Coaster

The retheming of some attractions is at least some investment, but the nature of the rethemes has taken the park further from its roots IMO.

Why can't we just have Big Top?

It'd fit into Thorpe better then too!

Saw was in an awful state on Sunday; gun sound effect not working, queue TV's too quiet, swinging axes still not illuminated (broken since start of the season!) and water spray not red. Lots of smaller effects were also broken.

The other multi-launch coasters I have been on are Taron, Icon and Helix. The only one that comes close to Maverick for me is Taron, the Mack ones feel as though they're missing something IMO (it's probably down to the fact that I generally prefer rides with more "kick" to them rather than the smooth graceful nature of Mack coasters). The trim brake did annoy me on Maverick, other than that I couldn't really fault it.

We left Kennywood in high spirits and made the three-hour drive to Cedar Point, the most anticipated park of the trip and one that I’ve been waiting to visit for years. Since I started enjoying coasters, Cedar Point has always stood out to me as the ultimate “bucket list” park and one that I never envisaged I’d actually get the chance to visit. Yet here I was, in a car on the way to Cedar Point? It just felt so surreal. Driving into the park at night was an incredible experience as all the coasters were lit up despite the fact the park had closed hours ago, there were coloured chaser lights on the lift-hills and the skyline was just incredible. I really have never seen anything like it and I was giddily excited despite having been on the road for 3 hours and being tired from the previous days. We stayed at the Express hotel and whilst it was very nice with excellent rooms, we would book earlier and stay in Hotel Breakers if we visited again for the convenience. (One thing to mention is we spent three days at Cedar Point with a visit to Kings Island after the first day, this review will cover the general park and I will write a separate review in due course for Coaster Mania). Onto the park itself; Cedar Point is unlike anything I’ve ever seen, it’s difficult to describe but I was in a state of amazement walking around taking in all the huge coasters around us. Everything feels like it’s placed perfectly, the rides all look spotless and the park atmosphere is great with the parkwide music playlist and some rides having their own audio. Of course, there isn’t a lot in the way of theming, but as it’s an amusement park we weren’t expecting this. I was surprised by how well themed some areas were, actually! The roller coasters are what Cedar Point are famous for, but to me they aren’t what makes it (IMO) the best amusement park in the world. The thing that stood out to me, and that makes Cedar Point the best, is that despite having some of the world’s biggest coasters, they still take care of their older attractions. There’s a steam train, numerous vintage flat rides and an old-style cableway, all in perfect condition. In all the reviews of the park I’ve read nobody seems to talk about this, but I found it incredible that a park with so many huge rides and coasters still cares enough to look after their old-style rides like this. UK parks would do very well to take a leaf out of their book with regards to this, in my opinion. Much like Kennywood, they were happy to tell you how old the rides were with signage outside many of them. Another thing I loved was the collection of Arrow Dynamics coasters. With Arrow being my favourite manufacturer, it was fantastic to see five operational coasters and other rides throughout the park and again, they all looked in near-perfect condition. For Magnum to run the way it does when it’s 30 years old is just amazing. Operations were fantastic for the most part and you feel as though the staff all have genuine enthusiasm for the job they’re doing. Even towards the end of long days they were still talking enthusiastically through the microphones, checking restraints as fast as they could and it was just incredible to see a park that puts so much effort into guest experience. Magnum’s operations were particularly fantastic, it ran three trains on the Friday and they were dispatching one after the second had reached the bottom of the first drop. No faffing in the station, no Speedy Pass slowing things down, it was fantastic and highlighted to me how an Arrow hyper-coaster should be run. Onto the ride reviews; Magnum XL 200 After years of holding The Big One in high regard I was incredibly excited to ride Magnum. It holds a sentimental spot for me for being the ride that inspired Geoffrey Thompson to build a hyper-coaster at Blackpool, but I also think the importance of Magnum in the industry is often overlooked. It was the world’s first hyper-coaster, kickstarted the “height-wars” across parks and inspired so many parks to build bigger rides. Onto the ride experience itself, I absolutely loved it. The first drop has an amazing “floaty” feeling in that it keeps getting gradually steeper, meaning you float further and further out of your seat as you descend. It’s very effective and much better than it looks on pictures/videos. After a forceful dip the crest of the second hill provides a moment’s pause before you dive into the tunnel, into the third hill which provides another incredible floaty sensation as you’re “not quite” in the seat throughout the entire hill. The turnaround was very forceful (especially in the morning and night rides with no trims!) and felt very smooth for a 30-year-old Arrow coaster, following which you enter the airtime hills. These hills are MENTAL. The first few provide moderate airtime, as you would expect, but after you’ve turned to face the station you hit hill after hill with the airtime getting more intense and prolonged with each one. By the last three we were literally standing up in our seats, which is then combined with a “special effects tunnel” for the last hill. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever ridden before and the restraints allow for such unrestricted airtime, it beats any modern coaster IMO. Magnum is my favourite roller coaster and I think it’ll be very difficult for anything to top it now for me. It’s just perfect for what I enjoy in coasters, it has a lot of character, isn’t glass smooth (yet I never found it uncomfortable), has varied styles of airtime, force and Arrow-ness. From the float-y hills at the start to the insane airtime at the end it never fizzles out and just feels like a perfect, well-rounded coaster. A special ride. Millennium Force I thoroughly enjoyed Millennium force and think it’s a fantastic coaster as long as you don’t expect too much. The cable lift-hill is cool and it certainly felt strange to ascend the first hill so fast, cresting the hill is also amazing as it feels as if you’re never going to level out with the change in angle (to a steeper drop) being so gradual. There isn’t much time to prepare for the drop but instead you get a surreal feeling of it being a continuation of the speed you already have, before getting faster and faster as you continue to drop. The ride is essentially 2 minutes of travelling at 90 miles per hour, and it’s one of the biggest rushes I’ve ever experienced. There isn’t lots of airtime but it didn’t feel like it was missing anything, the ride is about height and speed and it achieves this perfectly. The force on some of the turnarounds was fantastic and I found there to be an amazing floaty sensation over the hills if you sat towards the front of the train. I did prefer the first drop in the back, however. The last small hill (alongside the station) gives an unexpected pop of airtime before you enter the final turnaround and then hit the brake run. I really liked the futuristic feel of the ride and it has such a huge presence in the park. The station audio is great and it’s probably my third favourite ride at Cedar Point. Steel Vengeance This ride is insane. I was unsure after my first ride but after a fair few rides after three days, it’s my second favourite coaster at CP. It’s difficult to describe every element but the first drop and hills that follow provide some incredible prolonged airtime, following which you reach some inversions, some quick moments of intense airtime and then the second half which is just pure insanity. Diving through the structure you get intense airtime, overbank, inversion, overbank with airtime, inversion, and then the last few airtime hills which are just crazy. It’s such a brilliant sequence of elements and seems to just go on-and-on, truly a magnificent ride and I can see why it gets so much praise. There was however unfortunately a downside to the ride, which was that I absolutely hated the restraints. I tend to get achy legs anyway, so having my lower legs forced into an awkward position with clunky clamps and the lap-bar forced heavily onto me felt very uncomfortable; especially on a ride with so much intense airtime. It’s a shame as I was very aware of the discomfort when going around the layout, it took away from the ride so much for me and ruined what might have otherwise been my favourite ride. I can’t accept a brand-new coaster having such terrible restraints when a 30-year-old Arrow hyper-coaster has far superior and more comfortable trains. A shame. Operations were also very slow on this, who’s idea was it to have the phone and wallet holder on the trains?! Maverick WOW. Incredible. This ride puts any modern multi-launch coaster to shame, the fast pace of the turns, the force, the airtime and everything else is far superior. Some of the highlights were the first few turns after the first drop, the two inversions which are taken very quickly and don’t feel drawn out or sickly, the second launch and the two Stengel dives. It’s just such a ridiculous ride and the restraints make it very comfortable despite throwing you around like mad. So, so good. In any other park I’ve visited this would be the best ride without a doubt. Top Thrill Dragster A fantastic coaster and the best of the three of these style rides that I’ve been on (this, Kingda Ka and Stealth). The launch feels so much more forceful than the others with it being an instant acceleration rather than phased, ascending the tower is unnerving with the lap-bar restraints as I found you felt as though you were falling backwards, then you just float down the twisted drop before landing in your seat. I actually found the sensation of being slowed down by brakes on a straight piece of track was better than having an airtime hill, it really highlights the sheer power of the speed you’re travelling at when you gradually slow down rather than it being over an airtime hill (without any airtime because you’re being