andybarnes84

Day 12 & 13 - Six Flags Great Adventure Well oh well, the vacation is drawing to a close, and what a way to end the show. Six Flags Great Adventure has always been one of the big boys, and this park didn't disappoint. It's almost up there with Cedar Point and SFMM but just falls short with it's line up. Again, my opinions might not be the general consensus, but I thought the park was run really well. In comparison to SF America, amazingly well. These two days were the same two days when your drought began so needless to say we couldn't stay until the evening, calling it a day at 4pm on our first day and much earlier on the Thursday as we had a flight to catch. We were actually going to drop by Philly on the last day but doing the Rocky steps vs another few rides on El Toro & Nitro, no comparison. Thank you incredibly affordable Six Flags season pass. Paying the extortionate parking fee (and it really is crazy, look it up if you don't know) makes a visit to SFGAdv a little less sweet, but we enjoyed nevertheless. First off, NO QUEUES! OK, there were a couple of exceptions. Superman had the one of the slowest queues ever to exist, so get it done first or second if you're scared about Kingda breaking down. Green Lantern also had en epic queue and having ridden Riddlers at Magical Desert Mountain Land until the cows come home, we skipped this although it did look colorful. But rides that look pretty don't always give a pretty ride right? Imagine this: El Toro walk on, Nitro walk on, Kingda almost walk on, the stifling heat might have kept many away but I couldn't believe our luck yet again. The infamous visual check was ridiculous, it's a great idea but I'm not convinced when the staff are doing that hand above eyes gesture while rocking side to side violently and without purpose that it does much good for safety. Obviously it's there following one or several incidents but it seems a bit much. At least they are making a great effort and I can't criticize that. On the whole, I was really surprised with the efficiency of operations at the park, again Superman being the devastating exception. Very clean, friendly staff, decent food options, a bit of a random layout (Bizzaro placement for example) but generally not too big. A pleasant park with some truly stand out rides but a lot of mediocre filler too. It felt a bit like it's outgrown it's original purpose and could do with (cue bad use of made-up language) an "epic-izing" of it's entrance plaza and park areas to re-iterate that it's one of the big players in the States. We didn't do the safari, I'm not sure if Six Flags is capable of running a Safari to the standards we'd hope for, it's better than a zoo but still, not sure, so we missed it out. I've read mixed reviews about it, it's a shame we missed it but there were other priorities, we'll leave the animal welfare to Disney & Busch for now. Unfortunately (sod's law!) I forgot amid all the exhaustion to recharge the camera, so we couldn't take footage on the second visit that I'd hoped to of the various areas of the park, not that there were many sights to see, so most of the pictures are of the coasters. I love these cheap looking monuments in parks, as to somehow suggest that this place has more to it than coasters and tat. Stay away from these guys kids, especially the one on the left, even if the one on the right is pretending to shoot you. Is it just me or does this poor staff member look like she got the short end of the straw today? If you want to check if you still suffer from vertigo, sit on a basket and be raised to 250ft by some string and you'll find out soon enough. Where's the water? I thought all of these come with a free water fountain fire of death accessory? Pathetic three trains in one shot, shot. Still stuck in 89' like all the other parks, but is this still the best batmobile? Answers on a postcard to Mr Bale, Wayne Manor, Gothamshire. Forgot to mention this thing had a epic line all day too, you'd think this was the first in the World from all the hype. Is it raining? Oh dear goodness no.... Regret number 7 of the trip? Should we have waited in the long long line for this even though I prefer to subject my undercarriage to minimal discomfort where possible? We didn't ride this either as we feel like we've done more clones than had rainy days this summer, if we'd been a little less distracted by Nitro we would have given it some love, I promise. Dark Knight Coaster 5/10 - I'm sure this one was once a little more entertaining, and it sure was speedy (brakes anyone?), but what happened to the theme elements during the ride? I made out some at the start and then it was just a ride in complete darkness? It's very confusing to have an elaborately themed start to then just ride a wild mouse in the dark. No pics sorry folks. Skull Mountain 4/10 - A giant helix in a warehouse with a fun first drop, can't elaborate much more than that. Do not wait more than 10 minutes for this. Bizzaro 8/10 - This was actually my favorite floorless of the trip, although the audio is a complete waste of time. Why invest all that money when all it does is bombard you with non-stop random movie quotes that you can barely hear? Even if they played that theme song you hear on the brake run throughout the actual ride itself it would be much, much better. I liked the scattering of theming throughout the course and flames are always a plus. What a strange location though, I realize (notice how I'm using a "Z" instead of the British "S" as I know most of you are across the pond and love you all, but lets not get into the whole "tomatoes" pronunciation debate...) there are serious logistical reasons behind the choice but it should be themed to the Wild West or Snickers or something. A nice forceful ride with a zero-g roll! Superman Ultimate Flight 8/10 - Actually pretty darn good, expected to be greatly disappointed but nice pacing and gave the appropriate flying feel. After Air any one of these will never be a disappointment, but boy oh boy just grit your teeth when in line and if you're hanging in the brake run for less than 4 minutes consider it your lucky day. Runaway Mine Train 5/10 - Not much to say about this one either, not that great but good enough for it's age, some jarring "designed with a ruler" transitions to brace for though. Kingda Ka 7/10 - So this is the coaster the WORLD raves about, well, sorry Six Flags but Cedar Point is way ahead of you with their superior version, what's a few feet between friends anyway? This feels like driving a Chevy Aveo through pothole ridden NYC at 128mph in a magnitude 9 earthquake, I was seriously concerned that the train would shatter into a thousand pieces at any moment. Zero airtime over the top (and we did this ride 3 times), a "dragging" launch which lacks the initial punch. OTSRs lower the score further. It may be the World's tallest but after riding this we experienced less gratification than winning the spelling bee at a rural school in Oklahoma consisting of 2 pupils, 1 teacher and a donkey. Nitro 9/10 - Let's end the report with the 2 coasters we all know this park holds up high and says "hey, we got these suckas so there Cedar Fair!". First off, Nitro. Now this may or not be a consensual view, but this is only my second B&M hyper, again one of the "old school", but I thought that Apollo's Chariot slightly had the edge. Nitro has the trim before the turn around which kills some speed, the mid course brakes are a little harsher too but the ride still doesn't disappoint! I wish more coasters had the pre-dip before the main drop as I've discovered this bit of extra speed makes for a great moment in the back seats. Throughout our two days at this fantastic park, we must have ridden Nitro about 8 times when we could have been queuing for lesser appreciated rides. This thing had us by the cojones and kept us running round for more. The crew on Nitro were enthusiastic and pushing those trains out like there was no tomorrow, quite a feat in the stifling heat! A really really great ride that everyone loved. El Toro 9/10 - Okay El Toro fan boys & girls, you've got it right, mostly. I don't seem to get the pre-ride nerves much these days but that first drop is beyond comprehension, the speed the train goes up the lift hill is also quite disconcerting so needless to say that first ride was a memorable one. Whilst this is an outstanding wooden coaster, it's a strange one, isn't it? It's not silky smooth as I was led to believe, it still feels a bit like wood, but those hills are steel-like. For some bizarre reason, after that first drop and couple of hills, this coaster became a little less mesmerizing and more just very very good. I've read the hype for years now, so for some reason when riding it for real, I couldn't help but feel it lacked a breathtaking second half. Sure, it does it's best with what it has, and THAT hill is great fun although a bit smaller than I had envisaged. Maybe I expected the ride to end with some repetitive ejector hills or to be a little taller (yes taller!). It's a strong 9/10, and considering it had next to no line all day we should have ridden this more and more to get a much better feel for it. Was it end of the trip burnout or just finally experiencing what you've waited so long to do, always inevitably creating a slight anti-climax? Don't get me wrong folks, this is an amazing coaster, I just wish it was a 10 for me. Personally, I blame Skyrush for setting the bar so high for consistent ejector and a lift hill that doesn't slow down at the top. We loved the heck out of this park, so much that we returned for a second day, albeit just for 3 hours and having a season pass made the decision much easier to make. This is a strong property in the Six Flags chain, not quite SFMM (how many times have I said this during the trip reports? sorry about that!) but very good for it's size, clean and efficient. A fitting end to our vacation and a much needed boost to restore my faith in the Six Flags machine after our day at "you know where". After the park we headed to Target for some last bits and bobs to take back home and drove to Newark airport, where it all began some 13 days ago when our wallets were considerable heavier. Conclusion No I'm not Joey Greco of Cheaters fame and I'm not going to make some hypnotic philosophical statement about the state of your infidelity, this is my conclusion about our wonderful vacation. I only mention Cheaters because for some reason beyond my comprehension it's taken on a life of it's own over here in gloomy Britain. There are so many things wrong with this World that I'm tempted to make a tree house in the forest and chew on birch leaves for the rest of my life, who's with me? Back on topic, I don't have to keep repeating myself but I will, we had an AMAZING time, much better than I expected, certainly much smoother than I expected given the ambitious nature of the tour, and it was a TOUR not a vacation that's for sure. The parks I hoped to like didn't disappoint, the park that I expected us to be let down by didn't disappoint either, it let us down exactly how I thought it would. The strange thing on reflection is that I suppose after my years of reading about these places, there was a certain lack of surprise. But somehow I managed to put all this behind me as soon as we walked through the gates and enjoyed each park for what it was and what it stood for. I still have a warm spot for Kennywood, it just captured a different era and didn't seem like it was trying too hard to be modern and "down with the kidz". Knoebels was authentically cute as expected, Cedar Point was the mass sprawl of thrill machines in a spectacular location as expected, and Busch Gardens was the beautiful park with the perfect blend of coaster that it has always promised to be. To be honest, the surprise was Hershey Park. Skyrush was a considerable part of this, but we just really enjoyed our brief time there and wish we had factored in more time for it. It's not in your face, doesn't boast to have the greatest coasters or be the best themed, but this park has some kick-butt rides that they aren't scared to trim and the park has so many scenic corners and different areas that are nice to explore. Much bigger than I thought it would be, two thumbs up from us, or should that be four? The problem now for us is that everything we seem to be able to ride within this country or nearby seems like a bit of a let down. Maybe time will heal, but doing a crazy trip like this sets the bar so high that it's difficult to match that level of greatness closer to home. I think Germany may have to be a priority for us soon, I know that no doubt we'll end up in Florida soon enough too, but I'm worried that even there we'll be rolling our eyes and sighing. Be warned, do this same tour and what you thought you enjoyed will be changed forever! I hope some of you have enjoyed reading the trip reports as much I've enjoyed putting them together as a first time trip report writer. Until the next one, happy riding! (coasters that is, or in any other context with the proviso that it's safe and legal)

