I was very excited for this trip, lots of interesting new places as well as returning to some favourites from my big trip in 2012. There were 5 of us on the trip, Nic, Richard, Owain, Jordan and myself.
Friday 7th
My adventure started with a bit of luxury as after years of saving up points I got to fly out in upper class with Virgin Atlantic. Very fancy. Got food and drink in the lounge beforehand including some tasty gyoza.
The flight was great, very comfy (had a foot stall <3 ) and the staff were always passing by to see if I needed anything. The main meal came out like a proper 3 course meal in a restaurant and you could dine at your own speed. The quality of the food was outstanding, the beef in my main course just melted in the mouth, delicious. The snacks later on were also tasty and although I got excited when I read it on the menu the passion fruit eclair was not a good combination.
Once landed we got through a pretty empty border control and met up with Owain who had already been in the States for a few days. It was then time to find out what hire car we'd have for the next 2 weeks. The cars in our category were all out bar one which was on the other side of the car park so the attendant was like "would you like a free upgrade to one of these monstrosities*?" Obviously we said yes and proceeded to load up the BEAST.
It was absolutely massive inside. The longer we looked the more random nooks and crannies existed, fun times lay ahead. After about 40 mins of driving we arrived at our first hotel of the trip, a pretty basic red roof inn. It was then time for some sleep before the first day of cred hunting.
*My word, not hers
Saturday 8th
Best way to start an American road trip off is by having a great breakfast at iHop. Tasty tasty pancakes were had and it made me happy.
Our first stop of the day was a mountain resort called Jiminy Peak which has a mountain coaster. I'm not really fussed about them, don't count them and would rather put that money towards something better so I just waited for the others to tick it off. The overall resort seemed nice though. Richard made Florida friends in the shop while Nic, Jordan and I giggled at the sticker on this t-shirt...
Back on the road and we made our way to our first proper cred of the trip in the tiny little park in Albany, Roller coaster at Huck Finn's Playland. The park was a bit odd, more like a permanant fun fair. Felt a little dated but it seemed to be very popular with local families.
The coaster isn't too much to write about either, just a little kids coaster and it'd be the first of many of this type on the trip.
Back on the road a little while later we made it to our first proper park, Great Escape. The car park was rammed and it took us a while to find a spot which was worrying but fear not as most were there for the water park - not surprised either as it was boiling out. Getting a Six Flags pass processed now is weird but also quite effecicent, you just get given it at the gate and when scanned they just take your photo right there.
It's interesting seeing the old Arrow loopscrew sitting basically on the edge of the park as you cross the bridge. Sadly for us it was also looking pretty closed.
With the arrow looking closed the first thing we headed to was the parks Boomerang, just to get it out of the way. Pretty standard Boomerang experience.
The park was unusual for a Six Flags, it was a pretty nice setting with some really old fairytale themed pieces here and there. I later learnt in the shop that it was a thing before the rest of the park which is interesting, how Efteling.
Next up was Canyon Blaster, an old school arrow mine train. I usually don't like these, they don't really get up to much despite the room they take up in the park. This one wasn't that different and it wasn't great on corners.
This coaster was situated in a fairly dilapidated Western themed area which felt like it needed some love. It did have a log flume though so we queued up for that as it was there, Nic decided find some shade somewhere instead. After a bit of a queue we decided to all hop into one boat, we were too heavy for this! The boat kinda slammed down in the station, caused a small wave of water to hit Rich who made a noise. The ride ops looked concerned so I hopped out. Apparently the ride goes through a shed which used to have a cred.
As we were near the entrance for it we went to see if Steamin' Demon was looking like it'd open at all and we noticed people in the station! Then we saw it test and then the engineers leave. Ooo, was looking good so we stuck around for about 15-20 mins and ended up being on the first train of the day. It was actually ok apart from the corkscrew being a bit jolty.
Side note: Each attraction, shop and food stall had the map numbers on them
We didn't ride it but the Falcon ride next to it looked cool (I've only ever ridden the one at Gardaland and it was alright).
We'd heard some random guests nearby saying how the bobseld coaster wasn't open which was the news I didn't want to hear. Luckily it was where we were headed next and I may have been a tad excited to get to it. Hearing it roar on our approach made me happy. Intamin bob time!!!!
This actually had quite a long queue as station operations were dreadful. I was just excited to ride it though. During our wait we were all reminiscing about our favourite experiences with Bob at Efteling and how sad we'll be when it closes in September, such a shame there's not many of these around.
This one was just brilliant fun, utter chaos and hilarity ensued throughout. The jolt into the brakes at the end was brutal but it just added to the amusement of it all. Urgh, if it didn't have a queue we totally would have gone round again, such good fun.
It was then time for the parks old woodie stuck behind the water park. The layout of this park is just bizarre. Well not usually being a fan of older wooden coasters I wasn't looking forward to this but it turned out to be pretty fun, the double down was great and there were plenty of little pops of air time.
After that we attempted to ride the kids coaster, Frankies Mine Train but the ride op was having none of it, probably not helped by the several senior team members nearby. Oh well, always worth a try.
It was then time to pop by the shops, Rich and Jordan to mop up some inivisible monsters and head off for some food. We ended up at a Texas Roadhouse which was pretty good. The waitress seemed to be on the ball, the food was ok and Richard enjoyed throwing peanut shells on the floor.
Our hotel for the evening was pretty average but outside had swarms of mosquitos which was annoying. It was a great first day though, nothing too exciting aside from the Intamin bob and woodie but we had fun.
