Geauga Dog

Wood 1. Voyage 2. The Beast 3. Legend 4. Lightning Racer 5. Evel Knievel 6. Ravine Flyer II 7. Twister (Knoebel's) 8. Viper 9. Shivering Timbers 10. Phoenix Steel 1. Raging Bull 2. Alpengeist 3. Storm Runner 4. Maverick 5. Millennium Force 6. Nitro 7. Talon 8. Riddler's Revenge 9. Raptor 10. Phantom's Revenge

Hersheypark has such a great mix of coasters that the only thing missing is a hyper. My gut feeling is that it'll be a B&M hyper with a water feature like Diamondback.

I play RCT2 a LOT more than 3 even though 3 has a lot of the rides I wish 2 had. I'll probably be laughed at but I would take all the coasters, flat rides, and water park attractions in 3 and put it back in RCT2 form.

IIRC the Zodiac was further back along Coney Mall where Flight Commander eventually was built. Skylab was a very cool looking Enterprise. I'd like to see a new Enterprise return to the park as I feel the park, Coney Mall in particular, could use more flats. If they could build a second suspended coaster I don't see why a second Enterprise couldn't be considered (maybe as part of a multiple flat ride package).

Nice photos. Park looks like it's still in great shape. Haven't been there in five years. When did they paint Sky Trek Tower? I'm sort of mixed on the final result.

I believe I've read it was located where Camp Snoopy is/was.

Next stop is my favorite Ohio park, Kings Island. These photos are from 1987 and 1991 respectively. I've also added a few extras to this update. This view has now been ruined with the addition of three flagpoles right in front of the fountains. I was quite disappointed. A brand spanking new Vortex debuts. The orange rails glistening in the sun. First drop from the Beast area. Now for a few defunct rides. King Cobra's first. This photo is from 1991. Screamin' Demon. I think it was just The Demon at this time. I'll never forget waiting on the stairs when the whole ride shook as the train returned to the station. A little unnerving for its time. Skylab. Never got to ride it during its short time at the park. Skylab from the Eiffel. The perfect ride at the perfect spot. I'd take this over the basketball game and Coca Cola Cool Zone that has since replaced it. The Beast from Keelboat Canal's lift hill. Quite a few defunct attractions in one shot. Skylab, Flying Dutchman, King Cobra and Der Spinnen Keggars. Two things. 1. The Racer still somewhat sports the patriotic color scheme, which I wish it still had and 2. if you look closely the line for Vortex almost goes all the way down Coney Mall. The former Wild Animal Habitat, now Action Zone. Screamin' Demon is in there somewhere. Amazon Falls and Wild Animal Habitat as seen in 1991. Keelboat Canal from the Eiffel. Replaced by Tomb Raider, which I liked. The Crypt is pure crap. Kings Mill Flume and Rivertown. My favorite view of the Eiffel Tower from Rivertown. Now a giant snake has come and made itself a home here. Winterfest 1987. The only time I ever visited this event. From what I remember it was quite nice. The decor near the skating rink. Winterfest guide cover 1987 park guide cover BONUS: The 1992 souvenir map celebrating the park's 20th anniversary. Also the last map before Paramount. I would have scanned it but it's still in great condition and I didn't want to risk tearing it. Thanks for viewing.

My favorites are: Raging Bull KI Vortex Mantis Scream (before it faded) Phantom's Revenge (even though I hated it on X-Flight) Talon, including the trains and wheel covers X2 (red and black always look good together) Any wood coaster with the patriotic color scheme Firehawk V2 at SFGAm and SFDK I actually kinda like the color of Woodstock Express at KI. It may be bright blue but it's better than some of the colors that ride had during the Paramount years.

Best: Raging Bull's figure-8 ending The Beast's insane double helix Phoenix's bunny hops of airtime Gemini's helices, which are a bit forceful River King Mine Train's tunneled drop Seabreeze's Jack Rabbit's tunneled drop Darien Lake's RoS' last three hills of airtime Phantom's Revenge's entire section next to the station to the end Villain's double up into the brakes Big Bad Wolf's second half The Voyage's pass through the queue line under the station to the end Worst: Adventure Express Dorney's Thunderhawk with that brake right before the ending

It wouldn't matter to CP. At one time they had two Calypso rides (Calypso and Tiki Twirl), three classic carousels (Main Midway, Kiddieland, and the Frontier carousel that was moved to Dorney), and they still have three car rides (Turnpike, Cadillac Cars, and Antique Cars). This ride would be very different from the Wave Swinger. I can see this Wind Seeker at CP. It fits the Stratasoar name plus it seems to have enough capacity.

