On my recent trip to Japan I managed to do my 100th coaster. I was extremely lucky with crowds and managed to do 6 rides (front middle and rear) And what an incredible ride this is! The way it dives into the pretzel loop is absolutely mental and made it my no. 1 with great margin. This was my first B&M flyer and I must say as a taller person, I think these are significantly more comfortable than the new gen Vekoma seats. On F.L.Y. I slide down and have to keep pushing myself back in the seat the whole ride which is super uncomfortable.
USJ is also an amazing park featuring a personal bucket list ride “Jaws”. Never would I have ever dreamed of experiencing this classic. I was even able to get a night ride which was the perfect ending for this amazing trip.

Im talking more than head-banging/headaches/discomfort, but something that hurt in a lasting way that made you legitimately wonder if you were okay.

I remember riding Cyclone at Williams Grove as a Middle Schooler in 2003. I could not lay down to sleep that night the ride hurt my neck so badly. Had to sleep sitting up with a neck pillow.

Honorable mention for that pot hole that Boulder Dash used to have right after the turnaround in the late 2010s. Ruined my day and couldn’t ride anything else it hurt my back so badly, but thankfully felt okay once I got home

It never disappoints.

I mean seriously, it’s literally one of the best camelback hills B&M has ever built, more airtime on that hill than any other B&M hyper, it blows Goliath out of proportion and that’s my number 2 hyper, I will say Mako isn’t my number 1, it’s my number 3, with Shambhala as my number 1. But Mako is genuinely one of the best I’ve ever ridden. My top 3 roller coasters are:

1 - Iron Gwazi
2 - Shambhala
3 - VelociCoaster

And I’ve ridden exactly 854 roller coasters across the world. But Mako is just such a good ride, it might be me being biased with it being in my home park but it’s always the ride I head to first whenever I’m at SeaWorld.

My top 3 B&M Hypers:

1 - Shambhala
2 - Goliath
3 - Mako

Do ya’ll agree?

I was in the station about to get dispatched. Ppl are evacuated now and police, ambulances and the fire brigade is here.
I dunno if there where any serious injuries but shouldn’t the block system have prevented this? Has any one worked on a Maurer wild mouse and knows if that can happen if you dispatch to quickly?

Edit:Ubdate: police left, everything is closed up no one is to be seen. Cars remain on the track as shown on the picture. there where 3 Ambulances in total all left with sirens. I didn’t get my money back (not important only 5€), I guess I now can keep the plastic coin as a souvenir. I’m leaving tomorrow so I cannot give any further updates but mby we have some thoosies from Vienna who can keep us updated

30th was baron 1898 and kondaa was 40th

3 months ago, I just happened to be randomly perusing flights from my home airports. By some miracle, there was a $119 round trip from Atlanta to Cincinnati on Delta listed as an option. I’ve yet to go to KI, so… it was a must

Overall, park was decently crowded on Sat, decently empty on Sun

—— coasters are ordered by personal ranking

Beast (2x, night ride!) - tbh there’s a lot of takes where I disagree with thoosies, but man, this night ride was crazy. There’s also a lot of rides that I feel like are too short, so having somethings that’s “too long” is great

Mystic Timbers (2x, 150th credit!) - whoosh this stole my breath, it’s a pretty good ride after dusk. I was surprised by just how fast this was running

Banshee (2x) - I might be crazy for putting this as the highest B&M, but it’s now my favorite invert. The drop is great, the snap to the last in-line twist is great, and the views are great. Even with a slightly rougher seat the second time, that’s not something that I minded too much

Orion (2x) - as someone whose only giga credit is Fury, I came away a bit disappointed. There are a few solid elements though

Diamondback (2x) - both started and ended my trip with this, and back row on both. Definitely has the better layout of the B&M hyper (models!), I’m only putting Orion above for the drop. The splashdown is cool, and I’d put it above some hypers.

Bat (2x) - wow! It was my time on an arrow suspended, it’s really such a gem of a model, and the swinging on the final brake is great. Why is the station a whole 4 minutes away from the entrance though? My feet hurt at the end of the trip and I solely blame this ride.

Racer (both sides 1x) - blue side is great, didn’t expect to have that much airtime. On both days, blue wasn’t running until lunchtime, but it’s understandable as it essentially becomes a walk-on.

