TombRaiderFTW

By the by: ACE is showing an event on its website called "Rip Roarin' Rampage Returns" on October 25. I wonder how official the date is...

There are Skee Ball machines in the Coney Mall arcade near Monster. Those machines will produce tickets. However, that arcade can get a little crazy at times, especially since the other arcade is now closed. The arcade near Beast also has Skee Ball machines and is typically less busy. Those Skee Ball machines (along with the rest of those games) do not give you tickets for playing; they're just there for fun. I hope you have a great time with your family!

I'm going to miss the Scooby dark ride at SFStL. I'm very interested to know if they keep the boats. Anyone else cringing at the names "Wicked Cyclone" and "Twisted Colossus"?

I always love your excitement for architecture and themed experiences, goodyellowkorn. You usually make me want to visit places that aren't even on my radar, and this one is no different. I haven't been to COSI since likely before 1999, so I'm obviously due for a visit. I'll have to get back soon! On a related note: have you visited the Columbus Zoo recently? Maybe it's my lack of visits to a Busch Gardens, Universal, or Disney park speaking, but I think the zoo's Heart of Africa and Islands of Southeast Asia areas are absolutely breathtaking. Family with whom I visited Africa agree with me when I say that Heart of Africa is surprisingly close to visiting a real nature park like Kruger Park. The best way I can describe Islands of Southeast Asia is to say that I would entirely expect Tomb Raider: The Ride to be tucked away around some corner, and it would not feel out-of-place at all (which is and isn't why I love it, haha. ) I could seriously spend hours in those areas. I think you might like them. EDIT: I totally don't mean to derail the topic with talk of the Columbus Zoo, haha. I think your trip report was awesome--I just don't have any questions or anything to add to it! It's that good!

Here's a video I found of the "show": I'm very curious to know how this show affects dispatch times for their train. For the length of time the show takes, I'm doubting its compatibility with Kings Island's train. It seems like stopping one (or both) trains for 10 minutes would make the waits for the train on the weekend prohibitively significant, as each car usually gets pretty fully on Saturdays in the middle of the summer. Unless there was some way to seriously shorten the show so trains didn't have to stop--which seems problematic, too--it doesn't seem as possible for KI to receive this show as I'd originally hoped. (Sorry if the train of thought in this post is scattered; I'm really tired.)

The King Cobra trains used to be stored in Flight of Fear's ride building. If memory serves me correctly, they went to Kings Dominion around early 2010, presumably to be used for spare parts for Shockwave. Somewhere around here, there's a topic from that time period that, at least at the time of its posting, had a picture of the King Cobra trains at Kings Dominion.

Thunderbolt's paint circles are being (have been?) replaced this year with new lights. At last check, they had only finished updating the red train.

^^ I think you mean Haut-Vol. I would be extremely happy to see them perform shows at Kings Island for a long time. Cirque Imagine really made a huge impression on me when it comes to live entertainment at the park. If it becomes a two-year thing like Ed Alonzo, I really don't know what KI could bring in next that would impress me as much as Cirque has. Man, I'm going to miss that show...

As long as they stay the heck away from Boss... I'm not a fan of this being Six Flags' new solution for older-to-oldish wooden coasters, but I guess I can see their justification for it. The thing is: Iron Rattler's a great ride, but a significant remodeling by GCI seems just as marketable. I wish Six Flags would pursue other options than just RMC (or the Rolling Thunder treatment.)

I am glad to be visiting Busch Gardens Williamsburg for the first time this year, because it does seem like every installation from Europe In The Air onwards contradicts the "old world Europe" feel that I've always had the impression BGW exudes. Verbolten, Mach Tower, and London Rocks seem like they're interesting enough but would better fit in a "modern Europe"-themed park than somewhere with mythical Griffons and Loch Ness Monsters and old world architecture. Like Terp said, they feel an awful lot like the "cheap and cheerful" era of Paramount Parks. That being said... Will someone explain to me, someone who hasn't been to a Busch Gardens before, if the last few additions actually are poorly done, or do they just clash really badly with the existing park? POV's, for whatever those are worth, do make the rides appear decent enough, but that doesn't speak much to how they work with the rest of the park. (Heck, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that POV's will give you the wrong opinion of a ride or park before you get there. I thought El Toro and Boss looked somewhat boring and uninspired before I rode them. I've also been avoiding Curse of DarKastle POV's like the plague, because I want to go into that ride with no idea of what to expect.) The rumored Festa Italia coaster seems very out-of-place compared to the rest of the park, but for all I know, it could match the rest of Festa Italia perfectly.

I wish they had a grown-up version of those... I'm totally jealous of how much fun the whip around the ends looks. If "they" means "Kings Island," then yeah, I totally agree.If "they" means "the amusement park industry," there are a few out there that have grown-up versions of that ride. The closest park to Kings Island that has one would likely be Camden Park, followed by Kennywood.

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.