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I Like Theme Parks.

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  1. Great report! Were the ops still stapling like crazy at Great White for your visit? I thought Great White could have been a wonderful coaster but it was hard to get airtime after the op tightened my seatbelt to the max and shoved the restraints all the way down. Nope, they didn't staple at all.
  2. Rancid - Rattlesnake Let's Go has been my favorite Rancid album for a while, with their debut self-titled album being a close second, but their self-titled album from 2000 may actually be better, especially considering how ambitious it was to make such a dramatically heavier change from their more melodic, ska-focused albums they usually do.
  3. Here's a late trip report of the Coastin' By The Ocean event (my family had 6 days in Wildwood, so I didn't want to start it until I got back, then I procrastinated). My sister let me use the pictures she took for this report, since my phone doesn't have a very good camera. The rain during the first day did nothing to stop us from having a great time. At least it wasn't super hot like last year! The ERT was great, and there were quite a few times where I stayed on rides multiple times in a row without getting up. The staff was really nice and enthusiastic as well. Rides I got on during that morning: Great Nor'Easter x 3 - The rain rides on this were soaking, since for whatever reason whenever you would go through the rollover element at the beginning would cause a lot of water to fly up and hit the riders. It added to the fun! One of my favorite Vekomas now, and a really solid coaster. AtmosFEAR x 6 - Everyone knows how great this tower is. Even after repeated rides, it still feels like it's not going to stop in time at the bottom! Dante's Dungeon - Weird, cheesy, fun dark ride. Doo Wopper - I was going to skip it, but the rest of my family wanted to ride it, so I went on with them. I actually got a really nice ride on it. It was completely trimless except for the one before the last turn, but that last turn still had crazy laterals. KONG - I actually got a little bit of snapping out of it, at least what little bit I could get. One of the better Larson flyers. It x 3 - Love IT! Insane cycle as always. Zoom Phloom x 3 - I had a blast on it like always, especially in the rain. After the other rides I rode in that morning, I couldn't have possibly been any more wet, so I didn't mind re-riding it despite the weather. Tilt-A-Whirl - In my experience, the modern-style tilt-a-whirls tend to be way better and have way more spinning, so that's why this one is so good. Around 7 pm they gave us food at the party pavilion near the end of Mariner's pier, and a lot of it was really good! They had these amazing peanut putter & jelly wings! It was a sweet, fruity sesame seed sauce on the wings, with a delicious peanut butter sauce on the side. They also gave out these awesome homemade-style ice cream cookie sandwiches. I love that the park goes the extra mile to do this for the event! After the dinner we got some more rides in. Unfortunately the night ERT on Great White was cancelled because of the weather, but I got some of the best rides I've had on it the next day (more on that later). Rides: Flying Galleon Ghost Ship - Interesting, well-themed, unique attraction with a decent length. The next morning it was time for Mariner's and Adventure Pier ERT: Sea Serpent x 2 - Back row, second-to-last row. Wave Swinger Musik Express Moby Dick SpringShot x 2 - Intense hang-time on this! SkyScraper - Great like always. Screamin' Swing Skycoaster - My sister went on it with me. Great experience, and even better that it's included with the event admission! Great White x 6 - Even in the morning it was running great. Still smooth, but it throws you around more now than when it first got re-tracked, which is the perfect smoothness for a wood coaster. I sat in the front once and middle once, but the rest was in the back two rows. The best was still to come though that evening. I got stuck in the station since my restraint wouldn't come up after my last ride, and they had to use this tool they stick into the train and pull extremely hard to release the restraints. Pretty interesting. After the ERT I went back to Mariner's for a bit: RipTide Giant Wheel Waltzer Night rides from later on that day: Maelstrom - First time I got on it in a while because it always has maintenance issues. My god that thing is crazy. Ghost Ship - We had a smaller group, so it was better this time. Tea Cups - During the first half of the ride, my siblings and I got the cup spinning ridiculously fast, way faster than these ones are usually able to go. Unfortunately halfway through, the cup just stopped. It didn't just slow down, the thing just stopped spinning completely. I don't think it was the braking, since there was no way to get the cup moving again the entire ride. Maybe the ride op was able to disable the spinning for our cup because it