JT325

Kings Island just sent out a media invite for ACE members. I'm not sure what other clubs will be included. There isn't a spot for a guest, unfortunately. So nice of them to include some of us. I didn't think Cedar Fair would be inviting the park/coaster clubs again after some problems at another media (that I did not attend). Doesn't seem like they are talking too much about the shed anymore, I haven't seen it in any of my feeds. Very excited for the ride!

Thank you Bill I LOVE Demon, AE and Viper. Demon in 2nd to back has one of The few surviving snapping drops. I suggest checking out American Eagle and Viper in seat number three. Guaranteed good seat. When American Eagle runs with no breaks it's a top-five ride in my book. But that doesn't happen anymore. Also, red side.

The super-dry climate hurts the wooden structure and track. If it is not replaced and maintained closely, the ride gets rough. When the track dries out, it gets brittle. It cracks easier; it loses flex. Track begins to warp and presto! Rough ride. A big factor with Colossus was it's steel I-beam track. This was added in the late 80s or early 90s. It was the opposite of RMCs more modern "topper track." The bottom 6 layers of wood were replaced with a steel I-beam; the top 2 layers were still wood, topped with the standard wooden coaster steel running plate. Another thing with Colossus - that was heavily treated wood, and had coats of paint over it to protect it from the sun. But the saving grace was those steel I-beam tracks. American Eagle at SF Great America has the same I-beam tracks from 1/3rd of the way down the first drop to the top of the helix. Before those (mostly) steel tracks were added, the old wooden track was nearly unbearable (late 80s.) When Texas Giant was new in 1990, it opened with those steel I-beam tracks but only on the pull-out of the very first drop. Six Flags engineers had learned it was better to go with "hybrid track" for the fastest parts of their monster wooden coasters.

Way back, Magic Mountain had extra trains for everything. They had 10 (ten!) for the original Colossus in 1978 (the most they ever ran was 6, apparently). I know Revo had 6 (but ran 5?), Ninja, Psyclone and Viper also had extra trains I believe. ^You have a very good point. The payoff of having a cheap season pass when the park is dead... is not everything is running at capacity. But didn't the CEO triple his salary to $12M when he got SF numbers up? I can't stand that stuff... seems like people who don't care too much about the park are in charge; they make the parks temporarily profitable, then are on to their next gig. I know I know, it's a business. But like Magic Mountain, many people here in Chicago won't go to Great America anymore. SF has had so many serious operational issues. I mean, you keep running out of ice in the summer? After 40 years? Ok, off soap box.

Yes! I been sayin' that since last summer. I'm all for them taking their time and opening this thing in 2018. But I hope, with such a nice long lead time, they will really go all out. Even if they don't, it will still be a great ride, yeah... we all know that. Just me wishing! Double loading station, mid-course launch, longest coaster, etc...

And now, a collective hug for Magic Mountain. Rejoice nerds! Revolution is running with out those hideous shoulder bars! All parks have issues. As long as it's still there, there can always be operational improvements. When the park was going to be sold (~10 years ago??), I imagined Cedar Fair purchasing it... then I thought one of the first things they would do is remove Revolution. And both flumes. Puppies and Kittens... and Skyrides...

either they did a soft opening, or it's back to VR now. haven't really paid attention to when it was going back to VR. so you'll probably have to wait in the long line and refuse the headset if you don't want the VR for at least a few months. Thank you for your input! The idea of coming all the way out there from Chicago, and then watch hours pass while all those empty seats go out... I wish Six Flags had a "fill empty seats" pass. I would totally be in.

I need advice! Does anyone know if Revolution will be running without VR in the next few months? I heard it was running as non-VR Revo recently... and I want plan a trip when it is non-VR. Not that I wouldn't want to try out the VR, I want to get some quality ride time on non-VR Revo. I'm going out in July with family, but considering a short trip earlier (perhaps April), to get some Revo rides. And maybe hop down to Knotts for a bit too. Any input is appreciated! ^Also, I couldn't help but think about all the recent rain might have been very "nourishing" for Apocaloid. Some woodies have built in sprinkler systems, and I know Boss in St. Louis gets hosed down now and then. Keeps everything a little softer.

Yes, I do that sometimes. I try to restrict my posting to when I have something clear and concise to say, but we all get a little off track sometimes. Here's to hoping someone got something good out of what I said. I'm not sure, but It looks like early 80s. Oh yea, and Frontier Lift

That joke is still really funny... The only thing worse than offseason discussion is people complaining about offseason discussion. (And then people (like me, right now) complaining about those complainers) Thank you, thank you, thank you. Add to that... people complaining about people complaining when they aren't even complaining to start with. So the complainer is doing what they accused someone else of... who isn't doing said annoyance. It's a forum, discussions and varying opinions are good! Also... control issues There, I said it. Be nice to each other. Really, you aren't the smartest person in the world either. Now, to make up for my complaining (!?), here is Skyride picture (not my picture; found it in my collection).

I was looking at the new pictures floating around. Could it be that the track unbanks at the top and has a straight drop on the other side... but the track is not centered over the same bents. If the track crosses to a different set of bents ( The structure is for five or six bents thick) in the same structure it may appear that the track is banking when it's actually not. Many coasters have bents that are at different angles than the track. Texas cyclone had some crazy pants on the top the first hill.

I work at a trendy grocery store, so I get my fill of Katy Perry. I did enjoy the shots of the park though! I thought the whole group should ride Twisted Colossus at the end... The new Blondie is still better But being that Debbie Harry is a senior citizen, it won't get much play.

