chadster

Pics and stuff from Six Flags America 5.31.10 Wow, I can hardly wait, I want to ride the balloons.... Seperate Season Pass lines, cool, not seen this at a SF park I have seen bagless lines at some parks, wish they all had them under funstruction just inside, looks clean and fresh the fountain is all polished up and running well walking around, taking it all in... hmmmm, i know where my woody is, guess I'm not hungry... lets head over to gotham city wow, what a mess, just as I remember it, and guess what, ride #1 down for the count, also just as I remember the park yep. here we are at superman all trains on deck, but must say, it's quite the boring ride, many sections of straight flat track that don't curve or go up and down, the only thing it has going for it is the first drop. death machine, some kid try to convince me it was the best ride ever...I want some of what he is smoking. thomas town trying to make an advertised June 5 opening it's gonna be tight. the back of the park (gotham city) is kinda blah here, I don't think Thomas Town will be enough to liven it up more papa johns hey look, old faithful! this doesn't look good yep, closed they've put up new fencing they are trying to clean it up say it isn't so... wait for it... yep, closed too. Funny, no ride ops were even close to any of the closed rides. ROAR, nice ride. yep, I found the big woody, must not be hungry honestly I don't think it would cost much to tear down these old slides, the supports are wood but at least they added fencing to try and hide them, last year you could walk right up to them it's not like they will ever use them again, so, for now, it's s smoke hole

Wow, frustrating, had everything typed out and then the internet connection dies, crap. I'll post pictures tomorrow evening from SFA, my last stop. Plane delayed out of Dallas for several hours for who knows why reason, guessing weather in other parts of the county. I will say, the park looks cleaner than ever and that they are at least putting forth some effort into cleaning it up a bit. Maybe something their canned CEO had put in place? Who knows, who cares, it's being done which is what it needs. Here we are ready to go, more tomorrow!

5.30.10, went one last time by KD to see about another ride on the I305, no chance in hell of that happening. With cheap/free tickets for the military and being so close to many bases, the parking lot was in tears as it was over flowing with cars and the park was over flowing with guests. Wanting to at least watch the fireworks, I stuck around and rode an incredible 5 times, in a row, same seat, on a Cedar Fair coaster (so as not to get anyone in trouble should KD Management glance at this, I'll refrain from naming the ride) I was so shocked and excited about getting multiple re-rides, I almost had to change my pants! The fireworks show was very nice, lasted a good 15 minutes of which I was pleasantly surprised. The park actually stayed open later than advertised to accomidate the crowds. Reports from various people told me ride lengths for I305 at 1.5 to 2 hours (they have a very very short queue line there if you haven't been before) and security was actually turning people away once the line reached the entry signage by the photo hut. Flight of fear was over 2 hours long, however, the woodies were less than 20 minutes, Rebel Yell was walk on. I also found them to have the best crew. The other crews were beat down and most had been there since park opening. Not sure if I agree 100% with 12+ hour shifts in the temp and humidity that the area was experiencing, but then again, I'm just an arm chair QB.

before my battery dies on my laptop, how about a small update from KD (5.29.10) I-305 with trims, you can tell a very noticable difference. If I had to guess, they slowed it down at least 10 maybe 15 MPH and got rid of the trim over the second hill before entering all the twists and turns. The ride is now slow and smooth enough that you no longer get a form of whip lash. I never blacked or greyed out when the trims were not there, and that same now. You can feel thr train trying to break loose when it comes off the lift hill, but it can't until about 50 feet before the turn. When you come off the hill you can feel getting pushed forward in your seat as the train is under breaking, however, if you've never ridden it before or haven't ridden alot of coaster, you could mistake it for the train not yet being off the lift, if they could ease that transition a bit as it lets loose, I think you would have a great ride. look at all the people on the right, why are they there and all the people on the left??? maybe this has something to do with it, finally!!!!! the wait for the front was over 1.5 hours, I got in in 20 minutes. construction equip, so they must still be fine tuning it, maybe the read my gripe about poor line queue planning, the sign wasn't there two weeks ago that I remember and everyone was jammed in one line instead of two i don't know why i find this comical, a wiener stand named Johnny's neon out neon out neon out, and their main sign on the highway has some of the matrix out, wonder why they aren't fixing this stuff, I hope they aren't going broke lik SF's, I know they have a lot of debt, but these fixes would be simple...nerd stuff I know, nit picking fireworks! must have been cool on drop tower, the lines queued up for that and I-305 at 10pm for a chance to view the show from the rides cool if you come to Richmond, you have to eat here, featured on Bobby Flay's Throw Down on Food Network, good BBQ oh yeah, and a Natural Spring at KD, WOW!

