silver2005

^Its that way for non-FL people as well. Some employees let a few cycles at each gate (on coasters), some leave only a single cycle's worth of people at the gates sans the front seat line, some allow for people to pick rows, some don't. Mystic Timbers and Backlot also have inconsistencies between pairing up riders and not. And that lack of consistency feels unique to Kings Island, at least going by my experiences at MIA and CP by comparison.

^S&S Power absorbed what remained of Arrow and still make replacement parts as well.

Most of the parks are dropping hints on Facebook now- Carowinds looks like it'll be Planet Snoopy related, KD and CP are obvious, Knott's and CGA are likely getting new things, nothing from KI or Canada or much from the smaller parks though.

Here's proof that the brakes are in the same spot.

^And even then, the brakes were replaced from the skids to the magnetic brakes through Paramount, not CF. The Beast had an accident in the station due to wet skid brakes in 2003 and had them replaced the following off-season.

There's a line separator at the top which you can tell them of your issue and they'll work it out.

One big reason why Intamin is frowned upon is a statement they made after an accident on one of their rides (I believe it was a statement in response to the ejection on Man of Steel at Darien Lake) saying that deaths are an acceptable part of the overall safety experience (I can't find the article since I think its well expired), and while a good PR crew on a coaster designing firm would say zero, Intamin didn't, which is a big no-no in the amusement park industry where safety is paramount. This is on Intamin more than CF. I have heard that for each new ride CF has built from B&M, Intamin did indeed send proposals but were turned down. That's not on CF. That's on Intamin for slacking off on their standards and not matching up to the impeccable safety standards of your B&M's and Macks. Even SIX is steering clear of Intamin. Just look at CF's track record with Intamin- KBF- cable snap on Xcellerator and death due to bad restraints on Perilous Plunge CP- cable snap on MF, TTD's downtime issues, Maverick's original roll having to be re-designed (not a cheap process), a support re-design on Wicked Twister, and a under-designed log flume which detached from the anti-roll backs and capsized (how do you screw up a log flume?!) KD- an extensive redesign of I-305's first turn, had to have trims down the entire first drop during a large portion of it's first season, also massive opening delays for Volcano CGA- boy falling to death on Drop Zone KI and KD- under designed restraints on Flight Commander (KD had a similar ride) And this is just within CF. Problems with Intamin extend outside CF as well, and I now ask- what would incentivize parks to go with Intamin with that kind of record and detriment to the ROI? B&M's have none of that, even with prototypes. Recently, Intamin has just been building the same flawed rides overseas with zero effort to show they've changed away from technology that has shown to be prone to problems. They may push the envelope, but at what cost to the park? You gotta draw the line somewhere and most parks have now with Intamin (at least here in the States at least).

Ugh...of course this happens the season I'm going to Hersheypark. I don't think I could squeeze in 2 days at HP as much as I want to go for a extra half day for their water park. C'mon DP and NJFTP, don't let me down!

There is a legit question on who would build the giga since the Busch/Sea World parks have shown they're still not afraid to go to Intamin for new rides.

Banshee has a line with several switchbacks open (as seen on the webcam). That should all you need to know about the crowds today.

^I'm guessing the part of Coney Mall near the Gardens?

^Ok, none that popped up in my head immediately at least.

^Well, there are none in the US, and no international park is going to call them out on their bluff, so they'll probably get away with it.

This is an honest question for those against repaving the parking lot- would you wait until the parking lot is actual gravel? Also, why? It's gonna get done eventually. Re-lining the parking lot is also in dire need as I feel the way traffic flows from the new entrance isn't quite efficient.

^At least CGA is one of CF's smaller parks though. SFFT isn't a slouch.

Stuff like this is also a reason I like how CF is much more thorough and does their research into new ride technology before implementing it.

Between this and the S&S Free Fly's, SIX has been building a lot of new coasters with below par capacity for the crowds they see. I'm guessing its to sell more Flash Passes. Seriously, the last B&M they've built in the whole chain was X-Flight at SFGAm. RMC's have decent capacity I suppose, and I get the need for variety, especially at a park like SFMM where they practically have every type of coaster, but I think their choice in new rides could be better capacity wise.

I do want to give a big thank you to everyone who helped me out with planning these two trips and to malem for being my T-bolt partner. I'd be lost a few times without you guys.

^At least MLB has way better weather policies than Kennywood.

Pittsburgh turned out to be an easier city to navigate than I thought. Got in a garage right across the river from PNC Park. Just cruising around until game time.

