Primogen18

Pax is the only company so far that I've seen draw what I think are quick cartoony looking design sketches, then go and build the ride exactly like that. Sort of like those cartoon park maps Cedar Fair has/had or Six Flags.

A million little pieces made somewhere overseas that takes engineers to put it together? Sounds like IKEA to me. Looks nice though.

Zoomerang is now sponsored by 80s Metallica? Nice PTR though, been curious about this park for a while.

Nice TR, while we were there on the 6th there was hardly anyone else in the park. AE was such a shame IMO, needs new paint and the track squeaked pretty back the whole way through. Some good speed but overall it looked quite bad. I posted the TR here a bit ago, but like most of my posts here it went completely ignored, I don't even know why I bother typing them up anymore...

My bf and I are considering checking this park out seeing as we are only a few hours away and they have the Six Pass thing going on for $29.99. Nice TR though and the park doesn't look too horrible to me, even if only for the credits and Greezed Lightning. Of course I'll post a TR (and like most of mine it will be completely ignored on here), but I post them anyway...

Thanks! It was a great day, I have heard many good things about Great America and it definitely showed through. http://family.webshots.com/album/572913486aeZaqv?vhost=family We stopped at Kiddieland for a few shots as well as IB for some rounds on the coasters (very empty).

I will try to describe as much as I can but I am mostly excited about getting my count up to the "big 100" (and it is past 1 am and I need some sleep). My bf and I decided to make the trip to Six Flags Great America for our anniversary, so what better time for my first major milestone in coaster riding? The weather was chilly all day with intermediate rain which kept alot of people away. Lines were short to non-existent, except for Dark Knight which was mostly due to the heat inside the ride. Picture link at the end with some 130+ pictures of all coasters and the park. We got there right as the park was opening and the parking lot was quite empty. Throughout the day it filled up a little more, but not to the point where the park was anywhere near crowded. I'll post my review of the coasters as we rode them: Viper - #90 - This ride was decent and smoother then I would have thought. It was still early in the day and chilly so it wasn't running as fast as it could have, but overall not a bad ride and not too rough either. Raging Bull - #91 - Great ride with great speed and very comfortable seats. Very smooth and was both our favorite coaster in the park. Demon - #92 - Older arrow that rode like an older arrow. Barely any line except what people gathered as they tested the ride (running it through the course about 5 times as we stood there waiting for it to open). The rock structures and tunnels made it unique but it was still very bumpy. Thumbs down also for the flowers in front of the sign instead of the REAL sign. American Eagle - #93 - Decent ride with some good speed in some places and surprising airtime in others. Not very smooth and also irritating to the ears (screeching along the track). Overall seems in very bad shape. Iron Wolf - #94 - Ouch. Painful restraints to every region of the body and bad transitions made this our least liked coaster at the park. I guess one would ride this only to see how far B&M has come over the years, even as far as stand ups go (Mantis being one of my favorite rides at CP being far more comfortable). Vertical Velocity - #95 - Smooth fast ride, and my 3rd Impulse coaster. Seemed less intense then Superman: Possessed Ride Of Voodoo, but it might be just me getting used to them. Batman: The Ride - #96 - My first Batman clone, and I wasn't sure what to expect. Ive heard alot of praise and it seemed it lived up to alot of it. It was fast, forceful, and more intense then many of the B&M inverts I've been on. I can see why some compare Talon to these. The Dark Knight Coaster - #97 - Rode this twice because of the heat inside, but it was a fun little mouse-in-a-box. You rushed by the effects but still could get an idea of what they were and it added to the "experience", although I had no idea there was a story until the second time around. Overall I can see this being popular with families and such and a good ride to escape the heat (or chill). Superman: Ultimate Flight - #98 - My first B&M Flyer. I've only been on Firehawk up to this point and heard these were less intense (and smoother, although I didn't find Firehawk to be very rough) then the Vekoma's, which I found to be right. The pretzel loop was pretty cool and a bit dissorientating, and the rest of the ride seemed almost relaxing with a few turns and dips. Overall it was alot of fun and I am curious to experience the other designs. At this point we stopped and grabbed something to eat at Mooseburger Lodge. We both had The "Maynerds Special" for around $9, which was a large sized bacon cheeseburger with a bunch of waffle fries. Very good and reasonably priced, we went back later for some apple dumplings as well which were also very good. Ragin Cajun - #99 - Standard spinning mouse but being only the 2 of us (and un-balanced) we got some crazy spinning on the second set of hairpins. Fun, but nothing special. **Whizzer - #100 - I saved this for last because I have hear alot about it and how it was saved from the wrecking ball. This seemed perfect as my 100th coaster because of it's classic design and history in the park. A great ride from the unique sprial lift to the brake run. The mature trees also add alot to the experience as well as the terrain in the ground-hugging helixes. Overall alot of fun and I am proud to call this my 100th coaster! Other then coasters, we also rode the railroad and sky tower. It got increasingly chilly so we left around 8 and headed to our hotel. They had a great deal with the "kids price" for $35. The food was very good, the crowds were light, and the park was clean (though I'm not sure it was as they repeatedly said "the cleanest park in the world", it was still nice). The exployees also seemed very friendly and helpfull. The weather did suck and I really wish we could have done some water rides and maybe a bit of HH, but we made the best of it. Overall a very nice park experience and very reasonable. As a side note, on the way back home we did stop at Kiddyland and I snapped a couple of pictures (that I will upload to my webshots later). It did look like a nice little park, but we did not go in as $23 for an all day pass seemed a but steep. We could have had another day at Six Flags for $19.99 (special passes you buy for the next day as you leave). While I am sure this is a fun little park it just didn't seem worth it for one small coaster and a few other misc rides. It is sad to see parks like these close but I am glad to have seen it for my first and last time. Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoy the pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/572897350Dmblgd?vhost=community

