TombRaiderFTW

1. This was a great trip report. It's nice to hear a unique opinion (and some great pictures) on Magic Mountain. Most SFMM TR's usually start with "we went to X2 first" and end with "X2 was great," with hardly any mention of several of the other rides. Was Scream! as rattle-y as many others claim? 2. How humid was it? I love hot weather, but 100+ would be excessive for me if there was any humidity at all. I've never been to California, so I don't know how much of it is desert. 3. Your comments about Boss have cut me deeply. It's my favorite roller coaster out of the 187 I've ridden. I am not sure that I can continue to associate with you. (I will admit, however begrudgingly, that it's not running well this summer.)

^ Touche, sir. (There's always at least one wise guy around here...)

^ When I rode Poltergeist at Six Flags Fiesta Texas last December, it did not seem nearly as slow as Joker's Jinx. Poltergeist also has 6 cars. Of course, we're talking about my perception of speed and not using actual numbers, but there's no point on Poltergeist or either Flight of Fear that seems to crawl nearly as slowly as Joker's Jinx.

^ No. I do retract my statement about the point it rolled back at being the tallest point of the ride, though--it appears that way from the ride but clearly isn't when you look at some pictures of it. There's the cobra roll, then the sidewinder, then a few turns and a hill before the MCBR. That hill is the one the train is going over in this picture; the train appears to have stalled between the sidewinder and that hill.

^ Joker's Jinx appears to launch significantly slower than Flight of Fear. It's really crawling when it gets to the tallest point of the ride. It appears that it didn't clear that point today. Does the ride use the same style of Trains as Flight of Fear? If so. You be stuck sideways for 4+ hours in this highly uncomfortable train.... Yes, it does.

The riders were safely removed from the ride. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done about the fact that they were still at Six Flags America.

^ Speaking as someone who's had to convince someone non-coastery to go with him to Conneaut, I'd say Waldameer is more than likely going to have to be part of the bargaining process, haha. Waldameer's a fun park with a great Gravity Group coaster in Ravine Flyer II, as well as a decent collection of other coasters and flat rides. It's not the most extravagant park in the universe, but it's a quaint classic and has several picturesque locations within the park. Quite honestly, you could probably experience most everything Conneaut has to experience within an hour or two, and that's including rerides. It's not that big, and it obviously doesn't get too busy. If someone's just free for an afternoon, you could probably cover all that Conneaut has to offer within that timespan.

I'll say it again: give me $20 million to spend on amusement park stuff, and I'd put it all into Conneaut Lake Park. The place is not positioned at all to become a destination location that could compete with Kennywood or Cedar Point, but with a LOT (underlined, italicized, and bolded) of love, that would be one of the most charming parks Pennsylvania has to offer. In decent condition, I'd easily see it catching the attention of the folks at Waldameer. It's got all the potential to become the Stricker's Grove (or even a smaller Knoebel's) of western PA, apart from the financial part of things. The architecture of several buildings feels more 1910-1930's-classic-amusement-park-ish than anything Kennywood has to offer, except no one's put any money into making it look nice in the last 20 years. In the right condition--namely, one where the track isn't filled with potholes and doesn't rely on Pepsi grants to be replaced--I feel pretty confident that Blue Streak, with its NAD trains, would offer airtime to rival Phoenix. Maybe someone here has ridden it in better condition and can offer some commentary on the experience. It just seems like it's meant for way more than hobbling over the multitude of bumps on the last few bunny hops on the way back. As it stands, I can see where folks doubt Conneaut's ability to repay its debts and even maintain its rides, which seems to be why it can't get out of its current slump. In the course of my visit last year, I experienced: -The roof on the Blue Streak tunnel very visibly partially caved in -The (ballroom?) building remains after an apparent fire still sitting in a pile, surrounded by yellow tape (!) -A carousel with a dreadfully out-of-tune band organ -Literally the creepiest kids' area entrance sign ever (Okay, maybe that's irrelevant, but it was still creepy... Google "Conneaut Lake Kiddieland" if you don't mind not sleeping tonight.) -An entrance gate with boards over one of three decorative lattice circles to apparently keep it attached to the building? And then you walk straight through them to buy your ticket at a temporary trailer -Tons of faded, cracked paint, especially on their Flying Scooters -Tons of midway asphalt cracked by overgrown trees that would make ADA-protected guests wish they were at Kentucky Kingdom -A rusty Chance Toboggan ride all folded up adjacent to the area used as a concert venue, waiting for someone to take it away 10 years ago -Entry signs for rides that aren't at the park anymore, but the sign still stands And the list goes on and on. Adams Amusements seems very concerned with getting the park on the right track, but it looks like the rest of the township has had enough. I can't say I blame them... but there's still a part of me that wishes the place would make it. I genuinely think it could be something. But that's how it goes sometimes, I guess.

