gad198

Avoid the urge to go to Goliath first. The Georgia Cyclone usually opens up before the park opens at 10:30, so that would be a good time to get that out of the way. I would strongly suggest that you go to Monster Mansion first and then Superman, in that order. I'd really suggest trying to get all of the coasters out of the way by 1 if possible because the park crowds usually pick up after everyone is done with church similar to KI. Foodwise, don't mess around with anything in the park. If you like barbecue I'd recommend you try Shane's Rib Shack. Their food is very good and you'll get a lot for the price. There are some deals on Restaurant.com for some of their Atlanta area establishments so check those out if interested. I know that the Interpreter has mentioned it before but I will again; the Varsity is a great little stop downtown. They have the best onion rings of all time and is certainly worth a trip.

Agreed about the fix. Part of the issue is that there's simply no other place to put the trim if you're trying to reduce the speed going around that turn. I'm glad you mentioned this in your initial I-305 report, as I probably would have been tempted to wait until later in the year to ride otherwise. This is sure to be big news once this spreads!

Dave, I actually saw your note about this on another site. I figured that with all of the reports of people graying out that they might do something, so like you I'm very happy I got to ride in a non-neutered state. I've gotta imagine the trim is going to take away all of the fun air on that first airtime hill. I also wonder if they're eventually going to remove the trim later in the ride or tweak it so it won't grab as hard.

