TBpony414

Really enjoying following along on your trip! I've never been to Morey's or Ocean City but frequent SFGAdv several times a year. It's fun to hear you got to meet up with Boldikus and coasterbill. Seeing as you're still alive to write this TR, they were either cool and you're safe and sound back home... or they're holding you hostage somewhere while blasting Holiday in the Park music on repeat and forcing a false positive review of your time with them. If it's the latter, use the code phrase "I love Ka in row 9" and we'll come look for you.

Great pics ernierocker of your kids getting on Whistlepunk Chaser. I don't have kids but it's great to see another coaster for kids to ride! This was definitely the case a couple weeks ago. I checked the app constantly throughout the days we were there and both LR and MM were constantly trading the TC status. You guys are all going to kill me but we didn't get on DDF. In fact, I didn't even see it. What is it near, specifically?

I sure hope not! I know I'm in the minority about the whole thing but it's the best Dinosaurs Alive that I've been through. Love me some dinos! Great coverage on the announcements, Chuck! While TT isn't anywhere near as wild as SV, I'm really looking forward to it. Sometimes the most fun coasters are little and all the small bunny hills in TT are really appealing. I'll definitely be checking out Winterfest as well. It'll be interesting to see how it compares to BGW and SFGAdv in that respect.

We love TRs here and the more pics and details included the better! Was it your first time at CP? Dude, do yourself a favor and Get To The Point! It's seriously awesome and Skyhawk (S&S's SS - how's that for an abbreviation? lol) kicks all kinds of ass.

I was really surprised how much both of us loved Thunderhead when we visited last month, but it does desperately need some major retracking done. On the brake run at least half the train would say something along the lines of "ow, now I have a headache" or "ouch!" I personally find Grizzly at KD and Wildcat at HP worse but it'd be great to see Thunderhead get some serious love.

Fun TR! You really hit up a lot of different parks and the only one I've been to of them is Kings Island. The last time I was there though was in May of 2000 when Son Of Beast opened. My family went to CP to wait in a 4 hour line for Millennium Force and then we drove to KI and waited 3.5 hours for SOB two days later. Great memories but things have really changed at KI since then! Is Fire In The Hole similar to Blazing Fury at Dollywood? Now that I've been to DW I'm really interested in going to SDC as well. No SDC or DW report is complete without cinnamon bread so you got some 'splaining to do!

That's what I like to hear!! I fully support this plan and hope you're able to get enough extra time to swing another trip to CP for CM! 2018

I'll chime in on SkyRush and why it's not one of my favorite rides. I really love putting my hands up on coasters and having a "whee!!!" fun, smiling, laughing good time time. SkyRush towards the end just gets to be too much and it becomes not fun. I want to pretend like I might get thrown out or have my body dislocate somewhere but not actually feel like that's going to happen, and on SkyRush I actually feel like I might fly out and/or snap something. The first half of the ride is amazing and it's a fantastic piece of engineering... but being thrown around like a rag doll isn't as enjoyable as I wish it was. I'll pick Storm Runner over it any day of the week without hesitation. It's worth mentioning that I don't suffer from the ThighCrush issues of other folks. Lightning Rod tried to violently eject me into the mountains on the quad down but I didn't feel inadequately secured at any point in time like I do with SkyRush's setup. On LR, El Toro, and other airtime coasters where you're sitting inside the car you have your lower body somewhat stabilized and I can have my feet on the floor. Maybe that's key here, being able to control part of your body while the other half flies around. Perhaps different restraints/trains on SkyRush would help me and others enjoy it instead of feeling like we just made it through a hurricane. That would obviously defeat the purpose of the ride which is being free and flying and floating around with the clouds and everything. I absolutely love speed and airtime but it just doesn't come together well for me on it and as much as I want to love it I just don't. Am I making any sense here or just babbling? Great TR! HersheyPark is a fantastic, well-rounded park with probably my favorite lineup of coasters only behind Cedar Point. I didn't get a chance to get up there last year but am going up in a week and a half. Hearing that Comet is running great is really wonderful news. I love Comet! Great Bear is my favorite invert too. It's so, so smooth and has a lot of power without trying to slam my head into the restraints like many other inverts do. The boring ending doesn't bother me. Where did they move the on-ride camera to? Your comment about Fahrenheit's queue and the surface of the sun is hysterical and entirely too accurate!!

I looked at Cade's Cove's website and see they have some hiking trails. Do you happen to know if leashed dogs are allowed on them? Next year we'd like to do some small hikes but I want to bring my dog along, something that isn't allowed on some of the trails around there. What kind of demonstrations do they have at Cade's Cove that Dollywood offers as well? Staying on topic, we saw the Gazillion Bubble Show at DW a couple weeks ago and it was fantastic. Really different and fun!

What a relief! Those flyers are my favorite behind the Knoebel's flyers. Now I just won't have to traverse the kiddie section to get to them. I was definitely freaking out for a minute looking at the new drawings trying to see where the flyers went! Whew, crisis averted. Interested to see where they put them.

Hey Ryan, great info on the boost feature on El Toro! I've never gotten a boost ride but the ride still kicks ass. It's really fascinating to learn about how various rides work and why certain features occur, including the 7x boost max per day. Thanks for sharing with us!

As cool as Steel Vengeance is, I'm also really excited for Twisted Timbers due to its fairly simple out-and-back layout with lots of bunny hills. Can't wait to get on TT and SV next year! My only two RMC coasters are Twisted Colossus and Lightning Rod and both were awesome so adding 2 more is gonna be a blast.

