Skycoastin Steve

^I don't have the slightest clue why I didn't think of that before. Although I will say, it would have taken a little more skill with timing when the ride would be framed properly, but I would have figured it out. I wish I could go back and get more shots, but unfortunately that was most likely my one and only visit for the year.

This was just posted to Knoebels' facebook page. I'm sure there will be more official news on it in the near future.

No problem at all, your shots were insane! I do own a tripod, I just got a little 6-inch one before I left for this trip. Used trash cans for platforms (see? they do serve a common good!). I just have a point and shoot camera, and for whatever reason, the only way I can get the long shutter time is in fireworks mode. Which is actually surprising considering it's a Nikon, but it still worked out fine for me. I should have done more homework on long-shutter speeds before I bought the camera, but I've been very happy with it so far, so it's no big deal. If I could afford a really nice DSLR, I would get one in a heartbeat, but a purchase like that is a ways down the road. According to the Toft's website, Caveman Chocolate is "Fudge-filled chocolate chunks and swirls of thick chocolate fudge in dark chocolate ice cream." And thank you to everyone for the comments, I really appreciate them!

Hello CP thread viewers! Do you think this picture is awesome? Yes? Then go here to see the rest!

^Caveman Chocolate is the king of all ice cream.

Since I seem to have the captive audience now that my last update made the front page, might as well get these pics uploaded so you guys can enjoy them as much as I have! I do need to preface all this by saying that TPR user Real's photo TR of Windseeker from a few weeks ago (viewable here) is what gave me the motivation to try taking these night time shots of Windseeker. Please go there, check out his pictures, and comment on them, as well! While I think the pictures I took turned out VERY well, his blow mine away! So please also give him his due credit! Alright, and now onto the main attraction. I have to say, the lighting package on this ride at night is nothing short of incredible. I really, really hope they maintain the look of this ride for years to come, and I imagine it shouldn't be difficult with LEDs being the light source. You can see this thing at night from forever far away (at least as far away as Kelleys Island, it was clearly visible from the waterfront over there). As far as taking the long-shutter photos of the ride itself at night, I really can't explain the "Tetris" effect that occurs on many of these shots. It only did it when the ride was slowing down, my guess is the segmented nature of the LEDs and the extra time that the camera had to pick up on the colors were part of the reason. Some of these pictures look like a UFO, while others look like something out of a crazy 3D movie. It's far and away the most fun I've had taking pictures at an amusement park. For those of you wondering, the shutter speed on all of these was four seconds, and it seemed to be pretty spot on for what I needed. I implore any of you with cameras that can take pictures like this to go out to the Point and try them out for yourself! Before the Windseeker pics, I have a few great sunset shots of some Intamin beauty. Maverick was built for sunset photos. Postcard? Airtime! This one of Monster kinda looks like one of those old spirographs! MaXair. Wasn't quite enough light for the effect I wanted, but it still looks cool. And now for the REALLY cool shots. In the words of Joker, and here..........we...........go! You can see a little of the Tetris effect. The first of many with elaborate and spectacular colors. Smurf: The Ride. When the colors on the under side of the arms changed, it made a checker pattern in the picture. Awesome. A lot of them came out with this purple-ish color. I typically had enough time to get 3-5 shots at the top before the ride started lowering again. Not all of them escaped blurriness, but they still look cool. After the first few ride cycles, I backed way up and it made it a lot easier to frame and time the pictures. I'm waiting on the first "UFO sighting" phone call to the local authorities. Very similar to the last one. The lights at the top of the tower are peeking through on this one. Totally dig it. And there we go. Now here's where the colors get crazy. Kinda looks like what you would see in a dance club in the 70s. This is actually the background image on my phone right now. Crazy blue/purple combo there. I honestly can't think of anything to say for this one, but it's amazing. Background image on the laptop. The lights on the bottom of the seats created a nice outline to all these pictures. Kinda looks like a lamp shade. Another wacky checker board pattern. Probably my favorite of the entire bunch, it just came out perfect. The best thing about taking these pictures was hitting the button, watching the ride change colors while the camera was recording, and then looking back down to see what the picture looked like. Couldn't help but smile every time. Love it. A tad blurry, but whatever! And that'll be the last one! I actually forgot to add this in the last report, it's a panorama I did of Maverick during the morning. The track in the horseshoe roll is a little misaligned (couldn't do much about that), but it still looks pretty good. Thanks for reading!

