King’s Dominion is secretively preparing for a new coaster for next season as track has already arrived on site.  RCTLounge Forum member “Wacky Worm” was first to report this gossip in the Park Thoughts forums.   From there speculation began.  Take a look at some of the park thoughts:

Brawlstar0321 says: “My guess : Premier F1 Launcher like Ring Racer.  Red + Yellow = Nothing ohter than racing theme.”

Ethan says: “…it isn’t Intamin, its Premier”

Atem says: “…someone who works at KD says that his management claims it’s an Intamin Giga coaster.”

As it turns out, Atem was correct.  The coaster is indeed Intamin.  There were several indicators that lead to this prediction.  Not only is the track extremely similar to the new Ferrari World coaster which is connected to Intamin AG, but the supports are nearly identical to those found on other Intamin AG coasters around the world.

Source: Theme Park Review

Also, as recently discovered by a member of Theme Park Review, a bag containing washers had an Intamin AG label that said “Giga Coaster”  This is surprising considering the last time Cedar Fair did any sort of Intamin giga coaster was in 2000 with Millenium Force.   However forum administrator, Ethan, did note that Intamin Giga coasters are not only listed as 300ft + coasters because on Intamin’s website, both Superman clones are included.   Money saving short cut?  You decide!  Get in the discussion here in the Park Thoughts section of the forums.

Looming high among the Six Flags Magic Mountain skyline is a soaring beast beckoning your name.  Tatsu, Japanese for Dragon, is a monster that sends thousands of guest daily on the ride of their life.  It flew its way into the massive park in 2006 and has been one of the most popular coasters ever since.  Built by Bolliger & Mabillard, who is known for the flying coaster style ride such as the Superman Ultimate Flights (various Six Flags Parks) and their latest, Manta (Sea World Orlando), Tatsu still remains the tallest, fastest, and arguably the scariest flying coaster in the world.  Unlike any other coaster, Tatsu takes you high above the trees and flings you around the sky on your journey, creating a one of a kind experience.  This beast of a coaster remains one of the best in the west and is not one to be fooled around with!

Source: Theme Park Review

 The ride begins with a 160 foot climb to the top of the lift.  This creates a lot of suspense as you slowly rise to the top unaware of where it ends.  Your head is facing straight towards the ground and looking at spectators below gazing at how crazy riders are for taking on the challenge of the beast.  Once you reach the top of the lift the fun begins; you spiral down a 111 foot drop, just missing the trees beneath you.  You are whipped into a powerful 103 foot tall corkscrew with plenty of G-Forces keeping you pressed against you harness.  Then you soar pass the trees underneath you and get a view of the entrance before being pulled back up again by the beast into 96 foot tall zero g roll before plummeting to the ground only to be shot upwards.  An egg turn sends you facing the heavens before the most powerful, and unexpected part of the ride, a quick over bank style turn.    You creep upward before heading face first to the ground in a unique Pretzel Loop before your back being pressed against the seat and rising back towards the top.  Finally your journey concludes with a inline twist and 270 degree turn over the main entrance into the brake run.  

Source: Roller Coaster Data Base

The ride itself is really quite intense.  It pulls some great G-Forces and some really unexpected feelings.  In the begging, the drop begins with a bang; it throws you against your harness and makes you feel as if you will fly out of your seat to the ground.  The first half is fairly easy and is more of a flying sensation due to the lack of G-Forces compared to the rest of the ride.  The corkscrew goes through nice and swiftly  in a smooth transition.  The Zero-G roll is great fun because it sends you down just a few feet from the ground.

From here on out, the coaster is total madness.  The egg turns makes you lose sense of everything; first you are feet from the ground then you are being rocketed skyward!  After this the overbank turn too the pretzel loop is a very pleasant, surprise.  Not only does it come out of no where, but it pulls some of the most powerful G-Forces in the entire ride. 

Finally, the grand daddy of all the elements, the Pretzel loop.  It begins with a relatively slower climb to the top of the inverted loop before you lose your sanity.  Once you begin to drop downward, your body goes from being pused against your harness, to be pushed against your seat, so quickly that it provides the hardest G-Forces on the ride.  When you are going down you can see the other cars however since your head is going into the ground, your mind freaks out and sends you into a whole new adrenline rush.  The rise back to the top is not the end to this though as you are whipped out of the element with yet more G-Forces.  This is, by far, my favorite element of all time.

