Transcript
Speaker: Sunday, Sunday! you ready for the highest and fastest coaster in the world? Are you ready for... This
Speaker: island dares you to come face to face with the beast. The beast. 7,000 feet. You um
Speaker: hear my voice. The Loch Ness Monster. It's Andy Can Andy.
Speaker: wow Oh, no. Mr. Pop. Ready to go.
Speaker: All riders waiting and on top of the tractor, we are currently experiencing a mechanical issue and we do not know the length of the delay. And welcome back to the Single Rider Line. i am your host, Lunaris. It has been long time. ah Last time last time recorded.
Speaker: ah
Speaker: mar may may i think last time we recorded So I apologize for the hiatus. I've been doing summer shit. I've been going to parks. I've been going to a lot of baseball games, a lot of parks.
Speaker: ah What else have I been doing? Playing a lot of Mario Kart World. on my switch tube and playing a lot of the show 25 just got that for my birthday I turned 22 last ah last Thursday the 10th of July so happy birthday happy belated birthday to me and it's gonna be back it's gonna be back I haven't recorded in a hot minute and I was kind of like like losing losing steam there for a bit thinking like oh god I got record like it felt like a chore
Speaker: than like something I actually wanted to do. So took a break and I feel it feels good to be sitting at my computer and talking into talking into a microphone again.
Speaker: So let's ah let's cut the bullshit. We've got a lot of news to cover. I mean, it's been two months and a lot, a lot has happened. So um We're not going to hit every single news segment ah super, super, super thoroughly.
Speaker: But we are going to ah kind of go through it. So I'm on Coaster 101 right now. They got a lot of the Coaster news. I got some stuff off the top of my head that um has just happened recently.
Speaker: um Actually, we'll start with a quick ah trip a quick review and... ah opinions on Siren's Curse. So, spoiler warning right now, if you are going to ride Siren's Curse, there is on-ride audio.
Speaker: I am going to be talking about this, um and I want to talk without having to worry about spoilers. So if you don't want to listen to spoilers, check the timestamp I have in the description of this episode, and I will leave it there for you so that you don't have to worry about so that you can skip this part and avoid all spoilers in general.
Speaker: Sound good? All right. Talking about Siren's Curse. um Holy shit, man. What a ride.
Speaker: like
Speaker: The fact that this coaster wasn't supposed to come to Cedar Point in the first place is kind of wild because it fits... Almost. Almost perfectly.
Speaker: At the park. With a few exceptions. And I'll get to those. i have a few nitpicks. But they're not. They're nitpicks. At worst. At worst. They're nitpicks.
Speaker: um So first off. The queue is. Really well done. I mean. There's not a lot of shade. Which is a bit of a problem. For.
Speaker: You know. 95 degree days. but it is a It is definitely well put together. the the water like The fake lake that they have, the ride built over with like the black, um like the water is dyed black.
Speaker: and In case you're wondering, no, it's not hooked up to Lake Erie, so it's not like that's going to be, you know, they're they're pumping black dye into the water. Lake Erie is dirty enough as it is. We don't need more more shit in there.
Speaker: um
Speaker: Yeah, so like the black dial, you get like the dock sound effects. You got this radio station playing in the background. um if Something that you may miss if you're not paying attention, the radio station just sounds like a regular radio station.
Speaker: But if you listen in between songs, it's this whole news broadcast. about the Erie shipping company, which is like the fake shipping company they have based around it.
Speaker: And they have like reporters going missing and all this other stuff. And it's really well done and really cool. um Tony Clark makes a little voice cameo in there. So if you're familiar with him, which I'd be floored if you aren't, if you're listening to this podcast.
Speaker: um So that's really well done. Whenever you get closer to the tunnel that you walk over, It has smoke that comes out of the tunnel and lights and sound effects. um like ah Almost like a roaring, not like a lion roar, like a mythical creature roar. It's pretty it's pretty cool.
Speaker: um So you're walking through. As you get closer to the station, you have a in theme ah In-theme voice come over the audio because you're at a shipping yard slash shipping crane and telling you to put all your items into a locker. The lockers are free, by the way.
Speaker: So you get up to the station. It looks abandoned. It's pretty well put together for Cedar Fair theming. You get in. um I personally like the restraints. I've heard some people complain about the vest restraints.
