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Photo TR: TPR Behemoth/East Coast Trip 2008


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After near three years of waiting, I was finally able to go on a TPR trip this Summer, thanks to lots of begging, pleading and bribing of my parents over the last year. From start to finish, I had an amazing time (aside from my pre-Knoebels morning, but I won't go into that).

 

We started off our trip at Seabreeze outside of Rochester, New York. Now for me, this would be a whole new experience, not only because it was my first time to the park, but because it was also my first time going to a non-franchised or major company-owned park. Seabreeze was a fantastic park to start up with, as it had four credits (most of us could only get three of them) and a bunch of fun flats, all in a "more traditional" wrapping of a park.

 

Jackrabbit was the first coaster we were able to ride, and it was a great start to the day. A pretty simple, straight-forward coaster; it had some nice pops of airtime and a really fun tunnelled section.

Whirlwind was my first ever Maurer-Sohne coaster, and from my first ride until the end of the night's ERT, I was in heaven. Not only is the coaster smooth, but it spins more than any other coaster I've ever been on. The ride is never the same twice thanks to the rider's ability to mix up the spinning with different seating configurations. I found it to spin the most with two riders sitting on the back side of the car (with no one in the front).

Bobsleds (I along with others refer to it as Bobselds thanks to a memorable typo on our name badges) was pretty cool for a historical credit, but with low capacity and long lines, I didn't feel the need to wait for it more than once (or give up time on Whirlwind to ride it during ERT).

As for Bear Trax, the park's kiddie coaster, I wasn't able to ride it thanks to a strict policy of no adults on the ride without a child. I'm not that far into getting credits to the point where I will pay a child to ride with me (though some people were able to do so at the park, even attracting security at one point), so I passed.

 

My other specific memory of the park was that it had my first Flyers. I've read and watched plenty of videos about the flat, but had never before ridden one (let alone, known how to snap one). So, I tried out the ride and loved it (playing as safe as possible so as to not snap the ride in any way I imaginably could), toying with the cycles to which I could gain more height at each revolution. This basically came in handy because by the end of the trip, I knew how to get my flyer pretty high up, and at Knoebels, snap it to the point where I was scared for my life.

 

Musik Express was another first for me on the trip, with Seabreeze offering my first one to ride. Throughout the duration of the attraction, I found myself laughing to the point of tears at how rediculously fun the ride truly was, and thus, a new flat favorite was found.

 

Overall, my day at Seabreeze was a fantastic start to the trip, setting the tone for what was ahead of us (especially after our ERT session that night).

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Elissa rides a spinning ride. Bingo square #1.

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I spent all of my ERT doing consecutive runs on Whirlwind, marathoning it over 25 times during our 45 minutes of ride time.

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That group from California strikes for the first time on the trip... Sorry to all of the general public, but we've got this ride now!

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I love Moser rides!

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Two of the amusement industry's greatest investments: Music Express and Dippin' Dots.

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It has a few good leaps and dips, but I still find Lakemont's Leap the Dips to be a more insane ride.

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Bobselds is the wooden-turned-steel kiddie coaster at the park. I consider it more of a historical credit than a coaster... One ride was really enough to satisfy me.

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Our lineup for nightime ERT was Bobselds (yes, I mean to spell it that way) and Whirlwind.

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Later that night I would conquer this, my first inverter. It was actually quite fun!

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I love the midway-style setup that this and some of the other parks had... Its all so new to me.

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Roxanne is pumped and ready to go!

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A beautiful sight!

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Everyone looks ready to ride!

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Our first credit of the trip: Jackrabbit!

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A sign of home-grown quality!

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We're here!

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TPR trip perk #1: Seabreeze Bucks! "Its all about the money... (Until we get to Delgrosso's)"

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Its time for Seabreee!

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Here's Tyler and I (pre-boob credit photo).

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Lots of TPR bags in a pile in Philly...

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I started out the trip (one day earlier) with my first TPR text, coming from my roommate, Tyler to let me know that his flight was delayed...

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It has a few good leaps and dips, but I still find Lakemont's Leap the Dips to be a more insane ride.

 

Agree!

 

I love Moser Rides

 

Definitely agree......one of your final moves before you turned gay was to show our little group at SeaBreeze how awesome Moser towers were! It was outstanding, some of the best non-coaster airtime I've ever gotten....I think I even enjoy them more than the Intamin versions, because you get many more airtime pops than just one.

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^^^^^ and ^^^^ I have never really had any problems with spinning (except on Clementon's Balloon Race with Mike and Dave Fudge, but I'll discuss that later). It really just felt natural for me to keep going back in line for Whirlwind, considering I felt fine after every ride.