Overview: I'm going to start taking online classes to get a professional certification here within the next few days. The process will take a little less than a year to complete, which will leave me with a lot less time going forward to do park trips. I decided to have one last big impromptu park fling before starting up, and I decided to do Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and Six Flags America. Kings Dominion: I arrived at the park right around 9 am. The parking lot was just opening, so I got parked and then waited for the gates to open at 9:30. The gates opened, I handed my Platinum Pass to the attendant and…wait for it…the pass was…declined! Instead of the big red X, however, I got a big yellow ?. I personally prefer the or FAIL signs but that's beside the point. The attendant told me that I had to go to Guest Relations. I headed over to Guest Relations, and while I was waiting I noticed three other people behind me who looked a little agitated, people whom I imagined probably looked like how I was feeling at the time. I asked, "Are you all Platinum Passholders?" Each of the three nodded and showed me a Cedar Point PP. Guest Relations took each of our passes, filled out a sheet and then gave us a General Admission ticket (which, interestingly enough, said Michigan's Adventure on the park heading!). Guest Relations was actually very nice about this, even going as far as indicating they would call the IT department to share this. Still, someone has yet to explain to me why this is currently an issue. I know that there are Cedar Fair representatives who read these boards so I'm going to take the time to say my piece about this Platinum Pass situation. **BEGIN RANT** Dear Cedar Fair: Platinum Passholders have been very patient towards how you've handled your season pass system. However, the time has come for you to finally bring your season pass systems up to speed technologically and make it easier for the people who spend the most money on their season passes each year to enjoy your parks with a minimum of aggravation. You advertise that a Platinum Pass is valid for admission into each Cedar Fair park. As it stands, the advertisement may as well read this way: Platinum Pass is valid for admission into each Cedar Fair park. However, we cannot guarantee at the time of your arrival that the Platinum Pass will work at our turnstiles, nor can we guarantee that you will be admitted into the park with said pass even after visiting Guest Relations. Any annoyances this may cause are the sole responsibility of the passholder. We've given you three years to be able to figure this out. There is simply no reasonable explanation as to why this continues to be problematic. Interestingly enough we believe that this is an issue only at the former Paramount Parks. Of the three Cedar Fair parks I have been denied admittance to in the last year all three have been former Paramount parks (Kings Dominion, Carowinds, and Canada's Wonderland). We'd like to remind that you that our spending is on a discretionary basis only; therefore, your services may not be demanded by many current customers in the future. Our decision to renew Platinum Passes in the future will largely be determined by the experiences we have now so we strongly recommend that you bring the quality of the Platinum Pass experience up to par with the premium dollars being asked for the passes. I believe that you'll find that updating your systems will be a benefit both to you as well as to your Platinum Passholders. **END RANT** We quickly learned that the back of the park (I-305, Volcano, etc.) would not open until 10 am. Hum, don't remember seeing that listed anywhere. The rope dropped just shy of 10 and I headed to Volcano as the first ride. Volcano - the Blast Coaster (two-train wait for the front seat): the first launch is awesome. I couldn't really feel the second launch at all, but the blast out of the mountain was cool. The rolls were OK but redundant IMO. I hadn't seen a POV of this ride beforehand, but I honestly was expecting more out of the ride. It's not bad by any means, but it felt like it lacked a little in the variety of elements department. I wasn't feeling an itch to immediately re-ride which means I can't grade it out higher. Grade: B Flight of Fear (walk-on to the back row): you know the drill here. This one does the same ridiculous stopping on the MCBR that the one in Ohio does (a fact that would be confirmed by riding Joker's Jinx just 24 hours later). Both the VA and Ohio versions ride about the same, except for some light that escaped into the building of the VA model. I probably like it a little better with the lights off IMO. Grade: B- Intimidator 305 (one-train wait for the third-to-last row): there really aren't any comparisons to this ride in terms of ride experience. It's way more aggressive than anything else I've ridden and that has its pros and cons; Pros: * Awesome first drop. The difference between the drop between the front and back is pronounced, though. * Really good air on the first airtime hill. I actually thought the air on this hill was better in the back, which was quite a surprise. * Airtime on the twists. There was more air going through the twists than there was while traversing the two low to the ground airtime hills. * Small footprint. It's amazing that they fit an almost mile-long coaster into this space. Quite impressive. Cons: * I felt more force going through the first turn than speed. I had to keep fighting off the grayouts using the fighter pilot technique, and IMO, that does take away from the enjoyment of this part of the ride. * The trim KILLS the last portion of the ride. This should be the best airtime hill in existence, but the trim takes away all of the fun. You can feel it in every part of the train and it grabs hard. I disagree with all of those who say the trim is necessary to bleed speed from the last part of the ride; because that last twist transitions quickly but not overly so if you're anticipating it. * The OTSRs force you to ride defensively. They don't intrude on the ride experience as long as you lean with the transitions, but the quick snaps do force you to ride in a way that minimizes the chances of you getting your neck and shoulders whacked. I-305 has got a lot going for it, but at the end of the day it just wasn't my cup of tea. I can think of six or seven steels that I'd rather ride immediately off-hand. I did ride six times in all different seats and each seat left me with the same impression, that it's very good but not a top-shelfer. If I can immediately think of at least two things wrong with the ride then it's not a top-5 ride IMO. Grade: A-/B+ depending on the ride Dominator (one-train wait for the front row): a really cool floorless. It doesn't have a zero-g roll (the only floorless to my knowledge that doesn't) but it feels like it's going much faster around the course due to the two highly banked turnarounds taken in succession. It's very smooth and quite forceful. I still like Kraken and Bizarro at Great Adventure slightly better, but this is still very solid. Grade: B+ Grizzly (walk-on to the second-to-last row): a very fun wooden coaster. I can see where people who rode it when there were more trees surrounding are upset, however. This was my surprise coaster of the trip. The airtime on the first drop in the back is fantastic, and the drops throughout the course are very cool. I'm sure night rides on this before some trees were removed were awesome. Grade: B Kings Dominion is a really, really nice park. Assuming we could keep Diamondback (in place of I-305) I would take everything else in Kings Dominion's collection over Kings Island's. I also like Kings Dominion's park atmosphere better