gigacoaster2k

I absolutely loved Goliath, Georgia Cyclone, Great American Scream Machine, and Batman. Georgia Scorcher was pretty good. Ninja and Dahlonega Mine Train were downright awful. The rest of the rides weren't really anything to write home about. I rode DB on Saturday and all I kept thinking to myself was how forceful Goliath's helix was and the fact that it had no MCBR to slow it down.. Intimidator has an MCBR, and as hard as it grabs, it doesn't ruin the ride. I like Intimidator better than DB, but I like Goliath better than both. After seeing SFOG, KD, and Carowinds, I now understand why people call CP a concrete jungle. The parks down south really know how to show off a green thumb.. then again, that can't really be helped given the climate. We rode Mindbender somewhere in the middle. Where would you suggest we ride next time? I tend to be a back seat or ejector seat rider, but I'm not sure where to sit on a coaster like that.

We decided to ride the train, and I took some random park photos on the way. Georgia Cyclone! Acrophobia is closed.. all day. Entrance to the train.. I like it. I REALLY like SFOG. I give it a thumbs up. Georgia Cyclone. Is Georgia Cyclone THAT exciting? All aboard! Here are some photos I took from the train. Great American Scream Machine is such a gorgeous coaster! GOLIATH! (do you get the feeling I like this coaster? hahaha) I can NOT believe I got this. After we rode the train, it was off to Georgia Cyclone! At the end of the ride, Tom cracked up when my reaction was "That was the absolute best worst coaster I've ever ridden in my life!!" It's HORRIBLE!! It JACKHAMMERS, SHUFFLES, and beats the everliving snot out of you.. but the SPEED does not quit and those STEEP DROPS are enough to make an enthusiast scream with joy.. it's a love/hate relationship! When we got back in the station, I saw there was no one waiting for our seat, so I stayed! Tom got out, and Shawn took his spot. I got a re-ride on Georgia Cyclone.. whether that was a mistake or something to be proud of, I have no idea, but it's my #4 wooden coaster now! Next was Georgia Scorcher, a B&M standup I've heard nothing but good things about! It was quite smooth, and delivered a great ride. I did enjoy Chang more, but Scorcher was a pretty good ride (yes, I know, I'm weird. lol). Adam, Tom, Jared, Matt, and Shawn decided to go ride some Scrambler dark ride thing, but Nick and I decided to hit Goliath instead. We met back up with the group, and we all decided Goliath would be our last ride of the day! Adam and Jared are on this train! I insisted that we sit in row 2. I've noticed on DB that the air in seat 2 is pretty wild, so I decided to give it a go on Goliath.. wow, that was a total epic win. The airtime in that seat was so intense that I had to hold my shirt down for most of the ride! More Goliath! I absolutely love this photo. And this one too. sigh.. SFOG, I'm going to miss you dearly. I will be back. One more shot of those sweet airtime hills. SFOG is a BEAUTIFUL, very well themed, not to mention very clean park. The landscaping and attention to detail caught my eye too. I saw very few line jumpers too, and operations ran smoothly. I was impressed! My ride count: Goliath - 3 Georgia Cyclone - 2 Mindbender - 2 Wile E. Coyote's Canyon Blaster - 1 Dahlonega Mine Train - 1 Six Flags Railroad - 1 Monster Mansion - 1 Superman: Ultimate Flight - 1 Great American Scream Machine - 1 Batman: The Ride - 1 Ninja - 1 Georgia Scorcher - 1

