Ccron10

Just signed up. Looks like the Midwest trip looks like it's going to be an epic good time!

Not bad. Looks pretty accurate, but the restraints need an extra bar on the side so that they go all the way around. Kind of like Sooperdooperlooper's trains, but they were rounder than the ones on the new trains.

This probably might be a stupid question, but I just signed up for Club TPR. Would I need to wait until I'm officially added to the club to sign up for a trip to get the club rate? I'm thinking since the discount is on the 3rd deposit that I don't, but I want to make sure.

It seems to me that Gotham Ops are the best. Also, is it true that the train at SFA is the same one from Astroworld? OMG that train is SOOOOO old looking. They have a much BETTER train just sitting there next to the train tracks behind the go karts. It is just sitting there decaying away. I do not understand why they do not use it. The one they are using is so rough and very uncomfortable. When I was there on 10/27 we kept hearing this noise that sounded like a cruise ship taking off but it was the train. The horn on it sounds like a horn on a cruise ship. But in reality their train ride is not worth it. There are no nice views or anything from it. I'm assuming you're talking about this train? Yep, it's still rotting away. I was afraid that I was going to break the seat on the train that they are currently using. It felt like it was made of toothpicks.

Scratching Japan and doing Mid-West instead. I have never flown before and I really think making Japan my first flying experience might be a pretty bad idea. Personally I really don't care if Holiday World is on the trip or not, GateKeeper, X-Flight, Chicago Museum, and 3 Rocky Mountain Coasters are enough of an incentive to make me go. I am a water park person so I think I'd be interested in Schlitterbahn.

Hope that's Soaring Eagle and not Steeplechase. Hersheypark closed at 8PM yesterday. A friend of mine rode Fahrenheit 15 times in a row for it being so empty.

The three coasters that had their running lights shut off were Comet, Wildcat, and Lightning Racer. It was a unique experience and is something worth checking out if you plan on going! It's on the next two Friday nights from 9 to 10PM (closing).

I see Intamin is going to try out a new type of support system for the lift hill. Should be interesting to see when it's assembled.

I'm still going. If anyone wants to meet up, just drop me a PM.

Oh yeah, as I was going up those stairs with my tray all I was thinking was that I hope I don't trip! ________________________________ Park #2 Part #1 Busch Gardens Williamsburg Let me start off this next part of the trip report by saying that BGW is a very special place for me. Back in 1995 my family had some random idea that we'd go to Williamsburg for vacation and stop at the park. I don't know why, but after going on the Skyride there I somehow gained an interest in theme parks. I was 3 years-old at the time. Fast forward 17 years to today... After arriving early, we entered the park at 9am and walked from Ireland back to Ocktoberfest. Having been told that this park had many more hills than Hershey, I kind of just shrugged it off. Man, was I wrong about that one and found out later! The whole park was a hill! I ended up renting an all-day locker to store my backpack and camera in to save the hassle of lugging my stuff around, so I got one in Scotland near Loch Ness Monster. For the most part, I found out the park was more of a circle with onestair-filled path cutting through the middle, which was the path that heads by LNM's interlocking loops. I should've taken the Skyride, but it closed for wind as I was making my way over there and the line looked like it would be just quicker walking. Mach Tower The ERT was awesome and gave a nice preview to things to come. I first took a ride on Mach Tower. I don't know if it always behaves like this, but from what I could tell from it, it seemed to have quite a few problems with it's music cutting on and off going up the tower. The drop seemed to be less intense than Drop Tower at KD, which I rode the day before. I only took one ride on it considering it was down every once in awhile throughout the day. If it ran constantly and had it's effects working, it would rate a little higher. 4/10 From here, I spent the rest of ERT on Verbolten. The best way I can describe this coaster is that it's a great family coaster mixed a little with a show. It has a great storyline that has several different ride experiences. At the beginning it starts out relaxing, but once you hit the first launch, you fly into pitch blackness and the refreshing feeling of A/C. Then you start flying past the many great lighting effects that are unique to each show and into the suprise drop, which provided a nice pop of airtime and excitement that kind of caught me offguard. The drop off the bridge offered a slightly intense experience especially when you're flying up the final few hills into the brakes. I ended up getting a good 7 or 8 rides managing to sit everywhere I wanted to go. Backseat had to have the best experience though. 9/10 After ERT, the park opened, but we next went on an awesome and very informative behind the scenes tour of Griffon, Pompeii, Verbolten, and Loch Ness Monster. I'll let the photos do the talking, but like I said before, it was really great! On the way to the first ERT of the day, I catch a glimpse of my first B&M dive machine. It's love at first-sight... Speaking of B&M, here's the famous Alpie that I've been hearing so much about. Great use of the terrain! Under the bridge... ...and into the zero-g-roll. Time for a piece of New Hotness! Great ride for the family... and great detail as well! The Gunthermobile! Although I have no idea what Gunther looks like, I'm thinking he more than likely looks like a bony old man in leiderhosen. I could really see them switching over to just saying the dispatch speech once when dispatching both trains in the dual-loading station. Nice detail to the entrance. Here we see Matt. I can't tell if he's trying to rip the bumper off or if he's trying to push the car off of himself. Verbolten has claimed another victim... I'm betting Mach Tower is a good ride when it works, but it wasn't very reliable today. Time for a look behind the scenes. Skyride isn't open yet. Let's start with Griffon. To it's Service Center! B&M top wheel, yummy! Restraint anyone? One of the things that sticks out is how clean and organized the maintenance bay is. Drive tire. Take notice that there is no track. Very organized. It's Nessie! There were evac. panels everywhere in here. Now we leave Griffon to travel on to our next stop... Verbolten. What treasures will we find? Stay tuned for more.

