General Discussion

[s15c]

^On the topic of wooden racers, Grand national is terrible, apart from the first time I went on it, it has just got worse ever since.

Wow, really? I mean, I agree it's been damaged a little by the new trains, but I love Nash. I mean it's by no means the best woodie I've been on but I think it's the best racing woodie by a long, long way. I think Nash is the country's best wood, because whilst Megafobia is good, Nash has more personality, is in a better location and is a quality racing experience.

No way. Best racing woodie is Lightning Racer. I haven't been on Grand National, but it better be pretty freaking good to beat Lightning Racer. That ride is high speed, airtime filled, and the racing aspect of it is unbelievable. Behind Boulder Dash and El Toro, it's the third best woodie in the world (according to Wikipedia, which we all know is always right). But other than my stupid sources, it is an awesome coaster. Also, can any of you see this? ==>

 

[SaiyanHajime]

^On the topic of wooden racers, Grand national is terrible, apart from the first time I went on it, it has just got worse ever since.

Wow, really? I mean, I agree it's been damaged a little by the new trains, but I love Nash. I mean it's by no means the best woodie I've been on but I think it's the best racing woodie by a long, long way. I think Nash is the country's best wood, because whilst Megafobia is good, Nash has more personality, is in a better location and is a quality racing experience.

No way. Best racing woodie is Lightning Racer. I haven't been on Grand National, but it better be pretty freaking good to beat Lightning Racer. That ride is high speed, airtime filled, and the racing aspect of it is unbelievable. Behind Boulder Dash and El Toro, it's the third best woodie in the world (according to Wikipedia, which we all know is always right). But other than my stupid sources, it is an awesome coaster. Also, can any of you see this? ==>

I've been on Lightning Racer. I agree, it's amazing. Nash is good in a different way though. It has airtime, it's more out of control and it beats you up pretty well. Lightning Racer dashes from side to side and mingles with the other train, giving a dramatic sense of speed. The Racing element on Nash is slightly better though, because whilst it isn't as exhilarating to watch the other train, you get more of a "oooooo who's gonna win!" feeling throughout the layout because Nash's trains taunt each other around every turn.

But, yeah, Lightning Racer is better I think. I'd actually forgotten about it. It was very much a sit back and enjoy the awesome spectacle type of coaster, where the visuals outweighed the sensations massively.

 

[CreditCrazy]

I found Lightning Racer to be a disappointment. It was still a lot of fun, but it was so slow... possibly because the middle of each train was blocked off both days I was there? Seriously, half of each train had to be empty. Anyone else have that problem?

 

[Snoo]

When we went for the Live this year.. we were literally re-riding with nothing but CFers.. and it still had a good clip through the course.

The ride was pretty good but not 'OMFG!'

 

[s15c]

I found Lightning Racer to be a disappointment. It was still a lot of fun, but it was so slow... possibly because the middle of each train was blocked off both days I was there? Seriously, half of each train had to be empty. Anyone else have that problem?

Yeah, they do that so that the trains always have the same number of people in them. It makes for a crappy ride if you end up racing against a train with 8 extra people on it. It messes up the speed and timing and ends up being no fun. As said, the visuals are the biggest aspect, so when you lose those visuals it just becomes a **** ride.

During the summer on weekends they'll open up the whole train.

 

[CreditCrazy]

^What? It wouldn't make sense to purposely close half the rows so that it's guaranteed that each of those open seats are filled (if that was what you were getting at). If so that's just poor management. And I was at the park in the summer and on a Friday.

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

I thought it just totally sucked tbh. Albeit.. it is an older ride.. with older technology.. but it felt like I was rolling at 70mph and barely even went up the hill.

It was the opposite of fun.

It's entirely possible that TTD ruined all other accelerators/launched rides for you...

I know that's true for me, I go on Rita and Stealth now and just sigh heavily...

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Lightning Racer is ANYTHING but slow! Again, it's the visual sensation of speed that you get with racer. If you're one of this people who only care for physical forces, then it's perhaps not for you.

I know furie liked it lots too.

I assumed the closing of rows was to ensure they could have them both open and racing. Otherwise you could end up with one side full and the other with two people in the front row. When they return, the heavy one is going to be way way ahead and mess up loading for the next time.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

^ It doesn't really do anything insane, and it's not exactly forceful, but it's a fun ride. If it weren't a racer, it probably wouldn't even be half as good, but riding it in the dark with the lights on and stuff definitely increases the sensation of speed and riding it with CFers was good fun!