than KIs. I managed to get on every coaster except the two kiddies, Anaconda (didn't want to mess with the headbanging) and Backlot Stunt Coaster (one train op and too long a line). Once the initial aggravation passed I had a great day here and I'm already making provisions to stop back in the not-too-distant future. If they can make Hurler a great ride then I'll be on the bangwagon all the way, but we can't have everything Park Grade: B+ Busch Gardens Williamsburg: I left Kings Dominion around 2:30 and arrived at BGW at around 4. I was met at the front gate by what seemed like dozens of school groups. Uh oh. I hadn't waited in a line more than 5 minutes all day and figured that would be coming to an end shortly. The good news is that all of Busch's rides move people pretty well so the longest line I encountered here was 20 minutes. I headed to the right for Europe in the Air. Europe in the Air (ten minutes): the park's new ride simulator. The pre-flight briefing was cute but never really explained what an air sled is! The part just before take-off was cool (the plane doors closing). The experience itself was quite well done. The ride simulated the movement very nicely, and the transitions were done in a way that was at least semi-believable (going up in the clouds and re-emerging in another destination). It would have been nice to see a little bit more of each destination but that's a minor thing. I never knew Rome had such a beautiful backdrop. It's a cool experience. Grade: B+ Griffon (20 minutes for the last row): for the record I absolutely love the two US dive coasters. They are a little on the short side but they are fun, re-rideable coasters that have the best first drops on any coaster I've ridden to date. I think the best rides on these are had in the back due to the extra time you get on the drops. The only drawback to this one vs. SheiKra is the fact that the splashdown isn't in a very interactive area. Did I mention I love the dive coasters? Grade: A- Alpengeist (10 minutes for the last row): I caught a break here and bypassed a good 10 minutes of the line by catching an open single seat. This ride is much more powerful than I would have expected. I love a good powerful B&M inverted (Montu, Afterburn, Raptor) so this ride was a nice treat. I like the setting of the ride and the dive under the bridge. The only thing that keeps this from being better than Montu or Afterburn is the comfort level. I can ride Montu and Afterburn all day where I would need a break from Alpengeist after two or three rides because of the intensity and the very slight but still noticeable headbanging. A very pleasant surprise otherwise. Grade: B+ Loch Ness Monster (10 minutes for the third to last row): this was more fun than I thought it would be. The first drop was nice and the transitions weren't nearly as bad as they are on Vortex at KI or GASM at Great Adventure. The helix/tunnel combo in the middle of the ride was a surprise. I loved the setting of the ride and all of the trees around the ride. One of the better Arrow loopers out there. Grade: B- Apollo's Chariot (15 minutes to the last row): behind I-305 this was the coaster I wanted to ride the most this trip. I loved the setting of the ride, but unfortunately the setting of the ride was much better than the ride itself. In the back it's a better than average ride. The airtime is much better in the back, but it's not as powerful as it is on some of the other B&M hypers out there. The airtime in the front is non-existent. Someone mentioned that this was like riding a giant simulator with fans and I'd agree with that. However, this ride did complete my US B&M hyper collection! I'd rank 'em as follows (including Behemoth): Diamondback/Intimidator/Goliath(SFOG)/Behemoth/Nitro/Apollo's Chariot/Raging Bull. Grade: B Busch Gardens is a beautiful park very worthy of the acclaim it's received. I love the way that each of the themed areas blend well from each area to the next. The views from the taller coasters are simply amazing. I am a little disappointed I missed Big Bad Wolf but that didn't detract from my day here at all. I did see Celtic Fyre, which is a fun show and is worth seeing if you're at the park. The park was really smart with how what coasters they put in the park; high capacity coasters which even on busy days will move people through lines quickly. I'll definitely be back later on in the year. Park Grade: A- Six Flags America: I arrived here just shy of 10:30 on Saturday morning. I had heard that this park usually wasn't busy but when I noticed only 200 or so people waiting for the park to open I knew I'd have a short line day here. The park is laid out a little weird as some of the paths seem to be random in nature, but I managed to find my way back to Batwing for the first ride of the day. Batwing (walk-on to the front row): this was my last Vekoma flyer credit that I needed. The ride layout is the exact same as Firehawk. Maybe it was just me or maybe it was the time of day, but it was quite a chore to keep my head up and focused on the track. I've never had any problems doing that on Firehawk, but on Batwing my eyes were really straining by the time the ride was over. Firehawk also runs a little smoother. This is just a one and done coaster for me. Grade: C Superman – Ride of Steel (walk-on to the front row): I'd imagine this ride will serve as a great preview as to what Bizarro holds up at SFNE. The first drop is OK but you really get some nice speed going into the second hill. Unfortunately, there's only a very small float at the top of that hill. The third hill delivered, however, as there was a very nice pop of air there. This was the ultimate "what if?" ride for me. What if they put two more airtime hills in instead of the long stretches of straight track? What if they took out the second helix and added a twisty hill there instead? The ride as constructed is fun, certainly above average, but this ride could have been a top 5 ride for me with some minor tweaks to the layout. It's probably in my top 15 but, man, this really could have been better. Grade: B Jokers Jinx (walk-on to the front row): this ride reminded me as to why I hate the Flight of Fear complete stop on the MCBR. This ride is better than both Flight of Fears IMO for that reason. The second half of the ride is just that much better when you fly right through the middle part of the ride with no interruption. Grade: B Wild One (walk-on to the second to last row): perhaps the best wood coaster of the trip. Good first drop. The out run is OK but the return run is very nice; plenty of air to be had and some unexpected drops. The laterals on the helix at the end were very reminiscent of Legend at Holiday World. The ride tracked very well and was just a fun time on wheels. I find it amazing that this ride is almost 100 years old. Grade: B+ Roar (walk-on to the last row): I actually liked the front much better than the back, which is unusual for me on a wooden coaster. The first drop is very good. The part of the ride which looked like it could be the best was the big airtime hill in the middle, but it actually turned out to be the least exciting. I liked the two quick pops of air just before the end of the ride. A good solid GCI. Grade: B Six Flags America is a nice mid-sized park that exceeded my expectations. The operations were good for the most part and they have a nice collection of rides. I do worry a bit about their viability long-term, because as I mentioned everything was a walk-on or a one-train wait on a 75 degree Saturday in May. I'm sure it picks up in the summer, but I can't remember visiting a park on a May Saturday and having it be this dead, especially with nice weather. I hope they make it. Grade: B-

