LiftThrill Posted June 21, 2016 Posted June 21, 2016 (edited) We finally went out and did a giant coaster trip and it was awesome. So many great coasters, great parks, and great experiences. We had to drive a day to get out of Texas, but on the second day we went to Silver Dollar City. Home to some of the world's best cinnamon bread, skillets, terrain, and roller coasters. As the first park of the trip, SDC really delivered. There's about as much to do non-coasterwise as coasterwise, but both are equally awesome. It was a Saturday so we had budgeted for Trailblazers, and with the Harlem Globetrotter show for Star Spangled summer debuting that day we decided to go for it... which turned out to be sort of worth it considering the price of the passes, but not really worth it because we only used up half of the 8 uses. After hanging around to watch a bit of the morning celebrations, we headed to Outlaw Run. The first coaster of the trip. Iron Rattler's demented wooden fraternal twin brother. After queuing for the front row, it took around 5-10 minutes to get on (station wait and walkons throughout the rest of the train). And what did I think of it? Let's just say it stayed as one of the best new coasters of the trip throughout. I'll go a little more in-depth about it later. After the front row we immediately went around and rode in the back. This ride is seriously amazing. Ridiculous airtime, twisty transitions, and two perfectly-executed barrel rolls in any seat. After that we decided to go for something more mild so we went around to the other side of the park, going in and out of tons of artisan shops. These are really cool; you basically watch these people making handcrafted pottery, glassblowing, woodcarving, you name it. It's really cool and fun to watch. You can also buy a ton of the stuff they've made which is cool. Some of it was ridiculously expensive. After a while we finally made it to Thunderation (at least 3 or 4 stops along the way). Decided to walk on to a random (non-wheel seat) row. This is my second favorite mine train after Road Runner Express @ SFFT. Great speed, laterals, and good pacing. I'll get into this more in my review later. We then decided to go get some cinnamon bread. We actually tried both the cinnamon rolls and the bread throughout the day but I don't remember which we got first. Cinnamon bread is glorious, rolls were great too. The entire park has amazing food and none of it is overpriced or crappy. I kept checking the SDC app to see what the wait times were for Wildfire and Powder Keg, and it turned out that PK had shut down temporarily when we finished the food, so we headed for Wildfire and walked onto the back row. Fantastic looper. The setting makes the ride that much better as well. I'll get into more aspects of this ride later, but we did go back for a reride. Powder Keg had opened back up at this point and the app said that it would be a 25 minute wait. Since we hadn't actually used Trailblazers until this point we decided "screw it let's save the time." Waited a little for the front row. This is my second favorite coaster in the park. Again I'll go into that more later. After that we decided to get some food and went for the skillets which we had noticed earlier. Fantastic food. This stuff is glorious. I think this was the last food we got in the park but it's a little hazy so I'm not totally sure. After that we ended up riding Powder Keg in the back row, Wildfire in the front row, Thunderation in the front row, and Outlaw Run 3 more times. Great solid lineup here. This park rules in pretty much every way. We were going to do the cave but by the time we remembered it was too late and we didn't feel like doing all of the walking down there (this park requires a ton of walking and we were already tired out). Coaster Reviews: Outlaw Run - This is easily the best wooden coaster I've been on, and it was even more exaggerated how much better it was than the other woodies I'd been on at the time I rode it. The first drop is perfect. The crazy banking stuff is hilariously fun. The airtime hills are ridiculously powerful. The sideways bits are awesome. Even the track squeals in laughter when you catch air. The barrel rolls are flawless. The seats are super comfortable. It feels pretty fast, and the terrain usage is awesome. Everything about this ride is amazing. Never too rough (even at its roughest it was smoother than any other woodie I've been on). Thunderation - Fantastic mine train. Not quite as good as Road Runner Express at SFFT imo, but still awesome. It just flies through those trees like nobody's business and has insane laterals through the turns. It builds up so much speed that you forgot that there wasn't a lifthill at the start. The last drop is super fun. This is a great family coaster. Wildfire - This and Powder Keg come really, really close. I ended up preferring Powder Keg but Wildfire is awesome too. The inversions are massive, the ride is buttery smooth, the forcefulness of the ride is very strong (I greyed out a little riding in the back my first time). The terrain interaction and the view from the lifthill are some of the best in the world. Super fun ride. Powder Keg - This ride is incredibly fun. The launch is surprisingly strong, all the hills have powerful airtime, and the sensation of speed is ridiculous. This thing hauls. Insanity. At the time I figured that this was my favorite launch coaster. In retrospect I have to say that this ride feels like Maverick Jr. It doesn't have nearly the intensity of Maverick, but it does everything that Maverick does (except inversions), and it does it all almost as well. Awesome family-esque-but-not-really coaster. Scorecard: Outlaw Run x5 Wildfire x2 Powder Keg x2 Thunderation x2 One of the things I'm going to do with this TR to make it a little more interesting is I'm going to show how my top ten list evolved as this trip went along. Here is where it was at before the trip started: 1. New Texas Giant (SFOT) 2. Iron Rattler (SFFT) 3. ShockWave (SFOT) 4. Switchback (ZDT's) 5. Mr Freeze Reverse Blast (SFOT/SFStL) 6. Superman: Krypton Coaster (SFFT) 7. American Thunder (SFStL) 8. Screamin Eagle (SFStL) 9. The Boss (SFStL) 10. Batman: The Ride (SFOT) After Silver Dollar City, this is what my top ten list looked like: 1. New Texas Giant (SFOT) 2. Outlaw Run (SDC) 3. Iron Rattler (SFFT) 4. ShockWave (SFOT) 5. Switchback (ZDT's) 6. Powder Keg (SDC) 7. Mr Freeze Reverse Blast (SFOT/SFStL) 8. Wildfire (SDC) 9. Superman: Krypton Coaster (SFFT) 10. American Thunder (SFStL) Now for the pictures (and please forgive me for the awful quality of the pictures and for leaving some of them in portrait, my phone is garbage and I took some of these impulsively). These Ozark mountains... So pretty I spy some coasters.... yum We made it! The Harlem Globetrotters were there so here's a picture of their mascot, Globie. Surprisingly the park felt really empty which was nice. I'll make sure not to There she is!!!! Amazing ride Here's a giant cookie that I didn't eat. I did eat a cinnamon roll here, but the cinnamon bread was elsewhere. So much random stuff to see at SDC Lots of artisans doin their thing This is the only part of Thunderation you can actually get a picture of. The rest is hidden in the trees. SKILLETS! The guy working here told me about next year's strata coaster, but I'm not allowed to say anything about it so I'll shut my mouth. This looked really good. Spiraled potato on a stick around a hot dog. I wish I had gotten to try it lol Disk'O party Like many parks, SDC has Dumbo ripoffs So many cool shops fulls of handmade stuff Keep it flowin Maybe they can teach Dollywood a lesson about how to keep their coasters from burning down See, they have the expertise! More laps on Outlaw Run is never a bad thing. What? Healthy food at an amusement park? I call bs! Campfire Skillet Time for some wild fires that are not caused by motors locking up There's a wildfire sticking through the trees, might want to call the firefighters over from Fireman's landing Massive cobra roll. If you want proof look at the random guy in the corner for scale. So smooth and forceful Yes please Just in case Powder Keg rolls back let's throw in a themed back spike. I think some kids got scared off by this though lol No demos here today A talking railroad bucket, because why the hell not Bridging the gap since the 1880s or something idk Hillbilly Build-A-Bear, without the overpricedness More Outlaw Run please Most stagecoaches don't have lap bars. After we left the park we went to Andy's frozen custard. Great stuff. Edited July 4, 2016 by LiftThrill
RollerManic Posted June 21, 2016 Posted June 21, 2016 I really love all the attention SDC is getting in the community since OR's announcement. It always was a fantastic park and now more have seen it as even better than that.
LiftThrill Posted June 21, 2016 Author Posted June 21, 2016 SDC is awesome. If you completely disregard coasters it was my favorite park of the trip, and all of the coasters they have are awesome. So much fun! I have to convince my buddies from Austin to do a SFOT/SDC trip with me one of these days lol, can't wait to go back!
ytterbiumanalyst Posted June 21, 2016 Posted June 21, 2016 Awesome trip report! Glad you had a good time. Interesting that you liked RRE better than Thunderation. I really liked RRE, but I'd put it third best mine train, after Thunderation #1 and Adventure Express at KI #2. Maybe it's like Doctors and your first mine train is always your favourite. Glad to see too that you spent some time looking at crafts. That's an important part of the park, and always has been. And yeah, some of them get pricey, but these are handmade items from master craftsmen and women. No overpriced souvenirs here; it's the real deal. Looking forward to the next installment!
PKI Jizzman Posted June 21, 2016 Posted June 21, 2016 You reminded me to hate myself for not planning another SDC trip this summer. I love the park! The coaster line up is so solid and re-rideable. Maybe the only criticism would the portions of food are so large you can't really ear one of everything the park has to offer!
LiftThrill Posted June 21, 2016 Author Posted June 21, 2016 Awesome trip report! Glad you had a good time. Interesting that you liked RRE better than Thunderation. I really liked RRE, but I'd put it third best mine train, after Thunderation #1 and Adventure Express at KI #2. Maybe it's like Doctors and your first mine train is always your favourite. My first mine train was actually BTMR at Magic Kingdom. It might just be that I really got to know RRE since SFFT is my home park but to me the three moments of airtime in the back of RRE really push it up there. Thunderation is a very close 2nd though. In fact, the only coasters I have ranked between the two are Runaway Mountain and Racer at KI (spoiler alert ) Glad to see too that you spent some time looking at crafts. That's an important part of the park, and always has been. And yeah, some of them get pricey, but these are handmade items from master craftsmen and women. No overpriced souvenirs here; it's the real deal. Definitely. The stuff was very high quality and similar quality crafts could probably be found for an almost identical (maybe even higher)price outside the park (whereas usually the stuff in the park is way more expensive than the stuff outside). Very cool stuff they do there and just admiring it is fun. You reminded me to hate myself for not planning another SDC trip this summer. I love the park! The coaster line up is so solid and re-rideable. Maybe the only criticism would the portions of food are so large you can't really ear one of everything the park has to offer! More reasons to spend more days there
Imagineer Josh Posted June 22, 2016 Posted June 22, 2016 Great TR! Where would Outlaw Run rank in your favorite coasters?
LiftThrill Posted June 22, 2016 Author Posted June 22, 2016 Great TR! Where would Outlaw Run rank in your favorite coasters? At the time I rode it, it was my #2, between NTaG and IRat. I will say that after the trip was said and done that it stayed in my top ten. Speaking of which I need to start working on the HW part of this TR.
