Coaster Trip That Went Bad?

Sorry if this has been brought up before but I did a search and way to many topics came up!

Just curious if anyone besides myself has planned a trip to somewhere and it totally flopped? In 2000 a group of us quickly planned a trip to KennyKon and deceided to get in the car and go! We left the night before KennyKon from Sandusky and headed to Pittsburg. We got in to Pittsburg extremly late and figured that somewhere in Pittsburg there had to be a hotel room! Yea Right! We went all over Pittsburg and even deep into the suburbs to try and find a hotel room! No luck at all. There were 4 of us in a 1995 Ford Mustang that were all very tired and needless to say pretty much ready to kill each other. We were all to tired to continue looking for a hotel and we were all way to tired to drive back to Sandusky, so we went to Kennywood at 1:00 Am and slept in the Giant Eagle parking lot at the top of the Kennywood parking lot. 4 of us in a little Mustang. When we woke up it was raining and it was a cold nasty rain that showed no end (anyone that was there that year knows the weather and what it was like) Me being the only true coaster enthusiast and the only one willing to put up with the weather was considered null and void and we were not going to go to Kennywood. So that morning we drove to Cleveland and went to Tower City and got a hotel room near the airport. The next day it was back to work at CP and we drove back to Sandusky and went to work.  This was one big waste of time, money, and gas. Overall it was a bad but unforgettable experience.

Anyone else have any stories like this? 

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What goes up Must Come Down, Lets hope it comes down really fast!

Wow.  Mine isn't that bad....

I visited family in San Diego and we drove up to SFMM just to ride Goliath, but it was closed.  Everything else went wrong as well, from huge huge crowds, to extreme heat (in early June), to horrible service, grumpy family, and bad traffic.  My big regret is not going to KBF, which I'd never been to, unlike SFMM, and which would have been an hour or more closer.

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You can't spell "dishonorable" without "honorable."

Yeah, there was this one trip I took last year...We went to California, and this guy named Ray was with us.  He was so annoying, he ruined the entire trip!  ;)

Just kiddin' Ray, good to see ya posting over here.  About a trip ruined, I honestly can't say I've ever had that bad luck.  Probably the worst thing I can think of is one park of our TX trip last year was SFAW.  Two of the rides I wanted to ride were down (TTornado and Texas Cyclone).  That is about it!  LOL, I guess I have some really good luck.

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"Look for the big black sack of Mofuggin Nuts at your local grocery store". -- Radio ad in FL

I live in Ny. We drove down to virginia for out trip to PKD BGW AND SFA.  We arrived at about 3:30 and decided to get a couple of rides in at Pkd.  We got to the park at 5 o'clock and went right to hypersonic.  Well, the line said an hour and a half.  After an hour, we werent even halfway their.  Then the ride broke down, but we still waited for another half hour.  Then five minutes after it reopened, it started to rain.  20 minutes later it stopped and it reopened.  When we made it into the station it was seven o'clock.  THe ride broke down again.  Then it started to rain again.  They said that they would not fix the ride until the rain stopped.  Well we stayed on line for another hour until about 8:30 when we said f**k it.  We left and went back to the hotel.  Im glad we left, because it didnt stop raining until 12 oclock. 

After that the vacation was great.  We rode ever coaster at BGW, SFA and went bac to PKD and got on every coaster.

I went to that KennyKon when it was pouring rain. They called the event a mansoon something. It was pouring so hard that I could not believe what I was seeing. There was a huge river right in front of the front gate and everybody had to take a huge leap across it. It did not stop raining all day until about 3 or 4 oclock. So, it rained for about 6 to 7 hours, and then the weather cleared up and it turned into  beautiful day outside, warm temp and a slight breeze. The park was supposed to stay open until 9 or 10 but because of the rain, the park decided to close early at 5:30. Everyone had to leave then and it sucked. But I still got to ride all of the coasters including my first laps on all of the coasters and my first and last laps of Steel Phantom. It turned out to be a good day because I still got to ride. :)

