
xmichellex
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Everything posted by xmichellex
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Worst Coaster Ever?
xmichellex replied to Mind Eraser's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
I would say the old Psyclone, but, since it's gone I'll go with a current pick... Think it's gonna have to be the Roller Coaster at NYNY in Vegas. I have never wanted to get off a ride so much in my life. I gave it a second chance after the restraints were changed, but I don't think there's any saving that thing. -
Canobie Lake Park Discussion Thread
xmichellex replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Drove by the park today - I live 15 min. down the road and was out xmas shopping, so I figured I'd do a drive-by and see if I could see anything fun/take pics. Looked at the front of the park/parking lot and drove down some side roads to see the back of the park where the new coaster is going, but unfortunately didn't spot anything exciting like track pieces... the land is definitely getting good and cleared out though and cranes are on location. Wonder if they will wait for warmer weather to really get going? Can't wait for this! Canobie definitely deserves another great ride! -
That HeliHopper ride is hilarious! I will admit, I watched that part a few times in a row because the reactions were so awesome! I'm really looking forward to the Q-bot wristband for water parks. I have wanted to go to water parks (attached to theme parks and otherwise), but they always seem SO crowded that it kinda turns me away. Hopefully this will work and be a great reason to make an effort to finally go! PS - Thanks so much for all the pics and videos!
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Halloween 2010 at Disneyland Paris
xmichellex replied to MaBi's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Amazing pictures! DLP looks so incredible... I hope to make it there someday! -
"Why do you have to be so mean to leg people?" Hahahaha!! Love it!
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Canobie Lake Park Discussion Thread
xmichellex replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
This is a great thing for Canobie! I live very close to the park and have been going there forever. It's still one of my favorite parks. I went this past Labor Day weekend and thought the park could really use something else at this point. The Cannonball is still so much fun, but the Corkscrew is definitely showing it's age - even more than usual. I know it's a family park, but it's just screaming for a new coaster. This is going to be a perfect fit and I'm excited that they are finally giving the park some much deserved coaster love! -
Blah. Besides Bizarro, this park bums me out coaster-wise. Like said above, if anything, maybe this will cut the lines for the only great coaster (in my opinion anyway) in the park. If I had my wish for SFNE, it would be for a really great wooden coaster. They practically wrecked the (Riverside) Cyclone, and the Thunderbolt is fun, but I think it would be a great balance with Bizarro to have a really insane new wooden coaster. Even if that means taking something else out...
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What Was The Last Coaster You Rode?
xmichellex replied to SharkTums's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Steel Force @ Dorney 8/20/10 Pic! http://www.rcdb.com/276.htm?p=904 LOVED this ride! -
I definitely agree with the Giant Dipper at the SCBB, the beginning of Son of Beast, & Nitro at Great Adventure. And, kind of random, I really like how Wildcat at Hershey starts off. The turn into the small hills heading straight toward the lift really stood out to me for some reason when I first went on it.
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Most Intense Rides You've Been On
xmichellex replied to StrataKirby's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Titan - Greyed out during the helix every time. Same with Nitro and Bizzaro @ SFNE. Also, I agree with Boulder Dash too as it feels so completely out of control in parts - but in a good-laugh-your-ass-off kind of way! -
Was there last week on Sunday and Monday. Sunday it was overcast and rained/drizzled on and off all day. Everything stayed open, including KK in the very light rain. Batman and Nitro both continued to run in slightly heavier rain. Skull Mountain and TDK were open as well... the only downside to TDK is that the wait outside for the pre-show in the rain was a little annoying, since the line crawls. Monday is was hot and mostly sunny, but for like 3 hours in the afternoon there was severe weather in the area, it didn't hit the park, but you could see the storms on the horizon. KK, Toro, the water rides and the ferris wheel all closed during the severe weather watch, but everything else remained open. KK was closed the longest, but as the storms got further, the closed rides opened back up pretty fast.
