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Samuel

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Everything posted by Samuel

  1. I don't like lumbering through slow rolls and cookie cutter elements on the wing coasters, and I don't like flying coasters in general (sky coasters, slingshots, & even the B&M inverts do a much better & more comfortable job of giving a "free" feeling in the air), but I have to go with the remaining early stand-ups like Apocalypse and Vortex. They aren't fun to ride and more interesting coasters have passed them by. I do appreciate that they have original layouts, but that's about it. To balance this post out with some positives, I love almost all of the '90s B&M inverts, the dive coasters are excellent, & I firmly believe that hearing a B&M roar is good for your health.
  2. For all the years Arrow was around, I feel like the company never figured out how to get people into and out of those elements comfortably. The track usually has some janky, non-heartlined tilt that attempts to gently ease riders into the corkscrews, but instead it makes just makes those elements hilarious and painful. What's more, the Chinese knockoffs have taken those weird Arrow transitions and somehow butchered them further.
  3. Yep, I had a great ride in the front, too. It's definitely worth experiencing both ends of the train for different thrills, and I'm glad RFII is a "not a bad seat in the house" coaster. Given the semi-violent edge that some GG woodies can develop, Waldameer has done a great job keeping this ride running very well.
  4. Went out to the park this past weekend: -- Ravine Flyer II remains bonkers. It was wild, aggressive, and smooth. If you like butterflies in your stomach, nothing beats getting yanked down the first drop in the backseat. Very reasonable station waits allowed me to get in four laps in about 15 minutes or so. After that, I was a little bit fatigued from the Gravity Group wildness, but it's still an awesome coaster. -- *I was on a log flume....I was on a log flume* Thunder River was great fun as always, with lots of mist in the bonus tunnel. I love flumes and hope that Waldameer keeps this one around for a long time to come. -- The drop tower was great! I've done it before, but the quick drop is a real doozy and the restraint feels a little bit flimsy in a good way (if you like to be terrified). -- Milkshakes at Sara's were perfection.
  5. I just want to wish a brief, no-frills Happy Father's Day to Robb and to all of the dads, uncles, and good guys on TPR who've raised or helped mentor kids! I hope everyone's children get to share in this fun hobby, & maybe even have the chance to ride a few coasters with dad this weekend. Some kids might wish their parents were rich, but I bet all kids wish they had parents who love to travel and ride roller coasters -- now that's a jackpot. Whether your kids are young or grown up now, cheers to you, TPR dads, and enjoy the day!
  6. The fries can be soggy and they are also my favorite fries on earth, so there you go. Sometimes they can be a little bit crispy -- and that's great -- but I love the sogginess. I've never heard anyone complain that a good baked potato was too soft and mushy inside. Give me cheese, bacon, gravy, ketchup, or even light vinegar -- any way they serve 'em, I love 'em.
  7. Nice report! Sounds like you had a lot of fun, and thanks for taking the time to post it. The scoop on the Hurler station is that its theme has long been gutted after originally being based on Wayne's World during the park's Paramount days. From the coaster's Wikipedia page: "Originally, the queue wound underneath the coaster through a 'hot set' on location filming scenes from Wayne's World. Upon entering the station building, park guests passed through a full-scale set of the iconic basement hideout of Wayne and Garth. Since removal of the Paramount references, the queue and station building are loosely themed with the remains of the original theming." Link
  8. Now there's ^ a trip down memory lane -- I probably still have this bad boy on VHS somewhere! Thanks for sharing!
  9. Nice! I think you'll have an awesome time. I'll be heading to the park this weekend, and I recommend stopping by a little Erie culture credit called Sara's immediately outside the park -- just beyond the Ravine Flyer's road flyover. It's an unapologetic jukebox diner-and-ice-cream joint that serves some standard food, but also some of the best milkshakes (and ice cream) around, and it'll just charm the pants off of you. It's a popular spot with the locals and is one of my favorite places to pop in when I go to the park. The ice cream and roadside attraction kitsch are more than worth the 15 seconds it takes to get there from the park. You might take up another option for dinner, but you can't go wrong checking it out and having a dessert. Google images for Sara's
  10. I can't wait for the test runs to begin! I don't think there are too many coasters that give me trepidation, but hanging out on the staircases of steep, huge lift hills? No way, Jose. The one guy in the video above ^ is just smoking on the steps at about 200 feet in the air as if he's not 200 feet in the air. Gulp.
  11. I think you are close. Rumor I've heard is that it's going to be an 87 foot tall dive coaster that's themed after Sidney Crosby. Sounds like it'll be a generational coaster and one of the best of all time!
  12. Yeah, 412 is the main Pittsburgh area code, & it's become a pretty common hashtag and merchandise logo for the city. Unless the park has some serious area code gimmick up its sleeve with this new attraction, I'd read more into the upcoming teasers and less into the idea that "412" has deep coaster lore meaning. And I will add that this is exciting news! I'll probably find myself playing along, and we can already see that the project is anticipation-worthy. I'm looking forward to the hype and clues.
