Rastuso

The same diagram was in a recent issue of Barl of Fun, the official newsletter of the Darkride and Funhouse Enthusiasts. I am a charter member and a frequent writer for the newsletter. Our website, www.dafe.org, has a complete list of dark rides in North America. Anyone that has some good ridethrough footage, I'd love to trade with you. I have a decent collection, including some walkthroughs that we have had at DAFE events. Dark rides are having a bit of a Renaissance thanks to Sally. And of course rides like Darkastle and Mummy keep coming out. As far as a great dark ride park, Rye is full of classic dark rides, with state-of-the-art stunts. Everyone loves the Knoebels' Mansion, but for a true trip to the past, the Sylvan Beach Laffland (a bit East of Syracuse, NY) is a perfectly maintained classic Pretzel dark ride. It's like being at media day for a Pretzel in the 60s. Rastus O'Ginga

OK, I don't know how to insert images, so can only attach them. I HAD to show this picture. I really wanted to go in, but was sorta afraid. Rastus

Just finished an AWESOME day at the Dells. First, I don't know what people are thinking. Mt. Olympus is a great park> Yeah, walking around for rerides sucks, but hey, you almost need it for Hades. Hades is amazing. It has speed in spades. It falls from being my #1 I think because it lacks some straight hills. But DAMN it has tons of speed, which I also love. It was slow this morning, it was cold and windy. But this evening it was hauling serious ass. As was Avalanch. Avalanch is amazing. Great hills, insane speed, and great turns. And stay in place rerides. But, since both do 250 an hour, ACE Con attendees won't have the ERT I had today. Ran into AirtimeJunkie and had a nice chat aobut coasters and ACE. Plus, Mt. O has great go-karts. My last track my kart was spewing out flames, according to other riders. It was backfiring like crazy. Kick ass!! Also, I HIGHLY recommend Wizard Quest. A 90 minute interactive fantasy adventure where you crawl through tunnels, solve interactive puzzles involving levers and stuff. You have to save 4 wizards by gaining points from answering questions you solve from finding clues. This place is kick ass cool! I want to franchise it. My son and I had an absolute ball. We were one answer short of saving the last wizard. I'm at 98 wooden coasters. #100 is hopefully being ridden at Valleyfair on Friday. Rastus O'Ginga part of Wizard Quest's Earth world

I doubt you can take the cooler on a tram to the other park. The 'Bahn isn't layout friendly to taking anything there really. We took our infant there a few years ago and it was a MAJOR pain dealing with baby stuff. It's just too spread out. You could drive your car to the other park. Parking is free. You'll easily find a place on the bottom of the hill on a Wednesday. You could then have lunch before heading in to the old park. Just an FYI, the distance between Surfenberg and Blastenhoff entrances is about 2 football fields (remember those water shoes), plus another field of walking to actually get to the Blasters. The distance between those two and the Castle entrance at the top of the hill of the old park is a bit less than a mile. They should offer those new kid-finder bracelets that I saw Dollywood has on the new Waterparks show last weekend. VERY cool system. Rastus

That's just insane that you couldn't ride. I've never EVER worried about fitting in a coaster. But I am now a bit concerned over MilF. Hopefully they'll come to their senses before I return. I'm quite surprised Dragster had such a small wait. I guess folks were scared off by the very early ERT and the good chance that it wouldn't even be operating, so they didn't even try. Rastus

I assume you are the guy in the red shirt in the middle of the first pic? And YOU have trouble riding MilF??? My God, what are they doing. So I guess it was a walkon during ACE ERT? And how the hell was Dragster a 5 min wait during ERT? Was this a poorly attended Con? Rastus

