Ongoing TR: Midwest Conquest

[Jonathan]

6/4/05

Midwest Conquest Day 1

Libertyland

 

I only finished half of my trip reports from the East Coast Trek, so we're going to try a slightly different approach this time. Jay, Dave, and myself are on Dave's laptop at the Baymont Inn here in Memphis, and if possible I'll keep posting these during the trip (probably not, though). Jay and I rolled out of Belmont, North Carolina at around 5 AM this morning, and we were in Dave's truck in Hendersonville and on the road by 7. With a few stops along the way, and a change in time zones, we arrived at our hotel in Memphis at around 2:30 Central time, and were greeted by temperatures in the 90's.

 

After finding our way to Chris and Natalee's home without too many problems (and after encountering a Chinese restaurant next door to a "Gourmet Dog" place), we met the rest of the group. Chris and Natalee went all out, with ribs, bbq, hot dogs, and much, much more. After an outstanding meal and a little screening of my DVD from last year, our massive party party piled into the vans and headed across town to Libertyland for a little warm up.

 

Libertyland was not very crowded, and we had a fairly relaxed evening, staying in the park from about 5:30-8:00. Libertyland has three coasters, the highlight of which was the Zippin' Pippin, the second oldest operating coaster in the country. Only two people rode the Dragon Wagon, and apparently they got on because they payed the operator $20. I'm sure it was a pretty fun ride, but I'm not about to shell out $20 to ride one.

 

After the park, we made a fun-filled run to Wal-Mart for supplies, and then headed back to the Godsey home. Leftovers were eaten, and a final rundown of the trip was given. As I type this it is 11:40 PM, and we have to be back at the Godsey's at 3:30 AM to head for Lousville. Plenty of time to sleep in the van, I suppose. Here's what we thought of Libertyland:

 

Jonathan: Not a bad park. It certainly didn't live up to the pre-trek stop last year (William's Grove), but good times were had. The level of madness amongst the group has already reached a level that it did not reach last year until the last few days of the trip. The Revolution was maybe the smoothest Arrow coaster I've ever been on, and the bumper boats were fairly comical. The Zippin' Pippin was a real surprise, though. A fairly smooth ride with a couple rib-smashing laterals and some surprisingly large amounts of airtime. Great ride, and today was a great kickoff to the trip. Time for a little nap...

 

Jay: Zippin Pippin is definitely a hidden gem, as for the park it seemed fairly clean, and well run, despite its small size. I only rode the 2 big coasters, so I unfortunately can't comment on any other rides. Revolution looked horrible, but ran like a champ, much better than mega loopers more than twice it's size. One thing I've noticed about the John A. Miller creations is that while they are good in the back, they are phenominal up front. I definitely didn't expect to be thrown into my lapbar multiple times on the ride. All in all a very good day, definitely wouldn't mind spending some more time here if I ever happen to be in the area.

 

Dave: It was fun.

 

John and Jen have some pictures from today up at Americoaster: http://www.americoaster.com/index.php?act=...y&cmd=sc&cat=90

[Jonathan]

6/5/05

Midwest Conquest Day 2

Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom

Holiday World & Splashin' Safari

 

Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom

 

After a little more than two hours of sleep, I awoke to find that Dave had fallen asleep on the floor watching Sportscenter, and Jay had only gone to bed about 15 minutes earlier. After a lot of struggling to awake Jay, we found ourselves checking out, and arriving at the Godsey home shortly after 3:30 AM. Mark and Paul were already there, and our tired company set off in the van to the Microtel hotel to pick up the rest of the group. The drivers loaded up on caffeine, Martin got his first coffee of the trip (many more to come), and we hit the road bound for Kentucky. We arrived at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom shortly before 11 AM with the sun blazing, and temperatures likely in the 90's. The park operations manager met our group, and ushered us to the back of the park before opening. To our utter delight, we were given rides on T2, the glorious Vekoma SLC, before opening. The group stuck together for some rides, and split apart some, but everyone managed to ride all of the coasters, I believe. We rode the wonderfully painful B&M standup Chang, Thunder Run, Twisted Twin(s) (only one side was open), Greezed Lightnin', Roadrunner Express, and Roller Skater. Some people rode the Intamin giant drop, as well as the Stargate simulator ride, and the shoot-the-chutes. By the time 2 PM rolled around, we were all long ready to hit the road for Santa Claus, Indiana. Some thoughts on Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom:

 

Jonathan: Would have been much better if it wasn't incredibly freaking hot. Twisted Twins and Thunder Run are both great, Chang and T2 are terrible, and Greezed Lightnin' is a lot of fun. I would have been happy with leaving an hour earlier, though. To Holiday World we go...

 

Dave: Thank god we left at 2 PM.

 

Bobby: A couple of really cute ride ops.

 

Ed: It's alright.

 

Chris: T2 was running really well.

