Dvo

^Really? I think they did a fantastic job with this. All the anticipation leading up to this, including teaser videos, has been excellent. I've been waiting for this announcement for a while now. And I literally clicked the first link in this article, and it had a pov video as well as ride stats right next to it. Also, I really think the track layout is fantastic. The "treetop" section is very cool, as is the zig-zagging trick track. It seems to really mimic a cheetah if you ask me. There are so, so many reasons now for me to get to Florida in the next few years, and this is just adding onto it.

Next time you guys go to HW, try row 2 on Legend. You still have to brace yourself at the bottom of the 2nd hill, because that section of track is just brutal no matter where you sit. But other than that, that seat is just pure fun. The lats are insane and you still get tossed around a bit, but not nearly as violently as other seats.

Voyage is definitely my favorite, but after Fall Affair, I really had to think about it. Legend was really, REALLY, giving me some seriously good riding during the nighttime ERT. I was very much considering waiting until they literally asked me to leave the ride to head to Voyage. The 2nd seat on Legend really isn't rough at all, and that mega-helix near the end of the ride is just incredible. Not to mention the airtime hill right after the turn-around at the end of the track. What a wonderful, wonderful ride.

Don't get me wrong, if it were up to me I'd vote CP as the best amusement park too. But these particular awards are notoriously handed out to parks who, how shall I say this, "do business" with the award-giving entity...

Another reason why I think the addition of WindSeeker(s) across the board is a good idea for next year. They got relatively inexpensive attractions across the board that can be marketed as major thrill rides. And I think if they maintain or increase their attendance numbers, next year could be very profitable for CF. Now it's just whether or not reducing their debt is their main priority...

Cradle of Filth. and lots of it.

^Try this...

Worst park probably goes to SFGAm, only for one horrible day there. I think almost all of the rides are mediocre at best to begin with, but the ridiculous amounts of money I spent that day, on top of the long, long lines. Not to mention the horrible attitudes of the staff. It was all in all the only day I didn't like at any amusement park.

I don't think it'll take too much deductive thinking to figure that one out, regardless of the context of those letters. That's good use of the boards.. not to provide some quality input about rides, but to rile other people up and waste all of our time. End slight rant.

Now that you say it, I think an impulse coaster would do really well at Kings Island.. but I don't think that's happening.

Not to mention, I thought Flight Commander was really fun. It was cool spinning the thing upside-down flying 80 (or so?) feet above Coney Mall. So I guess if no one wants to remember it, Cormaster, you can go ahead and call me no one

^uh... cool? I'm also going with WindSeekers across the board.

Coney Mall. Between Racer, FoF, Dodgem, and Vortex, I'm a happy man. Not to mention skyline chili As for three rides... Drop Tower Flight Deck Vortex

Cedar Point any day of the week! Any more, CP is my home park, despite my living in Chicagoland. While I'll always have fantastic memories of the many, many trips to Kings Island growing up, Cedar Point is definitely my favorite park.

^Agreed... and yet it was also the reason for the heavier trains. Though I wouldn't say the loop wasn't successful. I recall riding it several times with the loop, and it made it every time.

The lines were VERY long this weekend. I too was at the park, and the front lot was completely full. Nonetheless, with some persistence, and by taking advantage of the early ride time, I got some decent ride numbers in.

Uh... any sources for that tidbit?

The Cliff, no doubt. I love Aztec Adventure as well, and DEFINITELY Hidden Rapids... but no trip to the Beach goes without a dive over The Cliff. The anxious slow part at the top... leading into the plummet down into the tunnel. Great slide.

I agree. This guy is just terrible. And he's EVERYWHERE in amusement media. Simply awful. I'm kind of glad to see Viper at SFGAm get some notoriety, as I feel it is pretty underrated, but I am not glad that it came in this form.

Oh lord, not this again.

Cheese on a Stick

Saturdays are definitely really busy, but Halloweekends are the worst. There are 3 days of the year I simply refuse to visit CP.. 4th of July, and Columbus Day Weekend. I went Columbus day one year, and it literally took us about 45 minutes just to get from Sandusky into the parking lot. And then we managed to ride 3 rides (the biggest one being Mean Streak, if that tells you anything...) and 2 haunts before going all the way back home. Brutal.

