Capitalize

Honestly the coaster community makes up such a small amount of park guests and everything I doubt any park is really too concerned if we know what they're getting next year...

http://www.intaminworldwide.com/iag/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=22&Itemid=32 Top right of Intamin's own coaster page, "Giga Coaster - This newly developed coaster belongs to the family of ultra high coasters, with a "first-drop" of 92 m resulting in speeds of 150 km/h." 92 m = 300+ft. So it isn't just a buzzword CP and their marketing people invented for MF that doesn't mean anything to Intamin.

Perhaps a bit early as of now (without any official announcement, or confirmation), but I'll go ahead and give myself a small pat on the back. At the beginning of this thread I said I could see them getting an Intamin over a B&M in 2010! So we can pat each other on the back!

Hell yeah... This is going to be awesome.

Apparently more track has shown up according to Coaster Crew's twitter. Transfer track of sorts they say.

Hypersonic disagrees with this... If a ride is a maintenance problem (and a massive wooden coaster that tears itself apart like SOB does definitely qualifies) at some point it will more then likely go because its just not worth having around any more. You need to be getting a return on your investment, at some point that time is going to come with SOB. I rode SOB two times, both in the front seat. I rode with the old trains and loop, and I rode with no loop and the "new" G-trains. Both times it was incredibly awful, the second time even more so. There is no airtime, the layout is incredibly uninteresting and at times slows to a crawl (at the top of the second helix for example), but even still manages to be waaay to rough. I don;t mind a rough coaster, but I need to get something in return for getting beaten up. Grizzly comes to mind. I think Grizzly at KD is a nice wooden coaster. It can be rough, but it also gives some nice airtime and laterals so its totally worth it. SOB is just rough with no redeeming qualities at all. If I went back to the park I would ride it again if it was open, but I wouldn't be sad to see it torn down.

Give me an "N" - N! Give me an "O" - O! What's that spell? NO! Seriously, every single sign points to this being an Intamin at this point. What makes you think it is a Vekoma as of now? I can't believe people thought that "UFO" was news worthy, slow news day...

Hopefully its an Intamin so my guess at the beginning this thread comes to fruition...

I've been to RIchmond International Raceway many times during race weekends (best way to spend a Saturday for me, going to KD for some coasters, then driving down 95 and watching some great racing at a great track.) But the crowds are pretty much exactly the same as any other day in my experiences. The races don't attract or take away any people from the parks. I'd suspect HP will be the same way.

Cedar Point's sign rain policy is one of the things I hate about the park. There's no thought put into it. They cover the signs well before the rain comes. Sometimes the rain misses (like it did two weeks ago), so people are left not looking at signs for no reason. The practice of going down to one-sign operation during or after rain is ridiculous. Magnum's got a soil sign base. Taking the signs off MF and Maverick is completely ridiculous because the sign bases are concrete. It's like the person who makes the decisions doesn't work with the sign maintenance people and has no concept of how roller coaster signs work. The park needs to go back to the old policy of keeping the signs out for everything except TTD and Raptor in the rain. There is no viewing safety issue. And covering up every sign down well before the rain may or may not come is just going to get people angry. I propose that all of us who have been to the park and not been allowed to view during, before or after a rainstorm write the park. The contact form is here. I know Cedar Point takes lots of complaints seriously (they changed a menu board policy in early 2005 because of complaints). I doubt we can make a difference, but we could at least possibly get them to think about how stupid this is. Just plain awesome...

I really dig it, that is a really spiffy sign. On the topic of whether or not Magnum is a "good" ride, I really disliked it the first time I went to Cedar Point in 1999. I found it to be really pretty painful and not at all up to the hype. It also didn't help that at the time it was the largest coaster, and easily one of the most popular, at the Point and the line on both days of my trip was massive. Since then I've made a couple more trips - in 2001 and 2007 and each time Magnum has become a better and better ride in my mind. I dunno if a lot has to do with the line never being longer then 15-30 minutes for me during my trips, allowing more rides and a chance to better enjoy the ride all in all or what. But I find the more I ride Magnum the more and more I enjoy it.

Nice TR and pics! BGE is really just an amazing park through and through, easily one of the best coaster collections out there. As far as AC vs. Nitro normally I think I enjoy Apollo a bit more. It has such an interesting layout and some really nice ejector airtime on a couple hills. Although Nitro's hammerhead and constant floater air makes it close. I definitely prefer Sheikra to Griffon. Sheikra to me has such awesome theming around it, while with Griffon I feel like they just kind of tossed the water splash in there just for the heck of it. Sheikra has a more interesting layout as well, imo. The one thing Griffon definitely has though is integrating the paths with the first drop and immelman. Thats definitely one thing I wish Sheikra did better.