 

Jay: T2 was awesome, Chang was better than I expected, Thunder Run needs to end after the first turn, Twisted Twins needs different trains, the wild mouse needs to run a few more cars, and the Roller Skater was intense.

 

Anthony: Not worth going back.

 

 

Holiday World

 

After Kentucky Kingdom, we headed to Santa Claus, Indiana, and Holiday World. The first thing done upon arrival was lunch, at Kringle's, and then it was off to Raven and Legend. The main parking lot was almost full, but the lines for the coasters were not too bad, and I guess everyone was in Splashin' Safari. Raven and Legend were both running one train, and Raven was running somewhat sluggish, although both coasters sped up later in the afternoon. We hit the Hallowswings wave swinger, as well as the Liberty Launch, the S&S double shot. Liberty Launch is probably the shortest drop tower I've seen, but it was one of the better ones. We took over the Howler as a group, which was interesting to say the least, and then invaded the play area. A few people nearly died on the adult teater totters, and I believe Ed nearly got stuck in one of the slides. We then hit the flying scooters, which were fun, but no one could snap them, of course. After that I spent some time filming the coasters, and then the rest of the night riding Raven and Legend. I didn't go to Splashin' Safari, but I believe a few people did. It turned out to be a good day, although some night rides on Raven and Legend would have been nice. Looks like the park may have quite a treat coming up in 2006. Some thoughts on Holiday World:

 

Jonathan: Raven and Legend are still a lot of fun, although nothing like they were when I rode them at Stark Raven Mad 2002. I think I prefer Legend slightly to Raven now, although it's hard to pick. Free unlimited soft drinks are awesome, although I did have a Sprite poured on my head.

 

Jay: Legend was awesome, Raven was anticipointing. The speed was there, the airtime wasn't. All of the flat rides were really good.

 

Dave: A well balanced park.

 

Natalie: Holiday World is the cleanest park we have been to, and will go to ever. The lifeguards were incredibly alert and attentive. Bahari was a lot of fun. The cell phone wristband program for lost children is a really great idea.

 

Anthony: They need to teach other parks how to handle bags in coaster stations.

[robbalvey]

Hey Jonathan!

 

Thanks for posting the TR's! Sounds like you guys are having a good 'old time!

 

Feel free to post links to any photo updates you want!

 

I love being able to follow people while they are on trips. We can all live vicariously through your trip.

 

--Robb

[downunder]

Sounds great - wish I had gone myself, love to go to some of those smaller parks and ride some great woodies. Will be checking out what ride world are doing next year.

 

Tell Ed from Australia - Saints over Warriors 32-18, Barrett at Half and Anasta at 5/8 for Origin 2 (this will mean nothing to anyone outside Australia).

[Jonathan]

Will pass along the message to Ed 8)

 

John and Jen have posted their Kentucky Kingdom pictures at http://www.americoaster.com/index.php?s=214b334d4df6646a173496d6c9a7a51e&act=module&module=gallery&cmd=sc&cat=92 and their Holiday World pictures at http://www.americoaster.com/index.php?s=214b334d4df6646a173496d6c9a7a51e&act=module&module=gallery&cmd=sc&cat=93

 

6/6/05

Midwest Conquest Day 3

Paramount's Kings Island

 

After our incredibly long day on Sunday, we were able to get a decent amount of sleep at our hotel, and we got a free breakfast with our room at the restaurant adjacent to the hotel. The morning started off fairly uneventful, and astonishingly enough we managed to pull out of the parking lot close to the scheduled time. Apparently I drifted off to sleep in the van, because when I woke up we were in the parking lot at Paramount's Kings Island, and it was about 9:00 AM. Once we all made it into the gate, we got reservation tickets for The Italian Job, and then gathered for the morning walkback.

 

The morning at Kings Island did not go very well for me and some others. We rode the Beast twice after being walked back before opening, and I personally was absolutely beaten to pieces. The brakes every couple hundred feet of track were wonderful as well. After that we found that Tomb Raider had yet to open, along with a lot of other rides. The Italian Job was scheduled to open at noon, but maintanence did not even begin walking the track until 11, and the noon opening was missed. The highlight of the morning was the Nick Central area, where Dave, Mark, Jay, and I rode the log flume, which we got totally soaked on, and then joined the rest of the group for Beastie and Scooby Doo & the Haunted Castle. Beastie is a fun little woodie, and Scooby Doo was oustanding. Delirium was down and would not open all day, and Son of Beast was down as well, although it would open later in the day. We rode Vortex, which made the Great American Scream Machine at Great Adventure look like a pretty smooth ride, and Racer forwards, which was jackhammering and bouncing all over the track. After hanging around at The Italian Job for a bit, some of us went to Wings and had lunch. After a pretty discouraging morning, we were content to sit in there for over an hour.