LiftThrill Posted June 22, 2016 Author Posted June 22, 2016 After a fantastic day at Silver Dollar City, we took a day off to make the 6 hour drive to Indiana. We considered stopping at SFStL but nothing there really called and I hadn't brought my SF pass, so we plowed on through. Slept at a family friend's house (the first of two in the tri-state area), and the next morning we were up and ready to make the 1 hour drive to Holiday World. I had heard great things about this park and between the free drinks, cheap admission, waterpark, and ride collection, I can agree that this is pretty much the gold standard in terms of bang for your buck. It made paying the upcharge for pizza so much more bearable because you know that you didn't already spend a billion dollars on admission, fastpasses, drinks, lоckers, etc (although we did get lоckers but they felt cheaper because of how little we paid for everything else) Our original plan was to head to The Legend, then hit Voyage and Thunderbird, then do the waterpark and then hit Raven late in the day. However, when we got there, Legend and T-bird were displayed as opening late, so we instead headed to The Voyage first. It was also down, but we waited about 45 minutes to an hour for it to open back up, and finally it did (Legend was still down though I think T-bird opened up while we were waiting. Not sure). First ride we went for the front row. This ride is definitely the best in the park (coaster-wise), but I'll give my opinions a little later. Voyage was fun but a little rough, so to relax we went to Gobbler Getaway. Such a silly shooter ride, similar to Scooby Doo @ SFFT. I did terribly, but at least my final score was 420 so I can say I did it on purpose After Gobbler Getaway we went to Thunderbird only to be greeted with a long line (the first of the trip, mind you). It only took around 30 minutes in the end but hey, that was pretty much the longest we waited all day. Thunderbird was my first wing coaster so I didn't have much comparison but I will say the front row is the only place to sit here. Our first lap we went to the front left wing and it was a ton of fun. Later in the day we went back for more laps and the front right wing is definitely the best place to sit. I'll give my thorough opinion later. At this point we went to The Legend which had a decent line (20-ish minutes). I hadn't ridden the original so I can't compare, but I will say that I wasn't a big fan. It had a good sense of speed, but the laterals were pretty much all left-bound and it ended up being pretty meh. Still a fun coaster but not something we went back for another ride on. I'll give a little more detailed review later. After The Legend we went to go check if The Raven had a line, but it was closed so we went and got swimsuited to go to Splashin Safari. First ride at the waterpark was Mammoth (because it has longer lines). The line was 45 minutes to an hour. This is a great ride, and I'll give my opinion in a bit. The next ride was Wildebeest which is even better than Mammoth imo. So much fun. We waited about 20-25 minutes for this. Again, I'll give my official statement on this in a bit. After that we were trying to get out of the waterpark without scalding our feet (because we're stupid enough to not bring flip flops lol) and decided to give one of the Ottowhatever slides a try. We went for Otto because it had the shortest line. It was really short, but again I'll drop my opinion on it later. The final new ride of the day was The Raven. I'd heard this was up there with the top woodies in the world though in the lower half. Spoiler alert: eehhhh.... After two laps on The Raven (front and back), we went back and did Thunderbird two more times and then got in line for The Voyage again. And then Voyage broke down again so we waited an hour for it to go back up by sitting around talking to the ops and looking through the store. Rode in the back this time. Super fun ride to end the day on. Coaster Reviews: The Voyage - Wow. Very smooth for a woodie this size, so much intensity and ridiculous amounts of strong floater air combined with mild ejector. The bliss lasts forever too. The midcourse does sort of kill the momentum and the triple down would be glorious untrimmed, but that doesn't matter because this ride is amazing either way. Fantastic. Thunderbird - Three laps decided that the front right wing is the place to sit. Super smooth, actually pretty forceful, great launch, great theming, basically just a ton of fun (and the hangtime at the end is hilarious too). I love this ride. Easily the second best in the park. The Legend - We only rode once in the front, but there was no desire to come back. Wasn't really all that rough but the laterals started to get annoying. All this ride is is left, left, left from all those right turns. I prefer The Boss's helix because it's super strong left and then a dose of right before hitting the brakes. This ride is just sort of meh. It was fun, but nothing to write home about in any way. The Raven - The layout of this ride is great. Tons of potential for great airtime, but this ride was ruined for me by one thing: roughness. Holy crap this thing is rough and needs retracking badly. It's about as rough as The Boss and has a better layout as well as better trains, but holy jackhammering Batman, this thing needs some serious work. Still placed decently due to the layout, but if this were smoother it'd easily be a top 5 woodie for me. I actually ended up placing it underneath Boss because I came off with a headache both times whereas The Boss I only came off with my hands hurting from holding on so tight. Since it's equally rough in almost every seat I'd recommend riding in the back non-wheel seat because then you get the airtime with a little less jackhammering. Water Ride Reviews: Mammoth - Great water coaster. Tons of airtime and fun tunnels. Would be about ten times better if they didn't try to blind you with water jets everywhere. Wildebeest - I love this thing. Totally would have ridden again if the line hadn't doubled in size