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I got a chance to come in from Cincinnati to ride this over the last two days. When I initially saw the animation I posted here that I thought that this coaster announcement was the biggest since Millennium Force. As it turns out it's actually much better than that! I got six rides over the visit, two rides in each of rows 1, 3, and 8. I actually prefer the front on this coaster but I don't really believe that there's a lot of difference between any of the rows. It's a great ride in all seats. Everything that other reviewers have mentioned is spot on; there are unexpected pops of air all over the place, it keeps its speed all the way through and is very smooth. It literally has anything you want in a coaster of this size. I went in thinking it would contend for my #1 coaster spot, and I still underestimated how good this ride is! This coaster is absolutely sensational and took my #1 spot with ease. By way of comparison - of the steel coasters located in Canada or the US ranked in the Golden Tickets last year (40 total) I've ridden all but 5 and every one in the ranked in the top 25. This is a destination coaster by any measure. Kudos to B&M and Carowinds for creating a masterpiece!

This is the last portion of this report! We spent Thursday traveling from San Antonio to Fayetteville, AR. We made a quick pit stop at Six Flags Over Texas for some more New Texas Giant rides. Everything I needed to cover at SFOT is covered earlier in the report. We stopped at a burger joint called Hopdaddy that was really nice (sorry, no pictures). The parmesan truffle fries and shakes here were excellent. It's about on par with Flipdaddy's. We stopped in Fayetteville, AR and then went to Silver Dollar City on Friday morning. The drive between the two destinations is only about 60 miles as the crow flies, but the roads to the park are extremely windy, so it took about two hours. It is, however, a really pretty drive. Silver Dollar City Many of the comparisons to Dollywood are definitely valid. The park definitely has a very rustic feel to it and it is immaculately maintained, right down to the new wooden fence posts along the pathways made of freshly cut oak. The place smelled amazing! There are two major differences - to me - between Silver Dollar City and Dollywood. It seems as though many more SDC patrons were interested in riding the rides. Dollywood very rarely gets long (>30 minute) ride lines but we encountered a number of lines that were longer than we were anticipating. The other major difference is that Silver Dollar City is EXTREMELY difficult to navigate your first time there. Dollywood is essentially is in a big circle. Silver Dollar City is a series of paths that ultimately dead end. Dave and I ended up trying to find each other after briefly going on different rides and it took us nearly 20 minutes to find each other. If you're a first timer visiting this park, make sure you get real familiar with the park map! Ride Reviews Fire in the Hole - Silver Dollar City's version of Blazing Fury. This one does have an additional drop and still has the splashdown, so it's a little more interesting. Grade: C Powder Keg - an S&S family launcher. This has a 42" height requirement so the line here gets the longest the quickest. This ride would have been the surprise of the trip if it weren't for the coaster right next door. The launch is solid and is much faster than I was anticipating. It's got a decent ride time and is re-rideable. I'm not sure what they were thinking putting a lift hill and big drop so near to the end of the ride, but this just a fun coaster. Make sure you hit this coaster first on any visit due to the capacity and its location in the park. Grade: B Wildfire - this - not Outlaw Run - was the surprise coaster of the trip. Really nice first drop. A nice, fun, unique layout. Very smooth in typical B&M fashion. Absolutely beautiful setting. I like Tennessee Tornado but I'd trade Wildfire for it in approximately 0.03 seconds. It's unfortunate that most parks already had an Arrow multi-looper when B&M came in to the coaster game, because all of the B&M sitdowns are really good. The only reason this doesn't get an "A" grade is because there's no zero-g. Grade: B+ Outlaw Run - the park's Rocky Mountain Coaster creation. The setting is excellent. The station theming is excellent. The ride trains look cool. As far as the ride goes, it's very good. The first drop, while steep, is merely good but not great. The weird "inversion-but-not-really-an-inversion" is probably the most interesting part of the ride and is really quite a treat. There's a series of miscellaneous airtime hills that range from "interesting" to "excellent!" that follow. There are a couple of barrel rolls at the end. We did front and back rides and I thought the front was a little better. I have mixed feelings about this ride. The layout screams top-5 ride. The ride delivers some really lovely moments; the aforementioned inversion and a couple of the airtime hills. The barrel rolls, however, were completely unnecessary. They are taken at a a very slow pace and it's very out of character with the rest of the ride. It's a neat gimmick but the ride would have been better served by having an additional airtime hill or two to round out the experience better. The other thing I didn't care for were the trains. The trains on the other RMCs we were rode were very accommodating. The trains on Outlaw Run (and presumably Goliath since they use the same trains) really hinder the experience. I'm an average size guy and even I had very little freedom in the trains. All of that said, we both thought that the ride is fun but I think we set our expectations too high. Grade: B+ in the back/A- up front View of Wildfire from the parking lot Outlaw Run through the trees An idea of the crowds Theme Wildfire life & drop Wildfire & setting New area of the park Beautiful setting Rocky Mountain coasters overview Dave and I both felt that New Texas Giant was the best RMC on the trip. Part of that has to do with the longer ride time compared to Iron Rattler and Outlaw Run, but most of it has to do with the more natural progression of elements on Giant. RMC coaster design seems to focus on what cool elements they want to integrate in their rides and building a layout trying to fit them in. The problem is that there's often a sense of random placement of things on their rides - the barrel rolls on Outlaw being one example. They really need to evaluate their wood coaster trains to see if there's a way to make them just as safe without feeling as constraining. The other side of the RMC coin is that they do airtime really well, and their layouts keep you interested throughout the ride. They are all fun and it would be nice if one of the Ohio parks end up with one. Having said that, I'd MUCH rather them RMC Mean Streak then build a new RMC wood. There's a ton of potential there in that big structure that RMC could use to make a top-5 worthy ride if given the leeway. The ride would be longer than a comparable wood creation and would also take advantage of the roomier and more comfortable trains. This ends the trip report. Thank you for reading!

