PKI Jizzman

Thanks! That's a tricky question since some of the places like Alton Towers and PortAventura included tickets with the room. But I ultimately spent about $100 per night on lodging. I probably could have spent less if I chose to stay in hostels, but I preferred standard hotels. I also was placing an emphasis on having a 24 hour front desk and close proximity to train stations/airports since I had a lot of early flights/trains. Big Blue Hotel (Blackpool)- If you see the other hotels in Blackpool, you'll want to stay here. Alton's Enchanted Village- Cute lodge with 2 days at the park included. Bloc Hotel Gatwick- Located in the airport. Unique room with everything controlled by touch screen. PortAventura Hotel Carribe- Extremely nice resort and it included 2 days at the park. Expo Hotel Barcelona- Decent hotel. Small room but near the Saints train station. Best Western & Stockholm- Small but a great location in the heart of Stockholm. Gothia Towers- Extremely nice, wonderful staff, across from Liseberg. Wow, thanks for the info! I'm definitely going to stash this for future use. Your criteria would be similar to what I'd use to pick out spots. Appreciate it!

A Wii as the grand prize Just leave it in there long enough and soon it'll be a piece of nostalgia.

Chuck you always do a phenomenal job of putting the reader in your perspective and this report is no exception. Thanks for not skipping a beat on the culture day - great photos!

Who is this guy? Now he's got a new hat and glasses. I can't even keep up with this thread anymore! Seriously, thanks for the endless entertainment. 4 parks in one day along the East coast is impressive, and beyond that you arguably got on the best of each major category in one day (flyer, wooden, hyper, inverted). I would have done the same thing.

I definitely never set foot in that stadium because I didn't know it existed. I guess I was too distracted by the non existent line at Wicked Twister to notice it? Uhhh hell yeah for all of these non-ride related announcements lately! I'm really excited about the future of the boardwalk and the potential of the sandcastle suites/stadium area. Seems like they're really focusing on living up to the resort moniker. I'd have no issue persuading a group of non-theme park focused friends to join in on a Cedar Point trip with the option to go to Put in Bay + added activities around the Point. I'm sure you wouldn't really be able to entertain yourself on the outside of the park for the entire day, but maybe that's their end goal. Go for it, CP.

That twisted airtime hill looks like it has potential for some funky air. Can't wait to see more pictures and video when it's completed!

This is great. I walked that part of the beach a few years ago and it was, um, not in great shape. I love this quote from Ouimet regarding Fast Lane: Next time you're FL'ing for Steel Vengeance just smile, wave, and say "you're welcome"

The city museum is so awesome and when you factor in Bogart's Smokehouse is less than 10 minutes away that's the perfect day in StL. You can also find local beer @ the cafe on the second floor with a bunch of weird animatronics and pinball machines and old school games.

Great photos and storytelling! Glad you made it around without any issues with trains/busses. Awesome job. This trip is amazing! How much were you spending on lodging on average/overall?

This is great news. In this case, every one of Kings Island's coasters is smooth. Bat is fantastic. Make sure you're prepared for the walk. Bring water, food, bug repellent, a machete, and a pop-up tent. As long as you're a relatively good hiker, you should make it to Bat's station in just under 2 days. Is it worse than Zumanjaro? I'm very curious about that comparison. It's definitely longer than American Eagle.

This is the part that baffles me most. I keep thinking there has to be something special to this, so unless they plan on enclosing the thing at the end, I am struggling to see where the cost is. Mystic Timbers by comparison cost $15 million. Probably all of the terrain re-working. They are using the term 'ground breaking' literally and spending money on pushing dirt Remember Cards Against Humanity's Holiday Hole? That was immensely fun to watch! Sit back, relax, and watch them dig that holiday hole!! [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

death grips is something else, yo. I saw Rezz, M Machine, and NoMana last Saturday. Tomorrow - War on Drugs!

