rcdude
-
Posts
2,376 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by rcdude
-
-
Where I live, I don't have to deal with the off-season. Unfortunately, I have to deal with something else...school. With the exception of my family's annual trip to Knott's for Veteran's Day (which is tomorrow this year ) a park over winter break, and WCB, I really don't spend much time at parks between September and April. More often than not, I choose to do something else in the winter anyway. I can visit a park any time of the year, but I can only go skiing in the winter, so that is what I do instead. During the typical off-season, my days skiing is usually at least twice the number of days I spend in parks, and is sometimes as high as three to four times that amount. Example: during last year's off-season, I spent five days at actual amusement parks (two visits each to Knott's and SFMM, plus one to the Disneyland Resort). During that same time, I spent at least ten-twelve days skiing.
I also do all the typical enthusiast stuff (play RCT, watch TPR videos, track new rides, plan trips, etc.).
-
The first roller coaster video I remember watching was an old children's video called "There Goes a Roller Coaster." This video showcased the eight roller coasters Six Flags Magic Mountain had at the time (Colossus, Gold Rusher, Flashback, Revolution, Psyclone, Ninja, Viper, and Batman the Ride). The whole reason I started watching this was because I wanted to see what rides I could look forward to when I visited Six Flags Magic Mountain for the first time (which was around two to three years after I first got this video). I also used to enjoy a couple videos from the "America's Greatest Roller Coaster Thrills" series, although I found them to overall be fairly uninteresting.
Up until about 2004 or so, I used to watch an annual three-hour program the Discovery Channel did on roller coasters. Every year, the program was similar: there was always a show about the top ten coasters in the US, as well as a show about the latest innovations in the amusement industry, and finally a third feature that varied every year and always seemed to be California based. One year, it was a show about the construction of Goliath. Another year, a group of enthusiasts decided to ride over 30 coasters in 24 hours, and visited Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, California's Great America (Paramount's at the time), Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Marine World at the time), Scandia Amusement Park, Boomers Family Fun Center (which used to have a coaster), Adventure City, Knott's Berry Farm, and Six Flags Magic Mountain. They ended up getting 38 or 39 coasters by counting each track of Superman The Escape and Colossus separately, plus getting on all the kids coasters that don't usually allow adults to ride. The other special show I remember well was a competition at Six Flags Magic Mountain which features five teams of two attempting challenges on the park's rides. If I remember correctly, they were: 1. Do as many flips on the trampoline as possible, 2. Drop water balloons onto targets while on Dive Devil, 3. Ride Spin Out for three cycles straight, then walk across a balance beam without falling, 4. Keep a ball in a cup while on X, 5. Get as many passes as possible with a soccer ball during one ride on Superman The Escape, 6. Eat a three course meal then ride Goliath without getting sick for as long as you can. I liked these shows at the time, but now, when I look back on them, they don't seem all that great.
Recently, I've watched the vacation videos Disney World makes, as well as the various TV shows put out by different channels. However, ever since I started watching the TPR DVDs about three years ago I really haven't gotten much enjoyment out of any other amusement park related show or video.
-
I have been on a total of two Dinn corporation coasters.
Mean Streak at Cedar Point-I thought this ride was okay. Not good or bad, but very in the middle. I may have just gotten lucky, but I didn't find it to be rough at all. Granted, I only rode once and in the front row of the second car, so that may have had an effect on it. My problem with the ride is that it wasn't a very exciting or intense coaster, and the entire ride was killed by the trim on the first drop and the heavy midcourse brakes. I'd like to try this again next time I go to the park to see if I can see why everyone says the ride is horribly rough.
Psyclone at Six Flags Magic Mountain-This ride was probably the worst wooden coaster I've ever been on. It was very rough, slow, and didn't have any airtime at all. No wonder the ride never had more than a two train wait anytime I rode it. The only reason I rode it more than once was because it was at least moderately exciting and other people in my party always wanted to ride it for some reason. During the ride's lifetime, I think I rode it a grand total of six or seven times. I really wouldn't care to ever ride it again, and don't miss it one bit. Ironically, the spot once occupied by one of my least favorite wooden coasters is now home to my favorite wooden coaster.
Additionally, I have also been on Thunder Road at Carowinds, which Summers was involved in (but Dinn was not). That ride was actually really good (6th out of the 20 wood coasters I've been on). Unfortunately, it wasn't racing when I rode it, or it would have been a better ride. I will also be riding Wildcat at Lake Compounce next summer, which Summers was involved in as well (but once again, Dinn was not).
-
Out of all the B&M coasters I've been on, these are the ones I consider the most intense of their type.
Inverted: Tie: Batman The Ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain and Flight Deck at California's Great America
Floorless: Medusa at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
Flying: Tatsu at Six Flags Magic Mountain
Stand-Up: All stand-ups seem to be about equal
Mega: Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Diving Machine: I've only been on Griffon, but it wasn't very intense
-
The only Fabbri Spinning Mouse I've been on is Screamin' Demon at Castle Amusement Park. I don't remember much about it, but I think it was pretty unimpressive. In general, I'm not a huge fan of spinning mouse coasters. I find them to be just okay, and usually prefer a regular wild mouse to one of the spinning variety. My favorite spinning coaster is not a mouse, but is instead Sierra Sidewinder at Knott's Berry Farm. Too bad there aren't more like that around.
-
Well, if they are removing Yosemite Sam Sierra Falls then there goes the one non-coaster ride I make sure to ride every time I visit the park. Although it isn't anything amazing, it was something you don't find very often in amusement parks and that made it unique.
I agree with several others that the coaster would have been better over by Terminator Salvation and Deja Vu. Sure, this will improve SFMM's kiddie area, but unless everyone in your group is elementary-school aged or younger that area won't keep many people occupied for more than a half hour. Outside of it, there is maybe one ride that kids can do for every five adult rides, and they aren't evenly distributed around the park.
Looks like SFMM has now become a coaster only park for me. Other than coasters and Yosemite Sam Sierra Falls, the only other attractions I've been on more than once or twice are the Jet Stream and Log Jammer, and I never ride those if the line is greater than fifteen minutes because there are better rides of their type elsewhere.
-
IntimidaTour: Part 7
Day 8: Monday, August 23rd, 2010-Departure Day
As all trips must, it was now time for this one to come to an end. The bus was scheduled to depart the hotel for RIC airport at 10:15 A.M. Some had earlier flights and arranged an early shuttle at 7:00 A.M. A few had even earlier flights and arranged a super early shuttle at 3:30 A.M. Fortunately, my flight wasn't until 12:55 P.M. so I just took the bus.
As the bus drove to the airport, only about half full, there was none of the excitement of previous days present. Instead, there was the feeling of sadness and remembrance. People discussed their favorite parts of the trip with each other, talked about the next year's trips, and exchanged phone numbers/e-mail addresses. The bus arrived at the airport a little before 11 A.M. Robb thanked everyone for coming, and we all went our separate ways.
Richmond airport is an interesting airport, not because of its layout, but because of the lack of people present. There was no line at the Continental ticket counter, and about two people in front of me in the security line. After we had gone through security, we found that we still had an hour and a half before our flight was scheduled to leave. We got lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger, then walked around for a little bit before taking a seat at our gate.
Our flight ended up being delayed at the gate by about ten minutes, then had to wait out on the tarmac for another ten minutes before taking off. This decreased our already short connection time of 55 minutes. Fortunately, we got to EWR quickly, and everything worked out perfectly. After disembarking from the plane, claiming our gate-checked bags, and saying goodbye to a fellow TPR member heading to Arizona, we headed to the terminal transport bus. We got down to it just as the bus was getting ready to leave, got on, and rode from terminal A to terminal C. We got off the bus, headed up the stairs, and got to our gate just before it was time to board our rows. In total, I have now been in New Jersey for less than an hour. It is barely a layover state credit.
After our flight left, it was a boring six hour flight back to LAX. We were given turkey dogs for an in-flight snack, and had free entertainment provided by monitors in the back of the seat in front. Everything went smoothly and we touched down at LAX right on schedule. We then waited for about twenty minutes until our dad arrived to take us home.
The End
Overall, the IntimidaTour is one of the best vacations I have ever done. TPR trips are perfect for anyone who enjoys visiting amusement parks and wants to have a fun time doing it. I'm convinced that Robb & Elissa are among the best in the business, and even if they aren't, they will give you a trip unlike any other. I'm hooked on these, and want to try to do one every year. I'm currently signed up for the North East 2011 trip, along with my brother, although he will most likely drop. Unlike me, he has other things he spends money on and doesn't want to save up every year for a trip. He has told me that he will likely do an Orlando, East Coast, or Texas trip if they are offered in the future, but at the moment the other US trips don't interest him and he doesn't have enough money to travel overseas. My dad has shown interest in these trips, and considered joining me on the North East trip next year, although he decided not to. Instead, I've got a different vacation planned with him. Maybe I'll get him on one of these in the near future.
Also, for anyone who is unsure of whether or not to do a TPR trip, I recommend you go for it. Try a shorter, one week trip first, then, if you enjoy it, move up to a longer one if your budget will allow. They aren't for everyone, but they are a lot of fun. Like I say to people who are unsure of whether or not to ride something at a park: "Try it once. If you don't like it, you never have to do it again."
Trip Awards:
On the trips, krazekiddd gives out awards to participants who qualify. These include things such as the "biggest credit whore", "DUI on a coaster", "most amazing person", "banned from the USA", and various other awards based on previous participants and things they did. My awards are not quite the same. These are for parks, rides, perks, etc. on the trip. Each one has a best and worst category, but worst is a bit of a misnomer. I would definitely do 90% of the stuff on this trip again, so worst is really just the thing I liked least for that category. Most of these can be guessed by reading through the trip report, so this could also be considered a summary of highlights and not-so-highlights. Okay, here we go...
Best Park: Dollywood
Worst Park: Carowinds
Best Coaster: Intimidator at Carowinds
Worst Coaster: Speedway Draft at Nascar Speedpark
Best Non-Coaster Ride: Curse of DarKastle at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Worst Non-Coaster Ride: Tie: Boo Blasters on Boo Hill at Carowinds & Europe in the Air at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Best ERT Session: Tie: Dollywood night ERT on Mystery Mine and Thunderhead & Busch Gardens Williamsburg morning ERT on Apollo's Chariot
Worst ERT Session: Kings Dominion/ECB morning ERT on Grizzly
Best In-Park Group Meal: Lunch at Dollywood
Worst In-Park Group Meal: Lunch at Carowinds
Best Perk: Super-extensive backstage tour of Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Worst Perk: Bungee jump discount at the Track
Best Outside Park Group Meal: Carrabba's
Worst Outside Park Group Meal: T.G.I. Friday's
Best Non-Park Activity: Zorbing
Worst Non-Park Activity: Nascar Speedpark
Best Hotel: Comfort Inn Carowinds
Worst Hotel: Quality Inn & Suites Dollywood Lane
Best Bus Ride: Richmond, Virginia to Fort Mill, South Carolina
Worst Bus Ride: Williamsburg, Virginia to Doswell, Virginia
Best Snack at the Snack Exchange: Shawn's Cookies, Andrew's Cheerwine, and Belly Flops
Worst Snack at the Snack Exchange: Who am I kidding, they were all good
Best Bus Ride DVD: Shark Attack 3: Megalodon
Worst Bus Ride DVD: Can't remember any bad DVDs
Once again, even the worst categories were still good, and with the exception of Nascar Speedpark and Go-Karts Plus I definitely would do everything on this trip again. All four parks exceeded my expectations, and I'm sure I'd have a season pass to Dollywood, Busch Gardens, and possibly Kings Dominion if I lived within a two hour drive of them (not so sure about Carowinds). Once again, I would like to thank Robb & Elissa for an awesome trip, and I can't wait to see what kind of craziness they have planned for next year.
Now that my summer is over, this trip report is complete. I will still be visiting Knott's Berry Farm once or twice this year, and possibly Six Flags Magic Mountain, and maybe even Castle Amusement Park, but if I post trip reports from those parks they will be posted separately. This thread will receive one final update, however, when I get around to finishing my IntimidaTour video. It will probably be two or three weeks before I have enough time to finish it, but once I do I will post it.
I hope everyone enjoyed reading this thread, and I hope to meet more TPR members on future trips.
-
Okay, time to finish this. Even though this is the last park day there will be one more update coming tomorrow, however...
IntimidaTour: Part 6
Day 7: Sunday, August 22nd, 2010-Kings Dominion...East Coast Bash
Throughout the entire trip, I kept thinking that Kings Dominion would be the biggest disappointment of the trip. It seemed to be nothing more than a coaster saturated Cedar Fair park with about three good coasters and a handful of decent non-coaster attractions. After visiting the park...well, you've got to read this entire report to find out.
My brother and I got up early, had breakfast, boarded the bus, and arrived at Kings Dominion a little after 8:30 A.M. We were told that since it was East Coast Bash there would be about 175 to 200 people joining us. In fact, we'd known this would be the case since East Coast Bash was announced. Since I had previous experience with West Coast Bash, I wasn't worried about crowds. However, my brother had been worried ever since the ERT schedule was announced, as we would only have one coaster at a time with two hundred people. In hindsight, I should have paid more attention to him.
Our day began with forty-five minutes of ERT on Dominator. As soon as we entered the park, my brother and I headed over to the ride and found ourselves about three trains back in the line. Unfortunately, the ride wasn't quite ready yet due to some minor technical difficulties. We were told that there were two trains running and we would have plenty of time to ride. After about five to ten minutes, the ride opened and we rode.
Dominator-It is no secret that I like B&M coasters, or that floorless coasters are my favorite type of sitdown loopers. Dominator was, in my opinion, one of the finest sitdown looping coasters I have ever been on. In fact, it ended up being my favorite ride at Kings Dominion. Unlike the two California floorless coasters, the ride is not a rapid series of inversions, but instead features some other elements. It is also longer, which is always a plus. I wish I would have gotten more than two rides on it, but oh well. It gets an A.
After riding Dominator, I decided I really wanted to do it again. After seeing that the wait was two-thirds of the way down the stairs, my brother wanted to bail out of line. However, I convinced him to stay by reminding him that B&M rides have high capacity and the line was probably only about ten minutes. I timed it, and the line took 24 MINUTES!!! I don't mind a twenty-four minute wait during normal operation, but for ERT I generally consider this unacceptable. It wasn't because of the number of people present, but because dispatches averaged 3 minutes, which is about twice what I've seen the Scream crew do at Six Flags Magic Mountain. After the second ride, we decided to go wait out by the Eiffel Tower until they opened Rebel Yell rather than chance another ride, although the wait could no longer be seen from outside the station.
