Well, I felt like posting all my trips for the 2005 season, which I think I will post annually. I am very aware I'm pretty much brand new to the canobiefan forums, so I don't know if you will consider my huge multi trip report as spamming. Anyway, on to the parks.
February break 2005 - MGM Studios, IOA, and Animal Kingdom
who: me, mom, dad, sister
Day 1 - getting there
(Since this was 10 months ago, I don't remember it as clearly as I used to, but I'll try)
Approx. 6:45 PM - The pilot announces that we will be arriving at the airport in about 15 or 20 minutes, and I am getting anxious for my return to Florida. But I paid a hard price for forgetting to swallow: a very painful ear ache fro mthe pressure. Luckily, a guy in my seat had some gum, and he gave a stick to me. The pain went away by the time we were off the plane.
Approx. 7:05 PM - We landed! It was great to be in 70 degrees, and a beautiful cloudless night sky instead of the frigid temperatures, and clouded skies of winter in New York for a change.
Approx. 8:00 PM - We get the keys to our rental car, and it was small, but comfy. All I had to keep me occupied were some CDs, books, drawing materials, and a Gameboy SP and 3 games (which I sold in September for my down payment to reserve a copy of the Xbox 360 which I'm still waiting for ) Anyway, As we pull out of the airport parking lot Isaw a sign for Dania Beach, but that wasn't planned for out trip (ppbbtthh, one less woodie to add to my track record)
Approx. 8:20 PM - We find a place to eat for dinner (We don't usually eat this late, but the flight disrupted our normal dining patterns) I think it was called Pop Eye's, and they had pretty good chicken, kind of like a regional KFC. But the only thing I didn't like about it was that I waited about half an hour for my food, and I was STARVED. When we sat down, my dad called Grandma on his cell phone that we would arrive at about 10:00 PM or so.
Approx. 9:00 PM - As we were leaving for Grandma's house, I saw a pinball machine, and I wanted to play it, but my mom didn't let me. So we went driving, and we listened to a lot of different radio station that I got bored of (half of them were spanish speaking stations so I got annoyed that I couldn't understand a word they said).
Approx. 10:00 PM - We finally arrive at Grandma's house. We have a snack, and we head off to bed.
Day 2: laziness
Pretty much nothing happened today. I went with my sister to the pool across the street, I found out that Rapids Waterpark won't open until March, which REALLY ticked me off and that's about it.
Day 3: Wakodahatchee Wetlands
(In case you are getting bored of all these non coaster days and you want to skip ahead, go to days 5 - 8 for coasters)
For today, we decided to go to Wakodahatchee Wetlands. It was actually pretty fun. It was nice and warm, at about 77 degrees. There were several types of animals, like turtles, several assorted birds, and Alligators (not Crocodiles, Alligators, Alligators are the ones that live in America) We took some pictures of this and the parks, but since this multi trip report is so huge, I will post a seperate topic for the pictures if I get around to uploading them. We spent a couple of hours here. After that, we went back to Grandma's, and I think we ate at an Italian restaurant for dinner.
Day 4: Tomorrow= WDW!!!!
Today we went to the nearby Lantana Beach, and I didn't feel like going i nthe wtare too much. Instead, I made a sand Volcano Castle with my sister. It had a a shell door, a moat, a bridge, windows, and even an underwater secret passageway. (Yes, I was bored) At around 3:00 PM we went back to Grandma's. But as we pulled out of the parking lot, I saw something truly and utterly magical. Something that I will probably never forget: I saw an Aston Martin!!!! It could have been a DB7, DB9, or the legendary V12 Vanguish, but I couldn't get close enough to see which one it was. At around 4:00 or so I went with my dad to the nearby mall to go look at the stores, and I saw a video game store where I bought Ghost Recon 2, but I couldn't play it because my mom wouldn't let me bring my Xbox for some reason. (I now found out that we were half a pound under the 50 LB weight limit for baggage without paying extra, so that extra 5 lbs or so would have probably been costly) so I had to wait 5 more days. Later that night we got back to Grandma's and got her, mom, and my sister to go back to the mall for dinner. I forgot the name of the food place, oh well. Then we went to the movies soon after to see Are We There Yet? (Just me my mom, and my sister) and it was a funny movie.
Day 5: Return to Rather Tame World, I mean Walt Disney World
At around noon we started our 3 hour journey to WDW. Along the way we encountered a rather annoying thunderstorm, but luckily we were out of it after like an hour. At around 3:00 or so we finally approached the gate to the massive 30,000 acre complex known as Disney World. Our hotel was the Pop Century resort, and we got the 1970's area. After a while, we went our room and put our stuff down, and decided to explore the site. We saw the pools, the Cafeteria, and at the end of the bridge, we saw the new hotel Pop Centruy place under construction (1900 - 1940) It looked cool, even from a distance. At about 5:00 PM, we boarded the bus to Downtown Disney to catch the 6:00 PM Cirque Du' Soleil Show.
Cirque Du Soleil: 9/10 Just breathtaking. The acrobatic stunts were just unreal. It was definitely worth seeing a second time (last time I went in 2003) At around 8:00 PM the show ended, so the family split up, the women went for shopping (mom and sister) and the boys (me and dad) went to that cool virgin store. (The virgin mobile company, and it was waaaaaaaay more than just phones) THere were tons of CD's DVD's and video games. There were even a few Xboxes to play. I saw a kid playing Halo 2, but there was a line of like 4 guys so I didn't bother. I tried to look for Starcraft: Ghost but to no avail. (No surprise there ) After about an hour or so we headed back downstairs and saw a playable computer with Alienware! There was a cool realistic WWII fighting game on it so I played that for a few minutes until it was time to leave. So we got back to the hotel about 20 minutes later, and we got some snacks at the cafe, and went up to the room again. My mom and sister got back at around 10:30 (right around when we sat back down, just in time for a super block of Who's line is it Anyway? (Omg that show is hilarious )
Day 6: MGM Studios
Who: me, mom, dad, sister
weather: warm, light rain literally every other ride (for a while)
We got in the park not too long after it opened. We ventured on our way to the back of the park so I could get over to Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Rollercoaster. We (just my dad, sister and I) headed over to Tower of Terror first for 2 reasons:
1: The wait was only 13 minutes
2: It was my first time riding it
Tower of Terror: 8.35/10 This was one good ride! The scenery was done excellently, and even though I tried reminding myself that I've been on taller (CP's Power Tower back in 2004) the scenery was probably the thing that helped scaring the living crap out of me. So we got in the hotel, and I was without a doubt impressed with Disney's work. SO we got into the briefing room, and that little TV in the corner introduced us with the whole Twilight Zone stuff yadda yadda yadda. Then we got near the entrance of the ride, and I got near the back, far right. I was really scared, despite the fact that it is only about half as tall as Power Tower. So I grabbed on to the bar on the side of the seat, and away we went. We lifted up which felt like 20 feet or so, and we saw the holographic projector thingies show some dead ghost like people and stuff, and then we went into another room, we were slowly lifted up to the top and then...
we dropped.
Although we only dropped about half way at max, it was still fun. Plus boosting back up had some good floater air, and I liked it a lot given you boosted and dropped over half a dozen times. It gave a good view of the water tower with the giant Mickey ears. Then, all too soon, the ride was over. It was one heck of a ride. After we got out, I saw my picture, and I was the only one in the car who had their hands held up. Jeez, TOT riders are wimps. Anyway, so after we got off, I headed to Rock ' n' Rollercoaster with my dad and sister. MY mom also tagged along but she didn't ride anything but Star Tours.
