Phunfest 2009

rollergator said:
Sorry I missed LG and Carrie.

Hmmmm, didn't I introduce myself to you on the platform for Phoenix? I mentioned the guys told me you only like to ride in seat 1-3. Maybe it wasn't you?

rollergator said:

Finally, poor Lori has already seen more of me than she probably wanted, LOL...I'll make it up to her by staying home next year....NOT!

Steve and I were talking about the fact that we've seen you the most this year and you live the farthest away of the usual suspects.

I miss you too, Lori! We don't get together enough and we're only 5 hours apart. I saw Gator about a dozen times this year!

Yeah, the epic weekend itinerary was classic Gator and AV. We didn't decide on the Friday portion until that morning when I picked up Bill at the Philly airport.

Gator has this addiction to 1.3 on the Phoenix despite all of my efforts to prove to him that the very back row is where it's at. :)

Sorry Matt, but I have to agree with Gator on 1.3. Although 1.2 is just as good but a tad smother.

I prefer the airtime you get from dropping down the big hills in the back of the train over the extra pop you get at the top of the big hills in the front of the train. All of the low hills give you the same effect regardless, IMO.

I can sometimes be found following Gator and/or Matt. Other times I am just wandering around for no particular reason, especially at Knoebels. :)

-Tina

Don't believe me, believe the man who designed the silly thing. (It's called the Schmeck seat, not the gator seat) ;)

1.2 is a tiny bit smoother - in other parks it might be a lot smoother, LOL. But I like the pivot action....so I prefer 1.3. The only better train for me is Cyclone's four-bencher :)

However, I will admit that the back row on Phoenix on the double-down provides a landing that's a tad more forceful than the back seat of the other infamous classic wooden double-down about 3.5 hours west. Pennsylvania rocks (apparently the "good" weather ended the week after I left though, so now PA is truly great only 4-5 months a year). ;)

Time to plan your "summer" home, Bill. :)

^^ Supposed to be in the 60s and sunny again this week, gator. We haven't entered the ice age here yet. Actually, our leaves should be peaking this weekend, but there are still lots of green trees around.

Phoenix was running so crazy last week, we were getting airtime on the double down in the front of the train.

I always get airtime in the "double down" & the "double up" while riding in the front of the train. Does this mean I've been lucky enough to have only ridden it when it was running crazy?

It's all subjective. Most people seemed to think Phoenix was in top form the night of PPP, but I had much better rides back in July on a warm, rainy evening before dark.

I think a big reason that I don't "get" the Schmeck seat so much is that my large size leaves zero room between my legs and the lapbar, so I don't get to experience as much popping out of my seat as the littler folk do. ;)

Carrie, Tina, Gonch, Goodbear, and many more. I know I have been to the parks at the same time. I still have yet to meet any of you. Hope to sometime soon. No I am am not antisocial... :) Just how it works out! Still good to chat with all of you on here. Phunfest was a good time this year!

Matt, that must be the reason. I don't "pop" out of the seat on Phoenix, I explode out of the seat that I'm practically standing at some points. It's so bad that if I were in another park, I know I'd get yelled at and I'm not deliberately trying to do it, but then I watch the people sitting in front of me and see the same thing happening to them. I can't tell you how many times I landed on the seat divider last weekend. I hit the lap bar a lot and quite hard a few times.

Lori, that's exactly why I hated Phoenix the first time I rode it! But the second time I visited the park I knew more what to expect and didn't mind it as much. Still not one of my favorite woodies though, especially after my Indiana Beach/Holiday World trip this past summer. :)

Coasterfantom2 said:
Carrie, Tina, Gonch, Goodbear, and many more. I know I have been to the parks at the same time. I still have yet to meet any of you. Hope to sometime soon. No I am am not antisocial... :) Just how it works out! Still good to chat with all of you on here. Phunfest was a good time this year!

Well, unless you'd be wearing a large name tag, I'd have no idea who you were. There have been times I've been lucky to meet up with people I knew were at the parks (especially @ Knoebels when I had my primitive cell phone). Even when you think, I'll recognize someone from their picture here, that's not always the case.

Name tags do help sometimes, but considering that PPP is open to anyone and is an unregistered event, you just have to either plan a meeting spot, wait till someone recognizes you, or be introduced by a friend ;)

Or if you are really lucky you will get a random Gonch-by. ;) I have had a Bear-by or two but not this time around. :(

I met a lot of Buzzers for the first time at SRM '03. A lot of people wrote their Buzz screen names on their badges below their real name and city/state. I don't know who started it but the Sharpie got passed around and that's how I met a lot of people, namely Moosh and Gator. I don't think I would of recognized them otherwise.

-Tina

Matt, I'm totally with you on the Phoenix back row deal, though I do tend to get thrown around a bit more than you :).

I, however, am still more of a Twister fan than a Phoenix fan.

coasterqueenTRN said:
I met a lot of Buzzers for the first time at SRM '03. A lot of people wrote their Buzz screen names on their badges below their real name and city/state. I don't know who started it but the Sharpie got passed around and that's how I met a lot of people, namely Moosh and Gator. I don't think I would of recognized them otherwise.

I know who started it.... :)

Name tags are useful, but because of my eyes, I have to get right up in your face to read your tag and that is hard to do inconspicuously. ;)

I hear ya on Twister, Josh. I went through a phase where I preferred it to Phoenix, but I've grown to love Phoenix a bit more.

10 years running, I've been more of a Twister fan. I'm just not that into out and backs. I prefer violence in my wood coasters, but not when its accompanied by boredom IE Mean Streak. :)

Speaking of violence and intensity, I took my first Dragster ride in 2 years on Sunday - damn, I forgot how powerful that launch was.