Mysterious Sue
Strata Poster
Did I mention I like driving? I also like sleep but those two things were mutually exclusive to this trip. America called with four days work in Detroit and my first opportunity for a proper US coaster trip in five years. Planning proved problematic. It was September and most of the parks were shut in the lull between school holidays and Halloween. The original plan of a Canada/Niagara circuit quickly shifted south to better weather and the Dollywood parks with more consistent opening hours. The only day that both Holiday World and Kentucky Kingdom were open together had me driving back and forth out from St Louis but oh well…the things we do for creds! I also like music. Visits to Nashville/Memphis/Detroit/Chicago had been lurking in the back of my head for years. Could I really do them all in a week along with almost 90 creds and a good bit of American culture? Bring it on…!
Day 1 – Flight, Madison
1st of September. Flight. Faff. Bus. Hire Car. Car returned due to warning light. New hire car. Drive to Madison. If I felt up to it, initial plans were to get settled in Madison then drive up to Wisconsin Dells that evening to mooch about the lakes and to mop up the S&S woodie at Timber Falls. Mistake number one: this was Labor Day weekend. Every man and has gun was driving up to the lakes that evening and I jumped straight from a ten hour flight into a two hour traffic jam. Not exactly what the doctor ordered. By the time I rocked up in Madison, I couldn’t be bothered. I turned up, got some tips on places to eat and just drove into downtown for some food before bed.
Madison is a lovely town with a studenty feel. It’s almost European-looking. Small roads lined with bars and some beer festival thing being set up suggested further possibilities for good food and beer in a way that you usually never see in the US. Wisconsin is obviously known for cheese and the delicacy here was battered cheese curd. Feeling refreshed, I headed out for a short wander round the town. It was cute and I’d definitely stay again if in the area.
Daytime
Nightime
There was a 'football' match on so all the bars in town were busy
Law enforcement flower bed? Righty-oh then
I was experimenting with a few Airbnbs this trip. Labor Day meant every hotel round the lakes was either sold out or >£100 a night so I found these people with an annexe and a dog for my first night. I got to stay in a proper American wooden house, see some residential area I wouldn’t have otherwise, and have I said there was a dog?
Day 2 – Wisconsin Dells, Timber Falls, Mount Olympus, Little Amerricka, Six Flags Great America
With a little bit of sleep but mainly jetlag, I headed north for the Dells. I was going to be too early for a boat ride but there was a riverside walk where I planned to spend an hour or so photographing rock formations. However, the walk turned out to be only 5 minutes long (including the time it took to read all the info boards about the man who made the Dells famous by making his son jump over a ravine) so I was left twiddling my thumbs for a bit. The Dells kind of reminded me of Plopsa Coo, in that it was a nature-based tourist attraction first and the theme park(s) came later. Not that the town looks anything like Coo of course. Wisconsin Dells was nicer than expected. Yes, there was the usual Ripley’s bollocks and the like, but it wasn’t quite as in your face as say Branson later in the trip.
I was too early for this (but I'd booked to do one in Windsor when I got back to the UK so I wasn't too upset)
Too early for this too
I was all about the rocks though
Sexy
Nothing like a bit of child exploitaton
By 9.40, I was sitting in Timber Falls' small car park waiting for the park to open. Employees arrived, the gate opened and not a single other customer appeared. Rather self-consciously, I walked the ten meters from the car to the ticket booth and asked if the coaster was open. Joyfully, it was. Either they’d tested it really early or I was gonna be the test! Even more self-consciously, I wandered up the empty entrance ramp, taking in the views of the disserted mini golf course, to greet the bewildered-looking ride ops. I made some attempt to appear normal - mumbled something about being here for work, something to do, thought it would be busy, thought the park would be bigger – all of which actually happened to be true but just omitted the more accurate desperation of I NEED THE CRED! Turns out the operator was from Romania and he had a little reminisce with me about Europe. Apparently the park never gets very busy.
Anyway, I got a front row ride on my first coaster of the trip and it was delightful. I wasn’t sure what to expect from an S&S woodie but I certainly had the bar set too low. I was expecting it to be more family friendly but Avalanche (or Hellcat, whichever it’s really called), pulls all the punches. It was the first ride of the day and there was still plenty of airtime and some serious speed in there. Just the right amount of roughness too – enough to throw you into the side on a few corners but not to leave permanent bruising. I was kicking myself for not getting in a night ride on this the day before. Seeing as how I’ve never heard of this ride until planning the trip, I’d say it’s quite underrated. Definitely up there with some of the smaller Gravity Groups.
Theme park or crazy golf course?
Unexpected <3
An Avalanche of <3
A five minute drive away stood Mount Olympus. I’d always fancied this park for the cool Greek God theme and the fact they’d had the balls to build that ridiculous giant Troy horse. Only recently had I started to hear good reviews from Gavin et al., who have praised Hades and raised the park higher than stab-vest requirement. First impressions then - $20 parking! You’re having a laugh right? Don’t bother faffing with an ECC card – despite some suggestions, the man in the booth will look at you like a numpty, as will the manager. Still, it was worth a shot. Hades and Zeus were literally at the entrance gate so I went straight for the heart of the matter and got into the queue for Hades 360. The queue was already 20 minutes. If anyone is thinking of doing these two parks in the morning, I fully recommend swapping so you get to Mount Olympus for opening and burn through some of the queues, while it seems Timber Falls will remain quiet all day.