Rock 'n' Rollercoaster - 8/10 For once a Vekoma that doesn't give you a concussion!!! (Well, my opinion isn't really important given I rode only 3 Vekomas) The line was about 15 minutes, and I was happy. THe scenery was good, but they could have done better. The pre show was okay, but the theming in the station as we approached the cars was pretty impressive. For some reason, it reminded me of something out of one of the Splinter Cell games. Even though I rode it before, I was kind of scared. I got the second to the last car. Luckily I didn't wait 5 minutes for the launch this time. The launch was really fun. In the back, it felt like a 3 second freefall, even though your are boosting on a horizontal stretch. Go figure. Anyway, the Rollover was somehwhat forceful, and luckily the low lighting gave me a god view of the twisted, hulking mass of track, and seeing pretty muhc the whole train gracefully maneuvering this track was just beautiful. The corkscrew didn't generate that whole "fell like you are going to fall out" feeling like it did last time I came here. THe twistyy stuuf at the end was fun, but the ride was too short. After I got off, I took a brief look at the gift shop but didn't buy anything. Next we had to make it to the Who Wants to be a Millionaire? show, but there were only a few minutes left to get there, so we had to run. Right before we got in, I slippedin the rain and I fell. A nearby employee checked if I was fine, and I was. (Not only me, but the whole family was laughing) So we finally made it. Apparently it was ESPN weekend, and I hate sports, but I actually knew some of the questions they asked. (I wasn't in the hot seat, but the guy who was got about 250,000) After that was the Backlot Tour.
Backlot Tour: 4.5 Wow. It was quite boring. Here's a few props that haven't been used in years from some random movie, here's some more random props from some random movie that haven't been used in years, here's a tanker blowing up and here's some water splashing you. It was unbelievably boring. After that, we went to Star Tours.
Star Tours: 5.95/10 The scenery was very good, (extremely impressive that it is like over 20 years old) but the ride itself wasn't that great. I'm just not the biggest fan of motion simulators. However, the queue line was, like I said before, impressive. The animatronics just seemed unreal to be made in the 1980s. (I think that's when it was made) Some teens in front of us were really obnoxious, and one of them was hanging from the ceiling, and he pulled one of the tiles down a bit from his weight. Fortunately, the ceiling didn't come crashing down on us. I then got in the car, and I was in the middle back row. The cinematic thing was pretty fun, and the ride jolted me around a bit, and it was surprisingly tumbly, but it didn't have a high thrill factor. After that, we ate lunch at Pizza Planet. TO my dismay, it was a sad attemp at a recreation from the Toy Story model, if they even tried. The food was good, but we could choose very little. The arcade was rather small, and the selection was sub par, other than that virtual boxing game, which was tiring. Then me and my dad rode Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Rollercoaster again while my mom and sister split off to do some stuff that I don't remember. TOT's line was about 30 minutees, which was boring, but the ride and scenery made up for it. We then rode Rock 'n' Rollercoaster again, which the line was about 25 minutes, but it was worth it. Then we had about 10 minutes to meet up at the Prime Time Cafe', which had a cool 1950's theming. The waiters put up a good show, and my dad played along for the fun of it. There was a small black and white TV in the corner, and the shows were all loops. I had Shrimp Primavera (the only thing that looked appetizing on the menu, but honestly it wasn't the best) and I had a lemonade/sprite mix. At a nearby table a person didn't eat their green beans and one of the wiaters put whipped cream and sprinkles on it, which was funny. Then, it was about 8:00 PM, and there was a Thunderstorm out. So we went back to the hotel, and I went into the arcade where I found some cool games. There was a Need For Speed game, where it had the same courses as NFS HP2 on my Xbox, so Iknew the shortcuts. Also, there were 3 pinball machines, some other random games, and a Hyperbowl game in the back. I got 177 on it (I was less than 10 points from making the top 50 of all time on it) Then I went back to bed, preparing for the most thrilling day of the trip to come: my first journey to IOA.
Overall MGM rating: 6.76 (The Millionaire show had a 7/10 but Iwas too lazy to put it in)
Here's more of my FL trip!
Day 7 - Universal Islands of Adventure
who: me, mom, dad, sister
weather: warm, partly cloudy
IOA was about 20 minutes from the disney hotel, but I couldn't wait! I was about to add 3 B&Ms to my track record. (I count Dueling Dragons as two coasters, as with all other dueling and/ or racing coasters) Anyway, about 10 minutes before I got to IOA, I saw a Sing Shot, a Skycoaster and a drop tower (looked like something from Fabbri but was at least 150 feet tall) I would really like to know what park that is. (I'm guessing it's Old Town, but I don't know for sure) Then, 5 minutes before I got to the park, I spotted Dr. Doom's Fearfall. Soon after, I spotted Incredible Hulk and Dueling Dragons in the distance. I had to use all my self control not to rattle off the stats of the rides (I do that when I visit major parks for the first time, and it annoys whoever's in the car) After we got out of the car about 15 minutes later, we headed over to the park. But on our way to IOA, I saw a bonus ride:
the flat escalators!!!!!
Flat escalator thingy: 10/10 Omg it was the coolest ride ever!!! It was so dang fun!!! Then, soon after, we spotted the main entrance. The first ride of the day was Incredible Hulk.
Incredible Hulk: 10/10 The line was 30 minutes long but the good queue line scenery, TV's and my Gameboy SP kept me occupied. As we approached the main station, I started getting a little scared. Not a lot, just a little, given I knew 100% that I was gonna love it. THe only thing I was really concerned about was my Gameboy SP falling out during the ride, since it was too risky leaving an $80 piece of electronics in the station where dozens of people would have the opportunity to steal it, but luckily I had pockets in my coat. I rode the single riders line, so I got the 4th car. As we got in, I had surprisingly little room to move my arms, but that didn't matter to me much. I pulled down the restraints, and soon after, we were off! We approached the slight left hand turn and started up the lift. After watching countless POV's of the ride, I remembered the boost kicked in half way up the lift. That boost was better than i expected, and the 110 foot Zero G Roll seemed bigger than it really was. Up into the Cobra Roll, and it was quite forceful, and into the loop, and under the walkway and into a turnaround leaping into the first Corkscrew. We drop dwn to ground level and encounter the second loop, also very forceful. Next was this wierd heavily banked turn which surprisingly gave some floater air at the top. Unfortunately, we encountered MCBR's but what's so bad about 2 seconds of a straight section anyway? They couldn't have done much else there anyway. Next was the final Corkscrew and the helix, which I had a great time on. Then all too soon, the final brakes kicked in and the ride was over. It was just incredible! I walked down the exit ramp and headed over to Storm Force Acceleration.
Storm Force Acceleration: 4/10 Since I didn't see any pictures of the ride, I had no idea what it was. To my dismay, it was just a tame, themed spinning tea cups. The 20 minute ride was not really worth it. The theming was good, but could have been better. IMO this is not worth the ride unless you are some crazed person intent on riding every spinning tea cups ride you see. After that we ventured to Lost Continent for Jurassic Park Discovery Center. I would have ridden Pteranodon FLyers but I'm too dang tall.
Jurassic Park Discovery Center: 7.5/10 THis was a fun place. I liked it a lot. The dinosaurs where you could speak through and and there is a voice modifier is my favorite. But, no real comment on this. Next I went on to Lost Continent to ride Flying Unicorn and the dragons.
FLying Unicorn - 7.5/10 I'm not comparing this to the big coasters, otherwise this would get slaughtered by them and have a 3.5/10. So I put this in the kiddie/family coaster category. As far as those go, this was great! Great theming, a good layout, all rolled into one! It was good and forceful (I got the front seat, yay) and this was probably the smoothest Vekoma I ever went on (OK, now I rode 4 Vekomas, not 3) It was a little short, but hey, aren't all family /kiddie coasters short? Any way, it was cool. Next was Dueling Dragons.
Dueling Dragons (Fire) 10/10 Amazing. Just amazing. The theming was unbelievable, the ride was just so amazing, this is without a doubt an amazing Dueler. The line unfortunately was 30 minutes long. But the jokes on the wall kept me busy. As we were about to get on, a couple in front of me and my sister were making out. They were i nthe same car as us, but all I cared about was the ride. As we were near the top, the lift came to a near stop. I thought we we stalled on the lift, but then I realized that we were just waiting for Ice to catch up with us on the lift. The Wraparound Immelman was very forceful (IMO B&M should make more of those) the camelback didn't produce any airtime but that was probably because I was in the middle seat. The trains were excellently themed, and I didn't know until Ice that I had to look down to see the "duel" on the vertical loop. After I got the rest of the family and I went over to Poseidon's Fury.
Poseidon's Fury - 2/10 This ride was REALLY boring. The line was almost an hour long, the effects were sub par other than the water trick, but that was really loud and annoying. Although the theming was quite good, the bad still severely outweighs the good. Next was the 8th voyage of Sinbad.
