Erik Johnson

I have a few. Dueling Dragons. Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Skyrush Skyrush

Both are top ten steel coasters for me. Hmmmm, that really is a close call. I may place Skyrush a notch above Intimidator, but it is very, very, very close.

Dollywood. I honestly did not take many photos in the park that day. Boy was the park quiet that day. I highly recommend going on a weekday during a school day. All the rides, except the new one, was a walk on. Well how was the new one? It was great! Thanks to TPR's forums I was fairly confident that it would still be running by the time I made it to the park. While it was only running one train, I did not wait longer than 20 minutes after my first ride. I managed to get on the first train of the day in the back car. Yes, the air time and speed are really top notch. The ride may feel on the short side but that is because it is a really fast ride through the entire course. There is not a bad spot in the entire run. The quad down is certainly the highlight of the ride, which was expected. I was able to get 4 rides during the day. Mostly in the back of the train as they were still assigning seats. Anyways, onward to the photos. Finally made it! Well, we know why I am here. I see it. Just waiting for the doors to open. Rules of the ride. The area really looks nice. Great to see the sign in person. At about 10:05 the doors opened. The garage theming was top notch. The launch was pretty good. You do get some nice airtime on the top two hills. The quad hills is my favorite part of the ride. It is a fast ride that never slows down. It is my favorite of the three wooden RMC coasters in the US. This one is great. It seems to be running now. The trains are pretty cool. They do store the other train underneath. Can you spot the coaster nerd? Shirt logo. Oh yeah, this was new for me too. It really is a great family coaster. The launches were fun. You know what you get here. Gold in bread form. Train ride is a must. Lightning Rod is not on the Timesaver system this year, I leave you with this final photo.

Knoebels is pretty much my favorite park in the US. I really like how laid back and hassle free it is to visit. Such the opposite of a park when compared to Universal Orlando. I had not been since 2010, so quite a few new attractions were finished since my last visit. Flying Turns had finally opened. They started construction in 2006. I have photos from both my 2006 and 2010 visits of the ride under construction. It was fun, but you have to make sure you ride it early due to very low capacity issues. Impulse was pretty fun too. The train was quite comfortable which is important for this type of ride. Black Diamond was also good, but pretty strange. Anyways, I had a great time so I hope you enjoy the photos. Pretty much my favorite park in the US. Ok, I do like WDW too. This makes me happy! Yay!!!! If you want to ride this, get there early. My first visit was in 2006 when they first started construction of this ride. It was nice to finally get to ride it. Up the lift they go. It was pretty fun. Definitely interesting. Not the fastest, tallest, or most intense. It is still my all time favorite. My row. My current photo. This is 2010's version. Another new coaster. Some reason only one train was running. It was pretty good. Sign of quality. Love the Skooters! Pink Skooter of death. The Haunted House received a makeover this year. This ride is always a must do. You must purchase a separate ticket for it. My chariot awaits. This was also under construction in 2010. Fun, but strange. Yum!!! Oh these were really great that day. My favorite flat ride. These are very cool. This always reminds me of Space Mountain. Yum 2 I did ride this one. But I went back and ride this one many more times. The train is really awesome. Make sure you do it. It is really neat that you go under Twister. You also pass multiple trains. Take the tunnel! You do end up way out in the middle of nowhere. See any critters? There are several of these large organs throughout the park. Nighttime is the best time in the park. Especially night rides on this. The night rides on the train were kind of spooky. Goodnight Knoebels. Centrilia, PA. Well known abandoned town.

Hersheypark! I have not been to this park since 2010. Oh wow Skyrush! Everyone has told me that it is an insane coaster, but it still did not prepare me for how insane it really is. It seriously is the most intense, scary coaster I have ridden so far (out of 460+). It really is pretty crazy in the front row on a wing seat, you really should check it out. I really loved it, but I could not honestly ride it too many times due to the intensity. I also checked out Laff Trakk which turned out to be just OK. For that model, it really did not spin very much. My car did not even make a full rotation during the full ride which I found disappointing. Overall, the visit to the park was good. Crowds were not too bad and I was able to ride many things multiple times. Onward to the photos! This is a good way to start your day! Skipping this park on this trip. Ummm.... God loves Intaminland! Yeah. Skyrush! Ooooooohhhhh. Though this did not last long. Got it going. Seriously. This is the most intense, scary coaster I have ridden yet. I think it was #463. So photogenic too. My ride on the edge/front row was unreal. It is a top ten ride for me. Yeah, I took some photos. The magic of the lift cable happen here. So much airtime. Serious ejector airtime! The trains are really funky. Skyrush!!! The new coaster in the park. Spinning coaster in a box. The queue was indoors. Unfortunately the coaster really did not spin very much. I stayed backwards a good part of the way. I did not. The new restraints really have helped this ride. Through the trees. This ride is still crazy nuts. Just a crazy layout. Off they go! Yes, I gave this some love too. The new train is nice. This will be new for next year. I have never ridden a Condor before. My bird awaits. The area is going to look really different next year. This dates me. They do have a mine train. There it is. Comet is still one of the most popular coasters in the park. There is goes! There goes Skyrush! Great Bear really does have a unique layout. Ok, one more Skyrush! Love this ride. Don't forget to do the free tour next door! They made a few changes to the ride for this year. That finishes my visit this year.

