JJLehto

LOL that is a pretty funny idea, bc no I deff don't ever go here. I only am this time since I'm in Eastern TN and it's not that out of the way haha Pretty excited though, Fury alone is worth it. Ha thanks. I see FL is still an option for tomm. If its like bad right from the start will just try to nab one real fast. But I'm ready to make the most of it. I'm just glad to be coastering again and putting my pass to use. The fam got this for me as a christmas gift 2019!!

Yeah it really is happening all over, and again I don't fault anyone I am all for people doing whats best for themselves/not getting shafted and maybe part are still dubious about being around people (esp in areas where let's just say...the populace has been less compliant) and even if mucks up my coastering....I can let it go. There are bigger things in life. But I won't be super happy haha But to be selfish, long as they are fully staffed for June 4 I'm OK XD

Oh good you kinda pre empted my next thought: do we even NEED the physical ID? I mean I'll do it, esp if the park gets crowded but long as I can get in and go straight to riding, I'm cool.

Well, I know I always say I never do weekends if I can help it and never opening day. BUT I will be at Carowinds tomm, Sat, for opening day XD What can ya do? I need to end this road trip sometime. Hope it's not tooooo dreadfu- eh it'll prob be awful. Its ok I am finally putting my CF Platinum Pass to use, so honestly if I can grab just a few rides and bolt after a few hours, fine by me. Speaking of: So I don't have my actual pass yet. I've not been to any CF parks since I got it. I have (both digital and physical) my pass with proof of purchase, the QR code etc that you get from their email. To anyone who has used it before: Is this enough for admittance? I recall them telling me when I go I can go to somewhere and get my actual ID, makes sense if you need to get the ID in park they have to first let you in. So Im hoping to get in, do some rides, then maybe few hours in go get my physical ID. This feasible? Edit: I also have the day I booked for Carowinds, I had to put in my pass # and they took is so again all should be fine?

Oof yeah....seems best to underpromise and then if possible over perform, but at the least you didn't overcommit, deff not a great move and I would agree, park would kinda have to refund people. I mean no, they dont have to and Im sure "subject to change" covers their ass but would be pretty brutal. Is it really $20? Bc Im a pretty pro labor guy, like much as I love my coasters I will never chagrin workers for not wanting to get shafted but that is well, better paying than my last job for the City and needed a degree XD So I do agree, seems like a good gig. I know working the park is a vastly different beast than going but that is deff solid pay, I too would gladly take advantage.

Well....as the famous saying goes: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Beautiful is not a word I would apply to Great Adventure lol Even when I was in HS (mid 2000s btw ) we used to joke how cruddy feeling the place was. I also recall when it used to have lots of rides, slowly over time there were less and less (and half the time various ones never were open anyway) but to each their own. Let's just say I agree with wildcattb5: It's that dive bar you love, which I do I LOVE dive bars! I always went because the rides were good, that simple. I've not lived in NJ for 5 years now so I do kinda miss it now in that dive bar type of way. But yeah for a bit I stopped going esp when they didn't seem to be adding much/anything of great quality but that's finally ending in a big way. It's pretty cool too they aren't just making a clone/similar version of the other single rails but getting a totally new, big, one it does kinda remind of the old days when OMG there was something fresh and big coming. I remember when there was Medusa, Nitro, Superman (a joke now but that at the time was totally different) KK and of course El Toro, holy s**t now. So that's part of it too, they just kinda flatlined for a loooong time and I felt less urge to put up with it.

Sounds about right, and can't say I'm surprised XD Shame they seem to be sticking to harsher rules than the state, being high may help LMAO But yeah...outside those gems the lineup was never strong enough for me to justify going and I would rather make the longer drive to Hershey BUT it has been a while, and since I'll be back in jersey for a while it may be nice to go again. The new RMC helps ha

Wow. This ride may actually open this year XD In fact not only does it seem likely, watch it somehow beat Iron Gwazi! Will be nice to return to this dump of a park (unless it's been spruced up in the 6/7 years since Ive gone) I do miss its few superb coasters. And since it has been so long perhaps I wont have all the bad tastes I used to in the day. Will be nice to have a big single rail RMC so nearby!

