silver2005

That building in the teaser picture looks uncannily like Beast's station.

Which Six Flags park are you talking about?

^Cedar Point is playing disco music on the midway near Gemini for its 40th anniversary, and that little addition really brightened up that part of the park. Perhaps KI could do the same with Coney Mall. Another idea I'd like to throw out there is have Racer's queue and station completely rebuilt.

I'll do this per the style I use in my trip reports. In alphabetical order of course. Adventure Express- This is the most exciting mine train coaster I've been on. Its a bit more fast paced and has more comfortable Arrow-style jerking in the turns. It also uses the terrain quite well, especially that plunge down the 3rd tunnel. Its ending might be a bit anti-climatic, but its something that gives it its own character. Backlot Stunt Coaster- For a family launch coaster, it's alright. It feels too segmented, and if it weren't for the helicopter scene still in use, it'd would be off even worse. The first half is fun though. The helix gets a grey out from me every time, the s-curve section is pretty exciting, and I'm always surprised by that forceful pop of air before the 'stair' section. Not worth more than a 20-30 minute wait though. Banshee- This is my favorite B&M inverted coaster. B&M really smoothed out from their old snappy transitions and with the way it paces, it still doesn't slack in the slightest. Also some incredible positive G's with all the loops and helices. The 0g roll and inline roll add some much needed weightlessness to it. Even better that its designed with 3 train ops and no MCBR. The crews are also always on caffeine pills and Red Bull as its chews through lines without any milk. The station, queue theming, and light package round out a superb ride. Bat- I've only been on 2 suspended coasters, the other being Iron Dragon, and this is the better of them (hopefully, I get to Ninja before it bites the dust). The lift gives me a lot of nostalgia for the old campground where you could see and smell the camp fires. The layout is pretty good as well. The low high speed s-curves really play to the swinging cars well and the seclusion in the woods makes it a really good night ride as well. The 2nd hill over the station is probably my favorite moment. Also one of the coasters that got me over my fear at an early age and one of the ones that got me hooked. Beast- The myth, the legend. Now, the ride does lack in some things that most woodies have, like adequate air time and sharper curves, but this animal makes up for it in its truly unique layout. It feels as if you've left the park entirely and are out for a venture through the Ohio woods. The view from the first drop is priceless. There are some bits of good laterals though, especially in the section between the first brake shed and the 2nd lift. The set of drops after the 2nd tunnel with the way it gradually increases in drop angle and banking with that awesome vicious curve up to the 2nd lift is my favorite part of the ride. It feels like you're fighting from dropping down the hill into the river valley below. It finishes with one of, if not, the best finale of any coaster, a 18 degree drop into a double helix. That tunnel really helps set it apart from most other helices and the laterals, the shuffle and the noise just blend together into one incredible element. Also the best night ride on any coaster ever. Diamondback- One of my favorite steel coasters. The V-trains don't pace as well as the typical 4 across, but its only a slight complaint. Has the air time and other forces you'd expect from a B&M hyper, and I would say the slightly worse pacing makes it a bit more re-ridable as well. The front does have a bit more ejector air and the back has more sustained floater air. The way it sets up for the splash by soaring over Rivertown is a really good moment from the ride. Firehawk- I like this more than the B&M variant, at least Superman: Ride of Steel. There isn't really a way you can do a flying coaster with completely comfortable seating arrangements, but at least Firehawk spends a decent amount of time in flight mode. I really like the vertical loop on your back, the overbank turn really plays to the flying nature of the ride, and I really like the 2 barrel rolls. I'm not too keen on the helix in that seating position, and it comes to a furiously hard stop on the final brakes. A fun coaster, but quite forceful. Flight of Fear- This combines a bunch of elements very well. The launch is powerful and it just flies from one element to the other. With the indoor nature, its easy to get disoriented and that means its working well. The MCBR is a bit annoying though, especially now that it brings the train to a complete stop. Thankfully, the 2nd half is still just as good with that added stop, the way it slowly gets lower and lower, keeps picking up speed, increases in the banking, throws some snappy s-curves to keep you guessing, and then throws a corkscrew at the end to finish nicely. Invertigo- This is probably the most intense coaster in the park. The 2 hills have some weightlessness, but the loops are all positive G's. The thing pulls 5 G's, and it sustains that through the inversions. I always grey out and even get black outs at times. It does bang your head a lot though, but there are some circumstances where its smoother. If you want your face peeled off, this is the ride to do it. Mystic Timbers- Its not my favorite GCI, but its still a really fun wooden coaster. The Millennium Flyers tear through the entire layout. Every bit has some sort of strong lateral, airtime, and it never lets up. It'll be even better once the trees around it start to grow back in. The shed is kind of the same situation as Adventure Express' ending, gives the ride its own character. Pretty decent theming as well. Racer- The ride has potential, and if KI took a bit better care of it, they'd have a winner. However, as is, while it is still fun, its pretty rough on more times I've ridden it than not. It has a fair amount of air, but with its layout, it just has missed potential with how its in dire need of re-tracking. It is running the best this season that it has in years though. Vortex- For all the rides faults, I still like this a lot. I think most of that has to do with the first drop. Its an insane first drop, especially in the back. The 2nd hill also has a nice pop of air. I will give you that you need to be able to brace yourself a lot to enjoy it. As long as I can do so comfortably, I will keep riding it. It is my favorite Arrow looper though. The inversions are pretty comfortable, especially since it, thankfully, takes the corkscrews and batwing at a slower pace. The way it gets up to the MCBR could have been better, as in a curved hill up instead of the straight hill and then the level banked turn that we got from Mr Toomer. The ride looks fantastic though, and as our friend @VortexBFForever shows in the random photo thread, a very picturesque ride as well. If they stack trains though, that brake run is a super hard stop. Woodstock Express- Its good for what it is. Just a fun little woodie to ease up from the more intense rides. Still in really good shape.

