Eric and Candace's East Coast Trip PTR

ernierocker · September 4, 2008

What, no "Glory" reference? LAME.

I tried but I just couldn't think of a reference to go with the movie without really stretching it. Its a shame because that is one of his best performances in my opinion. Glad you are enjoying it so far!

Time for another update!

Day 4 – Six Flags Great Adventure

Day 4 got off to a bang with us almost oversleeping. The stupid hotel alarm clock failed to wake us up. (I probably failed to set it right) Fortunately, I am used to waking up at 6:30 every morning, so I just happened to wake up about 30 minutes before the bus was scheduled to leave. With a little of that “oh crap, I just overslept” adrenaline aiding us, we were able to get ready, pack, and be downstairs in time to grab some breakfast for the bus.

As you may already know, the weather would have a big impact on our day. Let me just say, that if it hadn’t been for the rain, we were on track to have all of the coaster credits before 1:00 and then have 7 hours for marathon runs on El Toro and Nitro. It is hard to tell how crowded the park would of gotten, but in my mind it would have been the largest crowds SFGadv had ever seen, and the whole day we would laugh at the huge waits with Gold Q-bots in hand. But back to reality, we ended up falling 5 credits short on the day. The only two I regretted missing were Medusa and Skull Mountain. I already had Superman at Six Flags Over Georgia and been on the other Arrow 7-loopers. As for Rolling Thunder, at least I was saving that pain until the next day on Roar.

El Toro was just incredible. The only thing keeping it from beating out Boulder Dash at the top spot was the ending. Compared to the rest of the ride, that little S curve ending was anticlimactic. Especially, with that drop going over Rolling Thunder right before it. I really would of loved to have gotten on it later in the day after all the track had warmed up. Something to look forward to in the future I suppose.

Kingda Ka was a great experience but I think once a visit is enough for me. I preferred Storm Runner much more because it actually did something.

Highlights for the day

- El Toro of course

- Nitro (another one I wish I could of gotten more rides on)

- The sandwiches G.J.’s wife brought us at lunch

- Drinking 8 dollar beers at the Best of the West Grill

Yes, I am a dork.

Why so many green trash cans behind the fountains?

Meh.

Maybe we took so many pictures of it, because deep down I am a closet Arrow Dynamics fan.

Best of the West means $8 beers evidently.

Okay, I'll admit it this time. We tried to get this shot.

Since Medusa was not open yet, it was time for a sky ride over to the other side of the park.

No log flume for us today.

After Kingda Ka, we headed back here to ride the mine train.

More featured GASM photos than Kingda Ka? What is wrong with this trip report?

So, the ride starts to suck at the bottom of this hill, is that about right?

I did remember to take pictures of Scream Machine.

This is going to have to count as a Kingda Ka photo. We were in a rush to get over there and I forgot to get some close-ups after the ride.

After ERT on El Toro, they allowed us to be the first riders of the day on Kingda Ka!

(We broke it of course)

These fountains were so photogenic!

Here is a scenic shot of some pretty fountains. Anything that shows up in the background is merely a coincidence.

Here is some footers just in case there are any foundation engineers out there.

I believe I preferred the front seat because of the view you get on the first drop.

This is the one!

No, no! Not that!

Hmm, I wonder where we are going to next?

They made us watch the pre-show which was pretty good. I guess Aaron Eckhart is hurting for work, because he was the only actor to appear from the movie.

Dark Knight was okay. I can barely remember this ERT session, as it was being overshadowed by my anticipation for El Toro.

We will be riding these Beemers later!

Marcos really seemed to be interested in that trash can for some reason.

I found it odd that once you got through the entrance plaza, you were almost at the back of the park.

I see you testing there, El Toro!

Ahhh, I love the sight of steel in the morning!

ernierocker · September 4, 2008

More Great Adventure...

Make us go that way!

Last one for tonight. Thanks for reading!

It would rain off and on throughout the rest of the afternoon.

We ended up waiting here until the meet up time.

So long Medusa, perhaps I will get to ride your west coast buddy next year.

So, all we could do was take more photos of it.

Unfortunately, it would start to rain again.

Not testing yet.

The rain had actually stopped for a while, so we headed over to Medusa to see if it would start testing.

I made Candace take this photo because of the theming I guess.

