rubysparkles

CEDAR POINT! Obviously for most theme park fans a trip to Cedar Point is on their travel bucket list. Whenever you try to have a conversation with another coaster fanatic, it seems like one of Cedar Point's collection of coasters comes up. For a lot of people (especially who live in the US) it seems like this is one of the first places enthusiasts tick off of their list. Cedar Point is a big deal. This was also the first park on the tour that I didn't visit alone. I met up with some other guys who were also going on the New Hotness tour and we spent 2 days at the parks. Most of us had never visited before, so it was really nice to compare notes with some fellow Cedar Point newbies, but also have the knowledge of the guys who had visited previously. Now first things first, I'm going to get the negative out of the way. What is the deal with the seat belts on Millie, TTD and Wicked Twister? The restraints aren't tight at all but those belts are pretty small. I had heard the stories before about these rides, but I still don't understand why they are smaller than rides with similar restraint systems. Bizarro's belts felt bigger (well they were bigger) than Millies. Is this just what Cedar Fair asked for from the manufacturer or were they added afterwards? I felt bad going on those rides too many times as the operator would have to do my belt up for me. Obviously I understand, I wouldn't have this problem if I lost weight, yes I'm not asking for things to change for my personal circumstances. This is more of a question of why is this different at Cedar Point. Again Wicked Twister was tight, but I got on Possessed and Vertical Velocity easily with no extra help from a ride op. I know this is talked about A LOT, but I just thought I would mention this happened to me as well. I really thought I was going to get turned away from Millie! Overall I found the park really pleasant, sure it's huge and there's a lot of walking but I quite enjoyed the break between coasters. I found the staff above average in terms of service and the whole park had a much nicer atmosphere than I expected for a place that has to deal with such a high amount of customers. One mystery is why there's no lockers at Magnum XL-200 even though you can't take your bag on the ride, you must use the TTD lockers which are kind of far as they've blocked the path off that goes directly to them. You must walk past the lockers and then back, then do the same again to get back to Magnum. I'd say the food is over priced, but no surprises there, what do you expect? The Thirsty Pony which is close to Breakers Express was a good place to go after the park to get drinks and food, if you're really upset about the pricing/quality there's lots of places that are a short drive away. I will tell you now, there's going to be a lot of "this was one of my favourite moments" on this part of the trip because obviously the next portion is a TPR trip and this is CEDAR POINT. So I'm going to apologise in advance my completely subjective opinions on these theme parks and coasters as this whole part of the trip was so so so so exciting. I loved Maverick and Millie and Magnum and TTD and Mean Streak. Yes. I really liked Mean Streak. I don't have a clue what people are talking about with how rough it is (but if you've read previous entries in this TR I seem to feel the effects of how rough a coaster is very differently from most of the coaster loving community). Looking back though, Maverick is definitely my favourite and it is closely followed by Millennium Force. The reason I loved Maverick so much is that it took my breath away with a mix of intensity and quick transitions. Millie was great too, the first drop was awesome and there was a bit of airtime here and there. Top Thrill Dragster was slightly better than Kingda Ka, but so slightly it's almost not worth mentioning. It's still an awesome trick that it pulls (even if it's a one trick pony). Gatekeeper is... A wing rider. Not the best I've been on and not the worst, but it's just so middle of the pack that it is difficult to get excited about. Raptor wasn't my favourite inverted B&M, I would put it somewhere at the top of the middle of the pack but I was expecting more after hearing how great it is. Blue Streak was a surprising little woodie that I enjoyed more than I expected to. Iron Dragon is worth going on just because there aren't many of this type around, although (again) it wasn't my favourite suspended coaster. (Spoilers there's a much better one later in this trip). Mantis wasn't painful on my first ride (in fact it was probably the second best stand up I have been on) but the second ride the operator did not want me to bend my knees at all and the seat locked far too high and it was NOT a fun ride. Mean Streak was really fun, I was expecting a really rough ride but it wasn't bad at all. I'd compare it to White Cyclone at Nagashima, a huge (and fun) woodie that has a few sections that aren't that great but isn't anywhere near as rough as I expected. Corkscrew... Doesn't it look all pretty over the midway... And isn't it a horrible, painful ride that I found completely torturous. I don't usually get a headache from any ride (maybe some bruises) but I had to have a break after this thing. Gemini was really fun, mainly because it is so weird and I don't understand why it was made. It's pretty unique though and enjoyable to ride, I had no complaints on taking a few spins, but it's not the type that you could marathon. Magnum was pretty similar to the other Morgan hypers I have been on, a really fun ride with some airtime but not quite amazing. I didn't like Wicked Twister as much as Possessed but it's a forceful, thrilling ride that's short but sweet. It packs a punch, as they say. Gatekeeper 6 Raptor 7 Blue Streak 6 Iron Dragon 5 Mantis 6 Mean Streak 6 (more of a 6.5 really) Corkscrew 3 Maverick 9 Gemini 6 Magnum XL 7 Millennium Force 9 Top Thrill Dragster 7 Wicked Twister 6 What a pretty (one trick) pony. Maverick was so close to being a 10/10 coaster. Genuine 9.5. Such nice photos of such a painful horrible experience of a coaster. Millennium Force was so much fun even if the seatbelts weren't. Rob was wearing a Lil' Sebastian t-shirt when we ran into the pony himself. Well, maybe just a look-a-like. Maverick again! Look at the twisty goodness. I feel sorry for Mean Streak and hope people stop being so MEAN to it. That wasn't even a proper joke, that was just me repeating a word from the name of the coaster. I know you can't believe anyone would be able to put up with me after visiting these parks alone. Another unfairly... Actually no the second ride made me see how the position of the seat on these things can change the whole ride.