There was a board outside Hades suggesting it was running rough today. Odd. This was followed by a more permanent sign saying the same thing. Huh? Should I translate that as ‘please don’t sue us for poor maintenance’? Oh well, I don’t mind a bit of bashing about and my anticipation for this ride was high. I queued for back row. The ops were looking for a single rider and I stayed quiet. Then they got really aggressive and said that they wouldn’t send the train until a single rider magically appeared from the queue and filled the empty space! What the hell?! After a minute of this I finally gave in and pushed my way to the front to fill this nonsense. It was second from back so not the worst seat in the house. Hades is brutal. Not rough. Just full-on intense. A nice few pops of airtime before the lift, followed by the drop into the tunnel and straight out into the inversion. Wow! It’s so good. On the POVs I’d seen there were lights in the tunnels but the day I rode both were pitch black. I’m so glad because this was my absolute favourite thing, being thrown around at that speed and with that intensity and seeing nothing! Having nothing to ground you. No idea where the curves or the drops were. It was obscene There’s a bit more fun to be had after the second tunnel and the slowdown, before coming back in for that odd drop down into the station. Zeus had one of those too. Why? Could they not have just made one of the hills a bit lower?
Talking of Zeus, it was up next. This was nowhere near as exciting as its neighbour but still a decent ride. This one came with a Slovakian ride-op. I’m noticing a pattern. With some airtime and a nice little journey through the trees, it was relaxing after Hades’ stampede. It started to rain a bit while waiting for Zeus and I got a little wet on-ride but not too bad. Thankfully, it dried up soon after.
After Zeus, I wandered round the rest of the park which was heaving with people on this holiday weekend. Cyclops wasn’t running so I nipped into the café near Pegasus for some chips (sorry, fries) to wait and see if it opened. Nope. I waited over half an hour for Pegasus which was a bit forgettable to be honest, but it’s always nice to see a park invest in a woodie for kids rather than a crappy wacky worm.
I wasn’t going to attempt the proper kiddie cred for reasons of shame and as Cyclops still wasn’t happening, I had to make do with my +3. I took a few speedy pictures of the park before heading back for a re-ride on Hades. Some of the theming here is actually quite fab and I love the absolute commitment to the Greek theme. Back at Hades, there was over an hour queue. Bugger. I had so much still to do that day that I decided to leave it and get on my way. Totally gutted as Hades is fab. As for the park – it’s fine. I don’t really get what people dislike about the place. The operations are pretty **** I guess but it’s worth suffering for Hades. It definitely deserved more than a cred run TBH.
Like a bat outta hell
Please don't sue, please don't sue...
Ohh smart trains
Nothing says quality like a B&Q trellis
Goooon
Zeus brought the rain if not the thunder
Spite
+1 but at least it's a woodie
So ridiculous it's fab
Fab theming. Why do people hate on this park so much?
Aww how sweet
The drive down to Six Flags was broken up with a quick call into Little Amerricka (insert Rick and Morty joke here), mainly because I wanted the disgusting toboggan. I knew it would be a cred run and I was short on time (story of my life) so was not happy when I pulled up into a sea of cars in the grass ‘car park’ and joined a long line of people faffing with tickets. I purchased four, having not properly researched how small Little Dipper was going to be XD. First up was Mad Mouse. What even is this? It’s not even that old. It’s just a homemade version of a wild mouse with square corners and no restraints. Fab! The ride op noticed my accent (and possibly my Linnanmäki bag?) and asked if I was from Finland. He obviously knew I was a goon and we had a bit of a laugh about it. One and done.
Next up was Meteor. I adore how there are so many wooden kids coasters in the US and that they are all this traditional white, red and blue. It’s like riding a cliché.
After a 20 minute queue for Meteor, I legged it round to the terrifying contraption that was the toboggan. Lurking in the corner of the park like a Bond villain that really doesn’t expect you to talk, it wouldn’t look amiss in an abandoned Soviet weapons factory. My heart was pounding during the agonising wait while the ten or so riders in front loaded one at a time, looking increasingly pale and traumatised on exit. Most troubling was the final corner hill, during which you could see the car trying to leap up from the rails. God only knows what’s stopping it or how long it’ll last. So I got into the evil Postman Pat van of death and was pinned in with a huge squishy restraint and then by the roof and sides. Talk about claustrophobic! Then it was time to go up the tube. This must be what astronauts feel like, only this results in slightly more trepidation. It definitely puts the Mort in Amerricka and Morty. Soon though, it was all over. Nothing that exciting tbh unless you really like left-hand bends. My feet touched the floor, my heart rate returned to normal and the blood returned to my kneecaps. I was able to dash back to the car and was soon back on the road, SFGAm-bound.
Eurgh
Ghetto chic
Luckily, I wasn't made to ride it with my hand over my heart
Fab old flats
America, you really need to be introduced to Waltzers, this is shameful
Denied
I wanted it so much until I saw it.
