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Day 4: Worlds of Fun - 104*F, 96% humidity I got to sleep in yesterday. Woo! Four-hour drive from Branson to KCMO, but we made great time. Didn't actually go over to the park until 4:30. I've been to WoF countless times, but we were with people who had never been before, so I got to give the tour. Supper was at 6:00. Standard chain park food: chicken, hot dogs, beans, potato salad, chips, cookies, etc. Then there was a silent auction and a raffle. And it started pouring rain, so a bunch of people went over to check out the special WoF museum at the All Star Grill. I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH, Heart of America reps! Jennifer, Jeff, everybody else: great job! The museum was outstanding! I loved it! Before supper, I had done Spinning Dragons, Patriot, and Timber Wolf. Dragons was fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Patriot is running just as beautifully as ever. The zero-g roll still puts it higher than Raptor for me, even after three years. This was my first time riding Wolf this season. I had heard a lot of people saying that it was out-of-control rough and terrible, so I thought maybe something had changed since last year. Nope. I see no difference. If anything, it's a little better. Y'all are wimps (and hypocrites, but I won't get into that now, we don't need an argument). TW may not be the best coaster in the world. It is not particularly fast. It is absolutely extremely rattley and bouncy. Call it rough if you want. But it really isn't painful at all. Truly, it isn't bad. I'm in more pain getting off of Voyage than TW (don't get me wrong, Voyage is a far superior ride and TW is definately rougher, but Voyage can be more painful than TW). Okay, anyway, after the rain finally ended, I went to ride Wacky Worm (which I have actually done a bunch of times now) with some credit-getters. Then Mamba, which is always heaps of fun in the dark. They aren't slamming the MCBR as much as they have in the past, so that's nice. Boomerang was still closed when we walked past it (thank God, I didn't have to ride it right away), so we made our way to Prowler for ERT. They gave out some fun freebies - a Prowler bottle and a coupon for a free on-ride photo anywhere in the park. Before I get to the good stuff, let me just say that I did end up doing Boomerang once during ERT, and it was just as bad as it was the last time I rode it, if not worse. Alright, here we go. Night ERT on Prowler was so intense that I get excited just thinking about it. It was a great ride when it opened. Top ten or twenty without too much work. It is a near-perfect ride now. I cannot think of anything that I would change about it. It's smooth, it's packed with airtime, it's relentless, and it is *very* dark. I don't even know how many times I rode it last night, but it just got better and better. Everyone needs to come to KCMO and ride this thing. You have no idea what you're missing. That's all I've got.

^I don't have time to post pictures yet! Or the equipment, actually. I just don't like water rides, deal with it.

^That's me. Day 3: Silver Dollar City - 104*F, 84% humidity Woke up and jogged over to the park (not literally, of course, but we could have - the hotel is like a block away) for a morning tour of Fire in the Hole's basement. Fascinating stuff. Then we had an incredible skillet breakfast with delicious pastries before ERT, which was on American Plunge, Fire in the Hole (lights on), Wildfire, and Powder Keg. Fire in the Hole was interesting with the lights on. Actually, there were several areas that didn't have any lights at all. But the parts that did were cool. Wildfire is still a great little coaster. Just a little short. Maybe a tad rough toward the end. But fun - intense air and some good inversions. Powder Keg was running well. Got on it twice during ERT before it stalled on the lift and some very lucky ACErs got evacuated. It was down until a while after the park opened. Group photo and "Con intermission party" was at ten in the huge amphitheatre. It was so ridiculously hot. I am amazed that no one went down. They gave us free drinks and (inexplicably) kettle corn to enjoy in the heat. They also gave us special t-shirts specifically made for ACErs at this Con. That was cool. Until they made us put on the new shirts for the picture. Over our other clothes. In 100-degree heat. > And that's pretty much it. Got on Powder Keg four more times and then went back to the hotel for a glorious few hours before the banquet, which was nothing new. P.S. Going to Kansas City today - there's an extreme heat warning and KC is right in the middle of it. Grr...

