coneyislandchris

Very cool breakdowns! Is there anything Excel can't do?

Even my wife, who has been known to be less than impressed when I send her photos of coasters, says "Wow! That looks incredible!". Now just to convince her to hop the pond.

I love the name. I love the logo. Good on ya, Oaks!

I swear my kids have Mega Bloks in that exact color scheme.

Haha good one! *googles Six Flags Great America* OMG you're not kidding. There better be a frozen margarita bar steps away from the entrance. Otherwise it's a completely missed opportunity.

I think we can get a pretty good idea of how it's going to ride... [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] That IS very cool! Love the silhouette.

It's all good! I'm used to driving long distances, and at the very least the speed limit is higher down there. And no, I'm not insane, I booked it so I land in SAT and fly out of DFW. Unfortunately I can't really take any more time than this so extending the trip is kinda out of the question at the moment, but I have no doubt that if I enjoy myself down there, I'll be back next year or the year after with the kiddo in tow.

Finally pulled the trigger this past weekend on booking my first-ever trip to Texas in mid-April. I'm scheduled to fly out to San Antonio on Thursday evening, then my basic game plan is going to be hitting Fiesta Texas on Friday, do a combo of Sea World & ZDT on Saturday, then drive up to Dallas either that night or the following morning to check out SFOT before flying back on Monday morning. Does this sound doable? Any recommendations for non-coaster "must-rides" while I'm at any of the parks? Hopefully Wonder Woman will be open by that point if they're shooting for a late March opening. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Sundays typically aren't too bad, unless there's a special event at the park. I didn't see the exact dates you were planning the trip for, but according to their calendar, the first Sunday of June is "Autism Awareness Day", so it may be a touch more crowded than usual. Saturdays in general are way worse. Aside from Flying Turns, there shouldn't be any majorly long waits, so ty and knock that out as early as possible unless you want to get stuck in line for up to an hour. Even Impulse's waits don't really get that long anymore either. Don't poo-poo the Flyers. Knoebels' are unlike any others you may have been on elsewhere. Even if it's only for one ride, give it a shot. Staying at the Hershey Lodge is a great option. I've stayed there twice and it's a fantastic resort. As mentioned, make sure you catch the free shuttle to the park. And since you're staying on site, just flash your room key at the front gates and they will let you in an hour before the park officially opens. They usually only open up the Hollow area, but that gives you a choice of Comet, SDL, and Skyrush to marathon with no lines. No joke, you can usually get on and not have to give up your seat for at least a half hour. I don't expect it to be super busy on an early June weekday anyway but any time you can save a little bit of time with lines is worth it. Kennywood'a coaster collection is great, here's hoping operations are better for you than the last few times I've been out there. Phantom's Revenge is my second favorite only behind Fury, so I hope you guys love it!

^ Maybe she's worried about getting booed after the backlash to the Dixie Stampede name change to just "Dolly Parton's Stampede". People on social media are still livid about it. Could be that by just taking a back seat for a while she's hoping for the controversy to blow over.

I am posting in this thread for literally two reasons: 1) To eventually see the followup from Bill & Brit on how this plan goes and whether or not Bill actually sits on his own balls instead of Small Worlding it up - and - 2) So I can eventually plan my own trip down there most likely in November with the family, and refer back to this thread which is full of great advice instead of mindlessly attempting to do everything on my own like I inevitably will. Cheers!

No, you just need to get a real job that actually gives you a cash bonus at Christmas instead of a f*cking coffee maker.

Is that a thing? Yeah but they're usually installed exclusively in backlots.

People are upset that Busch Gardens "Christmas Town" is open on Christmas??? #dumb Some people just aren't happy unless they're b*tching about something. If you want proof of that, just look at the social media reaction to the Dixie Stampede name change. Ay-yi-yi...

Congratulations to your kid! My little guy has about 3 and a half more inches to go. We're shooting for 52" this year so he can hit most of the best rides at Cedar Point. Steak, broccoli, and milk for days!

