jamesdillaman Posted June 19, 2007 Posted June 19, 2007 Well my fiance, Julia and I decided to take our friends Amanda and Chad to a few themeparks around that they hadn't been to. First up was Kennywood and Cedar Point, IN THE SAME DAY. I don't know how many people have done that before, especially when leaving that morning from Cincinnati. We only rode Maverick (front seat) Millenium Force (Back Seat) and Top Thrill dragster (second seat) that first day, but it was still a feat if you ask me. Here's some pictures from day one, as I know nobody reads this. -James Dillaman We retired to our room at the Breakers Express. After a ride on MF, and a spin on TTD... My favorite picture I've ever taken... Hope you enjoy it. ...I thought I'd post some more to this site. Since there are never enough pictures of this sexy coaster... Diving into the launch tunnel reminds me of a dirty movie I saw once... Oh yeah, new credit for me (and everybody else, of course!) We only waited 55 minutes for the front seat. We made it, 3 hours to ride, so what should we ride first? Chad and Manda actually found a way to sleep in the backseat of my car on the way to Cedar Point. Apparently, this is a kangaroo... my apologies to kenny for the misnomenclature. Something reminds me of Coldplay... A Rush of Blood to the Head perhaps..? Chad and Amanda must feel the power, too. Julia and I are drawn closer by the aura of the Jack Rabbit. Double Down rules your life. Racer is always just Meh for me, but I love the buzz bars, just get rid of the seat dividers! No Julia, don't crush me!!!! The Screaming Swing is always fun, especially right after you eat! Fried Oreos, God bless you, whoever invented these! You must whip it, whip it good! I liked how this guys riding partner doesn't seem to care about him losing all these limbs, he's just smiling away. We all rode the same car on here, and it spun like an out of control thing that spins a lot! Chad, Amanda, and Julia loved their first Second Gen Freefall! We were let into the park at 10:30, but the rides didn't open until 11:00 I LOVE Phantom's Revenge and Pitt Fall. Why can't Magnum get these trains!?! Kennywood is our first park on the trip! Lather up the sunscreen, as it's gonna be a hot one!
PKI Jizzman Posted June 19, 2007 Posted June 19, 2007 Two great parks, riding the best three (IMO) at Cedar Point, and the stuff at Kennywood sounds like an awesome day to me! Nice pics, James
jamesdillaman Posted June 19, 2007 Author Posted June 19, 2007 Day two was spent riding the Meh coasters at Cedar Point, of which there are many. Here are just a few pictures from the parking lot, etc. as we were leaving. We didn't take the camera into the park this day. Day Three: Indiana Beach, will be up tomorrow, as I gotta turn in right now. Enjoy! -James Dillaman Chad and Amanda slept again on the way to Indiana Beach. Oooooo sexy. I still love MF, even after Maverick. You just can't beat that smooth, sexy drop! Last picture of Maverick, I promise. It's a great ride, all around it breaks my top ten! Best at Cedar Point if you ask me. Checking the route to indiana beach... Mmmm, still one of my favorite Coasters. Let the flaming begin I don't care! I love Maggie! Gemini is Racing, but when we rode it, the trains were too far apart for any high fiving... That's a big erection. It's the biggest I've ever gotten to ride... no Ka credit for me.
pianojohn Posted June 19, 2007 Posted June 19, 2007 Maverick in 55 minutes? Either the crowds were light or they are really cranking out the capacity on that one! I will be there Wednesday for my Maverick credit and to validate my season pass (not in that order). Great pics! And yes, I too have driven many miles to hit multiple parks in one day. The best/worst one was when I drove from Cleveland to Louisville (about 6.5 hours) rode everything at SFKK, drove to Holiday World (about an hour) rode everything and then ended up outside of Chattanooga for the night. About 700 miles....zzzzzzzzzz
Reon Posted June 19, 2007 Posted June 19, 2007 *bows to your ability to hit Kennywood and CP on the same day* How long was the drive to Kennywood? I'm from Cinci, and I'm planing a trip up there later this summer...
FeelTheFORCE Posted June 19, 2007 Posted June 19, 2007 *bows to your ability to hit Kennywood and CP on the same day* How long was the drive to Kennywood? I'm from Cinci, and I'm planing a trip up there later this summer... About 5 hours, depending on how fast or slow you go.