I wouldn't call that "rough" really. Just very forceful, intense transitions. After a ride or two you are better prepared for what is coming. I always found Alpie to be a good ride because it was just smooth enough while still having enough forces to be an intense ride. Very true, imo. The final turn on Raptor has more of a whip to it then Alpie's MCBR turn. I guess it all depends on what you like. If you want to ride a coaster that will toss you around a little bit in the inversions, you'll like Alpengeist.

My local parks are SFA (30 minutes or so away) and KD (1-1.5 hours). I'll normally go to SFA once a week or every other week. KD once a month or so.

I really enjoyed my rides in the back seat a few years back, scary ejector airtime and head choppers back there. I think Wild One @ SFA is generally underrated. It one of the oldest coasters in the world and gives a fantastic, smooth ride with some really nice airtime no matter where you sit. And the helix finale is some of the craziest laterals you'll see anywhere. Although its been modified over the years and apparently these changes hurt the ride I still think its awesome.

I think SFA biggest problem is maintenance and capacity, having worked and attended the park for ages now I typically come up with explanations why these areas are so bad for the park. But based on what Shapiro said while visiting the park hopefully things will improve. I can't see people calling SFA's guests worse then any other. Most parks I go to I see more cutting in lines and more general rudeness by guests then I do on most days at SFA. Especially parks like SFGAdv come to mind. I love the park but absolutely despise the guests, every time I go there I almost get in fights with people over cutting in lines and such. I think a lot of that goes without notice in the enthusiast circles because many who go there go for the flash passes and don't see very much of that.

I'm a woooooooo type of person. That and "woah!" and "yeah!"...

every park I go to has the game booth ops trying to get people over to play... Some more aggressive then others I guess.

I can't exactly back this up, since I have never been to SFA, but from what I have heard, the park is not the best in the world. A family goes to SFA. They don't have a lot to do compared to other parks. Like SFMM, it is focused more on thrill rides and not family rides. That is why Thomas Town will be good for the park. But after a family that had went there before Thomas Town comes, I'm sure that family didn't have a lot of fun. So what will make them come back? Thomas Town? Not enough. Plus, the park is in a bad area and gets a bad crowd, putting it even farther away from "family friendly". "Bad area"? I'd love to know where you're going with this. Nothing says "bad area" more then suburbia! A nice new housing development right across the street sure is terrible. I especially hate all those undeveloped woods around the park, really bad stuff there. Nothing says "bad area" more then the well kept townhouses and shopping center down the road, as well. I mean wow, terrible area! What a joke. You even just said you have never been there so more or less is just talking out your ars... while you are correct about PG County being the richest African American county in the state, I believe one big reason why so many people consider SFA and the like to be in a "bad area" can be traced back to the now defunct Capital Centre arena and the now defunct Landover Mall..both of which are close to SFA. For years many of the old DC retail chains like Hechts for example claimed the mall said the surrounding region was "in a bad area". Hechts I believe Hechts even refused to fully stock that store with its upscale items because of that. of course on the flip side that mall did have problems with management so maybe that "its in a bad area" was just an excuse on the part of Hechts. Then there was the Cap Center. Before MCI Center ( or whatever it is now ) was built, I remember watching DC TV about how so many people wanted a new arena to be built so they would "feel safe". However to my knowledge I don't recall anyone ever dying at the old Cap Centre. Fights? Drug Use? Sure..that has happened at ALL sports arenas at one time or another. But murders? People disappearing and were never seen again? The rumors I remember hearing but did those actually happen? Doubt it. Capital Centre was blown up years ago and a nice new shopping center sits where it was.

El Toro

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/business/Six_Flags_Offers_Season_Pass_for_Same_Price_as_One-Day_Ticket_Washington_DC.html Mark Shapiro visits and talks about SFA. Sounds like a lot of talking up nothing like normal followed by empty promises about employees and maintenance. I would like to be optimistic that either of those areas actually improve, but promising better operations and rides being open all the time is too much. I'd like to see a new coaster, but they don't need one. Their collection is great right now (a bit less with out two face). I'd be fine with some decent flats/dark ride and if they could keep the coasters running consistently.

Looks pretty awesome. What ship(s) go there?

What do you mean when you say the track looks beat up? Like in what way I mean? Great pictures, by the way!

The worst is when they get pissed and start saying "But they've already ridden it X amount of times today!" Which they're lying about 99% of the time. Every time I see that special on Comedy Central I change the channel because of that... Speaking of people taking shoes off, we had to tell a few people per day that they had to keep their shoes on while riding a wooden coaster... "What if they fall off???" Oy... What if the ride gets stuck on the lift and you have to walk back down? Have fun getting all those splinters out of your feet....

Man this ride is looking great. Hopefully all this crane/lift/whatever is actually happening business is resolved quickly.