I'm on The Beast and SV bandwagon as well.

Another thing on Racer I'd like to see is new LED chaser lights that go all the way down the track.

Could they get a third party company like Premier or some other company more familiar with launch tech to come in and fix up the launch? I mean, this was RMC's first launch coaster.

If they could also re-track it to the point where they can remove the trims on the turn around so the return run can have some potentially insane air, it'd be greatly appreciated. I just wish they kept the trains with the buzz bars...

^I start school in a few weeks. I also don't feel like doing any long car trips anywhere between now and then. I'm also exactly where I want to be in terms of budget as well (as in, I create a budget for the entire year and I'm perfectly where I wanted to be this time of year). I gotta be a bit frugal from now until January. Like, the stuff I did this summer came at the expense of going to way fewer UC football games and even UC Homecoming. I've been saving so I can finish my undergrad at UCBA without having to take any break from school since I'm already behind on that thanks to my medical issues from back then. I just happened to have a lot more extra in terms of not paying as much for tuition last semester in order to finance the PA/NJ trip (the CP trip was pretty cheap all things considered, I had the money saved for Flash Pass at SFGAdv which I didn't use so I used it on FLP at CP). Things have also gotten hectic at work due to some staffing issues, and for a few reasons between work and school, I am just gonna stick with KI for the rest of this season, and I'm totally content with that. I mean, I'm happy enough that I got through that trip as well as I did with all the medical stuff I go through and I've never done 7 different parks in one season before (this summer was designed to get me over the 100 credit mark). Neither of the 2 trips I have planned for next summer come even close to this past summer's.

So I think I'm amusement park-ed out. I really don't feel like going anywhere after the trips I've taken, so I'm gonna cancel going to Kentucky Kingdom. I'll just do it next season on my way back from Holiwood Nights.

To answer the 2nd question- yes. I also noticed at least 1-2 park security staff members around the entrance plaza every time I passed it.