I know that's true for me, I go on Rita and Stealth now and just sigh heavily...

Why? Stealth and Rita still have good launches, and I've been on both Ka/Dragster.

 

[Snoo]

I thought it just totally sucked tbh. Albeit.. it is an older ride.. with older technology.. but it felt like I was rolling at 70mph and barely even went up the hill.

It was the opposite of fun.

It's entirely possible that TTD ruined all other accelerators/launched rides for you...

I know that's true for me, I go on Rita and Stealth now and just sigh heavily...

Nope.. I still enjoy Maverick's launch quite a bit.. along with many other coasters. 100mph in 7 seconds is just.. lame.

 

[Jer]

TTD/KKs launches dont ruin other launches. In fact they are quite weak compared to others (Relatively speaking of course, I realize a launch over 100mph isn't weak). For example when I rode Storm Runner I expected it to feel a lot slower than KK. I was wrong, it was way more powerful of a launch and it even felt faster.

 

[furie]

I know furie liked it lots too.

Yep, for the same reasons Taylor posted (shudder ).

It's superb fun, fast and energetic. It doesn't do anything fantastically, but it absolutely nails being really enjoyable. I dunno what it is exactly about the ride, but it's got something special. I think it's still in my top ten

I also agree about The Nash. Though ride quality is too hit and miss with it. When it's running well, it's a superb coaster. When it's running badly, it's just an exercise in torture. It's still a brilliant racing coaster though, and considering its age is really knockout.

Talon never really did anything for me. It's a good ride, but I was expecting something really special. It was just "B&M Invert" though. I did really enjoy Possessed and Steel Force at Dorney though (they're not as good coasters as Talon, I just enjoyed them more). Not massively convinced by the park overall, it was a bit "Thorpe". Great to run in, grab a few rides, but unless it's busy, you'll be bored and sitting around a fried chicken outlet for most of the day twiddling your thumbs and avoiding re-riding anything. That's probably a little harsh, it's better than Thorpe, but in a similar ball park

 

[Jer]

^It's a little harsh but a very accurate description of Dorney indeed. Too bad it never really seems to get busy. Or maybe I just went on good days because the first time I went the longest wait as in the water park. then the second time the longest wait was a couple hours for Possessed to open, it was still a walk on once it opened.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

^ Who says "too bad a park is never busy"? Surely that's a good thing?

 

[SaiyanHajime]

^ Who says "too bad a park is never busy"? Surely that's a good thing?

Not always.

Too many people assume the entertainment at a theme park is purely from the attractions. It's not. As we all know, your company makes a massive difference. You have to make an effort no matter what you're doing to make it enjoyable... You can't just be passive. This goes for any kind of entertainment.

When you go to a dead theme park, you find yourself expecting it to be grand just because and you forget to make it fun yourself. Reriding and reriding can ruin rides. A queue does act as a psychological build up and it does make a difference.

The atmosphere at a dead park is horrible. When I was working at Chessington on dead days, guests were all pretty meh and many were desperately trying to convince themselves that they were having a great time because it was dead. On a busy day you get a mix of very happy customers and really grumpy ones.

It does depend how busy "busy" is, what the downtime is like, what the weather is like and what mood you and your friends are in, but I think a dead park can be as bad as a heaving one.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

^ Fair enough, I see your point but TOO busy is never good, I mean if you're with a group of CFers and the park is fairly quiet and not completely dead, then it's still fun.

 

[Anonymous]

I haven't ever been to Kennywood. Is it any fun?

 

[Snoo]

I thought it was.. but you get mixed results. Try the first few pages for other opinions.

 

[CreditCrazy]

I'd definitely say it's a fun park. Good rides and nice atmosphere. But I also agree with the negative views on the park, as there was a lot of trashyness I found and the operations were terrible.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

I swear everyone there has bred with their sister. They all look the same, in a BAD way, and it scares me.

I don't understand how it can be so like Blackpool, which is AWESOME, but be so awful. Blackpool is amazing. Still one of my favourite parks. I think Hershey might be my favourite, then Phantasialand, then SeaWorld and then Blackpool. Yup. PMBO is so underrated.