DerekRx

^ Yeah, the only people that can beat Robb's is Robb and Elissa, and I'm not too sure how much more Elissa is willing to share with so many minors running around on this forum. A few people will get my avatar. Thanks, Ted, for the theme and template. From about 3 or 4 years ago....wow, that's a long time

Hooray, looks like I lucked out in planning my trip to Germany for next September instead of this September. Beer and new B&Ms, both with forces, what could be better!?

TR: Celebration City Originally I was planning on getting into Branson, checking into my hotel, and going to Celebration City for opening. Then I decided to head to SDC before any of them and ended up staying there until closing. After seeing the light ride crowds at SDC, I figured Celebration City wouldn’t be too different. I got to the park using some back road, getting there in about 10 minutes. Using my Dollywood season pass, I got ½ admission and was off to credit whore. I figured the two steel coasters would have the worst capacities, so I stopped first at Jack Rabbit, the Miler Star Jet. Its pretty much a wild mouse on drugs or Scandia Screamer Jr. Airtime, laterals, airtime, lateral, lateral, airtime, brake. Scary stuff! Next up was Thunderbolt, the windstorm left from Branson USA. It was a typical windstorm. Love the third drop. Good thing it has lap bars instead of shoulder restraints. Cha-ching! Then it was off to Ozark Wildcat. A good wood coaster is the one thing Dollywood has that Silver Dollar City doesn’t. Well, its not that they don’t have one, its just 10 minutes down the road. Kinda like Schlitterbahn. At 7:30 there was no line at all, so I jumped in the front seat and off I went. It is a typical GCI, twister coaster with pops of air, big banked turns, and a cool first drop. But this one also has 2 surprise double pops of air. As the night went on, the ride got warmer and faster. By 9:30 it was on par with Ghostrider of yesteryear or Legend or Rampage in my book. I really like Thunderhead, and OzCat is nearly as good. I like the chaser lights on it, and the crew was doing a great job. Branson is one place I feel safe enough leaving my goods in the station while I ride (if hoodlums learn to read and discover this TR, Branson is in trouble, so I will apologize ahead of time). Got 8 rides total for the day. I then walked around the park, taking pictures, checking out the other rides, scenery, games, shops, and minigolf. I rode the Flying Circus (flying scooters) which is like Hershey meets Knoebels. They’re heavier tubs, but are run pretty fast, giving great snapping conditions. I didn’t know Larson scooters could do that, and so I backed off a little bit, fearing the whole structure could come crashing down. The park looks like its come quite a ways in the last 2 years, and in a couple of more years all the trees will grow in. There are some really nice areas of the park, and if managed just like its sister parks, it will have a really great atmosphere Derek says, "OzCat is a great ride, and I feel sorry for that lady's flip flops." Oh yeah, this park has a really awesome wood coaster. Everyone seems to love it, as is shown by their hands in the air (like they's a true playa) Looks like Doc Oc stole Miss Liberty again, and decided to hide it in Celebration City instead of a warehouse. Spidey will never think to look for it here! Fireball was a big hit with the park patrons The park has some really nice scenery in places The Thunderbolt (windstorm) does its 3rd hill curving dive of death The best flying scooters outside of Elysburg Hey look, its the entrance to the park

More Pictures from Silver Dollar City One final shot of Powder Keg (shortly thereafter the train launched and the fire effects ignited my hair) Waiting for this tram will take you to SDCs lesser known affiliate park, Longworld! (Note: the tram has yet to ever show up in the past 25 years) The Myachi dude shows off his mad skillz outside of Powder Keg Seconds after taking this photo, bats attacked. Luckily my spiked hair killed most of them, and I sold them to the jerky guy up by Powder Keg Stalactites, they hang on to the roof of the cave tite, thats why they're called that (or something) Tight spaces inside the Marvel Cave. Some ACErs would never be able to make it, even if there was a buffet and Intamin hyper on the other side Mmmm, homemade ice cream. Even a lactose intolerant person like myself cannot resist it There's more than corn on this plate, theres also a huge honkin pile o' death butter! Food, the other thing ACErs love about SDC Taking the plunge on the American Plunge on Independence Day, very Patriotic Lost River of the Ozarks enters the themed cave of doom Waterville Waterboggan, not as good as Dollywood's version, but still pretty sweet

