Highlights of Your Season?

[2012jarrett]

So with 2013 winding down for most of us in terms of seasonal parks (I'm visiting one more park this season and I'm done until 2014 when I open it with Banshee) I was thinking about which moments really stood out for my past season. So I was thinking, what are your;

 

*Best moment

*Best individual ride

*Funniest moment

*Scariest moment

*Strangest moment

*Favorite individual park visit

*Nerdiest moment

*Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park

*Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park

*Favorite new experience

*Anything else you'd like to mention as a highlight

 

I'll start:

 

2013

*Best moment- Winning the GateKeeper Plinko that was set up outside the park gates before the park opened and winning a front of the line pass for GateKeeper. It was my first time on it and walking past a three hour line that had the cattlepens slammed and was pouring out down by MaXair was INCREDIBLE. And then we rode in the front for my first ride on it. It's now my favorite B&M!

 

*Best individual ride- Millennium Force (my favorite coaster) at 10:30 at night. The track wasn't warm and it wasn't running as briskly as it has the first two times I've been on it but it was still a sick ride. There was a harvest moon out and GateKeeper, Giant Wheel, and Windseeker were lit up and the DJ show outside the queue on the plaza had some minor pyrotechnics firing off behind the final overbank, it was absolutely beautiful.

 

*Funniest moment- At Kings Island, we were getting on The Beast at night. It and Diamondback get absolutely SLAMMED since they're both supposed to be good night rides (I think The Beast is more special if you ride it at night than Diamondback, so we decided to do The Beast instead even though I think D-Back's an overall better ride) and as you might have seen in the Banshee announcement video, the park definitely aknowleges that this night ride "rivalry" between both rides exists. So while we were loading, the ride op asks us "How many of you think The Beast is better than Diamondback?" A few cheers come from the train. "How many of you think Diamondback is better than the Beast?" which was me, if you're talking overall ride. I just yelled "YEAH!!! WOOO!!!" and clapped, alone. "Get out," the ride op joked, pointing to the exit.

 

Scariest moment- Getting virtually forced onto Drop Tower by my evil sister who threatened to ditch me if I didn't ride with her at Kings Island. Despite my passion for coasters I am afraid of heights (only reason I can do a lot of them is because they usually get you down from there pretty quickly if you know what I mean... ) and while I thought I could at least get a good view of the park and Banshee construction, we get a breathtaking view of the PARKING LOT. AND the ride scared the living daylights out of me! At least the drop was sick. I'm glad I did it; NEVER doing it again!

 

*Strangest moment- Going to Kings Island with another TPR member, we wanted to ride Flight Deck, but as soon as we got to the station they shut the ride down because a storm was blowing through. All of us were pretty tired but wanted to ride eventually, so decided that we would retain our front of the line spot when it opened back up and asked the ride ops if we could set our stuff down and hang out in the station. They didn't care, and that ended up with all three of us sleeping on the concrete station deck. We slept in a roller coaster station! Strange, but EPIC!!!!

 

*Favorite individual park visit- Cedar Point in July with my cousin. GateKeeper front of the line pass AND night ride on Millennium as well as my first time on Dragster, it was awesome! Spent 15.5 hours at my favorite park!

 

*Nerdiest moment- Getting in line for Adventure Express and flipping out when I saw Banshee pieces for the first time in person.

 

*Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park- Tie between my first time trying Famous Dave's at Cedar Point and seeing Dolly Parton in person at Dollywood

 

*Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park- The night before I went to Dollywood with my friend and her family, we were in our cabin in Gatlinburg. We were watching Firefly upstairs, just chilling, and the next thing I know, the power's out. So we're stuck on top of a mountain at night with no cellphone reception and bears. AND I hadn't charged my electronics for the trip the next day. Luckily it was just a tree falling across the power lines and it came back on an hour later and I was able to charge my camera and phone.

 

*Favorite new experience- Dragster's launch and having my ears pop at the top of a coaster.

 

-x-

 

So what were the highlights of your season? I love hearing these stories!

[rcjp]

Ok this year I made a trip to the us and visited a few parks (the most I've ever done in a year) and I have a few memorable moments.

 

*Best moment: Going up skyrush's lifthill. The ride itself was awesome but I'd been dreaming of this ride (literally) for so long, well, since last year that the anticipation was brutal. Was definitely up to my expectations.

 

*Best individual ride: Kingda Ka in the front. I had ridden it before but never in the front and it definitely felt more intense than the other seats. The 128 mph wind, your face flapping like crazy, the super intense entry to the tophat,... really good.