After Monster Mansion, it was off to Wile E. Coyote's Canyon Blaster! That was an extremely fun ride for an intermediate coaster! Standing on the exit ramp, I took some photos of their water ride. I can't remember what it's called. I pride myself on getting this shot. After that, it was off to Superman: Ultimate Flight, Tom and I's first B&M flyer! It LOOKED amazing, but let's just say I refer to it now as Superman: Ultimate Bore. Firehawk is much better. We decided to go to Ninja. I do not know to this day why I did this to myself. OUCH does not begin to describe it. I had to take painkillers after the ride. NEVER AGAIN. Then it was off to: GREAT AMERICAN SCREAM MACHINE! What a beautiful coaster! That coaster made its way to #5 on my top 5 wooden coasters. THREE instances where I literally came up off the seat and launched into my restraint.. now THAT'S the kind of airtime I like! People getting ready to fly on SkyCoaster! Are you kidding me? I absolutely love the landscaping at SFOG. Then it was off to Dahlonega Mine Train.. holy ouch. Worst mine train I have ever ridden, by far. Never again. It didn't even warrant a photo, it was that bad. We were all getting hungry, and Shawn spotted a Panda Express, so we all made a beeline for it! Speaking of bees, on the window next to where we sat was a large carpenter bee, and it seemed to be getting increasingly angry at the fact that it couldn't escape. We paid it no mind, and sat down to enjoy our meals. I ordered a bowl of steamed rice topped with orange chicken.. it was delicious. I LOVE Panda's orange chicken. A few minutes later, Adam jumped back from his chair and screamed so loud that we jumped back from our seats, and the entire restaurant turned and looked at us. Apparently the carpenter bee was on his shirt.. I don't blame him, I would have screamed too if a gigantic bee was crawling on me! Stay tuned!

After that amazing ride, it was off to Mindbender! I took some photos on the way. Here we are! I was pumped to ride this too, I'd heard it was good! Mindbender was a walk on.. but it wasn't as great as I thought it would be.. I was mildly disappointed. Not a terrific ride, but not the worst either. After Mindbender, we headed to Batman! I took more photos on the way. I see Goliath!! Batman, here we come! I swear, I got the train in this shot. The tree was mean and blocked my shot. Mindbender and Batman in the same shot! Batman was a pretty sweet ride! I found it to be better than Batman at Six Flags STL, but definitely not better than Afterburn at Carowinds. BATMOBILE! I couldn't just walk by and not get a picture! We went back to Mindbender because it was still a walk on. Jared is having fun. Adam is clueless as usual. Shawn, Tom, and Matt getting cups of ice water for themselves and everyone else (the rest of us chose to sit in the shade. It was VERY hot). Nick just chillin. The back of my shirt. Look at the beautiful day we're having! I see you! Then it was off to Monster Mansion, which Adam described as "a fun little dark ride!" I see you, again! SFOG really went all out with the flowers. I love it. Monster Mansion was fun! It was family themed, but it was cute, and we had fun! STAY TUNED!

our group: Tom (Tom76257), Adam (pkiboy), Jared (rotag), Shawn (BeastMan), Matt (gnomeprisoner), Nick (DropZone99) and I got to Atlanta around 2:30 am. I had fallen asleep, and I heard Tom trying to wake me up and telling me to look out the window, that I had to see this. After a few failed attempts of waking up, I finally sleepily glanced out my window and my jaw dropped in awe. We were driving through the heart of Atlanta, Georgia's capital. It was an unforgettable sight to see at night (for anyone not aware, I'm completely fascinated by cityscapes and skylines). My excitement went through the roof as Adam pointed out the lights from SFOG, and we very clearly saw Goliath! The next morning, we woke up and could already feel the heat even in our hotel room. We walked outside, and it was gorgeous. I had to take pictures. Be prepared for a LOT of photos.. this is the park I was looking forward to the most! We got on the road to SFOG around 10 am! Pulling in to SFOG, I got some nice first shots of Goliath! Hello, Six Flags Over Georgia!! GOLIATH AIRTIME HILLS!! More Goliath! Catching some air! Delicious. Entering the park, I went to season pass processing. I received a voucher with a barcode on it, and I walked into the processing center to find a row of computers. I went to the computer and scanned the barcode on my ticket, where it then prompted me to enter my personal information. When I was done with this, I was motioned over to where they take your photo. They took my voucher, took my photo, and promptly handed me my pass with a smile. That was the most hassle-free process I've ever been through as far as pass processing. Here I am with my SFOG season pass!! Entering the park was completely hassle-free. My pass scanned just fine! What did I decide to take photos of as we entered the park? You guessed it.. which was also OUR FIRST RIDE OF THE DAY!! GOLIATH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am pumped to be at SFOG! And I LOVE the sign in the background! GOLIATH, HERE WE COME! This was the coaster I had been looking forward to the most! I was literally dancing with excitement at FINALLY getting to ride this B&M hyper that everyone had raved to me about! Entering the queue! (I am getting excited all over again just writing this!) Goliath is a very pretty coaster! I insisted riding in the very back row on my first ride on this.. FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!! It was everything I had hoped it would be! Terrific airtime, a mind-blowing helix, NO MCBR, not to mention THE TRIM WAS OFF!! Goliath shot up to #2 on my top 5 steel coasters.. my new favorite B&M hyper! With all due respect to DB and Intimidator (great rides, don't get me wrong), IMHO, Goliath kills them both. STAY TUNED!

