Rai Fox

I was there last Thursday. Would post a full trip report but I have almost no photos so it would be rather boring. Short version though is that the park was amazing as always, however, operations this year are incredible disappointing. I've never seen that issue there in five years of going there annually now, but this year, the operators on the vast majority of the rides seemed far more interested in chatting about high school drama nonsense (It's really hard to listen to "OMG! Would you date Dave!? But...would you date him if he was like...taller?" while we sit in the ride waiting for them to bother checking harnesses and starting it...) Some of the rides were taking ages to load and dispatch, and the operators just didn't seem to care, or care about things like line jumping. That's not how it's ever been when I've visited Kennywood before. At the risk of sounding too negative, I'm only bringing it up because it's so unusual for an amazing park. Everything else was spectacular. The rides and coasters were running great, the weather was beautiful, the food was quite good and very reasonably priced, Black Widow is fantastic - maybe my favorite flat ride yet, and Phantom's Revenge is still one of my favorite coasters on the planet. ...and apparently it likes me too, because it wouldn't let me go. After I rode (front seat, right side) and we pulled back into the stations, the restraints came up...except for mine and the person directly behind me. The ride operators couldn't get it open, and regretfully told me they'd have to send me around another time so they could clear the other train out of the way, then work on it, and they hoped that was okay with me. So, I suffered through a second front-seat ride >.> before the mechanics had to pretty much dissect the car around me to get the restraints open. Couldn't have been too horrible an issue though, since they had both trains running again shortly thereafter, so it was mostly an amusing incident and a free ride. The ride ops and maintenance also assured me that the park would do anything to make up for it, and if I went to guest relations, they'd give me free food for the day, or a free ticket, or pretty much anything else I asked for. I passed on that - I wasn't about to demand the park -pay me- to have to take an extra ride on what might be my favorite steel coaster. Back to Black Widow though...wow. I was a bit intimidated walking up to it, but it ended up not actually being a particularly -scary- ride for me at all. Maybe it's just because it's -so- high and fast that I never even really had the chance to mentally process the height? I underestimated the speed of its swing though; you really get moving at the bottom of that arc, and while I didn't actually try to count out the air time, my brother was riding with me and says he timed nearly 4 1/2 seconds out of the seat, and that sounds about right... Loved it so much. I wish I could have gotten on a second ride, but the line was getting long at the end of the day when we went back, and we had somewhere else we needed to be, so we couldn't risk staying any longer. Next year, though!

Mr. Hyde's so was unreliable at Geauga Lake that when Cedar Fair took over the park, the ride idled for the whole of the 2004 season. Im sure the problem became more pronounced under Six Flag's management, but yeah that thing broke down more often than it ran. Quite humorous actually. Hmm. Makes me wonder if it has something to do with the number of times it was moved, too. Seems like, if a ride isn't designed to be portable, taking it apart, moving it halfway across the country, and reassembling it is bound to risk a few effects on the ride. Or maybe it was just Six Flags; it's not like they're known for taking care of their parks. Let's see, other rides that scared me - Drachen Fire. The last coaster I was ever really -scared- of, and the one that turned me into a real coaster lover. Also, Intamin Flight Trainer. The cars rotate so slowly, and the restraints, at least on the one at KD when I rode it, were quite rattly and didn't feel particularly safe at all. Hanging upside down from them and desperately willing the car to turn right side up again...definitely quickens the pulse a bit.

I'm not sure it was actually the modifications that made it so unreliable. After its accident at SFGAM, but before it went to GL, that ride was the Freefall at my old home park, Rocky Point Park in Warwick, RI (RIP ='<). It had been modified by that point, but it was never unreliable that I know of; I never saw it fail or closed at all in all the days I spent at that park. Actually, it would be one of my stories for this thread, too, there. When I was 12 or 13 or so, shortly before Rocky Point closed (and there is no death horrible enough for the people who embezzled the park's money away and killed it), I was at the park with my summer camp group. A friend of mine wanted to go on the Freefall, but I was terrified of it then; I just wanted to get on the flat rides, especially the tilt-a-whirl - which my friend refused to ride, insisting he was scared he'd get sick from the spinning. Of course, we were on the buddy system with our camp group, so we couldn't go on anything the other wouldn't. In the end he agreed that he'd go on the tilt-a-whirl if I went on the Freefall first. It seemed fair enough until the restraints on the Freefall lowered, and I realized that there was likely a certain difference between being afraid of spinning in circles, and being afraid of being dropped from thirteen stories in the air. I cursed him the entire way up the lift shaft...and even more loudly while we hovered over the drop... We never got on Tilt-a-whirl though. After the first ride on Freefall, we got off and right back into the line for it, and ended up just riding it until we had to leave for the day. I miss that ride, and the park. Sunday I'll be at Dorney Park though, with Demon Drop, one of the last surviving Intamin first gen freefalls,and a bit ironically one that's kept running now by a donation of spare parts from the now-scrapped Freefall I used to ride. Nevermind the three new coaster credits there since the last time I got to that park; it's that drop tower that I can't wait for.

