silver2005

I'm a bit annoyed that notifications for both being quoted and getting stuff liked are put together. I like the former but not the later. Also moving the edit post button is a bit annoying. I've been almost accidentally quoting my posts instead of editing them.

One thing I noticed was that Orion got better later in the day. In the morning, it didn't feel quite as quick, but by the afternoon (on a rather hot day mind you for the day I went) it was a-flyin'. MF and TTD have similar tendancies from my experience.

The reason I go to Dollywood is for the complete package. To me, anyways, they have a pretty good ride selection, but its complimented very well by the rest of the park- the shows, food, staff, atmosphere, the combination of all that combined is why I feel its a leg above any other park I've been to and is my favorite park. I feel if you're going to Dollywood just for the rides, you're missing out on a whole lot of good stuff.

If I were you, I'd even go so far as to call the park up and explain things. They might set you up even better given the circumstances. Hope this turns out awesome for you guys.

Single rails probably allow for less supports to be used since I imagine using solid steel track adds some structural integrity. That probably also allows RMC to do more intense maneuvers and tighter radiuses when it comes to curves, airtime hills, and inversions.

If you plug in Kings Island to Google Maps, its now updated up to this past off season. It shows pretty well how they stored the track until it was ready to go together.

None of the above. However, one of the types of coasters that I hope fills The Vortex void is a ground-up RMC Topper Track.

Click on your username on the top left of the screen. There should be a drop list of options that has 'Ignored Users' that you can click. Then just type members' names in. It should autofill to select.

Realize the SOB station is that of a wooden coaster that hasn't been maintained since 2009. Might be a few structural issues potentially.

I think the best place for a museum would be Tower Gardens TBH, kind of like they did when they had Paramount Story there. Maybe include the area around Grand Carousel.

I Street used to smell wonderful in the morning at at close with those bakeries. A fresh cinnamon roll after a Beast night ride was THE best. And yes, the stuff they had was as good as it smelled. I'm glad I got to indulge in stuff from them before they bit the dust.

^RMC can do a-plenty with that space. You could put a 170 ft RMC Topper Track there easily with some good length.

Now that I've had a good look at the area, I'm ruling out a launch coaster that'll go above 70+ mph (one of my hopes) unless they go the S&S route with some sort of ultra fast acceleration (also knowing how long a launch track coasters like Storm Runner take to get to 70 mph). Also, unless its a dive coaster (I don't want a B&M period, but its still a possibility) or a Gerstlauer with a vertical lift, I'd rule out something there going for the 200 ft mark. Vortex was only 148 ft (granted, it had a pretty shallow lift hill compared to modern lifts).

I will premise this by saying both coasters are really good. I will say I like Diamondback a little bit better. While Orion does really well at having nice big elements and decent speed, I feel Diamondback has a bit more meat to the bones. The pacing of hill to hill is faster on DB and it has stronger air as well. It could change with more re-rides of Orion, but for now, I slightly prefer Diamondback.

If I could describe this coaster in one word, its graceful. It does have a few intense moments at the bottom of the first few drops as its doing pull outs at 90 mph, but for a larger portion of the ride, it was very smooth and graceful as it went element to element, and it still had a good sense of speed throughout. The thing I like about the 2nd and 3rd hills is that they're steep enough to lose sight of the horizon, so when you do those flashy high banked turns that high, it really gives a good sense of disorientation and a sense of flying, which helps that its painted in that awesome shade of blue. Add in some cool negative G shenanigans and you have 2 really solid hills following the first drop. Has some decent pops of air on the camel backs, and a really good one on the hill after the helix. The helix is pretty steady on the positive G's. I was bordering on grey out, but not quite up to Banshee's curves. It feels like a condensed version of Millennium Force. Very good coaster overall. I'll be making up for my ride count of 2 next summer.

