coneyislandchris

Call me crazy, but I thought the reports were in that Buzzsaw was removed? Or am I misremembering? This does look fantastic -- I have no idea whether or not we'll be able to bounce up there at all for this due to an insanely packed schedule over the run-up to Christmas, but I'd love to come and check it out if at all possible.

In case it hasn't been said enough, Robb, Elissa, thanks for all the fantastic coverage you've been providing for us of this year's event. I am very excited for everything coming down the pipe and this has helped tremendously with the "off-season" depression! (Yeah yeah I know, there's no such thing as an off-season with HITP and Orlando... you know what I mean.)

I absolutely LOVE those Oscar trains and am way more excited about getting back to Sesame Place next year with the kids than any self-respecting 37 year old man should be. I'm also kind of surprised that the Exploding Kittens card game from The Patmeal is getting its own line of plushies, not the first thing I would have thought of that would put dollar bills in claw machines, but what do I know? That tacocat is pretty darn cute though. God, but that Gerstlauer model for the American Dream installations is impressive. I can't believe it's actually happening. *knocks on wood furiously*

I'm 12 hours away, and I haven't yet pulled the trigger on purchasing the season passes, but I'm going to soon. Dollywood was the surprise highlight of this past summer's road trip with my son, and after discussing it with my wife and selling her on it, we're going to be spending five nights in Pigeon Forge from the 14th through the 19th of December. The kiddo's already super excited to get back and get that one coaster he wasn't quite tall enough to measure up for during the summer, the wife has been blown away by everything she's seen about the Christmas event they run, and the kiddette... well... I'm just hoping that she doesn't scream too much during the 12 hours in the car on the way down. Are there any discounts available for the season passes, or is the current price on the website as good as it's going to get?

Yeah but the Zyklon didn't cost 14 tickets. >_> It's kind of funny, when we were there earlier this summer, the park was absolutely slammed. A total sea of people that was impossible to navigate through due to their small, enclosed location and rides basically being piled up on top of each other. Everything out on the midway had long lines. After we bought tickets, we headed over to Gale Force, and were greeted with a walk-on at the station. From anecdotal evidence I've heard that there isn't usually a line for this ride at all, either. The park clearly can't be happy with that sort of return on investment. So if, as the article states, S&S is replacing the track out of their own pocket, Playland would be foolish not to take them up on it and see if it can improve throughput by having better word of mouth. That being said, they might want to look at the other reasons it might not be drawing a crowd (again... 14 tickets).

You should grab the Google Photos app; it offers free unlimited photo storage and automatically backs up your stuff for you.

SIX FLAGS DAY. Funny, I kind of ran into the same sort of weather during my summer trip there (less the cool temps), but since the park was absolutely slammed, it stayed open until its scheduled closing time. STRANGE HOW THAT HAPPENS ISN'T IT. Thanks for taking one for the team and checking it out. Good reporting. I definitely want to get back to that park at some point in the future because it's one of the prettier SF parks and the lineup is great, but... yeah. Between the crowds, the questionable weather policy, and the fact that it's basically a 14 hour drive not even factoring in the Chicagoland traffic, I'm in no hurry to make a repeat trip.

Any news on when the Bull will close for the season? I might hit up the park for thanksgiving weekend, and getting to ride El Toro in November would be amazing. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say you'd want to get down there next weekend. Historically they have closed down Toro and Ka the first weekend of Holiday in the Park, and this year it falls on November 18th. But then again, they've also historically closed Bizarro and RMT the weekend after Fright Fest, and that didn't happen this year, so who knows? They haven't yet released a map for this year's HITP festivities.

I think it might be one of those stand up Disk-O rides that Zamperla makes, but it does look like the water park might have a Flow Rider though. You’re saying maybe “Surf Rider” is referring to something else completely? I just know whatever that blue square on the far left of the water park (shaped like a FlowRider Double) is supposed to represent, it’s definitely not an actual FlowRider. Yeah, "Surf Rider" is more than likely a name for Zamperla's "Surf's Up" flat ride. Given that there's an Air Race in there, it's not too far of a stretch to assume that they'll have more than one Zamperla ride amongst their collection.

At two hours its just a little too far away to bother with a season pass. The sh*tty fast track doesn't help. All I ever hear is how busy the place is all summer. Agreed with all of the above. I nearly came close to pulling the trigger on season passes for the family this year after we visited for the kiddo's birthday, but was turned off by the frankly insane pricing. I don't remember the exact amount, but it was close to Cedar Fair Platinum levels, and at least with them you get access to all of their parks nationwide. Hersheypark season passes get you... Hersheypark. Which isn't bad, but it's really hard to justify when you live around 3 hours away on a good day, or closer to 6 if you get routed through the Bronx on a Friday afternoon (yeah, I'm looking at you, Waze, you jackass... what were you thinking?!). I still haven't been out there for In the Dark, every time we've gone recently has either been for the kiddo's birthday in early September or during Christmas Candylane. Surprised to see it as busy as it was, I was under the impression that they didn't draw as much of a crowd as other parks during the Halloween season due to the lack of haunts. Glad you managed to make the most of it though! Great reporting as always.

