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TPR's Middle America and IntimidaTOUR 2010 Trips!


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Excellent trip update! My girlfriend and I were at SFGAm and The Dells in early July. As for Hades....as others also noted, the front row is pretty awesome, with only the expected Gravity Group/CCI roughness. The rest of the seating was an assault...and it got worse, the further back we sat on the train. Zeus seriously will be placed amongst the bottom of my coaster list..it flat out sucks and hurts worse than Hades...and what's with all the weeds and trees growing up through the tracks on the camel backs? The only truly, semi-smooth section of the ride was where the new wood was placed near the parking lot turnaround. As for SFGAm....is it me or was every ride rather lame and un-memorable? Great pics!!!!!

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As for SFGAm....is it me or was every ride rather lame and un-memorable?

 

I'm sure it's not just you, but it definitely isn't me! SFGAm isn't one of my top parks, but I thought the ride collection was decent.

 

Ragin' Cajun is my easily my favorite spinner in the entire world and one of my favorite rides in the park!

S:UF, Vertical Velocity, Batman, Viper, and Raging Bull are all solid rides, although not amazing in my book. However, I must admit Viper and Bull didn't quite live up to what I'd hoped; they both could've been much more intense.

Dark Knight was a decent mouse and a great dark coaster!

I've never hated a stand-up and I thought Iron Wolf was all right.

Demon and Whizzer just are what they are...decidedly average, but get points for being classic.

American Eagle was one of the most overrated rides of the trip for me, I'm pretty sure everyone loves it except me.

Little Dipper was "cute", not at all exciting but no complaints here for what it is.

Spacely's was a credit ride, I can appreciate kiddie coasters but not this one.

 

And that's it for my mini-reviews on this park!

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American Eagle was one of the most overrated rides of the trip for me, I'm pretty sure everyone loves it except me.

 

The "up-and-down" parts were good, but those helixes were quite bad.

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As for SFGAm....is it me or was every ride rather lame and un-memorable?

 

I'm sure it's not just you, but it definitely isn't me! SFGAm isn't one of my top parks, but I thought the ride collection was decent.

 

Ragin' Cajun is my easily my favorite spinner in the entire world and one of my favorite rides in the park!

S:UF, Vertical Velocity, Batman, Viper, and Raging Bull are all solid rides, although not amazing in my book. However, I must admit Viper and Bull didn't quite live up to what I'd hoped; they both could've been much more intense.

Dark Knight was a decent mouse and a great dark coaster!

I've never hated a stand-up and I thought Iron Wolf was all right.

Demon and Whizzer just are what they are...decidedly average, but get points for being classic.

American Eagle was one of the most overrated rides of the trip for me, I'm pretty sure everyone loves it except me.

Little Dipper was "cute", not at all exciting but no complaints here for what it is.

Spacely's was a credit ride, I can appreciate kiddie coasters but not this one.

 

And that's it for my mini-reviews on this park!

 

I so agree with your mini-review. American Eagle was my first Intamin Woodie(standard, I should say...plug-n-plays are amazing) and it was one of the rougher woodies I experienced. I admire B&M hypers, but for the length, Bull was the worst of them I've been on...not to say that it was horrible....Nitro, Apollo, Goliath(Le Ronde) are so much better. Iron Wolf was the roughest B&M I've ridden. Not a big fan of the stand-up coaster...but oh well. Park was in great shape, but "America's cleanest," I'm not too sure about that! I have a terrible SF park near me(SFA). So, I'll take anyone I've been to over that one(well maybe not the recently defunct SFKK)!

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^About Bull...first drop in the back seat is exactly as commonly advertised. It's also good in other rows but nothing compares to the back. The twisted layout is definitely more interesting than the out-and-back hypers, and I enjoyed the sensation of speed (despite the trims). There are some spots of airtime that are satisfying, but not overly intense. Overall, I'd need some more extreme forces in order to be "wowed" by this ride.

 

All that said, ERT was absolutely phenomenal and I wouldn't have asked for it on any other coaster.

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Dollywood

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TPR arrives at Dollywood!!!

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First stop...backstage tour of Tennessee Tornado!

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When we say backstage tour, we mean it!

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Here's some awesome geeky info!

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Watch your back packs!

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We got up close and personal with Arrow track.

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Nerd shot #1!!!

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Nerd shot #2!!!

