Swampfox's Ohiovania Four Park Photo TR.

[swampfox]

Hey there all! This is my first photo TR, so please bear with me.

 

This was my first trip in which I have gone to more than two parks. This trip included Kennywood, Hersheypark, Cedar Point, and Kings Island, in that order. Of those parks, I had only been to Hersheypark before, back in 1997 and 2003, so the bulk of the trip was new for me. A word of warning about my style of park visiting. I'm not a marathon coaster rider, but go for the full experience. I love parks at night, and night rides so I always stay until closing, I ride a lot of flats, and I try to take my time just people watching and soaking up all the atmosphere.

 

Me and my dad drove up to the Uniontown area of Pennsylvania on Friday the 18th, as we were staying at a the house of a friend of mine who was also joining us. It was a long six hour drive from southern Virginia to that area, so we pretty much just went to bed after we got there.

 

Saturday was a free day as we didn't want to go to any park on a Saturday. We went and saw Dark Knight instead and rested up for tomorrow.

 

On Sunday we hit Kennywood. We were surprised to see that we had chosen the day of Kennycon, about five company picnics and Thunderbolt's 40th birthday! I suppose this means the crowds were more than usual for a Sunday, but we still had no problems with long lines.

 

First off, after my friend got a locker for his stuff, (the lockers were really cheap, by the way!), we headed to the new Ghostwood Estates. There was no line as it was opening time, and we walked right to the preshow. I liked that aspect. It was very Busch Gardens quality. In fact, the whole ride was. I had trouble seeing the end of my laser from the gun sometimes though. I only rode this once, because I didn't feel it was worth waiting in line for. I'm just not much for these new shooting rides.

 

The first coaster of the day was Exterminator, which was my first spinning mouse ride. I loved it, and tried to get as much spinning in as we could by positioning ourselves in the cars from heaviest to least heavy. It worked I think. Definitely a 5 star ride to me, and one of the most fun on the trip. The rooms were so dark you couldn't see when the turns or hills were coming. We rode the ride two times during the day.

 

After that we headed for the whip, which was an okay ride, and then to Swingshot, which was pretty cool, but too short. Then we noticed that Phantom's Revenge was finally cycling and walked to that. We had a thirty minute wait as they stopped to add the second train and the ride had a bit of a line. There were lots of ACErs there after all. This was only my second hypercoaster, as the only one I had ridden to this point was Apollo's Chariot. I'd say that Phantom's Revenge was about equal to that ride, but offers a completely different experience. Much more ejector air on this one as opposed to floater, and also much more forceful. A five star ride yet again. I noticed locals still called it the Steel Phantom, and the ACErs called it Phantom's Revenge. To not seem like either group, I just called it The Phantom. By the way, I loved the lapbars.

 

After that we headed to Thunderbolt, which was celebrating its 40th birthday that day, which was why ACE was there apparently. To be honest, I was rather disappointed with my first ride on this classic. I found it to be pretty forceless other than the bowl area's laterals. I think it would have been better with trees around it somewhere. I believe there used to be. However, the night ride I got on it was pretty awesome. Sat in the back seat that time and got some insane air. The darkness in the ravine section was pretty sweet as well. The coaster seems to be aging well. Between a four and five star ride.

 

After that we headed to Noah's Ark, which was probably my favorite dark ride ever. Loved the moving floor sections, which were in pitch black darkness on my first walk through. Second time though they were lit.

 

Rode a few flats then walked over to The Racer, which honestly was my favorite coaster at the park. It may not be very forceful, but man is it fun. There was handslapping on the turnarounds, and the crew was probably the most efficient of the park. We rode this ride three times, including one night ride, which was great. When i selected a souvenir shirt from the park, it was a Racer shirt. Five star coaster.

 

Then, as the storm clouds were building up, we rode Jack Rabbit. We rode near the back for our first ride, and got pretty good air on the double dip. It started to rain as our ride started, so it was an interesting experience. After we got off it started thundering and downpouring. After it turned to a steady rain we left to get lunch. It stopped raining after about an hour.