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Photo TR: SFGAdv/Hershey/Dorney 8/15-8/19/10
xmichellex replied to xmichellex's topic in Photo Trip Report Archive
^ Ha, I didn't even think about the bee thing... guess it could have been a wasp - either way, it sucked! -
Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread
xmichellex replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted the pics of the SR cable incident in my TR here. -
My bf and I just got back from an awesome week at SF Great Adventure, Hershey and Dorney! We hadn’t been to Great Adventure since El Toto and Kingda Ka were added so we were excited to ride them… Neither of us had ever been to Hershey or Dorney. Ok, here we go – I apologize in advance for being wordy. GREAT ADVENTURE: We drove down to N.J. on Saturday and hit up Great Adventure on Sunday and Monday. We had Gold FP’s both days so we were able to get lots of rides on everything we wanted to – including coasters, water rides, etc. It also helped that on Sunday it was overcast and drizzling on and off for most of the day, so the crowds weren’t too bad. Everything was running in the light rain, including KK. Monday was sweltering hot, but the park still wasn’t overly crowded. There were t-storms in the area for a little bit on Monday too, so KK, Toro, the ferris wheel, and the water rides were closed for a bit, but everything else remained open. We were glad to have the FP’s though as the lines were still an hour/hour and a half for KK, El Toro, etc. both days. It worked out that we were actually reserving rides as we were walking to them, which rocked… the only wait times we really had were for the front/back of trains which was obviously by choice. I have to say I was MUCH more impressed with the park this time. It was close to spotlessly clean, and the ride ops were very efficient – with the exception of Batman and Superman which lagged, but still moved at an acceptable pace. I noticed lots of security roaming and watching for line jumpers as well, which was a huge problem last time we visited. Overall we had an awesome time here. Kingda Ka – Holy crap this was intense! I have ridden TTD, but not since it opened years ago, so I feel like I can’t really give that accurate of a comparison except I got that “omfg” feeling during the launch and on the spiral down. The extra hill on KK was pretty great too since you get to keep the speed going for a little longer. I remember TTD being relatively smooth, but don’t know how it’s aged. KK was a little shaky in the very back, but the front was fine. In the first few hours at the park on Sunday, we were able to ride this 3 times, alternating between front and back. It ran close to perfect on Sunday (minor technical issues a few times, never too long of a delay), but was down for several hours on Monday due to technical problems and then the bad weather in the area. The ride ops were very efficient, both sides of the station and all cars were being used and the line moved pretty well when the coaster was running for long periods at a time. El Toro – Ok, I have ridden Boulder Dash and it’s one of the best coasters (wooden or steel) I have ever ridden, BUT I think El Toro was just incredible. I loved the huge scope of this ride - the speed, the hills, the drop, and the craziness at the end. I think this was my favorite of the trip! Oh – and I did notice the rough patch after the turn around that was mentioned in the Great Adventure thread, but only on the Stride Gum train… The only issue I had with El Toro (which really isn’t the ride’s fault) is that while on the ride, I got STUNG BY A BEE THREE TIMES, by the same bee in about 2 seconds! I don’t know how it is possible to be going 60 mph and get stung 3 times at once on your back, but it happened. Dunno if the bee was on me or my seat before the ride left the station or not. It really hurt, but I reached back and grabbed the bee and tossed him off my back (still with arms in the air and loving the ride). I didn’t let a few bee stings ruin the ride or the day for me. I went to first aid, they gave me some numbing gel and some ice, and I went on my way - the bee did not win! I also noticed lots of bees in the station. Afterward, I was thinking back on it and thought I remembered reading on here in someone’s TR about a ride having a bee problem and that it may have been El Toro… am I correct in this? We rode almost all of the coasters, with the exception of the kiddie ones and Rolling Thunder, which we had ridden last trip and felt no need to do again. Bizzaro was really rough – we only rode once. We re-rode it like 4 times in a row last time when it was still Medusa, but this time we couldn’t get off it fast enough. The Dark Knight was a huge disappointment - long pre-show followed by a sub-par wild mouse. Nitro was awesome as usual and it was the coaster we rode the most. This ride still runs great and I grayed-out every single time on the helixes before the brake run no matter which seat we were in. KK – 5x Nitro – 7x El Toro – 5x Bizzaro – 1x The Dark Knight – 1x Batman – 2x Superman – 2x Skull Mountain – 1x Mine Train – 1x HERSHEY