Future home of the 2009 coaster project?

The rain pretty much cleared out the park. Either that or everyone was in line for the Dark Knight.

Who is Elisha Cuthbert?

(Before I met Candace of course! )

Same thing as Catwoman's Whip at SFNE but with two cycles instead of just one.

After lunch, there was nothing else to do but to walk around and take some random photos.

I believe they were spiked though, because I look shlossed in this photo!

G.J.'s wife was kind enough to bring everyone these awesome sandwiches. They were very good!

And look who showed up!

After finding out a storm was on the way, we decided to seek shelter at the Panda Express.

We had terrible luck on Skull Mountain. The ride broke down as we were waiting in the station and it never reopened.

I think I prefer the ones that go left to right, instead of right to left.

One ride was enough for this one.

Nitro was a great ride. I really wished we could of had a marathon session on this one.

rollin_n_coastin · September 4, 2008

Eric, great pics!

Glad to hear you made it on to Nitro. We didnt' make it that far or even to Medusa before it rained. Why? We rode Scream Machine instead haha

The log flume, from another visit, is crazy. If you're a closet Arrow fan, you'll love the flume, it's just as rough as any Arrow!

tigerxeyez · September 4, 2008

I love the picture of GJ and his kids! They're so cute! So much red hair!!! Even Wagner and I made an appearance! This is bringing back great memories, keep em comin!

cherryblossom · September 4, 2008

^^ actually that's too much red hair for 1 family

krazekiddd · September 4, 2008

Eric,

I love your trip reports! Though it was Candace taking all the photos correct? Either way, you guys are awesome! I wish I had more time getting to know you two.

ernierocker · September 4, 2008

Though it was Candace taking all the photos correct?

It depends on which update. For instance, Great Adventure was split about 50/50 between photos taken by both of us. The Six Flags America report will be just my photos because Candace wanted a break from lugging all the camera equipment around. I gradually started taking more and more photos as the trip progressed, because I was wearing Candace out trying to get specific photos that I wanted.

cherryblossom · September 4, 2008

Eric is going to make a great photographer's assistant

stingrock23 · September 4, 2008

Had to love those $8 dollar beers.

Those pork roll sandwiches were unbelievable, though. I could go for one of those right about now.

gmoney422 · September 5, 2008

Yea, more pics of ME!!! DAMN, I makes me some cute babies!

Nathan is a total attention whore like his Pops, and Grace is looking at Wagner asking, "Daddy, is that REALLY Kumar...?"

ernierocker · September 5, 2008

^LOL! She does have that questioning look in her eyes.

This next update will be a non-photo update...

Day 4 cont’d: Delaware: The Traffic Jam State

Because of the rain-out at Six Flags, we ended up leaving four hours earlier than scheduled. As a result, it was looking like we were going to get a rare early night to the hotel. (So, we thought) After an uneventful drive through Jersey, we were greeted by a severe thunderstorm as we crossed the bridge into Delaware. This would serve as an omen. About half-way across the bridge, traffic pretty much stopped. I noticed that there was a toll booth up ahead, so I figured that was the reason for the traffic. As we passed the booth, the traffic jam did not stop. It ended up taking us almost three hours to go the 17 miles necessary to drive through Delaware! And what was the cause of this horrendous traffic jam? Another toll booth! After we finally got through my new favorite state, we also hit a smaller traffic jam in Baltimore. So, when we finally got to our hotel in Maryland, it was at the originally scheduled time of 11:30.

The Delaware episode would lead to a funny experience at least. While we were stuck in the Toll booth State, the buses made a stop at a service area/rest stop. We had 30 minutes to go to the bathroom and grab something to eat. It was clear as we walked in, that this place was swarmed with angry motorists trapped in the same traffic jam, so we decided to hit up the pasta buffet which had the shortest line. It ended up being one of those buffets that charged by the weight of the food. What made this more special, was that they didn’t strain any of the pasta or meat causing half of the entrees to be swimming in water. Jason (Rollin N’ Coastin), who was in front of me in line, ended up getting about 1.6 lbs of food with half of it being water! Somehow, I ended up with just over one pound of “food” even though it looked like I had more of it than him.. Later on the bus, Jay (Eltoroextreme) provided us with one of those “information that would have been useful an hour ago” tidbits when he told us that a person should never eat a buffet at a turnpike rest area. Fortunately, we survived the buffet.