 

Darien Lake was our first major park of the trip, and my first former Six Flags park. It was interesting for me to see the visible changes made to the park to remove itself from the Six Flags chain, but I found that the park had done a pretty strong job of seperating as best as it could.

 

We started off ERT with Ride of Steel and Predator, with many of us plotting to start with Ride of Steel, run over to get a ride or two on Predator and then finish off with Ride of Steel until the park opened. We had a fast-paced plan of attack to get all of the credits in by lunch, running to the Motocoaster, Boomerang and Mind Eraser as soon as possible. Along the way, we picked up people in our group (Matt Damon and the Powers). Viper, the park's Arrow looper was closed for a while, but we being the kind of group we are, waited for the ride to open while entertaining ourselves on my first ever roundup (this one titled UFO). We waited for the ride to open and flocked into the queue when the chain came down. We were only denied one credit in the day (Brain Teaser) since we couldn't bribe any children, like we found happening at Bear Trax the day before.

 

Ride of Steel: My first ever Intamin Hyper and the first of the three Ride of Steels in our trip, it definitely surprised me in several ways. Starting with the first hill, I was amazed at how much airtime I got anywhere I sat (but especially in the backseat when backseat coaster mongering). I loved the airtime hills and felt that the first helix was forceful and fun (though the second one was pointless and dull) and loved the ending three bunny hops into the break run. I did notice some Intamin rattle to the ride, but it wasn't too bad compared to Six Flags America's Ride of Steel.

 

Predator: My second most hated wooden coaster on my list, only trumped by Six Flags over Georgia's Georgia Cyclone was in my mind, terrible. It looks like a fun ride, especially its larger hills, but the fact that half the ride has been [quite visibly] retracked couldn't help to make this ride any more ominous before riding. From the moment my car left the station (I sat in the front this time since Roxanne warned me that the back would kill), I felt my spine slowly creep out of place and folllowing the first drop, it was shattered, battered, beaten and bruised up until the break run. To make a long explanation short, the best part of the ride was the exit.

 

MotoCoaster: My first ever motocoaster (Vekoma or Zamperla) was pretty surprising for what it was. It looks like a simple set of figure eights, but the speed and speed of the transitions made for a more fun ride. It is meant to be a family coaster, but the height limit may be a problem for this one. My only hitch with the coaster is, much like a standup coaster, your restraints continue to get tighter if you release pressure against them during the ride, which made my posture on the coaster pretty bizarre by the end of the launch, let alone the rest of the ride.

 

Boomerang: Coast to Coaster: Another first for the day was my first ever Boomerang (since La Ronde's broke down right in front of me during my visit). This one, not nearly as bad as I had braced for, was pretty decent with a couple of jolts, but not nearly the worst of what we had ridden throughout the trip (The Bat at Canada's Wonderland stands as my least favorite boomerang so far).

 

The Mind Eraser: My first ever SLC was a more scary experience for me, considering I had it hammered into my mind that the ride was going to break me in half and then stomp on my remains past the point of recognition. I sat with Shawn (Matt Damon) for my first ride, and thanks to his advice, pinned my head to the side of my restraint in an effort to brace for whatever potential jolts could be ahead. Minus a few shimmies here and there, the ride was not too bad, even prompting me to ride again (though the second ride was a little less fun).

 

The Viper: Our last coaster before we left, since it was closed for the morning was our first Arrow looper of the trip. I found it to be pretty smooth except for a few moments, but I wasn't in the majority on this one. In comparison, I preferred this to Dragon Fire at Canada's Wonderland, but most people I spoke to had it the other way around.

 

Other notable moments included our ride on the UFO and Silver Bullet (my first Enterprise).

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Astroworld's Intamin standup sits in pieces outside of Darien Lake, waiting to be re-assembled or scrapped. The world may never know...

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Elissa peels the skin off a hot dog. Bingo square #3.

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We have our own pavilion!

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Viper was one of the better Arrow loopers on the trip...

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MotoCoaster in all of its prototypical glory...

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But avast, we've broken our first coaster during ERT (this wouldn't be the last time).

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I'm pretty sure everyone was extremely anxious to ride, so most pushed as fast as they could to get in...

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There it is! *fear*

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There it is! *joy*

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Hanno takes a photo of something. Bingo square #2.

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...Get used to it...

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Welcome to Darien Lake!

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The group is here for a morning of ERT...

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Hey Adam, nice to see you gave Hanno a taste of his own medicine, he is such a sniper with a camera - you never know when he has got you in his sights. You could be making a sly adjustment downstairs while you think no one is watching and bang, Hanno's got you from a thousand yards away.