I think there may be more crowds there since it's next to Steel Vengeance I'm just hoping they keep Maverick on Early Entry. They almost pulled it a few years ago and then ended up putting it back on. You know they'll add this so I would expect them to pull something. It would be awesome to spend that hour bouncing back and fourth between those 2 rides. I also think there will be even more crowds over at Maverick with Steel Vengeance next to it. Didn't know they were considering pulling Maverick from early entry - that sucks and I really hope they don't. It's always the ride I go to until 10 when I walk over to TTD. Invertalon - cool information on how the ride animations are made, thanks for that! This ride looks absolutely crazy and I can't wait to ride it next year. Way to go CP and RMC!

On our last day there the train was having some issues and didn't open until late in day. While we were in that area earlier I must have heard at least 5 different groups of people in a short span of time say how they just couldn't believe that both the train AND the Ferris wheel weren't running! It was kind of funny because I go to parks mostly for the coasters (exception: Woodstock Gliders) but really an enormous amount of DW visitors are there for the shows, food, and slower rides. Someone else mentioned that the fair area back there is hard to navigate and I agree. Another path or even some signs would help a lot.

Cool vid, thanks for sharing the link!

I'd absolutely love to have them get a huge Ferris wheel. The little one just doesn't cut it and like Bill said, the view is incredible from WE and DL but if you're not into thrill rides you're SOL on really getting the full mountain experience. The Ferris wheel wasn't open once on our 3 days of visiting and the weather was beautiful so who knows. The wheel at The Island looked beautiful with a great lighting package - I'd love to see DW get something similar. While I'm not a rapids person, I thought the location of it right along the main walking path was pretty cool and added to the ambiance of the place. Usually rapids are kind of hidden but not the way this was placed which was cool. Slidewinder was a hoot and very popular a couple weeks ago. I can't imagine what they could put in that land to replace it as the hike up to the station is steep and quite long. It just kept going and going and going and going!

are those the ones behind the stage? those were BUSY when we were there. . but it was during Brews & BBQ. . so that could be why. Avoid the ones next to SkyHawk at all costs, those are dark and absolutely disgusting.

Mindbender - great pics! I know it's not really funny but the names Cinderella and KK crack me up. I rode on KK last week and she was great. What part of the ride did she strand you? Did everyone have to walk all the way back or did they have some sort of shuttle to help?

Love this blast from the past! It’s always great to stumble upon old photos and relive those experiences. The fact that there isn’t a single cell phone in any photo is really a great reminder how far (downhill) things have changed. It’s a blessing and a curse in many aspects. Some of your photos turned out really well using that disposable camera, especially the ones at Epcot at night with the fountains! Really cool. What hotel did you stay in? Do they still have the Honey I Shrunk The Kids area? I haven’t been to DW in 9 years and don’t remember seeing it then. I have a picture of me on that ant when I was 4 years old! Will have to find it and send it to you for a good laugh. The button down shirt on Gay Days is fantastic haha. Your outfit reminds me of last year at Carowinds. When SO and I were in line for I-232 there was a guy who showed up in the row behind us with an outfit that I wish I could have taken a picture of. It was 112 deg. that day and he had slightly past shoulder length curly dark hair, a glowingly white shirt that looked straight out of the dry cleaners and that was unbuttoned way down like in your pics. Over the shirt he had a bright red leather vest that on the back had a massive sparkling dragon embroidered on it. To top it off he was wearing acid washed jeans tucked into his Timberland boots. What a hero! Have you been to any other Gay Days celebrations at DW?

Now that I've been to Dollywood it's great to see the similarities in theming and setup to Silver Dollar City. That cinnamon bread is to die for and absolutely lived up to the hype! Can you tell me about the stunt dog show? They didn't have it at DW this year, instead they had The Gazillion Bubbles Show which was fantastic and a lot of fun. I'm a total animal lover so even though I enjoyed the bubbles I'm very interested in the stunt dog show!

Way to go!! So glad one of the TPR people got chosen, that's great. When is the event? Would you mind sharing your winning submission with us?

LR hadn't been opening up with the park recently but usually between 11-12. We went straight over in the morning anyway and once we saw some action we started a line. Let us know how it goes, I hope it's working for you! It's a heck of a coaster and once I started learning the forces and track layout it got better and better with each ride.

^NICE! I remember seeing those ledgers up in July and getting excited for a third inversion. It being in the middle of the structure like that's going to be a wild experience!

I'm proudly on Team Intamin till the day I die but if BGW got something like Fury I'd be over the moon. The first half (well, 3/4) of it is outstanding and it really is something to write home about! It's not my #1 but one of my top coasters. Get your butt down there and ride it Boldy! Other than that, INTAMIN FTW!

Hahaha! I can believe it! We have them in Virginia too so I'm used to them but they absolutely sound like a rattlesnake. The incident was comical and I think I would have pissed my pants had I not known what it was. This one was not only massive in size but also in perversion... who smacks a lady in the dark on a wooded mountainside at 11PM right in the crotch and then goes for the back door?! I mean really! I have a lot to report on our day at Dollywood yesterday. It was so beautiful out that I was snapping away all day and have some good pics to post too. Might have time to type it up in a bit but not sure so I'll leave you with this: PUT ALL YOUR CRAP IN THE BINS ON RIDES! My SO's wallet went flying out of his buttoned pocket on LR yesterday 20 minutes after we arrived at the park and has not been recovered yet. Something else got lost as well (Bert knows - don't spoil it!) but that second item was eventually located. It was quite a memorable day for many reasons and despite it all, we can't wait to go back.