adamico2

...you have over 24 hours of old Discovery Channel coaster specials on VHS!

^Yes, but the amount of room your body has to travel before it hits something (seatbelt vs. clamshell) has been reduced, as the retractable seatbelts will fit to your lap. That being said, it's really not going to make THAT big of a difference in overall experience.

I'm really confused. There were no seat belts on Diamondback this past Sunday.

^I completely agree with this. I find Firehawk to be significantly better than the S:UF clones. Nighthawk, however, was just a painful experience. It really doesn't make any sense to me, just like the Togos at Canada's Wonderland and Kings Dominion. Canada's Wonderland's is rough but still enjoyable (with ejector air), while Kings Dominion's is just painful.

Banshee exceeded my expectations! Had you asked me after my first two rides, I would have said I still prefer Raptor, but once it warmed up, the ride was hauling. I think I can say with some confidence that Banshee has become my favorite invert. (I have not ridden Montu or Nemesis.) The ride has a great first drop (especially in the back right), followed my 2 mediocre inversions. The zero-gravity roll is true to its name and doesn't lack in speed. After that, the ride speeds up and has some serious forces through the batwing/pretzel knot. Positive forces are sustained through the speedy vertical loop. While the ride is overall marginally more intense in the back, the most intense moment you can experience on the ride actually occurs in the front seat, during the turn from the loop to the in-line twist. The in-line twist provided some nice hang time as the ride move very slowly through it. A final, forceful but not as forceful as Raptor's, helix caps off this incredible ride.

^It is a rare occasion for Easter to occur this late in April. The park is not usually open on Easter. I would not expect the park to be too crowded, especially for the first few hours of operation, but I have no experience to base that on. On an unrelated note...the forecast is calling for snow Tuesday morning, but high 60s and sun for Media Day!

9 AM seems like a logical time. There will probably be a lot of people trying to get pictures following the 9:30 presentation.

^We know you do, but it's not going to happen. Yes the park needs some more slides, but when they do their next water park expansion, expect it to be near the rest of the current water park. Barracuda Bay is officially dead; let it go.

I've also never seen the line over 15 minutes, outside of Saturdays during the Haunt. Most days it only has about a 2 train wait. This year, I would expect lines to increase a bit, however, due to its proximity to Banshee.

^ Well, I stand corrected (and by goggles ). I guess it really does achieve the same speed under "normal" operating conditions as it did with skids. I cannot attest to the ride's performance in the '80s, however, since I was not born yet.

Here is a POV taken circa 1999. The Beast does not travel as fast today as it did back then. Just look how fast it is moving as it exits the MCBR shed and how far up the second lift it goes before the chain catches.

Top 20: 1. Intimidator 305 (1.5 Phoenix) 2. Millennium Force 3. Phantom's Revenge 4. Maverick 5. Behemoth 6. Ride of Steel 7. Nitro 8. Goliath (SFoG) 9. Storm Runner 10. Diamondback 11. Griffon 12. Top Thrill Dragster 13. Mystery Mine 14. Magnum XL-200 15. Steel Force 16. Raptor 17. Chinese Fireball 18. Alpengeist 19. Skyrush 20. Tatsu Bottom 5: 94. Anaconda 95. Favorite Boomeranf 96. Favorite SLC 97. Ninja (SFoG) 98. Favorite Volare

I305 Photo Walkback and some Dinosaurs An intimidating first hill That is one steep lift! Airtime! I can't even imagine this turn at ground level. The first drop is incredible. Nerd shot #1 Nerd shot #2 This ride is TWISTY! (and so is that one over there) Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Aussie Steve broke the ride, so we had to cut our walkback short. Thanks Steve. Rebel Yell was showing some cleavage today... while Anaconda was showing...well nevermind It's ALIVE! Does anyone else suddenly have a sudden urge to watch Robot Chicken? (I don't think I've seen that show since one of our bus rides on the tour.) More dinos More dinos What's that hiding back there? It must be Grizzly, through the trees! (Sorry I couldn't resist.)

East Coast Bash 2012 (Part 1: Kings Dominion) This would be my second bash event with TPR, the first being Behemoth Bash back in 2008. Robb and Elissa really know how to throw a party. Plus, I got to meet up with a couple of friends from Ohio. The day started off with some ERT on Volcano and I305. Following lunch, I got to experience my first TPR Quest, complete with the infamous Bohemian Rapsody Sing Off and a beer chugging contest. After night fall, we got even more ERT I305, along with some time on FoF and Dominator. The Phoenix suffered a fate similar to that of El Toro, a very short stent as my favorite coaster. For the first time in my life, a steel coaster reigned king. I305 is still to this day my absolute favorite coaster. The raw intensity of this ride is simply unparalleled. Of my 25+ rides, only 3 were not accompanied with complete loss of vision during the first turn. It took the air time on the second hill to bring my vision back, at which point I was an an indescribable state of euphoria. From there, the ride basically turns into Maverick, just more comfortable, a comfort that can be attributed to soft, nonrestrictive vests. (Skyrush would definitely benefit from these trains!) Even the trimmed third hill had more air time than any hill on most B&Ms. I305 is as close to perfection as any coaster as ever come. Volcano was also a lot of fun, if not a little short. I'm really surprised Intamin only made a handful of these. Grizzly was a decent wood coaster but nothing to write home about. This ride is seriously hard to find! You have to walk through the gift shop of another attraction (Dinosaurs Alive) to get to it. Needless to say, despite knowing exactly where the ride is, it took us a good 5 minutes, or so, to find the station. Once in the station, we were greeted with an empty queue and one of the most enthusiastic operators I've ever seen. This dude was constantly singing/rapping about the ride, which was quite entertaining. We did everything we could to maximize our night time ERT on I305 and technically missed the closing time for Flight of Fear. Luckly, the kind line attendant let us in for our 'lights-on' ride. Dominator was a great way to end the night. Believe it or not, there was still quite a bit of energy left in us at the end of this very long day. On to the pictures...

