cloudeleven

Only 2 things really come to mind: 1. During my European funfair/theme park tour in Sep-Oct. 2015, I took the train too late to get to this fair in western France, and by the time I got there the fair had just closed (like 10 minutes earlier). There was a rare flat ride there called Stargate I wanted to ride. The operators were still there, and I remember asking through the fence if I could ride (hey, it was worth a shot). Nope. Here are videos of it: Offride: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0Y_t7nALAM Onride: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B60Od57FPXw 2. Not visiting Cedar Point, Knoebels, Magic Mountain, SF Great Adventure, etc. before Covid hit. Of course in 2019 I had no idea Covid was coming, so it was easy to put these parks off "until 2020 or 2021." Um....I mean, you could still visit these parks in 2020 or 2021 (well, not Magic Mountain in 2020), but it won't be nearly the same as 2019 or earlier. I already kind of appreciated this pre-Covid, but Covid has made me appreciate more that you need to tick every box on your "bucket list" ASAP. You never know what will happen in the world (pandemics - natural or manmade, world war, world-changing natural disaster, governments restricting freedoms, etc.) or how much time you have left on this earth.

That's good to hear. Hopefully other parks like Cedar Point will also allow row requests if we're willing to wait.

As far as uncrowded parks, I actually like there to be somewhat of a crowd. Not too much, but I hate feeling like I'm one of the only people at a park or fair. It's just not a "party" if there aren't enough people there.

The wait times may end up being the same because they're probably going to close off a bunch of seats on the rides to enforce social distancing.

I wish they would make water coasters that can compete with Mammoth & Wildebeest at Holiday World in Indiana. Those 2 water coasters were built over 7 years ago and are still FAR AND AWAY the best water coasters out there. The best things about those water coasters is the airtime and long length of ride. The "wave river" about this new park interests me...I hope it's more like the "rapids" river rides at Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, TX and not just a typical lazy river.

Hilarious...Twitch streamer Esfand rides his first coaster at Liseberg in Sweden. He reminds me of Robb with his reactions. https://streamable.com/hsb5r

If you were making your first trip to CP, and you lived 850 miles away, would you go this summer or wait for the 150th anniversary next summer? Is there going to be some great new coaster next year?

I noticed a large Schwarzkopf traveling coaster in France is missing from the list of coasters on CoasterPoll.com -- Super Railway. I rode it at a funfair in Toulouse, France in 2015 and it's really fun and intense, and best (or worst) of all doesn't have any seatbelt or lapbar or ANYTHING holding you in the car...you just hold on to the bars on the side of the car. I *almost* literally flew out of my seat going down one of the hills, but that just added to the fun of course!: https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipOm0TCT5Jg9tyMSuKMOzE6mQt8LvL-AW7TUGRoo Here's a video of it from 2019:

Thanks for the advice. Do they let you choose your seat on Yukon Striker, Behemoth, Leviathan, and Vortex (if you want the front seat, back seat, etc.) even without a Fast Pass and in the single rider line, or do the ride ops tell you where to sit?

Are there any rules of thumb for if to buy a Fast Pass or just a normal ticket on a weekday in June with school still in session? Like if the parking lot is more than half full, buy a Fast Pass? Or maybe if a bunch of buses in parking lot buy a Fast Pass? I'm gonna be there about 5 hours approx. 2-7 PM and would like to ride: Preferably at least 2 rides: Yukon Striker Leviathan Behemoth Vortex At least 1 ride: Sledge Hammer Soaring Timbers Skyhawk Shockwave Backlot Stunt Coaster Knight Mares maybe Klockwerks maybe Spinovator I won't be stopping to eat or anything, just riding. I'll eat before I go. Also how accurate is the ride wait time in the app? Can you buy a Fast Pass after you are already in the park and see lines and decide you want one?

Yeah, but I was thinking people might decide to go to CW after the parade since they took the day off anyway. Or a lot of out of town folks coming to Toronto for the parade might go to CW on Tuesday maybe. I fully expect every other tourist attraction like the CN Tower to be super-packed now. Then I think "do people want to go to an amusement park after standing at a parade for 2-3 hours? Probably not...so Monday seems better than Tuesday."

I booked my trip to Toronto last week, and not following the NBA at all, I had no idea Toronto was in the NBA Finals. Well, they won tonight! We arrive in Toronto on Sunday, June 16 and leave for Niagara Falls on Wed. June 19. The victory parade is Monday June 17 10 AM downtown, will probably last until 1 or 2 PM. I mean, there's probably going to be a million+ people in downtown Toronto for that. We aren't going to the parade. Would Monday afternoon/evening probably be a good time to go to Canada's Wonderland in terms of low crowds? Or would Tuesday probably be better? It would be kinda nice to change the dates of my trip now, but the flight is non-refundable, and now the hotel room is non-refundable (too close to arrival date).

