silver2005

I think they CF needs to start improving the quality of the guest experience programs they already have such as the meal plans and Fast Lane before they do any more venturing of ideas. They have a lot of good things in place, they just need to be tinkered a bit. I also wish they would do more to keep each individual park more unique because, at least with the bigger parks IMO, they seem to be more and more alike, almost too much. Removing things like the paddle boats at Cedar Point and removing the themed areas at Kings Island just kind of sucked the ambiance from those parks a bit (Kings Dominion being the exception, what they did for their 40th anniversary looks outstanding).

^Which, I'm okay with because judging by the angle of that portion of Diamondback's hill, the first drop on MT should be nice and steep. Riding the back on this thing will be amazing just for the first drop alone. If you want a good judgement on how tall that 2nd hill is, look at the Diamondback cam and you can see MT poking above the trees now.

That 2nd hill looks to be taller than what I initially thought.

That's typical of a P&G buyout. Most of who is there are young families. Not as much in the teenage/twenties demographics that typically venture to the thrill rides. I've had some legendary night marathons on quite a few coasters on those days.

Well, I mean if you're here, we are already under the assumption that you are excited about the park, so posting things like 'OMG this construction is awesome!' is just unnecessary.

^Try not to get bored too quickly. silver2005, who went that day with malem and we were bored enough to ride the train and the Eiffel Tower multiple times (this includes front seat rides on every single coaster).

^Every internet forum in the history of forever is like that.

One theory I have that KI will get gripes from a lot of people who just won't let Kings Island be better than Cedar Point in their mind, especially since the GP constantly compare the 2 since they are now in the same chain. I suspect even if KI would get a giga coaster, people would still praise Millennium Force more and give KI little to no credit, even if they built a superior ride. A lot of that, IMO, has to do with how CP advertises themselves as being the best of the best. That media manipulation has been a driving factor in how they get viewed by the GP. I get into discussions about which park is better with my friends all the time and I can bring up as many aspects as possible and elaborate more on those points in great detail and they still give little to no credit to KI.

I actually thought SIX would have RMC give the Iron Horse treatment to Georgia Cyclone by now.

I've learned not to question how and why engineers do certain things after working with many with that type of mindset in my college band days. They usually have a reason for everything they do. They're quite meticulous and pedantic.

I'm actually surprised they've gone vertical so early. I figured they'd pour all the footings before that, which, I think that's what they're up to. Once they focus on vertical construction, it should go up pretty quick. I imagine they are aiming to get the footings done before winter hits.

^If HP would have kept the PTC's and did some HW level maintaining of the ride with a bit of re-tracking and re-profiling (which, HP takes wonderful care of their wooden collection to begin with, Comet probably runs better than it did when it was new), Wildcat could potentially be an absolute beast.

If you go on a weekend Storm Chaser, Lightning Run, and T3 will most likely be doing 2 train op. However since Thunder Run doesn't have a transfer track there is no way there will be 2 trains on the track. Which is a shame since Thunder Run is so re-ridable. I hated that it had single train operation.

GCI also designed those first few coasters around using PTC's and just happened to run out the MF's on the SFDK Roar (their first coaster was in 1996 so they're pretty young compared to other firms). Lightning Racer was their first true coaster to design around the MF's and it's awesomeness is a result. They really hit their stride when they got to Thunderhead IMO. EDIT: I maintain the belief that Wildcat at HP was better with the PTC's.

Huh...is the shed over the track as well?

Just out of curiosity, is there any similar type of poll/awards that's more accurate to what guests want and are clamoring for more of or are all these type of things rigged in some way based off the green stuff? Its kind of disheartening to not have something more 'honest' (for lack of a better word) available to see what's really going on.

What's the difference? I thought all Millennium Flyer trains were created equal.

I think they would only really need a crane for the first 2 hills. Most of the remaining layout is pretty close to the ground.

I'll try to scour the web more when I have time (posting this in between classes at UCBA), but I have yet to find a GCI construction photo where a large crane was involved. SOB did use a large crane, but it was also massive and construction of the loop required a crane as well. Now, I could see a crane lifting up piles of wood so its easier to access, but since its not a prefab woodie like an Intamin or a RMC, it'll be put together one piece at a time. This will especially true once they're done with the first 2 drops since there aren't a lot of major drops in the layout (maybe the turn around).

I'd love to see what kinds of methods parks use to gather data pertaining to the sociological and psychological aspects that influence people coming and going to the park and so forth, especially at such a large scale. I hope I get to do something of that sort as I gear up towards a psychology degree. I love to follow that kind of stuff about amusement parks. I'd especially like to see polling data from guests reactions for new attractions differentiating from their reactions as they're announced to after the season is over, and especially between different parks/chains. So much good stuff to be picked from an amusement park.

This is the same park that makes announcements at midnight during the middle of the week, in fall. We're not talking about the brightest PR people here. Actually, Storm Chaser was announced in June, not the fall.Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk But when KK was coming back in 2014, the announcement, particularly for Lightning Run and season pass sales, was made at the time I described.

Sometimes it's not about function. Sometimes it just needs to look cool, which is the impression that I get.

This is the same park that makes announcements at midnight during the middle of the week, in fall. We're not talking about the brightest PR people here.

I also see that DC is being more involved in the naming of attractions in trying to get their name out there in conjunction with the DCCU.

I knew at least one park would get an S&S Freespin, but 3? A little bit out of left field from what I was expecting. The water coaster going to SFFT looks cool. Also, did anyone else zone out when John was speaking?