8th Voyage of Sinbad - 6.5/10 This was a cool show. The theming, like everything else in the park, was truly unbelievable. But the play itself is not the best (compared to Cirque Du Soleil) It had some corny puns, average special effects, etc. Not something I would ride when DD is near by. After this was over, I went over to DUeling Dragons again to ride Ice for the first time.
Dueling Dragons (Ice) 8/10 I agree this was fun, but Fire was better. (For some reason it seemed shorter and less inversions, although they both go upside down 5 times and the lengths are almost exactly the same lengthwise) The lift, like Fire was loud, and it was fun, but IMO it went through the Cobra Roll a little too quickly, a little too "snappy" for my liking, but I can guarantee re rides. Next we ate lunch at Fire Eater's Grill, and then we headed over to Spiderman for our Fastpass reservation, but as we got there, we had some time to kill, so I went over to Dr. Doom's Fear Fall.
Dr. Doom's Fearfall: 9.5/10 WOW!!!!! This was great!!! The line was short, at about 5 minutes long (single riders line) Since basically everything at IOA had great theming, I'm not gonna bother continually mentioning it. As I got in line, I boarded the S&S car, and the apeakers with Dr. Doom sounded. After a few seconds we blasted off! The boost was intense, and tha airtime at the top was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!! Since the air cushion at the bottom was rather quick, the G's generated were strong. The airtime generated on the next blast was only merely floater quality, but both blasts gave a great view of the park. Then I rode it again due to the short line. Next, it was time for Spiderman, so we headed over.
SPpiderman: 8/10 I can easily see why this is one of the best dark rides created. The line was average (20 minutes) and the ride was quite rough and it turned faster than I expected, but it still was really cool. I can't really explain this one that great though. After that was over, I rode Fearfall 3 more times and Hulk twice more, and sadly, that was my last ride for the day. We then headed over to Enchanted Oak Tavern for dinner, and after a while, we finished our meal, and we headed home. The forecast for tomorrow was heavy rain for a loooooong time, and I was preparing for a possible cancellation on my first Zamperla Spinning coaster.
Overall average: 7.54 (Poseidon's Fury brought its average down a lot)
Day 8 - Animal Kingdom
who: me, mom, dad, sister
weather: rain, and lots of it
We arrived at the park at about 10:30 AM, and there was 1 to 2 inches of water on the ground. My spirit was not darkened though. Most of the rides were open. Our first "ride" was It's Tough to be a bug.
It's tough to be a bug: 6/10 It was okay. Some funny jokes, some water jets on the backs of the seats (which really wasn't needed on this day) but nothing special. Next we rode Dinosaur.
Dinosaur: 6.3/10 The ride was fast, but that was basically all that was. The ride was dark, and otherwise, kind of boring. An overall average dark ride. Next I went over to Primeval Whirl, but it was closed down because of the HEAVY rain. The Dinoland USA was horribly done. Honestly it could have beem done better. This was an insult of what Disney could have done. THe theming stunk, the feel wasn't Disney like, it had just about higher theming than a traveling fair. I mean, come on, giant inflatable Dinosaurs?!?!?!?! Surely Disney could have done better. The game booth was classic midway quality (poorly done, no attemot at theming) The place was just horrible, but I was determined to get on Primeval Whirl. So we saw Tarzan Rocks! to pass the time.
Tarzan Rocks! 5.5/10 All it was was basically a rock show with modifications ad medleys of the Tarzan soundtrack, some mediocre rollerblade stunts, and that's about it. Just nothing special at all. Then I took a few construction photos of Expedition Everest. AFter that I heard Primeval Whirl working again so I headed over there.
Primeval Whirl: 4/10 This stunk. THe theming was an insult, with a theming equivalent to little mroe than a state fair. All there was was some cartoon paintings, a time machine engine, some moving planets, clocks, and a very fake T Rex Skeleton. (Do not rid this in the rain. It HURTS ) The friction whels made a squeaking noise from the water (it was still raining, and it was past noon) So we went up the lift. As we approached the top, the "ding" sound from the clock sounded, and we turned for the first turns. For once I am grateful for trims on a Mouse. It was quite painful, the rain and that axe blade known as a seat divider dug painfully into my back. Then, we went over to the second set of mouse turns, and the spinning, and the worst of the pain started. As we started spinning, (way too much IMO) I got slammed into that axe blade/seat divider, and my back was in extreme pain, and it was surprisingly painless when we went over the tiny bunny hops. As we got back into the station, there was only one word on my mind: Ow. Overall, Iwas not pleased. Then we went on the Safari thing.
Safari thing: 5/10 Since it was raining, and hard (still, and it was almost 1:00 PM) so most of the animals were hiding. It was basically looking at about 6 animals and a lot of puddles, and wet plant life. Rain stinks. After that, we went over to the Lion King show.
Lion King Show: 6/10 Yet another average show at the park. Nothing special. No real comment. No real impression left on me. Due to the horrible weather conditions, we were all miserable, and were ready to go to our Rain Forest Cafe' reservation, then go back to the hotel. The Rain Forest Cafe' was cool, but we
waited long, I didn't like the food (it wasn't poor quality, I just didn't like the food)
Overall rating: 5.46
Day 9: return trip
All I remember is getting a smoothie and a Pizza at the Philadelphia Airport. Yeah, that's it.
Coors Light Balloon Fest
Who: me, mom, dad, sister, met up with friends and family at random times during the day.
weather: sunny, thunderstorms later
when: 6/10/05
The main reason why we were going was to have my dad and a couple of family members/friends go up in a hot air balloon. We got their at about 3:00 PM, and we explored the open fields, and after a few miutes, to my surprise, there was a small field with about a dozen fair style rides! So we went over and checked everything out, and I filmed for about 15 minutes, but got about 3 minutes of footage. Next we went back a bit to the place where we were gonna meet some friends, and we chatted a bit, and after that, they took me to the fair rides with their kids, and their relatives. First a few of them went on the slide with the burlap sack thing, but I passed. Next I was gonna go on the Dartron Hurricane there with one of them, but they got sick to their stomach. They had an Apache ride, a family Swinger (possibly Zamperla) a Trabant, a Sidewinder (like a roll o plane but it doesn't tilt to the side) a round up, a Tempest ( I haven't seen a Tempest in almost 10 years, wow, it's been a while) and some other things. THey also hadsome food stands and midway games, a mini fair. First up was the Sidewinder.
Sidewinder: 7.5/10 This is a fun ride, but like the Roll O Plane, I had to hold on to the restraints as hard as possible without bruising my legs on the irregularly shaped metal doors. At about 45 feet tall, it gave a good view of the nearby lake, and the twisting was fun, and sometimes it even gave a little floater air at the top. It even stopped while I was vertical (facing down, but I found out that was part of the ride) After that I rode the Round Up.
ROund Up: 7.5/10 This was a cool Roundup. Being a cheap fair tpe ride, it was creaking a bit during the start, but it held in great. It was kind of forceful, but mot the best (NY State Fair has the better model) The ride lasted a while, too for about 3 minutes. Then, we still had tickets left for one more ride, so I chose Sidewinder again (should have rode Tempest, darn it) Then we went back, but my mom wouldn't buy more tickets so I could ride everything else. (Wait, there was also a Powered Kiddy Coasters)
But then I found out I had accidentally taped over 2 thirds of my movie of the place, and I was ticked! Well, other than the baloon flight being cancelled due to an approaching thunderstorm, nothing happened. Luckily I was going to Dorney park and Hersheypark in about 3 weeks.
Overall rating: 7.5
Dorneypark and Hersheypark
6/28/05 - 7/1/05
I can barely remember anything from the 2 travelung days, so I'll just skip to the coasters.
Day 2: Dorneypark
When: 6/29/05
Who: Mom, Dad, Sister, Me, uncle
weather: partly cloudy, thunderstorms in the afternoon
We got to the park at about 10:15 AM, and because we are so lazy (or I'm so impatient when it comes to parks) we didn't get to ride anything until 10:30AM, but the crowds were very light, possibly because of the forcasted thunderstorm. Given itwas only a month old at the time, so we could save possible long lines, we headed over to Hydra, first thing in the morning.