Dailey Enterprizes Posted June 19, 2007 Posted June 19, 2007 Those are some pretty cool pictures. However, I must say that since I'm a local that Kenny is a Kangaroo, not a Donkey...
jamesdillaman Posted June 19, 2007 Author Posted June 19, 2007 *bows to your ability to hit Kennywood and CP on the same day* How long was the drive to Kennywood? I'm from Cinci, and I'm planing a trip up there later this summer... About 5 hours, depending on how fast or slow you go. Mapquest says 4 hours, and We made it in a little over 4, even with the insane traffic in Pittsburgh. Here's our photos from Indiana Beach, one of my favorite parks ever. We only stayed for the first ride session (11-6), but got everything in we wanted to do and then some. This is the last park I have a lot of pictures from, since Holiday World was interesting, but I'll get into that later. On to the pics! -James Dillaman Isn't it beautiful? Goodbye Indiana Beach, thanks for a great day! A ride on the Shafer Queen provides a nice opportunity to see the park from out on the lake.... yeah... Awwww... cute couple on the skyride. Cornball's first drop rules your life. While we were on the chairlift, This trouble-maker passed us, causing immediate bouts of laughter from the unexpected sight. LoCoSuMo!, and those who call it otherwise aren't "in the know" The entire park from the ferris wheel Here's my favorite picture from the new pirates theme stunt show, it just looks so wrong... In mid-flight, wheeee. Going Up.... Amanda had never done a skycoaster, and Indiana Beach's is fun, so we convinced her to go on with her beau. Chad was driving, with Amanda next to him, and apparently he doesn't even have to look where he's going! Some good views from inside the circle of Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain, phew, long name! So we decided to ride the antique cars, as they're built on a wooden boardwalk all their own at IB! I love seeing the water under the track when sitting in the front seat. Hoosier Hurricane was always a ride that looked better than it actually was, but was running well when we rode it. The reason to come to Monticello, Indiana Beach! Park for free and walk the suspension bridge, it's the law! WTF? I must've taken a wrong turn on the way to IB, as I've somehow ended up WAY too far south
verticalzero Posted June 19, 2007 Posted June 19, 2007 Wow, you done some mega miles, Doing Kenny and CP in 1 day is amazing. Indiana Beach looks lovely. I've driven from CP to KI in a day, 2 days after drove to Green Bay for a few days rest and back to the Windy City for 4 days.
FeelTheFORCE Posted June 19, 2007 Posted June 19, 2007 *bows to your ability to hit Kennywood and CP on the same day* How long was the drive to Kennywood? I'm from Cinci, and I'm planing a trip up there later this summer... About 5 hours, depending on how fast or slow you go. Mapquest says 4 hours, and We made it in a little over 4, even with the insane traffic in Pittsburgh. -James Dillaman Yeah, it all depends on what kind of driver you are. My cousin lives in Cincinnati, so he goes back and forth pretty often, he says it's about 4 hours for him, but he doesn't stop, or if he does, it's very brief. When I went with my parents back in September for a UC Bearcats game, it took about 5 hours to our hotel. But we passed KI and were still on the road for a good 45 minutes before we got to our hotel, so yeah, I'd say about 4 hours.
snorkymn Posted June 19, 2007 Posted June 19, 2007 Great TR! You're driving maniacs! Definitely great credit whoring going on!
Reon Posted June 19, 2007 Posted June 19, 2007 *bows to your ability to hit Kennywood and CP on the same day* How long was the drive to Kennywood? I'm from Cinci, and I'm planing a trip up there later this summer... About 5 hours, depending on how fast or slow you go. Mapquest says 4 hours, and We made it in a little over 4, even with the insane traffic in Pittsburgh. -James Dillaman Yeah, it all depends on what kind of driver you are. My cousin lives in Cincinnati, so he goes back and forth pretty often, he says it's about 4 hours for him, but he doesn't stop, or if he does, it's very brief. When I went with my parents back in September for a UC Bearcats game, it took about 5 hours to our hotel. But we passed KI and were still on the road for a good 45 minutes before we got to our hotel, so yeah, I'd say about 4 hours. And I'm the kind of guy to hit the 4 hour mark instead, so its all good *wonders how much faster he can get to CP then when parents were driving* Anyways, great shots of IB. I should really go there sometime, since I'm always driving by en route to Chicago.