THIS! You've got a fantastic TR going here! I'm loving all of the reviews and the photos. I agree with a lot of your opinions, for the rides that I've ridden, anyway. Looking forward to the rest! Why no ride on Grizz at KD Andrew? The ride is kinda hidden but is easily located near the DA attraction & go-karts. I honestly completely forgot about Grizzly whilst we were there, partly due to it's hidden entrance and we didn't consult the map once. I forgot to mention we rode Rebel Yell which I thought was really good actually!

Day 11 - Six Flags America I gave this park a chance but it beat me senseless in every way. From the expensive parking fee to the state of the coasters, my low expectations were definitely not raised after this brief visit. I have read that this park is trying to change it's ways but I struggle to see how. My apologies for the lack of photos this time but the combination of Batwing, Apocalypse, Roar and Joker's Jinx gave me a headache and level of nausea I'm not going to forget in a while. We had to leave as I really wasn't well and Hanna had badly bruised her elbow on Roar too so we didn't hang around to enjoy the scenery. I don't want to start bashing this park because frankly I don't want to waste my time, what has been said already will suffice. Let's just say our 2 hours here was more than enough, thankfully we had season passes so didn't have to dish out the $62 they want to rob people of at the gate. This park needs a huge amount of investment to get it on track with many other parks in the chain. Not a park we want to visit again anytime soon. The best part of the park aside from Superman, seriously. Just look at this entrance, turn around, get back in your car and consider yourself satisfied. Superman Ride of Steel 8/10 - I'll start with the only coaster worth visiting this park for. Thought it was a great ride, okay not the most exciting layout but my first "old school" Intamin hyper. Better ride at the front than the back we thought, great airtime, no queues whilst we were there. It may be amnesia setting in but I remember uncomfortable shin-pad type restraints which detracted from the ride a little bit. Batwing 6/10 - This is where things start to take a nose dive. This coaster made me feel nauseous, very nauseous, and that doesn't happen often. I liked it's primitive take on the flying coaster and being one of the originals but this thing pulled and pushed me in ways that weren't maybe that calculated for rider comfort resulting in my brain thinking all is not well in my gastric system. Didn't take me too long for the nausea to pass but it was a negative after effect. Kudos to the ride for being quite intense and not holding back, but once you've been on the B&M equivalent you realize why these Vekomas have had their day. Joker's Jinx 5/10 - Same as FOF at Kings Dominion but outside so loses some points there. Not a terrible coaster but is maybe better suited indoors, drags a bit along the track which isn't too great but with a nice corkscrew to finish. Launch is good. Apocalypse 4/10 - Things keep taking a dive here, and this repackaged turd is no exception. Sure, the theme is great for a Six Flags park, but unless you enjoy having your head play the part of Tennis Ball at the US Open, there's not much to enjoy here. Lots of slow turning and not enough upside down! I may be harsh but for a "new" ride, we weren't the only dissapointed ones from what I could hear. This thing is pretty but rough. Roar 2/10 - Oh dear goodness, give me strength! I can think of other four letter words this coaster should be called if they decide to re theme it. My famous last words to Hanna, who isn't an avid fan of wooden coasters anyway, "Let's just give this one a chance before we leave, it's not that old so it must be OK". Now, I have no idea why I thought this was a newish coaster (circa 2005), but boy were we proved wrong. I now know that it's 14 years old, and every second of every day of wear and tear can be felt as you ride. This thing beat us up like no other ride we've been on before. OK, maybe it's a close second behind Tornado at M&D's Scotland, but seriously, Ghostrider, Stampida and The Cyclone are now seen in an entirely different light of smoothness after this. Needless to say, this was the final straw. Sorry to be so negative about this park everyone, but it really did leave a bitter taste in our mouths. From the shockingly cavalier way in which the ride ops behaved, to the sparse and odd layout, to the condition of the rides in general, we did not have fun no matter how much we tried to. Tomorrow, the final park of the trip, and hopefully a very good one to make up for today!

Day 10 - Busch Gardens Williamsburg And this place didn't disappoint! The weather wasn't great until the end of the day with showers on and off, but that didn't spoil a fun time. This is an impressively landscaped park without a doubt, most beautiful "theme" park in the World, that's a brave statement to make. Unless Japan is actually on Mars. First coaster I recreated in No Limits way back when. Where's my Wite-Out? Once again my sincere apologies for the shocking contrast issues in many of the following pictures, it was a very gloomy day but turned nice just as the big bright thing in the sky was going to bed. We liked this park a lot more than it's Florida counterpart, the combination of coasters and other rides here really is perfect. It obviously reminded me of European parks, so good job there of convincing me I wasn't in the States. Had an almost Alton Towers feel to some parts, just really well thought out and yet reasonably easy to get around. Fantastic staff yet again, kudos to the car park tram crew who were amazingly energetic and friendly, superior to Disney! The animal exhibits were great but not nearly as impressive as the Southern one, still a very nice bonus. The food was amazing, probably the best we've seen in a park so far, and not as expensive as we were expecting either. Some issues with empty seats on rides, queues were found at some of the rides but in general didn't have to wait more than 10 minutes for most. Once again, mid June is an amazing time to visit parks if you can! Ireland! Alton Towers vibe here. Alton Towers x 10000. This was good but not great as I was led to believe, was there supposed to be some fire in the room after going through the fireplace? Where's the sun? Mach Tower was crazy good, don't believe the haters folks. The music, rotation, and it might have been something to do with the terrain around us but we felt much higher than we actually were. Down they come, soaking wet! And not just because it was raining! See it's got a train and everything! I didn't make it to the boat because I have no idea where it actually goes. Best food court ever! And tight-pocket friendly too. Uh oh, illegal gypsies have set up camp in Italy, call the authorities before they start using the rose garden as a toilet, sorry, restroom. Not warm enough sorry, I'll just avoid Pompeii altogether, thank you misty sign of intrigue. Wait for the wetness... There it is, I hope you enjoy the stench of chlorine on your garments. Best car park tram/trolley/thingy crew in the World, FACT. Watch out for these addicts, they'll nip you if you don't give them their fix. A horse playing Soccer/Football, impressive. A Falcon with mind control abilities, very impressive. But a bird that can sleep standing up on one leg, you win! Spot the Wolf and win a lifetime supply of Oxygen! Why does this remind me of the 70's? Loch Ness Monster 8/10 - This was our first coaster of the day, partly because of the daft staggered openings the park employs, probably had to wait a half hour for this. It was fun, very unique, not too painful for it's age, very scenic. A great ride that deserves it's classic status. They think they know it all don't they? Alpengeist 8/10 - A solid Invert, the drop wasn't as thrilling due to it's constant banking, but it was intense enough to hold it's place in the rankings. The second half is where this ride let's itself down a little but we all know why. The only strange thing is that due to it's location you really don't get a feel of how tall this coaster really is. Griffon 10/10 - Another possible perfect coaster? I prefer the atmosphere of Shiekra but this is king with it's extra inversion. What a consistently impressive coaster, the ideal combination of airtime and inversions, great layout, just near perfect can't say much more than that. Apollo's Chariot 10/10 - Another perfect coaster for us, some might disagree but I find this to have the perfect blend of elements. The Drop for a start is fantastic, I don't know how to describe the "dip" before the main drop but this makes a really big difference, amazing airtime in the back row. And it continues to keep the thrills high, a great high-G turn around, the scenery, no trims (at least not noticeable), fantastic twist with airtime through the supports and that "surprise" drop at the end. Just everything about this ride pulled us round the queue for another go, and another, and another. I think we managed 6 rides in total. This is right up there with TTD, Millennium Force and Skyrush for me, and we'll agree to disagree Verbolten 8/10 - And Verbolten. Verbolten Verbolten Verbolten. What do we say that has or hasn't been said already. I'll summarize: - Along with Skyrush, my excitement level for this was beyond the norm. - Everyone loved this coaster. - I didn't love it as much as I hoped to, but still thought it was fun. This is a very unique coaster, what thirteen should have been, but I'm going to be a little grumpy and play the moaning old man here. First off, Verbolten has an unacceptable amount of rattle for such a new ride, could be the fancy trains? The effects in the building weren't as impressive as I thought they would be given the budget. The vertical drop isn't as powerful as thirteen (and I'm not glorifying thirteen because I'm British trust me!). The second launch is fantastic but the drop out of the bridge isn't that great. The "snap" turn after the big drop is nasty so prepare for it and don't look the wrong way! I just don't know what to think, we gave this 4 tries, and by the end we had enough. I came away thinking that maybe if they had gone with Intamin they would have a more polished product. Amazing effort by the team in creating this attraction, and I hope that Busch Gardens replicate this effort with future projects. It was clear to see that everyone was absolutely blown away by this ride. What an amazing time we had at BGW, even though we did get drenched. This park is truly something special, outside of Disney/Universal the best park in North America by far. A perfect blend of rides, great food and super-friendly staff. Definitely way up at the top of our "must see again" destinations. For a second there I thought we were back home already, almost but not quite ready yet.