I hope this isn't taken the wrong way or doesn't sound too off, but in times like these, I almost wish it was going because of money troubles. It would be a bit more understandable and easier to swallow then the fact its closing for no reason other then family squabbles.

No More Heroes 2 looks awesome... (hence my sig)

No More Heroes 2 looks awesome...

^ Never actually heard DWP's music, but I am all about music and promotion, so 8/10.

^ Never actually heard DWP's music, but I am all about music and promotion, so 8/10.

I don't mind SLC's and Boomerangs, especially if they are as smooth as mentioned here. Ad the woody to it, this looks like a pretty good park. I wish I would have known more about it when I was in Orlando a few years ago.

Knoebels? lol. They already have Gold Nugget on their hands now, but it would be nice at another small park and not destroyed.

Hmm.. This makes me consider a quick visit on the way to or from Six Flags Great America in a couple weeks. If SF doesn't have all of their coasters up, I can still get my 100th coaster in! (Im at 89 right now, I need all 11 coasters at SF to be open) Great pictures! Looks like a nice little place.

Awesome story! Id love to get married at a theme park like that, glad it went well and good luck to both of ya! Also coasterbear you are very cute, but I already have my own teddy bear hehe.

http://cursedmountain.deepsilver.com/ The birth date input is a little annoying, but the site is very cool and looks to have alot of content soon. I remember watching this game on IGN as it progressed, and it looked great in the beginning and is now even better. This is just one game in the string of horror titles to hit Wii, and seems very promising. I hope this game gets the attention it deserves, which is why I hope the site draws interest.

btw, I did my meth watch part by taking pictures of potential meth labs that were visible from the road. I'm betting we probably passed a bunch without even knowing it.

I wasn't sure what to expect really, it was somewhat smaller then I thought but they really pack in a bunch of rides. The "boardwalk" area was very nice, especially having moved here from PA so I miss living by all the boardwalks of NJ. Of course this really isn't anything nearly as big, but still reminded me of summers at the boardwalk. More of a nostalgia thing for me really, but I liked it. I hope to make it back a few times over the summer.

