6/5/05

A day at:
SIX
FLAGS
GREAT ADVENTURE

In the morning, as our bus drove down the SFGAdv exit, I was the first to spot Kingda Ka, looming over what appears to be a secluded swamp out in the sticks. As we arrived we waited at least a half hour to get in. the park, however would not open for 5 minuets.
As we reached the ropes, we spotted two huge groups of restless people waiting to get in. as soon as the gates were open, however, it was just our luck! We picked the side with all the friggen' slow parents and their kids!!

As soon as we pushed our way across the grass in the middle, we raced like hell for Kingda Ka. We made a mad dash down the boardwalk (with my brother trailing behind), as we ran into the Golden kingdom. Not much, time to admire Six Flag's best themed area (however, I did grab a map of the top of a garbage can, which would come in handy later, but much to the amusement of the people around us). I nearly knocked the whole crowd out of the way, as I ran right into the lockers next to the entrance to the Intamin rocket. As the rest of our group placed their hats change etc in the lockers before the ride, I noticed the Place was filled with Acers Damn! (On a side note: no offence to any acers that may read this, I was only upset that they would be filling up the lines!)

After waiting about five minuets in what seemed to be a decent hour and a half line, a ride op/staff/cast member/whatever came out and said: "whup! Sorry it's broken! About 6 hours until you'll be able to reach the front!" The acers all moaned and walked off. We finally decided to follow their example and left as well.

Instead, we decided to go to:
SUPERMAN ULTIMATE FLIGHT-

Now, I have never been on a B&M flyer before. However, I heard SUF was a bunch of crap. As we waited on line, I found just how terrible this ride was themed. An open field!!!!! With swampy patches of water! I know that this is not what metropolis is supposed to look like! We also saw some interesting graffiti (saying SEGA) and all the crappy cut out pictures of superheros/villians/whatever. As we got in the vehicles, I suddenly got a deadly feeling. This feeling is not fear, but a weird "this place is evil" feeling that I only get before rides in six flags, or the orange county fair. Will I ever make it off this thing? As they shut the latch to the feet, I suddenly felt cramped as if I really needed to stretch my legs. As it tilted backwards (while the song "lean back" was appropriately playing), I thought I was going to die. I was nearly slipping through the foot bar and the ride had not even started moving! DAMN! Will a six flags park be the death of me? Couldn’t it have been a nice good themed park such as Disney? Universal? Busch Gardens?

as we climbed the lift, I had some thoughts of “why did I do this?” I was never frightened on a coaster before. especially not a B&Mer. the first drop nearly gave me a heart attack but after that, it gave me nausea as we climbed into the big pretzel loop. that, I must say, was the best inversion I have ever had the pleasure to travel through. as we hit the bottom, I felt like putting my hands be hind my head, crossing my legs and sleeping (all of which is impossible). after the ride, I got a glimpse of the infamous "pooperman" picture outside the bathroom! ( a picture of Superman on rocks thinking that looks as if he.. yeah). next, we dashed over to nitro.

On the way, since this is an organized group, we stopped to talk to the other groups in front of a closed Houdini’s “Great” Escape. I was joking with my brother about vekoma’s poor fire exit planning. Ironically, the great “escape” had no escape route!!

NITRO
this ride was literally a ghost town. no line right to the ride. however, the ride op threw my brother off saying whup! too fat! (he's not!) obviously, this was the op's first day or something, and my brother (this is not his first ride) was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. oh well (again if you are the op or know him, no offence!). Another startling realization occurred when I noticed I had to pee! (should've stopped at the pooperman room!) through out the ride, which really annoyed me, I held my bladder! (this only happened one other time at rye Playland's dragon!).

Skull Mountain
I opted out of the Congo river CRAPids and split from the rest of the bunch. me my brother (this will be his first ride of the day!) and his friend ran over to the big skull with water shooting out. (I said those must be tears of joy that the skull's water is actually running!). after watching that (and running to the movie town bathroom!) we rode the almost Disney level ride. I noticed that there were no visible bare bones supports here, but still graffiti, and a LINE! for skull mt.! weird huh? as we rode and heard the interesting loading voice, we rode. I noticed from the slightly visible interior, that the line was just some scaffolding placed in a weird tent thing! damn! so much for good theming! the ride was cool, and I liked the skeletons and music. after exiting, and seeing the warehouse in the back, we met with the group, and decided to eat in my favorite place to eat there, Granny's Country Kitchen. GREAT View of skull mountain, Chiller, and midway! (I had the Cousin Jeb's favorites. (whoever this Jeb is, He must have damn good taste!) as we were eating those who ventured on the waterless rides came back slightly damp, boasting “see! Were wet!” if that’s wet, than Hershey park must have drowned me!
As my brother went of to see Catwoman, the three others of us (terrible sentence!), went to the PR launcher. as we were on line, this kid in our group Jake, kept dropping bottles on the line people. Really! this kid is Stupid! he also tried to pull a switch. as we waited, the ops said some funny things before each launch. As they switched ops, they opened the gates for batman. I remember thinking this must be the most action this side has seen in years. we were going to make Jake pick up his bottles but I said nah! It adds to the theming! as we barricaded around the track, I finally remembered why this is easily my favorite Six Flags ride anywhere.
after this, we were going to ride medusa, but instead we opted for the closer rolling thunder. (GASM was broken)