Had a great day for what is likely my only visit in 2020 and last until opening day next year in all likelihood. I was incredibly impressed with how well everything worked out given their hardships getting the park open this season. Moreso that they got pretty much all the rides open, which a few other parks have left some rides closed for various reasons. The staff was very much on their A game both in getting efficiency out of lines and food orders and keeping the virus policies in place. I think every park should model their policies on Kings Island's and Cedar Point's. Basically I hit all the coasters except Invertigo and Backlot, but I also missed Racer as it was down all day for some reason. The only non-coasters I did was WindSeeker and KI&MVRR. I didn't go quite fast as I haven't gotten out much this summer so I wasn't used to the heat and such (it was very hot and humid today). Made a bee-line to Orion and just meandered about riding the rest. Seeing Coney Mall minus Vortex was a huge punch to the gut, especially since that's all I've known since I've ever been to the park. Its a big hole to fill. I did appreciate the face lifts they did with the paint on the CM games and Scrambler, Dodgems and Zephyr look great. FL+ was a savior today. In the best news- Orion Review If I could describe this coaster in one word, its graceful. It does have a few intense moments at the bottom of the first few drops as its doing pull outs at 90 mph, but for a larger portion of the ride, it was very smooth and graceful as it went element to element, and it still had a good sense of speed throughout. The thing I like about the 2nd and 3rd hills is that they're steep enough to lose sight of the horizon, so when you do those flashy high banked turns that high, it really gives a good sense of disorientation and a sense of flying, which helps that its painted in that awesome shade of blue. Add in some cool negative G shenanigans and you have 2 really solid hills following the first drop. Has some decent pops of air on the camel backs, and a really good one on the hill after the helix. The helix is pretty steady on the positive G's. I was bordering on grey out, but not quite up to Banshee's curves. It feels like a condensed version of Millennium Force. Very good coaster overall. I'll be making up for my ride count of 2 next summer.

Due to the rain chances, I'm thinking of showing up around 3-4 pm.

Just out of curiosity as this is a bit pertinent for me- how are the positive G's on Orion? Particularly, in comparison to Invertigo and Banshee?

^Why would they do the former with RT Potato Works about 40 yards away?

This may sound weird, but I'm actually thinking of keeping the masks around post-pandemic for use during flu season each year. Knowing how effective they can be, I'd certainly like another level of protection against the flu, especially being that my immune system has some trouble with it at the initial start whenever I get it.

On the night ride front, luckily, its getting dark as early as 8 pm so I should get quite a few in. Also hoping the chance of rain on Saturday might deter some people (plus make the woodies awesome). I also have a plan to kind of double layer my masks for the coasters. I have the standard mask I've been using plus a mask from work (that I haven't used yet, its too thin for my tastes in terms of actual virus protection) that wraps around my mouth and neck which might be better for the faster coasters. The reason being that my normal masks have their ear straps made of a thicker kind of wire that's meant to be untied easily even with tighter and better knots for adjusting, and they occasionally untie, so the extra layer with the larger mask would be of help. Also, Orion will be credit #115 for me. EDIT: FL+ acquired.

^^With what I've seen from the entirety of the response from the US, the 2021 might be for countries not named the USA. I am expecting 2022 for the US.

I've seen even the most optimistic projections be that it'll be until 2022 at the earliest when we can start ceasing all the virus related practices like mask wearing and 6 ft spacing.

After one day of no work completely devoted to just resting my muscles, I'm feeling much more optimistic about going this Saturday. I think I'll probably plan on getting to the park between 5-6 pm. Where would be the best place to redeem an online purchase of a FLP now-a-days?

It doesn't really make sense to build in Michigan because Cedar Point and SFGAm have a hold on all of Michigan's market. MIA is more of a niche park. I will agree that MIA could use more love. I think they could use another 1 or 2 good family coasters and 1 higher thrill coaster (something like a Eurofighter) with some additional flats. The area by Thunderhawk could use some expansion, perhaps make it loop back around the other side of Wolverine Wildcat back to Shivering Timbers. Back to your regularly scheduled giga discussion.