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Planning to visit multiple parks this year

R

rider

Roller Poster
Hi all,
I'm new here. I've had a life-long goal to spend a summer riding coasters, and this year I got an All Park Prestige Season Pass so I think it's gonna happen.

I'm going to use this thread to report on my visits. Not sure about etiquette here, hopefully this is a good use of a thread. I already went to Six Flags over Georgia so that will be first.
 
I went to Six Flags over Georgia for the first time a few weeks ago. It's a nice park, it was clean (except for the bathrooms), and laid out fairly well. I only went on coasters, here are my thoughts:

Twisted Cyclone - awesome. I love RMC retrofits, and this was no exception.
Superman - Ultimate Flight - ugh those pretzel loops kill me, but in a good way
Riddler Mindbender - fun old-school inversions
Great American Scream Machine - I'm a sucker for wooden out-and-back coasters, this one is a lot of fun
Goliath - I really like how the coaster leaves the park and goes tearing around on its own
Dare Devil Dive - pretty basic dive coaster, the chain lift straight up was fun
Blue Hawk - nicely done inversions
Batman the Ride - meh, its OK for an inverted coaster

I will get to Georgia Scorcher today, if its running.
 
I see I had the wrong topic, thanks for fixing.

At Six Flags over Georgia now, the park is pretty empty and very hot.

I did get on Georgia Scorcher. It’s a very fun stand up coaster!

Not sure what’s up next, park-wise.

I’m gonna keep track of my 2025 coaster count here too. Right now it’s 9!
 
Belmont Park, San Diego

I stopped by Belmont Park and rode the Giant Dipper twice, once in the front and once in the back. The rides were only $1, I guess because it's the 100th anniversary of the coaster?

At any rate its still a great ride, I love the tunnel at the beginning. On my second ride the train didn't quite make it back into the station, kudos to the three women operating the ride at the time who had to push us in the last few feet.

2025 count: 10
 
Knotts's Berry Farm

Today was my first time ever to Knott's Berry Farm. What a great park! I've never seen such well curated shops, and the themed areas were a lot of fun.
I've also never been to a (non-Disney) park where the ride lines were so integrated into the ride footprints, I assume due to the limited real estate of the park. It made the entrances non-obvious, but made waiting in queue more interesting and made the park more enjoyable overall IMO.

As for coasters:

GhostRider - What a great wooden coaster. I loved how so much of it was inside the infrastructure of the ride, and the length was exceptional too.
HangTime - Fun dive coaster, rolls though some huge turns and some nice hang time too, living up to the name beyond the first hill.
Sierra Sidewinder - This ride was a laugh. I rode the last car rear-facing. The spinning was fun and disorienting enough to really kick things up a notch.
Silver Bullet - Reminded me of Raptor at CP. Big swooping inversions and just does not quit.
Xcelerator - Pretty fun launch coaster, though very short. The whole ride was smooth and fast. Not sure if the longer wait for the front was worth it though.
Coast Rider - I had some time left so I went on this, its a decent wild mouse type with some fun dips and takes the flat turns at a good clip.

2025 count: 16
 
Six Flags Magic Mountain

Magic Mountain is all about rides, not much else there. Although I hear they are starting to have more events, and I saw an amphitheater being built so maybe changes are coming. It was hot hot hot in the park, 97F in the afternoon, and very little shade. Things got much better around 5PM, and the park really emptied out around then too. The park seems cleaner too. I was a bit disappointed with the food, several locations shut down in the middle of the day and since they're far apart it was a PITA to walk for a specific menu item only to find it closed. Maybe someone can get the app to update dining status too that would be awesome. I suspect the fact that I went right after the 4th and they haven't restocked yet was part of the problem.

It's been about 5 years since my last visit here, post-CF it seems like the ride operators are much better trained. Batman had a problem while I was in the loading station, it was all handled smoothly and professionally. Afterward I chatted with one of the ride supervisors, they said things have been good since the merger, with more opportunities for advancement.

I managed to ride 14 coasters in 8 hours (unfortunately Full Throttle was closed or it would've been 15!):

Wonder Woman Flight of Courage - I really like single rail rides and this one did not disappoint. They are so mimimal and still capture the essence of roller coasters.
West Coast Racers - Very fun racer, I like that you get to ride both sides. Yellow track definitely picked things up, and seeing the other train swooping aroung was a lot of fun
Twisted Colossus - What can I say I'm a huge RMC fan. I rode the original colossus and man what a difference. The crew managed to get us out in time for it to be a race too, which definitely added to the experience. Probably my 2nd fav here.
Apocalypse - Only wooden one here, I remember it being rougher in the past. Love the intensity.
Tatsu - I'm not a huge fan of flying coasters but OMG that pretzel loop. I acutally rode this last I have to psych myself up.
Scream - With this many rides there has to be a bottom and Scream is it for me. From the air horn at the start to the feeling that every element wimps out, I'm not a fan
X-2 - this used to be my favorite, but it's not aging well. In my seat the spins were jerky, and towards the end I hit my head harder than on any other ride. I have a feeling X2 will be gone soon it must be massive $$$ to try and maintain.
Goliath - My favorite current ride. Go on this it will not disappoint.
The Riddler's Revenge - For a standup coaster this is great. Smooth, lots of big elements, and great length.
Batman: The Ride - Meh bog standard inverted
Viper - Not the smoothest ride, but the super-high inversions are fun.
Ninja - I can't believe this is still running! Not many people make up that hill anymore I am sure. Suspended coasters are generally weak but Ninja tries really hard.
New Revolution - I like how it follows the terrain, and the loop is interesting as its barely compressed.
Goldrusher - I had time so why not? Its a fun little ride, really captures the essence of the mine car rides.

