rcdude

I'm thinking this could end up being either good or neutral for California's Great America. If JMA is willing to invest in the park and add some new major attractions, CGA could become a more popular (and better) park than SFDK. However, if they act just like Cedar Fair and make minimal investments, it won't change that much. As long as they don't remove Flight Deck, the park is still worth a stop for a few hours if I'm in the area. If they want to compete with SFDK, however, they'll need to invest in new attractions, as it looks like Six Flags is going to start pumping more money into that place as well. I don't foresee a negative outcome, at least at this point, because there isn't any real reason to close CGA. It does decent business, even with two competitors in the area. As for Gilroy Gardens, that is my favorite small park and I wouldn't mind if it remained exactly how it is now (which is very similar to how it was opening day. However, I do agree that the park could use one or two additional major rides in order to justify the cost. As they are primarily for families, if they get a coaster it probably shouldn't be any more intense than something like Wooden Warrior or a wild mouse (aka no large or inverting coasters), and I would love to see either a log flume or a rapids ride at that place (but not a splash boat).

Let's see...what all have I actually missed. I don't miss too many, but here it goes... Missed for various reasons (reason in parenthesis): Boomerang at La Ronde (closed on my only visit) Boomerang Coast to Coaster at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (closed on both visits) Flashback at Six Flags Magic Mountain (SBNO on all visits) Gemini Red at Cedar Point (only blue was operating) Great Chase at Six Flags New England (didn't attempt since I believed a kid was required) Monstre Left at La Ronde (line was too long) Nighthawk at Carowinds (closed, but rode as Stealth) Rainbow Chaser at Fun Forest Amusement Park (didn't want to purchase tickets for the kiddie coaster) Rebel Yell Blue at Kings Dominion (only red was operating) Run-A-Way Train at Pharaoh's Adventure Park (closed on my only visit) VeggieTales Sideshow Spin at Dollywood (opted out to avoid keeping Q-bot group waiting) Wacky Soap Box Racers Track(s) at Knott's Berry Farm (I have no idea how many times I rode this, but I know I rode at least once and was too young to bother keeping track then) Woodstock Express at Cedar Point (ran out of time) Skipped due to child required policy: Jr. Gemini at Cedar Point Lucy's Crabbie Cabbie at Carowinds Marche du Mille-pattes at La Ronde Roadrunner Express at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Taxi Jam at California's Great America Taxi Jam at Kings Dominion Not permitted to ride: Magic Flyer at Six Flags Magic Mountain

There may have been more, but these are the ones I am sure of (although a few are only confirmed by family members). At a home park (anything in Southern California): Freeway Coaster & Tree Top Racers at Adventure City Merlin's Revenge & Screamin' Demon at Castle Amusement Park California Screamin' & Goofy's Sky School (then Mulholland Madness) at Disney California Adventure Park Space Mountain (new) at Disneyland GhostRider*, Jaguar!, Pony Express, Sierra Sidewinder & Silver Bullet* at Knott's Berry Farm Coastersaurus, Dragon, Spellbreaker & Technic Coaster at Legoland California Journey to Atlantis at SeaWorld San Diego Apocalypse the Ride (then Terminator Salvation: The Ride), Green Lantern: First Flight, Road Runner Express, Scream! & Tatsu at Six Flags Magic Mountain Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios Hollywood Elsewhere: Untamed at Canobie Lake Park Intimidator at Carowinds Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion Wooden Warrior at Quassy Amusement Park Pandemonium (then Tony Hawk's Big Spin) at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Green Lantern at Six Flags Great Adventure Gotham City Gauntlet Escape from Arkham Asylum at Six Flags New England *These rides opened in December. While I did not ride them in their opening year, I rode them by the end of their first summer of operation. Up until 2010, I visited very few parks outside of California. Now that I have begun traveling, I expect the list to grow by 2-4 coasters per year (assuming the right parks add coasters, as I can only do about one trip per year).

I always find interesting that every year, with the exception of the top coasters lists, all of the results are nearly identical. The same five parks always get nominated, and they usually finish in the same order (or a similar order). I know, as has been mentioned, this is just a popularity poll, but I still find it interesting how much the panel seems to agree each year. As for the top coaster lists (just like the main awards), I don't personally agree with them, but for parks I've never been to it gives me a good idea of what to expect. If a ride ranks anywhere on the top fifty list, I can usually assume it is going to be a good ride, although I do find most of the wooden coasters from the list that I've been on overrated. I also tend to treat this more as a best in the US poll than a best in the world one, as although it does have some international winners they are outnumbered by American rides. Also, New Texas Giant at #6! Outside of Florida, this is probably the major park & coaster I most want to get to.

I've always thought West Coast Bash was generally considered the best TPR bash event (and out of the ones I've been to, it's been my favorite), but this one looks to have given it some pretty strong competition. It really looks like SFOG went all out with this event, and I wish there was a way I could have attended. If this becomes a yearly thing, maybe I'll get to it one of these years.

Unfortunately, judging from the Six Flags calendar for 2011, it looks like you would likely be visiting before the park is open weekdays. I don't know if it would be possible, but if you extended your trip to arriving on Saturday, you could use Sunday for SFMM and other weekdays for the other parks you choose to visit, or get to Las Vegas before Monster Jam starts. Otherwise, you might have to miss SFMM. The other So Cal parks, however, are open seven days a week so you can visit those. Here's my thoughts on what you should do: Six Flags Magic Mountain: If it is operating, do not miss this park. It has the best collection of coasters anywhere, and has an incredible variety of ride experiences, including a couple that are one of a kind (at least in the USA). However, as mentioned above, they are probably only open weekends so you may not get a chance to visit. If visiting on a weekend, choose Sunday if possible. On most off-season Sundays, crowds are minimal ( even X2, the park's most popular coaster, is typically not more than a 4-5 train wait). On Saturdays, however, it is much more crowded. If visiting on a Saturday, be prepared to purchase a regular or gold Flash Pass. However, do not pre-purchase it, as the crowds might be low enough that it would be unnecessary, and even the regular level is moderately expensive. Their hours are typically 10:30 to 6 or 8, but this should be enough time for everything. Knott's Berry Farm: If you only have three park days and you are going to SFMM, I would skip this park. It has one good roller coaster, but everything else is either not that great or SFMM has a better version. If you do go to Knott's, however, go on a weekday and it will likely be empty (2-3 train waits for all coasters). They are usually open 10 to 6 this time of year, but you will have more than enough time to do everything and likely will finish early. It's not a bad park, but if you have to miss one of the four you suggested, I'd say this would be the one to miss (assuming you could actually go to SFMM. If you couldn't, make sure to get to Knott's for thrills). Universal Studios Hollywood: I have a hard time recommending this park unless you are either: A. a show person or B. a movie buff. The park isn't really an amusement park, but is instead a movie studio with a few shows and rides. Including the Studio Tour, there are only four rides in the park, and there are five shows as well. That's about it. This park is pretty expensive for what it offers ($77), but if you do choose to go get there early and you will be done in 2/3 of a day easily. Disneyland Resort: You really have two options for the Disneyland Resort: Disneyland only or a combo ticket. If you have never been to Disneyland, or at least to a Disney park, I would strongly recommend you visit. Disneyland is, at least in my opinion, the best park in California. Even if you are by yourself, you will have a great time. The park is not really a thrill park, but does have a few roller coasters and other moderately thrilling rides. However, where Disney really excels are immersive, themed rides. If you are into dark rides, you will find the best in the industry (except possibly Harry Potter, which I haven't been on) at Disney parks, and even fairly standard rides are more enjoyable in a nicely decorated landscape. Now, if you want to do Disney California Adventure Park as well, you will have a few actual thrill rides. California Screamin' is one of the best coasters in the state (I like it better than 14 of the 18 at SFMM, and all but one at Knott's) and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is a really good drop ride. However, there are only about five or six rides at DCA that are not dressed up carnival rides. Whatever you do, don't buy a ticket to DCA only as it is not worth $80 and can be done in a half-day on normal weekdays. The combo ticket for $105 is a bit pricey, but it is worth it for what you get. You'll have to decide for yourself whether the extra attractions are worth $25 more. In short, here is what I would do if I were you: if it is possible to extend/shuffle your trip so you can do SFMM on Sunday, do SFMM sunday, Knott's or Universal Monday, Disney Tuesday, and the fourth park Wednesday if you want to do all four. If you can only visit midweek, plan to do Knott's Disney, and Universal for now, and if SFMM says they'll be open, you can substitue that for Knott's or Universal. Be aware that if rain is forecasted, Knott's and SFMM will likely not open or will have numerous closed attractions, so you may need to rearrange your schedule last minute (it doesn't rain much here, but March is a popular month for it). Disney and Universal will not close in the rain, but certain outdoor attractions will not operate. I hope this helped, and whatever you do I'm sure you'll enjoy your trip. None of the parks in So Cal are really bad, some are just better than others.