 

Thankfully, after lunch the day really started to pick up. Some of us headed over to The Italian Job and found that it had opened and was running two trains. Thanks to the gold pass lane, we were on within minutes. The Italian Job is a pretty fun ride, and I have to say I was impressed, although the fishtail effect was either off or unnoticable, and the stair effect is off. By no means is it a ride near Disney or Universal caliber, but it was fun, and the pitch black tunnel was a blast. I just hope the park keeps it in good shape over the next few years.

 

After another trip over to Racer (the backwards side was much much better), the group took a ride on Adventure Express, which is still one of the more insane mine trains I have been on. Someone suggested that they take some of the brakes off of the Beast and put them on Adventure Express. Then we went over to everyone's favorite wooden coaster, Son of Beast. Actually, it is my favorite wooden coaster in the park. While I think most people in the group hated it, I still found it to be enjoyable, although definitely rough. Following that, some of us went on Drop Zone, which is an amazing drop ride. Top Gun, which had been down, was back open, so we rode that next, and had a good ride. Things certainly improved from the morning.

 

The Italian Job was still only running for those with reservation tickets, and luckily we had some, so we rode a second time, waiting about 20 minutes. The rest of the group then broke off, while Jay, Martin, and myself did the unthinkable, and rode Son of Beast again. Then, being ill in the head, I rode Son of Beast for a third time, and headed for the Eiffel Tower to meet the group. The park was open until 10, but everyone was through by 6, so we got a head start for Indiana. We ate at a La Rosa's (or something), which was a wild experience with our group (what isn't, though). Arriving in Shelbyville, a few members of the group were excited to find that the hotel had free cocktails, and some of us hopped in the pool for a while. The whole group ended up mingling by the pool for a couple of hours, and now that it is midnight, I think it's about time to head to bed. We're off to Indiana Beach in the morning. A couple more comments on Kings Island:

 

Jay: I miss Kentucky Kingdom

 

Dave: N/A (appears to have just fallen asleep)

[SharkTums]

LOL, I'm almost glad to see a TR which describes PKI how I have seen it on numerous occaisions. That park really just has incredibly bad days! I've been there where half the coasters are closed, operations are poor, and I still don't get why everyone loves the Beast!!!???

 

Glad you still managed to have a good time!

 

Elissa "stupid PKI!" Alvey

[BiCoastal Kid]

A little late, but I suppose Holiday World's staff is running Raven's two trains well?

[SharkTums]

^I think he said that both Raven and Legend were running 1 train each.

 

Elissa "silly Rock!" Alvey

[coasterdude5]

Great TR! About Libertyland, you went at the right time. The park just hired a firm to completely redo the park. Before that the service was bad and it was trashy. It has, IMO, gotten alot better thatn it was last year!

 

Also, did you get a chance to ride Rebellion? It's only a couple years old.

[JamminJ]

This is Jay from the trip reports...

 

Legend and Raven were both running one train each, Raven was a walk on till about the end of the day, and Legend had a 20-30 minute wait the entire time,

 

As for Rebellion, being the procrastinators we are we saved that for just before the park closed. As our luck they closed the ride for the night with the majority of us being next in line. First time I've ever seen anything like that at a park... I mean if you don't want people riding at least put a trashcan in the queue entrance or something.

 

Jonathan is going to post his Indiana Beach TR in an hour or so, but I can sum it up pretty easy. AWESOME PARK. I had the pleasure of taking 43 rides on Cornball Express today (and still rode most of the other things a significant amout of times) and it is no doubt a Top 5 wood, definitely recommended that anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of visiting yet.

 

--Jay (Who is off to play some poker... )

[Jonathan]

6/7/05

Midwest Conquest Day 4

Indiana Beach

 

We are at the Days Inn in Michigan City, Indiana right now, and I just got back from destroying everyone in poker. It's pretty late, so unfortunately I don't have time to type up a long report. In short, Indiana Beach was absolutely awesome. Easily one of my new favorite parks. It reminded me of Williams Grove, Myrtle Beach Pavilion, and Knoebels put together. We made great time in the morning, and got to the park well before opening. The first ride of the day was Hoosier Hurricane, which was surprisingly good. Nothing to write home about, but a fairly smooth and well maintained out and back. Next up was Cornball Express, which simply amazed me. I never could have imagined such a small ride could pack such a punch. After 20 rides during the day, I think it may very well be my second favorite woodie behind Thunderhead. It certainly helped that the park was totally dead the entire day.

 

Next up was the Air Crow (flying scooters), which were fun, and swung out over the water, but they were difficult to snap. We also hit the Tig'rr Coaster, which was a blast, and then decided to try it again, packing 4 people into a car. Needless to say, it was an insane ride. And speaking of insane rides, the next coaster was Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain, which is one of the most ridiculously bizarre and awesome rides ever created. The drops and turns that coaster flies through are absolutely sick, and riding backwards is really wild. Near the back of the park, we found another highlight of the day: the boat-tag, which everyone enjoyed not once, but twice.

