yankeeman311

A couple of notes on this list: First, I find it amazing how far apart Magic Kingdom is from the other WDW parks. They're 7 million above Epcot and 8 million above Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Considering most of the people that go to WDW are tourists, it just surprises me just how much more often people go to Magic Kingdom than the others. Second, I'm wondering with Diagon Alley coming to Universal next year if IOA and USF will take a big enough jump to get much closer to passing Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. I know they're still 2 and 3 million behind them respectively but I still feel like it's when and not if these 2 pass them in attendance. I think it'll take another 5-10 years but I'm just interested to see how much closer they get next year. Third, I knew SeaWorld parks would take a big hit but I was shocked to see the Busch parks take a big hit too. I didn't think GP would know they were owned by the same company. I think one of the Busch parks took a bigger hit than any SW park. It's unbelievable how influential one documentary can be. Finally, I'm very happy to see Great Adventure in the top 20 North American parks. I don't think they were in it last year so I'm glad to see my home park made it especially getting the bump up they did with no major new attractions this year. Interested to see if GAdv takes a bigger bump up next year with Zumanjaro (if it ever opens).

^^I use that path all the time. Very convenient to getting to El Toro. I've gotten a few first trains because of it. I'm not sure where Zumanjaro's path will be but if it's where I think it is near El Toro, that path can be very beneficial for that too.

Came all the way from New Jersey yesterday to Branson and went to SDC today. It was me and my dad who doesn't really like parks like I do. We started out with 2 backseat rides on Outlaw Run. With this being the main draw to me coming all the way to Branson, I had high expectations. I have to say, they were definitely met. There were things on this ride I've never came close to experiencing before. First drop was one of the best I've been on, great pace, decent airtime and you definitely got that out of control feeling. Not to mention the hangtime on the double heartline rolls. The one criticism I have that keeps me from ranking this above El Toro is that I felt kind of stapled with the restraints on the airtime hills so I couldn't enjoy that as much as I would like to. Still a great coaster worth traveling for though. Next we did Wildfire twice. I have to say this offers the best view in the park with those mountains. It's an ok floorless to me. Then we did Powder Keg twice. This is a very interesting launched coaster that has its moments. Launch was decent and the first drop is very good. After that we did American Plunge which we got soaked on. Thunderation was next and that was a nice surprise. Have to say this goes fast for a mine train coaster. By far the best mine train I've ever been on. After lunch we did Fire in the Hole. We rode in the front and I didn't know about the surprise water at the end so me and my dad unexpectedly got hit. My dad was screaming "you son of a gun!" That was hilarious and probably my favorite ride moment with him. Then we decided to do the cave tour. This was amazing! It really changed my whole opinion of the park. I heard this was good but this was probably my favorite thing in SDC (yes even over Outlaw Run). Some of the views we got were spectacular. One of the best natural things I've even seen. Seriously it's hard to really explain this in words, all I can say is that this is a MUST for anybody visiting SDC. We then went on the train where there was a nice little show in the middle. Also got a nice picture of Outlaw Run's outside banked turn. We finished off the day after a rain storm with 2 rides on Outlaw Run and one on Powder Keg. Overall great day at SDC and glad I made my dad make the stop to Branson. As a Jersey boy, I also noticed nice southern hospitality not just by employees but by guests as well. You don't hear many sirs or mams in NJ. We're just full of assholes lol. Sorry my report is ridiculously long but I have a few pictures as well. Can someone tell me what this coaster is? Saw it near SDC. After 5 months of waiting, the time has finally come. The real reason I came all the way here. It took me until the end of the day to notice this sign. One of the few good pictures I could get of Outlaw Run. Though I did get this nice shot from the train. Obligatory train picture. I did see a married couple in one of these today. Thought I timed this pretty well. One of the best lift views I've ever seen. Some nice theming on the roof of the queue. That damn tree blocks a great launch picture. Took a few times to time this launch picture right. My dad actually helped spot the light for me. One of the more interesting things I've seen on a coaster. The people in the back have no idea how wet they're about to get. Until now. Employees hard at work. These 2 were pretty funny for the train show. Just a little random waterfall in a random place that makes SDC what it is. Time for some cave pics! They turned this room pitch black. Amazing people traveled in there with just a candle in the old days. This picture really doesn't do this view justice. We were looking REALLY far down from this spot. Can't imagine how much stress this lift puts on the cable. Thank you Silver Dollar City for a great day at the park!

