Photo TR: Virginia, Illinois & Texas

[BugEyed]

Pre-amble:

 

I've been a member of this board since 2006 and obsessively read every thread update, every day. That said, I hardly ever post or interact with anyone. I have no idea why. I'm seriously considering registering for the 2013 Japan trip and have decided that maybe it's time to change this. I'd like for us to be friends. I have so much to offer.

 

Every summer for the last 12 years I have taken a coaster trip that brings me to 4 or 5 parks I've never been to. My yearly coaster vacation is a very big deal to me. I spend an entire year saving money, planning, researching and looking forward to it. I also make it to Canada's Wonderland (my home park) a minimum of 5 or 6 times a season.

 

I've been on coasters in the U.S.A, Canada, the U.K. and Australia so far. Despite this (and for reasons I cannot explain) this is my first trip report. I hope you enjoy it. If you don't, please tell me why. I can take it. I'm tough like that.

 

Trip Report:

 

I elected to start my 2012 coaster trip in Virginia. In addition to a lifelong coaster fanaticism I am also an enthusiast of heavy metal (in general) and Suicide Silence (in particular). Suicide Silence's current tour elected to ignore Toronto this round, but it did bring them to The National in Richmond on Monday August 20th. Having never been to BGW or KD this seemed like a great way to begin my trip. The plan was to hit Busch Gardens Williamsburg in the morning and then book it back to Richmond for the show that night.

 

I arrived by plane on Sunday evening, checked into my hotel, drank a King's share of beer in the lobby bar and then passed out in my own filth (as far as I can tell I passed out in my room, not in the lobby bar). Everything was perfect... until I looked out the window early Monday morning.

 

Rain. A lot of rain. Build a giant ark and make a small one for the skunks type of rain. drat.

 

In 12 consecutive years of coaster tripping I have been fortunate enough to NEVER get rained out. Not once. Not even in England. It was bound to happen eventually. Oh well.

 

Let's begin.

 

Boarding the plane to Richmond, VA.

Made a wrong turn and accidentally fell into a delicious pile of pancakes in the beautiful little town of Williamsburg.

Arrived at the parking lot in time for it to begin raining harder. Torrential even.

I've never been so relieved to see a coaster testing in my entire coaster riding career. I was certain that it was raining too hard. If this was Cedar Point... ahhhhhh whatever.

Beautiful, even through watery eyes (and lens)

Downpour. Pouring. Down.

"We're siiiiiinging in the rain."

Pretty sign, but no way am I going on this. It's difficult enough to stay dry today as it is.

Might as well take an action shot while I am here. Suddenly a kind old woman asks me for directions. I turn to give her my full attention. Seconds later... * SPLASH * I am wet right down to my skull boxers. crap.

It may be raining, but it's running. First coaster of the trip! And a walk-on at that.

Don't know if was the rain, the fact it was the first coaster of the trip or having a gut full of pancakes but Apollo's Chariot kinda blew me away. I thoroughly enjoyed all 3 laps I took. It was flying in the morning. Give'r!

Did I mention it was pouring? Cani e gatti!! (that's cats and dogs in Italian... I hope.)

If he had skull boxers they would be wet.

I swore I would not do this, but once you are actually standing there the compulsion becomes overwhelming. It's like some intoxicating magic takes over you. I literally could not stop myself. I feel shame.

Yeah, you better run. Ingrate!

Steamy hotness. I enjoyed Verbolten but found it surprisingly jarring. It rattled a lot during the indoor portion and vibrated noticeably during the run before the bridge. Maybe I got a bad ride? Dunno. I intended to re-ride later in the day but completely forgot. oops. Apparantly once was enough.

Mach Tower was running. I love drop towers. I really do. Having read the reviews I expected to not like this one at all. In fact, I loved it. Of the 4 drop towers on this trip it was my #1. Mind you, the rain kicked into overdrive just as we began to ascend. The view was fantastic, but it was absolutely pelting during the ride up. There was a lightning strike on the horizon followed by a thunderous rumble. Everyone was laughing from the silliness of the whole thing and as a result the drop caught me off guard. The perfect storm?

