Password121

Fantastic report! I spent 14 hours at Cedar Point in August, but that of course wasn't with TPR. 16 hours really is a feat, and it takes a really great park to spend such a length of time (not to say I wouldn't have gone a few more hours for MF night rides).

Personally I enjoy the park, but as a home park it becomes stale very quickly, especially compared to nearby parks like Great Adventure, Kings Dominion, Hersheypark, etc The park is fighting it's way back from absolutely deadful ownership in the 2000's. The park was run down, pulled al the wrong crowds, was dirty, and overall just not a good place to spend a day, especially for families. Superman has essentially kept the park in business since 2000. What's unfortunate is the park is in a good location in a great region for families and tourists near DC, but over the years, due to the poor reputation which the park is working very hard to change, the park just hasn't been managed and invested in properly to stay competitive (or even clean). Since around 2010, however, the park has nearly turned a 180. They are still fighting off the poor reputation and have to deal with the conditions the park got into in the 2000's. Very little shade, a layout full of dead ends, onoy one custom built coaster is in the park (Roar), which has been cloned and just kinda sucks. Although, there have been great signs of improvement in the last few years. Apocalypse, however crappy the ride is, was a great step. The first coaster sice 2001. They've continued to invest in the waterpark, which is the bigger draw in the summer, and the past two years of additions have revamped what was the worst (or second worst) themed section of the park that was a dead end and had very few rides into possibly the best themed area filled with family rides, restaurants, and a great atmosphere. Six Flags America still has a very long way to go to reach the same level as some of the parks I listed. They'd need significant investment for the long haul. The last few years have been a great start, though, and the park has really turned a new leaf and I've heard has enjoyed record attendance since.

Looks like the new restaurant, Gator McGee's, is replacing the Mardi Gras Subway. Makes sense, that building was still vaguely Southwest Territory themed (if you can call it "themed"). Also, it does look like a new path will connect Mardi Gras to Gotham City, a very welcome change as it was a pain to walk all the way around It is interesting they would remove the kids waterpark area this offseason... Still hoping for a SkyScreamer in 2016, so maybe two additions in 2016?

While enthusiasts would be all for an Intamin hyper, Kings Dominion is probably the one park in the world that it really would be overly redundant. Intamin hasn't really changed their hyper style since 2010 (Skyrush as an example... intense turns and ejector airtime), so it really could be a 2/3 scale custom version of I-305. A B&M hyper might work at the park, but even then, downsizing from giga to hyper for the "new" coaster might not work too well. For Carowinds, Canada's Wonderland, and Cedar Point it was a logical progression of 200 feet than 300 feet (plus 400 at CP), but 300 to 200 might not pull the crowds. If Kings Dominion were to look at B&M for their next coaster, a wing coaster, dive coaster, or possibly an invert would be solid options, IMO.

2015 park map is posted! https://www.sixflags.com/sites/default/files/sfa_fullmap.pdf Changes include Bourbon Street Fireball, Jelly Belly shop on Main Street, and another new restaurant for Mardi Gras. The description sounds pretty good; I don't usually eat park food but I might have to try this one out. I really like that even on off years, they continue to focus on revamping/upgrading the park. I can't wait to see what SFA could do with more than a few million dollars for relocated coasters and flats.

What so now the only coasters that EVER get stuck on a lift chain are B&M's? I'm not trying to be confrontational, but that's not a fair post at all. I'd like you to show me your prototype 1800's wing coaster that didn't get stuck on a nearly 400 foot long lift chain. Seriously. Chains were around in the 1800's, but you're mistaken if you believe that a B&M wing coaster chain lift is no more technologically advanced than a chain from the year 1800. I apologize if you find any of this offensive.

Well... yes and no. 1) Intamin may be cheaper "off the shelf" (can you truly compare? Their coasters are nothing like B&M's), but with increased downtime, maintenance, breakdowns/downtime, manufacturing issues (I-305 wheel replacements, first turn complete overhaul, etc), it adds up. You could certainly argue B&M's are a better value for the price in the long term. 2) It's been since 2010, so you couldn't say they really dropped Intamin, but I think it is absolutely fair to assume a B&M is more likely based on previous additions in the chain. 3) Was the first element of Gatekeeper's track removed and rebuilt, or did Gatekeeper's wheels burn out regularly? Intamin is not as reliable/sure the first time around as B&M is, and that's a fact. Almost all of my favorite coasters are Intamins, but it's important to be realistic. Parks generally aren't looking to build anything like a Skyrush that is too intense for some guests to enjoy more than once. Parks want people eaters that appeal to a wide audience, and that screams B&M to me.