At about 9:40 A.M. we were walked over not to Rebel Yell, but to Grizzly. Looks like Kings Dominion decided to change the schedule on us. Oh well, I was looking forward to both rides (although racing Rebel Yell would definitely have been more fun). As we got to Grizzly it began to drizzle. Once we arrived, we were told that it would be about ten minutes because they had to transfer a train off. My brother and I both said it at about the same time: "One train during ERT? With 250 people? This sucks!"
Grizzly-Since there was only one train, we got stuck with riding in a bad seat, so the ride wasn't very good. I was only able to ride once, as the line when I got off (after riding on the second train of the day) was prohibitive. Where I was riding, the ride was rougher than Ghostrider, but had none of its benefits. However, since the ride reportedly had a decent amount of airtime in some other seats and was relatively smooth I'm going to give it a B based on potential alone. My ride on it was worse than any ride I've had on the CGA Grizzly, and if every seat is truly like that I'd give it a rare F.
Refusing to wait in a half-hour plus line during ERT to find out that the ride sucked in other seats too, I waited with a group of people for nearly a half-hour until we were walked over to Intimidator 305. Once we got there, we were told that ride wasn't ready yet, either. By the time the first guests from the park entrance showed up we were allowed into the queue. My brother and I got on the second train of the day.
Intimidator 305-Intimidator 305 is a really good ride. It features a gigantic drop, a series of quick transitions and steeply banked turns, and a couple smaller hills. However, in all honesty, while Intimidator 305 is a really good ride, I do not feel it is worthy of being one of the world's top 25 coasters. It failed to make it into my top twenty, and it also came in third place at Kings Dominion behind Volcano and Dominator. This is not because of the trim brakes on the first drop, because I would actually like it less if I blacked out on the ride. It is most likely because I found the ride to be very un-reridable. Yes, it is fun, but all the quick transitions give quite a bit of a jerk. I rode once in the morning, and then didn't ride again until night ERT. However, after three rides during night ERT, I decided that I had had enough. Even when I am prepared for those transitions, they still throw me. Thanks to the restraints, there is no headbanging, and I have no complaints about that. However, I could imagine with Intamin's current shoulder harness that some people could have issues, although I doubt many would. If it had older-style harnesses, such as the ones on Volcano, however, I could see the ride giving people head injuries. It is glass smooth, but that doesn't mean you can't get tossed during those transitions. Overall, I will give Intimidator 305 a B. It is not a bad ride by any means, but I would NEVER wait an hour to ride it. Yes, I do prefer Millennium Force, as does my brother, who said Intimidator 305 was the biggest disappointment of the trip and that he would rather wait fifteen minutes for anything else in the Congo (except Anaconda) than for Intimidator 305.
Oh, and for the people complaining about the trim brakes, I have only this to say: GET OVER IT!!! They are not that big of a deal. If you don't like them, don't ride. It is that simple. Unless the first drop is the only thing on a ride (example: Oblivion), having trims on it doesn't make it instantly suck. They aren't going anywhere, and the ride is still an above-average coaster with them on by almost anyone's standards. Don't like it, don't ride, and make the line shorter for those who don't mind and want to ride. This is the last time I will ever mention the trim brakes on Intimidator 305 (well, other than a brief mention later in this report).
After Intimidator 305, my brother and I headed to Volcano, The Blast Coaster to find out that it wasn't open yet. Gee, what a surprise. This was about the point where I decided that not only was Kings Dominion the worst park of the trip, it was one of the worst major parks I'd been to. So far, nothing had been open on time, lines had been long, the park had changed the schedule at the last minute, and not once had I felt any of the excitement of WCB. After waiting around for fifteen minutes, Volcano finally opened. My brother and I were on the third train of the day (it was running one train, of course).
Volcano, The Blast Coaster-This ride was amazing. The launch is totally unexpected, as you don't know exactly when the motors are going to engage. It was also cool riding around over a hundred feet above the ground on an inverted coaster, and the ride was glass smooth. It's largest flaw was definitely the length, and that is the main reason it came in second behind Dominator in my opinion. I really wish Intamin had built more of these, as it truly is an awesome ride. A
After Volcano, my brother and I talked with each other and determined that it was unlikely we would be able to do every coaster before lunch, as we had originally planned. I therefore suggested that we do all the rides in the Congo, then go from there. We therefore backtracked a little ways to ride Flight of Fear, then rode the following attractions in the order they are listed.
Flight of Fear-First off, this is the best themed ride at any Cedar Fair park save the mine ride and log flume at Knott's. Anyway, the ride was really good. I think my brother liked it better than I did, but I still thought it would be worth nearly an hour wait. The ride is basically a minute of pure craziness in semi-darkness. It was also fun riding it with the lights on, but I liked the lights off version better. I'll give it a B.
Back Lot Stunt Coaster-This ride was good, but not great. It is short, but is unique. The ride reminded me of what Revenge of the Mummy would be like if it was outdoors. I'll give it a C, however, as it is just a family ride and, after riding twice, I didn't think it was something I'd want to do again if the wait was more than fifteen minutes. It was also a very slow line in the morning when only one train was running.
Anaconda-This was better than I expected. I wasn't expecting it to be very good, but I actually enjoyed Anaconda better than Viper or Loch Ness Monster. It was a little rough, but not too bad, and I thought the uniqueness of the layout was worth the roughness, especially when there was absolutely no wait. I give it a C.
Ricochet-This was much better than the Ricochet at Carowinds, and is my current favorite wild mouse. It is exactly the same layout as Technic Coaster at Legoland California, but it seemed like it had less braking, making the ride a little more thrilling. It is still nothing but a wild mouse, however, and therefore cannot earn higher than a C from me.
Hurler-This, unfortunately, was worse than the Carowinds version. It was almost identical in nearly all aspects, but it seemed a little rougher. I'll give it a D, because this is something I don't mind riding, but definitely would not want to wait for.
Rebel Yell-Unfortunately, only one track of this ride was running so I could only get one credit. Oh well. The ride was pretty good, but I think I preferred the blue side of Thunder Road ever so slightly. The silver side of Thunder Road was significantly worse. It may be just me, but although Thunder Road and Rebel Yell have identical track layouts, Thunder Road seemed to be slightly faster and have slightly more airtime. Nevertheless, I give Rebel Yell a B.
Since Shockwave wasn't open yet at this point, we decided to go get a locker by the waterpark for later. By the time we were done, Shockwave was open. We got on the second train of the day.
Shockwave-What can I say about Shockwave that is positive...it is unique, and I survived. That is about it. Shockwave is one of the most painful coasters I have been on. First, the restraints flat out suck. Not only are they difficult to get into, but the lap bar appears to be designed to Japanese standards. Since Americans are taller, this means that instead of being at your lap the bar is more at your crotch, which means all riders of the male gender are in for some unpleasantness. Being Togo, the ride is also very, very rough. Although it isn't the absolute worst coaster in the world, Shockwave is horrible. It lost the worst coaster of the trip award to Carolina Cyclone only because it is more unique, but it is a ride I will never ride again...unless it has no wait...and I'm with someone who needs the credit. In that case, I'd ride it again. D only because it didn't end my day prematurely, or at least require me to take a break.
Drop Tower-I believe this is the tallest drop ride in the United States. It certainly felt tall when you were at the top. Additionally, due to how far away from the tower the seats are, you feel like you are held up by nothing. The drop on this ride is unreal, as it seems like you are falling forever. I know that it is only about a three second drop, but it feels much longer than that. I give this ride a B because it is a drop tower and is a short ride (duration-wise, not height-wise), but do note that it is the best drop ride I have experienced except for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
After Drop Tower, my brother and I did a time-check. To our surprise, it was only 12:30 P.M. Even more surprising, we had only two credits left to get. We decided to head to Avalanche next. Unfortunately, this became the longest wait of the trip since it was shut down for at least a half-hour to add a second train while we were in line. Oh well.
Avalanche-This ride type didn't catch on in the United States, but I found it to be a fun ride. The ride was a very unique family coaster, so I only give it a C, but it is definitely worth riding and definitely better than Intamin's version of the bobsled concept.
Due to the long wait at Avalanche, we had to head to lunch afterward. Lunch at Kings Dominion wasn't bad. They had both hot dogs and chicken, unlike Carowinds. During lunch, one of the park management people did a Q&A session, but due to the microphone volume and the fact that he rarely repeated questions over the mic, it was difficult to tell what he was responding to at points. I heard some booing at one point, which I assume was a response to a question about Intimidator 305's trims. After the Q&A, it was time for a brand new, never been done before activity...TPR Quest.
TPR Quest was very, very fun. Robb selected ten people, and then sent them on twenty quests into the audience to find random crap that he asked them for. Some items were generic, especially at first, but they got progressively more interesting. I know that some people were unhappy that Robb asked for a bra, but I thought that was awesome, and anyone who gave up their bra for that challenge deserves a prize in addition to the participants. I was pulled up twice by competitors (TPR shirt and TPR trip shirt) since I was wearing my IntimidaTour shirt at Kings Dominion. Overall, this game was a lot of fun, and I think it should be mandatory at ALL TPR Bash Events. Knott's had something similar to this at their lunch, but it wasn't nearly as good and consisted of finding very generic items (a hat, a shoe, a keychain, etc.).
After the game, we were told to meet at Anaconda in a half hour for the backstage tour. My brother and I decided to ditch this since it was just a half-hour photo walkback of Intimidator 305. Instead, we went to get our final credit and did a couple additional rides.
Ghoster Coaster-This was a little bit better than Woodstock Express at Carowinds. Even though it was identical, I somehow avoided bashing my knee on the bar. I'll give the ride a C because, although it is just a family coaster, it is better than Hurler.
Eiffel Tower-Just an observation tower. It gets a C because it is open air (windy) and doesn't have the best view in the world.
Shenandoah Log Flume-I had heard that this was a really good log flume. It was good, but nothing special, and barely justified the twenty minute wait. It had two decent drops with a boring section in between. Not the worst log flume I've been on, but nothing special. C
Blue Ridge Tollway-I like these "drive the car around the fixed track" rides, and was disappointed that I missed the one at Dollywood. This one was good, but not as good as some others. I'll give it a C because it had no wait and travelled through the forest.
After Blue Ridge Tollway, we did a time check and found out that it was close to 4:30 P.M. We had planned on going to the waterpark at 5:00 P.M., but since the Whitewater Canyon had a massive wait and we didn't have anything else we wanted to do, we decided to go over there early. After getting changed, we went on Freestylin'.
Freestylin'-This is a standard single-tube open flume slide. There are two flumes but only one was open, so we only rode once. Good ride, but nothing special.
After Freestylin', we went back to the lockers to meet up with the rest of the TPR group. After about ten minutes, we decided to ditch them as nobody had shown up. As we were headed back to the gate, I noticed that everyone was coming down the tower for Tornado, but that they had left their tubes up there. About ten seconds later, I heard thunder. My brother and I immediately turned around and hid under an umbrella. We were joined by a couple other TPR members, who had just shown up. A couple minutes later, it began pouring rain. I watched as the waterpark emptied, thunder crackled, all the rides stopped, and people frantically got changed and returned their locker keys.
After fifteen minutes or so, the rain stopped. About ten minutes after that, they began letting people back into the waterpark. My brother and I headed back to Pipeline Peak to wait for it to reopen. We decided to attempt to get on everything in the waterpark before it closed, if possible. At about 6 P.M., the waterpark reopened.
Pipeline Peak-Pipeline Peak is split into two levels. We did the upper level first, consisting of Night Slider and Power Plunge. They are both dark body slides. One is a straight drop and the other has several spirals that pull an insane amount of G-force. I liked the straight drop better. We then moved to the lower level, consisting of Rip Slide and Turbo Twister, two dark double tube slides with several waterfalls on the way down. I think I liked the blue slide better (forget which is which), but they were both nearly identical. Either way, I liked Freestylin' better than anything on this tower because I am generally not a huge body-slide fan and I prefer single tubes to double tubes.
Zoom Flume-This is the park's family raft ride. It was short, but up to this point it was my favorite ride at Waterworks.
Baja Bends-A set of four body slides. I rode four times to try each of the four flumes, and I liked flume three best. This was my least favorite attraction in the park, but as far as old-school body slides go it was pretty good.
Shoot the Curl-Three enclosed body slides. Rode twice and I liked the middle slide with a straight drop better, however the body slides on Pipeline Peak were better than these.
Tornado-Funnel slides are my favorite type of water slide. This is no exception. Although not the best funnel ride I've been on, this ride wasn't bad, and was still the best slide in the waterpark.
By the time we finished Tornado, it was 6:55 P.M. We got changed, returned the locker key, and got dinner. We then rode Back Lot Stunt Coaster again, then went to Volcano, The Blast Coaster for night ERT.
During night ERT, I rode Volcano twice, Flight of Fear twice, and Intimidator 305 three times. They were all fun. Once ERT ended, we were given a short speech by the park manager (forget his name), then escorted out to the parking lot. We got back on the bus, rode back across the street to the hotel, got off, then gathered in the lobby for the last night of the trip. At about ten-thirty my brother and I headed up to our room, and after getting showered we went to bed.
Overall, Kings Dominion was much better than I originally expected it to be. It was a good park, and actually ended up being better than Carowinds. Other than the morning portion of the day, the rest of the day was great. Kings Dominion comes in as my second favorite Cedar Fair park behind California's Great America. Compared to other Cedar Fair parks I've been to, it is second in ride selection (behind California's Great America), first in coaster quality, second in coaster variety (behind Carowinds), and second in terms of food (behind Knott's, only due to their fried chicken). It was a great way to finish off the trip, and is definitely a park I would like to return to in a few years.
