Cormaster

I actually rode that right before Meanstreak! Maverick ended up being quite possibly the best coaster I've ever ridden in my life. I Really liked it!

I was in the front when I rode Mean streak. It wasn't rough at all. However it was dull and boring, and I Couldn't help but notice the trim on the first drop. Being a Son of Beast fan I thought I'd enjoy it, but I didn't at all. I didn't get off in pain, I just got off uninspired and ready to ride something better.

Don't get me wrong I love Arrow. I think they are one of the best companies of all time, and they have an impressive resume. I'm just saying that I kind of understand the removal of the old Mega loopers for more modern coasters. I never have rode GASM and I never will, but I did ride Shockwave in '93, which is very close to the same thing. I loved it in '93, though if it was still standing I'd doubt I would enjoy it as much. BTW I don't have a headbanging issue on Vortex either mainly because I've rode the ride a million times, and I know how to tilt my head so that the transitions don't cause me to bang my head against the harness. Its second nature to me. I'm usually one of the biggest defenders of Arrow mega loopers, but sadly I'm starting to see why parks are tearing them down. They are just old, rough, and have terrible trains, but I still don't see Vortex going anywhere anytime soon. Its still one of the most popular rides in the park, and obviously KI doesn't need the space. Just wish I could find a comfortable seat on it. Anyway back to the topic at hand, I really love Diamondback and I do wanna see more modern day coasters at KI. It doesn't have to be the biggest or the baddest, just something cool. I wouldn't mind seeing Intamin coming to the park, they really do make some of the more unique coasters. I mean maybe a maverick type coaster that speeds through the woods, that would be really cool.

I think I'm starting to change my mind on Arrow Mega Loopers. I think I've been kinda in denial about them. They were great in their time, and I have sentimental value in Vortex because it was my first major coaster. But I'm realizing after riding The Vortex today, they are just old, outdated, and too rough for being made of steel. And the trains are just the most gawd awful pieces of crap ever. You can't fit correctly in any seat. In the back of the car your knees are touching your head. In the front your legs are at a 45 degree angle. In the very front of the train your knees will constantly bump the little lip and cause pain while you ride. The seats have virtually no cushion and the OTSR's are too close to your head. combine that with poor transitions and you got yourself some headbanging. Its just the 22 million dollar steel coaster across from it provides just as many thrills and is more fun to ride because it doesn't beat the crap out of you while you ride it. I hate to admit it but when I was at Cedar Point and I rode the corkscrew, I actually enjoyed it more. The Trains for some reason seemed nicer and more comfy, and the ride, while less intense, didn't beat the crap at you. Maybe Arrow loopers were never meant to be "mega loopers". Maybe Vortex, GASM, Shockwave, and Viper were just all apart of ****ing contest between the parks in the 80's. Its just recently I've noticed, 5 times USED to be standard on Vortex, now Diamondback gets that kinda love from me, and Vortex gets one ride from me. As for Six Flags Great Adventure I kinda understand a bit about getting rid of GASM. I mean they have Bizzaro, basically a more modern B&M looper with floorless trains. But I don't understand why they are removing it for a B&M fail coaster. Chang I think I liked it honestly because of where it was, because other than Chang all of SFKK's coaster's sucked. But great adventure has some of the greatest coasters in the world. I honestly think in that environment it'll be kinda regarded about as highly as Mantis at Cedar Point Anyway I really can't bash a B&M flayer till I ride one, who knows when that'l be, but I stand by my comments on Firehawk. It's a piece of crap, and it takes too long to load. Why do they load it that way? Can somebody tell me? IT drives me nuts. I honestly think they should kill the dual loading system, and just load it like any other coaster. Load one train, send it off, off load the next train, re-load send it off, when the first rain comes back, off load it...etc. I hoenstly think the dual loading system that is supposedly "revolutionary" is actually the coaster's downfall. Like I said after 3 years of being at the park and being "1UP'd" by a B&M hypercoaster, theres NO REASON IT SHOULD TAKE A FRIGGEN HOUR TO GET ON ON A DEAD DAY! But its like that, and the ride isn't even that good at the end. And its not popularity, its a crappy inefficient loading system! BTW I am aware Vekoma made the first flyer. I was more refferring to the B&M invert vs. the Crappy Vekoma "hang and bang" SLC

