abovethesink

Should I not have posted the tweet that I did with the speculated layout? Apologies if not and please delete, whoever the mods are around here.

I have the same reaction to every virtual POV I have ever seen, no matter how everyone else reacts, no matter how the ride actually turns out. "Looks slow and forceless." My mind just can't process these and project out what the rides will feel like for some reason.

Did Storm Chaser's restraints come up on you at all during your rides? That was super unnerving for us a couple years ago and really distracted from being able to pay attention to the experience. I've never had thrill coaster restraints become noticeably looser as the ride went on otherwise.

No one is talking about anything. This forum is close to dead in 2024. Are there any still active coaster forums other than reddit? I like reddit a lot, but I still miss the old chronologically ordered forums like this where the new posts go to the top and there is no voting or algorithm involved.

Do you think the wild mouse is worth a 57.5 hour wait? I mean 48 hours, sure. But standing in the queue for two days for a wild mouse is my limit, personally.

Good addition if true. Sounds like a straddle coaster. Would have preferred a thrill coaster as a coaster nerd, of course, but the park needs a launch and family coasters are always welcome.

I still don't understand how the restraints clamping down less tightly impacted the intensity of the ride. Did I misunderstand something? Are they all new trains versus redone restraints? I guess I will experience it on the 3rd myself and understand at least. Anyway, this trip has been planned for a while for my kid's birthday, but now my wife is pregnant with our fourth and won't be able to ride. What do non-coaster riders do at Hershey? I don't remember there being any shows and we have to stay the the park proper with the two 14 year olds (son is bringing a friend). I mean they can separate from us for periods of time, but we aren't leaving them in the park without us, so Chocolate World isn't a great solution. Is my wife now condemned to a day of train and sky rides? A small price to pay for our last kid, I guess, but I will feel a twinge a guilt when I test out the new restraints and get to ride Wildcat's Revenge while she sits at the exits! At least she will get lots of candy and desserts if she wants.

Road Trip Day 5, Part 1 - Sesame Place (PA) If you want to catch up, Day 1 was King's Dominion, Day 2 Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Day 3 was Six Flags America, and Day 4 was Morey's Piers. Reports are in their respective threads. The trip was myself and my oldest son, soon to be 14. This will be a shorter one! We took the hour drive over from where we stayed about halfway between Sesame Place and Morey's Piers, our previous day visit, and parked for an expensive pair of credits, It was an interesting stop. Vapor Trail -- The kids around us seemed to be loving this Vekoma Junior coaster. We did not, nor did we expect to, but such credit seekers the two of us are these days. We waited in one of the longer lines of our entire trip for this custom model. It looks impressive for a family coaster from the queue at least. With the one train operations, that is good because you are in the queue for a while. When we got very close to the station, the one larger family group in front of us abruptly decided not to board the train because they were a seat or two short of all of them being able to get on it. Understandable! At least it was understandable until they made it clear they weren't going to let anyone by, that they intended this train in this already super slow queue to go out with like four people on it and the rest empty. Then, when the ride ops told them to fill in, they argued pretty passionately against doing so. When she then said to let people by, they dramatically threw their hands up and filled in the spots, deciding to split up their group after all. Very strange thing to watch. Anyway, this coaster will do nothing for anyone who comes to a place like TPR, but it isn't supposed to. It is a bunch of mild helixes and nothing else. Moving on! Oscar's Whacky Taxi -- Having ridden Wooden Warrior, Kentucky Flyer, and The Bobcat, we were very excited for this one! Our entrance into the queue was again unexpectedly strange though. A man and three teenagers entered right behind us and were just screaming obscenities. I have no problem with this in other contexts. Well, maybe with the volume, but not the content. I swear a lot and don't censor myself much at all in front of my kids either. But in line at a kids, Sesame Street themed park? Okay then. When we got to the front of the queue, which was very quick this time, somehow the same thing that happened on Vapor Trail happened again with an entirely different group! They needed close to every seat on the train to fit their group and decided that this train should run empty except for the three or four people on it. Why is everyone's instinct here not to let people pass if you're waiting for the next train? At least this group let people by when the ride op asked them to. Just weird. Unlike with our other credit of the visit, I can happily report that the coaster is great! I think this is my second favorite of the four now just behind Wooden Warrior and just ahead of The Bobcat, but really the top three are interchangeable and even Kentucky Flyer isn't that much worse. Oscar's Whacky Taxi had excellent airtime and we had ended up in the middle of the train due to bad timing luck. We circled back around for a back row ride and got even more. Excellent ride. So, needless to say, our brief Sesame Place experience was a little weird. Maybe this is normal and I didn't know to expect it. But if you had told me I would find one park full of obnoxious park goers on my list before I left for the trip, I wouldn't have guessed Elmo and Big Bird Land. Regardless, we were there less than 90 minutes car to car and it was still worth it for the Gravity Group. Well, worth the time, probably not the money, but fellow credit chasers will know that pain all too well. Both coasters were up front, so we saw next to nothing and can't comment much beyond that. My son, an extremely biased Dallas Cowboys fan (I failed as a parent -- 49ers fan here), attributed the weird crowd to being close to Philly as he passionately hates the Eagles. Other than that, the only thing I can think to add is that it strikes me as kind of weird to not have a true kiddy coaster in a place like this. Vapor Trail is tame enough for smaller kids for sure, but it is kind of big and likely intimidating looking from the outside. At least we were saved from debating whether or not awkwardly wait in a long line for the kiddy credit, I guess! We were off to Dorney next, an hour away.