^^I understand all of that. I would simply call into question why Cedar Point is still running their Dragster cam after all this time. If CP management types really thought that the cam (and the view of the parking lot that comes with the Dragster cam) had a negative impact on attendance I'm pretty sure that they would have taken it down or at the very least changed the view. I live almost four hours from Cedar Point and I use it to judge if I'm going to take an impromptu trip the next day. I'd imagine that many people who live much closer to CP would definitely use that view to judge how many cars are in the lot and therefore make a trip at the end of the day. The average person who watches that cam regularly is not a person that goes to CP once a year and is planning a trip in mid-July. At the end of the day I'd bet that such a small percentage of the people who attend Kings Island even know that a Diamondback webcam exists. I'm willing to venture that the people who are aware of the webcam are probably looking at the cam for the reasons I mentioned earlier. A big church group, even if they knew about the cam, is simply not going to look at the DB cam, see an hour long line and say "well, we're not going to go to Kings Island because the DB line looks long." It's just a nice tool for those who know how to use it. Having a cam on the Eiffel Tower that shows International Street that also happens to contain a view of the parking lot is no different IMO. It just gives people who know how to use the tool another piece of information, not to mention a nice view about what the front of the park looks like which satisfies the people who look at the cam for aesthetic purposes only.

Easy. There are only two good reasons to watch the webcam as it stands: to see how long the DB line is and see if it's raining up at KI. There are only two shots of the DB line, but it's immensely helpful during the summer to figure whether to head to KI or not. Long line = no go. I'd still like to get them to do a Top Thrill Dragster-type cam at the top of the Eiffel Tower that shows how busy the parking lot is. I use the information from that cam to gather whether Cedar Point is busy during a particular week in the first month of their season when crowds are usually much lower.

Agreed wholeheartedly about the 401, although I'd much rather drive the 401 than get stuck on the Don Valley Parkway. I've never seen traffic like what the DVP experiences. CW is a good but not great park IMO. It feels a lot like KI, the atmosphere there is a notch above KIs, but there are only two standout rides, Behemoth and Vortex. Everything else in their coaster collection is average at best. Their wooden collection is not good and is not recommended for people who dislike rough rides. I don't think it's coincidence that Cedar Fair decided to install B&M hypers almost immediately after the ownership change. Both parks really needed a good fan-friendly steel coaster.

I saw you at The Beast shortly after 10 Sunday morning. I didn't even make the connection that it was you until I saw the Intimidator 305 shirt. I'm a pretty slow thinker on Sunday mornings! Nice TR. There were a number of enthusiasts there on both Friday and Sunday so you know it was a pretty good weekend crowd-wise at the park. I also agree with the DB>Maverick sentiment, but just barely. I think the difference is that you can reride DB all day long where with Maverick you need to take a break after two or three rides. Speaking of DB, how about those trim-free fourth hill rides this weekend! I've been dreaming of getting just one of those rides since DB opened and this weekend I got 6! Man, is that air fantastic over that hill with no trim! I just hope that wasn't just a one weekend occurrence.

