Homer

I like the retro styling of these new trains. NICE!

Boredom from winter break made me actually want to update my TR. I wonder how many replies this is going to get? Day 3: Indiana Beach- Yes, there's more than Corn... What can I say about Indiana Beach? A lot. It may have been the biggest surprise of the trip in terms of awesomeness. The crammed atmosphere and boardwalk made it feel like I was on the Jersey Shore, not some man-made lake in the middle of Indiana. I quote Robb, "Many enthusiasts call this 'The Blackpool of America'." It did live up to this quote, as a majority of rides are shoehorned into the park (and I wouldn't be surprised if Steel Hawg continues the trend). The day itself was fun, but it was cloudy the entire day. Rain became an annoyance later at night during our ERT, to when it was moved from Cornball Express and LoCoSuMo to Den of Lost Thieves and the Bumper Cars. Fascination IS the world's greatest midway game. And that's basically our day at Indiana Beach. So, on to the ride reviews: #55 - Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain (7.5/10) One of CCI's last hurrahs before its 2002 bankruptcy, it was interesting to note that LoCoSuMo was once a dark ride that's been turned into a roller coaster. If anything, this was the first WTF ride on the Midwest trip. An elevator lift, a bunch of wild mouse styled turns, then the greatest statue ever made; a bear wearing Mardi Gras beads. My only gripe with this ride would have to be the claustrophobic trains, but other than that, it was a fun ride with its odd charms. #56 - Ti'grr Coaster (7/10) This ride makes me miss Anton Schwarzkopf even more, but I also felt this ride didn't belong in America. Absolutely NO restraints at all! A surprise. Still a fun ride though, like all Schwarzkopf's. #57 - Cornball Express (8.5/10) Probably my favorite CCI out of all the ones I have rode. This is another great woodie on the Midwest trip and there was plenty of air throughout the course. A little bumpy, but a great ride. #58 - Hoosier Hurricane (7/10) One of CCI's breakout rides that made the company famous, the Hurricane parallels the entire park and stays the most dominant thing in the park's skyline. But the ride was a disappointment, a fun out section with airtime, but the back section was just rough. #59 - Galaxi (6/10) Another fun Galaxi credit. Nothing to write home about. Other fun rides at IB worth your time: Fascination It's not a ride, but its serious business. Den of Lost Thieves Sally's first shooting dark ride, DOLT was a fun ride. Rainbow Another fun flat ride that has some crazy forces. Skyride Gives off some nice views of the entire park. Double Shot Another fun S&S shot tower. The smaller towers are always better than the bigger towers. Bumper Cars Probably the best bumper cars I have ridden. I'll end this TR with the truth. There's also beans and broccoli in Indiana as well. Mount O coming up someday. Cap'n Crunch! Water Swing was also a fun ride with a neat gimmick. Over the water. It looked like a fun ride though. While I didn't ride, in 2006, Indiana Beach added America's first splash battle. Its inside the waterslide tower! A fine example of Indiana Beach's shoehorning. Galaxi was next and well, wheres the ride!? Signature shot! Hurricane is the biggest ride in the park. Also, Cornball weaves through the structure. Although its not really a photogenic coaster. Cornball was next and a surprise on the trip. The only thing between you and certain doom are those grab bars. That's what makes Ti'grr fun! Ti'grr at dusk. Ti'grr coaster is a classic Schwarzkopf. Air Crow was a fun pair of flyers and the first flyers I've ever rode. The Skyride gives off some nice views of Lost Coaster. But LoCoSuMo's unique feature for a coaster is it's elevator lift. The park says its bone rattling though. No matter how hard you look at it, you can not comprehend LoCoSuMo. Ti'grr Coaster and Cornball. The bridge gives off some nice views of Hurricane. Although I didn't snap a good picture of it, you enter IB through a swinging bridge. Welcome to Indiana Beach.

I love Hickory Farms. You expected this from somebody more attractive, no?

That photo is still adorning the top of my desk. And oh god, my bowl.

The only thing I can say about Italian Job's new name is that at least it is not Cop Car Chase.