I LOVE SCHLITTERBAHN. Here's my tips: Schlitterbahn is always crowded, but a Wed should be decent. Without a doubt, get there 30 minutes before open, get in the park, and go over to the bridge in Blastehnoff and wait for the running of the bulls to the Master Blaster. If you are there at open, you won't wait more than 15 minutes or so, assuming the ride starts on time. If you simply must have another ride, you probably should do it right then. The line for MB almost always fills the top platform, so if the line doesn't got down the stairs to the next level, that's about normal. On a Wed, it shouldn't ever get too long, but it never gets short. Next is sorta up to you. There are some other good slides at Blastenhoff, you may want to go ahead and hit them with basically no waits in the morning. One BIG opinion of mine is that you do not want to go to the old area in the morning. They use river water for the rides, and it's damn cold year round. If it's not real hot out yet, you'll be in for a shock when you get in it. The Torrent River is not to be missed. It encircles teh Blastenhoff tower and is a lazy river/wave pool that is anything but lazy. I could spend an hour just floating around it. Later in the day, it can be packed, and a tube tough to find. You should take a spin, just so you don't miss it. If you leave Blastenhoff after an hour or so, and walk over to Surfenburg, you can sometimes get walkons on the two Blasters there. If you are that lucky, ride to your hearts content on those two. They aren't as good as Master, but they are both very fun, and Dragon Blaster is fairly long. If you must do the surf wave, do that as soon as you get to Surfenburg. IMHO, it's no fun unless you spend the time to get good at it. Your first time you'll wait, slide down the wave, and then get pushed back and off the wave, ride over. Now comes the tough part. With a family, it's a PITA to now take everything over to the old section. Be sure to put lotion on a second time before heading over if you aren't bringing it with you. I've yet to go to the 'bahn without getting a sun burn. You can haul your crap over there, but if you put it all in a locker at Blastenhoff, that means you must hoof it back over to there, get your stuff, then walk back to Surfenburg to catch a bus. I think the best plan would be to park as close to Surfenburg as possible and leave your crap there. Then, after hitting both new section to start the day, just run to the car, get your stuff and go to the old section to get a locker. Oh, and go to Wal-mart and buy WATER SHOES. Trust me, your feet will thank me. They are about $10 a pair and pretty much a necessity at the 'bahn. When you get to the old seciton, DO NOT GET OFF AT THE FIRST EXIT. You will be way over in a section with very little to do other than a kiddie area and a wave pool. It's the Schlitterbahn ghetto. Ride to the Castle entrance at the top of the hill. The locker room is to the left as you enter. You'll ride through it on one of the excellent tube chutes. Speaking of the tube chutes. They are AWESOME, but be warned, everyone riding them WILL be flipped off and dumped into the water sooner then later. JUst a warning for the kids. You may see folks leisurely floating down them, but they all have some drops that might flip you. ANd the blue one that starts right at the entrance is the most extreme one. It starts with a 20 foot spiraling double drop that is incredible, but might be a bit much for small kids. Some have some serious whirlpools that can separate your party if you don't pay attention. The water in the pools you get flipped in can be 3 feet deep. The normal body slides in the old section aren't all that fun, imho. Time is better invested in the totally unique tube chutes. The blue one at the entrance and the castle one that starts with the long back and forth section you see at the top of the hill are the best, thrill wise. You can also take a looooooong one that is over a mile and drops you into the river. But you then have a long hike back. Oh, and to get the tubes, you must go down to the bottom of the hill from the locker room. Get a big one so you aren't real top heavy, or you'll flip constantly. Oh, and I forgot, but get a money wristband in the morning when you buy tickets. It has little tabs that are worth money that can be spent in the park. Why they aren't smart enough to price everything so the tabs can be spent with no change returned is beyond me. They probably get a LOT of change out of the filters, maybe that's why. It's a bit of a risk having money on your wirst like that, but very handy. The old section has a lot of shade, whch can be a blessing on a hot day. After you're done there, it's your decision if you want to go back to the newer section for more. I usually ride the Torrent River a few more times before leaving. The park can clear out later in the afternoon, because I think people are simply drained by then. Have fun. Use lotion multiple times during the day or you will be sorry. Rastus O'Ginga

Yeah, heard this yesterday on the way home. Too bad. THe Mansion singing busts will be a bit sadder now. He was GRRRRRRRRRREAT! Rastus O'Ginga

My mother in law, who is about 63 I think, rode it (USH version) last October. Picture Edith Bunker, and that's her. She always enjoyed small coasters, but does have some old age issues, so she didn't ride Indy, or BTTF. She loved it. I think you'd be fine. Coaster wimp wife loved it too. Rastus O'Ginga

Well, I saw the Killzone 2 video on G4TV's E3 show last night. Since it was obviously similar to the Call of Duty games, I'm sure you've seen it too, Robb. Don't know if you can answer this or not, but do you think that was really in-game action? They said on the show Sony said it was. I find that pretty much impossible to believe. If that WAS in-game video, then I'm camping out at Toys R Us this weekend to start waiting for the PS3 release. I mean, that was unbelievable footage. Even for CGI in general it was kick ass. For in-game it was mind-blowing. Hell, the London city footage was unbelievable too. I can't see the PS3 being less than $800, really. Just curious if you've worked any with a PS3 development kit, and if you are allowed to share your opinion. Of course, you're probably busy playing games at E3 all day today. Lucky bastard. Rastus O'Ginga

