LuminousAphid

Hey everyone, I might be at Silverwood during the eclipse, and I am wondering if anyone has plans to try to get on a coaster or ride while the eclipse is happening? It won't be a full eclipse up that far in Idaho, but I'm sure there are some parks in the path of totality--Enchanted Forest in OR actually the only one I can really find--and that would be just bad ass to be on any ride while that's happening. I've never seen one, and I am really tempted to drive down south in ID to see the total eclipse, but I will probably just stay in Coeur d'Alene and possibly try getting on Timber Terror while the moon is doing its thing

Hey! I just booked my hotel rooms for a visit in August, so I'm just wondering if there is anything that has been significantly changed this year. I haven't been there to try the new racing slide, but as far as I know, that's the only new major attraction? I am really going to try to eat at the restaurant this year, especially since my stomach has randomly started a mutiny and I can't eat the normal "theme park" fare anymore

I want to bring this thread back from the dead because; 1. are there any of these still around? and 2. I live about an hour north of Puyallup, and I went to the fair the last couple of years but I never knew they brought one to The Fair... here's a crappy video and a website with the "x-treme" rides from 2003--now it's called "Adventure Zone" at the fair each year, and they still have the Slingshot and S&S Combo Tower, which is pretty damn fun. They should bring the SCAD back! Anyone know if Funtastic was running the midway back then? Start @ 1:20 http://www.daffodilvalleytimes.com/puyallup/fair_xtreme_2003.html [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] edit; here's my answer, it sounds like Funtastic was doing at least the midway rides. I also go to Jack in the Box for lunch when I go, funny how things are largely the same after 13 years: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=53827

On Sunday, October 30th I tried to go down to the south Seattle area to go to the Georgetown Morgue haunted house. I had bought the combo ticket from Nightmare on 9; the same company runs both haunts, so you can buy a combination ticket of both haunts for $30. I drove all the way down there and then realized I didn't have the address or know exactly where it was. After searching around (too far south it turned out) for about half an hour, I gave up and decided I could go the next night if anything. Looking back I am glad I did, since it ended up taking me to the best haunt I tried this year. I took the normal exit to home, and passed by the entrance to the Haunted Nightmare haunt at the Nile Shrine Club/golf course. I had passed by it all season but since I couldn't find the georgetown haunt, I decided this was as good a time as any to try this local haunt out. It's only about 5 minutes from where I live, and I regret not checking it out sooner! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures or video, so this will be text-only--sorry about the lack of content, I tried to bring my camera on the 2nd visit but ran out of batteries Coming into the driveway, there is a long drive to a fork in the road where, if you're lucky, you will be waved to the left into the main parking lot near the box office. If you get waved right, you will have to park in the far lot and either walk across the dark golf course or wait for the shuttle, which fits about 16 people each trip. I was unlucky and had to wait for the shuttle for 1/2 hour or so, but I got to talk with the parking attendant a bit about the attraction. After making it on and off the shuttle, slightly impressed that they actually provided a shuttle, I got in the line for tickets. I didn't know it at the time, and just assumed it was normal, but it was "lights out" night and they were selling little LED finger lights for $1 along with tickets... I declined, with an "I'll be fine" and headed over to the queue for the attraction. I was pleasantly surprised by the themed queue area, and I wasn't the only one who noticed. There were weird anatomy pictures, specimens in jars including realistic severed head, some pretty decent projected ghosts and other cliche haunt staples. It was all surprisingly well done, and the creepy pirate actor in the area was providing some decent entertainment. It did a good job of setting the mood and so far I was getting excited for what looked more and more like a promising haunt. Once I got to the front, I got a slightly weird look that I was alone, but I didn't care; looking back, it was a great experience, and while it would have been nice to have a friend or two, being alone led to some genuinely creepy moments that I loved! I would urge anyone who hesitates to visit parks or other attractions like this to just go for it, you will have fun if you get over looking weird or lonely and just enjoy it The first house, out of 5 (impressive for a private fundraiser event), was The Curse of the Nile, obviously a play on the name of the club and themed to an ancient Egyptian tomb. This was a short but pretty cool haunt that had some creepy props and a couple of good jump scares. Nile crocodile soldiers with glowing green eyes flanked the first corridor, and I didn't get it the first visit but there was a nice air blast at your feet that got me good the second time through. The final room was dark, but then burst into smoky light as a suddenly-illuminated pharoh lunged toward me. A promising start! I actually got another good scare as I exited the first building, with an actor whispering in my ear as soon as I pushed through the curtains to outside. The next house was the Ballinger Lake Asylum, the front of the house illuminated in red light and crazed shrieks and babbling emanating from within. This house featured some awesome actors--one of which could have easily been a stunt double in the exorcist--that were unrelenting in their taunting and didn't mind physically blocking your progress to creep you out. The actors were especially impressive since they are all volunteers, and the whole production is the main fundraiser each year for the club. By the time I came out of this house I was properly creeped out, and it was not about to let up. The path to the next haunt was fairly long, and it was themed almost like another whole area, and suddenly I found myself surrounded by black-cloaked goth-looking girls chanting some female name I didn't recognize, again getting close enough to make me genuinely creeped out. I actually said, "I shouldn't have done this alone!" and half-ran out of the area as they laughed behind me, through a small dimly-let graveyard, expecting someone else to pop out at me. I made it to the next house and waited until the next group got a head start inside. Infernum, marked with "Hell" right below the name, was an interesting little haunt. The walls were painted with weird symbols and it was foggy, dimly lit and loud as hell. The soundtrack was great, with loud whispering, backward speech and other creepy otherworldly atmosphere; again I was impressed with what they achieved with limited resources. There were a couple of good pop-out scares and another "Final Boss"-like moment with an actor jumping out in a huge demon costume with blinding lights behind, and again I was pleasantly surprised at how good the pacing and overall feel of what they were doing. My head actually began hurting I was smiling so much, so it was nice that I had to wait outside the next house again for the group ahead to make some progress. Sorry for the long review, but as you can see I really enjoyed this haunt, and I think anyone in the Seattle area should definitely make the trip to see it next year. I will update this again with the last 2 houses of this haunt, and I finally did make it to the Georgetown Morgue haunt in south Seattle, so I will write a bit about that one as well. Hope you enjoyed reading, and again sorry for the lack of visual content. Sometimes I find that going without a camera makes the experience better, and in this case it was certainly true, so I don't regret having nothing to share with you all