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Dave

It so happens that the day of my almighty 400th lap was also the worst day at a park ever. To begin things, it was the last day MIA was open for the season...major bummer. Also, the night before this I had a huge argument with my then-boyfriend about us staying until the park closed. For an enthusiast visiting their home park for the last time in 9 months, its a given! Somehow it ended up with how selfish I was and that there were starving children in Africa(don’t ask me!). He just didn't understand, which caused more problems than you can believe. Ok, so we got to the park before the gates opened. We sprinted there, and found one train operation would absolutely murder this day. It took me forever to get to my anticipated 400th lap, with waits averaging around 30 mins (worst all season). The 400th was awesome, no doubt about that. We went for 3 more laps and got out of line about an hour minutes before closing time, there was NO WAY we were going to chance missing my traditional last GP lap on my baby. We waited and waited. At last the line was about to close, so we hopped in. About another 30 min wait and we were in the station. It began to rain. I was concerned, but not overly. One more train dispatched before us in sheer pour down rain and thunder. I started freaking out, but the op promised he'd run the last train out...he was wrong. Maintenance called and they shut down the ride. I was in absolute shock...I had gotten this ride the past 3 years! I begged and begged…I didn’t care if I’d get electrocuted! Watching that train run the full mile empty was the hardest thing to witness, and the walk back down the midway to the gate was the worst ever. My friend and I couldn't keep the tears from coming. Even now it still haunts me...and its made this off season even harder. My lap count should be 404 :(.

Despite how terrible it was (I’m getting upset just writing this), there were some up-sided things that happened that day. I got my 400th (WOO HOO!), met one of my best coasting friends(who actually GOT to ride the last lap on ST: GRRR), the trains were running really well fully loaded, and they broke their habit of running green on one train op days (I probably would’ve refused to take my 400th if it was on the green!).

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Kara
403 Laps

Kara - I was there that day, as well. The 30 minute waits were a real drag, although I don't think I was as bent out of shape about it.

What was a real drag was to have the ride shut down as I was getting ready to board, then face the 3 1/2 hour drive back to Chicago in the rain. Oh well, you can't win them all.

What, like in that movie Vacation??? ;)

I went to Indiana Beach last summer and was on the verge of pneumonia. I'd been planning the trip for weeks. I came VERY close to checking in to a hospital. But, I pulled through and still managed to have a great time. I was determined I guess.

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"I'll bet that thing hits 5 Gs going through that loop.....faaar ooouut!"

You're complaining about a 30 minute wait for a coaster?!?! Try waiting 2 hours for a Vekoma SLC - that's something to complain about! LOL

Well, I don't really have a really bad story to tell, except maybe that once I got stuck at Wonderland waiting to get picked up until 1:00 AM. The park closes at 10, and there is NOTHING to do in pick-up/drop-off for 3 hours.

Well, I can't honestly say I've had a horrible experience at a park, but I will describe what were probably my two worst:

1997: I visit BGW and PKD for the first time. Alpengeist is awesome, and 2 days later its off to PKD. Outer Limits (it and Alpengeist were the most anticipated rides) is closed all morning and that afternoon around 2:50 I notice it has reopened, but running 1 train. The group I was with was leaving at 5. 3:30 rolls around, and the person I was with and I are finally entering the actual building. To my demise, I round the corner and there sits the massive queueing area. 4:55 hits, and we are nowhere near the front of the line, so we get out of line and leave. The next year I returned to the park with the same group and got to ride Outer Limits, but the anticipated ride for that year, Volcano, had yet to open, and I had no idea it wasn't ready yet.

2001: I rode Tennessee Tornado a few times in the morning at Dollywood and loved it. I would save a ton of rides for the evening before leaving. The weather has been decent and a couple hours before the park closes I get in line for the Tornado. A heavy rain starts to fall, and suddenly we are evacuated from the ride like its the end of the world. Appearantly, if lightning is seen or thunder heard within 20 miles of the park, everything must close. I stood outside of the ride with others for the next 2 hours, and 10 minutes before the park closed they announced the ride would not reopen. The worst part of the entire ordeal was the fact that lightning was never seen near the park and for the last 30 minutes the sun was shining and the clouds had cleared.