Have you tried using the Excel ballot? I can almost guarantee that the Excel ballot is faster than any GUI program you could come up with. Yes, the old text file ballot was a pain in the butt, but there are TWO other options out there now and no longer anything to gripe about.

Here are my top 20 and bottom 4... 1. Phoenix 2. El Toro 3. Ravine Flyer II 4. The Voyage 5. The Beast 6. Raven 7. Cornball Express 8. Thunderhead 9. The Legend 10. Thunderbolt 11. Coney Island Cyclone 12. Viper 13. Santa Cruz Giant Dipper 14. Lightning Racer - L 14. Lightning Racer - T 16. Kentucky Rumbler 17. Silver Comet 18. Cedar Point Blue Streak 19. Stricker's Grove Tornado 20. Georgia Cyclone . . . 49. Mean Streak 50. Predator 51. Kings Dominion Hurler 52. Carowinds Hurler

you've accidentally typed "POV oil" instead of "POE oil" more than once in the same day.

It was indeed from the roller cowster; scbt will receive a donation to his Coasting for Kids page next year. The park was painting it in the warehouse backstage during our visit. I wonder if it has been repurposed for anything yet.

Central Park Funland On our way down to our hotel near Kings Dominion, Robb and Elissa had a little surprise for us...the smallest credit I've ever ridden! We made a pit stop at Funland not long before closing. They welcomed us with open arms and even fired up the grills for us. We were very hungry after a long bus ride. It's little surprises like these that make TPR trips truly great. Jett Star Layout Tiny Lift Hill (we barely made it through the course)

Hershey Park Photos Skyrush! _insert cliché here_ The old Sooperdooperlooper train, as seen backstage $10 to next year's Coasting for Kids page of the first person who can tell me what this was from (please hold me to it) Storm Runner reaction shot

Well, you know it's taken too long to finish this trip report when Flying Turns has opened. Hershey Park This was the only park on the trip I had been to previously, but, having only gotten five of the credits last time, I was itching to get back. Even if operations are terrible (and they are), I really do like this park. For starters, it has one of the best coaster collections out there, including the Intamin trifecta. We started the day with a half hour of ERT on Skyrush, which was about all my bony thighs could take. This ride was insane! Between the strongest air time I've ever experienced and what is probably my favorite first drop anywhere, it was worth the pain...but could I take more than 6 rides in a row? No way. ERT continued on Sooperdooperlooper and Comet. Sooperdooperlooper was my first looping Schwarzkopf, back in '04. I really didn't understand what all the buzz was about. I've come to realize this was one of his few flops, in my opinion, though I do appreciate that it operates with lap bars only. That being said, with a 42" height requirement, it's a great first looping coaster for kids. This was KT's first, if I not mistaken. Comet was decent enough but paled in comparison to Phoenix. Next, we broke off into Fast Track groups. Larry served as our personal tour guide for the day. Back in '04, I though Wildcat was decent. This time around, it was terrible. Lightning Racer, on the other hand, is just pure fun. Robb gave us a great tip, to get to the Roller Soaker early. His two reasons were to avoid the ridiculous waits later in the day and to avoid getting too wet, as there would not be many guests in the back of the park that early. Well, he had an ulterior motive, to personally drench us with water cannons; luckily, our cars were equipped with ammo for retaliation. We tried out the Reese's Extreme Cup Challenge, which I proved to suck at. Luckily, I could blame my poor performance on my lack of understanding of the dense story line. I may be in the minority here, but Storm Runner is my favorite ride in the park. It's hard to compete with a great launch, good airtime, and that crazy flying snake dive thingy. Fahrenheit was a pleasant surprise. I had read generally negative reviews about this one, but I actually found it to be quite smooth and very enjoyable. This was the longest wait of the day, not because of the crowd, but because of a light drizzle and the "potential for a thunderstorm" that never occurred. Oh yeah, there was an awesome backstage tour in there as well. On to the absurdly small number of pictures (it was a half day park)...

Awesome! That's what I like to hear.

Is there likely to be a Bash day or ClubTPR meet-up day as part of the Mini New Hotness Tour?

It also tries to bust your kneecaps. I have vowed to wear some sort of knee pads if I ever return.

if you didn't need the hint.