I don't normally go to haunted houses or that sort of thing, but since some family and I went to Scarywood last year I have been craving some good walk-through haunt action. This year I wasn't able to make it over to Idaho, but I figured since we have quite a few haunts around the Seattle area I would visit some of the higher-profile ones and see if anything compares to Silverwood's very nice Halloween event. Keep in mind I have never been to any major theme park Halloween events, so these are nothing to compare with the big productions, and overall I was slightly disappointed by most I tried, with one notable exception. First, a friend from work and I headed out to Snohomish, WA to go through the Nightmare on 9 haunted house. They have a large selection of other attractions like a "flashlight" corn maze, food vendors and Zombie Paintball--something I might want to come back and try next year. From what I saw it involved a tractor towing a big trailer through scenes where various zombies can be shot with mounted paintball guns. It seems like it would be fun with a couple of friends after having a couple of beers at their huge barn. Part of the line for the haunt and most of the other stuff was inside this big space, easily 200ft long and 40ft high at the center. It was packed when we got there, waited about 20 minutes for tickets and then 1 hour or more for the haunt itself. As for the haunt, it was pretty decent, but nothing really stood out that made me go "Wow!" The one I remember as really creepy was the sudden trio of giant pig snouts slopping through a trough of gore... it was generally your standard set of scenes (doctor/hospital room, hanging bodies, murder clown room, etc.) that were fairly well done but again nothing that was particularly notable. I will give them credit for keeping the line moving slow to keep people from bunching up, but it resulted in long lines, and the house itself was relatively short, about 10 minutes at most. I rate it as "go for it if you love haunted houses, otherwise skip it" The second place I headed was the next night, Saturday October 30th, so I was of course expecting long lines. The place i chose, as the only theme/water park in western Washington, is already notorious for long lines in the summer. Wild Waves/Enchanted Village have recently tried a new strategy of splitting into the water side and the dry rides side, and you can pay for only rides for less than half the summer price. However, with all the water rides and about a third of the other attractions--and a lot of the food, I found out--closed and a pretty big crowd for this small park, it quickly turned into 1 hour+ waits for each of the 3 haunts. WARNING: Crappy Videos Ahead I pulled up as the sun was setting and it looked light, but apparently people kept coming because before long the lines were crazy for everything Coming in you can get a fairly good look at Wild Thing and other rides across the lake This old Arrow hurts like the dickens IMO, and they "let" you go around twice, although once back at the station the first time they ask if anyone wants to get off. This means in the summer people wait for more than an hour for this garbage, but if there is no wait I sometimes go on it. This night I did not. I got one ride in on Timberhawk before lines really picked up. This small woodie is one of 4 S&S wooden coasters built, and is pretty tame overall. It's the first drop and a couple of the subsequent ones that are the fun parts, but it sadly just peters out near the end. They could have done a lot more with some bunny hops or helixes at the end. I then tried to go find food, and would have even accepted cheap nachos with cheese sauce, but couldn't really find anything that didn't have a huge line and was still worth it. They have a candy store but I needed something more substantial. Luckily I usually plan for these occasions and they allow re-entry, so I headed back to the car for some trail mix I had stashed. It wasn't comfort food or anything but the remaining allowed me to wait in line for pretty much the rest of the night with snacks to munch on. I found the Kang-a-Bounce which I love, but I thought it would be weird for a 30-year old guy to be riding it by himself after dark with a bunch of kids. The first haunt was a "3D" chromadepth black-light attraction called The Playground or something much like the thousands that seem to be popping up everywhere; it reminded me of 3Dementia at Scarywood but without the awesome hand-painted panels and more unique scenery. This was a mix of fairly nice mass-produced panels and some lower quality hand painted stuff, and it was pretty cool overall. I left feeling satisfied and looking forward to the next haunt. On the way out I passed some other rides like the Timber Axe--makes me sick a bit--and the Klondike Gold Rusher wild mouse, neither of which I bothered with. I was tempted to wait in line for the new drop ride they installed this summer, but I'm glad I didn't because I would have missed the cutoff for the final haunt later in the night. It looks like the smallest Double Shot that you can order and is called Brain Drain; it has some LED's on it that make a little light show when it launches but it doesn't look like anything really special. The Combo Ride at the Puyallup Fair is the only other drop ride in the area, and it costs $10 per ride and is only open 2 periods each year, so next year I will have to try this little tower. It's not quite one of those kiddie drop rides since it appears to be a full-size S&S tower footprint, but I'll say it looks short and sweet. I headed to the line for the next haunted house, the Chamber of Souls, over on the other side of the park. It was actually in the water rides section, and it took me a bit to find the correct way to get there... The line was somewhat entertaining with sounds coming from the haunted house, and then there was this; So yeah, there was that. The haunt itself was again worth the wait, but it was nothing super amazing or groundbreaking. It again seemed like a re-hash of most of the common haunted house setups, but I will say that the actors in this house were some of the best I saw at this event or others in the area, and one particular doctor with a syringe really made me think he would jab me with it a couple of times, he didn't hold back at all, it was awesome. One of the scenes I remember was filled with tires, wreckage and body parts, with disorienting flashing lights and strobes. This was at the height of the evening and the scare actors seemed to be at their best, with a few of them looking genuinely creepy. I got chased by the obligatory chainsaw-wielding maniac I already heard hours before, but somehow it still manages to be a bit scary sometimes. The final haunt I don't have any pictures or video of, since the line had a view of just the scrambler and I couldn't get any good video of Timberhawk doing its last few runs before the 10PM noise curfew. It went way after 10PM so I wonder how strict that is on certain nights. Camp Whispering Pines was a promising concept, a kids camp that is haunted/murdered/not quite clear, and looked well executed except... well, there were hardly any actors left around. Since it was nearly 11:30 when I got to the front of the line, it seemed like some of the actors had already left and a few of the scenes seemed deserted where there should have been a scare or two. There were a couple of good scares but the majority seemed to be walking through scenes expecting to be scared. The very end had a pretty badass-looking guy with some sort of hazmat/diving bell helmet and armor suit on and a big scary axe. The exit from the haunt was fairly close to the parking lot, but the number of cars trying to exit made a big traffic jam for quite a while, so I was in no hurry to get out of there https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UejK1NeiQcQ Overall, I think this would be a good event if I went earlier in October, but my penchant for procrastination led to a late start to the season. The next night, though, I headed to (or attempted to find) a couple of other area haunts, and ended up at my favorite of the ones I tried. More on that tomorrow night, for now, another crappy video of the neighborhood Halloween decorations I never knew existed! 2:30 or so is getting to the crazt over-the-top neighbor I now have to start a Halloween decoration rivalry with. Any cheap haunted front yard ideas? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18V72FLjAOY

