NegativeGLover

So I haven't been to CP in 6-7 years and thought about making a weekday trip next week for the heck of it. I know schools have been back in session this week and will be next week as well, so I was curious about crowd levels and operations this last week. I've looked at the webcams and the lot looks less than half full, which seems promising. Mainly though - how have operations been? I cant imagine they have a plethora of workers right now. Just looking for some insight.

So, I will be in Montreal in September for just a few short days. I was thinking of trying to sneak in a Sunday afternoon at the park and was curious for anyone who lives in the area - would I be better off trying to hit from like 2-7 in the park, or just go hit some of the other sights/sounds/touristy crap in Montreal? It will be my first time there, and as much as I would love to visit La Ronde, I don't think I will make it in time to do a full day at the park. Please give me any insight as to what you think I should do! Also - I will be staying in downtown Montreal and will have a rental car. Thanks for any advice!

A couple questions for those who have been to the area multiple times: 1. We are going for 4 days in April, probably hitting the park 2 of those, is it worth staying at one of the Dollywood cabins for the ticket deal? Do they ever run last minute deals on their cabins? Or should we just go ahead and book elsewhere and save a little money? 2. How does the child swap policy for riding work at Dollywood? We've encountered a LOT of variation even from what the park employees say from place to place, and there will be multiple parents with kids swapping out.

So I haven't seen any TRs for Phantom Fright Nights yet this year. How does this year stack up to the last couple of years haunt wise? The last time I went they were about on par with the mid level houses from, let's say CP or Kings Island. Also - are there any rides they haven't been running due to low staffing, etc.?

I'm a big rule follower (slightly ocd, so they go hand in hand), so we'll follow the guidelines. I'm pretty big on cargo khakis and a polo shirt, so it sounds like that should be good. Thanks for the input!

A quick question for anyone who has been on a Disney cruise recently. The paperwork we just received for out cruise said that there were no shorts allowed during dining. We've talked to friends who just got back from a Disney cruise and said that almost everyone was wearing shorts at dinner, as long as they had on a collared shirt or something similar. Anyone care to give me the jive on what the story is? Also, this is excluding formal dining.

I get a little crazy with the black and white sometimes. I loved the place and plan on hitting it again next year, hopefully along with SFNE to hit Iron Cyclone. Yankee Cannonball is probably right there at the bottom of my top 10/15 or so. Wish I could have got a few more laps in.

For some odd reason I didn't take a picture of it. I will correct this next year and then totally forget to come back to the Canobie thread to mention it.

My family found ourselves up in Boston for the 2014 North American Irish Road Bowling Championships (yeah, you're going to have to Youtube this one) and decided to make a quick stop at Canobie. This was my first visit to this park and I was absolutely impressed with everything about it. We only had about 5 hours to spend, so we didn't get to do any of the water park stuff, but there is a good chance that we will be back there next summer, so we plan on stopping over again, albeit with a little more time at the park hopefully. I had heard about Canobie many moons ago, but didn't know "that" much about it until a couple years ago when I knew I would be making the trip from WV to Boston and looked into it some more. I knew the basics (Untamed and Yankee Cannonball) but the rest of the park was a surprise to me, and I was totally surprised! The park reminded me very much of a Kennywood or Lake Compounce for sure. Everything was clean, pretty well run, and the employees were all really friendly and helpful. But there is one major thing that stood out to us - their knowledge of the parent swap!!! Seriously, my son isn't quite 2 and has been to about 8 parks (NOT including Disney Parks). Of these parks it was amazing how many of the employees had NO clue about the correct procedures for the parent swap. Last year at SFNE we were literally told about 4-5 different procedures from ride to ride. You would think at the end of summer that even the younger teens would know the procedure, but alas, they don't. Maybe parents just don't get out much anymore? Who knows. but I will say that every single employee knew the procedure perfectly and were so very courteous when instructing us on where to stand/when to board/etc. Major kudos and thumbs up Canobie! So, I'll make the rest of this quick and let my pictures do the talking. * The food stands here are themed out better than about any park I have ever been to - much awesomeness! * Untamed is very fun and a perfect fit for a park like this * Yankee Cannonball is an absolute blast and is a total sleeper of a coaster. I truly wish more parks would put in coasters this size! (Wooden Warrior is a prime example as well - potentially the most "fun" coaster I have ever been on). * The setting for the park along the lake is great as well, there is just something about reflections of sun off the water at the end of your park day * The best parking is FREE parking! * One or two large flat ride additions and maybe one more small wooden coaster would put Canobie at the top of my list of favorite parks anywhere. We had a blast and can't wait to come back! And now for the pics! Let's not get lost now! Ummm... I think he had a little too much honey. Nerdism (aka - a mechanical engineer being himself) at it's finest. I just got wide on you! REALLY wide! And tall too. Hamma time! Side note: the ride ops at the Autobahn were all insanely nice and courteous getting kids on and off the ride. Even stubborn ones like my son who didn't want to walk around. We spent a good bit of time here. You could cheat by looking at the floor, but not doing that and being legit made this a ton of fun. So much time I got all blurry when taking pictures! Pretty swings. Underrated for sure. Great air. Nostalgic on you here with my black and white wizardry! Our son is REALLY into things with engines. He was enthralled (big word, I know). Driving is serious business! Seriously, put down the phones people! (Public service announcement) Great theming. Much fun. Up is the direction. Before you go down! This little train lead to one of my favorite pictures of the trip later! POV of the tracks - this is where you don't want to be when you hear "choo choo" coming. Canobie has TWO skee ball locations! *And drool* Unfortunately Corkscrew broke and we didn't get to ride - but there is always next time! (take note people, don't whine when you can't ride something because it broke). *Insert peacock joke here* His first "coaster"....If you ignore the laws of physics and forget the motor driving it. He loved it. Cry and shudder in fear! My goodness Canobie, Orville Redenbacher would be proud if he weren't so dead. See, I told you they had two skee ball locations, and you didn't believe me! As a nice little storm brewed in the distance we had to head out. Thanks for a great day Canobie! And now we'll chug off into the sunset...

