The Big Trip '08: KI, HW/SFKK, KI part 2, CP, CP part 2, KW

Thunderhawk · #1 07-28-2008, 08:33 PM

I am writing this trip report to have a record of this for myself and thought it would be fun to share my thoughts and experiences with others. Any feedback and responses to my thoughts are welcome (especially regarding Voyage!)

After three years, I decided to hit the road again this year on a trip headed west from my home area of Philadelphia. On tap for this trip were the following: Kings Island late afternoon/night time the day we drove out, Holiday World followed by Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom that evening, a full day at Kings Island, an afternoon and evening at Cedar Point, a full day at Cedar Point, and most of a day at Kennywood on the way home.

Day one: Driving to Kings Island from Philadelphia, night time at Kings Island from 4 pm - 10 pm.

We left my apartment at 6 a.m. Within minutes of getting on the turnpike, we saw our first construction signs on the Pennsylvania turnpike. I know it's summer when the road is under construction. Luckily, we made it to the park after checking in at our hotel by 4 p.m. First stop was the Beast.

On my last trip to KI (when it was still PKI!!!), the Beast was my favorite ride at the park and although it is just a good roller coaster during the day, there is something magical about this ride at night. After numerous night rides in May 2005, this became my favorite wooden coaster. We got in line for the last row and boarded the train. It was a short wait. I would be lying if I said this ride was the ride I remembered it being. While the ride isn't the smoothest in the world, those awful trains make it worse. What is with the divider in the middle that digs into your ribs? This is horrible! It is the exact right length to not support you during the laterals but long enough to bruise your back and sides badly. All they would need to do is extend it further, or ideally, end the divider just about the belt line. Wow. I walked off this ride sorely disappointed that it wasn't the fantastic ride I remember. The helix and that divider wrecked me. Later that night I checked in a mirror and had blood lines on my side, much like my riding partner. It is still a great layout (and the night ride I got later was awesome, more on this later) but I feel that if KI restored these trains to their original setup (no seatbelts or dividers), this ride would go from being pretty good to fantastic.

Next up was Firehawk. The best part about Firehawk is the names I heard for it in line. "I heard Firefox game from another park. I am not sure where". "Firedog is awesome! It makes you feel like you're flying". In the interest of disclosure I will readily admit I am not a fan of flying coasters. For some reason I cannot trust those restraints. As soon as you are on your stomach I feel too lose. I have only ridden S:UF at my home park twice its opening year. After an hour wait, we got on the ride. In all fairness it was fun, and I am glad that I finally got to ride this ride as I did not ride it when I visited Geauga Lake in '05 as X-Flight. Good addition to the park, and people seem to like it.

We glanced at the line for Flight of Fear, but having ridden its twin at KD in June, we weren't willing to wait an hour for it.

Flight Deck was next. When I first rode it, it was the second arrow suspended I had been on. Good ride, people eater. Longest queue ever! Having ridden Iron Dragon and Big Bad Wolf since then, I would have to say that BBW is the best by far, followed by Flight Deck and Iron Dragon.

Son of Beast was next. When I last rode this abomination in 2005, I remember laughing so hard because it was easily the most rough and painful coaster I have ever been on. It baffled me that the park would keep it open even though it was so rough. Surprisingly, there was a full hour wait for this ride. After waiting a full hour, we selected row 3. The first drop was amazing, and the ride is still eye candy. Then the jackhammering began halfway down the descent into the helix. After numerous swears, we exited the helix and went to the MCBR, followed by the weird angled hill where the loop used to be. Then, more jackhammering in the second helix. To be honest, this ride is smoother than I remember, but it remains the roughest wooden coaster I have even been on.

Next was the Racer. Both sides were much smoother than I remember, but one side had no rough spots! It looked like there was new wood on this side, and it really paid off. Plenty of air time and the sides were racing. If only they were running the one side backward still... I can only hope that KI applies the same skill they used in fixing Racer to all their wood coasters. I believe it was the left side that was smoother.

