Ride On_17

Just finished up my photo trip report from Winter Chill Out. Feel free to check it out here to hear all about my experience experience and see some cool behind-the-scenes pictures!

Thanks! It was a great way to finish off the season. Hopefully the winter will go by fast for Steel Vengeance!

Hey everyone! As some of you may know, I currently run two blogs: Thrills Await is focused on amusement parks such as trip reports and photography, and Urbanetics is more related to my academic interests (urban planning, architecture, aesthetics, etc). My most recent Urbanetics blog post actually incorporates the best of both worlds, looking at the planning and design that goes into creating our beloved amusement parks. I figured I'd share it here, since I figured many of you might find it interesting. I talk about several urban planning and design concepts such as placemaking (essentially creating a sense of place, beauty, and welcoming in public spaces) and how they apply to amusement park planning and design. Hopefully it gives insight into both the urban planning and themed entertainment industries and how they are interconnected and that you enjoy it! https://urbanetics.wordpress.com/2017/11/03/the-art-of-amusement-parks-people-place-and-planning-for-thrills/ I figured it could also be fun to start a conversation, so feel free to share any relevant insight or opinions. This could be anything from your favorite midways, plazas, or design elements of your favorite amusement parks, as well as your own personal reasons why you like some areas better than others. Or if you have any fun memorizes associated with a specific location in a park, feel free to share that as well!

^Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I was equally surprised by how Dragster's track bends/morphs so much and isn't perfectly straight. Still thinking about my rollback! That's right, you two were so friendly and made waiting for it so much better! It was such a great way to end the season, there's nothing else quite like night rides on Millennium, especially when it's the last train of the night...and the entire season! Hopefully you've enjoyed the rest of your coaster-riding season too!

I had a blast at CP's closing day! To make it even better, I had my first ever Dragster rollback, which was insane and super exciting, plus I was able to get on the last train of the season on Millennium. Kudos to Cedar Point and all its staff for yet another amazing year! I wrote up a full report and added some pictures, so be sure to check it out here!

This monster of a coaster truly looks insane in person...On Friday I was able to spend some time checking it out and getting some pictures. I added a bunch to the gallery and trip report here. This will be such a long winter waiting to finally ride it...

New trip report from my trip to the park last Sunday! The park was really busy but took advantage of Dollar Days and had some great riding. Check it out here!

A few weeks ago I was able to visit KI for the second time this year and just got around to writing my trip report and uploading pictures. I had an amazing day filled with tons of great riding, including some epic night rides on Mystic Timbers and the Beast. Check it out! http://thrillsawait.weebly.com/trip-reports/night-rides-or-bust-kings-island-8-11

The new Halloweekends Haunt website is live! https://www.cedarpoint.com/halloweekends/haunt/ Eternity Infirmary, Eden Musee, and Fear-y Tales are going away while Deprivation: No Way Out, Fearyground Freakshow, and Harvest Fear will all be new. Another exciting addition is the return of Midnight Syndicate, which I'm thrilled about. Something that has me scratching my head is that Harvest Fear is said to go in Frontier Town...but with Cut Throat Cove and Tombstone Terror-tory, I don't know where another scare zone could be placed. Plus CornStalkers and Screamworks already take up Frontier Trail soooo I have no clue where this new one's supposed to go. It looks like it will be a great Haunt season filled with several exciting new attractions!

On Friday I was at the park and got to check out Mean Streak 2.0 progress, it's really coming along! It's been almost a month since I was last at the park and the lift hill is looking amazing. I can't wait to see it completed, it will stand out so much in the back of the park and look incredible from the midway. There's also ledgers being constructed for the 3rd and final lap of the ride layout. They're pretty low to the ground where the former queue entrance was so I'll be curious to find out where the new entrance will be, hopefully it still involves going underneath the structure like before. August 16th (and the 2018 season) can't get here soon enough! I wrote up a full trip report with pictures from my trip, but here are a few Mean Streak pics. http://thrillsawait.weebly.com/trip-reports/theyrecoming-thrills-and-maverick-marathons-back-to-the-point-721

Thank you! Ahh well that would explain it. It definitely was pretty crazy, but I still had fun. Dorney really is a nice park!

I took my second trip to Dorney Park last week and wrote up a trip report about it! While some of my experience there was a little crazy and unusual when compared with my first visit, I still had a blast. Dorney really does have a nice selection of rides and is a great park. It was a fun way to spend a couple hours. http://thrillsawait.weebly.com/trip-reports/crowds-craziness-and-coasters-dorney-park-715

I know it's been over a week since CoasterMania, but I've been out of town and just uploaded my pics and wrote up a trip report. It was an amazing day, and after 28 rides, 17.6 miles of walking (seriously), and lots of awesome RMC Mean Streak views, yet another great CM was in the books. Check out http://thrillsawait.weebly.com/ to see my full trip report and gallery, but here are just a few Mean Streak highlights for now.

I finally was able to get to Carowinds for the first time and ride Fury! I had a great time at the park and wrote up a detailed trip report about my experience and added some pictures I took too. It's such an incredible coaster and I really enjoyed the park overall. Check out the report on my blog here! http://thrillsawait.weebly.com/trip-reports/finally-fury-and-my-100th-coaster-carowinds-518-519

Some more pictures of the Project 2017 site... Notice how there are perfectly cleared areas cutting through the woods. In fact, they look like the right width for a coaster to be able to go through. Very interesting.