coasterbilly

yeah I did the Vortex @ Carowinds in the back and it seemed to be a lot smoother too. Jumping into this topic too, this really is a park I (or the whole coaster world actually) haven't heard much and still don't hear a lot about because nothing has been done to it since Stealth was removed. CF needs to really bring TLC to some of the parks they have bought. The bigger Paramount parks are solid for now, but they need to do some work especially on this one I think because they need another signature steel coaster and a new respectable woodie in my opinion. Being in California isn't easy with all they have to offer and I feel like this park is at the bottom of the amusement park chain there

It was definitely 12, if you also look at it Balder has a relatively small footprint, it goes inside itself and doesn't really branch out at all away from the structure. In a sense El Toro doesn't too much because the first half of the ride are hills that are parallel to each other, then a cross over into another section that stays there. But, anyhow, GCI coasters as everybody said costs 6-8 million usually, and with GCI, they are very reliable so you can NEVER go wrong with one

wow dude this is a sweet report Led Zepplin looks like it will be one of the best new coasters for 2008! I love how this park is looking, will most definitely hit this as soon as I can either next year or in 2009!

yeah, if the character was asked to chase him, cool, but this definitely looks like he was trying to CATCH him. Chasing and catching is different, he would've been jogging, but he was sprinting and then looked like he was pissed after that lady stopped him, gotta love how many times this occurs and why kids have to do this to these characters.

yeah that's a good point, but SFStl has 8 coasters, and 6 of them require 48" height or less, so they do have rides that those age kids can ride. I know families are the majority, but they do have to look at the teen scene too, as well as what ride would bring up their popularity and attendance

sweet reports, this is a park I don't hear much about simply because they haven't done much with it, hopefully CF can help this park out because compared to other parks in California, this one looks like it's going down hard even though it still has some decent coasters to offer

here we go!: 1. Millennium Force 2. Top Thrill Dragster 3. Maverick 4. Raptor 5. Wicked Twister 6. Blue Streak 7. Wildcat 8. Magnum 9. Mantis 10. Gemini 11. Iron Dragon 12. Corkscrew 13. Cedar Creek Mine 14. Disaster Transport 15. Woodstock's Express 16. Mean Streak

I'm pretty split on this topic now that I think about it. Sixflagsguy5 makes a point in my opinion, if you look at the statistics of SFStl, a hyper would make sense because their isn't a true signature steel coaster there because Batman, Mr. Freeze, and Ninja are found at other parks too. 2 woodies is basically an average for most parks out there also. I think a GCI would be a gem for this park, now that I think about it, is there a park that features both a CCI AND a GCI? Also, woodies are adored by enthusiasts and also by the GP families, so it definitely would benefit the park in those aspects. But, if you think about too, the last new BIG coaster was a woodie in the Boss in 2000. So putting another woodie as a new attraction could be sour for some folks. Also think about competition, an already awesome GCI in Ozark Wildcat is in the same state, while putting there own GCI in would definitely compete with it, also think about Worlds of Fun with a hyper, a new B&M invert, and are also supposed to recieve a GCI sometime soon. So, SFStl has options, and I think a new giant steel coaster is what the doctor is ordering to turn some heads to attract more guests. They can label it as the tallest in Missouri, and it will put them on the map for people in the area to ride something huge in that area. These are just points that I'm bringing to the table, seriously I'm all for either, but these are things to think about, whatever it is, SFStl deserves it and I'm anxious to get out there and give Missouri as a whole a spin to check out the coasters they have to offer

^that'd be pretty cool if you ask me, saying as though almost all of them are quite fun, almost a week away from announcement day!!

whatever it is, it's bound to be interesting. Also, aren't all Six Flags announcements October 2nd? HP's moved theres to the 27th to beat the SF announcement, I didn't hear this one was the 27th? Is there truth or just assumptions?

yeah when I was at the park Mantis' trims were on pretty good, but honestly I enjoy Mantis a lot so the trim didn't bother me. In a sense it adds to the ride because the hangtime on the loop is fantastic

awesome report! I love the area around SFNE, cool stuff thanks for sharing with us!

that's also what I was told back in August when I went, they were hoping it'd be open for that and that's all they said they would tell me, so get pumped!

