Coaster Hero

Kingda Ka a few days ago. Final Train of the day! Now that I mention it when we got back to the station I'm not sure what went wrong but for some reason the Ops couldn't let us out of the train so we just waited there in the empty station with only the ops to talk to for like 20-30 minutes (and to occasionally annoy them by asking for a second ride even though they couldn't because of the train limit). All I can say is, I got really up close and personal with the Intamin trains!

I'd say you have a choice at opening. Either head to El Toro as it doesn't have too long lines in the AM and you can get a few re-rides, or go to Nitro as the entire section of the park isn't crowded in the morning (though with Namtab this probably wouldn't be the case). By the way Kingda Ka tends to HAUL in the morning so that's my suggestion of course EDIT: My mistake, I meant to type in Ka but I was thinking of El Toro so I typed that instead by accident

^Yeah there's no point in putting more "free" lapbars on that thing, the g's are so intense that you can't put your hands up much anyway Though I don't really see why clearance issues wouldn't allow lapbars; some people put their hands up on Intamins with the OTSR's anyway

Unless you do it right. Then height and speed become a huge plus to the ride. Though I'd be perfectly happy with something like the dueling Premier, the giga coaster is really my personal pipe dream for the park.

^ Remember when B&M hyper coasters first got popular, and at first it was Six Flags installing them left and right? After that starting with Behemoth Cedar Fair started installing them in their parks. Perhaps history may repeat itself and in the future Six Flags may start to install them. But for now it doesn't seem like a giga coaster is coming to any Six Flags park unfortunately

Now things get interesting!

MF, TTD, and Maverick would like to have a word with you

I know that the SFNE version will get new trains (the question is when?) but I haven't heard anything about the S:ROS version getting new trains.

I can't say for other Intamins, but I know for a fact that Kingda Ka's flexible OTSR's were recently replaced with ones that are shorter; I used to have no problem with it, but now they really press into my shoulders and the pullup can be brutal. I really dislike the shorter restraints on them, and I hope the Intamins at HP don't get them. The new padded ones like on Maverick and I305 would be great on Stormrunner. They're a bit heavy and restrictive, but they're lightyears better than the flexible ones, and I was free to put my hands up on I305 (not that I could anyway ) where I first experienced them.

I tried Namtab twice last week, once in the "back" and once in the "front", and it's extremely intense. Not seeing the elements in front of you and not being able to anticipate them makes it even crazier than it already is. I enjoyed it, but it's not very re-rideable and definitely should be limited run

^Great TR! I completely agree with your opinion of the park and especially I305

Here's my TR from today!Note that I had very limited time, and I managed to do all this in less than 2 hours! Six Flags America Ride Count: ROAR! : x1 Apocalypse: x1 Wild One: x1 Superman Ride Of Steel: x1 We arrived at the park on the way back from VA for a very quick stop. I decided to go on ROAR! since it's clone at SFDK is being RMC'd so I'd know the layout firsthand.The park was pretty empty so there was no line at all. Aside from the PTC's and the ride ops not allowing you to push down your own lapbar, I saw nothing that was *that* bad about it. It had some speed, some decent airtime, and great lats. Overall: 6.25/10 Dispatches: Slow After that it was time to experience some history by going on Apocalypse, B&M's first coaster. The trains were really different,but everything else was largely the same. The ride op put my restraint too tight so it was painful on my collerbone. It's not *too rough* with not that much headbanging, and the positive g's aren't enough to really hurt your feet/legs like the newer ones. The corkscrew and S-hill were atrocious though (for B&M's standards at least) Overall: 6.5/10 Dispatches: Very slow I was taking a liking to wooden coasters so we went on Wild One next. No line at all, and it had some pretty good airtime. The double up/down were a bit forceless though. The lats were crazy, and the unusual seat divider on PTC's were really useful. Overall: 5/10 Dispatches: Very slow I was running out of time and I knew I had to get my ride on Superman: Ride of Steel, the main reason I came. It was only a station wait but the 15 minute dispatches combined with the 1 train ops made it 45 minutes. Since I was already late, I just rode the row with the shortest wait which was the third row. This ride is severely underrated. The first drop was actually great, the helixes had a great of mix of positives and laterels. The first airtime hill didn't have too much air, but every airtime hill after that delivered ejector air. The straightway didn't detract from the ride at all, but didn't really add much to it. It felt sort of pointless. Overall: 8/10 Dispatches: Ridiculously slow After that we headed out, stopping by the bridge over the giant flume, getting soaked despite only being on the stairs. This park has a really nice, friendly environment, and though the park was empty I feel that a great, knockout coaster will bring this park back to glory

^^^It will be September 3rd this year. A bit later than last year's August 28th announcement.

