gatorchomp83

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Bored today and inspired by HDR, I tried my hand at styling a couple of my favorite Manta pictures in that manner. Obviously, for anyone who knows anything about HDR, it's nearly impossible to mimic it exactly, but here are a couple of my tries that I figured some people on here would be interested in.

Thanks again for the comments...Here are two Cedar Point ones upon request: Red 1920x1200 Pink 1920x1200

I meant to go yesterday and today to the morning passholder thing, but just didn't wake up in time. Maybe tomorrow. The park really has been clearing out in the afternoon this week once the typical storms roll through...Manta was a walk-on after 5pm yesterday, it's just too bad more storms rolled thru to ruin the possible mini-ERT.

I tend to agree with Cory. The difference between Manta and RnRC/Everest is that, while Manta is BEAUTIFUL, those two Disney rides still have better overall THEMEING. I love Manta, it's in my top 10, possibly top 5, and neither of RnRC/Everest are even close, but there's no doubting that the two of them are better themed. Manta has a gorgeous queue line that goes very well with the overall idea of the ride. There are ray tanks perfectly intertwined with the waiting area. There are hidden mantas and killer whales. Hell, they even put in ray "marks" in the walls to make you feel like you're following a ray to the loading dock. The ocean, the landscaping, all of the rock work and the station building is all absolutely stunning and probably the best looking and eye-catching coaster in all of Florida...and perhaps anywhere. However, that doesn't equal out to the best THEMED coaster. RnRC and Everest both immerse you in their experiences from the second you get in line, to the second you unload and walk out of the area. That's where the difference is. With Manta, while you're actually on the ride, you're flying over people and trees. Are there people and trees under the sea? I am by no means whatsoever hating on Manta. As I said, the landscaping and experience is top notch and beautiful. But to say it's the best themed coaster in Orlando is a bit much. But there is no doubt that it is the best-looking, most stunning and most environmentally interacting coaster in the state.

Worlds of Fun is a fun park, but honestly it only maintains #2 in my CF ranking by virtue of Prowler and my hate of Kings Island/"meh" attitdude towards Valleyfair. I actually never liked Cedar Point until last year when I spent a weekend at Lighthouse Point. And Erik, I was fortunate to ride Wild Thing on a preview night without brakes. While not outstanding, it was still a lot better than with brakes...And better than Magnum, of course.

Never said I had a mediocre time! I had a great time! But that doesn't mean I loved, or even liked, the park. Of the Cedar Fair parks I've been to, I'd rank them as so: 1. Cedar Point 2. Worlds of Fun 3. Valleyfair 4. Kings Island

Valleyfair! My second new-to-me Cedar Fair park on the trip was pretty much a letdown. Not that I was expecting much, but there's just honestly nothing there that would make me want to go out of my way to visit...Except Kara, of course. Renegade was a fun ride, but to me it just doesn't offer anything different than Kentucky Rumbler or Evel Knievel. Sure, it was an enjoyable coaster, but there's nothing outstanding about it. The first drop IS a lot of fun, and there are a few moments that stand out but overall it was nothing spectacular. I think my biggest issue with it was the high turnaround in the middle of the ride that just murdered the pace. Thunderhead, and especially Prowler, own Rene. As far as the rest of the park goes, Wild Thing was fun without brakes, but with brakes was very, very mediocre and Steel Venom was definitely a new experience with the holding brake but I prefer Wicked Twister. High Roller was overly trimmed, Corkscrew was an Arrow Corkscrew and Excalibur was decent. After being terrified, however, I finally ride a Screaming Swing (Extreme Swing) and had a blast! Kara and Kim had to coerce me onto it, but in the end it was definitely worth it. The park itself was clean, and the employees are top notch. Pictures! Main Entrance in the morning...Dead! Hmmm, I think I know whose responsible for this... If you visit the park, please make sure to throw your spare change into this fountain, it's going towards a GREAT cause. As being someone who was fortunate enough to take a tour of the Give Kids the World Village in Orlando, I can vouch for this organization. DONATE!! So many people... I believe this was in a movie... Ferris Wheel Why couldn't they call it Looper? Just another Morgan hyper Much better without brakes Extreme Swing! Scared the hell out of me but was worth it Did I mention that I have a fear of heights and of looking straight down?? A little love for the Arrow Mouse Power Tower: Next to the trees As I said, the park was exceptionally busy Twisty Spike Holdy Spike Doing our best Reagan impressions High Roller looks pretty! Return trip Moments later, the ride got evac'd on one of the last turns....Juuuust missed it We took a break to head to Buffalo Tap for some cheese curds (AMAAAAAZING), wings and a HUGE Juicy Lucy burger Messy, messy And then it was back for some Renegade to finish off the day! Aw, Spring in Minnesota "Prowler is THIIIIIIIS much better!!" Low turnaround after the pace-killing high turnaround Oh, and an obligatory "from the road" shot of Excalibur. Aaaand, one last shot of Renegade to end this Thanks for reading!