Um, GhostWood Estate at Kennywood is trackless. I didn't even know about that one. I've actually never even heard of it. I guess the people who I've read complaining are more upset there's is no version at the US Disney parks?

I went to SeaWorld, I just didn't get any good photos as it was the evening. I like SeaWorld, but I'm not much of a show person, so I just went on Manta 3 times. I also rode the new Empire of the Penguin, which I thought was a good ride, I didn't have any expectations of it before going in. The exhibit afterwards was nice too, one of the penguins splashed me in the face with cold water, little troublemaker. I'm glad the US now has a trackless dark ride, so you can no longer complain about not having one . Even if it's obviously not as good as Pooh's Hunny Hunt or Mystic Manor. I told you the pictures weren't great. This was the best on of Manta. The troublemaking penguin. The penguin exhibit. And again. I really didn't spend too much time in Seaworld. I just went one evening to try and get some Manta rides in and get on the new ride.

Ok this next update is just going to be a complete mess of my time in Florida. I was there for just under 2 weeks, staying on I-drive apart from the last night that I spent in Cabana Bay the new onsite hotel at Universal Resort. I managed to visit all the major parks in the area, but stupidly skipped the Funspot parks and didn't make it over to Legoland. There has been a lot of new, amazing additions in the area since I was last in Orlando: Cheetah Hunt - Although it's not the most thrilling coaster in the park, it has lots of very different sections and interesting transitions that make it a really fun (and long) coaster. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did and ended up going on it more than any other ride. Diagon Alley - Everything about it is amazing apart from the queues. I tried both of the beers that are exclusive to the park and the Wizard's Brew was, um, horrible. But the Dragon beer was really damn good. (I also tried Duff beer over in the new Simpson's section, which was unimpressive but I would imagine Duff beer should taste unimpressive.) Gringott's bank ride is probably the best dark ride I've ever been on, the technology is amazing. I'm so glad I didn't read any spoilers on the ride because there are some great surprises. I was 'lucky' that the single rider queue was open and that I 'only' queued for just over 2 hours. I didn't see the rides posted queue get down to 2 hours at any other time, most of the time it was 300 minutes (over the 3 days I went into Diagon Alley). The New Fantasyland - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a fun family ride that I liked but I would have liked a little more of the dark ride section. It's very nice to look at as well. Last time I came, they had just started with the construction on the land, so I was excited to see how it had turned out. I was so impressed, especially with the Be Our Guest restaurant. I would put visiting this restaurant as more important than most of the rides at Disney, the food is good but not the focus of why this place is so magical. I especially loved the West Wing section, complete with torn curtains and the enchanted rose from the story. The other new ride I really loved was the Under the Sea Little Mermaid themed dark ride, which isn't really that new. The use of music in the scenes as you are travelling around makes it a really fun ride. I gave myself a lot of time in Orlando because it was July and there's only so many hours a day I can take in those crowds without taking a break. I spent my last night at Cabana Bay, which is a great resort. I loved the theming and the pools looked great (I didn't get a chance to use them sadly), the rooms were nice