Ride Count:
Dominator-2
Grizzly-1
Intimidator 305-4
Volcano, The Blast Coaster-3
Flight of Fear-3
Back Lot Stunt Coaster-2
Anaconda-1
Ricochet-1
Hurler-1
Rebel Yell-1
Shockwave-1
Drop Tower-1
Avalance-1
Ghoster Coaster-1
Eiffel Tower-1
Shenandoah Log Flume-1
Blue Ridge Tollway-1
Freestylin'-1 (right flume only)
Pipeline Peak-4 (2 on body slides, 2 on tube slides, once on each slide)
Zoom Flume-1
Baja Bends-4 (once on each flume)
Shoot the Curl-2 (once each on flumes one and two)
Tornado-1
Total-39 rides in 11 hours (3.55 rides per hour)
Oh, by the way, here is how I would order the coasters at Kings Dominion:
1. Dominator
2. Volcano, The Blast Coaster
3. Intimidator 305
4. Flight of Fear
5. Grizzly (based on potential)
6. Rebel Yell
7. Back Lot Stunt Coaster
8. Ricochet
9. Anaconda
10. Avalanche
11. Ghoster Coaster
12. Hurler
13. Shockwave
Now, my general comments about East Coast Bash. It was quite different from West Coast Bash, but was still fun in its own way. While the event was mostly good, I think there are a few things that really stood out to me, and a couple that could have been improved.
First, the good:
1. TPR Quest was EPIC! This was a very fun way to have the final group meal of the trip, and made up for there being no official farewell dinner (I believe every other trip has had one and our trip was going to, but due to ECB it was cancelled. I may be incorrect, however, so feel free to correct me). It really should be at every TPR bash from now on.
2. Night ERT was awesome. Volcano and Intimidator 305 are great rides, and so is Flight of Fear. I liked being able to ride FOF with the lights on, but what I didn't think would happen did...the operators were giving each train a choice of lights on or off. I ended up riding once with each, and on my dark ride the lights actually came on right as I was going through the corkscrew. That's probably the only time I'll ever be on a roller coaster upside down in a dark room when all the lights turn on.
3. Even though there were 250 people, with only the exception noted below there were minimal lines during ERT, which is how it should be.
Now, the bad. Both of these complaints are minor:
1. ERT on one coaster...running one train...with 250 people in line. I know that this isn't the event organizer's fault, but it was still the low point of morning ERT. In fact, both coasters in the morning had significant waits. I don't mind waiting twenty minutes during ERT, but when the ride appears to have a five minute wait every time I walk by it later in the day it is annoying. Granted, I didn't time the wait later in the day and I would still take ERT with long lines over no ERT, but it is just a little disappointing.
2. Q&A setup. I like Q&A sessions, but when it is difficult to hear the responses and almost impossible to hear the questions, it kind of defeats the purpose. It would have been better if there was a second mic so that people asking questions could use one too. Of course, I did arrive a little late and was stuck in the back, so it is partially my fault.
Again, ECB was a lot of fun, and I would not be opposed to doing another event on next year's trip. In fact, I believe ECB will be at Six Flags Great Adventure next year, as that is the day both trips will meet up, although I don't know for sure. However, at next year's event, I really, really hope we don't have ERT on one coaster at a time. It works fine with up to about a hundred people, but when you get more than that it starts to become too crowded.
Unfortunately, I was so busy running around trying to do everything at Kings Dominion that I didn't have time to take any pictures. Oh well, at least I've got memories.
-
Wow...this isn't quite what I expected. However, I think it will work well for the park. If you break it down:
Superman: Escape from Krypton-The old Superman The Escape was never a ride that I considered to be that exciting, but this version looks better. I'm guessing that it's line could possibly rival X2's line due to the lower capacity, even with both tracks running. However, I definitely want to go ride it once it opens and see how it is. The backwards cars look interesting, but I don't think they will make the ride the best in the park. It does look like it goes higher, which is a plus, but I don't know how easy it will be to notice that while actually on the ride.
Kids Coaster-The name is very disappointing, and sounds like something Cedar Fair will do. Either way, if they can get a 36" height restriction on this one it will be an excellent family ride, and will keep young children entertained while their older siblings ride Terminator and Deja Vu.
Green Lantern-This one came out of nowhere. I've nver been on a ZacSpin, but they look like good rides. Not necessarily the best, but I'm sure it will be fun, although I would have preferred a Dive Machine or Eurofighter. I don't know what type of height restriction this will have, but it doesn't look that insane so it seems almost like a medium-intensity coaster, which is something the park could use. I'm sure it will have a massive line due to low capacity, but I still can't wait to ride it.
This expansion looks like it will add three coaster experiences...one for kids, one for thrill seekers, and one for everyone (depending on height restriction). It will do well to balance out the park, and will hopefully secure the park's coaster count so they can start adding non-coaster rides. For 2012, I want to see a drop tower of some sort.
Even though I live an hour and a half away, it looks like next year might be the first year I get a SFMM season pass.
Also, for the person who asked, SFMM usually opens new rides Memorial Day weekend or slightly before. I just hope this doesn't turn out to be another 2001 where one of the three opened on time, the second was delayed until August, and the third didn't open until the next year. Fortunately, all of these are proven concepts so it should go off without a hitch. Can't wait to get pictures of all of these at WCB this year, and maybe, if SFMM is quick, one of them will be ready by then for us to try.
-
For me, it depends a lot on the ride. However, I have noticed the following general trends.
Wood Coasters: I always prefer GCI rides in the back. For all other wooden coasters, I don't tend to have much of a preference, although I won't ride in seats that are extra rough.
Steel Coasters: Here, it depends a lot on the ride type and manufacturer.
B&M: Front on all rides except Inverted coasters, where I like both the front and back (but not the middle). On diving machines, I will not ride anywhere except the front or a back corner.
Intamin: Front on Millennium Force, back on Intimidator 305. Front on any inverted coaster. Back on any launched coaster. I don't have a preference on any of their other rides.
X2: Front
Mega Coasters (regardless of manufacturer): Front
Arrow: Front on hyper coasters. No preference for any of their other types of rides.
All others not listed: No preference.
In general, I will not wait too much longer to ride in a specific seat. I don't care too much where I ride and usually go for the shortest line during regular operating hours. During ERT, however, I will ride once in the front, followed by once in the back, and then just take empty seats for the rest of the session wherever they may be in the train.
-
There are three parks that stand out for me.
1. Six Flags Magic Mountain-Driving on the I-5 north, you go down a hill and the park suddenly comes into view at the bottom. It also looks good driving past or going the opposite direction.
2. Cedar Point-Anywhere on the mainland gives you a good view, but as you drive out to the park you really begin to realize how large the attractions really are. It's even better if you drive around the park once you are out there.
3. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk-If you walk out along the cliffs north of the park it looks really great from a distance.
-
No, this trip report isn't dead. I've just been busy with schoolwork for the past couple weeks. I intended to have this finished by now, but if all goes according to plan I may have it finished this weekend.
IntimidaTour: Part 5
Day 6: Saturday, August 21st, 2010-Busch Gardens
Of all the parks on the trip, Busch Gardens Williamsburg was the one I was most looking forward to visiting. I've wanted to visit the park ever since one of my friends got to visit back in 2006, and as soon as this trip was announced I pretty quickly decided that I wanted to do it. In fact, Busch Gardens was the primary reason that my brother decided to do the trip as well.
Originally, the plan was to visit Busch Gardens on Monday. This would have meant we wouldn't be able to get there until about two in the afternoon because we would have to wait for the Middle America people to arrive. Elissa then decided that she would fly in the day ahead so all the early arrivers could have a full day at the park. Eventually, it was decided that, since Freestyle Music Park had been dropped from the trip, we could do Busch Gardens on Saturday and everyone could have a full day at the park. This worked out really well, and allowed Robb & Elissa to arrange the largest backstage tour they have ever done on a TPR trip.
Our day started early, as we had to leave the hotel at 7 A.M. After a little bit of a drive (a half-hour or so) we arrived at the park. Instead of using the main entrance, we were taken over to a gate by Apollo's Chariot. Everyone got off the bus and was given a wristband, an admission ticket, a meal ticket, and a quick queue. We all had our tickets scanned, then entered the park through a backstage area. After a short walk we arrived at Apollo's Chariot, where we had a full hour of morning ERT, during which I rode 9 times (once in each car).
Apollo's Chariot-After my experience on Intimidator, I was very excited to ride Apollo's Chariot. I had heard that this was one of the best steel coasters not just in the United States, but in the entire world. I rode a total of ten times throughout the day, and found it to be fun, but that I preferred Intimidator. I have no clue why. Apollo's Chariot has a lot of airtime and is glass smooth, but for some reason I didn't enjoy it as much. It may be because the ride felt short when compared to Intimidator, or it may be because it was smaller, but for whatever reason it didn't seem as good. It is not a bad ride, and still ranks in my top twenty roller coasters, as well as being the second best at Busch Gardens, and it did live up to the hype, but it wasn't my favorite coaster of the trip. I do believe, however, that it was a favorite of a majority of trip participants, especially if you remove Intimidator 305 from the equation (more on that later). In short, Apollo's Chariot is an A ride and is an absolute must ride regardless of wait time, but it wasn't my favorite ride of its type.
After ERT ended, it was time for our four hour backstage tour. During the tour, we would be given a behind the scenes look at Curse of DarKastle, Alpengeist, Griffon, Europe in the Air, Loch Ness Monster, and Escape from Pompeii. Our large group split into four groups of roughly fifteen each. My brother and I joined group A, which was known as the "Steve Team."
The tour began with a walk through Festa Italia, Italy, and Oktoberfest to reach Curse of DarKastle. All four groups crowded into the maintenance room for the ride where we learned about the ride vehicles and got to watch a profile test, which is essentially a run-through of the ride program while the car is stationary. This was very interesting to see, and gave me an idea of what to expect when I would get to ride later. We then got to walk the entire track of the ride, starting at the maintenance bay and heading in the reverse of the direction of travel. It was very cool seeing all the sets of this ride with the lights on. I also found it interesting how only part of the room was themed and the areas opposite the direction the car faces were just black walls. This is something very few dark rides can get away with. In addition to walking through the ride, we also got to go see the projector room.
Following the DarKastle tour, all four groups headed in separate directions for the remainder of the tour. Our group headed to Alpengeist first. Here, we got to tour the maintenance area, learn about the ride and its maintenance procedures, and hold coaster wheels. This is the first time I've ever got a chance to touch ride parts guests usually aren't allowed to touch. I was surprised by how much the road wheels weighed (if I remember right, they were around 40 pounds). The guide/upstop wheels were much lighter. After about fifteen-twenty minutes we moved on.
We next headed over to Griffon. Here, we got to tour the maintenance bay as well. I was surprised to learn that when the trains are in here, they aren't actually on the ride track, but are instead held up by drive tires and a rack on each side of the train. The wheels for this ride were much heavier than the Alpengeist wheels, so I didn't even try to pick one up. We also got to walk under the ride a little to get pictures from areas guests normally can't access.
After Griffon, we took the one restroom stop of the tour, then headed to Europe in the Air. Here, we got to ride.
Europe in the Air-Europe in the Air is a simulator ride similar to Soarin' Over California, but is a normal motion simulator instead of an inverted one. This makes the ride more intense as the motion platform can tilt much more than Soarin' can. The experience begins with a preshow telling you which countries you will be visiting on your flight. You are then sent into a different room and shown a safety video before boarding the ride. The attraction itself is just okay. While it does have some advantages over Soarin', such as transitions between locations, it is overall not quite as good. I thought the ride was a little too much simulator and not enough scenic tour. In addition, the Paris segment didn't make sense, as an airplane wouldn't be driving around the streets. Overall, while it isn't a bad ride, it is my least favorite simulator attraction, which requires me to give it a D.
Following our ride, we were taken a few at a time and shown the control room for the attraction. This was interesting, as we got to see what the ride operators see. It is very similar to some operator simulator games I've played online, so I could kind of tell what the different controls were for. After everyone had seen the control room, we headed off to our next destination.
Our next stop was Loch Ness Monster. Here, we got to go to the maintenance room under the station and play around with all kinds of coaster parts. Wheels on this ride were really light, so I decided to see how many I could hold at once (I got four). I also tried wearing a shoulder harness around. It was easier to keep it balanced than I had expected, and I managed to wear it for about five minutes while I walked around without dropping it. They certainly feel much lighter when they are attached to the train. I also tried to pick up a section of coaster chain, but it was so heavy I could only lift one or two links.
Following Loch Ness Monster, we stopped to get a drink, then headed to Escape from Pompeii. Here, we went into the dark ride building and checked out the ride from several areas. First, we visited the control room where the fire effect operator is stationed. He told us a little bit about what he does, then we went through a corridor to another control room, the drop controller. I had never thought about it before, but the section of the ride building not seen by guests looked like nothing more than an industrial warehouse. I guess it doesn't need to.
After visiting the drop controller, who oversees the boat as it plunges down to drop and watches to make sure nobody goes swimming, we visited a small outcrop where we could watch guests float by. Some people decided to watch silently, while others played tricks on the unsuspecting riders such as waving to them, popping up from behind the wall, or flashing them with their camera. It was here that I realized how high capacity Busch Gardens can manage, as the boats would come by every thirty seconds or so. In fact, Busch Gardens is probably second only to Disney in terms of ride efficiency.
Following our tour, we got to ride. All of us were loaded into a private boat, and we were sent on our way.
Escape from Pompeii-Escape from Pompeii is a really good ride. It was my second favorite flume ride on the trip (after Daredevil Falls) and is probably my favorite splash boat ride (unless you count Daredevil Falls as a splash boat). The ride featured a short, but very unique, dark ride section and a relatively large and steep drop for this type of ride. You also get very wet, especially in the front row. I think I'll give this ride a B.
Following Escape from Pompeii, we headed back over to Oktoberfest via the floating bridge for our final stop on the tour...a ride on Curse of DarKastle.
Curse of DarKastle-This is my favorite simulator ride. Yes, I consider it a simulator, and not a dark ride, as a good portion of it is a movie and if the whole thing was just a movie with a regular simulator it would be just as good. The ride was very interesting, fun, and was definitely a must do attraction. Even though I had walked through the ride earlier, it was a completely different experience to actually be riding it. I ended up riding a second time later in the day, and would have liked to ride more, but the line looked to be over an hour and I didn't want to wait. I give this ride an A.
After our ride, our tour guide said farewell and we were turned loose in the park. My brother and I decided to go get lunch before doing any rides, since it was already after 1 P.M. We went to a small stand in Scotland that sold chicken strips. They were actually really good.
After lunch, we took the skyride from England to France.
Skyride-Unlike most skyrides, this one had not two, but three, different stations. They were in England, France, and Germany, so the attraction made somewhat of a triangle. I ended up riding two of the legs, and after timing them determined that it was an isosceles triangle, meaning two sides were the same length and a third side had a different length. The ride had a bit of a line both times, but it wasn't too bad and saved a lot of walking. I give it a B.
