milst1

Rye Playland on Saturday!

Nice report.

This past weekend, Cheryl and I flew BACK to San Francisco (we were just there in February) to score some more credits that hadn't been open during our last trip. As it goes with this hobby, we had our triumphs and our disappointments. We also did a HUGE amount of driving. Enjoy. First stop was CGA, a park we had not visited since May of 2008! I was a lot thinner back then. In the intervening years, I read with interest as Santa Clara, Cedar Fair, and the 49ers became involved in a brouhaha about the construction of a new football stadium that would cut into Cedar Fair's parking. You may recall that the 49ers and their partners even talked about buying the park outright. Ultimately, CF caved for about $12.5 million. And now here is the actual stadium before my very eyes! Ugh, long lines due to security check. We didn't see that very much had changed since 2008, other than the disappearance of the Nickleodeon characters. We were sent to the left to get our Fast Lane bands, and this was what we found. The nearby gift shop said that their bands were locked away and they sent us to the gift shop over by Gold Striker. We went to take care of that. Now, I had messaged CGA and asked if we could ride Taxi Jam without kids. They said it was okay if an ops supervisor would give approval. Many thanks to Danny and Daniel for escorting us to Taxi Jam for a ride! Everybody wants to get into the act! Credit! One other credit to get here: Gold Striker! My woodie count has been stuck at 158 for a long time. We enjoyed this coaster. I like GCI woodies. I even love some of them. It's not my favorite GCI, but we still liked it. See? And it's about time that the park got another woodie. Found some theming. Found some retro theming. And of course, some dippin' dots. Next park! From Santa Clara we drove up to Lodi and Funtown at Micke Grove. I think Micke Grove is a state park and they have a little amusement park for kids. We had last tried for this credit on November 2, 2011. The park was open that day, but we were told that the coaster operator was not in. Things were a little more busy in May 2014. Cool little train. The weird strawberry flat. And an operating roller coaster! Credit! Thank you, Funtown at Micke Grove! Our last park of the day was a bit further up the road in Sacramento. Funderland! We had corresponded via email with the park and they had said that we were welcome and that the coaster could be ridden by adults w/o kids. WTF? Apparently the coaster had just gotten new seat belts and now had to await a "state inspection" before it could once again reopen to the public. I had just heard from them 10 days prior. You would think that they...argh. The people in the booth didn't know who might have sent us the emails. Is the staff of Funderland so huge that...? I apologized for my sarcasm. We did get a follow-up email apologizing for the closure. We didn't stay for much longer. Until next time, Funderland. It actually looked like a cute little park. Back to San Fran for dinner. Day 2: A REALLY LONG DRIVE TO FRESNO. And we arrive at Blackbeard's Family Fun Center. Coaster is gone!!!! This is great! There's the new one. It turns out that they tore out the old coaster and bought the one from Peter Piper Pizza in Las Vegas. Here's the sign! And as luck would have it, we already have this credit! Of course we met up with one of the nicest fellows we've ever met on a TPR trip, Cliff, aka soilooklikemanson, who got off work early just to meet us! A quick look around Blackbeard's. There are, of course, pirates. Kiddie flats! Go Karts! Batting Cage! Mini Golf! And much much more. From here we traveled across town to Fresno's other park, Rotary Storyland Playland. Yes, this park is actually owned and operated by Rotary, which is kinda cool. I've never heard of this kind of thing. And in Merced, California, Kiwanis operates Kiddieland. More on that later. Rotary theming. And a credit! Here we are, waiting for Cliff. It was really hard to find parking. There's my posse: My sister, Laura, my nephew Bochay (son of a different sister), and Cheryl. Coaster manufacturer's plate. And another view. Credit! Lot's of cool stuff at Rotary Playland, like this put-your-head-in-the-lion's-mouth water fountain. And a cute lady bug ride. And car ride. And helicopter ride. A Rock-o-Plane! An historic carousel! And this cool train that goes between Playland and Storyland. We did not check out Storyland. We had lunch with Cliff and said goodbye. We were going to drive up to Kiwanis Kiddieland at Merced, but they said no way for adults on the coaster. So we switched to Plan B and drove a zillion miles to... Santa Cruz!!!!! First stop, delicious new credit, Undertow!!!! Actually, first stop was the men's restroom. Whew. This park is full of great stuff. This is one of the original Laffing Sals and SCBB paid $50,000 to get it. I think John Wood told me that Sally Dark Rides got its name from these early animatronics. Other great things: dippin' dots! And no Mini Melts to be seen. And the Giant Dipper! This seems to run so much more smoothly than the Belmont Park Giant Dipper. I love this classic. Deep fried PB&J looks so amazing. You don't have to go to D-LandWorld for a Dole Whip. Mmmm. Did go for the corn dog, which was heavily battered with what was like real corn bread. Yum. Got a chance to try the new Haunted Castle, which was great. The park closed at 8pm, which was a bummer. There was still a pretty big crowd. Another 90 minutes back to San Francisco and the first 30 miles are over the twisty windy steep CA-17, which I always end up driving in the freaking dark because we never stay overnight in Santa Cruz. I'm pretty sure that I drove a total of 7 hours on Saturday. According to the map I drove 442 miles in one day. Ouch. Thanks for joining us on yet another California credit-whoring trip!!!! Hope you enjoyed! Go Roxy!