^It was definitely not you that I forgot about, because I remember you asking me before or during ERT if I had a group yet. It was one of those two guys we paired up with after getting off Toboggan Nordique whose name I can't remember. August 5th, 2011-North East Trip Day 8: Departure Day As is always the case, all trips must eventually come to an end. This one was no exception. In a way, I never want a trip to end, but I am always a little glad when it does. After two weeks away, I was exhausted and ready to return to my normal life. In order to avoid getting home too late, I had to catch a 9:25 A.M. flight out of Newark, which meant I got on the 7:20 A.M. airport shuttle (a little early, but I wasn’t sure what crowds would be like). It ended up not taking as long as I expected to get my boarding pass, head through security, and find the correct gate. The flight left on time, and at about noon I arrived in Dallas, Texas. I had a little over an hour before it was time to board my next flight, so I went and grabbed McDonalds for lunch, then headed to the gate for my flight back to Orange County. At 1:40 P.M., the plane departed. I was so tired I actually fell asleep for a bit on this flight, which is unusual as I rarely fall asleep in moving vehicles. Of course, the flight was uneventful and I arrived on time at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California. Final Thoughts: My entire two week summer trip was great. I got to see a lot of new places, meet some new people, and do things I’m not likely to do again anytime soon. St. Louis was nice, although I’ve enjoyed other large cities better, Holiday World was a lot of fun, and the North East Trip was probably what I would consider the ideal TPR trip for me. Perfect mix of small, medium, and large parks, quite a few great coasters, some unique non-coaster attractions, and just about the right length and intensity without being too much. I enjoyed it a lot more than the IntimidaTour last year. Now, just as I did last year, I have a list of trip awards. This is really just a list of best and worst for a few things. There are six categories for the St. Louis/Holiday World portion of the trip, and another ten for the North East Trip. Nothing is really bad, so I will use the terms favorite and least favorite instead of best or worst. St. Louis/Holiday World Awards: Favorite Activities: Segway tour, closely followed by City Museum Least Favorite Activity: Gateway Arch Favorite Days: Day 1 (Budweiser and City Museum), Day 3 (Arch, Riverboat, Segways, Baseball game), and Day 5 (Holiday World) Least Favorite Day: Day 6 (Lincoln Boyhood Memorial, Gateway Geyser, flight to Newark) Favorite Random Surprise: Ted Drewes Frozen Custard Least Favorite Random Surprise: Closed roads downtown, making navigation difficult Favorite Downtown Location: City Museum Least Favorite Downtown Location: Laclede’s Landing Favorite Amusement Park: Holiday World (obviously) Least Favorite Amusement Park: Six Flags St. Louis (by process of elimination) Favorite Coaster: Voyage Least Favorite Coaster (excluding kiddies): River King Mine Train North East Trip Awards: Favorite Large Park: Six Flags New England Least Favorite Large Park: Six Flags Great Adventure (by process of elimination) Favorite Mid-Size Park: Lake Compounce Least Favorite Mid-Size Park: Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom Favorite Small Park: Funtown Splashtown U.S.A. Least Favorite Small Park: Palace Playland Favorite Wood Coaster: El Toro, or Boulder Dash at Night Least Favorite Wood Coaster: Wildcat Favorite Steel Coaster: Bizarro (SFNE) Least Favorite Steel Coaster (excluding kiddies): Canyon Blaster, or Dragon (LR) if theming is ignored Favorite Kiddie: Roller Coaster (MFP) Least Favorite Kiddie: Kiddie Coaster (LC) Favorite Water Ride: Blizzard River Least Favorite Water Ride: Splash Water Falls Favorite Non-Coaster Rides (excluding water rides): Scream, Astrosphere, Catapult, Houdini’s Great Escape (SFGAdv), Starblaster, and Thunder N’ Lightning Least Favorite Non-Coaster Rides (excluding water rides): Tempest in the Tea Cups and Sky Ride (CLP) Favorite Group Meal: Carrabba’s Least Favorite Group Meal: Pizzeria Uno Favorite Days: Day 1 (Quassy & Compounce) and Day 3 (Playland and Funtown) Least Favorite Day: Day 6 (Great Escape) Overall, I really enjoyed every part of my two-week summer trip. However, it is likely I will not get another chance to do a trip of this length, at least not in the near future. I am going to try to do the LeviaTHON trip next year, but it is dependent on finances and timing. I want to try to be on a TPR tour every year, as I really enjoy them. As I said last year, unless you are going solely for credits, a TPR trip really is the best way to see new parks and meet new people with the same interests. They are definitely worth the price, which considering what the trips include is an excellent deal. If you’ve never done one, try a shorter trip (one week or less) first, and if it is your type of thing, you’ll likely be hooked. If you find it isn’t really your thing, however, then at least you know. That’s it for my Summer 2011 trip, but is not it for this thread. Next week, I will post the final three reports: a Universal Studios report, a Wild Rivers report, and a Windseeker review (yes, I know they are behind schedule).