slowed down). The ride ran 5 trains which was crazy, I really like the lap-bar restraints and the “ready to go” song was amusing. If you’re going to make a coaster short, this is how to do it. Brilliant ride. Raptor I enjoyed this but I much preferred Batman at Six Flags Great Adventure. Raptor felt like it had some very good elements such as the corkscrews, the final helix was also incredible with so much force. I found however that there were some awkward moments where not much happened throughout the layout, there was also a horrible jolt as you turned into the final brake run where the entire train seemed to shake. Almost felt as though B&M had taken the last day off construction so Arrow or Vekoma had stepped in to finish the last turn. Not a bad coaster, but one of my least favourites at CP. Valravn This was one of the rides I was least excited for because the pacing looked fairly slow off-ride, but I really enjoyed it. The ride is more about prolonged force than anything else, however the views from the top are incredible with you getting to see the skyline from a unique viewpoint. The drop is incredible, the force on the dips is great and the overall ride was much better than I expected. My only criticism is that it didn’t feel right having a dive coaster without a tunnel! Blue Streak A fantastic classic wooden coaster with airtime, speed and it felt very well maintained. The layout was great with some of the hills being much lower than others and therefore full of airtime, it had the right amount of bumpiness without feeling painful and the trains are good. It’s one of the best rides at the park IMO and it’s great that they have kept it operating alongside their newer coasters. The ride had a fantastic lighting package with the chaser lights across the beams, it’s almost as though the parks over here are actually proud of their classic woodies rather than stripping them of their charm and “modernising” them like we do back home? Gatekeeper Much better than I expected, very forceful and the keyhole element was great. It wasn’t one of my favourites at the park but that’s more telling of how good everything else is rather than Gatekeeper not being a good ride. I did find that the last helix felt a bit slow, though. Rougarou Quite good with some very different elements, it definitely felt bumpier that most B&M’s but I didn’t find it uncomfortable. I think with this it’s a case of it being overshadowed by much better rides at Cedar Point, if you put it in a UK park it’d be one of the best rides. Iron Dragon Plus; it’s an arrow. Minus; it’s not a very good Arrow. Still keep it though because the mist is cool. Gemini Gemini is brilliant and an extremely underrated coaster, IMO. I absolutely loved this ride. The ride is incredibly smooth for an Arrow and the retro style of the trains/station is brilliant. There is a lot of unexpected airtime depending on which row you sit in; the racing element is fun and it’s just an all-round great coaster. The last helix made me chuckle, after a perfectly smooth ride they couldn’t resist adding in an Arrow-style square corner at the end! Corkscrew A fun ride, not my favourite Arrow coaster but it’s visually impressive with the corkscrews taking place over paths and looked really well lit up at night. The paint job on the trains was fantastic and like everything else at Cedar Point, it looked perfectly maintained. Wicked Twister I had been intrigued by this type of ride for years and it was good fun, not a stand-out ride but there wasn’t anything negative to say about it either. Just fun. Wind seeker Terrifying, a “get me off this now” type of ride. Not even the views of Magnum made up for the sheer terror of this. I enjoyed hearing the Harry Potter and ET film scores though. Cedar Creek Mine Ride This ride had hilariously square corners, awkward hills and it’s strange that the lap-bars run on the same mechanism per carriage (meaning it has to be in the same position across three rows). But, it’s an Arrow, so that makes it great. Keep it. Skyhawk Similar to Rush at Thorpe but much better. Snake River Falls Wet. Fun though. Thunder Canyon Possibly the most ridiculous rapids I’ve been on, rivalled only by Kings Island’s. You essentially either come off dry, or end up completely engulfed by one of the waterfalls meaning you come off looking like you’ve had 10 rides on Valhalla. Then they had this weird exit path with water running down it (that looked intentional) meaning you had to walk through a puddle and get wet shoes (or step on the sides and avoid it)? Why would anyone want that? Weird. Cedar Downs Racing Derby was good, it was nice to see that the racing feature of the horses still worked. I prefer having an organ to the commentary, though. The park had many classic rides such as the Antique Cars, Cableway and the Scrambler alongside many others. We enjoyed these however there were others we didn’t have time to do, unfortunately. Overall, it’s difficult into words how much I loved Cedar Point. Driving into the park is breath-taking with the skyline coming into view, it’s an amazing enough experience in itself. The big coasters are incredible and that combined with the park’s respect for their older rides is what makes the place, for me, the best park I’ve ever visited. It feels as though there’s depth to the place and it’s definitely about more than just coasters.