So on my way to wrapping up my East Coast trip and to avoid 35.00 in toll fees, I made a detour coming from SFNE over to Allentown and then down to Richmond to get another ride in on Talon and Hydra at Dorney (5.29.10), fine B&M products. The toll roads aren't that great, very bumpy and seemed to all be under construction on the way up, my Detour only cost me about 45 extra minutes and 30 miles, plus I got to see alot of Penn that I would not have otherwise. I have for you a construction update on the Demon and something funny I noticed about the S&S drop towers I didn't notice the first trip, some of you may already know about it...Still no sign of the Demon Cars, also, from the top of Steel Force you could see that none of the ride's control systems were in place yet, (control pannels, sensors, etc) the "T", as I've said before, not as good as Patriot, but close notice the tower on the right, no tubes, no ride, so why did they build a three tower, two tower, or a three tower, two tower or a tower without a ride on it...hmmm the world may never know hmmm, an excavator? yep as you can see they have added railings and parts of the entrance queue, not there on my previous update tower shot lets go to the other side, building out the exit ramp entrance q ramp and stuff looks like they are going to use the lifetime composite flooring on this one remember last week when the parking lot had stuff in it, everything is gone except for this load on the flatbed, some stairs and misc parts and for the nerds, ride stats on Mamba, I mean, steel force

Yes sir, it was one of their nicer parks, however, I have discovered as of late that a good number of their parks under the leadership of their former CEO, Mark Shapiro, started sprucing things up a bit. I'll be at SFA tomorrow and see if any improvements were made there, last year it was bad. SFGAdv was also very nice and SFoT is also a good one. SFStL was decent, and was also clean. I've been noticing that some, not all, of Cedar Fair's parks are starting to lack in the cleanliness and friendliness department, most notable, Kings Dominon. The line queue for Volcano is disgusting, I'm not talking about the decor, but the flooring in the queue. Park staff is ok and not rude or anything but some act as if they want to be somewhere else and when spoken to at the line entrance some don't say anything back. The entrance staff seem inviting. Donrey was sparkling and worlds of fun is usually nice and tidy. **edit** I think I know why the kd crews are crabby, take volcano and dominator for example, those are miserable ride stations with little ventelation, rebel yell, lots of open air = decent station = happy cree

very impressive, thanks.

