Wood Dragon 1988

Dislike... Agree with both of those statements. When I went to Rye i got there a few hours early and wondered around the neighborhood and lake area a bit. It was really an interesting place...it reminded me of those local neighborhood traditional parks I've heard about on shows and books....there are few and far between these days. And if the Dragon Coaster ever got better trains it could be really good!

^I guess that is good news....while it's sad to see one of the best coasters in the world down for such a long time, perhaps with a new or refurbished train it may ride even better. I can say that I've had rides on some of the SROS coasters where a new train would defintely have helped the ride out after 7/8 years of service. Maybe one day, one lucky day, I'll get to ride GeForce!

That fair looks incredible! Just so much to do, and Alpina Bahn to me looks like one of the coolest Schwarzkopfs. TRs like this only make us Americans that much more jealous of German fairs!

Just wanted to be yet another person to pipe up and say how much I appreciate the "non credit whore" aspects of the TPR trips....as much as I love going to big parks and riding lots of coasters, I have to say most my fondest memories of my two TPR trips have been non-coaster related. The speed boat at Kemah, swimming in dangerous freezing lakes at Schlitterbahn, acting like kids at Idlewild, the puppet show at the end of the Behemoth trip, the amazing food, swanky hotels, etc, etc, etc. Even "culture," as shunned as that word seems to be on TPR sometimes, is a huge plus....driving by Niagara falls was one of the most breathtaking hours of my life, and seeing the Alamo at 1 in the morning from a taxi in San Antonio was pretty cool. It's these things that I love about TPR....if I simply wanted to ride good coasters I would get a season pass to Six Flags Great Adventure and ride El Toro, Nitro, and Batman till Intamin cables destroy every ride there. But as sort of a normal guy who loves to travel and hang out, and who happens to love amusement parks like I'm still 10-years-old, TPR trips will be the unquestionable top travel choice in my vacation budget (when I can afford any vacation at all!).

Wood- El Toro- all four big hills are amazing. I can't even keep my hands up down the first drop most of the time Phoenix- all the bunny hills, especially towards the end. Boulder Dash- Too many good hills to count, but the tripple up is very memorable (guess that's not really a drop though) Jackrabbit- The double dip of course! Steel- Bizarro at SFNE- Pretty much every drop is airtime heaven! Superman at SFA and Ride of Steel at SFDL- The third hill is amazing. Apollo's Chariot- All drops are good, the photo drop and drop off the MCBR are awesome. Goliath at SFOG- Plenty of good drops. Shockwave at SFOT- the best "old school" steel airtime hills I've experienced. Millieneum Force- The first drop Maverick- First drop, my vote for second best first drop, right after El Toro! Titan at SFOT's first drop is verry underrated as well. It's got decent airtime in the back and it just lasts forever!

I'd have to say living in the eastern US is pretty sweet. I kind of live in the "Mid Atlantic," but find myself spending more time coaster wise in the north east/PA. I couldn't imagine a better place to live in the U.S. than New England. You have Compounce and SFNE which means Boulder Dash and SROS...some people argue to be the best wood and steel coasters in the world...in your back yard. And your withen a reasonable drive from El Toro. The downsize is you live in the North East, get lots of snow, and speak in the ugliest accent ever! Other places that look like they would be awesome to live, though I've been to none of them, are California, Florida, and Germany....so you get to live in fairly cool looking places and have great parks.

^The extra restraints added over the years (ankle restraints, metal bars, maybe more stuff) have been complained about by many people, and I suppose for some people it makes the ride much less enjoyable. It probably has something to do with body shape and size, and some how my extremely tall and skinny legs are not effected! Either that or I just really don't notice throughout the ride as I'm too busy enjoying the speed and airtime, and preparing for some rattling! Funny that there are many, many restraints that destroy otherwise great rides for me, but the new (and probably unneeded) restraints on some of the Intamin megas aren't one of them. I actually didn't like Ka, because of the rattle, waits, breakdowns, and short layout, but primarily for the rattle! I kind of expect a ride with more of a twisted layout like Superman to be a little more rattly than a stupid out and back, one-element gimmick like Kingda Ka. Any park can attract idiotic guests, but I will agree on average SFA's are some of the worst.

