Skycoastin Steve

Isn't it true that TPRS is going to Knoebels as the Human Centipede this year?

Go read my East Coast Bash trip report! Linky

And now for (finally) the final trip report from the MONDO vacation this summer, it's time for East Coast Bash! Jen and I were at Knoebels the same day the Road to CP trip was there, but since it was raining, neither of us brought our cameras in. It was a fairly brief stay, anyway, as we just got a few rides in on the woodies, got the kiddie credit, then rode other notable rides like the Flyer, Haunted Mansion, Skooters, Whip, etc. to use up our ride tickets. We were exhausted, so we just dipped out early and got some extra sleep down in Hershey. East Coast Bash was a wonderful way to end our trip, and was one of the best days period of the whole vacation. We began with ERT on Fahrenheit (still kinda meh) and Storm Runner (still OMFG good and just outside my top 5). After ERT was over, we bolted for Comet Hollow to beat the GP there, and we were able to knock out Comet and SooperDooperLooper without any wait. Neither ride is anything special, I really wish Comet wasn't trimmed up the way it is now. We also got Great Bear out of the way, and it was a little better than I remembered, but still nothing spectacular. At some point we rode Trailblazer (whatever), and soon after that it was lunch time, where Cliff and I tied (yes, it was a tie!) in the beer chugging contest. Jen also won a concept drawing of Fahrenheit for being the first person to check into the event on facebook (wonder dorks FTW!). I don't think we rode Wildcat, Lightning Racer, Sidewinder, or the Wild Mouse until after lunch, but I can't remember exactly. Wildcat has continued to regress, it just gets rougher every time I come back to the park. Lightning Racer is still amazing, the best racing woodie I've been on for sure, and it's not even close. Sidewinder and Wild Mouse were typical offerings, and the new Vekoma trains on Sidewinder helped somewhat, but it's still a Boomerang. We also had a backstage tour of the park, walking by the support columns that had already arrived for SkyRush (which is always cool), and getting some good "not normal" shots of Lightning Racer in the process. The rest of the day was spent re-riding Storm Runner, and getting a delicious Gyro from the food place right under the top hat. We also grabbed another lap each on Fahrenheit and Great Bear to confirm how mediocre they are. And we also rode the INSANE log flume, as well. That night, we were part of the tour groups that got to look at the hydraulic room of Storm Runner, which was REALLY cool to see. The scope and size of the engine that drives that ride is incredible, I can only imagine what TTD or KK's look like, seeing how they have two of them! We finished our night with a few night rides on Lightning Racer during ERT, which was a perfect way to end a great day at Hersheypark. That ride gets transformed into one hell of an experience when the sun goes down! Alrighty, picture time. The whole album is on facebook here. As always, thanks for reading and please comment!! I see dancing candy bars, that must mean we are at the sweetest place on Earth! Chocolate river! I'll be back in 293 days. SooperDooperLooper is sooperdooperlooping. I love the smell of Great Bear in the morning, smells like mediocrity. Look at all the excited faces! Not one of Arrow's best offerings. Aw, do we have to? I do like that it's sponsored by my employers, though. It does boomerang-ish things. Brittney looks "excited." David, not so much. I would love to live on this corner. Is it just me, or should the mouse me going after a giant chocolate? Only seems fitting. SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!!! So THAT'S what that smell is. I thought some ACErs had snuck into lunch with us. I love the lack of clearance here. The lunch pavilion provided tons of great photo ops of Storm Runner. Do these supports remind anyone else of empty paper towel rolls? A very fun portion of the ride. Maybe my favorite part, the airtime hill that jumps into a barrel roll. Intamin rocks. Goose butt! The man, the myth, the chocolate legend. This picture is brought to you by the country of Norway (nerds should get it). Backstage tour! I wasn't too excited. What it looks like when you peer through a bolt hole. Intamin offers some rather odd looking supports. Some weird Intamin code. More weird Intamin code. INTAMIN WATER! YUM! Jen is looking fabulous with her choice of Intamin supports. The tour also provided a great backstage look at Lightning Racer. Wonderfully engineered ride! Dorks of the world, assume the position! Trains! Weeeeeee!! If Lightning Racer was true to physics, lightning would always win, because lightning always comes before thunder. [/nerd] Is there any way to convey "meh-ness" in a picture? I've never been that impressed with this ride. But this picture is kinda cool. It also rained on and off at parts during the day. And by rain, I mean it POURED. This kid was having fun splashing around though. And I just like this one. Storm Runner's employee of the year!! We rode the Kissing Tower. Awwwww....... Go America! We went by Great Bear, winner of worst crew of the day award, and their height stick had fallen into the water. I think their sense of urgency fell into the water, as well. But the ride still looks great at sunset! But then again, most rides look great at sunset. I am particularly proud of this shot. We were walking under the ride when I noticed you could see the track in a puddle. So I just waited for a train to roll by, and this was the result! Even the most uneventful rides look great at sunset! Love how the park looks at night! I think Hersheypark gets my vote for "best night park." While tracer lights wouldn't work on every woodie on Earth, they work REALLY well on the Hershey woodies. Storm Runner also looks great at night. Here is the concept drawing of Fahrenheit that Jen won. Info in the bottom right corner, awesome stuff!

