Rastuso

Well, this isn't a theme park, but it is a very unique experience. For a quick history, Richard Garriott, creator of Akalabeth and Ultima, has a mansion in Austin, TX. In the 90s, he hosted a very unique haunted house at his mansion, dubbed Brittania Manor. This house was legendary, people waited for days to see it. It would include very extensive theming, fire, boat rides, secret passages, everything. Lord Brittish, Garriott's character, stopped hosting the house in 1996. Many of the volunteers went on to keep doing houses, on a much smaller budget, and for the last few years, the Enforcer, from Who Wants To Be a Superhero, season 2, took the reins and hosted Scare For A Cure. I missed last year's video game themed house, but even with many things going on at home, I decided to not miss this year's event. Especially, since it is being held at Garriott's new mansion he is building, dubbed Brittania Manor 2. ********************************* COMPLETE SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ********************************* The whole experience was quite unusual. The event is held in a pretty ritzy area of Austin, with huge mansions everywhere. YOu park on the street, and walk down to a bus that takes you to a gypsy camp. There you register (I had prepaid for "red" level), and wait for another bus ride down to the mansion. You wait in a tent where RIPpers (Researchers In Paranormal) tell you of strange things happening, and how Lord Brittish may be returning to the Manor. They tell of a room where they felt a strange sensation in, and say that's the first room we'll visit. My group, which was me and 5 guys around 20, went into the first room. The whole experience is pretty well themed. About Knott's level. The room had antique furniture, but not much. We didn't feel anything, so we went to the next room, where a chair was being closely inspected when a vampire stormed in a door. He went for our guide, and I think bit her. She stabbed him, and blood spattered all over us (did I mention we had to sign a release, and that we would be grabbed, and get dirty?). We were trapped, but luckily, the fireplace provided a crawlspace exit. We went through a long tunnel, and I think the guys in the back were being grabbed at. We get in a very foggy room, and couldn't find an exit. OUr guide finally found one, and we go down, behind a wall where we can see two people talking about how they plan on doing a blood ritual tonight. THis was pretty cool. We had to quietly sneak by, and found a victim on the floor who was still alive, and able to open a secret door for us. We again crawled through, into a room full of meat hanging from the ceiling. This meat was sticky and covered in blood. Out of there we get to a room just a bit too late to save a guy from being sacrificed. His last words are to tell us of a key that can send the Demon back to hell. He gives us a piece of paper, and was grabbing at me to save him, and almost tripped me before dieing. We look for an exit. I think I found one, but instead find a vampire. A goth vampire and a bunch of super sexy schoolgirl vampires come in and finish the guy off. They rush in from all corners, and drive us back to one side of the room. . The vampire tells us of the Demon, Oravand, or something like that. He tells us to remember his name. A very strange guy shows up with a book and a small ankh. He tells us more about the key, that is also an ankh. We thought his ankh was the key and try to take it from him, but he refuses. As he's telling us this, our guide sniffs our necks and feels around very creepily. We think she might have gotten bit, and is turning. The weird guy tells us we need to have blood of the innocent to stop the ritual. We next end up in a kitchen, where a guy is making something nasty. Some of the guys take a drink of it from another hot babe, I pass. We do notice a bowl of "innocent blood", and take some squishy guts out of it, and run away. We then find another guide who says that we may be able to act like we're in the cult if we put on some robes, so we do, and go into the ritual room. As the chant begins, a guy throws the guts into the circle, which stops the ritual. This pisses the head guy off, and we run to a strange rotating exit, where only 3 can fit, barely. But, there are only 2 of us left after the first group. We get though to find we are only 5 poeple now. We go through a room full of poeple in cages, and find our 6th in a cage at the end. He is let out by a guy who is apparently a spy in the organization. As the vampire attacks him, we run away. We turn in our robes to a very funny coat check lady, and go outside. We find a well, and can hear someone down in it. He tells us again about the key, and how to stop the Demon. Then a huge whoosh comes out of the well, scaring us all. We head on, and find a huge Ankh hanging on a wall. One guy grabs it, and we walk down a hallway with bodies stuck in it. Some of them are alive. One girl talks to us a bit. Then we head down to find another girl in the ceiling that is alive. She tells us she been there for thousands of years, and how we must stop the Demon. After she's done, she pukes on one of the guys in the group, which was hilarious (it was fake of course, but still very unexpected). We head around to a young vampire babe that is tied to the ground, and another that sees us. THere is a big hole in the wall that is ankh shaped. Hey, we should put our ankh there, so we do, which awakens the demon (a very impressive looking demon). He ends up killing the second girl, and starts attacking two guys from our group. He ask us what his name is. I say Oravand. That isn't it. We try a few others, and never do guess his name, and he gets pissed, and summons his minions, a bunch of little demons. THey run after us, so we take off up the stairs, into a second room, full of more small demons. We head out a door, and back to reality. The ending was a bit confusing. We asked, and were told no one knows the last Demon's name, but I feel there must be a secret ending if you know his name exactly. The ending just wasn't quite complete, but maybe that's what it was supposed to be. We wait for a return bus ride back to the gypsy camp. We were all very pleased. This was by far the most unique haunted house I've experienced. I sure hope Lord Brittish starts ponying up dough soon. His new mansion looks quite impressive. I think the well we looked down goes to an actual catacombs he has built. And the walls were very castle-esque. This place is going to be amazing. Even without his input, Scare For a Cure is an EXTREMELY unique experience. If you are in the area, I definitely suggest you go. Get there early, as they started a bit late, and they only take groups of 6 every 5 minutes. I may have forgotten the order a bit, but that is most everything. During the experience, I was grabbed multiple times, crawled through 2 long tunnels (I saw a vertigo tunnel, but we bypassed it, it must not be working). I got spattered with blood, having to wipe off my glasses three times, and had to get some guts out of a dish of blood. The actors were top notch. Special props go out to the crazy guy with the book and ankh. He was awesome. And did I mention the schoolgirl vampires? If I lived in Austin, I would most definitely volunteer for this. It would be an absolute blast. A bit of a haul from Houston, but Priceline helped lessen the blow. This is not for the skiddish. I think my wife would have freaked out in a few places. You can't be clausterphobic, and I was touched by MANY poeple. The "green" level I beleive skipped the crawling and did not get blood spattered on them. I have a few pictures of the preshow stuff, but can't add them till I get home. Rastus O'Ginga

