CoasterFanatic
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Posts posted by CoasterFanatic
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LOL. I knew I forgot something.
Oh, you forgot a bunch ...
Station Sucks
Placement Sucks
Clear Cutting Sucks
Oh, and we're actually critiquing lift hill supports now? I believe that's a first. Laughing... oh and the Lift Hill Supports Suck too!
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Don't be scared by the bad reviews. The hotel is fine and probably the best bet for money vs. value in the area. There a lot of hotels right around there that are 10x worse.
Expect a no frills hotel with plain jane decor and you will not be disappointed. They have free coffee in the lobby but the donuts will cost ya. The best discount on park tickets can be had right at the hotel desk and don't forget to use early entry. It is a big perk.
The worst thing I have ever encountered there is a slightly noisy AC unit. Some people obsess over the little things.
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Never bribed anyone in my life, but I did borrow Carnage's niece to ride the Taxi Jam at Wonderland.
I have never really obsessed over steel coaster counts. Now wood ... that's a different story.
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Everything looks excellent so far! If Great Adventure treats you anything like it did us this past weekend, you are in for a treat.
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I think Nemesis is the best hands down. Actually, it might be one of the best period.
Overall, I wasn't to thrilled about many of the wood coasters in England. If I had to choose, it would probably be the Big Dipper. I wanted to like Grand National so much, but it just felt really stiff and awkward.
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You found ice on England? Where?
Excellent report Rick! Even if i am a little disappointed that I can't hold that HRC credit over your head anymore.
// It is called the "English" system for a reason
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Hurricane Cat 5 (Pavillion)
Tsunami/J2 (Clementon)
Thunder Run (SFKK)
Psyclone (SFMM)
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Excellent so far! I am eagerly awaiting the rest.
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^ Winner
// Waiting in line for "Kozmo"
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With the way current trends are moving ...
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Geauga Lake is like the gift that just keeps on giving.
Maybe PKD will get the Belgium Waffle stand next year. That was always my favorite.
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Conneaut Lake has/had one. It had been SBNO for years even when the park was open.
It was operating in the parks last days.
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^ Because people are already speculating that they are dumb enough to try buying them.
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Voyage
Season Coaster Count: 4
// I suck
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Sorry Ted, you still wouldn't have gotten this credit yet.
And probably never will
// Props for the Steeler Pullover
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For those that are overwhelmed by the sheer size of the poll, your imput can still help by simply ranking your 20-30 favorite coasters (and leave the rest completely off your ballot).
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^ Noted.
// Next year this will definately improve. Little late now for the steel poll.,
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I sure don't like how Ted's helper now randomizes your ridden list, makes it a lot tougher to find the stuff you've ridden for a more accurate ranking. It takes too long when your count is so large!
I am with you Derek. It is an insane process when there are so many coasters in your count. I still haven't even done mine.
The randomize was a feature that I talked about with Mitch for the last couple of years because so many people leave a lot of the coasters in Alphabetical order creating an extreme bias. Not so much a problem on the wood ballots, but it was a big problem last year with the steel ones.
Always looking for ways to improve the process though and your comments have been noted.
Next year, I would like to do drag-drop, where you can pull the coasters over one-by-one and place them in the proper order. Anyone have any comments or think this is a better way to go about it?
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Nice report Steve!
I don't want to hear anything about 40 degrees. Come up here for a weekend!
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Very interesting photos. Don't see these everyday.
Where is the next destination, Richard? You seem to have been just about everywhere
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Thank god the park and some rides are Historic Landmarks, because in 15 to 20 years after the park has changed hands a few times and is a shell of it's former self the chances of someone buying it and leveling it to build a shopping center or office park are less.
The landmarks are privately owned which offers them absolutely NO protection.
Source: http://www.nps.gov/nhl/QA.htm#6
How will Landmark designation affect my ability to make changes to my property?Listing of private property as a National Historic Landmark or on the National Register does not prohibit under Federal law or regulations any actions which may otherwise be taken by the property owner with respect to the property. The National Park Service may recommend to owners various preservation actions, but owners are not obligated to carry out these recommendations. They are free to make whatever changes they wish if Federal funding, licensing or permits are not involved. (Questions regarding Federal involvement are answered in the next section.) Federal laws that involve National Historic Landmarks are listed in the Federal regulations governing this program, specifically in 36 CFR 65.2 "Effects of Designation" ©(1-7).
Owners should keep in mind that State laws or local ordinances may affect National Historic Landmarks if these legal mechanisms recognize and protect Landmarks, independent of Federal law.
Does becoming a National Historic Landmark mean the Federal government will acquire my property?
No. Landmark designation implies no commitment on the part of the Federal government to acquire the property.
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Can I ask a stupid question?
I'm not as into the coaster thing as I used to be but... what's the big deal? Nobody is going to turn it into condos, nobody is changing anything next year, they said that they were going to keep everything the same (and why not if it's profitable?)
This seems like a minor news story and if you didn't hear about it, you probably wouldn't even notice a difference at the park.
Did I miss something?
I will go a little further than Scott did and forgive me if I ramble too much.