With so little vacation time right now, I’m pretty accustomed to doing trips from 5pm Friday thru 8am Monday; with some time for sleeping. I’ve always wanted to go to Silver Dollar City, loving its sister park, Dollywood, so much. After Elissa and fellow Team member “Rosencrantz” told me how good Powder Keg is, I decided this would be a perfect trip to do on July 4th weekend. Other members of Coaster Team wanted to go with, but either couldn’t do to high airline prices, weddings that weekend, or propane tanks to fill, so this was a solo trip for me. Not a problem anymore, now that I’m 25. Flew from Allentown to Springfield, switching planes in Chicago, and rented a car for the weekend. An hour’s drive later, I was parking in Silver Dollar City’s employee lot (out of season pass spaces). I chatted it up with a Wildfire employee before exiting the shuttle and going to Guest Services to gain entry into the park. I had about 2 full days at Silver Dollar City and 3 hours at Celebration City, and wow, are these parks great! Silver Dollar City is exactly what I expected it to be, and more. Its like Dollywood, only the layout isn’t as weird. The food is awesome, with skillets everywhere offering huge portions, and all the other goodies you remember from Dollywood, like pork rinds, honey, homemade ice cream, fried chicken, apple turnovers covered in apple butter, etc. No McDonald’s here (sorry, Elissa). It has the classic indoor coaster just like Dollywood, but it also has a mine train, a B&M looper instead of an Arrow, and Powder Keg. Its also home to a petting zoo, with baby rabbits that you can actually purchase and take home. What other theme park can you buy a life pet?! My first objective was credit whoring. With too much enthusiasm and not enough brains, I forgot to pick up a park map, so I just wandered. Fortunately, I’m never without my coaster sense, and I ended up at Wildfire not too long after entering the park. Wildfire was really cool my first ride, I liked the Immelmann on a sitdown, of course I love vertical loops, and the cobra roll, flatspin, and helix were all good, and had forces. But sweet Jebus, the backseat on this thing really impressed me. Holy airtime, Batman! Maximum wait on July 4th weekend 15 minutes, minimum wait 0 minutes. Next up was Fire in the Hole! I love Blazin’ Fury at Dollywood, so I hoped I wouldn’t be disappointed in this one. I wasn’t. First, there was no line, just a 5 minute wait. Second, live entertainment as an employee threw buckets of water at young kids. Third, a live Dalmation in the fire house, now that’s theming! The ride was pretty similar to Blazin’ Fury, with lots of splash. I still think I prefer BF to it though, but only by a slight margin. I walked by Powder Keg but was afraid to get in line, seeing how the line was out the queue entrance. Still, it was running and I didn’t fly all the way out here to not attempt it right away. 3 trains running really helped out, and 30 minutes later I was being blasted in the backseat. (darn airline food) Powder Keg is awesome. I was a little worried with the talk about the lift hill near the end, but I think it really helps with the family aspect of it. I love the use of the Buzzsaw Falls track, all the effects at blastoff, and the Buzzsaw train themed into the queue roof. 6 rides total for the weekend, all of them being about 30 to 40 minutes. 2 front seat, 4 backseat. I then swung by the giftshop to check out the merchandise to buy later, and wound up finding park maps. I looked for the kiddie coaster, but didn’t see it on the map, so I plotted my way to ThuNderaTion instead. It was running 1 train, but still I only waited about 10 minutes. My first ride was backwards, though that was by accident. I liked the ride up to the lift, but after that I felt Adventure Expressed. Really good mine train though. I’d ride again right away just to see where I was going instead of where I’ve been. Credits achieved, I’d check out the rest of the park. Unlike Dollywood, this place hosts a lot of classic rides not found at too many big parks anymore. A dark ride that is much better than most Sally dark rides, a Tilt house, a swinging bridge, evil kids play areas/funhouses (complete with working flash capture room) and a real cave! I used to go cave exploring in high school and college, so I was really interested in the cave. Marvel Cave also didn’t disappoint. ½ mile of walking, 700 stairs, some bats, water, mildew, stinky Mexicans, stalactites, stalagmites, cave bacon, and a funicular. What more can you ask for? The following morning I would don my bathing suit to do the water rides at the park. Starting off with Waterville Waterboggan, which is like Dollywood’s Wilderness Waterboggan, only not on a mountainside. It has different rafts, so it doesn’t need as much weight. Nor does it get you as soaked at Dollywood’s. It also didn’t have a tunnel, and didn’t seem as long. Still a great ride and a nice way to start the day (wish they had lockers nearby though). After that I’d hit the Lost River of the Ozarks (rapids) which was close. Good rapids, not too wet, nice scenery, and a nice long themed tunnel. Final water ride after checking out the Splash Harbor was American Plunge over by Wildfire. It also boasts a nice long tunnel and a good scenic ride. Great splashdown too. Water rides finished, I’d ride Wildfire some more to dry off before getting hungry and needing a skillet. This place has everything; sausage with peppers, onions, and potatoes, chicken with okra, peppers, onions, potatoes, and corn, ham with string beans, carrots, and potatoes, just plain potatoes, beef, etc. Not to mention the smoked jerky with random creatures such as gator, ostrich, kangaroo, deer, buffalo, turkey, Michelin, Firestone, elk, and wild boar. Who knew you could jerky so many things!? Finishing off my chicken skillet, I made my way up to Powder Keg. Sadly it was down (good thing I whored it the day before). I took in the train ride, complete with drive by Powder Keg and a robbing, (not to be confused with a Robb-ing, which probably involves stealing food or something). Finishing that, I took in the Marvel Cave, ate some more, then went back to Wildfire. Getting to Wildfire, I heard a WOOOOOOOOSH and knew Powder Keg was opened. I made my way there to find that the line was estimated at 1:30 to 1:45 (it was only running 2 trains). I skipped this for now, rode Fire in the Hole again, did the Flooded Mine, Grandfather’s Mansion, and TNT. I made my way back to Powder Keg for 1 last stand in line. Shortly after being entertained by an employee Myachi-ing for us (hackey sack for the hand) they added the third train, and 45 minutes later I was on the ride. Its good to see that even though the park only had 3 hours left in operation that they wanted to add that third train (which allowed me to ride it 3 more times). Thanks SDC! The ride was down again at opening on Monday, but after hearing it test around 11:15, I got in line. By 11:30 I was on the first public train out. The queue quickly filled up, and since it was only running 2 trains, I decided to leave satisfied with my rides. In closing, Silver Dollar City is a great park. Its definitely easy to compare it to Dollywood, because there really aren’t that many other major park chains out there that have the class, hospitality, and quality that these parks do. I’ll definitely be back to Silver Dollar City soon! Celebration City TR to follow: Wildfire enters the Cobra Roll Obligatory vertical loop photo and themed waterfountains Dark ride meets shooting gallery... Tilt house.... Things not found in many parks anymore include: A swinging bridge... Use of Buzzsaw's old train to show off the power of black powder Its got fire and Keg in its name, that's 2 things in its favor right from the start The main reason I flew to Misery, err, Missouri...Powder Keg Fire in the Hole goes as far with theming as having a real dalmation in the station Throwing ice cold water on little children, this Fire in the Hole op has the best job on the planet Yup, pretty streams and trees are everywhere here in SDC Ah, I finally made it here. Looks pretty so far

