Samuel

It's still only the right side that's operating.

Well, I will say a few things: - My nausea tolerance has gone down tremendously in just a few years, and I almost never rides spinning flat rides as a result. Being dizzy just isn't fun to me anymore, but my three-year-old niece will say to me, "come on, let's spin and get dizzy! It's so much fun!" I do enjoy S&S Screamin' Swings, but any of the major Huss rides, as well as a lot of smaller flats (ex. Chaos, Wipeout, etc.) are out of the question. I figure it's just inner-ear changes, but fortunately I haven't had any issues with coasters or tower rides. - If I'm too hungry/thirsty, or if I've simply had too long a day in a scorching sun (a 100°F, high humidity day at Carowinds comes to mind), I feel more sensitive to forces and more sluggish overall, so I'm less likely to marathon rides. - If a ride is poorly maintained or just rough to begin with, I'll grab the credit, hope to minimize pain, and then move on. I've done 40 consecutive rides on Phantom's Revenge for a show filming with no issues, but I'd be hard-pressed to do an SLC even twice consecutively. - Even if I ride a bunch of rough coasters and feel exhausted the next day, I think it has more to do with constant walking/scrambling/schedule-making to cram everything in that I want to do at the park, than it does with physical pain caused by rides.

Here’s my quick-hit review from a trip the Point on Thursday, 8/7. The weather was great, and crowds were moderate. Lines were about 30-45 minutes for the B&Ms and Magnum, and 1-1.5 hours for the Intamins. I go to Cedar Point every year, and I have a pretty good pulse on how rides are running – this time, a few took me by surprise: Millennium Force – I’ve had rides in the fog during Halloweekends where MF is just hauling, and it gets my #1 coaster slot. Oddly, like during this visit, I’ve also had plenty of *only* good rides on it. The first drop still delivered excellently, but the rest felt a bit pedestrian for reasons I can’t really put my finger on. Still a favorite, though. 8.5/10 Dragster – Every time I think I’ve ridden it enough to be familiar with the feeling of the launch, it surprises me and takes my breath away all over again. The hill is almost an afterthought to me: I just love that launch. 9.5/10 Magnum – Holy smokes, this was the surprise of the day. Listen, I know the thigh pain and back-thwacking action of Magnum, and while I appreciate the coaster historically, it’s usually not one of my favorites for these reasons. I rode in the middle row of the back car three times (once I find a good seat, I stick to it), and each lap was coaster bliss. Great airtime, unusually smooth, no thigh pain, no back thwacking! Results may vary with Magnum, but it was running superbly – at least in that row. Give it a try there! 9/10 Maverick – Another one that took me by positive surprise. I'd ridden Maverick 20+ times coming in, and honestly I never cared much for it. There’s just too much defensive riding for my taste, and my feeling is that any newish coaster that has to post “Take out your earrings” signs isn’t as perfect as enthusiasts want to imagine. Well, THANK YOU to whoever wrote the advice of holding onto the horse-collar near the head and pushing up during the transitions (I know I read it from someone here). Again, I don’t like the idea that there’s a right and wrong way to ride, but it DID made the experience much more palatable, and I really appreciated the elements this time without being physically battered. The only draw still against the ride for me is that this type of seat (same with Fahrenheit) gives me butt stapling! That’s right, butt stapling. It feels like my tailbone is getting ground into the bottom of the seat as the restraint clamps down throughout the ride. With some train modifications, this would be near the top of my coaster list. 8.5/10 Wicked Twister – Going up the rear spike in the last row is one of my favorite coaster moments. There’s still an innate part of me thinking in fun, “Uh-oh, what if this is going too high!?” The launch is pretty aggressive, too. I think the upward transitions are intense and a smidge too tight, leaving me feeling a bit exhausted afterwards, so usually one ride per visit is enough for me. I still like it overall. 8/10 Gatekeeper – A very beautiful coaster. I kept taking pictures of it throughout the day to keep as candidate photos for my computer background. Unfortunately, that’s the best aspect of the ride. As for the ride experience, it’s a vanilla dud. The train moves lethargically through the elements, and it’s a bit bumpy, too. That airtime hill does not deliver, and I think a Hair Raiser-style airtime bump in its place would’ve been more effective and could’ve tremendously helped with the overall pacing. It’s smoother and has a nice feeling of wind in the front, but I don’t think any part of the coaster is particularly thrilling. 6/10 Raptor – I ended up stuck on the ride at the end of the night for 30 minutes and got some exit passes for another date for the trouble. I’ve had some awesome and smooth rides on Raptor, but it was running a bit violently on Thursday. I like the old school snappiness, but the cobra roll and a few other notable spots were just rough. Speaking of, can they not modify 10 feet of track to eliminate the harsh transition into the brakes? It feels like an unnecessarily sloppy conclusion to an otherwise typically-solid ride. 7/10 Mantis – It's fun through the dive loop, and then it’s a positive G clinic and head-banger’s ball to the end. I actually love the current color scheme, but I’m in favor of a revise. 5/10 Mean Streak – It’s the Eeyore of Cedar Point’s collection. It really isn’t the worst ride in the world, but it under-delivers for its size to the point that I feel sorry for Summers & Dinn, the park, and everyone who rides it. I will be astonished if it doesn’t get RMC treatment within the next 2-3 years. If it does, it’ll be hilarious if Mean Streak starts outranking Millennium Force and Maverick in polls. 4/10 Gemini – Only one side was operating, and it kept going down throughout the day. I snagged one ride on it, and it was not bad. I think the first drop is fun and unexpectedly steep, but there are a few bumps in that Arrow mine train sort-of-way along the course. 6.5/10 Blue Streak – A fun out-run with nice airtime, but after the turnaround the train started bobbing and bouncing all over the place on the return. Not the best, not the worst. 6.5/10 Power Tower – I enjoy the space shot side and its pop of air at the apex of the first thrust, but both tower types are less thrilling to me than an Intamin drop. I think the ride’s presence disqualifies the park from pursuing an attached drop ride on Dragster, so I guess we’ll have to continue appreciating it for what it is. 6.5/10

