jamesdillaman

This is why I like doing regional ACE events much more than national ACE events. The old Stark Raven Mad at holiday world was great before anybody else knew about it, it just kept getting bigger and bigger. I'll probably still be attending Holiwood Nights this Memorial Day, but I'm not going expecting lots of ERT. If I can get 1 night ride in on each of the coasters it will be worth it, as Holiday World isn't open very late usually. You're best bet to ride coasters with shorter lines is to go on a day when it is usually less busy, such as the middle of the week in May or in September. Steer clear of Fridays and Saturdays in the Summer. Another thing I'd add is that events aren't just about the ERT. Many times there are contests or auctions where you can win/bid on lots of cool stuff, there is usually a catered meal of some kind, and sometimes an opportunity to walk behind the scenes a bit to get pictures you normally wouldn't be able to get of some coasters and other rides. Each event is different, but I'm sure anyone who's been to one will tell you they are usually fun. Even if the lines are long, there's something special about riding a coaster with a train full of enthusiasts, so much more fun than riding with the general public many times. Well there's my two cents. -James

Vortex only has airtime really down the first drop, not anything like a hyper coaster such as magnum...

Or sometimes certain parks have huge events (such as say Holiwood nights this year at Holiday World) where there will be much more people at the park for the event than there would ever be during a normal day at holiday world. This can also make ERT lines longer.

The magnetic launch systems work quite well, and the hydraulic launch would work better if there was more room for error, AKA 3 mph difference won't make the train not complete it's course.

haha, we still HAVE a vortex, just not the standup, we have the arrow-looper version. Everyone knows what you mean, though. Some people are just too caught up on tiny details. Hey Chuck, if you ever want to come up to go to PKI, Holiday World, SFKK, Beech Bend Park, Cedar Point, or even Kennywood, let me know and I might be able to meet you there. You can even crash at my place (5 minutes to PKI, 90 minutes to SFKK, 3 hours to HW, 3 1/2 hours to CP, 4 hours to KW, 4 hours to BBP) We're kinda in the center of them all. Indiana Beach is only 4 hours or so from us, too. Julia and I had a great time. We're going to Holiday World on May 7th (I know, we're missing opening day, but I have to work saturday afternoon ) -James

Whoa, I was being sarcastic but I think someone may have taken me seriously...

^ HW and DW are BOTH great parks. My 2 favorite run parks to be exact.

Without a doubt Raging Bull is my most intense B&M. Wow!

There are no wooden launched coasters..... yet!

I vaguely remember time shaft (I think) Did they play the Rocky Horror Picture Show song "Time Warp" in the line or something like that?

Julie, you didnt get airtime down the entire first drop from the back seat? I love that drop. Just wondering, -James

^ That's funny, that's the same year I visited my one and only time, and we (My girlfriend and I) just went there last weekend. I recommend going back, a lot has changed in 10 years! -James

At the construction tour, Beech Bend Park said all enthusiasts were invited to their media day. It wasn't just for members of the media. They treat it as their "dry run" day for the employees and everything, too.

This may be me being dumb, but isn't this basically the same as the overrated coaster thread?

^ yes, they did. Cobra is still at PKI in pieces, and the trains are in the FOF building. The footers are also still in place. I posted a pic of them in a PKI trip report: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24294&start=10

Just updated our counts: Me 128 coasters, Julia has 73 Thanks again Chuck for a great day at PKD! Next up as far as new parks for Julia are Kennywood and Dollywood. -James

A trip to Geauga Lake and Sea World Cleveland with my family. My father convinced me to go on Corkscrew, and then I went on Double-Loop. Geauga conquered my fears of upside-down coastering. -James "Just so you know corkscrew is gone now" Dillaman

Posted my pics, not many, but some good shots methinks And, Jeff, maybe we'll be down again this summer. Hoping to do SFA and BGE sometime, and if we're back down there, we may have to go back to PKD if anything just for the flying eagles! -James

