bert425

"take your last stand before it's too late" really, all signs point to floorless conversion.

that's an interesting display they have set up, thanks for the pictures of it.

could it be an "adventure" trail with some flats on it as "obstacles" ? just thinking out loud. . .I mean, a Top Spin themed like KD's (and it used to be themed to Laura Croft) would be a perfect fit on a lost adventure trail.

they desperately need to fix up that Carousel. it's an embarrassment, and right near the front of the park too! (and made worse by being across from the gorgeously painted Flying Carousel). Missing horses with tape on the ground, no carousel music, tacky covering tent. . just shameful. best things I can say about this park: Joker's Jinx is amazing, Wild One, and Rajun Cajun both gave very rides, and the cycle on the Scrambler (called "Cyclone" I think?) was really, really excellent.

thanks y'all ! will try to update every other day or so, as I find time, but glad you're enjoying!

there's a ton of space in the grassy area too. . . that looked like at one point was a ropes course, or maybe another zip line? Wonder if there might be a wooden coaster of some sort eventually coming to that spot. Love what they are starting to do, and as noted, planning on making return trips there next time I'm in Atlanta.

LOL. . yeah, if you notice in my pics, the close up is from a different chariot. .so TWO of them had the adult-ish stuff going on. . .tho the one I took the close up of, certainly had more boobage in it. It delighted me to stumble across that

I believe it's one of only 3 in the world still running that's a 5-across. and it's at a Six Flags! Good on them. . . King's Dominion also has a very classic Carousel that just celebrated 100 years last year. heh. . .well. . keep reading. I'm not a huge fan of ejector air, and there's a lot of that on the newer RMCs. . .and that on some of the upcoming rides did me no favors. but the fact that Twisted Cyclone is so short, made it super re-ride-able for me.

^ Cafe Press has some stuff (google search Cedar Point Online shopping). .but don't think they are affiliated with the actual park. I bought a bunch of shirts at Pagoda gift shop, that had some amazing retro stuff. . . I'd suggest contacting the park via the website to ask if there's a place to order merch online?

what wonderful pictures, and it looks so nice, even wet! of course, this is my favorite photo: does it tie in with Iron Butt / Iron Bull ? or is that just a park mascot?

it's hard to pinpoint exactly what was such a buzzkill for me, but if I *had* to guess, I'd say it is the design of the cars. they just weren't comfortable to me, and in addition it being a single car train, it felt a little too "out of control" for my liking. but as noted, the single car train didn't bother me on Impulse -- but keep in mind Impulse is 2 rows of 4 seats across, DDD is 3 rows of only 2 each. so yeah, think it's the design of the train I simply didn't like.