Hydra: The Revenge: 9.5/10Okay, I may be overrating this because it was my first and so far only Floorless, but is still amazing! The lines on this thing were only about 10 minutes, but we picked the middle, for even less lines. As we went out of the station and into the JoJo Roll, I never knew this thing took your picture in the JoJo Roll. As we ascended the lift, it was unexpectedly quiet, unlike Dueling Dragons and Raptor. When we went down the first drop, I experienced a good amount of airtime, given it's steepness. Then as we sped into the Inclined Dive Loop, it seemed a lot bigger than 62 feet. We went into the Zero G Roll, which it very well lives up to it's name, and into the freaking huge Corkscrew, and the demented Cobra Roll, which were still cool. The S - Hill gave just a tiny amount of airtime, but at least it's not straight track. Into the final Corkscrew and turnaround, and we head into the station. Man, what a ride!!! After that, we headed over to Meteor.
Meteor: 6.5/10 Although this was fun, and gave a good view of Hydra while I was upside down, Seabreeze' model was better. (Yes NY has a lot of forceful flats) The line was about 15 minutes, it was cool, but I don't have much else of a comment. So then I headed over to Dominator, Red for the first time.
Dominator Red: 8.5/10 This was a really good ride! Although the airtime at the top ruled, Dr. Doom's Fearfall was better (more airtime, good theming) So then I went on Sea Dragon.
Sea Dragon: 6/10 thiswas okay. It had a good view of Steel Force, and the airtime was okay, but Seabreeze's model was way better. (Gotta love NY and their flats) So then I rode Dominator Green.
Dominator Green: 9.3/10 Dude! This ruled! The line was short, like pretty much everything else at the park, and the airtime on this was amazing! There are only 3 drawbacks: 1, the lift takes too long, 2, the pause at the top was boring, although would be a good photo opportunity, and 3, it didn't shoot you up the tower as far as I would have liked on the second and third blast. Otherwise, it was one heck of a flat ride. Now I headed over to THunderhawk.
Thunderhawk: 7.85/10 This was a good ride! The airtime wasn't as impressive as the first time I rode it, but it was still fun. The line was about 10 minutes as usual, and the airtime was fun. It was painful, but not unbearable. The only real drawbacks on this thng were the trims at the end. It killed the airtime. And when I say killed the airtime I mean they stabbed the airtime with a knife, shot with a 50 Cal. Rifle, shut it in an Iron Maiden, burned it, forced 6 ounces of Cyanide up it's nose and 'ed it a billion times over, if airtime could be in a physical form. However, it was still fun. Next was my only Hyper Coaster of the year, Steel Force.
Steel Force: 7.5/10 This was fun, and it was smooth, but it didn't have a lot of air time. The line was only about 15 minutes. When I got in the car, I chose the middle, because it had the least lines. As we went over the 1st drop, I experienced surprisingly little airtime,and while we went over the second hill, it was only floater. Going into the helix, was not really forceful, and then we went into the longes MCBR I ever experienced. We went into a series ob bunny hops, and into the brakes. Overall, above average, but nothing truly exciting. Next was Revolution.
Revolution: /10 The ride started up, but then it stopped. So I waited 20 minutes on the ride, then finally, maintenance came along and opened up the restraints to let me and the 10 some odd other people off the ride. Luckily The Claw is the exact same ride, so I'm not missing much. So then i headed over to Laser.
Laser: 8.9/10 This wasone heck of a ride!!! The line was short, which was good, but still I chose the middle for least lines. The lift was boring, but the rest of the ride mor than made up for it. The loops were very forceful, right up there with Talon and Quantum Loop (now Bambo Coaster) and thethe weird turnaround thingy was the most forces I ever experienced on a coaster. Then we went into the 540 degree helix, and into the brakes. This definitely proves that just because a coaster has a very short ride time, and isn't tall or fast, doesn't mean it stinks. Then I headed over to Wild Mouse and screamin' Swing.
Wild Mouse: 6.3/10 This was a bit above average. The line was about 15 minutes as usual, it's weird that this has the longest lines in the park. I wish they removed the trims on the sharp turns part, then it would have been fun. Next was Screamin' Swing.
Screamin' Swing: 8.5/10 This was an amazing flat ride. The airtime on this was really fun (and to think Skyhawk will give even more airtime. w00t!) But the only things I didn't like about this was it's admission fee and it's short ride time of a dozen swings (including the tiny ones) After that we ate lunch at the Game Day Grille, and I had a Burger. While we were there my sister puked. (She also puked after Wicked Twister in 2004, but she was sick before hand both times) Luckily it was in the bathroom. SO after 45 minutes or so, I was filled up and ready to go to Talon.
Talon: 9/10 This is without a doubt B&M's best Inverted! The line was super short, despite it's reputation, and I feel sorry for the staff who work near that, because they have to listen to More Than That, by the backstreetboys all the time. Don't get me wrong, it's a good song, but I wouldn't want to listen to it all the time. (I remember hearing it 2 yeas ago at the same area) I chose the middle, and before we went on, we had to let a kid with apparent special needs go on, and his parents wanted him to go on, but the kid did't really want to by the looks of it. A while later he got his way, and it was out turn. We boarded the extremely comfortable trains, and we were off! The lift was cool, with the little signs on the walkway a few feet under the cars. The airtime was good, and as I said before, the loop was amazing! the Zero G Roll also lived up to it's name, and as we headed into the Immelmann and into the high speed spiral, we dropped into a right hand turn, through the Wing Over, and into it's very forceful helix. Although the ride was a little on the short side, it was one heck of a coaster. Next was Hang Time.
Hang Time: /10 I'm not rating this one because I didn't get a complete ride on this either. Although all we did was rock back and forth, it started raining, and HARD. It was raining so hard it was stining my exposed skin. So me and about a dozen other riders were yelling at the ride op to let us off,and she let us off at about half way through the ride. (I have no idea how far in because that was my first ride). Right before we headed over to Hang Time, my sister, dad, and uncle went back to my uncle's house because they had enough. (We were in 2 cars, and we were less than 30 minutes away from DP) So only me mom and I were left. I found after a rain, the lines on the coasters were pretty much non existent. I took that to my advantage. I rode Talon 2 more times, once in the back and another in the front. then I was going to ride Wild Mouse and Scramin' Swing a few more times, but they were closed because of the rain, and the ride op told us they would be back on in about 15 minutes. So I wen over for my re rides on meteor and Hydra, but Meteor was closed from the rain too, but that would be back on soon. So I rode hydra in the front. That was still truly amazing. Then Meteor opened up, and I rode that again. So we headed back to Wild Mouse and screamin' Swing again, and they were open, which I both rode once. Then we went over to Steel Force Laser and thunderhawk, but it started raining as we got to the souvenier shop near Dominator. It rained there for about 30 minutes, at varying intensities, and that was when I bought a cool air filled ball with rubber spikes on it for $5. Then we headed out to the re rides as it cleared up, but then when we were at the food stall near Monster, it started raining, with the promised Thunder and Lightning. So we sat under the counter, and it rained hard, and constantly. We re arranged all the stuff in the bag to protect my Video Camera, (my dad's actually) We chatted with some people to the left of us, but the girl to the right got her cell phone destroyed by the rain. After about 30 to 40 minutes, I bought some Cheese Sticks and Orange Soda, and waited, and waited. Finally after an hour, we were gonna go home, and the rain finally let up. As we got to the car, only 4 rides were open, and it was the covered ones. Monster was actually open during the first 15 minutes of that third wave of rain, but then it closed. There was about 3 inches of water on the ground, and about a minute after we got back into the car, it started raining a lot again. Then we spent 20 minutes in the parking lot trying to find a way out, which gave me some video opportunities of the closed rides. Then we got back to my uncle's house at about 7 PM. We then watched Italian Job at about 9:00 but I got really tired.
Overall rating: 7.98636364
Day 3: Hersheypark
Who: Me, mom, dad, sister, uncle, Uncle's friend
weather: sunny pretty dang hot.