Version 2.0 (version 1 was lost because my cat walked across the laptop and somehow closed the window, so this one will be substantially shorter) Picture link is at the end. I have alot of general park pictures of crowds and such, so if you were there that day theres a chance you might be in one of my pictures. Just got back from my first trip to Indiana Beach since moving out to the Midwest for a bit. It was a fun little park with some good coasters and decent food. We got there around 11:20 and ended up leaving around 5 (they closed at 6). The park was empty when we got there and didn't really pick up til around 2 or 2 surprisingly, though never got too crowded. The lines were reasonable, but moved pretty slow most of the day. On the way to the park we checked around some local gas stations to see if they had any Coke cans with Indiana Beach stamped on them. We never found any, but brought 2 cans in with us anyway. On the way in we asked a worker if they had any promotions. He said they don't do them on weekends, but to take the cans anyway because the people running the booths might take them anyway. It just so happened they did, and we saved about $7 between us on POP wrist bands. We also grabbed a Cool Card (which is basically like a pre-paid card for use only at the park for food, games, etc). $25 gets you a Cool Card with $27.50, can't complain so we used it for some food and a magnet as I collect them. This is also a great way for the park to get you to spend money there. It seems like a great deal, but it also is a way to make sure you spend at least $25 at the park. These cards are re-loadable and they have higher discounts the more money you put into them. We did all the coasters first and went around later in the day to grab a second ride on some, so in no particular order here are my thoughts: Tig'rr - Our first coaster of the day and a fun little ride. Was a walk on for the first ride, and a bit of a wait the second later in the day. They only ever ran 2 cars, with one on the track at a time so even with a short line it moved pretty slow. Overall a fun classic ride that reminds of when Wildwood had a Jet Star. I could imagine how liberating this would have felt without the new seat belts. Hoosier Hurricane - A decent woodie with some good airtime in the back. We rode this in the far back first and it was surprisingly smooth. It had some nice views of the lake as well. The second ride was in the first car, second row later in the day and seemed a bit more bumpy. Not sure why, but was still fun. Cornball Express - This had to be our favorite of the trip. It had speed, airtime, and wasn't too rough front or back. The back was our first ride, and had some really good floater air down the steep twisting first drop. It was also nice how this interacted with the Hurricane and Tig'rr. Galaxy - Decent little ride. Like Tig'rr, only ran one car on the track at a time and even short lines had a bit of a wait. Rode this twice, once in the first car and once in the second. Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain - This coaster surprised me with how much track they packed in there. It did whip you around ALOT, but didn't seem to track very rough. We rode this once backwards (in the second car) and once forward (in the second car). Backwards was pretty disorienting because of all the turns and sudden drops, but still fun. Forwards was interesting seeing the front car whipping around a corner or dropping away almost out of site sometimes. Overall a fun ride, but very "bone jarring" as they put it. This was practically a walk on the first time a round but got a decent line when we grabbed our second ride because of the capacity. Steel Hawg - This coaster was pretty good. I have been on 2 other greater then 90 degree drops (Fahrenheit at Hershey and Spongebob at MoA) and it seems the first drop on these small ones are the most intense because of how quick they whip you over. Seemed a perfect fit for the park. It was down a bit in the morning with a car stuck on the break. I feel for those stuck in there because of the sun and heat. They were eventually evacuated and it was closed until around 1. We then snagged a ride, but not until after a pretty long wait. They had 3 cars, but were stacking them because from bottom of the lift until back to station, they only let one car go at a time. We never grabbed a second ride because it was the longest line in the park for a very low capacity ride. Other then coasters we grabbed a couple rides on their double shot, a ride on Den of Thieves, ate lunch at the Dog 'n Suds, and had some ice cream. Double shot was a fun little tower with a pretty intense launch up (and down), with some nice views of the park and lake. This was also my first shorter drop tower. Den of Thieves was a decent dark ride/shooter, but some of the targets didn't seem to register. Either they didn't work or I just suck, but Chris kicked my ass at it anyway. Overall it was a great start to the season and I hope to make it back again to get in some more rides and check out the water park. Most awkward moment of the day: On star blaster, while coming down to be let off, it was still a bit loud. Chris leans over and remarks about the restraints saying "haha, that thing between your legs was pretty much up my ass the whole time". He didn't realize how loud he said it and the ride op pushing the button started busted up laughing. I think she got what he meant but it was still pretty funny. Pictures here: http://family.webshots.com/album/571700488ppuJgt?vhost=family&vhost=family

"Ted - I also noticed a lot of pregnant women, and more dogs than usual." Is Knoebels going with the Blue Ocean idea like Nintendo? lol.

I am curious where goin buggy ended up too, as the new Himalaya looks awesome. lt seems as if they are really putting some work into makin these rides look better and more permanent. Downdraft stands out as a bit too carny next to it, just a simple concrete platform would look nice under it. The new flyer fence looks very nice, much better then the plastic PVC stuff they had before. My dog LOVES the train as well, and the antique cars. No credits though, would be interesting if they made a doggie coaster that is calm enough for dogs lol. I think a wacky worm would work...

Yeah, both places Ive been, the artist might flat refuse to do "tribal" designs (by that I mean a couple lines or swirls that mean nothing), they hated it that much. Not to say they wouldn't do the real stuff, but most today isn't.

I'm sure it means something to a member of the tribe. If you an outsider who has to be taught the meaning of a symbol/design, then it never had any meaning beforehand. That was my point exactly, I mean nowadays more people get it as a meaningless design then something that should really be personal to them.

That spiderman one LOOKS cool, very well done, but that's also a pretty huge tattoo and the guy seems to still be pretty young. You would have to be a HUGE spiderman fan to get something like that, it's pretty much like a permanent costume. Hope he likes that in 5 or 10 years, or every girl he dates likes to have sex with a spiderman. I have a couple tats myself and have some ideas, but i sit on them for years before actually getting them. I once thought of band logos, but I have a couple friends who have several and they remind me of walking ads. Plus, bands come and go, get better or get worse, break up etc, unless i was part of a band I really loved, id not get something like that. Not to mock anyone thinking of getting a slipknot tattoo, but about 50 thousand others have the exact same tattoo, I would much rather get something more personal. Same with tribal art, which USED to actually mean something but now is just a pretty design 80% of college guys who get tattoos get at some time.