Three

Holy Jebus, you're right! Well it's the same kind of coaster, anyway... I'm gonna assume Hypersonic gets second place....?

From what I've seen, it looks like the place is full of torture devices. There's a togo stand up, a Vekoma boomerang, a Vekoma SLC and a Vekoma kiddie inverter, one of those weird Zamperla flyers, an Arrow corkscrewer... Ouches all around. They are however getting the Italian Job Stunt Track coaster, which should prove interesting at the very least.

Am I right in thinking that Hypersonic XLC has the fastest acceleration of any coaster in the world? 0-80 in 1.8 seconds... is there any coaster with a faster acceleration? Thanks in advanced. P.S. -- those who don't know physics need not answer this thread.

They've got a lot more variety at the coke museum in Atlanta. All sorts of disgusting foreign concoctions. Fun for all!

When in doubt, do both! Seriously. If at all possible, do both. You can even get a pass good for all of Universal and Busch's Florida parks. A great deal, all around.

Quite close. Within 10 miles of each other. And Sea World is in the area too. The only big Florida park not in Orlando is Busch Gardens, and it's only an hour's drive away anyway. Central Florida is very easy to navigate. Just hop on I-4, and you're where you want to be.

I shall indeed be doing PKD first, for those reasons. Another question: During the time of year I'm going (second-to-last weekend of May), PKD is only open on weekends. I would normally avoid going to a park on a weekend like that, but it's the only option in this case. Are the crowds going to be *that* bad if the season hasn't fully blown up yet? And would Saturday or Sunday be best?

http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/sheikra/sh132a.jpg This is why I'm pretty confident in suggesting May 1st as SheiKra's grand opening

I am 20, and my first coaster was the Little Dipper at an obscure amusement park near a campground in Manitoba. I bet I'm the only one here with THAT credit My first looper was Scorpion at BGT. The coaster that got me hooked was Dueling Dragons at IoA.

Yep. July 1996. I was just about to post that Too bad it doesn't say how it happened. Seriously, it doesn't make any sense. Anybody know?

Yes, there was such an event. It was a huge news story. I was thinking of starting a thread about it actually, because I'm curious. Seriously, how the hell could that happen? The only thing I can think of would be something like an intense wind slowing the train down as it went down the hill, just enough so that it couldn't clear the loop. And that scenario seems flat out impossible. So what else could do it? A train can't just stop anywhere on the track, right? edit: This did NOT happen on Kraken. My baby wouldn't let me down like that

Fortunately, I realize there's a lot more to theme parks than just roller coasters. BGW sounds like a damn cool place to walk around for a day, and overall I'm looking more forward to its coasters anyway. Regarding PKD's coasters, I was wondering if anyone would mind shedding some light on each of the wooden ones. Four seems like an awful lot for a single park (even if one is a family coaster). What are the high points/low points of each? Are any of them amazingly good or amazingly bad?

Even though this isn't my thread, thanks for the tips! Hopefully I can convince my girlfriend to go there so we can use 'em!

Um... way too many images in your sig, man.

Where are the doves?

I've had that problem too. You post a bunch of pictures in a certain order. Then, when you hit preview, the order is reversed. When you hit submit, the order is back to the original order you attached them in.

I love Kraken. Then again, if Kraken were just a sit down coaster like Kumba or Hulk, I'm sure I'd still like it. It's just an awesome coaster in general. That said, the floorless aspect does add to the experience. It's not gonna turn a crappy coaster into an awesome one, but it gives an interesting added touch. I love front row on a floorless, so I voted "great". They've got just enough cool to make a great coaster even better. Not that I'd advocate turning Wildfire or Kumba into floorless coasters though....

Hey Robb, why'd you close the other thread? That one had more replies.

Yeah, I read that. I bought it for a minute or two, and then I noticed the date. That's a pretty damn good one though. Feng Shui, heheh.

SheiKra seems to be opening on May 1st. Of course, a delay is certainly possible, but that seems to be the projected opening.

re: Busch Gardens coasters vs. Sea World coaster: I absolutely love Kraken -- it's my favorite ride in the state. But Busch Gardens is a better coaster park than Sea World, as it has a hell of a lot mroe variety. Kumba and Montu are awesome coasters. Gwazi hasn't aged terribly well, but at least it's two credits. And SheiKra presents a very real threat to Kraken in my #1 Florida coaster spot.

From what my girlfriend and I generally enjoy in parks, I think we're going to enjoy Busch Gardens Williamsburg more. And the B&M fan in me is simply looking forward to those coasters more than PKD's However, I am a bit pissed that BGW tore down Drachen Fire. Wild Mause, whatever; it's not like that ride is permenantly gone or anything -- I can ride it anytime I want here in Florida. But Drachen Fire looked really unique, and it seems like such a waste to tear something down like that. It's discouraging to see BGW's rcdb entry with more past coasters than existing coasters. But from what I've seen of the park, the atmosphere may just make up for it.

I'm going to Virginia in May. Definitely going to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, possibly going to Paramount Kings Dominion. I figured I might start a thread debating the merits of each. PKD has an ass-ton of coasters, yes. But is it the better park? Are its twelve coasters better than BGW's four? From what I'm speculating, BGW seems to be a better all-around park. Theme-wise, anyway. As for the coasters, I'm having difficulty wading through the quantity vs. quality argument. Any input?

Pretty much anything they build at Alton Towers seems to be controversial. Seriously, the community surrounding that place seems to complain about EVERYTHING. I'm really rather glad that the parks in Florida don't have to put up with grouchy neighbors.

What is your favorite clone of Batman: The Ride? I'm not including stuff like Knight Flight -- just the mass produced invert clones.