Erik Johnson

I won't be counting the new ride as a credit. But it is a fantastic new dark ride. Both stations were running today. The lines moves quite fast when that happens. Unfortunately the ride broke down at least three times while I was waiting. I did the full queue, which is highly recommended for your first ride. The wait was just over two hours and 15min. It would have been 90 if it did not break down. I went into the new area about 1 PM. There was no wait to get into the new land. Much better than 7 hours. The ride is very cool, but it is certainly on the mild side. This only took about 30 mins to get through.

It will be a very popular ride and a big hit for the Holiday World crowd.

At least the Ghibli Museum is on there!

Me being curious. What had the wait time been like for Goliath so far?

Is the new Potter ride even on the express pass system? I know that Forbidden Journey has not been on it, unless it has been added to it recently.

I think the sign out front now says, "Fastest in North America."

It sounds like that we got really lucky with our two rides.

Goliath Media Day! Being a member of Club TPR certainly has many perks. One of these perks was being able to attend the media day of Rocky Mountain Coaster's brand new ride at Six Flags Great America, Goliath. Being that I am a huge fan of these coasters, I considered this to be a real treat. I rather enjoyed the ride. The hang time on the zero-G stall is unreal! Due to the nature of the restraints, your upper body is free which makes this part much more exhilarating. I was able to ride it three times and I found that the back car provided the best ride. Overall better air and hang time. I would also say that while the ride is intense, it does not have that out-of-control feeling that the other RMC's have. I would also say it is a lot more graceful. Yes, it is also very smooth. Anyways, let us get onto the photos, shall we? I wonder what this update is all about. I don't think I have ever been to a Six Flags park at 4am before. There it is. Goliath. Hooray! Time to head into the station! There is the train. All media uped. Getting everything ready for the first set of riders. Here they go! The train returns from a live TV segment. Rules of the ride. It was cool to ride it one day before opening day. The sun is coming up. The coaster is really impressive to look at. The Zero G stall is my favorite part. What is this ride called again? Waiting for, in our case, a second ride. We see you second train. What do you think? Blink and you might miss it. There goes another train. Up they go! It is not every day that you get to see the coaster designer, Alan Schilke, ride his own creation. The train is pretty much exactly the same as Outlaw Run's. These also have the newer, more comfortable, leg restraints. My favorite part! Whee! So fun! Another group of happy, live on TV, riders. Bugs is all decked out! The old Iron Wolf station looks all freshened up now. More new signs. Rules of the ride. Yes, for you Larry. Ride logo. There is a nice selection of Goliath items to buy. Shirts are good, right? The jacket looks nice. You can also buy a full set of armor. I seriously love this part. trim.4C266B23-1E13-4021-9A60-8A3EBF55D855.MOV In action! Here is a better looks at the main entrance and station. Park President, Hank Salemi, starts with the official dedication of the ride. The ride is now officially open! First official opening train. Entering the dive loop. It looks like we are being invaded. Guarding the entrance. Just impressive to look at. Wheeee! Great ride....Go ride! Thumbs up for Goliath!

Holiday World I ended up not taking many photos in the park. I spent most of my time in the water park since that was the main focus of this visit. I really enjoyed both Wildebeast and Mammoth. Wildebeast is easily my favorite water coaster I have ridden. Mammoth was also a lot of fun too, but I do give Wildebeast a slightly higher level grade due to the more airtime. All three coasters were running well. It was obvious that Voyage received a lot of re tracking during the off season. Other than about 10 seconds after the triple down, it was running really well this visit. That is one large coal power plant. This looks familiar. First things first. Unfortunately due to some bad final brake run sensors, the ride was closed most of the day. At least Raven is running. I love this coaster. Yes, Pilgrim's Plunge is totally gone. I bet this will be reused in a near future. Speaking of a near future... I wonder if the name of the truck is a hint. More construction. New for 2014. I am sure there are fans. Rules of the ride. Pretty soon now. Hooray they got Voyage going. I am happy to say it was running well this visit. A few hours north you get to experience windmill central.

