downunder

Probably not ironic if you're going by the dictionary or Alanis Morrisette lol. But I'll go back through pages of posts and see who gave me the idea next time. I did seriously consider it and talked to some friends who'll be there from interstate on the 29th doing Star Tour and UTT, and if I could get there whether we should go for it. I'd be in for a world of pain after, all-nighters are like really bad jetlag. If I'm spending the $$$$ on flights and accommodation might as well experience as much as possible while I'm there.

I'm not fussed about theming if it's a kick ass ride, and sometimes simple theming can be effective - like Top Thrill Dragster, with the sound effects, Christmas lights and bleachers makes every time it launches a spectacle, builds anticipation while you're waiting and makes people on the midway stop and watch.

I wonder if it got pulled or sold out? If I could get there on the 29th I would have done the Star Tour, UTT, after party, then Silverwood LOL.

That's pretty cool it's on free-to-air, if I wasn't so busy at the moment I might check it out. Based on my impressions from the maze, it's got a real carnie horror feel to it. At the moment I'd settle to find out who Negan kills in Walking Dead, I know who I have my money on.

^What I meant to say is do people on this website like the show, as I was unclear what kind of a following the show has in Australia. I've never seen a single episode myself. It seemed to be one of the more popular mazes at HHN. On the night I went Krampus and Halloween had the shortest lines - and both were really good mazes.

^The Arkham Refurb definitely counts, if not just for the great reduction in the pain associated with riding that coaster from the unfortunately placed restraints lol.

Yeah I'd like to stay on property, it's so convenient for night events like Fright Nights when there's limited public transport options to get back to accommodation in surfers. I just booked a cabin at the Holiday Park across the road from MW as I'm only doing MW for the whole weekend in a couple of weeks. And if this coaster truly is the world's best, I might want to stay there for a while lol.

On American Horror Story, do people really like the show, I've never seen it personally? I did the HHN Hollywood version of the maze, it wasn't bad, though my lack of familiarity with the show impacted the experience a little. Just booked the Ultimate Terror Tour, looking forward to it.

LOL I went there with an ex, and her little boy had his first coaster ride there. I think I've officially left credit whoredom. I stayed in the car in the car park when my mate went it to get the kiddie credit at Happy Hollow on a bay area credit run a couple of weekends ago.

Thanks for your views on Fury 325, sounds awesome. Last time I went to Carwoinds was before the Hypers arrived, Intimidator was just a dirt clearing. Afterburn was great when I was there, just rode his brother at California's Great America the other week, it was kick ass.

It would have to be pretty impressive to even be the best coaster at Movie World.

I went to HHN in Hollywood last week, it was amazing, the Exorcist was killer - went to the park in the day too for the first time in 15 years. Only thing that sucked was the Jabberwokeez show, that did nothing for me and had nothing to do with Halloween. Knotts Scary Farm was very strong this year also, as was Dark Harbor at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Pleasant surprise was the Haunt at California's Great America (got to do Fear VR and their Asylum maze before they closed). I'd love to do that Asylum thing on the 29th, and the Ultimate Terror Tour and Star Tour, but sporting commitments will probably keep me away.

I just did my first VR coaster which was the SLC at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom on Sunday. It was fun without being mind-blowing, and took my mind off the beating I was getting from the Vekoma. On this one there's active shooter element when you're going up the lift hill. You move your head to aim and tap on the right side of the goggles to shoot. After that, you're there for the ride. I think it will be a fun addition and being an upcharge should regulate demand and not make the queue a nightmare like the free-for-all at Six Flags (we got lucky and stumbled into a season passholder ERT and didn't have to wait).

From Dusk Til Dawn should be good, the Gold Coast has a rather vibrant stripper community (a friend told me) to fill some of the roles lol.

I totally understand and respect your point of view and preferences - it can be a love or hate kind of place. I'm the opposite, it was the lack of concrete that I liked personally, and being in the middle of nowhere in a forest - to me it was kind of an antidote to the big corporate parks (and I was on the last day of a tour that had plenty of big parks involved). I thought the dinky carnie rides were cute (some were a lot of fun), but the high points were what I remember with the most fondness - I spent a big part of my day (and night) riding Phoenix, the bumper cars (the GCI guys were getting them airborne lol), and the Haunted House. Since I went, Black Diamond, Flying Turns and Impulse look like fun additions.