 

Since I don't want this post to be too long, here's some comments about the rest of the day.

 

- King Kahuna has the worst ride program ever. Three consecutive flips, and then the ride stops. Is it due to the accident a few weeks ago?

 

- Garfield's Nightmare kinda sucks, but we only waited fifteen minutes.

 

- I felt ashamed riding Auto Race as I was the only adult without a kid in line.

 

- Pittsburg Plunge is not an acceptable amount of wetness.

 

- The park at night is an experience not to be missed. I have enclosed some night pictures in this TR.

 

- I have decided that people should ask people to marry them on the benches in front of the Racer's marquee by the lake at night. Just a great spot. Odd comment, yeah, but I'm odd myself.

 

I will post day 2, Hersheypark sometime tomorrow.

[swampfox]

Okay, here are the Kennywood pictures. I know the night pics are not the clearest, but I have a cheap Aiptek camera. Also, this was the first time I used said camera, and had to get used to it. The pics get better as the trip goes I think.

Well, goodbye Kennywood, so sad to leave. Love those lights.

Jack Rabbit is my second favorite coaster in the park, and looks great at night. It's a must for a night ride.

A quite blurry picture, but it shows how awesome the park is at night. It's a whole different feel from the daytime, as are most parks at night.

Kings Dominion used to have these! I want all parks to have shroom fountains!

The people of the 30s prophesied the coming of Roseanne Barr. (and yes, that's me in the reflection.)

Thunderbolt is better at night and near the back. Happy birthday Thunderbolt. The big 4-0.

Yes, I take most of my pictures from lines. My group hated me stopping to take pictures. Yay for the Phantom though. Why is light green phantomish though?

Cosmic Chaos was great fun, as you can see by the faces of people in this picture. I could only handle it once after that fish lunch though. Ugh.

Kennywood had a good shooting gallery. I've been missing those since Kings Dominion got rid of theirs.

While it rained, we walked across the parking lot to this restaurant. Good service, fish, and root beer.

Due to me taking this picture while walking, the Lost Kennywood sign looks like a funhouse. I loved the feel of this part of the park, though it was pretty shadeless.

Here is a picture of Kennycon people getting their picture by another person... Thunderbolt is bigger than any ACEr.

The park was pretty quick to get busy. This was before the rides opened, but ACE was already there, albeit at Thunderbolt.

I love the clashing atmospheres. One midway is 50s looking, and the next is from the 70s.

Ah, such a hazy morning. Yes, a cliche parking lot picture.

[swampfox]

Alright, on to day 2, which was Hersheypark. Hersheypark is probably still my favorite park even after going to Cedar Point. I just love how the rides are intertwined, and the chaotic nature of the park. Everything is so jam packed without it looking trashy.

 

The last time I went was in 2003, so this was my first time to ride Fahrenheit and Storm Runner. They were both very pleasant experiences, with Storm Runner being a bit more thrilling and fun than Fahrenheit, despite its short length. Both coasters were very picturesque as well, which is something this park does well.

 

We picked quite a crowded Monday to go to the park, as it seems the Boys and Girls Club decided to invade on the same day, as well as this NJ Camp thing, so a lot of kids were around. Luckily they seemed to have all left by about 6 PM.

 

We waited for an hour and a half for Fahrenheit, which was the longest of the day. I got sunburn in line due to the lack of shade, but at least there was entertainment with the a capella group and the coaster going all around the queue. I loved the ride, and if you lean into the turns, it's butter-smooth. The line moves quickly and there was minimal stacking. The vertical lift does have a downside if you ride around noon like we did. The sun is right in your eyes. Great airtime on the first drop, and the ride never stops giving you inversions and hills. Besides the lift is there any straight track on this ride? A four star ride out of five. I only got to ride it once.

 

Storm Runner was awesome! The launch isn't as intense as Hypersonic's was, but it's definitely the second most intense one I've experienced. The ride was down until about 2 PM that day, so we only got to ride once. It was about a forty minute wait. Lots of surprising airtime on this one too. It's probably my second favorite coaster in the park now after Sooperdooperlooper. Five star ride.