and it wasn't too expensive for an onsite resort. My only complaint about it is the walls were paper thin, I could hear entire conversations of my neighbours and it didn't sound like they were shouting. Other than that, lovely place to stay and the food options were interesting and fairly varied. As for the ranking of coasters, I'm not going to go through the whole list for this portion of the trip. My favourites are Manta (it's pretzel loop is my favourite element on any coaster), Incredible Hulk, Kumba (though I still slightly prefer it's sister Dragon Khan), Sheikra and Expedition Everest (wish I'd gotten to ride it before the Yeti stopped working). I finally got to try Via Napoli, it was very good. Italy Germany home of sea salt dark chocolate caramels and really good beer. Disney making a Community reference, probably. Change of careers for the King of Westeros. Cheetah Hunt! This is a great balance between fun and surprising and is very re-rideable. Frozen Summer Fun was so popular. I do love Star Tours 2. I did not remember this being so rough. Disney can even theme the weather now. Amazing! Yeah, I'm a little bit scared of drop rides. Hogwarts Express... The train carriages. Kings Cross is NOT this clean. I still miss you Back to the Future ride. Traditional British food. This pic is going to give me so much street cred with the children I teach. Peter Pan's Flight is unskippable on every trip. Got my Holga lens out for the Cabana Bay photos. I wish I could've stayed at this hotel longer.

It appears I have different opinions from the majority on a lot of these rides. I hadn't read anything about Goliath before going in and didn't get a ride on the old trains to compare it to. Rye Playland was somewhere I was considering skipping on this tour. In a lot of ways I wish I had. The staff were rude, the place was dirty, there wasn't a good ride in the park and it was filled with unsupervised, big groups of children (some of whom I saw verbally abuse staff members, no wonder they were rude). I can't think of a good thing to say about this park, except it's right on the beach and it's midway area is nicely presented in a vintage style. The coasters were a wild mouse (is there anything left to say about a wild mouse?), Superflight (a Zamperla Flying that is the most painful coaster I have ever experienced), two kiddie coasters and Dragon (which you've probably seen pictures of). Dragon is ok. As I mentioned before the park was full of kids and when I went on Dragon, the train was filled with all kids and no adults apart from me. The restraints on Dragon (I'm not sure how to explain this...) don't go down further than the biggest person in the car. Trains hold 4 people, so there's 3 kids (2 rows of 2) in the car with a lot of space inbetween their laps and the bar (for them it would be just like a buzz bar). The restraint was locked and the attendant looked over at the other children in the car then turns back to me. He then, without warning or permission, pushed down on the restraint and put (what felt like) his full weight on it. I've been stapled in restraints before, but this caused me to actually shout in pain. The coaster is not rough. Apart from the section that goes into the dragon's mouth it had nothing memorable about it. Maybe I caught this place on a bad day or my opinion is too subjective on this park based on the story. But I can't remember much I liked to balance out the bad at this park. The staff seemed rude at every ride I encountered, I'd say there was one exception to that, so not everyone. I'll probably never make a trip back here. Never again. This is like a medieval torture device. Dragon. Didn't get a chance to go in here (i.e. I was too scared) I liked the wild mouse sign... A world of no.