5.28.10, Six Flags New England, this place was packed with students from everywhere, there must have been 5k students alone, then add on the "normal" crowds made for a busy busy busy busy day at the park. I ended up springing for the regular flash pass, should have gotten the gold. The season pass got me 10.00 off so I should've quit being cheap and sprung for the extra 20. The water park was scheduled to open today. but only partially opened. They had the master blaster going and about 5 water slides, and the main wave/activity pool. Everything else was closed, in other words, all the stuff I cared about. Oh well. The line for Bizzaro was 2 hours most of the day, never shorter than 1 hour, so I used my pass to hold my place while I went for swim and a ride on the few flat thrill rides they have. Quite honestly, in retrospect, they really don't have all that many rides for the adult crowd. They have an S&S fly swatter, power tower's, and well, in the flat category, that's all the "thrill" rides, everything else would fall under family. I think 9 coasters, including 1 family, and 1 kiddie (I couldn't fit in it, said I was too big to ride ) Needless to say, with all the waiting I spent most of the day there and look like a freshly cooked lobster thanks to the water park and my not putting on additional sun screen, stupid mistake on my part..... Oh yea, here are a few shots, besides, that's probably why you are even reading this at all Here we are, I wanna go to Thomas Town!!! NOT! Mr 6 and Buggs telling a park goer what he can and can't do The higest quality of Merchandise. They did have a small Speedy, had to pick that up for the office Cool shot I thought, Thunder Bolt line on the flash pass was 1 hour, and yep, it probably really was, 1 train, slow crew, needs new wood on the track bed in many places Only using 1 of the towers most of the day, lines were long. off we go they had this football challenge, tho didn't read up on what you were supposed to do cool pic of bizzaro #1, the sound track is almost identical to that in SFGAdv credit time i felt like such a whore for riding it, then, i felt like a perv with all the middle school kids on it have a wiggly good time main street and a huss spinner oh boy, it's a boomerthing where i'm from, coney island stands for hot dogs, don't believe me, look it up, coney island or coney i-lander in oklahoma, serious. Coney Island doesn't stand for lamb sandwhiches. the Tony Hawk rights must have not extended to this spinner wait a minute, it's becuase the Karate Kid has now took it over. Time to cool off, cheesy rapids ride, but did get me cooled off. uh oh, looks like I caught someone not doing their job.....right outside the spinner coaster, aka pandamonium, aka tony hawk big spin fly swatter some new wood on cyclone, that part of the ride was great. I've come to realize that Six Flags needs to re-track all of their older wooden coasters as they have the appearance of being neglected somewhat They replace some of the wood over the years and didn't paint it, so they look mismatched no matter what plate you order here, it's 9.99 here everything is 11.99 hey look, i found another natural spring! another fine HUSS attraction they've even found a way to wrap the stair cases!!!

super cool, thanks! i think it looks better from the video than the one in Florida, maybe one day soon I'll get to compare for myself.

Thanks, I suppose I am just not a fan of the type of trains used on boulder dash, especially the center seat divider they chose to use, had it been solid instead of an "L" shaped hard rubber box, and then had a little padding on it, it might have made for a better ride, now throw a Millennium or the new Timberliner train on it and then you'd have a 9+ ride for sure. No trims on it, picks up the most speed on the turn by the ski lift.

I left NJ behind on 5.27.10 and thought I left the Toll Boths behind, but was wrong. The George Washington bridge wanted 8 bucks to cross and was log jammed, took 45 minutes to get passed it on my way to Lake Compounce. Today was part of their "education days" tho the only eductation that was taking place was simple math, how long will it take me to get on a ride. (And of course their appeared to be a little, umm, science eduction taking place with some of the youngsters, lol) Overall cost was 45.00 to get in with parking. Thought this price was high considering they only had two of three coasters running and the water park was closed. Only about 12 rides worth getting on. The Ski lift ride takes about 8-10 minutes and trust me, if you are affraid of heights, don't get on this thing. I've been on 285 foot drop towers, 456 foot tall coasters, none of which compares to the way this thing will wear on your nerves looking down in a canyon. Honesty, Boulder Dash was ok, nothing to write home about and wild cat just took the number 1 spot for roughest wooden coaster ahead of even mean streak. I thought my brian was going to shake loose. Needless to say, unless, and only unless you have some time and money to kill AND were in the immediate area would I drop by, I can honsetly say I don't care to go back at the posted prices, no coupons could be found...but they do have free sodas with each admission. entry path park map you could go to jail, so read up... see, security here wears SWAT pants, they mean business, LMAO!!! they have a swing and a boomerrang that was closed. and a ship, gotta have a ship and this contraption again, these are really really popular out this direction apparently and swing!!!, short, short ride program. notice no recapture tubes, only a open pipe, much like kennywood's, makes for a loud ride. wildcat, aka, back breaker prices water park prep look, I'm at the oldest amusement park boulder dash, built on the side of a mountain no less the dash the dash free pepsi dash stats and finally, a onsite weater forecaster...

Ditto with the above two posts, hit up Volcano and Dominator first (by the end of the day Dominator shouldn't be too bad either) then head over to the I305 neck of the woods and hit that and the other two up, then from there, the back of the park where all the woodies are should be empty most of the day, if you have to get a ride on that stand up thing, it should be dead too most of the afternoon and evening, not much of a thriller, a turn, a loop, and back to the station. Fireworks this weekend too I'm told. I'll be there Sunday myself, so hope the people stay away and go to the beach as I want to try I305 with the new trims without waiting an hour. If the line backs up to the entrance, its only about 45 minutes with no hiccups.

