p-sychiatrist

I have a feeling this is going to be a huge hit. It's the only ride of it's kind in Europe and the GP absolutely loves Top Thrill and Kingda Ka in the States. I've met several people who travelled from Europe just to ride Kingda Ka, and now they will have the most reliable and efficient version of the ride. It may not be as tall but compared to Europe's other coasters it's massive, amd best of all it will make the line for Furius Baco shorter I also prefer the look of the double spine because it's classic Intamin, but I feel like this track will save the park a lot of money that can now be used on maintaining the ride

I really doubt that Universal is planning on removing it. There's no legitimate reason to do so. J.K. Rowling doesn't actually have a ferocious desire to tear down Dragon Challenge or take joy in making coaster enthusiasts cry like some people make it seem. And even if she did, her influence wasn't strong enough for them to tear it down in the first place. It's also a very reliable ride with a great capacity (which explains the short wait times compared to the other Potter rides). Yes, it no longer duels which lessens the experience for some, but they are still 2 great individual coasters that are well received by guests. One pillar in Universal's strategy is that it has these thrilling coasters to set it apart from Disney (Don't get me wrong, I love me some Rock n' Rollercoaster but that doesn't come close to Hulk or Dueling Dragons). If they wanted to move away from making roller coasters they wouldn't be investing millions into this Hulk reconstruction (which has gained more media attention than the new Kong ride). My hope is for the land they just acquired to be a fully fledged Nintendo Land (with a coaster!), but only time will tell.

I won't ignore the fact that Six Flags has put in policies that can make visitors really upset, but opening new rides around summer doesn't seem to impact most guests I've spoken to. The biggest complaints we get are about the loose articles policy and having to pay for lockers. And of course when rides break down (especially Kingda Ka).

Just saying, this is the only legitimate reason. But to be fair there are plenty of stupid/really drunk people at Rutgers every weekend and the solar panels in Livingston campus' parking lot haven't been damaged yet. I think it's definitely much better placement considering that clearing a forest area to be eco friendly makes no sense. Also, going back to the earlier topic, Great Adventure's attendance has been rising every year since 2010. Also they mostly went bankrupt due to adding too many coasters and expansions in too short a time frame. Remember that time Kingda Ka and El Toro (which each included expansions and new themed sections of the park) were added back to back years? Consider that the recession also occured and that the coaster wars are essentially over and thay even RMC's are much smaller financial investments than Intamin or even B&M coasters. Six Flags' previous bankrupcy and current attendance is not affected by them opening rides in the beginning of the summer season. There's also budgeting and staffing issues during the spring that would make them weary of opening a ride in the spring when attendance is already significantly lower by default. I know enthusiasts may not like the policy, but it actually is a great way to get guests to come back later that year. Not everybody follows coaster news or hears about a new ride until they're at the park themselves so it makes season passes more enticing. Sorry if this post comes off as super condesecending, I wasn't going for that tone at all but now I don't feel like re-editing it haha

Superman will definitely be open opening day, considering all they did was paint the ride and its a staple attraction that they can't afford to close (that would leave the park with only 2 thrilling coasters that aren't awful). Fireball won't open until mid to late April at the earliest.

I have a strong feeling that Nessie will recieve a lot of work for the 2018 season to celebrate its 40th anniversary, possibly even adding some special effects in the tunnel. I would be shocked if it was removed as its still in great condition and is a park icon. BBW and other Arrow suspended coasters are extremely difficult to maintain as the swinging puts a lot of strain on the track and trains, but the sit down loopers seem to hold up better. The 2017 attraction is probably a thrilling coaster and/or a new land as they're hyping it up this far in advance. A family coaster probably wouldn't be hyped up over a year in advance so I'm really leaning towards a new land as that's a major expansion. I've been hoping for a Spain for years, not too sure if they would be willing to put a coaster in DF's old spot though so it may be somewhere else. I also think Europe In The Air is unfortunately safe for now (or at least irrelevant to the new attraction).

