[gabed]

So we did one of these last year: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4596 Worth the read if you've got time to waste

Day 1

Before I begin, I'll go ahead and mention the fact that there aren't any coasters in this part of the report. (Spoiler alert, you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that). Nonetheless, here goes...

So shortly after 2016's 5 Park Trip came to a close, Sean, my family, and I began making plans and arrangements for a similar trip for the summer of 2017. One year came and went, and now we find ourselves hitting the road yet again. After undergoing several changes and alterations, the final plan became:

Friday 6/2 - Being tourists in Gatlinburg
Saturday 6/3 - Dollywood
Sunday 6/4 - Kentucky Kingdom
Monday 6/5 - Holiday World
Tuesday 6/6 - Six Flags St Louis + The Arch
Wednesday 6/7 - Worlds of Fun
Thursday 6/8 - Silver Dollar City (Day 1)
Friday 6/9 - Silver Dollar City (Day 2)
Saturday 6/10 - Home

Clearly a much bigger trip than last summer's adventure, which of course meant stronger anticipation waiting for the trip to arrive. Unlike most other trips we've taken before, the first day would not include any parks. This would prove to be a great choice as we were in no rush to leave NC and hit the road. Around noon after many miles and Indie Rock albums, it started getting real.

IMG_1373.PNG (597.91 KiB) Viewed 12392 times

Not too long after entering the Volunteer State, we arrived and checked into our hotel. Creekstone Inn, located just off the main strip would be our temporary home for two nights and had some rather nice views from the balcony.

IMG_1374.JPG (1.06 MiB) Viewed 12392 times

After giving ourselves half an hour to rest and unpack, it was off to Gatlinburg and be as touristy as one could be in three hours. Starting of course with my personal favorite place in the whole town; The Rhythm Section, located in the Mountain Mall. My advice to anyone who likes any form of rock or bluesy music whatsoever: visit this store! Anything you could ever want can be found here. For reference...

IMG_1377.JPG (1.11 MiB) Viewed 12392 times

After grabbing Pink Floyd's "The Wall" on vinyl, we made our way to dinner.

IMG_1380.JPG (786.19 KiB) Viewed 12392 times

The best pizza in the galaxy, indeed. After eating enough pizza to kill a small child, we were back on the strip doing all we could to avoid tourist traps. I cannot say that we were very successful.

IMG_1385.JPG (949.87 KiB) Viewed 12392 times

I've seen the Skylift for years while passing through Gatlinburg, but never really thought to give it a try. Not a bad experience, as you can tell the views were beautiful. The same cannot be said for the ticket price however. I must say though, it's not the best chairlift in the galaxy, the one at Knoebels will always have a special place in my heart.

That'll do it for today. Like I mentioned earlier, if you came here expecting coasters and was dissappointed (which is highly likely given this is a site for roller coaster enthusiasts to discuss such important matters), all will be well tomorrow when Dollywood photos are uploaded.

Thanks for reading!

[gabed]

Okay so it’s finally time for the coasters, I promise.

Day 2 - Part 1

So despite being much longer, this year’s trip bears a lot of similarities to last year's. One of them being a return to a previously visited park to help divide up the trip. (What, you thought we actually wanted to go to Kings Dominion last summer?) This year, as if you couldn't already tell from yesterday’s post, Dollywood would be the park. In total, this would be my fifth visit to the park and Sean’s third. It’s more or less our other home away from home if we’re gonna exclude Carowinds. Much like Kings Dominion, Dollywood was added at the last moment to help divide the massive drive out to the new parks. Although I cannot say that I’m complaining, as it was an amazing day at the park.

IMG_1473 (1).PNG (578.64 KiB) Viewed 12373 times

To be a sunny Saturday at the dawn of summer, I was amazed at how light the crowds were. Most wait times were minimal at most, with the exception of one which I will get to later. Though despite this, there was one piece of sour news we were greeted with.