It was raining so hard by this point that I leapt off Mach Tower and ran full tilt for Griffon. I was certain they were going to close the park any minute and send us all home. I took a quick shot of DarKastle on my way by. Pouring!

It's still running! I can't believe it's still running!! If this was Cedar Point... ahhhhhh whatever. Griffon was another walk-on. I got the front, right outer seat. What can I say? That first drop is amazing. The rest was also great, but I spent most of the layout thinking about how amazing the first drop was. Rode 4 times consecutively. Walk-on each time. It was still raining so, in the hope that it might eventually subside, I elected to take in some of the scenery.

Time for some wildlife.

Beautiful.

Adorable.

Foxy!

The rats running through the crowd was a fantastic detail to an overall great presentation. Good job Busch!

...although the family staring at a bird's bum look like they might disagree.

The cutest woman on the planet hosted the show. Her presentation was flawless, her words were heartfelt and she was JUST SO DARN CUTE!

Some kid had an infestation of birds on his hand. Gross.

Pulled up a seat to kick back and enjoy some wonderful eggplant parmesan just as a bunch of hornblowers erupted.

Then this angry woman pulled out her root vegetable bum paddle. I got the heck out of there as fast as I could.

Finally the sky begins to clear. Two more laps on Griffon. Walk-on. Walk-on. Don't mind if I do.

Looping.

Forceful Invert + Beautiful Surroundings = An Alpengeist Love Affair That Transcends Time & Space

Back to Richmond. Enter The National. Donated!

Unearth are rockin' The National.

Suicide Silence. This was just days before Mitch (pictured) broke his elbow. Compound fracture. Ouch.

 

What an amazing day. A little rain never hurt anyone.

 

Next stop... King's Dominion.

Edited February 23, 2013 by BugEyed

[BugEyed]

After the Suicide Silence show the night before I decided to sleep in a bit. I was going to King's Dominion on a Tuesday in late August and it was still lightly raining and overcast. I took a gamble that the park would not be too crowded.

 

I hit the ground running around 9:30 and discovered that the highway was practically deserted. When travelling to BGW the previous morning it felt like I was the lone small car in a breakneck race of bumper to bumper tractor trailers. My hangover was rather relieved it did not have to engage heavy traffic this morning.

 

After a leisurely breakfast stop I was inside the park just before 11 am. It was dead. Yay!

 

Volcano was a 10 minute wait for the front seat. Intimidator 305 was a single train wait for the back seat, a two train wait for the front and a walk-on anywhere else. Everything else in the park was a walk-on all day, everywhere, all the time.

 

It did not rain the entire time I was in the park (I stayed until 6 pm) but it was overcast and a little gloomy. It made for a great day to marathon ride, which for the most part I did. This was the only park on the trip that I kept track of my ride count. It went something like this:

 

8 x Intimidator 305

5 x Dominator

4 x Volcano

3 x Drop Tower

2 x Windseeker

2 x Ghoster Coaster

1 x Rebel Yell

1 x Berserker

1 x White Water Canyon

1 x The Crypt

1 x Avalanche

1 x Anaconda

1 x Grizzly

1 x Hurler

1 x Flight Of Fear

1 x Ricochet

1 x Back Lot Stunt Coaster

1 x Shockwave

 

Pretty good for 7 hours in a large park. I probably could have ridden more, but 5 of the coasters in this park beat the living daylights out of me and I didn't want to. At all. Anaconda, Grizzly, Hurler, Flight Of Fear and Shockwave were all rough. Very rough. I had no desire to go near them again after the first ride.

 

Out of that group I would say Grizzly was the worst. Rougher than Minebuster at Canada's Wonderland. I'm gonna go out on a limb here... even rougher than Mean Streak. There I said it. I have re-ridden Mean Streak in a single day before. No way in hell was I getting back on Grizzly today. You can't make me.

 

Here are some pictures from my day:

I'm over here! I'm over here!

Skyline. Dark cloudy stuff that scares away families and renders switchbacks moot.

As much as my childlike brain wants to bolt for the rides, my hangover has been screaming at me all morning

Thankfully there just happens to be a Denny's less than 30 feet behind me.