I have to say I just went to the park on Tuesday, and despite the rattling on SROS, I was able to enjoy it and rode it 10 or 11 times with no complaints. The restraints are pretty tough around your legs and ankles, but I'm 6-4 and have determined based on my enjoyment of SROS yesterday, pretty much any restraints beside OTSRs on Intamins are fine with me. I was dissapointed when I first experienced SROS's rattle two years ago, but I find it hard to believe any one would actually could find the ride "almost unbearable." I've ridden all three SROSs, El Toro, Millie Force, and 4 B&M megas, and still had a ball on SFA's Superman. And in the front two cars, there was close to no rattle at all! I'm not trying to say it's the greatest ride ever, but it's still got it after all these years of abuse IMO. As for Jokers Jinx being rough at all, I just don't know where that could be. After the lap bars were put in I've never complained about that ride once. As for the park it self, well, I sure hope the park does good business some days. Maybe a random Tuesday in the middle of the summer is too much to ask for at least a decent crowd....but pretty much all rides ran with half a train if they were running two trains or were a walk on with 1 train. Most rides broke down at least once, and three rides broke down WHILE WE WERE ON THEM (including Skull mountain breaking down twice!). I'm sorry, but it's just not normal when one person experiences three breakdowns in one day. I understand all rides break down, but 3 times in a day has never happened to me in 4 or 5 years of coaster enthusiasm or my whole lifetime of going to amusement parks. Anyway, I just sure hope the park is able to do some decent business in upcoming years. But rides breaking down is certainly one of the many reasons the local population has seemed to give up on the park. I will say that there were (as always) lots of folks in the water park. I have a feeling that side may be keeping the park open at this point. It seems many locals still see the water park as the local swimming pool as it was in the 80s up through today. I know every park can have one bad day (and I only go once every year or so to SFA), but if yesterday represented an average crowd on a beautiful day during the summer, I just can't see how such a large park can be making money (or even breaking even). It was actually kind of creepy how slow the dry side was. While on Tower of Doom, I counted 5-10 people on most walkways, and about the same number of employees as people! I love the fact that everything was a walk on, and it was a nice, relaxing day; but I just hope that the park doesn't dissappear.

I was a big running nut in high school....I got up to running 40-60 miles per week and doing XC, track, and indoor track. My best times were a 5:06 mile, 11:00 2-mile, 18:12 5-k, and 30:20 8-k. I always had dreams of running under 5 and 11, but fell jsut short, partly due to injuries and my first ever bout with spring time alergies my senior year. I ran up through my first 2 years of college, though my community college did not have a team. I've been off and on for the past 2 years, but have been doing cross training stuff (including an amazing program called P90x if anyone is looking to do something different), weights, raquetball, and basketball instead. I think I'm going to sign up for the VA Beach Marathon Yeungling Marathon next year....so perhaps I will get back into hard-core running training like a few people are on here. I ran a marathon in Baltimore (very hilly) in 2005 and ran in just over 4 hours. I've been kind of wanting to see if I can get under 4 ever since, so we'll see! I'm not sure if anyone here has mentioned it, but one of the best running books/programs was a book called Jack Daniel's Running Formula (unfortunitely it has nothing to do with Whiskey!). However, it's a pretty amazingly researched book that a lot of XC coaches have used. I would recomend it if anyone is serious about really improving. And amen to whoever said running is the greatest sport in the world! One of the oldest, most challenging, and world-wide sports ever. My friends are always giving me crap like "running isn't a sport," but I think anyone who has tried it competetively and actually TRIED would say it is one of the most challenging individual competitions out there.

I'm not much of a flat ride guy, but I must say, Prater looks like an awesome place! I always knew there was a lot to do there, but I never knew there was THAT much to do. Thanks Larry for informing us! Also, I've always wanted to do one of those side friction wooden coasters, and the way the park is set up seems really intriguing and not very common at all in the States.

