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Big America 2009

Nice report!

I'm surprised you like Impulse coasters so much, especially in the middle, because I find them pretty dull these days. In the back they're pretty sweet, but still nothing mind-blowing for me.

As for Mean Streak, all I have to say is ride Son of Beast, which is about three million times worse.

I really miss riding Disaster Transport, it's something I always enjoy riding and usually it has a short line, but a lot of the time I end up skipping it. I think it's a fun little coaster!

I'm SO glad you liked Dragster, I mean, I can't stand when people are like oo it's a one trick pony! The launch is just so incredible that it doesn't even matter what the rest of the ride does. I, too, love the noise the launch makes, but you can't really say it takes the screams away frmo the riders.. You should've been there at the '08 Live to understand what I mean by that :P .

Great report, I enjoyed reading it!
 
Our feelings are about on par. Delicious. :)

But.. you didn't do Demon Drop? DISAPPOINTMENT!
 
^After doing Freefall at Magic Mountain 2 years ago, I didn't fancy it... :P

^^I can't ride Son of Beast cos it's closed and that's where I am tomorrow... :(
I would like to see if it was worse or not, I think the current pain in my back is more from Mean Streak 2 days ago instead of sitting at silly angles in the car journey just now...

Either way, Diamondback looks sexy from the highway... Mmmmmm... Hopefully the first good B&M of the trip...
 
Nice read so far!

Mean Streak gave me a headache for 3 days. Not so much the feel of the ride, but the 'brain shake' it gives. Burn it down :D

DB looks amazing, looking faward to the review of it.
 
Park 4 – Kings Island

Past the half-way point now with only two more after this one, but this was the park we were going around in style...

This year Cedar Fair has added a VIP tour ticket (also seen at Busch Gardens) to its parks, now we considered doing it for CP but it was way too expensive and you didn't get many added extras... At KI on the other hand, there was not only Front of Line Access, but also free photos, ice cream, unlimited drinks, and a backstage tour of the Beast... Tasty stuff...

We got there for opening, and waited for the national anthem for the first time this year (CP had God Bless America, and I still doubt it would work in the UK) and ran over to the first coaster...

Diamondback

It's shut, stop making us feel at home... The main problem with this closure was more the annoying woman at the game-stall next to the line of waiting people... We don't think she paused for breath many times... It was a multitude of annoyance that got everyone (who were annoyed with late opening already) even more annoyed...

It did eventually open and those seats are actually awesome... I love them... So much leg room no matter where you sit and it was just so comfortable... The ride is typically full of floater airtime and still has a trim (booo) but fortunately here the trims don't kill the ride like they do Silver Star...
The water splash looks nice, but doesn't have any interaction with the nearby pathways... Not too sure if it works on the long trains in the end... Oh well, looked very pretty, especially at night where they had the lighting perfect...

9/10

Now it was time to join up with our tour guide, so we popped back down to guest services and waited for the delightful Coralanne who talked us through it all and gave us our lanyards and everything else before we walked up the exit to the next ride...

Invertigo

Even with the exit entrance for us it wasn't really needed for this area of the park, oh well, it's always fun to annoy people, especially Americans ;)

It's your typical Vekoma Invertigo ride anyway, these are definitely smoother than their ordinary sit-down cousins, which is strange, but still a decent enough ride...

7/10

Drop Zone

First one of these Gyro Drops for me, it was different going up rotating, very much like an Observation Wheel which was amusing, and the drop was very smooth, as was the brakes... Still not the forcefulness of old Det though... But still a solid ride...

7/10

Top Deck

2nd one of the old Arrow Swingers so far on the trip, and I think this is the biggest... A nice location for it down in the valley, and a great first drop, but the rest of the ride was a bit... Bland really... Not much more build-up to the ending, just lots and lots of turns and swinging...

6/10

Son of Beast

1st missed coaster of the trip, and it doesn't look good for it really... It's possibly closed for the entire season because of the probable lawsuit that will reach the park with the injured woman... A shame cos I wanted to see if it lived up to its name or not, and to compare it with Mean Streak... Oh well... I would've really been annoyed if it still had the loop though definitely...

Delirium

Huss Frisbee, another first for me... And it started badly with the needless extra secure bar which came down slightly more when the ride started, which hurt...
Decent ride, but no Maelstrom by any stretch of the imagination...

Adventure Express

Another Arrow Mine Train... These are so popular over in the States as I've said before, and this one is certainly the best one I've been on... Mainly because the theming that existed in the tunnels... Although the last one built up to nothing really... A shame there, but wasn't that bad a ride in the end...