In my experience, the biggest difference with Knoebels' is simple. It's quite obvious that pretty much everyone working there loves the park and enjoys what they do. I go every year (will be there next week, can't wait!) and I've never been there and not seen almost everyone smiling and having fun, chatting with the guests...it never looks like they're just there for a paycheck, they always seem to really want to be there. I have so many stories of park staff there that have gone out of their way to just make things a little more fun, a little extra special.... ...The campground staff offering to stay late to help my friends and I get set up when I told them I'd be coming in late at night. The coaster crews challenging people in line to help them try to break records for dispatch times. The ride op on the Epic Bumper Cars jumping into a spare car mid-ride to join in and cause chaos. Operators on Fandango teasing and joking with the riders and people in line. The crazy old guy running Satellite. ("So how crazy y'all want this? Dey tell me ta balance it all out, but I figgur' we put ya both in one end and see what happens!)... I can only assume that some of it has to do with the way the management treats the staff; treat employees like people and not just gears to run the profit machine, and you get a lot more back from them. They also seem to hire from a different pool; it's not all just kids trying to make their first paychecks there, but a lot of people who grew up with the park, retired older folks going back for a "fun" job...just, again, all people that seem happy to be there. Then, the staff goes on to treat the park guests the same way...like people, not just walking dollar signs to wring money out of...they put in that little extra effort that makes all the difference...and the guests are happier, and treat each other better... Treat people - employees, guests, or otherwise - with respect and courtesy, do what you love and be willing to go the extra mile to do it right, and be willing to go a few steps out of the way just to make someone smile. Yeah, A -lot- of places, and people, could learn a few things from Knoebels'. But I suppose I'm off topic almost by definition, going on about Knoebels' in this thread.

In my experience, that's a typical day there. I don't understand Hershey's popularity, really. The park has -so- much potential but it's run so badly. Every time I've been there in the last 5-6 years or so, it's been the same. Horribly slow operations, flat rides run on 30 second cycles, ludicrously inflated prices... As good as Skyrush looks, I have -no- desire to go back there any time soon. It didn't help that the last two times I was there, I went the day after going to Knoebels'. There couldn't be a more extreme contrast in operations, or value. Or just plain fun.

The only two bad days I've ever had at parks were due to crowds. Busch Gardens Tampa once, when the park was filled to capacity (we were one of the last cars into the overflow lot before even that filled.) Hot, humid, massive lines for everything. I think we got on 2-3 coasters and one flat ride, all day long. Then, SFGAdv a few years back, a bunch of friends and I went down for one of their halloween weekend days. Those are always a bit crowded, but we'd always had fun before. This time the crowds were absolutely insane, half the rides weren't running, and on the ones that were, the staff wasn't even making an attempt at keeping them moving. We got one one flat ride and maybe two coasters all day long, didn't get to do any of the halloween trails or events, and even the line to get french fries took more than 45 minutes. At one point it took us a half hour just to push through crowds to get through the central plaza of the park. Absolutely horrible day; I haven't been back to a Six Flags since.

Home Park = Lake Compounce, so do I even have to say it? Boulder Dash!

Hmm...in theory or in practice? I always loved amusement parks, even as a little kid, but mostly the more "family-ish" rides, and the general atmosphere of parks. I was more than a little hesistant about bigger rides. Despite that...I was 9 the year Steel Phantom opened. I remember reading about it and making it one of my life goals at the time to get on it. I didn't know where it was, or any of the details...but I WAS GOING TO RIDE IT. SOON! The fact that I was at the time still terrified of big coasters was only a minor nuisance, not even worth worrying about. When I was 11, my family went to BGW for the first time, the year after Drachen Fire opened. I talked about it nonstop up until the trip, for months. The entire way down, my parents had to listen to me going on about DF. When I got there, I walked up to the entrance to the queue, took one look at the ride, and slowly started to step backwards. "IIIIII....don't...know about..." At which point my father grabbed me by the collar and dragged me onto it. I came off it grinning like a maniac and I haven't looked back or hesitated to ride any coaster since. (For the record, I finally got on Phantom's Revenge for the first time three years ago. Almost two decades waiting. It did not disappoint.)

