Zand
-
Posts
697 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
51
Posts posted by Zand
-
-
Hello all,
I am embarking on a 12 day roadtrip later this month to Minnesota and back. I figured I will eventually use this thread for reports, but for now any intel on the following parks would be great! Keep in mind that my daily itinerary is pretty much set in stone at this point so I won't really have a lot of time to break off to visit other local things. At most of these parks I'll be spending less than a full day so if anyone can point out some less obvious must-dos at any of the parks it would be appreciated!
Day 1 (Sunday July 20): Drive 12+ hours to Michigan with a brief pit stop at Waldameer. I've never been there before but would like to get in and out in under 2 hours. Obviously mostly focused on Ravine Flyer but will also try to get the other two adult coaster credits and ride anything else unique to this park such as the flume and the fun house. Anything else unique I should be aware of?
Day 2: Michigan's Adventure. I feel like other than Shivering Timbers, the rest of the day will consist of a kind of quick loop around the park getting one ride each on the rest of the coasters. Planning on giving this park about 6 hours, and 3 or 4 of them probably will be Shivering Timbers lol.
Day 3: Indiana Beach. I might be more excited for this park than any other park on my trip. I will likely have almost the full day here as I will be travelling westward afterwards and gaining an hour from the time change. I should have no problem hitting everything once and then many rerides on the good stuff many times!
Day 4: Six Flags Great America. Will be here the full day and also have ultra flash pass so I don't see any issues getting on everything or needing a big plan to do so. I know Rakshasa isn't on Flash Pass but hopefully that line won't be too bad.
Day 5: Little Amerricka and Mt Olympus. Quick pit stop at Little Amerricka to check it out and ride the coasters. Then a slightly longer pitstop at Mt Olympus where I will hopefully live to tell all about it
Anything unique at either of these parks I should be aware of?
Days 6-8: Visiting friends near Minneapolis for the weekend. Will be checking out Valleyfair and MOA during this time. And doing other Minnesota things. Whatever that is.
Day 9: Hopefully driving all the way to Ohio with a quick pit stop at Bay Beach which will add over an hour to the ride time but I think Zippin Pippin will be worth it.
Days 10-11: Cedar Point. Expecting a shitshow but hoping for the best. I know my way around this place though. Lol
Day 12: Finishing the ride home and a pit stop at Six Flags Darien Lake. Have been there once about 20 years ago so will get the couple of new to me credits and ride Superman, a classic arrow, and hopefully an improved Predator.
This will be the longest road trip I've ever done but it will be nice to knock out pretty much every park east of the Mississippi that I haven't been to yet. Lots of bucket list coasters and hopefully good times to be had!
-
I'm planning a road trip to the Midwest and back and I think I'm starting to buy into the conspiracy theory that the new chain really hates Great Adventure.
The following parks are open later than Great Adventure during midsummer on weeknights:
Waldameer, Indiana Beach, Great America, Mt Olympus, Valleyfair, Nick U, Cedar Point, and yes even DARIEN LAKE is open an hour later than Great Adventure.
Michigan's Adventure and Bay Beach close at the same time: 8pm.
The only park on my trip that closes earlier is Little Amerricka.
I was floored to see Great America is open till 10 every night. The way it's supposed to be. Why do they hate us?
-
Alright, so I don't know if I'm a fool for considering stopping by this place when I'm traveling to Minnesota from SFGAm next month. Hoping for some feedback because I'm intrigued by the coasters here but also mildly terrified to stop foot inside!
In the many years since anyone has really posted any info in this thread, the cost of entry has increased to $35 (from...$7 a few years back) and parking is now $40 which is f*cking atrocious and even more so when you can't actually find that figure anywhere on their website.
I had the morbid curiosity to check the prices for their hotel since it includes free admission and noticed that rooms are $30 per night (and naturally another $80 in taxes and fees) which I know I probably shouldn't even consider doing because without reading too much into it I figure the hotel is a giant shithole and probably loud and dirty and infested with bedbugs. I will absolutely not consider staying here unless someone changes my mind.
I feel like the best course of action would be to have my wife drop me off somewhere across the street, have her go to McDonald's and read a book for a couple hours while I pay the $35 for myself since there will be nothing for her to do here, and then have her come back and pick me up. Between her ticket and parking that would save about $75.