Overview: My brother and I, as usual, decided to do a last minute weekend trip. We decided to do Hersheypark for their Springtime in the Park special since tickets online were only $23 a piece after tax, instead of the well over $50 admission once the park opens for the full season. We were trying to add a second park, but couldn't figure out which way we wanted to go. Do you go the Hershey to Six Flags America (and possibly Kings Dominion) route and add a bunch of new rides, or do you simply go to Six Flags Great Adventure, a park we had both been to before but really liked? We ultimately decided on the Hersheypark and Great Adventure combo. Unfortunately, my brother had to back out due to a family commitment at the last minute. I already bought the Hersheypark tickets and reserved all of the hotels, so I was in a quandary. Do I go to those parks alone so I at least get some value out of the money I already spent or just take the loss and stay home? Enter Dave "The Big Sardine" Hester. Dave has become my go-to guy for these type of trips. 18 hours notice? No problem! Have parks will travel! We left on Friday night and eventually found ourselves in Hersheypark bright and early Saturday morning. Hersheypark: It seems as though it's popular thinking to head to Fahrenheit and Storm Runner first. It's not really evident as to why that's the case until you step in to the park itself. We were there right at park opening and we saw EVERYONE in front of us head to Comet and Great Bear, the two coasters you first see when you enter the park (more on this later). We did head for Fahrenheit, and in classic Intamin fashion saw that it was down. So much for that. Storm Runner is a very short distance away, so we hit that as our first ride of the day. Storm Runner (one train wait for the front seat): your basic launch-top-hat-brake r...oops, wrong Intamin launcher! I'm really glad that they decided to add some other elements to this coaster. The launch is great and feels pound for pound more forceful than TTD's. The pop of airtime that you get in leading into the flying snake dive was an unexpected treat, but the barrel rolls were taken at a slightly lower speed than I was expecting so they didn't quite have the pop I'm used to from say, a B&M zero-g roll. The quick overbank and small float you get at the end were a nice end to a really solid ride. The best ride in the park IMO. Grade: B+ Sidewinder (walk on to the front seat): we saw one run of this and knew that if we were going to attempt to get this credit that we were going to be in for some pain. We should have taken something closer to the middle, but hey, the front seat is open with no wait! Why not, right? Wrong! Carolina Cobra was a great boomerang. No headbanging and very disorienting. This was on the other end of the spectrum. The ultimate "glad I got the credit but wouldn't do it again unless you tased me" coaster! Grade: D- Wild Mouse (walk-on to the front seat): not much to say here except for the fact that the ride was brake-free except for one quick stop right in the middle. You run around the corners really quick, enough that I was thinking about safe it was! Probably the most fun mouse I've been on, but that's still not saying much. Bonus: the cars don't stop moving in the station, which improves the capacity a great deal. Not a big deal when you can walk right on but when the line is long I'm sure this helps. Grade: C Wildcat (one train wait for the back seat): GCIs first coaster. My understanding is that these initially ran with PTCs but changed to the Millennium Flyer trains a few years ago. You can definitely see the GCI influence here with many of the now standard GCI elements, but it doesn't have that same fun factor that most GCIs have. It just doesn't have any outstanding elements or features. I wonder if this may have actually run better with the PTCs. Grade: C+ Lightning Racer/Lightning (walk on to the second seat): another GCI creation. We got in line and noticed that the Thunder side was not open. We saw a car on the transfer tracks but the other train was nowhere to be seen. Interesting. We hopped on Lightning, and about halfway through the course we notice a train sitting in the adjacent tunnel. Ah, at least we now know where the second Thunder train is! The functional side of the ride was good but because of the cooler conditions you could clearly tell that it wasn't running in top form. I'd actually like to get another crack at this because the layout was good but it wasn't running as fast as it normally might later in the season. Some decent pops of air and no deadspots anywhere. Is it or will it be better than Thunderhead or Prowler? No. It might sneak past Evel Knievel, but that's as far as I'd go as far in a best case scenario. Grade, for now: B- Trailblazer (walk on to the last seat): nothing to see here, move along. Get the credit and move on. Grade: C- Great Bear (30 minutes, back row): we finally ran into the crowds here, as everything up until now had been a one train wait max. This is a solid B&M invert. The pre-drop section was a good opening act, and the layout is in the Talon/Patriot mold with four inversions. Some of the layout is over water which does add a nice touch. Zero-g rolls still rule. I'd probably rank this a little higher than Talon but behind any of the Batman clones. Grade: B Fahrenheit (20 minutes, second row): we saw this running and this was the last credit we knew we really wanted to get. The vertical lift is an interesting touch, although I will say that this loses some of it's novelty after you've already ridden one that has it (i.e., Mystery Mine). The course is nice and smooth and the inversions don't even come close to banging your head. I thought there'd be a bit more pop on the last airtime hill (ala Maverick) but there was only a small float at best. Rats! Good if not spectacular. Would I want to wait more than 30 minutes for this? No, but it was good for what it is. Grade: B- Hersheypark is a solid park. It's got enough rides (and a variety of rides) to keep you interested. I had heard that operations on the coasters weren't that impressive but today that couldn't have been less true. I can't think of a single time where the ops weren't working and sending trains out as quickly and efficiently as possible. If I have one complaint it's that, IMO, Fahrenheit didn't add anything that the park already had. This park desperately needs a good star non-looping steel coaster with airtime. There are only two steels at Hersheypark that don't invert: a mine train and a wild mouse (three if you want to count Rollersoaker, which was not open). A mega-lite would have been the perfect addition there. The only drawback to a mega-lite is capacity, but it's not like Fahrenheit is a real people eater either. I'm just really happy we lucked out with the crowds because with the capacities of most of their coasters I would suspect that wait times during the summer would be pretty long. The employees were all friendly, the park was clean and the low crowds really allowed us to take things in at a comfortable pace. We definitely enjoyed our visit and will be back. Overall Grade: B Six Flags Great Adventure: I've written a couple of TRs for this park so I won't do a play-by-play. We arrived here Saturday around 5 and then did a Sunday visit. Just a few quick notes: Kingda Ka. We've tried to get this credit during our last 3 visits to the park and failed each time (it is an Intamin launch after all!). We had a station wait that eventually took 25 minutes. The launch is noticeably more powerful than TTDs and the ride feels like it's going to rip your face off even in the backseat. The OTSRs aren't as intrusive as I would have imagined. However, the ride was really shaky and even borderline rough. The airtime hill also did nothing to add to the ride as there was ZERO airtime. TTD is a better ride IMO but man, Kingda Ka's powerful launch is unbeatable. Operations on every coaster were great. We only ran into some small issues on Nitro, but every other crew including the notoriously slow Bizarro crew were really trucking. When Bizarro was running three train ops on Saturday night I'd venture to say that they were running through 1200 people an hour on this. The El Toro crew said that they were dispatching 34 trains an hour, which if the trains were all full would have been more than 1200 people an hour. Simply outstanding effort by both of these crews. Speaking of El Toro, that ride gets better with each circuit. I had Thunderhead ranked ahead of El Toro but no longer. El Toro was FLYING around the course. Backseat rides on this are not to be missed! The only wooden coaster I like more is the Voyage. Crowds were really light. In eight hours of park time we got in 10 rides on El Toro, 3 rides on Bizarro, 6 rides on Nitro, and one lap on every other coaster in the park. Sunday morning seems to be the best time to visit the park for short wait times, but this Sunday in particular was out of this world. We'll definitely be back on this weekend next year if we can help it and the weather cooperates. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The word epic gets thrown around a little too much in describing park trips, but this trip was absolutely fantastic. Add in the fact that we managed to do this trip in a weekend makes it that much more memorable. There's nothing about the trip that could have made it any better except if it started raining 100 dollar bills . We did everything we wanted to do in a very relaxed pace and yet we did way more than we could have imagined because of the light crowds. It has certainly been a great start to the coaster season and I hope that it only gets better from here, but this trip will be a very tough act to follow. Happy coasting, and thanks for reading! **Sidenote** For those of you who either do travel or will travel to the East coast make sure you get an EZ Pass. It's valid on all of the major toll roads and bridges in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and West Virginia among a few other states. You get reduced toll rates on the tolls in most states and you get to slide right through all of those toll booths in the EZ Pass lanes instead of waiting in those cash only lanes. I love it!

