Tikifire

Awesome TR! Thanks for sharing this!

My biggest missed credit I wish I'd ridden was the Texas Cyclone. I was at Six Flags Astroworld during spring break back in about '93 or so with college buddies who weren't big amusement park lovers like me and I got them to ride most of the other rides but they wouldn't wait the hour to ride the Cyclone. It was pretty packed that day and I did make them wait an hour for Ultra Twister and managed a ride on Greezed Lightnin' too so at least I didn't miss out on those two.

Awesome trip reports! Thanks for sharing all that and sorry your head was hurting you so bad when you were there!

This whole thing is a really bad idea! I'm sure the bean counters are at work at BGE.

This doesn't sound good. According to Lance at Screamscape: Not sure what you guys think of that site or Lance around here but he's generally on the money about this stuff from my experience. He makes some other good points in his write-up over there. I'm thinking that if this is correct, perhaps they're not going to replace it with anything for a while, just a bridge to that side of the park as was mentioned earlier in this thread.

This really sucks. I finally got to ride the BBW back in spring of 2000 and I remember it and Apollo being my fave 2 rides at the park. I was hoping to take my wife and kiddo up there sometime in the next 2 years to ride it but I think this dismantling puts that trip on the back burner for a few more years. Ah well, BGW, you just lost my money for a while.

I would think it's because we're in the busiest tourist season down here at the moment. The only time that even equals business at the theme parks here is the week between Christmas and New Years but that's nothing like July here (nor is it as hot, ). Being hot and busy wears the employees down and makes them more prone to making stupid mistakes I would think.

HAUNTINGS!!! I loved that place when I was a kid. I talked my dad into going in there back in the mid 80's and it was awesome! Gatlinburg used to have a lot more cheesy type attractions like Hauntings, World of the Unexplained (kind of a more interested in the occult Ripley's museum), World of Illusions, The American Wax Museum (in the town's old theater), Gatlinburg's Haunted Mansion, the old Ripley's Believe it or Not with the gigantic water faucet suspended in mid air out front, and all the gigantic arcades with all the latest games. A few of those are still around, and some have changed buildings like Ripleys after the original burned, but the 80's was a great time in Gatlinburg!

Cool pics, and that Avalanche coaster looks wicked. That "truck" you passed looked like a spray-tractor and I believe it's built high like that so it can go over the plants without crushing them while it's spraying pesticides.

The Wabash Cannonball at Opryland... sniff

Thanks for the pics and the great TR. I need to get back up to Holiday World. I haven't been since Legend's 1st year.

Thanks for sharing the great pics. You got my vote, hope you win!

Ah, bummer. I rode it back in 2004 and it was neutered with that mid course brake like you're saying. When I last rode it in June of '08 they barely had that mid course brake on and it was running crazy like the old days. I guess the wear and tear is too much on it for them to run it wild like that on a consistent basis. BTW, does anyone remember that pit with the crocs in it that was right past the platform for the first couple of years? Fun stuff, used to really freak riders out as they hung over them on the way to the lift..

When I rode Montu last summer it was almost to it's original '96 levels of insanity. The trim brake before the batwing was barely on. Looks like they're keeping it painted bright colors as well. I love MONTU when it is running right!

Thanks for the awesome TR's guys. Your photos made me want to get out to some of the parks I haven't been to in years.

If I remember right there's a tiny dip after the lift and you round a curve into the station. Back when I rode it in the late 1990's it had a concrete pad sitting below the curve near the station with the cannibalized 2nd train sitting on it. I guess they were stripping it for parts for the train they had running at the time (which was duct-taped and seemed to be falling apart too). Scariest roller-coaster I ever went on. I'm wondering if they still have the Yo-Yo swing ride that actually spun you out over the mountain side with a pretty steep drop underneath you. I only rode that once and was scared to death at the time.

I rode this back in 1998 or so and the rickity track and train falling apart plus my fear of heights made this the scariest coaster I'd ever been on. I still count it as that, but I'm sure the new train will help a bit. I do wonder if the loop still shakes back and forth when the train goes through it though. That was a bit disconcerting. It's hard to tell from the video but it doesn't look as shaky as it used to be. I wonder also if they still have the indoor twister near the roller coaster. When I was there they were blaring AC/DC, this guy drinking from a giant beer can in a paper bag was running the ride and he gave us about 15 minutes ride time. I was crushing my former mother in law and after about 5 minutes it was a bit uncomfortable to say the least.

Bad idea putting it in Cypress Gardens... good idea putting it in Orlando.

Was that a 110 with flash cubes or did you have the high end 110 with the built in flash? My first camera was a 110 with the built in flash... man that's a memory... Speaking of memories, thanks for sharing these John, for those of us who never experienced Idora and her Wildcat these are really bittersweet.

This is great! It's nice to see my home parks through others' eyes.

I think you're on to something here...if it weren't for the excellent water park, there's not much to ride beside the coasters. Am I glad I rode The Voyage...YES! Did I run out the exit and get right back in line....no way. LOVED the first drop and the second big airtime hill. But, as others have said...we felt like we were hanging on for dear life during the second half of the ride. If it was not so dad-gum hot, I'm sure I would have enjoyed the other coasters more than I did. To me, a great coaster is one that makes you want to stay on the train...or run down the exit, then run up the entrance so you can get back on as soon as you can: two coasters I've ridden come to mind: The Phoenix and Cornball Express....and maybe Lightning Racer...or Mindbender at SFOG. I find as I've gotten older (I'll be 38 this year) there are few coasters I can stay on or run around to reride over and over again. I'd say Apollo's Chariot back when I rode it in 2000 was like that and Goliath at SFoG was like that in 2007 when I first rode it. I enjoyed Millennium Force back in 2001 and would've ridden it again but for the huge line, but that's the only big Intamin coaster I've been on. Rides with lots of inversions I tend to ride only once, even the beemers. Most of the woodies I can ride once and then be done for a while, as I feel things moving around inside me that I never could feel up to say 10 years ago or so. So maybe the B&M hypers are a bit smooth but as I get older I like that smoothness a bit more than bone-jarring hang-on-for-dear-life rides. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy them all, but I do have to pace myself a bit more now.

Camden looks like an awesome old park!

I've really been enjoying your TR's guys! Keep it up and here's hoping you get to ride Volcano sometime, it's awesome!

Thanks for all the great trip reports. I'm really enjoying reading them. Something I noticed in your HKDL photos and in other photos I've seen of the park is all the mountains around it. That's really strange to me as I've been to DL twice and to WDW more times than I can count and seeing mountains behind familiar sights is a bit of a weirdness.

It really is a great family ride. It's the kind of coaster a small kid who doesn't like the loops or isn't over 54 inches can ride over and over and never really get tired of it. At Opryland the final helix was built down into the ground with bushes and trees hanging out and it was awesome.