CHILLERLC1

I guess if I return to SFOT my view on Titan's lift would be ruined by the Cowboys' new stadium. I am a Philadelphia EAGLES fan.

Finally I made it back. I came back to Dorney last Wednesday after not having Laser and Voodoo earlier in the year in June. I had to say goodbye to Laser. It's such a great classic ride, on wooden blocks as well too. Since it was sold I had to get at least two parting cycles on this ride. A looping coaster with just lapbars and seatbeats - Come On! There's no way to ignore that ride. Laser and I go back quite a way, to the days before I was an enthusiast. I saw the coaster in its white and red paint job before. I only rode it when it was its current yellow and purple. On the wooden blocks the portable coaster stood quite a few feet off the ground. It hid some of the view of the coaster, so I was not able to see the true length of the ride when I was younger. I think the tight helixes and the loud music I remembered playing were part of the intimidation with the ride. When I finally became an enthusiast I loved the ride for its gray out loops and tight helix turns. It seems like the ride comes to an ending real quick. That Wednesday I had at least 3 cycles on the Laser. My wait was at least 10-15 a cycle. I was taking pics furiously for I knew I would not be able to next year. As someone pointed out to me, a new piece of information to me was part of the wall of a former pool could be seen on the ride site. Right by the station surrounded by gravel I saw the wall to the old pool. Looking at postcards posted on NewsPlusNotes recently I could see a pool covered the whole Laser pad site at one time. Darien Lake took a similiar approach fillling in a pool with gravel when they purchased and installed Motocoaster. I take my Laser please, thank you. The ride delivered as usual. Light headed, gray out moments in the loops. Really quick transitions in the helixes after the loops. The ride was always pretty smooth. It's just when the train would reach the lowest part of the helix the track would transition from a downward slope into a banked turn. You would feel this slight jerk in banking on the train when you would do this. It's also the same reason I don't rank Dominator the floorless coaster as the best. It has that same kind of transition near the end of its ride. Goodbye my buddy Laser. Thank God Cedar Fair didn't give us a replacement Vekoma Boomerang! That would be so antiseptic and it would be rough too. For once I'll give Hydra some sort of credit. At least it's not a Vekoma. The only traditional loop in the future in the park will be Talon's first loop. The loop void will be there now. I also got the elusive Voodoo coaster that day. Elusive it is. I went to Geauga Lake last year in 2007. I saw it still standing in the horizontal sections in its red track and blue supports. With no towers of course it was not ready for me to ride. This weird coaster, I was not really accepting to call it a coaster when it debuted, stole half of the spotlight from Batman Knight Flight when both debuted, in my opinion. I eagerly followed BKF's construction and it seemed in a back corner that coaster suddenly popped up. Finally after being denied in June with ride being closed the Sunday I finally got Voodoo. The back of the train I was clued I had to debut with. I sat in row 13, next to the last row. The first launch was just a teaser, not Kingda Ka or even CHILLER intense. The ride sounded like it had a turbine engine when it launched. Above the station track near the rear of the train you could hear a loud motor fan running. Flying/floating back up the rear tower was the best feeling of the ride. It seemed like I was on Deja Vu even. It was not close to being in a CHILLER inverted Top Hat in Reverse because we were inverted and the tower didn't twist. I came to understand the name Steel Venom when the holding brakes came on. In the next to the last seat the jolt had the duration of a spit of venom. The sound of the brake seemed like a spit. The two travels up the rear tower are great but the ending for the rear side of the train is lackluster, which is a partial climb for the front of train up the other tower before the train reverses into the station. The coaster motors operator like they sound like snakes. I did at least one second row ride on Voodoo. The second row allowed me once again to cheat on the first row view without the first row wait. The transition up the front tower allowed my ear to touch the restraint. Nothing extreme but I didn't think that was cool. The feeling of running up to the edge of the track was cool, much cooler on Wicked Twister, but on the this ride the back of the train took the pie. The holding brake for the front of the train is more pronounced. There seem to be a longer duration of the brake then. With the rear tower, the first US Intamin Impulse which became Voodoo is actually my favorite. SFDK's altered V2 and Wicked Twister are my other two credits. I spend the rest of my stay at the park riding Steel Force, the Revolution flat ride, and Thunderhawk. It was a lower park party. It's my favorite end of the park and it's going to change yet again pretty soon. I had to take this charming side in. Surprisingly I did not get my mandatory Zephyr train ride. I will my next visit when I'll say I miss Laser. 4x Voodoo - 3 back, 1 front 3x Laser - Goodbye my friend. Thank you Grandfather Schwarzkopf 1- Steel Force 1- Revolution Flat ride 1- Thunderhawk