Day 9 - Kings Dominion So you've got the history credit, now you can enjoy some guilt-free coaster whoring, woop! This park really isn't far from D.C. is it? Granted it was a Sunday morning but it didn't take us any longer than an hour and a half to drive here. To our surprise they were letting guests in well before opening, definitely isn't a Six Flags park. I think Dominator was running for guests to enjoy before everything else opened but we declined and headed straight for the holding pen for Volcano/I305 and the other rides in that general direction. After about 20 mins of waiting around, they opened the flood gates and off we ran, not to I305 but to the Intamin oddity. Thanks again for your advice about hitting this first, solid number 1 rule about visiting this park, take note future guests. KD was DEAD. Seriously, this was Father's Day, weather was stunning, I was in panic mode, people appeared to be gathering at the park but before long the crowds dispersed and this place remained relatively empty. Volcano did have a queue however, so I'm glad we did this first as everyone ran to I305. The longest wait of the day for us was for Flight of Fear but that was only 10 mins, if that. What did we think of the mighty Kings Dominion, once host to the behemoth that I always wanted to ride, Hypersonic XLC? Well, I wish they still had XLC for a start. This was an odd park. I couldn't pin down what it was, It just seemed a bit inconsistent. I think this park needs another major coaster of some kind. Maybe that's it. Don't get me wrong, the employees were generally friendly, but this place felt a bit too bland and maybe smaller than I had envisaged. I suppose there might be a subconscious view that if they have something like I305 there and the magnificent Eiffel Tower standing at the entrance then this place must hold more treats of equally epic scale. Drop Tower was great, but it crapped black oily goo onto my head, I don't think it likes me too much. What is the general consensus about DT in the World of free fall towers? I'd be interested to know. We enjoyed our time at the park, the queues were non-existent, weather great and due to it's relatively compact layout, had no problem doing what we wanted to within a reasonable time scale. The misleadingly epic entrance plaza. This reminds me of Lost Kennywood, without the lost theme. Still don't understand the concept. Confused.com. There you are, lets go up ya! OOOhhhhh......nice. But nobody mentioned this thing wobbled so much, and it's not even windy. Looking down on the mediocre B&M, not so Dominating now are you smarty "I've got a tall loop so there" pants. Tick tock Troika o'clock! These rides look flimsy retro cool dudes. This area of the park was great, well done Paramount! Burn riders BURN!!!!!! This is where I lost my eyebrows, will stand a little further back on future visits. Thanks to your advice, didn't do this. Or this...by the way, where the heck was Grizzly????? Maybe I got my parks mixed up. Windstaller Pretty "this park really isn't too shabby" shot. Up close with the Americana wheel, excitement has found a whole new level of thrill. Great to look at, but again thanks to your collective wisdom, not a credit this time. "Definitely going to need to talk to our Doctor about Cymbalta after this honey, even if it does give me nausea, dry mouth, sleepiness, fatigue, constipation, dizziness, decreased appetite, and increased sweating." "But isn't Cymbalta for depression sweetheart?". "It's for Depression AND Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain, how great and yet ultimately confusing is that!?". Screamers only, no grunting or "wwwwwhhhheeeeeeee" permitted. I find this arousing. Psychological explanations on a postcard to Intamin Purve, Lundun, Ingalund. Look away kids, this is definitely the rated R shot for Intamin Drop Tower fans. Oh crap what's this black goo on my head? Am I dying??? Am I an Alien and this is my blood??? Am I AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH and we're done. Ricochet 5/10 - Wasn't a fan, liked how it wasn't quite the typical layout but unfortunately heavily trimmed. Dominator 7/10 - I'm not quite sure about why folks rate this one so highly. First off it doesn't have a zero-g roll, the best inversion on a floorless by far. I dunno, it's alright but it I preferred Bizzaro at SFGAdv and whilst it's better than Scream (although it almost would have suffered from car park syndrome if they didn't stick that grass down, SFMM take note!), it's no Kraken or Superman (Madrid). Italian Car Park:The Ride Stunt Backlot Job Coaster 8/10 - WHAT???? 8/10??? Yes folks, this is a nippy little ride! Funky launches, helix of death, inside dark bit, amusement park level special effects, this is a great little ride. I obviously benefit from not visiting when this was opened and the resultant negativity that the scale of this ride no doubt attracted, but I took it for what it's worth (5 cents or 2 you decide) and really enjoyed it. Volcano 7/10 - Unfortunately wasn't blown away by this one. The start, as everyone knows, is fantastic. The vertical climb out of the Volcano is equally great. But after that it just navigates the volcano at an underwhelming pace, with minimal changes in height. It's not a bad ride but really felt like it promised too much at the start. Bit dissapointed as this was one of the rides (along with XLC) that I was fascinated by back in the early days of my coaster addiction and one day hoped to ride. Flight of Fear 7/10 - Oh dear oh dear, another coaster I've wanted to ride only to find out that it's a bit uncomfortable and not that thrilling. Again, not a terrible coaster, but we agreed that we didn't enjoy this much, good launch but after that I could have done with being able to see where we were going to turn next so that I could have braced myself. The corkscrew at the end bumps it up a point. Too many rides on the relatively mediocre and yet still superior Rock 'n' Roller Coaster have set the bar well above this methinks. Intimidator 8/10 - *ducks for cover* DON'T HATE ME PLEASE!!! I like it, honest. It just didn't blow me away like it should have. Let's get one point straight, +G doesn't make me feel like i'm going to die, even if I black out. It makes me feel safe and enclosed. -G makes me feel at risk and "if this restraint doesn't hold me in then I truly will be flying to a splattery ending oh crap". Now, Intimidator is definitely a ride for the +G fanatic. This ride is so "heavy" that Hanna had a mild nosebleed when we were on the brake run. Prepare to grey/black out for at LEAST 6 seconds on the first turn and not regain vision until cresting the first hill. This knocks Goliath's helix of death for six. Sure, the drop is great like Millennium Force, but the OTSRs reduce the thrill. The big hill is great but not amazing. The rest of the ride is Maverick and a bit more. The trim before that ruins the potentially ejector hill is harsh. It's probably on to reduce the neck snapping at the final turn into the brakes. This coaster has so much speed and power that to design it to hug the ground like that seems a crime. I applaud it's unconventional approach but don't quite understand it. It's a stunning ride to look at, powerful, just not quite for us. And Hanna was fine by the way. Left the park around 3pm, drove south to the Hampton Inn Glenside in NW Richmond. Tomorrow, Busch Gardens. My anticipation and excitement levels could not be higher and I prayed it wouldn't let me down.