Quantum is down today.

Haven't read that article but I'll bet there's a "this comes just four years after the Smiler ride crashed" somewhere in there.

Magnum's restraints had new padding this year so were very comfortable, that said I've always found The Big One's restraints comfy to the point where you don't really notice them on ride. I think it's because it's such a small bar rather than overly-padded and bulkier like most modern lapbar restrains systems.

I will get round to this in my Steel Vengeance review but I also felt that the restraints ruined the ride massively. It just isn't comfortable having your lower legs restricted like that and when you have a 30 year old hypercoaster with much more comfortable restraints than something that's brand new it's a bit of a joke really.

A maze featuring chainsaws in Loggers' old station seems like it could work.

Pleased to read that you enjoyed Toverland, I absolutely love that place.

After a gruelling 5-hour drive from Six Flags Great Adventure the night before, the third day of our USA trip was spent at Kennywood. The park has appealed to me since seeing Phantom’s Revenge on an “extreme rides” TV program and with the promise of historic rides and coasters, plus an old-style hyper coaster I was already very excited for this park. But would it deliver? I am pleased to say that Kennywood is one of the most amazing parks I have ever visited. The place is full of historic rides such as a Turtle Chase, a working Noah’s Ark as well as three wooden coasters, plus lots of historic flat rides. The atmosphere was incredible with everything painted in vibrant colours, and it was so lovely to see how proud the park is of their history. As we were dispatched on the Whip (yes, a functioning whip!) a pre-recorded announcement proudly told us the ride was over 90 years old and had been in three locations during its time at Kennywood; every historic ride was the same with signage and announcements proudly telling us that it was the last of its type, this many years old etc. Racer even had a reference to the National at Blackpool for being another Mobius loop. As a long-standing fan of BPB who is not happy with the way the park has changed, the pride that Kennywood takes in their history resonated very well with me. Despite building a huge new coaster they haven’t forgotten (or tried to hide) their heritage, in fact they’re very happy to acknowledge that it’s what makes the park special. The way the park is landscaped is brilliant with it making the most of the hillside and rides intertwining making for such a unique charm that you just don’t find anywhere else. The wooden coasters all had strip lights on them, I would have loved to stay at the park after dark but it unfortunately wasn’t possible. The staff at Kennywood were all fantastic however I didn’t feel that operations (in terms of through-puts) were anything to write home about. They weren’t terrible, but when you have Phantom’s Revenge and Thunderbolt running one train until the afternoon with fairly long queues, as well as Racer loading both trains with one member of staff (?!) it got a bit tedious. Things did pick up in the afternoon, but dispatches on Phantom’s Revenge were still very slow when it was running two trains. On balance however, Jack Rabbit ran very efficiently with two trains and a queue that we expected to take an hour only took us 15 minutes! As a result of the operations plus limited time we sadly missed the Bayern Curve, my biggest regret of the trip is waiting 20 minutes for the awful Garfield ride but missing this! I would like to emphasise that the operations in no way put me off returning, but had they been better (and if there hadn’t been a few ride closures) Kennywood would now be my number 2 park. Everything else was so good it outweighed this and the place left us all on such a happy note, I would definitely return and look forward to hopefully getting on Steel Curtain one day. Onto the ride reviews; Phantom’s Revenge This ride is INCREDIBLE. After the classic lift-hill you go down a much smoother (and IMO less impressive) version of PMBO’s first drop, but the second drop is when this coaster really gets going. You crest the hill at moderate speed, but are then launched out of the seat and don’t land until you reach the dip at the bottom. Bearing in mind you’re going down the side of a hill and also encounter a near-miss with the wooden coaster whilst being out of your seat, it made for one of the best moments I’ve ever experienced on a coaster. Following this, you go into a very forceful (and