hendrixmarshalljames

It all started when my ex-wife agreed to let my son stay for his birthday… “Can you plan something kind of fun? We went to water world last year and he loved it…” My first thought was Mall of America. It’s close by, lots of eye candy…non-threatening coasters. It’d be great. I have to mention we live in Minot, ND…I also have to mention that three years ago; we went to New York and planned a day at Six Flags Great Adventure. This boy, having rode the Cyclone, was emphatic about boarding El Toro and hasn’t been on a coaster over 80’ tall since. So…looking at the map…”y’know, it’s not that much further to Six Flags Great America from Minneapolis…” “From Gurnee, it’s only six hours to Cedar Point…From there, it’s only three hours to King’s Island. Wait a minute! Holiday World is only three hours from Cincinnati…” And so it began…Passes, hotels.com, reviewing the schedule so the wear-out /driving factor wasn’t too extreme. My work let me go a day early, so the schedule lined up like this: Noah’s Ark Six Flags Great America Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Cedar Point Kings Island Holiday World Valleyfair I didn’t know anything about Wisconsin Dells, other than the Travel Channel mentioning Noah’s Ark. It’s like Vegas for kids. The list: Six Flags Great America Cedar Point King's Island Holiday World Valleyfair So...first stop was Six Flags Great America. I've been wanting to go there since Ultimate Flight was installed, so I was really looking forward to this. We got there a little early the first night and spent about four hours before they shut down. That first night we got the Whizzer, and a few trips on X-Flight. I have to say, winged coasters are heavenly...The restraint and ride experience has finally been matched up. Also, being a bit of a historian...riding anything by Anton that's still in service was a dream come true. I was expecting a "revolution" type of snap, and generally kind of rough. But it was surprisingly good at night. I can see why it's a family favorite. We closed up the joint and went to bed and got there early the next day...We ran to Goliath, 1 hour wait at opening! Then went back to X-Flight, then Raging Bull. I loved this ride. Butter-smooth and really nice first drop. I remember reading somewhere that it was kind of tame...I love air-time, smooth design, and that "losing my stomach" feeling, so it worked it's way into my list of favorites. To each his own, I guess. So we worked our way through some flats for our 12 year old, (the El Toro casualty)...Spacely's, Tea Cups, Octopus, etc...He was ready for the Dark Knight...Or whatever they call the wild mouse dark ride there. Flipped him out, completely...Which was odd, he loved the Dark Knight in New Jersey. Oh well, he didn't want to ride anything except the water rides. Alrighty, then...it was getting kind of hot so off we go...We did the Rapids thing first, then the Boat thing, and then the Flume ride last. We got soaked on all three! In my day, you only "sorta" got wet on water rides...things have changed, for sure. Most importantly, our reluctant rider finally got his adrenaline on, and voted for Little Dipper. History and all of that aside, he loved it. Which is important to little guys who just get a little freaked out by the sounds and overwhelming height his brother and I are so addicted to. Goliath had been working intermittently all day and the previous night...so we opted for Ultimate Flight. I had rode UF in Jackson and was expecting the worst, and hoping for the best. For whatever reason, my head just bounces between the top restraints you find on Green Lantern and the old Mantis/new Rougarou and this one. We got the very back, and holy smokes! We got PULLED! One of the highlights of this visit. Amazing what we go through for nanoseconds of bliss... Never got on Goliath or Batman...I've rode Batman At SFGadv and SFMM, and so I'm guessing it's the same. But I want to go back and try- Great America Photos: 20150721_141732.jpg[/attachment] Calico System.nltrack X-Flight at Sunset...Love the concept. Goliath...waiting for my son to finish on Spacely's My son, getting his fix on Spacely's... X-Flight loading station Raging Tea Cups...funny story CBGB's Awning Ringo's kit John's Sgt. Pepper outfit There were certain teachers... Raptor w/ obligatory seagull Diamondback Drop Turned out really good... Maverick from Perimeter Road Love me some Magnum! Yes...they have wi-fi there

It's so hard to pick- 1. El Toro 2. Maverick 3. Millenium 4. Goliath (SFGAm) 5. Griffon 6. Tie (Raging Bull, Apollo's, Nitro, Diamondback) 7. Montu 8. Alpengeist 9. Dueling Dragons (Fire) 10. Tie (GK, X-Flight, Thunderbird) Love the winged coasters

There's been other photos, but I took this one Thursday afternoon... Wide dive track... Here's one of the posts... There's also a mysterious blue wrapped "thing" underneath Millenium...It's been there for about 2 weeks...It looks sorta like a dive car flipped on its back...(headrests on grass) ?

