imbordisux

Some manufacturers/parks prefer the durability of steel, and I'm sure an argument can be made about "saving trees", though that's kind of a moot point when you're building a woodie. Same way the famous Coney Island Cyclone is considered a wooden coaster - the rails on which the trains run are wooden, hence, a wooden coaster. Doesn't matter how the rails are held up, as the supports have no effect on the ride itself. Likewise, Gemini at Cedar Point is considered a steel coaster, as, while the supports are wooden, the rails are steel. I mean, you could support the rails on stacks of french toast, but it's rails more than anything else that effect the ride. And for what it's worth, I quite like the look of The Voyage; I'm generally not a fan of steel supports on a woodie, but at that size, I think it's damn impressive looking, almost like it's saying "This coaster is so monstrous, we HAD to use steel!"

Nice to see Voyage and Toro duking it out for #1 in the US - it's nice to know that, even with 10-inversions and Stratacoasters out there, people can still appreciate the awesomeness of a kick-ass woodie. At the risk of having everybody post their ballots, I am going to post mine; I am only doing this because, for whatever reason, my ballot couldn't be accepted (despite having voted in the past), so please don't post your ballots if they can be found at Mitch's site. The reason I post this is because I really want to give props to/for El Toro - even as a fan of the old "rib-cracker" style of pain-inducing woodies, there's no denying the absolute airtime-insanity that Toro provides. It's not exactly my cup of tea, but SFGAdv definitely deserves a nod for bringing this awesome design to America. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that there is definitely a heated debate going on between the two, but they both deserve respect. If you're into a good old-fashioned ass-kicking, if you want to push your body to the absolute limit of how much punishment your body can possibly take from a coaster (like me!), and so many things going on at once that you can't even wrap your head around where your body's heading, go with The Voyage. If you prefer a more buttery-smooth ride, like an out-of-control flying carpet, with the absolute longest-lasting airtime you've ever experienced, go with El Toro. Actually, screw that, go with both of them. Intamin and Gravity Group deserve it.

*drool*

I haven't really been paying attention to anything outside of the Northeast and Midwest, so please pardon my ignorance, but... huh? Is this true? Has there been news that the footers will eventually need to be reinforced? Oh, and I love 1st-gen Free-Falls; IMO, they're the only rides that truly give you that feeling of falling freely (well, them, and the infamous "Rolling Thunder Hill" on El Toro). I much prefer them to any other tower rides.

Yeah, they run their flats at absolutely ridiculous speeds.

Based on their photo page, I'm assuming they've never been to Playland Park in NY (aka "Rye Playland") - it's not exactly what you'd call a "thrill park" or anything, but several people on this board have mentioned how great it is.

I think I'll help the thread-starter out a bit: Robb, Elissa, there are obviously a million small little dinky parks (and "family fun centers") that you haven't visited, but do you have any parks/coasters in particular that you both really, really want to do, but just haven't gotten around to yet? I'm guessing El Toro is one coaster you both can't wait to try, correct?

Check out Amazon and Ebay for used stuff, also.

I'm not the only one who thought the title read "TPR Gang Bang", am I?

I just downloaded "Finalburner" for free, and this seems to be doing a decent job, but the free version doesn't have a menu-builder; you basically just have to watch the video straight through. Does anybody know of any good FREE DVD-editing/burning programs? I'm not looking for any fancy features, I just want to be able to jump around from section to section. Thanks in advance, - Stu

From the FWM article:

Just a rhetorical question - to try to reorganize the whole thing while in progress would be near impossible, and would also be relatively pointless since most people rank it near or at the bottom, anyway.

We saw "The Mars Volta" live a few weeks ago. God they sucked. Whatever they were doing up there on that stage couldn't even be called "music", so whatever they were... singing... I guess... would be the worst song ever. "The Red Hot Chili Peppers" f'ing ruled, though.

If "Twisted Twins" and "Lightning Racer" are counted as two coasters, why shouldn't "RT"? It's two separate layouts.

Shouldn't "Rolling Thunder" be counted as two coasters? I mean, I know it's pretty much univerally hated, but accuracy has to count for something, no?

I'd imagine "I Want Candy" for Hershey, and probably the one used for Hades, as well.

To everyone who said the model looks "too short", keep in mind that it's just that - a model. What was constructed was done as a means of conveying what can be done with the technology, as a sample to give people an idea of what the train is going to look and feel like; that doesn't mean that that's ALL there is to it. No reason to construct a thousand feet of track if all you're trying to show is that the seats spin.

I know you guys (Elissa especially) love those kiddie credits, so I thought I'd let you know of a sick little coaster we have out here in the middle of Long Island, New York. Thriller Coaster at "Sports Plus Entertainment Center" is an intense little bugger with a sick little pop of airtime and a layout consisting of tight helices. Here are some photos of the out-of-your-seat drop: Close-up of the drop: On the left, the steepness of that drop: Just thought I'd share.

For what it's worth, both sides of this debate have merit. Obviously, we can't say for certain just what percentage of the patrons know what a "B&M" is, or what it stands for, but we also have to realize that liking a ride, or even several rides, does not mean that they know much about the history. For instance, at my home park, many park-goers love both Kingda Ka and El Toro, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they both know that they're made by the same company. You couldn't go up to just any rider and ask who their favorite manufacturer is, many of them just know "this one is a cool ride", and "that one over there is a cool ride". This is why many parks go after B&M and Intamin, not because of name-recognition, but because they make "cool rides". I mean, when El Toro opened, the commercials didn't mention that it was an Intamin, nor did it open with the line "From the makers of Kingda Ka...". People don't get excited by the maker, they just say "Wow, that looks cool". Just like us. Many park-goers don't know the manufacturers, but that doesn't mean that the officials aren't tallying up which rides produce the most positive reactions.

I'm no expert, but in my opinion, it does appear to be wider track. On the flip-side, though, does anybody think that the railing itself actually looks SMALLER than usual? That's kinda freaky.

Wow... that thing looks like it's gonna fall apart at any moment. And, yeah, I know that's a somewhat cliche' joke, but that looks like it's made entirely out of friggin' popsicle sticks.

Don't go during the Summer - it'll be the most over-crowded park you'll ever see.

Saw it last night, and, as a coaster-enthusiast, it was pretty disappointing - not one word about (or shot of) the park. The segment itself was definitely funny, but didn't include anything that would be of any interest to us.

Not so much parks as a whole, but we've really gone cold on SFGAdv lately; when we started dating two years ago, we went every three weeks or so. However, this year, we really started getting down on it for the following reasons: 1) It's possibly the most over-crowded park ON EARTH, with ridiculous waits for EVERYTHING. Combine that with the questionable operations of some rides, and you spend most of the day on line. 2) Everything is terribly over-priced, which, while normal for corporate parks, is even worse here, as the long waits and excessive walking cause you to want to eat and drink more. 3) There are usually several rides down at any given time; Kingda Ka is obvious, but Rolling Thunder, Freefall, and Skull Mountain are down also down a lot, Chiller has more or less been running one side for several seasons, and El Toro has been a nightmare. 4) The drive from Long Island is treacherous; I can't tell you how many times this trip, which should only take about two hours, has taken double or even TRIPLE the amount of time. We still love the park, and it still has, in our view, our favorite collection of rides, but we don't dare go during the Summer anymore. If you live far away, and are wondering whether it's worth a trip, definitely do it, but not during the Summer.

I didn't, though I'm willing to give it a second chance. We didn't, either, and we're not even willing to give it a second chance.