^That was one of my favorite things to do. I always loved the look of bewilderment on the person's face when they realized that they were wearing what I was describing. But yes, it was frustrating and annoying to have to ask people all day to not sit on them, especially when the people know damn well they aren't supposed to.

I've seen people fall on their face and on the back of their head because they decided to sit on the handrail. Usually as an operator, I didn't mind if people sat on the lower handrail (if there was one), that way their feet are still on the ground. But I was a Nazi when it came to sitting on the top one (as all ops should be).

^Ah yes! How could I forget? That stuff was delicious!

So after reaching the end of the TPR NE Trip, Jen and I still had a little bit of traveling to do. We had tons of credits left for her to get in Pennsylvania, and I was happy to be her tour guide throughout the state! On Friday, we woke up early in Allentown and headed down to Lancaster for Dutch Wonderland (which was actually new for me, as well). Dutch Wonderland was our third kiddie park in as many days (Magic Forest and Sesame Place were the others), but this one was a little different than the other two. The park itself has been around for a while, and has a real "rural" feel to it (obviously, being in Dutch country). It's home to CCI's first ever coaster, a first-generation simulator ride, a kiddie coaster, a monorail, and a host of other children's attractions. I'm sure the place has decent food, but I don't think we tried any of it (at least I don't remember trying any of it). Kingdom Coaster, CCI's first creation, is actually a really good family woodie. It had some surprising moments of airtime in various parts of the ride, and was still pretty smooth despite being almost 20 years old. They just need to do something about the color scheme. The only other notable attraction was the first-generation simulator, which basically consisted of hilariously bad 70s animations and rocking VERY slowly back and forth. We still got a huge kick out of "riding" it. Not too much else to report on, it was a pretty park and we enjoyed our brief stay there. Once we got back to Allentown, it was time to hit up Dorney Park for Jen's further credit stockpiling. I've been to Dorney several times now, and I always end up enjoying myself there. There's not a ton of atmosphere to speak of in the park, but the staff is always friendly, and the operators always keep the lines moving quickly (which was nice after going to four Six Flags parks and Morey's Piers on this trip). As many of you know, Dorney has sort of been the Cedar Fair dumping grounds as of lately, and it's a shame. It's in a populated enough area where it could sustain big crowds on a regular basis if it got brand new attractions, rather than used ones. I know its water park is a big draw, but we didn't go in there this time. As far as coasters go, Dorney is all about its three "biggest" rides, which are Talon, Steel Force, and Hydra. You could include Possessed in there, but since it's relocated, I don't really count that as one of its big rides. After those four, the selection is pretty weak, with a wild mouse, kiddie coaster, and one of the worst woodies in the country. If there's anything Dorney needs BIG time, it's a high-quality woodie. Thunderhawk is awful, and I know Hercules wasn't much better (although I never rode it). Talon remains one of the best B&M inverts in the country, Steel Force is a tamer version of Magnum, and Hydra is not as good as I remember it. I think Hydra is a unique and quirky coaster, it just seems to have gotten more lackluster as time has gone on. Still love the jo-jo roll though. Possessed is what it is, a single-twist Intamin impulse with a holding brake (and actually pretty fun). All in all, Dorney is still an enjoyable park going experience for me, but it'll never be a place I go out of my way to visit until they get a MAJOR new attraction. Until then, it's a "stop by when I'm in the area since I have a platinum pass" kinda park. Pictures on the way, thanks for reading and please comment! The day began at Dutch Wonderland. Quaint little castle entrance to the park. "There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures..........and the Dutch!" Kingdom Coaster, who picked the color scheme? Not big, but fun anyway. That's what she said. Everybody's having a fun time. As I said before, this ride had some good moments of airtime. Nothing like Wooden Warrior, but still good. Take the tun--oh wait, tunnel's over. I was disappointed to find out that this pretzel was not edible. This coaster looks like it belongs at Funtown Splashtown next to Excalibur. For those of you who don't know, this coaster opened as "Sky Princess," but too many little boys refused to ride it because of the name, so the park went with something a little more gender neutral. Obligatory lift hill shot. The park had a monorail that offered some nice views. I've seen the statue of liberty in NYC, Magic Forest, and now Dutch Wonderland. It's everywhere! The monorail weaves through parts of Kingdom Coaster. Anybody think this castle is bigger than the one at Disneyland? The park mascot is some Barney wannabe. I did love the method they used for height measurement, right up there with the Hersheypark candy bar measurements! One word: epic. This kinda made me nauseous. Jen using the "Princess" bathroom. Time for Dorney Park! And one of my favorite inverts, Talon! This helix is probably the best part of the ride. I think I may have grazed a bush with my finger at one point. That's what he said. Ten years old and still a fantastic ride. First-generation Leviathan logo. Jo-jo roll! This kiddie was a tad rough. And even though I already had the credit, I rode it like a good sport. First-generation Banshee logo. Dorney even got a hand-me-down logo! They've repainted the ride recently, and it was looking sharp. We also met up with Neil and Shawn at the park, and for those of you with good eyes, you can spot them in the 3rd row (look for Shawn's hair!). So far this ride is has had four names, two color schemes, two locations, and a partridge in a pear tree. Do we have to?? This ride just does..........nothing. It's boring and rough. I'd rather sit through four straight episodes of Jersey Shore. It's not even nice to look at. Blech. At least Steel Force is photogenic. The similarities to Magnum are apparent. New location, same old mechanical problems. It never opened that day. Steel Force is also in a perfect location for sunset photos, and I just happen to love taking sunset photos! I had to give myself a pat on the back for this one. Yet another S&S tower, didn't ride this one. Another ride that looks good at sunset. Weirdest looking cobra roll ever? Another Sunset Force pic for ya. I also patted myself on the back for this one. I always love when these turn out well. The final credit was the Wild Mouse, which oddly enough, had the longest line. Crazy eyed cat. The end!