Here's something cool for Hersheypark in the Dark this year: http://www.hersheypark.com/general_info/event_calendar/details.php?id=13032

Looks like I visited my first International park: Who knew that the Netherlands owned a few acres of land in Lancaster Pennsylvania and built a park on it!

Here's my list of brochures, maps, and guides that I have. Ones in bold will need to be negociated, ones in regular type will cost one brochure/map for it, and any in italics are not for sale. If you want to trade, just PM me. EDIT: I am currently out of stamps and unable to trade at the moment. Sorry. 2012: Hersheypark Springtime in the Park Map/Guide (x5) Hersheypark Srping into Summer Park Map/Guide (x13) Hersheypark Summer Brochure (x13) Hershey's Chocolate World Map/Guide (x1) Hershey Chocolate-Covered February Brochure (x1) ZooAmerica Map/Guide (x2) Hersheypark Summer Entertainment Guide (x1) Dutch Wonderland Map and Guide (x10) Six Flags Great Adventure map and Guide (x16) Six Flags Great Adventure Entertainment Guide (X1) Six Flags Great Adventure Flash Pass Info Brochure (x1) Camel Beach Waterpark Brochure (x1) Kings Dominion Map and Guide (x21) Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom map/guide (x13) Dorney park Fast Lane Info Guide (x1) Six Flags America Entertainment Guide (x22) Six Flags America Map/Guide (still trying to locate. I do know I have just as many as I do Entertainment guides) Knoebels Resort Map/Guide (x9) Knoebels Park Brochure (x1) Knoebels Campground Brochure (x1) Busch Gardens Williamsburg/ Water Country Brochure (x3) BGW/WC Map and Calander only (x2) 2011: Hersheypark Summer brochure (x6) Hersheypark in the Dark Map/Guide (x5) Hersheypark In The Dark/ Christmas Candylane Brochure (x1) Knoebels Park Map/Guide (x7) Knoebels Park Brochure (x1) Hersheypark Christmas Candylane Map/Guide (x5) Darien Lake Theme Park Brochure (x1) ZooAmerica Map/Guide (x2) Dorney Park Wildwater Wingdom Map/Guide (x2) Six Flags Great Adventure Map/Guide (x3) 2010: Hersheypark Summer Map/Guide (x2) Hersheypark in the Dark Map/Guide (x4) Hersheypark Christmas Candylane Map/Guide (x5) Hershey's Chocolate World Brochure (x1) Six Flags Great Adventure Map/Guide (x2) Dorney Park Map/Guide (x2) 2009: Hersheypark Springtime in the Park Map/Guide (x3) Hersheypark Summer Brochure (x2) Kennywood Map/Guide (x2) 2008: Hersheypark Springtime in the Park (x3) Hersheypark Brochure (x2) Hersheypark In the Dark Map/Guide (x2) Hersheypark Christmas Candylane Map/Guide (x1) Knoebels Park Map/Guide (x1) Kennywood Brochure (x1) Sandcastle Waterpark Brochure (x1) 2007: Hersheypark Christmas Candylane Map/Guide (x2) Knoebels Park Brochure (x1) 2006: Hersheypark Map/Guide (x5) Sesame Place Brochure (x1) Knoebels Park Map/Guide (x3) Dorney Park Map/Guide (x1) 2005: 2003: Morey's Piers Brochure (x1) Splash Zone Brochure (x1) 1999:

According to the LA Times, Cedar Fair has closed all Windseekers at their parks: http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/themeparks/la-trb-knotts-windseeker-riders-stuck-09201221,0,1284072.story

Is it a coaster that QueerRudie would be interested in riding?