Indeed. I'm such a cheap ass I still just get some place in town and deal with the short drive and mostly losing my parking spot. This is assuming I go for Coastermania where the early access does nothing for me, without I've generally not needed the break but we'll see as I get older each year haha

That is indeed what I always hear, and wonderful pics along those lines tend to be shown to me. Thing is....Ive already seen em lol I've also been here shoot 10 times now? I always tell people who are still fairly new to savor it all, but me? Eh Seen it all by now, I go just to maximize my riding lol I always take a break anyway, I just do it later in the day. Often I'll go to the hotel, nap, relax a bit, then come back like 8 to grab dusk rides and ERT This year guess I'll bump it up a few hours, or well we shall see depending what exactly the itinerary is.

Yeah and deep down I know I'd prefer that. I always needed all of Sat to recover from Coastermania lol Oh yeah I could see them not doing the cruise given everything. I suppose that would be a shame. Personally, I never bothered to do it before but I know people enjoyed it

Ah I see! Yeah I recall the two years I went it was already on the page when I bought tickets, but seems it varies and like all else Im cutting parks slack given everything. I just really wonder about that night ERT given the park closes early right now. Brain says obviously they will just start it earlier and end earlier they wont give us more. The heart says omg what if they still go till like 12:30 for some 4 hour night ERT. Granted my body remembers how I felt next day and kinda doesn't want that, but I also do XD

I do wonder long run if the improvements will pay off. I mean I'm sure it will, big picture, but clearly consistency is still an issue. But I can't speak much more on it as I have no idea what the issues tend to be. It seems it's not track related, least not entirely. I will say, 2nd time it went down all that happened was some maintenance people walked to a part on the breaks, sprayed some stuff, they ran a few tests, then reopened. That said it is only May...guess we'll see what the total down time was for 2020 vs other years. But yeah that thing is a beast. Will ponder it once the year is done and I've ridden the others but surely it will be my top 10, certainly 5. Shame it now has to compete in my steel lineup, if wooden it'd be #1 by a mile. Thunderhead will also deff be making my top 10 wood. Gotta say, Dollywood has a damn good lineup. Sure it may not have the largest amount and not as many top tier rides as some others, but it also has nothing bad, I did enjoy every ride and there are some real "upper middle" gems here. With the scenery, ops, breaks to see the birds or shows (for those who are into that thing) the whole vibe...absolutely a top 5 park. Will it be my #1? No sorry Im too much of a CP fanboy, but top 5 park absolutely. I will see how I feel after Hershey and KI but it could maybe slot in at 3. Which I didn't expect honestly, but Dollywood delivered.

lol thanks. I mean, not like everyone hasn't suffered I think some here have said they still haven't made it, I'll consider myself lucky I made it on my first trip. And sorry for the wall of text but I don't do elaborate trip reports and since the site doesn't like multiple posts, I crammed it and responses into one XD I didn't feel bad at all personally, I mean the option is there and if Im doing solo riding well, how can I not? Not like I was paying for the TimeSaver, in theory anyone could've done single rider too. But yeah that was a godsend. At one point was 50 minutes, and I managed 4 rides in that time? But yeah, nice day, nice park. Deff occupies a good middle ground between smaller park and crowded corporate behemoth, but with a quality that beats others, like Lagoon (which I enjoyed still) oh and the ops were superb. Everything was running 2 trains and every ride they seemed to be really moving. Deff seemed like they were trying their max all day. Not sure the next time I'll return, maybe next year we shall see!

