Theme-Park-Urge

This past week, I took some time off work to do a little Midwest park tour. When all was said and done, I had put 1,000 miles on my rental car in addition to two Nashville/Chicago flights of 500 miles apiece; not bad for a last-minute trip that would hopefully gain me about 15 new credits. First stop: Indiana Beach. The park was all I had hoped it was plus more! It’s one of those places that welcomes you in such a way that you really don’t want to leave. Luckily, crowds were non-existent on this particular Tuesday, and I was able to command multiple re-rides throughout the day and nite. So, you’re probably wondering about Steel Hawg: Is it all it’s cracked up to be? Is it painful? Was there a long wait? Is it worth the trip (back) to Indiana Beach? Is it a world-class coaster? Well, I say: Yeah. Nope. Hardly. Absolutely. Not quite. The seats, even though they have OTSRs, are quite comfy. The lift is super-fast. The sharp turns don’t hurt at all (fyi: I’m about 6-foot and 200 pounds). The 120-degree drop is fun as hell. The outside-banked turn is a nice touch. The hangtime in the roll-to-dive is incredible. The angled barrel roll kicks major a$$. Yeah, it feels a lot like a Eurofighter. Operations were good: efficient loading and unloading of the two cars in operation. I didn’t see the coaster experience any down-time whatsoever. The only thing that I was kinda surprised about was the lack of enthusiasm on the riders’ part. Perhaps it’s because Steel Hawg, even with all of its unique elements, is not a scary ride at all. It’s just pure fun. As for its length, it’s hard to explain… With the amount of elements and the way the transitions flow, Steel Hawg is long enough to satisfy but short enough that you want more; if that makes any sense… Let me try to put it this way: It’s not a disappointing ride by any means, but you kinda wish that it was a bit longer. Being that it’s so smooth and pain-free, it’s a pleasure to ride. Maybe that’s why I’m having a hard time putting my finger on it. Either way, Steel Hawg is a winner in my eyes! Aside from Steel Hawg, the park has a good collection of coasters: a couple CCI/PTC woodies (I enjoyed Hoosier Hurricane much more than Cornball Express btw), an old Schwarzkopf Jet Star (a blast!), an old Zyklon Galaxi (sadly, not in operation that day), and the unexplainably random Lost Coaster Of Superstition Mountain (LoCoSuMo). Oh sweet Lord, what the hell were they thinking when they built/redesigned that ride?!? Their flat collection is pretty typical: Ferris Wheel, Music Express, Falling Star, Swinging Ship, Flying Bobs (a must-ride for me), Tilt-A-Whirl, Double Shot (love ‘em), etc. However, some of their flats (Scrambler, Paratrooper, Chairswing, Flyers) being placed directly on the water is what makes this park so great! Anyway, it was an extremely long and enjoyable day. I’m glad that I finally got to make it to a park that I saw commercials for ever since I was little in Chicago. Indiana Beach definitely is a unique park experience with plenty of charm and attractions! Thanks for reading! Now, on to the pics (posted in multiple parts coz there's a whole bunch!): Satisfied riders, it would seem. Hold tight for the next batch of Steel Hawg pics: Artsy shots & coaster porn ahead! For the most part, everyone held on pretty darn tight. Some of the few brave riders I saw that day with their hands up! It ain't big but it packs a pretty good knock-out punch! (Much like the coaster itself) ...the over-banked turn! Even after you exit the Barrel Roll TO Hell, there's one more element for you to conquer... Oh my!! What a cool element!! Probably the scariest thing on the ride. After that, it's time for the barrel roll toward the ground. Again, though, the coaster is so fluid. Even with the intense maneuvers, there's no shaking/rattling/etc. This Hawg seemed smooth as silk. I could definitely feel my muscles tense up right about here. The dive back down is perhaps the most intense sensation on the ride. This element is pretty drawn out. You feel like you're hanging forever traveling upside-down. Hooray for hangtime!! ...hangtime!!! The inside-banked turn that follows is tight but not too forceful. It prepares you for... The outside-banked turn is a unique element & very fun! It feels like you could just drift off the track. The brakes definitely slow your momentum but it's so fluid that you really don't even notice them. Let's take a closer look at the brakes on the first drop, shall we... Instead of uber-intense, the first drop is just pure fun. I may even like it more than Maverick's... I was expecting the drop to be uber-intense. It wasn't! I was expecting the turn-around at the top of the lift to hurt like hell. It didn't! The lift is super-quick!! It takes you up 100 ft in a couple of seconds. Negative. There's only about 20 people in the queue. Amazingly, it would stay like this all day!! I'm finally in the park & ready to try this bad boy out! I hope the line isn't massive! Hey! There's that 120-degree first drop. That looks like fun! (And it is!) Hey! There's that outside-banked turn. That looks fun! (And it is!) Steel Hawg in all its orange glory as seen from the paid parking area. Ah yes, the (in)famous crow welcomes me to ride Steel Hawg. I grew up with this crow on IB commercials. OMG! Their new baby Steel Hawg is right here! Looks like I won't have to walk much to get to it! Score! Hooray! I'm finally here! Only a half-hour behind schedule since I-65S was closed. The day started with a 2+ hour drive thru a lot of corn. BTW: There ain't much besides corn in IN, despite what people may lead you to believe.

Interesting! I've never encountered one in my midwest/southern travels. ::looks at Dippin' Dots website:: It looks like there are franchises scattered across the country (mostly in CA, FL, NY) but not many in the south. I find that a little strange, considering the inventor is from KY, but, then again, we don't have too many parks (where people would encounter them) down here. In fact, they don't seem to even list a southern location (beside TX) as a target market. Either way, I'm ecstatic that they're making their way to strip malls around Nashville!