IMG_1393.JPG (762.98 KiB) Viewed 12373 times

You know, to be fair, I really was not upset since I had been expecting this the entire time. Plus, if we’re being perfectly honest, Sean and I are both extremely thankful and fortunate that we were able to snag two rides on Lightning Rod last October. Which, if you think about it, is a lot more than most can say. Putting Lightning Rod aside, we decided to move on to the park’s new-for-2017 attractions.

IMG_1395.JPG (984.32 KiB) Viewed 12373 times

Being the whoriest of credit whores, we darted for the park’s new children’s coaster.

IMG_1401.JPG (985.48 KiB) Viewed 12373 times

Only Dollywood would go this all-out on theming for a children’s ride. But hey, I’m not going to complain, the whole area looks fantastic! Makes up for what is basically a standard kid coaster. With the credit and light humiliation out of the way, Sean and I marched our happy selves to the true star of 2017.

IMG_1408.JPG (699.86 KiB) Viewed 12373 times

For years I’ve been saying that Dollywood needed more large, thrilling flats. I mean don’t get me wrong, Barnstormer is amazing and all, but for a park like Dollywood, that just doesn’t cut it. Yeah yeah I know there’s the Country Fair area, but that’s all midway attractions. Finally in 2017, Dollywood delivered with a brand freaking new 20+ story drop tower. And I gotta say, I was impressed. Drop towers are a hit or a miss for me and there’s nearly no way to tell. I didn’t find Zumanjaro or Dominion’s tower all that great but I loved Acrophobia and Stratosfear at Knoebels. I’d place Drop Line in the upper half of drop towers I’ve been on, definitely a great choice made by the park!

Following the trend of riding incredible rides, Thunderhead was up next. Good golly gosh almighty is this thing awesome. Still delivers intense airtime and that classic woodie rattle (in a good way) throughout the entire ride cycle. Ended up riding this beast of a wooden coaster four times before the day’s end and not one of them was any less than fantastic.

IMG_1415.JPG (752.68 KiB) Viewed 12373 times

[gabed]

Day 2 - Part 2

With the rattly, airtimey goodness of Thunderhead now behind us, we walked over to the park’s most mysterious ride…

IMG_1422.JPG (779.12 KiB) Viewed 12371 times

You see the joke here is that I said the ride is mysterious and the word “mystery” is in the ride’s name. Maybe this is why this thread only has 19 views.

Ahem, back to the ride itself, Mystery Mine is beginning to show it’s age. The fire effects at the top of the second lift were not working for the first time that I can remember and the ride itself was not too smooth. Hard to believe this baby is only ten years old when she rides like she’s at least twice that. Still an enjoyable ride, but I’d recommend keeping your head as far forward as possible. Also watch out for that canary, I’d recommend that too.

Giving Gerstlauer a chance to redeem themselves (and they did) Firechaser was next up on the list.

IMG_1436.JPG (1.12 MiB) Viewed 12371 times

Still one of the best family coasters ever built. Kind of a “one-size-fits-all” type of ride where anyone from nervous children to crazy thrill seekers can find something about the ride to love. A little rattle here and there, but I’m willing to look past it given how flippin’ fun this thing is. Unlike it’s sister across the park, all of Firechaser’s effects are still working, so don’t let your guard down around Big Bertha or else she’ll blow.

Wild Eagle would be the next ride of the day.

IMG_1440.JPG (807.73 KiB) Viewed 12371 times

IMG_1456.JPG (914.71 KiB) Viewed 12371 times

The ride itself is still fun, still forceful, so no need to worry about that. Now what’s not fun however, were the operations for the ride. I mentioned in Part 1 that there was a ride out there in the Smokies with a terrible wait time. Look no further than Wild Eagle ladies and gentlemen. Sure, it’s not the worst crew I’ve ever seen, but oh my were these dispatches horrible. I have a feeling many operators were being trained all at once given how quickly many of them were changing positions and not seeming 100% sure of what to do. Hopefully this issue can be resolved rather soon because goodness.

Since one of the park’s Alan Schilke masterpieces was down, we went for the other one.

