Samuel

Ahhhh, I was thinking about making a similar thread! Although I'm not "getting too old," - well, we're all aging - my nausea threshold has fallen precipitously in recent years, and I'm definitely more sensitive to forces than I was as a kid. I remember running on youthful adrenaline at a park, all while probably being very dehydrated & baked from the sun, yet I'd still come home with energy to spare. As an adult, I need my caffeine, food, a good night sleep, plenty of water, breaks in the shade, occasional Dramamine, etc. Even with more management of my stamina, I'm done with flat rides. I still ride spinning coasters once, but I pray for a gentle spin cycle. I notice that I'm more sensitive to aggressive coasters like GG woodies, which I now place in a "once or twice is enough" category because the thrills don't justify the personal toll my body takes. I'm talking about headaches, bruises, and general fatigue. I haven't figured myself out completely. I love Maverick. I love SkyRush. There's some aggressive stuff that I could ride all day, but then one unsuspecting ride on a moderate coaster like Rebel Yell and I simply feel unwell. Some people might say, "You should see a doctor," and I have a good one -- this is just the natural, physical maturation process. Inner ear & all 'at. My parents have had very similar "tolerance life cycles," where spinning flats were first to go, then pendulous flats, spinning coasters, clunky loopers, rough woodies --- but they still love Millennium Force and Fury! I remember doing the "dizzy bat" spin in the yard seemingly all day as a kid. Today, I can't even watch my nieces spin in a circle without feeling sick. Those Oktoberfest flat rides that run seven-minute cycles would be ultimate torture for me. To be honest, I've shied away from TPR trips because I just didn't feel like I'd hold together well given some of the demanding travel mixed with marathon ERT & kitschy fun on bad coasters and flat rides. My "sweet spot" seems to be when I have a nice dinner and then go to a park during the evening. With food/drink in me and the sun down, I tend to feel much better when riding. I've replaced the whole "get there at rope drop, run to this, run to that, then sprint to the back and bang out the three rides there, then run here..." style of strategy with "Screw it, give me the fast pass, I'm doing whatever I please."

Yes, you can ride the coasters in the game. The track is jagged, and the whole visual presentation is simple and aged, but it did its job as a budget Dreamcast game and the editor was fantastic. I don't see how you'd rip or import a ride from this 2000 Dreamcast game into NL2.

Vizzini: "Incontheivable!" I like your Beatles take, and going against the grain is certainly one social posturing tactic that's out there, but the highly rated group of coasters that PhantomPoster32 mentioned are all rides that aren't everyone's cup of tea. The difference might be subtle, but not finding enjoyment in certain coasters is not the same thing as hating those rides. SkyRush, Maverick, i305, and Voyage are all aggressive, three carry one manufacturer's style, and each has cited quirks that have hindered experiences for some people. In fact, every single one has been tinkered with due to rider discomfort. I personally enjoy them, but none of those coasters garner unanimous adoration. Having said that, PhantomPoster32 -- dropping a bundle of big-reputation coasters and then not expounding with any reasoning may have created a perception that you were trying merely to stir the pot, even if you weren't intending to do that. ------------------------------ Personally, I'll join a few members by offering flying coasters. The experience always feels clunkier than the concept, they never capture that sky coaster soaring sensation, and any stacking in the brake run quickly becomes uncomfortable. I'd like to try the StingRay and Starry-Fifty-Names-Magic-Rip, which have had better reviews, but I haven't yet found enjoyment with the flying gimmick.

I agree with you. We have never had a rough ride on Gatekeeper. It is smooth as glass. The only reason I could see if someone complaining about the coaster being rough is if they were on a train with a bad wheel or something. My front seat rides have been consistently smooth, but I've found Mr. Hyde in the back-half of the train. I don't know why, but there are times when the wing arrangement itself seems to bounce and vibrate, making my head uncomfortably carom against the back of the headrest. It's not ear-bashing like you'd get from Togo, but there's a consistent, sluggish juddering that's most noticeable in the valleys between elements. "Rough" might be a bridge too far, but "disappointingly sluggish" is how I would describe it.