 

I can't remember everything we did during the day, but we rode almost everything, and there honestly wasn't a bad ride in the park. Every coaster was great (yes, we also rode the Galaxi), and all of the other rides were outstanding. The Double Shot was probably the best S&S tower I've been on, and the Yo-Yo was run well also. The bumper cars were insane with the spring boards around the outside of the driving area. We managed to get a line of people, led by me, to hit the spring board, causing a ridiculous collision. Aside from Lost Coaster, Indiana Beach also has some awesome dark rides. Den of Lost Thieves, the Sally dark ride, was a lot of fun, and Frankenstein's Castle (extra cost) was an absolute riot. The park had numerous other flats as well, plus a skyride, fascination, a small waterpark, and of course the lake itself. The only downside of the day was the cheeseburger I had for lunch, which wasn't too great.

 

Everyone was extremely content to stay at Indiana Beach until close, and most of the group marathoned Cornball Express to close out the day. The drive to Michigan City was quite an adventure, as we watched a tornado nearly form near us, and then had difficulty finding the hotel. Once checked in, instead of sleeping, of course, some of us hit a Steak N' Shake, then played cards. We've got a fairly long drive to Michigan's Adventure tomorrow morning, so I'm going to turn in. Dave is out cold again, so no comments from him.

 

Jay: Kicked butt. Everything was awesome. Knoebels on the lake. Good milk shakes as well.

[jarmor]

Sounds like you guys are having fun...no wonder everything was like a walk on all day sunday at carowinds!

[BiCoastal Kid]

Dude, yes, Cornball DOES rule. I didn't go to it expecting much, either, but when I got off I was just amazed! Those final humps have some crazy air, and that drop down to the water is just awesome. Not to mention that lat-filled helix!

 

^I think he said that both Raven and Legend were running 1 train each.

 

Elissa "silly Rock!" Alvey

 

So I skipped a word, gimme a break. haha

[the_rock401]

Nice TRs. Glad to see you're having fun going from park to park. I will be meeting up with you guys in Wisconsin Dells on Friday. Keep having fun!

[Jonathan]

6/8/05

Midwest Conquest Day 5

Michigan's Adventure

 

Wednesday quickly turned out to be one of the crazier days of the trip. There were some strange adventures in the hotel during the night, and then on the drive to Michigan's Adventure we encountered the biggest speed trap I have ever seen. Our van was ticketed, and we were told we were going 10 mph faster than the other van, even though we were following right behind it. Eventually we did make it to Michigan's Adventure, and we were welcomed by a nearly completely empty parking lot. The concrete pathways let us know immediately that we were at a Cedar Fair park.

 

We immediately hit the six coasters the park has, and got them out of the way in no time, with no lines. We took over the Big Dipper junior steel coaster, as well as the junior woodie, Zach's Zoomer. We were beaten around by the Arrow Corkscrew, and then surprised by how smooth the Mad Mouse was. The biggest surprise for me was the Wolverine Wildcat, which was a very smooth and very fun wooden coaster. Saving the best for last, we hit Shivering Timbers. Timbers was utterly dead, delivering almost no airtime, but luckily it would pick up speed a lot later in the afternoon.

 

With the credits out of the way, most of us headed directly for the water park, where we spent a good portion of the day. Michigan's Adventure's water park is nothing out of the ordinary, but they have a decent amount of slides. The new Tornado was the only slide with a significant line, and I did not ride that, as I've been on them before. We attempted to ride the shoot the chutes, but they required shoes to be worn, so that got nixed. We had some wild rides on a few slides, and Paul and I nearly overturned our raft on one. After spending most of the afternoon there, I had lunch with Anthony, and then we headed back to the rides side.

 

 

We ran into some of the others, and hit the Falling Star, which was just plain awesome. After that it was nearing time to assemble for some final rides on Shivering Timbers, so I hit Wolvering Wildcat one more time. Shivering Timbers was running much much faster, although there are still a lot of potholes in it. I got seven rides total I believe for the day, and really enjoyed the ride, but I certainly don't think it deserves to be #1 or #2 like it is on some polls. We drove out to Timbers for some filming before leaving, and then made it back to our hotel in Michigan City with no incidents. We hit a Chili's for dinner, and had a wild time, and it looks like a couple people have made the mistake of going out tonight. Should be a long day tomorrow for them...

 

 

Jay: Shivering Timbers needs to get out of there and find a decent park to go to.

 

 

Dave: Kentucky Kingdom is a heck of a lot better.

