gad198

Roar-O-Saurus at Story Land. Hard to believe that ride is only 40 feet tall with how much fun it packs in.

Some of my favorites: *Flame Tree BBQ in Animal Kingdom. I wasn't a fan of most every other Disney offering but the barbecue there was really good. *Cinnamon bread at Dollywood. As good as advertised. *Poutine at the fry stands at Canada's Wonderland. It's perhaps my favorite savory amusement park snack. *Green beans at Plymouth Rock Cafe in Holiday World. The pizza at Kringle's at the park is also very good. *Maple bacon gelato in Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I'm not sure that flavor is always on offer but that was a really nice combination of flavors.

1. Kraken. Rode this about a month ago for the first time in 4 years, and while it's a little rough around the edges it's still a really fun coaster. 2. Bizarro. The best zero-g coaster of all of the floorlesses. 3. Dominator. If it had a zero-g roll it would be the best of the bunch, but as it is, it's still very enjoyable. 4. Superman: Krypton Coaster. Love the setting. The pacing on the first third of the ride - while unique - just feels a little odd. 5. Scream 6. Batman: Dark Knight 7. Hydra 8. Rougarou

I completely agree with RollerManic's assessment of Mako. The first half of that ride is phenomenal, and when the trim brake is off the airtime on that ride is the best on any B&M ride. It is such a great coaster. Here's my list: 1. Fury 325. If B&M lists it as a hyper I will too! It's the best ride I've ever been on by a pretty sizeable margin. 2. Mako 3. Goliath at SFOG. Other than Fury 325 it has the best start-to-finish layout of any B&M. 4. Behemoth. This and Diamondback are really close, but the last bunny hill at the end pushes it slightly ahead. 5. Diamondback. Really good airtime in the first half, good floater in the second half. It's just an all-around fun coaster. 6. Leviathan. A tremendously fun coaster whose only fault is being too short in length. 7. Superman - the Ride at SFNE. It has the most complete layout of any hyper, but the uncomfortable restraints pull the ranking down. 8. Skyrush. The only coaster with truly thrilling airtime. The restraints are absolutely atrocious, however, and prevent a higher ranking. 9. Intimidator 10. Nitro 11. Superman - the Ride at Six Flags America 12. Apollo's Chariot 13. Steel Eel 14. Raging Bull 15. Phantom's Revenge 16. Titan 17. Goliath at SFMM 18. Steel Force 19. Mamba 20. Wild Thing 21. Manhattan Express

Nice report thus far. I totally agree with the Roar-o-Saurus love. Gravity Group did an amazing job on this ride. It doesn't look like much from the ground but it is just so much fun. You could make a case that it's the third or fourth best wooden coaster east of the Appalachian mountains behind El Toro and Boulder Dash.

I've been on all of the US B&M inverts except for Flight Deck. I'd rank the upper echelon as follows: Banshee Montu Afterburn Talon Alpengeist Silver Bullet Raptor Banshee and Montu are interchangeable for me. I like Banshee more if I'm riding in front, but Montu more in the last row. They're probably my two favorite looping coasters of any kind in the US.

The first Sunday of the NFL season has been a bring-a-friend free day here for the last few years. I made the mistake of trying to come here a couple of years ago on this particular Sunday and I will never do that again!

I'd rank the ones I've ridden as follows: Lightning Rod Wicked Cyclone New Texas Giant Storm Chaser Outlaw Run Iron Rattler Goliath Lightning Rod is legit. It is definitely a step above the other RMCs, and I'm sure we'll see it top a lot of enthusiast wooden coaster lists.

I'd like to find out why B&M uses different angles for their first drop supports. Fury 325, Mako and Valravn have their larger first drop supports that are not straight up and down, whereas Shambhala, Diamondback and Behemoth all have first drop supports that go straight up and down. Is there a reason for the difference?

My list: Fury 325 Wicked Cyclone Thunderbird Rougarou Fury 325 is without a doubt the best coaster I've ridden. Speed, airtime, and a really fast-moving line so I can get more laps in. I really liked Wicked Cyclone but Fury is in an entirely different class altogether.

If you don't want to super long waits at Franklin BBQ in Austin but still want the killer brisket, go to La BBQ. The pitmaster there is an Aaron Franklin disciple, and their brisket and beef ribs are absolutely fantastic - some of the best beef in the US.

This is a really nice report thus far. The I-81/Blue Ridge Parkway corridor is one of the two or three nicest drives in the entire US in my opinion. Everyone who might be traveling in the area should really strive to take a portion of their trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway and/or Skyline drive. Where was the restaurant where you had the blueberry pancakes?

The best possible addition in 2016 IMO would be a complete renovation of the front gate area. You have potentially one of the all-time great park entrance areas just waiting to be unleashed in full. Imagine walking up to the front gate and having a completely open view there. It would be absolutely majestic. I think a lot of you are partially right - lots of employees who work at a park are merely speculating about future additions. Having said that, I've talked with a few non-full-time employees at seasonal parks that knew about projects not only at their own parks but also some at other parks. They knew the type of ride and the manufacturer well before the ride was officially announced. Not everyone is guessing. The amusement industry may be relatively small, but lots of people outside the actual parks themselves are involved. Remember when Wild Eagle was leaked when someone spotted the blue B&M track on a truckbed, asked the trucker about it and told him where the track was going? You have people at Clermont Steel, transportation personnel, people at marketing firms, city planners, surveyors, water and sewage workers, etc. that know about these projects. Some of those people may be under "don't talk about this project" clauses, but not everyone is in that boat.

My sentiments exactly! A good size B&M hyper is exactly the kind of attraction that will help pull some guests away from Disney and Universal for at least a one day stop, especially given that none of the other parks in the area have anything remotely comparable. If this is really is a B&M hyper then it is absolutely the perfect fit for this park and would be an absolute smash hit with the general public.

^ Thank you for posting the pictures of the new flyers. The one thing that caught my attention was how tightly taught the cables are in the picture where the flyers are in motion. Clearly the picture wasn't taken when the ride was at maximum RPMs, but the cables were still incredibly tight. On the better flyers (Carowinds, Knoebels) the cables are very rarely that taught when the ride is in motion.