IMG_1442.JPG (1.1 MiB) Viewed 12371 times

Holy crap this ride is still amazing. Not even one single spot of head banging and maybe a slight rattle, if that, at the worst. Good ole Tornado never ceases to amaze me with it’s layout and pure speed. It’s a shame Arrow wasn’t able to pump out more masterpieces like this before X2 killed them, because this thing is a hidden gem in a park filled with great rides.

Okay, so we’ve all heard of the Grist Mill and the godly cinnamon bread, but how come nobody ever talks about Granny Ogle’s Ham N’ Beans?

IMG_1465.JPG (1.07 MiB) Viewed 12371 times

Sean and I just happened to stumble across this restaurant and were more than impressed with the food. Homemade corn bread, BBQ ham sandwich and chips with pinto beans proved to be just what we needed. Also, the fact that this place actually managed to make me like pinto beans is a miracle on it’s own. Be sure to check this place out if you’re ever in the park!

[gabed]

Day 2 - Part 3

Stomachs stuffed, we gently cruised through the shops of Dollywood before eventually ending up at Mountain Sidewinder.

IMG_1455.JPG (994.35 KiB) Viewed 12371 times

It’s been three years since I last rode this thing and I completely forgot how much I loved it. Easily my favorite water ride that I have ever ridden, an out of control experience that will leave you more than happy. Cooled off, it was off to one of my all time favorite flat rides…

IMG_1451 (1) - Edited (1).jpg (1.11 MiB) Viewed 12371 times

First rode Barnstormer in it’s opening year in 2011 and I still love it all the same. S&S Screamin’ Swings are already fantastic enough, but when you theme the crap out of them, it goes a long way. Barnstormer is proof that while every ride can use a story, it does not have to be a huge one, even the simplest ideas can make a ride.

While meandering in, out, and all around Craftsman’s Valley, we came across one of our favorite non-ride attractions in the park.

IMG_1467 - Edited (1).jpg (1.04 MiB) Viewed 12371 times

Such a beautiful building that fits in perfectly with the theme and feel of Dollywood. The fact that it has a service every Sunday at 11:30 only makes it that much better. It’s a great place to sit and reflect or just relax for awhile while you breathe in the mountain air.

With the time running low, we hitched a ride on Blazing Fury and had a blast. The rest of the afternoon consisted of rerides on all our favorites before heading out to Pigeon Forge for dinner.

Tomorrow it’s off to Louisville, Kentucky where we’ll visit Kentucky Kingdom for the first time. Thank you for reading!

[gabed]

Day 3 Part 1

Kentucky Koasters were the main draw for today, traveling nearly four and a half hours from Pigeon Forge to Louisville in the early morning. Hard to believe this park was Six Flags New Orleans 2.0 when I first became an enthusiast, and now it’s a thriving little park with a great ride selection. The Kingdom has quite the history, first starting off in 1987 under Ed Hart with a promising future. Then as we all know it fell into the hands of 1990s Six Flags Management (which is more or less the same thing as hitting a cat on the side of the road but not completely killing it, thus letting it suffer). The park believe it or not came close to becoming the company’s flagship, only to have that plan fall through in favor of Geauga Lake. Which, by looking at that property as it currently stands, did not work out too well. Nonetheless, the park was closed after the 2009 season and sat abandoned for five years. The Koch’s tried to revive it with a terrible masterplan, only to withdraw upon realizing it would take work to revive the park. Ed Hart swooped back in in 2013 with a last ditch effort to save his baby, and against all odds managed to pull through. In the last three years, Hart has poured his heart and soul into this place, and it shows.

After spending the last several years watching the history and revival of this park evolve, I along with Sean finally made it out to the park.

IMG_1474 - Edited.jpg (902.17 KiB) Viewed 12354 times

Almost immediately I was taken aback by the bright and beautiful color pallette of the park. Everything just seemed so alive and thriving, putting you in the right mood to enjoy your day to the fullest. Though we also took quick notice to how bizarre the park’s layout was. The water park and dry park aren’t so much separated as much as they are integrated. Several dry park rides require crossing through Hurricane Bay and vice versa. At least there weren’t any dead ends like Six Flags Great Adventure, which is by far the worst park layout I have ever seen. Not allowing ourselves to get too distracted, the two of us moved onwards to Lightning Run.