 

Some other notes from the day...

 

- Smoking is rampant in lines, even though it's against the rules. People were smoking going right by security guards. The guards saw them and didn't say anything on any occasion. If you're going to flaunt the new rule on the speaker system every few minutes at least enforce it.

 

- Reese's Xtreme Cup Challenge is weird. It broke down with us on it right as we were about to see which team won.

 

- Wildcat is a bit smoother with the new trains, but still gives a great out of control ride. Sadly, its ridership seems very low.

 

- Lightning Racer is still as great as ever, with Lightning side winning almost every race.

 

- I have been known to criticize the positioning of the Boardwalk. It's a beautiful addition, but it has stalled further expansion of the dry park. I see more rides going in the coming years to strengthen the water park. It's very popular.

 

- The rodeo never had a line. I'm still sad it's going. Canyon River Rapids had a long line all day. Such a sad fate.

 

- The park is amazing in the one hour of night it has in late July.

 

Pictures coming in the next few posts. Oh, and comments would be appreciated.

[swampfox]

Okay, here's the first batch of pictures from Hersheypark. I'll stick mainly with Fahrenheit pics with this batch, and general pics in the second.

How can a lazy river be more fun than this? Oh well, different times different fun I guess.

This was the wettest river ride I'd ever been on. I haven't really rode one as good as this.

Another ride on the chopping block. I thought I'd get a few pics of it before laziness took it over.

The west will never be the same after the flood.

Poor Rodeo.

Lightning Racer has a nice butt.

Fahrenheit through a tree and Wildcat!

This is a boring comment, and a different angle.

See? Look at those curvy hips.

Here's a nice shot I took around sunset. Fahrenheit is very sexy.

It was a crowd-pleaser. See the happy faces?

97 degree drop has jumpstart airtime. Yeah, I made that expression up.

Vertical lift + sun overhead = burning retinas.

Here's the line we waited in for Fahrenheit. It lived up to the name of the coaster.

[coasterfreaky]

Does Cosmic Chaos have a hands-on-the-handlebars policy? Looks like it might from the pic. Dollywood's Dizzy Disk does and it bugs b/c they are nazi-like in their enforcement. I mean, if you have to be holding your hands the entire time, then it is a poor design.

 

The moto coasters have the exact same back restraints - both Zamperla right?

[swampfox]

Some more sweet pictures from the sweetest place on Earth.

I didn't get to ride this, but this is probably what the ride would look like at night to a drunk.

The Wild Mouse is one of the least braked I've been on as well. It's also very picture-worthy at sunset.

I love this shot. It's not ride specific, but it's pretty.

The Claw is one of the best flats in the park and has a great light package at night.

Boardwalk is neat and is crowded right until it closes.

However, I love the way Great Bear, SDL, and Coal Cracker interweave.

Sooperdooperlooper is quite photogenic as well. It was moreso before Great Bear joined it.

SFMM take notice. Lap bars. Headrests are fine. Shoulder harnesses are not needed on such finely engineered coasters.

Sooperdooperlooper is still my favorite coaster in the park though, just because I love a classic.

Nice loopage and quite smooth if you lean into the turns.

Storm Runner is a weird looking coaster, but is a pretty intense wild ride.

It's amazing the park can stay so beautiful while cramming all those rides in. The back of Pioneer Frontier is a hidden treasure.

Sidewinder didn't give me a headache. I don't know why it gets a bad rap.

[swampfox]

^^ I don't think Cosmic Chaos has a strict handlebar policy, as I think on some runs, riders had their hands up. However, it's hard to understand the ride rules that are spoken out for the ride, so there could be. If it's a rule, it's not enforced very well.

[Philrad71]

Nice report (s)...I fully agree with three things that you pointed out:

 

#1. Thunderhead is over-rated. Fun, classic coaster, but I was a little disappointed with all of the raving I have heard about it.

