The Great Zo

This is completely not surprising at all.

I never stayed at Sandcastle Suites, but to say the least, the Tripadvisor reviews of the place didn't exactly live up to the Ouimet-era standard. It definitely looked like a blemish on the very positive record they've been creating, so this news is no surprise. Nonetheless, I'm anxiously awaiting Prince Desmond's Save the Sandcastle Suites gofundme. Anyone got the link?

More new info from Cedar Point. https://www.cedarpoint.com/blog/a-few-changes-to-discuss Sandcastle Suites and the Breakwater Cafe are gone. The All-Wheels / Extreme Sports stadium is also gone. Future details coming later.

Here's an article on Cleveland.com about Ouimet leaving the chain, with a few little bits of information about Cedar Point. http://www.cleveland.com/travel/index.ssf/2017/10/outgoing_incoming_cedar_fair_c.html One thing to note that I hadn't seen anywhere else: This is great. I walked that part of the beach a few years ago and it was, um, not in great shape.

OK, OK, as requested, I will continue this! Yes, the infamous City Museum is up next. If you've never been there, well, I just don't know how to describe it. But unfortunately, since I was too busy having fun, I don't have a real good comprehensive photo set. If you want a better overview, check out the report that Robb just posted or my report from my first visit in 2013. All these are lower-quality phone pictures, but it's my little contribution to the insanity! But first, a little bit of culture from downtown St. Louis... Yep, we stopped for a photo op outside of the /very-under-construction/ Gateway Arch. This was about as close as we could get. Yeah, I've been up there. It's alright. Really, really cramped. Those windows are tiny. On the other side is what's known as the Old Courthouse. The dome of the Old St. Louis County Courthouse, a building over 150 years old. Dred and Harriet Scott. Some important civil rights history. Bad things led to positive change, but it took some time to get there. More history. It's good to learn. And now, the fun begins. The bus that drives us all crazy. A strange lizard thing. The rules of the City Museum. I really, really apologize for breaking one or two of them. Inside the crazy bus! A nice view over downtown St. Louis from the roof of the City Museum. A look over the roof, which is apparently inhabited by sharks. Everyone's favorite mantis (way better than that old piece of crap in Sandusky). A little bit of pain at the bottom of the mantis slide. We've all seen Robb's photos from outside of the thunderdome wall -- here's a view from the inside! The crazy spiral slides on the inside of the building. They are a challenge to properly slide down. Fun in tight spaces? You be the judge. Oh, and have a few fish. Grotesque, or art? Can't it be both? Open the pod bay doors. A look up at the giant spiral slides. Let's take a walk outside through the monstrosity of the broken-down airplanes and wire-frame tubes. Not sure I'll be flying this any time soon. This is the easy part. Well, we didn't enter /there/... Up and over the wire bridge! It's a little bit exposed up there... Promises that all these amusements are inspected for safety. We think. A look at the rope climb and slide on the roof. Few were capable of making it all the way up unassisted... Weird spinny chairs that were more dizzying than relaxing. Then, the assaults in the ball pit began... We'll just say that nobody went easy on anyone else, and thus the ball pit was a potential hazard to your tailbone, to your face, and to your electronics. This picture has an almost zen-like quality, which stands in contrast with the brutal attacks we'd just experienced. And yes, as I think pretty much everyone is aware by now, I was viciously attacked while trying to film being attacked. Go figure. The clip in the second half of this video is straight from my phone, which was still recording when it got knocked out of my hand! Try to make sense of what's transpiring! And then a mischievous 10-year-old stole my phone and was proud of herself for the rest of the trip. Probably longer. [twitter] [/twitter] ...but as we learned later, the real culprit just required a little bit of CSI-work (and reverse slow-mo) to detect... [twitter] [/twitter] Nonetheless, my phone made it through the ordeal mostly OK. My ego? Not so much. What a fun place. Somehow even more fun than my first visit there. Can't wait to return!

"Who's the next target?" "Nathan!" "Who's the next target?" "Nathan!" "Who's the next target?" "Nathan!" (repeat as necessary)

A Chuck TR is always a must read! I must say, I love the contrasting architectural styles in this shot. History and kitsch all in one!

Thanks guys! Oh yeah, multiple TRs make every post-trip reminiscing a little more fun! Now get to work.