Speaker: If you don't like B&M vest restraints, you're probably not going to like these. However, however, B&M vest restraints are far more restrictive than these are. So,
Speaker: Come in with like a little bit of higher expectations. Don't set them too much higher. um Personally, being on Vest Restraints never bothered me in the first place. So that's just me.
Speaker: This ride kind of requires Vest Restraints whenever you're hanging there on the on the tilt track because not everybody has amazing core strength to be able to hold their upper back up.
Speaker: So understandable. So they dispatch you, you got speakers on both sides of the headrest. So it's in both ears. This is the quietest lift hill I've ever heard, by the way.
Speaker: I mean, it is whenever you're standing next to the next to the motor and you're going and know and you're in line, obviously it's loud, but whenever you're actually on the coaster itself, the lift hill is dead silent. I mean, you can't, you cannot hear this thing.
Speaker: Um, You start hearing the siren talking to you saying, like, come to me and all this stuff. And ah you hear, like, seagull sound effects and wave sound effects. It's actually very serene and very relaxing, which I guess is, you know, obviously the point.
Speaker: um You get up to the top of the lift hill. She's like, you've been lured in by the siren's call. And then they play, like... crackling, not crackling, more like creaking sound effects as the tilt track starts to move and the train changes colors from like a sparkly green and white to just red.
Speaker: And then, you know, everybody gets freaked out. And then, you know, the the the siren says, i what what does it say exactly? I don't know.
Speaker: something about your doom, like prepare to meet your doom or something like that. I'm explaining it very terribly, but it is really well done. If you don't care about spoilers or you've already wrote it, go listen to the audio again.
Speaker: Very well put together. You go through the ride layout. It plays some like generic rock music. Um, it's not bad. it definitely fits the theme of the ride. and um ah It doesn't bother me. I know some people aren't a fan of it, but I'm not super picky, and it's kind of cool just to have on-ride audio for anything in the first place.
Speaker: But... um Yeah, the lay the layout is so, so damn good. First off, the drop is, despite it being relatively short, pretty good. and um That first airtime hill where you cut back towards the towards the first drop after you've already turned away, um the airtime on that is border borderline ejector.
Speaker: i like I'm going to call it strong floater because it's not... to i wouldnt I don't know. I wouldn't call it ejector personally, but There is a few ejector moments on this ride. And that is Depending on the time of day, may or may not be one of them.
Speaker: You... i Hold on. Let me pull up the layout. Because now um and I'm blanking on it. i haven't I've rode it four times. And I haven't rode it enough to...
Speaker: To be totally... totally familiar with its layout. No. Skip the ad. I swear to God.
Speaker: Here we go. All right.
Speaker: Yep. You drop. All right. So you go into the turnaround. You start heading back towards the main lift till you go through this zero G roll, which gives you really good, really good weightlessness. And it's got a good amount of whip to it.
Speaker: The inversions on this ride are a ton of fun. I'm just going to start this from the top. This ride in general is just fun. Like, I have a good time riding this every single time.
Speaker: ah It sucks this thing is two trains, but it's glossy smooth. I mean, this is the smoothest roller coaster I've ever been on. I understand it's brand new, but it is ridiculously smooth. It's night and day difference from top thrill to like, holy shit.
Speaker: um Nothing at Kings Island will will ever be this smooth. Orion opening day was not was not this smooth. ah it's Vekoma is doing God's work in the coaster industry, if you ask me.
Speaker: But you go through that inversion. You ah turn back to the to the right... You go upwards and you go into this triple down where you like kind of cut from left to right, hitting like 90 degree banked angles as you weave under the the first drop structure.
Speaker: And then you dip into the tunnel on the ride. ah That personally, I think that ah that triple down element is my favorite element on the ride.
Speaker: a good ejector on every single one of those hills. And the tunnel is just cool with the smoke and the effects and all of that. um i don't know. I just enjoy it. It's a lot of fun. You come back up into a twisted airtime hill, for lack of a better word, that definitely does give you ejector.
Speaker: Turn back around, start heading back towards the the main drop again, pop back up into another airtime hill. And it's just ejector and one more inversion after this. So airtime hill, another zero G roll, which also gives you a good amount of whip.
Speaker: ah You pop out into a sideways airtime hill, turn back towards the station and then airtime hill, airtime hill. And then one last pop of airtime as you fly into the break run. So um great ride.