Great trip report! Really enjoyed the look at FCE and other details. We need to hit some of those water rides when we go to get the credit. Our visit last year was in a pouring monsoon. Anyway, nice work!

TPDave, my use of the word "wrong" is intentional!

I wasn't familiar with these...that's a BIG ONE! Hoverspeed SRN4 Mark III

First, thanks again for checking out the report. It always blows me away how many views these things get. Incredible. Sorry, I didn't emphasize it, beatle11. I mentioned that I rubbed the tire and wheel against the curb while parallel parking at Brighton Pier. When we returned the car the next day, Hertz added GBP275 to my bill, something like US$476! I paid it (instead of making an insurance claim on the spot as we had a plane to catch) and then put in a claim to American Express (I have the additional Amex rental car insurance; it's a flat US$25 per rental) when we got home. They took it off my cc bill within a week or so. I don't like paying for the insurance, but things do happen. And $25 is a better deal than what you get in Italy. No U.S. insurance will cover you there and you have to pay the ridiculous insurance premium that they charge at the counter. On our last Italian trip, the insurance was more expensive than the rental itself!

^^^You guys are too cool!

Great report!

I love Adam's screams!

If you're looking for an all-day park, Hershey, Knoebel's, and Dorney all fit the bill. Lake Compounce and Quassy can also be a day. If you're looking for culture or history, Coney Island is the place, and can be combined with, well, New York City.