Disneyland Paris looks just as great as when we were there in 2002, except for Space Mountain. Wish I could be there, but as a consolation prize, Silver Dollar City is pretty sweet. Have fun at Asterix (if thats possible), hope its not too hot this time around, and that Zeus is running a little bit better. My thoughts will be with you all, and narcotics will be mailed out tomorrow to everyone's houses after they ride Gouderix. Alveys, I'll send you some Zithromax instead. Powder Keg is really sweet and the rest of the park is just as amazing. Photo TR sometime this week. All clear...Dispatch, enjoy your ride, Derek "Skillets EVERYWHERE!!!" Ruth

Glad to see everyone is having a good time. Toverland looks pretty sweet, and its good to know that if Movie Park isn't crowded, Toverland can be included in the same day. This may come in handy next year when I go to Germany. Enjoy your time at PhantasiaLand, I'm looking forward to another update. All clear....Dispatch, enjoy your ride, Derek- never thought the day would come where I'd want to go to a park with only 2 credits, both of them being Vekomas

Thanks for the awesome TR. I'm going to the parks for the first time over July 4th weekend and I'm glad to hear that PK is running multiple trains consistently with not too bad of waits. If these parks are anything like Dollywood, I'm afraid 2 days at each may not be enough time to enjoy everything as much as I'd like to. Derek-yay for skillets!

Park management said on the local news tonight that there was a problem with a power failure. I guess the water pump never reactivated when the ride restarted or something. Yeah, that sounds good. Aren't these boats supposed to have wheels and essentially be a roller coaster in water? I know the boats at Knoebels have wheels because we rode around in one one year at PPP or something.

^ I did all of those. I must say I really liked the funhouse, reminded me of the one I did about 15 years ago in Wildwood, NJ on Morey's Piers. The spider was wickedly fast, and the Twister ran pretty good. Billy's Grove's version of Dante's Inferno is probably one of the best darkrides outside of Knoebels. Lots of props, turns, tricks, parts where you think your car has broken off the track, and an operator who gave me the best scare in any haunted attraction EVER! She snuck inside and right before I exited, she put her hands on my shoulders and went "boo!" It was funny because I saw the ending coming up and thought "wonder if they got a good grand finale?" Sure enough, they did! I laughed about it for a good couple of minutes and then watched her do it to a few others who went into the ride. Awesome stuff you don't find at too many parks. I would have stayed at the park longer than an hour and 15 minutes, but it looked like it was about to rain and I wanted to finish my journey home without too many problems on the Turnpike. Derek-went to Williams Grove Raceway numerous times as a kid, but never knew there was an amusement park across the street until I was about 19.

Awwwwwe man! Hot chicks in Denmark, and I choose to stay here in PA and go to the likes of Williams Grove, Idlewild, Sesame Place, Knoebels, DelGrosso's, and then out to Branson. Forget this going to school for 6 years, getting a great job, and having lots of money but no vacation time, I'm going to Denmark! <-----User packs his duffel bag, grabs his passport, and heads to the airport. OK, well maybe not now, but I really regret not being able to go. I'll have to put Denmark on my list of places to visit once a cure for cancer is found and I'm out of a job. Glad you guys are having fun. Bring me back a hot chick! Derek- I'd totally have done the monkey bars; possibly fallen in the water, but at least the hot chick woulda laughed at me.