7/10

Racer

Another classic wooden coaster, and of course as the name suggests, a racing coaster... It was good fun even though we didn't get to race as the Blue side had barely opened so the operation was a bit out for the two... Blue was also the rougher of the pair, maybe because of what rides were next to it ;)

7/10

Firehawk

My third Flyer and my first Vekoma so a totally different experience was about to arrive...
The restraints are similar to actual jackets which was a weird thing really, whilst the bar was more akin to the B&Ms, although obviously separate...
It was a different experience going up the lift on my back going backwards, and the first drop and turn were quite good... However, then came the loop...

I think I've found my limit, and that's loops on Flyers, maybe I didn't take it right on this, but god did I have a headache afterwards, the last part of the ride seemed ok, but my head was completely gone after the loop... It was bad... And it ruined the ride...

5/10

Flight of Fear

After a break of resting my head after Firehawk, right onto the first Premier launched of the day, the indoors 'themed' version...
Good launch, but extremely rough Sea Serpent where my head was flung from side to side quite violently, before we hit the MCBR, and stopped...

Literally, we actually stopped and inched slowly forwards, it was quite ridiculous and NWO-esque... Very embarrassing for it really...
The end was ok but due to the brakes was very slow...

6/10

Italian Backlot Coaster

Since my head was still a bit achey, I wanted another lapbar ride, so we did the other Premier launched coaster...
Firstly they have Mini themed cars... Win... With working doors and wing mirrors... Also win... From then on though, it was themed to the second film, so no Michael Caine ;)

The ride was different, a decent launch and quite an intense helix, some of the s-bends were a bit rough though, inside and out... The helicopter and fire were all working as well, so it was a decent experience, but nowhere near Revenge of the Mummy...

7/10

Vortex

Still was a bit tentative with my head at this point, but hell, get the goddam credit, just not in the back... Similar to Viper at Magic Mountain, and very good first drop and first two loops, but again suffered from the uber-braking from the MCBR... But for the actual second half it seemed ok that it was done like that otherwise a lot of pain may have been endured...
Overall it was a good ride...

7/10

Fairly Odd Coaster

Kiddie Woodie, not a lot else to say... Better than Mean Streak though ;)

6/10

Runaway Reptar

Ahh, the trains are like Vampire, made me smile as it even made the same noise on the brakes... It felt weird not swinging though when I'm used to it...
Decent coaster for the kids though, fun and a bit thrilling...

6/10

After lunch and the very good ice show it was time for the backstage tour of the Beast... Big thankyou to the PR man Don who showed us around and told us a little bit about the ride... It's so bloody huge it's amazing, we wandered only as far to the base of the second lift and inside the helix, but even so it was a very good addition to the day and made the whole thing surrounding it because of it being a landmark to me...


Beast

Number 200 for me and damn what a good ride for my landmark... That first drop's tunnel reminded me of Goliath in that it looks way too small to fit your train... Then well, from then on it's like the Ultimate's second half, in the woods and no idea where the hell you are... It was ridiculously long, and of course as you cannot see much of the layout (i.e. only the top of the lifts) from the entrance, it's amazing the surprises you get throughout...
The massive helix is such an impressive structure and experience as well, the tunnel there goes on forever, it was just immense during the day-time...

At night... My god... Sitting in the back with the full moon raised high in the black sky set the scene for it perfectly, and it did not let itself down, it was bloody fantastic, beating the hell out of Megaphobia at night by a massive KO, it just doesn't let up, even with the trims the speed it builds up is literally phenomenal and it just kept on going... It's a top 3 ride for me, barely missing out really on the number 2 because of some of the bone-rattle you get, but I say that you need to experience this monster if you can, at night especially...

10/10

Crypt Raider

This was bad... Really, really bad... The queue theming was cool, as was the music (MIDNIGHT SYNDICATE!!! EVEN DET'S FRIGHT NIGHTS MUSIC PLAYED!!!), but from then it went bad...
The pre-show room was so stupid... Firstly, you could see into it from the queue-line, removes the surprise when you enter it...
Although the only surprise is the bat... Oh god what a poor animatronic, I was actually pissing myself with laughter more than anything, it was that bad... It was the only thing the moved in there... It was really shocking...
Then you could even see the ride room... Why remove that surprise as well? God I cannot describe how bad this ride was, such a waste of time, worse than NWO- in the end... Jesus...