At this point it was around 7:30, and between the crowds, the heat, and the long drive, we decided to pack it in for the night and go to dinner and rest up for the next day, where we would be hitting Holiday World and Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom if time permitted.

To be continued tomorrow...

**Leo C** · #2 07-28-2008, 10:26 PM

Congrats, this is my type of trip since I'm from the area as well. I did SFKK and KI in 2003 so that kind of ruined my desire to go to Holiday World at the current moment. There's other markets I itch to get before going there right now for me. Kennywood's going to be a great closer for you.

Thunderhawk · #3 07-28-2008, 11:14 PM

I guess I should mention now that I am writing this trip report after it's over - Day one was Saturday July 19th. I plan on covering the whole six day trip by the end of this week.

Carowinds 73-03 · #4 07-29-2008, 12:10 AM

Great TR. Look foward to reading more. HW & SFKK are two parks that i have been trying to get to for years now but something always keeps coming up. I'll try again in 2009.

Thunderhawk · #5 07-29-2008, 08:36 PM

Day two: Holiday World and Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, two new parks in one day

We left Mason, OH around 8 in the morning for the 3.5 hour drive to Holiday World. Due to the time zone change, we ended up getting to the park right around open at 10:30. The parking lot was filling up quickly as we walked to the entrance.

The employees were extremely friendly at this park. When I paid for the tickets, they asked for my zip code and when I responded the woman asked "you're from the east coast? What part? Did you come for the coasters?" It was a nice greeting I felt, especially compared to the silent stares we got when entering KI the previous and next day.

First stop was the Raven. After a short wait of fifteen minutes, we boarded the last row. Great ride! Nice pops of air throughout the course, and a wild, out of control feeling. The ride was also very smooth for such an intense wooden coaster. I especially liked the turn over the lake, as it reminded me of Hercules. The big drop near the end of the ride (the biggest on the coaster, the fifth I believe) was also very nice. I like when coasters buck the trend and having the largest drop in the middle of the ride is certainly different. The ride ended too quickly though, with tons of momentum left. I really felt this ride could have kept going. This definetely is one of my top ten favorite wooden coasters.

Next was the Legend. As we walked over, I got a sinking feeling as I saw one of the trains stopped halfway up the lift. We walked over to the ride entrance to talk to an employee about what was going on (aka, please be open later!) but there was no one there, just a trashcan. As we walked by the station, there was a man welding on the brake run. Not good.

We headed on over to the Voyage. An employee stopped us at the walkway underneath a waterslide and said "the Voyage is currently closed for maintenance. It could be ten minutes, it could be an hour." I asked him if he knew if the Legend would open later. He said probably not. Bummer.

We walked around the park and checked out the flat rides. The riders getting off the rapids ride seemed rather wet. We decided to skip this ride because the line seemed long. As we went, we both felt the same way: all the lines for the flats are long. None of the flats screamed "ride me" to us, so we went back to the Voyage which was still closed. We got in line for Gobbler Getaway.

Gobbler Getaway was fun. It was a well done shooting gallery road. My favorite part of this attraction was the fact that the animatronic grandmother had worn a groove in the head of the cat. Hilarious.

We got in line for Voyage which was still closed, reminding us of TTD in 2005 on a rainy day. "We're waiting in line, to wait in line, for a ride that isn't even open". It finally opened after about half an hour and we got in line for the last row. I was really excited after hearing so many good things about Voyage.

The whole out section was great. Personally, I didn't feel like there was nearly as much air time as I expected from pictures and other reviews, but it was still top notch none the less. Then we get to the turnaround section. The first 90 degree turn was fairly smooth, but after that the ride got rough very quickly. The second ninety degree turn had small cambelbacks both into and out of the turn, which were extremely rough. I don't know why these are here. This was extremely intense, which I like, but really rough. From here on out this was ride was insane! One of the most intense rides I've ever been on. The triple down in the underground tunnel was awesome. It still doesn't have Magnum or El Toro-esque air time, but it was very good nonetheless. However, the second half of the ride suffered greatly from roughness in my opinion. After the out section, Voyage became one of the roughest wooden coasters I have ever been on. It's not Son of Beast bad, but it is very rough.

