CoasterRadio.com #642 - Lex Luthor "Drops" By

There are only a few attractions in the world that a true thrill ride aficionado would think twice about riding.

One may have just opened in Southern California.

Six Flags Magic Mountain just unveiled the world's tallest drop tower ride... Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom.

Maxing out at 400 feet with a top speed of 85 mph, this new ride has been making enthusiasts wonder if they have what it takes to ride.

On this week's episode, Mike and EB break down the new ride.  They even produced a video podcast where they provide "DVD-Style" commentary as they watch on-board video of the ride!

Mike also gives us a Trip Report from his recent visit to Michigan's Adventure.

It was Mike's first trip to the park, so he talks about his over all impressions and reviews of each of the park's roller coasters.

One of them actually cracked his Top 10 list!

The guys also asked the listeners to write in with their favorite movies or film scenes that take place at theme parks or on roller coasters.

The audience responded with some well-known favorites and some really obscure flicks.

After you hear this show, you'll be headed to Netflix or YouTube to see if you can find some of these movies!

Plus, we have a Live Trip Report from Six Flags Great Adventure, an in-studio visit AND information on the 2012 CoasterRadio.com Olympics!

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CoasterRadio.com #641 - Coaster Commentary - Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom (Video)

As a bonus to this week's regular episode of CoasterRadio.com, we have produced one of our "Coaster Commentaries!"

Yes, we know Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom at Six Flags Magic Mountain isn't a roller coaster, but it's unique and downright scary enough to devote an entire video podcast to it.

CoasterRadio.com #636 - HOT or NOT 2012!

Summertime is heating up and so is the Original Theme Park Podcast!

We bring back an old favorite this week!

You see, EB and Mike have a long list of popular Amusement Industry topics for 2012.

It's their job to go through the list and decide if each is HOT or NOT.

Some of the topics include...

Verbolten at Busch Gardens WIlliamsburg
Cars Land at Disney California Adventure
Cedar Fair over the last five years
Windseeker
The restraints on SkyRush at Hersheypark
EB's Chickens
Plus many, many more!

We also have a Live Trip Report from Six Flags Magic Mountain and discussion about the new interactive queue systems that Walt Disney Imagineering has unveiled for their Dumbo attraction.

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CoasterRadio.com #618 - The Live Trip Report Show

Last summer, we sponsored a contest here at CoasterRadio.com where we would give the lucky winner a chance to produce an entire episode of the show.

We were so excited about everyone's ideas... we chose four winners!

This week, the first of those winners is stepping up to the plate to see if he has what it takes to live up to the pressure of producing a crazy podcast like this.

Tom from Louisville, KY has come up with the "Live Trip Report Show!"

He's gone though the dozens and dozens of backlogged trip reports that visitors have called in and has picked some of the most interesting ones to share with you.

Plus, to make things even more compelling... he has enlisted the services of the infamous CoasterRadio.com characters to introduce each one.

As EB says this week... "this is a show you're either gonna love or gonna hate!"

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CoasterRadio.com #523 - A Jam-Packed Show!

This week's show is so full of Coaster Radio goodness, it's almost enough for three whole shows!

There's so much going on, it's hard to decide where to begin!

How about we start with naming a winner in the "Day at the Park with Neil" Contest!  NPH is no stranger to winning awards.  So, it's fitting that he calls in to crown a winner in our latest contest.

Mike and EB were absolutely floored by the results.  Let's just say, NPH picked a darkhorse entry!

Next, after months in the planning stages, it's finally time to officially kick off our worldwide charity event -  "Theme Park Change!"

The goal is to encourage theme park fans across the globe to give up one thing from the upcoming theme park season and donate the cost of that item to a worthy charity.

All of the proceeds from this year's event is going to an amazing organization, Project Angel Food.  To learn more about them, the guys are joined by Margaret Steele, Project Angel Food's CEO.

One you hear her interview, there won't be a question on whether or not you'll want to donate.  The good work this group does will make you want to reach for your wallet and join in the "Theme Park Change."