Rolling Thunder:
This last ride was a real tough one to find! With the new golden kingdom (and bad map work!) I got lost! I could not find the damn woodie (no pun intended!) as we rode, I saw the remains of the old Togo viper. Now that I look back, I wished I had ridden it! With the reviews of SUF being so false, maybe we also mis-judge Togo international rides as well! (Or not! cough*Manhattan express*cough)
I also got a glimpse of the old trains. There is just something about this crunched up coaster that just upset me. Just looking at the secluded station and nearly crushed trains in the middle of RT's turnaround just was so depressing. It's as if this coaster was just a victim of a hate crime! After the ride I wanted to run over to viper and perhaps obtain a little unauthorized gift (ei: a screw, wheel, restraint etc.) but we wanted to make GASM which had just opened. CRAP! Its line was streaming out the door!!!! Oh well! After playing the whack a mole game and loosing twice, I remember trying to stay in the fan/mister/whatever, for like a half hour!

As we left the park, although I enjoyed it, I felt kind of cheated. First time to SFgadv with no GASM, and I still missed Medusa, as well as Kingda Ka! Oh well, there goes that! As I walked out, I felt that weird feeling again! It was almost as if I was just in a weird place, where rides broke down all day, for years even, theming is made so that litter, vandalism, and Graffiti would actually........ Add to the theming, and that contains the world’s greatest coaster, with the world's longest line. Oh, wait a minute! I just Described a night at SIX FLAGS GREAT ADVENTURE!!!!!

Recap:

SUF: enjoyed

Nitro: would have enjoyed, had I made some wiser choices...

Skull mt.: enjoyed

Chiller: Favorite!

Rolling Thunder: good
100th post!

soon be updated with the other two.

__________________
I love Coasters The Moasters.

Nice TR. It's ashame you missed KK. Maybe next time.

__________________

good thing you didn't stay in that line, it opened up at around 11:20, and broke down again at 12. then, reopened at 12:30ish, then closed again around 12:45, then, it finally started working again at 4:30, which is when i got on (got in line at 12:15 w/ a gold q-bot)

were you were there that day? if so it's a good thing I left the line indeed. I would have never gotten on!

Anyway, now it's time for astroland!

I cannot recall the date but it was the monday before the week of july 4th.

We were going to go to lake compounce, however in the morning, the radio said there was going to be rain. This really annoyed me, because I hate not going to an amusment park. I started thinking about all the other local parks. Everyone from Rye Playland to Jeepers crossed my mind and finally came Astroland. As we finally decided to go and leave the house, it started pouring. Along the way, there was many a time when we almost turned back. We hit major traffic on Staten Island, and the rain worsened. We finally made it to brooklen, and as we passed Nellie Bly park, it stopped raining for a bit. As we arrived, it started again!

First thing I did was pay to use the bathroom! Though I normally would be pissed at this, it was the most wisely spent money the whole day.
After that I looked out onto the fog covered beach as my brother rode the Dante’s inferno cheesy dark ride thing. And then I rode the bumper cars.
Finally the cyclone opened.
The first time I sat in the front was nothing, but the next time was really crazy.

As I boarded the train near the back, the rain returned. As the train climbed the crooked hill, I remembered something I read a long time ago; small objects when hit at fast speeds, can equal the force of a spear. As we plummeted down the hill, I realized they were absolutely correct. Not only that but I now see what makes this ride so famous. The feeling on the hills was slow and fine, but as we went down, It felt like the ride was going to throw me right out. As we turned one of the lower turnarounds, I briefly recalled that on this very spot, the 1st real coasters were built.

At the end, I took the liberty of grabbing a brochure. Not sure if I had to pay or not since it was only one above the glass, and a lot under it. I did buy some other things. Weather the map thing was for sale or not did not really matter because I lost it the very next day somewhere in my house. Damn! I wish I had it. After the park, and White Castle, I tried to go see a movie in the theater near home, but kept getting interrupted by annoying little pinheaded kids behind me. The whole theater clapped as they were chased out by an usher.

And that was my first trip to astroland. Uneventful, but still worth it.

Edit: feel free to still post in regarding to Gadv as well as Astroland.

__________________
I love Coasters The Moasters.

I am glad you had a great time.

