Philrad71

^^^ Derek, glad that you guys had a nice time in Buffalo. You should have come about fifty miles South and you would have seen why Buffalo didn't have that much snow - it's all here in Southwestern NY! Have you ever been to the Ellicottville Brewing Company? Great place right in the heart of ski country just South of Buffalo. Very picturesque with a great variety of beer. I see in one of your Wegmans pics that it shows some EBC chillin' on the shelf. They have some good beers, including the ever popular 'Pantius Droppus' - a nice pale ale at about 10% ABV. I also have a good brewery about four minutes from my house - Southern Tier Brewery that makes some good "Unearthly Pale Ale" and 'Old Man Winter' which is good for those cold winter nights. I also have a Wegmans about three minutes from my house so beer runs are easy even in the blizzards! Here in Western NY, there are three things that we love to do in the winter time - eat chicken wings (or beef on weck), drink beer, and watch our pro sports teams go down the toilet!

Western New York rocks...currently $2.19 per gallon in Jamestown where I live. One of the most economically depressed areas in the US with some of the highest gas prices in the country.

CLP is quite far from Hershey, actually. If they were to open again it would be more competition for Waldameer, which is about twenty minutes up I-79 in Erie. Even if CLP were to re-open, I don't think that Waldameer would be too nervous after the 2008 addition of RFII and the recent ride additions announced for 2009. In fact, Kennywood, CP and about three other smaller parks would be closer to CLP than Hershey. I would say that Hershey is at least three hours from CLP, if not further. Personally, I would love to see CLP open again in the future. It is just so different and quirky to have an amusement park literally plopped down in the middle of a lakeside village. Blue Streak is a classic that I have not had a chance to ride - even though I am only about one hour away.

I'll bet that even without the water vortex that this attraction still craps all over Niagara's Fury!

Yeah, I was there when it was down for the paint job so I never got to ride. Great seats for the Bucs game. I would much rather be there than sitting in cold, rainy Ralph Wilson stadium watching the Bills lose to the 49'ers 10-3. Talk about an epic fail!

^^^^I agree! Just about every park has at least one rough/crappy coaster, every park is going to have at least one rude employee, every park is going to have less trees in some areas than others, every park is going to have some crappy food - it is inevitable! Even though it might not be every theme park fanatics favorite amusement park chain, they are obviously doing something right or they would be in the same boat as some of these other companies. Same as Disney... If every CF park bottomed out of the industry and shut down tomorrow, wouldn't everyone be at least a little bummed over losing some great coasters and rides at the various parks?? No Diamondback, Behemoth, Millenium Force, Maverick, Dominator, Volcano, Delerium, Drop Tower, Skyhawk, etc, etc...and there would be no more garbage can jokes and references either!!!!

^^ Cool! thanks for the POV and pics. I remember riding the Doppel Looping at the CNE many years ago. I think that the woodie was gone when I went, but I remember that Doppel Looping was great at night. I went to the CNE last summer, but it seems that this place is not the same - is it smaller now?

In a nutshell, I thought that this statement pretty much summed up my opinion of this whole mess. I was very surprised to read the entire thread to view all of the insanely moronic arguing and banter! But being that I like to participate in discussions, I will add my thoughts as well: I certainly agree with Robb that this is more of an adult-oriented theme park and particularly could have been a success as a Universal Orlando tie-in - great idea. Las Vegas would have also been an interesting choice. The idea of tying in some of the MGM/GA rides and perhaps even 'Speed' as later add-in's might have worked out well. I have not been to Vegas in years, but what about the area over by the HRC on Paradise? It used to be mostly desert...is it all condos, casinos and widely developed now? Please keep in mind that my last visit was like back in 2002! Even though Wet-N-Wild and MGM's parks failed, the Stratosphere and Adventuredome seem to be sticking around. I have not been to MB since the initial proposal to build this park was brought to the public eye many years ago. At first, I thought it was a neat idea, but since then, the economy has been in an obvious downhill slide. My friend went to MB last year and said that they were offering great hotel deals to get tourists down there because their industry was really hurting. From my understanding, the golf courses have also taken quite a hit. $50 a ticket for a developing theme park? I agree - epic fail! It is too bad to see a park fall on it's face in it's inaugural season. But with the Corporate financial mis-conceptions, cocky executive attitudes, out-in-left-field annual operating (expected) plans, and steep gate prices during a recession, it is sad, yet almost morbidly humerous that this park is now on the chop block. Severence packages though?? UGGGHHHH!!!! It really amazes me that this continues to happen in this country - truly despicable!

