larrygator

Hans - I'll add to the Park Index later today 1 - I love the ParaJump 2 - Can adults ride the Donkey Track? 3 - I'm a nice American thanks

How the hell did you read it that fast? You were skimming! Go back and view it in a proper manner!

Ledgy - this is the first Tagada I have seen in person, we don't have them in the US (stupid lawyers). So, I don't know if standing is common. As nice segue into my post covering the flat rides of Wiener Prater. First, let me mention that the park has a lot of driving attractions (bumper cars, go karts and even Segway rentals). I rode some of the flat rides, but not a lot. It would have cost over 200 Euros ($240) to ride everything at the park. The most impressive rides being the Riesenrad (Ferris Wheel), Prater Turm (383 foot Star Flyer), and a flat ride called Tornado that I had never seen before. The picturesque Riesenrad must be included in any Wiener Prater PTR. The costs is 8.5 Euros but I did not ride. The new star attraction for 2010 is the 383 foot Prater Turm, towering over everything else in the area. I was surprised that it was only 5 Euros to ride. The other new ride for 2010 is the Octopus. Or as they say in the Netherlands, Oc-to-puuuuuuussssss. For 3 Euro, it offers you up to the gods and then shakes you around a lot. Grimas was the first bumper car track I encountered. But there is also Turbo Autodrom Grand Autodrom Elite Autodrom and finally Super Autodrom Then you have the Go Karts, here are the KNY Go Karts Bergrallye Gran Prix Monza and the Buggy Star Enough of the adult car rides, yes there were more for kids. As I entered the park they were greasing up the Weiner Rutsch (1.5 Euros) This is one of the typical rides that was included on the Fun Card, but since I wasn't going to ride stuff like this the card was not worthwhile. This ride was 2.5 Euros. This appeared to be a pretty good Screamin Swing (4 Euros) I had no desire to spend 3 Euros here. 4 Euros to ride the "Panther" friendly Liliputbahn. Wiener Prater is KidTums approved. This owner was inspired by theming at Movieland Studios when decorating his rotor. People who paid 3 Euros to ride the rotor. I used to love rotors when they were run properly in the US The Toboggan slide costs 3 Euros Another operator still runs the original Star Flyer at Wiener Prater for 4 Euros. 15 Euros for the Ejection Seat is too rich for my blood. It is pure coincidence that the 3 Euro Discovery and the 5 Euro Space Shot are in close proximity to each other. No comment, besides it costs 3 Euros! Now go back two pages and watch the video! The Break Dance is a "cool" 3 Euros to ride. I'll leave it to these people to answer the following question. Does the Top Spin offer an unacceptable level of wetness? Apollo 12 ready for take-off (2 Euros) Blumenrad is a smaller and cheaper ferris wheel option at 3 Euros. The park's Falling Star: The Joker costs 2.5 Euros. Luftikus is German for: this Wave Swinger costs 3 Euros to ride. It's my PTR and I like the way the Octopus looks so here's another photo of the ride. This was the best picture I could get of the ultra fast Extasy while the riders were upside down (3.5 Euros) Wildalpenbahn is a well themed spinning raft ride with an elevator lift. A spin will cost you 3.5 Euros. The park's other water ride, Donau Jump (log flume) will also cost you 3.5 Euros. The person leasing this area seems to think he can make more money with vending machines than a Merry Go Round. So this antique mini version is the only carousel in the park. Unless you count the classic Wiener Ponny Carousel, where the horses look so authentic that they even poop. OK, the last two rides are the most intense I rode. This is Turbo Boost. You hand the ride op 8 Euros and he tries to kill you. and my favorite was the Tornado which costs 5 Euros. I wish I had taken video of this ride. I can't really explain what the ride did. So I'll let the pictures do the talking. Thanks for viewing, I'll try to get the dark rides posted by the end of the day tomorrow, but no promises. Remember to check out Wiener Prater in the Park Index for additional photos.