Day 2: SFoG We got up bright and early and headed to SFoG with the group a couple of hours before the park opened (one of the great perks of doing a trip with TPR if Robb is going to be filming, is that sometimes the filming is before the park opens to the public). Although I absolutely loved Twisted Cyclone, after a 5-6 rides on it, my thighs were starting to ache, and I knew the RMC restraints were hitting me just at the “right” spot -- so that it might be a problem later in the trip (so I was glad I had brought some pain meds with me on the trip). Luckily, tho awesome, it's also short, so wasn't really a problem to ride in the morning, or later in the day. We moved on to DDD, my 1st Eurofighter – which only took one ride on it to convince me I hated it (so no re-rides on this), Mindbender, Batman, and Goliath – which I loved, and we rode multiple times thruout the day. Just as the park opened to the General Public, we grouped up into Flash Pass groups, got issued our Flash-Pass “watch-style-Q-bot”, and dispersed among the park on our own for the day. My group, which I jokingly called ‘the oldies’ – all had a similar style of working our way thru the park: ride each thing as we came to it, and then move on to the next thing. If we liked something, we’d go back to it later to re-ride it, but using this method, we basically got to ride everything we cared to in the park, both flats and coasters thruout the day. The “oldies” clicked so well, that we pretty much stayed together at parks thruout the whole trip, occasionally teaming up with other groups, or having a few folks join up with us. It’s a very good group of folks that come on a TPR trip! I noted I ended up riding Goliath a lot during the day..that’s also a distinction that went to Monster Mansion, it was so crazy messed up fun dark ride, that I loved getting back in line for it (and it had a Flash Pass entrance). It also had boats that felt like they were about to tip over EVERY time! We left the load station. Battle for Metropolis, GASM, Skyscreamer, and a few other non-coasters also got multiple rides thruout the day. A lowlight of the park vist was that Acrophobia was down all day, so didn’t get to ride the Intamin stand up drop tower  (it had been down two days earlier, and still seems to be down per the park website). Another lowlight is what the Dahlonega Mine Train did to my back – it actually caused a *crack* adjustment coming out of the tunnel into the station at the end of the ride! Oh, it didn’t cause any lasting issues, but just warning y’all for those who have never been on it. But those two "lowlights" were more than counteracted with several highlights: - riding Log Jamboree, and the exit staffer being distracted by their own shoes, that they missed stopping us on the brake, and we sailed right past her, and into the log that was loading in front of us. (we had to walk back from the loading station to get to the exit while laughing about it). - riding Thunder River, mistakenly with a pretty young blonde in our raft, who was wearing a white T-shirt. Yeah, we realized the error of sitting in the raft with her the moment we passed the 1st water cannons – manned by young boys. Needless to say? We were so soaked by the time we got off the ride, we actually had to go back to the hotel to change. . . LOL -- Carousel Hill. Something we had not gone to with my friends, I was blown away by the setting (even the antique car track, that winds around the hillside is so beautiful, and well hidden. . you don’t even know you’re in a theme park. Highly recommended, even tho it’s just gas powered cars). the Carousel itself is spectacular. 1908 PTC carousel, perched on top of the hill setting and surrounded by rocking chairs, it’s just a joy to look at. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places and just looks stunning: carved reliefs in the upper sections, and one of the few remaining 5-across carousels left in the world. (4 horses gallop, and the outside horse is steady – likely for brass ring grabbing when it was originally built, but no brass rings nowadays. Also missing is the original organ, tho the space for it is there, they use pumped in Carousel music. So that’s a downside, but still. .this thing is stunning (and slightly adult too!.. there were naked breasts on some of the chariots. . LOL. . once I noted that to a few folks, several now have new profile pictures posing with the chariot). Didn’t get to see Bugs out today, but this time Tweety was out with Sylvester over by Monster Mansion, so of course I asked my group if we could stop to pose for a pic with him. We closed out the night with more rides on Goliath, then back to Twisted Cyclone for several more rides (despite my thighs protesting), and went back to the hotel that evening completely exhausted from what had been a fantastic day. I'm here again! this time with TPR. . yaaaayyyy! and first stop of the morning? Twisted Cyclone! tho the whole thing is great, I think this might be my favorite part of the ride zoom-zoom! yep, I loved it, even tho the restraints were a little bit rough on my thighs. . Not sure who took this, it's either Robb, or Andy that gets the photo credit (the other suspects are IN the pic, so it's got to be either Robb or Andy) Gotham City. . . . early in the morning. . . I'm bertman. Ok, maybe not, but it's the Batmobile. it was weird to be in the park when it was so empty, since it had been so busy the other day, and would get decently crowded today too. but without the crowd, I could stop to get pics like this without holding up anyone or stopping an exit line (the Batsuit, while exiting Batman: the Ride) the night before the kid at CP had gotten arrested for tossing Hot Sauce at Steel Vengeance. So when I saw Six Flags had a giant inflatable Tabasco as a prize? of COURSE I took a pic of it. Goliath on lift hill really stands out in the park. and it rides as pretty as it looks! the "oldies" with Sylvester: Phil, me, Michael, James. oh look, I made it to my nirvana. . a Carousel on Carousel hill. the carved reliefs on it were just lovely, as were the horses. even the carriages were lovely! ahem. . if a little "adult" but yep, a Carousel puts me right into my happy place! even without the 'real' organ playing this on-ride from Twisted Cyclone is courtesy of John (JTAudio) who kindly picked up the funpix for the group from our rides starting to get towards evening, so after some rides on Goliath, time to head over to Twisted Cyclone to close out the night Brad, Robb, Russ, and Jon look like they loved the ride! this sucker even comes into the station so fast, it came out blurry. . LOL Just a great ride! so is this one. thanks John! Dare Devil Dive. . just not my cuppa tea. it's not the vertical lift, as I didn't mind Impulse at Knoebels, and I *loved* Fahrenheit at HershyPark . .but boy did I not care for this. still, glad I rode it once tho. took several pics of it tho. . LOL

