I flew over to New York on Thursday and spent a few days staying with ECG. ECG took me on a whistle-stop tour of New Jersey and New York City, managed to do all of the touristy **** and the not-so-touristy ****.
We went to Coney Island. If it wasn't for the heat and lack of people smoking, it could have easily been a British seaside park. Or judging by the rides, possibly Flamingoland
Did all the creds, including my first Volare (ewwww!) and the Cyclone. Cyclone was fun, although it did mean I had to get up close and personal with Jerry. It has new seats which are really puffy, meaning we were sitting on one anothers lap and could hardly get the restraint down. **** knows how the fat Americans fit on it...I guess they don't. I enjoyed the speed of it, the turns and the length of it. Jerry informed me that it run better before it was retracked, which is irrelevant information to me as I had never rode it before. I couldn't give a **** what it used to run like as I am not able to compare it.
Here's the POV of the retracked ride.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9evIG1MugW0[/youtube]
It wasn't airtime central, but it was satisfying. B. The Wonder Wheel was less exciting than it looked.
On Sunday we headed to our first theme park - Six Flags America. The task here was to buy me a SF Pass and grab a few creds before Jerry had to cover a football (soccer) mach in Washington DC.
I didn't like SFAm, it was far too ghetto although there were sprinkles of good theme so it wasn't as bad as some people have made out. Apocalypse and Batwing were tarted up nicely and looked the part, the rest were more plain and dumpy. I only managed to do two creds (so I'll have to return)
First up was Superman. Irritating ride-op kept talking and I couldn't understand a word, but I enjoyed the ride. The helices were fab and it kept good pace but lacked airtime compared to Goliath at Walibi Holland. B-
Also squeezed in Batwing. The best thing about it was the walk to the ride. Looks like it had recently been painted and the Batman logo was on painted on the floor at regular intervals. It also had info signs describing the different characters. I don't give a toss about comic book characters, but it added to the ride atmosphere. The ride itself was the most awful piece of **** in the world. Every moment was painful and it left me feeling sick. Ironically, "Vekoma" and "Dutchman" are two words that should never be in the same sentence. F
Jerry dumped me in Washington DC whilst he covered the football match. I walked up and down the Mall seeing the various memorials, monuments and state buildings. I liked Washington, the architecture was so grand and imposing. Just how the most powerful country in the world should be, right?
Following a whole day of driving (urgh), we went to Six Flags St Louis on Tuesday. Following SFAm, it was nice to get to a park with a bit of greenery and character. We rode all of the coasters, the Star Flyer and the fab Scooby Doo dark ride. Here's my brief opinions of the coasters
Mr Freeze Reverse - I loved it! Just enough oompf in launch to make it enjoyable. The top hat felt specular, it was a visual treat on and off the ride. I wrote the ride off before riding it so I was surprised to love it. Rode it twice, once at the front, once a the back. A-
Mine Train Thing - Couldn't be arsed to remember the name of it because it was AWFUL. It did NOTHING. Counting the lift hills was the best thing about it. E-
American Thunder - Yeah! USA! USA! Sometimes I ride something that is just right and this is it. It wasn't amazingly thrilling but it made me smile throughout. I liked the way it twists and crests of the hills. Best ride at the park? Possibly. A.
Batman - I'm a B&M fanboy so of course I loved it. Just enough force and speed without dead track for it to be thrilling. Still no Nemesis beater though! A-
Ninja - Awful. Nobody in the park ran round for another go. Vile. E.
Boss - The Boss? Yeah, whatever. Left my back in tatters and my love for "big" wooden coasters slightly diminished. The section after the MCBR was better than the first, especially the helix, but the rest was forgettable. C+
Pandemonium (the Gerstlauer spinner) and American Eagle (old woodie) were dull.
On all of the days, in all of the parks in the world, I just so happened to visit on the same day at the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain. We spotted a few British goons throughout the day. The new (relocated) Boomerang coaster opens on Saturday, however, Jerry noticed that some people were in the station so we went to investigate. It turned out that the RCCGB were allowed access to it between filming of the parks B-roll. The security guard at the entrance asked if I was from Great Britain, which I obviously replied "yes" to. So Jerry and I wandered up through the queue line and joined my fellow British goons on the ride.
It is the smoothest Boomerang I've ever been on. It felt like new. I was gobsmacked. Ok, it's still a tiresome Boomerang but I've never been on one as good as this.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb3IelzWCHk[/youtube]
Anyway, afterwards I met up with Andy Hinembe (Chairman of RCCGB), shook hands, exchanged pleasantries and went for another ride. Thankfully the RRCGB were heading north for the rest of their trip, whereas we're going south. I like to feel special by being the only Brit in USA parks hardly visited by overseas visitors!
