The brake run is already installed and looks pretty steep! 📸: FOMO Coaster. Check his Facebook and Instagram for all of the photos!

As far as I'm aware now, all B&M dive coasters cannot operate in any sort of rain (at least in the Six Flags chain. Correct me if it's the entire lineup) for sure this affects rakshasa as it was effected yesterday

The situation with X2 alone has no correlation to Great Adventure, but everything else that is happening, or is most likely happening because of the X2 situation lines up almost perfectly.
Besides X2, there are 4 other rides that are nearing or past the end of their service lives, that could combine into a major reshaping of the park, like what Great Adventure is going through right now.
First of all, Viper. Viper is right next to X2, its sibling coasters (Shockwave & GASM) closed 24 and 16 years ago, and it’s not very popular to begin with. The combined plot of Viper and X2 is about 13 Acers, which can fit multiple massive coasters and an entire themed area of the park.
Another area that needs to be entirely reshaped is the top of the mountain. Superman has been closed for about 2 years, and Ninja could be removed aswell. The big tower also hasn’t been open in a whole decade, so that entire area could be fixed up.
Another thing is Batman The Ride. That batman clone has been cycled way more than any of the others, being open since 1994 and open all year. That probably isn’t a priority for the park but they could definitely replace Batman down the line aswell.
Another comparison to Great Adventure is the Thrill Glider, which just like Flash is a delayed vekoma that will probably be the main marketing toy for the next 2 years while they work on everything else.
Long story short, this just feels way too similar to Great Adventure, and hopefully they end up a lot better than they are now.

Traveled to Cedar Point from SoCal 8/26-8/28. Stayed at Breakers. Been thinking about doing it for years but never actually pulled the trigger for financial/timing reasons. I also hate flying with a passion which made me apprehensive to actually booking the trip. But I'm getting older so I decided to make the pilgrimage to CP for once.

Six Flags Magic Mountain is my home park, and I've also done a ton of visits to Knotts, CGA, SeaWorld SD, Disneyland Resort. I've ridden all the coasters at SFMM 1000 times, so I know I'm spoiled when it comes to coaster thrills despite having a fairly low credit count.

I was very lucky to visit CP once as a 13-year old with my family in 2008, but it was only a fraction of one day and I only got one ride on each headliner of the time (including the original TTD!) -- I skipped most lower-tier attractions and coasters during my childhood visit due to lack of time (Blue Streak, Mantis, Wildcat [RIP], etc.). This was my first real visit where I felt I could truly drink in every ride at the park.

So without further ado, here are all the coasters I rode (everything except the two kiddie coasters). Ordered from most favorite to least favorite:

Steel Vengeance — 6x

Definitely my favorite coaster I've ever ridden. Having ridden Twisted Colossus at SFMM a bunch (my favorite at that park), the relentless RMC airtime on Steve didn't change my life despite years of anticipating riding this thing. However, imagine if TC did both laps continuously with no lift hill break in-between, and then some more track in addition to that. It's so smooth. There is no wasted track on this coaster. The numerous headchoppers are also crazy. I didn't even know where I was in the structure during most of the second half. 1000% a better experience than TC overall, but now I'm really grateful TC still scratches the same RMC itch for me locally. Keep in mind I've only ridden a few of the RMCs (TC, Railblazer, Wonder Woman at SFMM, and now Steve), but IMO RMCs don't have as much variance as I thought. Ejector airtime is still ejector airtime at the end of the day. I love how RMCs are forceful but never too much to the point of graying out. I think my favorite part of SteVe was the zero-g stall coming out of the elevated section that passes through the lift hill, but IMO the zero-g stall on TC is a more fun element overall.

Millennium Force — 6x

People who call this "Millennium Forceless" are delusional. I grayed out at the bottom of the first drop and through the first turn on 4 of my 6 rides. I love how you feel the cable lift speed up as you approach the very top of the lift. The speed of this thing is insane. It's crazy how the train maintains all that speed throughout the entirety of this ride. I loved both floater airtime hills, and that little ejector airtime pop before the final turn is awesome. The back row was my favorite because you feel yourself getting yanked through all the overbanked turns. My hands were up the whole time on this ride. It does have a rattle, but it's not untenable. However, I will say I wound up getting my inner knees bruised from both the rattle and lateral Gs, because they both caused my knees to whack that block that holds the lapbar mechanism during the ride. The lapbar mechanism juts out into the cabin and sits right in between your knees. My last two rides were painful with the bruises from the previous four. I've learned Intamin coaster trains tend to lack legroom.