Part two: That concludes my first encounter with a Dippin' Dots STORE. I'll definitely be making it back there to dive deeper into the menu. Thanks to the girls working for allowing me to take pictures like a weirdo! We ended up choosing the Moose Tracks & Strawberry Cheesecake (sans toppings). Both were delicious, as expected. It was the first time my friend ever had Dippin' Dots. Pretty generic but it DOES have a flatscreen TV in there! They've even got this private room for Activity Day & parties. Dangit! We're too late for Activity Day! OMG! They cater?!? BTW: they also have a punch card: If you buy 10 any size, you get a small free. The Topping Center! Add any of these to whatever you order for $0.50 each! This place is dangerous! Bubble Gum?!? Cotton Candy?!? So much to choose from!! Woah! What's all this fruity madness?!? Yummy! Ah! That's more like it! More regular ice cream?!? Where's the Dippin' Dots?!? And now for a look into the selection inside the main cooler... Regular ice cream. To give you an idea of what size is what price. All the sundae options. MILKSHAKES?!? $25 for a cake?!? Sizes & Prices. I like that they've already included the tax in the price! Makes it so much easier on the eyes (& the brain). Flavors. Here's the extensive menu. First up: Cakes. Dippin' Dots gift cards?!? I wonder if they'd be accepted at parks?!? What, exactly, is the Behaving Badly combo?!? SMORES?!? *gag* "Happy Anniversary honey. Here's a Dippin' Dots cake to celebrate the occassion." They have these nice spinning ad plaques on the counter.

So a friend & I were house-hunting the other nite in a new area & decided to go get dinner afterward. The strip mall we found contained the usual storefronts: Dollar Store, Mexican Restaurant, Nail Spa, Insurance, Kroger... And, then, I saw it... That familiar logo... Enlarged & neon-fied... DIPPIN' DOTS It turns out that the inventor, Curt Jones, lives nearby & has decided to test the market with four newly-opened storefronts. I'd imagine that similar Dippin' Dots storefronts would be strip mall staples nationwide, much like a Baskin Robbins, if the venture proved profitable. Well, on to the pics: Dippin' Dots HACKY SACKS?!? What DON'T they have their name on?!? Stay tuned for more... Dippin' Dots CAKES?!? And ICE CREAM SANDWICHES?!? They look kinda nasty... but are probably delicious! Dots N Cream tubs to go! And FROZEN FRUIT DRINKS?!? They make FLOATS too?!? At BAR MITZVAHS?!? They make Dippin' Dots SUNDAES?!? One of the many nice signs that adorn the wall. Poster ad on one of the tall coolers. When you're on the go & need your fix. ...Dippin' Dots pocket packs. A huge cooler filled with... More swag including bags, mini-coolers, & crayons. More merch. FYI: the gumballs are just generic Double Bubble in a plastic container with a Dippin' Dots sticker. I think I'm gonna buy this shirt for my friend since she was with me to witness this momentous occasion. ...complete with shirts & pants that have, what appear to resemble, Dippin' Dots on them. The Dippin' Dots merch wall... The only tall stools & table (the rest are low-to-the-ground square tables). See previous caption but this time along the other window. Stools along one window that look a lot like dots. Well I'll be... You can use a credit card & they have wi-fi! Can I move in?!? Sweet! They're open! Holy ____ ! Have I died & gone to heaven? A Dippin' Dots STORE?!? You've got to be kidding me! No! Not Las Palmas! (although we would eat dinner there) What's that off in the distance?!?

Bonus Feature: And, finally, a lil tribute to Maverick. Thanks for making it thru this trip report. I'm looking forward to 2008! ... ... And now for a lil feature I like to call Photoshop Phun... So I get back to the hotel & had to chuckle at my friend's inability to park a car correctly. Where'd it go?!? What's this?!? So I leave the park & go to get gas but wait...

The end is near. Part five: The Best Summer Ever Tour has officially come to a close. Goodbye Cedar Point - my Heaven on Earth. ...coz I want shots like these to be crystal clear. Yeah, I think I'm gonna upgrade cameras for this summer... Too bad I still can't figure out how to get good pics at nite... Don't fret. My riding season may have come to an end, but my picture-taking season still has a lil bit of life to it. And with one last crest of a tophat, into a speeding vertical spiral descent, my riding season of 2007 has come to an end. A co-worker is using this shot as her desktop image. Thanks for the props! And what better way to cap off your Best Summer Ever Tour than with a nite ride on TTD. (Notice the train speeding by?) As the sun set, it kind of hit me that, for all intensive purposes, summer was coming to an end. After riding TTD almost every year, I failed to notice this themeing before now. But, hey, if a couple people appreciate my efforts, I'm more than glad to do it. (Ok, I'd do it anyway) Yeah, people thought I was a lil weird laying on a bench & taking pictures of a coaster & all. I had to lay on a bench to get these shots. I love virtual symmetry. TTD was to be our final ride of the weekend & my final ride of 2007. That's what I'm talking about! Are YOU ready?!? I know I am. Last stop: Top Thrill Dragster!

Part four: All three visable cars are visable. That seems rare... Pretty. I love the launched side of Power Tower but have never ridden the freefall side. However, this pic of ID turned out to be perfect. Too bad I wasted a good pic on ID... Don't worry, I won't bore you with many ID pics. Just note that the fog machine was kicking it in high gear. (Yes, the fog is more interesting than ID) Time for one of the lamest rides in coaster history: Iron Dragon. ...After. Before... Yes? Too bad. There's a couple more Corkscrew pics... Have you been 'screwed enough yet? See?!? "Eh, what's going on over my shoulder, eh" (I don't know why, but I gave the seagull a Canadian accent in my mind) The seagull sitting there didn't even move when a train came whizzing by. Whiplash. Not from riding but from taking this pic. This pic, eh, not so much. But I still like it for some reason. This pic is rather picturesque. Ah, that's more like it. I love how you can walk under Corkscrew's corkscrews. Here's Corkscrew's loop. Hey! Wait a minute. I thought there's supposed to be corkscrews?!? Time for an Arrow classic: Corkscrew. Speaking of intense: The successive triangle bunny hills still throw me out of my seat all the way to the finish. The climb to the 2nd drop still manages to provide me with an intense feeling of euphoria. Tasty shot of Magnum's lift & drop! I still find it to be a very exciting drop, even though it's "only" 200 feet. Magnum's lift still gets to me a little. I have to sit on the right side by the stairs! No ifs, ands, or buts about it! I remember waiting HOURS to ride Magnum its 1st year. This time we waited about 10 minutes for the 2nd seat. I'm not an ACEr but I felt obligated to take a picture of the plaque. Next up: Magnum!

