Your year in review - 2022 edition

[Indy]

Well, it's December 1st and the year is nearing a close. As I've become more active the last few years, I've looked forward to reading and participating in the annual end-of-year review. I've taken last year's categories and simply adjusted the years accordingly. Copy and paste the categories as you please (and add some if you like) and tell us about your year!

- Coaster count at start of 2022:

- Coaster count at end of 2022:

- New coasters ridden in 2022:

- New parks visited in 2022:

- Park visits (number of days) in 2022:

- Best new-to-you coaster:

- Best new-to-you non-coaster:

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022:

- Best park visit:

- Best seasonal event:

- Highlight of 2022:

- Biggest surprise of 2022:

- Biggest disappointment of 2022:

- Best individual coaster lap:

- Best new for 2022 ride:

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast:

- Best non-park travel moment:

- Most surprising coaster:

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment:

- Most exciting announcement For 2023:

 

[Snoo]

- Coaster count at start of 2022: 436
- Coaster count at end of 2022: 515
- New coasters ridden in 2022: 79
- New parks visited in 2022: 14
- Park visits (number of days) in 2022: 34
- Best new-to-you coaster: Hyperion (#4)
- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Batman - The Ride | SFOG (unranked to #13)
- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: Energylandia
- Best park visit: 3 days at Energylandia
- Best seasonal event: Holiwood Nights
- Highlight of 2022: Backstage tour of SFFT with the legend Jeff Siebert himself
- Biggest surprise of 2022: Batman - The Ride (SFoG)
- Best individual coaster lap: Hyperion, at night, during fireworks, front row, in the rain
- Best new for 2022 ride: Hyperion (#4)
- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Visiting a BUNCH of new parks in Europe
- Best non-park travel moment: Birthday Party in Orlando
- Most surprising coaster: Batman The Ride again
- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: Interviewing Jake Kilcup (RMC) and Adam Sandy (Zamperla) for my podcast.
- Most exciting announcement For 2023: Gotham City Escape

 

[JoshC.]

Always love doing this, and my 2022 is over in terms of creds and parks...

- Coaster count at start of 2022: 229
- Coaster count at end of 2022: 293 (not quite the 300 I hoped for sadly)
- New coasters ridden in 2022: 64 (my best ever return)
- New parks visited in 2022: 9 (Heide Park, Hansa Park, Hersheypark, Knoebels, Dorney, Six Flags Great Adventure, Clarence Pier, South Parade Pier; Legoland Billund)
- Park visits (number of days) in 2022: This I don't keep track of. I could probably figure it out using League of Goons, but probably around 30ish?

- Best new-to-you coaster: Skyrush (#4)
- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Hmmmmmm, probably Highlander at Hansa Park
- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: Close between Hersheypark, Six Flags and Heide. Not sure which.

- Best park visit: My most enjoyable, looking back, was probably my day at Heide Park. Quite day, weather held off, high ride count and just generally a great day.
- Best seasonal event: Haven't done many, but enjoyed Thorpe's Fright Nights again

- Highlight of 2022: Has to be going to America. Doing Billund in a day is a second.
- Biggest surprise of 2022: Phoenix at Knoebels. I'd forgotten it was a highly ranked woodie, and it blew me away.
- Biggest disappointment of 2022: Adding this in. Want to shine some light on Novgorod at Hansa, Hansa Park leaving me feeling a bit flat and my rides of Ride to Happiness being rattly.

- Best individual coaster lap: First go on Skyrush, front row, wing seat. WOW.
- Best new for 2022 ride: I think by default, it has to be Farmyard Flyer at Paultons. Wow, that's depressing.

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Solo road trip in America or Legoland Billund as a day trip (from the UK).
- Best non-park travel moment: I guess driving in America successfully is up there.

- Most surprising coaster: As it was my biggest surprise, Phoenix at Knoebels. I'll also say Krake at Heide Park; I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, even if it's not in the upper echelons of my count.

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: Tripping over and scraping my elbow whilst at Great Adventure. An America couple came over to me to check if I was alright; they didn't see my response of "I'm fine, just my pride that's hurt" all that funny!

- Most exciting announcement For 2023: Torn between Toutatis and Gotham City Escape.

 

[Matt N]

Let’s see how 2022 panned out for me, shall we?