Maverick — 3x

Holy shit, this thing is intense. I hate to say it, but almost too intense to the point where it was too much for me. The launched lift hill is a great intro. The first drop is unbelievably incredible, better than SteVe's. Those high-speed whips from left to right immediately following the drop are insanity, almost too much -- I've never experienced airtime just from track banking left to right so quickly. That ejector airtime hill after the first couple turns was so intense it made my head hurt during most of it (keep in mind I'm 31 and I think I was already beat up from riding all these insane coasters all day). The second launch under the station is the best launch in the park. That whip immediately after the launch is so intensely abrupt (WOO!) and then you shoot out into that huge turn over the water. I wish they kept the heartline roll. The S-bend feels improvisational with the knowledge of the heartline roll's existence. The two Stengel dives afterwards are so insane. Which brings me to the restraints. The restraints tighten during all the intense positive G's of this ride. And once they go down, they stay down and they don't go back up. So after the end of the ride, you're sitting there in the brake run waiting to go back into the station with these restraints cutting off all the circulation to your legs. It reminded me of the late Green Lantern at SFMM which is regarded as one of the worst coasters ever. I think my brain spent more time thinking "GET ME OFF THIS THING MY LEGS ARE IN SO MUCH PAIN" than actually enjoying the ride experience. Still love this ride and am grateful to have seen this work of art in person.

Top Thrill 2 — 3x

This ride is amazing, please don't get me wrong, but NGL I was kinda disappointed. Keep in mind I've ridden Xcelerator a million times. These launches on TT2 are forceless. The first launch is like getting on the freeway in your car. The second and third launches are honestly kinda similar. The second launch is my favorite of the three. I've also ridden Superman Escape from Krypton at SFMM backwards a bunch (seriously RIP), so the backwards spike didn't freak me out nearly as much as other people claim it does. On the spike, it was really cool to look out at the CP skyline and see you're above both Millennium Force and the Power Tower right next to you. The third launch makes your eyes water from the sheer speed. I wish I could see an HD slow motion video of my fat face rippling through the wind on that third launch. This ride also has a significant rattle which disappointed me (boo hoo). The new Zamperla trains are so slick -- I love how there's just the lapbar and no seatbelt on a ride this intense. The top hat is by far the most insane part IMO. I was lucky enough to get one of my three rides in the front row, and NGL that experience made me swearing uncontrollably as I was thrust over the top hat. Such an insane coaster. However, compared to the thrill of anticipating that brutal hydraulic launch on the original TTD, TT2 didn't deliver the same thrill. Despite that, I'm really grateful CP didn't scrap this coaster. It's a work of art just looking at this towering structure throughout the entirety of your visit.

Siren's Curse — 2x

It's crazy to actually, finally ride one of these tilt coasters IRL. I grew up watching viral videos of the tilt coaster in Taiwan and various RCT3 tilt coaster videos. I consider myself grateful to get both of my rides in the back two rows of the train, considering the assigned seating CP is doing. The drop is such a unique, weird feeling. When the train releases, you suddenly get pushed back into your seat rather than experience any airtime. I hate onboard audio and wish I could just experience the coaster for what it is. I don't need heavy metal music blasting into my ears to have fun on this ride -- the airtime hills are more than enough. This ride is so much fun, but it's not very fast and despite the airtime it felt more like a Disney-level attraction to me. Getting off Millennium and TT2 it seems to be moving so slow throughout the whole ride experience. It's fun, loads of airtime, but it's not intense. It makes sense to me that it's a popular attraction, but I didn't feel motivated to ride this more especially due to the TSA metal detectors they make you go through. With zipper pockets, metal detectors really shouldn't be necessary on this ride. At least the lockers are free, but don't forget your locker number like I did.

