dankeykang

That's typical Ohio weather for you... where one weekend it'll be snowing and the next weekend it'll be beautiful and approaching 70°

Yeah those do look pretty cool. I would guess that the Steel Vengeance models will all be Blackjack, but it would be cool if they did some Digger and Chess as well.

^ It's not as large at the main logo at the top, but you could click on "TPR Home" at the top right to go back to the home page. It looks like this link is on the mobile version as well.

Keep an eye on Gilroy Gardens, they're merely eighteen away and should make it to 20 in no time at all

I think the ride offering (at least for the coasters) is similar to what has been open in past years (see 2019 event info), but I agree that this doesn't seem very appealing to non-passholders.

^Nice report! I always try to look at the positives after riding a new coaster, and there are plenty of things to like about Orion: The chain lift is ridiculously quiet. I realize most won't care about this but I find it quite pleasant The first drop is world class, especially in the back During the wave turn, if you're seated on the far left, you can lean outward and stare 175 feet straight down. Fun. This this absolutely flies over the speed hill and the resulting airtime is glorious Combine all that with the fact that it's a reliable B&M, it's a capacity machine, it complements the other coasters really well, the theming is pretty solid for a CF park, and the operations at KI are always lightning quick, and you have a great overall coaster in my book.

Georgia Scorcher at SFOG for #150. Very fun ride and not uncomfortable in the slightest.

Where did you hear about this? I'm not finding much online besides some new security-related job postings that were added today; I haven't been able to find anything about the park/rides possibly being reopened...

^ Joking about terrorism is extremely insensitive and distasteful (especially in a public work setting), but IMO they're not wrong about SpongeBob being a classic

The funny thing is that Skyline actually has a rival, Gold Star Chili, which has a very similar menu. At least among people I know (although I'm not from Cincinnati), Skyline is pretty much universally considered the better of the two.

I might be somewhat biased since I'm an Ohioan, but I think Skyline is great. You can actually get a decent amount of food (2 cheese coneys and fries) with the dining plan. The Skyline at KI is right near the main entrance so lines can get pretty long at peak meal times. There is a separate restaurant just a couple miles away, though, which might be a better option during crowded weekends.

Interesting... the About Me section was originally showing as a required field when I went to edit my profile, so I did have to put some spaces in there in order for the other updates to Location and Gender to go through. So you were right, it wasn't technically "empty." But now it's showing as not a required field - thanks for updating!

The new forum looks great. One question - is there a way to hide the "About Me" section if it is empty? I don't think it shows on mobile but it does stay showing on the desktop version...

Most coasters are only filling every other row, with a few exceptions: - Banshee is loading the whole train, but with only one party per row - Orion is also using all rows, but they are only filling the 2 inner seats in rows 1, 3, 5, and 7, and the 2 outer seats in rows 2, 4, 6, and 8

One of the largest sources of entertainment for me this summer has been reading everyone's different approaches to their CP trips in 2020. There really is no perfect solution, it just depends on one's preferences when visiting the park. I am fortunate enough to live only 2 hours away, so I made 4 visits this year. It was fun applying a different strategy every time (getting all the passes on one day, ignoring the passes and lapping Steel Vengeance before noon on another day, etc). However, I would say that if 1) you don't want to buy Fast Lane, and 2) you aren't able to make multiple visits in any given year (assuming some restrictions carry forward into 2021, which is very possible), then it's probably not worth the trip for the time being unless you go with significantly tempered expectations. That said, the park's efforts this year are still much appreciated, given the staffing issues they probably had to deal with.

If it does get a full I-Box retrack, I would love to see the debates on whether or not it's a new credit

A lovely nighttime zen ride on Wildfire at Silver Dollar City.

Yes, there are a couple of $5 dryers right next to the entrance. There is a small foot bar a few inches above the floor, but it's not very large in diameter. If the raft was loaded with the full 8 people there probably wouldn't be room for everyone. Crowds this afternoon were extremely light, everything was a walk on.

Couldn't agree more. It actually took me 2 tries to get a ride on Ravine Flyer II this year due to an unexpected power outage that shut down half the park for an entire day (lol), but that first drop in the back row alone was worth the cost of the second visit. What a rush, definitely one of my favorite drops as well.

I think this year we simply have to accept the fact that most maintenance issues will take much longer to fix than normal. Storm Runner and Steel Curtain are two other examples that immediately come to mind. That said, I made my first trip to Dollywood last month and really enjoyed it. Lightning Rod was open but I still would have had a great time even if it hadn't been operating. Thunderhead, Wild Eagle and Tennessee Tornado are a solid supporting cast, and Firechaser Express is one of my favorite family coasters. The staff are super friendly and the atmosphere was very charming, even with the COVID restrictions in place. I know it's been linked a few times on this thread recently, but the LR page on dollywoodwaittimes.com is the best site for checking the ride's status. It has data all the way back to 2017! Even though it can't predict the future, it's a good way to gauge whether the ride has been running with any degree of consistency, if at all.

According to the park's Facebook, Impulse opened this past Saturday. They are only able to operate one car, though.

Yesterday they were continuously reiterating that masks needed to be worn while on all coasters. Pretty similar to most other parks I've been at this summer. And for the record, I just use dollywoodwaittimes.com to check ride status. I think it just goes off of the app and it's generally pretty accurate.

Oh yes, I was definitely checking queue times online constantly to make sure it was open before making the drive down from Ohio. It did have a few brief periods of downtime yesterday but was operational for most of the day. I guess everyone who attended this weekend can consider themselves lucky.

I just visited for the first time today and I had a great time! I decided to splurge and get the Timesaver because it was a weekend, but overall the crowds were not bad at all. Very charming park. All major coasters except Tennessee Tornado were running 2 trains, which was nice. Staff were super friendly as well, especially the Lightning Rod crew. I will definitely have to head back post-pandemic, but as long as you’re visiting with slightly modified expectations this year, it’s still a worthwhile visit in my opinion.

^ Correct, plus resort guests can enter the park after 4 PM the day before their reservation, and general admission ticketholders can enter after 5 PM the day before. https://www.hersheypark.com/tickets/free-extra-hours.php#hp-sweet-start