p_loots

It was really good to see SUF get painted. Bizarro and Nitro are both looking pretty shabby at this point. Batman and Kingda Ka aren't great either, but they aren't as bad. I also agree about the Fort, it'd be great to see them touch it up.

It was nearly impossible to see through those windows the last time I was at the park.

On 9/27/2019 at 10:20 PM, Medusa42 said:

Nice!  I hate the 2018 and 2019 maps because I find them hard to use. I wish they would go back to the maps that list everything by park section instead of thrill level.  I know some parks are still using that style of map.

     I feel the same way. The new maps are way too clunky since they don't fold neatly as well. 

It's a shame to see these Arrow loopers closing. It seems like Viper at SFMM is going to be the only mega looper left after this year. This announcement really surprised me, especially since Vortex is such an iconic ride for Kings Island. 

On 9/9/2019 at 4:05 PM, Tbone112499 said:

I came across a Facebook post today that reminded me: yesterday marks 6 years since the closing of Rolling Thunder. I still miss it, my first coaster both in general and at GA! 🌩

        I really miss Rolling Thunder as well. It left a gap in the park's lineup that still hasn't been filled. It's also hard to find coasters that still run with PTC buzz bars as a large amount of parks have been removing them from their old wood coasters. Although it may have been rough, Rolling Thunder was always a lot of fun, and generated a lot of hilarious ride experience stories. 

22 minutes ago, Yoshi said:

It's a shame Gillian's lost their only non kiddie coaster. I have to imagine they are losing some customers to Playland's Castaway Cove because of that. The Schwarzkopf City Jet coaster they used to have was fun too (especially when it had no restraints at all) and hopefully they add another full size coaster soon.

      It seems a lot of these smaller boardwalk parks are getting rid of their coasters since they take up so much space and require more maintenance, which is a shame. The two new rides that took the place of the Mine Train both charge more money per ride than the coaster did. Jenkinson's also got rid of their big coaster this year. 

        While in Ocean City over the weekend, I decided to take a quick visit to both Playland's Castaway Cove and Gillian's Wonderland. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from my visit, and only rode a few rides, but I did notice some changes from last year. Unfortunately, it seems Gillian's has removed their main roller coaster, the Runaway Mine Train. Last year when I visited the park, the ride ops let me and a couple of my friends ride 3 times for the price of one, and I was hoping to test my luck again. I was sad to see the coaster gone, as it was by far the best deal in the park. A Gravitron and a Moby Dick ride took its place. Also, Gillian's seems to have switched over from tickets to refillable cards. It seems like a lot of boardwalk parks are beginning to make this shift. With Runaway Mine Train being gone, the only ride I ended up going on at Gillian's was the log flume. While it's not that great of a ride, it has a pretty big drop, and it's always nice to see a flume on the boardwalk. 

    Playland's Castaway Cove was relatively unchanged compared to last year. Unlike Gillian's, they still seem to use tickets instead of the refillable ride cards. The only ride I went on was GaleForce, which now completes two full circuits per cycle. For anyone who hasn't ridden this ride, I strongly suggest you check it out. While the $10 ticket price may seem a little steep, the ride truly delivers a one of a kind experience filled with ejector air. The fact that it now completes two circuits during one ride cycle makes the ride even more worth the price, although I'd definitely recommend a night ride on GaleForce. That concludes my extremely brief trip report from Ocean City. These two parks are always a blast to visit, and I hope to get there again next year. 

El Toro: last row/last car

Runaway Mine Train: somewhere in the middle (noticeably smoother than the front or back)

Bizarro: Back row (great hang time and some nice pops of floater)

Nitro: Back row (Air time)

Skull Mountain: Back row (completely changes the ride. The airtime is absolutely ridiculous, and not just on the first drop either)

Batman: Somewhere towards the front

Superman: no preference

Green Lantern: Front (smoother)

Kingda Ka: Front row (intensity)

Joker: no preference

I've ridden 75, and am hoping to get on a couple new coasters this season.  I got to ride a bunch last year including Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land. 

8 hours ago, Yoshi said:

The bad luck for this ride continues, test dummies fell out of the ride and hit the roof of a nearby hotel.

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Roller-Coaster-Test-Dummies-Fall-Crash-Ocean-City-Jersey-Shore-Hotel-Roof-509233341.html

 

That's so unfortunate. GaleForce is an extremely good ride! It really exceeded my expectations. The trains added for 2018 really improved the ride experience. 

The park looks great! So good to see the all the cosmetic updates like the new flags on Dream Street and Runaway Mine Train. If the park keeps making these changes little by little, it will really add up in a couple years!

48 minutes ago, The Master said:

I am going to miss the old Tudor entrance. The artwork for the new factory entrance looks boring. 

I agree. The old entrance was much more charming (and had lots of shade along the pathway). 

18 hours ago, Six Flags FUN! said:

How many days until Superman repaint is done? Batman and Nitro might be next after Superman is done repainting.

I highly doubt they'd start repainting Nitro during the operating season. It's one of the most popular rides in the park.

15 hours ago, Six Flags FUN! said:

For last time, Great Adventure is NOT getting another wooden coaster. A customized Raptor would be perfect because if Tallest, Fast, Steel rumor is very true.

