Skycoastin Steve

I think I've said this a few times before, but this park is never going to reopen. I'm not sure why anyone would want it to, anyway.

^What she said. It's amazing!

Two words: River Walk.

That steel poll is an effing chore! Top 25: 1. Millennium Force 2. Intimidator 305 3. Maverick 4. X2 5. Storm Runner 6. Magnum XL-200 7. Top Thrill Dragster 8. Phantom's Revenge 9. Apollo's Chariot 10. Montu 11. Intimidator 12. Goliath (SFOG) 13. Diamondback 14. Incredible Hulk 15. Kumba 16. Nitro 17. Afterburn 18. Griffon 19. Sheikra 20. Manta 21. Alpengeist 22. Tatsu 23. Titan 24. Silver Bullet 25. Kraken Bottom 10: 118. Roller Soaker (Hershey) 119. Favorite Boomerang 120. Favorite Tivoli 121. Trailblazer (Hershey) 122. River King Mine Train 123. Carolina Goldrusher 124. Favorite Powered Coaster 125. Ninja (SFOG) 126. Shockwave (KD) 127. Favorite Chance Toboggan

^I've reserved most comments on that issue because I'm not sure if it's a Holiday World problem, a GravityKraft/Timberliner problem, a Voyage compatibility problem, or a combination of all three. I just sit back and wait on that one. Hopefully they get favorable results from Wooden Warrior, Twister, and the High Five coaster this year.

Well lookie here, we have Timberliners at Quassy! Courtesy of their facebook.

^Too true. :AmericanparksnotWINNING:

^Might have to do with all the stuff they have to take out first, coupled with land clearing/flattening/other crap they probably have to do. Then by that point, they probably don't want to have their "new" coaster open in July.

^Hmmmmm......very interesting. A bonus trip might be in order.

^Yeah, I thought more people would be interested in those groundbreaking clues from BGW. Guess not!

MF was a close 2nd place behind Xcelerator for Cedar Fair coaster in most dire need of a paint job. Thankfully, both have gotten their treatment in the past year. Looking gooooooooooooooooooooood!

Between days in a dead park and test rides while working, I've been alone on a ride more times than I could count.

^Did you not see the concept art for them? They look exactly like they were drawn to look when the announcement came out last August.

^Shoulda put a watermark on it.

^While trimmed 305 was still a great ride, untrimmed blows it out of the water. You won't be disappointed.

I guess the best advice here is for all parents to ride with their children when possible. That would seem to be the best way to learn their limits and whether or not they are afraid of what they are riding. Not sure about the restraints and all that, need to hear more about if there was a seatbelt, if the lapbar was all the way down or not, etc.

As seen in my trip report, there are construction markers back in the woods behind the BBW station, and even a few over by the former 2nd hill. They even had clues........

How have you not gotten used to this? It's like at Kings Dominion when people are convinced Volcano is better than I-305, because I-305 doesn't go upside down. The GP has an odd fascination with inversions... Then again, I did have someone on my Apollo's ride this Saturday on the first drop scream to stop the ride because the restraint wasn't tight enough and they couldn't remain seated... Oh I'm used to it, believe me. Still cracks me up regardless. Last year at Carowinds I would frequently hear people say Carolina Cobra and/or Nighthawk were better than Intimidator because they went upside down/faced the ground/went backwards. I literally laughed in a 10 year old girl's face when she told me how much better Cobra was than Intimidator.

From BGW on Sunday while standing in line for Apollo. Some 13-ish year old kid. "Yeah, like, The Griffon is better than this one cause, like, it does flips and corkscrews and stuff."

^Just a simple point and shoot, Nikon Coolpix S6000. Absolutely incredible camera for the price range, I've been very happy with it so far. It took a little getting used to since I had never had a Nikon before, but it definitely takes some great shots. The flower photos were all in Macro mode, the camera did all the hard work.