 

*Funniest moment: Ok, my dad and I were queuing for our second ride on stinger at dorney and two guys (aged around 20) asked us which way to go to steel force. I explained them (even though that was my first time there) and then we realized that they seemed a bit nervous about riding stinger. So we immediately decided we would have to sit in front of them to see their reaction and, during the entire first half of the ride, the guy who was sitting in front of my dad was drooling (quite badly) the whole time. Well, so badly in fact that a giant string of saliva formed around his mouth and I was just kind of hiding myself in the restraint as I was seriously afraid it would end up in my face. Not only that, the guy was pulling a really funny face while trying to resist the G forces. Sort of laughing while trying to keep his head straight even though it just kept itself sort of sideways. Anyway, my dad couldn't stop laughing of his face and while I was just hoping I wouldn't get a saliva shower.

 

*Scariest moment: Heading to our rented car after leaving Hershey and having to struggle quite a lot to find it. So much that for about 5 minutes I though it had been stolen and with it our bags, most of our money, passports, tickets to other parks, hotels and flights. I was seriously relieved when we found it in a place we though we hadn't park it in (at least while we were looking).

 

*Strangest moment: Going up raptor's lift at CP when my restraint unlocked one or two clicks. I just closed it again rapidly and decided not to tell my dad as I feared he would panic a bit. Don't know it it happens usually but it definitely felt weird.

 

*Favorite individual park visit: Hershey. While I loved Cedar Point and Six Flags Great Adventure (where I'd already been to, actually) I was very surprised by both the park itself and the quality of the coasters (skyrush and storm runner were just awesome, great bear was quite good too and better than I was expecting).

 

*Nerdiest moment: Not extremely nerdy, just a bit. Waiting for a while next to Top Thrill Dragster engine room to hear and look at the cables as the ride launched.

 

*Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park: I don't really have a best thing, just a slightly funny one. In the day I went to SFGAdv I was wearing a jackass t-shirt and quite a few people said thins like "Oh, man I love that shirt!". One of them even asked where I'd bought it to which I answered I had purchased it in my hometown, in Portugal (and I'm sure they had no idea whatsoever where that is). The next day I had a Rocky t-shirt and, again,there were some people making comments about it. I don't know if this is common in the US but here people don't really talk to each other unless they know them. Everyone just seems nicer there.

 

*Favorite new experience: Experiencing ejector airtime for the first time, and it was on skyrush so it was a pretty decent start! Really cool and I definitely prefer it over floater air.

[DougMJr]

Here is mine.

 

*Best moment

Getting Drunk at Mt. Olympus and then managing to come back from Timber Falls and Little Amerikka in one piece!

 

*Best individual ride

Outlaw Run

 

*Funniest moment

TGI Fridays, I'll leave it at that.

 

*Scariest moment

Arriving in San Antonio not knowing what exactly to expect out of my first TPR tour.

 

*Strangest moment

Accidentally having a friend get locked out of their hotel room while you have their key and are too sacked out to hear him knocking on the door.

 

*Favorite individual park visit

Silver Dollar City

 

*Nerdiest moment

Packing the bolts from Rattler in my luggage.

 

*Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park

The bar at Mt Olympus

 

*Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park

City Museum

 

*Favorite new experience

Meeting everyone in the tour and making some awesome new friends.

 

*Anything else you'd like to mention as a highlight

Don't plug your nose.

[IronWolfman]

*Best moment: Flying into Timber Terror's Buzz Bar on the first drop, sitting in the very back.

 

*Best individual ride: One ride on Sidewinder (Elitches) in the very front at the end of the day when the ride warmed up so much I legitimately wondered if the brakes would be able to stop the speeding train. So much positive and negative G's.

 

*Funniest moment: Dancing with a game operator to "Say Hey (I love you)" at Elitches.

 

*Scariest moment: Riding my first Skycoaster (XLR8R at Elitches).

 

*Strangest moment: IDK nothing has been really strange.

 

*Favorite individual park visit: Elitches in August. Silverwood is a close second, but only because my step family is made up of kill joys.

 

*Nerdiest moment: Taking a picture under Sidewinder.

 

*Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park: See funniest moment.

 

*Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park: I didn't get to go on any park trips.

 

*Favorite new experience: Sky Coasters (XLR8R)

 

*Anything else you'd like to mention as a highlight: How much better Elitches is compared to it's reputation.

[ntag2ndturn]

*Best moment- My first visit to SFOT this season, riding NTAG 24 times pre-accident.

*Best individual ride: Last night(October 19th), NTAG at 40 degrees, back seat, full moon, brisk wind, sitting next to some terrified girl around my age. Perfect.