PARK: We did Hershey on Tues. and Weds. We both loved this park. It was so gorgeous! The only things I didn’t like were that it was sort of hard to navigate (even with a map) if you didn’t know the park, and the ride ops were kind of slow at all the rides - especially Fahrenheit. The park was more crowded on Tuesday, because on Weds. it was rainy most of the day. I was a little worried when I saw the amount of people in line for the park on Tuesday, but a big majority headed right to the water park, so that was a relief. We also bought so much candy at Chocolate World that we had to buy a cooler just to get it all home without everything melting! Storm Runner – this was our first ride in the park and it RULED! Absolutely loved loved loved the elements on this ride. We sat in front and back and both were great! The line was never too long, maybe an hour at most, but that was because we chose to ride in the popular seats. On Weds. we got in line to ride it one last time, and when we were next in line to ride, the cable broke! The noise was so loud that it startled everyone in line (including the ops) and people standing outside near the ride. Everyone on the train that it broke for seemed completely fine and within a few minutes they had everyone off the train. We peeked down the track to see the damage and could see the cable draped over the side of the track as well as hanging down inside and below the track towards the ground. I didn’t see any frayed areas so I don’t know if the cable snapped or the entire mechanism came loose or what. From what we gathered from the people that were on the ride, they actually were launched and rolled back… don’t know how that worked though since the cable was hanging over the track. We were on the right side of the station (right side from inside the station) so we didn’t actually see it until we walked out. Anyone here know more about what might have happened? Fahrenheit - nice, but very “meh.” We rode it a handful of times, but it definitely wasn’t as fun as SR. The Norwegian loop was fun, but after that it wasn’t too thrilling except for the awesome air hill at the end. The biggest surprises for us at the park were the wooden coasters. Lightning Racer was AWESOME. We rode both sides a bunch of times. Both were surprisingly smooth and I loved the layout of the ride. It was one of those coasters where you just laugh the whole time. Wildcat and Comet were also great, even though they’re older. I felt like I was standing half the time on Comet – it had great air! Great Bear was a nice change from the Batman inverts, the cool first drop was a lot of fun and pretty forceful! Sooperdooperlooper was a nice ride too! We weren’t expecting it to be as fun as it was. We didn’t do Sidewinder by choice. To me, boomerangs are day-ruiners and we didn’t want to waste our time even though it would be a missed credit. We really liked that Hershey had a good selection of flats and things other than coasters as opposed to Great Adventure. Coal Cracker was a hilarious ride – the hop at the bottom of the big drop is so awesome. While waiting for Great Bear we had fun watching everyone come down the hill and get air off the hop. We also did the bumper cars, the whip, and off course the big slide (Merry Derry Dip?) I’m 28 and he’s 34, but we didn’t care, we wanted to race on the slide, haha… Storm Runner – 4x Farenheit – 4x Lightning Racer – 3x on each side Wildcat – 2x Comet – 1x SDL – 2x Great Bear – 2x Trailblazer – 1x Wild Mouse – 1x PS – Zoo America was a very nice experience as well - lots to see, pretty to roam around, and a good change of pace from the park for a little bit. Highly recommended since it’s included with park admission anyway! DORNEY PARK: This was a bonus park for us as we literally had to pass it on the way home. We got to the park early in the day, but we ran into some trouble with our rental car, so we didn’t end up getting into the park until 4:45, which worked out since we paid the Starlight admission. The park was close to empty for most of the night which ruled. I was completely impressed with this park – overall the park was just pleasant to be at and the coasters were fantastic! Ride ops were fast, what lines there actually were moved right along, and the staff was fantastic. Possessed – this was a first for us – we had never been on an Intamin impulse coaster. Last time I went to Cedar Point, time ran out before I could get on Wicked Twister, so I was glad I finally got a chance to ride something similar. We both really loved the ride – the holding brake part was crazy, especially in the front since you feel like you are going to plummet straight to the ground. Loved the twisting portion of it too, especially going backwards through it! Talon – This is now one of my favorite inverts ever. This was another trip favorite for me. The forces, air, and layout on this were just awesome. It was also probably the smoothest one I’ve ever been on. Montu is still my #1, but Talon definitely is a very close second. Steel Force - SO GOOD and almost glass smooth every time we rode. The air on this was insane in the front! Hydra – I