KI Kevin

I've never heard that in Maverick's queue! I'll have to listen closely next time I ride it.

That's Maverick's theme song?

Like I said, the best thing about it is looking at El Toro's beauty....lol

"CF doesn't have good shirts"?! Have you looked in the DB Trading Post? That place must have about 25 different shirts for Diamondback alone! Also SFGAdv had some very good coaster shirts and a large variety. However SFMM, SFOG, and SFKK did not.

Oops! I completely forgot about Rolling Thunder! I'll edit it in there!

I swear that hill must be at least -1 G.

Do it! I guarantee you'll love it! PS I got a shirt that says El Freakin' Toro

There were only 3 trains running when I was there, but at least one was on the storage track. BTW, they've also painted Ka trains with Karate Kid decals....sigh.

After leaving our hotel early in the morning, we arrived to the parking lot around 10 AM. The entrance sign to the Great Adventure Complex. It's more than just a theme park. They've also got a separate gate water park and a safari attraction. My first close-up glimpse of Kingda Ka from the parking lot. This coaster completely TOWERS over any other coaster at the park. The height is incredible. Why is this picture so blurry? Anyway, that's Superman Ultimate Flight, a B&M flying coaster. Unfortunately, it was down all day so I didn't get to ride it. BUT, I had ridden its previous clone at Over Georgia, so the only thing I was really missing out on was the credit. To you SFKK Season Passholders? The Season Passholder Letter stated that if you chose to keep your pass you would recieve 4 free tickets for friends. Well I did, but I never got the tickets by email or mail. So before my SFMM visit we worked it out with their Guest Relations and got four free tickets there, but they were only valid at SFMM. So we had to go to Guest Relations at Great Adventure and get the two remaining tickets exchanged. I entered the park with my SFKK Season Pass. The entrance is very deep into the park. Before 10:30 while my friend and dad were waiting for Guest Relations, I walked around the entry plaza to the park. I LOVED the entry plaza. It's bright and colorful filled with several shops. Anyway, when they finally entered the park, we went over to the Character Cafe (thinking back now, I really shoulda taken a picture of it: it's a giant building that looks like huge ice cream scoops) to wait for Security to walk us over to the rides. We were headed to one place: El Toro. I loved the Boardwalk area. It's sort of like Coney Mall as far as the games go, but it's much more bright, colorful, and upbeat, some things that Coney Mall is missing. Some queuey goodness. On my first ride, I sat in the back. Let me tell you, this ride is all AIRTIME AIRTIME AIRTIME, beginning to end. It's got the most airtime ever. Yeah, I know Voyage technically has the record, but it has the most (quantity) airtime. Toro has the best (quality) airtime. Man, that 76 degree drop is really incredible. Probably my favorite drop on any coaster, because it seems a lot steeper than it really is. 76 degrees is just incredible for a wooden coaster. Unfortunately the ops staple you, but that didn't bother me one bit. The banked spaghetti bowl areas were really awesome too. I still liked Voyage more though. It was longer and had much more to it. But wow, El Toro is incredible. Can you say, "HOLY AIRTIME!" ? Hold on to the grab bar at all times? Are you kidding me?! They obviously didn't enforce that rule or I woulda been kicked out of the park after my first ride! Sigh....this makes me sad....at least one of the trains is still the original brown. Later on in the day I rode Toro again. Twice. Front seat. After that, everything I knew about coasters was SHATTERED. You think Maverick has intense airtime? Um, every single hill on Toro has more than Maverick's. And that one hill that goes over Rolling Dum....errr Rolling Thunder has the most insane airtime probably ever on a coaster. Period. In fact it's my favorite element/ moment on any coaster. It's THAT amazing. After my first ride up front, I decided that Voyage is a fantastic coaster, but it can't deliver the crazy intense airtime Toro can. El Toro is now my favorite wooden coaster, and my favorite overall coaster. If I had to choose, I would move to Jackson, NJ now. You really have no idea how amazing the airtime is til you try it. El Toro FTW! After that we just went on and got all the credits. That's a huge sign, huh? Cool theming. Bizarro was a great floorless coaster. It's a mirrored clone of Scream! at SFMM, so I'd already basically ridden it. However, this actually had great theming and was smoother. Like I said in the Dorney PTR, the Zero-G roll