by the time we got off. Amazing waterslide airtime, tons of drops, tunnels, and unlike Mammoth they want you to actually see what's going on here. This is my new favorite water ride. Otowhatever Otto Slide - Fun little slide. it does a helix and then a drop, and that's about it, but the drop really is great and has decent airtime. Scorecard for the day: The Voyage x2 Thunderbird x3 The Legend x1 The Raven x2 (Gobbler Getaway, Wildebeest, Mammoth, and Otto) x1 each Here's where my top ten stood before visiting Holiday World: 1. New Texas Giant (SFOT) 2. Outlaw Run (SDC) 3. Iron Rattler (SFFT) 4. ShockWave (SFOT) 5. Switchback (ZDT's) 6. Powder Keg (SDC) 7. Mr Freeze Reverse Blast (SFOT/SFStL) 8. Wildfire (SDC) 9. Superman: Krypton Coaster (SFFT) 10. American Thunder (SFStL) Here's where it stood after visiting Holiday World: 1. New Texas Giant (SFOT) 2. Outlaw Run (SDC) 3. Iron Rattler (SFFT) 4. The Voyage (HW) 5. ShockWave (SFOT) 6. Switchback (ZDT's) 7. Powder Keg (SDC) 8. Mr Freeze Reverse Blast (SFOT/SFStL) 9. Wildfire (SDC) 10. Thunderbird (HW) Now for some pictures (sorry about no waterpark pictures, my phone is sadly not waterproof so I left it in my lоcker with my pants) Coasters! Good morning Raven! I spy a Voyage waiting to be embarked on! ...but is currently not available to be embarked on. There were some weird issues with the brakes but they got them fixed eventually. Great ride, it's like Switchback's big brother and even looks it. Obligatory blurry PETA grandma shot Did I mention how massive The Voyage looks? It's a Thunderbird! Legend with some sleek new wood. Maybe GCI needs to do some retracking on The Raven instead. Random Legend geek shot Fun but not really rerideable. You've ruffled my feathers one too many times! I'm going to make this ride ten times rougher than it was before! Haaahaaahahahahaha!! It's about as rough as The Boss Unlike The Boss, Raven has airtime. Plus you don't have to wait in line for it. The two ride very similarly though. We left the park to move our swimsuits out of lоckers into the car. Two awesome coasters in one badly photographed picture. Sorry, my phone camera is garbage lol Thunderbird looks nice. I'm a fan of the less saturated colors on roller coasters (i.e Wildfire) Voyage peeking through the trees. Last ride of the day (but only after it broke down again)
LiftThrill Posted June 25, 2016 Author Posted June 25, 2016 After breakfast in middleofnowhere, notquitekentucky at a Waffle House, we made the not-quite-3-hour drive to Kings Island. Like SDC and Holiday World, the park was pretty much empty and the people that were there got pumped through well. This park has beautifully fast operations. Love it. As the first day of three at upper-tier CF parks, I was excited to get going, so first we headed to Firehawk. Firehawk was a walk-on, even for the front row. Gotta love getting to the park on time. I'm very glad we didn't have to wait for Firehawk. I'll give my opinion on it later. After Firehawk we skipped Flight of Fear for some reason (not sure why) and went to Backlot Stunt Coaster. This ride is super fun. The first helix is actually really forceful but it stops when it needs to. I'll go a little more in-depth about my opinions of it in a little bit. After BSC we went to Vortex. I was pretty apprehensive about this one because I'd heard awful things. Got on in the fifth car, front row if I remember right. This ride is so wrongfully bashed. Not bad at all. Next we started heading back to the front where Banshee and The Bat are, but noticed Adventure Express and remembered hearing that it was one of the better mine trains. I'd agree with that. Waited for the front. It was fun. Anticlimactic ending was great too. Then we went to The Bat and again, waited for the front. Like Backlot Stunt Coaster, a fantastic family ride and a dying breed. I wish Arrow was still around to make these. After that we went to Banshee. This was my first non-Batman invert, so I was excited. How did it rank up? Well, I'll get to that in a minute After that we went and gave both sides of Racer a shot. I'm a sucker for out-and-back woodies, and this one was no exception. Then we headed to Diamondback and got on that. Fantastic. Not intense at all but just an awesome ride. After that we went to The Beast and rode it just for fun. It's very fun, even during the day. For the rest of the day we basically just ran around riding whatever, including a lap on FoF (after it broke down for an hour) and Invertigo (which is way better than the normal Boomerangs). Finally, the sun was at the point where we could start queuing for the front row of The Beast. After letting a decent amount of people ahead of us, we hopped on to the legendary night ride to end all night rides. Glorious. Great end to a great day. Besides coasters I think we did the bumper cars, got some food, and took a ton of pictures while watching the sun set. The park is beautiful at night, so it's a shame my phone camera is such garbage, but never mind that. It's time for the coaster reviews. Firehawk - This ride is easily the worst coaster we rode on the trip, and my second least favorite overall after Titan (because at least it's unique). The seats are awkward, the restraints are weird and confusing, the layout is dumb, and the entire ride just has you wondering why the heck anyone thought this was a good idea. Backlot Stunt Coaster - Very fun family coaster. Nothing to write home about, but the helix is more intense than I anticipated and the part in the dark is really fun. This ride is easily in the upper tier of family coasters. Vortex - No idea why everyone hates this ride so much. The OTSRs weren't shoulder-crushing, the layout was fun, the transitions weren't bad at all, and the setting is fantastic. Very fun and underrated. Adventure Express - Great little mine train. Good sensation of speed but not quite as good as Thunderation's, decent airtime but definitely not as good as RRE's. Still very fun and the lifthill at the end is a classic anticlimactic ending. It's hilarious. The Bat - Another