Lots of parks and stuff are opening this weekend and I hope that people are getting out there, but I'm stuck doing grading with little hope of relief until Thursday. For those who are house-bound, I offer this report on a trip that Cheryl and I made last month to Jolly Ol' England's southern coast, the part that lies on the English Channel. The idea here was to try to ride every roller coaster West to East from from Bournemouth in Dorset to Hastings in East Sussex -- in just two days! We did not succeed, but not for lack of trying. Not to say that it's an impossible task. You should try it. We came pretty damned (Yes, it's "damned", not "damn". I looked it up!) close. Off we go! Hope you enjoy! Yay, first time flying on one of the SkyTeam-branded planes! Cheryl was already in Paris for a conference, and I was going to meet her at LHR. Wow, I'm gonna drive on the wrong side of the car! Here's a useful tip: If they give you a fancy car at the rental place and you aren't buying the rental agency's insurance, double check to make sure that your rental insurance doesn't exclude that model. We dodged a bullet with that one. More to come. Here is proof that I can drive a car with the steering wheel on the wrong side. Here is proof that there is more Krispy Kreme available at a British roadside stop than on all of Long Island (including Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk), pop. 7.5 million. Yay, first stop! Unpaved lot. Looks promising! And yes, they want to block us from entry! First park of the trip is afraid of unaccompanied adults. I love this industry! We pleaded our case. Eventually a duty manager, Emma, came over and escorted us into the park and took us to the coaster, FREE of charge! We had to wait a few minutes for an operator to arrive. I love this industry! We're talking GBP 12.45 each! First credit of the trip, Wild Bill's Runaway Train. We were then escorted out of the park! I took a couple of snaps. It looks like this. I appreciate that they didn't charge us the GBP 12.45, but I can't help feeling shitty for being thought of as suspicious. The perverts have ruined it for the rest of us. Adventure City in California has the best policy on this, IMHO. Show them your coaster club membership card and they welcome you without kids and give you a discounted admission. Next stop was Paultons Park, a larger affair with lots of rides, but also a lot of natural charm. This was Flying Frog. This was some theming. This was Cobra. Nice art on the cars. For some reason, there are no Gerstlauer Bobsled models in the United States, which is a shame because... They are fun. As I said, there were some nice nature paths and gardens. They also had another, larger Zierer Tivoli, called Stinger. Incidentally, you may notice that the shutter door on my camera isn't opening properly. The camera has since been retired, so this photo trip report is it's last hurrah. Paultons Park introduced Peppa Pig World a few years back, but we didn't have time for it. I've seen Peppa Pig toys and such, but I've never seen the animated show. According to Wikipedia, "She enjoys jumping in muddy puddles, playing with her teddy bear, named "Teddy," playing fairies and dressing up." Nicely themed restaurant and shops on the way out. The plan was to go to the Isle of Wight for two parks, but it was getting late, so Cheryl re-booked our ferry passage for the next day and we went directly to Hayling Island's Funland. This was our first seaside park, and it represents what the South Coast parks are like, which is not very different from places like the New Jersey shore, but without the boardwalks, and not as big and awesome as Blackpool in the North. Credit: Super Dragon or Junior Dragon, whichever sign you believe. Super Dragon was its name at Drayton. May be time to write in to rcdb to update. Here is the coaster in action. The next credit was this Zyklon that used to be at Drayton Manor under the same name. Painful loop. There's one more credit there, Woody's Children's Roller Coaster, but it was down. We were told that it's waiting for a part. There is also this cute little 2 foot gague railway that runs along the beach. The area used to be served by a railway many years ago, mainly used by beach-goers in the summer. It was ultimately shut down decades ago, but hobbyists and enthusiasts re-established this short portion of the route about 15 years ago. From Hayling Island, we traveled to our final stop of the day, Clarence Pier in Portsmouth. Get your tokens here. And there's your Zamperla ferris wheel. First credit is Skyways. It's a Zyklon Galaxi. And here's the next credit, Caterpillar Coaster. At first the guy didn't want to let us on, saying it was a children's ride, and I countered that we had bought our tokens already with the intention of riding it. You can see him in the picture; he was big guy, with a very strong accent, one that you would say was different from the royal family's accent. Then he said, "Unless you're one of those roller coaster enthusiasts, then it's alright." That shut me up. And he is credited with this photograph of Cheryl's 1100th. Yes, that is an official Martin and Cheryl coaster count milestone sign-holder. This was really cool at Clarence Pier. This was a hovercraft boarding. They just drive up on to the beach from the water. This is like a boat that operates on the principles of air hockey. Here it is inflated. It just spins around and flies into the water. Very cool. Wimpy is a British hamburger chain based on the American cartoon character. One more look at Clarence Pier. The next morning we were up bright and early to take our ferry to the Isle of Wight. I highly recommend Wightlink for your ferry needs. Yes, there are indeed other options, but Wightlink is your best choice. technfxrick said that Isle of Wight wasn't very big. Bullshit! This took forever. But I think he hasn't been here since he was a kid, so his memory may not serve. Here's where we're going. Blackgang Chine! It's been around forever. (The barrel says 1843) Apparently a "chine" is a ravine, and there used to be a huge one here, but it's collapsed. They have to keep moving the rides as the cliffs fall in. See what I mean. This guy is very afraid of that moment. Cliffhanger is the notable coaster attraction. From here, you can see that the top of the coaster gives a great view of the coast. You can also see my patch jacket. And my bald spot. Cheryl's gotten another credit! It's a nice park but we didn't stay long. Excellent combination. There's actually another park on the Isle of Wight, in Shanklin. It's a lovely little seaside area with some more nice cliffs. And another little park. And another little credit! The operator was quite obliging and I told him that I'd get him onto Theme Park Review! I hope this isn't your 15 minutes, mate! There are a few other small attractions and mini-golf. Back to the ferry and the mainland! And this would be the last photo I took with my camera on this trip because I left the camera on the boat! Huge kudos and applause and shout-outs to Wightlink Ferry Line, which found my camera and shipped it to the States, free of charge. They were super helpful and basically awesome. I'm happy that we scored the Wightlink Ferry fridge magnet! The next little park, West Sands Fun Fair, is basically a little park inside a bungalow/RV colony. It's got a credit, and that's all that matters. On to... Harbour Park! It was more of the same, with a little more character. I also want to say that the staff at this park was unusually friendly and helpful. Someone noticed we were struggling with the token machine and helped us out, unasked. I appreciate that in a park. Here's the credit. Near to Harbour Park is this chain restaurant, Harvester. Apparently there are 200 locations in UK. I would compare it to a Perkins, but not as good and more expensive. And no sneeze guard at the salad bar. And one final stop. The famous Brighton Pier. First I scraped the wheel and tire on the the side of the curb when I parallel parked. It was pretty chilly at this point, with a very strong wind. We rode the mouse. Then we saw that there was a sign on this other credit (which was yet another Pinfari Zyklon) that they needed a full train to run it, because of the high winds. We asked if we could wait on the steps and the ops said yes. We waited a FULL HOUR in the freezing wind until we had 12 people. I want to publicly thank the stalwarts who slowly joined our cause over the course of the hour and waited it out with us, when it was clearly the crazy thing to do. I wish they had been a little more active in trying to recruit riders, as I tried to be, but at least they stuck it out with us. CREDIT! Brighton also has a decent haunted house. And an Air Race! Thank you so much for visiting UK's South Coast with us!!!!!!