OK, now that I've completely failed at this as a real-time report, whatever -- I'll finish this out anyway! Our next park on the agenda was Six Flags St. Louis. You kind of know what you're getting here -- no real standout rides, but some fun coasters, and it's got some charm that other Six Flags parks lack. I'm actually not as big a fan of Mr. Freeze as the rest of the group, and gladly list Screamin' Eagle as my favorite coaster in the park. Had a really awesome ride in the front row! I hear there was a cult meeting while we were in attendance, but for some reason it didn't work out. On to some pictures! Welcome TPR! Not saying we e-stopped our morning ERT rides, not saying we didn't... Freeze in reverse. Halfway through! Weird things happen at the top of the spike! At the back of the train. The back row is the best row. We were all kind of amazed at how quickly the rapids ride filled up with water. Justice League was fun. A little confusing, and a few issues -- high scores weren't working, fire effect wasn't consistent, etc. I really liked the concept and would love to give it another ride some time! On the loading platform for Justice League. Here's my score -- I guess this is decent-ish? A classic wooden coaster that still rides great! Stats about Screamin' Eagle. A TPR train at the top of the lift. A TPR train dropping! Hands up on Screamin' Eagle. Back of the Screamin' Eagle train. More Screamin' Eagle. Pulling into the station. Random thumbs up coming out of nowhere! An enjoyable ride. Front seat is the best seat! A second lap? Why not? Well-timed airplane. Dropping in again. A bit of excitement! Bossed on the boss. Balls. For the brave few who rode. Climbing the lift! The Boss is showing its age. If you see this outside the ride entrance, you may want to think twice. I remained safely off-ride! Batman was good. Always is. More Batman. American Thunder. Still very smooth, just not GCI's most exciting layout. A somewhat-funny train schedule. Good timing. Two coasters! Two train shot! Letting off some steam. What passes for theming on the train. More theming! Even more theming! A ride queue themed to a power plant... ...and a sewer! New for 2017! How's recruitment going? OK, who did something stupid and forced the park to turn this ferris wheel into a death cage jail machine? What's the point if you can't enjoy the view? I just like the way the wheel is framed. This may be of interest to some of our SFStL fans. A colorful shot of the fountain up front! Six flags for Six Flags. That's the end of our half-day in Eureka!

Andy's phone at City Museum was the best!!! A close second was trying to kill you. and Kristen, what did you think of the hurricane?

Just using familiar landmarks as reference points, here are the official forecasts for Busch Gardens and Magic Kingdom. For both locations, the strongest winds are going to occur between 9PM Sunday night and 6AM Monday morning. Orlando's going to have some problems from this, with 60-80 MPH winds. That'll do widespread minor damage, probably a few more significant issues here and there, though far from a major disaster. Newer, well-built homes should withstand it fine. For Tampa, and especially areas along the coast? It just isn't good news, not with the potential for gusts exceeding 100 MPH. Expect more significant structural damage and probably some lengthy power outages (not to mention water issues in coastal/bayfront areas). And not that theme parks are the most important thing in the world, but don't expect BGT to open right back up. Of course, if anyone has any interests in the lower keys, it's as bad of news as it gets. They're within a few hours of a direct hit. But I can't end this post without some levity, so please laugh at this idiot earlier Saturday in Key West.

Yep, this sounds like a slightly smaller version of Bigfoot on the Strip in Branson.

Seriously, that is one of the best ride soundtrack song choices I think I've ever heard of!

Kristen, any suggestions for good protective cell phone cases?

I live in Ohio, and I know a lot of casual coaster fans -- people who go to KI/CP but who would never keep up with a website like this one, for example. I've been telling them for the better part of a year: Cedar Point is building a ride that could be the best coaster in the park, knowing full well the magnitude of that statement. Now, I'll be sending them videos of this thing, and I hope they can start to understand why! Lots of these people have never been on an RMC. They've never been on anything like this. I struggle to think they'll be able to appropriately prepare themselves for what they're going to experience in 2018. Enthusiasts like us know what to expect, but honestly, the anticipation of the reactions from the casual fans might be my favorite part of the build-up for the ride. Everyone else has covered the RMC-fanboy angle pretty well.

If this is Karnan-lite as it sort of looks like, oh boy. Knott's might have a really good one here.

This is a pretty nuts announcement for any park, let alone SDC. With these elements, you could get some truly bizarre forces depending on which way you're facing. I'm anxious to see what's /really/ going to happen when the train stops before the first launch! I wonder if there will be an ability to disable the magnet controls, say, for an enthusiast event?

