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Here are the B&M Floorless coasters I've ridden, not including the Dive coasters.... 1. Superman / La Atraccion de la Acero(Parque Warner Madrid) 2. Dominator(KD) 3. Kraken (Sea World Orlando) 3. Bizarro (SFGad) 4. Scream (SFMM) 5. Hydra (Dorney) 5. Batman The Dark Knight (SF New England) I like the top 2 quite a bit more, then there's a bit of a break. I like Kraken/Bizarro/Scream about the same, then Hydra is pretty good and BTDK follows up the rear. However, they are all pretty good! I like the one in Madrid due to 3 straight drops with decent airtime.

To all the Hershey locals and regular visitors.... I've experienced some of the worst lines ever visiting Hersheypark over the years on weekends, especially Saturdays. Two years ago we went in late June during a mid week day and it wasn't much better. We are going this year on Wednesday June 27. I think two years ago there was a big concert the day we went. Does anyone know if this day would be a normal slower weekday, or should we expect the worst. Also, does Hershey still do the the night before free entry thing when you buy a ticket? Ted

Wow, Skyrush sounds like the best coaster built since ExGforce, and the Superman trio here in the US! This is great news! I'm a bit shocked at the amount of complaining about the intensity, this is EXACTLY what I want to see.... Another GREAT Intamin hyper coaster filled with negative G's! Woohoo! I just hope that Hershey doesn't tame as KD did with I305. It's a shame that I305 was tamed. Heck, it didn't even have very good airtime and yes, the positive G's were strong but that is why they have warnings. If people can't handle it then don't ride. There is a place in the coaster world for extreme rides and every tom, dick and harry doesn't need to ride every one! I can't wait for Skyrush this summer. How are the restraints, can only skinny people ride? What do they look like and are big people being turned away? Are there seatbelts too? Also, with the amazing descriptions of this coaster, why would people still rank I305 higher? Ted

Probably another 6 hour flight!!! Ted

That looks like food from Sichuan province, which would be where Chengdu is located. The food there is VERY yummy! I wouldn't expect you guys to go there though, don't think anything new is there since your last visit? Unless you visiting the Panda preserve again for some reason? However, with that said you could probably get food like this in any other province in southern china or any major city because there is a very good authentic Sichaun restaurant in Beijing that I visted a couple of times.... Ted

I'm pretty sure they are in China, probably Shenzhen because they are headed to the Happy Valley theme park. Non of the photos reminde me of anything in the countries of Southeast Asia other than the donuts. Also, just about every photo has a China reference where it can be identified. They may also visit Hong Kong based on some of the clues, like the B&M clue. There was a china travel book, china tower in Shanghai shown, Air China plane, etc... Ted

I'm certain that is not Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, it could be Don Meung airport but it is not used for international flights, it just re-opened for limited service after the Thailand flooding. I didn't see too many clues in there for thailand other than the donuts with smiles. Not sure where they are! I'll have to read the rest.... Ted

It was good, don't get me wrong, just nothing really special to me other than the location which is awesome! I'm not saying I wouldn't love to see a looper like this in any park, just don't think it was all that...that's all. Hey, if you guys are coming to Bangkok, or Hong Kong (be there from 2/21 to 3/1) then you've got let me know!! Heck, even if you aren't planning on coming to Bangkok you *should* stop by and see us, you're welcome to stay with us! Seriously...Debi just said "stop on by.." I wished I'd been watching the thread every day, loved the Air Asia sign and seats, LOVE Air Asia. We've flown it to Singapore and Phuket and they have very good rates to Europe from here too! Glad you guys are enjoying Southeast Asia.....we love it here....had a blast at Universal and that was before the coaster and Transformer were open. Is the Madagascar ride open? Ted

I'm glad you think that too, IMO it was ranked as my favorite coaster in the 2010 steel coaster poll. Even though I have only been on around 25 steelies it really was a great ride! Are you guys on crack? We thought it was pretty much an average looping coaster, and most of the ending was very slow. It was fun, but no where near a top 25 steel coaster. I do like the indoor setting, the layout, and the numerous crossovers but the ride itself is quite tame. Ted

Yeah, it's in the brown building with the two towers on the ends! Been to KL twice last year, and rode it. The mall is Berjaya Times Square, the park is Cosmo's World. We really had a great time there, plus there's a Crispy Creme down on the first floor by the main entrance! Ted

I went to Universal Singapore back in Early January, it was a VERY good park IMHO. The problem with it is that there aren't that many attractions, and two major ones weren't yet open when we visited. One, of course, was Battlestar Galacitca and the other was the Madagascar ride. Otherwise, we loved it. They have Revenge of the Mummy, it was very well themed, haas it's own uniquely themed egyptian building as well as an entire section of the park, which also includes an anitque car ride. It is similar to the Florida version (the best one), the ride is the same but they took out the part with the cast member and just changed the story slightly, more generic but still a very good ride! The also have a nice Jurssaic Park Area with the water ride but in Singapore it is a rapids ride, and a GOOD rapids ride with an excellent drop at the end! I would love to get back and ride the two BSG coasters, but not sure if we will get back there. The park remeinded me more of IOA then Universal Florida, which for me, was a good thing.