fantastic family coaster along with Adventure Express and Backlot Stunt Coaster. Really fun layout and I wish there were more of these still standing. Setting of the ride is also great. Banshee - I had pretty high expectations for this ride and it didn't quite meet them. The new B&M vest restraints definitely aren't my favorite and the entire layout feels sort of random. It's still really fun and has some very intense moments of g-force but doesn't really live up to the hype. Better than the Batman clones but not by much. Racer (blue side) - The first half of blue side is a little slow to allow for the red winning. During the second half of the ride the speed is really unleashed and the airtime in the second half is great. The racing aspect is cool, especially because on the blue side you always win. Racer (red side) - The second half of red side is a little slow to allow for the blue winning. During the first half of the ride, however, you just fly through those airtime hills and get some awesome airtime. The racing aspect is cool until you realize you're losing because on the red side you always lose. Diamondback - I love how this ride is so rerideable. Ridiculous amounts of floater airtime over every hill and the restraints are ridiculously comfortable. I love how the ride towers over the park, too. Very fun and absolutely no intensity whatsoever. It's great. The Beast - Even during the day, this ride packs a massive punch. Very awesome terrain usage and setting. Sensation of speed is off the charts even during the day. At night, especially in the front, this ride turns from great to all-out amazing. You plow through everything (except the trims) and it's just heavenly. If the trims weren't so powerful I'd probably have this in my top ten. I also have to mention how dang smooth it is for a wooden coaster. Track interaction is comparable to The Voyage (which I found very smooth for a woodie). Flight of Fear - I prefer this to Poltergeist at SFFT. Being in the dark is really fun, and the pacing getting killed at the MCBR is actually sort of nice because it turns from a super intense ride to a sideways hangtime machine back to a stupidly intense ride all in the same ride. Plus it's super disorienting and I love that. Invertigo - While it's not the best coaster in the park, it's definitely the best Vekoma in the park. Better than the standard Boomerang model in pretty much every way (except the layout which sucks slightly less because you're inverted and that's fun). Scorecard for the day: Firehawk x1 Backlot Stunt Coaster x1 Vortex x1 Adventure Express x1 The Bat x2 Banshee x3 Diamondback x5 Racer (blue) x2 Racer (red) x1 Flight of Fear x1 Invertigo x1 Here's where my top ten was at before visiting Kings Island: 1. New Texas Giant (SFOT) 2. Outlaw Run (SDC) 3. Iron Rattler (SFFT) 4. The Voyage (HW) 5. ShockWave (SFOT) 6. Switchback (ZDT's) 7. Powder Keg (SDC) 8. Mr Freeze Reverse Blast (SFOT/SFStL) 9. Wildfire (SDC) 10. Thunderbird (HW) Here's where my top ten was at after visiting Kings Island: 1. New Texas Giant (SFOT) 2. Outlaw Run (SDC) 3. Iron Rattler (SFFT) 4. The Voyage (HW) 5. Diamondback (KI) 6. ShockWave (SFOT) 7. Switchback (ZDT's) 8. Powder Keg (SDC) 9. The Beast (KI) 10. Mr Freeze Reverse Blast (SFOT/SFStL) Already you can start to see how massive the change was. Half of my top ten already was from the trip. Well trust me when I say that the ratio only gets more ridiculous... and of course, after Kings Island we made the 3.5 hour drive up to Sandusky, where a certain amusement park resides... and then we crashed at 2AM or something ridiculous like that. Now onto some pictures (aka way too many pictures because Kings Island is awesome and really pretty even though my phone makes it look about as nice as a trash can) Good morning Kings Island! Why, hello Banshee! Hey... Vortex.... Morning, Racer here goes nothing.... Here's a ride that's better than Firehawk. This is also a better ride than Firehawk. Another ride that's better than Firehawk. All the rides pictures are probably better than Firehawk. Here's a really fun family coaster. It's better than Firehawk. Approaching Diamondback Diamondback actually managed to crack some flip phones. Now that's impressive. Diamondback looks massive. Diamondback through the trees I swear this looks better in person Going up Amazingly comfortable seats and restraints. Overrated but still a great ride. Firehawk is garbage. Vortex is both underrated and pretty. Great family coaster. This park has three of those. Four if you count Racer, and five if you count both sides of Racer. Great coaster. Never got to try the kiddie woodie. Racer is a good out and back woodie. Plus there are two of it so that makes it even better. Theming Never tried Windseeker. The only flat I remember doing off the top of my head is the bumper cars. Considered Delirium but never ended up doing it. Snooping around in the gift shops Let's ride Diamondback some more, shall we? The Eiffel Tower here is a 1/3 scale model of the real Eiffel Tower. Great seats. This line took about ten minutes. Diamondback is a people eater and the crews were really pumping out trains. Sure, why not? Waited about ten minutes. The Bat is fun. Plus, the queue gives good views of Banshee, which looks great even if it isn't all it's cracked up to be. It may be overrated but it's still a great ride. Stop saying that! Racer! It races! Crappy phone camera leads to an accidentally artsy shot of Diamondback Nothing special, but didn't cause any pain at all. Plus, it has a good setting and looks pretty. Diamondback's pullout looks really weird from this angle Sploosh! Coming down Not as painful or awkward as it looks. The park is starting to light up... you know what that means? It's time to line up for the front row of The Beast!!! This is how dark it was when we rode Beast in the front. Dark enough to make my phone camera go from badtier to worthless garbage.
LiftThrill Posted June 27, 2016 Author Posted June 27, 2016 Thanks! I think I'll have time to put up the CP report today, so stay tuned!