You know, being a mechanical engineer I watch a lot of the coaster of "death" videos and think, "I would ride that, it doesn't look that unsafe really." But this was the first time I actually had a second thought when watching a video. I'm pretty trusting of professional engineers and all, but when that thing releases from the lift the track sure does look skimpy. I honestly don't know if I would trust those welds seeing as how there is rust on the throughout the ride. But, who the hell am I kidding, I'd ride that pig in a heartbeat!

Must...get...to....Japan.

So here is an idea. When a coaster gets to the point in its life that it needs a paint job, such as this one, why not make it an upcharge "graffiti" attraction? Seriously, pay 15 bucks, sign a waiver, get a can of spray paint and go to town on it. They could almost announce it as an attraction in itself where they would shut the ride for a couple hours to have "graffiti time"! They might be able to make enough in a summer to at least actually paint the lift hill for the next year.

I just have to say... the bags of crap have gotten intensely awesome over the years. Kudos!

I think the real question here is, will the bag-o-crap conatain sea lions and orgasming women?

I think every park needs one of these... If you can get it to run, you can ride it! An engineer and lawyer's dream, all at the same time! Seriously, the engineer in my would love to go around to parks with closed rides and see if I could get the going.

I think for me personally it's been the amount of people at the events. I think that even though everything does "feel" and "look" the same, if I could get scared, or even made to jump, a few times at an event, I would keep going back over and over. For me now I go for the atmosphere. Being at an amusement park in late fall (especially those that close seasonally) with all of the Halloween decorations just sets such an awesome mood. But, the people... OH THE PEOPLE! I remember going to the first couple Halloweekends at Cedar Point. The place was much less crowded as to where I remember the waits being minimal at best for the houses and rides. Perhaps my best memory actually came at Cedar Point when the park had essentially closed. My "entrapment cage for my goodies" was at the back of the park in which security had already closed that section. They let us walk back though after showing them our locker key. All the fog machines were still on and on our way back to Mean Streak there was not a single person in sight. I still get creeped out over the feeling of being there like everyone but us had vanished. I think as more and more people are realizing how great these events can be, they just keep coming out and filling the park. As mazes and scare zones get to where you can't even walk because the crowds jam up I feel that is where the effectiveness wears off. I don't think there is an immediate answer for this, but for now, we'll keep going and just enjoying the parks for what they are this time of year. We usually go hit a few rides and mazes and then just walk around enjoying the place in a different atmosphere. So, could a limited number of guest help? Maybe offer certain nights with raised prices where only X amount of guests can get in?

Will hit up Cars Land first and then the other things (ToT, California Screamin, etc.) I would love to go whorin' out to so many of the other parks and places out here, but since we have the wee one in tote, and being on a budget, we decided on Disney and not really much else. We also planned on fast food save for one big nice meal, and without question the places mentioned will be on our list now. Thanks for the advice and if I ever get around to updating my trip report from summer hopefully both Disney's will be on there!

