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Do you like crazy coasters? Delight in dark rides? Are you a thrill-seeker searching for the ultimate in height and speed, or do you prefer the childhood charms of singing figures on a leisurely boat ride? There are dozens of parks across the the country (and hundreds across the world), each one offering a wide variety of roller-coasters, rides, and shows designed to entertain and amuse people of all ages. As someone who has been in the theme park industry for a number of years, I am very interested is seeing what people like and don't like when it comes to the intersection of engineering and entertainment. As for myself, my favorite has to be: Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios Orlando  For my money nothing beats the perfect combination of dark ride and roller coaster that is Revenge of the Mummy. The story starts in the queue, where you enter the Behind the Scenes backlot of the Brendan Frasier Mummy films. As you go through the displays of props and costumes, watching documentary footage on the screens, things start to get creepy. Movie equipment gives way to Egyptian statues and artifacts, and the cheery Production Crew are replaced with Imhotep cultists.From there you board your vehicle and are treated to creepy animated figures, promises of gold and treasure, and thousands of black scarabs coming right at you. After narrowly escaping all that, you experience a powered launch up the pitch black hill and careen throughout the darkness, dodging ghosts and spirits until finally you find the symbol of the Magi, freeing you from your trip through hell. I may have left out a couple things, but trust me its better if you ride it  I would love to hear what rides goons like, and I would especially like to hear from anyone else in the industry!
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Oct 10, 2016 15:58
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I like Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb8mDY5RD1Q It has the height and speed but also it's a very smooth and comfortable ride unlike some older coasters that feel like they're going to rip your head off. I'm sure there are bigger/faster ones these days but I haven't been on them.
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Oct 10, 2016 20:38
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I'm a teacup ride kinda guy.
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Oct 10, 2016 21:09
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I got to test the mummy ride before it opened one time, was on our way out of the park and some guys just like "hey you wanna ride this" It was cool and there was no line because it was just my family and one other guy lol
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Oct 10, 2016 23:23
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Zogo posted:I like Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America: B&M coasters tend to be pretty smooth affairs. Both the Dragon Challenge and The Hulk at Islands of Adventure are B&M, as well as the new Mako hyper coaster at SeaWorld Orlando. Death Bot posted:I got to test the mummy ride before it opened one time, was on our way out of the park and some guys just like "hey you wanna ride this" Thats really cool! When a new ride is nearing completion there tends to be a "Soft Opening". So the ride will open to guests but will not advertise itself as such, just pulling nearby people in as you and your family were. The understanding however is that the ride is still in rehearsal and will probably break down with you on it.
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Oct 11, 2016 17:20
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Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disney. I don't like big drops so that coaster hits all the sweet spots for me of going fast and lots of turns without a giant drop that turns me off of 90% of coasters.
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Oct 11, 2016 17:36
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Zogo posted:I like Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America: Look at this pansy. Wooden Coasters are the best. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFLtHwWS6eM Holiday World has 3 wooden ones and they're all great. Voyage is the newest and the best. There's one bit where it goes up and then takes a left and it feels like the car is leaving the tracks. Peanut President has a new favorite as of 18:43 on Oct 11, 2016 |
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Oct 11, 2016 18:40
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The rides themselves are really nothing special on their own, but I vote for the three on top of the Stratosphere in Vegas, just for the novelty of being on top of a tall-rear end building. It was kind of amazing doing those at night and seeing the lit up city below as a blur.
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Oct 11, 2016 20:24
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Super Waffle posted:B&M coasters tend to be pretty smooth affairs. Both the Dragon Challenge and The Hulk at Islands of Adventure are B&M, as well as the new Mako hyper coaster at SeaWorld Orlando. They did the inverted Batman one as well. Peanut President posted:Look at this pansy. Wooden Coasters are the best. I don't mind wooden ones at all. I was mainly talking about my experience with Shockwave. The one that nearly ripped my head off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsZr8VC4Tps It was dismantled in 2002 for various reasons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shockwave_(Six_Flags_Great_America) Zogo has a new favorite as of 23:37 on Oct 11, 2016 |
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Oct 11, 2016 23:31
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Bungbroy posted:The rides themselves are really nothing special on their own, but I vote for the three on top of the Stratosphere in Vegas, just for the novelty of being on top of a tall-rear end building. It was kind of amazing doing those at night and seeing the lit up city below as a blur. We are supposedly getting one of these ridiculous things at some point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6otfUnRZAY I believe it when I see it 
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Oct 12, 2016 15:38
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My favorite ride is Exterminator at Kennywood. It's an indoor coaster where the cars themselves can spin. The theme is supposed to be that the car is a rat scurrying around avoiding an exterminator. The ride is very cramped and disorienting and gives a pretty cool experience. Unfortunately videos are not great since it is indoor and dark but here's a recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axGqFGPakSE
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Oct 12, 2016 15:56
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I don't know what it is, but even though there are bigger, faster rides, I could go to Kings Island and ride the Racers all day long as long as I got some blue ice cream at some point.