I don't see myself needing more than two hours here. I've always wanted to check out Hades, Cyclops has always sounded like a rather good ride, I've heard decent things about Zeus, and I want to have my neck readjusted by Pegasus. If I can ride each of the four coasters and maybe get a reride or two (assuming they don't beat the shit out of me so bad that I won't even want to reride) then I would consider that worthy of my $35 before I get out of dodge.
Or should I just pretend it doesn't exist and keep on driving?
-
I mean...Kingda Ka itself didn't start site work until July of 2004 (and this new coaster really won't even need much site work) and didn't go vertical until September, and then opened in May. It's only June, and Six Flags doesn't like opening coasters until August these days anyway so is it really surprising that nothing is going on yet?
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
-
11 hours ago, prozach626 said:
I'll take all of that and raise you the carousel at Six Flags Saint Louis.
I guess I can give SFNE that...our carousel is always running
In all seriousness SFNE has generally always been great about the park being as close to 100% open as possible on any given operating day. I hear horror stories from some other SF parks (and as someone who goes to Great Adventure almost as much as SFNE, I see this first hand!) so kudos are due to maintenance at SFNE who are typically on the ball with just about everything.
I have also seen the issues with the other straddle coasters being closed suddenly so I wouldn't doubt that the park had it ready to go and then something else came up. Hopefully it's nothing too serious and it won't be a long delay.
-
Quantum Accelerator opening delayed.
This whole thing is weird as hell. The opening date was supposed to be tomorrow (June 20th) but has only really been reported by a few media outlets. Enthusiast circles have been extremely quiet about it and the park never officially announced an opening date on socials. Then they wait until filming day to delay the opening.
Not gonna lie, it's pretty ridiculous that a last minute and borderline-prototype coaster at Cedar Point that just finished construction last month is going to open before a pre-planned family launched coaster that finished construction in March. Oh and the 5x larger B&M dive coaster in Chicago that was announced at the same time as this coaster has been open for almost a month. What are we doing???
-
1
-
-
I did take what will likely be my last Rockit ride on Tuesday night and, in fitting fashion, it was a certified shitshow! They were only running 3 trains and for some reason the trains kept setting up on the last 3 brake runs even without a train in the station. We got stuck on the 2nd to last brake run for a minute or two and could see a train on the brakes in front of us. Also my last ride was in row 4 which is the worst row on the ride because it's rough as shit and for some reason the crotch molds seem to protrude backwards more in this row than the others and yeah...such a fitting last ride. I'll kind of miss it and wondering why there's so many songs about rainbows, but I can't wait to see how good the replacement coaster is bound to be. Rest in pieces!
I also had back-to-back lemon rides on Spiderman which was interesting. The first time through we got to the gravity ray section and then the effects and sound stop and the car kept stopping and then slowly meandering to each scene. Most of them were either quiet or no sound at all and the car awkwardly listed to the left, and then the car started playing sounds from 4 scenes prior and...yeah. The ride ops told us to go through the child swap line and ride again. The second time around it made it all the way to the final drop scene but then it did it again. I've ridden this thing a ton and it's usually flawless so it's interesting to get a couple technical difficulty rides.
Lastly, one of my fears everytime I ride Velocicoaster on a showery day is that it'll be sunny when I walk in and then after 20 minutes of being cut-off from the outside world things will drastically change by the time I get on the ride. This time around I got on the ride and it was fine, but I started feeling a few sprinkles going up the top hat. When we hit the brake run the skies opened up and because they were running all 4 trains we had the pleasure of sitting on the brake run for a good two minutes with no escaping the deluge. And naturally the firehouse shut off just as the brakes released and we rolled into the station.
-
3
-
-
2 hours ago, teacherkim said:
Thanks for the review. Since we don't have to work on a school schedule anymore we are going the first week in October for the bonus of hitting HHN and the vain hope that the worst of the kinks will be worked out and hopefully lower crowds that time of year. How did you like Aventura? We have always only stayed at Royal Pacific but since the express won't work at Epic and I have to pay for two rooms I opted to try one of the more affordable options. Of course then they go and add express to Hagrids, lol.