^ My Bag-O-Crap was a nice surprise as I got home from work tonight! Look how excited I was! I promise, this was my actual reaction, not posed at all. Noted! UGH. Can we keep the Bag-O-Crap from throwing up on my bed next time? YAY! Happy Valley and Mirabilandia Legoland California and Carowinds Universal Singapore Oakwood and Adventure Island Cedar Point Various other things, and Teh Big Dipper Coaster Lanyard from WCB 2009. Now I can say I went even though I didn't! TPR luggage identifier thingy and the almighty indestructible TPR pen. I feel like He-Man. I HAVE THE POWERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

So we have reached the end of the 2011 TPR Northeast USA Trip. I think I've said it in other threads, but it really was everything it was hyped up to be, especially since it was my first TPR trip and I've heard so many good things about them. I met some of the finest people I've ever known during that week, and hopefully some friends I'll keep for life! A few special shout outs to Jen (you know how awesome you are), Neil and Kim (best Q-Bot group ever!), Brian and John (thanks for the leg room seats!), Philip and Ian (it took too long for us to start hanging out during the trip!), Gary and Kerry (awesome Carolinians!), David and JP (always good for some comic relief!), and then others like Shawn, Piers, Garbels, TPDave, Canadian Nick, KCSteve, Roxy, Caesar, and so many others who provided countless memorable moments during the trip. Not to mention Robb and Elissa who put together one kickass trip for us! If I forgot your name, it's not on purpose, I had a blast with you all! Even if I don't do a trip next year, I'll be back doing them again in 2013. Now that I've gotten the mushy stuff out of the way, Jen and I still had some traveling to do on our own. We made a quick stop by Great Adventure to finish off Jen's credit collection and ride El Toro a few times. I didn't take any pictures of note there since I already did a report on the park back in May. After we got Jen the rest of her credits at SFGAd, we made the quick drive to Sesame Place to pick up the junior Vekoma credit there. The nice thing about Sesame Place is that it's a Busch property, and we have Busch platinum passes, so we saved quite a few bucks on that credit run! We really didn't explore the park too much, considering it was very crowded, very hot, and very.......strange. I'm not sure if it was the fatigue or what, but we were both rather creeped out by the place. Thankfully the credit was in the front of the park and we didn't have to venture too far to get to it. We did have to wait half an hour (yeah, did I mention it was crowded?), but we pretty much left immediately after we got off the ride. I only took a few pictures, as well, but I'll share them. Next report will be Dutch Wonderland and Dorney Park, thanks for reading! As always, comments are appreciated! I loved Sesame Street when I was a kid, but I wasn't prepared for what lie ahead...... People like to call me Big Bird, but my feet are bigger than his. You know what they say about big feet....... Entrance and stuff. Big Bird in his nest and Mr. Snuffleupagus pole dancing? Elmo waving and Cookie Monster looking at two people at once. Kiddie coasters themed to Grover immediately get the Skycoastin Steve Stamp of Approval. Artsy lift hill shot. I will say, this coaster had some decent forces for being tiny. In fact, I'd take it over most other Vekoma offerings. I think the joke is obvious. We have discovered the 10th planet, named Thesun. Grover flying away. We decided to ride in the "un-planet," Pluto. Super Grover! Kiddie helix of death! Another eclipse. The world must be ending! The cars looked like little spaceships. How cute. Yeah, yeah, yeah. "Twisty." "Yeah, Oscar, you're a grouch!" ".....Bitch, I live in a f***ing trash can!" Elmo can't wait for Christmas, and I can't wait to get out of here........

That rumor has only been around for about 6 years now.....

^"Thanks for the fish, stupid!!!"

They misspelled Arrow Dynamics three times in that article. Just saying... Hence why I didn't link to it.

I've seen enough posts on facebook and on other coaster sites to confirm this, but I haven't been able to locate a concrete news article on it. As soon as I find one, I'll get it posted. He was 81. Here is the link to the article about his passing: http://amusementtoday.com/ R.I.P. Coat Hanger Man

I was about to post the very same thing.

^The one with the ice cream cone was in front of the building, and the one I posted was on the side of the building. Here's the picture I took of the ice cream guy.

My vote for the roughest I've been on goes to the one at SFGAd, but this one was definitely up there.