Whenever is fine with me. I leave my phone on silent when I sleep, and check it about a billion times throughout the day.

I gray out quite often after MF's first drop. I occasionally gray out after Maverick's first drop. I barely grayed out after I305's first drop. I've noticed that I gray out more intensely and for extended periods of time when I ride while I'm hungry. I'm hypoglycemic, so that may have something to do with it.

Six Flags has it together as far as passes working at other parks, from what I've noticed. My 2009 KK season pass worked fine at Six Flags STL last year. Last Sunday while we were at SFOG: Adam had a Six Flags STL pass, Tom had a KK play pass, and I had a SFOG pass that had just been processed 5 minutes before we went to the gate. Every pass worked fine, no problem.

After Afterburn, it was off to Thunder Road. Sorry for the bad photo.. I think this was taken with my BlackBerry. Thunder Road was cool because it was split down the NC/SC state line, but it didn't really impress me. I barely got any airtime. I like Rebel Yell and Racer MUCH better. After Thunder Road.. WOODSTOCK FLYERS! Yes, I snapped mine a couple of times.. we really had ours flying! The ride op didn't compliment us, though, which made me really sad. It also made me sad that I never got to ride these at KI, and walking away from them, I felt a little melancholy. Intimidator photos taken from Woodstock Flyers line! I LOVE THIS RIGHT TURN. We rode Flying Ace Aerial Chase and Woodstock Express for the credits. I really liked how Carowinds did Planet Snoopy.. I have to say, I was impressed. It is far more appealing to the eye than Nick U ever was. Not to mention, the kids loved it. I can't wait to see it at KI. Random scenery (and geese) at Carowinds. Off to Nighthawk we went. I liked that they had this in the queue. I was impressed. Nighthawk is a very photogenic coaster, but it hurt very badly. I was disappointed. We then headed to Carolina Cobra, which I'd heard was the smoothest Vekoma on the planet. Excited to finally ride a Vekoma that may not hurt me, we got in line! GREAT ride, LOTS of Gs.. but at the end of the ride, I felt like I was nearly going to get sick to my stomach.. which NEVER happens to me. I found that very odd. Tom and Nick told me they both felt the same, and I saw a few other riders looking green too. It's not a bad ride, in fact it's pretty cool. Just DO NOT EAT before you ride it!! The group met back up. Time for our last ride of the night.. you guessed it!! That night ride on Intimidator was WICKED AWESOME! Me with my seal of approval in the test seat! I enjoyed Intimidator, Afterburn, Goldrusher, Hurler, the flyers, and the landscaping. There were many rides there that did not agree with me.. I feel like I haven't really given Carowinds a chance. I'd love to go back this summer and take time out to enjoy the park. My ride count: Intimidator - 2 Afterburn - 1 Carolina Goldrusher - 1 Woodstock Flyers - 1 Drop Tower - 1 Vortex - 1 Carolina Cyclone - 1 Thunder Road - 2 (both sides once) Flying Ace Aerial Chase - 1 Nighthawk - 1 Woodstock Express - 1 Carolina Cobra - 1 Hurler - 1