For real laughed out loud. Bite your tongue. Ride in the back seat. As for the OP, you don't necessarily have to "feel" airtime. I know a lot of people describe it as the "floaty" feeling in your stomach, but I rarely feel that anymore because I'm so used to it. After riding so many coasters and flying on Skycoasters somewhere between 300-350 times, free-falling just doesn't give me the butterflies anymore. However, I can most definitely feel my butt lift off the seat and/or my body being thrown upward. I'm not sure which you can't feel, but you should always be able to feel your body lifting off the seat, even if you don't feel the floaties in your stomach.

CP hasn't really been the type of park to go "cheap" with new coaster installations any time in the last 20+ years (save for Woodstock Express). They pretty much go "all in" when they build a coaster. Whether or not they stay that way is all a matter of conjecture, but I don't see them changing that any time soon.

^Well I did sorta egg on the MF haters. And I agree that CP's food selection deserves criticism for the most part, it's certainly an area they could improve in. However, getting a Pink's was a big step in the right direction, seeing how it's a non-local chain that provides a pretty good selection. I would certainly go there WAYYYY before I ever went to the Chick-Fil-A or Subway in the park (and I love both of those chains, just not at 2x the normal price). And thank you for the praise, it's much appreciated!

It was $17 and change (including the drink), but very worth it! Much better than if I had spent it on a lukewarm burger and mushy fries.

Time for Part 2! The day after whoring it at Camden Park and Jungle Jack's Landing, it was time for Cedar Point! I know some of you on here give the park a hard time, but I still think it's an excellent place to spend a day. At least when I go there, I know the ride crews are going to do a hell of a job, as opposed to basically every park I've visited this year (maybe with the exception of BGW). The park was fairly crowded for it being a Wednesday, but with the 4th of July weekend rapidly approaching, I was sorta expecting that anyway. To avoid the heinous waits, I hit up Millennium Force and Maverick during the early entry for pass holders, and then got Top Thrill Dragster right after it opened at 10, virtually eliminating the three longest waits of the day. After that, I figured I'd ride all the coasters in one day, which if I had felt like waiting almost an hour for Raptor, I would have succeeded! Even though the park was crowded, the lines were moving pretty quickly the entire day. I believe the longest waits I had were 30 minutes each for TTD and Wildcat. I gotta give a special shout out to Blue Streak, as that thing was running balls to the wall INSANE. It was far and away the best ride I've ever had on that coaster, so apparently the PTC rehab that was done on the trains was a success! I also rode Windseeker twice, once in the morning and once near sunset. I got the ET soundtrack the first time, and the theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey the second time (which was pretty epic by the way). As far as the ride is concerned, I thought it was pretty fun, but nothing crazy scary or thrilling (kinda like Cheetah Hunt). It provides some amazing views of the park and lake, though, which is a nice bonus. And the lighting package at night is gorgeous! This set of pictures will just be the pictures I took during the day. My next one will feature some sunset shots and night time photos of the SPECTACULAR lighting package of Windseeker. You won't want to miss any of these! Now on to the pictures from the day! As always, comments are appreciated! Millennium Force is a terrific way to wake up at 9 in the morning! Glorious lift hill. Hands up! Still one of the best first drops you'll find anywhere. Up the turn...... .....and back down the turn. Maverick! The water bombs and basically all the effects in the tunnel were turned off. Not surprising, stuff like that never lasts. Two trains! Time to seek some wind (not to be confused with break some wind). Sign pic. I just liked the way the clouds looked so I took a picture of them. Triangular airtime hills = bliss. Race for the sky! Gemini doing its thing. I still love the crap out of this ride. Going up........ ..........going down. Looks like exercise is alive and well in America!! Skyhawk doing its thing with a bonus MF first drop shot behind it. Didn't realize how well this one would turn out, but I love it. Ugh. They did completely rebuild the track from the bottom of the first drop through half of the 2nd hill, and it was VERY smooth. The rest of the ride was typical Mean Streak, though. A look at the boneyard reveals the unused white train from Corkscrew and an old Gemini train covered with a tarp. Old blue train from Gemini. You can see a couple of the old Double Loop trains from Geauga Lake stacked on each other. The lovely trimmed first drop of Mean Streak. I don't like naming every rough woodie as the next candidate for a Rocky Mountain makeover, but Mean Streak is big, fast, and has a similar layout to Texas Giant. So why not? Twisted Horseshoe Roll. The repainted portions of MF looked terrific, and here's a good side by side comparison. Message to haters: Permission to keep on hating has been granted. Mantis was also running REALLY well. Turning the trim off does wonders for this ride. MaXair, such a fun ride! But......I didn't ride it. The line was ridiculous. Obligatory loop picture. Unfortunately, the only thing keeping me from riding every coaster in the park on this day was the insane line for Raptor. Usually it gets shorter as the day goes on, but that didn't happen. Oh well, not a huge fan of it anyway. This was the new method of protecting loose article bins from theft. The seatbelts are the ones from kiddie rides that the operators have to unlock themselves. Pretty good idea, as long as they lock them. Cedar Point has a new food location this year, Pink's Hot Dogs!!! This delicious creation was the Lake Erie Dog, an artery-clogging concoction of a spicy Polish dog, nacho cheese, American cheese, guacamole, grilled onions, and tomatoes! Best hot dog I've ever had, and the Grape Crush just made it that much better! Ocean Motion's new location looked very good. Pretty flowers! Daisies. Pretty in pink! Very purple. More pink flowers! And even more pink flowers!! CP Wicked Twister and its new, taller neighbor. Win of the Day: Riding Wildcat and not crashing! Yeah, Dick named a train after his wife, which brings up SO many dirty comments. I wish I had waited a split second longer on this one. Oh well. Best part about Sandusky (other than Cedar Point and Callahan Auto Parts), is Toft's ice cream!! Caveman Chocolate FTW! Pretty neat shot of Raptor, and I just happened to catch Blue Streak cresting the first hill. I leave this trip report with my favorite shot of the day time, this reflection of Mantis. Love it! Check Page 9 for the CRAZY Windseeker pictures!!