I can't get over how young everyone looks!

Apparently the roller rink is still quite popular, and the hours for the roller rink are extended beyond the outdoor rides, but we really didn't do more than glance over in that direction, sorry! But thanks for checking out the report.

Wow, are you serious about that? I'm curious because they'd have to put up numbers like that almost every day of the year to beat MK's attendance, which averages 45K/day and pretty much blows every other park out of the water (only Disneyland Ananheim and the Tokyo Disney parks come close). Is there something about this park that blows away every other park in China(?) because no existing park in China has ever come close to MK. The closest are Ocean Park and HK Disneyland, which don't match MK even with combined attendance. The only park in China proper with top 25 numbers is Happy Valley Shenzhen, but it's a fraction of MK, behind by approx. 13mm in attendance. I'm intrigued by your point because I realize how massive China's population is.

Oops. Here is a nod to KI and Banshee. I loved this park when it was PKI and was unhappy with where it went, but definitely loved Diamondback and it sounds like they treated TPR well at Banshee Media Day.

Here's a nod to Banshee.)

Is that a piece of Super Wirbel that has been left behind? The dimensions of Sky Scream are the same as for Superman Ultimate Flight at SFDK but they look different. Is that an illusion or are the coasters exact copies? Great report, thanks Hanno!

Thanks for the love, everyone! We did really like Enchanted Forest. I'd like to go back on a summer's day, but it was still a good experience. Oaks was a little disappointing. We didn't see a dark ride there actually. But we'd go back for a new credit, of course. I'm also sorry that we didn't take pictures of all of the great food.