After visiting a few regional parks recently (I don't want to single them out by name, as this applies to many different parks I've visited over the years), each modern rest stop on the highways during the trip out-classed even the best bathrooms in those parks. To me, this is an oversight of lots of parks, and I believe that having adequately-sized, clean, modern bathrooms can be a big factor in overall park quality. In fact, I would even prefer off-season bathroom renovations over new rides in some instances. Mystery puddles, unusual drips, 20 house flies to keep you company, stagnant air and poor ventilation, a lack of soap, a lack of ways to dry hands, backed-up sinks, backed-up toilets (yikes), size not designed to handle modern traffic (lines out the door), etc., are all not that unusual. Even with attendants cleaning, the effort in some bathrooms is like re-tracking Mean Streak every year: there's only so much that can be done. In addition, I think the family appeal of parks makes it more imperative to have clean and adequate bathrooms, when compared to sporting event and concert venues, where grimy facilities tend to come with the territory of raucous environments and lots of alcohol. This is all coming only from my men's room experiences, and I've heard horror stories from some women's rooms that sound far worse. I'm not suggesting that parks install gold thrones, but I do wish that more would upgrade to a modern airport or rest stop level of quality. Any thoughts?

I always thought the Cedar Fair/Intamin relationship was linked to Kinzel being a big fan. They hit it out of the park together with Millennium Force, but since his retirement, combined with Intamin's track record of issues, I feel pretty certain this will be another fun, albeit safe choice from B&M.

Hey everybody, I think we've all been there. We're on a coaster, things are going well, but here come the brakes. Oooph! The brakes catch the train in a bear hug, and the smiles turn to grimaces of pain. Why does this happen, and what can be done about it? I've seen ride operators looking on at screeching-to-a-halt trains with empathy for the riders, but they can't seem to solve the problem. I used to think it was because of a block situation, but I've seen it on coasters with one-train operation, too. What coasters with a notorious case of brake bite have you ridden? For me, it's been every SLC I seem to find. Last year, the one at Darien Lake had attracted a small crowd, which stuck around just to watch and laugh at the total thudding of victims...err, riders, as the train hit the brakes. Same story on Ravine Flyer II -- for a while, it was like stopping through a brick wall (but, I will say that the brakes were much smoother a few weeks ago, and the ride continues to be flat-out awesome). - Sam

Ah, yes, that is a great point when comparing coasters throughout time (Raptor to Banshee), but I still think the comparisons of newer coasters that are similar in cost, but vary greatly in scale, are valid. In regard to inflation, it would be nice to get a John Allen creation for the price of a car today, though.

Hi everyone! I've registered and re-registered sporadically over the years while juggling old e-mail addresses, but hopefully this one sticks! I've attended a few TPR-hosted events in the past, and I continue to enjoy reading the boards and everyone's contributions. One topic that I've been wanting to read about, but I haven't seen coverage of, is how a coaster's final cost breaks down. Specifically, how do manufacturers derive an estimate and subsequent bill to give to parks? It seems standard that big new B&M or Intamin coasters cost a ballpark of $20-30 million, but looking at costs across the board led me to some interesting comparisons. For example: - Banshee ($24M) and Gatekeeper ($25M) vs. Raptor ($11-12M) and Mantis ($12M)...although larger, do these newer B&Ms justify each being as much as, or even more than, the combined expenses of Raptor and Mantis? - Millennium Force and Skyrush both cost $25M. Given that MF is significantly longer and larger (not a debate on which is better!), what factors balance the final bill between the two? - Comparatively, coasters like Outlaw Run ($10M), Magnum ($8M), and the Phantom's Revenge transformation ($4.6M) seem like bargain bin steals. - And while I'm looking forward to Thunderbird at Holiday World, the $22M price tag it carries is the same as KI's Diamondback, which simply is a lot more coaster (again, not a hypothetical quality debate!). I know it's likely that every coaster is its own unique case, and that there are many unique factors in design and construction to consider with the final cost, but surely there's some basis of comparison that parks use to weigh value when they're choosing among manufacturers. I also wonder about other things -- are some parks given discounts for repeat business/loyalty to certain manufacturers? Is there a negotiation process on pricing like at a car dealership, or are final prices very black and white? I thought this might lead to some interesting discussion, and if all of this has been covered elsewhere, then by all means shut me up! - Sam