Photo TR: Evan's midwest adventure

[What Now]

I flew into CVG on July 30 at 4pm or so. Picked up the rental car yadda yadda yadda. The car I picked out was a Red Volkswagon Jetta (SCORE!). I left the rental car place at about 5, so I hit Cinncinatti during rush hour (blah), but it wasn't that bad.

 

The next day, I picked up Will (willmontu) at CMH (Columbus' airport). We went straight to Geuaga Lake. But first, lunch at the first Steak N Shake of the trip. It was delish.

 

We got to the park at about 3 or so. Will bought a ticket and I tryed getting in with my Knott's Maxx Pass. The sccanners wouldn't scan my pass, so I had to go to guest relations to get a ticket, blah.

 

We were both in, so our first ride of the day was...

 

Double Loop: typical Arrow roughness and not that exiting. NEXT!

 

Villan: G-trains are evil. Imagine Ghostrider with Wild Mouse cars, not fun.

 

Beaverland Mine Ride: One of the better rides here, sadly.

 

Dominator: My #1 Floorless Coaster in Ohio!

 

Thunderhawk: I've ridden worse SLCs.

 

Head Spin: um...it's a Boomerang.

 

Big Dipper: It has Stand-up airtime, too bad about the pot holes.

 

Then we rode Dominator a couple more times. Then, we check out the former Sea World side of the park. One things this park can use is a better way to get across that damned lake. A skyway or something would be nice, but I don't think it'll happen.

 

The waterpark is where most of the people are. The waterpark is a nice start, but it can use more slides. Right now it has a Tornado, Combo Tower, and a wavepool.

 

Anyway, on to the photos!

I leave you with this. Next Park: Dollywood

and a slide tower. Didn't look THAT good.

um..they have a Tornado!

Why are SLCs so photogenic?

ooo purty

What was that all aboot, eh?

We took a long walk off a long bridge.

Get ready to be Dominated! This is an S&M coaster (if you don't get it, don't ask).

The Phoenix...with potholes!

um..it's a boomerang. NEXT!

A TPR first, a picture OF Will. oooooooh aaaaah.

This Thunderhawk thrilled cereal (god help me, this early into the TR and already I can't think of a good caption).

..or maybe not.

We thought we'd ride Raging Wolf Bobs while we were over there.

I guess I'm not much for Floorless Coasters.

hehe someone said Beaver

Why couldn't they take out this?

The first credit of the day was Double Loop. Ker-Pow!

Welcome to Geuaga Lake. Home to trash cans are flags in multiples of six.

[cobra_roll06]

Hey man cool TR! You took some really nice pics!

[What Now]

Dave (methos) flew into Columbus at about midnight. To get to Dollywood at opening, we would've had to have left town at around three. This did not happen, as we didn't even get to the hotel until around two that morning. So, instead the three of us left the hotel at about 7.

 

The drive down was fraught with a great many perils, traffic in Cincinnati and Lexington, fog, and porn shops! Oh, and not to mention the beautiful scenery in the Cumberland Gap. I would've taken pictures if I weren't driving (check out Will's TR for that).

 

We finally got to Dollywood around four in the afternoon. We met up with Jim (don't remember his screen name) at the park. It looked fairly busy, so we got Q2Q. That way, we got on the rides within 15mins at the most. Our first ride was....

 

Thunderhead: A GCI with airtime, who'dathunk? I love it. It's not glass smooth, but it's still enjoyable. Would like to have ridden it more.

 

Next up...

 

Mystery Mine: I really dug (no pun intended) the theming. Very clever. As for the ride itself, I like it, especially that insanely steep drop. This was were I heard the quote of the day. We were handing our camera bags off to this ride-op lady and she said "Boy, y'all sure have a lot of stuff for fellers".

 

Timber Tower: I enjoyed this ride more then I thought it would. Would've been nice if the water fountains actually got you wet, but you can't have everything, I guess.

 

Next we headed over toward the other end of the park. Two of us were going to ride the Rapids ride, but it broke down or something. The first thing we did in this part of the park was...

