JT325

I think I'm going to change my avatar to the Demon. But I just love the Revolution so much. Ahhhh high-class issues. ^Hey bill, is your avatar the Waldameer paratrooper?

I'll still go with my old thought... straight track is underrated. RMC rides are constantly changing directions, which is a hallmark of their rides. That is fun, but mixing it up a little bit is fun to. More straight track! Perfectly flat, just for 100' or so.

^Great ideas! It could be a nice, clean and well-run small local park.

My troll filter isn't very good... need to work on that. Heck, I got to say good things about Demon, so it can't all be bad.

^I always stay on the optimistic side of things. When SFMM finally went back to lap-bar trains for Revolution (albeit with seat belts and bucket-y seats, still a HUGE improvement), the optimistic super-coaster-geek in me won a little victory. Everyone in the industry, and everyone else said that would never EVER happen. Also, down in San Diego... Things happen. Although not running classic trains, this thing is beautiful AND fun. How long was it condemned?

^^I'm sorry if it came across as condescending, perhaps my wording was off. It wasn't meant to be rude. I'm sorry. It's a theme I've noticed over the past few years... kinda like when Wildcat got taken out of CP, some younger CF fanboys were like "it's a carnival ride anyway," and don't see the value. I have so many coaster buddies that have grown up on computer generated B&M rides (which I love as well), but when they get on the Mind Bender in Georgia and we almost end up in the same seat on a curve, they say there is something wrong with the ride. I also love GCI coasters, but they give a completely different, and highly-calculated ride experience. A friend said the designers of HW's Legend "forgot the bank the curves!" Well, that's what makes the ride so good! What has taken the fun out is those seat dividers. We have so few classic coasters, where you actually get "fun movement." More than being pressed up against a super-tight lap bar, or a little pressure on the side of a bucket seat. Those are great too, but that old stuff is so special. I will agree, the parks some are in are dumpy, but I hold those rides at such a high value, I'm able to see through most of that.

I love Lakemont. Those 2 classic coasters are something so different from what we get most of the time. Sure, they need a little work. We have so few classic coasters left (Kennywood being the best example of top-maintained classic rides). I hope the park pulls it together, it's a gem. Same goes for Conneaut. It needs plenty of work, but I can have more fun on those coasters than handfulls of B&M, RMC and Intamin rides (which I also love!) Of course, if you're brought up with sterile and relatively plain B&M and corporate (CF) parks, I understand not seeing the value. I've been a coaster/park enthusiast since I was a little kid. The older I get the more important these little parks and classic, unique rides mean to me. They do need a little clean up though!

Demon does have times where you can re-ride it as much as you want, but don't let that fool you. Demon gets plenty of passengers. It's a relatively high capacity ride; one of the easiest rides to load and dispatch without extra restraints/seatbelts to check. When Shockwave came out, then the series of B&M coasters, I got to a point (being a cool 20-something) where I wouldn't even bother with Demon. But in the last few years, I've really come back around to love Demon. Plus, I've learned "how to ride it." 2nd to back for best drop, 4th from back for smoothest ride. I'm glad they returned the original logos to the train fronts (in 2d, better than nothing) and the super-dated Demon soundtrack.

I was hoping for the classic Lobster Orange cars, but these do look good! I wonder if they will return the giant Lobster mural on the ground under the ride? update: Well lookie here, it seems the original Lobster cars were in fact black! I remember the cars being orange in the 80s. Kudos to Great America for going even further back than my memories!

Initially that was kinda funny, as there are plenty of us gays among coaster/park fan circles... but dang, gridr is sleazy no matter how you look at it! OK, it's still funny

In a better and alternate universe, CP would have held off on building Corkscrew and waited a couple more years to get a looping Shwarzkopf along the lines of SFOG's Mindbender or SFOT's Shockwave. It's almost too awesome to imagine! I've always dreamt up what it would be like if some of those parks in the 70s/80s picked Schwarzkopf over Arrow. Just think about a Schwarzkopf Loch Ness Monster, Orient Express, TOC/Demon, etc. It would have taken longer to open them, and been more expensive, but ... It can still happen, as Corkscrew is going to need a replacement in the next few years. A "retro" design - as if Anton would have built it - by Gerstlauer. More likely, a brand new Corkscrew model, built and designed by MACK. Roughly the same layout, but add a figure-8 at the end. Those beautiful MACK trains and a modern system. The red lights on the Corkscrew supports would be a must!

Schwarzkopf, as far as steel coasters go.

There seems to be two red coasters that start with the letter "M" that you seemed to forget! Sure thing! I love Maverick, now that it has soft restraints. I also love Magnum - which is my favorite ride in the park currently. My all-time favorite at the park was the classic Blue Streak I rode (and worked on for 2 years) up til the mid-90s, before the changes. I also have a very soft spot for Wildcat!

