Cameron

WOW! One of our customers treated the whole company to the Richard Petty Driving Experience, which is basically "here are the keys to the NASCar, bring it back when you're done"! Well ok, it's not quite that relaxed; but after signing a few forms, and a few more forms, and a few more forms, we're treated to a short video and then we're off! It was a little scary .. ok, it was very scary .. standing there listening to the guy explain how to pull the fire extinguisher and get out of the car quickly etc. Basically the way it works is that you follow a pace car, keeping 3-5 car lengths behind. If you get too close, he'll wave you back; and if you're too far then the flag-man will give you a certain flag signal. You're supposed to creep up on the pace car until you get waved back and they don't mind waving you back a few times, but too many and you get booted. I was waved back about 3 or 4 times, and was never told I was too far back. I surprised myself with how confident I felt. If you keep up with the pace car and follow his line, then they will take you up to (but not beyond) 140MPH. My top speed was 139, so I think I did well! I actually felt really comfortable and I wanted to go faster. The car was amazing to drive, and it all felt very natural. Interestingly enough, many other people were talking about strong Gs in the turns and how they had to fight against them. However when I drove I just relaxed and let the seat support me through the turns, which meant I wasn't fighting anything (in fact that added to how much fun I was having). I wonder if this is because I'm used to lateral Gs from all the coaster riding..? My lap speed more-or-less improved each lap, which is exactly how it's supposed to work, although the difference between my slowest and fastest laps was only 7mph. This was taken by the people running the event (everyone got one). It's a little too cliche for my taste, but still somewhat cool. We had all parked right in the middle of the track area (through the tunnel), next to the garages. It was really quite fun. Time to get undressed again - it's tough to see, but I was *soaked*. After the drive we went out for dinner, and I demolished two pints of Guinness in about 5 minutes! This is Josh (our accountant) and I. We were both so nervous before the drive, but both did really well. Pay no attention to my "helmet hair"! Forget Danica Patrick, I'm the race-car driver who everyone wants! (The guy in the background (in the black DRIFT shirt) is the artist on the game I'm working on now). Such a relief to get the helmet off .. it reminded me of when I was a kid I'd take my ski boots off after a day on the slopes, and steam would come out! I had been so nervous before the race, but after about half a lap everything just fell into place. I was actually disappointed that I couldn't stay out there longer! Climbing out .. I was hot, sweaty, and had enough adrenalin in me to light a small city - it was awesome! And I'm done! I'm in the white car in the distance, returning to the pits. The red car in the foreground is the one used for the ride-along trips. I was right on the pace car the whole time, and apparently I didn't once get the "catch-up" flag. I was waved back 2 or 3 times (which is ok). Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast! And I'm off! Thankfully I didn't stall it out in front of everyone! The clutch was really heavy, compared with the super-light one in my car (my only fault with my car). Just call me Cameron "The Stig" Silver! Of course I doubt The Stig ever looks that pale and nervous. I'm not exaggerating when I say my ass was clenched so tight, it was the size of a single atom... The window net is added to stop stuff from hurting me (there is no glass in the windows). The instructor straps me in to the white car. I'm wearing a full 5-point harness, and it takes a bit of work to put it all together. It's nothing like sliding into a coaster seat! Note the steering wheel on the roof, you need to take the steering wheel ou It's tough to get in there since I can't move my head at all. And as much as I asked, they wouldn't let me run up and slide across the hood.. Time to climb in .. These are real race-cars, hence they don't have doors. The guy on his knees behind the car is checking the tyres. Josh (our accountant!) is lead away from his car, while I'm on the left being fitted with a HANS device. A HANS device fits over your shoulders, and attaches to the back of your helmet. It stops your head from leaning too far forward, or too far back. The I'm up next, in car 45 .. a 6 foot tall tower of quivering jello! Actually the guy told me it's good to be nervous, as nervous people tend to drive better than those who are "all testicles and chest hair". I'm not quite sure whether or not that's a compli All ready to go .. If there's a "dorkiest driver award", I'm fairly confident that I'd win it. Suiting up .. It was 95 degrees out there, and I was already sweating buckets. Not to mention the fact that I was quite terrified.. I'm last on the list (out of 31), and super nervous. No photos please! Kevin (one of our electrical engineers) wasn't doing the actual drive (since he doesn't know how to drive stick), so he opted to do a ride-along. On the ride-along you ride shotgun while an actual racer takes you for several laps at 200+ MPH. Apparently i After the initial welcome, suit fittings, and instructional videos, we all head out into the pit area. Don't we look like a pack of complete dorks?! The event took place at the Chicagoland Motor Speedway, in "beautiful" Joliet Illinois - home of a very large federal prison. These signs were quite a laugh..

I thought it was the theme from the movie "Red Dawn". (Which, by the way, is pretty awesome). Cameron.

^ Eh, the park sucks now, Shapiro has totally destroyed it. I won't be returning in 2008 Cameron.

