Photo TR: The Quest For Grover's coaster credits.

[Erik Johnson]

While I already earned the very first Grover themed coaster at Sesame Place a couple of years ago I still needed to ride his two newest coasters which are located at Busch Gardens Tampa and Williamsburg. I thought it would be cool to go ride them both in the same week (which probably will earn me a Grover FanBoy label but what do I care). This report will include a few other surprises later so keep checking back.

 

Update One includes: Busch Gardens Tampa with Air Grover and New Coaster construction photos.

Update Two includes: Busch Gardens Williamsburg With Grover's Alpine Express.

Update Three includes: East Coast Bash

Update Four includes: Knoebels with Black Diamond construction

Update Five includes: Hersheypark

Final Update: Dorney Park

 

Just in case you needed to be reminded who Grover is:

 

There is Air Grover, the newest roller coaster in Florida.

Here would be all the rules of the ride.

The station is themed to a desert tent.

Yes, the front of the train does have Grover on it.

How many trains have you seen that has a huge camel on the back?

Here is a full shot of the coaster doing it's thing.

For you real coaster fanatics.

I wonder where these footprints will take you.

Well sure, it takes you to a place where you can spend more money.

Everyone loves Grover, right?

Well, maybe some of you actually prefer Big Bird, but he does not have any coasters named after him.

Giraffes VS Big Bird

Elmo is not as cool as Grover.

Kumba did get cleaned up this year.

Even though the paint is only a few years old it looked really bad up until they recently power washed it.

It no longer has the rusted look anymore....well, other than the rails themselves.

Nothing is better than to see Cookie Monster in 3-D.

I am not really sure why they still show Pirates 4-D in the afternoon.

The 2nd set of showings are for Pirates 4-D

I thought the movie was pretty good.

SheiKra is still running well.

I do prefer it over Griffon.

You usually have a heavy drop of water hit you in the face during this section.

Run for cover!

The added a small new Australian themed area this year.

I love Kangaroos!

Let's go inside and check it out.

Yes, you get this close to the Kangaroos, and yes you can pet them too!

You can also buy food to feed them as well.

You can buy a photo of yourself feeding the Kangaroos.

I really think that Sea World/Busch parks have some of the best zoo exhibits.

Wallabies are also included.

They are free to roam everywhere in the exhibit. Yes, his name actually is Rocko.

I think it is awesome that they brought these back.

This would be the new bird exhibit.

Does that look like an old gum tree to you?

Please keep this forever. Thank you.

Florida's only Schwarzy. It was also my very first looping coaster.

One footer...

Two footers...

...and three footers.

Coming soon: Cheetaka: Speed of a Cheetah and the Airtime of a Kangaroo.

Well...That is the rumored name anyways. I hope it has both of those features.

This area really is being transformed.

The old monorail/skyride area is going to get a facelift.

Point your smartphone at these and you get to watch a video.

Same with this.

While I do like trains I still prefer skybuckets.

Prep work always takes a long time.

I finally went to my very first IKEA.

Must buy!

Edited September 5, 2010 by Erik Johnson

[paiging_jen]

I love Air Grover!

 

And I have to get back to BGT to see the kangaroos. It's been about 3 years and that was basically my home park.

[cfc]

Blast! You have out-Grovered me!

[Erik Johnson]

Let us head on over to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, shall we?

You can now only find Whataburgers in north Florida

We stopped by South of the Border for 5 minutes. This would be a new attraction for 2010. No, Pedroland is still very much closed.

Cool people park here.

Today was certainly a Quick Queue day.

This would be the new Sesame Street area in Williamsburg. Guess what you can find here.

Yes, you are correct.

One week and 800 miles later, we have arrived.

Rules of the ride.

Notice the near and far reference.

I wonder what words Grover would share in a queue for Son of Beast.

Just add dynamite.

I was expecting some kind of cool snow creature on the back of the train.

Grover sure is multi-talented. He can fly a plane and guide a sled.

Up, up, and away. Oops, wrong Grover coaster.

I had to pay my respects to the old Big Bad Wolf area.

The first lift used to go though here.

