PeoplemoverMatt Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Hopefully I'll visit this park one day. Still got one more JTA credit left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Zo Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Great stuff so far Kevin! Hope to see more from the Texas/Midwest trip . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vtafro Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 It was a really fun park. It irritates me though that Steel Eel is so underrated. No matter where you sit on the ride it has great air, speed, and forces. It's like it's a hidden gem. Â Agreed as a nice ride, but the seats were so hard. It was a nice park really enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Can't wait to see more of the tr from the tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeFaller Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Kevin, I was looking so sad, because I did not want to leave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaminkid2005 Posted January 2, 2014 Author Share Posted January 2, 2014 Hey everyone! I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Years celebration! Â It's a new year so that means it's time for another update from the Texas Midwest tour! This time we're at Six Flags Over Texas. I was really excited to check out this park for a few reasons, one major reason being Texas Sky Screamer. Another reason, was because I always played that level in RCT2 and I really wanted to see what the park was like in real life. Corny I know. Anyways, I remember this being the hottest day of the entire tour. At 9am it was already over 90 degrees and with humidity felt over 100. I remember looking at my phone at some point during the day and seeing that it felt like 116 degrees! Any who, on to the photos! Â Hey girl! The new hotness! A few minutes before the park opened for the day, A few people from SFOT walked us over to Mr. Freeze so we could get the first ride of the day! This was the first time I rode a coaster with an inverted tophat and man did I love it! After Mr. Freeze, we picked up our flash passes and walked over to Batman. This is a photo of the flash pass entrance for Batman. Honestly, I thought this was the strangest and sketchiest entrance to a ride i've ever been in. You walked behind the building and down what seemed to be a backstage area. It just felt weird. For some reason, every photo I have on the ride the tower is tilted... Is that because it really is or is it because I suck at taking photos? It's prob the second one. =p Sky Coaster & S&S Combo Complex! How much sexier can a photo get? =] Oh look, it's another Panda clone! I was another first for me. Every time I've gone to SFMM, Sky Tower was closed, so I was really excited to finally get on one of these! Artys shot. Even at the top of the tower, Sky Screamer is still tilted. Six Flags White Water looked like a pretty solid park. La Vibora is such a pretty coaster. I really wish I had more photos of it. So beautiful. Whats that dropping into the trees? Nothing to see here. Moving on... Hey Titan! After riding Goliath at SFMM, this was really nothing super exciting for me, but the extra helix was nice. =] Heres Judge Roy Scream for you lift hill enthusiast! Such a pretty coaster! It's even prettier at night! <3 Â Overall it was a really, really hot day at the park. So hot that we even took a break from the park and headed over to a second park along with spending some much needed time back at the hotel. While I did have fun, I feel like the extreme heat just made me have a miserable time at the park. Hopefully my next visit I won't be on the verge of passing out! Â So I want to try something new and hear from you guys! Â -Have you been to SFOT? -If so, what did you think of the park? -What did you like? -What do you think could be improved? -Favorite ride? Â Please be sure to comment and let me know what you think! Â Next Update: Summer Adventures at Fair Park- Dallas State Fair Grounds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaminkid2005 Posted January 3, 2014 Author Share Posted January 3, 2014 Good morning everyone! I hope everyones well and enjoying the off season. Â Today's trip report is from Summer Adventures at Fair Park is an awesome little place that is located at Dallas State Fair Grounds. We came here to escape SFOT for a little while and try to get a few extra credits, little did everyone know how awesome the place really was! As soon as we got walked though the turnstiles, we were greeted by a bunch of really friendly employees that leid us! It was a great way to set the mood for the chill atmosphere the park set. We only spent a few hours at the park, but let me tell you that it wasn't enough! This place has so many fun rides, some i've never even seen before and some old school ones. Anyway onto the photos! Â Welcome to Summer Adventures! This was the very first thing I noticed when I entered the park and it was the first ride we did! I've been a site controller (To make it simple, I know a ton about them and i'm able to train team members how to safely operate them at SFNE) so I get to ride them for free! I love everything about them so seeing this was a pleasant surprise. The park had tons of these covered walk ways to try to keep guests cool