Superman: Ride of Steel @ Six Flags America

For me it's definitely a hydraulic launch, and the only Intamin Accelerators I've been on are Kingda Ka and Stormrunner. Stormrunner's launch actually felt very powerful despite its slow (compared to KK) speed. Kingda Ka's launch is nuts though, just when you think you've hit top speed, you just keep on accelerating. It's ridiculous.

^this guy does I never knew Intamin twisty-track looked this good covered in plastic!

pics or it didn't happen! I actually wouldn't be surprised if it were true, dive coasters have a pretty "involved" building process. My question is, why recieve supports before pouring the footers? (if they haven't already). Even for Fury 325 which is much larger than what this will be, the footers were poured before the announcement and then the track and supports arrived. I'm going to reserve my judgement until pictures are posted.

Here's my TR, and though I just copied and pasted out of notepad, I'm gonna add my 2 cents at the end. King's Dominion Ride Count: Volcano x1 Avalanche x1 Dominator x1 Drop Tower x1 Windseeker x1 Grizzly x2 Hurler x1 Rebel Yell x1 Intimidator 305 x3 Flight of Fear x1 I arrived at the park at about noon due to heavy traffic on the way. I took the general advice of heading straight to Volcano, and the wait was about 2 hours because I arrived so late. The tv's in the queue made the wait a bit less mind-numbing. The station was pretty empty though so we waited for the front. The launches were a lot better than expected, and I loved the part after the second launch where you go inside the Volcano and you can see all of the supports inside. Overall: 8/10 Dispatches: Relatively quick At this point I knew that If I didn't buy a Fastlane I would get maximum 3 coasters so I went ahead and bought it once I saw I305's line extending way out of the queue all the way to the entrance plaza past the gift shop. I walked right up to the entrance and hopped on the 4th row (I hate how you can't get front row access with the Fast Lane). It was great, but not as great as the last time I rode it. The drop was really lackluster and really stood out as forceless. I blacked out the first turn though. I would ride a few more times later in the day. Overall :8.5/10 Dispatches: Fast I decided to try out Avalanche next since it looked like a cool concept. It was also my first bobsled coaster, and it was a fun experience. Overall: 6/10 Dispatches: Fairly quick I headed over to Dominator next. Walked right on and got the second row. It was very smooth, even smoother than the last time I rode it. I got lots of air on the drop after the (really high) MCBR. Overall: 7.5/10 Dispatches: Relatively slow I was thinking of going on Shockwave for the final time but I saw the line extending way out of the queue and knowing Shockwave's historically slow dispatches I figured it was a 2+ hour wait due to there being no Fast Lane entrance. I skipped since I rode it last year I headed to Drop Tower after that. The drop had tons of air and it provided a nice view. Dispatches: Very slow Windseeker was next. I had already been on SFGadv's Skyscreamer so I was a little prepared. It's a very pleasant ride; great view, a nice entrance area, relaxing music, and very comfortable seating. I loved it, not too thrilling but a very nice breather in my day. The metal bar feels much more "secure" than the chain on the Skyscreamers so that takes away from the thrill of it a bit. Dispatches: Extremely slow I saw Grizzly nearby so I went on (had a little difficulty locating it with the gift shop in the way). It was completely empty, no need for the Fast Lane! The ride ops kept warning people not to touch the fence on the catwalks (and even joked that she would stop the lift if she saw anyone doing it!) but people still did it anyway. It had some great air and lats too. I went on twice because of the non-existant lines. Overall: 6/10 Dispatches: Mediocre I decided to see if Hurler really was as bad as everyone keeps saying. Short answer: Yes. Long answer: It had some airtime, but the turns were absolutely brutal, especially the first one (which was like illegally rough). #RMCHurler2017 (I actually heard someone who seemed to be a GP mention that they should bring in RMC to upgrade the ride. Maybe an enthusiast? ) Overall: 3/10 Dispatches: Decent Rebel Yell had some pretty decent airtime, but the dispatch was really off sync so the other side ended up destroying us in the race XD. We made it first back to the station though so technically we won! Overall: 4.5/10 Dispatches: Slow The lines for all of the other rides were really long so I decided it was time for some more rides on I305. I hopped on the third row just to see if the previous ride was really as stange as the one before and it was. I blacked out again after the first drop, which was again forceless for some reason. Overall 8.5/10 Right after that I would discover the secret of I305. I discovered it's definitely a back seat ride. I hopped on the back car right after, and the cable lift was much more nerve-racking because by the time you exit the station the lift is at full speed. Now the drop: It was 10000x better in the back. With all that speed from the lift and being in the back, you get absolutely DRAGGED over the crest. I got so much airtime I slammed into the OTSR's and I had the most insane blackout on that ride I had ever experienced. (Did I mention it was 90 degrees with the RealFeel at 105 degrees and I had not that much to drink that day?) I could see *nothing but black until the bottom of the airtime hill (usually I can see halfway up the first hill, and that's what most people tell me). It was definitely the best ride on I305 I've ever gotten and the best ride I've ever been on. It blew my expectations away in all honesty. Overall: 10/10 I had a few minutes left so I decided to try out Flight of Fear. I didn't know much about it at all and didn't expect anything. The launch was pretty intense and the ride was infinitely better than I had expected. The trains though were very cramped. Overall: 7.75/10 Dispatches: Fast After that it was time to leave. I had an absolute blast at the park, and the Fast Lane was definitely worth it. I loved the park itself and the rides were great. I hope to come back really soon! *Note. It was so hot that day that our car overheated and wouldn't start. We were lucky enough to find a really nice policeman who helped us jumpstart it! RANT Now for the spare change (see what I did there?). I305 is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. Especially with the blacking out; it's not really a design "flaw", but an unintended consequence which has become a core part of the ride. I went Saturday and paid extra attention to the people at the park, conversing and asking what others think. The first question I always got asked (after being asked if it was my first time) was "Did you black out?" I know not everyone enjoys blacking out, but from what I saw it's an exhilerating experience that people actually seem to enjoy. I paid attention to people's faces at the brake run, and every single one of them had the "WTF just happened?" look on their face. People were laughing and clapping, and I didn't see a single look of regret. The only other manufacture I can think of that can get those "WTF" reactions is RMC, especially with Wicked Cyclone. Carowinds and King's Dominion got very different rides for different types of people. Fury 325 is a well rounded coaster, doing well in every category and basically surpassing I305 in every statistic. But I305 eats it alive in the intensity department. Intensity is a very raw and new aspect/factor of roller coasters. I305 was first (unless you count Maverick), followed by Skyrush, then some of the RMC's. A focus on positive g's and quick transitions is rather new, and it's a polarizing one. The majority love it, but there are a few who simply don't enjoy the experience. I guess people just love having their body's limits pushed around and being scared for their lives until they realized that their lives aren't in danger at all, and that the whole thing was exhilarating. I305 was like nothing anyone had seen when it debuted, and whether the public was ready for a ride of that intensity is debatable, but you have to take that first big step eventually, and that's what I305 did. Now people are getting used to highly agressive rides and love them, and this category will definitely continue to be opened up. By the way to all of you complaining about the lack of airtime on I305, I got slammed into my restraints more than I can count yesterday. The only complaint is the trim hill, but whatever . I have a lot more to say, but I'll wait until a few more thoughts get posted because this post is getting excessively long . For now let's get back to our regular discussion!

