redfoot12

Great pics, Bert! It's with a bit of a forlorn heart that I look at these trip reports as I had plans this summer to visit friends who moved to Denmark in 2021. I was going to spend a week with them and another week visiting some Scandinavian parks (and maybe a couple of German ones). My job was supposed to go from contract to permanent (it didn't) and I was counting on that sweet sweet PTO...

On Saturday 8/20, after 9 years, I finally made it back to Six Flags Great Adventure. I've been able to maintain my El Toro weight. Unfortunately, El Toro wasn't ready for my body and was down for the day (as was Jersey Devil). Enjoyed the day otherwise with getting the Joker credit, a front row ride on Kingda Ka, and some excellent night rides on Nitro. Seriously, I was really surprised by how well Nitro was running. The original plan was to do SFGAdv on Saturday and Nickelodeon Universe and Sesame Place yesterday. I decided to go back to SFGAdv after Nick Universe. Luckily, that place was dead and my buddy and I were able to get all 5 credits in just under an hour. On a side note-- I'm pretty sure Shellraiser came close to concussing me. At least, it felt like it to me... We did a few mall things and made it back to Six Flags. Both El Toro and Jersey Devil were running, so.. YAY! El Toro was still awesome but... damn. Show that thing some TLC, Six Flags! No longer my #1 but still a top 10-15. Overall, a successful trip. Only missed credit was Oscar's Wacky Taxi.

Vapor Trail at Sesame Place (credit #424) For you stoners out there, credit 420 was Timmy's Half Pipe Havoc at Nickelodeon Universe in Jersey.

Great Pumpkin Coaster at KD... Finally! Only major park where I've ridden all past and current coasters.

I'm going to SFGADV next Saturday, 8/19. Is Flash Pass Gold the bare minimum to have a Six Flags Day? I haven't been since August 2014.

I haven't ridden Grizzly since 2018 and I can't remember if that's because it was too brutal to ride or just too much of a shadow of its former self to give it any regard. Most likely... both. So tonight I made the trip to see what the Gravity Group did to my childhood favorite coaster and I think their mission to "restore the roar" was largely a success. It probably hasn't run this well in 25-30 years. To me, the first drop was always kind of nerfed a bit because the subsequent ascending hill up to the turnaround sapped all that speed. It still largely does that but with reprofiling you really feel that first drop and get some good airtime going over it. The rest of the ride just runs great. Smooth, forceful journey in the woods. Although not quite the journey it was during Grizzly's first decade, thank you very little, Hurler. You can definitely notice the parts Gravity Group didn't give attention to. But you know what? I'm fine with that. I don't want my Grizzly TOO smooth. Also of note, a friend texted me after I left for the night that one train seems to run a little more sluggish through the course. My initial couple of rides were slightly underwhelming and I left to go ride TT and I305. When I came back my rides all had a lot more zip. I did not pay attention to the color of the trains as I boarded each ride because I'm not a psychopath. Also, it was overcast and rainy with temperatures in the mid 60s when I rode. Would love to try Grizzly again on a hot summer night. And that might be the biggest takeaway. Grizzly is relevant again. I haven't ridden Dominator or Flight of Fear in awhile, but Grizzly now makes a strong case for third best coaster in the park. Slight touch of emotion tonight as I first rode Grizzly with my dad back in 1983 when I was 6 or 7. As mentioned in my post in the Universal Orlando thread, he passed away back in November.