Bounced by for a few hours on Saturday early in the day. Got there about 20 minutes before opening and they already had attendants in the parking lot directing traffic, that was a new one on me. We ended up parking to the far right (I usually prefer by the barricades near the security tower, but eh, whatever). We ended up processing my soon-to-be 3-year-old daughter's first season pass, getting our 2018 dining passes added, and picking up the new purple drink bottles. Speaking of those purple bottles, is it just me, or does the color attract wasps? We had them all filled with water only and yet those wasps were hovering around them like crazy. All told, the entry and renewal process took all of 15 minutes, which isn't bad for Six Flags. Was expecting much worse with it being the last weekend to process the renewals & get the Gold upgrade, but all in all, it wasn't bad at the beginning of the day. The big kiddo and I did a few rides for ourselves. Although this is our home SF park, he still hadn't been on their Joker since it opened, but this past year he rode the clones at Six Flags New England as well as Six Flags Great America, so he was happy to finally get around to this one. A short ten minute wait at 11:20 got us directed to the purple side. We hopped in the car facing towards Harley Quinn, and proceeded to have one of the best rides on a Joker yet with five full flips and a large amount of upside-down hang time! Glad to see they've definitely made improvements to it after that lukewarm opening season. After Joker, the wife, kiddo, and kiddette all hopped on the carousel and the two kids got on one of the tandem horses (I think it was a chicken). I sat this one out to babysit the stroller. My wife reports that the carousel feels even more rickety this season than it has in years past. Between that and the fact that it just looks beat up, it would be nice to see them pump some money into a restoration of the carousel much like SFMM did recently. We cut through the arcade and made our way towards El Toro, with a stop off for a quick Macho Nacho lunch. Their burritos are still IMO some of the best food in the park; although I miss the quesadillas, these are jam-packed and filling. There was no line and the food came quickly, which again was a pleasant surprise for a Fright Fest Saturday. After we wrapped up our lunch, we split into boys and girls groups, with the kiddo and I hopping onto the Bull for a quick couple of rides, and my wife and kiddette spending some quality time on Tango. Again, the lack of lines early in the day helped us get a pair of rides in quick succession, walking right onto the train both times. According to him, Toro has now reclaimed his top spot for favorite wooden coaster and Lightning Rod has dipped back down to #2. This changes on a daily basis for him though, and I'm sure by the time we revisit Dollywood in December it's probably going to change again. After we got our two rides in, we jumped right next door to El Diablo which also had an empty queue; this was another one that the kiddo had yet to ride although he's been on a bunch of clones (seriously, I think just about every park we visited on our summer road trip had one of these Super Loops). It was a little disappointing that it had such a short ride cycle compared to others, but going upside down and hanging up at the top for what feels like an eternity is always fun, screw the haters. XD After we met up with the girls again, we gave the daughter some quality time and hit all the kiddie rides in the Bugs Bunny National Park section. Her big brother was more than game to ride with her, and I really appreciate the fact that he doesn't mind accompanying her. To him, a ride is a ride is a ride, whether or not it's a tiny little balloon race ride or a 400' tall drop tower. As for her, she's only two and she absolutely LOVES all the rides. What she doesn't love, though, is waiting in line, and she's not shy about letting everyone know it. Vocally. LOUDLY. Hopefully as time goes on she'll manage to develop her patience skills. By this point in the day, it was about 2:30 PM, and we had a Halloween party in the evening to get to, so we wrapped it up with a pair of tall rides; the kiddo and I made the long trek back through the Golden Kingdom and got on Zumanjaro. He had a bit of a rough experience last year where he got a bloody lip from the ride, and was a little bit self-conscious that it was going to happen again, so I had to reassure him that it would be fine. He sat back, kept his head leaned all the way back, and glad to say this time it was without incident. Phew! Then, as we all made our way back through the Kingdom again, the kiddette and I queued up for her first-ever ride on the Parachute Drop. Again, a little bit nervous about this as this was the tallest ride she'd ever been on (not counting the self-enclosed Kissing Tower at Hershey's), but she rode it like a champion, and was waving bye-bye to her big brother and mom down on the ground, as she marvelled at how small they were getting. It's a mild ride, for sure, but fun and unique and one I never mind hitting. As we exited the park around 3:10 PM and headed back to the Turnpike to visit our previous engagement, we couldn't help but chuckle at the ridiculous traffic heading the opposite direction. Cars were backed up all the way past the McDonald's & Wawa just off the exit, all lining up to get in. If you ever have to go to Great Adventure on a Saturday during Fright Fest... do exactly what we did and get there at opening, otherwise you're gonna be in for a bad time. But for us, an early start + perfect weather + no lines = a great four hours at the park! Not much in the way of photos but here's what I've got: The kiddo waiting for El Diablo, and representing the Cult. (We'll be back next weekend with his best friend who just made 44" this year, and he can't WAIT to introduce him to it!) Yours truly and the kiddette getting some "air" time. Yours truly and the kiddo getting some air time of a different variety, as only El Toro can provide! After careful review, yes, we can confirm it was indeed a chicken.

