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^ It all depends on who you're asking. There are a few more coasters at Six Flags StL, but I think Dollywood is the better park overall. If you simply want the "credits" then I'd go to Six Flags, but if you want a better park experience, I'd go to Dollywood. Thunderhead alone is worth the trip, and the Smokies are wonderful this time of year! Have a good time whichever way you go!

^ To answer your park opening question, in order of earliest park opening to latest: March 28: Dollywood March 28: Six Flags St. Louis April 3: Six Flags Great America April 18: Kings Island April 25: Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom May 2: Indiana Beach May 2: Holiday World May 16: Cedar Point

^^ and ^ B&M hypers have generally been "if you want any air you'll have to ride in the back to get it" coasters, but they really got it right with Behemoth. The air in the front of Behemoth is outstanding, and in the back it's just as good. The hammerhead on Behemoth, particularly in the back, whips you down the hill and really gets your attention! Diamondback may very well be an interesting coaster in that the first half of the ride, particularly the first drop, may very well be better in the back and the second half may be better in the front, particularly on those bunny hills and that drop just after you exit the second helix heading down into the splashdown.

I'm not saying it'll be me taking the POV, but 'unofficial' ones will be all over the place after the ride opens. Again, I'm not condoning those by any means but you can bet they will surface. This video should be the highest quality and should be a nice way to see the ride for those who won't be out to experience the ride firsthand on Opening Day!

^ Or on opening day after someone posts it on YouTube! I'd put the over/under at April 18 @ 8 pm.

^ IMO, El Toro has better (and more abrupt) moments of airtime but the Voyage has much more airtime overall. I don't want to turn this into a El Toro vs. The Voyage debate, so suffice it to say that both coasters are amazing in their own right.

^ A Mega Lite would be a beautiful addition to the park (or any other US park for that matter). They don't cost nearly as much as the bigger hypers and from all accounts deliver a great ride experience. The POVs from those rides look fantastic! Having a Voyage/Intamin Mega-Lite 1-2 punch would be amazing!

^ I agree and I disagree. I think that uniformity across parks would be great when you're talking about some Platinum Pass perks (free parking, discounts on food and merchandise, etc.), but I'm not sure that ERT uniformity is one of them. Part of the reason the Cedar Point early entry hour is so valuable because, if you get there right at 9 you can knock out three big rides where queues fill up early (Raptor, MF, and Maverick) before 10 which is a big help! Cedar Point also has a lot more on-property accommodations, which means there will be a much greater universe of people that can utilize that benefit. It also helps when trying to attract people to stay on property to stick that carrot out there. I'm not really sure that Kings Island (or any other Cedar Fair park other than CP) needs to offer that same early entry benefit to the degree that CP does because there (1) probably won't be as many people using the ERT on a daily basis (and certainly not during the week) and (2) there's not the same return on investment on it like there is at CP because of the hotel business. Don't get me wrong, it's a great perk and I'd love to see it extend out to an hour through all parks, but I'm just not sure that it would make complete business sense, aside from the goodwill it'd generate for PPers.

^^ Agreed. It will really make for a great picture to capture the splashdown and rockwork in the background. Not sure if this has been touched on, but does anyone know why they removed the "Beast Plaza" view from the webcam? I'd love to see what's going on in that area.

Excellent trip report. The one train operations at the beginning of the day were interesting, but once they got the second trains added (particularly on Mindbender and Goliath) lines really moved quickly. Having 10 minutes (or less) wait on both of those coasters for most of the day always makes for good times! Glad you enjoyed your laps on both coasters!

^ Excellent overview. I'm pretty sure that they removed the alligators from the pit as you exit the Montu station, though, or at least they weren't there the last few trips I've taken. I'll also second the Crown Colony restaurant as a great getaway from the hustle and bustle and provides wonderful views of the park. Quick note, get to the park as early as possible and avoid Gwazi and Montu as your first rides. Most people see them first as they enter the park and it's a good idea to work to the back of the park first to work against the regular crowd flow. I'd recommend hitting Sheikra first (this assumes that section of the park is open at opening...there are times they open that section 1/2 hour later than the rest of the park), then Kumba and then work your way back to the front hitting everything else. Have a great trip!

^ Congrats on 1000 posts! Vortex at CW definitely has a beautiful setting. Perhaps it's just me but it seems as if it also rides a little quicker than Flight Deck at KI. It looks as though Diamondback testing has resumed!

I'll echo the sentiments about SFOG. I was very pleasantly surprised by all that park had to offer! I'm fortunate in the fact that I knocked off a ton of parks on my "To Do" list last year, but the one I'd like to hit this year is Busch Gardens in Virginia, if nothing else but to check out the landscaping and theming around the park itself. One of the reasons I like Dollywood so much is the fact that you feel like the you're soaked right in the park's atmosphere, and I'm hoping that's true there as well.