Thanks for the TR. It is sad to see theme parks and tourist attractions shutting down operations. I fear that with the economic turmoil we are in, we may be seeing more of this in the future. I agree in that I hope that they can save the Starliner and Dipper from GL someday- two good classic wooden coasters that deserve a much happier home!

Yes, CP has done a good job of cutting down on the line cutting in recent years, especially on the bigger line thrill rides. I have seen it happen more than once in Millenium and TTD where they will wait till the line cutters are close to boarding and then escort them out of line - the crowd always loves it! As far as the whole "I have a child and he has to poop", most parents that have children at parks will simply leave the line, go do their thing, and then enter the line at the beginning of the queue with no question. Most do not try to get back to where they were in line because they already know the rules that are posted at the beginning of the line. I do not recall an asterix on any ride signs that say "no line-cutting - except parents with kids that have to go to pee/poop." And no, I have NEVER line jumped at a park - even in my younger teen-age days. I respected the people that were in front of me and would have never wanted to draw the ire of anyone by cutting in front of them. If we see people trying to cut in front of us, they will be blocked or reported, bottom line. I don't care if it is a 6 year old girl, a 70 year old Grandmother, or a bunch of wannabe gangstas!

They used to have one of these at Niagara Falls, USA. I noticed that it was gone this year. Perhaps this could be the same one? I am glad that I did ride it last year before they took it out. It was a cool experience, but being at Niagara Falls, the location was not the greatest as you could not really see the Falls. You could see Buffalo and Skyscreamer good though!!

And as a gay guy...of course I love it! Purple is my favorite color!!! Maybe the Q-line could have some Wang Chung and Culture Club videos playing just like at Ghostwood Estates at Kennywood! If they really wanted to be bold, maybe even some Pet Shop Boys, or Frankie Goes To Hollywood videos might liven things up a bit. It's about time that they start gaying up some of these theme parks with some dazzling new coaster colors! Being in Liberal Massachusetts, they always set the standards high for the rest of the country! I agree though that the purple and lime green of the Wildcat at CP and the boomerang at KBF are not good color schemes. How about purple and metallic silver instead?? Spread the word people...Superman has finally come out of the closet in Massachusetts!!! Love it!!!

Yes, Marineland is definitely a strange park in it's own right! I think that maybe it could be time for them to drop the whole "game farm" part of it's theming and just go with aquatic and ride experiences. I remember when the commercials used to sing 'Marineland and Game Faaaaarm' back in the early eighties, but do not remember all of the epic walks to get to every attraction. I definitely felt like a work-out stud after doing that park! Perhaps they should add some zip lines to get to each attraction? I will be interested to see if they follow up to the proposed expansion that will include a new "living seas" type aquarium as well as a shark exhibit. I am surprised that they would not expand the main tank in order to be able to accomodate the orca's into the marine show like they used too - that was the main draw back in the day. I was very disappointed that the show did not feature the killer whale splashdown last year, but understand why they quit due to the small size of the tank. To be honest, I am amazed that this park has held on as long as it has. While it is nice to see them adding new things, the park just seems so oddball and somewhat high priced for the offering. But, it's so damned funky oddball and weird, I think, I think...that I could be falling in love with it!!!

Awesome!!!! I can't wait till I get to Oktoberfest next year! A co-worker went to one of these "smaller" fairs on a supplier visit recently and he showed me lots of pictures of the insides of some of the beer halls. They did not go on any of the rides though and the name of the town that they were in escapes me at the moment. Anyhow...great report - these festivals look like so much fun!!!

