The Grape Wizard
Hyper Poster
Oh and good will power not being pulled in by every macdonalds :lol:.
I failed at that.
I failed at that.
The big one. Furie's trip with ECG across the East Coast!
- Thread starter furie
- Start date
I guess it's time for me to add my two cents, so here goes.
Getting the phone call from furie saying that he missed his flight was more than a big disappointment. All I could think was "How could that happen?" & "Doesn't he know you have to be at the airport 2 hours before an international flight, not leave for the airport 2 hours before departure?" Oh well, lesson learned. Time for me to figure out how to rearrange our plans & keep everything intact in spite of a full day's delay. I went to bed anticipating another early morning wake-up call, but it never came. That meant that furie was able to catch the early flight, so we could squeeze Coney Island in & get to do everything planned (at least as far as he parks were concerned).
Everything went smoothly on the day (short wait for the arrival, home for a quick freshen up & drive to Coney Island) and before you know it were had arrived at Cyclone.
While we waited for a front seat ride (8 trains) furie told me about how the operations were similar to those at beachfront coasters in England (Blackpool?). I just love the relaxed way of working here, unlike at major parks where everything is so uptight.
Finally we were off on our first ride together (something I've been looking forward to for what seems like ages).
furie & son might have been a bit jet-lagged, but there's nothing like a rough woodie to spur the senses...
...and soon both were back into the swing of things.
They were even up for a backseat re-ride.
furie wasn't thrilled with a ride on the Wonder Wheel, so we took a hot dog break at Nathans (they liked the fries Mike) & a stroll along the boardwalk to calm the nerves before hitting up the Ferris Wheel.
I still don't understand furie's fear of such thrill-less rides since coasters are so much taller, but he went along without too much hesitation. He's still smiling here because the ride just started, but it was a laugh to be in conversation with him only to see the fear in his eyes each time the car swung forward & back throughout the rotation.
After a couple of gasps the ride was over & we headed back to the car for a quick tour of some of Manhattan's landmarks.
I also showed furie the Victoria's Secret studios located across the street from my office, but I guess he didn't post photos of that since the models weren't present that day. :wink:
He also forgot to mention how we got stuck in one traffic jam after another since both 3rd Ave & 6th Ave were closed down for street fairs. At least the traffic jam on the West Side Highway forced us to take Riverside Drive, which has the 2nd best park in NYC (even though it was getting dark & he couldn't see much of it).
I'm sure furie will be stating his opinion of the Big Apple, but as far as the comments by Ben & Grape Wizard - you can both Bite Me!
Getting the phone call from furie saying that he missed his flight was more than a big disappointment. All I could think was "How could that happen?" & "Doesn't he know you have to be at the airport 2 hours before an international flight, not leave for the airport 2 hours before departure?" Oh well, lesson learned. Time for me to figure out how to rearrange our plans & keep everything intact in spite of a full day's delay. I went to bed anticipating another early morning wake-up call, but it never came. That meant that furie was able to catch the early flight, so we could squeeze Coney Island in & get to do everything planned (at least as far as he parks were concerned).
Everything went smoothly on the day (short wait for the arrival, home for a quick freshen up & drive to Coney Island) and before you know it were had arrived at Cyclone.
While we waited for a front seat ride (8 trains) furie told me about how the operations were similar to those at beachfront coasters in England (Blackpool?). I just love the relaxed way of working here, unlike at major parks where everything is so uptight.
Finally we were off on our first ride together (something I've been looking forward to for what seems like ages).
furie & son might have been a bit jet-lagged, but there's nothing like a rough woodie to spur the senses...
...and soon both were back into the swing of things.
They were even up for a backseat re-ride.
furie wasn't thrilled with a ride on the Wonder Wheel, so we took a hot dog break at Nathans (they liked the fries Mike) & a stroll along the boardwalk to calm the nerves before hitting up the Ferris Wheel.
