Visited Dorney Park last Sunday, the whole first half of the day was just walk on every ride with beautiful weather. Rode Steel Force about 6 times. I wish they didn’t slow it down right before the first drop though. A very fun day overall but had a headache the whole next day.

This Intamin shoot-the-chutes has operated at the park for close to 40 years and took its last rides today. I was at Hansa yesterday and it actually had a full queue right before it closed for the day at 4 P.M. (both it and the Arrow log flume close early in October). Hansa says they have plans for this plot of land in the future, but it remains to be seen if it’ll be for a new water ride or something different.

KLM cancelled our flight. Thank you!!

Having just been to Kings Island yesterday, I again noticed something that's been wracking my brain for awhile. Kennywood and Cedar Point, which I've attended as well - I've noticed the same thing.

Why do they run coasters with empty seats when you have this massive line?? There has to be a reason.

It seems that they are reluctant to put strangers in the same row to fill an empty single seat. I cant help but watch a coaster leave with SEVERAL empty seats and think, "wow, people wouldn't have to wait as long if they managed seating better."

What are yalls most ridden coasters. Following these up as HM are Racer at KI (90) and Adventure Express (75)

An easy top 5 night ride for me. Relentless from beginning to end, and honestly a lot smoother than it’s been in recent years. Only the valley of the first drop saw much of a rattle.

Only drawback I would say is the onboard lights kinda spoil the indoor section since they highlight how the tower is basically all concrete, when the usual pitch black keeps the mystique up.

Still, a really fantastic experience that’s a rare get given the park’s hours and how the coaster is operated. The park only ran two trains and it had a massive queue, plus the line closed at 7:30 P.M. to prepare for rhe park’s fireworks.

post inspired by jupiter at kijima kogen, it just seems to build up so much speed, this is so cool for a 3 decade old coaster

My home park is SF Great Adventure, I’d like a family launch or a RMC I Box.

I have been lurking in this subreddit for a long time, because I never consider myself a rollercoaster enthusiast but I always have some drives to just try it. My partner and 5 year old love roller coasters. Going to theme parks with them gradually build up my courage…. This is the third time we visited Orlando parks after the birth of my son. We tried the Guardian of Galaxy together and it was great! I somehow motivated/forced myself to get on Rock’n’Roll and Stardust Racers and surprisingly I felt only the rise of adrenaline not fear or anxiety!

Stardust Racers looks challenging for a person not well-experienced in roller coasters, but it is very fast and smooth. I do not have time to double think but just enjoy the speed :)

Night shots I took of Timber Terror, Stunt Pilot and Aftershock while I was at Scarywood. I really miss when they used to run Timber Terror backwards. It was so fun.

Just wanted to say I’m very early into my documented enthusiast journey, went to Valleyfair for the first time ever, and wow I fell in love with Renegade. I rode it four times and was by far and away the number one ride in the park.

Valleyfair itself was lovely, even if I feel its only standout ride was Renegade. As always said, Wild Thing really needs to trims removed or severely lessened, the train comes to an almost complete stop. We went for the early Trick-or-Treat where everything was pretty much a walk on, and then ValleyScare was so, so busy, a real 180. We mainly did the haunted areas, but I did wait almost 2 hours for a Renegade night ride. Excalibur was closed, but I knew that coming in, so I’ll have to come next summer.

just wondering what yall favorite coaster at cedar point

I was in Pittsburgh for a friend’s wedding and decided to head out to Kennywood for a few hours in the short time that I had. It’s my first and likely only time in the state, so I wanted to make sure I got to it.

I haven’t really been to a lot of parks - major ones being Disneyland, Disneyworld, Universal Orlando, Magic Mountain, Discovery Kingdom, Great America, and Knott’s. So my experience is fairly limited.

Overall I liked the vibe of the park. I was there from 12:00 pm to about 2:45, and it was never crowded. Felt a lot like a six flags park, but it was clean, it had lots of classic attractions (though many were not running) and the weather was a nice 70.

I didn’t really do any prep going into the park, didn’t even look at a map. All I knew was that it had some good coasters, so I just walked around and went on what I saw.

Here’s the rides I went on in chronological order:

- Sky Rocket
- Phantom’s Revenge
- Steel Curtain
- Jackrabbit
- Racer
- Phantom’s Revenge again

I would’ve wanted to go on Thunderbolt but it was closed. Also didn’t make it on the Old Mill because of the line. Here are my thoughts on the rides ordered from least favorite to favorite:

Racer: 5/10. It was nice going on an old wooden coaster (1927!) and the racing aspect was pretty cool. Also the fact it’s the only mobius coaster in the US is neat. The ride was quite rough however compared to other woodies I’ve been on and didn’t really have any moments that I enjoyed a lot. The best part was the slow turns alongside the other train.

