Inspiring Travel

Richie Reflux said:

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I have to say that if it weren't for the people on this site, I never would have considered last summer's trek to Kennywood and K'nobles.

After logging on to CoasterBuzz and reading about what you guys (and girls) have said about Kennywood and K'nobles, we decided to give it a try and we based most of last year's summer vacation around it.

Not only was I instantly impressed with the offerings and the "flavor" of these parks, I came to realize that I didn't have to go to a crowded MEGA PARK in order to have a good time. I also learned that there were more family and thrill rides that were in the 42 inch height range that my son could ride with me than there were at Great Adventure.

Ironically, I am now excited about returning this summer because of Flying Turns and the new swing ride at KW.I thank both parks and everyone on this board who helped to make it happen and for pointing me in the right direction.By the way, when Jr. Reflux hits 48 inches, we're going to Holiday World.

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Another satisfied customer of the Kool Aid....or another member of "The Conspiracy"....your call! ;)

Seriously, the "reputations" of the parks, whether good or bad, are EARNED...you can tell after awhile where the honest opinions come from...(those are the valuable ones, LOL). By honestly critiquing what we find, it really does give parks insight as to how they can improve.

The smoking areas are a great example of parks listening to customer feedback/input. Building a 6 mile-long, 1,000' tall launched standup with 8 inversions? Well, let's just say the ideas presented should be reasonable, warranted, *and* potentially profitable (or cost-saving). It helps too if the suggestion is in English, or some other language reasonable people might be able to translate...paragraphs help too! :)

My uninspired COASTER travel story was for Stealth. But hey, how can ya go wrong getting your first taste of the Bay Area...I was inspired to return - and this time I'll get to all of those other better parks in the area.

This year's trips are inspired, coaster-wise, by Voyage and Rumbler, and hopefully to get the new wood in Wisconsin (Meteor) and *finally* getting to Avalanche and Hades and "the drop on 'Clops"....day for Noah's Ark? ;)

:)

*** Edited 3/27/2006 3:02:17 PM UTC by rollergator***

I see everyone has avoided the first paragraph, and since I haven't read the other thread, maybe that's a good thing. Millennium Force to me was the pilgrimage that I had to make opening year. It was obscene perhaps in a way that Magnum XL-200 wasn't. I had already ridden Scream Machine at Great Adventure, a rather large coaster in its own right, and later rode Steel Force, so Magnum wasn't that big of a draw.

Millennium Force on the other hand was just ridiculous. The original speed of 92mph (later bumped to 93mph), the structure, the first drop, the overbanked turns etc., etc., The car just had to travel to Sandusky. It didn't hurt either that I got to throw in Kennywood and Six Flags Ohio on the way.

You can throw in Ride of Steel at SFNE in 2004 as a "This thing has got to be ridden and it's been put off way too long." Add in Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce and we knocked off another must ride.

The Voyage is obviously this years "it" ride.

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pkidelirium said:

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crazyforcoasters said:
This year it will be Beast, SOB, and all the great coasters at Holiday World

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Look forward to Beast and SOB, and you will be unhappy after you get off.

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So I have heard......

Coy,

I hope you make it to Beastbuzz, we will have to powerride again like we did at Dorney last year for CBCon.

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crazyforcoasters said:

So I have heard......

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Or you could just form your own opinions about the Beast and SOB considering there are numerous people out there who greatly enjoy both.

During my vacation planning last year I had Holiday World in the original plan. Then the announcement of The Voyage happened which cause me to cancel hitting Holiday World. Instead I saw the pictures of Thunderhead in my roller coaster calendar and decided to head to Dollywood just to ride Thunderhead. Now I am scheduled for Holiwood Nights not just for The Voyage but for the triumverate of wooden coasters at Holiday World. So I guess you could say one coaster changed 2 trips for me :).

Lookin' forward to it c4c! Everything's booked and I'm just counting the days.

OT: Speaking of SFStl, can anyone tell me how The Boss is running? I'm almost afraid to ask...;)

I've never gone anywhere that wasn't strictly "daytrip" distance unless I was already going to be in the area for some other reason. I tend not to plan vacations around amusement parks.

But things that "inspire" me to visit include wooden roller coasters, atmosphere, unusual and rare rides (especially dark rides), and history.

TURN-OFFS include overhyped commercial synergistic marketing with cheesy pop culture figures and record breakers - anything with an "est" makes me wretch.And, of course, anything with "Disney" or "Universal" in the name - ugh.

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matt. said:

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crazyforcoasters said:

So I have heard......

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Or you could just form your own opinions about the Beast and SOB considering there are numerous people out there who greatly enjoy both.