jamesdillaman Posted June 19, 2007 Author Posted June 19, 2007 ^ yeah, definitely hit up IB if you have the chance, I have never had a dissapointing visit there. However, Holiday World... That brings me to the last stop on our trip. Now I would consider myself a Holiday World fanboy, and anyone who knows me would think I consider them as incapable of doing wrong, but.... Part of it is our fault, going on a Saturday, so I knew it would be crowded, I wasn't prepared for BOTH parking lots to be full by 10:15, with people forced to park in the grass and in the campground to be shuttled over. Bad news. Not to mention when we get in the park we find the only coaster running is the Legend. The Raven didn't open until 11:30 and Voyage didn't open until after 1:00!!! This means no rides besides coasters for us on this trip, as every line was well over an hour, even for liberty launch, with the single-rider line even out of the queue and onto the midway! We decided to go to the Waterpark, because as everyone knows, you hit that first, and then when everyone else wants to get wet, you go back and ride the rides. Well everyone went in because apparently they opened the waterpark at 10:00 with the rides park. That was fine, and a good move by them, and we were able to get on Bakuli after only a half-hour. We then rode Jungle Racers, Ron and Go of Otorongo, and waited 45 minutes to ride Zoombabwe. We skipped zinga with over an hour wait... By sheer chance I saw Voyage send a train up the lift while trying to take a picture of the empty lift hill for this TR, so we booked it to Thanksgiving. We waited 20 minutes for the block tests to be completed and then got to ride in the front two seats after only a 10 minute wait. Again, this was by chance, because after we got off the wait was 45 minutes. We ate at the Plymouth Rock Cafe, GREAT food at an astonding price! and then hit up Legend. By this time most people were in the waterpark, so we got on Legend and Raven and even managed to catch the dive show. The waterrides, which I thoroughly enjoy, were both over an hour wait, so we didn't get on them, and every other ride was rediculous, so after riding Raven and playing a few games, we left for home. Now we got the coasters done and the new Waterslide (which i LOVE), but my main dissapointment was that only 1 coaster was open even an hour into park operations, and they were not handling the crowd well at all. With the amount of people pouring into this park, they need to expand their rides area again, and it seems they may even need a fourth coaster to keep waits down. They wanted over a million, and they got it, whether it's a good thing or not.... On to the limited pictures, as we were so hot and tired from waiting in lines we didn't shoot many... -James Dillaman Julia won this game, and because there were more than 5 other people playing, she got a "jumbo prize" Sorry for no more photos. Seriously, the food saved us from having a pretty rotten day. Who can be too angry when you get Thanksgiving in June?!? Julia finally smiles because the food is so good. The AMAZING thanksgiving feast at their new cafe. A must and great for only 6.99! Hmmm, burger at KI or all this??? Voyage is still a great ride, even if it doesn't open with the park. it just wants to be like it's Six Flags rival, El Toro.... Sea of people going into the waterpark at 10:15 AM!!!!!!!
jamesdillaman Posted June 20, 2007 Author Posted June 20, 2007 I was wondering if anyone else had experienced such large crowds at Holiday World? -James Dillaman
Real Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 I was there. I was wearing a Gravity Group hat the whole day. I actually had the opposite kind of day. Voyage didnt open because they were still finishing some bolt replacements down on the track just as you enter the last tunnel under the bridge. I asked a few of the guys how long and they said about noonish. They started moving trains around that time but he did mention they still had to walk a part of the track. I wasnt complaining though, at least work was being done unlike other parks. The water park was VERY crowded, but it wasnt unbearable. The only lines to move slowly were the large tube rides but even still we only waited maximum around 40 minutes. The Jungle Racers took like 15 minutes and we walked onto the double tube slides. Aside from the rides opening a little late, even with both lots full Voyage was a cool 25-35 minute wait and Raven was almost walk on the entire day.