Moving right along, it's time to get back in the good ole U-S-of-A. The last official day of the trip was a stop by The Great Escape in upstate New York, and also a bonus credit whoring run that would turn out to be the most epic credit whore stop.......maybe ever. But sticking with Great Escape for now, I actually REALLY liked the park, which made me feel dirty since I loathe Six Flags so much. The Six Flags was apparent in many ways, yet it seems the park has resisted getting fully "flagged" so far. There was beautiful landscaping all over, lots of charm left over from the Storytown days, and it just didn't "feel" like a Six Flags park in several areas of the park. However, it still had the slow operations that plague most SF properties, but that didn't matter too much since the park wasn't overly crowded. As for the rides, Comet was most definitely the best coaster in the park. I will say that it didn't quite live up to my expectations, but I still thought it was one of the best traditional out and back coasters I've been on. Once it warmed up during the day, the airtime in the front row was fantastic, and the back row even had some good spots of airtime (as they typically don't as much on out and backs). I will say that one of the drops coming out of a turn around nearly ended my day during ERT when I rode in the very back, as it jackhammered enough to make my lower spine feel like someone has smacked it with a sledge hammer. It took me a little while to recover from that one. Besides that one drop, it was pretty smooth all around. None of the other coasters were really that noteworthy. There was an Arrow mine train (boring), a Boomerang (typical), a kiddie coaster, a rather painful Intamin bobsled, and probably the most painful Arrow loop-screw I've ever been on. The log flume was pretty fun, and we got blasted by fellow TPR members on the water cannons (bastards!). The rest of the stuff I can cover in captions. Here come the pics, and as always, my full album is here. Comments are very much appreciated, thanks for reading! Whoa, nice sign. This can't be a Six Flags property, can it? Whoa, nice entrance. This can't be a Six Flags property, can it? Time for Comet ERT! Um, Gary, the ride is over, you can put your hands down. Neil gives Comet two thumbs up. Or is he giving me two thumbs up? That electrified wood will get ya every time! This is the proper time to have your hands up, Gary. Jen, Neil, and Garbels look like they are about to have a good time. Piers looks like he is about to puke. Jen, Neil, and Garbels looks like they are having a good time. Piers looks like he is about to puke. Full hour of ERT rocks! I swear we need a caption contest for this one. "I hear he likes to handle big wood." Intamin doesn't always make awesome rides...... Kinda hurt. Apparently this was on its way out, but has had an 11th hour stay of execution. There was still a lot of Storyland stuff left over that Six Flags hasn't razed to the ground yet. Alice in Bondage-land? This creeped me out, and I was on a trip with 90 TPR members! 