coneyislandchris

Spent some hours out at Coney yesterday, mainly to check out the aquarium's new shark exhibit in the morning. We didn't do too much in the way of rides since the weather was absolutely sweltering but the kiddo and I did get a chance to ride the new Astrotower. This ride is pretty much all about the view. You get an awesome view of the beach, boardwalk, and parks as the entire tower rotates around. As far as the drop goes... this has to be the first drop tower I've ever been on that has no "drop tower" feeling. It felt like someone had their foot on the brake the entire time. You got a couple bounces which was the only point at which you felt any g-forces whatsoever, and then the entire program repeated a second time. If you're willing to part with 7 credits just for the view, then by all means, go for it, but if you're looking for thrills, skip this one.

Oh my god those Sanrio teacups! I love it! That looks like a really cool, funky little park!

I forwarded the photos of the Final Fantasy stuff to my wife, and she's currently in the process of losing her mind over it. (She's a total FF junkie.) Selected responses from her: > OMG WHERE IS THIS > OMG > AHHHHHH > I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS Shame to hear about the substandard operations and service. That refund policy is straight up ridiculous.

When I got to the picture of the trash can, I stopped at the top, and thought to myself... "I bet there's going to be NO trash on the ground"... sure enough my belief was justified. Meanwhile here in my neighborhood in Queens we have trash cans on every corner and not only are they always overflowing, they're always surrounded by other people just throwing their bags of crap and loose objects off to the side of them. It's disgusting and disrespectful and it's always nice to see that that's NOT the case everywhere you go. Also, that gyoza-making class was probably the most unexpected thing I would have guessed to see in your trip reports, yet it's seriously awesome! The kiddo has been watching a ton of cooking shows with us lately (mainly "Top Chef" and "Masterchef Junior"), and he wants to learn more, and I can see him losing his mind over something like that. Very very very cool!

I still haven't been to Knoebels yet this season and, to be honest, I'm kind of wondering why not.

Ugh, sorry... you JUST missed “Stay Twice Get a Free Night” which is their best promotion of the year. Wyndham is running a similar but infinitely sh*ttier promotion but it ends before your trip also (its sh*ttier because with Choice you can do it an unlimited amount of times as opposed to just once). For what it's worth, that program has JUST restarted, but in a slightly misleading manner. The way they're advertising it is "Stay 2 nights, get a $50 gift card". What it REALLY is after reading the fine print is "Stay 2 nights, get 8,000 bonus points, which you can then redeem for a gift card of your choice OR NOT and just stockpile those bonus points in your account". It's running as of today through August 17th, and registration is required at https://www.choicehotels.com/deals/gift-card for Choice Privileges members.

^ To be honest I hadn't even realized it had reopened yet. I'll probably hit it the next time I'm coming back from Wildwood, but who knows when that will be.

Living vicariously through you right now. <3 SOMEDAY we will get out there!

Thirding the suggestion for the Festhaus. That sausage sampler is my go-to meal every time I go. But be sure to have them check out all the offerings at the Food & Wine Festival too because they are usually pretty solid. I haven't been there for this year's festival but check back a few posts and you can see pics of what's on the menu.

Saturday June 23rd is the final day of PointFest, their annual Christian music festival and youth group gathering. My first visit to KD was on a PointFest Saturday (I didn't know in advance) and it was absolutely slam-packed, to the point where the line for Dominator was all the way back out to the sign. It was an absolute nightmare and the only thing that got us through the day was Fast Lane Plus. If you don't want to splurge for that, I recommend waiting until Sunday instead.

As a Flyers fan, you just made me laugh out loud. XD

It was running at the beginning of the season, I believe. Then one day it went down, and the next week, the trains were off of the track. Yeah, it was indeed up and running the day that I was there in mid-April. Had to check if I had an on-ride photo from it, and indeed I do. I'll save myself the embarrassment of posting it though.

Oh wait, can I get some money from last year when my kid tripped over his own damn feet on the Magnum exit and skinned his knee? They should have KNOWN BETTER, clearly they're at fault for having that exit ramp be a slow downgrade and made of concrete. What a hazard. On a non-sarcastic note, I'm glad to hear SV is back up and running for all the CM folks. Hope everyone enjoys and has a blast out there!

Dollywood's Mystery Mine. Fun little ride with a really weird layout.

Don't worry about eating them, they're pure protein!

Oh, you better believe we're definitely planning on hitting Disney up towards the end of this year!

^ I'm heading down there this Friday with the family, and can't wait to compare it to how it was on media day (for the record, I friggin' loved it in that cold weather, but if it's going even faster all the better). Also super excited for my daughter as she just broke the 40" height mark, and she'll be getting her first rides on Avalanche and Woodstock Express if all goes well! (The wife, too, if we can talk her into it. )

Killer report, Michael. SFFT was one heck of a park when I visited mid-April, and it sounds as if Wonder Woman has only added to an already amazing lineup. I agree, it's very picturesque, and the one thing that really struck me about SFFT compared to the rest of the parks in the chain I've visited is the level of thought and theming that went into each unique area. All the sections definitely had their own distinct feel, from the wild west to 50's Americana to an oceanside boardwalk to a Mexican fiesta. That's something that sadly gets lost in most of the parks but not at SFFT. I'm definitely hoping I can bring the family out that way at some point in the future; if not everyone, at least my son, who I'm sure would appreciate all they have to offer -- especially now with two RMCs, since he seems to be turning into a full-on RMC fanboy at the ripe young age of six.

Except they literally did. Prior to the start of the season. They put it up on the website, made it available for sale, then two months later unceremoniously removed it from sale and are now trying to pretend like it was never a thing. I don't know if anyone actually purchased them in advance during the time they were up, but if you read this thread from that post forward, you can see how Zach had actually rescheduled his trip around the assumption that if they had offered that for sale prior to the start of the season, they would still be doing so when he came to visit.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo. Dammit, I knew it was coming, but I was still holding out hope that they'd figure out some way to make it work. That place was a goddamned gem, even if the owner's stance on photography was a little nuts. Glad to see WW went up super quick. I hope I can get the family down there sometime within the next month or two. My wife and my littlest still haven't made the journey down, and we definitely need to rectify that this spring or summer.

^ That T3 shirt might be the only one where "survivor"/"survived" is literally appropriate. I love it. Also, great to hear about the reduction in the Himalaya's height requirement by a whopping twelve inches. Seriously, the old 60" height requirement was one of the most baffling things I've ever seen at any amusement park. It confused my son as well as he's spent nearly his whole life going on those types of rides. Glad to see they've come to their senses.

The atmosphere is terrible. Everything is plopped in the middle of nowhere. Uh, I think I must have visited the same park as Zach as opposed to this mystical "plop in the middle of nowhere" one you visited. I thought it was a nice park -- perhaps not as nice as some of the other Cedar Fair parks but still a wonderful park to walk around, ride, and relax. But IDK man, you do you I guess. I'm really looking forward to getting back down there later this month. It's been over a year since my last and only visit, and I'm planning on taking my time rather than rushing to credit-whore everything in the park.

I love everything about this description, Zach.

I don't think Miss Speak-to-a-manager has read the codified and unwritten rules of theme park enthusiasts everywhere, where the 29th amendment section B clearly states "Thou shalt not sit in front of a coaster's sign lest ye block another enthusiast's photo opportunity", and section C goes on to state "Thou shalt not park thy stroller in front of a sign for the same damn reason".

I want to get out there so bad now. (Not that I didn't before, but damn... my productivity this week has taken a cobra dive into nothingness reading up on all the reports so far!)