RailRider

To the 3 previous posts I could not agree more. Toomer never rode them, never used computers and thats why they are some of the roughest transitions. His own coasters made him sick. How bad is that? I agree T Tornado is the best Arrow looper I have ever been on, but am I correct in saying Toomer was no longer with Arrow when that coaster was designed? I beleive he left/retired a few years prior. I beleive Alan Schilke designed TT and he is also the designer of X. Kinda the man that was waiting in the wings while Toomer puttered around with his wire and paper.

I would never want to see KI put in a ride that expensive, but I would like to see some more major investments like SOB or TRTR

Nice pics, I am amazed at how large Great Wolf is looking. The one in Sandusky does not look near that big. I think it will be a great addition to the park.

Funny, yet sad, unfortunately true.

Not very kid friendly. Why not call the area County Fair instead of NU if you start just picking fair ride after fair ride.

Screamscape.com has posted some great photos and a nice video of Expedition Everest running during preview for seasson pass holders. It is nice to see Disney has done a first class act to adding a signature attraction to Animal Kingdom. The ride looks great and I love how the track is torn aprart at various parts of the ride. Cant wait to ride.

Yeah I agree about who it was designed to cater too, but the themeing better be tremendous or we have to ask ourselves was this really an upgrade from HB Land? Hopefully they are going to do a better anchor attraction, because NU needs an Anchor attraction. HB Land had SDHC, but transforming in to NU the area needs to have a new signature attraction and IMO Avatar is not that attraction.

Call me Mr. Obvious but here are the 3 possible scenarios for PKI's future under new ownership. 1.) The park becomes even better with more investments, keeps paramounts themes, and a better overall experience. 2.) Everything stays the course under new ownership. 3.) SixFlags Cincinnati, SixFlags Over the Rhine, SixFlags Another Park We Destroyed and Turned in to an Overpriced Piece of Crap, or its bought by an idiot that manages the park like he use to own the REDs.... (god we can only pray for the first two.) Seriously beleive we wont notice a difference unless there's more money invested in the park.

I think we all knew this was going to be a package of flat rides... So why is everyone complaining about that? Not like we are going to have carnies running everything at NU... The only thing that anyone can be disappointed with is Avatar. I hope that it is not going to be the anchor attraction like they made it out to be for NU, because it doesnt have that ability. It is a good ride, but not good enough to put on your brochure. All in all I think this is what we all expected.

Toomer, besides using the metal wire to design inversions also had a knack for doing everything on paper. This is why you have the long slopes up to some loops and massive break runs on various Arrow designs. They didnt change the design or the element, they just determined that to lessen the g-force they either needed more track or less speed. Toomer was a pioneer in design, but he never got in to customizing track for rides. As a loop on Vortex will work just fine as a loop on Drachen Fire, who cares about speed and force of the ride. We can figure that out latter.

I would imagine with normal gate prices going up, seasson passes go up also. Just makes sense.

Im sure they change those rules real fast or they start selling parks. Im sure this will help kill attendance and I doubt people will keep coming. Im ready to watch the continous downfall of SixFlags. Hold on because it is a long ways down.

Ive ridden a number of Arrow Toomer coasters and they all had a level of roughness, but nothing like Drachen Fire. I think it is a combination of the speed, transition from element to element, and design techniques used. He preferred to go at it by hand instead of using the more advanced computer modeling systems to design a coaster. I honestly think that old school approach plays a huge role in the roughness of Toomer designed coasters.

They never listed them as far as I know. Thats why Avitar was removed once it was determined to be a Disk'O. Thats why the Dizzy Disk and DollyWood for example is not listed on RCDB.

They havent decided on all parks, but most ticket prices are going up. SFMM has competition and they are going to have the highest price in the market. Does that mean they provide an experience like Disney Land? Their regional parks do ok for themselves, but by noway does that mean they should raise prices like this all around. They need to improve some major opperational issues first. I.E. Customer Service, Maintence, and Park Cleanliness. SF does not understand the importance of those qualities or they have very inept people performing those jobs.