Or just view page source.

Great writeup of the event, Bill! It was a pleasure finally getting to meet you and Brit ever-so-briefly on Saturday night before having to wrangle the kiddo and locate the wife. I was a bit nervous as well because this ended up being my first "enthusiast" event as well and I was really preparing for the worst of humanity to be on full display, but overall, it ended up being a really great time. I think Knoebels just has that effect on people. No matter how crowded it got, it never felt overwhelming. Here's hoping the family and I can make this into an annual thing!

The good old Coney Island Cyclone on Saturday! <3

I believe all of the Six Flags parks that run a Holiday In The Park schedule all do the afternoon to evening schedule only. Up here at Great Adventure it's 1 to 9 PM every day of the HITP season. Most likely for staffing issues.

FWIW, when I was there this past Monday and they had a 6 PM closing, they had closed down X2's queue by 5:30 (even for Flash Pass holders that could still make and/or had reservations).

Either that, or you're gonna need a bigger fridge.

^^ Also if you're one of those hardcore Christmas fanatics like my wife is, you may be able to find even more magnets at their dedicated Christmas shop also near the main entrance. (I might need to get a second tree this year simply to hang all the ornaments she's purchased/had me purchase for her from our theme park travels.)

My personal favorite from Magic Mountain.

I have to agree. I rode Ghostrider for the first time last year, right after the renovatons, and it's a Top 10 woodie for me. I love it just as it is, and I hope the next time I get to L.A. (probably once Disney finishes Star Wars Land) it's still that good. I know this is from a page back at this point, but I have to agree with both above. My first trip to Knott's last year, I was visiting during the reprofile so didn't get a chance to give Ghostrider a try. Just visited again this past Friday night during the Scary Farm hours and got a pair of rides in... amazing. I'd put it in my top 5 woodies without a doubt. It's not an airtime machine like most of my other favorite woodies, but that layout just flows so well and doesn't let up at all! Did it used to have trims? Because this thing was whipping through the second half of the course like nuts. Glad I finally got on it... now I'm planning next year's trip back to the West Coast so I can get a few more rides in when the Fast Line wait isn't up to a half hour! Also, I gotta say, I'm not really a "haunt" type of guy, but since I bought the Fast Lane pass and the haunts were included in it, I figured I'd check some of them out. Ended up doing seven out of nine (plus the redressed log flume), and I was really impressed all around with all the decorations, scare actors, makeup, and locations. While some of them suffered from just pushing people through like cattle (well, it was a REALLY busy Friday the 13th), overall, it was a pretty good experience. I definitely enjoyed Paranormal Inc (the haunted asylum), Trick or Treat (the lights-out haunted house with a malfunctioning flashlight), and Dark Ride (abandoned carnival dark ride turned into a murder scene). The Tooth Fairy was just... disturbing. Red Barn and Voodoo were a bit less successful overall due to the crowds. And Special Ops: Infected was its own thing, not really scary, more like a FPS come to life. Overall though, I'd definitely come back for these again, they clearly take a lot of pride in their work.

En route to Los Angeles at the moment. Greetings from 30,000 feet above the earth! While I'm not heading out there specifically to go to any parks, I am going to try to hit Knott's Scary Farm either late night tonight or tomorrow, and I will be up at Magic Mountain on Monday before my redeye return flight leaves. I might also make a stop at Pacific Park since I didn't check it out the last time I was on the West Coast. Then, after that, it's probably going to be hitting Great Adventure the following weekend to process my daughter's first season pass since she's turning three this winter!

google didn't help much, besides one being Steve Jobs Day. but i wonder why it's open next monday? LA school something? i do see it is Sukkot the past few days which is why it was more crowded when i went yesterday. but i see nothing for monday. educate me. According to the app, it's open for a special "Home School Day".

YESSSSSS. I'll be out there next Monday, didn't get to ride it last year when I visited so I'm really looking forward to this sans VR. Thanks for the heads up!

Never did, but came VERY close this past Saturday night when I got a ride on Knoebels' Looper and finally figured out the trick for nonstop rotations. It definitely f*cked me up for the rest of the night though, and I've got a few bruises to show for it.

No... ...I was at Knoebels.