A friend sent these to my son ahead of a Cedar Point trip and while I appreciate the sentiment and generosity I can't look at these without cringing. AI is a scourge.

Joking...

Shot on Pentax 17 on Kodak Colorplus

For me, it's Medusa at Discovery kingdom. There's nothing that really stands out or makes it interesting other than the serpent roll.

I had a great time yesterday at my home park, even with the crowds. Speedy Pass is a godsend on days like these, and even if it wasn't crowded, it helps out on walking. I actually did two new rides (for me) for the first time, SwingShot and Black Widow!

Waited an hour and a half for the park to open so I can get Speedy Pass then get on Sky Rocket. Sky Rocket has a really great first half until after the second corkscrew, then the ride just gives up sadly. If the ending was better, this could be up there with Phantom. Next up is Potato Patch, gotta get them before the line fills up. That's the longest line in the park! Then I did Phantom's Revenge, the park's best coaster, very unique drops with the second one being way bigger than the first and that insane airtime barrage at the end! Every time I walked up to SwingShot, I always wanted to go on it but never quite sure if I was going to fit or even like it (since I'm a larger guy), I fed my curiosity and finally gave in. SwingShot was really fun, gave out fun airtime on the max swings but it is really short though, and it's less intimidating than it appears. I decided after SwingShot that I'll give Black Widow a shot but couldn't because it was down for the moment. I went on Phantom for a second round, rode SwingShot again then headed towards Jack Rabbit. That double dip is amazing in the back but the rest is pretty basic. Got on Sky Rocket a second time afterwards, then finally headed towards Black Widow. Black Widow is not for the weak, this ride is a powerhouse, you get crazy airtime especially looking up on the max swings, along with some pretty forceful down swings. After that I rode Phantom for round three but ended up feeling somewhat nauseous since I paired that and Black Widow so I took a drink break in Parkside Cafe. That and doing the Olde Kennywood Railroad prepped me back up for my last round of rides on Jack Rabbit, Sky Rocket, then Phantom. As I waited for my time for Phantom, I did the Auto Race since I wanted to do that as I was waiting in line for the Railroad, the cars are really tight but the ride system is really unique. Finally I finished my day off with a fourth ride on Phantom's Revenge!

Sky Rocket (x3): 7.5/10

Phantom's Revenge (x4): 10/10

SwingShot (x2): 8/10

Jack Rabbit (x3): 7/10

Black Widow (x1): 8.5/10

Olde Kennywood Railroad (x1): 8/10

Auto Race (x1): 6/10

Today was the final regular operation day for Wild Waves in Seattle, Washington. I was visiting from Canada and stopped in for the day.

The two major coasters are excellent. Wild Thing is very smooth for an Arrow Corkscrew. Timberlake is a rare example of an S&S woodie with a unique layout.

The park was packed today. Operations were extremely slow and the rides were all single train operation. In 5 hours I was only able to ride 3 attractions. The park was clearly not well equipped for crowds.

Last chance to ride these coasters will be during their Fright Fest. Get there early and rush to Timberhawk if you want to get on anything else that day. It will be crowded.

Trip report day 2

Blue fire Megacoaster - reride - fast Ops, butter smooth, love the roll.

Castello dei Medici - haunted house, prefer it to haunted mansion at Disney, felt more “real” in a sense.

madam Freudenreich curiosities - dinosaurs doing laundry? Dinosaurs doing dishes? Sure? Why not?

Silver star - reride - just a great ride, some nice airtime.

Poseidon - a Mack water coaster, fast through the rollercoaster sections and some lovely splash downs, very enjoyable.

Rafting river rapids - a lovely themed rapids, some great wild water sections, highly enjoyed.

Super splash - one massive drop, and a fun reverse section.

Alpenexpress - 2 go arounds, a nice little mine ride.

Voltron - 3rd ride - I think it’s now above Velocicoaster on my rankings, the inversions, the turntable and the slingshot with the nice inversion mini-top hat out of that, plus the relentless pacing, I just think it’s nicer than Velocicoaster. It’s got as good theming, and a breathtaking launch out of the station.

Voltron is essentially a blend of both Maverick and Velocicoaster. It’s relentless pacing but has some greater airtime I think.

Europa Park overall has amazed me for my two day trip, it’s nice coming to a park where I feel like Mack is saying “we can build world class coasters” and clearly they use the park to show off.

Oh, yeah. I was doing trip reports.

I would have liked to have had more time in the park, but given I was thunderstormed out of Alabama Adventure the previous night, it was a compressed day (Sunday, 7/26). I high tailed it back to Atlanta at around 2:30 PM to get my rides in at Funspot, given their 10pm closing time.

Hurricane (1x)

Didn't want to have to backtrack, so I got this out of the way first.

I've long wanted to get on one of these bigger E&F Miler coasters. A more unusual bucket list entry. I've done the smaller one at PCC and thought it was a fun time.

