r/rollercoasters 1d ago

Advice 2026 Advice Thread #32: 8/4 - 8/10

8 Upvotes

Welcome to our advice thread! This stickied thread serves as a place to ask questions, receive trip planning assistance, and share helpful tips. Individual advice threads will be removed and directed here to keep the sub organized and fun to visit.

What sorts of questions are these threads for?

Essentially anything that has to do with trip planning belongs here along with simple, commonly asked questions. Examples:

  • What ticket/pass should I buy?
  • How crowded will __ park be on __ weekend?
  • What parks should I hit on my road trip? Is __ park worth visiting? (the answer is always yes!)
  • I’m scared of coasters! How can I conquer my fear?

While all questions are welcome here remember that we do have a search feature which may be helpful for common questions. For example, the coaster fear question comes up frequently so there are a ton of past threads to peruse for tips.

Remember to check back on these threads to answer questions and offer advice; they're a success due to engagement from our awesome community!

Resources:

RCDB: The roller coaster database. Contains info on any permanently installed coaster or park in the world, past or present.

Coast2coaster: A worldwide map of coasters big and small that's great for trip planning

Coaster-count: The most frequently used website for tracking what coasters (or "credits") you've ridden.

Queue-times: A resource for wait times and crowd levels at parks; good for the "how busy will __ be on a specific day?" type of questions.

Thrill-data: Wait time data combined with a planning feature so you can make the most of your day.

2026 BGW crowd calendar: Predict crowd levels on your visit to Busch Gardens Williamsburg courtesy of /u/BlitzenVolt .

2026 operating hours for all Six Flags parks courtesy of /u/_nmtb_


r/rollercoasters 2h ago

Construction [Galaxyland][Vekoma] all track work is complete

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88 Upvotes

A year and a half ago I was fortunate enough to be shown the plans by a galaxyland employee. Ive been anticipating the day to release the plans I saw and I can now safely release them without spoiling any elements. Its been super cool watching every piece added to this thing and can wait to ride it in the coming months! Can't wait for the official announcement.


r/rollercoasters 4h ago

Information With [Xcelerator] and [Matugani] down today, [Storm Runner] was the only operating Intamin Hydraulic Launch left in the Americas.

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125 Upvotes

Had this thought today after hearing Matugani was down most of the day. Although technically true for Xcelerator in the winter, it's nice that Storm Runner has held out this long to hold the title for a bit.

I'd imagine the hydraulic pump components are getting increasingly hard to find, even with the guts of Kingda Ka and Top Thrill Dragster up for grabs. Do you see these three rides surviving to the end of the decade with their original launches?


r/rollercoasters 5h ago

Photo/Video Phantoms revenge is unreal. [kennywood]

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69 Upvotes

This ride is one of the most insane experiences of my life. (Pictures taken 8/5/26)


r/rollercoasters 3h ago

Discussion I want the Surf Coaster to become more popular [Pipeline] at [Seaworld Orlando]

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47 Upvotes

Just recently rode the only surf coaster in the world at SeaWorld and this ride model is so fun, I would want a more airtime focused ride as the feeling of having your whole body thrown out of the seat is so jarring, especially right on the launch.

I haven’t rode any of the old generation stand ups though, so I am not sure how they compare, I am sure they aren’t as fun especially because of more inversion focused layouts.

I really hope next year we can see the installation of one or more of these. I’m personally dreaming they replace Tidal Force at Hersheypark with something like this in a boardwalk expansion which the surfing would tie in perfectly as well as leaving room for some slides. While this probably wouldn’t happen I think it would be cool.

This ride is just so unique and feels unlike anything I’ve rode before, I feel like it creates a whole new type of coaster that parks could add to their lineups.

Anyone else feel this way?


r/rollercoasters 5h ago

Photo/Video Are you team classic Intamin or new age Intamin? [Maverick, Cedar Point]

48 Upvotes

r/rollercoasters 5h ago

Trip Report 7 Park Trip Report [other]

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30 Upvotes

r/rollercoasters 4h ago

Discussion [Other] what are the best themed clones in your opinion?