I love Aventura, it's my go-to. It's a bit more adult orientated than most hotels. Laid back and quiet and the bar on the roof is really neat. I like how everything is in a small footprint and you don't have to walk a mile to get to your room. No long lines for the bus. And best of all the price is usually not bad, often $150-200.
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, prozach626 said:
You think it's possible to hit every coaster in a couple hours by myself with the express pass if I get there at park opening? I was thinking about briefly bailing on the family during a pool and rest day. I'm only interested in the roller coasters.
If you're staying on property I would go right to Mine Cart for early entry. If not then you might be screwed (unless what they did yesterday is the new norm and now everyone can go right in for early entry). Mine Cart will immediately have a 1-2 hour line and usually doesn't get any shorter all day. Also it's not on express.
You won't have any problem getting the other 3.
-
1
-
-
Wanted to post some thoughts from my 2nd trip to Epic and first since the park officially opened. For future reference, today was a Monday and the general consensus amongst regular park-goers is that today was on the busier side for Epic.
Despite staying on property at Aventura I decided not to get up early for early entry and I'm glad I made that decision. Apparently the security line was a mile long before they opened and then they didn't bother checking for hotel reservations to get into the lands so everyone was able to get in. Therefore lines in Nintendo immediately went over 75 minutes and Ministry was over 3 hours within 15 minutes of opening. I would've been pretty pissed if I got up before 7 to experience that.
We ended up hopping on the bus right at 10:30 and in the park around 10:50. After getting shut out on Ministry last trip, that was my #1 goal today. Stopped at the French cafe thing on the way in for a crepe for breakfast which was pretty good, nothing spectacular. Hopped into line for Ministry right at 11:50 which was posting a 150 minute wait. We were sent into the outdoor section but only for 5-10 minutes before making our way to the Floo network. The queue is jaw dropping, there's no other way to put it. Our wait ended up being about 1:45-1:50 and I don't think there were any breakdowns. If you're trying to judge times, I would say once you're through the Floo network it's going to take you 1.5-2 hours. And then add to that with any of the queue outside being used.
The ride itself is absolutely one of the best dark rides I've ever ridden, a nice blend of technology and storyline. Not gonna throw out tons of spoilers here. To me it was worth the wait once for sure. If it was 3+ hours? Maybe not. But for the line it had today it definitely met expectations. Thankful to have finally ridden it and for not having to deal with any virtual queue systems to do so. Be patient with this, the line will be insane right from the get go. But it usually comes down a bit midday. Just be careful if you want to save it for later, they capped the line just before 7:00 today. I thought waiting in the a/c during the midday sun was the best choice and my plan worked very well.
Stardust Racers is incredible with the dueling aspect which I didn't get to experience. Night rides are mind blowing. They kept it open an extra hour tonight which was terrific of them to do. They got each side running 3 trains later in the day and the line does not stop moving when they do that. The green side is indeed very slightly more intense than the yellow side, but you can often get on in about 3 less ride cycles on the yellow side because everyone chooses green. I think I still cast my preference to Velocicoaster simply because it has the mosasaurus roll which is my favorite element of all time, but I absolutely understand how people can put this ahead. It hits from beginning to end and is frankly one of the best ejector air machines ever built. This ride is a home run and extremely rerideable. I can't say enough good things about it.
Nintendo World was a circus. I love hanging out in there but this area badly needs that rumored expansion to happen asap. Rode Yoshi but even that was 30 minutes for a short ride. Mario Kart and Mine Cart almost never dropped below 2 hours today.
Monsters Unchained was a lot of fun the 2nd time around. I think the first time my expectations were a little unrealistic. I had a great time on it tonight, the line was very short and fast moving. The ride was great and if anything wasn't working than I couldn't care to notice. Definitely my 3rd favorite ride in the park. Skipped the spinner as it never really got below an hour.
Hiccup was a quick 25 minute wait around 6:30 and was fun as always. The restraints blow and I wish they would've done a little better with that. But the ride it zippy and fun and the theming is adorable. Also viewed Untrainable Dragon which is a bit short but a lot of run. Go check it out!
