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Antinos' 2018 Thread (2018 Wrap-up: Six Flags Over Georgia)

Antinos

Slut for Spinners
Last year's trip report thread seemed to be fairly successful so I might as well do it again for this summer! Although I'm honestly still planning out my 2018 season, I have already visited four parks thus far, starting with Busch Gardens Tampa.

My last visit to BGT was in 2003. Python and Rhino Rally were still main attractions and we didn't even know that SheiKra was coming. I'm not quite sure what kept me away for so long but I've been itching to go back since I graduated college. Luckily, my buddy Dan (he went to Holiday World with us last October) recently overcame his fear of heights and has since been on a mission to mow through North America's amusement parks as quickly as possible. Since August 5th, 2017, he's logged ~170 coasters and is gunning for 200 by April (he has Silver Dollar City planned for next week and Texas planned for the week after). In addition to BGT, we also visited both Fun Spot locations and Sea World to increase our cred haul. Needless to say, I didn't need to convince him to do this trip.

Looking at my own creds...I realized after booking everything that this trip would put me at 398 coasters. I'm currently working on planning 399 along with multiple contingencies such that Steel Vengeance ends up as 400.


Cobra's Curse - I started off my season with a pleasant surprise. Cobra's Curse was not the mediocre spinning coaster that I thought it would be when it was first announced. Instead, it was a fun, unique ride with three distinct parts to it: forward facing, rearward facing, and spinning. The dual elevator lift is completely fascinating from an engineering perspective. The general concept is similar to Pilgrim's Plunge's double lift, but instead of leaning, the lifted track section actuates sideways via a secondary set of rails on the elevator, similar to a 4D coaster. Although the theming was a bit silly, it was well done like one would expect from a Busch park. Lesson learned though - stop being such a snob and take a closer look when one of these mid-tier thrill rides are announced.

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Montu - I really hate to give the B&M bashers that vocalize "they don't build 'em like they used to" any footing to stand on, but honestly they're right. From start to finish, Montu is a fast paced, unrefined hauler of ass that punches you in the face in such a way that you get on your knees for more. The forces, the flowing layout...it's all wonderful. Each transition is excellently crafted to maintain the intensity while seamlessly joining elements together. Montu is certainly a gem.

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Falcon's Fury - Mother of sweet baby Jesus. I'll be honest - it was a bit too much. The ride starts off like a typical drop tower and offers a fantastic view of the surrounding area, but then your seat is tilted back and your mind is fully focused on how your restraint is literally all that's holding you 300 feet in the air. It isn't a pleasant thought. The freefall is excellent, even if the seats swing back into place a smidge early. Lex Luthor has the edge over this, but damn homie...it isn't ****ing around.

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Sand Serpent - Honestly one of the best wild mice I've been on. It offered a smooth, comfortable ride for a mouse.

Scorpion - Good ol' Schwarzy is still real good! Happy to see the park still maintaining the ride.

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Kumba - I can say the same for Kumba as I said for Montu. It was hauling some serious ass and taking no prisoners whatsoever. It's honestly better than The Incredible Hulk. Kumba has the length that some other rides lack but it pairs it with a pace and flow that's unrivaled to this day. The ride doesn't die after the interlocking corkscrews and instead maintains that incessant intensity as it dives below the brakes and into the final helix. Kinda shocking that so few of these ride types were built.

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SheiKra - Fiiiiiiiiiiiiinally got to ride such a revered ride. I preferred it to Griffon and maybe even Valravn (I'll save that judgment for another six weeks). The drops were outstanding and the helix around the lift really set the ride apart from Griffon. Aesthetically, the ride is in a league of its own. The red track is so striking against the deep blue supports, light blue Florida sky, lush green foliage, and beige midways and structures surrounding the ride. Busch did an outstanding job at blending the whole ride into its surroundings - much better than Griffon. Excellent ride!

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Air Grover - It was kinda shameful...kinda. +1

Cheetah Hunt - Like SheiKra, I was impressed by how the park masterfully concealed certain parts of the ride and showcased other parts. The first launch is perfectly hidden above the entrance plaza by a structure that simply looks like a foot bridge. The turn into the second launch is fairly nondescript due to the surrounding foliage and the second launch actually starts in a tunnel below the midway. I really appreciate the attention to detail that the park clearly spent a lot of time on, and I also appreciate the concept of the ride and how it mimics a cheetah hunting its pray...but the ride itself was exactly what I expected. The ride did have intense launches and good airtime entering and exiting the figure eight, but the rest of the ride held a conflicting identity. The rest of Cheetah Hunt is mainly gentle S-bends and the heartline roll is simply out of place right in the middle of it all. The ride flowed...I simply wasn't jazzed by the execution as much as I love the concept.