IMG_1526 - Edited.jpg (1.15 MiB) Viewed 12354 times

IMG_1482.JPG (764.06 KiB) Viewed 12354 times

Now here’s a ride that had a ton of hype to live up to. Last time I rode a roller coaster that I had heard nothing but good things about was El Toro, to which I felt was a tad bit overrated. Yeah I said it. With lines being nonexistent for the time being, Sean and I took a seat in the back row of our first ever Lightning Run train. Holy. Moly. Guacamole. Extra cheese. With ravioli. Where do you even start with a ride that doesn’t let your butt touch the seat even for a second. We’re not talking floater airtime here, we’re talking Maverick-style ejector air time throughout the whole course. This is potentially the strongest airtime I have felt on any coaster I have ever ridden, easily becoming my new number six.

Of course we couldn’t ride both of the park’s best roller coasters back to back, so we took it easy for just a little bit. Crowds were still non existent for now, so there was no better time than to get the kiddie credit out of the way.

IMG_1493 - Edited (1).jpg (1.11 MiB) Viewed 12354 times

Not a bad kid’s coaster, but when you’ve got a (working) RMC left to ride, you’ve got to get on the move. There were to be no RMCs quite yet however, as there were still credits to be gained.

IMG_1495.JPG (776.84 KiB) Viewed 12354 times

This here is Hurl- oh um, Thunder Hurler, no, that can’t be right. Thurler? Yeah, that’s it. If you’re ever feeling a little homesick for Carowinds while you’re at Kentucky Kingdom, don’t expect Hurling Run to remind you of home. Go into it with more of a Kings Dominion Hurler expectation. Even with the new train, yes, there is only one, this ride was still very rough. It works as a woodie I suppose, but it’s no standout attraction.

IMG_1496 - Edited.jpg (932.16 KiB) Viewed 12354 times

[gabed]

Well we were going to hit up T3 to both get it out of the way and to leave Storm Chaser as the last coaster, but when you see a shiny new RMC, you just can’t help yourself.

IMG_1549.JPG (256.87 KiB) Viewed 12354 times

I mean, just look at this thing. [Photo creds to Sean for that panorama by the way]

Kentucky Kingdom takes the cake for the best one-two punch I’ve ever seen. Storm Chaser is everything Lightning Run is and more. As my new number five, this beast will whip you out of your seat more times than you will ever be able to count. The barrel roll drop is glass smooth and a crazy experience which rockets you straight into one of the strongest airtime hills I have ever been on. The ride does not at any point let up from the moment your train lets off the chain, even at the brake run you come to an abrupt stop. There is not one single moment on this masterpiece that is unenjoyable, just greatness from start to finish. This was mine and Sean’s first ever I-Box, and if all others are like this, then we can’t wait to get on more!

IMG_1506.JPG (802.16 KiB) Viewed 12354 times

IMG_1504 - Edited.jpg (1015.04 KiB) Viewed 12354 times

Moving on through the rest of the park after a few rides on Storm Chaser, we came across the park’s newest addition.

IMG_1508.JPG (797.97 KiB) Viewed 12354 times

Sean hates these things and had this not been the ride’s inaugural year than I would not have even thought of getting on. But since I’m an idiot the thought did not pass my mind to just leave it be. Not too impressed really, would not sadden me at all if these stopped popping up like acne. Although the unpleasantries were not quite over yet.

IMG_1513 - Edited.jpg (1.04 MiB) Viewed 12354 times

I had never been on a SLC before today. I had heard all the rumors, watched the POVs, and listened to all the backlash these atrocities have received. Apparently this is supposed to be one of the better ones, which is downright terrifying to think about. This is one of the worst things I have ever ridden, period. This is just beyond terrible. New trains and a paint job are not enough to save a coaster as The Flying Cobras shows, and that could not be more evident than on T3. I was almost angry because of how insanely awful the ride was, my privates should not be writhing in pain when I exit a ride, that’s just not how it’s supposed to work.

