AmyUD06

Reducing attendance results in lower crowds, resulting in a better guest experience, possibly resulting in more return-visitors and in-park spending.

The building is new but the scanners aren't; last year they were just housed in tents.

It's the name of a mythical evil snake in their mythical ethos they've developed to theme the park around.

I haven't seen plagiarism so bad since the "Vortex" sign at Fun Spot Kissimmee, Like they didn't even change it to Intamin track!

Not sure why you'd bother them asking if there'd be a season next year. All of the information known about the sale indicates that the earliest they could possibly close would be 2 years away.

Look at WoF going all fancy and full-color with their entry passes. Even Cedar Point and Kings Island had monocolor ones when they were using them.

Yeah, they had that out near Tom + Chee and Diamondback's entrance during my visit back over Memorial Day. I didn't see it anywhere during my most recent trip over 4th of July. Glad to hear its back.

Sounds about par for the course for SF if you ask me.

So Kennywood has removed the notice from the Rides page on the website about Steel Curtain...can anyone local confirm that it's running? I could always detour there on my way to Cedar Point in two weeks (if they manage to not break it again by then LOL).

What Bill said. I may be personally biased, but if I'm fixing for some amusement park time, I'll drive to Kings Dominion (3.5 hours), Hershey (2 hours), Knoebel's (4 hours), Morey's (2 hours), or even Dorney Park (2 hours) before I'll drive 1.5 hours to Great Adventure. This summer, I've already taken an 1800 mile road trip west for a bunch of parks, am driving 9 hours each way to Cedar Point in 2 weeks, then taking a 1,000 mile road trip to the Northeast states in August (including two Six Flags parks), and two 9 hour each way trips in October for Kings Island's and Cedar Point's Halloween events. I have zero interest in going to Great Adventure.

For me, the appeal has always been the high positive-Gs, particularly in the loops, and minimalist restraints. And that sound....it's hard to explain, but all of the Schwarzkopfs I've been on except the Wildcats have a very distinct sound as the trains proceed through the course that just screams "this is what a roller coaster is." The fact that they've cut away the loop makes me kinda nervous for the future of the ride. I find it very hard to believe they'll install a new loop with the same exact dimensions and profile to keep the 4+ Gs you'd get out of it. Even more glad I was able to get out there last December to ride it in its original form.

Good to hear. I hope that isn't just the rides list for the daytime Halloween stuff.

Well, kinda confirmation that Hershey is getting into the proper "Haunted Halloween Amusement Park" game: https://www.wgal.com/article/hersheypark-halloween-dark-nights-haunted-houses-scare-zones/40590786 Unfortunately, they're going the Six Flags route with it: And the official site: https://www.hersheypark.com/darknights/ On their site, you can buy the haunted house pass for $25-45 depending on the day (with all-season access for $100), plus a skip-the-line for the houses for an extra $15-40. Kinda pricey for only 4 houses with unknown quality, if you ask me. Going by what's greyed out on the map (I couldn't find a rides list on the site), the following coasters will be running: -Trailblazer -Jolly Rancher -Lightning Racer -Wild Mouse

@pianojohnNice! I love seeing those "old photo recreations."

Yes, you want FL+. If you can think of any other questions let me know.

Not sure about either of those, but given that it's SFStL, you can count on a few years to "refurbish" it.

They do this in the US too; your country isn't special. Everywhere has idiots. Hell, at Six Flags Great Adventure they'll stop a ride on the lift hill and have security come walk you off the ride if you pull your phone out.

