LiftThrill

I started ranking water slides and rides that are similar to water slides ever since Splashin Safari so here's what I found to be my favorites: 1. Wildebeest (Splashin Safari) - Awesome sensation of speed, airtime, and very long. 2. The Viper (ZDT's) - Ridiculously powerful sensation of speed, super powerful airtime, but pretty short. 3. Dragon's Revenge (Schlitterbahn New Braunfels) - Great theming, fun elements, and a great drop at the end. 4. Mammoth (Splashin Safari) - Super fun banked turns, airtime, and super long. Would place above Dragon's Revenge if there weren't water cannons trying to make you go blind during the entire ride. 5. The Viper's Tail (ZDT's) - Hilarious airtime. 6. Black Knight (Schlitterbahn New Braunfels) - Great sensation of speed, plus there are two of them and the waits are shorter than the other slides. 7. Dragon Slide (Downata Hot Springs) - Just a ton of fun. Great sensation of speed and you can really fly through some of the turns. There are plenty of others but these are the most memorable and fun. Also note that I've only been to a select few waterparks, and that I put flumes, shoot-the-chutes, and rapids rides separate from slides.

This pretty much. Millennium Force, New Texas Giant, Outlaw Run, Maverick, Iron Rattler, The Voyage, Diamondback, ShockWave, Raptor, and Switchback are my answers because that's my top ten. I have had fun on pretty much every coaster I've ridden, but these take the cake.

SFFT 5 year plan (2017-2021) 2017: GCI/Gravity Group style wooden coaster replacing Power Surge and interacting with the Boardwalk 2018: Water park expansion of some sort 2019: Flat ride package 2020: Removal of Boomerang (maybe relocate it somewhere) 2021: Mr Freeze Reverse Blast clone replacing Boomerang, going over the flume and train Sadly, the last two aren't going to happen, but one can dream. More likely is more waterpark/flat ride stuff followed by another ~7mil coaster-related investment, maybe a Chance Hyper GTX. ZDT's 5 year plan (2017-2021) 2017: jam more arcade games into the arcade 2018: another small budget flat 2019: a new water slide 2020: take down the creepy buildings on the far end of the lot and the unused parking lot back there 2021: another pocket coaster in that area in the back of the park Again, none of this will probably ever happen because the park has a tiny budget and is already awesome but if they did do that it would be cool.

Storm Chaser should be fine. All the other RMCs are running great except LR now afaik

Switchback @ ZDT's today totally awesome little ride and the fact that they fit it in such a tiny space makes it even better. oh, and ZDT's rocks too

The inversions aren't as strong in terms of force (just going off what I've heard) but the ride is really great in terms of terrain interaction and general fun. I tried the VR on Superman, and luckily unlike other SF parks the dispatch times were actually not totally awful. Averaged 2.5 minutes which definitely isn't great but better than 7 whatever they're getting at SFNE. I think I prefer the ride without it but the VR is fun and uses fake buildings in place of the cliff, so it's actually sort of cool. Graphics are pretty lame but it was a unique experience and pretty fun.

oh no, it got stuck on the lift time to shut down all coasters ever made Goliath at SFFT got stuck on the lift three times in a row today and it's a Batman clone. They didn't evac it because the train was empty, but they did get it fixed eventually.

Not sure about FT, but Poltergeist and the FoF clones are about average. Mr Freeze clones at SFOT and SFStL I haven't seen break down. I saw Powder Keg at SDC break down once but it only stayed down for ~10 minutes. There's the Premier (and S&S) launch coaster reliability record from my memory.

Kitten

It's a body type thing. I have bony hips so the lap bar really digs into me during the ride when it tightens. They are very comfortable for me until they tighten mid-ride. That being said I do like the lack of headbanging and the way they look. My personal preference for restraints is the B&M clamshells though, those are amazing. as for on topic discussion Clearing the land for fireworks does sort of make sense, because then the fireworks can't accidentally start fires or whatever. I'm not sure if anything of the sort is actually happening but land clearing for fireworks doesn't seem dangerous at all. Parks also usually close coasters and rides that are near their firework shows (I know a bunch of rides at SFFT do)

I'm OK with the vest restraints but the fact that the lap bar tightens mid-ride and you end up with it digging into your hips and collarbone is kind of annoying. I do prefer the old B&M restraints.

Yeah I know, but it also made me think of the old restraints as well.