Cheryl and I did not slow the pace after the TPR Weird Japan trip. After coming back from Japan (which was my Spring Break), we jumped on yet another "long" flight, and headed to the crazy world that I had only previously seen on Netflix, Portlandia! This is how we roll. Oregon is green. Is it possible that we left in the dark and arrived at dusk? Maybe that's the wrong plane photo. SNAFU at Hertz PDX. Morning breakfast at Big Bear Diner! Apparently breakfast and brunch are regional pastimes in Oregon. There are a million breakfast places, all with long lines on weekend mornings. I want my breakfast to have a philosophy. Of course I forgot to photograph the food, but it was good! First stop! Entrance. You can see that my camera window is not opening properly. Time for a replacement. It looks like I'm peering through a crack in the wall to see Cheryl get her wristband. Better yet, I'm hiding inside one of the many trees. Of course Cheryl had to go back to the car to change out of her heels. Such a girly-girl. Awwwww. It's a smaller, wetter, hillier, low-budget Efteling Sprookjesbos with some Disney ripping-off. Now you know what they really looked like. Welcomed by a bunny. Unfortunately, the pics don't do it justice. It's very cute. My only decent shot of the actual dwarves. I think this is the money shot for this park. Cheryl slides! Taken from my tree hiding place. Start at Castle. This staffer let me take a picture of the great coats they wear. The castle. Humpty. LMM. Everything grows here. Alice. Awesome animatronics. I think this is Goldilocks. Crooked man. The history of the hoodie. I would not live in a pumpkin if my name were Peter Peter. Time for credits. Yes, we counted it because we are whores. And there is a little coaster part. This is one of the only parks where having a flume constitutes local theming. Nice clean midway, but small. This is the part that's worth the trip. The forecast said rain all weekend, but when we called they said this was meant to be experienced in the rain. This reminded me a little bit of Lost Coaster at Indiana Beach, but there are actually few similarities, all the coasters are blending together, plus I'm an idiot. Here I'm hiding inside a tree inside the car going up the lift hill. Yah! This ride is violent, fun, and deathproof. Shooting dark ride. Haunted House. Fun haunted walk-through. Just changing a light bulb. Big scenes. Sorry the camera doesn't do justice. It's huge. Cheryl is very fond of animatronic rats. They have a film about the park that is continuously running. We had to leave and they missed a merchandising opportunity by not having a DVD for sale. I would have paid $24.99, sight unseen, but not a penny more. Heading for the exit. Nice cuppa joe first. It was rainy chilly. I will say that the park is not cheap with the wristband, which is $24.95 over and above the $10.75 admission. You can save by going with the tickets and hit the four big rides once each for $13.30 instead. We would have done some re-rides had the weather been a little better and had we not had a date with another park. Enchanted Forest is worth a visit. It's clean, pleasant, friendly, and has some unique charm. On to Oaks Amusement Park! It's a very different kind of park; it's more of an open midway. First credit Wonderful OTSRs. There's a Scrambler. And a Rock O Plane Choo Choo. We missed the Rock O Plane and the train because it really started to rain after we got the credits. I think the rides stayed open, but we were done. 99.5FM The Wolf, playing your favorite country hits. Carousel pavilion. Ahh, credit! That expression is what you call smug self-satisfaction mixed with self-hatred and disgust. I used to love these things. But I haven't been on one since one of those arms broke off and someone got killed. The rest of our short journey was spent catching up with some friends of Cheryl and enjoying the crunchy-granola-ness of Portland. This was our breakfast waitress' modified recumbent bike. She was a character right out of Portlandia. And no trip to Portland would be complete without a visit to Voodoo Doughnut. Yes, you can get donuts with bacon on them. Cheryl's friends' kids demonstrate how to kill a gingerbread man doughnut. Yes, he has red jelly inside. Thanks for joining us on our Pacific Northwest sojourn!!!!!!

Classic. Great report.

Another.

From the 2010 TPR Middle America Tour, it's MoA!

Great report! One must suffer a terrible visit to Fuji-Q before Fuji-Q will grant a non-terrible visit.

Mirabilandia front and back!