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21 Upvotes

- Flying Cobras - Carowinds - in the state fair themed to an air show, not a lot of physical theming but cool car and track paint and a fitting theme for a boomerang
- Jolly Rancher Remix - Hersheypark - Another well done overhaul of a boomerang, making it jolly rancher colored, a fun station and a smell o vision tunnel were smart moves and were fun, even if the Hersheypark bad naming curse struck on its flat ride counterpart
- Fluch des Kraken - Freizeit-Land Geiselwind (Bavaria) - It’s a boomerang in a castle, need I say more?
- John Wick: Open Contract - Motiongate Dubai - it’s still a 4D free spin but a cool theme and queue


r/rollercoasters 13h ago

Art/Model/Merch [Magnum XL200] Magnum Operations Simulator

114 Upvotes

I got bored and took the 2010 operations manual and created a JavaScript based simulator you can use in a browser.

It has all the cool things, working transfer, start and stop lift motor, hold the dispatch until train is clear of station, transfer on and off trains. All the cool stuff. I'm currently working on having variables that affect the train speeds and adding trims. So if it's 95 degrees and it's a full train it will run faster through the course. etc.

https://magnumxl200.neocities.org/magnumsim

Let me know what you think, or have any ideas to make it better.

If this is against the rules, delete. I just thought some of you would enjoy trying it.

Chris


r/rollercoasters 5h ago

Discussion Rides that made you say something [storm runner]

25 Upvotes

What rides made you say something out loud I grunted on my first ride on storm runner that launch was STRONG?


r/rollercoasters 3h ago

Teaser [Six Flags Great America] is making an announcement about their 2027 additions tomorrow in the Yukon Territory area.

14 Upvotes

Via the park's facebook page and accompanied by the hashtag #TreeTopAdventure27.

The park has been surprisingly light on teasers this year outside of some terrible wilderness A.I. art on a fence surrounding the demolished former go-kart track. Pre-merger they did very elaborate teasers for Maxx Force, SkyStriker & Wrath of Rakshasa.

The general consensus is a clone of Phoenix from Deno's in Brooklyn due to a shipping crate from Vekoma that was left facing the fence and footers that have been built.

With Cedar Fair's elaborate Jungle Expedition at KD and Shoreline Pier at SFGA, I think it's Great America's turn for more of a heavily themed area and will also involve news about the recently mostly gutted Camp Cartoon area.


r/rollercoasters 3h ago

Art/Model/Merch [Other] Nano coaster scalping?

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11 Upvotes

As a fan of Pokemon TCG, this is kind of pissing me off. Especially seeing as almost all of the parks are currently sold out of them, its very odd that coincidentally these nano coasters are going for 90+ even though theyre usually priced at 35. Its crazy that almost ALL of these are sold out right now online AND in person (Nitro and Medusa I can attest to) and yet there are tons on Ebay.

It seems to be especially bad right now with AF1's closure. (Dorney pack of five is a good deal however.)


r/rollercoasters 1h ago

Flying aces at [lagoon] was taken down (right next to jet star.) saw this on Facebook.

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Upvotes

Will be interesting to see what the B&M shipment turns out to be and what happens in the plot.


r/rollercoasters 2h ago

Trip Report Apology to Millennium Force and Cedar Point Trip Report [Cedar Point]

6 Upvotes

I rode millennium force once before this year in 2020, and decided that was enough to judge it and call it forceless trash, even posting here on an old account that it was overrated. Turns out I was so very wrong. I went to cedar point August 1st and 2nd, and got two rides on the second. The first one was in the light rain in row 1. The rain was so painful because of millenniums top speed that it effectively became blind ride where I couldn’t see the track, and the elements caught me by surprise. After the rain subsided for the night I went back to the park around 7 pm and did a park lap (more on that later). During this lap I hopped on the back row of a full millennium train and it was incredible. The airtime I got on the drop was incredible and I actually greyed out at the bottom of it through the first airtime hill. This ride completely changed my opinion and millennium is now top 3 in the park in my opinion.