Now that Robb has been so kind as to fix my pic issue, on to part three: I have fond memories of Witches' Wheel. It was the first ride that turned me (relatively) upside-down. Nowadays, I will never turn down a ride on an enterprise! If I do, shoot me on the spot. Everyone always complains about other parks not racing their racers but no one seems to commend CP for actually doing it. (Just an observation) Gimini was my first big coaster when I was five years old. I lost a tooth down the first drop. True story. Yep. I'm still at CP. No other park could get away with Gemini's 70's shag-carpet, wood-paneling station. This shot almost makes me question if I'm still at CP. Speaking of nice shots... I've always liked the surroundings here. However, CCMR did provide one of the nicest shots in the park. "Goodness"? Erm, mediocrity is a much more accurate description. On to some good ole Arrow mine train goodness. The program was WAY too short but my first Screamin' Swing was a ton of fun, nonetheless. ...like take pictures of Skyhawk! Mmmm. Yummy. It provided a good drenching to all but me. That's coz I didn't ride. I had better things to do... Next up: Snake River Falls. I guess you could tell that by the sign, eh... I remember when Mean Streak was a bad-a$$ woodie. Now it's been robbed of its manhood & I won't bother riding it anymore. The girls wanted to get their Mean Streak credit but I passed this time around. 2nd Stengel dive & thus the conclusion of the Maverick love. 1st Stengel dive. The trains were dueling at this point for the majority of the time. This is where they removed the high-speed heartline. You'd be able to see that if the rock wasn't there... Bombs away! Seriously though, you're going through there so fast that you don't even notice the water bombs. The brake after the 2nd launch & before this dive was a lil weird. Still provided thrills, though. Time for a quick dive into the canyon. This shot makes the track look like a continuous circuit (drop-to-canyon). It's not... This shot make it look like the train is uber-long... Here they come! The corkscrew before the tunnel. Where were we? Oh yeah... More Maverick corkscrew love!

Part two: More corkscrew love! This is for all the coaster wheel fanatics... More coming soon! More of the same. Corkscrew love! Intense airtime hill! This is one of my favorite shots of all time! I hope you enjoy it. Down the 90+ degree drop! Too bad the right lane was blocked of with garbage cans. And you thought they were only used for decorations... Wow! "Themeing" at CP. Who woulda thunk it?!? Now, to make it thru the rest of the queue... Hooray! We're back up & running! A part of me felt bad for the guy but a part of me wanted to beat his brains in... Guess what part won... What the ______?!? What the _____ is going on?!? Someone lost their wallet, you say?!? That's a load of ______ _______ !! Wait! Why is the train empty?!? Shut down, you say?!? Why?!? For some reason, I was expecting cast members to be running around shooting at each other. Then I remembered where I was... OK, you've made it THIS far. Here's your reward: Maverick! Wave Swinger which isn't really located by any waves per se. People are fixin' to get wet... Oooh. Pretty. Time for a lil rapids action! Oh! (Ok, I'm spent) And, yes, my a$$ doesn't come in contact with my seat til we hit the tunnel. Hooray! Another airtime hill before the tunnel! See prior caption. (Ok, I'm running out of MF captions) Sweet high-speed over-banked turn-around. (Hmm, three words with dashes in a row) Ok, I'm even scaring myself with all the MF pics... Yes, there's MORE MF pics... Kind of a hard angle to get the train in the pic but, hey, I tried. I like the way this shot turned out. You may feel differently... I, for one, float thru the entire thing. Airtime hill that some don't get air on. Sexy Intamin track. X marks the spot. Warning: Coaster Porn ahead! ...After Before... The girls really enjoyed MF, especially when I made them ride in the front. MF's drop thru the trees. (Who says there's no trees at CP?) Dang! MF looks HUGE from down here. Words can't describe what I feel plummeting down that drop. Favorite drop. Hooray! Time for my favorite coaster! Inclined loop goodness. Why aren't there more of these? I always feel like I look dumb trying to hold my hands up on a stand-up. Guess what. I do. I love this shot! B&M's are so very sexy! Stand-Up dive loop heaven! Mantis loopage thru the trees. (Sorry, it had to be said) Hey! Two-train shot! Sweet! I never thought I'd ever pass on a B&M beauty like this but it really is lacking a lot with the trim on, IMO. Good. Coz I'm not. Ready for the pain that is Mantis?!? One of the 10-year-old girls in my group decided that Wildcat would be her first coaster ever. She hated it! Wildcat's a great lil ride. I have no idea why I skipped it this time around. I regret it.