Speaker: is it top you know Is it going to be in your top 10? Probably not. Is it just a fun overall coaster that you could kind of just lap because it's not too forceful or intense?
Speaker: Abso-fucking-lutely. um Go ride it if you haven't. Very, very well put together. ah Complaints, minor complaints.
Speaker: It's two trains. I understand that this coaster was not initially manufactured for Cedar Point, and I understand that this is was a super last minute addition, which makes the effects and everything that they have done with this ride that much more impressive, if you ask me.
Speaker: But this thing should have been three trains. um There is room for there is more than enough room for them to have a third train on the brake run. And it's just not set up like that.
Speaker: And they just don't have it. So why it was, you know, why they didn't just wait, just hold on to this coaster, keep it in storage for a year and give Cedar Point something with the proper three trains is beyond me.
Speaker: um There's a million other parks you could have sent this coaster to. I'm glad Cedar Point got it. I really am. But I still believe it should not have gone here. I understand you probably need a flat plot of land for this thing to work.
Speaker: There is plenty of other parks where you can make this work at. um You have so many so many parks in the chain that are desperate that are desperate for a new coaster.
Speaker: And they haven't gotten one in years and years and years and years and years. But no, let's send it to Cedar Point where they've gotten three coasters in the past three years. That sounds like a wonderful idea.
Speaker: um Aside from it being only like two trains and it not needing to go to Cedar Point, it's a great ride. It really is. It's amazing.
Speaker: Come ride it. Speaking of which, I haven't talked about this in a hot minute. Come to the Single Rider Line Podcast meetup at Kings Island and Cedar Point in August. um I do have... I know I already have the...
Speaker: and know I already said that housing is closed. I do have a spot for one extra person. um I am getting a hotel at Kings Island. um it's old And I only have room for housing for you at Kings Island.
Speaker: So do keep that in mind. But if you are comfortable staying in... ah you know Splitting a room. Obviously assuming that you are over the age of 18. that...
Speaker: i you know, all the stuff that you assume ah with when going with a group trip to any park, I'm assuming you've done this before. If not, uh, do, do some research and we'll go from there.
Speaker: But yeah, if you, if you need housing for Kings Island, I got you covered there. Um, so you're, you're set. Um, but yeah, come join us. That will be August 14th through the 18th. Um,
Speaker: um I will have a link to the sign-up page in the description of this as well. So come um join us. and you know Anybody's welcome.
Speaker: Love to have you here. We've already got three people going. So the more the merrier. um But yeah, Siren's Curse, great ride. Come ride it with me along with Top Thrill 2. Top Thrill 2's issues seem to have been... The kinks seem to have been worked out. So I'm not too particularly worried about it right now.
Speaker: um i mean, it's been running relatively consistently for the past you know two or three months now. or More like two months, but they've gotten it they've gotten it pretty nailed down from what from what I can tell.
Speaker: so All right, let's talk news.
Speaker: uh, Kentucky Kingdom's new roller coaster. They have a construction fence up. It says, get ready to test your wings. Spring, 2026, um, Kentucky Kingdom last fall announced a $25 million dollars investment into the park over the next two seasons.
Speaker: So they are currently in the process of building
Speaker: something. Um, As far as manufacturers go, it's going to be coming from Vekoma. um the The thought is that it's going to be a so ah like one of their suspended family coasters, kind of like, um what's it called?
Speaker: Dragonflyer at Dollywood, which is a great which is a great little family coaster and definitely something that that Kentucky Kingdom could use because it's the permit to build it is through Vekoma.
Speaker: So...
Speaker: those are That'll be good to see. I like ah i like those. those are Those are fun and fun little coasters. It's nothing earth-shattering, but it doesn't have to be anything earth-shattering.
Speaker: So good good stuff. ZDT in Texas is closing. So if you have not been out there, i would go now. Their last day is Sunday, August 17th.
Speaker: If you want to go ride Switchback, I don't know if it's getting sold or not, but you're running out of time. You have basically, at the time of this going up, one month to get your ass out there and go hop on Switchback before it could very well become a defunct coaster.
Speaker: It's kind of sad that this park is going. Small independent parks, there's just not enough of those around anymore. I mean, ever since the merger, it's been... It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not a good thing either.