is probably my favorite inversion. Also, the mist felt great on the hot day it was. Unfortunately the on-board audio wasn't working like it was on X2 or Terminator, but the ride was just great without it. Bizarro is my favorite floorless coaster. The fortress building which holds the Sky Ride station as well as the Mine Ride station. We also rode the Houdini's Great Escape ride which was pretty awesome....can't really say anything about it as it's hard to describe so you gotta get out there and ride it! Runaway Mine Train was a basic Arrow mine train and IMO probably the worst I've been on besides the one at Over Georgia (God that one was awful...). Not horribly painful, just very boring. Skull Mountain was a very fun indoor family coaster. It's well themed (as you can probably see) and for a family coaster, it's pretty intense. Inside the ride room, there's a giant Jack-O-Lantern...pretty random. Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train, a fairly large steel kiddie coaster. Have you ever seen a train that long? 20 cars? Giant! Anyway, it was good for a kiddie coaster however like all kiddie coasters these days it had rough transitions. The Dark Knight Coaster, our second (and my favorite) wild mouse coaster of our trip. It's extremely well themed. Not quite as much as Terminator, but still very good. We couldn't really hear the preshow due to people talking, but it was pretty interesting from what I heard. The on ride effects were great too. There's a surprise at the end of the ride. I shouldn't tell you though, you'll have to find out yourself. Why would you put a bench in front of the ride sign? Anyway, the ride was just a basic Batman clone. It was my third and IMO the Batmans are my least favorite invert. Fun but too short. I really like the sign but I hated all of the Snickers ads on the sign and in the queue. The line was the longest we waited for the whole trip, and hour. Station sign. Well everyone will now be wanting a Diamondback comparison, so I'll give it to you: Drop: Same Smoothness: Diamondback Layout: Diamondback Airtime: Diamondback's first few were better, but Nitro's last few were better. Overall, Diamondback for airtime Positive-Gs: Nitro! The helix is epic! Overall I like Diamondback more. Nitro's crew was very slow that day. They were running 3 trains and stacking like crazy. If we had the same line with Diamondback's average capacity I swear it would've been about 30 minutes. The train 2 trains after me was the millionth train ever, I think. Some sort of million landmark. Kingda Ka! The tallest and fastest coaster on Earth! We are HIGHHHH up! There's no drag racing Christmas tree on Ka, so all you have to anticipate your launch is moving back a bit and the air compression noise. Kingda Ka has a quadruple station, like Dragster and Firehawk combined. The station is pretty detailed and neat looking. Kingda Ka was a great ride. I'll compare it to Dragster. The launch is more intense than Dragster's. However, the ride is quite rough and shaky. In fact, it gave my dad a headache. However, that hill pictured above actually does give some really good airtime. But my dad said it perfectly. There's something about the buildup of Dragster that makes it better: the train design, the engine revving before the launch, the Christmas tree, the grandstand, the facts in the queue, the station blasting "Ready to Go" by Republica (though Ka does play techno throughout the queue, however "Ready to Go" is a much better fit), the fact that it's visible from anywhere in the park, the fact that it's in the middle of the park. All there is on Ka is the ride. I gotta give credit to CP on this one, riding Ka really made me appreciate Dragster's theming and buildup more. I liked Dragster more. A tiny kiddie coaster. It doesn't hurt too bad until the turnaround right before the station....OUCH! The only coaster I didn't take any pictures of was Rolling Thunder....guess I forgot. Well this coaster wasn't really fun...at all. I'd take Colossus at SFMM and Great American Scream Machine at SFOG way before Rolling Dumpster. The first turnaround is just plain painful. Other than that it's just boring. IMO the best part of Rolling Dumpster is looking at El Toro. I doubt anyone could walk past that view without taking a picture. Overall park stuff: The park had a very nice atmosphere and was bright and colorful. Employees were nice. I hate Six Flags having so many ads. The park has several fun family coasters. Not my favorite Six Flags park but definitely #2! The park's layout is AWFUL so be prepared to walk far distances. Well that's all folks (in true Six Flags fashion)! Hope you enjoyed! Hershey may be up tonight or tomorrow at the lastest.