[gabed]

With that national tragedy of a coaster out of the way, Sean and I began looking for a place to eat. Eventually, we found this little place which is a lot like a mini Harmony Hall.

IMG_1521 - Edited.jpg (830.66 KiB) Viewed 12352 times

Standard amusement park food but the theming on the inside is quite nice so I guess it all sorta evens out. Nothing to special about pepperoni pizza, but at least the fries were quite nice. After lunch was eaten, we made a short walk over to the park’s massive ferris wheel to take in some lovely views.

IMG_1536.JPG (777.73 KiB) Viewed 12351 times

Never ridden a ferris wheel I didn’t like and Kentucky Kingdom’s was no exception. Located in a great part of the park, great views of all the park’s offerings can be seen from far above.

With all credits ridden and many hours left before it was time to head out, it was time to try out the park’s waterpark: Hurricane Bay. Hurricane Bay was already a must for me before visiting since I am very much a water park type of guy and this thing looked great from photos I had seen. Even though Deluge, which I had really been looking forward to was down, I still had a great time for the most part.

IMG_1519 - Edited.jpg (811.34 KiB) Viewed 12350 times

The two taller guys to the left here were absolutely insane. On the blue, you start gaining speed much quicker than you would expect, giving some pretty cool pops of air on the last two humps. The red one, aka Deep Water Dive was fantastic! The anticipation for the drop was insane and the drop itself was pretty crazy. The blue and purple raft slide to the right of the photo was alright, but nothing too special if we’re going to be perfectly honest here.

IMG_1520.JPG (776.74 KiB) Viewed 12350 times

Out of this entire complex, we only made it to the three mini funnels which I do not know are called. A nice little slide, but there was a negative trend here that was consistent throughout the entirety of Hurricane Bay. Operations were just terrible. I know water slides are not meant to have the best capacity on the planet, but I should not have had to wait over half an hour for some of these slides. The employees did not seem to care and various measures which could have sped up capacity were not taken.

Several hours later in the water park, Sean and I dried ourselves off and made our way back into the dry park. We first hitched a ride on a few flats, the first being “Skycather”, the park’s off brand Windseeker. Much faster in the air than it looked from the ground, definitely a little more thrilling than one would expect. What’s not too thrilling however is having to walk through the water park just to get to it. After this Sean and I made our way back over to the Lightning Run section of the park and tired their drop tower and breakdance. I’ve never ridden a break dance before and I honestly thought it was alright at best. That drop tower on the other hand, ohhhhhhhhh boy. We ended the afternoon with a marathon on Lightning Run and Storm Chaser.

A few notes about the park:

1) Ticket prices here need to rise. I’m not going to say why, I’m just going to let you figure that one out for yourself.

2) The employees here really did not seem to care all that much, many of them doing a halved job to be completely honest.

3) I’m starting to think that Kentucky Kingdom has some kind of weird obsession with competing with Holiday World. Sean and I were immediately asked if we were from out of state before purchasing our tickets. Telling them yes got us a massive discount off our tickets and free soda for the entire day, a luxury not shared by local residents of Kentucky. I can only imagine this is due to Indiana’s close proximity to the park.

All in all despite the few downs, I really freaking loved this park. If Hart & Co continue rapidly expanding the park like they have for the past few years, I could see it being on par with parks like Carowinds and Kings Island.

That’s all for today, be sure to come back tomorrow where Sean will cover our adventures at Holiday World.

[Sean978]

Day 4 Part 1

Like Gabe mentioned, for the days we're spending in Worlds of Fun and Holiday World, I'll be writing the trip reports. To start of the first of my two, today we visited the highly acclaimed Holiday World.

WP_20170605_10_38_29_Raw.jpg (389.21 KiB) Viewed 12310 times

Immediately after the park comes into view you get a sense of not only how large the two visible coasters are, but also just how massive the park is in general. That being said, holy crap The Voyage is massive.

