sirspud

Holiday World in late July, followed by Dollywood and then Carowinds.

Open till 11 and reviewers said they rode at night.

Did you ride it with the old or new restraints? That could have made the difference based off what I've heard. I rode it with the current track design. Changing restraints won't change that. The new restraints are way softer, though, so the transitions wouldn't be as painful :/ Any ride that shuffles me so dramatically from one side to the other so my neck jerks in such a fashion is going to rate low in my book.

I just now found out about the alpine coasters in the Pigeon Forge area. I was already gonna be there for Dollywood and the National Park. This is something that excites me easily as much as any other ride I will be going on. I imagine the very personal ride experience is very fun, and of course the integration into the terrain is a huge selling point. I will probably be riding after my hiking experiences are done, but can anyone vouch for whether or not the rides are better in the day, or night? I imagine they both have selling points. Budget will probably limit me to one ride at a single one only.

Did you ride it with the old or new restraints? That could have made the difference based off what I've heard. I rode it with the current track design. Changing restraints won't change that.

Florida: Sheikra California: X2 Carolinas: Flight Deck (not gonna figure out which Carowinds coaster is in which state) Illinois: Raging Bull Ohio: MF Pennsylvania: Phantom's Revenge (this one was the hardest to pick)

Maverick. It's all too abrupt changes to me aren't innovative, they are bad engineering. My body was not intended to be slammed in a completely different direction than it had been in the span of a millisecond. I'm simply not a fan of experiencing great pain while on a ride. Between riding Maverick or Sky Rocket at KW, I'd choose the latter 100 times out of 100.

Starliner, Cypress Gardens (already relocated from Miracle Strip). This ride had wicked ejector air on some of the hills and I love a classic woodie.

In regards to Carowinds versus Kings Island, there are a couple reasons why Kings Island may be dropped from my trip and Carowinds not. First, Fury 325. It's a unique ride and I find 300 footers worth going out of your way for. Although I'd like to try The Beast and FOF, other than that the parks are really a wash. Just from a coaster perspective, I'm going with Fury. I've actually been to Carowinds before, so I know how average the coasters are besides that, but its worth trying. But the other major factor is simply location. Kings Island is a significant way from anywhere else I'm going. The closest I will be is Holiday World, and that's not so bad when you realize its only 2-2.5 hours from the Nashville area where I could stay that evening. On top of that, the things I could spend time at in the Carowinds area are endless. The mountains, including the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains, are not far away, and there are tons of things I could find to do in that vicinity. My wife would certainly enjoy spending time in Asheville as well. There's not really anything in the vicinity of Kings Island that I can imagine being worth doing on a big vacation.

Thanks for the reply, yes at some point I think I'd like to see the park, but on this trip it just doesn't seem that vital and I'm glad you agree. I am an enthusiast, but lack of resources means riding coasters just to compile a coaster count isn't something that makes sense.

My wife and I are taking our first real vacation in two years this summer. For our honeymoon one of the things we did was a mini road trip which included visiting CP, Hersheypark, Kennywood, and Knoebel's. We're hitting the road again and doing a mix of things which includes Holiday World, Dollywood, Carowinds, and King's Island. Initially SFoG was on there, but the price for the park is outrageous and there is really very little that I feel is worth going out of the way for with the similar parks I've already visited, so that was out. Down to four, but two of those are now former Paramount Parks whose coaster stock is very, very similar, minus the Beast and Fury 325. I have to say a couple things before I continue. First off, my wife and I don't make a ton of money, so our vacations are infrequent and a little over a week, the most our jobs let us take. Second, I'm an extremely active photographer and I've found myself being as excited at the prospect of visiting scenic spots (like mountains, which we have nothing even close in Florida) as I am about rollercoasters, at least ones that aren't unique hypercoasters and woodies. My wife is cool with visiting theme parks but isn't a buff, and could probably enjoy some other activities a lot more. I will ride all rollercoasters, but except for unique ones like 4D and wingriders, I don't get the least bit excited by loopers anymore. They make me sick and the inversions all feel pretty much the same as other inversions of the same type. The Beast seems cool, but nothing really excites me about King's Island. Of course I want to ride a legendary woodie like the Beast, but it does seem like a lot of straight track finished off with an awesome helix. I've visited Carowinds before and will be going again due to Fury 325, and most of the rides at King's Island are redundant. I'm more for quality than quantity, and would rather visited a park that has four coasters with character than one that has mass produced rides. Does anyone here really think that for someone who is already visiting Carowinds that Kings Island is also a must visit?