I was fortunate enough to ride Dominator at Geauga Lake. Looks weird seeing it here. Not bad, just weird. This will be my first time ever riding before and after on a transplanted coaster.

You just have to take a shot of the entrance plaza. You do. Even if it's slightly crooked.

This was supposed to be a shot of me AND the entrance plaza, but the person wielding the camera had strange ideas about framing and composition. The kids cuddling on the right hand side are damn cute though.

Dominator retains it's fantastic balance of intensity and smooth as butterness. It rode just as I remember it riding so many years ago. Excellent relocation job Cedar Fair!

Longest wait of the day. 10 minutes for the front seat.

The shot out the top was amazing. I love everything about Volcano actually. The fact that it is a very attractive coaster doesn't hurt either.

Intimidator 305. I have no idea why I take pictures of signs.

Lookin' sexy in that leather suit/porn 'stache combination.

Tall. Fast. Angry. Everything I like about a coaster. My new #1 (I think)

Anaconda. I have no idea why I take pictures of signs.

Ouch! Oh good lord. Stop that! &$#% I hate you.

Ricochet. I have no idea why I take pictures of signs.

Hurler. I have no idea why I take pictures of signs.

I like this picture.

What the hell? Oh my god! OwWwWwWwWwcchh. I'm begging you, please stop. &$#% I hate you.

Stupid bear.

The only good thing about Grizzly is that it is close to something that won't hurt me. Hello Eiffel Tower! Will you hold my hair while I barf up my intestines?

Slinky.

Blistering.

Let's make love.

I hate you.

Back at the hotel. Fall into bed. Wake up at 3 am. Pack my bags. Drive like a maniac to the airport

Boarding an early flight to Illinois.

I see Chicago through a haze of morning smog.

 

The Virginia portion of my trip was amazing. Loved both parks. Found my new #1 coaster (I think).

 

Next stop... Godsmack concert, another hangover and more roller coasters.

Edited September 7, 2012 by BugEyed

[vacoaster09]

THATS the BEST adjective to descibe I305 .... ANGRY... like a bad @$$ kid from Hell that just says #uck everything unleashes its fury.

[narkitty]

Really enjoying the TR so far! Can't wait to see the rest of your pictures.

[KDcoasterMAN]

Looking Great So far!! btw, which row did you ride Grizzly? Any row back of the front is a pointless venture only resulting in a headache. But the front is bliss!

[BugEyed]

Thank you. Writing these reports has been a lot more fun than I imagined it would be.

 

I will post the next segment tomorrow afternoon.

[BugEyed]

Looking Great So far!! btw, which row did you ride Grizzly? Any row back of the front is a pointless venture only resulting in a headache. But the front is bliss!

 

I rode Grizzly in the very back on the left side. A couple entering at the same time as me ran for the front. I realize now why that was. I foolishly decided not to wait for the next train. I regret that, obviously. You can't see the layout in advance at all and I assumed it couldn't possibly be worse than Hurler. If I ever make it back to KD I promise to try a ride up front.

Edited September 7, 2012 by BugEyed

[imawesome1124]

I LOVE the Halestorm shirt! The photos are pretty good too.

[The49er]

Nice TR so far...I'm not a heavy metal dude, but whatever floats your floaty thingy...

[beatle11]

Nice pics! Definitely agree with you about Grizzly, it's awful. Busch Gardens is just a beautiful park. Loch Ness Monster is easily the best Arrow I've ridden up to this point.

[Blind Idiot God]

The Suicide Silence show reminded me of how Mitch Lucker has been on my cousin's ****list for years due to multiple instances of inexcusably bad behavior that my cousin had to deal with back when he did security for the Worcester Palladium. Sufficient quantities of alcohol will make hurling a fire extinguisher at a 6'2, 220lb security guard as retaliation for his making you put your cigarette out seem like a fantastic idea, I guess.

[BugEyed]

After waking up at the cruel and ungodly hour of 3 am I finally arrived at O'Hare. I am disheveled from sleep deprivation and Grizzly has left me sore in places I didn't previously know I had. All that aside, I'm rarin' to go!

