Dainan's Trek to Ohio

[x Million Miles Away x]

Yeah, for someone who knocks GA as much as he does, Walter upgraded his pass and can't stay away...

 

Walter may pretend to hate it but secretly he loves Great Adventure as much as the rest of us....

 

[CycloneMan]

Being I'm going away for a week and wont have an update before then, I decided to post my Kennywood video. Click

to watch it.

 

-Dainan "Enjoy" Rafferty

[Stargazer Alchemist]

Yeah, for someone who knocks GA as much as he does, Walter upgraded his pass and can't stay away...

Aye, I did. However the reason I did was because I got a 3 Park for $90. I would NEVER pay full price for it, not a chance in hell.

[CycloneMan]

Day: 4

July 2nd, 2008

Park: Kings Island

 

Trip Report:

We woke up early and left Sandusky around 8am because Walter was being slow...as usual. We drove for two hours before stopping at a Bob Evans in the middle of nowhere. Apperantly, everyone is more relaxed in the Mid West and we ended up spending an hour and fifteen minutes at this Bob Evans because they actually take there time. But we were in a rush, and it was just annoying us. (Do I scream New Yorker or what?). Anyway, we continued driving, me and Jackie kept taking turns and occupied our selves with car karaoke while Walter slept...because that's all he's good for .

 

We finally got to the park at 2:15 because the GPS lied to us and made us miss our exit! We walked in and decided to go straight to Invertigo. I've allready been on one of these, but when we went to Six Flags America earlier this season, Two Face was closed so this was new to Walter and Jackie. But, as we got to the ride it had a misscatch and it ran into the e-brakes, shutting it down for a good 20 minutes. So we decided to go over to Drop Tower. Walter doesn't like drop towers, but we got him on it. And he was silent the whole time. Jackie and I loved it though. The view was really good and the drop felt like forever.

 

Next up we headed to Flight Deck, which was a great ride. Great laterals and speed, my one complaint is that the ride is over too quick and the wak to the ride is just way too long and hilly. It's like hiking! After that we went to Son Of Beast. I knew that this was a really bad coaster and to expect the worse, but I never thought it would be as bad as it was! A roller coaster should not feel like the wheels are made out of octogons! The ride bounced the whole way and there was absolutey no airtime (and we sat in the back). It was the worst coaster I've ever ridden, and I like bad coasters (Hercules and Mean Streak).

 

After that we headed for Invertigo to find it a walk-on. I faced Walter and Jackie as they both expected the worst, but they were pleasantly suprised with how smooth and fun it was. After that we strolled on over to Rugrat's Runaway Reptar, which was our first Vekoma Junior Inverted coaster. It was rough as hell and made us laugh. It was an interesting ride. Next as the Fairly Odd Coaster, which was fairly odd. It was my first junior woodie and it was a lot of fun. Great ride for little kids. After that we headed over to Wings, which is there buffet and spent an hour there!

 

Then we headed out to Flight Of Fear. This ride ended up being my favorite coaster at the park. I am a total sucker for space themed indoor coasters, and this ride was amazingly themed. The queue was incredible and the sound effects in the station were great too. Jackie and I rode front row while we made Walter sit in the second row. We love Premier Launches and this was great. The Blocks in the middle of the ride that stop the train is a bit annoying, but I love the airtime in the corkscrew at the end, so I can deal.

 

Next we headed over to Vortex which is an insane Arrow Multi-Looper. It was rough and fast. Jackie and I loved every second of it, Walter hates anything knocks his head around. Then we headed over to Walter's 100th coaster, The Beast. We waited about 45 minutes for it. I sat in the last row while Walter and Jackie sat ahead of me. This ride took me by suprise. I heard nothing but terrible things about this ride, but I was suprised. It was rough but not incredibly rough. The trimming was annoying but the ride was fast! I felt it was worth the wait.

 

Next up we rode The Crypt. This used to be Tomb Raider, but Cedar Fail lost the rights to the Paramount rides, so now the attraction is jus in a big black room. The theming in the queue was great, and the ride itself was a awesome Top Spin, those new Huss restraints trully make a difference. After that we rode Backlot Stunt Coaster. Walter and I rode front row while Jackie rode second. It was a fun ride, and I didn't know what to expect from it, and we were all pleasantly suprised! After that we headed back to The Beast and rode the last train of the night. Then we left the park with hopes of a better the next day!

 

Photos

We'll start this segment with Walter passed out in the back of the car!

 

Jackie enjoyed ourself with Car Karaoke

 

Walter eventually woke up and joined in =)

 

To see our horrible singing, click

. I don't promise to pay for your therapy!

