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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 28/09/2026

Unfortunately unlike Wild Waves, the Washington State Fair was absolutely slammed tonight. Couldn't even use my phone because the data was sucked dry in the area. Waited over an hour for one ride on the Classic Coaster then had to call it a night.

Back row at night on the Classic Coaster

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 28/09/2026

There are only two weekends in the entire year where it's possible to experience both of Washington State's wooden coasters on the same day. And today was the very last day ever that will be possible again.

Classic Coaster at Washington State Fair

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 28/09/2026

Stopped in at Wild Waves Theme Park for two hours this afternoon. Got four laps on Timberhawk, once on the other three coasters. Not a great park but the setting is nice and it certainly deserves better than permanent closure next month. Glad I didn't miss it.

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 27/09/2026

A few highlights from North Cascades National Park today. Didn't do any major hikes, but still took plenty of photos of the mountains and alpine lakes. With this one I have now completed all but two of the National Parks along the Pacific coastal states.

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 26/09/2026

A Mid Autumn Festival dinner before heading north.

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 26/09/2026

Just arrived for a quick weekend trip to Washington State.

Seattle Space Needle across Lake Union at sunset

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 16/09/2026

Also did the Passholder Lights On Sinners walkthrough. Evidently no photos were allowed, which is the only reason I can think to do a lights on tour and the main reason I signed up. I'm sure the conga line will be much more interesting during the event!

Walking into Sinners for Passholder Appreciation Days

Sign at Sinners noting No Photography or Video Recording Allowed

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 11/09/2026

Worth pointing out that by this reasoning, Thrill Glider also takes the records for the World's Briefest, Slowest and Shortest Thrillglider with the fewest inversions.

Upon opening, Thrill Glider will set a collection of records, including:

World's First Thrillglider
World's First Multi-Launch Thrillglider
World's Longest Thrillglider – 3,380 feet, which is more than half a mile
World's Fastest Thrillglider – 50 mph
World's Tallest Thrillglider – 107 feet
Most Inversions on a Thrillglider – 5

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 08/09/2026

I think most would agree that it's very much *in spite of* that identity!

unforgettable ride experience. The coaster became a bucket-list attraction for enthusiasts and a fixture on best-in-the-world rankings, making its closure one of the most discussed stories in the amusement industry. To honor that legacy, Six Flags plans to retain the classic ArieForce One name, honoring the coaster's history and preserving the identity that helped make it a fan favorite.

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 04/09/2026

Years ago I made a conscious shift from "pop" to "soda". I suspected that played a big role in my results, and sure enough toggling that one answer was enough to flip my results back to Michigan.

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 04/09/2026

Well this is a rather distressing sign that I've been in California too long and am losing my Michigan roots.

Mydialect map with the darkest orange over California and more broadly the west coast, plus some lighter orange shading around the upper Midwest. The south and east coast is blue.

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 03/09/2026

11 laps total today. Not bad at all! Definitely ready to finish that report soon now.

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 02/09/2026

Finally a good day for riding Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift during technical rehearsals. Managed five rides in about 2 hours using single rider, although standby has gotten pretty short after the initial rush when it opened around noon.

Entrance to Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift

Train in the zero g stall with another below it

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 29/08/2026

Got to spend an hour and some $600 on the grossest day of the year waiting to retrieve my impounded car for failing today's game of "spot the no parking sign"! How well can you do?

A sidewalk with a tree partially obscuring a speed limit sign on a light pole. There do not appear to be any other signs.

A closer view of the pole, the speed limit sign fully visible now, and a bit of tree hanging below it. Look really really close and you can barely glimpse another sign below it.

A side shot of the pole, revealing that the small bunch of branches perfectly conceals a no stopping sign from all other angles except here.

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 28/08/2026

I was thinking of going out to see COYOTE VS ACME soon, but instead the coyote came out to see me.

Coyote wandering around a playground in the early morning

Coyote sniffing around a pathway in a small community park

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 25/08/2026

RIP Dolly. What I wrote about her and her theme park last year: www.rollercoasterphilosophy.com/2023/dollywo...