Most likely Talon Tsunami - (J2,Now Hellcat to you people) Hydra - Thumbs down (Mr. Six's) Pandemonium Lightning Racer Sheikra Goliath - La Ronde Phantom's Revenge Wild Mouse - Hershey Ravine Flyer II Batwing Joker's Jinx Two Face Mystery Mine Shamu Express - Seaworld Orlando Fahrenheit Stormrunner Batman: The Dark Knight Crossbow Apollo's Chariot Volcano: The Blast Coaster Incredible Hulk Dueling Dragons Orange County Choppers' Motocoaster Greezed Lightning - SFKK Millenium Force Top Thrill Dragster Maverick Firehawk Silver Bullet if you count 2005 I greased her as well.

Wildcat - Hersheypark this past Sunday.

El Toro is my number 1 and having rode Boulder Dash for the first time this past year it has taken my number 2 spot. Doing Ravine Flyer II and Silver Comet in the same trip it was very hard to rank those coasters afterwards. Phoenix is my #3 with Silver Comet #4 and Ravine Flyer II to finish my Top 5. With the blurred Rotor shot you look like Michael Cera of Arrested Development/Superbad/Juno. Hi Jenna. You're so happy for the Pepsi.

After a hour wait, out from under the lift and turnaround in the queue I finally see the single riders sign next to the stairs and elevator access. I had to ask the lemonade guy to ask the security guard if it was open because I didn't want to waste another minute after my already hour wait. The guard shook their head "No." In line 2:15 out by 4:20 I think? The two shutdowns affected the ride, needing a reset, empty train tests. I was playing Chicken with strollers by the restrooms in front of Fahrenheit to get moving. Yes, those paths of people are thick there. Some uphill dirt is going to have to come out of Canyon River Rapids I think for the wave pool and lazy river.

