PhantomNick

I'm just really impressed with the quick turnaround on Storm Runner and getting it back up and running so quickly! The pics made it seem like more of a serious issue, but I guess it really wasn't. As for the new ride coming down the pike, I'm pretty stoked for whatever they have planned. This new coaster (I'm assuming) will give me good reason to return to one of my favorite parks, especially considering that I've never ridden Fahrenheit either. With the rumored height of 212 feet, I'm really hoping for a hyper. A dive machine would be awesome as well, but I just think a hyper would round out their collection perfectly.

I've never been on a Star Flyer ride before, but I have to say that they look like an absolute blast! One of my favorite flats in general are the Wave Swingers, so I'm sure this amped up version would definitely be to my liking. If (or based on the signs, when) CP gets one of these, I think it will be a terrific addition. I do hope it ends up near the beach, as that placement would provide some awesome views of the lake, plus it'd be great for the continued revitalization of that area of the park. I already love how that area's improved with Wicked Twister and MaXair. Throw in that beach-front woodie, and it'd have a great "boardwalk-y" feel.

Quoted for absolute truth! I ride new coasters, and some may rank a bit higher, but then I will hop on Phantom's Revenge again and it reminds me why I love that coaster so much. It is still firmly intrenched in my overall Top 10, and I see no signs of that changing anytime soon. And the rides it's dishing out this season are seriously some of the best rides I've ever had on it! The airtime is just so plentiful....and powerful! Great stuff.

I think that first drop looks delicious personally! It will be very interesting to see how this ends up riding, as I would imagine some other parks with rougher, bigger woodies will be paying close attention to the results. This company could see a boom in business if this all works out as hoped.

Hanno, I always look forward to Photo TR's from you. Your pictures are always simply stunning, and this time is no exception! Thanks for the great pics, and I'm looking forward to the next update. I really can't get over how great the European parks look. Someday, I simply have to get over there and visit some of them.

This event sounds AWESOME, and might be the perfect fit for my first TPR event!! Now, to try and clear the schedule to allow me to attend.....

I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for that one!

^^ As a big fan of B&M's coasters, this is fantastic news to me! I'm intrigued to see more about it, including the coaster's layout. I'm wondering, if this is successful for B&M, what U.S. park might take the plunge first to snag one of these things?

I've never ridden one of those Star Flyer rides yet, but I have to say they look like some crazy good fun!! If CP got one of the size mentioned, I would be ecstatic!

Great responses and tips everyone! Thank you all very much! It's officially 24 hours from our departure.....and like a little kid, I am boiling over with excitement!!

^^Festhaus sounds and looks really cool, but neither my wife or myself are big fans of German food. Can you go there for just a show without eating? Or, for that matter, do they have food that isn't of the German variety? ^Okay, that makes sense then....looks like we'll have a late breakfast on Monday! Also, a quick queue question - I know you can buy them in advance online, but are they sold at the park as well? It'd be nice if they were, so you could evaluate the crowds before pulling the trigger on one.

Well, the time has come! This Friday we're heading down to Virginia, and after a visit with some family until noon-ish on Saturday, we are heading to Williamsburg! We are both very excited for this trip! It should be tons of fun. As of now, our "plan of attack" is..... Sat. afternoon/evening - Head to Busch Gardens Europe, get our bounce tickets, and enjoy the park that evening. Sunday - Colonial Williamsburg Monday - Busch Gardens Europe Tuesday - Colonial Williamsburg in the morning before departing for NC We ended up getting a package deal through Busch Gardens that included the bounce tickets, a dining pass, and our hotel for 3 nights. Great deal too....we were stoked about that. So, as we get set to head to the park, I thought I'd bump this thread back up to see if anyone had any last minute tips or recommendations? Is there any pattern that should be used for tackling the park? (like what countries to hit up first?) Looks like it will be a scorcher while we're there, but we're okay with that. We're hoping going on a Monday will lead to reasonable crowds. Any food places that are can't miss? We're thinking the BBQ place in France and the one sit-down place in Italy look like sure bets. One question though, does the England area open up earlier than the rest of the park? I only ask because one of the places included in the dining pass (in England) says they serve breakfast. We were just wondering if we could head there earlier than 10. Other than that, we're ready to relax and have a fantastic time! Thanks in advance for any other tips/advice!

This morning the park held its preview of Sky Rocket for the media. Here's some of the coverage on our local stations here in the 'Burgh. I have to say, seeing the ride in action with a train full of riders, I am pretty much giddy with excitement for my trip there on Wednesday!! And the adjustments they made to the ride really show, as the pacing looks simply perfect in these videos. WPXI Coverage (includes TONS of awesome pictures!) Fantastic "raw" video of Sky Rocket from WPXI WTAE Coverage (includes a very nice video)

I've been happily placing my vote for GKTW ever since Kara first posted the awesome initial trip report and heads up on this project. Come on guys, keep the votes coming! This is such an amazing cause and they absolutely deserve to win this!!