The last day of the North East USA trip, and the first day of the Road to Cedar Point trip (for those on that tour) was at the East Coast park I have most wanted to visit for quite some time. August 4th, 2011-North East Trip Day 7: Six Flags Great Adventure Add-On Six Flags Great Adventure is one of the largest parks on the East Coast, one of the premier parks in the Six Flags Chain, and home to a few of the best coasters in the country. At least, this is what the park claims. It is also said to be one of the busiest parks, with lines regularly reaching two to three hours for El Toro and Kingda Ka, and over an hour for all other major coasters. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of Robb & Elissa, we had ERT on five of the park’s coasters, and Gold Flash Passes, so lines were not a problem at all. However, the one downside to this amazing day was the length. As we were staying in Newark, we had about a 90 minute drive to the park in the morning. This necessitated a departure time of 7:00 A.M. so we would arrive in time for morning ERT. Everyone was tired in the morning, and I know several people slept on the bus. However, we made it there quicker than I was expecting. We were given tickets, then led to the entrance. After everyone went through security, we were walked back to Movietown, where we had an hour of ERT on two of the park’s coasters: Nitro and Dark Knight. Nitro-Nitro is an all-around amazing ride. It isn’t really what I would call “intense,” but more what I would call “fun.” The ride has a lot of airtime and a couple points with fairly strong positive force, and is glass smooth. It is not my favorite B&M Mega Coaster (that award still goes to Intimidator), but it is really close. There are only a handful of coasters I could ride all day without getting either sick or tired of them, but Nitro is certainly one of those. A Dark Knight-During morning ERT, I got to ride Dark Knight with the lights on and thought it was a pretty good wild mouse. It is one of the smoothest I have been on, partly due to the magnetic brakes, and features minimal braking on the switchbacks. However, when the lights are turned off, the quality of the ride drops significantly. The switchbacks are too quick to take in the set pieces, and the other ones later in the ride are poorly timed so they don’t illuminate until you are nearly past them. In the dark, the couple sharp dips are completely unexpected and catch you off guard, causing them to be uncomfortable. I will say that Six Flags did try to make a good ride for cheap, but unfortunately it just didn’t work out. D with the lights on, F with the lights off. After our hour of ERT on these two coasters, we were given an additional half-hour of ERT on the park’s new for 2011 ride: Green Lantern. Green Lantern-In general, I am not a huge fan of Stand-Up coasters. So far, the only one I would wait more than fifteen minutes for is Riddler’s Revenge at SFMM. Green Lantern, however, is second place. The ride is fun, but is a bit too forceful for a stand-up, especially in the second half of the ride. However, it has a good layout and is fairly smooth. I had heard reports that it didn’t transition well and was very rough, but I’ve had worse rides on many other B&M coasters and all other Stand-Ups (even Riddler’s Revenge). Not what I would call an absolute must ride attraction, but certainly not a bad addition to the park. C+ As if we hadn’t had enough exclusive ride time, the park also gave us first-ride privileges on Kingda Ka. Better still, they opened the ride a little early for us, so most were able to get two or possibly three rides in before the general public arrived. I, however, did more laps on Green Lantern than most, so I only got a single ride on Kingda Ka. Kingda Ka-If for no other reason, this is a must ride because it is the tallest coaster in the world. However, tallest certainly doesn’t mean best. The ride is one of the top three in the park, but it is still not even on my top ten steel coasters list. The ride is very short, and if you sit anywhere behind the second car it is way too shaky when it hits its top speed (128 mph), causing mild to moderate discomfort if you bang into the shoulder harnesses. It is still an excellent ride, but is ever so slightly overrated in my opinion. If this ride was as smooth as Top Thrill Dragster and only had lap bars, however, it would likely be my favorite Accelerator Coaster. A After ERT, we collected Q-bots. As I did not have a group, I waited around and ended up joining Antonio, Patrick (traincrossin), and Chris (Chrisrad, I think, but I could be wrong (there were several people named Chris on the trip)). Anyway, we got our Q-bot and set off on our quest to get all the credits, wondering if we’d accomplish our task before lunch. Where do you suppose we decided to start? El Toro-There is no way to describe El Toro other than the most extreme wooden coaster in existence. Looking at the ride, I just thought, “Wood coasters should not be able to do this.” The ride is absolutely massive, and has insanely steep drops and nearly vertically banked turns. You would think that any wooden coaster would be unrideable due to roughness if it was this intense, but El Toro was actually glass smooth. Too smooth for my tastes, in fact, and that is why while El Toro is an outstanding ride I cannot call it my favorite wooden coaster. It just feels too much like a steel coaster, but it’s made of wood. For me, it doesn’t really fit nicely into either category, but it would probably rank second on my wood coaster rankings and somewhere around sixth or seventh on my steel list. While the ride is excellent, and it has airtime so extreme I felt I was going to be launched from the train, it is just not that re-rideable. I thought this was somewhat like a wooden version of Intimidator 305; it is really good, but I wouldn’t want to do it all day. I could only do six rides in a row during night ERT, and I quit after that. While I do love Intamin, it is mainly rides like this that remind me why I generally prefer a nice B&M for ERT sessions. A Rolling Thunder-I wasn’t expecting much out of this ride, and I didn’t get much. The first two hills on it were pretty good, but after that the rest was very dull. Almost no airtime on either track, although it wasn’t as rough as I was expecting. I rode each track once, and I think the left track was slightly better. D Bizarro-Bizarro at SFNE may be #1, but this Bizarro certainly isn’t. In fact, SFGAdv’s Bizarro is my least favorite floorless. I don’t get why people say this is better than Scream. I only rode once because I had a worse ride on here than any ride I’ve had on Scream, and the audio was horrible (at least in my opinion). Not synchronized music, just a bunch of nonsense quotes. The only advantage this ride has over Scream is the setting and the fire, but I’d rather ride Scream, as after the Zero-G Roll the rest of the ride was very shaky. However, even a subpar B&M like this is still better than 75% of the coasters I’ve been on, and I did enjoy this a little more than Green Lantern (shaky versus crotch discomfort, and I’d prefer the former). B Runaway Mine Train-This ride is probably my second favorite Arrow mine train after Carolina Goldrusher, but it is still just a mine train and is still just okay. It has larger drops than most of the other mine trains I’ve been on, and isn’t too rough, but I found the individual lap bars (same as on Canyon Blaster at GEASK) a little uncomfortable. D Superman-Ultimate Flight-For anyone that hasn’t been on a flying coaster, I’m sure this is a great ride. However, since I live 90 minutes from Tatsu and ride it at least 5 times a year (over two or three visits to SFMM), Superman really doesn’t stand a chance. The pretzel loop is still really good, but the rest of the ride is a bit underwhelming. Still, flying coasters are my favorite type of “gimmick rides,” and I enjoyed it enough to ride twice. I wouldn’t want to do the normal line on this, however, as it looked to be at least 90 minutes. B Blackbeard’s Lost Treasure Train-I’ve now been on three of these large Tivoli coasters. This one is probably my least favorite, but only because it does two laps instead of one (and I don’t care about going around twice). Other than that, it is identical to the others, and not really worth a re-ride once you have the credit. F+ Skull Mountain-I was expecting this to be somewhat like La Ronde’s dragon, but I was very wrong. This ride is an Intamin Indoor/Family Coaster as well, but sacrifices intensity for theming. There are minimal effects inside the ride, but the first drop really catches you off guard. In addition, the layout is unpredictable, and even though I watched a lights on POV before the trip I had no clue which way it was going to turn next. However, the ride is very short and not worth that long of a wait. D Batman The Ride-Many people like Batmans. I do not. They are too much intensity packed into too short of a ride for my personal tastes. This one was my least favorite of the four I’ve been on. It had minimal theming and felt a bit shaky compared to some of the others. Still not a horrible ride, especially compared to everything out there, but two rides in one day is plenty for me. C At this point, it was time for lunch. I thought the food here, while being normal park food, was fairly decent. They also had beer for those who drink it, although I don’t know if it was unlimited like it was at SFNE. As soon as he was done, Antonio left lunch to go do more rides, we arranged to meet with him a little later. There was a raffle, followed by the shortest Q&A ever (I think only three questions were asked), then the backstage tour was announced. Up to thirty people could participate, and it would be a 45 minute photo tour under Nitro (it ended up being two hours and including Kingda Ka as well). I didn’t participate (I would never miss a backstage tour, but I’d pass on a photo tour at a park I’ve never been to when there is plenty to do), but both Patrick and Chris did. I gave them my cellphone number so we could meet up once they were done, then headed back to the park. I met Antonio outside of Dark Knight, and we decided to ride again with the lights on. We then did a re-ride of Skull Mountain, another Nitro ride, and headed over to the other side of the park. Saw Mill Log Flume-There is more to this log flume than I expected. I knew it had two lifts and at least one drop. What I didn’t know was that it had three drops. However, the ride was just okay. There was very little to it than the drops, and none of them were particularly impressive (although the third one was slightly larger than average). Also, the lift hills were very, very bouncy and uncomfortable. D We rode El Toro again, and did the second side of Rolling Thunder (credit #200…yay!), then I got a text from Chris saying they were done with their tour. We met up with them and did re-rides of almost everything, plus a few additional rides. Road Runner Railway-The last credit in the park, and the last credit of the trip. Standard Zamperla kiddie coaster, but I thought this one was really rough. Least favorite of the three I’ve been on. F Dream Street Skyway-Double Skyway (two side-by-side bucket skyways sharing towers). According to a sign, it is ¾ of a mile long. Good for transportation across the park, but if there is more than a ten minute wait it is quicker to walk. D Edwards AFB Jump Tower-One of only two remaining parachute towers in the US, and the closest thing this park has to a drop tower. However, the ride’s speed is closer to that of a fast elevator, and it doesn’t really drop. It also lacks the most unique feature of the old Sky Jump at Knott’s (stand-up baskets instead of seats). F+ Houdini’s Great Escape-Nearly identical to the SFNE version of this attraction, but the ride at SFGAdv had louder speakers so I could actually hear what was going on and understand the story. The ride is both fun and unique, and is probably the best non-coaster ride at the park. C We stopped for dinner at some point as well. I got Johnny Rockets, and I can’t remember what everyone else got (probably burgers and/or sandwiches). I don’t remember the exact order, but we did more re-rides after dinner, then headed to El Toro for night ERT. As stated previously, I rode El Toro six times during night ERT, then quit. I was pretty tired, and my feet were killing me (when I woke up this morning, I had discovered a giant blister on my foot and was walking on that all day). After ERT, we headed out to the bus, boarded, and headed back to the hotel. Due to the drive, it was probably close to 1:00 A.M. when we arrived. I went immediately to bed so I could maximize my sleep, as my flight would be leaving at 9:25 A.M. Overall Thoughts: I am extremely conflicted about Six Flags Great Adventure. Almost everyone on the trip thought it was the best Six Flags park they’d been to, but I have to disagree. It is certainly not a bad park, and it does have a lot of great rides, but there are still issues present. For this park, I think it might be easiest to list the pros and cons separately. Positive Aspects: Coasters: Six Flags Great Adventure has 13 roller coasters. Among them are three world-class rides and a bunch of other above-average attractions. Sure, there are a few not-so-good coasters, but other than Dark Knight and Road Runner Railway there aren’t any bad rides. They’ve also got a varied collection of rides. In fact, other than SFMM, I think SFGAdv has the best variety of any Six Flags park I’ve been to. Operations: On most of my visits to Six Flags parks, operations range from average to very poor. At SFGAdv, however, operations were excellent. Maximum trains were being run on everything, and there was minimal stacking (except at Bizarro). This was especially apparent on rides I have seen elsewhere. For example, I rarely see a dispatch quicker than two minutes on Tatsu, but every Superman train was dispatched in around 90 seconds. If it can be done here, why isn’t it elsewhere? I think the park’s super-strict loose article policy certainly helps, but it also seemed that the operators moved very fast. In addition, all the employees were much more friendly than they are elsewhere. Cleanliness: I know Six Flags has been trying to clean up their parks, but this one seemed cleaner than average. Maybe it was just me, however, but I didn’t see trash anywhere on the ground or in planters. Negative Aspects: Non-Coaster Ride Selection: Of all the major parks I’ve been to, SFGAdv has the worst collection of non-coaster attractions I have seen. There are two reasons for this. First, the park doesn’t have very many. Excluding the kiddie area, I counted only eight flat rides and two water rides in the park. That is absolutely pathetic, especially for a park that claimed to have the most rides of any park just one decade ago. In addition, few of those are rides I would care to ride, as they are all older attractions that can be found almost anywhere. I am really glad to see the park is adding four new flats instead of a coaster next year, as this park really needs to balance itself out. At least SFMM, which has a similar problem, does have some decent water rides and a couple moderately good flats. Size: Okay, this is something that can’t really be helped. SFGAdv is giant, and has a really poor layout. When I described it to my family after returning, I told them it was somewhat like a star. There are clusters of rides at each point of the star, and those rides are close together, but to get to the next cluster you pretty much have to return to the center and head up the next arm. In addition, there is relatively little in the center. This creates a lot of walking and a lot of dead ends. The worst of these walks are Golden Kingdom to Plaza Del Carnival and Movietown to anywhere on the opposite side of the park. Again, it is not something the park can help easily, but it is a negative, especially during a long day. Platinum Flash Pass: I like the Flash Pass, but I hate the Platinum level. This is at many Six Flags parks, and usually it is an inconvenience but doesn’t get to me. However, for some strange reason, it really ticked me off at SFGAdv. Probably because it seems like all of them were waiting for the front row on rides like El Toro and Nitro, so when I did a front row ride on El Toro it took twenty minutes longer than any other row would have due to everyone riding twice (yes, I know it was my choice, but it was still annoying). All the regular people that had waited in the two hour line were getting pretty annoyed as well. At other parks, the more frequent problem is abuse of the system due to inattentive ride operators (at SFMM, I’ve seen people ride more than twice or switch seats, both of which are not allowed), but here it was just increasing the wait for an already popular ride. In my opinion, Platinum Flash Pass should either: A. have a separate line and send out Platinum-only trains when there are enough riders so it doesn’t disrupt the regular line; B. not have the double ride privileges for certain popular rows; or C. be more limited when it is busy. I don’t know what others might think, but if I had waited in a long line due to half the train getting double rides every cycle, I’d be pretty mad as well (this is a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much). Okay, that’s it for my Flash Pass rant. Overall, I enjoyed what Six Flags Great Adventure had to offer, but found myself running out of things to do. There are very few coasters that I will typically ride more than twice in a day, and outside of the upper echelon of rides five in a day is too many. However, at SFGAdv, there was very little other than coasters to do, and I’ll only do those so many times. This is probably the main reason why I wasn’t as big of a fan of the park as some other people. It was not a bad park, it just didn’t have enough to do. In a way, it really is like an east coast version of SFMM…if you like coasters, you’ll love the place. If not, I can’t really recommend a visit. Ride Count: Nitro-7 (three during morning ERT) Dark Knight-4 (two lights-on during morning ERT, two lights-off during daytime) Green Lantern-4 (three during morning ERT) Kingda Ka-2 (one during morning ERT) El Toro-8 (six during night ERT) Rolling Thunder-2 (once per track) Bizarro-1 Runaway Mine Train-1 Superman-Ultimate Flight-2 Blackbeard’s Lost Treasure Train-1 Skull Mountain-3 Batman The Ride-2 Saw Mill Log Flume-1 Road Runner Railway-1 Dream Street Skyway-2 Edwards AFB Jump Tower-1 Houdini’s Great Escape-1 Total-43 rides in 14 hours (3.07 rides per hour) Coaster Order: This park has a couple rides that are variable and as a result are listed twice. The asterisk rankings are the conditional ones, and the numbers are the offical ones. * El Toro (night) 1. Nitro 2. El Toro 3. Kingda Ka 4. Superman-Ultimate Flight 5. Bizarro 6. Green Lantern 7. Batman The Ride * Dark Knight (lights on) 8. Skull Mountain 9. Rolling Thunder 10. Runaway Mine Train 11. Blackbeard’s Lost Treasure Train 12. Dark Knight 13. Road Runner Railway Photos: I have a decent amount of photos from this day even though I didn’t do the backstage tour. Also, although this was the last park of the North East trip, there will be one final post this weekend from the trip as a summary. Six Flags Great Adventure has an impressive skyline. Every major coaster except Batman The Ride and Bizarro can be seen from the parking area. Six Flags Great Adventure Welcomes Theme Park Review for an amazing day with 2 1/2 hours of ERT. ERT begins on Nitro. This is often ranked as the best B&M Mega and it is an outstanding ride. A trainload of riders ascends the lift. With three 36 person trains and minimal stacking, Nitro is one of the highest capacity coasters out there. This was not open for ERT, but I don't really mind. I wouldn't have rode it more than twice anyway. Instead, we had ERT on the coaster themed to the best superhero movie so far. We also had another superhero movie based coaster. Apparently, the relationship between movie quality and coaster quality is inversely proportional. By adding Green Lantern, Great Adventure is one step closer to Magic Mountain; they both have green B&M stand-ups. As if we didn't already have enough ERT, we also got early rides on Kingda Ka. Superman is good, but compared to Tatsu it is disappointing. This reminds me of a ride I used to ride occasionally at Knott's Berry Farm. However, there is one signifcant difference betwen this and the Sky Jump. Back in 2006, Six Flags Great Adventure unleashed the bull. Five years later, it is just as furious as ever. Bizarro's not #1. If the grass was replaced with pavement and the trees were removed, this would be identical to Scream. The only good part of Saw Mill Log Flume. I wonder if this train travels to the Fountain of Youth. Random turtle approves of this trip report. There used to be a very unique coaster in this spot. I wish they had kept it, as it was certainly better than some of the park's other rides. Can't forget about the kiddie credit. Pretty much identical to every other Zamperla. At 13 ft. tall, this ride is one of the shortest coasters out there. For skyway enthusiasts, here is a rare double bucket lift. A little information about the attraction. We'll end with the cliche SFGAdv shot. I see two great coasters and two not-so-good coasters here. A perfect representation of the park...half positives, half negatives.

I was strongly considering doing the Knott's event just because I've never gone and I enjoy seeing behind the scenes stuff, but I'm really not that into halloween events and $85 is a lot to pay when you've got a pass and visit regularly (although it is a great deal for what it includes). On a scale of one (impossible to scare) to five (jumps at everything) of how easily scared I am by mazes and such, I'd probably say I'm about a three or so (I'm fine with that permanent maze at Universal, but probably wouldn't enjoy anything much longer or more intense). I'm planning to go on Sunday, October 9th, specifically to try Colossus backwards and the other halloween attractions as well as getting my final ride(s) in on Deja Vu before it moves eastward. I'm not planning on doing the mazes or any of the upcharges, and don't know that I'll stay all the way until closing (school the next day), but since it's included with my pass and I've never gone I figured I might as well. If you haven't ridden Deja Vu yet, I highly recommend catching it before it leaves. It is actually a pretty good ride. I'm also doing Disney's Halloweentime, but I'm going to ditch a Wednesday from school to go (most likely October 12th) as it will be less crowded and I'll only be missing one class. I also need to try out Star Tours, Little Mermaid, Sky School and see World of Color (haven't done any of these yet since I don't have a pass and usually visit once a year in early/mid December, but I'm considering getting the cheap pass so I'll be able to go occasionally if I have free days at any point this schoolyear and it pays for itself in two visits (plus my brother has a pass)).

