silver2005

HP ride crews really know how to mow through lines.

If Skyrush had better restraints and taller hills, it'd be better, but it's held back by questionable designs. LR and WC are awesome.

The weather today for HP looks fantastic.

^Days Hotel on Airport Road (PA route 987) in Allentown. I ain't comin' back either. I got a Denny's and an old school diner for breakfast at least.

@Oldiesmann- you owe me an explanation about this hotel. Sure its a maze, but what's with the hidden charges? Charging $25 to check in a tad early, $25 to bring breakfast food back to the room. Fire alarms going off randomly. The 100 floor is the basement and hidden. What hotel does this stuff? Good googly moogly. Now for something completely different.... Dorney Park TR A longer day than at Waldameer, but not quite a full day. It did have a bit more to do than Michigan's Adventure with some nice shows (including Cirque Imagine and their answer to Off the Charts), a roving band (with a killer alto sax and bari sax player), and some great landscaping and tribute to their history. Its quite hilly too. The park is basically a fish hook that drops down a hill. It's kind of similar to Holiday World's layout but mirrored and a hair less steep. The coasters are on the perimeter with pretty much everything else in the middle. Most of the food and shows were up by the entrance. Very nice park to walk through, especially down by Thunderhawk. Not much shade anywhere else, though. The rides actually use the terrain well, not just the tracked rides (coasters, water rides, trains, etc). Flats were embedded into the hillside as well. It gave the park a unique look that I thought to appreciate. HP does the mix of new and old a bit better though as they don't have so much of a corporate aspect to them, at least on aesthetics. A fairly good ride selection over all, but even MIA has better ride ops. 2 train ops on Talon and Hydra shouldn't result in 40 minute waits. Then again, Thunderhawk's were pretty good, Steel Force and Possessed had the best crews. I'll give Hydra's a pass since it was finicky today. Didn't open until after 2 pm and they were messing with one of the trains a lot. It switched from 1 to 2 train operations a few times. I also don't understand why Wild Mouse and Thunder Creek Mountain were stacking cars/boats. Wild Mice are supposed to be continuous movement and for whatever reason, they really spread out the dispatches on the flume. Zephyr took an eternity between unloads and dispatches. Even bored Wildcat crews with 1 train at MIA did a better job. Talon and Hydra were also a bit understaffed, IMO. The rest of the departments were satisfactory at least. Very clean park, food service was good, staff was engaging and friendly, and they use recorded spiels for station rules, at least the major rides did (Steel Force, Talon, Dominator, etc). Left early due to them suspending operations for some rain, though, it wasn't anything serious. It felt reminiscent of Kennywood's policy though without closing the park. Most of the crowds stayed near the front. Talon, Wild Mouse and Hydra had decent waits while those further back like Possessed, Steel Force, and Thunderhawk were walk on or short station waits. Getting in was a chore. The parking situation isn't ideal, only a 2 lane road into the entrance. Took me about 40 minutes to get parked off of PA 222. Ride Reviews Thunder Creek Mountain- A pretty decent flume. Its wonderfully built into the hill, and while the main drop isn't steep as a result, its still pretty long. I like how its built so well into the hill and you get a nice view of Hydra and Steel Force to boot. Zephyr- Aside from the smell of gas, a kind of unique train ride. Uses a diesel looking engine and gives a nice history tour through the track with pictures and narration from the driver. They keep it in good shape as well. Cars are a bit cramped though and its got a nasty screech at times, especially rounding tight turns. Demon Drop- I never rode this at Cedar Point in past visits when it was present. Not many rides scare me, but this did. That cramped elevator kind of car, the very simple restraints. Its a bit claustrophobic in design and its unnerving how efficient it is getting to the top. It was a pretty scary drop sequence for me. Wasn't too rough on the level out despite it being relocated though. At least they took care when moving it. Coaster Reviews Alphabetically Hydra- This was my favorite coaster there. Superb example of a floorless coaster. This and Talon were incredibly smooth and quiet. It was difficult getting shots as you couldn't use sound as a measure of how close they were. They can surprise the anxious camera man out there. Being middle sized B&M's, they paced very evenly. Once they left the chain, they kept momentum rather well. Hydra's unique layout won out over Talon though. The jojo roll was a nice way to start, and the laterals really played to the floorless design. Even had a few pops of air as the cherry on top. I still prefer Bizarro and Rougarou, but Hydra is definitely up there. Possessed- Not quite as good as Wicked Twister IMO. The powerful launches are still there, but with only the forward tower twisted, only the front was of any real advantage. Sad it doesn't have the holding brake in use anymore though. Steel Force- A solid hyper but not that overly good. Probably my least favorite hyper as of this post (granted, I've only done 3 and Steel Vengeance, Skyrush and Nitro have good chances of being better than SF). That doesn't mean its a bad ride at all. Also super smooth and quiet, but only strong floater air at the most. The the way the first drop is shaped makes for a rather unique set of airtime moments, particularly from the middle towards the back. You have a pop going over the lift, then it nose dives further for a 2nd pop as it picks up speed. Not sure if its intentional, but I took note. The first drop is sensational in the back. The next 2 hills are pretty tall and not very steep, so its only floater air from there to the station. The helix is rather intense, probably a result of how bit it is. Some mad positive and lateral G's as it scrapes around the ground. Takes a page from Beast in that the helix contours to the hill. The return run hills are where the better airtime is had, especially the double up at the end. I do prefer the Morgan trains to the Arrow trains, but nothing tops the Intamin and B&M rolling stock. If we could get Morgan hyper trains on Magnum, we'd have a winner. Talon- A really solid B&M inverted coaster. Its a bit of a cookie cutter design as a few of B&M's inverts around that era are pretty similar including Great Bear, and though GB has a more unique layout and is a bit more re-rideable, I do prefer Talon. Raptor and Banshee are still preferred IMO, though it gives Raptor a run for its money. Banshee is a decent bit better IMO, but mostly due to stats and more intensity. Talon and Hydra kind of feel a bit between the snappy, deliberate rolls of Raptor and the smooth, very flowing rolls of Banshee. The bit after the Immelman really shines. Does some fancy, high altitude turns, and then drops into a high banked turn (like 80 degree banked), a quick corkscrew, a helix that beats Raptor's IMO, and a sidewinder hill into the brakes. A nice bang-bang ending. Thunderhawk- I didn't expect much out of this. This is probably a lot to do with the new set of PTCs it got recently, but it was rather good. The first stretch has some nice speed along that gradual hill. The figure 8 section played out really well to me. Some decent air, really intense head choppers, some trick track through the hills, and a bit of air mixed with speedy turns. Wish it wasn't trimmed so much, though I think that has a lot to do with how it was re-profiled. A pleasant surprise. Wild Mouse- This thing is ruined by its operations. They stack trains in the station (as in, the cars aren't in continuous motion), and its braked way too much. It meanders over hills, the turns are so-so, and has no sense of pacing whatsoever, at least in the style that a wild mouse should. This had the longest waits all day as a result (towards 45-50 minutes). I hope HP still runs their mouse as good as they did on my last 2 visits. The bestest day of my trip is tomorrow- a trip to the Sweetest Place on Earth!