 

I don't think anyone got used to Tony.

 

Dude, you popped some serious coaster cherries at Darien Lake.

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I'm going to make my Martin's part of the update pretty short (considering I only have one photo from that park) so I can get to my larger Canada's Wonderland update which seems to be filled to the brim with Behemoth photos.

 

Martin's was one of those bust-out-surprisingly-fantastic parks that we visited on the trip with one of those wonderfully underated coasters that caught me by surprise. The park is a traditional, smaller space with a major wooden coaster and a "crazy" mouse (which isn't so crazy), some fun flat rides and "I Got It!"

 

I Got It!: A fascination style game in which you throw balls into a five-by-five grated bingo box. The start of my in-park-game-addiction, I spent too much time and money here, but didn't regret it.

 

Crazy Mouse: A spinning mouse that barely spins, the standard Reverchon model minus all fun and enjoyment, plus painful re-alignment jolts after every sharp turn.

 

Silver Comet: After riding 30 times on this (the general marathoning goal I had for most ERT coasters was 20-25), I felt content with the fact that the coaster pushed its way into my top five for wooden coasters, being #1 for a few more days until Boulder Dash came along and knocked it out. Minus one extremely jarring turn around, the ride offered some incredible pops of airtime and a few partner-indused hits to the face. It is still an incredible ride regardless.

 

Now onto Behemoth Bash at Canada's Wonderland.

 

Behemoth Bash was our first of two "open" TPR days during the trip, but aside from picking up Jason (it was a pleasure to have you with us that morning), we basically just kept on moving. We started our long day off with ERT on Behemoth, Time Warp, Pysclone (the giant frisbee which opened since Time Warp was having trouble earlier in the ERT session) and Backlot Stunt Coaster. Following morning ERT we rushed to conquer as much of the park as possible before lunch, hitting Flight Deck, Thunder Run, Wild Beast, Dragon Fire and the Bat (plus some other random flats). At lunch we took part in TPR Trivia where I won a Behemoth Bag O' Crap with an opening day media badge, two Behemoth shirts, a nice Behemoth man purse and a death-metal Spongebob (which I later gave to Kidtums). Following lunch, we ran to Skyrider, Mighty Canadian Minebuster, Ghoster Coaster, Sky Streak and Vortex. The night's ERT included Minebuster, Vortex and Behemoth, but Matt, Matt and I stayed at Behemoth for the whole session since we were tired of walking the rest of the park to get from one coaster to another. Other rides of note for the day included Shockwave and Sledgehammer.

 

Behemoth: As good as I hoped it would be and better, I rode Behemoth 25 times between the two sessions of ERT. The ride's new seating makes every seat have a front seat view, but the backseat (which I mongered once with Larry during the nightime ERT) offered some insane airtime. The ride ops, equiped with microphones hyped the ride thru every cycle through the station, and even though they pinned me, I felt like I was going to fly out of my seat at every hill. Not only does the ride have a fantastic amount of airtime, it is really photogenic (as you will see below). Needless to say, I took advantage of the photo walkback.

 

Backlot Stunt Coaster: For my first Backlot Stunt Coaster I had low expectations. I hold a grudge against the coaster since it was chosen over the concept for a completely unique Top Gun for Kings Island (where the ride would have essentially been lifted backwards up a vertical spike, dropped from there and sent through a course of fantastic inversions; but surveyers to Kings Island chose the Italian Job instead). The ride was pretty confusing for me thanks to its tight turns, lack of effects and long time in a dark tunnel before a drop under a bridge and turn around into the station. I loved the Italian Job but the ride just didn't satisfy.

 

Time Warp: Another ride I feared for my life on, I was nervous as to how bad it could hurt me, but the ride was really a surprise. While the transitions were jarring and slightly rough, I found the ride to be enjoyable and, had I not other credits to catch that day, I would have willingly ridden it again.

 

Flight Deck: This lives up to the reputation of an SLC (unlike Mind Eraser at Darien Lake). Painful shimmies and bizarre transitions all around, the ride gave me a headache and the loss of feeling in my ear for over 20 minutes. If I ever return to Wonderland, I won't be riding it again.

 

Thunder Run: My first powered coaster was pretty unique, considering it went through the park's former walkthru-of-a-mountain. We were stalked by a giant monster in the ride, but it was pretty fun.

 

Wild Beast: The park's older wooden coaster. Not bad, but not great. In the words of Dave Wilson, "it exists... Meh!"

 

Dragon Fire: My least favorite of the arrow loopers on the trip, the ride's restraints were designed with lovely bulges designed to butcher your ears... Thats about all I will say until I get to The Bat.