I've been on five (listed in order of riding): Boomerang at Knott's Berry Farm Carolina Cobra at Carowinds Zoomerang at Lake Compounce Flashback at Six Flags New England Boomerang Coast to Coaster at Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom Additionally, I have missed two that I would have gotten due to the rides being closed all day: Boomerang Coast to Coaster at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Boomerang at La Ronde As for rankings, all boomerangs I have been on fall into one of two categories: worth riding again if there is a minimal wait (one or two trains), or not worth riding again period. More fall into category one than category two, with the best boomerang being the one at Compounce and the worst the one at SFNE. I will also ride all boomerangs to get the credit, unless the wait is excessive (more than 45 minutes) or I haven't gotten to all the higher priority attractions yet.

I was just at the park today and here are a few comments... -The park was absolutely dead. Even with one train operations on everything except Sierra Sidewinder, no lines were longer than five minutes. However, some of the operators were a bit slower than normal, although I attribute this to possible new employees (it looked like they were training new employees for haunt, as there was a supervisor at every attraction and one rode with the driver (who stumbled on every other line) on the mine ride) -The cleared area by GhostRider looks too small and too far from the walkway to be for a new ride, at least directly. It could be indirectly related, as in a relocation spot for other backstage buildings, but I would be very surprised if a new ride goes here. -Windseeker is really good. I've been somewhat skeptical of this attraction since it was announced, but now that I've been on it I think it is one of Knott's best non-coaster attractions. It isn't really scary (unless you're afraid of heights), but does feel a lot higher than I thought it would. The ride cycle is a little shorter than I was expecting, but it's still long enough, and the music is a nice touch (although difficult to hear at the top). -The Sky Cabin is still closed, but was going up and down during the day. I got a good look at it, and it appeared that all the windows were removed. Perhaps they are getting it ready for a reopening, and it will have new windows that are easier to see out of. -Haunt construction is going on all over the park, but that is typical for this time of year. -GhostRider is down for maintenance (there were people doing work on the track), and Perilous Plunge is still closed for some reason. I know it suffers downtime on a regular basis, but it has now been closed on all four of my visits this year. As for the one-boat operations debate, I honestly don't think the line would move too much faster with both boats. Due to the nature of the ride, it is a slow loader and a low capacity attraction. I really like it and I'm willing to wait around an hour for it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it gets removed in the near future to make room for a replacement. Also, as for the other recent post, Soak City is more in need of a new slide/complex than Knott's is in need of a new coaster. I wouldn't be surprised if both get their most rumored addition (giga for Knott's and raft slide for Soak City) in 2013.

Here's how I rank their coasters. 1. Tatsu 2. X2 3. Green Lantern: First Flight 4. Goliath 5. Apocalypse 6. Riddler's Revenge 7. Scream! 8. Deja Vu 9. Superman: Escape From Krypton 10. Batman The Ride 11. Viper 12. Colossus 13. Revolution 14. Road Runner Express 15. Ninja 16. Gold Rusher 17. Canyon Blaster Note: At night, Apocalypse would be #1, but during the day it is not as good. Also, I've only been on Green Lantern once, so that is based on my one ride. I think it will take a few more rides before I give it a final ranking.

August 3rd, 2011-North East Trip Day 6: Great Escape & Magic Forest The final official day of the North East trip was here. Although I would be doing the official add-on at Six Flags Great Adventure the next day, as would a number of the trip participants, this would be the last day we were all together as a group. That night, or the next morning, some members would head home, and others would join with a new group for the Road to Cedar Point trip. All mornings begin the same way, and this one was no exception. 8:30 A.M. departure for Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom, which was conveniently located about five minutes down the road (we had just passed it the previous night). We got off the busses, had our tickets and Go Fast wristbands distributed to us, then we were walked back to the Comet for our hour of morning ERT. Comet-The Comet really was one of the rides I was most looking forward to on the trip. It has been rated as one of the top twenty-five wood coasters in America for years, and has been renown for the airtime-filled ride it delivers. It also has a bit of history behind it, as the Comet was built from the remains of the legendary Crystal Beach Cyclone. After my first ride during ERT, however, I was disappointed. The ride was fun, but it didn’t deliver like I thought it would. Throughout the ERT session, it ran faster, but even on my ride later in the day it only delivered a moderate amount of airtime, way less than I was expecting. I would say that this is the best traditional out-and-back I’ve been on, as well as the best ride at Great Escape for sure, but I really do think it is overrated. B Once ERT ended, I headed around the park to collect all the credits before lunch. Mainly by coincidence, I ended up following nearly the same group of people I was with at Lake Compounce, and after a couple rides I just decided to stick with them for the day. Alpine Bobsled-I’ve been on Disaster Transport, so I was interested in this so I could see how an outdoor Swiss Bob would stack up. While it was a better ride and felt more like a bobsled when it was outdoors, the ride was still just okay. It was different and a bit exciting, but was somewhat rough. D Frankie’s Mine Train-I wasn’t planning on riding this, but after I heard that they were letting TPR members ride without a kid I stopped by to get the credit. I think this was probably the smoothest of the three Zamperla family gravity coasters I’ve been on, but it still wasn’t anything special. F+ Canyon Blaster-Wow, was this ride horrible? I was expecting a nice Arrow mine train, but this one was worse than Cedar Creek Mine Ride (which I strongly disliked). It was rough and uneventful, which is not a good combination for any roller coaster. F Steamin’ Demon-I stated previously that I somewhat enjoyed the Canobie Corkscrew, an old-school Arrow corkscrew design. Steamin’ Demon is an old-school Arrow Loop & Corkscrew, and I didn’t enjoy it at all. It was rough, but it did have a slightly fun layout (unlike the mine train). F+ Desperado Plunge-Honestly, this would be one of the best flumes of the trip if it had A. a larger drop at the end and B. more comfortable logs. The ride is nice and long, and it does have a couple drops, but unfortunately the largest one is only about 25 ft. You get wet, but not soaked, which is how I prefer water rides. However, the logs are very uncomfortable (at least in my opinion). D Boomerang Coast to Coaster-Finally, the last boomerang on the trip. One of the better ones, though not as good as the one at Lake Compounce. D After Boomerang, it was time for lunch. Standard park food (hamburgers and hot dogs), but it was slightly better quality than the average Six Flags fare. Once everyone was in the picnic pavilion, it was time for a vote. In the morning, we had been told that the bus would leave at 3:45 P.M. At this point, it was about 12:30 P.M. Robb asked for a show of hands of who would like to leave early, at 3:00 P.M. Not surprisingly, about 2/3 of the group voted to leave early. I honestly didn’t care, because while I could have occupied myself until 3:45, after lunch I found myself getting tired of the park really quickly. When I was done, I joined a few people for the rapids ride. Raging River-This was actually a really good rapids ride, and was quite long. It uses the same boats that Knott’s uses on theirs (6 riders, 3 sets of 2 seats), which I think are my favorite rapids ride boats. I got pretty wet on the ride, which seemed to keep going and going. I was only expecting it to be about two minutes long, but it probably ended up being five or six. A When I got off the rapids, I went and re-rode Alpine Bobsled (mainly because Robb said there was a possibility it might be removed after the 2011 season, which it won’t be), and Comet (mainly because it was the park’s best ride). Then we headed toward the front of the park, stopping at a few rides on our way back to the exit. Cannonball Express-Standard Himalaya ride. Felt a bit on the slow side, and only went forwards. Forwards only is a bonus, but the slow speed…yeah, glad there wasn’t a line for this one. F+ Swan Boats-A nice relaxing ride on the river. I’m usually not a huge fan of these rides, but I actually enjoyed this one somewhat. I don’t think I would have waited very long for it, but it was worth the short wait (ten minutes or so). A Sasquatch-I don’t know the exact height of this tower (I think around 160 ft), but it was pretty fun either way. One side launches and the other one drops. Since Space Shots are my least favorite S&S rides, I only rode that side once. However, I rode the Turbo Drop side twice. It felt like it climbed to the top of the tower at an abnormally fast rate, and then when it reached the top it seemed to slip for several seconds before actually dropping. However, it was over after only two or three bounces. Still, Sasquatch was probably my favorite non-coaster ride in the park. A I was going to ride Thunder Alley, but after getting off Sasquatch I decided it would be cutting the bus a little too close for my comfort. So, I stopped in the restroom, then headed out to the bus. Overall Thoughts A lot of people on the trip liked Great Escape. Most thought it was a nice park, and that it wasn’t anything like most Six Flags properties. I agree with that. However, when I go to a park, I go primarily to ride rides. I do enjoy the theming and atmosphere of the park, and I will say it adds to the experience, but I’d rather visit a park with good rides and minimal theming than a park with good theming and poor rides. Great Escape, unfortunately, falls into the latter category. Yes, I can enjoy myself at parks like Great Escape, but this is probably my least favorite mid-size park. Let’s talk about Great Escape’s ride selection for a moment. In the coaster department, the park has Comet. It is definitely a good ride, but I don’t feel it is anything worth going out of your way for. The next best coaster in the park, Alpine Bobsled, is one I wouldn’t wait more than about ten minutes for (at most). The park just has a really poor collection of coasters, and I really think they do need at least one or two additional quality coasters. They don’t need to be world class thrill rides, but they need something. I really think this park would be a good candidate for a Euro-Fighter or similar coaster, as they give good rides and are relatively small and inexpensive compared to a B&M or Intamin creation. Pull out Canyon Blaster or Steamin’ Demon, replace it with a Euro-Fighter, and the park will have improved their coaster selection significantly. As for non-coaster rides, the park has a lot of those. However, most are either generic or not that great. The more unique ones are fun, and are actually better than most of the park’s coasters, but I’d like to see more of those at the park. I heard they had some fairy-tale walkthroughs, but I didn’t investigate those so I don’t know how they were. As Great Escape is now, it is a great park for kids and families, but if you want thrill rides it’s not your destination. Adding a few non-coaster thrill rides would help with that, and would allow the park to have a bridge between the moderate intensity of a scrambler and the high thrill of an S&S tower. The other major problem with the rides in this park is that they are all low capacity. Fortunately, we had Go Fast wristbands, which allow unlimited access to specific rides in the park. You just go up to the exit and wait in the Go Fast queue until there are seats available. However, policies with these wristbands were very inconsistent between rides. Some would wait for an entire vehicle load, then send a cycle with only Go Fast riders. Some would let a small number on the ride, and whether or not seating was restricted varied as well. Twice, there were specific seats for Go Fast riders, but I wasn’t informed of this until after I had already picked a different seat, and was forced to move. I don’t really like the Go Fast system, but I’d probably rather have it than no skip the line system. Most of the normal queues didn’t look too long, but I’m sure with the low capacity attractions they could take a little while (I had plenty of experience with that at Canobie). As for Splashwater Kingdom, I didn’t actually take the time to visit this section of the park, but it looked pretty small. There were three innertube slides, two boat slides (which were closed), a bowl and a funnel. That’s it for the full-size slides. There is also a fun house, kids area, wave pool, and I think there was a lazy river but I can’t remember. Now, the park has announced a new slide tower for next year, which is a good step for the waterpark. However, they could still use a family raft slide to round out the offerings in the waterpark. Overall, yes, I enjoyed my day at Great Escape even though I didn’t really like the park. However, I don’t really care to ever go back to the park unless I was in the area for some other reason, had a Six Flags season pass, and was with someone else who wanted to go. If you are in the area and have a Six Flags season pass, I would recommend stopping by the park for a half day or two-thirds of a day. However, it is not worth the visit otherwise. Ride Count: Comet-5 (four during morning ERT) Alpine Bobsled-2 Frankie’s Mine Train-1 Canyon Blaster-1 Steamin’ Demon-1 Desperado Plunge-1 Boomerang Coast to Coaster-1 Raging River-1 Cannonball Express-1 Swan Boats-1 Sasquatch-3 Total-18 rides in 7 hours (2.57 rides per hour) Coaster Order: 1. Comet 2. Alpine Bobsled 3. Boomerang Coast to Coaster 4. Frankie’s Mine Train 5. Steamin’ Demon 6. Canyon Blaster We left Great Escape and headed down the road to Lake George for the final official credit of the trip. I was not aware of it, but it turns out there is a place named Magic Forest Park about fifteen minutes from Great Escape. Robb and Elissa didn’t tell us about it until we left, but they had arranged for us to get the kiddie credit at the park. I have a feeling they try to include a bonus credit on every trip, and this one was even more of a surprise than the one on the IntimidaTour (we were told about that one early on, but not that it was Python Pit at Go-Karts Plus until the day we visited). We got to the park, which was obviously a kiddie park, and our group of ninety adults lined up for the Roller Coaster (yes, that is the ride’s name). Of course, our group got some funny looks from parents. Now, Robb had told us to put as many people on as we could to move the line quickly, but whatever we did, don’t break it. So, the operators allowed the group to load twelve people on the train (it seats twelve). They sent the first train, and it made it most of the way up the lift, then stopped. Oh no, we broke it! In reality, we didn’t end up damaging the ride, which was certainly surprising. When the train rolled back, the chain bounced all over the place as it skipped on the gears, and the entire thing looked like it was going to snap or derail. However, the operator gave the train a push and tried again. No luck. After three failed attempts, the back car was unloaded and the ride finally made it around. From that point, we were only allowed to put eight on the train, and a maintenance worker was watching the ride carefully while our group rode. If you have not seen Robb’s video in the official update of this ride, you need to. The rollback was one of the most random hilarious moments of the trip, and it was all caught on film. Anyway, I ended up getting on the fifth or six train. Roller Coaster-It’s quite interesting that the first day of the trip and the last day of the trip both had identical Allen Herschell Little Dippers, as that is all this was. I personally thought this one was a little smoother than the Quassy model and it had a nicer setting. However, it’s still a kiddie coaster, and is still just a credit for adults. C, but only for kids. On my way out of the park, I took some time to take a few pictures and look at a couple of displays. Magic Forest Park really looks like a pretty good kiddie park. There are lots of small rides for them to enjoy, as well as a few larger rides that parents can ride as well. However, the park is totally random. All over the place are miscellaneous statues and fairy tale displays, some of which look very out of place. I don’t know how they got such a bizarre collection, but it certainly adds something interesting to the park. Once we all had the credit, the busses left the park and headed for the location of our farewell dinner: Carrabba’s. I’m not the biggest fan of Italian food, but for whatever reason I really like Carrabba’s. I had my first experience with this restaurant on the IntimidaTour, and since they don’t exist in California I don’t have the ability to visit on a regular basis. While it is not my favorite restaurant, it is probably my favorite Italian one and I would much rather eat here than at a Macaroni Grill or Olive Garden. After everyone was done with dinner, the busses departed from the restaurant and headed back to Newark. Along the way, we talked about the 2012 TPR trips. We were told the same list of trips that were on the questionnaire, but with one change: instead of LeviaTHON, there was a Southern California trip. I’m guessing they got switched after LeviaTHON was announced, but we were also told Southern California might be delayed depending on when/if Knott’s new coaster would be opening. At the time, with what trips were announced, I was thinking I probably wouldn’t be on a 2012 trip (although the NEW HOTNESS USA trip sounded great had I not visited most of those parks already). We also talked about future trips, and it sounds like most of the Europe and Asia trips will be repeated by 2014, and there will be some new ones as well. Unfortunately, the USA trip I would probably be most interested in (Orlando/Central Florida) probably won’t be happening any time soon as an official TPR trip. At about 10:30 P.M., we arrived back at the hotel in Newark, the very same one we began at. Here, we were greeted by the Road to Cedar Point trip participants. A lot of North East trippers hung out with them downstairs in the bar or lobby until late at night. I, on the other hand, went to bed somewhat early. The next day was going to be the longest day of the trip by far, and one of the longest days on any trip, period. Pictures Welcome to Six Flags Great Escape. We just don't call ourselves Six Flags because we are not a coaster park. You know it's time for ERT when there is a mob of coaster enthusiasts heading toward the ride. Although a bit overrated, the Comet is a really good traditional out-and-back coaster. The history of the ride. It was quite interesting. Other than Comet, however, there were very few good rides at the park. Good thing I still have my Boomerang Survival Kit. Fortunately, this one wasn't that bad. The drop really isn't that big or wet on this ride. The water cannons, however, will get you soaked when a skilled guest is at the controls. At least half of Splashwater Kingdom's slides are visible in this picture. As much as I like skyrides, this one moved slower than molasses in the summer, so I passed. The second-best ride at the park. Yeah, moving on... Time to enter the Magic Forest. I wonder what most people think when they see a group of adults in line for a kiddie coaster. They probably think were freaks or something, or we have issues. There is indeed one of these here, and that is the only reason we came. The Roller Coaster in all its glory. This is nearly identical to a picture I posted in the Quassy report. Same angle, similar result...yes, both Little Dippers are identical, except... This one needs a lunch break. In addition to the coaster, this park had various kids rides... A petting zoo... Another old-school wooden slide... A miniature carousel... And lots of funky statues, including a muffler man (not pictured). The whole park is set in an authentic forest, and there is a train surrounding it. The place reminded me a bit of Traintown in Sonoma, California, but fairy-tale themed. And I'll end with my favorite attraction, the kiddie tank ride.

