anonymouscactus

^ just a guess but normally cocktails come in smaller cups so maybe the $11-$12 full price cups are smaller than the souvenir? *shrug*

^ To the person that asked, there are no limits to the fast lane at Cedar Point. I'm wondering with the addition of the checkpoints at the turnstiles if that will change in the future at some point, hypothetically they could but I don't think we would see that unless they offered a cheaper one-time-use-per-ride option instead of the "full" fast lane. But let's hope that never happens.

Here's hoping I can get my 2019 Six Flags pass during the labor day sale and have it be good for 2018 / Fright Fest if you buy early. I'm willing to bet that's how it's going to work. 8)

^^ awesome report, really like how you laid it out and loved reading your opinion. Also nice photos strewn in. Glad you had a great trip!

Unless you are including the ALL SEASON FASTLANE (which is $499 Canadian) I have no clue where you are getting that number from. Even if you bought the pass right now (this late in the season without the free perks / free parking and cheaper prices your would normally get) with all the unlimited meal, drink, parking and FunPix options it would cost $370.42 Canadian ($278 American) Those other options would cost extra at other parks too above the season pass price. The meal plan at Darien Lake only gives you one meal a day, refills cost $, etc.

Agreed. I've gotten them on two different days/occasions and didn't understand the love for them both times. ++Insert 'price is right' sad trombone sound here++

Quick quick quick TR: Went to the park on Father's day. It was SO HOT (yeah yeah, fight me). Did Gatekeeper, Valravn, Millennium Force, and Maverick during early entry with little to no waits. I was a bit disappointed in Brew & BBQ this year. No food really stood out for me except for the brisket station you got a TON of meat for a "sample" and it was tasty, but the rest of the food wasn't that great IMO. I think the non-beer / cider selection was smaller this year (I know, it's about beer, but I don't drink that stuff) but what was there was pretty good. Had a really good pineapple cider I would go out and buy again. And I'm always a fan of ciderboys. Sidenote: why are the tickets only good the day you purchased them? I ran into a few really pissed off people when the stands wouldn't accept their color of ticket from the day before. Anyways, on the way out at 3pm-ish Millennium Force had a 1 train wait. To give you an idea of how busy it was; all the crowds were on the water rides and water park... I'm guessing. Oh, I also got yelled at for filling an empty seat as a single rider. Guy refused to let me by him in the MF station and said I can get kicked out of the park. People are dumb. Rode Steel err MEAL Vengeance 2x and I feel the ride just gets better the more I ride it. Thing was absolutely flying into the midcourse. That sideways jolt at the top is awesome lol. Great day but way too hot. Couldn't stay any longer to enjoy the small queues because I was melting. Oh well, we will be back (as always).

I can just picture you following this group around trying to be all slick... lol... maybe they were talking amongst themselves about why you were following them the whole time and that's why they kept shaking their head... "Oh, there he is again... *shakes head*"

Pick Darien Lake as the park you have a season pass for, and pick which park you want to visit. Again, just follow the directions.

https://mypass.sixflags.com/welcomeoffer.aspx will walk you through the process. You enter some info, they send you a promo code, and you buy your pass online. I went through the process of using a SFMM pass to buy a Darien Lake thrill pass but ultimately decided against it as it does not include parking or any other benefits other than admission.

This thread is absolutely amazing. Love following along! Would love to do a Japan trip some day.

Late to the party but awesome reports, just read through the whole thread! Still need to go to the full site to view photos so I will do that later. Thanks for taking the time to write this up! Always great to see an outsiders view. That must be new? I've been several times over the years and never went into a theatre for Cave Of The Winds. I'll probably go back this year since it's such a great attraction. Edit: just saw all the photos! So cute!! Awesome report and pics, can't wait to read the completion.

i305 going upside-down!

Saw some mysterious photos floating around online of the old Pilgrims Plunge station getting an addition / construction being ADDED to the building. At least that is how it appears. Any word on this from anyone on what this could possibly be? Or am I imagining things?

Great report! 10 out of 10, would read again! Glad the wipes worked for you, lol. I will say I was there on Sunday as a regular guest and think I only smelled one person with extremely bad BO so that's actually less than a normal day at the park Sounds like a fun event and as you said, definitely a great value. Now if I could only convince my Fiancee to sleep in a tent.

Mmm doughnuts. Those look fantastic! A few months late to this thread, but just wanted to say phenomenal reports. Spent the last hour going through your latest shenanigans. Always very informative! You lived through the food truck festival @ Gradv which I missed out on this year, so it was great to see, while not extravagant, it was a good time and won't be missed by me next year. Just got back from Busch/Dominion myself and share similar thoughts as yours on just about everything rides-wise, though I was smart enough to avoid loch-ness unlike yourself . Bill is really good at peer pressuring in pretty much every report I read, lol. On Pompeii I would have been more worried about the water cannons than the ride itself I saw some people getting soaked from those the other day. I generally don't drink a ton at the parks but Busch had a bunch of ciders (and Frozen spiked lemonade!) for me to drink, so I definitely took advantage and actually got buzzed. I like the way you guys roll. The photo with the drinks riding in the coaster car was welcoming to know is now possible / no more beer jail at Great Adventure . Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for the write-ups and photos!