Excellent TR! I'm glad that you enjoyed Magic Mountain. I'm trying to find a way to get back out there once Xcelerator at Knotts opens back up, so hopefully that won't be too much longer. I think for getting the most out of a day SFMM is the best Six Flags out there, and that includes Great Adventure. You summed up the flat ride situation there nicely, and that's one of the few glaring things missing about the park aside from putting more shade up in the queues. The vistas from the tops of many of the coasters are simply amazing and the thrill ride collection is remarkably unique.

You'll have to get out to SFMM and ride Riddler's Revenge. Georgia Scorcher is solid for a stand-up and is probably the second best one out there, but Riddler's Revenge is heads and shoulders above Scorcher. Same comparison can also be made for Tatsu and the other flyers (save for Manta, which I haven't ridden). Goliath at SFOG has really grown on me. My first rides had very little airtime, but every ride since has been awesome. The second half of the ride is by far the best of any B&M hyper and those bunny hills deliver some serious air and also really makes me wonder how good DB could be without the trimming just before and during the MCBR. I can definitely appreciate why people would rank Goliath over the new B&M hypers.

^ That post is true except for the last sentence. There's definitely a reason why KI inflates all of these basketballs before they are given away as prizes. Quite simply, very few people who just won a basketball want it handed to them deflated. Part of the allure of winning the basketball is the fact that you can see the prize right there in front of you in an 'as is' condition. I remember them deflating the balls at the 3 point game in 2008 for a very short time in the middle of the season before quickly deciding to inflate them again. Basketballs just don't look anywhere near as appealing when they're deflated, and not only that, the person who won it has to fill it up with air themselves. Just not good for business in the long run.

I'd imagine that not having a visible laser or other light may be a safety issue. Would you really want someone on the ride, in your car or otherwise, inadvertently firing a laser light right in your eye, because I know I wouldn't! I know that most laser lights use red because it's easier on the eyes, but I'd also be curious to find out if there's a solution that meets the desire to fire at targets accurately and would be safe to use in case someone decides to get rambunctious.

^ Good advice. There are some really cheap coaster club options that may work even better for you if you look at their page: http://www.holidayworld.com/clubs I'll disagree about hitting Voyage first thing. If your sole mission is to get on in short order at opening then I'd agree, but otherwise, I'd strongly recommend that you hit Raven, Legend, and Voyage in that order. If you do Voyage first you may be let down by the other two even though they're both good coasters. Just a thought.