was too fast? Who knows. Great White Epic Night Rides Of Death x 6 - WOW! If every ride I got on Great White was like this, it would be on the same level as Thunderhead or Twister. It's got the perfect balance of smoothness and shakiness, and at night it ran FAST! Way faster than it ever did in the 7 or more years I've been riding it. The laterals are always great, but even better when the trains warm up throughout the day. The major airtime moments are way more pronounced, as well as the more floaty moments, and the and pacing is great. All of that along with the unique location makes for some of the best night rides I've ever had. I rode it two more times later in the week at night, and it was running just as well. I decided that Great White deserves to be in my top 10 wood list overall, and if we were just taking night rides into consideration, it would be right outside my top 5. A great way to end this fantastic event. Pictures: Skycoaster View from the Giant Wheel Adventure Pier KONG running better than usual IT!!!!! Getting ready to spin Doo Wopper running great Adorable Zoom Phloom sign Invisible ghosts having fun on Zoom Phloom Oooooh Backside of the wheel Great White! Non-upcharge Screamin' Swing for us! Beach view from Giant Wheel About to get on Riptide Sea Serpent Swingy
  4. Nice to see that they have a Rock-O-Plane at that park. Most of the time it seems like you really have to try hard to flip, but when I rode the one at Coney Island (Ohio park near Kings Island, not in NY), it was running amazing. I barely had to pull the bar at all to stall the rocking to get endless flips! I wonder if that's how they were all able to run back in the old times, and Coney Island just took so much care of theirs.
  5. I saw the Melivns at Union Transfer a few days ago, and it's the best live show I've ever been to. It's a tough choice between them and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, but I'd give Melvins the slight edge. The opening act was Spotlights. Both bands were extremely loud, and probably the loudest show I've been to. Spotlights was a really amazing opening act, and I definitely prefer them live since the ambient synth parts were quiet in the mix and less of a focus than on the records. Such beautiful, loud sludge metal! You could feel the noise vibrations your chest. My dad and my sister absolutely loved their set. Melvins were absolutely incredible. King Buzzo is insane and awesome, and Dale Crover is one of my top 3 favorite drummers of all time. Steven McDonald is very energetic and interacted with the crowd the whole time. This band goes through bassists quickly, but I hope he gets to stay in the band for a long time, since he fits in perfectly, especially for live shows. The set list for this tour is perfect. They played a lot of their lesser-known songs. The track order was perfect, and the set list had a good flow to it. In fact, there weren't many breaks, and a lot of tracks would flow seamlessly into each other. They played plenty of great new songs and covers of course. I loved that they played almost all the material from their album Lysol. Hung Bunny/Roman Bird Dog was the best way to end a concert ever. The crowd was enthusiastic too. There was a decent mini mosh pit, especially when they played The Bit and Amazon. This show blew my mind since I'm so obsessed with this band. Everyone should experience the Melvins. My sister went with me and loved it, even though she knows nothing about them.
  6. I still need to try the Alamo, Nickel Plate, fries, and roasted nuts, and the Backyard BBQ place but my top 5 Knoebels foods right now would be: Perogies Cesari's pizza Potato cakes Bavarian ham sandwich Apple cider slush
  7. I came back from my first trip to Kings Island for the first time with my brother and dad a few days ago. The park is great, and has a similar feel to Kings Dominion and Carowinds. The operations are great. I didn't eat in the park that much, but the blueberry ice cream is really nice! We went for two days, and halfway through the second day we took a quick drive to Coney Island which is a nice little place. They have an amazing Rock-O-Plane, an extremely forceful Round-Up, this weird Wipeout ride, an SBF/Visa looping frisbee, a Tempest (these things don't look like much, but they're fun!), and a Galaxy-type coaster that had a little bit of airtime on it. There's not much else to say about Coney Island. There were some decently large crowds at KI, but I was able to use coasterqueue to avoid huge lines! It's my second-favorite Cedar Fair park, obviously not as good as Kings Island. Now for the important part, rides: Banshee x 4 - I loved this ride! It has great speed and gives the best sensation of flying I've ever gotten on a coaster. The first half is more relaxing, and once you get to the pretzel knot element, that kicks off the more forceful second half. A little rattly, but it's smoother near the front. It's not quite in my top tier of inverted coasters, but it's fantastic. Drop Tower Delirium