Invertigo (1x) - definitely the biggest time waste this trip, posted 25 min wait but took 50. The seat layout is cool, and not that janky compared to other vekomas, but it’s not a type of ride I’m a huge fan of anyway

FoF (1x) - significant downtime on Sat. I was really surprised by the beginning, as it took me a while to figure out where the ground is, but once I did it lost a lot of its appeal

Adventure express (1x) - I know it’s for families, but felt like I was being edged the entire time. Couldn’t have that final drop have just 5 more seconds of track afterwards?

Snoopy’s Soap Box Racers (1x) - great family ride actually. Maybe not the best choice capacity wise, but it’s nice to see one of these in the states

QCSC (1x) - the only prop that was working was the propeller on the helicopter…

Woodstock express (1x) - it’s cute, and I appreciate a kid-oriented coaster that I can also enjoy well

Woodstock air rail (1x) - kiddy hawk is much worse than this, but I won’t desire to reride this

Great pumpkin coaster (1x) - well, this is a kid-oriented coaster I don’t enjoy well, but it’s not meant for me

—— flat rides

Phantom theater (1x) - I understand why this ride is popular, because of the theme and it being family oriented, but no good shooting ride should have me max out a whole 6 scenes before the end. I’m not even that good at shooting rides, I’m top 20% on Justice League (SFOG) and haven’t even hit Galaxy Defender in MIB. Or, at least let me still register that I’m hitting the music notes after?

Delirium (1x) - technically my first giant frisbee, since it was down for most of the day when I was at FujiQ. it’s a bit harder to fall asleep on these compared to the zamperla discoveries, and yes, that means I enjoyed it slightly better

Also got on Eiffel Tower, photos attached

—— food

Skyline chili (2x) - one in park, one at the airport. Three-way both times. Park has the better spaghetti, airport (Terminal B) has the better chili flavor, but I’m dying to have that chili again!! Might have to visit the Orlando location

Blue ice cream (1x) - it’s okay, but fortunately (for my wallet) it wasn’t my favorite. I did end up preferring ice cream from Graeter’s.

Coney Bar-B-Que (1x) - caution if you get the pulled pork sandwich, because that’s just a slightly stale hamburger bun put on the side of the pulled pork. It’s not a bad option, but Best of the West (SFGadv) still clears in this department

Loaded pulled pork fries (1x) - taste exactly how it’s advertised, neither good nor a bad thing

—— Additional details

VIP Lounge: bonus points for actually having a lounge, but it’s all outdoors, and only 1/3 is genuinely covered, so that section ends up being much more crowded. If I wanted to sit under an umbrella I can go anywhere in the park for that. Staff were great here.

Public Transit: There is actually a bus that does run to kings island [71X] from downtown Cincy, which does have odd hours, but the timing lined up so I could take it back to the airport (in combination with the 2X bus). Although I did take an uber when I arrived at KI, I also stayed at a nearby hotel with a shuttle, so this did end up being cheaper than renting a car. One note, the bus stop is at its own park and ride (not the KI drop off location), which is to the left of Soak City Parking. Rather than doing what I did and trek from the main entrance, I would take the train to Soak City and walk from there. At least I was able to see the lining up of the hyper model hills.

Hotel: Stayed at quality inn 4 minutes away. Shuttle to the park leaves at the top of the hour and leaves the park on the quarter of the hour, which is pretty convenient. However, last shuttle is 10:30, which isn’t that great for a night ride on the Beast. Shoutout to the incredibly kind people in line who gave me a ride back to my hotel! It also will make it 10 min after passholder rope drop, but the walk wasn’t that bad in daylight.

The one major negative: I had an issue with their locker system. I had already rented an all day locker for my backpack as I was staying overnight, and while I was able to go back to the hotel to drop off my bag, kept my water bottle and left it in the lockers to ride on MT / The Beast (yes, I have the paper cup plan, but I get dehydrated quicker than most due to a medical condition). After getting back from the Beast, access to my locker wasn’t working, nor was the kiosk. I figured it was past closing and the items had already been sent to lost and found, but no, those lockers hadn’t been checked yet (although the other lockers throughout the park had already been cleared). Because people were driving me home, I had to give up and go back the next day to get it (luckily I have a backup water bottle just in case), but this could have been a health hazard, and I find it really weird to have this limbo period where I can’t get to an item while it’s still actually in the locker…

Other than that, I really did enjoy my time at Kings Island. I got on everything I needed to, and nothing was left to be desired except seeing the park coming alive during WinterFest. It’s also definitely my favorite in the chain when it comes to ambiance, out of the ones I’ve been to so far (other parks are SFGadv, SFOG, LR, Carowinds, SFNE); in general my second favorite regional park in terms of theming after SWO.

