Touchdown

That is why for full nightime enjoyment, you should stay towards the back of the train on any ride at CP (or KI) if you visit the park in any month that does not begin with the letter O.

Only reason I would go to a deluxe resort was if it was a monorail resort, for ease of travel. When Ive gone to Disney in the past with my family (5) we have stayed at Old Key West because we could all stay in one room there (and have our own bed) and it had a full kitchen so that we could have breakfast there every morning. When I go by myself if I can afford it, Ill stay at a monorail resort otherwise Ill be staying at a moderate or value resort. Staying on property is the only way to do Disney though, it allows you to truly escape the world and enter fantasy, you get EMH hours, and you can buy the dining plan. That last fact makes them worth it by themselves.

Touchdown's List O Coasters that seriously rock at night and considers them must rides at night when he visits their park: -The Beast @ KI (I imagine that Diamondback will be joining this list soon) -Big Bad Wolf @ BGE -Lockness Monster @ BGE -Big Thunder Mountain Railroad @ WDW -Magnum XL 200 @ CP -Millennium Force @ CP -Yankee Cannonball @ Canobie Lake Park -Lightning Racer @ Hersheypark -Wildcat @ Hersheypark

^^Your answer can be found in this video of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade this year:

Well if that is not the case, you can always head north to Sandusky. I know that last year that song was on the Magnum loop, and whenever it started playing most people in line looked at their friends, laughed, "oh my god were getting rick rolled" and then quite a few started to join in on the chorus.

Thanks Shaggy, Im all for quirky rides, Ill check it out. I also now see the place has a Disk-O, never been on a "real" one before (Avatar not being a disk) so that should be fun as well. Im hoping to hit the coasters and the water rides my first day, then on the second do the coasters, and the other dry rides and shows.

You know he would never do that, got to increase that per cap! Wish they would though, but unfortunately Knotts just upped their price again recently for everything. I fully expect every park in the CF chain to just open with higher prices again this year... Again I say, give me good food and keep your prices, or drop the prices! Otherwise expect me to continue to not eat inside the park as much as possible!

I cant comment in this poll, because I refuse to rank wooden and steel coasters side by side they just are too different for me. Besides I would have a hard time choosing a favorite in either category really, instead I will just mention the manufacturer's whose rides have blown me away on my first ride: -KECO (The Beast) -Schmeck (Yankee Cannonball) -John Miller (Jack Rabbit, still the most intense air I have ever felt on a coaster) -Arrow (Magnum, Lockness Monster [i was 5 and my first upside down coaster]) -B&M (B:TR, Alpengeist, Raptor, Montu, Raging Bull) -Verkoma (X-Flight/Firehawk) -CCI (Villian, Legend, Shivering Timbers) -GCI (HP's Wildcat) -Morgan (Phantom's Revenge) -Intamin (MF, S:ROS SFDL, S:ROS SFNE) -Premier (Mummy@UO) Non Coaster Rides that have blown me away: -MIB Alien Attack -The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman -Tower of Terror -Jurassic Park River Adventure -Dudley Do Right's Ripsaw Falls -Tower of Terror -Splash Mountain -Spaceship Earth -MaXair/Delirium -Haunted Mansion -Proslide Tornadoes (my first being Zonga) -Aquazoid -Summit Plummit -Journey to the Center of the Earth (Waterworld Denver, CO) -Master Blaster @ Schlitterbahn -Hillside Slide @ Schlitterbahn -Raging River @ Schlitterbahn It just does not happen that often to me that Im blown away by a coaster, especially recently as Ive become a "seasoned" coaster enthusiast the last time that happened to me on a first ride was Phantom's Revenge 3 years ago. Heres hoping Diamondback, or Thunderhead are up to the task, they are probably my only two chances at this this year unless of course I catch the opening of the New Harry Potter stuff @ IOA for New Years.

Thanks, Ill be sure to keep that in mind about speeding. I also dont plan on missing Blazing Fury, loved its sister ride at SDC. I was really hoping the water rides (especially the Timber Tower and the waterslide sled thing) would be open, according to website they should be but I guess Ill just find out when I get down there. Really looking forward to going though, a great GCI, perhaps the best Arrow Looper, my first Eurofighter, great shows, and riding a coaster on the first day in April (even if that means I wont ride another one for probably a month) hard to beat that.

Just some quick questions about Dollywood on its first week of operations, that I assume (reading some TRs here) some of you might know. Are the water rides open (right now its looking like temps should be in the upper 60s/lower 70s and really Ive heard such good things about them I would probably ride them even if it was colder then that)? Do you think Ill need a Q-bot this early in the season? Whats the best seat on Thunderhead? Any other inside tips you have, like coupons, I plan on driving down and using the park's policy where if you buy a ticket after 3pm you get in the next day for free so that I can have 4 hours on the first and then be able to leave about the same time the next day in order to get home before midnight.

Im just saying that I did not have to resort to full out winter gear (parka and boots) and that the flannel lined jeans, sweatshirt and thermal underwear did not go on until a few hours before closing. Ive been in Sandusky when its bone chillingly cold (25 degrees, 10 wind chill) and its just not fun then (I ended the night wearing my thick gloves, glove liner, two hats, parka, sweatshirt, fleece, turtleneck, flannel lined jeans, thermal underwear, boots, and wool socks) I walked around during the day in just a fleece, turleneck and fleece pants. It was the same thing I wore (and about as cold as I felt) a week earlier when I was at KI. It was brisk, but not bone chilling cold. Bone chilling cold implies that I no longer want to ride coasters and start to question my decision to attend a football game.