Yes they did.

Next time you talk to Cameron, tell him how much you loved those rear projection pinball games.

I believe this. I did a Holland America cruise and I would say 97% were 60+ on board.

^ Not really. It just is not the most comfortable ride.

I don't remember exactly where. The park though is pretty small, it should not be difficult to find. Somewhere near the right middle.

Beech Bend I decided to make a return visit to Beech Bend. I did visit the park back in 2007 when it was on the TPR Midwest Trip. Not a whole lot seemed too different. Several of the older rides were gone, but they have certainly added new ones to replace them. The Kentucky Rumbler continues to be the main reason to visit this park. While it is a bit worn and beat up, it still runs well. I consider it to be in my top three of GCI's coasters. It was a short visit, so there are not as many photos in this update. Enjoy! This way to Beech Bend. This would be the place. I have no memory if there was a water park in 2007. There is something extra special about this Sea Dragon. Yes it was Michael Jackson's. You can hear his music all throughout the park. The main reason we are here is to ride this. While it is a bit more beat up when compared to my last visit, it still was running well. It still is one of my favorite GCI coasters. Station photo. The old water flume ride is still here. Sploosh! Is this flat ride new? The replaced the older drop tower with this. Though it looks the same as the old one. I think we just rode the same model at Kentucky Kingdom. It is pretty tall. The Pinfari death coaster is gone. It was replaced by a bunch of new kiddie rides and a petting zoo. Current park map. The dark ride is still here. The cars and the effects inside were all recently upgraded. Freddy is still on the wall though. You have been warned. This is a super evil, evil, ride. It really is. It looks not too crazy, but it is. trim.28A6F05B-0ED5-4FCE-B00D-802A8182E89F.MOV Here is a video. We really got this to spin with an unbalanced car. Just a simple final shot of the park.

I want a cupcake now. Thanks a lot!

^ It was probably the scariest ride on the trip!

Kentucky Kingdom. Our next park was Kentucky Kingdom. As many of you already know is that the park just reopened a few weeks ago after being closed for almost 5 years. I am happy to say that it is back, and there was very little evidence that the park just reopened after being closed for so long. Everything looked either new, cleaned up, and repainted. The staff seemed to already be well trained and friendly. The new coaster is a lot of fun. The water park continues to be fantastic. It really has a great selection of attractions. Even if you do not like water parks, you should at least give Deluge a ride. Thunder Run, which was closed during my last visit, was running great as well. If you are in the area, you should spend some time in the park. Just remember to bring your swimsuit as well. Certainly a good crowd waiting for Kentucky Kingdom to open up. Behind us as well. We see you new drop tower. I have not been here since 2007. Yes you are! The current map. Lightning Run currently opens an hour later after the park. The waterpark here is really good. Be sure to spend some time in it. We see you future T3. It took us a few extra minutes to find it. Here is Thunder Run. Ride entrance. Rules of the ride. Up the lift it goes. Rocky Mountain Coaters re tracked the entire ride. It is running really well. I imagine it is running the best it ever has. Through the trees. After multiple rides, we decided row two was the best. Didn't Six Flags say that this was not salvageable. Here it comes! It does create a huge splash. Can't see anything. Soaked! Once Twisted Twins is back open (and fixed up), this is scheduled to reopen in 2016. The shoes are back! Everything looks really cleaned up or new. Theming. It is noon, time to go check this out. Test seat. If you happen to be a larger person, make sure you test this out first. The restraints are a bit unforgiving. Rules of the ride! The line took about 60 minutes from this point due to using only one train, slow dispatching, and mechanical issues. First train of the day. There is a ton of great air time on this crazy machine. Station photo. Up they go! It really is a great ride. The restraints were very RMC. I wonder if they had something to do with it. While comfortable, they are pretty unforgiving for larger riders. Off they go! Wheeeee! Great first drop! Lots of airtime. I mean a ton of airtime. The bunny hops in particular are crazy. They did have a few issues with the final break run. There are always bugs to work out on a brand new ride. My chariot awaits. We see you second train. I love these drinking fountains. You can fill up your water bottle easily with these. New ride for the park. Yes, I am a flyers fanboy. Rules of the ride. They were pretty good, though they needed a little more speed. Another new ride. These drop towers are so scary. Rules of the ride. These rides are fun. You never know when you reach the top. The drop is also immediate when you get to the drop. Is the Breakdance new too? Wheeee.... Good to see some of the original trash cans are still around. This is where Chang used to be. You really can get a good view of the park from up here. Downtown Louisville. Lightning Run. The two trains of Lightning Run. The waterpark received a huge expansion as well. This is where Chang used to be. More new attractions. The SLC will reopen next year and be renamed T3. I hope it will run better than it did as T2. I think it is the very first SLC in The United States. Very Elissa friendly. I am glad to see Deluge is still here, and operational. Sorry for my lack of good photos, but it is a fantastic water coaster. Again, the waterpark is awesome. We did do the 5D attraction. I can't say it was fantastic, but it is a great way to cool off. I had to laugh pretty hard at the sign. I guess the theming was a bit too realistic. What a deal! It really is a big wheel. The Big Wheel and Lightning Run. Had a great visit, happy to see it back open.