The next morning I was on the road early for my trek westward, but not before a quick detour south for... Camden Park, June 30th. *sigh* What is there to say about this place? Hooray that it still exists and they maintain some classic coasters? All in all it was kinda depressing and surreal; for a few minutes I actually felt like I was in one of those crazy western European parks where you need to operate the rides yourself. Anyway, on with the pictures, First up is the ticket booth: And the "main gate." It might be hard to see, but that small white square was a printed sign that said "Big Dipper is not running today." Bummer. Moving into the park, we come across the assortment of rides, starting with some hand carts... ...a boats-go-round... ..a kiddie whip... ..some auto-drive cars... ...a rockets-go-round... ...a carousel that had seen better days... ...a paratrooper that ran super slow... ...a SBF Visa figure-8 spinning coaster (I did go on this, 5 laps, spinner whatever)... ...a mini-Discovery type ride... ...a cars-go-round... ...standard Flyers, also run super slow... ...Scrambler... ...horse-and-buggy-go-round... ...gas powered train ride.... ...skyride to nowhere that was, you guessed it, super slow... ...twirly boat... ...Tilt-a-Whirl... ...and a kite flyer rounded out the normal assortment of flats at this derelict park. They also had a log flume that looked abandoned, but did actually have some riders later on, I promise! There were a few little food stands... ..and an arcade.... and a toy store? ...and a gift shop. Of course there was also a 1960s Pretzel dark ride, "Haunted House"... ..which was entertaining enough. It's a two story dark ride with a small drop (but it's not a credit). No animatronics, but the ride op did jump out from around the corner at the end, which was nice. Even though Big Dipper was closed, did take some pictures of it: What was running was the Lil' Dipper, a 1961 NAD hybrid kiddie coaster that still ran what I think are the original trains. I had a one train wait for the back row. No air, no laterals, no nothing, but is always fun to ride these classics. I also rode their adult Whip, which has perhaps the coolest graphics I've seen on one: This actually ran at a decent speed, and since it was a short model you didn't really get much recovery time between turns, and the cycle was super long. They also had these swan boats that looked like they would sink if an adult got in them. Guess that's why there's all the life preservers on the rail. That was all there was to do at this park, and with Big Dipper being closed it almost felt like a waste, but whatever who knows the next time I'll be passing by this area. Its in the middle of the suburbs but really feels like the middle of nowhere. I leave you with a shot of the park map sign; the other side was faded so badly you could barely make things out. Shout out to Ray & Nancy, ACE members not on TPR, who were doing basically the reverse of the trip that I was on. Chatting with them made this park a little more entertaining. Next Stop: Kentucky Kingdom. EDIT: The remainder of this report will be posted in the coming days. Please be patient.

My next stop on this park tour was... Kennywood, June 29th. So, the last time I was here was on my big 2017 trip, and I skipped Exterminator at that time and of course Steel Curtain wasn't here, so I had some new credits to get! Apparently, my Palace Platinum Pass gets me preferred parking at every park, so I got to park right up close: Kennywood had redone their entrance since my last visit. They really do go all-in on the yellow and black color scheme haha. How cute that they made a candy store sign out of one of their removed classic rides. First up was the reborn Old Mill, which had been Garfield's whatever on my last trip: Nine minute wait. What did I think? Definitely an improvement over Garfield, but I just didn't get it. I get that it holds some nostalgia factor for those that have been coming to the park for years, but honestly I thought it was kinda dumb. Grabbed a picture of the refurbished Kangaroo: ...and made my way down to the way-worse-team-than-the-Ravens Country entrance, only to find... Boo. Guess I wasn't getting this credit on this trip. At least it photographs nice? And hey, Aero 360 was running! This has a reputation for not, right? Some shots of the refurbished gift shop and arcade building. I grabbed a ride on Racer (16 minute wait for row 5, started on the left, and lost). I don't remember this having belts or seat dividers from my last trip...can someone who visits this place more frequently confirm that memory? Either way, it was fun....7/10. Next up was... Uh...maybe time to take off the "100th Anniversary" things? 22 minute wait for row 7. I also don't remember this having seat belts. Anyway, as I'm on it, I started wondering why this ever made my top 10, until that double-down and the massive air it causes. It has since been bumped out of the list, but man is this an underrated ride. One more sweet shot of Steel Curtain: Unfortunately, Thunderbolt was closed also... ...but I did get to go on Ghostwood Estate. 13 minute wait (not including pre-show time). Meh...good enough I guess. Surprised to not find a high-score board at the end, and the scenes were kinda boring. It does earn some points for me having no idea how the trackless-darkride mechanism works at all. 4/10 I then did my first ever walk through of Noah's Ark. Okay, so I might catch flack for this, but what the hell is this thing? The first half was completely pointless (unless they're trying to indoctrinate people into Magical Sky Daddy's book), and the second half (with the physical gags) wasn't that impressive at all. I'd rank Confusion Hill at Idlewild as a better example of this type of attraction. 0/10. Next up was a ride on Exterminator, my first spinning mouse. It was here I had my longest wait of the day, at 44 minutes. Meh, whatever it was spinning. And a mouse. Not too bad until the spinning started, and then the eyes definitely had to close. I also don't quite understand the theme. 3/10. After exiting, I noticed that Black Widow was operating. I know this has a reputation for not. I then grabbed a ride on Phantom's Revenge (15 minute wait for front row). Front row is definitely better than wherever I rode during my 2017 trip, and the first and second drops are definitely insane, but after the tunnel everything just goes down hill. How can anyone enjoy those janky, Arrow-esque transitions, curves, and hills? 5/10. After that, I headed to my hotel to call day one a wrap, leaving Kennywood with much the same impression I had of it during my first trip 5 years ago: Overall Meh. Yeah, it's awesome that they keep their three classic woodies going, but that's about all this park has going for it (yes, I did peek at their Whip and found it to run slower than Dorney's). Side note: Here, my Palace Platinum Pass from Dutch Wonderland did not scan, and I needed to go to guest relations to get a paper ticket. Next up: Camden Park.

