CycloneMan

^^No problem Louis ^I totally agree

January 16th, 2008 Phantasialand On January 16th, we woke up at Louis and Marc's friend Stéphanie's apartment in Luxembourg. Luxembourg will be our home for the next three days. Because there were 5 of us at this point. Louis, Alex and I were crammed in the back of Stéphanie's car. When we crossed into Germany. Louis and I bought this interesting snack. It was very good. Turbines everywhere!!!!!!! Sorry to disappoint, but this isn't a real castle! Here we are at Phantasialand. Where the parking lot hat more people than Disneyland Resort Paris the day before! Um...what? There Main Street was really pretty These characters are a part of Phantasialand's winter celebration. Construction photo! ooOOooh First up, Wuze Town. Sadly, this is the only photo I have of Winjas. Which is easily the most awesome ride ever! I'm not going to ruin anything about it, but there are some cool surprises. Next up, the indoor Vekoma mine train type coaster thingy The ride was pretty long, and interesting. Up next, Hollywood Tour My pictures didn't come out good. But it was some messed up boat ride! At least this one is still here, and not on fire! I will obsess for a moment about the theming of Phantasialand. WwWOoO0owW ZoMfG!!!!1!!11!1!!11 Alex was impressed, and took some pictures as well. Black Mamba didn't open yet, so we kept on walking. It just looks so good! And it was! We were hungry so kept walking by Colorado Adventure So cool Who knew China was in Germany? I'm that much of a nerd! But so is Louis Stéphanie, me, Marc, Louis, and Alex at the awesome Chinese resteraunt That had the best beer I've ever had! Feng Ju Palace is a Vekoma Mad House The theming was pretty good, but the ride itself wasn't that good. Houdini's Great Escape was alot better. Mystery Castle Mystery Castle was friggin awesome! It's an indoor Intamin Air compressed tower! They made me (the token Yank) take a picture in the American section. Har har River Quest froze over, so now you can ice skate on it! "Pandas, calling me, from the bamboo trees to play with me!" "Mommy mommy! I want to ride Michael Jackson!" They were running two trains, and not stacking. This made me happy. Time for Black Mamba The icy queue with no banisters. That didn't make me nervous or anything... They were only running one train. So the line was a little longer than it should have been. The station was dark and very well themed! The ride was incredibly smooth and forcefull. It's awesome! Dainan aproved! These guys were really cool as well. Talocan was my first floorless Top Spin. And it was painfull, but totally awesome! Chocolate covered bananas! I totally love this park! Silbermine was the most screwed up Mexican themed dark ride ever! WTF!!!! So, if you thought this place was beautiful in the day! It was evern better at night! Yes, that's Alex and I. (Photo taken by Stéphanie) I LOVE there costumes! This was on the back of her skirt! Good bye Phantasialand. Thank you for the awesome day! -Dainan "Next stop, Toverland" Rafferty

^^Yes we did. As we were walking by it (an hour before the park closed), we heard them testing it, and they opened up the queue right before we got there. We were the first train out. And it was flippin cool -Dainan "The speed tunnel was a surprise" Rafferty

^^I might. I'll tell you and Jay when I do ^And no, not at all. ....well, the only US Togo I've been on was Viper

well...the other Indy's aren't coasters

They're the same exact restraints as California Screamin'