on days like today. They also had a few funky life sized games like this checker board! They also had Windstorm. Now what I thought made this ride so fun was when we got into the station, the operator asks, Do you want the normal ride or do you want to go into the underwater tunnel? Since we were curious about what he meant by that, we said underwater tunnel. As the ride cycled and came by the station, the operator would spray us with a hose! It really made for a fun, unique experience. Also the coaster had that awesome drop about half way into the ride! Oh they also had a 500ft observation tower! Base of the tower. The cabins supports to the tower. The top of the tower! Looking down the tower. The park from above. Note all the blue awnings. Such a pretty little park. =] Windstorm from above. Hey Dallas! The park had some really cool flats like this one! After our ride on the observation tower, the park closed for the day. But that meant its time for the Florider ERT and Dinner! Here's a photo of me busting my butt on my first ever attempt riding one of these things! Â Overall I had a great time at the park. The park went well out of their way to make sure that we were as happy as could be. A big thank you to everyone at the park for your wonderful hospitality! I can't wait to head back there soon! Â So have you guys been to the park before? What did you think of it? Is it really different when the state fair is going on? If so how? Â Thanks for reading everyone. I hope you enjoyed the report! Â Please make sure to comment down below letting me know what you thought of the report and of the park! Â Next Update: Magic Springs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jynx242 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 ^ When I lived in Dallas - the Fair Park was only open when the Fair was in town. Love to see what they have done with the place! Looks awesome. Â As far as SFoT - the last time I was there, Texas Giant - or Old Texas Giant - or OTAG - was still new in its original form (what an AWESOME ride that was when it was new.) I absolutely loved SFoT at the time and thought it was a great park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaminkid2005 Posted January 3, 2014 Author Share Posted January 3, 2014 ^Glad to know that Fair Park being open during non fair times is a semi recent thing then. Lets hope they start getting some awesome rides in the near future. I feel like a nice medium sized wooden coaster would do wonders for the parks attendance. When we were there the park was dead! Â I wish I had the chance to ride OTAG... Better yet, I wish I had the chance to ride any TAG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronWolfman Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I've always wanted to ride one of those windstorm rides because of that crazy mid-ride drop! Nice little park, with an adorable little log flume! Reminds me of Silverwood's flume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaminkid2005 Posted January 4, 2014 Author Share Posted January 4, 2014 ^I'm not gonna lie, that coaster was pretty great and that drop was awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastercrzyjames Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Wow Kevin, great photo TR man! It's like I'm reliving that great trip all over again! I can't wait to see more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeFaller Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Dammit! I missed the cable cars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaminkid2005 Posted January 17, 2014 Author Share Posted January 17, 2014 ^Don't be upset, it was a 15 minutes round trip sauna! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaminkid2005 Posted January 17, 2014 Author Share Posted January 17, 2014 Hey guys! Its update time! Â Today's adventure takes us to Magic Springs & Crystal Falls in Hot Springs, AR! This was probably the most rushed park of the who trip. That being said, I didn't get a ton of photos of the park because we were basically running to get the credits and still have time to eat. Anyway I thought it was a cute little park. It's defiantly a family oriented park, but does have some pretty decent major thrill rides. Also, any park that has a mini S&S double shot tower is ok in my book! Onto the photos! Â Walking in you get this great view of what the water park has to offer. If we had more time I would have gone, but Outlaw Run is more important. =p Before entering the park, park employees gave us these free 2012 cups! The parks main entrance sign. Once you enter the park, you are greeted by this pretty fountain. First credit of the park. Yea we were being credit whores... So what. =] Next up. This is the only one in America! While I thought the park was beautifully landscaped, it looks like they may have missed a spot. =P Hey its Neil & Ian! While waiting in line, it broke down for about 15-20 minutes. Causing most of the GP to leave the line leaving it mainly TPR in line. #Dedication Soon after the break down we were on the ride. Honestly I loved the ride. It gives you that "Oh Sh*t" moment for most of the ride. Next up was Big Bad John. This was the other side to Six Flags St. Louis's River King Mine Train. Needless to say, I wasn't every impressed with it. It