Since some of us were mentioning Wildcat... I *LOVED* Wildcat. There was something simple and very roller-coaster-like about those models, and that is a common feel with Schwarzkopf coasters. A friend and I visited the park in 2011, it was her first time to CP. She had got bitten by the coaster bug during Holiwood Nights that year and couldn't wait to get to the Coaster Capital of the World, Cedar Point. I explained to her that although very nice and fun, very well-run, etc., that none of the coasters at CP may match the intensity level of the coasters she loved so much at HW, but to keep an open mind. As we made our way counter-clockwise around CP, the look on her face was priceless. It was a combo look of emptiness and dismay. She kept saying "where are the good coasters!??" Mean Streak was next, she exclaimed "well that one looks good." Oh boy... We finally made it to Wildcat. One spin, then another. We had season passes, so on our couple trips through Ohio to the Pennsylvania parks (which she LOVED, as do I, minus Dorney ), we would always stop at CP on the way from and back home to Chicago. She kept thinking about it... and finalized that Wildcat was her favorite ride at CP. I kinda agreed with her. I explained that Blue Streak used to be an excellent, classic roller coaster experienced, but most of that was stomped out in the 90s with seat dividers and ratcheting lap bars (although still very popular per CP fanboys, I say with 100% certainty it's a totally different experience now). Her nickname for Cedar Point was "what's the Point!?" We still had fun, don't get me wrong. I too was very upset at Wildcat leaving. Sure, it may have run it's course... but let us remember that Gerstlauer works out of the former Schwarzkopf facility and has access to all plans. They are fully capable of manufacturing a brand new Wildcat model, same profile/layout/seat and car design, but with a modern system, mag brakes, modern lift, etc. etc. It would be beautiful! Oh yeah, a cool new led lighting package too! Capacity could still be an issue, it's a low-throughput ride for a park like CP. It would still be worth it. What really made me sick, when Wildcat was being taken out, some of the CP fanboy types saying stupid stuff like "it's a lame carnival ride anyway..." Uck! So you would rather have massive B&M machines that look great but all feel almost exactly the same? Nah, I want variety. Hoity-toity a-holes. CP claims to be the coaster capital (a title they nabbed from Kennywood years ago, ok ok all is fair..), but it would be nice to have a collection of one of everything. A classic wood coaster (yes, Blue Streak can be restored to classic seating), a Schwarzkopf coaster, etc. They certainly have the resources. It would be nice bragging material, too!

Hey I liked Disaster Disco. If not much, it was at least something different. Variety is good.

This is the best thing I've read on here in quite some time. Thank you!

Exactly. I haven't been back since they re-profiled the drop AND added the standard (not as fun) PTC (Nurse) ratchet bars. I want to remember it how it was. They moved the ledgers on that drop a few inches here and there, and it's reported to be a much tamed-down drop. A few inches here and there is all it takes, I've experienced GCIs work on HWs legend (the snap on the first drop is gone) and Yankee Cannonball (nearly all airtime is gone), and I can confirm a few inches is all it takes to completely neutralize some previously great airtime. I don't know who did the Cyclops work, but the process is similar.

I'm assuming the Sky Rocket is the Premier launch coaster model at SFDK and Busch Gardens Williamsburg? What is the difference between Sky Rocket I/II/III?

I'll vote for my home park, SFGAmerica, having the best collection/variety of awesome first drops. Demon - 2nd to back seat, that "Arrow fault" snap on the first drop (which was removed from the California model in the 90s) never fails. Short but sweet! Whizzer - here's where intensity doesn't always win. Stars slow and gradually builds down that loooooong ramp. Same as Revo at SFMM, but you are greeted with a right hand curve instead of a loop. American Eagle - huge *ROUND* drop. Nearly stops at the top, then you keep getting steeper and steeper, faster and faster... has always had the unique epic feel. "Near" air time in the back. It's like rolling down the cliff of a mountain. Goliath - hyrbird wooden coaster with a super-steep first drop (not the most comfortable for some very tall people, truth be told). Very intimidating! (my favorite part of the ride is still the dive loop through the wooden structure.) For all-time best drops, I'll vote for Cyclops at Mt. Olympus - when it HAD buzz bars. Scary as hell and freaking awesome! The Conneaut Blue Streak; everyone talks about the wicked first drop, but that 2nd drop is even better! True air time in an old school way. (Also my #2 coaster!)

So happy to see they still have their 2 Schwarzkopf coasters. The park looks great!

That Coaster of yours out there is my #1 "must get to NOW" on my list. The joy of sitting in a plain padded seat, free of annoying seat dividers and pinching ratchet bars... it's heaven to me.

And I thought the cars looked great... but those lights! Wow!!! Great job HW.

^Heck yeah! I have loved the third seat on Magnum since my first ride on it in 1990. I agree with others, the trains and faults of the ride make it great. We don't need more same-y B&M stuff (which is fun, but...). Variety is dwindling, and it sucks.

^I would think other clubs are invited, but I really have no clue. I met up with some TPR club member friends at the Banshee media day. Perhaps they are trying to keep the group small or have different times for the media? Six Flags have had shifts for media days; usually one early and one a few hours later.

I've been to SFA one time. 90 minutes in and out with a few re-rides where needed (Wild One and Poltergeist/whatever it's called). Knoebels on the other hand... I regularly spend 3 to 4 days at Knoebels during Phoenix Phall Phunfest (in which the whole park is open now, so nothing gets too crowded), and still don't want to leave. It's like part amusement park, part forest, part food fest, part.. "heaven"! It's one of (if not THEE) best hang out park. I know a group of park nerds that are doing a massive trip this year, and they are spending a 1/2 day at Knoebels. I was like "what?!" and one dude replied "they have like 6 coasters lol." Didn't have a good reply to that. There is no use to even say anything. Let them go spend 2 full days at SFGreat Adventure. But there was a virtual, pride-obliterating-b*tch slap beeming through the universe to his face. I think I just replied with something like "well... I guess if you guys are simply doing a credit run, and you want to move fast" Ahh... youngins.. I've done a few fast-paced trips, and most of the time regretted it (except for a couple Six Flags parks, Dorney and a couple others). I like to park myself in a park and take it in. There is so much to take in at Knoebels. And it gets better every time I go.