HowieP

Jr. Gemini at Cedar Point.

Jr. Gemini (now Wilderness Run) (Intamin) (Cedar Point) Corkscrew (Arrow) (Michigan's Adventure) Wolverine Wildcat (Dinn) (Michigan's Adventure) Wildcat (Schwarzkopf) (Muskegon Summer Celebration-This was back in the 1980s when it still used big coasters) Iron Wolf (B&M) (Six Flags Great America) Sidewinder (Vekoma) (Hersheypark) Comet (PTC-Herbert Schmeck) (Hersheypark) Viper (In House) (Six Flags Great America) Shivering Timbers (CCI) (Michigan's Adventure) Big Dipper (Chance) (Michigan's Adventure) Gwazi (OUCH!) (GCI) (Busch Gardens Tampa Bay) Galaxi (SDC) (Indiana Beach) Revenge of The Mummy (Premier) (Universal Studios Orlando) Ragin' Cajun (Reverchon) (Six Flags Great America) Power Trip (Zamperla) (Fun Spot USA) Steel Hawg (S&S) (Indiana Beach) Goofy's Sky School (Mack) (Disney California Adventure) Santa Monica West Coaster (Morgan) (Pacific Park at Santa Monica Pier) Hades 360 (Gravity Group) (Mt. Olympus)

Sorry it took long to post this (busy with work) but here's the last of the photos from my California Trip back in June. This time Disney California Adventure! Wait a minute! Are you sure this isn't Disney's Hollywood Studios?? First up, Buena Vista Street! Looks real good. The remodel of California Adventure is what I like to call "Cleaning Up Eisner's Mess"! The original dedication from Eisner and the new one from Bob Iger. Oswald. Owned by both Disney and Universal. Themed to a restaurant, really a gift shop. Buena Vista Street blends into Hollywoodland ahead. More theming. Didn't do this show. Who wants an expensive hot dog? Time to look at more art. Sexy-looking Ariel and Belle! An artist drawing. WALT! The train is from the recent humongous flop "The Lone Ranger" with Johnny Depp. Did this one. Also did it years ago at Disney's Hollywood Studios when it was still MGM. Didn't do this one! But I did do this and it was fun! Hey, whassup, Mike! Another show I missed out on. Oh hell yes! Loved it in Florida, loved it in California as well! One of the trolleys that link Hollywoodland and Buena Vista Street. a bug's land. The kiddie section of the park. This was the slowest-paced bumper cars I've ever seen! I did ride the "Chew Chew" train. Hello Grizzly Peak! Saw it at Animal Kingdom, skipped it this time around. Who wants some wine? Time to visit the newest land at Cali Adventure, Cars Land! Welcome to Radiator Springs. MATER! Bumper Tires! Time for the main attraction in Cars Land, Radiator Springs Racers. I loved Epcot's Test Track, and this is definitely a worthy successor! One of the cars. I almost lost my camera on this, but I was able to find the car I was on thanks to the onride photo. Waited and a lady coming out of my car had my camera and gave it back to me! Let's visit Condor Flats. Where I had lunch. Soarin' Over California. I already did this at Epcot, where it's called simply Soarin'. Skipped it this go around. A show starring Minnie. A HOLY GRAIL PHOTO! This is the secret entrance to the park from Disney's Grand Californian Resort and Spa. Only guests staying at the resort can enter through here. Time to check out Grizzly Peak! Grizzly River Rapids. It was down around this time which was fine with me because, just like Dan here on TPR, I'm not getting wet at all! They were testing it, however. A challenge trail for the kids. Did this as well. Its clone at Magic Kingdom was under construction when I went to the Disney World a couple of years ago. So this was my first time on this ride. And just like Haunted Mansion, Spaceship Earth, and Finding Nemo (The Seas with Nemo and Friends), it uses Omnimovers. Time for the best area in the park: Paradise Pier! Rode this. Of course I did the swinging cars instead of the stationary ones. One day I will do Deno's Wonder Wheel at Coney Island, which was the inspiration for this one, I'm sure. You know I was gonna ride California Screamin', in all of its Intamin goodness! Train about to take off! Speeding by! Through the loop. Up the "lift hill". Another great photo! Triton's Carousel. See? Did this at DHS, did it here as well. Midway games and shops. The other coaster, Mulholland Mad- I mean Goofy's Sky School. The first turn kind of hurt. One of the cars. Zipping around. Coming back. And last but not least, yours truly with Walt and Mickey, aka "Partners II". And that ends the California Trip Report Trifecta.

