coasterbill

Going to DelGrosso's makes a ton of sense. You're literally going to drive right by it and it's so close you can see it from the highway. An hour there and an hour at Lakemont is plenty. You probably won't even need a full hour at either park (especially Lakemont, what a dump). I don't think Del Grossos or Lakemont have anything essential besides the coasters but Del Grossos has a screwed up looking paratrooper like thing with a restraint that doesn't lock or really serve any purpose at all so that's unique I guess. lol

The Piergies are weird at Knoebels because they're totally different at the place by the Alamo than they are everywhere else. Is that where you got them or did you get them from one of the other stands around the park? If it's one of the other stands I agree with you... those are good, but not great.

Yes and yes! Add Knoebels. Take away anything that stands between you and spending a few hours at Knoebels.

The Morgan hypers are fun but Magnum is on a totally different level. Morgans are extremely smooth and floaty, Magnum feels like it's actively trying to throw everyone on the train into Lake Erie. God I love Magnum...

I can't stress this enough.

From Twitter Yeah, that's a broken chain alright. Hopefully they get it up and running quickly. It's Cedar Point so they probably will, they fixed Gatekeeper's chain in less than 3 days last year.

So by ages... you mean a few months right? Because Cedar Creek Flyers is a new flat that honestly appeals to way more people than Hang Time probably did. This And as far as the relocated rides go, I won't complain. The 2 most forceful and intense rides in the park are probably Posessed and Demon Drop, and if being the "relocation capital" of the chain means we got Demon Drop then it's okay with me.

I wish I could see this park turning it around but I really don't think that's in the cards. It's just a matter of how long people are willing to keep it on life support. I hate to be a pessimist but I just really don't see much potential for this place. Hopefully I'm wrong though.

In my opinion the "perfect" coaster would be a coaster that doesn't rely on gimmicks or insane height and speed stats, but a coaster that's just so well designed and so much fun that all the innovation in the world would never do anything to impact the public's opinion of it. I'm not saying that a super tall or super fast ride can't be considered perfect, I'm just saying that it would need an amazing layout to go along with those stats so that when something bigger and faster comes along it's still just as highly regarded. When I use the term "gimmick", I don't mean for that to be a bad thing, but I don't know if I would say a ride that relies on them, or just insane speeds or heights is "perfect" either. For example... I love Kingda Ka and Top Thrill Dragster but I don't consider them perfect rides. I love Millennium Force and Fury 325 but If coasters innovate to the point where they're similar but higher and faster those rides may not be so highly regarded because a lot of the appeal of those rides is due to that insane height and speed. A perfect example of this would be what just happened at Carowinds where Intimidator, a ride that last year was considered by most non enthusiasts to be the star attraction in the park (even though Afterburn is clearly better) is now COMPLETELY overshadowed by Fury in every single way. The rides that come to mind for me are rides like Maverick, Nemesis and Kumba... rides that are great just because they have great layouts and they don't rely on gimmicks at all (except maybe Maverick just a little) which means 30-40 years from now if they're well maintained people will probably still love them as much as they do now despite 30-40 years of coaster innovations of manufacturers pushing the limits and raising expectations for what thrill rides should be. With that being said, there is one coaster that comes to mind for me as being absolutely perfect, the Phoenix. Do I routinely sip the Knoebels Kool Aid for breakfast, lunch and dinner? You bet. But hear me out on this... In coaster polls, Phoenix has already proven that it has staying power that's completely unmatched by anything. The Mitch Hakwer poll started in 1994 and it was ranked at #4. 20 years later it was ranked at #5. Only 3 of the other coasters in the top 48 were even built back in 1994. Tons and tons of coasters were overhyped and ranked above Phoenix or in the same company as the Phoenix but over time they dropped way down in the ratings as the next big thing came along and overshadowed them. That never happened to Phoenix (a coaster that's now well over 60 years old). Now there's a coaster renaissance going on where people are taking old wood coasters and making them do barrel rolls, near vertical drops and insane zero g stalls. I rode Wicked Cyclone last weekend and it's so innovative and so groundbreaking that as much as I love classic wood coasters, Wicked Cyclone immediately overtook all but one of them in my top 10 list. Of course that one is the Phoenix, which doesn't need zero g rolls, ridiculous transitions, near vertical drops or any gimmicks whatsoever to be one of the best coasters in the world. It just needs an absolutely perfect layout and a great maintenance team.

The park has been closed for 2 hours, the place is basically empty and cars are driving up and down the midway but this guy isn't leaving until everyone who wants a caricature has a caricature. lol

Thank you, people are seriously overlooking the "wow" factor of the holding brake... I mean seriously overlooking it.

Whoops, my fault. I deleted the wrong quote tag. Sorry.

Oh absolutely, and not only do they offer it... they practically whore it out every second of every day.

The holding brake is what sets it apart... that's going to scare the living crap out of people and be a spectacle from the midway for anyone who's not a jaded enthusiast.

Shots, shots... shots, shots, shots, shots... everybody! I love the Darien Laker Cuda Falls drinking game. I need a nice buzz on a Monday morning.

In the past the ride was amazing in ever seat but it's really become a front seat ride. If you want the best experience, wait for the front seat. When we rode it in the front during ERT last week it really felt like the ride had re-captured it's former glory. Our rides near the back of the train were underwhelming though, still fun... but a little sluggish and rattly. The ride does seem a bit sluggish, but the sensation of speed from being in the front hides that nicely.

What?

Yeah when we went we got the wristband knowing we were only riding 2 rides just because we figured the park needed the money. Lol

Our favorites are the Pierogies but (and this is important, lol), you have to get them from the window near Oasis (sort of near Power surge). It's around the side of the "Famous French Fries" place. There are other Pierogies all over the place but you want those Pierogies. Ceasari's Pizza is awesome too, and you can't go wrong with an ice cream waffle sandwich.

Perfect plan... as for Great Adventure, do you NEED the Flash Pass to ride everything? No. But you might want one so you can re-ride things as the rides will probably have sizable lines. Ride Kingda Ka first as Zumanjaro kills the capacity and make sure you wait for the front. It's worth the extra wait. Also, the Safari is fun but if you do it be ready to dedicate about 2 hours to it between the line and the ride, if not more. Since you're there for one day I'd skip that.

I agree with everything King of Ka said. Also, you can really do Dorney and Knoebels on the same day stress free but spend most of the day at Knoebels as it's much better in every possible way. Lake Compounce and Dorney are only 3 hours apart, drive until you're tired once you leave Lake Compounce and finish driving to Dorney in the morning if you have to. Then on a Monday morning you can ride every coaster and ride that matters at Dorney in 2-3 hours (again, the only other rides that matter are Demon Drop and Thunder Creek Mountain as Knoebels has a better version of basically everything else in the park including Dominator). You can then get to Knoebels by early afternoon and spend the rest of the day there.

Last I heard they have 2 trains running like crap now. I'd love an update on that also.

I've heard this too, but pandemonium has T bar restraints (and I believe Gotham City Gauntlet does too but I'm prepared to be wrong). How is that okay?

I love that the inspectors were "amazed" that the rides were actually safe. Then again, I've now been to the park and totally understand their amazement.

You can't really go wrong either way... have you ever been to any of the parks? Also, you can totally switch out Dorney for Knoebels and make your day infinitely better. I don't know why it took me so long to bring that up. lol