• Coaster count at start of 2022: 79
• Coaster count at end of 2022: 91
• New coasters ridden in 2022: 12
• New parks visited in 2022: 1 (Europa Park)
• Park visits in 2022: 9 days/5 visits (4 days at Alton Towers, 3 days at Europa Park, 1 day at Thorpe Park, 1 day at Drayton Manor)
• Favourite new-to-you coaster: Silver Star at Europa Park (#2 overall)
• Favourite new-to-you non-coaster: Piraten in Batavia at Europa Park
• Favourite new-to-you park: Europa Park (by default, although it did become my overall #1 park, in fairness)
• Highlight of 2022: Easily my first visit to Europa Park. I had sky high hopes for Europa, but it delivered and then some.
• Biggest surprise of 2022: Probably also Silver Star; I didn’t have overly high expectations based on reviews, but it blew me away and was absolutely phenomenal!
• Biggest disappointment of 2022: Adventure Cove River Rapids at Drayton Manor. I was hoping it might be quite fun having heard about it being the “best rapids in the UK”, but I was underwhelmed. I’ll concede that it looks very nice, though! I also concede that the issues are somewhat out of Drayton Manor’s control.
• Favourite coaster lap: It could be any of the laps I had on Silver Star, but I’ve got to admit that the 6 ride session I had on my last day in Europa was easily one of the most fun coaster riding sessions I’ve ever had! Putting Silver Star aside, I must say that my last ride of the trip on Wodan was also up there; with a loose lap bar, relentless pacing, and tons of airtime, Wodan definitely went out on a high for me!
• Favourite new for 2022 ride: Probably Thor at Drayton Manor; I didn’t do many new for 2022 rides, but I have to say that my first Disk’O Coaster was more fun and less nauseating than expected.
• Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Probably my solo day at Drayton Manor. I managed 30 rides in 6 hours, blowing my previous personal ride count record to pieces!
• Favourite non-park travel moment: I’m quite proud of myself for having gotten to Drayton Manor on the train all by myself. It was much easier than expected!

Overall, I’d declare 2022 a pretty successful year for me. Not all of my plans came to fruition, but visiting Europa Park, one of my biggest all-time bucket list theme parks, was certainly a huge moment for me that I’m thrilled to have accomplished in 2022!

Even putting that aside, it has been one of my higher years for new creds, and getting 3 new coasters in my top 10 as well as a new favourite theme park is certainly nothing to complain about!

I can only hope that 2023 will be equally fruitful; with a return to Florida on the agenda in June and various other UK plans brewing in my head, it certainly looks promising!

 

[Benenen]

- Coaster count at start of 2022: 316

- Coaster count at end of 2022: 451

- New coasters ridden in 2022: 135

- New parks visited in 2022: 17 (Parque Warner, Parque de Atracciones, Farup, Djurs, Legoland Billund, Six Flags New England, Lake Compounce, Coney Island, Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags America, Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Hersheypark, Knoebels, Dorney Park, Quassy, Canobie Lake Park)

- Park visits (number of days) in 2022: 39

- Best new-to-you coaster: Twisted Timbers.

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Either Tigeren at Djurs or Justice League at Great Adventure. Not a great year for dark rides but Justice League is genuinely fantastic. It does get too screen heavy in the second half but the sets and effects are so far ahead of anything else visually at Six Flags (bar the gorgeous coaster skyline of course). In terms of flats I rode some great drop towers and frisbees in the states but Tigeren as a whole package knocks it out the park.

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: Busch Gardens Williamsburg.


- Best park visit: Food and Wine Festival at Busch Gardens - I did three days in a row at Busch but the most magical was the first as it was a Sunday with the food festival. Ate some awesome food and had the excitement of entering each new area of the park not only pumped for the coasters but also what food or wine I could tick off my card. The park was open until 9 and I managed the last train in the dark on Pantheon plus a bonus reride in the same seat as the Tempesto staff came over for a post shift ride and let me stay on with them.

- Best seasonal event: Tulleys Farm, Wastelands Penitentiary maze is jaw dropping.

- Highlight of 2022: America road trip, first time doing such a long trip so far from home and I had a blast.

- Biggest surprise of 2022: Dipping in consciousness on i305. I expected to grey out but everything went completely black and silent for half the layout after the first corner. I came to again after the second camelback with the big trim like I'd just woken up trying to remember where I was and why I was strapped into a coaster harness. It spooked me massively at the time but looking back I think it's amazing coasters have the potential to mess you up like that.


- Best individual coaster lap: At Great Adventure in June the park empties significantly at 4PM once the hordes of school kids go home setting the scene for a ridiculous marathon on El Toro. I took my seat on the bull at 6:25 and rode the same train every lap until the park shut at 7. For the last 15 minutes the station emptied out and I was able to stay in the back car non wheel seat for several laps and the whole thing was euphoric. It's rare the opportunity for a stay in your seat marathon comes up but as a Brit to get to do it on a coaster as iconic as El Toro was so special. One of those moments you make a mental note to really savour and remember.