I don't mind getting wet, I mind BEING wet. The initial splash is great and it cools you down, but then it's just as hot and you have to walk around with heavy clothes for an hour. ^Oh, that was you? Ken Jones is my dad. I took your picture, lol. Didn't get a chance to do the cave tour, but I wish I had. No word on the splash battle, but the location is really nice.

Day 2: Silver Dollar City - 100*F, 87% humidity OMG IT IS SO HOT. *dead* Delicious breakfast at the park. Morning ERT was on ThuNderaTion, Flooded Mine, Waterboggan, and something else that I can't remember. This was horrible ERT. Thunderation is fun, but not as the only coaster. I've never liked shooting dark rides, and Flooded Mine was no different. Can't stand water rides, so I didn't do the other two. At one point, they decided to take the second train of Thunderation, so that took forever. Just not a very good ERT overall. Today was so ridiculously hot. I could feel myself losing water. Got a bunch of great rides on Wildfire. The back row is the best. Same on Powder Keg. Front row is better there. Finally rode Fire in the Hole. It was okay. Nothing special. Clearly, the people at Adventureland (IA) rode this and wanted the same thing, so they built Underground (which fails epically). Ate lunch at the mine restaurant toward the front of the park. Delicious food. Interesting atmosphere. I recommend the mashed potatoes. Yum. Before night ERT, we were herded into a building to watch a weird show while they cleared the park. Then we had nothing to do for a half hour while the midway olympics were going on. ERT was on everything at Grand Exposition tonight, including the kiddie coaster (#193, the last new coaster of the trip - it's painful how close to 200 I am), which was nothing new. There's a weird outdoor himilaya kind of ride, but it goes really, really fast. That was an experience. But I urge you from the bottom of my very soul to ride the kiddie ride known as the Happy Frogs. It's insane. I was laughing my head off the whole time. I can't even describe how awesome it is. Do it. There was also a massive dessert bar with scrumptious SDC specialty desserts. Loved that. Tomorrow - more ERT on good rides, group photo, farewell to SDC, and banquet.

Hey there, TPRers. Day 2 of Con today. It is unspeakably hot. I might die. Taking a break from the park right now, so I'll post part one. Day One: Silver Dollar City - 91*F, 47% humidity Eight-hour drive from Des Moines to Branson. Blah, boring. Registered at the hotel and checked in to our room. Ate lunch at Pizza Hut. Yum. Headed to the park at about 4:00 pm. This was my first time at SDC. VERY impressed by the park. Beautiful theming. Friendly employees. Great food. Solid coasters. Thunderation was first. I rode it forward to begin with. Fantastic mine train! Probably the best I've been on. It uses the terrain well, there's an exciting helix, and there's even some airtime thrown in. Got lost in Grand Exposition, my least favorite section of the park. Not as much shade and pretty bland rides. This park is as confusing as BGE. Rode the Giant Swing and the weird pull-yourself-up ride. Fun. Finally got to the big coasters. Wildfire first. First of all, the view is INCREDIBLE! The ride is wonderful, too, but even if it weren't, the view from the top of the hill would be worth the wait. As for the ride itself, it has good transitions and it goes fast. The first two inversions are the most fun. I wish it had one more corkscrew, though. Then Powder Keg. Loved the launch and the first four hills. The stuff after the lift hill is less fun, but the first half of the ride makes up for it. Beautiful view here, too (actually, it's the same one). Powder Keg is a perfect family coaster. It proves that "family coaster" does not mean slow and boring. It moves fast and it packs quite a punch. I wish more parks would get similar rides. Then the park closed and we had an opening ceremony in the Opry House. Saw a magician, which would have been very cool if magicians didn't irritate me, I'm sure. Thanks for coming, thanks for having us, have a t-shirt, blah, blah, blah. And then the good part - made-from-scratch skillet meals for dinner. So, so good. Loved it. At first I thought it was kind of annoying that they didn't start ERT until after dinner, even though the park was closed, but it gave it a chance to get nice and dark. ERT was on Wildfire, Powder Keg, Fire in the Hole, American Plunge, and Giant Swing. Wildfire is good at night, but Powder Keg is excellent. Especially in the front row. I recommend the right-hand side. Then sleep. Stay tuned for Days 2-7. Pictures once I get home, probably.