Trip report continued... Wednesday We'll get to the Six Flags Fiesta Texas report in just a bit, but I wanted to review a couple of the restaurants we went to in San Antonio first. Cappy's This is a restaurant focusing in on American dishes with some Southern and French influences. Think Teller's in Hyde Park for a comparison. Dave had the Gulf Shrimp Nachos and I had the daily special - short ribs and scallops with risotto and some seasonal vegetables. Both dishes were very tasty - the short ribs and scallops were cooked perfectly. Dessert was sticky toffee pudding with a butterscotch brandy sauce. I would definitely stop here again if I come back in to town. Grade: A- Short ribs and scallops daily special Pancake Joe's We stopped here for breakfast before we went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas. The namesake pancakes were good, probably a "B", but they had an item here that made this stop memorable - the hash browns. These are - by far - the best hash browns I've ever tasted. Think Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream potato chips in a hash brown iteration. The hash browns were a separate menu item, and despite that every table that had food still on it had a plate of these hash browns on them. These hash browns are seriously amazeballs. Grade: B+ overall but the hash browns were an A+++++++ Pecan pancakes and hash browns Pollos Asados Los Norteños We discovered this Tex Mex spot through Yelp. It's the highest rated spot on both Yelp and Urbanspoon in San Antonio. We ended up getting their signature chicken and also tried some steak fajitas. The chicken is marinated in spices and then grilled. It's very tender, moist, and very flavorful. The steak fajitas and the rice were also tasty but the chicken is the reason you'll come here. Grade: B+ Six Flags Fiesta Texas This is one of the newer Six Flags-branded parks, coming into the fold in the mid-90s. The park is in a really nice location, set amongst the cliffs about 20 minutes to the west of downtown San Antonio. It's a mid-size park about the size of Dorney Park; there are 8 coasters with one currently under construction. It's probably the second prettiest Six Flags park from an aesthetic standpoint (the trees at Six Flags Over Georgia push it over the top for me). Front Gate Goliath at front entrance Theme Waterfalls Wider Angle The S&S 4D under construction. Much larger than I thought! Ride Reviews Goliath/Batman clone - see my review in the Six Flags Over Texas section Poltergeist - the Premier spaghetti bowl coaster. The outdoor versions (this one and Joker's Jinx at SFA) are superior to the indoor versions IMO due to the lack of a mid-course brake. Going through the second half of the course at the intended full speed makes these much more interesting. The trains are the exact same as the ones on Flight of Fear, so they are VERY tight to get in to. This knocks the experience down a couple of notches, but the ride is still fun. Grade: B Superman - Krypton Coaster - a really nice B&M floorless. The ride utilizes the adjacent cliffs really nicely early in the layout. The first drop and zero-g roll are very good and the ride time is nice and long. I still think Kraken is the king of the floorless coasters but this one is still very, very good. Grade: B+ Iron Rattler - the second RMC of the trip. The setting of the ride is stunning. The first drop is one of the best in the US. The barrel roll in the middle section of the ride actually feels organic, and you flow through it very easily. The last drop into the tunnel is very good. The only downside to the ride is that the portion of the ride up on the cliffs is pretty ho-hum. There's not a ton of space up there and, in fairness, RMC probably did the best they could under the circumstances. The ride overall is a lot of fun but leaves you wanting just a little bit more. Grade: B+ Iron Rattler lift hill Iron Rattler course Superman: Krypton Coaster through the trees The last portion of this report is next. Stay tuned!