I don't really do trip reports but here's what I got... The last week in April I made my first Florida trip since November 2006. I visited both Universal Parks on Tuesday 4/25 and Thursday 4/27 (I went to Busch Gardens Tampa on 4/26 and Sea World on 4/28). I had purchased a Power Pass on the fall 2022 and intended to go sometime in November-January but life got in the way, including the passing of my dad. So this trip was just what I needed after a hectic fall and winter. VelociCoaster may be my new number 1. It definitely overtook Intimidator 305 as my favorite steel but, given I haven't ridden El Toro since 2008, I think I have to claim it as my current favorite. The combination of theming, inversions, ejector, sense of speed, and just all-around fun make it the most complete roller coaster experience, in my opinion. I was probably anticipating Iron Gwazi a little bit more (it was over-hyped in my mind by a certain other YouTuber) on this trip but VC just blew me away. Other highlights... I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan but in the spirit of the trip, I watched all 8 movies leading up to the trip. All the HP stuff is wonderfully executed and it was fun to watch the die-hard fans enjoy themselves. My main regret is that I only rode Hagrid's once. The wait in line was over 2 hours and I just couldn't bring myself to go through that again. So, instead, I just waited for three more weeks to get in line for Darkoaster for 3 hours. Incredible Hulk with the new track seemed... about the same as 2006. (Kumba, on the other hand, still kicks all types of ass) I ate lunch at Mythos which was really good. Did Poseidon's one last time. Mummy was still fun as hell. I ate at Hard Rock and Chocolate Emporium and had a good time in those places. Also fun to learn that even though I bought the Annual Pass last fall, the pass time frame starts with my first time using it so I have another year to use it. Some random pictures...

I plan to go to the park this evening to give it a whirl. Pretty stoked as Grizzly was my favorite coaster growing up and remained my favorite wooden until I put in the effort to visit more parks outside of Virginia.

So my visit Thursday night was kind of eh. This first part was sort of on me, but I went to get in for the ride but was told that I needed to go to kiosk to print out a voucher for the passholder preview ride. They didn't do this for Pantheon last year so I thought they would just scan my pass. I went to a kiosk near Verbolten and redeemed the pass but kiosk didn't print the voucher. I traveled around the park for another kiosk and the voucher didn't show up as something I could redeem anymore. Finally got it taken care of at Guest Services and got in line at around 8:20 PM. I think it was around 11pm by the time I finally got on to ride. Fun little family ride with some neat theming. Would I have made a special trip after work just to ride this if I had thought I would be in line for so long? Hell no.

I made my first trip to all three Fun Spot parks last week. Highlights-- White Lightning became my 400th credit I survived both Hurricanes. And... ArieForce One!!!! I've only been on eight RMC's (no single rails) but this is certainly in the top tier for me. Missed out on Mine Blower but it sounds like it should be in a better state next time I'm in the area.

So El Toro is my number 1 coaster after 15 years. I still haven't ridden a bunch of RMC's and other newer Intamins, but I feel like it would still compare favorably with newer classics like Steel Vengeance, Iron Gwazi, and VelociCoaster (will hopefully ride the latter two in the next month or two). As someone who has struggled with their weight, being able to fit on El Toro was tight back in 2008. When I returned to visit in 2014, I got denied. I haven't bothered to return to the park since. I am happy to report that, in the midst of a weight loss journey, today I weighed in at my "El Toro weight". 258 lbs was what I was when I rode in 2008 and I hit that mark today. Here's hoping SFGADv figures things out and I can ride once again in 2023!

This goes back to early August, but that would be Wild Eagle on my first trip to Dollywood.

After my first ride on LR (around 11am), I think it was down for a significant portion of the day. It did start running again and I got another ride in right before the park closed. Maybe it was seat location or the classic "it warmed up", but that second ride was epic and all talk about a "heyday" left my mind. Btw, the park closed at 7 and I don't think there was a parade. My cousin, whom I had been there with that day, later sent me a story about the movie and Willie Nelson was also there. I'm not much of a country music fan, but that would have been legendary to catch a glimpse of both of them.

Dolly's at the park today filming a holiday movie or special or something. Would be cool to get a sighting.

Success! Just got off Lightning Rod ! No assistance needed! Fun ride. Wish I could have ridden it in its "heyday". For any riders of "exceptional size" out there, stick with a plan. In March I was 332 and was denied a ride on Pantheon. 42 pounds down later I'm the skinniest man alive.