Just want to say I went to one of my local haunted attractions in the Seattle area and it wasn't nearly as well-done as Scarywood, both inside the haunted house and themeing outside. It really makes me appreciate our trip there last year much more; even Blood Bayou alone, maybe the shortest haunt when we went, was quite a bit longer than the one we went to last night and had much better actors. I think I will have to make it back over for Scarywood next year, especially if they get something new again next year Comeagain, it looks mostly the same from the website, but anything new going on this year that you know of? I am waiting on a TR from rollercoasteralley.com but nothing so far... the only thing I was disappointed with last year was Caved In, how has that maze done this year?

I wanted to head to this fair last year, since I saw they had a KMG Freak Out and that was the first time I had a chance to ride a "big boy" ride like that. I rode SpinCycle a few times when I was at Silverwood, and I was left wanting a little bit more intensity from such a huge, impressive-looking ride. Unfortunately I didn't make it to the fair last year, so between then and now I have ridden probably the craziest pendulum ride around up in Playland, B.C., but I decided to go back this year to try this much smaller version and see how some of the other rides at the fair were. I got a late start to the day, but I had supplies in hand for a gorgeous breakfast thanks to the best local butcher ever, Double DD Meats I headed out and was surprised at the light traffic I encountered, although since I arrived so late I had to park out by the maintenance station for the fairgrounds. The fair actually had people in golf carts offering rides to or from the gate, which was pretty awesome, but I felt I should leave those for the old/tired people The big ferris wheel and the drop tower were the first rides visible, even from the parking lot, and soon I saw the main reason I came, to be honest-- Freak Out It really is a fun ride just to watch, so I looked and got some pictures first, deciding that I didn't want to potentially ruin my day right off by jumping on it. I went on the drop tower, which looks like a 70' A.R.M. Super Shot. Even at about half the height of their big towers this thing gives you a great shock for just long enough to get the blood pumping. It seemed the initial drop was a little more intense than the one at Silverwood, but maybe it was just me. Either way it was fantastic [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] After jumping off I felt energized and ready, so I got in line for the Freak Out. The line ended up right next to some of the carnival games, so occasionally I got to watch people pay $10+ to try to win a $5 plush toy, most of whom lost. It's amazing what shiny, bright things will do to people Something I noticed right away is that most of the rides had decent new-ish lighting, and most of the bulbs were working- two nice details that gave it a more professional atmosphere than some carnivals I have visited. They had a nice Rock Star in the vicinity [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] Standing in line I started to have a sore neck from looking up. It's probably something about the rhythmic movement, but I find these pendulum rides endlessly fascinating to watch. Here are some pictures I took while transfixed [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] This ride actually had a very nice cycle for a carnival, lasting about 2:30 and ramping up to max swing and down 3 times, the final with fast spin on the gondola, at which point it just gets insane. As the thing slows down they keep the gondola spinning, which is the part of the ride my stomach did not appreciate. I felt a little ill for 5 minutes, then went to find some decent fair food. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] I found a fresh-dipped giant corn dog for $6.50 which is OK for the fair, and after showing down I tried some more gentle rides. I went to find the Zillerator roller coaster, which cal1br3tto says is a Galaxi, and I will take that as truth. It was OK, but probably would have been better if I didn't feel like I had to watch my backpack at the station It was very industrial-looking and honestly it felt that way too, so I didn't take any repeat rides on it. The drops were fun but there was pain in how steep some of the transitions were. Next was the Flying Bobs,or Thunder Bolt in this case. This is an older Chance ride without the fancy lighting, but it was still a hell of a ride. I tried the ones at the Puyallup fair and I think these either rotated faster or banked more freely, because these were pure awesome! I know it says don't rock the car but I was able to get it past 90 degrees on each upswing, and none of the ops said anything Then it was back to the drop tower for a little adrenaline boost, then I went around to look at some exhibits, animals, etc. - - - After walking around the fair for a couple of hours and checking out all there was to see, I meandered back over to the midway It turned into sort of a beautiful evening, making for some nice pictures, so I spent a lot of time doing that. They had a chance Yoyo that was really nice I went on the Freak Out again and got ill again, but ice cream fixed me As the afternoon wore on I hopped back and forth between doing rides and checking out other stuff, waiting for dark so I could take some night shots of all the rides, and of course experience them in the dark! I wished I could ride the big ferris wheel to get a nice view, but no single riders Is this really because they think people will jump?!? Night time is always my favorite in places like these, with all the lights and sounds intensified. Butler Amusements did a great job with lighting and the look of the midway, kudos to them The Zipper they had was running really well; it was the nicest Zipper I have seen, although that's not very many. Once again, no single riders They had some classics like Area 51 (Gravitron), Scrambler, Tilt-a-Whirl, but the nice open-cabin Ring of Fire wasn't open All the games were usually pretty empty, but quite often people would come up and drop $10-20 for a prize they liked, often to walk away with nothing. I just don't understand the part of the human psyche that gives in to these impulses, luckily. The drop tower was still fun at night but I wish it was darker- the big floodlight was annoying and this thing goes slow so I sat on the opposite side The rest of the evening was spent enjoying rides--that Thunder Bolt really was super fun--and eating random fatty things such as scones, fries, etc. I got caught staring at the Freak Out again, taking way too many videos and pictures I went home pretty happy and full of fried food, so the day was a success. I would definitely go if you are in the area, they have some fun rides and the fair itself is pretty good--lots of concerts, races, animal shows, etc. I almost went back and entered some plants in the horticulture show, but I couldn't be bothered to get up at 7AM on Sunday for the walk-up entry period. I hope you enjoyed!