Enjoy! Looking good on opening day! The new turn. The point in the turn where the old track meets the new track. La Tour Eiffel! Shockwave and its newest flamboyant paint scheme. Dominator showing SFMM the right way to build a floorless coaster in a parking lot. Old 305 track. They should chop it up and auction it off. The last thing that guy saw before jumping? The airtime is back! And so is the airtime on the pseudo bunny hop! Kinda cool shot I got of one of the flags over by 305. Panorama that includes all or part of 11 of the 14 coasters, not to mention some cool looking weather on the horizon. Time for Busch Gardens and some lovely tulips! My new camera does well with these. Red. Pansies, named after everyone banned from TPR. "Hold up dude, make sure you get my good side." "Wait, I'm still turning!" "Alright good, you got it." This guy is a bit of a loner, he considers himself a one-wolf wolfpack. But could it be? Yes, two other wolves have joined, and they are now a three-wolf wolfpack running around the desert looking for strippers and cocaine. Pretty flowers. I think if I saw an eagle with the head of a lion I would call Ripley's. This picture brought to you by Max Immelmann. Lonely pink flower. Lots of yellow flowers. The new pretzel shop! Willkommen! Inside. The pretzels were very tasty, covered with butter and salt and you get the option of a dipping sauce. We chose honey dijon and cheddar. And we had beer. Lots and lots of flowers. My favorite of the bunch. Another artsy shot. It's no secret why they win Best Landscaping every year. Pretty in pink. Can't forget about Nessie! We took the River Cruise, it had actually been years since I had done this. We now pour one in memory of Gertrude's lost relative. Back row on the first drop is airtime-filled bliss. The bridge is taller than Griffon! Methinks they should finish the paint job. Yeah, yeah. 90 degrees. Mondo splash. A nice artsy shot of Alpengeist. Alpenloop. Hey guys, Jesus just woke back up! So let's get some plastic eggs, fill them with candy, and hide them from our children to celebrate! And then let's make up a story about a giant rabbit to tell our children! Not sure which celebration is more ludicrously off-topic from the "moment" it celebrates: Christmas or Easter. Beer saves. Stew saves more! Ok so we noticed some construction markers in the woods behind Big Bad Wolf's former station, so we went to check out the station to see if we could find anymore clues that Busch Gardens might have left us. Clue #1 was pretty ambiguous, although it did tell us that something new is coming in 2012. Something with lightning? These Busch people sure know how to market. Clue #2 involved some old BBW footers. I don't see the connection with this and Clue #1. Does anyone have any idea what's going on??? Ah, he does. I guess we'll see!

Alright, well Jen and I spent the last two days having fun at KD and BGW, and I took a lot of non-standard pictures. Seeing as how I've done huge updates on both parks in the last year, I figured doing a normal trip report was a bit repetitive. There was some new stuff to check out at both parks, which will be included, but other than that, it was two pretty standard days at both parks. Intimidator 305 is most definitely back to its original form, as most of you probably already read in the KD thread. The airtime is back in a big way on the 2nd hill, and the first drop is just as good as it was on opening day last year. The only real difference in that first turn is the blackout is sustained for less time than it was last year (even with the trims). The black straps are perfect for this ride, and I'd love to see more Intamins with OTSRs be retrofitted with these restraints (especially Maverick and Storm Runner). From what I could tell, the turn radius has not changed, just the elevation. The brake run on the final airtime hill is also much shorter, which really doesn't make a huge difference either way. Maybe one day they'll get it to the point where they don't need any trims at all. Opening day operations at KD were much better than last year, the only major coasters that had one train operations were Rebel Yell and Backlot, with Backlot being the only one with the wait effected at all (it was 20-30 minutes all day). Volcano and FoF's crews weren't moving very quickly, but they at least had both trains on the tracks. Drop Tower and Grizzly were both down all day, but it was already expected with Grizzly and I don't really care about Drop Tower. Other than it being pretty chilly and rainy at times, it was actually a really good day. Busch Gardens was its usual awesome self. Everything was running, the crews were doing a great job, the staff was extremely friendly (why can't Tampa be the same way?), and the food was delicious. The new pretzel bakery was open, and we tried those out, which were buttery and tasty! The Festhaus show was great as usual, and every coaster was running very well. Apollo's Chariot remains my #1 B&M hyper, and I don't see that changing, Alpengeist needs a new 2nd half, and Griffon is Griffon. All in all, it was yet another great day at one of the best parks in the country. Lap counts for the weekend: Intimidator 305 - 10 Dominator - 2 Avalanche - 2 Anaconda, Rebel Yell, Ricochet, Flight of Fear, Volcano, Backlot - 1 each Apollo's Chariot - 4 Alpengeist - 3 Griffon - 2 Loch Ness Monster - 2 Pictures soon to follow!

Yeah, that's my video. Here it is embedded. It was actually not running that fast when I took this video early in the day. Towards the end of the day when the ride got nice and warmed up it was FLYING. Pretty much the same speed as it was last year before the trims were added, only now they have the soft straps. They've definitely done an excellent job getting this ride back to its original form, now let's hope it stays that way. I'll have a more in depth report after I get back from BGW today.

Well it's time to dust this old thread off for some more updates! Jen has come up for the weekend and we decided to get a nice culture credit today, that being Luray Caverns in Luray, VA. For anyone who has not heard of Luray Caverns, it's the largest cave system in the eastern United States, and I believe the 3rd largest overall in the country. It provided some pretty spectacular photo opportunities, ones that were not wasted! As for the rest of the weekend, it's KD and 305 2.0's opening day tomorrow, and BGW on Sunday, with the Cherry Blossom Festival to top it all off on Monday. Expect updates every night for the next few nights! Skyline outside the entrance. Yes, that's snow on the mountains. Still a wee bit nippy 'round these parts. That X is the place where two men discovered the caverns in 1878. Far and away my favorite picture of the bunch. This is the reflecting pool, where the water constantly delivers a perfect reflection of the ceiling above it. Formation called "Pluto's Ghost." Just thought this surface looked really cool in the lighting they had for it. Another view of it with more background. You can see the "Christmas Tree" in the center of the picture. Looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. Looking straight up at the ceiling while right next to a column. Pretty cool panorama of a formation called the "Fish Market." Panorama of one of the larger rooms in the caverns.

Expect some sort of trip report from me Saturday night.