joelwee

The bottom half of Vortex’s lift hill has been demoed. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think April is a realistic expectation. Orion’s track work was finished only a week before Emperor’s, and its opening day is 4/11. Emperor will probably open around the same time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So they went with vest restraints after all. That’s fine with me, though. They didn’t bother me on Valravn. Great pics! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m surprised this hasn’t been posted already, but Emperor hit two major milestones on Tuesday. Track work was completed AND the first train was put on the tracks. I’m stoked to finally have a B&M dive machine here on the west coast - and only 2-3 hours away. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wasn't the pit stop video originally supposed to be a tour of the West Coast Customs shop? Last time I rode it (during the passholder preview), it showed the owner of WCC supposedly going to check on his crew and that was it. It clearly wasn't finished, and it sounds like it still hasn't. Still, it didn't bother me that much, as the crew was hauling that night and the pit stops were usually about 10 seconds.

Somebody recently saw some survey markers around Green Lantern’s old spot. SFMM should be able to get a Super Loop built there pretty quickly to beat Energylandia to 20 coasters. [emoji23] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cool! I remember you, but had no idea you were in TPR. It was good to meet you!

Wait... What? I must have missed something here. . . A potential concept revealed at 2018 IAAPA. [attachment=0]IAAPA_Grave-Digger-Monster-Jam-Coaster-620x349.jpg[/attachment] Please let this happen. The meltdown over this being Volcano's replacement would be hilarious.

It’s not a top 5 coaster at the park for me, but I really enjoyed it. I would probably rank it around #7 or #8. It’s definitely one of the best themed rides here. The ride itself is fairly mild, but delivers decent forces at a couple of points - particularly the high five. The dueling aspect is fun, but you don’t really notice the other train as much as on Twisted Colossus. My main complaint is the restraints. The comfort collars aren’t bad during the ride, but they get in the way while getting in and out of the trains.... and Premier trains are already difficult to get in and out of to begin with. Also, it has a 54” height requirement... but the park will let kids 48” tall get their heads bashed in on X2. [emoji23] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

...with the tallest 2nd drop in all of Kings Island. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

^ In the pics I saw circulating this morning, only one loop was down. (Credit: F5 Coasters) Pic taken this morning.... .....compared with how this view looked a week ago.

So, word on the street is that Buffalo Bill's staff is giving mixed messages about the rides. A few people have called the casino and been told that all rides are no longer operational, while others have been told in person that the rides are just closed until spring. With Desperado's operations being so sporadic, it sounds like it's time to pull the trigger on a Vegas/Primm trip if Desperado does open this spring. It'll be a good opportunity to also check out Adventuredome and the TOGO rooftop dumpster fire.

^ I can’t see them doing that, simply because of the bad reputation Green Lantern had. Most park goers won’t realize that it’s a completely different ride. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

But if anybody’s hoping to watch the Vortex demo, you’re S.O.L. ... they turned the camera so Vortex isn’t in the shot anymore. [emoji23] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

“Watch the demolition of the coaster that paved the way for..... Dueling Antique Cars, coming to Kings Island in 2021 - with fly-by speeds of up to 7 MPH.” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It looks like both the helix and the batwing were removed today. I hope O’Rourke posts close-up demo photos on their socials like they did with Firehawk. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