- Best new for 2022 ride: Pantheon.


- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Doing the America trip solo and finally getting comfortable visiting parks alone. Driving in a new country is a nerve wracking experience and working out the huge multi lane junctions and bizarre traffic light layouts threw me at first but I got settled in and started enjoying hitting the road after a day at a park.


- Worst non-park travel moment: Customs at Boston airport was an intenese one. As soon as I mentioned I was travelling alone to visit theme parks it was straight into the interrogation room where they threatened to go through my phone and laptop. Initially I thought they thought I was a paedo but it turned out I was suspected of sneaking into the country to work at a park. Annoyingly I only had park tickets and hotels booked for the first two nights so it was hard to make my case and it was overall a difficult situation.

- Most surprising coaster: Alpengeist. Went in expecting an average B&M multilooper (a genre that barely tickles my top 50) but it rode so well and I love the setting in the wood with the huge inversions tearing through the clearing. Now my number 19.

- Most exciting announcement For 2023: Toutatis.

 

[cookie]

- Coaster count at start of 2022: 138

- Coaster count at end of 2022: 181

- New coasters ridden in 2022: 43

- New parks visited in 2022: 8 (PortAventura, Ferrari Land, Tibidabo, Bellewaerde, Plopsa Coo, Walibi Holland, Toverland, Efteling)

- Park visits (number of days) in 2022: 23

- Best new-to-you coaster: Untamed, Walibi Holland / Shambhala, PortAventura

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Symbolica, Efteling

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: Efteling

- Best park visit: An empty Hansa Park on June 22nd and 23rd

- Best seasonal event: Christmas, Tivoli Gardens

- Biggest surprise of 2022: Toverland. A beautiful and well-rounded park that still manages to pull off an incredibly chill atmosphere. I expected the least of it out of the three parks I visited in the Netherlands, but I walked away loving it far more than I did Walibi Holland.

- Biggest Disappointment of 2022: Ferrari Land. A staggeringly terrible park that shouldn’t exist as a separate gate and whose only saving grace is Red Force. Would also throw out Walibi Holland if only because of how underdeveloped it turned out be beyond its coaster line-up.

- Best individual coaster lap: Kondaa night ride on August 19th

- Best new for 2022 ride: Don’t think I rode any new for 2022 rides, lol

- Worst non-park travel moment: Nearly missing my flight from Amsterdam due to a train strike.

- Most surprising coaster: Troy, Toverland

- Most exciting announcement For 2023: Gotham City Escape, Parque Warner / Toutatis, Parc Asterix

 

[cpfanatik77]

- Coaster count at start of 2022: 252

- Coaster count at end of 2022: 279

- New coasters ridden in 2022: 27

- New parks visited in 2022: 3 (SeaWorld Orlando, Funspot Kissimmee, Kentucky Kingdom)

- Park visits (number of days) in 2022: 14

- Best new-to-you coaster: VelociCoaster

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: SeaWorld Orlando

- Best park visit: Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure

- Best seasonal event: Christmas Town at Busch Gardens Williamsburg

- Highlight of 2022: Riding Lightning Run at Kentucky Kingdom with my son for his 100th coaster in August

- Biggest surprise of 2022: SeaWorld Orlando – I really enjoyed the rides, but enjoyed the shows and animal displays way more than I thought I would

- Biggest disappointment of 2022: White Lightning being closed when I was in Orlando.

- Best individual coaster lap: ERT on Fury at Carolina Coaster Classic in the pouring rain with my son. Stung like crazy, but we laughed and made memories that we’ll be talking about for years.

- Best new for 2022 ride: Iron Gwazi

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Seeing my son enjoy coasters as much as I do. He’s already ridden over 125 coasters at the age of 9 when I didn’t even start riding until I was 11.

- Best non-park travel moment: After our guys trip this summer (Holiday World, Kentucky Kingdom, Kings Island, Cedar Point, and Michigan’s Adventure), we got to attend a wedding of a good friend at the Mackinaw City Lighthouse. A beautiful end to a great week.

- Most surprising coaster: I’ll go with my three biggest surprises: VelociCoaster (somehow exceeded my already high expectations), Lightning Run (why are there not more of these rides?), and Ice Breaker (wasn’t expecting a whole lot but really enjoyed it)

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: Us screaming as we were being pressure-washed by the rain on Fury for 5 laps

- Most exciting announcement For 2023: the 2 new RMCs as I'll probably be able to get on them next year, and the 2 Intamins in Europe (Toutatis and Gotham City Escape) that I will dream of someday visiting.