It's interesting to me how perception varies on that "two-loop, two-corkscrew, & a helix" layout. Coasters like Magic Mountain at Gardaland and Python at Efteling seem to be treated like well-regarded classics and dignified members of their respective parks' lineups, even as newer and better coasters begin to surround them. On the flip-side, a similar ride like Carolina Cyclone feels pushed down the card, a former front man now relegated to playing off-stage, backup tambourine.

No, I don't have a 4K HDTV, and I'm simply not an early adopter or even mainstream buyer in this category. Perhaps I'm easily impressed, but 720 or 1080p satisfies me. Truth be told, the only time I really appreciate the incremental details with each quality level is when I'm watching roller coaster POVs! My laptop can handle 1080p just fine, and that's how I check out TPR and other media. Overall, my TV usage is low and trending downward. I like several TV shows and my sports teams, but I give much more of my leisure time to reading. I cut cable channels last year, dropped HD this year, and am thinking about canceling altogether and just using my TV for occasional DVDs, video games, and perhaps a service like Netflix. I'm perfectly content with my Samsung 1080p TV, and if it jumped out of a window tomorrow, I'd probably replace it with an even cheaper and/or smaller model -- unless I win a game show prize, "upgrading" TVs in any way just doesn't interest me at all.

Going through a storage garage this weekend, I discovered and dusted off my old Dreamcast. I still have the quietly-released budget game Coaster Works that was released back in 2000. Although the jagged graphics and bare-bones menus scream "budget Dreamcast game," the editor is absolutely tremendous. All the marketing superlatives you often hear, "powerful, simple, intuitive, accessible, responsive, yada, yada," actually do apply here. You can easily mimic all the subtleties of the design styles of manufacturers, or do your own thing. If this editor was slapped onto a modern coaster game, with more depth and updated options, you would have an INCREDIBLE builder for a AAA game that would satisfy both enthusiasts and mainstream gamers. You work with snap pieces that you can manipulate in any way you'd like. The two triggers on the back of the controller manipulate the banking, and the control stick allows you change the angle of the track. You're given a four-window perspective of your coaster as you build, which initially looks a bit cluttered on the screen, but you soon learn to use each window simultaneously as you would with the mirrors in your car. You can also seamlessly switch in and out of an overview of the whole coaster. Coasters are built within the parameters of a big box, with a few other rides tossed in that you must design around. It's a very basic game, but the foundation of this editor is awesome and should be inspiring more modern games. Playing around with the game for only roughly an hour, I made quick mock-ups to show just how easy and free-form the editor is to use: A B&M-style giga drop. It took less than one minute to make. Intamin-style Quick Fahrenheit Valravn Despite graphical limitations, the layouts are absolutely fluid and as true to design as you want them to be. This took ten minutes to make. A Magnum-style Arrow drop The four-screen editor. It does its job!

Good-looking game, but this editor is like herding cats. Well, making jet coasters shouldn't be a problem. Rampy, wonky, stretched-out jet coasters with traveling Schwarzkopf lift hills.

An easy, uncontroversial choice: Vekoma SLCs, at least the many that still have their original restraints. After so many bad rides on various models, I even dropped the 'get the credit' motto and skipped out on Mind Eraser at SFA. Sometimes I see reviews saying, "Well this one or that one wasn't so bad," so I've held onto a morsel of hope that at least one model won't devour my well-being, but no, they all have. It's been a few years now, but I've had one ride each on X and X2. Both iterations felt like a car crash. X is to fun what noise is to music. I applaud the ambition of the design concept, but holy smokes, it rides with the same discord of an under-rehearsed middle school rock band, where every member just bangs away on his or her instrument with reckless abandon.

Right. Happens before the first launch. Got it. No wonder I've always missed it, I skip right to the drop of every on-ride video. I second that!! I completely forgot about Maverick having that kind of transfer track. TTD as well. And Kingda ka. So yeah there's been a lot To the "You might be a coaster nerd if..." thread on the double! All of you!

The curve of the drop looks awesome! It seems like it could be very similar to SkyRush's highly-rated first hill. From the recent shot taken across the street from the park, the drop doesn't appear to be too big; however, in some of the shots looking up at the hill, it looks like it's well into hyper territory. Without too much around it for the sake of comparison, I'm looking forward to the final stats whenever they're released. It's looking good!