Coming all the way from New Jersey to go on a Missouri trip with my first stop being Branson and Silver Dollar City! Will be going here on Sunday so any answers to my questions will be appreciated. Does it cost more to buy tickets at the gate than online? Since it's Memorial Day Weekend, do you guys think the Trailblazer Pass is a must or can I live without it (I know it's similar to Hersheypark where they only let you use it for each ride once)? Any particular ride order you guys do? How early should I get to the park if I want to beat the opening crowds?

^I actually think Woo has a very good chance of winning. He has had a very positive edit which you really don't see from a lot of people that are suppose to be goats. Not to mention last episode was really focused on him which leads me to believe that move will be more important than we realize. I admit though the only person that Woo can beat in a final is Kass because everyone on the jury hates her. But I have a gut feeling that's going to be the final 2. I think Tony's going to come in 4th, Spencer will lose the final immunity which will probably be an endurance challenge to Woo and Woo will beat Kass in the end. I just feel like Tony has been set up for a big downfall all season and Spencer seems like he'll be the fallen hero like Yau-Man. By the way these are NOT spoilers, just my prediction. If Spencer wins it'll be one of the greatest paths to victory in survivor history and he'll set the record for most times voting in minority and probably be a top 10 winner. If Tony wins, I think he's an average winner that probably was one of the most determined players ever. He has too many flaws for me to consider him a top 10 winner though. If Woo wins like I think he will, he'll be one of the more likable winners but probably be in the bottom 8 winners in survivor history. If Kass somehow pulls a win out of her ass it'll probably be the most negative edit ever for a winner and really one of the more chaotic paths to victory. Not even sure where I'd rank her tbh.

The goal is to make the season pass more appealing because a single day ticket is $70 in GAdv but the season pass is only about $5 more. They want to make money on food, souvenirs, etc. Plus a friend told me that a bigger percentage of passholders than you would expect only go to the park once and don't even get the value for the pass. Plus having a season pass definitely motivates some people to go back to the park that normally wouldn't.

I have to disagree about the next to last row. Even with a little rougher ride in some parts there is still a BIG difference between back row and next to last row imo on El Toro. The ride just feels so much more out of control in the very back.

GAdv- El Toro's first drop Hersheypark- Skyrush's first drop Lake Compounce- Wildcat's first drop Knoebels- Stratosfear's drop Morey's Piers- Great White's first drop SFNE- Bizarro's first drop Islands of Adventure- Dr. Doom's drop Universal Studios- HRRR's first drop SeaWorld- Kraken's first drop Animal Kingdom- Expedition Everest's backwards drop Magic Kingdom- Splash Mountain's drop Hollywood Studios- Tower of Terror's drop Cedar Point- Maverick's first drop

Honestly I completely disagree with Trish having no chance. As a hardcore fan of the show, she's actually my pick to win. I think she has a better resume than people give her credit for. She led the charge against Cliff, was the pivotal person in getting Kass to flip, prevented Jefra from flipping in final 8 and is the only one to really maintain social relationships with everybody. I wouldn't count anybody out but Woo needs a big move desperately. Tony I just can't see winning. I feel like he's already lost a few votes in the jury and his edit doesn't favor him since I think he's being set up for a big downfall. Spencer needs to pretty much win out but if he gets to the end, he most likely wins. As for Kass, I don't like her odds with everybody she's pissed off.

I use coaster-count for organization and a word document in order to rank every single coaster. I really only list the name of the ride and only have 83 credits so I haven't found a need for excel.

I have a theory with this because I think you're 100% right. I think we're just spoiled. We have KK, Nitro and El Toro in our home park on top of living in a major area of the country. I always think other people not from Jersey, So Cal, Florida or Ohio and arguably Pennsylvania think the enthusiasts there are spoiled. And I think they're right being an enthusiast from New Jersey. We just have a higher set of expectations because we're use to having elite coasters and better parks. We're not use to seeing what worse parks are like so when great local parks aren't on their game, we look at that as worse than others because we haven't seen it as bad as often. This opinion may come across the wrong way but it's just my theory from speaking with out of town locals and traveling.

