Goliath513

Day 5 - Six Flags America Before we arrived at the park, Elissa told us about how Six Flags apparently does not really care about the park and to enjoy it now because it might not be around much longer. From the outside it looked like a nice park. This remided me of SFNE's entrance. We arrived at the park several hours before opening for ERT on Wild One, Batwing, and Superman. Two Face used to thrill people, but because people generally don't like being sprayed by broken huydralics, it is closed. Theming - I'll give them credit for trying. Older than Cyclone! So when we got to Wild One, they loaded the first train of passengers and it broke down. After waiting about 10 minutes, they unloaded us to try to fix it. When they thought they had it fixed, they sent us back on only to have it break down.By this time, we were starting to question the competence of the park's maintenence staff, so we decided to leave and head over to Superman. Guess what? Superman was broken too. So then park management decided to take us "backstage" to our next destination. This looked more like an alternate route instead of actually backstage. It's amazing how the oldest coaster here is the best one here. Most of the group! Despite their less than favorable operations, they got Joker's Jinx up and running for our ERT! I enjoyed this ride except for the fact it was just slow all the way through. Didn't we just ride one of these several days ago? Is it working? Now for our Vekoma flyer credit - Batwing. Now having ridden the former Stealth Vekoma flyer at CGA back in 2002, I was really looking forward to riding this and reliving the experience. This was much rougher than I remember Stealth being. I suppose the signature Vekoma "wheels don't touch the track" contributed to this. Or maybe it was my restraint not ideal for people as tall as me. Afterall, I've grown about 1 foot in height since I rode Stealth. Anyways, back to the pictures! Icky swamp somewhere under this helix. By Vekoma standards this had an acceptable level of uncomfort. By comparing it to Rye Playland's Superflight, this was amazing! Yeah, Playland's Zamperla flyer sucked harder than most SLCs I've ridden. At least, till this day when SLC pain would be redefined. I will explain more later on. We got to the station, but it's down again. Heath Ledger - The ride? No, this came long before the good Joker. I can only imagine the headbanging if this thing still had OTSRs... Pasta bowl! Back to Superman. This picture will explain it all. Boring. Just boring. More of you Batwing. We then rode Penguin's Blizzard River. This was the most fun we had all day in the park. Random architecture in the Looney Tunes area. In this area, Great Chase was the only Zamperla kiddie coaster of the trip so far to leave me with bruises from that last brutal turn. What's this? Waterslides? Take a closer look. Um yeah, this is unacceptable to have in plain view right off the path. So for this year, SFA blocked off the entrance to these Hurricane Mountain body slides for their Tony Hawk Halfpipe slide. By doing this, these slides were left to rot away in clear view for everyone as the enter the park. It's really sad because these looked like quite fun. Now Six Flags, we all know how expensive it would have been to demolish these, but you didn't even bother to drain the damn water? Leftover water from last year turned into a breeding ground for mosquitos and looked scarier than the polluted water in the river in the town my parents live in back in California. For the GP to walk by and see this filth, really provides them with a negative impression of the park. Next time you close down a slide, remember to drain the water before next season Six Flags. C'mon! This brought pain to a new level for the Vekoma SLC. It was traumatizing. Roar was also awful on a level even more than comparing SLCs. Now for Vekomas, there is a common amount of pain to be expected. But for Roar, a GCI, this was just sad. Roar back home at SFDK is amazing and one of the smoothest woodies I have ridden. Millennium Flyers sure do make a difference. I beleved in this cosater and it let me down. Those PTCs destroyed the track and brought it down to a level of pain close to Mean Streak. More unacceptable views at a "family oriented" park. Not even any demolition work. It's really too bad that haunted house fire a few weeks earlier didn't spread to this coaster. *refrains from dirty joke* No seriously, this was just pathetic. Not much more happened until lunch when we decided to leave early. We had quite an entertaining bus ride to Williamsburg featuring Robb leading TPR trivia. I'm sure those on Lightning Bus will remember my dirty little stunt when I "stole" a certain girl's prize. I will leave it at that. She knows what I'm talking about. After we checked in to our hotel in Williamsburg, a group of us went to the local Chilis for dinner. It was nice to have a relaxing evening! While a massive group of TPR members went to Walmart, we had much more fun here at Chilis. Next up, well, do I even need to say?

