downunder

Maverick probably isn't big at 105 feet tall but boy it was good. Top Thrill Dragster owns Kingda Ka, it such a better ride, Dragster was the ride that got me over to Cedar Point.

Let me think about that, first I must consider my top ten: 1. Superman Ride of Steel @ SFNE - Intamin 2. El Toro - Intamin 3. Maverick - Intamin 4. Top Thrill Dragster - Intamin 5. Millennium Force - Intamin 6. X - Arrow 7. Nitro - B & M 8. Magnum XL-200 - Arrow 9. Superman Escape - Intamin 10. Storm Runner - Intamin Not sure, but I think I'll have to go with Intamin. I think the Dive Machine from B & M would make the top ten if I had been on one & Raptor and some other inverts just miss out. B & M have forceful inverts, and without considering their Dive Machine, the rest of their stuff isn't that forceful (relatively speaking) and they all mostly have the same layout with their loopers. If an intamin used Nitro's layout it would be the most insane ride ever.

I haven't been on that many good woodies, I have Ride of Steel and El Toro neck and neck at 1 and 2, I'd rather ride El Toro than any other steel coaster except Ride of Steel, but El Toro is probably not indicative of the average woodie. Going down the list, the standout woodies I have ridden are Ghostrider and Lightning Racer which are well behind my favourite steel coasters, but I think when a wood coaster is done right like El Toro it can be as good or better than most steel coasters. I will be riding Voyage, Hades, Avalanche and many other more top class conventional woodies next month so I will have more information to base my preference on. Most of the woodies I have ridden so far have been mediocre and or at worst jackhammering spine snappers.

Glad you had a great time at Cedar Point, brings back memories of my first time there, going around Cedar Drive past Millennium Force and looking up at it is just awesome. I'll be there for my fourth visit next month, rides aside I think it is a wonderful spot.

I find I don't have a problem if I keep my head back, though it helps that my head is mostly above the restraints. On my last two visits I have only ridden in the front so I don't know if it is better there, from a heading banging perspective. It's still a reasonably good ride but it would be nice if they modified the restraints a bit for rider comfort.

I went on sat June 9 and SE had a particularly bad day, it tested in the morning but before anyone could get on, there was a fire alarm (I don't know if there was an actual fire) and they herded everyone back to the fountain because they said a fire truck was coming. It broke down another three times that I know of, including one that required evac of riders from the launch position. It was a particularly cold day, which I know doesn't agree with Intamin rockets.

I brought the annual pass because it was cheap, I'm in Sydney but I will visit family in brisbane at least twice before the pass expires, so it represents great value. Got my sister one as well for Christmas.

Cool topic, after riding Superman the Escape a little under two weeks ago, I thought it seemed awfully slow, and this topic seems to confirm that it is running well below it's advertised speed. I mainly mainly ride Superman for that long air conditioned tunnel to Ecsape the heat - I personally find both rides (STE and TOT) very boring now. As an aside on electricity consumption, I heard (and I stress heard), that every ride on Wicked Twister consumes $50 worth of electricity which, if true, would amount to a significant amount of money over a season - say 200 rides a day * $50 * 120 days = $1.2m. Chiller at SFGAdv also is supposed to chew up so much power they can't launch both sides at once. Saved me having to raise this at TPR.