Prediction: this thread is currently on page 4028 to start the day, and I bet it ends up somewhere around page 6000 by the end of the day.

Nathan on the other hand...

You'll ride this thing with me next year, Zo. Right? I hope so! I do anticipate making a venture east at some point!

So, creepy trees are in. (so are #sheds)

Thanks Zach, Andrew, and David! Well I guess I failed at this being near-real-time since the trip is over, but I'll try to keep on moving ahead as I can get the parts finished. Next up was Holiday World. We went there on a Saturday evening and then for about two thirds of the day on Sunday. The Saturday evening was insanely busy -- apparently their busiest day of the year -- but most of us got on each of the wood coasters at least once. * Voyage is still a ride I really like, but could only ride maybe a few times in a given trip due to its aggressiveness. That said, I had a little better tolerance of it than some of the other people on the trip. * Legend was a lot of fun -- it's crazy laterals the whole way, but the track was smooth. I like this better than I'd remembered it. * Raven in the back was a really insane experience. Honestly I also think I liked this better than I'd remembered as well, except for one problem -- it's horribly rough. Worse than Voyage was, and I rode Voyage very close to the back too. This ride could use some work. The next day we did some morning rides on Thunderbird, which by a hair remains my favorite of the wing coasters. I'd probably put Wild Eagle just ahead of it if it weren't for Wild Eagle's "cut off the circulation at your shoulders" restraints, whereas Thunderbird is much more comfortable for me. It's a really fun ride and it's neat to launch on a wing coaster like that! The rest of the time was spent in the water park. I thought it was awesome to have a water park day on the trip. We got some rides on Mammoth and Wildebeest, then kind of did our own thing. Rode some other slides. Raced on the mat racer (I took second-to-last). Floated around on the lazy river for several laps. Then headed out mid-afternoon to our next destination. Oh, and here's a trick for the water coasters. Unlike regular coasters, in which you'd think you'd want the heaviest possible load to go faster, the opposite is true. So while my four-person ride on Wildebeest was fun, a two-person ride immediately thereafter (for good comparison) was absolutely insane! Airtime like that probably shouldn't exist on a ride with no restraints, but it does! Pictures below! Goodbye, Cincinnati! Hello, Santa Claus! Night rides on the woodies. Good fun, but insanely crowded. I think I was on the second-to-last Voyage train of the night. Long exposure lift hill shot! There's actually a train going up the lift but it's so blurred from the long exposure you can only see the red markings here and there. The next morning, we had some time on Thunderbird! We might have faulted the ride after one run (heh) but it was going again in no time at all. While we had some time in the station, I got some pictures there normally isn't a chance to get, like this one down the launch track. Wheel shot! LED running light shot! Oh boy, more coaster nerd shots... Wheels and stuff. An empty row of seats on the brake run. And now, TPR launches away! Some excitement from the group (and a well-positioned ride logo). Blast off. Out of the first inversion. More Thunderbird. Inverted TPR. Flipping up. Flipping over. A fun ride. With comfortable restraints! Back on the brake run. It's a great ride for Holiday World. Two thumbs up! Wave hi! We got a bonus walk-back from Thunderbird to Mammoth. Extreme Danger? That's the best kind of danger. Behind the Thunderbird station. Through the shed. (note: there is nothing in this shed) Voyage makes an appearance. Last time I saw this view was in 2014, and the orange track was not there yet! Thunderbird elements. Voyage warming up for the day to begin. More Thunderbird curvyness. All these TPR people and only /one/ person is taking a picture of the train going by? What kind of coaster nerd group is this? Twisted track. A very very very wide view of Voyage. We got some ERT on Mammoth! Last picture before I put the camera away and got really, really, really cold. Free sunscreen! Yes, they have Dole Whip! Yes, the pineapple is great! The strawberry is good, but not as good. Sadly, my twist was about 80% strawberry. Did you know that Santa Claus has his own trading cards? Well, now you do, and I got one! Here's an old train. Here's some info about the old train. Here's the sign for the park's new ride. Firecracker looks like fun, but we spent all day in the water park (which was fine with me) so I didn't get on. Speaking of the water park, here's a super-distant view of Mammoth. Voyage climbs the lift. The iconic flags atop Voyage. Voyage's second hill, through the trees. Another view of Voyage's lift. Raven curls near the front entrance. Raven drops! Hey, that's us. (no, not The Eye Group) The iconic yellow water tower. A parting shot of Voyage on the way out. Thanks so much for having us, Holiday World (and thanks Paula!) There may be more than corn in Indiana ... but there's a lot of corn in Indiana. (no, we didn't go to Indiana Beach, I'm just stealing their old slogan)

Caught a glimpse of Fury 325 from the Charlotte airport overlook!

