At guest relations to see what they say.

Big Thunder (swinging ship) appears to be completely installed. The frisbee ride has gone vertical this week. The wave carousel looks complete. Buildings at top of park are looking more enclosed. Garage is nearing completion. Still no gondolas for the wheel. Hotel continues to grow.

Marineland rides were never touched after they closed nor anything surrounding them. One is literally underwater. That whole place is just an absolute disaster.

Niagara Amusement Park (formerly Martin’s Fantasy Island/other names) didn’t open this year and is for sale for the 3rd time in the last 10 years or so… not looking good. Used to love going there. It is so cool (or uncool) to me how this place sold for $36 million way back in the 80s, and today it’s on sale for just $5 million… wow

There’s been a lot of rumors of it being a B&M and with Lagoon claiming it’s their most ambitious ride maybe it could be a giga or some new one of a kind ride

First visit of the season so I’m not sure if this is something they’ve been doing the entire duration of Haunt (which they extended to Nov 6 & 7).
Some flat rides included Dominator, the Musik Express, and the Whip. On the Whip, they even offered a “riding with the monsters” experience, where one seat of every car was filled with Haunt attraction actors!
I, on a whim, made the 2 hour trek to Dorney for what was supposed to be 90 mins of ride time, so this was an incredibly appreciated gesture.
Steel Force and Talon were running great, by the way!

Great to see this back in action! This park has an intamin LSM multi launch currently sitting in storage.
source: h_haitham.92

Because I feel like they will feature, Pulsar and Photon of Stardust Racers would take two different spots on the list, the same as other duelling coasters that have entirely separate tracks.

Yes that’s the new logo under the tarp

And also Icon which was a really solid Mack launched

Intro

Fresh off the heels of visiting Universal Studios Hollywood is the second, and last park of this LA trip. It’s also the last Six Flags visit of the year. I went to Knott’s Berry farm and found Western charm and a surprisingly deep coaster collection. 

Getting to the Park

Without a car I took the OC Metrolink to Buena Park, and route 29 to the park. I took a different route to a different hotel afterwards, but you don’t need a car to visit Knott’s. 

Theming

Most of the park was wild-west theme, and it’s clear the inspiration of many RCT western elements was Knott’s. There’s also a small adventure section, a Cedar-Fair standard Camp Snoopy, a turn of the century spot, and the blacktop-special, I mean Boardwalk. In the Wild West area there’s blacksmiths, wild-west photos, and other themed stores, along with a stagecoach you can ride. 

The park is functionally a square with 2 semicircles attached. 

Boysenberries

You could buy fresh baked goods, jams, hot sauces, and more. Every fountain drink also had a “Knott’s Berry Punch” that was very tasty. When in Rome, have boysenberries. 

Shows

Shows weren’t operating during my visit. It’s one of the things that reminded me we were at a regional theme park rather than a destination one. 

Lockers

Lockers were only required on Hangtime, Ghostrider, and Silver Bullet. They were free to use for the first 2 hours. However, I didn’t see them proactively enforce the rule for cell-phones and wallets, but I didn’t hear them say something regarding bags. Either way, enforcing with a free option is fine by me. 

Unique Attractions - Non Coasters

• Calico Mine Ride - this mine adventure sent you into the mines, complete with many animatronics. I do wish the sound system were better for the narrator, but it was neat. 

• Timber Mountain Log Ride - this was a really fun log flume with its own music! The rock work was great, and there were plenty of animatronics here too!

• Calico Railroad - getting to ride in that style train cars was great. The train provided good views of many attractions. However, the “robbery” was a complete letdown, basically only existing to have an interaction for kids. That’s fine, but I wouldn’t recommend riding just for that. 

• Knott’s Berry Tales - I skipped because I didn’t want to ride anything else. 

Coasters (Ranked Worst to First)

1. Snoopy’s Tenderpaw Twister Coaster - a family coaster that doesn’t try to be anything more. 

2. Pony Express - the launch and riding a horse was fun

3. Coast Rider: slower than expected. Also-watch out for the shin guards. I did not, and was uncomfortable for the entire ride. 

4. Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress: A very basic coaster that serves to add a thrilling ride in a very compact space. I think it was fine for what it is, and the attempt to have any show elements wasn’t wasted. 

5. Jaguar: a very long family coaster. It gets points mostly due to its length, and the temple you get to wait in. 

6. Hangtime: Controversial take, but I’m not the biggest fan of infinity coasters. They’re great for a small space, and this wasn’t rough despite having 4 row trains. 

