Earlier, John shared one of his best memories from 2012 so I thought I also would take some to reflect on the year and look forward to what’s coming.
I was fortunate enough to visit eight parks this year, including:
- Dollywood
- HersheyPark
- Knoebels
- Canada’s Wonderland
- Walt Disney World (all four theme parks)
At those eight parks I rode eleven “new to me” casters:
- Wild Eagle
- SkyRush
- Fahrenheit
- Black Diamond
- Expedition Everest
- Leviathan & Behemoth (and others at Canada’s Wonderland)
To have a little fun I made up a few random awards to give out based upon my experiences this past year:
Most Efficient Coaster Operations
Winner: Knoebels – no pesky seatbelts or station gates to slow things down
Runner-up: Disney World – they really pump people through those rides!
Least Efficient Coaster Load/Unload Operations
Winner: SkyRush – poor station design
Runner-up: Wild Eagle – would be much improved if they didn’t allow everyone to bring all their stuff into the station.
Best Park Guests
Disney World – everyone was very friendly to one another
Worst Park Guests
Canada’s Wonderland – throwing fistfuls of pennies off roller coasters = not cool!
Best New Coaster of 2012 (that I personally rode)
1. SkyRush
2. Leviathan
3. Wild Eagle
Most Looking Forward to in 2013 (i.e. most likely to personally ride):
Gatekeeper at Cedar Point
Besides most likely hitting up Gatekeeper, I would love to make a trip to Silver Dollar City to try Outlaw Run but it seems like there’s no easy way to get there. I would love to be able to finally get down to Texas for New Texas Giant or Iron Rattler too. And of course there’s always something exciting going on in Orlando, like SeaWorld’s new Antarctica or Universal’s Transformers. All just wishful thinking at this point but who knows what the new year will bring!
What are your coaster plans for 2013?
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