was slow, boring, and the only good part was the drop at the very end that went right into breaks. The park had its share of family and kiddie rides. Next up was Gauntlet. For some reason it took us forever to figure out how to get to this coaster. This was really the only place you could see the ride from inside the park. This path that led to it looked like it was the exit to Plummet Summit water ride. Eventually we found the path and we were on our way. As you can see, it's pretty out of the way and it's the only ride down there. It's your typical SLC. Thankfully it was the only one on the entire trip. Personally I didn't think it was completely terrible. I wasn't a fan of the 1 train operation on it but the ride on average is 37 seconds from the top of the lift so it's not the biggest deal in the world. Plummet Summit looks much larger than it really is do to its location on the hill. In the middle of the park they also have this really pretty lake. The water color seemed a bit iffy though. Â After the last few photos is when we really started to rush on time. We got our final credit at the park, Arkansas Twister, then ran to get lunch. The service at the location we went too was really slow, but thats mainly because most of TPR slammed them all at once so they did the best they could. Thankfully Elissa gave us a little more time so everyone had the chance to eat and not be rushed. Â Overall I did enjoy the park. If we had a little more time at the park, I would have love to ride some of the flats but it wasn't a big deal because like I said earlier, Outlaw Run is more important. Some strange things that I noticed were how both Arkansas Twister and Gauntlet were pretty much out in the middle of no where, but both of those things can be fixed with the addition to new rides. I saw tons of room the park could use to expand so space isn't an issue with this park. I have high hopes for the park and with the addition of Sky Shark (Sky Coaster), I can't wait to go back and visit the park again in the future. Â So that was my experience at the park. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Â Questions -So have you guys ever been to Magic Springs before? -What did you think of it? -What did you like about it? -What do you think the park can improve on? Â Make sure to comment with your responses! I would love to hear your feedback! =] Â Next Update: Silver Dollar City! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Magic Springs looks like a cool little park. X Coaster looks like a lot of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaminkid2005 Posted January 17, 2014 Author Share Posted January 17, 2014 ^ It was! I'v read a few bad reviews about the ride so I wasn't expecting it to be good. Once I got off it, I was pleasantly surprised on how fun it really was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Â Questions -So have you guys ever been to Magic Springs before? -What did you think of it? -What did you like about it? -What do you think the park can improve on? Â Make sure to comment with your responses! I would love to hear your feedback! =] Â Next Update: Silver Dollar City! Â I've been to Magic Springs and it amazes me that they still have a rides side. 80% of the people were at the water park the day I visited and I've heard the same story from others. I thought the park could use more attractions. I struggled to spend more than 2 hours in the park. I did not find the dining options very intriguing for a small park. I do like Maurer Sohne X-cars and loved reriding the Arkansas Twister 30 years after my last ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaminkid2005 Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 I agree with the dining options. At every food location we went too they seemed to really only have chicken tenders, corn dogs, and burgers. Although my burger was really good, I wish they offered some type of local dishes so travelers can also enjoy in the regions flavors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoinItForTheFame Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Questions-So have you guys ever been to Magic Springs before? -What did you think of it? -What did you like about it? -What do you think the park can improve on? I have been to Magic Springs several times due to having family that lives near the park. Â - I am not a huge fan of the park. It's a nice place to go to kill some time, but not some where you go for the entire day. - I personally really liked the water park. The newer slide complex they built is actually rather fun. - I feel the park could use some TLC. Last time I was there the majority of the rides really needed some refreshing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaminkid2005 Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 Hey everyone!  It's time for another update! After a few hour drive from Magic Springs, we arrived at Silver Dollar City right as the sun was beginning to set. I was really, really excited for this park for so many reasons, but the main reason was obviously Outlaw Run. Honestly I can't think of another word to describe this park other than amazing! I can honestly say I enjoyed every single one of their coasters and park is absolutely beautiful.  