Trip Report Continues... Tuesday We left our hotel in Waco to head down towards San Antonio. Dave and I have been to most of the famous BBQ regions, so we wanted to check Texas off our BBQ list. We stopped at a restaurant on the outskirts of downtown Austin. La Barbecue - Austin, TX We initially wanted to go to Franklin BBQ, which has been featured on a lot of TV shows and even in a movie or two. Unfortunately, every review we saw mentioned the long waits - up to four hours - even on weekdays. Thankfully, we found a good plan B in La Barbecue, which many reviews indicated that it was as good as Franklin without the brutal wait. They are actually located a vacant lot, running their operation in a food trailer with two separate smokers attached to trailers. They open for lunch at 11 am, and we arrived at 10:45 with about 50 people already in front of us. We ordered a little bit of everything (picture below), and I'll just say this. The beef here (brisket and beef rib) is perhaps the finest tasting beef I've had in the US. The other meats - the pork and the sausage - were both good and the sides were above average, but the beef here is truly memorable. The atmosphere here is very chill...everyone at the communal tables was talking about where they were from (a lot of the folks in line were out-of-towners, much to our surprise) and how great the food is. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking: The La Barbecue trailer One of the two smokers The food. From top left to bottom right - potato salad, brisket, sausage, beef rib, chipotle cole slaw, El Sancho Loco sandwich (pork, chopped brisket, sausage and pickled onion), sausage Sea World San Antonio: From La Barbecue we took the 90 minute drive down to Sea World San Antonio. Rain was moving in, however, and we wanted to make sure we got on the coasters before we did anything else. As it turns out the rain moved in about an hour into our visit, but we did get all of the coasters there (Journey to Atlantis was closed). The park is about the size of the Orlando park, but feels a lot different due to how the park is laid out. I think the Orlando park feels much more immersive, but it's a nice park that really works well for families since there's a lot to do for everyone. Their Batman clone, Great White, through the trees Great White up close Steel Eel - getting good pictures of this coaster in the park is VERY difficult! for you animal lovers Ride Reviews: Great White - see my Batman: The Ride review in the Six Flags Over Texas portion Steel Eel - a Morgan hyper. The coaster is only around 150' tall so I guess it's not a full fledged "hyper", but it definitely rides like one. This coaster completes my Morgan hyper collection and is Dave's second to last. All of the other Morgan hypers are perfectly fine, but none of them occupy a spot in my top 25 steel. This coaster is definitely better than all of the other Morgan hypers including Phantom's Revenge. The airtime is much more pronounced on this ride despite it being the shortest of the bunch. Having said that, I'd still take every Intamin and B&M hyper (other than Raging Bull) over Steel Eel. Grade: B+ Shamu Express - the park's kiddie coaster. Nothing to see here, please move along :-) Grade: +1, as in that's exactly what it is... a credit Six Flags San Antonio is coming in the next edition. Stay tuned!