^I'll honestly be surprised if Tony DOES win. Yes he has idols but he has burned bridges with the jury and other players still in the game. I feel like he's been set up all season for a big downfall. You guys remember what happened to Russell in Samoa? That's what I think is going to happen to Tony. My prediction to win right now is Trish. She has a couple of big moves on her resume such as Cliff and Sarah plus she's the only one that really has relationships with everybody. I like Tony but I think the season would get ruined if he won too.

Went to this park yesterday for the first time with 2 friends. Being from New Jersey with GAdv being my home park, I was very interested to see what this would be like. I have to say SFNE has a very home-like and boardwalk atmosphere. It just seemed a lot more welcoming than GAdv. My friend made a good comparison when he said it was like Hersheypark without being chocolate themed. Goliath was closed pretty much the whole day so I didn't get a chance to ride. Here are some ride reviews: Mind Eraser- I don't get the hate for this ride. This was actually one of the better coasters in the park imo. I honestly think this confirmed I like Vekoma SLCs more than B&M Inverts. I enjoyed this more than Batman and Raptor. This doesn't hurt my legs or make me dizzy and I can do defensive riding to avoid head-banging. Batman: DK- basically a shorter version of Bizarro at GAdv. Not a bad ride but nothing special. Had decent airtime moments in some of the loops. Flashback- standard boomerang really. Hurt my head a little. Prefer Sidewinder to it. GCG- decently themed wild mouse. I liked that every train had a Batman villain on it. Catwoman's Whip- this one tossed me around a bit because I sat by myself. Nothing special but a fun credit whore moment. Thunderbolt- I was a little disappointed in this. Thought it would be a better classic. Found it interesting it still had manual locks though. I've only seen that once before. Cyclone- average wooden coaster with a couple surprising airtime moments. I felt like I was being catapulted on the first drop. Snuck into my top 10 woodies but that probably won't last long. Pandemonium- with the exception of Bizarro, this was my favorite coaster in the park. Waited the longest for this but it delivered a nice ride. Having never been on a spinning coaster, I was impressed with the intensity. Bizarro- if this isn't running nearly as well as 5 years ago, I really want to know what it was like back then. This coaster exceeded my expectations and has joined my dominant class of Intamin rides on top of my list. This coaster had some REALLY nice ejector airtime and the layout felt very long. I have a question for the locals though. Does this have a reputation of running faster in the afternoon than the morning? I rode this in the morning and thought it was decent but not good enough to compete with my top Intamins but my afternoon rides were so much better that it put it in that class. It's only behind Skyrush, El Toro and Maverick on my list. Scream- disappointing drop tower. Of the 4 I've ridden, this one was the worst. Lacked the intensity of the others I've ridden. I did like that they run it in both directions at random times. Overall a very nice day at the park. Here are some pictures: Honestly a Millennium Force like view from the entrance. Love the openess of this layout for viewing. Really? Wish I could've been here for this opening. My phone died literally right after I took this.

Morey's Piers. There's honestly no atmosphere like this place especially at night. I think it's also the most underrated park in the industry that deserves more recognition from enthusiasts.

I'm going to the park with 2 friends of mine for the first time Saturday. Any advice on a gameplan, crowds or just things I should know about the park in general would be appreciated.