Then the ride... The ride... Theming is all gone bar a few bits, which it doesn't reveal, at first all you see is black walls and the operators window... Then the cycle begins... The WORST EVER TOP SPIN CYCLE EVER CREATED... It didn't even do the multiple spin bit, all it did was lock you and let the main arms rotate... And I'm sure it is missing a row where it once had 3, now 2... So they've even lessened the capacity...
Seriously, this ride is an embarrassment and is only worth it for the Midnight Syndicate music now used...


Another mixed park really for me, the VIP tour however was excellent, and I would recommend it to people who may be going for only a day like us when it could be very busy, obviously it would vary from tour guide to tour guide, but if they're as nice as ours, then you'll love it... Especially if you love wooden coasters, the backstage tour was brilliant and I have some great photos from it...


Next up – Dollywood...
 
Haha I'm actually surprised at some of your reviews. I didn't find Firehawk rough at all, and I actually really enjoyed Flight of Fear. I didn't like Racer much, or Adventure Express, so we have different opinions on all of that :P .

Beast however? I'm glad you found it a really good surprise like I did. I enjoyed it in the day, but it was amazing at night, and I can see why it's in your top ten.
 
YES! You rode Beast at night. That ride is two different animals when comparing night and day.

As UC once said a few years ago, "Beast at night is something every coaster enthusiast should experience." And I totally agree.

Awesome.. you gonna have any pictures on this trip or are you raw dog it all wordy? :P
 
Blimey that took ages to read, good to see your having a good time, sad that your missing Kara :cry:

I can only comment on the Cedar Point ones as not done the rest, but yes that first time on TTD is absolutely Awesome, totally agree with that one although I still like Millie best along with Mavvy, Millie just takes my brath away and Mavvy although bruised, by the time we had ridden it 5 times was getting used to preparing for transitions.
Mean Streak got to 100% agree, if it was your 1st woodie it would put you off for life, it was fun but painfull.
 
Park 5 - Dollywood

Firstly I'll just say that Pigeon Forge is basically Blackpool with mountains instead of a beach, if there were pictures next to the definition of tourist trap, this area would definitely be one of them...

Either way Dollywood is a very nice park landscaping and scenery wise, and like all American parks, very spick and span, although this was the first park queue graffiti has been seen, this is probably because the rest haven't got wooden fencing...

Thunderhead

Opened 20 minutes late onto the second from the back... Maybe spoilt but the Beast, but this seemed too... perfect... It didn't have a lot of ricketiness that exists in many wooden coasters, and just didn't excite me greatly...

The station fly-through didn't had that much to the ride for me either, probs better for the station more than the riders...

The layout for fun but it just didn't excite me that much...

7/10

Mystery Mine

My 3rd Eurofighter for me this year, and let the comparisons begin with Saw with what Saw does better...

THe thing Saw does better is keep the first indoor drop a suprise, you see the drop on MM straight as you enter the station, so that part is kinda dissapointing for a first rider...

However.. the rest is alllllllllllll MM, the theming inside is all over and is brilliant, and of course the building actually had depth to it and varying realistic heights, instead of just a box... Indeed, the theming all indoors is fantastic and the effects make Saw look so cheap and tacky (As many think anyway ;))

The ride portions are interesting to compare, MM's turns aren't as painful as they could appear, and are reasonably fun to do, the MCBR in the first portion doesn't break the flow up much, in fact the flow is only really broken by the second dark ride portion, but alas that's what the design flaw seems to be...

Last part was a great bit of coastering, good speed entering the first inline, and some good hangtime before the final loop... Then the painful sharp brakes...

Overall the theming was fantastic in the first dark ride section, not as good in the second but there was a lot of detail hidden inside and definitely showed what Saw could have been... Best ride at the park but not the best I've done though...

8/10

Timber Tower

Right then, a ride that has produced many rumours for Chessie as to whether or not it'll replace Rodeo, and I've finally got to do one...

It's not a thrill ride by many senses of the imagination... It's a fun ride but definitely not an intense or extreme ride, definitely helped by the theming around the ride, and it lasted for a good enough session...

The feeling of tilting was quite good as it wasn't too fast nor too slow, it was quite enjoyable, and many of the other people on the ride enjoyed their ride...
Even better, very high capacity, if that wasn't a reason for Chessie to get one, I don't know what really... Defo a good ride for younger kids who may not want to do extreme rides, and it has a great visual impact as well...

