ernierocker

I was wondering if you were going to start a HHN thread this year. I am finally going to my first HHN in Orlando this October, so I have been following the speculation on other boards. There will be 8 houses again this year, as someone found the permit filed for all the houses. Hopefully, they will have as many scare zones as last year. Can't wait until October!

Congrats man! I have been a proud papa for a month now and there is nothing like it. Glad to hear mom and baby are healthy. I am assuming you meant May 30th, unless she was born in the future?!?

I missed the ducky on the fence post and on the pink elephant. I completely overlooked the one on the fence post, but I have to admit, I assumed that there wouldn't be any duckies hidden in ride areas and didn't even check that picture. Now, I am really going to have to check every picture from now on.

I counted 4 ducks.

Just thought it was a cool name. Have fun on the Scandi trip! I am planning on making it to Dollywood while the Deep South trip passes through, I think I remember seeing that you were on it. Oh, and to EBL... Ha! It is from the world's longest roller coaster! You know the one that never ends.

I am going to do a little final summary to close out this report. Thanks again to Robb and Elissa (and everyone else who was involved or helped) for an amazing vacation! Like Jason just said in the previous comment, if you are on the fence about doing a TPR trip, just go ahead and send in your deposit today! (If the trip is opened, of course) You will not regret it! Best of the Best Top Three Parks 1) Lake Compounce 2) Six Flags New England 3) Busch Gardens Honorable Mention: Moreys Piers, Knoebels Top Three Wooden Coasters 1) Boulder Dash 2) Phoenix 3) El Toro (Didn't get enough rides in) Honorable Mention: Lightning Racer Top Three Steel Coasters 1) Superman Ride of Steel (SFNE) 2) Stormrunner 3) Nitro Honorable Mention: Griffon Top Three ERT sessions 1) Boulder Dash 2) Phoenix 3) Lightning Racer Honorable Mention: SFNE on Friday (First one of the trip!) And finally a little recognition for a park that really blew me away for their hospitality and genuine enthusiasm for their job. Morey's Piers! You can't beat ERT on nearly every ride! So, that is it! Thanks for reading and I hoped you enjoyed the report. P.S. Here is one last photo that I think really sums up what this trip truly meant for us. Go on a TPR trip and you can have a baby too! (Costs of raising baby not included)

The key to enjoying the first half of Mystery Mine is to ride with your head leaned forward away from the padding. It does help to know ahead of time which way the track is going, so you can keep your head leaned in the direction of the oncoming curve, keeping it pinned on that specific headrest. Now, with that being said, it's not necessarily a good thing when you are having to invent a specific strategy to prevent headbanging. Anyways, looking forward to rest of the TR!

^I think you might of missed the point they were trying to make. Instead of Hogwarts being the facade of the main ride, they wish there was an actual section of Hogwarts Castle that they could walk through. Obviously, you wouldn't expect to see every nook and cranny of it, but like the main hallway with some fake stairs and such. Kind of like the Disney castles that you can walk through.

Definitely, you should post it! No problem! I will be going through trip withdraw come August myself. It seems like they could just use the claw end of a hammer right? I will be doing a final summary of the trip later today to officially close out this report. Also, I finally got around to adding a Park Index. Check it out on Page 1 for easier navigation.

This is the last one! Thanks Knoebels! You were a perfect park to close out an awesome trip! Hanno is not only an amazing photographer, but he can also pull off a mean body toss. One last ride on the Phoenix! And I somehow got stuck with this! Candace is excited about officially becoming an enthusiast. Chris was just acting normal. Jason still hadn't recovered from the previous night. And after over a week of no sleep and marathon coaster riding, TPR members in a delirious fit of insanity, buy stupid hats. The offense was punishable by extreme finger biting. Meanwhile, on the way back from our super-secret mission to the GCI factory, Drew was being punished for another "Max, needs to take a shower" joke. This old feller still has some of that cocky spirit let in him. Len kept rambling on about how when he was your age he had to rotate around uphill for two hours, both ways, in 2 feet of snow! Old people. We found where old carousel animals go to die. The ride actually doesn't move. The world just spins out of control (and focus) around it. I didn't know this, but it is so awesome that the Philadelphia Flyers were named after this ride. The Flyers were amazing. The magic is gone. Before, you get excited about this so-called magic, wait until you see Donna.