I still don't understand furie's fear of such thrill-less rides since coasters are so much taller, but he went along without too much hesitation. He's still smiling here because the ride just started, but it was a laugh to be in conversation with him only to see the fear in his eyes each time the car swung forward & back throughout the rotation.
After a couple of gasps the ride was over & we headed back to the car for a quick tour of some of Manhattan's landmarks.
We did see town hall, but this is the U.S. Supreme Court.furie said:Past the Town Hall or courts or somewhere pretty grand.
Actually Times Square as Trump Tower is further uptown.furie said:And then across downtown with Trump Tower and stuff (I think).
I also showed furie the Victoria's Secret studios located across the street from my office, but I guess he didn't post photos of that since the models weren't present that day. :wink:
He also forgot to mention how we got stuck in one traffic jam after another since both 3rd Ave & 6th Ave were closed down for street fairs. At least the traffic jam on the West Side Highway forced us to take Riverside Drive, which has the 2nd best park in NYC (even though it was getting dark & he couldn't see much of it).
I'm sure furie will be stating his opinion of the Big Apple, but as far as the comments by Ben & Grape Wizard - you can both Bite Me!
nadroJ said:
Very true, I'd have had to have been up four hours earlier to sort her out first, putting me a bit more on the ball!
East Coast(er) General said:I'm sure furie will be stating his opinion of the Big Apple, but as far as the comments by Ben & Grape Wizard - you can both Bite Me!
furie said:I liked the diversity of New York and the sheer scale of it. It's a pity that we didn't really get a chance to set foot in the place until the last day. I'd have loved to have spent some time just sampling a small bit of the culture - I've got the rest of my life for that though
Already done to a degree, but I'm trying desperately hard to unveil this bit by bit and let things out in an ordered way - so my final verdict will come on the last post about the last day!
As you've done that lovely report (Jerry took more photos than me and is much better at the whole PTR report thing
) I'll post up the first part of the second day!Day 3 – Six Flags New England and Lake Compounce
First big day today. Couple of hour’s drive out to SFNE for most of the day, then on to a late opening at Lake Compounce to ride Boulder Dash and Wildcat.
The park days I’m going to lay out expected highlights of the day, a brief description of the day’s events, reviews of the coasters ridden and then some conclusions. For multi-park days, I’ll split them into two.
Six Flags New England
Expected Highlights
Obviously Bizarro (Superman Ride of Steel) being the top of the steel polls. Very interested to see how good the best can be. I’d never been on an Intamin airtime machine before, so it was going to be interesting to see. All my other top ten steel are based on inversions really, so could this ride break into my top?
Batman The Dark Knight was also to be my first B&M Floorless. So again, interesting to see how well it would stand up. I’ve loved every B&M I’ve done so far, could the floorless do anything for me, or is the hype about “forceless” right?
On top of those two, there’s also my first Gerstlauer spinning coaster, and the Sky Swat to try – plus another Boomerang and SLC – looking forward to seeing if SLC’s can get as bad as people say!
The day itself
We arrived just after the ropes had dropped to let guests in and the park was not too busy. Long queue for Bizarro though. We stood in it trying to find out what to do, but Jerry went off and got a Flash Pass anyway.
It turns out there were some problems, and the ride was going to be late opening. It wasn’t even testing yet – which was a potential worry. Not to fear though, Jerry and the Flash Pass got us right onto Batman – The Dark Knight. Back row (always back row for a B&M, right?) and the ride was entertaining.
Batman The Dark Knight – Entertaining coaster if not remarkable.
Went back around for another go quickly, but the op wouldn’t let us wait for the front row (tosser – the ONLY op the whole trip who wouldn’t let us wait for a particular seat). So instead of giving him the pleasure of making us sit in the mediocre middle, we just left the queue and headed for Bizarro, which was now testing.
The Flash Pass kept on creeping up and creeping up though with the time we were allowed to go on it. The crowd was impatient and nobody was let onto the station.
Will this be as close as we get to Bizarro today? Minor_Furie seems to think so.