I went to Cedar Point in mid-late June for 2 days and I was able to get all 18 credits there on the first day, which was a Monday, by about 4pm even with rainy weather. Their operations are good enough that you should should have no problem! I was also able to get on quite a few flat rides that day too. The second day was for re-rides on my favorite coasters and other rides. I also went to Soak City for a few hours in the late afternoon since our hotel ticket included it. As for Kings Island, I have no idea what their operations are like. It's Cedar Fair and not their main park, so the operations probably won't be as good as Cedar Point. I hear their operations are good, but then again, I heard the same about Kings Dominion and their operations were terrible in every way.

Once again, awesome photos. I enjoyed Boulder Dash much more than El Toro too! Well maybe not "much more" but it's certainly no contest. That surprise ERT on Kiddie Coaster was awesome. I was one of the first to hear about it from a park employee, so I got on before the line got too bad. Zoomerang wasI think I'm at 7 now) boomerangs I've been on compared to Hershey's which ranks dead last. Too bad you didn't get any pictures of our TPR takeover of the Rotor right after dinner. That was interesting... Lastly, the night time experience of the park and Boulder Dash ERT was truly amazing!!

You didn't get any pictures of our takeover of the super slide of death right before we left? I'm surprised! Those two hours at Quassy were better than our full day at Kings Dominion later on in the trip! That takeover of the mini carousel took sad and pathetic to a whole new level.

What an awesome trip! There are quite a few good photos of me on Superman and Cyclone You just saw someone in the row in front of you get stapled in by the ride ops and you realized you're their next victim. Those leg restraints are the reason Superman isn't my #1 coaster and Maverick still beats it out. Looking forward to seeing more Hanno! Not as many pictures of me in the water park as I expected since our group there was so small, but that one of Tornado will do. Quassy and Lake Compounce were awesome afterwards! Reliving these memories has really brightened my day.

Brent, after your coaster of the week updates in on the east coast boards, I'm really looking forward to your hilarious captions here!

This problem is not unheard of for Boomerangs. Back at SFDK when it was still SFMW (I think it was opening year) Boomerang's catch car released the train prematurely and caused it to valley in the cobra roll. The riders had to be rescued by the fire department. After this incident, they installed the staircase up there on the ride as well as most other Boomerang coasters. I think the same thing happened a few years later at Lake Compounce on their Boomerang.

That's funny because I went on a Sunday in September 2005 and the park was so full, we had to park in the overflow lot on on the Solano County Fairgrounds property across the street. Of course, we got there around 2pm. But still...

Day 4 - Six Flags Great Adventure After our pre-game day at the park just a few days earlier, I had my hopes high for the day. Unfortunately, right around noon, it began to rain. We decided to wait it out, but it only got worse, so we decided to leave early. I only had two credits left to get at the park when we got there (Dark Knight and Superman), but I never got around to riding Superman because of the rain. I guess I will have to come back and get the credit when I come here for that B&M dive machine they are building next year. Robb showing off Tyler's "Dark Knight pin boobs" Our day started off before park opening with ERT on The Dark Knight. Despite what negativity I had heard about this ride, I was not at all let down. In fact, I think other Six Flags parks should get this. The theming and pre-show were just as good as the ride. With the trim breaks on the hairpin turns turned off, it was quite the ride! After our ERT stop at Dark Knight, we headed over for ERT on El Toro. Many of us rode this 10 or more times during this time. I sure did! Tyler, this is what your phone would look like if you had lost it on El Toro instead of Dark Knight! GASM and the parachute tower. This looked like a pretty lame parachute tower compared to the one Knott's used to have back in the day... No log flume, or nice restaurant for us today. Panda Express will have to do... Nitro was running better on the pre-game day. Maybe it was the hot humid air that day which made it run better. Whatever it was, I remember it being much better the first day. Houdini ride just sitting there - closed and forgotten. This entrance reminded me of SFDK's entrance area! Virtual Army Experience - by participating in this attraction, you (unknowingly) agree to be sent over seas to fight in Iraq. Jahan abandoned us for the day, so we recruited Mike "WANK" Austin to replace him. Historical marker! After our lunch at Panda express, we basically waited around for the rain to let up. The coasters (except for Dark Knight) all remained closed and many of us missed credits. Those of us who did the pre-game day here were thankful we did not need to come back with the side trip group on our Dorney day. In this time of waiting, the only memorable moment was the TPR takeover of the tea cups. No photos because I didn't want to damage my camera. I've seen what happens when people take pictures in the rain - cost my dad his $200 new camera last summer. On the way out, we had 20 minuted to get from our meeting spot over by the carousel to the busses in the back of the parking lot. For those of you who know the park, you know how long that walk is. Well Tyler and I underestimated that walk and decided to redeem our free food vouchers at the Johnny Rockets at the entrance on the way out. Little did we know, this would press us hard for time. When we got our meals and drinks, we realized that we could not make it in time if we ate our meals. I think he sent his back, but I, not wanting to pass up the opportunity for free food, decided to eat my meal while running to the bus. Yes, you read that correctly. While at first I thought it was a big mistake, I actually got to the bus before many of the others, and did not have to buy dinner at the rest stop a few hours down the road. Ah, the memories of that day... seems like a lifetime ago. Next up - Six Flags "park most likely to be shot, stabbed, or mugged at" America

