johnjniehaus

These are pictures when it was still in Chester, WV

Hoping to ride it next Monday, August 3!

Some of you know that I relocated to Seattle Washington last year and I became involved in a restoration group of a 1927 Dentzel Carousel formerly located in Chester, WV. We have more volunteers now than ever before (about 100 people in total involved) however we have hit a major hurdle. The carousel mechanism is currently stored in a warehouse that got condemned. The roof collapsed in one section and we think the carousel needs to be moved before next winter. We don't have the funds to pay for storage space and the local governments that were interested in eventually having the carousel on city park property were hit hard last year with floods and are no longer interested. The carousel is a complete Dentzel mechanism and is missing all the horses as they were sold off when the carousel originally closed back in West Virginia. More information can be found on the website but I'm hoping that someone somewhere on these forums might know of other government entities or non profits that would be interested in carrying this vision forward? I appreciate any and all leads to helping this incredible machine find a new home. https://www.snoqualmievalleycarousel.org/

Wow incredible piece! Hopefully you find him a new home with an owner who will enjoy having this incredible piece of history!

I'm curious what this entails and when will we get more information? Such a tragedy that Kumba is closing. It's one of their best coasters but it's old and seems to have lower ridership most days I've been there.

At least it sounds like they are still making adjustments as the season goes... Crazy how many effects go on and off line tho

Well folks I must report that Wild Waves so far has been running a bit better for their 50th and final season this year. The chance casino and timberaxe rides have been retired officially and will not operate this season but so far everything else has been consistently operational. American Coaster Enthusiasts is hosting their Preservation Conference in the northwest region at Oaks Park and Wild Waves with an optional add on pre-event at Enchanted Forest. The conference falls on Labor Day weekend which will allow attendees to also visit the Washington State Fair and PNE Fair in Vancouver both home to ACE Landmark wooden coasters!

I mean is it the most heavily themed water coaster? No if you are comparing to Journey to Atlantis or Vliegende Hollander at Efteling. However, still a very welcome unique addition to the park. I love the competition between Holiday World and Kentucky Kingdom as it pushes both parks to be the best versions of themselves.

I honestly agree that it contributes to the issue. Like the problem is that Six Flags has given away the gate but at the same time they also kinda gave away the food and beverage too. I know they would have a ton of backlash if they ever got rid of dining and drink plans but at the same time I do feel that Enchanted Parks was justified in doing so. Hopefully enchanted parks can find a better balance and profits

https://local12.com/news/local/farmer-music-center-venue-riverbend-coney-island-sunlite-pool-cincinnati-ohio-deadline-construction-cost-prices-symphony-orchestra-millions-grant-grants-donate-donations-music-musicians-bands-concerts-events-entertainment-festivals-grand-opening Basically looks like moonlight gardens might get refurbished however Aftab reducing the funding is not a great sign

The new Carowinds ride looks very similar to the two flumes at the Walibi parks over in Netherlands/Belgium. I enjoyed both of those flumes and anticipate this being a great new addition for them

Slagharen is a small wild West themed park in the north east Netherlands near the German boarder. This park (to my knowledge) has the largest collection of Anton Schwarzkopf rides in a single park with six different attractions - the Apollo, Enterprise, El Torito (polyp), monorail, observation tower, and Ferris Wheel. They also have a new gerstlaur coaster that replaced an old looping star as well as a Vekoma family coaster called mine train. Interestingly enough this park felt the most like a USA park in terms of the vibe but most signage and directions were not in English and some employees did not speak any English. In fact we had numerous employees tell us we were the first people from the USA they had met in the park. Slagharen had such a wonderful vibe and the rides were all running very well. They had an interesting Zierer carousel that was called gallopers (notice the top looks much like the well known wave swinger flat) The Enterprise has to be the most intense one we've ever done and the Apollo was relaxing and breezy. It was great to see some older Schwarzkopf rides still running well and looking well cared for. One final note is that El Torito was missing entirely from the park (see picture of the hole in the concrete). Turns out it is currently off site for a lengthy refurbishment and will hopefully be back later this year. Glad to see the park taking good care of it.

