jamesdillaman

Well my fiance, Julia and I decided to take our friends Amanda and Chad to a few themeparks around that they hadn't been to. First up was Kennywood and Cedar Point, IN THE SAME DAY. I don't know how many people have done that before, especially when leaving that morning from Cincinnati. We only rode Maverick (front seat) Millenium Force (Back Seat) and Top Thrill dragster (second seat) that first day, but it was still a feat if you ask me. Here's some pictures from day one, as I know nobody reads this. -James Dillaman We retired to our room at the Breakers Express. After a ride on MF, and a spin on TTD... My favorite picture I've ever taken... Hope you enjoy it. ...I thought I'd post some more to this site. Since there are never enough pictures of this sexy coaster... Diving into the launch tunnel reminds me of a dirty movie I saw once... Oh yeah, new credit for me (and everybody else, of course!) We only waited 55 minutes for the front seat. We made it, 3 hours to ride, so what should we ride first? Chad and Manda actually found a way to sleep in the backseat of my car on the way to Cedar Point. Apparently, this is a kangaroo... my apologies to kenny for the misnomenclature. Something reminds me of Coldplay... A Rush of Blood to the Head perhaps..? Chad and Amanda must feel the power, too. Julia and I are drawn closer by the aura of the Jack Rabbit. Double Down rules your life. Racer is always just Meh for me, but I love the buzz bars, just get rid of the seat dividers! No Julia, don't crush me!!!! The Screaming Swing is always fun, especially right after you eat! Fried Oreos, God bless you, whoever invented these! You must whip it, whip it good! I liked how this guys riding partner doesn't seem to care about him losing all these limbs, he's just smiling away. We all rode the same car on here, and it spun like an out of control thing that spins a lot! Chad, Amanda, and Julia loved their first Second Gen Freefall! We were let into the park at 10:30, but the rides didn't open until 11:00 I LOVE Phantom's Revenge and Pitt Fall. Why can't Magnum get these trains!?! Kennywood is our first park on the trip! Lather up the sunscreen, as it's gonna be a hot one!

My vote goes to the Boa Squeeze for the importance it played as being the only steel coaster in Forest Fair mall, even outlasting the uncertainty of a name change the mall endured when it was revamped as Cincinnati Mills. It's deserving of an award. I'll call my ACE rep right away... -James "In all seriousness, the Racer was an important coaster, but ACE does give out a placque or two every year..." Dillaman

I hope you don't mean Big Dipper, I love that ride. -James "It's a classic!" Dillaman

^ It's Oklahoma... -James Dillaman

Jeff, I didn't know you were friends with Sean. My brother and I ran into him at King's Island one day, and that was when we joined ACE and really got into coasters.

seeing as one story says 15 feet in the air, and the other says 25, I think it's safe to say that information was only gathered from eyewitnesses who don't really know anything, so in time I'm sure we'll hear more. it is a strange incident... -James Dillaman

If Dollywood isn't mentioned I'll boycott the Food Network, no matter how much i like Good Eats... -James Dillaman

pretty good. Who doesn't want to take a spin on "Mr. Toad's Wild Drive-By" -James Dillaman

Awesome, Joe. Julia and I will be there late next week. Great pictures! I love this park so much. Gotta love me some Cornball!!!! -James Dillaman

^^ At kings Island, I never ride the "themed" log flume, as the wait is FOREVER long on hot days. But Congo Falls, the unthemed Shoot the Chute at KI, with a MUCH larger capacity in the boat, is a much better way to cool off quickly if you don't want to wait an hour plus in the sun first... -James Dillaman

I think most people like them for the drop. Of course, the massive splash most of these attractions create also gives an added thrill on a bridge most of these have where people can get hit by a virtual wall of water. Not many places can you do that... -James Dillaman

Chuck, I bow down to you. I actually laughed so hard Julia came across the room to see what I was laughing at. -James Dillaman

^ Riding the Intamin hypers changed my life. -James Dillaman

That actually wasn't the question posed by this thread... Read the first post. -James Dillaman

2000! Beyond the obvious (MF and the S:ROS's): Boulder Dash Dania Beach Hurricane Dominator and Steel Venom (Batman and Superman those days...) Goliath at SFMM The Legend Stealth!! Flying coaster debuts! Superman: Krypton Coaster at SFFT, my favorite floorless and of course, in my neck of the woods.... the BOA SQUEEZE!! satisfying coaster nerds fix in the dead of winter for 7 years now in cincinnati. -James Dillaman

About a 4-5 hour drive, depending on traffic. I don't think there will be many GP going to one park over the other based on size. Grayling is a big tourist area, lots of skiing during the winter, and many lakes for watersports during the summer. It's right on 75, so lots of people from Detroit, Port Huron, Lansing can get there. It's a great area for a themepark. 2 hours to Mackinac Straights. I think this will be more of a resort park than a locals hangout, think Dollywood (A themepark at a tourists destination - Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg). MI Adventure will still be there... -James Dillaman

^ Yeah, Beast slid through the brakes a few years ago and hit the train in the station. Quick Fix? Cover the brake run or you'll see magnetic brakes (which is what they put on Beast) -James Dillaman

The fact that the ride is open again so soon actually reinforces Ginzo's post that this is a minor accident, and much more "easier to swallow" as someone else put it, than a major one. It didn't even make the news here (at least not the station I had on) in Cincinnati, and the most serious "injury" was an asthma attack!! Not to belittle asthma, but that isn't directly caused by the impact of the "crash". Sad to see that brakes failed, and I'd be interested to know what part of the blocking system malfunctioned. If I'm correct, the default setting for those trim brakes are closed, so even if there was power failure to the brake, it shouldn't open. Very odd, and you hate to see it happen to such a good ride. -James Dillaman

^^^ LOL @ "The park is like your wife, it knows you've got a dime and it wants it!" That's not very PC, but I like the quote anyway. -James "Will finally get out to this park next year..." Dillaman

^ OMG I didn't see that coming!!! Oh wait, yeah I saw that coming the moment they announced it was moving here from GL. And all the PKI fanboys didn't understand why those of us who were familiar with this coaster weren't excited by the prospect of it coming here... -James Dillaman

When lesourdsville lake was open, at our regional ace event (Screechfest) the power went out for about an hour, stranding my brother and I on the chairlift over the lake. We were sitting there about a half hour when they brought out a large handle and cranked the chairlift by hand slowly back to the station. I was 18 at the time, and my brohter was 13. It was pretty freaky, as we didn't know about the hand-crank. We thought we were going to be stuck there until the power came back on. Luckily the power came on a little bit afterwards, so the night-time ERT on Screechin Eagle with the park's lights off (ironically?) went off without a hitch. -James Dillaman

I didn't see you, Zach, We were there yesterday, too. Although we were at The Beach until it closed at 6:00, then swung over to close out KI. Call me next time, man. Love the pics. It seems you're getting better. -James Dillaman

seriously, I've heard of a new flat for King's Island next year... -James "gets lost with all the rest of the crap in this thread" Dillaman

I'm really shocked Balder went down so heavily. Perhaps some people voted who weren't actually qualified.... I personally didn't vote in that matchup, not having been on Balder. -James Dillaman