Bring me some VB, please!

wow! What fabulous photos - I particularly like the animals. I could spend hours cuddling the walrus, giraffes, big cats, and especially the elephant - SO CUTE! I'm hoping-hoping-hoping I can get out to northern California later this year (July) to visit this park. It really looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing.. Cameron.

Is jetlag a big problem for hamsters? Cameron.

Nice photos! How come they look like they were taken in the 40s?! (Not a criticism, just curious..) And I adore Eagle, particularly the red side. Also nice to see some Viper love - that thing can deliver really great rides when it wants too. Thanks for sharing the photos and report! Cameron. PS: I agree that Superman Ultimate Flight is totally bland. Although I felt the same way about Air and the Vekoma Flyers..

Millennium Force because it's a waste of height (300 foot tall, and only about 5 elements .. Batman The Ride beats that!). Hades: I just don't get it. The tunnel is fun, although it's mostly straight track; but the rest is just lots of giant elements and dead track. Cameron.

That steel bridge with the brick support columns is awesome! And as for "the only hills we have in Florida are overpasses", it can't be more flat than Illinois and Indiana ..! Cameron.

OK .. some photos from the trip. I will include the ones from Timber Falls (Avalanche) and Mall Of America too. As soon as you cross the border from Illinois into Wisconsin, they start throwing cheese, fireworks and porn at you. I'm not joking either, this is the very first exit (the porn shop is around the back). I honestly think that every Wisconsiner's dream is to fool around with a large block of cheese in the shape of a naked women, and then set it on fire! Since I was driving right past the Dells, I just had to stop off and say hello to my old friend: Avalanche. The first/last time I rode this was almost exactly two years ago, and it's an experience I did not forget. Saying "insane" is just not enough to truly describe this coaster. That's right - it's a three car train. Just 6 rows. Watching this thing it looks like a bad Benny Hill bit, in fast motion. It's OK if you want to hum his theme song.. Photo-shop was not used in the creation of this photo. Thing is that the coaster travels around the perimeter of the park, only making left hand turns; and they ALL look like this! I actually get dizzy riding this too much without a break.. Notice the kid's hair as it rounds the corner - that's right, there is air-time around the turns too. It doesn't make sense to me either, but somehow Avalanche does it..! There may "only" be left hand turns, but between the turns are these crazy small hills. I think the top of the lift is at least twice as high as the entire rest of the coaster. It's nutz. After riding Avalanche a couple of times, it was time to jump back into my car for the second half of the drive. I was able to watch a magnificent sunset. (Forgive the bugs on the windscreen...). Arriving at ValleyFair you get a lovely view of Wild Thing. It's unfortunate that the ride is so completely average; I was rather disappointed. Excalibur is one of those silly Arrow steel coasters with wood supports. I guess that Cedar Fair likes these because people think it's a wood coaster, but Cedar Fair doesn't have to then worry about all that pesky maintenance and upkeep. The result is this confused ride that fails as a steel coaster, and fails as a wood coaster. Gee thanks, Cedar Fair! I have lost count of the number of times that I've been promised an Arrow Death machine, only to find an enjoyable ride! I genuinely liked Corkscrew - I mean it's no Colossus (Thorpe), but it was fun. Steel Venom might be exactly the same as V2 at Six Flags Great America (my home park), but I really like these rides. I ended up taking several spins on this one. Someone (I think it was Alan) asked me if I thought this was better than V2 at SFGAm; well I have to confess that it felt pretty much the same. This is a compliment, though! Checkout the head-swallowing cleavage on the girl in the first row ... Looks like we can finally put to rest the debate about whether the holding brake is better than the twisted back spike! The whole Mishbucha! From left to right we have: Jerry, Mark, Jerry, Brad (?), Matt, Cameron (the cool one, not me!), Kevin, Elliot, and Robb. I first rode one of these at Thorpe, and they are freaking awesome. The highest swing actually scares me (my mild fear of heights is suddenly not so mild!). I don't recall who was unlucky enough to be sitting next to me when I rode, but I think I may have grabbed his knee at one point. Sorry about that! Elissa was not going to miss out on swinging either. So after a quick partner swap, she got to ride with Jerry. There was this new wood coaster built down the back of the park, but you're not really interested in that right? Renegade was awesome .. now that is coming from a GCI fanboy, but seriously it's loads of fun. Here we have the first drop. Admittedly not the most insane wood first drop I've experienced, but a lot of fun. In the back seats you float all the way down, with the train rotating around you. A wise man once said: "GCI's don't even need a train in the pic to look great." However pictures with trains are still great - especially when the train is a wonderful Millennium Flier, and it's sneaking its way around the butter smooth, and beautifully fluid GCI turns. I've heard many people complain that GCI coasters lack air-time, but I was floating for much of the ride. This hill, over the service road, very well formed, and taken at speed. Goodness... One of the things I find so unique (and terrific) about GCI coasters, is how on the turns they will pop you out of your seat, bank, and turn, all at the same time. It's tough to explain, but you know it when you feel it. You get popped into the air, and then the train banks around you before you land. It actually reminds me a lot of skiing though thick, fresh powder snow; which is probably why I like these rides so much. Gee, who are those ugly mugs in the front car? I wonder... After ValleyFair we hit up Mall Of America for a while. I could only stay for about an hour, since I had 6.5 hours in the car back to Chicago; but it was a fun stop. The mall in general is very impressive (and I am quite anti-mall). This room is so large that an entire ferris wheel fits inside. The funny thing is that the wheel isn't even mounted on the ground floor! Timberland Twister opened a few years ago, and it's a terrifically fun spinning coaster. It's a very twisted layout, and winds around many other things. Elissa and I loaded our car right (or wrong!), and really spun a lot. You spin me right round baby, right round.. As you can see, there is a lot of track on this coaster. Waiting in line I often had difficultly following the track, and watching the cars. It looked popular though, the mall-goers were having a blast. Anyway, I guess that's it for now. It was a really fun weekend, and Valleyfair has a great new ride on their hands. The locals up there should be very happy; so feel free to brag about it, it's valid. Anyway, now I must sleep now .. Goodnight. Cameron.