^Jay - sorry to tell you this but I made a last minute trip to Knoebels last Saturday and didn't PM you first. I fail. Also, funny that you mention the video being the essence of me. I had two batteries with me at Wiener Prater but was on the last life bar of the second battery before I took that video of the Tagada. This was after taking hundreds of still photos of every other ride at the park. I started filming the video when I saw the girls standing up during the ride but the recorder shut off after 4 1/2 minutes due to the diminished battery before the ride cycle completed. I'll start working on the Wiener Prater flat rides portion in 30 minutes, during my lunch today.

For 2010 Six Flags Pass from SFGAdv Cedar Fair Platinum Pass from Knotts Busch Platinum Pass from Sea World San Antonio

For anyone planning to visit Hoffman's Playland, ride the bumper cars. These are Lusse models and not to be missed. Some insist they hit harder than Knoebels. Martin - I was also amazed by the Snow White exhibit when I stopped by Magic Forest a couple of years ago.

Highly unlikely to happen!

^^^Benny - I can't believe more TPR members from mainland Europe have not been to Wiener Prater. ^^thank you ^Mark - The Condor is no longer there, but as I said the operators appear to change out the flat rides on a regular basis if interest diminishes since there won't make money unless people pay for their ride. I bet many more of the dark rides will look more familiar to you versus the flats. Not many of the flats appeared to be 20 years old.

Dave - I have faith that if there are any coasters in Libya, you will find them.

^^depends on what time and day of the week you are driving

New York City is a big place, depending where you are starting from can influence your drive time by 1 hour. From Manhattan you can get to SFGAdv in about 90 minutes. I drove from Manhattan to Knoebels in just under 3 hours on Saturday. Other estimated drive times with no traffic from midtown Manhattan: Luna Park: 30 minutes Rye Playland: 30 minutes Lake Compunce: 90 minutes SFNE: 2.5 hours Dorney: 2 hours Hershey: 4 hours Great Escape: 3 hours

From the HP website PERSONAL PROPERTY Ride operators and attendants are not responsible for articles left by patrons at the ride stations. Neither Hersheypark nor its employees assume responsibility for the loss of, or damage to, personal property. L.ocker storage is available throughout the Park. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are lockerss available at Hersheypark? Yes, Lockerss are available for rent inside the park, including the Boardwalk area. Lockerss vary in price and size and are rented by the day. Credit cards accepted. They are not large enough to store big stuffed animals. The big stuffed animals can be stored at the "Barking Lot" or Tram Circle after 1 PM during the summer season only. Neither Employees, Guest Relations nor Security are permitted to hold customer items for temporary storage. Any problems with lockerss will be handled through the Merchandise Office.

^Thanks for the insight Evan. It's nice to have someone in the know share a little bit of non-confidential info.

The Blue Streak has been nominated for the Pepsi Refresh campaign!! Go vote now so it can get $50,000 and reopen! GO NOW! http://www.refresheverything.com/conneautlakeparkbluestreak For anyone too lazy to go back two pages and find the URL for voting, here it is again

Even though I was only 6, I remember my visit to the Citrus Tower in 1973. When surrounded completely by orange groves it was an impressive site for a 6 year old. Unfortunately I couldn't find any pictures of it in the family photo album.