Great brief TR, Ted. Funny , your day at Billy's Grove looks like mine, but then again I was there the same day! I'd say I can't believe we didn't run into each other, but I'm sure you were long gone by the time I arrived from my return from Pittsburgh. I agree, the park is scary, but its really quaint and fun. Cyclone's about as much fun as any coaster (and the return into the station leaves you with a sense of fulfillment, knowing you survived the ride) Derek- saw Mexican Moosh riding the Twister

I also believe the kid had to have a pre-existing condition. I'm thinking either sickle cell or a valve problem or something. Even if not, its still not a good idea to send a 4 year old on the ride. But this is Disney, and most people think Disney is just for little kids, therefore every ride is made for them.

Agreed. Can you be a little more specific with your request? Are you looking for food in a particular park at a certain time, any place on property such as a resort, or just where I just *HAVE* to eat when I go to WDW? If that's the case: Boma: Animal Kingdom Lodge Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki: Epcot Japan Pavilion Mama Melrose's: Studios California Grill: Contemporary Resort for a snack, Big River Brewing Co: Boardwalk (beer is TOTALLY a snack!)

LOL, no Ted, as pathetic as it sounds, I still haven't even been to DelGrossos. I've been to Lakemont, 5 minutes away, but skipped right on by. Think I'll have to amend that this weekend. And Idlewild too!

With a weekend with no major plans, Kingda Krap being blowed up, and being too tired to travel far, I decided to hit up some much needed credit whoring local. The weekend started off on Saturday morning when I headed south to Delaware's only roller coasters found at Blue Diamond Park. The trip only took 1 and 1/2 hours, being about 30 minutes south of Philadelphia International Airport. I got there about 40 minutes after opening, planning on staying there for a good couple of hours. After arriving however, I quickly changed my mind. It was already 84 degrees outside, and this park had less shade than any Cedar Faire park. I wouldn't be surprised if they bought it sometime soon! I paid the $2 admission and bought a ticket for each roller coaster, total price $9. I made my way over to the old Zyklon, the Blue Diamond Streak. A solo ride in the backseat, and I was off. Great airtime, hard braking before the final helix. After riding, I hit the other coaster, a kiddie Wisdom Orient Express. It was broke while some random employees tightened the supports, but reopened after hitting it a few times with the end of a broom. 3 kids and myself survived our 5 lap journey and I was thankful I didn't die on a crappy kiddie coaster. I then ran around taking pictures of the other rides including a skydiver (closed), a loop-o-plane (closed), fun slide, scrambler, tilt-a-whirl, swings, himalaya, and some kiddie rides. I banged into an evil light post constructed to inflict pain, ripping opened my shin while taking pics. Observing the minigolf course for a bit, (the nicest part of the complex) I was sweaty, bruised, and ready to leave. An hours drive up 95, I arrived at Sesame Place. The place was packed, but thankfully I had my Busch platinum pass which got me complimentary preferred parking. Pass scanned at the turnstile, and there I was face to face with Vapor Trail. It looked to be a custom roller skater by Vekoma and was actually pretty good. It was running only 1 train (I think they have 2), but there was no line thanks to the parade going on. After a quick spin in row 8 of 10 (row was called Uranus), I went out to take pictures of the rest of the park. The place remains pretty much what I remembered from a kid; cargo nets of doom (which could kill me if I ever went on them as an adult), indoor shows, giant playground, and water rides. They added a bunch of water stuff though since I was there about 18 years ago, as well as a few Zamperla rides (that were actually running!) Being without my bathing suit, stroller, or a child, I decided to head on out and finish my adventure for the day. I really didn't want to play in the diaper-infested pools anyway. I finished my drive to Jackson, and stayed at my friend Bret's house, where I would enjoy the swimming pool, great beer, and some burgers and shrimp, all for free. The following morning it was off to Seaside for another credit. The Miler Wild Mouse moved from Ocean City looks to be just about finished, hopefully should be opened by July 4th. After Jill and Conner won some prizes, a ride on Stillwalk Manor, Centrifuge (no rowdy ops today) and my credit on the L&T kiddie, it was back to the pool to finish out the day! So 4 credits added, a bruised shin, sunburn, good food, and seeing some friends; makes for a pretty good weekend. Next up, more local credit whoring, this time to the west! The row all ACErs like to ride. The water at Sesame Place is 98.6 degrees F, much like fresh urine. Any ideas why? Everyone loves a parade Dude! Angry guy was there, only he doesn't look so angry when he's fishing. How many ways can you find for Derek to die? Big honkin' bouncey floor. Random cute theming in the Vapor Trail queue would make Robb hungry if he was stuck in line. My reason for stopping off at Sesame Place, credit! Hooray for Sesame Place! And for admission and parking included in the price of a BGT platinum pass Carousel guy has the solution! Workers (I think) try to fix the coaster so I can give them $3. Here's the skydiver, which wasn't opened Ah, Del Grosso's old Zyklon and the finest coaster in Delaware. Note the lack of shade Here's Blue Diamond Park. Note the mini golf.