LiftThrill Posted June 27, 2016 Author Posted June 27, 2016 After the extremely exhausting (but super fun) day at Kings Island and the slightly lacking night of sleep, it was time for the highlight of the trip. The first day of two at the Coaster Capital of the World. The first thing we did at the park was go in through the normal front gate so I could snap some pictures on the way to the first ride of the day, Maverick! As we were getting ready to board Maverick (in the front row), it started raining. Luckily, Cedar Point's rain policy isn't quite as bad as some people make it out to be, and we were able to ride Maverick in the rain. I wasn't really that impressed after the ride in the rain, but after some more rides later in the day my opinion changed. After Maverick we started heading back to Millennium Force and early entry had barely still started. I noticed that my coaster count was actually at 48, so we hit up Rougarou (in the second row this time, to avoid getting too much rain to the face lol) in order to make Millie #50. I really liked Millennium Force and more rides later confirmed its spot, but I'll get to that later. The next ride was Mean Streak (because screw doing things in a senseful order), but only after another lap on Maverick before the crowds got too busy. It was around 10AM at this point if I remember right, so Early Entry was over. Maverick in the back is super intense and a great ride. Expectations then had to be lowered to a ridiculously low level as we went over to Maverick's next door neighbor and queued for the front row. Oh, and did I mention? It started raining again. Luckily this time was a lighter sprinkle than before (and the first time wasn't really strong either). Mean Streak was a walk-on everywhere but the front, but we didn't really want to risk what the consequences could have been elsewhere on the train. Mean Streak is definitely not as bad as people say, but I'll go more in-depth in a bit. At this point the rain had died down again and we decided to get in line for Cedar Creek Mine Ride, which inconveniently broke down for at least a half hour before we got to ride it. Luckily, the CP employees are awesome and kept everyone entertained with trivia games until they had the problem fixed. The next two coasters were Gemini and Magnum, which are actually pretty similar. Rode Gemini in the front and back rows and Magnum in the second row of the first car. We then took the Skyride over to the front where we rode Gatekeeper in the front left seat. After that we left the park to grab some not-overpriced lunch and then came back and rode Raptor in the front row. Note that around lunchtime I had a weird headache that I usually get from being dehydrated, so I had a ton to drink at lunch, but the headache lingered a little. I was very hesitant about Raptor because I'd heard about it being intense and I wasn't in the mood for a Batman clone greyout headache added onto my already existing headache. How did I fare against Raptor? Find out in a bit after I list some more of the random things we did. After Raptor we went next door to Blue Streak (which was a pain because Valravn had broken down leaving the queue spilled across the midway). The next few stops after Blue Streak were pretty much all credit stops: Wicked Twister, Iron Dragon, and Corkscrew. Dragster was breaking down quite a bit and the line for it seemed pretty bad, so we decided to save that for Cedar Point, Day 2. After the credit stops we went around and ended up reriding quite a few rides. I think we tried the flyers too, but they were a little tough to snap (granted I don't have flyers at my home park so I don't get practice). The last ride of the day was a three rides on Millennium Force before heading over to the midway to watch Luminosity (which was entertaining). Coaster Reviews: Maverick - What an awesome ride. So much intensity and most importantly, fun! The airtime is stupidly powerful, the transitions are fun, and the pacing is flawless. Definitely the most intense ride at CP but also one of the best. Rougarou - Good fun little coaster. Elements are unique, the ride is butter smooth, and the ride is generally just a lot of fun. Not intense at all, but not boring either. Millennium Force - Wow. I'm a sucker for coasters that feel fast and MF blows them all away. The overbanks are powerful, the airtime hills actually do have airtime contrary to popular enthusiast belief. I love the sensation of flying through everything. The view from the top of the lift in the front row is amazing. It also is really long which is fun. It's not very intense but the pacing is great and the ride is so much fun. Mean Streak - Definitely not bad at all. It's not one of the better rides at CP but it's just sort of fun. Not too boring or too rough. I like how the setting of ride is literally inside of itself which makes it really cool. Leaning forward is good advice. Cedar Creek Mine Ride - Easily the most boring mine train I've been on. It's still fun but compared to other mine trains it's a snooze fest. It's sort of cool how the whole thing is over the pond. Gemini - Very fun old-school coaster. The drop feels steeper than it is and it almost feels like a mini Magnum but with racing. The wheel seat rule definitely applies here though. Avoid the back row of any car like the plague. Good airtime, just a sort of fun ride. Magnum XL-200 - Very solid coaster. The second row feels like a slightly rougher but more intense B&M hyper. Seatbelt tightening definitely helped. The second ride on day 2 I accidentally didn't tighten my seatbelt enough and totally paid the price for. Thighcrush galore. But hey, at least there's airtime to compliment the pain. GateKeeper - Very fun coaster. Not sure why people dislike the wing coasters so much, but this is the weakest one of the ones I got to ride. It's still a fantastic ride and very fun and floaty. Raptor - Blew my expectations out the window. Fantastic ride. Very smooth for an older B&M, the inversions have a beautiful whip going through them, and the layout is fantastic. Never too much g-force sustained here. Love this thing. Blue Streak - Why do people not put this up there with the RMCs and Magnum in terms of airtime? Holy crap, the airtime on here was pure godtier ejector. OK, I'll be honest, it wasn't actually that amazing, but riding in the front row the airtime over every hill was hilariously strong. Love it to death. Wicked Twister - Certainly interesting. Nothing to write home about but the setting on the beach is fantastic. Corkscrew - Boring, clunky, slow, uninteresting. Not worth riding twice. Credit stop and no more. It looks sort of cool over the midway, but this is easily CP's worst coaster. Iron Dragon - Not as good as The Bat @ KI, but not a terrible ride either. Tons of fun moments even if it's nothing