Password121

For pre-planning purposes, are there Fast Lane discounts for platinum passholders? I think I remember a free upgrade from regular to plus in the past but there's nothing on the website as of now.

Six Flags America Batwing: 0 mins, 30 mins, 0 mins Everything else: 0 mins, 2 mins, 0 mins There's usually about a two train wait for Batwing midday, hence the spike. (By the way this thread is somewhat flawed. What time of year is it? Does this exclude holidays? Are these averages are just what you've seen?)

Millennium Force or Nitro (or any not super intense non-inverting hyper coaster) with just a seat and a handle on either side would automatically make that ride so terrifying and exhilarating but still theoretically safe. I think that would be the most pure sensation of floater airtime possible.

No. Footers poured in January =/= ride opening in March, no matter how short the track is. Superman, maybe. Fireball, probably not.

^Just look at the last two pages... the footers are done and supports are still back by Nitro. I wouldn't expect track to be set in place until February at the earliest.

I'll give another vote to Millennium Force. My first visit to Cedar Point I had planned to do Maverick at night at least once but after doing MF the first night it was such an unforgettable experience that I couldn't keep myself away from it the second night. Oh, and I'll probably do the same for the Beast this summer.

Cedar Point will begin daily operation the second weekend of May (May 13), although it will be open the weekend prior. Kings Island began daily operation the second weekend of May in 2015, so I'd assume the others will begin then as well this year. ^SFA isn't the best park. That's for sure. It's certainly worth half a day though if you haven't been in the last two or three years. If it's reasonable you could continue north to finish at Dorney, Great Adventure or Hershey, but you know your limitations better than I do so that's totally your call. Just don't skip SFA because it's a bad place to finish.

As of 2014... 1) Maverick 1a) MF at night 2) Millennium Force (daytime) 3) Raptor 4) Top Thrill Dragster 5) GateKeeper 6) Wicked Twister 7) Magnum 8) Gemini 9) Blue Streak 10) Iron Dragon 11) Mean Streak 12) Mantis 13) Cedar Creek Mine Ride Haven't ridden Corkscrew, Wilderness Run or Woodstock Express. I imagine Rougarou and Valravn will fall around 6 and 4, respectively. Note that I rode Magnum on a rainy, single train operation day that probably didn't deliver to its full potential. I'll give it another go this summer.

They had a show with coaster-net after the Fury video was released. IIRC they're doing one for Lightning Rod, not Valravn.

^^I'm completely with you on that. America is too stupid and immature to handle alcohol for a lot of people over 21, forget people under 21. People in the age group that would "benefit" from lowering the drinking age would have no legitimate reason to want it to be lowered outside of easier access to alcohol to get crazy drunk and become even more self entitled and unproductive citizens. Along with killing some more people drink driving, because that doesn't happen enough already.

The more I think about it the more I realize this site is really very diverse. The way opinions and viewpoints differ from varying tastes and different exposure to bad rides continues to amaze me. For me at least, Gatekeeper is a very "fun" ride. I wouldn't disagree with an argument for putting this is the "most fun coaster" thread. No, it's not very intense, and it's I wouldn't choose it for one final night ride, but there is nothing inherently negative about Gatekeeper. It's fast, smooth, fairly unique, and one of those place-making "wow, that's impressive" coasters. Then you take my vote, Apocalypse, and it is none of those. There is nothing redeeming or enjoyable. It's rough and slow and painful. That's it. To the original poster, not calling you it for your opinion at all. If you really hate Gatekeeper (especially if you've ridden one of the original standups), I'd love to hear why it's so unbearable to you.

^^Physics is a lot more complex than just making it twice the size. The proportions of the ride would be entirely different, the support system would be entirely different, and the launch track/power requirements would be ridiculous. There's not even a guarantee the layout would really "work" at that scale. It would also be so much more expensive than the current model that it probably wouldn't be worth it. Would it be cool? Yeah, sure. Plausible? Probably not. Especially not for the $15-$25 million price tag (just an estimate).

^Came here to say exactly that. It makes Green Lantern seem as smooth as Nitro with how rough parts of it are. For such a slow coaster that has very few intense moments, it really finds ways to say f*** you whenever convenient.

Exactly. Remember Michigans Adventure's anniversary in 2016? Lol Anyways, I can't access the article right now (I'm on vacation on my phone), but I do remember reading an interview with Rob Decker concerning future plans where he basically conceded that 2020 is a coaster year, and it will be a big one. If you can find the article I'm talking about a few pages back in the Cedar Fair thread, it's a really interesting read.

Based on? The long article in th Cedar Fair development thread went on about developing Cedar Point and highlighted 2020 as a major year in the park's development. That, and the anniversary (although that doesn't always mean something).

