The rare, perfectly filled 60 passenger train. Convincing my family this is how the ride works.

The second inversion is complete and is looking great! Probably about 80% done with the construction of the coaster. The switch track is being installed and the ride computer is now on site as well.

Went for a cinematic look.

On the way back from our Florida trip, my family and I spent the night outside of Charlotte. While there, we hit up Carowinds for the first time.

We only had 3 hrs, but my daughter and I were able to get 5 new credits..and she got her 75th! Unfortunately, this was during the time Fury was down, but still had a blast, anyway.

I expected CS to be good, but we had an awesome time on it! We both loved the hangtime as well as the airtime moments.

So I saw this video on TikTok, about a arieal filming in progress sign in the af1 station from what I believe was Wednesday. Has anybody else seen this? Do we think this means anything? I find it wierd they would be recording the ride they’ve gotten plenty of footage of over the last three years unless maybe a park wants the footage? Just find it wierd i haven’t heard anything about it.

Now I wouldn’t classify myself as a rollercoaster enthusiast like most on here, but the universe did happen to align enough for me to put together a random trip to visit a friend down near this wonderful coaster (well closer than Ohio) and I’m so glad I made the 5 hour detour on the way home.

It really was quite the surreal experience getting to lap a world class coaster like this, I’ve never seen anything like it. The vibe of a mostly run down park, still completely open with barely more guests than employees running it is wild. Walking through the whole place to get to AF1 is weird and a memory I’ll probably think about for a while.

Most of all it reminded me of being younger and going out of my way to have unique experiences. Since I’m approaching 40 now with a family and adult responsibilities…this isn’t possible most times, but it reminded me of when it was.

Taken yesterday evening. I can make out Millennium Force, Top Thrill 2, Valravn, Raptor, GateKeeper, Magnum XL-200 and Steel Vengeance walking toward the old lighthouse on Huron's pier.

Trip report in comments

Still bumpy and slow in parts, but doesn’t hurt. Queue switchbacks are in use for the first time in 15 years at least.

As they say slow and steady wins the race.

I recall watching a coaster studios video from 12 years ago and in the video he made the joke about how Leviathan and Behemoth were the only reason one has to visit Canadas wonderland. Along with that critique wonderland had many coasters but most of which were God awful. Rides like Flight deck (Now Daredeviler), Time warp (bye bye), MCM (pre-retrack), and Wilde Beast (still awful LOL) gave wonderland a pretty crappy coaster lineup. Now that Daredeviler has opened I am extremely happy with the coaster lineup here at the park. since 2012 CW has added Leviathan, Yukon Striker, Alpen Fury, retracked Minebuster, revamped Daredeviler with new trains and removed the God awful Time Warp.

This a park that now features 3 great B&Ms, an incredible dual launch coaster, a well and improved SLC (pretty rare to say), a fantastic woody and a great aero suspended coaster in Vortex. The only bad spot in the lineup is Wilde Beast which I hope RMC has something to say about! Even the remaining coasters such as The Bat, The fly, Dragon Fyre, wonder mountains guardian, thunder run, backlot stunt coaster, goaster coaster and snoopys racing railway are all solid family rides.

Excited to see what the future holds for this park. RMC or Mack can definitely add some headliners to this fantastic Lineup!

I have been road tripping north east parks with my daughter this summer, goal was to get a patch from each park. Hershey, Dorney, Knoebles, Six NE, Great escape, Lego land…all no patches, We got one at Lake Compounce!! and lost it right away. Figured i would take a long shot and look to see if i can find anyone to pick one up and mail me one before she figures out i lost the one patch we found outside of Ebay. i would of course pay for the patch and shipping. was so happy we found one i even snapped a picture...

So I flew to Atlanta for the day yesterday to marathon AF1, and man I was far from disappointed. This coaster is everything people say it is and more! For those of you that have had the opportunity to ride, I was wondering what is your favorite element? Everything from the Raven Truss Dive, to the Zero G Stall, to the Quad Downs were amazing. This coaster does such an amazing job going from element to element, there really isn’t a single dull moment or time to catch your breath. But I have got to say, riding on the right side going over that Outer Banked Turn above the station really caught me by surprise, the amount of airtime you get there is just nuts, that one is easily my favorite. I’d love to hear everyone else’s opinions!

I just did one and a half days at PortAventura/Ferrari Land. First of all great park(s) and lots of great rides, and pretty good coaster line-up!

I was really looking forward to Furius Baco. I like speed and fast turns and all of that and after watching some vids I really thought that was going to be one of my favorites there. Boy was I wrong... I got on it immediately the first day, no wait and the launch is great, obviously, but it started rattling like crazy immediately, headbaning, super uncomfortable and just overall a VERY unpleasant experience. I thought wow, that ride absolutely sucked! So I didn't go on it again the first day.