WP_20170605_10_02_26_Raw (2).jpg (444.5 KiB) Viewed 12310 times

So if you've somehow managed to read this far into the TR and not thought, "Gabe and Sean are total credit whores", here's a reminder of just how low we stoop foe our counts

WP_20170605_10_16_42_Raw.jpg (617.8 KiB) Viewed 12310 times

Shame-filled rides behind us, we moved on to Holiday World's newest coaster, and it's only large steel coaster. I have to admit that I really do love the queue and station for this ride, not to mention the amazingly painted trains.

WP_20170605_10_23_44_Moment.jpg (390.13 KiB) Viewed 12310 times

Being the only B&M launch coaster (Kind of) I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the launch definitely didn’t disappoint. Very intense and led into a massive immelman.

WP_20170605_10_35_09_Raw.jpg (474.57 KiB) Viewed 12310 times

Following that was a forceful loop, some turnarounds, and a drawn out inline twist to finish the ride. Really a shame no more have been built yet.

WP_20170605_10_10_19_Raw.jpg (538.88 KiB) Viewed 12310 times

Working back towards the rest of the park (Thunderbird is an eternity away from everything) we boarded the ride I was most excited for. Although its hard not to be excited for a woodie with the size and reputation of The Voyage.

To be continued…

[Sean978]

Day 4 Part 2

Jonathon, I'd strongly advise you stop reading now.

WP_20170605_10_42_57_Raw.jpg (655.21 KiB) Viewed 12310 times

This ride wasn’t super impressing to me. It was pretty smooth, had a long ride time and kept a decent speed throughout, but it lacked any strong airtime (Floater or ejector) and the intensity of other coasters. It wasn’t bad by any means, just a bit disappointing to me. Also worth noting, on Gabe and I's first ride, we were stopped completely on the MCBR for a good 3 minutes.

WP_20170605_11_06_47_Raw (2).jpg (702.72 KiB) Viewed 12310 times

Moving on, we encountered Raven. I'd never really heard anything about this ride that was overly positive or negative, so I really had no expectations. I'm happy to say it was a pleasant surprise. While a bit quaint and full of laterals, I enjoyed Raven.

WP_20170605_11_37_42_Raw.jpg (630.04 KiB) Viewed 12310 times

Finishing up the credits was The Legend, which recently had a good amount of refurbishments installed. This ride was a true surprise to me, and is not to be missed if you're visiting. It gave a smooth, air-filled, and intense layout that hugged the terrain.

We ended up spending most of our day in Splashin Safari, which was amazing. We rode both Mammoth and Wildebeest, must rides for any enthusiast, and even got stuck on Mammoth. We wrapped up the day with rides on their mat racer, funnel, and bowl slides. On our way out we re-rode Voyage and Thunderbird, and even snagged a ride (To my dismay) on Liberty Launch, the park's severely undersized S&S power tower.

Overall, while I believe Holiday World's coaster lineup leaves a good bit to be desired, the park's cleanliness, friendly employees, and landscaping make this park an enjoyable experience to any enthusiast.

Until Wednesday,

-Sean978

[gabed]

Day 5 Part 1

Probably for the best that Sean’s not the one writing this report, I at least didn’t mind the park.

After spending our last two days in Louisville and Santa Claus, it was time to make the monstrous drive to Missouri, home of the last three parks of the trip. Four hours of driving through Indiana and Illinois countryside led us across the Mississippi River and into the “Show-Me State”. (Yes that is the state’s actual nickname, I checked)

Not too long after crossing the state border, the trip’s fourth park rolled into view. Six Flags St Louis would be both mine and Sean’s third Six Flags park, and after Great Adventure, it would take a lot to redeem our faith in the company. At least Over Georgia is a very nice park, otherwise I would have had absolutely no hope. Things did not get off to the greatest of starts as we quickly learned that communication between employees was essentially nonexistent. At the front gate, we were told that single day tickets were no longer offered, because the best time to stop selling those is obviously in the first weeks of summer. Go Six Flags. With this dilemma, we went through almost all the money we had with us purchasing a season’s pass and then using that pass to get a second ticket for a discount. Upon entering the park we were told that day tickets in fact were still in use. Have a Six Flags day.

With that out of the way, we were finally able to enter the park.

