downunder

I've only been on two, the Vegas one, which I notice has changed it's name again - lol, maybe they change the name occasionally so that lawsuits record against a previous name of the coaster. Boring and painful. The stand up at Canada's Wonderland was pain free, but boring. I did ride it defensively though. I'm glad not too many Togos escaped Japan. I absolutely marvel at the ineptness of design of Winjammers at Knott's - though the park did sign off on it.

My first Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Hollywood in 2009, that blew my mind. Other notables: my first trip to Cedar Point, and first ride on Top Thrill Dragster in it's debut year; and getting called up on stage by Elvira at Knott's Scary Farm.

^My tongue is firmly in cheek there. I've been on a few Scenic Railway type coasters, you can definitely get some good airtime on some of them like the one at Tivoli when the brakeman is doing you a favour (they have a hall of shame (aka wall of horror) in the maintenance area at Tivoli for brakeman who've de-railed a train).

^^I wonder if being jolted out of your seat could be counted as airtime. ^The Ghost Train was just OK, not a whole lot going on in there, definitely been on better.

^I agree, great queue theming, and I really thought Osiris might be a throwback to the old school B & M inverts that had a lot of force, also the unique layout looked cool - sadly it was forceless. The most horrific thing at Parc Asterix was the three hour line in sweltering heat for Goudurix, I thought poor people, and then I realised they are the French LOL. Luckily I had a VIP thing that bypassed the line for my first and only ride on the notorious Goudurix torture machine.

^Black Mamba is pretty good, the interaction with the theming is extremely impressive, but purely as a coaster I wouldn't put it in the class of Nemesis, Montu or Katun.

When I was there, after about an hour the line was huge for tickets, like back out of the mouth entry. Though it looked like a large muslim group were a lot of the line. It must be the lack of similar attractions, as has been observed in the thread, that gets such a high level of attendance for a small park. Oh well, it does make Luna Park Sydney look like Cedar Point by comparison. I wouldn't go back there unless they added a major new attraction, in other words, never. I must say the "Line jumpers will be torn in half and eaten by demons" signs at the scenic railway were an amusing touch.

^I rode Phoenix pretty much all over - front, back, everywhere. Like we've both observed, the ride experience can vary greatly over a period of time (generally worse, sometime better). I can only base my thoughts on my own experience. It's also worth considering that I was in a large enthusiast group, so they might have made sure it was cranking the day we were there. Impulse looks cool, it will be fun at the very least, hopefully I'll get to ride it someday and make a judgement about it. I've been to Europa Park a couple of times, lots of fun, lots to explore, and they also have tons of shows, though I didn't go to any. None of the coasters are top ten for me, but a few are very good like Blue Fire, Wodan, one of the Euro ones. Definitely a park with a lot of depth theming wise. Phantasialand has amazing theming, I've stayed at a couple of their hotels and they are amazing too. It had no rides which blew my mind, but the place was pretty.

^I really like IOA, it is so immersive, especially if you ride Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges, that is like taking a shower with your clothes on. IOA has good balance of thrills and theming IMO. I find sometimes simple theming works really well, and creates a great experience. I've always admired how with just a few simple effects, Cedar Point manages to make every launch of Top Thrill Dragster seem like an event.

^Actually their new one looks pretty good too, so it might be two killer coasters. I was sceptical about Phoenix, but then I rode it, and it was ridiculous - like the last drop on Cyclops at Mt Olympus the whole ride. My experience of Phoenix (which was in 2008) was amazing and I rode it something like 30-40 times (there was night ERT). Sorry, you didn't have a great time on it, maybe it has off days, or maybe they fixed it between 2001 and 2008. It's a shame Knoebels is so out of the way, I'd love to go back there again. I've had similar experiences with coasters like Ghostrider, and Hades was amazing in 2007 and then when I rode it in 2012, it was the most heinous coaster I had ever experienced.

I enjoy all kinds of parks for different reasons, but I'd keep going back to a parking lot if it had tons of killer coasters. As a park experience (& one super killer coaster), Knoebels for me. I also love Cedar Point for it's wonderful location surrounded by water.

