RollerManic

Personally, I think that it's a bit out of character for Busch Gardens Williamsburg of all places to have a 300+ foot tall coaster tower sticking up over the trees. I've still thought that even the heights of Alpengeist and Griffon are cutting it close. I agree with this. Believe me, any other day I’d be excited for a 300ft+ coaster, and I still will be when this thing is announced, but I’m not overly excited about the idea of a 300ft+ ride at BGW because it sounds out of place (especially when the rumors point to a Red-Force style ride).

Sure sounds like a Free Fly X then (what they were dubbing it a few years ago at IAAPA). Glad to see some substance on this thing - I really liked the concept when I first saw it.

A giga so soon after Pantheon? I will be believe it when we see it but this is Seaworld after all and their investments have been crazy lately (and I absolutely love it).

How much are the skip the line passes? I’m strongly considering buying one.

It’s $40 person person this year for the base-level pass. I’ve watched over the years as the mazes have gotten drastically more expensive and underwhelming... buying into them last year was the last time I made that mistake. I can’t believe the WoF mazes are free as someone who’s grown up going to SFSTL. I’ve also always heard that WoF’s were superior as well.

Wait. What?? Haunt mazes are free? Why the f**k have I been going to Fright Fest all these years?

Went to Fright Fest Sunday afternoon with some friends. We arrived at 2:00 and got more riding than any of my recent previous visits (all of which were also slower days). Lines were short and we didn't have to wait more than a station wait for anything but Eagle and Freeze, both of which were 10-20 min waits at best. All the rides were running the best they have in many years. For the first time in five years, I was able to marathon the Boss (in any row) and boy, was it hauling at night at the bottom of the first drop. It crawled through the rest of the course obviously, but it was still fantastic. I'll reiterate what I've said before - I'd rather GCI come in and Ghostrider The Boss than see RMC come and chop out half of the layout (which will be Six Flag's fault for being cheap, nothing wrong on RMC's end). American Thunder was as smooth as opening day (as it's always been, kudos to the maintenance team) but a little weaker than usual. Screamin' Eagle was actually the roughest of all three of the woodies and could really use some love, but provided the strongest /most wild night ride I've had on it in many years. We are blessed with some truly fantastic wooden coasters when they all run well and it's one of two saving graces (the other being my love for Fright Fest) that has been keeping me coming back all these years. Batman was also hauling a$$ yesterday and was extra snappy in the back. I don't usually ride in the back on rides because I grey out very easily and it's an unpleasant experience for me, but for some reason I didn't grey even once on Batman. I definitely enjoy rides much more when this happens. The scarezones this year seemed better decorated but ironically understaffed. I'm not sure if this was a staffing issue because it was a Sunday or just the normal this year. I didn't bother to try any of the mazes because I was disappointed in them last year and they seem to just get more expensive by the year. I'm headed to WoF in two weeks anyway, so I'm saving my money for some much higher quality thrills. Got to ride Dragon's Wing this visit - they were running a special for $15 rides, and I used my BOGO membership benefit to split a double ride with my friend and bringing the price down to $8 per person total after tax. What a deal! I've only previously ridden it once years ago because of the expensive price, but this truly was a once-in-a-lifetime moment, especially being able to share it with a friend who said he never imagined riding it one day. He loved it! Taking a final look at the hill were the go carts sit, it's surely going to look empty next year. I might actually miss those stinky things and the way they winded under The Boss's queue. I'm excited for the new ride, but probably (even after this surprising visit) will be sticking with my decision not to renew my pass next year, marking the first time I can recall that I won't. The park doesn't offer me enough and won't unless things stay on the table, so I'm taking the year off. This visit was an the outlier to all my previous visits in the last several years that not been very spectacular, and I've been traveling more to other parks anyway. This year I hit a record seven different parks, including (after my WoF visit in two weeks) all the Missouri parks, with a second SDC visit planned for December, so the only way I'll end up with a pass next year is if I hit a different Six Flags park.

A bigger crane is one site but needs assembled still. Last I saw it’s in the parking lot.

^Me too, I got as many rides of Wicked Twister this past visit as I did Maverick and Steel Vengeance and I am very happy about it now. I'd have to say it's my third or fourth favorite in the park.

I've been dreaming of this since the start of this rumor years ago, especially since Wicked Twister is one of my favorite rides of all time and Dorney Park and Valleyfair (the two most comparable parks in the chain) have impulse coasters. It's the perfect fit for a park that hasn't gotten a coaster in 10 years and likely won't see any ground-up major investment, and it fills the launch coaster gap. However, Wicked Twister is only good for that twisted back spike. Take out the back spike and it means nothing to me anymore; I could then care less if the ride is scrapped because at the point the ride is dead to me. There are five other Impulse coasters with vertical rear spikes you can go ride if you wanted, but none other that have an awesome back spike that sends you screaming up backwards into some blissful laterals and then gives you an unobstructed view straight down 200ft. The ride has serious problems with the sensors and resetting itself in the station and cost a lot to run each cycle. If it's relocated it's going to need a serious overall of the operating system. I can foresee CF justify the expense to have someone like IOE come in and overhaul the system if it's relocated (as in the grand scheme of things it would still be a good, cheap investment for another park) but I can also see them just wanting to be done with the ride and no other park wanting to spend the money operating it. I also fear them relocating it to CGA since they have an Intamin Impulse coaster in their master plan, in which case I'll get to ride it less frequently than I already do. Please Cedar Fair, Worlds of Fun will take it!