SFGAm was a bucket list park for me, not least because of the four B&Ms. I turned up about four I think and planned to get as many of the low capacity rides done as possible before meeting up with @GuyWithAStick later in the evening for some night rides. Anything left could be mopped up the following morning. Following GWAS’ local knowledge, I headed straight for the flyer. After a long queue, I bagged a middle ride. Crystal Wing is one of my favourite fliers but only because of the interaction with the rockwork. Take away any interaction and theme it to burdenous comic book heroes and I find these clones rather boring. Apart from the glorious pretzel loop obviously (but even with that, I’ve been spoiled now by Tatsu).
'I love how the dull colour of the maintenance shed accentuates the bright track'
I joined a horrific queue for Dark Night that was a cattle pen in a shed. Joyful. I read a book to while away the next hour while trying to look as inconspicuous as one can on their own in a theme park queueline reading a book. Sigh. I’ve ridden the GothamCityArkhamLlanfairTysiliogogogoch at SFNE but can’t really remember much about it. Did it also spray you in the face with water? Gross. Dark Night is better than your average wild mouse because it has dark and it has loud noises and it has things leaping out at you. But not that much better.
Then it was time to get Joker over and done with in the single rider queue. I despise Zacspins so wasn’t really looking forward to this. Couldn’t help wondering why, if going for the two split sides thing, they missed the obvious theming opportunity of Two Face? Guess the Joker is more current with the film franchises?
Looks much better than it rides
At least it's better than a Zacspin
Anyway, while in the single rider queue, I made friends with two very loud drunk girls and a slightly more sober guy. They were amusing for a while, getting all the crowd around to sing and dance. Because America doesn’t understand single rider, all four of us were assigned a car together. The drunk girls screamed. A lot. The ride wasn’t quite as gross as a zacspin but still, those sudden gut-wrenching flips are not my favourite. It was, however, thankfully quite short. As we got off the ride, I was suddenly grabbed by my new friends and it was all I could do to nab my bag as I was pulled along with them over to Vertical Velocity. A 45 minute queue was made bearable by even more drunken antics and a talkative crowd. Finally in the station, the heavens opened and, seeming out of nowhere, there was absolute torrential rain! There was no way they were running the ride in that. It was gushing off of the roof!
I made a break for it and left behind both the sloshed people and the sploshy Intamin to go in search of GWAS. By the time I got to our meeting point at Goliath the rain had eased off and then disappeared altogether! But the rain had proved too much for the majority of the clientele and people were running for the park exit en mass so that I had to barge through against the stampede. After that, the park thinned out a lot and paved the way for a lovely quiet evening of cred-whoring. Back at Goliath, some time had gone by and GWAS hadn’t showed. I didn’t have his number and my Internet wasn’t working (even though it was free and unlimited, it was slowed so much as to be unusable – thanks Three!) so I decided to crack on.
I dithered over Goliath but decided to wait until it was fully dark, so decided it was time for some B&M goodness in the shape of X-Flight as the sun was setting. Between the rain and the good capacity, X-Flight was basically walk on. Got a front row ride on the left and instantly realised I’d picked the wrong side for the drop. Oh well. Not enough near misses in the first half, a disgusting colour scheme and a lots of unfinished mud didn’t warm me to this cred. The layout wasn’t that inspired either. The near miss of the keyhole followed by the supports is a nice touch but take that out and it’s rather weak. Wing riders are pretty diluted at the best of times but this was like weak orange squash to your standard Bolliger champagne!
Looks much better than it rides
With that done, and it properly dark, I headed back towards Goliath. Felling sleepy, I was doing some serious yawning as I entered the queue and began fantasising that I’d had more than a small plate of chips during my busy day to ward off the jet lag. I was woken from my chip dreams by a GWAS! He’d magically appeared and had somehow managed to spot me by the Linnanmäki bag. Joy! Someone to keep me awake and to natter with about goony things. We spent the Goliath queue and most of the evening chatting about coasters and Halloween haunts and park histories and just generally being really goony. His enthusiasm was absolutely infectious and I was soon wide awake again and up for some exhilarating night rides.
So, Goliath then. In the station, GWAS was being a great local tour guide and showed me the join in the roof where the station building was extended from Iron Wolf. As we entered the station and headed for the back, it began to rain again. Nowhere near as bad as before but enough to make it uncomfortable and to be distracting to the view. Balls. On the plus side, with all that rain, it was just flying round! First impressions were that it was short. Very, very short. But there was a hell of lot packed into that tiny structure and it all comes at you so quickly. Firstly, that incredible drop which just doesn’t stop going and, at night especially, is the definition of thrilling. Then there’s the delicious dive loop and zero-g stall combo and the fab tunnels. Boom, boom, boom - it all comes at you and then it’s over before you can even breathe. I came off giggling with enjoyment. It was obviously a great ride but where did it fit in with the other RMCs? I couldn’t decide and needed to re-ride, preferably minus the rain, before I could make my mind up. For now though it was time to crack on with some more creds.
I was excited to have another hyper in my life so we went for a night ride on Raging Bull. This was quite disappointing to be honest and probably the weakest B&M hyper I’ve been on. It comes out of the drop into a giant corner and continues to be more concerned with corners and g-force than it does airtime which is the entire point of these things. Glad I got it at night because it would have been even more lacklustre in the daylight.