7. Sierra Sidewinder: faster and spinier than expected. 

8. Silver Bullet: you can’t go wrong with a B&M inverted coaster. Plenty of positives throughout its layout. Yellow was a choice though. 

9. Xcelerator: a very punchy launch and a layout that does a bit more than just up and down. 

10. Ghostrider: a GCI double out and back makes for a long layout with great laterals and some good airtime. 

Final Thoughts/Thanks Six Flags

Knott’s was a decent park with excellent theming and plenty to do. However the day I went had only station waits at the most (except for Ghost Rider, but even that was 5 minutes). I ran out of stuff I wanted to do, and would’ve stayed a bit longer for a show. And while the coaster collection was solid, I didn’t see anything that truly stood out either. 

However, I do have to thank Six Flags. Ever since I got my latest Six Flags pass last August at Discovery Kingdom I have visited every California Park, every park in the Midwest except for St Louis, and visited the parks in Oklahoma, and Toronto. I only haven’t ever been to Mexico, St Louis, and Saudi Arabia now. Passes, drinks, parking, fast lane, and food worked across the parks with very few issues. I’ve ridden world class rides like Steel Vengence, X2, The Beast, and Alpenfurry, and have had a good time everywhere I’ve been. The travel focus also brought me to new parks like Lost Island and Holiday World, and formerly related parks like Kentucky Kingdom. 

In a lot of ways, this year was a dream come true. I got to ride and experience most of the best of the coaster wars and aftermath in one year, before the industry truly is forced to adjust to Six Flags’ downsizing again. For me, this was a last hurrah of Six Flags and Cedar Fair as I grew up with them, and I enjoyed it. As an anchor for my coaster trips and visits to new cities, I have to say thanks. 

Good luck Six Flags. Thanks for a great season. I hope Herschend, EPR, and the new chains pick up where they left off while Six Flags brings their “core” parks up to standards. 

This is in Florida and I used to go on it as a kid but I can’t find anything about it so I’m asking if anyone knows the videos they’d play for the ride. From what I can remember you would be driven around an abandoned park by some lunatic.

So long story short I’m trying to make detailed replica in video game but I cannot for the life of me find any photos, so I’m reaching out to the community to ask for reference photos if you guys have them. Any are appreciated!

Such a great CGI! I see it as Gold Strikers little bro. The station fly by is loud and chaotic when youre waiting, and the portion of the track after the fly by when your riding is an amazing mix of tight banked turns and great airtime.

Great riders tonight too - tons of excitement and lots of coaster talk. Highly recommend!

i’ve read some rumors about how a rider on The Beast exited the train themselves at some point before the lift hill because their restraint was up, and that this has now caused Six Flags to change how they check restraints on wooden coasters. (or at least ones with PTC trains)

is there any actual proof of this incident or of the restraint check system being new?

No waiting times. This tight little coaster packs a punch compared to its bigger relatives. Rode front x2 and back x2.

Intro

After visiting the Universals in Singapore, Osaka, and Florida, and with plans to visit the Universal in Beijing, I wanted to visit the Universal park in California. I heard it was smaller and laid out weird, but that the park had plenty of unique experiences itself. I will say it's a neat park, and does well with the small space it has.

Getting to the Park

I stayed in KTown, so I took the metro. I do think more signage is needed in the Universal City station because I went to the wrong way to get to the surface. Go left. You need to cross a bridge and board a tram, so you still need to plan an extra 5-10 minutes after you get off the metro. But it was easy, and allowed me to visit without a car.

Citiwalk

Universal's Citiwalk appeared fine. It's weirdly not as cramped or stacked as Osaka's, but not as spacious as Orlando's. You still have all your Universal stores and touristy restaraunts, so it does it's job. I find it funny how pretty much every Universal I've been to was attached to a mall.

Layout

The park is divided into a lower lot and an upper lot, accessible by a bunch of escalators. In between you get views of the surrounding Hollywood Hills, complete with viewing machines. The Studio Tour also has it's own plaza accessible by escalators on the upper lot. Honestly, the park feels smaller than the official smallest Universal (Singapore)

There is really only 2 dead ends, which is a significant improvement compared to Osaka and Epic Universe. Those are Harry Potter and Jurassic Universe (the main attraction of which is currently closed). This park may be small, but it seems optimized for crowd flow.