It may have said that in the manual to begin with. BUt there is still another reason as to why it is STILL enforced that way with another coaster that goes much faster, operated by the same company. There is a very specific reason why that coaster does not allow glasses, when much larger versions of the same type ride DO. And it is not because CF forgot to ask Intamin if it'd be OK to let folks wear glasses. I'd guess the ride ops are bitched at multiple times a day about it. Unless CF is utterly incompetant, and haven't thought about it. I still put my money on California, or maybe a combination of CA and a group of Knott's lawyers still kneejerking after the PP incident. RO

^^ I think the fact that Pony Express has the same policy proves the other poster knows not what he is talking about. My guess is that it has something to do with California. RO

No doubt it could have been worse. I'm amazed there were no eye injuries. Maybe this will bring some common sense into Knott's ridiculous no-glasses-at-all-period policy. The seat breaking at the end is the big concern. That's just amazing, and perhaps a sign of car frame failure, which would mean this could be the end of Xcellerator. Anyone know if Dragster and KK are open today? I can't imagine they would be, especially Dragster. With all the cable snaps that Intamin rides have had, I think it is to the point of where Intamin's cable specs are seriously suspect. Imagine if there were half as many Skycoaster cable snaps (there have been none so far, I beleive) as INtamin ride cable snaps. THere would be no Skycoasters left if that were tha case. Luckily, our next trip is to Orlando, which is free of Intamin cables, I believe. RO

I was really hoping for more pics of Pleasure Garden. Especially the weird ride that almost looks like a bobsled coaster from the satellite pics. -RO

I would consider Everest and Space E-tickets, but they just didn't have the wow of a true E-ticket. Especially when Everest's big item, the Yeti, is dead most of the time. When I rode it, he was working, and was quite impressive. It's a great ride, but as I said, it's just not $100 million great. As for Potter not being a new island. It is. MSH Island is Spidey, Hulk, Dr. Doom and restaurants and shops. Cartoon Lagoon is two awesome water rides and shops and restaurants. Jurassic Park is one awesome ride, a small coaster, and shops and restaurants. And I still think MagiQuest will be a big part of HP land. So, I don't understand what folks wanted. Universal spends big bucks on leading edge rides. I go to a theme park for a ride that blows me away with a unique experience. I go to Six Flags for a bunch of fun rides. A bunch of little rides, and some games could have been added, I guess. BUt if the big HP ride delivers, every kid that visits will tell their classmates about the ride where they helped Harry defeat Voldemort by flying through Hogwarts on a broom (or whatever the ride is). Nothing else will matter. -RO