was nervous about this one since I’ve read so much about how it rattles – and after Bizzaro at Great Adventure, I was hoping it wouldn’t be as bad. Turns out, it was pretty sweet! It was a little rough in spots, but overall I enjoyed it much more than Bizzaro. Thunderhawk ruled. Definitely one of the better older wooden coasters I’ve been on. We also got on Dominator (freefall side – the bf had only been the launch type, so we opted for the other one), and the log ride - which is one of the best ones I’ve been on, you get so wet! I went on Demon Drop at Cedar Point, but we didn’t do it this time because it seemed like the longest line and it was crawling along. The selection of flats in this park was amazing – we didn’t have time to really enjoy them, but I think Dorney has the whole package as far as coasters and flat rides go. ** I also would like to thank the amazing employees at Dorney (don’t know if anyone on TPR works there), but we were trapped in the parking lot for most of the day dealing with car issues and the staff at the park were so nice and helpful – trying to help in any way they could, even walking us into the park to get food and water (before we got tix) since we were starving and waiting for help. They helped to turn an otherwise dismal day into an incredible night! Possessed – 3x Steel Force – 3x Talon – 4x Hydra – 1x Thunderhawk – 1x All-in-all we had a blast on this trip. I was so excited to finally get lots of new credits… and even though it’s not the most exciting ride, Great Bear ended up being my 110th credit. I think I’m going through withdrawals now after all the adrenaline rushes over the last week. Oh well, just an excuse to plan another trip! I didn't take very many pics, but here's a few anyway - including SR's breakdown and my bee incident... Arriving at Great Adventure... Entry Plaza from the Skyride Not too much left of the GASM... bummer - I liked this ride Obligatory coaster shot. El Toro = love <3 El Toro knows it's sexy... Yumminess Nitro doesn't care about a little rain, it wants to run anyway Sassy tiger, sticking his tongue out at me when I took his picture... ...and finally, the bee stings I got while on El Toro. Booooo. Yay! Looks like we made it to park #2! Woohoo! Chocolate everywhere! Pretty park... At least it's not crowded... Fahrenheit's vertical lift... The best part of the ride... Love how Hershey fits all the rides into the park in this area... The park at sunset for Wildcat's station. And again... Storm Runner's cable decided it wanted to quit, so no ride for these people... Getting evacuated... Sorry folks, Storm Runner is having some technical difficulties... Cable draped over the side of the track. Look towards the fence... Cable fail. Cable hanging down... Broken Well, since SR broke, let's head to the Zoo... The bobcats were awesome... Hey! Bison! Crocodile... The elk had done enough elk-type things for the day and decided he didn't want to entertain people anymore. The day ended with a very productive and expensive candy shopping spree...
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Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread
xmichellex replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Yeah, from the looks of what the cable looked like after, I was guessing that might be it for Storm Runner for a while... but that's great that they were able to get it repaired so quickly! The cable was hanging down from the track towards the ground and was also draped over the side of the track close to where the top hat is. Looked like some of the launch components/mechanics were also knocked out of place. No one on the ride seemed too phased about it, the worst part was the loud bang it made... will post pics soon! -
Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread
xmichellex replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
^ wildemu - I was at the park Tues. and Weds. On Weds., I was next in line for Storm Runner with my bf when the friggin' cable broke! Luckily we got on it the day before and earlier on that day... I'm surprised they already have it up and running, but it looked worse than it was I guess (at least it was fixable!). I took some pics of it... hope to post a TR soon. -
Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread
xmichellex replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Thanks for your TR - I'm going in 2 weeks - can't wait!! -
Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread
xmichellex replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Is Storm Runner's status really that bad? I'm going in mid-August... SR is one of the coasters I'm most looking forward to riding. I will be so bummed if it's closed. -
Basically we will have 2 full days at Great Adv. - a Sunday and Monday. We're just trying to decide whether to do the Gold pass on Sunday and chance the lines on Monday, OR for the same price do a regular FP on both Sun. & Mon. Kevin - Don't think we need the Platinum pass since we have a couple days (I would def do it if we only had one day)... That's great info on the way they work though! Will definitely keep that in mind!