Invertigo - Not as smooth as the one at Dorney. But the restraints are pretty soft, so it's good. Adventure Express - Really quick for a mine train. The trains also have a lot of legroom for a mine train. The turns are jerky and a lot of fun! It would probably be a highlight if it were in almost any other park. Racer - I didn't like it as much as Rebel Yell, but still a nice woodie. Just like Rebel Yell though, first half has great airtime and second half is a little lacking. Windseeker Vortex x 2 - Actually not as good as I was expecting, I preferred Anaconda (which I love BTW). The rattle makes it uncomfortable to re-ride, but other than that it's normal Arrow jerkiness, which I'm fine with. Some good forces here. Monster - Got a ton of spinning. Shake, Rattle & Roll The Beast x 4 - Two of these were night rides after the park closed. Really weird but super fun experience. It almost feels like you're in a convertible car driving through the woods because of the random brakes, lol. The laterals are pretty good, and that helix is so fast!!!!! The best seat is the second-to-last row. At night it's really dark, and while this coaster isn't for me, I see the appeal and kind of see why people rank it super high. I'd say it's in my top 15 or top 20 wood probably. Race For Your Life Charlie Brown x 2 - Nice flume! It's really fast and rickety through the trough, and even though the drop is small, it's pretty good. Don't miss it! Woodstock Express - Great air in the first drop and especially the second drop in the back. Diamondback x 2 - Great coaster. The drop and first two airtime hills make for the best start to any B&M hyper I've been on. The trimmed hill still gives good air, and there's some airtime in the second half. Not as consistently good throughout the whole ride as Nitro or Apollo, but miles ahead of Intrimidator! I sat in the last two cars. Mystic Timbers x 4 - Best ride in the park! I came out of my seat a little in the back on the first drop despite it being a curved drop. The rest of the is relentless speed and rapid-fire airtime hills and quick turns. The shed is kind of dumb, but it's alright. I got the snakes twice and bats twice. I thought it was slightly better than Thunderhead, making it my favorite GCI. Much better than Lightning Racer and Roar as well. The back few seats are the best on this ride. Two of the rides were night rides as well, and it was better than the Beast! Backlot Stunt Coaster Flight of Fear - Not as smooth as Joker's Jinx or KD's FOF, but still good, I don't know why some people hate it. Firehawk The Bat x 4 - Such a criminally underrated coaster! It ended up being my third favorite coaster in the park. The location is beautiful, and even though the ride is short, it's so fast and has some kick-ass force to it! The swinging is strong as well. The front seat is the best, although the back has a little airtime on the drop. It's also really smooth.
  8. ^I rode it the first time I went there and it felt about the same as other Screamin' Swings I've been on, and between Lake Compounce and Morey's Piers' event with upcharge ride ERT, I have plenty of opportunities to ride Screamin' Swings.
  9. I'm on a trip with my dad and my brother to Kings Island, and we stopped at Kennywood on the first day. We got there around 2, and stayed until just after 9. We had an ACE discount, so it was pretty cheap. The three major rides I haven't done on my visit 2 seasons ago were Bayern Kurve (closed), log flume (I was stupid and didn't care about flumes at the time), and the updated Noah's Ark (was still the old version during my first visit). Luckily, I got on all of those. I didn't get on Black Widow unfortunately. I love that ride, but the line was ridiculous. A lot of people experience slow ops here, and when I went two years ago they were just okay, but the operations were really good this time around. I got Potato Patch fries as well. The park also looked great like always and has a great old feel to it. Still one of my favorite parks! Rides: Sky Rocket - Back row. The drop after the brake run in the back is enough of a reason to ride it. Volcano - I've been on this exact enterprise when it was at Lake Compounce before it got sent to Kennywood actually. It felt a little faster than the other Huss versions for some reason. Noah's Ark - Similar feel to the old one, but better. Thunderbolt x 5 - Back row once, front row once, 2nd row the other three times. Still awesome! On one of our rides, Phantom went right under us! The best laterals, amazing setting, awesome trains, just a great ride. Phantom's Revenge x 3 - Second row, middle, second-to-last row. Incredible speed, airtime, and location. Still the best steel coaster I've been on. Whip x 2 Exterminator Bayern Kurve x 3 - Finally getting on this was worth the stop alone. This thing goes so fast! The lateral force at the top of the curve is insane, and I love the seats on it. Kangaroo x 2 - Still awesome, love the airtime. Jack Rabbit x 2 - Back row. Forgot how ridiculous the double dip is. Racer - Back row. Log Jammer - Nice flume that goes quickly through the trough. The uphill section was nice. Turtle