Yeah, the common thread is the mirroring of the Coney Island Cyclone. Names like Pierce, Cobb, RCCA, Dinn, and even TOGO have had a hand in one replication or another.

I'm a Raptor guy. The back-right seat has that fun flinging sensation off of the lift, there's a good variety of elements, and it has that coveted "old school B&M" aura and ride experience. Even with a little bit of headbanging, I prefer that style of B&M restraint, as well. I put Raptor right up there with Magnum for what I consider to be a great 4-5 punch in the lineup, behind The Three Little Intamins. I admire how Rougarou hits the positive Gs with a lead foot. The forces and tight layout can be appreciated much more since the agreeable conversion, and I like the ride overall. Maybe it's been done for Halloweekends, but I'd really like to see an effective cloud of fog pumped into that twisty second half. Opinions are like , but I'm not a big Gatekeeper fan. It's a beautiful coaster that's pleasant to ride in the front, but I think it plods along a repetitive layout, is a bit nauseating, gets noticeably bumpy the farther back I sit, and just packs it in after the MCBR. I've suggested this before, but a small speed hill (think Hair Raiser/Shambhala/Flug der Damonen) in place of the current camelback would have helped in the variety and pacing departments. With older layouts like Kumba and Nemesis, B&M composed with such fluidity, mastery, and grace that I think that some of those rides are pure art. Coasters like Led Zeppelin and Gatekeeper just feel like patched-together composites of large elements, without the sense of design rhythm that made the early B&Ms flow so well. * * Just my opinion! I know a lot of people who enjoy Gatekeeper.

Wow! ^ This is one of the more delightfully unusual coasters I've seen!

Your review surprised me because the last several times I rode RFII, the experience was right on the border of being too aggressive. I've ridden RFII a lot, and results seem to vary with GG woodies for reasons I can't quite put my finger on...they're awesome coasters, but can be prone to Jekyll/Hyde violent transformations. What's surprising to me is that your catching RFII on what seemed to be a good day turned you off, while I love it when it's running smoothly and delivering awesome airtime. I've had a few "once is enough" rides where I get a headache and quietly worry that the coaster might slip into the "it used to be great but now it's only tolerable" category. I'm glad to hear that it's running well, but sorry to hear that the experience didn't do it for you. On an aside, I've had plenty of 5-10 minute waits in the station balloon north of 30 minutes. With respect to the kids here, I was once in one of those glacial waits with the station, which was packed exclusively with raucous middle schoolers cutting in line, screaming, & slamming into me with no sense of spacial courtesy, while high school kids slowly ran the ride. I thought, "Dear God, I wish there were more adults in this hobby!"

Whew -- breathtaking pictures! Although walking through these attractions with the lights down makes for great atmosphere, having these shots with the lights up allowed me to appreciate some of the grisly details that I sometimes miss when I keep moving and dodging scare actors in low light. A few years ago, one of the biggest scares of the night was when I backed into a set piece mannequin and said, "Hey, I'm real sorry, I didn't see y...AAAHHH!" Universal certainly puts no shortage of unsettling love into their set details, & you captured that very well!

Holy smokes, I'm sorry to hear this. Like your experience, Hurler is the only coaster that's made me smack heads with my riding partner. It happened several times during the right-hand turn underneath the lift structure, just before the final out-run of bunny hops. I've had similar rides at Carowinds, too. Side-to-side jostling, up-and-down jackhammering, and strong vibrations throughout -- it's an unforgivable mess. Neutering trim brakes might help the maintenance department, but they do nothing for the ride experience, either. I hope the GhostRider rehab goes well and inspires CF to make some more improvements throughout the chain. Otherwise, I enjoy reading about your trip and getting your fresh perspective on these parks!

Well, there may be people here who know the situation first-hand, but Googling with time filters to show only recent mentions would be a good way to keep track of news as it becomes available. The conjecture is that the proprietor of the site and its coaster content has passed away, but I haven't seen an official source confirm this. I don't know anything about the site's standing in the coaster fandom/media ecosystem, but it's always sad to read untimely reports about a person who shares in our common love for parks.

I don't know, perhaps the topper track or iron horse overhaul would be viable options today, but that ride reportedly had structural issues in addition to its tainted reputation. I don't think it would be as easy as swapping track and hitting the reset button. I'd love to see a mammoth RMC project on that sort of scale, but SoB had so much baggage that I don't blame the park for simply wanting to move past it and start fresh.