Zillerator was OK, probably would have been better if I didn't have to keep an eye out for my backpack lying back at the station--again, no one wanted to go with me so I didn't have anyone to hold my stuff I thought Butler did a great job, most of the rides were in really good shape with most lights working etc. I enjoyed the KMG Freak Out, although the amount of spinning made me a little sick-feeling after each ride. It had a nice long cycle, they ramp it up to the max swing 3 different times, the final time with full spin as well Here's a video of part of the midway while I get the trip report going

Hello ladies and gents, I'm planning on heading out to Monroe WA this Saturday for the Evergreen State Fair, and it looks like they have a decent flat ride lineup so I was wondering if any of y'all wanted to join me. I haven't been there in years, literally since I was a kid. I went to the Puyallup Fair last year, and I would have gone to this one last year except all of my days off ended up being rainy. This year they seem to have a couple more rides so maybe it was worth waiting! http://evergreenfair.org/148/Carnival The KMG Freak Out is the main thing that drew my attention last year, and they have plenty of more sane rides, some good, some crap. Rock Star reminds me of the Falling Star(R.I.P.) at Wild Waves, they have a decent looking--but short--Larson/ARM-style drop tower, a big ferris wheel, and I don't know what the Zillerator Coaster is but it can't be that bad right? Anyway if anyone wants to join me up in the country, PM me and we can meet up there Otherwise stay tuned for a photo and video-filled trip report! edit; they also have a Zipper edit; I should also say this is in Washington, I'm sure there are other Monroe's out there

The new Scarywood site is up, and I'm really impressed with the intro production: http://www.scarywoodhaunt.com/ I loved the event last year, and I think I will try to get over there again this year but earlier in October, so maybe it won't be 30F by the end of the night Sadly all the attractions seem to be the same, so on second thought I might wait until next year to see if they create anything new Check the site out!

Well that's not true at all, according to the internet all but the one from SFOG are still operating. I know for a fact that there is still one in Idaho, because I rode it last year

I joined a private server but I keep getting kicked off once the map is downloaded, anyone know where I can seek help for this? Is there a community board? It gave me an error file or whatever it's called

Anyone been to the park yet this year, and had a chance to try out the racing slide? I am wondering how fast it actually feels, I have never seen one of these IRL. Pics would be awesome!