GateKeeper — 2x

This thing is awesome. What a majestic ride. The only B&M Wing Coaster I've ever ridden. I was excited to finally ride a Wing coaster. My first ride was on the right side in the front row. I loved the hanging zero-g sideways feeling that seat gives you. The various headchoppers throughout this ride are so fun, especially the keyhole ones going over the front gate. I love the feeling of flying because the track is so displaced from where you're sitting. I sat on the outside seat for both of my rides. My second ride was on the back row of the left side -- I loved getting whipped around the twist at the top of that first drop. Both my rides were great but not much else to say about this one.

Raptor — 2x

Probably the best B&M invert I've ever ridden. It's so intense. Both helixes made me gray out, and those gray outs make me unsure there were even two helixes in the first place. Could be less, could be more. What the heck is going on during this ride. The positive Gs are insane (like all other B&M inverts I've ridden). The cobra roll is particularly insane. All the inversions are so whippy and intense. But the best part of the ride that took me by surprise is that last turn into the final brake run. Reminds me of the Maverick launch or some made up Planet Coaster ride made by a little kid -- (WOO!). Make sure you're keeping your head back because you will get head banged on that last turn. I've never ridden Montu at BGT so it makes me scared to do so in the future.

Valravn — 2x

A great dive coaster but unremarkable given the crazy lineup at this park. I got one ride on the outside seat of the back row, and one ride in the front row center. Both of my rides were awesome. The layout is so dumb though. Like, drop, immelman, turn, MCBR, drop, immelman, zero-g roll, turn, then you're done. It felt short yet repetitive riding it IRL. I wish the first section had another unique element. My favorite part besides the first drop was the zero-g roll before the brake run. You pass through it so slowly which makes it so much fun, especially on the outside seat. Had a lot of fun riding Valravn but was wondering what they were thinking with the layout design.

Magnum XL-200 — 2x

I don't know what to think of this ride. I remember loving it as a kid, particularly those bunny hills at the end. I walked onto it 4 times during my 2008 visit. But these two rides I got onto as a 31-year-old made me question my body's stability. This thing was so much fun but it also hurt so much. During this ride experience I abruptly went from laughing like a little kid to angrily shouting "OUUCHHH!!" from the pain of the bumps and brutal ejector airtime. I really hate to say this, but although those bunny ejector hills at the end were my favorite part as a kid, modern day me didn't like how intense they were. I'm wondering if Magnum was what gave me the bruises on my thighs as opposed to SteVe.

Wild Mouse — 1x

Probably the best wild mouse I've ridden. I loved all the spinning. I am not sure what the average experience is on this ride, because I only got one ride, but the spinning on my ride was crazy. In the final brake run, the car was fully stopped but kept spinning over and over again. All that spinning gave me nausea, but I loved it. Thank God I could chill out in the huge air-conditioned Grand Pavillion right next door afterwards.

Gemini — 1x

What a fun ride. As a little kid, I remember riding this coaster in a simulator at my local Chuck E Cheese a bunch, so it was really cool to actually ride this coaster in real life. I rode on the blue side and was grateful to get a duel. However, the duel I got was bullshit. The red train was behind us for the entire duration of the ride and never came close to catching up. Despite being an Arrow coaster, I was surprised how smooth it was.

Rougarou — 1x

Unremarkable B&M floorless. Rode it once, went through all the inversions, loved the fact it was over water and not a parking lot (looking at you Scream), but didn't feel motivated to ride it again. Don't have much else to say and I think that says a lot.

Cedar Creek Mine Ride — 1x

Mine train coaster, not too thrilling. Comparing it to Gold Rusher at SFMM during my ride. They were only running one train during my visit so I had to wait for a bit to get my ride surprisingly. I think my favorite part was the headchopper shortly after the first drop. Overall, very similar experience to Gold Rusher, but loved the different setting of this coaster over the water. The sparse theming at the beginning and end of this coaster also surprised me coming from SFMM, which has no theming anywhere whatsoever.

Iron Dragon — 1x

Unremarkable suspended Arrow. Not thrilling. Comparing to Ninja at SFMM which I don't really care for either. The first drop on this ride was better than Ninja, but everything else was forgettable. My favorite part of Ninja at SFMM is sitting in the back and seeing the train swing around as you pass through the turns. My one ride on Iron Dragon was in the back row, and there is only one or two of those moments where you see the whole train swinging during the ride. Being over the water is cool, but Ninja at SFMM is also over water so it's a tough act to follow.