But anyone watching the global cultural arena over the past decade knows it’s obviously a risk to tie the fortunes of a major business to a single living personality.2 People can change, and very successful people in the 21st century have proven particularly susceptible to all manner of brain rot and reactionary politics. (You know who I’m talking about, except you don’t because that’s at least a dozen people among the most famous examples.) At first blush “superstar country music singer” isn’t exactly the kind of vocation for someone whom you’d want to bet big money on remaining a non-controversial figurehead for your business well into their octogenarian years.

So god bless Dolly Parton for somehow being one of the other dozen successful people that has maintained and even strengthened her venerated reputation over her lifetime. When Herschend signed the contract with Parton back in 1985 to remake their eastern Silver Dollar City property into “Dollywood,” history could hardly have played out any better for them. Despite the growing political and cultural divide in recent years, Parton somehow has managed to remain beloved by people of nearly all political affiliations, even with her philanthropic efforts that have occasionally required her to wade into the political conversation in her own ways. Maybe that bipartisan agreement on her legacy won’t last forever, but in the meantime it’s nice to have an American theme park that outwardly offers conservative homespun Americana yet is also represented by a steadfast anti-racist and matron saint for the LGBTQ+ community.

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 24/08/2026

In summary: Montezooma's Revenge >>> Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress, despite the thematic upgrade. But given how many other parks (including the newly merged Six Flags chain) are taking a sledgehammer to rides and entire parks, Monty's renewal in any form is still a major success story of 2026.

Looking down the launch track toward the vertical loop from the lead car of Montezooma's Revenge (2022)

Looking down the launch track toward the vertical loop from the lead car of Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress (2026)

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 24/08/2026

They haven't added LSMs behind the station yet, which is why it passes through the station and then reverses backward at the end of the cycle. Given the promise to eventually allow more complex ride sequences, why not for now send it up the forward spike a second time and then brake it coming back?

The train launching down the track entering the vertical loop

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 24/08/2026

It's also lower capacity than the original Montezooma train, probably due to the choice to use a single-bench articulating train (on a ride with no curves). Just so many weird engineering choices that have no precedent on either Schwarzkopf or any other modern coaster.

Close-up of the seats including weird netting on the edges with a black flange presumably to limit reach, and red over the shoulder straps.

A trainload of riders waiting to launch all with red shoulder straps over them

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 24/08/2026

These theming enhancements help Monty will feel like a brand new ride. But that thinking is also where I believe this project went sideways. The track is still very 1970s, but the new trains and magnetic launch feel completely out of place and destroy a lot of the vintage charm this ride once had.

New fiberglass train nose above a set of white LSM stators

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 24/08/2026

No more toilet humor in the name, but with the new theming, this is now arguably the most anti-colonial ride in Southern California. (Yeah, that's kinda a weird thing to write. You could also make the argument for PotC or RotR depending on your interpretations.)

Close-up of the entry sign with Spanish conquistador skeletons strewn underneath

More conquistadors meeting their comically grisly ends

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 24/08/2026

On the plus side of things, the ride looks great! I thought the station enhancements were going to get cut when things went over budget and beyond schedule, but it's presented as an excavation site around the temple remains. Audio, lighting, and fog give a dramatic flourish to each launch.

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 24/08/2026

Last week I finally got to ride Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress... and did so eight times! Regardless of the changes made, I'm so happy to finally have this ride back, and am very happy that Knott's made the decision to refurbish rather than replace this classic coaster. (THREAD)

Montezooma's entrance area with the train atop the reverse spike

The station area with the train about to launch through the fortress mouth

The new train entering (or exiting) the vertical loop near Sierra Sidewinder

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 21/08/2026

This week I took a quick detour around Pasadena to check out the site of the *original* Busch Gardens, where Adolphus Busch built his garden estate in the 1900s. Today, it's a private neighborhood. Apart from the street names and some stone walls and foundations, the history is well-hidden.

Mature trees shading a winding neighborhood street

A pair of street signs for Busch Garden Lane and Busch Garden Court

Stone staircases and retaining walls along a gardened hillside

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 16/08/2026

I could have tried to squeeze in some time at Elitch's to see Kaleidoscape and check off a couple of credits since my last visit 24 years ago. But more storms were coming and I (correctly) predicted more airport chaos. Fortunately we're only a half hour delayed! (After switching planes again.)

