Hidden Gems at parks...

At Knotts Berry Farm, I was very surprised by Calico Mine Ride, first of all. I thought it would just be a simple little ride throught the mountain, but its really quite elaborate and lengthy. Perhaps a bit dated, but still very cool, i thought.

Also, out-side of Splash Mountain and Dudley Do Right behmoths, the Log Flume is incredible. The theming is excellent, the ride is hilariously long, and its just downright fun. I wonder why people don't mention it more often.

Well, have you ever been pleasently surprised by an attraction at a park that you really didn't expect?

yeah i thought the log ride was gonna be stupid too but i really liked the part in the dark

also yeah the ride is really long i didn't think they could fit that much stuff in the mountain

I was suprised that the Sidewinder at HP is smoother then other Boomerangs.
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Is there somthing more, then what I've been handed, I've been crawling in the dark looking for the answers!- Hoobastank

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I remember going on Calico as a kid. For someone who loved caves, mountains, and trains, it was and still is a slice-o-heaven.

By the way, has anyone here been to the real Calico Ghost town outside of Barstow? Quite interesting, albeit a tad touristy.

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

I once found buried treasure along the beach @ SFDL! Oh wait.... it was just a diaper.

Hmmmm let me think about this one. I honestly don't think I have an answer to this one. If I can think of one I will be sure to edit my post at a later time =).

Blue Streak at CP

Roar at SFMW

Top Gun at PGA

Barnstormer at Magic Kingdom

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"Right now you gonna like me,
In a year you gonna love me"
-Fabolous

A lot of people overlook Gemini at CP, but this ride truly is a gem! It is very smooth, fast, has a bunch of airtime (especially in the very back row), some awesome headchopper effects...overall..just a fantastic ride!
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"Enjoy your record-breaking ride on Millennium Force"

The Beastie at PKI sure packs a punch. It's a great ride. I know it's stupid but I have a tradition. Every time I go I HAVE to ride that ride. It's still one of my favorites at the park.
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It's his turn to feast, when you ride the Son of Beast.

Thunderbolt at SFNE is a great little coaster. It's a nice little figure-8 woodie with some great drops and laterals. The two bunny hops at the end are killer! It would be my choice for a backyard coaster.

I'd also mention Scorpion at BGT, Yankee Cannonball at Canobie Lake, and Jack Rabbit at Kennywood.

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Erik Johnson
Theme Park New England
SFNE 2002: Bigger is not always better.

This will probably sound stupid but I thought the ski lift ride at Lake Compounce was awesome. I loved how long it took to get up to the top of the mountain and how peaceful it really was up there. It was sorta scary too, some times you were so high and other times you see these broken off pathways which make you think "How would I get down?" Plus the ride is 30 minutes. My time at Lake Compounce was probably the best time I have ever had at an amusement. If you are up(or down:)) in Connecticut any time go to Lake Compounce and ride Boulder Dash and do the Sky ride. Oh yeah the interactive haunted house was fun too:)
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Lake Compounce: New England's Holiday World

I'd have to go with the Whizzer at SFGAm. It's not big or fast, but the cars are awesome (you straddle on this padded bench type thing and wear only a seat belt) and you're almost completely surrounded by trees. There's also a nice pond in the ride area. The banking on the turns is awesome too...it seems as if you can almost touch the ground!
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Ride the New England Bush!

At CP, Gemini is a lot more fun (and smooth) than I thought. The Wildcat was a cool little ride.

At SFWoA, the ducks in the lake were great fun to watch (it rained and they were bird-bathing in the puddles)

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CP! Still the coaster capital of the world in 2002!
My fellow Americans; Let's Roll!
WoodenCoaster.com

Houdini's Excape at Great Adventure.

Spacely's Sprocket Rockets at SFGAm..now there is a wild ride. I think it is better than Raging Bull.
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Rob

"The doctor said I wouldn't have as many nose bleeds if I could just keep my finger out of there!" -Ralph

Three of my four favorites were mentioned above.

