coneyislandchris

Yeah, but at least most other parks actually have seats on their toilet bowls. :/ But, literally, this is the biggest / smallest / ONLY complaint about Knoebels. Everything else about the park is practically perfection on earth. To the person whose biggest interest was in the wood coasters, I have to recommend... do Flying Turns first. It has the slowest throughput, so if you get that out of the way early, you'll avoid waiting in a longer line later. Otherwise, both Phoenix and Twister just pump people through. Even when the line is spilling out past the entrance on Phoenix, you probably won't be waiting more than 10-15 minutes just because of the efficiency of the ride ops. Other favorite rides at the park that Bill glossed over: - Cosmotron (an awesome indoor Himalaya with disco lights, strobe effects, and fog, plus loud-ass music) - Kosmo's Kurves (yes, it's a kiddie coaster, but it might be the BEST damn kiddie coaster of its type!) - Giant Wheel (wonderful views of the park during the day, awesome LED light program at night) - Italian Trapeze (my second favorite Wave Swinger; beautifully painted, plus a super long cycle) Go, enjoy, have fun, and prepare to have all other parks ruined forever for you.

Possessed restraints were much more forgiving compared to WT. Not sure why, but definitely noticed the difference between the two. And yep, I'm a belly guy too (though working on that).

Little known fact: ARBY'S is actually an acronym: Ain't Roast Beef, You Sucker Also, way to go on righting that thread from its offtopicness. (Offtopicosity?) We have to call that an unmitigated success. Here's my attempt: I'd still rather eat Arby's than ride Green Lantern.

You guys are making super excited to ride Hydra to see what all this is about. I can appreciate an intensely mediocre coaster as much as anyone. There's obviously a lot of over-exaggeration going on here. Especially when you get boldikus and coasterbill looping in an echo chamber on top of themselves. I wouldn't call Hydra mediocre or an embarrassment, personally. As with any coaster, ride it, then form your own conclusion.

I don't know. I can think of a wickedly twisted ride in the same park that might give it a run for it's money. Mystery Mine does too. No issue for me but I can sympathize. It's interesting, that I hear a lot of people say that about WT, but have never seen anybody I've been with have issues. Yet, they can't get on MF... I'm thinking it must be where the person's girth is located on their body that makes the difference. More up top, no WT. More of a beer gut, or for females, being unusually large around the hips, no MF. I literally ran into this same situation Bill describes when I was there last month; MF was tight but got there in the end. Meanwhile, WT required me to shed an outer layer of clothes in order for the belt to reach.

It was an Arby's commercial. It was really stupid. I loved it anyway Clearly BILL... HAS... THE MEATS.

Trip report is looking amazing so far, Robb. Super jealous; would love to do a Europe trip with my family, but it doesn't look like it's in the cards any time soon. Hope you guys and gals are enjoying yourself to the fullest and tuning out all the negativity. Looking forward to more updates!

How metal. \m/

This is the best discount I've found so far for single-day tickets: http://padutchbsa.org/discounted-hersheypark-tickets/ Close to a $20 savings if you order by the 4th of July, and they're good through the last operating weekend in September.

100% agreed on both of your assessments here. Enjoyed the heck out of Vortex, probably won't ever ride Firehawk again.

I've only used the Marina Gate when staying on property and I specifically used it to get to Valravn. I took an early shuttle from Breakers to that gate rather than use the Resort or Beach gate. I'm pretty sure the lot is signed for Marina visitors/use but I can't say for sure. Good to know, thank you! Seconding what Digger said above, yes, the marina gate is open for early entry. If you park in the main lot it's a brief ten minute walk around the edge and definitely worth the walk. Marina parking is supposed to be reserved so I wouldn't count on being able to park right next to that.

^ Hammerhead's still not open either? That was another one that was down when I was there back in March. Very surprising. Voodoo was open at the time, though you wouldn't have known it, as there was no line; I ended up riding it by myself twice in a row. That was a very strange experience.

Can't wait! Nothing against shakycam but it'll be nice to see a professionally recorded one out there in the wild soon.

I guess this turned into the Dominator love thread. ...I love Dominator. That being said I haven't ridden a bad floorless yet, although Scream came awfully close. I like Hydra, I enjoy the layout simply because it's so different from all the other floorlesses out there. As much as I enjoyed Hercules as a kid, Hydra is a better use of that space, both as a ride experience and as a photogenic work of art.

If I'm on the forums, it's a dead even split between iPhone and desktop. Desktop primarily during the work day, phone in the afternoons and evenings off of work hours. If I'm watching your video content, it's via the YouTube app on my Xbox One, because I much prefer watching video content on a TV as opposed to on a computer monitor or phone screen.

I rode Green Lantern back in March, and just rode Joker at SFGAdv a little while back. The S&S rides are MUCH more comfortable and do not beat you within an inch of your life. Otherwise, though, it's pretty much the same sort of experience with a very similar layout. If you're interested in riding it again but in less pain, go for it, otherwise you won't really be missing much other than a credit.

I rode it opening day this year, and the airtime didn't seem to be as great as it was last year, but that could have been due to a number of factors... cold weather, wheels not worn in yet, whatever. Hopefully by this point of the year it's improved. With that being said, it's still the second best airtime in the park. With Wicked Cyclone, it feels like you're out of your seat more than you're actually in it. That alone is reason enough to go back IMO.

It was still down for rehab last weekend and it didn't look close to being ready...train in pieces. ...that was how it looked when I was there back at the beginning of March. Have they done anything?

Huh. Very interesting. I must have been lucky then because every time I've ridden it, it's been a full load. Then again, I've not had 100 laps on it, so my sample size is considerably smaller. I apologize if my initial comment came off like a jerk, but my experience on the ride has literally been glass smooth every single time, so it just blows my mind that someone could call it rough. But it's definitely like rcjp said earlier; "I guess sometimes we don't believe certain things we hear because we've never had such an experience." This is why I'm a bit taken aback at stuff like this, or people talking about rattles on other B&M coasters (which out of like the 25 I've ridden, I haven't seen hide nor hair of even once). I honestly don't mean to minimize your viewpoints, it's just that from my end, it's 100% curious and baffling.

Look, I get that everyone has different body types, and what's comfortable for me might not be comfortable for you, but... rough? Gatekeeper? ROUGH? Sometimes I just don't understand enthusiasts.

The Musik Express at Magic Mountain is themed to The Flash, and the nearby Round Up is themed to Wonder Woman.

From the latest newsletter;

I've been super delaying on writing up my big ass trip report, but I'll just pop in to say that I hit KI a couple weekends ago, got six rides in on Banshee including three in the last row and once up front, and didn't notice a single bit of "rattle" whatsoever. And this is from someone that notices the vibration on Wicked Cyclone but doesn't care because he's having too much fun being thrown from the car.

Those kite pics are absolutely boss. Very surrealistic.