 

The plan: Grab rental car. Drive like the wind across Chicago to Tinley Park (it's roughly an hour and a half away). Check into hotel. Shower. Relax. Swim in pool. Eat. Go to Uproar Festival to see Godsmack. Sleep. Wake up at a reasonable hour (hopefully). Drive to Six Flags Great America.

 

I'm ready. Let's do this! \m/

 

* screech *

 

Traffic. The highway is down to one lane due to construction and it's bumper to bumper, road rage inducing traffic as far as the eye can see. Apparently I shall not "drive like the wind" today. It has been decreed that rather I will fester at a standstill like a clump of mould. grrrrr.

 

3.5 hours later I arrive at the hotel, peel my stinking t-shirt off and give myself a 30 second bird bath in the sink. I'm out the door in 10 minutes and on my way to the show. Not exactly the refreshing interlude I had hoped for, but at least I no longer stink.

 

Godsmack Concert. Too much beer. A lot of Jager. Bedtime.

 

Against all odds I am awake at 7am the next morning. Yay, I did it!

 

I drive allllllllllll the way across Chicago to the other side (again) and arrive at Six Flags Great America just as the gates open. Nice!

 

It's a small miracle that I am pulling these maneuvers off. Between the flights, the driving, the rock bands, the hangovers and the amusement parks my trip planning has not left me much leeway.

 

Git 'er done!

 

Did I mention I stopped to buy a 6-pack and some shots before I checked in at the hotel? I am my own worst enemy. I know this.

Arrival at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre for the Uproar festival and Godsmack.

Sit on the lawn for a moment to catch my breath. The place is just starting to fill up.

My tenure on the lawn will be brief however as I have one of these on my wrist. In mere moments I will be within 10 feet of the stage.

Godsmack!

"Wait another minute. Can't you see what this pain has &$#%ing done to me?"

It's very early in the morning. My ears ring, my body aches, my stomach yearns for Cracker Barrel. Fortunately I just happen to be standing directly in front of one. Thank you baby Jesus.

Lifegiving nourishment heal thy soul. The hashbrown casserole at Cracker Barrel has mystical restorative powers. You need to know this. It may save your life one day.

The long and winding road across Chicago. Oh look, there's the Willis Tower. (ugh, I strongly dislike calling it that... it's the Sears Tower dammit!)

Six Flags. Mastering the obvious.

Carousel Plaza. I love the smell of chlorine in the morning. That's not sarcasm. I do like it. A lot.

Here I am in the Carousel Plaza. Must the camera always be 18" from my face? A little background would be nice.

Sky Trek Tower. I did not experience it's charms. The line was too long and babies were screaming. I think I made the right choice.

Whizzer. I love you Anton.

There are two Schwarzkopfs in my top ten. Whizzer is not one, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

For some reason Demon's sign makes me laugh. It's just not very Demonic. The font is silly and the landscaping just seems too ladylike. I did not get to ride Demon. It was parked on the lift all day. Ladylike.

This game attendant was hilarious. I crossed paths with him multiple times during the day and he was amazing. Really going out of his way to entertain the guests. Six Flags... give this guy a raise, free Dippin Dots for life, something, anything. He deserves it.

X-Flight was my first wing rider and it was a fantastic introduction. I rode front right, front left, back right and back left. Front right takes the prize. The slow dive drop off the lift on the right side is unbeatable.

I like this shot. The guy with his hands up is having the time of his life.

Raging Bull. ohhhh Raging Bull. Everything everyone says about you is correct. I so wanted them to be wrong, but they weren't. The layout is killer but there's just no power. Darn.

I didn't ride Condor. It was leaning precariously to one side and looked like it might fall over at any moment.

I like the S:UF signs. He looks so badass.

I've enjoyed all three of the Superman: Ultimate Flights I've ridden. Not as much as Tatsu, but they are a good time in their own right. Just gotta get myself to Georgia now to complete the package.

Some kid that couldn't have been older than 5 suddenly yelled "Those banjos are stupid. They don't even have strings." Funny stuff.

I didn't ride Roaring Rapids. The people exiting were drenched and I have a plane to catch later. No thank you.