  10. 2 nights ago I saw Negative Approach with Bloodclot, Fire and Ice, Mindforce, and Please Die. It was at Underground Arts, so it was a very small and simple venue, pretty much a large basement with multiple rooms and some bars. I've never been to a show this small before, so it was pretty surreal to see such great bands up close with a smaller group of people. Please Die was a good band to start off the show with. Nothing that unique or anything, but it was great thrashy hardcore punk. Mindforce did an amazing job and brought their a-game. They have a bit more of a groove metal sound along with their hardcore. I definitely need to listen to them more often, especially since they have a new EP. Fire and Ice was a little forgettable compared to the other bands, but still really good. Bloodclot was amazing. John Joeseph is still really good, and you can really tell that the whole band are really experienced players. They have Nick Oliveri playing bass, the drummer was in a bunch of bands including Queens of the Stone Age, and the guitarist is fantastic. Great hardcore, still really solid even though they're all old. Negative Approach did an amazing set. John Brannon is a rare case where his vocals got better with age. Everyone knew the lyrics so we got to mic multiple times. They played almost all of their songs, too. It was a great time.
  11. Yesterday I saw Royal Headache, Pissed Jeans, and Dark Thoughts at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, and it was a great night. Dark Thoughts is a new band from Philly, and it's great 70s-style punk, sort of like a more modernized Ramones. They actually remind me of the Hanson Brothers (a NoMeansNo side project), except better. In their sets they play the tracks from their first (and so far only) album in order. They were really solid, and I can't wait to hear more from them. Their drummer is really fast and hits the ride cymbal and high hat twice as much as what's necessary it's fun to watch! Pissed Jeans is by far my favorite band out of these three. The band started playing "Have You Ever Been Furniture," one of their best songs, and the vocalist immediately started throwing himself across the stage, knockeding a bunch of crap over, and started screaming his head off. Epic start! Their stage presence was great throughout their entire set, and they lost no energy. The set was a little short since they were opening for Royal Headache, but the songs they chose were great selections. At the end, the guitarist threw his guitar across the stage, filled his mouth with water and spit all over it, unplugged and kicked around his pedals creating even more feedback noises. Now this is my kinda band! Royal Headache is a very different kind of band, since they're definitely not heavy, but they play with tons of passion and emotion, and it's beautiful. Unfortunately, their recorded material doesn't really capture that, but they are amazing live. They played their best songs, some new songs, some slow R&B sounding songs at the end (those might have been covers, I don't know). The singer is incredible displays his pure emotions, and it's transcendent to see. I'd actually compare them to the Smiths or even the Killers during their Sams Town era, except as a punk band. He seemed to be worn out at the end and had to stop one song early, so I hope he's okay now. The crowd mostly came to see this band, so there was more moshing, while Pissed Jeans played to a crowd that had a mini 5-person pit at its most energetic, lol. From what I can find by looking up videos, it seemed like Pissed Jeans and Royal Headache put everything they had into this show, plus some. I think that was a very special performance we saw that night. Tomorrow I see Negative Approach, then it's Melvins in August, then Dinosaur Jr. again in September.
  12. Last year I had a season pass that was extremely cheap, and I did go quite a few times since I really liked Hellcat, even in the back rows, and it's about 15 minutes away from me. It really is an empty carnival, but for a great drop tower, a rough coaster that I actually like, and a custom flume, the price was worth it. If you look at pictures from 10 or more years ago, it's actually way worse, I'm talking worse than Lakemont or even Keansburg.
  13. Invert/First Overall - Great Bear - Hersheypark Flying - Superman: Ultimate Flight - Six Flags Great Adventure Stand-Up - Green Lantern - Six Flags Great Adventure Floorless - Bizarro - Six Flags Great Adventure Hyper - Nitro - Six Flags Great Adventure Wing - Gatekeeper - Cedar Point Dive - Griffon - Busch Gardens Williamsburg
  14. ^Joe's Fish Co. and Curley's Fries are the best places that are technically a part of the piers. The food on the boardwalk just outside the park has the best places though: Mack's pizza, and Douglass Fudge. There's also good chain places like Kohr Bros, Beaver Tails, Chickie's & Pete's, Stewart's, etc.