I'm going to try something new and rate all the credits individually instead of talking about them in a photo description.  The Credits  Fire In The Hole- This is one of those dark ride coaster combos. I thought it was a pretty cool little ride. There is a section that does drop and get you a little wet which did take me by surprise the first time I rode it. Overall I'll give it a 6/10.  Grand Exposition Coaster- This was the last credit we got. We tired many times to get it during the day but it was closed for a while. While it is a kiddie coaster, it was a pretty decent ride that attracted many guests and long waits. Overall I'll give it 5/10.  Outlaw Run- After following the construction of this ride all off season, I was pumped I was getting the chance to finally ride it. I thought this ride was amazing. It became my number 2 wooden coaster right behind El Toro. It provides great airtime, crazy elements, and maintains its speed throughout the ride. Overall its getting a 10/10 because it's just that amazing.  Powder Keg: A Blast In The Wilderness- This was always one of those coasters that has been on my bucket list due to its uniqueness. For those who don't know, it's a launch coaster that also has a lift hill. It also has two different track styles because it also used to be a water coaster. The ride also features a moving track segment that brings you up to the launch area. As you can see there are just so many things that make this ride special and I thought it was great. It wasn't the most intense launched coaster but it did have some great speed, airtime, and lats during the old track segments. I'll give this a 8/10.  Thunderation- This ride was a surprise to me. While I knew the ride was around, I didn't know that it was so underrated! This is seriously one of the best mine trains i've ever been on. It uses its terrain so perfectly that you really don't know whats going to happen next. The ride also gains a good amount of speed at one point as it goes through the helix and keeps that speed for a little while. Overall I'll give it a 7/10.  Wildfire- This was another coaster that has been on my bucket list for a while just because of its beautiful location. This was also my first B&M standard looper so that was a plus. To put it simply this ride is great. The ride provides some great forces, you even get some air on the first drop. The ride does have one trim by the entrance to the cobra roll, but its not always on, and even when it is it doesn't really make a difference. Overall I'll give this a 8/10  As you can see, I loved every one of the coasters for my own little reasons. The park also offered some other great flats like a S&S Swing, A Disko, A Wave Swinger, and one of those mini climbing observation towers. Now onto the photos!  As you can tell, it was a pretty wet morning. The park give us a backstage tour of Outlaw Run! As you can tell, it allowed us to get very up close and personal to the ride. The park even allowed us to sign the coasters first drop! You can't get pics like this every day! The ride does use the landscape quite nicely. This funky little turn was one of my favorite parts of the ride. So beautiful! Standing this close to the ride really shows how massive it really is! Words can't explain how amazing this ride really is. <3 Fire In The Hole, as well as the whole park in general, had amazing theming! Oh yea, we also got a back stage tour of Fire In The Hole! I see you Mr. Squirrel. Hey Thad! Part of the workshop for the ride. Another view of the shop. Some cars that were being worked on. Wheels! Storage track for the ride units. After the tours, we were free to roam the park on our own. Unfortunately, it rained most of the morning so I didn't take a ton of photos. But I did manage to take a few once the weather cleared up. We figured why not give this a go! =] Powder Keg was a nice little surprise! I thought the launch was going to be more intense, but either way I still loved the ride! A train of riders about to blast into the wilderness! I loved the theming of the ride! I wonder how many times this piece of track has been used. After an amazing buffet, a bunch of TPR members decided to his up this fun little attraction! Don't fall Stacy! After we got all the credits, we decided to head over to a few little other attractions that Branson had to offer. Sadly the Titanic museum was way to expensive for us. But we did get the gift shop credit! The main reason why we took this little adventure! This sky coaster was pretty great! I've come to the conclusion that the smaller sky coasters are much better then the larger models! While it's not the largest model, it was alot of fun! After our side trip, we decided to head back to the park to take a few more laps on the coasters before the park closed. I personally thought this was one of the coolest signs i've ever seen at a park! And last but not least, Outlaw Run's lift hill at night!  Overall I LOVED this park. I thought this park was perfect in every way possible. From the extremely friendly staff, to the amazing theming all over the park, I would highly recommend everyone to go to this park! I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone involved in making out time at the park as amazing as possible!  Question Time!  