Boo to unexpected hyper dullness :_(
(plus this area's theme made me want to be in Phantasialand)
We had time for at least another ride before park close and decided on American Eagle because it looked fantastic all lit up and at night. Only one side was open, blue I think, and the station was almost empty so we just jumped on and enjoyed the ride. There is nothing better than an old woodie whizzing around in the cool night air with the structure all illuminated around you - I love it. Being white (well some bits of it whiter than others with the repaint) it reminded me of White Cyclone in Japan, but nowhere near as laughably rough.
Bad picture but I feel it deserves a spot
Some bits of the park actually had really nice details
Says who exactly? Have they been to Efetling/Tripsdrill et al.? Or is this like the World Series?
GWAS thought there might be just enough time to catch a ride on Viper and so we legged it all the way over from American Eagle. I’m old and used to sitting behind a computer and came up puffing and panting as GWAS finished confirming with the guy on the gate that we still had time to ride. Yay! What I hadn’t realised before today was that it was running backwards! A backwards woodie? Count me intrigued. Turns out to be a really weird sensation. Thank goodness it was quite a smooth woodie because not being able to see the track and brace for the changes of direction could have been uncomfortable on another ride. But here it was just fun, careering round corners backwards in the dark. A really enjoyable way to finish off such an epic first day of coastering. And, when we pulled into the station, they send us round again for one last hurrah. Absolutely shattered, I said my goodbyes to GWAS (it was so, so lovely to meet you - thanks again for showing me round, for your local insight, and for getting me on so many coasters). I stumbled off to blearily find my hotel and finally, gratefully, sleep.
Goodbye for now
Day 3 – Six Flags Great America (again)
I woke up exhausted, worn down by jet lag, the busy previous day, and lack of food (I’d kinda forgotten to eat the day before). The plan was to finish off the last 6 rides at Six Flags Great America (forgoing the kiddie cred) and hot foot it four hours up to Michigan's Adventure. But what a difference a day makes! The I didn't bank on it being so hot or so horrifically busy and as soon as I entered the park, I knew something in my schedule was going to have to give.
Tormond likes creds. Who knew?
I ploughed on with Batman first, knowing that I could whizz round with little queue. But the queue line is neverending and I started the day with a good helping of cred anxiety. A nice intense ride to wake me up - I never complain about a Batman clone, they are fab and people are spoilt, but we all know what to expect.
Old reliable
I walked past a huge queue for Vertical Velocity (thinking maybe it would just be long at opening and get shorter later) and pressed on to Little Dipper. I love a woodie, even an average one, so I sucked up the queue that snaked for a crippling half hour. I adore all the boards in the queueline with stats about wooden coasters. It's so sweet that even Six Flags have a little passion for their woodie history while here in the UK, we couldn't give a rat's arse about our woodies, some of which would knock the socks off this kiddie cred. Traditional flag colour scheme - tick!
Adorable
Makes me feel warm inside
Headed back to Vertical Velocity and the queue was even longer. Bugger. I was quite tempted to skip it because I hate these things but in the end, decided to man up and get the cred. They just remind me of drop towers and the silly, illogical part of my brain doesn't like the fact that they launch into a spike with nothing to stop you at the top. Best part of an hour ticked by before I got into the station and finally boarded in an increasingly bad mood. No photos because it's turd.
The two hours I'd scheduled here in the morning sailed by and it became increasingly clear that I wouldn't make it all the way to Michigan's with enough time to appreciate it. I had two choices - stay and finish what I started or abandon ship and tackle a four hour drive on Labor Day weekend. As the exhaustion and jet lag were kicking in like a brick wall, and the things I'd heard about Michigan's didn't exactly fill me with enthusiasm, I decided to stick it out and boot Michigan's Adventure from the schedule. If there was one park that was ever going to be spited from the trip it was this one. Boo.
I went looking for American Eagle to finish off the second side but couldn't remember where GWAS had lead me in a rush in the dark the night before. Ended up walking in completely the wrong direction and had to double back again past X-Flight and finally found the odd bridge thing to cross. The short queue and a fun ride improved my mood slightly as the anxiety began to seep away and I began to appreciate how nice and sunny the day was. Nowhere near as fun as the previous night with the track all lit up but Eagle still delivered some reasonable airtime and I left smiling again.
Vintage realness
Decided I needed more Goliath in my life so headed off for a re-ride, this time in the glorious sunshine. Still feel that it's too short and the elements are completely rushed through. It's wonderful because it's still an RMC but I find the pacing too hectic. There were plenty more RMCs to come this trip though so I thought of this as my RMC appetiser. Consider me hungry.
Love how the woman in the front row just can't cope
Rides much, much better than it looks
I'd would have quite liked to have ridden Demon in the dark as it looked fab with the scary eyes in the cave all lit up but we didn't have time, sadly. A daytime ride on an arrow looper didn't summon quite the same excitement but it was actually fine and possibly better than I expected. I tried to imagine a time where this ride would have been a big deal and this made me feel a little sad that it's now so overshadowed by its neighbours. I got a bit confused by the queue signs and found myself in walking up the exit and having to backtrack. Maybe tiredness was getting to me?
Aww it's so cute
Demon done, that just left Whizzer, the old Swartzy bobsled. I quite like these things for nostalgia but don't like having to squish in close to randoms. Really, really did not appreciate the hour's wait that had now built up. Finally got through the queue and had my final ride of the day.