^That corkscrew is easily the most painful B&M element I've experienced (and I've ridden 40 of them).

I think a lot of people are. The rides I had on it during WCB 2010 were very, very enjoyable (and actually MUCH better than what I expected). Several other TPR members around me who had never ridden it also agreed that it was a high quality invert. I think the problem is 1. it's not as intense at Batman 2. it "killed" Ghost Town and 3. it's at Knott's. Hell, most people I know personally that have ridden it all loved it, as well. But to each his/her own!

Well with Stealth, it was (and still is) a major POS and maintenance disaster, and Paramount wanted to expand the water park. With Invertigo, it was (and still is) a major POS and maintenance disaster, although I'm not sure if CF has anything else in store for that area.

^Let me guess, people were pounding on the glass and that's why the cheetahs were hissing?

Afraid that's probably not going to happen. It's just about as bare bones as it gets for a water park, and it still hits capacity quite frequently during the year. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. People are always going to flock into the water park, especially resort guests. CP is doing just fine in that department, so don't hold your breath for any new rides in there.

During a weekday, the lines won't be long unless there's some type of special event going on. Even then, the lines move pretty quickly for the most part. Definitely ride NIghthawk first thing, as it's going to be your longest wait otherwise. None of the rides have required lock.ers, and only Intimidator has a single rider line (which probably won't be used if it's a weekday). The poster above has all the on-ride photo coasters listed. As for which seats to ride in: Intimidator: you get a good ride no matter where you sit, but the back four rows are INSANE, and the 4th row is going to be your best ejector air seat in the front of the train Afterburn: back right is where to go if you want the batshit crazy ride, front row is also very good Thunder Road: either the first two rows or the 2nd to last row (middle row of back car) Nighthawk: middle two seats in the back row Hurler: front row or the 2nd to last row (front row of back car), but always on the left side of the train (gives you cushioning because all the turns go right) Vortex: doesn't matter where you sit (stand), just have painkillers ready Also DEFINITELY ride the Flyers, they're some of the best you'll find anywhere, and they encourage snapping!

^Wow. Awesome contribution, sport. Seems as if I was off by one letter. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/leviathan

^I think they might be. Perhaps they learned their lesson with the troubles they had with TTD. It's not always about setting world records, although that does help with marketing. Maverick is a great example of how a ride doesn't have to break any records to be a LOT of fun. Now that you mentioned Takabisha, I think some type of big Eurofighter could potentially be a good fit for the park. And you're right, it's very difficult to say where the park will head with a new CEO in town, but I'm sure they'll do what they can to keep their reputation intact. I would still really love to see a new wooden coaster somewhere on the peninsula, but I'm a woodie fanatic, so I'm a little biased.

^I completely forgot to pick up a brochure, now I'm kicking myself for that one! I'll certainly let you know if I'm planning anything else this fall. The NE Trip is going to take up a good bit of my resources for the rest of the year, but if I end up in Florida by the fall, there's a good chance I'll make a swing by Atlanta and B'ham. And I like your idea for my Christmas present.