Thanks for the info. I'll have to check out those two sources. Are their discount opportunities for Camp Snoopy too? Rastus

DUDE!!!! That's exactly what I was looking for. I was quite interested in their burgers, since I'm in my 7th month of In and Out withdrawal. THEN, I scrolled down and saw they serve draft root beer too. I'M THERE What's the best discount for Valleyfair! admission? I'm assuming a Pepsi can since it's Cedar Fair. Thanks, Rastus

Arnold's is pretty much a dead end drive out of the way regardless of if it's from Dells or M-SP, right? Yeah, it'll be longer from the Dells, but then we can end up in the twin cities for a few days to end the trip. Any good local food to get somewhere, fatty or otherwise? Rastus

^^ Yeah the other credits are on a time/back fatigue basis. We won't have time for the SFGam waterpark I don't think. ^Yeah, We're flying out of M-SP. I have been to Adventureland about 10 years ago. So, the Underground would be new, but that's it. I may or may not hit Little A-Merrick-A. Depends on time. I wouldn't mind getting the Mad Mouse credit, although I think I rode a clone on the Jersey Shore. But the other two there are not a draw at all. I think Robb may have been counting the splashdown ride? OR was like me thinking the water coaster at Mt. Olympus was at Noah's Ark. Surely he's not a powered coaster counter. Fer' shame! Rastus O'Ginga

Well, I'm trying to nail down our trip this June, and thought I'd throw out our itenerary so anyone who lives in the area can tell me if I'm really screwing up. We are going to land in Indianapolis on a Saturday, and head up to Purdue so I can visit my Alma Mater. My mouth is already watering for a Double Charco Cheeseburger with a big old Dog and Suds root beer. Sunday - Indiana Beach in the early afternoon, then drive up to Chicago and maybe do something there. Monday will be an all Chicago day. Here is what I'm planning on doing in Chicago: Par King golf Ahlgrim Acres golf (under a funeral home) Kiddieland park Perhaps a Jeepers (I've never been to one) Perhaps Safari Land I see Navy Pier has a funhouse that I'd like to try, but it's probably not going to happen. Anybody been to it? Also, any recommendations for good local food? I need to check Food Network still. Of course I'm doing SFGAm too. If we get done with other stuff, I may go Monday evening for a bit. Tuesday - we'll go to SFGAm in the morning. I haven't been since opening day for Batman, so there are plenty of new coasters for me. Then, we'll drive up to the Dells. I may try and hit Timber Falls that evening for their flume and woodie. Wednesday - Mt. Olympus. I'm thinking of doing this all day, or this at least being it for the day. They seem to have a big water park, and of course lots of woodies and go-carts for me and my son to ride. Anyone been to Noah's Ark lately? They seem big, but nothing special except their blaster water coaster which will probably have MASSIVE lines. I went to NA about 20 years ago and absolutely loved their tube chutes, but they apparently got rid of them. It'll probably be too damn cold for much water stuff anyway, since my heat tolerance is so amped up from living in Texas. Anything else in the Dells not to be missed? My wife doesnt' seem interested in actually seeing the Dells, and I've been on the boat rides before, albeit over 20 years ago. But, I doubt anything has changed, except the price. Any opinions on best mini-golf in the Dells? Thursday - sleep in and head to Arnold's Park. I'd like to stop and get some fresh cheese curds somewhere. Any good cheese factories around the Dells? We'll do AP in the evening. With any luck, Legend will be my 100th wooden coaster Friday we'll drive to Shakopee, I'll drop off the family at the hotel and head to Valleyfair! How crowded will they be on a June Friday evening? I hope to get there around 4 and be able to hit everything at least once, since this is my first visit ever. Saturday we'll do Mall of America. Anything cool there besides Camp Snoopy? Any suggestions on cool/weird things on this route would be much appreciated. I think this should be a fairly doable trip. Obviously not as ambitious as Robb's trips, but I don't make all that large video game money. I have to pirate Robb's games 8) So, that's the plan. It's my first major coaster trip in a few years, and not nearly as crammed as my PA/Jersey shore/NY/Boston tirp a few years back. I'll try and do Robb type updates if my hotels have net access. Rastus O'Ginga