Sorry for the delay folks, been working epic shifts for the past 7 days so the energy levels have been a little low. Day 8 Washington D.C. After Kennywood we popped up to the Mall at Robinson and enjoyed some Five Guys. Had a good nights rest at the Marriott Coraopolis near the airport, not an ideal location for Kennywood but it was a bargain (being a weekend) and probably the poshest hotel of the trip. Woke up a little later than usual, all these driving days were getting to me a little I think. Today's original plan was to drive to Lakemont Park in Altoona, then onto Gettysburg, finally ending up in D.C. to have a late afternoon/evening to sight see. Well, for some reason or other the enthusiasm levels for Lakemont were a little lower on the scale today, and Gettysburg would have been nice but we would only have had enough time to drive through. I figured that D.C. was to be the main attraction of the day so we drove straight there, the entire 5 hours. This was by far the longest drive of the vacation but to be honest I didn't mind too much, the scenery was nice along the way. Arrived at the Hyatt Arlington around 2:30pm, couldn't believe just how quiet the roads were here, like a ghost town! I was preparing myself for traffic chaos after reading about how bad things get here but I soon realized that this is definitely a Mon-Fri city unlike London. Parking was steep at the hotel but this is to be expected here, the hotel itself was fantastic and surprisingly the cheapest of the entire vacation! Again, weekend rates rule! I chose Arlington so that we'd be near the Arlington Cemetery which I've always wanted to see, and it makes a good walking route onwards to the Mall. I also thought the traffic would be bad so this was the perfect location to be close enough to the action but with easy driving access. The hotel was also just around the corner from Rosslyn Metro station so coming back from sightseeing we just hopped on this back to our humble home for the night. I must say however that if you're going to buy a ticket from one of the vending machines at a Metro station, it was initially insanely complicated with a huge fare chart for you to consult, no flat fare here. Washington D.C. was a really nice place to visit, would have been more appropriate if we had more time and could have visited the overwhelming number of free museums lining the mall. It felt very clean, new and spacious to us, almost clinical. I'm not a history buff but it was very cool to see so many iconic monuments in the one place. 5 hours walking around wasn't enough but I'm glad we made it. Even though it was a Saturday, the city seemed so quiet and serene. I'll show you some typical tourist trap pictures just to prove we were really here: First stop Iwo Jima Up close The Netherlands Carillon Overwhelming The resting place of JFK and his family The Mall without the water The big man himself! What you can't see are the hundreds of tourists around me trying to get the same shot. From afar Here's some water! Is this still there? I've heard on the news it's a little warm over there right now. WWII Memorial The Washington Monument Sorry but everyone else was doing this so we had to. It's not exactly Buckingham Palace but for me this is much more iconic due to it's appearance in too many movies to count, just giving you my two cents worth. And YES we took a bit of their grass, lock us up in the Tower of London then extradite us to Guantanamo for our sins! And from the front! Or is this the back? This looks like it's moving, amazing and scary. The Capitol yo. This is about as close as I could get before things kick off between me and the FBI ninjas. Emotional closing shot. Cut to credits. No not that kind of credits! Jeez.

Day 7 - Kennywood Started the day with the long drive from the Breakers Express down to Kennywood. Stopped by a service station to have some overpriced McDonald's, didn't think you had these in the States. There was even an Ohio gift shop but I skipped this (unsurprisingly). Made the first mistake of the day, the entrance to Kennywood really caught me off guard, so we had to spin round in the nearby McDonald's car lot and make our way back. Free parking or $6 parking? Hmm..how quirky. Despite the long drive we made it there by 10:30am and managed to get a space in the trailer trash lot. $6 would get us fries at the Potato Patch, who cares if we have to walk a little bit further. or free, no brainer. Never has a horse stabbed through the heart looked so happy. Kennyland! We loved this park, it really caught us by surprise with it's lush landscaping, classic atmosphere and equally classic rides. I'll admit I wasn't expecting much from Kennywood but it was so much better than I could have imagined. Lots of little areas to stumble upon, they really seem to take good care of this park. Having said this, Garfield's Nightmare is in a sorry state and really needs to go. Ghostwood Estate was a fun ride and surprisingly well themed. Didn't go on the classic Noah's Ark though, and Exterminator was down which I wanted to do too. The employees could have been friendlier and more energetic but they seemed really tired, I've since found out they work 14 hour days so I'm not going to say I expect more from them. Sort out their work/life balance management! The "patch" lived up to it's reputation, although strangely these reminded me a lot of our British "chips". Lines were quite long probably because of it being a Friday and amazing weather but luckily Phantom's line moved the quickest. Maybe I was just being lazy but it seemed difficult to get many decent pictures of the coasters here as most of them have been built into a giant ravine, shame. Lost Kennywood? If anyone can explain this concept, answers on a postcard please to Hanna, Lundun, Ingalund. It's never too early for these (10:49 for us). No need to be scared kids, Kenny is MUCH nicer than Mr Duds, fact. This however kids is scary, very scary, stay away. Still better than World of Color? These guys are stealing your fun, I think they are Scientologists. No comment, seriously I cannot come up with anything for this. "I'll have what she's having". Moist enough for ya? See it's got all these nice water things and grass and stuff. These poor homeless souls from Pittsburgh were adopted by the Kenny foundation and now sing for you 14 hours a day. All they need is a Twinkie every 2 hours and they're good to go. Just in case you forgot where we were. Thanks for reminding me why Brits are so good at playing the bad guy in movies. The Phil Collins music playing in the background spoiled the atmosphere a little, but it's still a nice view. Kennywood Racer 5/10 - Tame, bland, not the Grand National. I would like to be more constructive but it didn't take long to realize this wasn't going to be great. There wasn't much of a race either, more of a chase. Thunderbolt 8/10 - Really loved this, what a unique coaster, making the most of the terrain and all. Reasonably smooth for it's age but they really do mean it when they say "smaller human must sit on right side", serious laterals after the drop. I even luuurve the design of the trains. Just a great ride, I wish the line was shorter so we could have ridden more. Even Hanna liked it, I think I'm starting to win her over with the "woodies are actually really fun" argument. Sky Rocket 7/10 - Wasn't too sure about this, but took it for what it's worth and thought it was fun. A superb ride for it's size with a bit of a punch, the shin pads were very uncomfortable however. The launch is OK but I think the best moment is the second vertical drop in the back. Phantom's Revenge 10/10 - Another 10 here folks! Minor criticism, could have been a bit longer (2/3 of the ride is the insanely slow lift hill), but everything else it did, it did very well indeedy. Again a "quirky" ride with it's Goliath-like second drop. Big comfortable trains, insane airtime although my "back seat is best" theory didn't work on this, much preferred the front. The location makes this coaster so different from anything else of this scale that I've ridden. We liked it so much we queued for this 5 times. This may not be the biggest or baddest but it's got a unique punch you won't find anywhere else. Yes that's Mr K himself at the front! Seriously the best and coolest park mascot ever. What a great old school park, more Knoebels less Dorney. Not a place we're necessarily going to prioritize on our next trip unless we're passing by due to the limited range of coasters but certainly one for the future. If you haven't been here yet and aren't too far, get to Kennywood quick before I fear it loses some of it's classic charm. Heck, I liked it so much I got a back window sticker for the car, as if anyone here in rainy London is going to know what Kennywood is! Not unless we're in Iceland but heck, I know what you mean. Gute Nacht Kennyland.

I'm going to be a little philosophical here but there are so many weird and wonderful reasons why we all love different coasters in different ways just like music, clothing, movies and so much else, that's what makes reading this forum so interesting. I don't like to make concrete verdicts on parks until I've been a second time, same goes for rides. It's also amazing just how different expectations can be for the "famous" ones. I know it sounds mad but I was expecting to be a little let down by MF and blown away by I305, and the two couldn't have been more opposite to me after riding them a couple of times. Thanks for all the comments so far everyone, this is the first TR I've ever written so it's great to hear a few of you are enjoying it.

