pkdcoaster

PKDs Scooby Doo is still the same as it has always been (except train mods) I think all the other Paramount Jr woodies had track modifications. JEFF

Scooby Doo at PKD has always been my Fav. Great airtime in the back on the east side turnarounds. HM goes to High Speed Thrill coaster JEFF

I actually have a F1 racing game for PS2 and they actually included the coasters in the background. I do not think they ever ran the circuit though in the game like Virtua Racing's amusement park did. but that was my favorite track JEFF

Colossos is a chain lift as well as Balder. El Toro is the first "modern" wood coaster to use a cable lift. JEFF

Tell Simon to keep his hands off my Bitch!!!!!!!! Looks like he had a blast. JEFF She's MINE!

Too bad you skipped it - the ride (made by Technical Park and formally called a "Street Fighter") is absolutely insane. It KILLS a Chance Revolution like Dorney's... It had what seemed to be a lame and VERY short cycle (only 3 full swings)which disapointed me plus there was a bit of a line. To Yoshifan- there is only one ride operator at VA fair, Deggler rides. They have been doing the rides here for the last 6 years. JEFF

Me and my family went to the State Fair last night (10-2-06) and had a good time. Although I did not ride any "Adult" rides I did get to go alot or rides with my son (Aidan). He also got his 2nd coaster credit on the Dragon Wagon I do not for the love of me understand rules at the fair. It is like whoever is running the ride can make up any rule they would like. Example: there were 2 Dragon Wagons at the fair. The one in the kiddy area can only have kids on it (NO ADULTS!) Now the other Dragon Wagon- you HAVE to have an Adult with a child?!?!?!? blows my mind. The new ride this year was the "Extreme" I rode a similar ride at DP (Revolution) so I did not see the need to ride this. So I just took pics of the big rides with my "me" time. Once again I am shut out of my Fav. flat ride (Zipper) due to not being with anybody who has a stomach that can handle it. But it was fun riding rides with Aidan, his favorite rides were the Dragon Wagon, Speedway (mini whip) and the big slides. For those that do not know, The fair is held at Richmond Intenational Raceway (Nascar) you can see the grandstands in the background of certain pics. For those in the area there are Credits there- 3 Dragon Wagon, Wacky Worm, Crazy Mouse. Enjoy, JEFF Aidan with cousin Jonathan on Dragon Wagon A cool unique ride Swings with the moon Inverter Midway at sunset Thats more like it Aidan did not care for the "low action" rides

Cool pics!, thanks for the report. It looks like a nice little park despite having any major rides. Did Twister II get totally re-tracked? it sure looks like it. JEFF

Wow very cool, I did not even notice that, I did not have any pics of this but my buddy Chris took a great shot of it (by mistake ) Thanks for everybody's input, it seems the only thing these woodies have in common with trad. woodies is wood. Also does anybody know what type of wood is used? (doesn't seem like south. yellow pine) JEFF photo credit: Mforce79 Notice how the wood is raised off the footer

Well after my trip to SFGtAd last weekend and riding and seeing El Toro, I was very impressed by the ride but also Intamins approach to a wood design that has been working for well over 75 years. For thoses that have been on the others (Balder and Colossos) please add any differences these have over El Toro as far as design goes. El Toro was just massive and runs right through the midway and Que line so one would imagine this coaster would be loud as hell going 65+ mph a few feet from you, Its Not!, it was actually just as quiet as a steel coaster. Differences: 1. Polyurethane (sp?) wheels as opposed to all steel wheels. Judging by the sound the coaster makes going over the airtime hills, it seems like only the road wheels are poly. (check the attached video) 2. prefab. track seems very odd to me but it works (great) 3. No crossties! the first time I saw Colossos I could not believe it takes that diving turn with no crossties keeping the track gauge together (if you notice on each bent there are steel braces that keep the track gauge together.) but still it seems like the parts that have alot of lateral stress should have them. 4. Track design- approx. 15 layers stacked Vertically (compressed) then about 7 layers Horizontally for the upstop overhang. If anybody has anything else to add about these rides please do, but I found El Toro just amazing as far as ride quality and durability (most noticably the structure barely moves) I have heard that the first 2 prefab. woodies are still very smooth (opinions?) so it seems that the wheels make a big difference as far as wear and tear go. If anybody has any other technical observations or pics of track cutout or trains please post them. I just thought the design was fascinating and seems to be a great quality product that requires alot less maintenance and a far smoother ride than a traditional wood coaster. But is it only a wood coaster by technical definition? (If a mod could make the video streaming, it would be much appreciated) JEFF ETsound.zip Raw video clip of El Toro cresting hills. Notice the difference in sound when the upstop wheels are in control. Polyurethane Road wheels no crossties!- notice the steel braces holding the track gauge in place on the bents underside of track. showing about 15 layers stacked vertically prefab. joint. riding it you cannot notice this