Nice TR, this very much reminds me of the 2008 TPR Behemoth/Ravine Flyer trip which was oh so amazing I have to say I thought Marineland was a nice park, but not neccessarily a great amusement park. For the touristy, scenic place that Niagara Falls is, it really fits in well. In fact, its kind of a quant, quiet place compared to the loud hustle and bustle of the main Niagara Falls city, which is kind of ironic considering it is partly an amusement park! There's not much to do, and the walks are insanely long but it is a pretty park with lots of animals and stuff for the whole family to do and see. Your post about Marineland reminds me of a ride opp at Canada's Wonderland who stated after a long cycle on the Enterprise "We would like to remind you that Marine Land SUCKS....thanks for coming to Wonderland!" You've got to love a little friendly park competetion. And I have to agree...Ride of Steel is still amazing! Not as good as New Englands, but amazing

The last beers I drank were from Fordhams Brewing Company at a concert in Baltimore. Fordhams is located in Annapolis, and being a Maryland resident, I was surprised I've never heard of them before. I tried everything they had on tap: a summer wheat beer that tasted like Shock Top, an amber that tasted like Yeungling Traditional Lager, and an ale that I was told was similar to Killians. I don't remember exactly what they were called, but I thought all were pretty good. The wheat beer was a bit more spiced than even a Shock Top, a bit more than even a young girly drinker like me could appreciate! I thought it tasted more like a sweet cider than a beer. I thought the Yeungling-like beer was good. I'm a big Yeungling fan (can't beat 18 dollar 24 packs!), and I have to say I could taste a difference but still really liked the Fordham's beer. The Killians-like beer was much stronger, but it grew on me. Unfortunitely it was sold out of a keg at a concert so I don't exactly remember their names. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1512 I looked up Fordham's on Beer Advocate, but unfortunitely it left me even more clueless to what I had! If anyone is familiar with the type of kegs Fordhams typically sells to concerts in Baltimore, or thinks they may know more, please let me know! I'd love to buy this stuff again, and hopefully not for the rediculous 6 dollars for 16 ounces price!

-Favorite new coaster El Toro, with Boulder Dash, Superman Ride of Steel (SFNE) and Maverick close behind. - Favorite new ride I suppose Screamin Swings, if they are new. - Favorite new park Don't think I've been to a park that opened in this decade, besides maybe Adventure Park USA (FEC) in Maryland. - Most memorable park moment Ravine Flyer II ERT session in the thunderstorm in 2008. Riding the Phoenix in the rain in 2008 (probably the greatest coaster ride of my life). Kennywood in the snow in 2009 (including rides on Jackrabbit and the Screamin Swing in the snow). My first ever ride on Vocano the Blast Coaster in 2001, which conquered my fear of "extreme" roller coasters. - Most memorable coaster moment haha pretty much everything listed above. - Best ERT session Ravine Flyer II, saw my life flash before my eyes several times! - Least favorite coaster Time Warp at Canada's Wonderland, Super Flight at Rye, and Boardwalk Bullet. - Least favorite ride I guess any non-floorless Huss Top Spins that were built in the decade that decided to crush people's balls. - Most interesting ride you've seen introduced X, Ball Coasters, Pre-fab wooden coasters....I guess anything good that's been introduced. - Your favorite TPR moment (favorite post, trip report, video, whatever!) Again, Ravine Flyer II ERT session or the final bus ride of the Behemoth/RFII trip. - The decade's biggest flop For me personally, flying coasters. Even B&M's are very uncomfortable and pointless for me, with the exception of the pretzle loop. Loading time also sucks. Also, S&S Power's compressed air launch coasters. Uncomfortable, unreliable, though they may be making a comeback now. And this is kind of out on a limb, but giga coasters. Lots of enthusiasts think MF is overrated, and Steel Dragon was down for a large chunk of its life. Then, no other gigas were built for the rest of the decade! - The decade's biggest success Pre fab woodens, the early 2000s Intamin mega coasters, and mega-lites. B&M megas have been great too, perhaps more reliable if a bit less extreme. My only complaint is they haven't changed very much in 11 years. - The best meal you've had at a park DelGrosso's Sauce Pizza. (Actually Knoebel's is better, but DelGrosso's wins for the sheer fact that it is the world's best sauce-based amusement park.) - The worst meal you've had at a park Probably a funnel cake I ate at Kings Dominion....didn't really sit well for some reason. - Best park turnaround Though I've never been, Magic Mountain seems to have turned it around. - Worst park turnaround Geauga Lake or Six Flags America. - What was the biggest trend of this past decade? Too many to choose from, but Proslide tornados, inverts, floorless coasters in the first half of the decade, mega coasters, etc. Also I think innovation it self was a big trend. Look at all the weird coaster models that came to existance! Also, large companies getting sold seemed to be a big trend, and debt.