Sunday morning we got to Busch Gardens right at opening, and again got complimentary preferred parking. Todd and Will were already waiting for us at the gate, and Karen and kids arrived at the same time as us. After some time getting through the biometric scanners and guards not too keen on letting people in with nail clippers (which they sold IN the park!) we were off to Sheikra for some passholder rides. Showing our passes at Gwazi, we were given access to the Sheikra area. It fits in great in the area, though theming is not totally done yet. Sheikra is the best B&M to be built in about 3 years. Its finally a complete dive machine, with 4 great elements instead of just one. The first drop is fantastic, the Immelmann is insanely big and fun, the second drop is just like Oblivion's, and the splashdown effect is cool. It was definitely worth the trip just for that ride. The only part that didn’t fit was the ending helix, which needed more forces and banking. I love the station queue design, drop into the tower, and the splashdown pool. We managed 2 back row rides before the line seemed to be too long for us to want to wait. After Sheikra it was off to get Greg on Python, then over to Kumba for some rides and platinum rerides. Here we ran into an op who was kind of rude. (To reride, you show your pass to the ride op at the exit and he will put you on the next train.) We show him our passes, the passholder group in front of us sits down on the train we just came off of, he says nothing to us. Todd asks him if we can reride, he says yes, and so we pick a row. As he stands there looking at us confused, the train is locked, he comes to check us and says "you were supposed to wait behind the line, I would have put you on the next train!" The people we butted in front of didn’t mind, they understood, but the op was just all attitude. He didn’t have to point it out at all because there was no harm done. Or he could have said it nicer, or even waited until after we rode to tell us the “proper” procedure. Of course, if he would have communicated with us better from the start, there wouldn’t have been any problem at all. Next Gluttenfree wanted to meet up with his cousin who lives in Tampa, Barleyfree, and family, and they rode Scorpion in the hot late morning sun while we wished the Desert Grill was opened. Then it was off to Cheetah Chase (formerly Wild Maus) then to the now opened Desert Grill (formerly Festhaus). With the lack of the German sampler platter, I was forced to get an Italian Sausage Sandwich, but begged until they gave me the German potato salad. Service was kind of slow at first, but at least they opened a little early and it was air conditioned. Still I miss my German sampler platter, now I really have to get back to Busch Gardens Williamsburg (good thing I have a Platinum pass!) Afterwards it was off to Montu for a ride and reride in row 7, then back to Sheikra before heading to the airport, stopping off before and after Sheikra for some free beer (Amber Bock and Bare Knuckle Stoudt). The line seemed long, but would have only been about 45 minutes from our point right by the picture spot outside of the entrance. This was when the 1:30 thunderstorm hit us, right as Karen, Kaitlyn (her daughter), Greg and I were next to ride in the front row. Even though we were in the open air section of station queue, we stuck it out and had rode front row 45 minutes later soaked to the bone (my shoes are still wet). After a group picture at the splashdown, we headed to the airport where we were again upgraded to First Class (thanks Greg!). In short, it was a great weekend. It reaffirms my love of Florida vacationing, just not living there (at least during the summer and hurricane season). I look forward to returning to the area again in October to get back to some places I couldn’t include this time, and with Sheikra being as good as it was, I may have to make a day trip back to Tampa. Thanks to those who helped suggest how to orchestrate this plan, my friends who went along for the ride, and all of you who read all parts of this report. Already soaked from the thunderstorm, some Coaster Team members still fled during the photo because they were afraid of getting wet. Coaster Team member N'atman believes these are moosen. Let's not tell him they're really camels, ok? Ah Kumba! Still my favorite looping coaster. Todd may work like a dog, but that doesn't mean that he should also do his business where they do! A trainful of riders hit the bottom of the first drop Here you can see both drops Our main reason for this whole trip, Shakira!

