TurnOfTheCentury

Looks like I am going to have ride Nighthawk to settle this debate in my head! S:UF is defensible just for the pretzel loop itself: that may be the single most insane element B&M has ever put on a ride. It's also wonderfully bizarre how they inserted that batshit element in the middle of an otherwise bland and forceless layout.

The rumor is that the lands will be Nintendo, Classic Monsters, Fantastic Beasts and How to Train Your Dragon (who knows why), with at least two more expansion pads. I think the idea of having a huge hub which each land being its own contained area that dead ends (you don't connect between the lands) is somewhat interesting and *maybe* makes things more immersive. I also read somewhere that the coaster will not be "dueling."

That would be correct. You never know for sure, but I wouldn't expect crowds. Don't buy Fastlane in advance unless you really, really, really like Vekoma flying coasters. My relationship with Vekoma flying coasters is probably best described as "abusive." Thank you all for the responses. I can't wait to ride Fury 325.

I am considering visiting Carowinds for the first time next week on either Thursday (August 8?) or possibly Wednesday. I notice that they have a promotion with tickets and parking for $29.99. I am *assuming* it's because that's a typically slow day? Has anyone been to these promo Thursdays yet and have a sense of crowds? I have read from earlier trip reports in this thread that fast lanes are probably not necessary on Wednesday or Thursdays?

Great report. Loved the photos of the scenery, and reminds me how beautiful the Alps are. I am surprised by the tepid rides on Wodan. To me, that was the dark horse secret surprise when I visited Europa Park. It felt wildly out of control, and although there were only a couple air pops, they were intense (particularly the one as they take the photo). The park is amazing. I NEED to get to GE Force - your photos were mouthwatering.

I loved this ride at Shanghai Disney. It will be a great addition. Initially I thought it was odd to place it right next to Space Mountain, but it will look cool and fit in. NOWW.... bring the Pirates technology to Disneyworld (Like an Indiana Jones themed boat ride at Animal Kingdom or something!)

I think the answer is yes. You're also going to have to have an extra 50 feet out and 50 feet back. That might require several extra support beams, concrete footers, and space. understood - but it is likely the "cheapest" portion of the ride (essentially ground level). I appreciate the space issue, and braking on the downhill also serves to control speed, which also limits space needed for braking on the straight line section. Still.... most coasters have a straight-line braking section and with magnetic brakes, the space needed is comparatively minimal .... That said, I haven't been on YOLO (or obviously this one), so maybe the braking doesn't really take away from the final plunge sensation?

I actually haven't been to that many 1. Cedar Point 2. King's Island 3. Knott's Berry Farm 4. California Great America (hoping to get to Carowinds this Fall and maybe Canadas Wonderland)

Agreed. Although I will say that I think Magic Mountain's Rapids ride is the best one I have been on -- I love how wide the "river" is; it has a different feel that the majority of the subsequent ones that went with smaller points, and narrow concrete chutes.

I loved Tokyo DisneySea. My only "regret" is that the crowds were INSANE and literally could only get on a handful of rides. But still loved just walking around and looking at the theming. The expansion looks fantastic. I wonder why they are not doing a Matterhorn-style ride for Frozen: if there was ever a movie that seemed to set up that kind of ride, the Frozen sleigh ride scene down the mountain seemed to be it. (I have a soft spot for Matterhorn, and particularly love all the riding through the caverns inside the mountain -- there are so many cool things you can do with a coaster darting in and out of those spaces. I was disappointed that Everest comparatively had little to none of that (mostly in the dark). I sure wish they had executed that Swiss Pavillion plan for Epcot).

pov looks good (I won't mention the "short" component) I never understood why rides like this one and YOLO disrupt and slow the final plunge into the station with braking. You have a built final drop already, why ruin it with braking? Is it really that costly to design an extra 50 feet of ramp after the plunge for the braking ?