Just curious how many know that Six Flags is now under new ownership? That the new ownership is increasing prices and going to move away from instaling big coasters every year? SF:MM is going to charge $59.99 for admission next year along with $15 to park. That is more than it costs to go to a Disney or Universal park. Does anyone beleive that SixFlags MM is worth that cost? How about the fact that they are going to raise parking at the majority of their parks and that they are also going to raise most ticket prices. Lets see, that would cost my wife and I $134.98 before taxes. Once you pay taxes you are looking at around $150.00 just to get in the park. Who is going to pay that kind of money if you dont have a seasson pass? Also the new CEO has said that SF is going to stop discounting their tickets like they have in the past. So raise prices for entrance and parking, discontinue ticket discounts, and stop building the massive coasters on a yearly basis. Does this really sound like good business, especially for a company that is strugling badly? Not to mention they already tried the notion of not letting re-entry in to the parks (No hand Stamps). What is this company thinking? Not like they provide friendly customer service, a clean environment, or they have the best maintence in the industry. I wouldn't go buying SixFlags stock anytime soon.

The most inovative part of Drachen Fire IMO was the corkscrew as you went down the first hill and then the second hill was massive on airtime. Very cool design and layout. I rode Drachen Fire 6 times without getting off at one of my visits at BGW. Must say that was a great experience on Drachen Fire eventhough I had to sit for awhile afterwards and get my brain and internal organs back together. By far one of the roughest coasters ever. SOB is nowhere close.

Its not a coaster. The manufacturer doesnt even consider it a coaster.

I think the hilly terrain around PKI lends itself to the possibility of another great terrain coaster being developed. Look at Beast, makes use of its terrain quite well. Maybe use the gorge like they do with Phantoms Revenge. Just a thought, but expanding into a new land would be very cash intensive.

I dont think anyone said CCI was bad, they just closed their doors for personal reassons and a lot of employees went to work for S&S. Ron Toomer retired before Arrow shut their doors, he was older and been doing it for a long time. Drachen Fire was a really good ride. Insanely rough, makes SOB look like a B&M design. Drachen Fire was impressive and very unique but the transitions were insanely rought, just like most of Toomers other designs. We can only hope that S&S takes the knowledge of the Arrow people and improves their designs and mechanics. So far S&S has had very little success in the coaster business. Hopefully that changes.

Dont forget to mention Denise Dinn works for S&S now, one of the co-owners of the now defunct CCI based out of WestChester. Someday may see another great woodie.

Does anyone beleive PKI will not do anything major for their 35th aniv. and Coaster Con XXX in 07?

We can only have the Green Day ride if the also include From Justin to Kelly and the New Kids on the Block Movie. I am so excited.... I have no idea why people think Vortex is going somewhere soon. PKI has plenty of room for expansion. Also the rides that were taken down to construct others were older rides, with low capacity, and had some issues when it came to getting parts. Hence the removal of the TOGO King Cobra. Arrow may not be around, but their are plenty of companies that still supply parts for them. and I disagree I could see a Mighty Mouse coaster themed for Thrill Seekers. How cool would it be to be launched up a hill (Something like TTD or Hypersonic XLC) when Mighty Mouse utters his trademark phrase? I think that would be very awesome.

With Coaster Con XXX coming to PKI in 2007 and also the scheduled release of some big Paramount movies for 2006 and 2007, who else beleives like me that 07 will be the next big thrill attraction at PKI? What are your predictions? Here is just a short list of some of the big upcoming movies for Paramount, that would lend themselves to an excelent ride or attraction. The Brazilian Job : Stunt Track Sequel to IJ:ST Watchmen MI:3 Captain America Mighty Mouse Indaina Jones 4

Hopefully PKI does the new campground like CP's Light House Point. Absolutely amazing camping facility, plus the view is great. We can only hope it is done right and not like a KOA. After all we can go to a KOA almost anywhere, but the upscale camping with cabins and all is really a unique experience.