I'm glad people liked the video. I took a 7:00 morning train from Salzburg to Vienna, left my belongings in a storagelocker at the Bahnhof and took the S-Bahn to Wiener Prater. Even with the new 383 foot Prater Turm I could not see the park from the exit of the S-Bahn, and there was not clear signage directing me to the park. That's why it is good to be prepared and have maps with you. I have been stressing about how to display this park to TPR because it is huge and jam packed with rides, so I'm going to write it in 3 installments: roller coasters, flat rides, dark rides. I will not be able to include all my pictures in this thread, but additional ride photos can be found in the Park Index. Wiener Prater Park Index Page All day rides passes are not available, you have to pay by the ride. It appeared that they had a pass good for certain rides over a 2 hour period, but the ride offerings didn't appear worthwhile. The park had a similar feel as Bakken and Tivoli Gardens. Lots of plenty of eateries and places to drink. Most of the rides appear to be run by independent operators who lease their space as they all have separate ticket/token booths. Also, many rides have only one ride operator (probably the owner) and have non-published sporadic closings for up to two hours at a time. You need a full day to really explore the park if you want to ride a lot and you need quite a bit of cash. I don't think any of the ticket booths accepted credit cards (Thank you Lou and Cameron for selling for me extra Euros). Most rides costs between 2 - 4 Euros, but prices were much higher for the Extreme thrill rides. The coasters are not the most thrilling but the intensity and never ending ride cycles of flat rides cover the thrill quota. Many of the rides are right on top of each other making it difficult to find good angles for the photos. It costs me 28.3 Euros to ride 8 of the 9 coasters, and here they are: Since it was a real early morning and I had a 3 hour train ride from Salzburg to Vienna, I decided to order breakfast on the train. Smoked Salmon and rolls. Once my luggage was secured I headed to the S-Bahn (Subway). Der Zug Des Manitu is the powered coaster and costs 1.8 Euros. It's western themed, includes a tunnel and I got 4 laps. People laughed at me as I was riding it alone. The first lap was backwards. On the second lap, when the train went through the tunnel there was smoke. On the third lap the tunnel had strobe lighting. On the fourth lap, there were disco rope lights that flashed in the tunnel portion. The park had a standard Wilde Maus, but I accidentally posted another picture of the powered coaster The Wilde Maus beat me up and took 3.5 Euros of my lunch money. Super 8er Bahn was a Pinfari that was not a death machine, quite enjoyable. Sexy train on the Super 8er Bahn. Better be sexy for 4 Euros. One last photo of the Pinfari. Right next to the Pinfari was the Dizzy Mouse. Yay for spinning cars! 3.5 Euros to ride the Dizzy Mouse Dizzy Mouse lifthill POV This is MegaBlitz, The name scares me due to Coney Beach. However, this is a Vekoma, not a Pinfari. See Vekoma, it ran quite well. I liked it even though it cost me 4 Euro. Sorry, I did not save any good pictures of the coaster structure. I'm pretty sure I could have squeezed into the Auto Berg Bahn cars, but the ride op (probably the owner) denied me the attempt. RCDB listed this as a wood coaster, I'm not so sure about that. MILFs get to enter the ride area to meet their kids. For 4 Euro you can ride the Volare. Headache is included in the price. This is rougher than the one's I have ridden at Rye Playland and Canada's Wonderland. OUCH!!!!! PAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Boomerang was 5 Euros and the smoothest Boomerang I have ever ridden. Awesome cars on this Boomerang, thanks Erik. Front seat view Bonus tunnel! Last coaster at the park is one of the few remaining side friction coasters. This woodie costs 2.5 Euros. They ran it at a very leisurely pace. So even someone like me can take good pictures. This infield of the coaster is very well themed. and you have plenty of time to see everything. I was led to believe that this Paintball stand replaced a kiddie coaster. The picture of Dschungelbahn (a junior steel coaster) still appears on the 2010 park map, but it must have only been there for a short time, as the coaster is not listed on rcdb.com I found a better picture of the Boomerang (with tunnel) to post. Even though you all know what a standard Wild Mouse looks like, I searched my photos again and found this picture.

For the record: Eric Johnson is the new "Eric Johnson" Erik Johnson is now to be referred to as the "other Erik Johnson" Sorry Erik

I've been having a lot of trouble uploading this to CoasterTube, but here is a YouYube link to a video of the Tagada I took at Wiener Prater. I starting filming about a minute into the ride and stopped filming about 30 seconds before it ended, it was approximately a 6 minute ride cycle.

Dammie - Although Salt Mine Tour started in 1607, production of the mine continued until 1989. Shawn - thanks that that mean a lot coming from a PTR "Hall of Famer" And again thanks for your patience everyone, I needed a break from this PTR and spent the day at Knoebels yesterday and today I have a attend a Baptism. I tried to download my first video, as a teaser for Wiener Prater, but I failed. I have so many pictures from Wiener Prater and so many rides to cover that I'll probably split those pictures into two posts and will start tomorrow at the last.