Ape has said pretty much everything I could say about this. My wife, kids and I would love to join, ESPECIALLY the Japan trip as none of us have ever been but have been dreaming about it for years... but right now isn't the best time either financially or with our youngest. I hope both of these trips go well for you, Robb, and that nothing happens to discourage you from doing it again in the future.

Well, it does literally say at the bottom of the press release that a ride will be $20 with VR and $15 without. You're not wrong, just off by a factor of 2.

The kiddo and I ended up making a stop here after Canobie Lake Park last year -- yes, to get the credit, but also to have some fun at an arcade. I gotta say, we ended up spending so much time downstairs playing redemption games that we nearly lost track of time and forgot about the stuff upstairs. I'll definitely be making a return trip the next time we're up that way. And it's not just "could" slap your hands on the ceiling, in my case it was "did, saw the ceiling panel move, then thought better of having a mirrored tile come crashing down on our heads". Yikes.

I was at the park last Sunday, and absolutely nothing has happened as of yet. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't start construction until next month. In other news, my 7 year old daughter finally hit 48 inches and got her first rides on The Joker. Her response: "It was scary, but fun. I wanna go again!" Proud papa right here. From one dad to another, congrats! You're doing it right.

The last coaster of the year for me and all of my family ended up being Whistle Punk Chaser at Dollywood. Right before that, the last non-kiddie one was Wild Eagle with my son. Sadly wasn't able to get back out to a Holiday in the Park event at Great Adventure or New England before they ended up calling it for weather, but you know what, two days at Dollywood isn't a bad end to the season for us.

I can't imagine how many people will be crammed in there! Too many. Way too many. According to the Luna Park page, although the rides are open from 6 to 12 on NYE, they will be cutting off the lines at 9:30 PM. Ehhhh... I'll pass. In the meantime, they also announced their opening date for next season, which will be Saturday, March 24th, 2018. Pretty sure I'll be in Doswell, VA on that date though.

We ended up picking up some of the tickets for Christmas Candylane around Thanksgiving while they were on sale, and were planning on visiting tomorrow and Wednesday, but with temperatures forecasted in the teens and twenties during the entire time we'd be here (and the rest of the week while they're open), we are seriously rethinking it, especially since we're all fighting off the remnants of colds and coughs we picked up down in Pigeon Forge. Does anyone have any experience exchanging Christmas Candylane tickets for regular season tickets, or are we probably going to have to eat that cost?

Is each ride one ticket? No, they're all different dollar amounts. The ticket books come in rippable denominations from 25¢ to $1.00. All the major coasters are $3.00 a ride, most of the flats average between $1.50 and $2.50 a ride, and the most expensive ride in the park is the Skyway at $4.00 for about a 15-minute round trip. I usually try to budget for the wristband, but I also have a habit of dragging the kids along on the weekend when they don't offer that plan, and to be honest, it doesn't really make much of a difference which way you go with it.

Park seemed ridiculously slammed on Saturday thanks to the sunny weather and mild temps. We ended up spending a lot of time in the country fair section for rides for our littlest. LR was posting up between 60-90 minutes the entire time we were there so we ended up skipping it... and even Tennessee Tornado had a 30+ wait thanks to only one train on the track. On the plus side, the kiddo got his first B&M under his belt with Wild Eagle, and he absolutely loved it! We are heading back today with temps forecasted to be in the high 50s by late afternoon, and considering how quickly the Parkway cleared out on Sunday night, hoping that translates to low crowds at Dollywood today as well. Heading over to Ober Gatlinburg first though to complete our set of alpine coasters in the area

Pulled the trigger and bought my season passes this morning for the family and I, once it became apparent that Dolly doesn't really "do" Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Only a little over two weeks, and we're going to be spending five nights down in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Obviously I don't anticipate spending the entire time at Dollywood, and the kiddo and I already know about the mountain coasters, but are there any other things in the area that you folks would highly recommend for family fun with a six-year-old and two--year-old in tow? (I'm guessing the moonshine tours probably frown on the rugrats.)