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Overall thoughts - I certainly won't wait another 15 years before I return. Busch Gardens Tampa has a SOLID ride lineup and an amazing atmosphere. The Busch parks really have not lost their luster at all and are still well worth the admission price. I'm already looking forward to my next trip.

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Note: There is a neat taproom about two miles north called World of Beer. They have over 500 beers to choose from and an excellent menu. Check it out if you're ever visiting the park - it's a great way to kill some time the night before your visit to BGT or a nice way to take a load off after running through the park all day.


I'll post my review of both Fun Spot locations soon!


Roadmap:
  • Kokomo's Family Fun Center (hoping to ride their coaster while I'm in the neighborhood for the FRC Michigan State Championship in four weeks)
  • Cedar Point (Opening weekend)
  • King's Island (TBD)
  • Michigan's Adventure (TBD)
  • Craig's Cruisers (TBD)
  • Indiana Beach (TBD)
  • Six Flags Great America (TBD)
  • Indianapolis Zoo (TBD)
  • Canobie Lake (TBD August)
  • Funtown (TBD August)
  • Palace Playland (TBD August)
  • Story Land (TBD August)
  • The Great Escape (TBD August)
  • Seabreeze (TBD August)
  • Darien Lake (TBD August)
  • Waldameer (TBD August)
  • Holiday World (TBD October)
 
Last edited:

Hutch

Strata Poster
Good stuff! Visited the park for the first time last year, had a full day and loved it. I pretty much agree with you about all the coasters. They seriously have a great lineup. Both Montu and Kumba are fantastic and pace really well. It's kind of astounding how Kumba has a such a similar layout to a lot of other B&M sitdowns/floorless, yet they can't match that intensity and pace of Kumba.

Looking forward to more.
 

Antinos

Slut for Spinners
I'm a day late thanks to grad school...oh well.

Our original plan for our trip was to spend all day Saturday at BGT and then visit both Fun Spots and Sea World on Sunday. We blew through BGT because we got there at opening and stayed ahead of the crowds all day, so we changed plans! After a pit stop at Wawa (a gas station with a top notch convenience store that serves fresh food), an hour drive to Celebration, FL, and checking into our hotel that was literally next door to Fun Spot Kissimmee, we were walking over to Mine Blower to start our Fun Spot run.

Literally from our hotel parking lot:
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Mine Blower - Out of the handful of North American announcements for the 2017 season, Mine Blower was the only ride that impressed me (Mystic Timbers turned out to be a great ride, but c'mon...the announcement was disappointing and confusing). I certainly was not surprised by the ride as it was just as I expected. Mine Blower really packs quite an impressive punch in a tiny little footprint. The Gravity Group took a page out of Rocky Mountain's Construction with the barrel roll - the entrance to the roll is under-heartlined which results in the train kicking you out of your seat throughout the roll. If there was room to put a hill, they put a hill no matter if it was six feet tall or 30 feet tall or no matter how rapid-fire the train traversed the hills. Seriously...there's a spot where there's three or four hills in a row and the train traverses them in about six seconds. Fun Spot must have said 'we want a turn here' and TGG said 'you want an even tighter turn than that.' The ride transitions from strong, fast paced ejector airtime to significantly strong positive Gs in each turn while spending much of its time rushing through the white lattice support structure. This little ride DOES. NOT. ****. AROUND. Absolutely loved it!

Also...plan your quick visit to include a quick stop in Old Town next door to down a beer or four while taking a break from riding. Before retiring for the night, we took a half dozen more laps on Mine Blower after a few beers and the experience was wild. My mind was still processing the previous element and everything was a blur. What a wild time.

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Look at how small the pre-lift turn is:
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Kiddie Coaster - Now THIS cred was shameful...it went around four times...

Rockstar Coaster - It was a wild mouse, but fortunately it was a ZAMPERLA SPINNING MOUSE :D Again...we engineered the **** out of it and spun more than we've ever spun on a spinner. It was ridiculous...Dan was slightly less happy after the spinning.