I think I'm going to just let most of the photos speak for themselves. One of the riders saw me with my camera and started waving frantically. I thought it was amusing. Part of our group in line for Intimidator! I like Carowinds so far! ALL CLEAR! Riding this, I was expecting disappointment, since many told me that it had far less airtime than Diamondback. Intimidator DOES have air, although not as much as DB, but it is there. I got some very nice ejector and floater air. Not to mention the MCBR doesn't kill the ride like DB's does, and Intimidator's turnaround has a lot of force. Not to mention the sharp right turn out of the second hill was a very nice surprise. With this said, I'm going to have to put Intimidator above DB.. just because DB sits at my home park does not mean I am going to rate it far above all B&M hypers.. DB is fantastic, but I just like Intimidator SLIGHTLY more. After that amazing ride, Tom, Nick, and I decided to hit Vortex while the rest of our coaster crew went to grab some lunch. Random pretty flowers.. I LOVE the landscaping at Carowinds. More Vortex. I found Vortex to be the most painful standup I've ever ridden, even worse than Mantis at Cedar Point. I can handle Mantis.. this was just awful. This coaster had me wishing the ride was over before we were even halfway through. I quickly got a very bad headache afterward. On our way to Carolina Goldrusher, I took some photos of the midway. Tom found this disturbing. I found it charmingly hilarious. Tom is thirsty. Carolina Goldrusher wasn't bad.. in fact, it's the most fun mine train I've ever been on, which says a lot because I am not a big fan of mine trains! Next, we headed to Carolina Cyclone. Never again. Hands down, worst Arrow looper I've ever ridden. I have never cussed so much on a ride in my entire life. Then it was off to Drop Tower! This was fun! Although not quite as thrilling as the ones at KI or KD, it was still a nice rush! Then it was off to Hurler! Hurler structure shot! When it was our turn to ride, there were four girls in line next to us who wanted to ride together. The gates opened, and they rushed our seats and refused to get out. Tom said "I WILL tell the ride op!" We both told the supervisor what happened (she just happened to be walking by), and she made them get out and re-enter the line. We got in our rightful seats, and the four of them were all talking smack the whole time we were in the station, calling me names unsuitable for posting on KICentral and saying they were going to kill me. Either way, it was a fun ride! The three of us decided to go to Chick Fil A and get some food. No tables were open, so we sat on the curb. Frustrated by painful coasters, line jumpers, being threatened, and having to sit in the blazing hot sun, I was close to losing my patience, but I felt better as my food and cold water went into my system. We met back up with the rest of our group, and decided to head to AFTERBURN.. which would be Nick's 100th coaster!! I still don't understand how I got this shot, but I'm not complaining! Afterburn twisty B&M goodness! Two amazing B&Ms in one shot! A sweet shot of Intimidator's train on the airtime hill from Afterburn's station. Afterburn was AMAZING!! It stomped Raptor and crushed Batman at SFSTL, and shot up to my #4 steel coaster! TERRIFIC ride!! STAY TUNED!

Yes, I know I am slow on writing these.. sorry! After a few hours of driving, we finally saw Carowinds around 5 am from I77, and saw Intimidator's lift hill lit up, glowing red! The next morning, we got there shortly after opening. HELLO, INTIMIDATOR! Carowinds entrance. We ran into a problem at the gates. Our KI platinum passes weren't scanning, so an employee told us to wait at the gate while he took our passes to GR. After several minutes, we were motioned over to GR, where our passes were handed back to us along with a 1 day admission receipt with a barcode on it. I was disappointed when this happened on opening day at KI with my CP platinum pass in 2008. I was understanding when it happened in 2009 on CP opening day with my KI platinum pass. I was annoyed when my KI platinum pass didn't scan at KD this year on opening day, but not having it scan at Carowinds and having to go to GR.. well, I'm starting to get ticked off. There needs to be a universal system that works. Platinum passes are not cheap, and I am getting tired of the runaround I have gotten for the last 3 years at 4 different parks. Anyway, back to the PTR (once we finally got into the park!). Intimidator merchandise! I really wanted one of the fleece throws. The state line is split right down the center of the entrance plaza! Here is our group (minus Adam, who took the pic), all with one foot in NC and one foot in SC! Family-oriented CF flags.. I like it. We were all excited for our first ride of the day: INTIMIDATOR!! I took a lot of photos of Intimidator. It's an extremely photogenic coaster. The track is a blazing bright red.. it's gorgeous. Carowinds also did a very nice job on the theming. STAY TUNED!

Link, please? I find it funny how everyone talked about graying out hardcore on MF, but now that Robb Alvey grayed out on I305, suddenly the stories about MF never happened. I am having a hard time believing a lot of this.. the media will sensationalize anything, any way they can.