I like Screechin' Eagle @ LeSourdsville for wood Magnum hands down for steel

April 22, one day to do PKD, rain or shine: Julia and I made the trip down to PKD from cincinnati this past weekend, knowing that the storms were coming with us. We didn't care, I had the weekend off from work and Julia was between midterms at college so we went anyway. When we got there, it looked like the rain would hold off for a while, so we got in line for Volcano. We were six people from the front of the line and they told us it was down for weather. Yes the storms started. We waited for an hour then finally the storm passed and they opened Volcano! We were on the first train of the day, rode in the second seat. Amazing! I didn't think from the POV that the ride would be very fun, but I was wrong. This is quite a fun ride. Intamin ranks up there as one of my favorite manufacturers, if not hands down my fav. steel maker. We had just enough time to get off the ride and head down to meet chuck at the base of the eifel tower. After introductions were over we wanted to ride shockwave (PKI broke our heart a few years ago by taking out King Cobra ) Fun until the turn towards the end of the ride *ouch*. But it IS a togo, so meh! After that we were going to go on hypersonic, but it broke down as soon as we got in line (surprise), and then it started storming again, so we went and had some pizza (A whole pizza for less than Julia and I ate chicken baskets @ Bubba Gumps (PKI)) GOOD pizza, too! We went back on Volcano again, and hit Avalanche, as I love it dearly and Julia has never been on a bobsled except DT @ Cedar Point. It's still good as ever, and I have no idea why there aren't more of them around the country. Before we could get on Anaconda, the storms came in fierce! Lightning, Thunder, Pouring down rain, you name it we had it! While chilling in Anaconda's station, we got to talking with chuck about rides we missed at PKI and the Flying Eagles came up. Jules and I had a great time once at PKI riding the eagles in pouring down rain when everything else was closed! We've scared parents snapping them and had to have the ride ops assure them the ride is designed to do that. As Chuck had never seen anybody snap the scooters, we made our way there. WOW, PKD's scooters are amazing! My first ride I took a HUGE chunk of the tree with me! Whoops, guess not many people at dominion know how good this ride is, because if people keep snapping them, the trees will stay "trimmed" back. There were branches in my tub and stuck to the bottom of it! Jules got such a crazy ride she even cut back a bit, too scared it was going out of control! Chuck has some video of our third ride, not as crazy as the first two but still worth seeing if you've never seen this ride in all it's glory. We went on Action Theater and the World of Hanna-Barbera was pleasant and much more fun than overdone 3-D spongebob. After the storm passed again we went on Hypersonic and got on quickly. Whoa what a launch! Jules and I thought that since we'd been on TTD that Hypersonic would be tame. This thing is INTENSE. the launch kicks you in the butt with a force not found on Top Thrill Dragster. And it whips you over the hill, not limping over the hill like dragster. Grizzly was next, and a fun woodie at that. We rode in the front seat twice in a row without getting up. Even caught a couple pops of air on it. I really enjoy this ride. Then we hit up Drop Zone, although we didn't like it as much as PKI's, it is still a good ride. Rebel Yell backwards was also fun, some good floater air over the hills. John Allen is one of my favorite designers, and Racer is one of my fav's at PKI, so we enjoyed this one. We went back and hit up Anaconda. What a quirky arrow looper this is. The drop is strange and then there's the underwater tunnel. After the mid-course brakes this ride is strange, too. I'll have pictures posted shortly after I shrink them down a bit. After going on Avalanche and hitting up Scooby-Doo, Jules and I had to do the inverter-ship Berserker. This one HURT and the blood rushing to the head was quite weird. Our first and possibly last ride on this flat! We had a blast and although only Chuck braved the weather to join us, we experienced no-wait rides and re-rides on many attractions. The park closed early (8:00 instead of the posted 10:00), but when we left, it started storming fierce, so they chose wisely. Pictures to come, soon! -James "Loves him some flyer snaps!" Dillaman Finally I leave you with another loop pic, this is anaconda. mmmmm.... arrow... For some reason this part of anaconda wasn't nearly as bad as it looks Julia's First Bobsled!!! I love this ride! The rain wouldn't let up, but we didn't care... Shockwave was fun for us Julia and I in front of a TOGO standup, *sniffle* rest in pieces King Cobra... Volcano was shockingly good!

I like Thunderhead's first drop, so twisted... (And, as much as it [literally] pains me, Son of Beast has a good first drop) Steel, I still like Vortex @PKI in the back car and of course the obvious (MF backseat) -James Vortex @ PKI

1. Thunderhead (Dollywood) 2. Balder (Liseberg) 3. Cornball Express (Indiana Beach) 4. Raven (Holiday World) 5. Shivering Timbers (Michigan Adventure) 6. Legend (Holiday World) 7. Screechin' Eagle (Lesourdsville Lake) 8. Kentucky Rumbler (Beech Bend Park) 9. Thunderbolt (Kennywood) 10. Lightning Racer (Hershey) 1. MF (Cedar Point) 2. Phantom's Revenge (Kennywood) 3. Magnum XL-200 (Cedar Point) 4. Superman Krypton Coaster (Six Flags Fiesta Texas) 5. Top Thrill Dragster (Cedar Point) 6. Raging Bull (Six Flags Great America) 7. Chang (Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom) 8. Tig'rr Coaster (Indiana Beach) 9. Raptor (Cedar Point) 10. Dominator (Geauga Lake)

OMG ^ i LOVE the zipper! LeSourdsville lake had one when they were open (groan.. come back LeSourdsville!), and like you said, it scared me but I don't know why either. It just feels unsafe, but man is it crazy... I wish more parks had them around here, like a park that's currently OPEN, haha.

I never have a problem with streaming video on quicktime, only wmp causes crashes on my system at times...

We'll be meeting by the starship entersprise under the Eiffel Tower at noon tomorrow. Anyone who wants to meet up later call my cell phone and find us (If I didn't PM you my number, it's because you showed no interest in coming. It's not too late to PM me asking for it, We don't mind!) We will be staying rain or shine (I know it's supposed to storm, but oh well...) Hope to see you there! -James and Julia-