And now for Dorney park!!

July 3rd 2005-

The way down to Dorney was just as hectic. Traffic stretched all across the highway. I had lost my place on the map in my Coaster lovers Guide already due to the new changing of road names, and was listening to the soundtrack of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (play I say the day before). As we crept closer, we pulled into a McDonalds that was obsessed with NASCAR. After using the B-room, we sat down where we could see the best view. It was awesome! Steel Force reflected in the vehicle (model) showcases. As we entered, it took at least 30 minutes to get in. Parking was luckily free, due to the non-grantee that a spot would be found. As we waited on line to get in, we contemplated a visit to Knoebles instead. Good thing we did not, because once inside, the lines were all short!! Weird! First thing, my brother had to ride the monster/spider ride. Oh no!! This takes forever to load! After a half hour ride of mostly waiting, we head down to steel force. SF was much smoother than I remembered, and the shorter drops were unexpected due to my familiarity with Nitro. As we rolled through I was annoyed to find more breaks than I recalled.

The next time on SF, I swear I saw someone I knew, but never confirmed it. Oh well. At the end, we met up under the old wooded Thunder hawk provided shade. It was in this secluded area, riddled with forgotten Steel Force Paraphernalia, that we noticed the park’s crowds were changing. Last time I was there, there were a lot of families, and couples. Now these crowds were replaced with gang like intercity teens who constantly cursed and fought. I HATE that! Just like Six Flags! This must be from increased ads of Hydra, which incidentally I rid next.

HYDRA- after ice cream, and a bathroom break, and waiting for us to do something, we headed to the longest wait timed coaster in the park (before Wild Mouse came along!). Now here is the kicker. As I rode the Hydra, the operators forgot to check the bars and only the seatbelt held me in. as the train rolled from the station, I froze with terror, but it soon turned to amazement as the best 0 G experience ever took place. I literally floated from the seat, and balanced on the belt! After that, the lift took us to the first inversion, witch a similar experience occurred! Then it suddenly slammed shut and locked on some corkscrew.

After Hydra, we went to the worst possible place; the waterpark. I suddenly realized where all those crowds went! As I walked in, some stupid teen threw a bottle at us for no reason and yelled the f word. Damn I hate these new crowds. After two hours for the lazy river, we entered the wave pool wich both sides were open. No luck in finding money this year though. Then on aquablast, I almost fell out again, but beet last years near death AB ride. After that I had it with these lines and crowds. I took a ride on the rapids, which everyone insisted they made bumpier. I don’t know. After that there was only 1 thing I had to do. I went to eat. After I changed, my dad warned us about if we don’t put socks on we’ll get herpes! Pizza near the freefalls was a nice refreshing meal. With not to much time before Dorney’s only fireworks, I took the risk of riding the Apollo. I’m glad I did, because due to a problem with someone getting confused about loading, I was able to watch the fireworks from every angle at the same time! Including under me! That was the best Apollo ride ever. Before the show, steel force looked creepy with no lights and empty vehicles rolling down. After that we rode the whip, and then split up. My brother rode the newly opened steel force as I rode my old favorite, Talon.

Talon- AS I waited on line (behind a bunch of Goths! Damn!), they showed some kind of moody concert thing on the TVs. Longest line ever waited for talon since it opened. As I boarded in the back, we waited for a bit as a muslim couple struggled to get in with all their covering clothes (don’t mean to be racist, but that’s what happened). Another no locking situation almost occurred, but I called over someone to push it down. As I heard the spiel and the “ready and Holding”, I wondered if one of the ops was slnewbus. After the ride I kinda fell out but not with out wondering if the restraints were getting tight on me. As I mumbled at the moment, I wondered why it was only B&M coasters where this happened.

I wanted to go for a repeat ride, but for some mental screw up, I decided to ride the mouse. Bad idea. As I waited for an unknown amount of time, I almost dozed off. That creates the second weirdest thing that I’ve ever done at a late hour until the next week when I fell asleep with my headphones on playing the Final Fantast 8 Soundtrack. As I gazed up, for an unusual amount of time, I wondered if this ride was the same as Mulholland Madness. They looked so similar, even in color. As I waited, I almost expected to see California Screamin’ Behind me but was surprised to discover the Morgan Hyper, and Hydra, Ablaze with fireworks since I was on Talon. They must do that a lot in Pa, where it’s legal. After the ride, we took forever to leave. I could not help but notice that almost every family I’ve seen, I had seen over 7 times earlier in the day. It was like they were suddenly the minority! Oh well. On the way home my leg cramped up forcing me to make us stop at a local Wendy’s and get food. Too bad Cracker Barrel was closed this late. I ate at that place when we came from Hershey on memorial day.

Next time, Rye Playland’s PLJ fun night.

