homestar92

Sorry... Did you just say Firehawk and Time Warp are similar? In my humble opinion, a more inaccurate statement about coasters has never been made. Firehawk is one of my favorite rides at KI. Time Warp ranks solidly as the second-worst coaster I've ever ridden, surpassed only by that horrendous SLC right next to it. Kind of an aside, but FWIW, I would also say that Superman: Ultimate Flight is also not similar to Firehawk.

I was there late in the season last year and I enjoyed myself. It is quite small, but I was able to spend about 3 hours there, and I would have stayed longer if not for the fact that I had a three hour drive to get home. When I was there, all three coasters were running very well. And the staff was of the best and most courteous I've ever dealt with at any park. Yes, three coasters. Comparing it with others that I've been to, I would rank it at the top of my list among parks of similar size (Little Amerricka and Conneaut Lake come to mind the most prominently for that comparison).

I could argue that Planet Snoopy is home to the best wooden coaster in the park.

If even one of the parks that receive these awards would make a video of their higher-ups singing and dancing to "I've Got A Golden Ticket" from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, I'd be far more inclined to care about the awards.

Millie... Best steel coaster. Ha. There was once a time when Millie was at least my favorite giga coaster. Then I rode another giga coaster.

My most ridden coaster, far and away, is Vortex. My most ridden coaster at a park that isn't Kings Island would probably be one of the Runs at Kentucky Kingdom. Most likely Thunder. I could make quite a Dinn with the praise I could give that ride. I so wish that it were at a park where I could be confident in its future. Perhaps that's why I ride it so much though... I'm not so worried about Lightning Run. It's steel and it's small, so I think its odds of seeing life at another park should Hartland close are exponentially higher than Thunder Run's.

I was at the Kingdom today. Renewed my pass for next season and stayed a few hours in the park. T3 was station waits when I showed up. Which basically means 40 minutes... By the time I got on the ride, a line had built up filling the exterior queuing area nearly halfway. One train, plus VERY long queue rows to line up people for any given row, plus only two people per row per cycle, plus very slow loading leads to VERY long wait times once you reach the station. Earlier in the season, I waited in the queues outside the station and those move decently fast. Not great, but tolerable. Once you're in the station, things slow to a crawl. That second train will do WONDERS. I think the fact that the station holds far too many people for a ride of its capacity also hurts it. The only coaster station I've seen that holds a more disproportionate amount of people compared to the ride's capacity is Maggie, but the difference is that Cedar Point hires separators and keeps crowd flow under control. Stair waits on both Runs. Maybe 10 minutes each. Flying Scooters had minimal waits and were running on the high speed setting today. That combined with strong gusts of wind led to a great ride experience. Easily the closest I've ever seen to a set of Larsons being snapped. Got many, many mini-snaps and had my tub facing BACKWARDS several times! Food service was on point today (though I still greatly prefer food on Point, but who doesn't?). Waterpark was not crowded at all. There were four people in the wave pool when I walked past it. I suppose that happens when temperatures are in the mid-60s. The park was actually quite crowded compared to this weekend last year, but ironically, T3 being open and popular but having very poor capacity made for very short lines for everything else.

Oh come on now! Within the industry, the Golden Ticket Awards are among the highest honors money can buy!

i have to wonder how many other old theme park myths could be cleared up by searching old newspapers. It's my understanding that the death that led to the closure of the original Ravine Flyer was something of a mystery until somebody found some old newspaper articles from that era on microfilm that discussed the incident. I have to wonder how many of the urban legends of the industry could be cleared up by somebody who is willing to spend the time digging and doing some research?

^^^ Sure! The other two are Blue Streak (Ohio) and Ravine Flyer II. With Thunder Run getting an honorable mention.

Renegade is in my top three woodies (can't rank it because the rides in that list change position a lot) and I can confirm, at least one KI regular would enjoy a ride similar to Renegade even more than he enjoys The Beast.

Yep, but with Wicked Twister, you could almost call that one a gate coaster, so it still works.

There are four entrances...

Coney is a once every few years park for me. If they added a small Gravity Group woodie, they just might become another of the parks to which I buy season passes.

Walking the halls of Boyd Science Center again was incredibly bittersweet. I took it for granted for four years but I really miss it now.

Conneaut Lake Park had an interesting policy for Blue Streak that seemed to work well. Part of the spiel was, "please secure hats, glasss, cell phones, or any other loose articles. If they are lost on the ride, you are NOT permitted to retrieve them, and I am not going to." I rode Blue Streak about 10 times that night, and not once did anyone take out a phone.