While we had a drink, I watched the ride run a few circuits, and it looked dreadfully slow around the back end – barely making it round at times (or so it seemed). This did not look good for a number 1 coaster to me. My heart started to sink here – it may not open, and if it does, has the new paint job and effects completely ruined the ride experience?
The Kid manages to get a little closer to experiencing his Number 1!
All we can do is stand and wait and look at the shiny new sign and logo
A cheer though, and the ropes are let down! Hurray! They’re letting people on. With the Flash Pass we can skip right forwards which is more than handy. So we can ride as long as they can keep it open – but will it ride well?
There’s a queue already for the back two rows. So me and The Kid head that way with Misses Jerry, and Jerry and Minor_Furie head for the front row. The Kid loves back row, and I’m generally one for the back row too. If we’d gone for the middle we’d have been on quickly. Front row queue is about twice as long as back row…
After about a fifteen minute wait, we finally get on and it’s time to ride numero uno!
I’ll do a full review later, but this was one of the “stand out” coasters on the trip. As you’ll see, there weren’t actually many. This gave a feeling I’ve not really had before that shocked me. Part of the trip is about new experiences, and the ride gave me something new.
Some people coming down the great drop on the return into the theming.
We waited fifteen minutes for Jerry and Minor_Furie to finish front row. I then went on to spend the queue waiting for the front with Jerry pretending the ride had underwhelmed me. It was really funny watching Jerry trying to work out if the remake had really made such a huge difference that it didn’t leave a good first impression anymore. It was priceless watching him trying to justify things and work it out :lol:
Front row was still excellent and it’s great seeing the massive drops and the way the track drops away.
My back was starting to play up now from the standing, driving and everything else, so we stopped for a burger at Jonny Rockets
Took ages to arrive, but was my first slice of park food. Much better than the slop we have over here, even though Jerry et al don’t massively rate it.
The rest of the day started to fly by then. Over to the other side of the park to grab a few of the other coasters. Pandemonium the Gerstlauer spinner first, then Cyclone the classic woodie. As we came off Cyclone (limped off, it’s as bad as its name sake) we found the Sky Swat just open after a prolonged bout of maintenance.
From here, things didn’t go quite so smoothly. We went to the rapids to cool off (it was relatively warm), but they’d closed just as we arrived. Flashback then, the park’s Boomerang! Again, closed just as we arrived. Badgers!
Fortunately Thunderbolt had the good grace to be open, but the name spelled bad omens!
Thunderheads over the SLC, Mind Eraser.
As we headed to the other water/raft ride – the thunder started. As the storm closed in, the park started to close down the rides. We gave the storm an hour or so to thrash itself out, which it did. However, after another thirty minutes or so, the park showed no signs of reopening anything. Coaster wise, there was only the SLC, Boomerang and kiddie coaster left on the list. So we had to make the choice whether or not to stay and see if anything re-opened, or head off to Lake Compounce.
Every minute spent waiting was a minute less at Compounce, and a minute more chance of us missing Boulder Dash if the rain moved that way. So, leaving re-rides of Bizarro and the three missed coasters, we made the plunge. Jerry left the Flash Pass under reserve – just in case we found Compounce closed or Boulder Dash unavailable. We could always head back for a couple of hours at SFNE if we were unlucky – as long as SFNE reopened at all…
We headed out then, and the rain remained heavy all the way to Lake Compounce – outlook for Boulder Dash? Not too good…
Reviews
Bizarro
http://www.coasterforce.com/Superman_Ride_of_Steel
As I said – stand out moments on this coaster. At the back, the first drop rips you out of your seat and it carries on like that over every hill. The lap bar doesn’t give as much freedom as a wooden coaster though, so it loses out to my favourite woodies because of that.
However, the ride’s speed is exceptional and the hills are steep and very exciting. Towards the end, the high G helix is very powerful and really pins you in. Then the last couple of little hills are pretty good fun.