We are heading down there in about two weeks so I will see for myself, but can someone clarify how the restraints have impacted the ride on SkyRush negatively? It isn't what I expected to read.

I had won too many food place battles in a row on the trip and had to take a loss by that point.

Road Trip Day 4 - Morey's Piers Trip Report If you want to catch up, Day 1 was King's Dominion, Day 2 Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and Day 3 was Six Flags America. Reports are in their respective threads. The trip was myself and my oldest son, soon to be 14. After two near 100 degree days and a 104 degree day at SFA, it was a relief to be heading to the ocean. I was a little concerned a few miles away when it was still 95, but the temperature dropped all the way down to 78 as was covered the last few miles. Unfortunately, I had made my first and biggest miscalculation on the trip when planning this day. It was supposed to be Morey's Piers followed by a drive up to Casino Pier. I had gotten us to Morey's Piers at 1 PM as that was the time a quick google told me the park opened, figuring there wouldn't be crowds yet, we'd blow through everything quickly, and then head up to Casino Pier. Well, had I done anything more than the bare minimum research, I would have learned that only the middle pier opened up at 1 PM and the outside two piers opened at 5 PM. Oops. We decided to axe Casino Pier from the plans even though it would still be technically possible given how late these places are open. Road trips are fun but exhausting and we just didn't want to be out that late. Sea Serpent -- Whatever we did first would be my 250, so I chose the best coaster available on the middle pier after buying the all access wristbands which are good until 7 PM. This was their Boomerang, though at least I knew it had a good reputation. It lived up to it. The conversions to vest restraints have revitalized many boomerangs I have ridden at this point, but I think this one takes the cake in terms of smoothness. Sea Serpent was a really good ride and an acceptable 250 in my book. Rollies Coaster -- Somehow now over 250 credits in, this was my first Pinfari Zyklon despite them being everywhere all over the world still. It was fun! The ride was janky and didn't have any amazing forces by any means, but it kept itself moving and had a few nice little pops. There isn't much more to say really. Wild Whizzer -- If there isn't much to say about the Zyklon, what is there to say at all about the SBF Visa? It did its figure eight. The ride is operated with four laps, or at least we got four laps. We added the credit to the list. I don't hate these by any means, but everyone knows what they are and they all ride more or less the same. Fun little addition for FECs, tiny family parks, or places like boardwalk piers with limited space. After riding, we walked back to our car parked across from the pier with Great White to extend our parking as we had only paid through 6 PM and figured we would be cutting it close. Plus, we had time. Then we walked all the way down to the far pier, which is much further apart from the others than the first two are, and my kid talked me into Dominos for lunch. That was fine. From there, we explored the closed third pier with the SLC, walked in the sand a bit, and then sat and played games on my phone while waiting the last two hours for five o'clock to hit. Doo Wopper -- I complained about Apple Zapple being forceless on my King's Dominion report. Doo Wopper must have read it and decided that I didn't know anything about a forceless ride. It would show me and it did. The ride was inoffensive and smooth. It was weirdly and somewhat cutely themed to ordering fast food too, as far as I could tell, but the ride itself was a big old nothing. At least this wild mouse didn't hurt me on any of the jarring laterals I guess. That's something, maybe. Oh well. Runaway Tram -- This Vekoma family coaster wasn't bad for what it is. It has some mild forces on the helixes and the ride is lengthened by a second lap. Initially we were the only ones in the station and took the first car spot in line, but when a little girl came up with her mother and acted like she wanted front row, we gladly gave it up. I think an enthusiast was born and we got to listen. The little girl was nervous on the lift hill, this was clearly her first coaster from our brief conversation, and yelled with joy about how much she loved it the entire rest of the way. It was one of those unexpected moments of joy that really made this ride fun in a way it wasn't going to be and I am glad we got to experience it hearing her reactions. Obviously then, this one hits its mark in terms of pleasing its target audience. Great Nor'Easter -- I had read the hype. The good SLC. Even having experienced what the vest restraints can do at best in the form of Riddlers Revenge at SFNE, I was skeptical. Having the vest restraints the day before at Six Flags America wasn't reassuring. While Skywinder there was better than many SLCs I have ridden, it tracked poorly enough to still not be good despite the absence of headbanging. Well, I am a believer now. There was at least one hard jolt, if not more than one, but they were so isolated that they didn't cause any sort of jackhammering discomfort. The rest of Great Nor'Easter was glass smooth. Honestly, it was astonishing after so many SLCs to get to ride one that was legitimately excellent. My hat is off to Morey's Piers. They even have free lockers (maybe they were only free because of our wrist bands -- not sure) to put your valuables in. This is the first time I have immediately jumped back in the queue for an SLC since the late 90s when I was first experiencing them popping up in the parks around me. I can't praise this thing enough. Unfortunately, after the long walk back to the first pier towards the woodie and our car, we found Great White had never opened for the day and was not going to. That is a shame as I anticipated it being easily the second best coaster of the piers at worst going into the day, though the boomerang might have ended up giving it a run for its money. We were back our car at 6:30 and still decided to book a hotel instead of heading on to Casino Pier due to wanting to rest. Someday we will swing back down and hit the rest of the pier parks. Finally, I will say that Morey's Piers and the Wildwood Boardwalk as a whole is a really cool place. I was really surprised how much they were able to cram on the three piers, especially the water park(s). They looked great. It is a touristy place for sure, but I would gladly bring the whole family back once the twins (2.5 years old) are a couple years older. There would be tons for them and all of us to do, especially when factoring in the beach right there. This place will never have some great coaster collection, but it does really well with the space it has and takes immaculate care of the coasters that are there. It is a shame the woodie wasn't open, but I bet I will see it again with the whole crew in tow in a couple years. I really enjoyed Morey's Piers. Busch Gardens Williamsburg will, of course, go down as the best park we visited on this trip, but the combined Wildwood Boards/Morey's Piers/Beach atmosphere might have actually made this place my favorite on the whole trip. Very cool. Next up was Dorney Park with a quick stop at Sesame Place on the way.