(Homie don't do pictures gang. Read on though) A coworker told me that he and his gf were going to Hershey this past Tuesday, the 19th. I told them to ride the Canyon River Rapids, which were about to close. Then I remembered that they were going to close that past Sunday the 17th. I had just received a ticket from my uncle and realized there was little time left to get my last ride on the Rapids. I went Sunday after church and arrived at the park by 1. The parking lot was crowded past the last tram point near the GIANT Center. The first attraction I visited was the Reese's Extreme Cup Challenge. This was a new atttraction for me and I guess it wasn't a Sally Ride. The cars were coupled in two's and traveled up and down rollercoaster style track and hills. It took me awhile to figure out the targets weren't the typical Sally ones but yellow ones. Therefore as a first timer I got a terrible score. Next I walked to the Rodeo flat ride. I heard that ride was going to exit as well. It galloped like a bronco but was tame. It was not as wild as the former El Sombrero at SFGADV. The ride was a classic though with its lighting. After taking a couple pics of Canyon River Rapids I had to decide between that and Fahrenheit. The line at the rapids was already long so I waited for Fahrenheit first. My wait was about 2 hours 15 minutes long, with just two trains running! We all knew capacity was going to be bad. They didn't have the third train running. Obviously there would have been horrendous stacking with 3 but with train just carrying 12 people, come on. The ride had downtime at least twice during my wait, needing to be reset and the brakes run a few times before relaunching trains. The nice thing about this ride is the comfort of the trains. The restraints didn't feel as heavy and I didn't have to crouch to get in like on Kingda Ka. A welcoming sight was a new lip of padding added to thin ends of the padded OTSR's that we're used to seeing on KA, Stormy and Maverick. I guess Intamin heard enough complaining about the pain on Maverick from the likes of myself and other enthusiasts and guests. The vertical lift was pretty cool but I felt in no time we were about to be thrown over the edge. On the original Ultra Twister they had to be off the vertical lift in no time. I had a back row seat so as the train went over the beyond vertical first drop I either felt extreme airtime or hangtime. I lifted off my seat and my shoulders had rest on the tops of the restraints. The fun was ready to begin. The twist into the top of the Norwegian loop has a little bit of a trick to it. The straight track up goes to a slight right and then begins the twist left. It's like that short bit of airtime awkward pop hill on Stormrunner before it does its rolls. In the valleys I was experiencing extreme jitters, a little more extreme than what I felt on first year B&Ms. The cobra roll felt fast enough. With the way it's shaped I'd hate it like Hydra's if it had B&M track but it's okay with me as an Intamin. I couldn't find any feelings about the corkscrews. I don't think they were extreme. The tight turnaround after the screws under the lift was fun as was that following little pop hill. What was questionable was the transition after the pop hill into the long turnaround into the brake run. My head touched the restraint in the transition but I don't think it was a true headbang. It definitely wasn't a Maverick style blow to the neck. Into the brakes I came to realize that what I felt while in the Intamin brake run would be really telling about the past ride. I didn't feel the "wooZe" of a train coming to a smooth stop after an tremendous journey, like on Kingda Ka and Stormrunner. The feeling just wasn't there, that same feeling I felt on the flat brake runs even on SFNE's SROS and TTD. It just wasn't there. It was the first Intamin slanted brake run to not deliver for me. With all those blue supports next to the slanted run I was reminded of Australia's Superman: Escape coaster. I really want that one. I think I'll still take the Fahrenheit-Stormrunner combo over Maverick. I got my Intamin corkscrews. I can survive now without going back to the Point. Next up I weighed what I wanted to do next. I wanted to get Wildcat with its new trains in before I would wait over a hour for the Rapids. I was never into Wildcat but willing to give it a chance with the new trains. I don't like the turnaround after the first drop but I found that I do like the midcourse area of the layout. The ride shook too much rode rough still. The brakes on the final brake run sounded like elephants when the train would pass. I prefer any of the Roar! coasters over this layout still. I guess with Lightning Racer, the premier coaster with Comet in the lineup as well a coaster has to get blipped on, be the whipping boy. That would be Wildcat. I didn't sense any major improvement for the ride. After Wildcat it was 5pm. I wanted to get home to catch most of my Sunday night baseball with the Phillies so Canyon River Rapids would be my last ride. I waited a hour and a half to get on. I took plenty of pictures for the ride's final day. What a big mistake to get rid of one of the more modern smaller boat Intamin river rapids! This is better than the concrete jungle rides at SFNE, the Great Escape, Geauga Lake. Like I noticed with the Intamin at Kennywood, the troughs that go through a snaking layout are close together and there is an apparent difference in height through the run. I was eluding rushes of water pretty well but the waterfalls walls of water in the lower section of the ride near Rollersoaker provided plopping heavy sheets of falling water over our ring boat. Wow, I was drenched! This ride gets the job done. There's no way I want to arrive at the park with an extra bag, extra weight of a swimsuit and towel to go on a lazy river. I've never been in a wave pool, which is the second attraction they want to put in place of the rapids in its reservoir pool. Big Mistake! I guess that's why there's mom or lockers. They're departing from me and going for the familie$. I finally found where I could get the Navy Blue Hershey's hoodie: Chocolate World. I felt it was a coat of arms I finally earned from the place but I would have rather earned it at a more innocent time for the park, by 2001 when Lightning Racer first arrived. I never liked the idea of The Boardwalk. I wonder what was Hershey's first idea was that was rejected by the Township board before they came to that. I'm starting to distance myself from the park. Feeling inspired by Knoebel's has pushed that. I know my homepark, come to understand Dorney, and just when I felt I was getting to know Hershey I was being pushed away. Maybe I'll now classify Hershey as a non local park to me like SFA. Who knows? Win me back Hershey. I never had such a constricted visit at Hershey before but 1-6pm on a crowded August Sunday would do that. I never walked by Sidewinder or Stormrunner's station even. My coworker who went Tuesday said his experience was much better. The midweek crowd seems to be better. He agrees Stormrunner is the best coaster at the park but wonders what it would be if it was more closer to the Kingda Ka range. Great Bear delivered (as usual). He wasn't able to ride Comet or Wild Mouse(outdoor Dark Knight mirror.) He agreed Wildcat wasn't so great.

I'm actually cool with KA except the line which keeps me away from the ride. Someone asked me about it. It was tough not talking about Toro first.