Thanks for posting this. We have a similar top 10 steel list (7 of my top 10 are in your top 10) so I was actually waiting to hear your review on this ride. The only two misgivings with Leviathan are the good-but-not-great second half and the "shorter" ride; both of which seem to have been addressed by this ride. I'm very much looking forward to giving this a go soon. It's interesting that you enjoyed the back row on this coaster more, as it seems as though most of the other reviewers favor the front. Is there really that much of a noticeable difference between the front and back?

Trip Report Continues! Monday: We stayed at the Comfort Suites just west of the park, so we had a chance to drive by both of the stadiums that are adjacent to the Six Flags Over Texas park grounds. Globe Life Park - home of the Texas Rangers AT&T Stadium - home of the Dallas Cowboys. Pictures really don't do this place justice. It is LARGE. Six Flags Over Texas: SFOT is the original Six Flags, dating back to 1961. The park has a lot of charm in many areas. About half the park is nestled in among a lot of trees with older Western-style buildings that provide a sense of "theme". The other half of the park is very open with virtually no shade anywhere to be found. It's one of the hardest parks in the country to try and get good photos of the rides because of things getting in the way, but here are a couple of larger view shots: Titan & New Texas Giant Mr. Freeze & Batman: The Ride **Note: for time & space purposes I'm going to quickly review only the major and/or noteworthy coasters at each park. I would like to keep all of you awake while reading the report!** Ride Reviews: Titan - this is one of two Giovanola hypers in the US (Goliath at SFMM is the other). I've now ridden both versions but this was Dave's first. Just like Goliath at SFMM, the first drop is very shallow so there's very little airtime down the drop. There's very little airtime on the large airtime hill. What there is, however, is an abundance of positive Gs. This version also sports two helices, both of which require the use of the fighter pilot technique to ward off the grayouts. Titan and Goliath both win the "look good but ride much worse" category in the steel coaster division. Grade: C Mr. Freeze - the Premier shuttle coaster; identical to the one at Six Flags St. Louis. We chatted with a local at the rope drop about which coaster to go to first, and she recommended this one because it drew the longest lines. We went to New Texas Giant first anyway, and we ended up waiting a little more than an hour for this including a 30 minute breakdown only an hour into the day. Those of you going to this park wanting to get on this ride will want to get on first thing as it consistently has the longest lines. The ride itself is intense - for some reason this version felt much more intense than its St. Louis cousin. It's a good ride but I'm still not this coasters biggest fan. Grade: B- Batman: The Ride at SFOT/Great White at Sea World San Antonio/Goliath at Fiesta Texas - our ever-present B&M invert model! I'm lumping all of these together for space sake; they all ride the same and are all very fun. Goliath is a mirror clone just like the Batman in St. Louis (zero-g roll turns to the left instead of the right). These are known for intensity, but I still believe that Banshee offers more sustained Gs. They're all still very solid rides. Grade: B+ Judge Roy Scream - a wood similar to The Racer at KI without the airtime. Apparently this was re-tracked in the off-season and it rode relatively smooth but the hills offered absolutely no airtime. I wonder what riders endured before it was re-tracked?! Grade: C- Shockwave - a Schwarzkopf similar to Mindbender at Six Flags Over Georgia. Mindbender and Shockwave are both best experienced up front because of the nice pops of air you get there but miss elsewhere in the train. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It doesn't look like there is much opportunity for airtime but there are a couple of good pops along the course that I wasn't expecting. Grade: B New Texas Giant - we got a total of 5 rides in. We were on the second train of the day going out, so we wanted to ride up front while the line was still short and then ride in the back on our next go. The restraints on both this and Iron Rattler are very comfortable and accommodating. The front row ride was good. The first drop has some nice airtime up front and the double up provided some great airtime. The overbanks were fun and there are a couple of other nice other pops of airtime, but we both got off a little underwhelmed. The ride attendants all told us that it is a back seat ride, so we took the next four rides in the back. We had a chance to ride in the back seat at the end of the day Monday and 3 times on Thursday, and the ride is infinitely better in the back seat. There's really strong airtime in six or seven spots. Our overall impression of the ride is that it's very good ride but isn't quite on the top shelf. More on this in my RMC comments later in the report. Grade: A- Lift & Drop The RMC version of the El Toro/Rolling Thunder hill Next report will be Sea World San Antonio, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and a review of one of the best BBQ establishments in the US. Stay tuned!

