The Great Zo

From the picture and the description, it looks like Tiki Twirl (Calypso) is taking the place of the small entry area in front of the Wicked Twister station. For the people who were there, does that seem to be correct? (edit: maybe not, thanks for the answer below!)

On the subject of restraints -- now we know for sure that Rougarou is getting traditional OTSRs, rather than the new B&M style.

Most of the parks that do a good job with that kind of stuff are heavily themed parks -- SDC/DW and of course Disney, for example. Knoebels is an exception to that, but their culinary offerings are generally park/fair variety, just done very well. No one's ever confused a Cedar Fair park for Epcot, but I've always thought Cedar Point had a lot of room to improve in that respect. In a perfect world, I'd prefer well-themed, high-quality stuff developed in-house. However, if that's not possible, dependable franchises and chains are still a lot better than most of what Cedar Point's done on their own.

I was too young when that place shut down -- only went there once when I was maybe 6 or 7. Still an ad painted on the side of the old Harbor Terminal building south of downtown Detroit on the river. Picture from November 9, 2014. As a Detroit area native, Cedar Point was always the main amusement park destination, and most people I know went there almost exclusively as a day trip -- including my family and friends. Although it's just about equidistant, I never knew of anyone to go across the state to Michigan's Adventure. We had the county water parks (Red Oaks and Waterford Oaks) but with how small they are, it didn't take much for them to be overcrowded. Dare I even mention Four Bears? I have to admit, I'd love to see what a modern-style mid-size water park would do in the area. Something like Zoombezi Bay near Columbus, perhaps, which seems to be pretty successful.

Fantastic shot, and what a view! Great post and can't wait to see the rest.

As GCI mentioned, Team TPR was already an option, even for parks that didn't have any TPR members signed up yet. It looks like it was created as a default team in advance. However, since no one is in control of the team pages, there doesn't seem to be a way to edit the team page with any custom pictures or text. Perhaps that's something a team captain would have control over, but I'm not totally sure how GKTW has that all set up. Thanks for organizing all of this, Nick!

The Pontiac Silverdome has been a Detroit-area symbol of blight and mismanagement ever since the Lions moved downtown in 2001. It was sold for pennies to the dollar by the city in 2009, and numerous redevelopment plans have come and gone. There is definitely room in the Detroit market for a mid-size water park, and no reason to doubt the financial stability of the region as a whole -- it's really no different than any other big metropolitan area, despite the challenges (though improving) that the city of Detroit has faced. My concern here is the location. Pontiac is a struggling place with a bad reputation -- and the Silverdome site in particular would probably be an instant turn-off for a lot of people. To its benefit, it's well connected to the freeway system, and though Pontiac isn't much to speak of, the location with respect to the rest of the generally-upscale-suburban Oakland County is not a bad one. Starting a park from scratch, though? I'm very skeptical.

LOLocoaster?

I'm in for my first year of Coasting For Kids at Kings Island! http://support.gktw.org/goto/thegreatzo I've heard too many good things about this event in the past couple years to pass it up again. I'll ride the Racer 'til the wheels fall off to support what GKTW's doing. TPR's all about having fun at amusement parks, and this is our chance to give that experience to families who could really use it. Here's a link to the Team TPR page for Kings Island, and a rough itinerary posted on Kings Island's website. If there's anything else that can be done to help with the group's efforts at Kings Island, count me in.

A roller coaster and a drop ride on the same tower? Glad this isn't being built in New Jersey.

Agreed, especially if a reasonable assumption is made that a big thrill ride is eventually going to replace Gwazi several years down the line.

15 minutes north of Kings Island is Ohio's oldest hotel, The Golden Lamb. It was originally opened in Lebanon in 1803, and has been in its current building since 1815. The hotel has hosted many presidents and other famous people over its 200-plus years, and its upper floors (and hotel rooms) double as museum space for the renowned visitors. Yes, it fits in this thread -- the hotel aside, The Golden Lamb is also well-known for its restaurant. It's a little higher-end, but if you're into history and well-prepared dishes (and one of the best pieces of banana cream pie I've ever found), it's easily worth a visit. I guess the menu could be described as traditional American, but well-adorned and using local sourcing when possible. There are actually two semi-separate restaurants in the same building -- The Golden Lamb (for the pricier entrees) and the Black Horse Tavern (for sandwiches, other less-expensive options, and the bar).

