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Secret Weapon 1 and 2 where two different layouts for the Arrow pipeline-coaster that they originally planned to build before settling on Nemesis. When they return to their SW trademark, it will hopefully mean something better than Rita A GCI woodie wouldn't be out of the question either. using the terrain to stay under the tree limit!

and I would guess much of the reason for the mega lite's success is probably due to relative small cost. They are pretty small, don't need any custom designing and offers a ride few others rides in the same price-category can offer. I rode Piraten this summer, and loved it. It was walk on all day (the ride ops even encouraged rerides in order to have something to do! )and I got a totalt of 17 rides. Imo it's better than both fahrenheit and Superman Ride of Steel (SFNE). Amazing ride, and a perfect addition to small parks like Djurs.

Very nice pictures! The colors and lightning in some of them is just beautifull! I'm a huge fan of "blurred background" pictures and took a few myself this summer of Storm Runner. They ain't easy, but well worth the effort when you get it right

I think this is great. I rode SROS for the first time this summer, and wasn't very impressed. The ride really didn't have as much airtime as expected, and the whole thing seemed slow. I thought rides like El Toro, Storm Runner and Nitro was far bether. Hopefully new trains may make it the coaster everyone raves about As it is now it is barely a top ten ride for me!

In June I saw a few deers below the helix on Nitro during some night time rides. If an arrow doesn't scare them, a B&M definitely should

My current list: Wood: 1. El Toro 2. Balder 3. Thunderbird 4. Avalanche 5. Phoenix 6. Boulder Dash 7. Collossos 8. Hades 9. Lightning Racer 10. Thundercoaster Steel: 1. Storm Runner 2. Nitro 3. Nemesis 4. Xcelerator 5. Piraten 6. Tornado (Finland) 7. Katun 8. Kingda Ka 9. Fahrenheit 10. Superman Ride of Steel SFNE

After the accident on S:ROS (SFNE) they modified the restraints. They now hold your feet in place, and leave less leg room. Personally I didn't like them, but they didn't distract too much from the ride. S:ROS is as far as I know the only ride to have this modifications.

I don't think we will see that many tall coasters in the future. At least not Dragster/Kingda size. The cost of steel is just getting to high for this behemoths to be economic viable. We will probably see more original small designs. I also think we may see more " switch elements", like for instance Expedition Everest which changes direction. The possibilities is limitless. Apart from that I guess a lot will be the same, and woodies will be as popular as ever. (Hopefully the future holds more Intamin woodies )

Me and my Norwegian friend Yngve (Viking86) recently came back from a trip in the NY area. We spent a few days in the city, and visited Astroland, Six Flags Great Adventure, Hershey Park, Knoebels, Playland Park, Lake Compounce and Six Flags New England. On our first day in NY we took the subway out to Coney Island, to ride the famous Cyclone. It was a pretty cool feeling walking around the area, as you had seen in numerous times in films etc. A ride on the cyclone is 8$, but you can get a reride for 5$. We started with a front seat ride. The First drop is pretty amazing. It's a lot stepper than many modern day woodies, and you get some nice airtime going down. The first turn has some surprising laterals. The rest of the ride is a really nice blend of laterals and airtime. I can see why the lay out has been cloned so many times. After this ride we made the major mistake. We opted for a back seat ride. Sitting over the wheels, in the back seat on a woodie from 1927 turned out not being the smartest thing we had done. The start of the first drop was great, with amazing ejector airtime. But then as we hit the bottom the major jackhammering started. I've been on rough coaster before, but nothing like this. The name spine-adjuster is more relevant than ever. I wasn't able to enjoy any of the airtime, because I knew there was something awful waiting on the bottom of the drop. It hasn't happened to me before, but I actually couldn't wait for the ride to end. After this we had some problems walking, and I'm still not sure if my back recovered properly. Well, if I have to retire early I know why Seeing now, we should have gone for a ride in the second to last row. It's a non wheel seat, and I hear it is a lot smoother! And with that airtime it is probably amazing. Well, next time. On to the pictures I'll end this update with a sad picture. This is the place the might Thunderbolt once stood. It was demolished a few years ago, after standing idle a long time. Thanks for reading. More pictures (and video) coming! Turnaround Just to remind you all which coaster it is! I love to play with the focus. Expect a lot more of thees out of focus coaster shots A scenic view of the cyclone! It's really a beautiful coaster! It's a really nice ride. Too bad it has gotten so rough! Back to the cyclone. You can almost see the laterals going in to that turn! the observation tower This wacky worm actually used the turntable to switch trains! First one I've seen with two trains! The famous wonder wheel. Birds at the beach. They wait until you turn your back to them, and then..BAAM. They take you and eat you alive...I've heard The old parachute drop tower. Too bad it has been closed for a long time! It's not certain Astroland will be here next year:( The boardwalk next to the park is pretty nice The first airtime hill has some nice air too. The first drop is great! Amazing airtime, especially in the back Something that really separates America from Europe is your fire hydrants. They are about to experience some airtime! The firs turn has some nice laterals! The Coney Island Cyclone, probably one of the most famous coasters in existence!