Cool sign. I don't remember anything about the ride. I guess I liked it. Who knows?

I rode Little Dipper twice. I enjoyed it immensely. For some reason it struck me as a tremendous amount of fun. A pleasant surprise!

American Eagle needs retracking. I thought it was going to shake itself into pieces of kindling before we could make it back to the station.

What's up with the program on Revolution? This picture illustrates the apex of it's ascent. The weakest HUSS Frisbee I've ever been on.

Dinner at The Olive Garden. It's a post-Six Flags tradition that I cherish. The breadsticks are like crack. mmmmmm.

Right after dinner it's back to O'Hare, onto another plane and off to Texas. Two more parks to go.

 

I also rode Batman, Ragin' Cajun, The Dark Knight and Viper while I was at the park. Viper was much better than I expected, Batman was exactly what I expected (great!) and Ragin' Cajun and The Dark Knight did their respective jobs adequately.

 

My overall impression of Six Flags Great America is that it is one of the best Six Flags parks in terms of staffing. The ride ops, game attendants, restaurant employees and anyone else I interacted with were all top notch. Happy people doing a fantastic job at a place they enjoy working at.

 

As for the rides: X-Flight was sensational, Little Dipper was an unexpected joy and Whizzer is a classic Schwarzkopf masterpiece that you must ride at least once in your life. Nice park.

 

However, Texas is only a flight away and I'll be hitting two parks there... one of which I have been dreaming of visiting for a very long time.

 

Giddyup Texas. Here I come.

Edited September 21, 2012 by BugEyed

[The49er]

Nice TR...um, again maybe? I'm too lazy to see if I already said this. It'll be interesting to see a metal lover in Texas...

[1badgmc]

It'll be interesting to see a metal lover in Texas...

 

Why? I'm not fanatical about it, but I enjoy metal and I have plenty of serious metalhead friends...and we're all in Texas.

[simon8899]

What's up with the program on Revolution?

 

Maybe one should send them a copy of the operators manual...

Frisbee as it should be!

[BugEyed]

^ Yes, exactly. It breaks my heart to see a perfectly good ride flying at 1/2 mast.

[BugEyed]

Why? I'm not fanatical about it, but I enjoy metal and I have plenty of serious metalhead friends...and we're all in Texas.

Thank you. There's an abundance of metal in Texas. Pantera grew up mere blocks from SFOT and Dimebag Darrell's grave is within walking distance. Texas update coming tomorrow.

[Blind Idiot God]

Why? I'm not fanatical about it, but I enjoy metal and I have plenty of serious metalhead friends...and we're all in Texas.

Thank you. There's an abundance of metal in Texas. Pantera grew up mere blocks from SFOT and Dimebag Darrell's grave is within walking distance. Texas update coming tomorrow.

 

Don't forget Watchtower, Helstar, and Devourment.

[BugEyed]

After leaving Chicago on an evening flight I landed in Houston just before 10PM. I was downtown, checked into my hotel and fast asleep by 11:30 pm. After the events of the last several days I was understandably burnt out.

 

It's worth mentioning that I stayed at The Magnolia Hotel in downtown Houston. This place is amazing. It's no more expensive than a Holiday Inn Express and they have a beautiful outdoor rooftop pool. In fact the entire hotel feels like a 5-star experience. Among it's many charms, they offer complimentary milk & cookies room service at bedtime. It was pretty awesome. If you ever find yourself requiring a hotel in downtown Houston I strongly encourage you to consider The Magnolia.

 

Anyway, I was awake at 9AM and on the road by 10. I only had one day in Houston and I wanted to make the most of it. With an early flight to Dallas booked for the next morning another good night of sleep seemed like a great idea.

 

The intended schedule for the day was expected to go like this:

 

Drive to Kemah Boardwalk and spend an hour seeing the sights. Drive to Galveston Pleasure Pier and spend an hour there as well. If everything went according to plan I would be done in Galveston just before 2PM. From there I would drive to The Johnson Space Center and spend the remainder of the afternoon seeing NASA's Mission Control and other facilities. JSP is a place I have wanted to visit since I was a kid.

 

and we're off...