We got off the skyride planning to head to Griffon, but it was broken down so we changed our plans. Instead, we went to Alpengeist.
Alpengeist-Alpengeist was a really good ride, and made it onto my top twenty coasters list. However, it wasn't as good as Apollo's Chariot, ranking it third out of the five coasters at the park. It also wasn't as good as Afterburn, so it didn't become my favorite inverted coaster. It is, however, better than the other four inverted coasters I have experienced. I give this ride an A based on my four rides throughout the day.
Since Griffon still wasn't open after riding Alpengeist, we decided to do the log flume.
Le Scoot Log Flume-This was a really good log flume. My only problem with the ride was that it was too short. However, it is my favorite unthemed log flume and gets a B.
Following Le Scoot, we noticed that Griffon was running again and headed over there. Since it had just reopened, we joined the regular queue and got to the station within ten minutes, just as a large group of TPR members arrived in the quick queue line. We all got in line for the front row, and within three trains were on.
Griffon-Griffon was amazing. The ride is short, but it features the best drop of any coaster I have been on. I also love hanging over the edge in the front, and in the back you get ejected the entire way down the drop. Although it is a little bit repetitive, Griffon made it into the number four spot on my coaster list, right behind Maverick and right in front of Mystery Mine. It definitely gets an A, and is the best ride at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
Following Griffon, we went to the train station and took the train back to Scotland.
Train-This is a really good way to get around the park. It is probably the most effective transport ride I've seen at any park, and is very similar to the Disneyland Railroad. I made ample use of this throughout the day as it never had more than a one train wait and they had two of them on the track. I give it a B only because it isn't actually much of a ride, and more of a transport system.
When we got off the train, we headed to Loch Ness Monster.
Loch Ness Monster-Loch Ness Monster was the first roller coaster that I ever added to my "list of coasters I must ride" list. It was a good ride, but wasn't quite what I expected. The first half of the ride was good, but the second half was pointless. All it did after the second lifthill was go around a turn, down a hill, through a loop, and back up to the brakes. I wouldn't have minded if this part of the ride was left out, but I know that the park only had it because they wanted to have interlocking loops. The ride was fun, but I only rode once, and it became my least favorite coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I'll give it a C. Compared to the other Arrow loopers I've been on, this one comes in behind SFMM's Viper and ahead of CGA's Demon. It was nowhere close to as good as Tennessee Tornado (as I had thought it might be) but was also nowhere near as bad as Carolina Cyclone.
After Loch Ness Monster, I headed over to Sesame Street Forest of Fun to ride Grover's Alpine Express, but upon finding the line was over a half hour I decided I would come back later. Instead, we headed over to Apollo's Chariot and rode with the Quick Queue, then took a ride on Roman Rapids.
Roman Rapids-This ride was good, but not great. It was a little too short, and I didn't like how you stayed mostly dry until the end where the boat went under about five waterfalls in a row, completely soaking all riders. However, we happened to ride with a few other random trip participants, so we got wet with friends, which added to the fun. I'm going to give this ride a C because it does what a rapids ride should, but isn't anything special at all.
After Roman Rapids, we took the train to New France and rode Curse of DarKastle a second time, then took the skyride back to England and went to get dinner at a pizza place in Festa Italia. Even though I'm not a huge pizza person, I thought it was pretty good. I decided that overall Busch Gardens Williamsburg has the best traditional amusement park food out of any park I've been to.
After dinner, we went back to Sesame Street Forest of Fun to ride Grover's Alpine Express, despite the fact that it still had a bit of a wait.
Grover's Alpine Express-If you remove Disney from the equation, this is the best kidde coaster I've been on. It is large enough to be not be boring for adults, but is also small enough to not scare kids. I give it a C in general, but for kids it gets an A.
After Grover's Alpine Express, my brother was unhappy because we had wasted time riding it. He cheered up after a little while when I apologized for wasting his time and hadn't realized that he was so against riding. We then went and looked at the wolf and eagle exhibits. Afterward, we just walked around the park, looked in the gift stores and restaurants, and found a place to watch fireworks from. Following the end of the fireworks, we headed to Alpengeist for night ERT.
We were scheduled to have an hour of ERT on Alpengeist and Griffon, but due to crowds ERT started late. Busch Gardens Williamsburg gave us the full hour anyway. During this time, I rode Alpengeist three times, followed by six laps on Griffon. Most people quit sooner, and on my last ride on Griffon my brother and I had a private train.
Following ERT we headed out to the bus, then headed off for the hotel. The trip awards were presented, then Robb talked a little bit about Kings Dominion. He then told everyone to get some sleep and turned off the lights. Since I have a hard time sleeping on a moving vehicle, I stayed awake for the hour or so ride to the hotel. I have a feeling I was one of the few. When we arrived at the hotel, we unloaded the bus, got keys, headed to our room, took quick showers, and went straight to bed.
Overall, Busch Gardens was a great park. It reminded me of Disneyland in a lot of ways, but it was better. In fact, it is my second favorite park after Dollywood. It is also the only park I've been to other than Six Flags Magic Mountain with three coasters in my top twenty coasters. Although they don't have that many coasters or an extremely large variety, Busch Gardens had better average ride quality. In fact, if the park had a little better selection of attractions overall it would likely be my favorite park. It is certainly a park I think everyone should visit at some point just to see it.
Ride Count:
Apollo's Chariot-10 (NEW RECORD!)
Europe in the Air-1
Escape from Pompeii-1
Curse of DarKastle-2
Skyride-2
Alpengeist-4
Le Scoot Log Flume-1
Griffon-7
Train-2
Loch Ness Monster-1
Roman Rapids-1
Grover's Alpine Express-1
Total-33 rides in 12 hours (2.75 rides per hour)
Interestingly, even though Busch Gardens was the most crowded day of the trip I still managed to get more rides than at Carowinds or Dollywood due to the Quick Queue and ERT. This count would not have been possible without the help of TPR and ERT. Also, 10 rides on Apollo's Chariot is a new record for the highest number of times I've been on one ride in a single day (previously it was 8 with Jaguar at Knott's).
Time for some pictures. Also, Kings Dominion will hopefully be posted tomorrow so you can check back for that if you're interested in my review and analysis of East Coast Bash (some bad, but mostly good).
This was the view from where we entered the park. Now, where could we be heading first?
Of course. Time for an HOUR of ERT.
I'm not 100% sure, but I'm guessing a majority of trip participants thought either this or I305 was the best ride of the trip. Since they're all still riding, it looks like they're enjoying it.
Here's an example of the efficiency of Busch...wait.
That's better. Even during ERT, the park was running three trains with zero stacking.
During the end of ERT, the trains started to look like this.
Time for the tour. En route to DarKastle, we passed this. I think it is some type of restaurant/show hybrid, but I'm not exactly sure.
I think it is kind of funny that Busch Gardens Williamsburg is almost as large as Six Flags Magic Mountain but you can still capture three of their four major coasters in one shot...from within the park!
Unfortunately, I never got a chance to do this. Oh well...maybe next time.
I am not annoyed that Big Bad Wolf was removed for a new coaster. I am, however, annoyed that it was removed for a new coaster the year before I visited the park...and from what I heard about the ride it was easily the best Arrow suspended ever built (excluding Eagle's Fortress).
As can be seen from this clock, it is still before park opening.
This is likely as close to an authentic German beer tent as I will ever get. Maybe I should have spent more than five minutes inside.
Time to tour DarKastle. This ride vehicle looks like a cross between the ones used on the Simpsons Ride and Indiana Jones Adventure, but mounted on a turntable.
Standard dark ride layout...non-standard dark ride.
Seriously, this car seemed just like the one on the Simpsons Ride but with individual lap bars instead of a shared restraint.
Spare parts for the $300,000 ride vehicles.
During our tour, they were warming up the screens, as the ride was scheduled to open about ten minutes after our tour ended.
This is what activates the screens as you ride through. They seem to work really well.
This piece of floor spins. That is how cars can be directed into the maintenance area.
I think this is the third time I've been allowed to walk through a dark ride. I personally think every TPR trip or event needs at least one dark ride walk-through unless there are no dark rides at any park on the trip/event.
With the lights on, this is obviously fake. However, everything looked real when actually riding.
Here's the projection room. Not much to see other than a few projectors.
Onward to Alpengeist.
It's the dreaded paperwork. RUN AWAY!
Is this a road wheel or a guide wheel? If you know the answer, you know who to e-mail. You won't get anything, however.
I really like the skis on the train, although I don't know of any skilift that carries skis like that.
The unique supports on the lift hill add to the theme, which is that the ride is supposed to be a runaway skilift.
Time for a few off-ride shots. Here are riders about to crash into the lodge.
Take the Tunnel!
If I wasn't with a tour, I would have waited for a train here. However, we had to keep moving, so I took this picture real quick, then jogged to catch up with the group.
Griffon...the closest a coaster can come to being a drop ride.
If you sit in the front row, this is one of the best "Oh Crap!" moments on any coaster.
I will be disappointed if project 18 at SFMM is not one of these...or a Eurofighter...or a Maverick-style coaster.
This ride wasn't originally intended to be floorless. The floorless dive machine was only created because the trains would have been too heavy if they still had a floor.
We see you Loch Ness Monster. We'll be with you shortly.
As you can see, there is no track in here. The cars are supported only by the rails on both sides of the maintenance bay.
This is a Bald Eagle, the national bird of the United States.
For whatever reason, the Loch Ness Monster maintenance bay is darker than the others.
Last stop: Escape from Pompeii. This is where people would play tricks on the riders.
If anybody is misbehaving, these can stop the boat before it plunges over the falls. The person in the control room next door can then come out and yell at the rulebreakers.
Before riding, I didn't realize the top area was so short.
This is for all the train enthusiasts out there.
I didn't ever actually investigate this area further. It looked like it had a couple interesting rides.
Finally, something I noticed about Busch Gardens Williamsburg that I haven't noticed at other parks. Next to, or nearby, many adult rides...
There was a kid-friendly ride. I think this probably improves family friendliness significantly.
-
Based on what I remember from riding the ride, there are about ten friction brakes along the launch track that close as soon as the train clears the end of the launch track. I'm guessing that there was some type of brake problem that prevented them from closing, or a sensor fault that detected the train as not being clear when it actually was. It is also possible that they may be insufficient to stop the train, but if that is the case it would be a critical design flaw.
I wonder what will happen to this ride, if anything, as a result of this. Since the ride uses magnetic brakes to stop at the end, maybe Knott's should consider installing them on the launch track as well.
-
I rarely get sick on roller coasters unless I ride them over and over. For example, riding X2 at SFMM 3 times in a row during WCB ERT made me feel sick, but one ride on it doesn't. I have had similar experiences with Goliath and GhostRider after riding 3-4 times in a row when there was no wait, but I have never felt like vomiting after the ride, just very dizzy and/or sore (in GhostRider's case).
Flat rides, on the other hand...well, I can handle some, but not all. I've found that in general rides which rotate on parallel or perpendicular axes don't bother me much, while rides that rotate on skewed axes do. For example, I'm not bothered by a normal tea cup ride because all three axes of rotation are parallel, but I get sick on a tilt-a-whirl because even though it only has two axes of rotation they are skewed. So far, the only exception I've found to this rule is Knights Tournament at Legoland California, but since that is so unique it doesn't really qualify. Additionally, I cannot handle being suspended upside down at all. Inversions don't bother me, and I do fine on rides like the top spin, but on a kamikaze ride where it stops at the top I instantly get sick.
Someone above mentioned drinking water, which I find helps. I have a general rule that if there is a drinking fountain between rides, I stop and take a drink regardless of the temperature or whether or not I think I need to. This has worked for me everytime, and so far I have never gotten dehydrated at a park.
-
Breaking it up into several categories...
Best "Normal" Park Food: Anything at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Best Food at a Six Flags Park: Johnny Rockets
Best Food at a Cedar Fair Park: Mrs. Knott's Fried Chicken
Best Dessert/Treat: Cinnamon Bread at Dollywood
Best Place to Eat at Disneyland Resort (inside a park): Redd Rocket's Pizza Port
Most Unique Menu: Dollywood
Worst "Normal" Park Food: Any Cedar Fair Park
This list may not be accurate because I get pretty much the same thing every time I go to a park, so at any given park I've probably only tried about an eighth (or less) of the offerings, even if it is a park I visit five or six times (or more) per year.
-
The ride I've been on the most is probably either at Knott's Berry Farm or Disneyland. I don't have a specific guess, but here are the possibilities I can think of:
Jaguar-I was four when this opened and from the time I was first tall enough to ride until about 2002 it was one of my favorite coasters. I used to ride it as many as 15 times on one visit. Now, I often ride twice per visit since there isn't a line. Since I go to Knott's at least three times per year, this adds up to a lot of rides.
GhostRider-I ride this three or four times each time I visit Knott's (unless it is the summer), although I rode it less than three times before 2002 because I was scared of it.
Matterhorn Bobsleds-I can't remember when I first rode this, but it is most likely that either this or Gadget's Go Coaster was my first roller coaster. I didn't used to like Matterhorn much, but now I ride each track at least once each time I visit Disneyland. From 2001 until 2005 I had a pass and visited at least once a month, but before then I only visited about once per year as I do now.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad-This was my favorite coaster at the park until the new Space Mountain opened, so I often would ride it multiple times per visit. I still ride once or twice each time I visit the park.
-
IntimidaTour: Part 4.5
This will be a relatively short update with only three pictures, but it will still cover one full day.
Day 5: Friday August 20th, 2010-Travel Day
This was the day of the trip where I had planned to sleep in. However, I was woken up at 6:45 A.M. by my brother, who wasn't feeling very good. We called my grandmother, who used to work as a nurse. Based on his symptoms, she said he should take some Pepto Bismol and try to relax. Since that wasn't one of the medications we brought along, I went out and walked a mile and a half down the street to a Walgreen's to get some. Fortunately, he felt better after taking the medicine and by lunch he was completely fine.
Since I didn't have time for breakfast after returning, I grabbed a slice of toast and ate it while packing. We got on the bus, which left at 9:15 for the longest drive in TPR trip history (a total of over eight hours on the bus). The ride was mostly uneventful at first, consisting of another DVD of random videos. We then had snacktime, then played a round of Robb's BS Trivia for the left over shirts from the Middle America and IntimidaTour trips. We also passed around the snacks left over from the snack exchange on the first night.