Only the roughest of coasters (see SOB) have made me go "I'm not sure I want to get right back on this thing". Voyage did that to me. I know many people are going to go "it's a very intense ride, but it's not rough". I disagree. I've been on plenty of intense rides; this thing was straight up rough. Very intense, but also very rough. In all truthfulness I think this ride has one of the best, if not the very best, layouts I have ever seen/ridden. If this ride was smoother I can garauntee it would be my favorite coaster. But it's too rough. Rerideability suffers greatly on this ride. It's still a top ten wooden coaster for me, and would be assured a top three if smoother, but that wasn't my experience. Has anyone else ridden this coaster this year and felt the same way? I know I am in the minority, but I can't believe that I am the only one who thinks it is pretty rough. This ride is behind El Toro, Phoenix, and Lightning Racer (both sides) in my list of favorite wooden coasters.

Throughout the rest of the morning and afternoon we got two more rides on Raven in and two more on Voyage. Raven continued to deliver in style. We rode the Voyage in the second row and in the middle. The second row gave us more air than the last row, but was about equally rough. The middle was smoother, but I still fear for this coaster's future. This coaster has potential to become a rough unrideable mess, much like many of the large wooden coasters built in the 80s and 90s. Holiday World will have to stay on top of this ride to ensure it's rideability.

We had lunch at the Plymouth Rock Cafe. Best theme park food ever, best value ever, huge portions. I cannot stress that enough. I couldn't finish the meal, and it was cheap. Fantastic.

We stopped at the glass blowing shop on the way out and bought non-traditional souvenirs. Unfortunately, Legend never reopened and we left the park around 3:30 to head to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom as we had had our fill of Raven and Voyage. I would visit Holiday World again if I was in the area or if they built a new coaster, but for now, I am not in a rush to get back.

Warning: extreme credit whoring up ahead.

We arrived at SFKK and went to Road Runner Express first. Standard wild mouse, though the restraints felt more uncomfortable than normal. Smooth enough ride.

Next was Greezed Lightnin'. This was my first shuttle loop coaster and I actually rather enjoyed it. Not quite the same launch as Kingda Ka, but a rather pleasant ride nonetheless. I am glad I got to experience one of these before they all disappear.

We continued our circular path to Chang. Wow, this ride was big. I am not a huge fan of standing coasters, and after having ridden three of them, I think I like the Togo models better. The B&Ms, while impressive, I think are over enthusiastic and subject the riders' legs to too much forces. Good ride. I think I like this better than Mantis at CP.

T2 was next. Why oh why? Do I really need the credit this bad? Yes. Yes I do. My favorite part of the ride is near the end during the drop where your head bounces side to side against the restraints five times in a matter of 2-3 seconds. Excellence redefined. My second SLC.

Next up was Thunder Run. It reminded me alot of a smoother, better banked Hurler at KD. I thoroughly enjoyed Thunder Run. It is the only Dinn wood coaster I can remember that wasn't overly braked. Good pacing, and very good air time. I think this is the hidden gem of SFKK. Definetely my favorite ride at the park.

Roller skater was the last ride of the day. Yup, I needed this credit too. Good kiddie coaster. I feel weird waiting in lines with 5 year olds.

After this ride we headed back to Mason, OH. This is the first time I've ridden every coaster in a park in two hours. Overall, it was a nice little park but unless we did the water rides too (and the master blaster looked awesome), I am not sure how we could have filled a whole day on non-water rides alone. We hit horrible patches of rain and wind on the way home. When we got home I checked the weather channel for the area and it said tornado warnings for certain nearby towns. Go figure.
Day 3 next...

**Leo C** · #6 07-29-2008, 09:34 PM

Thanks for listing the hours that it is away from Kings Island to Holiday World because when I get to visit my sister in Columbus I try to get to Kings. I see getting to Holiday won't be as easy for me.