Speaker: So um what else new? SeaWorld San diego gave us more information on Journey to Atlantis.
Speaker: It's been closed since fall of 2024. And it's getting some retheming. Or not really some retheming. It's getting overhauled. So getting some refurb.
Speaker: With a whole bunch of new lights, sound effects, water effects. They've got some promotional art ah that's up on their website. It's going to include new immersive cue elements, new LED lighting, projection mapping, and water effects.
Speaker: The pre-lift and the elevator lift are both getting overhauls as well, which the park calls transformative. So... ah The new narrative incorporates the C ah incorporates the S E or science exploration and adventure collective theme.
Speaker: ah Not to be confused with Disney's C a society of explorers and adventures. So apparently they're like kind of knocking off Disney on this.
Speaker: ah I, I don't know. um Good to see that's reopening. I know people love that coaster. It's a water coaster, right? Yeah, it's a water yeah Mac water coaster. Yep, alright.
Speaker: I'm right. um oh Oh, boy. The big one. This is not old news, but ah news that has made its rounds and everybody knows about it.
Speaker: Six Flags America is closing permanently November 2nd, 2025 for fucking housing developments. How wonderful.
Speaker: This is just sad to see, you know? Like, this... This has been... you know, this has been the
Speaker: Year and and then some of coasters closing and parks closing and just a whole bunch of shit going on. I understand that...
Speaker: It's probably more profitable for Six Flags. But the amount of memories that were made here, the amount of families that go here during the summer to you know go have fun for a week, go have fun for a day, you know take the kids, go get them to try their first few roller coasters.
Speaker: you know it's It's sad to see. It's really sad to see. I was hoping... I was hoping maybe this would get bought out, but it's ah it's a bit bit too late for that.
Speaker: so ah Six Flags America closes November second So go visit if you can. They have the last remaining Vekoma flying Dutchman. So if you have not rode one of those, you are on borrowed time.
Speaker: Ladies and gentlemen, there's there's no ladies listening to this. It's all it's all guys. um
Speaker: What else? Superman Ride of Steel. They've got one of those. Not the original, I don't believe, but they do have they do have one of them. People are saying that's going to get sold somewhere.
Speaker: i don't know where they would put it. Like, what park has the land to buy that and move it? And I feel like any park that does have that sort of land has the money to, you know, ah build a custom layout and a new coaster from scratch.
Speaker: So... Hopefully it does get shipped off somewhere, but that's the only one I could really see staying. Every other coaster is is toast, essentially.
Speaker: Roar is toast. Batwing is toast. ah Joker's Hijinx is done for. Their SLC done for. Firebird, definitely done for.
Speaker: um
Speaker: Wild One, that's gone. that's gone Yeah, it's sad stuff. I hate seeing parks close. So many memories just flush down the toilet for corporate profits.
Speaker: But what are you going to do, man? What are you going to do? Speaking of closing shit, Superman escaped from Krypton at Six Flags.
Speaker: and almost said Six Flags, to New Mexico. Six Flags Magic Mountain has been quietly closed. The park's president reconfirmed it, but they haven't said anything about closing Lex Luthor. It'll still be running this year. Lex Luthor will be.
Speaker: But they have a new coaster coming in 2026. It's not replacing that. It's the like suspended straddle coaster, I think it is, from... Vekoma Intamin? forget which one.
Speaker: One of the two. One of those two manufacturers. um
Speaker: But... I mean, this ride has needed to go for quite a while. I mean, it's a maintenance nightmare for what I've been told. It would have required a ton of work just to keep it up and going.
Speaker: It's... kind of in a weird spot in the park that's hard to get to. It's probably best. It's probably best that this thing is biting the dust. So um I'm not too sad about it. I never got to ride it, but oh well.
Speaker: Legoland, Florida and California are opening indoor coasters in 2026. I think I talked about this already. Maybe I did. I think I did.
Speaker: So I'm going to not go over that one again. Knott's Berry Farm announces new summer events, including an updated version of Ghost Town Alive.
Speaker: Ghost Town Alive, the interactive summer long event that started back in 2016 as part of Knott's Berry Farm 75th anniversary, includes a quote, action packed storyline, according to the park.
Speaker: In the press release, the park said the honorary citizens of Calico hold the key to unlocking secret missions alongside captivating characters while solving mind bending puzzles in immersive experiences.
