Midgetman82

Ya gotta love it when WhiteWater and ProSlide combine the best of their lineups into one park. There's very few parks that are doing that, including one very notable one that's nearing it's completion in Abu Dhabi. I especially love that mat racer!

^Six Flags White Water has those exact slides, but with more drops. Dragon's Tail. An initial dip, followed by three drops. The last two producing airtime just like what you see in that photo! Currently my favorite body slide at White water, and any water park that has them!

You gotta love this guy!

^I refer to them by those names as well. The new names seem just weird to me.

1. I have got to do a troll ride photo one day! It's on my bucket list of things to do on rides I'm used to! 2. I haven't been to IoA in years, and I'd love to go back, though on a less crowded day. You seemed like you survived that day. How long did you have to wait for rides? 3. You need to venture out and do new parks if you're tired of IoA. Yo know what they say: You've done the best, now time for the rest! Crappy parks can still pull a great time if done with the correct people. 4. Nice trip report!

I agree! Great photos Hanno! I remember trying all the rides in Ober Gatlinburg, including the water slides. The alpine slides were the best thing they had and were pretty steep too!

Hurler was pretty good (3rd car, front seat), as was Rebel yell (last car, 2nd row) and Grizzly (front seat). Though my dad, who sat behind me on Grizzly, told me that it was uncomfortable.

I didn't think so. Grizzly has more airtime, and is an all around better wooden coaster. Just avoid seats that sit over the wheels.

Those panoramas.. Nice TR. Leviathan looks like an amazing roller coaster! If I ever head to Canada, I'll be sure to have this as my first stop... then to Whistler mountain. TPR events are fun. I attended my first at East Coast Bash this year, and I loved it! Those TPR quests can get quite nuts!

That, and I always notice people thinking that they're supposed to sit down on a stand-up coaster. By the time they reach the bottom of the first drop, they'll want to stand up, but can't, so their crotch gets hurt and the ride gets poor ratings from them. I shake my head every time I see that. I personally liked them, probably because of Chang and Georgia Scorcher.

You and Cliff downed those cups before I could finish focusing! That was fast!

Wow! That's a first!

Not a problem! Glad to have done it.

Still under my favorites on YouTube.

Keep in mind almost every other country other than the US (Don't know about Canada), crossing your legs on speed slides are not required (as far as I know). Therme Erding banned women from riding a water slide? Wow. I have heard from reviews from other water slide enthusiasts that that specific slide is a little violent anyways. You hit the water in the shutdown late instead of an easy transition and deceleration. Take that, and not crossing your legs in, plus how the water slide is one big steep downward curve, and I can closer understand the results of the injuries. But banning women? I'd rather expect someone to put up a new warning sign or something.

Jelly as in jealous. Never been east of Wichita, and I want to eventually change that. I knew what Jelly meant. But when did I ever mention that I was being overly descriptive?

^^^That is exactly what I thought of Shockwave! It's not the smoothest coaster around, but It's not terrible! I'm also into jerky, twisty crazy rides as well. Rides like Vekoma SLC's, Vekoma sit down (on certain seats), Breakdancers, wooden coasters, top spins, and such rides that leave me disoriented, slightly beaten, or thrown around are what I love the most!

^What?