That's powerful to me what you said about Voyage because I have not been on it but I have been on El Toro, Phoenix, and Lightning Racer like you have and rank them quite similiarly high. El Toro still better than Voyage. I like the ring of that.

Thunder Run and Rollerskater I found are the nice hidden gems of SFKK. It's good to hear it's still delivering a fun ride after I had one in 2003. That impression still has me preferring it over Hurler.

So you could tell me if I have the right vibe of rather wanting to visit Carowinds and SFOG before I decide to venture to Holiday World. I already did SFKK and KI like I stated before spoiling a HW debut for myself.

Thunderhawk · #7 07-29-2008, 11:42 PM

Personally, I am happy I went to Holiday World so I could judge for myself how the top rated wooden coaster is, according to the poll I trust most (Mitch Hawker's). But if you've been to KI and SFKK, and your choices are between visiting HW or SFOG and Carowinds, I think I would do the latter. I wasn't floored by HW; their flats seemed unremarkable although I did not ride many. Raven is great but not worth a six hour roundtrip drive from KI, and you already know my thoughts on Voyage. As you know I did not get on Legend, but considering Raven and Voyage rate better than Legend, I don't think it would change my opinion drastically. Of course, I haven't been to SFOG and Carowinds but I've heard good things.

Carowinds 73-03 · #8 07-29-2008, 11:53 PM

The 3 woodies sound ok. Its nice to finally get an honest review of the 3 instead of everyone saying how amazing & awesome they are.

I have yet to visit HW. It has always been one park that keeps getting put off for some other park but atleast now when i go i will not expect the greatest wooden coasters on earth.

**Leo C** · #9 07-30-2008, 12:54 AM

HW seems more down to earth now.

Thunderhawk · #10 07-30-2008, 06:57 PM

Day Three: Full day at Kings Island and no driving
We woke up early and made it to the park right at early opening for Platinum Pass holders. It was only the kiddie section, but it seemed like a perfect time to get some credits that I missed when I was here in 2005.

First up was Fairly Odd Coaster, which appears to be an exact copy of the first roller coaster I ever rode in my life, Scooby Doo's Ghoster Coaster at King's Dominion. It actually was a fun little wooden coaster, with pops of air time and some laterals. Plus, who doesn't like riding with people who weigh a third of them?

Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle was also open as part of the early opening. Another typical shooting ride. Nothing special, but who can resist Scooby Doo?

Avatar was not open yet. We moved on to Rugrat's Runaway Reptar. I find it funny that the most accomodating OTSR I've ever used are on a kiddie coaster. Good introduction for kids to bigger steel rides. Did this one just for the credit though.

We decided to hit some water rides before they became too busy. Whitewater Canyon was one of the best circle boat rides I've been on. There is one point in the middle where you pick up so much speed that when you finally hit a bump, it threatens to throw you out. I really liked how this ride didn't have to resort to waterfalls and water cannons to get the riders wet; the course was enough. A great ride. They let us stay on as there was no line.

We also hit Wild Thornberrys River Adventure. An alright flume and I was barely wet at the end. Unfortunately, I did not notice the elephant, which proceeded to soak me to the bone. A kid saw this happen and waited for me at the exit. When I walked past him he said to me "stupid elephant." Indeed.

It was time to move on to adult coasters. We hit Vortex first. This ride has a very unique layout. I'm used to the hill-drop-loop-loop-mcbr-corkscrew-corkscrew-batwing format on these old arrow loopers. This one had alot of activity before the loops. Good ride, one of the better arrow loopers that I've been on.

We got another ride on Beast, closer to the front of the train. It was smoother here, but the dividers are still miserable. Adventure express was as good as I remember, a fun long mine train ride. I love how lift with great theming to nowhere at the end.

Somewhere around here we hit Avatar. Great ride for kids and adults alike. I think I saw someone puking as was exiting the ride.