to write home about. Scorecard: Maverick x3 Rougarou x2 Millennium Force x5 Mean Streak x1 Cedar Creek Mine Ride x1 Gemini (left) x1 Gemini (right) x1 Magnum XL-200 x1 GateKeeper x2 Raptor x2 Blue Streak x1 Wicked Twister x1 Corkscrew x1 Iron Dragon x1 Top Ten before I visited CP: 1. New Texas Giant (SFOT) 2. Outlaw Run (SDC) 3. Iron Rattler (SFFT) 4. The Voyage (HW) 5. Diamondback (KI) 6. ShockWave (SFOT) 7. Switchback (ZDT's) 8. Powder Keg (SDC) 9. The Beast (KI) 10. Mr Freeze Reverse Blast (SFOT/SFStL) Top Ten after the first day of CP: 1. Millennium Force (CP) 2. New Texas Giant (SFOT) 3. Outlaw Run (SDC) 4. Maverick (CP) 5. Iron Rattler (SFFT) 6. The Voyage (HW) 7. Diamondback (KI) 8. ShockWave (SFOT) 9. Raptor (CP) 10. Switchback (ZDT's) Now for some pictures... Making the drive down the causeway for the first time is a religious experience. HERE WE ARE!!! Decided to go through the main entrance to snap some pictures. Millennium Force is massive Contrary to enthusiast belief, these airtime hills actually do have airtime, especially in the front and back rows. Rougarou-ing ...tomorrow... Totally original shot Such a great ride Cedar Point also has kangaroos in its barnyard for some reason. Maverick is awesome and intense. Dragster was down on and off all day. More laps on Maverick? Sure, why not Way more fun than people say Mean Streak and Lake Erie Associates Only Mean Streak is really massive, and not just height-wise. Seagull on top of the building The most boring mine train I've been on Some good old school fun Great station I think Dragster was down again. More old school fun Magnum may not be the tallest coaster in the park anymore, but it's still fun. Dragster is tall. Magnum has a very 80's vibe to it. Valravn really towers over this area of the park. GateKeeper is pretty and also fun. The SkyRide is amazing and saved us a ton of walking. It's also very relaxing and sort of fun. Ejector airtime buffet! Raptor is incredibly smooth and forceful for an older coaster. A little more fun than your average credit stop coaster Very meh and awkward The first drop is laughable. Iron Dragon is a good family coaster, and the bit over the lake was really fun. Incredibly smooth and not half bad
PKI Jizzman Posted June 28, 2016 Posted June 28, 2016 Great photos and report! KI was my home park, and I don't believe I ever noticed Racer being slow during the front half on one and faster on the return trip than the other. I'll have to look for that when I visit next! Looking forward to CP day 2.
LiftThrill Posted June 30, 2016 Author Posted June 30, 2016 The second day at Cedar Point was a ton of fun. We got FL+ this day because we wanted to have a more relaxing day and not have to wait in line for Valerie.... I mean Valravn. The line for it looked like at least 90 minutes, even at park opening, so we headed to that first and got assigned to the front row. This is definitely one of my favorite B&Ms. Next was the only other coaster we had missed the day before- Dragster. Luckily it was up and running fairly early that day so we headed onto the front row of that too. It was a little extra wait over the other rows, but totally worth it. The next ride was Maverick because it rocks. FL+ skipped a queue that was easily 30-45 minutes, maybe more. At some point in the day, we also hit up the Cedar Downs Drug Carousel Derby or whatever. That ride is hilarious and awesome. Definitely recommend even if you're not a big carousel or flat ride person. After that we grabbed some average-quality park food and went over to Millennium Force since it's so awesome. The FL line for this is weird and only gets you halfway through the queue but it didn't matter since there was barely anyone there and the crew is lightning fast over at Millie so it was probably ten minutes, max. The next rides were Gatekeeper, then Raptor, another lap on Valerie, Magnum, and Gemini. At one point it started lightly sprinkling. Sadly, the ride we were in line for was Dragster which immediately closed. The rain randomly started getting heavier and heavier to the point where it didn't seem worth staying, so we began the walk back through Frontier Trail (in case the rain stopped and Maverick opened). Then, out of nowhere, a giant roar. It wasn't thunder, it was a MF train. Yes, they were running MF in a downpour. Of course we couldn't skip out on that, right? Skipped a tiny bit of the queue with FL+ and realized that it was pretty much the only thing in the entire park that was operating. Got in line for the second row (bugs and rain go hand in hand and I didn't particularly want either of them in the face. By the time we were situated, the rain had almost entirely died down (lol) but luckily we did get to ride with the track slick from rain and a little sprinkle to the face, and holy crap. This thing can really speed up after and during the rain. Sustained ejector air over the first hill. Overbanks were so forceful they felt like Raptor's corkscrews. Both of the ending hills had ridiculously powerful airtime and the sensation of speed was insane. Wow. Sadly, the rain was still coming down a bit, but we did have to get to Cleveland so we left a little early, but with that as the last ride, who cares? Absolutely amazing. Coaster Reviews: Valravn - Not quite top ten but a very, very solid ride. Definitely an upper tier B&M up there with Raptor and Diamondback. Love the first drop and the whole thing is ridiculously smooth. Vest restraints aren't nearly as bad as those on the wing coasters or Banshee. Top Thrill Dragster - What a rush. It's laughably short but it almost helps you focus on what it does do. So much speed that sitting in the front row feels like your face is about to split off from your head. Super awesome. Sitting in the front row gives an amazing view of Lake Erie at the top. Very fun, ridiculous levels of smooth, and also not quite top ten. Scorecard: Valravn x2 Top Thrill Dragster x1 Maverick x1 Millennium Force x2 Gatekeeper x1 Raptor x1 Magnum XL-200 x1 Gemini (left) x1 There were no top ten changes that happened this day. Now onto some pictures. I lost track of which CP pictures were from which day so I threw in the TTD/Valravn pictures here as well as the ones with rainy weather. Look, it's Valerie- I mean Valravn! The Skyride is amazing and saves a ton of walking. Gatekeeper "theming" Love this ride But I love that ride more Plus it's pretty Frontier Trail comes with a rave tunnel. Awesome first drop Random barnyard animals! This part of Maverick is so photogenic. The Streak is calling... but Maverick is calling more so let's do that instead. Let's use FL+ to skip Valerie's line again. They misspelled Valerie Bad quality phone camera + zoom = weird oil painting quality images Drug carousel. Seriously this thing rocks