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 16/08/2026

I also had a bit of time this afternoon to see the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, for the 20th century modernist painter. I love highly focused museums that give the space to dig in and appreciate a single artist's vision and evolution over their lifespan. A good counterpoint to Meow Wolf.

Several large abstract pieces in a gallery

A large abstract late-period piece with reds, browns and blacks

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 16/08/2026

Just really missing that transformative moment of stepping thru a wormhole in the fridge or washing machine! I'd rate the Meow Wolves I've done (Santa Fe, Vegas, Grapevine and now Denver) pretty close together, although all for different reasons. Denver excels in design, but is weaker in story.

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 16/08/2026

But if the big rooms are some of the best things Meow Wolf has done, there's a loss of intimacy and many of the small rooms don't have quite the same impact. That partly stems from the decision to go 100% sci-fi. With few points of familiarity, it lacks some of the emotional connection of others.

Passageways leading from the forest area

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 16/08/2026

Meow Wolf Convergence Station has the blessing of size, and they use it to good effect. But it also doesn't overwhelm with too many rooms; we pretty much reached the end of it when we started to get tired.

Weird creatures in the multilevel forest

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 15/08/2026

Some shots from a morning stroll around Denver.

Two quaint houses with a large apartment building towering behind

"The Yearling" sculpture of a horse on a giant red chair

A red London phone booth along the road labeled "Pints Pub"

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 10/08/2026

But the biggest mystery of the fair: what do you think is in the "fat ball"?

Menu board for drinks and elephant ears, with a large sign below simply reading "FAT BALLS" with the S scratched off.

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 10/08/2026

I also did the "Mystery Mansion" dark ride. To get a ride longer than 20 seconds out of it, it circles around the same room in the dark about three times before spitting you back out.

Hand painted exterior of Mystery Mansion

Interior hallway with a few dark light displays

Switch track where it sends the cars around in circles or out of the trailer

Exiting the ride building to see a skeleton chicken

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 10/08/2026

Going to the Northwestern Michigan Fair, which I haven't been to in about 20 years. Rides provided by Arnold Amusements, including a kid's coaster (no adults). I put down $20 to ride the OMG and the Ring of Fire.

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 08/08/2026

This also marks the first year that Legacy Six Flags Memberships get their full benefits applied to Legacy Cedar Fair parks, as well as the last year the new Enchanted Parks will honor Cedar Fair/Six Flag passes. With my 50% merchandise discount, I had to take the opportunity to load up on swag!

A receipt for the five items, with a 50% discount totalling $52

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 08/08/2026

I only had about two hours at Michigan's Adventure this afternoon, but it wasn't too crowded so I was able to get on most of the coasters including three laps on Shivering Timbers.

Lake with Thunderhawk and Wolverine Wildcat

Shivering Timbers returning to the station

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 05/08/2026

Unfortunately part of the bad has arrived in the gift shops. After collaborating with independent artists like Made to Thrill on merch for years, obvious AI slop is now a prominent part of their product lines.

A Raptor t-shirt with truly awful and nonsensical track and train representation

A set of prints including the same Raptor design plus some even more atrocious designs for Millennium Force and GateKeeper

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 05/08/2026

Legacy Six Flags Diamond Elite membership benefits at legacy Cedar Fair parks is the way to go. 50% off everything and 4 skip the lines, which due to IT issues turned into several more after stopping at guest services. Gotta enjoy the good along with the bad as part of this merger.

A handful of single use FastLane paper passes

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 01/08/2026

Well, it finally worked out in my favor again!

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 01/08/2026

Row 6, took about 40 minutes. Unfortunately it looks like they just shut it down for the day as I was getting off.

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 01/08/2026

Trying for round two. Really hope the single rider line is open!

Queue outside the entrance of Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 28/07/2026

The dispatch interval has been pretty tight. The crew seems to already have their rhythm down on day two. (Reminds me of a boss I had as a teen who'd always yell "2 Fast 2 Furious" to the crew during busy times.)

One train dropping off the first launch while another completes the final barrel roll

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Jeremy Thompson @rollercoasterphilosophy.com · 28/07/2026

Interestingly the ride didn't even go down, loaded trains continued to dispatch immediately after the rescue.

Prop car with flowers and queue as a loaded train passes overhead

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