1. How many parks did you visit in 2019? 5 - SFMM, KBF, CGA, Elitch Gardens, and Castles 'N' Coasters 2. Best new-for-2019 (or new-to-you-in-2019) ride? Railblazer 3. Name the first 3 coasters that come to mind. Millennium Force, Fury 325, Twisted Colossus 4. What was the best flat ride you rode in 2019? CraZanity at Magic Mountain 5. What is your favorite RMC under 130 feet? (cheat sheet) Twisted Colossus 6. What was the last Premier coaster that you rode? West Coast Racers 7. Name a park you've been to that you're already planning to revisit. Cedar Point 8. What is your home park and how many times did you visit in 2019? SFMM - I didn't keep an exact count, but I visited around 15 times. 9. What park are you most looking forward to visiting in 2020? No definite plans yet, since I have a baby on the way. I most likely will stay close to home this year. 10. Kennywood or Dollywood? Pick one Dollywood 11. What ride/coaster disappointed you the most in 2019? Gold Striker. It wasn't a bad ride, but it didn't knock my socks off like I expected it to. Ghostrider is still the king of California wooden coasters, IMO. 12. You're at Great Adventure. You play that racist-ish gong game and win a one hour ERT session for you and your friends on ONE coaster of your choice. But damn! El Toro, Kingda Ka and Nitro are all down! So you ride... Bizarro, or even Batman 13. What is the last coaster that changed your top 10? Diamondback at Kings Island in 2018 14. Most recent park food you ate. Carlini's Pizzeria at Magic Mountain 15. What park do you wish was your home park? I would say Cedar Point, but it would suck to have an off-season. I'll stick with Magic Mountain. 16. What 2020 attraction do you have the biggest boner for? Emperor at SWSD. I'm stoked to finally get a B&M dive machine on the west coast. 17. What park will you visit next? Outside of my home park, I'm not sure, but will probably be SWSD for Emperor's opening. 18. Favorite breakfast before a day at a park? Comfort Inn waffles 19. Cedar Fair park you visited most recently? Knott's Berry Farm 20. Was it awesome? Of course, Knott's is always awesome. 21. Skyrush or Candymonium? Skyrush 22. What 2 overseas parks do you want to visit the most? Energylandia and Alton Towers 23. The best B&M coaster you rode in 2019 was? Tatsuuuuuuu! 24. What is the saddest/dirtiest credit whore thing you've ever done? Squeezing my long legs into Woodstock Express at Kings Island 25. Last time you bought fast pass? I've never bought a full-on Fast Lane / Flash Pass, but I played the $5 spin-the-wheel game at Knott's and won 2 skip-the-line passes for Pony Express. 26. What was the longest you waited for a ride/coaster in 2019? 2 hours for Ghostrider 27. What season passes/membership do you currently have? Six Flags Gold Season Pass and Cedar Fair Platinum Pass 28. If you could go to a park with anyone on this forum for a day who would it be and to what park? I've been to Knott's with Robb and it was a lot of fun. Others I'd go with are coasterbill and boldikus, since they understand that beer and coasters are the perfect combo. 29. Battle of the Busch 2020: Iron Gwazi or Pantheon - which would you rather ride? Iron Gwazi 30. Most times you've ridden one coaster (rough estimate or exact if you're a super nerd) I don't have an exact count, but I'm pretty sure I've ridden Viper at Magic Mountain close to 100 times by now. 31. Congrats! You just won passes to spend A WEEK at the park of your choice! Dorney Park or Valley Fair? Pick one and why. Dorney, since its coaster collection looks slightly better, and it's not too far from some other good parks. 32. Talk about a park food that knocked your socks off The smoked boysenberry sausages that Knott's has during the Boysenberry Festival. 33. Pick one: Kumba or Montu I haven't ridden either, but I'd probably take Montu. 34. What are your three least favorite woodies? Woodstock Express (KI), Grizzly (CGA), Racer (Kennywood) 35. Best sweet snack at a park (degree of difficulty: not Dollywoods cinnamon bread) Cinnamon rolls from Plaza Cafe at Magic Mountain 36. Kings Island is on the phone and they want you to decide what is going in the old Vortex spot. What do you add? A B&M flyer that goes out into the woods 37. What roller coaster currently sits at the top of your bucketlist? (degree of difficulty: NOT a new-for-2020 ride) El Toro, Fury 325, Intimidator 305, Superman The Ride, and the Mr. Freeze clones 38. Name 3 parks you want to visit in the next 3 years. Six Flags Great Adventure, Carowinds, Kings Dominion 39. Name 3 other forum members you hope fill this out. Robb, Elissa, and KidTums 40. Show us how cool you are by posting a picture of yourself on a coaster or in front of coaster. Bonus points if you're holding a sign with a number on it like the nerd you are. A nerdy picture from West Coast Bash 2018

Burbank Airport is pretty small, so you should be out of there pretty quickly once you deplane. Seeing that your first day at the park is a Sunday, you should be able to get there within an hour of park opening if everything goes smoothly. There typically isn’t much traffic on Sunday mornings between Burbank and Valencia, and the park typically doesn’t get crowded until the afternoons on Sundays. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fake news. Magic Mountain's 2020 attraction is already open.