Oh .. umm .. that. Well you see .. the story behind that is .. well .. it was actually Rich who said it. See I'm Australian, so naturally I append "Mate" onto everything I say. So since I didn't .. err Rich ... didn't say "I'm a girl, Mate", then it obviously wasn't me! Are we clear on this now, mate? Cameron.

Wonderful, Joe! Good to see some Tortellini love too, it's a very underrated pasta in the US. Cameron.

Wow, that was so awesome! My first (and only) visit to Dollywood was in June 2004 (first year for Thunderhead), and it looks spectacular now that the vegetation has filled in and that whole area has become more substantial. Dollywood is really one of my favorite parks, which such a terrific mix of everything; and it's all quality, too. Thanks for sharing.. Cameron.

Gas always goes up before long weekends. It'll come down a bit after Memorial Day weekend.. Cameron.

Julie, you do realize that VHS tapes degrade just sitting in their box .. yet you have to try pretty hard to scratch a DVD to the point where it becomes unplayable... A few weeks ago I cleaned out my VHS closet, and took 4 giant garbage bags out to the dumpster. Felt good to get rid of all that crap. Cameron.

Yay .. Indiana Beach! Fanboy mode: Activated.. Hurricane was a little sluggish when we were there, but it's never really a stand-out ride. It's fun, and the location is awesome (especially at night), but it's nothing to write home about. Great pictures, and it was a fun day over-all. Yeah - Blackpool is definitely like a giant Indiana Beach. It was so dreamy! While riding Cornball or Hurricane in the front seat, you can actually see the water through the track. It totally rules. They tried to crush me, but were unsuccessful on account of me being so manly and tough! Cameron.

If you want to avoid driving so you don't have to buy expensive gas, then more power to you. However if you try to avoid driving (or rush out to buy a Hybrid) in order to save the planet, then you're wasting your time (doubly so if you buy a Hybrid). The fact is that cars are one of the smallest contributors to green-house gases. The largest is electricity production (coal) - so if you actually want to make a difference (rather than get wrapped up in useless trendy nonsense), then turn the damn lights off, don't leave your PCs running all the time (especially monitor), shut the TV off, unplug all cel-phone/device chargers when the device isn't charging (the transformers use electricity all the time, even when nothing is plugged in the other side). The list is almost endless.. Cameron.

Just wanted to say that I also had a really great time yesterday as well. Renegade is a pretty terrific ride, you guys are really lucky to have it. You guys all rock, and it was fun meeting "Spencer For Hire", and especially another Cameron ... The only other Camerons I ever see are little kids getting yelled at by their parents (which of course never happened to me, I was an angel!). Cameron.

All that's missing from the boycott is "send this immediately to 10 of your friends, and your secret crush will fall madly in-love with you". It's nonsense.. Which will cause the oil companies to raise prices in an effort to make up for the loss. Cameron.

wow .. awesome report, thanks! Cameron. PS: I agree about Marvin, best cartoon character there is.

Woo .. I can't wait! Cameron.

This is quite awesome: www.thelastboss.com/post.phtml?pk=2772 Cameron.

Wow .. what a glowing endorsement! I just booked a small trip that will take me to Six Flags St. Louis on June 5th (a Tuesday), and I can't wait. No-one seems to talk about this park much, so I really appreciate your pictures; they certainly did a good job wetting my appetite! Cameron.

^ The problem there is your firewall software, not the Wii. Get a real hardware firewall, and disable the Windows crap Cameron.

Awesome photos Eric .. I can't believe all the trip reports already, and my home park isn't even open yet! I was planning a mini trip out east this summer, but I don't think it's going to work out .. which is a shame. Seeing your BGE and SFA photos really makes me want to return. Glad you guys had such a good time! Cameron. ps: Chuckilly Wonka was quite, quite disturbing