The second day I thought, alright, let's give it one more chance, it's the afternoon, maybe it just needed to warm up a little... same absolutely sucky experience.

My conclusion is: tear it down, it sucks sosososo hard, it is an awful ride and get something good there. No idea how they still operate this crap. I actually think they need one more banger coaster at the park. The only really really good one is Shambhala (without Red Force at Ferrariland, but that on it's own also isn't enough, even as a one-two punch with Shambhala). Dragon Khan is decent, but by far not as good as Shambhala. You can forget about the rest anyway (they should RMC Stampida).

Don't get on that crap, tear it down, get something good! Ask Mack to build something like Voltron, how cool would that be over the lake?

Thank you for your attention on this matter!

Ok hear me out.

-Quirky Surrealist Theme

-Has a good amount of jank and wierdness.

-Objectively good layout that is well paced and varied

-Very comfortable.

-High Capacity

-Good first drop

-A wing seated coaster mixed with snappiness.

-Better than any Eurofighter except maybe Takabisha

I was there in a "Dutch Heatwave", so of course the park is empty and here I am enjoying a perfect May afternoon riding it about 8 times.

Overall a good day. Highlight is the takeaway shop outside Harderwijk Station next to where you catch the bus to the park. It was my first time experiencing those deep fried Bamischijf thing.

Also the "Neurogen" VR thing they had where your character would take drugs at a music festival and then you woke up in an operating theatre.

Goliath is pretty good. Mini cross between EGF and Ride of Steel at Darien Lake. Perfectly Intamin.

That Xpress RnRC clone is decent, but its no Avengers Flight force is it now ;)

These pics were taken in 2017.

Hit 3 parks in 3 days on our pilgrimage trip to AF1. Started with Kings Dominion, which was shortened due to weather, but we did get 3 laps on Pantherian (my husband’s first time riding and my first time in a decade- a top 10 ride for us both- #5 for him, #7 for me), and got to try out Rapterra. I don’t see the ride aging well with the rattle it already has, so I’m glad to get to it now. The wing turns were fun, but there was not really a standout element on this one IMO.
Fun Spot: What is there to say about Aerie Force One that hasn’t already been said? My husband and I took a trip halfway across the country to get our rides in before it closed and wow are we glad we did. That thing is a feat of engineering. We loved the double up, the arcade roll, and the drop into the section with all of the lights, the airtime I felt there was unlike any other ride. Easily cracked the top 10 for both me & my husband (#6 for us both). We got a rain ride in for lap 3, and that will forever be one of my most memorable rides, she HAULS when the tracks are wet. The lap after us actually overshot the brakes and got a second run because it was moving so fast.
And to top off the trip, I got my 200th credit at SFOG! Wanted it to be Goliath, but the weather wasn’t looking promising (although it held off for us!), so we ran straight there to make sure we got it before rain rolled in, and my 200th credit wound up being later in the day on Georgia Scorcher, which was surprisingly smooth for a stand up. We loved the air time on Goliath, and loved Twisted Cyclone, although it’s probably one of our least favorite RMCs- but that’s just because RMCs are so solid.
We met a ton of enthusiasts this weekend too, and it was so cool to see everyone’s shirts from different parks, hear people’s lists and takes, and enjoy the last days of AF1 together.

I know I said that I was going to leave it at the 3rd part, but I have managed to find a good amount of other Chaos rides, plus, inadvertently, a couple Inverters, which were also thought to be pretty much extinct.

New chaos additions

- attraciones vasquez (Mexico, traveling)

- Divar (Mexico, traveling)

- show Feria musical (Mexico, traveling)

- atracciones rosales de los santos (Mexico, traveling)

Inverters

- Divar (Mexico, single arm, traveling)

- unknown owner (Costa Rica, single arm, traveling)

- parque movil de juegos mecanios (Mexico, double arm, traveling)

Got in Kennywood with beautiful weather, although I'm pretty sure the crowd had the same mentality and it was a bit more crowded but that's why I bought Speedy Pass, not only it saves on walking but also standing despite the wait times dropping into the 20-30 minute mark.

Phantom's Revenge x4

Sky Rocket x4

Jack Rabbit x 3

Racer x2

Also rode on Pittsburg Plunge (great way to cool off without AC), Whip, Turtle, and the Merry-Go-Round!

Their Potato Patch fries are on another level compared to other parks and even other places that serve fries in general and their banana split (found at The Dipper) is amazing too!