[Jonathan]

6/9/05

Midwest Conquest Day 6

Six Flags Great America

 

Somehow, everyone survived the night, and we all awoke on time Thursday morning for the drive to Gurnee, Illinois. Traffic was bad, but could have been much worse, at least from what I saw in the brief moments I was awake. We saw the Chicago skyline from a distance, payed a thousand tolls, and eventually arrived at Six Flags Great America, where we were greeted by hundreds of school buses in the parking lot. Apparently school is ending here, so instead of taking exams, which is what I recall I had to do, they go to Six Flags. Needless to say, the park was fairly crowded, although the bulk of the masses seemed to be in the water park.

 

We broke off into smaller groups this time, with everyone hurrying as fast they could to hit all of the coasters. I hung out with Dave, Jay, Bobby, Anthony, Martin, and Chris Zahn, who joined us for the day, and Bobby, Martin, and Anthony later broke off from the group. Our first stop was the ride we figured probably had the worst capacity and the biggest chance of going down; Deja Vu. In just a few minutes I was on the ride with Jay near the back of the train, and I added another Deja Vu to my list (the first being Over Georgia). It's a good ride, and very intense, although a little rough in the cobra roll.

 

Moving on, we hit Vertical Velocity, which was a near walk-on, and a pretty fun ride. Next, we hit the Ragin Cajun, since we assumed it was one of the lower capacity rides. It's a pretty good mouse, and we really got our car spinning well. Continuing to fly around the park, we encountered our first significant wait at Whizzer. Aside from being a unique coaster that you can't find anywhere else in the country, Whizzer is a really fun ride, and I'm certainly glad they removed Shockwave instead of it.

 

Moving into the Southwest Territory, we encountered a fairly significant wait for what would be my 200th coaster: Viper. I rode in the third seat, and was really surprised by how awesome this coaster was. Amazingly enough, it was built in-house by Six Flags. The third seat has a ton of ejector airtime, and the fan turns are crazy. One of the best coasters so far on the trip, in my opinion. And continuing with another good coaster, we waited a while to ride Raging Bull, and I completed the US B&M hyper trifecta. We rode in the backseat, and it was a very fun ride. The trims were unnecessary, and there isn't as much airtime as Nitro or Apollo's Chariot, making them superior in my opinion.

 

On over to American Eagle, I was once again surprised. I rode the red (forwards) side, and wasn't expecting the ride to be as extremely smooth as it was, and there was some airtime as well. There are 3 incredibly heavy trim brakes, though, and I would love to see what the ride could do without them. We were getting hungry, so we decided to eat, but first hit the junior coaster, Spacely Sprocket Rockets, which the operator allowed us all to ride. At this point Anthony and Martin departed for Superman, while the rest of us had lunch at the Farmers Market food court (I had a foot long corn dog...), and then Bobby departed.

 

With five credits to go, we waited for the Demon, which was an incredibly bizarre ride. The harp music in the first tunnel, and flashing Christmas tree lights in the second tunnel were odd surprises, although the coaster itself was quite rough. Back over to American Eagle, I got the backwards side, which, like the forwards side, was a fun smooth ride. After briefly meeting the rest of the group to determine a departure time, we waited for Superman: Ultimate Flight. Like the Great Adventure version, it lacks the conformity with the terrain that the Over Georgia version has, but it is a very good ride. Continuing our trip through B&M land, we rode Batman, the first ever inverted, which was of course your standard Batman. Finally, we got the 13th and final coaster, Iron Wolf. It was not very good, but it honestly was not near as bad as I thought it would be. Probably smoother than Vortex, Mantis, and Chang.

 

Before leaving, I rushed for another ride on Viper and American Eagle. It was unfortunate that the park was so crowded and I didn't have time to hit any flat rides or rerides on more of the coasters, but I was still impressed by the park. Definitely one of the better, if not best, Six Flags parks. After the park some of us hit a White Castle, which we are now feeling the effects of, and then drove to Wisconsin Dells, and we are looking forward to a great day tomorrow. Comments...

 

Jay: Nothing really stood out, but the park was really good, and handled the crowds really efficiently.

[Jonathan]

6/10/05

Midwest Conquest Day 7

Mt. Olympus

Riverview Park

Timber Falls

 

I'll say it right from the start: The Dells was freaking awesome. For the first time, we did not have a morning drive, so after waking up, we packed into the vans and drove right down the street. We passed Timber Falls, but the destination for the morning was Mt. Olympus. We rolled in and met up with some others, got our discount tickets, and then headed into the park. I joined a few others in making a beeline for Hades. I've heard mixed reviews about Hades; some absolutely love it, some don't think it is anything special. I think our group had the same range of opinions. As for myself, I have never been so stunned on a first ride than I was on Hades. The tunnel absolutely blew my mind, and I was shocked by how fast the train roared through the finale. The pre-lift section is awesome as well, with some killer pops of air. Hades honestly had almost everything I could want in a coaster, and I can say right now that after around 215 coasters, it is my favorite. The violent turns and sudden drops inside the tunnel reminded me of Thunderhead inside of a tunnel with PTC trains, while the final part of the ride reminded me a bit of Legend. Needless to say, before continuing on to the other credits, we hit Hades again.