 

The Bat: Instead of buying new Vekoma trains, Wonderland decided to transfer Dragon Fire's third train to the new boomerang by retrofitting it with a vekoma chassis. BAD IDEA. Take the typical headbanging of a boomerang and add the pain of the ear-busting restraints of Dragon Fire and you have The Bat. The definitive worst boomerang of the trip. Period.

 

Skyrider: My first Togo, I was fearful, but the ride was surprisingly fun. The trick-track scared the hell out of me but the ride itself was pretty smooth and it ran pretty well. One of the more enjoyable rides at the park, surprisingly.

 

Minebuster: A ride full of bizarre vibrations, Matt loved it, I didn't.

 

Ghoster Coaster: Another older wooden coaster, not too bad, but my size made the lap bars a real issue for my knees.

 

Sky Streak: A fun junior SLC with a few poor transitions. I still enjoyed it for what it was.

 

Vortex: A clone of Flight Deck at Kings Island, it's most appealing factor, in my opinion was its flyover of the park's mountain where you can see the old paths that guests could take when walking in and around it. The rest of the ride was fine. Thats all I really have to say about that.

 

The park is huge, in a good way, but it made walking for the full day truly tiring. Behemoth Bash was a blast and I had a great time taking part in a smaller aspect of our larger trip!

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I'll finish this update with the Italian Stuntlot Confusion Coaster photo...

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This is the last Behemoth photo I've got... I promise.

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Apparantly Behemoth loves Jesus...

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I don't know why, but I'm just proud of this photo...

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Artsy shot #2.

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Artsy shot #1.

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Proper representation found.

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Minebuster looks better than it rides...

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Flight Deck. Yeah, its that bad.

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Sledgehammer was a pretty fun flat ride.

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There is our Behemoth!

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Vortex going over the mountain...

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Mount Wonderland...

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A beautiful entry fountain typical of a former Paramount park.

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We have a pavilion for Behemoth Bash!

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Great to hear about your much-anticipated first TPR trip! Looks like a fun time with waaaaaay too many cameras around-- err..I mean...coaster nerds unite through digital awesomeness!

 

I will admit, though, that I give you mad props for the second to last Behemoth photo. It makes me tingle and I don't even know why .

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Marineland was an interesting experience for me because I couldn't help but imagine it being the Canadian version of Seaworld, one of my home parks. For nearly two and a half years I've had my brother tell me about how he kept seeing commercials for the park while he was living in Montreal (including his singing of the park's tune, "Everyone loves Marineland!"). The park, was far from what I expected....

 

To start our morning, I had not really been too awake (yet) as Matt's (Speeddeamon128) Marineland video shows. We stood at the front of the park, prepared to start a session of ERT and I figured a ride on Dragon Mountain would wake me up. After our group photo before entrance, I happened to look towards the bus and saw a black bag that looked eerily familiar on the ground. I ran up to it to see if I could figure out to whom it belonged, but quickly came to realize that the bag was infact my videocamera case, complete with my wide angle lense, filters, tapes, charger and camera. I'm not too sure how it made its way off of the back of the bus (especially because I didn't end up using or taking my videocamera off of the bus once during the trip), but by then, I was fully awake from the shock. Anyways, we moved on, walking a decent distance to get to the entrance of Dragon Mountain.

 

Now if you've ever seen photos of the park before, you'll know that its plotted in the middle of a vast wilderness with plenty of room for expansion. What made Marineland so unique was the fact that unlike a typical park which clusters in a single location at its start, slowly expanding outward as it invests more money into the park, Marineland did the opposite. By placing each attraction distances away from each other, the park is massively spread out with plenty of internal room for future additions--though this setup made for a tiring walk through the park just to hit the attractions.

 

Dragon Mountain's ERT was absolutely fun, and another first, as I had never done a filming session before. After doing a few warm up rides before the shoot started, we found our seats and strapped in for a set of three straight rides where Robb would be around the different parts of the ride to film our reactions. Definitely the best Arrow looper I've done so far, Dragon Mountain is not only long, but mostly smooth. It features a layout that hugs much of the park's terrain, including its lift plus a few features that have been added to the ride over the years including a volcano and a structure for a waterfall (I believe). After 25 years the ride has aged beautifly.

 

The other ride for which we had ERT was Sky Screamer, the park's triple S&S Tower. What I didn't expect here was that the ride itself is situated on a mountain (of sorts) with a large walkway spiraling around the edges of the mound. It took about 10 minutes (I could be exaggerating, but that is what it felt like) to get to the top, so by the time we were there for ERT, I was ready to sit. Starting off with a few normal rides, we were given a quick but beautiful view of Niagra and the Falls. Soon afterwards we were offered the ability to go up on the ride in an "elevator mode" that would slowly bring us up to the top of the tower for some fantastic photo angles.