*Funniest moment: Ended up carrying on a forty minute conversation with a ride op about Shockwave vs. Mindbender

*Scariest moment- Waiting in line for NTAG when the accident occurred.

*Strangest moment- Losing my season pass purchasing a Fright Pass

*Favorite individual park visit: October 19th. Perfect weather, chilly, a couple rides on everything, Fright Fest tossed in.

*Nerdiest moment: Corrected a four year old about the height of Judge Roy Scream

*Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park: Getting free chicken fingers because the ones we paid for were undercooked.

*Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park: I got nothing

*Favorite new experience: Giant StarFlyers

*Anything else you'd like to mention as a highlight

[BigBomer]

*Best moment: Gold Pass holder day for Iron Rattler, getting 20 rides on it.

*Best individual ride: New Texas Giant.

*Funniest moment: Sitting down in the middle of a huge thunderstorm with complete strangers for 2 hours, waiting for Mr. Freeze to re-open.

*Scariest moment: Being told to leave the line of NTAG because someone died.

*Strangest moment: Trying to figure out if the worker was lying about someone dying on NTAG.

*Favorite individual park visit: Sea World of Texas, only person riding coasters that day.

*Nerdiest moment: Taking pictures of Shock Wave for 30 minutes, even though it was out of commission.

*Favorite new experience: Iron Rattler.

[VinTheAttendant]

This was a great year, so I'll give it a whirl.

 

*Best moment - A bit of backstory: my sister and I decided to do our first road trip on our own and tackled a few parks between home and around Cedar Point. We were having lousy weather all week, but it was not stopping us from having fun. However, some strong thunderstorms were expected on the day we visit Waldameer, a new park for us. Up until about four hours prior to opening, the weather was predicted to be abysmal, and we were worried the park would close out of precaution; but it then switched to being cloudy, about 10% chance of rain, and maybe even some sun later. So we took the chance, headed to the park, and there were literally only 9 vehicles in the parking lot (six cars and three buses). The moment we got to the front gate and the smiling women working admission told us the park was open, that was the biggest "YESSSSS!!!!" moment of the trip. The park was empty, and we got a ton of rides on Ravine Flyer II.

 

*Best individual ride - Intimidator 305, my new #1 favorite coaster. Just a few months before, I reaffirmed my love of Millennium Force, and I still love it to death. I honestly didn't believe that I305 would top it, but I was hooked after my very first ride. Also to be noted, I visited Kings Dominion while I305 was closed for its temper tantrum, and I was certain I would not be able to ride it before the end of the season. But one week after it reopened, I managed to find a ride down to the park, and from there, it's history.

 

*Funniest moment - There were a lot, but if I had to choose one, I would say that riding Demon Drop at Dorney with one of my friends for the first time is up there. He's a relatively laid back guy, so it really surprised me when he began to legitimately freak out on Demon Drop. The result, a loud,terror-filled scream as our car plummeted. Add my terror-filled scream to the mix, and then it's all laughs once the ride hit the brakes.

 

*Scariest moment - Didn't really have one. I guess the closest thing is riding the Star Flyer at PNE Playland. I have acrophobia, and Playland likes to spin their Star Flyer really fast. It freaked me out, but I had my friend next to me to make fun of me

 

*Favorite individual park visit - Probably PNE Playland. A few years ago, I started talking online to a TPR member from the Vancouver area. We found a lot in common with each other and instantly became friends; though considering we lived on opposite ends of the continent, we never thought we'd ever meet. Well this year, I was in the neighborhood, and we finally got to hang out in a park in real life. We both had an amazing day, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like the day we had was actually a dream because it was too good to have actually existed. Good friends will do that to you sometimes.

 

*Nerdiest moment - In the line for Volcano: The Blast Coaster, one of the ride attendants decided to play trivia with the queue. She asked how old Volcano was, and I was quick to declare that it was 15 years old. I felt like I won a game show despite having won nothing and nobody around me actually caring (I thought it was cute when a younger girl ahead of us guessed that it was four years old).

 

*Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park - I guess it would be from our first day at Cedar Point. We had managed to get on a lot of rides during Early Entry, but heavy rain and thunderstorms closed down many rides as the day progressed. Rides were down for about four hours, and then the sun made an unexpected visit. Within an hour, all of the coasters we wanted to ride but couldn't reopened.

 

*Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park - It wasn't the best at the time, but it quickly became our favorite funny thing to happen outside of the park. When we were leaving our hotel in Sandusky for Kings Island, we decided to grab some breakfast at the first Dunkin Donuts we saw. We found one almost instantly, but it was on the left side of the road, so we decided to get do the next one....... The very next Dunkin Donuts was right outside Kings Island. We did stop by a McDonalds prior to arrival, but it was funny how we had expectations of finding something so prevalent on the East Coast, only to barely find one in Ohio. Go figure.