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Nerd shot #3!

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Backstage tours always give us great photo opportunities!

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Tennessee Tornado has to be the smoothest Arrow ride ever!

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The loop is the biggest Arrow ever built. Over 10 stories tall!

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Thank you Pete for setting all this up!

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Next we were taken into the maintenance bay!

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These circular objects make the train go fast!

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How's that for an awesome nerd shot? :)

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The train's behind.

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Robb's face on the train.

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Looks like some old brake parts?

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Every bolt you can imagine!

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Maintenance bay work bench.

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Rare Tennessee Tornado angle!!! Oooh!

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Ok enough tour...LET'S RIDE!!!

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Here is the Tennessee Tornado back story!

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New for 2010 is Adventure Mountain. A "ropes course" attraction that is included with park admission!

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TPR had ERT on Adventure Mountain!

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Let's get suited up and ready to go.

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Adventure Mountain has four different courses at varying levels of difficulty.

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If TPR members can do it, anyone can!

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Even our Australians loved Adventure Mountain!

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There are 4 different tracks on each course and you are locked into the track above you.

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All the courses were awesome fun and there is always a "chicken exit" if you want to skip a challenge.

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And yes...you may get wet! :)

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Don't worry...you can't fall!

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And while the big kids played, KidTums did the kids version!

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You can see how sexy the harness looks!

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Here you can see the four tracks which helps increase capacity. It's very easy to move between the tracks to choose which challenges you'd like to do.

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Noted!!!

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Yup!

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Moral of the story: Adventure Mountain is awesome!!!

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As with all TPR tours, if there is a virtual queue option, we always get it!

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Fortunately, Dollywood has our favorite system, Q-Bot called "Q2Q" at this park.

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Blazin' Fury! It's a roller coaster! Is a dark ride! It's a water ride! It's amazing!!!

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FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!

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The Grist Mill could be the single best attraction in the park! Why do you ask?

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CINNAMON BREAD!!!

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This stuff is seriously like crack! (don't forget the icing!)

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Follow this sign...

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...and buy cinnamon bread here!

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Yeah, we're going to be credit whores!

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At least we actually have kids riding the kiddie coaster!

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Yes I'm a whore.

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Yay! Veggie tales!!!

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River Battle is one of the most impressive splash battle rides built!

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BEAVER!!!!

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Yes it's true. Wes will work for worms.

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Mystery Mine...what's inside...it's a mystery.

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Tight turns.

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Vertical drops and terrain hugging turns.

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And thanks to Q2Q, we didn't have to wait in any lines!

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Barrels = theming!

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OMG! Do you see what I see?

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VAULT ICEE!!!

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Best part of our day!!! :)

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Lunch was a down home Southern Dollywood tradition - Ham & Beans! Don't forget the pepper sauce!

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Corn bread served in a hot skillet!

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"We even ate our greens!!!"

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The 25th anniversary museum was filled with lots of cool stuff.

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Anyone remember the Flooded Mine?

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Here is the Flooded Mine car!

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Want a Barnstormer construction update?

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Dreamland Forest is currently being removed to make room for the new ride...

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A new kids area will be located close to the new ride.

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The water play area will be relocated to the new kids section.

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Don't worry...Mountain Slidewinder will be back in 2011!

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Dollywood gave us the VIP treatment for their headline show Sha-Kon-O-Hey!

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VIP seating for TPR!

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Sha-Kon-O-Hey pays tribute to the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

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The show is heavy on stunts and acrobatics.

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It also includes 8 original songs written by Dolly Parton.

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It is a country-western musical so be prepared for a bit of dancing!

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The finale of the show includes eagles flying over the audience.

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After the show TPR was brought on the stage for a behind the scenes tour.

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Here is the tumble track that the acrobats use.

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The track that allows the eagles to fly over the audience.

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The harness that the eagle's are equipped with.

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A very simple gag that makes the leaves fall from the sky.

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Oooh! Fog machine!

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Divv in the fog is actually quite scary!

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"THANK YOU DOLLYWOOD!!! GOODNIGHT!!!"

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OMG! That tree is eating Elissa!!!

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This house is one of the highlights of the show!

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A few props from the show.

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TPDrummer!!!

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Costuming and wardrobe. Some of the talent has as many as seven costume changes!

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KidTums on the stage of Sha-Kon-O-Hey!

