jamesdillaman

And more... This was my 200th coaster, and although that means nothing, it has a special place in my memory now. And of course all the rides are built on the water... Anyone who's never been can't appreciate how nice this park looks from everywhere! A tunnel on Lost Coaster. This car ride needs more love, it's so unique. Some people enjoying the newly painted skyride. So here's those rare POV shots I mentioned: The antique cars! The shooting gallery, and of course everything went off with the flash from this picture! Love the fact that there are still no restraints of any form on Tig'rr One of my favorites at IB... A rare opportunity, coaster on top of coaster action! It's not a top ten coaster by any means, but a very fun little ride!

Round 2: Finally the storm passed and Steel Hawg tested and then opened for us to ride! but I opted for the fresh ribbon fries with bacon, cheddar, and sour cream... mmmm. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, please! So me and Amanda decided to play some fascination to pass the time, although I quickly became addicted... A fascination ticket. Story: After the power came back on, before we could ride anything, a storm came back in, closing everything. The log flume also got a bright new paint job for this season. I don't remember the funnel cake booth the last couple times I've been there, but I usually park in the free parking area, so might have just missed it. The ending turn into the brake run. Here's the brakes. They aren't too bad, though. The first drop. Seriously, pay attention small parks across the country! This ride was very fun when I finally got on it. Surprisingly smooth and I think a great addition to the park. And of course, in the background, away from everything else at the park lies Steel Hawg! A close up of the new paint job!

So no one reads this, so on to the pics: The power kicked back on, and this was the ensuing line for wristbands... More to come. Th newer slides surrounding the repainted Galaxi coaster. Antique cars with Lost Coaster and other woodies in the background. Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain. One of my favorites, unfortunately didn't get on this one today. The newly repainted skyride looks awesome! Splash Battle also didn't run all day, which was a shame later, when it was very hot. The chairswings that everyone raves about (although the pulsing freaks me out a little) The rainbow didn't run all day (even after the power came back). I'm assuming this is fallout from the Liseberg incident. Giant Wheel silenced by the outage I know everyone has this shot, but I think Hoosier Hurricane is one of the most picturesque woodies of all time... It was very odd to hear nothing running. Walking across the suspension bridge to a park without power! Here we are, after driving through the rain!

^ I was wondering who that was. I've noticed it a couple times around the Tristate. -James Dillaman

Well this explains why the Rainbow wasn't operating at Indiana Beach yesterday... That's awful. -James Dillaman

What? When did they do the unlimited drink wristbands? Why am I so out of the loop on food ops at KI? -James Dillaman

Yeah, so this is a slow year for me: Visited: Kennywood Six Flags New England Marineworld Martin's Fantasy Land Darien Lake Waldameer Going to: Indiana Beach Maybe: Kings Island WDW -James Dillaman

I could marathon a coaster, but this is, like it's already been said, a barf bag nightmare waiting to happen. -James "what's next, marathon a tilt-a-whirl?" Dillaman

^ Isn't it still open as a waterpark? Or did I miss something?

^^ Was it really a bad inestment? Large "new" coasters for Kings Island, Kings Dominion, and Dorney? -James "Seems like a good investment to me..." Dillaman

^ Or it could just be it was the name Cedar Fair pulled out of the hat for overly-generic, non-offensive names for coasters. -James Dillaman

Corkscrew was my first upside-down coaster, and Double Loop was my second (and my first looping coaster). Now I feel old that they're both gone. -James Dillaman

^ All the people in the higher up (I feel I can safely say this now, as the plans have been leaked (not by me, don't get mad at me, guys! ) told me they were aiming for a steel Beast type layout, but with some airtime and a water effect. Look for this to be a good ride. All in all, I'll have to buy a season pass next year. Might be the first year I don't have a season pass to the Beach waterpark, but to Kings Island instead. -James Dillaman

In mother Russia, You don't ride coaster on Lake, you ride Lake on coaster! -James Dillaman

Told you guys it was a hyper... As far as the "loops" go, I'd assume you are all on the right track in thinking they are helices. JZ scared me in saying that it might be an inverted he had heard from some people at the park, but this release makes it seem like the plans the reporter found are the same plans that I saw. Behemoth-style trains are also a good idea.... It's so hard keeping my mouth shut, but it seems it won't be much longer before an announcement is made, either officially or not, as steel work will begin in a few short weeks from what I'm hearing from management. One thing is sure, this ride will be hard to photograph, even from the Eiffel Tower... -James Dillaman

Quoted for truth, although I've heard it's much improved.

^I've been before. The codzilla is the really fast boat that gets you wet. Its a tourist trap. Steel Hawg will not be as rough as FoF with the OTSR's, because mainly the design of the restraint is far better. Am I not mistaken that they are the ones from the Swat? (Catapult at SFNE?) -James Dillaman

Thom, I'm gonna be in Boston on the 17th through the 20th, wanna meet down at Long Wharf to discuss? We can ride the Codzilla through the harbor. -James Dillaman

^ But the dippin dots guy told him it was rough! How has the ride been doing? Any long down times? I'm thinking of getting up there in the next couple weeks. -James Dillaman

^ Or the fact that they were holding on could be because they were HANGING UPSIDE-DOWN and are a little freaked out by it. The restraints on Catapult at SFNE are very similar, and even though there is no headbanging at all, I always hang on to the restraints in much the same manner. -James Dillaman

All I can say about this is this is why I don't ride top spins. And it has nothing to do with the fact that they might malfunction: it has everything to do with how uncomfortable the restraints are. Even being stuck the right way up for 10 minutes sounds excruciating to me. -James Dillaman

^ Can't do, buddy. I would love to, but my fiancee gave me Lollapalooza tickets, so I'll be in Chicago. Come back next year, I'll also have a season pass next Summer. (I didn't purchase one this year, got a Beach Platinum pass instead). -James Dillaman

See, told ya it didn't look like the headbanging would be bad I can't wait to go ride this, but I'll have to wait until I get back from Boston later this month.

What basis do you have? Thunderbolt is a wooden coaster, and this is an entirely new ride design. It isn't like Mack decided to make a wild mouse with this layout. I'm sorry, but unless you've been on it, you can't tell by a (very poorly shot) video of some people on it whether or not there is a lot of headbanging on the ride. It looks surprisingly smooth to me, especially in the testing footage, which you can watch without throwing up because the videographer knows how to hold a camera. I don't mean to sound unkind, but it just seems like a ridiculous conclusion to me. Also the only first-hand information (which YOU gave us) was that the ride is awesome. Headbanging isn't awesome, so I would assume if the ride was horribly rough, the person who's ACTUALLY ridden it would have told you. -James Dillaman