Cedar Point prepares to kick off its 2008 season in a couple weeks, and I’m sure many TPRers will be visiting the park - some for the first time. In anticipation of the upcoming park opening, I wanted to share this Photo Trip Report from my last park visit of 2007 before it was too late: I have been going to CP about every other year for as long as I can remember and never thought that I'd make it up there this past summer, but I ended up meeting some friends in Sandusky at the tail end of my Ohio Park Tour and reveled in their first experience at CP. We spent two days at the park but, seriously, two days is not nearly enough for me at CP! I could stay there an entire week and not get bored or tired. The first day was girls' choice; I rode what they wanted (after we rode Maverick first {my choice}). Unfortunately, though, as soon as we got in line for Maverick, it went down. I was expecting this, so I wasn't worried. But when we saw a worker and a security officer wandering the grounds underneath the coaster, I was concerned. Turns out some chump lost his wallet on the ride and they were attempting to retrieve its contents. Now don't get me wrong, it would suck to lose your wallet at a park but, I'm sorry, don't shut down the ride for 30-plus minutes to retrieve it! There are signs that the park is not responsible for lost items and they demand (nevermind that logic just demands) that items be placed in a cargo pocket/fanny pack, etc. I've seen people lose items (including car keys) on/under rides and the same response is always given: "Come back here when the park is closing and we'll retrieve it for you"; simple solution to an inconvenience the rider/guest caused, not the ride/park. Rant over. On to the ride. Maverick was a lot of fun. It was way more intense than I had expected! Having studied the ride for months, I knew the layout and elements pretty well. This helped me prepare for which way to lean and what to brace for at certain times, but the inexperienced rider could receive quite a lashing from the unexpected (as some in our group did). The LIM lift gets you up to the drop rather quickly but the lack of hesitation kills any building anticipation, IMO. From there, the airtime hill is really the only place in the first half to catch your breath as it's off to tight turn, corkscrew, tight turn, corkscrew, tight turn, tunnel. Our time in the tunnel was rather brief; as soon as we saw the lights and heard the train we were off. The second half was quite enjoyable even with the brake at the top of the second launch hill. The canyon portion is, not surprisingly, too quick and intense to either notice the water bombs or complete a heart-line roll (as first installed). Thank you Intamin and CP for removing that!! The two Stengel dives are unique and fun if you know they are coming. If not, prepare for whiplash. And then, you're done. Actually, the ride itself goes by so fast that you really don't notice what path you took or what has just happened. You just know that it was different than anything you've ever been on. Ever. As far as re-ride-ability on Maverick, I didn't and I don't really see it. Although it's a great little ride, it didn't blow my socks off and it didn't justify my two-hour-plus wait. Personally, I can't imagine riding it again unless the wait was an hour or less; I know, good luck with that one. To me, it's no Millennium. In fact, I think that Raptor's pay-off is much more deserving of its wait. So, I guess I'd place Maverick as CP's 3rd best coaster. After Maverick, on the first day we got rides in on about half of the coasters (Wicked Twister, Disaster Transport, Corkscrew, Magnum {still one of my favorites}, Gemini, Woodstock Express, Cedar Creek Mine Ride,) and almost all of the flats (Matterhorn, Scrambler, Trioka, Chaos, Ocean Motion, Witches' Wheel; maXair and Skyhawk {btw: my third different ride in three days with the word "hawk" in its name} ruled even though their programs were way too short and one of the girls cried like a baby on both). The second day at CP was the best day I've had at a park ever! I got to the park early, hit up Dragster first, and then rode Millennium (still my Number 1 coaster, period). I wandered around taking pics and vids while the girls did their thing (including Mean Streak; no thank you) until about 3:00. Then I headed to Raptor (possibly my favorite stand-alone invert; i.e. not Dueling Dragons) and Blue Streak (perhaps the best woodie ride of the entire OH trip!). I then met up with the girls for their Millennium Force initiation. They wanted to try out Mantis but I passed since they added the trim brake on the first drop and having been on Chang (> Mantis) this year. So I scored a ride on (launching) Power Tower and continued to enjoy the park while the girls wrapped up on Wildcat (the only ride I should've ridden and regretfully didn't) and Raptor. We then met at Dragster for a nitetime ride and the closing ride of our two-day stay (and last ride of my four-day trip and probably the season). Just as they were getting to the line, of course, Dragster broke down. But no worries, CP had half-an-hour to get it up again before they'd stop letting people in line. Needless to say, it breaking down was the best thing that could've happened, as people fled the queue line by the bunches. 10 minutes later Dragster was up and we had a much shorter wait than if it had been running the entire time; i.e. much more than 10-minutes-worth of riders left the line while it was broken down. The girls were a little apprehensive about Dragster, especially at nite. Two of them cried before even getting on (one was hysterical just entering the line {which, btw, we got to see the fireworks display from} although I'm proud of her for doing it in the end). The girl riding with me didn't get scared until we were ready to board. Her expression as we were descending the spiral was priceless: terrified screaming with her hands on her cheeks! Hey, at least she didn't hold on! Not bad for a 10 year-old, if I must say so myself! After that, I meandered back to the car but not before I scored the last Elephant Ear of the nite from the last food vendor that was open. To me, that is a perfect day! Overall, what can I say?!? Cedar Point is still my Heaven on Earth!! Thanks for reading! Pics are posted in multiple parts below. (Note: My computer hasn't been getting along with TPR's server tonite. Some pics needed to be compressed well below 150 KB in order to post. I apologize for the [lack of] quality.) Even Wildcat had a pretty long wait... Speaking of wait: You're gonna have to wait for the next installment... With that section of the park conquered, it's time to fight all the peeps to the "popular" rides. Time for everyone's favorite: Scrambler. (Insert sarcasm here) I skipped on Ocean Motion while the girls all rode. Non-inverted swinging ships just don't do a darn thing for me. Chaos is about the only flat that makes me a lil whoozy. Come to think of it, we had to wait while they cleaned up some kid's puke... Why didn't I get a pic of that?!? Thankfully those stoppers are at the end of the track! I can't figure if I prefer a twisted backward spike or a holding brake one. Has there been a TPR poll on that yet?!? Up, up, & away... I love how the ride ops counted down but launched you before they finish. "3, 2, launch, 1..." Although, I can't think of a cooler place to stick an impulse shuttle. Walking thru the queue on the way to the station, you might think its name is Wicked Wind. Where'd THIS come from?!? I never noticed it before... Yeah, Wicked Twister's more like it! Yeah, sure, they're having fun on the lake on a beautiful day but I prefer something a lil more intense... Seagulls hiding from the sun on the beach under Disaster Transport's shadow; aka the best DT pic I took. You can see Dragster from all the way back here. Aw, hell, you can see Dragster from Canada on a clear day. Or is it the other way around?!? Giant Wheel's pretty, er, giant & you couldn't pay me to ride it. (Hey, that kinda rhymed) Troika's still a fun flat. It makes me giggle the whole time. Please don't vomit, please don't vomit, please don't vomit... Please don't spit, please don't spit, please don't spit... I enjoyed maXair more than Delirium at KI two days prior. maXair's cycle seemed shorter but higher. I dunno... There. That's better. maXair with no Disaster Transport. Can't we wish?!? Lots of rainbow colors on this isde of the park. Too bad Disaster Transport mucks it all up... Ah yes, back to the rides. maXair took time to pose for the camera. Thanks maXair! There's even a porcupine/peacock fountain thingy. There are plenty of gardens that accentuate the trash cans. Not to mention, the midway is pretty well-manicured. Back to the midway. The most exhilerating & exciting midway I've seen. For all the hating Blue Streak gets, I thought it was one of the best woodies in Ohio. Wait. That's not saying much... But it still gave a great ride. Oh, nevermind. Thanks for the info CP but I have one question: Where's Blue Streak's ACE plaque? Next up: Blue Streak. I never noticed how cool the logo was before. Man, do I miss the old Pirate Ride! Anyone know what happened to it? Seems like forever since it was here. Speaking of intense: the double helix finale makes my entire body feel like exploding! Raptor's post-loop layout is pretty intense & photogenic. ...and a lil more. More loopidy goodness... Beautiful B&M invert loopage! I love how the drop swoops over the midway (at least it feels like it's gonna). Raptor: my favorite stand-alone invert, I think. (Depending on my mood; Montu's up there too) There's the beach side of the park but I've got business to take care of first... 1st Gen Freefalls like Demon Drop are still the best tummy-losers, IMO. I hope the never take this out! (Wishful thinking, I know) That's more like it! Let the fun begin! Finally reached the gate. How much longer til I get in the park?!? Let the Maverick hype begin. After going to CP for years, I never noticed this view... until now. I got a pretty sweet parking spot! What a lovely sight! How many credits can you count? Last park visit of 2007. Almost there!