Maybe someone brought this up, maybe not...The trains on goliath in SFGAm are super comfy and detailed...

Totally agree with TB's take...We experimented quite a bit with the ride experience in different cars on about 35 different coasters...For us at least, the rear of the trains on B&M's was like riding a different coaster completely. Haven't made it to Carowinds or Canada's Wonderland, yet...but I imagine it's pretty frickin' good in the back.

A Dad posted this photo of his son's first ride on Skyrush... http://imgur.com/gallery/eqIfOFK I heard it was pretty good, but dang~! The comments are worth clicking on

It seems crazy to go through all of that to have the same result...I mean...I'm kind of new at this forum thing, but as soon as I got up the ramp to get on the ride, my heart just kind of deflated when I saw those big earbangers...You guys who know restraints...isn't those the same ones they went to great pains to take off?

Earlier post: "Everyone complained about how Mantis getting new trains was also "a cheap way to pass off something as a new ride without actually getting a new ride" New trains, same head bang...

Whoops...just read that part of Marina entrance covered! Apologies-

We did the Maverick ERT a couple of weeks ago, and it works like this...who ever's still in line when it gets to closing time, they clear the que. The one hour starts as soon as they drop the chain for the passholders...We timed it so we got on during normal ride hours, and got back in line for the re-opening. We got 7 laps in on Maverick before they shut it down. It was so worth it, especially at night. We also figured out how to get on MF for that first hour...We got to the Marina entrance around 8:20 and waited it out...So when the rest of the park opened, we had a short walk, and overall minimal wait time for a good three laps before it started getting crazy wait times. Free parking with a platinum pass, too...So we just went to town for lunch. The A/C break, and saving real money was welcomed by my gang all three days.

Hello Everyone- "hendrixmarshalljames" is my call name...Guitars and guitar players are what I'm into. I live in Minot, ND and work in the oil fields out here. Our closest park would be Valleyfair, and its really pretty good if you catch it when it's not busy. My count is 87 for real coasters, 140 something for kiddie rides and shuttle-coasters. Shuttles don't count in my book...Anyways, I'm 48 and sometimes have high blood pressure; so Top Thrill and Kingda Ka scare me to death...last thing I need is having my heart explode while getting my adrenaline on. I've ridden all but Wild Eagle of the B&M winged design in the US. I love the concept and freedom. No head-knockin and Beamer smooth...They installed the same harness on Banshee, which I liked as well. A Terrain/Winged would be an awesome idea. Just finished up a big trip, and going on another one at the end of the month...so keep an eye out for a TR. Not the best writer so bear with me. Nice to meet you all! Raging Bull (SFGAm) from last trip...Butter-smooth and surprising first drop. Loved it.

I think I fit those restraints in the worst possible way is all...The crazy thing, is that the experience at Great America was totally different.

1. Manhattan Express 2. Any Stand-Up...(but feel free to insert Rougarou here as well) 3. Superman Ultimate Flight SFGAdv 4. Orient Express (WOF) 5. Mean Streak 6. Old Twister @ Elitch Gardens 7. New Twister @ Elitch Gardens 8. Hades 360 9. Any and all Arrow Loopers

I'd add Holiday World in between St. Louis and King's Island...Think it's only 3 hours or so.

So here we go. I have a trip planned for next week. Starting from Minot, ND- SF Great America Cedar Point King's Island Holiday World Valleyfair So here's the question- An extra day just opened up from my work place letting me go early...I'm thinking of stopping by Mt. Olympus to check it out, but EVERY review says to just let it go and do a dedicated Water Park day somewhere else...Anyone rode those things lately?