Six Flags Over Texas on Labor Day weekend!

^ great report and photos, and reminds me pretty much of what I did during my last two days there. . .LOL. . almost exactly in the order you did as well! I too am gonna miss Witches Wheel, tho a park representative I chatted with (while watching other TPR folks ride Steel Vengeance) did tell me what they are going to be putting in next year will "blow my mind". . so excited to see what's gonna fill that spot!

yah, between Darryl, Andy, Brad, Casey, and Robb. . need to make sure I try to credit correctly when I use a pic of me riding something (hopefully can guess correctly whos pic it was!) FunSpot was a really good time. I think that it will become a "must visit" when I go to Atlanta, as between the GoKarts, Mini-Golf, coaster, and the flats (not to mention the bumper boats), can easily spend a good 5-6 hours there.

Day1: Fun Spot Atlanta: The next morning, James and I got up and went down to the lobby to enjoy a very good Buffet Breakfast (we stayed at Marriott Gateway, by the Airport. .if you ever need a really nice hotel to crash in overnight in ATL. They had a fantastic indoor Saltwater pool, and workout room too, but wasn’t there long enough to make use of those). While eating, we bumped into another person from the TPR trip, Brad, who joined us for breakfast. It had turned out that the meeting place to start the TPR trip was literally a few steps from the hotel I had booked a couple of months earlier (good trip karma!), so it was an easy thing to check out of hotel, and just hang in lobby as others for the trip showed up and I got to meet them. When it got close to meet up time, we all walked over to the appointed area, and climbed aboard the bus to begin our adventure. The first stop was a “bonus” stop, at Fun Spot Atlanta. This was a quick stop to allow a few folks who were getting into Atlanta a little later that afternoon to arrive. Fun Spot had recently purchased an older Atlanta area small amusement center (Dixie Landing?) and were in process of converting it into Fun Spot Atlanta. They were/are in process of building a couple of additional Go-Kart Tracks, including the circular ramp one (a Fun Spot staple), as well as adding additional attractions – such as the Paratrooper that came from the Orlando location, and some additional rides. I have no doubt they will bring this place up to match Fun Spot standards once they get all the work done. However, the park is in a weird transition state at the moment – the large indoor arcade section (with laser maze), and some of the smaller rides looked like they were actually sitting ON the old parking lot. . you could even still make out the parking space dividers on the giant expanse of concrete. What they’ve added/done thus far, and are working on looks fantastic tho and really did have a great time there! The existing mini-golf course was very nicely landscaped (didn’t get a chance to play tho, as there was too much other things I wanted to do while we were there, such as the Screaming Eagle coaster, Paratrooper, Spider, Scrambler, Ferris wheel, and a funky “zip-line” chair thing, that due to weight limits, mostly was limited to only two at a time (but wow was it FUN). The bumper boats looked fantastic too, but I didn’t wanna get wet, so skipped those. I was looking for a Carousel, but didn’t spot one. . although there was a covering that looked like it SHOULD house a Carousel. That area was being used to store construction equipment, lumber for the new go-kart tracks they were working on (which are now open). Interestingly, the Fun Spot Atlanta website *does* show that they have a Carousel, although I didn’t see one. So either: 1) it was installed after our visit, or 2) it was a kiddie version that was so small, I simply didn’t notice it. I got my “fix” tho, as there were some Tigers to climb on top of, that