The bus stopped for lunch somewhere in Western Virginia (not West Virginia) around 1 P.M. We went to McDonalds, then went next door to a gas station to buy some candy. After the hour lunch stop, it was back on the bus for the drive across Virginia. On this drive, instead of the usual DVD, we watched Shark Attack 3: Megalodon. This movie was ultra-cheesy but was a very fun movie towards the end. The first half was boring, but once the Megalodon appeared it became epic. Any movie that features a shark large enough to eat a life raft in one bite who is also able to conveniently catch people jumping off a ship is an automatic win. The best part was where a guy on a jet ski rode it right into the shark's mouth.
After the movie, we had a ten minute toilet stop at a rest area. Fortunately, nobody delayed the bus from leaving since there weren't any distractions here. We then had the final snacktime of the trip, followed by the last random video DVD. By the time it ended we were nearing our destination: Williamsburg, VA. Before heading to the hotel, however, we had one other stop to make.
Go-Karts Plus
Back when Elissa announced there would be a bonus credit on Friday, this was my first guess as to where we would be stopping. I was right. Go-Karts Plus was another brief credit stop. It was very similar to Nascar SpeedPark, but looked like it might be slightly better. It certainly at least had trees all over as opposed to nothing but asphalt. They also had a roller coaster (naturally).
Python Pit-This is a small Miler kiddie coaster. It was okay, and since I generally prefer Miler kiddie coasters to Zierer kiddie coasters it was better than Speedway Draft. Since only five people could ride at once, it took a little while for everyone to get their credit, but with the ride only doing one lap and an average of a 1 minute load cycle they got through the line in under a half hour. This ride also had one spot with extremely low clearance, and riders were repeatedly warned to keep their hands down. If someone raised their hands above their head, the operator would blow a whistle at them similar to a lifeguard at a waterpark.
Go-Karts Plus...if I go back to Williamsburg, I wouldn't mind coming back here for a few hours to check it out. They looked like they had a couple go-kart tracks, bumper boats, mini-golf, a Disk'o, and some kids rides.
After leaving Go-Karts Plus, Robb talked about the 2011 and potential 2012 trips, then told us that dinner was at 8:30 P.M. and that we would have to walk to the restaurant. We then arrived at the hotel, were given room keys, got luggage, and headed to our room.
At about 7:30 P.M. my brother and I headed down to the lobby to find a group of people forming. When Robb showed up he said we could walk over whenever we wanted. We went outside to find the restaurant was less than a quarter mile down the street. Unfortunately, it was on the other side, and the nearest crosswalk was nearly a quarter mile in the opposite direction. I'll let you guess what happened.
Once we were across the street we were met by Elissa, who said she didn't see anything and told us to keep out of the restaurant until it was time for dinner and she told us to enter. Therefore, many members of the group toured Yankee Candle, located right next to the restaurant. This place was amazing. Although it is only one store (a store the size of the average Ikea), it is split into a number of smaller areas and feels more like a small shopping mall. There was a Candle Emporium (obviously); Wax Works, where you could make your own candles; The General Store, which is just what it's name suggests; Dylan's Candy Bar, a candy shop selling various types of treats; Yankee Candle Toy, a toy store; Holiday Park, a section of the store decorated like a park in the winter complete with a Christmas tree and fake snow; Yankee Candle Home, a general home improvements section; and Town Square, which had various little carts and a working clock tower, and was decorated like an outdoor street. They actually handed out maps of the store.
After twenty minutes it was time for dinner at Carrabba's. This place did not disappoint, and was actually my favorite group meal of the trip. My brother and I were joined by Terry and Greg, who were really great guys. We enjoyed talking with them and seeing some of Terry's awesome 3D models. For dinner I had grilled chicken and my brother had pizza, one of his favorite dishes. As at the Tilted Kilt, we were given an allowance of $25 each and instructed to pay Elissa if we went over. We were also told we could leave whenever and head back to the hotel. I can't remember what time my brother and I left, but it was a little before ten when we got back to the hotel. Overall, Carrabba's really is one of the best restaurants and I really wish we had some of them out here in California. The most interesting thing about this statement is that I'm not really a huge fan of Italian food. Strange.
Once we got back to the hotel, we decided to go to bed early as the next day was the earliest morning of the trip: Busch Gardens. On this day, we would have to get up at 6 A.M.
Here are a few pictures of the coaster at Go-Karts Plus.
There is Python Pit in all it's glory. This is the third place it has operated at.
For the first time ever, a TPR trip included a credit not a single participant had. This led to what is likely the longest line Go-Karts Plus has ever had for this coaster.
The true helix of death. If you are much over six feet and raise your hands, you WILL hit the support at the bottom. Busch Gardens coming next week.
-
I really think Vekoma rides are a mixed bag. Some of them are quite good, while others aren't. I've never found one of their rides that was the best in the park, but I've also never found one that I completely refused to ride ever again.
As far as my experience goes, I've found that my favorite Vekoma models are the Flying Dutchman, Invertigo and Deja Vu models, although my favorite Vekoma coaster is actually Space Mountain at Disneyland. All of these are rides that are must-ride attractions if I visit a park with them, but not something I'd go out of the way for. The Junior coaster comes next on the list because, as far as generic family coasters go, Vekoma makes some of the best. I've only been on two boomerangs, but have found that they can vary depending on their train type and generation. After riding about four more next year I'll know more about this. Now, while Vekoma's regular family coasters are good, the suspended variety aren't so good. They are rough and semi-painful, although I have yet to ride one with just a lapbar. Finally, the worst Vekoma design, at least in my experience, is the SLC. I will pretty much never ride one of these unless it has no wait or there is an ERT session on it.
Overall, I don't think Vekoma is that bad. I think of them as the budget alternative to a B&M or Intamin, and parks probably know that if they don't spend as much they won't get the same level of quality. At least half of the Vekoma rides i"ve been on are worth riding if you visit the park, and the other half aren't horrible, just not very good. Also, as far as roughness goes, I find Arrow coasters to generally be rougher than Vekoma coasters. Most kiddie and family coasters are rougher than Vekoma's junior coasters. Additionally, I have been on Intamin rides that are rougher than the smoothest Vekoma coasters, so I guess not all Vekomas fall under that stereotype.
-
IntimidaTour: Part 4
Before I begin, let me say that I was originally going to have this update include both the Pigeon Forge day and the Travel Day following it. However, due to a larger than expected number of pictures from Pigeon Forge and a lack of time, I will be doing just the Pigeon Forge part today and will do the Travel Day tomorrow.
Day 4: Thursday, August 19th, 2010-Pigeon Forge
This was a day that wasn't added to the trip until April. Basically, by this point, Robb & Elissa (along with probably everyone else) had determined that Freestyle Music Park, one of the scheduled stops of the trip, would not be opening this year. Therefore, they presented the trip participants with two alternate itineraries. Option A was the Bonus Pigeon Forge Day. This itinerary would have been Busch Gardens Williamsburg on Monday (Arrival Day), then a long drive and evening at Carowinds on Tuesday, All day at Carowinds on Wednesday, Random Pigeon Forge stuff on Thursday, all day at Dollywood on Friday, and a long drive back to Virginia on Saturday (Kings Dominion was always planned for Sunday). Option B was extending the trip into the Midwest by visiting Kings Island. This itinerary would have been a long drive on arrival day after everyone showed up, Tuesday morning at Carowinds, followed by a nighttime drive to Pigeon Forge, all day at Dollywood on Wednesday, all day at Kings Island on Thursday, a long drive back to Virginia on Friday and all day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg on Saturday. After doing a couple hours worth of research, I voted for option B. There was a lot of debating back and forth between participants about which one to choose, but I have a feeling that Elissa's announcement that option A had been altered to have Busch Gardens on Saturday probably swayed the decision. It ended up being 35-17 for option A, so the Pigeon Forge day was created.
The day begin with the rare opportunity to sleep in past eight. However, I ended up waking up early, so I decided to head over to Denny's for breakfast instead of eat at the hotel. My brother came with me, although he was annoyed that he would be exceeding his $15 daily spending limit that day by eating at a sit-down restaurant (he ended up spending less than $30 over the whole day).
The bus left the hotel at 9:30 A.M. to head up to Gatlinburg. En route, we were told about the things that we would be doing that day. Our first stop was Ober Gatlinburg. When we got there we discovered that the parking lot was under construction, so the bus had to drop us off across the street.
Ober Gatlinburg
For those who don't know, Ober Gatlinburg is a ski area by winter and family entertainment center by summer. It does have a narrow winding road up to it, but the best way to access it is via a tram that leaves from the far end of town. We were all given tickets for the tram and then got in line. It turned out that less than ten of us made it onto the first tram and the rest had to wait for the second one. I was on the first one, so once I got up to the top I spent fifteen minutes walking around and taking pictures while I waited for the other tram to arrive.
Ober Gatlinburg Tram-To be honest, the tram was my favorite part of Ober Gatlinburg. It is a ten minute or so ride up from the village to the ski area, during which the tram ascends into the mountains, then descends into a valley where the ski area is located. Along the way you got to see the Smoky Mountains from the air, the town of Gatlinburg, and a number of interesting houses built on the steep hillside. I'm a fan of aerial trams, although I haven't been on too many because they aren't too popular at US ski areas. This one supposedly was able to hold 110 passengers, but they were only loading 50 or so per tram cabin when I was there. I certainly would almost always prefer accessing the ski area by this route as opposed to driving up to the parking lot.
Once the rest of the group arrived at the top, tickets were distributed and everyone was turned loose after a warning that the bus would be leaving at 2 P.M. and absolutely could NOT wait for late people. Unfortunately, due to a rainstorm that morning nothing other than the scenic skychair was operating at this point. Some people chose to play miniature golf while others just waited around or hung out inside. I went around and took pictures, then went back inside until the sun started to come out. Slowly, rides began to open. I saw other TPR members on the waterslides and carnival rides, but I waited with the masses by the bottom of the chairlift. What was everyone waiting for? The Alpine Slide, of course. At 11:45 P.M. the ride finally opened.
Ober Gatlinburg Scenic Skyride-This is a Borvig double chairlift that ascends the mountain. It is about a fifteen minute ride to go all the way to the top, but there is a midstation 9 minutes up if you want to ride the alpine slide. This is as far as I went so I can't comment on the view from the top.
Alpine Slides-I really like Alpine Slides, but unfortunately the only one I had been on before (at Big Bear in California) is generally considered the worst in the US. I ended up doing the one at Ober Gatlinburg twice due to how much better it is. In case anyone here is unfamiliar with them, an alpine slide can be thought of as a waterslide where you ride on a wheeled cart down a concrete or fiberglass track. You have a brake lever to control your speed, and it is essential that you use it. The sleds can reach around forty miles per hour on some rides, and if you hit a corner at this speed you will usually crash and get friction burns from the track as well as other injuries. This ride was about a third of a mile long and zig-zagged down the hill until it got to the base of the Blue chairlift, where you got off. Due to wetness, only one track was in operation, but they are both parallel anyway. On my first run I was able to go at a decent speed since I was one of the first people down and all those ahead of me were TPR members with Alpine Slide experience. On my second run, I wasn't so lucky. First of all, I had to wait around a half-hour after getting off the chairlift before I was actually able to go down the slide. Once I got on the slide, I was only a couple of people behind a first timer or someone who took the slow signs too literally. This killed the ride for me, as every time I got going I would have to stop again until the slow person sped up. I've never had this problem on any of the ten or so runs I've taken at Big Bear, and I really think that is the only advantage that ride has over the Gatlinburg one. Nevertheless, it was still a fun ride.
After my second ride on the Alpine Slide my brother and I decided we better get down the mountain. We got in line for the tram with some other TPR members who had the same idea, leaving behind those who had waited a little too long to ride the slide. When we got to the bottom of the tram, we headed to a KFC we had seen from the ride to get lunch, then went back to the bus stop. At about ten minutes after two, the bus arrived. We boarded the bus and headed out.
Overall, I thought Ober Gatlinburg was just okay. The weather was partly to blame, but I just didn't think it was as good as I expected it to be. If I was in Gatlinburg again for some reason, however, I would definitely return if I had time to see if my experience was any better. Also, if I was ever there in the winter I would definitely want to visit Tennessee's only ski area. It looked like an outstanding area for its size, as it is tiny (8 trails and less than 100 acres serviced by three chairlifts).
Nascar SpeedPark
Our next destination was Nascar SpeedPark. This was the part of the day that I had forgotten about prior to recieving the itinerary on the first day on the bus. We just came to ride the coaster and leave. Based on what I saw, it looked like an okay family entertainment center, but nothing special, and most likely not worth more than a couple hours of your time.
Speedway Draft-Like the park, the coaster was just okay. It wasn't bad, but there was nothing memorable about it either. Granted, it is just a family coaster, but even for a family coaster it wasn't that great. I would rank it slightly ahead of Flying Ace Aerial Chase only because it didn't bash your head, but it is behind Legoland California's Coastersaurus and every family coaster I've ridden that is better than that. Also, we were forced to go around five times. Since the cars were uncomfortable, I wanted to get off after just two. Oh well.
Following Nascar SpeedPark, the group was split in two. Half of the participants went Zorbing while the other half went to the Track, then the groups switched. I went to the Track first.
The Track
The Track looked like a good family entertainment center, but unfortunately I didn't have time to do much. We were each given five "ghetto tickets" (blank tickets with "1 ride" written on them because the printer was broken) and then turned loose. In an hour and a half, my brother and I only managed to use one ticket each because we also decided to do bungee jumping, which took at least half of our time.
Wild Woody-This is a three story spiral go-kart track. Unfortunately, it isn't as great as it looks or sounds. You first have an ascending spiral track which keeps you from gaining speed. You then have a descending spiral followed by a two-story double drop, both of which are speed restricted. Only on the turn between the bottom of the drop and the start of the ascending spiral can you actually get going fast enough to race. Additionally, all of the elevated sections of track were made of wood and were quite bouncy. Not that great as a go-kart track, but definitely a unique experience.
Bungee Jump-This was awesome. I had never been bungee jumping before so as soon as I found out we were going to the Track I decided I was going to do this. Unfortunately, this and the skycoaster are so close together that both can't be run simultaneously. This required us to wait for at least twenty minutes while the skycoaster people finished up before we were helped. Once you are harnessed up, you ascend a 75 foot tower. It doesn't sound that tall, but as you climb to the top it just seems to get taller. You are then asked how you want to jump: head first, feet first, or backward. I chose feet first since I'd never done it before and don't like hanging upside down. Once you are attached, you are told to stand on the edge of a tiny platform, then, once everything is ready, you are told to jump. Even though I knew the attraction was safe, stepping off the platform was one of the scariest things I have ever done at an amusement park. It gave me more of an adrenaline rush than any coaster on the trip (save Volcano). After about twenty seconds of bouncing, they lower you onto an airbag and you are unhooked. The bungee jump was a lot of fun and definitely something I want to try again, but I can't imagine myself ever doing it head first.