I just spent my long weekend on a short coaster trip and I thought I'd share a trip report. On Saturday Morning, I loaded my already-packed luggage into Blue Streak's trunk (which the luggage is custom-designed to fit into, filling every available nook and cranny while still allowing the top to be put down) and I put down the top and headed out for my first stop, Waldameer park. I got about 10 miles north of KI before I realized that I had forgotten my free raincheck Kennywood ticket that I received after being rained out on Labor Day weekend last year, so I had to turn back and get it. It cost me about 90 minutes of driving, but it beat paying for admission when I got there. Especially this year. More on that later. I got to Waldameer at about 2PM. There were some spots near the front of the lot that I almost could have fit into, but someone in a Chevy Spark apparently thought their car was so big that it needed to take up four parking spaces. So I eventually found a spot that wasn't too bad and went into the park. There were a HUGE number of cars in the lot, yet the park was not very crowded. Perhaps the bulk of the crowds were in the water park. Anyway, I got in the park and I first walked past Comet and was going to ride it, but I skipped it initially, seeing a line and expecting it to be a one-train deal as junior coasters at small parks usually are (heck, the Junior woodie at SFGAm runs one train and that's a HUGE park). I later found that to not be the case. Anyway, I headed first for Ravine Flyer II. In short, RF2 is incredible. I MAY have a new favorite woodie. It has all the elements I enjoy from Voyage, but skips the parts I don't like as much. The hills over the highway were packed with airtime, especially in the front. The view as you crest the lift hill is breathtaking. I just can't praise it enough. You NEED to go ride this coaster! Waldameer has lots of neat things. Their other coasters aren't too special, but they did allow me to ride Ravine Flyer 3! Anyway, the park also has two great dark rides that are a lot of fun. One is a true old-school dark ride (with no guns!) and the other is a walk-through attraction. In my opinion, it is better than Noah's Ark at Kennywood (again, more on that later...). I also spent $10 playing a game similar to Concentration (I blame Mr. and Mrs. NoChickens...) and won 385 tickets! Of course, I didn't want any of the prizes available, so I gave my tickets to a family who had a few kids and were looking at the prizes available. I don't need cheap trinkets, but they just might make those kids' day. I got in a lap on each of the other coasters and about 12 laps on RF2 before leaving around 6:30 to head to Conneaut Lake Park. When I got to Conneaut Lake Park, I saw very few cars in the lot (25 including mine to be exact. I counted.) though Camperland appeared to be a bit busy. The park was not crowded at all. It was verging on depressing. There was music in the park when I got there, as it was coming from the Carousel and the Music Express ride. But about 30 minutes into my visit, Music Express went down for mechanical reasons and didn't run the rest of the night. Other than the out-of-tune carousel organ, the park's PA system was not playing music, but a football game on AM radio (don't recall which teams. It hardly matters anyway.). This made the park feel very... cold... and slightly off-putting to me, unfortunately. There was almost no personality. Anyway. I enjoyed my ride on the Tumble Bug and the Devil's Den (which I rode over and over) as well as MANY rounds on their Flying Scooters, which I marathoned with no waits. I enjoyed MANY rides on Blue Streak. It's a fun little coaster! The entire front car of the train is not in use, and like the back row of Camden's Big Dipper, lacks seats and restraints. But the ride was fun and the crew was awesome. The ride crews at Conneaut varied greatly. The crews working the Tumble Bug and Blue Streak, as well as the young lady working the food stand were courteous, upbeat, and really made me feel welcome. The crews working the Flying Scooters, the gift shop (where I bought a shirt - perhaps soon to be a collectible), and the Devil's Den seemed apathetic and uninterested. The park was open until 2 AM for guests 18 and older, but after a quick look around, it appeared that the only guest in the park over 18 and not there with small children, was me. I left shortly before the normal closing time of 10 PM to head to my hotel. On the way to the hotel, I passed through a DUI checkpoint and the police officer complimented my "BLU 5TRK" license plate. I assume he thought I was referring to their Blue Streak. I just smiled and said thanks. No reason to tell him that it's actually a tribute to the other Blue Streak. Theirs is certainly good too. The next morning I left my hotel and headed to my favorite park, Kennywood. When I got there, I saw a sign that said Phantom's Revenge would not open. I was upset and considered leaving, but I had a free ticket anyway, so I still went in. I enjoyed Exterminator and the woodies as always. I didn't ride Sky Rocket that day, as the line was very long and I had ridden Maverick very recently and after Maverick, Sky Rocket is a bit underwhelming. I did finally get to ride Auto Race, and I was happy about that. Additionally, I enjoyed my rides on the Bayern Kurve and GranPrix. Sadly, Noah's Ark disappointed GREATLY. Work has been done to the attraction and in my opinion, the experience has been GREATLY degraded. The lower floor of the ark has received a new underwater theme, with fish and sharks replacing the animals that were once down there. Sadly, the fish are all in the typical Sally Corp. bright neon UV reactive colors and it absolutely ruined the attraction. What was once my favorite attraction at any park anywhere is now a disappointing shadow of its former self, which seems to now be a recurring theme among Kennywood dark rides... Sadly, I'm not sure I can call Kennywood my favorite park anymore, and that makes me incredibly sad. With no Phantom and a ruined Noah's Ark, I did not leave looking forward to next year's trip with the same level of excitement that I normally do, but a trip next year WILL still happen as it is now a Labor Day weekend tradition. This morning, I left Pittsburgh and as always, stopped by my old stomping grounds of Muskingum University to say hello to old friends and colleagues, as they still have classes as normal on Labor Day. I always hated that as a student, but now I kind of like being able to visit and knowing that my favorite staff and faculty will all be there. Our new library is coming along nicely, though it is behind schedule. The exterior is finished though, and it looks GREAT! It blends much more nicely with the campus now since its face lift and is a huge improvement over the awful, kitschy facade it had before. The lecture hall on the third floor in the Science Center across from the big lecture hall and next to the "fishbowl" has also been renovated, with the walls painted and new chairs and AV equipment. (I realize that only one person here will know what any of that means, but that one person will hopefully know which room I'm talking about with those points of reference). I spent a few hours hanging out with the Computer and Network Services guys and enjoyed catching up and reminiscing. I love my current job, but that is the best job I ever had. If I could have stayed at Muskingum forever, I absolutely would have! I have pictures, but these are mostly for shark6495, as he is the only other Muskie I know of on this site and I figured he'd enjoy seeing the progress on the library.