A couple of quick questions about an upcoming trip to Disneyland I have planned. More a "re-assurance" than anything. My wife and I are flying out from WV and for a training and we will essentially have one day to hit a park. I chose Disney because we also have a 1 year old, and being we were just at Disneyworld, I felt like Disney would provide all the necessary thing such as Parent swap, etc. that would let us maximize our trip. So, my plan is as follows: Staying at a hotel across the street - plan on parking there for the day and just walking to the gate. We'll do the park hopper and start with DCA - straight to fastpass for California Screamin and then hit Cars Land. We plan on hitting the major rides within 3-4 hours and then back to the hotel for the sons nap. Back to Disneyland around 3 or so and then to hit all the major rides there and close the night out with Fantasmic. We'll be at the park this Friday, so do you think we should adjust the amount of times between the parks? Or should we be good? We'll also do a quick counter service meal probably in Disneyland - opinions on places that might have the healthiest "kids" meals? Also - anything near Long Beach (1/2 day there) that we simply shouldn't miss? Preferably off the beaten path kinda things.

I was just thinking about when Pittfall opened and how amazing the view was from up at the top. I loved when I got to face out over the Phantom ravine and look over towards the factories. I would love to see Kennywood put a Star Flyer somewhere near Black Widow (perhaps in the final turn area of Phantom?) and give them another ride that provided a thrill, and a view.

Kennywood Day So after we got back from our extended weekend we had a few days to rest up before a stop at Kennywood with some family on Saturday. Kennywood is my home park, and we go a couple times a year usually, so being that it was a Saturday in August before school I knew to expect huge crowds - and I was right. But never fear, a slight adjustment in plans about how to hit the park made sure we had an awesome day. I know that this is advice that Robb gives often - if you are at a park and the lines are huge - at least do what you can and make the best of it and have a good time - advice always best taken. Went straight to Exterminator and rode a couple times with a walk on wait. Didn't ride last year, so I'm not sure if the theming was completed last year or this, but I totally approve. A very nice refresh. Black Widow was probably one of my favorite flats of all time. I love the pendulum rides, and this one was great, several full good swings in. My only real complaint of the day was the cycle time for the Black Widow. I know the loading cycles suck for these rides by nature, but this was beyond insane. A timed 3 different load cycles at 14 minutes exactly - that's just over 200 people per hour. I know there is lots of blame to go around on this, but I am glad they built the que so small so that even when full it's only an hour wait or so. I don't think I saw much of a line past the entrance even with a packed park. We spent the rest of the day hitting some of the flats and also dropped some coin in the arcade. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking for me! Hey there color accented lady! So many similarities to Lake Compounce. So this lady sat here be the ole Cowboy Joe picture taking spot. Every time someone would come up to take a picture she would look over and glare at them rather unhappily - It was amusing. Here I go again with the black and white thing... Told ya so. Noah's ark didn't have the water section at the end working - when the heck did they remove that part? Or was it just a "broke for now" thing? Saw 17 - Noahs revenge? I really love this effect and will absolutely build one in my house if I ever hit the powerball. I really do overuse this effect, but Thunderbolt pulls it off so well. I do adore how Kennywood maintains their wood. Weee! I used to do the color accent alot. I normally wouldn't use it as much but the Kennywood "yellow" makes me have to. It also makes me have to pee. There is something so great about Skeeball. I really wish more of the classic style would stick around instead of the newer models. They just don't feel the same. My son - Skeeball pro in the making! Creepy, and intriguing! Jackrabit love. One of the best pops of airtime the world has ever seen! So floaty! So this is my wife - she likes ice cream - it contorts her face. "Silhouette" brought to you by Phantom's Revenge Skloooosh! Black Widow lovin. The fisheye lens really exagerated the swing height! See? Once again reeled in by carny games - I failed miserably. I want to take this shot again in the fall with a long exposure. Color accent again - the Phantom green is only second to the Kennywood yellow in this case - I promise not to do it with any other colors for this update! Such a pretty area of the park. I think the Kangaroo just makes this little section. Family cry time. Life is like... open air chocolates? Sky Rocket was a no-ride this time, but it did let me take its picture! That's all for now Kennywood - see your color accented face this fall!

Haha, advice well taken at home, that unfortunately can't be taken at work. I'll one by one them this time and just do the next portion of my report from home. Thanks for working on it though!

I'm having some issues with the uploader. I am currently running Windows 7 with IE9. Version 9.0.8 specifically. When I click browse and try to select multiple files it will only let me pick one. The files are currently .jpeg files, and I have tried a couple different re-naming conventions, but still cannot get the result. I have opened both the single file uploader window, and the multi-file uploader and in either "browse" window that comes up I can only select one photo at a time. I have tried lasso-ing the files, and also using the "cntrl" and select method. I have also tried file conversion to save them as other types of files .png, .bmp, etc. but none of those methods worked either. The big issue COULD be that I am on a government computer which has lots of the options for internet explorer turned off (no access to change them). Could there be an option that isn't allowing me to select more than one file?

