azza29

^That's a tomato plant, right?

Nitro - Great Adventure

^I have a lot of affection for Green Lantern with its blinding LED logo, but this El Loco definitely looks great!

^Good to hear that Frozen is a decent movie - I'm looking forward to it (doesn't open here until the 26th) but Disney films can be a little hit-and-miss these days. For every Wreck-It Ralph there's a Chicken Little, it seems.

Based on a similar thread from last year - what are your plans for 2014? Big cross-country adventures? Just local parks? Or that once-in-a-lifetime trip to Six Flags America? Share here! For me: New parks: Adventure World Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean Park Tivoli Gardens (yay Scandi trip!) Bon Bon Land Bakken Legoland Billund Hansa Park Djurs Sommerland Tivoli Friheden Farup Sommerland Liseberg Tusenfryd Grona Lund Skara Sommarland Linnanmaki Sarkanniemi Power Park Revisiting: Movie World Sea World Dreamworld Disneyland/DCA Knotts SFMM And possibly the Orlando parks if I can work that trip out - WDW, Universal, BGT, SWO, Fun Spot x2 and Legoland. Should be a great year!

Dreamworld: - do SOMETHING about the mine train. SBNO is a terrible look. - put the shark and pool back under Wipeout. The drought is over. - add the themeing back into the raft ride, especially the elephant that used to squirt at people. - fix Cyclone's queue. A bare set of metal stairs would be better than the mess that's there at the moment. Movie World: - Superman used to have water and smoke effects. They were awesome. Please bring them back. Please.

The park has uploaded a CGI POV. Looks short but nicely themed.

(Insert "that's what she said" joke here )

Re-watched The Way, Way Back on the weekend. Absolutely love this movie - probably my top pick of 2013 so far. Great cast, very funny, excellent script. And half the movie happens at a water park! Also saw Bad Grandpa on Saturday night. OK, it's not going to win any Oscars but is very funny in spots (there's a scene set in a strip club which is particularly memorable) and actually has a decent plot for a 'hidden camera' movie.

It's an average coaster, but the trains on Mick Doohan's Motocoaster are pretty cool. Just the test seat but you get the idea...

It changed quite a lot even in the 18 months between my previous visit (November 2011) and this trip. Two years ago there was no Cars Land, Buena Vista Street was a construction site, and the entrance took you around the back of Soarin'. It was almost like visiting a completely new park this time around! Rode it, just no photos. It was very quiet, but not really memorable otherwise. Talon and Great Bear were probably the least exciting B&M inverts we rode - both made me long for Raptor.