Areas Covered: Six Flags Over Texas Sea World San Antonio Six Flags Fiesta Texas Silver Dollar City Restaurant Reviews - various Overview: My friend Dave and I have traveled to a lot of parks in the last couple of years, but neither of us had ridden a Rocky Mountain Coaster (RMC) creation. Because we've had such a nice Winter in Cincinnati (!), we decided to get an early jump on the coaster riding season and check out the RMCs in Texas and at Silver Dollar City. All of these parks were completely new to both of us (and the first new-to-me parks in 3 years). I forgot how difficult trying to navigate parks can be when you don't know where you're going! We did take a limited number of photos along the way, and I'll try and integrate those into the report as this trip report progresses. This is my first trip report integrating pictures so if they don't turn out right or just flat out suck I am certainly open to suggestion! I'll break this trip report into days to make things manageable for everyone :-) Itinerary: Sunday - leave Cincinnati and arrive in Dallas Monday - Six Flags Over Texas (SFOT) Tuesday - Sea World San Antonio Wednesday - Six Flags Fiesta Texas (SFFT) Thursday - Six Flags Over Texas Friday - Silver Dollar City and arrive back in Cincinnati Sunday: We left Cincinnati around 6:45. Our initial departure time was designed to allow for a breakfast stop in Louisville and a BBQ stop in Memphis and still make it to Six Flags Over Texas by 8:30 local time for some night rides. Unfortunately - traffic in Memphis, Little Rock and in Dallas prevented that from happening, but we did make it to the food places we wanted to try and got into Dallas around 10 local time. Please & Thank You - Louisville, KY Anyone who stops through Louisville during breakfast or lunch hours needs to check this place out. We ended up getting some breakfast sandwiches (the Butchertown Panino - bacon, eggs, potatoes, cheddar on focaccia), some chocolate chip cookies and a derby bar. The breakfast sandwiches were delicious. The chocolate chip cookies and derby bar were both excellent and made for great snacks. Two thumbs up! chocolate chip cookies & other assorted desserts derby bars Central BBQ - Memphis, TN We went here because it was the highest rated BBQ place on Yelp that was open in Memphis on Sunday. The place smelled delightful as most smokehouses do. Central BBQ was a real mixed bag. The dry ribs were absolutely delightful - well seasoned and very tender. Everything else we tried - the pork sandwich, the fries, the cole slaw and the baked beans were all cooked properly but tasted very bland. Those of you who have been to Eli's know what a really good pork sandwich tastes like, and, well, this one was not. As much as we wanted to like this place the food - aside from the ribs - isn't worth it. Central BBQ - entrance I hope to have the rest of the trip completed by the end of the week. Stay tuned!