Sure did! The timing was amazing. Right when I got to LR to take said break the testing started. Not long after I posted that,it opened. The break was indeed short lived, but glad it was! Got 5 rides in an hour-ish. I know the joke is on me haha solo at a park but while people were waiting 30-50 mins in line, I was walking on. Huge thanks to whoever said they opened the single rider line. Talk about a life saver. I did it 8 times total. Hilariously when I was ready to call it a day and do my final, it went down again. I was on the train when they had to scoot us off. I had no will to move, it was first time landing back row so waited it out, wasn't that bad maybe 20 mins? Needless to say: Lighting Rod is god damn amazing. It did indeed live up to the hype. Launch was better than expected, the wave turn was just wtf, it was more whippy than I imagined and the quad down just wow. A night ride I can only imagine, but I ofc knew the park was closing at 7 so what can ya do? Hopefully next time, there wont be a global pandemic XD As for the park as a whole, yeah was pretty great. Honestly, it was dead from 10 to 12, I was able to do most everything, some a few times by 1:00. IDK what is a crowded day here but I dont think today was. Outside of Firechaser and Tornado that were an hour+ most bobbed between like 5 to 35. I was able to just use the ride time site and time it well. Longest I waited all day was 30 mins for dragonflier ha It was a very solid lineup. No bad ride. Obviously gotta understand some are moderate, but certainly none were bad and weirdly I kind of enjoyed Blazing Fury. Firechaser was pretty fun, Dragonflier eh kinda weak but what can ya expect? I personally was surprised how much I enjoyed Wild Eagle. I think I like the straight drop better than the twisting? In back got some serious pull, as I did through the first few elements. Even felt the helices kind of a bit. Bit of a suprise to me. Thunderhead was awesome, Tennessee Tornado its a crime that ride is so short because it really is something. Back row, that whole dip turn into the drop was phenomenal. Oh, Mystery Mine. Honestly, low expectations and short waits really help a ride lol I enjoyed more than I figured. Dips and turns had a little more oomph than I figured, granted my expectation was 0, and yeah it banged my head a bit I did prepare for worse. Shame the first 80% is kinda meh bc that finale is great. What to say? Was a pretty good day, and overall park deff lived up to its hype. Onward to Carowinds and KD, and later CP and KI. Which is good, I need to ride all this stuff again to determine where exactly Lightning Rod falls XD

Yeah the costs for FL are not ya know, something I enjoy lol but no need to spin the broken record, I really do think its worth it. Also June 4th isnt suuuper far away, wonder when CP will release the event schedule for coastermania

Oh no taunting taken. That’s just this ride, that said I decided to take a break as I usually hit a wall around 2:00. Figured I’d take some time to relax wait on LR I arrive and...a train tested!!! I’ve done everything I’ve wanted, even a few re rides. I will marathon LR if I can for a bit then duck out! If lines get bad May even do the 8 use time saver if they’re still available lol cheaper than a 2nd day. But yeah waited till it was generally running and still was down for 4.5 hours lol that said I saw a ride op on it so I think it’s soon! Just a matter of how many rides can I get

lol question about should I head to LR first was moot. It never opened XD ugh...the true Dollywood experience. Shame so far park is quiet I can beast this day. I really do not wanna have to come back a 2nd time so this POS better open up today and not for like...30 minutes. I knew it too, we were waiting before 10 and it wasn’t even testing, figured it would be “delayed opening” I have no idea if that’s legit or their way of saying it’s down for the day but they don’t wanna say it haha

Yeah thats my mentality, I mean even when its not LR I always want to get the biggest out of the way. Though that does add to it for sure lol Thankfully it seems like its generally been open most of the day every day for a while now (seriously thanks to whoever provided that wait time tracker) but yeah, esp if its a pretty quiet day (Im hoping) if I can get a lot done and gotta suffer a **** wait for MM whatever. I see Time Saver is still available for tomm, so worst case I think I'll be able to get one day of if its bad? But reallllly planning not to. And yeah I always hear about the dope ass food, where to go yall?