The old station.

It really looks like the coaster has arleady been gone for several years.

Old footers.

The ride used to finish here.

We all know what this used to look like.

Looks like deer moved in.

While riding the river cruise you can get closer to the old footers.

Whenever you get a chance, be sure to do the river cruise.

It is a really relaxing ride.

It is the only water ride in the park that you do not get wet.

We see you Apollo.

It is simply required to post this shot in every BGW report.

Nessie is still the most photogenic coaster in the park.

Ok, one more shot.

Has anyone else figured out why there are two handrails on either side?

The Hill of Doom! 2010 Edition.

Just like Soarin'. Well without the budget.

It was almost like you made a Soarin' rip off ride in your backyard.

TRAIN!

Oops! I missed it!

Ok, I did better here.

Griffon is a fun ride.

Just seconds away from being drenched.

Lots of people around, though with Quick Queue we never waited more than 5 minutes for any attraction.

Griffon...At Night!

Can you spot the train?

It almost looks like a ghost train.

Edited August 27, 2010 by Erik Johnson

[Erik Johnson]

East Coast Bash at Kings Dominion.

 

It simply was an amazing event and yes I really think that Imtimidator 305 is a top ten coaster. Out of the my three visits to the park it was certainly my favorite visit. The park is in MUCH BETTER shape than it was 2 years ago. Plus the two new addtions to the park (Dominator/Intimidator 305) really improved the park's collection of roller coasters. Thanks again Robb and Elissa, as well as the park staff, for the really great event this year.

Cars were already lined up outside the park before they opened the parking lot.

Parking lot line POV!

Where are we again?

I wonder what is at the end of this line.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

First we had Dominator ERT.

Next to Kraken, this would be my favorite floorless.

First riders of the day!

Dominator was a great way to start the day!

I would be happy if Dominator was in my home park.

Can you guess which coaster was next?

When did they add the new sign?

Grizzly launches out of the station.

Are you ready to earn your credit Renee?

Any minute now!

"We are waiting for the rain to pass"

Hey, where is the respect?

The ride sign of awesomeness!

Less than five minutes later the rain stopped.

The lift hill is very fast.

Are you ready for your ride?

Intimidator from the air.

We will ride you later.

Dominator from the air.

Please continue to do the TPR Quest game during event lunches. Thank You!

After lunch we experienced the Intimidator 305 walkback tour.

Not too many people get to go back here.

"Gentlemen Start Your Engines"

5 seconds later.

Huge amount of track everywhere.

The first drop is pretty scary.

There has been a lot of commentary about these trims, but I honesly think that it is still an amazingly intense ride.

You start to see funny things while on the turnaround.

We had many opportunites to get some really great photos.

My new wallpaper.

I spent most of the rest of the day relaxing in the waterpark.

Um, you are sitting in the wrong bobsled Paul.

In the evening we had ERT on Volcano.

We also had "lights on" ERT on Flight of Fear.

Off they go!

Yes, Intimidator ERT at night was the highlight of the event.

So how many rides did you have during ERT? I had around 10.

Edited August 27, 2010 by Erik Johnson

[mcjaco]

Has anyone else figured out why there are two handrails on either side?

 

My guess, and this is the liability claims adjuster in me, they had to come up with a way to keep idiots from climbing the outer railings and possibly falling in.

[Sue]

So, you don't need a child to ride the Grover coaster in Tampa? I know I read that somewhere and thought it was odd that Tampa would do it one way and Williamsburg would do it the other way. Glad to hear that's not the case!

 

Williamsburg seems to like keeping old coaster stations around, don't they?

[robbalvey]

^ I've never needed a kid to ride the Grover coaster at BGW either. I rode it in April by myself and then all of our group just rode it last weekend without kids.

 

--Robb

[Carnage]

In fact, we filled an entire train, much to the amusement of the ops.

[Vigil]

^^^^I knew the answer to this question once but forgot... I think it was something to do with that (if not that).

[Jojo19799]

Erik it was great seeing you again at BGW and KD. The Grover coaster at BGW surprised me a bit. It was an enjoyable ride. I'll have to make a trip down to Tampa so I can get the other Grover credit.