Part five (aka The End): Next I ventured into Dino Island II. Wait, where's Part I? How's it I ALWAYS end up behind these country folks transporting cr*p that's not secured in the back of their trucks?!? Time to bid farewell to Geauga Lake, figuratively & literally. Thanks for reading this trip report! So as I'm walking to my car, I notice these wells & a sign hanging on the fence... Oh yeah, & no Geauga Lake TR would be complete without... drum roll, please... CORNHOLE! Time to leave but not before the obligatory entrance fountain pic. Speaking of said park map: I finally found one. ... especially since the Ferry WAS blocked off (& removed from the park map). I was surprised that this RWB ramp wasn't blocked off... I almost volunteered to paint the thing! If they were to re-locate & re-open it, I hope they repaint it! There was no evidence that they were TRYING to repair or paint it. Even though it looked like it'd fall down any minute now. I wanted this credit SO badly!! It's modeled after Chicago's Riverview Bobs. It's been sitting here rotting away since it derailed. However, I don't think I (or anyone else) will be riding Raging Wolf Bobs any time soon. Hey! I still need this credit!! This is for all you barbed-wire fence fanatics. Now I've got to walk BACK to the other side of the park coz I didn't see a shuttle... I DO understand THIS name: Booty. Oops, wait a minute... it's Bounty. Or this name: Black Squid. WTF?!?It's RED (& black)! Looks like a Lobster to me... I don't understand this name: Boardwalk Typhoon. Pirate's Flight. Nicely themed ride! Although I wasn't aware that pirates flew... Old-school swings: YoYo's. Thriller Bees are a slightly different take on the almost-seemingly-guaranteed-to-be-in-a-park-these-days bee ride. Happy Harbor Nets - a huge happy maze in the harbor with nets... Big surprise, eh?!? Just in case you wanted to read about how to attract song birds to the water garden, here it is... I have no idea how I found this fountain/stream thing but it was nice. (see, I told you: no captions) (nada) (zilch) (zip) (nothing) (blank) Lots of scenery that I will NOT captionize...

Part four: I actually checked out Lego Racers 4D. Not bad! Thunder Falls from the front. It's pretty sweet, if you're into that sort of thing! Thunder Falls. Splash Landing. The right half of the front of the park from REALLY far away. The left half of the front of the park from REALLY far away. Wow. That was a LONG walk! Finally, I've made it to other side of the park! The lake show stadium from across the.. you know... The retired ferries & Raging Wolf Bobs from across the lake. The floating bridge to take you to the other side of the park. Dominator from across the lake. Thunderhawk (the coaster, not the bird) from across the lake. (And, no, the bird is not Photoshopped) How do I get to the entrance of this building? Fence... Bear... Help! It looked pretty sweet! Rocket Sled Ride maze-type thingy... Cute fountain... Hot Air Express... Half Pint Railway... I don't know why, but the "flowers" made me think of the Wizard of Oz. A huge area for kids to throw/shoot foam balls at their parents. Cool! Gotcha Games... which is... Dippy Diver... Rocket Relay... Cute lil Tree Hopper... Big ole monster trucks... aka Road Rally. It's one of the nicest kiddie areas around. I even liked it better than KI's. KidWorks, however, was packed! This is the most full I saw Starfish all day.

Part three: Symmetical cobra roll shot. Wow, two at one park. Am I THAT predictable? Surprisingly, not-as-head-banging-as-I-imagined cobra roll. Amazing! ;-P See?!? Watch how Head Spin is so fast that Skyscraper doesn't move an inch in the background... Preparing for descent. Hooray (not really) for my first standard Vekoma boomerang. Steve Martin, come out from behind that curtain! (Extra points to anyone who knows what movie I'm thinking of) Ditto. Speaking of pathetic... The old waterpark was fenced off but I found its pathetic-ness. Thank god this pic of El Dorado is right side up. One of the best woodie rides of the summer! Timeless!! After riding it though, I'll NEVER forget its name. I offended the line checker dude coz I called it "Little" Dipper. Oops... Big Dipper is older than my folks & they're REALLY old. The splash it made was so big it landed on the midway. No lie. OK, you agree? I'm not missing a sign or anything, right? I think this ride is called Shipwreck Falls. What do you think? The world needs more of these! I loved this ride! Hooray! New flat credit: Time Warp. Note to self: perhaps laying down in the queue entrance to get a pic is going a little overboard. Yeah, I ALWAYS smile while getting my brains beat in on an SLC... Toxic water under Thunderhawk. Friggin' disgusting!!!!!!! Tons of ugly yellow track twisted into a mess = Thunderhawk.

