violakat03

I read them both when I was in late elementary or junior high. They were two of few books I ever read by RL Stine, I just never really got into his plotlines. I enjoyed the first book, and I still remember a lot of it. I don't remember a thing about the second book, it was just ... blah. The first book was good though. They used to have a copy of it sitting in the window of the drive box many years ago. I wonder what happened to it.

Kid in front of me in the single rider line: "You know this was supposed to have a loop." Me: *sighs, rolls eyes* "No it wasn't. It never was. The newspaper screwed up." Later that day I see two girls wearing airbrushed t-shirts that say "We survived the Diamondback" and had a drawing of a coaster with a loop in it.

I believe you're right. The fastest part of the ride is the turn right before the second lift.

Great trip report Shaggy. I really enjoyed reading it. I was hoping to get my first Cyclone experience this year as well, but it will be closing one week before I'd be able to make it to the area, so it will have to wait yet another year. Riding the Cyclone is one of few things on my so called "bucket list." Thanks for the report.

Avatar, Reptar and Scooby. Firehawk if you miraculously catch it with a short line, because that's a rare event. Invertigo, the same.

Mean Streak is the only wood coaster I've ever been on that I could consider bad. And I blame that on it being so over trimmed. I'd love a trimless ride, though I'm sure it'd probably be painful.

Good find! I was thinking that might have been the one judging on the 30 seconds in the preview, but couldn't tell for sure.

Definitely sounds like the right composer, but I haven't figured out exactly what song it is. Kind of difficult from the 30 second previews on Amazon. I really like the soundtrack though, so I may get it and then find out what song it is.

^ I advise against drinking hot sauce at any time...

My recommendations: Ginger or Dramamine, lots of fluids (water or Gatorade) and maybe some sinus medicine. I have inner ear problems as a result of something stupid I did while diving and I've found that I can get a little nauseous on coasters if it's acting up. Before I dive I take Sudafed (the real stuff that they keep behind the counter) and Afrin nose spray to clear it out and will often take Sudafed when at the park to prevent problems. My husband gets very motion sick and ginger works for him.

I've heard it was from Independence Day. Haven't gotten the motivation to research that yet.

I give Racer the edge on this because it's wooden, but it's a very close win over Backlot and Flight Deck. All three are "must rides" for me.

Worst coaster I've ever ridden: Ninja at SFOG. Followed closely by T2 at Kentucky Kingdom. Though Mind Eraser at SFA gets an honorable mention. However, I loved all three of the ones listed in the first post.

I think my favorite was from Halloweekends at CP last year. My husband and I were walking through the scare zone in Frontier Trail and there was a family in front of us. Mom, dad, and two pre-teen or early teen kids. Dad was acting macho and saying that no one could scare him and laughing when the scareactors got the mom or kids. As we got to the very end of the trail, out of nowhere (I still don't know how he did it) a scareactor jumped on a trashcan right in front of the dad and he jumped, screamed and fell back, almost landing on his butt. Everyone that saw it busted out laughing (including his family) and gave the guy high fives! Second favorite would be my husband's reaction last year when walking through Trail of Terror. A young girl came up behind him and said real close to his ear "you look good enough to eat." He turned to her and very calmly said "Thank you, my wife thinks the same thing." I've got lots of stories from when I acted at trails but they aren't from a park.

*is jealous* Well, currently, I have the FOF ride music, the Enchanted Voyage song, the "Imagine a world..." spiel from FOF, and part of Flashback Totally 80's on my phone, so... I have the FOF ride music as well but I discovered I could never hear my phone ringing when I had it as my ring tone, so I changed it. I also have 3 other FOF songs on my iPod, along with the music from the stations of Millennium Force, Wicked Twister and Top Thrill Dragster, plus the spiels from Dragsters queue (Sunday Sunday Sunday!), Prowler station, and all the Holiday World coasters. Yes, I am a coaster nerd.

I really couldn't let that one slide, Tracey, sorry. You left it WIDE open (unlike the trims on Racer have been lately... oh dear, I can see hanging out with dare-to-fly has been rubbing off on me...). And I agree, the view of the park really is amazing. Especially at night with all the chaser lights on Vortex and Racer going.

I don't normally make random whim trips to Miami, lol. And if I did, I'd be going diving instead of on a cruise, but that's just me!

Are you sure the tension you're feeling isn't just the magnets from that giant trim brake?

Racer and Blue Streak are most definitely grown up rides that are also very family friendly. I adore wood coasters anyway, but those two are nice hidden gems. My first coaster was also the kiddie coaster at Lesourdesville Lake (then Americana). I also rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad around the same age, but I think it was after the one at Americana. Strangely, my then 5-year-old brain didn't calculate that either of those were coasters. Beastie terrified me until I was 10 years old and finally got peer pressured into riding it, and I suddenly realized that I loved coasters. Haven't looked back since! Went on to forwards Racer later that year, and my first 'big' ride was Flight of Fear in it's opening year!

The passport rule is the biggest reason I didn't try to get to CW this year. I may not even make it up there next year. I don't have any other reasons to travel out of the country, so that's a large expense just to be able to go to a park.

Rather ironic considering you're the one that gave me the mp3, isn't it?

I don't know that it'd be the same with a different voice saying "welcome to The Beast." I have the music from lift 1 as the ringtone on my phone. Only one person has randomly recognized it so far. Gee, I wonder who that might have been. Posted from my BlackBerry mobile device.

The ending helix. Hands down the greatest finale on any coaster I've ridden. The awesomeness is amplified infintely at night. Second favorite would be the last turn before the second lift, I believe that's called quick dip. It's where you get the highest speed on the entire ride. And Terpy, why did I know it'd be you that picked on dare-to-fly? Posted from my BlackBerry mobile device.

The very very back seat. The only place I ever ride after discovering how very awesome it is.

I noticed the fireworks announcement too. I was kind of confused. And yes, there was a rides and attractions closing announcement, but it was at about 8:15 rather than right at close like it normally is. I noticed Diamondback opened up after a rain delay about 15 minutes before park close. And I noticed that some of the skeleton props (such as the girl with a tail, two-headed person, etc) have been moved from the center islands of Coney Mall to over in a corner near Jukebox Diner. I think this was to set up the big banners Oldiesmann mentioned.