coastersrule85

Day 10 Our next destination was a Sunday visit to Dorney. I had visited Dorney a couple of years ago and looked forward to going back. It turned out not to be a bad day, but it was definitely different than I expected. Well, it started out with some guy at our hotel being upset because he thought that my niece and I were comandeering the waffle iron since we had the audacity to make a waffle for each of us. (His wife actually went to the front desk and complained because her apple was dirty and demanded they clean it off...how'd you like to be a kid in that household...) Another thing was that we'd just finished visiting Kennywood, Hershey, and Knoebels, tough acts to follow. Plus, the crowd at Dorney was quite different; we saw quite a bit of line jumping and they were a bit more rude than what we'd experienced so far in the trip. (Maybe the nice people were in church, lol.) But, after a few dozen coffees we were fine and just did our best to ignore anyone acting like a jerk. Hardly anyone was at the park, so we got multiple rides on all of the coasters except for Possessed, which was closed. Dominator was also closed for a while due to the local Fire Department using it to practice rescues or something. Later in the afternoon we decided to hit Wildwater Kingdom. Now this was just downright painful. All day, the weather had been perfect, clear and cool. When we went to the waterpark it started getting cloudy and the temperature dipped to 70, which would be nice if you weren't getting wet. We froze to death! Heidi was hell-bent on riding water rides since this would be our last chance, so I reluctantly agreed to go along (yep, Heidi's fault, lol). Until we hit the Wave Pool, which was heated, I thought I was going to die! When we stepped into the Runaway River, the shock of the cold water was unbelievable...I instantly went from an outy to an inny. After the torment of braving the Arctic for a couple of hours, we decided to get back to the park. It sprinkled intermittently but never really poured thank-goodness, so we were able to get in plenty more rides. All in all, we had a great time...now for the pics. Smiles at the end of another great day of amusement park fun! By this time in the trip, I'm actually enjoying ferris wheels. Musik Express Splash! White Water Landing was...well, quite wet. How about some water fun? Tilt-A-Whirl spin'n'puke goodness! Snoopy is getting toilet trained. Twisted steel goodness! Hydra awesomeness! I love Hydra! Thunder Creek Mountain was a really good flume ride. Aww, how sweet... A little Trout Pond history. Dominator One of the greatest Scramblers of the trip! Thunderhawk and Steel Force. Thunderhawk fun! On the road to Thunderhawk. Hands in the air! Steel Force was awesome, great air-time! Now that's the stuff! Cannonball Tracks. Wow, Dorney is OLD! Sorry, folks, ride's closed. The flaming, horned, demonic skull out front shoulda told ya. The fire department was there practicing on rescues and such. Whips are just so much fun! Let's Whip! We wanted to try our hand at Skee-ball. I'm guessing that in that entire building the crowd, including us, had to have been around, oh gosh, TWO. Heidi loved the dragon, so we had to ride the Merry-Go-Round. I took the noble, very masculine looking, rose adorned steed in front of the dragon. Next it was time to swing! It was worth a couple of rides before moving on. The Wild Mouse was probably our longest line, about five minutes. It was awesome! I spy more steel in the distance! Talon is such an awesome coaster. It's possibly tied with DD as my second favorite inverted behind Raptor. Our first coaster of the day was Talon. We picked up a quick ride on the Antique Carousel. Yay, we're at Dorney!

^^The coasters at Knoebels are truthfully great, especially Phoenix, which is my second favorite woodie behind Voyage. But, Knoebels is so much more! It's hard to describe what it's like in words; you just have to experience it. If you ever get a chance, I highly suggest you visit. You definitely will not be disappointed!