One last thing I wanted to add to this update. Not even an hour after we left SFGadv, Robb informed us that they were working on a plan to send a bus back to the park so everyone could get the credits that they missed. I believe within a day they had the whole plan worked out. If you wanted to go back, a bus (led by Jahan) would take a group on our Dorney Park day after morning ERT. We had already received free vouchers. The bus would then return in time for Evening ERT at Dorney. Although, we ended up choosing to stay and rest, I really appreciated R&E doing everything they could to make up for a situation that they had no control over. This is just one of the many benefits of going on a TPR trip. (Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe everyone that went got all of their Dorney Park credits too!)

Godwyn · September 5, 2008

I'm not sure about everybody, but I know Drew, Chris and I got all of our credits at Dorney. Before we left for SF, all we really had left to get was the mouse credit. We tried to get it before we left (like Robb had suggested) but we had about a half hour before we needed to head back to catch the bus and we stood in line for 5 minutes and didn't even move, so we went and got the kiddie credit and headed out. So when we got back, we got the mouse (after an hour in line), and then Hydra and Talon on ERT. That day turned out to be totally awesome. Having the Q-bots at SF, we got all of our missed credits plus rerides on Nitro and Toro (which was running amazing being warmed up).

TPDave · September 5, 2008

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe everyone that went got all of their Dorney Park credits too!

Myself and Jahan certainly did! Thanks R&E for sorting out a plan B so we could get all our credits!!

Mike Austin · September 5, 2008

This was the trip where I managed to lock the toliet door from the outside.

And that storm was rather epic as well- Wasn't that the one with the funnel cloud that seemed to slowly be going downwards?

Excellent stuff so far Eric.

tigerxeyez · September 5, 2008

GJ! You're so funny!

hyyyper · September 5, 2008

And that storm was rather epic as well- Wasn't that the one with the funnel cloud that seemed to slowly be going downwards?

Yes that was that cloud. Thankfully the day of the traffic jam, I was so wasted so that I sleeped trough three-quarters of the actual drive.

ernierocker · September 5, 2008

And that storm was rather epic as well- Wasn't that the one with the funnel cloud that seemed to slowly be going downwards?

That was the one, Mike. I think there might of been a funnel wrapped in rain off in the distance. I never did hear about a report of a tornado, but with that many people on different buses seeing the same thing, it probably was one.

YoshiFan · September 5, 2008

Dorney's Wild Mouse is one of the worst lines to wait in. Thanks to the added seatbelts and the rule of no more than 2 adults per car, even what appears to be a 5 minute wait can be 20 minutes (this was earlier this season when supposedly only 1800 people were in the park). Last year the wait was in the station and it was still 10 minutes. I wish they would ditch the seatbelts and let 4 adults in per car and it would probably have a short line like everything else at Dorney

lil jimmy norton · September 5, 2008

Dorney's Wild Mouse is one of the worst lines to wait in. Thanks to the added seatbelts and the rule of no more than 2 adults per car, even what appears to be a 5 minute wait can be 20 minutes (this was earlier this season when supposedly only 1800 people were in the park). Last year the wait was in the station and it was still 10 minutes. I wish they would ditch the seatbelts and let 4 adults in per car and it would probably have a short line like everything else at Dorney

Not to go off topic, but I was wondering about that. I was on line with three of my friends, and they put us in seperate cars. All I could think of was how much time that wasted.

Fry · September 5, 2008

My God, the Mouse queue was really scary, we had like, ten minutes until the bus left, and we only just got on. Of course, the guys we went ahead of in the queue so we could ditch ended up getting on before us - good one Dorney.

And we got all the credits too, with Hydra before ERT! And Dorney's Log Flume too! And the Toro/Nitro re-ride... probably because of the stalking, hehe. It all worked out like a picture - thanks R&E for that!

And jeez, that traffic was not fun! The rest stop was hilarious though! You just could not move! And the storm was epic - scary stuff right there for a little Brit whose idea of a storm is like, half an inch of rain in a week.

And I'm loving the report, it's awesome! The pictures are great and makes me chuckle.

gmoney422 · September 6, 2008

^TEXAS...!!!!

