I usually don't rate things. But I will, to appease Kevin. Here goes, on a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Kevin Reid: a funny guy, considering he's an accountant! However, I think he needs to broaden his horizons, 30 trips to one park in a year is an awful lot. Kevin, get out and see the world. Or at least more of the USA. Rating 9.5, he does have his faults.

Donna Reid: a great Mom, understanding and loving wife and despite what she says, a great cook. She does need to let Kevin register the family for the up-coming event at Holiday World. Rating a definite 10

Adam Reid: a very smart, well-mannered young man. He knows his coasters and is very interested in the "how and why" of coaster design. Rating also a 10

Nolan Reid: also very smart and well mannered. Plus he is a daredevil and great riding partner. Rating another 10

3 out of 4 ain't bad. I do look for the Reid brothers to be designing some great coasters in 15 or 20 years.

This is a great family, but I wouldn't call them "PCW Junkies", they are more like "PCW Connoisseurs".

Paramount Canada's Wonderland: Overall the park was very clean, but as with most parks near closing the washrooms were very trashy. The associates were very friendly, although I did get stapled once on the Minebuster. There were several incidents of line jumping and smoking in the queues, since we were foreigners we chose not to make them a "big" issue.

The park layout was nice, you have to love all that interlock and bricks. I do see room for improvement, another in-door restaurant would be nice and more washrooms (always a line). Also, it's terrible to see a Paramount park that only has three great wooden coasters! How about adding a nice CCI? Rating overall an 8.5

Coasters:

The Bat: a standard Vekoma boomerang, which due to extremely long lines, we didn't ride.

Dragon Fire: looks like a standard Arrow looper, but look again! The corkscrew is counter clockwise, which makes for an interesting twist. Rating 7

The Fly: finally a mouse with themeing other then a 'mouse'. The logo and cars are great, the layout interesting and the pacing excellent. Plus, it fits very well in the park. Easily one of the best rodents around. Rating 8.5

Ghoster Coaster: a cousin to the PKI Beastie and PKD's Scooby Doo. I love these junior size woodies, this one is very well maintained. Rating 8

Mighty Canadian Minebuster: WOW! My favorite coaster in the park and it's even better after dark! MCM is loosely modeled after the Shooting Star at Old Coney Island in Cincinnati, which closed in 1970. Rating 9.7

Skyrider: King Cobra clone, without the view (no Son of Beast). It is however a nice smooth ride. Rating 7

Taxi Jam: great starter coaster, virtually the same as the ones at PKI & PKD. The themeing is cute and the ride was heightened by our riding partners, Adam & Nolan and Kevin trying to get our photo using our digital camera. Rating 8

Top Gun: 1st generation Vekoma hang & bang that definitely lives up to its name. The elements are well placed and the themeing is good, but the pacing seems off and it hurts my head to ride. It is smoother than T2 at SFKK. Rating 5

Vortex: great themeing (it twists through Wonder Mountain) At 2361 feet, it suffers from the same dilemma as PKI's Top Gun, it's just to short. Rating 8

Wilde Beast: this reproduction of another Old Coney Island coaster, the Wildcat is one of the smoothest Curt Summer's coasters I have ever ridden. It's a great double out & back. It's full of airtime and did I say smooth, hats off to the PCW wood maintenance crew. Rating 9.3

Other rides & misc.

Cliffhanger: PCW's new ride, it's Mondial's version of a Huss Top Spin. It has two rows of seats, which swing independently. Add in a fountain that can get you very wet (it was turned down when we rode) and you have a great ride. Rating 8

We rode several other flat rides, to me the one that stands out is the carousal. It's the last of the old PTC's (#34) and it looks great. Rating 8 (it would deserve a 9, if it had an organ).

The Eruption: spectacular! It put PKI's fireworks to shame. Rating 9

This all adds up to a tremendous time with the Reids. Thanks to Nolan, Adam, Donna, Simba & Kevin for putting up with two coaster crazy Americans. Hope to see the Reids at Holiday World, if not before.

Take care!
Carol