[Erik Johnson]

Knoebels

Knoebels!

Yes, parking is free.

Here is some Halloween information for you.

It has been a long four years since I have been to this park.

The Grand Carousel is really awesome.

I try to ride the carousel at every park I visit.

The Phoenix is still one the absolute best wooden coasters in the world.

To experience a stand-up wooden coaster you enter here.

It is not very tall or fast, but you get a tremendous amount of airtime.

Weeeeee!

We did not forget about you Twister. Twister is much more about laterals than airtime.

Not counting The Phoenix, The Flyers is my favorite ride in the park.

Though they discouraged any kind of "snapping" or "bouncing" during this visit.

But that is ok, since it still is a really fun ride.

Let us take a ride on the Sky Ride.

Space Mountain, Knoebels.

If there is a walkway back down the mountain, how does someone get down from the ride?

Oh!

Almost to the top.

This would be the very top of the Sky Ride.

Time to make our way down the mountain.

Twister.

Phoenix.

Kozmo's Curves, which is the newest coaster in the park.

High Speed Thrill Coaster finally had to be retired after 50+ years. This would be the replacement.

Yeah, it is not nearly as awesome as the older one, but at least they added something to replace it.

Weeeee!

You can still drive a boat under the coaster.

Simply the best I have ever ridden.

Well deserved.

These are not your simple bumper cars.

These things are fast and hit very hard.

Just two weeks after my 2006 visit, the park had a bad flood.

Pretty.

I am embarrssed to say that I have yet to experience The Sky Slide.

The Sky Slide.

No trip is complete without a visit to The Haunted House.

It does not get much better than this.

I spent some time in here.

Yep, wooden horses.

It is not very large, but they do have quite a few in here.

Close up!

Here is one from a Derby Racer.

This would be the new attraction for next year.

It sits right next door to the Knoebels Museum.

The are moving right along with the ride.

I think it is going to have a coal mine theme.

Coaster car.

I assume that these would be lift hills.

Want to check out the museum?

They used to have a Country Bears type show in the park.

Not our dino!

In finally did the log flume.

Might as well as ride this a few more time.

It has to be the fastest dispatching coaster on the planet.

They are still working hard on Flying Turns.

This explains the delay.

Is that parts of a train under that tarp?

Lift Hill #1

Unusual looking track.

I finally found this.

Puppet Show! I wonder if Spinal Tap is next.

The mile long train ride is about to begin.

Warp Speed!

I wonder what the next caption is going to be.

Take the Tunnel!

I too, LOVE this ride.

Wow, this thing really was amazing!

Do many other parks have Downdraft as well? I never have seen it.

We has several amazing sessions once members from ACE showed up. I still have a few bruises.

Remember, no head ons!

Flying Turns.....at night!

Something does not look right.

Much better, have a good night!

Edited August 30, 2010 by Erik Johnson

[cfc]

Sigh! I really need to get back to Knoebel's--what a great park!

[ebl]

 

I really like that picture. Very realistic in terms of the track detail, and having the ride layout on there is cool.

 

Can you grab the brass ring on Knoebels' carousel? I seem to remember that you could.

 

This has been a great trip report.

 

Eric

[larrygator]

Can you grab the brass ring on Knoebels' carousel?

 

Yes, and whomever gets the brass ring still gets an amount of tickets equal to the cost of a ride on the Carousel.

Edited August 30, 2010 by larrygator

[Erik Johnson]

Hersheypark! Part 1

It has also been 4 years since I have been to Hersheypark.

First things first, I needed a new credit.

This would be an Intamin house.

Ooooooo......Ahhhhhhh....

Intamin train.

I thought the ride was pretty good, but Storm Runner is still king in the park.

97 Degrees!

Weeeeee!

Weeeeee! Part 2

If you have the desire to earn the Roller Soaker credit, make sure you do it early in the morning.

The Wild Mouse was my 100th credit back in the day.

Oh yeah, this now has new trains.

Wildcat's old trains now run on my #1 coaster, Boulder Dash.

I simply love these trains.