I was able to take Two Face and CGA's original Invertigo easier than the one at KI. The invertigos are probably Vekoma's best boomerang. I'd rather do them inverted.

Wildcat today after Fahrenheit. I still prefer Roar! over Wildcat.

I took one for the team and went to the park today all because of the River Rapids. I usually don't eagerly go for them but since this was going I braved the choking Sunday crowd that only let me get on Fahrenheit, Rodeo, Hershey Extreme Cup and Wildcat from 1-5 before I got on the rapids. It's pretty good. The waterfalls dump heavy water on you. A wall of water you can't ignore. I thought the Intamin raft rides with the smaller boats are newer. I'm sad that this has to go. I took plenty of pics. A wavepool and lazy river are totally not me. This park is now the most distant to me in the Northeast. Dorney is small enough for me to understand. SFGADV is my beloved homepark. Knoebels jumped up major points in my book. I've never had time in my visits to take Hershey and make it my own charmed place. I was too busy driving the 2 hours to get there and just getting on the rides. I don't dig Wildcat either when I have Roar!

In late October I will go see my sister in Columbus, Ohio to see the Penn State - Ohio State game 10/26 (WE ARE PENN STATE!!!). She just moved across the street into Dublin, OH, the town the zoo is in I believe. On Sunday before I fly back I was hoping there would be a chance to ride Sea Dragon, the small woodie at Jungle Jack's Landing at Columbus Zoo/Zoombezi Bay. On the Columbus Zoo site it is difficult to tell if the dry rides section of the park will still be in season. I emailed the Zoo and still didn't get a response. If anyone knew the Old Wyandot Lake (before the Zoo bought them) schedule, if they were open after Labor Day in the past I'd appreciate it. I'll try contacting the Zoo again.

I'm ok with DK but let's not waste a vote too. I voted El Toro - OLE!!! Easily it is the best coaster in the park. My Top rides nearly every time I go now: 1. Toro 2. NITRO 3. Medusa 4. Blackbeard's Treasure Train. Usually my fifth choice is a mixed bag choice. The most I usually ride in a visit is six coasters.

I'm still caught up on the Darien Lake ROS. I rode it in late June and it was running like SFA SROS two years ago. Did they spruce it up in the last few weeks to bring it back to awesomeness cause I sure didn't feel it in June.

I think you guys are missing it. Vapor Trail at Sesame Place is my favorite Vekoma followed by Rollerskater at SFKK. They should really just stick to the family versions. Great rides and thus they can't screw up by putting the inversions in since they're for families.

We made it to 8/6/08! Will it be called Stallion?

Before there was El Toro I made it down to the park the last day of the season to ride Medusa and NITRO. You think I'm going to stop now cause El Toro is down? I hope the elevator lift assembly didn't get fried. If VIPER was still there it probably would have got struck where the extending rod was. Those Togos seemed to have a lot of extending rods.

^That's going out in style. I want to get there for an evening ride. I last rode Twister at Knoebel's.

I can imagine how much cheaper the utility bill is without CHILLER.

I was lucky Saturday when my first real deep look at the ride yielded a look at the trains in the brake run. I saw a maintenance guy there so I was surprised. On the one end of the street I saw enthusiasts watching something. The ride was testing! I have a digitally zoomed pic of a train on the lift. It's a tough thing to photo. It's really quiet. I hope they fix this train issue soon. I too was surprised to learn it had three lift sections. I thought it only had two.

You would want to do Busch Gardens, Kings Dominion, Six Flags Great Adventure. If you were allowed one park it would be Six Flags Great Adventure. BGE is closer to you so definitely go with the park farthest away.

There are coasters worse than GASM at SFGADV. I thought Hercules, SOB, and Predator were those. I'd rather ride GASM than SOB for sure.

So far I'm glad they didn't build the valley platform. Hopefully it doesn't valley there. Does the other lower valley platforms appear? Congratulations too for riding a coaster you named.

For me 1. Montu 2. Dragons together for the jnteraction 3. Raptor 4. Alpengeist 5. Undecided for the wicked punch Talon, Great Bear, Top Gun - PGA, Batman the Ride/Great White gives. I leave Silver Bullet in the fringe and can't wait to add Afterburn-Top Gun.

Batman the Ride @ SFGADV.