^I hope it's a beemer too dude, I just want another solid ride and it's basically gauranteed with B&M, these other possibilities look cool too, but it's just preference

hopefully in the offseason a bunch of American SLC's get this tune up, it looks a lot better then the original restraint designs they had

so are we almost to the conclusion that this won't be B&M? Because (I don't know if anyone came up with this idea) obviously we heard that HP made a deal with another beemer to come to the park. The initial clue was "What's better then a perfect ten?". I love the idea of 11 coasters, or possibly the 11 inversions. But, if HP made a deal with B&M, Great Bear was built in 1998, and what year would this new coaster debut....2008, 10 years. So, that is an interesting fact I just discovered, don't know if it works or is right, but I found that intriguing haha

hahaha yeah that would've been a smart idea! I just want to thank everyone for the feedback, i'm out at college and wondered how the end of my TR turned out and I just looked at the Golden Ticket awards and saw lots of great things (including many of the rides I went on at CP!). Now we'll see where I go next season!

yeah I don't care what people say, this ride is going to be sweet

Sorry for the delay everyone, I'm moving tomorrow and we have been packing like crazy the last couple of days, and this is the last night our PC is in operation so I had to squeeze it in! We left our hotel and started for home, I put my headphones on and started writing my info for my TR's and took some naps. Meanwhile somewhere in there my mom was on the phone with someone but I thought nothing of it. My brother is asleep and we haven't taken a break for gas at all so we near an exit that has the Knoebels sign by it, I of course, just don't even think haha. My brother awakens and asks what we are doing and I reply: "We are just getting gas". Then my dad comes in and says, "and maybe 2 or 3 coasters...". Immediately I say, "Dad it's not funny to joke about that!" haha and he said that he wasn't!!! I start bobbing up and down in my seat and my brother grumbles haha, we were going to Knoebels for a few hours...not home yet! We arrive around 3:00pm to a mighty different parking lot that is all grass not pavement, except the walkways to the park. Mind you this park's skyline is trees, you can't see anything because this park is buried, you can't see it until you're in it haha. No parking fee, and no admission made this a sweet start, since we were here for a quick stop by to our to our coaster counts, we headed to coaster #1! TWISTER: I've heard many mixed reviews of this ride, some hate it, some love it, some think it's eh. We waited 15 minutes because of one train op, but they had the trains out in like 30 seconds because the trains at Knoebels don't have seat belts, just the lap bars which made the experiences much better! We hopped in the front for one of the most unique woodie experiences yet. We hit the first lift, then you do a loop around and hit a second lift which takes you higher. After this you make another interestingly shaped turnaround into the drop and from then on it's such fun, I love how they put a double helix around the station, which is the highlight of course! Out of this it's through the structure nicely, into a tunnel in the back and then the breaks. It's not the best woodie, but it edges into my top 10 at #10, it definitely could've been a lot more forceful, but it fits with it's sister Phoenix. Next I bought a shirt and we got a ride photo and moved on. This park easily is one of the coolest out there, the fact that it's buried between mountains means there is lots of shade and sweet scenery. It's old fashioned and just so friendly. I also realized all of the amazing unique rides they upkeep, they never throw anything away, they just re-use it anyway they can! We also got to look more at Flying Turns and it looks fantastic, I'm amazed at how tedious this project needs to be with the kind of support system and wood required to make this ride run correctly. We stopped and talked to one of the workers and asked him (we gave it a shot haha) when they think it'd be ready to open, and he said come back for Fun Fest?? Not sure if that's what it was but it's in the end of September, which is sweet because it looked like it was nearing completion! Next up was supposed to be one of the best woodies in the world! PHOENIX: I was stoked to ride this, I know it's short in height and short in length, but I heard that it's an airtime machine, which is what we all like!! Another 15 minute wait with 1 train, and another front row viewing. I love the tunnel after the station before the lift, total darkness! The lift obviously is short, but the ride definitely gives a great experience! The drop is nice, then up into a turn around, where you drop down and just go over bunny hills before another turn around with more bunny hills then a turn around next to the structure with some amazing hills before the breaks. This ride does nothing else but lift you out of your seat (with no seat belts, it's serious airtime). It's not forceful airtime (in the front, not sure about the back!) but just awesome floater air. It's not my #1 or