silver2005

Went with Giordano for lunch. Kept it simple with pepperoni pizza. Its kind of an inverted pizza,- thick crust (close to an inch thick) which kinda acts like a bowl of sorts. The 'toppings' end up more as bottomings as they go at the bottom, then cheese (a good bit) and sauce on top. Kind of locks in the cheese and topping flavors. Kind of if pizza and lasagna had a food baby. Very good. Also, now that I've had both types, I can say Chicago style beats NY style.

So my hotel is 10 minutes from a Portillo's (more like 5 but the road my hotel is on is extremely busy so I had to do a bunch of circling, will likely be my MO driving for both Chicago and SFGAm, I can't turn left out of my hotel the road is so busy). Tried a Chicago dog and a chili dog. The chili dog is a cheap imitation of Skyline coneys, the chili is meatless with beans, though, the dogs (which are more akin to Italian sausage), onions and cheese (melted on the dog before the chili) were better admittedly. The Chicago dog was really good. Its a hot dog, mustard, a smooth relish, onions, celery salt, thin pepperoncinis (they might be something different but the taste is the same) and sliced tomatoes, all of which surprisingly work together on a hot dog.

Unfortunately, the L-train stations with parking aren't that convenient in terms of being by I-94. I'm going to park downtown near everything I plan on visiting. Things I intend to visit- Willis Tower, Riverwalk, the bean, Navy Pier, Soldier and Wrigley Fields, a lot of time by Lake Michigan. I was initially going to try to catch a game at Wrigley since the Cubs are in town vs Boston, but the tickets for that sold out quick because the Cubs are actually good. I wanted to catch the Reds in Chicago, but they don't go there at all in either June or July. I'll probably stay downtown until 8 at the latest as I'm further from downtown than Gurnee (especially with construction in Chicago) and I want a good sleep before tackling SFGAm (I will be using Flash Pass Unlimited for that BTW). The plan is to get to downtown between 11 and 1. Also, as a Skyline employee, I feel obligated to try a Chicago dog, and Chicago style pizza is also a must do for me.

I'll do one better as I go from Chicago to Cleveland for the next leg and I'm avoiding the IN and OH turnpikes. I've been on US-30 to Ft Wayne from Cincy on the way up to Muskegon and that's more boring. Also- for anyone who's been to Chicago- is it better to park outside of downtown to L-train in or is parking downtown ok? I can also get to SFGAm in sub-30 minutes without highways.

Made it to Chicago ok. Lots of construction, and for a heck of an omen, several police SUVs left the hotel I'm staying as I pulled in. Peachy.