CP's Wildcat and Gemini. They were just really fun coasters.

Houdini's Escape at SFGAdv. The theming took me by surprise and the illusion effects were actually quite good.

Akbar's Adventure Tours at Busch Gardens Tamps. It is a rough ride, but I thought it was appropriate to the "cheap" theming, and I thought it was hysterical.

There's a few:

1. Big Bad Wolf at BGW is a top ten ride to me. This is how all suspendeds should be.
2. Big Dipper at SFWoA. Talk about airtime. I don't think I ever touched the seat.
3. Dragon Mountain at Marineworld, Niagara Falls, Canada. What a fantastic Arrow looper and long, yet the crowds to this park are small.
4. Gemini at Cedar Point. To this day, the first hill still feels steeper than Magnum. You forget what a great coaster this is and how big it really is because of the big brothers that were installed.

I'll list some of my favorites at various parks...

PKI - The Grande Carousel... It is absolutely breathtaking. I take a half an hour each time I am there just to sit, watch and listen. It is the most incredible thing there.

SFGAM - Whizzer.... please please please let it last.

CP - As someone mentioned, the Gemini, which remains my favorite coaster there.

PKD - Treasure cave or whatever they now call the former "Yogi Bear's Cave."

BGW - The Festhaus, it is my favorite thing there, sooo much fun. I could watch the bandstand raise and lower 50 times in a row and still be mesmorized.

SDC - The cave tour.

HW - The toy museum and bell on Legend.

SFNE - Houdini

Knoebels - Haunted Mansion

Kennywood - Kangaroo

Hershey - Chocolate factory tour and the incredible Superdooperlooper.

I could go on and on...

Shaggy

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Shaggy
A.K.A. John K.

SFGam little gem would be Whizzer, i might be a junkie of the big and fast rides but this is still a fun one to enjoy.

CP's little gem would go to Blue Streak, its a classic that is overlooked by everyone and allways is an easy walk on when i was there.

SFEG gems would be Twister 2 and and Sidewinder, bith were too easy of walk-ons when i was there but that was during a private party plus those were the only 2 of 3 coasters that were working in April of 1998 for the park buy out. Though u had to climb those stairs for sidewinder and 5 of us from our group climbed the stairs 4 times in a row. Plus both are classic rides that u cant get enough of.

My favorite small parks gems would have to be Zues at Big Chiefs up in theWisconsin Dells because its long, fast and tons of airtime plus elements that u can't get at most big parks. That is a great coaster by CCI and probably one of my favorite woodies. My other favorite gem would have to be both CCI woodies at Indiana Beach. Smaller parks may have less coasters and less money but you can never doubt their coasters. Smaller parks do give you your monies worth and more with their coasters.

I will be going to Vegas in may for my 21st birthday and will probably ride the coasters more than i loose in the casinos, so maybe i should do a trip report when i get back for Las Vegas in May.

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I may be from IL, but i sure can't get enough of the FORCE. MF!!!

For me, it would be anything Schwarzkopf... Cedar Point's WildCat, Hershey Park's Sooperdooperlooper, Magic Mountain's Revolution...the list goes on... Also, carousels are a big item on my list...
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Cedar Point ride host
2000 - Cedar Downs crew, WildCat crew
2001 - Cedar Downs crew, WildCat crew, Magnum crew, Gemini crew
2002 - Wave Swinger/Swan Boats Team Leader

I really liked Cedar Point's Wildcat. Basically, it took the best elements of a mouse, and expanded on them. Its a Shwarzkopf, how can it not be great??

A lot of people above mentioned Knotts' Timber Mtn. Log Ride. That is a great ride, and is one of the nations earliest log flumes. Many people say its as good as Splash Mountain, and Timber Mtn. was built 30 years earlier....

At Knotts, I think that the Stagecoach and Train rides are hidden gems. Particularly the stagecoach, it gets nearly no attention, but is a really cool ride, and very original as well.

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