So you're saying you wish the ride was just like the B&M flyer that gets the most hate? One that has been generally referred to as uninspired, boring, and slow? Doesn't really make sense. Sit in the front of the train if you want the graceful, gliding experience without all the insane forces.

Well, I finally got to ride Manta today! After covering the construction for so long and then missing almost a month of soft opening while being up north for most of May, I got my opportunity to ride today for Media Day. After processing the 24 rides I got today, I think I'm finally able to describe my thoughts on the ride. The rear of the train is NOTICEABLY more intense than the front. Today, they had the camera set up on the rear of row one, which disabled that row for riders, and row two was reserved for media and journalists so the closest I got to the front was the third row. The front of the train offers a nice, graceful ride with some surprising pops of air, most abundant at the entrance of the pretzel loop. The rear of the train, however, is a completely different animal. Off the chain, the first drop gives a quick whip off the lift and the first drop provides an extended period of very strong forces, leading straight into the insane pretzel loop. I don't know if I'd go as far as saying I was graying out every ride, but it sure felt like it. I don't really need to break down every part of the ride, but I will say all of the inversions are very disorienting. You know you're going the way you're going, but its still a surprise how the seating position influences the feeling you get when traversing each inversion. The second half of the ride is less intense (although the final turn into the brakes are quite strong) but the interaction with the environment (the 'ocean', waterfall, land) more than makes up for it. I had very, very high expectations for the ride, and it definitely exceeded them. I still haven't made it through the queue yet, but did explore the underwater viewing area and it was very well done. SeaWorld definitely has a winner on their hands. I will also say that power riding Manta (and 24 rides in under 4 hours is definitely that) is an absolute energy drain. The intensity takes a toll on you, and this is coming from someone whose #1 is Voyage. Get out and ride this coaster!

Yes, with spinning coasters you essentially get a new ride everytime you ride, which is one of the reasons I love them even though I get nauseous most of the time with rides that spin. Spongebob is fun. It's my only Eurofighter other than Mystery Mine, and I enjoy MM a lot more. The hangtime is crazy but it's nothing that should worry you.

Nickelodeon Universe! I'd been here one time before, so this trip was much more of a relaxing day. Thanks to Looty, we scored some comp tickets and had a fun day at the Mall! Spongebob is a fun ride, but I still highly prefer Mystery Mine over it. The restraints just killlllll your shoulders on a couple of spots, especially the first drop. It's a fairly disorienting ride and has some fun elements. Avatar is a blast! We also rode the bumper cars, the "Log Chute," and the ferris wheel. Onto the pics! Heading to MOA with our employee wristbands and ICEES!! Hello, hai! Ya'll are probably getting tired of seeing us by now... Just a little taller and you'd fit, babe... Yay! Trying to be Kumba Still don't know what this is Oh how I loathe steep/vertical lift hills Down we go! Weeeeee Same drop, different angle Overview Hangtime I got murked Skipped...Not a credit So much fun! Touch the sky! Fairly fun coaster Mall overview Ruby Tuesdays wasn't enough, need more to eat Mmmm We got an extremely spinny ride this day Hangin' with The Man I just absolutely love that there's a log flume indoors Scary! We then decided to have some Crepes (skinny pancakes where I come from) before heading out. These things were amaaaazing! Kara went with the chocolate/banana crepe with ice cream I opted for the incredibly yumtastic cinnamon and whip cream Valleyfair coming soon!

Enjoyed the TR, Matt. Although, as we discussed, our opinions on Prowler vs Renegade aren't shared.

I'm sure it does have it's good days, perhaps...But the day I rode it, Timberwolf was absolutely horrible, and if you read through some other people's opinions on here you'll see the same reactions from different times.

^^ Yeah, Adventureland is a very, very nice park. As far as small parks go, I still prefer Holiday World and Indiana Beach, but it's definitely up there. And you definitely can't go wrong with a park that has both BINGO and gut-mauling ejector air.