So, for this year's "big" park trip, I decided to focus on the mid-north states again, starting in western Pennsylvania with.... Idlewild, June29th. Beware, there are a lot of pictures from here, mostly since I know many of you have never been here. You pay for attendance at what would normally be the parking booths. My Palace Platinum Pass scanned without any issues. The parking lot. I think there was a bigger one somewhere else. The "entrance gate" LOL. They had a log flume, that was closed for the day. A kids climb-about play area, something you don't find in a lot of proper amusement parks. But no park would be complete without an Auntie Anne's pretzels...yes, that does say $8.00 for a standard pretzel. Moving along, we come across a dining area... ...A Tornado with a unique theme and decorations... ...some more scenic buildings.... ...a Monster... ...bumper cars (sadly nothing special)... ...your standard balloon ride... ...and a show venue. These were posted right in front of the drive-'em cars. The sign has definitely seen better days. Another few eateries... ...some games... ...and a scrambler. There was an antique carousel, dating back to at least 1931, which had stationary outer horses like Knoebel's, but sadly no ring-grab thingy. They have your standard Flyers... ..and of course, the reason anyone non-local ever comes here... Rollo Coaster! Sadly the original trains are long gone, replaced by a single PTC two-row car followed by 3 single-row trailer'd cars, but it was still a fun ride. I rode in the front and the back (minimal waits), and while the front row was pretty tame, the back row had one solid pop of air and some good laterals at the turnaround. It was also much much smoother than any ride from 1938 has being. 6/10. And here's a bunch of pictures of it: Moving along, we come across a Tilt-a-Whirl... ...And then the other reason for an enthusiast to come to this park... This was the first Vekoma mouse I've ever been on, and it did not disappoint. Despite the addition of magnetic brakes along the zig-zag portion, it still felt like the cars were coming to come flying off the track. It was super smooth and had some great positive and negative G's along the hills. And who can forget the banked lift hill with what have to be the loudest anti-rollbacks ever (yes, even louder than an RMC!)? Easily the best wild mouse I've ever been on. 8/10. And of course, a bunch of pictures: Everyone loves when coasters aren't bolted to the ground. Continuing onward, there's a long path back to the small water park, on one side of which is a not-very-friendly-looking lake. And onward into Raccoon Lagoon, their main kiddie section. Featuring a set of electric auto-drive cars with a well-themed entrance... ...the most ingenious installation of a boat-go-round I've ever seen... ...a mini Turtle... ...a very old car-go-round... ...a tram-go-round?... ..and finally Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. This is a trolley ride through various scenes from the show, which while being a huge fan of Mr. Rodgers growing up, I've never seen. Circling back around towards the front of the park, we come across another show venue... ...a standard Dippin' Dots and Gift Shop... ...and a really cool bridge. There was apparently a tiny train station here? And then some more rides, including a Round Up... ...Paratrooper... ... and a train ride. There was this nice fountain too: At this point I took a break for some food, and grabbed a custom mac and cheese from the Mac Shack (no relation to the one at Cedar Point, I think). $15 for an absolutely massive portion; I wasn't able to finish it all: And last but certainly not least for this park was Confusion Hill. This is a walk-through attraction with a narrator telling a story about miners. There are some awesome visual gags, including slanted floors, perspective skewing, balls roll and and water flowing the "wrong" direction...all in all very entertaining. And something that no one ever talks about from this place. The narrator would pour water into the trough, and it would flow "uphill" into the bucket. These balls rolled up. These balls rolled left. And that about does it for Idlewild. Not a whole lot for enthusiasts, but it is a very nice family park. Next stop: Kennywood.

They could very easily implement a metal detector system like Cedar Fair has done on their RMCs. There was nothing in place at SFMM at Twisted Colossus when I visited in December.

Gold Striker from CGA. Edit: Or, in a more hilarious universe, Grizzly from CGA.

I was there yesterday too! I made the exact same analogy about the Tip Top, too LOL. In the back row of Tornado, that "pop of air" was the most intense ejector I've ever felt. It was absolutely insane.

I still don't get this Cesari's hype. Growing up with Macks, Jonuzi's (Atlantic City) and 3 Brothers (Seaside), I wasn't that impressed with the last Alice I had from Cesari's.

Coaster wise, Flight Deck is the mostly likely candidate - KD doesn't have an invert. Flat wise, who knows, but I'm privately hoping for Orbit (the Schwarzkopf Enterprise) and/or Berserker (the Bayern Kurve), but the latter would need a new name.