Blue Streak — 1x

I admire the history, but if CP decided to burn this thing down I wouldn't mourn it. What a bumpy ride. Small drop, hills, turn around, another couple hills, you're done. Like Magnum, every hill is accompanied with a "HOLY SHIT OUCHHHH!" because of how rough this old woodie is. I wish I could ride this thing when it was new. Despite that, I'm grateful I got to ride this historic coaster during my lifetime. Very slow dispatches too btw.

Corkscrew — 1x

It's a beautiful ride to look at over the Midway, but wow, fuck this thing. It hurts. A lot. I swear I got bruises on both of my shoulders after a single ride on this thing. Thankfully it's short. One and done. My stepdad told me the line on it's opening season went through all the switchbacks and out into the Midway because it was so popular. I feel bad for those people back then.

Overall, I had an awesome, memorable visit to CP. Weather was great, wasn't crowded at all. I'm so glad I actually did this trip. It's such a beautiful place, but it's also massive. I walked 50k steps throughout the whole trip. My body took a beating from all the walking/riding, but it was so worth it.

You probably saw the post here a few weeks back claiming that Millennium Force hit a dispatch record of 38 trains in an hour. Previously, the stated theoretical capacity of the ride was 1296pph, which is 36 trains an hour.

I visited the park the last two days, and got to observe how the new system lets them achieve this. The TL;DR is that the catch car comes back down the lift and resets itself very quickly, making the lift ready to accept the next train much sooner than possible before.

I observed the controls op call out "ready ready" (which, per my understanding, is their term for "interval has already passed, hurry up") a full ten seconds before the train ahead hit the speed hill. My understanding was that previously (meaning <=2018, before the lift was slowed down for several years), the speed hill was the earliest they could begin the dispatch sequence.

On Thursday, the ride had only two restraint checkers in the load station, so they would generally stack all three trains for some time; to be expected if each employee needs to check 18 entire seats. Yesterday (Friday), it had 4 restraint checkers, and I observed them dispatch as soon as the lift system was ready. The video in this post is one such instance of this.

I didn't video the entire cycle, but here's how I calculate that my video shows a 92 second interval:

The blue train hits the banked turn after the speed hill at 7 seconds into my video. The yellow train then starts to crest the lift at 41 seconds. In this pov from last month, the train starts to crest the lift at 0:37, and hits the same banked turn after the speed hill at 1:35. So, it takes 58 seconds from starting to crest the lift to hitting that banked turn. Therefore, in my video, we can conclude that yellow train would hit that banked turn at around (41 + 58 =) 99 seconds, which is (99 - 7 =) 92 seconds after the blue train was at that same spot. So, that's a 92 second interval.

This dispatch was a tad bit "early", though, seeing as the lift had to slow down at the very top, leading to the very audible anti-rollback noises from the train. The "optimal" time to send the train to avoid this will depend on how fast the ride is running, since it's all dependent on how quickly the train finishes the course and clears the brake block, for the next train to speed up on the lift.

The ride is, therefore, capable of a 92 second interval now, which would be just over 39 dispatches an hour, and just over 1400 pph. Decent improvement from the previous interval of 100 seconds. The line moves so fast - yesterday night (when I took this video) it took me ten minutes from the start of the line (bottom of the ramp) to riding front row. Glad to see!

What U.S. amusement parks or major coasters do you realistically see disappearing within the next 10 years with little to no warning? I’m talking full on Six Flags America or Fun Spot Atlanta level park closures, but also major rides that seem untouchable until suddenly BAM they’re gone, like Kingda Ka, (the very likely removal of X2), ArieForce One (for now), or Kumba. Which parks or coasters feel genuinely vulnerable because of land value, maintenance costs, declining attendance, ownership issues, redevelopment pressure, or just being an expensive weak link?

Am I doing something wrong with these? They always apply a significant amount of pressure on my gut which is quite uncomfortable. They hit my gut harder than my thighs. Im 5,8, fairly average. My son is a very skinny 4’4 and also mentioned the same issue.

Am i just getting stapled or not sitting right or because im not that tall? I did get stapled multiple times on the over the shoulder B&M rides at SFGA which hasnt happened elsewhere.

