Mr. Hot Dog

I know what you mean. It's a lot of the same stuff, and while it's not necessarily bad, it just seems... hmm... all very familiar. It seems like Intamin is doing stuff a little more outside of the box -- like Fahrenheit and Maverick -- and it is refreshing. Those rides look small but sure do pack a punch. Their corkscrews are a little more interesting too. Traditional corkscrews seem like more of something that you just coast through, but the Intamin ones really seem to "snap" you through with more drive. I wouldn't mind something like that for, say, 2012...

I'd have to agree -- no more superheroes! I don't really know that comic books really have the widespread appeal. It's not like you see people looking at diagrams of the superheroes and oohing-and-aahing over the description of their super powers or what's on their utility belt. Instead, I've heard way more people say, "What's with all the superheroes?" Batman was totally different when it came out. It was something unique with a different feel and especially the different music. When you got on line for Batman, you were kind of stepping into a different world from the rest of the park. With 4 different coasters in the park, it's not so unique anymore. You could even play the ominous Batman music in any of those stations and I'll bet people wouldn't notice the difference.

Well stated. I share a lot of the same sentiments about it. The GASM was really the ultimate thrill ride at one point... it's just like how kids today might look at Kingda Ka and say there's no way they're going to ever strap in and roll over the very top of that huge top hat. Back then, GASM was the big dog and had so much going for it: the biggest drop anyone had ever seen, then-outlandish speed, and the big selling point: a ridiculous 7 loops! (By the way, there still aren't many coasters with more than 7 loops these days.) I remember reviewing and memorizing the stats in the 1989 park guide... 173' high, 55 degree drop, 68+ mph, the world's tallest loop at 136' tall... and did I mention 7 loops?? (I rode with my cousin earlier this year -- the same cousin who dragged me on when we were kids -- his reaction after riding it for the first time in years was, "That was great... 7 loops!") The difference for me is that it was an enjoyable ride and nostalgia trip for me each time I rode it. I prided myself on knowing all the turns and jerky points, and being able to ride it without banging my head once. I'm watching it go with a heavy heart, but I do look forward to whatever takes its place. After all, I also remember being pretty bummed when they removed the Sarajevo Bobsled. Let's just hope that the new ride makes as much of a splash as the GASM did.

Side note: What's with the "Daffy Dck" typo on that sign? Seems like a particularly bad place to let the reader decide what vowel belongs there.

Wow. I just heard the news. I'm coming into this one late, but I just wanted to add my lament for an old classic's last days. I still really enjoy the GASM, and like many here, it was a pretty big piece of my childhood. I feel a little bit at peace about it since I got to ride it again with my cousin a few weeks ago -- the same one that dragged me on it back in '90 (yes, I chickened out the first year). Still, I'd like to get on the ol' girl one more time... so, hopefully I'll get over there tomorrow at some point. Sigh.

Yahhh! What a creepy looking clown in the 4th picture!

The first roller coaster I remember riding -- the Sarajevo Bobsled. It's such a vague memory, but I remember being pretty nervous and then realizing it wasn't so bad. The first real landmark ride in my roller coaster career was my first ride on the Scream Machine. I chickened out during its inaugural year, but I swore all winter that I'd ride it the following summer. I did, and the ride certainly lived up to its name... I screamed very sincerely from start to finish. Nowadays, the GASM is peanuts as compared to some of the other coasters in the park... but back then, that was pretty much the ultimate scariest coaster you could imagine!

This may be true. I just thought I'd mention it as constructive criticism since I definitely saw a bunch who seemed to miss the point of the exercise, and of course those were the ones that stood out in my mind. It might not be a horrible idea for management to stress the point of "don't forget to actually look while you're doing the scanning motion". Chiller, there's no doubt that visual scan is a great idea. The point that I'm making is that just because you make the hand motion and swivel your body doesn't mean you're actually looking at the things that need to be scanned. In defense of the ops, I guess it's also easy to get tired and look less attentive towards the end of the day. It doesn't necessarily mean you're doing a bad job though. I was a ride op years ago (not at GA), and your tasks become super automatic once you get into the groove. We'd still catch most major things, but errors can happen to the best of us after a few hours of repetitive tasks. But still, I thought I'd raise the point since it was something I noticed.

Yesterday was my first trip to the park for the 2010 season. We had a great time with no lines for anything. However, I did notice something new that seems to warrant a little constructive criticism. Before dispatching any coaster, the ops go through the usual schpiel. When they get to the "visual scan" part, it appears that the new process is for them to put their hand up to their forehead and scan around like explorers. It's good to see them reinforcing the visual scan as part of the routine, but everyone was really just going through the motion instead of actually scanning with their eyes. You could see that they weren't really looking at the ride... in some instances, they were pretty much covering their eyes with the hand. In other instances where they were positioned in a corner (like on Batman), they would swivel around and look at the wall and out the door instead of really scanning the ride area. Unless I'm mistaken, I thought the purpose was to give the ride a quick last look, see that all restraints were in place, and make sure no one had entered the ride area. While I applaud their attempt to ensure that the visual scan takes place, the explorer scan just seems a little counterproductive. It's one thing to put your hand up to your forehead and swivel around, but it's a whole other thing to actually LOOK while you're doing it. Any opinions? (I know someone will reply in defense of the ops, but you just have to see it in action to understand what I'm saying.)