I think this topic is about theme parks, but that brings me to my choice. Get rid of people who cross into restricted areas to retrieve their hats, sunglasses, wallets, PWM, whatever it may be. These people destroy theme parks reputations. Oh wait, the coaster usually takes care of that, but then we still have the lawsuit and bad reputation problems. Too bad there's not an IQ test to get into parks. I'd get rid of lockers that open up after 2 hours. Imagine you're in line for over 2 hours because the ride breaks down or something and because of it, all your valuables in the locker are suddenly exposed to the GP to take at their will. Make the lockers $0.50 per use and have a key instead of a receipt to open it. They do this at Waterworld up here in Colorado and it works great!

Day 3, Part 2 - Rye Playland On the bus over from SFNE Robb announced we would be going to a very special surprise park. Of course, we already knew it was Playland. This was one of those parks where you truly felt like you were going to get stabbed, mugged, or shot at some point. It was like a permanent carnival with carnys. Also, the typical park crowd is not the most economically or socially stable of people (if there's a better way to describe it). So us being mostly middle class whites felt a little uneasy walking around the park. We were greeted with arms open! Although being slightly run down, the architecture was pretty nice. Dragon Coaster. This is basically an old style woodie with a dragon themed tunnel as seen here. The ride uses the same style of trains as CGA's Grizzly, so I was a little unsure about riding it. To ride Crazy Mouse, you had to be under 6ft tall. Some of us who were under 6ft tall got denied while some of us over 6ft were allowed on. I was right on the borderline, so I got the credit! This wasn't quite one of those "wild mouse of death" experiences. Super Flight is a Zamperla Volare - which basically translates to "crap." The name reminded me of Cedar Fair. The conveniently placed first aid station will be needed after riding this! Their horse race was one of those rides where the ops were anal if you didnt' lean in the proper direction while riding. Are all horse race rides like this? House of mirrors takeover after dinner! Basically a ghetto Pirates of the Caribbean in a log. And no Jahan, the water was not 2 ft deep! The park looked quite nice at night! One last shot of Dragon Coaster before heading out for the night. Next up - SFGAdv!

Raves in dorm halls with hot college girls and techno music are fun!

They also show bits of "Coaster" at Playland in Final Destination 3. Don't forget the movie Rollercoaster with Rocket (Ocean View Amusement Park) Rebel Yell (KD), and Revolution (SFMM)!

Day 3, Part 1 - SFNE (again) Breakfast time! American theming Will this be as painful as SFMM's? Before any pain could be endured, we broke it! Still broken. Maybe our Boomerang survival kits will come in handy! Before Tony Hawk, there was Pandemonium. Here come the GP! Cyclone had just the right combination of pain and thrills to make it tolerable! I see you, old track. Compared to Cyclone, Thunderbolt was smooth as glass! Already done that! I call this ride "Pain on a Stick" "How was the filming, Robb?" Something's missing here. Yup, we're back for more. This piece of Astroworld ride was amazing! Best standard tube slides ever! Yes, it almost beat out Maverick as #1! Next up, RYE "Surprise Park" Playland.