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Oct 12, 2016 17:32
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It's the Maverick at cedar point. You spend the whole ride like "what the gently caress is happening to me!?!?!"
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Oct 12, 2016 18:29
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Rode The Comet at The Great Escape in Queensbury, NY this past Saturday after dark. It's already an amazing wooden coaster, but the last seat in the dark is euphoric.
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Oct 18, 2016 02:36
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Zogo posted:They did the inverted Batman one as well. I think I got a concussion from the Shockwave. I was a small kid and so my head was banging side to side against those shoulder restraints the whole time. A good coaster. E: my favorite at Great America is American Eagle. It's so old and rickety, and the line is always super short because no one wants to go on it.  E2: they used to sometimes put the trains backwards so you'd ride the whole coaster backwards. That was awesome as poo poo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvi0h2PnQ-4 Thin Privilege has a new favorite as of 02:47 on Oct 18, 2016 |
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Oct 18, 2016 02:38
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Another Kings Island nominee here. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beast_(roller_coaster) The Beast lives up to it's name, imo. It will beat the crap out of you. You'll get bumped around, pushed into the side of the car, and feel half deaf at the end after multiple tunnels echoing the train's racing along the track back at you. It's amazing though, and I try to ride it at least twice every time I go to KI.
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Oct 18, 2016 03:55
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turbomoose posted:Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disney. My favorite ride that I've been on would have to be The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman at Islands of Adventure Orlando. It's a roller coaster, plus more? Hard to describe. There are a lot of videos of this on Youtube but they're not very good at capturing the whole thing. Here's a cool looking slow ride: Mystic Manor at Hong Kong Disneyland. You're touring the house of a guy with a antique collection, and he has a music box that supposedly bring inanimate objects to life when opened. Here's the whole ride, but especially check out the end starting at 10:30 of the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vku_yWmmtQ&t=391s Also, if we're counting shows, World of Color is great. It's just a ton fountains and some lights, but it works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhUPzPcAO1w&t=51s
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Oct 18, 2016 07:14
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One time I got to ride the Batman rollercoaster at 6FGA right at closing and the operator let us ride it twice in a row and then backwards because why the gently caress not. When we were queasy enough to say no more everybody sat in their rollercoaster seat and awkwardly tried to clap it wasn't easy because of the safety equipment. Raging Bull is great because the safety equipment feels like it's barely there.
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Nov 7, 2016 04:51
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I can't find any good photos of it, but I always used to love the Mad Mouse at the Melbourne Show. It was old when I was a kid, and as such is decades older today. It is rickety, and jerky, and badly maintained, and you knew it was going to fall down one day but that was all part of it's charm. A day at the show was not complete without a ride on the Mad Mouse, and a Bertie Beetle showbag.
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Nov 7, 2016 05:01
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Superman: Ride of Steel or whatever the gently caress they're calling it now at Six Flags New England. You get airtime over every hill and laugh like a toddler watching a ferris wheel. For a couple of years it was painted purple and called Bizarro, this year they repainted it Superman red and added stupid virtual reality headsets which means you wait in line 5 times as long while everybody gets their headsets adjusted and poo poo. A+++++ without the headsets, would ride again if I didn't have to go back and wait in that loving line. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCO6rr8J10M Six Flags New England also had an enormous wooden Cyclone coaster which was designed by a man who woke up that morning extremely cranky with intense heartburn. It used to try and throw you out on one of the hills and around the final curve. Then Six Flags had it rebuilt with steel I-beam track so now it has barrel rolls and crazy dips and tries to throw you out every chance it gets. I miss the old wooden one but the new one is amazing fun. A++++++, would put in my backyard and ride all I wanted. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL71dxCdT-U (oldschool shaky cam) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgfGeAjGfd4 (new) Lake Compounce in Connecticut has Boulder Dash, a roller coaster which climbs 150 feet up the side of a mountain and then drops you off. A+++++, would ride until my spine snaps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIJYOynVmGQ
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Nov 7, 2016 06:05
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I like The Giant Drop too. It's ~400 feet tall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mRLIPfpnbk I wish it was five times taller. That would be close to what it feels like to jump off a skyscraper.