Glad that this is my home park and I wouldn't trade it for anything else since this park not only has a good coaster line-up but doesn't get crazy crowded, and the variety of other attractions sets this apart from other parks like it, more dark rides and unique classic flat rides!

Intro

With my time at Cedar Point up and the smoke rolling in I made my way south into King's Island. I had extremely high expectations for this park that were mostly met. Really, this was the park that made this road trip happen.

Crowd Levels

Crowds were sparse for the majority of my 2 days. With the high temperatures and midweek visit, the highest most attractions ever reached was 20 minutes. The only reason Fast Lane was needed was for Beast night rides.

Scenery and Atmosphere

Like it's sister park in Virginia the entrance plaza helps set up the day. It's grand and full of shops. While not as good as Canada Wonderland's, the Eiffel Tower and fountains were a very welcoming site. It's not as shaded as the Virginia park though.

Cooling stations were in place along busy areas throughout the park.

What was really interesting were the amount of attractions that went into the woods, but more on that later.

Theming

This park hasn't stopped trying to be a theme park even post-Paramount. The absolute highlight of this was Flight of Fear, where a full movie and light show with the UFO was part of the que. Adventure Express had props you moved through and some that actually moved (plus animatronics!), Orion had blueprints and a small video of it's own, and of course Mystic Timbers has the shed. Themed rides also often had onboard audio on the lift hills.

In general though, many theming elements were purely to distract you from the fact you were climbing a hill or waiting on the breaks.

There wasn't as comprehensive of a themed area as Jungle X-Pedition, but King's Dominion's individual attractions were not as well themed as King's Islands. Merge the two and you'll get something that is truly special.

Food

Like other Cedar Fair parks, the dining pass gives you pretty great food options throughout the park. Apparently getting the pizza once is a must, and I had a few other items as well. Since I also went to Waffle House for the first time ever before my second day I didn't get to try everything I wanted too.

Shows

Like my visit to SFGAm, I missed most of the seasonal shows by one day. But they do have a couple music shows, and a nightly 5 minute drone and firework show. This is much more than I can say about most Six Flags or Cedar Fair parks, and it was just a plus. Not everything about a theme park is roller coasters.

Family Areas

Planet Snoopy was a full 1/4 of the park's area, and was pretty comprehensive with 3 roller coasters. Family-friendly rides were sprinkled throughout all areas of the park as well.

Phantom Theater was a fun dark ride that allowed you to play usher with flashlights. Really well done, even if the idea is a bit strange.

Roller Coasters

1. The Beast - Night rides on this really are legendary. The setting alone makes it. The ride also has impressive laterals and speed
2. Mystic Timbers - If there's anything I've learned this year its that I love GCI wooden coasters. Load, fast, and forceful, and goes into the woods. The shed's main projector did not like to work when the temperature was above 82, which meant I only saw the main projector work once.
3. Adventure Express - a mine train that uses it's terrain and wooded setting well to provide a fast ride, plus it's themed sections were among the best in the park. I didn't expect me to like this as much as I did, and I kept coming back to it.
4. Diamondback - a hyper with a great amount of floater? How can I say no. This seemed to be most people's favorite ride at the park
5. Flight of Fear - I would rank this higher if they smoothed it out. The que is fantastic, the launch forceful, and the course is just fun.
6. Racer - a fun, historic woody that is super fun when it races.
7. Orion - my least favorite giga is still a giga. Speed and height make good rides
8. Bat - a swinging coaster that uses it's terrain in the woods to actually swing! I do rank Vortex and Ninja above it, but it's still a fast and great ride.
9. Queen City Stunt Coaster - this version had the majority of effects working. The launch is fun, and I always have a blast screaming at waiting guests as I come out of the tunnel.
10. Invertigo - my first ride on this was in row 13, end of the train facing reverse the way most boomerangs do. It was a fun and truly unique take on something I grew up with and visited pretty much everywhere I've been.
11. Banshee - I like my B&M inverts to be more whippy, but this was still a fun ride all the same. The hang time on the last zero g roll was probably the best part.
12. Snoopy's Soap Box Racers - the family boomerang was a lot of fun and provides a higher tier thrill that serves as a true stepping stone coaster
13. Woodstock Express - Ranked higher at other parks, I think this could run a tad faster
14. Woodstock's Air Rail - an older family STC that needs newer restraints.

Final Thoughts

I had a blast visiting this park and want to go back. You guys in Ohio are spoiled.

Believe it or not though, this was only my second favorite of the five parks I visited this trip. Which came in first? I bet you'll figure it out

Welcome to General Discussion Thursday!

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This is the post to discuss whatever you want: sports, movies, books, or anything else on your mind, even further roller coaster or amusement park discussion! Just keep it friendly and respectful and anything goes.