top 5, it's my #7 because I do like more to my woodies, but just the fact that it's a sheer classic and for giving that much airtime, and of course being at a great park gets it to where it is. We had to have some of the awarding winning food, which definitely was some of the best I've had, just had a BBQ Pork sandwich to tidy myself over and just that was friggen awesome. We toured more, went in the museum, took some pics (not many because the battery was running low, sorry guys!) and hit up 1 more ride before heading home officially. HIGH SPEED THRILL COASTER: Well, in the brochure it's obviously listed as a kiddie coaster, but it does say not to underestimate it! Since it is one of the few small coasters that doesn't have a maximum height limit, dad and I rushed here haha! We hopped in the back and let this baby take us away, it's so old fashioned where the op physically runs the lift and the breaks. You go through the cycle 4 times, and in the back you get such fun airtime, it's like a mini Phoenix that is really tight, it's so much fun, don't miss this when you're here, this is what enthusiasts would die for! haha Well, that's it unfortunately. Knoebels is a park I'll definitely head back to and spend a weekend of camping there, something that can be easily done because there is a lot to do. Once Flying Turns opens this park will be even greater will unique rides there, it's clean, friendly, and very yummy and INCREDIBLE food prices!! 3 great coasters (with a 4th on the way) and what seems like endless fun, Knobels is a place to head out of your way to for sure. This also ends my PTR. It seems so long ago we started at DP and that kick butt night ride on Steel Force, to Kings Island with our amazing night ride on Beast and luckyness the next morning on Son of Beast. Cedar Point was nothing short of amazing with bug filled night rides on 2 of the best steel coasters in the world in Millennium Force & Top Thrill Dragster, and of course riding a bucking bronco that's one of the most unique steel coasters in existence called Maverick. Having a rather blah day at Geauga Lake, but still managing to get blown away by Dominator, and finishing at wood-fest of fun at Knoebels. What a trip, 5 parks and 38 coasters in 9 days gives me such a smile because that's the most I've done on a family vacation in my 11 year history! Thank you all so much for reading, I appreciate those who stuck with me through the whole report! Look for 1 or 2 more throughout the rest of the season as I hope to hit Dorney Park again and then a Hersheypark trip hopefully too, I leave you with the Knoebels ride count, and my top 10 woodies and steelies! PEACE! Knoebels Coasters: Twister: 1 (8/10) Phoenix: 1 (9/10) High Speed Thrill Coaster: 1 (6/10) TOP TEN STEEL: 1. Millennium Force- Cedar Point 2. Superman: Ride of Steel- Six Flags New England 3. Top Thrill Dragster- Cedar Point 4. Phantom's Revenge- Kennywood 5. Incredible Hulk- Islands of Adventure 6. Apollo's Chariot- Busch Gardens Europe 7. Medusa- Six Flags Great Adventure 8. Alpengeist- Busch Gardens Europe 9. Maverick- Cedar Point 10. Montu- Busch Gardens Africa TOP TEN WOOD: 1. El Toro- Six Flags Great Adventure 2. Beast- Kings Island 3. Thunderhead- Dollywood 4. Boulder Dash- Lake Compounce 5. Lightning Racer- Hersheypark 6. Son of Beast- Kings Island 7. Phoenix- Knoebels 8. Cyclone- Coney Island 9. Roar- Six Flags America 10. Twister- Knoebels and we leave we a picture next to Kozmo! Thanks so much everyone, hope you enjoyed it! Mr. Ride Op definitely isn't having as much fun as us! getting dragged over the top! now for the most entertaining picture of Dad and I going nuts on HSTC After the first way around, laughing our butts off! ready to go on one awesome kiddie coaster! the swings! No antique cars...but antique boats!!! This made me chill, the floods of '96 and '06, look how high the water was, so nuts a sweet looking slide! One of the many unique/rare rides Knoebels has to offer Dad posing with a life size toy soldier! no garbage can this time, so we got a bench instead! Yep! We liked it! Now dad and I give it a try! Up close and personal with a star! Yep, she's 22 and an ACE Landmark, yipee! Around and down! Phoenix heading up 78 feet! mmm definitely coming back next season to get on this ride yeah...it takes a lot of these usually to build one of these things...ya know...to keep it from falling apart look how complex this is, going to be worth the wait! nice, Flying Turn's lift hill, this ride looks so fun! Dad and I enjoying our spin on Twister! haha, thanks for the reminder Knoebels This is actually it's second lift! what? haha it's a good ride Coming around the station! Twister peaking to the top!

very awesome PTR, I went to BGE back in 2005 and it is such a great place, so huge though! Thanks for sharing, and Apollo and Alpie also share spots in my top 10 as well!

^ wow Mine are Delirium, the Drop Zones, Spiderman, and I did quite enjoy Curse of DarKastle @ BGE too

^beat me to it, lovely ending, and a lot are forgetting about Incredible Hulk too which is awesome with the carousel turn and corkscrew! My beloved Medusa @ SFGAdv is also one of my favorites

sweet TR so far dude, Projekt Revolution looks great this year!