I have been going to Kennywood every year since I was born and I have a lot of memories and experiences in the park. If you asked me what I would change (other than keeping that second train on Phantom), I would say NOTHING.
While young people here and elsewhere don't see the big picture, let be the person who points out the obvious. Kennywood will probably never get more than a million people through the gate in a year without a MAJOR change to the landscape. It is a regional park and has been supported by the local economy since it's inception. A family run business where you can see a member of the Henninger family or Carl Hughes walking around picking up trash.
Little changes might not make a difference to some of the thrill seekers here, but they would dent the atmosphere of the park.
Example, say that the new owners make a deal with a food vendor and the only obstacle is Kennywood's picnic policy. While in the grand scheme, it may not look like a huge operational change to most, how would it affect all the people who have for generations gathered for dinner before viewing the Fall Fantasy parades. Or maybe, you are an Italian family that has met with all your friends year after year to sample each others dishes at the annual Italian Day. To most it would be a small deal, but to those families that have supported the park for years it would be monumental.
Also, as Scott pointed out, it isn't really a matter of what happens next season but how the corporation performs over the next few years. What happens if the corporate parent bites off more than they can chew and is forced to "fire sale" off all of it's properties. Who will the next owner be? Will they share the same philosophies?
These are all issues that we never needed to consider while the current owners were in place. Kennywood was an institution that while changing moderately to accommodate the times, never deviated from it's core mission.
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^ LOL
Call me a skeptic, but I can't see how Kennywood can benefit from this acquisition. it wasn't like money was a problem before. They have the same people come year after year and 15 Million dollar B&Ms is not what this park needs.
If they start selling season passes, I am done.
Photo TR: Ted and Catrina visit New Jersey
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
Well folks, I know it has been a while since I did one of these but ...
This past weekend, Catrina and I hopped in the car for a weekend trip to New Jersey. Like usual, we found some odd ball things to mix up with the trip and here are the results.
Day 1 - Six Flags Great Adventure
After the seven hour drive and a good nights sleep at the Willow Grove (Hey, there used to be a park here) Springhill Suites, we found ourselves back in Jackson, NJ.
We arrived at the park right before opening and I already have my $15 parking fee ready FTW.
First stop of the day. Flash Pass is almost a requirement for those with ADD ... like me.
For those who are curious, this is the 2008 pricing breakdown for Flash Passes at Six Flags Great Adventure. If you do plan on utilizing it, I would suggest reserving one online. Our two person regular unit was $4 cheaper online.
Flash Pass is really of no use unless you can use it on all the big attractions. Here, you can even use it on the park's Top Spin, Rapids, Pirate Ship and Motion Simulator.
Wait ... where are we at again? All these trashcans are confusing me.
On our last trip to the park, El Toro was still under construction and the whole area roped off. This means that Catrina had never had the pleasure of experiencing "Rotting Lumber". That had to be remedied.
Our next stop and one of the primary reasons for our visit was El Toro.
The park had early entry for season passholders this day, but El Toro was still a walk on right into the station. And I swear ... Catrina told me to take this picture.
El Toro is a monster sized woodie and all the hype it has received is well deserved. It might very well be the best coaster in the United States.
The steepness of the first drop is uncanny. Not even halfway down the first drop and the ride already fells like it wants to kick you to the curb. But it is only beginning ...
What follows is a barrage of airtime hills.
Just when you think the ride is going to take a break and let you sit down for a second. It smashes you into the lapbar again and through ground level S-curve.
Next up was Medusa where they were running ... gasp ... THREE TRAINS. I haven't mentioned this yet, but I was super impressed by the state of the park. Every ride in the park (with the exception of Dark Knight) opened at 10:30 or before and operations were killer. Kudos.
After an excellent ride on Medusa, we walked over to the Great American Scream Machine. Catrina had never been on it, but upon further observation decided that she felt "way to good" to ruin it with this ride. So instead we used this opportunity to grab a modest photo.
+1 for having the Absolutely Insane running. I think I may have only seen one of these things run before.
Now in Gotham and posing with the local talent.
Even the Penguin was available for photos.
The Virtual Amry Experience appeared to be very popular, but alas, we did not make it inside. Anyone want to enlighten me to what the draw is. I did see people walking around with game discs around their necks. I imagine that each participant got a game demo of some sorts.
The Dark Knight was now up and running and thank god for QBot. Other than cool preshow, you can get the same experience at Hersheypark by riding their Mack Mouse with really dark sunglasses on.
As soon as we entered the gates of The Dark Knight, I queued up Skull Mountain. By the time we got off the ride, it was ready to go.
Skull Mountain just keeps getting better. Not only do you have a fun dark coaster, but you get the extra added awesomeness of death metal, strobe lights and a giant skull staring at you. I can't wait to see what they add next year. Put in a blood river and I am back in a heartbeat.
See ... Catrina is still smiling from the awesomeness that is Skull Mountain.
Yet another attraction that I had never seen running at Great Adventure.
Mr Freeze is probably the best character I have seen yet at a Six Flags park. He was upbeat, quick to a joke and having a blast. He went on and on about how they were the good guys and the Justice League was evil.
Catrina also joined in the fun.
So long, Six Flags Great Adventure. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Till next time ... eat at Ted's.