IMG_1583 - Edited.jpg (786.68 KiB) Viewed 12284 times

Not a bad main entrance, better than Great Adventure’s but not as good as Over Georgia, though all three have a similar feel to them. Anyways, the first ride of the day would be the one of a kind, Batman.

IMG_1652 - Edited.jpg (1008.34 KiB) Viewed 12284 times

I love how Six Flags really goes out of the way to keep all of their properties unique and special, really shows how much they care. In all honesty, I’ve never been the biggest fan of the Batman clones. They’re not bad by any means, but I certainly don’t think they hold up as well as many other inverts out there. This one did work well as a sort of front gate statement however, in the same way that Intimidator does at the South Gate, so that’s always a nice little plus.

This work of fart was next.

IMG_1591 - Edited.jpg (1015.26 KiB) Viewed 12284 times

I don’t think it deserves all the hate it gets, but I definitely don’t think it should ever get any praise. Just eh from start to finish with those classic and lovely jerky Arrow transitions. I will give the ride credit for the fact that it’s layout is very unique and compact compared to other Arrow loopers out there.

After spending ten minutes trying to navigate the park, we came across this thing.

IMG_1595 - Edited (1).jpg (877.87 KiB) Viewed 12284 times

IMG_1657 - Edited (2).png (643.4 KiB) Viewed 12284 times

A very pleasant surprise. I was not expecting a bad ride, I mean this is GCI we’re talking about, but I did not think I would end up enjoying the ride this much. Great fun from start to finish, not one rough moment, and nice little pops of floater air at random parts of the ride. To have such a compact footprint, the ride packs a very decent punch. Ended up being my favorite coaster in the entire park, just an awesome wooden coaster. I’d rate it behind Thunderhead but above Wildcat and Lightning Racer.

Still getting used to the park’s rather odd layout, Sean and I eventually found ourselves at the Hall of Justice.

IMG_1602.JPG (595.86 KiB) Viewed 12284 times

I’ve never tried one of these before and will say that I was very impressed. To be in an amusement park, especially one that is operated by Six Flags, this thing was great. The entire ride is very well themed, the effects were all working great, and the ride time is nice and lengthy. I would not reccomend this at all to anyone who easily succumbs to motion sickness. I’m typically stronger when it comes to these kinds of things and found myself a little dizzy at the ride’s end. All in all the ride was very good and really makes me wonder how the Triotechs hold up.

[gabed]

Day 5 Part 2

Staying in Gotham, Sean and I moseyed across the street to visit longtime resident, Mr. Freeze.

IMG_1606 - Edited.jpg (952.33 KiB) Viewed 12284 times

IMG_1629.JPG (767.9 KiB) Viewed 12284 times

IMG_1609.JPG (579.63 KiB) Viewed 12284 times

First time riding one of the Freeze clones and found it to be enjoyable. The reverse launch was a lot easier on the waist than I had expected and was actually a blast. (No pun intended unless you want it to be). The ride’s layout, though short, is rather interesting, especially the back spike which served to be a big surprise. The theming was nice inside the station and the operators were very engaged in keeping the guests entertained in the queue.

Now starting to feel a headache setting in from a lack of food, we found a BBQ restaurant not very far from Mr. Freeze and pooled our money together to get a meal.

IMG_1612.JPG (710.58 KiB) Viewed 12284 times

The wings and fries were very good for park food, but twenty-two dollars, come on, guys.

Obviously not wanting the food to properly settle, we went straight to this weird flat ride.

IMG_1616 - Edited.jpg (1.09 MiB) Viewed 12284 times

This was on my must-do list for the park as it’s the only flat of it’s kind in America to my knowledge. The ride itself felt like a cross between an Enterprise and a Giant Frisbee, creating a ride that was alright at best. If you’re at the park and you’re as into flats as I am, then give it a try. If not, don’t feel bad about passing it up, you won’t miss much.

Only a short walk from Xcalibur was the next ride and credit of the day.