willski Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 I was wondering if anyone else had experienced such large crowds at Holiday World? -James Dillaman Well, assuming you went this past Saturday, I went a week and six days before you on a Sunday, not knowing really what to expect. Raven ran one train, which at first created a huge line after the opening mad dash. Later in the day, it was running 1/2 to 2/3s empty trains, and I rode it several times in a row. Legend ran two early, then had some problems and went down to one. With two trains the line started on the stairs to the station (no switchbacks), and with one train, the line was about the same. The Voyage started out with what I thought was a pretty big line (2/3s of the underground queue full), but even with two trains, the line moves quickly. We went to eat at Plymouth Rock, and when we came back, the shortcut had been opened up and the line was in the station, where it remained for the rest of the day, allowing me to get 30 rides on the Voyage before leaving at 6:30. The waterpark really drained people out quickly, and for the most part, the rides section had shorter lines than any of the waterslides. Oh, and where Plymouth Rock Cafe was a highlight of your day, it was the least favorite part of my day, because the food was really not very good at all (What is up with that gravy?...blech). Decent meal for a decent price, but certainly nothing special. Plus, riding the Voyage is much better than eating anyway (you can tell I'm not an ACEr, haha). Overall though, Holiday World was my favorite park of my trip (HW, PKI, GL, CP, MiA), because of the Voyage and free drinks. You really don't fully appreciate the free drinks when you first hear about them, but on a hot day, they're a godsend. And then you really appreciate them the next day at PKI when you're baking on the asphalt and a Gatorade is $3.50.
shesaidboom Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 I was wondering if anyone else had experienced such large crowds at Holiday World? -James Dillaman Yes! On a Tuesday in early June last year. It wasn't as bad as your visit, but it was definately pretty bad, especially for a weekday. When we arrived two of the three coasters were also down, and the other broke down while we were in line for it! Our day ended up turning around and we did have a good time after the first several hours of let downs. It looks like you guys still managed to have a good time too! All these Cedar Point TRs are making me want to go now!
Axman Posted June 21, 2007 Posted June 21, 2007 Indiana Beach looks great. I'm going to have to make an effort to go there. Theye are REALLY hurting for competition against Holiday World. They've been building woodies left and right. Kudos to IB for keeping its head above water.
jamesdillaman Posted June 21, 2007 Author Posted June 21, 2007 Yeah, you must've gone on an off day. The food at Plymouth Rock when we were there was great, and I don't even like food more than coasters, but this was good. We got on the things we really wanted to get on, but didn't get on Frightful Falls (The log flume) or the White Water Raft ride, both of which we would've loved to go on. We also like the bumper boats, but that line was crazy every time we went by it. The only flat ride we ended up doing was the roundup, because it never has a big line. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a self-proclaimed Holiday World fanboy, but I wasn't impressed with only 1 coaster opening with the park, even if there was some bolt-tightening going on (That should go on in the middle of the night, to be ready to open.) That didn't explain why Raven was down, too. I just think they can do better, because I know they can, I've seen it. I will be back to holiday World, but I hope someone reads this, because the park can improve, and needs to if they continue to grow like they have been. -James Dillaman
spaceace12 Posted June 21, 2007 Posted June 21, 2007 I am going Saturday, and they said to avoid saturday on hw's website, but my dad is going to his companies picnic and I invited myself and he said yes. So I am going to get a father son ride on voyage. As long as I get a ride on all three coasters, liberty launch, baukli, and the syper ride. The spider ride is the only ride I haven't done in the park I have doen. And as for food, I ate at PRC on opening day for it, and the food was so good. On my photo TR of HWN, Ihave a picture of my food. OF course, I would never say anything bad about HW, as it is my home park.
cfc Posted June 21, 2007 Posted June 21, 2007 Looks like a fun trip, James, bad day at Holiday World aside. Yes, I'll have to do a little Midwest tour of my own. As for the "bolt tightening" on Voyage, it does seem a bit odd that they didn't take of that the night before.