I think they're both in South Carolina. I'm not a local or anything but Thunder Road is pretty craptacular. That being said, I think Hurler should be scrapped immediately. What's with GCIs aging so horribly? I don't believe Hurler is a GCI.

If this was a replacement for Gwazi then I am entirely sure they would waste time checking ID's.

I just use a basic txt document in windows, plus google maps to help me calculate mileage.

Are you kidding me with your comments? You cannot even get the name or spelling right. LMAO!!!! Wow, my wife who was actually becoming an active enthusiast stopped posting on here because she thought every was a jerk, and now I'm wondering why I even waste my time since people here seem to take the fun out of one of the most fun things imaginable. I live about as far from SFMM as possible while still being in the country, so I'm not exactly up and up on their new ride. I have visited SFMM over ten years ago and will likely not be there again, so it's pretty much an afterthought. I just make a comment where I mix up the name with the Cyclone (and yes, after working 13 hour days all week I got lazy and didn't spell the name right either) and it's ridiculous the level of superiority some have on this board. I've been commissioned as a writer and researcher, so next time I write a paper or prepare a presentation at a conference I'll make sure you proofread it since you must have a doctorate. My comments still stand: I think this is one of the least imaginative RMC's out there and think in ten years its likely to be an afterthought. I was interested in what RMC might do with a racing or dueling coaster, but the design didn't blow me away like their others have done. Although its apparent that SFMM didn't really operate Colossus as initially designed, I hate to see a coaster that was a prototypical classic racing coaster go extinct. I grew up with a picture of Colossus on my wall, and it to me defined what a wooden coaster should look like. The most defensive post I've ever seen, no one would have come at you had you taken a more diplomatic (as well as grammatical) approach to critiquing "Twisted Colossus". That's all Theme Park Review: Attack posters but not coasters

Are you kidding me with your comments? You cannot even get the name or spelling right. LMAO!!!! Wow, my wife who was actually becoming an active enthusiast stopped posting on here because she thought every was a jerk, and now I'm wondering why I even waste my time since people here seem to take the fun out of one of the most fun things imaginable. I live about as far from SFMM as possible while still being in the country, so I'm not exactly up and up on their new ride. I have visited SFMM over ten years ago and will likely not be there again, so it's pretty much an afterthought. I just make a comment where I mix up the name with the Cyclone (and yes, after working 13 hour days all week I got lazy and didn't spell the name right either) and it's ridiculous the level of superiority some have on this board. I've been commissioned as a writer and researcher, so next time I write a paper or prepare a presentation at a conference I'll make sure you proofread it since you must have a doctorate. My comments still stand: I think this is one of the least imaginative RMC's out there and think in ten years its likely to be an afterthought. I was interested in what RMC might do with a racing or dueling coaster, but the design didn't blow me away like their others have done. Although its apparent that SFMM didn't really operate Colossus as initially designed, I hate to see a coaster that was a prototypical classic racing coaster go extinct. I grew up with a picture of Colossus on my wall, and it to me defined what a wooden coaster should look like. Yeah alright dude, you're right, were the jerks. You're being super negative about the best coaster California has possibly ever gotten. I have no sympathy for you're lack of respect if you honestly think this coaster doesn't put he colossus name to justice. Have fun not riding this amazing coaster. X is still the best ride I've ever ridden, so I don't see where this is going to top it. I was just making an observation and was curious on if others felt the same way. Apparently they don't, which is fine, and I'm all for what RMC is doing since I'm a negative G and drops junkie who could care less about inversions. My preference is a good wooden coaster, but there have been too many ambitious wooden coasters built over the last thirty years that didn't track well enough to do their designs justice, so I think RMC can bring that to life.

Are you kidding me with your comments? You cannot even get the name or spelling right. LMAO!!!! Wow, my wife who was actually becoming an active enthusiast stopped posting on here because she thought every was a jerk, and now I'm wondering why I even waste my time since people here seem to take the fun out of one of the most fun things imaginable. I live about as far from SFMM as possible while still being in the country, so I'm not exactly up and up on their new ride. I have visited SFMM over ten years ago and will likely not be there again, so it's pretty much an afterthought. I just make a comment where I mix up the name with the Cyclone (and yes, after working 13 hour days all week I got lazy and didn't spell the name right either) and it's ridiculous the level of superiority some have on this board. I've been commissioned as a writer and researcher, so next time I write a paper or prepare a presentation at a conference I'll make sure you proofread it since you must have a doctorate. My comments still stand: I think this is one of the least imaginative RMC's out there and think in ten years its likely to be an afterthought. I was interested in what RMC might do with a racing or dueling coaster, but the design didn't blow me away like their others have done. Although its apparent that SFMM didn't really operate Colossus as initially designed, I hate to see a coaster that was a prototypical classic racing coaster go extinct. I grew up with a picture of Colossus on my wall, and it to me defined what a wooden coaster should look like.