Originally I planned 4 hours at Cypress Gardens, but with the nonexistent crowds so early in the day, we managed to get out of there in 2. Just enough time to head to Sea World to process our Busch Platinum passes, which we were originally going to do on Sunday, but decided to "git-r-done" early so we wouldn't interfere with Sheikra ERT. Getting to Sea World we were surprised at our upgrade to free premium parking. After a short walk to the park we were again shocked. This time, not good though. Our 2 year pass to ALL Busch parks would be.......a piece of paper. No picture, no lamination, just our name and "PLATINUM". Kinda seemed cheap, much like the way WDW does it. I’d rather a nice plastic pass with a crummy black and white picture of some guy that barely looks like me. How this will survive in my wallet for 2 years is beyond me. My IOA pass from 3 years ago is wearing thin, as is my 2 month old Dorney pass. Since we were there, we decided to ride Kraken once. Line said 40 minutes, ended up being about 20, and we rode twice thanks to our platinum pass perks. Its probably still my favorite floorless coaster. We stopped to say hi to the sea turtles at Turtle Point on the way out. I felt really bad for the one turtle missing part of his shell and a back foot. It was about time for food, so off to IOA we went for some Mythos. Getting Greg in the park was easy thanks to the new self ticket windows and within minutes we were sitting down chugging back some drinks to quench our thirst. (Its hot in Florida in June) The waiter, Jason, was great, having another drink waiting before we finished our current drinks. Knowing we'd have a great dinner in 5 short hours, we opted for soup and salads instead of my usual Cedar Plank Salmon. Greg was happy that they had a Gluttenfree menu, and the awesome waiter even knew what he his condition was (Greg only pointed out that he couldn‘t have wheat). I went with the always tasty lobster and corn bisque followed by the mozzarella and tomato salad. We noticed it had begun to downpour, but by the time we were done eating, it was done raining. After getting his Power Pass processed we headed over to Universal so he could ride Mummy. Line was 35 minutes, so we did the single rider line, 15 minutes later we were on in the same train. I gave him my front row seat and went with row 3. It was running good and Greg liked it. This was my first ride since being on Hollywood’s version, and this is indeed much better (even though I think the storyline and backwards section are better there) We stopped to ride Shrek since it was a walk-on before heading back over to IOA for some rides. Before Todd “Longworld” Long would meet up with us, we rode each dragon, Hulk, and Spiderman. It was the official "Gay Day" down in Orlando, and this year instead of doing just Disney, they expanded it to 2 days, one at Disney, one at Universal. Using the single rider line on Spidey, I managed to get front row in a car with all gay guys. I pointed out the giant green penis, and they were all happy. None of them noticing it before, but I‘m sure will keep an eye out for it the next time they ride. Leave it to a straight guy to point out a penis to the gay guys. Todd and Will would arrive just before closing, so one more dragon ride was in order. Then it was off to dinner at Emeril's Tchoup Chop at the Royal Pacific Resort to meet up with Karen, Todd‘s girlfriend. Food varied from New York Strip Steaks, pork chops, Hawaiian Chicken, Ribs, pork egg rolls, dumplings, and desserts such as coconut souffle, coconut creme brulee, banana cream pie, peanut butter pie, and pineapple upside down cake. Karen chose the bottled sparkling water, but the rest of us opted for good ole tap water. Greg got the sake sampler, and I had a Bloody Mary mixed with sake, soy, and wasabi. The food was excellent and worth every penny, better than at the original Emeril’s, I thought. Then it was back to Tampa for some much needed sleep. Todd was sure to call me on the way to point out a light-up billboard for Showgirls Men’s Club that some letters burnt out on, now saying “ho girls Men’s Club”. Here's my dessert at Tchoup Chop, Coconut souffle. Dan, Dave, and Greg should all cower in fear knowing one sneeze could send them to their deaths. Todd may live in a trailer park, but he don't eat like it. Here he proudly shows off his Tchoup Chop dinner of Chicken, Ribs, Lo Mein, some broccoli crap, and something else. Greg barely survived the Cypress Catepillar and decided to call the exterminator to settle the score. Look, its a coaster. It has forces, therefore it is not Silver Star, Hydra, or Silver Bullet. It would be Hulk. Poor lil' turtle. He got hit by a boat, or sharktums, or something. Amazing that he's still alive. Now he gets all the Busch beer he wants for free Here's Kraken, the finest floorless in Florida (yes, I KNOW its the only one!)

It was about time for me to get back to Florida. I hadn’t lived there since early October during the three hurricanes, and of course, as soon as I leave, Florida gets like 5 new coaster credits. Originally I was going to go with Robb and Elissa over Memorial Day, but with too much to do and not enough time to do it with my schedule and lack of vacation, I decided to go another time. After talking with fellow Coaster Team member Greg “Gluttenfree” Legowski, who seemed interested in whoring up the parks, we decided to go the weekend after Memorial Day. We lucked out in that Sheikra would open a few weeks before our trip. The flights went well. ABE to PIT was on time unlike the flights going to PHL. Greg got there about 10 minutes before our boarding time, and we were soon off to Tampa, First Class of course, thanks to Greg and his Silver status. A few drinks on the way down while we watched my bootlegged version of Episode III on my laptop and before we knew it, we were in Tampa. Finding the hotel wasn't too hard for me, seeing how I lived down there for a few years. As I anticipated, we arrived at the hotel and were asleep by midnight. Saturday morning it was drizzling a bit, but I wasn't too worried (Coaster Team has had good luck with rain this season so far). It stopped raining right before we got off I-4 which was good. We got to Cypress Gardens shortly after they opened and were there with only about 15 other cars. We wanted to get all the credits in before the overcast skies turned back into rain, and managed to have all coasters ridden within 30 minutes. They're all similar to coasters other parks have with the exception of Triple Hurricane, the M&V junior woodie. It was very smooth and enjoyable. The roller skater was also a little more thrilling, with the open front trains and individual lapbars. Other notable rides were the drop tower, the same model as Atmosfear at Morey's, and the spinning raft ride, much like the ones AstroWorld and SFA have. It spun like a crazy mo-fo and didn’t get us too wet, though a rouge wave did me. We rode the flying skooters and laughed at how bad they are, you just can't get a snap at all, the tubs are too heavy. After a brief walk through the old gardens, we were ready to continue our adventure. I was glad the park was saved, and a lot of the old Cypress remains in tack, though they seemed to be doing some work to the boat cruise. The gardens still look just as good as they did on closing day 2 years ago, the ski show was going on, and the southern belles were still present. The "statue show" was awesome, and I highly recommend watching it if you get the chance when you go. The rides fit in nicely in the old parking lot area, all now grassed over. No visual work on site prep for the new crazy mouse yet, and both Disk-o and Rockin' tug were down. (Shame on you, Coaster Team member Rosenkrantz!) We could have hung around a bit longer to take in some other sites, shows, and reride a few things, but we were only in town for the weekend and had many other places to go. And so we were off to Orlando! This girl had no idea we were standing next to her, as is evident by the fact that she was smiling The life statue fountain thing. Its actually pretty cool, and they make her look like she's a real statue Oh yeah, this park now has rides. Here's the junior wood coaster. Its the 2nd best operating wood coaster in Florida (because Gwazi probably hasn't dispatched yet this month) The old Banyan tree still stands, even after the hurricanes The waterskiers do their thing in the lake. Sadly, the Go-go's weren't there singing "Vacation" ...Or this Catepillar, who tried to put Greg out of his wheat-free misery The old part of the new Cypress Gardens, filled with shrubs looking like animals, like this one...