Well, classic dark rides will never be built again, for starters. Insurance liability make a new Pretzel-type dark ride a non-option for large themers. SOme folks are opening new Pretzels using old parts, but they are privately owned, not part of a mega-park. Sally has really revolutionized and revitalized dark rides, and they DO offer more than just Scooby Doo, although nobody in the the US has decided to make a scary Sally ride, which is quite a shame. I don't think there is a real good answer as to why parks dont' build dark rides. Scooby ones usually have VERY long lines, and they only cost a few million. They do get a bit stale after a while, but so do coasters. I think Dark Castle at BGW is a GREAT sign for dark rides. I'm amazed that they built that, and really wish I could make it there this year. Any park without a dark ride needs one. Hell, Astroworld could really use one. But, that brings up another issue with dark rides, which is vandalism. Most successful old dark rides operate as special pay rides. Few kids will pay for a ride ticket just to ride a dark ride to vandalize it. But if they have a POP and can ride it free, then they can start planning their vandalism. That's why Knoebel's Mansion is a separate ticket ride. Dark rides are experiencing a Rennaisance if anything, imho. Rastus

At least you have Superman, which perhaps is the worst of the Supermen, but it's still phenomenal. The drop alone beats everything at Astroworld. Darian Lake blows, that's for sure. I lived in Niagara Falls for 5 semesters while co-oping. With Predator so rough now, Supes is all they have worth riding for the most part. Plus, they have no coaster for small kids at all. But the Buffalo area still has one awesome steel coaster, and one awesome woodie (at Fantasy Island). Rastus

Yep, half is still backwards. I don't do backwards coasters though. I don't even like the Intamin V2 type rides because of the backwards motion. Mummy didn't bother me, but that was a small section. Rastus

I must admit that being a ride op at SFAW would SUCK!!!! Very few of the coasters have air conditioned control booths. I practically passed out just walking over to the gates one July afternoon last year. It was just brutal. After one hour I barely made it back to my car. That's the last time I'll be going in the Summer. My son is up to 30 now, only 2 behind my wife!! Hopefully he will overtake her this Summer on our trek from Chicago to Minneapolis. Rastus

This is my first trip report posted on here. I usually do them on RRC, but really, what a bunch ta-ra-ra-goon-diays they are. I had been hearing that SFAW had really changed for the good this year, so I was curious to see if that was true. This was my first coaster trip of the year since we boycotted the Houston Rodeo for certain reasons. Weather was great, high 70s and overcast. The day started out with really bad signs. "Welcome NASA" on the marquee and a looooong line to pay for parking at 10:15. However, it seemed like just everyone showed up around then, as the park never got much more crowded. They had 5 metal detectors going, which was an improvement over the past. Since I set off the detector they actually took me to a little room to use the sweeping wand. They make you put your pocket contents on a dirty air conditioner edge that barely holds stuff. VERY strange, and a bit creepy too. First up, which was my son's decision, was Viper. He always wants to ride this, but always gets off a bit shocked. Today was no exception, but he was a bit less shocked. Not much of a wait yet, but they were already back to the lovely one train operation of the ride, with no second train in sight. Hmm, seems like normal disAstroworld to me. The rides ops throughout the day did seem a tad bit more energetic than last year. A little less apathy for the job. I wonder if there is a new rule saying no enless phone calls from ride ops. In years past, most ride ops basically were on the phone all day except when us annoying customers interupted them and they had to dispatch a ride. Next, we rode XLR-8. This was my son's first ride on a suspended. He was tall enough last year, but was scared of it, but not Viper??? It took a lot of coaxing and screaming, but he finally rode it. We felt sort of bad, but after the ride he was ready for it again. I'm sure we were getting "bad parent" comments from people, but I was certain he would like it, he's just real cautious and shy. Again, XLR-8 was one train. Sure, the wait was only about 15 minutes, but on a Sunday there is no excuse not to start a coaster out with 2 trains, knowing it will be needed later. Again, it seemed like classic disAstroworld disdain for customers. After playing WAY too many games, and one game operator that was actually helping my son win, which was quite surprising, we headed to Serpent. Still a fun kiddie Arrow mine train. The ride op was better than last year where disAstroworld had brought in a celebrity ride-op: "The slowest, most apathetic human being in the world". No braking on the ride through the station to the second lap, which was nice. We then rode the always fun log ride. Next up I wanted to get my son on Mayan Mindbender. He's not real fond of dark things, but he loved Haunted Mansion Holiday last October, so I figured he was ready. He didn't argue as much as he did against XLR-8, but was a bit frightened from the dark station and loud sound effect screams. He again ultimately like the ride. We then headed around to Texas Cyclone. I was going to ride Dungeon Drop, but it was down. Cyclone was running 2 trains, which is a welcome change this year. I had a 2 train wait for a front row back car ride. The station really filled up behind me though. I must admit they were dispatching MUCH better than last year. The track seemed a bit smoother, and it delivered a very wild ride with some really good negative g's on quite a few of the drops. Probably the best ride I've ever had on it in my 6 years in Houston. We then got our SFAW/Splashtown season passes processed and left. Total food purchases at park: $5 (dippin dots). Not bad, I usually aim for $0 as my personal crusade against bad management. Total spent on games by wife: way too much. A fun day at Astroworld, surprisingly. Overall, the park was a notch cleaner than last year, and the ride operations have definitely improved a bit. Serial Thriller and Cyclone did have 2 trains as opposed to the classic operation of the park that was basically 1 train on everything all the time. But, XLR-8 and Viper should be 2 trains at opening on weekends all the time. A move in the right direction for one of the worst parks in the country, and sadly, my home park. But in the 6 years I've been here, they have put in Serial Thriller, SWAT and Diablo Falls. SWAT never has a line. DF had a posted 90 minute line yesterday, which means about 100 people thanks to absolutely atrocious operations, and ST is a crappy Vekoma hang-n-bang. Hell, a wild mouse would be a great addition to this park. I probably won't return until the fall. The Splashtown adder to the season pass is nice this year though. Rastus O'Ginga