I don't think I've put my list up here before, so I'll go ahead and post it. I don't have any specific rankings within each category. Also, I'm not counting pizza places on this list. My favorites: -Carl's Jr. -Fatburger -In-N-Out Burger Places I like a lot: -Chick-Fil-A -Dairy Queen -El Pollo Loco -KFC -McDonald's -Steak n' Shake -Ted's Place -Taco Bell (dine-in only, one category lower when taken home) -Wendy's -Wienerschnitzel Places I'm okay with, but am not a huge fan of: -A&W Restaurant (one category higher if going only for root beer floats) -Baja Fresh Mexican Grill -Del Taco -Five Guys Burgers and Fries -Jack-In-The-Box -Panera Bread -Pizza Hut -Quiznos -Sharky's Woodfired Mexican Grill -Sonic Drive-In -Wahoo's Fish Tacos Places I'll only eat at when nothing else is available: -Hot Dog on a Stick -Long John Silver's -Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill -Subway I'd rather skip lunch/dinner: -Burger King -Panda Express (note: I don't like Asian food in general) I may have left off a few places that I haven't been to in a while (a couple years), but I think this is pretty much everywhere I've been.

Each row can hold probably 7-8 trains worth of riders. When I rode, it was about a six train wait, and it took 30-40 minutes. To put it into perspective, the ride was running two trains, is a little under 4000 ft long, and has a ride time somewhere around 3 minutes. On most trains, the loading gates wouldn't open until AFTER the second train had stopped outside the station on the brake run. I've never seen any other B&M dispatch one train every 5 minutes, including flyers, even when only one was running (except La Ronde's Goliath with one train).

I'm doing this one by categories. One-train operation: Apocalypse, Boomerang (Knott's), Ednor-L'Attaque, GhostRider, Roar, Silver Bullet, X2 Two-train operation: Medusa, Riddler's Revenge, Tatsu Single Cars: Green Lantern: First Flight, Toboggan Nordique Non-Coaster: Perilous Plunge (Knott's), Sky Cruiser (Legoland) All of these are rides where I waited for a significant amount of time and it felt like the line barely moved or should have moved a lot quicker based on observation of other, similar capacity rides. For example, Apocalypse was 110 minutes with one train and two switchback sections filled (partly due to Flash Pass), Medusa was 30 minutes with two trains and the station only about two-thirds full, etc.

As my portable coaster experience is limited to only what has appeared at the OC Fair plus a few kiddies, I would have to say the Hi-Miler. However, a really close second would be the Wilde Maus RCS used to own. It broke down frequently and was fairly unreliable, but when it was running that ride gave some insane rides. Almost no braking anywhere on the coaster until the end, and the two person cars felt a lot more like they were going to fly off the track than most mouse cars do. However, if including all portables I've seen, I think Olympia Looping probably takes the cake. It is massive, and I'm always surprised at how quickly that ride can be moved. Plus, from what I've heard, it is not only the best portable coaster, but one of the best coasters in the world, period. Unfortunately, my chances of ever riding it are low (unless it stops travelling and gets installed permanently somewhere), and we'll likely never see anything larger than a Pinfari looper in the US.