^OMG Margot Robbie, that would be too awesome. I must admit (as many others have observed), the precinct looks great. Hopefully they won't stop at Doomsday for rides.

I could make a side trip to Tennessee the week after next and I've got Tuesday and Wednesday free, and they're open Wednesday. I'll have to come over from the west coast...dammit I can't decide. Nah do it next year. Gosh, RMC keeps hitting home runs, though the problems with the launch system may scare off some future clients. From what I heard the contractor they used for the launch had never done something like that before. So many people I know went there and missed out, but it looks like it's fine now. I like that Knoebels ranks so highly, it's just such a cool place and Phoenix is more a near-death experience than a coaster. Extreme airtime plus buzz bar equals coaster heaven.

Here's the results, I preferred the Hawker Poll for rating coasters, but winning one is a good selling point for a park: http://goldenticketawards.com/2016-2/ Of note: Europa voted best park, ahead of Cedar Point Fury 325 voted best coaster, ahead of Millennium Force Lightning Rod at Dollywood voted best new ride If the Golden Ticket Awards were just for Australia, I wonder who'd win...actually I don't..I think Movie World might do OK.

^LOL that makes total sense, or maybe they are left over boxes from their last Mack installation being used as a decoy. Maybe next week they'll put out boxes with B & M spray painted on them, or...Vekoma.

^Intamin fanboy wishful thinking, wait, I'm one of those fanboys lol. But dammit churro cart guy said it was for a new coaster experience inside Scooby where the turntable decides which coaster you get (I'm going for ridiculous here, but that would be cool). Generally if you want to be told confidential stuff, be someone who won't tell it to anyone else, and have a rather binding NDA accompanying that for good measure helps.

Nice report, I spent 5.5 days at Cedar Point the first time I visited, though that was before fast passes. I just loved the location, cruised Lake Erie and generally chilled as well. Glad you got heaps of rides in. La Wronge is just such a bad park, lovely location, a few good coasters, but they operate their rides with absolute contempt for customers. With a gold flash pass we still had to queue for 45 mins for that crap SLC. I hear you on Vortex at CW, at night, that was one of the most amazing experiences, like someone pushed the fast forward button. The trains were still swinging from side to side in the brake run when I rode it.

^Don't get me wrong I thoroughly enjoyed Helix, it sits just outside my top ten (the lack of a Mitch Hawker poll means I haven't had to think about my personal ratings for a while). It's got a great variety of elements and being on the hill makes it so much more awesome, it reminds a bit of Maverick except without the initial drop. If MW did get something like Helix that would be fine by me, it's a coaster that doesn't get boring after many re-rides, which is good if a big part of the market they're aiming for is repeat visits. At the end of the day we've all got our own preferences, the more extreme the better for me - I did aerobatic flying last year (I'm a shithouse pilot) so I could do something more extreme than a coaster and that wasn't enough lol.

It might take 7 of those 8 minutes to get up that 1000 foot lift hill lol. I'm more intrigued by this project now that Mack is involved, as the in-the-know assessment (people who know but can't tell) seems to be it will be mind boggling, but Mack have built some nice coasters, though nothing OMG or super large (Helix and Blue Fire are 130+ feet and Flash has a drop under 200 feet). Haven't been on Flash, but Helix and Blue Fire I have - they are really good coasters IMO, but didn't blow my mind. Blue Fire's launch is softer than Superman Escape and Helix is so much fun, but it owes a lot to it's interaction with the terrain. At the end of the day, Mack can be commissioned to do any project they are willing to take on, so let's see what happens. I'm sure it will be fun even if it isn't up to lofty expectations or imaginings.

Cool report. Mind Bender is my fave Schwarzkopf, marathoned that when I was there. Monster Mansion is such a colourful, interesting, dark ride, I really liked that - surprising to find a ride like that at a six flags park. And you brought back not-so-fond memories of ball breaker the ride lol. If I recall correctly, the rapids ride there was absolutely insane. Lucky I was staying walking distance from the park so I could change my clothes.

^Yeah but unfortunately for everyone else I had to take the bag off at the end of the maze. In all seriousness the maze got old pretty fast. My fave mazes of all time would have to be the two Michael Myers mazes HHN Hollywood did, if MW did that I'd be happy.