mpmbee

I thought Vortex was just awful. Easily one of the worst coasters I rode this summer along with Anaconda at Kings Dominion. Vortex was a lot worse than Anaconda though. I also think these big arrow coasters look pretty ugly, although they must have looked mighty impressive back when they first opened.

Loved both of the rides but would give the edge to Maverick. Loved the speed of Millenium but the forces of Maverick win out for me. On the topic of Maverick, does anyone else find the first half to be a bit tamer compared than the second? That sequence before the brakes of a stengel dive into a crazy ejector airtime hill has got to be the best finale on any coaster I've ridden.

Had a great time at the park a couple of weeks back, many thanks to those who gave me advice. We got platinum flash passes as it was the first day of the trip and we were going to be knackered by mid afternoon. Going for platinum instead of gold was probably a bit indulgent but it was a first time one off trip so who cares really, these worked brilliantly and the longest line of the day ended up being the line for the Flashpass itself! Having the platinum really helped us pack the laps in on the coasters with the double laps perk but it did make me feel like a bit of an arsehole when we just stayed sat on the coaster in the station.

Where on the train did you ride? As mentioned previously on this thread, Steel Force is definitely a front seat ride. Rode in the back and somewhere towards the front. Definately enjoyed it more further forward in the train.

Rode Wildcat the other day expecting a rough ride but was pleasantly surprised with it. Fun ride and I didnt find it rough. Admittedly it wasn't as smooth as Lightning Racer but it wasn't bad at all. I also really liked Thunderhawk at Dorney too.

Was at the park yesterday for a few hours getting the credits on the coasters before we had to fly home. Nice little park, if a bit plain and generic. I thought Talon was great! loved the colour scheme and the unique layout it had. Hydra was just meh, one of the most dull B&Ms ive ridden. Possessed was really fun, prefferred it to the version at Cedar Point with it having the straight back spike and the holding brake at the top. Steel Force felt extremely dull, especially after marathoning Skyrush the night before! That helix turnaround was fun though. Fair play to Dorney for running three trains on it, even if it was totally unnessasary. On one of my rides there was only three of us in the whole train! The car park was absolutely rammed yet the coasters were all walk ons, did think it was a bit strange how there were no queues whatseoever on a hot Saturday in August. Looking at the waterpark from Talons lift hill it looked absolutely packed in there though.

Just got back from a full day at Hershey and after 10 laps on Skyrush I have a new number one. The most crazy, out of control experience I've ever had on a coaster. That back left seat is something else! One thing that wasn't so much fun was when someone's iPhone came flying out and hit me in the side of the neck halfway round the course. Extremely painful! Quite a close call as that could have been pretty serious.. Somehow the phone made it back to the station in the train and I handed it to one of the ride ops.

Went to the park today for the first time, whoever it was suggested we squeeze it into our trip, Thankyou! We didn't get to the park till sixish after driving from Cedar Point but stayed till close. After spending the last two weeks visiting Six Flags, Carowinds, Cedar Point etc arriving at Knoebels felt like a real culture shock! loved the laid back feel of the park. Phoenix was fantastic, the most insane ejector airtime I've experienced (Skyrush is coming up tomorrow though ) Absolutely loved this coaster, one of my favourites of the trip. Twister was great fun too, real strong lateral forces throughout. Also rode the flyers which were awesome, much better than any others that I've tried. Also had about twice as long a cycle as any others I've been on too. The final ride was a night ride on Impulse, which was about a thirty minute wait. Good ride! A perfect steel coaster to compliment the two woodies I thought. Hope to get back here for a longer period than four hours sometime in the future, so glad we squeezed it into the trip instead of doing the preview night thing at Hersheypark.

Had an awesome first trip to the park today, the park was surprisingly quiet for a Friday in August so we managed to get loads of laps in on the coasters. We got on Fury X 10, Intimidator X 8, Afterburn X 4 and the other coasters once. Fury was superb, such a rush in the front row. The speed just doesn't let up all the way through, great ride! Not a patch on I305 for me personally though. Intimidator was a real surprise, easily my favourite B&M hyper I have ridden, with the others being Nitro, Apollos Chariot and Shambhala. Great airtime on all the hills, a really fun coaster and my favourite at the park. Afterburn was excellent aswell, the most intense coaster in the park, my third favourite coaster in the park. These three coasters are a great trio of headliners for the park. A real variety in ride types too. The rest of the coasters were all just meh, at least Hurler here was a lot better than the version at Kings Dominion. Overall a really nice park with a great feel to it, would love to come back some day.

Had a great first trip to the park today. like Kings Dominion yesterday, the park was dead so we managed to get loads of rides in. Managed to do Griffon X6 Alpengeist X6 Apollos Chariot X4 Tempesto X2 and the other coasters once each. Verbolten was a real surprise, great ride! Loved the indoor section, the perfect ride for the park as a step below the big B&M coasters. The other coasters were all good fun, Alpengeist was great, that cobra roll has a real snap to it! Griffon was fantastic fun too, I wonder why there aren't more of these dive coasters in the U.S? they seem like real crowd pleasers. Apollos Chariot was decent, didn't seem anywhere near as forceful as Nitro did the other day when we rode it though. Lovely setting for it though through the trees along the river. Finally, Tempesto! This was awesome and was a nice contrast from all the other coasters at the park, pretty forceful ride. The crew on this were working flat out to keep the queue down to a minimum. Another great park visit on this trip, loving all these parks so far. Carowinds is next up on Friday. Anyone living in the Richmond area is spoilt for choice having Busch Gardens and Kings Dominion so close by. There really is a great mix of thrills between both parks.