2020. And I'd bet that it will be a major investment and something to remember.

Airtime has very little to do with height and everything to do with angular acceleration. That's why El Toro's first drop provides strong ejector air in the back--not because it's going 70 mph over the drop, but because it's rotating around the drop of a small radio is very quickly. For this reason, it's hard to tell how strong airtime will be just looking at a hill.

There's just honestly nothing that can beat it. Especially Millennium lit up at night. Photo courtesy of Cedar Point

^I actually see a valid argument for the first-gen free falls as being coasters. It's essentially Magic Mountain's Superman with a lift instead of a launch (obviously there are mechanical differences and the free fall has separate load/unload procedures, but the principle is the same). And yes I agree with the OP--it is an innovative, however unnecessary, system. As for other innovations, somebody mentioned the plug-n-play wooden coaster. I'll add topper track to that idea, as well the basic idea of I-box refurbs. Creating an entirely new coaster wth almost no new structure, saving the cost of demolition, and the nostalgia factor for probably half the price of what would be the final product is really amazing. I'll add in tilting drop towers, the cable lift hill, and +1 to the idea behind the arch system for a lift hill, seen on I-305, Skyrush, Goliath, Leviathan and Fury 325.

They needed to get the turn in place to bolt the lift topping in place, so it wasn't a mater of "getting more done." If they didn't get that in place they would've had to remove the top of the lift and start over because it can't hold its own weight.

^I get what you're saying, but every lift hill looks 90 degrees from the front view.

I don't find any of the rides you just mentioned uncomfortable at all. I think it all has to do with each individual's level of tolerance (translation: how much of a pussy they are). There. I said it! I find B&M hypers to be fun, but underwhelming. Intamin hypers, RMC coasters, etc, now THAT is my kind of ride. But my level of tolerance for intense rides and airtime is also very high. I'm also not a pussy when it comes to intense rides, either! Your intensity tolerance is high huh? Then I dare you to ride I305 back to back, from when the park opens, to when it closes, with the only breaks being the occasional bathroom break, and a lunch break. I can't wait to see the trains in real life for Mako. I hope they'll be heavily themed lime Dragon Challenge's trains. Seriously? You really don't understand what "uncomfortable" means. There is no coaster in the world that is meant for people to ride for hours on end. What Robb and I are saying is that the rides you mentioned aren't uncomfortable for one, two, or even five rides in a row. If you can ride a ride for 10 hours straight (heck, even two hours straight), not a whole lot is happening on that ride. That's not a bad thing--it's all in your tastes. For me though, is rather ride I-305 five times than most B&M hypers twenty times in a row. Roller coasters aren't supposed to be like driving a convertible with the top down.

^To you, those rides might hurt or be too intense to be enjoyable. To others like myself, there is absolutely nothing painful about El Toro (and it's airtime is extremely comfortable in my experience) or I-305 that hampers the experience. Sure, I-305 causes me to grey out. Sure, I'd love to be able to do 20 consecutive on I-305 instead of five (which I understand is still more than many can handle), but the intensity and overall fun-factor of I-305 far outweighs trading that for being able to have a conversation throughout the ride, which is easily done on most B&M hypers. What it comes down to for me, if I could only ride one more coaster before I die, would I want something predictable and floaty, or something ridiculous that is worth the slightest bit of discomfort for a moment? However, if you find yourself wanting to ride something floaty and "comfortable" like I described, then that's great too! Everyone has their own opinions, it just happens that most people that are into coasters enough to be on this site prefer the types of rides I do (El Toro, I-305).

I was using it as a point of comparison. I haven't had he chance to make it out to Knotts but it's accepted as one of the less intense B&M's so it at least makes my point. And actually, I'd say the same thing for Griffon. It's not forceless by any means, but it's certainly no Batman or Raptor.

Just because I am curious... But have you ever been on either SheiKra or Griffon? Because if you have been on either of them then you would know they are NOT "forceless" coasters. Yeah actually I have. Griffon is a really fun coaster, one of my favorites actually. It definitely does have its moments, but none of those moments are anything like a 90's intense B&M. Dive machines, by their nature (just like wing coasters), need to be spread out because of the wide trains. The drop is all floater, the Immelmann is intentionally slow, and the rest of the ride is the cherry on top. A really, really good cherry. I'm sure I (and almost everybody except a few enthusiasts) are going to love Valravn, but there's no reason to try to make it out to be something it's entirely not and not trying to be. I'm not saying Griffon or potentially Valravn are going to be Silver Bullet level forceless, but saying it's as intense as a ride like Batman or its neighbor down below (which epitomize 90's B&M's) is just way too much.