Erik Johnson

Oops....That was a major blunder. I need to refresh myself on Southern101.

Here are a few photos from Idlewild. I think this trip created quite a few new Caterpillar enthusiasts. This really reminds me of Knoebles. No seriously, Confusion Hill really can mess up your equilibrium. "Howdy All! Have you guys ever felt motion sickness while standing in a room?" You know, McNasty would be a good name for a cat. Inside Confusion Hill, I found an ancestor. This is what it looks like with people. Its the Wild Mouse, the only mouse that Vekoma has ever built.

LOL, what song did you ride to?

The Space Odessey certainly was a highlight on the trip. I could not believe that the ride's cycle was a full song...and can you think of a better song to ride to than "Tainted Love?" Tyler's, "Winnie the Crap Puppet Show" was certainly.....interesting.

Great update!!!! Waldameer, for me, was the highlight of the trip.

The next morning we woke up to the thrills of Idlewild. Its a very nice park with surroundings that really reminded me of Knoebels. The have a super rare coaster in the park, The Wild Mouse, which is the only mouse coaster Vekoma has ever built. Other unique attractions include the Mister Rogers Trolley ride as well as the last complete running (with a fully operational canopy and undercarriage fan) Catepillar in the world. I will first start with a video, I hope you enjoy it! idlewildltpr.wmv Idlewild Video idlewildltpr.zip Idlewild for Download.

Thanks for posting these. Just to let you guys know, the spinning mouse was a significant credit for someone in that last picture. No, it was not me.

Mmmmmmmm, Waldameer Park. This for me was my favorite park of the tour. We had the most amazing/legendary ERT session on Ravine Flyer II that evening. The coaster certainly made my top 5 of my woodie list. While my late afternoon ride on it was quite good, nothing tops riding it in pitch blackness with pouring rain and thunder. I really enjoyed the rest of the park as well, especially the Wacky Shack. Sorry for a real lack of photos in this section, I was just having too much fun that I forgot to take many pictures. Hopefully the 2 minute video helps a little for this oversight. EDIT: I just added a version to download in case you have trouble watching the video. Waldameer.wmv Waldameer Video The coaster was awesome, but we all got really wet during ERT. Yes this counted as my, "Dan Gets Wet" Bingo Square. Mmmmmm.....Ravine Flyer II. Make sure you check out Robb's video sometime. We were all able to earn the Ravine Flyer 3 credit. I think it might be the only coaster completely built over water. This includes the station. The girls of TPR really liked the show, especially Trevor. The Pirate's Cove walkthrough was pretty cool as well. How wacky did you think it was Brent? Hey look, its a Wacky Shack! Waldameer Park was my favorite on the Behemoth/Ravine Flyer II tour. Waldameer.zip Waldameer for download.

Other than the mid-brake-run, I only noticed a slight trim on the first or second hill after the over bank.

I think he wrote down the wrong answer to that question. I see my name written off to the left hand side. I believe it was the Jiggidy question.

The only B&M Hyper I have yet to ride is Silver Star. Behemoth is my favorite B&M Hyper, I was really impressed with it. Edit: Oops, I forgot about the Canadian Goliath and the mini one in Japan.

Ok let us head onward to Marineland, which is the home of Dragon Mountain! Dragon Mountain is the legendary custom Arrow terrain looper that was built for the park 25 years ago. Even to this day, the ride's theming is still in a work of progress state. They finally had the budget to finish the volcano a couple of years ago. Hi Niiico!! Bye Canada! "Robb Shaves" I just got the Bingo square. We drove by the falls on the way out of Canada. Poor Rich. TPR people. I found the S&S tower to be a lot of fun. I have never done a full cycle with both an upward and downward ride on the same tower. More mist, there must be a waterfall over there. There is a lot of dead space in-between attractions. Now its time for the 15 minute walk up the hill. So that is where the StarJets went. Everyone who wanted the credit, got the credit. Elissa and K.T. gives us a demonstration. You pay money to feed the bears corn pops. I guess this is a real "Bears!" Bingo square photo. The final element before heading into the station is a batwing. Its really has a unique layout. Here are the first two vertical loops. Ahhhhhh!!!!!! The queue entrance is a giant mouth. Just in case you already forgot its name. Its a 25 year old custom arrow terrain looper with some really interesting theming. After a 25 minute walk (no joke), we finally come across Dragon Mountain track. Its the tallest S&S tower in the world. If you count the hill that it is on. Oh Canaba...... Looks like we are in the right place. Yes, let's go!

