VGplay

It's not just my friends, I'm willing to tell anyone who's interested about me and coasters. I've never thought about it as a geeky hobby. Most people think it's pretty cool. I also enjoy bringing friends along to other parks to expand their horizons beyond just Cedar Point.

Haha, I look like I'm not enjoying the ride at all. Though by that point I'm ready to get off... Great photos Hanno. Thanks for sharing. Is it June yet?

As a Hilton, Hamptons tend to be pretty consistent. Tripadvisor seems to agree: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g52607-d102651-Reviews-Hampton_Inn_Erie_South-Erie_Pennsylvania.html . And I wouldn't call Erie "sketchy". It has some older and tired sections, but overall it is a very nice city. As for Ravine Flyer 3, just try. Honestly I'm not sure what the park's policy is. I rode it during a coaster event a while ago and the pictures in the Index are from a commercial shoot TPR did. But the staff is friendly and relaxed, so it may be worth asking even if the sign disagrees. Enjoy your visit! And be sure to stick around for some night rides on Ravine Flyer!

I also spent a few hours at the park today. Actually bumped in cfc and introduced myself. I was able to get all the credits on my visit last year so I was really only stopping by to ride Intimidator, Dominator, and Grizzly. The park was busy but everything including Intimidator and except Volcano had lines only in the stations. I wasn't as impressed with Grizzly as I was last year, maybe it's because my one ride last year was as it was getting dark. Dominator was great as always, though it has developed a shuffle it didn't have at Geauga Lake. Took a ride on Avalanche since it was a walk-on. Fun ride you don't hear much about. Are the Mack bobsleds in Europe longer? Anyways, on to Intimidator. My first ride was in the back seat. After sliding up into my restraint on the drop the sustained Gs during the turn caused me to nearly completely grey-out. The second hill offered a "Woah...!" moment, but I wouldn't call it airtime. The twisties didn't do much for me. The first airtime hill gave some great sustained strong airtime. The small hill after had a nice pop into the last twisty. Then I quickly learned to brace myself for the snap into the brakes as I got my only neck chop. I also got a ride in the second row. The only difference I experienced was that the twisties were taken noticeably faster, like I actually had to brace for them. Even then, I'm not sure I liked them. Living in Ohio and having a Cedar Point season pass, it is natural for me to compare Intimidator to Millennium Force. Millennium Force - Intimidator 1. T-Bars - Shoulder Straps 2. Awesome First Drop - "Going Down" Sensation (I thought it sucked) 3. I grey-out from the pull-out through the the bottom of the overbank - I greyed-out through the turn 4. "Woah...!" feeling on second hill - "Woah...!" feeling on second hill 5. Generally forceless overbanks - Pointless twisties 6. Nice airtime heading off island - Good airtime hill 7. Quality pop of airtime along station - Small but nice pop into final twisty 8. One last generally forceless overbank - Final twisty 9. And into the brakes - Snap into the brakes 10. On the shores of Lake Erie - Open field Actually very similar. But the restraints, location, and first drop cause me to put Millennium Force ahead without question. I also did an experiment. I got a speedometer program for my Droid and on three of my rides turned it on to track my speed. Before my visit I tested its accuracy and in my pocket it matched my max speed pretty exactly. So while I rode I did the same thing. I turned it on and put it in my pocket. My three results were: 56mph, 56mph, 51mph...hmm...I'm not sure that worked quite as well as I would've hoped. I will say, my initial reaction from my first ride was, "This feels slow". And finally, on my way out I noticed a change made to the park's display for the ride. They have modified the ride's speed to "Very Fast!!!" So that's my opinion. How fast does Intimidator go? VERY FAST!!!

And to think we saw him smiling and having a good time barely a week ago...wow. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Koch family and everyone at Holiday World.

No need to worry guys, I've figured it out. The track is for Geauga Lake's long-awaited hyper.

We're staying down the road at Lincoln State Park. $25 a night and it's a very nice campground.

As much as I was looking forward towards a chance to ride in the Timberliners, I was a bit worried about capacity with running only one train. Sounds like Voyage is running well this year with the PTCs, anyways. I can wait until the Middle America trip to ride in the new trains. The addons they've added are pretty cool, too.

I visited Kentucky Kingdom on their closing day last year. I thought it was a decent enough park, but obviously missing its star attraction without Chang. Judging by how the footers were tore up they would be starting from scratch if the ride were to return. Taken by myself on 10-31-09.

HN attendance list- 1. Nick (angryemobeaver {actually DropZone99 on every other site}) 2. Adam (spaceace12) 3. Nathan (kumba830) 4. Joel(10ryansmith) 5. Justin (RedB) 6. Brandon (saginawhxc) 7. Stefan (VGplay) 8. Dimitri (VoltageCaek)

I always like to see where Hershey will squeeze in their next coaster. If that rumor is true I hope it's a hyper. That's really all they're missing to have a very well-rounded coaster collection (not that they don't already). Doesn't the park now own the golf course next to it? I wonder if the coaster would extend out towards it.