So after a visit to Allentown that only took a few hours due to overly light crowds, I had some time to kill back in NJ and wondered back over to SFGAdv (5/23/10) to see about Kingda Ka. And....it was down, again. It started raining so I took a few spins on Bizzaro which in the rain is awesome. Ka opened back up despite not being able to see the top of the ride due to the fog and I finally got a ride in on it. The park was empty at 7pm and closed at 9, all rides were walk on and re-rides were plentiful. I also had to go see my favorite ride crew at Batman and hit it up another 10 times in the rain. Riding in the rain certainly adds another dimension to the ride. I have ended up skipping Coney Island, tried to get over there but NYC traffic made me a nervous wreck and I didn't care to ride the train over. Did make it to the Statue of Liberty, a definite must if in the area. Park on the NJ side, reserve your tix in advance online from the park service and get Crown access if available, otherwise, for 12 bucks for the ferry plus 7 to park, you can easily spend 4 hours here. The turnpike will also request another 5 or so from you each way. My next park will be Lake Compounce followed by SFNE Carnigee Deli, prices are just like the real thing, expensive. after a ride on rolling thunder, you will need one of these, they even offer hair cutting services.... ahhh, my almost favorite new wooden coaster El Toro, I mean, Stride Gum yep, Stride Gum, a disgrace to a great coaster, Lance says it best over at screamscape, clown cars.

^^^^^^ They have done a really nice job of refurbishing it and the installation crews were working on the tower portion while I was there, though I don't look for it to open til end of June first of July.

I rode this last week before the trims, will re-ride Sunday on my way back through town, but if I had to guess, even trimming it out as much as it looks they have will still be intense towards the end of the ride as they already had a trim, at least when I rode it, at the top of the second hill, though it was not much of one. I was talking to some ACEr's at the coaster event at SFGAdv and was told they had some serious wheel breakage issues which was why they inserted the trim at the top of the hill, then, when I was there on 5.16.10 one of the trains was making a severe noise going up the lift, they took the train off, sure enough, maintenance went to work on the 4th car's wheel assembly. This was a really intense ride, I have to say, I was a little disappointed as after two rides, I was done, though never blacked out, it was just not worth rattling.

Drove over to Dorney Park (5/23/10), forecast called for 50% chance of rain, and it had been raining up to about park opening time. Arrived an hour after opening, and there were about 25 cars in the parking lot, I thought they were closed, needless to say, the rides were all walk on and allowed me to ride everything I wanted and turn and burn in about 2.5 hours. If you are in Jackson for SFGadv or Harrisburg for Hershey, it's worth the drive, decent selection of rides, and for non pass holders, the price is right. Welcome to a cold, rainy day at Dorney, perfect as no one else wanted to show up Talon, nice invert, another quality B&M clucks and franks, just what I want. 1 talon ride, no waiting. as you could see, no one in line, was the only one on the ride, no one in line and asked to re-ride, was told no. I am really beginning to hate CF's ride rules. no takers. credit time Park admission is really cheap here, about 27 bucks, but to upcharge this S&S, that's crazy. I'd rather pay extra dollar in GA and cut the upcharge. No takers here either. They don't charge at Cedar Point. Morey's Piers also charges an extra 10. Hydra, love the roll out of the station, nice smooth ride, not to intense, but not to lazy either. overview. how about some demon drop progress photos parts still in the parking lot. Thunderhawk, a certified classic they take care of their trains here, I saw several car covers all over the park. Mamba, I mean, Steel Force. it was down part of the morning until they switched trains, was told by locals it's had some trouble this season including a walk down from the top last weekend. I've also been told possessed has had some trouble this year and finally a cool shot of Hydra.