 

Other memorable aspects of the visit: my first Topple Tower (walrus!) and the TPR takeover of Tivoli/Ladybug Coaster.

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Our last moment in Canada ends with a Culture Credit (I believe).

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All three of the guys seem to be having a great time.

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I'm impressed with this one as well!

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Tired?

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A true American/Canadian beauty... Take that Martin Short!

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Its a long way down from here...

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The larger look at the Falls...

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Crotch shot #1

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Niagra looks just as I remember it from my visit 11 years ago!

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It was pretty sunny out that day...

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Erik looks excited!

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Pumped and ready to ride!

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Hey John!

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Bears! Bingo square #4.

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Dragon Mountain's entrance features a Yak-Dragon eating you.

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Feels a bit like retro Seaworld...

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"Everyone loves Marineland!"

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Welcome to Marineland!

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Nice work Adam, love the aerial shots. You need a horse or golf cart to get around that place - maybe that can be a VIP option.

 

I wanted to go and pat the killer whales but they probably would have taken my arm knowing my luck.

 

Imagine if they had the money all the coasters and rides that could go in all those empty spaces.

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Let me start by saying that there were parks that I didn't take any photos of, not because I didn't want to--I just didn't think to. There are a few parks throughout the trip that I didn't get any photos of because I wanted to enjoy the experience so much that I left the camera in my pocket. Waldameer just happens to be one of those parks.

 

Waldameer was one of the most memorable parks of the trip for me, just because of how quirky some of its attractions were and how relaxed we were at the park. It has four coasters, a Whacky Shack dark ride, a Pirates Cove haunted walkthru and some really fun flats.

 

After our drive back from Canada we were all ready to get some rides in. We all rush into the park debating whether or not to go straight to Ravine Flyer II or to get everything else in since we would have an ERT session later that night. Most of us opted to ride just to see how it was beforehand. Ravine Flyer II is to this date, the most forceful wooden coaster I've ever been on. The speed is a major factor in this ride and from the first drop to the end of the course there is a mixture of force pushing you down and airtime hills the opposite. Ravine Flyer's view is absolutely breathtaking, considering that you look out and see nothing but Lake Waldameer. The ride itself drops you down a fast turning drop and into the course of the track, including a hop over a road (through the ride's specially constructed bridge) a fun turnaround and back towards the rest of the layout. It features a 90 degree turn which is definitely fun when you have the whole train yelling "90 degrees" in the rain, but we'll get to that later.

 

Waldameer has a clone (with slight modifications here and there) of Seabreeze's Whirlwind, though I found this one to be far more tame. We rode it twice just for fun, but found that Whirlwind spun far more.

 

The park's oldest coaster (since Ravine Flyer I hasn't stood for quite some time) is Comet. Similar [in feel] to Ghoster Coaster (especially the lap bars), it had a few pops of airtime but once was enough.

 

Ravine Flyer III was built before Ravine Flyer II since the park knew the wooden was going to happen eventually. It is a standard Kiddie Coaster model we saw often in the trip, but this one is built completely over water. I sat in the front and once in the back, getting airtime over the first hill when in the front. We rode this three times that afternoon.

 

Whacky Shack and Pirates Cove are two unique haunt-style attractions that I just couldn't get enough of. I still remember the Shack's spiel to this date.

 

ERT that night was the best, considering the ride was running faster and better than it had earlier in the day. But the heat (or should I say the cool) was turned up when it started to pour... And I mean a deluge (for you Epcot fans)! I rode the ride with my eyes shut for my last five rides, making it scarier every time. Neil seranaded us with a "Only Happy When It Rains" tune which had us all clapping in synch. I stayed on the ride until the end of ERT hitting 25 rides (7 of which were in the rain).

 

Other memorable aspects of the visit: Spider with James, the Drop Tower, the Tilt-A-Whirl takeover and my continued success on the Midway games...

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After our group photo before entrance, I happened to look towards the bus and saw a black bag that looked eerily familiar on the ground. I ran up to it to see if I could figure out to whom it belonged, but quickly came to realize that the bag was infact my videocamera case, complete with my wide angle lense, filters, tapes, charger and camera. I'm not too sure how it made its way off of the back of the bus (especially because I didn't end up using or taking my videocamera off of the bus once during the trip), but by then, I was fully awake from the shock.

 

Now we all know how that bag ended up outside the coach, just like how we all know how Natalie's camera went missing...

 

Great TR so far Adam. I wish I had the patience to sit down and write one and then post some pictures. I had the intention of doing so so maybe I will some day.