Yeah, that's about all I got too. Hey, I love Disney, but they just don't build the massive E-tickets in the US anymore. Cars has the potential. I really don't understand what folks thought HP was going to be. All the big parks in Orlando are mostly shops. And I don't think teh HP shops are going to be generic shops. Marvel Superhero Island is mostly shops and restaurants. But they have Spidey and a great coaster too. No one complains about that. -RO

Space and Everest aren't lowly, but they aren't killer E-tickets either. Space is just too intense for the average person, proven by the fact that they spent millions of dollars on a centrifuge, and don't even spin one of them anymore. Everest is a really big mountain, but the coaster isn't at all. And going around backwards, in a big dark circle, is not fun, imho. BUt yeah, Universal should instead retheme the park to Florida. Harry Potter will be a theme for the ages. 7 books, 8 movies, magic, youthful protagonist. Kids will be learning about Potter for years. I agree with some of your Disney rides, but what do they have in common? Indy and the original ToT are amazing, but they're 15 years old or more. It won't be until Little Mermaid and Cars come out that Disney is really showing there stuff again. And I'm a bit nervous on cars. I think the ride is well above $100 million, and I just can't see it really delivering that with what sounds like only a small portion of the ride being inside. -RO

I thought there was a special MagiQuest also. I'm surprised that isn't mentioned. But really, name me a time in recent history where Universal has not delivered a blockbuster ride. Spidey - STILL the greatest ride, 10 years after it opened. Mummy - both of them are great and unique. My 65 year-old mother-in-law loved USH's. MIB - The best shooting dark ride around Simpsons - haven't ridden yet, but it was reusing an existing ride. Speaking of, BTTF was the pinnacle of motion base rides, too. Universal has never really opened a ride that wasnt' amazing for it's price point. And with the kind of cash that seems to be going into Potter, I'll be amazed if it doesn't raise the bar well above Spidey. Disney, however, does stuff like Everest, that is good, but you really scratch your head to figure out how the hell it cost $100 million. Hell, the Yeti doesn't even work any more. Same for Space, tons of cash, and it doesn't come close to the appeal of any of Uni's big rides. I guess there is a first time for everything, but Universal is batting a thousand in my book. -RO

Yes, Flight Deck and Vortex are clones, but I rode them both within a few days this Summer, and Vortex was definitely faster, and better. ANd, from what seems to be the accepted rumor, Eagle's Fortress goes much faster than designed. It is insanely fast, and definitely faster than all the others on your list, all of which I've ridden. Eagles' Fortress also has sustained speed. EF's second half is similar to Vortex's second half, but about twice as long, and engulfed in trees instead of above grass and a lake. If Ninja reaches 55, it's for about 1 second, and it immediately goes back up the hill, and is much slower. BUt I don't beleive it gets anywhere near 55. Maybe if take not only the speed of the train, but add in the swing velocity at some exact moment. You might be able to get a radar gun to give you 55 mph from an exact angle where the coaster is swinging towards you at the fastest spot in the track. -RO

So, we're thinking of hitting the area this Christmas. Are teh big coasters at Dollywood open for the Christmas event? How cold does it have to get for them to close? I'm also hoping to ski then, maybe late December. Will Ober Gatlinburg, or the skiing a few hours away, have snow then? -RO

Great pics!!!!! ANy more of the dark rides or fun house? Good fun house pics are so hard to come by. Everyone took pics of the big coaster, the gem of the park, in the old days. The average person wouldn't take pics of dark rides. Thanks for sharing. RO

Resisting. urge. to. make. non-PC. comment... We never let our 3 year old out of our site at 3 in a waterpark. Usually within arm's reach. -RO

So, have you lived there for a long time? I love these TRs, but would really love a retro one with pics of the water slides and stuff from the 80s, when I went to Gatlinburg a lot. I am especially interested in a park that was once in PF called Time World, or something like that. You entered a time machine at the front gate and the park was apparently filled with uber-cheezy dark rides and such. I never got to go, but always wanted to. RO

Not Al's best work, but definitely worth a listen to the average TPR reader. Not to mention, we probably have a SKipper Dan or two on here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNo8LvdOwSk&feature=channel -RO

