TheAmazingCP

Shambhala is number 6? Can't say I saw that coming. Glad to see Skyrush in at 7.

Dorney is the closest park to me, about 20-25 minutes away depending on traffic. I have a season pass and usually go with friends after school in May. However, Hershey is about an hour and 15 minutes away, so I'd consider that a semi-home park too. Knoebel's also isn't that far.

Trailblazer, 2001-ish. I was 4... I think.

That was actually pretty creative! Better than probably half of the bajillion of those videos that have showed up.

In my opinion... Best: Talon- I love the flatspin, helix, airtime into brakes combo Skyrush- The twisty-airtime hill into that amazing final bunnyhop is pure sex. Even the turn/drop into the final brakes is great. Phoenix- Those bunny hills remind you why it's still ranked as one of the world's best Worst: Volcano- I was totally expecting something epic after the dive into the volcano. Just brakes. Mean Streak- A culmination of "meh" Top Thrill Dragster- I understand why the stratas end like they do, but there's so much potential and speed after such a massive drop. Best/Worst: Shockwave, KD- Those final bunny hops had some ridiculous, fun airtime. The next time I rode it, all I felt was horrible crotch pain.

I would say the Phoenix bunny hops, but that's not a single hill. I'll say the Rolling Thunder hill on El Toro and the first and last hills on Skyrush.

Skooters. By far. But my second favorite were these bumper cars at a tiny little park on Long Beach Island- Fantasy Island. My family used to go there when I was like 7 and I remember them being freakin awesome. They had no safety island and they FLEW. It hurt to get hit, especially from a head-on collision. Obviously, I was young and weak and nostalgia may be kicking in here, but those were my favorite bumper cars for a long time. I'm not even sure if the park's there anymore, what with Sandy and all.

Major facepalm moment for me here. I honestly cannot remember how to place downloaded saves/scenarios into the game. For me, there's no Saves or Parks folder. I've been mostly playing RCT2, so I kinda forgot how to do this.

Still not working It says I'm missing AE-JUNGL

The final roll seemed have a bit of a lurch in it. And I personally though it went too fast through the overbank between the Dive Loop and the MCBR. Other than that, I find nothing that really stands out. Excellent job.

Skyrush's bright yellow and blue is gorgeous, especially with the location: Talon's two-tone also looks really good:

Little report from the first Saturday of Hershey Park in the Dark. First off, Skyrush is a freakin tease. It's just sitting there, beckoning you, until you get down into the Hollow and see the fenced off entrance. One of the trains is in storage, and the other is in the station, uncovered. There are some blue barrier-type things in the station. I couldn't tell what they were. We started off the day at Chocolate World, because my friend had never been there before and wanted to buy some chocolate. We stored our stuff in the car (close parking spot) and headed in. The park seemed really crowded, but the lines weren't so bad cause most of the visitors seemed to be families with young kids. Storm Runner was first since Lightning Racer was stopped on the lift. Wait was about 7 minutes and started at the bottom of the steps. The ride was as good as always. Wildcat was next since Lightning Racer was still stopped. Ran okay, a bit rough on the second curving dive, but nothing too bad. Since Lightning Racer was finally up, we went on that next. Thunder was hauling ass and won every single time by about 1/2 a train length. Ops were kinda slow, but both sides ran smoothly. A quick bite to eat, and back to Storm Runner we went. My friend wanted to wait for front seat, and we ended up queuing for about 30 minutes. Somehow, we ended up at Great Bear. Wait was about 20 minutes. We had two trains ahead of us when the ops sent out an empty train. Next one pulled in and was stopped. An op went out with a bucket to clean something off the train sent out. The ride was shut for about 20 minutes before maintenance came and fixed it. While waiting, I ended up with a ride op. He said Skyrush wouldn't be able to run for the Halloween season anyway, even if there was no maintenance. He also said that mechanical problems that needed more than the winter to be fixed were being worked on and some improvements were being made so that she could open back up in the spring better than ever. I don't know what he was referring to, but some queue work or revamping must be planned since the switchbacks were removed. There also appeared to be a small maintenance basket beneath the top of the lift.

And of course, Skyrush closes the weekend I get back down to Hershey... Last night on Sooperdooperlooper, you can see the Skyrush queue from the brakes. The switchbacks have been removed and the entrance and test seat have a wooden barrier around them.

