abovethesink

Interesting discovery on reddit. RMC is again trying to sell a modified version of the T-Rex, this time called Split Rex. I don't fully understand the difference, but of note is a promotional image they released of a computer generated model. The coaster is surrounded by little, white, non-descript buildings in the model and someone pretty quickly figured out and demonstrated that these buildings are from Everland. RMC is also working with the park on their woodie. I will be making it to Korea at some point if a RMC Giga goes up next to an Intamni pre-fab, that is for sure. https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fnnljmgvmapsf1.png

Oh yeah, just typed them in the wrong order off the top of my head. No plans to spend two days at SFOT though. Shouldn't be a need.

Hopefully. The plan is SWSA --> SFFT --> SFOT --> Cota --> SFOT --> Frontier City --> SDC --> WOF --> SFSTL and then fly home back to way upstate NY. If CotaLand is not open, we will likely add some driving and use the freed up day to swing into Arkansas and visit Magic Springs.

B&M Dives are one of my least favorite commonly built models going, but damn, almost 300 foot down at 95 degrees? There is no way that drop isn't incredible. Good timing too. Making our first trip way down to Texas next summer. San Antonio will be the start of our annual roadtrip which will end with the Missouri parks.

Truly tragic, tragic news coming out of Epic Universe. A 30 something male rider died on Stardust. I guess he came back to the station unresponsive and bloody. Coroner says he died of multiple blunt impact traumas. I think the multiple rules out something flying off a passenger (which would also have to not be metal and well what the heck is that?). All I can envision is him passing out and just flopping around limp, smashing his head off whatever it came into contact with. Truly horrific. You have to imagine he probably wasn't riding alone either. Likely loved ones were with him. That's just my imagination running wild in horror though. You've gotta figure some sort of vest or OTSR is coming in response. It is the only thing that could prevent this and it just feels so unlikely in this world that we can just call something like this a freak one off.

You're right. When I open my 2026 pass and explore add ons it only offers me 2025 plans. Very odd. I have to navigate separately on the website to find the 2026 plans. I wasn't paying attention to the dates because why the heck would you add anything but 2026 plans to a 2026 pass? Anyway, gold and prestige meal plans are the same price and seem to have the same wording. Is there a difference I am missing?

It very clearly says it will only work at legacy Six Flags parks. We rarely touch water parks. If Cota isn't open, we will likely replace it with a lengthy detour to Magic Springs in Arkansas and adjust the park order accordingly.

When I went to add dining, it was insistent that the plan would only be good for legacy Six Flags parks so I didn't. If it was good for legacy Cedar Fair parks, I would definitely have added it on. We will have at least eight days in Six Flags parks next year (road trip: SFFT --> SWSA --> CotaLand --> SFOT --> SFFC --> SDC --> WOF --> SFSL & a separate trip of two days at CP), but four of them are legacy Cedar Fair.

We rode Goldstriker at the beginning of August. It was not a smooth coaster, but the roughness was not enough to detract from how much of a powerhouse it is. I don't think I am particularly tolerant or intolerant of roughness either.

Just to confirm what it looks like I am seeing online -- There is no park hopper style ticket that includes Epic Universe, right? For my birthday in late January, we are traveling down from NY for literally one day for Epic Universe. My son hasn't ridden Velocicoaster, however, and I would open to gate dropping Islands, running right to Velocicoaster, and then immediately leaving for Epic Universe. I was assuming there would be a multiple parks in one day type ticket to facilitate this, however, and it doesn't seem to be the case.

Now there are rumors starting to float around about Canyon Blaster's removal.

Anyone know what kind of lines AlpenFury is getting on weekends now and how the park is handling that line at the end of the night? Is the queue closing early or can people pour on in right up to park close? Thanks

We will be flying in and staying in a hotel close to the park for a few days at the very end of July. The only thing I haven't sorted out is transport. We will be going here, Discovery Kingdom, and the boardwalk. Is Uber/Lyft a viable plan or should I rent a car? Thanks in advance.

In the realm of "this has got to be a mistake, right", import records seem be showing three shipments heading to Great Escape from... B&M? Like, what? If this is somehow real, the park is either getting a new family invert, which would fit great and be a very pleasant surprise, or maybe a Steamin Demon replacement, I would guess. Could a mini-dive be crammed into that tiny plot on the roadside?