Part two: ...like hell! ...but still hurt... Not as painful as T2... Most of Thunderhawk's layout. Why does something that looks so fun feel so NOT?!? Oh no. An SLC. I don't know if I've fully recovered from T2 at SFKK two months prior... Peeps are everywhere! Everywhere BUT on the rides! Texas Twister. I still didn't fully understand the theming for this ride: Pretty sign for an ugly rapids ride. So ugly, in fact, that I only took a picture of the sign, apparently. This barn pretty much sums up the people hangin' out at GL today. I think I built this arcade in RCT one time. Or maybe it was a candy stall... Double Loop up the lift & Villian down the drop. One of Double Loop's, erm, double loops. The other loop's pic is MIA. Friggin' genius. ...and a double loop. ...a drop... Amazingly enough, Double Loop consisted of... Walking under Villian over to the picnic area. Pretty. Pretty painful, that is. Now you're closer... That's better. I see you way off in the distance... ...especially when the sun is setting in the middle of its hill. Villain is kinda pretty to look at... Oh boy. A CCI hybrid. I'm officially worried about my health! Hey! It's the Hay Baler. ...with one of the longest coaster trains in history! 20 cars!! OMFG!!! One of the longest named kiddie coaster in history: Beaver Land Mine Ride... Dodgems. Nothing else to say... The Grand Carousel. At least they spelled it right... OMG!! Did I spend THAT much time on Dominator?!? Nope. Clock's stopped. Unfortunately, though, this is the last Dominator corkscrew pic. B&M corkscrew pics never get old for me. As you can see, the turn-around is NOT an inclined loop...

For those who don't like reading, music video & pics are below the text. Geauga Lake never really looked like much on the surface but with seven new credits (eight had Raging Wolf Bobs not derailed about a month before my visit) and also being owned by Cedar Fair (hooray for Maxx Pass!) I had to stop by. And I'm really glad I did! Let me start off by saying that this park was kind of strange. Its location takes you by surprise - across the street from strip malls in a normal suburban community. The layout was unique - a large lake separates the two sides of the park. The guests were (how do I put this...?) working class (there, that's a nice description) - lots of tattoos, smoking, some mullets. The park regulations were lax - shirtless guys, bathing suit-ed girls (on the ride side of the park). Since every coaster was new to me, I had a full day planned and decided to start out with Dominator - my first floorless coaster. To my surprise, they were only running one train, so the line moved rather slowly. I thought a one-train operation was very odd considering it was a Saturday in July; you'd figure one of their busiest days of the season. Thankfully, as I was the next to board, they transferred the second train onto the track. Now, one would say (as one did next to me in line) "I don't want to wait while you put another train on the track". This kind of frustrated me. I wanted to explain to her that once they put this second train into service, she could come back in a half-hour and walk on to Dominator... So, they get the other train into the station and this guy that was waiting for front row with his family (significant wait with the one-train operations) tried to board with a backpack. When the ride-ops told him that he couldn't bring that on board, he had no idea what to do with it; he even tried giving it to someone else in his row to hold on to. You have got to be kidding me! You've been standing in line for how long and didn't notice backpacks, toys, etc. being put into the bins?!? Are you that clueless?!? Did it never once enter your mind, "Um, where am I going to put this while I'm riding?"? Then, after he locates the (huge metal) bin near the exit, the rest of his family starts giving him their glasses, shoes, hats, etc. After all was said and done (and after much eye-rolling and fuming by yours truly), it took this guy three minutes to get all of their belongings into the bin. OK. Rant over. On to the ride. Dominator kicks a$$!! Loop, cobra roll, interlocking corkscrews; who could ask for more?!? The floorless aspect wasn't as special as I had kind-of-expected - many mega-hypers and mega-twisters have seats so high that your feet don't touch the car's floor, plus the train is going so fast that I didn't even notice that the track was visable. The great part about the ride for me was that the seats were so damn comfortable that you felt like you were traveling at 60 mph in your Lay-Z-Boy. This is definitely a re-rideable coaster and I did ride it a couple times. Thank god Dominator was at a park with low attendance coz if this coaster were at Cedar Point, you'd have to wait close to two hours for one ride! And two rides in an hour would be impossible!! Big Dipper was the next big (pardon the pun) hit at the park for me. Built over 80 years ago, although it was rehabbed in 1980, this coaster gave one of the best woodie rides I've had ever. The airtime was constant, the pacing was great, the laterals were existent but not too extreme, the speed was fast but not too fast, and the length was perfect. It was a perfect coaster! The padding on the facing in front of you also helped absorb all of the shock to your knees while in the tiny but comfortable trains. This was also a re-rideable coaster and multiple rides beckoned me as well. After that, you've got Villain (a herky-jerky rough wood hybrid that beat you up pretty good), Thunderhawk (a standard Vekoma SLC that's more painful than a root canal with no anesthesia but not as painful as SFKK's T2), Head Spin (a typical Vekoma boomerang/headbang), and Double Loop (an Arrow umm... double looper). The Beaver Land Mine Ride kiddie coaster has one of those 20 car trains that are so strange to watch! Seriously, the front of the train is heading up the first hill while the rear of the train is still on the lift! They ran two circuits so this little coaster was pretty enjoyable. On my walk back from the water park side (which is really nice), I passed by the Raging Wolf Bobs which was still SBNO. It looked in dire need of a paint job but, I'm guessing since there was no indication that it would be running soon, they're probably gonna let this one crumble to dust. That makes me sad coz it was modeled after Chicago's ancient Riverview Park Bobs (I'm a bit obsessed with the history of that park with me being from Chicago and all). Plus, I'll probably never get this credit! As far as non-coasters go, the park had your standard collection of flats: Flying Bobs (Hay Baler), Top Spin (Texas Tornado), Octopus (Black Squid), Scrambler (Boardwalk Typhoon), Swinging Ship (Bounty), Swings (YoYo's), Magic Carpet (El Dorado with a car shaped um... car), etc. I checked out the 4D film Legoland Racers (something I never do at parks) which was pretty fun although instead of simulating snow they just sprayed water on you (probably to make us cold). I was also tempted to try the Dino Island II sim/movie but skipped it in the end. The park does have one of the nicest kiddie areas I've ever seen (I even liked it better than Kings Island) - close to ten rides catered to little kids in addition to a huge maze/slide and a huge foam ball fort. Overall, Geauga Lake was a lot of fun but I have a feeling it would be less fun if the crowds were bigger. I mean, I got my seven credits before 1 pm and was able to score re-rides and capture lots of memories. I was kind of skeptical, though, as to how long Geauga Lake would be operating as a ride/water park. I had a strange feeling that rides would continue to disappear slowly or gain SBNO status (Skyscraper was stuck 3/4 of the way up the tower, the old waterpark is still erect but fenced off, the lake ferries were parked at the closed-off dock, there was no water show even though they have a huge stadium for it, and Raging Wolf Bobs) in lieu of focusing on the water park. And as we know, in the end, Geauga Lake as we knew it will cease to exist. I am especially glad that I was able to visit this park in its last ride-operating season. Now I can possibly pass along memories like my folks did to me about Riverview Park in Chicago. Although somehow, the details of Geauga Lake will most-likely pale in comparison. Thanks for reading! BTW: Posted in multiple parts due to large number of pics. Here's the music video I made with the footage I shot: This angle makes the turn-around look like an inclined loop... (...and here) (Insert caption here...) Juicy! Interlocking corkscrews. Yummy! Time for the second half of the ride... Second drop (after the MCBR that was barely turned on). And I love B&M cobra rolls even more! I absolutely love B&Ms! Floorless cobra roll = fun! The Batman building was still visable. They could've painted over it but why waste money on GL?!? Look mom, no floor. Over-banked high-speed turn. Awesome! Symmetical-ish cobra roll shot. Me under the loop. Train in the loop. Sun behind the loop. I can't tell which track is which; looks like a pretzel to me. Dominator's beautiful B&M goodness! The huge loop... I still can't figure out if I like banked/turning first drops or straight ones. I guess it depends on the coaster. This was a good one, nonetheless. Dominator heading up the lift. First stop: Dominator - my first floorless. The view right after entering the park. This pic looks like it's from the 80s & rightfully so - Geauga Lake was kind of caught in a time warp.