 

*Favorite new experience - A tie between experiencing Ravine Flyer II and Playland's Coaster. I had heard good things about both woodies, but I was not expecting such an awesome experience out of both of them. They were both incredibly smooth, so fast paced, loads of airtime, and both exceeded my expectations.

 

*Anything else you'd like to mention as a highlight - We visited Kings Dominion the week after I305 reopened. It was during Haunt on a Saturday, so we were expecting ridiculous crowds. As it would turn out, the Virginia State Fair happened to be right next door that weekend, and a lot of the crowds we were expecting wound up going there, leading to very tolerable lines for a Saturday. One of the results was that my sister and I would take a side on Rebel Yell and race each other.

 

Overall, great year for coaster riding, maybe even the best. (Sorry this post is so long)

[BenFreeze]

*Best moment: Riding Outlaw Run with a friend who just-so-happened to be in Branson at the same time.

*Best individual ride: Outlaw Run, back row.

*Funniest moment: Riding Wildfire several times in a row in the pouring rain, being the only ones on the train.

*Scariest moment: The fear of Outlaw Run being closed (Only to find out that it was at the time.)

*Strangest moment: Waiting in the station for Patriot at WOF as both trains are cycled empty many times.

*Favorite individual park visit: Silver Dollar City, of course!

*Nerdiest moment: Collecting as many SDC-related maps and brochures as I could find!

*Favorite new experience: Outlaw Run!

 

As you can see, I really enjoyed Outlaw Run.

[yankeeman311]

Best moment- watching Wishes again at Magic Kingdom for the first time in 12 years. Gives me goosebumps every time and was one of the happiest moments of my life.

 

Best Individual Ride- Skyrush. Ejector airtime was insane and it took over my #1 overall coaster spot from El Toro who had it for 5 years.

 

Funniest Moment- 2 things that involve my new friends from TPR. Me and Brendon made Emily sit in the right seat on TDK and when the horn blew at the end, it scared the crap out of her (though she claims it was the light). The other thing was seeing how scared Emily and Brendon got from Knoebels' Haunted House.

 

Scariest Moment- waiting for the launch on Storm Runner. Having never been on a vertical launch coaster, I was nervous about this but of course it turned out to be awesome.

 

Strangest Moment- getting stuck on Nitro for the last ride of the night. We actually ended up getting evacuated off it.

 

Favorite Individual Park Visit- Knoebels. I never understood why everyone on TPR loved this park until I experienced it for myself.

 

Nerdiest Moment- me and Emily credit whoring on Kozmo's Kurves in Knoebels.

 

Best non-coaster related thing to happen in a park- see best moment.

 

Best thing to happen on a park trip outside the park- going to the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. My family and I did half WDW and half Disney Cruise and Nassau was a port on there. Atlantis was a great time.

 

Favorite New Experience- going to parks with fellow TPR members. First time I did a park meet-up with someone from here and did 3 different parks with those 2 people who I now consider good friends .

[willthegolfer]

Alright my coaster life is very boring (I'm only 15), and this year only consisted of a few trips to SfGam (last year i got to Knott's and BGA), so don't expect much.

 

*Best Moment- Riding Raging Bull 10 times in less than 2 hours

 

*Best Individual Ride- Raging Bull

 

*Funniest Moment- While our train on AE was stuck at the brake run, one of the ride ops came out and said that the coaster was on fire as a joke.

 

*Scariest Moment- Seeing someone pass out in line for Superman Ultimate Flight (It was 100 degrees).

 

*Strangest Moment- when all of SfGam's rides on one side of the park were closed for 2 hours due to a power outage.

 

*Favorite Individual Park Visit- a random day at SfGam, 75 degrees, relatively short wait times.

 

*Nerdiest Moment- Being the only person in AE's station who knew the year it opened.

 

*Best non-coaster related thing that happened at a park- walking through misters on a 100 degree day.

 

*Best thing to happen on a park trip outside the park- Nothing exciting, it's just an hour drive

 

*Favorite New experience- Funnel Cakes

 

*Other Highlights- Shouting on-ride commentary so everyone on the train knows what's happening.

[RCT3Bross]

I give it a try, my year wasn't that good with lots of disappointment.

*Best moment: Getting to ride 'd Wervelwind in Toverland. The ride would have been down thanks to the weather but that got better and it opened the later in the day.

*Best individual ride: Goliath Walibi Holland. Best ride you can find in this area.