Hi. Men and Viking 86 is going on our first trip to the New York area, and need some advice. We have a rental car for a week, and plan to visist the following parks: -Astroland -Six Flags Great Adventure (2 days) -Hershey Park (one and a half day) -Knoebels -Playland -Quassy -Lake Compounce -Six Flags New England Does anyone know any cheap places to stay close to SF Gadv, Hershey and SFNE, Also are those parks so close to a town that you can leave the park for a hour too eat? Knoebels seems to be kind of in the middle of nowhere. I have printed directions from mapquest. Anything special we should be aware of? Like a road being closed etc? And finally, anyone know of any discounts or something like that? We're spending two days at SFGadv, and one at SFNE, so should we have a season pass. Also is flash pass a good idea at SFGADV on our first day, since its a Sunday? We would really appreciate any help Also are there any low capacity rides in those parks we should hit fast ?

Very nice trip report. By the way, the "white house" wasn't sponsored by Japan. Samsung is from south korea

Great trip report. I'm going to denmark again in august, and this really makes me look forward to it

Grona Lund has been trying to add a new major coaster for years now. Some years ago they actually applied for an 60m high Intamin accelerator, but they didn't get the permission. Hopefully they will next year! On another note, Tusenfryd is making their biggest investment ever next year, possibly involving a new "land" of some kind. This was according to the one of the largest norwegian newspapers, and was said by the parks new manager.

Too be taken with a Canon those shots are very good I'm more of a Nikon person myself

Did you know that before Dæmonen was built, Tivoli Gardens had among others a proposal for a 8 looping Intamin rocket coaster at the same site (or so I've heard )

Great photos! Nothing beats going to a themepark with a telephoto lens What camera do you have?

Great trip report! I think it's great to see old rides, that can still deliver a much wilder ride than most new coasters! Not that many 50 year old coasters left that still delivers this kind of rides!

Thanks for the fast answer! We're doing Knoebels the night before, so we hit the road as soon as possible that morning. If the drive is about 4 hours we would probably be able to get to Rye about 13.00 (that's 1pm for you ), be there about an hour and a half, drive to quassy, do the coasters and the parachute ride and hit Lake Compounce for a nice evening with hopefully loads of Boulder Dash rides. We're going late june, so we probably should excpect some crowds though! Keep the roadshow rolling, looking forward to the rest

Very nice trip reports. Big Mike, would you say it is possible to drive from Knoebels, visit Rye, Quassy and Lake Compounce in one day? We're having a New york area trip, and we're already Quassy and Lake Compounce, but it would be really cool to fit a short visit to Rye also. Such a classic park I don't really know how long the drive is, but viamichelin says its about 5 hours.

18/20 Didn't know the first book question, and the one about the person falling down from a ladder! Nice quiz!

Very good trip report. Nice to see a trip report that foucs primarilly on the rides for a change

I would say the difference is pretty big. You listed five rides in the top ten in the Hawker poll, thats not in the top ten in GTA. Five rides is 50% of the a top ten list Also four of them is European or Asian. If you take a look a the GTA only one ride on that top ten isn't from North America. And that ride is four places farther down than on the Hawker poll, where it is has placed in the top two for the last seven years in a row! The rest of the GTA is made out of great rides, but in the Hawker poll they typically place out between 10-20. I would definitively say its a pretty big difference in those polls! If you take the top 50 in to account the difference is enormous. I compared the top 50 from both polls, and while the GTA's had 8 international rides the Hawker poll had 18! That says a lot imo. The GTA's isn't too bad on North American coasters (except for all CP coasters being way higher than in most polls), but when you take international coasters into count it really shows how biased this poll is.

Nope. That was one of the things they changed in the design from TTD to Kingda Ka.

I think part of the reason for the brakes (or breaks )on the top is to allow them to launch at a slightly higher speed, thus avoiding some rollbacks.

How they got that impression is beyond me