Day 9 Now it's time for my favorite amusement park, Knoebels. I was a little worried before we arrived. For the whole year before our trip, all I did was tell Heidi how awesome Knoebels is. I had visited last year and have missed it ever since. I must admit that I was relieved that, just as I'd bragged, Knoebels was absolutely great. Our day started off with us getting to the park very early, so we had time to walk around a little and watch as the park came to life. We ended up buying three $20 books of tickets during the day and used them all, which surprised me with the size of the Saturday crowd. We ate early and we ate often, sampling as much of the delicious food as we possibly could without bursting. One of my favorite experiences of the day was a night ride on the Sky Ride. I could go on and on about what a special and wonderful place Knoebels is for absolutely everyone who visits, but I'll spare you. The pictures... Sadly, the day has to come to an end. But, it ends with great big smiles from spending a terrific day at the greatest amusement park on Earth. How could we leave without a little more food for the road? Mmmm, gelati! ...so we took our final ride of the day, the Sky Ride. If you're at Knoebels, I highly recommend the Sky Ride at night. The park was starting to wind down... The Grand Carousel, the greatest in the world! Italian Trapeze at night. We took an evening ride on the Giant Wheel and actually got an extra turn. After one revolution some idiots in the gondola next to us spit, so they stopped the ride and made them exit. The morons argued, but the ride-ops made it very understood that they would be exiting the ride immediately, so the morons tucked their tails and quickly got off. That exchange alone was worth the price of the ticket, but we still got our entire ride afterward. Knoebels has such an awesome Whipper. By this point of the trip, I'm starting to actually like the swings, so we had to take a ride on the Italian Trapeze. Twister is such an awesome woodie. Lovin' the farmers tan, eh? Time for Twister! Cruising by Phoenix. Even the taxis are better at Knoebels. We decided to take a ride on the Antique Cars. Once again I took my life into my own hands by allowing Heidi to drive. ...umm...I got nothing for this one... Another thing I loved is how they would really give you your ticket's worth. The Merry Mixer seemed to go on forever. The Knoebels (Pig) Mouth of Truth... Condiment udders? I want these for my house! I suddenly have a hankering for a sandwich. Is there a weight limit for the Sky Slide? I really want to ride it! Have I mentioned that I love this park? Where else could kids climb all over old heavy machinery? I wanna be small! Come on! Your sister did it for Tom Hanks! ...not to mention quite frightening. After years of intense therapy, I'm sure I'll be just fine since seeing this. The mining museum was really neat and quite informative. Hmm, sasquatch or Uncle Festus? We took a little time to visit the Knoebels Carousel Museum. Let's take a spin on the Tea Cups! The park was really crowded, but you wouldn't have known it by how long you stood in line. I don't think I've visited a park where the ride-ops are so efficient. I'd never ridden a flyer before. I couldn't believe how close to the trees I would get. Terrifyingly terrific! My new favorite flat ride, the Knoebels Flyer. Do they have support groups for people who get addicted to Fascination? They really take this game seriously! I love this park. The Pioneer Train...Toot! Toot! Loving the patriotism! ...best of all, Blue Birch Beer! Gosh, this was like an explosion of flavor in my mouth! It was so much better than white birch beer. ...don't even try to tell me that the only difference was food coloring... Say hello to first breakfast: Frips, waffle fries, fried mac'n'cheese, popcorn, and... Time for some food! How can you beat these prices? Heidi having fun with the Supershovel. I'm not sure how, but my niece was able to get me on Downdraft. It was actually fun...that is, until it stopped. LOL This is a blast from my childhood. Though they were removed long before the park closed, our dearly departed Astroworld had automatic BB guns when I was young. I'm sure they took them out because some moron shot their eye out or something. Not only is the Knoebels beautiful and entertaining, it's educational as well. What a very interesting historical quote! The Haunted House is so awesome. Love the ending! Here's a little more sweetness from Texas! Remember the Alamo! A little slice of Texas in Elysburg, sweet! Amen. With that, let me say a word of "Thanks!" to all veterans and their families. Can you hear the Angels singing too? Ticket time!

Great TR. I visited Chicago and the Dells this summer, and I'd hoped to make it to Minnesota, but my traveling companions didn't want to make the extra drive. I'm now kicking myself for not pushing harder to get them to make the trek. Thanks for sharing!

First, let me say thanks for all of the compliments. This was such a great trip for me, and I'm more than happy to share it. Day 8 The 8th day of our trip brought us to a park that Heidi was really excited about visiting, Hersheypark. I had gone there last summer and loved the park although I've kicked myself since then for not getting my credit on Roller Soaker and looked forward to doing so this visit. We began the day at Hershey's Chocolate World and took Hershey's Great American Chocolate Tour. The best part of the tour was seeing Heidi's reaction. It was hilarious to watch a 19 year old college student reacting like a little kid who'd just been handed the keys to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory! As soon as we entered her eyes glazed over, and I don't think she snapped out of her daze until we left. Hershey is such a great park, but our visit was made even better by the overcast skies and high chance of showers because it kept the crowd away...as much as you can for Hershey. We were able to get in all of the coasters although I was worried that I might get screwed out of Roller Soaker again, except this time it was because of Mother Nature; I'll delve further into that story in the pictures. We also were able to get a lot of flat rides in as well. In the early afternoon the Boardwalk area was pretty much shut down due to inclimate weather, and for the most part, so were the rest of the major rides. Late in the evening the weather cleared and most of the rides reopened. At about 9 or so we decided to hit the shops at Chocolate World and delight ourselves with a little chocolatey goodness. We decided on the chocolate mousse in the dark chocolate cup, which was absolute heaven!! This was Heidi's favorite park of the trip, but I was already looking forward to day 9, a visit to my absolute most favorite park in the world, Knoebels... Without further ado, the photos... We've come to the end of a terrific day at Hersheypark. I love Hershey because it has modern thrills combined with old world charm. If not for the next park of our trip, it would possibly be tied with Kennywood with as my favorite. As I was reminiscing about this chocolatey goodness, I think my drool almost shorted out my keyboard. Goodnight, Mr. Hershey, I hope to see you soon! We just had to take a quick ride on the Hershey Carrousel before leaving. Lightning Racer at night is a sight to behold. (sorry for the picture quality) Last year we left early, so I didn't get to see Hershey at night. All I can say is, "Wow!" The bad weather lifted in the nick of time, so we were able to steal a ride on the Ferris Wheel. On the way back across the park I snapped a pic of Fahrenheit at dusk with the moon behind it...unfortunately my camera isn't the best. (anyone have a suggestion for a good compact or ultra compact camera?) ...serene my ass! I may be smiling, but I'm sure I'm crapping my pants right now. Such a nice and serene ride... We decided to take a break on Skyview. We decide to have a little spin'n'puke fun on the Tilt-A-Whirl. The Kissing Tower we didn't ride. It shut down when the bad weather came in. I do believe I spy the elusive "loop" on SooperDooperLooper. This ride has to be good! It's called SooperDooperLooper! (or as my niece called it, SooperDooperLetdown, lol) Comet As I peered through Ursa Major, I spied a Comet! Great Bear inverted deliciousness! The Great Bear was....well, great! Sorry folks, Boardwalk's closed. The Kiss our front should'a told ya. The Boardwalk area really wasn't open from the afternoon on. We had really wanted to spend more time there, so I guess that was a little of a disappointment. But who can stay upset when you're at Hershey? We just hit a lot of the flats instead and had a blast! I love Lightning Racer! Thunder kicked Lightning's ass when we rode! Luckily we got our ride in early...notice a common theme... I always feel like I'm going to die on Hershey's Wild Mouse. Luckily we got our ride in early. Wildcat was awesome as always. Luckily we got our ride in early. Don't mess with Mother Nature! Ribbon fries and corn dogs...the very picture of fried health! How about a stop at Nathan's for a snack? The longest line we waited in was for Roller Soaker. We waited for more than an hour. Finally, we were next in line. We sat down and pulled down our restraint. The ride-ops walked by and checked the restraints...then we waited. We were curious why we weren't dispatching when we heard that horrible recording, "Due to inclement weather...yadda, yadda, yadda." We had to get up and EXIT! I was so upset that I wasn't going to get my credit again. We waited through the rain and water cannon shooting munchkins for it to open. It finally did and we ran up, got on and I was able to score the Roller Soaker credit! We were lucky because after about five cars it closed again. Whew! The only credit I missed last year...I will conquer you, Roller Soaker! How about a little helix fun? Trailblazer is a pretty fun mine train. Tootin' along on the Dry Gulch Railroad. Cobra roll, Loop. Loop, Cobra roll. The End. Sidewinder was up and down even before the weather hit, but we managed to get a ride in. Lovin' it in the front row! Everybody say, "Wheeee!" We were able to get in a couple of rides on Storm Runner. I love the flying snake dive...or whatever it's called. The first ride of the day, Fahrenheit. With the small crowd, we were able to get in two rides. Good morning Mr. Hershey! Mmmm...Chocolate House.... The only cootie-free smooches. As you can tell from that expression, as soon as we hit the door of Chocolate World, Heidi was cognitively vacant! (she's going to kill me for putting this on the TR) Just remember, Heidi, I'm your favorite uncle! Hellooooooo ladies! My, you're looking udderly divine today. (...please feel free to strike me for such a corny pun.) Our first stop, Chocolate World! I love the free sample at the end of the tour.