LiftThrill Posted July 4, 2016 Author Posted July 4, 2016 After two awesome days at CP, we spent a few hours in Cleveland and then drove to Pigeon Forge. Note that the entire week I had been keeping track of Lightning Rod updates and it seemed like it would be open at least once every day at this point. I have almost no pictures at all from the rest of the trip, sadly, but I can still tell about some of the stuff we did. We checked out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which was interesting but not really my thing. In Pigeon Forge, our hotel gave us free Goats on the Roof coupons which was awesome. The alpine coaster there was being retracked that night so we waited for the next morning to check it out. While staying at the hotel that night I checked up and RMC had issued the part recall. The chances of getting to ride Lightning Rod had just gone from 50% to 0%. We considered other options for the next day but decided since we were booked for two nights in Pigeon Forge that the extra driving to get to Carowinds or SFOG wasn't worth it. I don't remember much about the next day. We went to Goats on the Roof and the alpine coaster idea is fun but not my favorite thing. Dollywood could almost be my favorite park if Lightning Rod was open, but the whole place (including the staff) had a sort of depressed mood because of LR being closed which made it less enjoyable. Luckily it was still a ton of fun but definitely lacking the star attraction that LR provides. The food was good, setting was great, etc, but I think SDC set my expectations too high for this park. I can't remember what order we did stuff in so I'll just throw out my reviews and scorecard with a few non-Dollywood pictures because I accidentally left my phone at the hotel and wasn't able to take any Dollywood pictures. Coaster Reviews: Tennessee Tornado - Incredibly overrated. I've seen this called the best Arrow looper and I don't see it at all. Incredibly painful, seats are super cramped, and the transitions are taken way too fast. It hurt my neck, shoulders, and the sides of my head more than any other coaster, even though its track interaction is smooth. It is my 3rd least favorite coaster after Firehawk and the big orange headache machine at SFOT. No idea why people like this ride. Wild Eagle - Love the first drop and setting but I prefer Thunderbird ever so slightly. Very forceful for a wing coaster, greyed out a little every time I rode. Firechaser Express - Great little family ride, but as a standalone coaster it would be incredibly boring. The ride has an amazing setting on the side of the mountain but it's very forceless, even for a family ride. Favorite steel non-mine train family coaster still goes to Runaway Mountain. Mystery Mine - This was my first Eurofighter and I'd heard that it was one of the worse ones. It just felt super random. The layout was meh during the first half and really fun during the second half. My next Eurofighter is probably Iron Shark at the Galveston Pier so maybe then I'll have something to compare this to. It was very fun, just really weird and random. Thunderhead - Another really overrated coaster brought to you by Dollywood. I liked Thunderhead, but like Tennessee Tornado I don't see how this makes top ten lists at all. The layout is really good but this is one of the roughest woodies I've been on and the layout really isn't designed to be rough. That being said, this is actually a top 5 woodie when I look back at things (out of 15 woodies), but the only reason I rode it so many times was because it was a walk-on to station wait all day. I did come off with a headache every time but it was a minor headache and didn't get worse with rerides. Blazing Fury - What the hell even is this thing lmao. Super weird theming everywhere and then some super random drops near the end of the ride. The lap bar didn't come down all the way on me so the airtime I got was really strong. This is definitely more of a dark ride but if coastercount says it's a credit then it's a credit. Plus it was fun, just super random and weird. Scorecard: Tennessee Tornado x1 Wild Eagle x2 Firechaser Express x1 Mystery Mine x1 Thunderhead x5 Blazing Fury x1 No changes to my top ten were made during this stop. Conclusion coming eventually. Random non-Dollywood pictures: dogs Not sure why I took this pic Goats on the Roof coaster
Philrad71 Posted July 4, 2016 Posted July 4, 2016 I have GOT to get to SDC....I'm almost embarrassed to say that I have never been before. Interesting observations on your coaster rankings and reviews. Most of them I agree with (of the ones that I have been on), but you must have hit Vortex on a really, really good day. The last time I rode, it was like Mike Tyson gave me a quick left and then a right after we came out of the first section, hit the turn and then the trim. OUCH! And Voyage - guess that I need to try it out in the front seat as I never got all of the glory for that rough as hell ride that we endured during our last visit. It completely did my partner in for the day in terms of rides and I had to force myself to ride the other two as I wasn't feeling too good myself. Legend was no picnic either, but I thought that Raven wasn't too bad. But then again, that was like 3 or 4 years ago so I am sure that things have changed.
LiftThrill Posted July 4, 2016 Author Posted July 4, 2016 I have GOT to get to SDC....I'm almost embarrassed to say that I have never been before. The place rocks. Definitely my favorite park overall. Interesting observations on your coaster rankings and reviews. Most of them I agree with (of the ones that I have been on), but you must have hit Vortex on a really, really good day. The last time I rode, it was like Mike Tyson gave me a quick left and then a right after we came out of the first section, hit the turn and then the trim. OUCH! And Voyage - guess that I need to try it out in the front seat as I never got all of the glory for that rough as hell ride that we endured during our last visit. It completely did my partner in for the day in terms of rides and I had to force myself to ride the other two as I wasn't feeling too good myself. Legend was no picnic either, but I thought that Raven wasn't too bad. But then again, that was like 3 or 4 years ago so I am sure that things have changed. It might have been the 5th car 1st row trick for Vortex or the fact that my restraint locked in a comfortable position. All the other Arrow loopers I've been on have ridiculously tight restraints (Corkscrew and Tennessee Tornado) but Vortex's locked in a position with some more room to move my neck around. Voyage wasn't exactly smooth but compared to Raven it's like Valravn smooth, and the layout really is awesome. Legend wasn't that rough but I really wasn't a fan of the layout. Raven needs retracking badly.
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