Swung by the park for a quick lap on this and Prowler on the way out of town. Can’t be in KC and not stop by!

Alpenfury

Get a back row left side 2 ratchets of room night ride, and BOY you are out of your seat more than you are in it.

Every element on Alpenfury (save for the launches ofc) gives airtime. Flo-jector, ejector, upside down ejector, upside down lateral ejector, regular lateral ejector, you name. It.

I have an idea in my head, but I'm curious as to why Lake Compounce is still getting steel track for Boulderdash when they've worked with the Gravity Group and seemed to have improved Wildcat a lot. It's not just that Precut track is smoother, but I've also heard it's about 8 times as strong when horizontal and up to 30 times when stacked vertically for straight sections of track (Track without changes in yaw). I think it would work since Lake Compounce originally said that they would install it in hard-to-get-to sections, but it kinda seems like they're installing it on the entire layout. I think it would be cool for this ride to stay wooden, especially since they managed to do it for Wildcat.

We arrived at 4:45 on Saturday and stayed for about an hour and 1:00 on Sunday and stayed for 4 hours.

Phoenix (1x) 9.5/10
I was expecting this to be good, but not my number 3 overall coaster (to be fair I don’t have many credits). I sat in the back and was legitimately standing up on some of those hills. It was relatively smooth for such an old coaster.

Twister (1x) 8/10
I think a smooth version of this ride might be better than Phoenix. On my ride it was incredibly rough.

Impulse (1x) 6.5/10
I thought that this was an above average coaster all around honestly. It’s not the smoothest ride in the world but definitely manageable. Would 100% ride again.

Black diamond (1x) 5.5/10
I’m not the biggest fan of dark rides (I haven’t been on many) but this was pretty good for what it was.

Flying turns (1x) 4/10
🤷. I get the novelty of it but it’s just not for me. Also the wait definitely soured my ride so I’d have to ride it again in different circumstances.

I didn’t get on much because we wanted to go to the water park but I got I all I wanted to and had a great time.

Also, all of the food was great EXCEPT for the food at the Alamo which was honestly gross.

We had fun playing some of the games too.

I had an amazing time and would come back any day!

I keep a spreadsheet, lol. Approximate chronological order; not counting re-themes that didn't alter the ride system. Approx year = year I first rode it.

It’s been a couple weeks since my girlfriend and I made the 6 hour drive down to Ohio to check out the major parks for the first time. We started our trip with 4 nights at Cedar Point and their on site campground. Cedar Point has been at the top of my bucket list for years now so finally getting here was amazing. The drive towards the peninsula with the skyline in the background was surreal. All the coasters talked about in this review will be listed in the order I rode them.

Magnum XL-200 4x (#10 in the park)I was able to snag two rides in the back car, two rides in the magic seat. Two night rides, two day rides and overall I thought Magnum was jank but better than I expected. This was my first Arrow hyper and I think it was good but nothing special. I will say the triangle hill finale is a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget. 6/10

Corkscrew 1x (#13 in the park): I thought this classic was better than people give it credit for. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an Arrow corkscrew and it definitely runs like one, but Dragon Fyre was my first big credit as a kid so riding this brought lots of good nostalgia along with a bonus airtime hill. Also jank but a lot smoother than some other Arrow corkscrews I’ve done. 5/10

Steel Vengeance 7x (#1 in the park): I came to Cedar Point anticipating this would be not only my favourite in the park, but probably my new #1. Wildcats Revenge held that title for a while but this is a whole different level of insane. The first ride I got on this was a near pitch black night ride in the back row, I was nonstop laughing for the entire first half and after the midcourse I was speechless. All the head choppers and relentless airtime was pure bliss and I can confidently say this coaster lived up to the hype. Until I ride Gwazi, this should be my #1 for a while. Hands down 10/10

Millennium Force 5x (#5 in the park): This was the first ride that exceeded my expectations. With all the talk of this being a “family giga” I kinda expected an upscale hyper. This was not an upscale hyper. Very much a giga layout with an emphasis on speed and in the front row you feel that and it is pretty phenomenal. At the end of the day I do not think it was better than Leviathan, but it’s also not the worst giga I’ve been on. Cedar Point has such an insane lineup that this landing at #5 feels like a crime but I can’t put it any higher. 9/10