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Nov 10, 2016 22:03
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Zogo posted:I like Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America: I was going to post this. It's perfection. Rock n Roller coaster at disney studios has noteworthy acceleration.
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Nov 10, 2016 22:05
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Zogo posted:I like The Giant Drop too. It's ~400 feet tall. Zumanjaro at SF Great Adventure is literally strapped to the side of the world's tallest roller coaster, and drops you 415 feet. I can't find the drop height of SFGrAm's Giant Drop, but it's structural height (which will be taller) is apparently 227 feet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N79JKDtK4hg I think the best drop tower is still the Tower of Terror in Orlando, though. Freefall is only so interesting, but the ToT gives you some brilliant stuff to look at.  The best non-thrill ride in the world is the Haunted Mansion and frankly, I'm of the opinion that it's not even close. Amazingly detailed with a lightning-in-a-bottle mix of spookiness and fun. There are rides that will wow you more (Spider-Man at IoA and Pirates of the Caribbean at Shanghai DL come to mind), but nothing with the near-perfect complete experience you get at the Mansion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_UmFM77Foc My experience with top tier thrill rides is much more limited, but I love Goliath at Six Flags Great America. It looks like something you'd make in Roller Coaster Tycoon to gently caress with your guests:  You think it feels like there aren't any restraints on Raging Bull? Goliath (and all RMC coasters to date) only have lapbars on coasters with multiple inversions.
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Nov 10, 2016 22:27
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Zogo posted:I don't mind wooden ones at all. I was mainly talking about my experience with Shockwave. The one that nearly ripped my head off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsZr8VC4Tps I got to stay on that fucker for like a five consecutive rides during one of the late night "Fright Fest" days they do in october. After about 10 pm there usually never more than like ten people on any of the rides so you can just go nuts (or at least it was like that 10 years ago and back). I think I did the same thing on Batman too. Pneub has a new favorite as of 06:56 on Nov 13, 2016 |
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Nov 13, 2016 06:51
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Boxman posted:My experience with top tier thrill rides is much more limited, but I love Goliath at Six Flags Great America. It looks like something you'd make in Roller Coaster Tycoon to gently caress with your guests: Goliath is one of my all-time favs because I knew nothing about it before riding. What a fuckin' trip, who knew that wooden poo poo could go upside down?! Word is RMC is doing something at Cedar Point to replace the recently torn down Mean Streak, and I hope it's half as good as that one. Robokomodo posted:It's the Maverick at cedar point. You spend the whole ride like "what the gently caress is happening to me!?!?!" I seriously can't decide if my all-time favorite is Maverick or Millennium Force. Both are so balls-to-the-wall in different ways and ALWAYS worth the wait. I've never been on another one like Maverick that says to hell with the huge drops and just goes nuts on speed and curves. Side note don't ride in the front seat if it's raining unless you want to feel like getting shot in the face with a pellet gun nonstop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbyB9N4mvq4 Millenium Force is an absolute classic. Always makes me grey out during the 300 foot drop and curve, what a rush. Look at this fucker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbXPhOFRxTc  we are the Funyuns posted:I don't know what it is, but even though there are bigger, faster rides, I could go to Kings Island and ride the Racers all day long as long as I got some blue ice cream at some point. GoingPostal posted:Another Kings Island nominee here. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beast_(roller_coaster) I'm not a wooden roller coaster guy so I'm more down with Diamondback. It's fast, has a great drop, and is smooth as hell. Plus the line always moves fast! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eiw0q1XI8F8 I'm lucky enough that I'm both close enough to both CP and KI to make both a day trip and have a partner that loves rides. Almost makes up for being in Ohio.
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Nov 13, 2016 08:05
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Pneub posted:I got to stay on that fucker for like a five consecutive rides during one of the late night "Fright Fest" days they do in october. After about 10 pm there usually never more than like ten people on any of the rides so you can just go nuts (or at least it was like that 10 years ago and back). I think I did the same thing on Batman too. Here's a good Shockwave video I ran across: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxjBYKdtKNk
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Nov 14, 2016 23:47
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