I'm a big fan of Diamondback in row 1/2 - I like 2 more because you're sitting on the edge. Diamondback may have a stronger push up and over the hills than pull on the way down - you'll have to figure out yourself! I worked on the ride the whole 2009 season and loved rows: 2, 10, 16. Banshee is similar. Great views in the front row, but the back seat provides a surprisingly nice whip on the first drop. I didn't anticipate it when I rode for the first time since there's no pre drop but there's definitely some funky forces there. ***Banshee requires you to put your stuff in a fluffy bunny. It is very reasonably priced ( I think only 2 bucks for 2 hours?) and just put your stuff in there and enjoy the rides around it without crap in your pockets. That slow roll at the end WILL empty your pockets so don't chance Banshee taking your keys/phone/etc. Another vote for Bat being underrated and try to get on the front and back if you can - the back has a weird nice pop of Arrow airtime that doesn't jar you on the pull out at the bottom of the hill; the front makes you feel like you're going way faster than 50mph. Banshee ice cream or blue ice cream is a winner! There are great local beers on tap across from Slingshot and Adventure Express at the beer garden; if you/someone wants a mixed drink, they'll mix it up and make it worth it. I'll also second Rooster's if you want to leave the park to eat. Really cheap but good quality food and beer. But if you'll put up with the prices for staying in the park at least you have local flavors like Skyline, LaRosas, Montgomery Inn Bbq, etc instead of the typical theme park crap. If you do any haunts, check out Madam Fatale's - line up before it opens so you don't have to wait too long. It's inside the Crypt/Tomb Raider's building and you get to walk through the queue. It's Kings Island's best looking/most detailed haunt, IMO. I'd probably skip Boo Blasters since your last memories of the ride was Phantom Manor days... If you've never been on one of those 'skateboard style' disko's - they are really fun and give you a nice whip if you can snag an outer edge seat in the back row! It's called Snoopy's Surf Coaster or something like that.

I'm glad Mystic Timbers is on the Winterfest list since I'm not able to get to the park this month. Although I'm nervous about how long the line will be post running of the bulls. Since the park opens at 5pm right as the sun is going down, there will be ample time for night rides! I wonder if the patches of ice in December will help me get to the ride faster..

If you see 'em call 'em out!

The translucent dome will sure gather a crowd on the ground. I'm loving these mega slide combos that are being added!

Sorry to hear about the operations. That's just so annoying but it is what it is. Glad to hear Shambahla lived up to the hype! It looks stellar. Baco is such a "fallen from grace" story, in my opinion haha. It had such immense hype/curiosity around it and has some great moments but what's talked about most at the end of the day is the roughness. Bummer. Thanks for the report!

Another great chapter! Thanks for the detailed report. Glad you were able to get some sweet Sheikra action in. I've got a Naples trip coming up and have been really tempted to find a way to squeeze in a Tampa stop..

Thanks for the easy links. I always fall back to the archive/index/TPR history when I'm out of things to read on the train. There's pretty much an endless supply on TPR!

Let's keep the innuendo rolling It's me. Cheek to cheek and caressing a hot pole in Texas in like, 2009. (jeez I couldn't even get my arms around it) *bonus cookies for who can guess the coaster.

It was on our list but just too far out of the way from everything else we were doing Tried to make it work! Will definitely make a stop next time.

Its plausible for a floorless. I don't think we'll see a wing coaster. All of the surrounding parks have one, except KK. Holiday World, Cedar Point, and SFGA have one. I'd bet on a giga, sit down looper, or some type of launched coaster. I don't think that Cedar Fair wants to add an RMC, dive coaster, or wing to this park because Cedar Point made those additions in recent years. I don't think they want a bunch of similar rides in their two Ohio parks, but I could be dead wrong. When was the last time a floorless was built? Nitro in India? Out of all the possibilities floorless has got to be on the less-likely spectrum. Kings Island has a wide variety of coaster types, but the two that were the original/biggest when opening (Vortex, Flight of Fear) are a shadow of what the current coaster type looks like (you could argue Firehawk too). Hopefully a new looper (Mack seems to be the prime example today) and traditional launched coaster (again, maybe Mack or Intamin) make an appearance in the park soon. The kids area is packed full of activites for that demo and with Racer, Timbers, Adventure Express, lil wooden coaster, and kiddie coaster all providing adequate thrills to help fans step up to bigger thrills I hope they can just tune up the extreme coaster spectrum. The one thing people comment on about Kings Island's coaster selection is "they've got a ton of ...good-okay coasters with two or three great coasters". The park would be amazing if you could hit upgrade on a number of the coasters from the 80's and 90's.

Thanks! Yeah, it's very easy to explore so definitely add a few hours to your trip. I didn't think the mall was...that big but I only walked around the square surrounding Nick U to find the bar I mentioned. The early - mid 1900's games were the most eye catching. I'm not too knowledgeable about old school games/pinball machines but I've been to enough barcades/arcades to recognize rarity when I see it. This place is a goldmine. This was my first time seeing them outside of a festival and they didn't disappoint. I really fell in love with the new album after seeing them perform this time around, too. I forgot how good of a guitarist the guy is! You can pack in SO much to do in so little time and don't have to shell out for prices of a big city like Chicago so I highly recommend!

80kg = 176lbs. Yikes that's unreal.

Yeah, pretty sure 2 visits are in order next year. That drop looks like it's unbeatable.