Seems like The Joker coaster is bringing more changes to the park than we originally thought. I have a very good hunch about what it is, but I'm not going to say. Here's a hint: they might not get rid of the dolphin show at Fort Independence after all...

You might be on to something! *wink wink* But I wouldn't expect Blackbeard. That thing saddles more than anything. As for Old Country, as much as I would love an RMC of any kind, and a dueling T-Rex would be absolutely insane, I'm not too sure an RMC is coming very soon. There will definitely be some renovations coming to that area in the next few years. Personally I would love to see a Justice League: Battle For Metropolis built in the 4D Theater's old spot in the boardwalk, as a great dark ride would make the park feel complete (and be another indoor ride for HiTP)! 2017 feels too soon for another coaster, but who knows!

Yeah you're right that they lucked out with the weather in December. And I heard next year's HiTP staff members will be getting better gloves and warmer uniforms as there will be more room in the budget for that. To everyone going today, have fun!!

I feel so bad for the team members working Nitro in 29 degree weather Holiday In The Park has been such a great event! Superman was running better than usual two days ago despite the low 40 degree weather. I almost greyed out during the pretzel loop! (But that may have had more to due with my New Year's hangover) and the Jack Frost show was a nice break from the cold weather and a welcome addition to a park that used to have a lot more entertainment like that. Felt like the good ol days! Also I cracked the code on green lantern: sit in the 6th row (second to last row) middle seats. Least headbanging/pain and makes for a great ride that i'd put above Superman, Batman, or Bizarro. Any other seat I don't even really like the ride much at all.

"Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go To The Party" - Courtney Barnett (slowly becoming my theme song)

Just bought the Knoebel's one this summer, but it's already becoming my favorite ornament! just need a skull mountain ornament now...

Pretty much any ride, coaster or not, at Knoebels. I'll never forget my night rides on Millennium Force and Boulder Dash with El Toro_Ryan and of course all the great memories riding Nitro, El Toro, and Kingda Ka (Skull Mountain too). Riding Grizzly and Steel Force with my friends and fooling around way too much. Riding Furius Baco with my mom and brother, who made the terrible decision of sitting in the outer wing seat in row 5 . Convincing my dad and girlfriend at the time (who are both not very big coaster fans) to ride Phoenix was probably one of the funniest moments of my life. My dad was screaming his head off because he thought he was actually going to be thrown out of his seat and die. For me the "most fun" coasters are the ones that I've made memories with friends and family while riding.

^ Praying that this thread doesn't become Disney v. Universal. Anyway, I loved J.K. Rowling's strict vision for WWoHP because she pressured Uni to work harder than ever. The attention to detail is unbelievable and seems to have (hopefully) set a new standard for all future Uni attractions. However, it would be very sad to see Dragon Challenge go. I doubt it would be moved into Nintendo land because of the cost and also the higher ups at Nintendo have even more ridiculous standards than Rowling and wouldn't settle for a re-themed ride. But it would be a shame to lose one (2) of the few coasters at the park.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at WDW and then Runaway Mine Train at Six Flags Great Adventure soon after!

We'll see about that... The success of this event is great news, because Great Adventure already draws in more revenue than the majority of the parks in the chain, even some that are open year-round. So hopefully this event will inspire them to revamp some abandoned/neglected sections of the park. I wonder if S&S 4D Free Spins can operate in cold weather, couldn't find any info, but Total Mayhem would be an awesome addition to the rest of HITP's line up. I've also heard some rumors that El Toro could possibly run at next year's HiTP... only time will tell

This ride is going to look great, and the track/supports fit the Ferrari theming better than Formula Rossa's plain white scheme. Still not sure if it can justify a separate gate admission (it's a really small plot of land) and I feel like if they end up merging it with the rest of PA, the planned drop tower for Ferrari Land is pointless. Either way, all the hype from it being the tallest and fastest coaster in Europe will make the lines for Furius Baco and Shambhala shorter so I have no complaints!!