Tennessee Tornado

Old school Arrow once more, and definitely the most different multi-looper I've done... Very unique layout, with a good first drop into a tunnel...

The layout is short but sweet, good amounts of intensity around the loops, and not much in the way of head-banging about it, making it a very good ride overall...

7/10

Blazing Fury

Let the arguements commence as to whether or not this is an actual coaster, although I dunno if I wanna go in toooo much detail about the actual ride... :lol:

It is basically a dark ride, but it features 3 quite big drops for what it is, which is the main confusion surrounding this one, but, there is a page for it on RCDB, so I've counted it on my list, but of course, some people may not count it as one... Defo a much more interesting arguement than that of Hydro (even with Mack causing issues with the Supersplashes :lol:)

Overall the ride was well themed and the drops were quite good as well, amusing southern american accents also improve a ride...

7/10


Unfortunately the weather started to get to me so we called the day early after the train ride and 50's/60's show which was very impressive by theme park show standards, a complete hour and was literally a musical without much in the way of dialogue and story-driving... It was also in an air-conditioned theatre, which in America always gains points...

Just one park to go now before I come back on Saturday night, it's been fun but I'm definitely missing home food portions and more importantly Kara...

Next up - Busch Gardens Europe and final thoughts...
Either way, the park is very small, but I didn't think it was the best I have been to out of the current 5...
 
Glad to hear you liked Dollywood! I always thought it looked like a decent enough park, but your review of Thunderhead is pretty surprising, and how you liked Mystery Mine better!

Have fun at Busch, I'm jealous..
 
I'm late to the party & where do I begin?
I agree with so much, but also disagree with plenty.
I go along with all things Hershey, but SoopereDooperLooper doesn't rate as high in my book & Great Bear rates only slightly better than what you give it.

I also agree with most Kennywood comments.
Phantom's Revenge, Thunderbolt & Kangaroo <3. Now you know why they don't allow single riders on Thunderbolt. :wink:
But this? :?
Nemesis Inferno said:
Exterminator

The ride itself however, was shocking and poor...
Click to expand...
It's my favorite mouse, spinner & dark coaster! Just plain fun. The kid & I always leave laughing.
You didn't mention the drop tower, which is one of our favorites when you get the seats facing the river.

We also think there a only a few rides worth re-riding at Cedar Point: namely Maverick, Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, Sky Hawk and...maXair!
Nemesis Inferno said:
...didn't do MaxAir
Click to expand...
Why the hell not?! It's so much better than Delirium and our favorite flat at CP.
I've never had a problem with Maverick's restraints, but you really have to go with the flow. Spot on with Millie & TTD though, but you get used to them quickly & they drop down your Top 10 list the more times you ride.
Magnum just doesn't do it for me, however. The tugging back & forth of the cars (furie told me the term for this, but I forget) just bothers me.

Nothing to disagree with at Kings Island, but I think Diamondback is a little more awesome than you presented it. Beast after dark is beyond awesome however.

I also thought Dollywood is fantastic & one of my top parks overall. I like Thunderhead more than you did, but enjoyed Mystery Mine & Tennessee Tornado as much as you did. You're also right on with Timber Tower.

Looking forward to your BGW writeup. Funny how we went to the same parks just a couple of weeks apart. You'll have to wait a bit for my PTR, as I'm hitting the road again in a couple of days.
 
Park 6 - Busch Gardens Europe

So the final park and wow... One word to describe this one would be beautiful... It's so well themed and presented, every part of the look is kept so clean it's unreal, all the rides look like they get repainted regularly and the park's location is brilliant over the lake and valley (kind of an underlying theme of the trip really, lakes and valleys)...

The park had an interesting idea of opening rides and areas at delayed times, and based upon the circular nature of the park with only one real route around the place, it forces everyone down the right, a la Port Aventura, and it worked quite well, maybe helped that the park wasn't too busy as well...

Loch Ness Monster

Only coaster open at 9:30 when we arrived, so hopped on it since there was no queue, very fun little ride although the trains were just slightly out for the interlocking loops, either way a very long helix tunnel and just in general and good ride without much in the way of headbanging, good first drop again and just a fun enjoyable ride...

8/10

Griffon

After having done SheiKra a few years ago and being rather disappointed with it my hopes for Griffon were not the best in all honesty, but after a delay in loading (again a theme) we hopped on the back row, myself in the middle...
Although the holding isn't really present in the back, the first drop was again very good, and the ride was really really smooth, and because I was in the big boy seat, I had a lot of airtime along the little hops towards the end...
The water splashes are better on the shorter trains because the train is usually still on the splash when it goes if you understand, unlike Diamondback when the front of the train was almost clear when the splash actually began...
Either way Griffon was very good, though the Floorless feature added very little to me, and I still prefer Oblivion's drop over these as the pull-out seems tighter and of course, you end up a long way underground...