__________________
I love Coasters The Moasters.

Well, you went on the worst day of the season. Parking is NOT free at Dorney, but I am guessing you were in the overflow lot.

They definitely did strap you in at Hydra. You must have been an in between size. Remember something, for the seatbelt to be buckled, the harness must be pulled DOWN!!!!

It feels like you are going to fall out on Aquablast, which is the whole thrill of it. No one ever has though.

The lines at Talon that we had that day were the worst we have had all season.

Dorney can seem like it is in the ghetto on Saturdays in July and around the 4th of July. Other than that, it is rarely like that at all. You just picked the worst possible day to go to Dorney.

edit: I just noticed the part where you said the no buckling part. That's bull. The reason we say ready and holding is to tell us to get moving. We weren't done buckling everyone in yet. Ready and holding means that the ride is ready for us to dispatch the train, but we are not ready dispatch it. Ready, all clear, dispatch means us, and the ride are ready for the train to be dispatched.

You were panicking, and we were coming to check you anyway.

Well parking was free for me at Hershey & Dorney, I think since i got there so early.

The guy at the booth at Hershey said he was not even close to being set up so he said go ahead.

Dorney no one was even at the parking booth so i just drove in.

__________________

Carolina Panthers 2008 NFC South Champions! 12-4
Divisional Playoffs: vs. Arizona
Go Panthers! The only NFL team with a PURRFECT 8-0 home record!!
#1 North Carolina Tarheels: 13-1

Sorry, I was not trying to attack slnewbus . I just wondered if it was he who was working there that night. when I go to a park, there is a certain way I can tell which ride ops may belong to a coaster forum that i know. it only came to me after I had left, that I remember reading the post about the spiel of talon.
The seatbelts were buckled, and i actually over exagerated that it did not lock at all. It did not lock as far down as usual. It just seemed to me that i must be getting a bit fatter. I forgot about the fact that the belt could not lock. Talon is still one of my favorite inverters, better than Batman the clone!

I love Aquablast's feeling of falling out, as well. I would not go on it without that! it's more like falling in, it kind of curled foward when I was up on the curve. thats what makes Aquablast my favorite of all water slides!

About the parking. yes I was in the overflow lot. They were directing traffic, and told us there were no garuntees.


All in all it was a great trip to dorney, and I will return in the near future.

__________________
I love Coasters The Moasters.

Listening to coaster enthusiasts is not always a good idea. It does make for allot of surprises. Viper was better than what most people say. Medusa, the opposite. Superman is not such a bad ride though I have only ridden it twice a year (once so far this year.) It just would have done another Six Flags without a B&M much more justice.

Missing out on GASM would be a bigger deal for me than Medusa. However if you ride a "double loop" with a double corkscrew, you can get half the ride effect!

__________________
SFGADV, DP, IB, SFSTL, W.Dells, SFGAM, PKI, HW, SFKK, HHNJ, SFA, Clementon, SFNE & LC in '05

Disneyland, California Adventure, Knotts, SFMM, Dollywood, Rye & Coney Island in '06

Thrillboy, I noticed the same thing has been happeneing to me on B&Ms this summer. I was pretty snug on Hydra and Talon in early May, but in late June, at GAdv, on B:TR, Nitro, and Medusa, each time, the restraints were about an inch away form that old setting, and I had lots of space between me and the restraints. Each time, the ops tried to push it one more level, saying sit up and all, but it didn't work. Same on Raging Bull last week. And because of that, I discovered that Medusa's Zero G Roll gives me more air than any hill on Nitro or Raging Bull as wel....

Glad you got to ride all those coasters, what did you think of Hydra?

__________________
I'm flying!

My cousin went to Dorney on the third but left because even the overflow lot was pretty much full when he got there. He said he just turned around and left. I recently grew one more click up so I have about 3/4 of an inch between me and the restraints. On Hydra one of the ops was puching down pretty hard to try to get the OTSR to go down farther but couldn't. Thank the lord he couldn't too. That would of been really uncomfortable.

Dorney usually doesn't have the inner city crowds too much. I think its because Allentown doesn't run its bus to Dorney. Weekends are much worse than weekdays in that respect.

Allentown ghetto-like? No *******ing way!!!

__________________

Downtown Allentown can be. But when Dorney is ghetto like, everybody is coming from New York or Philly.

I'm an inbetween size as well.

I just took offense to what you said, because it made us look bad, I knew you were wrong, and not everyone else might realize that.

Dorney didn't seem very ghetto to me either. I saw the same type of crowd i saw at Hershey.

__________________

Carolina Panthers 2008 NFC South Champions! 12-4
Divisional Playoffs: vs. Arizona
Go Panthers! The only NFL team with a PURRFECT 8-0 home record!!
#1 North Carolina Tarheels: 13-1