I got up at about 8 AM, and I ate breakfast, and was lying arond the house, and a few minutes before my uncle's friend arrived, I started posting my trip report so far to my buddies at coasterfuel. So at about 9:00 we headed to hersheypark, about 1 hour and 15 minutes away. As we drove by the park at 10:00 AM or so, I spotted Lightning Racer and Wildcat first. Next we drove t the opposite end of the park to find a place to put our car, and finally got into the park at about 10:30. Right before we went in, the family had to go to the bathroom, and I was itching to ride something. After about 5 or 10 minutes, we finally got ready to go in. We rode Comet first to avoid the long lines.
Comet: 8/10 This wa s a really fun and classic ride! The line was slightly shorter than last time I rode it, at about 20 minutes long, and I occupied myself by watching Great Bear while I was in line. So we boarded the train a while later, and we headed up the lift. About 60 feet up, I saw the lift made a bit of an S bend at the top, which I later found out wood did that as it aged. The drop gave some good freefall, quite surprising for it's relatively small size. The ride was about as rough as Thunderhawk, but still a very fun ride. The airtime nearing the middle and end of the ride was quite impressive, probably the best of any of the older woodies. So after that we headed over to Sooperdooperlooper.
Sooperdooperlooper: 7.8/10 I liked this ride. This ride has some history behind it for me, given it was the first coaster that sent me upside down, all thew way back in 2003. THe line was short as usual, and the drop was fun. The loop was surprsisingly forceful, and so was the rest of the ride. The bunny hops were fuun also, and so was going through the loop. I liked this ride, although it was a bit rough. This coaster really is not crap, it is a fun and forceful ride, ableit one of the rougher Schwarzkopfs I rode. (I only rode 3 though) Next was Great Bearm my fourthB&M inverted.
Great bear: 7.95/10 This was fun. The line was a lot shorter than when my sister rode it back in 2003, at only 10 minutes long. We rode in the fourth car, and the helix at the top was very forceful. The rest of the ride ride was fun, albeit short. This was a really good addition to the park. I also liked rushing on to the final brake run at 30 mph. While looking down I didn't know it was coming, so it came as a good finale foot chopper. As we got off the exit ramp, we headed over to Storm Runner.
Storm Runner: 10/10 It completely blew me away. The line was rather short, at only 15 minutes, and since I wasn't here since 2003, I saw what was re done near Trailblazer. The drop seems even smaller without the trees gone. I skipped Trailblazer this visit, I wanted to ride some more thrilling stuff than that piece of crud. As we got over the station queus, I found the lef one was shorter, so I chose that. We chose near the back, which IMO the farther back, the better the ride is (for boosting coasters anyway) We got in the seats, and we rolled on the launching platform, We weaited there for about a minute, and my asked me a question, I think the conversation went like this:
Uncle: "Now what type of coaster is this?" (This was his and his friend's first time to the park)
Me:"It's a hydraulic Launch Coaster"
uncle:" What does that mean?"
Me: I wasn't entirely sure what he said so I just said "It goes from 0 - 72 in 2 seconds."
Uncle's friend: "You've got to be kidding me!"
And right after she said that, we were off!
The boost was incredibly intense, and we headed over the top hat. I think Top Hats are my favorite elements. If done right, they can produce G's Airtime and freefall all in one hit, like Stormrunner for example. As we headed into the tallest inversion I went on so far, I was surprised at how amazingly foreceful this ride was. Then as we went into the Flying Snake Dive, that was a time where I didn't like the OTSR's, given they gave me some head banging, and so did that weird S bend/ hill thingy, but it, along with TTD are my # 1 steel coasters. So then I ate lunch, and I had a Pizza. After that we went to ride my first ever Vekoma Boomerang. I would have ridden SFDL's boomerang back in 2004, but it was closed. Anyway:
Sidewinder: 7/10 This was above average, but not the greatest. I can see why this is the most cloned model. Anyway, The line was about 20 minutes, and even though I rode in the middle, the head banging was not that bad. The brakes while going through the station were deafening, but that was the only bad thing about this. It seemed a lot higher than 115 feet for some reason. Going backwards was prety much the same thing as going forawrds. It doesn't have much of a difference, really. Then we rode the Train thingy.
Train thingy: 8/10 These types of rides are great because they always give a great view of the surrounding rides. It had a GREAT view of Storm Runner, but it wasn't going over the track at the moment. Next we Rode the Capital Blue Cross monorail.
Capital Blue Cross Monorail: 7/10 This gave a very good view of the park and surrounding area. Nothing much else to comment on. Next we went to the Aquatheatre.
Aquatheatre: 6.8/10 I liked this show, although I was wanting to go to the midway really badly. The animal stunts were cool, but nothing else to comment on this either. Now we finally go to the midway. Our first ride there is the Ferris wheel.
Ferris Wheel: 9/10 I loved this! not because of the thrill, but because of it's amazing placement. i got a complete off ride footage of Lightning Racer and Wild Mouse. Next I was gonna go on Chaos but it was broken down. So we went on Wild Cat.
WildCat: 7/10 This was fun, but it was as rough as #$!!. My face on the on ride photo thing sure showed it. It was, although unlike GCII's other designs it hurt like crazy, now that I realized how painful it was, it was knocked right off my top 5 woodies list. After that i went on Wild Mouse.
Wild Mouse: 8/10 this was really fun! Although it was a bit rougher than DP's model, it had far better forces on the tight turns at the top. This is what all Wild Mice should be. Next was my favorite woodies: Lightning Racer.
Lightning Racer: (Green) 10/10 Usually from all the coasters I rode, they either have a kick butt layout or kick butt airtime. Lightning Racer is an exception: it has both. The amazing dueling and racing also adds up. in the tunnel where it took your picture I tried a Zombie pose but the bunny hop moved my arms and ruined the picture. (Wow, I use that smiley a lot) Anyway, then I rode Red, which was pretty much the same layout, but it ruled just as much!. So after that we headed back over to where we started for some re rides. But I felt like riding the Wave Swinger, knowing we were gonna leave soon and I wanted as much as possible.
Wave Swinger: 6/10 Overall an average ride, not really fun. No real comment. Next I saw that Sooperdooperlooper stalled about 50 feet up the lift, and the riders were being escorted down the stairs. Then we rode Great bear one more time and Storm Runner once more, some truly amazing rides. Then we headed over to the midway again, since we had to see Trash Time! in a bit, which gave me enough time to ride The Claw.
The Claw: 9/10 I was surprised at how good this ride is! Now as I see, KMG Fireballs suck. Anyway, the ride was a little short, but fun nonetheless. I loved swinging past vertical, the airtime was awesome, and the spinning really disoriented me. It was a great last ride in Hershey. so after that we went to eat at Wok and Roll, and then we headed over to Chocolate World, and rode the Chocolate Ride.
Chocolate Ride: 7.5/10 I liked this ride. However it seemed kind of random when there was a south American theming in the queue, although I knew why. This thing will probably get a 10/10 from me next time I ride it and see the animatronic cows. My favorite part of the ride was the Take 5 Bar at the end. Then we went to the hershey Supermarket and bought some stuff. I bought Caramel filled kisses, and my dad bought some Whoppers. We also browsed some other places. We headed back to the car at about 10:15, and drove back to my uncle's house, sadly knowing we we were gonna return home the next day.
Overall rating: 8.034375
Sylvan Beach
Who: me, mom, friend
when: 8-10-05
I was going to Seabreeze for the second time on 8-8-05, but I stepped on a toothpick, and the puncture wound was so large, my trip to the park was delayed another 3 weeks. (I did go to Seabreeze on 7-26-05 but I can not remember any of it) So my mom brought me to Sylvan Beach with a friend instead.
For those of you who don't know about this park, you can get a lot of info about it by clicking on this link: http://www.ridezone.com/parks/ny/sylvanbeach/index.htm
Anyway, on to the trip report. it was about 45 minutes away from our home, and we arrived at the park at about 1 or 2 PM. My friend had to be back home at about 5 PM or so, but on a Weekday in the summer, literally all the rides are walk on. Which is good, so I can ride just about everything I want with re rides in only about 2 hours. So we got our tickets, and it was "bargain day" (every wednesday) so the ride ticket requirements are reduced by 1 (but the most any of these required 4 tickets) So we got on the first ride: Laffland.