Trip Report - Road Trip Day 3 Day 1 was King's Dominion. Day 2 was Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Both reports are in their respective threads. On Tuesday the 16th, we arrived in the Six Flags America lot slightly early, maybe 20 minutes before open. I had forgotten to pre-purchase parking and had a minor sticker shock at the price. It was $40. We paid $29 each for our tickets, but $40 for parking. Okay then. We had driven there, so I paid. Anyway, it was both my and my 13 year old son's first time in the park. Knowing the very poor reputation of the place, I was pretty apprehensive about how our day would go given that my car was reading 100 degrees at 10 AM. The forecast was calling for it to reach 104 and this would be our third straight day in extreme heat. Nevertheless, we went in. Firebird -- The walk into the park was pretty nice as the main street area looks good, but it became clear pretty quickly that there would be no shade under the fireball sun. Our initial route took us up to Roar, but it was closed as befitting of the Six Flags America reputation. Firebird was next door, so there we went. I had cautious optimism here. Off memory, my experience with the standup to floorless converts is just Rougarou and I liked that better than its reputation. Well, I was wrong! This was such a handbanger that I couldn't even begin to take in the layout. Firebird is an atrocious ride, or at least our ride was, and we weren't about to re-ride after that. This was the worst B&M I have ridden, passing even Vortex at Carowinds for the "honor". Joker's Jinx -- After having ridden Flight of Fear at both King's Island and Dominion, it was neat to see one of these outside. I was also surprised as to how long the launch track appeared on this ride. Surely this must be shorter on the indoor versions, right? Anyway, this was an enjoyable ride and a nice palate cleanser following Firebird. After the initial burst of excitement post-launch, the model does sort of meander around a bit doing very little, so this isn't some great ride, but it is good and I love the comfortable restraints. I do want to briefly mention the area less positively, however. We passed under a sign saying we were in a DC Comics area before getting to Joker's Jinx. That was the greatest joke of all. There was a batmobile and some cardboard cut outs, but there wasn't a real bit of theming in the area beyond that and the ride names. Pretty sad. Superman: Ride of Steel -- What was not sad was how this thing was running in the extreme heat. I am very familiar with the original at Darien Lake. Though a couple others were closer, we treated Darien Lake was our home park when I was growing up and visited every summer in the very late 90s to the early 00s. I know when the model is hauling and this was one was hauling to an extreme level in the triple digit heat. The airtime was outrageous and while the ride no longer tracks super well, at least at these speeds, the bit of roughness did not distract at all from the fun. The few rides we got on this thing were among the best we found on the entire road trip. The only negative on the experience was the fact that the extreme speed wasn't cooling at all. Instead, it felt like you were flying into a hair dryer. That is hardly the fault of the ride though. Wild One -- We found Batwing unsurprisingly closed, so we switched the "Mardi Gras" area of the park. I'll give that a big LOL. There was a New Orleans style fountain, a themed drinks stand, and... and... I will also note that at this point that any water based rides in the dry park we had walked by had been closed too, a nice Six Flags America touch on a 104 degree day. They did have some water spraying onto the midway at a few points at least, which we gladly walked right through. Anyway, Wild One was a nice credit to get given its original age and classic origins, but it was kind of an unpleasant ride. I think it was running too fast given the heat. It wasn't terrible or anything, but it wasn't good either. Roar -- Ragin Cajun was opening and by far the next logical stop, but I insisted on skipping it for now under the assumption that I wouldn't feel well in the heat after the ridiculous spinning. On our way over the newly re-themed area with the SLC, we found Roar had been opened up. Quickly, we wished it hadn't been. This absolute piece of garbage was a horrific ride of non-stop jackhammering and violent, painful laterals. Terrible ride, even worse than Firebird. I don't know if the new chain will continue to work with RMC, but if they do send them here ASAP. The layout doesn't even seem worth preserving with something like Titan Track either, at least from what I could tell during our triangle wheeled ride. The ride op recommended riding Batwing at the end (they recommend another one on most rides in this park, we noticed), so at least were notified that it had probably opened up while on Roar. SkyWinder -- Hey, the new Steampunk area is nice! It is actually pretty well themed by amusement park standards, though it and the rest of the park could use some shade. We found the SLC had new trains too, but unfortunately it was tracking really poorly. While they were undoubtedly an improvement and surely saved us a lot of pain, they did not elevate this particular SLC to the level of say Riddlers Revenge at SFNE, let alone anywhere near the one we would ride the following day on the Jersey Shore. It was an okay ride, but not as good as I was hoping when I saw the new trains. As with basically everything on this day, I do have to add the disclaimer though that it might have been running insanely fast due to the heat and a little rougher for it. Maybe it is better on a sane temperature day. I can't say. Batwing -- We marched back in the heat to Batwing and took a ride on the rare Vekoma Flying Dutchman model. I was a bit nervous for this one as I had a terrible ride on a super hot day on the one at Carowind's (after having a pretty good one on a cooler previous day), but I think this was the slightly better model. It isn't a particularly good ride at this point, but I remember Nighthawk having some awful corkscrews at the end that Batwing did not have. I didn't love or hate this. Well, I hated laying on my back and baking in the extreme sun, but that is not the fault of the ride. My son really hated it though. Good on the park for getting every coaster open on an extremely hot, dead day, by the way. I've given it crap up until now, so we should acknowledge that much. Ragin Cajun -- Our last inefficient march of the day would be to the car, but first I had to go through hell. I don't ride many flat rides because I don't like spinning at all. It was clear just looking at it that this coaster would spin insanely, like many flats, once it dropped down to its second level. It did just that. My son loved it and anyone who likes spinning will love it. Ragin Cajun does its job very well. It also has an unexpectedly huge jolt of air time on the bottom level on a little bunny hop that I didn't see coming due to my closed eyes. I just don't like the job this thing does and did not like the experience. I am going to call it a good ride even though I hated it because it is just a personal preference thing for me. With that, we were through all eight credits available to us and back to our car in under 2.5 hours, including several rides on Superman. This park has many problems and mostly did live up to its terrible reputation, but it isn't all a loss and the place is worth at least one visit on a trip like this. Superman was great and a few others were good supporting coasters. If they were to ever RMC Roar, the place would have a great one, two punch and we would gladly return. The new area is a big step in the right direction. With all the population bases around, albeit also with a lot of regional competition, my hope is that the new Cedar Fair management team sees some potential here and continues improving the place in the direction of the new area.

