SharkTums Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Pretty sure we didn't actually visit Six Flags St. Louis that day but actually made it to Six Flags ON THE SURFACE OF THE SUN. I remember hiding out with KT in an arcade and random shops and eateries just to stay cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Starr Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Awesome report so far! Sad to say the heat in the Midwest during August is brutal, but I'm glad to see that you and everyone else managed to have a good time! Can't wait for more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirouettes907 Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 I look at those pictures and read everyone's comments and am reminded all over again why I hate living here in the summer! Very interesting facts in there about Mr. Freeze; I didn't know there was a piece on there that could come out if the ride valleyed. Entertaining as always and it looks like you still managed to have a good time despite the heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milst1 Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Awesome report! Wish I could go to White Castle right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisdanger Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 You guys think St. Louis is nasty in the summer, you need to pay a visit to Dallas/Ft. Worth in june through august, it gets crazy hot here matched up w/ the humidity... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobra_roll06 Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Cardboard cut-outs > Animatronics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divv3k Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 Thanks everyone! Totally agree on the heat. I will say it cooled down slightly the next day. But still, it was hot as arse for a Scot like me! Holiday World coming right up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divv3k Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 DAY SEVEN: HOLIDAY WORLD One of my favourite park’s on 2007’s Midwest Trip was Holiday World so I was very excited to return! I still really like this park. The park has added some really good rides since my last visit too, Pilgrim’s Plunge is an excellent splash boat and Wildebeest is just awesome. Hands down the best waterpark ride I’ve ever been on. Thanks to the awesome people at Holiday World for helping us out with front of the line passes on that one! This was a day full of perks for TPR, thanks to Elissa and Robb buying up a bunch of special behind the scenes tours on a charity auction. This meant that everyone on the trip got split into a small group and got given a tour by a senior member of the park staff. The group I was in had a wonderful tour courtesy of Vanessa, the park’s Merchandise Director. This was a fascinating experience; it was extremely interesting to get a perspective on a park’s operations from a merchandising point of view. I had no idea park and coaster related T-shirts were so popular in the US! Another perk as part of the tour was getting front of the line access to each of the park’s coasters meaning we were able to avoid a long wait for Voyage! Speaking of the coasters, I have to say that Raven has held up considerably well since my 2007 visit. Unfortunately The Voyage was suffered terribly in the last few years. It’s gotten a lot rougher than it was in 2007 and just not a very enjoyable experience. Such a shame, I hope those new Timberliner trains manage to solve the roughness issues. But hey, we got plenty of excellent rides on Raven and well there is a arse-kicking ride in Wildebeest too! Okay, onto some photos! Hello Holiday World! This was one of my favourite parks on 2007’s Midwest Trip and I was very excited to return. Hey that sign was up three years ago! Do they ever take it down?! Holiday World was kind enough to provide us with front of the line passes for the awesome Wildebeest! We’re special, so special! OMG, a behind the scenes look at the cardboard dumpster! To distract us from the behind the scenes dumpster tour Holiday World walked us back to Raven so that we could be the first riders of the day! We’re special, so special! Over in the Turkey land section of the park this polite old lady tells us that The Voyage isn’t quite ready for us yet. TPDave’s just about ready to go on a calling spree! Timberliner! Let’s hope we see these bad boys on the ride soon, let’s hope they make a real difference as well! Our sub-group was treated to a FANTASTIC behind the scenes tour by Vanessa, Holiday World’s Merchandising Director. Oh my, that’s a crapload of T-shirts! But the merchandise tour is all a front to the awesome behind closed doors dumpsters we got to see! No Mikestery Cards in here! The various shops in the park have their own version of this big thermometer type thing that they fill out as they make sales. When the thermometer