What about the time at the same La Quinta where the bathtub had no spiggot. I had to stick my finger into the pipe to get the shower to function. Then we got upgraded to the Presidential Suite. Granted, there was no Super Fire on TV, but it was a classic hotel experience never the less.

more photos ACE storms thru the Emporium like locusts, leaving no Thunderhead pin unclaimed All is well again (until the next guest tries to get a towel off the rack) But with expert craftsmanship learned at the park.... After eating well at Dollywood, Derek doesn't know his own strength Its not an ACE Con until someone gets his glass blown by sticking the shaft in the glory hole Derek and Tim do their Git-R-Done Dance to the local hillbilly music A family bears the rain to get soaked on the Mountain Slidewinder Only in the South! The new Chance Aviator seemed like a big crowd pleaser Greg is stunned at the size of Derek's pickle Holy crap! Those are some big potatoes. Some will be pleased to find out that Dollywood even has baked potatoes

Dollywood is a park I loved since I first visited 3 years ago. I knew I had to go back, especially with Thunderhead supposedly being so great. With ACE scheduling a Spring Con there, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to go again. But being unhappy about the amount of ERT and the price, I opted for a season pass instead (knowing I'd be going to SDC later in the year). The main reason I chose this weekend was because I knew some friends would be down there. Now for some key notes: Dollywood has awesome atmosphere. Its like Knoebels, but themed. Its wooded, has awesome food, wonderful hospitality, and some great coasters. Thunderhead: Definitely my favority GCI. It seems out of control with its constant turning, ducking, weaving, and hopping. The GCI air pops thrust you into the lap bar. (of course, the lap bars are always on your lap) I love the layout, the speed, and the flythru. Its certainly in my A+ list. Blazin' Fury: A classic dark ride/coaster/water ride. I liked it so much, I rode it thrice. Fire in the Hole! Tennessee Tornado: Its a unique Arrow. Its also still an Arrow, getting rough in some spots compared to last time when it seemed smoother. Good thing its short and there wasn't a wait. VeggieTales Sideshow Spin: Not opened yet. Something about extending the coaster track?? Opening June 17. Looks the same as the one at Dreamland Margate. Dizzy Disk: A Zamperla Disk-O, also closed both days. Mountain Slidewinder: Tim, Greg, and I ended up riding this first thing Sunday morning. It was raining out, but we didn't care. Weight needed to ride 450 lbs. Our weight, 450 lbs. Good thing I ate those pancakes for breakfast and was soaked by the time we reached the station! Awesome ride, cold water though! Other key things: A baby duck was hatching at the front entrance planter. Momma duck was there to help it. Kinda cute. Miss Lillian asked me to cock-a-doodle-doo. When I did, she threw me a biscuit. Free food is good! The Train is a nice relaxing long ride. I got soot in my eye, hair, and all over my clothes. Good thing I was wearing black. How-Dee! Skillets: Everything is cooked in them. Miss Lillians BBQ pork sandwich and new whole potatoes was the best! Fajitas were good though impossible to hold, cheesesteak was good, but no Philly steak. This park has great hospitality. I needed to process my season pass. I asked a gentleman at the entrance where to go. Not only did he point the way, he also advised me against doing it that moment because the line was long. Then he proceeded to walk over there and determine that the line wouldn't be long because ALL TEN WINDOWS WERE OPENED FOR PICTURE TAKING!! Do you hear that Disneyland! 5 minutes later I had a season pass processed with my picture on it. Oh yeah! Daytona Draft at Nascar Speedpark: Whole park was closed, something about lightning hitting the coaster the day before. I will definitely be going back to Dollywood, hopefully this year at some point. And now for some pictures to sum up the weekend. Dollywood has awesome food. Like this skillet full of fajita fixin's More random cool scenery The train gets ready to leave the station The splash is just water cannons. It didn't phase this duck at all The drop on Daredevil Fall's won't get you too wet, except for your shoes! When not on TV with Ed McMahon, Alf apparently hangs out by Tennessee Tornado Some of Dollywood's pretty scenery This transition looks like it hurts and it does Arrow's biggest loop ever is still nowhere near as pretty as Talon's. Tennessee Tornado is at the very back of the park Grrrrrrr! I hate rain! ACER's Rule guy approves of Thunderhead. (either that, or the person he was looking at was wearing a Budweiser shirt) The fly-thru from inside the station. Its loud. Here's the station fly-thru Thunderhead's first drop. Ooooh, pretty Coaster Team poses by the entrance to Thunderhead and Thunderhead Gap Dollywood is celebrating 20 years as being Dollywood.

