BitterOldHag

^ Wow. 5 of the parks major coasters, 5 flat rides and an upcharge attraction are open. I understand staffing and refurbishments are issues with year-round operation, but why announce and commit to it if most of your major rides are going to be closed? Couldn't they rotate which rides are taken out of service? Just my 2 cents.

So they moved the pieces inside the park to start construction? Back-to-back coasters in 2018 and 2019 confirmed. Now if only something could happen to the plot of land once occupied by an infamous waterslide complex...

coneyislandchris, don't forget to make a stop at the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride. There are some reports on TPR from others that are big fans of the attraction if you need more details. And don't let the crowd out front of the building steer you away from thinking they are busy. Those folks have been there for a while... And if you want something even worse, over in Gatlinburg is "Earthquake The Ride". This may be the worst tourist trap of all time and yet I loved every minute of it. Surprises abound while on the "subway train" and the special effects rank right up there with those of Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space". And finally, if you're a "Simpsons" fan, you're not far from the legendary Sunsphere in Knoxville. It doesn't cost anything to go up in the self-service elevator for a yellow-tinged birds-eye view of beautiful downtown Knoxville. You may not be able to buy a wig or an Al Gore doll, but it's worth a stop if you're in the area. So if you're a fan of "so bad it's good" attractions, I'm not sure if these live up to that billing... but they are still good for a laugh!

Bill, I went back to school about 10 years ago to fulfill my "dream" of being a graphic designer. In my Photoshop and Illustrator classes, they made it seem like you would submit your work, the client would then critique it and pick it apart to the point of inducing nausea, then it would be thrown back at you with what is needed, and you'd have all of 24 hours to make it so. For some reason, that intense turnaround schedule sort of scared me off as I consider myself a perfectionist when it comes to any Photoshop work, so that's why I now toil in obscurity at an IT job. I doubt most people even notice stuff like this. They'll see the picture, say "oooh look, new rolly coaster!" and never once will question why the ride they are on is a completely different color than what they originally saw! Back on topic, I haven't been to Darien since 2011. This makes two new coaster credits for me to get there...

I have used Photoshop but do not consider myself an expert by any means. However I do have to say that the work where the teeth were in the lower left leaves a little to be desired... And after looking at the picture and reading Bill's description of what was done, I have no doubt that was exactly what was done. Not exactly professional quality imaging there!

That Time Traveler car is incredible. Seeing the numbers on the grab bar light up and the other effects on the side make this almost Disney-quality. Major props to Mack and Herschend for the design. Now if only I could ever make it out to Branson to check them out in person... Also, the restraints on Skywarp look awfully restrictive, and not in a good way. Thanks for the updates. I'm definitely enjoying them!

Some of my favorite moments from the show: - Anthony calling one of the owners a moron... twice - Anthony being as mad as I have ever seen him when the other owner didn’t immediately volunteer to treat an employee’s home for bed bugs - The front office girl inviting the owners to sit on one of the couches infested with bed bugs - Not really a “highlight”, but those rusted out stairs that guests have to walk barefoot on in the water park was really nasty and could cause some real damage This was a great, albeit rather disturbing episode and I recommend it to anyone interested in the hotel or travel industry. Anthony is a great guy. He may come across as irritating to some, but the guy is a hotel genius and he truly does care about helping these places succeed.

^ In the pre-Palace Entertainment days, I would agree about Kennywood and Idlewild, but after seeing Idlewild lose their classic Caterpillar, their unique Haunted Swing and have their Whip sit in pieces over the past few years, I doubt they'd be a good fit for any of Lakemont's rides. While I do enjoy Kennywood and Idlewild, the upkeep of the parks is definitely nowhere near as nice as it was prior to Parques Reunidos ownership. Just my opinion. Now Knoebels on the other hand... And one more thing. If anyone wants to replicate the Toboggan experience for far cheaper than 25K, go to your local grocery store, get a shopping cart and take it up to the roof of the building, hop in the cart, and roll yourself off the building. It may even be a smoother experience than the Toboggan.

This is the only question I can answer and the answer is No. The washrooms all had red lights in them, which is really kind of odd when you're in there doing your business. It felt like my retinas were burning! I did not see the Friday the 13th 4D movie nor did I bother getting anything to eat at the park as the lines were rather crazy.