Thanks for the congrats! And thanks for bringing back up memories of that lovely Delaware toll plaza. Here is the last of the photo updates for the trip! "I can eat my way out!" -The End But then he got an idea! Then, he got angry. At first Robb was perturbed that his head was stuck to the structure of Flying Turns. I didn't know it, but this is how the heimlich maneuver is performed across the Atlantic. I knew I shouldn't of trusted those three! We were told this is the only thing holding up Flying Turns from opening. They just can't figure out how to remove this piece of wood. Here is some close-up wood. Fortunately for me, some well-timed ninja moves spare me from a fiery death. Unfortunately, the sudden arrival of Tony sent Allison flying out of control towards a fiery death. Speaking of creepy, stalker guys, when did Tony show back up?!? You guys better be behaving down there! Here is what a view from the top of the lift hill will look like. Just photoshop the dude out of the picture, thanks. I wonder where Flying Turns gets its name from? YAY!!! Hey, there's Robb! I sure hope he does something goofy soon! His facial expression is either because somebody farted or annoyance from some creepy stalker looking guy filming him. We were fortunate to get a walking tour of Flying Turns. Texas shows off his "Look mom, no hands while I am stealing home base" style. Chris, just sort of got stuck right here. Richard's profession as a Disney performer comes in handy here. Brent shows us how they do things down under. Jason demonstrated much grace during his turn. Of course, they did! Dear god, they aren't going to let TPR members on that thing are they?!?

Dollywood's version of the Flooded Mine was taken out for the construction of Daredevil Falls.

I love Pla-Mor Lanes! Back in high school, we went there every Friday night. (Yeah, we were cool kids) I have never been to the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. I went to the one that used to be north of the city and didn't really like it too much. I'll have to check it out sometime in the future. Thanks for the report!

I'll put in a 2nd vote for Ghost Hunt at Lake Compounce.

Wow, Boyz II Men is moving up in the world! First, Hardees commercials and now playing at Wild Adventures?!? I wonder how much the park relies on tourists stopping by on their way to Orlando. Because, it doesn't seem like there is a large population base to support the park otherwise. I hadn't heard too many good things about the park, but you did a great job showing off the place. Thanks, Erik!

I hate when I start watching a show I end up liking right at the end of a season. Maybe, you guys can start a spoiler thread so we can speculate what will happen next season. Will this be like big network shows that has only one season per year, or more like Top Chef which has two seasons per year? Seriously though, very funny stuff!

Final update! Day 11: Knoebles Our final day of the East Coast trip would see us visiting Elysburg, Pennsylvania, home to Knoebels amusement park. All I can say is what a way to finish a great trip! Knoebels is just flat out fun. Everything in the park is fun. The carousel is fun. The tiny little train ride is fun. The bumper cars are completely dangerous! The flyers are insane. Just a great, great park all around! Morning ERT would be on the newest of the park’s two (operating) wooden coasters, Twister. No one in my group seemed to like this one, but I found it to actually to be pretty good. Afterwards, as we were standing around waiting for the park to open, Robb tells a group of us to head over to Phoenix. Accompanied by Rich Knoebel, we were escorted through the exit of Phoenix and allowed to ride right before they opened the ride to the general public. There was actually a decent line of general public already backing out of the entrance to the line waiting for it to open! So, we ride it once, come back to the station cheering, while the general public jeers up at us. We paused in the station for a moment before they let us go through again! So, we go through the ride again, once again cheering as we entered the brake run, once again the general public jeering up at us, when they sent us right through the station without stopping and back through the ride again! To top it all off, they let us ride again after some people switched seats. It was definitely one of the top highlights of the trip. Phoenix is an amazing ride. There is insane airtime on every hill. I don’t think I ever laughed so much on a ride because it was so good. It is just flat out what a wooden roller coaster should be. After lunch, we headed to the GCI factory where they told us all their deep dark secrets. It was really nice of those guys to take some time to show us around the office. Funny little story: Going in, Candace had no clue what a GCI was, but she got a little excited when I told her it was the guys that built Thunderhead at Dollywood. The final ERT session of the trip would be on Phoenix and what a way to end the trip! Because they were running two trains for us, there was 40 seconds from the time the train would stop in the station before it needed to be dispatched. As a result, after every ride, we would rush out of our seats, go out the exit, back into the entrance, and wait for the next train. This was a LOT different from the other ERT sessions because usually we would stay in the station or never get off the ride. It really made it a perfect way to end the trip, because it turned into a endurance race to see who could make it the full hour of racing on and off the ride. I made it 45 minutes in when I finally had to call it quits. I did go back for one last ride when Robb yelled for everyone to come back. Here is first set of photos. Well, since I have to prepare to unload, I am going to break right here. 3 out of 4 bikers cried when they heard that the High Speed Thrill Coaster was being removed. This is pretty much your only opportunity to get an overview of the park. Time to head back down. This is the view at the top of the chair lift. Someone will yell at you if you try and jump, so don't try it! There it is! Wagner is wondering where the patented pose it. Hey guys! Chair lift time. It was a lot of fun! It appears that Brent has already succumbed to one of the three adjectives that describe this coaster. TPR takeover commence. Gotta love Stefanie's patented pose. Looks like a TPR takeover is amidst. Let's try it out. Head chopper! And of High Speed Thrill Coaster! Which offers some great views of people's feet! Even the lazy river boat ride is fun! Richard seems to think that Jason is a wee bit off target. OHHHH... Um, what is going on here? This was my second carousel that had the brass rings you could grab. Such a great atmosphere! Do not play with the wheel or the slightly effeminate bear will eat your soul! Knoebels is concerned about your personal business. The slightly effeminate bear welcomes you to Knoebels! There are no stereotypes located in this photo. Yosemite Sam has let himself go. Even though the rides appear to be just plopped down everywhere, everything just seems to work. Let's check out the rest of the park. Does that guy have two sets of legs?!? Today, was a ticket only day. Although Chris never posts on TPR, he is showing why he chose the screen name, "Darkridelover". The Haunted House is just a slight step below the Disney Haunted Mansions. Candace approves. This line doubled by the end of our third lap. TPR trips equals VIP treatment. If I ever take the time to make a top ten list, Phoenix will be on it! I didn't know Twister was made of wood from a Gum Tree! I have terrible timing with the point and shoot camera, so I didn't bother waiting for a train to come by. The ride was appropriately named! Lots of lateral Gs on this one. OMG, Daniel Faraday was in that movie! We passed Flying Turns on the way to Morning ERT. I was looking a little rough on the final day. You do not get many clues of the greatness that awaits you from the parking lot.