 

No one has pictures of the insane Ravine Flyer II ERT in the lightning/rain/we're about to die happy here/thunderstorm. We'll all have to wait for Robb's pictures/video of that evening. Seriously - the most insane/hyped up/adrenaline rushed ERT session ever.

 

One of the best parts... kudos to Neil for getting the group even more hyped up by singing...

 

 

So anyway, you've mentioned 4 bingo squares so far in your photos - is the magical fifth one going to appear. I believe it has to.... Oh what did you need again - Boob Credit... thats right and which one did you get.....

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Nice work with another great park report. Ravine Flyer II ERT was my most memorable part of the trip, and one of my most memorable roller coaster riding experiences I have ever experienced. It was definitely the most intense and insane coaster riding I have ever experienced and will be close to impossible to beat. What an amazing night.

 

Oh yea, I probably haven't posted it 5 times somewhere on the forums already, but Ravine Flyer II is my new number 1 wooden coaster.

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Hey Adam, I've got the POV of you doing the tour through Pirate's Cove and I've got a POV of the wacky shack (I think with Josh screaming like he's sitting on an electric cattle prod), so I'll have to get them to you sometime.

 

I wish Neil had sung "Who'll Stop The Rain", those rides on Rav II were fun but oh so painful.

 

I did Millennium Force in torrential rain in 2005, at least with RF II I didn't have some coaster freak shouting at me that the ride doesn't count if you cover your face from the rain.

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^^^^Remember that I ended up getting Bingo in two different rows, so I'm counting the one that I didn't need the boob credit for... I figure an explanation sooner or later will make it into this thread, but not yet.

 

^^I'd be happy to have you post those videos on this thread if you are willing...

 

^You mean Rain Flyer II...

 

Idlewild is another one of those "hidden treasure" parks we did on the trip. Now by "hidden treasure" I mean that not only did I know very little about the park, but I enjoyed just about every aspect of our visit and was shocked at how it ranked among our other parks during the trip.

 

Idlewild is a uniquely themed park featuring two coasters, Mr. Roger's Trolley, Adult Hand Cars, Fried Oreos and plenty more. We started our visit that morning, tired again but ready to get start up again. Immediately upon our entrance to the park we were escorted to the Carousel (refurbished by PTC years ago) for a surprise. Idlewild generously provided us with donuts, fine glass paperweights, leighs and cup holders! Needless to say, we were treated like royalty. Then, our ERT session started with both of the park's coasters reserved for us!

 

Rollocoaster, the park's historical wooden credit was surprisingly fun. After riding it three times at the start of ERT, Brent, Matt and I moved over to the park's Wild Mouse. The Wild Mouse is one of the few Vekoma mice in existance with an oddly tilted lift. Apparantly the ride used to have a dark tunnel over the lift in its previous location (according to wikipedia, it came from Alton Towers). I'll come right out and say it--the ride was definitely the wildest mouse I've ever ridden and it lives up to the Vekoma name. The ride's loading procedures were pretty bizarre, with a minumum of three riders required for a car to dispatch (two people required to sit in back if there are only three riders). After getting in the car, we were instructed to keep our hands on the red tapes at all times (red colored duct tape added to the car's front bars recently from what I could tell). The ride's lift was confusing enough, but the truly untrimmed rides and insane [and sometimes jarring] airtime moments were incredible. I received a few bruises thanks to the ride slamming Brent into my right arm. So, after our four-ride marathon of Wild Mouse, we moved back to Rollocoaster. Then, the Rollocoaster Fanboys united!

 

To end off ERT, Brent, Matt and I marathoned Rollocoaster without moving from our seats. Getting an extra six rides in, management would stop us for no more than three seconds in the station just to send us through again. I think of Rollocoaster as the little cousin of Boulder Dash, but that is just me. We ended up getting a photo of the three of us (as you will see below) to commemorate the creation of the Rollocoaster Fanboy group!

 

So after ERT, we moved on to Mr. Roger's Trolley. An absolutely surreal ride for those of us that were raised on the show, I couldn't help but worry when I started to remember the character's and their songs. The ride was full of laughter, hugs and songs (and a really cute ride op). I won't ruin the experience for you (wait until Robb's video comes out--that will tell all), but I'll show some photos from the ride.

 

We left the Trolley full of Hug and Song and ready to ride some fun flats. We took over the Flyers, the Carousel, my first Catepillar (the only one with its original tarp/covering still intact and working), my first Whip and a ride on the Adult Handcars. Before we left, most of us wanted something to eat so off we went.