The intamins at CP are what keep it popular, once intamin improves its reliability, they are likely to buy from them again. They are also extremely expensive and have proven to be a major risk to purchase for parks given all the issues their coasters have had in manufacturing (I-305, Maverick, etc). Did someone from Valleyfair tell you they'd be buying from Intamin again? I'm curious. Also, Intamin's been manufacturing coasters for much longer than B&M, and their coasters are still far less reliable. As long as Intamin continues to push the envelope and innovate, I don't see reliability/downtime improving any more than fractionally. This is why Cedar Fair has continued to do business with B&M.

Twisted Colossus = RMC. RMC = insane. Therefore, Twisted Colossus = insane. It's the Transitive Property of Equality. Although RMC has yet to build any sub-par coasters, it just seems extremely fanboy-ish to say a roller coaster will be good just because of the manufacturer. Same idea for Schwarzkopf coasters; while many are generally fairly highly regarded, it seems that some enthusiasts refuse to believe they aren't slices of heaven in 1970's steel track form. Two disclaimers on this *I understand you were joking a bit, but I've noticed this as a recent trend that I'm not a fan of. It's funny because nowadays it's just the opposite for B&M as some assume they are garbage until they ride it themselves **I am not at all saying Schwarzkopf's are bad coasters. Many of them are awesome, but people act like they are the best invention since the wheel... like saying Whizzer at SF Great America is the best coaster in the park.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercoaster From that very article: So an inverting hyper (, giga, and strata) still meets the (arbitrary) definition coined by Intamin and Cedar Point. Yes, that's true. To me, a coaster over 200 feet and a true hyper coaster are two different things. As I said above, if the U.S. was on the metric system, the definition would be different. That tells me that what we know as a hyper coaster and coasters that happen to be above 200 feet are two different things. As I said, a ride like Expedition GeForce better fits our idea of a hyper than X2, which is why I don't consider the current inverting coasters that are operating above 200 feet as hypers. It's a little misinformed, IMO, to call X2 a hyper. It's not meant to be a hyper, it just happens to reach a height comparable to that of traditional hyper coasters.

If this is legitimate, then I'm predicting either an RMC woodie or Iron Streak in 2016 or 2017. Well of course it's legitimate, I don't think they would get Jason McClure and a few other guys in suits to pose for a tweet during a busy offseason if nothing was actually happening. But what you didn't understand is that he said one gentleman in the tweet resembles Fred Grubb, but it is not.

In my mind, there's a big difference between inverting roller coasters "hyper sized" up to the 200+ foot range, and traditional hyper/mega coasters that have inversions. Look at the dive coasters; these are coasters with inversions that have evolved and made it into the 200 foot range. I wouldn't consider Wild Eagle in this category at all as the only reason for the height is the hilly terrain. Also, launched coasters or shuttle coasters I would exclude from this category. Same sorta thing- just coasters sized up to 200 feet. There is no arguing that since hypers became a reality starting with Magnum, their purpose has been speed, big drops, and airtime. Yes, there are variations, but generally this is the starting point. To me, traditional hyper/Giga coasters are COMPLETELY different things than just coasters with inversions that happen to reach a height of 200 feet. After all, 200 feet is not some magic number that makes a coaster suddenly special. If we used the metric system, the "hyper coaster" would have a completely different definition. With that in mind, the "loose" definition (above 200ft) of hyper coaster doesn't really cut it for me. For example, Expedition Geforce. It is not above 200 feet, but the purpose of the ride is exactly the same as a traditional hyper like Bizarro (SFNE). For this reason, I don't refer to the coasters you listed as hypers, because in all reality, they aren't. Simply going above 200 feet with inversions to me doesn't mean "inverting hyper." For me to call an inverting coaster above 200 feet a hyper coaster, it would need to be of similar style to the traditional hypers we've known, just with an inversion tossed in at some point (like a steeper MF overbank). You can call X2 a hyper all you what, but to me it's just not the same thing as the idea of the ride wasn't to be what is known as a "hyper coaster."

Two things. 1) Its concept art and speculation. Wait and see. 2) Airtime is not determined by restraints in the least. By that logic, Maverick has no airtime. "Airtime" simply means the sensation of negative g-force, not physically coming out of your seat. Does El Toro not have airtime when you're stapled, which is every time?