 

Tennessee Tornado: It's not a Toomah! It's smooth for an Arrow ride, hell, smoother then some B&M rides out there *cough*Iron Wolf*cough* The sound effects were a nice cheesy touch.

 

Blazing Furry: Jim called it that, so I stole it. lol As for the ride itself, it's awesome. What is it? Go ride it for yourself!

 

Mountain Slidewinder: Probably the scariest water ride I've done. I for sure thought we were going to tip over.

 

Dollywood is an awesome park with friendly employees, wonderful atmosphere, and great rides (would've love to have done the shows ah well).

 

Now for THE PHOTOS:

The train zooms by at LIGHT SPEEEED.

De Choo-choo twain.

Pure unadulterated craziness.

Marvel at this wonder, the UNDERSIDE OF A BRAKERUN!

Derek and Jahan need tissues right about now.

A Tennessee Tornado, that is.

Looks like a tornado has been by recently.

aaah

 

They do not skimp on theming or beauty.

oooh

Timmmmberrrr!

1st high banked turn!

awesome drop!

The wildest ride in the..wrong park.

Looks like they are enjoying the ride!

Whee!

Let the thunder roll!

The first thing we rode. What's the name again?

 

Dave's numba 200 coasta.

Welcome to Dollywood! A great park in the smokies!

[ms13]

I need to get to Dollywood one of these days!

Looks like a great park.

Anyway, great photos and TR.

Cant wait for the rest.

[methos]

coaster 200 rocked my socks.

 

thunderhead is amazing, sorry to all the rumbler fans on the uk trip but thunderhead was hands down the better woodie. i love both of them though, both top ten coasters.

 

mystery mine was amazing theming un expected changes in direction, far different then i expected. i loved it, kept me guessing as to what was coming next.

 

tornado best arrow looper hands down. this ride is tucked in to the hillside trees and speed not to mention a huge loop and sweet first drop into a tunnel.

 

blazing furry is a cool ride must be ridden to understand, not explainable. just fun

 

sidewinder is the best wet "not so dry" slide ever. its fast and on the verge of out control and down a hillside with trees and shade. take not sfi trees and shade help make better rides.

 

dollywood is defiantly a must visit.

 

i must say though the scariest ride of the trip was the car ride to cinci

[What Now]

^ Die!

 

We got up early the next morning to get to CVG at about noon. The traffic wasn't as bad this time. In fact, I got the Jetta to go up to 110mph at one point, for most of the journey I drove at 85mph.

 

We dropped off the rental, got on the shuttle. We then ran into Terrence on the shuttle. Once at the terminal, we met up with most of the group. Once the buses finally got there, we were of to our first bonus park which was.....

 

Coney Island! Nobody saw that coming.

 

The Arrow bus tried to go through the regular parking lot entrance, but it got stuck. After the bus set itself free, it was over to the bus parking. This time it fit. lol

 

After we were off the bus and had wristbands. We went over to our first ride. The first ride for me was Pepsi Python *cha ching*. Credit!

 

Next up was the Rock O'plane. I wish there was one in So Cal. They are a lot of fun, albeit a workout. The workout getting the gondola to go upside down didn't help me cool down.

 

Next, I think, was lunch at La Rosa's pizza. The pizza there was actually pretty good. The only downside was I used up all my Coney bucks for it.

 

I think the next ride was the bumper cars. Those are always fun and the ride op was cool. He made fun of everybody on his ride.

 

Next was the slides of doom.

 

Next was the drop tower (don't know the name). It actually had a decent amount of airtime, but the scariest part was when it would drop unexpectedly. No hold, no noise, just drop.

 

Rode the Rock O'plane again and ate some Ice Cream at some point while waiting for the bus to leave.

 

On to zee pictures!

"Durrrr! I'm Max! I enjoy riding Frog Hoppers and killing chats."

Sucks to be him!

Zee Rock O'Plane

Flying Boobs..and a tree.

um..TPR members in line for Python!

[Reon]

Coney's drop tower is...well, I just call it Identity Crisis because it has TOO MANY FRIGGEN NAMES!?!?? The park's name is "Scream Machine", but it still has the company and model on it, so who really cares?