^Says you, 55 and sunny is not what I call cold by any stretch of the imagination. It was also aided by the fact that Daylight Savings Time ended the night before, allowing the park to have one last hour of night time riding even though it closed at 8pm.

^^Nope this was a Halloweekends Friday, near the end of the season. I remember also going through Cornstalkers, walking out, walking back and then going through it again in less then 5 min from exit to enterance (loved that maze.) Closing day last year was also a blast, not quite as dead but I did close to double my summer average of rides with less time that day.

Terpy Ive been on dead dead days too. Last fall on a Friday I rode MF 4 times in 15 min thanks to the line being so short that they let us go through the handicap gate to get back into the station (and if you didnt care about what row you were in you could get a ride on the next train.) Still, under 30 min for Maverick and MF makes me very happy, that virtually assures you a less then 10 min wait (and more often then not a walk on) on every other ride in the park

^Hate to say it but, that time in July is not a crowded day at CP thats a normal one. If you do not get to Maverick early in ERT it will have a full queue because that is where everyone goes first. On your average weekday in the summer the only 4 rides that should approach and go over an hour and a half wait are Raptor, TTD, MF and Maverick with the last two typically sporting the longest line. Everything else should be under an hour. If Im ever at the park when MF or Maverick are under an hour wait most of the day, I get excited because Im at the park when it is dead.

Go to the Dells, trust me its not over saturated in Sandusky, the Dells host close to a dozen indoor parks (4 major players, Great Wolf, Kalahari, Wilderness, and Mt. Olympus) in addition to their 3 outdoor stand alone parks.

True TTD is not open for ERT, but by the time you do Maverick and MF its usually about 10-20 min before 10 and you should head over to TTD to be near the front of the line when it does open.

Assuming you have a Platinum Pass even on a crowded day you can do all the good rides, thats because during your hour of ERT you can do Maverick, MF, and get in line for TTD. You should be done those three rides by eleven at the latest, and then you can hit the back part of the park (Power Tower, Magnum, the flats on the Gemini midway, Gemini, Mean Streak, Skyhawk) and be done with those by 1 or so. Then hop on the train, and start heading towards the front of the park, you really should be able to do all the good rides and still have about 3 hours or so for night rides. However, you wont be able to do all the coasters in the park and not wait in a long line. For crowds, May as he said is iffy on the weekdays (you could hit the jackpot, you could have a crowded day with low hours) on the weekends up to Memorial Day you can expect about 2 hour waits to be the longest, which is what they should be on your standard summer weekday as well, weekends are obviously more crowded. If you can wait that long, I went to the park on Labor Day Monday last year and had a fantastic day (TR: http://coasterbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/54753.aspx.) When it comes to Halloweekends, Fridays and Sundays (especially early on) are generally fantastic (dead) but Saturdays are the most crowded days of the whole season (even beating out the 4th of July.)

You can do the whole park in one day, provided the park is not packed. Personally, if this was your first time I might add in an extra day (on the website its only $48 for two days) but really you probably only need another half day. Diamondback, Firehawk and FoF will have the biggest waits of any of the coasters but Invertigo can get long too, the major flats that have waits are Delirium, Drop Tower, the Crypt, and Scooby Doo. The waterpark can get mobbed midday (1-3) but if you go before or after those peak hours you can find very short waits for all the slides. Also, be sure not to just skip Nick U, there are two rides there that are fantastic even for adults, Scooby Doo (Sally Dark Ride) and Avatar (Disk-O coaster,) and the water rides are quite good as well, Congo Falls is just your standard Chute the Chutes but the flume and rapids rides are better then most, especially the rapid ride which is off in the woods.

Instead of coasters, I will just add parks I havent been to first: -Dollywood (soon to change) -SFGAdv -SFMM -Disneyland -Knotts Berry Farm -Universal Hollywood -Canada's Wonderland And as for coasters I havent ridden on but have been to those parks (before they opened): -Voyage -Diamondback -Goliath @ SFOG -Hollywood Rip Rock and Ride It -Manta -Renegade -Predator -Powder Keg -Patriot

Only been to the two in the Dells, but my vote is for the Kalahari there.

OTSRs, wooden coasters I know I need to keep my back off the back rest due to roughness no (and thus I need my arms on the hand bar pulling my torso foreward at all times,) or if I know the clearence is too close for comfort no, otherwise yes. So at KI that means Diamondback will be the one coaster that I will put my arms up for. At CP I put my hands up for MF, Magnum, Gemini, and TTD (at the crest.) If Im not holding on to dear life to save my back, I will just put my arms at my sides (or on my legs) when I dont have them up.

I attended my first coaster event last year, CM @ CP and had a blast. Im hopeing I can make it to this one, I just dont know if I can get this weekend (and the following Saturday for CP's opening) off. If push comes to shove, CP is going to come first because my sister is coming down.

The parking alone pays for it, and as Im closer to CP then KI (1.25 vs 3 hrs) I also use it to get into Soak City as well. Not to mention, with the PP you get ERT for an hour up in Sandusky.

Plus Im guessing that, Dollywood, Kennywood, Cedar Point, SFGAm, and Hersheypark are all closer. SFOG is a great park, but so are all of those listed in the other sentence and they are closer (and some even so much closer that you would save in gas enough to buy a one day ticket and still come out ahead.)