Glad you guys had a good time, also it was cool to hang out with you guys for a short time last Sunday.

Here is the video from Canada's Wonderland. Well, its mostly a combination of Behemoth/a few random coaster bits/RipTide and the Top Scan at night. Have fun! CanWonderlandtprinternet.wmv Canada's Wonderland. CanWonderlandtprinternet.zip For Download.

NO! While better than Son of Beast, The Wild Beast is very close to the bottom of my list. I actually was not feeling that great even before The Time Warp, but it certainly did not help my condition. Thanks for posting that picture.

After finishing our evening with ERT on the Silver Comet we had our long drive across the border into Canada. The next day was the Behemoth Bash at Canada's Wonderland. I have to admit that I was not feeling very well that day, so sorry for a real lack of photos/video from the event. Anyways onto the next section: Canada's Wonderland. And here is my really poor attempt at a nighttime shot of the mountain. This would be the 2nd Boomerang I rode on the trip. "Ummm....how much taller is this than Tatsu?" I really would have liked to do the shooting dark ride, but the line was really long. Ghostin' Coastin' How is it going Kim? Its almost a TPR takeover on two different trains. Just hanging out on the Scooby Doo coaster. It looks like South Park got it right. Canadians really do look like this. So are you ready to ride this Neil? Oh dear, its a Togo Stand Up. Random bird. Like everyone else I had my doubts about this coaster, boy was I ever wrong. It was a real surprise on the trip. Check out the spiral staircase on the helix. There is a lot of floaty airtime over these hills. The coaster really has a super tight overbank. We had a Behemoth walkback as part of the Behemoth Bash event. I really do like these trains. At this park, its all about Behemoth. It is now my favorite B&M Hyper. Theses riders simply got drenched while riding the top scan...the video is coming soon. Everyone took a photo of this. I don't recall ever seeing Icee Bits before...I guess its like Dippin' Dots. "Look, its Canadian Money!!!" We found Flight Deck to simply be awful. So I made sure and picked up a shirt later in the day. We had Behemoth, Backlot Stunt Coaster, Time Warp, and this Frisbee for morning ERT. Looks like we made it! It is probably the nicest looking former Paramount park I have been to.

I did not see a single protester that day. So I do not think they bothered.

Working...

I did not take many photos from this park, but here are a few random ones. I should note that I was one of the people that was a bit freaked out on the Star Flyer. I think the idea of being swung around in a little chair held up by slim chains bothered me, but I got through it. Using the water fountain proved to be a challenge, but this counted as my, "Statue Credit!" square. Silver Comet was my 2nd favorite wooden coaster on the Behemoth trip. The Log Flume proved to be very wet. You can see the mist from Niagara Falls as well as Marineland's drop tower from the top. We all rode the Ferris Wheel. I think the Full Tilt ride took a few people off guard. Another square for Elissa Photo Bingo, "Hanno Takes a Picture!" It sure was addicting. "I Got IT!" was a fascination type game where you threw the balls into a basket instead of rolling them. The Crazy Mouse had a difficult time being crazy. I think we spun a total of one time on our ride. This was taken in case you wondered what the admission ticket looked like.

Here is the Martin's Fantasy Island video. I found it to be another really nice smaller sized park with a really great wooden coaster, The Silver Comet. Again if the video looks squished, simply use the zoom feature. Martinsfantasyisland.wmv Martinsfantasyisland.zip For Download.

I loved Dragon Mountain, I think I rode it 6 or 7 times during ERT/Filming sessions.

Another nice photo TR Cameron. So did the arcade close, or did they get rid of their game collection?

OK here is the Darien Lake Video. It is much in the same style as the Seabreeze video. Just to let you know that these videos are shot in 16:9. Sometimes the embedded video looks like it gets a little squished on the side but you can fix this by watching a zoomed in version by clicking it with the right button on your mouse (after you first press play) and select zoom. Darienlaketprinternet.wmv Darien Lake Video. Darienlaketprinternet.zip Darien Lake video for download.

^ I had to wait until Marineland to get a real "Bear" square, but by then all the prizes would have been gone. For a real good reason why I liked DL, it was that they had a reduced price Fascination parlor. Basically this game is like crack for coaster enthusiasts.

Yeah that was cool. I always wish I had more time to hang out with more people during these meets, but we had so much to cover in a day. So many people were really into Elissa Bingo on the trip that I believe there were already 3 winners by the second day.