Next time you're feeling discouraged and need a little hope, simply consider the probability that two coasters that don't exceed 100 feet, 55 mph, or 3,000 feet in track length are going to form one of the better one-two coaster punches out there, and they will coexist in a park that was brought back from the dead. Now, who saw that coming? Good for Kentucky Kingdom & for these manufacturers showing what they can do!

Like others, I've yet to bungee. I prefer a 180+ foot Skycoaster. The slow ascent is unnerving and the initial dive is an awesome rush. Although we don't talk about them much, perhaps because of the up-charge, I think Skycoasters are the most thrilling rides in lots of parks with decent coaster lineups. The mid-sized arched versions aren't bad either, but I haven't brought myself to pay for one of those dinky models that top off at 100 feet. Results may vary by model with Slingshots, but I really like the one at Darien Lake. If you can get your bearings during the ride, the free-form flipping at nearly 300 feet is visually just so awesome. Between bounces, it's a blissful feeling of being in the air. I prefer that model and restraint style to the newer ones Cedar Fair has been purchasing. To me, the pods on the new ones bob too much near the end of the ride, making me feel like a nauseous turtle stuck on my back.

Mean Streak's trimmed first drop is dull as dishwater. It feels like stalling down a slight ramp. I don't think it's the horrid ride some make it out to be, but a 155 ft. drop shouldn't under-deliver to the extent that it does. I expect a few shout-outs will be given to Silver Bullet, as well. Beat me by two minutes! Amen.

With the concept out of the bag, we should fully expect no fewer than ten models of "Very Speed Wonder Happy of Aqua Satisfy Dragon Accelerations Sailing" to pop up in parks all over China sometime during the next two weeks.

Years ago, I caught pink eye and the doctor said that it was likely attributable to the fact that I had shared lab equipment in school, such as microscopes, goggles, etc., without the professor keeping it all sanitized. I'm no worry-wart, but there are times when I think, "Oh, great!" when someone damp and heavily coughing exits the seat I'm about to take on a ride. Look at the average park clientele -- I'm not crazy about sharing 3-D glasses, let alone dedicated headgear, with thousands of people. It's an intriguing technology, but I remember old TV docs like Wild Rides and Thrills, Chills, and Spills in the 90s, where each show would have closing segments dedicated to the "future" of the industry: motion simulators and VR implications. It seems like a direction that's going to be forced through sheer will and determined curiosity, but I'd be surprised if it caught on beyond being a gimmick at a conventional amusement park. I could see a park kiosk loaning out the gear as a ride enhancement option, while generating and considering feedback. From technology bugs, induced nausea, and hygiene/sanitation issues, to the simple-minded untrustworthy nature of some riders to take care of the devices, there's more than a few hurdles to overcome. Nevertheless, if someone wanted to invite me to try the technology and give a coaster a spin, I wouldn't say no!

There's a big difference between a cherry-picked daily forecast of "how often rides from each manufacturer broke down on the day I visited the park" and a climate pattern of poor reliability over a long period of time. I love the Intamin coasters, but there have been many frustrations with the ones at Cedar Point alone, not to mention long downtime, drop ride issues (maintenance and loss of life), and a revolving door of reworked restraints, trains, and design elements on multiple rides across many parks over a period of years. We want to forgive and look the other way given so many top-ten-caliber coasters, but the bad track record is just as true as the fact that they make some amazing rides. Even the critical acclaim we throw at Intamin for the guts to do things like i305 and Skyrush doesn't invalidate the fact that those are "controversial" coasters that have both fielded complaints and faced modifications. Anyone remember Volcano's multi-year dormancy just after its debut? There were many days when it would simply test sporadically and leave a small line of hopefuls waiting in vain at its entrance. Getting a ride on it used to be as elusive as catching a piggy-back ride from Big Foot. It was extremely disappointing and inexcusable -- not a turnkey operation at all, and it's happened again and again...Intamin is like the baseball hitter who either clobbers the ball or strikes out, while B&M has settled into consistent bloop singles and the occasional double. It's great when Intamin and a park swing for the fences, but I can understand why park managers would sleep easier at night with a reliable B&M.