smooth) turnaround before hitting absolutely insane bunny hills. The ride’s restraint system is very unrestricted which really works to its advantage here, as you’re launched up into the restraint without any hint of discomfort and the force of the turns work well to pin you back down before the next bout of airtime. Phantom’s Revenge is just an incredible all-round coaster, it’s exactly how a smooth coaster should be; it throws you around and has variety in its elements, but never slows down or feels like it’s dragging on. 10/10. Thunderbolt A very good wooden coaster with a unique layout; you start with a drop down the side of the hill (again making very good use of the terrain) before starting the main lift-hill. The ground-level turns combined with the fact that there are no seat dividers make for an interesting ride experience if you’re sat on the left, it’s worth bearing in mind that they do not allow single riders (meaning that we saw people waiting on the platform for an odd-numbered group before they could ride) due to this. It’s just a proper classic wooden coaster and feels as though it’s been very well maintained. Racer Racer is a very good racing wooden coaster, but not a patch on the Grand National IMO. It runs much smoother and the ride feels like it’s in much better condition, the trains and restraints are also much better. The layout however doesn’t produce much airtime aside from one drop, but it’s still a very enjoyable heritage wooden coaster and I’m appreciative of the fact that Kennywood have kept it in near-perfect condition. The ride’s station has a plaque proudly displaying that it was restored to its original 1927 appearance; it’s just amazing that they care about details like this. Jack Rabbit This ride made very good use of the terrain like Thunderbolt and contained an insane moment of airtime. The ride doesn’t have lap-bars as such, but instead has a seat-belt and a static bar which partially covers the seats. Operations on this were very quick and the staff were fantastic at interacting with guests etc. Exterminator Exterminator is a standard spinning mouse but with it being inside and having some decent effects, it’s by far the best of the ride type that I’ve been on. A good example of taking a standard layout and turning it into something special. Whip Just incredible. Having never got the chance to ride Pleasure Beach’s, it baffles me that they decided to rip it out and replace it with the world’s worst set of Dodgems?! It’s a disgrace to be honest, what were they thinking? Anyway, onto the ride itself, we were dispatched with the spiel telling us about the ride’s history and on we went, the force generated on the turns was substantial and it was just a huge amount of fun. So, so good. Kangaroo Another classic flat ride and once again they were proud to tell us it was the only ride of its type left, it basically consisted of hydraulic arms going around with a “jump” part-way round the circle. A very simple but effective ride, and again just bags of fun. Rapids I think we got soaked on these but can’t remember 100%. I’m sure they were good though, because Kennywood. Noah’s Ark Incredible, amazing, a piece of history that’s been kept up-to-date whilst not losing its charm. So many cool effects and UV scenes in there, it was lovely. *Insert standard dig at PB boarding theirs up and using it as an entrance here* Turtle As above, a very fun piece of history and the only one left in the world. Going around on this with Thunderbolt and Phantom’s Revenge flying past around us, you could just feel the history of the place and I had a “moment” of appreciation for just how amazing the park is. Also, the announcement is brilliant, “Turtle! Turtle!” Garfield’s Nightmare is a disgrace. From my understanding, it used to be a historic River Caves style ride but they’ve turned it into a terrible 3D Garfield thing with the weirdest scenes and nonsensical audio ever. Horrendous. Ghostwood Estate was a decent enough shooter-style dark ride, but had probably the most terrifying dinner table in the world. Swing Shot (like Rush at Thorpe) was decent, unfortunately the Black Widow was closed as was Sky Rocket. As mentioned above I’m gutted we didn’t do the Bayern Curve, but all the more reason to go back, I guess! Overall Kennywood is absolutely incredible and I would 100% recommend visiting, particularly if you have an appreciation for historic rides. Everything from the atmosphere and vibrancy to the sound of the rides, the pride they take in the park and the hillside location, it’s just such a special place.