The awesome Arrow mega looper at SFGA is being removed for Chang. The flying coaster went into what was parking lot. And Chang was surrounded (?) by good and one great coasters. Thunder Run was one of the best wooden coasters in the country. Twisted Sisters, when new, was incredible...so much so that I visited that park 33 times that year and rode them nearly exclusively each time... And you don't like Firehawk because it feels like you may fall out? How odd...that's one of many reasons I love it. SFGA = Six Flags Great America, not Six Flags Great Adventure I was referring to "shockwave", which was torn down in 2002 to make room for Superman: Ultimate Flight, though yes Great Adventure has one too. Honestly my main beef with Firehawk is it takes at least an hour to get on everytime I Ride it, even when the lines not bad, because the KI staff takes way too long to load people and I don't know why. If you watch them they'll literally wait till both trains are in the station, load them both, launch one, and then when the first one gets back to the station, they'll launch the second one. Its ridiculous. And the ride IMO is not worth the hour wait. I do think Firehawk moves too slow. My first ride on it I was impressed but the more i ride it, the more I realize the coaster is not worth the wait. IF I can get right on it (one day I managed too, not sure how) its not too bad. But after 3 years of being at the park you shouldn't have to wait an hour to ride it everyday! I understand their are times where its going to busy at the park and the line will get long. But Firehawk will take an hour to ride on a day when everything's a walk-on, mostly due to the inefficient loading system.

Like my avatar? LMAO I just noticed! Vekoma's just seem kinda cheap and crappy... Its like this. I used to collect transformer toys. If you want say a G1 Optimus Prime in mint condition you can shell out money and get the real thing. Or you can spend $20 and get a cheap knockoff that looks exactly the same, but the quality just isn't there. Vekoma seems like they specialize in making "cheap knockoffs" of B&M's!

You know what else I'm realizing was a trend coaster and sucks nearly as bad? A flying coaster. I've never been on a B&M, but I can say honestly Firehawk sucks. It moves so slow you feel like your going to fall out, and my knees constantly being pulled by gravity. Also to top it off, the loading process is terrible and after 3 years at KI and no longer being the "new coaster" there's NO REASON IT SHOULD TAKE SO FRIGGEN LONG TO GET ON! Also it breaks down alot. Why? Probably because its a Vekoma! Granted the Flying coaster never took off like the standup, and probably for good reason. I Can't believe an awesome Arrow mega looper at SFGA got torn down for a flying coaster! They already had Batman, why did they need a flying coaster? I say a good B&M invert is the "True" flying coaster! Don't get me wrong my first ride on Firehawk I thought was awesome, but the more I ride it the more i realize its not worth the wait. Flight of Fear on the other hand, has long waits, but the ride at the end is worth it, much more so than Firehawk. They should of gave us Dominator instead.

Yeah King Cobra def. wasn't so bad. A loop, and a couple bunny hops and your done. A B&M is rough on the legs, but I will say a TOGO is rough on the...male reproductive parts if you catch my drift. The harnesses are def better on a B&M!

I agree. On paper it sounds like it would be a blast, but in reality its just not. IT would help if every time I went on one they would let me adjust my height before they locked the harneses! Mantis was an inch off on my height thus I was crouching just slightly, making the ride even more painful.

Great Adventure looks like a nice park, I might have to check it out someday. Great TR!

Hope its running. If not well at least I got to ride Max Air this past Tuesday!

Stand Up's kinda suck. We've been there done that anyway with King Cobra, which in hindsight wasn't that good either. It was a TOGO, not a B&M, but just like a B&M it was painful to ride. I too was looking forward to Mantis at Cedar Point, remembering how much I liked Chang at Kentucky Kingdom, and I too was disappointed with it. Could it be Chang was only good because it was surrounded by crap coasters?

Remember this topic? http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22166&st=0 How about one of these? I mean I could really see that happening honestly. With Cedar Fair's financial situation I imagine the next big coaster is a couple years off. And after a couple years perhaps B&M will have the model perfected and ready to install a world class version of it at KI... I like it honestly and I'd take it over an invert. IT almost seems to be combining both concepts of an Invert and a floorless, without the disadvantages of either one.

How about a floorless? I've never ridden one and unfortunately it would seem with Dominator's move to KD, there are no floorless coasters in the midwest.

Yeah its very impressive. I remember when I went in 1995 I bought a souvenir map, but unfortunatley I've moved probably 5 times since then and I'm pretty sure it got thrown out since at the time I was only 15 and I hung it on the wall like a poster with scotch tape. I wish I still had it, I'd like to look at it and compare it to the park map I have now and see how much its changed.