The Trip On January 14th, I drove up to my friend Marc's house in Montreal. We've planning this trip for a while. The idea was for us two to fly out of Montreal to Paris and meet up with his cousin Alex at the airport, and his friend Louis was going to pick us up, drive us around, etc. Basically that is what happened, but it was the background to the trip, so deal... January 15th, 2008 Disneyland Paris I don't feel like typing the entire day, being there are so many pictures that it's self explanatory. So enjoy. This trip report is brought to you by blurry Airplane yogurt. Marc and I on the plane from Montreal to Paris. Here we are finally in Europe. It amazed me how much shorter the flight was, than my drive to Montreal... Here's Louis, who picked us up and was an excellent host. Driving down the road, we saw our first sign of Disneyland Paris. We parked here, because it's closer than the parking lot for the parks. ...and this is where I started hyperventilating. Yea, I'm so gangsta, don't be hating My friend Emmanuel (and his friend Maxime) were waiting for us inside the park. Disneyland's Castle? Sleeping Beauty's Castle is definitely the best Disney castle I've ever seen. We headed into Discoveryland for our first credit... ...Space Mountain!!!! I've waited 14 years to ride this (no lie, I have). So this is like a Super Nova or something... The Columbiad is what blasts you into space. They were only running two trains. The ride was very rough, but I still loved it. Out of the entire trip, we rode it 4 times. First meal of the trip, PIZZA BURGER! It looks so wrong, but it tasts so right... Seriously, wow! Going into Frontierland... ...to find Big Thunder Mountain closed So we went over to Phantom Manor. Love it! Love it! Love it! Then we went all the way over to Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril. Seems to be running fine. Until we were next and it broke! We left and did it again at night (but I didn't take pictures of it, so oh well). They did a great job on theming. Exiting out of Disneyland to go to... ...Walt Disney Studios! It was hands down my least favorite Disney park I've ever been to. hmm...where have I seen this before? This way to Crush's Coaster! Marc, Louis and I inline for Crush Crush's Coaster was allright. They had terrible operations, but the ride was okay. Not worth a wait over 10 minutes. Construction photo zomfg! Out of the three Tower's I've ridden, this was my least favorite (I've never ridden California's) Nice garden, eh? The boiler room wasn't as good as Florida's... Next up, Rock N Roller Coaster. It's a clone of Florida's, except for going to a concert, you're at a concert. We saw Moteurs Action! Which was really cool. Afterwards, we went back to Disneyland The group outside of Space Mountain. Alex, me, Emmanuel, Marc, Louis and Maxime. This is the last picture before my battery died. After we did Space Mountain again, we did a few dark rides, and got all the credits at Disney before leaving. It was probably the best Disney visit I've ever had. And the park was basically empty. There were times where we'd walk from one attraction to another and we'd see no guests. It was awesome. We'll finish with me at the Creperie, where you get all you can eat crepes! -Dainan "Next up, Phantasialand (with more pictures)" Rafferty

As a mod on GADVonline, I'll say that both sides were wrong. But BGEscape was truelly wrong on there part as to the way they treated Josh and the rest of us.

Yea...I was there in the morning too. The final ride (I'm on the TGE hoodie

I was actually on the last train out

Coney isn't going anywhere...

Okay. I need to but in here. Chiller was out on it's own reasons! That ride was a hex. Had nothing but problems, had a bad accident and cost the park too much money. BUT, TDK did NOT replace Chiller. TDK is actually on the spot of MTWE. Directly next to Chiller. Also, Autobahn (bumber cars), Music Express and Houdini are still there. I've walked by Autobahn and Music Express this seasn and I'll tell you it's still there. And Houdiniis still operational. Corprate told the park not to open it. But they are fighing for it next year. Music Express and Autobahn might also open next year.

I know that was my biggest complaint. I don't know what they were thinking but hopefuly by next year everyone will realize that the ride sucks and nobody will want to ride it. At Great Adventure Batman's in it twice. And the Joker is in it once I believe...

^That's my Aunt Mae's house...well....former house, under that coaster She was related to my grand father. So my family claims....