If you are getting items $4.25 or higher it's worth it. If you are getting items $4.25 or less it's better to pay those separately. Though not a ton, some items and drinks are $7.00+ so you get ahead of the game with the cards pretty easily. Desserts and non alcoholic drinks are usually less than $4.00.

5 words: Busch Gardens Food & Wine Festival. or depending on how you look at it, lol.

Prozach, I quoted some of your words to my Fiancee because it was spot on 100% exactly what she has described to me about her experience with coaster events and some enthusiasts and we completely agree. Got a good laugh but as you said it's absolutely true.

I can confirm no discount. Yesterday I bought it at one of the gift shops and he asked me for my pass and scanned it in and it literally said "no discount available" on the screen, lol I can also confirm the standby line for Twisted Timbers yesterday must have been insane. Only one train running and moved agonizingly slow (unlike Steel Vengeance they still had Fast Lane going). Twisted Timbers was a fantastic ride that only got better as the day went on. Also in the morning I got 3 rides in the back row of i305 without getting up and had an out of body experience lol. Even though it was the holiday even if we didn't have fast lane we got a lot covered in the back of the park as everything was walk-on or past merge point in the early morning. As the day went on crowds got really heavy. The Dominator queue when we got there every single switchback was full and it was spilling out onto the Midway. FL+ got us right on and was sorely needed. Unfortunately Volcano was closed for the entire day Had an awesome day except it was hot as hell. Lots of breaks. Anyway, off to Busch today for food and wine festival!

So has Twisted Timbers continued to run two trains since the Steel Vengeance incident? And it's still on Fast Lane Plus? Made a last minute decision to go on Saturday, the website has it listed on the table but not in the description which I found odd. Just wanted to double check with the experts. Looking forward to my visit (and fast lane plus! 8)) Edit: also are the seatbelts retractable like Steel Vengeance, or are they a fixed length? Don't want to have any trouble like we had in Chicago with seat belt length. No issue with getting the green light from the actual restraints on any RMC, though.

I got the offer letter for a new job in the mail! -- 20% raise AND only 35 hours of work a week since we get paid 1hr lunches every day! -- also: Monday-Fri business hours so I can continue to make weekend coaster trips with my fiancee! Yay yay yay

They had an assortment of cocktails on the menu. Not too many but there was definitely an alcoholic vs not alcoholic section and they were themed to different rides. Fiancee wanted to get a "Blue Streak" but forgot her ID. I guess they might not have had a full bar persay, but they definitely had cocktails at the very least. I would assume they would sell other drinks if that's the case, but maybe not? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I was also at the park yesterday, but unlike you guys I always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maverick, Gatekeeper, Raptor, Gemini were all closed when we got to them. Steel Vengeance opened at 9:30, Maverick didn't open until way later. Besides that, lines were manageable when I showed up. TTD @ 15 min, Valravn @ 15 min, Rougarou walk-on, Magnum walk-on, Skyhawk walk-on, Millennium Force 5 min (!) that was the biggest surprise of the day. Fiancee wasn't feeling well so we didn't stay all day and I went solo for some rides. On Steel Vengeance we rode in rows 2 and 3 on separate occasions, and the ride later in the afternoon was significantly better/wilder in both of our eyes. The bucking bronco at the end was definitely more forceful. I guess this is one of those rides that "warm up" though both rides were still awesome. Hopefully I'll get back near the back row sometime soon. One thing I thought was interesting was row 3 the lapbar was not staying completely up when unlocked it kept "falling down" a little bit so when they locked it, it ran into some issues but they kept people in that row anyway. The op knew there was an issue with it because she kept trying to push it up and it wasn't staying, but she shrugged it off. Another row was closed off/disabled all day while we were there. For food I ate at the new BBQ place and the chopped pork was pretty tasty (though I didn't care for the BBQ sauce they used), and I also tried Chickie's and Pete's but the cheesesteak was a huge letdown (bread was a weird texture and the meat was overcooked with little to no flavor) and the fries I don't think were the real thing (just regular cut fries with a little seasoning rather than the crinkle cut ones we got at Dorney one time). Luckily I have the Dining Plan, but I probably wouldn't eat there again unless I was at the bar to have some drinks. I thought Melt was the only location with a bar within the park for liquor but I guess that isn't true. Great day and the weather held out the entire day, despite it literally raining our entire drive from Buffalo until we got to Sandusky.

^ ah, gotcha. I just misread. Thanks for the clarification. Looks like I'll be up bright and early as planned to make it for early entry on SV on Sunday. Already rode once for preview night but haven't been back to the park since. Looking forward to riding everything else, too! 8) (and not so much being surrounded by a bunch of unshowered rats from coaster campout... please wear lots of deodorant... )