andybarnes84

I think I must have been lucky as I went on Wednesday and Thursday and didn't have to wait more than 5 mins for Nitro and El Toro all day. Superman was painful to wait for though, couldn't believe how slow they load that ride compared to other flyers. Making the second train wait on the brake run for 3 or 4 mins every time is unacceptable. I couldn't believe how bad my rides were on Kingda Ka compared to Dragster which I had ridden a week earlier. Luckily I only had to wait 10 mins max which I realize is very fortunate. How the heck did Kingda get so rough, has it always been like this? Not only is the launch not as powerful and the restraints much more restrictive than Dragster, it crawls over the top (got some great air on TTD) and you feel like the train is just going to fall apart at any moment due to the violent shaking from side to side. It's very kind to say it has some slight "rattle" as I thought it was one of the roughest rides of my 12 park tour.

I thought Europe In The Air was great until the ride itself, could have been much better. My goodness does the video shake and make you feel like throwing up instantly, and those transitions from one location to the other are ridiculous! Was this built post Soarin'?

Finally got onto Verbolten yesterday for 4 rides. I couldn't actually hear what Gerta was saying in the pre show room which was a little frustrating but whatever it was it sounded like it could be annoying. Some brief points as the ride has been reviewed to death already: 1. This ride noticeably rattles (rough?) which was a surprise for such a new ride. 2. The vertical drop is good but not as forceful as the Intamin system on Thirteen. The launch out of the building is great, love the kick! 3. The drop towards the Rhine wasn't as thrilling as I’d hoped but the turns up to the station are ridiculously tight and really caught me out first time as I was looking the wrong way. 4. The ride is a huge hit with the general public and the queue keeps moving which is great. 5. The trains are super comfortable and probably the best looking coaster trains in the World.

I'm coming to the end of a 2 week tour of 12 parks in the North East and have to say that Skyrush made such a big impression on me that it's been number 1 on the trip and possible of all I’ve ever ridden. I can't understand some of the disappointment as it far exceeded my expectations even with the reviews in my head. I can't get over the speed it goes up the lift hill and that awesome "kink" halfway down the drop when it gets steeper. Unfortunately I305 has been my biggest disappointment of the tour, if you love +Gs then I suppose it's great but other than that it just felt like a big Rita/Desert Race. I hope Hershey can keep Skyrush as crazy as it is, I won't forget my 9:50pm back row edge seat ride in a VERY long time

So it would seem they've taken most of the theming elements from SFMM including the music and entrance arch and applied them to this. I'm guessing that this theme could be seen at other properties over the next couple of years to save costs.

Ignoring the dive machines, I'd have to say superman at warner bros Madrid although I think I'd really enjoy the SFOT version.

We've been twice in september, based on our experiences last year I would recommend going to SFMM on the sunday, shorter hours but also much shorter queues. Head to x2 after the gates open, but realise that they don't open the park before the official time so make sure you get there early. We've managed both parks at disney on a weekday no problem, but maybe that's because we've visited the parks go florida so didn't have to do everything. Universal is quite compact so if you get there early you should be done by early afternoon. I would recommend knotts berry farm too if you can fit it in, again you probably wouldn't need a full day if you go on a weekday.

Is it really going to be quiet on Father's day this year? I was pooping myself as that's when we're going and I've managed to schedule all the other parks on our trip for weekdays but just couldn't get around having to go to KD on a Sunday. Fingers crossed

Great commentary Chuck, you should be doing more of these for TPR.

Ok thanks guys for the assistance, I'll probably just stick to the club tpr code to save the hassle, it's not as though there's much difference anyway.

Hi everyone, So i'm trying to save money and looking around at the different parks we're visiting and although the Club TPR discount for Kennywood is great, I noticed on the park's official site that they state you can get tickets for as low as $24.99 at Giant Eagle Stores. Has anyone made use of this deal as it seems to be a scorcher! Are these coupons or actual tickets and do you think i'll have to go on a witch hunt just to find a store that has some? Many thanks coaster gods

Just reiterating what everyone else is recommending, try to combine parks into a trip. We're doing a very similar road trip to alanjonesbath in June, and Tripadvisor was invaluable for checking hotels although it's worth noting that prices outside of Florida are quite a bit more but with the car you can be reasonably flexible. We've done L.A. twice now in the past couple years and would strongly recommend this for starters. You've got Six Flags Magic Mountain which is my favourite park so far although i'm hoping CP and SFGadv will shatter that opinion. Knotts is great and then obviously Universal and Disney. It definitely felt different to Florida for us and there's just so much to see aside from the rides too.

June 7th? Keeewwl! Although I think I'm more excited about the theming than getting my goolies readjusted.

I'm going in early June too, but only for 1 day and this is my first time too, so these bourgeoisie passes might do us some good. All of June seems to have 10pm close which tells me it's gonna be getting busy even though we visit on a Thursday. I suppose we'll just have to get an idea of how busy it is later in the morning after ERT and decide then.

I'd rather work for Bing in their Conneaut Lake Park themed offices Seriously, who uses Bing?

My best ending vote goes to the Mummy at Universal Orlando (Hollywood's is much better overall in my opinion but the ending is crap). Lame ending award definitely goes to Ninja at SFMM.

Thanks for the update! I look forward to returning to Swarm now that it's had a little time to loosen up. And forget GCI, we need an Intamin woodie i.e. El Toro clone! (maybe go for World's tallest, but then you'd have to paint it white and blue like Stealth as to not upset the locals )

I'm thinking that the fact that these trains look incomplete is the whole point. They want you to feel that you are completely exposed and almost as if the train isn't there. But I also agree that they look a bit plain, a bit of color variation wouldn't have hurt or something a little more substantial out front. I'm not a huge fan of the aesthetics of the new B&M hyper trains either, they just look like seats bolted to a flat sheet of metal.

Glad to see others agreeing with me about the rider orientated splash. For anyone who's been to PA you'll know that they like to push their riders physical limits, for better or worse, but this is definitely for the better.

I have to say that's actually a much better effect than the usual scoop it up behind, must be great to have walls of water alongside you. I'm still bitter about missing out on this by 1 week

I think he went in via the other end

Looks like a flyer indeed, some sort of modern version of vampire at chessington (which I used to operate back in the day with a poor Romanian accent which annoyed everyone but it earned me ride op of the year). I was starting to get worried that flyers had been replaced by the wing coaster design, the world needs more Tatsus!

I think the thrill factor of the drop is spot on for the target audience, I just didn't expect the dark section to be so lacking compared to the concept art, I know thirteen isn't great but at least the theming in the drop building is pretty good. It would be a shame if the drop on verbolten is identical to this.

A few pics of the Angry Birds Land which opened yesterday. Looks like a cross of an elaborate play area and Thomas Land. A pretty good fit for the park I think. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/27/news/la-trb-angry-birds-land-theme-park-04201227

I'm thinking this isn't finished? It looks so bare compared to the concept art especially the drop building which is far too light inside, does this have doors that close behind the train when it enters the building like thirteen? I know it's a kiddie coaster but they deserve a little more immersion and detail surely?