silver2005

This is prior to me riding Steel Vengeance, so that may very well be in this category for me in a few weeks. For the time being though, my favorite wooden coaster and overall in the state of Ohio is Beast and my favorite steel coaster is Magnum XL-200. Mystic Timbers is the only other woodie that would be up there with Beast, and for steel, Millennium Force, Banshee, Diamondback, Maverick and Rougarou would be in the running as well.

- How much do trends within the industry play apart of what and when the park decides to add new attractions? - Does the park use any sort of guest survey or any other sort of sociological and/or psychological analytics when coming up with plans for the park? - Do parks and design firms (GCI, B&M, HUSS, etc) ever have to tinker with plans about rides from being too intense and/or too tame? Examples? - What kind of focus on Soak City can we expect in the near/further future? - Plans involving Timberwolf in the future? - What kinds of shows are considered for the park, particularly with the revolving circulation of shows in KI Theater?

So what kind of waits am I looking at for this thing on weekdays? How is the downtime on it?

I've noticed the ripple effect from this incident. Every park I've been to since this have been a lot more gung ho on preventing riders from having phones out.

Does anyone else besides HUSS make Top Spins? I'd also take an Enterprise style ride. I really miss Skylab.

Just got the approval from work to take off on the 24th so I can go to CP on the 23rd and stay the night in Port Clinton!

Does anyone here think that KI has created a mindset among the GP that they'll always extend the Gold Pass offers now? Especially now that they're extending it to July? Think they'll be any backlash if they go through a season and don't extend it?

^A few guests brought in those contact powder firecrackers that you throw on the ground yesterday.

I was the one who had to watch Antique Cars get dismantled all season during 2004. Worked at RT Potato Works that summer, and it was heartbreaking and smelly to watch (one day they hit a sewer line that covered CM, RT and part of IS in a funky smell).

^I used the gold pass tickets to skip the line on it a TON the year it opened.

Probably Backlot, i.e. Italian Job Stunt Track. Didn't have a lot of the features it was advertised to have (drifting cars, rumbling down the 'stairs', on-board audio was lackluster, painted black instead of yellow).

I came unbearably close to a few zen rides on my trip including Ravine Flyer II and Comet at Waldameer with malem, Thunderhawk, Steel Force, Possessed, and Twister (not counting single car coasters like wild mice, spinners, etc).

^Maybe Goble can teach us all Force lightning to let us deal with them.

I thought of something a bit more unique. What about relocating Skyflyer within the park a la Cedar Point (maybe to Dinos Alive's area, make it part of X-Base) and using that area as a giga station?

So my Cedar Point venture will be later this month. Basically go up the day of, get a few laps on SV and cruise through the park the rest of the day, get a cheap hotel for the night, then head back to Cincy. Not going to force myself to go all ride warrior, more so a relaxing venture. Going on a day trip to the Hartland in late July or early August. I'm mostly trying to get these in in the few weeks between my 2 community bands' seasons and school starting in late August. Will be going to KI a few times including at least one trip for SC and going on the Action Zone ERT night on the 13th. May slip in a few evening ventures after work as well.

^Its not like they haven't built one with a MCBR either. Their first conversion was New Texas Giant. RMC is honestly starting to feel like Intamin now; getting tried and true concepts and messing them up (no being able to get a launch coaster right with Lightning Rod, having trouble with a MCBR and running 3 trains with SV, setting multiple projects on fire).

Is it safe to guess that they won't have 3 trains running on it at all this season?

You really can't go wrong with anything you choose at Hershey. It's all fantastic, but if you want bang for the dollar and good quality, go to Spring Creek Smokehouse near Trailblazer. Fantastic BBQ selection, great sides and desserts. The ribs there are HUGE. Also in one of the more scenic areas of the park to boot and you get to see Storm Runner racing by.

^Also realize there were 2 tracks so it needed that kind of room.

Finally back home in Cincy. Thanks @VekomaRulz for the PA/NJ advice! Next non-KI trip- Cedar Point

BTW, I am officially dubbing the hotel I stayed at as the Snyder Hotel with all the extra crap that comes with it, kinda like a SIX park. :P.

I will say the worst traffic I've encountered, even over going through downtown Philly, has been around my hotel. US 22 is under construction for a few miles which backs things up a lot in the morning. I have to use it to get to all 4 of the parks I went to as well as the beginning of my route back to Cincy.