 

[Edward M]

- Coaster count at start of 2022: 339
- Coaster count at end of 2022: 376
- New coasters ridden in 2022: 37
- New parks visited in 2022: 3
- Park visits (number of days) in 2022: 20

- Best new-to-you coaster: Phantom's Revenge. There's so much to gush about here, but I'll simply note that it's the closest I've seen a steel coaster come to the excitement and creativity of a wood coaster, most notably as a result of the way it was put together using a previous layout.
- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Rise of the Resistance. I think it's a bit overhyped and lacking a certain warmth I want with a dark ride, but the way its story is built as a continuous narrative throughout its preshow and into the ride is immensely effective.
- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: Kennywood. Despite seeing the park in a pretty poor state, operating with only a select few rides on a very quiet (though not uncrowded) Halloween night, the park is still one of the most fascinating and unique I've ever visited. Can't wait to go back under better circumstances.
- Best park visit: Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Got to meet some fellow gay coaster enthusiasts who I now consider good friends.
- Best seasonal event: Howl-O-Scream BGW. Of the Halloween events I got to see, I felt this was the most atmospherically interesting. I'm not a big fan of horror mazes, so the scare zones and themed walkways are what matter most to me.

- Highlight of 2022: Beast night rides. The most artistically invigorating coaster experience I've had.
- Biggest surprise of 2022: Discovering that Kennywood is closed (because there was a shooting the night before) after a 6 hour drive out of the way
- Best individual coaster lap: Voyage's final lap of the night. Pitch black is an understatement.
- Best new for 2022 ride: Iron Gwazi

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Doing my first ever solo road trip
- Best non-park travel moment: Apart from getting to see family on my latest road trip, it was the drive between Pittsburgh and Knoxville through the West Virginia mountains. I don't know if I've ever seen foliage so densely colorful in my life.
- Most surprising coaster: Thunderbolt at Kennywood being one of the greatest roller coasters ever built or VelociCoaster being one of the most underwhelming coasters ever built.
- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: I still need to write my trip report, but there are so many little moments on my latest trip that stick out to me.
- Most exciting announcement For 2023: I think ArieForce One is probably the ride I'm most excited about, mostly because Atlanta is easily accessible to me. Best looking coaster is Toutatis.

 

[ScottLann]

- Coaster count at start of 2022: 91
- Coaster count at end of 2022: 102
- New coasters ridden in 2022: 11
- New parks visited in 2022: 0
- Park visits (number of days) in 2022: 20 Days
- Best new-to-you coaster: Iron Gwazi
- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Rise Of The Resistance
- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: N/A
- Best park visit: Universal Studios - First time doing Halloween Horror Nights
- Best seasonal event: Halloween Horror Nights
- Highlight of 2022: 2nd day at Disney's Hollywood Studios - Spending nearly a full day in Galaxy's Edge
- Biggest surprise of 2022: How good Iron Gwazi actually was
- Best individual coaster lap: First night ride on Velocicoaster. Front row. Perfection.
- Best new for 2022 ride: Iron Gwazi
- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Reaching 100+ Credits
- Best non-park travel moment: Driving to a Theme Park for the first time (Flamingo Land...going up Sutton Bank in my little Aygo was interesting)
- Most surprising coaster: GOTG - Cosmic Rewind. That backwards launch and spin into the main indoor section really caught me off guard.
- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: First time doing Halloween Horror Nights and absolutely ******* myself. Honestly, the 'Halloween' maze was so good .
- Most exciting announcement For 2023: Going to get on my 2nd RMC next year (Untamed) and I may also be going to Phantasialand after many years of trying to go!

 

[Mushroom]

- Coaster count at start of 2022: 542

- Coaster count at end of 2022: 616

- New coasters ridden in 2022: 74

- New parks visited in 2022: 17 (New Saniro Dream Paradise, Sri Lanka; Leisure World, Sri Lanka; BonBon Land, Denmark; Furuvik, Sweden; Park Miniatur, Poland; Web Adventure Park, UK; Magic Kingdom, USA; Animal Kingdom, USA; Epcot, USA; Hollywood Studios, USA; Islands of Adventure, USA; Universal Studios, USA; Busch Gardens, USA; Sea World Orlando, USA; Fun Spot Orlando, USA; Fun Spot Kissimmee, USA

- Park visits (number of days) in 2022: 28

- Best new-to-you coaster: Iron Gwazi

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Rise of the Resistance

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: Sea World Orlando

- Best park visit: Liseberg

- Best seasonal event:

- Highlight of 2022: Too many!

