled around and we finally got our ride on Fury and rode a few times before heading out into the rest of the park. Things would go like this for all of Monday and Tuesday, then also till the early afternoon on Wednesday. Turns out that we had much more time than we needed since the park was dead all three days. The longest we waited was about 20 minutes for Intimidator and Nighthawk. Nighthawk's line did get to be about an hour during the afternoon so, by riding in the morning we avoided that. It was ok that we had so much time as that made it so we could check out the waterpark and get tons of rides on all 3 of the great B&M coasters here (and one not so good B&M). At about 1 o'clock on Wednesday we left the park and started our journey through the Smoky Mountains to Pigeon Forge TN. I'm only going to review the coasters this time around instead of everything we rode since we rode just about everything we weren't to old to ride. Fury 325 Holy S***! What a ride! Although I wouldn't call it a very forceful ride, it by no means is forceless I thought it kept speed throughout and had some really good airtime on the final 3 hills. We rode this at least 20 times but probably more. We rode in every single row a number of times but the one that sticks out as the best is the front seat at night. In the morning the ride is still great but at night it really hauls a** throughout the entire course. Easily a top 3 ride. Intimidator It is very easy to look over this ride since it has a much taller and faster brother across the park and after riding Fury we thought we'd be spoiled and not really think much of Intimidator. Boy were we wrong. I will admit there was next to no forces that I felt, but it had so much floater airtime and such a smooth ride that that easily makes up for it. Another coaster we rode at least 20 times. Another top 10 coaster from this park. Nighthawk While not a bad ride it really did not keep speed through the course and had just a little bit of a rattle. I prefer firehawk at Kings Island. Afterburn Easily the most forceful coaster at the park. I started to "grey out" between a couple of the inversions and could honestly feel a "tingle" in my feet during a few parts of the ride. Minimal headbanging as well. My one problem is that it is a very short ride compared to rides like Raptor and Banshee but it's still a great ride. Another coaster we rode 15-20 times and probably one of the best inverted coasters out there. Carolina Cobra Not much to say other than it is a standard boomerang. It does have the new restraints similar to those on B&M wing riders and Banshee so there was thankfully no headbanging. Only rode this 2 or 3 times although we could have rode it more. Vortex The one bad apple in the B&M collection of Carowinds. Rough and had a terrible rattle throughout. Somehow it also had headbanging throughout the entire ride including the first drop. I rode it once it the front seat on Monday and once in the second seat on Tuesday and both rides were terrible although the second row wasn't quite as bad. Carolina Cyclone It is an arrow and it has 2 loops and 2 corkscrews. That should speak for itself. The only nice thing about this was the paint job. Carolina Goldrusher This was a nice surprise. It was actually somewhat smooth and also somewhat thrilling. Probably the best mine train coaster I've rode. We rode this probably about 5 times. Hurler Somehow much smoother than the one at Kings Dominion but still a very boring, slow ride. We only rode it twice. Ricochet Pretty standard wild mouse but actually was pretty smooth. It was broken down a lot, but it happened to reopen 3 times when we were walking by to we got on 3 times without waiting more than one train. Flying Ace Aerial Chase Yes we rode it deal with it. It beats the crap out of your head. Once and done. Woodstock Express Really good family coaster with a couple good pops of airtime if you ride in the back. We rode this one two times. Other rides of note: Windseeker Nice ride to ride when it is 95 degrees and also really humid. Seemed to spend a longer time at the top than its counterpart at Cedar Point and Kings Island. We rode about 5 times. Woodstock Gliders Great ride. Ride operators actually encourage you to go as high as possible and don't yell at you for snapping. They also announce a winner each ride cycle who is who they think went the highest. Worth the 3 or 4 rides we took on it. Also of note is that the waterpark was just so "meh" Other than the slides they opened last year it seems like they haven't had anything new since the 90s. Not what you would expect from a park in the Carolinas. I can see why they are apparently doing a huge expansion next year, I just wish they didnt have to get rid of Thunder Road to do so. Onto the pictures! Much more than the last two updates. And of course comments are appreciated! Yay we are here! The backside of the entrance sign. I love how Fury interacts with the entrance. Lots of Fury pictures Last pic of Fury with Intimidator in the back This is all I have for this ride The drop tower seemed very small. At least it was actually running unlike Mach Tower Eh Paint job looks good though Fun wild mouse Ouch Hard ride to photograph GL misses you Only piece of the ride I could get a picture of Only a couple days after it closed and they already removed the signs on the top of the hill Yay afterburn! I like that didn't just go with "Flight Deck" when they renamed it. Hmmm Lots of fun I see you Intimidator Great place to eat. Good food and A/C Hi Fury Great shot of Intimidator from the parking lot Another good shot I'll leave you with a few shots of Thunder Road from the SC lot That'll do it! Dollywood up next!