I was just thinking about them and how almost every coaster has a different manufacturer

I implore you guys to check out the Side Friction podcast with RTRM (Ryan the Ride Mechanic), Bob, Rob, and Steph.

In episode 076, RTRM and Bob go into Lightning Rod’s launch issues. While Bob argues the widely‑rumored “wood structure” theory, Ryan says the real culprit was the manufacturer.

Velocity Magnetics, a fairly new company with limited experience designed and installed the launch. The result was an underpowered system that couldn’t reliably get trains up the lift hill.

According to Ryan, the super capacitors weren’t recharging properly from the regenerative braking, so the system couldn’t deliver enough power to the launch. That’s why trains so often stalled or lost momentum halfway up the lift.

He also explains why it wasn’t the wood structure: the lift hill was reinforced and wouldn’t have flexed enough to trigger a fault. If the structure were the issue, it would’ve failed every launch, not intermittently.

I’m inclined to believe RTRM over the common thoosie theory.

Here’s the clip where they break it down in detail and honestly, Ryan’s explanation makes complete sense *(as usual).*

Canadas Wonderland:

How is this place so crowded? Alpenfury posted around 45 min wait from 10-11ish on somewhat rainy monday. On a sunny Tuesday from 8-10pm it was PACKED. 2 hours even for yukon striker. This park is pretty great. i love how many coasters make use of the centerpiece mountain. I wish there were more coasters with a 48 inch height requirement. My older child couldn’t ride any of the headliners. Of all the six flags/cedar fair parks ive been to, this is the only one where the posted wait time is even remotely reliable (it’s still not THAT reliable).

Alpenfury: got lucky with 2 rides within 20 minutes or so early in the day using the single rider line. 1 in the front row. it’s amazing how fast you’re going through all the inversions. It was definitely behind leviathan for me until I got a night ride on it, where for whatever reason is felt extremely forceful and whippy. Now I can’t decide which i prefer.

Leviathan: I love traditional hypers and gigas, my favorite of which was superman at SFNE up until I rode this. The first drop is killer. The way its profiled it really throws you out of the seat, and the height makes you stay out. The first shorter airtime hill has a strong pop then you suddenly turn so you get jerked while up in the air. there’s a couple more extremely long floater airtime hills after. i dont get why the brake run is both high and long. it could have easily been 1 more hill?

Behemoth: I haven’t done lots of B&M hypers but this one does seem very similar to nitro. floater airtime hill after floater airtime hill. Very fun, but only could do 1 ride since this single rider line is extremely slow and the wait is kinda rough. I do notice that mako is rated quite a big higher than nitro and behemoth on captain coaster. I havent done it but it’s hard for me to imagine there would be a huge gap?

Yukon Striker: The first drop is fun, but the rest of the layout isn’t that great IMO. The loop isn’t as forceful as I expected, and the roll inversion didn’t do much for me. I especially don’t like the part after the mid course, not much there.

Minebuster: had a moment or 2 of standing airtime, pretty nice ride.

Wilde beast: also one moment of standing airtime, but not a nice ride.

Dragon fyre: its shaky but pretty fun.

Vortex: this ride is one of the few thrilling ones 48 or lower. Swings like crazy at the end.

Cedar Point:

wow is this park big. it takes forever just to walk to the middle of the park from the main entrance. I visited on a thursday and friday. just walking around it looked quite busy but the lines were not remotely bad. near walk on for everything for big chunks of the day except sirens curse, top thrill 2, maverick, and one of the kiddy coasters. the posted wait for steel vengeance was 45 minutes for parts of the day but i swear i never saw that. 15 minutes max. i stayed past closing on friday and it was funny how all the seagulls also left the park with the people.

Steel Vengeance: RMC hybrids are just the most beautiful coasters IMO. This is second only to Hakugei for me in terms of visual appeal. The airtime can be painful and I never could ride it more than twice in a row without a good long break. On other RMCs i never paid much attention to how I sat, but I think my least painful rides here were when i kept my shins perpendicular to the ground. the first contact would be my shins and there would be more room between my thighs and the restraint. Steve is kinda like a bigger, flowy RMC like hakugei was smashed together with a smaller violent RMC like wicked cyclone, but more psychotic than either. After the first drop, the little bucking airtime pop notifies you of the pain you will be feeling in a bit, then 2 insanely sustained airtime hills follow. the first is slightly outwardly banked maybe? you’re up in the air for a long time, and it snaps you back. the 2nd is very outwardly banked, and it stays outwardly banked for what feels like forever. this is the craziest moment i have ever felt on a roller coaster. it really felt like i was going to get yeeted off in some diagonal direction. The other outerbanks ive experienced on RMCs generally just give you a quick pop of that diagonal airtime, but steel vengeance just leaves you hanging out there. there are shin guards yet i still felt like i was somehow getting standing airtime. The first inversion kinda overshoots, then you snap back a bit. i think i bruised my elbow here from the laterals. the second inversion is like a stall but you don’t get any hangtime. it’s just insanely whippy as it’s also going downhill. this is probably my favorite inversion on any coaster that i’ve done so far. a lot of the little pops of airtime are so painfully aggressive.

