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Photo #110

I can no more rank wooden coasters than a Momma could rank her children. There's a few scoundrels, yes. Beast is legendary. Thunderhead is incredible. And Georgia Cyclone is 20 feet away. Time to go back in. Terp, on a spring fling in the southeast.

I don't really know that I can point-blank rate Thunderhead as being better than Beast, or vice versa, though I realize I've got a top 5 on my "About Me" page* that doesn't include Beast. The coasters are great for their own reasons, and if you try to apply those reasons to one another, you're sorely disappointed. The Beast is the model for how to appropriately pace a roller coaster, even with magnetic trim brakes. It doesn't have airtime, and, quite frankly, I don't think it needs it. From the top of the first lift to the bottom of the second, the ride literally facades itself. It's wide, almost lateral-free turns and long stretches of straight track that lull the rider into believing the ride is tame. The pacing increases slightly over the course of this first half as you start to encounter the tunnels, the trains making this tremendous roar as you pass through the concrete portions to increasingly sudden turns. Then, just as the speed hits its peak--you hit the second lift. With how far you've come and how big the lift is, you almost expect it to be the end of the ride, until you remember you saw the double helix from the top of the first lift. You reach the top of the second lift and see the park in its entirety, but then you're turning away from that--the ride's teased you with the idea of being done, but its "worst" is yet to come. You're heading down this long stretch of track with a minuscule 10-degree downward angle towards this ominous tunnel mouth buried in the trees you thought you'd escaped, and the train is bucking like crazy and picking up speed. I honestly like the trim on this drop--it's like the ride's last-ditch attempt to let you "save yourself" before you get swallowed by the tunnel and go through the crazy intense helix. And only after that does the ride decide it'll let you go. Night rides only amplify the theatrics of the pacing, which is why people tend to like night rides on The Beast more, in my opinion--instead of The Beast toying with you, it's like he's chasing you through the dark woods. The helix tunnel becomes this pitch black hole that literally devours you, thus increasing the impression that you never really escape The Beast; he decides to let you go... for now. (The Beast is basically the Chuck Norris of roller coasters.) Thunderhead, on the contrary, only vaguely relies on pacing in comparison to The Beast. I don't mean that in a derogatory way; I'm just saying that the pacing starts on "fast" and ends on "very fast," where The Beast goes from "intentionally slow" to "fast." I see Thunderhead more as GCI's attempt to stuff as much airtime into a somewhat limited area as possible by using the terrain, and the results were these crazy fast banking/G-force transitions and high-banked turns that only increase their frequency the closer the train gets to the brakes. Does that mean it's a bad ride? Definitely not, but it's very difficult for me to appreciate it the same way I appreciate rides like The Beast, Kennywood's Thunderbolt, or Holiday World's Raven or Voyage, all of which also place a higher emphasis on pacing. I love me some Thunderhead, but it's not in the same way I love those other rides. It's a great ride, but there just isn't as much depth in the design as it feels like there is on The Beast, which is something that seems to be common on the GCI rides I've been on. The only ones that come close are Hersheypark's Lightning Racers, but not very. The Beast lulls you into a false sense of security then wows you with its double helix; Thunderhead throws everything it's got and the kitchen sink at you from the top of the lift to the brake run. It's almost apples and oranges. (Again, just to stress this: GCI makes fantastic rides. I don't mean to hate on them, as they're easily some of my favorite coasters to ride. I've just never seen a GCI that made me think, "Wow, they're really switching up the pacing like crazy on that guy.") By the by, guys, have I ever mentioned I really get into dissecting design elements and themes in rides? *My top 5 functions more like a "top 5 rides I'd most like to ride right now" list than a "top 5 rides I've ever been on" list. The only reasons The Beast isn't on there is because I've ridden it so many times and because it's so close to where I live. I might only get to visit Holiday World and Kennywood once each per year, so that's why they get a slightly higher priority. I can't wait to ride The Beast in a week!