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After maybe an hour at the Kissimmee location, we transitioned up to the Orlando location and upgraded our wristbands to work at both parks ($10 additional charge, but saves cash in the long run). I had been here before in the daytime so it was pretty nice to retake some of my photos at night!

Sea Serpent - another kiddie cred. Luckily it only lapped twice. The things I do to have Steel Vengeance be a milestone ride...

Freedom Flyer - It's really nothing special but it's not bad at all. It's just a smooth, meandering family coaster. One interesting thing I noticed is that the seats actually sway slightly. They are actually mounted on pivots and are each held in place by beefy gas struts. This attribute means that although the motion is extremely heavily damped, the ride is actually a swinging coaster.

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White Lightning - It's difficult to write about such a quality ride after writing about Mine Blower. The forces and airtime aren't as strong, it isn't as intense or fast paced...but it's still a quality ride. White Lightning still runs smoothly and flows nicely along the side of the park. It's certainly a ride that would be a ton of fun to marathon as it throws you around just enough to excite you, but it isn't super intense.

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As I mentioned earlier, we headed back to the Kissimmee location to grab a few more laps on Mine Blower before calling it a night. Although both parks have the same branding and are owned/operated together, there are subtle, but evident differences between the two. The Kissimmee location has an older, touristy, glorified carnival feel to it due to its proximity to Old Town, its lack of vegetation, and its general landscaping and decorating. The Orlando location, on the other hand, was recently revamped - it features an entrance building instead of gates, is decently vegetated, and has clean landscaping and decorations. Kissimmee has the better rides, but Orlando feels more like an actual park.

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Tomorrow (maybe)...I'll present the Sea World installment of this little trip. Also I already ****ed up the road map...Oh well.


Roadmap:
  • Sea World Orlando
  • Kokomo's Family Fun Center (hoping to ride their coaster while I'm in the neighborhood for the FRC Michigan State Championship in four weeks)
  • Cedar Point (Opening weekend)
  • King's Island (TBD)
  • Michigan's Adventure (TBD)
  • Craig's Cruisers (TBD)
  • Indiana Beach (TBD)
  • Six Flags Great America (TBD)
  • Indianapolis Zoo (TBD)
  • Canobie Lake (TBD August)
  • Funtown (TBD August)
  • Palace Playland (TBD August)
  • Story Land (TBD August)
  • The Great Escape (TBD August)
  • Seabreeze (TBD August)
  • Darien Lake (TBD August)
  • Waldameer (TBD August)
  • Holiday World (TBD October)
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
I've heard a few things people criticise some of the trackwork on Mine Blower, claiming its got some horrible jerks and bangs in the track. Did you experience anything like this?

Great update, sounds like a blast!
 

Antinos

Slut for Spinners
I've heard a few things people criticise some of the trackwork on Mine Blower, claiming its got some horrible jerks and bangs in the track. Did you experience anything like this?

Great update, sounds like a blast!

Ah I completely forgot to mention that! Thank you for the reminder!

Mine Blower was not rough...not even in the slightest bit. Those claiming that the ride is rough are COMPLETELY full of ****. There are no jolts, no pumps, no jackhammering, and no shuffling. Basically, those claiming that the ride is rough are basically just stating that it's a wooden roller coaster.


Another thing I forgot to mention in the first post was the state of Gwazi. It's still standing there with much of the area neatly closed off. It almost doesn't feel like there's an SBNO ride there so I guess the park is doing a decent job at rightfully keeping it out of the spotlight. Although as bad as the ride was, it is a bit sad to see it rotting away. Hopefully the park chain gets its ducks in a row such that BGT can deal with Gwazi, whether it's a refurbishment, a conversion, or a demolition.
 

Antinos

Slut for Spinners
Better wrap this trip up before I forget about it...

After finishing up both Fun Spot parks Saturday night, we were a bit concerned about what to do once we finished Sea World Orlando. We considered Legoland, one of the Disney parks, and the Lowry Park Zoo, but we ultimately decided to simply sleep in! It ended up being the right idea and we still arrived at Sea World around 11:00am.