Amongst the remaining Cedar Fair parks that don't yet have a giga I think there are only a couple of viable candidates - Knotts and KI. I don't think it makes financial sense for any of the smaller Cedar Fair parks to get a ride of that magnitude. A giga at Knotts could work for a couple of reasons. It draws in from a seriously large metropolitan area. A giga would be the tallest coaster on the West Coast (excluding Superman at SFMM, which by calling it a "coaster" is a dubious distinction anyway) which works from a marketing standpoint. The West Coast is in desperate need of coasters with airtime, and either a B&M hyper or giga would fit the bill and would likely be one of the two or three best coasters west of the Mississippi. A giga would have MASSIVE appeal out there. Knotts would have to get their Buena Park neighbors to sign off on the project, but I can't overstate how big a deal a good B&M hyper/giga would be at Knotts. I believe that we will see a giga announced and built at KI by the end of the decade. KI is the right size park for a giga, and with the massive successes of both Diamondback and Banshee it would also make financial sense. It would complement our current B&Ms beautifully. It would give the park another marketable, reliable, high-capacity coaster. I would LOVE to see what B&M could do with a giga coaster design at KI.

I don't like the changes to the plan any more than most of the people here, but these quoted posts illustrate the value of experience. I do hope that KI rectifies this situation to everyone's satisfaction, but as it stands right now this deal is definitely a no go for me.

Leviathan's capacity maxes out around 1600 pph, while Fury 325 will max out around 1470 pph. The difference makes sense given Fury 325's extra track length and ride time. This will likely be the B&M with the lowest theoretical throughput for any mega coaster with a 3-train operation, but it will still be higher capacity than any single Intamin coaster in the US (except for California Screamin). Those individuals who had any doubt about why capacity is important saw that highlighted last year with the installation of Banshee and at Cedar Point with Gatekeeper the year before. One of the things I'm interested in seeing is how the seat belts are installed and how the ride operators will check them on a 4-across train. This is the first time that seat belts will be installed on a 4-across B&M mega, and I'd imagine it's going to be very awkward for the ride ops to try and check those two middle seats if the trains retain their current configuration. The thought of a ride op reaching over the person sitting on the ends of each row to do a seat belt check on the middle seats is, uh, interesting.

You can make a strong case that the Intamin era in the US really only lasted from 1999 (the Supermen: Ride of Steel megas) through 2005 (Kingda Ka). If you take a look at Intamin rides built in the US after 2005, they've built an average of less than one coaster a year here - 7 in total. Also note that they have not built (or announced) any coasters in the US since Skyrush opened in 2012. When Thunderbird and Fury 325 open next year, B&M will have built 7 US coasters since the beginning of 2012. Cedar Fair alone has built one B&M coaster in 7 of the last 8 years, the cheapest of which is still over $20 million! Parks now are simply not going to make large capital investments in this day and age without knowing exactly what they're getting in return. Even Six Flags largest single investment since 2007 - X-Flight at $15 million - was a B&M (the Drop Towers and the RMC conversions/Goliath ran around $10 million each). Parks just got a lot smarter about how they're allocating capital, particularly for the larger coaster installs.

Mostly because there are a select few people who have the skill to beat some games consistently. This does NOT apply to the mechanical games (Stacker, the claw games with electronics, etc.) because the odds have been pre-stacked against you (no pun intended). It doesn't matter what your skill level is at those kinds of games, because if the machine isn't ready to pay you have a near zero chance of winning. On the flip side, skilled players can often do quite well at games where the player has direct control over the outcome of the game, 3 Point Challenge being an example. A good player on that game is - on average - going to score more points than non-skilled players over the long-run. There's variance on that game to be sure, but unlike a casino, the odds of winning most amusement park games aren't really pre-set. It depends on the players skill, and most patrons simply aren't skilled enough to be able to beat the games. Those who are usually run up against prize limits. I'll say it again, prize limits exist for a reason! I know for a fact that there are several parks out there that have my season pass in their database and will alert games management when I'm in the park. I often see supervisors quickly after I arrive at some games, and some know me and call me by name even if I haven't been to their park in a year. Parks know who the skilled people are. One of these days I'll share some interesting stories I've had in my travels, but suffice it to say some games most definitely are not luck, at least in the long-run.