^(IBEW Sparky) You hit the nail right on the head with that one...there's just something about HW that makes me think they care a heck of a lot more about guest satisfaction than any CF or SF park I've been to (though Magic Mountain was very good too). Something else too: I bet you that on any given day the ratio of enthusiasts: GPers is higher at Holiday World than mostly any other park. This would probably be because of the awesome coasters, great prices and deals, and AMAZING customer satisfaction. Nowhere can even come close. Now recently Voyage moved down on my coaster rankings (sorry Voyage, El Toro is just too good), but I'll still continue to go. Other companies need to learn that there's a heck of a lot more to making a park good than world class coasters (which HW also has)

While Batman and Superman are clones, I found Bizarro to be VERY amusing as far as ride quality goes. It was smooth and had great effects. Overall it's my favorite floorless coaster. It's funny, cause Six Flags Over Georgia and Six Flags Magic Mountain teach you just about the opposite with Scorcher, Scream!, Goliath, and of course, Tatsu. B&M is my favorite manufacturer.

Apparently they changed the name from Banshee to Mantis because of all the negative connotations with the word, "Banshee." I just don't see how that logo fits in with the name.

Ah, the first stop of my 3-park trip. We arrived to Allentown around 3 PM.... to that! I couldn't believe how impressive the skyline was...heck it looked tons better than Kings Dominion's did last year. Pulling up to the parking gate, we asked the attendant what crowds were like. He replied, "pretty crowded for a weekday." By then we were worried. A picture I took from the parking lot. Simple, but I like it. Ticket sales and greeting tower. My KI Platinum Pass scanned without problem. Believe it or not, that's Dorney Park! Looks a little familiar to a park up north huh? I'm sure you see my point. Talon absolutely dominates the front of the park (I'm just having too much fun with these puns ) First up was Steel Force! Getting closer.... The sign/logo for Steel Force. Believe it or not, that was actually the old Mantis logo when it was still called Banshee. I like how the queue has a sign with all the stats of the ride on it. Fortunately or unfortunately, I didn't get to read it because there was no line for the coaster, or really any other coaster for that matter. A view from the exit stairs. That little double up attempt is kind of a fail. I was very impressed with Steel Force! The coaster is as smooth as glass and provides some good air. The turnaround is forceful also. Overall I think I'd have to rate it above Magnum for the smoothness of the ride and the good but not painful bunny hills at the end. After SF (not Six Flags, Steel Force) we went on a credit spree- up next was Dragon Coaster. It's an odd coaster. I couldn't figure out what powered it. It didn't have a chain or any friction wheels attached to the track, just an anti-rollback looking think on the entire coaster. Though it did look like there was an LIM looking strip on the track in the station but I couldn't spot a plate on the train where it would go. Unfortunately, right as we were about to board Possessed, an IntaFAIL occurred. We got to ride it later though. It was basically the same as Wicked Twister except of course, the back tower doesn't spiral. However on the second climb up the back tower, a brake holds you looking straight down for a second or two. This was cool but IMO it should hold it for 5 seconds or so like Griffon. Just an idea of what lines were like that day... I wish KI would have signs like these . Unfortunately over the whole trip we encountered 15 or so linejumpers...once when we were in line for Talon we got linejumped by 5 people at the same time! The nerve of some people... Gotta admit, we laughed pretty darn hard at the name of this store right across from Possessed. Thunderhawk- the classic woodie which used to be named, "Coaster," was next. Sadly it was only running one train. Gotta say I was not a big fan of this coaster. Didn't have any WOW moments. It was boring. Seeing Demon Drop again was refreshing. I'm pleased to say that the ride is running just the same as it was last year- very well. Adam had told me that the lift was slower but I didn't notice a difference. The transition from lying down to ground level is still quite rough. My third Woodstock's Express coaster- KI, CP and now Dorney. It was the worst of the three. Next was Hydra: The Revenge, the twisted B&M Floorless coaster. Zero-G rolls are always fun. That cobra roll is INSANELY twisted! Contrary to popular opinion, I actually liked the jojo roll. Overall I thought Hydra was pretty good. Better than Dominator, not quite as good as Scream! It's smoother than both, but it's kinda short (in height, length, and time). Now for coaster #100...drumroll please... Talon! My 6th Beemer Invert! Talon is a VERY intense coaster. The immelman is my favorite inversion, maybe besides the zero-g roll on floorless and sit down B&Ms. I think it was the best choice at Dorney for my #100 coaster and I LOVED it. Every park on this trip has a wild mouse coaster and this one was probably the worst and most rough. BUT, the cars had cool designs on them. Now on to the few other flats we rode. Do they still have the kiddie-whip at KI? I liked this one a lot. It gave strong laterals on the turnarounds. Apollo's a fun little ride that I'd trade in place of Monster, Scrambler, or Shake, Rattle and Roll any day. After a few rerides on Hydra, Steel Force, and Talon, we left the park around 8 PM. Park notes: I was very suprised with this park. They have less than 10 coasters yet 4 of them are very good. The overall atmosphere of the park is very charming and even on a "relatively crowded" day the park was still empty. IMO of the three parks of the trip I would take Dorney as a home park. It's not overly crowded constantly to the point that you have to wait an hour for the good coasters but it's also not too small. The park is photogenic and very pretty. It's not as hilly as SFMM, but still pretty hilly. I wish CP could maintain some of the charm and atmosphere that Dorney has. Alright that's it for Dorney. SFGAdv will hopefully be up tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Actually, the train after me was either the millionth train...or contained the millionth rider of the year....probably the former because we saw people in the park wearing plain T's that said Nitro on the front and "Millionth Riders Club" or something on the back.