 

Now I know I haven't mentioned this yet, but I'd be doing this report an injustice if I did not explain something that most of the people in my group came to notice when hanging out with me... I have a severe addiction to East Coast "fried" foods. You would constantly hear me saying that I could go for some fried dough, a funnel cake or something of the like. Well, Idlewild delivered a set of newly fried items that my palette had never had. Sharing with Erik, Roxanne, John, James, Jes and Brad, we split several orders of Fried Oreos, Fried Apples, a fried waffle and funnel cake. Needless to say, I got my fried-food fix for the day!

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Historical Credit

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PTC stamp.

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Push Matt! Push!

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Confusion Hill was the most insane walkthru experience I've ever done.

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The Hug-n-Song Party is almost ready but someone is missing! Who could it be?

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Creepy lady... She really scared me.

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No idea...

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The King in person...

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Into the Neighborhood we go!

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Our cute conductor... Thomas the Tank Engine's Top Hat Man has nothing on you!

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Double thumbs photo #3

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Dave is ready for the Hug-n-Song Party!

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Rollocoaster fanboys!

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My two Matts...

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PTC-a sign of quality.

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Anyone hungry?

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Boulder Dash's littlest cousin...

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Double thumbs shot #2

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Double thumbs shot #1

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Matt seems excited!

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Robbie is looking at me like I'm a certain someone filming him nonstop...

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^Thanks again Roxanne! You rock!

 

This will be one of my larger reports in general since it will encompass two parks with some photos and my first videos of the report!

 

We got to Lakemont pretty quickly after leaving Idlewild (which was one of the highlights of the trip at this point) just to see an interesting collection of flat rides and some unique coasters to match them.

 

Before riding, we were treated to another wonderful catered lunch in a private pavilion (that group from California strikes for the first of many times during our visit). With potatoes au gratin, hot dogs and hamburgers, I felt right at home...

 

By this point, I had 98 credits, and while I'm not one to normally plan out the order of my credits, I wanted to let Leap the Dips be my 100th, so we went straight to my first Toboggan to get my 99th credit. What followed was one of the scariest, most bizarre rides I've ever been on... Now James had become known as my "bizarre rides buddy" at this point, having ridden Whacky Shack, Spider and several other bizarre flats with me so far in the trip, so naturally, he joined me in the caged machine of death. With an interior similar to that of a Roll-O-Plane (which we would ride at Knoebels later in the trip), I was pretty worried about sliding around, but that didn't end up happening. The ride creeps along into a vertical missile-silo-esque lift with little air inside only to raise you out to begin a tight set of helix-like maneuvers around the silo. Gaining speed while moving lower, you prepare for what has to be the worst part of the ride--the drop. As you will see and hear in my video, it shook us up pretty badly, which James hitting his head on the roof of the car. After that, it’s pretty decent, but the ride did have its rough moments. I was initially afraid of Toboggan after hearing how terrible Little Amerika's had been on the Midwest trip, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it to be decent (if I haven't used that word enough so far, you'll see it spring up more often in my reviews).

 

Afterwards, we headed over for our short session of ERT (in a sense) on Leap the Dips, which would be my 100th credit. The coaster has multiple cars, though only one was in operation during our visit (according to Screamscape, one of the cars had lost a wheel during its circuit just days before we got there). I ended up getting two rides in on the coaster (once in the front and once in the back). In front, the ride was fun, giving a fantastic view of the track and its interesting system (including the really cool, old school anti-rollbacks). In back, I found the "dips" to have more ejector airtime than some of the major wooden coasters we had done so far. Needless to say, it was a great 100th credit!

 

We attempted to get our kiddie coaster credit, but the op was extremely strict when it came to allowing us on, so it was another missed credit.

 

Our final credit of the park was Skyliner, an "interesting" wooden as Robb warned on the bus ride over. Matt and I decided to sit towards the front row in fear that the back would break us in half, and I ended up enjoying the odd pops of airtime that we got from the leveling of hills throughout the course.

 

We ran to Skydiver to try to get on the ride, but the line and operations were too slow to risk waiting for without missing the bus (which none of us wanted to do).

 

We left the park and drove to Delgrosso's. The first thing we saw entering the park's vicinity was the neighboring Delgrosso's Sauce Factory, which we would soon find out meant more to the park than we could possibly imagine.

 

We entered the park and met with the owner and immediately were given information about the park and its origins. I felt extremely bad considering the man was extremely hospitable and willing to talk with us further (after we ate at his Spaghetti Wednesday), but almost everyone went to get their credits. Noting that the park was used as an outlet for his family's "famous" sauce, the ongoing joke about the sauce was born.

 

The park has two credits: a wacky worm and a crazy mouse (Reverchon spinning mouse). The worm was my first Wacky Worm, so that was fun...