The Beast and Thunderhead...two of my favorite wooden coasters. Disclaimer...I grew up on The Beast. I took my first spin in 1985 as a 10 year old, and become a coaster nut. So many great memories of riding The Beast with family and friends, in the day, night, rain, and even fog. I rode Thunderhead last summer, and again last month. These coasters are so very different. Here are some categories I use to compare wooden coasters: 1. "In the woods" feeling The Beast, obviously, has this in spades. Though much of it is in "clearings", you are almost always deep in the forest. Thunderhead is set against a beautiful hill of trees, but you don't really go "in" the woods. 2. Out of control feeling The Beast is like driving 100 mph on the interstate. Thunderhead is like driving 50mph down Lombard Street. Both are fun, but I gotta admit that I prefer the latter. Besides the lift hill and station flyby, Thunderhead does not travel 12 inches without changing direction up, down, left, or right. Much of The Beast's track is quite linear, and the curves have large radii. This is the biggest difference between these two coasters, in my opinion. 3. Mystery From the public walkways, one can see pretty much every part of Thunderhead. So there are no big surprises along its course. On the other hand, every part of The Beast (except for the first lift-hill) is hidden from view. Even views from the Eiffel Tower, Diamondback and Vortex only offer glimpses of the second hill. Of course, now one can check out Google Earth or YouTube to learn what really happens out in those woods, but when I was a kid, you went into the ride blind. Added fear factor. 4. Trains All of my rides on Thunderhead were quite comfy. Over the years, my rides on The Beast have ranged from comfy to washboard road terrible. 5. Tunnels I really enjoy coaster tunnels. The abrupt differences in sound and light, plus the "head-chopping" effect, never get old for me. The Beast has 4, while Thunderhead has one: the station flyby. It feels a bit different since it is so open compared to the tunnels on Beast. 6. Airtime On my rides, nearly every hill on Thunderhead offered airtime. I'm not sure I've ever had any on The Beast. 7. The "voyage" feeling I used lowercase "v" because I don't mean the coaster in Santa Claus (though that coaster excels in this category) but rather the way a coaster layout takes me on a literal far away trip. These coasters have it: The Racer, Magnum, Millennium Force, Voyage, and The Beast. These, not so much: Vortex, Mantis, Firehawk, and Thunderhead. This "voyage" aspect is not a requirement, just a nice bonus for me. 8. Emotional pacing, adrenaline For me, Thunderhead stays between 10 and 11 (on the Spinal Tap meter) until the brake run. The Beast is all over the place, dipping to 5 on the straight sections, and somehow reaching 12 at the entrance of the double helix. What can I say, I love'em both. So there you have it. Much more than my two cents. If I had to move to a deserted island and take one of these with me, it would be...Thunderhead. But The Beast, especially running at top form, would be a fine second choice. I'm glad that I live close to both of these great coasters. They show how different and great wooden coasters can be.

I wish they'd test returning the trams to the parking lot

I waited in Racer lines that long many times during my stint in the early/mid-80s.

Or is it a deconstruction photo that Paul is slipping in?

Actually, I think the break run happened awhile later... I'll be here all week!

This will be a fascinating process to watch. So many amusement parks have failed lately (Geauga Lake, LeSourdesville Lake, Hard Rock, Wild West World, Kentucky Kingdom, etc). Still, I'm excited to what the Koch team will do with Kentucky Kingdom. If they pull it off, it just might be a blueprint to help save other struggling parks around the country. I agree that the idea of a fully open restored park in 12 months is unlikely. To help improve their risk and sanity, I wonder if there is a fallback plan for 2013 that focuses on just the waterpark and select rides in the front section of the park. The result might be similar to Cincinnati's Coney Island, or Wyandot Lake: water park + small family style dry park. I think the waterpark would be much cheaper to restore than the dry park. If 2013 shows promise, restore the coasters and the rest of the dry park over the next few years. Essentially, open in phases. The layout of the park might favor this approach since the coasters and big rides are mostly in "the back" of the park. Of course they would need lots of privacy fences and exciting Disney style "pardon our dust" signs for a while.

Crowds depend on weather and a host of unpredictable factors. Not all of the park is open during ERT. Beast is not part of ERT. You cannot go wait in that line until that section of the park opens. ERT is a great time to get rides in on those rides open for ERT.

If that was your attempt to prove your superior maturity, you missed the mark a bit. Paying little attention to spelling, grammar, spacing, capitalization and the conventions of written language is enough to earn you distaste, but resorting to things like what you said above won't earn you respect.

Agreed! Blah! (I would have simply "liked" your post, but alas, I have reached my limit today. I shall have to remember I am only able to like a few things a day. This will make work and my classes go so much easier...)

Cedar Fair itself is under new management as of 2012. Past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future performance. The nickel king aka coaster king is well and truly gone. What the future holds will be seen when it is. As Yogi Berra famously has noted, predictions are hard, especially when they are about the future.

Can't wait for my first visit, to hear a bunch of crazy stories. 10 days till opening day!

This summer meet me at Kings Island, I'll take you to flight deck, then we leave that ride, i will have you look at SoB's supports on the track. Wow man, your quite annoying.

*sigh*

I agree, 1974! I have never ridden (is that proper grammer?) a Sky Ride, and this one just looks very pretty.

Wow! I had no Idea that was the old Skyride station! Thats awesome! I thought the only remnant from the skyride was the footer over by outer hanks. Great Info and great Pics once again Standbyme!

touche' The Beastie eh...you're raising your little one right! I'm pretty sure, if you could safely strap him into any ride, he would enjoy all of them. Something like Drop zone or Firehawk might scare him, but I'm 100% confident he'd love The Beast, Vortex, Flight of Fear, etc.. It never fails to warm my heart to see his bright eyed smile each time we ride Viking Fury.