*Funniest moment: I rode the Xpress in Walibi Holland when it started to rain pretty hard. So yeah I was pretty drenched when I entered the line again only to find it closed because of the rain. (was the only ride open before the park opens) So yeah people wondered what the happened to me, I could laugh that time.

*Scariest moment: I have to say I was pretty scared in Radja River (Walibi Belgium). Almost fell out of the boat.

*Strangest moment: Space Shot breakdown. When I was in Walibi Holland the Space Shot (S&S tower) broke down whit me on it. I thought what "happens here?". It was the first time a ride broke down with me riding it. So yeah was a bit strange but good for the experience.

*Favorite individual park visit: Walibi Holland. Been to three parks this year. Walibi Holland has the best coasters of the three so yeah easy choice.

*Nerdiest moment: Don't know if it count but I had to take a good look at the Flywheel of Turbine (Psyké Underground). I was just so happy seeing that machinery in real life. Good that the park decided to show it instead of covering it.

*Favorite new experience: Psyké Underground. This ride I did two times that day and it's actually really fun and exiting getting launched that way.

That's pretty much is it.

[kailisun98]

The best? OUTLAW RUN!!!! I bet many people would agree with me on this.

[gerstlaueringvar]

Here's mine.

 

*Best moment:the moment I saw Outlaw Run. It felt like I was dreaming, after all those virtual ride since I watched the POV.

 

*Best individual ride: Outlaw Run, followed by Maverick.

 

*Funniest moment: Bouncy ball at SFFT @Ccorn10 .

 

*Scariest moment: First ride on Cyclops , on the back row. Elissa warned us that this coaster provide some TRUE ejector that even she has to hold on! Though it didn't look that intense while I was waiting for it, I was truely afraid I would fly out before the drop o' death and held on really tight for the first time in five years. But I ended up loving it a lot that I rode it five times in total . (Something weird is hiding in this paragraph )

 

*Strangest moment: getting a roll back on the kiddie coaster at Little Amerrica.

 

*Favorite individual park visit: Silver Dollar City, being my favorite place in this planet now .

 

*Nerdiest moment: Watching Pandemonium's chain lift for 15 minutes at SFFT to find out how on earth could it get THAT silent.

 

*Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park: Marvel Cave tour at Silver Dollar City, really impressed me by how huge it was.

 

*Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park: City Musum and Lambert's. The bread must had some

 

*Favorite new experience: Joining a TPR tour. Can't wait to do more!

 

*Anything else you'd like to mention as a highlight: This is the only thing outside of the TPR tour, getting my mom to ride on SkyCar at Mysterious Island and let her experience ejector for the first time. She had never been on a great coaster because she is pretty afraid of them. She ended up loving it

[Blatch]

Well, I only went to two parks this year, and drove past two others, but I do have enough moments to make a post out of.

 

*Best moment: Reaching the top of Bizarro's lift hill. I had never been on a coaster that high before, and I marveled at how small everything seemed from below.

*Best individual ride: Getting to ride Untamed at Canobie Lake Park with my aunt beside me. I never get personal moments like that, so I treasure every one that occurs.

*Funniest moment: Going on Blizzard River at SFNE and getting soaked, even though it was dusk and not remotely hot outside. Me and my sister waited for Pandemonium shivering cold.

*Scariest moment: Being able to see another state at the top of Bizarro's lift. Also, the entirety of Screemfest at Canobie Lake Park.

*Strangest moment: Realizing that the line for Batman: The Dark Knight at SFNE was much longer than we expected... an hour longer.

*Favorite individual park visit: Well, I only visited two, and both are about equal, so I'll go with my SFNE visit. So much new stuff to ride.

*Nerdiest moment: Everything that I do at theme parks is a nerdy moment, but the one that stood out in particular was when, coming home from a wedding in Pennsylvania, we stayed at a Howard Johnson's that was right next to Dorney Park, and I proceeded to rattle off as much about the park as I could while we were there.

*Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park: Screemfest. Especially Cannibal Island. Me and my aunt were laughing our arses off in addition to being scared at every corner.

*Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park: See "Nerdiest moment". Though I guess it doesn't count since I didn't actually go for the park.

*Favorite new experience: Ejector air, baby. Also, my first halloween event, my first taste of big-business corprate parks, and-hey, my first TPR Photo TR, all went very nicely.

*Anything else you'd like to mention as a highlight: I do plan on going with my family to Dorney next year, and I'll make a PowerPoint presentation showing everything they would ever need to know about the park. Because that's exactly how I do things.

[Schrecken]

*Best moment - Probably would have to be my very first ride on Skyrush back in early June (which was at night in the very front). I had pretty low expectations for this ride and those expectations were exceeded by many light years.