Hello 2019 Dark Horse

I also mourn the loss of Dueling Dragons, especially when it dueled. It was a great roller coaster, and surprisingly intense. That said, I actually do understand why Universal / Rowling apparently thought it was out of place in Potter land, both thematically not quite fitting in with Potter land (although they could have done more to theme the ride area itself), and, maybe more importantly, perhaps being a bit too intense for the Potter demographic (which I am guessing is younger and more focused on theme than pure intense thrills -- just a guess here, not a Potter fan?). I think if they are focused on wanting to create one expansive, cohesive, thematic Potter area, this was smart from a *business* perspective to have a small cluster of rides more closely connected and themed to the movie and having similar ride intensities. And then put in the Jurassic Park coaster to make sure those who want more intense thrills can get them there. Not saying I like it, but I understand the thought process behind it.

when Robb said something like "this is Tokyo DisneySea" quality, that's all I need to know .... SOLD

Steel Curtain looks so insane to me: in a good way, of course.

Have the dispatches significantly improved on Steel Vengeance with 3-train operation. I was (pathetically) staring at the webcam on Sunday, and it still looked like 1:50 to 2:00-ish dispatches? That seems un-Cedar Point like?

As a side note, is it sacriligeous to secretly wish for an RMC conversion of the Beast? It feels wrong to even type that, but there is a part of me that would think they could do an amazing thing with that layout and track length. To be honest, the only thing I would miss would be that out-of-control feeling on the helix which would be hard to replicate with steel track, but imagine what RMC could do with the first leg through the woods, peppering it with bunny hills, surprise inversions, and other goodies.

the moaning over the Giga is indeed annoying. It will be fun no matter what. But I do understand some "mild" disappointment if indeed the ride is mostly high off the ground and a very short ride experience. In particular, Kings Island has a pretty unique wooden, slightly hilly landscape, that is perfect for terrain coasters (like the Beast) -- why not take greater advantage of it? If *I* were designing the ride (and I should be!), I would have kept as much as possible low to the ground, with low turns, to be a Beast-like counterpart through the woods, which would be amazing. It may also reduce costs to have fewer high supports (but see below). That said, the obvious problem is that at these giga velocities you can eat up a ton of track and space in the blink of an eye (and there goes your cost savings). Probably the only way a low-to-the-ground design could work with a giga would be to have the first have more traditional "hills" and then bleed a lot of speed out of it in a mid-course brake (shudder) and have the second half be the extended low-to-the-ground experience. But, jeez, some parks don't get anything like this -- ever....

I think there is a good chance. Disneyland might show a 15% increase and it's possible that Hollywood Studios poaches a bit of the Magic Kingdom's attendance when SW lands opens there in August. In any event, hard to believe that both parks are in the 20M visitors per year numbers.

I echo all the comments on the greatness of the City Museum. I stumbled across it a few years ago, and I couldn't believe how much fun it was. I felt like I had stumbled into an Alice in Wonderland kind of environment, especially going from those caves into the shoe slides. Every corner seemed to have something unexpected (and unmarked). I hope they preserve it.

Actually looks shorter than Mr. Freeze (which I love). The launch looks great on this one, and the ride elements look fun (but, yes, it does feel short).

Tron coaster last Friday.

STEEL GWAZI!! (I kid, I kid). I hope they do something cool and unusual with the name, like BGT and BGW typically do.

Great report. I just got back from Shanghai (and Hong Kong) Disney parks, and I agree that the Pirates ride in Shanghai is absolutely outstanding. Great, great ride (enjoyed it much more than Mystic Manor, which is very good). I LOVED the look of the Shanghai Tomorrowland, and the music was great and even somewhat eerie(?). Tron is architecturally beautiful and a really fun ride. My only "gripe" was how much braking occurred in the dark through each block brake -- it somewhat killed the momentum and the ride could have used a little more speed, but still a great ride. Overall, the Shanghai park is great to look at, and has lots of quality rides, but it's still a little ride-lite. I understand the Chinese audience enjoys live shows and therefore there are a ton of those, but I think the park will really be outrageously good if they can add just a couple more rides, particularly a Thunder/ Grizzly Mountain or Matterhorn /Everest coaster.

Looks great - should be intense and fun with visuals surrounding it.