will the Thunderbolt be the same?

Here's my two cents. PR's layout doesn't look as good as some other hypers out there, but if we look at it from another angle, we can clearly see what Kennywood is trying to do. I think I can speak for most enthusiasts by saying that Steel Phantom's inversions were rough, and for the most part uninteresting. I firmly believe that PR's sweeping turns, tunnels, and bunny hops will make for a really fun coaster. Will PR be the best coaster in the world? Probably not. Will it be better than the original Steel Phantom? I believe it will. I don't think the park really needs this coaster to be the best in the world, they only need it to generate the ridership that Steel Phantom did not. I think that from that standpoint, the ride will be a success.

Of course, we can't judge it until we ride it.

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E.J.
Webmaster: Theme Park New England
http://tpne.8m.com

Personally, I think the layout has more in common with Millennium Force than your typical out-and-back hyper. There are a lot of big sweeping high-speed turns.

I can just hear it now, as the coaster snobs moan about how it doesn't have any airtime blah blah blah...

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

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kOrN4/8/00 said:
"Who ever said record breakers are the only ones to satisfy people. MF was a record breaker, and it is no where near being one of my favorite coasters.

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But you have to admit that you are definetly in the minority with this opinion. 95% of the GP as well as most of the members of this site Love this coaster. Mainly because of its size and outright speed.

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All time Top 5: (1) Milleniun Force (2) Alpengeist (3) Hulk (4) Ice Dragon (5) Raptor

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kOrN4/8/00 said:
"Who ever said record breakers are the only ones to satisfy people. MF was a record breaker, and it is no where near being one of my favorite coasters. Yet, S:ROS at SFA hasn't broken any records, and it is my favorite. The reason why MF didn't satisfy me was because its layout stunk IMO. "

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I find it interesting that you think MF's layout is boring, but S:ROS at SFA is not. I've not ridden the SFA superman, but I've ridden it's mirror at SFDL, and I think the original S:ROS layout is exceedingly boring. I still LOVE the ride, as the drop, intense helices and those 3 hills coming back are awesome, but the HUGE spans of completely straight track are a waste. I think that MF has a much more interesting and intense layout, and it gives a better ride. Obviously, which you like is up to you, but I just found it odd that you said MF has a boring layout, but S:ROS doesn't. Anyway, How does this relate to the OP? I think that a layout can look boring, but still be a great coaster, like S:ROS or MF. On paper, both S:ROS and MF have boring, uninteresting layouts, but when riding them, they both deliver a fantastic ride...the same could be true for PR.

Well, my opinion is that the Out and back style has a rather boring layout, unless you incorporate the landscape and additional elements. Like the high renaissance in art, we are starting to follow an equation in which coasters follow. Out and backs's rides are great, but the layouts are uninteresting and predictable.

Some examples that I've ridden. The Blue Streak, great ride, but at the top of the lift you see what happening. What saves a steel out and back like the Magnum is the cut along the lake as well as the pretzel loop.

It's great when you ride a coaster for the first time and have no idea where your going.When I rode MF for the first time, I still did not know exactly where I'd been. I'm sure Phantom's Revenge will be the same.

I do understand that I am in the minority with my opinion. I also believe that I am in the minority when I say that many of CP's rides are overrated. Sure rides like Raptor and MF are great rides, I'm not taking anything away from them, but I feel they are highly overrated. While these rides are good, I don't see what all the fuss is about. Raptor can hardly be considered the best inverted ever, look what has succeeded it, rides like Alpengeist and Dueling Dragons, which IMO surpass Raptor by a longshot. Yes, MF is pretty historical, and is great on many levels(speed, and shear height), but there is some rides like the Superman's and Apollo's Chariot that are just all-around amazing(speed, height, airtime, layout, etc). I can easily deal with people praising MF and Raptor, but what is with Magnum. Sure, it was historical when it first came out, but it is easily one of the worst rides I've ever been on. Extremely rough, almost thought that I was bleeding from being thrown around so much. This started my hatred for Arrow coasters, but if I ever get to the West Coast to ride X my opinion might change. I'm probabally going to get bashed for this post, but please remember that this is just my opinion :).

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Parks for 2000: CP, Great Escape, Great Adventure, SFA, Islands of Adventure, Kennywood *** This post was edited by kOrN4/8/00 on 3/12/2001. ***