Awesome pictures. Sunday was a nice day to be at the park. Great weather but crowds weren't bad at all. On your shot of the main gate, what does it say about Phil Dawson? As a Browns fan that would suck if he were there on Sunday and I didn't get his autograph.

I guess I was one of the first to order as I got my copy today! Here's the bottom line: If you like the RAW videos and have a Blu-Ray player, BUY THIS NOW! Seriously, it's awesome. I'm somewhat of a videophile and I think the quality is fantastic. It's sharp, colorful, and without compression artifacts. Thanks for making this available and I look forward to future volumes! We have a bit of a special setup at my house so I thought I'd share some pictures. I was not expecting this today! The contents. Woo! Another TPR pen! I still use the first one I got! A closer look at the case. Our home theater. The screen is 2.39:1 so that most movies don't have any bars. Its full size is 145". Standard 16:9 is about 120". Piraten paused for a picture. I forgot to take a lights-on picture. But since I didn't move the tripod between the past two, here's a mockup of how it looks. Needless to say, I think this is the closest I can come to riding the coasters without being on them!

Darien Lake was built-up by Funtime, the same company that owned Geauga Lake during the 80s.

Ever since the park moved their opening to mid-May, weekdays before Memorial Day are just as busy as during the summer because of all the school groups. After Memorial Day weekdays slow down a bit until schools let out in the second week of June. That little two week gap is one of the best times to go to the park. However, I assume you're going to be at the park sometime the week of the 23rd? Expect about one hour lines for the big coasters. It shouldn't be too bad, but I wouldn't expect to ride every coaster. And no, the park doesn't offer Q-Bot or anything similar. Maybe one day the park will extend their season back to early May. Everything was a walk-on, even Millennium Force and Dragster (though that may explain why they don't open that early anymore...). Have a good time!

They both have separate loading and unloading stations. A coaster can have an one less its number of blocks amount of trains (worded that oddly...). Millennium Force has four blocks (maybe five, can its first set of brakes stop a train?). Raptor has five blocks and three trains. Magnum has four blocks and three trains. Magnum gets away with not having a MCBR or separate stations because of its long lift hill. There's a point where they can dispatch a train but it won't crest the top until the train on the course passes the first set of brakes. Raven would need an extra brake run. But as it is the other train is hitting the brakes or close to it by the time the train in the station is ready to dispatch.

Good to hear, thanks. I'll plan for sometime the week of the 20th. Another bonus is that Kings Dominion starts being open until 10pm that week, allowing for night rides. And I'm curious, why was this moved from Ask Alvey?

Silverwoood comes to mind. They also seem to have the budget to afford it.

Millennium Force, Maverick, Dragster, and Raptor were all about an hour and a half wait. Magnum's line was down into the switchbacks and around a half hour. I was there from early entry to close and got seven total rides. Tuesday might not be as bad, but I wouldn't expect crowds to be light.

It'll be busy. On top of the school groups, Monday is the traditional Senior Skip Day for Ohio schools. I was there last year on the first Monday, and it was one of the busiest days at the park I saw all season.

I'm going to head down to Virginia sometime in June for Intimidator and have been thinking about adding a day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. When I visited the park last year it became one of my favorites and I'd really like to go. We went on Sunday, June 7th last year and the crowds were very "wavy". The park was busy but if you went to a ride and it had a line into the switchbacks you could come back in a little while and walk right into the station. Is that a normal crowd pattern for the park? Would there be a benefit to go the week of June 13th before area schools let out? I don't know how much of a local's park Busch Gardens is. My other option is to go the week of the 20th and have an extra hour in the park, since it closes at 9pm as opposed to 8pm the previous week. If crowds wouldn't be much different I'd prefer to go then. Is there a particular weekday that's the best to visit on? I'm just trying to get the most out of the trip since I don't think I'll get a chance to go next year. And I'm not really concerned about crowds at Kings Dominion. I visited it last year also and got all the credits, so I'm probably just going to be flipping between riding Intimidator and Dominator. Any advice is welcome, thanks!

Why would that be awesome? There would be no more random trimless rides. Interesting picture. I'm going to say it valleyed. It has been both chilly and windy lately.

I also image it will be used if there needs to be an evac on the second lift.

For photos I use a Canon SD1000. Its now a few years old but I love the pictures it takes and its size. Though I may upgrade to whatever is Canon's current model of the same size sometime this year. I also have a Canon Digital Rebel XTi. Got it for a good price from a friend last fall. I'd really like to learn how to use it properly but I need to get a good lens (I only have the kit lens and the standard 50mm lens). Another problem is that I also take most of my pictures at parks and ride a lot, so carrying a SLR around would be bothersome. And for videos I use a Canon HV30. I love this camera. Almost a year and a half now and I still look at footage in disbelief of the quality. It's HDV, which I actually really like. I get a physical copy and MiniDV tapes are still cheaper than quality SD cards. I'm going to be using this camera for a LONG time.

Both parks will probably be quite busy. Cedar Point on any Saturday is packed and at that point of the season on Sunday I'd expect at least hour lines for the major coasters. I haven't been to Kings Island regularly enough to gauge its crowds, but it is also a busy park and it'll be a weekend in the summer, so expect similar crowds to Cedar Point.