 

After hours of driving, we finally got here!

 

No time to look...must get credits!

 

Our first ride was supposed to be Invertigo...

 

...there it goes...

 

...and then it flew through the station coming to an abrupt hault on the E-Brakes. Yup...it misscatched

 

We decided to hit up Drop Tower next!

 

This sign in the queue made us laugh.

 

This was our first Gyro Drop

 

Top Gun....errr....Flight Deck next

 

The walk to the ride was way too long!

 

But totally worth it!

 

Except it's over too quick

 

IT'S COMING RIGHT AT US!

 

Uh oh....

 

Can I please just put a match to this thing!

 

The lift hill to HELL!

 

Terrible Gerstlauer trains + terrible RCCA woodie = Terrible coaster!

 

Ah sweet! A Rugrats ride!

 

Nerver mind...it's just a Vekoma!

 

...yea...I can't think of a good caption. Okay...Fairly Odd Parents themed coaster....um...whoo?

 

It was actually a fun little ride.

 

Uh oh...we NEED to get Jackie out of this section, or we'll be here ALL DAY!

 

X-Base...where there's a Premier coaster and a Vekoma coaster!

 

I was so excited to finally get on Flight Of Fear!

 

That's mean!

 

The queue was very well themed!

 

We are going to have some pissed off aliens!

 

Me, Walter, and Jackie in line for Flight Of Fear

 

ooh

 

The launch into the darkness was awesome!

 

We skipped Firehawk (we decided to do it on our second day) and went over to Vortex!

 

This is like hardcore porn to Jackie and I.

 

I mean, come on...how could you not love Arrow?

 

For some reason, I deided to buy the On-Ride-Photo from Vortex.

 

Hello future B&M hyper coaster!

 

Walter outside his 100th coaster.

 

It's hard to get shots of the Beast being it's in the woods and very far out from the rest of the park!

 

So here's the last photo of the Beast for this update

 

And that concludes day 1 at King's Island.

 

-Dainan "Stay tuned for Day 2" Rafferty

Edited August 2, 2008 by CycloneMan

[darkridedan]

If I happen to be in that area of Cincinati I may give the park another try. I'm very happy that Kings Dominion is much closer and much much much much much much much better.

[x Million Miles Away x]

LAZYTOWN SPORTACOPTERS <3

 

Son of Beast was terrible and I loved every second of it

[Stargazer Alchemist]

I miss Beast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

....but Kings Island was very awesome. Sleeping is not all I am good for, as if it wasn't for me we would not have had the GPS.

 

I have to say, getting the Platinum Pass was totally worth it, as it saved us a lot of money on parking/admission.

 

Arrow causes me lots of pain. Scream Machine, Vortex, Corkscrew, they all hurt.

[CycloneMan]

Hey guys, I'm sorry for the lack of updates, this has been som really crazy summer for me. Anyway, I will try to get the rest of the updates up soon. I'll merge the next two days of the trips together i pictures being they're parks that have been shown allready.

 

Day: 5

July 3rd, 2008

Park: Kings Island

 

Photos

Hey Arnold welcomed us at King's Island.

 

Our first ride of the day was the only shooting dark ride I've ever beaten Walter at!

 

The loading platform reminded me of the Disney, Haunted Mansion

 

When we saw this, we knew Jackie would make us ride this!

 

 

Walter in his Sportacopter

 

Then we had a walk-on, on the Beast!

 

After a few rides on the Beast, Jackie and I decided to ride Vortex front row.

 

Nothing beats an Arrow looper

 

Get it...beats...lmao

 

Don't you just love the terrible transitions?

 

I just love this ride

 

It's good to know we can go all the way to south west Ohio to ride Sponge Bob 3D

 

Next up was Fire Hawk

 

Ew you!

 

We were expecting a really bad ride on this, but pleasantly suprised!

 

This is something you'd never see at Six Flags America, two trains in one shot!

 

These unlucky riders have no idea that they are about to get seriously pwnd

 

They got stuck on the blocks in the rain for 20 minutes!

 

Here they come dripping in.

 

Now we know what day it is.

 

Um...yea

 

The Racer was where we made all of our Brady Bunch references

 

It was a fun ride, but it would have been nicer with the trims off

 

Next up was this well themed Arrow Mine Train

 

Fun ride, but the ending was so bizzare!

 

Me and Jackie decided to do the Sling Shot, being they're having a $5 special!

 

It looks better than it really is

 

But it was still fun!

 

Ew you! GO AWAY!