Thanks. It does take some time (on average, 1-2 hours to write and another 2-3 hours resizing pictures and uploading them), but at least it gives me something to do. I don't start school for another two weeks, and since everybody else is busy with school/work, I'm home by myself for a good part of the day. These keep me from getting bored. Actually, we DID have official ERT. The park closed off the ride to the general public while TPR was riding. I honestly did not realize that. I thought they had just let us in line first, then let everyone else line up behind our group. Bonus points to Quassy for closing their headliner attraction during operating hours for us. I doubt too many parks out there would be willing to do that (although I'm guessing it would be more likely at the small parks). Now, onto my day in French Canada. August 2nd, 2011-North East Trip Day 5: La Ronde I got up in the morning at 7:30 A.M. As usual, I went into the bathroom, closed the door, and flipped the light switch. However, nothing happened. Yes, the power was still out in the hotel. I packed my stuff, grabbed breakfast, and headed out to the bus. It was around a half-hour drive (if I remember correctly) to the park, during which I took in all the French-Canadian stuff. As I don’t know French, I couldn’t read half the signs, but I could figure out what some of them were. When we arrived at the park, the busses were taken into a backstage parking area that was right behind Monstre. We were greeted by representatives from the park, given tickets, and escorted to Goliath for our ERT session. Unfortunately, there was only one train running, and the delays due to filming combined with the slow operations resulted in it taking me 40 minutes to ride twice. Granted, I did wait for the front and back row, so that added a little bit, but I think in the whole hour of ERT there were only about ten trains sent. Goliath-Goliath is a B&M Mega Coaster. It is a bit on the small side, but is still a fun ride. I don’t think this is the best B&M Mega, but it isn’t the worst either. The ride did have a bit of floater airtime, but it felt more like the airtime experienced on Intimdator than the airtime experienced on Apollo’s Chariot or Nitro despite having old style trains. Regardless of this, Goliath was definitely the best coaster at La Ronde and is the main reason for a coaster enthusiast to visit the park. Currently my favorite coaster in Canada, but if I get to Canada’s Wonderland next year I am 99% sure that will change. A After my two rides, I decided to head to Monstre so I could get at least one ride in before it opened and the line grew. When I showed up, I found out I could only do one ride due to the park requiring a nearly full train (I think they said 20 riders were required, and the train seats 24) and there were only about 40 riders present, some of which were waiting for the other side. I got on board and waited until the ride was ready to dispatch. Monstre-This ride was decent. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t specifically notable either. It’s very large, but it isn’t that intense and is nearly devoid of any airtime. Fortunately, it wasn’t too rough. Even though Monstre does have two tracks, they rarely ever race them. The tracks follow the same layout, but have different profiles, so I doubt this would be a good racer anyway. Since the line was reported at 45 minutes with a Flash Pass for the other track, I ended up only getting to ride one side of this coaster. C After I got off Monstre, I immediately headed for Toboggan Nordique, as this ride was not included on the Flash Pass. Elissa had told us this would be where the Flash Passes were handed out, but since the line appeared short (the park had only opened about five minutes before I arrived, and people were just starting to back here), I decided to ride first. Toboggan Nordique-I am really glad I only waited ten minutes for this. By the time I got off, the wait was an hour. This is the only Zamperla mouse I’ve been on and I have to say it was okay. I still think Mack builds the best mouse rides, but Zamperla’s aren’t bad. They are a bit slower and smaller than the competitors, however, and have a lower capacity (a sign at the ride said (translated) hourly objective: 300 people). Not bad, but still not worth more than about a fifteen minute wait, even if you don’t have the credit. D When I got off, I met up with Kevin, who I had decided to group up with today. We waited for a couple others to show up. After a few minutes, we found another group of two and I really wish I could remember who they were (I think Ken (kcliff01) was one of them, but I really do not remember). Anyway, we decided to get as many credits in as we could before lunch, so that is what we set out to do. Dragon-A lot of people thought this ride was pretty cool and I have to say that, as a ride, it was. This is a dark coaster, but there is a lot more theming inside than I would have expected, including several dragons and various light effects. However, as a coaster, the ride was very, very weak. There isn’t a single drop on the ride, and it pretty much consists of a few helixes and a couple slow, straight segments. I’m going to give it a two part rating: D as a ride, F as a coaster. Ednor-L’Attaque-If there is one part of the day that showed the true colors of La Ronde best, it was this. We used our Flash Pass for the ride, and it still took a minimum of 45 minutes for us to ride AFTER we had gotten in line. Yes, they were only running one train, but according to a sign, the hourly objective for this ride is only 300 people when there is one train and 600 when there are two. WTF? Vekoma says that an SLC should be able to get around 1000 people per hour with two trains. With one train, they should be getting approximately half that, or 500 people per hour through the ride. I guess La Ronde really aims low. Oh, by the way, the ride was bad. I don’t know whether I prefer Kong or Ednor, but both are inferior to Mind Eraser and I would not wait more than two trains to ride either one again. D Vampire-La Ronde has both an SLC and a Batman. In my opinion, I feel that if B&M designed an SLC it would be better than Batman. However, as it is, even an unthemed Batman like Vampire kicks an SLC’s butt, even when the SLC in question is placed over water and has water cannon effects. Vampire actually felt like it was more intense than most, as it seemed to fly through the course a bit faster. It isn’t my favorite Batman, but it is a pretty good one. C Cobra-This is a clone of Shockwave/Batman The Escape, the first Intamin AG Stand-Up Coaster, which operated at Six Flags Magic Mountain, Six Flags Great Adventure, and Six Flags AstroWorld before going into permanent storage at Darien Lake. Cobra is, unfortunately, the absolute worst stand-up I have been on (yes, even worse than the TOGO at Kings Dominion). Not only are the restraints very funky (half of the shoulder restraint is fixed, while the other half rotates down), the ride is extremely rough and uncomfortable, and has a fairly boring layout. I am really glad I got to ride this, as I’ve always been curious as to what Shockwave would have been like, but I don’t care to do it ever again. F+ After Cobra, it was almost 1:30 P.M., so we headed back over by Goliath for lunch. Unlike I was expecting, the meal was standard burgers and hot dogs, with no French-Canadian food in sight. This was both good, because I knew I’d like it, and bad, because I was hoping to try some poutine (which I never got around to, although I honestly doubt I would have liked it much). During lunch, Robb got up to the microphone and made three important announcements: The Good: Hersheypark would be getting a custom Intamin AG coaster for 2012 named Skyrush. It would be similar to a mega coaster, but feature winged seats. The Bad: Due to the line at Marche du Mille-Pattes, combined with the child policies, it would be very unlikely that we’d be able to get the credit. Fortunately, I wasn’t planning on it anyway. The Worse: Boomerang was closed for maintenance, and would be down for the entire day. I had seen it closed and was just broken, but it looked like another credit would be down. At this point, I was in serious doubt about whether I would end up reaching 200 credits at Six Flags Great Adventure or not, as I didn’t think I’d get side two of Monstre and had already missed a credit at Six Flags New England. However, this meant we had only one credit left to obtain at La Ronde, so we set out for that after lunch. Due to the nature of the ride, however, we made a detour first. Spirale-Pretty basic observation tower, although it is a double decker. The spiel was in French, so I had no clue what was being said. Good view from the top, however. B Super Manege-Hooray, the final credit at the park we had to obtain. However, it was a Vekoma Corkscrew, so I was prepared for the worst. Most reported this as being not too bad, and it really wasn’t too rough (except for a couple really bad jolts), but the ride was uncomfortable and quite boring. Like the Stand-Up, I really don’t care to do this one again either, but I would if I was with someone who needed the credit or just wanted to ride. F+ Once we got off Super Manege, we stopped at the shot stand (something you would never see in America). I passed, but everyone else got a shot or two, and we decided what to do next. Nobody cared about re-riding anything other than Goliath or Vampire, but I said I was also interested in possibly doing the Space Shot. We decided we’d make our way over there, but first we took a ride on Goliath (which was now running two trains without stacking! Go figure). Once we got off, we boarded the Minirail and headed back to the front of the park. Minirail-Just a monorail around the park. Goes a bit slowly, but it’s a good way to get around, especially from Ednor to Vampire as there is no short path connecting those two. Also a decent way to see the park. D We got off the Minirail and headed to Orbite, but on the way we passed Vertigo. Andrew and the other guy (I really do apologize for forgetting your name) rode, while I waited off with Ken. We then reserved Orbite, but it was a little wait before we could ride. As we were waiting, some other TPR members came off and told us it was worth it. Five minutes later, it was time to ride. Orbite-I think this might have been a little overhyped. Sure, it was good, but it wasn’t amazing. It did have more airtime at the top than most Space Shots, but I still prefer the Double Shot, Combo Tower, or Turbo Drop to even the best Space Shots. C We were going to re-ride Vampire, but due to the time on the Flash Pass we just wouldn’t be able to make it. Andrew and I decided to ride Disco Ronde, as we still had a little bit of time and it looked fun. Disco Ronde-Relatively weak breakdance. I really didn’t think it spun that much, but at least we didn’t have to wait very long to ride. F+ Once we got off, we headed back to the Flash Pass office, handed Robb the Q-bot, then walked to the exit and back to the busses. At 4:45 P.M., we were on our way back to America. Overall Thoughts A lot of people despised, or at least strongly disliked, La Ronde. I, on the other hand, thought it was an okay park. It is not the worst park I’ve been to, even in the Six Flags chain, but it is far from the best. The park has a good selection of rides, although their coaster selection is not so good. Unlike many Six Flags parks, however, La Ronde has a lot of coasters without feeling like a coaster park. It doesn’t even feel like a Six Flags park, and I get the feeling that it is one of the parks in the chain Six Flags is mainly using to make money and not really putting too much into, but once the company is a bit more stable that may change. La Ronde is really more of a mid-size park, but it gets massive crowds. Robb said he heard the park can get 40,000 people some days. This is probably due to the extremely short season (May-October, but only 96 operating days). Normally, I’d look at a park like this and figure a Flash Pass isn’t necessary, but that would be a big mistake. If you want any chance at getting the park done in less than a full open-to-close day, or you want to do anything other than ride each coaster once, you MUST purchase a Flash Pass. In fact, don’t get regular, get gold. Even with the gold level, however, it will still take you two-thirds of a day to do this park. You cannot credit run this place and be out in two hours like you can at other mid-size parks, so don’t even try. Is this a bad thing? No, not really, but it does mean that even with a Flash Pass you will be waiting in lines. Now, the biggest complaint I’ve heard about La Ronde is that their operations suck. In all honesty, I wouldn’t say that, but I would say that they are very inconsistent. During the day, most rides were running one train when I rode them. Most of the time, the operators were taking their time dispatching the train, and it was not unusual for it to be in the station for two minutes or more on some coasters. However, later in the day, I saw two trains on Goliath, Monstre, Cobra, and Vampire, and guess what? They were all running, with the same crew, with minimal stacking. Now, if the Goliath crew can do a sixty second dispatch when there are two trains running, why don’t they do so when only a single train run? Furthermore, why doesn’t the park just open every ride with two trains, instead of waiting until later in the day to add it? This park can be quite puzzling, but at least they were able to go fast when they needed to (all coasters had lines upwards of an hour for pretty much the whole day). Overall, however, I did enjoy my day at La Ronde as much as I could. The management treated TPR very well, and they honestly seemed like they were invested in giving us a good time (I heard they opened Vampire early for us, but I never went over to find out). It is not somewhere I care to go back to until they get another major coaster, but I wouldn’t dread the thought of returning. It is the only park on the trip I thought we could have used more time at, but at least I was able to accomplish my main objectives in the time we had (only missed out on a handful of non-coaster rides, the second side of Monstre and a second ride on Vampire). Ride Count: Goliath-3 (two during morning ERT) Monstre-1 (during morning ERT) Toboggan Nordique-1 Dragon-1 Ednor-L’Attaque-1 Vampire-1 Cobra-1 Super Manege-1 Spirale-1 Minirail-1 Orbite-1 Disco Ronde-1 Total-14 rides in 6 hours (2.33 rides per hour) Coaster Order: 1. Goliath 2. Vampire 3. Monstre 4. Ednor-L’Attaque 5. Toboggan Nordique 6. Cobra 7. Super Manege 8. Dragon Note: this is treating all rides like coasters. If you take the whole experience into account, Dragon would rank between Toboggan Nordique and Cobra. After we left the park, we headed back to America, crossed the border (this time they just collected our passports and we stayed on the bus), watched more videos, had the final snack time of the trip, talked about Great Escape, had another Storytime with Canadian Nick, and did other random stuff until we arrived at the hotel, which was literally right down the road from Great Escape. We actually arrived early, but at 9:15, everyone who had signed up for the bonus dinner headed next door to Pizzeria Uno for dinner. I’m not a huge Pizza person, but I will say the deep dish pizzas were pretty good. The flatbread ones, however…yeah, not so great. I hung out here until close to 11 P.M., then headed back to the hotel room, updated my trip notebook, got a shower and went to bed. Pictures I’m sorry to inform you that I have no pictures from this day. However, I do have a legitimate excuse. My camera battery died the night before, and due to a lack of power at the hotel there was no way to recharge it. As a result, you will have to refer to other trip reports to see what went on at La Ronde. There will be photos for the remaining two updates, which will hopefully be up this week, probably tomorrow and Thursday/Friday.