The finale is pretty basic and calm.  An inline twist and a turn around the park entrance gives great views and is a great conclusion to the ride.  It goes into the brake run that doesn’t slow you down at all, and dips into the final brake run.

Only problems with the ride is that usually it doesn’t utilize the dual station technology by only using one side.  Therefore you are left on the track for a long time with your body dangling out of the seat and onto the over the shoulder strap.

Even with that small flaw, this ride is flat out amazing!  Truly a one of a kind experience.  Six Flags did a great job of using the high terrain of Six Flags Magic Mountain to their advantage.  Is it my favorite ride?  I am not sure but it is definitely in my top 3!  I recommend anyone to brave it and ride this beast, that can only be called Tatsu.

Source: Roller Coaster Pro

Recently on the way down to Chicago, I stopped at Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park in Wisconsin Dells, WI. Mt. Olympus is the largest park in Wisconsin Dells featuring 4 huge wooden coasters and 2 smaller steel coasters. The top dog of their coasters is Hades, which has been ranked one of the top 10 the past 4 years. The park features a huge selection of go-kart tracks too. It also includes the old Family Land Water Park, plus their own wave pool and slide complex.

From first impressions, the park looked good. After I entered the gates, there were some definite flaws. First off, there was no fencing around Cyclops’ first drop. All they had up to stop you was a silly sign. What drunk idiot is going to stop at a sign? Second, there was enough room to stick your hand in and almost touch the rail. You may have not been able to touch the rail, but your hand would have been decapitated by a speeding train.

Operations were also horrible. Since the park wasn’t all that full, the employees were not running the rides that much. Twice I sat in the Hades train for 5 minutes waiting to be dispatched. I overheard someone saying that they had to wait for the on-ride photo computer. They hold the whole train in the station just for a stupid on-ride photo computer! For me, a coaster fan, that is just a waste of time. I will never buy one of those overpriced on-ride photos. I’m just there to ride the coasters and enjoy what I can’t do at home. I can sit at home anytime I want to.

Talking about employees, this is even scarier…. Most of the employees were from Greece and didn’t know proper English. This is a huge issue. How are they supposed to tell people to get off a ride? Every time I rode Hades, the operators just walked slowly down the train checking restraints while chatting in some language I couldn’t understand. Another time on the go-karts, a man walked in with a lit cigarette. What could go wrong? Lets see… Fire, 20+ go-karts with gasoline, possibly those go-karts are leaking… Go figure. I also asked to speak to a park manager, and none of them could give me the right directions! Now, I’m not one of those die-hard “Keep America America!” conservative people, but I felt like if something ever went wrong, I wouldn’t be able to communicate. If they’re going to hire employees, they need to be able to speak the language here in America. This isn’t Greece, this is America where we speak English (radical thought, huh?).

After speaking to one of the park managers (he arrived on a motorized scooter, obviously since no one knew how to give the right directions), I was still not impressed. Mt. Olympus has not just failed with park operations, it has also failed in safety. I have never felt that unsafe in an Amusement Park before.

If you’re ever in Wisconsin Dells and happen to go there, be sure it’s just for the credits. I will never go back there until I here that they’ve changed management so I can feel like I’m safe to ride. Their goal is success over safety it seems. I’m now awaiting the day to hear someone has gotten hit by Cyclops.

For you guys that don’t know, Mumbo Jumbo is a S&S Power El Loco roller coaster opening in Flamingo Land Resort, England. The rides main thrill factor is the fact that it will feature the steepest drop on a roller coaster, stealing the title from Steel Hawg, also a El Loco type roller coaster.

The roller coaster was built in an...

Rising above Wisconsin Dells at Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park 136 feet is the monster named “Hades”. This coaster exploded onto the scene in 2005 and quickly was ranked one of the top 10 wooden coasters in the world. It was also the first coaster built by The Gravity Group, the builders of the #1 wooden coaster “The Voyage” at Holiday World, and the first wooden coaster in China, “Fireball” at Happy Valley. Unlike most coasters that stay above the ground the whole time, Hades takes it to the next level. It features the longest underground tunnel in the world on any coaster, both wooden or steel. What you get is a coaster that is both fast, intense, and in the dark!

Hello, and welcome to Park Thoughts, a new blog about Amusement Parks!

You maybe thinking that this is going to be another one of these lame blogs about coasters. Well, it’s not! We will be posting honest opinions about topics in the news right now. After park trips, we’ll post reviews and give our general thoughts. Our Park Thoughts.

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