The following day (today) we went to Worlds of Fun and tomorrow we're at Silver Dollar City. I'll report back on them when I get the time, right now, I've got a view and a beer to enjoy!
We went to Coney Island. If it wasn't for the heat and lack of people smoking, it could have easily been a British seaside park. Or judging by the rides, possibly Flamingoland
Did all the creds, including my first Volare (ewwww!) and the Cyclone. Cyclone was fun, although it did mean I had to get up close and personal with Jerry. It has new seats which are really puffy, meaning we were sitting on one anothers lap and could hardly get the restraint down. **** knows how the fat Americans fit on it...I guess they don't. I enjoyed the speed of it, the turns and the length of it. Jerry informed me that it run better before it was retracked, which is irrelevant information to me as I had never rode it before. I couldn't give a **** what it used to run like as I am not able to compare it.Here's the POV of the retracked ride.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9evIG1MugW0[/youtube]
It wasn't airtime central, but it was satisfying. B. The Wonder Wheel was less exciting than it looked.
On Sunday we headed to our first theme park - Six Flags America. The task here was to buy me a SF Pass and grab a few creds before Jerry had to cover a football (soccer) mach in Washington DC.
I didn't like SFAm, it was far too ghetto although there were sprinkles of good theme so it wasn't as bad as some people have made out. Apocalypse and Batwing were tarted up nicely and looked the part, the rest were more plain and dumpy. I only managed to do two creds (so I'll have to return
) First up was Superman. Irritating ride-op kept talking and I couldn't understand a word, but I enjoyed the ride. The helices were fab and it kept good pace but lacked airtime compared to Goliath at Walibi Holland. B-
Also squeezed in Batwing. The best thing about it was the walk to the ride. Looks like it had recently been painted and the Batman logo was on painted on the floor at regular intervals. It also had info signs describing the different characters. I don't give a toss about comic book characters, but it added to the ride atmosphere. The ride itself was the most awful piece of **** in the world. Every moment was painful and it left me feeling sick. Ironically, "Vekoma" and "Dutchman" are two words that should never be in the same sentence. F
Jerry dumped me in Washington DC whilst he covered the football match. I walked up and down the Mall seeing the various memorials, monuments and state buildings. I liked Washington, the architecture was so grand and imposing. Just how the most powerful country in the world should be, right?
Following a whole day of driving (urgh), we went to Six Flags St Louis on Tuesday. Following SFAm, it was nice to get to a park with a bit of greenery and character. We rode all of the coasters, the Star Flyer and the fab Scooby Doo dark ride. Here's my brief opinions of the coasters
Mr Freeze Reverse - I loved it! Just enough oompf in launch to make it enjoyable. The top hat felt specular, it was a visual treat on and off the ride. I wrote the ride off before riding it so I was surprised to love it. Rode it twice, once at the front, once a the back. A-
Mine Train Thing - Couldn't be arsed to remember the name of it because it was AWFUL. It did NOTHING. Counting the lift hills was the best thing about it. E-
American Thunder - Yeah! USA! USA! Sometimes I ride something that is just right and this is it. It wasn't amazingly thrilling but it made me smile throughout. I liked the way it twists and crests of the hills. Best ride at the park? Possibly. A.
Batman - I'm a B&M fanboy so of course I loved it. Just enough force and speed without dead track for it to be thrilling. Still no Nemesis beater though! A-
Ninja - Awful. Nobody in the park ran round for another go. Vile. E.
Boss - The Boss? Yeah, whatever. Left my back in tatters and my love for "big" wooden coasters slightly diminished. The section after the MCBR was better than the first, especially the helix, but the rest was forgettable. C+
Pandemonium (the Gerstlauer spinner) and American Eagle (old woodie) were dull.
On all of the days, in all of the parks in the world, I just so happened to visit on the same day at the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain. We spotted a few British goons throughout the day. The new (relocated) Boomerang coaster opens on Saturday, however, Jerry noticed that some people were in the station so we went to investigate. It turned out that the RCCGB were allowed access to it between filming of the parks B-roll. The security guard at the entrance asked if I was from Great Britain, which I obviously replied "yes" to. So Jerry and I wandered up through the queue line and joined my fellow British goons on the ride.
It is the smoothest Boomerang I've ever been on. It felt like new. I was gobsmacked. Ok, it's still a tiresome Boomerang but I've never been on one as good as this.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb3IelzWCHk[/youtube]
Anyway, afterwards I met up with Andy Hinembe (Chairman of RCCGB), shook hands, exchanged pleasantries and went for another ride. Thankfully the RRCGB were heading north for the rest of their trip, whereas we're going south. I like to feel special by being the only Brit in USA parks hardly visited by overseas visitors!
The following day (today) we went to Worlds of Fun and tomorrow we're at Silver Dollar City. I'll report back on them when I get the time, right now, I've got a view and a beer to enjoy!