It'll be fairly busy as they have a 10pm close on, a few tips; Although the park will be busy, if you arrive early enough the first few hours will be quieter due to most people still queueing at the ticket centre to get in. Bear in mind you'll have to arrive much earlier than 10am to take advantage of this rather than being stuck in the ludicrous queue that builds later on. If you manage to be in the park by just after 10, I would recommend getting some of the lower capacity rides (which will have crazy queues later on) done in the first 90 minutes. We usually start our day in the following order; - Ice Blast (if there's already a queue we skip it) - Alice Ride (as above) - Nickelodeon Streak - Avatar Airbender - Avalanche (opens at 10:30, we aim to get there 10 minutes before. This ride gets a ludicrous queue later on due to running less trains than it used to and Speedy Pass slowing ths operations down massively). - Revolution - Steeplechase - Skyforce (if walk on, otherwise skip) - Icon - The Big One (If both trains are open we'll do this before Icon, but it seems to take longer to open with both trains full these days than it used to) So many people wait for Icon to open first thing but (despite looking long) its queue is usually one of the shortest by 11/12 ish because most other rides at PB have low capacity whereas Icon shifts the queue well. It also crawls round first thing in the morning. Big Dipper is a queue shifter, you'll probably have to queue longer for Grand National/Valhalla/Infusion but at least it's a longer day. Another thing to mention is that although the park is open until 10, lots of rides (such as PMBO and Icon) close their queues at 9 due to the fireworks. Also don't trust the 9pm sign as I've seen them close the PMBO queue at half past 7 on one of these events before. Hope this is somewhat helpful!

Just reopen Slammer, reopen Loggers and bring back Asylum. Problem solved... I think.

So we've potentially lost Saw Alive and Big Top isn't returning? Ouch... I miss the days when the lineup of attractions for Fright Nights looked like this; The Asylum Experiment 10 Se7en The Curse Saw Alive In relation to charging for mazes, why should that be a thing when they used to produce mazes like the above and have them included? Fright Nights is advertised heavily and brings in more people as a result of that marketing, to then charge people more to do the attractions that are advertised as part of the event would be a bit of a joke IMO. And as mentioned, we used to get mazes like Asylum (which was a queue-shifter anyway so that wasn't really an issue) and E10 included in entry. Last year was the worst in the event's history IMO.