Awesome update. Thanks for ruining the Banshee banner flag for me!

We ended up with similar plans in NYC! I also went over to Roosevelt Island on Monday, and went down to the south end (Four Freedoms Park) for some nice views of midtown Manhattan. Went to the same Yankees game too. Also climbed a skyscraper at night on Tuesday, but I went to the Rock -- the wait there was an hour and a half! I'll zoom in on my pics of the Empire State Building from up there to see if I can spot you waving. Totally agree on Thunderbolt -- love the overall design of the ride, and it was executed so poorly. My biggest problem was with the unpadded hard plastic seats -- slamming back down after that ejector airtime was a spine-killer. What a shame. Coney Island's definitely got the hokey carnival atmosphere going for it. I liked it, but as this was my first seaside park, I think I'd prefer the classic atmosphere of something like Santa Cruz.

All the best parts of Disney World in 16 hours? On a Saturday in December? No problem, right? That's a heck of a day, and executed to perfection. Well done -- enjoyed the pictures and the report!

Very clever way to sum up a year's worth of park visits. It's like traveling around the world in a series of snapshots. Pleasure to meet you at Coney Island, Martin! Best of luck for another awesome year of travels in 2015. Beware the Ghost Hole!

Just read through this whole thread in one sitting -- a very quick hour and a half! I'm impressed not just by the pictures, but by the way you combine them with the ride reviews and park descriptions to really capture the essence of each place. Great work, and can't wait for the next segment!

Gwazi is closing? I'm disappointed... ...that they aren't torching the thing tomorrow.

The Texas Department of Transportation is planning to completely re-build the I-30 / TX-360 interchange immediately northeast of Six Flags. Work could begin as early as next summer, but more likely 2016. I can imagine construction on that interchange would be a big inconvenience in the short term for park guests coming in from the freeway, but probably an improvement once it's all complete. The McDonald's restaurant and a few gas stations will be demolished. Shouldn't affect anything at the park, though Copeland Road (and the intersection with Six Flags Drive) will be slightly realigned.

Great start Nathan. The first drop on Python got me too, but I think that was because it was my first coaster ride in almost a year. Tornado was a lot of fun, especially in the back!

Hey Chuck -- fantastic TR! That was a masterful blend of storytelling, humor, and great photography. You didn't cover our longest wait of the trip, though -- getting through the ticketing counter at O'Hare!

Excellent report so far -- love the detail! Put me on the "underwhelmed by Dorney" side, but I did not go into the water park. I actually do like water parks, but I had my fill at Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World, so I didn't try Dorney's. Sounds like I missed out. That flume at Dorney was an odd one, but I remember it being ridiculously wet! Do you remember what part was the wettest? I seem to recall that it wasn't the drop. Great to read some reviews of my favorite parts of the trip -- Kentucky Rumbler ERT, bonus ERT at Hersheypark (I'm also a Fahrenheit apologist), and just about everything at Holiday World and Knoebels. Also appreciate your honest report on SFGAm, which matched my experience almost exactly. Sorry you got caught in the wind storm, but I was kind of hoping it would blow the whole park over. Outside of my group (Stacy G and Mark K) you're the only other TPR member I know who went on Deep Water Dive at Kentucky Kingdom. I absolutely loved it! I thought it was a noticeably longer freefall sensation than on the standard-height capsule slides (or other speed slides) I'd been on before. Loved that so much I did it three times.

Hey Kevin -- thanks for putting up this whole report from last year's trip! Was a lot of fun to read through and revisit some of the fun. Still can't believe how packed Cedar Point was that Saturday!

Great report Paul. Congrats on #600 and to Stacy on #175. Loved the "POV" shots from the SBNO toboggan, and how lucky for Stacy who's now been on two -- and seen three! Plenty enough for one coaster career. I still need to make it to all of those parks some day, especially since they aren't that far away. Shame some of the ops weren't better but when you're with good people you can make it work anyway.

Thank you so much Mark!