Other than that terrible jackhammering final helix, the ride ran pretty well.

As you can see, today really was not the best day to take photos. Let us head over to the tower.

This would be Storm Runner.

Can you take a guess what this place is?

What a metal mess.

Yes Adam it is true. I think that Great Bear is the best coaster in the world.

While I love Schwarzys, this one is not a favorite.

Edited September 1, 2010 by Erik Johnson

[Erik Johnson]

Hersheypark Part 2

Still my favorite ride in the park.

We were very lucky to ride it since the cable broke just a few days before.

Here we go!

Intamin House #2

Storm Runner really does have an unusual layout.

Weeeee!

Over the trees!

Whenever you need a coaster break, you can always visit Chocolate World.

Dark Ride!

Hershey's...Hershey's Milk Chocolate...

I expect all of these to be at my house next week.

Yes, there is a monorail ride.

I totally did not notice the monorail during my last visit.

It honestly does not do very much.

Journey to a Parking Lot.

Oooooo.....I have not ridden the train yet.

Reverse POV!

All about the train.

Let's go ride this.

Oh yeah.

The new Boardwalk waterpark looks really nice.

Last time I was here all of this was under construction.

We see you over there.

Still fun!

Much better than Gwazi.

It is nice to see that they still duel so well.

Over the trees!

Great Bear = Great Fun!

Warp Speed!

This is what it used to look like.

Ohhhh, so close!

These supports are really out of control.

Let us enjoy a ride on the Skyview.

Comet.

Don't walk there!

End of Line!

Is that you Larry?

And we finish with this ride.

All about it.

Till next time!

[live2tell75]

Great trip report so far! This gets me really excited for the Road to Cedar Point TPR trip next summer! Keep up the good work!

[cfc]

Oh no! Hersheypark has one of those horrifying Tornado slides, too!

 

Didn't the monorail used to take guests to a bonafide factory tour?

[Ccron10]

Oh no! Hersheypark has one of those horrifying Tornado slides, too!

 

Didn't the monorail used to take guests to a bonafide factory tour?

It did, but Chocolate World ended that and now there's just an unused 2nd station in the parking lot.

 

I like the new Fahrenheit ride signs they added. A lot better than the big one over the station. I hope to make it out there towards the end of next week.

[Hilltopper39]

Glad I'm not the only one who loves Storm Runner, I thought it was one of the best steel coasters around, and very under rated in my opinion. You never see that thing in anyones top 10 but it deserves to be there if you ask me.

[alpengeist04]

^Storm Runner has been in my top 10 since I first rode it 2006. And while it's no longer in my top 5, currently #8, it's still a darn good coaster.

 

I really enjoyed the trip reports, Erik. It's always nice seeing pictures of some of my all-time favorite parks.

[Synshine]

Oh no! Hersheypark has one of those horrifying Tornado slides, too!

 

Didn't the monorail used to take guests to a bonafide factory tour?

It did, but Chocolate World ended that and now there's just an unused 2nd station in the parking lot.

 

 

 

There is also a unused ramp at the park station to ground level behind the old arena. Does the monorail date back to before they enclosed the park?

[sfmman2000]

Great Hershey TR! Great Bear really is a great ride.

 

What did you think of the park operations?

 

Last week was my first time at Hershey, and I was not expecting such slow operations. Almost every coaster stacked trains every cycle. The park wasn't very busy (went on Thursday), but for the size of the crowds, the lines were really bad. Granted, I got all of the credits, so I shouldn't be complaining too much, but I expected more in terms of the employees. For example, Fahrenheit was running 3 trains and stacking the other 2 trains every single cycle (over 1 hour wait). Heck, on most coasters, they wouldn't even open the air gates until the other train finished its circuit. Most employees we encountered were not outgoing and did not look happy. Maybe this isn't standard -- after all, it is the end of the summer. We still had fun at the park, but it wasn't all it could have been.

[Erik Johnson]

Overall, I thought that operations were pretty good. I think the longest we waited was around 20 minutes for our first ride on Storm Runner. Crowds were not super heavy but the park seemed to be pretty busy for most of the day.