How do you carry home groceries then? What do you put your garbage in? -RO

Actually, yes, our country is going to become a socialist wacko country. Obama is going to pass socialized health care regardless of if it is really good for the country. I don't know what you mean by "the rest of the world is wrong". Charging for plastic bags isn't done everywhere except the USA. It's mostly done in countries that have environmentalist wackos controlling things. Luckily, Al Gore has started fading away after his inconvienient truth has been exposed as basically a lie. Should we go back to paper bags? Are you one of the ill-informed that thinks paper magically decomposes in a landfill? The average person wastes tons more "things" than plastic bags that weigh a fraction of a gram. Do you worry about being "in style" and stop wearing clothes becuase of their lack of style, not because they are worn out? For full disclosure, I work for a company that makes the plastic for those plastic bags, so I may be a bit biased. However, plastic bags are hardly a big deal in the big environmental picture, especially if they are reused for trash like I do. And who makes the grocery store the environmental keeper? They are making a hefty profit off of those bags. And don't forget that oil is one of Canada's few major exports. Without it, what would Canada export, except Tim Hortons? : ) Anyway, Behemoth is the best coaster in Ontario. -RO

^^^ The thing is, this isn't environmentally friendly at all. The energy it takes to make a cloth bag is probably hundreds of times the tiny amount of energy and materials that goes into a single plastic bag. And if you then WASH that reusable bag, it gets even worse. Just more idiocy from the Al Gore crowd with absolutely no facts or science behind it. Use the plastic bag for garbage like we do, it gets used twice, and is much more "green" than a special made bag that will probably only be used a few dozen times before being lost or ripped and thrown away, taking up the space of a thousand plastic bags in the landfill. My wife bought a "green" bag from Half Price Books. I don't think she's ever taken it back to the store. So, in actuality, it was a big ANTI-environmental purchase. ^ Yep, the ride op told me about it. They came in one dispatch short. TO be honest, I've never seen anyone dispatch trains like they were. I can't see anyone else doing it that fast without being just as rude to the customers. Maybe Americans carry less stuff on the ride than Canadians do. That's the clencher. If people would stop carrying around so much crap, and they just got on the damn ride, you could easily dispatch trains as soon as the block was free. -RO