Pictures of the "Rampage" slides at the park I randomly came across. These were removed sometime in the mid 90's for the "Thunder Falls" speed slides (posted on the first page that later went to CGA)

Same goes for blanket statements. There are always exceptions. I didn't mean it to sound so absolute. What I mean is - they rarely work out because someone else comes along who is local and most often ends what would work out if it weren't long distance. That's how my first ever "relationship" was, it's what happened to me and it ended in heartbreak. Um, isn't studying your priority? School just started! I see you're 18 so this may be your freshman year; I'd get acclimated to life away from home and studying before you throw dating into the mix. There will be more than enough time for that after you get settled in your classes. Terry I'm setting myself up for when I do get settled down I can start dating. I have far too much to get straightened out before I start dating. Until the time comes, just friends.

I just heard from an employee from Heritage Square here in Colorado that the park will close down within the next five years. Not just the amusement park, or the alpine slides - but everything. Decline in public interest is the reason for the closure. The alpine slides are the main attraction here and I'm sure many of us Coloradans will be sad when it goes. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Elitch's goes under within the next few years too. Ever since Six Flags dropped them, they have been struggling to remain open due to lost business to other nearby parks such as Lakeside and Waterworld. Their newest attractions in the past few years have been in the water park, and considering Elitch's is just down the road from the world famous Waterworld on the north end of Denver which has expanded recently and is America's largest water park. Water park expansion is not the way to draw in crowds. Flying Coaster is closed down for the season, but still no word on where that is going. The coaster isn't that good anyways. As for the rest of the coasters - they are all clones except for Twister II which is a remake of the former and from what those who rode the original say - this new one is terrible. The park is in need of a good new coaster to draw in people, but they just don't have the room to expand.

Do you mean something like this? http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23430&start=0 If so, then mine are: Knott's Windjammer Parachute drop on the sky tower Kingdom of the Dinosaurs SFMM Flashback Freefall Spin Out SFDK Original V2 Zonga Jambo CGA Stealth Greased Lightnin Cedar Point Hopefully soon to be Mean Streak. Added: Hersheypark's Canyon River Rapids

Now that I'm here at college, it's time for me to make a brand new start with my dating life. I screwed up badly with the last and first ever girl I ever loved. (she made it so we could never actually be bf/gf), so I now know what to avoid. Long distance relationships can not and never will work. Ever. I've met someone now who I am getting to be pretty good friends with and would like to pursue a relationship with, but I don't want to rush into anything because neither of us are the type for that. So, I'm taking it slowly at first and getting to know her better and when the time comes when there's a social situation our schedules will let us go to together and hang out, we can become more comfortable with each other and see where things go from there.

Yeah according to RCDB it did. I never got a chance to visit the park, but I drove by it a lot to go camping. Too bad the place closed down. Day 2, Part 3 After our stop at Quassy, we headed over to Lake Compounce for some night time ERT on Boulder Dash. "Balder Dash, Jahan?" They have a Spin Out! Dark ride credit. Log flume looked fun, but never got around to it. This can't be good... No ferris wheel credit either. Retracked by GCI + night ride = new favorite woodie! Lol at the ACE plaque on the right. Free Pepsi products! Deeeniiied. Right before our ERT on Boulder Dash after park closure, a worker asked us if we are with TPR because "they re now letting you guys on." There was pretty much a stampede of TPR people over to the Kiddie Coaster for the largest single takeover of the trip yet! Awesome! Tyler and me with Brandon and Jahan in line for the front before our first ride! About 8 of us (Me, Jahan, Tyler, Brandon, Bethany, Dave, and some others) all took over the Rotor immediately after dinner. Not such a good idea. Space shot! Yes, that is all TPR people! And that is just the beginning. We filled up the line and then some with our group! Day 3 - SFNE again and RYE Playland

This should help out. A LOT

It's done! Download link!

My favorite is Knott's Timber Mountain Log Ride! The log flume at BGE is absolutely terrible. Short and boring. :yawn:

Awesome trip report and great photos. Ghetto water parks rock! Too bad there aren't many around any more. I honestly have more fun at ghetto or individually owned water parks than chain ones.