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Manta - It's another example of the Busch chain seamlessly and masterfully blending the ride in with its surroundings. I didn't see many footers because almost all of them were surrounded by plants. The ride's color scheme also fits nicely with its environment. Manta itself was a great ride - definitely not as good as Tatsu but certainly better than the Superman clones. The ride kicks it off with a wickedly intense pretzel loop before meandering through some gentle, flowing turns and rolls. It's a shame the flying coaster type wasn't really a hit - I'd love to see more flyers like Manta.

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Mako - A prime example of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Mako features a relatively cookie cutter B&M hyper layout but its speed sets it apart from the rest. The first overbanked turn - the single unique element on the ride - is tighter and steeper than most which really grabs your attention. The second overbank and third turn have some decent positive G's to add to the experience...but the highlight is the three airtime hills which actually offer true ejector airtime (even with the trim on). Mako careens into the mid course brakes before traversing through the last few turns over the midway and water. Although I made the comments about the old school Beemers being so rambunctious in the first post of the report, Mako can absolutely hang with Montu and Kumba. It's DAMN good. Oh...and the station is pretty sweet too.

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Kraken - I ALWAYS see people bashing Kraken. People call it tame, forceless, a piece of ****...They need to get back down to Orlando and take another lap on it. Kraken was running phenomenally during our visit. It offered more intensity than and was outpacing both Medusas and Scream. And the ride offers a pretty good layout - both loops and dive loop were quick, the 0-g roll was intense, and the cobra roll really packed a punch. I won't equate it to Kumba, but it was a pleasant surprise.

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Journey to Atlantis
- I'm glad I decided to take a spin on this with Dan. It ended up being our longest wait, but there was quite a bit of the ride that I did not remember from my last visit. The indoor section was very well themed and was ultimately a great way to cool off in the hot sun.

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Shamu's Express - Yeah! +1

At this point we were hungry, so we found a smokehouse and had some barbeque that was pretty darn good as opposed to what one would expect from an amusement park. We decided to end our day by grabbing a few more laps on Mako and then checking out the Empire of the Penguin ride before heading back to Tampa for our flight. The penguin ride itself was kinda lame and pointless but the exhibit was fantastic. Well worth a walk through. Despite traffic, we returned to Tampa's airport with plenty of time to grab a drink before the flight. We even got the treat of flying over Louisville. Although I spent a hectic six months at Kentucky Truck Plant last summer and fall, I have a ton of fond memories from my time there and flying over was a great way to remember the positives.

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Overall thoughts - I felt the same way about Sea World that I did about Disneyland California - I liked it much more than I thought I would for my age. Sea World Orlando certainly has exciting rides and the park surely put in plenty of effort to ensure the entire ride experience was excellent. I'm excited to watch all three Sea World parks continue to evolve as they shift away from being zoological parks and more towards amusement parks. Again, I certainly hope the finances aren't too big of a burden for the chain and that they can continue to provide such awesome experiences for many years to come.


Up next...somewhere close to home with a +1...we'll see where exactly in a few weeks.



Roadmap:
  • Kokomo's Family Fun Center (hoping to ride their coaster while I'm in the neighborhood for the FRC Michigan State Championship in three-ish weeks)
  • Cedar Point (Opening weekend)
  • King's Island (TBD)
  • Michigan's Adventure (TBD)
  • Craig's Cruisers (TBD)
  • Indiana Beach (TBD)
  • Six Flags Great America (TBD)
  • Indianapolis Zoo (TBD)
  • Canobie Lake (TBD August)
  • Funtown (TBD August)
  • Palace Playland (TBD August)
  • Story Land (TBD August)
  • The Great Escape (TBD August)
  • Seabreeze (TBD August)
  • Darien Lake (TBD August)
  • Waldameer (TBD August)
  • Holiday World (TBD October)
 

Youngster Joey

Strata Poster
Great report. Definitely makes me want to visit the Orlando and rack up the parks in the Area I'm missing and return to BGT. Keep up the good work.
 

Antinos

Slut for Spinners
So I was supposed to post a few weeks ago as I intended to ride a cred up in Saginaw, MI while I attended the Michigan State Championship with my robotics team. Much to my chagrin, mother nature decided to wreak havoc that weekend as an ice storm rolled through middle Michigan. This caused me to miss out on the cred, and sadly Steel Vengeance ended up being #399. The mid-April weekend was not a total loss - the robotics team concluded the event as division finalists and qualified for the world championship in Detroit.