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That is totally true, hey it can't be as bad as my rides on Ghostrider at Knotts, that thing kicked the crap out of me but yet a lot of people love that coaster on here so who knows, maybe I will be a SOB/Beast lover?????????????????????

You can count Millrace as someone you'll never find at Holiday World because they are consistently voted the nic'est' and the clean'est' park (six years in a row according to the show the other night). Their waterpark Splashin Safari was voted the second b'est' waterpark. If it weren't for El Toro ride being built, Holiday World almost had the steep'est' drop on a wooden coaster. And then when you think about it, that Santa Claus guy is the epitome of a cheesy pop culture figure as well.

So I'm glad to see that according to the Millrace track record, he hasn't been a hypocrite by actually going to Holiday World. I hope you know that I'm just messing with you, but boy you have some tough standards:)

What the heck are you talking about?

Tough standards? I suppose. But I have very specific interests when it comes to amusement parks and with the amount of things I'm interested in (amusement parks are only a small part), and my available free time and money to do all the things I want to do, I must be choosy.

Some may get a thrill out of the latest "est" coaster. I get a thrill out of finding some obscure ride that only a handful of people even know exist. It's what "inspires" me.

Oh, and the track record is out of date (can't change it since I am not a Cbuzz club member). I have been to Holiday World. Is it my favorite park? Not by a longshot. But it isn't Disney either, and in my book, that's a plus.

I knew what you meant Millrace, but it does severely limit your options. Whatever makes you happy.

Then we won't even mention Dolly Parton's chEST.
:)

How do you figure it "limits my options?"

Have I been inspired to go to a park? Yes. Have I been able to? No. :( I got married in 1997, and the year of MF at CP was when my wife was pregnant with out first. I did manage to sneak out to CP and get a ride on it but the next few years were bleak. Sometimes I only was able to go on 1 or 2 coasters per YEAR. My son was born in 2003. In 2004 we went to CP. It was my first trip there since 2000, and I live 80 miles from it. I desperatly want to go to HW but I have to wait a few years until at least my daughter hits 48 inches so we can ride the coasters there. She just cracked 42 this winter so we are looking at all 4 coasters at Knoebels and Comet, Roller Soaker, Trailblazer(woohoo!) and Superdooperlooper at Hershey. Plus a trip to Dutch Wonderland. Things are starting to look up again for me! A couple more years and BGW is on the list again when we vacation in Ocean City, MD! My son did crack 36 so he can hit Trailblazer too. To I already say woohoo? (sigh) we need to go back to Kennywood this year so we can all ride the Jack Rabbit, now THAT would be fun!

Trust me, it's been a rough 6 years for a guy who used to have season passes to GL, CP AND PKI, and yes I lived 250 miles from PKI and still had a pass, all three parks at the same time for years. *** Edited 3/29/2006 2:19:04 PM UTC by LdScotsman***

Ever since I joined ACE back in 1979 I've made a trip to AT LEAST ONE new Roller Coaster each year. In that year I made my first trip to Geauga Lake and added Four Roller Coasters to my "Credit". In 1979 I had 28 Roller Coasters to my credit, I have since ridden over 300 Roller Coasters.

Highlights have included the following:

1982: My first "Doubleheader" (Two Amusement Parks visited on the Same Day) - Zoo Amusement Park (Now Wyandot Lake) in Ohio and Camden Park in West Virginia.

1985: Blackpool Pleasure Beach! Grand National was my 100th Roller Coaster, and I was interviewed by the BBC for this event!

1991: In the most unusual Doubleheader of them all, I visited Mission Beach in San Diego, then hopped a Flight to LA where I finished the day at Disneyland!

1992 I flew to Mexico City to take on Chapultepec's "La Montona Rusa" only to discover it was closed for Maintainence! :( (Holy Wally World! Batman!)

2000 After a Job Training venture with CR England (An Interstate Trucking Company) ended in failure, I "Made Lemonaid from Lemons" and Visited 7 diferant Amusement Parks (Lagoon, Cedar Point, Hersheypark, Clemington, Great Adventure, Lake Compounce and Darien Lake, adding 26 Roller Coasters in a Single Trip! (My Personal Record!)

2003: During a Layover in Charlotte I took a Cab to carowinds and added five coasters to my list before returning to the Airport to catch a connecting flight to Texas

For this year I have already done Disney's Animal Ki8ngdom, and will be attending Hollywood Nights/ Rumblefest in May. I* also plan to visit Pavilion in Myrtle Beach before it closes :( and will "Wrap Up" the year with Disney/MGM's "Rock n Roller Coaster"!