Please, check out the website! Anyone who donates $10 or more is automatically entered into a raffle where they can win one of dozens of excellent theme park prizes!

And of course, we appease the CoasterBoys in our audience with some good, interactive theme park talk!

This week, we talk about specific things missing from your specific home park.

CoasterRadio.com listeners from across the world have chimed in to let us know what rides, attractions and other aspects are missing from their local theme parks.

Plus, we have a Live Trip Report from Busch Gardens Tampa!

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CoasterRadio.com #509 - It's a Wonderful Theme Park!

Mike Collins is in a stage version of "It's a Wonderful Life" that opens this weekend.

So, Mike and EB had to tape the show really late at night after one of the rehearsals.

This means that this week's show is a caffeine-fueled trip that includes a lot of good theme park talk and a lot of imitations from "It's a Wonderful Life" too!

The guys talk about the listener's most "elusive roller coasters," the type of attractions that people have always wanted to ride, but for whatever reason have never been able to visit.

They'll also hear a live trip report from Six Flags Over Texas and get into a discussion about the refurbishment of the Texas Giant.  They'll also talk about new gimmicks on roller coasters, such as heart rate monitors.  Plus, there is a return visit from Disney Podcast Guy!

There's also an update on The Neil Patrick Harris Project!  The Tower of Treats has been deployed!

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CoasterRadio.com #508 - The Terminator is Terminated

If you went back and listened to every single episode of Coaster Radio, you'd probably notice that the theme park topic we discuss the most is theming.

It's the one thing that separates a great park from an average amusement park.

That's why it was a bit of surprise when we learned that Six Flags would be dropping the licenses for properties like Thomas the Tank Engine, The Wiggles, Tony Hawk, Evil Kenevil and Terminator.

EB and Mike will take a look at the situation and give you their unique spin.  Does it really matter that these themes are going away?

And even though the Thanksgiving holiday is over, the guys hear from the listeners as they discuss what they are thankful for from the 2010 park season.

Plus, CoasterRadio.com was nominated for Best Travel Podcast in the 2010 Podcast Awards!

You can vote for the show once a day through December 15th.

EB and Mike discuss the meaning of the award and how half of the nominees are Disney related!  The guys also receive a visit from a Disney podcaster who has a nasty message for CoasterRadio.com.

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CoasterRadio.com #443 - Bert the Conqueror and Fireworks!

On this week's show, we welcome the host of The Travel Channel's hit show "Bert the Conqueror," Bert Kreischer!

Bert and his crew are in the middle of producing the first season of this new show that takes viewers to the legendary attractions, competitions and adrenaline rushes that you can find all across America.

He joins us from the road to tell us about what he's experienced so far and what crazy feats we can expect to see in the upcoming months.

He'll also tell us about whether he really is terrified to experience all of these thrills or if he is just delivering some academy award winning acting. Plus, you'll be surprised to hear which amusement operators are asking for his advice about future attractions.

Then, we bring back the tradition of celebrating the 4th of July by shooting off fireworks live on the show. We even gave the experience a very Disney-esque name...

The CoasterRadio.com Sparktacular Explosioloosa!

You'll have to hear it to believe it! (And, if you're a fan of ours on Facebook, you can see it too!)

All that, plus a live trip report from Six Flags Magic Mountain and a surprise guest!

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Talk about this episode in the CoasterRadio.com Forums.

Top Five (non-Disney) Parks - #4 - Six Flags Magic Mountain

Coming in at #4 on our listener-voted Top Five (non-Disney) parks is Six Flags Magic Mountain.

On the podcast, I said that of all the parks I haven't visited, this is the one I want to experience most.

I suppose that it's because Magic Mountain is the park Clark Grizwald and his family visited in the movie "Vacation." The park looked pretty cool back in 1983 and it's gotten even better since.