This is going to be my TR now as I left early. Weather played a factor like at HW, but with less access to a water park (did bring swim wear, but saving it for Lake Erie). Before I get to that, I have to get into the driving situation today. I left Cincy at 6, which, ideally, would have put me in Monticello an hour before IB opened. Just north of Indianapolis, I hit a closed I-65 with a semi on fire. I stuck it out as best I could as I needed time to McGyver an alternate route. I was still 40-50 miles away from Indiana Beach at that point and thus, I got a very intimate tour of the vast cornfields of Indiana. I didn't get at IB until noon. THEN, coming to my hotel near I-65 (which is about 20-ish miles from Monticello, yeah, IB is hard to get to), I had to follow an oversized loaded semi for about 10-15 miles of that distance. @IndyGuy4KI, please fix your state's driving....things. Ugh. Anyways, onto the TR. Even upon entering the park I was...whelmed. I thought IB would be slightly bigger and more spread out, but instead its more like a real life RCT park where you have little land to use and have to cram in a bunch of rides in a small area. Almost every ride interacts with another, mostly thanks to how big Hoosier Hurricane is compared to the rest of the park. About half the rides are on stilts above the midways including Tigrr, Hurricane and Cornball. The waterpark is also very intigrated into the infrastructure, though less so as it uses more of the lake, but several flats and Cyclone share some real estate with some slides. In that way, it has its own charm. A lof of things like building facades, plants, signage, etc needs touching up. The park felt, for lack of a better word, tacky. I will say the rides from a mechanical standpoint, run well. Staff and ops were another issue. Food was fine, had Memphis heat on a pulled pork sandwich and mac and cheese (not bad for a park I set a low bar for), but ride ops, even for a slow day, were sus. They aren't the most ADA friendly park either when it comes to ride accessibility. I have a feeling a lot of what they do are grandfathered into when they were built so they can avoid modernizing some things, but still not a great look. It'll be a while before I ever come back. I think it may be my least favorite park so far. Rides Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain- I really liked this thing. It felt kind of like Blazing Fury, a wild mouse, and Cornball Express had a baby and this was the result. The only restraints are seatbelts, and it has insanely tight curvatures on the hills and curves. If you're facing backwards, there is no way to anticipate anything, in a good way. It is padded a TON which helps with the sudden turns and CCI-esque design lines on the coaster sections. Surprisingly smooth too given it's a wooden coaster. Cyclone- So this thing has 0 banked curves and the only way it slows down are anti-rollbacks. It moves pretty quick with good jolts of air and 2 pretty forceful helices. Not bad for a portable model. Tigrr- This is one of the smoothest coasters I've ridden. I expected the pops of air like Cyclone, but Anton almost designed it too smooth. It does have pretty good floater air and the transitions are all really seemless with some good positive G's. I only wish I would have ridden Triple Loop. Looking forward to Whizzer on Friday as its basically Tigrr on steroids. Steel Hawg- This was my intro to the S&S El Loco model. Positives- good layout, amazingly efficient in terms of the lift speed and use of brakes, the elements were all pretty cool, especially the dive loop where it straightens to give you some great hangtime. Negatives- the restraints. Particularly the shoulder restraints. Even given how smooth it was, the OTSR's are too close to your head and the handles are too high for my liking in order to brace for things. Also my 120th steel coaster and my 160th coaster overall. Hoosier Hurricane- Had some high hopes, but overall disappointed. The layout looks promising with a decent out and back layout, but most of the hills are way too drawn out. Only semi decent floater air. Did experience some jackhammering, but upon a second ride where I knew where to brace, it was alright. Very meh and mid-tier for me. Cornball Express- This, on the other hand, impressed me given its size. This is more what a CCI should do mixing some great pops of air and good curves for decent laterals. Its no Legend, but I almost enjoyed its helix a bit more. With the way the first drop is profiled with the straight section, the back seat is completely insane with air on that drop. Easily my favorite coaster there (also my 40th wooden coaster).

Today didn't start good as I hit a closed I-65 north of Indianapolis due to a semi fire and had to take a 40 mile back roads detour. The park feels like a real life RCT park with the layout and weird ride, queue and RR placements. Great setting by the lake. Operations leave a lot to be desired. Early coaster reviews- Lost Coaster- fun and quirky, especially backwards Cyclone- smooth with lots of laterals, no banked turns Tigrr- probably one of the smoothest coasters I've ridden of that size Hurricane- very meh, gradual floater air, a bit too much jackhammering Cornball- perfect small size CCI Steel Hawg- good layout and elements, hate the restraints Triple Loop is closed with several cranes and parts of another Schwarzkopf looper behind it including loop pieces

This thing is finally testing.

@BoddaH1994 I think I found a respective thread from that era.

Just out of curiosity, what is the locker situation for this and TT2?

The way things look, weather looks good for Tuesday for IB. I'm leaving Cincy at 6 am EDT, so if my calculations are correct, I'll be in Monticello a bit early, depends on Indy traffic. In Chicago, it's supposed to rain Thursday so I'll be downtown that day and Friday looks like great weather for SFGAm. I know Chicago flooded recently but from what I've seen, the streets effects have since improved. I think I've got things figured out for tackling visiting downtown. I will be getting to my 175th coaster in SFGAm if all goes to plan, and I'm likely making Whizzer that coaster. Can't see the Cleveland portion quite yet but I'm liking the temps from what I can see. I'm really hoping to ride Siren a few times to get a feel for the tilt on different parts of the train. TT2 I'm making a beeline to if I see it open at all.