The last new ride for us was Invertigo. We missed this ride in 2005 due to the long lines. As far as SLCs go, it was actually a pretty decent ride. Sure, there was headbanging, but between this and sitdown boomerangs, I'll take this anyday. Glad I finally got to experience one of these.

Throughout the day we got multiple rides on Beast, Racer, Backlot Stunt Coaster, Flight Deck, and Son of Beast (these were reviewed on day 1). Racer moved up alot in my rankings this trip. It is a great wooden coaster and I now understand why this is credited for spurning the wooden coaster race of the late 70s and 80s.

We also got on Delirium. These are my favorite flat rides. Although the program is not as good as Cedar Point's, I still love this ride. Every drop feels like a coaster's first drop, and there is nothing better than rushing head first into the ground.

Drop zone was also amazingly high. One of my favorite drop towers. The suspense is great. Then we went to the Backyard Barbecue deal, which they hold at the private pavilions. This is a good deal if you don't mind eating a very late lunch or an early dinner. Unlimited burgers, hot dogs, fried chicken, soda, and ice cream for $15. An ACErs dream come true!

At the end of our long day, I wanted to get a beast night ride. I remember these from our last trip here being fantastic. We got in line around 9:10 for the front row. By 9:30 we were headed up the lift hill into a mostly dark night. This ride needs two signs. One for day time, where it is called "The Beast", and one for the night time, where it is called "The Raging Beast". It is so much better at night. The ride is out of control at night. It feels like there is no way you'll make it into the helix's tunnel going down the slanted drop off the second lift. Amazing. I am so happy we stuck around for this night ride. It completely restored Beast as one of my favorite wooden coasters. (It doesn't hurt that I came up with a great defensive riding position for the beast earlier in the day, either).

Great way to end a fun two days Kings Island. I look forward to coming back in 3-5 years to experience the new B&M Mega Coaster.

CP days 1 & 2 next...

Carowinds 73-03 · #11 07-30-2008, 08:30 PM

Sounds like a great day. Great TR. Look fowardto reading Cedar Point to see what you thought of Maverick.

How early does KI let PPass holders in? I now Carowinds does 15 min which is a joke and CP does an hour.

Thunderhawk · #12 07-30-2008, 08:35 PM

KI let us in half an hour early. It's enough time to get two or three rides in, since they only open a small section of the park on a given day. The day I went it was the Nickelodeon/kid's area.

Carowinds 73-03 · #13 07-30-2008, 08:40 PM

I just wish CF was a bit more consistent with their season pass ert. Thats crazy that its 15 min at one park, 30 min at another & an hour at another.

**Leo C** · #14 07-30-2008, 10:59 PM

The Beast at night definitely extracts a growl from me, like I'm becoming a werewolf. The helix is amazing.

Thunderhawk · #15 07-31-2008, 06:25 PM

Day Four: CP Day One
We left Mason around 8 a.m., arriving at Sandusky around noon. Wow, there are alot of people here. The only other time I visited CP was in 2005 in May, which meant short waits and not too many people. This was a completely different experience. By the end of this trip, I felt like Cedar Point was more like Disney World than a traditional theme park, drawing people from all over the country.

We headed straight for Millenium Force upon entering the park. The reason is quite simple. When we visited in 2005, MF suffered a cable break within an hour of our arrival and remained closed for the duration of our trip. As CP's star coaster, we had to get on it this time. After an hour and a half wait, we were finally on. We sat near the back.

You go up the lift so fast you hardly notice how high you are. Plus, there are not many good points of comparison around. It is a nice view of the area, but if you had a smaller coaster closer to MF, you'd get a better sense of height. To be honest, I suffered from anticipointment on this ride. I was expecting El Toro-esque air. I didn't get that. This coaster feels very, very fast and is remarkably smooth. The first drop is really good, though it is lacking in air time. I only got small pops of air time (floating) here and there, with the best air time being the small hill by the station before the overbanked turn. Don't misunderstand me, this is still a top ten steel ride for me and is probably my second favorite ride at CP behind Magnum XL 200.