They just came to my room to see if there was a problem. Dorney is a pretty fun park. Hydra, then Talon, then Steel Force are my favorite coasters there. T-hawk's was more fun than I thought it would be.

New hotel conundrum- the fire alarm in my room went off by itself.

Just saw that Dorney has Cirque Imagine! Huzzah!

Downtown Philly was fun. I think by the time I'm done with this trip, Cincinnati commute drivers will seem like nothing to me. Having to drive through this for a week and through Detroit last weekend is gonna have me prepared for the worst Cincinnati rage driver. Just out of curiosity, how's the traffic around Philly for morning rush hour and after Phillies games? (they have a homestand vs NYY M-W). Need to plan out when I need to leave for NJFTP. I do want to go back the morning I go to NJFTP as it was too dark and dreary to do the shenanigans plans with the Skyline shirt since I got to the thing in mind a bit too late in the evening. It'll be cool, I promise. I'll be sleeping in tomorrow for what I expect will be a dead day at Dorney due to the rain in the forecast. I won't arrive too late as I fear they may close early for low attendance due to said rain (highest chance in the evening). I also am doing a thing where I'm playing specific music when I go to each park to get me in the mood. I did The Who for Waldameer, gonna do Genesis for Dorney, Awesome Mixes/Rubberband Man for Hershey, ABBA for Knoebels, and Zeppelin for NJFTP. I just hope the sun comes out at all on this trip. 3 straight days of rain. Its been stressful driving so long in it.

So my hotel is....odd. First, I arrived at 2:30 pm, half an hour before their posted check in time at 3 pm, and they wanted to charge me $25 for getting their a tad early. The 2nd lady told me they wouldn't but 'it depended on who was manning the desk'. Huh. The first floor (the 100 level) is in the basement and you have to play Labyrinth: The Home Game to find the way down. It's accessible from the back lot, but still, what is this I don't even. Hopefully the hotel is soundproofed enough to drown out the nearby airport. EDIT: Going to test the EZ Pass on the way to Philly. EDIT2: Dorney may be extremely dead tomorrow. Rain in the forecast.

I may suck it up and take the turnpike next time. I80 between Pitt and Philly has a notable lack of food stops and variety of food on said stops.

^Yes. The park had pretty decent landscaping. From my point of view, it seems these smaller parks compensate elsewhere for not having as much rides as their FUN and SIX competitors. Headed to Allentown today, then downtown Philly late in the afternoon. Dorney tomorrow.

