RollerManic

Its been nine years since I rode Diaster Transport, but it was only two days ago that I rode La Vibora at SFOT. La Vibora was super fun and placed just behind NTAG as my favorite coaster at the park. My favorite thing about the ride were the twisties (that produced an action reminiscent to the swinging of suspended coasters during transitions). I thought the ride made the park really well rounded because it provided snappy transitions that enthusiasts love and was great for families (mine included enjoyed it) I really like the feel of bobsled coasters' transitions and arrow suspended coasters' swinging, even more than Maverick's, i305's, El Toro's, etc. twisties. I think if Diaster Transport were still around today, I would really enjoy it.

I really dislike how everyone uses Grona Land as an example that you can never have enough space. Grona Land looks cool, but it was built that way, with the prospect of pulling rides on each other in mind. Knotts wasn't. Grona Land can pile rides, but it doesn't mean Six Flags or Cedar Fair wants to do so. The Boardwalk is no where near close to comparable to Grona Land, so the argument that the atmosphere of the Boardwalk is already set for stacking rides is invalid IMO. There are still miles of differences between the Boardwalk and Grona Land to settle before they're comparable enough to say that rides might as well be stacked. The dive coaster rumor for SFMM is just some senseless pipe dream sh*t that sounds good to SFMM fanboys, so they've believed in it with dilusion. There is ZERO correlation between the speculation and rumor that because Viper has short lines, it will be replaced by (of all things), SPECIFICALLY, a B&M Dive Coaster. Now that Boomerang is going to be removed, it is safe to speculate what will replace it. If the two ideas pitched so far (both of them having some merit of plausibility to them since California has neither), I think the B&M Dove Coaster is a lot more plausible. SoCal already has a hyper (see: Goliath) and a Dive Coaster would be unique and marketable. The footprint is much smaller than a hyper, but a Dive Coaster can still reach 200 ft. If Knotts puts a large attraction in Boomerang's old spot, its probably going to require a little bit of going over the midway of the ride is to have any decent amount of substance to its layout. A Dive Coaster could manage this by consolidating most of itself over Boomerangs old spot, with a couple of elements over midways in the immediate area (versus a out-and-back hyper that would spend most of its time outside the old plot and the immediate area by nature). However, I'm not going to defend my speculation as anything more than a possiblility. When it happens, it happens, but until then, I'll consider any other reasonable idea for a ride.

I'm at the park today. Judge Roy Scream, Titan, and Oil Derek are closed. Does anyone know why? Skyscreamer is also closed. My guess would be for high winds.

You need to get out and ride more if you think Anaconda is rough.

Thank you. That is great news for me. How should I tackle the park Friday? I have no interest in VR and should be already inside the park when it opens. NTAG is obviously first, but what about after that? Yes, I intend to ride every major attraction, including the 2016 additions. In particular, what rides (other than JLBFM) have single rider lines, and are there any magic seats I should know about?

Is Friday, March 17 a BAFF day?

I'm going to throw a fucking tantrum. I am super concerned after it was announced this morning that Colossus would open for 2017 either. And I was going to go back to SFGADv this year.

I wish they would have worked red somewhere into the color scheme, but, for the most part, I like the colors. I am eager to hear how this ride is received. If it goes well, I hope Cedar Fair will convert the remaining stand-ups and not delay.

Going to cheat here, since I've only been on a few woodies under 75ft, and therefore, I am going to extend my selection to all wooden coasters under 85ft (I haven't ridden Phoenix yet, so there is no danger of going just over 75 ft). American Thunder (82ft)

If something happens to Colossus, I will have no desire to ever visit Heide Park.

Is NTAG still reservation only? Should I expect any chance that it could be running at full capacity when I visit this Friday?

^My first thought when I looked at the picture was "Why the f*ck did Six Flags chose to pave a big patch of concrete around new asphalt??" Jesus Christ - could you make any less sens, SIx Flags?