Nostalgia cred
Goodbye for real
By the time I'd finished with Great America and finally seeked out some food, it was well into the afternoon and I was more than ready for a rest. I headed straight to my hotel in Fort Wayne (which turned out to be next to a strip club - great!) and crashed out for a good long sleep in preparation for another jam-packed day.
Next up: Kings Island, Labor Day and Ohio police
I'll leave you with Six Flag's last laugh
Day 1 – Flight, Madison
1st of September. Flight. Faff. Bus. Hire Car. Car returned due to warning light. New hire car. Drive to Madison. If I felt up to it, initial plans were to get settled in Madison then drive up to Wisconsin Dells that evening to mooch about the lakes and to mop up the S&S woodie at Timber Falls. Mistake number one: this was Labor Day weekend. Every man and has gun was driving up to the lakes that evening and I jumped straight from a ten hour flight into a two hour traffic jam. Not exactly what the doctor ordered. By the time I rocked up in Madison, I couldn’t be bothered. I turned up, got some tips on places to eat and just drove into downtown for some food before bed.
Madison is a lovely town with a studenty feel. It’s almost European-looking. Small roads lined with bars and some beer festival thing being set up suggested further possibilities for good food and beer in a way that you usually never see in the US. Wisconsin is obviously known for cheese and the delicacy here was battered cheese curd. Feeling refreshed, I headed out for a short wander round the town. It was cute and I’d definitely stay again if in the area.
Daytime
Nightime
There was a 'football' match on so all the bars in town were busy
Law enforcement flower bed? Righty-oh then
I was experimenting with a few Airbnbs this trip. Labor Day meant every hotel round the lakes was either sold out or >£100 a night so I found these people with an annexe and a dog for my first night. I got to stay in a proper American wooden house, see some residential area I wouldn’t have otherwise, and have I said there was a dog?
Day 2 – Wisconsin Dells, Timber Falls, Mount Olympus, Little Amerricka, Six Flags Great America
With a little bit of sleep but mainly jetlag, I headed north for the Dells. I was going to be too early for a boat ride but there was a riverside walk where I planned to spend an hour or so photographing rock formations. However, the walk turned out to be only 5 minutes long (including the time it took to read all the info boards about the man who made the Dells famous by making his son jump over a ravine) so I was left twiddling my thumbs for a bit. The Dells kind of reminded me of Plopsa Coo, in that it was a nature-based tourist attraction first and the theme park(s) came later. Not that the town looks anything like Coo of course. Wisconsin Dells was nicer than expected. Yes, there was the usual Ripley’s bollocks and the like, but it wasn’t quite as in your face as say Branson later in the trip.
I was too early for this (but I'd booked to do one in Windsor when I got back to the UK so I wasn't too upset)
Too early for this too
I was all about the rocks though
Sexy
Nothing like a bit of child exploitaton
By 9.40, I was sitting in Timber Falls' small car park waiting for the park to open. Employees arrived, the gate opened and not a single other customer appeared. Rather self-consciously, I walked the ten meters from the car to the ticket booth and asked if the coaster was open. Joyfully, it was. Either they’d tested it really early or I was gonna be the test! Even more self-consciously, I wandered up the empty entrance ramp, taking in the views of the disserted mini golf course, to greet the bewildered-looking ride ops. I made some attempt to appear normal - mumbled something about being here for work, something to do, thought it would be busy, thought the park would be bigger – all of which actually happened to be true but just omitted the more accurate desperation of I NEED THE CRED! Turns out the operator was from Romania and he had a little reminisce with me about Europe. Apparently the park never gets very busy.
Anyway, I got a front row ride on my first coaster of the trip and it was delightful. I wasn’t sure what to expect from an S&S woodie but I certainly had the bar set too low. I was expecting it to be more family friendly but Avalanche (or Hellcat, whichever it’s really called), pulls all the punches. It was the first ride of the day and there was still plenty of airtime and some serious speed in there. Just the right amount of roughness too – enough to throw you into the side on a few corners but not to leave permanent bruising. I was kicking myself for not getting in a night ride on this the day before. Seeing as how I’ve never heard of this ride until planning the trip, I’d say it’s quite underrated. Definitely up there with some of the smaller Gravity Groups.
Theme park or crazy golf course?
Unexpected <3
An Avalanche of <3
A five minute drive away stood Mount Olympus. I’d always fancied this park for the cool Greek God theme and the fact they’d had the balls to build that ridiculous giant Troy horse. Only recently had I started to hear good reviews from Gavin et al., who have praised Hades and raised the park higher than stab-vest requirement. First impressions then - $20 parking! You’re having a laugh right? Don’t bother faffing with an ECC card – despite some suggestions, the man in the booth will look at you like a numpty, as will the manager. Still, it was worth a shot. Hades and Zeus were literally at the entrance gate so I went straight for the heart of the matter and got into the queue for Hades 360. The queue was already 20 minutes. If anyone is thinking of doing these two parks in the morning, I fully recommend swapping so you get to Mount Olympus for opening and burn through some of the queues, while it seems Timber Falls will remain quiet all day.