Day 7 We got up early and drove to Kennywood on the 7th day of the trip. I absolutely love Kennywood! When I visit Kennywood, I get a little of that feeling of being in another era like I do when I visit Knoebels. It almost makes me want to move to Pittsburgh; the only thing keeping me from doing that is the Steelers. Last year when I visited I wasn't able to get my Exterminator credit because we were very limited on our time in the park, so I was glad to be able to ride it this year. Another thing that was a blast this year was actually spending time riding more of the flats. Last year I was with a group that didn't really care for flats of any kind, but my niece loves them. I am also proud of Heidi for having the guts to ride the Skycoaster at KW. She'd never ridden one before but has listened to me talk about how much fun they are. She wasn't nervous at all until we were getting suited up. I tried to talk her into pulling the cord, but she'd have none of that. I'm also just now starting to get feeling back into my arm after she basically almost ripped it out of its socket, lol. Bottom line, Kennywood is an awesome park. My only regret is that both times I've visited I've had to leave around 6 p.m., so I haven't had the opportunity to see it at night. From what I hear, Kennywood at night is really something to see and experience. Anyway, I'll end the jibber-jabber and start with the pics already. Oh well, I hate to say it, but so long Kennywood. One time I'm going to visit and actually stay after dark. Kennywood's oldest ride! I was amazed to learn the history of this. Just another reason that KW is so awesome. One of the staples we lived on for two weeks was cotton candy. Kennywood had the second best behind Knoebels in the cotton candy department. I kicked Heidi's butt at Ghostwood Estate. It's sacreligious to visit KW and not get some fries from Potato Patch. Love the Whip! I love this view for some reason. Industrial areas always look better from the station of a great coaster. A little intertwined coaster action. Entering the bowels of Phantom...I never knew bowels could be so much fun? Time to enjoy a little sweet Phantom love. Ahhh! Heidi, look out! Kennywood is infested with aliens! View from the picnic groves. Want to go to prom? This was one time I wasn't afraid to let Heidi drive. Auto Race, another great nostalgic KW ride! I love the whole landscaped clock idea. It's almost 2, so we better get busy riding some rides! Bayern Kurve is pure spin'n'puke goodness. How about a little lunch? Mmm, I could eat my weight in fried Oreos. ...or this. It doesn't get much better than this... My second favorite coaster in the park. Thunderbolt is a blast! A view of Phantom, Thunderbolt, Turtle, Pitt Fall, and Potato Patch. I want to be buried on this spot. Love Kennywood's Merry-Go-Round. Get'em George! You must protect Kangaroo from those damn Frenchies! A little tulipy wheelbarrow filled with Kennywood love. Swapping spit with Cowboy Joe. Apparently we killed the Skee-ball machine. Love the new ride photo option although they have some bugs to work out. It was either this shot with the top of my head cut off, or a shot of nothing but our heads. I like this one because it looks like I actually might have hair! Jack Rabbit is such a great old coaster. Racer is always so much fun...even though we lost. Heidi's first Skycoaster...and it was a 180 footer to boot! As always, worth every penny. More Kennywood beauty. Howdy Mr. Turtle! Turtle is such a classic old ride. I was so surprised at how much fun Noah's Ark was. I thought you just would walk through, see a bunch of animals with paint and ceramic flaking off, then exit. I had absolutely no idea what to expect, which made it that much more awesome! Noah's Ark! However, you do have to worry about exploding extremities when riding. Exterminator is by far my favorite indoor coaster. The bit of theming it had was kind of neat, and it was a lot of fun to ride. We headed to Lost Kennywood to get my Exterminator credit. A little Kennywood beauty. How about a little Musik Express action? Imported roses from Chernobyl. The crowd was pretty light which was awesome! Welcome to Kennywood!