I saw the Krispy Kreme line! Here in Thailand they opened up the first Krispy Kreme store last year, I kid you not...it had 1-2 hour lines for over 6 months! It was insane. About 2 months ago I happen to walk buy it and there was only about a 5 minute line so I bought 2 donuts....yum!

SFA's only competition, in the eyes of locals, would be KD, Hersheypark, and BGE to a lesser extent.

Thought about this for a while, tough to pick just one! I'll go with Expedition Everest.

Yeah, that's my point. I don't think most vacationers outside of FL really know what Universal offers. As for the attendance figures, USF does get about 8 mil a season give or take some. I think Sea World gets about 5-6 mil per year. I assumed that when IoA opened that it would be a major player, on par with USF and the lower attended Disney parks like Animal Kingdom and Disney Studies, but it has never happened.

I started this thread mainly because I don't understand why IOA's attendance is still so low? I believe it is about 4.6 million per year, and has only been over 5 million a few years. Why is this? Why not 8 million visitors a year like they should have? Amongst most of my friends, theme park fans, coaster enthusiasts, etc.... many of us consider IOA the single best theme park in the world, probably half the people I know feel this way and if it's not number one than it is solid number 2 or 3. IMHO, the problem is marketing. It has been over 10 years since IoA opened I still believe that most of Universal's business is spillover from Disney, judging from some interesting conversations I've had wth co-workers or other regular people. Most think of Universal as simply.... Universal Studios. They don't realize there are two theme parks, or a resort with hotels, it is just a one day add on to Disney and that is how they plan their vacation. When they arrive and find another theme park, they don't have the time to add another day OR they do a quick review in a brochure and think of IoA of more of a thrill theme park and compare it to typical theme park like SF, Cedar Point, or Kings Island and choose once again to spend their one day at Universal Studios. I think Universal really needs to advertise the TWO major theme parks at their resort and really push things like Suess Landing, Toon Lagoon, and now the WW of Harry Potter to families. I also think the average Disney guest now doesn't much leave WDW (the free transportation to/from Disney resorts has pushed this, and international visitors are on group tours and may only go to Disney), and Sea World, multiple parks now too, and Universal really have to fight for tourists. I think they probably get their fair share of locals, and of theme park fans who aren't brainwashed by Disney, but they are not attracting the mainstream Disney guests. These are just a few of my thoughts on the subject. What are your opinons on this?

Wow, I'm really surprised to hear about any serious roughness or jackhammering on Voyage. Especially after the reports I read about Hollywood Nights and how great it was running during the events. I didn't hear any complaints from the few reports I read about roughness, only about how great is was running. I know that it was very aggressive on my last visit a few years ago, but most of that wasn't due to roughness just shear speed, intensity, and airtime. Seems like they'll need to do some work on it, again, if it that bad in only 1.5 months after the event. I fear that by adding these trains maybe they'll do less work on the track itself, which would be a bad thing.

That is exactly my point, some parks DO spend several hundred thousand every year to maintain their coasters in very good condition while others neglect them, then later mgmt realized they need to spend a boatload to fix a problem, they created, after neglecting the coaster and they are spending more money just keeping it in a crappy state. I've heard figures from 50k to 500k a year being spent by parks per year on their woodies. One that needs painting can cost 500K to repaint! Rememeber, that wood coasters are cheap by coaster standards....to build, but coast a lot over time to maintain. Most of the woodies of the last 15 years were built for between $2 to $8 million, far less than any large steelie. However, proper maintenance on the structure, track, and tains is very expensive. Parks look at the "what will it cost me now", and not the long term. They are looking at getting people through the gate this season, but if some of these large theme parks looked at keeping their customers for the long term, things that bring people back...like cleanliness, good employees, maintenance, etc.....they would be in better shape. SF always seems to be looking for the quick buck. The really good parks get return business because people eventually figure out (even if it is subconcious) that they had a good time or the visit was a good value. The problem with places like SFOT is they have no competition. The reason places like SFA (near where I used to live) do poorly, is that the competition like Hersheypark, KD (to a lesser extent), and BGW blow them away in these categories. We went to Hersheypark this year, and parking is NOT $20, the food is more reasonably $$ and good, the employees are excellent, the games are 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of SF, the park looks great even on a crowded day, and most of the rides are maintained well. We really loved our visit and will definitely return more. There's a reason that HP's attendence has grown from like 1.6 mil per season in 1995 to around 2.3 mil today, and they have a short season too. They've had a great expansion plan, that includes the things many other large themers leave out. I like SFA, they have some good rides and the park looks ok but it ends there. They suffer because they don't do anything else well and there's too much good competition. Funny thing is that SFA does maintain their woodies reasonably well (much better than KD), they do send their trains back to PTC almost every year for maintenance. They can do this though, because PTC is close by.