 

*Best individual ride - same as above - IMO the best coaster I've set foot on in over a decade and my new #1.

 

*Funniest moment - don't have a particular one, but probably some of the freakier GP reactions to certain coasters - like the two ladies who thought KK couldn't possibly make it over the top! And just people who freak out in general.

 

*Scariest moment - trying out the back wing seats on Skyrush for the first time yesterday - scary in the sense that I was afraid I'd really screw up my back, but thankfully my fears were unfounded. It literally took me all summer and fall - and three separate visits before I got up the nerve to ride in those seats.

 

*Strangest moment - actually this was more like a "strangest day" for me - visiting Mt Olympus for the first time and being aghast at the type of clientele that park draws (and even the park itself, which is a pretty odd place).

 

 

*Favorite individual park visit - probably my trip to HP yesterday - I got ride everything I wanted to ride and got 27 rides on Skyrush.

 

*Nerdiest moment - lots of moments in parks when I notice things about coasters and rides that most people would never pay attention to, but perhaps the most notable one was when I was at HP on my 2nd trip of this year and I spent several minutes standing on the path beside the water watching Skyrush as several trains were dispatched. And I put my hands on the fence railing where one of the supports is really close so I could feel vibration as the train passed by. That was awesome!

 

*Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park - this would have to be the weather. I was really blessed with perfect weather for almost all of my coaster trips (only one day at HP back in late June was it hotter than you know what) this year - two out of my three visits to HP. my trip out west to Valleyfair, Mt. Olympus (and also Nick Universe, though of course that is indoors, so the weather wouldn't have made a difference, but it was still a beautiful day) and my trip in September to SF Great Adventure.

 

 

*Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park - I'd say my friend and I meeting up with a fellow enthusiast (whose home park is Valleyfair) and hanging out with him when we weren't at the parks.

 

*Favorite new experience - again, see my response to the first two questions, hands down.

 

*Anything else you'd like to mention as a highlight - just being able to get to three mid-west parks that my friend and I had never been to and in the same trip being able to ride my 200th coaster (Wildthing at Valleyfair).

[Canobie Coaster]

Best Moment- For me, it was riding Boulder Dash for the first time at night last weekend. I had been on the coaster nearly a hundred times, but all during the day. During Lake Compounce's Haunted Graveyard event I finally had the opportunity to ride Boulder Dash at night and was blown away by the sense of speed.

 

Funniest Moment- I went to the Haunted Graveyard with a few friends and the final on-ride photo that we took was hysterical! Two of us looked stunned, one of us had a thinking pose, and I juggled a kleenex and it looked like I was spitting an egg out of my mouth.

 

Scariest Moment- It was waiting for the floor to drop out on the Great Escape's Cliffhanger trap door water slide. It was my first time on that type of water slide and it was really suspenseful. I ended up loving it!

 

Favorite Park Visit- Haunted Graveyard visit to Lake Compounce

 

Best Non-Coaster Related Thing to Happen at a Park- Haunted Graveyard

 

Best Thing to Happen at a Park Trip Outside of the Park- After visiting the Great Escape, I went to Around the World Mini Golf in the Lake George Village and was amazed by the creativity and uniqueness of the course.

 

Favorite New Experience- Boulder Dash at night

[larrygator]

It was a slow year for me, but here goes

 

*Best moment - Mexico with TPR

 

 

*Best individual ride - Had someone incredible rides on Phoenix

 

 

*Funniest moment - post Tequila Factory Tour dinner with TPR

 

 

*Scariest moment - TPR members swinging a machete at agave plants in Mexico

 

 

*Strangest moment - Running into a former co-worker at a park

 

 

*Favorite individual park visit - Knoebels opening weekend

 

 

*Nerdiest moment - having my friend's 14 year old son repeatedly texting me about coasters, and me responding to him

 

 

*Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park - Riding the revamped Spook House at Deno's Wonder Wheel park

 

 

*Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park - Finding out I didn't have Montezooma's Revenge and it being just a case of lactose intolerance

 

 

*Favorite new experience - Mexican food at a Mexican amusement park

 

 

*Anything else you'd like to mention as a highlight - TPR Trips rule thanks to the awesome work of Robb and Elissa.

[XII]

Best moment - The entire Texas/Rocky Mtn Road Trip I did.