Laffland: 8/10 I'm not rating this park on a thrill scale. I'm rating these rides at the park on more of a "classic feel" scale, given not much of this park was thrilling. But still, I am giving this park VERY high regards given it's a friendly park, with that classic feel that you can't find around anymore. Anyway, this ride was fun. It wasn't really scary, but it was more "funny" than anything. I don't know why it was. It just was. So we go around in the dark, see random things pop out at you, and stuff. I just can't really describe this ride, you have to experience this ride, along with everything else. So after that, we went in, and I rode the Scrambler.
Scrambler: 7.5/10 I liked this one! This one was very forceful (probably because it's an Eli Bridge) They also run this one for like 3 or 4 minutes, so that's a plus. But I made the mistake of riding with my friend so we got crushed from the speed of the ride. Although it was painful, I would have loved it even more if I rode alone. Like all the other rides in the park, this was a walk on. I remember this ride in particular because this was the first park I ever went to, and the Scrambler was probably the first ride I ever remember even going on. So this has a lot of history behind it, for me at least. (I even remember when I was a little kid, Galaxi scared the crap out of me because it looked so huge, but I loved watching it) Anyway, back on topic, the ride was nice and long, albeit painful. So next was the Bomber, about 50 feet away.
Bomber: 7/10 The Bomber is an old Eyerly Roll - O - Plane, and it was fun. This one ran you forwards and back, and for quite a while. The only downside to this ride is that this was one of the most painful flats I ever went on, despite it's fun. Wait, this was the only ride that wasn't a walk on, other than the bumper boats, which both had a line of like 6 people at a time. But anyway, if you ride in the left pod, you get a good view of Galaxi. I had to hold on to the lap bar as hard as I could to keep from bruising myself against the metal sides. Although it hurt a lot, I loved it. Next was Tilt - A - Whirl.
Tilt - A - Whirl: 8/10 The thing about these was that they are the most forceful Tilt - A - Whirls I ever went on. It also gives a ride of nearing 4 - 5 minutes, like most of the flats here. So after I got really dizzy, I went over to the Bumper Cars.
Bumper Cars: 7/10 These are the fastest Bumper Cars I ever rode, feeling like going at least 5-7 mph lol. Anyway, there aren't a lot of cars open, like 6 - 8, which is good, so few grid locks occur. So after we got off that, we got some water to drink, and I went over with my friend to Tip Top.
Tip Top: 7/10 This was a fun ride, and a good concept, and the hydraulics scared the crap out of me wen I was little, too. But I learned one thing about this ride: Never ride this in high heat, with the mild spinning, lifting and dropping motion can make you look like this: So I had to sit down for a while after I got off. After that was over we went to the Bumper Boats.
Bumper Boats: 4.5/10 I really don't like this one that much. There is no shade, and you are in direct sunlight, and the wait seems forever in the heat, even though it was about 5 - 10 minutes. Also, it is very hard to steer the things, and you barely get "wet". Then we headed off to Galaxi.
Galaxu: 7/10 Despite the fact that this is the newest ride in the park (relocated here in 1993) it fits the classic park well. The ride is a walk on, and the second drop gives my "lowest clearance on a coaster with very high lap bars" award. I never hold my hands up on the second drop, and I'm like 5' 6" right now, and this is the only coaster I don't hold my hands up for even one drop because of hand chopper effects. There's got to be less than 5 feet of clearance. All the more thrilling. Anyway, if you ride in the front seat, you get flejector air right before the first helix (more extreme than floater, tamer than ejector) and into a somewhat forceful, and long helix. Coming out of that, you get thrown around by thew weirdly banked transition. Luckily this Glaxi has no trims. (Although this was the only Galaxi I ever saw) Going through the second helix, and over the bunny hop which throws you around even more, although nearly painlessly, you slowly turn around into the 1950's style station. So after that, we travelled all the way across the park, a journey of a grueling, suicide inducing 400 - 600 feet. Yes this park is tiny but great. Our next ride was Rock - O - Plane.
Rock - O - Plane: 7/10 I like this ride because of the rocking. However, there are only 2 downsides: the horrible lap bars, and for some reason bees keep coming into the cars, because I remember one coming in back in 2004. Even though I'm not allergic to them, they hurt like crazy, so I freaked out, but luckily I didn;t get stung. After that, we did some re rides on Galaxi, and my friend rode the Fun Slide thingy, and we got in the car and went home. But it was 90+ degrees out, so we got some soda at a gas station.
Overall rating: 7/10
Astroland
8-15-05
who: me, dad
weather: once again, freaking hot
As we went to NYC to see some plays and stuff (we saw Phantom on 8-14, Wicked on 8-15, and Producers on 8-16) I got to go to Astroland. From where we were, it was an hour train thingy trip from out hotel, so I knew it would only be about an hour to 2 hours at the park if we wanted to get back on time, but I knew it would be enough. Well, we finally got there, and I saw the legendary Cyclone out the window of the train thingy (I call it Subway, since the cars are basically the same but it doesn't go underground) Anyway, we got off, and on one of the walls of the station there was a painting of the Wonder Wheel. About 5 or 10 more minutes of walking and we got to the entrance. So we walked to the ticket booth and I saw Power Surge, but I got really ticked off because it wasn't open. So after we got the tickets, my first ride was Dante's Inferno. I really wanted to go on Wonder Wheel but it was really hot out and I was afraid it was gonna pull a Tip Top on me, bt actually puke from the rocking motion, due to the high heat. (I wish there were more of these)
Dante's Inferno: 6/10 An average portable dark ride. Although one part was quite disturbing when there was a mannequin with its limbs chopped off and hanging by chains from the ceiling. It was okay. As I got off, I found the Power Surge was open! So I ran over to that.
Power Surge: 7/10 This ride is one Zamerla's better ones. And beter yet, the ride was pretty long. However, Rapid lateral swinging with OTSR's that practically have blades pressing down into your shoulders is never a good combonation. But at least I got to ride something truly unique. So when that finished I moved onto Break Dancer.
Break Dancer: 8/10 Now I really underestimated this ride. This was one of the better rides in the park. The ride wasvery forceful, and ran for at least 3 and a half minutes long. The only drawback about this ride was the music. It was average music you hear at a fair, but it was so LOUD. If it was quieter this would have been given a 9. But, we can't have everything in life. Then when I got off, I headed to coaster #53 (and my first credit in the Big Apple) the legendary Cyclone.
Cyclone: 7/10 Well, this is a fun ride, and it has a good and classic twister layout, and although I did hear this was painful, I didn't know how paiful they meant. So I walked throuh the tight confines called a queue line, I made it to the station. I heard from my friends at thrillnetwork that seat 1.4 was good, so I picked that row. A few trains later, I was ready to get in. I discovered the lap bar was metal, but I really didn't care. As we approached the lift, I saw the lift didn't "sway" aas much as HP's Comet, but I really didn't care. I held my hands up for the first drop, but I had a feeling that was a bad idea, and boy was it a bad idea. At the bottom of the first drop, I was in extreme pain from this thing's horrible trackwork. We climbed up the second hill, on to that turnaround, and seeing we were going to go over it at realitively high speeds, and it was un banked, I braced for impact, but it hurt all the same. We crested the Camelback, with a relief from the pain, at the expense of airtime, and braced for impact again for the second super painful turnaround, and it wasn't as bad as I thought, but it still hurt. We went over a near mirrored course again, and went over a surprisingly small bunny hop. We kept going and with all the pain it seemed un ending, and to think Harry C. Baker also made Seabreeze's Jack Rabbit, which rules over Cyclone any day, (unless Cyclone was retracked to the smoothness of Lightning Racer) But just before I was going to die from a concussion, we got onto the brakes. I walked off, and headed over to the Tiny Top Spin.
Top Spin: 6/10 This thing was only half the size of the other Top Spins at permanent North Eastern parks I went to. This was fun, but the length of the ride made my tighs hurt like crazy, and from the backs of the seats, I figured we were only going to get a little wet.
Boy was I wrong.