Of course there will be cell phones added to DB's ever-hungry phone box/net below the drop/brake run/ground under the coaster.. not to mention the inevitable car keys, iPods, wallets, season passes, hats, park maps, sunglasses, and undoubtedly flip flops that will fly off throughout the season. Giga, who isn't really one to talk, seeing as how she lost her phone to Maverick last September due to forgetting to zip my cargo pocket..

Thanks 13. I try to put a lot of thought into my PTRs, and try to remember as much as I possibly can. Last year I had several people tell me that my PTRs made them feel as if they were there.. I take that as an extremely high compliment. I try to showcase the park I visit while being goofy and conveying the emotions I felt at the time.. even while compiling my PTRs sometimes, I get so excited remembering the great time I had that I get sidetracked!

Here is the line for I305 that we didn't want to wait in. We rode Ricochet, which was quite fun for a wild mouse! It has a pretty sweet first drop! And then finally, much to my excitement, something opened that had been down almost all day.. Drop Tower! I absolutely love their Drop Tower, it's crazy fast! We decided to get everyone together since the day was drawing to a close, and do a night ride on I305 together. Tom, James, Adam, Matt, Jared, Nick, Shawn, and I met up with Dave (DaveStroem) and his 2 daughters for the ride. Tom and I in our first rider shirts!! I'm PUMPED, and he is TIRED! I305 at night. All I have to say about that night ride is WOW. At night, I305 honestly had the intensity of Voyage.. no, I'm not exaggerating. That was one unbelievably amazing way to end our day at KD. James met up with us in the I305 gift shop, and handed me a small bag. In it were two I305 shot glasses, one for me and one for Tom. He said it was a thank you for making it one of the best days of his life at his home park. Several hours from home and thirsty, hot, tired, and somewhat frustrated from the day's events, I was touched by this gesture of friendship from someone I'd only met once. On our way toward the exit, I saw this and had to take a pic! My ride count: I305 - 2 Volcano: The Blast Coaster - 1 Rebel Yell - 1 Dominator - 1 Grizzly - 1 Ricochet - 1 Anaconda - 1 Though I didn't get all of my credits, I quickly lost concern with that, and tried to focus on having fun even in a blazing hot, jam packed park full of line jumpers. Operations could have went better, but it was the first day, and that is to be expected with any park.. that is not something I base a park on as far as what I like most. I REALLY like KD, and plan to go back at least one more time this year. I'd like to go back when they aren't so busy, and take time to see more of the park and what it has to offer.

After fighting Dominator and winning, we went to Johnny's for some food. I believe I got a footlong chili dog and a bottle of water. At that point I was so, so hungry and so incredibly thirsty that I paid full price for my meal, caring far more about my health/blood sugar than my bank account. Then it was off to Rebel Yell, where a situation occurred. As Tom and I left Rebel Yell's station, we saw Adam. He yelled to us that his phone was destroyed. Only one side of Rebel Yell was running, but I like this a lot better than Racer.. as much as I love Racer, Rebel Yell overthrows it. We met back up with Adam, and he told us that Dominator smashed his phone and that Nick lost his phone to I305, and Jared's phone was dying, so I made a point of promising them and myself that I would not lose my phone too. We rode Grizzly, and saw pieces of HyperSonic XLC's track laying out in the woods! Then it was off to Anaconda. We went to go wait in line for I305, but the line was so very long and only running one train that we gave up. I took this opportunity to take a ton of I305 photos in the meantime. YUM. A photo I am very proud of. STAY TUNED!

Dude, I'm not even close to done yet. The good stuff is coming, so chill out.