I was just about to post that... a little late. Here's the listing for it. It should be interesting to see if anyone buys it -- hopefully someone nearby so that I can finally give 'er a ride! http://www.italintl.com/detail_page.php?record_id=1323

I was pleased to roll into the parking lot on Saturday to see that nice, new paint job in progress on the parachute tower. Not only does it look much better already, but it's probably evidence that they're not planning to get rid of it too soon. (I can't imagine paint jobs are cheap for a big ride like that.) It's funny seeing it from the back though -- it's pretty rusty looking in comparison. Also, since you can only see the white/rusty areas from the back, the yellow arms almost look like they're old and rusty instead of painted when you view it from behind. Kind of funny. Once it's done, I'll bet it'll look great.

Great topic! I always wonder about the whereabouts of removed rides since I have a quirky urge to track them down and ride them, especially if I missed my chance while they were at GA. (Ahem, Lightnin' Loops -- I just haven't been able to justify a trip to Oklahoma quite yet.) By the way, Rollercoaster Database (www.rcdb.com) has Diamondback listed as the lower/blue Lightnin' Loops track... is this an erroneous listing? Diamondback was previously blue, but that could always be a coincidental paint job. I'd love to see the "where ELSE" thread too -- my early contribution for that thread is that Cobra at La Ronde is the only operating clone of Shockwave. When I renew my passport, I'll have to take a drive up to Canada and give it a whirl.

A few million dollars may not seem a lot as compared to the cost of modern coasters, but I doubt anyone could justify spending a few million dollars for repairs to a ride that only cost $6.8M in the first place. I don't think the trains are the problem on the Scream Machine -- it's the transitions. I rode Viper at Magic Mountain this past spring, and it was great... the trains are the same, but the transitions between elements were refined so they weren't so jerky. (Note: I still hope the Scream Machine never gets removed.) I can't see them removing Rolling Thunder -- every park seems to have a semi-"classic" woodie from the '70s, and they all seem to still be running relatively well. As rough as RT seems, it's smooth as silk as compared to the woodies that they were building in the '90s. Wildcat at Hersheypark and Hurler at Kings Dominion are two examples that I have vowed to never ride again for fear that they'd shatter my spine!

What?! Since when was Big Bad Wolf removed? [Edit: I just read the announcement on Busch Garden's web site. That is pretty shocking since it was always such an iconic ride for them.] The removal of Shockwave at Six Flags Great America seems like the death knell for a lot of these Arrow loopers. I would guess that the Scream Machine isn't too far behind, sadly. I recently rode the third of the group, Viper, during a trip to Magic Mountain this spring... talk about a huge difference. It runs very smoothly with no funky transitions. Still, I'd hate to see the Scream Machine go. It seems weird to me that they'll go to any length to keep an old woodie around, but they don't seem to have much concern for preservation of "classic" steel coasters. Steel seems to be very disposable.

After dragging my reluctant girlfriend on the Scream Machine this evening, we ended up getting into a long debate about the ride. She claims it's way too rough and bangs her head too much -- a complaint I've heard from many others. I, on the other hand, still love it after all these years. I will admit that a big part of the soft spot in my heart for the Scream Machine comes from pure nostalgia. When I was a kid, the Scream Machine was THE ride. Nothing was bigger*, nothing was more intense, and nothing scared the pants off me more than that single ride. It was a proud moment when I finally conquered it. Fast forwarding to today, it makes me a little sad to see how it has become the ride of yesteryear -- the queues are always deserted, and it always seems like a walk-on ride. That's great for me since I've learned "how" to ride it by now (leaning at the proper times, holding my head just right, etc), so it's never painful and there are never lines for it. It's still a great ride though (especially in the front row), and it still gives you that fighter pilot feeling when you go rocketing up and up to reach that first loop. I still can't help but feel a little bad for the ol' girl. Even though she's still a goodie, her time is unfortunately probably limited. Next time you're on your way to Superman, hang a right and show her a little love. While you're at it, be sure to give her a pat on the nosecone and tell her Mr. Hot Dog sent you. *Nothing was bigger until the day we cracked open the Guinness book to see the picture of Magnum XL-200 under construction. Talk about a shocker!!!

