silver2005

Now that I'm 3 parks in, I do feel I should have scheduled another off day with no traveling. Its wearing on me a little bit. I may not spend too long at Knoebels tomorrow with NJFTP looming Wednesday. I don't think I'll be scheduling another 5 park trip any time soon either. Still gonna try to enjoy myself these last few days as much as possible.

Holy O'Terpy in the Hartland, there's ANOTHER thing that happened with my hotel. I entered through one of the back entrances which you need your room card, and not only was it jarred open with a wet floor sigh (it hasn't worked since I got here), but the stairwell it was in smelled like it was recently on fire. Also heard a lot of running around as I went to the room, got ice, went back. This can't be a thing this trip. I'm speechless. This hotel has gone to plaid. Now for the good part. Hersheypark TR Got a late start as I didn't set my alarm quite on a radio station, so I ate a quick breakfast at a Dunkin Donuts and got to Hershey, PA around 11. Was quite busy as I got there and for a Monday, those crowds would last. There were a lot of people there today. The minimum wait for things was probably 15 minutes. A lot of the major rides, especially Laff Track, approached 30-40, and that's with Hershey's fine ride operators (they were kicking butt and taking names today). Others fluctuated drastically. Skyrush was anywhere between 5 minutes to 40 minutes. Storm Runner had no longer than a station wait, Comet was long, Wildcat was all over the place. I've never seen such drastic differences in ride waits ever. What to say. This park is extraordinary. First off, the entire park smells wonderful. Whether its the smell of chocolate close to the tours, or from any of the restaurants or even that old wood smell from the older buildings, it teases the smell factory. Let's talk about the food, too. The portions are just what you think you get when you pay theme park prices. Big, thick slices of pizza, monstrous ribs and mac and cheese (which I had by Trailblazer and Storm Runner), and amazing ice cream. You would think a park owned by a company who specializes in food would make it good, and HP delivers in spades. Hershey cups of water are bigger than Kinzel cups and even come with a lid and straw. The staff was very detailed, focused, to the point, professional, and great to interact with. I think the GP responds to that in that they are more aware of themselves when it comes to dealing with park procedures and the gears just work together well. Show your customers a little TLC and they'll return the favor by treating your park well. From what I heard throughout the day, the GP love this park, too. I also like how there's no dedicated kids area and that their rides are integrated throughout the park so they don't get bored away from their rides. I've said my piece earlier in this thread when it comes to my viewpoints about HP and this visit just solidified those thoughts. Still solidly my 2nd favorite park behind Dollywood (they kinda do theming, shows and other things a bit better than HP). I also think HP should invest in a 2nd entrance by the GCI's somewhere. Ride Reviews Coal Cracker- Well, this was the only non-coaster I did today. I'm not fond of S&S Towers so I skipped those (I've also avoided them sans Waldameer because I'm getting the mother of all Drop Towers Wednesday), and Kissing Tower and the sky ride were down. To be honest, their flat selection isn't the greatest for a park their size. Coal Cracker is a nice flume as it meanders below Great Bear and Sooperdooper Looper. Has a nice drop as well. Didn't get too wet, but I wanted a bit more, but also not soaked like Tidal Force does. The park certainly knows how to maximize space, that's for sure. Coaster Reviews Alphabetically Comet- This. Coaster. Still. Has. Buzz-bars. If that weren't enough, its still in tip top shape and the air really gets you airborne. Still blows me away how well it runs. Fahrenheit- Not much has changed in my opinion. A nice first drop with 6 inversions in a row. Not quite stellar material. I did notice some new pops of air on the Norwegian Loop (the first 2 inversions) and the hills towards the end are great in that department as well, but at that point, my body was still getting over the positive g's that it was more about keeping from graying out at that point for me. It tries to Eurofight and, well, Gerstlauer gets the concept better. Great Bear- Its hard to put this back over Talon. Its transitions on the 0g roll and corkscrew are snappy, and where Talon feels like a more consistent ride, GB has lapses in its intensity. That does give it that more re-rideable approach, but inverts are a bit better when they're peeling your face off. It does have the best B&M roar of any of the ones I've done to this point (hi Nitro!). The first drop sequence is still awesome and the skim by the river and SDL are definitely unique moments. Laff Trakk- As stated, now my favorite spinner. Has better theming than Steel Dragon and doesn't spin as ridiculously as Exterminator. The black lights and the props were great and I really liked the queue and the circus/fun house theme. Lightning Racer- My favorite ride at the park and still one of my favorite GCI's/wooden coasters. Its aged a bit, but not as much as Wildcat. Everything you'd want from a GCI and doubled. Great racing action to be had as well, especially sitting further back in the trains. Still keepin' it above Timbers. Too bad it was only running a train per side or else I would have been on it quite a bit. Sidewinder- The new Vekoma trains improved it drastically. Much more comfortable and enjoyable for a Boomerang. Not much else to say because it's a Boomerang. Skyrush- Came away a bit disappointed I have to say. Looks like it had potential, but Intamin screwed the pooch on this. The restraints dig into your thighs and the dumb idea of putting no hill above 80 ft after a 200 ft one at 80 degrees was a stupid move. I felt the lap bar being so tight created a lot of forward movement on the crests of the hills and threw me forward too much. At least Maverick is designed a bit better. This thing is just underwhelming. My least favorite hyper now (everyone applaud Steel Force for not having that title anymore). Sooperdooper Looper- The new G trains are simple yet effective and I love the orange paint scheme on them. I feel they are a bit more comfy than the original Schwarzkopf stock. Its a fun ride through the woods with a nice forceful, circular loop. The layout kind of reminds me of a smaller Arrow suspended coaster as it swoops through s-curves and hugs the terrain. It keeps its speed up quite well, too, and even has some added pops of air here and there. The G-trains feel heavier in that it accelerated quicker off the first drop and it kept up momentum better than the old trains as well. Very fun ride. Anton designed a winner. Storm Runner- Maverick may have some decent air, but this does its ejector air at 191 ft. It flies over that top hat and the launch is incredible. This and Fahrenheit also had the newer Intamin vest restraints like Maverick and I-305 have. Nice to not jam your head into the hard rubber anymore. Insane from start to finish. My favorite steel coaster at HP. Trailblazer- Even for a mine train, it's lack luster. Very much a first-coaster kind of ride. Not much in the way of forces, even in the final helix. Has some nice scenery though. I like the helix burying into the hill at the end. Wild Mouse- Better than Dorney's by a mile. Way less brakes, a smoother run station, and does what a mousy coaster does best. Wildcat- This got WAY better. The MF's have finally broken in and its running as good as its prime with the PTC's. Its got some bite, but that's part of why its enjoyable to me. The pacing REALLY picked up from my last visit and its got some gnarly air and laterals now. Movin' up the ranks for sure. I have to say now that top to bottom, HP has my favorite overall wooden collection of any park I've been to so far (hi Knoebels and El Toro!).

I guarantee that none of the rides you listed are ones that I'm re-riding. All.the rows on HP's best coaster were opened.

Too bad Lightning Racer is only running 1 train per side or else I'd marathon the crap out of it.

Great Bear may be the most re-rideable B&M ever, but the walk from the exit to the entrance is a pain.

Laff Trakk is my favorite spinning coaster now. Not as good theming as Exterminator, but it's not as vicious spinning.

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...