 

As for the mouse, I rode with Brian Stoll, and we definitely spun. It was one of the better spinners of the trip, so I was content there as well.

 

After we rode the coasters, we did the Space Caterpillar (watch the video to see what I'm talking about) and then got some Sauce Pizza. Following our mouth-burning, sauce munching meal, we boarded the bus and headed out towards our hotel...

 

Other memorable moments of the visit: Space Caterpillar, Dan using his high-powered flash to set off the shooting gallery, the Sauce and the Sauce Pizza.

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Caterpillar+ZZ Top+Strobes+Rap Music=Wicked Experience.

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John and I on the Space Caterpillar

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Didn't get to do this, but I wasn't too sad about the loss.

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Another Robb and Dan filming preparation shot...

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Here is where it hurts...

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Artsy shot #2: Back in the old days... A time before wheelchair seats and such madness...

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Artsy shot #1

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Aka Caged Machine of Death

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Robb and Dan went into the center of the ride to capture our group's expressions during ERT.

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Leap the Dips in all of its side-friction goodness...

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One of the original Leap the Dips cars is encased in glass in the station...

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Credit #100!

space catepillar.wmv

Delgrosso's Space Caterpillar

tobaggon.wmv

Lakemont's Tobaggon

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I doubt that they ever run more than 1 car on Leap The Dips. I don't even know if they'd be allowed to since there are no block brakes. (Although that doesn't stop Knoebels, but I personally wouldn't trust LTD not to get stuck.)

 

It's funny that the park knew you guys were coming but nobody arranged to let you on the kiddie coaster. On another board (that I won't mention because they have an irrational hatred for this one), the manager of the park posts sometimes, and he always says that if anybody is coming to the park be sure to look him up and he'll get you on the kiddie coaster. There must have been a lack of communication that day.

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Well, with the Behemoth/Ravine Flyer II portion of the tour over, we lost several of our group mates (that means you Matt, Matt, Chris, Roxanne and anyone else I left out)... But with losses, we also found gain. Quickly added to our group was Sam Johnson, Alan Johnsrud and several more.

 

Sesame Place was an optional addon for the downtime in between the Behemoth and East Coast trips, but many of us went to experience the park, rather than sitting in the hotel for a few extra hours.

 

Having grown up on Sesame Place, I was pretty excited to go to a place where I would probably end up remembering aspects of my younger days... Surprisingly enough, alot of the aspects of the park (aside from some characters here and there) seemed foreign to me. What wasn't new to me was the amount of quality and detail put into every facet of the park, thanks to Busch Entertainment Company. The park's entrance bleeds Busch in its style and with the lovely Busch Park turnstyles, we were inside the park just minutes after we received our tickets.

 

Our entire group seemed to charge towards the park's only credit, Vapor Trail. The Vekoma Roller Skater (if I am correct) features a larger layout that I had not seen before, and offered a pretty fun ride. We got two rides in on the coaster before we left the park, using the rest of our time to explore and eat.

 

Knowing we only had four hours at the park (really all we needed), we all felt that we should get lunch first and then move on to the exploration. Eating inside of The Grill, James and I each got a large plate of Chicken Parmesiana, which was great (but ultimately too big for me to finish). I also (just for the sake of indulging) got myself a fantastic Elmo cupcake which I seemed to destroy with just one bite... That photo may show up in a trip TR later on I guess.

 

After lunch, we moved on to walking the park, making our way to the netted play area, which is a similar complex as to what we have at Orlando's Shamu's Happy Harbor at Seaworld. Oddly enough, James, Brent, Matt and I seemed to have serious problems getting in and out of the rope tunnels, let alone running up and down the large rope walks. There were plenty of falls in the process of our running, as well as some hilarious moments of getting stuck in the middle of rope tunnels and nearly getting stuck inside the net.

 

As time wrapped up, we prepared to leave for the bus, ready for a very long drive to New York. It was time for Coney Island...

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Another fun rope complex (and park) conquered!

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You too James?

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Having a little trouble there Brent?

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Elmo cupcakes and chicken parmesiana make for a great meal!

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Our group got some time to catch up with the Count. It was awesome!

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Which of these people are from our group? Could you tell?

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Super Grover's own coaster.

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We bypassed this line with a side entrance opened for us... TPR continues to spoil us.

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Vapor Trail has a pretty long train.

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This is really why we are here! Vapor Trail welcomes us at the gate.

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Everyone looks excited!

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This one belongs to Grover.

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In the presence of celebrities...

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Welcome to Sesame Place!

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Brent tries to run up Sesame Place's rope complex...

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