I have not done a photo trip report in quite a while as I have not done a week long coaster trip in a long time. I was lucky enough to finally be able to do one two weeks ago so I wanted to share with you some of the photos that I was able to capture. This year has been strange in that I was not really sure if I was going to be able to do any trips at all. Dollywood really was the only park that I was planning on going to this year because I really wanted to ride Lightning Rod. It really looked doubtful that was going to happen with all of the issues with the ride, but things did perk up a few weeks ago as it looks like they are now able to run the coaster. At pretty much the last minute, I decided to plan a trip of four parks (Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Hersheypark, Knoebels, and Dollywood). I had not been to Hershey or Knoebels since 2010, so it was time to make a return trip. Anyways let us start with BGW. My last visit was in 2012 when Verbolten was brand new. Tempesto was brand new for me and I really found it to be a fun coaster. I ended up waiting for the front row both times. You really do get a nice pop of airtime at the very top of the ride which was a nice surprise! I did spend a full evening as well as another day in the park so I had plenty of time to ride many of the coasters and other attractions during my visit. I always have to start these reports with a photo of a South of the Border billboard. The coaster is long gone. The sun rises again over Pedroland. No, I did not stop. Warp Speed! Coasters are waiting!! When in Williamsburg, remember to fill up on some BBQ at this place. Let us in!!! My last visit was in 2012, so Tempesto is new for me. Looks like I am still in the right place. I am still try to figure out what the new logo is. A tree, a bush, a roller coaster? Busch Garden Williamsburg really is a nice park. Map of attack!! Loch Ness Monster is traditionally the first coaster I always ride when I visit this park. Nessie: The coaster train! I may post a few photos of Nessie. I got a few from the skyway as well. The helix/tunnel. The second lift hill. I took a few of Griffon. Just a really nice park. I was happy to see Mach Tower running. While I do miss Big Bad Wolf. I think Verbolten is a great replacement. I think this is new. Tempesto did not disappoint. It was my first of this particular Premier launched coaster. Rules of the ride! I did ride the front row on both my rides. I was really impressed how fast the operations were in the ride. I love the train here! Sunset over the James River. InvadR: Gwazi 2: The RevengE Coming 2017. Verbolten at night is the best time to ride it. I think it is cool that the headlights actually work. I do not remember that feature opening year. The classic shirts are a nice touch. Awwwwww.. This is going way back. I ended up finishing the night with another ride in the train. Last ones of the night. Goodnight Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

I am guessing at least 8-10 years now. Quite a long time.

You can now buy your HHN tickets at Publix. Publix display.

Lightning Rod last Friday. Dollywood. Back car front row was my favorite seat.

Went to Dollywood a few days ago and was able to add two more credits to my count. Lightning Rod (467) and Firechaser Express (468).

Just remember that Lightning Rod is currently not on Time Saver.

Rod opened with the park today with one train operation. Currently in line for my third ride (About a 15-20 min wait) Yes it is really great. So far I have only ridden in the back car and row 10.

I am at Hershey right now and I wanted to share a few photos of the area where the S&S towers are going to go. No construction yet.

I pretty much do everything on my iPhone now.

Busch Gardens just tweeted that the Passholder early entry weekend have been pushed back until July.

It sure looks like it is opening really soon. This just arrived in my Email. Cobra's Curse.

It looks like the park will open with a ton of attractions at park opening. I can't wait to see future trip reports. This would be the attraction I would be looking forward to the most as well, though like you, I would rather it be based of the book rather than the movie version. We all know that the real Zombieland Drop Tower is located at Wild Adventures. I still have my original book I am guessing from the early 1980's.

Are there any other Nintendo Amiibo collectors out there? If so, show off your collection! While I do not have them all it has been fun adding more to the collection. I will first start by posting a few of my favorites from my collection. The complete Yarn Yoshi Set. The Animal Crossing ones are among my favorite. Wave 2 just came out last Friday The retro 3-Pack is my favorite one of the Smash series. I have both the North American and European editions of Villager. The 30th Anniversary Marios are pretty neat. The Modern one was annoyingly a Walmart exclusive in the United States. I still have yet to play the game, is it any good? The Mii Fighters one is also a Toys R Us exclusive. Yes, the Shovel Knight Amiibo is quite amazing!

Every picked up their Shovel Knight Amiibo, right??

Be mindful that even with a strap that your glasses will probably come off on Kingda Ka. Mine sure did and they were on tight!

Yay! The Serpent! That was the very first roller coaster I have ever ridden back in 1978. The log flume was also my first one as well.

She had a full blown animated sequence for her introduction. The current title screen was a big hint. Spoiler alert?

Yes!!!! Epcot!!

Oh boy!!!!! I know what I want next!

Here is my tree! I decided to try a new location in the house this year. This was the first thing I put on the tree. I think this is the very first TPR ornament. Though it could be this one. Maybe someone else has a better memory which color was first. The one from 2008 is my favorite.