Day 6 - Cedar Point Woke up at a relatively civilized time, must have been about 7:30am. I've finally adjusted to Eastern Time, result! I would describe the Breakers Express as basic 90's Chic, as long as you have realistic expectations of what a $100 room at a Cedar Point "Resort" will get you, you'll be fine. A free parking permit for the park, 1 hour early ride time and $32 tickets made our stay all the sweeter. We were here for 2 nights (what a luxury) because we knew this would be a bit of long day and there was no way I could drive to Pittsburgh after today. After yet more hotcakes at the McD's nearby, we made the scenic and quite impressive drive along Cedar Point Causeway: This sign tells you that you are entering the domain of coaster awe, but you're by no means there yet so foot down! Being a law abiding tourist I maintained 35mph until everyone started overtaking me so "sod it, live a little" I thought, 37mph it was to be. Naughty beggars are getting ahead of us even though it's only 8:50am! I can assure you the car park didn't look like this by 10am. Nice landscaping, good start! Are we really here? Seriously? Don't you get one of these if you just eat enough Wonka bars? Mr Cedar Fair must be huge because they've got golden tickets coming out of every orifice of the park! *cue epic holy music* OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS WE'RE FINALLY HERE, WE MADE IT TO COASTER GEEK MECCA! After the usual Cedar Fair pre-opening, highly emotional rendition of the national anthem, we present our tickets and literally run like pensioners at Sears on Black Friday (not pretty) through the turnstiles to the big blue one. Only 3 coasters were open for this 1 hour privilege, Raptor, Iron Dragon and Millennium Force. I'll proceed to review the coasters shortly, but needless to say we enjoyed our first ride of the day on the big blue one very much. After this headed to Raptor then Iron Dragon. By this time the G.P. were massing in the holding pen, we looked upon them with our bourgeoisie stiff upper lips and thought it would be wise to start queuing for TTD even though it was only 9:45. Half an hour later the coaster finally opened and off we went. TTD, then Maverick (get this one in early folks as the capacity is rubbish, thanks to everyone on here for the warning) followed by Blue Streak. By now we were starving, for some strange reason we decided to eat at Joe Cool's and share a big pizza. Surrounded by mini-people we felt slightly out of place but heck we're on a holiday so let's watch cartoons and stuff pizza down our gobs. If you can eat lunch around 11:30 you'll have your food with you in about 10 minutes. By the time we finished our lunch the place was full. "Oh yeah Hanna, did I tell you they have a beach here too? With free sun loungers?" World class coasters + an amazing beach = Hanna's paradise. After crashing out on the sun loungers for an hour or so, we went back to the car to freshen up and entered the park for the second half of our day. My memory fails me when it comes to remembering the order in which we did things in the afternoon/evening, but we got a ride on Gemini, Magnum, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Wicked Twister and re-rides on the big blue one and the biggest red one. We would really have liked to do more, the crowds caught us out today. Midweek in mid June, didn't think it would be too bad, but in spots it was busy. Queued an hour for our second ride on Millennium Force, and about 30 mins for everything else we did later in the day but noticed some big queue times especially for Maverick at about 1 1/2 hours. So what did we make of this place? Six Flags Magic Mountain is still our collective favorite, but this is a microscopically close second. Cedar Point is an amazing park, AMAZING! Yes it's a bit bland like other parks in the chain but the operations were outstanding, impressed by the idea of having a ride attendant interact with the guests with a headset which made things move along a bit slicker. The staff were soooo friendly and into their job but this is probably an early summer season vibe, will be interesting to find out if they can keep this up through the mad days ahead. Prices weren't insane, location is stunning, and they have some truly amazing coasters here. I can't put my finger on what it was exactly that didn't allow me to accept this is better than SFMM but I'm sure many, if not most of you disagree with this. Next time we come here it'll be for at least 2 days, and I'll seriously consider Fast Lane and would urge you to do so too. We missed out on tons of rides, mainly due to queue times, and we were burned out by 8 so missed out on Luminosity too. At least we didn't get caught in any traffic on the way out along the Causeway though. You go ahead, not my thing sorry. Interesting name... Pink's or Nathan's? Hanna Cool with Joe Cool. Or is this Snoopy? WHO THE HECK IS JOE COOL ANYWAYS?? I used to love these rides but nowadays I fear they'd cause me to perform a "multicolored yawn". Is this as good as Supreme Scream? If is then consider this regret number 4. What do you mean "this isn't Shoot the Rapids"? Tranquility in a Cedar Fair park? Been on one of these at Thorpe Park, much fun! Yeti chickens? See it's got train and everything!! "When in Rome...". Thanks for your advice on this one ladies and gents, took one look and walked away. I've been beaten up by too many of these things over the years. Sorry folks didn't get on it this time. Then I realized it had a loop. So this isn't a clone? Darn, regret number 5? Blue Streak 7/10 - A solid oldie with a nice paint scheme, think I chose the better Woodie to ride this day and wasn't dissapointed. Can't remember the catchphrase between the ride attendant and ride op but it was indeed catchy. Cedar Creek Mine Train 5/10 - Scenic but that's about it, some jerky transitions that you'd be better off bracing for, not awful but not worth the 30 minute wait. Our ride was enhanced by someone screaming "HUGGEE HILLLL" most of the time. Gemini 8/10 - If Big Thunder Mountain sexed Magnum XL-2000000000 this is what you'd get. The most under appreciated coaster/s at the park and a heck of a lotta fun. Airtime and classic retro style is a winner with us, and this thing chews through the queue line like there's no tomorrow! Iron Dragon 4/10 - I'm sorry but this is crap. Looks pretty but crap. Nuff said. Wicked Twister 9/10 - As I mentioned in the Dorney Park report, I'm a sucker for these contraptions. I preferred the holding brake on Possessed to an extra spike here. Amazing setting however. Hanna thought this one was a little more intense, we agree to disagree. Raptor 8/10 - Intense, VERY intense. As mentioned before Inverts aren't my favorite coaster type these days, heavy G's and little visibility doesn't equal thrills for me personally. If you're into good Inverts though head to this because it's got everything you could want. Top Thrill Dragster 10/10 - Still not sure about the name after all this time, but boy is this good. Perfect actually. Fitting theme, best coaster trains in the World, efficient operations, LAP BARS! Let's just say this is so much better than Kingda Ka in every way, but you already knew this right? Stealth and Kingda crrrraawwwlll over the top but this just flies over, Cedar Point (like Hershey) know what they have and aren't scared of letting you know about it. Maverick 8/10 - If only we could have been on this a couple more times. My score is probably not reflective of just how good this is, but you better practice your defensive anti-whiplash pose because this thing dishes out sharp turns by the dozen. A strange ride, not sure what to make of it after the one ride but it was definitely fast and the tunnel launch was great. Shame the queue is always stupidly long. Magnum Force XL200 8/10 - A classic, I'm sure you'll agree. A great coaster worthy of it's fame, typical Arrow angular transitions you'll have to brace for but impressive Skyrush style ejector air on those last hills. Millennium Force 10/10 - Best coaster here. OK this isn't the best airtime machine and I'm all about the airtime but take into consideration the whole package and it's definitely one of the best on this planet. A perfect blend of floater airtime, ejector on that last hill, and epic over bank turns. This coaster always seemed to draw a crowd but for obvious reasons, because it's AWESOME. Thank you everyone at Cedar Point for making our day genuinely awe inspiring, a place that provided us with many unbeatable moments and a significant craving to return as soon as practically (and financially) possible. A genuine resort in an amazing location. Adios! Until next year (he hopes), farewell.

Day 5 - Niagara Falls/Presque Isle State Park/Waldameer What a wash out yesterday was. It didn't stop until the early hours of this morning, but I'm glad it did finally leave us alone and allowed the sun to break through. An essential ingredient for a Niagara Falls visit. If anyone is in the Rochester/Victor area, I would recommend staying at the Best Western Victor, the rooms were the biggest of the trip with very high ceilings which caused me to have a panic attack half way through the night when I went to the bathroom and thought all that rain had shrunk me by AT LEAST 54%. Let's get in the car and hit the open road yet again, and we're not even half way through the holiday, I'm starting to really see the benefits of a TPR trip, having someone else do the driving would be a nice luxury because on this drive there really wasn't much to look at. What I said about the parks on this trip being open during the week was true, but we had to miss Seabreeze, Darien Lake and this place due to weekend only openings. Question is, did we miss much? This is what you get on the American side, a HRC and a gift shop. I've heard the Canadian side has an extra gift shop, but we couldn't get the visa in time. This guy was here before all you lot, but now he's retired in Palm Springs so you're safe. This reminds me of the I Ride trolley in Orlando. "Next stop Bargain World for all your classy souvenirs, now get off my clean trolley you smelly trailer trash Brits". I caught you, illegal immigrant! I'm calling the Citoyenneté et Immigration. I didn't originally plan for us to come here on this tour, originally we were going to drive west from Knoebels along I-80 and up I-79 to Erie. I'm glad I changed my mind. For those who have been here, or even seen other family members boring photos from their trip here, I apologise in advance. The boat trip up to the falls starts off very innocently and then turns nasty, I expected it to be wet (the poncho was a hint) but in reality it's like standing behind a 747 taking off from a flooded runway in a monsoon. Much better than I thought it would be and definitely worth the $15. If out for a swim and you come across this view, TURN AROUND AND DON'T STOP! If you had beans for lunch you'll probably survive. Where's the restroom? The trolls of the falls, don't go down there or they will do nasty things to you. "Hello Canadian neighbors, what did you think?". "Ehhhh!!". Good. Better. There it is, the "famous" one. Brother and Sister falls together in the one shot. Purty shot. Yes that is a herd of Amish coming right for us, RUN HANNA RUN TO THE BOAT! "Lower Gorge viewing". Need I say anymore. Down I go! "Welcome Sir, sorry to stare it's just I've never seen a monobrow that significant before". Uh oh, Asian tour group!!! This means war! Forget "Where's Wally?", let's play "Where's Amish?". Like lambs to the slaughter... Luckily I managed to secure my place for the trip right at the front of the boat. Unfortunately I was to be be crushed by about 30 Indian tourists throughout the 15 minute ride because of this. They got so violently close I swear if I didn't wear that poncho I'd be giving birth to a mini-Indian in 8 months or so from now. I'll let the pictures do the talking... "PHOTO PHOTO!!!", I proceed to be elbowed, pushed, kicked etc by the tour group but don't give in, stand my ground and get the footage I came here for. This is where the 747 in a monsoon comparisons kick in. This is all you'll see for the next 3 minutes or so. And we're done. After Niagara, we continued west to Erie. Did some sunbathing on Presque Isle, a beautiful place that really reminded me of Florida, didn't think PA could look like this! Unfortunately as soon as I turned on my camera it died. Oh darn. All that Niagara footage drained it of it's will to live and with no access to a charging facility I wouldn't be able to get footage of this wonderful location AND Waldameer Park (all users immediately leave this topic). In truth, we were only at Waldameer for one thing, Ravine Flyer 2. Literally walked up to the booths, charged a Wally card with $9 and went on the ride. I think we needed more time here because I wasn't that impressed by it and could have done with re-rides. The view from the lift hill is spectacular, great first drop, great first airtime hill and turnaround but then it really felt like it fizzled out after then, certainly didn't have the scale or speed expected and just generally forgettable after an impressive start. But I know with re-rides we would have appreciated it a lot more. Tiredness and dehydration always play a part when the weather is good too. Time scales just didn't allow us to visit this park properly, and in all honesty it didn't look like we missed much as Waldameer is smaller than I thought it would be. A nice basic park with what I'm sure is a good wooden coaster worthy of it's place in the polls. I just caught it, or myself, on an off day. We continued our drive west all the way to Sandusky, passing the very serene Cleveland Waterfront at sunset which was memorable. A cool moment approaching Sandusky along US-6, we raced a train pretty much the whole way and were so close you could see if the driver had shaved that day. Checked into the Breakers Express, bought our $32 tickets for tomorrow and collapsed. One last close up view from below the American falls.

