pkdcoaster

I am here today, they opened it at 1030 with 1 train, me and my kids were on the first train out. Has been running all day so far, we just got back in line and they are adding the 2nd train now. Jeff

Here are some control panel pics from Kings Dominion taken in 2005. Jeff Hurler Backwards Rebel Yell (North side) Rebel Yell Forward (South side) Closeup of Rebel Yell's display Shockwave Hypersonic XLC main board Hypersonic load board

Laff Trakk at Hersheypark #402 JEFF

Apparently Fury 325 is having a major breakdown this weekend. It only opened briefly yesterday morning as has been down since and Carowinds tweeted that they don't expect it to be open today either. Anybody know what the deal is? JEFF

Part 2- The big day- 9 parks 22 coasters in a little over 12 hours. All places I have never been Bowcraft Amusement park Luna park (Coney Island) Denos wonder wheel park (Coney Island) Keansburg Amusement park Jenkinson's Boardwalk Casino Pier Steel Pier Gillians Wonderland Pier Playland Castaway cove. I did not take too many pics after Coney Island because of NY traffic put me way behind schedule. I was planning to do Moreys But I ran out of time, I have all of Moreys credits except Doo whopper so it was not a priority. credit #361 Crossbow at bowcraft a really nice custom family coaster for such a small park #362 Dragon kiddie coaster #363 Infamous Cyclone It was running great #366-Steeplechase, First time on this type of coaster, pretty fun and packs a lot of punch for a small footprint. Tickler (standard zamperla mouse)was #364 (forgot to take a pic) Circus coaster in background was #365 and this is sea serpent at Deno's #369 #367 was Soarin Eagle, another first for me and blah these things are horrible. cool looking though Atmosphere on the Boardwalk was really cool, wish I had more time to spend here but I needed to get out of NY Thunderbolt #368. worried I would not get to ride it, they had a cherry picker on the lift for about an hour but opened at about 1:30 I really wanted to like it but it felt awkward and even the loop felt jerky. the turnaround inversion was cool and pretty smooth though Most of the coaster felt jerky next stop was keansburg- Sea serpent #370 #371 Looping star- standard pinfari looper Jenkinsons boardwak- #372-Flitzer #373 tornado (powered) Casino Pier-#374-pirates hideaway/#375 Hot tamales they had a nice sky ride along the beach, but no time for that. Steel Pier- #376 Loco motion and #377 Crazy mouse. I believe this is the original crazy mouse and it was actually the best I have been on mainly cause all you have to do is ask to have it spin constantly and they will unlock the car. The ride was so much more enjoyable especially with no jerky turns just free spinning fun the whole ride. This should be the standard. Gillians wonderland pier #378 Runaway train a great little coaster with a good drop and smooth fast turns Ferris wheel was quite impressive driving over the bridge to Ocean city at night, it can be clearly seen for miles #379-Wacky worm, cool thing was the trims were not being used Playland castaway bay#380-Flitzer #2 of the day. This will be removed at the end of the season to make way for Gale force #381-python, another soon to be gone coaster but I got my credit Finish it off with #382, pirates gold rush. 22 new credits in a day easily a new record for me. First one here

Had a few days of freedom this past week so I decieded to go get some credits and the best place to do that is in New Jersey so I planned out an Itenerary where I could hit the most parks in a short span of time. Typically I am a big park/coaster guy but I wanted to try and break 400 coasters by the end of the year. One of highlights of my trip was to finally ride the Coney Island Cyclone and to my surprise it is a great coaster, I had seen alot of comments the last few years about how the new track work has ruined the ride but I thought the ride was still very wild with lots of forces but still smooth and enjoyable. I went back and watched video before the track work and saw alot of rough spots and the train jackhammering. but that does not happen anymore and the ride is faster too. Day 1 Funplex Sesame place Six flags Great Adventure Funcoaster at funplex right off 295 Credit #359 Funcoaster is similar to a crazy mouse but smaller, this model is the only USA installation according to RCDB. Funplex was like a chuckee cheese on steroids, pretty cool for the local kids. Vapor trail at Sesame place credit #360 a really nice extended vekoma roller skater. Vapor trail has always been one of those really expensive credits but lucky me I had a platinum busch pass this year. park looked really nice but I was only there about 15min. got 3 rides then left. headed over to SFGA to spend some time with one of my favs and try out some of the stuff that had been added since my last visit in 2008, which sadly included no new coasters (I rode Chang in KK) but was excited to try Zoomanjaro The view was incredible but the drop was a little disapointing. I compare all of these to my fav (Drop Tower at KD) I don't know why but the acceleration seems slow and I hate the models that brake way off the ground. The park was DEAD due to the bad forecast and there were no lines. The structure is still very impressive. Kinda Ka was a walk on so I waited 2 trains for the front. amazing ride in the front but your eye sockets hurt so bad. I still prefer TTD, faster accel., no brake at the top, and lap bars. I love this ride Still kick ass after 9 years Sad no more of these have been built in the USA damn storm coming in. I was locked in for my 2nd ride and they shut it down for weather. place shut down for 2.5 hours-ghost town Nitro is still great, park reopened at about 7:15 but would close at 8 due to another storm system. still managed 15 rides in a total of about 3 hours of open park time right as I got to my car the skies opened up again. Green Lantern was not as bad as I thought it would be. Sad about Rolling Thunder, Day 2 coming soon

off season of 1994-95 they removed the 1st corkscrew and replaced it with the "exit ramp" Thanks for sharing those pics PianoJohn, they were great. JEFF 1995-1998 1992-1994