Personal milestones for this next trip- Potential new coasters- 24 (6 wood, 18 steel) First portable Schwarzkopf Looper- All American Triple Loop First S&S El Loco- Steel Hawg First spiral lift coaster- Whizzer The original inverted coaster- Batman: The Ride My first CI Cyclone clone- Viper Largest racing coaster (sort of, I know it doesn't race)- American Eagle First tilt coaster- Siren's Curse Most highly anticipated new steel coaster- Raging Bull Most highly anticipated new wood coaster- Viper

So the weather flipped for Monticello and Chicago next week, looks to be absolutely gorgeous weather now.

I know it's early, but I'm seeing rain and possibly storms for my days in Monticello and Chicago...

So I guess I can do my TR now that I'm pretty much done. Left for Dale, IN Saturday afternoon. Its only a 3 hour drive for me so I could sleep in and leave in the afternoon as the plan was to hit up Owensboro in the evening. Ate at Moonlite BBQ which have ribs that don't need sauce, and the sauce they have is incredibly good, kind of a sweet and sour tangy and tender thing going on. The peanut butter pie is also great. Hung out on the riverfront park for a few hours including fountain ERT with coordinated sprayers and a short random concert which they do every Saturday in the summer. Owensboro is a pretty nice town to check out during a HW venture, kind of a slice of life kind of vibe and very scenic. Sunday was HW. Got there at opening. Got a bit of a conflicting start as Raven was down (was told it would be down all day from the operators but it did open by the time I finished SS), and Voyage was only running 1 train (which they apparently add the 2nd around noon-ish). I did Voyage, T-Bird and Good Gravy before doing Splashin' Safari. I was under the impression there would be rain later as in the morning, there was a cell developing around St Louis so I figured I had a window until 1 pm to do SS (spoilers- the rain completely dissipated by the time it hit Illinois, the only rain I got was a small shower that lasted less than a minute while riding T-Bird). Got in Wildebeest, Mammoth, the mat racer, the lazy river and a little bit in one of the wave pools before leaving. I couldn't ride Cheetah Chase as they don't pair up single riders for some reason. Need to get back during HWN to remedy that. After SS, I went back to towards the front and did Legend (avoided it as EVERYONE was going to it with Raven down early), Raven, and Frightful Falls. Waits until that point, HW and SS rides included, was 15 minutes tops. Ate pizza at the Marketplace. Spent a LOT of time in there to get out of the heat and humidity. It was pretty brutal all day. The water in SS wasn't all that cool. The combination of the heat, hilly layout with all the blacktop, and the intensity of the ride line up wore me out kind of quick. I took my time through the last few hours. After that it was just going through and re-riding stuff, eventually including Liberty Launch in there as well. After lunch, all 3 woodies were walk on (including Voyage going back to 2 trains and Raven and Legend running 2 and often only filling 1, likely due to protein spills, Raven actually dropped to 1 train later in the day). Ride counts- Voyage- 8 including LROTN Legend- 6 Raven -3 T-bird- 2 All else- 1 Staffing was kind of a mixed bag based on department. Staffing that wasn't rides were all great per usual. Ride ops were all over the place. The 3 woodies' ops in particular had some horrible dispatch times. I get it was very slow, but I also don't enjoy sitting on the brake run for, at times, multiple minutes at a time. Voyage was easily the best of the 3 but still sus. Good Gravy was incredibly efficient without feeling like they had to rush people and T-Bird was pretty good (T-bird also went down to 1 train close to its early closure for the drone show but the ops made up for it). I feel I have to re-do ride reviews for HW with the kinds of cycles the woodies go through where they do a re-track , they eventually go bad, and the cycle continues. I've actually decided to re-think how I rank my entire wooden coaster list because woodies go through that all the time, so I'm putting more of an emphasis on recency bias in terms of my wooden coaster rankings, which, if you've read earlier, I have a new #1 wooden coaster. Voyage- Good googly moogly this thing is running FANTASTICLY! For a giant woodie as relentless as it is, I have to give the HW maintenance crews massive kudos for keeping this monster running as good as it is. I eventually figured it would eventually go the SOB route with the size and the history with giant wooden coasters getting too rough over time, but HW is proving me wrong. It is extremely comfortable, which makes its wicked intense course so enjoyable. It has a few moments of ejector air on par with Maverick in spots, particularly in the back (first drop, the drop off the MCBR, and the small hill between tunnels on the out-route before the spaghetti bowl). The one slightly rough bit was the s-curve hill over the lift, but other than that, its running about as perfect as it can get. The 2nd half, even with the MCBR on but isn't biting as hard, gives me trim-less vibes. Most of my rides were in 6-1, it's absolutely wild in the back. Legend- Also running very comfortably, the only rough bit is the drop before the ascent into the far turnaround. Has great airtime for what it is (the 2 camelbacks before the helix and every drop after the helix) and it pours on the lateral G's in the helix. Raven- This was the problem child. Aside from the first drop, all the other good parts need some extensive TLC. After the tunnel, the lateral curve on the 2nd hill and the following drop before the lake turn jackhammered a bit. The lake turn has signs of problems as it was kind of rumbly but still tolerable. The few bits before drop 5 were nice, but then it gets a temper tantrum. I'd say the rough part begins about halfway on drop 5, the following s-curves and the wide turn start to get worse, then you hit a mind-numbing pothole. If anyone here has been in a car accident and know the kind of whiplash you get from a more jarring hit, that's what the pothole feels like. It's close to unrideable. I tried a few more rides to see if riding in different spots made a difference, but each re-ride made it worse, which pains me to say as peak Raven is great. I'd say about half the ride needs a re-track. Good Gravy- My lone new credit this venture. I like it about on par with KI's version. It has better theming, though I think it's a tad over-the-top but it adds its own charm admittedly. Has a more interesting layout than KI's especially with the path interaction, and I think I like the reversing spike better as there is a decent bit of weightlessness that KI's doesn't have with its double-up spike and is surprisingly steep for a family ride. I am giving this the nod over KI's overall. Thunderbird- This was unexpectedly running quite intense the day I went. The quickness of the acceleration took me by surprise this time around and it was hauling pretty fast through the layout. Had quite a few more positive G moments compared to my previous rides. It is in dire need of a re-paint soon though. I got a bit of a race with Voyage on one of my rides.