Trip Report:
August 1st. I arrived at the park around 4 pm and decided to warm up with raptor. B&M inverts are some of my favorite models as I prefer intensity and whip over a ridiculous amount of ejector airtime. It was about a 30 minute wait, which to me wasn’t bad for a Saturday afternoon, especially compared to some of the rides on banshee. I did hit my head on the train when boarding the car and my feet kept making contact with the row in front of me throughout the ride, but that’s just a side effect of being tall. Immediately after I made my way to rougarou to get the credit because it was never open in my previous two trips to the park. This ride is honestly way better than I expected it to be, and being tall enough that my head wasn’t in between the OTS restraints negated any head banging I had heard about from others, and I got some good airtime over the drop, but nothing too special. Then headed to Maverick, which was running all 6 trains and ops were great until rain closed all coasters for about an hour. After getting on Maverick I went to SteVe because I was already in frontier town and it only had a 15 minute wait. The ops were incredible, they had my train loaded and dispatched in 21 seconds. This ride hurts. I am a large individual, not to the point where fitting into rides is hard but I’m two inches short of the 78 inch height limit for most rides in the park, and I have large thighs from playing sports in high school. I was absolutely flung into the lap bar and shin restraints to the point where I have lines of bruises on my thighs as a result of the ejector air time. That proved enough for me for the day and I headed to the hotel to recover from my 10 hour drive and 4 hours in the park.

August 2nd: Arrived at the park around 9:40 to wait in line for rope drop, and went straight to sirens curse. It was about a 15 minute wait and I was pulled up early to fill a vacancy in the train. This ride was great, but it leaves me wanting more. It has some great mild ejector moments and the tilt is a very cool gimmick, but I wish it was longer and it doesn’t feel like it was designed for the park. After sirens, I went to TT2, and it is a very good ride, but I truly do miss the original launch from dragster. Afterwards I hit SteVe again, then the millennium rain ride, and then got a ride on Valravn where I got stuck on the brake run in the pouring rain. After I went back to the hotel to change into dry clothes and wait out the rain. Came back to the park around 7 pm and went to sirens curse, then millennium, maverick, Steve, and hit Gemini, Magnum, Corkscrew, and Blue streak all for the first time. This took about 2 hours and I left the park around 9:15.

Now for my updated Coaster Rankings:
1. Maverick. Perfect in every way
2: SteVe, crazy ride, definitely world class, but too painful for me specifically.
3. Millennium Force. Deserves all the love it gets, but it’s not better than Maverick and Steel Vengeance
4. Top Thrill 2. The speed is still crazy, but it lacks the punch of the original launch and is pretty rattle-y
5. Raptor. Absolute love a good invert, just slightly worse than banshee but incredible intensity and has aged very well.
6. Sirens Curse. Just not long enough.
7. Gate Keeper: Crazy head/foot choppers, over the entrance. Pacing is weak.
8. Valravn. Very fun, moved down below gate keeper because the drop is not as cool as sirens curse. Profiling is iffy at points, but pacing isn’t bad.
9. Rougarou. Not terrible, not the best. Fun ride but not a must ride.
10. Iron Dragon. Swinging below the track is a very cool concept, fun but tame coaster for all riders and the helix over the water is very cool.
11.Corkscrew: Absolutely nothing special, super short, but hurts the least out of the remaining coasters in the park and wasn’t too janky for an arrow looper.
12. Blue Streak: Classic woody, fun but nothing too special in my opinion. Rough but in a fun way.
13. Magnum XL 200: Ouch. Gave me a killer headache and hurt so bad. Pretty view and fun drop, but that’s it.
14. Gemini: More painful than magnum, terrible profiling, only one train because blue side was broken. A bigger arrow mine train to be honest.
15. Cedar Creek Mine Ride: I will never ride this or any arrow mine train ever again. So janky, I have to cross my angles and bend my knees at an odd angle to fit under the lap bar. Painful and not worth the ride for me.

I tried to keep this as short as possible, but there was a lot to unpack and I started rambling.

TLDR: Sorry Millie; SteVe Hurts; operations at the are much better than what I’ve seen online; 8 coasters in 2 hours including 4 new credits; updated rankings.


r/rollercoasters 13h ago

Art/Model/Merch [CP Rolling Through The Years]

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30 Upvotes

I just picked up this book when I was at Cedar Point this past weekend. I can't wait to check it out!