I mentioned in my post about Busch Gardens Williamsburg that the park is probably in the Top Five because of the iconic rides. I think the same thing can be said for Six Flags Magic Mountain.

There's no other West Coast park that can compete when it comes to the number of roller coasters and thrill rides.

With one admission to Six Flags Magic Mountain, you can experience iconic rides like Riddler's Revenge, Superman: The Escape, Revolution, Goliath, Tatsu, Batman, X2 and many others.

While this park does have it's critics, I think the new Six Flags management has been making some positive changes over the past few years that have made the park experience better for everyone.

When you read trip reports that have been posted online, almost all of them mention how the park seems to be cleaner and run better than before.

I also like how they always seem to have something new and exciting. Last year's Terminator wooden coaster seems to be a big hit and they're looking to follow that with a Mr. Six Dance Coaster this year.

It might be time for me to finally get out to California to visit Magic Mountain. They're our #4 park after all!

Talk about this in the CoasterRadio.com Forums!

CoasterRadio.com #422 - The American Idol Experience

The Original Theme Park Podcast is back with a brand new episode!

This week, we talk with Stacey Lantz who was a winner at The American Idol Experience at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida.

She'll tell us what it was behind-the-scenes at the attraction and give Mike some advice on what he should do during his audition.

You can check out Stacey's Blog about the experience and also watch some of her videos on YouTube too!

EB and Mike have also tabulated the hundreds of e-mails that came in last week and have the official Top Five (non-Disney) Theme Parks.

Who will make the cut? Who will be #1?

The guys also go Off-Topic to discuss two very different experiences for the Wii video game system. Plus, there's potentially interesting news on The David Arquette Project!

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CoasterRadio.com #417 - Best Attraction of the Decade

On this week's show, EB and Mike reveal your picks for the top attractions of the decade!

We'll go in-depth about what makes these attractions special and why some rides don't deserve to make it on the list.

The guys also talk about the strange marketing campaign behind Alton Tower's new roller coaster Thirteen. How effective will it be to tell people they have to sign a waiver to ride because of "emotional stresses?"

Mike also starts his preparation to audition for The American Idol Experience at Disney's Hollywood Studios. He's looking for help from people "in the know," including Disney Cast members.

Plus, EB and Mike go Off-Topic to talk about spritestitch.com and the rebirth of "Dragon's Lair" for the iPhone.

There's also an update on the David Arquette project Santa Challenge!

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Tom is at X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain

Tom from Las Vegas took this photo right after riding what he says is "arguably the most popular coaster on the West Coast (excluding Disneyland and California Adventure Park, of course): X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain."

He adds:

"The restraints on the ride are quite snug - I could not get a full breath once I was secured, and I'm sure that would freak a lot of people out. I myself was quite uncomfortable with it."

We spoke about this ride a lot on last week's show. It's perfect timing for the inclusion into The David Arquette Project!

Thanks Tom!

CoasterRadio.com #412 - A Queue Line Question

On this week's show, EB and Mike reveal the answers to two simple listener questions:

1) What attraction is so good, you'd wait as long at it takes to ride?

2) What attraction is so terrible, you wouldn't ride even it if it had no line at all?

You'll be surprised at some of the answers!

Plus, EB tries Holiday World's Voyage "Extreme" Brownies. Are they as intense as the 90 degree banked turns?

And don't forget about The David Arquette Project!

If you haven't subscribed to the podcast, now's the time to sign up!

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Thomas and Elisha are at Six Flags Magic Mountain

Live Park Updates On The Way!

There haven't been any updates here in awhile, and for that I apologize.

Like we used to say on the CR podcast... real life always has to come first. Lately, there has been one deadline after another at my job and in life.

I couldn't imagine what things would be like if we still had the pressure of doing a weekly show. WOW!

Anyway, I'm headed to Southern California this week and am going to be updating the Twitter Feed with all sorts of tweets and twitpics from the various SoCal parks.

If there's anything particular you want to see, let me know via Twitter or through the New Forum Fourms.