 

#2. Getting rid of the rapids ride at Hershey is downright stupid. Not only is it a good crowd killer, it is one of the best rapids rides ever! They actually have the waterfalls turned on - HINT, HINT, CP!!!!

 

#3. Sidewinder (and boomerangs in general) get way too much bad publicity. Is it where I am sitting (back)? I have never had a headache either when I get off one of these unless they have the Arrow looking trains. People must be just riding them wrong!

[swampfox]

Yeah, I was sitting in the back for Sidewinder when I rode it as well. The most I get is a bit of a slight sickening feeling going through the loop backwards.

 

I have a feeling rapids rides are going to be taken out more often now. I think perhaps they have become insurance liabilities, and I know they are expensive to run and maintain. I would look for them to go the way of the 1st Gen Intamin drop towers. Sad thought, but I feel it coming.

 

Thunderbolt is I think a bit overrated, whereas The Racer is underrated.

[mike541x]

Nice TR. Looking at those HP pictures make me realise that I need to go back there sometime soon.

[swampfox]

Sorry I haven't updated this in a week. I've been busy. At any rate, the first day of Cedar Point pics will be up on Monday sometime. Until then, here's some thoughts of my first day ever at Cedar Point.

 

(All coasters/rides not spoken of will be talked about on the TR of the second day. This update only encompasses the first one.)

 

After a day off after Hersheypark to recharge ourselves and get to Ohio, we headed to Cedar Point. During our two day stay at the park, we camped out at nearby East Harbor State Park, which I really must recommend. Great staff, good camping spots, and on the peninsula at one point there's a park which gives you a great view of far-off Cedar Point from the back of the park.

 

Anyways, I had been looking forward to going to Cedar Point since I first learned about the park when I was eight years old. Now I was finally there.

 

After my dad parked in the wrong parking lot, (I wanted to park in the Soak City lot to get to Maverick before the front lot people did), I decided to change the plan and head to Millennium Force first for the first day. After the ropes dropped we fast walked there and had about a 35 minute wait. I LOVED this coaster. My highest coaster before this had only been 205 feet (Griffin), but looking towards the lake side of the train, it didn't look as high as it was, and my arms went up for the whole ride. It may not have much air, but man is it a rush. Definitely ended up as one of my three favorites at Cedar Point and of all time as well.

 

After that we headed to Mantis. Not well liked by enthusiasts, but man is it pretty. Everyone had fun in line spitting into the water and watching all the fish swim real fast towards it and (yuck) devouring it. The coaster wasn't as enthralling, but it was pretty cool. We rode in the very back, and I didn't bang my head at all or get my nuts crunched. My dad got headbanged though. Leaning into turns helps. Only rode this once during the trip.

 

After that the day gets cloudy for me, and the day literally got cloudier. We rode Maxair which we all loved and sadly only got to ride once. Quite a gentle ride actually.

 

I think we rode Magnum next, which I rode in the ejector seat for my first ride. Painful on the return trip, yes, but I asked for it. I wanted ejector air, and I damn well got it. I loved this coaster. It's in my top ten now. For me a bit of pain just comes with the territory for coasters.

 

The clouds started spitting when we were on Magnum's break run, so we headed over to The Monster. Worst ride of that type I've ever been on. No spinning whatsoever, and a very short cycle. The ride op offered to buy my Iron Maiden shirt right off my back while I was there, but it was the shirt I got from the show I went to, so I said heck no.

 

After raining hard for about a minute, in which we went to the Gemini Arcade (in which I played an odd variation of SkeeBall), we headed towards Mean Streak and it shut down while we got in line due to rain. We left the line and started towards the car for lunch at which point the downpour started. We were near the overbank turn of Millennium Force at the time, and sorta ran to this bandstand/fake train station lobby thing and waited it out there. It then started to hail after about twenty minutes. Yes, the official Cedar Point welcome storm. After about an hour it stopped and we went and got lunch.

 

From here on I can't remember the order of the day, so I'll just hit the highlights.