So RCS is finally using this coaster now? Nice. Unfortunately, the L.A. Fair is 45 minutes to an hour from me, so I don't think I'll get there to ride it. Hopefully this ride shows up at the 2012 OC Fair, since that is run by RCS as well and I go there every year. I know the ride is horrible, but it just looks so messed up it might be slightly interesting. I really want to ride this thing, just once, and after that it can go to the scrap yard for all I care.

Here is my opinion... B&M is a great manufacturer. I have been on 26 coasters by this manufacturer that cover six of the types B&M manufactures. Among those 26 coasters, only one (Vortex at California's Great America) is not worth riding if there is more than a two train wait. Every other B&M I've been on, I would be willing to wait at least 15 to 20 minutes to experience. In addition, B&M's Diving Machines, Flying Coasters, and Mega Coasters are industry leading designs that any park would be exceptionally happy to have, and even most Stand-Up coasters (generally their lowest-rated design) built by this company are better than three-quarters of the coasters out there. B&M doesn't make that many types of coasters, but the ones that they do make they make well. Intamin is also a great manufacturer. I have been on 21 coasters by this manufacturer covering 14 types of coasters. My favorite coaster, Bizarro, is an Intamin Mega Coaster, and the company also has several great products like the Accelerator Coaster, Blitz Coaster, Giga Coaster, Looping Coaster, Suspended Catapult Coaster, Wooden Coaster, and ZacSpin. However, I am generally not a huge fan of some of the company's other designs, including the Stand-Up Coaster, Swiss Bob, Indoor/Family Roller Coaster, and Children's Roller Coaster. In addition, most types of coasters built by Intamin are semi-unique as there aren't a lot of similar rides out there, and even within the same type the designs vary greatly. However, Intamin rides can be all over the scale. There are quite a few that are really good, but there are also several that are pretty bad (aka I don't care to ride them ever again). Overall, both companies are great at what they do. B&M builds extremely smooth coasters that are fun and at the right level for most people to ride without being too extreme, and almost all of their rides are really good, but when you go on too many of them they can begin to feel similar. Intamin builds unique, intense coasters that are often very different from what other manufacturers are willing to attempt, but they can sometimes be too aggressive for many peoples' taste and can be unreliable. Although Intamin is probably the most popular manufacturer among enthusiasts in general, I'm gonna have to go with B&M. With Intamin, it is kind of a toss-up whether I'll get an amazing ride or a not-so-good ride, but with B&M I know exactly what to expect and have rarely been let down.

I don't pay too much attention to random stuff GP members say, and I don't really care about it. Usually, they are either misinformed, guessing, or are so far off that I can't think of anything to say. However, there are several things they tend to do that annoy me. Here are the top five (in no particular order): -Delaying the dispatch of a ride or interrupting the cycle due to any of the following: not putting loose articles in the cubbies, taking too long to place articles in the cubbies, attempting to take seats that are not available, arguing with ride operators due to being rejected (can't fit, you/your child is too short, etc.), bringing a camera or any other loose article on board and requiring the operators to stop the ride so it can be retrieved. -Blocking the queue line entrance because they're not sure who's riding, and not advancing when it moves a significant distance (not several feet, but like an entire switchback) because they're not paying attention. -Excessive make-out sessions in line (I don't mind when people are hugging or kissing a bit, but some couples do things I wouldn't consider appropriate in a family park). -Large groups that stop in the middle of the walkway to watch something or consult each other/the park map. If you're going to stop, kindly step to the side, please. Same goes for those who spread out across the walkway and make it difficult for others to go in the opposite direction without breaking through their line. -Getting to the front of a food line and having no clue what you want to order, especially when the menu board is easily visible and you've been in line more than 5 minutes. Okay, maybe its more than five, but they're all related in some way.

I honestly would not be surprised if Superman is down from after the normal Winter Break period until Lex Luthor is ready to open. I don't know how construction is going to be done on this, but it would probably be easier to do while the ride is not operating, and if the tower is one of those things that is more stable once complete (I don't think it would be, but you never know), they couldn't run the ride while it was being assembled anyway. I'm also guessing that if they are going to reverse a car on Superman, they will do so during this period. Of course, the park is on weekend only operation during this period, and I don't think a lot of construction work takes place on weekends (although this may be different at an amusement park) so I could be far off and the ride could end up not closing at all. We'll really just have to wait and see.

As far as B&M coasters go, I've been on: 1 Diving Machine 5 Floorless Coasters (including both Medusas) 2 Flying Coasters (including a Superman) 9 Inverted Coasters (including 4 Batmans and Raptor) 4 Mega Coasters 5 Stand-Ups Although my favorite B&M, Intimidator, is a Mega Coaster, I'm gonna have to go with Diving Machine. I've only been on Griffon (which I really like), but I think the Diving Machines have more variety than the Mega Coasters. All four Megas I've been on feel pretty similar, just at different sizes. I also really like Flying Coasters, although the smaller ones (such as Superman-Ultimate Flight) can be a little bit of a dud. Overall, however, I like most B&M coasters, but am not so crazy about the Stand-Ups (except Riddler's Revenge).