The Dragon Coaster was part of the temporary ride area near the Hotel Conneaut and the old Chance Toboggan. In addition to the kiddie coaster, they had a Zipper, Sizzler, and one of those of spinning tub rides - along with more kiddie rides. None of these were seeing much action when we were there. I think Ken may have been referring to the kiddie coaster in the old Kiddieland area. Sounds like some of the "original" rides might possibly open for next year, which would be cool. One could only imagine how the Blue Streak would be at night with no lights and the clickety-clack with chainsaws screaming in the background!

HEHE - Yep, that's about right! Walking around in almost pitch blackness and then having the crap scared out of you when the monsters would grab you in the dark, or they would be right in your face. In some cases, stumbling and almost tripping over things that were in the walkways. The Fog seemed a lot longer when we were in there than in this video, but maybe we were walking around in circles? Didn't seem to be many monsters in these videos, so I am assuming that this was made after the initial opening and they have since hired more?

^ Ah yes...I remember you! In fact, I was going to try and snap some pictures of the clowns, but did not want to hold up the people behind me. Was there really a chain on that chainsaw??? We figured not...but then again, this was not your typical theme park haunt! Great job!

Last Saturday, Michael and I went to Ghost Lake - the new haunted attraction at Conneaut Lake. We arrived shortly after 7:00 and the lines were already long at the admission gate. We waited about a half hour just to buy the tickets! Basically, you purchase a ticket for $15 that entitles you to walk through the eight levels of fear, which are spread out over the entire resort area. They have some dressed up kids punching the tickets before you enter each haunt zone so you must hold on to your ticket throughout the night. They made it very clear that they would not give you another ticket or a refund even though two zones did not have hole punchers. The eight levels of fear: * Clown Town - A short walk-through attraction featuring a building with some scares and a clown with a chainsaw. The rest is walking through the dark in the old Kiddyland section with clowns chasing you around with chainsaws and lawn mowers (I believe that Kidcoaster2 may be one of the clowns with the lawn mower). * Freddie's House - An old, abandoned house in the neighborhood that now is inhabited by Jason, Michael Myers, Leatherface and of course, Freddie himself. * The Butcher's Basement - This is in Hotel Conneaut and features some crazy looking creatures coming out at you in almost pitch darkness. * The Haunted Hotel - You basically walk through quite a bit of the hotel, which is cool. While I did not notice any paranormal activity, there were some scares where monsters would jump out from behind doors. The 'Ghost of Elizabeth' was also present and roaming the halls looking for her lost love. * The Cemetery - Right outside the hotel, this is a very short haunted area that has some creatures that jump out at you. Then you walk the boardwalk area by the beach where there are some costumed creatures that like to follow you around and freak you out. * Maze of Madness - I believe that this was in a non-damaged section of the burned down ballroom (though I could be wrong). Pretty much pitch black with fencing so you can get disoriented real quick! * The Devil's Den - This is the classic ride, but was unfortunately not in operation. It is now set up as a walk-through haunt. They put boards down on the floor where the track runs through the building and had some monsters grabbing at you as you walked through. * The Fog - This is housed in the old Dodgem building and was one of the best of the haunts (I thought) as it was quite lengthy. Again, you were in almost pitch black where you would bump into walls and things would bump into you! There were some monsters behind the fencing that would also jump at the fence and scare the crap out of you. Overall, it was pretty cool to be in an old, abandoned amusement park for a Halloween event. I hope that the money that they make will be used in good faith to restore, refurbish, reopen, whatever...it really is a cool park that has a lot of mystique and old time charm. And now...on with the pictures! I finish with a random shot of Haunted Tumble Bug. Thanks for reading! The Fog - this haunt kicked some serious hiney-hole. Kiddieland creep'o'rama clown. It just doesn't get any more ghetto than this, folks! Devil's Den minus the Sally Pretzel cars. Wall'O'Gum looks to have been cleaned up a bit too - fail. I wanted to play on the Witches Stew (best ride name evaaaarrr!) Eat this Cedar Fair bit#%es! The burned down ballroom still looking burned down. They did have a Zipper and some other random flats. The Chance Tobbogan was not operating. They had open rides mixed in with the closed rides. Not a lot of people were there looking for their Dragon kiddie coaster credit. There were ghouls that jumped out at you all over the place. They were allowed to grab and touch - unlike the normal vanilla haunts at the major theme parks! The Cemetery - spook behind the tombstone was scaring a lot of teen girls! "Like OMG, he like soooo scared me, I was like OMG!" Second stop - Freddie's House. Very creepy looking from the outside. This was right in the neighborhhood! You walk right by the station for the Blue Streak - sure hope you reopen someday! First stop - Clown Town! Carnival games with real carnies!!!! Ghost Paratrooper - I want the umbrella with the purple sparkles! Ghost Flyers - I heard these snap like no one's business! Ghost Tilt-A-Whirl and Wheel minus Ferris. First up - Haunted Ferris Wheel minus the Ferris. Welcome to Ghost Lake - sponsored by Perkins who are now celebrating 50 years! Yay Perkins!