 

We did get Walter on Delerium, and he loved it!

 

Jackie and I rode this over and over while Walter went shopping

 

We decided to do Fight Deck again!

 

As well as Flight of Fear again!

 

We did it a few times!

 

We also did Backlot Stunt Coaster again!

 

Our last ride at King's Island was The Beast. Where we rode with this cool ACEr named Mark.

 

See ya late King's Island!

 

 

Day: 6

July 4th, 2008

Park: Cedar Point

 

Photos

This was the first time I ever wore a hoodie on the Fourth of July.

 

We decided to do Top Thrill Dragster first

 

Funny that this is at a Cedar Fail park, this one has no trim at the top

 

Does this cable shred?

 

This shot came out realy good

 

We were trying to set up our own queue, being Cedar Point couldn't figure out how to ue theres.

 

Seriously, the line was a half hour long (including waiting for the font row), but it was stretching down to the bleachers, because they weren't using the switchbacks!

 

To escape the heat (yea yea, I know, I was in a hoodie, shut up), we saw the Ice Skating show. It was actually pretty good.

 

Raptor looks very beautiful

 

It was a fun ride, but way too rough for a B&M Inverted Coaster!

 

I also got yelled at for filming the ride from the midway by the employee at Raptor's enterance. Apperantly video taping of rides isn't allowed...

 

And I'll repeate, "INTAMIN 1ST GENERATION DROP TOWER!

 

Demon Drop was definately the highlight of the whole trip!

 

It wouldn't be a trip to Cedar point without getting his shot.

 

We willingly waited the full queue of Disastor Tansport

 

This time we rode with the 3D glasses. Besides the queue, the glasses suked!

 

Almost there

 

"All clear means your out of here! Enjoy your ride on the worlds tallest, fastest and longes indoor bobsled at Cedar Point!" Okay...seriously now!

 

I am a sucker for tower rides!

 

As you can see, today was a bit crowded.

 

So, where do you think this sign for a Zamperla would be?

 

Oh, only attatched to Red Barron HANGING in a gift shop!

 

This was one of my favorite coasters at Cedar Point...sadly for you, I'm an idiot and I didn't get any shots of Blue Streak!

 

You have to watch

to understand this picture.

 

Gemini got evacuated during the evening.

 

So, here are the Fourth Of July fireworks, that we missed because we spent 45 minutes trying to get on Jr Gemini...but it just wasn't going to happen.

 

We'll end this day at Cedar Point with the boy who couldn't make it. But once he woke up, we went over Magnum XL-200 and left the park. Which took us over two hours to get out of the parking lot because people can't drive!

 

-Dainan "Next up, Waldameer" Rafferty

[darkridedan]

My head beat Vortex. Something.

 

Adventure Express is hot. So is Flight of Fear. One can be ridden on a regular basis if money were no object. Racer is fun, but I skipped the other side for the credit.

 

A giant frisbee operating?

 

 

 

Nice TR, and thanks for causing my AIM to shut down...again

[JetsDevs4Lyf]

Due Arnold just makes the trip lol

[CycloneMan]

Day: 7

July 5th, 2008

Park: Waldameer

 

Before you skip the TR and go straight to the photos, you might want to read parts of the TR, to just see the true nature of this park

 

Trip Report:

 

We left the hotel early that morning and headed out to the Hard Rock Cafe in Cleveland. Oddly enough, I've lived in New York City my whole life and never ate at the one here, so this was my first time.The food was good, and the mall it was in had some pretty cool fountains. There we decided to go to Waldameer to check out the new Ravine Flyer II. We programed it into our GPS and drove off.

 

I don't remember how long it took, but I want to say about two hours to get to Waldameer. We pulled up and were forced to park in an overflow parking lot. Uh-oh. We then crossed the street and headed into Waldameer. At the enterance we each got a wrist band and decided to go straight to Ravine Flyer II. I'm not going to comment about the crowds at the park, all I will say is that...most of them weren't too bright. Like when this father and son in front of us in line for Ravine Flyer II saw the No Smoking sign and they both looked horrified and then the son said, "Naw Pa! They meen no smokin' on the ride!" And then they both smoked the whole way through the line. Yea...just an example of many things these two idiots were doing.

 

Anyway, we finally get on the ride after waiting throught the full queue. We rode in the back car (Jackie and I got the last row) and were very excited to ride our first Gravity Group woodie. The first drop was awesome. The bridge was awesome. And the turn around/second drop were great. But once the ride started going back up the hillside, it just wasn't that good. Also, the 90 degree turn thing is WAY over hyped. So, the ride wasn't as great as we were hoping, but it was still good.

 

Walter had to go to the bathroom, so Jackie and I went on the Spider. When we were next to ride, this man came up to me asking if his kids could ride, I said, "I'm sorry, I don't know, check the height stick" and he started yelling and ranting at me until finally his wife said, "Honey, I don't think he works here!" Um...wtf! Anyway, the ride was fun, and made some odd sounds and we laughed the whole way. Walter then met up with us and we did the Wacky Shack which was...totally screwed up in so many ways. But it was a dark ride, and I loved every minute of it. It was also where these three, 9 year old girls asked us, "Can we gyp yall in line". Yea...

 

Next up was Pirate's Cove. This I was extremely excited for. And we saw there was no wait, so we walked right in. Well, the beginning seemed promising, until the hallways got very narrow and we couldn't see. The attraction consisted of a few things behind glass, very dark rooms, strobes, and mirrors. And the whole thing was on a slant. There were parts where the walls were zig-zagged like a maze and it was pitch black so we kept crashing. It was pretty painfull. And it totally freaked us out. We also noticed all three emergency exits were pad-locked shut, which made us think of the Haunted Castle at Great Adventure which burned down, killing 8 teenagers. So...we didn't like it.

 

Next, Jackie and I did X-Scream which is an ARM Super Shot drop tower, which was about 140 feet tall. The airtime and the view were great. And it was also great that they didn't care how far our restraints were, as long as the seat belt was buckled! Next up, was Steel Dragon, a Maurer Söhne Xtended Spinning Coaster 2000. It wasn't my first Maurer Söhne, but it was a first for both Walter and Jackie. It was a fun ride, as most spinning coasters, and we all enjoyed it.

 

After that we did there flume, which the name escapes me...but it wasn't very memorable. We did a couple of standard flat rides and another ride on Ravine Flyer II. This time we sat up front, and it was alot better than the back. And it actually made my top ten. Next up, we tried to get on Ravine Flyer 3 but we couldn't ride, so after Jackie begged some parents for about 10 minutes, Walter and I dragged her away and we went over to the Comet, which was a really nice Jr Wooden coaster. After that, we re-rode some more rides, before driving all night to the middle of no where PA, and stayed at a cheep hooker motel (no lie).

 

Photos:

 

Here we are at Waldameer!

 

Ravine Flyer II looks pretty from the parking lot!

 

While entering the park, we found this sign...which I'm pretty sure was ment for the locals to understand...

 

I have to say, I was pretty excited for this!

 

Walter and Jackie in line

 

The queue is fairly small, and you actually don't get too many good shots of the ride from it.

 

WOWZA!

 

LyKe ZoMfG!1!1!!11

 

OMFG! Lift hill through the trees! Like what!?

 

We rode the Spider

 

Wacky Shack was certainly wacky!

 

Walter and Jackie seemed to enjoy it

 

Jackie and I on X-Scream

 

And this was how far they let us have the restraints!

 

The cool thing about the ARM drop towers, is that you don't know when you get to the top!

 

The airtime was absolutely insane on this ride!

 

Steel Dragon

 

This ride was fun, and we all enjoyed it

 

Good job Maurer Söhne!

 

This shot would be better if it had a log in it...

 

Oh well!

 

Yes yes, we see you Ravine Flyer II

 

I refused to walk directly under this because some "cool kids" kept spitting on guests!

 

The Comet was a nice family Junior Woodie

 

There it goes, down the first drop (sorta looks like a mini Phoenix)

 

Ravine Flyer II was much better the second and third time around!

 

Train zipping on by!

 

The view of Lake Erie from the top of the lift!

 

The first drop

 

The bridge was definately the most unique part of the ride!

 

The second drop was even better than the first

 

These short little tunnels were pretty nifty!

 

There we go, 90 degrees!

 

This ride feels like it just keeps going! Click

to watch the POV. Just a little side note, this was the first POV I ever took on a roller coaster with my new camera, so it's a bit shaky...but not too bad

 

This park had a Wipe-Out as well

 

We see you X-Scream!

 

Something just isn't right with this picture...

 

Jackie was tired and needed to leave....

 

What old park doesn't have one of these?

 

Ravine Flyer II looks pretty great amongst the setting sky.

 

Leaving the park we went under the Ravine Flyer II...

 

...then we went under it again, because we realized we were going the wrong way. Oops

 

-Dainan "Next up, Hersheypark (last day)" Rafferty

 

 

[JetsDevs4Lyf]

Awesome... I tell you what though sounds like you met some oh so lovely people while you were in the park that day.

