Perilous Chris

a. What beach city are you thinking of going to? I would personally avoid it on a Friday evening, as many of the beach cities are crowded and parking is difficult. You would probably have better luck with traffic on a Saturday. b. Most of the beach cities (Santa Monica, Long Beach, Newport, etc.) have nice restaurants overlooking the water. Just keep in mind though that some may be on the pricey side.

^^ I think that would be a good choice. Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens are a little over an hour apart. In regards to Farenheit at Hershey, it's not bad by any means, but I just found it a little weak after the first drop and the Norweigan loop. Keep in mind though that "coaster enthusiasts" tend to judge rides a little harsher than most. Aside from I305, KD also has Volcano, which I loved and Dominator, which is one of the top floorless coasters in my opinion. Their drop tower is great as well. I really enjoyed the atmosphere at KD, and I loved the theming of the Congo area.

That's a tough call! Busch Gardens is about four hours from Hershey. I'm not sure what route you are taking, but if you are going to Va, Hershey may be a couple hours out of the way. Here is my take on both parks. Hersheypark: The coasters at Hershey are above average, and the park has a nice atmosphere. The chocolate tour was one of the highlights of my recent visit. My favorite coasters at the park are Lightning Racer, Storm Runner and Comet. Farenheit is unique, but I did not find it as impressive as Maverick at CP. Hersheypark also offers some unique flats such as the Flying Falcon (Huss Condor), and the Whip. I did not eat in the park, but the town of Hershey is pretty relaxing with some nice restaurants. Busch Gardens: The landscaping and architecture at this park is beautiful. While there are only four coasters, they are all very good. Alpengeist is now one of my favorite inverts, while the Lochness Monster is one of the smoothest Arrows I have ridden. Griffon and Apollo's Charriot are both very fun as well. If you enjoy heavily themed dark rides, you will probably enjoy Escape from Pompeii and Darkastle. For my visit, I ate at the FestHaus. The food was good and reasonably priced. At both parks, the customer service was good.

When I go to parks, I usually research the park before hand, so my expectations are adjusted accordingly. For example, when I visited Quassy a couple weeks ago, I knew the Wooden Warrior would pretty much be the star attraction. I personally think Quassy is a nice little family park for get-togethers and picnics. I do not view it as a major theme park experience. I personally consider parks like Scandia Ontario and Castle Park in Riverside more in the "family fun center" categories. There are many factors that can affect a park visit and opinion. For example, you will obviously enjoy Disneyland more if you visit on a weekday during the school year vs. the 4th of July. There really have not been any theme parks I have been to that I would consider the "worst," although there have been some family fun centers that I felt very unsafe at. I also consider Belmont Park in San Diego and Pacific Pier in Santa Monica extremely mediocre in terms of ride offerings. Unfortunately, I would have to say that one of the worst park experiences I had was at Kennywood. While I do not by any means consider it a bad park, it was packed on the day of my visit, while operations were slow and disorganized. I would give it another chance though!

^^ That's always been one of my big fears about visiting theme parks. I returned about a week ago from a long trip back east. I have a few pairs of pants with zipper pockets that I use specifically for visiting parks. When I rode Roller Soaker at Hershey Park, I went ahead and paid the $10 for a locker. Maybe I'm obsessive, but losing your rental car keys, wallet or cell phone can really dampen a park trip.

Hi there, I just got back from a two week trip. I went to Dorney Park, SFGAdv, SFNE, Lake Compounce, Quassy, Knoebels, HersheyPark, SFA, KD and BGW. I did not have too much trouble with crowds at all. SFGAdv and Lake Compounce were really the only parks that were slightly crowded. The weather in these states can be up and down with rain definitely being a possibility. Therefore, it's not a bad idea to book hotels that will allow same day cancellations. Some of the hotels I stayed at allowed cancellations until 4:00 pm. You would also be surprised at how quickly some of these parks can be completed. For example, I originally planned on a day and a half at Dorney Park. I was able to ride all of the coasters at Dorney in about a couple hours. I was also able to complete SFA and Knoebels within a couple hours as well. This allowed me to get a head start on some of the larger parks such as SFGadv and Hershey. In terms of hotels, I primarily stayed at Wyndam properties such as Days Inn's and Knights Inn's. Last year when I visited Cedar Point, I stayed at a Howard Johnson. None of the hotels were "luxurious," but they worked out alright for me. You can usually book pretty far in advance and get a decent rate. If I could have done something different on this last trip, I would have researched the areas I stayed in more carefully. Some of the hotels I stayed at, were really out of the way from anything! For this trip I avoided NYC. I have not been, but I have heard horror stories of being severely delayed in traffic. I drove from SFGadv to the Windsor Locks area (SFNE). Instead of going through NYC, I took a somewhat long route through NJ and avoided what most likely was a lot of headaches.

Hopefully I can help a little bit. I visited the park for the first time about two weeks ago. I stayed at the Bordentown Days Inn, and it was pretty good. It was about a 15-20 minute drive to the park. I don't know how it will be in July, but when I went it was HOT! Bring sunscreen and drink lots of water. I went on a Tuesday, and I was able to ride everything. El Toro was a walk on first thing in the morning. I was glad I did Kingda Ka right afterwards, because it broke down the rest of the day. Green Lantern had about a 1 1/2 - 2 hour wait so I rode it at the end of the day. S:UF also had about an hour wait as well. Nitro, Bizarro and Batman were not too bad in terms of waits. I would give yourself two days, as I can imagine crowds will be worse in July. I don't know how public transportation works in that area, but I believe rental car prices are significantly higher at the Newark airport. I did about seven parks, and flew into PHL. I got a pretty good deal on a car rental. I don't think the Philadelphia airport is that much farther from Six Flags than Newark. If you do the rental car option, be sure to really study the directions. As Rawkin_coaster38 said, the roads can be confusing. What I've found challenging in NJ and Pa is that it's hard to turn around if you make a wrong turn. It's easy to get on a road that will lead you way out of the way.