There is another layer to the enforcement that I saw to supplement the guy at the entrance. They have ride ops patrol the line looking for people with phones out in line as well.

Cedar Point TR The entire reason for this trip was to get in Steel Vengeance. After seeing it being built in person last season, I just had to pencil in a trip this year to get to it. I usually spread out my CP trips with how often they keep adding big new rides, but I let my self have this exception, and I'm glad I didn't let myself wait a few years to get to SV. After dropping off the bad dashboard in Toledo, I got to CP around 11:20. The first thing I did was Steel Vengeance (parked by Magnum). 90 minutes later, I was blown away (more on that at the end). Ate lunch right after since I didn't eat since 5:30 am, and then I just started at Raptor and made my way back (I usually go clockwise around Millennium Island, so starting with Iron Dragon and ending with Dragster). Weather played some factors, though somehow, WindSeeker was operating through all of it to my dismay. Dragster and Raptor went down for the last few hours of the day. Something amazing happened later in the day though. A small rain shower came through around 7, and I guess the GP thought the rides were closed for the day since, like the parting of the Red Sea, the crowds emptied CP. However, CP did compensate by going into reduced train operations, the most painful of which being single train ops on Magnum. It was still nice having a very lightly crowded CP for the last 4 hours. I got some decent night rides in with this order- GateKeeper, Blue Streak, Millennium Force, Rougarou, Magnum x2, and Steel Vengeance x2. All the steel coasters were absolutely hauling today, and if you ever wanted to ride Millennium Force with some decent forces (for y'all who think its forceless), that day was a great day to ride it. Also, Blue Streak post-rain is awesome. Steel Vengeance- This lets you know it'll be awesome right from the get-go. Those little hops have nice pops of air. That's kind of its cue in saying the rest of the ride is going to be awesome. This ran almost exactly how I pictured it, just sticking with the good parts of Storm Chaser, and putting it on steroids. Every element paces so well in light of its speed, the insane yet comfortable forces, and its just. Keeps. Going. The entire second half is head choppers everywhere. Its even more insane at night. To me, all that wood kind of resembled an optical illusion where it felt like spinning down a wooden wormhole. The first half has 2 insane airtime moments with the top hat and the outside banked curve. The 2 rolls around the lift is my favorite part of the ride. Just an awesome coaster all around.

BTW, no mayflies were harmed in the making of this trip. But a crap ton of gnats were.

So every CP B&M has had a protein spill today.

So since this is my last CP trip for a few years and with how I want some SV re-riding later, I got myself FLP.

Steel Vengeance is my favorite steel coaster now.

So this sign is gonna pop up on rides like Maverick, TTD and Millennium Force, right?

Quick last minute question- how long should I give myself to get through Dayton rush hour tomorrow? I should be coming through at about 7:30 am. I need to time this trip out as I'm planning on stopping in Toledo around 9-9:30 am to drop off the bad dash panel I got for my Hyundai and its on the way to Sandusky.

My ongoing war with the mayflies continues tomorrow. Hopefully there aren't swarms adorning SV with all that structure for them to hang out....

^Or just keep my phone in cargo shorts. I mean, I'll suck it up and get a locker when I go Monday (I don't suspect I'll re-ride it much if the waits are as long as I'm hearing), but it seems wildly inconsistent to do so on just SV when several CP rides fall into the category of ones likely to end up losing a loose phone. My phone has stayed in my cargo shorts just fine on rides on par with SV.

I was about to say, I can think of quite a few rides where it'd be plausible to implement that course of action as well.

Is SV the only ride that they're taking this approach with?

In my case, all my ICE numbers are on my phone and my health can take a nose dive in the blink of an eye on a whim.

Six Flags Great Adventure uses this policy for El Toro, Kingda Ka, and Joker. The ops at the line entrance would have you both show your pockets to them and if you have cargo shorts, have you pat yourself down. They were actually quite effective in spotting phones, I have to admit. SIX does $1 lockers near all those rides as well.