It would be great if someone would open a "retro rides" theme park. Just because the latest, greatest rides are bigger and faster doesn't mean some people don't want to ride the older ones from the past. People like old woodies, so why not? I'd throw in Lightnin' Loops, Ultra Twister, Shockwave... maybe the Laser from Dorney... Flashback from Magic Mountain... anything else that used to be scary. It's too bad it would probably be a massive money pit.

Hmm, I guess you never know. They did go pretty light on the theming, especially on a ride that could have benefitted highly from a cityscape to fly through. When you compare theming of our Superman to the theming of the same exact ride elsewhere (ie. Crystal Wings in China), it's amazing to see how much different the ride could have been: More pics: http://www.rcdb.com/ig3141.htm Sorry, that was a little off topic... but it's still pretty insane!

I thought the same thing -- Shockwave at SF Great America is already gone, so who knows how long the Scream Machine will be around. (Although, I hope it's not going anywhere anytime soon. I still enjoy it.) I would have actually liked to see Superman rethemed as Bizarro -- from a logistical standpoint, it would have made more sense if Bizarro "took over" Superman like it did in SF New England. Superman isn't really heavy on theming to begin with, so it might have been a cool change of pace... plus, it would have been cool to "fly" through Bizarro's twisted world.

Here's the update to my last review: I went back to take a spin on Bizarro at night to see if I felt any different about it. My first ride was extremely disappointing because BOTH speakers around me were non-working! In fact, the sound didn't play for anyone until the very end during the "Bi-zar-ro!" song (even then, my speakers still didn't work). Maybe it'll take a little time to work out the bugs. I hopped right back on line and rode it again, this time with fully working sound. I'd have to say that the experience was just okay for me. I love the coaster itself, and I like some of the elements like the shield tunnel, flames, and auger of doom. I don't remember seeing any explanation anywhere about the auger, so even though it was cool looking, I wasn't quite sure what it was doing out there. The building facades just seemed a little too much like cardboard cutouts randomly placed along the track. Most of all, I stick with my original review -- the audio track isn't really effective as plain dialogue since you really can't understand what is being said over the rumble of the ride and screaming of the riders. To their credit, what I did hear does sound like something out of a comic book: "Arrrrgh!!! Aiieee!!!" I still think that pumping some creatively selected and mixed music (with occasional dialogue) would deliver the most serious thrills. That's my 2 cents... I'd be interested to see who agrees or disagrees, so feel free to discuss.

I rode for my first time as Bizarro yesterday. While I did miss the coaster itself, I wasn't particularly blown away by the new stuff. Here's my constructive criticism... feel free to agree or disagree. One of the problems was that one of my speakers didn't work (second row, second seat from right). This made the audio effects quiet and unintelligible, and it also limited it to mono. (I'm sure they have various stereo effects to show off the sound system, but I couldn't hear it with only one speaker.) From what I did hear, the audio just seems like a lot of screaming and dialogue. I think a cool soundtrack interspersed with a little bit of dialogue (like on X2) might have been more effective. I thought for sure they'd play the Superman theme, have it suddenly become "interrupted" by static and distortion, and then become the Bizarro theme instead. (Although, I guess they already did something like that on the Dark Knight... but interrupting regularly scheduled broadcasts seems like that's what villains do best.) The rest of it was kind of interesting. The auger was pretty neat, and I like how it looked like it was spinning based on the way you roll over top of it. I'm sure all the new elements will be much more impressive at night than at 2 PM when I rode it. So, my biggest thought is just the audio. (I can't help it though -- I've got a background in audio engineering.) From what I understand, X2's soundtrack has had multiple versions... so maybe they'll eventually do the same with Bizarro too and include some cool tunes.

I'm not sure if anyone else here has been on X2, but I got to ride it for my first time last week. It was AWESOME... definitely a coaster in a league of its own. A huge part of the thrill was the audio, and the fire was pretty impressive too. The audio was especially cool since the sounds were in stereo around your head with lots of creepy panning effects, and the ride up the lift was extra scary since you're going backwards. That said, we were trying to decide how those effects would translate to Medusa. We came to the conclusion that the effects probably won't be quite as impressive on Medusa since it's the same old familiar ride that we've all been on many times. You never know though. At the very least, it will probably be more fun/interesting to ride at night, especially if they use the same Jim Morrison "is everybody in?" audio during the boarding process. Either way, I'm really interested to see how it stacks up to the incredible effect on X2.

If you could zip back in time and ride any past Great Adventure ride, which one would it be? I'm personally really torn between Lightnin' Loops and Ultra Twister. I had countless chances to ride Lightnin' Loops, but I never had the nerve. I only saw Ultra Twister once from the top of the Sarajevo Bobsled lift, and it wasn't working that day. (Not that it mattered since I wouldn't have had the nerve then either.) For the record: I also passed on several chances to ride Shockwave, but I'm not too disappointed about that one.