^^And I guess it's safe to say that the camelback before the cobra roll probably would have been a zero-g roll. The other highlight was inverting through the wraparound corkscrew before diving to the ground, which was quite original considering they could have just made another drop similar to their mega loopers for Six Flags right off the lift.

Wow, nice pics of Silver Comet. If I had known that you could get those kind of shots from the train I would have ridden it. Glad you had a good time. Martin's is a pleasant park with so much potential.

This next set is Cedar Point from the late 80's/early 90's as well as a few taken in '96 when Mantis was new. You would think being one of my home parks, correction, my only home park I would have a lot of photos but this is about all I have from this time period. I guess, as with most things, it's a case of "if I knew then what I know now", especially with how this park has changed within the last decade. I apologize for the quality of some of these photos and the fact I was still somewhat learning how to get good photos. Also this is what you get with a cheap 35mm point and shoot at the time. Thank goodness for digital cameras today. Anyone remember when the queue used to snake all the way towards Corkscrew? You can even see the people standing in the extended queue CP had to install to handle the masses. In fact I believe I was in line for the ride when this photo was taken in 1989. The first hill from the Soak City lot. This was before Challenge Park was built. The lift with Witches' Wheel in the foreground. Notice there's no Soak City surrounding the second hill. I remember the one end of Camper Village used to be right next to the second hill. I remember in late '88 they had a big sign where the queue entrance is now stating that the tallest and fastest coaster in the world was coming in '89...and then trying to figure out how it was going to fit in the park. Avalanche Run View from the now defunct Kid Arthur's Court. This was probably the first ride that CP incorporated the endless queue layout as it seemed like it took forever to get on this ride. Blue Streak long before a large, green bird of prey stalked the front part of the park. This was taken during ID's infancy since the lead car is missing the 3-D logo on the front. It's 1991 and along comes Mean Streak. I'm getting a sunburn just looking at this photo. It's a shame that it's become the laughing stock of CP. The only redeeming thing about the ride is that it's a beautiful looking structure. My favorite view of Mean Streak (no I did not steal thrillrider's photo). For those who never visited CP prior to 2003 this what the Dragster area looked like. Huss Troikas are among my favorite flat rides and this was the original location. I miss the shady and quiet respite of this area between Corkscrew and Magnum. Now it's one of the loudest areas in the park. Look, no brake on the first drop! Mantis 1996. When Mantis opened the entrance was located next to the dive loop and you had to cross the railroad tracks. It was changed when Millennium Force was built four years later. Thanks for viewing.

Wow, thanks for all the comments everyone. I remember back at that first visit when I looked at the map and Time Shaft was listed as part of the Lost World complex and I had no idea as to what it was. So I got in line and when I found out it was a Rotor I left. That is one ride I don't think I could handle.

Those photos from SFStL were awesome and they brought back a lot of memories from my visit back in June. I love that park. I'm jealous you got to get up close and personal with Mr. Freeze. That ride is awesome! The souvenir drink holder is a great idea and must be something brand new as I don't recall seeing them when I was there. Like the sign says, leave at your own risk.

As for more photos these are pretty much all I have from these two parks. I just scanned a few old CP photos from around 1991 (a still relatively new Magnum before the Soak City expansion and a brand new and decent Mean Streak as well as a couple of Avalanche Run before the Disaster Transport makeover). I'll post those in a few days. I didn't really start travelling much and take lots of photos until after 2000 . I'll be posting a few of those later on including more CP and some KI pics.

