BigBad

I think the thin vertical part of the I-beam teack would end up getting pulverized. If a car were hanging off the the side, then imagine the amount of torque twisting that middle piece during a high-G maneuver. Something like that (cross it with the Raptor idea) could work to bring to life that splitting coaster idea from RCT3, but it seems impossible for this particular coaster.

That's the second big hill, right? If so, then I think we all noticed it and most certainly approve!

I love that idea. A whole new section to make a joke seems excessive, but the idea still makes me laugh.

Is it rough in terms of shaking or in terms of track design? Put differently, if you viewed the coaster POV in NoLimits, would it be rough? Edit: The question is for more than ^him.

A spinner would fit in their lineup and be unlike anything at nearby parks. I was thinking of an RMC. It's not a wooden coaster that's missing from their lineup, but an RMC wouldn't be a wooden coaster like they would get from GCI or GG or like what they have. RMC is the hot new manufacturer, so if they were to go with a wooden roller coaster, I'd expect RMC much more than GCI or GG. But that doesn't diversify the lineup or distinguish it from the nearby rivals (KK and KI) as much as a couple of other coaster styles would: 1. B&M Flyer (yes, KI has Firehawk, but Firehawk typically is disliked) 2. Mega-lite, either Mack or Intamin 3. B&M looper 4. Some other kind of RMC (T-Rex or non-conversion hybrid) 5. A more conventional-style launch coaster than Thunderbird (e.g. Maverick, Taron, Helix, iSpeed) There are varying degrees of wishful thinking in that list, but all of those styles could be designed to fit within about the same budget as Thunderbird.

This is my take on the possibility of a dueling Mean Streak: not happening. The evidence is in the construction. We know too much about the layout without having had RMC build track nearby to make for a duel. But I do think there's something that we're missing. Construction is zipping along and hasn't stopped while the park has been open. For this not to open in 2017 would require something to happen that we're not expecting. I think this coaster will have some kind of trick to it, and very little would surprise me. As far as "They're coming" goes, I think it refers to RMC in general while being a good way to troll people about a dueling Mean Streak conversion. RMC is coming to Cedar Fair. We know about Mean Streak and Hurler for 2018. There are a couple of other wooden coasters in the chain where RMC conversions have been speculated (CW's Minebuster), and I don't think RMC will be done with Cedar Point after the Mean Streak conversion is done. If RMC is to become a premiere coaster company, major parks should have more than one RMC coaster. Cedar Point has multiple B&M and Intamin coasters (and multiple Arrow coasters from when Arrow was the big dog), so eventually having multiple RMCs seems reasonable.

I think we have to call the doctor after making jokes about this for more than four hours.

Are those painted plastic or real stone? I kind of think the latter. They look hard as a rock.

I do see a way to do a flat launch. Elevator lift up to some height, then launch. And bring in S&S to do the launch so we can have a launch at 3G like that coaster in Japan. So they're not doing that. Mavericks isn't the only launch up an incline, though. Kingda Ka launches up a slight incline that's obvious from the Zum line. Storm Runner also is a slight incline. I'd imagine that all of the cable launch coasters have inclined launches. Probably Premier's original LIM design has a slight incline (though I've not observed it).

I've ridden Nitro several times every year for at least ten years, and I've finally figured out what I like so much about that first hill. It starts off as floater air and then turns sideways. I always expect to fall to my left, but I don't. I'm on my side wondering when I'm going to slide that way, but I never do! It's a very well executed combination of force and visual.

^By the new Mack water coaster, do you mean the "power splash" that they built in Belgium, Pulsar? I certainly am! I don't think any of this hypercoaster business is likely. I like the suggestion about a small wood coaster like either of those two around Orlando.

I've heard that about the airport many times. A way to get around it is to build to 180 or so and then tunnel underground (or exploit a terrain feature), or they could just build an honorary hyper like Goliath at La Ronde. Nothing says it would have to be B&M. While we're fantasizing, how about the third Intamin hyper wing?

Is a retracking by the Gravity Group out of the question?

