raptor6

Good Trip Report, but the Yankees and Red Sox (and a few other teams) are bad for baseball as a whole.

HalloWeekend Saturdays are not fun at all. The parking lot is FULL. There must be 40,000 people at the park. Every decent attraction has at least an hour wait time. Try to go on a Friday next time for HalloWeekends. Sure the park might only be open from 6 - 12 but there's about 1/6 of the people. And it's much cheaper than a Saturday. I went on Friday the 16th and ever ride had a wait time less than 5 minutes, except Maverick which was 20 minutes. It was awesome and other than being cold, the weather was great. Coasters: Raptor Millennium Force (x2) Blue Streak Maverick Magnum Haunted Stuff: Fear Faire Happy Jack's Toy Factory Eerie Estate Cornstalkers Fright Zone Terror Island CarnEvil I got on all that stuff in less than 5 hours... It was wonderful!

As luck may have it, I'm in Elysburg today. I'll go down the street during lunch and ask the Great Coasters guys if they will give you anything. I believe gciichris works for GCII if I'm not mistaken.

Guys, while browsing Screamscape today, I saw a very interesting blurb on Alton Towers that needed to be known to TPR: www.screamscape.com/html/alton_towers.htm For pictures and a video clip check out The Sun's website: www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/2479050/Underwear-models-test-bras-agaisnt-the-g-force-of-Alton-Towers-ridesgirls-in-bras-on-ridesbabes-test-underwear-on-rides.html How awesome is that? Darn lucky ride ops! I was going to post pictures, but I wasn't sure if that violated the Terms of Service, so I played it safe. Pics will go up if the admins approve.

Hey I just tried the link again and they now count Tower of Terror and Superman: The Escape as coasters, knocking off Goliath and Silver Star. Here's the descriptions: #4 Tower of Terror - Dreamworld, Gold Coast, Australia - 377 feet How tall is the Tower of Terror? Tall enough that 2.2 megawatts of power are needed to drive the motors during the incline, enough energy to power a small town. This six to seven second period momentarily doubles Dreamworld's power usage. #3 Superman: The Escape - Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia California - 415 feet Built in 1997, Superman: The Escape is a faithful recreation of the Superman experience, down to a Fortress of Solitude loading area featuring the John Williams movie score. It also features a super top speed of 100 mph. Still doesn't change my number however: 2/10 - Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster Both of which are connivently at my home park of Cedar Point

I LOVE Toft's! I went to the Sandusky Factory location and had a small orange-pineapple. I seriously had a pint of ice cream for $2.55! The prices at the factory and at Cedar Point are surprisingly very similar ($2.55 verses $2.99). I am so glad that they brought Toft's back to the park after having Ben & Jerry's for a few seasons.

I rode Raging Bull a few years back, with the trims off, and had an amazing ride! So much fun in a pretty unique layout.

This pretty much sums up our experience with the park last year as HRP. I still say that had this park been built in an area that could REALLY support a park, it would have more than a fighting chance. But Myrtle Beach? I just don't see it lasting. It's too bad really because it's all about location. Even if this park had been built in an area that already has an established park, like Philly, Chicago, San Francisco, etc, there are enough people in those areas that it *could* have had a competitive chance. And then there are those huge markets WITHOUT a major park - Houston, Seattle, Phoenix, Miami, Las Vegas, Boston, etc... Why...WHY did they choose Myrtle Beach?!?! --Robb Hey Robb, not to be picky or anything, but doesn't Boston have a "major park" 1.5 hours to the west on I-90? I understand, however, your point though as location is extremely important.

When I was reading your trip report, I was having flashbacks of two years ago when I visited the park. We have nearly the same opinions on most of the ride at SFNE.

Of course the park is clean... Look at all the people there! All the employees need to do is dust off the rides every once in a while!

Dang! It seems that every time that I visit a new park, they seem to get some great new ride the next season. So anyone have suggestions as to where I should go next year? Some examples of my poor timing: Hershey Park (with Fahrenheit) Dorney Park (with Voodoo) Six Flags New England (with Bizarro) Six Flags Great America (with Dark Knight) Darien Lake (with Motocoaster) Kings Island (with Diamondback) King Dominion (with ???) I went to Kings Dominion over Memorial Day weekend, and unfortunately did not see any of these supports. I'll keep my eyes peeled for next time.