9/10

Alpengeist

Closed :( Damn it all...

Defo an iffy problem, apparently was closed the day before and later on in the day a crane had appeared and engineers were busy working on the base of the lift... So 2 missed major credits on this trip...

Curse of DarKastle

A very good dark ride, with some awful awful jokes (I'm getting ahead of myself) but the ride was either shorter or faster than Spiderman, a good thing was that many of the dangers actually 'hit' your car, but then again on Spidey you're basically being protected by him, but still this was a very good ride, although the ending seemed a tad rushed and iffy... I dunno...

Big Bad Wolf

After a few disappointing types of this ride, it was good to actually go on one that was very good, the first section was more what Vampire could've been, flying through the actual buildings of the town rather than over them, which was quite good...

The second drop though... Wow... What was it like without trims I wonder, because that would be epic without them, the sudden dawn of realisation about it is very good, and the drop was excellent with the turns after them...

8/10

At this point we bumped into Big Mike of TPR who's in the midst of another tour, we chatted on the bridge to Italy for a bit before heading off to Apollo's...

Apollo's Chariot

The other ride celebrating a anniversary, 10 years of the Chariot and although I was not a fan of the fun fair like theming (worst theming in the entire park imo, compared to what it could've been) the ride itself for very fun and enjoyable, it won a bonus point for the amusing music on the lift hill, and more points for having a few extra twists and turns...

The trims didn't hit the ride as much as it could've done, allowing a quite fun and enjoyable ride, although hard to say which I prefer between this and Diamondback, either way...

9/10


Such a shame Alpengeist was shut because this park certainly had the best B&Ms over the trip, and it did look awesome, but c'est la vie, if the chain was broked (which looked likely), but the rest of the park was very very good, and would happily go back there in order to get the credit ;)


Final Thoughts

Best Ride

Beast at night, without a doubt, as it's the one that's come in highest on my top 10 at number 3, not hard to determine which was the best...

Worst Ride

Mean Streak... Not much else needed to say...

Biggest Suprise

Phantom's Revenge, wasn't expecting a lot of this one but in the end it was a very good ride, the second drop and bunny hops were perhaps the best part of the ride but either way defo the best suprise of the trip...

Best Park

This is the hardest thing to think about, as there were no bad parks on this trip, each park had it's own pros and cons surrounding it, most of them being different, but if I had to choose it would either be Kennywood for the atmosphere and fun rides or Busch Gardens for the theming and the awesome B&Ms...


That is all now, I'm on my way home tonight so hopefully the pics will appear online from Monday onwards, and in the end the trip was very very good with each park being quite different and all being very good overall, and I am tempted to say that this trip was better than California two years ago...

If you managed to read all of the reports I congratulate you, I know they were very long but hey that's what happens when you rate all the rides you do :lol:

Thanks for reading and see you all soon...
 
I'm jealous you got to go to Busch! :( Glad you liked everything though, but missing out on Alpengeist must have definitely been a piss off. Surprised you weren't extremely thrilled about DarKastle though, since most people say it is one of the best dark rides they have been on.
 
Wow, epic report there. Sounds like you had an awesome time though and as you are well aware, I am very very jealous :P

Can't wait to see your pics!
 
No Alpie! What a bummer! Too bad they couldn't get it up & running like they were able to do with Griffon for furie. There aren't many coasters at BGW, so they always do everything in their power to get them back in service when something happens (which is another reason I love the park so much).
Good to hear that you enjoyed the park as much as everyone else does, but I do rate it clearly ahead of Kennywood in spite of the small number of coasters.
I have to disagree with you again about another thing as well. There's no way that Apollo's Chariot is anywhere near Diamondback in any category (height, airtime, speed, layout, themeing, colors, trains, etc.). AC is the weakest of all the B&M hypers I've ridden (DBack, Behemoth, Goliath & Nitro). I'll be riding Raging Bull in a few days, so maybe AC will not be bottom of the list for much longer. :wink:
I do agree on Phantom's Revenge. That one came out of left field for me too & is the sole reason I'm going back to Kennywood later this year. Marcus & Taylor are probably riding that baby as I type this. :lol:
 
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