65skylark

^ It was last Saturday. I'm not the most seasoned theme park traveler out there, but I have been to quite a few parks across the US, over 250 coasters, and believe me, the employees were not trying hard to dispatch trains. They were very, VERY slow with no sense of urgency at all. I'm very aware it was one of the busiest days of the year for the park and that is all the more reason it was frustrating to see no sense of urgency. Having said that, I don't believe it had anything to do with the employees themselves, I believe that is how they've been trained to do things. It's a small park hundreds of miles away from any other parks. In some ways I don't think they truly know any better and don't think most of the patrons know any better. The fact that you said "We're trying. Honestly." just proves that point. Because in comparison to every other park I've been to, you guys weren't trying. Still a fun park on a slower day. SOOO much potential, and it's great to see so many people there. It's great to see some of the recent investments in making the park better. I'd just like to now see them take the next step and operate their park more efficiently. Make some investments in customer experience instead of another ride this time. I'm sure they'll eventually get there. BTW, LOVE Nick Norton's magic show! It really gets better and better every year.

My family and I just got back from our annual visit to Silverwood. Took some friends who have never been before and we went on a Saturday. Unfortunately, Tremors, even with the new topper track installed a few years ago, is a shell of it's former self. Timber Terror is still pretty decent with plenty of air time. HUGE crowds and 101 degree high temps may have effected my overall opinion but for a park so nice and clean, the ride operations are about the worst I've seen at any park. Still only one train on each woodie after all these years and just very, very slow employees. I don't know if it's just because they're the only show in town and no one in that part of the country knows any better, but we won't be back during the peak summer season again. Great park if you have light crowds, very frustrating if it's busy.

Looks absolutely fantastic! This is the first coaster in several years I am really excited about. Going to have to plan a Dollywood trip next year.

Totally agree with Xcelerator and Storm Runner being better coasters, even though they don't have the speed or height. But I do love TTD. For me, the one trick is worth it!

I agree with Wes. I got to ride them a few days apart and I thought Griffon was better. I get that people give Sheikra axtra credit for theming but I felt Griffon was a better ride.

I've only been on 4 coasters out of the top 20. Still suprises me Maverick ranks that high, though. I seriously need to get my sorry ass on another coaster trip. it's been since '09 that I have been to a theme park other than Silverwood

Very much looking forward to this ride! Loved the spinner at Waldameer. We are due for another trip down to NoCal next year.

^ Same! Love that coaster.

Great PTR! We visit Seaside a couple times every year and it never even occurred to me to post a PTR, which is actually good as my PTR would have sucked balls compared to yours. Great Job. And Larry, unfortunately Laura is right. The Seaside scooters are very tame compared to Oaks. But it might be worth a side trip just for the town itself.

Great TR Derek! That's the most complete report I've seen on this park. I've often thought of making the extra drive when we do our annual Silverwood trip. Maybe next year.

For the same reason you frequent a web site called "Theme Park Review" and have a certain love for trains that run on an elevated track. There is no rational explanation, we're all nerds.

How you planning on getting all that wood to the trucks? You can't just carry it. You'd be exhuasted by the end of the day. Wheelbarrow.bmp Work smarter not harder

I won't argue with you until U of F gels. That said, U of F had better gel in the next 2 weeks. Yeah Larry, you notice I said "right now". We've been off to some pretty good starts in the past just to have it all fall apart by the end of the season. I am actually kind of nervous about this weekend at Arizona State just because it's the first conference game, on the road and a game they should win easily. Those are the scary ones. Plus, as any Gator fan would know, you tend to get the oponents best effort when your a top 5 ranked team. Everyone wants to be the one to knock you down.

Yeah, I think you'd be very hard pressed to find very many people put money on an SEC team other than Alabama against Oregon. I'll take Oregon over Florida any day right now. They already man handled one SEC team (albeit Tennessee) on the road this year. Ohio State doesn't exactly look too bad either. I would put my money on Ohio State over any SEC team other than Alabama right now, too.

Great pictures! Really great video! Very mediocre show.I'll be watching the original version called Fantasmic over at the park across the street for the 50th time before I wait in a mob of people to watch that. I guess big fountains just aren't my thing.

Fantastic PTR! That is by far the most comprehensive TR I have seen of this park. Loved the pictures and the fact that you took the time to include most of the rides. When it comes to some of the smaller less visited parks like IB it is nice when someone takes the time to simply show most everything the park has to offer. Great job!