Ok... Keeping the thread on the topic of theme parks and roller coasters. Next up was Six Flags New England, home to the biggest disappointment of the trip... Bizarro. I wasn't really impressed with the entire park. First complaint was Bizarro's lockers, which seemed to have a bigger queue than the actual ride. None of the booths for purchasing the lockers were fully functional, so it was a bit of a mess. The queue was so long that it was blocking the actual queue, confusing pretty much everyone. Once I finally got on the ride (of course I was stapled to the point of pain) it was just not that intense or airtime filled or interesting. Don't get me wrong it was ok, but I don't understand how this was ever voted the best ride in the world. At the time of opening, there were better roller coasters. I'd really like to hear what people liked about it, because maybe I'm missing something? The big pleasant surprise was Goliath, which I found really fun. Shame it seemed to have bad capacity and closed at least twice during the day when I was there. I was lucky to get a ride on it. The Dark Knight was a really good floorless B&M, I'm not a big fan of the model in general but this was one of the better ones. Mind Eraser was a Vekoma SLC, there's not much to say about it, it wasn't the worst SLC, but not the least worst either. The collection here just isn't that interesting, except for Bizarro, which I found to be "meh". I enjoyed Bizarro as much as I enjoyed Goliath and The Dark Knight. The park overall isn't somewhere I would hurry back to. Bizarro - 7 Gotham City Gauntlet - 3 Catwoman's Whip - 4 Mind Eraser - 5 The Dark Knight - 7 Goliath - 7 Flashback - 5 Cyclone - 6 Pandemonium - 4 Thunderbolt - 3 Hey the first drop was good... Goliath was hella fun. Cyclone was much more enjoyable than I expected too. Not sure why they're closing it. Maybe we'll find out soon. The ride has a pretty colour scheme. A little bit headache inducing, but not a long lasting one.

Not the front row. I went on twice and both were wherever there were less people. Maybe I got lucky and the short queues were because it had recently reopened? It wasn't busy at SFGAdv on the 4th of July, it had been very busy the week before when I had visited.

I hadn't done much research on Quassy, it's a very small park that seemed to be more popular for the water park section than the rides. I think it was probably the smallest park I visited on the whole trip, there weren't many rides at all. I bought enough tickets to go on Wooden Warrior twice and was too embarrassed to ride kiddie coaster. I only spent a really short time here. My rides on Wooden Warrior were: meh. The back was better than the front, there was a little bit of barely-there airtime but it seemed rough for such a tiny and fairly new coaster. It wasn't really rough, just rougher than I expected. I don't think it was really worth the drive out there. Wooden Warrior: 5 Lake Compounce was a bigger park and had free soda! I wasn't blown away by the park but it was still worth visiting. My biggest regret is not sticking around for a night ride on Boulder Dash, but I would have had to stay at the park for a fair few hours to do that. Boulder Dash was good, but didn't blow me away. I guess my expectations were too high. I'd still put it up there with some of the best that I've been on, it just wouldn't be that high, some great pops of airtime but also some places where I expected airtime and there was none. Also the operations were really slow, which dulled the overall experience. Zoomerang was a nice looking boomerang, a bit rougher than the one I had been one previously but the forces when it was going backwards through the loop were more intense. Wildcat was, um, terrible. There was nothing enjoyable about it, the layout was boring and it was painful. Zoomerang: 5 Wildcat: 3 Boulder Dash: 8 (I have a feeling this would be higher if I had ridden at night) Quassy's map I loved the old ride ticket booths. The kiddie coaster Little Dipper. So, are you supposed to shoot the piano player? Ride sign. Wooden Warrior seats. Potato Patch fries were awesome but not something I could eat all the time. Zoomerang. I love these trains. Boulder Dash's last stretch. Ugh, no thanks. Wouldn't ride again.

Ok it's been a long time since I updated, but I did get back to Six Flags Great Adventure. Thanks to social media I saw that Kingda Ka had reopened (along with that drop tower I was not going to go on). So on the 4th July, after watching the parade in Philadelphia, I ran over to the best Six Flags I've been to. I was lucky as the next day I was leaving the area and heading up through New York to New Haven for my next coaster base. I took advantage of very short lines to go on El Toro again a few times. Kingda Ka was everything I expected, not the best ride but still something about knowing it's the tallest in the world adds to the experience. The surprising thing about KK was that the line was only 20 minutes! Score for my missed credit of Kingda Ka: 8 (hey I really like launches...) Finally working, just not simultaneously. Airtime = funtime! Not a big fan of Green Lantern... More Intamin prefabs in the world please.