While I’ve experienced airtime as intense (Rita and Speed for instance) on a steel – the OTSR on both kill it for me. The lap bars here give you the freedom to really appreciate it. Added on to that the relentlessness of the coaster and you’ve got a real winner.
Pop of airtime! It soon started hammering around the layout!
I don’t know what the new theming really changed, but it was pretty bland really – didn’t really add much to the experience. The sound was abysmal though. Loud, pumping and utter nonsense. Just loud snippets from other films and rides and stuff – it didn’t put you off the ride as such, but it did drain your attention away somewhat.
Is it a number one coaster? I’d have to ride it more than the two times I managed really. I think I prefer Dragon Khan, but that’s a personal preference – Khan has the inversions and mix up of elements I like. Bizarro is bang after bang after bang, but it was all a little too over powering – a bit too much. So I’d really need to ride it more. Definitely a 10/10 coaster though.
Obligatory shot if it entering the tunnel! This time in the new colours though!
Batman The Dark Knight
http://www.coasterforce.com/Batman_The_Dark_Knight
So, impressions of my first floorless. The forces are somewhere between Khan, and an inverted coaster (okay, my only point of reference so far is limited – one sit down and two inverts). It’s fun enough really. A few little bits of force here and there, but nothing really massively outstanding. Jerry says go for the front each time – so next time I’ll go with this to see if there’s a real difference. Not a bad coaster though, not a great one. I need to really look at my grading, but it’s a 7 or 8 coaster. I’ll get back to my rating later on
Cyclone
http://www.coasterforce.com/Cyclone_SFNE
Pain. Seriously brutal ride, not quite as bad as the Coney Island Cyclone back row, but pretty damn close. Unlike the CIC – I couldn’t find much in the way of redeeming features on this. I suppose it looked like it might have been great fun when new, but it’s pretty hideous now. 4/10
Pandemonium
http://www.coasterforce.com/Pandemonium_SFNE
Gerstlauer spinner. Utterly unremarkable ride. Span lots sat on the brake run, but not through the ride. It was smooth I suppose if you want to say something in its favour? I’ll take Dragon’s Fury and Spinball Whizzer over one of these every time! 4/10
Thunderbolt
http://www.coasterforce.com/Thunderbolt
A “little” woodie this time. A bit too big to be a kiddie coaster, but a little too small to be classed as anything major. However, it’s a really fun little ride. Fast enough for what it was, with a few tiny bits of airtime. It was lovely and smooth though and just a great bit of simple wooden entertainment. Sometimes less is more. 6/10.
Conclusions
My first Six Flags park, and – it’s okay to be honest. It’s neat and tidy enough and the rides have a good splattering of theming on them. They’ve obviously got a decent budget and spend like a professional company – though never quite going to the extremes I’ll see later (or have even seen at times in Tussauds parks).
Still, a pleasant park and no complaints about the operations (well, apart from BTDK op). It was professional and I liked it well enough.
Bizarro set a high starting point for the real trip – but I still didn’t feel it was as good as my favourite woodies. Again, personal preference because I love the ejector with wooden restraints. While Megafobia isn’t as “good” as Bizarro, I enjoyed Megafobia much more. Likewise my favourite runs on The Nash, Balder and Thunder Coaster. It’s different to Khan, but I thought both were brilliant. Knocks poor old Nemesis into a tin hat – so I had to wonder what the few Inverts I had coming up would do to my old fave?
Jury at this point still out on Floorless coasters. Batman was alright, but there are allegedly much better on this trip – so definitely a wait and see.
The question is of course, will Lake Compounce be open when we arrive, and if it is, will Boulder Dash be running?
Rush
Giga Poster
Great reports furie and Jerry!
I'm sorry you had to go on one of those awful wheels. I agree with you that a ride on one of those things is one of the most terrifying experiences ever! :lol:
Can't wait to read more of your reports, especially from New York and Busch Gardens seeing as I'll be going there this year as well.
Looking forward to more.
I'm sorry you had to go on one of those awful wheels. I agree with you that a ride on one of those things is one of the most terrifying experiences ever! :lol:
Can't wait to read more of your reports, especially from New York and Busch Gardens seeing as I'll be going there this year as well.