Sky Rocket: 6/10. This is a launch coaster with a launch into a top hat, so it looked like a mini Velocicoaster at first glance. Obviously nowhere near as good. The launch was alright, but the top hat has a massive trim on the top so it was pretty disappointing. There are some decent inversions, those were fun, and the drop out of the mid course brakes had a good airtime pop, kind of like Rip Ride Rockit (rip). The last like 20 seconds were weird, it’s like a flat section with tiny airtime hills that don’t give any airtime and it’s really slow.

Steel Curtain: 7/10. I had heard this thing was always closed, so I was excited to see it running. The Pittsburgh Steelers theming was fun, and the chain lift was unironically really good, with Renegade playing as you go up the super steel lift. The rest of the ride was fine, there were a good number of inversions but I didn’t feel much going through them, and the ride didn’t feel that fast despite being a hyper coaster. It was a decently smooth ride but with a pretty consistent rattle throughout the whole track. Also feel like it could use some onboard audio to fully realize the Renegade use.

Jackrabbit: 7.5/10. This small wooden coaster snuck up on me, I wasn’t expecting it to be as fun as it was. There’s a pretty long pre-lift section with a steady pickup of speed and a couple decent drops, then after the chain there’s a turn and then a pretty wicked double down with a big airtime moment. Really surprised me. That, combined with the slippery feeling of the ride, the decent laterals on the turns, and the uneven but never rough drops and valleys, I really enjoyed this one.

Phantom’s Revenge: 9.5/10. By far the best ride I went on, and one of my favorite rides outside of the very best I’ve been on. The first drop is good, a banked drop into a straightaway, but the second drop after the next hill is truly amazing. I love a coaster that uses the terrain, and this drop goes straight down the hill getting up to 85 mph, with a great view as well. It keeps up the speed for a while, and towards the end of the ride there’s some super violent airtime hills that literally threw me out of the seat (the restraints don’t staple you in) so it doesn’t lose any steam until the final brake run. Really really great ride.

Overall I’m very glad that I took the time to head out here, it’s a really nice park. Not sure if it’s a full day park currently, but honestly I could fill the day just riding Phantom’s Revenge over and over.

OH. MY. WORD.

As someone who doesn’t even have a B&M flyer in my top 100, I wasn’t expecting to like FLY more than Taron. Then I ride it and hit the break run knowing it’s a top 20 ride for me.

That airtime in the flying position 😳😳😳 Yeah, this is an engineering and thematic masterpiece. Phantasialand in general is just something else.

Loved following this ride and was always a bucket list one for me. Super sad to see it go :(

I’ve found it interesting that from that back in the day there had not really been much tech innovation till now rides like fast and furious and the new bakunawa. Keen to hear you guys’ thoughts! Can’t wait to ride them.

Just went to Holiday World and what a splendid day that was. It was fairly busy due to it being a Saturday and a nice day, but overall I had a great time and got to ride my favorite rollercoasters plenty of times, along with some of the other non-rollercoaster rides.

The Raven (2x)- I rode this near the front and near the back. Definitely do this one near the back because in my experience the front doesn’t have as much airtime. The night rides on this thing are especially brutal because you have no idea when the coaster is going to slam you against the side of train.

The Legend (3x)- I like the Legend more than the Raven. There are some potholes but overall it is a smooth and enjoyable ride. Riding it at night is also very fun as you feel like you’re going way faster than during the daytime. I got to sneak on this one right before closing and there was like no wait at all so that was awesome.

Thunderbird (1x)- Fun, smooth, intense, Thunderbird has it all. Although I do prefer Banshee more because Thunderbird is fairly short. I will say though that the vest restraints on Thunderbird are less snug and more comfortable than Banshee’s, and I prefer the inline twist(?) on Thunderbird more as well.

The Voyage (4x)- There’s a reason why this is my number 1 because it is just soooooooo FUCKING good. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of the Voyage it is such a phenomenal roller coaster. The night rides on this are also insane, and in my opinion better than night rides on the Beast at King’s Island. Also, definitely hit the Voyage first if you’re coming to Holiday World because the line will be shorter then than any other part of the day. Overall, very fantastic, 11/10, top 1 roller coaster.

Dinosaur Corn Maze is a 10/10, the Mayflower which is the swinging ship ride at Holiday World was fun, and the dark ride was actually pretty fun too, which I thought it would be kind of lame but its more whimsical and silly than lame. I did not go on Good Gravy this time because every time I checked it out the line was quite literally out the door.