^ I think I remember hearing that at some point but thanks for clearing that up! When did they remove/drain the lake? I'm trying to remember if I ever saw it with the lake. I think the first time I was there was 1983 or 84 but really don't remember much of my visit except (vaguely/possibly) the Bat when it was SBNO & getting a kick-a$$ Beast t-shirt that I wore to school the next day! I found an old map I have from 1989 but, although the water ride is on it (unlabelled), there's no lake visable.

Part three: It's over. Thanks for reading this King's Island TR! Pretty. Majestic. Awe-inspiring. Overdone? Warning 2: more artsy Eiffel Tower pics but this time with fountains! The moon was full & perfectly positioned for this pic. There. That's a little better. Viking Fury. Nope. Just me trying to figure out how to take pics at nite. Looks like an earthquake. Warning: artsy Eiffel Tower pics ahead!! I think this looks like a postcard. I love parks at nitetime! I still want to ride Drop Zone but I'm a chicken! For some reason, I love the way this shot turned out. My favorite suspended coaster! (Even with the very dated name). Although Flight Deck'll look even more dated although it's new... My first Jumbo Frisbee: Delirium. Too much fun!! Symmetrical this-is-all-of Face/Off shot. Symmetical dual Face/Off lift shot. I still enjoy this ride a ton! No peeps means I can grab some extra rides. First off: Face/Off. Wait! Where'd everyone go?!? I am so clueless in Nick Universe. WTF is Blues Skidoo? Cool-looking drive-yourself kiddie-cars.

Part two: This dad/dude seems to approve of the purple paint though... Why destroy a classic by painting it purple? People would've still rode it! (Yeah, I know: Nick) I'm still SO NOT digging the "new" paint scheme! What's up Avatar? Why do you have to be broken down?!? Not me. I was camping out here for the only credit I still needed. Yep. I'm pathetic. Some jumped on Phantom Flyers as soon as the rain let up. At least SOMEONE's excited about the rain... Some thought it'd be fun to ride Scrambler in the rain. Not me. The launch tunnel into oblivion aka one of my favorite coasters EVER! More not-so-lucky riders?!? I still think this dude should wear an alien costume! Some riders that didn't survive Flight Of Fear?!? Flight Of Fear's you'd-think-it's-cheesy-by-now-but-it-isn't queue?!? I still LOVE the 1st lift but HATE the 2nd!! Hi guys! Get ready to be disappointed. I've never noticed this "mine" under Beast until today. Finally, Beast is ready to resume operations. Thankfully, I got to break up the monotony by watching these kids push water into a sewer... I stared at the Beast's queue building for quite a while as they tested it. BORING... I was actually kind of disappointed that TR:TR was closed. No. I DIDN'T know. (Sponsored by Marathon Gas. Huh?!?) For the life of me, I thought these were funky looking speakers that weren't working. (Yeah, I'm a dumba$$) Ha ha. While I was shooting Scooby targets everyone else was getting soaked! Time to beat the soon-to-be-rain-drenched crowd to Scooby Doo's Haunted Castle. Uh oh. Looks like rain's on the way... Hopefully when these 2 stones are removed, SOB will crumble to dust! But without the loop (that used to be here), it is completely useless! Unfortunately, SOB's just an amazing structure of wood these days. I DID dare ride this abomination. Oh lord. Do I dare try to ride this abomination?!? Really, it just went up the 300 ft tower WAY too slow! ...it was too long of a wait. OK. That's a lie. I was almost in the line but walked away coz... Too bad I couldn't bring myself to ride. Drop Zone. Back in business after the drop tower madness this past summer. The corkscrews are real headbangers though! Ouch! And a two...