Nice pictures! Looks like a couple fun park trips so far. SF New England is pretty high on my list of places I'd like to go, as the park looks really nice and I'm very much wanting to ride Superman: Ride of Bizarro!

I have to agree, the theming on this swinging ship looks amazing! Overall, Toverland looks like a pretty sweet park that I would love to check out someday. Just in general, the European parks really seem to have a knack for delivering such a well-rounded experience with their rides, often thanks to some incredible theming. I often wonder myself as well why more American parks don't do this. Even when rides are announced with a good amount of theme added, it seems like that's the first thing to get cut in a time/money crunch. Remember the first renderings of Maverick? There were more canyons and an awesome looking coal "chute" that never made it to reality.

^Wow, that was the best review of Sky Rocket I've seen yet! Thank you very much for posting an in-depth look at it, Ted! Good to hear from someone who has a pretty healthy track record under their belt too. I'm heading to the park next Wednesday, the 30th, to check it out (and also take advantage of another "Bring a Buddy" season pass day) and I absolutely cannot wait! I'm always excited to ride new coasters (or new to me ones), but I can honestly say I haven't been this excited to ride a new coaster since TTD in 2003. I think the thing I'm happy about the most is to hear everyone who has ridden it comment on how smooth it is. That's the kind of looping coaster Kennywood deserves. I was a Steel Phantom fan, but it honestly was never "smooth" (to me anyway) in the inverting parts.

^^Agreed....the brakes before the second drop are behaving exactly as I pictured they would now. Looks like they've been doing some work to adjust it just right. After seeing that POV, I am even more ecstatic with this addition to Kennywood! The ride looks awesome in action, and I absolutely cannot wait to ride this bad boy next week!! The pacing and variety of elements look fantastic, and the 2 drops look sweet as well. Bring on the 29th!

Just wanted to post that this trip report so far is AWESOME!! The coverage of Idlewild/Story Book Forest was fantastic, and as previously mentioned, probably the most in-depth we've seen on here. And your captions have generated a few good laughs as well! Glad to hear the new laser show at KW is pretty good. I've been to the park twice so far, but have yet to check it out. I'm hoping to remedy that really soon.

Add another one for Leap the Dips at Lakemont. Definitely pretty fun riding a living piece of roller coaster history!

See, it's comments like that which I can't stand. I love how it's stated as if it were a fact that MF has no excitement after the first drop. Yeah, maybe not, to YOU (those last 2 words being the key ones). I for one love MF, but I'm also very intrigued about I305 as well. I'm sure the restraints are ok if one rides defensively, which I know I have to do when on Maverick to avoid a couple neck chops. I just love the fact that another Giga was finally built.....10 years was a long wait!

I agree whole-heartedly that the park needs flats more than anything else. To me, Great Adventure just is not a well-rounded park as it is currently. It's a coaster park, sure, but for a company that claims to be trying to gear itself more towards families, the lack of flats here is a glaring eyesore. They should take a cue from their sister park in Illinois, which is currently the best Six Flags park I have visited. Their mix of rides was fantastic. As for GASM, based on the ride I had during my one visit to the park, I say good riddance! That thing was a pile of rough garbage that beat the snot out of me! Not fun at all. It will be interesting to see how things play out, especially after Chang seemed all but confirmed at SF Great America. I will admit though that bringing it here makes more sense, since Great Adventure doesn't currently have a stand-up.

Well, technically the dates where CoasterCon is at Kennywood are June 20-23, but with the park now saying Sky Rocket is slated to open June 25, I'd be willing to bet there might be an ERT session on it (perhaps Thursday night?). It just makes me laugh, because he was so adamant that it had no chance of being open in time for the Con. Not saying there will be any chances for people to ride before the 25th, but it's not as preposterous of an idea as he made it sound. I'm just stoked that the opening is now just a little over a week away! WOOT!!!

Beat me to it! I had heard rumblings that they ran some test runs today, so I did a youtube search out of curiosity and came across that link. Even with that being the (supposed) very first test run, I think it looks awesome!! I love the slight holding effect the brakes have on the first hill! And it looks like it travels through the course at a great pace. The barrel roll looks fantastic! That said, I think it will get even better, because I highly doubt the ride will come to a roughly 20 second stop at the MCBR in typical operation. I have a feeling that was just a test on the MCBR. Just my thoughts though. All in all, that video pretty much made my afternoon!

^^ Totally agree! When I first saw the picture, the first thing that popped into my mind was that the front reminded me a ton of the front of Jack Rabbit's train. Seems like a pretty fitting look, considering the park's 3 great old-fashioned woodies.