JT325

^I'll join you in that. Orion still belongs to my (plans of a) model wood coaster from years ago. Imagine park Knoebels Twister, part Cobb Cyclones. Now that was a design.

Yes, Onion Makes me want some of those sizzlin' hot and greezy White Castle onion rings.

I haven't been following... but how are masks going to stay in place on rides? Has someone tried it?

Although Orion is a plain-jane/vanilla design by some standards (including mine), at least they're putting out this cool shirt

The CP sandflies, Mayflies or Muffleheads are an Ohio treasure! Eat up and enjoy! They are a part of the CP experience, for better or worse. I can't tell you how many times I had one smash in an eye on rides at night. They'd find ways into your underwear and between your toes if you went in sandals. Open your mouth on a coaster at night? A still buzzing Mufflehead would crash into the back of your throat. When I worked at the park in the early 90s (Blue Streak manual operation with 1,250 riders per hour!) I got to know those flies well. They were everywhere. The Dodgem had these giant plastic letter boxes D-O-D-G-E-M that were backlit; they will fill about 1/3 of the way with dead Muffleheads. They'd have to remove the letters and dump the bugs. The Cedars dorms had these old-fashioned breezeways between buildings and people were afraid to go through them as they were crawling with giant spiders. Crews would spray them all out every couple weeks just to try to cut down on the spiders. They were so big you could see your reflection in all their eyes. We used to joke they were monster size due to all the Muffleheads available to feast on. When Magnum was being planned, they drew special attention to the windshields being designed into the trains to help keep those bugs out of people's faces. It helps - a little - and now we have those awesome and strange retro/future funky train fronts. The park was selling shirts with a huge cartoon Mufflehead one year. Can't find any pictures of that. Must have been limited edition.

Little-A-Merrick-A rocks. A guaranteed fun time! I spent more time there last year in one day than I did all year at Great America. Shame how things change. I'll be heading there as well as Bay Beach (another true gem) soon! Sad too that I haven't wanted to go to Mt. Olympus is years. That park used to be fun - Cyclops was always in my top 10 (haven't rode it with the new ratchet bars and slightly re-plrofiled drop-o-death.)

Not trying to be demeaning, just pointing out the obvious joke. I didn't think it was demeaning, but I still don't get the joke :/

Thank you lol Did something fly over my head, or someone else's? I'm confused. Or was it because of my left field dream/rant/perhaps off topic?

^As much as I understand plenty of peeps on here would love to see an RMC at Holiday World, they still have a huge hole in the "family coaster" department. Raven is already like 5x the intensity for a family ride. Think Lake Winnie Cannonball, Kingdom Coaster at Dutch Wonderland, Whizzer at Great America... all perfect intensities to fill that spot. Plus, all those rides have classic feels/set-ups. Gerstlauer works out of the old Schwarzkopf factory and has used/can use the classic prints/with modifications. Think about how popular something like Whizzer (or Zambezi Zinger) would go over - it would be a massive hit for HW. But then anything they do is going to be a massive hit for their guests. And then we still need that awesome skyride, ferris wheel, haunted house... Lots of daydreaming these days! (Oh yeah, before anyone says it, those awesome little coasters built by Gravity Group are also significantly too intense to be labeled family rides )

^The bumper cars blasting "Ace of Spades." Memory permanently implanted. Good times

^I have never been to Alabama Adventure, but I have heard (and seen pics/vids) of how they really fllipped the place and brought it up to the super-high quality like Holiday World.

^Anything to get more parks that operate like Holiday World is good in my book. They bring a quality of service that is rare in the industry. They do stuff slow, and they do it right.

^YES! A bunch of people are hoping that. We need more Koch goodness in the industry. It's a shame they didn't get Kentucky Kingdom a few years ago, but this is a real possibility. The Koch operation would get the park back to it's awesome old self and then some.

^You're probably right in terms of a new addition, but I'm sure it will still be an important celebration year of sorts for them. Being a HW fanboy myself, they can do nothing and I'll still show up. Love the place!

They're sharp cookies, they will be ok Maybe it will be a small gathering. Either way, kudos to them for always putting their best foot forward. A friend of mine was flying from LA to go to his first Holiwood Nights; if this year doesn't work out, onward to 2021! HW will be celebrating 75 years in 2021, I wonder what they have up their sleeve.

New podcast is up

Raging Bull gets a lot of crap about that trim on hill #3, but that layout really does it for me. Definitely the most interesting of all the big B&M coasters. Add Magnum, Phantom's and Apollo (straight sections of track rock) to my list. After that, they are all the same to me, especially the B&Ms.

On a brighter note, the Holiday World podcasts have been great... slightly new and shorter format. Everyone misses Paula, but Leah is doing a great job keeping everyone in check.

^From the looks of it, Coaster seems to be running 3 trains. One on the lift, one mid way and one probably in the station. Rollin' old school I see

I remember when Bill Cobb was designing this ride. There was an interview with him in one of the newsletters. His designs were very detailed; pauses and pacing were intentional. This ride has been on my must get to list for years. Bummed... it was so darn far away and tough to get to.

Have you thought of going to work at Cedar Point? They have dorms. It was a great experience for me (back in the early 90s, whew!). 3 summers, including 2 on the still-manual Blue Streak. Six Flags is fun to work at (I also interned with them after 3 summers at CP), but you will get much better skills at a Cedar Fair park. Six Flags was a very relaxed environment, we did what we wanted when we wanted. CP was opposite; had to work hard, learn how to deal with people, healthy communication, etc. Compare the guest experience at the 2 chains, and that explains it. Completely night and day.

^Thank you for the explanation

What are ART trains? Anyone have a picture of the new trains? I'm wondering why they replaced the trains only after a few years. Like many new coasters, I rode Impulse while holding the lap bar away from me, as it gets too tight. (Just a comment, I'm sure lots of people like a tight lap bar).

Heya Holiday World... I know you guys are perpetually busy, but how about opening up a satellite park in Monticello, Indiana? It's a short hike, but just think of the possibilities. The industry needs more HW/Koch love. Big time. "Dreaming is free." Maybe Indiana Beach will make 100.

^Such a shame! I haven't been on one of these particular coasters... Gröna Lund is at the very top of my list (along with Liseberg!)