  13. Is Cedar Point still hiring large numbers of Europeans? I never dug into how that hiring deal worked, but Hershey & Cedar Point always seem to have a lot whole of European employees. I also noticed a lot of American college students working there last year, with their schools printed on their ID. think it also makes for a friendlier, more efficient park versus those parks that are stuck with sometimes-fickle personalities in the local talent pool.
  14. This is the park that's known to run three trains on Corkscrew. "Life, uh...finds a way."
  15. I recommend Cedar Point head-to-head. Great Adventure has some great coasters and is certainly a headlining Six Flags park, but Cedar Point's collection is overwhelming, operations are typically very good, and its location is hard to beat. Now with Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point has an almost unfair, holy grail-level surplus of coasters. But, if you've never been to NYC or the East Coast, Great Adventure can be paired with an endless number of things to do that could make for an even more compelling trip. Depending on your interests, budget, and fellow travelers, you can experience just about every flavor of food, fun, shows, shopping, character, luxury, & grime throughout the East Coast.
  16. I'm pro-TLC for this park, whatever the name or forces at work behind the scenes. There are some in-park corridors that are nice and feel like an awesome regional park with pretty surrounding grounds, but others (chintzy batting cages, leftover Six Flags show spaces, open areas where there's just nothing, one train ops) suggest a tight budget. I'd love to see the park continue to spruce up from within and add sensibly in the future (not expecting a circa-'99 multi-coaster dump).
  17. ^ Have you ridden it, Bane? I'd love to hear more. I enjoy the enthusiasm from that channel, but it's a real pro-Blackpool group. It was doing a lot of park defending when commenters were skeptical about the often-exaggerating British hype train (it'll be the best/most fantastic/utmost unbelievably glorious coaster experience found anywhere, etc., etc.) well before it opened. Again, it seems like a friendly group, but I'm looking forward to hopefully some full TPR member reports soon!
  18. Oh no...is that low turn (above the white and dark vans) actually a janky inverted-cutback-stall thing?!
  19. This is like Jack Skellington "making Christmas." I am licking my chops for some POVs of these things, but I feel sorry for the guests who will have to endure them! Mercy.
  20. Once the park is up and running again, it'll be really special for the Aurora High School Class of 2773 to hold its prom in Thunderhawk Hall.
  21. This is the same franchise. They could call the next one "Jurassic Land" or "Jurassic Walmart" and people would know exactly what franchise these movies are a part of. I don't know by what measure you believe that Jurassic World is already culturally irrelevant, but all evidence is working against whatever you got. The last movie did well, its sequel is ready to roll, old JP characters are returning, Chris Pratt = $ right now, there will be new updates to the ride, etc. If anything, the series has been thoroughly reinvigorated, even if the original movie is still the fan favorite. It sounds like you just enjoy the first movie the best (as I and a lot of people do), but if you're a fan, be glad that the movies and park attraction are getting TLC. It's not hard to imagine these sequels not happening and USH eventually ripping out the attraction and replacing it with some other concept altogether (hey, Jaws).
  22. The Falls is a great time. As others have said, the Cave of the Winds and Maid of the Mist are both very cool experiences and likely to be highlights of a trip. Don't just snap a pic and leave! The town of Niagara Falls, ON is cleaner, livelier, and more touristy than Niagara Falls, NY, but both offer beautiful views of the waterfalls themselves. I like to stay in a park and digest it slowly, but Martin's really was a "couple of rides and go" kind of place to me. The Silver Comet is pretty fun (always good to ride a now-rare CCI), minus one violent turn near the end (not sure if that's been re-tracked since or what). If you're short on time, Martin's is a good way to sneak in a few rides. Darien Lake really isn't in the backyard of Niagara or anything, taking me a good hour to get there from the Falls last year. I think Ride of Steel and the awesome, steroidal Slingshot ride are still worth the drive, but again, not if it makes you snap a pic at the Falls and get right back in the car—that'd be a bad choice. If push comes to shove, don't cheat yourself out of quality time at the Falls! I don't disagree, but let me offer a friendly counter: I think Wonderland works best as its own dedicated day, part of a larger Niagara/Toronto trip, or with other adults on a coaster tour. I've tried tacking it onto a one-day Niagara/Buffalo visit, and I ended up falling way behind schedule at the border and in traffic, leaving me with not enough time to appreciate either the Falls or Wonderland. If hoppedup's daughter wants to experience the Falls itself, and then they have to drive 4 hours to somewhere else, I think it'd be a lot less hassle to just enjoy the Falls and Buffalo-Niagara area.
  23. Yeah, I think the post-Kinzel management took a big state of the union look at the park and wanted to improve overall park quality rather than push for mindless quantity. I'm glad the park didn't plop down Zac Spins & super loops, with all due respect to those rides and the parks that have them. Lots of things have moved, improved, and/or been tweaked since Kinzel retired. The entrance, hotels, sports complex, beach, water park, old show buildings, etc., also speak to a lot of changes and new approaches. On the other hand, some of the coaster removals grew the need for a good family coaster (or two!) even further. Keeping with the theme of internal improvements, I'd be interested in parts of Corkscrew receiving the updated track that was put on Python at Efteling, to make it a fun first looper for families rather than a clunky one-and-done.
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