This. You MIGHT be able to snap the newer Larson models if you have a confluence of favorable conditions, but I wouldn't count on being able to do it. I don't know if there's a more frustrating feeling while riding anything at an amusement park than riding a newer flyer set, achieving maximum height, a quick flip of the sail, waiting for the snap at the bottom and getting nothing. Anyone who claims to be able to snap these newer sets with any regularity is either (1) a true expert; (2) unfamiliar with what snapping really is; or (3) lying. The other downside is the very short ride cycle, particularly at Cedar Point. It takes those things forever to slow down and come to a complete stop, so they had to compensate with shorter actual "fly" time. The post I quoted above says it all. If KI does add a flyer set, there's absolutely no way the 3 Point Challenge game is going to be retired (it may be relocated to another position in the park, but it's definitely not going away). Most people would be shocked at how much the 3 Point Challenge games make not only at KI but at other parks. It is the single most profitable game at most parks in the country that have them. There's a reason that parks that didn't have them have added them recently or will be adding them in the near future.

This sums up my thoughts perfectly. I'm in Central Florida once or twice a year on average, and despite that I haven't been to WDW in over 20 years. I've made plenty of trips to Universal, Busch Gardens Tampa, and Sea World during that time and none to WDW. I did have a very enjoyable time at WDW when I last visited - and I'd really like to go back at some point - but I don't want to feel as though I need to read through a 400 page guide to feel like I'm getting the most out of a visit there. When you go to a theme/amusement park it's really nothing more than making choices. What to ride, what to eat, what shows to watch, etc. Disney is trying to make things easier for their most coveted visitors - the multi-day stay on-site families - to have a good time there. What it seems like what's happening though is that Disney is forcing guests to plan out their visits weeks if not months in advance in order to feel like they're "not missing out on anything". I can't even imagine the chaos that must ensue there when it rains and everyone rushes towards an indoor attraction! Study after study has shown that in the more choices you're presented with the lower your satisfaction with the choices you make - all things being equal. I simply cannot imagine that anywhere near a majority of guests are trying to visit Disney planning every minute. Disney is a business out to make profit - and they should - but it seems like they're going about it in a way that may actually be counterproductive to most of their guests being able to enjoy themselves. It's an interesting experiment.

Vortex at Carowinds is actually towards the bottom of my standup list personally, only above Iron Wolf/Apocalypse. Riddlers Revenge and Georgia Scorcher are the only standups that I enjoy riding. I find it interesting that the last two standups that B&M made were the best of the bunch. I was thinking about that, but it's interesting that parks that have some of the larger standups (Riddlers at SFMM, Green Lantern at SFGAd) already have floorless coasters on the property (Scream and Bizarro, respectively). Would it be practical to convert the smaller versions (Vortex at Carowinds and California's Great America, Apocalypse at SFA, Georgia Scorcher) from an ROI standpoint? The general rule for me with the floorless coaster is the bigger the coaster the better it is. Hydra and Batman: Dark Knight at SFNE are both fun enough but the other, taller floorless coasters are vastly superior. I'm sure that converting the smaller standups would make the riding experience much more comfortable, but I'm not sure that the rides layouts really warrant such a move. It'll be interesting to see how this goes.

Thought this was worthy of bringing up again. I'm happy Cedar Point is partnering with a worthwhile organization. Unfortunately, it's gotten to the point where they'd be better off keeping their social media outlets quiet until they announce whatever it is they're ultimately going to do and release all of the details - including this recent news - all at once. This whole thing just has a very juvenile vibe to it.

Seems interesting that the ride is closing two weeks before the end of the season. Is it possible that if the floorless conversion does happen that there would be a change in the actual layout of the coaster? I'm sure the station would need to be modified to accommodate the new trains, but that would still only take a fraction of the offseason to do. This to me is actually more interesting now than it was an hour ago!