Next update is here! This is Park #3 -- Kings Island. Yes, I live near here, and I've been here many times. Still, it's always fun to go with a new group and experience some of the rides through their eyes for the first time ever. I rode some stuff and skipped some stuff, but was glad to find Banshee and Diamondback still delivering as usual. Mystic Timbers was new for me -- it's a really fun coaster, definitely an above-average effort from GCI, though it's not good enough to top Banshee or Diamondback in the KI lineup. As for Beast, it's still doing its thing -- remarkable rides at night in the darkness, and decent-ish rides during the day when the aesthetics aren't there. Pictures! Brooding clouds behind The Beast at night. Deep blue skies behind the Diamondback lift. Earlier in the evening, some brave people tried Vortex. I was not one of them! Bright orange and dull blue. Vortex is a classic! That's the nicest thing I can say! Congrats, you survived. The back row also survived. Night rides on The Beast are a great experience. So are night rides on Mystic Timbers, which travels far enough out into the woods to be almost as dark as The Beast. Back the next morning for some bright-and-sunny rides on Mystic Timbers. Whatever you do... ...don't... ...go in... ...the shed! They didn't listen, so up the lift they go. It's got typical GCI forces -- quick changes in direction, brief and not-too-intense moments of airtime. The layout is more fun, in my opinion, than some of the more twisted-up GCIs. They're about to go in the shed! Surviving the shed for some morning rides on The Beast. It's a coaster classic and a piece of local Cincinnati history. It makes people very excited to ride! Hands up ... on the pre-lift. This should be a fun train. Do not stand up! Keep hands inside car! So naturally after The Beast it was time to get some people on ... Flying Ace? Yep, Flying Ace. I have the credit so I skipped it (it's not a favorite). But, those who rode had a good time. Are we sure this isn't a Six Flags promotion? Firehawk is doing its Vekoma thing. Which is, from reviews, slightly better than Nighthawk's thing at Carowinds. "Welcome back Blue Racer, how was your ride?" "Not great because you didn't make it past the lift hill!" Our group really needs to stop breaking stuff! A wider view. No big deal, a quick walk down, and off on your way for the rest of the day. Mystic Timbers isn't easy to photograph, but there are some good spots from the new path to the rapids ride. Even from there, only the first drop is really visible. It's a fun drop with some whip in the back. Vortex seems to bring out a range of emotions. Front left says it all. Hey, let's combine a hang-and-bang with a boomerang. What could possibly go wrong? No brave TPR riders on the log flume this time, so I'll have to make do with a couple of random guests. Still quite wet. Probably too wet! Also got some pictures of the Congo splash boat ride, just in case it doesn't survive much longer. It's got a double-down. It also has one of the smaller splashes I've seen for a ride of this type... ...but it still is big enough to soak everyone on the boat. A glowing ride on Drop Tower. Timed out the sun behind the center of the ride vehicle. A distant view of Drop Tower in action. Banshee is still great! It's not as snappy as Afterburn was at Carowinds, but the positive G-forces are more prolonged. An odd, distant view of Banshee from across the park. Terror on the skycoaster! Now for some views from the Eiffel Tower. I've posted a picture similar to this one before, but I'll do it again -- downtown Cincinnati is just barely visible! A shot of the construction going on near the Western Row interchange, which will help improve access to/from Kings Island by converting it into a full interchange in both directions. Banshee drops in on Delirium. A closer view of Delirium in action. Windseeker seeks some wind. Drop tower scares some people. Racer races. Mystic Timbers climbs the lift. Mystic Timbers heads out to the Beast-esque tunnel. Mystic Timbers on the return leg. Diamondback at the top of the lift. No, Diamondback is not actually on fire! Splashdown. Invertigo and Congo. Banshee goes all zero-G. Banshee does another inversion. A small gathering near the floral clock. TPR group photo from way up high! And now you can see everybody! Closed out with some shots of Diamondback because it's a fun coaster to watch. On the first drop! A wider view of a train on the first drop. Diamondback slithers onward. Two train shot! Diamondback passes guests on the midway. A splashdown in effect. A closer view of the back of the train splashing down. More splashdown! Last shot as a train climbs to the brake run from the splash below. That's it from KI!