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They seem like theater naturals!

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Sha-Kon-O-Hey features a live band!

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Thank you Dollywood for a great tour of Sha-Kon-O-Hey!

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Mmmmm....Fried Banana Pudding!

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Mmmm....skillets full of awesome!

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Mmmm....more cinnamon bread!

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Our day at Dollywood ended with one hour of ERT on Thunderhead!

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It's been raining a bit today so be prepared for some wet, but FAST rides!!!

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TPR is ready to ride!!!

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There they go!

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A little rain isn't going to stop TPR from having and AWESOME time!

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Thunderhead runs INSANE when it's wet!

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"Don't worry Alli, Divv will take good care of you!"

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We're even having fun waiting in the station!

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Station flyby was a total blur.

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KidTums seems upset she cannot ride.

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Last train of the night!!!

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THANK YOU DOLLYWOOD FOR AN AMAZING DAY!!!

Edited by robbalvey
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Today officially starts the "IntimidaTOUR" trip! The goal is simple - start with one Intimidator and end with the other! Oh, and we'll hit a couple of parks in between. Our first stop - Carowinds!

 

Remember, you can follow this trip LIVE on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/robbalvey

 

Glad to see yall enjoyed your trip to CAROWINDS and the TILTED KILT . . I was wondering why 50+ folks just showed up all of a sudden !!!! I thought you guys got caught in the uber bad traffic jam that took place on I-77 South of the Carowinds Exit (Gas Tanker crashed into a car, killing the driver and seriously injuring 2 ladies in the car that got hit . . . Traffic on I-77/I-485/S. Tryon St./Carowinds was all messed up that afternoon) !!!!!

 

If you guys have a FLICKR account, you may want to add your photos to the TILTED KILT & CAROWINDS CONNECTION Flickr pools . . . I'm sure they wouldn't mind . . . .

 

 

TILTED KILT FLICKR POOL:

Tilted Kilt

 

 

CAROWINDS CONNECTION FLICKR POOL:

Carowinds Connection

 

 

I dont know if anybody has told you about this site http://carowindsearlyyears.com , but it has a lot of good information on the early days of Carowinds when it first opened, its founder (Pat Hall; Charlotte Businessman) and what some of the original rides that were in the park. Plus there is a TV commerical clip from an old HARDEES Commercial (from 1976 I think, when Thunder Road first opened) and audio clips of the official CAROWINDS Theme Song and March

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I was just at Dollywood with my boyfriend this past weekend (13-16th).....It was amazing! We both had an amazing time there....I still can't get over how beautiful that park is! Plus the CINNAMON BREAD was soooooo good!

 

Oh and Mountain Slidewinder was a suprise! I always heard everyone talking about it but wasn't sure Id like it. It was great!

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I was just at Dollywood with my boyfriend this past weekend (13-16th).....It was amazing! We both had an amazing time there....I still can't get over how beautiful that park is! Plus the CINNAMON BREAD was soooooo good!

 

Oh and Mountain Slidewinder was a suprise! I always heard everyone talking about it but wasn't sure Id like it. It was great!

 

 

OMG we were just at this park baby! The kids area looks crazy all tore up with us just walking through it this past Sunday!!! Mystery Mine was worth the 4 day wait for them to get a part it needed so it could run. This is one of the most beautiful parks I have ever been to. It even out does Hershey! Mountain Sidewinder was sooooooo fun!!!!!!! Also the shows were AWESOME!!! My favorite was the Drive-In show.

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So what was better? Prowler at night or Thunderhead in the rain? I still have yet to ride either of these at night, might get to WoF one more time and have a chance to do it!

Do not underestimate the awesomeness that is Prowler. Riding Prowler is the equivalent of touching god.

Anyways, I'm glad to see everyone having an awesome time on the IntimidaTour Trip.

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So what was better? Prowler at night or Thunderhead in the rain? I still have yet to ride either of these at night, might get to WoF one more time and have a chance to do it!

Do not underestimate the awesomeness that is Prowler. Riding Prowler is the equivalent of touching god.

Anyways, I'm glad to see everyone having an awesome time on the IntimidaTour Trip.

 

Kevin - gonna' have to quote you for truth there

 

I truly hope that the people on this trip are having as awesome of a time as we did last week on Middle America. I'm jealous, sad, envious and happy for them reading these updates.

 

David

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