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|| Jonathan Hawkins ||
http://www.starcoasters.com
http://www.thrillspot.com

How about the time I lost my keys on Raging Bull at SFGam. It was the 4th to last ride on raging bull....I get off the ride check my pockets and my keys had fanished. Here I am with a few of my cousins no way to get home without my keys ( no money because I left my billfold in the car) and a 2 hour drive home. Of course I asked one of the ride op's who was an angel. She said that  that I could look around the track with her after everything was closed to look for them. At about that time the mechanics came up to check the trains..To my luck the keys were found in the back seat of the last train ( talk about a miracle). The ironic thing was, I was sitting in the front seat. I knew from then on that their had to be a God. On the bright side I got to see how the mechanics maintain the trains :)
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Cedar Point fans and Magic Mountain fans unite. Let's sign a rollercoaster treaty.

Ah yes, KennyKon 2000, also known as the "Monsoon on the Mon." That's short for Monongahela for the uninitiated. Belmont Babe and I were there. We had flown back to move here belongings to San Diego. Nothing, including a monsoon, would keep us from going to Kennywood. As long as the gates were open we'd go.It wasn't all that bad, the rain just made the rides more "intense."

I went to SFNE with my brother one day and the whole day went pretty good until the thunderstorm came.  We were in line for S: RoS when it started to rain, then pour, then rain again, then thunder and lightning.  They shut the ride down and we never got a chance to ride it again that day.
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TOP 5
1. Alpengeist, 2. Magnum XL-200, 3. Superman: Ride of Steel (SFNE), 4. Volcano: The Blast Coaster, 5. Apollo's Chariot
Close Calls 1. Grizzly (PKD), 2. Batwing, 3. Montu

Back in about '82 at Kings Island, The park was really going to hell in a handbasket. Beer was sold everywhere, Pot was smoked in many of the lines, Gum on the trees, walls and grounds and the atmosphere was alot different than we know today.

Nun the less a friend of mine had GE day tickets to the park and invited me and my brother to go and we said sure :)

Well that was about the best thing to happen on that day because I started by getting sick but was feeling better about noon.

Several times we ran into rude people (Not employees) and drunks and were just really having a agrivating day by really drunks!

We had been told to meet by the where the ACE plaque is now at 9:45 to head for home but at 9:45 my brother isn't there.  Come 10:05  with the fireworks going off he comes walking up and I kinda confronted him and we just ended up in a fight right in front of the fountains on International Street. (Not cool)

In seconds we were surrounded by security and from there on out it was back to the KI lockup!   My friend who had invited us was a deputy dearborn Co. police man and they eventually let us go under his supervision and told not to revisit the park the remainder of the '82 season! :(

We asked for it!  I admit that and at the very least were facing disorderly conduct charges.

It's strange that a park that has given many, many great memories to me still has one of the worst.

Thanks much to Paramount getting the atmosphere back to family and fun,  Many people do not remember a crappy KI but I do!   

There were also some great times durring this period though such as one side of racer yelling less filling and taste great and rock and roll in the Beast line.

Chuck, who could ramble forever but will stop here.

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Charles Nungester
167 coasters and hopes to be over 200 by the end of 2002 :)

Well, my worst is getting stuck halfway up Superman ROS at SFDL in NY.  It wasn't that bad, nice view.  It was about 45 minutes.  The moral of this story-  wait in line, hope you get stuck... because there's almost always a free ride at the end!!! LOL
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73 coasters and counting... I'm only 15 too.

Went to SFWoA last year expecting really nice weather, but all it did was stormed.  Everytime we got off or on a rolller coaster it would start to storm.  And to top that off every coaster was running one train except Serial Thriller and Villian.  This year I'm going back up there and try to enjoy my day.
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Bill Yost of Cincinnati, Ohio: Where we KNOW the Bengals suck!
http://www.small-business-webs.com/pkizone