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Adventureland! I was actually very excited to visit this park. I'm a big fan of small, homey parks and this seemed to fit the bill. The place had a nice charm to it, and easily had the friendliest employees of any of the previous 4 parks we visited on this trip. (And that's not to take away from SDC...They had incredible employees, as well.) The park was very spread out, to my surprise, but was incredibly clean. Outlaw was the best coaster there, with some INSANE ejector air on the second hill, that is amplified by 40 times in the front...especially row 2. (You can hear our screams of pain in the POV at the bottom of the report.) Tornado was a fun coaster with some surprising pops of air and was very smooth. Dragon wasn't horrible, but not good, and had an insanely-creepy carnival feeling exit. Underground was just bad. We took two spins on the sky ride, which was very awkward, restraint-wise. Kara took a spin on the Silly Silo (I get sick on spinny rides...Got nauseous watching her ride it), and also won first place in BINGO for a free picture frame! We also won 213 tickets from Deal Or No Deal and spent them all on Tootsie Rolls...213 of them lol. The front of the park had a strong Walt Disney World feeling to it and was a very nice surprise. Overall, we had a great time and would definitely go back if in the area. Hello, hi , Adventureland! Ticket booths The A-Train Main midway Let's explore! Where shall we go? Very pretty park Through the grass! Not better than Fire In the Hole Creepy This is an amusement park??? Guess so! Tell us how you really feel Scared for my life...of the hard plastic headrests Hmm...Let's just wander around under the brakes...Could be fun Up we go View of our impending death Loopage Interesting exit gate Almost normal Slightly less normal WTF mate? You're next! But one more of you Six Flags Adventureland? Hi It was really crowded today Something about wheels seats...Ask her, she's the nerd in the relationship Wheeee! Kiss? Or eating glasses? Was a fun ride! Not spectacular, but fun! A nice employee offered to open the gate to get us a picture in front of the coaster. Heading to Outlaw now Two words: Fill Flash. Try it. Hey buddy! The second hill there doesn't seem like much....But guard your valuables with extreme caution! Great ride...But not very photogenic. Three Rides, One Shot The geese hissed...So I hissed back. Shall we? POV! AL's flume ride from the sky ride Scenic....I recommend it. $15 for all of that...And very good! She won 200 off one game....I won 13. BINGO in a park=AWESOME Four boards for $.50 per game Winner, winner, chicken dinner! I felt bad for this dude... She made him count out 213 Tootsie Rolls The day's winnings Carousel time! Yeah...No thanks Yack! Dammit Burt Reynolds is here! We finished the day with a mini-marathon on Outlaw...Something like 14 rides in a row without getting off, just switching seats. I'm PRETTY sure this is the second hill...Yep, second hill alright. Like I said, the park was packed today. And mini-donuts for the walk out. Now for the videos! Outlaw On-Ride: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7lH3RUc0nE Tornado On-Ride: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsf8O-GY5a4 Thanks for reading! ValleyFair, Nick Universe and the Wisconsin Dells coming up soon!

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On Saturday, Kara and I made a quick run out to Como Town/Como Zoo to check out the animals and pick up a little kiddie coaster credit. The zoo is located just outside of St. Paul, near the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, and admission is free. Saturday was also opening day, so the place was absolutely packed. The zoo itself was pretty nice, but nothing spectacular. It had a good selection of animal exhibits and we enjoyed our two hours there. The gorilla exhibit was my favorite because of how close you could get to them, although the same could be said for the giraffes, as well. Anyway, onto the pictures! Adventureland photos coming soon, as well! Como Zoo Entrance This guy looked to be having a rough day ...But he was posing for everyone's photos Hello hi Como Town's mini-midway Kid's play area Ready to rock the kiddie coaster with our 8 tickets! And thar she is The ride actually had a pretty insane headchopper here Smile! Extremely awkward lift hill Zoo? Or penitentiary? Noted Commence with the jokes, Robb Here, I'll even help a little Baby giraffe How's that bar taste? The life of a zebra Reindeer! This lion sure was enjoying her ball Just lion around Basking in the Minnesota sun And finally, the exit. Short trip, but it was definitely a good time! Keep an eye out for Adventureland, Valleyfair and the Wisconsin Dells, all coming soon!

No pictures???? Arrrgh, wish I was in Orlando!

Prowler is definitely an outstanding ride. Of my three rides, two were in the back and one in the front and the back is definitely "the spot." The ride itself isn't huge, but it takes great advantage of the terrain that it's on. The air is quick, but most of the time it's mixed in with nice laterals as well. While not on the scale of Voyage, I'd consider it a mini version, simply for the speed, location, terrain, extremely fast pace and disorientation. Worlds of Fun did very good with this ride. Easily top 3 wood for me.

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Resurrecting this thread. Patriot added to first page!