^ Wow...I guess it wasn't my eyes deceiving me! I agree though...still is a very unique concept and I was devastated that the ride had such a long line when I was there. It is not often I get to Southern California!

Overall, a pretty decent show.... * I have not been on the Toy Story ride, but have to admit, it looks pretty impressive after seeing this show! Like riding Sonic the Hedgehog - Disney Style! * The Fahrenheit segment was nice, especially having been on it over the summer. This was a great coaster addition for Hershey to compliment Storm Runner. Not sure about the idea of them adding music at the brake run for added "euphoric" feelings. It would be too hard to put something like that at the end of the ride when a lot of people would be going, "WTF was that?" or "how lame." *Never got on X when I was at SFMM, but it was interesting to see how the ride was transformed into X2. It seemed like some of the seats looked a little herky-jerky, but that could have been the angle of the video. The fire looked like an interesting element, but I could probably live without the on-board music. Still wouldn't be worth the four wait that they had posted when I was there two years ago. * Niagara's Fury was a disappointment. I thought that the ride/movie/ whatever was over way too fast and I kinda sorta thought that you might actually get a virtual ride over the Falls. This show sorta explained why it was high risk to even get as close to the Falls with the helicopter and cameras as they did, but they played it up to be one of these really amazing innovations and I just didn't see it as that. The snow/rain/water effects were nice, but for $7 million dollars, I guess that I was just expecting a bit more from this new attraction.

Rock...I am somewhat surprised by this announcement as I really thought that there might have been some love-giving to Water-World. I think that these are great additions for the park tho...they needed a couple semi-thrilling flat rides. A Disk-O and Wave Swinger would be poyfect..and they don't have to break the bank to put 'em in!

Whew...glad that I went the weekend before! Friday night - everything was a walk-on. Saturday was busier, but no where near an hour wait for Beast.

I certainly would not rule out some of the older Arrow's and Vekoma's as being pain machines either. I got seriously banged on Vortex at KI, despite someone telling me in the line of Beast to "ride in the front, it's not bad." I liked the first drop, but after the first two loops, look out! As far as Mind Buster, I refused to ride it after Wild Beast - my body could not have handled any more abuse at that point. From there on out, it was flats or Behemoth for the rest of the day at CW! I was also at three parks this year that had SLC's and did not ride any of them. I have no shame in skipping the coasters that I know definitely fail!

Well, I finally went and rode SOB at KI this past weekend for the first time. While I would not say it is rougher than the Hurler or WildBeast, I got off feeling as if some of my insides had been rearranged. A very strange and unpleasant feeling in my body while going through the two big helices. Luckily for us, it was a walk-on at night. So, to update the list...I would rank the Top 3 roughest coasters: 3. Son Of Beast (KI) 2. Hurler (KD) 1. WildBeast (CW) Sorry, but I still don't see Mean Streak as being anywhere near as rough as a lot of coasters out there, especially the three listed above.

Not sure about the best...but I know what would get my vote for lamest train ride - the one at KI. Rode it last weekend and the only theming was an old looking house and old general store. Is this supposed to be a Western village or wtf??? The highlight was seeing the track for Diamondback in the parking lot and the closed water park. Oooooohhhh/Aahhhhhhh!!!!!!!