I was at the park for the first time in years on June 1st. We stopped the day before to get my son (15 this summer) the three credits at Seabreeze. It was in the 50s and windy, so that place was empty, and we were in and out in less than an hour. The spinner was as I remembered it and the two wood structure coasters were crawling in the cold. Not ideal, but the next day looked better for Darien Lake. We were there at rope drop and headed to the back of the park like we always do. I apprehensively got in line with him to get his Mind Eraser credit first. We grabbed the front row and, with the new vest restraints, it wasn't too bad. It was no Great Nor'Easter, but it was better than the one they did the same thing on at SFA (RIP). Tantrum was closed and remained that way. I guess it has been down for a little while now. And of course it was as Tantrum is the only credit I don't have yet having grown up being taken to the park every summer. Oh well. We'll be back. Viper was next and it was the same old gem I fondly remembered. By modern standards, this old Arrow looper is of course pretty tame. It runs through its course smoothly though with surprisingly little headbanging. I still approve. Viper has always been and remains one of my favorite Arrows. Predator was up next and this was to be my first ride post-Titan track. Given that this was my absolute bottom coaster in any possible ranking with my last experiences with it, I still figured the non steel portions would be so horrible that it couldn't be redeemed. The ride was good though! The upgraded portions were smooth as silk and the layout got to shine, finally. The still wood sections were not as awful as I expected, either, though they were far from smooth too. Superman, er, Ride of Steel followed for my son's 250. We had absolutely awesome rides on the clone down by the capital this summer in 104 degree heat, so this slow running original on a day barely warmer than half that number was pretty disappointing. Still fun, but it hardly had anything left for the bunny hills at the end that always used to be so great. I chalk it up to the cold day. From there we walked over to Boomerang, which was a credit for him and I am not sure why I bothered to ride it to be honest. MotoCoaster capped the first rides. I remembered this one as having a punchy launch and then doing nothing. It indeed had a punchy launch, even stronger than I remembered, and I am happy to report that I remembered wrong. The swinging turns were taken at a good speed and I actually ended up liking this one a lot. From there, we walked back to take another peak on Tantrum, grabbing another good ride on Viper on the way. We ate lunch and then gave not-Superman another go to similar results. Finally, to cap the day, we decided to take a last ride on Predator. This was our best decision. We waited for the front car (which took forever for like six trains -- I am not going to whine any more than this, but operations were horrible all day) and the ride was a rush. I don't know if it sped up a little or if the front is just where the airtime is at, but my old wooden nemesis was hitting almost every hill exactly right. This was a GREAT ride and easily our best of the two park trip. I really look forward to visiting Predator again in the future and a younger me would be very confused by that statement. Final note: Predator was running the purple train that I had read appeared recently. Even though it was a weekend and wait times were growing, they did not ever put a second train on. Nor did Mind Eraser. This park may be viewing having a second train as having a backup in case the main train breaks. There doesn't seem to be much intent of actually putting two trains on the track at once.

Same for about 10 days later!

I've got the park penciled in for Sunday 6/2 if the weather doesn't look like a disaster. It has been a while, so I am looking forward to it. While La Ronde and Great Escape were closer, this was my "home park" every summer growing up because my parents liked to camp in the campground and I was the right age to be a coaster kid during the big SF investment. It has been over a decade since I have been back, however, even as I have roadtripped around the country multiple times and it is still only 5ish hours from me. Twice it has been x'd off our trips, once due to torrential rain all day and another due to illness. I still don't even have the Tantrum credit somehow.

Minebuster got serious Gravity Group love this offseason, didn't it? I am curious as to how it rides now when we are back in early August.

No, I do not have any inside information. It is a great question though. The answer would definitely shape their decision making.

Six Flags does not make the largescale type investments at its smaller parks to move and refurbish a monster like Superman. It would be pretty similar to just building a new hyper in all likelihood in terms of cost and we know they aren't going to do that at parks like Great Escape or Michigan's Adventure. And not that it matters since they wouldn't do it either way, but it would also be worse than building a new one too.

I think this deserves its own place of discussion. We have two parks on the way out, as we all know. California's Great America and Six Flags America. The connective tissue between the two closures is quite clearly and openly the huge value of the land they sit on. That's got to be the starting point on any speculation of any future potential closures. It doesn't have to be the only talking point. It doesn't have to be the only reason Six Flags could close or sell a property. Being on super valuable land also doesn't mean a park will close. But I am definitely curious. Which other parks are on land as valuable as SFA and CGA? Are there any others they might be looking at the value of selling/developing the land for other uses versus the profits of running the current park?

It is hard to come up with a reason as to why Six Flags would be interested in purchasing Darien Lake when they are otherwise openly looking to downsize their portfolio. It is also just as hard to imagine a large company that is saying "hey, we want to have less" viewing the sort of management contract they have with Darien Lake as something positive too. Obviously I don't know for sure, but I'd say all signs point to them getting out of the deal at the first point it makes sense and Darien Lake losing the Six Flags name once again. But still, regarding the trains that Six Flags America literally just bought, where else could they even go? SFNE? They'd have to be modified to make Massachusetts happy, but I guess it is possible. Anyone know how old those trains are? I am not sure there is a single other competitor for them. Could they be ran on any other Intamin hyper?

If SF does continue managing SFDL, they just bought new trains for Superman at SFA literally this year. Those trains feel like a lock to go to SFDL. Even if Six Flags pulls out, the market for those is pretty small and they need to sell them somewhere. Darien Lake could still end up with them. Honestly, it feels likely no matter what unless Darien Lake straight up closes.

I would love to be wrong, but I think there is a 0% chance anything other than the spinning mouse gets relocated for the coasters. Anything else would be a really big project and not move the needle much at all for whoever does it. What a bummer to see any park close though. Sad day. The only hope left is probably local government causing a stink, but it is hard to see this one surviving with the underlying value of the land in that area being so high. I am real glad we got down there last year. Not a great park, but any place that is open has potential and it did seem like they were slowly moving in the right direction. What a shame.