I changed my mind. I'm chilling at the hotel today. Its too humid for me and I did everything I wanted to yesterday.

So the rain turned out to not happen, but it's supposed to be more humid than yesterday. Getting a later start today, probably getting to HW between 12 and 1. Probably skipping Raven due to its roughness. The problem spot is out of the wide turn in the finale, there's a vicious pot hole before entering the brakes. The entire finale needs retracking and also the bit between the 2nd hill and the lake turnaround.

Both KK and HW have sizeable and newly cleared areas as well, the later we know is getting something in 2027.

So Voyage is running so well that is has dethroned Twister as my new #1 wood coaster. It is amazing in the back.

So while it hasn't rained, it's been brutally hot and humid. The combination of that, HW's hilly layout and blacktop, and the intense ride line up is kicking my butt.

So far so good on weather. A bit humid, but only a brief shower early. Voyage and Legend are running GREAT! Raven is the problem child. Rough in spots before the turnaround and really needs TLC in the finale. Good Gravy was pretty fun, liked the theming. Thunderbird is running really intense today, in a good way. Didn't manage to ride Cheetah Chase as it doesn't allow single riders. Wildebeest and Mammoth were great, albeit Mammoth is a bit violent (still good).

Disregard, wrong thread.

Disregard, wrong thread.

I know I'm going to a different Six Flags park (SFGAm), but I'm assuming you used your KI pass to get in? Was there anything special with scanning the KI pass at OG Six Flags parks or is it just using the pass as usual?

So for all you guys who like to venture to Holiday World and don't mind a 40 minute detour, look up Moonlite BBQ in Owensboro, KY. Highly, highly recommended. Owensboro also has a nice riverfront park as well to check out. Unfortunately, I'm hearing rain and possible thunderstorms both tomorrow and Monday. I'm going to wing it concerning Splashin Safari, but I am prepared to abort on the water park if need be.