 

The rooftop pool, hot tub and gym at The Magnolia Hotel in downtown Houston is heavenly.

The views of the Houston skyline are outstanding.

A quarter turn and you can see Minute Maid Park.

Another quarter turn and you can see the Diving Bell Ferris Wheel at the Downtown Aquarium. They also have a 65' drop tower called the Lighthouse Dive. I did not get to ride either. You'll understand why soon enough.

After a relaxing hour long drive I arrive at The Kemah Boardwalk. It's a very chilled out seaside resort. Parking is free!

Being a seaside resort requires that they have a nearby ocean. Here's a picture of the edge of it.

Here's a bit more of the ocean. It's really big and hard to get a good shot of all of it at once.

There are a lot of crabs swimming in this ocean.

This bird and I had words. I tried to avoid a confrontation but he just wouldn't let it go. We eventually agreed to disagree and went our separate ways. Jerk.

They have some rides here as well.

I didn't ride Wipeout, the Ferris wheel or Pharaoh's Fury but they looked great.

I think I see a roller coaster. How convenient? I was just thinking I'd very much like to ride one.

They do in fact have a roller coaster... and IT'S CLOSED.

Not to worry. The ops explain that it's only closed this morning for scheduled maintenance. If I come back around 3pm it will be running. Phew.

Might as well take another shot before heading off.

 

And thus a conflict is born. If I continue to Galveston Pleasure Pier now I will essentially have to backtrack an extra hour in order to fit both JSP and a return to Kemah into the day. However it's still early enough that I can go to Johnson Space Center now, come back to Kemah around 4pm and still have plenty of time to hit Galveston Pleasure Pier later. The idea of seeing GPP on a Friday evening suddenly appeals to me so...

 

off I go to The Johnson Space Center.

 

Here's the entrance to The Johnson Space Center.

Taking the tram tour.

Outside Mission Control.

Inside Mission Control.

Rocket.

Not sure what this is but it was on top of a rocket and it looked interesting.

Saturn V rocket.

Saturn V rocket bum.

This guy is totally hosed.

 

I then make the short drive back to Kemah and discover that Boardwalk Bullet is running! Hooray!

 

Now, I've heard a lot about this beast and not all of it has been good. It's an intense ride and known to be terribly rough everywhere except the front. I've been warned to ride defensively and I heed this advice when I grab my first lap in the front right. I LOVE EVERY SECOND OF IT! Amazing. Wonderfully intense. The compact layout is like getting caught in a prison riot with your feet shackled. It was great.

 

I then decide to grab a beer, enjoy the view and ponder having a second ride on this amazingly frantic mess of timber.

 

Liquid courage told me that I should try a ride in the back. What harm could it do? Away we go.

 

At the bottom of the first drop something in the left side of my neck goes CRACK!

 

(now is not the time for you to hit "postreply" with your headbanger jokes. Please restrain yourselves.)

 

All I remember after that is blinding pain and a strong desire for complimentary milk & cookies. My neck hurts like a bugger. I don't blame the coaster. I'm not new to this. I let my guard down and now I'm paying for it.

 

I make the (literally) painful decision to skip Galveston Pleasure Pier and head back to Houston to lick my wounds. I still have Six Flags Over Texas ahead of me and cannot afford to have a sore neck when I get there. With any luck whatever went snap in my neck was nothing important. Necks are chock full of unnecessary crap that we don't use, right? Right??

 

Last update of my trip coming soon...

Edited September 10, 2012 by BugEyed

[Intaman]

Good TR. I especially appreciate the photo of Tinley Park Liquors. Classic.

[Ed Farmer]

Great read all the way through so far. I thought I remember reading that Boardwalk Bullet struggled to make it all the way through it's course early on in it's existence. Somehow that gave way to the reputation of being a fairly intense gem nowadays. I've wanted to travel down to Texas for a while- when I finally do, it'll be because of the New Giant, Bullet, and Sea World.

[The49er]

There, there...

 

Also...*jock voice* You said CRACK! *cue Beavis and Butthead laugh*

[BugEyed]

I had every intention of posting the SFOT portion of this report last week but things got away from me. Working on it now. Should have ready later tonight.