After the bungee it was time to head back to the bus so I didn't have time to do anything else. I would like to go back here sometime and try the other attractions, especially the other go-kart track and the mini-golf, but I don't know when (or if) that will happen. Maybe TPR will do another Deep South trip in four or five years and I'll get a chance to return, or maybe I'll convince my family to take a vacation here.
After boarding the bus, we headed off to Smoky Mountain Zorb for our next adventure.
Smoky Mountain Zorb
This place isn't located right in Pigeon Forge, but is up in the mountains near the town. However, the road up to it is not very bus friendly. This meant our bus driver had to either back down or back up the road to enter/leave the parking lot. Our amazing bus driver managed to do it three times (once backing uphill and twice backing downhill) without incident.
Once we got down to the zorb building, we signed in, then got ready if we needed to. Participants were given three options: Dry (called a Zorbit, you are strapped in to the zorb and tumble head over heels down the hill) or Wet (called a Zydro, you are placed in a zorb with about fifteen gallons of water and rolled down the hill) were the two main choices, while wet riders were given the choice of either wet by themselves (one rider) or wet with friends (up to three riders), and those choosing wet by themself could either take the straight track or the zig-zag track. I opted for wet zig-zag, while my brother chose dry.
Once ready to zorb, everyone lined up outside and were taken up the hill 8-10 at a time in a van with no seatbelts and driven at a seemingly unsafe velocity up a very bouncy dirt road. I don't know how everyone survived that ride, as some were without seats (since the place was technically closed, they were trying to get everyone finished as quickly as possible and bending the rules slightly). I found bracing myself by pushing on the ceiling to provide the most stable ride.
When the van got to the top, everyone was instructed to sit on bleachers until it was time for their ride. The operator would call people one at a time based on what type of ride they were doing and what zorbs were available at the top. I ended up being fifth or sixth down out of our group of nine.
Zydro: Zig-Zag-I'll admit that I was a little nervous at first while waiting for my ride, but once the ball started rolling it was awesome. The ride felt like a mix between a waterslide and a washing machine. Even though the zorbs are semi-transparent, it is very difficult to see outside of them while rolling down the hill. During the ride, I kind of sloshed around and spun in various directions, never truly able to tell which direction I was moving in. Once I stopped at the bottom, I finally realized where I was. However, I still fell on the ground getting out just like almost everyone does (especially wet people).
After my ride I got changed, then took pictures as the last group of seven took their rides. We then got back on the bus and headed out.
Zorbing was, for me, the best part of the Pigeon Forge day. I loved it, but could not imagine doing the dry zorb as I would get totally sick. This is something I would definitely want to do again if I ever return to Pigeon Forge as it is a very unique attraction. The place also seemed very nice, and the staff were very fun and seemed to be doing their job perfectly while enjoying it. I heard Robb had some problems with the business owner, but other than that I can't think of anything bad with Smoky Mountain Zorb.
Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride
This was our final stop of the night (well, for attractions, at least). The second zorb group was dropped off here first, then the bus went back to the Track for the others. When we pulled up I had no clue what to expect.
Ride Review-At first glance, this looks like an ordinary water dark ride. However, it isn't actually quite the same. The ride is actually connected to an underwater track and pulled through by chains on the straight sections. On the turns, an arm attached to the side of the boat and rotated around the turn. The ride really had no point to it, and was just an ultra cheesy dark ride. It was even more of a "WTF?" ride than Blazing Fury was. My brother actually said that Knott's would improve significantly if they installed a ride like this but with a more traditional boat flume system to replace Kingdom of the Dinosaurs. I, on the other hand, didn't really get it. I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan of random cheesy dark rides, so that likely had something to do with it. Either way, I'm glad I rode it as I was curious about it from the moment I first saw it on Tuesday evening. However, I do not think I will ever ride it again, especially when it is $15 per ride.
Following the ride, we were told dinner was at 8 P.M. at the neighboring TGI Friday's, then turned loose. My brother and I went down to Lazerport to do the Roller Coaster Go-Karts, but changed our mind when we saw their actual speed. Instead, we played around in the arcade until it was time for dinner.
Dinner at TGI Friday's was my least favorite of the three group meals on the trip. It wasn't because the food was bad or anything like that, but...I don't know, maybe it's just because it was at a more generic restaurant I can go to anytime a like (although I don't particularly like TGI Friday's). I also much prefer the "allowance system" to the "standard meal system." At TGI Friday's, we were told that we each got a salad, one of three entrees, a dessert, and a drink. I had some type of chicken and my brother had a pasta dish with chicken in it. Neither of us had salad since we don't really like salad and we both tried the cheesecake for dessert.
After dinner, Robb announced that you could either take the bus back to the hotel or explore Pigeon Forge and go back on your own. Since we were tired from all the activity that day, and because my brother really doesn't like to explore areas without an expert, we went back to the hotel. There was a planned pool party that night, but neither of us attended because we didn't feel like it. We simply stayed up until around midnight watching TV and then went to bed.
After the day of activity, I am somewhat glad we did Pigeon Forge instead of Kings Island. At the same time, however, I am hoping that I get to Kings Island at some point in the near future (within five years) as it looked very much like Kings Dominion, but potentially slightly better. I also want to try Diamondback to compare it to the other B&M Mega Coasters I rode on this trip and will ride next year, and have been wanting to try the Beast for some time since it is so unique and so highly regarded.
Picture time.
As mentioned above, I was on the first tram. This gave me plenty of time to walk around and get pictures. This is the view from the parking lot of the ski area.
This is the device that tensions the tram cables. If it failed completely the cables would sag and the car would drop off and plunge to the ground.
While waiting for the other tram to arrive I toured the inside area. First, I watched Robb take Kristen on the carousel.
I then watched some people go skating for about ten minutes before heading back outside.
Back outside just as the tram car was arriving.
It is a little hard to see, but about 90% of the people in this cabin have an IntimidaTour lanyard on.
The view upon leaving the building. Since the Alpine Slide isn't running yet, let's take a tour.
This swing ride was right outside the exit. It looked pretty sad.
The Blue Cyclone Rapids was the largest of the three water slides. I've been on similar slides before and didn't find them that great, so I didn't bother with it.
Small Mini-Golf course that kept some TPR members occupied until the Alpine Slide opened.
The other waterslides. I considered doing these but decided to do the Alpine Slide twice instead.
Since Gatlinburg is a ski area in the winter, we can't forget about the chairlifts. Consider yourself warned. Since I am a skilift enthusiast as well you are about to be educated. Still here? Good. This is the blue chair. It is a double chair, meaning that it carries two people per carrier. The lift is used to carry the alpine slide carts in the summer, but in the winter it functions as one of the intermediate slope chairlifts. It parallels the scenic skychair but stops at the mid-station.
This lift is something known as a "mutt lift." The towers of the lift are built by a company called Borvig, who is an older company that is no longer in business. The carriers are designed by Ski Lifts International (SLI), and the terminals are by Riblet. They can be recognized by the eye-like windows on the drive terminal.
See? Riblet...sign of quality. Riblet was one of the premier manufacturers of fixed grip charlifts (which all of the ones at Ober Gatlinburg are) until they went out of business in 2003 due to the lack of demand in the market. They are kind of like Arrow in the coaster world; they were the best of their time, but lost popularity due to better designs they refused to adopt.
The Black Chair is the main lift on the mountain. It goes to the top of the intermediate and advanced slopes. This is a Borvig fixed-grip center-pole quad chair (built by Borvig, four people per chair, the chairs are supported by a single pole in the center as opposed to two poles on the outsides).
The Red Chair is last. It is the same type of lift as the Black Chair, but accesses the beginner slope. There are no chairs on the line because they are somtimes removed for maintenance during the summer.
We can't forget about the Scenic Skychair. This is a Borvig fixed-grip double chair with SLI carriers.
One way to recognize a Borvig is to look at the bullwheel. They often have a snowflake pattern.
Here's a close-up picture of a SLI carrier. This is an outer-pole chair that has a retention bar to secure passengers.
Time for Nascar Speedpark. This is Speedway Draft.
This is on the third lap. I think most of these riders want off.
The bungee tower at the Track. I took this after I got down while I was waiting for my brother to jump. You can't see him, but he is getting hooked up on top.
Here's the Zorb hill. You can see the three tracks down the hill clearly in this photo.
The Zig-Zag track. These fences are the only thing keeping you on course.
Here is where you really get going as it is a straight shot to the finish.
Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride. This is the only picture I took of this attraction. Hopefully someone will post a POV, or at least Robb will include one on Dark Rides in the Raw (whenever that comes out) because you really have to see it in order to understand it.
Finally, the view from my hotel room in Pigeon Forge. I think this was actually taken the first night in Pigeon Forge but I felt it would be better to include it in this report.
-
Intimidator: Part 3
Day 3: Wednesday, August 18th, 2010-Dollywood
Dollywood was one of the two parks on the trip I had really been looking forward to. I didn't know too much about the park, just that it was a smaller major park located in the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and that it was home to one of the best wooden coasters in the United States. I also knew that it was known for having good food and good shows.
We got up at 7:00 A.M. to have breakfast at the hotel, which was unfortunately (at least in my opinion) the worst hotel breakfast of the trip. Since we were going to be at this hotel for 3 days, I decided that I would go to the Denny's in the parking lot on one of the other two.
After breakfast, we went back to the room to pick up for the maid, then went down to the bus. It left at 8:00 A.M. for Dollywood. When we got to the park, we were able to park right next to the gate. However, to actually get to the gate you had to walk all the way around the exit gift shop. Once we walked around (which wasn't a problem at all) we were given tickets for both park admission and for lunch at Granny Ogle's Ham 'N' Beans. After getting a group picture, we walked all the way to Craftsman's Valley, passing both our lunch destination and the Grist Mill on the way.
Once we got to Tennessee Tornado, we split into two groups for our backstage tour. My brother and I were put in group A, so we got to go walk out on the brake run first. This was a very interesting experience, as I had never walked out on coaster track before. I was very surprised by how much the track shook from people walking on it. While we were out there, our tour guide told us about the ride in general, as well as talking about the four types of brakes used on the ride. Once everyone finished taking pictures, we switched with the other group and headed into the maintenance shack. In here we got to see the second train, which was scheduled for maintenance that day. We were told about the different components of the train and what kind of work they do on the ride each and every day. I found it interesting that the ride only uses one train most days, switching which one was being used each day. Only on busy weekend and holidays does the park actually use both trains.
After the tour finished, both groups gathered in the station. The park sent the train on one test run, then our half-hour of ERT began. During ERT, I only ended up riding twice because I waited for both the front and back rows, then didn't have much time left. My brother got one more ride than I did.
Tennessee Tornado-Tennessee Tornado is a really good ride. It is one of the smoothest Arrow coasters I have been on, and is definitely the best of their custom looping coasters. Although it is short, the ride features unique elements not found on other similar coasters. In fact, the design feels more like something B&M would come up with than a traditional Arrow. This led to my brother calling it "Arrow's B&M." I would have liked to ride more than twice, but unfortunately I never got around to it. I give it a B.
At 10 A.M., we were taken over to Adventure Mountain for ERT, which meant we all got on before anyone from the general public was allowed to ride. However, within fifteen minutes they had begun to take over the structure. During this period, I basically went up and did each course once, then got off.
Adventure Mountain-I don't know how to describe Adventure Mountain other than as a playground for adults. You are put in a harness, then allowed to climb all over a structure featuring crossings suspended up to 90 feet in the air. Each crossing had four options: Easy (suspended stairs or a beam), Medium (multiple ropes or a lattice rope thingy), Hard (Often just a single rope with one suspended above to hold onto or two forming an X), and chicken (standard bridge or stairs). I think I took the medium or hard crossings each time unless there was a massive crowd. There are three courses inside the structure: Course one is the easiest course and goes around relatively low area, including crossings over a river and geysers; Course two is the medium difficulty course which features a variety of crossings and also has a section where you can go walk around a rock ledge directly above the walkway; Course three is the most difficult and goes up to the top of the structure, where you can walk across a single rope to the highest point and ring a bell before descending. I liked course three best and course two least. To be honest, Adventure Mountain is a good attraction but not something I would want to wait more than about fifteen minutes for. The line can get as long as two hours due to the low capacity, so it is a "must do first" attraction if you are interested. Due to the fact that the attraction gets repetitive if you do all three courses, I only give it a C, but it is definitely one of the most unique attractions I've experienced.
Following Adventure Mountain, my brother and I headed down to Camp Teachittoomee (kidde Adventure Mountain) to get Q-bots. Unfortunately, a group of four was required. We waited for about ten minutes until another group of two showed up, then got our Q-bot and headed on our way (and I sincerely apologize to the people we hung out with for the day, but I forget your names. I believe one of you was from Florida and the other was from Arizona, but I could be incorrect).
When we got our Q-bot, we were warned that Blazing Fury was a popular ride and wasn't included, so we decided to head there first. Fortunately, we got there to find only a station wait.
Blazing Fury-This is one of only a few rides I've been on where I was like "WTF?" at the end. The ride can be described as a dark ride/roller coaster/water ride hybrid, but nothing can prepare you for the experience. In terms of cheesy dark rides, this ride is the best there is. I really liked this ride, and even though it was Dollywood's worst coaster (yes, I count it as a credit), it is still better than at least 80% of the rides I've been on. I ended up riding a total of four times during the day, and each time I discovered something new in the ride. I also rode in different places, and found the front was best for seeing the dark ride elements, the middle was the wettest, and the back was best for airtime. I give this ride a B.
Following Blazing Fury, we headed to Daredevil Falls since it wasn't included on the Q-bot either.
Daredevil Falls-Even though I only rode this once, I believe it may be my favorite flume ride anywhere. It is not a traditional log flume (more of a log flume/splash boat hybrid) but was a lot of fun. The ride begins by floating around through the woods and going through a couple tunnels, then reaches a chain lift (yes, it actually has a chain). Once at the top, you go through a sawmill, then down one of the largest and steepest drops on any flume ride. I don't know how tall it actually is, but I would guess it is at least 60 ft. This ride gets an A, and is an absolute must ride attraction even if you don't like water rides.