A CycloneMan History Lesson Just a few days before 9/7/08, the "official" announcment had been made that Astroland was closing it's gates forever. When they first announced the closing a few years ago, I grew very skeptic, and didn't believe it (and part of me still doesn't). Astroland makes millions a year, mostly through the kiddie park and the Cyclone. So, when the "officia" announcment was made, my brother, grandfather and I decided to go. Astroland (Coney Island in general), is the first place I went to as a kid. My grandfather used to take us there every week. In fact, it's my oldest memory, and it's where my enthusiasm started. My family is from Coney Island, and this was where I operated my first ride (Cyclone), so this is a very important place to me. I don't feel it's necissary to write an entire report, so I'll just post the pictures with captions explaining the day. Photos It was pretty bizzare walking down the street, and thinking this might be the last time I get to ride the rides I grew up on. I wish I had a dollar for everytime I walked under this sign. So, Astroland wasn't selling wristbands today, and the employee wristbands weren't being used, so we couldn't get any. That's fine. This is completely ridiculous! Operating, yet being taken apart allready! They were selling these for $13, as well as left-over Astroland Employee shirts... yea.... We walked down to Deno's, and Anthony desided to play DDR Our grandfather just laughed at him Spook-A-Rama used to be so much better. But it's still the scariest out of any of the three Coney Island dark rides! Just clear things up. The Wonder Wheel (as well as Spook), are NOT in Astroland. And they will NOT be going anywhere! I see you Bill! My brother Anthony, grandfather and I with our Dante's Inferno tickets! This ride ment alot to me growing up. I thought it was coolest thing, next to the Cyclone. (After Dante's, my grandfather went back home) We ran into Chris, AKA: Wood Dragon 1988 on various coaster forums. The Bowery has seen better years... This is still the future of Coney Island, right? This spot has been bare since 2003 Andrew joined in on the festivities Yea...I'm so cool It's a bit crowded for, after Labor Day... WOWZA! Tom was busy taking photos Circus Ahoy is here... Seriously, I've worked at Astroland on Memorial Day before. I have never seen Coney Island this crowded in my life! Ah, my baby She was running much better than the week prior! AND, with two trains... At least no matter what, Cyclone will be here...right? Right before this photo was taken, Anthony ran off to work, so I was left with these losers...including a few others ...okay, I lied...Chris left right after, but then our buddy Paul met up with us Failed Shot #1 Musik Express was being rented by Astroland in 2008 The funny thing is, on the same exact spot, there was a "Himilaya" until 2001. lulz We were going to go on the Wonder Wheel... Except the line was flippin insane! Thunderbolt seemed to have lost it's canopy... Can you tell that it was a bazillion degrees out!? Some one seems to be having too much fun We went back to ride the Cyclone, and I almost got the shot. Failed Attempt #2...sigh The final ride of the day for me was on my baby, the Coney Island Cyclone. ...I realize that I've reffered to it as "my baby" way too many times for comfort. Sorry Group shot On the train to China Town to meet my brother for dinner. Paul wanted me to take a picture of him wearing my "Le Vampire" hat I bought at La Ronde back in 2003. -Dainan "It was a strange day, and a unique good bye" Rafferty

I'll be there on Sunday to get my last ride s on Break Dance, Dantes Inferno and the Water Flume. It's sad to see my childhood, and former place of employement go! At least my baby is staying -Dainan