TR: Canada’s Wonderland June 10th and 11th, 2009 Next, and last, on the park list is Canada’s Wonderland. I had to get a passport for my son for us to go, so this was a fairly expensive park to visit. I hadn’t been in many years. I had been twice before when I lived in Niagara Falls, and a third time for a David Lee Roth concert back when Steve Vai was with him, but I did no riding then. There hadn’t been much reason to return, really, until Behemoth came to town.. I think my last visit was during Vortex’s first season where I made the mistake of not knowing when Canada’s Independence day was and waited for about 1.5 hours to ride it. It’s sort of odd how the park has fared since then. The right side is mainly unchanged apart from 2 new small coasters squeezed in. The left side is totally gutted. The log ride is gone, as are many other flats I’d assume. The skycoaster surprisingly takes an enormous plot of prime land right off the fountain. This seems to be an odd choice. The newer crap coasters are here too, including the SLC and the scary Volare. We arrive with what we think is 2.5 hours to go, but instead find it is only .5 hours, which royally sucks. Traffic in Toronto was god aweful bad. Just miserable. We had a later start than I wanted anyway, and then waited for our lunch at the awesome Cheeburger Cheeburger by the Boulevard Mall in Buffalo. We breezed across the border only to find traffic come to a near stand still as soon as we neared the bridge on the West side of Toronto. And it just got worse and worse. Since I had a SP, I decided to go ahead and get a 2-day pass for my son, which wasn’t much more, only 2 dollars I believe, although you couldn’t use coupons on it. Weather for the next day was sketchy though, and I really wanted to ride Behemouth, so we start the looong trek back to it. The line was surprisingly short at about 10 minutes. We get front seat back row, my favorite. This ride is another excellent B&M hyper. Awesome air on its many hills, a unique figure–8 helix, and a few more great hills. This ride delivers the whole time. Add in the nice lake setting, and I think it is a bit better than Diamondback. We decide to hit Stunt Coaster next, my last of the 3 versions of this. A very short wait for probably the middle of the trio. A bit rougher than KI’s and no onboard audio, but not as bad as King’s Dominion’s. They did seem to skimp on the theming a bit on this one, and of course the show scene was nothing but the helicopter barely moving and the sound. We got off to realize we had time for one more ride. We decide to brave Time Warp, the Volare. We get there to find it is down. Probably for the best since Volares rate second from the bottom of Mitch’s poll. I still think the only reason Rye got one was that some of the politicians against the park did some research and found the worst ride the park could possibly buy, since Gouderix was too big and too far away. The ride looks fun, until you see the flying position where you are really craning your neck to look forward and the fact that there are bars on both sides of your head. It was probably for the best. So, we run back to Behemoth for a second ride. The crew was simply insane. They were apparently trying to beat a dispatch record that Diamondback’s crew held. So, they were rushing through quite quickly, verbally abusing anyone taking too long to exit the train, or to put something in the station box. It was funny, but was a bit rude. Ultimately, they missed the record by 1 dispatch that they probably needed another 90 seconds for. The ride delivered a great ride once again, and we headed to the exit. We stopped at a grocery store near the park. There were a few different things about it. First up, you had to put a quarter in to get a cart out. Secondly, the thing was huge. Really nice and clean, although quite expensive. Milk was especially high, but it was the first time in years I have seen milk in bags, which was neat. We got some Aero bars, which my wife and I love, and headed to the front. The checkout girl seemed to barely speak English, and asked if I wanted a bag, which was odd since I had a number of items. I find out later I was charged 5 cents for the thin plastic bag that probably cost the store one one-hundredth of that . I guess that’s par for the course in a socialist wacko country We head to our hotel, swim for a bit, and crash. We get up early for breakfast, which was pretty aweful, but we did drink about $5 worth of milk at Canadian prices. I ask where a Starbucks is, find out one is very near the park, and head off. I was relieved to see only 3 busses in the parking lot. We head back to the rope drop by Behemoth. We end up on the second train out. It’s a bit chilly, and quite a wakeup call. Since the line was still barely out the station, we go for a second ride. I then figure we need to hit the other rides before lines get bad. First up, the Mighty Canadian Minebuster. I recall this ride being so-so, and think it has been reprofiled some, which is probably right since it goes through some waterslide supports. The ride is quite rough, even in a middle seat of the 3-bench cars. Not fun. My son decides to skip the stand-up, which is no big deal, although the Togo standups are sorta fun. We get to Vortex for a walk-on. They have the video cameras on this ride. The video wasn’t very good since it was overcast, so the contrast was pretty bad and you couldn’t see your faces well. A fun ride that seemed MUCH faster than the former Top Gun a few days ago. Noticiceably faster, and a bit jerkier because of it. This ride approached Eagle’s Fortress speed in a few sections, I thought. I wonder if it really is faster than KI’s. I would assume they are virtually identical, so perhaps CW does a better maintenance job. We then hit the Fly mouse, which was good fun until the brutal stop on a dime brakes at the end. There was no reason for that. We check the line for the powered ride in the mountain, and it is already probably an hour. No way, so we head into the kiddie section. Somehow, during my two previous riding visits, I totally missed the junior wooden coaster back here. It delivers a very good ride, and was running two trains even with half full trains. I must say that ride operations was VERY good at all three Cedar Fair parks we visited. Much better than what I see at Six Flags parks. We check out the Scooby dark ride only to find a sign saying 45 minutes from the spot where the line reached, which was NOT very long. I went up to the exit to see the cars moving reeeaaallllllyyyy ssslllloooooowwww. I ask a lady just getting off how long the wait was, and she says about 20 minutes. We decide to skip it anyway, since the line had probably gotten longer in that 20 minutes. So, we head to Silver Streak for I believe the last of the Vekoma junior inverteds for me. My son plays in the slide area for a few minutes and he says he wants to do the Action Theater. Its’ the same Spongebob 3-D that is seemingly everywhere now, but there was no line. I remembered having seen a rice bowl restaurant earlier, so we went there for a very good Thai chicken rice bowl My son did a few spinnies while I was in line. We decided to skip Dragon Fyre, but he wanted to ride the pirate ship before we get the last woodie credit. This woodie has 2 bench seats, and did run a bit better, although still a very average to below average ride. No wonder I rarely hit CW. We decide to check out Behemoth‘s line, and are pleased to see it is still only about 15 minutes, so we take another great spin. He finds a cool name keychain that is solar powered and flashes black to cover the name when powered. And he wants the obligatory shot glass for Behemoth. We look to see if any of the games have the same alien dog that King’s Island had at one of the really hard games, but we couldn’t find one, so we headed out. I guess Toronto schools are still in session, because the park was not crowded at all. We had a really fun time, although, Behemoth IS Canada’s Wonderland. Hell, it’s about twice the height of every other coaster there, and is the only top tier ride there.. We hit a few more stores for some Aero bars to use up our Canadian cash, and get some of the Olympic quarters. The return traffic was just as brutal, with it being damn near bumper to bumper about half way to Niagara Falls. As we approach the border, I remember that “I like to stop at the duty free shop”, so I go in and buy a bottle of 8 year Bacardi for $20 cash. Not as good of a deal as they had on Crown Royal, but I’m set for a while with that. I drive past my old Lafayette Square apartments in Niagara Falls that are just scary. I don’t think I’d spend a single night there. I drive past the kookier looking than ever Zoundz music store, although I don’t know if it is still even open. I then recall Sammy’s pizzeria. This is where I always ordered from when I co-oped up here. I wondered if they were still open. Sure enough, they were, so we went in, and stepped back to the 80s. Seriously, this place hasn’t changed one bit. The 25 year old comics in frames on the wall helped me realize that I had been there before, not just ordered for delivery. They had a Super Pac-man and Centipede machines and about 20 years of smoke and whatever. We played some games while they baked the half tray (I forgot that you get trays of pizza in Buffalo, basically a square pizza cooked in a cookie tray). It really was a blast from the past. When I got the pizza, we head out to the car and I grab a piece, and yep, that’s Sammie’s pizza, complete with the little pepperoni slices that turn into little grease bowls. We stop at Smokin’ Joes for some gas that is slightly cheaper than other stores, meaning Smokin’ Joe is making a mint on it, since he doesn’t pay some of the taxes on the sale. For the first time in probably 15 years, I make the drive from my apartment to my wife’s house. It was quite the trip down memory lane. I made this trip tons of times in the few months I lived there when I met her. I then visited some friends I hadn’t seen since my wedding the next day, stopping by Halley’s Comics in North Tonawanda, a quick stop to the Corner Store, and then an evening of pizza, wings, guitars, beer, and hockey. Buffalo doesn’t get any better than this. I do miss the 70 degree weather, as the pilot just said we are approaching Houston, where it is 95 degrees. Oh well, Buffalo isn’t exactly a thriving metropolis, so I won’t miss it much, but it was a fun ending to another great vacation. Movie_00_(MVI_6462).mpg Station craziness. My buddy Dave at Halley's Comics. Secret lair to the Video Rangers. Yeah, I'm a geek. Gee, do you think the guy that runs this place is a Hippie? The ultra weird and creepy Zoundz 2001. Yes, I actually lived in the upper left apartment at one time. The place was a mix of Niagara University students and welfare folks. I think it's mostly welfare now. If you can affor NU, you sure as hell ain't staying here. A parting shot from the parking lot. The very photogenic, and surprisingly fast Vortex. I guess it's also a reason to go to Canada's Wonderland, but not on its own. I'm glad this remnant is still in the park. And it still looks fabulous. It brings back great memories of King's Island. The beginning of a surprisingly uncrowded day. Bag 'O Milk. Really the only reason to come to Canada's Wonderland.