Very true. That turn after the hill after the helix is pretty nasty. The rest of the ride, though, is surprisingly decent.

At least one poster here prefers Mantis to Green Lantern, as GL headbanged more than Mantis when he rode it. GL's layout looks more interesting, but it rides worse. Georgia Scorcher underwhelmed me. There was hardly any headbanging, but it just didn't feel like it did anything interesting. Apocalypse was... very fitting for SFA, which I think should be called Land of Rides Rougher Than They Really Have Any Right Being. I'd honestly say my favorite stand-up is Vortex at Carowinds, followed by Shockwave at Kings Dominion.

Except with only partially controlled spinning, whereas Surf Dog is fully controlled and ZacSpins are not controlled at all. Notice the magnetic fins on the track and the way the seats spin more as they pass over them.

^ Clearly that person has not driven up 71 to, say, Columbus. Cincinnati's probably my favorite city behind New York and San Antonio.

Consider me saddened. SkyRider was a good 50% of my excitement for going to Canada's Wonderland this year (before the trip was cancelled.) I'm not being sarcastic--I thought it looked like a great ride, and it would have been awesome to ride something that similar to King Cobra. Maybe, somehow, that ride's going to be relocated to Dorney Park...? Eh?

I hate when my boobs fly out of my shirt while my hands is up.* Ah, Kentucky Kingdom's Facebook... That thing is a conglomeration of all the things that get on my nerves about amusement park Facebook pages. I can honestly say I haven't intentionally looked for anything related to Kentucky Kingdom on Facebook since before the park opened because of the ridiculous comments. *I'm male.

^ That's a little disappointing to hear. I've been wanting to go to Phantom Fright Nights.

As someone who hasn't been to a Disney park since he was in a stroller, please forgive a potentially silly question: is there any particular reason that any of you know of that requires Disney to hand out standby slips for rides like Soarin' instead of just letting people stand in line? I realize a four-hour line is excessive by seasonal park standards, but why is that an issue for a Disney park?

^ That'd be Gator. His retelling/reposting/relinking of that story is basically a Christmas tradition around here!

It's attached to the structure for Hyena Falls. I'm thinking it's also zoomed in pretty far.

I voted for the surprise entrance. It's such an awesome way to start the show, and it sets your expectations up just right for what to expect out of Cirque: awesome acrobatics with a lot of personality and good-natured humor. And it's just a cool visual, with the clowns "swimming" downward out of the sky. Plus, the music is really cool--that track is probably the one I want to own the most out of the tracks we don't know the names of yet.

^ Don't do that to me! I'm already having trouble trying to contemplate how the heck I'll ever get down to Alabama anytime soon!

I'm glad Cedar Point has announced that they will not reopen the ride until their own investigation is complete, because reopening it quickly would strongly reinforce a lot of irritating, widespread misconceptions that people have about amusement parks. The fact that the Department of Agriculture isn't conducting an investigation is surprising, though--this seems like exactly the sort of incident that they would investigate.

If you're looking to avoid strong ejector airtime on Magnum, try sitting towards the back. You'll come out of your seat more on the first three drops (starting with the drop off the lift, of course--not the drop after the station, haha.) Unless the trim brakes are turned off, it will be a tamer ride on the rest of the hills. Truthfully, though... As one of Magnum's biggest fans, I have to admit that looking past the restraints at times is part of the experience of riding the ride. Anymore, I've ridden it so much that I don't notice it that much. I do remember my first few times riding it hurting like crazy, though. I think you just kinda get used to it after a while. Also, on the note of Magnum being designed by hand instead of by computer... Where do you think the computers learned how to do the calculations? And why are Schwarzkopfs from the same time period or earlier significantly smoother?

^ I mean, do sunglasses present a different threat than regular glasses? Should I take my regular glasses off to ride? I'm not saying I fully understand all the details of your situation and think you're wrong. For all I know, she was trying to take them off during the ride when she lost them, which could definitely pose the risk of someone getting hit. I just think not wanting sunglasses on the ride is a bit extreme. Then again, this is a thread about pet peeves, so perhaps it's none of my business.

Yeah, that'll teach her... Or something? I don't get the "taking things into a park with you is a crime" sentiment 'round here lately. It's not what we would do, but that doesn't make it bad...

Why? He isn't obligated to know everything. Heck, there are people here still learning new things about Kings Island, including myself.