Coney Island and Kings Island Part 2 We decided to drive on down to Coney Island for a couple of hours. It is about a 35 minute drive. This was my first time to visit the park. While it is nice, it is quite small. They do have one coaster and an assortment of flat rides. It really was a good way to escape the crowds of KI (We were too cheap to buy a express pass band this visit). We did return to KI to get another ride on Banshee as well as a night ride on a The Beast. For me it is tradition to always finish off my day at KI with a night ride on The Beast. Coney Island, my first visit. The main gate. Maybe this is considered the main gate. Yes, they do have a roller coaster here. The current name is simply Python. It used to be called The Pepsi Python. Rules of the ride. Station photo. I found the ride to be on the scary side. Once you have ridden it, you will know. Let us check out the rest of the park. The main reason the original park moved (which became Kings Island) was due to flooding. The park was pretty nice. Here is a map. I think this is new for this year. I am always thinking about your project Larry. I am not much for crazy flat rides. My brain is scrambled enough. This was running at a really fast speed. They have one of these now rare Roll-O-Plane. You get into one of these cages of death. Then by using your weight, and the handle, you can spin yourself silly. Here is another look at Python's train. While nice, the park is really small. I do not think we were there for much more than 90 minutes. We are greeted by a rather large dinosaur on our return to KI. I love air conditioning. Hello Mr. Diamondback. It is starting to get dark. That means it is time for a night Beast ride. Getting darker now. My final night ride on The Beast is probably my favorite thing to do in the park. Unchained....at night. Good Night Beast. Good Night Kings Island.

Kings Island Part 1. This was my third visit to Kings Island. The last time was in 2009 when Diamondback first opened. Banshee proved to be really good. It really surprised me. It is easily the best new B&M coaster in quite a while. I ended up riding it twice. Once in the front and once in the back. The first drop did take me by surprise. Quick and intense. The back row certainly had more forces. Diamondback was still pretty much running the same as it did opening year. Overall the park seemed to be a bit nicer than my last visit. Everything looked clean and fresh. The rides ops were friendly and fast. Easily a great visit to the park. I will do this as two updates. Good morning Kings Island! The real reason why digital cameras were invented. They are used to help you remember where your car is located. I guess there is something new this year. We decided to hit Diamondback first. We rode in the back row. It seemed to be running as well as it did the week after opening in 2009. Sploosh Part 1 Sploosh Part 2. Call me strange, but I always liked The Beast. Well Happy Birthday! Another train of happy riders. Random Rubik's Cube. Hooray Banshee! The station looks like a church. Ooooooo....pretty. Yeah there is a full queue of people. It took about 90 minutes. Rules of the ride. Would it be wrong if I snuffed out the flame? Through the loop! The new trains are pretty comfortable. Our first ride was on the front row. Yes, it is really tall. Let us go check out Flight Deck! Ooops, I mean The Bat. This is definitely a much better use of this old Son Of Beast station. Everything is orange. Bat, Bat, Bat, Bat. They could have called it the Bacardi ride. The trains looks good. Flight Of Fire!!!! For some reason it was closed. Windseeker Credit! Don't break down..don't break down. Oops, I forgot to ride this today. I always like going to the top. Diamondback! Sploosh!