Awesome report as always! I wish the animals at the Houston Zoo would come out during the summer. Between May and October, when you visit the zoo it's more like visiting an arboretum, because all you see is the landscaping. Okay, landscaping with elephants and giraffes since it's a little hard for them to hide.

Days 5 & 6 We began day 5 with a quick half hour of ERT at Kings Island. After four rides on Diamondback, we headed back out of the gate, and set out for our next destination, Cedar Point! The trip was made a bit longer because for some reason my GPS took us all throughout nowhere, Ohio. We had a blast of course. I was glad we were able to get our hour of ERT the next morning. I couldn't quite fit into Millennium, but I made my niece ride because there was no way she was going to miss out on the world's greatest coaster. The funny thing is, she didn't want to ride it more than once. She liked it, but she liked Diamondback better. (Later in the trip after riding Nitro, she actually chose that as her fave steel coaster of the trip.) Anyway, enough blabbing, here's the pics... We had a great time at CP. Next stop, Kennywood. CP has an awesome skyline! We finished up Cedar Point with a ride on the Giant Wheel. (by far the longest line we waited in because they were only filling 8 gondolas at a time.) WT in the back row is one of my favorite rides. Okay, I'm a sucker for Wicked Twister. I have to give a word of thanks for the two ride-ops who actually got me buckled into my seat. You guys worked some serious magic! There was absolutely no wait, so we hopped on Disaster Transport. I always wonder if this would be better if it was outdoors. Another first on this trip. I was so happy to be with someone who would ride MaXair with me. I normally stay away from spin'n'pukes, but it looked like so much fun! Blue Streak was...well, Blue Streak. Never a bad ride as long as there's no line. How could anyone not love Raptor? Time for my favorite inverted coaster, Raptor! What a nice view. Time to take a break on the Sky Ride. I just love the momentary view from Power Tower even though it always makes me feel like I'm about to go into cardiac arrest. Of course we had to get a ride on Corkscrew so we could fly over the crowd. Matterhorn and water tower...in case you were wondering what this was a picture of, lol. I got my first ride on Skyhawk this trip. My previous times at CP I was with people who hated flats, so I'd always missed out until now. We got a nice relaxing run on the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. Whoooo-hooooo! Does anyone else think that Maverick is a little more rough this year? There were a couple of transitions that really slammed my neck into the restraints that didn't do it last year...of course, last year I had that extra layer of fat protecting me. Maverick was down a lot! The first time we rode it we were lucky to have gotten there right when it was reopening after being down. Then we got in a couple of rides during ERT. Mean Streak actually didn't seem as rough as it was last year. I absolutely hate the brakes on the hill though. We rode it at night and had the added bonus of getting a mouthful of muffleheads to add to our protein intake. Mean Squeak! We took a ride on the Taxis, and I must have been delirious because I let Heidi drive. We actually didn't get lost! (trust me, if there's anyone who could get lost on the Taxi ride, it's Heidi. LOL J/K) We had our very expensive lunch at Chick-fil-A. Gemini is of course always a lot of fun. Woodstock Express is a credit I'd not gotten on my previous visits for some reason. I've got it now! Of course we had to go see Magnum's new sign, and we figured while we were there we might as well ride it. I'm one of those people who really loves Magnum. The view on the first hill is just awesome. Heidi hated TTD! She was glad she rode it, but once was enough. I didn't quite make it. I fit the test seat but not the coaster. I'd ridden it before, so it was no biggie. My nemesis! My first trip to CP, I could fit, but it was down. Last year there was no way in hell I could fit. This year I lost 54 pounds and was still about 2 inches away! Damn you to hell, Millennium Force! I will conquer you one day! (unless you keep sinking into Lake Erie, LOL) A lot of people don't like Mantis, but I always enjoy it. It's now my second favorite stand-up behind Chang. With Heidi's affinity toward suspended coasters, we had to ride Iron Dragon. Another coaster that we were glad to get a ride on, because it went down for a while our second day there. Toot! Toot! Wildcat had its problems throughout the day, but luckily we were able to get in a ride. Considerably more people taking advantage of ERT at CP compared to KI. But it was still an awesome perk! We're at the Point!