This next set is from my first ever visit to Kings Dominion in 1992. While there were some aspects of the park that I liked I had thought, and still think, Kings Island is the better park. I didn't get to return to KD until 2003 and Paramount had made some drastic changes to the park by then. The entrance area. Berserker, my very first Looping Starship. I have to admit I'm a park observation tower geek. The KI and KD Eiffel's are my favorites. I always thought KD had the nicer I-Street and the better fountains compared to KI. Compare this particular view with the KD of today. Looong before the skyline became "intimidating". Now for a few shots of Anaconda. I believe this was the most recent addition to the park before Hurricane Reef was built. Rebel Yell I miss going backwards on these racers. The view while going up Rebel Yell's lift. I'm probably one of the very few who actually liked the Intamin Flight Trainers. A few photos of Shockwave. I wonder how much longer this one will stick around. Shenandoah Log Flume The entrance to Grizzly. IIRC you had to cross railroad tracks to get to this point. I loved how secluded the Grizzly was. When I returned in 2003 was I quite disappointed that Paramount removed a lot of the trees by the fan turn for Hurler. This one's for Montezooma. The ending of the Haunted River. To the left you can see a small part of the Smurf Mine ride. Now for some Avalanche, a far superior ride compared to the Intamin version. It baffles me as to why this particular model never took off in America. Final photo, Ghoster Coaster as taken from the platform of the dry water slide complex, whose name escapes me right now. Thanks for viewing.

Continuing on, I saved the best for last. I didn't realize I had this many photos of Drachen Fire. Hmmm, I wonder what lies ahead. Entering the batwing (Arrow's name for the cobra roll). The lighting was not that great in this view of the batwing/cobra roll. Don't know what I was thinking when I took this photo. My favorite photo. Another view of the cutback element. I was in ACE at the time and we had a catered lunch behind the Festhaus. They had a display car. View from the picnic area. I'd like to see B&M re-do this ride. I dug out my old DF souvenir bottle. It's never been used.

Taking the cue from some of the members on TPR I decided to take a look through some of my old photos from past park trips and scan them to post here. I figured this would be a good way to start my first ever topic. I was not into taking a lot of photos at parks at first, just get enough to have some memories of my visits. Nowadays I try to document as much as possible in between rides. To start this thread off I'm posting a few random pics I took at BGW back in 1992. This was the first time I was ever at the park and I instantly fell in love with the place. The infamous Drachen Fire was brand new and became my favorite Arrow looper at the time due to the uniqueness of it compared to their other coasters. I still rank it rather high due to Arrow trying to do something "out of the box". Unfortunately it didn't work out for them. It took me eleven years to finally get back and the park sits solidly at number one of my all-time favorites. With my last visit being 2003 I really need to get back down there again. I just wish it wasn't so far away. Well start with the legend that has now been laid to rest. Wish I could have had one last ride. Even though everyone seems to have this shot you still can't get enough of it. Racing up from the river below. Festhaus. One of the most beautiful bulidngs I've seen in a park anywhere. But, IMO, BGW is beautiful in every aspect of the park. Gladiator's Gauntlet. From what I remember it was a unique ride that was also not very thrilling. Loch Ness from the Sky Ride. Drachen Fire towers in the horizon. The iconic shot of LNM's interlocked loops. Hastings from the Sky Ride. Now Killarney, Ireland. I always liked the arched entry into this area from the stables. The Rhine River view from the San Marco bridge. Looks odd without Alpie and Griffon. Roman Rapids (for Rapids Nerd).

That Fabbri Hard Rock looks similar to the Zamperla Mixer. My current favorites are the Huss Giant Frisbee and Mondial Top Scan. As for the old school flats my favorites are the Schwarzkopf Bayern Kurve, Mack Musik Express, Mack Matterhorn, Mack Sea Storm, Huss UFO and the Huss Troika.

Screamin' Eagle at SFStL. This classic was running fast and smooth during my two day visit back in June and the almost-standing up pop of air in the back seat coming off the far turn next to the Boss was sweet and unexpected.

Evel Knievel surprised me with the amount of air you get. Such a great ride for its size.

I'm not sure what the file name was but I remember a custom ride that looked like a Huss Swing Around. Does anyone have this file? Thanks in advance.

The Predator at Darien Lake. What a difference the Voyage trains make compared to the old trailered PTC's.

A Mega-Lite may get lost in a park crowded with coasters but how does one explain Maverick? For over a decade CP was breaking height and speed records and then they build a ride that's only 120 feet high. Should Maverick be considered lost among the giants in Sandusky? It seems to be a pretty popular ride. I believe these Mega-Lites are more or less marketed towards the small to medium sized parks and sort of fit the "we can't afford a hyper but this is the next best thing" mode. Many mention Holiday World and I agree with the need for at least one steelie there. What about Dollywood or Silver Dollar City? I don't recall anyone mentioning them (or I just completely missed it). Having never been to either one it seems they are pretty smart with their ride installations and it seems everyone likes what they are doing at those parks.