Robb makes a great point that I keep forgetting to mention. This is a huge upgrade from the original Haunted Castle. They invested a great deal of money and time into replacing an outdated ride with something much better. They could have easily just plopped another flat ride down and called it good. Chuck, I agree with you about Monster Mansion. I would love to see more parks go with the "boat" version of a dark ride over conventional track. It just really adds a lot to the ride, IMO.

Nice report Eric. Looks like a great addition to an already amazing park.

^^ I would agree with you about The Wacky Shack but that is probably an unfair comparison. Most dark ride enthusiasts consider that an all time classic dark ride that really stands above most others. You just aren't going to see a ride like that being built today. We were at the park for about 5 hours after the ride opened to the public and all I heard was positive responses. It certainly didn't have anything that blew you away, but again, for a small park like that it was on a much larger scale that what I expected. And it did have a few unique aspects about it, the main one being the turn around right when the ride begins and then the spiral decent into the castle. I thought that was a nice touch. I think it is important to keep in perspective the park that this ride is in. It certainly isn't going to match a new dark ride at a Busch park like Dark Kastle or Universal like Spiderman. But I think for SCBB it is going to be a hit and they deserve a lot of credit for doing all they did with a "small park" budget. Plus, the video just really doesn't do it a lot of justice. There really is a lot more going on the you miss in the video.

^ Yes, it is a great ride and yes, it is a LONG drive. It was nice to meet you. Looked like you and your family had a good time.

Thanks to TPR, I got the opportunity to attend the opening day event at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for the new Haunted Castle dark ride. I took my two oldest kids (Ellie and Chad) on the 22 hour round trip drive (yes, I am that insane) South from Portland to Santa Cruz for a last minute road trip that included a lot more driving time than park time. Was it worth it? You bet. The ride actually exceeded my own personal expectations. I am admittedly not a "huge" dark ride fanatic, so I didn't really go into it with high expectations. I wasn't expecting a ride of this length and quality from what I would consider a small regional park. It was all very well done from the outside of the building to the what the ride had to offer inside. I liked how it had a nice flow and overall theme along with a nice climax at the end. Unfortunately, it is a dark ride, heavy on the "dark", so the video really doesn't do the ride justice. You get an idea, though. [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=Haunted_Castle_MPEG_hvv4[/coastertube] Overall, it is really a great ride and a great addition to an already excellent park. Anyway, on to the pictures... Rain!!! Looking out my front door before leaving at about 6pm. Bring on the sunshine. About 13 hours later on the beach catching a few hours sleep before the opening event. The kids were more than happy to hang out on the beach while I got some rest. I think this is the place. Not a lot of people here yet. Trust me, they will be here later. The reason we are here. Yes, I know, you've all already seen a billion pictures by this time. Well, your gonna see a few more. The front of the ride as viewed from the beach (minus giant spider). Some of the smaller details. Told you they'd come. Everyone getting ready for openning festivities. The park handed out some cool stuff before openning the ride. This is super groovy awesome TPR member Nicholas aka "coaster-crazy" The park gave him this way cool concept art for all of the coverage he has been giving this ride. Lots of it right here on TPR. I have been a loyal reader of his Haunted Castle contruction thread and I think it was really great of Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk to give him that great peice of concept art. Good job! Hold on a minute! They have free cake? This ride is awesome!! We love rides with cake! The ride vehicle. Pretty cool of you ask me. The loading area and back of the ride vehicle. Lots of spy cameras watching your every move. And finally, happy riders returning from their journey through the castle. Had to through in this picture of "Good Dipper" because, well, this coaster is amazing and craps all over "Bad Dipper" at Belmont Park. And just because this always amazes me. Maybe a deep fried bacon cheeseburger would be worse for your health. Maybe. A final shot of the new ride. Thanks a lot to TPR for letting me attend this very cool event and thanks to everyone at SCBB for adding such a great new ride! And thanks for reading!

I don't typically look at myself as a coaster nerd for the most part but I must say that is pretty cool. I'm pretty sure I've been on every B&M in the state of California. I think.

Yes, but it must also be void of any right hand turns. Who cares about the effing trims, this coaster fails directly after the first drop.

Add one more to the list of people who are a fan of these smaller traditional parks. I agree they offer a great family experience above what you get at many larger parks. I loved Waldameer when I was there in 2006 even before they had their signature coaster. Great report!

That is one impressive list! With the new business and the new baby we are hoding off a little longer because we really have nothing to spare right now, but we WILL be purshasing a family membership. I'm really glad everything is going so good so far for you guys. Justin "still holding out hope for a Silverwood discount" Saxe.