Trip Report - Road Trip Day 2 First day is in the King's Dominion thread. We arrived at Busch Garden's Williamsburg on Monday the 15th a few minutes before open, parked in the Italy lot, and took the waiting tram to the main gate. It was our second extremely hot day in a row to kick off the trip with forecasts predicting a high of 99. This was my third trip to BGW, but the first since Verbolten opened, and my son's (about to turn 14) first. I was really looking forward to this one as I remembered the place as a great park and there were several new rollercoasters to experience. I let my son choose the initial direction we took and he chose to turn right. After walking by the few animals at the park with the wolves no where to be found as they hid from the heat already well into the 90s before noon, we found our first coaster. Griffon -- We only needed to wait a cycle or two, a theme for most of the day until I note otherwise, and we were climbing up what I remembered as my favorite dive coaster. It still is, even after riding some of the newer ones like Valravyn, Yukon Striker, and later in the trip, Iron Menace. I love Griffon. My favorite moment was a small surprise. I expected the midcourse to stop us, but it only somewhat slowed us down and we got launched out of our seats shooting down the second vertical drop with some speed still. Alpengeist -- This large B&M invert was a double miscalculation for us. First, we elected to ride it in the back for maximum whip. I really think this undercut the experience as it would have been better to be able to see what was ahead as we dove through the trenches. Second, we didn't get right back on to do just that. It was very hot and we wanted to work our way through the park more quickly than normal. The ride we had was enjoyable, but it was chaotic with the whip in the back combined with the lack of visibility and an intense B&M rattle. Thankfully, the B&M rattle doesn't do anything to me, but I figured I'd mention it for those who it does bother. This is a midtier invert for us, but it probably could have been better if we rode it in the front. Invadr -- Hmm, okay. I knew this one had the reputation of being a borderline family coaster, but it still underwhelmed me in terms of forces even with lowered expectations. It just doesn't do much at all for me. There is minimal airtime, no positive Gs, minimal laterals... It just wandered around its short track doing very little. For a woodie, it isn't even particularly rough or smooth. It was like this one was designed to be as bland as possible in all ways. This was the first dud of the day for us, but at least it was a new credit for me. Loch Ness Monster -- A lack of research did wonders for us here. We knew that Nessie had had its loops replaced, but that is all we had thought had happened to this old girl. Nope! Much of the layout had to have been reprofiled or otherwise smoothed over as this was the smoothest coaster we had ridden up that point, even smoother than Griffon. Then there were the nice added effects in the indoor portion, not to mention all the onboard audio that I don't remember being there before. What a pleasant surprise and easily now the best Arrow looper outside of Tennessee Tornado in my book. Apollo's Chariot -- The original B&M hyper is understandably the weakest of those I have ridden, but that doesn't mean it isn't great. You can't go wrong with a B&M hyper. Like Alpengeist, this one is very rattly now, but again that doesn't impact me even when I notice it strongly. It is just another sensation. The Chariot gave some good floater on some hills and whiffed entirely on others. A late trim completely neutered the finish too, but up until that point I was having a lot of fun. Pantheon -- We intentionally skipped over Tempesto for the moment because I thought it might get to me a bit in the now 100 degree weather and I didn't want to impact our experience on Pantheon. What an experience it was. This is a GREAT ride! When I slotted it in on my top 50 after the trip, I put it at #11. Every moment is packed with forces and fun. The backwards airtime hill is something I knew was coming and had seen people rave about, but I still had to experience it to understand. I loved every moment of the ride, though it did give me slight thigh pain. This is