 

After being blown away by Hades, we were nearly thrown away by Cyclops in the back seat. That has got to be the most insane drop of any ride anywhere. Cyclops was a giant hit with everyone, and most everyone agreed that it is extremely underrated. Short, but extremely sweet. Zeus was getting greased up, so we hit the incredibly odd Dive to Atlantis water coaster. After an ubsurdly long and boring float through a trough, our boat ascended the lift, nearly valleyed in the hill, and then plunged down the drop, absolutely drowning everyone in the boat. After the drenching, we hit the other big wooden coaster, Zeus. In the front seat, Zeus is a really good ride, but it is completely overshadowed by Hades and Cyclops. Many of the other seats were very rough, and the train was jackhammering in a lot of places.

 

After more of Hades and Cyclops, we hit the last credit we could get (could not get on the kiddie), Pegasus. It's a pretty fun ride intended for families, and a good compliment to the bigger coasters. We walked up to Riverview Park after that to see what kind of credits we could get. We eventually decided just to buy enough tickets to ride the Galaxi. The Galaxi operator let us ride free, and also explained to us how he designed the Galaxi, Cyclops, and Avalanche... Since we rode that free, we used the remaining tickets to hit the two kiddie coasters, so I got 3 coasters for $4.

 

Back over at Mt. Olympus, after some more rides on the big coasters, the bottom fell out of the sky. We took shelter in the indoor waterpark, which was too jammed to do, so we hung out in an arcade for a bit. Chris Z. and Jay won over a thousand tickets between them, and had some fun picking out prizes, and then we noticed the sky was blue again. We spent the remainder of the afternoon riding the woodies as much as possible, and then it was time to head over to Timber Falls. After getting our group discount at Timber Falls, Paul, Jay, and myself rode with Chris Z. back over to Mt. Olympus, and rode Hades two more times before closing. Then it was back over to Timber Falls.

 

Timber Falls is a small place, with a few miniature golf courses, a large log flume, and then, Avalanche. As if the awesome coasters at Mt. Olympus were not enough, Avalanche is an amazing ride, and immediately jumped into my top 5. The speed the train maintains throughout the duration of the ride is simply unnatural, and the 6 seat train looks bizarre flying around the circuit. Every hill delivers standing air, and the banked turns are very violent. The park's flume was also pretty awesome, and we had a great time doing a double ride on it. Then some of our group rested, while others (myself included) rode Avalanche repeatedly. I believe I got 14 rides, and it was a great finish to what was for me the best day of the trip so far. I probably have 3 new top 10 woodies after today, with Hades, Avalanche, and Cyclops all jumping up there. I ate at a Culver's with Bobby for dinner, which was awesome, and now we are at a hotel in Bloomington, Illinois, resting up for Six Flags St. Louis.

 

Jay: This day obliterated my top ten, even moreso than it already was from this trip. Riverside is a , but Mt. Olympus and Timber Falls are both great.

 

Dave: The last drop on Cyclops should be against the law, but thankfully it's not.

[Canadmos]

Awesome review of the Dells. I can't wait to venture out there one day and ride Hades and Avalanche. :shock:

 

Did James enjoy Hades and Avalanche?

[Alexander Nagel]

I still don't get why everyone loves the Beast!!!???

 

I said that after my first visit to PKI in which I only had one morning ride (walkback). After my second visit to PKI and my 2nd ride on the beast (also a walkback ride) I still didn't get what all the hype was about. Then later that day I rode at night...it all became clear what all the hype was about. Simply put the beast is a night ride. I don't know if you have ever ridden it at night but if you have try it next time.

[Jonathan]

Did not have an Internet connection at our hotel in Branson, and we drove through the night the next day, so here is the Day 8 TR and Day 9 will be up soon.

 

6/11/05

Midwest Conquest Day 8

Six Flags St. Louis

 

We slept in a little late on Saturday and then headed for Six Flags St. Louis. We were greeted with a downpour, and had lunch at the McDonalds beside the park. Then we decided to get in and out of the park as quickly as possible so that we could get into Branson at a decent time. I took off in a near sprint into the park with Bobby and Jay, and we flew directly to the Boss. After about a 20 minute wait, I took a ride in the next to last seat. I thought it was a pretty good ride, and not very rough at all, but unfortunately there was very little airtime. We then rushed to the next wooden coaster, Screamin' Eagle. Eagle also had very little airtime, but it was running awesome, flying down the drops and around the turns, and very smooth. After that, we rushed to Mr. Freeze, and after about a 20 minute wait, took a ride. Very fun, and I may even like it better than the Chiller.