Divv - I'm glad I could make your day at Thorpe so awesome. Thanks, for not puking in my luggage.

Can they add rings to the ride? I love word filters!

Close your eyes if you want to ride in the dark.

Back to the salt mine. Actually, I've never been to one before but when I started planning this post TPR Trip it was the one touristy thing that intrigued me the most when looking at cities on my itinerary such as London, Amsterdam, Salzburg, Vienna and Budapest. It's probably the sense of history I have knowing that the Salt Mines in this region contributed greatly to the wealth that built up in the region and political tensions between the countries now known as Germany and Austria. The Salt Mine Tour takes about 75 minutes and consists of a guided tour covering 1 kilometer with: - A pit railway (electric train) taking you into the bowels of the mountain - A flat barge ride over a man made salt lake - Two wooden slides (each 132 feet) that miners used to descend down to lower levels in the mine Google says that in 1969 the tour used to be 4 kilometers and included 7 slides. Unfortunately, I couldn't take a lot of quality pictures in the mine due to poor lighting, but I hope you enjoy these photos and my walk around Salzburg that evening. Instead of waiting 30 minute for a bus I decided on a 20 minute walk down the mountain road, through an avalanche zone. Here's the entrance to the Salt Mine Tour. Ooh Ah! You are expected to dress appropriately for the year round constant temperature in the mines. and they have a hot chick giving you a required jump suit to wear to protect your clothes. I'm stylin' We look like a bunch of mental ward rejects. Here's the pit railway that takes us to the heart of the salt mining operation. The entranceway only provides about a foot of clearance on each side and about 6 inches overhead. Some people had to duck to avoid injury. Actually, we look like klansmen with the hoods. That's our guide on the far right in the official tour guide uniform At different stages of the tour they showed us a movie about how the nobility and archbishops in the area made a fortune from White Gold. It is also explain how the technique over the centuries changed from extract blocks of salt to flooded sections of the mine to create a briny solution that was removed from the mine and water and salt were later separated. Our guide demonstrating proper wood slide riding technique. Difficult to see from this picture but the slide is steep and you really start picking up speed. I could feel the friction from the slide heating up my thigh. The mines are literally right on the border and you cross over from Austria to Germany. I pictoral guide for the next slide, the tour guide did not give her spiel again. One view looking up the second slide. A bad picture but this is the barge that took us across the salt lake with our heads about 6 inches from the ceiling. The train station at Hallein isn't much to look at but has a nice view. I headed back to Salzburg, removed my bags from storage, checked into my hotel and headed out to see the sites of Salzburg. Walking along the Salzach River. There are many small bridges that span the river. I have no idea why I took this picture. Here I end up at the Palace of Mirabell Gardens. But that big ass palace on the hill in the background is to far away to walk to and I don't remember what it is anyway. It might be the Hohensalzburg Castle. An old church who's name escapes me right now. Higher education and useless art. Then I crossed this bridge to find Mozart's birthplace. Check, that was easy! I also took a picture of this building since every other tourist was doing it. On the way back to the hotel I followed more tourists and ended up on this pedestrian street looking for something to eat. Found this reasonably priced restaurant where I watched the first half on the Germany/Spain semi-final with a Gosser Bier and huge plate of Wiener Schnitzel. Thanks for reading, Wiener Prater will be next but I may not get it posted until Sunday night, so please be patient.

Most Mountain Coasters reach 25-28MPH, this felt similar to the other two I have ridden. But due to the proximity to the ground mountain coaster gives the sensation of going much faster.

^remember we have two different types of rides being called "Water Coasters". Those that run on tracks at same point that will be in rcdb.com Those that are true water slides (and not coasters, even though they are referred to as coasters) such as Deluge, Wildebeest which won't be on rcdb