the only one we jumped on multiple times for the day, making sure to hit it from several points on the train. Both front and back had their merits. Tempesto -- We backtracked the short walk back to Tempesto and I found my fears unfounded. While I remember having found Phobia Fear and Tigris intense and disorienting, Tempesto did not feel that way at all. Maybe it was just comparatively weak coming off Pantheon, or maybe it was running slowly. Either way, I don't like these things when you have to wear those stupid discomfort collars. They ruin the whole experience for me as they are distracting and at times hurt. Phobia at Lake Compounce remains the only Sky Rocket II that I have liked so far of the three I have ridden. Verbolten, Take 1 -- Our first line of the day was found on Verbolten. It wasn't a long one though. After less than a half hour, we made it to the station. Unfortunately, the yellow train refused to release its last row and the whole ride was shut down as they worked on it. Here is my one big complaint of the day. It was literally 100 degrees out with a baking sun and the ride ops or the park's policy left the green train sitting out in direct sun for over a half hour as they worked on the yellow train. This was downright dangerous. If someone was close to heat related duress, they would have had an emergency. Terrible, terrible treatment of those guests by BGW here. Really disappointing. They were visually distressed and the park did nothing to help them. They just let them cook. Thankfully, everyone seemed fine when they got off the ride. After over an hour waiting, they announced that the ride would have an extended closure and off we went to DarKoaster instead. They had not managed to free the two men in the last row of the yellow train as we had left. Even the manual tool they broke out to free everyone else would not work. They may be on that thing to this very day for all I know. DarKoaster -- I knew this one would be a wait and that we probably should have rope dropped it, but we didn't and it was. Absurdly overpriced Dippin Dots kept us cool in the line was we waited and it inched forward. Eventually we got inside, which was cooler, but before we got around the last turn, DarkKoaster broke down too. We just sat down and waited. This was the last credit I needed in the park and I wasn't going to miss it. Most people abandoned the line, however, and we were able to move up to just before the station. I'd estimate we were at least a half hour away from boarding before the breakdown still. Given that it was down only about 20 minutes, we probably shortened our wait by having the ride go down. Go figure. As for the ride itself, it is fine. The first lap was fun and the launch uphill caught me off guard. The second lap is nice to pad the time, but at that point you knew the layout and it had less of an impact. This is a terrible fit for the park though with its god awful capacity. I can only imagine the nightmare waits this thing must generate on busy days. It wouldn't be worth a long wait either. Lastly, hopefully BGW keeps these effects going strong. They aren't mindblowing or anything, but it would be even weaker without them and you know how these things go. I had just ridden Backlot Stunt Coaster at KD the day before, so the thought of broken effects was on my mind. Verbolten, Take 2 -- When we got back to Verbolten, the yellow train had vanished, replaced by the orange train that had been off the tracks previously, and the ride was going again. We had probably a half hour wait before boarding. I still love this one. I completely understand those who miss the suspended coaster that used to be here, but I strongly prefer the themed chaos that is Verbolten. This is a supremely underrated ride in my book. The cherry on top was the fact that my son had no idea the drop track was coming somehow. He usually does his youtube research, but he missed this one and his surprised scream was priceless. I love Verbolten. It was a great cap to a great, albeit hot and accordingly rushed, day at BGW. It would have been perfect if not for having to watch the people on the green train be tortured the first time around. The day moved my son to 184 credits and me to 241. Six Flags America and a forecast of 104 were on the docket for the next day.