I see what you did there. Very nice :-)

I'll renew my Platinum pass sometime this season but I'm definitely going to hold off on the season long dining option until (1) the beginning of next season, or (2) when the full list of details about participating restaurants, wait between meals, chain-wide availability is released - whichever is later. I don't want to be sucked in and then have the plan completely changed shortly after I sign up, especially between now and the beginning of next season. I'll gladly pay a $20 or $30 procrastination tax so that all of the details are finalized and I know EXACTLY what I'm signing up for.

But KI is giving us something - a free season passholder preview day if you renew your season pass this year :-) Let's not forget that Banshee is a world-class coaster itself. Let's allow KI to get some mileage from that ride for a few years before we start chatting about our next major attraction.

This ride looks fantastic. When I saw the leaked blueprints I knew the ride was going to be long, but 6,600 feet? I am so thankful that Cedar Fair is continuing to pour lots of money into these large new B&Ms when no other park/chain is willing to do so. This is an absolutely game-changing addition for both Carowinds and for B&M. IMO this is the biggest coaster announcement since Millennium Force. Carowinds will now have three rides in my personal top 20 coaster rankings and IMO the finest trio of steel coasters located in one park anywhere in the US (along with Intimidator and Afterburn). What an amazing addition! Just a quick extra thought...I am so glad that this is a B&M project. I305 has a lot of fans - especially in some enthusiasts circles - but for the vast majority of the general public who ride it it's a "ride once and done" coaster because of the intensity. The lines for I305 are always some of the shortest (if not the shortest) in the park every visit I've made since it's been open, even when it's only running one train. Cedar Fair was incredibly smart for putting in a coaster that most will want to re-ride over and over.

^

This seems like one of those deals where management gave this idea some thought and saw that it looks good on paper. I'm sure the thought was "we'll give away something that masquerades as a perk, but in reality won't have much value given the days the perk would be used". Add in the fact that this (as of the time of this writing) is only a one-day special sale perk, the sale being held on a day where the park is only open til 8 and most schools are in session. To disco2000's point, in theory this really shouldn't be a big deal if the deal remains as it stands and isn't broadened in any way. Let's assume the Interpreter is correct in his assessment that Fall will bring some "bring a friend for $X" dollars deal on Sundays. You need to be a season pass holder to take advantage of this deal. I - random renewing season pass holder - decide to take advantage of this deal and bring someone to the park on a Sunday. I took advantage of the one-day renewal sale and I have a Fast Lane Plus band I can use that day. Great! One problem...the person whom I took does not have a Fast Lane Plus band. Do I shell out the extra $75 for one Fast Lane Plus band? Do I not use the FLP band that day because I don't want to pony up the extra cash and/or it's not necessary due to low crowds and try and go another Sunday? I highlighted this last line intentionally. I don't believe the doomsday scenario - bring-a-friend for less than $10, Bengals have a bye week (which will happen on Sunday 9/28, just a heads up), warm and sunny day - can come to fruition unless Kings Island foolishly decides to extend this perk to all renewals through the end of the season. If the offer is extended to all renewals through the end of the season, the scenario that disco2000 outlined is a very real possibility. What does it say about this "deal" when most here who have responded - folks I'm assuming are season pass holders and would be entitled to the perk if they follow the terms of the deal - don't like said deal?

Definitely agree with you about the entertainment options. The two highlights for us were the On Broadway show - which was fantastic again this year - and the piano player in the Lusty Lil show. That guy can really play, was very animated and very entertaining. Cedar Point is definintely becoming a more "complete" park in that everyone can have a good time whether you are a thrill seeker or not.

Just wanted to comment on this. The crew working on Tuesday was the same crew that I commented on a few weeks ago about how quickly they move people through the line. It's the only Diamondback crew I've seen this year that's run the ride that well. It's the only ride crew that's made me want to go to Guest Relations and fill out a positive comment card for. They are magnificent.