Want to point out two negative experiences from today. First of which was Pizza Moon. Went in there around 4:00. Ordered a Space Cowboy which is essentially BBQ chicken pizza. People next to us sat down 5 minutes later and they had their two pizzas and a salad before we got ours even though the app said our pizza was ready. After about 20 minutes we asked a staff member who was like "oh those take extra long to make but it will be out soon!" (then why would the app say it's ready)...so ok. The people next to us are their pizza, left, and the next seating sat down and ordered and still no pizza for us. It was 45 minutes in at this point so I asked again and this time the waiter sent over a manager who had a terrible attitude and made us feel like shit for even asking about it. But he radioed something in and a few minutes later our pizza finally came over just as the people next to us (keep in mind this was the SECOND seating at that table after we ordered) got their meal.
The pizza was very good. I still have no idea why it took almost an hour. And some of the staff members here need to remove the stick from their ass when people ask about something. Something obviously happened with our pizza. Just apologize and say you're working on it instead of being a complete jackass about it, and don't gaslight me with "oh that one takes longer" when the app clearly showed that it was done and ready.
2nd negative experience was that goddamn Carousel. We got in line at 7:55 with a posted 15 minute line and a couple switchbacks full. Just after getting in it changed to 25 minutes, understandable because it was one of 3 rides actually open during a small shower that passed through. At 8:45 I saw Stardust running again and finally bailed after being 50 minutes into a 15 minute line and still being multiple cycles away from riding. They were taking at least 7/8ths of each cycle from Fastpass. And the load times on this are atrocious, usually 5+ minutes. The ops are just obscenely bad on this. How can you screw up the ops on a Carousel?
All in all definitely a fun day but I'm done with this place till they add it to the annual pass. It's a gorgeous park with 3 great rides and a few other very good rides, but it needs a lot more to keep up with the crowds it is going to get when they open up to max capacity. I shudder to think of how long the lines will be when they allow 100% capacity. Even if it was dead, I'd still rather be at IOA. In a few years this park may very well eclipse IOA but I don't think it's close right now. It's gorgeous and especially stunning at night, but the lack of shade is draining during the day.
-
2
-
-
Adding express to Hagrid seems to be going swimmingly.
Edit: in the past 50 minutes it has apparently gone down to 1.5 hours. That pretty cool that they went through 2.75 hours of line in 50 minutes and no one else got in!
Edit edit: I'm currently at Epic Universe and it's unfortunately one of the busier days it's had so far. I'm in line for Ministry and...
...it's not the longest line in the park. I haven't seen that happen yet. Did I walk into some sort of miracle?
-
Yup, and currently Hagrid has a longer line than Ministry.
I'm glad I'm not in love with it...will be down there this weekend and it doesn't bother me to skip when it has an insane line. If I can ride Velocicoaster 3 times in the time it takes to wait for Hagrid once, I know what I'll be doing.
-
I wish I could answer your question but I'd have to shoot myself before I went to Florida in July so I have no idea how the crowds stack up during the summer. Other times of year, on Tuesdays I've generally found most things to be a walk on depending on what time you get to them. Hagrid and Velocicoaster will probably be 1.5 hrs and 45 mins respectively. Water rides will probably be long. Usually almost everything else is very short. I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to get through the whole park without express on a Tuesday.
In Epic news...it's day 2 of regular operations. Ministry currently has a 1 hour line. I seriously am starting to think that they sold more tickets during preview than they're selling now. Fingers crossed it's still like this on June 2, I will have a blast that day if it is.
-
1
-
1
-
-
So far today the lines have been far shorter than they were during preview. Even the Mario stuff is 15 mins or less.
In other unsurprising news, Ministry opened to a 5 hour queue and then has been down for the last 3.5 hours or so.
-
They do have the hours in the app...mostly 9-9 on weekdays including the days you'll be there. For some reason they're not clearly listed on the website. 9-9 is kind of lame for a new park seeing as IOA is open till 10 those days.
Since you have two consecutive days what I would do is try to get everything done on day 1 that isn't Ministry. If things go well maybe you'll still have time for Ministry at the end of the day and your day 2 would be much more leisurely. And if you don't have time then at least you will have ridden everything else you wanted so you won't have to really worry about them on day 2. But long lines, breakdowns, and real life get in the way sometimes so your approach may very well be different!