Trip Report: We kicked off our annual summer road trip made the drive down from the Canadian border, basically, to Doswell on Saturday the 14th. I only bring up the drive to mention the first time I noticed what would become the theme of the next few days: heat! I hadn't looked at or thought about the weather going into this. The days we could go were the days we could go, so weather didn't matter. We would show up at the parks and do what we could each day with what the weather brought. Well, it brought the heat. It was 11 PM and I was in Maryland when I noticed it was still 87 degrees out. Yikes. Quick aside before I get to the park: We stayed at the La Quinta in across from King's Dominion. Don't do that. I am one of the least picky travelers you will ever meet, but this place was an absolutely filthy dump with abysmal service. If anyone wants more detail, ask and I will provide, but this is a coaster forum so that is what I will talk about now. I just wanted to give the warning. The forecast for Sunday was a high of 97, but it didn't matter. We walked over to the park at opening and decided to walk towards the back at gate drop while letting the GP hit the stuff by the entrance. This was my third time in the park, but the first time since 2012. It was my 13 year old son's first time. Grizzly -- First ride we came to was this woodie. The entrance is weirdly through a gift shop, but they had signs up so it was no big deal. The coaster itself was also kind of no big deal. We were on what I think was the second train of the day and got a zen ride, so that might of contributed, but at the same time it was already well into the 90s out so I think that is kind of a wash in terms of the impact on the ride. It did its thing. We found it kind of boring, I guess. Inoffensive, but boring. Apple Zapple -- We saw Twisted Timbers and were excited for it, but I pulled my son over to the big wild mouse to hit it in case a line was going to build up. You know how these things go in terms of capacity. I was actually pretty disappointed by this one. Not that I had some grand expectation of greatness or anything, but I thought the big drop that this expanded model brought would do more. It was uninteresting and otherwise just a standard wild mouse once you popped up from it. Twisted Timbers -- We were 2/2 with minor coasters in terms of having basically no reaction to them. Was it the heat getting to us? RMC would put our ability to feel to the test. This was my first new credit, one of two for the day (or so I thought at the time), and it was both a laugh and a scream a minute. It is a little short, but Twisted Timbers has a GREAT layout for an airtime junky like me. I really loved this ride. My only problem was that I found the restraints pretty painful. After hitting back then front, a third ride was out of the question. I have found RMC restraints to be a really inconsistent experience for me. Some rides hurt a lot (this one), just a little (ex: Steel Vengeance), and some not at all (ex: Wicked Cyclone). Some even slowly release up and distract from the ride completely as I wonder if they are going to hold! (Storm Chaser) Still, even with the restraints making me feel like I just got off Superman at SFNE, I loved this ride. Racer 75 -- We went up the left side walkway first and hopped in the front row of the blue train for a race. The race lasted a quarter of the way up the lift hill when we were stopped so the ride ops could scold a lady for having her phone out. Race ruined. But the ride continued and ended up basically being the same experience I had at King's Island. I don't know if this ride is actually a clone or not, but it felt like it. For both Racers, I thought the ride out was really fun and the ride back too slow to deliver on its hills. Good ride overall though. You could feel it isn't tracking super well in the places that haven't been redone, but as with many of these old PTCs, they slow you down any time you turn around and the roughness doesn't matter much when it is going straight. Afterward, we repeated the ride on the right side for the second credit for the son. It was a let down to realize the ride was running three trains between the two sides though, so again we missed the race. Oh well. Coaster nerd bonus: When we got back to the hotel and I added these to the sheet, I realized I had not remembered that I had only ridden one side of Racer prior so there was a third credit I didn't expect. Tumbili -- Next we wandered over to the new themed area, which looked very nice. The heat was starting to get to me though, so I probably didn't take it in as well as I could have. We also got a view of the new B&M launched coaster going in while waiting in line. Another reason to come back eventually! Can't complain about that. Anyway, I have a weird relationship with 4D Free Spins. It seems like the longer I go without riding one, the more I like them. Then each ride very rapidly has diminishing returns until I hate them. Since it had been a couple years since I ran into a new one and I hadn't re-ridden any, I actually really liked Tumbili. We only got one spin, but the jerky drops and partial rotations were fun. This is was a nice filler addition. It was also my last new credit for the day. Reptilian -- What a difference a coat of paint makes! Avalanche/Reptilian is what it is. It is slow and meandering until it isn't at the end, but when it finally picks up the speed to be exciting, the ride immediately ends. I like the ride fine and would love to feel it without the first trim