CoasterKrazy

I think El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure would argue otherwise. The way that coaster literally screams over the first couple of hills, it sounds like the trains won't stay on the track, not to mention the riders. On a more serious note, the accident at Holiday World a few years back also shows that roller coasters are designed in such a way that, if it were not for the restraints, a rider could easily be ejected from the car.

According to Cedar Point's marketing team, Millennium Force's trains are still speeding along around 65 MPH at the brake run, so the speed would be a bit higher at the bunny hop over the exit. As of December 16th, there were no plans for netting over the midway, however, the Ohio Department of Agriculture may say otherwise. In my opinion, the only trouble spot will be at the bottom of the first hill, along The Crypt's new exit. Since more and more guests feel entitled to climb over fences, it will be interesting to see how KI blocks out that area.

If I remember correctly from our tour last week, the transfer track will have a roof, but it will not be enclosed like the station. Someone back me up on this one...

Having ridden Nitro, Raging Bull, and Apollo's Chariot, I was only impressed with the last of the three. I can most certainly understand why others enjoy these rides; they are, without a doubt, amazing machines. But for some reason, first generation B&M mega coasters just don't seem to appeal to me. Here's hoping Diamondback makes a believer out of me!

Sadly, yes. I'm hoping the design "improvements" associated with Behemoth are as dramatic as many people claim, otherwise Diamondback will be a rather boring ride, in my opinion. Insanely popular and great for the park, but boring nonetheless.

And what a tour it was! Brian did an incredible job taking us around the park and giving us an engineer's perspective on the construction of the ride. He fielded all of our questions very well and we had a great time! Brian, Coaster Cats and UC can't thank you enough for taking us around the park!

And they allowed guests to run to Firehawk (and to Maverick at Cedar Point). Six Flags has been similarly lax at their new attractions. Perhaps it takes a guest being seriously trampled and suing before this insane practice is ended? Does any seasonal park do this?

Sorry about the misunderstanding: Because SOB, Flight Deck, and Vortex are in valleys/ravines/low places and Diamondback is not, Diamondback seems short to me.

I began to feel this way after I saw it in person. I'm not complaining (I'm quite happy with the height), it's merely an observation I've made. Also, since the first hill is not far-removed from the midway and also located in a valley (like SOB, Vortex, Flight Deck are), I think this also adds to the "short factor."

That's not always the case...

Technically, wasn't Flight Deck already in the works before Paramount bought the park?

I was also (and still am) not visually impressed with Diamondback's height. I think without the Arrow/wooden coaster lattice supports that I'm used to seeing on KI's taller coasters (and Cedar Point's as well for that matter) the visual impact is somehow diminished. The gargantuan B&M track and supports also contribute to Diamondback's seemingly short stature.

Yep. Given those numbers, I would say either CP/KI figures were overestimated, or SFGAdv figures were underestimated. All three parks are comparable in size, and I think it would be very difficult for SFGAdv to stay afloat if there was such an extreme attendance gap.

What were the reported attendance figures for SFGAdv? I can certainly believe that KI and CP were on par with SFGAdv, especially CP, but not "far, far more."

It's interesting that Canada's Wonderland is continuing to perform so well. I wonder why it has suddenly become a major player in the last few years.

If I weren't studying structural engineering I may feel differently, but this ride looks awesome! I nearly drooled over that curved elevator lift! Good for Holiday World!

Hmm...I think this is a matter of semantics. I was in pain nearly the entire ride (as is the case on MS and SOB) so I would say it is rough. As far as GASM goes, I honestly don't remember what I thought about it. For whatever reason, I nearly blacked out on many of the coasters at SFGAdv and cant' remember the ride. I'm an Arrow fanboy, so I probably found it at least somewhat enjoyable. I do remember the horrible station and "landscaping" underneath the coaster though. That was very disappointing, especially since GAdv is such a nice park otherwise.

I feel your pain (well, I suppose only figuratively, otherwise you may not have enjoyed the ride!). I get rather upset when people bash Vortex, but I can understand their dislike. Maybe I just got it on a bad day. I've given Mean Streak and SOB several chances to redeem themselves, so I could do the same for Rolling Thunder.

I'm not really a big fan of wooden coasters, so I can't exactly pick one that I dislike the most. However, the coasters below were particularly awful in my opinion. They are all incredibly painful, and I do not intend to ride them again. I made the mistake of riding Mean Streak on my last visit to Cedar Point; that's a mistake I won't make twice. Mean Streak Son of Beast Rolling Thunder (SFGAdv)

Screamscape is reporting that Carowinds released a short note regarding GL's boomerang they'll be installing for 2009: “Introducing a new species to the Carolinas…find out September 10.” Before Maverick was announced, Cedar Fair had registered/trademarked/copyrighted (feel free to chose the correct term) that name. With Diamondback, however, it seems this was not the case. I don't know how research like this works, but if Cedar Fair has chosen to use Diamondback for the new Carowinds coaster, would "registering" that name have appeared here in Ohio? In other words, could Cedar Fair have registered this name for the new coaster at Carowinds in order to keep the KI announcement secret?

Thanks for the clarification Monroe. I didn't mean to imply you don't know what you're talking about (but to be fair, there's no reason to believe one way or the other without siting sources) I was just surprised that a potentially dangerous situation could be caused by an op simply pushing a button mid-ride. Like a MCBR, I assumed resetting the catch car would be controlled by the computer system.

The catch car is manually reset by the ride operator then? And for verification purposes, the two of you know this how?

Both of these coasters are incredible rides, but the insanely smooth, I-wouldn't-even-do-that-on-a-steel-coaster transitions and screaming ejector air on El Toro make it the best wooden coaster I've ever ridden. My only regret was not riding it again.

I seriously doubt the operator ever had any control whatsoever over the launching mechanism. I would imagine that aspect of the ride is controlled purely by the computer system. These rides were designed with rollbacks in mind, after all, so it has probably always been impossible for the catch car to reset before the train has cleared the tophat. Of course, we are talking abount an Intamin creation, so I could be wrong.

I imagine most of the misdirection is meant for enthusiasts. Who else would care enough to spend the time deciphering whether the new coaster will be named after a snake or a horse? I'm not complaining of course. This is great!