I really enjoy looking at parks in Europe and other foreign countries, I really liked this report, the park looks pretty neat with a cool variation of rides, thanks for sharing!

Hey folks! Took a little of a break after the long CP update to now bring you my report from the decaying Geauga Lake! We departed Cedar Point as I said on Saturday and arrived in Cleveland. We drove around, saw the Browns stadium, the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, and the Science Museum in Cleveland. My bro and dad went inside the USS Cod while me and mom played UNO on a picnic table nearby to just relax, I also got preparations for my TR's ready to help me! After this we hit up Hard Rock Cafe for dinner then hit our hotel where I swam in the pool and hit the bed early to give my body a nice rest for Geauga Lake, a place where I thought that re-rides were going to be by the handful...but I was wrong. GEAUGA LAKE We woke up a little late and arrived at the park around 11:00am. It was such a cruddy day, it was rainy, the park was not too full, and every single coaster had 1 train operation, which meant despite the crowds being light, the lines were still present. DOMINATOR: This was the reason why I came back here (I came in '02 when SF had it, basically when this park was in it's prime). We hopped in line as the ops were taking the 2nd train off the track which was saddening. The front is obviously a continuing trend with dad and I so we hit that spot. Unfortunately it was raining our first ride which hurt worse then the bugs at Cedar Point, so I didn't enjoy the ride one bit, but we came back later. We did the front again and saw what this ride could really do. The drop is amazing, the loop is so huge with awesome hangtime!! One of the highlights of this ride for me is the banked right curve after the loop and the curve over the station because no other floorless does this and this makes you really feel the sheer speed on this ride. The cobra is also beautiful because it's wide, not tall, which is also pretty unique. The MCBR gives you a nice breather then you hit the signature interlocking corkscrews on B&M rides, but the ride isn't done after this as you bank left and dip down and hit a sweet horizontal left turn just a few feet off the ground then go up into the breaks. Totally worth coming here, it's also made a home in my top 20, this is a ride that doesn't get lots of credit in the floorless world because of Kraken, Superman Krypton Coaster and Medusa, but this one really is one of the superior ones. VILLAIN: Next up was the massive woodie this park holds called the Villain built by CCI. That one sentence should make any enthusiast drool because of the words massive and CCI, but I forgot to mention that this ride uses G-Trains, that's when so many of us cringe! This ride was not worth the front so we hopped in the 4th row. It has a very solid layout but this ride is definitely on the rough side, it's got many hills and goes inside the structure a good amount, but it sure is uncomfy. Nevertheless I still enjoyed it and we moved on. DOUBLE LOOP: Since it was next door we hit up Double Loop, the park's Arrow looper. It's the smallest one I've been on only being 1800 feet in length, but I think it's still pretty neat. You drop, make a large left turn, drop into the 2 very tight loops, do an upward helix, and call it a ride, with no wait! So, with 3 coasters done already the rain started to come down harder. We had time so we took cover and had some lunch and played some family UNO (which was very entertaining haha). The rain slowed down a lot and they continued to play, but I didn't want to waste time. Since Dad didn't want to do the SLC this park has, I figured that's where I would go! THUNDERHAWK: I remember this SLC being one of the better ones I have ridden so I was ready to ride. But, with the single train op I waited 20 minutes for this, which I wasn't too thrilled about. The funny thing about this ride is how when people got off it they were like "Oh man that was the best ride!" and other comments like that, which made me chuckle because SLC's are good, but not spectacular. I rode in the 2nd row, and started up the lift. With the rain earlier, and the wheel covers on the trains, water dumped onto me going up the lift which was so unpleasant haha. The ride though was still pretty good, not terribly rough at all, I've always liked the layouts on these so I had fun. The family rejoined me and we headed over towards the old X-Flight/Superman Ultimate escape area. Man this park really is so much different without these here, it really blows actually. I would love to know what Cedar Fair is planning to do with this place because taking out 2 signature rides in 2 years is really rough and a big blow to this park, plus I really enjoyed it better as Six Flags because of the theming. Well there were still coasters over here so I hit up another Vekoma! HEAD SPIN: This is another ride I actually really like, Vekoma Boomerangs. This I also did by myself because dad doesn't enjoy these either. I sat in the middle and laughed the whole way through, obviously we've all been on these so no details are needed, I just love going through the inversions in both directions. Next we crossed the lake into Wildwater Kingdom and saw more wasted things, like the stadium