Saturday morning me and my son went to get our last rides on Shockwave but of course took advantage of early ride time on I-305 and forecast said 0% chance of rain on Friday but of course at 1030am we were there in a downpour that lasted about an hour. I have never experienced pain like that before. 90+mph, front seat in the rain is quite the experience.but since I had my camera I thought it would make for good pics of people experiencing this crazy pain so here are some cool pics of I305 in the pouring rain. JEFF They love pain! ouch even the "slow" parts hurt like hell The wheel spray effect was really cool maybe this wasn't a good idea. You know that kid in row 1 will have a serious neck ache for days. I'm sure she kept her hands there till she got back to the station guy in row 2 took one in the eye, thanks to stadium seating

Are the existing coasters still operating, I am doing a jersey shore trip and was gonna get the credits there. JEFF

Thanks for the compliments everyone. Honestly it is alot of "work" to get unique shots because they take alot of time out of a day you could be spending riding coasters so usually I only take the time to do this at parks that I frequent often. Alot of parks have good photo spots buried in the water park or tucked away in remote spots in the parking lot. Sometimes it is a hassle taking camera gear in street clothes to the top of an 80ft water slide past dripping kids but Thunder road was worth it and I think the shots were well worth it especially with the plentiful racing going on all day. I actually was confronted twice by 2 seperate park security guards in the parking lot next to Thunder road wondering what I was doing out there. They were nice about it though and said alot of people have been going out there to get pics and video. JEFF

forgot a few pics TR selfie

Thunder Roads last days. I will give it to Carowinds, they were running all 4 trains on a weekday and the ops were really into it interacting with the crowd and racing them consistently throughout the day. If you are gonna send a classic coaster out in style, this is how you do it. testing after the thunder Fading away

Thunder road- Thanks for the memories. Sad trend in the industry lately. The most perfect and even race I have ever seen on a coaster. Money shot more to come

More pics geek shot Charlotte Harmony Hall is a great addition

I have made the trek from Richmond to Carowinds 3 times this year because of Fury, it is that good. I would put Fury as #2 steel behind I-305. The park had really made some big strides in the past year and CF is really putting its stamp on the park. Thunder road leaving is really sad especially after all the work they just put into it but I give CF credit that at least they are letting everyone know about coaster removals now well ahead of time so that people can get their last rides in. I am not much of a writer but I wanted to share my pics I have taken from spots that you don't see too often so enjoy. also if anybody is disapointed in the lack of Intimidator pics here are my photos from when it was new. http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=54840 JEFF Quite an impressive greeting when you arrive at Carowinds more to come

The trims on the first bunny hill have different seasons, spring and Fall, there are less trims due to cold mornings and the potential for stalling. In the Summer season when it is very warm and it runs everyday there are more trims. Jeff

Thunder Run was a Dinn/Summers coaster. The Hurlers were based off of the Thunder Run design. Jeff

Tempesto was #358 Jeff

What a shitty thing to do, If you are gonna open the ride then OPEN it!

Chuck, Am I reading that right, they opened the line for what an hour around dinner time and then closed it for no reason?

Hurler has no air time whatsoever anymore since the trims were added a few years ago. In the 90's it was an airtime machine but the ride has been negleted for many years and is just barely making it around the course now. Jeff

The weekdays the week before labor day is usually the best week to visit any park in VA. Those weekends are a totally different story

Last week I got to go on a winter tour of construction for the park and they have alot of great plans to revitalize the water park. and so far it looks Great. Here are some pics I got, enjoy Jeff Shoot the curl is completely gone. I think they said a food area will go here. There will also be a walkway along Rebel yell to make a loop in the old water park section Baja bends getting some new paint Lazy river will have an exit on both sides. New kids splash area Slide pieces have arrived Assembling the slide pieces. The steel structure has not arrived yet. Storing them in the empty wave pool for now with the star of KD supervising construction. footers and splash pool seem close to being finished. Hurricane Heights will be between the new wave pool and Pipeline Peak. I305 chasis I305 train New wheels Naked front car can't wait to ride again Stunt coaster Volcano train Shockwave harnesses

For media day they removed a car to insure it cleared the hill every time, which is why it was going so much faster. Jeff

Moonsault Scramble was probably the fastest ever. Mindbender is probably the fastest still in operation. JEFF