Waldameer TR Turned out to be a decent family park, but didn't hold my attention for all that long. I thought it was a bit more spread out than it was and that it had more flats. The rides it did have are quite fun. I also included their dark ride, Whacky Shack, as a credit as it does have gravity powered drops, so I'm at 91. #90, btw, was Steel Dragon, their spinning coaster. Also, it rained a lot. malem was happy, and while it did thin the crowds and made RFII awesome, it got annoying. Glad the rest of my trip is dry and warmer (only mid 60's here in Erie). Only had pizza which was alright, but I needed something after the 5.5 hour drive. A good warm up for the rest of the trip. Liked their log flume a lot, too. The park also had a weird obsession with permanent switchbacks, both in queues and even on their dark house, Pirate's Cove. Some of their queues are unexpectedly lengthy, even when they're shortened. Coaster Reviews Comet- An old PTC coaster. It has a nice location with a lot of big trees around, and had some air in the back. A good relaxing woodie. Got my first evac on it as well as it stopped just short of the station for the first ride. Definitely a better ride in the back. Ravine Flyer III- For a kids coaster, it packs a punch. A nice twisty layout, and some pretty good quick laterals. Brace yourselves though, as if you aren't engaged in bracing a bit, it can bang you up a bit. Also comes with fountain ERT (pianoman would love this park with the fountain ERT rides throughout including a few flats and Whacky Shack). Whacky Shack- This was my first time on a dark ride like this and it was fun. Its not so much a haunted ride but more focused on optical illusions. Has a few drops, both straight and curved wild mouse style drops. Steel Dragon- I like this more than Exterminator. The outdoors nature of it feels more open, and it doesn't spin quite as ferocious as Kennywood's ride. It flowed a lot nicer than I thought and the spinning felt pretty graceful. Starting to like what Maurer's got out there. Looking forward to the indoor version at Hershey. Ravine Flyer II- Worth the trip up there and one of my favorite wooden coasters. It is one of the best terrain style coasters I've done for sure, the curves and drops really hug the valley well. Its got some strong pops of air throughout. Also best in the back seat (or at least, 6-1). The best moment to me was the last big drop into the valley under the lift after it takes a 90 degree banked turn. It does have some jarring s-curves on the hill across the highway, but hardly a detriment to it. Definitely a better example of what Gravity Group is capable of than I thought Voyage showed.

Got cold feet about being able to beat Cincy rush hour out of town, so I ate at the Kings Mills McDonald's for breakfast instead.

^I even saw it with Magnum last season as well.

Is it only on Timbers, though? Is it going on with other rides? Because singling out Timbers seems odd. I noticed it last year, too, but I don't recall that happening on any other rides sans mechanical problems.

Tomrrow at 6 am, the journey begins! 6 days, 5 parks, 25 new coaster credits, many more flats, some awesome food, and shenanigans in Philly in store. Oh, and I have a KK Thunder Run shirt for NJFTP and a Skyline shirt for Philly for reasons. I have a unique yet somewhat predictable way of showing which will be my 100th credit planned. I think you guys will appreciate it. With how back to back this trip is, I'll be doing abbreviated TR's each day then doing more thorough stuff later. There will be pa-lenty of pictures.

There's also a psychological factor into this as well. When you're on a coaster, your adrenal glands are going berserk, which can affect the way your senses pick up stimuli and the way your brain interprets things. Add to that the G forces, especially all the positive G's you get on Vortex and the lack of blood in your brain as a result, and you can view things quite differently than reality. We could be here all day in that discussion alone. None of that is at work when you're behind a computer watching a POV.

Yeah, I'll definitely be doing a lot of flats on my trip, especially at Knoebels and NJFTP. I just hope that new Cyborg top spin on steroids is open. And they have a normal Top Spin, too. Also....Big Droppy Thing...

II may get there a bit before the park opens, so I'll definitely check it out for lunch. I'll be doing dinner at Waldameer (staying to get RFII night rides, my hotel is less than 20 minutes from Waldameer). I got an IHOB and a Cracker Barrel around for breakfast in Erie. I plan on leaving Erie super early so I have time to explore either Philly or Allentown (leaning heavily toward the former for reasons which may or may not include shenanigans). I'll also be doing Camp Washington Chili for breakfast before I leave Cincy. I also believe malem will be joining me at Waldameer. He's a first timer, too.

Alright, new requests- - A good Philly cheese steak place in Philly that's not Penn Station. - Best parking in downtown Philly - Anything around or en route to Erie or Allentown. - Lastly, any suggestions for a unique nicer restaurant (not too expensive, this is for my one day where I'm not going to a park).

^What makes you think I won't ride it? Skyrush and Laff Trakk are my only 2 new credits at HP, of course I'm going to get to them. Quit acting like I'm going to be like you and cherry pick coasters I want to ride. I'm riding all the coasters at all the parks I'm going to barring them being closed (*knocks on wood). Not all enthusiasts think like you. You've been nagging me about my tastes since you got to this site and its getting annoying. I'm happy to explain them, but quit acting like all coasters that aren't built by Intamin are bad. You're out of your mind.

^Dude, I haven't even ridden it yet. Chill out on trying to get me to like things you want me to. It isn't going to work. What are you going to do if I don't like those rides as much as you do, hmmm?

My day in Erie, PA now looks to have some rain, possibly late afternoon. But....rain soaked Ravine Flyer II.

Nooooo! Erie, PA gets mayflies, too.