RMC Ground-Up coaster is NOT Tallest, Steel, Fast. Medium-sized Raptor could be Tallest, Fast, Steel coaster for Great Adventure. So RMC Ground Up coaster could be for SF St. Louis or Six Flags Darien Lake instead. As for RMC Raptor if we getting for Great Adventure. It will probably themed to Shazam!.

Maybe, but this topic is specifically for six flags parks OTHER THAN great adventure. 

So happy to see all of the small cosmetic improvements being done at the park! The small details really do matter. I'm sad to see the Safari Tours car ride go, but it makes you wonder if anything is in store for the Looney Tunes Seaport/Safari Kids sections of the park. There's a lot of empty ride pads in that area.

I would be so sad to see Bizarro go. It's my second favorite coaster in the park. I personally would much rather see Green Lantern relocated to a park that really needs it than have Bizarro removed. 

So happy to see Superman getting a repaint. It was looking pretty sorry the last time I visited the park. As for El Toro, I'm glad it's getting some maintenance attention. The turnaround was noticeably rough when I rode it (rest was still glossy smooth). Does anyone know if Intamin is re-tracking it with Pre-fab track, or is a different company being outsourced? 

The yearbook pages have always been one of my favorite features on the site, and it's great to see them being updated/expanded! Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into them. I look forward to Timeline Tuesday every week. 

Yes, Maverick and Dragster are definitely the first things to do once the park opens. Sometimes Dragster isn't open first thing in the morning, which is why I recommend going to Maverick first. Either way, I second Yoshi on saving rides at the front of the park like Blue Streak, Wicked Twister, Gatekeeper, and Raptor for the afternoon. Those rides are extremely crowded in the morning, but when I visited, Gatekeeper was a walk on by 2:00 for both sides as opposed to the hour plus wait times earlier in the day. 

Hey Tbone! Although it's a little expensive, I would highly recommend staying at the Breakers hotel if you can. Staying in the hotel allows you to enter the park early, and gives you access to the beach. Either way, make sure to get to Maverick first because you won't be able to get on it otherwise. It's an extremely popular, low capacity ride which makes for some insane wait times. Last time I visited, Steel Vengeance had not been built yet, but I'd probably head there next. Dragster also tends to run less and less consistently as the day goes by, so I'd make sure to ride that early too. Cedar Point is definitely one of my favorite parks I've been to. Make sure to hit up rides like Gemini and Iron Dragon, two rides that really exceeded my expectations. Although Millennium Force is popular, it has high capacity and not much down time, so I'd prioritize Maverick, Steel Vengeance, and Dragster over that. Also, watch out for bugs on the coasters at night. Don't want one of those flying into your mouth. Hope I was able to help you out!

During my visits to Dorney Park, Talon has definitely been the stand-out roller coaster. With Busch's exclusivity deals, the only possibilities would be a flyer or a winged coaster. That being said, Cedar Fair has never purchased a B&M flyer, and hasn't built a winged coaster since Gatekeeper. I think a B&M would be a really cool fit for the park, and although I wouldn't rule it out completely, it just doesn't seem very realistic. 

4 hours ago, GAcoaster said:

Busch/SeaWorld had deals in place for exclusivity of the types of coasters they bought from B&M so the competition couldn't build the same thing within the market area. The only reason why KD got Dominator was that Cedar Fair relocated the ride. Same thing with Fiesta Texas getting a BTR clone when SeaWorld San Antonio already had one. If you spend ~$20 million on a new coaster you want it to be unique and a draw for some time. 

 

Even here in Orlando, SeaWorld has exclusive rights to the floorless, flyer, and hyper coasters, while Universal has/had inverted and standard looping coaster. 

That's so interesting! I can't believe I haven't heard about that before, but it makes complete sense. Thanks for the info!

2 hours ago, GAcoaster said:

I don't think they can add a B&M invert, Busch (I believe) has an exclusive deal for that market. Unless that expired (which it may have), I don't believe they can get a B&M invert. 

 

I'm wondering if the problem is the mountain structure itself. Anything on the coaster should be able to be repaired/replaced fairly easily, but if the mountain has structural issues not so much. 

Huh, I've never heard about that. Where did you find the information about the Busch deal? I'm very curious to see. 

Also, from what I've heard, Kings Dominion mainly took out Volcano due to the frequency of its mechanical issues. Although the parts should be easily replaceable, I think the sheer amount of work involved along with the cost of repairs proved to be too much. It was SBNO for the majority of the 2018 season, and was down for portions of the 2017 season as well. Keep in mind that Volcano was a prototype (first launched inverted coaster), making its 20-year lifespan at the park fairly impressive. Many of Great Adventure's prototype rides (Ultra Twister, Viper, etc.) had much shorter lifespans. 

On 1/30/2019 at 11:14 PM, 29yrswithaGApass said:

I think one of the most surprising result is that the best new feature was opening the paths in the Old Country and the Golden Kingdom - something that cost nothing to do.  It pulled in almost three times as many votes as the new Cyborg ride.  I guess it just goes to show that simple conveniences for customers really make a difference to guests.

The reopened Old Country and Golden Kingdom paths just make it so much easier to get around the park. I always felt getting from Plaza del Carnival to the Golden Kingdom was overly complicated, not to mention that the reopened pathways actually have shade! 

1 hour ago, 29yrswithaGApass said:

Caribbean Cove was added in 2016.

 

That's right! I completely forgot about Carribean Cove. That was a welcome addition.