The gates opened.. but there was a problem. Our passes weren't scanning, and they only had 2 metal detectors open to funnel the large throng of people that were shoulder to shoulder, spilling out from the entrance. Someone yelled at them to open more metal detectors, and they took notice and opened (I think) all of them. We started walking down I-Street for our 10 minute ERT on I305, and I had to take photos of the entrance. The front part of KD was like seeing KI again after so many months of being away from the park. It made my eyes get a little misty, walking with KICers and walking through a park that mirrors KI in so many ways.. <3 We were gated off, and then escorted by a security guard who told us to walk, not run. After what seemed like miles of speed-walking, my energy was rebooted and I screamed with joy when I saw THIS. I am surprised that my photos came out this clearly. I was literally shaking with excitement. As we got closer to the station, we heard a very loud and very definitive pre-recorded "GENTLEMEN!! START YOURRR ENGINNNNNESSS!!!!!!!!" and deafening screams and applause from the riders as they raced out of the station and up the incredibly fast, very smooth lift hill. I305 is extremely photogenic. I305 is Tom's 50th coaster! We didn't have to wait long for our first ride. I screamed so hard in the station when we were getting ready to go up the lift that my throat hurt! The lift is significantly faster than MF's lift. I'd heard of people blacking out on the first drop, but I only saw a few gray spots at the bottom of the first hill. The drop on this sucker is INSANE. Intense twists, crazy turns, and a couple of very nice airtime hills with FAR better "airtime" than MF, and I got no headbanging whatsoever. I don't even know how to begin to describe I305. It now sits proudly atop my steel coasters as number one. It is THAT good. I305 is maddeningly amazing, left me out of breath and wanting more, booing Millennium Force as I proudly threw on my I305 first rider shirt, shaking with adrenaline, excitement, and a thirst for more and more of I305. After that first mind blowing ride, we were going to get back in line, but my heart sank when I saw that the line for my beloved new #1 steel coaster had grown ridiculously long. I sighed a deep, sad sigh as I made myself walk away from that amazing ride. I305 OWNS MF. End of story. We went to Flight of Fear, and the line was almost nonexistent, but we were 3 trains away when it shut down. We decided to go to Volcano: The Blast Coaster! This was a very fun ride! I really liked the vertical launch! We sprinted back over to I305 to see if the line was still long. It had gotten even longer. *sighhh* Then it was off to Dominator! More Dominator! The wait was very long, and the line was jam packed full of line jumpers like you would not believe. The day was getting extremely hot at this point, and I would have done anything for a moment of shade or a drop of water. James informed us that he rode Dominator 1,503 times last year! Dominator is also very photogenic.. then again, what B&M isn't? It's about time someone implemented this. I'm not a person that needs a larger seat, but I absolutely hate watching people leave a ride they were excited about because they can't fit. Either way, we chose the very back row! Tom, James, and I were going up the lift when suddenly it ground slowly to a stop almost near the top of the hill. Several minutes passed, and everyone on the train started joking with each other. A voice came over an intercom to us and said someone would be with us shortly. I actually dozed off for a few minutes, regardless of the sun glaring in my face. Apparently, the kid in front of us wasn't tall enough to ride, so they had to evac him. After about half an hour of chilling out on Dominator's lift hill, we got going again with applause and cheers, and let me tell you something: Dominator is a pretty sweet ride. It was totally worth it. The supervisor met us back at the station with cups of cold water for everyone, which was appreciated. That sun got HOT up there! STAY TUNED FOR MORE!