Part Eleven: Knoebels and Dorney Park Like night and day, they are. One a family-run independent nestled deep in the woods, the other the essence of cookie-cutter corporate entertainment in the concrete Allentown metropolis. We visited Knoebels and Dorney Park on two consecutive days, and the contrast was striking. Knoebels is like a permanent country fair - it's completely different to any other park I've visited. Because it's kind of out-of-the-way this park almost didn't make the trip itinerary, but we quickly discovered how much of a mistake that would have been! The term "charming" has been overused when it comes to Knoebels but it absolutely fits, with every inch of the park oozing an old-fashioned friendliness and familiarity. The park's collection of rides is pretty impressive too. Phoenix completely deserves it's revered status, and Twister isn't bad either. We rode Kozmo's Kurves for the credit, but it had some crazy airtime for a kiddie coaster! I had no idea what to expect from Black Diamond and discovered a really fun dark ride with some great effects. The park totally shines in the flat ride department though - flying scooters, looper, power surge, cosmotron - it's like a "greatest hits" of flat rides! And that's not even to mention the Fascination parlor, amazing food, and beautiful location. Easily one of the best parks in the US! Dorney Park, on the other hand, is very clinical. It's like someone has ticked off a checklist of all the things someone expects from a theme park. Their slogan should be "all the rides you love, all in one place, just not quite as good". I didn't think it was a bad park, and certainly wasn't disappointed. Apart from Steel Force there isn't much that's notable about Dorney Park, the rest of the rides are good but nothing special. It's just that while we had a decent three hours, but really that's about as long as we needed to spend. We're at Knoebels! I love the way Twister seems to disappear into the trees. Slightly blurry shot of Phoenix and the new drop tower. Taking photos from the chairlift is harder than it sounds... The aforementioned chairlift. It goes up, and then down. Aerial view of Kozmo's Kurves. Not only does this think kick ass for a kiddie coaster, they also let you go around three times! I hadn't seen a Power Surge in a park before - only as "carnie" rides. They are awesome, though I wouldn't ride twice in a row. Is that a tractor engine? I think it might be... Best flying scooters anywhere, this one goes quite fast and are super easy to "snap". I don't know if it's because it was a tickets-only day or not, but the cycle time was pretty long! The Hamster Wheel of Death, aka Looper. I have not been so happy to see the end of a ride in my life. If this kind of thing floats your boat, well done. I'll be content to watch. Flying Turns was testing the day we were there. It would open a few months later. Under this wrap is a super-secret Flying Turns car. Remember the joke about how this would never open? Me neither. While it would've been cool if this was open when I was there, it's great to have an excuse to head back soon! StratosFear - the park's new hotness for 2013. Awesome location for a drop tower. I played a few rounds of fascination but was either terrible at it, or hustled. There's clearly a skill to this game that I was unable to master immediately. Another log ride I rode by myself. It wasn't even that wet, except when my idiot brother decided to set of all the water cannons just as I went past! Phoenix is awesome. That's all you need to know. Something else you'll find at Knoebels and not at any other park. This place is very endearing. The baked potatoes WERE good! Pretzels prefer... Pepsi? Huh. Our morning at Dorney Park begins! I spy coaster #100! For the duck/fish enthusiasts out there. Hydra was a serviceable B&M floorless. Not a bad ride by any means but nothing I'd clamour to ride again. The jojo roll is kind of cool though. Is this the cobra roll that most resembles an actual cobra? I was interested to ride Demon Drop, a ride that manages to be incredibly complex and completely lame at the same time. We are getting closer to Steel Force... But first - this. V2 is better, that's all I have to say. Invertigo says hi, CGA. Just so I don't go a full update without a fountain. Here is a picture of a fountain, and Steel Force. #100! For some reason Steel Force feels much older than it actually is. Not that it's rough or anything, just that it seems very old-school and not something that's only a little over 15 years old. The huge helix at the turnaround is fun, but otherwise it just made me want to ride Magnum. Goodbye, Dorney Park! I'm sure you'll get some better rides one day! That's all for this update. Next - Hersheypark! Chocolate!

It's been a late start to summer here, but this weekend has been fantastic. 30 degrees celsius outside and sunny! Bring on the warm weather!

I rode it for the first time the day after been severely underwhelmed by Iron Dragon. I cannot think of any other type of coaster with such a huge contrast between ride experiences. The Bat/Flight Deck is awesome, especially in the front car!

People can be disturbingly naive are when it comes to documentaries which have an activist bent - they just seem to believe that everything they say is 100% accurate with no agenda whatsoever. What happened to critical thinking?! I'm also appalled by the torrent of unsubstantiated bile directed I've seen towards Sea World Gold Coast, a completely unrelated park which doesn't even have any killer whales!

I'm a little confused about who exactly the target market will be. For Sacramento residents it would be about the same distance as SFDK, and for those in the bay area CGA and/or SFDK will probably be easier to get to. So who are they trying to attract?

For a knockoff they've captured the Arrow loopscrew experience pretty well - hard to believe these things were once the "new hotness" anywhere!

My brother and I happened upon this place after finishing Scott's Pizza Tour, awesome awesome cupcakes! (and their coffee wasn't too bad either)

^Yes! It's the first 3DS game I've really gotten into, rather than just picking up for a quick play.

Here's your problem. Much of the "news" this site puts out is riddled with hysteria, and unfortunately they seem to believe their own hyperbole too much to make any effort to change. Miceage artlces are the worst offender - rumours dressed up as fact. Occasionally they get something vaguely right and then point to that as evidence that they are "accurate". The comments, on the other hand, can be (unintentionally) hilarious...

Looks like you guys had a great time! Scott's Pizza Tour is a fantastic way to see NYC, and the guy's passion for pizza is infectious. The Muppet workshop is brilliant, but I definitely had a hard time deciding on the eye/fur/horn combination!

^I think I liked the show a little more than you Robb, but agree that it definitely doesn't live up to the hype. I'm not sure why someone would tell you it had nothing to do with the Wizard of Oz - it's exactly the same story from a different perspective!

Jet Rescue - Sea World

The park just posted on their Facebook page that Storm Coaster will be opening "very, very soon" - so possibly even this weekend.

^They sang Part of Your World? From The Little Mermaid? That's different. Aladdin has always seemed to me to fall at the 'pantomime' end of musical theatre, but perhaps that's because I've seen the show at DCA a few times now. Would be good if they can make the Broadway production work.