 

I split off on my own after that, deciding to ride the woodies again instead of getting the other credits. I hit Boss up front, which was not as good as the back, and then ran into Dave, who had yet to ride a coaster, instead riding every single flat ride in the park. Together we hit the River King Mine Train, which was okay, and then went back to Screamin' Eagle. After that, it was getting close to time to leave, so we went over to Batman, and checked the line. It was absolutely massive, and I figured I've been on a million Batman clones, so no big loss. I instead rode Ninja, the Vekoma looper, which was suprisingly decent. By that point, the sky was black, and rain drops were beginning to fall. Dave and I sprinted back to the front of the park to meet the rest of the group, and we got out of Six Flags as quickly as we could. I had a decent time, although I see no reason to go back until they get another big coaster. Some members of the group had bad experiences, and I think the general consensus seemed to be that it was the worst park of the trip.

 

We did, however, have a great time after the park. The drive was long, and we got stuck in traffic for a while, but eventually we did arrive in Branson, and drove around admiring the incredible tackiness of the entire strip. After checking into our hotel, we hit the Rib Crib for one final meal together, and a great one at that. It was a fairly relaxed day, with the smallest amount of park time of the trip, resting up for a big day on Sunday.

 

Dave: We went to Six Flags St. Louis, stayed 3 hours, the place sucked, and we left.

 

Jay: The park could use a lot of work in every single aspect.

[St.LouisBOI]

And to think that Six Flags St.Louis is my home park and the only Six Flags park that I have been too. 8)

[Canobie Fan]

What loser would pay $20.00 for a Dragon Wagon.......

 

As for LibLands little drop tower.. Its short but It was fun.

[Jonathan]

6/12/05

Midwest Conquest Day 9

Silver Dollar City

Celebration City

 

Silver Dollar City

 

What a way to end the trip. I'm not sure why they did it, but when Silver Dollar City found out about our trip, they treated us to an amazing day. Thirty minutes before Silver Dollar City opened, we were ushered for free to the back of the park, and treated to ERT on the park's newest coaster, Powderkeg. The treatment we were given aside, Powderkeg is an awesome ride. It has a good launch and huge floater airtime on every hill, yet it is not too intense for the entire family to ride. It is a perfect addition to the park, and in all honesty was probably my favorite steel coaster of the entire trip. We were lucky we got the ride session, too, as within 15 minutes after park opening, the lift broke, and the ride did not reopen untill around 4 in the afternoon.

 

As the park opened, we headed to Wildfire, and passed by the masses of people heading to Powderkeg. We were able to get 4 rides in on Wildfire, which is also a really good coaster. One of the better B&M loopers, in my opinion, and also one of the best steel coasters on the trip. The first drop in the backseat provides great airtime, and the low to the ground turns are really cool as well. While we were in the area, we hit the log flume, which had a decent course and got us incredibly drenched. Since we were wet, we hit the next coaster, Fire in the Hole. It is identical in layout and very similar in scenes to Blazing Fury at Dollywood, with a much roomier loading area, and a dalmation on the loading platform. That was definitely the first time I have seen a dog in a coaster station.

 

While heading to the other side of the park, we noticed the most insane portion of a rapids ride that I have ever seen. Naturally, we had to ride it. The rapids ride at Silver Dollar City was the best I have been on, and we all got absolutely soaked. There are some crazy drops and rapids that cause waves to come crashing over the rafts. Looking back, I probably should not have gone on it, since i remained soaked for the next 24 hours. Not ready to get drenched again, I watched on as Paul and Jay rode the Waterboggan, which is very similar to Dollywood's Slidewinder. We then ran into more of the group on the Flooded Mine, which may be the best Sally dark ride shooter that I've seen. We had a blast on it, and then headed for our final coaster.

 

Thunderation is one of the biggest and fastest mine trains that Arrow made, and it is also unique in that every other car faces backwards, so the ride offers two different experiences. Also, it is the best darn mine train I have ever been on. I usually don't care for them, but this one is smooth as glass, has incredible terrain, and is actually fairly intense. I ended up riding it six times during the day, and would have loved to ride it more. After that, we hit another very cool attraction, Grandfather's Mansion, an old fun house. The tilted room with furniture and the swing was great fun, and it's unique attractions like this that help make parks such as Silver Dollar City such great experiences.

 

It is a good thing Silver Dollar City ended up being the last day of the trip instead of the first as originally planned, because we would have been spoiled. The park invited us to lunch at Molly's Mill, and gave us a free buffet plus drinks and dessert. There was so much good food, and we all ate until we nearly exploded. I guess we needed to work off those extra pounds, because most of the group hit the Marvel Cave together. Marvel Cave is something that no other park in the country can offer: a strenuous hour long walking tour through a real limestone cavern. It was really interesting, and we had a great time, the highlights of which sadly were Dave falling down on some stairs, and everyone blinding each other with their camera flashes. At the end of the cave, an inclined railway takes guests back up to the park.