explodes they’ve met their target. Russ shows off the latest in the Russ cuddly toy line. Good likeness! This looks dangerous and important, are Holiday World SURE they want Jake in the vicinity?! We’re special, so special! It’s like Raiders of the lost fluffy bunnys or something… So THIS is how Russ got away without booking flights to Middle America! Any theme park that sells toy guns gets the thumbs up from Russ! We got a super secret look behind the scenes at some of the offices for these cool Holiday World employees! For some reason they didn’t seem phased by five nerds walking around their office and taking photos of them! It’s funny because Russ is tall. Who you calling a cock? Yeah, we’re REALLY special!!! Vanessa was really kind to us, offering us all a free T-shirt as part of our tour! Jake was sure to take the nerdiest looking one he could find! Vanessa isn’t afraid to pitch in on the cash registers either! In lieu of my free T-shirt Vanessa was kind enough to offer a free stuffed toy for KidTums! It’s a very complicated process of making sure the right amount of stuffing gets fluffed up the flamingo’s arse. Don’t forget the suppositories before sewing it up! Kristen is now the proud owner of a pink flamingo with the unique name of Scottish Steve. Except Kristen thinks Scottish Steve is a crap name and I quite agree. From this point on Scottish Steve shall be known as Mr Flamingo! Much to Russ’s dismay Stacey’s on the pull in Holiday World. What the hell am I doing to Santa?! Okay, okay, I know fine well! Oh yeah, as part of our behind the scenes tour Vanessa got us a skip-the-line front row ride on Raven! Raven was for sure my favourite coaster at Holiday World this year! Thanks again to Vanessa for a fantastic tour! It really was fascinating to look at a park’s operations from a merchandising point of view. I had no idea ride related shirts were SO popular in the US! That's right. We’re special, so special! Unfortunately I wasn’t wearing enough blue or white to ride Liberty Launch but Russ was good to go! Fortunately I got this credit in 2007 so could laugh at Russ’s creepy credit whoring for a change! One quick mention of Splashin’ Safari since I didn’t bring my camera into the waterpark… There’s some really fun slides in here, the exposed ground burns the soles from your feet though, hopefully the extra shade HW is adding will help with that. Oh yeah, Wildebeest is INCREDIBLE!!! Best ride in the park!! TPLegend? Not quite. I guess we’re in a Christian County. And now because we’re special (so special) it’s time for a behind the scenes tour of The Voyage! It may have gotten rougher since 2007 but it still photographs as well! Sixty-one degrees! Not a photo you can get when you’re in front of the scenes! TPNerd!!! Pilgrim’s Plunge is a lot of fun. The lift is a bit freaky (a good thing!) and I don’t think I’ve done a bigger drop on a water ride. As the day at Holiday World comes to a close there’s only one place we all want to go – Raven!!! If Liseberg thinks you’re a good park then you must be doing something right! Holiday World is a great park! Whilst Voyage has deteriorated since 2007 there’s more than enough other cool stuff to make up for that. Namely Wildebeest which is just the most kickass water ride I’ve been on! Special thanks to Vanessa for that brilliant behind the scenes tour! Indiana Beach next!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divv3k Posted May 16, 2011 Author Share Posted May 16, 2011 DAY EIGHT: INDIANA BEACH I liked this day a lot. Not from a rollercoaster geeky perspective though. I mean, of course I partook in the ERT which was great but I just spent the majority of the day chilling out drinking beer in an outdoor bar. It was awesome. But like I said, I did ride the coasters and thoroughly enjoyed Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain again for all the random reasons I loved it last time and Cornball Express is still a pretty good woodie. Steel Hawg is the precursor to Flamingoland’s Mumbo Jumbo with almost an identical layout and colour scheme. Much like Mumbo Jumbo I was pretty non-plussed by this ride but most people seemed to really enjoy it so it seems like a winner for the park. The funniest part of the day was watching TPFail on a grand scale at the fascination parlour. It was hilarious! Here’s a few photos… I guess this means we’re at Indiana Beach! Ah, such a pretty park to look at when you’re coming in over the bridge. Oh my God, they let Josh iunto Indiana?!?! These LoCoSuMo virgins are about to experience something incredibly unique… The tunnel has well and truly been taken. Did I mention this was some ERT we were partaking in? Can’t beat a bit of Cornball Express ERT! TPBlank. Cornball Express was my favourite coaster in the park in 2007 and it remained that way in 2010! I’m not quite sure how the name works. Are Cornballs known for their velocity? Maybe in Indiana. Steel Coaster! Oh