Oh well, at least it isn't like 10 years ago when Six Flags took a bid at the park. I think that would have been a worse fate. Its still sad, Kennywood was such a charming park to visit on the Midwest trip and the management there was really nice to our group. Here's hoping that Kennywood's new owners don't rip out the charm...

I'm coming down with a fever and I doubt I will be well enough tomorrow to take my Stats final or go to the Christmas party after that final.

Man, community college is easy. English 1101: Turned in research paper, awaiting grade. Psychology: Aced class, don't have to take final. Topics in Math: I only missed like 4 questions, I'm getting a high B I think. Statistics: We'll see on Wednesday. Stats is the only final I'm worrying about.

Just changed mine to look like a poster for a Christmas comedy that will bomb harder than any of the Santa Clause sequels.

You never cease to amaze me, Wes. I think I almost passed out from that video.

Quite the contrary, roller coasters once helped me but now my enthusiasm has waned away. Sometimes, being an enthusiast can be a buzz kill if you are with your friends. Yesterday at IOA, I tried to convince my friends to not ride Pteranodon Flyers because it was relatively dull and has bad capacity. My argument wasn't strong enough and so I had to patiently wait. My feelings though, in short, you should read "Two Sides of the River" by Mark Twain (from Life on the Mississippi). He basically nails the same way I feel, except with his interest of rivers and steamboating. In short, when I knew less about coasters, I was fascinated by them. But now, since I know a lot about them, my enthusiasm has died down.

A few weeks ago, my school organized a field trip to Islands of Adventure on the weekend before finals. The cool thing? All I had to spend was $20 just for the ticket and bam, an awesome day at IOA. Most of the lines were light 10-30 minute waits. So me and a few of my friends end up attacking IOA. Here are some of the specifics for those of you who like reading TR's: Incredible Hulk (7/10) The Incredible Hulk isn't aging very well and I hope Universal gives it some rehab. Although it is a fun ride still, the track is beginning to really show rust and the first corkscrew gives your ears a good banging in some seats. Spiderman (8.5/10) Spiderman is still an awesome dark ride, not much else to report on it. Pteranodon Flyers (3/10) Probably my only peeve of the day was my friends wanting to ride the flying thing inside Jurassic Park. The horrendous capacity made what would seem like a brief wait at any of the other rides into 30 minutes. While it is a great family ride in a relaxing setting, I just wished/hope that Universal would or will install a higher capacity alternative in the future. On a personal note, this was basically the first time I hated being an enthusiast since I did try to convince my friends to do Jurassic Park or Dudley Do-Right's instead. Oh well. Poseidon's Fury (5/10) Still a decent walk through attraction, but I really kind of hate the cheesy subplot of the archaeologist. Dueling Dragons We did both sides of Dueling Dragons today. Overall though, DD had tempermental operations that day. One side (particularly the Fire side) kept breaking down. Ice had slow dispatches (they even announced it in line that they were running behind normal hourly dispatches). On to my reviews: Ice (8/10) Did this in the back and the G-Forces are constant. I can see why some people say Ice totally owns Fire because of it and my right leg hurt from the forces right afterwards. But am I joining the majority? Nope, still doesn't convince me. Fire (8.5/10) I always liked rides with variety and the Fire side always had a variety of forces from the airtime hill to the forceful turns. Still my favorite side, I don't care what people say of it. Jurassic Park (7/10) Still the same old fun ride JP has always been, with its detailed theming and huge splash. After that, my friends and I messed around the park and rode Hulk a few more times. It was still a great time. The lines were low, the weather was beautiful. Although I will miss Lost Continent, I hope my friends and I will go back again once Harry Potter is opened and we end up singing that Potter Puppet Pals song again. Twas a great day, now here's a bad shot of me in a Dr. Seuss hat to haunt your dreams. The end. After a great day at IOA, we had to give the Hulk one last ride. Messing around at Jurassic Park. I love the angle of this shot. But eventually the kinks were fixed out and the line remained relatively short. In this bad shot, here's proof that Dueling Dragons had a bad day. It looks like Harry Potter construction has begun on the DD queue. And I wish I also had time to ride Sylvester McMonkey McBean's. I love Universal's detail. Even down to the wacky trees. Seuss Landing was all decked out for Grinchmas. Complete with people that look like Who's. Mythos, I wish I had the time and money to eat there at least once if it lives up to the hype it gets. Poseidon's Fury is a great way to cool off from the sun. It's sad I could see Carlos Mencia doing a routine stolen from Larry the Cable Guy based off this sign. A great family ride, but the horrendous capacity always makes a short line a 45 minute wait. Since I was bored in the line of Pteranodon Flyers, I took an artsy fartsy shot of the ride. Might I say, kudos to the scenery. I wanted to ride this until I realized the greatest log flume in the world now has restraints. Oh shi-... But since I had no Terrance, my friend Josh will have to do... I could totally see Terrance doing something R-rated to that thing... *shudder* My friend Jason thinks he is the Iceman. Interesting? No, not really. Schizo? Indeed... As you can see in this picture, the rust is really starting to show. Also, this corkscrew gives your head a good banging. We start the day off with everybody's favorite bipolar Green Giant, Hulk. We're here! Most of the gang is in this pic up the escalators. The morning starts on the bus and I have a girlfriend now? Hell has frozen over...