I actually like I305 for some of the reasons you don't, but I get that the ride isn't going to be everybody's cup of tea. However, I dare say that what I quoted from you is nothing short of blasphemy. What made Mako's first drop wild were the seats and restraints. The super wide seats and the comfy, loose clamshell restraint doesn't hold onto you like i305's OTSRs do. I freaked out on Mako when my pants started to give and allowed me to slide a couple inches out of my restraints. i305 wouldn't allow for that to happen. Additionally, I think how deep you sit into i305's restraints vs Mako's plays a role in how much give you body has with the restraint. The higher the seat or the less deep the seat, the less sense of security. tl;dr: Lapbars > OTSR I dare say that what I quoted from you is nothing short of blasphemy because El Toro's first drop eats i305's first drop and craps it feces all over it. i305's first drop is still a submissive b*tch to Millennium Force's too.

They said it would be beyond vertical.

^... that's because you haven't ridden it. In reality, i305 was a bunch of bland, high g-forces (for whatever parts you don't black out). The transitions are great, but the fraction of a second you spending going over twisties at a stupid-fast speeds is not worth the time you spend greyed out during the (99% of) the rest of the layout. I never will understand the appeal for wanting to be crushed into your seat, going through loooonnng turns and undynamic pacing. The coaster is bland because the forces are so constant, none of the forces are even comfortable, and the sensation of speed sucks because i305 is in a grass field. It blows my mind that people love this. The airtime is too-few and ruined by the OTSR (which, I should mention, by the first airtime hill, have stapled you in to your seat no matter what, thanks to the high g-forces in the flat turn). The drop felt too short. I believe this is another illusion created by perspective and sensation, but it really sucks that a ride so tall doesn't have a very intimidating drop. The airtime on the first drop is good, but feels too in-control and not wild like Mako's. .

The bigger question (to me) is: What's with the grey track? Its clearly painted, not raw.

Why would Cedar Point put money in Magmun or buil anything new on the land it occupies when it is sinking?

If you're visiting SFGAd, everyone will tell you night rides on Nitro are a must. I can't say that because I didn't attempt to ride Nitro at night, but I did snag a ride on El Toro after dark. I had already marathoned El Toro in the magic-seat the day before, but I hadn't moved anywhere near the front. But I took my first front row ride on that nighttime lap, and HOLY JESUS El Toro was a different animal. The night gave a sensation of speed that was out-of-control and a pacing that did NOT SLOW DOWN. I'm not sure how much of a difference (by sensation) the night ride added to the front row expirence (because it was my fist front row lap), but I can contest that the lap became the most memorable coaster expirence ever. Nothing has ever come close to surprising me as that ungodly fast lap did, and especially not from a ride I thought I had already seen everything from. A front row daytime lap, as I mentioned, may be no different, but IMO, most coasters are better at night, so the benefit of the doubt says that it's worh trying one lap at night to see if there's a difference, if you have the chance. I know I loved my nighttime ride and that I do not regret that I spent my last, precious minutes at the park getting that lap.

The first one (condor?) looks to be directly across from where the scrambler used to be (where a patio appears of google maps) and the second looks like it is in the scrambler's spot.

I can't see Excalibur going anywhere. Exacalibur isn't down very often, to my personal experience. I would rather see the entire midway from the Emporium / Panda China to Tsumani Soaker be replaced by a grass field and than see Ninja go.

Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed the maintenance pictures. Big kudos to you for sharing the walk around the park. It seems no one has reported much yet other than the ride maintenance and Mean Streak updates. And WOW! You pictures make that first turn look so tall! I can't believe how much taller it appears from the Power Tower midway. I remember being able to see it just glance over the trees when I visited, but now it dwarfs them.

How do you f*ck up a track piece that just has to be remade? To me it sounds like the design was fine, but the manufacturing of the track lead to an imperfection.

Um ... no. It's real and was already pretty damn apparent from the last photo that it would be an outside banked top hat. There's actually another photo circulating taken looking out the back window of the pickup truck that gives a munch better angle and includes the entire hill in the frame.

How come it wouldn't just timeout? If there is an obstruction too early, too late, or for too long, I would think that even an older ride like Magnum would have some sort of timing feature to stop the train at the pre- or proceeding block. Dangerous and stupid? Yes. Accident-prone? Likely not.

No. The banking of the ledgers doesn't seem it will allow that, unless they can somehow incorperate it into the pullout (which I can't imagine physics would ever allow such a thing.