Coaster Celebration at Six Flags Great Adventure (5/22/10) was worth the additional monies, with "processing" fee the coast was about 30 bucks for season pass holders and included 3 hours of ERT, a picnic (burgers, chicken fingers, mac and cheese, and something they called ice cream was all they had, no chips or fries, found that odd, but who cares) and a ride photo, I got mine on El Toro, Ole! The first hour was for El Toro, (almost my new favorite woodie) Rolling Thunder and Bizarro. Spent 45 mintues on El Toro, didn't have to walk around, just found an empty seat, then tried Rolling Thunder, sad, it needs some TLC, rough around the edges and the appeareance that it hasn't been well cared for. I thought the modifications they made to Bizarro were rather cool and different. The soundtrack combined with the cutouts the ride runs throught, the fog, fire, and other special effects I can see appealing to those who are occasional or first time visitors to theme parks. I could also see other parks doing things similar to spruce up an older ride and try to increase ridership and get the most bang for their investment. There are still traces of MEDUSA on the station building, though I don't have a pic of it, yet. The park was jammed tight about 30 minutes after opening, so I split and came back for the picnic, this is what I captured. Welcome Back down the main entry towards the central fountain up charge rides, found the pricing low for the shoot you up ride, only 5 bucks. you can get your picture taken with the duck I thought this was a joke at first, Jersey Shore, and then I looked in, yep, you can buy "the situation" shirts amungst other Jersey Shore stuff...wow. the big whell Batman, the Cookie Cutter, but I do have to admit... That during evening ERT from 10-11 I rode it 24 times. The ride ops made me their new best friend. Tried to get their supervisor to let them ride with me, but they couldn't. Great crew on Sat night. And yes, I had trouble standing up when I finally had to get off when the ride closed. The Dark Knight, again, a cookie cutter mad mouse style ride. They did an ok job of trying to theme it which made it better by far than a standard mouse. What did this used to be? Also seen a musik express sitting put together to the left of it (or at least I think it was 100% put together) Rent Me! This is in the picnic area across from the above pic. yeah I know this is batman, but had to say I got 15 rides on the Nitro during ERT, they didn't make us get off and were asking if anyone wanted to get off, if the answer was no, they would keep the train locked, and send it on it's way when cleared. Another themed indoor coaster ride. skyway was closed due to weather, the storm was moving in and the wind was kicking up a little gotta have a pirate ship Flash Pass pricing... and what you can ride with it they must own stock in Papa Johns... it's everywhere here. ahh, kingda ka...what are we going to do with you not ride it, it spent more time down than up. The locals say that's the norm for the ride. Was in line for it, went down, stuck around, they brought it online, then took it back down, gave up on it after 30 minutes, not worth it....I'll just have to come back tomorrow and ride it

I attended coaster celebration at SFGadv on 5.22 and headed to Dorney park on Sunday, will post items from those adventures next chance I get, no internet in hotel unless I want to pay 11 a day for it, no thank you.

I drove up to the Trenton area as sort of a central point for many things, I calculate it would actually save me a little green and travel. Once I arrived, I dorve over to Morey's Piers (5/21/10). This is a great little place with a decent amount of variety. The boardwalk, the rides, the games, everything made for a fun evening. I thought the pricing was a little much for what they had to offer, but still got a wristband as the individual prices for 4 rides almost = 35.00 wristband. Worth the time if you are in the Atlantic City area. Wish I had something similar to this close to me... Ahh, the boardwalk The middle pier if you need a job, they have them rides The Big Wheel ohhh, a boomarang death machine I'll start on the mouse, for the credit can you believe they want 8 tickets for this boomarang thingy? thats 7.60 roughly if you bought an individual ticket!! a music express.....that plays music and goes forward and backwards!!! yeah!! the boys scouts were having a campout, how cool is that? The great white was down. the noreaster was up, terrible ride, a head rattler from he#! odd, no station breaks why not this sams pizza place was packed, so i tried it, not bad and a log ride, wow. say goodnight

