2018 highlights

[s***@aol.com]

What places/rides did you visit that were the highlights of your 2018 season? New places visited, new to you rides, etc.

[s***@aol.com]

Mine:

Going to the Clearwater Aquarium (and the area in general) for the first time.

Going to the Sir Henry’s Trail, Haunt at Old Town and Petrified Forest for the first time this Halloween season. Also visited Howl O Scream more than once for the first time this season (3 visits total).

Riding Hydrus at Casino Pier for the first time.

Riding Mystery Mansion at Adventureland.

Experiencing the Magic Carpet Fun house (the one with the breakaway bench onto conveyor belt) at the Florida Strawberry Festival for the first time in a long time. Hope it returns next year.

Enjoying Slinky Dog Dash at Hollywood Studios.

Doing the tiger tour at Busch Gardens, and the walrus/beluga whale tour at SeaWorld Orlando.

Only got 4 new coaster credits this year but still had a fun year going to parks and fairs.

[ansley]

Post by s***@aol.com
What places/rides did you visit that were the highlights of your 2018 season? New places visited, new to you rides, etc.

We didnt' travel too much this year, but did make a big Florida trip with stops at SFoG and Carowinds on the way home.

I really enjoyed Twisted Cyclone at SFoG, thought it was better than Twisted Timbers at King's Dominion.

Finally rode Mako at Sea World, really is one of the best B&M Hyper/Giga style coasters! We rode Mako, Goliath at SFoG, and Intimidator/ Fury 325 all within a few days, and Apollo's Chariot within a few weeks of leaving on our trip. Honestly, size is not always a good indicator for B&Ms. I loved Mako, and haven't ridden Goliath at SFoG in over 10 years, it was excellent. Both clearly better IMHO than Apollo's and Intimidator and better airtime than Fury. I do think Fury is the overall better coaster, but not by that much. Mako might be my 2nd or 3rd overall favorite B&M.

Daredevil Dive was also new to me, very good, but loading and line was atrociously slow.

Down in FL, Cobra's Curse was a lot of fun, really enjoyed it.

LOVED Mineblower, best new coaster for me in 2018. Easily made my top ten wood, full of airtime, laterals, and intense. The way wood coasters should be!

I had ZERO new parks in 2018, first time since I started re-riding coasters in 1991 that I had no new parks!

I only had 6 new coaster credits for 2018, all listed above. Wait, I actually had one more I forgot to document. I went on Grover at BGW for the first time ever in December! Yeah for me.

[ansley]

Post by s***@aol.com
What places/rides did you visit that were the highlights of your 2018 season? New places visited, new to you rides, etc.

I forgot some other things...

Rode Flight of Passage at Disney, very good ride but IMHO the Forbidden Journey at IoA is still much better! Rode that for the first time this year too. I didn't ride it on our visit in 2015. Also rode new King Kong ride, and new Fast and Furious ride at IoA and Universal. I like Kong, but thought F&F was week, despite similar technology used.

[ansley]

Post by s***@aol.com
What places/rides did you visit that were the highlights of your 2018 season? New places visited, new to you rides, etc.

Lastly, FINALLY visited HHN at Universal. It was awesome, well worth it even for the outrageous express passes one night. (we went 3 nights). My two boys loved it too. We will return. My favorite walk thrus were Stranger Things, Poltergeist, and a few others. I thought they were all very good. Great Experience.

[CanobieFan]

After two years of planning, I made my first trip to Asia and got to visit both Hong Kong Disneyland and Universal Singapore along the way. Spent my birthday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and got to ride the intamin coaster, Supersonic Odyssey as well. First time getting a new for me credit 'on' my birthday.
Did a East Coast road trip and hit all three RMC conversions in the same week as well as a return visit to Sesame Place, riding the only new wooden roller coaster to open in North America this year. Fun stuff... and lastly, rode four of my bucket list coasters on a bucket list trip across the Pacific Northwest... and found a new top 10 wood and top 10 steel along the way.
Added 73 new for me coasters too

[SLC Headache]

Got my passport and went to Canada's Wonderland. As a suspended coaster fanboy, Vortex alone was worth it.

Went to Cedar Point and stayed at Breakers. Celebrated 150th credit on Millennium Force, making it so that I've ridden the four Cedar Fair Gigas in a year's span. Steel Vengeance and Maverick also lived up to their reputation.

Went to Kings Island and made it on Firehawk before it closed. It joins Hurler KD, Stinger, and Georgia Cyclone on my defunct credits. Also, The Beast at night lived up to its reputation.