looked like they were from a classic Carousel, so I was happy. but yeah, next time I’m in Atlanta, gonna make a trip back here with my friends to do the new Go-Kart tracks, and find/ride the Carousel. (the coaster is a ton of fun too, like a wild mouse, but with less hairpin turns, and way more airtime hills. Rode that several times, and loved it). After a couple of hours, it was time to head back to the airport to pick up the remaining folks for the TPR trip, and then head to our hotel for the night, with stops for dinner, and snack exchange before turning in, to get ready for a full day at SFoG the next day. the view of Fun Spot Atlanta, after stepping thru the main gates from the parking area Screaming Eagle coaster. . this was such a ton of fun, and a great start to the TPR trip for me. I love me a Paratrooper. I think the cycle at Knoebel's was slightly better (more forces when swinging), but this one went backwards too! that's the main arcade behind me. . yeah, we seem to be standing on a parking lot. makes me wonder if the old place used this for their main parking? I have full faith Fun Spot will fix this up to look fantastic tho! Couldn't find a Carousel (even tho there seems to be one?). But I'm happy, found me a confused Tiger to climb onto for a picture. Look how happy I am! yeah, I'm weird the lovely Mini-Golf Course, from the Ferris Wheel. next time I'm back in Atlanta, will make an afternoon of FunSpot and play the mini-golf. one go-kart track was open, but Fun Spot is adding a couple more tracks, including their signature "circular ramp" track. this is the funky zip line ride. It was a little bit strange, as it pulls you back to the tower, then suddenly releases when you hit the back and you zoom forwards. On the Paratrooper. . whee! Pic credit to Andy (the Great Zo) Screaming Eagle. . .what a fun coaster. think I got to ride it 4 or 5 times during our visit. Pic credit to Andy (the Great Zo) Pic credit to Andy (the Great Zo) Riding with Robb while he did filming with commentary on Screaming Eagle. pic credit Robb Alvey squeezing in a ride on the zipline, before having to get back to the bus. Whee!!! Pic credit to Andy (the Great Zo)

we rode that at Hershey the other week, after which, PKIJizzman commented: "Shopping Cart: the Ride" and he was dead on with that description, LOL the one at Knoebel's is great, especially at night with the lighting from the Wave Swinger shining on it. glad you had a great visit to Knoebel's

the new Ace Frehley. . .it's great. and the lyrics! it's like "Beth" is cheating on Peter with Ace [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

^ yeah, it must be one of "those" rides, tho I hadn't realized it either! Next time we make it back, we go to that FIRST. I loved Manta (and really liked Mako too). Kracken was fin, but the simulator ride to the Arctic made us super queasy.

ok, hotel booked (prices SHOT up because Labor Day weekend, but found a still close but much cheaper place). so will be in park late afternoon/evening of Sat. 9/1, if anyone wants to meet up and ride coasters with me. would be great to have someone to ride with, since Nick won't get on many things

that is great news! congrats!

*this* face, Darryl?

great start. JTA is the one credit we missed at SWO, as it went down for weather as we were getting in line for it, and we had to leave before it reopened. gives us an excuse to go back someday tho, right?

thanks Andrew, Bill, and Liz. glad y'all are enjoying so far. . tho I got a little bit ahead on the writing before starting to post, I think it's still gonna take me a while to get all the parks up. and isn't that candle great? (it's already in "it's place" on a bookshelf in the comics room). surprised no one commented (yet) on the expression on Bug's face/body language, or our "O" face at 'gasm. . . .LOL

^^ massive, MASSIVE ((((HUGS)))), Liz.