I did those tours last year. While I did have a lot of fun with them, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed if you want to pet a wolf. You don't get close enough to touch them; even the best trained wolves are too unpredictable to allow that (and the guests can be far more unpredictable than the wolves!). You do get to handle many of the animals in the animal insider tour. The animals vary depending on which ones are available, and in an appropriate mood, apparently. When I did the tour, we were showed an Opposum, a small alligator, an armadillo, a wallaroo, and a couple others that have slipped my mind. We did get up close with all of them and were allowed to touch all except for the wallaroo, who was not yet used to people enough to be comfortable with that, though we did feed him. We were even encouraged to hold the alligator, though the tour guide never let go of its mouth. The wolf tour was much like a smaller, more focused version of the public wolf show. They showed some of how they train the wolves, more of the tricks and how the wolves learn them, and at the end we were taken to the small balcony that overhangs the right side of the wolf area and allowed to signal for the wolves to perform a trick for us and to toss them a treat afterwards. It was a little less up-close with the wolves than I had hoped, but it was still a lot of fun, and of course I can understand why they can't allow actual contact with them, sad as it is. The Clydesdale tour was fun, though not as much for the actual horses. Anyone who likes horses will love getting up close with them, though. You'll also get to feed and pet the sheep. The highlight for me was getting to meet the border collies, though, and getting them to do tricks for you. Or, in our case, mostly getting adorably confused looks from the "special" border collie of the two - the better trained one was apparently exhausted and not up to performing for the tour like she usually does - though she responded quite happily to me, just not to most of the rest of the group! =P None of those tours is particularly long; I don't remember exactly but I'm guessing probably 40 minutes each.

Anyone else notice the SIX YEAR GAP between posts on page six? I think this is the worst thread necro I've ever seen.. but since it's already been re-animated... Intamin: Skull Mountain. There's just nothing to it at all... B&M: It hurts me to put down any B&M ride, I love all of them I've ridden, but out of all of 'em, I think Batman: The Ride just doesn't hold up as well as its newer family. GCI: Gwazi. Great layout, so much potential, but like everyone else has said, it's just -so- rough, and I have a pretty good tolerance for rough rides.

I'd love to see a flume there too, but it seems unlikely. The park actually had one until not that long ago. IIRC, it was removed to let the waterpark expand into it's old footprint...unless it was one of the coasters...I remember the general area where it was, but not exactly. I think it was one of the newer water slides that went in over it. It seems a bit unlikely that they'd scrap theirs only to build a new one, unless perhaps they kept the old one and could put it up in a new area? I don't expect to see it happen though.

6/10 - Dorney Park 6/11-6/12 Knoebels 6/13 Delgrosso's 6/14 Kennywood Pretty good chance of me hitting a local park before then, especially Lake Compounce since I have my season pass, but those are the "scheduled" ones.

Still such a great coaster, and always going to be a favorite of mine. I'm even wearing my Loch Ness Monster t-shirt today! ^^

Best endings - Boulder Dash (Lake Compounce) - the triple air time hill at the end of the ride, the one they added a few years back...absolutely epic. Flight of Fear (King's Dominion) - The ride's disorienting enough that by time you get to the end, it's hard to even tell which way is up. I always end up feeling like I'm still on my side when the train pulls into the station, and there's this bizarre moment of feeling like gravity is resetting afterwards. Big Bag Wolf was one of the absolute best, with that drop over the Rhine. I loved the ending of Hercules at Dorney, because it meant the ride was over, and I'd never have to ride it again. I can't really think of any coasters with particularly disappointing endings, though. Maybe Racer at Kennywood since it's dragging so badly by that point in the ride...but then that entire ride is pretty disappointing, IMO.

BW looks terrifying/amazing. I can't wait to get on it...less than a month for me now!

Agreed...except that Phantom's Revenge -hurts- in the rain. Raindrops aren't so gentle at 85 mph...

It may not be the most beloved coaster of all time, but Drachen Fire is the ride that turned me into a coaster fanatic. I'm always going to miss it. I was there the day they "soft opened" Mach Tower, so I'm quite sure it does happen, if rarely.

I stayed at that Holiday Inn Express last year. It was quite pleasant; clean, quiet, friendly. Definitely wouldn't hesitate to give it my recommendation.

Phantom's Revenge. The second drop, into the ravine, at night...it feels endless, like you'll never pull up out of it. I've been on Intimidator, Kingda Ka, Gryphon...none of them can touch that.

Boulder Dash at Lake Compouce, during their halloween event last year...and it'll be my first coaster of this year in a few weeks, too!

I can't really go to Lake Compounce without getting them. Especially now that they have a full Dippin' Dots sundae shop instead of just the little carts; some of the creations you can get there are amazing. I keep saying I want to try them all...but then I always get the strawberry sundae again anyway.

I'm sure some of it has to do with the way the waffle cone vendors seem to pipe the scent of the freshly baked cones out into the park. It's hard to go a hundred feet without catching a whiff of them. It seems to be one of the priorities of the park layout there. Of course, they smell amazing, and you can't help but think about how good one would be one you have that smell on your mind... BGT might just be -too- hot; ice cream lasts about 30 seconds before turning into soup on a hot day there.

...oh, wow. Not much more to say than that. Except that I miss Rocky Point

This is amazing, I hope there's still more coming. I'm from RI, and grew up with Rocky Point; going there was the highlight of every summer of my childhood, and it's the place that got me started on amusement parks. I'd give anything to see it actually revived.

Hercules at Dorney Park. The -only- coaster I have ever refused to go on a second time when I returned to the park. I was so, so glad to see that thing reduced to matchsticks and firewood.