Day: 8 July 6th, 2008 Park: Hersheypark Trip Report I'm not going to type a whole report of a park that I've done numurous trip reports from. So, just enjoy the pictures. And read the captions for discriptions Photos After waking up from our hooker motel in the middle of nowhere, we drove two hours to a Giant... ...to purchase some Hershey discount tickets One of these things is not like the other... (Yea...I'm captioned out...don't judge me!) Yes Walter, we see it! First stop, Chocolate World! On a side note, a little over a year ago from when we were here (about one week), Jackie and I hung out for the first time other than at Scream Machine. And this is the first ride we rode together! "It's all about the milk!" This is Milton Hershey. He's like a god to chocolate...or something! The real reason we are here! The vertical lift was snazy! 97 degrees, and falling fast! This is the Norwegian Loop It looks cooler than it actually was. It has a Cobra Roll... Some Corkscrews... A nice sharp turn thingy... And a nice airtime hill! Overall, we thought it was a decent ride. The first drop was great. But the rest of the ride wasn't as exciting as it looked. It reminded us of Maverick, but smoother. Not a top 10, but not terrible eiter. After getting our last credit of the trip, we decided to go "splash splash" in the Boardwalk Apperantly, this was announced during our trip. Something no one ever needs to see. Me in a bathing suit! Lightning Racers was running a bit sluggish today As was "Pussy Cat" Roller Soaker also seemed to get repainted since out last visit Next up...another Intamin coaster! I can dig it... Train on the launch track Get ready... Here we go! Bye-bye Every time I seem to ride this for the first time of the day, it feels like it stalls at the top. I don't really care for these types of coasters.... ...but this is my favorite Intamin Rocket Coaster. This is a good part right here too! Sidewinder was running rougher than usual today! But, that didn't stop us from riding it over and over again, until my ears started bleeding Jackie thinks, ! Teehee Walter is determined to not hit a tree this time! Jackie decided to roar until we agreed to ride Great Bear is still my favorite B&M Invert It's just so sexy! Speaking of sexy! My personal favorite coaster at Hersheypark, Sooperdooperlooper. Seriously, nothing can beat the beauty of a nice Schwartzkopf in my eyes! I also want to point out, that Hershy will still have there Schwartzkopf looper in 2009 Suprisingly, The Comet was the best wooden coaster at Hersheypark today! Walter all excited in the queue for Reeses Xtreme Cup Challenge Jackie and I doing our "Walter while watching 'Three Point Challenge'" impression Jackie's impression of me... We went to go ride Fahrenheit again. This was our last ride of the trip! There it goes...or something...I don't know Walter and Jackie are happy to get there final ride in on the trip In my true fashion, our last ride of the trip, included a break down! Jackie seems happy with her break down Walter was hoping for an evac but we didn't get it. And it was only on the blocks. Our final shot from the amazing trip. It really was the best trip we've done in a long time. Videos Thank you guys for reading. And give me feedback on the videos. -Dainan "I want to do this again!" Rafferty