More photos from my recent California trip. Next up is Disneyland. Coming soon, Disney California Adventure... After years of talking about going there, I finally made it to Disneyland for the first time ever! Train station. Noted. The fire station where Walt's apartment above is. Main Street, baby! Let's watch some films. More scenery. And buildings. Of course, the Penny Arcade! The little castle! Cute, isn't it? Yours truly up front. Onward to Adventureland. The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room. Yeah, I did this at Magic Kingdom in Florida. Skipped it this time. I did do the Disneyland version of the Jungle Cruise, though! This kicked A$$! Definitely worth a million rides! Tarzan's Treehouse. You know I had to do Pirates! BTW above the ride is the Dream Suite, originally intended to be Walt's permanent apartment after moving out of the Fire House. He died before he could move in. I found it! A Dixie band performing. Another one I did in Florida, but also did in Cali: The Haunted Mansion! A land Magic Kingdom doesn't have: Critter Country! The Splash Mountain where Gabriel Iglesias and his friend Armando "flashed the camera" as told on Gabriel's special "Hot and Fluffy". I did ride it at Magic Kingdom. Attempt to ride it here but broke down as I was getting in line. Performing pirates! More buildings! This time Frontierland! Big Thunder, the original! Was under rehab when I was there. You can see the scaffolding! Onward to Fantasyland. Carousel. Dumbo! Hey, Casey! OH CRAP! MONSTRO!!! The Mad Tea Party. Disneyland's version is much more open than Magic Kingdom's version. Let's go to Storybook Land! Ah yes! Arrow's original roller coaster. Matterhorn Bobsleds. It's funny because California is home to Arrow's first coaster (this one) and Arrow's final coaster (X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain). The train! Another view of the mountain. The station. About to board and take on the Yeti! Which side of the mushroom do YOU want to eat? YES!! It's still here in California. Rode it in Florida. Skipped it this time around. California kept this one as well. Florida recently closed theirs. This Small World owns the Florida version in four ways... First it's the original from the 1964 World's Fair... Second, you can load from outside, third it's much better looking than the Florida version, and lastly, it now has Disney characters included! Time to visit Mickey's neighborhood! Main road in Toontown. Time to whore it up! Another Vekoma credit for me! Maybe I've been riding the better Vekoma's out there because I haven't experience any of the roughness of them. Flyby! Overhead! And around a curve! Mickey's house. Minnie's house. Goofy's house, complete with hat on top! Donald's boat. Goofy's gas station! Daisy's Diner. Another one I wanted to ride but broke down! Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. MINE! MINE! MINE! Star Wars action going on! The Disneyland version of Innoventions. Oh yeah! Autopia time! Couple of the cars getting worked on midflight. More cars. Monorail passing by. You know what time it is... That's right. Now that I rode both the original Florida version and now this one, while I still like the original, this one has now become my favorite of the Space Mountains because to me it's faster and longer. One of the trains from above. Did this at Epcot. Passed it this time around. Nothing beats Star Tours. Finally did this one. It was good. Tomorrowland. Disneyland-style! A better view of the castle. Ratatoulle. Still haven't seen it. Mulan. Pocahontas. Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Tarzan. Aladdin. The Lion King. Beauty and the Beast. The Little Mermaid. This is the "Creepy Insane Ariel" display that has since gone legend. The Rescuers. The Jungle Book. 101 Dalmatians. The Fox and the Hound. Sleeping Beauty. Pinocchio. Peter Pan. Snow White and Cinderella. Me with the Mickster! And finally the original model of Disneyland.

Here we go: Disaster Transport, Wildcat, Mean Streak (UPDATE 3/12/2017-Now it's getting RMC'd) (Cedar Point) Python, Gwazi (Wishful Thinking /UPDATE 3/26/2015: IT'S HAPPENED!!! ) (Busch Gardens) Shockwave (Six Flags Great America) UPDATE 8/18/2014: Galaxi (Indiana Beach)

Finally made it to California this year and I did Disneyland as well, but first Santa Monica Pier and Pacific Park. First I did the Third Street Promenade. Getting this at where I work. Already have this at where I work! Now I'm on my way to the Pier! MADE IT! And what I came to do. The pirate ship. Scrambler. Solar-powered ferris wheel! And the main reason why I came to Pacific Park; to try out West Coaster! Up the lift! Passing by. In the station. Rounding the second helix. Returning to the station. They actually give you two circuits! They better as small as the track length is! Up close and personal! A view of the Pacific Ocean. Frog Hopper. Plane ride. Beach! Some more of the boardwalk. More boardwalk. Pizza Hut Express and Taco Bell Express next to each other! More food! Bumper Cars. Back end of Pacific Park. Performer on the boardwalk. Oh yeah! The end of Route 66. The park and boardwalk from the beach. Mountains in the distance. Downtown Santa Monica. Another performer near the boardwalk. The historic carousel from 1922, still in operation. There is a soda bar there which served me a chocolate egg cream which was great! Below next to the boardwalk is more souvenir shops and restaurants. The aquarium which is next to the boardwalk. Another view of Pacific Park. Yours truly on the beach in front of Pacific Park.

I would not mind if Gwazi got torn down. When I rode it my only time in 2005, it was hell. Headache city! Too bad the MF trains didn't help the ride. I think a retracking BEFORE adding the new trains would've helped.

