JamesMC

No but they do create a 'sticky' situation. Would you answer "yes" if I paid you to answer "yes" to a question?

We have had ourselves a "REAL" winter in Northwest Indiana/Chicagoland. Today was 26 tho tomorrow will be 40 and we get one day on Thurs where the temp will be 58-60 before it plummets again over the weekend. Oh well.

Going to see Fleetwood Mac at the Allstate Arena (Chicago) on Thursday. I can't wait. I've seen F.M. 3 times in the Lindsey-less years, and I've seen Lindsey twice solo, but I've never seen the best of both worlds combined. Woo Hoo

My first BIG amusement park trip was to King's Island in '78. I rode Screamin' Demon because I didn't know better- but it scared me enough that I couldn't ride "The Racer" at that time. During the next couple of years, I kept seeing reports on "The Beast" being built and opened and after "Real People" (an old old NBC show) had one of their correspondants ride it ( I 'think' it was Byron Allen), I truly became "obsessed" in that I had to not only go back to KI and re-ride Demon and get on Racer, but that I absolutely "HAD" to ride Beast, because it looked so mysterious. My name is James and I've been a CoasterHolic since 1980.

Not me personally, but I know a lot of people (friends family etc.) who grayed out between loops 2 and 3 or just after 3 on Great America's Shockwave. It was runnin' a lil rough the last couple years, but I still miss that one.

I had almost forgotten this little tidbit (tho it's not really a rumor). When I was last visited SFMM for the TPR Tatsu camp-out Media Day- I rode Psyclone with some kid (although he was really probably twentyish or so) who kept informing me "This ride kinda sucks" the whole time we were on it. And yeah it did. But then as we were almost back to the station he said "It'd be nice if they could put a 'Good' wooden coaster here" Well, kid, whoever you are and wherever you've gone- - -you got your wish. Viva Terminator. Hopefully I will get to ride it within a year or so.

Just some Daddy Long Legs. Have you ever unexpectedly had a craving for an Aunt Jemima Coffee Cake?

I will not stake anything on these, but browsing and watching a LOT of different websites this is what I have heard tossed around: Cedar Point: New water-ride (think Holiday World) waterflume in 2010- bad news is that it will replace Corkscrew Or Cedar Creek Mine Ride (let's hope not)! Six Flags Magic Mountian: New Tony Hawk-type spinning coaster 2010. (those are cool). Supposedly near where Flashback stood. Six Flags Great America: Hurricane Harbor expansion 2010 with a SFKK Deluge type ride as the centerpiece but with a couple new other slides. 2011 new GCI coaster. (bad news again as it may have Iron Wolf's old footprint but extend out to where American Eagle is). Busch Gardens Europe: New flyer coaster in 2011. I've never been there but it's on my to-do list flyer or not. Six Flags St. Louis: (and I may have mentioned this before) another flying coaster in the area where River King Mine Train and Screaming Eagle has "all" that open land" according to an employee on my visit there last summer. Lift near Eagle and layout towards RKMT. Regardless: I will believe all of the above when I actually SEE it! In the meantime it's fun to think about, but I Would Not Count on it. We shall see.

Screamin' Demon was the first MAJOR coaster I ever rode. Quite a thrill- back in August of '78 (I was nine at the time, and the biggest thing I'd ever been on prior to that was a Mad Mouse). Lots of fond memories for me.

I've been on 3 Royal Caribbean Cruises, and have had only 1 instance of the ship doing a little more rocking and rolling then your average vehicle on the highway. I've been to Labadee, Haiti twice on these cruises and it was a Blast even before the revamped version. Now I HAVE to get back there. Alpine Slide, here I come. That would be soooooooooooo totally awesome to do a TPR cruise.

Coasters I Miss: Screamin' Demon at KI- first major coaster I ever rode- not that it was that spectacular, but for the whole nostalgia thing. Shockwave at SFGAM- it WAS a parking lot coaster, but I always found it fun!!! Deja Vu at SFGAM: I could barely get on it the first couple years, and then when it did operate it took too long to get on it, but gosh darn it, that was a FUN ride. I completely miss it. Z-Force at SFGAM (later Flashback at SFMM): When it was in Illinois, it ran smooth. When I rode it years later in CA. I had a headache. Guess it didn't travel well. King Cobra at KI: Took WAY too long to load, but I think it was probably the smoothest stand up I was ever on. Tidal Wave at SFGAM: Yeah, it was a one-trick pony, but I loved it. It was replaced by the infinitely better Batman the Ride, but I have gotten the chance to ride it again at SFOG and SFKK. Couldn't they have kept it at SFGA??? Or moved it to say, where Crapman: Dark Knight coaster currently stands

Anything by Frederick Forsyth: I've read a LOT of different books/genres/authors but I just discovered him this last year (fall 2008) and his stuff is GREAT. His books tend to involve a LOT of backstory, but by the time you get to the endings you wished he'd written even more. Absolutely brilliant and captivating. I'm not even joking.

The Killers: UIC Pavillion in Chicago. My girlfriend loves them and I like them, but they put on a heck of a show. I'd go back and see them again.