Looking forward to more.
Full New York day pictures are here!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 436&ref=nf
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 436&ref=nf
^^It's Broadway after all Neal. :lol: And the one at Times Square makes more money, even if this one on 42nd St. is larger. Both are within 3 blocks of each other.
So I haven't a whole lot to add to furie's report other than my opinion of Bizarro, a few more photos & a video.
Other than a few minor things (Batman ride op, Boomerang breakdown, Bizarro opening & thunderstorm delay) the day at SFNE was quite pleasant, if not overly exciting.
The new advertisement on the stairs is a pretty good idea (marketing wise that is).
Batman was first since Bizarro wasn't ready yet.
Not my favorite floorless by a long shot, but still not a bad ride.
While waiting for Bizarro to open I took a couple of photos of the revamped station.
Even if the paint job isn't bad...
...this was much better.
The new signs at the entrance to inform us about Bizarro, because most of us don't have a clue about this guy.
Waiting for the front row to take a POV (which I'll be posting soon).
This might be the case right now, but what will be the coaster's ranking in this year's polls?
The rest of the station themeing.
My version of the second tunnel entrance. I like furie's better.
And he did pull the wool over my eyes by being totally meh after his first ride. Luckily he couldn't keep the smile off his face when we rode the front row together & admitted he was just letting on.
So now for my opinion of the coaster's makeover:
Let me start off saying that I loved S:RoS & since this is still basically the same coaster, I still like it. However, I don't really care for the changes as they distract from an already great ride.
As furie pointed out & I stated in the opinion topic I created, the audio track leaves a lot to be desired. Here is what I already wrote (in case you missed it):
Not our favorite spinner...
...even though it looks nice.
I took a POV of the Kid & minor-furie spinning round.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxNrDjLcW2Q[/youtube]
Then is was time for some pain...
...even if it's not as rough as it's namesake..
...nor is it as good.
Then came Catapult, which I loved since it was my first time on the Sky Swat (Aidan always refuses to ride it with me & it's been down when I was with other friends).
Next up were the rapids, which broke down as soon as we queued up. So on to the boomerang, which did likewise. :roll:
We moved on Thunderbolt, which made minor_furie very apprehensive after riding to brutal woodies...
...but he was enjoying this smaller one much more.
We then headed over to the other water ride, which they shut down just as we arrived due to the weather. So we waited & waited to get on the painfull SLC, only to give up after just over an hour. Should have jumped on this earlier when it was up & running.
The storm passed 45 minutes before we left, but the coasters still weren't even testing as we headed toward Lake Compounce. No big deal for me, but furie missed 3 credits & I missed a guaranteed headache.
So I haven't a whole lot to add to furie's report other than my opinion of Bizarro, a few more photos & a video.
Other than a few minor things (Batman ride op, Boomerang breakdown, Bizarro opening & thunderstorm delay) the day at SFNE was quite pleasant, if not overly exciting.
The new advertisement on the stairs is a pretty good idea (marketing wise that is).
Batman was first since Bizarro wasn't ready yet.
Not my favorite floorless by a long shot, but still not a bad ride.
While waiting for Bizarro to open I took a couple of photos of the revamped station.
Even if the paint job isn't bad...
...this was much better.
The new signs at the entrance to inform us about Bizarro, because most of us don't have a clue about this guy.
Waiting for the front row to take a POV (which I'll be posting soon).
This might be the case right now, but what will be the coaster's ranking in this year's polls?
The rest of the station themeing.
My version of the second tunnel entrance. I like furie's better.
And he did pull the wool over my eyes by being totally meh after his first ride. Luckily he couldn't keep the smile off his face when we rode the front row together & admitted he was just letting on.
So now for my opinion of the coaster's makeover:
Let me start off saying that I loved S:RoS & since this is still basically the same coaster, I still like it. However, I don't really care for the changes as they distract from an already great ride.
