DAY ONE

This was going to be my first visit and I was excited since I've always heard so much about it. I rode Hades just a few days earlier and it became my #1 woodie. Would Beast or Son of Beast dethrone it after just 3 days? We'll see.

On the first day Friday, we get there about 10:30am or so. We head to the kiddie section first to knock out a couple of the kiddie coasters first. First up is Beastie. It's a fun little ride that had a few good moments of airtime on it. I didn't like the train itself which had an annoying bar to grab on which was just directly above my knees. So I had to hold on in a way that my knees wouldn't come up and hit them during moments of airtime. It was a walk-on and was fun for what it was. 4.5/10

Runaway Reptar was next. This is also a kiddie or family coaster. Also fun for what it is. The ride ops had a lot of fun with this ride, even sporting fake Reptar tattoos. So far I was enjoying the worker's spirit and energy there. We get on after only a 5 minute wait or so. The ride starts and we're on our way in the front row. My other two friends took a seat somewhere towards the back. It's fun for the kids and I enjoyed it. 5/10

Next was Scooby Doo and the Haunted Mansion? It's meant for families but if you're open minded, this can be fun for everyone. I just would wait too long if the line stretched forever. It only took about 20 minutes which isn't bad since it's mostly indoors and it was a hot day. I did well, I got something over 2,000 points on it. For those who don't know, you shoot at the ghosts throughtout the mansion. Fun ride. 6.5/10

It was hot so we decided to ride White Water Rapids? It's the rapids ride there. It was ok but nothing that really got us wet on it though. I've been on better rapid rides. The part I did like when we were passing the section where people can shoot you with water I think since I saw a bunch of people watching the people pass by. Since I hadn't gotten that wet as I was hoping, I raised my hands up and shouted "somebody squirt me please!". A few seconds later I heard a noise and could sense the water coming from up above and nailed me good. I shouted thanks to the people and that's when the worker above said over the mic "that would be me". I shouted "thanks, I love you!" since I wanted to get wet and that got the job done. I'd give the ride a 5/10 but the girl nailing me and giving me a good laugh gives it a couple extra points. 7/10

Since we hadn't done any major coasters yet and Italian Job wasn't too far from where we were at, we went to go check it out. The line was longer for this than what we were seeing so far but still not too bad. It did a few test runs here and there. It took about 45 minutes for us to ride. The launch of course isn't anything that powerful since it's sort of a family ride. It was a lot of fun. It had some fun theming and I just really liked it. It could've been even better if they weren't trying to make it a family ride and had made the launch a little more intense and some bigger elements to suit the higher speed. Overall 7/10

Next was Vortex. I was excited about this one as well since I miss Shockwave at my homepark. The layout looked very interesting since it wasn't entirely just about the inversions. It had a good long layout on it and I liked how it used the terrain to it's advantage. We got to the entrance and it was only a five minute wait. We boarded our train and started towards the lift. It takes a good long time to get to the top and I liked it. I didn't find it very rough at all and I thought it was very good. 6.5/10

I don't remember for sure if the next part is the exact order of what we rode but I'll try my best. We were starting over to Racer. I thought I'd ride this woodie and save the big two for last of course. As we were walking I noticed the entrance to Flight of Fear which is right under Racer's first drop. I asked if they wanted to ride that first since we were passing it now. My two friends didn't want to since my friend's girlfriend gets headaches so easily from the rides. She was hesitant to ride Racer as well. We got to Racer and it was a walk on. My girlfriend wanted to ride backwards and they wanted to ride forwards. It didn't matter to me since I'd want to do both eventually during the trip anyway. We got on seperate sides and managed to line up to race against each other easily since the line was so short. I thought this ride was really good. It surprised me since I hadn't heard much about this ride that wasn't somewhat negative. It had some great airtime on it and I only found it a little bumpy but nothing I couldn't tolerate at all. 7/10

Then we kept going towards the front of the park and checked out my girlfriend's favorite coaster Adventure Express. It's a fun little mine train coaster. A little rough so I mostly kept my arms down on this ride during multiple rides during our time there. I remembered everyone mentioning the lift just to get back to the station so of course I had to be a dork and yell and say stuff like "Oh my God!", "This is the best drop ever!". 5.5/10

Then we in the front and did Top Gun. This would only be my second suspended coaster. The other is Iron Dragon so I could see how they compare. Once going up the lift, I knew it was certainly taller and would be faster too as well. It was and I did like the ride but I can't really find these rides that exciting. Big Bad Wolf looks great and that might be the only one I might really like. Top Gun was fun but rather short. So I can only give it a slightly higer score than I would Iron Dragon since I don't find Top Gun that much more exciting either. To me, it's a good family coaster. 6/10

Since we were in the front near Son Of Beast, we figured why not ride it now. Our girlfriends would sit it out. Mine because she was scared of how big it is, (she gets scared of a big woodie, I don't know how we manage ). His was sitting out becuase of her usual headache rule since I warned her I heard over and over again that it can be very rough. My friend and I get into the line and see that it's even less than a walk on. The trains are leaving half empty! This must be a bad sign to how rough this ride must be.