-
2 hours ago, bejackso said:
quick question on express passes. i am going to epic on thursday 06/05 and friday 06/06, open to close both days. i have my tickets and trip all planned out. HOWEVER, i did not think to buy express passes until now, and i see they are all sold out.
1. will they be available to buy day of inside the park?
2. if not, and we are unable to get express passes, how big of a deal is this? will we still be able to hit most the rides? i don't care about riding every single thing, just want some of the biggies (stardust, ministry, monsters, maybe 1-2 more).
any advice/thoughts on rope drop strategy and getting around the park would be appreciated. i realize that's probably been spelled out in this thread already but i don't have time to comb through it all.
Someone else will have to answer about the express pass end of things. As for question #2 obviously the crowds could be much different when the park is officially open compared to preview, but I pretty comfortably got on everything except HP in about 7 hours when I was there last month. My 2 cents...
1. If you don't have early entry, save Nintendo World and Harry Potter for later. These two are your early entry lands and the lines will be massive by park opening. I would recommend going to Berk first and then Dark Universe.
2. If Nintendo and Potter haven't died down yet, usually a good time to ride Stardust Racers. When both sides are open that thing chews through people. Seems like the line never gets much longer than 30-40 minutes.
3. I think 2:00 is roughly the time that the lines get more bearable in Nintendo and Potter. The last couple days I've watched Ministry drop from a 4 hour line to a 2 hour line by mid afternoon. If you don't care that much about riding it I would recommend saving it for last because you never know how much of your day it is going to ruin if it keeps breaking down.
4. I got lucky on Minecart Madness by catching the singles line shortly after it reopened. Like Velocicoaster and Hagrid it moves very slowly and closes often. The regular line is often insane too. But if you catch the singles line right when it opens it can save you over an hour, and unlike Velocicoaster you can actually see the line once you're in it to judge for yourself.
Ultimately the park has 11 rides. Dragon Racer's Rally is a ride you can do elsewhere if the line looks long (and it usually is because the capacity isn't great). Fyre Drill is usually pretty short. Wing Gliders is usually 45-60 minutes which is why I recommend going there early. Monsters Unchained rarely has a huge line and moves fast. If you check the app a few times you should be able to hit it when the line is 20 minutes or less. Werewolf is hit or miss, again if you check the app you can probably grab a 15 minute line, or sometimes it can be an hour. Carousel never has a huge line. Mario Kart is insane early but usually under 45 minutes later in the day. Yoshi never has much of a line. Minecart you need to play the singles game or be prepared to wait a while. Stardust usually under 45 minutes. Realistically you can do all of the above in 6-7 hours unless they really pump people into the park after opening day. Then there's the wild card of Ministry if it's a must ride for you.
-
1
-
-
The line stretched back to the entrance to Berk this morning. Highest time posted was 4 hours. Right now it's posted at 2.5 hours which...isn't that bad? Compared to Hagrids and Gringotts when they opened it's basically nothing
-
Not sure if it's a permanent change but Ministry virtual queue was dropped today. Wait time according to the app was 2-3 hours for most of the day.
I'll be happy if this change is permanent. It will be comforting knowing my chances of riding when I am there in 2 weeks don't rest completely in the hands of a flawed lottery system. I know there are a lot of other obstacles but it will be my choice on whether to wait out the issues and the long line.
-
2
-
-
3 hours ago, AmyUD06 said:
If you've got time, try to hit the two Fun Spots (Orlando and Kissimmee). The Orlando one has a solid GCI woodie in White Lightning, and Kissimmee has Mine Blower which is a love-it-or hate it woodie with a barrel roll. Both parks also have some awesome go-kart tracks if you're into those.
Both parks are open late (until midnight), and also can be done pay-per-ride.Not sure if the price has changed, but last I knew you could get a $35 wristband after 9pm. Pretty solid deal if you're looking for some riding after Universal closes especially considering a lot of the rides are $12 a pop.