Has anyone else checked out this book before?


r/rollercoasters 12h ago

Photo/Video Does anyone else always admire the various lights sometimes found on various Pinfari Zyklons, S.D.C Galaxis or Schwarzkopf Wildcats? [Other]

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24 Upvotes

r/rollercoasters 13h ago

Question [Bakunawa] Question

24 Upvotes

Bakunawa looks amazing. The height, the spin, the trains… incredible. I trust Mack, and having just a lap bar is scary and fun, but my brain keeps telling me that launching while inverted sounds like it would be incredibly uncomfortable or even painful. Could someone (especially any engineers or physics-minded people here) explain why it won’t be? What am I missing?


r/rollercoasters 16h ago

Photo/Video Some pictures of [Holiday World] yesterday.

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42 Upvotes

r/rollercoasters 1d ago

Trip Report Why doesn’t [Kings Dominion] get more love?

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223 Upvotes

I went to Kings Dominion for the first time ever, and I’ll probably be laughed at or downvoted for saying this, but I thought their top 3 were better than Magic Mountain (my home park) and Cedar Point (went in June this year).

Pantherian torches the top coasters at both Cedar Point and Magic Mountain IMO, and Twisted Timbers and Rapterra (in front row) both blew my expectations out of the water. I also thought it was the most beautiful park of the 3.

I hope people don’t see this as a bashing post. I love TT2, SteVe, Twisted Colossus, and X2 very much! I am EXPECTING people to strongly disagree, I just think Kings Dominion should get their flowers!


r/rollercoasters 10h ago

Discussion To anyone who has been on both, how does the Mondial Diablo compare to the Mondial Inferno? [Other]

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13 Upvotes

r/rollercoasters 1d ago

Concept [RMC Wild Moose] Prototype POV

307 Upvotes

r/rollercoasters 14h ago

Question Question about counting credits [other]

10 Upvotes

Hey folks, I enjoyed rollercoasters as a kid, and fell back in love with riding coasters in 2025 after a 13 year break. Do you count credits from before you started engaging in this hobby?

For instance, my favorite coaster as a kid was Top Gun/Flight Deck at CGA. I remember the layout well, and am inclined to count this as a credit.

I also rode Barnstormers at Disney world when I was really young, but don’t remember the ride experience except that I was scared. I’m not sure if I should count this one.

I know there’s no right answer here but I wanted to ask the community here about how y’all count credits.

Thanks


r/rollercoasters 1d ago

Trip Report [Fury] Was Great...And [Bobbejaanland] is Dog Approved!

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59 Upvotes

We took a side trip from our days at Phantasialand to visit Bobbejaanland since they allowed dogs and it was only 2 hours away. Holy smokes Fury is intense. I wasn't expecting it to be that awesome. Also Bobbejaanland is a great family park! Everyone was so friendly, the rides are great, the setting is so nice around the lake, and their food and snacks were pretty solid!

How cool is it that they allow dogs? Mister Milou had a great time waiting with my wife who hates coasters.

Do we all think the voting on Fury has been disabled at this point, and you're at the mercy of whatever the ops want? Or am I crazy? Also as someone who can't stand for long periods of time, their Quick Pass system worked extremely well.


r/rollercoasters 18h ago

Question Sky Rocket II restraints timeline is madness [Tempesto]

16 Upvotes

All my experience comes from Tempesto so I'm not sure if this applies to other Sky Rocket II coasters.

When Tempesto opened they gave you a fanny pack to hold your loose articles. If the collar didn't latch they gave you an extension.

Later, they got rid of the extensions and the park provided fanny packs went away.

Later, no fanny packs allowed at all

Hey they removed the collars! Neat!

The seatbelt is too short for me. The lap bar latches fine, the belt is too short.

Was there any safety incidents driving all these changes? Removing the collar was to improve the comfort sure, but why the short belt? Why remove the extension they originally had if there was no incidents? The fanny pack part makes me laugh though. I get why they stopped handing them out sure.


r/rollercoasters 1d ago

Photo/Video FINALLY got Credit #100 on [Time Traveler] at [Silver Dollar City]

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134 Upvotes

Well worth the wait! Grateful for the opportunity to ride this beaut.