Bob K Mertz
- 134 Posts
- 176 Comments
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•Six Flags America in Maryland to close at the end of 2025 seasonEnglish2·en månad sedanStill pissed about this. SFA is honestly a great park… It wasn’t the best and it certainly had problems but nearly every time I was there except for maybe once it was a pleasant experience and I genuinely love the collection the park has. They’ve also put a lot of TLC into the park the last 5 years or so.
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeOPMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•Herschend is purchasing all of the Palace Entertainment parksEnglish2·tre månader sedanYea, it sucks over here in the US… we have no privacy protections at all and… looks around and sighs
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•Kingda Ka Demolished at Six Flags Great Adventure, New JerseyEnglish3·tre månader sedanI completely agree. I understand that the coaster was costly to operate but I think this was short sighted and was fueled by the lack of competition that the merger created. Above all it’s incredibly aggregating that they intentionally didn’t let on that Ka was going away solely so that it wouldn’t affect season pass sales.
As for Zum I would agree with what you said about the views but I still think that was one of the weaker drop towers I’d been on (solely on the basis of the drop).
I’m concerned about the new Six Flags. I really hope that I’m wrong and the chain actually does some amazing things but I’m not in a position where I would put money on it.
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•Palindrome at COTAland is now visible on Google EarthEnglish2·fem månader sedanOne day this thing might even run too 😂
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•Six Flags Great Adventure retiring 2 coasters, including Kingda Ka; announces pair of new coastersEnglish2·sju månader sedanI don’t like the new Six Flags… Cedar Fair just seems to have used the Six Flags name as a mustache to twirl.
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•Six Flags Great Adventure retiring 2 coasters, including Kingda Ka; announces pair of new coastersEnglish3·sju månader sedanThe park emailed ElToroRyan saying it’s an all new coaster. https://opencoaster.net/@ElToroRyan/113482030054746073
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeOPMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•Cedar Point announces Vekoma tilt coaster for 2025English2·nio månader sedanIn the case of the impulse coasters with the holding brake that’s an example of the thrill but I think the distinguishing factor is that your adrenaline is already going by time you hit that point… With a tilt coaster you’re going to mix the suspense of a dive coaster with the 90 degree hold of the brake on the 2 impulse coasters that have/had them.
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeOPMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•Cedar Point announces Vekoma tilt coaster for 2025English4·nio månader sedanI’ve never been on a full 90 degree tilt coaster but even the slightly sloped one I’ve been on actually gave me more of a thrill than any holding brake on a B&M dive coaster (like Valravn). Being held at 90 degrees and then suddenly being dropped is going to be something unlike anything you’ve experienced on a coaster… This will be on the level of a drop tower. One of these has existed overseas for decades and I’ve been dreaming of riding it… I seriously can’t wait.
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•Busch Gardens Williamsburg platinum pass reviewEnglish1·nio månader sedanHere’s the point that I was done with any passes from SeaWorld/United Parks:
Prior to 2020 everyone with a Platinum pass had their own parking lot and could use the employee entrance to access it (and avoid the line at the main gates). When Covid arrived they told us they had to remove that benefit temporarily because the alternate access impeded screening… That was reasonable. Two weeks later that lot reopened as the premium parking option at the main gate and all of us pass holders were welcomed to purchase parking tickets to use that lot… The same lot that our current membership gave us free access to. It also confirmed that they used Covid as a false excuse to take this benefit away and by giving the same thing to purchasing customers they clearly showed there was NO legitimate reason for them to remove that benefit from us.
Following that they later changed tiers in the middle of pass ownership taking many other benefits away and then they kept enticing us to renew our passes so we could ride Pantheon when it opens in 2021… 2022…
And I was done. They did send me the free ticket so I could ride Pantheon when it opened… I paid my $40 parking fee and went straight to pantheon which was down and not declared as being down on the board at the entrance to the park. That day every single coaster was down at some point with many being down all day. I talked to guest services who took my information and said they would send me another ticket… That never happened.