We did see some lightning albeit briefly, I suppose they have to be quite strict about these kind of things. Our second ride on Phoenix was in a moderate drizzle which probably increased the speed a little, but an outright downpour would have been brilliant.

Day 4 - Knoebels Slept in a bit after the epic day before, immediately before opening my eyes I inserted a couple of the complimentary bedside Hershey Kisses into my mouth for that instant necessary sugar boost, good job I was on the right side of the bed as on the left side was a bowl of potpourri, although I reckon I would have still enjoyed that in my mouth more than what was offered for breakfast. Let's turn on the TV to see how hot it's going to be today: This reminds me of home. Better look outside just to make sure they aren't lying beggars: Yep looks like the British summer finally found us! This could dampen things quite a bit. In my head Knoebels is one of those sunny summer like places, but for us would it just be a bleak muddy mess of a day? Today was to be a long day anyway, driving north from our B&B to Knoebels, then onto Watkins State Park to see some purty waterfalls, and then onto our next hotel all the way up in Victor NY. The waterfalls were already out of the question, so after trying to enjoy a rather posh avant-garde breakfast consisting of Kiwi fruit in a Martini glass and a soggy baked croissant filled with orange marmalade, we said our farewells and made our way north. Goodbye Inn at Westwynd Farm, thanks for the perfect if very brief hospitality. Would have been happy with Froot Loops for brekkie though. The beautiful Appalachians....somewhere... At least we're driving in the right direction. Getting close.... "Turn right onto Kay-now-ee-balls Parkway". I'll admit it's hard enough for us to pronounce let alone a European GPS! Unfortunately the weather remained "pish" as they would say in Scotland, I knew we weren't going to be here for as long as I initially hoped, but it only took a few minutes of peering through the mud and rain to realize how special this place is. Apologies for the poor quality of the photos, it rained so much that I kept my video camera in it's waterproof pouch and it messed with the contrast big time. Hanna and I only spent a couple of hours here and I really wish we had longer to experience the rides and take more footage but there is only so much wetness one is willing to take. Big wheel! But nowhere near as big as the one I used to be trusted with. Around the grove in 80 seconds. "Spinny!". Could it be? Yes it is! The famous entrance sign which confusingly isn't at the entrance! Ahhh it all makes sense now, let's embrace the rain and enjoy the park while it's still above the river! There ain't no showin' off your wobbly bits in dis place PERIOD. If park security catch you in a thong, no matter how unoffensive you think your nether regions are, they chuck you in here for 2 hours after pouring Tide all over you to WASH AWAY YOUR SINS! Amen. Lets just cruise around in this babe-magnet and let the rain do all the cleanin'. Dumbo before Dumbo? Education lesson everyone! Now you can have the rest of the week off school as a reward for your excellence. Now THIS is what we came here for, prepare be amazed Hanna, to be amazed... "Mighty fine indeed sheriff, mighty fine" *rocks back and forth on rocking chair and SPITS*. "Sorry Finglish duo, we don't run this in the rain because it would just be too FREAKIN' AMAZEBALLS and you'd never leave". Let's sooth our momentary horror with some of that Pizza TPR members keep raving about! Hang on? Where's the DAMN PIZZA?!! 30 minutes of hunger-driven frustration and increasing wetness later, we find it. Turns out it's soooooo good it gets it's own hut. SO good yet so cheap like everything else in Knoebels! My theory is that the elderly staff members at the gift shop must be running an underground narcotics business to keep this park going. Interesting fact alert! Did you know that they built a replica of this at the Arlington National Cemetery near D.C.? Bet ya didn't know that now did ya? More amazing food, they could shoot "The Biggest Gainer" here no probs. Maybe next season. A classic, bar none. I think this was called "NJ Turnpike:The Ride". One more piece of scratched graffiti on this bridge and it would fall to bits. Romantic AND a health & safety hazard, like so many other things... I think I'll pass. Some advice for those choosing to stay here, I wouldn't recommend using pegs to secure your tent in a place that floods regularly. On second thoughts, don't do this and you could wake up in the Shamokin Reservoir. Tough choice. Twister, a name which is definitely Sir "twisty" Alvey approved. There's a train up there somewhere, I promise. Now it's over there somewhere. What's that, the sound of another lift chain in the distance and gasps of excitement from friends and family, young and not so young? Hip hip...Hooray! Three cheers for what remains one of the top woodies in the whole entire coasterverse! A momentary breather amongst the hysterical floaty laughteryness of this simple yet incredible ride. So what did you make of Knoebels? Yeah alright I'll give you our honest and unbiased verdict. This is a rare place. Like Blackpool Pleasure Beach meets Knott's Berry Farm meets Yosemite National Park. Despite the rain we hugely enjoyed the vibe of the place, it's classical preservation, it's more than reasonable prices, it's simple family values. This is how things used to be. A time that many of us never had the pleasure of experiencing at it's height as many of us have been born into a World of corporate theme park brainwashing i.e. "You've experienced our half-assed manufactured dream for the day now BUY THE OVERPRICED T-SHIRT AND PHOTO OR YOU'LL LIVE TO REGRET IT!". The rides (of which we only did 4 - I beg you all to forgive our shameful lack of whoring): Black Diamond 5/10 - Bit of a letdown this one. Had some high hopes as I heard about it being a kind of hybrid dark ride meets coaster experience. Didn't have a clue what was going on, the train didn't go fast enough (Hanna's criticism), and I just couldn't see why this won an award for best new dark ride, must have been a slow year. Haunted Mansion 9/10 - Now this is what I'm talking about. Possible the only classic haunted house that felt "right and complete". A good mix of old and much newer scares, very good length. Just generally fantastic. DO THIS! Twister 7/10 - I'm trying to remember this coaster so the score might not be too accurate, but I recall enjoying it more than I thought I would. Loved the teaser start to then going up the big lift hill. A few rough parts but nothing that detracted from a thrilling ride, although the rain made it hard to keep my eyes open for most of it. Phoenix 10/10 - This gets the big 10 without hesitation. We haven't experienced hysterical laughter like this since our first rides on the Tower of Terror. It's that kind of ride, a feel good, smooth, out of your seat back in your seat then out of your seat again kinda ride. I'm going to throw this massively controversial view out there but I think I preferred this to El Toro! It takes a lot for Hanna to approve of any Wooden coaster as they are never high enough or fast enough but this had her in fits of laughter all the way which is a MAJOR stamp of approval. I'm really sorry guys and gals that I don't have better pics of the coasters and the park in general, the weather just made things a little difficult for us on this day but at least it means we have to return again soon to catch everything we missed, YAY! 3 minutes away from hypothermic shock but still smiling, what a trooper!