That sounds awesome actually, I bet it will be really fun to try. It sounds like/reminds me of Most Extreme Elimination Challenge or WIPEOUT

I like that pic of Atmosfear, and I see why they don't allow cameras- even something like my smaller camera falling from that height could be deadly Thanks again for showing me around, I hope I can come back up sometime for the Fair or Fright Nights and ride Coaster and The Beast at night

I don't think the area "really needs it," and I was surprised to see the Pacific Northwest as an area mentioned within the first 5 replies to this topic n years ago, but I would love to see a full-blown theme park in our area with, you know, new coasters sometimes. That hasn't even been a concept here since 2003 when TImberhawk was built, including anything worth mentioning up in BC or in Oregon, Idaho, etc. Silverwood hasn't had anything new coaster-wise (except a family powered spinning coaster) since Tremors in 1999. Everything else in the area is old or second-hand- Aftershock is really amazing, but was down an entire day last summer while I was there and I felt bad for people only there 1 day. Puyallup got Rainier Rush which is shit--and like he said it only operates twice a year--Wild Waves/Enchanted Village is getting an Enterprise and a tower ride of some sort, but it's a coaster drought out here. Granted we have some great coasters within 3-6 hours ( )- I just got up there to ride Coaster in Vancouver last weekend and it was @$&%ing fantastic, and Silverwood's lineup is awesome, but something new eventually would be nice. Trouble is, unless SIlverwood springs for something new, I don't see anything cutting-edge being available to us Northwesterners without a plane ticket anytime soon.

That looks very fun, it doesn't seem too terribly spinny which is perfect for me (and I know many other members don't like spin'n'pukes) and this shoves Oktoberfest even further up my bucket list. Fantastic Trip Report by the way, thanks so much for sharing all of your wonderful pictures and videos

Awesome, I had no idea! It actually works without any fiddling, which is amazing too

Awesome, I really like the bright green spine for the track. It's too bad we can't scale gravity- it would be awesome to see this thing run at a full-scale speed instead of super fast