- Biggest surprise of 2022: Actually getting to America

- Best individual coaster lap:

- Best new for 2022 ride: Iron Gwazi

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Actually getting on Mako

- Best non-park travel moment: Sri Lanka

- Most surprising coaster: Expedition Everest

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: The soaking on Flume Ride at Liseberg

- Most exciting announcement For 2023: Parque Warner's Intamin

 

[TPoseOnTantrum]

This year I was actually able to start visiting parks again with restrictions being lifted here in Canada and at the border, so here we go;

- Coaster count at start of 2022: 70
- Coaster count at end of 2022: 94
- New coasters ridden in 2022: 24
- New parks visited in 2022: 3 (Waldameer, Kings Island, Tibidabo)
- Best new-to-you coaster: Mystic Timbers
- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Thunder River Log Flume, Waldameer
- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: Kings Island
- Best park visit: Kings Island - low crowds, great weather, great park, complete coaster sweep and waterpark
- Best seasonal event: Haunt, Canada's Wonderland
- Highlight of 2022: Working as a waterslide attendant the majority of the summer (or at least until the disastrous final day)
- Biggest surprise of 2022:
- Best individual coaster lap: Yukon Striker front row night rides
- Best new for 2022 attraction: Uhhhh... my waterpark overhauled and rerouted our entrance/exit this spring to handle crowds better?
- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Biking 20km to get an oval Orient Express credit at a Ribfest a few towns over
- Best non-park travel moment: Spending a week in the Spanish Pyrenees with local friends
- Most surprising coaster: Muntanya Russa, Tibidabo. Knew little about the park, was expecting a family coaster with great views. Didn't realize that I'd get an astoundingly perfect 20 sec of coaster in the first half.
- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: Watching a bunch of nerds ride Ravine Flyer 2 with wind goggles and SFGAM coaster shirts
- Most exciting announcement For 2023: Tundra Twister and Snoopy's Racing Railway at CW, I am unreasonably excited and intrigued by how little we know about both

 

[TilenB]

- Coaster count at start of 2022: 312

- Coaster count at end of 2022: 352

- New coasters ridden in 2022: 40

- New parks visited in 2022: 7

- Park visits (number of days) in 2022: 13 days (12 parks, EP was over two days)

- Best new-to-you coaster: Ride to Happiness

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Nothing truly outstanding, but I liked Voletarium the most, I feel

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022:  Liseberg

- Best park visit: Walibi Belgium with @CookieCoasters and @ThomVD was really fun. Perfect weather, just the right amount of crowds, great company and an awesome new coaster. Can't beat that.

- Best seasonal event: I finally broke my Halloween park duck and I feel Liseberg did it best. Kolmarden's was nice too, Grona Lund felt a bit too cramped for the proper Halloween vibe and Danish parks were very vanilla in comparison.

- Highlight of 2022: Got a new top 2

- Biggest surprise of 2022: I never really rated Colorado Adventure too highly, but the rides I had on it this year were really good. Gotta go for that back car, though.

- Biggest disappointment of 2022: What would probably be the respective park's best coaster being down in three parks in a row (Grona Lund, Bakken and Tivoli Gardens)

- Best individual coaster lap: That one lap @ThomVD and I had on RtH when we got just the perfect spin for every element and that was without a doubt the most mental coaster ride I ever had. Honorable mention to night rides on Wildfire.

- Best new for 2022 ride: Did I even do any? I guess there's a couple new coasters travelling Slovenia this year, which is always a nice bonus.

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: I finally managed to get myself to Sweden after planning a trip there for about 6 years.

- Best non-park travel moment: I feel my travels were extremely park focused this, so there isn't much to talk about here. The Viking themed restaurant I did in Stockholm (Aifur) was probably the most memorable thing I did. Oh, and I randomly got to see the kings of Sweden and Netherlands while the latter was on a state visit in Gothenburg.

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment:

- Most exciting announcement For 2023:   Toutatis

 

[kayleigh coston]

My 2022 count is boring compared to others. I’ve only started being more adventurous this year
2023 hopefully I can gain a ton of new creds
Coaster count at start of 2022: 25

- Coaster count at end of 2022: 46

- New coasters ridden in 2022: 21

- New parks visited in 2022: Just Blackpool Pleasure Beach

- Park visits (number of days) in 2022: 8

- Best new-to-you coaster: Stealth(Shocker probably to most of you as I only rode it back in August)

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Rush(First Time I did this ride this year as well)

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: I only visted Blackpool Pleasure Beach

- Best park visit: Thorpe Park Carnival. The weather was nice, it was my birthday and we packed so many rides into one day