you know what bdstorm? You just described everything BGW did to kill Alpengeist in 1998 after it ran practically brakeless in 1997. I miss the old Alp so much JEFF

Yea I noticed that the other side looked like it has not been used in a while. especially looking at the trasfer track area. look at the extremely bad rust already. So has the Blue train been missing all year (2006)? JEFF far right.....bad rust

So have they only had 3 trains since the accident last year? Which train was it? We were in the Orange train. JEFF

Well as for the rest of the park we did not get to do that much due to the long lines and our day cut really short by Rain/storms. There were many rude employees as well (I asked for a plastic bag from a gift shop to keep my camera dry and was denied-I had to buy something) We got on KK, El Toro, Medusa, GASM, Nitro, Skull mtn. I still did not get my Superman credit cause they were only running one train We were in line for Batman when it started raining and heard numerous warnings about your clothes might get soiled blah blah for about 4 cycles then they CLOSE Batman because of this!!! (it didnt happen to anyone) it is just their policy Nitro was running in the rain!!! and we were stuck next in line for the front. after about a half hour we left. It was alot of little things like that, that just kind of ruin your day, especially after paying a ton of money for 6 rides. It wasn't so bad for me cause I have been on all these coasters before but 2 in our group had not been on these coasters and they were really looking forward to them. Hopefully our next visit will be better but I really left the park not to thrilled especially at how the staff was acting and most of the major coasters not running at capacity or slow/not enough ops. Chris has some things to add I'm sure JEFF any buyers? The "SF Smile" Chris does not like this park this is how close I was to a new credit That close to a new credit Nitro still kicks ass! Rolling Thunder......owned day started good

After Ka we headed straight to El Toro. The wait was about an Hour and gave us plenty of time to drool. We rode the backseat and it was just one of the most amazing rides ever. glass smooth, Monster Airtime, lightning quick turns, huge hills. The ending was pure insanity and this ride never let up. It just leaves you speechless. I don't know what else to say except ride it! The whole theme area around El Toro was excellent as well as the music BUT why would you have authentic hispanic music in the whole area but LOUD Club Dance music in the Que line????? Here is the video http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29602 And here are the pics Enjoy, JEFF I love this pic, I just wish the weather was better!

Part 3.1 Kingda Ka pics and review We got into the parking lot at 10:30am and much to my amazement Kingda Ka was running so needless to say that was gonna be our first ride since it was running. Only running 2 trains (1 side) line was to the end of the first switchback past the lockers and it took a little under an hour. Waiting in line for this thing is like holding a time bomb in your hand. you know it is gonna go down for the day sometime.........but when? Surprisingly it ran all day till storms and rain closed it down at 4pm. We left about 5:30 so I do not know if it re-opened. I rode TTD in 2003 and thought it was Awesome although short. So I was very interested to see how different these 2 really were. Me and Erin rode in the Back car, Brakes drop, We launch and not even halfway down the runway and I have had the crap kicked out of me! WE ARE GOING STRAIGHT! The runway seemed to go on forever but the launch was in like 3 seperate pulses, very odd to me. Brake up top sucked! no Airtime, then you get a karate chop to the neck going through the spiral, then the most pointless hill ever! I would have much rather gone through a straightaway at 120mph into brakes. I do not understand how the ride could be so rough unless SFGA does not take care of the chasis or something. Storm Runner does so much more and it is not this bad. At least I got to ride it and got the elusive credit. It is a gorgeous structure though and the whole area was themed Very well. Oh yeah, aparently it is Illeagal to take pictures of Ka in the rain from the parking lot. I had a security guy Yell at me (dead serious) The last picture is posted as a big FU Here are the pics Enjoy, JEFF F U rent a cop