1. Not really a fan of this move, but I guess if there's a lot of support of it, you might as well do it. I for one have always liked TPR's completely "free" appeal. Anyone with any income and any age anywhere in the world can join and do everything all members can. The sort of exclusivity of ACE and even Coasterfanatics premium membership has always turned me away from them. As far as the exclusive trips, it seems kind of odd that you would have to be BOTH a premium member AND gone on a trip in the past to go on them. So on top of paying for a previous trip, you also have to pay $40-50 dollars a year (and pay for the trip)?! Seems a little much to me. 3. No 4. Would not want to pay for it, because I wouldn't benefit me enough. 5. As said before, I like TPR because it is free, yet amazingly good, and like it enough that I've paid over $2100 for trips, add on days, and DVDs. I think this move will make TPR more like ACE and coasterfanatics and less of the way it is now. And I don't see how it is possible to not create new "cliques" after this. Anyway, if this post seems totally negative, it is not meant to be, just trying to share my thoughts. And if enough people buy into it, it will be a great way to raise money for TPR.

Didn't get to reading this till now, but congrats Jason on the engagement. I was planning on going tommorow to BGE, but due to lack of money, will not be able to. This report made me feel slightly better about it atleast.

Fender Frontman Amp Instrument cable Clothes Laptop case 50 dollar gift card from boss Calenders/candy/usual little things

The entertainment at Knotts looks ultra classy for sure. I'm missing out on these good events on the east coast! Also I'm sure the Knott family will be very pleased with the high quality of family entertainment Cedar Fair has brought to their little farm.

I would go with New England. SROS was my favorite steel coaster when I rode it in 08, and BD is my number 2 wood coaster. Lake Compounce is my favorite park...I think it is pretty much a perfect place, but not many people share that opinion with me. The VA parks definitely have a greater quantity of good coasters though. Griffon, Alpie, Apollo's, Volcano, Dominator, I305, and Flight of Fear are definitely a good set of rides for a few days. I would say that SFNE and KD are about the same in overall quality parks, and both BGE and LC are special places worth visiting. LC is obviously more traditional and Busch is more modern. It's a close call. I would easily pick New England, but I may be biased, because I've been to the VA parks way too much!

I agree with you somewhat, but Europeans are taxed far more than the US is. I personally wish there was a place that was as socially liberal as Europe, but as free-market capitalist as the US.

I forget what I got on the writing, but I got a 550 on Math and 450 on Verbal. I get a crappy score, then get a 3.6 college GPA through 3 years and am on pace to graduate on time.

Probably Shock Wave at SFOT.

Poor Texas Giant. Wasn't it good in its first few years?

Ditto all the plug n' play remarks. So, stuff that happened in my state: -Six Flags America gets two-world class coasters at the start of the decade, and receives next to nothing ever since. -New Outdoor FEC opens, and a Wild Cat arrives that used to be at BGW. -Trimpers Rides continues to be the coolest park in the state, though it's future unfortunately continues to look shady. -Jolly Roger buys Ocean City Pier rides. -The original Jolly Roger changes gets a new coaster every year (and closes one every year). -Wisp resort builds a mountain coaster. -Six Flags America continues to get slandered all over the coaster-nerd world. -More and more residents start to go to Six Flags Great Adventure instead of Six Flags America (even non-enthusiast are getting the point)

Considering Lake Comounce is my favorite park, and Kennywool has my favorite Haloween event, I probably should go to LC in the fall. Looks awesome.

LOL Brent if you ever need a ride from National Airport to KD just let me know. As far as what I think of the coaster, I think we all need to wait and see. I mean, we haven't seen anything like this with those restraints. So, I'll post my thoughts this spring/summer when it opens