We get on and start up the long lifthill. And as people had said, it is very loud! At times, it's on par with other woodies, other times, it get unbelievably loud to the point we can barelt hear each other talking/yelling. We get to the top and I'm a little nervous as we start to round the drop. Any sense on nervousness I had was lost when we were just 1/4th the way down the drop. I couldn't believe how rough and bumpy it was. The lapbar and train was just horrible. Like on Beastie, I had my grip on the bar to keep my knees from hitting onn it. That was a mistake, I raised up and crushed my thumb on it. So now my thumb is hurting me as well as my legs against the lapbar and just the rest of me as I'm being shaken around. I couldn't even enjoy myself or even concentrate on the layout at all. The only thing I thought to myself was I can't wait for this to end. It was just awful. It finally did end and right then I knew this was the biggest disappointment I've had on any coaster. I had hoped and hoped that people would be wrong about it. Turns out, I was wrong. The more I think about it, the lower the score I want to give it. 3/10

Then we did Face/Off since that's also right by the front of the park. I was disappointed that Delirium was down for both days of my trip since I liked maxAir at Cedar Point so much. After noticing Delirium down, that's when we got in line for Face/Off. My girlfriend was unsure about that ride so I didn't even bother to try and convince her. My friend's girlfriend....well you already know. This line took a while too of course since it's a shuttle obviously. I have been on Deja Vu many times so I was interested to see what I would think of this. It's fun but it doesn't really compare to Deja Vu in my opinion. It would probably be more fun if we had people we knew sitting across from us to joke around with. On the positive side, it wasn't rough at all. Very smooth. 6.5/10

We went towards the back and did Tomb Raider. The line wasn't too bad but moved at slow intervals so when the line is long, it must be horrible to wait it. The theming in the building is nice and I liked the ride itself. It was done very well without being too overly cheesy. 7/10

Then after that was what I was waiting for and hoping wouldn't let me down like Son Of Beast. It's time for The Beast. This was a short wait, maybe 10 minutes at the most. We get on towards the middle and head up the lift. This has to be the slowest lift I have ever been on....ever. I liked it though since it was building the anticipation. Then we dropped over the hill where I didn't get much air on it at all. It was sort of rough but ok for me. It certainly is a long layout but I didn't find that much airtime on it. I liked the tunnels on it but I don't see what people go so nuts over about it. The last helix was intense as people say it is but I still didn't see what was so great about. I didn't think it had the much G's, rather just a lot of bumpiness on it. Overall it's a really good wooden coaster but I don't get it, I guess. 7.5/10

Last was Flight of Fear. The line was one of the longest we had. Maybe another 45 minutes or so like Italian Job earlier. The launch is a little more intense than Italian Job but not by much. It was cool since it's in almost total darkness of course. I would've preferred had it been completely dark instead of just mostly. It was a little jerky but ok since it just has lapbars. I could see how it would be painful with the former OTSR's on it. 7/10

It was about 7pm or so and the end of our first day. We would be back for our second day....

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I want to go to John's Park.

DAY TWO

Since we had done most everything the first day, we would sleep a little later and get there about noon or so after a good breakfast. We got to the park and there was some indecision on their part what to do first. My girlfriend and I wanted to do the waterpark first since it was hottest now and that way we could dry off during the rest of the day. Finally we agreed to meet up later and we would just do our own things.

So we did head to the waterpark. We were going to do the lazy river first but the line was fairly long so we did the wave pool for a while. The waves weren't very impressive for a while but got better on the third or fourth time. We spent about an hour there or so and then got in line for the lazy river. It moved pretty quick and we headed in. It's fun as any lazy river is but it lacked a lot of water sprays and such. So I wasn't too impressed with that.

The waterpark was very crowded. It was a Saturday and it was a hot one out there. They did have some nice looking slides and other stuff. Although so far I still think of the four waterparks I've seen this year; CP's Soak City, SFGAm's new Hurricane Harbor, Mt. Olympus, and now PKI's, SFGAm has the best one.

After the waterpark we headed back into the park. One other thing I didn't like was how far it was from the waterpark to get back to the rest of the park when you're fighting with all these people through the pathways. I hate walking slow at the amusement park when there is still stuff you want to get done.

I wanted to do Racer again, this time forward. I liked even more still when going forward. This is a great woodie, much better than I had expected it to be.

After that, we went and rode Adventure Express a couple more times since it was just about a walk on. We did the back once and I did notice it can be a little rough back there but still fun.

Then we played Skee Ball for a bit since she really likes that. She played a few dollars worth and redeemed for a bouncy ball and something else. Then we went to eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp. I had never eaten at one before and she wanted to eat there. We decided not to ride Flight of Fear again since the line was a lot longer and it would mean we wouldn't have time to eat before rejoining our friends. The food at Bubba Gump was good and you get a decent amount of food for you money considering it's at an amusement park.