 

 

 

-Jared "The guy who ran Python for the TPR trip" Becker

[man]

aaaaaaaaw laaame dude laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame (to last caption)

 

nice TR

[What Now]

Finally onto Holiday World!

 

Voyage is the first thing you see on the horizon. This ride is tall, it looks even taller next the the corn fields that are everywhere in this state. Voyage towers over everything around it, even the park's other coasters.

 

The tour group was let in a side way (for the lack of a better word). We got views of The Raven that you can't get from the midway. So, needless to say, the photographers in the group took lots of pictures of Raven, Legend, and of course Voyage on our way in. The first ride we all headed for was...

 

Voyage, of course: What can I say that hasn't already been said? This ride is nuts. Very big, very fast. One of the more intense wooden coasters I've ridden.

 

After riding that twice during ERT, it was off to shoot some turkeys! Er, I mean "call" some turkeys. *Gobble Gobble*

 

Next, it was time to ride. Legend. It was rough and had too many laterals. blah. Not my kind of ride.

 

Since, it was so hot, next ride to hit was Frightful Falls. It got ya wet. Exactly what was needed.

 

Then, The Raven, This is an awesome ride. The smoothest of the three, it had some airtime, the setting was great. It was short but sweet! I ended up riding this more then anything else this day.

 

The awesomest thing at Holiday World, though, was the free soda pop! I, like many others, took full advantage of Pepsi Oasis that day. I stiopped at one every time I was by one. I bet not as many people get heat stoke here then at Six Flags.

 

At some point during the day was, a group of us took over Howler. Totally the best ride in the park!

 

Next, I think, was the Flyers. Those are fun rides, even if you bonk your elbow on the side of the tub.

 

Liberty Launch was also nearby. So, I and others rode that. I actually really enjoy S&S towers and this was a good one.

 

I also went to Splashin' Safari later in the day (yes, even me). I hung out with Robb and his group for a bit. We rode the Lazy River near the front of the water park first. Nice, and relaxing, but isn't the point to just float around and around. ah well.

 

Net they did some sort of enclosed slide (sorry, don't remember the name) that I didn't ride. After that they got in line for Bakuli, for which I didn't blah.

 

Instead, I went over to Bamboo Racer with Snorky. I love this slide! We rode that a couple of times. We also rode the purple and blue slides near the front of the water park, two of the lazy rivers, and one of the wave pools, while Robb, Elissa, and their posse waited for Bakuli.

 

The day ended with most of us riding Raven over and over again.

 

Now I'll get yaking and get on to the photos.

Let us end this trip report with a prayer.

One of the cooler looking swings around.

90 degrees!!!

All of us trying to get an exclusive shot.

This drop really is this steep.

It's walkback time!

Behind the scenes at a group photo.

umm...It's Howler.

So, we did our own water show.

They've got nothing on me!

Not a Casey friendly doorway.

Carl and Scott seemed to enjoy their ride.

woohoo! Time to ride The Raven!

Time to "call" turkeys.

So, that's were we went first.

Yes, Voyage we see you.

The Helix of Evilness.

It's Legendary.

ooooh aaaah

Raven go down the hoooole.

What's this ride called?

The tallest thing for miles.

Holiday World entrance to the left, Splashin' Safari to the right.

Holiday World: Home of two water towers.

[kraken613]

Finally someone that can say Thunderhead is better than Rumbler!

Thats the way I describe Blazing Fury too you just have to ride. And someone who didnt complain about Mystery Mine being to rough!

Sounds like yoou liked Dollywood. Its my favorite park.

[FLIPDUDE]

Nice TR liked the behind the scenes of a group photo shot XD keep it up!

[Team Thriller]

Looks like you had a awesome time.

[methos]

Mystery mine wasn't rough,heck you haven't seen rough till you ride t2, but yea I love the sudden unexpected changes in direction on the mine. Evan I wish I would have taken video of the drive to cinci, that fog was crazy, and well their were many interesting things along the way.