I don't know exactly, but it's in Europe. That is the first modern "looping" waterslide. Here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMeYzF4UTrM -RO

In no way, shape, or form should IOA (or any park) be using Tag Out for safely working under an inverted coaster. If they aren't using Lock Out, OSHA should come down on their asses HARD. Tag Out provides no real protection, and when you are talking about a coaster that could easily kill someone, it simply doesn't pass muster. Anyone ever caught under a coaster that isn't LOCKED out should be fired on the spot. -RO

Were your other wood coasters the Rattler 15 times? The Voyage in it's opening year had three downright brutal transitions. Yes, it was smooth, but it was very aggressive, and painful in three spots, two of which are fixed, I believe. -RO

Hehe, I agree with lots of this. I've said for many years that Holiday World coasters get WAY over-rated because of the event they hold, and who goes to it. Heck, people still praise what is essentially a kiddie park with 3 major rides as an unbelievable value for $40!! Those same people bitch that Six Flags is insanely expensive for the same price and about 5 times the rides. All because the drinks are free! Look at Legend for the perfect example. When it opened, all you heard about was the rave reviews from Legendary Stark Raven Mad. People went on and on about how amazing the ride was at night. And this was with the G-trains! Now, the Legend is an also ran to the Voyage AND the RAven that was there first. The Voyage is now the "it's amazing at night, especially at the event I went to" coaster. Raven has always been awesome, and Legend was never a good ride, and is has an empty station during events. Voyage was an experiment that just didn't work out. The GG does too much on some of its coasters, Voyage and Boardwalk Bullet are the best examples. THey seemed to have toned that down for Ravine Flyer II, thankfully. And honestly, Voyage at night is more of an endurance test than a fun coaster. It was an interesting experience, and one I'm glad to have had. But, I'm with Robb, it's not a re-rideable coaster in any way shape or form. -RO