You are a little late to the Six Flags bashing party. It is now just tiring and old. Besides, don't you know that Cedar Fair is the new Six Flags?

I may not have understood that three weeks ago, but I understand it completely now!

^^ I was getting the impression that you were less of a roller coaster coaster fan, and more of a general rides/attractions fan. Your compromise with your wife helps me understand where you are coming from more. It sounds like you are in a more unique position than most of us enthusiasts. When I approach a park and see the coasters and other rides towering off in the distance, I get a burst of adrenaline. That is what draws me in. In your case, it sounds like you have to avoid parks with the visible coaster skylines because your wife does not care for these type of rides.

I think the main reason you are seeing negativity in this thread is that you once again included Islands of Adventure as the basis of your argument. To me, it just seemed like you wanted to prove that you were right from the Harry Potter thread, so you started a whole different thread so you can argue about it some more. Now, having read your opening points, (which I didn't at first because I stopped reading as soon as I saw Islands of Adventure used) I can buy into what you are saying a little bit. But, like Brent (downunder) said, it is all about how you specifically define the differences between theme park and amusement park. To me, what matters is if I can go to this park and feel like I am getting my money's worth. If I can completely submerse myself in the environment of a park, and forget all about the problems of the real world, than I can forgive a park if it only qualifies being 85% of someone's definition of a theme park. As for Islands of Adventure, a lot of previous posters have done a great job defending the park, so there is no need for me to as well. I guess you just need to have been to the park before you can get it. Each park has different levels of theming, with Disney being the leader, and only a few have the resources to execute a theme to its fullest. The most important thing to the development of a park, is will the design bring people through the turnstiles? When you are smack dab in the middle of Disney country, sometimes you need to show off some coaster skyline to entice people to buy a ticket. This is a business after all.

You are right, it is surrounded by some great parks. I didn't hear too many bad things about Dorney Park from other people on the trip, but then again we had a group that left for most of the day to go to Six Flags Great Adventure. Most everyone else, either slept or went to the water park during the afternoon. I would like to go back sometime, so I can experience some of the other rides. I don't think I actually had one of those drinks. I believe I just stuck with beer. That is probably why I can remember at least part of the night. Oh, that's right! I forgot you went back over there.

I have been waiting for this update! Loved the Boulder Dash POV, although it is hard to really tell on the video how insane that ride was running. We are talking another level of awesome. That was one heck of a day, a morning with Superman and finish it of with a Boulder Dash marathon.

Two more updates to go! Day 10-Dorney Park I probably had the least expectations for Dorney Park than any other park on the trip. It didn’t appear to be getting favorable reviews in the ECT forum, so I wasn’t expecting much. To my surprise, I actually didn’t mind the park at all! It could have been that I spent more time that day either sleeping or at a bar than in the actual park, but I really came away thinking it was at least a decent park. Besides the horrible operations on the Wild Mouse, I enjoyed every one of the coasters. I’ll get back to this shortly. The day began with us walking across the street for ERT on Steel Force. The late start to the morning was much appreciated after the Hershey Park day. I think being Day 10, the enthusiasm for ERT sessions had waned because the entire group seemed to be sleepwalking. I remember thinking while waiting for a train to dispatch how much different this was than the first ERT session on Boulder Dash. I could tell the ride-ops were a little puzzled by how quiet everyone was. After ERT, we were allowed the first ride of the day on Voodoo. It really helps getting the brand new coaster in the park out of the way especially one with low capacity, so thanks to R&E and Dorney Park for working that out. We decided after Voodoo to skip the backstage tour and instead get as many credits done before lunch. We were able to do all the credits except for Hydra, Talon, and Thunderhawk by noon. We could of done more if it wasn’t for the terrible operations on the mouse. I am sure it is either a safety or maintenance issue, but it is really sucks seeing car after car getting half-filled while you stand and bake in that line! Next, it was time for what I had been looking forward to all day. EST! Exclusive Sleep Time! I think this might have been the best nap I had taken since I was a little kid. I woke up feeling like a new man. Better yet, Candace wasn’t feeling that sick anymore! We decided to celebrate our rejuvenation by walking next door to the restaurant bar at the adjacent hotel. We had a relaxing early dinner (with a few drinks) and then headed back to the hotel. (Thanks again to Richard for buying everyone’s dinner!) Candace decided to stay in the room and try and sleep some more, so Jason and I “walked” across the street to get all the credits we missed. This brings us to an interesting story involving Jason. We were on our 2nd run of Thunderhawk, when some genius wearing a backward's hat decided to stand up while we were climbing the lift hill. The ride immediately e-stopped and a slightly “spirited” Jason made sure to loudly inform said genius that he did not approve of his actions. I think Jason said something like, Jason (to idiot who stood up): Hey backward’s hat! Way to Go! Jason (to self): I am going to get beat up. Jason (to backward’s hat idiot): Way to go douchebag! Jason (to self): Oh, I am going to get beat up. After this, we may have ridden Steel Force again? And did we run into Brent at some point? We also might have gotten on the drop tower. It seems I may have been slightly “spirited” myself. I do know that we finished the night off with Hydra and Talon ERT. So, there you go. The park I had the least expectations for was definitely not my least favorite on the trip. On to the pictures! One more of Godsmack the Ride. Knoebels is up next! On the way to dinner, I took some shots of the view from the parking lot. Here was our hotel for three nights. This is where my camera battery died. Oh well, it was time to head back for a nap anyways. I may have ridden this. I can't quite remember. Maybe, Jason can help me here. A credit whore and proud of it! This is what the new Dueling Dragons trains will look like. Okay, not really. We were allowed on Dragon Coaster however. We were told there was no way we were getting our Little Laser credit but we needed photographic proof to ease the pain. The water filled containers were slightly intimidating to say the least. I guess they made it portable like this, so they could eventually move it easier? Although quick, Laser packed a lot of punch. It is a shame that 2008 was it's final season at Dorney. I always love me a good Schwarzkopf! I can't remember if people like these with the holding break on or not. I liked it. I prefer the spirally part over the straight part. Voodoo was my first impulse coaster. It was a good ride, but I am glad we didn't have to wait very long for it. The first ever coaster to be named after a Godsmack song. Here is a "through the trees" photo that is no longer possible. For every trash can, there are two flower pots. That is a ratio I can live with. More landscaping! I figured Cedar Fair would of took that out by now. Such a long, intimidating lift hill. The intimidation ended at the top of it. Steel Force didn't do much that morning to wake anybody up. It was pretty tame except for the burst of airtime on the last bunny hops. It was eerily quiet walking up to the station. I think everyone was still dreaming about Lightning Racer from the previous night. I just now noticed the landscaping around the sign. Pretty impressive for a Cedar Fair park. I take a lot of photos of the back of TPR member's heads. While we are here, we might as well go ride that tall roller coaster over there. I believe it was this park where a group of kids tried to sneak into our group. I believe Elissa put them in their place. This is the parking lot one hour before opening. I think it is going to be crowded today! Just a short walk across the highway and we are here!

My aunt was in that Ski Wars show! It is part of the reason she has such bad back problems now. She will still get kick out of seeing that picture!