I got shor with water for nearly 20 seconds, coincidentally, it was aimed almost perfectly up my nose. That felt really weird. But at least I got cooled down. So after that, my dad said we had enough time for one more ride, so I got a re ride on Cyclone, despite the pain, front seat. Then I said my good byes, and got back on the non underground subway back to our hotel.
Overall rating: 6.8/10
NY State Fair
who: me, mom
when: 8-24-05
weather: STILL freaking hot
We drive to the parking lot where the bus picks us up, and arrive at about 9:00 AM. (Taking the bus to the fair saves a heck of a lot of parking problems) After a while the bus comes, we get on at about 9:20 and arrive at the fair at about 9:40.
We go through the gates and head over to the midway, and we get to the midway at about 9:50, but then my mom goes to the bathroom, and then we finally get to the rides at about 10:00 AM. So the first thing we see is the Wave Swinger, so I go on that. Unfortunately, the only coasters at the park were a Wacky Worm and some powered coasters, but i skipped those. (I do remember seeing a portable Wild Mouse back in 1996, and even a Falling Star, but those things have gone a long time ago)
Wave Swinger: 6.5/10 This was okay. Slightly forceful, but Yo Yo at Seabreeze is way better. (I'm not kidding, NY's flats are that good) So after that is over, I head over to Tornado.
Tornado: 7/10 I liked this. The only thing I don't like about these Wisdom Tornados is that you have to spin yourself. Luckily I had 3 other people in my car to help. (Yes, I'm a lazy bum) The line for that was about 10 minutes, about as much as most of everything there. So after I got off, I headed over Drop Zone.
Drop Zone: 7.5/10 A fun portable drop ride. This one was about 40 to 65 feet tall, and dropped you about a dozen times. Short but fun. Next was Round Up.
Round Up: 7.3/10 This was one of the better round ups I went on. A nice, long, forceful ride. The paint job could have been better, but hey, this is a traveling fair. You can't get everything you want. So after that was over, I headed to Fireball
Fireball (Larson) 7.8/10 Since they have a Larson Fireball and a KMG Fireball, I will give their company name after the product name. Fireball (Larson) was a realy fun, albeit short ride. For those of you who don't know, it's just a big continous loop, basically a tracked Looping Starship, yet it's constantly mistaken for a roller coaster by the GP. A fun and forceful ride. It was a good thing this didn't have any lateral directional change, given those OTSR's looked painful. Then I ventured to the one of the 2 cliffhangers. (Yes there are 2 cliffhangers and 3 styles of Musik Express rides at the fair, personally I wish they were replaced with a Top Scan, Experience, and a hard rock.) Anyway:
Cliff Hanger: 7/10 This was actually kind of fun for a rather tame looking flat ride. There was a slight amount of air at the top, and it actually pulled some G's. going around for 3 minutes was never so mildly fun. Nextwas Sea Ray.
Sea Ray: 6.6/10 A fun swinging ship type of ride. Although I got the far back, Seabreeze's Sea Dragon is by far the best pirate ship ever. The airtime wasn't as extreme or as plentiful, bringing down the score a lot on this one After that we ate some Pizza and I rode my first ever Starship 2000.
Starship 2000: 5/10 Although this was a fun ride, the forces actually proved almost too much for me. They were getting uncomfortable while experiencing it for 3 minutes. The platforms on the wall that raise you a foot or 2 were very scary, since I was literally inches from getting extreme pain and bumping my head on the roof of the ride, which further lowered this thing's score. Next I went on my first ever Enterprise.
Enterprise: 7/10 2 days before I went on this, while it was being set up, one of the construction workers was going to put up some additional supports under it since it shifted, but the boss told him not to. He did it anyway, it collapsed, and he was crushed to death. Since I knew that 2 accidents on 1 ride in 48 hours is unheard of, I chose to ride it. The only drawback of this is thatit only went through 3 revolutions at max height, although it was exhilirating. then I went on Top Spin.
Top Spin: 7.5/10 I liked this one a lot. At one time it flipped you upside down 6 times in a row, (Astroland did 7) which proved quite painful on my thighs. When it was hanging you upside down, the blood was uncomfortably rushing to my head. However, this proved a very fun ride. When that was over, I went on the KMG Fireball.
Fireball (KMG) 6/10 A fun "spin and swing" ride, but much tamer than The Claw. Also, it took maintenence about 30 minutes to fix the ride, which got boring in line.
The ride was short, forceless, and only made it up to vertical. Next was Remix.
Remix: 8/10 Although all this is is a floorless Scrambler with the arms tilted outward at 45 degrees, it proved to be a very forceful ride. The line took a bit, but I didn't mind. After that i headed to my first ever Zipper Ride.
Zipper: 8.5/10 This was probably my favorite ride at the fair, despite the fact it debuted 37 years ago.A very forceful ride, and although the semi standing position looked uncomfortable, it was actually pretty good. However I learned the hard way to hold on at all times. Nearing thew end of the ride I got jerked around a lot not holding on to the door mounted bars, and my temple hit squarely on the border of the bars. Luckily I recieved only mild pain instead of death. When that horrific incident ended, I vetured off to Terminator, the fair's Fabbri Kamikaze.
Terminator: 7/10 I liked this one a lot, although it wasn't as forceful as Fireball (Larson) it was hanging you upside down at the top a lot more. However being enclosed in that thing would not be good for claustrophobes. The thing looked as if it was the subject to multiple vandalizations, but it still was fun. After that we headed over to the right of the midway to check out the Go Karts and the Sling shot. I was going to ride the sling shot but it was $30, (it looked about 2/3 the size of SFDL's model) So I rode the Go Karts, which was only $5. My mom guessed something right and got a free ride.
Go Karts: 7/10 I may be overrating this because this was my first ever Go Karts, and it may have only been an oval, but it was still fun. They let you drive around for about 10 minutes, which gave you your money's worth. However, I learned that the "objects in mirror are closer than they appear" concept also applies to Go Karts, lol. I looked in the tiny side mirrors, and saw a guy behind me. I tried refusing to let him pass, but I actually rammed into him, and I got yelled at. When that was over, we headed back to the midway and rode Rock 'n' Roll.
Rock 'n' Roll: 2/10 It sucked. It was like that weirdo Journey to the Squirrel Cages at Nara Dream Land, but my car didn't rock at all until I stepped out, neither were half of the other cars during that ride. (Never went to Japan, but I own that Robb Alvey DVD) When that was over, I made another loop around the midway riding Drop Zone, Top Spin, Terminator and Zipper again. After that I got a funnel cake with sugar and strawberries, and ate it on the bus ride back to the parking lot. We got home at around 5:30, and my mom said I didn't have to go to Karate that day. W00T!!!!!!!!!
Overall rating: 6.73125/10
Well, this is my last park for the 2005 season. I will make another season report in April with the following places:
Rapids Waterpark and my first ever disney cruise (April break 2006)
Great Escape (late June 2006)
Sylvan Beach (summer 2006)
Seabreeze (summer 2006, possibly 2 trips like 2005)
NY State Fair (late august 2006)
Martin's Fantasy Island and Six Flags Darien Lake (late august or early september 2006)
There is a slight possibility for Roseland Waterpark and other places to be added this summer also.
Anyway, on to Seabreeze.
Seabreeze (visit #2)
who: me, mom, sister, friend, his mom and his sister.
weather: Mid to high 70's. (yay, not freaking hot)
Well, we pick up our people we were gonna bring along and leave at about 12:00. About 90 minutes later I see the super tiny mini golf course, (less than a mile away from the park) Then we arrive in the parking lot soon after, and get out and into the gates at about 1:30. For some reason they forgot to take down the "celebrating 125 years" sign from 2004. Oh well. About 15 minutes later we pack everythin up in the lockers near the waterpark and head out to our first ride of the day: Whirlwind.