USH HHN was quite good, imho. We had been to the Scary Farm two years earlier. I thought the USH HHN was MUCH scarier than the Haunt. ANd actuallly better than USF HHN. The main reason was because of the crowds. It never got too bad, and folks were let into mazes as small groups, so you could actually be scared. I remember Norman Bates coming around a corner jabbing his knife at me in a strobe light that was VERY effective. THe year we went the Mummy maze and Rob Zombie maze were EXCELLENT. Universal always outspends Knott's on set design and construction. Knott's uses plywood, Universal uses movie set designers. The crowd was not the usual Knott's mixture of gang bangers and general purpose thugs either. I remember my wife thought I was going to be stabbed one night at Knott's because someone thought I cut in front of them, even though we were at the beginning of the line, all merging together. I thought the Bill and Ted's was not as good as the Hanging, but the absolute best Halloween occurance ever was at our USH HHN visit. We were eating some pizza and saw pretty much every chainsaw wielding guy in the park come marching down, in formation, doing a cadence. THey came to a hault, and paused for about 15 seconds before starting up their saws in unison and running in every direction possible chasing people. It was BRILLIANT! I'd give anything if I had been taping it. I also liked all of the roamers there. They wouldn't all just chase you, some would ask for brains and such. I liked the Van Helsing maze too. NOt much talent in there, which is understandable because of the light traffic, but c'mon, they had damn near the entire Frankenstein set from the movie in there that you walked right through. THAT was cool. Plus, the werewolf at the end was very neat too. I do wish the Marvel Mania restaurant was still there. I only got to see the outside of it. Good times! Rastus O'Ginga

Ummm, Robb is looking rather ACE-y in that first pic of him and Elissa! sfmm2_169.jpg Rastus O'Ginga Not that there's anything WRONG with that. [/code]

Since I'll be 36 in May, I'm even more depressed! I graduated high school on my 18th birthday. I simply can not believe that I have been out of high school almost as long as I had lived up to that point. I mean, it just blows my mind. I can see that mid-life crisis/mental breakdown speeding right at me... But, I still ACT like I'm 18 (my wife says 12), and those 18 year-old girls still look great (my wife says I'm a pervert). Plus, I'm in a kickball league! So, I'm still holding on to childhood as much as possible. Rastus

I'm 35, and hopefully not older than Robb. First coaster was Knott's corkscrew in 77 I believe. I was petrified going up the hill, and to this day clearly remember how Arrow corkscrews are heavily banked on that 180 at the top of the lift, because I was on the inside seat and thought I was going to fall out. Afterwards I wanted to ride again. Sadly, the line was just too long. Motorcycle Racers was nearly completely built. Rastus

Now I know why I don't do message boards, it's too tough and incoherent to quote older posts. Anyway, I totally agree. I've been mobbed many times on RRC for this, but Holiday World got it's enthusiast popularity from holding the largest gay event in the Midwest every year. And, by blaming enthusiasts for thier own operational issues, they ended up pissing off plenty of us, gay or straight. Growing up only an hour from there, I still am amazed at their crowds now. Nobody went there when I was in High School, especially with Blitzen as their only coaster. Yes, Raven is phenomenal, but they can only rest on its laurels for so many years. And Legend is about as over-rated as they come. I'll ride a scrambler if I want those kinds of laterals for a minute or so, which I don't. They need a good steel and a dark ride BAD. Rastus