Day 3 Part 2 - Hershey Park After Dorney we drove the 1 1/2 hours west and checked into our accommodation for that night, the Inn at Westwynd Farm just 3 clicks north of Hershey. We were met by .5 of the owners, Frank, and after his kind introduction we had some complimentary drinks from the fridge (soda, although other beverages were readily available ). Had just enough time to pop into the barn to see the horses and one slightly confused alpaca, was then chased out of the barn by a not so hospitable Labrador and decided it was time to head to Hershey. So we should have arrived bang on 4:50pm, but our TomTom took us to Chocolate World NOT Hershey Park. I didn't think this would be a problem because I remember from my incessant staring at Google maps that Chocolate World is next to the entrance of the park, right? Drove right past Skyrush, getting close! As soon as I open my mouth at the turnstile, the guy hands me a slip of paper with detour instructions and back out we go, and drive the 7 or so miles it took to get into the main parking entrance. Lesson learned. 5:15pm we arrive, head to the entrance and pay our $28.95 for sunset admission. Bye bye now, take care, hope you had a great day, farewell, GET OUTTA HERE AND LEAVE US ALONE WE ONLY GOT 4 1/2 HOURS TO DO THIS JOINT!!!! This gentleman is being kept in a secure area for your own safety, DO NOT APPROACH THE BUTTER CUP! Here we are, the mystical and wondrous Hershey Park! Here we are! This features in my dreams a lot, can't think why. Answers on a postcard to Andy, Lundun, Ingalund. Dan's childhood nightmare. These guys are on day release, but if they step out of line the purple dude WILL OWN THEM!! Mr Duds is taunting me. Just walk away and no one gets opened. A cheap dinner in an otherwise pricey park. Prepare for wetness.... History moment, please pause and lower your hats. He wouldn't have approved of the Skyrush station layout either. This is what happens when you down a gallon of Hershey syrup and a barrel of sugar! See it's got a train and everything! Pointless, utterly pointless. But it does give me warm RCT feelings circa 2001. "What did we think?" I hear you cry! This is almost the perfect amusement park. If operations were slicker (they weren't as bad as I thought they might be after reading all the horror stories), it could be. This park has everything going for it. Intense coasters, great scenery, shows and entertainment everywhere, it really is a gem and although I expected to enjoy it, this park is definitely now on my "parks to come back for" list. We went on a Tuesday evening but there were still queues to be found. Skyrush and Fahrenheit were the longest at around 30 mins, most other coasters were under 10 minute waits even with the typical operational issues i.e. "Oh darn here comes that train again guess I have to somehow find enough energy to get up off my stool and check everything REEAAALLLY carefully". Once again, we were limited by the amount of time we had so I did miss out on a few good'uns here, don't hate me for it please! Whilst Dorney can be done in half a day, Hershey deserves at least a full day if not two. Onto the coasters: SooperDooperLooper 6/10 - I realize this is a classic but I prefer Revolution at SFMM although these new yet old looking trains made it a much smoother ride than it's West Coast Bro. The new yet really old looking trains. Fahrenheit 8/10 - This is great! What's wrong with the haters? If this was in the UK it would probably be our number 2 or 3 coaster, sad but true! Seriously, I enjoyed this a lot, I suppose I'd agree that it felt a little predictable but it's by no means sluggish. I was starting to realise that Hershey Park doesn't like to spend money on trim brakes. Get ready... Going up... I think Freud would have had a lot to say about the coaster community's collective fascination with suggestively shaped coaster elements. And they're off! "Twisty!" Ejector hairtime? Yeah alright then! Storm Runner 9/10 - "Get ready for vertical horsepower". This coaster is nuts or "OFF DA SCALE" as the youngish might cry. We rode it twice and I still can't remember what happened after the top hat. A powerful launch, airtime, unpredictable maneuvers through dense vegetation, a little violent on the neck however, a near perfect ride. Yep, it's time for some pleasurable whiplash. Welcome back empty seats, nice to see you again so soon. "Hang on sweetheart, you didn't tell me about that huge hill up ahead." "Sorry Pumpkiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnn". See ya, would want to be ya! Great Bear 7/10 - One of the old school, strong forces, a quirky start which I really enjoyed, a great leg chopper, just let down by an uneventful finish. Interesting fact alert! This ride was named in honor of a camp 1970's entertainer from SoHo. Bet you didn't know that now did ya. Aww how quaint. Favorite coaster element 4 EVA yo. Lightning Racer 8/10 - Rode both sides, awesome racer and relatively smooth for it's age. Our night ride with all the fairground lights was mesmerizing, just looking down from the top of the lift hill at the mess of track and having no idea where we were headed was fun. This coaster had no one on it all night. Please, when you come here, show it some love because it's awesome. This is when I realised my video camera doesn't like being awake when it's getting dark. Now THAT is mighty purty. Skyrush 10/10 - Is this my new number 1? Of course it is, no wait, maybe, ummm, argh, not sure. We got two rides on this beast. The second ride just before closing in the back row outer left seat was probably the most thrilling ride I've had on a coaster since my first ride on X2. It's very difficult to get a genuine unexpected thrill from coasters these days and I can't help but think that my addiction is purely a search for that next effective "hit" which never comes. This thing is amazing, brilliant and untamed. Sure, your thighs will get a good squeezing and you'll experience momentary relief when hitting the brake run to then realize you'll be sitting there for another 3 minutes because this is Hershey Park. I was expecting a great ride and this thing delivered. I have unavoidable high expectations and always expect to be let down (a common attribute of the British), but I loved this coaster and it provided many "HOLY CRAAAP" moments. El Toro on steroids is appropriate, and I lurve the kink they put halfway down the first drop that attempts to throw you out even more. Not to mention a very scenic location over water. It'll be interesting to see where this masterpiece debuts on the famous coaster poll. After all these years of conception and construction, our baby is here. "I've got this great idea, let's have everyone use just one side of the station to improve our throughput, and lets use swivel bins that make the guests think their valuables are safe when they are actually just revealed to the riders waiting to board for them to steal." I should have Photoshopped this with motion blur to emphasise how freakin' fast this goes up. Get ready for the EVEN STEEPER part! Cue the screams of joy/pain. Still enjoying it? "Honey I can't feel my legs! I'm gonna sue as soon as they get me off this sadistic torture device!". Mini Stengel, how cute. Thanks Hershey Park for a most thrilling evening that we both really enjoyed and we look forward to seeing you again as soon as financially possible. Goodnight Skycrush and thanks for screwing with my expectations for the next coasters on the vacation.

Day 3 Part 1 - Dorney Park I'll admit I was a little nervous about our first proper theme park day. Two reasonably big and well known parks in one day? In June when the schools are all visiting these places in their masses? Turns out we didn't really need much more time than we had. I'd like to mention that whilst I used to be all about the credits, now I just ride what I want and what I think isn't going to break my neck (unless it's famously good otherwise). So unfortunately I haven't ridden everything but time was against us so we had to prioritize and I hope we got onto the best coasters in each park. Woke up ridiculously early (yet again) at the Holiday Inn Express with the following view: Good morning Talon, are you really a crap invert? After braving the run across the busy highway to save some parking fee money, we make it to the first big park of the trip, the 98' Corolla of amusement parks (i.e. bland but comfortable), Dorney Park! "Welcome to Dorney, it's actually quite good, honest!" What did we think? Talon 8/10 - This is a very good invert, used to be my favorite coaster type but then airtime machines took over and I feel very indifferent over these now. Talon was much better than I expected it to be, after riding the disappointing Silver Bullet I wasn't sure what I'd make of one of these tamer B&Ms but turns out it's actually got a good mix of everything. Steel Force 8/10 - Another surprise of the day, a solid, smooth hyper with nice air on those final hills. The only jarring moment which wasn't really bad at all was the transition from the massive turnaround up into the MDCB. Hydra 7/10 - Hang on, this is the mediocre Dorney Park right? Another good coaster? Smooth yet again, unusual layout, not the tallest but does great things with the space it has. I enjoyed it's unpredictability and funkiness. Possessed 9/10 - I have to admit I'm a sucker for these impulse coasters and wish we had one over here. This version gets an extra point because it has a working holding brake for that "holy crap" moment. Stinger was down, the Wild Mouse looked unremarkable, I should have ridden Thunderhawk (regret number 2) and Demon Drop would have been interesting but was the only ride with a reasonable queue so we overlooked it. We just kept riding Steel Force and Possessed for the remaining time we had there due to zero queue time, kewl. Dorney was a fantastic park, much greener than expected, very clean, friendly staff and on retrospect definitely felt like the little brother/sister of Cedar Point. Thanks Club TPR for the discounted entry! I have a feeling we're gonna see you again this week. Sploosh! See it's got a train and everything! Yawn. I'm sure I've seen this before on the West Coast. Should I have queued for this? Possible regret number 3 but it did look uncomfortable. Nature shot. "ARGH Why has it stopped????" Two trains, yes please! You're welcome.