carp. Finally, a new Indiana credit for me! Steel Hawg is pretty much an exact clone of Mumbo Jumbo at Flamingo Land give or take a few degrees. Much like Mumbo Jumbo I wasn’t all that impressed with Steel Hawg but I’m always happy to see S&S trying new concepts! Oh yeah, today was Ice Bat day! I was careful not to get my tongue too close. I know where he’s been! Deep fried Oreos! Anyone who makes judgements about Scots and deep fried Mars bars should look at this photo! One of Indiana Beach’s more unique attractions is the redemption game, Fascination! It’s kind of like the “Kentucky Derby” games you get in the UK where you roll a ball into a hole. Much like those games TPDave sucks at fascination too! TPSmug. Well done on winning one ticket, TPDave. Everyone stand and applaud. Winning at Fascination entitles you to some of the latest and most innovative concepts in audio playback. Bryan’s in for a real treat tonight!!! RACY!!! This guy is right next to the bar at Indiana Beach. I spent a long time sitting next to him today. Not content with his one coupon from Fascination TPDave set out to suck at Skee Ball too. And suck he did. I take that back. Look at the quality of those prizes he won! The things you can spend your money on when you’re not buying booze… That’s not quite where I’m thinking about putting my face… Oh yeah, Indiana Beach has some slides too. They looked a bit dodgy. The flat rides over the water are really cool here though! Indiana Beach has a good bar and gives plenty of opportunities to laugh at TPDave, how can you not have a good day here?! Next: Booziness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPDave Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 Nice report Divv! You'd better include the good photos in the next report! And possibly a certain video Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divv3k Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 DAY EIGHT, Part Two: BOOZINESS IN GURNEE Not much to say about this night except that I got drunk. Really drunk. Thanks Miles! I quickly got drunk enough to want to join in on the open mic night that was going on at O’Toole’s Irish Bar in Gurnee. Yeah, I managed to subject some poor people to my dulcet tones for a couple of tunes. Thanks to TPDave for filming this video: Oh yeah, TPDave didn’t get drunk. Because he couldn’t. Things are getting a bit crazy in O’Toole’s Irish Bar in Gurnee! They were crazy enough to give me a guitar and I was drunk enough to play it and sing! Back at the hotel Kyle and Miles can’t miss the opportunity to be introduced to some Whyte & Mackay whisky – all the way from Glasgow! Quite a boozy night! Now Miles, he’ll admit to that! We’re gonna pay for this tomorrow! Bye Miles! Let’s see if that smile’s still there in the morning! TPDave still can’t drink so I was kind enough to drink his share too. What a great idea!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaptorBoyASU Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Looking at S:UF still makes me want to vomit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPDave Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Divv, I think we need a video of Miles leaving the room... Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milst1 Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Nice report Divv! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divv3k Posted May 18, 2011 Author Share Posted May 18, 2011 Thanks Martin! Kyle, looking at the photos from the next update makes me feel ill! Divv, I think we need a video of Miles leaving the room... I'm at my folks' placein Glasgow right now and don't have that video on my laptop. I'll besure to get it posted before all is said and done though. I'm sure Miles would be annoyed if I didn't! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobra_roll06 Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 More drunk videos the better I say! Do I see a theme for future trips Divv?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 (edited) ^We will all be in Japan, land of karaoke, next month! I can only imagine what we will convince Divv to sing after a few beers! Edited May 20, 2011 by SharkTums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernierocker Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Bryan’s in for a real treat tonight!!! And how!