Disaster Transport at CP is pretty lame. Adventure Express at King's Island with it's weird ending with the Tiki Statues is beyond comprehension (though I enjoy the ride itself) Batman The Dark Knight (I cannot even explain how disappointed I am in SFGAM's choice of a "new" coaster for this last season)- the queue is the best part. The ride is marginally fun and the effects are Craptacular once you actually board the vehicle. If you like this ride, I wish you well, but I literally have spoken to no-one who has told me "It was worth the wait.", "That was great", or "I can't wait to ride it again". Ughhhhhhhh I'd say Scream as well, but was that really a themed coaster to begin with or just poor product placement? (Kinda has that old SFGA Shockwave parking lot coaster feel, but I always liked the ride)

In an addendum to one of my earlier posts about SFSTL:^^ I failed to mention that the scope of the next (probable) B&M creation for the park was to quote "a couple years off"- I did not mean to imply that it was going to be built for the next operating season, sorry for the confusion.

The only ride I've ever seen "down" at C.P. has been Top Thrill Dragster- BUT it's usually reopened in an hour or so.

I was recently at Cedar Point and I heard two different stories: 1.) From a local visitor: Mean Streak is in it's last season and will be dismantled for a new coaster in 2010. However when I asked a maintenence guy nearby (the next day) about this he said that "You'll still be able to ride Mean Streak next year", BUT he didn't say that it Was Not going to be disappearing after next season either. Hmm............. 2.) From some guy in Ohio (Goran or Govan-didn't quite catch it((and he didn't say where that I remember but that he lived 45 min away from CP)) that there will be two new coaster additions in the next 3-4 years, but that one of the new coasters will stand on the footprint of another coaster near the back of the park. Also: I have heard that Six Flags St. Louis will be putting in a B&M hyper or flyer in the area of the park near Tidal Wave/Screaming Eagle and it will be terrain based. This one I could actually see and or hope for as there is a LOT of room for another ride here. Time will tell.

Blue Streak at Cedar Point. Yay for a classic.

Here's what I can think of off the top of my head: Sauzer's Kiddieland, Schererville, IN: Roller Coaster Wild Mouse Galaxi King's Island: Screamin' Demon (later just Demon) King Cobra Son Of Beast (with loop) Six Flags Great America: Turn Of The Century (though half the ride still exists as Demon) Z-Force (relocated twice to SFOG/SFMM then dismantled-I did get to ride it at SFMM a couple times after it left my 'home' park. Rolling Thunder (which has been relocated) Tidal Wave (relocated twice) Shockwave Deja Vu Cedar Point: Wildcat (the original one out by Space Spiral- although the one that exists today at the park is an exact duplicate) Six Flags Magic Mountain: Flashback (see Z-Force above^) Psyclone Six Flags St. Louis: Jetscream River King Mine Train (relocated side of ride) Six Flags Over Georgia: Viper (formerly Tidal Wave at SFGAM-then relocated to SFKK) If I can think of more I will post them

It's been a long while since I've been to SFOG- but my thoughts are this: (Superman and Goliath were not built at that point): Loved GASM-who doesn't like a John Allen classic like this? Cyclone- a little rough, but enjoyable Ninja: Honestly, not bad for a Vekoma- even rode it more than once. Viper: This used to be at my homepark SFGAM as Tidal Wave, so although the ride was the same, it brought back a lot of memories. MindBender: Good old fashioned Schwarzkopf fun. Georgia Scorcher: Liked it more than the B&M stand up at my home park (Iron Wolf) Batman: Well, it's fun, but pretty much the same ride as all the rest of them. Still liked it though. Mine Train: Can't remember much about the ride other than three people tried to ride in one seat, and were dispatched out of the station only to e-stopped and escorted off the ride by a ride op on the lift hill. Unfortunately this took a considerable amount of time to rectify. That's what I remember and can contribute for my .02

^ I agree with you in principle, BUT on Steel Hawg, the whole 1-car train is upside down in the "Hanging Loop"

From talking and listening to people in line (and a couple various ride ops over the years)- I have repeatedly gathered the same basic info: 1.) Mack Spash Battle-2009 Pirate Theme 2.) New water coaster for Hurricane Harbor (which will expand where Space Shuttle America and Go-Karts are located) most likely 2009 3.) No new coaster til 2010-2011 but it will FINALLY be a BIG one.

Just got back from a trip to C.P. on Mon/Tues of this week. I LOVE Mil Force- BUT I always ride in one of two places- either the front seat or the rear seat where I get a lot of good ejector time on the hills. I think it's a great ride. Mantis is okay- but I don't think I enjoyed it as much as when I first rode it. To me the first half is way better than after the MCBR. my .02

Just got back from Cedar Point, where I rode Mantis again for the first time in like 6 or 7 years. (The last time I was at C.P 5 years ago, we didn't have a chance to ride it). I followed someone's suggestion and rode near the front of the train- car #3 on the left hand side- and although my head bobbled a bit, it really was not that bad at all. Certainly less of a head-smasher than Iron Wolf (which I always ride at SFGAM, but usually just once to say that I did). I did prepare for the heavy-G elements and flexed my legs as best I could. But the downside was that I was so concerned with how I should be riding that I didn't really get to enjoy the ride either. Oh well. Maybe this should have been a sit down coaster.

I am heading to Cedar Point next week, but if memory serves me well, the only painful part of the ride (Mantis) was the unusually long load/ unload process. Even my home park of Six Flags Great America cannot quite get the trains not to stack on Iron Wolf. I don't blame the operators necessarily, because there is always that kid (or an adult acting like one) in another row who decides to ride in an unapproved manner, that the operators have to unlock the restraints and start over. You'd think by now people would have figured out how to get on the ride so that you could actually just ride it, but no, sadly, not the case.