Next, we decided to queue up Smoky Mountain River Rampage so we would be able to board by the time we got there. We headed over to the ride and went in the Q2Q entrance. For some reason, we had to wait longer than the regular line, but since it was only about three boats anyway it didn't matter.
Smoky Mountain River Rampage-Most people would call this a river rapids ride, but that doesn't really describe it. The ride is more of a boat ride with a few rapids. It begins with a short lift hill followed by a small drop, then floats along the river slowly. At about four points you would reach a little dip that would accelerate you, then a hundred feet later you would slam into a rapid. None of them really got you too wet. There was also a point where a waterfall was stretched across the path. Just before we got to it, the waterfall shut off, saving us from a drenching. I really liked this ride, but would be disappointed if I waited in a long line only to stay mostly dry. I give it a B.
Next, we queued up Thunderhead, which had the longest listed wait time of any ride in the park. Once we got there, we had to wait about five minutes before entering the station.
Thunderhead-I've heard that this ride is the best GCI ever built (excluding Prowler). After riding it, however, I found that I preferred Terminator. Thunderhead is an outstanding ride in a perfect setting, but it is just too rough for a GCI. It's certainly a long way from unrideable, but it is shaky. It also didn't seem to maintain its speed as well as Terminator or Roar, which I prefer. The ride did have a very disorienting layout that I couldn't figure out even after four rides, and it was certainly a must ride at Dollywood. I give it an A.
Next, we decided to queue up Mystery Mine. After our first ride, we decided to go right back on.
Mystery Mine-WOW! This was the big surprise of the trip for me. I loved this ride. It really has three different parts, so it almost feels like three rides in one. The first segment of the ride features a roller coaster/dark ride sequence with a couple small drops, a reverse bank, and a couple other turns. Part two starts out with a couple small dips above the walkway, then you suddenly plunge down a vertical drop and navigate several turns, including the very unique wall turn. Part three features the ride's largest drop followed by two inversions. The first is a simple uphill zero-g roll and the second is a dive loop similar to the one on Manhattan Express, but executed much better. Add in a couple vertical lift hills and you have a roller coaster that makes it into my top five steel coasters list. If there is one negative of Mystery Mine, it is the roughness, but other than that the ride is awesome. It gets an A, and was my favorite ride at Dollywood.
Following two rides on Mystery Mine, we queued up River Battle. Once we got there, we discovered that there was no line, so we didn't even go in the Q-bot entrance.
River Battle-I like these rides, and this one was much better than the one at Legoland California. It is basically a boat ride where each rider is armed with a spray gun and is able to shoot other riders, innocent bystanders, and targets that trigger different sprayers in the middle of the ride. The two things that really set this apart from the Legoland version are the fact that the boats are actually floating in the water rather than riding on a track above the water and the range of the guns. At Legoland the guns will barely reach the walkway, but at Dollywood you could shoot halfway across it. This is a fun, and wet, ride, and I give it a B.
Following River Battle, we decided we better go do the other rides on the Q-bot. We opted for Sky Rider first, so we queued it up and headed over.
Sky Rider-This ride was a little disappointing. I was expecting it to be like a star flyer, but smaller. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite the same. Also, the controllable sails on the seats did absolutely nothing. It was fun however, and does get a B, but I would never wait in line to ride it.
We skipped Dizzy Disk because, while my brother and I were interested in riding, our friends weren't and it was just a standard Disk'O anyway. My brother went on Lemon Twist, but ended up deciding not to ride because we talked him out of it. We headed back to Blazing Fury and found about a twenty minute wait. We rode, then headed to Granny Ogle's Ham 'N' Beans for lunch.
Lunch at Dollywood was very interesting. It was really good, but wasn't really my thing. I ended up having a bit of cornbread and some ham along with about three cokes. This was definitely the most unusual meal I've had at any park, anywhere. Following lunch, the people we were sharing a Q-bot with gave us the magical device and headed off to do SkyZip. We decided to go to the Grist Mill and get Cinnamon Bread. It was...really, really, really, good! Do not miss the Cinnamon Bread at Dollywood! Following this, we decided to go look at the gift shops until it was time for Sha-Kon-O-Hey. While we were looking around, it began to rain.
We had reserved seats at Sha-Kon-O-Hey for the 3:30 P.M. showing. I went in not knowing what to expect.
Sha-Kon-O-Hey-This was an outstanding show. It almost didn't seem like an amusement park show. In fact, if it was twice as long it could probably be a Broadway musical. The show tells the story of a family who lives in the Smoky Mountains but is preparing to move out west. However, their young son doesn't want to go, and wishes he could stay. He makes a wish to a magical tree and he, his sister, and their grandmother are transported to Sha-Kon-O-Hey, the land of blue smoke, a magical place in the Smoky Mountains where those who love the mountains dwell for all eternity. I won't spoil the ending, but I will say that it is filled with singing, dancing, acrobatics, and just about anything you could want. It is on my list of the five must-see theme park shows and gets an A.
Following Sha-Kon-O-Hey, we were given a backstage tour and shown how everything is done in the show. We got to see the flying rig up close, pick up leaves and return them to the leaf box, bounce on the trampoline at the front of the stage, and see how the fire, house, and waterfall effects work. We were also taken backstage and shown the area where all the props are stored, as well as seeing the room where the many costume changes take place. It was a very interesting tour, but unfortunately I was unable to take pictures because my camera battery died.
Following the backstage tour, my brother and I headed over to the Dollywood Express to catch the last train of the day, where we had planned to meet with our Q-bot buddies. After boarding, I checked the Q-bot and found out that everything was listed as closed. Looking around, I saw people leaving and nothing but the carousel in operation. We were then told that the train had been cancelled due to lightning in the area. We got off and decided to go souvenir shopping. Once we were done with shopping, we headed to Blazing Fury, which remains open in thunderstorms. We rode twice, during which the storm cleared up, then headed over to Tennessee Tornado. Upon arriving, we were told they would be sending one train only so that Robb could get his POV video with a mounted camera. We got in line, but then I realized that I still had the Q-bot and had to return it at Mystery Mine by 6 P.M. I got out of line, left through the entrance, and jogged over to Mystery Mine. I ended up making it right at 6 P.M., and was the last person to return the Q-bot. Those who had ridden Tennessee Tornado showed up five minutes later. At this point there was a group of people clustered around the entrance to Mystery Mine, as they weren't letting anyone on yet.
A short while later, night ERT began. We were told to stay at Mystery Mine for at least fifteen minutes because Thunderhead wasn't ready yet, so my brother and I just kept riding. We ended up getting four rides in, including one while it was raining. We also got on the very last car of ERT on Mystery Mine. After getting off, we headed over to Thunderhead for the remainder of our ERT session. Here they were only running one train, which led to the TPR exercise program. As the train pulled into the station, those waiting to board would yell "out of the train, out of the train" at the riders. The riders then got out and left as quickly as possible. Robb then waited until everyone got on board, and then he would walk over to the side of the station and yell "X seats left. Fill the train!" Those who had just gotten off would duck the railing, run up the stairs, and try to get back on the train. We waited for the first row, then got off and ran around to get back on. After we had boarded the second time, Robb yelled "Last train! 5 seats left. Fill the train!" Once the train was full, it was dispatched.
Upon returning to the station, Robb asked the following question: "Riders, you have two options. Option one: Exit to your left. Option two: Exit to your left after ONE MORE RIDE! Which do you want?" After a unanimous vote for option two, the train was checked and dispatched one final time. Everyone who had not made it onto the train looked jealous as we rolled by. Due to the wetness on the tracks, this last ride during ERT was the best ride I had on Thunderhead all day.
After ERT ended, we headed back to the bus and went back to the hotel. We got back before 8 P.M. and had the rest of the night to do whatever. My brother and I headed over to Pizza Hut for dinner, then decided to just go back to the room instead of exploring Pigeon Forge.
Dollywood was EXCELLENT! It is seriously one of the best parks in the United States, and is my current favorite park. The park is just filled with so many unique rides and attractions, as well as being really well themed and having an excellent setting. Unlike many other parks, everything inside the park feels authentic. As far as rides go, not only does this park have one of the best ride collections anywhere, but it also has four coasters (80% of the park's coasters) that place in the top 20% of everything I have been on. No other park that I have been to can claim that.
In short, if you ever go to the Smoky Mountains region of Tennessee and don't visit Dollywood, you are missing out on an amazing attraction.
Ride Count:
Tennessee Tornado-2
Adventure Mountain-1
Blazing Fury-4
Daredevil Falls-1
Smoky Mountain River Rampage-1
Thunderhead-4
Mystery Mine-6
River Battle-1
Sky Rider-1
Sha-Kon-O-Hey-1
Total-22 rides in 8 hours (2.75 rides per hour)
Now for the pictures. Below you will see almost exclusively pictures taken during the morning. Once we were free to explore the park, I was too busy walking around observing everything and riding rides to take pictures. Also, when I took my camera out for the backstage tour after Sha-Kon-O-Hey, I got a message telling me to change the battery because it was almost dead and wouldn't take pictures. Anyway, here we go.
Also, expect the Pigeon Forge trip report sometime next week. It may be Monday, but it could also be later in the week.
Welcome to Dollywood, one of the best parks in the U.S.
I remember seeing a TV show where they showed the planning of this. It looks really nice. We took the morning group photo here.
Time for our backstage tour. Our tour guide talks about how the brakes work on Tennessee Tornado.
The first brakes you hit are these. They are called eddy current brakes because they use magnets to create eddy currents in the brake fins of the train, which slow the train down.
Next, you reach these brakes. They are magnetic as well, but are adjustable.
Since magnetic brakes cannot actually bring a train to a complete stop, you next hit some good old friction brakes.
Finally, the block brake is responsible for holding the train here when there are two trains running and the station is occupied.
The brake run also allowed for some good shots of the ride. Here is the lift hill heading up into the mountains.
Tennessee Tornado has a monster loop. This thing feels weird as you go through it.
Here is the rest of Tennessee Tornado's short layout. It is only about thirty seconds lift to brakes.
Dollywood from the Tennesse Tornado brake run. I'm guessing everyone can see Adventure Mountain, but can you spot Mystery Mine?
Time to head over to the maintenance shack. Here is the switch track to bring trains in here.
In the event of a power failure, these keep the train from rolling backward down the lift. I was surprised to learn that these weren't required on every car as I previously believed (on Tennesse Tornado, they are only on cars 2-5)
Tour's over. Let's ride!
The largest loop Arrow ever built.
It is kind of hard to see, but there IS a train in this picture.
If this isn't TPR Trip ERT, I don't know what is.
As I mentioned before, it began to rain later in the day. This was the only picture I took after morning ERT because I was busy enjoying the park and then my camera battery died.
-
I think these restraints will probably work well on Superman the Escape, but I think the Intimidator 305 vest restraints would work a little better. Based on my experience with the Maverick-type restraints, they allow a lot of room for your upper body to move around, not only side to side but forward as well, while the I305 restraints fit snugly. I may be incorrect, but it seems like these restraints would allow you to be thrown forward when the car launches while I305 vest restraints would reduce that to a minimum. Although Superman doesn't have that forceful of a launch, it still has a pretty good kick when it first takes off, which I could see potentially injuring someone who is sensitive to that type of movement (but not enough to prevent them from riding normally). This is, of course, assuming that Superman will indeed be launching backwards and not just recieving new cars, in which case I would be unhappy if they removed the lapbars and replaced them with any other type of restraint.
-
^I guess I got both you and my brother (the other Josh on the trip) in the same picture. He's in the fifth row. What a coincidence.
-
IntimidaTour: Part 2
Day Two: Tuesday, August 17th, 2010-Carowinds
This was the first real day of the trip. Fortunately, it was much less draining than I was expecting. The day felt kind of like WCB with only fifty people, which Robb had said most days on these trips are like. It was a fun day, but since it was at a Cedar Fair park it certainly wasn't the best day on the trip.
I got up at around 7 a.m. to find that I had set the alarm clock wrong and it was my cell-phone waking me up. This is the reason I have multiple alarms set when I actually need to get up for something (in this case, the hotel clock and my cell-phone). My brother and I got dressed, went down and had breakfast, then returned to the room to pack our bags. We went downstairs a little before 8, checked out, then headed to the bus. Right on schedule, the bus left the hotel and, after passing an advertisement for the Florida Modern Slavery Museum and a Fireworks store, arrived at Carowinds.
We arrived at the parking lot at about 8:30 a.m. Everyone got off the bus, and we headed to the front gate while Robb and a couple others went to get tickets. The tickets were handed out, and we were let in to the park. Everyone posed for a group photo in front of the stateline sign, then were walked back to our first coaster of the day, Afterburn. We had forty-five minutes of ERT on this ride, so we were here for a little while.
Unlike my other reports, I am going to begin inserting ride reviews in at their appropriate locations. I am also going to give each attraction a rating consisting of one of the following:
A-One of the best rides I have been on
B-Really good ride, but not something that is worth going out of the way for
C-Not bad, but nothing special
D-Worth riding, but not worth much of a wait
F-Not worth your time
Afterburn-Afterburn is a ride I had not heard much about prior to the trip. I knew it was an inverted coaster with similar statistics to Silver Bullet, that it had a batwing and immelmaan (the second of which I had never experienced previously), and that it was one of the last old-school B&M coasters built before the company began to get more conservative. I decided to take my first ride in the front row, and after one ride this instantly became my favorite inverted coaster. The ride has much better pacing than many other inverted coasters I've been on, in addition to being more forceful and less repetitive. The only negative thing I found about the ride was some heavy vibration in one of the rows, but other than that the ride was outstanding. I rode four times during ERT because that was all I could handle, then took pictures and watched my brother keep riding. This ride gets an A.
After Afterburn, the group headed over to Intimidator for a half hour of ERT. When we got there we discovered that they were running all three trains. Robb asked the operators to send one train around empty so that the trains would be more full, since a full train gives a better ride. The park complied.
Intimidator-I had never been on a B&M mega coaster before, and my limited experience with this type of ride consisted solely of Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I really like Goliath, so I figured I would like Intimidator. What I didn't realize is how much different the two really are. Intimidator is a simple series of hills that are designed to produce airtime, followed by a sloped helix to round out the ride. I really, really liked Intimidator. In fact, it became my favorite coaster. Unfortunately, for some reason my brother felt sick after riding, so I quit after four rides (he rode three times). I think the combination of Afterburn and this was too much for him since he had very little breakfast. Nevertheless, Intimidator is just one of those rides I could ride all day without getting off. It gets an A.