I was also at Coasters After Dark tonight. This has to rank as one of my best visits ever to the park and this was only 3.5 hours. We got in the park around 5:20 so I was happy to see they were still letting people in the park early. El Toro was our first stop and we marathoned it for about an hour. 1 train wait or a re-ride every time for the back. We rode with a lot of high schoolers that knew each other a few times. They yelled anal and frosty on different rides with one of them shouting "that ass" to a dummy. Some GP crowd eh? Our next ride was Superman and there I saw a guy with a MF shirt so I started talking to him about CP. The guy was from Jersey and said he goes to CP every summer. He was a big MF fanboy and I told him I thought the coaster was overrated and was more of a Maverick fan but we both shared our love for the park and coaster enthusiasm. Me and my friend had a rare next stop. We decided to ride the Carousel since nobody was on it. We had the ride to ourselves and the operator was going through the whole pre-ride schpiel then paused and said you guys don't need to hear all this, you're the only 2 on the ride. I'm glad I got to experience an amusement park classic. The park wouldn't be the same without the carousel entrance with the music playing. We then got a Batman ride all to ourselves in the front row. With that we spent pretty much the rest of the night on that side of the park. Marathoned Nitro a bit, had a violent ride on the Bumper Cars and got the final 2 rides of the night front row on Skull Mountain. Plus we rode Sky Screamer twice and I had fun with the ride op working it. Shared a few jokes with her and I had a feeling I helped her night go by faster. All in all a fantastic night at Great Adventure. This night is seriously one of the biggest reasons I get a season pass. Once again it didn't disappoint! Ride total: El Toro 8x Nitro 4x Superman 2x Sky Screamer 2x Skull Mountain 2x Batman 1x Dark Knight 1x Carousel 1x Bumper Cars 1x

If you're on limited days I would either commit them all to Disney or do Universal and BGT with no Disney. You won't be able to enjoy Disney on 1-2 days and won't be able to see enough, especially in the summer. I personally recommend doing them seperately. For your siblings I think BGT is a great compromise day. Based on what I heard it's a theme park with thrill ride standards. Any other questions I'll be happy to help.

^I don't buy that nobody else looked, I just don't think they showed anyone else since they have a lot of stuff to edit out.

^I remember that story. Apparently though if the kid got hit at a different angle that would've killed him. I don't think you can take getting hit by a big bird on a 128 mph coaster that lightly.

Honestly it is amazing going to GAdv on a rainy day. You might not be in the most comftorable condition but you get amazing rides with no waits. I remember last year the only time I went to GAdv in the summer was on a rainy day in July. The forecast called for rain and my friends wanted to bail on it for the day. I had to convince them things would work out and that GAdv closes only for lightning. Sure enough when we got there the park was dead and I got some of my best rides on Toro and Nitro. Not to mention marathoning everything. I think it was almost as fun bragging to my friends about me being right and proving my enthusiast knowledge as it was walking on to everything for rain rides. Also I would never ride Ka in any rain. It hurt enough getting hit by bugs on Millennium Force so I can't imagine rain on Ka or even Zumanjaro.

^^I have to admit I definitely have my moments where I feel like an entitled enthusiast. I feel like almost every enthusiast has to have had at least 1 moment like that though especially if they hear a dumb comment or see people acting like assholes. Do I go as far as to think I shouldn't have to wait in line because of that? Of course not unless I have a flash pass . I look at it as a comparison to sports. I'm a pretty big sports fan and if I'm in a good seat with somebody next to me who has no idea what's going on in the game, I'm gonna think I'm more entitled to that seat. So in that way I think it's ok to feel a little entitled for having a passion for something as long as you don't take it to the extreme.

To comment on the Skyrush restraint issue, I'm one of those people that can tolerate most restraints well as long as I'm getting something good in return for a little discomfort. Skyrush for me more than makes up for the discomfort. The airtime you get is so incredible that I truly feel like the restraints are justified. I get that you can't have your hands up the whole time on this but I personally don't really do that anyway. I'm too distracted by the airtime to really notice any major discomfort until the end of the ride waiting to get back in the station. I honestly have a bigger problem with Wildcat's restraints. They staple you like crazy mid-ride and it's not a comftorable layout on top of that. All in all Skyrush is the best coaster I've ever ridden and I've been on El Toro, Maverick, MF and Boulder Dash. I understand the restraints aren't the most comftorable but try to distract yourself with the forces Skyrush delivers.

Nice trip report. Glad I'm not the only one to notice Farenheit doesn't run well through the cobra roll. I always feel like that's a bad part of the ride because it doesn't run well through it. Could never really figure out why that stood out but the more I think about it the more I think you're right. Still can't wait to get back to Hershey this year!

Good question. I think I'd rather own a park. I'd be my own boss and can pick what type of rides come to the park.

Honestly I would still try to get to the park early. The last couple years I got into the park before the start time because of Physics Day so you may be able to get in if you get there for 5.