I don’t think this is too surprising, but I am upset that the park didn’t provide any notice on a final operating day for the tallest roller coaster in the world. I finally got to visit Great Adventure for the first time this year and was able to ride it, but I would have tried to squeeze in one more visit if I knew. It’s confirmed that this is a removal and a completely new cosster rather than a re-imagining, so let the rumor mills begin!

How many coasters have you ridden that are now defunct (and not relocated), and do you have any fond memories of them?

My defunct credits are:

• Disaster Transport, Cedar Point
• Wicked Twister, Cedar Point
• Dueling Dragons/Dragon Challenge, Islands of Adventure
• Fire in the Hole, Silver Dollar City
• SandSerpent, Busch Gardens Tampa

I never got to ride Dueling Dragons while the two tracks dueled, and that’s still something I wish I could have experienced. I liked the concept of two completely different layouts with near misses over the course of the ride experience.

Honorable mentions to Iron Wolf at Six Flags Great America (now Firebird at Six Flags America) and Mantis at Cedar Point that are now floorless conversions.

Now that 2023 is coming to an end, what were everyone’s coaster highlights from the year? What was the best new coaster you rode this year? Did it dethrone your previous favorite? Were there any surprises? Is anyone still planning final trips before the year ends or ringing in the new year at a park?

This year, I was able to visit 10 new parks and ride 81 new coasters along with revisiting a few favorites from the past. Of these new credits, the best is Iron Gwazi (I know, not a very controversial opinion haha). In the same trip I got to ride Velocicoaster too and those became my new 1 and 2, respectively.

The best new park I visited was Hersheypark. I have been wanting to go to this park for years and had two unsuccessful attempts (including one earlier this year) due to weather or poor planning. Luckily this park’s top-tier coaster lineup lived up to the hype. A couple of coasters were closed including Sooperdooperlooper, but I was able to get two rides on Skyrush in a back right wing seat. I actually only thought Skyrush was okay after my first ride in the morning but I snagged another ride at night with a full train and it was a completely different experience with crazy intensity and airtime.

My biggest surprises were Screamin’ Eagle and Boss at Six Flags St. Louis. Those two coasters were much more intense than I expected. I swear I spent more time out of my seat than in it on Screamin’ Eagle. For Boss, it was a slow day so the train was only about half full. Despite that, it was still hauling. I can’t even imagine what a full train is like.

With the new coasters this year, my total credit count is now around 228. Next year, I’m hoping to visit some smaller parks such as Adventureland in Iowa and Indiana Beach along with a couple of Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks but no concrete plans yet.

It doesn’t feel like it was that long ago that construction on the spike started and now here we are! I’ll definitely miss the original, but I’m still hoping to make it out to Cedar Point this year to ride its reincarnation. Hopefully we have a more reliable ride this time.

I’m a little late with writing and posting this, but hopefully you like trip reports here!

Since I have a couple of friends living in the Salt Lake City area, I finally made it out there see them and visit Lagoon for the first time over Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately, Primordial wasn’t open yet despite my best efforts in going late into the operating season. It was still a great weekend at the park with minimal lines on Sunday. Overall, I was very impressed with how well the park is run. Ops on all rides were really efficient with consistently fast dispatches.

Cannibal (x2) This was the ride I was most excited about, and it was a blast! I rode once just after park opening and once towards the end of my visit (back row both times). The elevator lift and first drop are certainly the highlights of the ride, but I also loved the hang time in the opposing heartline rolls over the water.

Jet Star II (x1) I finally rode a Schwarzkopf Jet Star for the first time, and it’s a great compact coaster. It packs a bigger punch than I expected with some good laterals. The kid in me also likes the old Schwarzkopf spiral lift hills having grown up with Whizzer at Six Flags Great America.

Bat (x1) Not too much to report on this one, but I have always thought Vekoma suspended family coasters are good for broad appeal and this is no exception. It’s a smooth ride that is a great fit for the park.

Rattlesnake Rapids (x1) This one obviously isn’t a roller coaster, but it was a pretty warm day so a splash of cold water felt really nice. I’m always pretty unlucky on rapids rides, so I was drenched for a while after getting off.

Wicked (x1) Like Cannibal, I was excited about riding Wicked as well. The launch was pretty forceful with some solid airtime going off the top hat into the first drop. Unfortunately, the ride really loses a lot of steam after the trims with the second half of the ride really crawling to the final brake run. This one reminds me of Sky Rocket at Kennywood, which I feel has the same problem.

Colossus (x1) Classic Schwarzkopf loopers are always fun, and it was cool to see one at this park alongside Jet Star II. Good positives in the vertical loops and great headchopper moments going through the structure as well.

Spider (x1) This was a fun spinning coaster that is similar to the Gerstlauer spinning coasters. This was my first Mauer spinning coaster, and it’s hard to say which I prefer.

Roller Coaster (x1) Overall a tame ride, but also certainly a historic one (102 years this season!). The station house reminded me of the wooden coasters at Kennywood with the original styling, and the Millennium Flyer trains were interesting given that I’m used to those being on much twistier GCI layouts.

Wild Mouse (x1) This is mostly a standard issue wild mouse with a run drop into a tunnel in the second half of the ride. Not much else to say here, but it was at least refreshing to see 4 cars cycling the layout at once compared to the terrible dispatches I’ve experienced on wild mouse coasters at Cedar Fair parks.

Finally, I ended my visit with a ride on each of the scary dark rides. Pretty good theming in both, and the jump scares got me as well. Afterwards, I left the park mid-afternoon to get some food and drinks outside of the park. I probably will want to go back eventually for Primordial, but for now there are plenty more coasters to ride at other parks.