As furie pointed out & I stated in the opinion topic I created, the audio track leaves a lot to be desired. Here is what I already wrote (in case you missed it):
We hit up Pandemonium next.East Coast(er) General said:
Not our favorite spinner...
...even though it looks nice.
I took a POV of the Kid & minor-furie spinning round.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxNrDjLcW2Q[/youtube]
Then is was time for some pain...
...even if it's not as rough as it's namesake..
...nor is it as good.
Then came Catapult, which I loved since it was my first time on the Sky Swat (Aidan always refuses to ride it with me & it's been down when I was with other friends).
Next up were the rapids, which broke down as soon as we queued up. So on to the boomerang, which did likewise. :roll:
We moved on Thunderbolt, which made minor_furie very apprehensive after riding to brutal woodies...
...but he was enjoying this smaller one much more.
We then headed over to the other water ride, which they shut down just as we arrived due to the weather. So we waited & waited to get on the painfull SLC, only to give up after just over an hour. Should have jumped on this earlier when it was up & running.
The storm passed 45 minutes before we left, but the coasters still weren't even testing as we headed toward Lake Compounce. No big deal for me, but furie missed 3 credits & I missed a guaranteed headache.
The Grape Wizard
Hyper Poster
Sorry to be a noob, but where is SFNE located?
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
OMG I DIDN'T EVEN SEE THIS TOPIC AT FIRST! I'll start from the beginning of your report...
That sounds like terrible luck at the airport, but glad it all worked out in the end!
As for Coney Island, I missed out on that and riding the Cyclone when I went to NYC, but judging from your opinions, I didn't miss much. I don't blame you for almost pooping yourself on the Wonder Wheel though, that thing looks scary.
NYC itself is such a beautiful place, I can't understand why people don't like it. The ghetto parts and the outskirts aren't as nice, but uptown and downtown are both amazing places. Seeing ground zero is a very interesting experience too.
I heard about your little trick at SFNE, trying to trick Jerry into thinking you didn't like Bizarro. Well aren't you the clever one? Haha, I love the new colour scheme and I'm jealous you got to ride it!
I'm eager for more.
That sounds like terrible luck at the airport, but glad it all worked out in the end!
As for Coney Island, I missed out on that and riding the Cyclone when I went to NYC, but judging from your opinions, I didn't miss much. I don't blame you for almost pooping yourself on the Wonder Wheel though, that thing looks scary.
NYC itself is such a beautiful place, I can't understand why people don't like it. The ghetto parts and the outskirts aren't as nice, but uptown and downtown are both amazing places. Seeing ground zero is a very interesting experience too.
I heard about your little trick at SFNE, trying to trick Jerry into thinking you didn't like Bizarro. Well aren't you the clever one? Haha, I love the new colour scheme and I'm jealous you got to ride it!
I'm eager for more.
The Grape Wizard
Hyper Poster
East Coast(er) General said:
Cheers.
Okay, because of all the good responses, I'll let you have tomorrow's episode early
Lake Compounce
Expected highlights
Boulder Dash – one of the big expectations of the trip. Other than that, a chance to get a look at this small, but somewhat unique park.
The day itself
The journey from SFNE was wet. It seriously wasn’t looking too hot for this part of the trip. As we pulled in though, the rain lightened and then left entirely. Straight in for a cheap late night entry (it was about 5:30 by now) and riding until 8:00 in the evening! Boulder Dash is running! Hurray!
Ride after ride after ride on this. I can’t remember how many times we actually rode, but it was a handful before moving on to the rest of the park. Review again later, but expectations were exceeded!
Wildcat was next on the list and as we left it, the heavens seriously opened. We hid in the nearest café (with a free drinks station) and settled in to wait the storm out. Glad we’d managed at least two of the coasters (if the park closed early) and glad Boulder Dash was running well – pretty lucky.
The water park section soon emptied when the thunder started and the torrential rain came down.