I rode WCR a few weeks ago, and it is a great ride. It’ll probably bring in some crowds these next few weeks (at least on weekends) - which made me ponder today... (I’ll put the crack pipe down in a second, but hear me out first.) [emoji23] What if the park purposely delayed WCR’s opening until now to try to bring in crowds during what is typically their slowest time of the year? [emoji848] Maybe this was planned all along and they aren’t as inept as we thought. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If rain is expected on a day they anticipate low attendance, the park might not open “due to inclement weather”, but if they are already open when the rain hits, they will probably stay open. I’ve never known this park to close early due to low attendance. It’ll probably be a ghost town in February, but expect one-train ops on all the coasters - except Twisted Colossus, which will be running 2 trains instead of 3. As for what will be open, the park doesn’t publish its maintenance schedule. Right now, all the coasters are operational, but that could change by February. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My plans to visit relatives fell through this evening after they all got sick with the flu, so I headed down to the park for a few hours. Like Arthur said, the place was a ghost town. I got 6 rides on West Coast Racers in a little over an hour - and the only reason it wasn’t more was because it broke down for about 15 minutes at one point. My thoughts on WCR: It’s definitely a family coaster, but it’s a really good family coaster. It stays low to the ground the whole time. The launches are pretty tame, but the launches out of the station pick up speed about halfway through. The mid-course launches felt like a sudden burst of speed and smacked my head against the headrest on my first ride. You get some good ejector airtime on the high five - especially on the white side. There are a couple of other light floater moments on that side, as well. The inversions offer some great hangtime, and the helixes / turnarounds deliver some great positive g’s. While you are guaranteed a race every lap, you don’t interact with the other train as much as on Twisted Colossus. Other than a couple of dueling moments, the trains typically travel side by side and go through the same elements at the same time. The trains are similar to Full Throttle’s, but with comfort collars instead of seatbelts. This is the first time I’ve ridden a Premier coaster with comfort collars, and I didn’t really care for them. I’m 6’-2” with long legs and already have a hard time getting in and out of Premier trains. The comfort collars tend to get in the way, and I have a hard time maneuvering around them. I didn’t have any issues with them during the ride, though. There were a few things that seemed unfinished. The most obvious item was the on-ride cameras. They weren’t running, and I didn’t even see a photo booth anywhere. Maybe I just missed it...? The other thing is the video halfway through the ride. It shows the owner of West Coast Customs talking about going to see what his guys are up to, but there is no follow-up footage. Side note: I wish they would play some car revving sound effects while the trains are waiting on the launch track - similar to Top Thrill Dragster. The theming looked great, and this is arguably one of the best themed rides in the park. One thing I haven’t seen anyone else mention is that you have to dump out your drink before heading up the stairs in the station. It kind of sucks, but it makes sense when you see their loose article storage - which is one of the ride ops putting everyone’s loose articles into several plastic storage bins. Since the bins get moved around a lot, there would definitely be spillage if full drink cups were in there. WCR’s ride ops had almost a Cedar Point level of enthusiasm tonight. It was great to see them having a good time - and it’s something rarely seen at this park. Overall, I really liked this coaster. It’s not a giga, but it provides a badly-needed refresh to that corner of the park - and is a pretty decent ride. On a side note, Twisted Colossus’s crew was dispatching trains so quickly, the blue-side train typically reached the top of the lift hill before the green side. That’s the first time I’ve seen that happen. Total ride count: West Coast Racers X 6 Batman X 2 Twisted Colossus X 3 Scream X 1 Goliath X 1 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

X2 typically goes down for wind. If there’s a weekday with even a slight breeze in the forecast, it usually won’t open. On a weekend, they may still try to open it. Last Saturday night, the wind picked up about an hour before closing, but they kept running it - presumably because it’s already warmed up and less likely to valley. But I’ve been there other (week)days when there was next to no wind, but it didn’t open at all. The ride ops standing outside the ride told me it was due to wind. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So, I renewed my pass during the flash sale earlier this year, when the park offered a bring-a-friend-free ticket for renewing pass holders. Does anyone remember the deadline to use that ticket? I believe it was 12/15/19, but I can’t find any info on it anywhere. Edit: I just called the park. It expired yesterday. [emoji58] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

#notageegee Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk