Yoshi

Looks like a good addition. The flat rides at Hershey always seem popular and have longer lines compared to the same rides at other parks in the area like the Scrambler. It seems like most of the new additions since the Triple Towers in 2017 have been themed to candy.

The results are in

Ice Breaker had its minimum height requirement changed from 48” to 54” one day after opening to the public.

I couldn’t believe the pictures I saw on Twitter yesterday of the line to the park’s entrance. I went back today for a few hours it was under 10 minutes every time I rode. I got 5 more rides in and after 9 rides total I still don’t know what element is coming next. I wonder if they are using the name for marketing or nostalgia even though the ride didn’t have the greatest reputation. The gift shop at the ride’s exit had more Gwazi retro shirts and hats than Iron Gwazi themed items.

After almost 20 trips to Busch Gardens Tampa since the middle of last year, and looking at Iron Gwazi waiting for it to open, the day was finally here that it was time to ride. The original Gwazi was the worst wooden coaster I have ever ridden. Only the Tiger side was running and it was so rough that had the Lion side been open on my visit in 2012, I would have skipped it. Friday was the Passport to Thrills Event. You had to visit the park 3 times from September to December and then RSVP with a day and hour time slot. Checking in at the ride plaza you got a booklet with spots on the card to be punched. One for the ride, a free photo, First Rider button, soda and bag of popcorn. I thought that meant that you would only be able to ride once but I later found out that meant you could use the Quick Queue line once and then wait in the regular line for more rides. It didn't matter as the ride was a walk on except for the front or back rows. There was also free face painting and a DJ playing music. After a turn out of the station there is the very steep lift hill that slows down as you get to the top of the hill and up to the 91 degree drop. After that there is an overbank. Later on is the death roll which reminds me a lot of Twisted Timber's first drop. The wave turn where you are sideways was another interesting element. There is so much air time throughout the ride just like El Toro. The ride is extremely smooth and fast paced. It is forceful but not so forceful that it isn't re-rideable. I got 4 rides in before going to other coasters in the park. Out of Twisted Timbers, Twisted Cyclone and Iron Gwazi, Iron Gwazi is the best RMC coaster I have tried and also the best coaster in the park. I'm going to have to decide if I like it more than Mako as my favorite coaster in the state but it's going to be in my top 5 steel list. It is a great addition to a park that lacked a coaster with a lot of airtime and I expect it to be a huge hit for the park. After Cheetah Hunt and Cobra's Curse, I saw Cobra's Curse had broken down a few minutes after I rode. Cobra's Curse seems to have a lot of downtime with all the components of the ride like the elevator lift and the cars turning around to face backwards after the first section of the ride. Overall I'm really excited to have a coaster as great as Iron Gwazi is just 30 minutes away and look forward to going back soon for more rides during the annual pass previews before it opens to the public. Montu's new paint.

That would be a shame if HITP was cancelled. It was always my favorite time of the year to visit the park. Besides being able to ride coasters until early January, the park always looked amazing with all the lights and decorations. Taking the Skyway and seeing the lights from above was so cool.

Thank you I prefer an uninterrupted circuit. I don’t like pauses in coasters and as you said, they do seem to increase the chance of breakdowns. I also prefer single lift hills as well. I like with Runaway Mine Train, once you get to the top of the lift, the ride doesn’t really slow until the final brakes. Some other mine trains with the multiple lift hills are slowing down for the next hill ruining the momentum of the ride.

After months (or years for others) of waiting it was finally time for Ice Breaker to open. I visited Monday because I thought with the previews for Platinum Passholders only, crowds would be low. Previews started at 12 with maybe 75 people in line. The ride was having problems and opened at 12:15. The trains are the same as Tigris with the lap bar, shin guards and comfort collars. After the train is dispatched, there is a transfer track to move the train to the main track. Next is a backwards launch up the spike, a forwards launch up part of the top hat and another backwards launch that goes higher up the spike. The top hat had more air time than expected. There are multiple high banked turns and what RCDB calls a junior scorpion tail. After more turns and a few small hills, you get to the brake run. The part of the coaster after the launch is a little short with the whole ride 1900 ft. It’s not too intense but not forceless either and a good fit for a park that lacked something more than a family ride but less intense than the B&M coasters. Mako is still my favorite ride in the park but Ice Breaker is a close 2nd. I rode Ice Breaker 3 times and each time I had to show my Platinum Pass and a photo ID. They were very strict about checking to make sure everyone getting in line qualified. When Orca Encounter’s crowd emptied out at the stadium lots of people tried to enter the line and we’re disappointed that the ride wasn’t open to the public yet. Mako had 1 train running with a posted 25 minute wait which seemed accurate. I waited 3 trains with Quick Queue. I later saw a 2nd train was added when riding Kraken and would have gone back for more rides but I was leaving to go to the Magic Kingdom. Kraken’s repaint looks great. I like the sea green color of the track even though the old blue color was good too. 2 trains were running with no wait. It is a little rough and has a rattle but not enough to ruin the ride. I won’t give a full report on the Magic Kingdom as this report is already getting long but it was very crowded for a weekday in January. Touring Plans predicted a 6 crowd level and the actual level was an 8. Meet and greets are back but at a distance. Surprisingly the wait to meet Mickey was only 5 minutes. I always like to check the progress of Tron from the People Mover and look forward to it opening. Later in the day waits dropped a lot and smaller rides like the Tomorrowland Speedway were walk ons. Overall it was a really fun day and I’m glad to have another local coaster to ride.

I think it would be good for the smaller CF parks if this deal happens. SEAS seems to add new rides and attractions to their parks frequently. With CF, the large parks get additions often but the smaller parks get almost nothing with a park such as Valleyfair having their last coaster addition 15 years ago.

Avalanche at Kings Dominion is being rethemed to Reptilian https://www.kingsdominion.com/blog/2022/1.24avalanche_retheme

I am going to try to go during the regular previews for Ice Breaker. I qualified for the Passport to Thrills event but saw you only get 1 ride and didn't want to deal with all that traffic on a Friday afternoon to Orlando from Tampa.

http://screamscape.com/html/six_flags_darien_lake.htm Some bad rumors for Darien Lake. Mind Eraser may be closed this season with new trains possibly for 2023. There is also the rumor Ride of Steel will be removed before the 2023 season. If true, that will be a huge loss for the park.

It was 75 degrees today. The cold and snow are some of the few things I don't miss from PA and NJ. I'm probably going to avoid going on opening day since that is the last day of school before Spring Break here and I expect it to be very crowded. I am going to try to get there in just over 3 weeks for the annual pass previews instead thinking that on the Platinum only days and a school day, it will hopefully have a short wait.

Going to a park in late January and not being on vacation was a little strange since normally it would be the offseason and I would be counting the days until Great Adventure and Hersheypark open for the season. Cheetah Hunt was first. This was the only ride with any kind of line with a posted 40 minute wait but I used my Platinum Pass Quick Queue. This is my favorite coaster in the park. It's not intense but a fun coaster and very smooth and the 3 launches are great. Cobra's Curse is another interesting ride with a forwards section, backwards section and spinning section. The spinning isn't too much compared to other Mack coasters like Sierra Sidewinder. Scorpion forceful for a smaller coaster just like Laser at Dorney was. Since the Log Flume is closing for another refurbishment next month, I stopped there next and got soaked. The last ride of the day was Sheikra which is also closing on January 31st. Mardi Gras just started this month and besides food booths and decorations, there is a small parade that is maybe 90 seconds. Montu is closed until mid to late February. New souvenirs. There were a lot of different designs. Since there was $10 in Busch Bucks for pass holders this month I got both for $4 with tax after my pass discount and the Busch Bucks. Regular price was $12.99 each.

I always liked the gold season pass with the season dining pass. That way it was paid for the season. I thought maybe the dining pass was balanced out with those who used it 30+ times a season and others who bought it and used it one or two days a season but I guess they were losing a lot of money with the frequent users.

It’s always good to see more family attractions added to Atlantic City. After Tivoli Pier closed in the mid 90s, there has never been that much to do especially during the colder months if you are under 21 or don’t want to gamble.

Journey To Atlantis (Orlando) is having it's track replaced. https://www.importgenius.com/suppliers/mack-rides-gmbh-co-kg Credit to AvocadoToastDevil on Reddit for finding it.

It was always sad the last weekend of the season in October or early November knowing there was around 5 months of no park visits and coasters. A 3 month offseason wasn’t so bad to deal with.

Ice Breaker opens on February 18th. Annual Pass Previews begin on January 30th - 31st for Platinum Pass Holders.

Busch Gardens Tampa has them. I like how they change the design for the different seasons. Besides the usual animals, they had Halloween ones and now have Christmas and Winter designs.

I went to Sea World with my parents 3 weeks ago since I still had free guest tickets left with my annual pass. This was their first visit since 2004 and I wasn't going to focus on just rides this trip. Journey To Atlantis is really well done. It's a fun combination of a flume ride and a coaster. I wish I could have ridden the original version with the storyline. I know it's probably unlikely but I never got to try the Antarctica ride and even though I heard it wasn't that great, as a fan of dark rides I'm sure it would still be worth going to on most trips to the park. With the Sky Ride at Busch Gardens reopening next summer, maybe this will reopen too. Besides seeing many of the aquariums, we saw Orca Encounter and the Sea Lion & Otter Spotlight which was new for me. Mako had a 55 minute posted wait with 1 train running. I saw they were putting on a 2nd train and decided to go back later. This was the right decision as it was a station wait at night. Mako is my favorite coaster in Florida and my 3rd favorite steel coaster right after Nitro. It is smooth with a lot of floater air time and just the right about of forcefulness for me. The Sea of Trees was really cool and overall the whole park was really decorated well with lights everywhere. We stayed at the park for 7 hours and still didn't see everything like the dolphin show and Turtle Trek. There was supposed to be a free holiday ornament but because of a shipping delay, they weren't available yet. Most parks would just say come back later but Sea World offered $5 in Sea World bucks to make up for the delay which was nice and unexpected. Sea World is a great park. Some fun coasters, aquariums, animal exhibits and shows. I look forward to visiting again next month. Kraken was closed for repainting. For some reason, I was sometimes having trouble paying attention to the show. Something kept distracting me.

When I was a 2 1/2 hour drive from the park, I would have planned a trip once or twice a year where I stayed at a hotel on-site and went to the park 2 days in a row. An indoor water park would be great especially with how short the outdoor water park season is in the area.

PLEASE NOTE: The awarding of ribbons above and the official summary below represents the voting results as of the official close of voting at midnight on February 17, 2022. For categories where a voter selected "N/A - I don't have an opinion on this category," the results are based upon those votes actually cast for the given nominees. The 2021 Warner Awards Results Thank you to everyone who voted in our 2021 GreatAdventureHistory.com Warner Awards. This year was a new category and a few surprises with the results. Here are the 2021 winners! Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth won the Best Ride (Non Roller Coaster) award for the third year in a row with 42% of the votes. Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom (second place, 27%) and Justice League Battle for Metropolis (third place, 19%) switched places this year. El Toro and Nitro tied this year for first place the Best Roller Coaster category. Both coasters received 42% of the votes each. Jersey Devil Coaster finished third with 8% of the votes. There was a repeat in the Best Upcharge Ride or Attraction category with Dare Devil Dive (50%) winning. Sling Shot and Great American Road Race again tied for third (each with 25%). Great Adventure's Best Remaining Original Attraction had a new winner this year with the Sky Ride taking first place with 42% of the votes. Log Flume (Saw Mill Log Flume) finished in second place with 35% of the votes and Runaway Mine Train finished in third place with 19% of the votes . For the fourth awards in a row, Justice League: Battle for Metropolis took first place in Best Themed Attraction with 68% of the votes. The new second place winner this year was Jersey Devil with 12% of the votes. Tying for third place were Kingda Ka and The Dark Knight with 8% of the votes each. Bizarro's themed sign was once again the top choice of voters for the twelfth consecutive awards in the Best Attraction Sign category with 61% of the votes. Jersey Devil Coaster took second place 15% of the votes. Nitro took third place with 8% of the votes. There was a new winner for Best Children's Ride this year, Lil' Devil Coaster won the award (73%). Bugaboo won second place (14%). Air Safari, Tornado and Daffy Duck Hot Air Balloons tied for third place (5% each). The winner of the Best Themed Section was a tie. Golden Kingdom and Plaza Del Carnaval each received 32% of the votes . Frontier Adventures is in third place with 20% of the votes. Nitro won Best Attraction to Ride at Night yet again with 65% of the votes. Two attractions tied for second place, Jersey Devil Coaster and Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth, each getting 12% of the votes. Holiday in the Park won Best Event again with 50% of the votes. Fright Fest and the new for 2021 Six Flags Coaster Power Hours tied for second place each receiving 23% of the votes. In the Best Fright Fest Attraction category, Dead Man's Party Grave Stories took first place with 32% of the votes. Wicked Woods took second place with 16% of the votes. There was a tie for third place with Bloodshed and The Manor each receiving 11% of the votes. Frost took first place in the Best Holiday in the Park Attraction with 38%. Deck the Halls took second place with 24%. A Celebration of the Season (Christmas Tree Show) dropped from first place last year to third place this year with 19%. In the Best Restaurant Food (with indoor seating) category Best of the West Barbeque won with 44% of the votes. Garden State Grill received 17% of the votes for second place and Chop Six remained in third place for the third awards in a row with 13% of the votes. New for 2021 Jersey Devil BBQ overtook Johnny Rocket's (near Fountain) in the Best Food/Snack Stand with the former getting 30% and the latter getting 26%. For third place, it is Macho Nacho (near El Toro) with 22%. Johnny Rockets (70%) continues to be a favorite place in the park to eat and remained in first place for another awards in Best Name Brand Food. Rita's Ice Custard (22%) remained in second place and Starbucks (9%) took third place. Best Games Facility had a tie for first place. Studio 28 Arcade and Boardwalk Games both received 38% of the votes. Last year's second place choice, Dream Street Games dropped from second place last year to third place receiving 23% of the votes. Three Point Challenge finished first in Best Game of Skill again with 56%. High Striker and Ladder Climb switched second and third place spots this awards. High Striker got 28% and Ladder Climb got 17% Last Drop is a new store for the 2021 season and won the Best Shop category with 50% of the votes. Main Street Market dropped from first place last year to second place this year with 35% of the votes. Kingdom Traders finished in third place with 10% of the votes. The 2020 Awards winner in the Best Hurricane Harbor Attraction category was Tornado. This year, Tornado tied with The Falls for first place each receiving 32% of the votes. Taak It Ez Creek remained in third place receiving 26% of the votes. Wild Plains won the Best Wild Safari Drive-Thru Adventure award again with 35%. Last year's second place finisher, Tigris Asiana tied with Terra Ursus for second place, each with 17% Jersey Devil Coaster is the winner of Best New Feature or Improvement for 2021 with an impressive amount of votes (88%). Lil' Devil Coaster (8%) and Return of Fright Fest (4%) are the second and third place winners. Voters are hoping to see Park-wide maintenance and upgrades as that is the winner in the Most Like To See in 2023 with 27% of the votes. A Coaster - Wooden (Family /Classic) Style was the second most popular choice with 19% of the votes. A Water Ride and Shows Package tied for third place with each receiving 12% of the votes. A new category for the 2021 Warner Awards is Favorite Membership Pin. Congo Rapids and Nitro 20th Anniversary tied for first place with each receiving 17% of the votes. 4 pins tied for third place each receiving 11% of the votes. Those pins are Lil' Devil Coaster, Holiday in the Park 2021, Jersey Devil Coaster 2021 and Coaster Power Hours 2021. That takes care of the results for our 2021 Warner Awards for the best of Great Adventure's 2021 season as voted by our members at GreatAdventureHistory.com. Congratulations to all the winners!

I rarely play games in the parks anymore because I have no interest in a stuffed animal but would try a game if the prize was something themed to a ride I like. I also liked how at the arcade in Hersheypark, you could redeem your tickets for souvenirs like mugs and glasses that were once sold in the gift shops rather than just the standard arcade prizes of smaller toys and candy up to expensive electronics that would take years to earn enough tickets to redeem for.

Great pictures I like that Ferris wheel planter and how open the Yum Yum Cafe interior looks