 

- Blue Streak is pretty good, but I got no air. 1 ride

 

- Mean Streak does indeed suck. Sometimes it feels like it won't make it around the curves, and it's just so darned boring. Wasn't rough to me though, and I was even in the gold train. I sat in the front though... one ride was enough.

 

- Wicked Twister was pretty cool sitting in the very back. Very odd stomach feeling. Only got to ride it once.

 

- Demon Drop was more frightening than any other drop ride I've been on. Loved it. 2 rides

 

- Got 3 full flips on what is supposedly one of the worst run Chaos out there. 1 ride

 

- Cedar Creek Mine Ride is about equal to Carowinds' Gold Rusher. 1 ride

 

- Gemini was a pretty cool run, but sometimes painful in the positive G department. (rode it in the back) 1 ride

 

- Corkscrew was boring, but not painful. 1 ride for credits' sake.

 

- I loved Disaster Transport. Waited an hour, but it was so cheesy and tacky it was as if it was made for me. I'm the kind of guy who collects Godzilla movies and loves the old Battlestar Galactica so... yeah. 1 ride.

 

- We rode some flats like Super Himalaya, Calypso, Power Tower (both sides), and Space Spiral during the day as well, but waited for a night ride on Raptor. It was a 45 minute wait and well worth it. Sat in the back again and got forcibly thrown about the seat. It was an awesome, out of control ride. The park was closed after we got off, so we left after that.

 

Ya know, what I loved the most about the park aside from the employee enthusiasm, the great coasters, and the 80 degree weather we had was the other park guests. I frequent Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens, and Carowinds. When I go to those parks, people in line are most often really bored-looking and generally just send out a depressing vibe. At Cedar Point, most everyone seemed to be having a great time, and I enjoyed most of all just watching the people have such a good time. Even with a hour and forty five minute line at Cedar Point, no one seemed to be bored or angry at having to wait in the line. It was great.

 

Pictures up sometime Monday. Day II up later this week. Please tell me if you'd like me to finish these updates. If they're too boring I'll just stop while I'm ahead.

[swampfox]

Here are photos from day 1 at Cedar Point.

Well, actually it was just a hail storm, but it was one of the worst I've been in.

And then this meteor shower started and we all died!!!!

On our way to the car for lunch, this suddenly started.

Here's an amateurish artsy shot of Maverick.

I loved this arcade by Gemini that seemed unchanged since the area opened in the late 70s. Boom Ball? WTH?

Even with the clouds, Cedar Point is incapable of looking dreary.

The day starts to look ominous.

An assault of colors supports and sky! One thing Cedar Point does well is yellows, reds and blues.

Mantis may not be that good of a ride, but she sure is pretty.

Millennium Force moons the clouds.

Millennium Force was my first ride at the park, and man was it awesome.

A random picture whilst waiting for the rope to drop.

At least we got a good parking spot. Blue Streak makes itself known.

So here's where we camped at East Harbor State Park, about twenty minutes from Cedar Point. Great place.

[swampfox]

... and the rest of day 1.

This is how the lights would look if the park were owned by Paramount. (AKA not fixed since it opened.)

Come on, it ain't that dumb of a ride... It's got its cheesy charm. I dug it.

So sad these rides are not around much anymore. I love em.

So when we got back to the station, someone yelled "Oh my God! My spleen!"

Oh don't they look thrilled...

Tell me, how often do they ever have to use these switchbacks on Mean Streak?

Sadly, where there is smoke does not necessarily mean there is fire. Mean Streak is still there.

"My pine! Why you.... You mutating *expletive* you killed a pine!" Extra points to anyone who can name the movie.

Maverick money shot.

The sun smiles upon Millennium Force... either that or the sun had an orgasm.

One of those shots that everybody comes home with.

Would this be considered crowded for a Wednesday?

Meh, it was okay. Not much air to speak of.

After we ate and it stopped raining we went here... Man I loved this ride.

[hemmy]

I agree Disaster Transport gets way too much hate.

[dragonskeep]

I need to get to Hershey badly. Thanks for the report.