[CycloneMan]

It was Mullet Palooza!

[x Million Miles Away x]

Omg Waldameer!

 

...then we went under it again, because we realized we were going the wrong way. Oops

 

For the record: I knew we were going the wrong way i just wanted to drive under the bridge lol

 

O and you forgot to mention that the crazy smoking guy in line for ravine flyer also asked us if we liked his new pants that were worn down his ass

[darkridedan]

Waldameer sounds kind of fun. A Gravity Group coaster and a Maurer Söhne spinner with a dark ride and a drop tower sounds awesome. You just gotta know, the pick of the litter doesn't go to amusement parks on Saturdays!

 

Nviro? A grunge band from the '90s?

 

 

[CycloneMan]

Nviro I believe is the type of men who enjoy some BR

[Up_Up_and_Away]

:-X

[CycloneMan]

Day: 8

July 6th, 2008

Park: Hersheypark

 

Trip Report

I'm not going to type a whole report of a park that I've done numurous trip reports from. So, just enjoy the pictures. And read the captions for discriptions

 

Photos

After waking up from our hooker motel in the middle of nowhere, we drove two hours to a Giant...

 

...to purchase some Hershey discount tickets =)

 

One of these things is not like the other... (Yea...I'm captioned out...don't judge me!)

 

Yes Walter, we see it!

 

First stop, Chocolate World!

 

On a side note, a little over a year ago from when we were here (about one week), Jackie and I hung out for the first time other than at Scream Machine.

 

And this is the first ride we rode together!

 

"It's all about the milk!"

 

This is Milton Hershey. He's like a god to chocolate...or something!

 

The real reason we are here!

 

The vertical lift was snazy!

 

97 degrees, and falling fast!

 

This is the Norwegian Loop

 

It looks cooler than it actually was.

 

It has a Cobra Roll...

 

Some Corkscrews...

 

A nice sharp turn thingy...

 

And a nice airtime hill!

 

Overall, we thought it was a decent ride. The first drop was great. But the rest of the ride wasn't as exciting as it looked. It reminded us of Maverick, but smoother. Not a top 10, but not terrible eiter.

 

After getting our last credit of the trip, we decided to go "splash splash" in the Boardwalk

 

Apperantly, this was announced during our trip.

 

Something no one ever needs to see. Me in a bathing suit!

 

Lightning Racers was running a bit sluggish today

 

As was "Pussy Cat"

 

Roller Soaker also seemed to get repainted since out last visit

 

Next up...another Intamin coaster!

 

I can dig it...

 

Train on the launch track

 

Get ready...

 

Here we go!

 

Bye-bye

 

Every time I seem to ride this for the first time of the day, it feels like it stalls at the top.

 

I don't really care for these types of coasters....

 

...but this is my favorite Intamin Rocket Coaster.

 

This is a good part right here too!

 

Sidewinder was running rougher than usual today!

 

But, that didn't stop us from riding it over and over again, until my ears started bleeding

 

Jackie thinks,

!

 

Teehee

 

Walter is determined to not hit a tree this time!

 

Jackie decided to roar until we agreed to ride

 

Great Bear is still my favorite B&M Invert

 

It's just so sexy!

 

Speaking of sexy! My personal favorite coaster at Hersheypark, Sooperdooperlooper.

 

Seriously, nothing can beat the beauty of a nice Schwartzkopf in my eyes!

 

I also want to point out, that Hershy will still have there Schwartzkopf looper in 2009

 

Suprisingly, The Comet was the best wooden coaster at Hersheypark today!

 

Walter all excited in the queue for Reeses Xtreme Cup Challenge

 

Jackie and I doing our "Walter while watching 'Three Point Challenge'" impression

 

Jackie's impression of me...

 

We went to go ride Fahrenheit again.

 

This was our last ride of the trip!

 

There it goes...or something...I don't know

 

Walter and Jackie are happy to get there final ride in on the trip

 

In my true fashion, our last ride of the trip, included a break down!

 

Jackie seems happy with her break down

 

Walter was hoping for an evac but we didn't get it. And it was only on the blocks.

 

Our final shot from the amazing trip. It really was the best trip we've done in a long time.

 

Videos

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you guys for reading. And give me feedback on the videos.

 

-Dainan "I want to do this again!" Rafferty

Edited September 5, 2008 by CycloneMan

[darkridedan]

Nice pics Dainan but too many of Failenheit.

[JetsDevs4Lyf]

Videos are excellent Dainan and the pictures and visit recaps are great as always. It really looks like it was a sweet trip and one to be remembered:)