Hello everyone and welcome! I thought I'd make the effort to write a trip report for our recent vacation driving around the Northeastern States visiting parks that I'd first found out about by watching a VHS some of you probably remember on here called "Coaster Expedition Volume 1" waaaay back when. Along with my very patient and long suffering girlfriend Hanna (who's from Finland hence Finglish in the title), we finally made it and had a blast at all but one of the parks. Just a little background, we've been to Florida twice and the LA/Vegas area in the past 5 years so we've done the parks and rides that most tourists would visit. This was our first trip out of "la la land" and into the real USA so to speak. Our ambitious itinerary: June 9th - Arrive NYC June 10th - NYC/Coney Island June 11th - Dorney Park/Hershey Park June 12th - Knoebels June 13th - Niagara Falls/Presque Isle State Park/Waldameer June 14th - Cedar Point June 15th - Kennywood June 16th - Washington D.C. June 17th - Kings Dominion June 18th - Busch Gardens Williamsburg June 19th - Six Flags America June 20th - Six Flags Great Adventure June 21st - Six Flags Great Adventure/Depart Some of you may be thinking how the heck did you do that all? I know, it was a bit nuts but we generally didn't have to drive more than 3 1/2 hours at a time, hotels were prebooked in strategic locations and I just spent a lot of time planning and researching online which I happen to really enjoy, sad maybe but true. Hanna started to get a little fed up with having to change hotel all the time but midway through the holiday I think we just got used to it. It also gave us the chance to try out several hotel chains for future visits. There were some parks where we would have liked a second day, and luckily we managed a second visit to SFGAdv before our flight home. The Six Flags season pass has to be the biggest bargain ever, if only the Cedar Fair pass was as cheap. Final point before I get on with the TR, this was an AWESOME time to visit. Sure, there were some school groups, but apart from our day at Cedar Point (which in all honesty wasn't that busy, I just think it's one of those parks that will always draw a crowd because of it's fame), I can't recall having to queue more than 15 mins on average at the parks we visited. There were some exceptions but I couldn't believe our luck. Minimal queues, late openings and no closures through the week, perfect. It'll take me a while to write up each day, partly because I have to somehow remember what we did. One of the side effects of such an ambitious trip! I'll try to keep them to the point as much as possible. Apologies for the often poor quality of the pictures, they're taken from shaky video footage shot by yours truly. Day 1 - Arrival and NYC "Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this Continental flight to....uh....United flight to Newark". The cabin crew still think this is Continental. It is a little confusing, let's keep our old color scheme but take the United name. To be honest the food was better when it was Continental, but the IFE is still the same and extensive. Gimme United over Virgin Atlantic any day! Enjoyed Chronicle and Star Trek along with some Family Guy. Flight arrived on time, minimal queue at immigration but having been to the States 3 times now in the space of a year, they stare at us with deep suspicion. Awkward pause..........stamp stamp. Bags, hire car and off we go! Does choosing to shop here mean I'm middle class? Because I can assure you I'm not. Stopped at Target for out usual bits and bobs before checking into the Candlewood Suites Jersey City, a great location to be close enough for easy access via PATH to Manhattan but far enough to actually get a decent nights sleep. Newport felt a lot like Canary Wharf here in London, a modern 2nd financial district removed from the madness. This hotel was 2/3 of the price of anything we could get across the water and with free parking I couldn't complain. I don't think driving into Manhattan and finding a place to park would have been the most relaxing start to the holiday. Not a bad walk from the hotel to the PATH station. I know you've all been to NYC already so I'm not going to go on and on and on and on about the places we visited. After we checked in, caught the PATH train up to 23rd Street for Shake Shack at Madison Square Park. Unfortunately not only was it a Saturday afternoon but there was some uber-crazy BBQ festival on so no juicy burgers for us right now. Longest queue of the holiday, all for a freakin' burger (this is just the last 1/3 of it). Curse you BBQ festival event thing! We walked north and checked out Grand Central Station, didn't find Bruce Willis in a cloak so headed west to Times Square. Visiting Times Square makes me realise why I see so many dissapointed faces at Piccadilly Circus everyday. A quiet Saturday evening. Anyone else looking forward to the new ABC show "Hillary Clinton's drug conspiracy"? "Granny's gotta eat!" A pre-Hershey Hershey visit. Day 2 - NYC/Coney Island Had a much needed good nights rest after the craziness of Times Square. The only issue coming from the UK is waking up ridiculously early. After some early morning TV and repetitious warnings informing us of the crowds expected for the Puerto Rican Day Parade we headed out to the PATH train for our trip up the Empire State. Good morning PATH train! One benefit of getting up stupidly early on a Sunday morning. "So how does this lift work again?" "Okay that's enough boring sightseeing, time for HOTCAKES!!!!" Mission accomplished. Off to Coney Island we go, via the D train I think it was. A reasonably long ride through some interesting neighborhoods. See you in a bit oh famous bridge. I think it's this way? No queue? Oh here it is. This makes Coney Island look positively clean! We enjoyed Coney Island. We weren't there to do all the rides, nothing really caught my attention. I think the travel fatigue was setting in again and I regret not going on the Wonder Wheel. The main thing I went there for was the Cyclone and I really enjoyed it. The re-tracking has probably helped it out a bit as I didn't find it too bad, sat in the back of the front car. Entry is a little steep but it's a thrilling ride which is always a pleasant surprise for a coaster this old. Wonder Wheel Puerto Rican style. Are you a swinger? Or a stationary....er? This looked a little nuts. The classic, highly predictable and unoriginal shot. Through the fence! Artsy shot. I think I enjoyed it? Pretty sure London is a close second place. Who needs squash rackets when you have big hands. We continued walking along the boardwalk and all of a sudden I noticed something a little strange, I wasn't sure if it was the travel fatigue setting in but of all of a sudden we found ourselves in RUSSIA BY THE BEACH? These shows coming to a sleaze bar near you soon! GTA IV anyone? Female? Only her "врач" knows! Mini ninja KGB agents displaying their skillz. Damn Russian furniture truck spoiling the shot. That's better. After Coney Island we headed back on the tube/metro/subway to Brooklyn Bridge and made the epic walk across. Okay it wasn't too epic but it was flippin' hot so exhaustion set in and marathon/spare battery mode took over. for this piece of edible art by one of our friends from across the border, bargain! Getting there, enthusiasm dwindling... Enthusiasm REGAINED, SHAKE SHACK YAY!!!! After our tiring walk across THAT bridge, plus a wonderful refreshing meal of cow and cocaine juice at Shake Shack (which I'd rate higher than In-N-Out and Five Guys but a little under my unpopular favorite Fuddruckers) we made our way, zombie-like, to the free tourist ferry for cheapskates like us, the Staten Island Ferry! Otherwise known as "House of Slytherin". I suppose we're not the only ones who want to save some bucks sightseeing. Oh wait, you mean these people live on the other side? Free commuting, in NYC? I must need more sleep. Farewell... Goodnight.

It has to be scream although batwing did seem to be in a bit of a random place stuck in a field.

If you don't want to drive far you could look into the Rodeway Inn on Areba Ave in Hershey, which is within walking distance to the park and yet set in a nice quiet residential area. This is what we were going to go for but the rates shot up just as we were about to book.

I made use of this area in the recent 98 degree heat, very quiet and relaxing. I suppose I could suggest the gardens at Alton Towers, doesn't get any more secluded than that but you can seriously get lost in the valley. Another vote goes to the path at Dorney through thunderhawk as some have already mentioned. I enjoyed the Loch Ness Monster bridge at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, it must get pretty busy sometimes but when I was there at sunset it was just me and some tortoises bobbing up and down in the water whilst the coasters circled around us, magical!

Probably Millennium Force although X2 comes an incredibly close second.

The deserts aren't bad either, I shared the massive chocolate torte/cake and we still couldn't finish it, 3.75 what a bargain!

We stayed at the inn at Westwynd farm which was about 3 miles north of Hershey, stunning place and lived up to the reviews. We went for the cheapest room which was 125 a night.

I have to admit that I enjoyed my time hanging around Coney island on my recent vacation. A lot of seaside parks are pretty seedy in my opinion, anyone who has spent a weekend evening in Blackpool will know where I'm coming from. I only did the cyclone as most of the rides there didn't interest me but I liked the history, every the subway station was pretty cool. I was also a bit fascinated by Brighton beach a short walk away with it's 'biggest Russian community outside Russia' vibe, very interesting! Coney island certainly isn't a destination to go out of your way to visit but if in NYC it's well worth the subway trip.

Positive = Intimidator 305 (Tatsu pretzel loop comes a close second), my girlfriend got a nosebleed! Negative = Skyrush (like the ejector air on "that" El Toro hill but every time) Lateral = Probably the right turn after the main drop on Thunderbolt at Kennywood (hence the strictly enforced smaller person sits on the right side rule )

I noticed the low enthusiasm from the ride staff too, it was surprising to see at Kennywood after visiting Hersheypark which is supposed to be the worst for this but didn't seem bad at all in comparison. It's got to be an issue of under staffing, lack of rotation and general management issues. For example I saw one member of staff on the front entrance of phantom just sitting there all day, she must have been very bored indeed.

I would probably say my visit to SFA last week, the first and last time. I'm glad I've got a season pass but still frustrated that they charged 17 bucks for parking. I wouldn't say there was a specific terrible event that made it my worst day at a theme park but just a general reason, this park really really sucks. It's only redeeming feature is Superman which in all honesty is a good coaster. Biggest collection of rough coasters at any Six Flags park? Unfathomable gangsta talk between staff inbetween 5 minute dispatches. Don't even get me started on Apocalypse, what a pointless relocation of a ride, if you want to lose all feeling in your ears then please go ahead, this ride did nothing for me. I think it should have been scrapped. Batwing made me nauseous, roar beat the crap out of me and mind eraser did exactly as it suggests. I've had good days at various Six Flags parks but this one truly sticks out as the one to drop from the chain.