2025 count: 30
 
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

The Boardwalk is a bit of americana! Clean, full of people having fun, and to eat pretty much deep-fried anything. Not to mention the beach and ocean.

I was hoping to ride Undertow but it was down, even the next morning a car was still stuck on the track. But I did get to ride this Giant Dipper too, one year older than the one in Belmont, just as much fun. The tunnel was darker. Belmont has more banking in the turns I think.

2025 count: 31
 
California's Great America

Great America is so clean, and so empty. I know its closing soonish, that maybe makes it feel sadder that its not packed. I don't think it ever excelled at any one thing, like theming or family or rides, and just kind of faded in people's minds.

Gold Striker - Very similar to Apocalypse in MM, this one was a bit rougher when I rode it. Same relentless energy and non-stop speed though.
Railblazer - I like this ride, I guess I'm partial to single rail. The dip on the first hill, and the swooping layout overall, its just a lot of fun.
Demon - ah the heyday of Arrow Dynamics, two loops and a corkscrew. Not a lot of thrill anymore though.
Grizzly - its funny, Gold Striker never slows down, this one slows down after every hill. Somewhere in the middle would be nice, this one ended up ho-hum.
Flight Deck - I like this ride sooooo much better than any of the Batmans, and I think I figured out why. If you're gonna build an inverted coaster, give it room. The Batmans I've been on all fold onto themselves at some point, you are surrounded by track or supports or buildings. Flight deck (I remember when it was Top Gun) goes out and soars. That's the entire point of an inverted, and this one is one of the best IMO.
Patriot - another ho-hum coaster, it was much better as a stand-up.
Psycho Mouse - pretty bog standard wild mouse.

2025 count: 38
 
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

I wanted to like Discovery Kingdom, I really did. But in the end it was disappointing. It was pretty dirty, trash on the paths and sticky tables, mediocre rides and theming. And I had problems (again) with dining areas unexpectedly closed (looking at you Johnny Rockets), or not having menu items the apps said they did.

I mean, they do have a freakin' Bengal tiger, and lots of sea animals, a fun dophin show, an educational pinniped show (I learned that word!). I really had to work to find the entertainment though, it just felt disconnected.

And let me make a PSA here: Do not get your cell phone out on a rollercoaster. Just don't. The train ahead of me on Medusa got stopped and ride operators had to slog up the hill to confiscate it while we all waited. Then some copy-cat tried it on my train too. Here's the funny (sad) thing, I like to say I can fall asleep anywhere but I never thought I'd have a power nap harnessed in the front row on a roller coaster lift hill, stuck in the California sun. But now I can say that, and the other fool can say they got ejected from an amusement park. We've all seen videos of this on youtube, Six Flags is clearly strictly enforcing it, just don't be that person.

Batman the Ride - Wait what, its a wing and not inverted? Yay! The free-spinning seats were fun, lots of unpredictable motion in three dimensions. A bit short though
Medusa - Ok so there are good floorless coasters! This ride was a blast on the section before the trim brakes, lots of great inversions and swooping around. After the trim brakes it was still fun too, just down a notch.
Kong - Ugh. Maybe the worst inverted coaster I've ever been on? Jerky and uninspired.
Joker - RMC brings another winner, easily the best ride in the park. Outstanding elements, speed, and smoothness.
Boomerang - Not really worth the effort. I don't understand why rides have padding that is stiff so your head can bash into it.
Sidewinder Safari - Fun little wild mouse, gets better after the car starts spinning.
Superman Ulitmate Flight - this is a good muti-pass launch coaster! Between the acceleration, slooooow in-line twist, and verticality, it was a lot of fun.

2025 count: 45
 
Dollywood

Dollywood is such a fun park. The theming is good, the food is great (for amusment parks), they have some good coasters, and they have quality music shows you don't find at many parks. The employees are motivated to make sure you're having a good time, their engagement and the overall cleanliness of the park was notable. And even though the park was quite crowded, everyone was polite.

It was very very hot though, almost unbearable at 2:30pm to wait in a line. But they do have lots of shops that have AC, and the bottled water was way cheaper than at Six Flags.

Lightning Rod - I love RMC coasters, and I love terrain-hugging coasters, so as you might expect I love this ride. I overheard several people in the park saying its their favorite too :) I never rode it with the LSM, the theming is a bit odd now with a chain lift but it didn't take away from the ride.
Tennessee Tornado - OK this may be my favorite Arrow Dynamic ride to date. The tunnel was unexpected, the inverisons are huge, and it follows the terrain. In general I try not to find out much about a coaster before going on it, it made perfect sense to me that Alan Schilke designed this one.
Wild Eagle - Very nice wing coaster, B&M did a great job with this one. Smooth, soaring, fast but not rip-your-head-off.
Thunderhead - wow. This one literally took my breath away, as in I forgot to breath for a while. So much noise, speed without any letup, and yet so smooth. I like this one more than its west coast relatives, I think because it was smoother.
Mystery Mine - meh, dark rides are hard to keep up I think and this one already seems to be showing its age. The inversion at the end is pretty fun though.
Big Bear Mountain - This ride swoops around, has two tunnels and three LIMs but no inversions. What I really liked was the length of the ride, it just kept going, and how it follows the terrain. We didn't have any sound on our train though.
Dragonflier - This suspended coaster turned out to be more fun that I expected. Its not exactly intense, but it has some nice elements including a tunnel.
Firechaser Express - This is an OK mine car coaster, the theming is fun and reversing direction towards the end adds to it. Another one that follows the terrain.

2025 count: 53
 
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