At least Six Flags appears to give a darn about theming...Cedar Fair needs to learn how it's done! Terminator and Dark Knight for example. While I liked Diamondback more than Nitro, Nito's last few hills PWNED Diamondback's...also the helix on Nitro would probably measure up to be more intense than both of Diamondback's combined.

Ya but I can still brag about SFAmerica, SFGAmerica, Michigan's Adventure, and Lego Land lolz PSHHHHHHH If you have that much to brag about then band class is going to suck.

I really liked Dorney too. The overall atmosphere of the park was charming and they had some great coasters. I also got my 100th coaster there: Talon.

Alexis, I absolutely LOVED Great Adventure. El Toro is also no doubt my favorite roller coaster overall. It's tough to put it over Voyage but in the front it's just incredible. Superman was also closed on Friday when I was there. I'm going to have to disagree with you about Six Flags though. After visiting GAdv I have to say I definitely like Six Flags over Cedar Fair. I like the atmosphere much more. Their coasters are pretty good too ^BTW, I liked Nitro but not quite as much as Diamondback.

I find it pretty humorous that I went to GAdv on Friday and Hershey on Saturday while you did the opposite! Hershey was a disappointment for me, Fahrenheit being forceless and a big letdown, and both GCIs being kinda boring. Great Bear was decent as far as Beemer Inverts go. The layout is probably the worst of any park I've been to. However Storm Runner was great and Comet was a complete pleasant suprise! Two less parks you get to brag to me about.

I know that. But what was it designed for? Yeah, yeah, "nonstop speed," whatever. The coaster just seems extremely uneventful in my eyes.

I'm just saying, high speed banked turns don't make a coaster for me.

No, I agree. CP's coasters are overrated. I know people will bash me for this anyway so I'll just say it: IMO, Millennium Force is the most overrated coaster I've ridden. It seems like everyone is completely obsessed with it. Why? I personally don't like the drops on Intamins as much as B&M's. It just seems like Diamondback's drop has a much better curve and shape to it, so I like it more. But anyway, the Millennium Island part is the worst. I NEVER get any airtime on the two hills, and I feel like the high speed turns don't really have any force due to how drawn out they are. Maverick, on the other hand, is epic. SO many different forces being thrown at you. The airtime is probably the strongest single hill I have been on (El Toro here I come). I love the elements where it feels like it's gonna throw you upside down but doesn't. I really can't say enough. I love it. My top 3 at CP are Maverick, Magnum, Raptor. Just my two cents.

...which is not a bad thing at all...this means cheaper, yet equally thrilling coasters. aka I think we'll be seeing a lot more GCIs and Gravity Group coasters in the future.

"Potato/ potato, tomato/ tomato." (as I said that to a fellow member of this site, that quote is fairly less effective in a non-verbal setting....

What? What he means is, "IT WAS REALLY GOOD."