Made my first ever visit to the park today and had a fantastic time. It was a pretty quiet day so we managed to get plenty of rides in. Arrived at the park for opening and managed to get 21 rides in, 8 laps on i305, 4 on Dominator, 2 on Volcano and one lap on all the other coasters except for Ricochet. I305 was running one train but only had a 5 minute queue to give some idea of how quiet the park was. I305 was amazing, easily the best coaster I have ever ridden. Those fast turns where you get whipped from one side to another were brilliant. Can't wait to try out Fury 325 on Friday to see how they compare. Dominator and Volcano were also both great rides. There were some really awful coasters at this park too, Shockwave, Anaconda, Grizzly and Hurler were all terrible, thank god Shockwave is getting torn down! I had no idea this was such a beautiful looking park either, loads of trees everywhere was great to see. All in all, a brilliant first visit to Kings Dominion, hope to make it back someday!

Cheers for the advice everyone, it's the first day of the holiday and so we'll be there for opening. Can't wait!

Headed to the park this Sunday for my first ever visit. I've been wanting to go to this park ever since El Toro was built so obviously I can't wait. Do people think it will be really busy this Sunday? I don't mind buying flash passes if necessary.

Doing a round trip beginning and ending at JFK airport in a couple of weeks. SF Great Adventure Washington DC Kings Dominion Busch Gardens Carowinds Dollywood Kings Island Cedar Point Knoebels Hersheypark Dorney Park Can't wait!

^ and ^^ Thanks very much.

It's a 6-hour drive. Likely more, since you'll be on most of Interstate 80 through Pennsylvania. It's rather notorious for lots of construction and less-than-stellar road conditions. You'll have to leave really early to get to Knoebels even by the early afternoon. It seems to me like you've fallen for the trap of underestimating the size of the United States. It's big. I am aware that the US is big.. Originally this day was just going to be allocated to driving from Cedar Point to Hersheypark. Knoebels was a late addition to the plan so that's why it will be a bit rushed there.

I am heading to Knoebels this summer and really looking forward to it, but i'm a bit concerned we won't have enough time there really. We are driving to the park from Cedar Point and going that same day, this is the only time we have to go as we are at Hersheypark the next day. Has anyone on here done that drive? If so is it a pretty straightforward journey that will allow us a decent amount of time to see what Knoebels is all about if we set off fairly early in the day? Thanks a lot.

Kay Burley is well known as being a rude and disrespectful interviewer, It's just her style I guess. God knows why Sky News continue to employ her. If you search her name on youtube there are many more examples if her being downright rude in interviews.

I've just purchased tickets for my visit to the park this summer and managed to save $15 per ticket by typing in BGWValPak at the checkout. Pretty nice saving when there are a few of you to buy tickets for. Thought I would mention it incase there is anyone reading that will be buying tickets for the park soon.

Thanks everyone for the previous advice, it was very helpful to us. We have just booked the hire car, all the hotels and brought our platinum passes, so all that is left to buy are the non Cedar Fair park tickets. I know that the Six Flags website is probably best for Great Adventure tickets, but does anyone know the best value way of buying tickets for Busch Gardens, Dollywood and Hersheypark. Many thanks in advance.

Six Flags New Orleans. It felt quite strange driving by an abandoned theme park with big coasters still standing inside. Would love to be able to take a look around in there to see what it is like now.

Loved my visit to this park a couple of weeks back. This addition would definitely make me go back again next year, whilst hopefully drawing all of the lines away from Furious Baco.

Yeah we had four rides on Baco. Three on the right and one on the left hand side of the train. The left hand side was a lot rougher. I can definately see how some people wouldn't be a great fan of the ride.

Thanks everyone for the tips. We had a great day at the park today. We got the train with no problems either, pretty good deal train and park ticket for 45 euros considering a ticket at the gate is 45 euros on its own. The park was pretty dead today, although none of the coasters were walk ons due to 1 train operation. Only Furious Baco went up to two trains in the afternoon. Furious Baco - Fantastic ride, easily our favourite in the park. Extremely forceful launch and a very intense ride. Also in a beautiful setting over a lake near the park entrance. 9/10 Shambhala - Meh, great first drop and a good looking ride, but pretty average after that. 6/10 Dragon Khan - Great classic B&M coaster. It was an really smooth and intense ride that I slightly preferred to Kumba at Busch Gardens. Always like it when B&Ms have a second loop aswell. 8/10 Stampida - This was brutal. 2/10 All in all a great day at an excellent park. Easily the best park I've been to in Europe.

I am heading to the park for the first time this week and was wondering in anyone could help with a few questions. We are staying in Barcelona right near the main Sants station. Is it simple enough to get hold of the park plus train combo tickets from the Sants station? Also, does anyone have any idea how busy the park will be this Thursday? I assume all the kids have gone back to school after Easter break now so this might mean lighter crowds. Finally, is there a particular order that is best to hit the rides. We are only there for one day so want to make the most out of our time. Thanks a lot!