Is it powered by LIMs?

Is it in China or Japan?

Is it in Europe?

Is it in the United States?

Before we move on to Busch Gardens, here are two videos that I took of Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular and Windseeker's LED light package, which was an attraction onto itself. Enjoy!

Submitted my questionaire and currently saving up for N. Japan. Having never flown on a plane or booked a flight, will help be provided on this?

No suprise on the ride side of the park getting nothing. I'd be more excited if they were going to refurbish the park, get rid of the rotting and abandoned buildings in exchange for newer ones, add more shade and repaint their rides than them getting something new.

I could see there being complaints about how you now have to buy admission to the park to access the Safari, but those comments will most likely be made by GP who always try to find something to complain about. From the way they're sounding, they plan on constructing a whole new entrance with a path goin over to it. If so, sounds like it would fit perfectly either near Bizarro or have it run parallel to El Toro next to that pond/swamp. Having only did the safari once, this really is effective at getting me to go back and try this out next year, especially the new zip-line. My question is what are they going to do with the old entrance and the few buildings next to it?

Part #3 The rest of Kings Dominion After the behind-the-scenes tour, it was time to go up the Eiffel Tower. For it's size, it offered a great view of the area as well as the park. Next, we went to the other side of the park passing through the Old Virginia area, which reminded me so much of Knoebels. The amount of trees, the shops, and rides really made me feel like I wasn't at a Cedar Fair park. Towards the far end hidden behind the Dinosaurs Alive gift shop (which I skipped since I have no interest in it) was Grizzly, which had a very energenic crew with an operator who would sing. As for the ride, it was mostly thrilling, but the center of the layout was really rough making it a one-lap coaster. I've ridden worse, though. 5/10 I am no stranger to tall swing rides. Having ridden Luna Park's last year and SFGadv's two or three times this season, I find them to be more family-focused unless you have a fear of heights and Windseeker is no different. The music selection is great, the lighting package at night is an attraction to itself, and the seats feel more secure than a Funtime version. I wish there were one of these closer to me. Best flat ride I've ever been on. 9.5/10 Contrary to what I've heard of Hurler, it wasn't too bad Sure the turns are a little rough (less than Grizzly), but it was overall enjoyable. 7/10 Ricochet: Not much to say about this coaster other than that yellow jackets are a problem at the bag drop and that I still prefer a regular wild mouse. Since it didn't include Fast Lane, it was around a 15 minute wait. 6/10 As for the last wooden coaster(s) at KD, Rebel Yell was fun even though what it was doing isn't something I'd call racing. It produced a suprisingly good amount of air on two spots of the ride with one being right after the far turnaround. By this time ,it was dinner and I wanted to eat something that had chicken, so Country Kitchen it was. Even though the service was a little slow, my Chicken Strips meal was pretty good. I have a feeling that I could've ate at some place better in the park though. After a decent meal, it was time for Shockwave. The wait was around 15 minutes and after it, I now know the true meaning behind the word Togo. I don't know how, but I somehow managed to fit into the torture device they call restraints after a minute. As for the ride, if it was just a shuttle loop and just did a straight line, it wouldn't be too bad. The true killer parts were in the turns (especially the one before the brakes). Also gotta love how it rumbles into the station as well with so much speed. Still not worse than a Zamperla Volare, but pretty darn close. 2/10 Having ridden Pitt Fall and Dominator at Dorney, I was really interested in trying Drop Tower and seeing where it ranks. Turns out it blew them away. Great views, a very sudden freefall, and a great operating crew made it one of those memorable highlights of the day. 8/10 From here, I seperated from Matt to go off and ride my own stuff, so I went over to the Shenandoah Lumber Company Log Flume. The layout tremendously reminded me of Knoebels based on the fact that it had a smaller drop followed by a larger one. Since it was dark by now, you are pretty much traveling through a forest in near darkness not knowing where the layout goes. Arrow did a great job on this one. 8/10 From here, I went towards the main gate, got some souvenirs, then spent some time watching Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular. Having listened a little to the soundtrack for the Cedar Point one a little, it was totally different to hearing it synced to the lights and hearing other soundtracks I've never heard before for it. I really hope Dorney would get this. Since I still had some time before the night ERT, I quickly got two night rides on Windseeker. Here is why I say this ride is my #1 flat ride. The lighting package that came with this ride is mindblowing and add in the view of the park and music, it makes it memorable. By this time, I journeyed back over to I-305 to take some nighttime laps as well as a lap on Flight-of-Fear with the lights on. FOF was pretty good in the dark earlier in the day and is a great example on how you can put a big layout in a small space. As for how it ranks up to Joker, you'll find out in my SFA section. To round out the night was some laps on Dominator. This ride blows Hydra and Bizarro out of the water. period. B&M did a really great job on the layout and it's hard to believe that this coaster was once at a different park. I think the ending has to be my favorite part since I've never seen a B&M stay close to the ground and do some tight turns. Then again the overbank after the loop was good as well. 8.5/10 From here, we drove the hour down to Williamsburg to our hotel, ended up going to the wrong hotel on the other side of town at 12:30am in the morning,and eventually finding the right one and calling it a night. Even though this hotel was less nicer than the first one, it still wasn't too bad. The real one must be monsterous. The area around the base is beautiful. Time to go up. I feel sorry for them on the pain that they'll have to endure... Oh dear... Grizzly is back there somewhere. Might I ask, who has fahrted on Windseeker? Coming in for a landing. Oww... I swear KD must've taken an old bicycle seat and said, "here's your test seat". Here you go Rudie. Shockwave's real name. Let's play a game shall we? This station reminds me so much of Fahrenheit. This is cool. This light show is the best one I've seen and it's not even for Christmas! So many lights... I'm in love with this ride. Back to I-305 for some of the night. That's it for Kings Dominion. We get to go fahrting in the Black Forest in my next section of ECB. Stay tuned!