Blue Streak was next, delivering an air time filled, intense ride, especially for a smaller wooden coaster. Very impressive. I believe we rode in the last row. Fifteen or so minute wait.

We hit corkscrew next. I am not sure why we did this ride as we already had the credit. I know it is there for nostalgia purposes (and possibly to keep the coaster count up), but couldn't they remove this and replace it with some flats or another compact coaster?

Next we hit the blue side of Gemini. I personally think this ride is very good. I like the pops of air time throughout the ride, and the headchopper near the end is really good. I always duck even though I know that clearing is not even close to inflicting real damage. Definetely one of my favorite coasters at Cedar Point.

Magnum XL200 was next. We chose the last row. Wow, does this thing have crazy air time! Of all the steel coasters I've ridden, this one has the most ejector air time I've ever experienced! Much smoother than I remember, and it is breathtaking to look over the water during the lift. The pretzel turnaround is also very cool, and for once I am happy there are brakes before an element. Insane air time on the return trip, especially in the tunnels. This is now tied for my favorite steel coaster with Alpengeist and Nitro. A good blend of ejector and floater air.

Because we were having too much fun, we hit Mean Streak next. When I first came to CP, I had only limited coaster experience. Mean Streak was much, much more boring than I remember. Brakes everywhere, including the first drop. This coaster is more fun to look at then ride. I understand now why it is ranked so low. Maybe a good retracking by GCI could save this ride? Otherwise, tear it down and build a better woodie on the water. GCI, CCI, or Intamin Pre-Fab all work for me.

At this point we decided to leave the park to check into our hotel and get a very early dinner. Check in was at 3, but we didn't get there until four. We went to Steak n Shake for dinner; we don't have this back home and I had heard good things. Good meal, good price. Then we headed back to the park, arriving around 6.

We headed to Raptor. After an hour wait in a blazing sun (why isn't there more cover here?), we boarded the train. Very, very good inverted coaster. I would say this is third only to Alpengeist and Montu. I love the cobra roll and the first drop. Great pacing, never lets up. Unfortunately, the line for this ride always seemed long on this trip and we never got a second ride.

We then walked over to the newest coaster, Maverick. I took one look at the line, which was spilling out of the queue, and said "no". The sign said an hour and a half but it seemed like it would be alot longer. We moved back to the main midway and looked at Top Thrill Dragster. Having Kingda Ka at our home park, and having ridden TTD before, we weren't willing to wait the estimated 90 minutes to ride.

Next we headed over to Maxair. Did I mention I love these flats? Much better program than KI. I believe we got seven beyond vertical swings. I would love to get one of these at any of the parks in my area. SFGadv, Hersheypark, Dorney, are you listening?

We did disaster transport next. The air conditioning was refreshing. It was so hot. The actual ride itself is better than I remembered to be honest. I think people are too hard on this ride. Perhaps, in a park of world class roller coasters, an average coaster just has no place? Unique experience. I am glad I rode this again.

I sat out a round while my riding partner rode Wicked Twister. It was fun to watch the towers swaying in the breeze. I can't believe that is normal. I know all coasters bend due to forces, but this seems excessive.

Around 8 we headed back over to Millenium Force. I wanted to do a night ride. We waited for the last row. As we got closer to the station, people getting off the ride were covered in gnats. Wow, that was disgusting. People literally had hundreds of gnats on them. A guy getting off the ride who sat in the first stopped to talk to me. His arms were literally black with dead gnats. Wow, gross.

Sitting in the last row turned out to be a good choice. Although I could still feel the splats of gnats on my head and arms, the front of the train took the brunt of it. I enjoyed my night ride better than my earlier one. I rode the ride with my eyes closed to avoid takng a gnat to the eye. Again, the ride was incredibly smooth, but I felt it was lacking in air and g-forces. I would love to have a similar, more forceful version of this ride closer to me. Definetely my second favorite coaster at Cedar Point.

Later tonight: Day 2 at Cedar Point and Kennywood...