 

Best individual ride - Outlaw Run

 

Funniest moment - Goofing off on the Stratosphere rides while everyone else was scared sh*tless

 

Scariest moment - SCAD Tower

 

Strangest moment - Reading about the Texas Giant Accident on my phone the day after I visit while still on my trip

 

Favorite individual park visit - Silver Dollar City

 

Nerdiest moment - Geeking out during the Timber Mtn Log Ride Backstage Tour at WCB

 

Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park - Getting interviewed by a local newspaper about Outlaw Run

 

Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park - Penn's Private Party

 

Favorite new experience - Doing a big coaster trip completely on my own

[Angry_Gumball]

Many highlights and lowlights...let's start, shall we?

 

The Good:

-My home park finally gets and opens a major new coaster, that was, Gold Striker!

-Gold Striker was easily one of the best coaster experiences I've had so far!

-First time to SFMM since 2001, many missing credits

-First time to KBF and Disney since 1998...lots of Knott's credits to be picked up!

-West Coast Bash, both SFMM and Knott's days

-Hanging out with my friends (coaster enthusiasts) while doing these parks, has become a normal routine!

-First time to Gilroy Gardens, a nice little park!

-Carnival Credits and new death machine experiences

-Special Gold Striker backstage tour and 2013 season preview that CGA invited me to

-And the Gold Striker promotional shoot. I was on one of the first public trains on Gold Striker (First public ride in their Train B)

 

The Bad:

-Nearly got in a fight with some belligerent line jumpers...was best to let them pass after initially speaking up/reacting naturally to being shoved aside...in turn, they got ejected from the park.

-Watching my home park's new coaster take on endless delays before opening the absolute last day in May, within the last 2 hours of the day

-Not being able to attend the Gold Striker media event/having to decline the invite as I had to work that morning...I went out to the park right after work though to join the rest of my friends who did make it.

-Encountering probably one of my worst coaster experiences on Revolution...was my 'credit ride' and didn't realize how much defensive riding I had to do until it was too late...I exited the ride and had to finish my SFMM day with a throbbing headache. I avoided that ride on my next visit 3 days later.

-A lackluster opening day experience at SFDK...insanely long lines combined with the park allowing double rides all day...and a huge chunk of the day spend in line just to process season passes... Visits after opening day were far more successful however.

 

And to try this format...

 

Best moment - Promotional Shoot, being one of the first riders on Gold Striker and having 50 laps in before it opened to the public

 

Best individual ride - Gold Striker!

 

Funniest moment - 5-man run with the group on the family raft water slide...had friends' heads slamming into shoulders while having a quite intense ride down the slide

 

Scariest moment - Nearly getting into a car wreck on my way down to WCB...proven that riding coasters are safer than traveling to go ride them. Some car cut us off and quickly put on their brakes while traveling down the I-5

 

Strangest moment - Walking around my home park during the off-season on a special invite event

 

Favorite individual park visit - Knott's, West Coast Bash and Knott's visit in April

 

Nerdiest moment - Keeping track of my laps on Gold Striker, stopped counting after 204 laps

 

Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park - Getting a free ride on the sky coaster at my home park on our off-season backstage tour, Timber Mountain Log Ride flume tour and ERT that evening...amazing to see everything come to life!

 

Favorite new experience - Doing my first distance trip with my friends, though it was only SoCal, it's a start. I don't travel often but I see this as a gateway to doing such...in fact, we're already planning an upcoming trip to Cedar Point and KI and ??? in the coming years.

[rcdude]

Best moment: The Timber Mountain Log Ride tour at West Coast Bash.

 

Best individual ride: My first front-seat ride on Medusa at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

 

Funniest moment: During an after-hours AP party at Disney California Adventure, I saw two adults driving around on Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies. They were the only two people on the ride.

 

Scariest moment: After my first ride on Full Throttle, I thought I had lost my wallet and keys. Fortunately, I had just forgotten that they were in a different pocket than normal.

 

Strangest moment: Encountering a friend's family at Knott's Berry Farm (my friend was not with them), and not recognizing them until I hopped onto Xcelerator in a free seat in their car. I ended up spending the afternoon with them.

 

Favorite individual park visit: The Knott's day of West Coast Bash.

 

Nerdiest moment: When being evacuated from Goofy's Sky School, I took a minute to get a close up view of the brakes and sensors before climbing down the stairs.

 

Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park: Visiting Six Flags Discovery Kingdom on a day where most of the lines were under 30 minutes and almost all operators were great (on my two prior visits, most lines were near an hour, almost every ride had one train and operations were terribly slow).

 

Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park: Most of the sightseeing my dad and I did on our Pacific Northwest Road Trip, namely Lassen Volcanic National Park and skiing at Mt. Hood in August.

 

Favorite new experience: Doing a personal road trip for the first time (instead of a TPR trip). Although amusement parks were only a small part of it, the entire trip was excellent.