But none of you care about robots. You clicked on this thread for one reason, and that reason is Steel Vengeance!

I arrived at Cedar Point right at 9:00am, met up with @Youngster Joey and @Error, and was ditched by @Hyde. And we waited in line. It took 2.5 hours for our first ride.


Steel Vengeance


It's been almost two years since we heard that Mean Streak might get an RMC conversion. They announced its closure and instantly began to carefully dismantle portions of the ride. Iron Horse track showed up and anticipation quickly started to build. Suddenly, photos surfaced of the ride's second hill, which was alarmingly higher than its predecessor. As more photos were leaked throughout the winter, we were shocked at the outerbanked hill and excited by the first inversion. Then the drop began to rise and we realized that the ride would likely have a vertical drop - anticipation was at an all time high and we rode that wave all the way to the premier weekend.

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Steel Vengeance is a ride that will shatter any preconstruct you already had in your mind. Hardly anything actually is as expected. The areas where you expected a bit of airtime actually have the strongest airtime. The sections of the ride you expected to be dull are actually the most interesting and exciting. The portions of the ride you expected to be slow are relentless. It's a ride full of delightful surprises.

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You board your train, buckle your seatbelt, pull down your lapbar...you know the drill. Your train departs and the hills that the train navigates between the station and the lift actually move you. I won't say they provide airtime, but they at least move your body a bit, which is more than basically any other ride with a prelift. The lift itself is fast...and LOUD. Goodness, they need to put some plastic tabs on the ratcheting mechanism to quiet the damn thing down. Nevertheless, your train crests the peak. You float out of your seat as you plummet literally straight down towards the ground. The train levels off in a high G pullout and careens over a quick speed bump before rolling skyward again. Out of your seat you rise again for a solid four or five seconds as you crest the second hill, even though your brain is still processing the first drop. Another moment of high Gs and you're lifted out of your seat again in one of the most incredible elements on any roller coaster - the outerbanked hill. Although it's not as forced and terrifying as anticipated, it's still a wicked, uncanny moment as you're thrown up and sideways at the same time. Next, your train steps up into another moment of strong airtime before entering what could be argued as the most perfect 0-g roll ever built. For a solid three seconds, your body is completely weightless through approximately 405* of rotation. It's impressive how comfortable and buttery smooth they shaped the entire element. After a zippy turnaround, you're weightless and upside down again as you snake-dive through the structure and back down to the ground. Steel Vengeance enters the portion of the ride with the strongest airtime thus far - the double up into the mid course brakes...and then your train sails through with barely any time for a breath of air.

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Much to many people's relief, Cedar Point and RMC delivered a very strong second half. Honestly, I will go as far to say that the second half of the ride is actually better than the first. As the train exits the mid course brakes, it navigates a complicated section of track filled with directional and elevation changes as it plummets to the ground while avoiding other portions of track and supports. The ride enters the section with THE strongest airtime along the entire circuit - another double up. We watched at least three people's phones fly out of the train over this pair of hills and heard at least a half dozen more loose articles clang against the ride's structure as we waited. The following twisted hill delivers another big burst of airtime as the train dives into the wooden structure. The illusion of speed is heightened through the overbanked turn over the brakes and the following barrel roll seamlessly flows in the elemental progression as you float over the ride's entrance. After a few more hills with strong airtime, your train reenters the structure and sends you into a wave turn completely enshrouded in lumber and leaving you thinking that you're going to lose your head. One more quick barrel roll and overbanked turn and you're in the home stretch - the ride wraps up with five textbook bunny hops that are reminiscent of Storm Chaser's final few hills over its entrance. It's over: two minutes and 30 seconds after your train was dispatched, your train is gently slowed by magnetic brakes before completely stopping before the station and NOT bumping the train in front of you.

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The ride has so much going on - it's really hard to process it all in a single ride. Even with a second ride the following morning, I still feel like I haven't completely grasped all that the ride is.

Steel Vengeance exhibits mastery in shaping of elements and pacing. Each element felt natural, both in its size and lead ins and outs and also duration. Each element flowed into the next. It's truly astounding that they managed to deliver this massive of a project with such stunning results.