Day: 7 July 5th, 2008 Park: Waldameer Before you skip the TR and go straight to the photos, you might want to read parts of the TR, to just see the true nature of this park Trip Report: We left the hotel early that morning and headed out to the Hard Rock Cafe in Cleveland. Oddly enough, I've lived in New York City my whole life and never ate at the one here, so this was my first time.The food was good, and the mall it was in had some pretty cool fountains. There we decided to go to Waldameer to check out the new Ravine Flyer II. We programed it into our GPS and drove off. I don't remember how long it took, but I want to say about two hours to get to Waldameer. We pulled up and were forced to park in an overflow parking lot. Uh-oh. We then crossed the street and headed into Waldameer. At the enterance we each got a wrist band and decided to go straight to Ravine Flyer II. I'm not going to comment about the crowds at the park, all I will say is that...most of them weren't too bright. Like when this father and son in front of us in line for Ravine Flyer II saw the No Smoking sign and they both looked horrified and then the son said, "Naw Pa! They meen no smokin' on the ride!" And then they both smoked the whole way through the line. Yea...just an example of many things these two idiots were doing. Anyway, we finally get on the ride after waiting throught the full queue. We rode in the back car (Jackie and I got the last row) and were very excited to ride our first Gravity Group woodie. The first drop was awesome. The bridge was awesome. And the turn around/second drop were great. But once the ride started going back up the hillside, it just wasn't that good. Also, the 90 degree turn thing is WAY over hyped. So, the ride wasn't as great as we were hoping, but it was still good. Walter had to go to the bathroom, so Jackie and I went on the Spider. When we were next to ride, this man came up to me asking if his kids could ride, I said, "I'm sorry, I don't know, check the height stick" and he started yelling and ranting at me until finally his wife said, "Honey, I don't think he works here!" Um...wtf! Anyway, the ride was fun, and made some odd sounds and we laughed the whole way. Walter then met up with us and we did the Wacky Shack which was...totally screwed up in so many ways. But it was a dark ride, and I loved every minute of it. It was also where these three, 9 year old girls asked us, "Can we gyp yall in line". Yea... Next up was Pirate's Cove. This I was extremely excited for. And we saw there was no wait, so we walked right in. Well, the beginning seemed promising, until the hallways got very narrow and we couldn't see. The attraction consisted of a few things behind glass, very dark rooms, strobes, and mirrors. And the whole thing was on a slant. There were parts where the walls were zig-zagged like a maze and it was pitch black so we kept crashing. It was pretty painfull. And it totally freaked us out. We also noticed all three emergency exits were pad-locked shut, which made us think of the Haunted Castle at Great Adventure which burned down, killing 8 teenagers. So...we didn't like it. Next, Jackie and I did X-Scream which is an ARM Super Shot drop tower, which was about 140 feet tall. The airtime and the view were great. And it was also great that they didn't care how far our restraints were, as long as the seat belt was buckled! Next up, was Steel Dragon, a Maurer Söhne Xtended Spinning Coaster 2000. It wasn't my first Maurer Söhne, but it was a first for both Walter and Jackie. It was a fun ride, as most spinning coasters, and we all enjoyed it. After that we did there flume, which the name escapes me...but it wasn't very memorable. We did a couple of standard flat rides and another ride on Ravine Flyer II. This time we sat up front, and it was alot better than the back. And it actually made my top ten. Next up, we tried to get on Ravine Flyer 3 but we couldn't ride, so after Jackie begged some parents for about 10 minutes, Walter and I dragged her away and we went over to the Comet, which was a really nice Jr Wooden coaster. After that, we re-rode some more rides, before driving all night to the middle of no where PA, and stayed at a cheep hooker motel (no lie). Photos: Here we are at Waldameer! Ravine Flyer II looks pretty from the parking lot! While entering the park, we found this sign...which I'm pretty sure was ment for the locals to understand... I have to say, I was pretty excited for this! Walter and Jackie in line The queue is fairly small, and you actually don't get too many good shots of the ride from it. WOWZA! LyKe ZoMfG!1!1!!11 OMFG! Lift hill through the trees! Like what!? We rode the Spider Wacky Shack was certainly wacky! Walter and Jackie seemed to enjoy it Jackie and I on X-Scream And this was how far they let us have the restraints! The cool thing about the ARM drop towers, is that you don't know when you get to the top! The airtime was absolutely insane on this ride! Steel Dragon This ride was fun, and we all enjoyed it Good job Maurer Söhne! This shot would be better if it had a log in it... Oh well! Yes yes, we see you Ravine Flyer II I refused to walk directly under this because some "cool kids" kept spitting on guests! The Comet was a nice family Junior Woodie There it goes, down the first drop (sorta looks like a mini Phoenix) Ravine Flyer II was much better the second and third time around! Train zipping on by! The view of Lake Erie from the top of the lift! The first drop The bridge was definately the most unique part of the ride! The second drop was even better than the first These short little tunnels were pretty nifty! There we go, 90 degrees! This ride feels like it just keeps going! Click to watch the POV. Just a little side note, this was the first POV I ever took on a roller coaster with my new camera, so it's a bit shaky...but not too bad This park had a Wipe-Out as well We see you X-Scream! Something just isn't right with this picture... Jackie was tired and needed to leave.... What old park doesn't have one of these? Ravine Flyer II looks pretty great amongst the setting sky. Leaving the park we went under the Ravine Flyer II... ...then we went under it again, because we realized we were going the wrong way. Oops -Dainan "Next up, Hersheypark (last day)" Rafferty