Day 4 Our fourth day brought us to Kings Island. This was the first time I was truthfully worried about whether or not I was going to fit on a coaster. I REEAAALLYYY wanted to ride Diamondback, but had heard that it was not very friendly to my rotund brethren. I stressed out horribly until I sat in the test seat and FIT. I thought Diamondback was great! It had great airtime and was a lot of fun. I agree with one girl who I overheard saying that the ride was, "...smoov as budduh!" (New Jersey maybe? New York? Wherever she was from, her dialect was awesome!) Since we would be hitting three Cedar Fair parks along the way, I bought us platinum passes. It was a little cheaper with the added benefit of ERT at KI and CP. Even with only 20 minutes of ERT left after processing our passes, we still got three rides in on Diamondback. I thought the park was great. It had a great selection of rides and was quite clean. I thought the staff was quite friendly as well, except for one ride-op on Beast who ticked me off a little. Anyway, to the pictures! Delirium and Drop Tower were both a blast! Everyone say, 'Beauty.' Backlot from above. I'm telling you, I really liked this coaster. I'll have the Vortex with a side of Beast please. Eiffel vista. Hello down there, Racer, Firehawk, Flight of Fear... Hello other coaster we didn't ride! I know it's supposed to be horribly painful, but I really wanted to get my credit on Son of Beast...especially since it's probably going to end up as kindling. How about a trip up the Eiffel Tower? Taking another stroll through the park... Ahh! Cheesy Mystery Machine photo! Heidi kicked my butt on Scooby-Doo, so I had to buy the sodas. ...don't judge us... I can only hope that this picture doesn't get us banned from taking a TPR trip next year. We just had to ride Fairly Odd Coaster, and I'm glad we did. I think this is some of the most fun we had on a ride. It was hilarious to watch the reactions of the kids. Come on, Vamanos! Everybody let's go! Where are we going? To score some more of that wacky tobacky that made Sandy happy. Hey, it's Sandy looking quite happy. I'm wondering if she needs to stay away from the ganja. Thought I'd stop and help my buddy, Patrick, get rehydrated. Runaway Reptar with Diamondback in the background. Runaway Reptar looked like a lot of fun; I kick myself for not trying it at least. One of the coasters I didn't get to ride, Runaway Reptar. Wild Thornberrys River Adventure! Nickelodeon Universe was amazingly themed, very impressive. Nickelodeon Universe! For some reason I decided to let Magellan (Heidi) lead the way again, but we actually got lost somewhere cool... How about a little Zephyr fun? More of Racer... Next up we spotted Racer and decided to give it a try. It wasn't too bad of a coaster, but if you go, you might want to pack a lunch for the journey to get to it! ...still strolling...there's Heidi on the bottom right looking like she's wandering aimlessly, which she is. We decided to take a break and stroll around after we ate. It was then time to eat. We thought something nice and light would be the best choice, so we went with Bacon/Cheddar Fries. Next we rode Beast, which was a great coaster. The view was really great. The one thing that irked me was when the ride-op guy with the microphone said, "If you have trouble with the restraints just wait and we'll be by to help you. Of course, if you can't buckle your seatbelt, you have more problems to worry about than riding a rollercoaster." I mean, I have as much of a sense of humor as anyone, so it wasn't really what he said, but the way he said it was demeaning and condescending. BTW, I fit. Is it possible for anyone to post a KI trip report without at least one picture of the Diamondback splashdown? I think not! Oh, have I mentioned that KI has a new coaster? Well, here it is, Diamondback. Next up was Flight of Fear (Use your imagination to see the ride.) It was basically like Poltergeist at SFFT only it was indoors. I'm not sure which I enjoy more, indoor or outdoor Polty. Standing in line for this was made more enjoyable because my niece shared that she has an irrational fear of aliens...which I must admit I took full advantage of for the remainder of the trip. We then remembered that we were supposed to have headed straight to Firehawk. When we got there, the line wasn't long, but the wait was still around 45 minutes. I was again worried about fitting, but actually buckled myself in with no problem. Hey, it's a Chia Liberty Bell. I need this to go with my Chia Obama! ...on June 22. I will forever know exactly where I was at 10:15... By the way, have you met my friend, Diamondback? Intense and painful...actually, it wasn't that bad, however, we didn't stay for an encore performance. Upon spying inversion sweetness, we hopped over to Vortex. We quickly got a ride on Backlot Stunt Coaster. I thought it was a lot of fun. It wasn't worth waiting an hour for, but we walked on right after leaving Diamondback. The first ride we hit was of course Diamondback. We got three quick rides in before the masses hit. And, wow, when the park opened, did they hit! We're coming to get you, Diamondback! Preferred parking, early entry, hardly anyone here...this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I spy coaster goodness in the distance! This is actually from Day 5. We got to the park when it opened and used our 30 minutes of ERT on Diamondback, (we got in 4 rides) then hopped back in the car and headed up to Sandusky. Great way to start a day! We had a pretty awesome day at Kings Island. The park wasn't too crowded, the weather was nice, and we were able to ride everything we wanted without much of a wait. We couldn't leave without a little Scrambler action. I thought it would be nauseating, but Delirium was actually a blast! Next up we hit Flight Deck. Since Heidi loves suspended coasters we rode it like a skabillion times. I can truthfully say that it was just as exciting every time we rode it. KI had a nice Grand Carousel