Walibi Holland was definitely more about the thrill rides as opposed to themeing. The entire park kinda had an apocalypse theme which I'm not sure if that was intentional or perhaps just leftover from their Halloween event? It was interesting anyway The coaster collection was great with the RMC Untamed which is probably near the top of my RMC ranking. Goliath was basically a mini milli so that was kinda fun. Walibi also has the original SLC and yes it definitely hurts! We also rode the Mack Big Dipper called lost Gravity which was a very unique experience. They also had a dueling RMC single rail which was a little bit rattling but still a good ride. Express Platform 13 is interesting because it's a clone of rockin rollercoaster at Disney but entirely outdoor. It has a crazy indoor que line that is borderline haunted subway with jump scares. In terms of flats the park had the typical lineup but I did enjoy seeing they are still running their Huss Enterprise and the have a rare HUSS Magic ride. They also have my new favorite Vekoma mad house (Merlin's Magic Castle). It had a wonderful lighting and interior effects as well as a very fun preshow (albeit in Dutch). The soundtrack was also a mix of Gustav Holst Plants and the soundtrack from Willow. Overall we enjoyed the park but both Walibi parks do not have much in terms of food options. Most people we saw bring picnic lunches into the parks.

Efteling wins the award for most beautiful park in my book. The Golden Ticket award has been trading back and forth between BGW and Dollywood the last few years and while both are nice parks Efteling looked like a botanical garden it was so well maintained and manicured! While the coaster lineup at Efteling was not quite as good as some other parks on the trip, they have a massive collection of wonderful dark rides that more than makes up for it. First let's start with the coasters - while Baron is easily the best themed dive coaster it was not our favorite coaster in the park, that goes to the Flying Dutchman water coaster which had themeing and a que that was absolutely incredible (like better than Pirates of the Caribbean). We rode this twice because it was amazing. Baron was of course good but had a very lengthy line. The dueling wooden coaster and Python were both average and the indoor coaster and power coaster were fairly tame. Now for the dark rides - The circus carnival one was literally their version of it's a small world with international themed singing dolls. The boat ride Fata Morgana was a journey through the tales of the Arabian Nights. Droomsvultch was a Peter Pan like suspended flight that had a surprising downward Helix section that got a pretty good speed. It was filled with fairies and woodland gnomes. Then Villa Volta was the old school classic madhouse with a great preshow and very beautiful interior. Symbolica is a trackless dark ride with incredible sets and three different journeys or tours of the castle. Dance Macabre was also such a great ride and is something I'd love to see inside the tomb raider building at Kings Island. Eftling also is home to a unique observation tower that is akin to the defunct tower at Cypress Gardens. The Pagode lifts up on a giant arm as opposed to a vertical tower. Was a very cool experience

Plopsaland de Panne was probably the worst park we visited - while we enjoyed our time there I do think that influencers have over hyped this park because of Ride to Happiness and fail to reflect that the rest of the attractions are definitely not up to par when it comes to European theme parks. So let's start with the positives - of course the park is clean and also has a couple unique attractions such as the Ride to Happiness. We did enjoy the coaster but I would say it's slightly overrated. I have not ridden Time Traveler so I cannot say which is better. Don't get me wrong it is a fine ride but not too 10 material or anything. The wooden coaster Heidi the Ride was definitely cute despite not being quite as intense as it looked. We also enjoyed the boat dark ride called Plops Woods which was a very cute journey that I imagine to be similar to the defunct Smurfs Enchanted Voyage at Kings Island. The park definitely leaned into having a lot of indoor buildings with flat rides inside them which was nice in case of rain. Now the cons - the park honestly had very expensive food and not great selections. Mostly sweet treats and no real food outside of one restaurant by the main entrance. Most of the flat rides and other coasters were nothing to write home about. My partner and I both said neither of us feels the need to return to the park unless they build another major coaster. Felt like a one and done park for us.