Eagle Rider

Hi folks, I came across a family album of our trip to FL in June of 1978. My mom wrote descriptions on the back of most of the photos. Thanks mom. Anyway, I figured some of you would enjoy seeing the parks in 1978. In the photos you'll see me, Greg, when I was almost six and my brother Jeff, age seven, along with our ultra-hip parents. Damn, Southern Cinderella sure cakes on the makeup. Our home for the week would be the Dutch Hotel. Mom must have liked it cause she bought this post card. One more post card of the Dutch. My brother and I swam every day in the pool, until he popped my floaty ring. And so begins my love of shuffleboard. If the ferry ever arrives, we'll be heading to the Magic Kingdom. Main street June, 1978. This post card reads, "Bound for the world of fantasy..." Hey Greg, go stand by the horse's leg and try not to let the trolley run you over while I take your picture. Nice job framing the castle behind the family, dad. My bro on the carousel. See me seven dwarfs toy? I played with them for years. We recently found the same set at goodwill for my son. Jeff and I sitting as far apart as we can. Not even the magic of Disney can call a truce between our bitter rivalry. I'll bet we made dad sick and he told us to stop spinning. My careful eye spots five trashcans. Dad took Jeff on Space Mtn and he hated it, so they never took me on it that year. Little did they know how I'd turn out. Twice during the trip our parents made us sit on that bench while they went to ride. Postcard reads, "Outer space right here in FL..." sigh This was taken from the skyway. The whole family loved 20,000 Leagues. I loved the Country Bear Jamboree. Mom and Dad loved the Crystal Palace. Probably because they served alcohol Looks even better at night. Too bad matching wallpaper and bead spreads went out of fashion. We're ready for dinner at the Crystal Palace. See the vodka martini? A nightly thing in my family be it 1978 or 2010. Nice ass, dad. On the back of this one mom wrote, "Injun Joe's cave on Tom Sawyer Island. Greg got lost here." I was separated from my parents for close to two hours before they found me by the tea cups. I never knew I was lost. Indian Village at Pirates of the Caribbean. I'm ready for the electric parade. Gotta love Goofy. Happy 30th Mickey. Cool float, bad costume. Time for River Country. I clearly remember my dad not catching me at the bottom of the slide. Dad does not remember not catching me. I don't have many photos from BGA. That means mom was either running low on film or enjoying a lot of complimentary beer. Maybe I was drinking too. Sure looks like I gotta pee. Forget Shiekra! In 78 they had aluminum slides. Looks like mom and dad had beer with lunch. Rhino Rally is cool, but so is riding an elephant.

If the Allman Bros are considered country music, consider me a country music fan. Midnight rider for me.

Current onride photos are: EK: bottom of the first drop Boss: in the helix log flume: bottom of drop Scooby Doo: bottom of drop, if you can call a three foot slide a drop.

I enjoyed your report. Let's be honest here. This year's retracking picked up where last year's left off. The ride has had a lot of work done, but it has not been entirely retracked. I still find almost no air other than the bunny hop just after the right turn at the bottom of the double-down first drop. I've ridden on numerous occasion this season and find the ride is running better than in the past. Shuffling and washboarding are lesser than in past years, but still exist. Also, the ride crawls through the pre mid-course break run, not sure why it has slowed so much at this point. Kudos for Six Flags for investing in the Boss. The ride is a step up from the gut-busting, bone-jarring experience it was a few years ago.

SFOT is my choice of the parks you've listed. Consider who you will be spending the day with and what type of day you want. HW is a fun park, but you will have time to do everything within a few hours and will then spend time revisiting what you've already done. This is great if you want to ride your brains out on some wood. Or will you also do the waterpark? If you choose VF, try to add MOA to your trip. SFOT has my vote because, well, it's my favorite of the parks you've mentioned for their variety of rides. Plus it's one of the SF gems and the original at that. You could easily spend two days there. Another point to consider is what else you plan to do on this trip other than visit a park. Dallas and Minneapolis certainly have more to offer than Santa Claus, IN.

I'm pretty sure it will be a GCI.

Phoenix. The Rocket couldn't have been given a better relocated name.

If you've never been to either I'd say go to Cedar point just because it's "Cedar Point." My preference of the two is Great adventure, but only because I want to ride El Toro and Nitro over and over again. They're both great parks to enjoy.

I remember when a man died on Fire in the Hole. A quick search and I found the news article. Wednesday, July 9, 1980 - A 26-year-old male was killed at an amusement park in Missouri when the ride operator of a roller coaster mistakenly assumed that the train in which the victim was riding was empty, and switched the track to direct the train into a service area. The area in which the service track ran through was of low clearance, and the victim's head got jammed between the back of his seat and an overhead wooden beam. At least one other person was injured in the accident. scoop.

SDC is the best park IMO. However, DW has better cast members. By that I mean so many of them are ultra enthusiastic, Miss Lillian, and really play the Appalacian hillbilly part to the max. SDC does have some great cast members, but I always feel like they hire senior citizens who can't afford to be retired. Nothing wrong with that, just that DW's employees add a bit more to my day at the park. Coaster wise the parks are equal due to DW's new MM. Overall PKeg is my favorite of the parks' coasters. OzCat and Thunderhead are both winners. Call me crazy but I like OzCat better. Wildfire is amazing but so is TT. If SDC puts in a MM of their own, I will be a season pass holder.

So far and in order: Silver Dollar City Dollywood SFSTL Holiday World Valley Fair Park at MOA Mt Olympus Timberfalls MI Adventure Cedar Point Fun Spot IN Beach

I just spit wine all over my keyboard. Thanks for a good TR!

I'm not sure what to tell you about the crowds. It's always busy when I visit. CC is a must do. The park is pretty small and nice. Oz Cat is a personal favorite. It's not that BIG or fast, but it's loads of fun. Plus, as Chris Grey put it, "It's got the bam bam." You'll know what this means after riding.

Not necessarily the strongest, best my vote for the most fun launch goes to Powder Keg. The air after the launch is priceless. For sheer force it's kinda hard to beat TTD or KK, but force and fun aren't necessarily the same thing.

TTD is one of 3 coasters that elicit a bit of fear whithin me. By fear I don't mean maybe I shouldn't ride, but a feeling of oh yeah, this is gonna send my brain into overload. TTD is one of the best rushes in coasterdom and I hope you enjoy it.