Day 3 The third day of our trip led us to Holiday World. I had done some research, so I thought I had an idea of what to expect when we arrived. I was dead wrong! This park is a very special place to visit. First of all, as we were entering the park, Pat Koch was out front shaking hands and greeting people. That is a class act that I've not seen before. I knew that they had free drinks, but I had no idea that there would be drink stations everywhere. Anytime you were thirsty, there was a place nearby to quench your thirst. The same statement can be said about the free sunscreen as well. The lockers at HW were only three dollars for a whole day, which in and of itself is amazing. However, that isn't as amazing as the fact that they have lockers in ride stations with key locks that ride-ops will place your more valuable items in until you get off of the ride for FREE! That is the polar opposite of what happens in other amusement parks. Holiday World is now one of my top five favorite parks along with Knoebels, Kennywood, Hershey, and Cedar Point. (with an honorable mention for Dollywood, lol) Now, to the pics... Another day ends with smiles for both of us. This was definitely a huge step up from Beech Bend and SFKK. Thanks for a great day, Holiday World! Sigh...sadly enough, it's time to leave. We had to leave pretty early to get to our next destination, Kings Island. I was surprised by how large Splashin' Safari was. It was very crowded, but there were so many different rides and activities that wait times were not bad at all. The longest we waited was for about 45 minutes when the raft conveyor was broken on ZOOMbabwe, but it was quickly fixed. We were able to get in a bunch of different rides, including ZOOMbabwe, which was a lot of fun. Then we spent a nice long time relaxing in the Bahari wave pool. Later in the afternoon it was time to head over to Splashin' Safari. Wow, what a great water park! I also loved the old time toy display. It was interesting to see the different old toys they had from different countries. The series of displays on the different eras of Abraham Lincoln's life were very interesting! The nutcracker tried to see if he could get a little action... This was a great little place. First of all, let me tell you that Mrs. Klaus knows her fudge! My favorite holiday! Holiday World is such a beautiful park. You can't go wrong with ice cream from blue udders. How about a ride on the Star Spangled Carousel? ...umm...well, you have to pretend that it's star spangled... The Liberty Launch could have been renamed the Lunch Launch. Time to celebrate the Fourth of July! I loved the Plymouth Rock Cafe! I mean, this whole meal along with unending soft drinks was only ten bucks! By comparison a soft drink with a funnel cake was 20 bucks at SFKK. It's not the size of the splash that matters... Pilgrims Plunge-I've read so many positive and negative reports about this ride that I couldn't wait to get my own assessment. I loved it! I loved the elevator ride up; I loved the height; I loved the trip down; I loved the level of wetness. It was great! Here we are holding on for dear life in the back. I don't think I've had as much fun on a coaster as I did on Voyage. The Voyage is by far my favorite wooden rollercoaster! The air time in the back seat...well actually, I'm not sure why they even have a seat in the back because we were never in it. Ahh...Voyage! Now we're on our way to the really good stuff! I've generally never had much of a desire for riding swings due to a deep-seated fear that I acquired long ago when reading a comic called Ziggy. However, we rode them pretty much at every park this trip, and now I love them. Legend and Raven(sorry, no pic) were both awesome coasters! I loved the double helix on Legend; it was a lot more than I expected. Raven was absolutely great! I thought it was a beautiful ride, especially the turn over the lake. I only wish it had been a bit longer. This is Halloween! Bring on Legend and Raven. Gosh, can't you just feel the love as you look at this beautiful sculpture and founta... OH, coasters! Due to global warming and the thin pack ice at the North Pole, Santa has decided to spend his summers in Indiana. Of course we had to take our picture with old St. Nick! Not bad for a self-pic. You know it's going to be a great day in any town named Santa Claus.

That's exactly what we thought! We didn't expect much, so the park really surpassed our expectations. If it had been a bit less crowded, the day would have been pretty enjoyable. However, for the park's sake, I'm glad they were as busy as they were. No, we didn't get anywhere near water rides that day due to the wait time though it would have been nice. I don't know if I would make a trip specifically to visit SFKK, but if in the area I would definitely stop by. (as long as there isn't a concert!)

Everytime I look at your updates, I wish I'd have had more time to spend in the area when I went to Dollywood this summer. There is just so much to do! The one thing we did do was visit Sam Houston's schoolhouse if that counts...it's a Texas thing I s'pose, LOL. Great report as usual! The captions always have me laughing. I now feel the uncontrollable urge to plan another trip to spend just in that area. ...although, I'll probably skip World of Illusions...

Good luck!! I really hope you make it, and let us know how it goes. I've gotten out my TPR videos again. They helped me lose the 54 pounds I lost between January and June of this year, but since vacation I kind of fell off the wagon. Hell, I fell off, was drug for a while, and when I caught up to it, I ate it. LOL Anyway, when I watch my TPR videos and they give me the incentive to keep on the straight and narrow by showing me what the payoff is going to be.

Great trip report! I'm hoping to head to Lake Compounce and SFNE next summer. Thanks for sharing!

It looks like you're having a great time. This is a great trip report with great photos! Thank you for sharing!

You've got a great trip report going. Even though it's almost four hours away, I have to call SFOT my home park. I'm glad to have a coaster like Titan that close to me; it's just such an awesome ride. I'm glad you like Shock Wave. It too is such a great rollercoaster. Great TR and awesome photos!