The second day of our USA trip took us to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, my first Six Flags park. Having heard a lot about the park over the years I was expecting El Toro and Kingda Ka to be the stand-out rides, but wasn’t expecting too much in terms of overall park presentation and operations. As it turns out, the park was presented very well for the most part with a nice plaza (past the entrance), lots of greenery with some moderate theming and there was a viewpoint looking across to El Toro with Kingda Ka in the background which was absolutely stunning. I would say that some of the more recent coasters felt shoehorned in and that perhaps the park doesn’t put the same level of quality into their more recent attractions in comparison with some of the older ones. The park was fairly quiet on our visit with fantastic operations for the most part which surprised me. All coasters were running two/three trains, staff on Bizarro were literally giving people seconds to enter through the gates before closing them and rushing the trains out even with a 5-minute queue. Now, onto the ride reviews; Kingda Ka This ride has been on my bucket list since becoming an enthusiast, purely for the fact that it’s the world’s tallest roller coaster. I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of how it would differ to something like Stealth, but in my opinion it was incredible. The launch was strange as it felt like it was broken up into phases. It launched to a speed, then stayed consistent before having one final burst just before you reach the end of the launch track; it was unexpected and surprised me a lot the first time. In terms of the height and speed, it was everything I expected really and justifies being short through how impressive it is (a merit I can’t give to something like Stealth or Rita, for example). Overall a very good coaster, I did prefer Top Thrill Dragster (it’s worth mentioning that I hadn’t ridden Top Thrill at this point in the trip) but Kingda Ka is still fantastic. Zumanjari: Drop of Doom Possibly the best single drop tower I’ve ridden, it was quite unnerving being attached to the side of a coaster and it felt as though it just kept going and going, as I was thinking “we must be about to hit the brakes” it just kept dropping. It is a bit of a farce that it affects Kingda Ka’s operations, though. El Toro One of my most anticipated coasters due to the promise of insane levels of airtime and yes, it delivers. The first three hills are absolutely MENTAL. The ride delivers incredible airtime, the turns have force and whilst there are some tamer sections, they feel needed before the next moment of crazy airtime/fast paced turns. One particular hill dropping into the ground level turns provided crazy levels of unexpected airtime, the coaster then meanders its way into the brakes at the end. Overall, I really liked El Toro but I didn’t enjoy it as much as most people seem to. It suffers from the same issue I have with Balder, which is that it doesn’t feel like a natural wooden coaster. The turns don’t flow with the hills in the same way that a GCI does, for example, and it feels very much a case of “airtime, airtime, airtime, turn, airtime”. With that said, there’s no question that it has some of the best airtime around and is overall a very good coaster. I found it strange how the ride had obviously been fitted in around Rolling Thunder, only to remove that ride a few years later. There are random gaps in the supports (and even a part where track from RT remains in place!) – weird. Bizarro A very good, solid B&M multi-inversion coaster. It wasn’t a stand-out ride for me but did everything it needed to; the fire effects added a lot too as you could actually feel the heat from them. Runaway Mine Train I mean, it’s Arrow, so it’s already a winner in my books. Of course, it had strange transitions, funny square turns, but it was good fun and there was one airtime hill which came from out of nowhere which nearly ejected us into the lake below! Skull Mountain A family coaster in the dark except that there were gaps in the building and a weird coloured laser. The queue line and station were well themed, the ride not so much. Nitro I’m not sure what to say about this really, it was my first experience of a B&M hyper coaster and whilst I enjoyed the ride, it wasn’t a stand-out for me. Everyone raves about the floaty-airtime on these but we didn’t really get that with Nitro, there was some airtime but I was in the seat going over the top of most hills, the ride lacked character and whilst there was some force in the dips, it just felt like a standard smooth B&M coaster but on a larger scale. Not a bad ride by any means, but I’d take the charm and rattle of an Arrow hyper over this any day. Batman: The Ride WOW. This ride absolutely blew me away, the force and combination of elements in the layout was fantastic, the “pullover” of some of the corkscrews in the back few rows was just insane. It’s just proper old school B&M, an incredible ride. The Dark Knight Coaster I really enjoyed this, standard layout but the theming and effects made it something special IMO. Superman: Ultimate Flight Dull and boring but the signature inversion was good. Better than Air. Green Lantern Amazing layout with some different elements to most B&M coasters, awful stand-up trains ruined it. Ouch. The Joker Yuck, yuck and more yuck. I’m not sure why people like these but it felt as though I’d been put in a blender. Disgusting coaster, the only jokers are the people who decided to build it. The log flume and rapids were good fun and we ended up soaked, the park also had some decent flats and a good Marvel themed dark ride… definitely worth making time for if you’re there. Overall Six Flags Great Adventure exceeded my expectations massively in terms of park presentation and operations. The coasters were excellent for the most part, the park had a good atmosphere and I’d definitely return if I did another America trip in the future that covered that area.

One of the funniest videos I've seen in a long time!

I thought refurbishing a log flume meant putting wooden fences up in front of it and pretending it doesn't exist? In all seriousness though that looks amazing.

I also really enjoyed Millennium Force. It's built for height and speed, not airtime.

Saw Alive was one of the weaker mazes in 2010 - 2014 IMO. Last year, it was (IMO) the strongest maze at Fright Nights by quite some margin. Saw Alive hadn't changed.

Wicker Man is awesome.