I don't know if this question has been answered already and if it was, sorry for asking it again, but anyways What coasters are running two trains this year? I've gathered that Viper is but I'd like that to be confirmed and I'd like to know of any others.

You are correct. We were blown away (pun intended ) with how smooth and fast Tennessee Tornado was.

I'm pretty confident it'll be a dark ride and as for Racer, maybe they'll turn one side backwards again?

Ok on to Busch Gardens! So after leaving Kings Dominion just after 10 o'clock, we were on hour way to our hotel at Busch Gardens which was about an hour away. Once we got there we went straight to bed since we'd be getting up very early the following day to ensure we'd be at Busch Gardens well before the park opened. Everything worked out as planned and we were waiting outside the entrance at 9:30 on Sunday morning. As some of you may recall Sunday July 26th was the final day Thunder Road would operate at Carowinds, so once we knew that our trip would work out that we'd have a chance to visit Carowinds that night we made sure to leave Busch Gardens by 2:00 in the afternoon so we could get a ride on Thunder Road before it closed forever that night. So thanks to our TPR discount we went into the park for a rather cheap price and picked up our Quick Queue passes which we didn't really need but they were cheap at $25 anyways so it didn't matter. The unfortunate thing about Quick Queue is that it does not include Tempesto which was like half of our reason for visiting Busch Gardens as it was the only credit we did not have. Thankfully since we were there super early we were able to get on Tempesto twice before the line really picked up. After that we rode everything that is on the Quick Queue pass once or twice which is Apollo's Chariot, Roman Rapids, Escape from Pompeii (I understand this ride is broken a lot but it seemed to be running all day thankfully.), Verbolten, Alpengeist, Griffon, and Curse of DarKastle. We also got a ride on Loch Ness Monster although it was not a Quick Queue ride. We ended the day with a great meal of corned beef and roasted chicken at the Festhaus then took another ride on Apollo on the way out and we were on our way to Carowinds. Oh and for those of you who will ask: Yes Mach Tower was broke the whole time we were there So here are my thoughts on what we rode: Tempesto By no means was it a bad ride and was actually quite fun, but that being said I don't know if it is the kind of ride that really belongs at a park like Busch Gardens. Not very thrilling and very low capacity. Thankfully the ride operators were super fast so that kept the line moving. Much better fit at a park like Lake Compounce. Apollo's Chariot What a great B&M. Kept good speed throughout and had pretty good airtime. I love that funky turnaround that this ride has. Also had no sign of the "B&M Rattle" that many other hyper coasters do. Verbolten We rode this in 2012 which was it's opening year and it was quite smooth and enjoyable. Sadly it has not aged well. Very bumpy and had a very noticeable rattle throughout. The freefall drop in the building is still very fun and despite all this it is still a decent family coaster. Alpengeist Wasn't that good in 2012 and it still isn't that good although it is better. The drop and the loop and immelmann are fast and had a rattle and the cobra roll completely bashed my head into the OTSRs even though I was ready for it. After a very rough transition into the MCBR it really slowed and seemed to barely make it through the rest of the course. The second half, although smoother, was very slow and boring. I've heard that this ride has good days and bad days and I can assure you we rode it on a very very bad day. Griffon Much, much better than Alpengeist. smooth and fast through the first half and after the MCBR it was obviously slower but still just as smooth. The thought of a Dive machine at CP that is taller, faster, longer, and has more inversions makes me really excited for 2016! Loch Ness Monster Such a classic ride. Still smooth and still fun. In my opinion the best arrow looper of any of them but that would change later in the trip. Roman Rapids Pretty fun rapids ride. Not much else to be said. Escape from Pompeii Decent theming and a very good splash on the hill. All around fun ride. Curse of DarKastle Fun to ride a dark ride that doesn't involve shooting at targets and getting points. Good storyline and good effects. Best dark ride I've ever ridden although I haven't been on many. Onto the Pictures! Comments are appreciated! This is why we are here. Apollo is still the best in Italy On to Griffon! Classic arrow time! Alpengeist does look cool though ...But Griffon steals the show. One last shot of the Marry-Go-Round before heading out. Carowinds pictures up tomorrow!

Can we expect a volume 3 in the future?

I should have the Busch Gardens portion up sometime in the early afternoon tomorrow.