Day 2: On the second day of our trip we headed to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. Now, I planned to go to KK on a Saturday because everyone who I had talked to said that even on a Saturday the park is hardly ever crowded. One thing I didn't count on...a concert. Not only was it a concert, but it was Toby Mac. Okay, I have to admit, I had no idea who he was, but apparently the zillions of churches in the area knew him well. I should have checked before I left, but hindsight is 20/20. Overall, the day was pretty productive. We decided not to buy a flash pass, because it was early in our trip, and we were trying to save money to make sure we could FINISH the whole trip. We were still able to get in all of the coasters along with a few flats. Even though we had hoped to go to the waterpark area, due to the crowd we decided against that. The only real negative to the day was that it was unbelievably crowded and hot. The park itself seemed pretty nice. I agree with what I've seen others report on TPR, SFKK could be a really nice park with a little TLC from the Six Flags corporate office. Not a bad day at Kentucky Kingdom. Hmm, I'm not sure if Heidi disagrees with that or if my Right Guard just isn't working good enough... Apparently one of the church groups attending thought they were gypped at the Jacob's ladder game, feeling that they deserved some kind of handicap, and took out their frustration on poor Scooby-Doo. Say howdy, Heidi! How're you doin', Louisville? We had a great view of the park. As you can tell, it looks pretty empty. That's because most of the people are at the Toby Mac concert. When it started, the crowd practically disappeared. Umm, did I mention that it was big? Next it was time for the Giant Wheel. Ferris wheels scare the hell out of me, and this sucker was a biggun'! But, before the trip I agreed to get on every ferris wheel we passed, so I forced myself on. Thunder Run was a really fun coaster! I have to put in a special word for one of the ride-ops. I'm a big guy, and the seatbelts on this thing were pretty darn tight. I had given up and was getting out of my seat to take the walk of shame. The ride-op stopped me and asked if I wanted to ride. I told him I couldn't quite make it, and he said, "Do you want me to give it a try? I can do it 99% of the time! Besides, if I can fit, you surely can." (He was a pretty big guy himself.) Sure enough, he worked at it and was able to get me buckled! He gave me a pat on the back and said, "Have a nice ride, buddy!" What a great guy! (This was a sharp contrast to what one of the ride-ops said on the Beast at KI, which I will tell you in that report.) When we finally get to Thunder Run, this is what we find...and this is after we've been in line for about 20 minutes. How could I NOT include a picture of an alligator on a roof. Strolling toward Thunder Run. We realized that we had forgotten Thunder Run and headed back across the bridge. As we walked by the water park, the wave pool looked like controlled chaos! Next up, the ride I've waited for all day, Greezed Lightnin'! Through the red and yellow steel I spy a green loop of heavenliness. What's this? A short line? Before heading to Greezy, we hopped on over to ride Roadrunner Express first. At the sight of Greezed Lightnin', I suddenly felt like I should have a moment of silence in remembrance for my old love, Astroworld. We decided to head to the other side of the park. After waiting for over twenty minutes in the shortest line we could find for a "free" refill, you can almost feel the joy you see on Heidi's face. You get that overwhelming sense of love she has for the heat and crowd...I was quite afraid for my life at this point. Yep...still crowded... Fried bread covered in sugar and Sprite-it does a body good! After two coasters it was already after noon, so we decided on a nice healthy well-rounded meal. What could be more round than a funnel cake? Now, the line to the water park was definitely the line from hell. When we saw this, we easily decided to skip it. Longest line I've ever seen! You can always trust Heinz. Ahh...sweet inverted love. Well, we ended up having a wait on T2, but although it was almost an hour, it definitely could have been worse. Our next stop was T2. We had hopes of having a shorter wait time than we did on Chang. Hamming it up on Chang. Chang was really a nice stand-up coaster. I thought it was extremely smooth, and if the wait times weren't over an hour we'd have ridden it again. Not that I'm a big fan of stand-ups but Chang is by far my favorite of the ones I've ridden. Very nice to meet you Mr. Chang! Now, this nifty little piece of steel has peaked my interest. Now that's a ride I would wait in line for! Sorry, I just though I'd add a picture of my dream car. There was even a wait for Himalaya! When we saw the crowd I was like "WTF?" People were arriving by the busload to see Toby Mac. Choosing of day to attend SFKK - epic FAIL (I blame Heidi) When we arrived, the parking lot didn't seem too full. I was thinking that we would be able to get all of our rides in early, then spend the afternoon snoozing in the lazy river. We got a little lost (Heidi's fault) trying to find the entrance, but we finally made it.

It definitely seemed more comfortable to me when I sat on the right side. Even when riding on the left, I just made sure I was ready for it and did fine.

^^Just a word of advice, on Hades be prepared for a bit of a slam to the left as you are going back under the parking lot. When we were there about a month ago, a boy got off of the coaster and had a tear in his left ear from hitting the car. Then my friend got severely bruised ribs during his one trip on Hades. We were riding along having a great time, hands up and hollering like crazy. Then, when were about to come back up from under the parking lot, I realized that my friend was suddenly completely quiet. When we got back into the daylight, I looked over and he was holding his side and grimacing like he'd been shot or something. When we got off of the ride, after making sure he was okay, I laughed my butt off at him and rode another three times. That being said, Hades is an awesome coaster! As for me, I'm heading to SFOT tomorrow to soak up a little Texas heat and catch a few rides on Titan and Texas Giant(yes, I do enjoy Texas Giant). Actually, it's only going to be 97, and at least up there it actually will be a dry heat.

^Yeah, Shock Drop was terrifyingly great! When we saw it, I wasn't too worried because it didn't look horribly tall. Well, we sat on the side that looks down the hill, so it felt like we went up even higher. Everytime I'm on any kind of drop tower, I sound like I have Tourette's when we begin going up, then scream like a banshee on the way down, and even on little ol' Shock Drop, I was the same way. LOL