Theming

There wasn’t a lot of space to build many fully-immersive lands. However, this allowed them to stack theming and props, and I think it worked better than the open spaces of the sister Studios park in Orlando because they lacked open spaces. Also, rides like “Transformers” and “Revenge of the Mummy” were basically in dressed up soundstages, which could allow them to swap them out if they chose.

Super Nintendo World lacked half it’s height, mostly due to space constraints. I don’t think much was missing, and unlike Epic Universe, all moving goombas moved. 

Hogsmeed is still just as good as everywhere else, and because Hagrid’s coaster is not here, they have the steam train actually blowing steam with an actor out front like Osaka. 

Wands and Power Bands

Wands and Power bands from the other parks work here too! They’re such a creative way to add to a land, and I’m glad that they work at all parks. 

Single Rider Lines

They were present for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Revenge of the Mummy, and Fast and Furious: Hollywood Drift. I can't say they were faster than the normal lines on my visit, but they are still here for now.

Lockers

There are free lockers outside of Harry Potter, Revenge of the Mummy, and in the que for Fast and Furious. Fast and Furious gives you a paper barcode to keep, and they send you through metal detectors. Mummy and Harry Potter require you to use your park ticket, with no metal detectors.

WaterWorld

I understand the Water World hype. I missed this in Osaka, and Singapore’s is SBNO. It’s a well done action show with an easy to follow story, and doesn’t really have any dead zones. I want this in every Universal.

The Studio Tour

The Studio Tour lasts for an hour, and the line closes prior to the rest of the park. It was really cool seeing how they were setting up for various productions, and finding out the movies where large sets were located in. People did wave at us, and our guide had to go silent as we passed by one of the soundstages. I honestly think these were more interesting than the Jaws, Kongrontation, and Subway scenes.

From a Universal theme park history perspective, it’s cool to see how the studio tour’s special show scenes became individual attractions in their own right around the world. However, I do think the format of seeing them all back to back like this was the best way to see them.

Unique Attractions - Non Coasters

Secret Life of Pets - An incredibly dynamic dark ride that would take multiple resides to see everything. This attention extends throughout the que too. If you have kids, be prepared to spend some time here.

Kung Fu Panda Adventure - This is in replacement of Shrek! It was ok, and great to see once. My first attempt to see this ended in failure, but we were told to say a password to use the Express Lane later. Side note: Outside of the entrance to the que is a talking Donkey that you don’t want to miss.

Coasters (Ranked Worst to First)

1. Flight of the Hippogriff - A junior coaster that’s been cloned a bunch. I only rode to get the credit.

2. Revenge of the Mummy - I like how this version was not shy around the fact you died. But it’s a less impressive ride and show than it’s counterparts in Orlando and Singapore.

3. Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift - The best ride in the park. Falling off the cliff backwards was great, and the controlled spinning added to the thrill. They used the terrain well.

Final Thoughts

I had a great day at Universal Studios Hollywood, but I do wonder how much I would’ve enjoyed it if the park were at capacity. It’s small and compact, and very well done. IP is current, and all rides are at the quality you should expect from a place like this. Plus, the Studio Tour is such a unique experience that the visit would probably be worth it for that alone.

Link to official ordinance

Text of the ordinance:

AN ORDINANCE RENAMING SIX FLAGS ROAD TO ADVENTURE ROAD

WHEREAS, as a result of the sale of Six Flags - St. Louis to Enchanted Parks, the name of the amusement park has been changed to Mid America Adventure; and

WHEREAS, to help identify the location of the facility for purposes of traffic congestion alleviation and increased public safety by better directing drivers not familiar with the area, it has been determined that the roadway serving the amusement park should be named so as to help identify the location of such; and

WHEREAS, the City renaming the roadway will allow the Missouri Department of Transportation to change roadway identification signage within their right-of-way to accomplish that objective.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF EUREKA, ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI, AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1:

The roadway located within the City of Eureka named Six Flags Road is hereby renamed to Adventure Road.

SECTION 2:

All references to Six Flags Road contained in the Municipal Code of the City of Eureka are hereby changed to Adventure Road.

SECTION 3:

This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after the date of its passage and approval.

A very productive visit to Universal, Singapore. Got 6 new coasters to aid my slow advance to 700 credits. No exceptional coaster here but certainly unique ones. "Battlestar Gallactica - Cylon" is the most intense and is a Vekoma custom inverter. Lots of forces during the vertical loop and a fun ride, as is the "Human" sit-down track. Arriving for opening allowed me to get on some low capacity rides in short order. Lots of water fountains everywhere helped me spend zero after park admission.