 

Make a legal U-turn!!!

 

Voyage is a sick coaster, its not rough it has lots of airtime and is one of the most intense rides i have ever been on. Raven was fantastic. Legend was not bad, not top ten but not bad (sorry freddie i did say not top ten).

 

 

Holiday World is a great park all around, its a must visit just like Dollywood. Both parks have nothing but good coasters, and some cool flats too.

 

How many oasis credits did you get?????

[kraken613]

Mystery Mine is one of my favorite coasters. The ejector on that first verticle drop is awsome!

[What Now]

Now it's Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom and Beech Bend time!

 

The first ride I ever did that day was Chang. Decent stand-up, but it's no Riddler.

 

Next ride was Twisted Twins. Only one side was open. The park wanted to get it up and running for the group, Their was a mechanic working on getting the other side up and running. As for the ride itself, it wasn't as brutal as I expected, although that might be because of the trims.

 

T2 was up next, not a very good ride. blah.

 

Next was, Greezed Lightnin'! Probably the best coaster in the park (Thunder Run didn't 'Run' at all during our visit. Dar and I ended up riding Greezed Lightnin' a lot. It's a lot of fun, but Knott's still has the best shuttle loop.

 

Next ride after ERT for some of us was the Rainbow. Fun, fun ride as always. I wish Knott's still had there's. sigh

 

Then Christiana and I rode the musical instrument merry go round thing. Good times. I think she (or CoasterJoe) has the photos from that.

 

Then it was time to head for their Roadrunner coaster. The line for that NEEDS shade, the typical Six Flags employee's didn't help much either. As for the ride, blah, typical crappy mouse.

 

Then it was time for lunch. The 'Italian picnic' whatever was probably the best meal I had at a Six Flags park, especially the breadsticks. I ate a plate full of breadsticks. yum!

 

Next was another ride on Rainbow followed by the simulator thingy. Didn't know there was a simulator at SFKK? Me neither. The best part? It was air conditioned!

 

Then it was time for the last credit of the day, the Roller Skater. I had a row to myself, so I rode relaxed style.

 

Then it was time to head to our next park.

 

Beech Bend!

 

It's really in the middle of nowhere. The parking lot is mostly grass.

 

The first thing a lot of us rode was the Crazy Mouse. It can spin quite a bit with the right weight distribution blah blah blah. I rode with Vannessa and Cora, so we basically weighed the same and didn't get much spinning.

 

Next ride was either the drop tower or the Dragon Wagon whatever. The drop tower was freaky. The kiddie coaster was also freaky, felt like it was gonna fall apart.

 

Now for what really mattered, Kentucky Rumbler. Awesome awesome coaster. It's not the biggest or the fastest, but it's a lot of fun and very re-ridable. Yes, I prefer this to Thunderhead or any other GCII I've ridden.

 

Enough yaking!

Happy Rumbler ridders ride off into the sunset. Thanks for reading.

wiiiii

Let the thunder ro..wrong ride.

"Let's get ready to Rumble!"

KY Rumbler is not a new brand of lube, although this is smooth wood.

So.Many.Lame.Jokes

um..it's me.

Terry: AAAAH!!

David: I'm Fabulous!

Gary: whatever

It's a random foot!

The only pic I got at SFKK. The battery died on the SLR soon after that.

[What Now]

Now it's Indiana Beach time!

 

Indiana Beach is like a mini Blackpool Pleasure Beach. It has a lot of rides are stacked on top of each other practically. This park is also very random, like BPPB. A tiki head here, a pirate ride there, just whatever. The clintele also added to the randomnimity of the park. For example, this goth girl guy thing was wondering around. Nobody dared take it's picture because it would kicked your ass.

 

I also loved how rides were placed directly over the water. That totally made the chairswings and the flyers.

 

Not really gonna review the rides in any particular order:

 

Cornball Express: I love love love that ride! There's airtime everywhere, ejector airtime! Christiana felt that she needed to hold me in. Forget Chang! This is a better stand-up coaster.