Last year I decided to take a nice little amusement park trip through the midwest this summer. It quickly got out of hand and turned into an amazing 12 park coaster extravaganza. (By the way, I must give words of thanks to everyone who helped by giving me advice on the best way to get through the trip. I heeded your advice and was very grateful for it. I must also say that I look forward to next year joining the experts at creating trips to amusement parks, Robb, Elissa, and the whole TPR gang. It looks like it will be a blast and definitely much cheaper.) Let's get down to business. Day one began with me flying to Memphis to pick up my niece. I'm not sure she knew what to expect and neither did I to tell you the truth. I was just hoping that everything would run smoothly and we wouldn't have any hitches like bad weather along the way. We made the drive to Bowling Green to visit Beech Bend with the main object of my desire being Kentucky Rumbler. Beech Bend was a nice little park. It was extremely hot, but there was hardly anyone there, so we didn't do a lot of waiting in line. My one mistake was letting my niece pick the rides that we rode. I figured if I was going to drag her through umpteen states and parks, the least I could do was let her pick what we rode. I had no idea she was such a fan of spin'n'pukes and ferris wheels....neither of which are my favorites. Spinning rides because of the obvious, who could actually enjoy feeling nauseous for a day? Ferris wheels...well, they just plain scare me. 200+ feet high rollercoasters and sky coasters=not scary. Ferris wheels=terrifying! We did our fair share of spinning that day, which led to many Tylenols for me. The greatest part of the day we spent riding Kentucky Rumbler. What a great coaster! It alone was definitely worth the stop. We were able to get in four rides on Rumbler. Looping Star was down that day, but I did manage to get credits for Dragon Coaster and the Wild Mouse. After much spin'n'puking, we ended the day with a nice scary ride on the Ferris Wheel. We didn't get to spend much time there, but the time we did spend was a lot of fun. The people always greeted you with a smile, even though you could tell they were burning up in the heat. HaHa, now it's Heidi's turn to hit the meds. After a hot day of spin'n'pukes, nothing beats a dessert of Goody's powder and Sierra Mist. And thus ends a fun day of Kentucky Rumbling at Beech Bend. Sexy profile shot! The ride-op sat us for maximum spinnage. I must say that the water on White Water Express was a little on the green side. We should have played a nice game of mini-golf in the shade. I was too busy being terrified on the Ferris Wheel to Hell. Heidi's having a blast while I'm gritting my teeth thinking, "Get me off of this damn contraption!" Break out your Dramamine! Oh look, it's the Ferris Wheel to Hell and the Dragon Coaster. Everytime we would go around the little turn at the top of the hill, our car would kind of fall to the side with a disconcerting "clang!" Loved the ride-op though. Why weren't you open? I wanted one more credit, dangit! Beech Bend is a nice little park. Cheesing it up on Kentucky Rumbler! Now that's one impressive woodie! Who will be first to say it... Sweet mother...finally, we have arrived! Instead of Flying Bobs, for me it's more of a Flying "Ralphs" since that's what I feel like doing afterwards. Heidi thinks I'm trying to take a picture of her, so she flashes a smile. I hate to tell her that I'm actually trying to get Kentucky Rumbler and the Culver's ice cream sign in the same shot. Sorry, but ice cream infinitely more important than family. Haha, yeah right! Nice try, but no way in hell you're getting me on that. However, for those who appreciate it, I present Power Surge. Let me present the first ride of the day, Tornado! The ride-op was so cute when she said, "Whoa nah! Ya'll are gettin' too high!" in the greatest Kentucky accent. I know this is where the sign said to go, but the GPS is blank... What th- Did you just see Ned Beatty run screaming the other way? Wait, I see wooden sweetness in the distance! Yay, Almost there! Beech Bend here we come! Hello Kentucky! Let the coaster extravaganza begin!

^One of my dreams is to someday be able to make it over to Florida and ride the 300 foot Skycoaster in Kissimmee. I absolutely love Skycoasters. As long as they are 150 feet or taller, they are completely worth the fee. We actually paid 20 apiece at Kennywood for their 180 foot Skycoaster, and it was definitely well worth it.

^^I think you will be fine on Thunderhead. I didn't have any problem on the MF trains at any of the parks we visited my whole trip. One ride that might give you difficulty is Mystery Mine. On that ride it really seems to depend on where your gut sits. I did see several people have to walk through. A word of advice: on that ride try sitting in the middle seats, especially the second seat from the right of the train. There were several times that the ride-ops would play musical chairs with the riders, with the larger person almost always ending up in the second seat from the right. One positive thing about the OTSR restraints on MM that surprised me was that there was ample shoulder room. Sorry about being so analytical about rows and seats in my posts on this thread, but I just really stress out when I'm getting on a ride that I know is going to be tight, and I try to watch and study where my big brethren are having more or less difficulty. My friends who I frequent parks with used to make fun of how serious I would suddenly be once we entered the station. Now, they've become experts at watching where to sit as well so that I can relax a little. The bad thing about being close to fitting the restraints at Dollywood is that Dollywood has some of the greatest amusement park food! My suggestion would be to get to the park early and ride everything as many times as you want to ride it then spend the rest of the day filling your gut with all of the delicious delicacies they have to offer. If you need to kill time between food choices, slug around on the train or watch a show for a while. The main thing about Dollywood is you will have a great time.

^No picture, but Phantom is very forgiving for larger people. It has a completely different restraint than any coaster I've ever ridden; it has a lap bar that lowers from the side. I'm not sure how big you are, but if you were even close on Great Bear, you probably won't have a problem. Last year I was around 325 pounds, a 46 inch waist, and an even bigger derrier and fit fine on Phantom and everything else at Kennywood.

I agree, it is completely how/where you carry your weight. When I was at a 40-42 inch waist I was able to get the restraint on the Millennium test seat buckled just fine. I've always carried my weight pretty evenly and don't have an extra big gut. I'm big in the hips, gut, and chest. I think since my weight was pretty evenly distributed I was able to squeeze into some rides. I've seen guys who seemed smaller than me have to take "the walk." This year a guy had to get off of Diamondback and let his friends ride because after many tries the ride operators could not get the lap restraint down enough. We were next in line, and after I had the restraint down with no problem, I heard him say to a ride operator, "Well, you're letting him ride." I just ignored him and enjoyed the ride! The main thing is just enjoy the rides you can get on, and don't worry about the rest. You will never see any of those people again, so don't worry about what others think. Just utilize all of the test seats; that's what they're there for. And please, if, for the love of all that's holy, there is some obnoxious kid playing in the test seat while you're standing there obviously wanting to try it out, give him a smack for me. Then, sit down and see how it fits. 99% of the time, if it's close, the ride ops can get you on the ride unless it is Millennium or TTD.