Saturday August 4th, I attended my first TPR event and second roller coaster enthusiast event. East Coast Bash at Kings Dominion. It was also my first time going to Kings Dominion, which means new credits I racked up! I don't know what else to say here other than I had an amazing time at the event, and would absolutely love to attend another hosted by TPR. Anyone who went to the event may remember seeing a sweaty black kid with a DSLR and ClubTPR shirt. Yep, that was me. Just a word of warning before I go into pictures, I may have used my fisheye lens a little too much during this event. I thought I should have brought and used it since other people would and already have taken thousands of other standard photos of the same things. So why not try something different from what everyone else would be doing... I'm saying this because I understand that not everyone is a fan of wide-angle photos. That's okay, because I have standard and zoomed photos mixed in as well. Either way, I hope you can enjoy what I have. I have arrived! The morning consisted of getting checked-in by Robb himself, getting our vouchers, and getting in the park. Soon, we were led straight to the back to ride one of the most badass coasters on this planet. Dale Earnhardt: THE RIDE! Did I mention this was my first time on an Intamin giga... besides a bad experience I had on Superman:ROS at Six Flags America involving a stapled lap bar. First coaster of the day. First ride on I305. Fell in love with it after greying out on the first turn! Next ride was Volcano. First Intamin inverted coaster (let alone one that launches). The ride is great! I really wish there were more inverted launched coasters out there in the world other than the shuttle versions of these. The 3 rolls were sweet! I wasn't a big fan of it crushing my privates though... Benefit of ERT! This was when I was in line for the second ride. Then I came back for more I305, because the first ride wasn't enough! Raise your hands if this ride has airtime. Seriously, the drop was epic, the heavy turns were intense, the transitions were insane, and the airtime was beautiful! It's an all around beautiful roller coaster that I wouldn't mind re-riding until I passed out of exhaustion! ... (Okay, maybe not really.) Robb's in the back seat, right side in this photo. I was trying to get used to faster shutter speeds on my camera. I had to switch to my fastest speed because this coaster 'flew' through the course. 0.5 seconds later. I wish I could identify the people that are in my photos. Soon the regular folks came in. Since I got my 4 laps on I305, it was time to move on to another coaster. It was time for another one of my favorites. (This photo came out MUCH better than I had expected it to!) 16 years. Sixteen Years Old!!! As long as this thing has been around, it wows me every time! After Flight of Fear, I rode I305 again for the heck of it, and then headed towards Drop Tower. I got my first credit on Italian Jo- err, I mean, Backlot Stunt Coaster. It's a very cute coaster. Not as amazing as I expected it to be, but I kinda liked it. These are, hands down, my favorite amusement park flat rides ever. Have I bored you with too many photos yet? Hope not. Soon the Boo Blasters challenge commenced. A woman tallied our scored so we could win prizes when we met for lunch. I scored 1440. I soon rode a few flats like Berserker and The Crypt. The Crypt was my first "true" top spin, and boy was it crazy! That finale had my head spinning! A few skips later, and TPR lunch started. Virtually anything I've ever read about TPR quests were true. They were fun to watch and participate! There was alcohol (I didn't drink any, I'm 18!), there was running, and there was a moment when Robb asked contestants to be the first to bring up Club TPR shirts. The guy who borrowed the one I was wearing was second to reach him. There was also tv-less karaoke. They sung Bohemian Rhapsody, and some were surprisingly good at it! I'd like to thank this man right here. I apologize that I can't remember his name, but he helped make this event great! I braved Crypt again due to its really short lines after lunch ended. Then I headed over to I305 to be ready for the backstage tour. Gotta go fast. When I arrived, everybody was hanging out in the gift shop because of the heat. Soon, though, the tour began. Again, in an attempt to be different, I used "the eye" lens. Everyone got up close and personal with the rotating drum. Soon Robb got us all to gather for the group photo, which was posted to the TPR Facebook page. I laughed when I saw my face blocked out by a hand! When everyone was ready to take more photos of the coaster, the next train stopped on the lift. Low and behold, two guys everyone knew was in the backseat at the time! Robb told everyone to boo at them, so they did. How's it going! Soon the train got going though. They cleared the line for I305, and there was a very short line in front of the entrance, so I hopped in. It only took them half an hour for them to fix it and let people back on. What changed was that the operators warned people to keep their shoes on while on the ride. Eventually, I rode my first Windseeker. It was the most gentle ride I rode in the park, and was needed due to the amount of walking and intense coaster riding I've been doing all day. This ride's line also went really quick. It looked like a long wait, but I was on within two ride cycles. Hurler wasn't as bad of a ride as people said it would be. Maybe I got a good seat on it? I dunno, but I wouldn't mind re-riding it in the same seat. (Third car, front row.) Also, the line for this ride was empty. Soon I went up the Eiffel Tower since it didn't have a wait. Obligatory? Tiny people on gigantic ride! Then the line for Dominator shortened, so I jumped at the chance to get in line. I got in line for the front seat, and loved it! I met with my dad and my brother later, who spent their time in the hotel and came in at some random time during the day. We first rode Rebel Yell together. Here's me, a sweaty dork who's almost too shy to be in front of his own camera, waiting in line for Grizzly. Might I mention that we passed the path that led to Grizzly 4 times before we realized we had to go through the Dinosaurs Alive gift shop to get on it. >=-( Since my brother has never heard of Flight of Fear and was interested to ride it, that's what we did. We ate pizza later and watched the nighttime fireworks light up behind Anaconda (a coaster I should have gone on). Then they told me their goodbyes and left me to finish the event with Nighttime ERT. I was on the first lights-on train of the Flight of Fear lights-on ERT. it was cool being able to see, and it seemed to go even faster through the course. Then came my last ride on I305. It was actually pitch black out there, which made it really creepy. I ended up on the last train on Intimidator, and there was only one other person on it with me! I quick walked over to Dominator where Robb was getting everybody hyped for their last rides of the night. I finally got 3 more laps on it! And thus ends my super long trip treport. I'd like to send a huge thank you to Robb, Elissa, everyone who attended the event, and the staff & management of Kings Dominion for making this day awesome! I had a great time, and would love to attend another TPR hosted event sometime in the future! Edit: Forgot the coaster count! Intimidator 305: 7 Volcano: 2 Flight of Fear: 3 Backlot Stunt Coaster: 1 Hurler: 1 Dominator: 4 Shockwave: 1 (By the way, I actually enjoyed this coaster. It's not the smoothest, most comfortable coaster, but it's not that bad!) Rebel Yell: 1 Grizzly: 1

Don't hate me for this. Lex Luther: Drop of Doom. I don't mind the Lex Luther part. It's just the super cliche "Drop of Doom" part that get's me.

^I concur. I have a photo TR to do, bur first I need to get home.

First TPR event, and second coaster enthusiast event! I'll only be at Kings Dominion for the same reason as many others. That, and my family is coming with me though they won't be part of the event. I don't want to drag them everywhere. Can't wait!

^That happens with almost every Hydromag, including Wildebeest. They just clear that boat of riders, and send it on the rest of the way riderless.

As far as I can see, Kings Dominion. East Coast Bash!

^They did it with Superman: EFK, I'm sure they would find a way. As I think about it, I start to think that building a drop tower up the side of Kingda Ka isn't such a good idea. First of all, ^he's right, they would have to alter the coaster to be able to support a drop tower being connected to it. That, and I don't think people would want to walk the length of the launch track to ride a ride. Isn't the launch track longer than the upward distance of the coaster?