The test seat on Millie is much smaller. I risked it in the line and an op belted me 3 times. Bizarro had a bigger belt, I could easily fasten it myself. The restraint, I'm not sure as the ride op stapled me before I could push it down myself. On the issue of seatbelts and size, wasn't it the same issue as NTaG that the restraint was touching the rider's stomach and not their legs. I'm not sure exactly how many extra clicks but it seemed like 2 extra clicks on Shambhala and probably the same on Steel Dragon (but then again it might have been more as there was a hell of a lot more effort to get me into that seat). I'm not sure why they need those extra clicks, Shambhala is definitely not the most forceful B&M hyper.

The extra clicks needed on Steel Dragon 2000 and Shambhala turn those usually comfy B&M clamshells into a pain in the butt. The seatbelts on Milennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster are very short, but I wonder if they could add a couple of extra inches onto that belt with no safety concerns because I didn't feel stapled into the restraint at all. I saw a lot of people turned away from El Toro and Outlaw Run, but I found those restraints pretty roomy. It depends on your dimensions more than your weight for whether you will fit or not.

I'm flying from SFGAm to Kansas City, not driving. I'd love to go on Mr Freeze, but I'm relying on someone else's car and schedule while I'm there.

There had been a huge rainstorm before, I'm not sure whether this would make it feel worse or not. It wasn't Rebel Yell rough, but it still felt a bit rough to me.

The next day I made my way to Dorney Park, didn't get there for opening but still the park was completely empty. Just like the other parks I'd visited most of the crowds were heading away from the theme park side and were heading to the water park. Everything was a walk on, it was so quiet I was pretty shocked. I started off with Talon, which is another B&M invert with a very nice colour scheme. I liked the layout, it didn't make too much of a lasting impression but I enjoyed it. I moved onto Hydra, a B&M floorless that has the interesting element of having an inversion before the lift. Even with that it was a pretty boring coaster. Thunderhawk was pretty rough and the seats were uncomfortable so I couldn't really enjoy the ride. Steel Force, I guess, nice? The only other Morgan I've been on is Steel Dragon 2000 (which seemed really similar in terms of layout, just bigger) and the B&M seats were so uncomfortable I couldn't enjoy it (it took a long time for me to be pushed into that seat, first time and last time that has ever happened). So with the old trains I definitely liked this model better, even if it's shorter. But that's only based on the restraints. Still not a ride I loved, but definitely very fun. My favourite ride in the park was Possessed, probably the most comfy OSTRs I've come across. I loved the launch! It's the kind of coaster that made me laugh when I went on it. It was thrilling but very enjoyable. I'm hoping Wicked Twister is similar, I will be looking forward to going on that at Cedar Point. The park overall didn't seem like a full day park. It was ok but definitely was my least favourite park so far. My ratings this time: Talon 7 Hydra 6 Thunderhawk 4 Steel Force 6 Possessed 8

Either Posessed at Dorney or the shuttle loop at Nagashima Spaland.

As far as we know the scales are redundant because none of these accidents have been proved to have anything to do with weight. The ones mentioned are done for the weight of the entire car/boat so that the ride doesn't stop. People would be transferred to make the weight correct. Maybe only 1 person can ride because when there's two people in the car it's over the weight limit. That seems to be different to what you are proposing.

Well the person who died on NTAG died because the restraint did not rest on their legs and therefore they weren't properly secured. The one report from a Spanish paper saying the boy was overweight could be completely false, just like we've already heard he is Icelandic and/or British. Are you going to pull out a measuring tape to make sure their body dimensions are the correct size? Because that has more to do with it than a persons weight. It's also going to be fairly different depending on the model and the person. Should we all get measured when we walk in, so we can find out which rides we're allowed on because sometimes it's not as easy as you would imagine to know who would and wouldn't fit on a ride.