Ghostrider's issues have nothing to do with CCI construction. Not that some other CCI woodies did have construction issues. Ghostrider was WAY overbuilt due to CA earthquakes, if you look carefully at the contruction it has way more bents, supports, etc...then other woodies built in the last 15 years. The track is the same as most all other woodies built in that era, other CCI coasters run just fine because *some* parks invest in wood coaster maintenance, it appears that CF does not! Wood coasters need constant attention and re-tracking to run very well, and most parks simply won't do it, don't care, and/or maintain their woodies to simply be safe not fast or re-rideable. Ask the GP, and most will tell you that wood coasters are rough..they bounce, shuffle,etc. The GP think that is norm because they only ride the large corporate theme park woodies that arn't maintained. Then go to a place like Holiday World, or a park with a new woodie that actually might run well, and see if the public likes the wood coaster(s)! There is nothing wrong with Ghostrider that a re-tracking wouldn't fix IMHO. Ditto for TX giant and most other woodies in large corporate theme parks. IMHO the TX Giant redo is a tragedy, another great wood coaster bites the dust.

I'm a bit perplexed by the uncomfortable leg thing? It this only in 2nd car last row? I rode in row 5, 2nd car middle row, I'm 5' 11", and weighh quite a bit...265. I have a hard time contorting my legs sometimes with shin bars, but I thought the seat was extremely comfortable with no problems with the shin things or lap bar at all. I fit in it well and thought it was great.

I have a feeling that they are barking up the wrong tree. I would guess that he didn't hit his head on the restraint but some other object was in the air. He was in the front row. Could have been something that was thrown, that fell off the coaster, a tree piece, who knows? I doubt he did on the restraint. I know people have been hit by flying objects on coasters and broken bones, received eye injuries, cuts, and/or bruises. In most cases it is something that came from another passenger, like a phone, keys, camera, etc. This would be a little harder to figure out, since he was in the front row. Ted

I read about this in the newspaper, and the sad thing is...there's a tunnel under the tracks you are suppose to take when you get off the other trains. However, these people decided to take the shortcut across the tracks! Ted

Easy, Voyage with out a doubt! Ted

Here's a quick review I posted on RRC yesterday.....I got my ride last night (two nights ago) on Skyrocket. It was VERY good. Probably the quietest and smoothest looping coaster I've ever been on. Over the last couple of weeks I rode several B&Ms, Arrows, Intamins, and Mystery Mine for the first time, Skyrocket is a winner IMHO. I'm really shocked at how quiet it is. I was still expecting some roughness, but it was extremely smooth too! We rode in the 2nd to last row( 2 cars and 3 rows per car) the airtime was good in a few spots, and overall a real joy! It wasn't the most extreme ride but had two very steep drops, some great turns, it's just different then anything out there...in a good way. The launch was good, not extreme but fast and fun. It reminds me of Volcano....launches while moving, quiet, fast, and smooth. I believe the general consensus was that it is a real winner, I heard a few calling it a masterpiece. I would say it is a solid looping steel coaster, maybe top 5 for loopers if I had such a list. It has lapbars only, similar to FoF lapbars, but the seats are much more upright and tons more comfortable. The seats essentially just rest on top of a flat platform. We skipped ERT this morning (Wed.) so not sure if any more rides on Skyrocket were available. Oh, forgot to mention...went to Hersheypark last week too, rode both Intamins. I'm a pretty big fan of Farenheit, it is more forceful and extreme IMHO then Skyrocket and I would rank Farenheit higher, but Skyrocket is definitely smoother and just an all-around great coaster! Unique! Also, an update...there was no ERT on Wednesday on Skyrocket but i know at least one ACE member got 5 rides on Wed evening, maybe for a media thing...not sure, saw he posted it somewhere else. The up-and-over airtime in the corkscrew sorta freaked me out! Felt a little like it was trying to toss me out.... The biggest problem with Skyrocket will be capacity, only two 12 person trains is not much. If they get loading going quickly it might not be too bad since it is launched and cycle time is not too long. FYI, for those that don't know me...for reference if this helps with my opinions. I've ridden about 500 coasters since 1991 in 11 countries. I prefer woodies but still love many steel coasters including loopers. Regards, Ted

Wow! I was really...really...REALLY shocked when I read about Will Koch! I saw something online and was thinking it was and old article about his father from years ago..but then I realized it was him! Met him breifly at a couple SRMs, HWN, and at the ACE Con in 2007. He was someone I admired, he ran such a great park with a great employees! The attitudes and warmth of Will, and the entire Koch family is infectious. I always had a great time at Holiday World, and at the special roller coaster events of of which were incredible. His contributions to the wood coaster community are as great as any single person in the last 15 years, I will miss him immensly. It is very hard to believe that someone only two years older than myself, who was so vibrant could have passed away yesterday! Rest in peace Will.... Regards, Ted