There was a board outside Hades suggesting it was running rough today. Odd. This was followed by a more permanent sign saying the same thing. Huh? Should I translate that as ‘please don’t sue us for poor maintenance’? Oh well, I don’t mind a bit of bashing about and my anticipation for this ride was high. I queued for back row. The ops were looking for a single rider and I stayed quiet. Then they got really aggressive and said that they wouldn’t send the train until a single rider magically appeared from the queue and filled the empty space! What the hell?! After a minute of this I finally gave in and pushed my way to the front to fill this nonsense. It was second from back so not the worst seat in the house. Hades is brutal. Not rough. Just full-on intense. A nice few pops of airtime before the lift, followed by the drop into the tunnel and straight out into the inversion. Wow! It’s so good. On the POVs I’d seen there were lights in the tunnels but the day I rode both were pitch black. I’m so glad because this was my absolute favourite thing, being thrown around at that speed and with that intensity and seeing nothing! Having nothing to ground you. No idea where the curves or the drops were. It was obscene
There’s a bit more fun to be had after the second tunnel and the slowdown, before coming back in for that odd drop down into the station. Zeus had one of those too. Why? Could they not have just made one of the hills a bit lower?Talking of Zeus, it was up next. This was nowhere near as exciting as its neighbour but still a decent ride. This one came with a Slovakian ride-op. I’m noticing a pattern. With some airtime and a nice little journey through the trees, it was relaxing after Hades’ stampede. It started to rain a bit while waiting for Zeus and I got a little wet on-ride but not too bad. Thankfully, it dried up soon after.
After Zeus, I wandered round the rest of the park which was heaving with people on this holiday weekend. Cyclops wasn’t running so I nipped into the café near Pegasus for some chips (sorry, fries) to wait and see if it opened. Nope. I waited over half an hour for Pegasus which was a bit forgettable to be honest, but it’s always nice to see a park invest in a woodie for kids rather than a crappy wacky worm.
I wasn’t going to attempt the proper kiddie cred for reasons of shame and as Cyclops still wasn’t happening, I had to make do with my +3. I took a few speedy pictures of the park before heading back for a re-ride on Hades. Some of the theming here is actually quite fab and I love the absolute commitment to the Greek theme. Back at Hades, there was over an hour queue. Bugger. I had so much still to do that day that I decided to leave it and get on my way. Totally gutted as Hades is fab. As for the park – it’s fine. I don’t really get what people dislike about the place. The operations are pretty **** I guess but it’s worth suffering for Hades. It definitely deserved more than a cred run TBH.
Like a bat outta hell
Please don't sue, please don't sue...
Ohh smart trains
Nothing says quality like a B&Q trellis
Goooon
Zeus brought the rain if not the thunder
Spite
+1 but at least it's a woodie
So ridiculous it's fab
Fab theming. Why do people hate on this park so much?
Aww how sweet
The drive down to Six Flags was broken up with a quick call into Little Amerricka (insert Rick and Morty joke here), mainly because I wanted the disgusting toboggan. I knew it would be a cred run and I was short on time (story of my life) so was not happy when I pulled up into a sea of cars in the grass ‘car park’ and joined a long line of people faffing with tickets. I purchased four, having not properly researched how small Little Dipper was going to be XD. First up was Mad Mouse. What even is this? It’s not even that old. It’s just a homemade version of a wild mouse with square corners and no restraints. Fab! The ride op noticed my accent (and possibly my Linnanmäki bag?) and asked if I was from Finland. He obviously knew I was a goon and we had a bit of a laugh about it. One and done.
Next up was Meteor. I adore how there are so many wooden kids coasters in the US and that they are all this traditional white, red and blue. It’s like riding a cliché.
After a 20 minute queue for Meteor, I legged it round to the terrifying contraption that was the toboggan. Lurking in the corner of the park like a Bond villain that really doesn’t expect you to talk, it wouldn’t look amiss in an abandoned Soviet weapons factory. My heart was pounding during the agonising wait while the ten or so riders in front loaded one at a time, looking increasingly pale and traumatised on exit. Most troubling was the final corner hill, during which you could see the car trying to leap up from the rails. God only knows what’s stopping it or how long it’ll last. So I got into the evil Postman Pat van of death and was pinned in with a huge squishy restraint and then by the roof and sides. Talk about claustrophobic! Then it was time to go up the tube. This must be what astronauts feel like, only this results in slightly more trepidation. It definitely puts the Mort in Amerricka and Morty. Soon though, it was all over. Nothing that exciting tbh unless you really like left-hand bends. My feet touched the floor, my heart rate returned to normal and the blood returned to my kneecaps. I was able to dash back to the car and was soon back on the road, SFGAm-bound.
Eurgh
Ghetto chic
Luckily, I wasn't made to ride it with my hand over my heart
Fab old flats
America, you really need to be introduced to Waltzers, this is shameful
Denied
I wanted it so much until I saw it.
SFGAm was a bucket list park for me, not least because of the four B&Ms. I turned up about four I think and planned to get as many of the low capacity rides done as possible before meeting up with @GuyWithAStick later in the evening for some night rides. Anything left could be mopped up the following morning. Following GWAS’ local knowledge, I headed straight for the flyer. After a long queue, I bagged a middle ride. Crystal Wing is one of my favourite fliers but only because of the interaction with the rockwork. Take away any interaction and theme it to burdenous comic book heroes and I find these clones rather boring. Apart from the glorious pretzel loop obviously (but even with that, I’ve been spoiled now by Tatsu).