on the lake where the old Batman show was held. I went here in 2000 when it was Sea World as well and boy this has changed a ton since then too. The waterpark looked pretty neat with some cool slides, but the weather wasn't in our favor to hop into the bathing suits to give them all a try. We did the new attraction for 2007, which is Lego Racers 4D. It was decent, the seats didn't move and the only effects were the 3D glasses, wind blows on you and water sprays you twice, it's worth being inside in the air conditioning on hot days, and was worth giving it a try. We headed back over to the park side to see Raging Wolf Bobs still closed, which was sad because I wanted to get on this again. This is when we did the 2nd Dominator ride that I reviewed earlier then we headed for some family fun! BEAVER LAND MINE RIDE: This is a fun ride, and so simple. The trains are also some of the longest trains I've ever seen! The cool thing about this ride too is that it sends you through the course twice, it's tame but fun enough where my mom and bro did it as well to try to get some life into them on the wet day we were having here at Geauga Lake. Next we hit the Carousel and there Dodgems. Then we headed for our last ride of the day, which basically saved the day (besides Dominator) at Geauga Lake. BIG DIPPER: This is a classic. They only ran this when the rain was completely over and done with, and with our luck the rain did stop from our 2nd Dominator ride until we left the park so we hit this at the right time. We front seated this up and had a wonderful ride. This coaster has a long lapbar instead of the single orange ones seen on many woodies these days and a single belt (I think, don't remember). But all I know is that this ride delivered some brilliant airtime on every hill and for being an old woodie this was a heck of a lot smoother then Villain was. This was the perfect way to end our day and vacation (so I thought at the time)! Geauga Lake is a park to go to if you're in the area (or Ohio as a whole because it's CF like CP and KI). But don't travel from afar just for this place, Six Flags wins here, CF in my opinion has really brought this park down. X-Flight going to Kings Island was a waste in my opinion because of the same state factor, and the rumors are quite strong that Steel Venom is landing at Dorney next season (which I am thrilled about, but still would've rathered it stay in GL), and the rumormills are indeed floating around about Dominator potentially being next. I really hope they are done taking rides out because this was a great thrill park and to an extent still is with 3 cool woodies, 2 good Vekoma's, a classic Arrow, a great family coaster, and one of the best B&M's in the country. With this, we took off at 7:00 and went to dinner at Steak n Shake where it started to pour again. Pictures and results below!! COASTER TALLY/RANK: Dominator: 2 (10/10) Thunderhawk: 1 (8/10) Villain: 1 (7.5/10) Big Dipper: 1 (7.5/10) Head Spin: 1 (7/10) Double Loop: 1 (5.5/10) Beaver Land Mine Ride: 1 (5.5/10) One more picture before leaving. Thanks again for reading, hopefully ya'll enjoy, part 5: Knoebels is up in a day or so! rats, this would've been one sweet photo if this light post wasn't in the way of my body, but hey dad! Hands up all the way through! Me and dad in the front heading up the beautiful classic Big Dipper ahh yes the Dodgems, where head on collisons were common, and painful But, nice pics still had to be taken, so here's picturemom and coasterdad since it rained all day and it finally stopped for a while, we all turned pretty giddy...especially me haha dad took this and was amused, as well as begging me to put it on here, so here is a shot of the horses bottoms and the butts of Scott and I representin mom!!! the happy stroll after riding! haha going through a second time, I think Scott and Mom and even me are enjoying this! haha yay Beaver Land! more love for Villain as it dives down the drop exiting the cobra..mmm cobra roll sweet shot of Dominator heading through the last inversion of the ride yep, had to take it! Geauga Lake's carp are spoiled, they just hang there mouthes open for people to just throw food in the same for Thunderhawk the signature picture of Dominator from the bridge The massive splash of Shipwreck Falls that went into the walkway and got bystanders soaked too the question: is the train exiting the inversion, or going backwards into it? hmmmm Loopy Loop Head Spin going up backwards, fun fun fun going through the bend into it's sweet finale of the double inline twist Heading through the Heartline, fun ride! through the final part of it's helix, notice the stray garbage can next to it's support...hmm strange Going through some of the tightest loops I've experienced Double Loop lift Villain going around it's turnaround Villain sending it's riders up the 120 foot lift hill Same element, different angle! Meanwhile, T-Hawk sends it's riders through the half-loop coming at ya! Exiting the loop into the sweet speedy right bend Heading down the sweet drop what's up massive Dominator loop! Geauga Lake entrance plaza and it peaks out for it's drop! ah there's the train rumbling down the 2nd hill Welcome to Geauga Lake, this is most of the skyline you will see now that X-Flight and SV are gone, look at the great size of the ride!