- Best seasonal event: Tulleys Farm(The Scariest event out of the ones I went to)

- Highlight of 2022: Finally stopped being a wimp and conquered Stealth

- Biggest surprise of 2022: Icon(Awesome coaster, didn’t expect it to be so intense and I love it’s quirky layout)

- Best individual coaster lap: Dragons Fury as the last ride I had on it was one of the most intense ride laps I’ve ever experienced. Non stop spinning

- Best new for 2022 ride: Probably time machine at Winter Wondeland(The only new ride I’ve been on in 2022)

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: This sounds kinda lame but extending my cred record

- Best non-park travel moment: Getting scared to death & completing all 10 mazes including 6 re runs at Tulleys Shocktober Fest in 1 night)

- Most surprising coaster: Icon(First Time experiencing inversions with just a lap bar)

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: Not Waiting for my mum by re riding on Galactica and Nemesis alone(She Wasn’t happy)

- Biggest disappointment of 2022: My visit to Blackpool Pleasure beach. Infusion & Grand National were both rough and painful. The Big One was closed & Valhalla well was still undergoing maintenance

- Most exciting announcement For 2023: Jumanji at Chessington. The theming looks epic and the coaster itself seems to have a unique layout

 

[James F]

Coaster count at start of 2022: 146

- Coaster count at end of 2022: 182

- New coasters ridden in 2022: 36. Counted them myself.

- New parks visited in 2022: 3

- Park visits (number of days) in 2022: 8

- Best new-to-you coaster: Hyperion (#1)

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Popcorn's Revenge/Pirates in Batavia refurb

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: Energylandia

- Best park visit: Walibi Belgium

- Best seasonal event: Alton Towers Scarefest

- Highlight of 2022: Hyperion in the front and back row during a warm evening in June. It was running like a dream.

- Biggest surprise of 2022: Again Hyperion. I knew it was going to crack into my top 10, but after hearing some of the critism I never thought it take the number one spot over Helix, Zadra, Karnan and Kondaa. It was just that good!

- Best individual coaster lap: Back row on Hyperion.

- Best new for 2022 ride: I don't believe I have ridden any new for 2022 rides

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: travelling abroad solo

- Best non-park travel moment: I loved Prague. Beautiful city, especially at night. Seeing Rammstien while I was there was also a bonus.

- Most surprising coaster: Hyperion or for variety sake I would also say Pulsar.

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: Getting one of my non enthusiast friends on the The Big One for the first time, seeing them all excited while waiting. We rode in the front and then once we came off he said it was boring. Couldn't agree more. I don'the know if I should laugh at someone's dissapointment, but it was relatable.

- Most exciting announcement For 2023: Toutatis

 

[CanobieFan]

2022 was a good year for me with travels and while I did do a bunch of parks and new rides I think I actually spent more time this year doing non-parks than any year since maybe 2003, haha. Visited one new for me US State this year, 17 states (+DC) in total, as well as 13 countries, 6 being new for me, and also a new BOTs

- Coaster count at start of 2022: 1,062

- Coaster count at end of 2022: 1.092

- New coasters ridden in 2022: 30, seven being 'new for 2022' rides.

- New parks visited in 2022: 7, one being a 'new for 2022' park

- Park visits (number of days) in 2022: Not counting local Orlando parks since I dont keep track of that well, 32

- Best new-to-you coaster: Oh, this is hard Taiga at Linnanmäki or Pantheon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Dirk Löffelhardt's HUSS Booster, Ghost Rider

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: Linnanmäki, since I didn't get to go inside Gröna Lund, just stand outside of it, closed

- Best park visit: A return visit to Tivoli Gardens and just having an entire day to chill in the park with no need to rush to get everything done

- Best seasonal event: I think I only did two this year and both were Halloween events and kinda, meh.

- Highlight of 2022: A month long trip across Europe after having it canceled on me since 2020

- Biggest surprise of 2022: Planning a trip and checking well in advance that every park was gonna be open the day you planned on being there ....and finding out right before visiting, that two of them now *wouldn't* be open. But in a positive surprise fining out about the Schueberfouer and getting to visit this massive fair while in Luxembourg

- Best individual coaster lap: Probably my front seat ride on Taiga at Linnanmäki

- Best new for 2022 ride: I don't think I did any new for 2022 non-coasters this year

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Riding single kiddie coasters in France, Poland, and Estonia as a grown-ass-man, haha

- Best non-park travel moment: Going to Hawaii right before my birthday in February and visiting Bermuda for a few days in October

- Most surprising coaster: Speed Rockets at Jardin d'Acclimatation was a lot of fun. Hadn't been on a Gerstlauer Bobsled in like 15 years and wasn't expecting the mini one to be as fun as it was.