Next up - Quassy! So we planned to leave Lake Compounce in enough time to get the Wooden Warrior credit at Quassy. Pulled in with about an hour or so left to explore the park and get the credit. First impressions made me upset - upset that I didn't have a few more hours to spend here! Seriously, I think spending an hour is too little, plan for 2-3. We really wish we would have done this, and mainly so we could have actually spent more time riding the Wooden Warrior. The whole park is gorgeous, and once again, all employees we came across were friendly and seemed to be enjoying what they were doing. The Wooden Warrior has been summed up I think as "fun" a good bit. I don't think that's accurate. Some kind of adjective HAS to go in front of the word fun - like... UBER fun. Or maybe wicked awesome fun! Or cheesewhiz to a fat kid fun! This was probably the highlight coaster for me of this whole trip. I expected a lot of Boulderdash and Bizarro, and they delivered well. I didn't expect too much from Wooden Warrior, and it blew any thoughts I had clean out of my mind. The front seat gave so many great pops of air that I felt like I was a corn kernel stuck in a hot skillet with oil. If you are anywhere close to this place, do yourself a huge favor and ride this thing. But don't buy single tickets!!! Go for the wristband, hope the line is empty, and ride a lot. Excellent job Quassy - I will definitely return! And now to the good stuff! Hey Quassy! Wish we could have played on the slides/water area some, maybe next time... And this is why we're here! Airtime goodness... and a tunnel! My wife taking a front seat ride. They took the.... yeah Hairtime fun. Still haven't nailed the moving train shot. Airtime whether you like it or not! And the sun sets on another great day. But not before the track blocks the sun again!

Next stop - Lake Compounce! So my first impression of this place instantly made me think of Kennywood being built at the base of a hill instead of the edge of a ravine (most likely not a coincidence). I thought the park was absolutely beautiful and very well ran. All the employees we came across seemed to be enjoying their jobs and were uber friendly (a specific example is when I wiped off our table for lunch and the gentleman taking care of that area came over and thanked me for doing so since he couldn't get to it fast enough). As for the rides and the rest of the place... I'll start with the big one - Boulderdash! I had pretty high hopes for this coasters, and really expected it to break into my top 5 - which it totally did! First ride was in the back and beyond being a "touch" rough, it was excellent. Second ride was on the front and totally blew me away. I've watched the TPR onride video several times, and I truly was not expecting the runaway train feeling this thing provides. Even after riding I went back and watched the video and I simply can't comprehend how much faster it felt actually being on the ride. A must ride if you are anywhere close to this thing. Wildcat was pretty smooth, I'm sure a result of all the visible track work. Not a bad coaster, and even got me with a few surprise moments of floater air. Most of the other rides in the park were just what you would expect (Zoomerang, Thunder N' Lightning, etc.). We didn't get to hit the water park, as it was pretty busy, and we were somewhat cramped for time. Most of the slides looked pretty fun though, and all of the work they are putting in to expanding it and making it better definitely show. As for the two other big "pros" of the day - #1 The parent swap - they let us both wait together with our son and then just had one person cross to the exit to wait while the other person rode. It made waiting so much more enjoyable and easier since we could hand him off to one another. #2 - Free Pepsi. All parks need to follow the example set forth by Holiday World and Lake Compounce. Everyone call your congressman! Now on to the pics. Didn't get as many pictures here as I would have liked, as some of the coasters and rides are deceivingly hard to photograph. What I did take I'll let do the talking. Enjoy - and stayed tuned for updates from Quassy and Kenywood. Lake Compounce = small Kennywood at the base of a hill? Yes please. I really wish I could have seen this place at night. Nice paint job. Quite a bit of noggin rattling though. Never got the chance to ride before the refurb, but I totally approve. It's amazing how the anticipation build for a ride like this that you have been waiting forever to ride. So much good wood. Next up - Wildcat. Not bad if I do say so myself. Tidbits of gravy adorn this plaque. A little color manipulation for your pleasure It's a shame we didn't get to enjoy the water section as it looked very enjoyable. Track blocketh the sun. There was abundant airtime during this section in the front. Best "return" trip on a coaster ever? I did think it was a little crazy you had to be above x" to ride (42" I believe?). We were hoping to ride, but the little one kept us from it on this one. Panoramic time! Such a beautiful setting for a park. My amusement park game fetish, errr, weakness shall I say. I never win, but I love to try and beat the highest speed of the day. Kudos for them keeping track on a dry erase board. My wife was a state champion shooter - do not mess with her - even if it is a cork gun! Cheesy poofs do the weirdest things to a kid... Black and white sexy time. Oh, I like this one a lot. Thanks for an amazing moring and afternoon Lake Compounce! We would stick around, but we got to get on down the road to Quassy!

Yes I did. Lots of traveling + little sleep + little coffee = brain farts. Editing will comence in 3...2...1...