For those who don't like reading, music video and pics are below the text. I haven't been to Kings Island since 2001 so I wasn't quite sure how it would hold up to the memories I had, especially since a bit has changed with the park since: Cedar Fair owns it now, two coasters have since been built (Italian Job & Firehawk), and Son Of Beast no longer has its loop. Being that the main objective of this visit was to get three credits I didn't have (Rugrats Runaway Reptar included with the two new builds), I wasn't in too much of a hurry. First things first: I wandering around for a half-hour trying to locate the bathroom in B.F.E. that employees gave me directions to. Since that business was done, I headed straight to Firehawk. I had heard of not-so-reliable loading and operations with this coaster so, even with two-trains running, I prepared myself for a long wait. Thankfully though, after baking in the sun for only a half-hour, an employee came up to the long queue and plucked single riders (two of us, in all) out for early boarding. Sweet! I thanked him dearly and suggested single-rider lanes. I'm pretty sure the subject has been discussed at KI in the past, but he said that it was a good idea. This Vekoma flying coaster was quite different than the B&M flyers that I was used to; i.e. Superman: Ultimate Flight. With totally different layouts, transitions and inversions, the two styles are very hard to compare to each other. I didn't not like Firehawk, but then again, I don't not like Supermans - I think that I'm just not a flyer fan. Aside from each of the styles's loop, flyers are just boring to me. But I am glad I got to ride it and in under an hour, so I wasn't complaining. And, actually, with the way the rest of the day transpired, I was thankful to have ridden it at all. After Firehawk, I headed to another new credit - Italian Job: Stunt Track. It was a short-but-sweet ride with the (second) launch into darkness being my favorite part. It was probably the smoothest coaster I've been on in my entire life but it was lacking a little in thrills. The initial launch into an upward helix was different, but I didn't find it all that intense. Overall though, it was a cute, family friendly, quick ride. Once was enough though. After that, I had to witness the debauchery that is Son Of Beast. Keep in mind that, although it was a bit rough, it was in my Number 1 Woodie after I rode it in 2001. Now, without the loop and "new" cars from the demolished Hurricane (which was brutal itself), it was fixin' to be a totally different ride and, oh boy, was it ever... Never again! I would not step foot on that coaster if my life depended on it! Can you say "rough beyond belief"? My brain hurt more during SOB than during final college exams. It is, seriously, the roughest coaster I've ever been on - slamming, bouncing, jerking, tossing - and that's just after the first hill. Then you have to endure the double helix of certain death. What makes SOB so appalling is that the one element that made it unique (the loop) is gone, and now there is nothing to look forward to; the excitement of the loop made you forget how you were being treated by the rest of the ride. This time around, though, I really just wanted it to end. I really do hope that they tear it down. After a couple other coasters and flats, the sky looked pretty ominous, so I headed over to Scooby Doo & The Haunted Castle. I figured that I'd get in line before the sky opened up and everyone took refuge at restaurants and indoor rides. Turned out I was a genius. No sooner than I got in line, a torrential downpour began, shutting down the entire park (including Scooby). No worries though. At least I'm well enough inside to avoid the rain that is blowing into the queue and flooding the floor. Ooops. After they resumed operations and I got my Scooby ride in (btw: I played right hand vs. left hand and left hand won, even though I'm right-handed), the rains had stopped so I headed straight to the Beast for a fresh-after-rain ride. After quite a long while testing (it was the first to begin testing and the last to open) I got on the second train. Unfortunately, though, my not-so-fond memories of the Beast were evident this time around too. While the first half is fun and the helixes at the end are intense, I HATE the second lift. It interrupts the ride so much that I always finish the ride thinking, "What was the point of that?". As soon as I got a Flight of Fear (still one of my all-time favorites!!) ride in, the rains came back stronger than before; this time shutting the park down for hours. During this time, I was able to shoot the $hit with some ride ops and take refuge under their queue canopy as the park was flooded. Needless to say, after the rain finally let up, I was able to get that one last credit I needed: Rugrats Runaway Reptar. I can't believe that my life has come to this: camping out for an inverted kiddie Vekoma... After that, the park was desolate and every single ride was a walk on, so I was able to get a couple rides in that I figured would pass me by due to the weather. Nite rides included Face/Off, Top Gun (still my favorite suspended coaster so far), Adventure Express (surprisingly better than I remember, even with the WTF ending), and the Racer (brutal!). I did notice, however, that Firehawk stayed down for the remainder of the day/nite after the first rains hit. So, yeah, I was more than thankful that they plucked me (a single rider) out of line for early boarding! Overall, Kings Island was pleasant - as pleasant as I remember it being. The new additions to the park are not anything special for me so I probably will not have to return for another couple years. I just hope that Cedar Fair can keep pumping new rides in there as opposed to relocating Geauga Lake's old coasters. I think the hyper they're supposed to get next will be a welcome addition. Thanks for reading! Here's the music video I put together with the limited footage I was able to shoot due to the bad weather: BTW: This'll have to be posted in a couple parts coz of the amount of pictures. And a one... Loop numero uno. Double loop goodness & blackout-inducing corkscrew badness. It must be the Chicago Bears-like paint job. Vortex. My second favorite coaster at KI. That's not saying much though... "Sunday. Monday. Happy Days. Tuesday. Wednesday. Happy Days." Third stop: Bust through a giant billboard for an old movie. Second stop: Beverly Hills. Italian Job's probably the smoothest coaster I've EVER ridden! First stop: Hollywood. Italian Job's parking garage/helix launch. Firehawk was fun enough. Nothing special. Once was enough. I was a little nervous going up the lift on my back... Oh wait! There's all the people in line. Hey! There's no one in line! ...Firehawk. My first Vekoma flyer. ...the newest addition to Kings Island (but NOT to Ohio)... The new hot-spot of the park. Home of... They should rename this Rough Racer. Ouch! Symmetrical Eiffel Tower shot in the middle of Ohio. Cedar Fair probably can't wait to ditch all the Paramount crap here! ...and the fountains. I don't know why... I'll always love KI's entrance... Signature Kings Island shot. I have an eye for these things... Face/Off from the parking lot. I must be at the right place.