[GodsOnSafari]

-getting a job offer en route to phoenix and being able to celebrate by driving out to Western Playland

-doing a last second road trip before starting that job with my buddy Joe and winding up at SDC opening day and SFOT for a couple of days

-getting every coaster adults are let on at La Ronde in a totally nutso trip

-Visiting Europe and doing some parks like Walibi Belgium and Efteling I hadn't been to since the ECO trip of 2002. Plus some new to me parks like Bellewaerde.

-Coming home from Europe, having 2 days at home, then flying to Panama City FL to get on Cannonball Run before it got torn down

-Getting to SFMM after spending a full day at Politicon in LA to grab some credits

-Steel Vengenance. Yeah.

[DJ Wiza]

Post by s***@aol.com
What places/rides did you visit that were the highlights of your 2018 season? New places visited, new to you rides, etc.

It's easy for me to highlight 2018 as far as parks/coasters go because I only made 1 vacation for coasters and it was a CP/KI/HW trip.

My last trip to CP was 2011. Last one before that was 2004. Steel Vengeance was my first RMC and I think it lives up to the hype. Enjoyed Gatekeeper more than I thought I would. When I first rode Maverick in 2011, I put it as my #1 favorite steel, but I think I decided that I think I like Raptor more.

My last trip to KI was 2003 when it was still Paramount. Banshee was a lot of fun, got a kick out of the ride op for Bat referring to the ride as Top Gun. Diamondback was my first B&M hyper. Mystic Timbers was great, though the shed thing was really dumb.

I had never been to Holiday World. Decided that while Raven and Legend are good rides, they're not as amazing as the coaster enthusiast community makes them out to be. Voyage felt like it had potential, but that MCBR completely ruins the second half. The walk to Thunderbird kind of sucks. Half the water park was closed. Was really surprised how remote the park actually is.

For 2019, I'll likely be hitting SFMM and KBF in September, assuming that's when ShellCon happens in LA. My home park, Oaks Park here in Portland OR, got a new ride this year, but I haven't been on it yet.

[w***@gmail.com]

I visited Knott’s Berry Farm for the first time. My company sent me to California to work for a couple of weeks, and I have a Cedar Point Platinum season pass so I got in free. Didn’t even have to pay for parking.

My favorite ride was the log flume, Timber Mountain. I loved the theming, the animatronics were excellent and there were well-placed figures and scenes throughout. I love log flumes, and this was the best I have ever been on by far. It was a fairly cool morning and there was no line, so I rode it over and over.

I also enjoyed GhostRider, it’s a fun woodie even though not terrifying.

Although I did not ride the stagecoach it looked like fun and was definitely unique.

An enjoyable day in a beautiful park under the bright California sun.

[r***@aol.com]

Post by w***@gmail.com
I also enjoyed GhostRider, it’s a fun woodie even though not terrifying.

The recent overhaul made it rideable but didn't restore it to its original ferocious glory. I certainly don't jones for it like I did throughout its first decade or so.

Wow, I just looked it up and this December will be its 20th anniversary. Time flies.

[Heather Kendrick]

For me it was finally getting to Lakeside, one of the parks I'd been
fascinated with since the beginning of my time as a roller coaster enthusiast
in the early 2000s.

I also hit my #250 milestone on, of all the dumb things, the Jungle Spin
operated by Wade Shows. (I had been intending to do it on the Super Cyclone,
but I arrived to find it closed.)

[Heather Kendrick]

Oh! And a moment too late to add it to my other post, I just thought of
something: it was in January 2018 that I completed my set of the wooden
Moebius coasters by riding Montaña Rusa at La Feria during a trip to Mexico
City for an academic conference. I also greatly enjoyed Six Flags Mexico's
Christmas event, which amazingly was my first time at a park's holiday
celebration. Despite the fact that it was January 19 when we went! (Their
event ended January 21.)

[s***@aol.com]

My #400 a few years back was the Wacky Worm at Delgrosssos! I just let the credits go in whatever order they naturally go.

[Heather Kendrick]

Post by s***@aol.com
My #400 a few years back was the Wacky Worm at Delgrosssos! I just let the
credits go in whatever order they naturally go.

I don't make a big effort to time them, but if I'm going somewhere and I
realize I'm going to hit one, I do pick my favorite choice from among the
rides available. When I first went to SFoT I knew the first coaster I rode
would be #200 so I rode Judge Roy Scream first. Why? Because I'm a wood fan
above all and figured I may as well make my milestone coaster a woodie. But I
wouldn't go out of my way to not ride something just because of hitting a
milestone.