People on a Cedar Point centered forum are still going on about how CP is running out of space, completely oblivious to what is happening in Sweden. Way to knock it out of the park GL!!! Oh yeah, and SFGAmerica with Goliath, "we did what we could with the space/the ride is short due to the space it's in." Could you imagine what Gröna Lund would have done with that design!?

Brah, he's never been there. Which means he's never ridden El Toro. Hahah! Well, I would like to try out those coasters again. El Toro was a lot of fun, but I'm one of those nerds that don't like being stapled that tight to my seat. Still fun, just too snug for me. My favorite coaster there, The Chiller, is gone... boohoo! I also loved Rolling Thunder. I did have some great rides on it wayyyy back. Everytime I discuss SFGAdventure with a fellow park/coaster nerd, they go on and on about how much the park has gotten better. It'll still be a while before my next visit. Now I'm remembering the 3 times (on 3 different visits) where I decided to ride Viper. Holy cow. I know, getting way off topic...

^What he said. Don't plan for a whole day at Dorney; the last time I was there we were in and out in 90 minutes. My friend got "credits," with re-rides where we wanted. Kudos for planning 2 days at Knoebels! I spend 3-4 days during Phoenix Phall Phunfest and it's still not enough time. The sign of a good park! Go hungry. Hersheypark is a 2 day park for me, but with the preview night, you can get on all the coasters. I love the rare rides like sooperdooperLooper and the very unique (but not highly rated by coaster nerds) Great Bear. There is so much to do at Hersheypark, and it will be crowded in August. I think they may have some sort of pay-to-cut? Get that! Don't speed too much in Pennsylvania. You have to return and go to court if you get a speeding ticket. I would totally skip SFGAdventure. I have no interest in that place since my last consecutive visit. That was 2006. I'm "over it" but in no hurry to go back.

Good thoughts.

Tornado! Lake Winnepesaukah?

Geez, seems like cheating to me! I would think the park would have rules set up to prevent bogus stuff? Anyway, I still wanna do it! But no arguing for me.

The water cup challenge sounds like a hoot! I would love to do it. It's too bad when people ruin a fun game... I don't care about the prize, I just want to try that out! In the late 80s/early 90s, there was a show that put a group of kids on Magic Mountain's Revolution with hamburger, fries and a shake. Got it on VHS (!?!?) buried somewhere. The first drop went fairly ok, then the turn going up the next hill is where the fun started. I did eat an ice cream cone on the Zippin Pippin back in 1990... they were like "go ahead, you will be fine." I was a goofball kid who was happy to do it! It's surely against the rules to take food on rides now - I'm thinking of the little girl who choked on a piece of gum while riding Raging Bull.

If you know you are coming to Great America, make sure you post on here in the couple weeks beforehand. Some of us are very close to O'hare/NW side, and several of us locals on here will be at the park any given day. Good way to make good contacts, too! I've met some nice people on through this forum (and other forums) in the past. A couple people I'd rather forget as well... I love my car... I'm also open to public transit, but I can't imagine taking it all the way to Great America.

I'm surprised Chick-fil-A didn't work out. They're very popular in Ohio. Not a fan myself, but ... it's ok in a pinch. Heck, I would rather have McDonalds. Somehow nastier yet tastier.

Post on here a week or 2 before your trip here, and maybe a local could give you a ride. It's fun meeting other coaster nerds. And sometimes strange, too...

^SFGAmerica tried the 1 or 2 VR trains, then 1 non-VR (and vice-versa; then they made a smart decision and stopped trying to run all 3 trains on a coaster that regularly stacks 2 trains... but at least they had high hopes!?), and it was a mess. The non-VR riders were yelling to "get us off this ride" while they sat for extended periods on the brake run while they waited for the VR train to get everything right. I now know the unpleasant sound of 20+ mad people kicking the inside of an Arrow train. It was hard to watch so many people get off the ride pissed off. It was even more perplexing to me how all those managers could be up there, watching said pissed guest after pissed guest get off the ride, yell and complain. They continued that operation for the majority of the season, before they switched over to what they eventually went with (non-VR only until late afternoon, and then VR only - by registration only.)

Big time! I can't imagine going all the way out there, and stand in an hour line and watch train after train go out with empty seats. Especially those front seats. Ouch. I heard they sometimes use a single rider line, but it's kinda sketchy? After working at Cedar Point years ago, I could fill every train in seconds.

I haven't been to the park since Revolution has been fixed. It's some of the most exciting news I have ever heard as a coaster geek. After all those years of every know-it-all promising Revo would never ever EVAR run with out the shoulder bars... what a nice surprise that was. If they need to do the VR, I understand. I'm not planning my trip from Chicago until they have some non-VR run time on Revolution. Yes, I understand I cannot dictate what the park does and they do not have to bow to my needs.... blah blah blah. But I see what VR can do to a coaster operation. At my home park (SFGAmerica), I have never seen so many pissed off people getting of a roller coaster (Demon). This was mainly due to waiting on the brake run for an extra 5 to 15 minutes while the train ahead gets it's VR passengers ready. They finally decided to try something different, and started taking reservations (thank you Cedar Point) for later in the day. Demon ran as regular Demon during the day and then VR Demon after 6. Or something like that. I wish Magic Mountain would do this. Personally, I think it would make sense to have VR during the day, say opening to sometime in the afternoon... then regular Revolution for the night. Or like others have said, move it over to Viper. Or better yet, Scream.