Skyhawk was my last ride at Cedar Point, and i thought it was awesome! Basically like I said early, a Thrill seeking version of Viking Fury. I could really see that happening for KI in the near future. I couldn't it costing even near as much as a new B&M inverted coaster, and it wouldn't require as much land or space. They could have one ready for next season, and it would be a great addition to X-base. I'm thinking maybe for starters they add a screaming swing and expand X-base a bit, ie make another entrance, and put some restrooms back there. Maybe a place to get some food other than an ice cream stand. Than they can tear down Son of Beast in the future and use the land to expand X-base even future and connect it to Action Zone and put a B&M invert in there! Probably won't happen, but I can always dream right?

Well I do want to know for instance, where did they find room to cram Top Thrill Dragster in at? Its almost in the middle of the park, in an area that seemed full before! What moved, and what renovations did they have to do to accommodate such a coaster?

Then maybe they had 12 at 1995, I dunno... that's not really my question though. Come on man, don't post just to "correct the facts". I'm no historian here ok?

Cedar Point is landlocked. In fact they've been land locked for quite some time. I mean the whole park is on a Peninsula! I remember going in 1995 when they held the "world record" for most roller coasters at 11. I remember thinking "This is great, but there's NO WAY they can add anything else". Now its 2010, and Cedar Point has added 5 more coasters since then, including 2 that were the "world's tallest and fastest" at their debut, not to mention all the flat rides they've added. Obviously they've retired some stuff, like Demon Drop and White Water landing, but for the most part they just find room... how do they do it?

Who knows what they will do. I do agree that KI could use more flats, and now that I've ridden one, I'm all for the screaming swing! Its like a thrill seeker's version of viking fury! All thing considered though, if they don't give us anything it's not a bad thing. I wouldn't mind seeing them maybe do some 'touching up' of the park. Get a new program for the Crypt that doesn't involve a giant top spin spinning in the dark. I rode the original Tomb Raider when it had all its effects in place and it was very impressive... now I avoid that ride at all costs! Also they could fix some of the stuff on BLSC like the "spashdown" effect that hasn't worked in forever. Maybe give Flight Deck a Paint job. Maybe find away to make Firehawk load more efficiently, not take 3 hours to load everytime!

I'll never complain about AE again after riding Cedar Creek Mine RIde. AE is a 100 times better than that piece of crap! lol

I wouldn't mind a floorless either, though I don't know what to expect from one really. How much different are they from just a B&M sitting coaster like Kumba or Led Zepplin? Dive Machines are cool but GYK is right on marketing. How do you market another coaster thats 200 feet tall? Intamin wouldn't be bad as long as they have improved their harnesses. I did like Maverick's OTSR's, but Millie and TTD's harnesses quite frankly suck and only small and short people can fit on them with no problem. My wife couldn't fit, and I BARELY fit... had to have help from the CP staff. Of course we're talking about 1 coaster that's 10 years old and another thats 7. Hopefully by now Intamin has come up with better harnesses... does I305 have the same restraints as Millie? Of Course we DO Have some Intamin stuff already... WWC, Eiffel Tower, and Drop Tower if I'm correct.

The B&M "trend" coaster right now is their hypercoaster, that and nearly every park in the US EXCEPT Kings Island has a B&M invert, or at least Vekoma SLC. Or perhaps a unique Intamin one like "Volcano: The Blast Coaster". Why would a park order a second invert? Well I mean other than having say a Shuttle invert and a Full circuit invert at the same time which is quite common, and ok because they offer different ride experiences. Anyway if Cedar Fair contacted B&M today about building an invert for Cedar Fair I doubt they'd say "I'm sorry but that model is discontinued and we can't build it anymore... can I interest you in a floorless or a Dive Machine?"

lol well I didn't mean to make it "the example", its just honestly its the only B&M invert I've been on. I had my chance to ride batman in '93, and I passed it up (and regretted it). But I know by now their are MUCH better Inverts out there than Raptor, I'm just saying basically if Cedar Fair can some money by just using a pre-defined Raptor or Batman model to get us an invert, I'd be all for it. Of Course I'd also be all for a unique one too with some great scenery around it. I don't think Raptor is rated high around the country either, more or less I think you probably hear about it more because when you think about it, its the only B&M invert around here!

Gemini Rocks IMO. Its the best of their wooden coasters, even if it "technically" isn't a wooden caoster.