  15. Race For Your Life Charlie Brown never gets mentioned, so I'm interested to give it a try. There's really no high-quality POVs of it either. I know it's a little on the smaller and shorter side, but I seriously don't know why I never hear about it. Maybe people assume it's one of those kiddie flumes or bad carnival flumes because of the theme and location even though it's a full-sized flume. That's the only explanation, since I haven't even heard of it prior to researching rides this year for my trip to the park this month.
  16. Skydiver was closed when I went. Unfortunately not surprising at all given the state the park has been in. It's sad that I'll probably never ride one of these. It's a shame that the flat rides are probably leaving. The Round-Up was a rare kind I haven't seen very often, Twister wasn't anything too exciting but it was really weird and cool, and the old sketchy Octopus rides are way crazier than the newer models.
  17. On Sunday my family was in Wildwood and I went on some rides on the piers, mainly to try the improved Nor'Easter. It was a nice day, and surprisingly crowded considering it wasn't dark out yet. The operations were okay, but they always get much better later in the season. I mainly stuck to things that had short waits, so no It this time. Rides: Zoom Phloom - Great as always. Two full-sized drops, long ride, and uses the location on the boardwalk to its full potential! Great Nor'Easter - Middle row. Wow, I actually enjoyed it a lot! There is no rattling, and I appreciate the trains now that the track itself is smooth. The only rough part is one bad bump right before the last few turns. It's not B&M smooth, but that's more of the design of the ride. There's a noticeably sharp change in forces when you go into an element, but there's no pain. The smoothness is comparable to something like Steel Force I guess. The sidewinder is the highlight of the ride. Due to its forcefulness, that's the closest it gets to feeling like a B&M invert. The best part is the location, which once again, I can actually pay attention to now. The way it narrowly dodges the flume and flies above the water park and pier, along with the views of the beach makes it feel like a 100% custom-made ride, and it's very surreal, almost like something I'd come up with in a dream. So now that this coaster is awesome, I can safely say that Surfside is the best pier, even though the star attraction is on Adventure Pier. My sister who's never been on it before likes it too. Kong - No snapping (they wouldn't allow it anyway), but my flyer nearly turned backwards because of the wind multiple times! Not too thrilling, but very weird, since that never happened before. It felt like an extra-windy ride on New England Sky Screamer because of how the flyers rotated. AtmosFEAR - Facing the beach. Still fantastic. Great White x 2 - Back row once for more airtime, front row once for great laterals. Such a well-rounded coaster. Can't wait for midnight ERT this August!
  18. I actually found Grizzly and I305 to have way more airtime than Rebel Yell. Anyway, I'm personally hoping for it to have a Wicked Cyclone-esque mix of elements. So plenty of inversions while still having more than enough insane airtime.
  19. When I started riding coasters, riding coasters that were intimidating to me over and over again helped me get used to them and be able to enjoy them more. I think marathoning Apollo's Chariot would be perfect. While it would probably be scary if you're afraid of tall coasters, the forces aren't too intense and it's actually a very nice and calming ride when you're used to tall coasters. That way you can get used to high drops and speed while not getting too worn out from intensity/force.
  20. One time my family wanted to go to Fright Fest despite my warnings, and the line of cars trying to get in was about 1-2 miles long.
  21. rodeo is not even as good as it used to be. I think they decreased the speed, the amount of spinning, or something. The ride always used to be down so they had to alter it some how. It's not as forceful or fun compared to two years ago. The Rodeo used to have an AWESOME cycle. It used to go really fast and it would spin both ways. It would start in one direction... then halfway through it would stop and start spinning in the other direction. This is back when it was first installed though. The one at Ocean City at the Pier still had a great cycle last time I was there. They actually removed it, but it was a long cycle and spun well. It was replaced with a temporary portable drop tower for one season, then when the tower left a Jump-and-Smile ride was put there. Those types of rides are alright, but definitely a downgrade.
  22. I can't wait to get back to the park this year. The operations and staff were awful when I went, so I'm sure it's great when the park is run well, so it's easier to really appreciate Wicked Cyclone and Superman.
  23. Stooges - Fun House - 1970 playing right now. The first real true punk album! I feel alright.
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