Wow! That coaster at Mondo Verde has one long train! I bet that it gives a crazy ride in the back seat (for a junior coaster that is).

I went to Kings Dominion for the first time on Sunday May 24. I really enjoyed the park. I'll post a photo TR sometime in the near future.

I'm hopefully going to visit Kings Dominion later this month over Memorial Day Weekend! It was either free addmission and parking (thanks to Cedar Fair Maxx Pass) or pay full price at Busch Gardens for everything. Money won out in the end. Is there anything that I need to check out besides Dominator and Volcano? I'm going with my girlfriend who is not a huge coaster buff like myself (but she still rides), so I was thinking of also checking out Back Lot Stunt Coaster, Flight of Fear, and Avalanche. I LOVED Dominator when it was at one of my home parks of Geauga Lake so I'm really looking forward to riding one of my favorite coasters again!

Prowler looks amazing! Don't look now, but Worlds of Fun is becoming a quality park for enthusiasts! Roadtrip anyone?

If I understand the whole Bizzaro transformation correctly, then at the very least the ride is getting a purple paint job, new trains, and some different theming. The trains look really good. They now have ElToro style restraints and onboard audio! Check them out: www.seetheride.com/newengland.htm Here's the listing of all the new stuff for the 2009 season: sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20090407/NY9541607042009-1.html

I went to Six Flags New England in July 2007 and honestly, besides Superman: Ride of Steel...er...Bizarro, their coasters are nothing to write home about. But Bizarro is amazing and I can see why it is considered one of the best coasters on the planet. If it wasn't here I probably would not go back to the park. You must ride it a lot. Batman is pretty fun and it's really cool to see all the elements all intertwined together, but I've been on better Floorless coaters (Dominator at the then Geauga Lake). I also rode Hydra: The Revenge at Dorney Park which was comparable fun to Batman, but both fail in comparison to the awesomeness that is Dominator. Their operations weren't the best either, but that may have changed in the past 2 years. Ride-ops were slow. My home park of Cedar Point, would have cranked out those trains in less time in my opinion. I guess that I am spoiled in that regard. One ride that I wished that I experienced was Houdini's Great Escape, a Vekoma Mad House. I believe that it is similar to Hex at Alton Towers in England. I heard that it was really unique, but unfortunately, I didn't have the time. They do have a ProSlide water coaster in the attached waterpark (it looked like so much fun), but again I didn't have the time to check it out.

I really enjoyed reading your trip report! I think that I enjoy the more text based TR's than the more picture based ones...But that's just me. Anyway, back on topic: If Prowler is even half as good as you describe, then it sounds like a must ride!

Its not like Kinzel didn't say anything that isn't true. Nor did he say anything particularly self aggrandizing. Telling a room full of managers in the amusement industry that giving away your gate is a bad idea shouldn't be a news flash anymore. Agreed. Kinzel's "Economic Assessment for the Industry" is particularly true. Since many people as less money to spend on larger vacations, they instead visit the local amusement park more often. I would not be surprised if Cedar Fair sets company attendance records this year (well really any local amusement).

Intamin already has a pseudo 4-D model, the Zac Spin, installed at several parks. http://www.intaminworldwide.com/iag/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=48&Itemid=32

Thanks for the info. I'm heading to St. Louis later this month for a wedding and I was looking for stuff to do in town. The City Museum looks so random and awesome!!

How do you think they get the meat for their burgers and hot dogs? Venison is really tasty...that does explain why I like their burgers more than most other parks!

I haven't been on many different amusement park trains (maybe a dozen or so), I always enjoy the Cedar Point Train (Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad). Great views of Millennium Force, Maverick, Mean Streak, Mantis, and who can forget the entertainment that is Boneville?

This coaster looks like nonstop speed and unique for a GCI creation. Can't wait to see how it compares to their other designs.

Fences are built for a reason. If you jump over one this happens to you: How did Kings Island call you??