So this year my family and I went on a week long vacation to Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Carowinds, and Dollywood. As it turned out, our route home passed right by Kings Island so of course since we have Cedar Fair Platinum Passes we stopped by and rode Banshee and got a bite to eat before driving the rest of the way up to Cleveland Ohio. We all had a great time as we had never been to Carowinds or Dollywood before so it was fun to finally get to check out those parks and also get to visit the others again. There was about 25 new credits to be found which got my coaster count up to 206 and my son's up to around 190. So on Saturday July 25th we left home in Cleveland and set out on a long 8 hour drive to Kings Dominion. We finally got there at around 5:00 in the afternoon and the park was much more crowded than I thought it would be, and since we were only staying at Kings Dominion for the rest of the day before heading out to Busch Gardens, we didn't get to ride all the coasters but did get to ride Dominator, Grizzly, Hurler, both sides of Rebel Yell, Intimidator 305 twice, Volcano, and also were able to have an "ok" dinner. So I was very happy with what we got to ride since we did get to ride everything we wanted to and a little more. The park as a whole was very clean and well landscaped. Nothing to complain about for the park as a whole. My thoughts on each coaster that we rode: Dominator: After waiting about a half hour we got to ride in the back seat and we were shocked at how smooth the ride was! No sign of the "B&M rattle" and there was absolutely no head banging. When we rode it in 2012 it had a bit of a rattle and very noticeable headbanging through the cobra roll and corkscrews. I don't know what the park is doing to that ride but it's working. Grizzly While not a bumpy or bad ride, it was just kinda slow and boring. Thankfully there was no line as I wouldn't wait more than 10 minutes for this. Ride it for the credit but that's about it. Hurler After having a surprisingly good ride on Dominator, I thought that maybe the same could happen on Hurler. Long story short, I was wrong. Fast and rough through the first curve coming off the first drop and then after that it really lost speed and was very rough, slow, and boring. No line made it worth riding though but a once and done for sure. Rebel Yell Pretty smooth and fast and had a good bit of airtime. Worth the 15 minute wait for both sides and much, much better than the other two woodies here. Volcano This had at least a two hour wait and very slow operations but we were lucky enough to win a one time fastlane pass from a nearby plinko game and we were able to skip the whole line and get the front seat in about 10 minutes. Such an awesome and unique ride. A can't miss at the park for sure and if the line wasn't so long I would jump right back in line. Worth reriding a number of times if the line is short as I assume that is a rare occurence. Intimidator 305 What can I say that hasn't already been said? Fast, smooth, very forceful. All around great ride. After waiting 45 minutes with slow operations we got right back in line to wait again because it was well worth the wait. Easily a top 10 ride for sure. And one thing to note: we decided we wanted a turkey leg for dinner and that was the worst decision of the trip. When we got it, it was cold and obviously not cooked enough. To Kings Dominion's credit, we told them the issue and they replaced it with a pulled pork sandwich free of charge which was cold, but was at least cooked enough and tasted pretty good. But enough talk, onto the pictures! I didn't get many since we were more focused on getting on what we needed to than taking pictures. Comments are appreciated! We are here! DC traffic on the way was a nightmare. Dominator looks awesome as you enter the park. Happy birthday Kings Dominion! Beautiful fountains on International street Looking up at the tower Beautiful night for an amusement park.

Just kinda throwing this out there.... I visited the park on Friday which was the day after the accident and although I did not ride Raptor due to some weather moving into the area once I finally got around to riding it, I will say that the park itself just seemed kinda somber and awkward. It wasn't as "festive" as it usually is. Quite a sad feeling all through the park. I also just visited the park today (Sunday) and got to ride Raptor. The whole park seemed to regain the "festive" mood, besides for the Raptor station. It was very quiet and awkward and the operations were dreadfully slow. I'm talking having all 3 trains backed up for 2+ minutes before every dispatch. I would assume that's all because of the accident. I know that really has nothing to do with what is currently being talked about in the forum, just thought some of you guys would be interested in knowing this. Also, to answer a previous post wondering about the fenced off area next to the Breakers Express hotel, there is no track or anything else for that matter yet but I imagine that we'll start seeing pieces showing up soon since we are getting close to the end of the summer season.

This has to be the funniest thing I've ever seen on here.

No other injuries were reported according to news sites. Many Six Flags parks do this, I know all the big coasters at SFGAm have those display bins. I know Diamondback at KI has this as well.

The park continued to operate like normal tonight (other than raptor of course) so I would assume that they'll be open tomorrow.

Agreed. But in all seriousness, I do like the idea of only using VR for a cool way to view promotional things.

Isn't this pretty much the same thing that happens on SheiKra when they are loading, and dispatching two trains at a time? They both leave the station at the same time, and one waits outside the station for the lift to clear before the next train advances to the lift hill?? I don't know as I have never ridden SheiKra but maybe.

Maybe CP goes with the same loading procedures as Carowinds did with Fury with sending a train as soon as everything is checked and having the train held just outside the station before the lift and then being released from there as soon as safely possible. That way they are loading pretty much constantly and the line almost never stops moving.