Tomm I finally finally am getting to Dollywood! Pretty stoked, esp that it seems weather will be nice, low chance of rain but mostly cloudy, perfect. I can never tell what's memery or not....should I actually go to MM first solely to get it out of the way bc lines are so heinous then go to LR? Edit: And I guess if there's any general tips, feel free. Places to eat etc Oh that is great news. I'm not expecting bad crowds on a Weds but still that may be super helpful.

Good to know! Yeah just on extra prepared mode given everything is still out of whack, supposedly parks all over are having staffing issues and wonder if that will impact KI's legendary ops (even on a dead day w 2 trains my god they were moving, it was the best I've seen). But yeah agreed best to risk waiting till day of that they wont likely sell out.

I won't lie, I never do parks opening day. Past experiences are largely negative. It's nothing to feel bad about, or defend, or anything...it just is what it is. I only am doing an opening on this current trip (Carowinds) bc I have to, given the schedule and mine its just when it had to happen but I'm pretty darn nervous. Now...CP? and after last year? Yeah....it seems like asking for a bad time. I wont make any judgements or use idiot, I dont get why sometimes people are so harsh in the coaster community but I do gotta agree with the general sentiment, I've always heard horror stories about CP opening day as I have with many parks and have dealt with it myself. There's covid, the shortages yall discussed, prob should be a little understanding of the situation and have expected it may be a rough time. Sorry it was not a great time but like...its CP, opening, after a year of pent up demand, well established shortages, etc. Gotta be mindful of the situation and that things are not yet "normal" or ideal. May IS a great time to go to CP, but usually I go later in the month. Crowds were still pretty tolerable, weather great, the park in its groove. Tip for the future perhaps Carrie, oh same. I recall when skip the lines first became a thing and both my fam and friends (after all we were young and had no money!) were resentful and thought it was snooty and elitist and they were jerks, we often took pride in not doing it. But yeah no way around it, life is sooooooo much better with it. Esp when coming from far....it IS damn nice to not deal with those lines and it just makes the whole day better. I will say, I only ever go to CP early or late season...and honestly the crowds are usually not tooooo bad. Hell once the park was pretty quiet and basically ALL the crowd was at SV and Maverick. I will NOT go to CP during the summer. Period. But yeah the park is just so epic these days...I think FL is always a good call. Unless you are spending multiple days, and willing to do some one and dones. Me? Im here to maximize, FL is deff necessary for me.

Sorry if I've asked before but are schools still open/what are crowds normally like on a weekday in Early June, in this case Monday the 7th. Last time I came here around this time it was totally dead, and with 2 train/quick ops lines were barely anything BUT its a bit later this time/covid and all....just wondering if worth the risk of getting fast lane or not. Also where the cool nerds at? Good luck lol While I have found a few gems in my years of being an enthusiast....I think each one may have 20 to counter But yeah it seems like all parks have been utterly mobbed due to pent up demand and the above trip report makes me wonder if I need to get FL. I'll be so mad if its a quiet day but oof....I know how slammed KI can be. Ugh choices lol

Aw dang that's unfortunate.

Nah there was a whole thread about it, no point in talking about it for this one bc well we dont know where its gunna go and yeah I've seen the YT coaster community going nuts about the (we dont know how yet) record breaking ride thats coming to CP....we of course dont know that and I uh..................lets just say dont put much stock in the YT coaster channel community lol OR your post was top tier satire that I missed! Oh yeah I have no idea why anyone would do Cedar Point without FastLane unless you're local. When I was younger I 1: had less $ 2: had some weird ass moral objection against it. After caving the first time I can never go back. I'm with yall I can't fathom how people can deal with CP without it. It just makes the experience so much better. I do think back to how Id get 1 ride per coaster, how much of the day is just spent in line, and of course needing 2 days (sometimes + night) all the hotels etc now, damn can get the whole park done in a day if I want, multiple rides on everything, cuts down on overall cost too.