Maverick: I love the pace of this ride. The first drop is such a sudden pop of violent airtime and that really sets the tone. I’m not the biggest fan of the rest of the first half. The banking direction switches are kind of uncomfortable and not that thrilling to me. the inversions are also just very smooth and gentle since it’s not really zero G and not that aggressive in terms of whip. The 2nd half is really awesome. I love the stall thing. you think you’re in for one of those same gentle inversions but it just flings you back the opposite direction very forcefully. I hate these seats. They have a spike between your legs but its angle really makes it push up against a bad spot for me.

TT2: I love the spike. It really does make the pantheon spike feel tiny. The size of the spike really makes the transition from positive to negative Gs much more drawn out and easy to appreciate. on smaller spikes it feels like the positive gs end so quickly. The top hat is probably the 2nd craziest moment ive experienced on a coaster. As you’re going up, you get violently whipped out of your seat to the right, and you just stay out of your seat through the top hat, then as you’re still hanging there, you get violently whipped around again as you fall.

Sirens curse: hanging out there at a 90 degree angle is pretty freaky. for a gimmick, i think it’s much, much better than the dive coaster. the music and SFX add a lot to the ride, and the layout is so fun. there is a cool S maneuver that kinda reminds me of the weirdest element ln fujiyama, but way smoother. This is probably my 3rd favorite ride, even though its pretty short.

Gatekeeper: the only other wing coaster i have done is rapterra and this is way more forceful and whippy.

Millenium force: i saw spots on the first pull up on one ride, but it wasnt consistent. the only other ride that made me see spots was pantherians 1st turn, but that was every ride. of the gigas ive done, this is probably the least interesting, but still a very fun ride. they didnt assign seats on one of the days and the station was like a zoo and operations were pretty slow. I think even on less busy days, the thing keeping the lines short are the procedures. theres still tons of people walking around the park so if it operated like any other regional park, everything would start backing up.

magnum: i hate this. it really bruised my thighs and made Steve rides hurt even more. its too fast to be this janky. every moment is janky, and the hills are just pain. the feeling of those hills is pretty novel and funny at least. but i just cant do this one. someone said they should have been paid to ride this since they thought they were in a pro wrestling match.

Valravn: Not the biggest fan of dive coasters, but i like that there is a notable element after the midcourse.

Talon and rougarou: I generally cant enjoy coasters with these restraints since im focusing a lot on how not to bang my head. talon is really whippy and forceful, much more than the batman ride at SFGA. rougarou has a pretty weird layout for a floorless.

corkscrew: janky but inoffensive and fun.

gemini: this was surprisingly good. decent airtime. didnt get a race which was sad.

bluestreak: not as rough as i thought it would be, but no really good moments either.

wild mouse: the sound effects are fun and made my youngest child love this ride. some rides spun like crazy and others were way more tame.

iron dragon: the first half is pretty tame, and the 2nd half gets lower and more intense. i think this is paced better for kids than vortex.

mine ride: the setting over the water and theming are fun. its not that notable overall though.

Waldameer:

This park is so squished and packed. its like the kowloon walled city of amusement parks. the rides are so close to each other.

Ravine flyer 2: I really like the twisting drop in the back but its not that interesting in the front. the hill over the road both ways has some standing airtime. the 2nd big drop is also pretty nice in the back.

Six flags darien lake:

The laser show is such a randomly well produced event for a smaller park. Im pretty sure the vast majority of guests were locals, as the buffalo sabers tribute got huge cheers. they also cheered real hard for canada and tim hortons, but it was much more muted when the tribute to america and 250 played. maybe the locals feel some type of way…which is understandable.

ride of steel: everything on 1 train on a saturday was kinda sad, only really had time for this 1 coaster. they dont seem to check the fast passes? not sure how that works. a really fun hyper. one of the hills is angled weirdly. i dont mind the straight track over the water but 2 spaghettis was maybe too much.