Since we quit Intimidator ERT a little bit early, my brother and I were able to position ourselves right at the rope for park opening. While we were waiting, we heard the Carowinds song (which was awesome) followed by the Star Spangled Banner. We were then allowed into the park.
Originally, we planned to go to Boo Blasters on Boo Hill in order to participate in the Boo Blasters Challenge, but as we passed through Camp Snoopy we realized there was no wait for either of the coasters there, so we altered our plan slightly.
Flying Ace Aerial Chase-What can I say about this ride that doesn't seem excessively negative? Well, it wasn't the worst coaster I'd ever been on. The ride was okay, but unfortunately the second half of the ride had horrible headbanging. I'm sure this would be a good family coaster if it had the new lap-bar only trains, but with the current restraints the ride wasn't. I'll give it a D just because there's worse out there.
Woodstock Express-This was the worst wooden coaster of the trip. It wasn't because it was rough or because it was small, but because it was uncomfortable. While the ride did have a couple decent dips the cars are obviously meant for kids. This means that anytime I experienced any kind of airtime, my knees would hit the bar. Not fun at all! I'll give this a D as well since it is ride-able, but you might want to consider kneepads if you have long legs.
After finishing the two kids coasters, we headed over to Boo Blasters to compete in the Boo Blasters Challenge.
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill-This was a pretty standard shooting dark ride, but for some reason it is one of my least favorite dark rides overall. First, I wasn't a huge fan of the guns on the cars because it was a little difficult to see the red lights. This meant it was difficult to aim accurately and shoot the targets. Secondly, usually a dark ride isn't both a scary ride and a shooting dark ride. When something jumps out at you, it usually makes you flinch. This causes you to miss targets. When it is due to you hitting a target that is okay, but on this ride there were several things that would jump out at random. The ride also had a few targets that appeared to be broken. Overall, I would give this ride a D. It is not that entertaining and is too scary for anyone under the age of about nine. As far as scores, I scored 800-something and my brother was roughly a hundred points less. The winners ended up scoring in the 1500-2000 range, so I wasn't even close.
Following the Boo Blasters Challenge, we went around the park and did all of the following rides in the order they are listed.
Carolina Cobra-Since my only boomerang experience is on the one at Knott's, I expected this ride to suck. Fortunately, since the restraints eliminated all headbanging, the ride wasn't that bad. Either way, it is still a boomerang and I am not a huge fan of boomerangs, so I have to get it a D.
Ricochet-This ended up being our longest line at Carowinds since it was about a ten minute wait. I'm really glad I didn't wait any longer for this ride because it wasn't very good. While it isn't my least favorite wild mouse, it is far from my favorite. The ride is uncomfortable, rough, and staples you in too much during the ride. Even if you are prepared for it you can't avoid it. I give this ride a D for discomfort.
Carolina Cyclone-Carolina Cyclone has the exact same layout as Canyon Blaster at the Adventuredome, so I kind of knew what to expect. Unfortunately, this ride loses the mountain theming and gains roughness, so it is significantly worse. In fact, I was surprised to find that this ended up being my least favorite coaster of the trip (excluding kiddy coasters). Maybe I just picked a bad seat, but either way I'm just glad I only had to wait one train. D for disappoint.
Drop Tower-After five disappointing rides I finally got to ride a good one. I had only been on one Intamin drop ride prior to this one (Drop Tower at California's Great America) and had high expectations of this ride. It was nearly as good as the CGA version, but due to the height it was a little less exciting. The ride still gets a B and is better than any S&S tower ride I've been on.
Hurler-I wasn't looking forward to this after everything I had heard about it. Fortunately, my expectations were incorrect and I found it to be a good, but not great, ride. It wasn't too rough and did have one or two spots of mild airtime. Other than one really bad spot in the first turn this ride wasn't any rougher than Cedar Point's Blue Streak. I'll give it a C. This ride actually made it into the #9 spot on my top wood coaster list.
Vortex-I was expecting this Vortex to be very similar to Vortex at California's Great America. Although they are similar statistically, this one is more forceful and much smoother. Although definitely not the best stand-up I have been on, I enjoyed this one more than the CGA version and give it a C (CGA's gets a D).
Carolina Goldrusher-Somehow this is the best mine train I have been on (excluding BTMR). It has a long pre-lift segment, then two short but similar coaster segments with a lifthill in between. The ride also has a surprise dip into a tunnel at the end. Since I was unable to ride Vortex a second time due to one train operation, this ended up being the only coaster I rode multiple times that wasn't included during ERT. It was also fun riding with a large group of TPR members on my first ride. This gets a C.
Whitewater Falls-In general, Splash Boats are my least favorite type of flume ride. Since this one has a straight drop I thought it might be some good. Unfortunately, I was mistaken. Although it was better than Tidal Wave at SFMM, it was still worse than any other Splash Boat ride I'd been on. I'll give it a C because it at least got you soaked.
Carolina Skytower-It's an observation tower, so there isn't much to say about it. Since you get a good view, this ride gets a B.
Thunder Road-Since both tracks of this ride were running, I rode both sides. The ride would have been better if they were racing them, but it was still an interesting experience. The blue side was running only one train, so it took longer, but gave a much better ride. The silver side was running two trains, but wasn't very good. Blue was smooth and had airtime, silver was rough and stapled you in. Since blue was a good ride, Thunder Road gets a B. It made it onto my top wood coaster list in the #6 position.
Following Thunder Road we had finished everything we wanted to do in the park. Since lunch wasn't until 1:30 P.M. and it was just slightly after noon, we decided to go around the park and take pictures. All but a few of the pictures I have posted below are from this period. We also rode Drop Tower a second time because it had almost no wait and was one of the best rides in the park.
The group lunch at Carowinds consisted of chicken and...not much else. It was easily my least favorite group meal of the trip. During lunch, the winners of the Boo Blasters Challenge were announced, then it started to rain. Park management showed up and did a Q&A session, then the rain cleared and we got to go on a backstage tour of Intimidator. This tour took us by the transfer track and base of the lifthill, then under the station and into the control room. It was very interesting and covered pretty much all of the technical aspects of the ride in about 25 minutes. After the tour, we were told the bus would be leaving at 4:30 P.M. and let loose. My brother and I decided to try for a second ride on Vortex, but we found that the line was about a half hour due to one train operation. Not wanting to risk missing the bus, we opted for Carolina Goldrusher instead. After our ride, we headed to the bathroom, then stopped at the stateline sign to take pictures before heading out to the bus and being some of the first ones out there. We boarded the bus and left the park right on schedule.
Before the trip, I had decided that Carowinds looked like a park that wouldn't be that interesting but had a lot of stuff to do. When I saw the itinerary, I was worried at first that I would not have enough time to do everything, but it ended up that I had more than enough time. I liked the park, but it isn't a park I really care about going back to. Carowinds reminded me a lot of California's Great America, but I actually like it less. The main reason was that the overall ride selection wasn't as good. They did have a couple more good coasters than CGA, but their non-coaster ride department wasn't as interesting (from what I could tell). Additionally, Carowinds is smaller and had the most closed rides of any park on the trip (primarily due to Boomerang Bay being closed). I still would visit Carowinds again if I was in Charlotte for some reason, but otherwise I have no desire to go back there until they get a few more coasters.
Speaking of Carowinds coasters, here is something interesting I noticed. Carowinds, overall, has one of the best varieties of ride experiences of any park I have been to. Of the four parks on the trip, Carowinds seemed to have the most varied ride collection. However, Carowinds felt like it had too many coasters which brought the average ride quality down. Here is how I would rank the eleven coasters at Carowinds that I rode (best to worst);
1. Intimidator
2. Afterburn
3. Thunder Road
4. Hurler
5. Vortex
6. Carolina Goldrusher
7. Carolina Cobra
8. Flying Ace Aerial Chase
9. Ricochet
10. Carolina Cyclone
11. Woodstock Express
Based on my experience of Nighthawk as Stealth, it would probably be right between Afterburn and Thunder Road, but since I didn't ride it at Carowinds I can't accurately place it. Anyway, I personally feel that anything below Carolina Goldrusher on that list could be removed from the park without any negative impact to its set of coasters as a whole. All of the bottom five coasters on that list had some reason why I would never wait more than two trains for them. I understand that most of them are family coasters so they do have a purpose, but I know for a fact that Carolina Cobra and Carolina Cyclone never appeared to have much of a wait. Certainly those two could be removed without much impact. Anyway, my point is that I felt Carowinds was oversaturated in the coaster market and should remove some of their older/worse/less popular coasters before adding new ones to bring the average ride quality up. It doesn't mean that I don't like the park.
Carowinds Ride Count:
Afterburn-4
Intimidator-4
Flying Ace Aerial Chase-1
Woodstock Express-1
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill-1
Carolina Cobra-1
Ricochet-1
Carolina Cyclone-1
Drop Tower-2
Hurler-1
Vortex-1
Carolina Goldrusher-2
Whitewater Falls-1
Carolina Skytower-1
Thunder Road-2
Total-24 rides in 6 hours (4 rides per hour)
After leaving Carowinds, we had a 5 hour bus ride to Pigeon Forge. During the ride, we watched more random videos and Robb talked about Dollywood and the random Pigeon Forge attractions. There was also another snacktime. For dinner, my brother and I went to McDonalds. We arrived at the hotel around 10 P.M. After getting room keys, my brother and I went up to our room and spent the night watching Terminator before going to bed.
Here are the pictures I took at Carowinds. Most of them are of the rides, so I don't know how popular they will be. This will be the case with all but the Pigeon Forge report so I strongly encourage you to look at the TRs others post as well as Robb's photos in addition to these. Also, I really hope to have Dollywood up on Friday, but plans may change.
Before I get into pictures of the park, I think I'll post pictures of the people I mention most frequently in my trip report. Here I am!
And this is my brother. He goes by Gemstone on here and has a total of about 5 posts (he's not very active on the forums).
ERT began with 45 minutes on this ride. Unfortunately, I had to call it quits after less than a half hour.
This was my first ever Immelmaan. I like Immelmaans, but they aren't one of my favorite inversions.
TPR Trip ERT means that there are two trains running and not enough people to fill them, so you can pretty much stay on as long as you want (or in some cases, just change seats).
ERT next moved to this behemoth, Intimidator. It became my favorite coaster anywhere after just a couple rides.
I really think they should put a white flag on top of the pole holding the camera as this is the "final lap" of the race. There would also need to be a checkered flag at the beginning of the brakes.
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. This was not so good, unfortunately.
This ride reminds me of California's Great America. However, I didn't ride it because I can not stand being held upside down at all.
I rode very few flat rides on this trip. This was just one of the ones I missed.
The waterpark was closed. It looked like it would have been fun to do, but was so small you could likely do everything in about an hour.
I got to ride something nearly identical to this later in the trip.
Ricochet with plenty of TPR members in line.
Even for a wild mouse, this wasn't a very pleasant ride.
Fortunately, the only roller coaster that was closed during the trip was the one that I already had the credit on.
I keep calling this ride Drop Zone. Why did Cedar Fair have to change the name to Drop Tower? I would rather it be called Scream Zone.
A 160 ft. Intamin Drop Tower is better than a 255 ft. S&S Turbo Drop.
I don't get why people hate this ride so much. I didn't think it was that bad.
Sure, the ride has very little force and almost no airtime, but it is still a fun ride.
Yes, this is Scream Weaver, but look at the sky. This was taken less than a half hour before it began to rain.
The upcharges weren't very popular today. I saw maybe three people on the skycoaster and about two go-kart races the entire day.
Vortex, the better of the two stand-up coasters on the trip.
Although statistically similar to the CGA Vortex, this ride is very different.
Areas like this make me forget I'm in a Cedar Fair park. I believe this picture actually has more trees than trashcans.
TAKE THE TUNNEL! This is another part of the park that reminded me of CGA.
Prior to the trip I had heard that this wasn't a very good rapids ride, so I didn't bother to ride. Unfortunately, I later learned that I had been mistaken and missed out.
Time for lunch. At a bash, this pavilion would be full, but today this is about a third of the way to maximum fullness.
After lunch we got a backstage tour of Intimidator. Since I was busy listening I only took a few pictures. This is the storage track from behind with the third train sitting on it.
The gearbox that controls the speed of the lifthill. If there is no train on the lift (rare in three train operation) this is responsible for slowing the chain to a crawl to minimize energy use.
Water dummies under the station. I think we may have interrupted something.
Finally, we got to see the computer. This is our tour guide (I forget his name) telling us how everything works.
Time to head out after a really good day at Carowinds.
-
Since SFOG just announced Dare Devil Dive, could it be that maybe Six Flags got a deal for purchasing more than one eurofighter from Gerstlauer? Just a thought...
As soon as I saw that the ride was going into Gotham City for 2012, I immediately thought it might be a eurofighter based on the Batman movie coming in 2012. Since SFOG is getting one, I could totally see one at SFMM. The only problem, however, is that the capacity on these rides isn't that great.
If it's not a eurofighter, I hope it is a dive machine.
Disneyland on Black Friday
in Ask Alvey
Posted
Today, I recieved a call from some relatives who are going to be visiting me over Thanksgiving. Knowing that I am the most knowledgeable one in the family about theme parks, they asked if it would be a good idea to go to Disneyland on the day after Thanksgiving since that is the only day they would be able to go and it has been quite some time since they last visited the park (I don't remeber how long, but between 2 and 5 years). I told them the following:
1. It is Black Friday, so there will probably be people everywhere. Since I have never gone to a theme park on Black Friday before, I don't know whether or not it affects crowd levels and if so, in what way.
2. Three of the four AP levels are blocked out for this day, so it is unlikely that the park will be flooded with AP holders as it is on many Fridays.
3. All schools that I know of in this area have that day off school, so it may increase crowds.
I told them that, by my best guess, it would probably be about the same crowd level as a normal weekend: crowded, but bearable. I told them that the park is open from 8 A.M. until 12 P.M., and that if they went for the entire time they would definitely be able to do everything major. However, they aren't sure if they want to go for more than twelve hours, or whether or not they'll go to both parks.
My question is this: Is my prediction accurate, slightly off, or way off, based on experience at other parks open on Black Friday, and if it is incorrect, how crowded or empty is the park usually on this day? Also, is it feasible to do both parks in one day, or should we stick with one?