From what I could tell in my two rides, there are only two flaws to the ride. The first is an awkward lateral shift between the last barrel roll and the last overbanked turn. The other is the forced feel of the final four airtime hills, a dynamic that seems to be more present on RMC's older and/or smaller rides.

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Honestly...I hope this report doesn't make me sound like a CP fanboy or RMC fanboy. Steel Vengeance is not the greatest thing in existence just because it's located at Cedar Point and Fred Grubb and Allan Schilke are not gods or deities...but Steel Vengeance is one unbelievably outstanding ride. I've tentatively settled on ranking it #2. As I previously mentioned, there's too much to soak in...even with two rides. I am sure that when I am slightly higher spirits, when I'm not in the midst of a mob scene, and the ride is actually operating three trains, my opinion of the ride will likely improve a bit more. Also...night ride. The claustrophobic nature of the supports will undoubtedly be a game changer at night. This ride may very well slide into my #1 slot...but only another trip or two will tell (unless I decide to just completely piss off all the CP/RMC fanboys by telling them that it isn't my favorite). Regardless of whether I ultimately decide whether it's #1 or #2, that should say a lot for how good it is as well as Lightning Rod.

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ALRIGHT imagine this! There is actually an entire amusement park in addition to this brand spanking new bumper cars attraction...and that park had a pretty rough weekend, unfortunately. While the Steel Vengeance incident was the talk of the town, the park was more understaffed than I've ever seen it on an opening weekend. Numerous rides were open for the first half of the day before the crew was relocated to operate another ride for the second half of the day. Some major rides had delayed openings. Gatekeeper opened at 1:00pm on Saturday. Top Thrill Dragster got one loaded train of riders launched at 3:30pm before closing for the rest of the day. Valravn didn't open until 7:00pm. Wicked Twister, Windseeker, and maXair did not operate over the weekend. Other operating rides already had rows blocked off because restraints were inoperable. I noticed that some of the infrastructure around the park - toilets, hand dryers, drinking fountains, etc - were not functioning.

Nevertheless, our group had a wonderful time and managed to get on most rides. Throughout the weekend, we were joined by @Snoo and company and rejoined by @Hyde. Maverick provided a particularly good ride at night. I think it holds onto its spot in my top 10 just above Storm Chaser. While we've had better rides on Millennium Force, we've also had much worse rides on it. Rougarou was already in midseason form as it whipped around its track. Gatekeeper, Valravn, and Raptor all provided fun rides this past weekend.

To wrap things up, we also enjoyed the cabin we reserved at Lighthouse Point. We've stayed in these cabins before and think they're perfect for young adults - no need to worry about being loud, they provide ample space for a big group, and they are quite cheap for what you're actually getting. Aside from navigating the Steel Vengeance mob, we wanted a more low key weekend and relaxing on the patio while waiting for the crowds to die down in the evening and catching up over a few beers with everyone after the park closed certainly allowed for that.


Alright, that's enough of that...What's next? I honestly don't know. I'll be busting my ass on a doozie of a grad school semester and also attempting to move while I figure out what #400 will be. Until next time!


Roadmap:
  • Kokomo's Family Fun Center (TBD)
  • King's Island (TBD)
  • Michigan's Adventure (TBD)
  • Craig's Cruisers (TBD)
  • Indiana Beach (TBD)
  • Six Flags Great America (TBD)
  • Indianapolis Zoo (TBD)
  • Canobie Lake (TBD August)
  • Funtown (TBD August)
  • Palace Playland (TBD August)
  • Story Land (TBD August)
  • The Great Escape (TBD August)
  • Seabreeze (TBD August)
  • Darien Lake (TBD August)
  • Waldameer (TBD August)
  • Holiday World (TBD October)
 

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
To wrap things up, we also enjoyed the cabin we reserved at Lighthouse Point. We've stayed in these cabins before and think they're perfect for young adults - no need to worry about being loud, they provide ample space for a big group, and they are quite cheap for what you're actually getting. Aside from navigating the Steel Vengeance mob, we wanted a more low key weekend and relaxing on the pato while waiting for the crowds to die down in the evening and catching up over a few beers with everyone after the park closed certainly allowed for that.
I especially liked it when the "young adults" next to us came over around midnight to pre-apologize for making too much noise, when we thought they were coming for us to apologize for making too much noise.
 