Kennywood Trip Report Day started at 10:30 after getting to the park at opening. The way how I timed eating breakfast and meeting up with malem worked out perfectly including the drive to Kennywood in navigating late rush hour traffic and getting to the park with less than 10 minutes to spare. Before entering the park, I held the coin toss to decide number 80 and proceeded in. The coin decided that Phantom's Revenge would be my 80th coaster credit. And quite a fantastic credit it turned out to be (coaster reviews later). After that, malem and I headed in a semi-clockwise route doing Thunderbolt, then Exterminator, then Racer, then Sky Rocket, and finishing with Jack Rabbit had a longer line so we waited off for it making it #85 for me. After getting my new credits in, we did a quick stop for malem for lunch, then proceeded to do re-rides plus get in some flats. Got to ride Black Widow, Bayern Kurve, Log Jammer, Noah's Ark, Ghostwood Estate (which was slick with the track-less course and decent theming to boot), and Whip. Between Exterminator, Bayern Kurve, the Whip and Noah's Ark, I got a bit dizzy. Exterminator wins the award for the ride that has made me the most dizzy I've ever been via an amusement park ride. I'm definitely going to keep doing spinning coasters early in adding new credits at new parks. Ate for dinner around 5 at the pizza place near the kids area. Decent food, but not the greatest service. That was one thing that held back the park IMO was the sub-par service. Slow ride ops at understaffed rides, slow food lines, sloppy ride operating areas with food and drink scattered around (particularly at T-bolt), even Kings Island's staff on their bad days aren't so bad. On Log Jammer, our boat slammed into the station switch when the ops weren't paying attention. I also didn't think they checked restraints all to thoroughly and let pity things like parent-kid problems and single riders on T-bolt hold up lines and dispatches. Then there was the weather policies. They get so uppity over the weather there. Granted there was one time it was necessary when a thunderstorm rolled through, but otherwise it was mostly unwarranted. Despite the decent rides and food, the service was just off-putting. It'll be a while before I muster the willingness to return. Even MIA and KK had better staff. Coaster Reviews- Phantom's Revenge- This baby lived up to the hype. Super smooth with decent forces all around. It also felt very re-rideable as most of the coasters did. The lap bar does have some give to it allowing for some decent air time to be had. Fantastic views of the river valley as well. It's not quite my favorite steel coaster as anticipated (hi Magnum!), but it does come very, very close. Thunderbolt- This one didn't quite live up to expectations mainly due to the trims before the 2 biggest drops, but the ride before that delivered pretty well. Extremely strong laterals, fair floater air, and pretty good pacing sans the trims. The 2 final drops are still very good. Very comfortable ride as well. Jack Rabbit- This is a real one trick pony coaster. The regular drops were fair and the enormous double drop delivered in amazing air, but its quite short. Definitely left a lot to be desired. Racer- A pretty good racing coaster in that it does go back and forth through the course, but along with Jack Rabbit, it was just alright. Even less forceful floater air than T-bolt with above average laterals. Also Kennywood- why are there only 1-2 ops running the platform on this? Are you kidding me? Sky Rocket- This had the best ride crew of the day as they were the most efficient and thorough. This can be summed up as a tale of two halves. The first bit after the launch (though, not a very punchy launch like Flight of Fear or even Backlot) was pretty good with decent air on the first hill, nice high speed and comfortable inversions, but after the brake run, it really slacks off. Just a low high speed curve into a corkscrew before a bunch of forceless s-curves and hops. Didn't like the shin restraints either. Lightning Run's leg restraints were more comfortable. Pretty fun but lackluster. Exterminator- Despite getting dizzy, I rather liked it. This and Ghostwood Estate had very good theming. I think I do like this model more than your standard wild mouse, but I'm not up for re-rides, that's for sure. I do think I would prefer it being outdoors though. The dark corridors contributed to the dizziness.

As far as downtown Pitt is concerned, I'm probably gonna head down at 1 and be a bit spontaneous in my ventures. May look up museums and such. I am armed with my good camera. EDIT: On the stadium tour, I've been to enough stadiums and arenas during my time in the UC Band where its kind of a 'meh' thing to me. The only stadiums I'd consider doing tours for are older ones like Fenway or Wrigley. To give you an idea, here are all the stadiums/arenas I've been to ever- Riverfront, GABP, PBS, US Bank Arena, the Shoe, Nippert, Cintas Center, Cincy Gardens, Mt St Joseph U's stadium, Yager Stadium (Miami OH), Ohio Stadium, Milan Puskar Stadium (WVU), Rubber Bowl Stadium (Akron), Roger Centre (International Bowl in Toronto), Legion Field (PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham), Sun Life Stadium (Miami- Orange Bowl), the Superdome (got a self guided tour there when we were rehearsing for the Sugar Bowl), Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (Liberty Bowl- Memphis), Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte- Belk Bowl), Madison Square Gardens (BE Tourney), Verizon Center (DC- First 2 Rounds NCAA Tourney 2011), Bridgestone Arena (Nashville- NCAA First 2 round 2012), TD Garden (Boston- Sweet 16 2012), XL Center (AAC Tourney 2015), Spokane Arena (First Round NCAA 2014), and soon to be PNC Park And most of those stadiums I've been behind the scenes for since that's where they have staging areas for the bands, so it takes special stadiums to get me to do a tour.

^Dollywood sued HUSS into oblivion when theirs didn't work.

Even if HUSS were back to building, they would absolutely not be building Topple Towers again. That's one of the main reasons they're in the bind they're in.

Finally in Pittsburgh after entirely too many construction delays on I-70. Oh, and I have a Cracker Barrel and IHOP for breakfast options. Also, I have a crap ton of side streets between me and Kennywood.