[mightypotato]

2013 was a great year and I'm sad to see it come to an end.

 

Best moment - Signing the support structure of Outlaw Run

 

Best individual ride - Outlaw Run. God damn. Skyrush comes in a close second.

 

Funniest moment - Bottoming out the log flume at SFOT.

 

Scariest moment - The first lift of X-Car at Magic Springs. TERRIFYING.

 

Strangest moment - The Toboggan at Little Amerrick-A. WTF was that?

 

Favorite individual park visit - This is a tie between Silver Dollar City and my Labour Day visit to Cedar Point.

 

Nerdiest moment - Completely dorking out looking at the launch motor while walking past Dragster and seeing the hydraulic room open.

 

Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park - Marvel Cave at Silver Dollar City. Hug buddies for life!

 

Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park - City Museum. That place is a lawsuit just waiting to happen.

 

Favorite new experience - I didn't really do anything new or out of the ordinary this year. So, let's just say finally riding a RMC coaster.

 

Anything else you'd like to mention as a highlight - Riding Ravine Flyer II in a driving rain. It was both extremely fun and super painful. Also hit credit #200 this summer. Hurrah.

[Sir Clinksalot]

I had kind of a "light" year, didn't even get out of CA this year ... but here goes.

 

*Best moment - Log Ride Tour during WCB at Knott's

*Best individual ride - Gold Striker. A total winner.

*Funniest moment - RD breaking a few rides at SFMM

*Favorite individual park visit - WCB Knott's Day

*Nerdiest moment - TPR Quest during WCB

[cfc]

Best moment: Walking through the Mira Costa Hotel and into Tokyo DisneySea. No other park can top that entrance (but Epcot with Spaceship Earth comes close).

 

Best individual ride: My first ride on Cedar Point's Maverick. This is easily the best launched coaster out there, with the perfect combination of airtime, laterals, and inversions.

 

Funniest moment: Walking into the ice house with about 30 other TPR members at Cosmoworld, only to discover that Elissa and Mr. Kitigawa, an executive with Senyo who runs the park, had "locked" the exit! Gee--it was, what, -30 celsius in there?

 

Scariest moment: I'd say my first ride on Conneaut Lake's Blue Streak when I caught a look at the decrepit, crumbling old deck next to it. It looked like it was going to tumble into the swamp below, and the coaster itself looked a bit suspect.

 

Strangest moment: Probably the Murder Lodge simulator at Rustsu Resort. I have no idea what happened, but it ended with police sirens and flashing lights.

 

Favorite individual park visit: Tokyo DisneySea during the TPR Trip. My first visit to Cedar Point comes in second.

 

Nerdiest moment: Taking a ride on my first Bill Tracy-designed Wacky Shack at Waldameer.

 

Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park: The excellent walk-through tour of Spider-man at Universal Japan--while wearing 3D glasses with the animation on.

 

Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park: The "All You Can Eat and Drink in 30 Minutes" biergarten at the Sapporo Brewery--or any game of Cards Against Humanity with TPR.

 

Favorite new experience: The yakitori bar following the Universal Japan day.

 

Anything else you'd like to mention as a highlight: Epcot's Food & Wine Festival and Robb & Elissa's Tenth Anniversary Buffet during Illuminations. The first Busch Gardens Williamsburg Food & Wine Festival was good, too.

[johnychen]

*Best moment

Experiencing an empty day with walk on lines at Disney land and California Adventure.

 

*Best individual ride

The Phoenix at Kneobels during the Phunfest. It was running really fast and smooth. The twister at night during the rain was a close second.

 

*Funniest moment

Screaming YOLO on the YOLO coaster during ERT at WCB.

 

*Scariest moment

Loosing my wallet on Xcelerator during the WCB. Heard that it was raining cash into the queue.

 

*Strangest moment

Having a raccoon disrupt ERT on Superman at WCB.

 

*Favorite individual park visit

Knoeblels a Phall Phun Phest

 

*Nerdiest moment

Riding the veggie tales coaster in Dollywood

 

*Best non-coaster related thing to happen at a park

Riding the swings of death at Sandy Lakes

 

*Best thing to happen on a park trip outside of the park

Going to the City Museum for the first time at St Louis. Also seeing the Arch for the first time.

 

*Favorite new experience

Getting a chance to ride Flying Turns.

 

*Anything else you'd like to mention as a highlight

Was finally able to visit a lot of new parks for this year. Great experience of going skiing at Tahoe and then going to a coaster event at Santa Cruz on the same weekend.

[gisco]

Since it was an off year and having only visited one park I think the highlight of this year was Committing to the Scandi trip next year.