completely stopping the train someday. I can imagine how insane the finale would be if it got to keep the initial speed, if that would be safe of course. But back to the paint! The new look and re-theming to fit into the new area was brilliantly done. It is a very pretty ride now and fits great. Well done, KD. Backlot Stunt Coaster -- Now for the opposite. What the heck is this thing at this point? Just tear it out. Not a single effect is working anymore, quite literally not one, so I guess the theme is riding through a... junkyard? The launch is fun. I always think the first helix on these is an underrated intensity moment. Being launched the second time through the dark is fun, sure. But without any of the effects that mostly still worked last time we were at KI and CW, the coaster is just weird and lifeless. Take it out if you're not going to let it be what it is anymore. It isn't like the place is lacking for launches. Anaconda -- Oof. I will always be nostalgic towards old Arrows and hopeful while in line, but we got a really poor, headbanging ride on this one. I don't really remember it from 12 years ago, but I wish I did to compare how it has aged versus what it was then. The current state is not good. It is time to put in the money to fix this thing or replace it. Flight of Fear - I forget how much I end up liking these each time I ride them. The launch isn't the amazing punch it looks like it will be out of the station while waiting in line, but it is good enough and the spaghetti style, inversion filled layout with limited lighting is disorienting in a way that I always end up liking. I didn't notice any real differences between it and the other two I had ridden more recently either, unlike with Backlot Stunt Coaster. I also want to praise the restraints on these. I wish they caught on. The lap bars are super comfortable, there are no OTSRs, and the seatbelt clicking into the lapbar as a backup is much better for the rider, at least in my opinion, then having them actually wear the seatbelt. Project 305 - The last time I went to Kings Dominion and my first ride on I305 was the first year after the reprofiled turn, if I am remembering right, and I had kind of a funny experience. My wife and I rode it together, as we always did then, and I had no idea what the hell just happened to me. I grayed out hard right after even the reprofiled turn and barely registered the rest of the ride. I knew I needed a re-ride, but my wife... said no. She just flat out refused to do that again. This is the only time in our life together that she ever refused to ride anything. With that, I didn't ride it again until this trip. It was one of those perfect walk ons too. We grabbed the back not only without waiting with anyone ahead of us, but without even waiting at the gate. It opened as we joined the queue and we walked right on without ever stopping. Despite the heat and my dehydration, I did not gray out fully this time, though I was close, and I was able to recover quickly enough to enjoy the rest of the ride. I like this one better than I thought I did! What a powerhouse this giant Intamin is. I can only imagine the borderline 100 degree weather had it hauling particularly fast too. It will need to move up my nerd rankings for sure. I305 did make me nauseous though as I sat on the break run, probably because of the heat and dehydration, at least in part, so we left it again to one ride. We talked about coming back later at night and hitting it again after cooling off at the hotel, but we never did. Woodstock Express -- We peaked into the kiddy land to see if there was a line for this. Unsurprisingly given the heat and lack of lines all day, it was a walk on so we grabbed the credit for my kid. Every time I ride one of these, I think about what an underrated ride it is for the kids. Modern bigger kid friendly coasters like Gravity Group family woodies or Vekoma Family Inverts have upped their speed and intensity, so this bigger looking ride with its calm, but not boring (for a kid) layout is an increasingly rare sweetspot as a stepping stone for young kids working their nerves up for the big rides. We also grabbed a ride on the air conditioned little shooter while in the area to cool off. I am sad to report my son beat me on one of these for the first time ever, thought to be honest we both performed poorly! Dominator -- We closed our time in the oven with a ride on this B&M Floorless. My god was it moving in the heat. This was unquestionably the fastest and most intense ride I have ever gotten on a B&M Floorless, bar none. It was very rattly, but that rarely bothers me on B&Ms and I loved the ride we got. If we weren't dying from the heat at this point, I would have wanted another go. We were very much dying from the just under 100 degree heat, however, so we walked back to the hotel and ended up calling it a night. It only took about five hours on the dot to work through the entire lineup at King's Dominion. The crowds were light due the forecasted highs and I imagine those who were there were mostly at the water park. I think the only coasters were waited at all for were Tumbili and Backlot Stunt Coaster. Neither wait was more than 20 minutes. All in all it was a good, albeit HOT, day at the park. I hit credit number 237 and Dominator was my son's 175th. Busch Gardens Williamsburg was our plan for the next day. Somehow the forecast was even hotter, but that is a post coming in that thread. Thanks for reading. EDIT: I put the date as the 20th instead of the 14th. What is time, anyway?