'I love how the dull colour of the maintenance shed accentuates the bright track'
I joined a horrific queue for Dark Night that was a cattle pen in a shed. Joyful. I read a book to while away the next hour while trying to look as inconspicuous as one can on their own in a theme park queueline reading a book. Sigh. I’ve ridden the GothamCityArkhamLlanfairTysiliogogogoch at SFNE but can’t really remember much about it. Did it also spray you in the face with water? Gross. Dark Night is better than your average wild mouse because it has dark and it has loud noises and it has things leaping out at you. But not that much better.
Then it was time to get Joker over and done with in the single rider queue. I despise Zacspins so wasn’t really looking forward to this. Couldn’t help wondering why, if going for the two split sides thing, they missed the obvious theming opportunity of Two Face? Guess the Joker is more current with the film franchises?
Looks much better than it rides
At least it's better than a Zacspin
Anyway, while in the single rider queue, I made friends with two very loud drunk girls and a slightly more sober guy. They were amusing for a while, getting all the crowd around to sing and dance. Because America doesn’t understand single rider, all four of us were assigned a car together. The drunk girls screamed. A lot. The ride wasn’t quite as gross as a zacspin but still, those sudden gut-wrenching flips are not my favourite. It was, however, thankfully quite short. As we got off the ride, I was suddenly grabbed by my new friends and it was all I could do to nab my bag as I was pulled along with them over to Vertical Velocity. A 45 minute queue was made bearable by even more drunken antics and a talkative crowd. Finally in the station, the heavens opened and, seeming out of nowhere, there was absolute torrential rain! There was no way they were running the ride in that. It was gushing off of the roof!
I made a break for it and left behind both the sloshed people and the sploshy Intamin to go in search of GWAS. By the time I got to our meeting point at Goliath the rain had eased off and then disappeared altogether! But the rain had proved too much for the majority of the clientele and people were running for the park exit en mass so that I had to barge through against the stampede. After that, the park thinned out a lot and paved the way for a lovely quiet evening of cred-whoring. Back at Goliath, some time had gone by and GWAS hadn’t showed. I didn’t have his number and my Internet wasn’t working (even though it was free and unlimited, it was slowed so much as to be unusable – thanks Three!) so I decided to crack on.
I dithered over Goliath but decided to wait until it was fully dark, so decided it was time for some B&M goodness in the shape of X-Flight as the sun was setting. Between the rain and the good capacity, X-Flight was basically walk on. Got a front row ride on the left and instantly realised I’d picked the wrong side for the drop. Oh well. Not enough near misses in the first half, a disgusting colour scheme and a lots of unfinished mud didn’t warm me to this cred. The layout wasn’t that inspired either. The near miss of the keyhole followed by the supports is a nice touch but take that out and it’s rather weak. Wing riders are pretty diluted at the best of times but this was like weak orange squash to your standard Bolliger champagne!
Looks much better than it rides
With that done, and it properly dark, I headed back towards Goliath. Felling sleepy, I was doing some serious yawning as I entered the queue and began fantasising that I’d had more than a small plate of chips during my busy day to ward off the jet lag. I was woken from my chip dreams by a GWAS! He’d magically appeared and had somehow managed to spot me by the Linnanmäki bag. Joy! Someone to keep me awake and to natter with about goony things. We spent the Goliath queue and most of the evening chatting about coasters and Halloween haunts and park histories and just generally being really goony. His enthusiasm was absolutely infectious and I was soon wide awake again and up for some exhilarating night rides.
So, Goliath then. In the station, GWAS was being a great local tour guide and showed me the join in the roof where the station building was extended from Iron Wolf. As we entered the station and headed for the back, it began to rain again. Nowhere near as bad as before but enough to make it uncomfortable and to be distracting to the view. Balls. On the plus side, with all that rain, it was just flying round! First impressions were that it was short. Very, very short. But there was a hell of lot packed into that tiny structure and it all comes at you so quickly. Firstly, that incredible drop which just doesn’t stop going and, at night especially, is the definition of thrilling. Then there’s the delicious dive loop and zero-g stall combo and the fab tunnels. Boom, boom, boom - it all comes at you and then it’s over before you can even breathe. I came off giggling with enjoyment. It was obviously a great ride but where did it fit in with the other RMCs? I couldn’t decide and needed to re-ride, preferably minus the rain, before I could make my mind up. For now though it was time to crack on with some more creds.
I was excited to have another hyper in my life so we went for a night ride on Raging Bull. This was quite disappointing to be honest and probably the weakest B&M hyper I’ve been on. It comes out of the drop into a giant corner and continues to be more concerned with corners and g-force than it does airtime which is the entire point of these things. Glad I got it at night because it would have been even more lacklustre in the daylight.
Boo to unexpected hyper dullness :_(
(plus this area's theme made me want to be in Phantasialand)
We had time for at least another ride before park close and decided on American Eagle because it looked fantastic all lit up and at night. Only one side was open, blue I think, and the station was almost empty so we just jumped on and enjoyed the ride. There is nothing better than an old woodie whizzing around in the cool night air with the structure all illuminated around you - I love it. Being white (well some bits of it whiter than others with the repaint) it reminded me of White Cyclone in Japan, but nowhere near as laughably rough.