After eating, we rejoined our friends and in our remaining time till 10pm (since we had to leave then so we could get back to our stupid campsite since they close their gates at 11pm), we would try and ride Drop Zone and The Beast at night. By the time we got our stuff from the lockers in the waterpark and everything else, it was a little after 8pm. I thought that should be a good amount of time. We got in line for Drop Zone about 8:20-8:30pm. The line took longer than I expected it to and we didn't get off until 9:45pm.

I figured it was better to ride Drop Zone since we hadn't been on it yet and I think it's still the tallest drop tower ride other than the one at Dream World? You get some great views as you head up and it is a big drop but I didn't feel that much air on it at all. I also didn't like the restraints. They felt smaller to me. While we were waiting in line, a big woman couldn't fit on it and a ride op told her to move over to the next seat which was still open. While she couldn't fit in that seat either, there was a noticeable difference in how far the restraint would come down. On the first seat she sat on, she still need about 4-6 inches to reach the seatbelt. On the second seat, the clip was just about touching the restraint but not enough to slip in.

So I don't know if I grabbed a smaller seat or something if it does in fact have different size seats. I fit but it was very snug on my shoulders and chest. The belt was very tight. I've been on plenty of other rides with OTSR's and they have all fit fairly roomy for me. These include B&M's as well as other Intamin rides such as V2 and WT, also Giant Drop at SFGAm. These have all be recent too. So I don't know what's the deal with Drop Zone. But anyways, it's good but it's still just a drop ride. Other than the view, unless it's something unique like Acrophobia, all Intamin towers are more or less the same in my opinion.

Since it was late, we wouldn't have time for a night ride on The Beast. That was a little bit of a disappointment as well as not getting to ride Vortex again which I would've waited for a front seat. Delirum not running was also upsetting but that was beyond my control.

Some other stuff I did there but didn't have the space to fit into either my first post or forgot in what order I did things. I ate at one of the stalls in the kid section. I got a lot of food there on the first day. It was really good.

I got some of the candy you weigh by the pound since I wanted something sweet. We also got a classic funnel cake. That was yummy. We also rode Scrambler. I usually don't go out of my way to ride flat rides unless it's something unique or I have extra time to do it.

The park overall is nice and great for families. I was a little let down since none of the coasters gave me that WOW feeling. They have some great coasters but nothing that just left me speechless or extremely impressed. I'd love to see a hyper steel or B&M coaster of some sor there. The park itself is nice and they have a great staff. I just think the park is slightly overrated and doesn't compare to some of the parks I've been to like CP or SFGAm for example.

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I want to go to John's Park.

Awsome trip report. I alyways love going to PKI mainly for the beast.

I'm makeing a trip up there in sep for IJ and i'll have to make another for WinterFest to see how theirs looks.

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2008 Carolina Panthers: 8-2 / Next Game: @ Atlanta
Carolina Tarheels: 2-0 / Charlotte Bobcats: 3-7
New Orleans Hornets: 5-4

nice....I've also heard Son of Beast was very very rough, and also that it was a tight squeeze

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Lifetime SFOG Goliath Count: 131
2007 Goliath Count: 36
2007 Deja Vu Count: 1

Yes, it was very rough. Sad thing about it is, is that I may have been able to still deal with it if it had the more traditional lapbar that most woodies have. This thing also has bars that run along your thighs as well. So every turn, it thrusts you into the side of it. Just a horrible ride the way it is now.

I'm saying this total honesty, I don't think SOB will still be standing at PKI in another ten years and possibly as little as five years. Whatever popularlity this ride once had has seemed to have faded if my visit was any evidence. It's pretty sad when a major record holding coaster can't even fill up a train even with a relatively low capacity. I don't think SOB has a long future ahead of it.

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I want to go to John's Park.

I'll tell you what. I just got back from PKI, I went for two days, rode every coaster twice except for Beast because that was the first coaster that hurt my back so bad, I could hardly walk for a half hour after getting off. But I thought Son of Beats was alot like the Boss in St.Louis, rough, but good.

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To the Extreme

Sigh...Yet another bad comment about SOB. I haven't ridden myself, but everyone says it is the worst. I'm wondering why you ranked the beast so low. I guess we are all entitled to our opinions. I'm glad you rated Vortex at least a 6.5. I don't get why many people don't seem to like the Arrow loopers. Viper, Vortex you name it I love it. You just don't see to many loopers these days, especially ones with 2+ verticle loops(Viper) I'm guessing it was because of roughness.

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Magnum XL- 200...1989-2007...18 years of toppin the list

The sad thing is, people that are going to PKI for the first time almost feel they HAVE to ride it, considering it's the only hyper woodie in the world. I really don't think I'll ever ride it again....horrible.

Keep in mind, I gave The Beast a 7.5 which isn't really a bad score. I was just hoping it would be something worthy of a 9 possibly. I heard how everyone say it was so great and I just didn't find it to be that exceptional. Vortex was great. I miss Shockwave from SFGAm so this was a nice treat for me. I thought the layout was very unique and just a lot of fun. I almost consider changing my score slightly and give it a 7. I just really enjoyed it.

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I want to go to John's Park.