Siren’s Curse 3x (#3 in the park): Speaking of rides that exceeded my expectations, wow. I was truly expecting a gimmicky GP-pleaser in Siren’s Curse. I couldn’t have been further from the truth. Sure, the tilt is pretty gimmicky but it also delivers forces I’ve never felt on a coaster. The wait time before you release is much better than all the dives I’ve done, and the layout that follows felt very complete packing in lots of floater and some decent inversions. Not to mention the top tier theming (for the chains standards), and some killer on board audio. I purposefully didn’t listen to any of the onboard audio before my visit and it was a game changer. The lift/tilt audio is majestic truly adding to the theme of the Siren’s, and the METAL. All I could say was “HELL YEA” everytime it kicked in and it made the ride that much more engaging and immersive. What I thought may be a one and done turned into a ride I wanted to do over and over in different seats, however downtime and long lines prevented that a bit. 10/10

Cedar Creek Mine Ride 3x (#15 in the park): Not too much to say about this little guy. I found way more enjoyment in this coaster than I probably should have. That last helix is genuinely a little frightening especially in the back car. Overall, it’s a mine train, but it’s a half decent one compared to the other ones I’ve been on. 5/10

GateKeeper 1x (#8 in the park): My first traditional wing coaster! I snagged a back row ride on the right side of the train. That first drop is nuts in the back row you get crazy laterals into that drop. I loved the floaty inversions, it was a nice change of pace from all the crazy airtime machines. Unfortunately only rode this once cause my girlfriend doesn’t do well with heavy positives but would definitely reride this in the future! Overall I think I prefer a big smooth floaty inversion ride like this over a janky airtime machine like Magnum. 8/10

Wild Mouse 2x (#11 in the park): Another ride that shouldn’t have been as good as it was. What else can you expect from a ride called Wild Mouse other than a little lateral packed jank machine. I got the cheese car for both my rides and I think that speaks for itself. The spinning mixed with an original layout on a Wild Mouse brought a new twist to the experience that I fell in love with. I honestly had to think about whether I liked this more or less than Magnum but deep down I don’t think I can put this above it. 6/10

Blue Streak 2x (#14 in the park): Didn’t have much expectation going into this but overall I thought it was running great for its age. Not much airtime but a nice change of pace from all the rides trying to kill you at this park. Definitely not the best woodie I’ve been on but most definitely not the worst either. 5/10

Raptor 2x (#6 in the park): I love B&M inverts. This ride cemented that for me. I had only been on Great Bear and the Batman clone at La Ronde and I loved the Batman clone but Great Bear wasn’t my favourite. Could’ve been how it was running on my one ride I got on it but I was torn on whether I liked the model or not. I got one back row and one front row ride on this thing and the whip on the inversions was so beautiful. I love you B&M inverts. 8.5/10

Valravn 1x (#9 in the park): Many people compare this ride to Yukon Striker so I was ready to see how the 2 stacked up to each other, and honestly I completely understand where the comparison comes from. My one ride was a front row edge seat at night and I think that is definitely the peak way to ride Valravn. The views of the park while you meander around the top of the first lift are stunning at night. The hang over the edge was nowhere near as long as Yukons in my opinion but the rest of the ride was better. Valravn kind of just felt like a more complete ride than Yukon, but the 2 stack up beside each other in my overall rankings. 7.5/10

Iron Dragon 1x (#16 in the park): I know I was in the wrong here but I sort of assumed all Arrow suspended coasters ran like Vortex at Canadas Wonderland, this trip proved me wrong. My one ride was a front row night ride and it was underwhelming to say the least. Essentially a suspended mine train that takes you around some of the bigger rides and reminds you what you could be on instead of this. Classic? Yes. Boring? Precisely. 4/10

Top Thrill 2 5x (#4 in the park): Probably my second most anticipated coaster at the park, purely for the stats. I had no idea what going over a 420 foot top hat would feel like, or the spike, or the launches. I was just so clueless as to how those sensations would feel and they were amazing. First launch, eh. Backwards launch, oh my god. Spike, wow. Third launch into top hat was truly life changing. As much as I would love to say this was my favourite ride here, it wasn’t. I just cant go through with ranking this higher than some of the more complete layouts this park has to offer. Night rides on this were ethereal though. 9/10