I am looking forward to this. I have some plans to go to California this year but next year, Florida 2014, Fun Spot Orlando, oh yeah! Besides that, I still need to get the bad taste of Gwazi (pre-millennium flyers) out of my mouth, so here's hoping that White Lightning will be one of the good GCI's!

Ok. I am up for this one this year. Time for my first TPR trip. Besides, I've been planning to visit my brother out in LA anyway.

If they remove Corkscrew and NOT replace it, they better keep the actual corkscrews over the midway intact, like they did with Corkscrew at Alton Towers.

Shame! Hopefully the trains will be saved, at least.

Jaws, Back to the Future, and Kongfrontation at Universal, though I love Kong's replacement The Mummy. I also liked Wildcat at Cedar Point. And Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

Well back in 2007 I went to Islands of Adventure, well into three rides (Hulk, Dr. Doom, and Spider-Man), and while in line for Spidey, the rides closed because of a storm coming in. Sure enough when we circled the entire park, a big rainstorm came in and wouldn't stop! It went on all day. What made that worse was it was my first time at IOA.

Ditto on that fellow Michigander! Especially Rampage.

On tap for me: Kings Island Stricker's Grove Cedar Point (possibly) Six Flags Great America (possibly) Michigan's Adventure And, if I get the chance: Disneyland

That's their sister park, Fun Spot, USA, which has Power Trip spinning coaster, which used to be at Legoland when it was Cypress Gardens. The expansion is for Fun Spot Action Park near Universal. I don't think you understood my post at all. Read it again. I know that. Stand corrected!

This one already has the added benefit of not being next door to Old Town. That's their sister park, Fun Spot, USA, which has Power Trip spinning coaster, which used to be at Legoland when it was Cypress Gardens. The expansion is for Fun Spot Action Park near Universal. Don't even get me started on Starliner!

Only been to Hersheypark once in my life (1995) and they only had four coasters at that time (Comet, sooperdooperlooper, Sidewinder, Trailblazer) and now they have a plethora of coasters. I need to get my butt back out to Hershey, Pennsylvania quick! Skyrush looks great!

I also see some Arrow coasters disappearing in the mere future. Some of their smaller coasters (i.e. Corkscrew models) might survive a while longer. For example, Corkscrew at my home park, Michigan's Adventure, has been there for almost 33 years! Plus, Demon at both SFGAm and CGA, still holds up well. I can see a mega-looper like Viper going soon (we already lost Shockwave and Great American Scream Machine) and some of Arrow's Shuttle Loop coasters. Only three are operating that I know of; Sidewinder at Elitch Gardens, Diamondback at Frontier City, and Irv-Bru Revolution at Pleasure Beach Blackpool. Another one, Afterburn (which was the prototype of the Shuttle Loop that ran at Circus World/Boardwalk and Baseball in Florida), is currently SNBO at Fun Spot in Indiana. However, I feel Arrow coasters have a chance of being re-fabricated via Vekoma. Don't forget, Arrow's trains ran on Vekoma coasters for years until Vekoma built their own rolling stock, and who's to say that Vekoma can't replace track on current Arrow looping coasters because it's pretty much the same size track? The same goes for Chance Morgan replacing track on Arrow hypers. Look at Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood. Even after the conversion from Steel Phantom, now most of the track on Revenge is now Chance Morgan, except for the track from the brake run to the lift hill, which is still the old Arrow track from the Steel Phantom. So, while it may cost less to remove a coaster and replace it with another coaster or ride, in the case of Arrow Coasters (with possibly the exception of the Suspended coasters), re-tracking is possible through different companies. Now the Suspended coasters are a different story. The track on Suspended coasters are much smaller than the standard Arrow track and would cost more to reproduce with any company. Quite a few have disappeared in recent years, like XLR8 at Astroworld and, more recently, Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. So I feel Arrow Suspended coasters are most in danger than even their Mega-Loopers. Now in the case of Schwarzkopf coasters, unfortunately, these could become extinct, as they're already endangered. For years you couldn't go to a park or fair and not see a Schwarzy running. Whether it was a Wildcat coaster, Bayern Curve, a Looping Star coaster, or one of the custom looping coasters like sooperdooperlooper (Hersheypark) or Shockwave (Six Flags Over Texas), Schwarzkopf's were all over the place. And while there are still plenty running, they are becoming more scarce. UPDATE 5/15/2012: Case in point with Schwarzkopf: WildCat at Cedar Point became the latest travesty! And it's the first time since 1978 that they removed a coaster from their park!

Just more evidence that our beloved government has nothing better to do!

Here ya go: Indiana Beach Disney's Hollywood Studios (WDW) Magic Kingdom (WDW) Epcot (WDW) Disney's Animal Kingdom (WDW) Old Town Fun Spot, USA

Or both! I've heard the horror stories of Mt. Olympus.

Hands down, Top Thrill Dragster! It remains an extremely popular ride.

Well you can still ride it at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. I did this past October.

I wonder if Alabama Adventure is included in the purchase...