I hear publicly disclosing you're a coaster enthusiast can ruin your sex life (if you have one) lol. Poor girl, that's an awful injury.

^I agree, it has got a great layout, it's a classic. I only rode it once or twice in 2008, and it was like it was bouncing on the track at the bottom of the drops - the big saving grace was the heavy padding on the seats. I've been stuck on the lift hill and evac'd, no big deal - unless you're going to be late for the TPR tour bus LOL.

Having ridden Cyclone, they were saved from a lot of pain and misery by the ride breaking down where it did. Though I think Green Lantern breaking down the way it did was far more serious.

To clarify, Hades 360; the inversion was the only smooth part. The ride was absolutely horrifying in 2012, my coaster count is at 615 according to coaster counter, and Hades 360 was by far the roughest coaster I have ever been on by a country mile. I'm not exactly soft either, so I can't say I was being overly sensitive about it. The shame is when I first rode it back in 2007, it was absolutely brilliant, back row at night was mind-blowing. The other coasters at Mt Olympus weren't super rough last time I was there, nothing exceptional as coasters, except the last drop on Cyclops. I actually like Mt Olympus personally, there's cool go-kart tracks, and lots of them, the ten foot wave pool, indoor and outdoor water parks. It was fun, though it is out of the way. Avalanche was a bit rough, much better front row. It's a funny little park, Timber Falls.

^Thanks, it would be cool having something like Lightning Run zipping through the bush. Outlaw Run was $10 million USD, so it's in the upper end, but it's also one of the best coasters on earth IMO.

Ha, I was in Coffs last week, and I go there at least once every year, but I never go to the Big Banana - though I am too busy playing sport. Will be back for more sport in 6 weeks, but probably no Big Banana. Could be a cool little place if they build it up.

I'd settle for a decent coaster at Dreamworld, with the amount of money they've spent on coasters recently I think they could have done a lot better for the $$$ they spent. In non-enthusiasts eyes, they probably see Tower of Terror as the centrepiece, even if it is mediocre in the greater scheme of things -coaster wise. I think an Outlaw Run style RMC coaster or perhaps Kentucky's Kingdom's cheaper version of a mega-lite might be realistic.

Lol, I've been on a few wacky worms in Italy, fortunately coasters like iSpeed and Katun and the general wackiness of Italian parks made it worthwhile - I mean mixing an ancient Egyptian theme with the Terminator, that's wack.

The media will look for ways to beat this up - Riders Barely Escape Movie World Murder Machine. I'm just glad everyone got out alright, and I guess the facts will come out in an investigation.

Noxegon, I never cease to be amazed by your adventures to get credits. Glad you had a great time downunder. I went to Luna Park Melbourne in January and I didn't think it was especially bad, just extremely light on for anything to do. I had a look at my coaster counter list and I've been to 130 parks that have coasters, but I can't say I've been to Conneaut Lake level park yet, just some parks that were rather short on attractions. Castle Park in Orange County struck me as being rather ordinary because 2 of the 3 coasters weren't running. Hades at Mt Olympus gave me a mugging of the kind I've never experienced on a coaster before, though the park had some fun stuff.

I can barely remember it, but I did like it. My most clear recollection is thoe really sharp hairpin bends and bracing mysel for them. I really hope they do something with that area with a similar theme, that would be cool.

I thought it was an interesting ride. I remember riding it muliple times in the afternoon, when boredom started to reach desperation levels at Dreamworld - it kept me a little interested (back in the day I had a holiday package so I had to wait until the bus picked me up). I'd really like to see a new ride in that style being added.

I've done the starline tours thing, it works. SFMM will be open daily when you go, though the Starline tours might not operate on weekdays due to low demand outside of summer. Knott's is not far from Disney and worth a visit if you haven't been before, it will be open weekdays too, crowds should be non-existent. Universal Studios is worth a visit also.

^^Beat you to it with Efteling LOL. Yes, they are getting a dive coaster. It's such a a landscaped park, so much vegetation, you can get lost in a place like that - in a good way.