Very good video! One of the better media plugs I've seen for any park, in my mind. Not sure if they get "over 3 million guests every year," though...

Sorry Terp, we only made it to Mt. Olympus. Did not ride Hellcat I knew it was there, but it's tough to convince 20 people that we should skip Mt. Olympus and go there instead. Maybe next time...

Over the weekend a group of friends and I went camping in Wisconsin Dells. I've never been up there but have always wanted to. We left Chicagoland around 5:00 on Friday and arrived at our campsite at about 8:00. We set up our tents and drank some beers by a fire. Nice relaxing first night. Saturday I woke up around 7:30. For some reason I can never sleep in on the day I'm going to an amusement park. Not a bad thing I suppose. Anyway, the park opened at 9 am. I arrived at the Mt. Olympus gate around 9:30, since I figured there wouldn't be many people. I was right. Right when you walk in, Zeus's entrance is right in front of you. So I walked right to the station and sat down in the back seat. Then we had to wait a few minutes for enough people to get on the ride to dispatch it (it was that dead). After a minute or two, we were on our way. Now I had heard that Mt. Olympus's rides were "rickety" and "bumpy as hell," but I went in looking forward to it. After all most woodies are bumpy, but in a good way. Zeus is not bumpy in a good way. After the first drop, we hit a camelback, and on the other side of that was one of the worst valleys I've ever hit on a coaster. My back immediately ached. Devastating. The rest of the ride wasn't too bad.. a decent turnaround at the end of the track, and then some okay hills back to the station. After Zeus, I walked to Hades, the only ride with a wait. That being said, it was a one-train wait. I again got into the back seat. Hades is a very good coaster. Immediately out of the station you get ejector air in the back seat. Dead serious. There is a solid drop right off The Bat. And then more ejector air before you even get to the lift. After the lift it's the renowned tunnel under the parking lot that's full of quick turns in the darkness, so you have no idea what's coming next. My favorite part is going through the tunnel for the 2nd time and coming out to a wonderful airtime hill. You can certainly see the similarities to Voyage, but you can also see that Voyage is basically the incredibly superior sequel to this thing. Hades is very good. Voyage is incredible. Now on to the ride that I was most looking forward to on this trip... CYCLOPS. This behemoth only stands at 75 feet high, but I went in with countless reports about the back seat on Cyclops. You have to be 18 to ride it because the 2nd hill supposedly had insane ejector air. I got in line, got to the empty station, and walked to the back seat only to find it CLOSED! They chained off the back seat. So I sat in the 2nd last seat to try to salvage what insanity I could. I was incredibly disappointed. The first drop was okay into a turn, and then you go climbing up to the top of a hill before the second drop.. only to hit a trim brake. We crept over the 2nd hill and I only caught a little air. Far less than on either Zeus or Hades. And after that, Cyclops is basically over. It's maybe a 30 second ride. Cyclops Fail. After that it was scorching hot, so I walked back to our campsite to meet up with my friends (who decided to take it easy in the morning), and we got on our swim suits and headed to the waterpark. There's not too much to talk about over there... they have some decent slides, basically everything you expect at your standard waterpark. Nothing spectacular in terms of the actual slides. BUT... they do have the best attraction I experienced all day. Poseidon's Rage wavepool. We arrived at the pool and put our towels down, and I was so hot I literally ran to the pool to find the last of a few small waves floating to the edge. I was expecting your average wavepool... a bell rings, some waves start coming, and you do the "up, down, up, down" routine. WRONG. After about 5-10 minutes, we were standing in the calm water talking, and we hear a giant WHOOOOSHHHHHH. Everyone screams. I don't know if that was out of fear or delight. But I turned my head toward what I thought would be some normal waves.. to find a GIGANTIC wave roaring at us. I had to double-take, because I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I just remember thinking "wait a minute... that looks a lot bigger than..." and then it just hit me like a freight train, knocking me literally about 75 feet back toward the shore. It's simply amazing. The wave is literally about 10-15 feet in height and it just plows everyone backward. We stayed in that pool for over an hour enjoying one wave every 10 minutes or so. Fantastic. Mt. Olympus certainly isn't my favorite park, but if you go in not expecting too much and just spend time with good people, it can be great. I had a wonderful day at the park and will most likely return at some point in the future. If nothing else, just to be raged on by Poseidon.