August 1st, 2011-North East Trip Day 4: Canobie Lake Park The day of Canobie Lake was probably the latest start of the trip for two reasons. First, the park was less than fifteen minutes away from our hotel, so it wasn’t necessary to leave early. Second, the park didn’t open until 11 A.M., so our ERT didn’t start until 10 A.M. The bus was scheduled for a 9:30 A.M. departure, which is pretty late for a TPR trip. When we got to the park, we were given wristbands, meal coupons and tickets, then told to wait outside until they were ready for us. At exactly 10 A.M., they opened the gates and let us in. At least a third of the group headed for Untamed. I, however, headed for Yankee Cannonball first. Yankee Cannonball-For an old school wooden coaster, this one is actually pretty good. The ride is relatively smooth and does have a small amount of airtime. More than anything, however, it is simply fun. It is a basic out and back design, and while not the best out and back I’ve been on, it certainly isn’t the worst. Unfortunately, due to the rides operational policies, it is difficult to get your preferred seat unless you are at the front of the queue (no preferred seating, pick from what is available), and the line gets long due to mandatory one-train operation (it was consistently 30 minutes or more every time I walked past the line). A After a couple rides on Yankee Cannonball, I decided to go check out Untamed, the new for 2011 Eurofighter and the other coaster open for our ERT. Untamed-Prior to this trip, my only Eurofighter experience was Mystery Mine, which is one of my top ten steel coasters. While Untamed is not a bad ride, Mystery Mine it is not. The ride is very short (less than thirty seconds), has a compact twisting layout, and is a bit rough. I rode once in each possible seat combination (front inside, front outside, back inside, back outside), and while the back inside seat gave the smoothest ride, there were still a couple jolts. I have not decided whether I like Untamed or Yankee Cannonball better, because while Untamed is a more thrilling ride Yankee Cannonball is more re-rideable. A As I was walking away from Untamed, I encountered quite a few general public people entering the park. I looked at my cellphone and noticed it was only 10:40 A.M., so I was all like, “What the heck? Did the park cut ERT short?” When I got back to Yankee Cannonball, I found out that this park does something a bit unusual: the park opens a half-hour before the rides do. There was someone at the entrance to Yankee Cannonball checking to make sure those who entered had TPR lanyards and wristbands, and asking everyone else to wait in an orderly line off to the side (which already had around a hundred people in it). I rode Yankee Cannonball again, then someone said Canobie Corkscrew was open so I headed over there. Canobie Corkscrew-This was my first Arrow corkscrew, and I’ve actually always wanted to ride one since the original Corkscrew at Knott’s Berry Farm (an identical model) started the Golden Age of Steel Coasters. Corkscrew is a short and simple ride, and I actually found it somewhat enjoyable. It was a little rough, but not as bad as some other Arrows I’ve been on, and I wouldn’t mind doing it again on a repeat visit as long as the line wasn’t too bad. Judging from the comments of others getting off the ride, I think I’m in the minority here. C Dragon-Yes, I do count this as a credit. I also hope that everyone else who rode it does as well. It is a simple double helix powered coaster that I assume is decent for kids, but for coaster enthusiasts it is just a ride for the credit. D Following Dragon, I decided that I wanted to explore Canobie Lake on my own. I left my friends (who had stopped for a drink) and headed toward one end of the park, planning to hit all the majors in one direction, and stop at the less majors on the way back. Policy Pond Saw Mill Log Flume Ride-I’m just going to say it…while others said this was a decent log flume, I didn’t find it to be that great. It is another concrete flume, and while not the roughest one there were a couple parts it was a good idea to brace for. It did have two drops, so it was better than some I’ve been on, but I wouldn’t care to wait in that long of line for another ride. D Mine of Lost Souls-This is a totally cheesy dark ride that was actually pretty fun. However, the storyline made no sense. You begin by entering the mine, which involves a couple singing miners, and everything seems normal. However, then the Grim Reaper shows up and weird stuff happens. Somehow, you find yourself in Egypt, then you’re faced with a headhunter. Finally, the Grim Reaper blows you up and the ride ends. WTF? It was just so cheesy that I waited in the twenty minute line twice, hoping to make sense of it all. No good. C Starblaster-All double shots are awesome, but this is one of the more awesome ones. Although not as intense as Dragon’s Tower at Castle Amusement Park (still the most intense S&S tower I’ve done), this one did give you quite a bit of airtime at the top. Unfortunately, the loading process was a bit slow and unorganized here, so even though it was only a three cycle wait it took at least ten minutes. A Boston Tea Party-I heard that this was a very wet splash boat ride. However, when I got in line, I looked at the drop and thought, “That isn’t even very large or steep. How is this ride so wet?” Well, I rode, and got absolutely soaked. Turns out that the boats throw water into the air, causing you to shoot right through a tidal wave and drenching everyone on board. This was the wettest water ride of the trip, and was my favorite of Canobie’s three water rides. D Once I got off the Tea Party, I decided to go get something for lunch. As I was trying to locate one of the allowed food stands, I found several places that looked very similar to the RCT food stalls. I guess those do really exist. Others said that this park was cute, and I have to somewhat agree with them. At a couple points, I did literally feel like I fell into a park on RCT that I had designed. Eventually, I found a place to eat and got a hot dog, fries, and a drink. I had my lunch, then headed back to where I wanted to go. Sky Ride-When I got on this, I was hoping it would drop me off near the Psycho Drome. From the queue, I saw four towers, with the chair descending toward the far end. It looked to be going toward the Psycho Drome. I should have been paying more attention to the people on the chairs, however, as that would have told me what I needed to know. Once I got to the midway point on the ride, I realized it would take me near the Psycho Drome. However, I also saw two signs that are commonly seen at ski areas: “Do Not Unload Here” and “No Downhill Loading.” Yep, it was a round trip only ride. While it was fun to ride the bullwheel for once (even at low speed), and while I am a fan of chairlifts, I probably wouldn’t have bothered had I known it was a round trip since the line was twenty minutes. A good way to see this side of the park, but…yeah. F+ Caterpillar-This was the biggest benefit of the Sky Ride, as I probably wouldn’t have seen it otherwise. It turns out that Canobie has an old-style caterpillar, and it was a lot of fun. The ride didn’t go as fast as I expected it to, but it only went forwards, so I was able to ride without getting sick. B Psycho Drome-After the awesomeness of the Astrosphere the previous day, I wasn’t expecting nearly as much out of the Psycho Drome. This turned out to be a good thing, as the ride was not nearly as awesome. The normal lights were left on during the entire cycle, and there were very few show lights in operation (I think there might have been two). It really just felt like an indoor scrambler that played techno music (and not-so-good techno at that). The one thing I will give it, however, is that it did go fairly fast for a scrambler, but it was still a little bit of a letdown. B Pirata-A pretty standard pirate ship. This one seemed like it had a long cycle, but it didn’t seem that great. I only bothered with it since there was no line and the flat I wanted to ride (Xtreme Frisbee) was broken. D Tall Timber Splash-As I was walking up the stairs, I noticed a sign that said, “The left path is for the wet slide.” I totally expected it to say below that, “The right path is for the dry slide,” but it instead said, “The right path is for the WETTER slide.” Very funny. Anyway, I decided to just do the wet slide, and it wasn’t very wet. Since the line wasn’t very long, I figured, “How much worse can the wetter slide be?” and decided to try it as well. Big Mistake! Not only did I get soaked (which I wanted to avoid when we would be leaving for a long bus ride in less than an hour and a half), it wasn’t as good as the wet slide. However, neither slide was that great, and they seemed very similar (if not identical) to the defunct Yosemite Sam Sierra Falls. D After Tall Timber Splash, I did my second ride on Mine of Lost Souls as I didn’t think I’d have enough time to get back here again before we left. I then decided to do a couple minor rides that I had missed out on earlier. Turkish Twist-My only rotor experience prior to this was Spin Out at SFMM, and that was so slow I slid down the wall when the floor dropped. As a result, I was going to skip this. Even though it is right in the center of the park, it took me forever to find, and when I stumbled on it they were loading so I figured I’d give it a try. It was actually pretty good. I stuck to the wall during the whole cycle, and it seemed more forceful than the newer Gravitron rides I’m used to. I’m glad to see that this park is keeping so many classics instead of replacing them with newer, updated technology. C Antique Cars-I was going to do the Canobie 500 since it looked like a better ride, but unfortunately the line was prohibitive. As a result, I was stuck with the much shorter Antique Cars, which, not surprisingly, didn’t have a line. The ride was short and pretty boring. F When I got off the Antique Cars, I saw several TPR people walking past. They were heading for the Starblaster, so I decided to ride that once more on the way out of the park. I then stopped at a bathroom by the exit, then headed out to the bus and got ready for the longest drive of the trip. Overall Thoughts I like Canobie Lake Park. I really do. However, I did not think it was the best small park like many did on the trip. The employees were nice, the food was okay, and the rides were decent, but unfortunately there were problems. Not only was almost every ride in the park low capacity (leading to longer waits than I expected), but there were very few that I thought were great. In my report above, I have assigned an A rating to a few rides, and that is mainly because they are the best in the park. Compared to similar rides, however, most of those A rides would be in the B category because they are not the best of their type. In fact, you could downgrade everything at the park except the coasters, Boston Tea Party, Mine of Lost Souls, and Psycho Drome. In addition, the park could really use one more major attraction, not another roller coaster, but something else, as it felt like there were very few rides here worth re-rides. Now, even though I did enjoy Funtown Splashtown U.S.A. a bit more than Canobie Lake Park, it really is a great park, and is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area, but after everything I had heard about it I was a little let down. Like most small parks, however, I wouldn’t recommend a full day. Plan for two-thirds of a day, but you may be done in a half-day if you visit when the crowd is low. Ride Count: Yankee Cannonball-3 (all during morning ERT) Untamed-4 (all during morning ERT) Canobie Corkscrew-1 Dragon-1 Policy Pond Saw Mill Log Flume Ride-1 Mine of Lost Souls-2 Starblaster-2 Boston Tea Party-1 Sky Ride-1 Caterpillar-1 Psycho Drome-1 Pirata-1 Tall Timber Splash-2 Turkish Twist-1 Antique Cars-1 Total-23 rides in 5 hours (4.6 rides per hour) After we left the park, we got on the bus and headed for Canada. During this bus ride, I fell asleep for a brief period of time, as what was being shown didn’t interest me (I think it was the Simpsons, Family Guy, or Robot Chicken, none of which I am too into). We then drove up into the mountains of New Hampshire, and past Cannon Mountain ski area (yes, I find it noteworthy that we passed a ski area I have about a 2% chance of ever skiing at). We drove on for a bit more, then stopped for dinner. We were told, “You have one hour to grab something to eat before the bus leaves. We recommend you eat at Burger King, Subway, McDonalds, or Pizza Hut. There are other restaurants in the area, but be aware of the time.” The busses then pulled up next to McDonalds and dropped us of. Since that is my favorite of those fast food restaurants, I just ate there. A short time later, we were back on the road heading to Canada. At this time, Robb decided to play Canadian Bacon. It was a relatively generic Comedy that was just okay (I’ve certainly seen worse, but I’ve also seen a lot of better comedies). Before the movie ended, we reached the border. According to the current policy, we were all required to get off the bus and have our passports stamped. Even though I’ve been to Canada once before (in 2008 to visit Niagara Falls), this was the first time I got a stamp. The process was quick and easy, and before long we were on our way. We finished the movie and had another Snack Time, then headed onward to the hotel. As we neared the hotel, however, we all saw a disturbing sight: several downed power poles and a dark section of the city. Once we got back into the lights, I started looking at the addresses and did a double take. Before I knew it, the bus had made a u-turn. That is correct, our hotel had no power! Fortunately, we were still able to access our rooms since the locks ran on batteries. Everyone got out their Apple products (I used my iTouch as I don’t have an actual iPhone), and we made our way through the dark corridors to our rooms. Once everyone had deposited their bags, we all congregated in the parking lot outside of the entrance and held the TPR Alcohol and Snack Exchange. Even though I am of age in Canada, I chose not to drink since I didn’t want to risk missing the bus or ruin my day at La Ronde (I didn’t know what type of effect alcohol would have on me and my cellphone alarm is unreliable). However, I did take part in the snacks, which weren’t quite as good as they were on the IntimidaTour, but were interesting. I also went and wandered around the parking lot and hotel a bit, which is quite creepy in the dark when you are alone. I felt like I was in some haunted abandoned building or something. I did try finding my room in the dark just in case my battery died or something, and was successful by counting my steps from the lobby (yes, this is how I entertain myself). I also retrieved my trip notebook and got it up to date under the moonlight. Shortly before 1 A.M., I headed inside and went to bed, as I would need to be up at 7:30 A.M. the next morning and I was expecting a tiring day at La Ronde. Pictures The Canobie Lake day was the day where my number of photos began to decrease. It wasn’t so much that I couldn’t find things to take pictures of, but I just didn’t feel as much like pulling my camera out of my pocket (when I am at a park, my camera is inside a plastic bag along with my cellphone in one of my cargo pockets). Let's begin our day at Canobie Lake Park, home to many classic attractions, with a ride on a classic out and back. Yankee Cannonball was fun, but I think I might prefer 21st century thrills. Due to Canobie's 85 ft. height restriction, it is unlikely they will ever build a coaster taller than Untamed. The entire setting of this ride is nice. I like how they themed the support columns to look like trees. Yes, this is pretty much the entire ride. It really is short. In addition to a modern looper, Canobie has an old-school looper as well. Everyone on that train is getting screwed. Time for the pseudo-credit. "Hi, everyone. Welcome to my...oh crap! You people aren't kids. At least you aren't ACErs!" "You may not be ACErs, but you're still quite heavy combined." I do like dragons, but I think a two-tailed dragon looks a bit odd. "Hey! Why are you taking pictures of my rear end? It doesn't matter how I look, you're going to insist on getting your credit either way." Although this ride is named "Mini Dinos," I think they look more like dragons. Besides, most dinosaurs can't fly. One of Canobie's newer flats, the Wave Blaster. I didn't ride because it goes backwards. I really like how Canobie has a selection of both older flats like the Caterpillar... And newer flats like the Skater. Yay, a Sky Ride that is actually open. This looked identical to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk ride. If so, it was made by Roebling. Yeah, you can see pretty much the whole thing here. It probably wasn't more than about 400 ft. long. Disappointing scrambler in a dome. It would have been better if they simply turned the normal lights off during the ride. Less than two hours after we left the park, we're already in the mountains of Northern New Hampshire. Cannon Mountain! I'll probably never ski here, but at least I've seen a North East ski area. The McDonald's where I had dinner. I don't count McDonald's credits, or rank various McDonald's, because they are pretty much all the same. A storm is coming. We got lucky on this trip, and never had rain delays at the parks. As we learned from Canadian Bacon, all signs in Canada must be in both English... And French. It may not be that obvious, but there is not a single light on in this hotel. Apparently, a tornado or other strong storm blew through here and damaged the power lines in the area. It also totaled the deck at a restaurant next to the hotel. Everyone gathered outside the dark lobby waiting for the TPR Alcohol & Snack Exchange to begin. And that is where I end.

Best Wood: Apocalypse the Ride Worst Wood: Belmont Park's Giant Dipper (roughness) or Colossus (uneventfulness) Best Steel: Tatsu, X2, Xcelerator, Green Lantern: First Flight, California Screamin', Medusa, or Goliath, depending on wha type of ride you prefer. Worst Steel (excluding kiddies): Pony Express or Boomerang, depending on what type of discomfort is worse for you