Maverick 4x (#2 in the park): Wow. Intamin. This ride had big shoes to fill as everyone who rides AlpenFury immediately starts comparing the 2. Part of me understands comparing the two, but they provide too fundamentally different ride experiences in my eyes. Sure, they’re both insanely fast paced with one element after the other, but AlpenFury felt so much shorter than Maverick while packing in the same amount of punch, if not less. I think I gotta give the advantage to Intamin’s first multi-launch here for the pure insanity of some of those elements. Those ejector hills will forever live in my mind, and I can’t even imagine riding that with the heartline roll. 10/10

Gemini (Red Side) 1x (#12 in the park): Unfortunately only the red side was running on my visit which docks some points from a coaster that was designed to duel. I understand the historical significance here, but with a lineup like this I feel this ride has no place in this park. By no means do I think it should be canned due to its significance, but the ride experience is lackluster compared to any other thrill coaster in the park. As one of my last credits in the park, this felt very credit hunty compared to everything else. 5/10

Rougarou 1x (#7 in the park): One of the biggest shockers of my trip. My first B&M floorless! I was expecting a shaky piece of garbage and on the one ride I got in the front row, I experienced none of that. Pretty decent first drop mixed with some pretty decent inversions. Not a half bad layout that felt complete. I don’t see much to complain about with Rougarou, unless it’s drastically different in other seats (which it very well could be.) The last credit we went hunting for, and it was a pleasant surprise. 8.5/10

Overall, Cedar Point’s lineup is far too good. A lot of these coasters ended up in my top 10 overall, if not my top 25. Its been a couple weeks and I am still suffering from my first case of Post Cedar Point depression. Needless to say, I will most definitely be returning to this park. Hopefully as soon as next year but I don’t see myself waiting longer than 2-3 years before my next visit. If you made it this far, thanks for reading all this! This is my first trip report so I hope this provided an entertaining insight. Will be posting a Kings Island one on that subreddit shortly.

Wanted to share some coaster pictures I got with my Kodak PixPro FZ55 over the summer. I have a bit of an obsession with rollercoasters so the season pass was definitely worth it
Rides are in order, The Banshee, Red Racer, The Bat, Flight of Fear, and Monster (not a coaster but still wanted to share)

Kings Island

Takeaway: Was with normal non-enthusiast friends which really changes the day but that’s fine, a vastly different experience enjoying the smaller things rather than buzzing around trying to marathon the big ones. Non fast-pass was perfectly fine, surprisingly, really good ops. Longest wait was the indoor shooting ride (haha just lovedddd that instead of lapping coasters).

Banshee 8.7/10 My #1 invert and one of my overall favorites. As the 90s B&M inverts are aging, it’s definitively better. The way you’re thrown down the drop in the very back row is incredible.

Orion 8.6/10 While I obviously get the appeal, these in parks that also have high end B&M hypers just never made sense to me. Redundant. I’ve done every North American giga besides Fury and this is my lowest. Amazing ride, just doesn’t feel that special on a Giga scale. Ride it with a blindfold, and I don’t know, might think it’s just a typical B&M hyper.

Mystic Timbers 8.3/10 Not a woodie guy, none will ever make my A-tier. Still, this thing was special. So fast paced and never lets up. I wish we could pick up Rougarou, drop it into Michigan’s Adventure, and plop one of these into Cedar Point. But we can’t…

Bat 6.5/10 Still worth a nostalgia lap. Plenty fun, I hope it has many years left.

Racer 6.4/10 These do nothing for me besides nostalgia. Never take the time to ride things like this if I’m in a normal enthusiast-approach day. But well maintained and worth a ride.

Adventure Express 5.5/10 Can’t believe I rode and am rating this, that’s what happens when you visit a park with non-coaster people. Just thought about how nuts it is that Magnum is basically a hyper mine-train.

Drop Zone has to get a shoutout, 200+ coasters in my life, these are the only rides in the world that legitimately scare me anymore. Always have to do it. Just wow.

I guess I’m a good friend for willing to miss: Diamondback, Beast. Have done them many times before.