Thanks for reading, hopefully I'll get the next part up tomorrow.
Friday 7th
My adventure started with a bit of luxury as after years of saving up points I got to fly out in upper class with Virgin Atlantic. Very fancy. Got food and drink in the lounge beforehand including some tasty gyoza.
The flight was great, very comfy (had a foot stall <3 ) and the staff were always passing by to see if I needed anything. The main meal came out like a proper 3 course meal in a restaurant and you could dine at your own speed. The quality of the food was outstanding, the beef in my main course just melted in the mouth, delicious. The snacks later on were also tasty and although I got excited when I read it on the menu the passion fruit eclair was not a good combination.
Once landed we got through a pretty empty border control and met up with Owain who had already been in the States for a few days. It was then time to find out what hire car we'd have for the next 2 weeks. The cars in our category were all out bar one which was on the other side of the car park so the attendant was like "would you like a free upgrade to one of these monstrosities*?" Obviously we said yes and proceeded to load up the BEAST.
It was absolutely massive inside. The longer we looked the more random nooks and crannies existed, fun times lay ahead. After about 40 mins of driving we arrived at our first hotel of the trip, a pretty basic red roof inn. It was then time for some sleep before the first day of cred hunting.
*My word, not hers
Saturday 8th
Best way to start an American road trip off is by having a great breakfast at iHop. Tasty tasty pancakes were had and it made me happy.
Our first stop of the day was a mountain resort called Jiminy Peak which has a mountain coaster. I'm not really fussed about them, don't count them and would rather put that money towards something better so I just waited for the others to tick it off. The overall resort seemed nice though. Richard made Florida friends in the shop while Nic, Jordan and I giggled at the sticker on this t-shirt...
Back on the road and we made our way to our first proper cred of the trip in the tiny little park in Albany, Roller coaster at Huck Finn's Playland. The park was a bit odd, more like a permanant fun fair. Felt a little dated but it seemed to be very popular with local families.
The coaster isn't too much to write about either, just a little kids coaster and it'd be the first of many of this type on the trip.
Back on the road a little while later we made it to our first proper park, Great Escape. The car park was rammed and it took us a while to find a spot which was worrying but fear not as most were there for the water park - not surprised either as it was boiling out. Getting a Six Flags pass processed now is weird but also quite effecicent, you just get given it at the gate and when scanned they just take your photo right there.
It's interesting seeing the old Arrow loopscrew sitting basically on the edge of the park as you cross the bridge. Sadly for us it was also looking pretty closed.
With the arrow looking closed the first thing we headed to was the parks Boomerang, just to get it out of the way. Pretty standard Boomerang experience.
The park was unusual for a Six Flags, it was a pretty nice setting with some really old fairytale themed pieces here and there. I later learnt in the shop that it was a thing before the rest of the park which is interesting, how Efteling.
Next up was Canyon Blaster, an old school arrow mine train. I usually don't like these, they don't really get up to much despite the room they take up in the park. This one wasn't that different and it wasn't great on corners.
This coaster was situated in a fairly dilapidated Western themed area which felt like it needed some love. It did have a log flume though so we queued up for that as it was there, Nic decided find some shade somewhere instead. After a bit of a queue we decided to all hop into one boat, we were too heavy for this! The boat kinda slammed down in the station, caused a small wave of water to hit Rich who made a noise. The ride ops looked concerned so I hopped out. Apparently the ride goes through a shed which used to have a cred.
As we were near the entrance for it we went to see if Steamin' Demon was looking like it'd open at all and we noticed people in the station! Then we saw it test and then the engineers leave. Ooo, was looking good so we stuck around for about 15-20 mins and ended up being on the first train of the day. It was actually ok apart from the corkscrew being a bit jolty.
Side note: Each attraction, shop and food stall had the map numbers on them
We didn't ride it but the Falcon ride next to it looked cool (I've only ever ridden the one at Gardaland and it was alright).
We'd heard some random guests nearby saying how the bobseld coaster wasn't open which was the news I didn't want to hear. Luckily it was where we were headed next and I may have been a tad excited to get to it. Hearing it roar on our approach made me happy. Intamin bob time!!!!
This actually had quite a long queue as station operations were dreadful. I was just excited to ride it though. During our wait we were all reminiscing about our favourite experiences with Bob at Efteling and how sad we'll be when it closes in September, such a shame there's not many of these around.
This one was just brilliant fun, utter chaos and hilarity ensued throughout. The jolt into the brakes at the end was brutal but it just added to the amusement of it all. Urgh, if it didn't have a queue we totally would have gone round again, such good fun.
It was then time for the parks old woodie stuck behind the water park. The layout of this park is just bizarre. Well not usually being a fan of older wooden coasters I wasn't looking forward to this but it turned out to be pretty fun, the double down was great and there were plenty of little pops of air time.
After that we attempted to ride the kids coaster, Frankies Mine Train but the ride op was having none of it, probably not helped by the several senior team members nearby. Oh well, always worth a try.
It was then time to pop by the shops, Rich and Jordan to mop up some inivisible monsters and head off for some food. We ended up at a Texas Roadhouse which was pretty good. The waitress seemed to be on the ball, the food was ok and Richard enjoyed throwing peanut shells on the floor.
Our hotel for the evening was pretty average but outside had swarms of mosquitos which was annoying. It was a great first day though, nothing too exciting aside from the Intamin bob and woodie but we had fun.
Thanks for reading, hopefully I'll get the next part up tomorrow.