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23430 there are mine....maybe the mods can combine these threads. JEFF

Just uploaded my Hydra POV Hydra front seat POV Enjoy, JEFF

We arrived at Dorney Park at about 6pm (park open till 11pm) and it was DEAD. I could not believe that Nothing had any wait except for Steel Force at about 8pm (10min) This was my first trip to DP since 2001 so Hydra was a new credit to me. Hydra review (13 rides)- I do not know if it was just cause the trains were never more than half full but there was a ton of vibration on this ride and some uncomfortable jolts in the Cobra roll. I got one ride when the train was about 80% full and it was the best ride of the day, so I hope it runs better with a full train. I loved the jojo roll, 1st drop and the 2 inversions following it after that it was kind of meh. I think the Cobra roll looks cool but it was just unnatural and had bad jolts in it throughout and the ending was less than stellar. But I did like the fact that it was VERY unique. so points for that. Talon (5 rides) was kicking ass, I do not understand why people do not like this ride or think it is "forceless" I was feeling a ton of forces in a practically empty train. It felt much more powerful than it did in 2001. A great ride Steel Force- (6 rides)The first half is better than I remember and the last half was worse due to heavier braking but still a fantastic ride and still seems to be the star at the park. Lazer- (2 rides)Still a Awesome high G machine. Thunderhawk was closed =( due to halloween crap, but White water landing was open!!!!!!!!! Lots of fog in the park made for very cool rides especially on Steel force. These pics are not the greatest, The Hydra ones are blurry cause my camera was kinda confused due to poor lighting. so sorry Enjoy, JEFF

Last Blast of the year and it was a really good time. We got a bad weather report for the weekend but hoped for the best. We left Richmond at 7am to get to Knoebels at opening (Noon). 2 of us had never been before, so it is always fun to have new people see the park. Weather said few showers all day but once we steped out of the car it never rained at all and it was even sunny from 2pm on. Flying Turns is coming long nicely and should be finished in time for next years opening day. I was very surprised at the crowds considering the weather report. Longest line we waited in all day was Phoenix (30min-1 train-front) We did both woodies twice and Haunted house and High speed thrill coaster. we left about 4pm to go to Dorney. I am gonna have to put this up in parts, I do not have enough time to sort through 352 pics (I pick the best ones) and resize them now but they will be up before the end of the week. Edit: I just saw were Erin posted her pics She took a great picture of Steel Force. http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29562 JEFF I love this pic (Power Surge) Who doesn't love this place? I love this ride Not 1 ass left in the seat Phoenix is still the star of the park more Twister Twister through the handrail Erin's first Twister ride Twister according to the drawing this is not the lift ??? The Flying turns "test track" makes a great hammock

I love Retro TR's thanks I see trees everywhere, More coasters please JEFF

Cool thanks alot! Hopefully they leave some trees up out there. Potential for some good night rides but the bad side is it doesnt look like you will be able to get any good pics of the drop and first half of the ride. JEFF

Would a local be willing to highlight the area this coaster is going from this pic? I am curious to see how they will fit it in and if it is gonna go through the woods. I agree (going by the CG) the design looks sluggish not much airtime and slow (by GCI standards) around some turns. I hope it is just a mistake on the CG animation. But I really dig the 1st drop. really cool JEFF

Cool TR Chris It looks crazy hitting that small bunny hop after that big hill on Zaturn. Any pics of Titan? And Congrats on the 600 JEFF

Wow they rebuilt everything fast! Thanks for the update Chuck Funny how everybody found it Did they put it back on the park maps yet? I overheard people in line for Anaconda last month talking and one of them told the other they (PKD) tore FOF down. I said "then whats that?"(pointing to FOF) they were confused, then they consulted the map again. They said it was their favorite coaster there. JEFF