Here it finally is.. a little late, but better than never! This may take several posts, but I'm not going to post every photo I took at every park for every PTR.. I will be making a different PTR for each park. I will try my best to only post the photos that showcase the trip. The rest of my photos can be seen on my Facebook photo albums. April 1, around noon, I had finished packing. Then it was off to Adam's (pkiboy) house to meet up with the crew: Tom (Tom76257) Shawn (BeastMan) Jared (rotag1299) Matt (gnomeprisoner) and Nick (DropZone99)! Once we all had our stuff packed into the van, we headed down to KI to process our platinum passes. We weren't allowed on the property quite yet, so we took some photos from the drop off area. I have a tiny DB. We were first in line for processing around 3 pm! Z0MG I CAN HAS PLATINUM PASS!! After everyone processed, we hit the van and it was off to KD!! Here is our ridiculous route from Cincy to KD to Carowinds to SFOG to Dollywood and back. Adam was having WAY too much fun scaring passing drivers with Jared's wig. We were all dying with laughter at the reactions we got! Before we knew it, we were in West Virginia! We were getting hungry around 8 pm, so we stopped here for some om noms. The staff were extremely friendly, and we even made friends with the people at the tables around us! My potato fries and bacon/ham/cheese omelet were amazingly delicious. I took one bite and said "Bob Evans, you're fired!" Our waitress enjoyed our company so much that she even invited us out for beers after she got off work, and we even got a photo with her and told her about KIC! We got back to the van, and Tom went to adjust his headrest. He yanked on it too hard, and the headrest popped off in his hand. It was quite amusing. After several phone calls, around 12 am, we met up with Rachel (StalkerChick) and her boyfriend Jack at an Exxon station close to the WV-VA border. We hung out for a bit, and then got back on the road. After several hours of a very tiring and slap happy road trip, we got to Doswell around 3 am. The sight of I305's lift hill glowing red and reaching high into the night sky woke me up faster than any cup of coffee ever has. We promptly went to bed in our hotel that was right next to KD's parking lot, and I believe we all got about 1 hour of sleep due to our extreme excitement. THE BIG DAY! Good morning, Kings Dominion. We went to Denny's for breakfast, which was right around the corner from our hotel. Then it was time to head to KD!! We got to the entrance around 8 am, one of the reasons being that we had been informed that the first 1,000 riders would get an I305 first rider shirt. We were one of the first at the gates! I also got to meet my friend James, who offered to be our tour guide and show us around since KD is his home park.. he goes almost every day! Dominator is testing! Our group was not happy about Shockwave being closed. I for one was not happy about Hurler being closed either. We also got to meet Pat, the GM of KD (?). She told us, and I quote, "Once you get on that ride, it delivers. It is stupidly great." HAHA I LOVE IT! STAY TUNED FOR MORE!

What I'm saying is that if every part of every coaster that makes any person gray out is trimmed, that would certainly dull the thrill for more people than I can account for. Some trims and MCBRs grab so ferociously that it causes the riders to jerk forward.. there is positively NO reason to have a brake on THAT hard. To be honest, and I know this sounds odd (some of you may or may not agree), but I kind of like the feeling I get when I gray out. Knowing a ride can do that kind of adds to the thrill for me.

I absolutely LOVE this post, and I totally agree with you. I like steep drops, zero-g rolls, loops, cobra rolls, launches, airtime hills, curved drops, and vertical lift hills. See my top 5 wooden and steel coasters on my profile for a great example of what I love most. I have a thirst for extreme rides, and you will see me on the world's craziest rides with my hands up and a huge smile on my face. Trimming every ride to the point where it's leisurely is not fun for thrillseekers like me and many, many others.. we love rides that leave us out of breath, and who cares if we see a few gray spots, it's not like we're disobeying the signs that strictly prohibit people with certain medical conditions from riding. If we wanted to ride kiddie coasters, we would. Leave our THRILL rides alone.

I've grayed out on Maverick's first drop. The helix on Goliath at SFOG also made me see a couple of gray spots. These are all noteworthy rides.. why weaken their punch with excessive trim brakes?

On I305, I only saw gray spots from the turn at the bottom of the first drop to halfway up the first airtime hill. That's a span of about 3 seconds. On MF, I have grayed out from the bottom of the first drop to the point where I couldn't see, and when my vision did clear, I was coming out of the first tunnel. Anyone who's been on MF knows that's quite a distance.

I'm not sure if this should be in this section or the Rumors section. I was told that CF is considering putting a trim brake on I305's first drop due to "everyone" "blacking out" on it. I BARELY grayed out on the first drop both times I rode it. I have grayed out FAR worse on Millennium Force's first drop than I did on I305's. So far I have heard of people only graying out and momentarily blacking out on I305's first drop, but after MF's first drop, I've gotten tunnel vision, extreme graying, seen gray/white sparkles, and a few people have even told me they have purpled out or even completely passed out. I have also lost my vision for far longer on MF than I did on I305.. I only saw gray spots for about 3 seconds on I305 while I have lost my vision for nearly 10 seconds on MF. With all due respect to CF, why do they feel that I305's drop is intense enough that it needs a trim brake, while the 100% trimless MF has been knocking people unconscious for a decade?

Todd, I must wholeheartedly agree with you on your detailed raving about I305. That coaster is just incredible. This 4-park trip I went on this past weekend brought me from 56 to 89 coasters. I305 completely blew me away and sits proudly atop my favorite steel coasters as #1.