After getting off the Timber Axe I felt a bit woozy, so I went and sat down for a bit. I'm glad I'm starting training early; trying to go to West Coast Bash later this year but I'm worried about my riding stamina! I think most coasters are fine for me--probably the most intense I have been on is a GIB and it was no problem--but some flat rides just get me. I walked around and got some more pictures of rides while waiting for the weather to warm up. First drop on Timberhawk is actually pretty fun with lots of head choppers through the structure This is good on a hot day, but I skipped it for now A lot of water gets on the front riders as I would find out later, and the exit bridge gets drenched I had to take a ride on the Zamperla Kang'A'Bounce because this is probably my favorite flat in the park- there's one point in each rotation where the arms get a really good bounce and I just love it! Every time I ride it I laugh uncontrollably and come off smiling, which is the best type of ride honestly. It makes me want to try more bouncing or "jumping" type rides, but you don't see many in the states. I think it would be super fun if they could run it backward I found the construction zone for the Enterprise on my way out of the park for the first time, and it is right down by the lake. I think it is where the Scrambler used to be, since I found the Scrambler disassembled up the hill from there. It should be a cool point for a new centerpiece ride, and at this point I was excited. Alas, I have ridden one of them since this time, and I now know my head cannot take the unrelenting spinning of that sort of ride Same picture as last post but for context, this is the view from the slides side of the park near the River Rapids ride- Enterprise is going to the right Here is the pad for the Enterprise, I hope they do some improved themeing or badass lighting or something- doubtful I left to get lunch nearby, since the food inside the park seemed expensive and not great quality, so I can't report on that aspect. I was alone once again, and I have no shame in my game-- I'm trying to save some money due to recent expensive car repairs, so out to Jack in the Box it was, then back for some water slides! The water park is a huge draw for people in the area in the summer, and is frequently packed especially on hot weekends, but today it was more on the deserted side. The weather was still cloudy when I came back around 1PM, but it had warmed up a little; however as I came back into the park with shorts on I still got a chill from the ~65F wind. Here's one of those water jungle gym things, I like these too but a lone older guy running around with kids is a recipe for mistaken intentions A view toward the north when coming back through the water slide section It held off really raining, but never got sunny at all, so the crowds stayed away. For me this was fantastic- I hit all the tube slides first, one after the other and getting out of breath from running up the stairs as fast as I could, and no one waiting at the top. The first set of 4 slides, called the Konga Slides, is forgettable with simple modular tube designs, but I was pleasantly surprised with the second set, the "New" Mountain Dew Slide Complex: If Mountain Dew has to sponsor a water slide for it to be awesome, I'm all in! When I finally found a tube near the exit (pretty far from the entrance and pretty annoying) and got to the top, I stepped into the water and smiled- it was warm! Not just luke warm, really warm! It was awesome even on the open green slide, but on the orange and yellow ones it was downright balmy inside and it made for an awesome break from the cool weather. I found out by chance that going down backward was way more fun then going forward, which wasn't technically "allowed" but no one said anything when I came out backward at the bottom. At first I was really bummed because my traditional favorite water ride at the park, the Raging River ride, was closed for the first part of the day. I hit all the rest of the slides, most of them ones I hadn't tried, in about an hour or so. The best tube slide is the Orange Mt. Dew slide, and the close runner up is Riptide, the bowl slide which drops straight about 30 ft and slings you around the "toilet bowl" at the bottom. I had never been on one of these and it was really fun! I couldn't get on the family slide because no one else was there to hitch a ride with, but I went back later and found a group who let me go with them. It was mediocre, so I would definitely not bother if there was a big line. I finished everything except the little "cannonball" drop slides and stuff, and began to think I would head back to the rides at 2PM. There used to be pay feeding stations for the carp in the lake, now they are all covered up but the carp are still there Out of service FEED ME I've never ridden it or taken a close look, but the antique carousel looks nice from the outside, and it fits in well with the plaza theme across from the Carousel Cafe No music though I went back up the hill to ride TImberhawk a couple more times, lamenting the fact that they had this terrain to work with and didn't use any of it, but I got some nice shots of