^ I concur. The hammerhead doesn't look like it's anything but a change of direction when you're standing off-ride but on-ride, and in that seat in particular, it's amazingly fun. I was at Canadas Wonderland this past October and I noticed that most of the enthusiasts/park veterans headed immediately to those back seats. The lines for that seat were as long or longer than the lines for the front, but again, with good reason!

Just out of curiosity, are there any other folks out there with you doing the same?

As mentioned earlier, I'm curious to see when the first YouTube video of testing will appear. I can't wait to see how fast the trains moves over those hills!

^ I agree with part of that. I guess I look at it from the standpoint of the ride op. Could you imagine doing that job hour after hour and day after day and never varying your routine? It'd be like riding the same coaster over and over every time I went to the same park...I may enjoy the experience but it's nice to have a little leeway to add something different to the experience, albeit in a non-conventional way!

^ It's amazing how many park goers have zero in the way of a sense of humor. Would it simply be better if the ride op said "clear" and then let the train launch like on FOF? Case in point, I was at CP (ironically enough) watching the Three Point Challenge game, and the attendant was watching a shooter throw up air ball after air ball. The attendant basically repeated this line with some variation... "the shot is up...oh...air ball". He even got the shooter to stop and laugh in between a couple of shots, which made the crowd laugh that much more. All in good fun right? Next shooter gets up and it's a repeat of the first performance, including the attendant commentary. We come back to Cedar Point a week later and find out that the attendant was written up for what he had said! When he (the attendant himself) told us about why he said that he received a complaint that came through Guest Relations about his "treatment" of that player. Unbelievable. (Begin Rant) Long story short, if an employee decides to show some personality and do something a little outside the box they may hear about it later as a complaint! I realize this is not true across the board, and that these are most likely (very) isolated incidents but as long as said employee is not being rude, discourteous or unprofessional I don't see what the problem is. (End Rant)

Personally, the webcams have been a great way to kill a little bit of time each day on what would normally be excruciatingly slow days at work! With that said, it just continues to build the suspense until it is back online! I do have a bit of selfish wish when it comes to the webcam, and that is to have another webcam (when the park is operating) similar to the webcam on the top of Top Thrill Dragster at CP. I'd love to have a webcam that shows the parking lot to get a quick gauge as to how busy the park is before you think about going for a quick hitter!

Two more experiences I can recall... Montu @ BGA. The quality of the ride is really determined by one thing, the trim brake right before the batwing. I remember riding in 2002 in the backseat and thinking "man, if they ever turn off that trim brake the batwing would be amazing!". I went down this past December for a return visit and rode in the same backseat with the trim off. It was a completely different experience. The forces in the batwing made everyone in our row say "whoa!" as we exited the first part of that element. The rest of the ride was much quicker and I enjoyed my rides order of magnitudes more. Thunderhead @ Dollywood. We rode in the front seat and got off the ride the first time thinking "this ride is good, but it seems like it's missing something." That something was the additional action you get in the back seat. We had the added bonus of having it shower on us, which not only made the ride FLY around the course but brought out the wonderful smell of the surrounding forest.

^ Is it the process of the trains being added everyone wants to see more or is it what the trains actually look like on the track? The whole construction process is really interesting. It's nice to see what all goes into building a structure of this magnitude, as it really gives me an appreciation as to how much work goes in. Personally, I can't wait to see the first video of the trains in action while testing!

Excellent point. CP's signs, though not always accurate, will at least err on the side of overestimating wait times, which is nice for your psyche anyway! I'd still argue that, particularly for queues like Flight of Fear or Top Gun, it'd be nice to be able to get at least an estimate so that you're not having to walk into the ride line only to backtrack when the line is too long for your taste.

^ I actually hope that the queue never gets that full in the first place, avoiding that very problem! To add to your question about the queue, I'm curious to see exactly how much of the queue you'll be able to see from the ride entrance. Of course, if they posted some type of a "Ride Wait Time is Approximately __ Minutes From This Point" sign it'd be even better. I'm interested to see if they'll eventually do this ala Cedar Point not only for this ride but for the other more popular rides as well.

Have you ever gotten off of a ride that you've ridden more than once and have different ride experiences each time? The first time I rode El Toro (in the back) and had a less than memorable ride on it. The second time around (in the front) three hours later and I had one of my best coaster rides ever! Who knew? Anyway, this is your chance to list your personal Jekyll and Hyde coasters, so don't be shy!

^ I think that's your newest Cedar Fair trademark, the Single Rider line split (see Maverick, Behemoth)! I'm interested to see whether or not the line will split further back than the bottom of the stairs. Don't know if this has been mentioned, but there are new photos on the kiDiamondback site.