Wow, I am all kinds of in love with the Prowler panorama.

How dare you little *****! By the way Whizzer is the only of its kind in the states! (2 left in the rest of the world) I really think Whizzer, although a pain to maintain. Isn't going anywhere soon! That's what I said. If I had to choose between throwing out Whizzer and throwing out Iron Wolf, I would throw out Iron Wolf.

I don't mind it. It's not my favorite ride by any means, but it isn't terrible, either. Not even that rough in the front. And there's some air off of the hill after going through the loop, which is always fun on a standup. I don't think it should leave. It is kind of a landmark, and it's historic. But if I had to choose between Iron Wolf and Whizzer, I would take Whizzer in a second.

^That's interesting about the employees. I've heard mixed reviews. When I was there, they were very rude, very slow, and very incompetent. But I've heard of people who've loved them, too.

^^Well, so is an Intamin drop ride, but it's still a freefall. From what I can see, this is exactly the same as a basic drop tower, it's just individual and quite a bit taller.

Ooh, imagine how outstanding Mean Streak would be if GCI had designed and built it with Millennium Flyers and decent track. Yum... I still say tear it out and put in a true GCI, though.

Holy Dippin' Dots, Batman! This thread is enormous! Really good pictures and commentary. Well done. I'm tired of defending Timber Wolf in every first-time WoF TR, so I'll keep it short. It's not that bad, not nearly as rough as Boss or Screamin Eagle, used to be way worse, really fun airtime, I'll grant the double-helix is lame, you may have gotten it on a bad day, etc. --$0.02 Yay for Patriot and Prowler fans! Raven is indescribably amazing in the front row at night, much like Beast. Big agree about Raging Bull. Love that ride. You missed nothing with Twisted Twins. Again, fantastic TR.

Very nice TR of a terrible excuse for an amusement park. Mind you, I was there the day of the STOP accident, so the mood may not have been very good, even before it occurred. Still, worst park I've ever been to, without question. T2 is the number one worst roller coaster I have ever been on. Twisted Twins is horrible. It is completely and utterly forceless and very badly designed for a "dueling" coaster - there's only one flyby on the ride that ever actually happens. The two tracks meet a lot, but the trains pass at way different times. From the looks of this TR, the park has gotten a little cleaner, but that isn't much consolation. Chang was thoroughly okay, which made it the second-best ride in the park for me. Thunder Run was my favorite, despite the molasses-slow crew. Good airtime, not too rough, IMHO. Actually, Chang was my third-favorite behind Thunder Run and STOP before I learned how ridiculously unsafe it was to ride STOP that day. From this TR, I wish I'd ridden Blizzard River and Deluge, but we just didn't have time and we all wanted to get to Holiday World as soon as possible.

How is it not freefall? It's just as much a freefall as any Intamin drop tower, it's just individual. Maybe I'm missing something.

Looks like a modified version of a SCAD tower. Exactly how big is this? It can't be the whole tower, can it? That's a seriously huge freefall. I don't know if I could make myself do it...