Whirlwind: 9/10 Although this is the only Maurer Sohne Spinner I went on so far, it is by far the best spinner I went on. (Sure beats Primeval Whirl) Anyway, as this was my friend's (him and his family) first real taste of an amusement park, mty friend got very excited. However, his sister wasn't big enough to ride Whirlwind, so she skipped. So, my sister, me, my friend and his mom took up one car. Boys in the front, girls in the back. The line as usual was about 5 to 10 minutes long, as was almost everything in the park. So we got in, the ride op let us go, and we were off. First we turned to the right out of the station and spent the next 11 seconds ascending about 50 feet. Then as we topped the lift, I could see Lake Ontario a few hundred feet off. Then we turned quickly to the right, and started dropping 50 feet at a blistering, heart pounding speed of... 38 mph. Lol, I'm so hilarious. Not. Anyway, as we climb up about 35 feet or so, we encounter MCBR 1. Then as we are half way into our only 180 degree mouse turn, we start spinning. We turn around and dive up to about 3 feet above ground, and pour into the horseshoe curve. Then we ascend to the right and encounter MCBR #2. We turn around yet again to the right and go through a weirdo s bend section thingy. We turn to the right again, and encounter MCBR #3, down into the helix, and up to the right again into MCBR #4. Then we turn back around while going up and down ad into he final brake run. (Wow, that was specific) Although there are 4 MCBRs, this thing still gets the #7 steel coaster rank out of the 40 or so I've been on. (So far it's the only coaster under 50 mph to reach my top 10 steel) After that was over, we rode it 2 more times, but my sister skipped those two, and my friend's mom really hated the ride, (what a whimp, the thing only lasts 70 seconds) After we were done with that, we headed over to Bobsleds.
Bobsleds: 7/10 With the longest lines in the park, at about 20 to 30 minutes regularly, it does get boring waiting that long for a family coaster, yet that is a slightly below average wait time at Cedar Point. Anyway, this coaster is probably the most unique family terrain coaster I have been on. Although the 3 car capacity makes for a boring wait (it used to be a kiddie coaster but track was added and was made a steel coaster back in 1968.) Anyway, as you get out of the curved station, you drop a couple feet and go into 2 of the tiniest bunny hops ever, judging to be only about 12 mches high. Then you turn around to the right to approach the lift. As you reach the 31 foot summit, you slowly turn around to drop down to speeds of 23 mph, the thrills are increased by a well placed head chopper, with a tree not too far above you on that first drop. You climb up again, turn to the right, and drop down a bit. Then you turn to the right yet again, and you drop down about 15 - 20 feet. You climb back up and turn right over the station only to drop back down to ground level. Then you turn left and drop down slightly a few times into the helix. Then you climb back up slightly and into what I call the "lift brakes". Seriously, the brake looks like a heavy duty straight chain lift. My friend's sister really liked this one, as this was her first real coaster.
Sea Dragon: 8/10 This is the highly praised Pirate Ship I've been talking about in previous TR's. Although this one is a little on the short side (time wise) it generates the best Pirate Ship airtime ever. Go on one of the ends, hands up, and you will know what I mean. The first time my friend was scared so he rode in the middle, but we got back in line and he rode in the back. His sister didn't like this one so much. After that was over, we headed over to Spring.
Spring: 7.5/10 This was pretty fun, a good freefall ride when all the other real freefall rides are at least 4 hours away from you. Anyway, it lifts you about 30 to 40 feet, yet only drops you half way at max. Yet the freefall is fun, and it drops you about 9 times or so. Next was Screamin' Eagle, but my friend was too scared to go upside down, so he skipped it.
Screamin' Eagle: 8.5/10 Although this is the only ride in the park that goes upside down (why did Quantum Loop move to Columbia?! ) But it still more than makes up for a good ride. Although the line was short, I had to not pick the end seats to "conserve time". Oh come on, we have several hours left and the line for the ends looked to last only about 4 to 6 rides. Anyway, At 70 feet tall, it the second tallest dry ride in the park, second to Jack Rabbit at only 75. IMO this is placed perfectly in the park. When you are at the lockers near Banzai Speed Slide in the afternoon, the sun pokes above the ride, giving Screamin' Eagle a sort of angelic beauty when it is operating (and it gives one *bleep* of a video opportunity) So I got near the end. We got suspended upside down a couple times, and the forces generated at the bottom were nice and plentiful, and you floated down into your restraints at the top. Even better, you go forwards and backwards. This is the best Zamperla Hawk ever. Anyway, I skipped Flying Skooters as it wasn't really all that fun, but I rode Tilt - A - Whirl as I had nothing else to do at the minute.
Tilt - A - Whirl: 6.5/10 Meh, it wasn't all that great. Sylvan Beach's model is better. Then I went on to Beartrax.
Beartrax: 7/10 The best kiddie coaster... ever. 'Nuff said. Then we headed over to the 4th oldest coaster in the world, and so far the oldest I've been on, the 85 (now 86) year old Jack Rabbit.
Jack Rabbit: 7.8/10 This it probably the most classic woodie I have been on (other than the non painful 5 car Chance/Morgan trains, yes I said non painful)
The line is still about 5 to 10 minutes, despite the lone 20 passenger train. As there were some people in the front seat, we (me and my friend) decided to get the back. We turned around near the Log Flume and ascended the 50 something foot lift. (That's what it looks like anyway) At the top there is a colorful sign saying none other than Jack Rabbit, and then we drop down 75 feet, Astroland Cyclone style. (Luckily a lot less painful) Then we crest over 2 camelbacks with some floater air, and climb up about 30 feet and into the relatively wide turnaround. We double down and into two more camelbacks, ad turn into the tunnel. As we are in the tunnel, we drop down the final time and we approach the station. After that was done we went to ride Yo Yo.
Yo Yo: 7/10 this is IMO the best swing ride ever. Although it's not a Wave swinger, the ride you get is long, forceful, and has some really good foot choppers with the surrounding trees. The park map by the ride still has Quantum Loop on it, the only park rememberance of the beloved looper. The line on this was still on the short side at 10 - 15 minutes of a wait. After that was over we changed and went to the waterpark. Our first "ride" in the waterpark was The Wave (it's a Wave Pool for the people who haven't heard of this place)
The Wave: 7/10 This was fun. A nice and large pool generating 3 - 4 foot waves at 15 minute intervals. We spent about half an hour in here, and got bored. So we then headed out to the Lazy River.
Lazy River: 5/10 This ride was... well... lazy. Not to mention BORING. All you do is lie in a tube for 10 minutes while going under an occaisonal fountain. Then when that was over, I headed on to the big guns.
Radical Run: 8/10 I really like this slide a lot. The insane amount of twisting is really amazing.
Zoom Flume: 8/10 Since I don't know which is which, and they seem nearly identical, I'm going to give this the same rate. Anyway, I then rode Banzai Speed Slide.
Banzai: 8.5/10 This is one of my favorite slides. The ride reaches at least 80 feet in height. Although allyou do is drop about 15 feet, and then about another 65 feet, the speed is exhilirating. IMO it shoudl be renamed to Wedgie: The Slide, given the speed you encounter at the bottom gives you a major wedgie. Next we went to the Soak Zone where I stood under the bucket a couple times (no euphemisms intended if any) and soaked a few people in the water Gun epmplacement circle thingy. Then we (my friend and I) went over to Wipeout!
Wipeot! Left: 9/10 This is probable my favorite slide in the park. Although this is only an enclosed 360 degree helix, it is easily the most forceful slide I went on.
Wipeout! Right: 9/10 Exactly the same as Wipeout! left, but mirrored. After my friend rode this, he stopped riding them as they proved too intense for him. Then we ate dinner near the California Cafe' (I had a burger, how shocking) and then we started our re rides. We rode Whirlwind, Sea Dragon, Bobsleds, and Spring again. Thewn I decided to ride Gyrosphere.
Gyrosphere: 7.3/10 Although all this is is a tame, but long lasting, enclosed scrabler with a laser light show, it is really fun for what it is. The line was about 20 minutes, and this is where I saw the only not sanitary place in the park" the picket fence to the left of the queue had a lot of graffiti on it. Other than that, the park is practically spotless. The ride lasts about 5 minutes or so, and the laser light show keeps adding additional light patterns and laser formations each season, making each visit a new experience. This ride is very unique, and more o these should be made. The music is also a nice touch. Then we played the squirt gun thing near spring, and we got a final ride on Jack Rabbit in the back, at about 8:45, giving a great night ride. After that, we played some midway games across from Screamin' Eagle, (I won a Halo 2 poster) and we headed back into the car at about 9:00, and arrived home at about 10:30 PM.
Well, that's all folks.