Viper is not operating this season. As far as I remember the sign and front portion of the queue has been removed. Viper the coaster is still there, but will be scrap soon, by the end of the year.

A Jo-jo roll is essentially a heartline roll (not a zero g roll). It was so named Jo-jo because the guy who came up with the idea for the element was a Dorney employee named Joe.

So this past weekend was Dorney's opening, and its like kinda close to my house, and the weather was nice, so I went. Oh yeah, they got some new coaster too, called Hydra: The Revenge (not to be confused with Hydro: Water's Revenge). Since not much has changed at Dorney (which is a good thing! No obnoxious PA announcing in the stations like at Knotts, rules about not having sweaters tied around your waist or anything of the sorts) I'll just go into my review of Hydra. Arriving at the former site of Hercules, you notice the lime green track with dark green spine and blue supports of the twisted little Hydra. The lift is a tiny 100 feet. Multiple inversions mark the outlying area of the coaster, and a walk to the station follows the inside course of the first 3 elements, the flatspin being right over the entrance. The queue is laid out similar to old Herc's, with the station being pretty much at the same place as well. Leaving the station though, is the Jo-jo roll. The speed this thing takes is SLOW. (Think Volcano's heartlines its opening year). Photos are taken, and then you turn towards the lift. Shortly thereafter, you climb the cute little lift and then get something you never got on Hercules, air time! Unlike Hercules, you'll actually WANT to sit in the backrow because this is the best place to experience the airtime. Up next is the inclined dive loop, kinda an inversion, but maybe not. Then its the zero g roll, followed by a flatspin, and then the cobra roll. Much like Silver Bullet, the cobra roll has no snap. Then there is a little bounce into a not-quite-yet-effective bunny hill. Following is another flatspin, and then the ending helix into the station. It did some shimmying, but wasn't rough by any means. Its also extremely quiet, much like Talon. Hydra is one of the new breeds of B&M, meaning that those wonderful engineers in Switzerland have discovered a way to remove all forces from the coaster. If you grabbed Stevie Wonder and slapped him on Kumba or Nemesis, he'd know he was on a coaster. With the new school B&Ms like Silver Star, Silver Bullet, and Hydra, he'd think he was at the movie theater with really good air conditioning. Hydra isn't a bad ride by any means, it just isn't very extreme. Its a good starter coaster for a little enthusiast or enthusiast in training. Its great for the general public who want to go upside down a lot but shy away from it after rides such as Great American Scream Machine or any of the other Arrow multi-loopers. Its a fun ride, just rather forceless. Heck, it made Talon look intense! The only place to sit to actually feel stuff is in the back. Still, its a ride that fits Dorney Park perfectly. It'll be great for the GP, and its certainly better than old Hercules! I think I like it better than Bullet or Silver Star just because it did pretty much what I expected it to. The rest of the park is pretty much the same. All rides were opened (or at least attempted to be), the music selection was weird, Joker was removed because it blocked the view of Hydra's cobra roll, and the new Screaming Swing was operating, for an additional $5. Steel Force was running pretty good with the midcourse brake on lite. Needs a paint-job soon though, its faded. Talon actually seems to have some forces (at least compared to Hydra and Bullet). There wasn't much of a wait on Saturday, but Sunday one train was off. Thunderhawk, on the other hand was kicking major butt! The trim on the second hill was off, and delivered some awesome airtime in the front of the train on all the hills. Even the end trim turned on couldn't stop the airtime. It was great! Laser is still the force-filled Anton coaster its always been. Gotta love it! In short, the weather was perfect, the crowds came to the park (mostly local passholders and some ACErs) but never really caused much of a wait anywhere, and Hydra, although not an extreme coaster, didn't disappoint. Night falls on Dorney, and Thunderhawk gets ready to start dishing out the airtime The "Coaster Team" poses for a photo at Talon (just like the awning says to!) Did you really think I wouldn't include a picture of Talon's vertical loop???! Thunderhawk and Steel Force trains crest the lift The Screaming Swing resides between the Wild Mouse and Coasters Diner. (no Haunted Shacks were removed in the placement of this ride) Looking up from the former site of Joker. Hey! It looks just like the wallpaper on the website! Though the ride has many moments with no G forces, this is the only Zero-G roll Is it an inversion or not? Let the debate begin! A trainful of riders enjoy Jo-jo (no, not the cute 13 year old pop singer) Jo-jo roll, right out of the station. Its no vertical loop, but it was still kinda cool. Here's the entrance to Hydra. Mist comes out of his nose, but it was turned off until summer