^My opinion for a long time was that a new coaster would be headed to the Point in 2012, and for a time, I thought it would be a giant ZacSpin in the old Demon Drop location. I think we can safely assume that since Ocean Motion was moved there, that won't happen. That doesn't mean they can't get a ZacSpin sometime in the future, but with SFMM beating them to the punch on that one, I seriously doubt that CP would get one. I've been hoping for a new wooden coaster for a very, very long time, but I have no idea whether or not they want to go that route. I honestly think a wooden coaster would EASILY be their most logical course of action. Either that or some type of family coaster. Anybody's guess would be as good as mine with regards to what they will actually put in. Just gotta wait and see really. During Coaster Mania, Kinzel hinted that John Hildebrandt would have a big announcement to make next year, so maybe 2013 will be it. ^^The only really big thing was an attraction named "Leviathon" that could possibly be headed for Carowinds, and it would be quite a large attraction. However, neither of us were sure if that would actually happen, considering Intimidator was just built there.

^Definitely don't know anything yet on 2013. I was told about a few possibilities for other Cedar Fair parks in the future, but at this point it was nothing concrete.

Alrighty so last week I made a nice little trek through West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to pick up some new wooden credits, and to check out Windseeker at CP. First stop of the day on Tuesday was Camden Park in Huntington, West Virginia. I gotta say, this park was HILARIOUS. I literally might have spent a total of 30 minutes there, but I was laughing almost the entire time. It might be the "oldest" looking amusement park I've ever seen, and I think maybe one or two rides there were built after 1980 (at least that's the way it looked). Walking through the park almost felt as if I had traveled through time back to the 60's. It also has a very rare gravity-powered Haunted House attraction that might have been one of the highlights of the week for me. Basically the scares that occurred on the ride were the ride ops running up to openings in the walls and screaming at you. However, I still had a great time on it. The Big Dipper and Lil Dipper were wooden credits #69 and 70 for me, and I left Huntington wondering just how in the world a place like Camden Park even exists. Next stop on the day was the Columbus Zoo, home of Jungle Jack's Landing and Sea Dragon, a classic old woodie. Me being the giant I am, Sea Dragon obliterated my knee caps throughout the ride, but that's the choice I make every time I decide to credit whore! The water park looked like it was a pretty good one, they had a lot of modern slides and rides, but I skipped it. The zoo itself was very impressive and HUGE. I honestly didn't spend a ton of time in the zoo itself, I more or less just did a quick walk around to check things out. Most of the animals were ones that I had seen before, and just about everything was sleeping. Sea Dragon was woodie #71. I did take a little time to snap some photos, so here they are! Please comment! Camden Park's epic sign Open for over 100 years, and I'm not exactly sure how! A look at the midway and the thousands who came from all over to enjoy this jewel of a park. I honestly had a blast on this, I couldn't stop laughing. TEH BIG DIPPER HAS BEEN SAVED!!! For the lift hill lovers of the world. The ride itself wasn't bad for being built during the Eisenhower administration. And it had some REALLY comfortable seats. Cresting the lift hill...... Train full of riders. They had an old octopus ride. Time for Lil Dipper! Quite the exciting layout. Kinda rough, wasn't much of a ride. But it counts! You can see the bumps in the track, it's a far cry from El Toro smoothness. Due to the lack of rust, the flyers had to be the newest ride there. But yeah, that's all for Camden Park. Woohoo! Named after Jack Hannah, who apparently does extensive work with the zoo. Sea Dragon! The more modern sign. As you can see, it was a beautiful day in the midwest. Hands up! Fun for everyone, except giants like me. I'm not sure if he's staring at me because I'm staring at him, or if I look like a tasty lunch...... Just like Kasi and Mtani at Busch Gardens, this cheetah was raised with a canine companion. But unlike Busch Gardens, we weren't allowed to hunt cheetahs at the Columbus Zoo. I sure do hope they get to run around a bit from time to time...... I'm tired of all these motherf---ing snakes in this motherf---ing zoo! Giant tortoises. Also known as the only creatures on Earth slower than a Six Flags ride crew. Historical stuff. Grand stuff. Seemed like a lovely carousel. Every time I see gorillas lounging around, I can't help but wonder how few generations removed I am from them. He wants out. We might be distant cousins. Kangaroo time! But they're sleeping...... Common theme of the day. I wonder if Columbus Zoo should change their motto to "Come Watch Our Exotic Animals Sleep!" Well I hope a dingo doesn't eat their baby. Koalas like to sleep. But occasionally they wake up. And with that, this trip report is ovah!

Part one of a GINORMOUS!!!! four part update from last week is about to go up. Stay tuned!

^I don't doubt at all that with this rumor of a gigacoaster, it's a case of "where there's smoke, there's fire." The interview could be Ouimet's way of preparing everyone for something of that magnitude, or it really could just be his honest assessment of the direction KBF is headed in. The great part is, we'll find out eventually!