Final hotel conundrum- For the last 2 nights, I've come back to my hotel room having the heat on. Can I go back to mayflies? Six Flags Great Adventure TR Finally, we get to the park that kind of ignited this whole trip, hence the thread title. I will admit, it was quite the nostalgia trip returning after last visiting in 2000. I still knew some of the park by heart, but the new stuff threw me off, especially the Golden Kingdom area. I'm not too fond of the layout. Its kind of a giant T shape with a few confusing paths and unexpected dead ends. Its got some good rides, but the corporate feel kind of let me down, especially when it came to ride operations and getting in the park. From entering the park by car, it took me 40 minutes to actually step foot inside the main gate, most of that spent in the lines for security, GS (getting the free ACE ticket), and the line to get admitted. Ride crews were all over the place. Some were average (ex. BTR, Green Lantern, Big Droppy Thing), some really smashed lines as best they could (ex. El Toro, Superman and surprisingly, Joker), some ran as if they were running less trains then they were (ex. Bizzaro, Kingda Ka) and Nitro's was very rude to guests to try and get a power hour. The girls manning the mike just kept talking and talking like they were annoyed with guests. Food lines were slow as well. Some staff did the best they could within SIX's guidelines, but there was a lot not to like as well. Line cutting and kids getting re-rides when they weren't supposed to were also prevalent. They were pretty hard on loose articles at least, especially phones and cameras. If they could iron out some consistency, they'd be a nice park. Didn't have the stomach for the flats like I'd hoped with how I've been going for this past week, but I still managed to get in most of what I wanted to do. Photos weren't as good as it was overcast all day with a few bits of drizzle. Waits probably averaged 20 minutes, even for the low capacity rides. Ride Reviews Justice League: Battle for Metropolis- This is one of the most impressive dark rides I've ever ridden. It did make me dizzy with the 3D stuff, but it blended that with animatronics and the moving vehicles extremely well. The dialogue didn't come through very well though. Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom aka Big Droppy Thing- I actually like this more than I was freaked out. That extra 100 ft of free fall feels nice. Saw Mill Log Flume- This is the kind of flume I like, one that cruises at tree top height and has a few extra drops. Really great view of the lake as well. Coaster Reviews Batman: The Ride- Its nice to remember this one for once. It packs a punch for being a bit smaller. Even grayed out a few times. Bizarro- This is as good as I remembered. Had such a strong nostalgia trip on it that muscle memory somehow kicked in for bracing the curves. This is the ride that got me into being an enthusiast after all, but I didn't imagine I'd have such good memories about it. Easily my favorite floorless coaster. Remember when I said Rougarou would be perfect to me if it had a zero G roll? Bizzaro's got one. Its just sooooo gooood. Dark Knight- The Bat-Mouse in a box has decent theming and doesn't use the brakes, but I thought the theming could have been better. Kind of a unique way to theme an indoor mouse, and the pre-ride video was a nice touch with Heath Ledger's Joker recordings played throughout that and the ride. Kind of underwhelming what SIX must have paid for it to have it turn out so mediocre with the theming. El Toro- I liked this a lot. It is very good in the right departments, though it is getting some rough spots in some of the valleys and in that s-curve section. I didn't like it all that much though, not on the kind of praise it gets. I don't know, I'm just not a fan of that intense airtime that Intamin goes for. Green Lantern- I liked it for the most part. Rode it early so my legs wouldn't turn to Jell-O. Felt like it had smoother transitions than Mantis, which, with a stand up and the raised center of gravity and balance, helps a LOT. It does look cool sitting next to Superman, but I liked what was formerly in that spot better. Harley Quinn Crazy Train- I didn't know a 20 car train would hold speed as well as is it did. It was a fun family coaster with the bonus of a 2nd lap. It does look impressive snaking through the layout. Does jerk you around a bit though. Joker- This turned out to be a surprisingly better coaster than anticipated. I didn't know what to expect from the 4D concept, but this was a nice introduction. Absolutely insane from start to finish, and the flipping is pretty fast for how big the cars are. I was even more surprised how well it handled lines. Can't wait to try the bigger ones like X2. Kingda Ka- Take TTD, add the annoying Intamin OTS harnesses and a TON of vibrating and you have Kingda Ka. The extra hill doesn't do much. I felt more disoriented by the rattling than I was the actual ride's elements and speed. Nitro-This is my favorite steel coaster from the trip and is my 2nd favorite steel coaster behind Magnum. It takes what Diamondback does and adds some sa-weet curved drops on drops 2 and 6 and a very intense helix. The drops on the return run had a little bit of swaying going on as well. The 4 across trains also feel like they have better sustained momentum than the v-seating. Nitro is a fast hyper. The hammerhead turn around even has decent positive G's as it crests. Now, could it have less rude and annoying ride ops? Runaway Mine Train- A bit boring like Trailblazer but with some rough spots. Had a nice bunny hop by the lake to end the ride though. I like the station as well. Skull Mountain- This was another surprise. A really quick dark coaster with some air time, fast paced turns, and a pitch black room. Really fun coaster. Superman: Ultimate Flight- This is where the boring B&M conversations come from. Superman is really lackluster. Smooth yes, and a nice pretzel loop, but a really uninspired layout with not much else going for it. Give me Firehawk over this any day.

Knoebels ride ops skip checking empty restraints on Twister.

^Unfortunately, I didn't get many flats as a majority of them were down, either for maintenance or not enough staff I suppose. Besides, I got 2 top spins, Big Droppy Thing, a Star Flyer, and a Larson Looper coming up.