Plus note: Flying Scooters are great. Not Carowinds great, but very fun.

Also, just overheard an employee talking to another employee. As always, take with a grain of salt. Said employee claimed that Kiddieland was to close at the end of the season and have its rides all sold. If true, that's a stall tactic at best. This park cannot survive like that for more than a couple years.

There are 25 cars in the lot tonight. I counted. I also received compliments from two locals on my license plate. I just smiled and said thank you. Didn't have the heart to tell them... Assuming 4 people per car, all buying ride wristbands (which is very optimistic) that means the park brought in $1000 revenue today. On a Saturday of a holiday weekend.

It looks like tomorrow Blue Streak will get to meet (the other) Blue Streak. I have only allocated about two and a half hours for Conneaut. Somehow, I suspect it will be plenty.

The best lockers at Kings Island were not Best Lockers at all, but were the lockers formerly between Racer and AE. How I miss them...

CLP has been added to my itenerary for my annual Labor Day weekend Kennywood trip. I feel as if the time to visit this park is right now. Not delaying it again. If I do, there may not be a park to go to.

Thunder Run and Lightning Run are World-Class roller coasters that rank in my top 5 wood and steel, respectively. T3 is a roller coaster, and unfortunately that's about all I can say for it. It's better than the average SLC, though that's a bit of a low bar. Breakdance is a spinny flat ride, but it's a rather rare variety and worth riding at least once for that reason alone. The Flying Dutchman is the very same one that operated at Kings Island back when it first opened. Their water park is awesome. Deluge is one of my favorite waterpark attractions anywhere. I highly recommend riding Thunder Run in the second-last row, left side, with nobody beside you if at all possible. It's truly incredible. As food in the park goes, I can't really recommend anything in particular. If you want pizza, I've found that the stuff at Swampwater Jack's is better than the other two locations, but it's forgettable to be kind. They have corn dogs at Cactus Jack's (a small stand near the bridge) that rival the ones at Cedar Point, so I like those. Season Passes are currently $60 at the park, and include free parking and soft drinks plus a 20% discount on all in-park purchases all season for 2016, so if you think you might want to return next year, consider getting a pass, as it may pay for itself in as little as one visit depending on how much you spend in the park.

My suspension agrees with you wholeheartedly!