Seabreeze Park – June 9th, 2009 I only visited Seabreeze once when I lived in Niagara Falls. It was the day I bought my main axe, an Ibanez Joe Satriani model, from the House of Guitars. My parents were in town, so we made a quick visit. Unfortunately, the unique Bobsled coaster was closed. I didn’t recall the Jack Rabbit being very good either, so I didn’t have high hopes for a return visit. My family was joined by grandma and my 3 year old great neice, who had never been to an amusement park. We start out by dropping by the House of Guitars, I think for the first time since I bought said Ibanez that is still my beloved main axe. It looked exactly the same. The front building jam packed with guitars, although I saw no Ibanez ones. The back building a perfect example of what music stores used to be before Richard Branson took them over, and the record industry sued all it’s customers so they refuse to buy records any more. A huge room filled with various media, including tons of imports. Of course, I don’t buy music anymore, since I know how the recording industry works now, but my son wanted to buy a CD. Of course, it had to be Metallica. We looked though all the import singles and regular stuff, but couldn’t find a King Nothing one, his favorite. A worker did find a US single in another spot.. It amazes me how anyone can find anything there. They have tons of pics too, including a vintage one of Metallica, probably from the day they opened for Aerosmith at the local baseball stadium. A great show, with a weird lineup including Metallica and Warrant!?! We then go to Hank’s Roast Beef and Ice Cream that I found online. They made some great burgers, and I had their Frankenstein Roast Beef Sandwich that was damn good. Their ice cream is just Perry’s. Not bad, but not home made there. We get to the park about 15 minutes after their first evening opening to find a pretty large crowd. The main lot was already full, a really bad sign. We park about half way down the Jack Rabbit and go get tickets. They charge a hefty $10 for non riders, and only $7 more for riders. They really should have a cheap senior entry fee, since my mother in law paid $10 to watch people, although I do think she got her money’s worth. First up, of course, was the in-house built Bobsled coaster. This is a hybrid wood structure ride with tubular steel track. I believe it was built to resemble the Mattterhorn, and it sure does. You ride in 4 person single cars with comfy restraints. The ride starts off excellently with a series of bunny hops and a great diving S-curve leading to the lift. After that, the ride is a series of big drops, followed by turnarounds with small drops in them. The ending is a nice downward helix. This ride is amazing. My son and I love it. I quickly get on the cell phone to tell my wife she’s gotta get down to this ride, as she’ll definitely like it. She was with my great neice in the kiddy section. My son and I go and ride the spinning mouse while we wait for them to arrive. This is a clone of the Waldameer mouse, and is just as fun with not too much spinning. We decide that our niece could ride the Bobsled too, if she was willing. She was, so we all got in the surprisingly short line and hopped aboard. Well, my neice absolutely LOVED it, squealing and giggling the whole ride. We all decided for another ride, again fun was had by all. This ride really kicks serious fun We ask our niece if she’s interested in the frog hopper, and she says yes. So, I ride that with her to again here tons of giggling. My son chooses the Music Express, since he has discovered he loves spinning rides, and I sure don’t. The little one rides the incredible carousel next. A very well taken care of antique, with a simply amazing organ. The signs say it is a reproduction, but uses some original parts for the more intricate features. They also have a complete set of music reels for this model of organ. It sounds absolutely amazing, and all the percussion add-ons work perfectly. This is the true gem of the park. I guess the original burned down a fire a few years back, but this obviously well built replica is total ear candy to anyone who loves the sound of a classic midway. We return to the kiddie area where my niece rides everything over and over. She’s having an absolute ball, and obviously is a junior thrill rider. My son hits the yo-yo and we contemplate the log ride, but it looks fairly average and its jacket weather, so we skip it. We make it up to the other end of the park, home to the Bear Trax kiddie coaster and Jack Rabbit. We all take spins on Bear Trax, which is again loved by the little one. My son and I then get into the not too bad line for Jack Rabbit. I really thought the lines would be worse with the crowd, but the park was just right. Full enough that it’s obviously healthy, but not too full to hurt your experience. Despite the Morgan trains, Jack Rabbit was quite fun, especially the drop after the double down. The ending tunnel was fun too. Much better than I remembered when I rode with my dad many years ago. Night had fallen, and the park was just fabulously lit up with all the rides moving, the awesome organ playing, and the sight of tons of families having great fun together. This was really a magical night. One of the best traditional park experiences I’ve ever had. They do desperately need a good old fashioned Pretzel dark ride to be a perfect park. Their ride selection was very similar to Waldameer, but Seabreeze is much cleaner, and has a great setting, with Lake Erie visible from the Bobsled and Mouse. Not to knock Waldameer though, it’s still a great park too. We decide we all need some more Bobsled rides, so we leave grandma at the front gate and run down for what ends up being 2 rides because we just couldn’t get enough. This made us god a bit longer than expected, which didn’t impress grandma, who was a bit upset when we returned. We bid farewell to a wonderful park, and I wondered why I hadn’t been there more often. I’ll definitely return if I make it back to Buffalo in the Summer. Don’t miss this gem of a park. The amazing organ. I had a stick of cotton candy while I watched the spinning lights and listened to this amazing organ. Truly a slice of heaven. The park has lots of historic signs showing how it has changed over the years. My son enjoys the Crazy Daisy. A new coaster enthusiast is born. God, I love traditional parks. Where else can a little girl go and ride tons of unique rides just her size, and also ride some great coasters. More of the great Bobsleds. A view from the top of the ride. The start of the excellent Bobsleds coaster. The huge record store area. Back in the day, this place was hopping. Now, it's probably one of the largest record stores still in existance. Truly a dying breed. A fraction of all the amazing guitars they have. About 18 years ago, I tried out my custom made Joe Satriani Ibanez right here, Nothing's changed. The world famous House of Guitars. My wife and great niece get demonic on the Bear Trax.