How long does the line for Verbolten tend to be on average during Christmastown? It seems like the event is mostly geared towards families with very young kids so I'm wondering if the line isn't too much worse than during the normal season. It'd be awesome if they ran Alpengeist simply because of the theming, but I wouldn't mind settling for a few laps on Verbolten (a ride I actually enjoy more). Great reports, the lighting display looks beautiful!

While KK is an absolute nightmare, especially for the 24-hour maintenance crew that works on it year-round, I wouldn't consider it a mistake, simply because it's held it's tallest coaster record for 10 years now, and with the many delays to Orlando Skyplex's "Polercoaster" might make it to 15 years. That record doesn't seem important to coaster enthusiasts who focus more on airtime (I would guess most people on TPR are more interested in El Toro), but that record sucks in the GP like crazy. While the awful capacity and downtime prevent it from being the most ridden coaster at the park, it is by far the most popular and generates the biggest crowds (however, only about half of them stay in line long enough to ride). Not even going into the quality of the ride experience, the attention it brings to the park alone made it worth the investment. It will still hold the record for tallest drop even when the polercoaster is built. So I have a feeling it will still generate attention up to the 2020's. If anything, Zumanjaro was the mistake (despite loving that ride it hasn't been nearly as successful as it should be, mostly due to a lack of promotion and the deceptively long (in terms of length, not wait time) line. It also all depends on who you ask though. Cost has been unbearable for sure.

A night ride in the front row of Millie is magical in my opinion. Absolutely worth the wait and it didn't feel sluggish at all to me (that ride is so fast!). Every seat on that ride is good, but the front is by far my favorite and I used to be a back-seat only type of rider. MF is the ride that made me want to try front row more often.

Sorry El Toro...

Skyrush without a doubt. I grey out right before the second hill every single time, and when I sit on a wing seat it feels like my body is being torn apart (in a good way), I think this is the best description of that feeling: It's a bit strange because I rarely grey out on I305 which is taller, faster, and has greater positive g-forces. Somehow it's never felt as intense. I almost blacked out completely on Batman: The Ride once, gotta love/hate those old-school B&M's. Although it wouldn't be considered intense by many people, the wildest ride I've ever had on any coaster is the back row of Boulder Dash. It's a bit painful being thrown around in my seat so much, but damn it's fun.

I tend to prefer the front row these days, but that may be due to how rarely I used to wait for front row in the past. I got so used to automatically shuffling towards the back row for every ride for years that riding in the front feels like a brand new experience on many of my favorite rides. I actually very much prefer the front row of Apollo's Chariot over the back row, I still feel great floater airtime regardless. On a great coaster, every seat is arguably good, but there are a few where I always prefer back seat: El Toro (second to last row, left seat ), Skyrush, I305, and of course Skull Mountain

Mountain

This point in particular is interesting to me, in that Raptor being the first invert with a cobra roll is hardly more significant than Valravn being the first dive coaster with a dive loop. Beside Baron 1898, it's also the only dive coaster with a zero g roll and that element's carousel exit is also somewhat rare (SFDK's Joker features quite nearly the same element and in that context it was praised). B&M certainly could have kicked it up another notch or two with this design, but I doubt that was really the agenda presented by Cedar Fair. While on the one hand I'm sort of left wanting by Valravn, the realist in me also has to appreciate that it'll likely be the best of its kind. Really the only thing that might keep it from being the best dive coaster is the lackluster theming (normal by CP standards). I think the layout kicks ass (compared to other dive models) and makes a great use of the space where Good Time Theater was. Also, within the past 5 years there have been 5 RMC conversions in North America along with The Joker arriving in 2016. There are only 2 dive machines in the U.S. and the last one was built almost 9 years ago, so in a way VR is more original than "Iron Mean Streak"