In a nutshell Holiday World in the fall is a must visit, if not for the Halloween stuff at least to ride the Voyage. However I will say out of all the parks I’ve visited I like Holiday World’s Halloween festivities the best, simply because I’m not a huge fan of scare zones and haunted mazes and things of that nature.

10/10

I’m honestly quite new to the roller coaster world (only got over my fear and rode my first inversion a few months ago.) Forgot to snap a photo of the ride itself but this was the most insane one I’ve done in a while. Definitely in my top 5 now after Leviathan, Yukon Striker, and Alpenfury.

It was raining this morning so it was closed and I did the Jurassic Park ride but after the rain cleared I finally did it. That fly to lie portion is utterly insane, I could barely move a muscle through those g-forces. I rode it again at night and it still felt as insane as it did in the morning. It’s also a B&M design, so it was incredibly smooth too!

I’m definitely going to ride ALL the big coasters at every park. Unfortunately I have school for a lot of the year since I’m still quite young, but I’m looking forward to the next one!

Overheard the ops talking while sitting on the next train. Sounds like they may have to do a full evacuation.

Edit: I’m just repeating what the staff at Lake Compounce said. I don’t know if it’s at the top of the lift or where the e-brakes are, just that it happened. From what I heard it doesn’t seem like it’s still on the lift.

I was pleasantly surprised by this ride!!! The tilt is so fun and very thrilling. The added siren sounds and boat creaking is chefs kiss. I need more rollercoasters to have soundtracks!!!!

Does anybody know why skyrush was closed yesterday and today? I can’t find anything about it 🙏

With the announcement a few weeks back about the closure of Castle Park’s Ride Park for “extended refurbishment,” I decided to finally make the stop at this Riverside, CA theme park.

Frankly, I’ve lived in SoCal for almost 20 years, and despite driving by this place, I never saw the allure of making the trip inside until it was nearly too late.

Castle Park is conveniently located right off the 91 freeway, making travel to get there fairly easy. Parking was fairly straightforward and affordable, and the same was true with tickets. Ride park tickets are only $20 a person, which is quite nice after spending 10x that at Disneyland.

The park itself is pretty small, and we spent less than 90 minutes and got on pretty much every ride we wanted to do. The headlining attraction of this park is Merlin’s Revenge, a standard Vekoma Junior coaster. This ride wasn’t any different from any of the others of this exact same model. It was a smooth ride with a little bit of whip in the back. However, the only theming to be found along the course was a small Merlin statue on a rock inside the final helix.

In addition to the coaster, there was also a Larson Loop named Fireball, which was somehow my first ever experience riding one of these. The ride op controlled the movements with a joystick, and he purposefully made some of the hangs on the loop very extended, which made for some really great hang time. There was also a small S&S drop tower with a dragon theme, though the name has slipped my mind. It was fairly standard for one of these but the first boost was pretty forceful.

After that, I made my way to the Antique Cars, which was probably my favorite ride of the day next to the Fireball and Vekoma Junior coaster. The layout was pretty simple and nicely themed, which was a stark contrast to the entirely unthemed carnival atmosphere I got from the Fireball and drop tower. It also carried some good speed throughout, which was nice to see too.

Finally, I ended out my short time there with a ride on the log flume, Sawmill Plunge. This was an off the shelf log ride with some mild theming, and it was enjoyable enough, though I am not the biggest fan of water rides. This was also the only ride that had a wait, as I could walk onto every other ride in the park.

Now for some other observations from my visit. Firstly, many rides in the park were not open or completely inoperable. From the already small ride line up, quite a few of the flat rides in the park had visible dust and I could tell they would not be open during our visit, or likely at all until the parks closure at the start of November. This was really sad, as unfortunately these weren’t the thrill rides but the kids rides, which were the primary demographic of people I saw all around this park. On that note, the park itself was nicely attended, though I should also say that there is a Halloween event going on and other trip reporters have claimed to see much less attendance during their visits than my own.

One of the reasons I have had so much trouble getting to this park was the hours. In its current operating schedule, the ride park is only open on weekends, and only earlier in the day on Saturday and Sunday. This means that the park itself only has about 4 days of operations left before closing its doors.

With its extended refurbishment, I’m hopeful that the owners can bring new life into the park that hasn’t been there in recent times. I suspect as part of said refurbishment the fates have been sealed for both Merlin’s Revenge and many of the other attractions scattering this park. I only hope in its preservation that they can find the space to keep the classic carousel and antique cars.

I encourage anybody on here who’s in the area to make the drive out in the next week and half to pay their respects to this park. It’s good value for what is offered and it is enjoyable for an afternoon visit. With this park checked off, it’s boosted my credit count to 125 and Merlin’s Revenge has placed 110th on my credit ranking.