the coaster. It looks well built and as the only S&S woodie west of the Rockies, it tries to hold its own against other coasters in WA. It loses the 1st place spot in WA to Classic Coaster at the Puyallup fair, but it's still a fun little ride with some great shots of air and lots of headchoppers to keep things interesting, even if it's not the most intense. Timberhawk That rusty post is where the on-ride photo used to live, and it ruined my shot! Another view of the structure After that I went looking around some more at the scenery, which is when I found the Scrambler and the new site for the drop tower (really a launch tower if it's a Double Shot as rumored) Looking down the hill from the future scrambler site / turnaround of Timberhawk at the drop ride site The construction progress on the drop ride They have some really nice looking kiddie rides and flats, not that kids would appreciate the aesthetics but it makes the park a nice place to be Airplane ride Disc'O'Flashback- standard Disk'O, great for making the kiddos sick Powered kiddie coaster is retro chic, it was going around ~5 times for each ride this day haha Klondike Gold Rusher is the only other "Full-size" coaster at the park, but I don't really think it counts as a credit- it's a wild mouse, not even a good one, and is the biggest waste of time in the park. Not one thing is really fun about this, but it looks decent tucked back in the forest I guess Klondike Gold Rusher- about as exciting as traveling to the real Klondike during the gold rush! Again I went back to ride Timberhawk a few more times, mostly in the back seat but at this point there were a few people in line so I had to take where I could get for re-rides. They let you re-ride as long as there is not a queue, but anyone coming in through the gates has first pick on seat position, and I think this system is awesome! Kudos to Wild Waves for having cool ride ops as well, I have seen some of the kids for multiple summers and they seem like they enjoy themselves. The Decision Lift hill & final dip I went for Lumberjack Falls before heading back over to the water slides, just to say I did it. The ride up is extremely slow, but the little hump on the drop gives the whole car a bit of a kick forward which is sort of fun, and you get just soaked if you sit in the front like I did. Luckily I was about to go get wet again anyway! Lumberjack Falls I was running out of things to do, so I took a walk back around the water slide part of the park and hit a few more slides. Here's a view I got of the Wild Thing from the Riptide tower The Wild Thing As I walked back around the lake I noticed the line for the Raging River ride looked open, and there were tubes waiting! I fast-walked up to the top feeling excited like a little kid, and hopped in, again with no line. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] This ride just reminds me of childhood, coming here with friends who had to move away to Tacoma, this was the place where we always met up during the summer since it was partway between both of us. It's super fun on its own, but interacting with other guests makes it even more fun. I actually wished it was a little more busy at this point to have that hectic pace back, but it was still super fun and just brought back good memories. I have to say some of the themeing in the water park side could be touched up or redone- I know it's not the easiest climate to grow "tropical" looking plants, but there are plenty of landscaping options which would be better than some of what they have going on... Waterfall- no water The wave pool was pretty nice and had a fun interference wave right in the middle, and it has a couple of not-hot-enough hot tubs to one side, but again it suffered from a lack of themeing. Small wave pool I dried off and went back to Timberhawk for a few more rides, and rode until I was the last person in the train, sitting in the very back After that I figured I would let the poor ride ops close the ride, and so I headed out and back home past Seattle. --- This park has been a summer staple in the region for years, but is not well-known outside the immediate region because it doesn't really have anything that's a strong draw or crowd-pleaser. Timberhawk was their last major investment I would say, and that was over 10 years ago, but it's a good sign they are getting not 1 but 2 new rides in one year. Again, they're not anything that will draw people from miles around, but at least the tower is a good addition to their lineup. The Enterprise I now know doesn't like me, or I don't like it, whatever the case may be. I hope that they now begin to save up some money or look for capital to get something really unique going, like a small launch coaster something along the lines of Wicked or Lynet from Farup Sommerland, I always really liked the looks of that one and it could fit in the current park with some custom design. I doubt I will ever see the park develop into anything major, since there are so many other recreation opportunities for residents of this area, but you never know! I will keep my fingers crossed for the announcement of a new coaster one of these years, but I am not holding my breath