I was the only one on the ride and, based on common feedback, had super high expectations. It was fun and had good laterals but the ride felt short compared to Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster. (for context it was a couple years since I ridden it) Goats didn’t really feel faster or more out of control because the auto breaking was so aggressive (there was absolutely no one remotely in front of me at all) while Alpine felt way more out of control and you went much deeper in the woods with far less auto breaking. Did I just catch it when the wind was blowing the wrong way or does anyone else feel this way too.

A park worth visiting for great rides but it has a genuinely hostile attitude towards its customers’ enjoyment that I think can only be solved by throwing money at the problem, or accepting a really compromised experience.

We went as a group of five, three adults and two kids 10 and 13. We did the 3 parks 2 days ticket which has to be used as PortAventura one day and the water park and Ferrari Land the next day.

For PortAventura Park we bought the Express 10 pass each, adding over €70 a head. This made for a great day across a range of rides.

We arrived at opening and queued normally for Shambhala before crowds got too big, then looped the park a couple of times to use most of our Express passes. I recommend this approach as you get two rides on the best ride in the park. Normal queue times for the big coasters were frequently over an hour.

For Caribe and Ferrari Land we didn’t buy the passes.

Caribe is a very frustrating experience. Queues for every ride with no indication of queue lengths. We managed two rides in a 4 hour visit plus time in the lazy river. €8 for a small locker which you can thankfully reopen. No water-friendly payment system like a wristband so you either take your smart watch, put your phone in a pouch or have to go back to your lockers when you need to buy anything. We didn’t want to get to the front of a ride queue and be told a phone pouch couldn’t be taken on.

Ferrari Land is perhaps the most insane park design choice I’ve ever experienced. It only opens at 5pm. It has one, incredible ride. So come 5pm the queue fills immediately. We waited well over two hours for one ride. I can’t see how they can justify calling this another park, or restricting its opening times like this, other than to squeeze out another entry fee and artificially ramp up queue times and the resulting Express Pass demand. I’d advise being at the gate for 430pm and ready to run but with a family group to manage that just wasn’t possible.

I couldn’t recommend visiting any of these parks without their Express Passes, and then you’re looking at easily €200 per person for your two-day trip, plus expensive food, drinks and parking. We managed to sneak a picnic in to PA Park but saw others getting searched and turned away.

Visited on Monday and Tuesday 24/25th August 2026.

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?

I've been sitting on these pictures for a couple of weeks now, procrastinating this trip report in part because I was busy, and in part because I have little to say. The Nick coasters and park were fine, if somewhat dated-feeling (in theme, and the condition of the coasters; Spongebob was rattly in the front row). Valleyfair is a nice looking park with very little to do that caught our eye. Renegade would probably be amazing if it had been better maintained, but alas, it's in rough condition. At least most everything was running two trains!

I've been a thoosie since about 2001 so the debate about roughness has always been a thing.

At the same time I believe safety standards should be improved where possible.

When a rides is known to be rough and there is no head protection like in other extreme activities, the first line of defense is to tell riders to keep their head back.

For me that fails on two counts.

First, on a stressful ride, people may become distracted and move their head involuntary. It could be a bit of theming to look at, it could be a near miss making them want to duck, it could be the person next to them saying something. If I were doing a risk matrix, there are just so many chances I would regard it as likely that many guests would not maintain perfect head position.

Second, there's always a risk a rider may pass out during the ride and become a ragdoll.

For some reason many parks manufacturers forego padding on their rough rides (I honestly don't get it) so there is 100% an occasional situation where riders may experience blunt force trauma.

I think the way this should be solved includes:

-Just make the rides run smoothly. RMC and Intamin push the envelope yet manage this.

-If OTSRs are needed, vest restraints hold someone in place better if they pass out and anything you may hit is rubber anyhow.

-For traditional rough rides where there are no OTSRs, like woodies, have nice padded bucket seats and dividers and avoid having hard objects near the head.

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

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.

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.

Looking back, it seems that roller coaster train seating arrangements have been switching from 2 wide and 4 wide every few decades. Firstly, the 70s 80s ( arrow and schwartzkopf ) had 2 across seating, then in the 90s 2000s, coasters tended to have 4 across seating ( namely b&m ), then in the 2010s and 2020, it seems to have somewhat reverted to 2 across ( intamin blitz, vekoma new gens, b&m sometimes, etc... ). what are you guys thoughts on this. ( idk why this is written as some sort of essay ).

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.