Went to Kennywood for Phantom Fright Nights last night and it had its ups and downs. Ups: - Night rides on Jack Rabbit and Phantom’s Revenge are crazy. Both ride sites are pitch dark and add immensely to the ride experience. Plunging down the Phantom’s second drop felt like dropping into a black void. Awesome! - The amount of fog underneath SkyRocket and the purple lighting used made for a creepy ride experience. - Pumpkin Head and the Phantom himself are two of the coolest costumed characters I have seen at a Halloween event. Very well done. - Purchasing the VIP Coaster Tour made for a much more pleasant evening. Longest I had to wait was about 10 minutes for SkyRocket. - I absolutely loved the Haunted Carousel. Even though it does not operate, the fog and the creepy music make for a really cool display. - Also enjoyed the entrance tunnel being fogged out with various scare actors. Makes for a nice welcome to the event! - MOST of the employees I encountered were unusually pleasant, which is a rarity for Kennywood. Downs: - The Park is REALLY dark. I understand this is a Halloween event and the darkness is needed for the spooky atmosphere, but there are some spots where you can’t even see. The midway in front of Garfield’s Nightmare is so dark and foggy that even if a chainsaw wielding ghoul comes by, you can’t see them and guests that run could collide with others. It seemed mildly dangerous. - The three outdoor scare zones were incredibly weak. The clown themed one was a small circle near the Kangaroo and had a few clowns threatening to hit guests with padded baseball bats. That seemed to be a common theme in the scare zones. The Gold Rush themed zone near Ghostwood Estate was incredibly short and aside from the one actor with knives stuck in him(kudos to him as you could tell he loved his job), the actors weren’t doing a heck of a lot. Same goes for Gory Park in Lost Kennywood. The actors were all just standing around. Very disappointing. - The Park did not have anyone at SkyRocket to merge the VIP guests with the regular line. Thankfully I had some very nice folks in line tell me to go ahead. - I entered The Exterminator line through the VIP entrance and was told by the girl there to go onto the platform, then I was immediately yelled at by some guy who said “Sir, will you just wait???” I had no idea what was going on, but it turned out a guest that had just exited was bleeding as there was blood on the platform. If that was the case, I should not have been allowed to go on the platform at all. To be fair, the girl may not have known, but dude did not need to yell at me like i was committing a crime. Overall it was a good time and I am glad I went. Here’s a few pictures from the iPhone (not the best quality). The Phantom was a very cool costume and welcomes guests to his Fright Nights SkyRocket has a great first half and a mediocre second half. Still a fun ride though. Black Widow is crazy. Much more intense than the Huss versions and offers a rather long ride cycle. Fog rolls in as the Phantom’s Revenge climbs the lift hill. Phantom is a great ride by day and an absolutely incredible ride by night An example of the dark midway near Garfield. Seemed sort of unsafe especially considering chainsaw guys were chasing guests through the area Pirate and Volcano doing their thing Kangaroo, still thrilling riders after many years. Nice to see KW still keeping this classic going Musik Express looks great with its LED lights Clown chases folks out of the very small Fear Fest scare zone Absolutely loved the Haunted Carousel. Such a cool visual

So it seems the only parks left with Chance Rotors are Frontier City and Sylvan Beach. Canobie Lake has a Rotor as well, but theirs was made by SDC (only one?). I know there are several overseas from a variety of manufacturers, including the historic Pluschies Rotor at Oktoberfest, which I believe is the only remaining Rotor with a multi-level viewing gallery. I guess paying to watch riders "stick to the wall like flies" isn't quite as exciting as it was back in the 50's!

Since I didn’t go to Kennywood, I can say that Dragster IS up and running right now. It lives

So I am considering visiting Kennywood for Phantom Fright Nights tomorrow and was wondering if anyone had any tips. I don’t do indoor haunts, so I’m mainly going for the coasters, scare zones and atmosphere. I assume a VIP Coaster Tour pass is a necessity? How crowded does the park get? Are there live actors inside Ghostwood Estate? I have never been to PFF but have been to Kennywood several times and while I feel the park isn’t quite what it used to be, I still enjoy the park. Thanks in advance for any info.

This 100%. Apparently, Cedar Point still hasn't found the 'breaking point' for FastLane Plus prices on busy HalloWeekend Saturdays if that many people were willing to part with the $150. Maybe they need to raise the price to $250 and see what happens. I don't run a business or pretend to know how to run one, but it does seem like CP is irritating their guests with the FastLane program on the busier days. Granted, you ARE getting on the rides in less time than the regular line, but when you hear the word 'Fast', you kind of think of wait times less than an hour. I was there on Friday and as others have pointed out was shocked by how busy the park was. I am so glad I ate before I visited as the food lines looked like they weren't moving at all!

^^ Well, there's always the upcharge "NoBoo" necklace for the nominal fee of $10...

Friday nights this year are even less "ride-centric" than in the past as Wicked Twister, Windseeker, Iron Dragon, Skyhawk and Power Tower were added to The List of closed rides. I guess we can also say Dragster is on that List temporarily. Adding Cedar Creek Mystic Mine Ride to the Friday Night lineup helps, but it was weird that my perception was there were far fewer rides available even though it was technically only 4. I also stay FAR away from any of the food stands on Friday nights as a line of people 6 deep can often result in a 20-30 minute wait!