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divv3k Posted May 22, 2011 Author Share Posted May 22, 2011 DAY NINE: SIX FLAGS GREAT AMERICA This was a tough day... Yeah, I was feeling pretty rough. At least I wasn't the only one as Miles and Kyle were feeling the previous night too, but man was I struggling this morning. Since I had visited the park in 2007 I even went and spoke to Elissa about picking up my ticket later and not visiting the park in the morning which I was all set to do. Until I spoke to Miles. Somehow Miles convinced me that if he was going to go through hell with a hangover I was going to do it too. So in a scene very reminiscent of Movie Park Germany in June 2008 I ventured to the park with the rest of the group only to sit on every bench I came across as the rest of the group enjoyed ERT. I was really struggling to have fun at this point, but as soon as the park opened properly I forced myself onto the Little Dipper seeing as it was one of the few credits I still needed and a good thing I did too since our evening ERT on it got rained off. It wasn't long after this that Miles conceded that a trip back to the hotel was in his best interests too and so we split a cab and I got to spend a good portion of the day recovering from the previous nights exploits. I returned to the park in the evening feeling MUCH better and got to enjoy the CRAZY rain storm party with the rest of TPR and some fantastic ERT on Raging Bull and Viper! All in all a great end to a tough day! My head hurts but I somehow made it to Six Flags Great America! We’re special, so special! I needed this credit, and despite feeling like total death I forced myself onto it in the morning. Good thing I did! Well done Six Flags Great America for restoring this ride, this was great move in my opinion! After retiring to the hotel for half the day I was welcomed back to the park with the sight of this shirt that TPDave and Jake got whipped up for Bryan that he’ll get to wear tomorrow! Smile, Miles! You’re on Whizzer! This stage show could have done with a bit of Scottish Steve or McFudge to get the crowd going! That’s the blue side of American Eagle running. ONLY the blue side! That’s three visits to SFGAm for me and the red side has been closed every time I’ve tried to ride! That’s some bad luck! Even after my afternoon nap Batman was still a bit too much for my weak condition. Mmm, Captain Salty! Luckily for me today, B&M hypers lacked the intensity I was avoiding and I had a few fun rides on it this evening! Still, I don’t love Raging Bull but it’s a better than a few other B&M hypers I can think of! Just as ERT was about to begin for the evening we were hit by the craziest rain storm of the trip. So whilst this meant that the coasters were temporarily down it also meant we all got to get up close and personal under a small shelter! Dan is thriving in his natural habitat. As soon as the rain cleared up ERT was back ON! ERT on Raging Bull is all well and good but Viper was where it was at! I rode this in the front row for about half an hour straight! This was one incredible ERT session! It’s always cool after night ERT where you get to see the park starting shut down, the double decker carousel looked very nice! Despite a self-inflicted horrendously tough morning I was totally prepared to write this day off completely! I’m glad I didn’t, whilst Great America is far from my favourite Six Flags park this ended up being a really fun evening! Thanks to Miles for making me go to the park in the morning, otherwise I’d have missed Little Dipper! (Our evening ERT was rained off) Next – IT’S ALL ABOUT BRYAN!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPDave Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 The penultimate picture looks all trippy! Nice TR man, that was a fun day for me, but oddly the morning was much more amusing than the afternoon Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Great America was an awesome time! Best ERT ever. Nice seeing you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollin_n_coastin Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Awww, I was so hoping to get to the Little Dipper. That bridge party was awesome! A great park and a great Bash event for sure. Whizzer, American Eagle -- so many great attractions. I could have sworn both sides of American Eagle were running at one point, if not simultaneously? So Divv, Cyclone or Viper?? Awesome pics, thanks for keeping this going! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal1br3tto Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I could have sworn both sides of American Eagle were running at one point, if not simultaneously? They WERE! It was heartwrenching to miss Red, and I was quite jealous of those who got it! I must return for it! I've been enjoying the TR, Divv. Thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divv3k Posted May 26, 2011 Author Share Posted May 26, 2011 Yeah, TPArse was eager to point out that he had got his red side credit earlier in the day! So Divv, Cyclone or Viper?? OMG, Viper by miles and miles! Not even a contest for me! Two updates to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jray21 Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 I think I got the opposite. I think we hit red in the morning, and missed blue later. I also missed the Dipper. Oh well, just another reason to head back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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