After about 45 minutes though, the rain stopped and the park started re-opening. We managed Zoomerang (my first Boomerang of the trip, and the best one) and Thunder and Lightning (the Screaming Swing). Quick jaunt on the ghost train thing (fun little shooting ride by Sally) and back to end the day with multiple re-rides of Boulder Dash, testing out a few of the different seats.
The funny croc and baby thing wasn’t upset by the weather.
The park closed at 8:00, but there was an ACE event on running on Boulder Dash until 9:00 – we couldn’t join in
So off we headed back to New Jersey to get ready for the big trip tomorrow – Hershey Park – that place of wonder. If only the weather could promise us something and hold back. Another day like today and we could end up with a huge washout of a trip.
So, that was it for America’s oldest amusement park.
Reviews
Boulder Dash
http://www.coasterforce.com/Boulder_Dash
Where to start? Sheer awesome are the only two words I can use to describe this. The coaster oddly looks like Lisebergbanan in an odd way. The long straight lift hill up the hill side and the fast drop off it. Did I say fast? I meant ****ing fast! You see that train hammer past the station like an express! It seriously, seriously moves. You don’t see anything then of it until a minute or so later it reappears back at the station.
The ride has everything. It’s incredibly fast, the airtime just keeps on coming. It’s unexpected, with odd dips and curves and hills as it follows the terrain. You’re constantly being surprised by the ride. It doesn’t lose momentum at any point and just keeps up a brilliant pace. It’s also pretty smooth and comfortable considering what the ride is doing. It knocks you about a little, but in a fun way, and Jerry says it’s much better with the trim on the turnaround – it slows you just enough to take the corner nicely while still retaining pacing. You barely notice the trim in action.
The best thing? The ride is superb no matter where you sit. I tried most of the seats and it’s excellent everywhere. No Baco “third seat on the right inside at 5:23 p.m. only” here. Just a blindingly fast, exciting, thrilling, mind blowing superb monster of a coaster.
You may get the impression I loved the coaster? 20/10 and at that point in time (still not done El Toro, Ka and Griffon yet) straight to my number 1 without hesitation.
Wildcat
http://www.coasterforce.com/Wildcat
Well, after the above, what can be said – it was bound to be disappointing. It’s not a bad coaster, and roughly the same as Big Dipper at Blackpool. It’s fun enough and far from a bad coaster – just a long way off its neighbor. 7/10
Zoomerang
http://www.coasterforce.com/Zoomerang
Not a bad Boomerang actually. Slightly better than Pleasure Islands, but nothing mind blowing. Erm, 6/10 or something, maybe 6.5 for the shiny cars?
Thunder and Lightning
http://www.coasterforce.com/Thunder_N_Lightning
The Screaming Swing! It’s almost as good as Rush, but the cycle is the same. So you’re just starting to enjoy it a little (but not as much as Rush) and it ends. Very disappointing. I don’t rate flat rides, so make it up for yourself depending on how much you love Screaming Swings based on that
Conclusions
Rain stopped play really. I’d have loved that extra bit of time to see a little more of what the park had to offer. It’s in a really nice location, but we didn’t get a chance to see much more than the scarce amusement area. So impressions overall are “nice, but not much of it”. Boulder Dash was by far and away the best coaster experience I’d ever had. It reminded me of the old days before becoming an enthusiast and the sheer fantastic thrill of riding a coaster – one of the things I was hoping for, but not expecting to find on the trip.
Personally, I’d go back again just to ride Boulder Dash forever!
Next up - Hershey Park, as long as the weather holds...
Lake Compounce
Expected highlights
Boulder Dash – one of the big expectations of the trip. Other than that, a chance to get a look at this small, but somewhat unique park.
The day itself
The journey from SFNE was wet. It seriously wasn’t looking too hot for this part of the trip. As we pulled in though, the rain lightened and then left entirely. Straight in for a cheap late night entry (it was about 5:30 by now) and riding until 8:00 in the evening! Boulder Dash is running! Hurray!