-
1
-
-
4 hours ago, AmyUD06 said:
Fun Fact: This is the only park I've ever been to where the crowd self-regulates in the station of coasters - without the presence of a grouper, they still line up with only enough people for the next train per row, on their own! I was shocked.
You should've taken video so you can show this to the groupers at Carowinds when they send trains out with 4 empty rows because they can't keep up for some reason.
-
1
-
-
I usually grab food from Green Eggs & Ham when in IOA. Usually a nice pick-me-up. Otherwise yes I agree with just going to City Walk for food, most of the stuff in the parks is garbage.
Single rider lines for Forbidden Journey and Hulk are worth it, but otherwise I can't think of any others that are. And definitely don't use them for Velocicoaster and Hagrid. Single rider is a little better in Studios, Rockit is hit or miss but the rest are usually pretty good.
Hogwarts Express has different videos, but is it worthwhile riding it both ways? Not really. At least going from Studios to IOA you get to see Kings Cross. If the line is short it's worth it but it can balloon to an hour at times.
I kind of have a limited experience of City Walk restaurants, but NBC Grill and Toothsomes are good. Hard Rock and Margaritaville are the same as elsewhere. I need to try new places sometime lol.
-
Breaking news: Cedar Point is the devil.
-
4
-
-
Dueling Superman doesn't exist. You don't have to be scared of it.
Six Flags: Yet.
-
2
-
-
12 minutes ago, AmyUD06 said:
Surprising absolutely no one. I'm honestly very surprised it lasted as long as it did.
It's a shame about Wild One (from a historic perspective only; it rode horribly when I was last on it a few years ago).
No lies detected here.
I had some great rides on Wild One in 2020 but for some reason when I rode it in 2023 it was absolutely awful. It is very sad to lose something so historical though. It has a fun layout.
The first B&M will officially bite the dust and good riddance. Might be the worst looping coaster I've ever ridden.
The SLC just got overhauled but I'm not sure there's really any place sensible to relocate it to. Maybe some independent park will pick it up like Trimpers.
Joker's Jinx would be great in a new home but is also pretty old at this point and there aren't a lot of LIM coasters around these days. Would be sad to see this scrapped but I can't imagine it getting relocated at its age.
I have to imagine Superman will get relocated to a park that needs a hyper but that's a pretty small list. Maybe Michigan's Adventure? If not RIP I guess although Darien Lake is still a thing.
Also RIP to the last remaining Vekoma Flying Dutchman. Won't miss the restraints but the layout is so superior to the B&M Supermans. I have to imagine this will be scrapped.
Good riddance to Roar.
There's a few flats that may get a new home. Also the spinning mouse could move again. I still don't have that credit, it's closed every time I go.
I will try to get down there one more time this summer but we'll see. Considering the price of real estate and how much of a dump this park is, it's definitely not surprising news.
-
1
-
Roadtrip! 12 Days in the Upper Midwest
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
There's a couple reasons I can really adjust the days. For one thing, the Minnesota days fall when they do simply because it's the weekend. My friend that I'm staying with is off from work Fri-Sun so it wouldn't make sense for me to shift that forwards or backwards any. Also, I already have date specific tickets to Indiana Beach for Tuesday 7/22 (they were only $26 when I got them...I'm sure if I had to the park would be willing to change the date for me, but because of the Minnesota timing factor I don't think it would help to go straight across from MiA as much as it would save time and miles).
On the day I drive from Minnesota to Ohio, more than likely I'll only make it to South Bend or so and stop there. I don't really care if I get to Cedar Point a little later the first day. If I'm getting into Chicago right at rush hour maybe I'll just stop into Great America for a couple hours to let the traffic die off a bit haha.
Appreciate the tips though! I definitely understand your reasoning for taking the ferry and avoiding Chicago one way. And thanks for the ride recommendations. I definitely love checking out old school funhouses, they are a pretty rare sight these days.
If Great America starts to look too tight time wise to get to everything then I'll definitely prioritize certain things but I think the Flash Pass should get me through everything. I'll do stuff like Superman, Joker, and Dark Knight last because I can ride them all in NJ and don't care that much about credits for the sake of credits. And as much as I enjoy impulses I could put that off till last as well because I'll be riding the one at Valleyfair and Dorney is close by to me.