thekidd33

^Jealous doesn't even begin to describe how I feel. Sounds like a great way to start the day!

^What seats aren't filled by Fast Lane users are filled from the standby line. It is not used only for Fast Lane.

I had thought (mistakenly) that the $15 million figure was what they were planning to spend on new rides and attractions, not the total investment to get the park reopened. Seems a tad...ambitious.

Maybe he loves Son of Beast a lot, who knows. Well we already know that lol, he's made it quite clear.

^Really? Must everything be about SOB?

Glad you had a good time! Thanks for sharing!

King's Island - Diamondback Cedar Point - Maverick Indiana Beach - Cornball Express Michigan's Adventure - Shivering Timbers (With Falling Star (RIP) being a very close second) Dollywood - Thunderhead EPCOT - Soarin' Hollywood Studios - Tower of Terror Magic Kingdom (FL) - Pirates of the Caribbean Animal Kingdom - Expedition Everest Holiday World - Voyage Universal Stuidos (FL) - E.T. IOA - Forbidden Journey

Saw on facebook today that Worlds of Fun will soon be offering Turkey Legs...wrapped in sausage...wrapped in bacon. https://www.facebook.com/#!/WorldsofFun

I would certainly try to get a ride in after dark on both Beast and WindSeeker. Having a Fast Lane pass should allow you to hit pretty much all the major rides without having to worry much about planning a specific route.

Very well done indeed. Mr. Ouimet is no Dick Kinzel, that's for sure. Love his comments on ride capacity and making the beach more of a focal point. The road ahead for Cedar Fair seems very bright.

I 100% agree with this. I for one would even be willing to go a step farther and pay another $100 on top of that for a year's worth of Fast Lane.

I did as well, with my dad and my cousin...having absolutely no idea that I was waiting in line for a roller coaster, which I was terrifed of at the time. It would be eleven years before I got back on one after that.

Awesome list! I hope KI has something similar. Side note: Has Ocean Motion always had a 39" height restriction? Just seems like an odd number compared to most rides.

There is a short (maybe half a mile total) trail to cataract falls that starts directly behind that Sugarlands Visitor Center, which is 2 miles or so south of Gatlinburg on US-441 that we hiked and both enjoyed. We then drove to a the Laurel Falls trail (about 4 miles from the Sugarlands Visitor Center) and hiked that trial. Its about 2.5 miles and its paved so it was a fairly easy walk. There is a second nature trail that also starts behind the Sugarlands Visitor Center that seemed to be pretty popular as well.

Thanks so much for sharing these! Looks like you guys had a great time.

As for specific hotels, I won't be much help. My girlfriend and I spent the March 30th-April 2nd down there but stayed in a cabin (which was wonderful). The main drag through Pigeon Forge is extremely touristy - lots of go-kart tracks, mini-golf, dinner theaters, etc. Gatlinburg is pretty touristy as well but in a bit more subdued manner. While we were we went to the aquarium, which was extremely crowded, but was pretty cool. The shark exhibit that they are promoting was a rather big let down but everything else made up for that. We also spent a day hiking in Great Smokey Mountain National Park, which has some very nice trails if you are in to that sort of thing. As far as at Dollywood itself, I was there on a Sunday and found that the only ride that really kept a significant line all day was Wild Eagle. I would get there at opening and try to hit it very first. I found the back row to give the best rides (the first drop was quite good). Mystery Mine seemed to have the slowest moving line while Tennessee Tornado and Thunderhead both moved very quickly all day. The Dollywood Express train ride is a great way to relax for a bit and offers some great views of the park. There are a plethora of amazing things to eat. The cinnamon bread more than lived up to the hype. Word of warning, there is some major construction going on on I-75 southbound just over the Tennessee boarder. We covered 6.4 miles in 3.75 hours on our way down. From other reports it sounds like the problem gets worse the later in the day it gets, but if you can find a reasonable way around this stretch I would advise taking it. *My spellcheck appears to have checked out for the day so I apologize for any spelling errors.*

Drop Tower is the only ride at KI that still gets to me mentally.

I had heard a few reports of this happiening, but I didn't have any problem at all. I actually really liked the restraints.

I was down there over the weekend for my first trip to Dollywood. The aquarium was beyond packed on Saturday when we were there. Glad you had a good time!

It will be interesting to see just how limited these passes are come Saturdays in July/August. I could see there being some rather significantly increased wait times due to Fast Lane users.

I'll probably try to go one of those last three Friday's in August to dodge some of the crowds. I went the Friday before Labor Day in 2010 and the place was a ghost town.

Hopefully I can get up there this summer and get a few rides in on Cornball and Tig'rr.

Manhattan Express was $15 when I was there last fall, didn't ride it at the time but I did notice the price listed.

^Kinda fitting now I guess...

That is really amazing, thanks for sharing!