Dear heavens...at times I was worried about a car accident on I-20, I hadn't expected to experience one or several at the park itself. I don't know what Miler was thinking with those hairpin turns?! They made this one in 2002 and then continued to make the 52 ft version? Oof. Not sure I'm ready for the Kissimmee version. Is there a seat that's ideal for this one? I had the middle seat.

ArieForce One (7x)

It had a reasonable crowd but with two trains running it was never that long of a wait, the line rarely left the building. Everyone was happy to be there and no seat went unfilled.

Every element save perhaps four is stellar. But I don't think anyone needed me to tell them that. The last four hills are like downhill skiing and accidentally running into some moguls at full speed, slamming into each one. I'd love for this to be reworked into a double down or a big drop into a tunnel, and maybe a longer brake run.

I think I liked the double up more than any element.

RMC really heartlines better than anyone in the industry. I always get a little nervous going into one since lateral bending in my lower spine is my coaster Achilles heel, and their trains have nothing to hold onto. But they're always so silky smooth.

Philosophical discussion: Which train is the blue one and which one is the red one?

Most of the coasters were glass smooth and less than 10 years old. Kingda Ka, El Toro, Medusa, Nitro, and The Chiller. And had some good supporting coasters aswell Superman, Skull Mountian batman. And the park had its fair share in older coasters from decades past rolling thunder, Scream Machine, and Mine Train. And a couple of kiddie coasters now Harley Quinn crazy train and Lil Devil. The only other park that comes close would be 2025 Cedar point.

I recently went to Kentucky Kingdom and thought it was alright. Ops were slow and one one train but all the rides except Flying Fox and Lightning Run were walk ons with the others being 30 min waits (despite not havling physical lines).

While there I rode Kentucky Flyer which I thought was pretty good especially for having a 40in height requirement so around 4 year olds can ride it. The timberliners were also pretty compared to what I thought going in. I have pretty Large thighs and a wide body and thought the upper part of the trains were comfy and had room. The leg room wasn’t incredible but I don’t think any of the wooden coaster trains do. The lap bar was comfy and Verified despite not being completely over my legs. On ride I though it good. I sat in the back and saw the other cars shimmying but I never felt it, nor did I feel any jackhammering. Yeah the ride is 7 years old and a family ride but compared to woodland run its way smoother than that. I’ve heard that these trains are horrible but I’d say they way better than the RMC trains in the same park cause they don’t bruise your thighs throughout. I’d also say they’re better than PTCs cause the seats are comfy and the lap bar doesn’t force my leg inward for no reason. Also no seat belts is great. I still haven’t ridden a truly rough ride in them but to be fair the parks do have to also try and retrack them other wise no matter the train it will be rough. I don’t know if I put them above Millenium flyers but I might as here if the lap bar is just touching me I still feel airtime while weirdly on GCI’s if it’s touching me I don’t feel airtime in my lower body just my arms. I feel the hate for the Timberliners is kinda doesn’t make sense but idk you can say your opinion on it if you want.

I travelled to Riyadh specifically for Falcon's Flight. I remember sitting on the shuttle to the park, staring out of the window at that huge structure on the cliff, thinking "this is going to be amazing".

Then I got to the gate and was told that both Falcon's Flight and Spitfire were closed for maintenance. Staff offered to reschedule my visit "in two weeks", which was no use to me, and which also tells you how long it's down for.

I never received an email, a notification, or any kind of warning that the park's headline coaster was closed. Nothing on the website, nothing in the app. Worse: a staff member at one of the rides told me this is an annual maintenance period, meaning the dates were almost certainly planned months in advance and simply never published.

If you're travelling for this park, there is currently no reliable way to check ride status ahead of time. queue-times.com was showing Falcon's Flight as OPEN with a 5 minute wait. It seems that Six Flags updated their website today, now showing that Falcon's flight is temporarily closed, but it was not known in advance or yesterday.

I went in anyway, i was there and my whole trip planned around it.

Colossus is intense, more than I expected. Iron Rattler was the best of what was open, and I rode it around 8 times. Early September on a Sunday is very calm, essentially zero queue all evening, walk straight back on.

Which should have been a dream scenario. But I just wasn't in the mood after the news, and I left about four hours before closing.

(This was a stopover on a trip to Asia, so it didn't cost me anything extra in airfare. Small mercy. Still very frustrating.)

Not in the mood to write a more detailed review, but this is worth knowing for anyone planning a trip there...

I'm not a big credit tracker. I'm 44 and have probably been on under 50 coasters in my life. My daughter asked about more rare coasters Ive been on.

I couldn't decide if the Batman side of the Chiller or old Viper is more rare. They were open around the same number of years. Capacity was probably higher on Viper. Both were always down. I've probably been on the Batman side more times than Viper as Viper was far too painful to reride often. Far fewer people remember Viper in conversations but I feel like way more people remember the Robin side of the Chiller.

At least the Batman side of the Chiller was the far better ride. I will always reference Viper as the worst coaster I've ever been on. Seriously, wtf? At least we got El Toros station out of it.

Anyway. Over the course of their lives, which one had less riders?

Is there a reason the newer rides like Alpen Fury, Zambezi Zinger (while it was in the chain), seemingly Bakunawa and some family coasters that all recently opened are now allowed to have just the lap bar with no seat belt?