KerryB · September 6, 2008

^^Fred is the bomb!!! I kept thinking about maybe going back for the credit run at GADV, but I also wanted to stay with the main group as it was our next to last day. It ended up being tremendously fun to do the little bit of water park we did. And of course it was worth it for the company, but I am very glad that R&E worked out the opportunity to go back.

The mouse was no big loss...helped in part to their stacking of cars as well as holding dispatch at an odd rate. I could not believe we waited an hour or so, but I'm glad I didn't skip the credit. As it is I didn't break 150 because of a few missed credits!! Oh well, more of a reason to go on another TPR trip...as if I needed more of a reason!

I do want to get back to GADV someday soon though. I really don't feel like I did that park justice...especially El Toro. I think my expectations were just too high and they weren't met...mostly due to the amazing experience of Boulder Dash! So, I need to go back on a non-rainy day and give the bull a re-ride. (Although, it was nice to hang out on the deck with a nice cool beer...friends...and watch the rain for awhile!)

Great update as always! You make me miss the trip a little more every day!

krazekiddd · September 6, 2008

^It didn't help that they had that weird rule of only 2 adults per car! That really backed things up!

Coastinmiller · September 6, 2008

Day 4 cont’d: Delaware: The Traffic Jam State

Because of the rain-out at Six Flags, we ended up leaving four hours earlier than scheduled. As a result, it was looking like we were going to get a rare early night to the hotel. (So, we thought) After an uneventful drive through Jersey, we were greeted by a severe thunderstorm as we crossed the bridge into Delaware. This would serve as an omen. About half-way across the bridge, traffic pretty much stopped. I noticed that there was a toll booth up ahead, so I figured that was the reason for the traffic. As we passed the booth, the traffic jam did not stop. It ended up taking us almost three hours to go the 17 miles necessary to drive through Delaware! And what was the cause of this horrendous traffic jam? Another toll booth!

Welcome to my home state. I have to drive through this everyday to and from work in Philly. It's actually a combe of them working on expanding 05, the tolls, and the fact that 3 majot highway merge at the same point(I-95, I-495 and I-295) Glad you could experince at little that is my hell almost everyday

ernierocker · September 13, 2008

Time for the next update (finally)...

Day 5- Six Flags America

Day 5 would find us visiting Maryland’s own Six Flags America. I actually didn’t hate the park like some seemed to, but I can’t say that I liked it. All of the roller coasters that day seemed to be either running rough or slowly. The park just had a feeling of mediocrity in the air during the entire day. Not to mention, all the rides were constantly breaking down during the ERT session.

I was let down by S:ROS the most. How is it possible that we didn’t get any airtime on that second hill?!? Batwing was also a letdown. It was my first Vekoma Flyer and I am just not a fan of the riding positions it puts you in. The one good thing about the park was that it wasn’t crowded at all, so we were able to leave at 1 P.M., which meant we would be getting to our Williamsburg hotel early! And with us not having to go through Delaware to get there, it actually happened this time. Let me just add, that our hotel was awesome in Williamsburg. I highly recommend Hilton Garden Inns.

Hightlights for the day:

- The unlocked coke machine behind Joker’s Jinx

- Getting to the hotel early and being able to relax for the rest of the evening

- Dinner and drinks that night

- The Commandeering of Jake’s laptop for the purpose of adult research. You could of fooled me that was margarita mix!

P.S. Candace didn’t bring her camera on this day, so I took all the photos with our “point and shoot”.

We sat in front of Kristen, as she got her credit with her dad.

This Great Chase has some theming but it didn't have the insane airtime curve like SFNE.

We got the kiddie credit out of the way first.

Superman was still down, so we decided to knock out the rest of the credits now that the park was opened.

This is later in the day, but I am bunching all the Joker pictures together.

For some reason, I am hoping for pasta today at lunch.

The park did get Joker's Jinx to open early for us. That definitely nice of them!

Nope, still broken! (It really felt we were running suicides at this point)

Let's try Superman again before the park opens.

And it was working this time! I have heard that this is usually a good ride, but today it was just running a little slow.

Now, that we are batting 1 for 3, it was time to try the Wild One again.

Batwing was definitely an interesting experience, but I just didn't care for it.

The sun was shining from the left side of this photo directly onto the lift hill when we rode. This meant that you were blind before the ride even started.