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: I mean, I guess being at Peppa Pig Theme Park and riding Daddy Pig's Coaster was pretty amusing.

- Most exciting announcement For 2023: Circuit Breaker at Cotaland, Wildcat's Revenge at Hershey, and probably the only one I'll get to next year, Pipeline at SeaWorld.

Random photo highlights via twitter?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1486069198996615170

https://twitter.com/x/status/1488296611621097475

https://twitter.com/x/status/1492367762080997381

https://twitter.com/x/status/1500613970973106179

https://twitter.com/x/status/1512436851810144260

https://twitter.com/x/status/1515784515125653505

https://twitter.com/x/status/1516576694680883205

https://twitter.com/x/status/1517265264781541383

https://twitter.com/x/status/1518253475670470656

https://twitter.com/x/status/1527458803091791872

https://twitter.com/x/status/1528498219927318528

https://twitter.com/x/status/1542692674230263811

https://twitter.com/x/status/1557105859100033024

https://twitter.com/x/status/1558778513741664256

https://twitter.com/x/status/1559230070472019968

https://twitter.com/x/status/1561733310707109891

https://twitter.com/x/status/1562215062231830528

https://twitter.com/x/status/1562510423504846848

https://twitter.com/x/status/1563474609047236608

https://twitter.com/x/status/1583173419356794880

 

[Nitefly]

- New parks visited in 2022: 12 (Kings Island, Holiday World, Kentucky Kingdom, Kennywood, Cedar Point, Six Flags: Great America, Dollywood, Carowinds, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Kings Dominion, Hersheypark, Six Flags: Great Adventure)

- Park visits (number of days) in 2022: ~25

- Best new-to-you coaster: Steel Vengeance

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: Cedar Point

- Best park visit: Cedar Point

- Highlight of 2022: Cedar Point

- Biggest disappointment(s) of 2022: how rough The Voyage and El Toro were; Skyrush

- Best individual coaster lap: Steel Vengeance (night ride)

- Best new for 2022 ride: Iron Gwazi

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: conquering Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom.

- Best non-park travel moment: cruising through the Smokey Mountains.

- Most surprising coaster: Nemesis (still holding up!)

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: The Beast

- Most exciting announcement for 2023: Toutalis

 

[Serena]

Coaster count at start of 2022: 687

Coaster count at end of 2022: 742

New coasters ridden in 2022: 55

New parks visited in 2022: WDW Hollywood Studios, Fun Spot Kissimee, Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Carowinds, Six Flags Over Georgia, Dollywood.

Park visits in 2022: Universal IOA, Universal Studios Florida, SeaWorld Orlando, WDW Magic Kingdom, WDW Animal Kingdom, WDW Hollywood Studios, Fun Spot, Busch Gardens Tampa, Thorpe Park (x17 - it's within walking distance from my house!) Chessington, MovieLand Italy, Gardaland, Mirabilandia, Linnanmaki, Hershey Park, SFOG, Dollywood, Carowinds, Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Plopsaland, PortAventura, EnergyLandia, Disneyland Paris, (plus a trip to Europa Park next week)

Favourite new-to-you coaster: Intimidator 305

Favourite new-to-you non-coaster: Justice League Battle for Metropolis at SFOG, followed v. closely by RotR at Hollywood Studios. Honourable mention to MovieLand Intamin 1st gen drop tower and the Drop Tower at Gardaland.

Favourite new-to-you park: Kings Dominion

Highlight of 2022: Intimidator 305 in the front row. VelociCoaster at night - particularly during the final inversion seeing the reflections of the fireworks in the water.

Biggest surprise of 2022: Intimidator 305, I was expecting to hate it!

Biggest disappointment of 2022: Most disappointing coaster has got to be Taiga at Linnanmaki. Most disappointing park is easily Dollywood. Honourable mention to PortAventura for not even meeting my low, low expectations this year. Awful park.

Favourite coaster lap: Stealth blind launch at night during Fright Nights with the loud 80s music of the scare zone blaring around.

Favourite new for 2022 ride: Pantheon

Best Seasonal Event: Thorpe Park Fright Nights was absolutely electric this year. The Crows! The music! Death's Doors! The fire show! The vampire/ werewolf high school area by Stealth that makes me feel like a teenager again! Such a strong year for Thorpe this Halloween.

Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Riding my 700th coaster - Alpengeist, a coaster that featured on an old Discovery Channel documentary that I used to watch when I was younger. Was great to finally ride it and have it as my 700th milestone.