Real Posted June 21, 2007 Posted June 21, 2007 even if there was some bolt-tightening going on (That should go on in the middle of the night, to be ready to open.) ...because the park can improve, and needs to if they continue to grow like they have been. -James Dillaman Well, for one, Ive never heard of this going on at any park. Ive never seen where CP engineers do this in the middle of the night. I even watched a special where he said they wake up early and do it around 7am or so. Sure, its early and before the park opens, but you cant catch everything. He even said, sometimes you walk it one day, then the next you run into a few things that take longer than expected. The work they were doing on Voyage wasnt just tightening, it was replacement. Which is a completely different beast. Secondly, I dont see how having one ride opening one hour late, then another 2 hours late means they are in trouble. Hell, if thats the case CP is screwed! I open that park several times a year and every single day TTD, MF or another big ride is closed for some time. Not to mention the downtime they already have. Raptor has had more downtime than usual it seems as well. Ive also heard and seen that Maverick, as reliable as it should be, suffers the same fate usually not starting up exactly first thing. Im a little confused because, as I said, I was there and we rode Raven 3 times, Voyage 3 times and Legend once. Longest wait was 30 minutes for back seat on Voyage. Considering that any wait under 30 minutes is an absolute blessing at CP, Ill take 30 minutes on whats possibly the worlds greatest ride. I can understand frustration, I sat around for an hour waiting just incase it suprise opened on us but didnt. We even went into the water park for around 5 hours of our day, rode Bakuli, Zoom, Jungle Racers (twice), Otarongo, Go slide and putzed around plus eating. Its definatly more crowded each year but untill the wait for Voyage is 1 hour and Raven is 40 minutes and Legend is 40 minutes - Ill refrain from saying they are doing a bad job. They were only running 2 trains on Voyage as well compared to 3 last year and still dispatched very quickly.
jamesdillaman Posted June 21, 2007 Author Posted June 21, 2007 ^ Like I said, we rode all the coasters, that was fine, but the crowds in the rest of the park suffered with two of the three main ride's open. That's 66% of the adult-sized coasters in the park, comparing that to Cedar Point would be if TTD, MF, Raptor, Maverick, and Mantis didn't open until an hour or two after the park opens. If you have seen that at Cedar Point, then you have seen something I have not. We didn't wait long for the coasters, either, but that's because we chose NOT to wait in the Legend line when the park opened. We did wait almost a half-hour and then gave up on Thunder Bumpers, and we didn't even attempt the water rides. In the waterpark, we managed to get on The new slide, the "Action river", Zoombabwe, Otorongo, and Jungle Racers, with only waits over a half-hour on Bakuli and Zoombabwe. I understand maintenence, especially having worked on the Beast at King's Island. But don't attempt to devalue my OPINION that I was dissapointed with my visit to Holiday World, only because of the standard I hold them to, as I like them very much. Of course I'd expect waits of over a half-hour at Cedar Point, and line jumping at cedar point, etc. I just was shocked to encounter it at Holiday World. It just sucks that we were in the park over 8 hours and didn't get to ride everything, especially since there aren't a lot of rides in the park.... The crews on the coasters I will say were doing an awesome job with cycle times, and although I was stapled BADLY on Raven, I understand, having attended SRM 2003. I don't understand why you just can't accept that I didn't have as good a time at Holiday World this trip than I have had every other trip there. Indiana Beach was way more fun, and every ride opened with the park! ^ Also: When we opened Cedar Point, MF and Maverick were open at 9:00, and TTD opened promptly at 10:00 when the park officially opened. Every other ride was open except one side of Gemini, which opened an hour later. So I guess Cedar Point doesn't experience that EVERY day... -James Dillaman
ginzo Posted June 21, 2007 Posted June 21, 2007 Secondly, I dont see how having one ride opening one hour late, then another 2 hours late means they are in trouble. Hell, if thats the case CP is screwed! I open that park several times a year and every single day TTD, MF or another big ride is closed for some time. Not to mention the downtime they already have. Raptor has had more downtime than usual it seems as well. Ive also heard and seen that Maverick, as reliable as it should be, suffers the same fate usually not starting up exactly first thing. Yeah, only Cedar Point has a lot more to do if TTD and MF are both closed. I'd be seriously irked if I spent a day at Holiday World with two of the woodies down. They do seem to be pretty good about getting the coasters back up quickly when they go down.
jamesdillaman Posted June 21, 2007 Author Posted June 21, 2007 ^ Yeah, It turned out to be fine, but you should try starting your day with the Guest Relations person telling you (Before you enter the park) that Raven and Legend will be closed, maybe opening late afternoon (Which is what she told us) It just makes for bad moods and bad crowds at the onset, which just left a bad taste that didn't really go away.
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