Absimilliard and I in line for The Dark Knight at Great Adventure last week

Hey guys, I'm sorry for the lack of updates, this has been som really crazy summer for me. Anyway, I will try to get the rest of the updates up soon. I'll merge the next two days of the trips together i pictures being they're parks that have been shown allready. Day: 5 July 3rd, 2008 Park: Kings Island Photos Hey Arnold welcomed us at King's Island. Our first ride of the day was the only shooting dark ride I've ever beaten Walter at! The loading platform reminded me of the Disney, Haunted Mansion When we saw this, we knew Jackie would make us ride this! Walter in his Sportacopter Then we had a walk-on, on the Beast! After a few rides on the Beast, Jackie and I decided to ride Vortex front row. Nothing beats an Arrow looper Get it...beats...lmao Don't you just love the terrible transitions? I just love this ride It's good to know we can go all the way to south west Ohio to ride Sponge Bob 3D Next up was Fire Hawk Ew you! We were expecting a really bad ride on this, but pleasantly suprised! This is something you'd never see at Six Flags America, two trains in one shot! These unlucky riders have no idea that they are about to get seriously pwnd They got stuck on the blocks in the rain for 20 minutes! Here they come dripping in. Now we know what day it is. Um...yea The Racer was where we made all of our Brady Bunch references It was a fun ride, but it would have been nicer with the trims off Next up was this well themed Arrow Mine Train Fun ride, but the ending was so bizzare! Me and Jackie decided to do the Sling Shot, being they're having a $5 special! It looks better than it really is But it was still fun! Ew you! GO AWAY! We did get Walter on Delerium, and he loved it! Jackie and I rode this over and over while Walter went shopping We decided to do Fight Deck again! As well as Flight of Fear again! We did it a few times! We also did Backlot Stunt Coaster again! Our last ride at King's Island was The Beast. Where we rode with this cool ACEr named Mark. See ya late King's Island! Day: 6 July 4th, 2008 Park: Cedar Point Photos This was the first time I ever wore a hoodie on the Fourth of July. We decided to do Top Thrill Dragster first Funny that this is at a Cedar Fail park, this one has no trim at the top Does this cable shred? This shot came out realy good We were trying to set up our own queue, being Cedar Point couldn't figure out how to ue theres. Seriously, the line was a half hour long (including waiting for the font row), but it was stretching down to the bleachers, because they weren't using the switchbacks! To escape the heat (yea yea, I know, I was in a hoodie, shut up), we saw the Ice Skating show. It was actually pretty good. Raptor looks very beautiful It was a fun ride, but way too rough for a B&M Inverted Coaster! I also got yelled at for filming the ride from the midway by the employee at Raptor's enterance. Apperantly video taping of rides isn't allowed... And I'll repeate, "INTAMIN 1ST GENERATION DROP TOWER! Demon Drop was definately the highlight of the whole trip! It wouldn't be a trip to Cedar point without getting his shot. We willingly waited the full queue of Disastor Tansport This time we rode with the 3D glasses. Besides the queue, the glasses suked! Almost there "All clear means your out of here! Enjoy your ride on the worlds tallest, fastest and longes indoor bobsled at Cedar Point!" Okay...seriously now! I am a sucker for tower rides! As you can see, today was a bit crowded. So, where do you think this sign for a Zamperla would be? Oh, only attatched to Red Barron HANGING in a gift shop! This was one of my favorite coasters at Cedar Point...sadly for you, I'm an idiot and I didn't get any shots of Blue Streak! You have to watch to understand this picture. Gemini got evacuated during the evening. So, here are the Fourth Of July fireworks, that we missed because we spent 45 minutes trying to get on Jr Gemini...but it just wasn't going to happen. We'll end this day at Cedar Point with the boy who couldn't make it. But once he woke up, we went over Magnum XL-200 and left the park. Which took us over two hours to get out of the parking lot because people can't drive! -Dainan "Next up, Waldameer" Rafferty

Rolling Thunder for me

I feel it's Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer

It rained during the night before th shoot at KK. During a shoot there last year (where I was at, but Josh couldn't make it), it did rain, and the goggles were awesome (because it hurt really bad!). But Steve always wears the goggles.

I would have been at Coney yesterday, but I was too busy. I know some people wanted me there, sorry

HAHA! I saw me (in orange) Did anyone catch my tounge thing -Dainan "Awesome" Rafferty