Speaker: So you've I'm guessing it's like a bunch of actors and stuff out there all all summer long. That sounds like fun. The Knott's Summer Nights Festival begin brings live local bands to two stages ah that come along with games and other activities for families. It also means the park is open until 10 p.m. Those signs between those dates.
Speaker: Additionally, the park shares that Knott's culinary team is introducing some new items for the summer. These including things like kimchi crab tater tots, a pineapple beef burger, as well as dessert like tahini funnel cake.
Speaker: That all sounds amazing. um And this event sounds really cool. I want to go check this out, but my summer is already is already booked up
Speaker: Speaking of booked up, I will be in Canada ah very shortly. I am leaving the 31st. So if you want to come break into my apartment, now is the time or that's the time to do so.
Speaker: And I will be heading to go check out Alpen Fury and Wrath of Rakshasa. I will be doing one whole live trip report either in Canada or in Chicago, one of the two.
Speaker: And I will keep you guys posted. I'm excited to umm excited to head out there. I'm just glad Alpenfury opened. I was very concerned that it was not going to open this year and that I spent money on booking these hotels and paying for tickets and everything else.
Speaker: And having all of that just get flushed down the drain. So ah thank God that it opened in time because... i think i was I think I can speak for everybody whenever I was say we were all sweating there.
Speaker: um Speaking of coasters that aren't going to open, Quantum Accelerator is getting delayed to 2026. For those of you who have not been made aware, now you have. So it's been an interesting year for for Six Flags so far.
Speaker: We're going to see a lot of changes here in the near future with with Six Flags. I've been made aware that dining plans and drink plans and Fastlane is going to be available at all Cedar Fair and Six Flags Legacy Parks as of next year.
Speaker: So keep an eye out for that going forward. and Passes are probably going to go on sale here around this time next month, if not sooner. So, um
Speaker: yeah, I will keep you guys updated. And this was a big big news dump today. Just lots of just and just dumping it on people. So a lot going on.
Speaker: We're about to have a whole lot more news whenever... ah whenever August rolls around. But until then, we're going to keep doing some trip reports and keep you guys posted on what's going on. And I'm to try and get some more people on here. It's been a hot second. I think people think the podcast has died. and It did take a short break there for a bit, but we are back.
Speaker: I will start doing weekly episodes again. um Just need a bit of a break there to do my own thing this summer. And I'm not going to stop doing my own thing, but We are a we're gonna we're we're going to get you guys back to your regularly scheduled bullshit content.
Speaker: Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention as far as news goes. Disneyland reveals ah they have an avatar and Cocoa attraction and transportation hub.
Speaker: Disneyland unveiled the details about the park's forthcoming avatar and Cocoa attractions. ah They have Cocoa attraction coming to Disney California Adventure.
Speaker: It will be built near Paradise Gardens Park and Pixar Pier in a primarily backstage area. Details beyond that are slim, but construction is slated to begin this fall.
Speaker: And then Avatar destination planned for California's adventure Hollywood Backlot. An immersive Avatar experience is also in the works set to take over part of Hollywood backlot area. The project is still in early development while details remain limited.
Speaker: Um, and then Disneyland is also getting a new transportation hub that will make flow of traffic a whole lot easier.
Speaker: So, um, speaking of,
Speaker: I can't think right now. Speaking of rides and coasters, another another thing in news I also forgot to mention, Rip Ride Rocket is going bye-bye here soon. So go ride it if you can. I'm curious to see what Intamin is going to replace it.
Speaker: um i have no idea. Epic Universe open. There is so much going on that I've missed. I got to go out to Epic Universe. I got to go ride the ah back, not the back, the Rip Ride Rocket replacement.
Speaker: um Six Flags broke ground on their King to Ka replacement. We still don't know what it's going to be. i mean, like there is seriously so much talk about. So um I'm going to keep this one relatively short, though, just to kind of wet the palate before we get back into regular schedule regularly scheduled episodes.
Speaker: So um I'll go over some more of this news and stuff in the in the next episode. And I appreciate I appreciate you guys. you guys coming and listening and listening to my bullshit. So, so thank you guys. But, um, I hope you have a great rest of your week. Have a good Friday. Have a great weekend.
Speaker: And we will see you all next time. ya.