IMG_1622 - Edited.jpg (1.2 MiB) Viewed 12284 times

This here is Pandemonium, aka Tony Hawk’s Big Spin, aka the single greatest name ever given to a roller coaster in all of human history. I have wanted to try one of these Gerstlauer spinning coaster for a long while now and now I’d finally get my chance. Good thing I’ll be riding one tomorrow too. I found it to be good fun, as did Sean, but the jokes we made will always be in my memory. Just remember when you ride, Tony ain’t dead, he’s just a spin ahead.

[gabed]

Day 5 Part 3

Okay moving on through the rest of this park now. Still a good bit of credits left to hit, The Boss was next.

IMG_1625 - Edited.jpg (1.12 MiB) Viewed 12284 times

IMG_1632 - Edited.jpg (1.2 MiB) Viewed 12284 times

In the true spirit of Six Flags, The Boss as well as a lot of the park’s coasters were only operating one train to ensure that guests got to soak in the queue line for as long as possible. After finally buckling into the train, I was honestly terrified for what I was about to face given what I had heard in the past about the ride’s roughness. I suppose it wasn’t awful, there was definitely a rattle but the ride itself was really not all that bad.

Moving on into the upper area of the park, we hopped in line for Superman: Tower of Power.

IMG_1634.JPG (854.52 KiB) Viewed 12284 times

I will give the park credit for brilliantly placing the ride on a hill, making it appear much taller than it already is. Although the queue space could really use some TLC. Everything has faded quite badly since 2006 when the ride was relocated from Astroworld. Also only half of the gondolas were working so capacity was a freaking nightmare. Go Six Flags.

By the time we finally got off the ride, Screamin’ Eagle had reopened from a temporary closure.

IMG_1638 - Edited.jpg (1.14 MiB) Viewed 12284 times

I was impressed with the smoothness and the ride itself, but Jonathan, I have no idea how you did this for over 24 hours.

IMG_1639 - Edited.jpg (816.86 KiB) Viewed 12284 times

Closed. Absolutely devastating.

The remainder of the day was spent riding a few more flats and getting the credit on River King Mine Train before riding American Thunder one last time. As much as I hate to say it, I honestly think this is the worst Six Flags park I’ve been to. There are so many things about the park that just make it seem like Six Flags could not care any less. Which is a shame given how this is one of the original parks.

IMG_1658.JPG (813.95 KiB) Viewed 12284 times

[gabed]

Day 5 Part 4

With Six Flags out of the way, this part will briefly, and I mean briefly cover the Gateway Arch. Had it not been for a thread on Theme Park Review I read while lurking during school, I would have never even thought to visit the place, but I’m very glad that we did.

IMG_1698 - Edited (1).jpg (897.27 KiB) Viewed 12283 times

Signs appear

IMG_1678.JPG (525.22 KiB) Viewed 12283 times

Arches appear

IMG_1693.JPG (638.08 KiB) Viewed 12283 times

Space pods appear

IMG_1685.JPG (713.03 KiB) Viewed 12283 times

Beautiful views appear.

That’s all for tonight, Sean will be taking back over for Worlds of Fun Tomorrow. Adios.

[Jonathan]

Jonathon, I'd strongly advise you stop reading now.

Hey, if you're gonna spout absurd opinions, at least spell my name right.

[Edwardo]

Couple things:

Not sure where you heard T3 was one of the better SLCs. It was one of 2 prototypes, and one of the worst. Even with new trains, the ride is jerky and uncomfortable.

I had friends at Holiday World and SFKK around the same time who had the exact opposite opinions. Thunder Run was fantastic last year, and I've never found Voyage to not have airtime or not be intense.

I think you two may have way hyped up some of the better coasters beyond how good they are in your mind based on your views of Voyage and El Toro. Or your opinions just suck .

Out of this entire complex, we only made it to the three mini funnels which I do not know are called. A nice little slide, but there was a negative trend here that was consistent throughout the entirety of Hurricane Bay. Operations were just terrible

Because of horrible ops (which kept us from riding the water coaster), that was the only thing on that complex we got to do as well. Those are Pro Slide Tantrums (IIRC), and it was definitely a blast, and I wish Carowinds would get one, if they don't get a full sized funnel. But the wait was way long, and that was the only slide in the complex people were doing. They had the line set up wrong.