They have a really long walk to get me to even consider a pass again. The truth is, I just don’t have much interest in going there at all. I’ve had so many horrible experiences in the last 5 years that being in the park has just been associated with misery.
I hope they can turn it around though… The parks have so much potential.
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•'The beast is back' | New roller coaster announced for Busch Gardens WilliamsburgEnglish1·nio månader sedanBGW really just stopped maintaining stuff. The theming in that park was just a little below Disney but after the holdings company took over they just stopped fixing things when it broke and that has led to a subtle but yet very noticeable difference. Then you look at rides like Verbolten which has degraded a ton solely because they didn’t maintain the theme elements in the building leaving the dark forest not so dark.
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•'The beast is back' | New roller coaster announced for Busch Gardens WilliamsburgEnglish3·nio månader sedanI’m really hoping they actually follow through with theming this thing… It’s going to make or break it. They dropped the ball with Pantheon but at least it is a fun coaster but DarKoaster is just a complete failure without the full theming.
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeOPMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•What coaster are you looking forward to in 2025English1·tio månader sedanHonestly pretty much everything looks that good
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeOPMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•What coaster are you looking forward to in 2025English1·tio månader sedanOh that’s a good answer. Epic Universe has existed in a “coming in the future” state for so long I didn’t even comprehend that those are 2025 coasters. Stardust racers also looks like it could be insanely good.
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeOPMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•Rapterra announced at Kings DominionEnglish3·elva månader sedanCouldn’t agree more
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•Kennywood closes rollercoaster after photo appears to show cinderblocks supporting part of the rideEnglish41·elva månader sedanThis entire story made me laugh. In a lot of ways this is the same way that many old houses are supported with the main difference being the house takes up less square footage. Racer has been like this for years (probably it’s whole life) and was just waiting for the right person to come along and make a big deal out of it.
Now wait until they learn how much coasters start leaning and flexing 😂
I rode all 3 of the Paramount stand ups (all Togo’s) and loved them all. I only was on SkyRider once or twice in a single visit but the other 2 (King Cobra and Shockwave) I rode numerous times. They all were great and put B&M’s stand ups to shame (save possibly Pipeline) mainly because of the restraints.
I’ve got quite a few but here’s my top 20:
#1 - Volcano - King’s Dominion
#2 - Riverside Cyclone (Pre-2001) - Riverside Park
#3 - Top Thrill Dragster - Cedar Point
#4 - Blue Streak - Conneaut Lake Park
#5 - Son of Beast - King’s Island
#6 - Big Dipper - Geauga Lake
#7 - Batman and Robin: The Chiller - Six Flags Great Adventure
#8 - Rolling Thunder - Six Flags Great Adventure
#9 - The Villain - Geauga Lake
#10 - Disaster Transport - Cedar Point
#11 - Raging Wolf Bobs - Geauga Lake
#12 - Laser Loop - Kennywood
#13 - Wildcat - Hersheypark
#14 - T3 - Kentucky Kingdom
#15 - Mad Mouse - Lakemont Park
#16 - Vortex - King’s Island
#17 - King Cobra - King’s Island
#18 - Firehawk - King’s Island
#19 - Skyrider - Canada’s Wonderland
#20 - Mean Streak - Cedar Point
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeOPMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•Man entered restricted area and critically injured after being struck by Banshee at Kings IslandEnglish2·ett år sedanAgreed. I thought it was important to add the entering the restricted area when I made the post. Their headline isn’t as egregious as most media coverage but certainly leaves out important context.
Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeOPMto RollerCoasters@lemm.ee•Man entered restricted area and critically injured after being struck by Banshee at Kings IslandEnglish2·ett år sedanScare headline?
According to El Toro Ryan this is the first valley since 2013. https://opencoaster.net/@ElToroRyan/114452558013020822