Off topic but I noticed something weird on the website. On the site it says a Fast Lane + is $55 (with fees), but when I checkout the price raises all the way to $70 with fees. Why is this? Is the price any different in the park? I had only planned on spending 55-60 dollars but now that it's close to 80 I realize it may not be worth it (besides, I don't even have that much on me anyway)

^Kudos to them for not making it a clickbait headliner like "Rougarou coaster at Cedar Point strands riders helplessly for hours" or something like that. Also that hypothetical situation would also apply if this were in England

I really don't know why, but when it was announced that it would be 200+ ft (and the manufacture wasn't announced) many people didn't want it to be a B&M because their hypers were "forceless" or "tame" (even though I completely disagree, I love B&M hypers! ). Also, yes I was making a quip about Diamondback

Skyrush is another very intense coaster that fixed what I305 didn't deliver completely on; intense, ejector air time on every single hill. I think that coaster wins against any other coaster in that category, save El Toro depending on your opinion. So intensity can mean a lot of things. Positive g's, negative g's, a killer drop, sustained speed, insane pacing, and more. It just depends on your taste. Personally I haven't been on F325 (unfortunately I won't get to for a long while) but I have been on I305 so that's where my perspective is coming from. However, I might get to ride Leviathan in August to have a B&M giga to compare!

^true that Oh, and by the way I just got a survey last night about comic book villains from Six Flags (i.e. How much you're familiar with them, and how much you'd like to see them in future attractions). Some of them were actually Marvel characters! I'd link but the link in the email no longer works.

^ In all seriousness though, I think the new trains have something to do with it. It's an old track with new trains with a different heartline (if that even matters), so it may run/pace differently. However, in the off ride pov's it looked like it was hauling, much faster than as Mantis. Rides do valley sometimes at CP like Raptor for example so this isn't anything too major. At least at the point where it valleyed it would be a relatively easy evac.

^Everyone says B&M hypers are tame unless the discussion comes to Diamondback (for some wierd reason) I'm sure Mako will not disappoint, and will be a very "complete" ride