Just watched a video for Wicked Collosus, and I do have to say that while it has some nice elements, (whatever they call the go under while the other track is rolling is nice), I was left thinking "that's it?" It feels awful boring to have it just repeat the same track after a very short duration and I'm a little sad that a racing coaster of its age was done away with for what seems like it will be an afterthought in ten years. Maybe it will prove better than it seems, but a lot of the other RMC coasters have appeared very interesting but this one just seems like a waste.

This is a great thread and I have enjoyed reading the responses. What's great about it is hearing about rides that aren't often talked about. Pleasant: Skyliner at Cypress Gardens, which is now defunct. Everyone can imagine a wooden out and back having some air time, but what I didn't anticipate was the sheer ejector air I got several times during the ride. Sure, it lacks the refinement of a small GCI these days like White Lightning, but it's easy to forget how even small out and backs can really pack a punch. Pleasant: Kraken at Sea World Orlando B&Ms are pretty predictable after you've ridden more than a dozen, so as a negative G lover I wasn't expecting to really like what was a pretty standard layout. I was surprised to encounter some real fun negative G's. Usually loopers punish you, this one was graceful. Unpleasant: Maverick at CP Oww. Yes, it does things that a lot of coasters haven't done, but that doesn't mean my body enjoys being thrashed about that quickly and abruptly. The headbanging was also the worst I've had outside of an 80's Arrow looper. Unpleasant: Comet at Hersheypark This wasn't painful or anything, but I found the ride relatively forceless and generally uninteresting. I have a lot of family from PA and they all thought Comet was a legend, so it was disappointing to be thoroughly unimpressed by a ride that, if it had the forces I heard it did, would have been right in my wheelhouse.

You were right! That's some wicked foresight. I've sacrificed daily Starbucks, non-packed lunches, beef jerky, and just about every other unnecessary expense so I can take my vacation trip to 4 parks this summer and that's if I escape some sort of misfortune between now and July. I know the value of saving better than many and I find it both laughable and insulting that some think its so easy to get ahead.

Yes, people who have limited incomes shouldn't get to have fun. Theme parks should only be for the rich, as they were designed to be.

They're getting priority boarding after paying for it, it would be completely different if they were getting to skip the line for free, it sucks having to wait, but it is what is. Yes, I get that people have paid for the perk they are getting, and I don't really blame those for doing so if they are able. It makes sense. I just hate the system in the first place, hate that its become another place where society gets stratified when it used to not be that way, and I can't claim that I would be all that gracious to people being paraded in front of me who are having both a better day than me even after I spent a good amount of money. Paying a lot of money for a better experience is a choice that some make, but keep in mind that for many waiting in line, it's not like they made a "choice" to have a worse experience, paying that much is simply not an option so there is no choice involved. I'm going to admit when I'm at a park and I don't have the extra money for fast lane or fast pass, I do get annoyed or maybe the more proper word is jealous, but at the same time, I just shake it off, because I'm not going to let something like that ruin my day, which I feel some people do.. I mean some people can't even afford to get into parks, so just by being there I consider myself fortunate. Yes, some people can't afford to go to parks, which makes it more painful for those who can barely afford it to pay that much and still be given a second class treatment.

They're getting priority boarding after paying for it, it would be completely different if they were getting to skip the line for free, it sucks having to wait, but it is what is. Yes, I get that people have paid for the perk they are getting, and I don't really blame those for doing so if they are able. It makes sense. I just hate the system in the first place, hate that its become another place where society gets stratified when it used to not be that way, and I can't claim that I would be all that gracious to people being paraded in front of me who are having both a better day than me even after I spent a good amount of money. Paying a lot of money for a better experience is a choice that some make, but keep in mind that for many waiting in line, it's not like they made a "choice" to have a worse experience, paying that much is simply not an option so there is no choice involved.

Algengeist's brother Montu in BGT at least absolutely flies through its trim right before the batwing. I don't really ever remember it being that fast or slow after the MCBR though.

I've never understood this as well, they act as if the park picked you specially to have them, I had the same experience with my sister last year at SFGAm, After dropping almost $220 on a platinum flash pass, I got fed up at one point with the rude and snide remarks and I said back to them, that if they wanted to pay me $220, and trade they were more than welcome to, otherwise shut up and enjoy your hour wait. Way to show those poor people! Who are they to expect an enjoyable park experience when there are people in the park with more money?