Ride after ride after ride on this. I can’t remember how many times we actually rode, but it was a handful before moving on to the rest of the park. Review again later, but expectations were exceeded!
Wildcat was next on the list and as we left it, the heavens seriously opened. We hid in the nearest café (with a free drinks station) and settled in to wait the storm out. Glad we’d managed at least two of the coasters (if the park closed early) and glad Boulder Dash was running well – pretty lucky.
The water park section soon emptied when the thunder started and the torrential rain came down.
After about 45 minutes though, the rain stopped and the park started re-opening. We managed Zoomerang (my first Boomerang of the trip, and the best one) and Thunder and Lightning (the Screaming Swing). Quick jaunt on the ghost train thing (fun little shooting ride by Sally) and back to end the day with multiple re-rides of Boulder Dash, testing out a few of the different seats.
The funny croc and baby thing wasn’t upset by the weather.
The park closed at 8:00, but there was an ACE event on running on Boulder Dash until 9:00 – we couldn’t join in
So off we headed back to New Jersey to get ready for the big trip tomorrow – Hershey Park – that place of wonder. If only the weather could promise us something and hold back. Another day like today and we could end up with a huge washout of a trip.
So, that was it for America’s oldest amusement park.
Reviews
Boulder Dash
http://www.coasterforce.com/Boulder_Dash
Where to start? Sheer awesome are the only two words I can use to describe this. The coaster oddly looks like Lisebergbanan in an odd way. The long straight lift hill up the hill side and the fast drop off it. Did I say fast? I meant ****ing fast! You see that train hammer past the station like an express! It seriously, seriously moves. You don’t see anything then of it until a minute or so later it reappears back at the station.
The ride has everything. It’s incredibly fast, the airtime just keeps on coming. It’s unexpected, with odd dips and curves and hills as it follows the terrain. You’re constantly being surprised by the ride. It doesn’t lose momentum at any point and just keeps up a brilliant pace. It’s also pretty smooth and comfortable considering what the ride is doing. It knocks you about a little, but in a fun way, and Jerry says it’s much better with the trim on the turnaround – it slows you just enough to take the corner nicely while still retaining pacing. You barely notice the trim in action.
The best thing? The ride is superb no matter where you sit. I tried most of the seats and it’s excellent everywhere. No Baco “third seat on the right inside at 5:23 p.m. only” here. Just a blindingly fast, exciting, thrilling, mind blowing superb monster of a coaster.
You may get the impression I loved the coaster?
20/10 and at that point in time (still not done El Toro, Ka and Griffon yet) straight to my number 1 without hesitation.Wildcat
http://www.coasterforce.com/Wildcat
Well, after the above, what can be said – it was bound to be disappointing. It’s not a bad coaster, and roughly the same as Big Dipper at Blackpool. It’s fun enough and far from a bad coaster – just a long way off its neighbor. 7/10
Zoomerang
http://www.coasterforce.com/Zoomerang
Not a bad Boomerang actually. Slightly better than Pleasure Islands, but nothing mind blowing. Erm, 6/10 or something, maybe 6.5 for the shiny cars?
Thunder and Lightning
http://www.coasterforce.com/Thunder_N_Lightning
The Screaming Swing! It’s almost as good as Rush, but the cycle is the same. So you’re just starting to enjoy it a little (but not as much as Rush) and it ends. Very disappointing. I don’t rate flat rides, so make it up for yourself depending on how much you love Screaming Swings based on that
Conclusions
Rain stopped play really. I’d have loved that extra bit of time to see a little more of what the park had to offer. It’s in a really nice location, but we didn’t get a chance to see much more than the scarce amusement area. So impressions overall are “nice, but not much of it”. Boulder Dash was by far and away the best coaster experience I’d ever had. It reminded me of the old days before becoming an enthusiast and the sheer fantastic thrill of riding a coaster – one of the things I was hoping for, but not expecting to find on the trip.
Personally, I’d go back again just to ride Boulder Dash forever!
Next up - Hershey Park, as long as the weather holds...