After Hershey park, which if I had a family would be a perfect trip, I drove over to Kennywood (5/20/10), construction around the bridge is horrible, and if anyone is going that's not from the area, take advice on their website about how to get there, especially during the noon and rush hours.... Great little park, reminds me somewhat of Bell's which, as many of us know, was kicked out sometime back and has not yet rebuilt. I have picks of the rides in storage, if anyone wants to see them, let me know, I'll put them in a different post. I was really surprised at the admission ticket of only 24.95 and the food and beverage were really really reasonable for an amusement park, not to mention the FREE parking, unheard of these days at the chains.. Someone forgot to charge their camera battery, so not much from here....don't know who that someone would've been... View of the park from the FREE parking lot, did I mention that parking was FREE (unless you want preferred) First trip to the old school, I'm ready Sky Rocket Construction Through the trees sky rocket construction Working on the footers, they say it will be open in June, no trains on the tracks and still a good deal of work to complete from what I can tell, so maybe the end of June?? Shopping and whatnot Jack Rabbit, the park was jammed back on this Thursday the 20th of May, lots of schools and just lots of people in general, doesn't anyone work during the day Paddle boats, cool, the grounds were also exceptional Time for the racer, cool ride, it could use 4 trains, only had two on the tracks and one in storage, took about 30 minutes to get on each time I rode. The is one of the best looking carousel's i've seen in a while. I've never seen one of these before, I like it just as much as the himilaya, had to get on in twice in fact. again, well kept, nice looking park watch out for the flying saucer please, spit out your gum before riding the coaster Turtles!!!! I had to. Phantom's Revenge and the Thunderbolt. I found it odd you had to have a partner to ride the thunderbolt, but then realized with no divider in the seats, you needed someone to bounce off of, tried to find a hottie, but no luck The phantom's life motor, tiny in comparison to the newer coasters. Again, great theming.

The Bebes - Will do, thanks for the info!

DRACHEN_FIRE_FAN-BOY - Thats too funny! - Glad to know you are on the site as well! It was an awesome tour and BG treated us well, a definite recommend to anyone

Hershey was a cool park, disappointed that the make your own candy bar wasn't open, had something special in mind for my boss. Other than that, they have a really nice selection of rides from thrillers to whimpy. I had never been on a whip before and that was quite interesting. Also got to hear Bon Jovi warming up for the concert held at the arena Wed. night, so that was a bonus. I found the great bear to be a fun ride, but a little boring too, nothing compares to my Patriott!!!! Would highly recommend that anyone who has not been, to put it on the bucket list. Just be sure to have a twenty spot for the toll roads.

Okie Dokie, it's off to Hershey (5/19/10) for chocolate and coasters, what a combination!! I just hope they have the water hose standing by So after 15.00 in turnpike fees from Atlantic City inlcuding 4.00 to cross a bridge, WTF???? I happily paid my 10 bucks to park and started my journey. YEA!!! I know which way I'm headed Nice, reminds me of Univeral Stuidos before you enter their park. Enough looking around, time to go in. Hey look, they have healthy foods, so, does that mean if you eat a mushroom burger and a chocolate bar it neutralizes the weight gain? They have a nice carousel and crustations. and of course fudge. but enough of that, it's time for the comet. up up and away. The station sort of reminds me of ZINGO, RIP Come on Blitzen you can do it! (If you don't remember what Christmas movie that's from, I'm sorry) The Super's station, love the chain instead of drive wheels to move it along. Look! A natural waterfall! Time for me some bear. This is waaayyy better in my opinion than that contraption at universal, the hollywood rip ride and it's always brokedown when i'm there rokit. No breakruns in the course, nice airtime, and even nicer first drop. the cat i thought was mighty rough for GCI trains. if you look close, you can see them testing the pumps out on the giant water slide. i needed the credit.... I love these rides when they play music, and this one does, the thump of the bass and the energy of the music is what makes these rides rock. one lightening train, no waiting. I picked the first weekday opening of the season to come because of the light crowds, the forecast for rain helped keep even more people away, and thus, many outlets were smartly closed. And to be honest, they could have closed more things. Probably the best looking boomerang I have seen, the train looks emaculate. hey look, a mini top thrill dragster! and it has a catwalk already attached....maybe something Knott's shoulda had in place.... I needed the credit....not the best mine train ride ever built, but it counts, and I was the only one riding it

The best way is to become a member of TPR or ACE and travel with them on pre-planned outings as the parks often take the clubs on tours. As far as I have come up with only Busch Gardens (Tampa and Williamsburg-Eurpoe) offer a paid tour.