Let's talk about Hersheypark, I got to the gate super early and it was already a little busy. I saw the huge lines form behind me and was pretty worried about how much queuing I would be doing. That said after getting into the park I went from ride to ride, all with little to no wait. With the very hot weather recently most of the crowds at each park have been heading to the water park sections. I walked straight to Skyrush and was lucky enough to score a front row seat as there was only two people in the row when I got there. WOW. What amazing restraints! I felt a little pain on my thighs later on in the day sitting in the back few rows, but the airtime on this coaster is insane and your upper body is so completely free on this coaster. I absolutely loved this coaster. It reminded me of an Intamin Megalite, but I found the airtime more extreme. I felt like a rag doll in those seats, I'm sure some people wouldn't like that sensation but I really loved this ride. I don't think it quite beats my no 1 steel coaster, Intimidator 305 but it is definitely my second favourite coaster now. I managed to ride every coaster in the park and take photos so quickly (luckily because there was a huge thunderstorm in the region). Well, almost every coaster, in the line for the last one (Comet) the heavens opened and it was the longest I waited for a coaster. After the storm passed and after I rode Comet, I was about to leave but decided to check the wait for Skyrush (thinking it would be huge). There was a 5 minute wait! I went on 5 or 6 times, you only really needed to wait for front row seats. Amazing. Skyrush - 10 Superdooperlooper - 5 (So nice to not have OTSRs) Great Bear - 6 (An average B&M invert) Storm Runner - 7 (Nice launch, really smooth ride, comfy restraints) Sidewinder - 5 (My first ever boomerang!) Fahrenheit - 7 (A better layout than Storm Runner, but only gets 7 because it was a little rough in places) Lightning Racer - 6 (This was a good racing wooden coaster, I really enjoyed it) Wild Cat -5 (A decent, but rough woodie) Wild Mouse - 3 (It's a mouse, duh!) Trail Blazer - 3 (A little painful, pretty dull) Comet - 4 (Rough and not a great layout and painful restraints) I really enjoyed my day at Hersheypark, I think it's a great park for all ages and interests. The water park looked brilliant too. Also they have smores! Yum. Too busy riding to get any decent photos!!!

Ever thought she might just work hard and saved for 12 months to do this trip? Maybe not the working hard, definitely the saving money. Also it makes sense coming from overseas, to try and fit in as much as possible. It helps when you've got some airmiles spare and use sites like priceline to save some $$$.

The next day I was off to Knoebels. I didn't know what to expect from this park, except that it was going to be very different from not only Great Adventure, but any park I had been to. I loved Knoebels! I had a great day there, not just because there were short lines, but there was just such a nice atmosphere there. The staff were amazing, the rides were interesting and there are so many gems here. Before I went on the Japan trip last year I would probably skip every flat ride in the park, but I've started to recognise their beauty and Knoebels is a great park for flat rides. Also the food was brilliant too. I stopped by the sit down restaurant before leaving and got a really great (and cheap) sandwich. I also got a slice of the pizza and I wasn't that overly enthused with it but it was much better than any other park pizza I've had (I can't wait to try Via Napoli in Epcot!). The most exciting thing for me was Phoenix. That is one hell of a wooden coaster, it really tries to throw you out of your seat. I really enjoyed it. I also thought Twister was a good coaster, I was very impressed with the line up here. Flying Turns was interesting, even if it wasn't that great of a coaster. Of the flat rides, I enjoyed Wipeout, the Flyers and Fandango. My ratings: Phoenix - 9 (Really 9 and a half, that is one hell of a rush, I loved it) Twister - 7 Flying Turns - 6 Black Diamond - 4 Wipeout. Super fun. Phoenix, hell yeah! Fandango. The Flyers. The sky lift was a nice way of seeing the whole park. Twister from above. The great Phoenix from above.