Hello there! It has been a while! I recently returned from a multiple day trip that covered a total of eight parks. Parks that include: Indiana Beach, Kings Island, Coney Island, Kentucky Kingdom, Beech Bend, Holiday World, Goliath Media Day at Six Flags Great America, and Michigan's Adventure. It was a great trip as I have not been to most of these parks since the very first TPR U.S. trip in 2007. If you happen to be doing the New Hotness tour in a few weeks, most of these parks are on that same trip. Park #1. Indiana Beach: I was happy to be able to return to this park as it was my favorite park on the TPR trip in 2007. I am also happy to report than the coasters were running just as good, if not better, than my last visit. Though I should say that I think that Lost Coaster may be near the end of it's run unless they put in some more money to fix it up. It is true that the park is not as good as it used to be when it was under the old ownership. It was especially evident on how much slower they run the flat rides. With that said, we still had a good time at the park. Steel Hawg was added since my last visit, so it was a new coaster credit for me. I found it to be quite fun. Very smooth and I surprisingly found the restraints to be quite comfortable. Ok let us head on to the photos. Enjoy! Where should we go first? Good morning Chicago. There is no way that we are going to stop here. There is a whole lot of nothing out here. Looks like we made it! Maybe this explains why we heard several Madonna songs during the day. Steel Hawg. First new coaster credit for me in 2014. Name of the coaster. Rules of the ride. I thought the ride was really fun. Also it is very smooth. Even for a tall person, I found the restraints to be comfortable. This was the scary part. One last photo. New credit alert!! New credit alert!! Looks like a dragon wagon is being built. Maybe it will be ready in time for the upcoming TPR trip. Flyers are my favorite flat ride. Though they no longer run as well as they used too. A Canadian Flyer. This is a sign of greatness. The back row is still really great. Cornball! Still in my top 15 wooden coaster list. I found The Hoosier Hurricane to be running better than my last rides in 2007. Station photo. But I bet you knew that already. It is easily the most photogenic coaster in the park. Pretty much the classic coaster photo of the park. I was happy that our ride was pretty good. No, we did not forget you. Wheeeeee! I was kind of sad to see the Paratrooper running quite a bit slower than it did in 2007. Whoa! Something is totally missing! I had no idea they removed a coaster. Last coaster of the day. I am happy to see them get it going later in the day. The coaster is unfortunately a shell of it's former self. It was down to only one train and it kept getting stuck inside the mountain. The swing ride is still good. I guess this ropes attraction had been added since last visit. You can get nice photos of the park from the big wheel. Flats of the park. Den of Lost Thieves! Arrrgh! See if you can beat my score if 1740! I guess there is! Yay Pinball! The Double Shot is good! Here is a map of the park. The upcharge walkthrough is worth your time and money. Ok, two more Steel Hawg photos. Good ride! Thanks for reading. Part 2 (Kings Island) coming soon.

I rode all of the wooden coasters a couple of weeks ago. They were all running well.

I preferred the back car. The front of of the train is good too.

Shivering Timbers.

Not painful. It is just it may be difficult for the restraints to close on bigger riders. I am pretty sure if you can fit on El Toro, you can ride Goliath. But do not quote me on that.