Is this something they allow for new rides moving forward but can’t take them off existing rides? In an ideal world, hopefully they can remove them from their existing rides. Pretty silly a ride like Alpen Fury has just a lap bar and a ride like WCR has a lap bar and those stupid comfort collars.

Heading to adventureland I wasn't very excited for any of the woodies, but tornado somehow dipped below my very low expectations. The only forces on the entire ride was just jackhammering in the valleys, and the hills and janky turns provided nothing but discomfort. I only took one photo of this ride, but I feel it summaries it very well. Gravity group retrack please 🙏

Here I am thinking “Oh cool, something to help families maybe they’ll lower the costs of their food/beverage items.” NOPE

https://www.sixflags.com/flexpay

Tomorrow’s announcement I’m sure will be disappointing as well and I’m sure SFMM will push their announcement once again.

hoping to hit 400 rides on this crazy bastard by the end of the season. while i don't agree with all of hershey's decisions, i always loved how well they take care of storm runner, sooperdooperlooper and comet. some other parks could take note ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Going to be a busy day today!

Just a heads up, I don’t know how long since the change, but mid-August (16th I believe) the minimum height for Le Monstre at La Ronde was 48”. Today September 7th, the height was changed to 54”. Huge disappointment for my 7yo who had started doing it this year as a 50”. I know it’s likely for safety but if I can help other parents avoid the disappointment once here, my job is done haha. I was told they made the change last week.

I'm a relatively recent coaster fan. Three years ago, my husband brought me to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, threw me on a bunch of coasters, and took me from terrified to excited in two days. You can read all about that here.

Since then, we've gone back to Busch Gardens a couple of times, where I got brave enough to get on Pantheon (and loved it!). We've also visited Dollywood twice, where I've ridden every coaster and gained a special love for Thunderhead and Lightning Rod.

So for our fifth anniversary, we planned a trip to Charlotte, with the idea of visiting Carowinds and getting some new coasters under our belts. Here's what I thought!

Overall park experience

We went in expecting a concrete jungle of roller coasters and that's what we got, so I wouldn't say we were disappointed. But unlike Dollywood or BGW, it would be a hard sell for a "bring the whole family" experience. There didn't appear to be any shows or entertainment apart from rides and a handful of carnival games, and there were very few family coasters or family rides.

We didn't get any food other than a plate of fries from the Jukebox Diner, which somehow managed to be soggy straight out of the fryer. On the other hand, we are Diet Coke junkies, and every machine we found delivered crisp, cold soda - which can be hard to find!

Coasters

Based on reviews, we intentionally skipped Vortex and Hurler.

Copperhead Strike was our first ride of the day. I really liked it! I'm a bit surprised it is the only launched coaster in the park, but then again I guess they do have a bit of an older lineup. The immediate inversion out of the station surprised me in the best way. This was a rocket ride from beginning to end and I'm impressed at how much coaster was made to fit in a relatively small space. I would have loved to ride this one a second time, but... well, you'll see later on.

Afterburn is like the little brother of Alpengeist, which I affectionately call my rollercoaster boo (it was the first coaster at Busch Gardens that I grew to genuinely love, and it's still an all-time favorite). The sharper turns mimic the movement of a fighter jet really well - overall I think it's probably the best themed roller coaster we rode. But I couldn't help comparing it to Alpengeist and ultimately I think that is a slightly better roller coaster with a more interesting layout.

Fury 325 is an absolute beast of a roller coaster and I am really glad we had fast lane so that I couldn't think too hard about getting on it, LOL. This thing went so fast and delivered so many thrills that I genuinely did not realize we were racing past the parking lot and under the bridge to the park entrance. We snagged one ride in the front row and one in the back and front row is absolutely the way to go. The lift hill is super fast and smooth on this, which I think makes the first drop feel a little tamer to me. Overall I loved it, but am surprised it did not dethrone Pantheon as my all-time favorite coaster based on its popularity.

Thunder Striker - unpopular opinion, but I might have liked this a better than Fury. The airtime this thing delivered was insane! It's a little slower, which means you have a bit more time to comprehend where you are going vs. Fury's pure insanity from start to end.

Not coasters, deserve mentioning

Airwalker was a terrible experience for me. I am in no way prone to motion sickness and I vomited almost immediately after getting off this thing. It's why I only rode one more coaster after riding Airwalker.

Boo Blasters on Boo Hill is not a coaster, but deserves mention for being a ridiculous, campy dark ride that anyone who comes to Carowinds should experience.

Windseeker is also not a coaster, but it's gentle and fun while affording great views of the surrounding area. Sunday was a pretty clear day and we could see the Charlotte skyline and part of the foothills. It's a good choice if you're visiting with someone who doesn't mind heights but isn't a coaster fan.

Overall, I think Carowinds is worth a visit for coaster fans! We had a great time (apart from Airwalker) and think the addition of the log flume ride next year will fill a much needed gap in the lineup. A family coaster would be another good addition if that's a direction they wanted to go in.