The set has been setting a bit after 8pm in Philly, so you're not going to get any true night rides. Zumanjaro faces west, so that could be a nice ride if there is a sunset worth seeing. I've ridden Bizarro at night and wasn't particularly impressed, so if you get back for true night rides, that should be prioritized below Nitro and El Toro. The fireball on Bizarro seems like it would be cool at night, but I wasn't blown away. Nitro has this awesome feel where you're away from everything. It isn't like the Beast or Boulder Dash where you romp through the woods, but you do spend a lot of the ride away from the bright lights of the main parts of the park. I think, though, that the best night ride there is El Toro. The first drop is covered in the support structure of other parts of the ride, so when you ride at night, it's like you're being ripped over the top of the drop and pulled down into oblivion. Lucky you. I was debating if I wanted to go coastering Friday and ultimately decided against it. I was torn between Great Adventure and Hershey. Throughout the day, I was looking at wait times on the Hersheypark app, and the Intamins were all over 90 minutes. Fahrenheit and Storm Runner were over two hours. I figured that Six Flags would have been about the same or probably more crowded than Hershey was. Oops.

The Six Flags Sky Screamer rides have pretty minimal restraints, and I've wondered for a while how to have that same feeling on a drop ride. It looks like someone figured it out first. (Sky Screamers have locking seat belts, don't they?)

Zumanjaro would take longer to dispatch, allowing more Ka trains to go out.

How different are Intamin's cable lifts and cable accelerators? At the very least, Skyrush is 22mph. Lightning Rod launches to 45 but crests the hill slower since the launch isn't the whole way up (I think). But they won't do a fast cable lift. That's an Intamin creation, and if Intamin were to do something, they would build their own LSM system, I suspect. And if I missed Mack getting into cable lifts, Mack would do their own LSM, too. (But I suspect they'll just work through the issues with their current system. There have been plenty of rumors that the launch isn't the major problem, anyway.)

This sounds familiar. I think you're right that it was due to stress on the trains.

^What you're describing means that the track isn't heartlined. That's probably not what he meant. I could, however, believe that Maverick's heartline roll would be possible because of stronger track. The reason I've heard for why Maverick had to lose the heartline roll is that it put too much stress on the track, not because of rider safety or comfort. It's certainly possible that a thick raptor track would be able to handle those forces better than the thin rails on other types of track.

Six Flags New England will be doing HITP this year. Cold weather doesn't seem to be an issue.

It's easy to figure out how much riding you have to do to make the wristband worth it. The prices for each ride are listed. If what you anticipate riding far exceeds the price of a wristband, you get the wristband.

I love this.

I can't side with the park on this. They had a job to do and failed, but the theme park gods punished them for it. FUN was down yesterday. (FUN is the stock listing for Cedar Fair.) Great Adventure had the major attractions up on opening day. Zumanjaro was down because of wind, and Joker was down because that seems to be its MO, but they managed to avoid this problem.

I've meant to reply for more detail for a while Diamondback I rode this on a trip where I hit a lot of intense coasters, particularly Intimidator 305. Kings Island was at the end of my trip, and it was so nice to have a fun, floaty coaster. Every hill had sustained air. It wasn't ejector, but it was strong floater air. The splashdown is nice to look at. Skyrush The airtime is unbelievable on this. It's stronger than El Toro, and the trains are much more open, truly giving the feeling of being ejected from the car. This would be my favorite coaster (and Fury wouldn't be a close second) if not for the known flaw of uncomfortable restraints (note that I'll ride many times each visit, anyway). Going over those hills really does get kind of painful, and I think I would enjoy the twisties if I had a little bit more support while being flung left and right. Nitro That turn on the first hill always blows my mind. I turn sideways, yet I don't fall to the side. I get the physics, but the visual is always interesting. Then there are a bunch of floaty hills and some fun turns. Phantom's Revenge This coaster is from my childhood. There are fun hills and drops, and I always thought the double-down was insane. The drop through the Thunderbolt was a highlight of the original Phantom and was fun on the Revenge, too. Steel Force This also is a coaster from my childhood. I've always liked the long turnaround helix. The hills on the return trip are fun, too. Magnum This has the location and this history, plus some pretty amazing ejector moments. It would rank higher if not for some roughness. I've always like the turnaround. I can't think of any others coasters (certainly among those I've ridden) that have a horizontal boomerang/batwing like that. Intimidator 232 The layout is slightly weaker than Diamondback and Nitro (and Fury), and then it gets trimmed. I never rode in the middle, which might explain what I noticed about the airtime, but the front row had good air on the way up hills but then none on the way down while the back lagged behind, and the back had no air on the way up. SuperBizarro This will rise if I get to ride on a warm day. The only time I rode was a day in the 40s that had the trains running slow and not whipping over hill crests. Even locals remarked about it. The layout is pretty interesting. I like how it has the out-and-back style with large hills, but then it transitions to a twister section with helices (which were fun, even on the cold day) before getting back to airtime. The setting by the river is nice, too.

I'm shocked that there's been a rollback. They have 14 years of data about how much juice they need to send trains over the top.