What did you think of the park? What was your favorite thing about the park? Be it a ride, attraction, or cinnamon bread? =] Is there anything you think the park should improve on?  I also want to say thank you to everyone who has been reading my Trip Reports!  Please make sure to Comment letting me know what you thought about the report and what would like to see improved on for my upcoming reports!  Next Update: City Museum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytterbiumanalyst Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 This is great report. Thanks for the backstage photos! That's a really awesome experience. We all have photos from the public areas of a park, so it's something special to see photos from areas where most of us don't get to go. To answer your questions: Â 1. SDC is a truly great park, with something for everyone, and top-quality rides. 2. SDC is my home park, so the attraction is mostly that it's local, about 45 minutes from my house. But the Grand Expo is the place we spend the most time. We have three kids--6, 4, and 2--so the rides there really appeal to them most. 3. The older rides need some improvement. American Plunge desperately needs some new animatronics. I don't know if they've done anything on the offseason, as it was a bit chilly for water rides today and we didn't go over there. I hope they have. Also, Geyser Gulch really needs some help too. I did notice that they have replaced the foam balls there on the off-season; the new ones are bright and don't have the sun-bleached look the old ones did. Minor, yes, but good to see nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaminkid2005 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 ^ What's Geyser Gulch? I don't think I noticed it when I was there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaminkid2005 Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 Hey everyone! Â Its time for another exciting update! This time I take you to City Museum in St. Louis! If you've been living under a rock and have not seen a trip report of this place already, It's basically a giant jungle gym for adults. Â A brief history on the place is that the building use to be a shoe factory back in the day. In 1995, the building was bought and began its conversion into what it is today. The museum opened its doors in 1997 and has been entertaining guests ever since! Â Now i've read many, many, many trip reports on this place and I was extremely excited to check it out! But words simply can't do this place justice. Enjoy! Â Before we went to City Museum, it was time for lunch at the famous Lambert's Cafe! I loved this place! They give you large amounts of food and they also had people walking around giving you a bunch of different sides. It's time for the feast to begin! My first ever view of the Gateway Arch! All you need is a launch tower and you'd have a great sky coaster! We've arrived! This is what it looks like when you first walk in! The inside had a bunch of hidden walkways, ramps, slides, things to climb on, and even caves! Here I am climbing one of the crazy contraptions. Here's Stacy giving it a go! They also had this near vertical drop slide with an airtime hill! Hey Laura! This human sized hamster wheel. This random sumo wrestler that Doug totally owned! And this crazy shoe slide! The outside area had a bunch of crazy things to do. This place was truly nuts! I loved it! They had this giant slide that lead to a little underground cave. They also had this real decommissioned plane that you could crawl through! This place even has a sketchy ferris wheel on the top of the building! It gave great views of the giant grass hopper at the top of the building. As well St. Louis. As many of you probably don't know, I'm scared of heights. I only have an issue with them if I do not have a restraint of some type. So this old school ferris wheel wasn't my cup of tea. They also had this really awesome fountain that you could play in! I leave you with this awesome group shot of almost everyone on the tour hanging out inside the dome of the building! Â Â Question Time! Have you been to City Museum? If so, what was your favorite thing inside of it? Â I hope you guys enjoyed the report! Â Please make sure to comment below and let me know what you thought! Â Next Update: Six Flags St. Louis! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piedude81 Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Nice pics of the City Museum. It's really tough to actually get pictures that represent the sheer craziness of the place and how freaking huge it is, and this represented it pretty well. I live in STL, so I've been to the City Museum a bunch of times, and you guys managed to find somethings I haven't even found yet! Did you guys try climbing in the arch of iron bars that jutted off one of the plane's wings? Cause that's by far the most nerve wracking thing I've ever done. Great TR, and I can't wait to see your report on my home park (SFSTL)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaminkid2005 Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 ^Yes we did! Climbing that arch was one of the freakiest things I've done in a long time. I wasn't a fan of how it had almost no supports except for a few wires! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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