The second day at Cedar Point was a ton of fun. We got FL+ this day because we wanted to have a more relaxing day and not have to wait in line for Valerie.... I mean Valravn. The line for it looked like at least 90 minutes, even at park opening, so we headed to that first and got assigned to the front row. This is definitely one of my favorite B&Ms. Next was the only other coaster we had missed the day before- Dragster. Luckily it was up and running fairly early that day so we headed onto the front row of that too. It was a little extra wait over the other rows, but totally worth it. The next ride was Maverick because it rocks. FL+ skipped a queue that was easily 30-45 minutes, maybe more. At some point in the day, we also hit up the Cedar Downs Drug Carousel Derby or whatever. That ride is hilarious and awesome. Definitely recommend even if you're not a big carousel or flat ride person. After that we grabbed some average-quality park food and went over to Millennium Force since it's so awesome. The FL line for this is weird and only gets you halfway through the queue but it didn't matter since there was barely anyone there and the crew is lightning fast over at Millie so it was probably ten minutes, max. The next rides were Gatekeeper, then Raptor, another lap on Valerie, Magnum, and Gemini. At one point it started lightly sprinkling. Sadly, the ride we were in line for was Dragster which immediately closed. The rain randomly started getting heavier and heavier to the point where it didn't seem worth staying, so we began the walk back through Frontier Trail (in case the rain stopped and Maverick opened). Then, out of nowhere, a giant roar. It wasn't thunder, it was a MF train. Yes, they were running MF in a downpour. Of course we couldn't skip out on that, right? Skipped a tiny bit of the queue with FL+ and realized that it was pretty much the only thing in the entire park that was operating. Got in line for the second row (bugs and rain go hand in hand and I didn't particularly want either of them in the face. By the time we were situated, the rain had almost entirely died down (lol) but luckily we did get to ride with the track slick from rain and a little sprinkle to the face, and holy crap. This thing can really speed up after and during the rain. Sustained ejector air over the first hill. Overbanks were so forceful they felt like Raptor's corkscrews. Both of the ending hills had ridiculously powerful airtime and the sensation of speed was insane. Wow. Sadly, the rain was still coming down a bit, but we did have to get to Cleveland so we left a little early, but with that as the last ride, who cares? Absolutely amazing. Coaster Reviews: Valravn - Not quite top ten but a very, very solid ride. Definitely an upper tier B&M up there with Raptor and Diamondback. Love the first drop and the whole thing is ridiculously smooth. Vest restraints aren't nearly as bad as those on the wing coasters or Banshee. Top Thrill Dragster - What a rush. It's laughably short but it almost helps you focus on what it does do. So much speed that sitting in the front row feels like your face is about to split off from your head. Super awesome. Sitting in the front row gives an amazing view of Lake Erie at the top. Very fun, ridiculous levels of smooth, and also not quite top ten. Scorecard: Valravn x2 Top Thrill Dragster x1 Maverick x1 Millennium Force x2 Gatekeeper x1 Raptor x1 Magnum XL-200 x1 Gemini (left) x1 There were no top ten changes that happened this day. Now onto some pictures. I lost track of which CP pictures were from which day so I threw in the TTD/Valravn pictures here as well as the ones with rainy weather. Look, it's Valerie- I mean Valravn! The Skyride is amazing and saves a ton of walking. Gatekeeper "theming" Love this ride But I love that ride more Plus it's pretty Frontier Trail comes with a rave tunnel. Awesome first drop Random barnyard animals! This part of Maverick is so photogenic. The Streak is calling... but Maverick is calling more so let's do that instead. Let's use FL+ to skip Valerie's line again. They misspelled Valerie Bad quality phone camera + zoom = weird oil painting quality images Drug carousel. Seriously this thing rocks

Actually, a wing coaster with the old B&M restraints sounds awesome tbh

Swooping turns are one of the random things in coasters that are so awesome. Terrain hugging turns, Maverick's big iconic water-spraying turn after the launch, etc are one of my favorite things in coasters. Plus the pacing looks fantastic and it doesn't look exactly devoid of airtime either. Raik does look like a really cool shuttle coaster.

^ that, a wingrider, or an invert with this styled layout all sound awesome tbh

If Hydra had trims it could be the average enthusiast's least favorite coaster. Trimmed, rattly, and forceless? ouch

^ pretty much, which is funny because Wild Eagle is \technically\ taller and just as buttery smooth

Wild Eagle is sort of like that. Its lift is 210 feet, but the drop is only 135. None of the wing coasters I've been on were that rattly tbh

SFA. Because the time spent there will be about the length of the Gettysburg address.

I will say, based off of POVs I still think I'd prefer Lightning Rod, but that's by a very slim margin. This thing looks ridiculously amazing.

^very true. I also think SF is better at adding small new stuff to all of their parks while keeping the investments economical while CF is focusing on their flagship parks with bigger and more expensive additions and leaving the lower-tier parks to dry. Both seem to be recovering from the recession still, but CF's higher prices do seem to be allowing them more freedom. (note, I'm no economics expert so this is entirely observation and slightly-educated guesses) I mean, Cedar Point and the CF chain in general (at least CP and KI where I've been) do have operations that are waaay better than those at Six Flags. While I agree that the VR probably isn't going to exactly maximize capacity on Iron Dragon, I'm almost certain they'll handle it better than SF which already had average to below-average operations.

Interesting. I was going to be at the park tomorrow and Friday and check out the VR as well as get a ride or two on IRat.

Not necessarily. SF has also put VR on coasters like Ninja and Revolution. If SF was doing it who knows what they'd put it on. Pretty much every coaster at CP would be a candidate.

This 10000x.... Six Flags needs to learn something from Cedar Fair