Let's get moving on to Part #2 (More Kings Dominion) After the Boo Blasters Tournament was Backlot Stunt Coaster. To sum up the ride, the word bland comes to mind, but that's probably becuase all the effects were off. The ride itself was okay, but not noteworthy and the closest is the pop of air you get coming out of the tunnel and into the splashdown. Glad that we didn't have to wait in line becuase the queue didn't look too shaded. 6/10 Next was Anaconda. I do have to say that I did get a little nostalgic while riding this becuase it reminded me so much of GASM on a good day. I was really expecting this ride to kick the crap out of me. While you can tell that Ron Toomer took a coathanger to this thing, it wasn't terrible. I only rode it once and it was in the front, I have a feeling it would be a different reply if I rode it a few rows back. 7/10 Before lunch, we took a lap on Avalanche which was my first bobsled coaster. I really wanted to re-ride this becuase it was relaxing, yet still thrilling. It was strange feeling the car flex through the turns and hills. 7/10 By this time, the catering area opened up for us. I ended up having a piece of chicken, a load of tortilini with tomato sauce, and a roll or two. I also partisapated in my first TPR Quest, which was quite fun and I'm suprised that I lasted without passing out since it was hot and humid.None the less, it was worth it. Thanks to those who helped me out! Next, Matt and I decided to see if we could go across the park and quickly get a ride on Windseeker before our behind-the-scenes tour of I-305, but we were kind of distracted by the Schwartzkopf Troika on our way and settled for a lap on it. It's a great and thrilling flat and worth the trip across the park. The behind the scenes tour was short, sweet, but still worth it. Austrailian Steve broke Intimidator, but that added to the experience. The oddest ferris wheel I've ever seen, but since it looked randomly placed and pointless, I skipped it since Windseeker was nearby. I know that Paramont added this ride, but c'mon, they could've added some trees around it. ...coathanger... I watched the other Intamin with double track be built, time to go behind the scenes and check out the other. So photogentic. The station is a little boring though, but then again I'm probably used to Skyrush's. I saw people taking photos of Rebel Yell's turnaround so I snapped a photo of it as well. X marks the spot. Intamin cable lift hill motor. What's that I see on the mounting bracket? INTAMIN TAPE! Sadly being the nerd I am, I remember that Skyrush's had some it's bracket as well at the same spot. *sigh* Is this close enough? One of the original footers. *clank, clank, clank, BANG* (turns around)... ...and there's Steve. That's it for this section. Part #3 covers KD from the air and more.