350th credit! With Ice Bat! Sources have confirmed that this Cinderella's castle is indeed larger than the one at Disneyland. Arrow mine trains always bring the pain! Um............. Yep, coat hanger engineering at its finest. Time for the Arrow loop-screw. Not sure if I've ever ridden one that didn't hurt. But they always take nice pictures! The log flume with the incomplete name. Ok, who made the itinerary with all the boomerangs?? I don't think this one was horrible, but it's hard to remember with all the boomerang carnage that was going on during this trip. One thing I did love about this trip was the abundance of S&S towers. Google Earth was there! We rode the Skycoaster, my 9th credit on those! The two of them were shaking in their boots. But getting a Skycoaster credit with Skycoastin Steve is worth the fear! Jen already has a few with me, but it never hurts to get another one. Manly pose on a Skycoaster, pretty much as badass as it gets. Honey badger isn't even as badass as that. Time for a few bonus shots of Comet. The GP doesn't go hands up like we do. As I said, a high-quality classic coaster. Not the greatest, but still tons of fun! Trannies on the Musik Express??? We're both Sasquatches, so this picture made sense. Bonus credit run! Little did we know what horrors awaited us...... Santa in August? Early Christmas?? Score! Well I guess we ARE in New York. Words, I have none. Doesn't this technically mean the fry dude is eating himself??? This kinda looks like one of those Wii characters. Pedo clown? I'll have to invent a new word for the creepiness exhibited here. At least the kids get to drive tanks! Astronauts. Of all the things we rode, this might have scared me the most. Apparently the coaster missed its lunch break today, as evidenced by the video below....... Success!

^Somebody had a video of it, I want to say it was uploaded on facebook. Edit! Antonio has it on his facebook if you want to look for it.

^KD didn't start pushing the "fastest gravity driven coaster" record until media day when they clocked it going faster than Steel Dragon. CW might know how long the drop is, but maybe they're waiting till they have the media's full attention next year to drop those numbers on everyone. That way it'll create even more excitement for the ride as it's opening ("hey, come ride this tomorrow, it's a record breaker!").

Precisely what I was saying when it was announced! The first drop goes into a trench, which means it HAS to be longer than a 300 foot drop (I'm going to estimate about 310-315), therefore also making it faster than MF or 305. The only question would be if the speed tops Steel Dragon as the fastest non-launched coaster.

^I'm glad you at least got to meet up with Neil at DSB, he's close to taking away your spot as my favorite male coaster enthusiast.

^If you wanted to pick up all the credits, I would recommend a Gold Flash Pass. And even then, there's no guarantee you'll get them all in one day.

I came here to post this exact thing. El Toro's station is awful, it's just a bottle neck that creates horribly overcrowded situations at the front of the station. The one good thing is it keeps the line for the back car short since everyone gets stuck at the front, but it's still a pain in the ass to get to the back of the station.

^They better build Leviathan 2.0 there if they want me to go back. I think my crepe was banana, vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream, and it was amazing!

At Nighthawk last year, we had this realllyyyyy old lady come up to the station using a walker. No, I'm not exaggerating. She was using a walker. She had to be at least 80. I don't recommend Nighthawk to people who are in good health, let alone 80 year old women using a walker! Regardless, she rode in the middle of row 4, and came back alive (thank God), and really seemed to enjoy herself. That had to be the most nerve-wracking 3 minutes ever.