Barge84

Flying to Orlando on Wednesday morning. Besides a quick trip to Adventureland last week for some pictures, I haven't been to a park since last June!

I would agree with coasterbill. I've been on the one at Adventureland, and it's pretty boring. My niece was 5 at the time and said the same thing. I've ridden a really big version at Hansa Park, and that was pretty boring, too. At least that one had a rapids section where people would shoot cannons.

Thanks for the report. Can't wait to get back there in July!

As promised, here are the pictures from yesterday. Here's my background with Adventureland... I've lived in the Des Moines area since 1996, and I think I've been to the park 4-5 times. Most of those were for company outings about 15 years ago. Honestly, Adventureland has never been a favorite park of mine. My niece wanted to go 3 years ago, so I did (a week after returning from a TPR tour, so it made it even more disappointing). I had just given up on them ever making a serious investment on a major thrill ride. Let's just say, I'm eating a big helping of crow right now. I was shocked when they made this announcement last summer. It came completely out of left field. I bought my season pass in December, and I've been patiently waiting for summer to come ever since. There is major buzz around this ride in Des Moines. People at work are constantly asking me about it because they saw something on the news. So, I'd like to formally apologize to Adventureland for running my big, fat mouth for the last 20 years about your park. I was going to be in Altoona today, so I decided to get my pass processed and check out The Monster. They must have sold a ton of season passes this year, because they had a lot of employees ready and waiting to get you taken care of. I showed up at the park around 3, and there were about 8 booths being used. I was in an out in about 2 minutes. One thing that I always forget about at Adventureland is how friendly the employees are. Much like SDC, they hire a lot of retirees. I had at least a dozen pleasant interactions with employees, and I didn't even ride anything besides the chairlift. Who cares about all of this? Let's see some pictures. One note, I'm still getting used to using a DSLR, and I must have bumped the ISO button. The early pictures were taken at 3200, so they're super bright. The rest of them look pretty dark in contrast, but it was a pretty cloudy day. Enough babbling. On to the pictures! I hopped on the chairlift right away so I could check out the new addition. This hill should provide some serious airtime. Seeing it for the first time was a little surprising. I don't think I expected it to be as big as it was. The rest of the ride. The drop will be a lot of fun. From the chairlift, it's tough to get decent shots. There's just a ton of track. On the ground now. My back is basically to the games area near Tornado's entrance. Working on the lift hill. The station is going to look pretty nice. I'm glad they decided to do a little bit of theming. The station isn't very big. It's a requirement that drive tire pictures are taken. The train! When I was there, it was sitting on the storage track. I saw the picture posted with it on the actual track, so that must've happened shortly after I left the park. Other side of the ride. This was taken near Storm Chaser and the pig restaurant. The green looks really nice in person. I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first, but it really pops. Still a lot of work to do in terms of landscaping, etc... There wasn't a good angle to get the front of the train. This was about the best I could do. The chairlift interacting with the ride was such a fantastic idea. ISO switched over to auto. Not sure why they're so dark. This is the first maneuver after the drop. Insane. Look at all of the track! Tornado... From the tilt-a-whirl Took a quick walk around the park. I've always thought the Outlaw Gulch section was well done. I'm way too hard on this park. For what it is, it's very well themed. Sawmill Splash Is that a new Outlaw sign? I know it's new for me. I like it.

Here's the only photo I took with my phone. I've been excited, but after seeing this in person I'm absolutely amazed that Adventureland is building this. I never thought I'd see the day where they had a big time ride. More to come tomorrow when I have a chance to upload the rest of my photos.

I'll be out in Altoona today for the Kentucky Derby, meeting some friends at the race track next door. I'm going to get my season pass processed and check out The Monster before I head to the track. I'll probably post some pictures tomorrow.

So you will be here for two days? Wow, so much fun to do Well, it sounds like I should ask my boss for a day off. I've heard a rumour that TPR whould come back this year, but no one has told me when. Will you be 99 crazy people in the group this year also? I'll be there on my own on July 1st, but I'll be meeting up with some TPR people on July 2nd for a few hours. I need to head to Stockholm at some point on the night of the 2nd. Like Jere said, there will be small groups of TPR folks showing up in early July. I can get you more details in a few weeks.

I've been thinking about firing it up again. Work has slowed down lately, but I recently got a puppy, so I've had my hands full with her. I'll see what I can do. Pontus, I'm going to be at Liseberg on July 1st and 2nd. Can't wait to get back to one of my favorite parks!

I would also suggest not losing your express pass 20 minutes after Elissa gives it to you.

An aerial view of The Monster, taken from the top of Storm Chaser. From Adventureland's Facebook Page:

Thanks for the great report! I'll be making my first trip to Walibi in July, so it's nice to see some pictures of the park. I'm most excited about Goliath, but Lost Gravity looks like a lot of fun.

Shouldn't take too much longer. This is looking awesome!

Oh, man. I love Knoebels... Great report, Andy! I've been there 3 times, now, and this was probably the best time that I've had there. Twister was running great. I hadn't really been a fan of it until this trip. I think I spent right around $40 on Fascination that day, but I finally won a few rounds. The TPR takeover on the flyers was amazing, our group was really getting those things to snap, and got a few angry comments from the ride op! And who can forget Phoenix essentially starting on fire that night? Absolutely incredible. I've done 2 ERT sessions with TPR on Phoenix, and I didn't think the first one would ever be topped. I was wrong. Phoenix was an absolute beast that night. It's not my #1 (close), but I think in terms of fun, it's the roller coaster that provides the most fun. Not sure if that makes any sense, but I don't care. Thanks for the pictures!

Sure you can: 1. New Texas Giant

Looking good. I think they had to do a lot of preparation work on the site since the log ride used to be there.They should easily hit early June at this rate.

The logo doesn't really matter to me because the ride looks great. With that said, it looks like something a 10 year old put together in MS Paint. Seriously, even an intern making $10/hour should be able to create something that looks better than this.

Great TR, as always! I can't believe I had to cancel on WCB. I would've had the chance to touch a drive tire at Knott's...

It's pretty far out of the way for most of us, but I think Gao at Mitsui Greenland in Japan is the lamest first drop I've ever experienced. It feels like a 45 degree angle, just a long, slow, steady drop.

^ I love some of those Helix pictures. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the TR! I know others have said it, but your post was great, especially at your age. Can we make everyone under the age of 18 read this post?

It's bible-thon on Saturday. It'll be insanely packed. In 2013 it wasn't that bad. The crowd for the concerts arrived in the afternoon. With all of the ERT, I was able to ride everything without any issue, and my group left the park for about 5-6 hours in the middle of the day to go drink.

I think it's a nice addition to the park. With that said, I wasn't impressed at all with Thor's Hammer when I visited in 2014. I'm assuming this is being built near Thor, is that correct? At least there's something else at the bottom of that giant hill now!

I'm taller and larger than you are, and I don't really care for the new restraints. Is your argument invalid now?

Great pictures. Thanks for posting!