My full day at Six Flags Great Adventure proved to be more of a breeze than I expected. I hate queuing (especially alone with all my loose items in a locker so I can't even read) so I'd already made up my mind to get a flash pass. It worked great, I love those little queuebot things, as soon as you've scanned in you can set up your next ride. Unfortunately, when I got to the flash pass desk they told me Kingda Ka was closed until Zumanjaro officially opened. I was disappointed but luckily for me there was still a chance I could ride as I was still in the Philly area for the next 5/6 days and I have a season pass. I found the park ok, it wasn't perfect but with the flash pass it was an enjoyable day. The food options were pretty awful but I found mozzarella sticks so that was my lunch. Yum. You can't go wrong with those things... I also got the refillable drink thing because apparently they work at all Six Flags parks (I'll be able to test that out tomorrow), those things are always a good deal for me as I can drink a scary amount of diet cola products. I have to say that 95% of the staff were really helpful and great. I didn't have any bad experiences with staff. In most of the lines I heard complaining, especially the El Toro line. I checked out the test seat before I jumped on (I've heard the horror stories about women who carry their weight on their bottom half, like I do) but it seemed on almost every train there was someone who hadn't tried it out. I queued up for the front once, which was crazily long (kept being stopped as well by VIPs and people flashing their re-ride wristband) and kind of pointless. Really was much better in the back row. Anyway here's my rankings of the coasters: El Toro - 10 (It's airtime central and so obviously a special coaster.) Nitro - 9 (Wow the surprise of the day, I've always found B&M hypers to be over-rated but Nitro is amazing!) Superman - 8 (I love me a flyer, pretzel loops are my favourite element so most people wouldn't like it as much as I did) Batman - 8 (Same as the others but these things are so damn enjoyable) Bizarro - 6 (Meh, floorless coasters just aren't my bag) Mine Train - 5 (Hey, it's a really good mine train. It's never going to beat the one at Ocean Park but it was much better than expected) Skull Mountain - 5 (A nice inside coaster, it was pretty nice.) Green Lantern - 4 (Ugh, ouch, I hate being on a coaster and thinking about how to not get hurt. This isn't the worst standing coaster out there, but it's still a waste of space in my opinion.) Dark Knight - 4 (A basic mouse in the dark but at least there's theming and I liked the pre-show.) The surprise of the park, I absolutely loved Nitro. Batman! The Dark Knight Coaster. Nitro and Batman together, lovely. I know! Another photo of this combination, but they just look so amazing! El Toro! Airtime machine. And after hearing such bad things, I really found the restraints comfortable. Superman: Ultimate Flight and Green Lantern in the background.

So I've been planning this 6 week trip for about a year to visit a bunch of theme parks. I started last Sunday and thought I would try and get this trip report up and running now, otherwise I'm not sure I would ever complete it! I've been rating the coasters, very imaginatively out of 10. Here's the list of parks I'll be visiting (hopefully, you never know what might happen): Six Flags Great Adventure Knoebels Hersheypark Dorney Park Quassy Lake Compounce Six Flags New England Rye Playland Magic Kingdom Epcot Hollywood Studios Animal Kingdom Universal Studios Islands of Adventure Seaworld Busch Gardens Cedar Point TPR New Hotness Trip!!!! Coney Island + bonus park Kings Island Kentucky Kingdom Beech Bend Holiday World Indiana Beach Six Flags Great America (End of TPR Trip) Worlds of Fun Silver Dollar City As I said, I'm already on the road so... First up Six Flags Great Adventure I arrived late on the 29th to process my pass and sneak in a cheeky ride on the Mine Train. I knew I was going to opt for the gold pass and I wanted to wait to ride the major rides. I was incredibly sad to see that Kingda Ka was closed, so I asked some of the people in the pass processing office what was going on. They told me it was closed because they were filming the commercial for Zumanjaro and that it would probably be open tomorrow. HELL YEAH! It was a beautiful night for taking some photos. First credit of the trip, a surprisingly good mine train with some air time. I was surprised. A solid 5. Bizarro is definitely one that looks better than it is. Ok, it's difficult not to take a million photos of this combination even if it's been done so many times. Even if it's not the greatest coaster in the world (or the park) it's still so impressive to look at.

On Sunday and Monday Kingda Ka was closed. The staff said it was closed until Zumanjaro opens. Anyone know if it has opened these last few days. I want to get that credit and I only have limited time, so any info anyone has would be amazing.

If you think Parrot coaster is rough, you are not ready for Baco!

I've read the books, because I got spoiled for a few things (like Robb and Catelyn). The show is great. They've changed a lot more this season than previous ones, or maybe I noticed more. Last episode wasn't that great, but this episode was awesome. They really cast some of the actors so perfectly, especially all the Lannisters.