Mondays early in the summer are very manageable. Any day early in the week (Monday-Wednesday) shouldn't be too crowded. I don't know about the transportation, unfortunately. Maybe somebody else can tell you. As for flash pass, I would definitely wait until you get to the park to decide on that as you'll get a feel for the crowds based on the weather/special events (check the SF website). If it is a nice day, it could get moderately crowded, meaning without a Flash pass you could be looking at up to 45 mins for the headliners (excluding Kingda Ka) and walk on to 15 mins for other coasters/rides. If you choose to, a gold flash pass will suffice. As for ride order, everybody will tell you something else for this park. If you get a flash pass you don't need to worry about it, but without, I recommend heading left at the fountain and going either... 1) Directly to Kingda Ka for a quick 1-2 rides, if it's a priority (sit close to the front of the train) 2)Directly to Superman/Green Lantern, as Superman get long waits midday with low capacity for 1-2 rides each 3) My personal route, dash to El Toro for 2-3 straight rides with no waits. Sit in the back of El Toro at least once, it's amazing. If you choose this, I would recommend going to Kingda Ka after about 15 minutes while the wait is still short. You might not get a shorter wait for Superman, but on a Monday it shouldn't be too bad. Really it all depends on what you want to re-ride most. You might catch a cool/rainy day with no waits at all.

Thank you for commenting! Many of the coasters have their queues at least partially covered, although more improvements/changes will be made in the future as the park continues to evolve and grow. Speaking of growth, it appears the park has received multiple permits to exceed the height restrictions for the 1999 season. No word on the specifics at this point, stay tuned!

You misunderstood. I didn't mean take out the Twister. Just the Camp grounds behind it. All I'm talking is to remove some of the campgrounds.. His point still stands. I'd like my home park, Six Flags America, to build an Intamin Giga coaster in 2016. Is that a good idea? Maybe it is, but it's not in any way realistic, so it's not really worth talking about, is it?

This right here

I would say the track won't be complete until early-mid April, and, barring setbacks, a Memorial Day opening, as Six Flags does (attempts to do) with all major ride openings.

I think something similar may have happened in '99 when they did the "omfg double the size of the park" shenanigans, but that's a unique case with just so many rides that they needed to figure out how to fit all of them and get them in working order at some point, which really only lasted about a year. If only they had spread some of their capital out over the years and saved themselves from bankruptcy. On a related topic, from the write up about Winter Adventure several pages back... if Great Adventure spent $50 million over two years on Kingda Ka, imagine what they could have done if they went with something a little more responsible. They could have had a giga coaster and El Toro for the same price. What a waste! But they wouldn't have had the tallest/fastest record, which was the entire purpose of the investment. Shame.

This is an interesting point. Almost all of B&M's hypers have exactly the same layout, with variances really only in a helix or hammerhead turnaround and maybe reversing the order of the finale (helix-bunny hops). With Fury and Leviathan, however, while they do have a similar flare to them (one or two main airtime hills, s-curves, unique turnaround, etc), there really is no argument that they are not the same ride by any means. Both seem to cater more towards the landscape of the park they're in. I'm very interested to see how B&M develops their giga coaster further with a different park landscape-- both have been turning right out towards the entrance, but not all parks will have this available set-up.

I haven't ridden Outlaw Run, but from various POV's, it seems this ride varies greatly between fast and "slow" rides--depending on the season, weather, temperature, etc. On "fast" rides, it seems to fly through the first overbank and screech all the way down the final brakes to the station. On "slow" rides, it seems to struggle through the end of the barrel rolls and slowly slides into the brakes. Perhaps if you catch it on a "fast" ride your opinion might change.

Wicked Cyclone would like to have a word. But in all seriousness, both these B&M projects are certainly looking better than what the animated renderings showed. Perhaps this is the beginning of a B&M renaissance. From what I've heard, Banshee belongs in this category as well. Really, Gatekeeper is the only recent American B&M that hasn't had people saying this. My theory is B&M's wing coasters just aren't up to the level of their other models (inverts, speed coasters). I've ridden Gatekeeper, and, no, it wasn't forceless, but seriously, what B&M wing coasters ARE "intense"? In my mind, when B&M pushes the design and is given something to work with, they can design some incredible coasters. And this didn't hapeen just in 2015.

I don't follow. Are you saying the train length fluctuates?

They could finish track work two weeks before opening if they we're really hustling. Goliath last year was topped off what, two weeks before opening? That said they're nowhere near track completion. I'd be surprised if it's open anytime before Memorial Day.

I see what you mean, I think there are many other great options if the $22 million price is correct. That said, we should wait until we ride to judge the ride. As for mine, and I know I will get some backlash which I have previously explained in the park's thread, is Magnum at Cedar Point. From everything I read, I was expecting a top three ride in the park, and possibly at top 10 in the world. What I got was nothing close to that. Granted, I rode just after a storm with one train running, so I'm sure it wasn't running in top form and I'll certainly give it another chance towards the back, but the Magnum I rode wasn't even comparable to B&M's hypers. That being said, I still respect the ride it's history and what it stand for, but I was disappointed with Magnum.