Here's the list from RCDB (for Summers as a contributor): Georgia Cyclone, SFOG (operating) Hercules, DP (gone) Jupiter, Kijima Amusement Park (operating) Mean Streak, CP (operating) Mighty Canadian Minebuster, CW (operating) Predator, DL (operating) Psyclone, SFMM (gone) Raging Wolf Bobs, GL (not operating, probably done for good) Scooby's Gasping Ghoster Coaster, CW (operating) Texas Giant, SFOT (operating) Thunder Road, Carowinds (operating) Thunder Run, SFKK (operating) Timber Wolf, WoF (operating) Wild Beast, CW (operating) Wildcat, Lake Compounce (operating) Wolverine Wildcat, MIA (operating) Of the ones I've ridden (Mean Streak, RWB, Texas Giant, Thunder Run, Timber Wolf, and Wolverine Wildcat), I would say that his current representation is not terrible, but I obviously have limited experience. Mean Streak is terrible. I hate it a lot. They should replace it with a compact GCI. I really liked RWB a lot. Then again, I only rode it once and that was in the front row. The second (and last) time I was at GL was the day it derailed or whatever and closed forever. I barely even remember Texas Giant. I didn't ride it last time I was there and the first time, I was like ten. But I liked it then. Thunder Run was great. Best ride at the park. Not that that says much. Chang is pretty good, too. Problem is, TR's crew is horrible and they only run one train. Great airtime, though. People dis Timber Wolf all the time, and I really don't know why. The upward helix sucks, true, and I'm not much for the ending, but there's some fantastic airtime in there, and it really isn't that rough compared to stuff like Mean Streak. Wolverine Wildcat is okay. Nothing outstanding. It would probably be better if it didn't live right next to Shivering Timbers, which is, of course, far superior in every way. That's my take.

"Fluch von Novgorod" is not that difficult to pronounce... Honestly, German is so easy to pronounce if you know the super basic rules. Not like French... -w=v -v=f (usually) -th=t -d=t (at the end of a syllable) -ß=ss =g=k (at the end of a syllable) Then other than the umlaut letters, it's essentially the same as English. I won't ruin the fun with a phonetic pronunciation here, though. > Beside the point. Sorry. Great pictures as always. I'd love to visit there sometime. Where is it in Germany?

Got it, but I don't want to post a picture, so I won't say. Good hints.

Oh, BTW. I forgot to mention this. Terminator Salvation: The Ride is far and away the stupidest name ever bestowed upon any ride anywhere ever. I find it fairly hypocritical that everyone made fun of Flight Deck (which is not actually a bad name if you take half a second to figure out what it's talking about) and Back Lot Stunt Coaster and Drop Tower, but welcomed this with open arms. Shame, shame.

So who else watched the Tonys last night? I thought the presentation for Billy Elliot was awesome, but I am SO tired of Elton John doing bad music for musicals that would otherwise be outstanding that I don't think it should have won. Next to Normal has an awesome story, but the music lacks a little. Rock of Ages is just dumb. No different than Mama Mia. Shrek. I won't even say what I think about this musical because I'm afraid I would be banned. Honestly, I think the best show this year was West Side Story, but I'm mad that they didn't have any Spanish in its presentation. I was looking forward to that. Next to Normal would be second, then Billy Elliot. I miss the years with good musicals like In the Heights, Grey Gardens, Wicked, The Light in the Piazza, Avenue Q, Jersey Boys, The Drowsy Chaperone, etc. The plays look really good. I saw a production of Exit the King at a local university and it was fantastic. I also loved that acceptance speech. French existentialist tragicomedy FTW! God of Carnage looks great, I want to see it. So do the Norman Conquests. In other news, the Civic Center of Des Moines announced its upcoming season last week. We are getting August: Osage County, Jersey Boys, and South Pacific (and The Lion King for the second time, but I've already seen it). I wish we had gotten In the Heights. I want to see that.

Well, literally Alpsghost, but close enough. Ghost of the Alps would be Geist der Alpen. I think Alpsghost would be a super name for a ride.

At first I thought this said "Kanonen FALLS" and I was freaking out for a second.

I had that dream a couple weeks ago... It was at a choir thing and I was telling my director (who left this year) how fantastic she was and she asked me if I was dressed and I said, "Yes. Well, I just have to get pants, that's all." And then I woke up and was thoroughly embarrassed.

Woo senior year! My schedule for next fall: 1-Play Production 2-Chamber Choir 3-Varsity Show Choir 4-Lunch 5-AP English Literature and Composition 6-AP German IV 7-AP US Gov't and Politics/AP Macroeconomics Excited...