Snoo

The Legend
I especially liked it when the "young adults" next to us came over around midnight to pre-apologize for making too much noise, when we thought they were coming for us to apologize for making too much noise.

Shoulda asked for a hit or two from them. :D
 

Antinos

Slut for Spinners
Roadmap update:

  • Cedar Point (June 11th)
  • Indianapolis Zoo (Late June)
  • Canobie Lake (mid-August)
  • Funtown (mid-August)
  • Palace Playland (mid-August)
  • Story Land (mid-August)
  • The Great Escape (August 16th)
  • Seabreeze (August 17th)
  • Darien Lake (August 17th)
  • Conneaut Lake Park (August 18th)
  • Waldameer (August 18th)
  • Indiana Beach (TBD September)
  • Six Flags Great America (TBD September)
  • Holiday World (TBD October)
  • Dollywood (mid-November)
  • Kokomo's Family Fun Center (eventually)
  • King's Island (hopefully)

Grad school and kickstarting the moving process are consuming the rest of my free time. Bigger trips and work commitments are taking away a good amount of weekends as well. We'll see what else I can manage to squeeze out this year...it's just a damn shame that 400 will likely be a ****ing Tivoli medium T_T
 

Antinos

Slut for Spinners
2018 US Live at Cedar Point!

We rode some roller coasters...including Steel Vengeance!

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I mentioned it in the Top 10 topic, but Steel Vengeance dethroned Lightning Rod. I honestly cannot believe it, but it did. The monster that's essentially Lightning Rod with Storm Chaser shoved on the end of it thrilled everyone in our group - I think we almost unanimously have it as our favorite coaster.

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Night rides...oh my goodness. The back portion of the ride is completely dark, but the front portions are flooded with the ride's spotlights. Both sections within the structure showcase the timbers in different ways and both are equally terrifying.

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It was really awesome to meet @davidm, @DelPiero, @Howie, and @iac17 as well as catch up with both @LiveForTheLaunch and @Edward M! It was a pleasure to get to know each other, exchange stories, and share memories while riding as well as over drinks after spending Sunday evening in the park. Y'all really made it a wonderful time! :D

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To make this a quick one, enjoy the expressions of fellow CFers as they take on Top Thrill Dragster's front row:

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Seriously fun time! I'm bummed it came and went so quickly (phrasing).


Roadmap:
  • Indianapolis Zoo (Late June)
  • Canobie Lake (mid-August)
  • Funtown (mid-August)
  • Palace Playland (mid-August)
  • Story Land (mid-August)
  • The Great Escape (August 16th)
  • The tiny park in Syracuse, NY that I'm too lazy to look up the name of (August 16th)
  • Seabreeze (August 17th)
  • Darien Lake (August 17th)
  • Conneaut Lake Park (August 18th)
  • Waldameer (August 18th)
  • Indiana Beach (TBD September)
  • Six Flags Great America (TBD September)
  • Holiday World (TBD October)
  • Dollywood (mid-November)
  • Kokomo's Family Fun Center (eventually)
  • King's Island (hopefully)
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
I finally get to try out Lightning Rod, and it's crazy to believe that there's an even better and crazier RMC out there. Don't know when I'll get around to trying it out, hopefully in the next couple years or so.

On another note, I see you're planning to go to Canobie Lake. I'm less than an hour away, so if you want to meet up let me know. I actually haven't been there in five years so I've been meaning to go back.
 

Antinos

Slut for Spinners
I finally get to try out Lightning Rod, and it's crazy to believe that there's an even better and crazier RMC out there. Don't know when I'll get around to trying it out, hopefully in the next couple years or so.

On another note, I see you're planning to go to Canobie Lake. I'm less than an hour away, so if you want to meet up let me know. I actually haven't been there in five years so I've been meaning to go back.
I'll keep you in the loop! I still need to figure out what day I'm visiting the park and for how long. I can't imagine I'd be there for more than a few hours, but I'd love to meet up!

Loving those front row TTD pictures! Looks amazing!
I'm bummed I didn't get off in time to grab a photo of @davidm and @DelPiero - they also had some priceless expressions when they launched!
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
I'll keep you in the loop! I still need to figure out what day I'm visiting the park and for how long. I can't imagine I'd be there for more than a few hours, but I'd love to meet up!
Sounds good! A few hours in the park is plenty to do the rides and even chill out. Would this be your first visit?
 
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