Today was my first visit to the park. The park is beautifully landscaped. I really must hand it to the employees who were all so polite and energetic after yesterday's tornado. I was highly nervous I would be too tall for Bizarro, but I was fine. I rode it seven times. I know many will disagree, but I like Millenium Force a tiny bit more. With that being said, it's one of the best coasters I have ever ridden. I got all of the other credits as well. The only dark side of the day was Catapult being closed.

Tomorrow will be my first visit to the park. I'm across the street from Bradley International, and the weather is not good!

Congrats on getting married R.D!

I guess I'm getting old, but I just don't get the point of "planking." I guess it's the new "Chinese fire drill."

^^I thought TPR chat was mainly for getting trip advice, oh yeah and man boobs. I celebrated the introduction of the Apocalypse by getting my Apocalypse credit at SFMM.

I went to the park today (6-21) and it was moderately crowded. I rode Apocalypse and Superman for the first time today. Apocalypse was running one train, and it took forever to get to the station. After the pre show, the wait was not too bad. This was my first GCI ever. I found the restraints comfortable, and the ride had some nice laterals. The station fly through was pretty cool as well. It's not the best woody I've experienced, but it's light years above Psyclone. Superman:EFK had about an hour and a half wait. The ride experience caught me by surprise and it made me quite nervous. I found this to be way better than the original. A couple quick notes: Season Pass processing was short and easy. Green Lantern looks a lot larger and more impressive in person. The employees I encountered were very polite and more energetic than previous visits. The parking lot could be better lit at night, but I've been to other parks that have the same issue.

^^ Gregg, I believe they changed it a bit when it became Turbo. The centerpiece of the ride was different, and it was a darker color.

4.5 hours for the original X !

My choice is a coaster which is now defunct. The coaster I really enjoyed that most everybody else hated was Flashback at SFMM. I enjoyed the hairpin drops, and I felt the ride was quite unique.

Unfortunately that's customer service everywhere anymore. I've noticed it a lot more lately with a new job and seeing what I work with and those that come in or call looking for work. Professionalism just isn't taught anymore and it's pretty sad. I'm not saying you have to walk in with a suit on for every job you apply for....but just be slightly professional, clean and "put together" and it would go a long way! Many places I go, customer service issues are a problem. What's frustrating is that I know I am not alone. I've complained politely, and I've seen no change whatsoever. Having worked customer service jobs, I know that there are extremely rude customers who expect things that cannot be done and/or special treatment. The complaints I have are about basic common sense issues. For example, if you advertise that you close at 6, don't close at 5 just because it's dead. Here is a quick comment regarding the SFA facebook page. There are quite a few park facebook pages I read. While they do welcome criticism, they need to keep them as family friendly as possible. Also, those facebook pages get tons of repetitive questions and comments. For example, even though SFGADv has stated multiple times that Green Lantern should be open by Memorial Day, there are tons of posts asking when it will be ready.

That spider is pretty! Are you guys going to have time to do one of those crocodile jumping tours in Darwin?

If you like pizza, you can try John's Incredible Pizza. It's a pizza buffet/small family fun center located at the Buena Park Mall, very close to KBF. They have five themed dining rooms, and a large selection of pizza including spicy peanut butter.

Here is my little list. I did get to visit the Alligator Farm in Buena Park when I was young though. Windjammer @ KBF Soap Box Racers @ KBF Corkscrew @ KBF Psyclone @ SFMM Flashback @ SFMM High Roller @ Stratosphere Las Vegas

I've been reading some different sites, and I'm really stunned at how serious people are taking this. Some are getting really emotional and nasty.

I ranked it in my top five, because I was impressed with the layout. I have only ridden about 17 wooden coasters though. In terms of re-ride value and what it was competing against, I was personally not surprised at all to see the ratings drop this year. If I had ridden Phoenix, El Toro and/or T-Express, I am sure those would have beat it out. The ride almost reminds me of a steak. It tastes delicious for awhile, then you bite into a bone that cracks your back tooth. Chris "full of corny analogies" D

^ I fully understand that Six Flags needs to make money, but that new policy is putting a damper on a lot of peoples' plans. The way I see it, if I'm going to be spending the money on air fare and rental cars, $15-$45 extra is not that much more. I was going to purchase the extreme pass, but because of the parking, I will actually save more with just the thrill pass. I will probably only visit my home park (SFMM) twice this year. If you want a good time without paying for parking, the following parks are a great option! Waldameer: free Holiday World: free Kennywood: free unless you want preferred parking

I just have a couple comments. For starters, Robb I am sorry to hear about all of this. I really appreciate all that you contribute with this site. I have been reading the Theme Park Review forums for quite some time. Just by reading the many trip reports, I have learned a lot about trip planning. Last summer, I went on my first major theme park trip, and the information I have read on this site was of great influence. Over the past few years, I had many personal commitments, and I somewhat fell out of the theme park scene. Having been a member of several online communities for the past 10 years, I will say this. I think it's good to get a feel for the community, and think before you post. Often, I see people join these sites and immediately post like crazy. It's as is they have to comment on everything. Some feel that if they disagree, they have to immediately post their opinion, which is often fueled by emotion. Now many of us have done this throughout our lives, but it usually leads to unnecessary drama and hard feelings.

I have only ridden Riddler's Revenge and Mantis. While I prefer Riddler out of the two, I do not understand why Mantis gets so much flack. It's by no means the best, but I consider it a far cry from the worst.