If you haven't caught Twitter fever yet, this might be a good opportunity to check it out!

I'm also experimenting with recording some "on-the-fly" audio with my iPhone. So I might have some files to upload when I get back.

See you on the west coast!

Pre-Season Top 5 for 2009 - #4 Terminator Salvation

While I'm not 100% on-board with the fact that Six Flags Magic Mountain has named a wooden roller coaster after a science fiction character made of metal.... I still like this ride.

When you watch the ride animation, it seems to go on forever and never lets up. It reminds me of the relentless power of The Voyage at Holiday World.

I also really like the station fly-through gimmick. However, I have to wonder if this would get old after awhile if the wait was really long.

There is also talk of on-board audio and special effects in the rides queue. This is also the 2nd GCI coaster in our Top Five.

I think this is one of those rides that could be really great or tremendously over-hyped. I'm curious to see whether it will remain the the Top Five after the 2009 season is over.

Talk about it in the CoasterRadio.com forums.

What will be the story in 2009?

Happy New Year to everyone!

I hope you guys had a great holiday season and a very successful 2008.

When a new year begins, it's always interesting to look ahead and try to figure out what the next 365 days will be like. For our purposes here, let's focus on the theme park biz.

Just as it was in 2008, the biggest story in 2009 is going to be the economy. Sure, gas prices have dropped, but in this unstable time, will people still want to travel to theme parks?

We have a bunch of new rides and attractions premiering this year. Kings Island's Diamondback (pictured) looks like it will be a winner. Manta at Sea World Florida seems to be getting a lot of attention and rightly so.... the theming and layout looks very interesting.

Speaking of theming, we'll find out whether a wooden roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain can be successfully themed to The Terminator series. We'll also see if the Saw movies will make a good theme for a roller coaster at Thorpe Park in England.

I also wonder if 2009 will be a good year for "coaster enthusiasm" in general. One thing that I've noticed over the past several years is that interest in roller coasters and theme parks seems to be waning. Back in the late 90's (during the "coaster boom") the community was engaged, excited and growing. These days, it seems like there isn't the same level of enthusiasm as there was back then. I could be wrong, but I'm curious to hear what you think.

So what does 2009 have in store? What will be the big story in 2009?

Let's talk about it in the CoasterRadio.com forums.

Terminator: The Coaster

Today, Six Flags Magic Mountain announced a $10 million coaster, engineered exclusively for the Valencia theme park by Great Coasters International Inc.

TERMINATOR: THE COASTER will feature a loading station "fly-thru," a state-of-the-art sight and sound package, and unique queue line and on-board entertainment elements. The GCII-designed Millennium Flyer coaster trains will zip through five belly-flopping hills and six high speed banked turns over 2,850 feet of track to create a ride that delivers the acrobatic thrills of a modern roller coaster while retaining the nostalgic look and feel of a classic "woodie."

The last thing I expected when I heard about a "Terminator" themed ride was a wooden coaster. After all, when you think of a Terminator, you think of the cool liquid metal that was used in T2 and T3. What does wooden coaster have to do with the franchise?

I really wish we were still doing the podcast. If we were, you know we would have broken out our cheesy Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions to discuss this ride.

Speaking of Terminator, I'm really curious how the new movie is going to be received. I think the new TV show is pretty cool. So far, it's been pretty creative. Let's hope the ride isn't a letdown thematically.

Talk about this in the CR Forums.

Trip Report from X2 Media Day

CoasterRadio.com New Forum Forum member Ryan120420 had a chance to attend the Media Day for X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

You can read his complete trip report and see some great pictures of the event by visiting this link.

Ryan says the ride has some pros and cons.....

The Pros being a great new color scheme, an overall smoother ride and a upgraded station.

However, he did find a few cons... such as no separate unload station, some audio problems and a few rough spots.

All in all, it sounds like a great upgrade to one of the most unique rides on the planet.

Thanks Ryan for the trip report!