Cyclone at Coney Island has been a bucket list ride for me since seeing it on a documentary called “The Ultimate Top 10 Thrill Rides” over 10 years ago. At the time I had recently visited Blackpool for the first time(s) and with the memories of the coasters there fresh in my mind, it seemed so exciting that I could one day travel out to America and ride this famous coaster. Arriving at Coney Island and seeing the ride in person was surreal, I never thought I’d actually get to be there standing in front of it. Having heard lots of contrasting things (some people calling it rough, some saying it’s much smoother now etc) I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but my word… this thing is incredible. Firstly, the operations were fantastic. The ride hardly built up a queue because it was taking around 20-30 seconds to get people on and dispatch the train. It was amazing watching staff hurrying people onto the train and rushing around to get it sent, very different to over here. The ride has kept its old-style trains, braking system and still has the character of an old wooden coaster (rather than being “modernised”) which brought back lots of memories of old style PB. The trains were very padded and the lap-bar had to go down very tight in some rows, whilst leaving us with room for airtime in others. One thing that struck me was how well maintained it was, there wasn’t one bump in the track and the ride ran absolutely relentlessly. The first drop provides some incredible floater airtime towards the back, whilst the slam into the next corner was amazing in the front. There was lots of unexpected airtime throughout the layout, however the biggest surprise for me was the force generated by some of the turns; especially towards the end of the ride. It's just a brilliant classic wooden coaster and even after 11 rides on it, I came back into the station grinning from ear to ear each time. Also, night rides on it were amazing. Cyclone is incredible. If you like old-style wooden coasters, go and ride it! Luna Park The rest of Luna Park was fun; despite the other coasters not being the best, the park had a fantastic amusement park atmosphere and we were lucky enough to get to speak with the Coney Island History Project who were immensely proud of the Cyclone and the history of the park. Thunderbolt is the worst roller coaster I have ever ridden, the Volare seemed nice in comparison. The way it forces your shoulders onto those straps when you reach an inversion, the awful trimmed first drop (again forcing you painfully into the restraint), the rattle (forcing you into the restraint) … just AWFUL. I enjoyed the flat rides and overall park atmosphere, the fact it was open until midnight too was incredible. The wristband provided us with good value at $48 online, bearing in mind that Cyclone would have cost $10 per ride using the park's token system. It's 100% worth visiting for Cyclone alone but we made good use of the wristbands on most of the rides. Ridecount: Cyclone x11 Thunderbolt x2 Soaring Eagle x1 Astro Tower x1 Steeplechase (not that type of steeplechase unfortunately!) x1 Booster x1 The Tickler x1 Circus Coaster x1 Wild River x1

Retheme to the Walking Dead confirmed.

Magnum is my favourite coaster for lots of reasons. Firstly, the ride experience. I've never enjoyed a roller coaster as much as I enjoyed Magnum, it's as simple as that. I think there are lots of factors, but the fact that the airtime is so varied, from the floaty-nature of the first few hills to the absolute insanity of the last few hills; then you have the tunnels, the forceful turnaround (especially without the trims!) and the right amount of "Arrow-bumpiness" and I just absolutely loved it. It's also amazing to see an Arrow hyper running three trains with hardly any stacking, it was without question one of the most efficient coasters I've ever seen. The classic feel of the ride and the fact that the lapbars aren't too restrictive also goes a long way. I really enjoyed Steel Vengeance, for example, but the lapbars were horrendous and limited the enjoyment of the airtime for me. When you consider that Magnum opened way back in 1989 it's ridiculous really for a brand new ride to be more uncomfortable due to hideous restraints. Equally Millennium Force and Maverick were incredible, but as said I will eventually get round to full reviews! Also bear in mind that I am a huge Arrow Dynamics fan. They are (or were!) my favourite manufacturer and before my trip to America, The Big One was my favourite coaster. Magnum holds a special place for me because it was such an important ride for the industry. The world's first hyper-coaster, the ride that started the "coaster wars" and it was Magnum that inspired Geoffrey Thompson to build a hyper coaster at Pleasure Beach after he rode it. The ride experience is of course subjective but without Magnum we wouldn't have the steel giants we have today, its importance in the industry should never be overlooked.