So many things blow my mind when it comes to German fairs - Each ride seems like its own party with the incredible light packages, talkative ride ops, fog, jingles, and music - It still boggles my mind how people are allowed to stand so close to the rides while they are in motion and they all know that they shouldn't do anything stupid. Complete opposite of what we find over here - While I would never ride it, VooDoo Jumper is a real standout on the midway. Seizure-inducing strobes and LED's combined with the flames in the center make for a true visual spectacle - The fact that some creative showman completely copied the Disney Alien Encounter attraction and made it portable is crazy. I watched a video of it on YouTube and while I didn't understand a lot of it, that attraction alone puts most of the American portable rides/attractions to shame - The Drifting Coaster looks like a reverse Arrow suspended coaster (i.e- it looks like tons of fun) All I can say is I love the videos and wish us folks in the States could enjoy a fair of this magnitude rather than the standard State Fairs we have. While they can be quite large, they can never match what looks to be sheer epicness at Oktoberfest. Thanks for sharing!

A few observations from my visit last night: - Previous Friday Night Rides Iron Dragon, Windseeker, Wicked Twister, and Skyhawk are no longer open on Fridays - Valravn is still popular as it had a 30 minute posted wait around 7:30. It is still running smooth as glass - Harvest Fear's theme is apparently scarecrows as most of the characters had a burlap bag over their head. One even took my drink - My wife and I had one person approach us in Screamworks. We counted six that walked right past us. Perhaps we are not good targets... - Mystic Mine Ride was funny and stupid all at the same time - Cedar Downs seems to be running really fast this year - Midnight Syndicate's show was excellent, however despite new music performed, it seemed a little too similar to their 2014 show in terms of storyline Overall we had a great time and the nice weather and light crowds made for a fun evening.

Not sure how dead the park will be tomorrow as the weather is supposed to be quite nice. Also add in the return of "Midnight Syndicate Live" and two new mazes and there might be more interest than usual. I went last year on opening Friday and MF and Maverick both had 30-45 minute waits (I used my free FL+ so it wasn't an issue) and Valravn being the new kid on the block was constantly posting over an hour wait. I'll be there tomorrow mainly to see the new Midnight Syndicate show and to check out the scare zones. Looking forward to it!

If we're talking "new" coasters, it would be Mystic Timbers at KI. If it's "new to me" coasters, then it's the mind-blowing Pinfari Zyklon (Strates) at the 2017 Erie County Fair in Hamburg, NY. Regardless, it's been a very unproductive season for me!

There are two Magnuson "Hotels" in the Sandusky area now. The original is located just south of the US250 exit off Route 2 and the second is the former Days Inn on US6 just west of the Causeway. I wouldn't stay at either based on their curb appeal - or lack thereof. I believe the Magnuson "brand" is similar to America's Best Value Inn. They are mostly former brand-name hotels/motels that have fallen into disrepair and usually don't get much help from their new owners in the way of improvements or niceties. Based on thrillrider's pic of the a/c plug, I can only imagine what other goodies can be found in the room. It is sad that outside of the CP Peninsula, there are very few nice places to stay in the Sandusky area. You'd think with a world-class attraction in the area, there'd be a lot more hotels that have been built within the last decade.

Many of the low-end joints are seasonal properties, so they make their money during the summer and close up shop once CP does. I have to say that reading the TripAdvisor reviews for many of the Sandusky-area motels is hilarious, especially the responses from the hotel managers. My favorite is this one of the Rodeway Inn South on US250: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g50940-d142337-r264978672-Rodeway_Inn_South-Sandusky_Ohio.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT Jagdish 'DEMANDS" that the reviewer remove his comments immediately. Ha!

^ Ah, the "magic" of Garfield's Nightmare. That's kind of like saying the "state-of-the-art" Earthquake The Ride in Gatlinburg, or the "lifelike dinos" of the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride in Pigeon Forge. At least Kennywood redeems themselves with the Bayern Kurve. It's great to see Kennywood work their "magic" each year to keep this rare classic running as it was meant to.

^ DelGrosso's?

There was a at the end of my post. Perhaps I should have stated that I was "merely acting" (said in my best Jon Lovitz voice) My gripe is that I don't understand the rush that the "small group of enthusiasts" have in order to get a scoop. I guess being a Bitter Old Hag, I come from an era where we didn't know what was new at the park until we saw it either on the news or actually in person. So while the park, which treats coaster enthusiasts very well with events such as Coaster Campout, Winter Chill Out, etc, has asked to please respect their privacy and not post any pics of Mean Streak online, there are those that brazenly flaut the rules and go against the parks wishes, just to grab some attention on their website that gets nowhere near the hits that TPR gets. Done venting... now get off my lawn (shakes fist at sky).