Anyone else notice the Rivertown Junction discount? I know it won't stand, but hehe, it'd be awesome! Quote: Get awesome in-park meal deals when you flash your 2010 Gold or Platinum Season Pass! BREAKFAST WITH THE PEANUTS GANG DISCOUNT - $11.99 per person! (purchase at the front gate) BACKYARD BBQ MEAL DEAL - $9.99 per adult / $5.99 per junior (also available online) RIVERTOWN JUNCTION DISCOUNT - $15 off the regular price CINNABON - 1/2 off pre-packed 4-pack and 6-pack Cinnabon FUNNEL CAKE DISCOUNT - Buy one, get one 1/2 price before 5pm

I'd love to see KI get something along the lines of the Breakdance down at Kentucky Kingdom. It's one of the few flats I immediately wanted to re-ride. The only thing with that ride is the relatively high height requirement, but man that thing was so much fun!

Good TR! I was at Great Adventure on Saturday and saw two people with Intimidator 305 shirts. I asked about the ride and they said it was a night and day experience between the front and back. They said the front was awesome but the back was just merely good. Did you find that to be the case as well?

I am really glad that the transitions on the ride don't look nearly as sharp as the animation originally suggested. All in all it looks like a fun ride. I am, however, still worried that this still might be a front few rows ride only ala Maverick. It also looks like that trim on the second big airtime hill is pretty harsh. I wonder if that is there to not necessarily take all of the air out of that hill but to slow down the ride going into that wicked looking transition at the end of the ride. I'm curious to see how the OTSRs affect the ride, if at all.

^ Interestingly enough we did see you all get in line for the flyers around noon. We saw some real experts riding the flyers while we were there so I'm glad that you all got the great flyer treatment as well. We recognized a few folks from the KIC universe there and also saw and talked with Gary, the "King of Diamondback" while in line for Afterburn. It turned out to be a really nice day and I'm glad that so many people got the opportunity to head down. Good times!

^ There's also assigned seating, and they're very strict about requests, so keep that in mind. I'm sure that will ease as the season goes on. Honestly though, there's not a bad seat, so even if you get a seat you'd rather not have initially you'll get a good ride anyway.