Favourite non-park travel moment: Driving at night from Dollywood to Hershey Park, seeing loads of fireflies everywhere

 

[Gazza]

- Coaster count at start of 2022:

614

- Coaster count at end of 2022:

691 (But should make 692)

- New coasters ridden in 2022:

77 (will be 78)

- New parks visited in 2022:

13

- Park visits (number of days) in 2022:

Probably 20 or so?

- Best new-to-you coaster:

Taiga

- Best new-to-you non-coaster:

Let’s say Underlandet? Or possibly Emmets Flying Adventure.

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022:

Liseberg

- Best park visit:

Grona Lund

- Best seasonal event:

I got dragged along to a Birthe Kjær summer concert at Tivoli

Birthe Kjær - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

- Highlight of 2022:

Going overseas for the first time since 2019

- Biggest surprise of 2022:

How good Leviathan turned out.

- Biggest disappointment of 2022:

Pitts Special / Missing Balder.

- Best individual coaster lap:

Late afternoon on Wildfire on a hot day.

- Best new for 2022 ride:

Fonix

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast:

Getting on Monster after such a long construction period.

Giving a talk to the ECC.

- Best non-park travel moment:

Arriving into Helsinki via boat past the fortress on a summer morning.

Standing at the edge of the Kalgoorlie super pit.

- Most surprising coaster:

The surprise on Drage Kongen

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment:

Electing to close out my day on the duck mill ride at Djurs

- Most exciting announcement For 2023:

Circuit Breaker

 

[Hixee]

Always good to see these pop up!

Coaster count at start of 2022: 716
Coaster count at end of 2022: 766
New coasters ridden in 2022: 50 (that's nice and tidy)
New parks visited in 2022: 12
Park visits (number of days) in 2022: 16
Best new-to-you coaster: Kondaa, Walibi Belgium
Best new-to-you non-coaster: Hmm... nothing remotely springs to mind... pass...
Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: Slim pickings here to be honest. Adventure Island, probably.
Best park visit: Walibi Belgium was an all round great day. Everything worked smoothly, rides were great, was fairly laid back, yeah. That was fun.
Best seasonal event: FEAR is the only one I did, and it was fantastic (as ever). Not technically at a park though, I suppose.
Highlight of 2022: Genuinely? Probably riding Jebel Sledder. Had such a blast doing it with my partner.
Biggest surprise of 2022: Tough one, to be honest. Notable surprise that springs to mind, perhaps - Roller Coaster at Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach. Thought it was going to be a bit rubbish, but it was actually pretty good and I wasn't expecting that!
Biggest disappointment of 2022: Dubai Parks and Resorts - just left feeling a bit deflated after that visit. Half the stuff was closed, felt all very lifeless, was generally just a bit poop. Would go back for the woodie, to be fair, that looks excellent.
Best individual coaster lap: There was one in particular on Ride to Happiness where everything just came together in the perfect chaos.
Best new for 2022 ride: Probably Storm Coaster at Dubai Hills Mall, but shout out to Storm Chaser at Paultons too.
Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Err... pass.
Best non-park travel moment: Lots of great stuff this year - don't make me pick.
Most exciting announcement For 2023: Prooooobably Toutatis...? Maybe the Spanish Intamin...?

Not expecting any creds from the Philippines next week, but I'll update if I'm lucky.

 

[Thekingin64]

- Coaster count at start of 2022: 349

- Coaster count at end of 2022: 368

- New coasters ridden in 2022: 19

- New parks visited in 2022: 9

- Park visits (number of days) in 2022: 13

- Best new-to-you coaster: Rage, Adventure Island

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Ghost Train, Adventure Island

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2022: Adventure Island

- Best park visit: Drayton Manor

- Best seasonal event: Drayton Manor Halloween

- Highlight of 2022: Grand Nationals retrack

- Biggest surprise of 2022: Adventure Islands dark rides actually being good

- Biggest disappointment of 2022: Finding out Old Mcdonalds Farm's No Lone Adults policy the hard way. Got the cred though...

- Best individual coaster lap: Enso

- Best new for 2022 ride: By default, Goldmine Express at Knightly's.

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Gaining access into Gullivers Valley and Kingdom, with thanks to the ECC for organising.

- Best non-park travel moment: Annual family canal boat holiday. Chose the Scottish canals this year between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

- Most surprising coaster: Green Scream, Adventure Island

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: 4 grown adults in a kid sized Jeep at Gullivers Valley.

- Most exciting announcement For 2023: Toutatis or Madrid's Intamin.

Been rather slim pickings this year with Adventure Island being the only major new park visited. Big plans for next year await though.