Schmoofy

You guys ROCK at the coverage! Although I'm currently living and working in Orlando, I didn't have the chance to get to IAAPA this time, and it bugged the living hell out of me...but you guys make it feel like you're still there!

Really nice stuff in there, all those park maps should be awesome to hang around your house.

I really need to get my ass in gear and make it to Disneysea before I reach a point in my life where I can't spontaneously travel. You guys rock for such an in-depth trip report.

Knoebels has been updating their FaceBook page with quite a few pictures. These are ones that they posted that haven't been posted here yet... ...and then these were posted just a few minutes ago:

Where's the Pepsi?

Looks like we now know where the Adventurers Club stuff is going to...

I had two rides on it back on June 1st. I recall not as much airtime as in previous years, but a MUCH smoother ride.

I'm jealous, looks like you guys had a freaking awesome time.

All three trains were running, the line was backed out to the start of the queue. Where were you sitting? Comet provides some great air time up front! Storm Runner was obviously running, but you didn't get the credit? What was the line like. Was Roller Soaker down? I decided to sit in the back row on Comet, I'll have to ride front next time. Everything was operating, there was just large time constraints because of having to leave the park early. That, and because I was in a large group, we were doing a 'group vote' on what to do. The arcade, Fahrenheit, and Great Bear really killed a lot of time.

Hershey Park - June 1st This was only the second time I've been to Hershey, so I didn't expect to get all the credits I needed. The only credit I had was from a trip back about 10 years, and that was SuperDooperLooper. Being I plan to hit Hershey again this summer, I wanted to get some of the 'major' credits out of the way. First up was Fahrenheit. I didn't find the coaster too bad, it just felt that the elements were piled up on top of each other, leaving little room for any fun/forces. After waiting in that line for a good 100 minutes, we moved on to get lunch. On the way to find a food court, we stopped and rode Extreme Cup Challenge, a ride which I still don't know the point of. Once we had lunch, it was already 1 PM. We needed to be out of the park by 4:30, so we didn't have much time to ride anything else. Great Bear was next on the list, and I felt it was not worth the wait. Fun? Sure, but boring after the side-loop. From there it was a 'group' decision to spend our remaining time in the arcade. The only plus about this wasted hour was that I was able to play the world's largest pinball machine, really neat. We started walking out of the park around 3:30 to make our way over to Chocolate World, because 'it's not a trip to Hershey without visiting here'. After doing so, I agree. On the way out of the park we hit Comet, a ride which I had high expectations for, but were all shot down. It looked as though there would be quite a bit of air time, but I felt next to nothing. Overall, crowds were pretty bad. Then again, we stuck to the high population areas. Not many pictures from here either, but I'll be back this summer to get my Wildcat, Lightning Racer, StormRunner, and other credits. ..and The Comet. I think everyone has this picture? Noted! Good start, bad finish. Kind of like the weekend. Yet another missed credit, Storm Runner. Roller Soaker, one of my missed credits. Fahrenheit looked too good.

I'm a lazy person, but felt it appropriate to share some pictures and park experiences, even if they are from a while back. I've hit a few parks up over the past month or so. In order... Six Flags Great Adventure - May 8th Hershey Park - June 1st Dorney Park - June 8th Knoebels - June 17th I'll cover my experiences at all four parks over the next four days, posting a new park report each day. First off we have SFGA. This trip was part of something at my (now ex) school called Amusement Park Physics. If you took the class Physics, or AP Physics (like myself), you were treated to a trip to Six Flags Great Adventure at the end of the year to see physics in action, and do some labs about how the rides work and forces, etc. Our AP Physics class took part in many physics competitions this past year, and won quite a few of them. I was one of the people, on a team of eight, that first won our region's JETS/TEAMS competition (this year's competition theme was amusement parks, my specialty). Our results were then sent for state and national rankings. Turns out we placed first in the state of Pennsylvania and fifth in the nation: not bad for the first time our school has ever won this competition. This win coined our 'group' the name "The Elite Eight", and ensured us no work to be done while at SFGA. Anyway, what that boils down to is that I had an entire day to myself, unlike the previous year being taken up by doing labs all day. Our first coaster of the day was Superman Ultimate Flight. Even though this is the only B&M flyer I've been on, I think that SF over-hypes the 'assume the position' car maneuver. Next ride was GASM, one of the few credits I needed in the park. Getting the credit was not worth the instant headache that came along with it. After that we headed over to MovieTown, stopping so I can claim my BlackBeard's Treasure Train credit. From there we wandered into The Dark Knight Coaster. I needed the credit, but what I didn't need was brakes every twenty feet to completely ruin any bit of speed. Sigh, such potential completely smashed. We had lunch provided for us by the park, and while just burgers and chicken, it was certainly cheaper than $35 for a large Papa John's pizza. After lunch we rode Batman the Ride, a credit I needed still, and Nitro. From there we worked our way to El Toro and Rolling Thunder, another credit I needed, to find out that Kingda Ka would not be opening because it was hit by lightning the night before. With all of my credits in tact, excepting Kingda Ka, my day was near completion. I don't have many pictures from here, I was enjoying myself too much to keep bringing out my camera. I guess that's a good thing? ..and a picture of 'The Elite 8', with our physics teacher on the far right sporting our shirt from last year's trip. It was mandatory to gloat after winning not only the JETS/TEAMS competition, but a local physics competition as well. This is a picture of the shirts we made up. Everyone was to meet at the ferris wheel at 2:00 PM. Grabbed some pictures, took over the wheel, and then went on with the day. Our physics teacher pushed many to ride this, Daredevil Dive as it's known. Of course I waited for the train. Rolling Thunder and El Toro. A picture of our lunch table. I ended up filming our entire lunch experience, it's now known as "Lunch POV" by my friends. Nitro was just as great as when we rode last year. But a big thumbs up to Batman the Ride. A big thumbs down to The Dark Knight Coaster. GASM, our second ride. First ride of the day.

I agree with this statement. Anyone have a POV?

No way in hell am I able to make it to the event, but I definitely want a shirt. Ordered!

I feel as though I owe you something for watching that masterpiece. Awesome work!

It appears that they extended the last lift for some odd reason. There's another wheel to pull the chain laying on the ground below the 'new' start of the lift. I'm guessing that the cars weren't lining up as planned to enter the last lift, too much speed from after the brake run, so they are tracking the last section to ensure they enter the third lift flawlessly. Running this season? Maybe, just maybe. I counted at least a dozen guys working on the newly tracked part after the brake run on Saturday, and about five others wandering around the track. There was a group of people inside the structure looking around later in the day, I'm assuming ACErs, but there were many small children so I can't be positive. What I'm trying to say is that the ride had a lot of activity around it.