Overview: I went to Carowinds about this time last year for the first time in over ten years. I liked the park, thought it was pretty good for it size, but after my visit I thought "wow, if this park could only get a hyper to round out their collection." Fast forward to August 2009 and the announcement of Intimidator. I had been following the construction of Intimidator at Carowinds and looked about a week ago at their First Rider Auction page. I saw that the bids were really close to $50 each, so I decided to see if I could get a group together to head down. I put in four bids and after we found out that our bids were successful we were scheduling a trip down. We decided to do a very aggressive Cincinnati to Dollywood to Carowinds back to Cincinnati trip on Friday and Saturday, ending up back in Cincinnati Saturday night. Dollywood: Dollywood had their season pass day this past Friday. The Interpreter mentioned that season pass days there were usually pretty busy so we knew we'd have to get down there early. The parking lots were filling quickly, but the weather in the upper 40s to low 50s would keep the crowds down to a minimum for most attractions. We arrived at the park right at opening at 10 and headed left toward Thunderhead. Thunderhead was running great as usual. The rumors of retracking were true, but it looked as though they only retracked several spots that were running a little shaky at the end of last season. Nonetheless, the ride was tracking really well, and along with the light drizzle greasing the track made for really quick rides with nice spots of airtime. Still a top 5 wooden coaster for me. Mystery Mine isn't one of my top coasters but the theming and those two vertical drops are terrific. It's got one of the best endings anywhere, but the rest of the coaster just doesn't do enough for me to be particularly impressed except for the items mentioned above. You also have to be defensive when it comes to the headbanging. Tennessee Tornado is still the best Arrow multi-looper I've ridden. If it were two inversions longer it would be a real top level coaster. It's smooth, it's got a great first drop (especially in the back) and the inversions are really well designed. It's a fun 30 seconds. Two quick show notes: Drum! is a really good show. I loved how the show incorporated so many different cultures and rhythms into the show. Imagine was brought back by popular demand this year and is fantastic! The acrobats can do things that I still can't believe are possible. These shows only run through the first part of May, so if you happen to be at Dollywood between now and then make sure you see these shows. Dollywood is such a great park. We always have a great time there, and we love the fact that the atmosphere there not only gives you a great sense of what theming can do but also relaxes you and allows you to really get away from everything. The crowds were only heavy for the shows Imagine and Drum, but all other lines were of the walk-on variety. We didn't do Adventure Mountain because of the wet conditions, but it looks like it'll be a fun addition and I can't wait to try it the next time we're down there. Carowinds: We arrived at Carowinds right at 8 am for the First Rider Auction. We were a little surprised that there weren't more people waiting for the parking lot to open. I'm guessing that's a direct by-product of waiting for Diamondback to open last year and still being way back in line even after arriving 3 hours early! We got checked in at the auction table and were escorted back to the Intimidator plaza at 8:30. We selected our seats and just after 9:30 they were dispatching the first train. We were on the second train and sat down in row 8, right in the middle of the train. The first hill is a little shorter than most of the newer B&M hypers but delivers some nice air. The second hill gives you a little float the crest of the hill and then gently pulls you to the right and then to the left at the bottom. It's a unique B&M hyper element and works really well to build the speed for the next hill. The third hill is the best airtime hill on any B&M hyper I've ridden thus far, just a smidge better than the second and third hills on Diamondback. There is a full five seconds of strong floating airtime on this hill and is really strong in the middle rows. The turnaround is really fun. It's better than Behemoth's turnaround because, interestingly enough, it's taken at a lower speed which allows you to feel the changes of directions a little better. The return run featured more good floater, but not quite as good as the third hill. The MCBR only used the mag brake but that was it, so you flew right through it. The diving spiral after the MCBR wasn't as good as I would have hoped. You only got a small amount of force unless you rode in the back. You did get a little air off of the end of the spiral and again into the brakes. Intimidator is fantastic. We got a chance to try row 4, row 8, row 9 and row 16 and we all agreed we got the best rides in row 4. The airtime up there is very strong and you get a really good sense of the speed there. People will be surprised by how fast this ride is. The first half of this coaster is an absolute 10. The trims were not grabbing on the third hill and were only very, very lightly tapping the fourth hill. The second half feels like it was an afterthought, but the first half is so good that it doesn't matter. If there was one more bunny hill after the diving spiral it'd be perfect 10. I'd rank the B&M hypers I've ridden thus far as follows: Diamondback/Intimidator/Behemoth/Goliath(SFOG)/Nitro/Raging Bull. Some other quick Carowinds notes: Afterburn is the best inverted coaster not named Montu. I love the smoothness and love the pacing. There just aren't any wasted movements on the coaster. The flyers there are still kicking tail. There was plenty of snapping to be had and they were running a long enough cycle to have a really good time! The park was nice and clean and were running multiple trains on all coasters that could do so even though there was only a one train wait for every coaster we went on until 1 pm. Carowinds is now a destination park. Intimidator is exactly what this park needed. The lines were almost shockingly short (no more than 15 minutes for any of our three rides outside the auction) and always moved incredibly fast. I'd be willing to bet they were pumping through at least 1300 people an hour. Intimidator will bring in the crowds this year and will do very well in the steel coaster rankings this year. They've got a real winner on their hands in Intimidator, so make sure you make Carowinds a part of any of your Southeast/Mid-Atlantic trips!

Intimidator is simply fantastic. The position of the coaster in the park is great and really dominates the skyline of the park. I think you can see it from just about every corner of the park and sounds like a small jet rolling down that first hill. The first half of this ride is the best first half of any B&M hyper I've ridden thus far. There is STRONG airtime on all of the hills prior to the MCBR. The airtime is a little stronger on Intimidator in cars 3-6 but is probably similar in the first two and last two cars as compared to DB. The turnaround is much better here than on DB, and the ride is totally smooth everywhere and in every seat. I really hope that KI is able to smooth out the section of track located between the turnaround exit and fourth hill on DB. I much prefer DBs second half though, as the diving spiral doesn't generate enough forces unless you're in the very back of the train. Intimidator is a great addition to Carowinds and if you have a chance to check it out you should definitely take advantage. The capacity was great and just like DB the line never stops moving. I'd suspect that DB and Intimidator will end up very close to each other on most steel coaster rankings, as they do my own personal rankings as well. B&M has done it again!

Yeah, I'd imagine (no pun intended) that those two shows will draw the biggest crowds by far, and with the threat of rain looming this makes getting the Q2Q a much easier decision. As long as we get those two shows in and at least one ride on each of the coasters I'll consider it a success, as we have a for-all-intents-and-purposes-first-timer with us. Should be a great weekend, and I hope to see you at either or both of the parks!

There will be four of us total, so it sounds like we'll represent Ohio well! Are you all also heading down to Carowinds for their opening day? The Interpreter, thanks as always for the info. It stinks to hear about the potential crowds, but yeah, our first stop will be the Q2Q booth if it looks like crowds will merit it. Love the SP prices on their Q bots! I'm actually much more worried about getting into the two shows we really want to see than getting on the rides. If you do get the Q2Q make sure that you reserve all your show times before you leave the booth as that will save you a lot of hassle later.

I just stumbled across this article from last year: http://www.knoxville...ed/?partner=RSS Should be interesting.