 

Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain: I expected this to be a bone rattling experince, but it was actually a good ride. Good even when your facing backward. I rode this twice facing forward and backward.

 

Den of Lost Thieves: Shooting Dark Ride! These things are always a blast. The best part, though, was getting to shoot at random people on the midway.

 

Double Shot: One of the better S&S towers out there. Quite a bit of airtime, especially the 'pop top'. Dar and I made the mistake of riding it at night. The ride launch and it was RAINING insects. grrrrrrossss.

 

Hoosier Hurricane: It is kind of like Colossus at SFMM. It's big and it looks awesome, but it's merely ok.

 

Frankenstein's Castle: You'll either love it or think it's totally lame. I, personally, thought it was awesome. Then again, I love kitche. This walkthrough was right up my alley.

 

Air Crow: This is a good set of flyers actually. I wasn't able to snap it, but others did. Oh, and did I mention that I like the location?

 

And now...

The horror movie monster guys says, "Thanks for reading".

An X better then SFMM's.

yo ho!

Fun little Schwartzkopf

Who's your hurricane?

Cornball is a "family coaster"

Awesome ride!

One of the first rides you come across.

Chris can hardly contain himself.

Getting closer...

What is a burgershake?

La mapa.

There's more then corn in Indiana.

The area outside of Indiana Beach is creepy.

[FLIPDUDE]

Lol, cool TR! Keep it going!

 

What's witht he creepy mist effect in the first two IB pics?

[What Now]

^ I have no idea, really. Those pics just came out like that.

[HerBlackWings]

Greeneyes, you rawk. Awesome TR, and the captions are priceless. Thanks for scaring the life outta' me on Cornball, I thought I was about to lose you after even the slightest bunny hop. (BTW, you weren't the only one who was amused by the heroine-chic/emo/pigtailed/MarilynManson1996-meetsAvril2006 thing.)

 

Here is that photo from the orchestra carousel. Me = brash. You = understated.

[FLIPDUDE]

^What happened on the Cornball? Did he almost get ejected too?

[HerBlackWings]

Yeah, I believe it was the front row for Evan and I. Other than that, I hit other parts of the train with numerous people. Cora and I hit it quite a few times in the back, during the rain.

[FLIPDUDE]

Cora and I hit it quite a few times in the back, during the rain.

 

Don't tempt me to put that quote in as my signature.(What? I'm a cartoonsit, it's my job to think of hidden meanings and innuendos)

 

And yeah, I think I told you over AIM but I rode in the front too and halfway through I realized my seatbelt was unbuckled and had to grab onto the front of the train scremaing my head off.

 

Later that night when I rode int he same spot my seatbelt streched so far it actually went past the lapbars.

[What Now]

Now time for some Grave fun!

 

We got a 'sneak-peak' on Meteor, the park's newest junior wooden coaster. It was relocated from Hillcrest Park in Chicago, IL. Meteor is a fun, smooth (I'd be concerned about a ride that new being rough) coaster. Just right for the whole family.

 

We had about an hour at this park, so, I tried to get all the credits I could. I succeeded. The next credit I got was the Mad Mouse

 

Mad Mouse: It certainly throws you around. Not a bad ride, actually.

 

The Kiddie Coaster from hell: It's right next to a grave yard.

 

Toboggan: Not as bad as I expected, but it's not tall people friendly.

 

So yeah, the park is next to a graveyard. So, if the rides don't do you in, the ride ops will.

 

blah blah blah...

and now, this PTR must depart.

Some of us could just step over it.

It's Hanno!

No handslapping for you!

Handslap POV!

Looks like they enjoyed their ride.

Where do you get in?

[FLIPDUDE]

Lol, nice TR, but I think it might be alittle too short... You copuld hardly see any bit of the park.

 

 

Also, is it jsut me or would nobody handslap that guy on ANY ride? I think he got denied on Rumbler too.

[What Now]

^ LOL! Really? Now I feel bad....not really.

 

Stupid me forgot to post all the photos I wanted, so here they are:

It surely is mad.

 

Mt. Olympus coming soon.

'NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!'

They have a bigger Ferris Wheel too.