Still clear as mud at this point, other than Screamscape reporting the project's name is "Project Rumble" and that it may not be done by B&M (but Vekoma or Premier instead). Also to note is that Jimmy Neutron may get the ax in 2008 since the 5 year lease will be up. Wouldn't be surprised since the departure of Nick Studios anyways. Or the other rumor, saying that Twister may go away. Either one of those rides would be a good riddance. How many simulator/3 or 4-D attractions do you need in one park? Or better yet, Twister being nothing more but "Just standing in a wind tunnel as you see a set collapse." As for the CP coaster removal rumor. If you ask me, it would be Wildcat. It has a low capacity and well, its a ride that can be found at almost any traveling carnival these days. As much as I like Schwarzkopf's, this coaster seems to be the likely candidate for removal.

Not as epic as the quest for Choup, but more Xtreme? Hell yeah. Can't wait for the rest.

Thanks for sharing all of this awesome old stuff. One thing I wish took off a little bit in the Intamin catalog would have to be the Mega Ball ride. It would be interesting to see a rapids boat ricocheting around a pinball table and gives a unique ride every time.

Incredible Hulk at IOA. (Just a few hours ago) This B&M hasn't aged well, the corkscrew gives your ears a beating and the track is really starting to show rust. I hope Universal gives the Hulk some TLC soon.

50 - Twisted Twins Pink (SFKK) 75 - Raging Bull 100 - Flight of Fear (KI)

Not necessarily a coaster, but Intamin Looping Starship flat rides have a buttload of hang time.

Agreed! I loved Indiana Beach on the Midwest Trip and I never would have been able to go if it weren't for that trip! I hope this ride is crammed in there like all the other rides are! Same here Chris, I hope somehow that it has the crammed in feeling. I'm sure this ride will fit in well with the park. And yet it makes me yearn for a go back to Indiana Beach again, this and Fascination makes me want to go again.

It did. Arrow built a few prototypes at their Utah facility. Alton Towers in the early 1990's attempted twice to build Arrow's Pipeline. SW1 and SW2 were the code names. IIRC, SW1 was shot down due to money or the Alton locals, SW2 because of Nemesis. The second time around was partially built though. Another great retro scan, montezooma! I love reading your stuff.

Translated. I edited some parts that were a bit screwy from Babelfish and other things.

3rd placed it with a score of 119,510. EDIT: Just what I needed, another Facebook app.

T2 should be repainted first off as a main priority. Ugly old red station and the black chipping off into the old red paint. Is there still that possibility of S:TE at SFMM finally getting that repaint now since painting has been "sponsored?"

I hope thats primer, seriously.

Not a funny Legend comic. No bloody thumb mention.