Okay, minor Halloween Haunt trip report. I should begin by saying it downpoured for ten minutes at around 7 and again around 9. Both times, my friends and I sought shelter at the overpriced Rita's by Stinger. Nobody was really there after the second burst. Number one, Steel Force was running AMAZING! I'm not sure if it was because of the rain, but it was absolutely flying. The first airtime hill was actually very forceful and made me almost stand up coming down. Everything else seemed to be ok. Hydra runs fine with a full train, Talon was the same, and Stinger actually ran throughout the entire night, minus the breaks for the walls of rain. Number two, the haunts. Asylum was the same as it always is. The strobe lights are very disorienting. Cornstalkers seemed even better this year, aS the corn maze part was extended and more fog machines seemed to be added. Haunted Mansion stayed the same- that "elevator" section is a capacity nightmare. Were it not for light crowds, it would have been a huge wait. Backwoods was gone because of Dinosaurs Alive . Club Blood was also removed. We did not go in Death Trap and Psycho Circus. The two new ones, Desolution and Blood Shed, were entirely different quality. Desolution was actually really good. It used White Water Landing's queue and wound its way under the structure into the old Club Blood building. It was themed to a military base gone wrong. Legitimately scary at some parts and a good use of space. The searchlight on top of WWL was a very cool effect. Blood Shed, on the other hand, sucked. It was supposed to be a crazy hillbilly farm, but just failed. Barely any actors, bad sets- it just was meh.

Oh, and one last thing! The colors on Cheetah Run are not very cheetah-ish. Orange and black would look more out of place, but the teal and green doesn't really suit the name. It actually kind of blends with Shangaan a little.

Wait... so there's an Arrow Hyper, B&M Giga, Intamin Strata, and now an Intamin 500-foot in one park? I'm sorry, but as much as I love this park, I can't buy that. It's just kind of excessive. Not every update has to be a coaster. Not to mention that the two 400 and 500 foot Intamins are in the same area

A very epic way to announce a Boomerang Anyway, your landscaping looks good, and I'm sure the coaster will fit into its space very well.

Sure? I also like the sound when a B&M invert's floor drops and the station brakes are released. It just makes me happy to ride.

Though I haven't been on Balder, from videos it seems like it makes the same sound. I wonder if that's common on all the Intamin pre-fabs.

Obviously, coasters make a lot of noise, but I'm talking about sounds more specific than a B&M. What are your favorite little sounds that coaster make? I love whenever an Intamin pre-fab crests a hill. That "grrr-RRRP" is always pleasing to my ears. Standing in El Toro's line is amazing for me because of those two hills directly alongside you. I also love that kind of "echo" some B&M's make when they attach on to the lift. Nitro at SFGAdv and Dominator at KD are probably my favorite examples of that echo. On a related note, PTC buzz bars are also heavenly.

One time at Hershey, while passing through Comet Hollow to go to Skyrush, I overheard this conversation from people walking alongside us: GP 1: I'm so scared to go on this (Comet)! GP 2: Why? You just did StormRunner. GP 1: Yeah, but some little girl fell out into the river when the ride broke in half! And from Dorney, whilst queuing for Talon: GP: I'm gonna unbuckle my seatbelt, so when the rollercoaster goes through the loop, I'll fly out then land back in my seat when it comes back down!

Harrisburg is a culmination of all the awful Pennsylvania roads in one place. Miserable city. Took us far too long to navigate. Back on topic... um... does anyone know what the newest flat at Hershey is?

I know I don't have a right to judge (seeing as I have never worked as a ride op), but it is really that hard to at least put a smile on your face? At Cedar Point, this one Maverick ride op clearly loved his job. He was cracking jokes and making tons of horse noises over the speaker. He really made the line seem so much shorter. I'm not saying you have to be 100% happy-happy joy-joy, but a little smile couldn't hurt. If an op is disgruntled because of riders, perhaps moving faster and really doing you job will make them happier, and thus you.

How have dispatches on Skyrush been doing? In early June they were averaging about 5 minutes beginning of the day and 4 1/2 minutes towards the end. I may potentially be going down on a weekend during the Halloween event.

2 hours and 45 minutes for Green Lantern at SFGAdv during a Saturday in October. The B&M roar is far less awesome when you're stuck under one of the loudest parts of the track for 20 minutes.