Thanks. I worded the question poorly though. I figured either would be light Monday. The question I meant to ask was which would be busier on Sunday? Thanks again

Part of a large and already expensive roadtrip. Any sort of Quick Queue/Flash Pass is not an option.

Hey all, we will be visiting BGW and KD Sunday and Monday. Is BGW the busier of the two like I would expect? Should we go to Kings Dominion on Sunday and Busch Gardens on Monday? Or does it not really matter? Thanks!

They are saying that it is unlikely that we will see that logo physically in the parks anywhere. It is the logo for the corporate offices, basically, and the SF parks merging into the new chain will keep their established logos on the ground. It is speculation at this point, of course, but I suspect they are right. I don't know why the new chain would spend money on switching all these out when the one thing the SF side brings above anything else is national brand recognition and those established logos are a big part of that.

Great Escape damn near had its new Gravity Group open for opening day! It was just a couple weeks late. Though I am not sure that I want other parks learning how to build coasters from The Great Escape... They might, you know, just not do it at all for 20 years at a time in that case.

Nothing more serious in the world. Except maybe stand up comedy, of course. And bummer on the 8/3 reopening target. That will be a big factor as we plan out our days on the fly for sure.

I am sorry if I distract from your stand up routine, but if I may ask politely, is Shellraiser down longterm? I haven't been following. Regardless, our summer road trips are specifically about getting out to new to us parks and attractions. You could call them credit whoring trips and be 90% right. Without the new Vekoma, Great Adventure doesn't have anything new to offer us as we have been so many times. Even with the disappointment of Shellraiser being down, if it is, we would still go to Nick Universe over SFGA because going to new places and riding new to us coasters is the mission statement of these roadtrips. I'd be surprised if we weren't back for a long weekend at Great Adventure a non-credit whoring capacity within the next year or two anyway.

We are starting our summer road trip on Saturday. We are driving down to Virginia for KD and BGW and driving North from there, needing to be back to way upstate NY by the following Monday. Other than hitting the VA parks (first time since the year Verbolten opened) and then Six Flags America (never been), it is wide open in terms of what we can visit within the time window. There is no hope the new Boomerang is going to be open by say next weekend (20th/21st), right? I don't think I can prioritize getting SGAdv on the list otherwise. I still need all those NJ boardwalk parks, Coney, Nickelodeon Universe, Playland, etc.

Again, no first hand experience, but what I have read from others isn't that these are necessarily rough, it is just that you can feel a noticeable rattle which is a departure for how most B&Ms used to stay glass smooth for years after install.

I might just be missing it, but I feel like this is kind of an underdiscussed development in the industry. I haven't ridden any of them myself yet, but a lot of people have gotten off Penguin Trek, Pipeline, Iron Menace, and Dr. Diabolical noting that they are pretty rattly out of the gate. This did not use to happen with B&M. The rattle that developed over time used to take years.

Upper level Six Flags management is all gone now. All that is left is the Cedar Fair people.