 

I split off to shoot video, and hit Thunderation a couple more times. When I got over to Powderkeg, I found that the ride still was closed, so it looked like I was not going to get any footage. But then, as I stood there, I ran into Dave, and we witnessed trains begin testing. Talk about perfect timing. The ride opened, and we were on the second train out in the front seat. After more filming, I hit Wildfire and Thunderation again on my way out, and everyone gathered at the vans to head over to Celebration City. I was extremely impressed by Silver Dollar City, and, aside from the ERT and lunch the park gave us, it was easily the nicest park of the trip.

 

Celebration City

 

It is a little odd going from Silver Dollar City to Celebration City, which has a totally different atmosphere, and honestly has a long long way to go before it is a great park. From what I hear, though, SDC has really stepped it up a notch in the short time they have owned it since it was Branson, USA. I joined Paul Fowler for a ride on their flying scooters upon arrival, and we were disappointed to find that we could not snap them. We hit their S&S double shot, which was excellent, and then joined the group for the first coaster of the day, Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt, a S&MC Hurricane, is an evil portable coaster. The twist and dive halfway through the ride ranked right up there with Cyclops and LoCoSuMo as one of the more devilish rides of the trip.

 

Next up was the biggest improvement that Silver Dollar City has made since purchasing the park: Ozark Wildcat, a GCI woodie. The first half of the ride is pretty good, but nothing like Thunderhead, while the last little run of bunny hops and turns is spectacular, and as good a stretch of track as on any coaster out there. The ride as a whole did not impact me too much, however, on that first ride.

 

We had dinner at a fairly decent pizza place, and after that came one of the more bizarre moments of the trip. Sadly, only one park on the trip had a set of tea cups, and that was Great America. Since we were so pressed to get the coasters in due to crowds, none of us were able to hit those tea cups. But what to my eyes did appear at Celebration City but a small carousel near the front entrance, which, you guessed it, had two mini tea cups on it. Paul and Mark crammed into one, and Dave and I crammed into the other, and we went completely nuts. The cups had no restrictions on them, and we spun full speed for a few moments before the carousel even started moving. I felt like my back was going to get bent over out of the car. Next, we hit the final credit of the trip, Jack Rabbit. Jack Rabbit is a Miler portable steel coaster, and it is also incredibly evil. Ridiculous turns and stand up air were abundant on this wild little ride. We ran into Jay there, and told him about our tea cup experience, so I went back and rode a cup with Jay. I nearly died, as Jay had it spinning so fast that I could not even breathe. Paul was behind us filming, and after slowing down his footage and counting the rotations, we found that we averaged about one revolution per second!

 

I had destroyed my finger on the tea cups, so I stopped by first aid for a bandage, and then rode the Ozark Wildcat again with Jay. We then met the rest of the group for Celebration City's impressive 30 minute light show, and after that received our final spectacular surprise. For 30 minutes after park closing, we were treated to ERT on the Ozark Wildcat, and the many rides I got during that in the dark with the lights off, I was truely able to appreciate how great the Wildcat is. It is not quite Thunderhead, but is in my opinion worthy of being a top 10 wooden coaster.

 

With a final lap on the Ozark Wildcat, sadly, the Midwest Conquest came to an end. It was about 11 PM when we left Celebration City, and somehow our brave drivers survived the night, and between 6 and 7 AM we arrived in Memphis. After saying our goodbyes, we parted ways, and I headed back to North Carolina with Dave and Jay. When we picked up Jay's car, it would not start, so after some fun fixing that, I finally arrived back home around 20 hours after leaving Celebration City. Like the East Coast Trek, the MidWest Conquest was absolutely unbelievable, and I cannot thank enough those who planned it and attended. I know Chris and Natalee worked endlessly on this trip, and if they enjoyed themselves even half as much as I did, then I think it payed off completely. Chris and John did a great job of driving the vans for the 2,500 miles we covered, while Natalee and Jen were dedicated navigators. Like all long road trips in big groups, there were a few conflicts and confrontations, but I'm really glad everyone came. I have so many great memories from this trip, and coaster-wise, I do not even want to begin contemplating refiguring my favorite coaster lists. Until next year...

[Jonathan]

My photos are now up at my newly redesigned site (jonathan-hawkins.net).

 

Day 1 - Libertyland

Day 2 - Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom

Day 2 - Holiday World

Day 3 - Paramount's Kings Island

Day 4 - Indiana Beach

Day 5 - Michigan's Adventure

Day 6 - Six Flags Great America

Day 7 - Mt. Olympus

Day 7 - Timber Falls

Day 8 - Six Flags St. Louis

Day 9 - Silver Dollar City

Day 9 - Celebration City

 

Enjoy! Videos will start appearing in the future...

[geneticfreak]

What loser would pay $20.00 for a Dragon Wagon.......

quote]

 

I don't know - check out the back car!