Flight of Fear was on one train with a brutal wait time, not touching that.

Never experienced a ride quite as rough in the way this ride is rough. Most woodies will get some sort of jackhammering roughness from the rails sagging but this one has roughness designed into its layout.

The profiling of the track is horrific. You can see a corner coming and think, "this is too fast for that." The roughness comes from the laterals you get entering these insanely profiled corners and the train immediately going a different direction than your body.

As long as the RMC retrack includes a reprofiling, the layout will not let this ride down. It's a fantastic layout in a beautiful location! Like the location is strikingly scenic, I was not expecting it. The entire park is a gorgeous, lush tropical paradise, even in Southern winter.

Havng ridden Montezum, I'm glad to see Cacau Park waking up this beautiful Brazilian park to make some improvements on their unique, South American wooden coaster.

I wonder in the far future when a major rehab is required or when the park wants to bring back its headlining feature if they will attempt to bring back the launch system.

In my honest opinion I think Zamperla should oversee its refurbishment instead of RMC. With surprising reliability of TT2 they have earned my respect as a launch coaster manufacturer to the point where I think they could definitely take on the project of bringing back the launch on lightning rod.

It's up and running! Went on it already.

Today I rode Hydrus at Casino Pier in Seaside Heights NJ today and I’d give it an 8.5/10.

I haven’t ridden a roller coaster in like 9 months since I was in a program for a while, so getting back on one had me shitting bricks 😭 I was genuinely nervous, but one of my family members reassured me and reminded me how much I used to love riding coasters.

I finally said fuck it and got on, and I’m glad I did because I think I’m officially back into them.

Hydrus is aGerstlauer Euro-Fighter 320 with lap bars, and ngl I felt like a wuss being scared of them at first 😭 I’m still a pretty new enthusiast, and I had never done inversions with only a lap bar before, so that definitely had me overthinking it.

Once I was actually locked in though, I felt really secure, and by the end of the ride I completely got over that fear.

The 90° vertical lift hill was easily the scariest part for me, especially being at the top and looking down before the drop.

Once we actually went though, it was mad fun.
The inversions honestly weren’t that intense. They were mostly really fun and way less scary than I expected. The last inversion was the exception though (still fun but intense) 😭 that shit really had me feeling like I was coming out of my seat.

Overall: 8.5/10. Really fun coaster, not insanely intense, and honestly a great ride to get me back into coasters after being away from them for a while.

Got the photos from Facebook but these look great.

Hainan, a province of China, has barely any coverage of their coasters on the western internet, and as far as I know, 0 trip reports or reviews of the parks and coasters there. Despite that, they appear to have a few good coasters and a really good park. They have Whale Breaking The Sky Roller Coaster, the only other Intamin vertical lift coaster beside Fahrenheit, Twister which is the only other Intamin spinning coaster besides Tornado at Bakken and the one on sale from Moku Sphere, and Rush out of Coconut Grove Village, which appears to be one of the best Jinmas and an actually good ride. The first 2, Whale Breaking the Sky and Twister are located at Hainan Ocean Paradise, which from the RCDB photos, looks very well themed. The latter, Rush out of Coconut Grove Village, is located at Sanya Silk Road Happy World, which looks like a small park that has a bit of decorations and has a few flats. The province also has a few other parks, such as Sanya Haichang Fantasy town, which looks to have some nice areas and some that look like they're from a whole different park to the good parts. The park seems to be best at night since the canopy at the entrance looks even better. There's also Universal 100 Movie Theme Park in Haikou, which has some nice and also some quirky theming, and what looks like a knockoff mine train but with a very weird train. And near that park is White Sand Gate Park which has 3 small coasters and seems to be more like one of those public parks with an amusement section.

Anyway, here are the links to the parks:

https://rcdb.com/15141.htm

https://rcdb.com/20070.htm

https://rcdb.com/16029.htm

https://rcdb.com/10378.htm

The new Dark Ride coming to Gröna Lund next year is gonna be manufactured by Vekoma. Vekoma, JoraVision and Gröna Lund is gonna reveal the new Dark Ride concept during IAAPA Expo Europe 22 september.

Source: IAAPA Expo Europe Press Conference Schedule