Bad picture but I feel it deserves a spot
Some bits of the park actually had really nice details
Says who exactly? Have they been to Efetling/Tripsdrill et al.? Or is this like the World Series?
GWAS thought there might be just enough time to catch a ride on Viper and so we legged it all the way over from American Eagle. I’m old and used to sitting behind a computer and came up puffing and panting as GWAS finished confirming with the guy on the gate that we still had time to ride. Yay! What I hadn’t realised before today was that it was running backwards! A backwards woodie? Count me intrigued. Turns out to be a really weird sensation. Thank goodness it was quite a smooth woodie because not being able to see the track and brace for the changes of direction could have been uncomfortable on another ride. But here it was just fun, careering round corners backwards in the dark. A really enjoyable way to finish off such an epic first day of coastering. And, when we pulled into the station, they send us round again for one last hurrah. Absolutely shattered, I said my goodbyes to GWAS (it was so, so lovely to meet you - thanks again for showing me round, for your local insight, and for getting me on so many coasters
). I stumbled off to blearily find my hotel and finally, gratefully, sleep.
Goodbye for now
Day 3 – Six Flags Great America (again)
I woke up exhausted, worn down by jet lag, the busy previous day, and lack of food (I’d kinda forgotten to eat the day before). The plan was to finish off the last 6 rides at Six Flags Great America (forgoing the kiddie cred) and hot foot it four hours up to Michigan's Adventure. But what a difference a day makes! The I didn't bank on it being so hot or so horrifically busy and as soon as I entered the park, I knew something in my schedule was going to have to give.
Tormond likes creds. Who knew?
I ploughed on with Batman first, knowing that I could whizz round with little queue. But the queue line is neverending and I started the day with a good helping of cred anxiety. A nice intense ride to wake me up - I never complain about a Batman clone, they are fab and people are spoilt, but we all know what to expect.
Old reliable
I walked past a huge queue for Vertical Velocity (thinking maybe it would just be long at opening and get shorter later) and pressed on to Little Dipper. I love a woodie, even an average one, so I sucked up the queue that snaked for a crippling half hour. I adore all the boards in the queueline with stats about wooden coasters. It's so sweet that even Six Flags have a little passion for their woodie history while here in the UK, we couldn't give a rat's arse about our woodies, some of which would knock the socks off this kiddie cred. Traditional flag colour scheme - tick!
Adorable
Makes me feel warm inside
Headed back to Vertical Velocity and the queue was even longer. Bugger. I was quite tempted to skip it because I hate these things but in the end, decided to man up and get the cred. They just remind me of drop towers and the silly, illogical part of my brain doesn't like the fact that they launch into a spike with nothing to stop you at the top. Best part of an hour ticked by before I got into the station and finally boarded in an increasingly bad mood. No photos because it's turd.
The two hours I'd scheduled here in the morning sailed by and it became increasingly clear that I wouldn't make it all the way to Michigan's with enough time to appreciate it. I had two choices - stay and finish what I started or abandon ship and tackle a four hour drive on Labor Day weekend. As the exhaustion and jet lag were kicking in like a brick wall, and the things I'd heard about Michigan's didn't exactly fill me with enthusiasm, I decided to stick it out and boot Michigan's Adventure from the schedule. If there was one park that was ever going to be spited from the trip it was this one. Boo.
I went looking for American Eagle to finish off the second side but couldn't remember where GWAS had lead me in a rush in the dark the night before. Ended up walking in completely the wrong direction and had to double back again past X-Flight and finally found the odd bridge thing to cross. The short queue and a fun ride improved my mood slightly as the anxiety began to seep away and I began to appreciate how nice and sunny the day was. Nowhere near as fun as the previous night with the track all lit up but Eagle still delivered some reasonable airtime and I left smiling again.
Vintage realness
Decided I needed more Goliath in my life so headed off for a re-ride, this time in the glorious sunshine. Still feel that it's too short and the elements are completely rushed through. It's wonderful because it's still an RMC but I find the pacing too hectic. There were plenty more RMCs to come this trip though so I thought of this as my RMC appetiser. Consider me hungry.
Love how the woman in the front row just can't cope
Rides much, much better than it looks
I'd would have quite liked to have ridden Demon in the dark as it looked fab with the scary eyes in the cave all lit up but we didn't have time, sadly. A daytime ride on an arrow looper didn't summon quite the same excitement but it was actually fine and possibly better than I expected. I tried to imagine a time where this ride would have been a big deal and this made me feel a little sad that it's now so overshadowed by its neighbours. I got a bit confused by the queue signs and found myself in walking up the exit and having to backtrack. Maybe tiredness was getting to me?
Aww it's so cute
Demon done, that just left Whizzer, the old Swartzy bobsled. I quite like these things for nostalgia but don't like having to squish in close to randoms. Really, really did not appreciate the hour's wait that had now built up. Finally got through the queue and had my final ride of the day.
Nostalgia cred
Goodbye for real
By the time I'd finished with Great America and finally seeked out some food, it was well into the afternoon and I was more than ready for a rest. I headed straight to my hotel in Fort Wayne (which turned out to be next to a strip club - great!) and crashed out for a good long sleep in preparation for another jam-packed day.
Next up: Kings Island, Labor Day and Ohio police
I'll leave you with Six Flag's last laugh
Last edited:
