Philrad71

Yeah, but who all is cool enough to break out with the "sign of the horns" or "hang loose" hand gestures while screaming, ooohhhing and aaaahhhing over all the hills??

Typical Western NY spring weather. Golfed eighteen holes on Sunday (50 degrees) and now have received about an inch of snow since Monday - it's still frickin' snowing!

I am surprised no one has asked this yet - will there be LED's adorning the trash cans? Seriously though, I think it is a nice family addition to the park. I have always liked the walk from Frontier Town to the midway - it should be a very pretty walk at night. I really did not see MF as ruining the ambience of the area. The coaster is ensconced perfectly behind the trees away from the trail except when you go under the tunnel where it crosses over to the island.

Simply awesome...okay, now I am DEFINITELY going to this park when I go to Germany in the fall - I don't care if I have to hitch-hike from Munich/Oktoberfest!

Great photos! I really hope that I can make it to Europa Park when I visit Germany this fall. I REALLY wish that Maverick would get this type of restraint on it's trains - last year the ride seemed a lot rougher with the rattling and continual hitting of my head against the OTSR's. I fear that it is only going to get worse once the ride gets older.

Cool pics! I see that Walker Leroy is wearing a Cummins Engine hat - I work for them!

Thanks to everyone involved in organizing this awesome event! It was extremely well planned from the early rainy hours in the morning to the awesome night-time ERT. Kudos to the Alvey's, Chris, William and all of the cast and crew at the park! My father, Michael and I were all very impressed with the professional, yet fun and casual/laid back attitudes displayed by everyone involved...from the park's upper management to the ride op's - we have nothing negative to say about this experience at all! When we were at SFMM three years ago, we did not get on Deja-Vu (closed), Superman (closed), X1 (four hour wait) and Scream (1.5 hour wait - believe it!). We thought that some of the employees were lackluster (with lots of train stacking) and some were just downright rude. We walked away with a not-so-great first impression of this park. However, we did not encounter anything of the sort on Sunday and we were very impressed with park operations overall. We not only got on X2 in the morning, but had a great front seat ride on Deja-Vu on night-time ERT, two launches in a row on Superman, and ended the day with four straight rides on Goliath! Now we are finally home from the West Coast after a few extra nights of partying in Vegas (with my Dad and Uncle) and a loooong plane ride back to Buffalo. However, Michael and I will be off to Cape Cod for a week (starting tomorrow) for some much needed R&R...hopefully with no snow or hail! Thanks again to everyone involved!!! PS - No parking lot charge for parking my Dad's motor home - definitely an added bonus! It was one of the cheaper days of our vacation!

^Cool - I am glad that the ride may be open for WCB. It was down when I was there last time...as was Superman.

Great job on the photos! I agree that Mantis is not as bad as some people say. I have actually had a couple good rides on it during the last two seasons. Go for the front seat and keep your head forward to keep it from banging and you'll be fine! Also glad to see Mean Streak being re-tracked. I wish that they would take the trims out for at least one season so people could get a better idea of how the ride was when it originally opened - it definitely lost a lot of it's charm when they installed those dang trims. Mean Streak is still not anywhere near as rough as the three demons (SOB, Hurler and WildBeast)...as long as you ride it in the front seat.

^Yeah, I can kinda see that coming too (teammate rifts)...being a tormented Bills fan, I was stunned by this news as Buffalo isn't known for adding "diva-like superstars" to their rosters. I think that everyone is still in shock here in Western New York. I was really expecting a Joey Galloway or maybe even a Marvin Harrison type of veteran signing - but certainly not TO!! That being said, I think that the view for most people (now that the dust has settled) is that we have not made the playoffs in like nine years and adding a good wide receiver is something that we needed to compliment Lee Evans. What do we have to lose at this point? Remember...this is the Bills we're talking about here - the laughing stock of the NFL (along with the Bengals). Could it really get any more embarrassing? Personally, I would have liked to have had him here last year so at least someone would have gotten in the face of our coaching staff for their bone-headed play calling that cost us games! (IE: Jets/Miami/Cleveland) This is also going to pull more people in to the annual Toronto game - actually, I would not be surprised if this was the biggest factor in the decision to sign him. The first Toronto game did not go anywhere near as it was envisioned last year with insane ticket mark-up's for a snoozer of a game. They barely sold out and even then, there were probably more Miami fans than Bills fans. The Bills had to do something in order to pull in those big $$'s when they head up North! Of course, we'll still sell out all of our home games in Buffalo as usual - whether the team does good or not. What else is there to do in Western New York in the fall/winter but watch football and hockey?

Cool - thanks for posting these! I have the same one of Elitch Garden's buried in the attic at my Dad's house. I need to go through some of those old boxes one of these days and see what gems I can find!

This really looks great! I would imagine a ride in the front seat at night would be awesome.

No beer, but plenty of toothpick holders? Well...I was originally gonna whine about no beer, but as long as there are plenty of toothpick holders, I guess I'm cool with it! Hey wait...we'll be in the motor home - KEG PARTY/FUNNELS IN THE PARKING LOT!!! WOO-HOO!

Thanks for posting, John! I love reading about and seeing historical amusement park pictures. I do remember a lot of the way it used to be - at least in the late seventies/early eighties. I still remember Mill Race, Earthquake, and of course...Jungle Larry's Safari!

Speaking of beer.... Where are the places to get it in the park and do they offer anything decent besides Bud or Bud Lite? With all that coaster riding, I'm bound to get parched at some point!

^^ 'Real People' - Wow...talk about a blast from the past! Remember Sarah Purcell and Fred Willard??? How about 'That's Incredible' with Fran Tarkenton, John Davidson and Cathy Lee Crosby? Ooops...off topic. I mean - hoorrah for being obsessed with coasters! Woo-Hoo!

I was scared of Ghoster Coaster at CW, left the line on Dragon Fire (CW), pouted like a lil' girl when my sister dragged me on Viper at Darien Lake, and squeezed my eyes tight shut on the Cedar Creek Mine Ride and Gemini. That's what got me hooked...

I am glad that I did not ride it before then, cuz I thought I was friggin' dying on that death-witch of a coaster! Coasters in need of some lovin' Blue Streak Mean Streak Rebel Yell Rolling Thunder (everyone was chanting "WD-40" at the end of the ride!) Beast Grizzly Gwazi Coasters that just need to be torn down for another try Son of Beast Hurler (KD) WildBeast

Thanks for this report! I was actually considering checking it out during my visit, but think that I may skip it now and try to get on Speed instead. I used to hang in the circus area as a kid at the arcades/games/show area before Adventuredome was even built. Then when I visited after it was built, I did not even bother riding any of the rides because I thought the place was actually kind of lame - Canyon Blaster and the ride selection did not really impress me at all. Guess I was (and still am) just a fanboy of the old school ghetto-licious circus/attractions area!

^ I did a trip report on the 2008 CNE in Toronto. I don't think it is anywhere near as cool as it used to be. I seem to recall it being a lot bigger with the coasters, Sky-ride and more amusements. Don't know whether they scaled it back because of operational costs or poor attendance. The report is about halfway down the page... http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49017&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=10

Snyder's unloading the pockets again this year on Haynesworth (100 frickin' million?), Hall and Dockery. Wow.

I have also heard of the water flume ride eventually coming to CP, but I would be hard-pressed to believe that it would come at the expense of Corkscrew. Simply because of the "signature historical shot" of the loops going over the people on the midway - and the fact that it seems to be a well-maintained classic Arrow that people enjoy riding. I could see them squeezing in a big water ride over in the Frontier Trail area - perhaps over by Millie's Island...without having to get rid of any of the coasters.

Is it just me or does eating a 6 pound burrito and then going on a launch/loop coaster for an unlimited amount of times seem like a bad idea???

This is great news! I will definitely be going to the park to support it...especially if they are going to rehab BS.

^ Man...just when my already sore throat was recouping from laughing at the video clip, I read this comment! That was one awesome skit. I remember when people in Western NY were whining about a couple digs Colbert made on the people and weather in Buffalo...I found it hilarious. Then again, it would take an awful lot to offend me as I just take things in stride! I definitely need to DVR this show more often...I forgot how funny it was!