Nice pictures, it looks like a badass little coaster that is super thrilling! Good luck and good job losing weight to get on that sweet ride

Was about to post nearly the same thing. It looks fun for a day trip, I might have to check that out--it's actually slightly closer to me and I can try a further east border crossing edit; horse-themed disk'o

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure drafting was around before CAD. Just because they didn't have a way to display an image of a design in real-time 3D doesn't mean they couldn't "design in 3D space." 3D designs can be just as perfectly represented by 2-dimensional drawings, but I see what you mean in that they didn't have as easy-to-use ways to visualize their designs. I just don't think there was a full working knowledge of the physics and stresses associated with steel coasters and their riders, and the resulting issues they can cause, because they were on the cutting edge of the industry at the time. Don't get me wrong, Arrow did great things for roller coasters, but from what I have seen, Vekoma did some of them smarter and better, and it's probably one of the reasons they are still around

Nrthwnd, your pestering has paid off! I also see a Screamin Swing-looking structure in the concept art for the coastal area, but maybe that's the skycoaster? Any idea what "driving track" is going to be? This looks really awesome, it will surely be interesting to watch as it goes from basically a permanent carnival to a completely themed park. The concept art looks a bit busy in places, but I think it will be a great thing if they do it well, and it will fit in with the rest of the city better- from what I saw, Vancouver is truly a world-class city that makes my "home" big city of Seattle look sorry by comparison. I can't wait to see how this goes!

Here are all my decent pictures from this Saturday, thanks again Nrthwnd for showing me around and helping me out on my first visit to the great land of Canada! Kettle Creek is an awesome kiddie coaster, and it's got the best landscaping in the park! Front and center upon entering the park The Star Flyer was fun with a great view, but I got sort of dizzy by the end You can see this crazy thing from anywhere in the park Fun times on Hellevator Vancouver is beautiful! Pirate looked fun as always, but no time for that! View of the park from the Westcoast Wheel 1st drop on Kettle Creek Apparently I like taking pictures of this They have a nice covered games/arcade area; shade is good At least the one guy is having fun Corkscrew was actually pretty awesome IMO Coaster was fantastic- Nrthwnd didn't like the back, but I thought it was awesome! Corkscrew Super awesome Canada! Yellow train with hand brake I liked the inside seats, the outside was just too crazy The G's at the bottom were intense This Zierer Wave Swinger was fun Full train, good times! Vekoma did good on this one Total eclipse of the Beast