The next one to go will actually be Wicked Twister, which according to a friend who worked at the Point this summer will not open for 2020 or if it does will be it’s last season. RIP another Intamin impulse coaster. Hopefully it will be relocated, but I have doubts.

The extra down after the first drop and racing through the structure is one of the best starts to any coaster ever, I think (too bad the rest sucks). Glad you enjoyed it!

I too have been around St. Louis much of my life and while the City Museum is one of my favorite places ever, but for whatever I've always taken it for granted and have only visited a few of times - but unlike you, I've come to realize this recently and have felt very bad about it. The place is an utter anomaly in this world we live in today, and yet I've always just assumed that it will always be around later in the same capacity for me to visit again someday (which is why I never visit), It's a dangerous thought and I should know better. With this news, I am now planning a trip back there with couple friends this fall, and looking forward, visiting more frequently in the future.

Speaking of erections, it never fails to impress me how big B&M track is: Source

Energylandia sounds a lot like Carowinds to me which was a park I actively don’t care for. The top few coasters are great but the rest of the park just falls off after that, and it’s the most generic of the Cedar Fair parks I’ve been to. At least the saving grace of some of the other parks is that they are very pretty or have a lot of charm (KBF tops my favorite theme park/amusement park list for just that) but I didn’t find that with Carowinds. I could also be biased because it was 100 deg and humid on the day I went and being outside was unbearable. However, I still want to visit Energylandia someday for the same reason I ever wanted to visit Carowinds: for the top 3. I expected (correctly) that I wouldn’t care much for Carowinds as a whole by the lack of depth in their collection, but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t go just to ride Fury, Intimidator, and Copperhead Strike at least. Hyperion, Zadra, and Formula look awesome regardless; it’s only too bad they aren’t in a better park.

^Bizarro is also my favorite floorless. Best zero-g roll on any B&M. Good layout and the effects really add to the ending.

Ghostrider. Not entirely underrated, but I believe the vast majority of people that haven’t ridden it since the refurb just don’t appreciate how good it is. EASILY top 10 stuff.

Honestly I’d rather see an RMC Raptor come to the park (even over RMC Boss) but we know that’s not going to happen.

I would dully like to note that La Vibora is one of my favorite rides ever and that I’m not sure what these people are smoking. Intamin Bobsleds are dying, so give the ride a chance before you regret it.

Boss is a lost cause but Eagle and American Thunder are fantastic, especially if you compare American Thunder to it’s one-year younger sister one the other side of the state that’s not doing so well. I don’t think maintenance has given up on the Boss, just maybe that they don’t need to worry about it as much anymore...

I think the name is dumb too and I also think that Steel Vengeance is a dumb name ... but Steel Vengeance is my #3 coaster overall and I think that Iron Gwazi has the potential to be an even better coaster (dare I say), so who cares?

Final prediction, I think it's going to be a B&M! You're probably right honestly, I just am excited to see some nice bright RMC track, it just looks great on the wood structure. So much of the original structure is already gone that it’s almost hardly a conversion lol ... it’s practically like it’s being built from the ground up like Zadra. And I can only imagine that the 200+ft tall lift is going to be metal like Zadra and Goliath given the space constraints and that we haven’t seen a straight, inclined structure remain that would appear to be the start of a lift.

Final predictions: after seeing how much of the structure is now low to the ground, and with a bunch of very tall swooping curves, I believe this ride will be a lot more like Zadra than Steel Vengeance. A longer Zadra would be an strong contender to Steel Vengeance in my mind.

Supposedly, GCI use a much harder wood for the track on Ghostrider which is why it has been holding up so particularly well since the refurb. All GCI’s can hold up really well if the park takes care of them, so my guess is that if Gold Striker is getting rougher, it’s the park’s fault. It’s pretty incredible how, for example, the two Missouri GCI’s, both in the same climates but on opposite sides of the state, and built within a year of each other, can be so starkly different. American Thunder is one of the smoothest GCI’s still to-date (because it receives lots of love over every off-season), while Prowler has become awful.

1. Raptor 2. Alpengeist 3. Montu 4. Batman clones 5. Dragons - Fire Just because I'm already halfway there now ... 6. Dragons - Ice 8. Great Bear 9. Silver Bullet 10. Afterburn 11. Patriot 12. Banshee