Waldameer Park, June 7th, 2009 Taking a break from megaparks, we visit one of my favorite traditional parks, Waldameer. It starts sprinkling as we get there, but luckily it stops soon. I forgot that you can enter for free, which is always cool. My son and I get wristbands, and my wife buys tickets. Of course, we make a beeline to the long delayed Ravine Flyer II. There is no real wait. I’m amazed at how tight all the track looks. There’s a lot of it, though. We take a front seat ride. WOW, this is one killer coaster. Super fast and smooth, great hills, and the Gravity Group chilled out and didn’t try to squeeze too much into it this time, so there aren’t any jarring transitions. I don’t know how well it will age with the horrible PTCs, but for now, this ride kicks all sorts of serious ass. We take a quick reride near the back for a seriously excellent coaster ride. Next up is the classic Bill Tracy Wacky Shack. They are dispatching cars quite slowly, so a small line ends up taking almost 10 minutes. It’s great to see this very well maintained ride is still pleasing the public. My son takes his first dark ride ride in quite a long time. We then head to Pirate’s Cove. My son gets a bit freaked out in the second half. I love this walkthrough, although a group of teens comes practically running through it at one point. I love the scenes near the end, especially the pirate coming out of the toilet. These two attractions are real gems, and will hopefully be with us for many many years. We look at the usually unique games, and find an in house game that is basically a lotto machine that you snag a ball out of and get a prize based on the number on it, duck pond style. We hit the spinning mouse, which is new to us, and pretty fun. In line, we run into some ACErs that once realizing we are also ACErs ask me if my son could accompany them on the kids only Ravine Flyer III. I respect their plight, and my son says yes. Officially, he was too tall also, but the ride op lets him pass. We find out that this really means 6 laps on the ride for him, since only one adult per child is allowed. One of them kindly offers to buy him something in the gift shop. H chooses a shot glass, which has become his park collectable. We’re not happy he’s collecting shot glasses at 10, but they are empty, small, fairly cheap, and all parks have them. He eyes the rock candy at the register, and the lady asks him if he wants one. OF course he does. They were quite nice people. They said they got 20 Dragster rides during Saturday morning ERT. WOW! We head over to the Comet for a nice family ride and an update to the photo I have in my office of me sharing my son’s first wooden coaster ride ever about 7 years ago. You gotta love a coaster that seems to be melded with the surrounding trees. We decide to get one more RFII ride, which is excellent again, and head out of the park. -RO The awesome, classic station for the Comet. Big Ole Break levers, and a curved station. Plus, it's almost as if the trees support the ride. A total classic. Wierd lotto game. I love this scene. A classic scene. I love the look on the shark. The great Bill Tracy Pirates Cove walkthrough. Again, still in great shape with many original stunts. The excellent Bill Tracy dark ride, still delivering great laffs after many decades, and in great shape will many classic stunts. Ravine Flyer 2. You can't see much from the park, but there's tons of twisted track that really delivers.