Superman (or Bizarro or whatever they're calling it now) at SFNE.

What are the Season Pass Bring A Friend Free days for the rest of July? I don't have a season pass, but I'm planning a trip and wanted to avoid those days because I suspect they're probably more crowded than usual.

I have a soft spot for Arrows because their Loop-Screw was my first upside down coaster at age 11 (Revolution at Libertyland in Memphis).

Anaconda at KD

You ride Chinese knock-off Vekomas, so you tell me. Just kidding.

I had a PA parks tour planned for sometime in the next few years, and was hoping to go to Lakemont to ride their Chance Skydiver (one of my bucket list flat rides). First Camden Park in WV loses their Skydiver, now Lakemont's might be gone? The Skydiver is becoming a rare ride indeed. Was kinda hoping to do the Toboggan too.

I can't recall any coasters I regret missing. I love flat rides too, and there have been some flat rides I regretted missing: X-Scream at Stratosphere Scorpion (saw this once and only once in my life at a carnival 17 years ago, almost rode it): Mondial Fighter (it was listed on the ride operator's website that it would be at the Tulsa State Fair, went there mainly for that ride, but it wasn't there! It's the only ride of its kind in N. America I think, maybe the world now?) Wisdom Boomerang (saw this only once in my life at the 1994 Arkansas State Fair, looked interesting but I didn't ride it for some reason. You basically got in a tub that spun around a circle very fast, then your tub was released into a tunnel (you can see the curved tunnel in the first pic here) where you went around the curve. Seemed intense.):

I'm planning a trip to a few big parks all in the same area, but it's a 9 hour drive one-way from me. Do you prefer to drive that far, or maybe fly half the way and rent a car for the rest of the trip? Or something else (bus, train)? Driving a long distance (5+ hours) makes my neck hurt because driving is pretty stressful for me. My body, neck especially, tends to tense up while I'm driving I think. Driving is a lot cheaper than flying though, especially last-minute, and I prefer last-minute so I can get the most accurate weather forecast.

When it opened it had 4 hour waits and even a slow day this year it averages a 45 minute wait. It's a huge draw for the park. This. I was in Kansas City on a coaster trip and was planning to go to the park over the weekend, but pushed plans back to Monday (which obviously didn't happen) and the reason I was going was for Verrückt followed by Storm Blaster. From my understanding after browsing their rides, there really isn't much else that stands out over Oceans of Fun (which just so happens to include the entire dry park as well.. a much more enticing deal). If it weren't for Verrückt and Storm Blaster, I would've had no interest in going. All sadness from this horrific incident aside, I do hope I will get back to Kansas City soon to check out this park and ride both of these slides. Just drive over to Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN and ride their 2 huge water coasters (Mammoth and Wildebeest) if you haven't already. Best water coasters in the world. Both last 2 1/2 minutes, HUGE multiple airtime. I was just there the past 2 days. Rode Mammoth 5 times and Wildebeest 4 times (most airtime is in back seat). No more than a 20 minute wait on weekdays for both, especially Tuesday-Thursday, especially the single rider lines. Water park also includes the amusement park with a few of the best coasters in the world like Thunderbird and Voyage.

I'm not even sure real ride engineers were used in building this ride. I watched the TV documentary of building this ride, and the guy who came up with the idea of the ride (who I think was one of the park owners) seemed so obsessed with building the "world's tallest water slide" that to me it seemed like he pretty much designed it himself and tested it on a "let's see if it works basis." It didn't work the first time with rafts flying off the ride so they re-did the ride until "it worked" and rafts weren't flying off the ride. When they were building it he seemed in a big hurry to get the slide open by the beginning of that summer season, although it ended up being delayed.

The Wild Thang (Zamperla Power Surge) at Magic Springs in Hot Springs, Ark. doesn't allow single riders. Not sure why.

Do you interpret this as 3 fairs for 2015? "In the coming year, he wants to visit Düsseldorf's Rheinkirmes and the Volksfest in Herne-Crange, before the Oktoberfest. What comes next, is still written in the stars."

Does the bolded part above mean the Olympia Looping will be in Munich in 2015 or not? I don't speak German so I'm not sure how to interpret the translation. This could have a big influence on whether I go this year or next year. I'd prefer to go in 2015 so I have a lot more time to plan and prepare. Going this year (in a month and a half!) would almost be an emergency planning thing. I'm not sure I'll be able to go this year actually. Normally, yes. O god, I'm a European guy and I've never ridden it before, for shame! And I just missed Düren! Düsseldorf (or Herne) in 2015, check! Yes, it will be in Munich in 2015? I translated a German coaster forum to English, and it seems like a lot of Germans can't imagine Oktoberfest without Olympia Looping.