Surprises, Disappointments, and High Hopes

Gonch said "For real, boblogone? Aww, I'm an ass."

I don't know you well enough to verify that diagnosis. ;)

Yes, Beth and I were the ones sitting in the train that called to you, you sort of acknowledged being recognized then moved on. By the time we exited the ride you and your group had vanished. Perhaps PPP? *** Edited 7/12/2005 7:57:04 PM UTC by boblogone*** *** Edited 7/12/2005 7:57:41 PM UTC by boblogone***

LOL, and beth coined a new term, "Gonch-by".

I have yet to have one, cause he had to run off to crappy MoA instead of Kennywood.

Man, I don't recall. Might have been coincedence that I kind of acknowledged. Who knows?

Crap, I was hoping to get hold of you guys, but totally forgot, then when I remembered it was too late. I even forgot to jot down bethtoon's # before we left.

Corkscrew was one of the first things we did that day. We pretty much beelined for the waterpark after that.

Bah! Just adds to the Gonchar "mystique" :)

I make no guarantees beyond the two CB events each year. Folks at CBCon at Dorney got EGT (Exclusive Gonch Time) ;)

Sorry, I'm so oblivious. I would've liked to at least meet you guys.

You're not 'oblivous', gonch;).

1. S:RoS and Batwing at SFA. I hadn't been to SFA until this year, and I have gone 3 times this year so far, and each has been great. Also, Fandango at Knoebels.

2. I can't really think of any, I guess not being able to ride KK.

3. I am looking forward to visiting Hershey, Dorney, and SFGADV, and also some more repeat trips to SFA and Knoebels.

1.Surprises- SFFT and SFOT. Just really nice parks and probably my new favorites of the Six Flags chain. SFFT was an absolutely beautiful park and Superman:KC rocked my world! SFOT had such a great collection of rides and things to do, that we stayed all day and still didn't get to do everything we wanted to. Oh and I can't forget Bells and Zingo and especially the ride ops on Zingo. Just the friendliest ops I've ever met!

2.Disappointments- Frontier City and Magic Springs. Neither was really worth the money that was paid to get into them. Especially Magic Springs. I didn't really think that Schlitterbahn was the worlds greatest waterpark either. A little bit of anticipointment there. Finally Shivering Timbers was very dissapointing during Timbersfest. It just ran kind of slow and sluggish the entire day and never got the levels that it was running at during last years event.

3.Most anticipated- First time rides on the Silverwoodies at CAC and The Comet at The Great Escape. Hopefully a couple of jaunts up into Canada. Oc-Boulder-Fest at Lake Compounce and Phunfest at Knoebels. And finally getting down to Florida for Halloween stuff.

Surprises?

1. Taking the year off from PKI has turned into the most pleasant surprise I could have asked for. I know I was saying I was boycotting but thats not the whole story, Visiting 10+ times a year for over ten years got to be so melencholy that I couldn't even enjoy it without the flyers. And truthfully, Im not missing it a bit.

2. Strickers, Geauga, KW and Conneaut. Had great times at all of them.

Dissapointments so far.
Well having not taken the trip yet I can't really call it a dissapointment but cutting back my Dells trip and not inclucing MOA and VF and Arnolds is kinda dissapointing but we are adding IB so
Basically No dissapointments so far.

Chuck, who might even take next year off at PKI so it at least feels new when I do return.

(The above mention has nothing to do with the great people at PKI and is not ment to hurt the park in anyway, Just I needed a break from it and as always apreciate everything they do for us)

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TeknoScorpion said:
LOL, and beth coined a new term, "Gonch-by".

I have yet to have one, cause he had to run off to crappy MoA instead of Kennywood.

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I got to meet Gonch at KW :-) For about 5 minutes at the END of the night! lol

Katie

Mike, "Gonch-by's" are few and far between. Consider yourself honored. You should of chased him down, gotten photographic evidence (like Katie did), etc. :-P

1) What has been the most surprising [in a good way] coasters and/or rides that you've experienced this year? They may be a ride you've previously been on that was running terribly and has picked up the pace, or maybe a new ride that you didn't quite expect to rock you how it did. Maybe it's that great coaster you loved - that somehow took it to that next level this year.

Silver Bullet and Scream......both VERY underrated coasters that totally blew me away. I wasn't expecting much at all. X was also very um......surprising in a "What the f*** just happened to me?" sort of way. X-Scream and Speed:The Ride were also nice surprises. :-P

Also, Roar at SFA. It was rough as hell last year but somehow it improved 1000% this year. SWEET!

2) What has been the most disappointing ride/coaster you've been on this year? Maybe your favourite woodie left you rocking and reeling and wanting more last year, but this year is just lacking that punch. Maybe the five-inversion B&M inverted you've been dying to ride for years really isn't that good. Maybe that humungous Jump2 structure that was so impressive, sucked quite largely.

Hmmm, I can't say I have been disappointed, just not blown away....that being Kingda Ka and Hydra. Don't get me wrong. I LOVED both coasters, but they didn't exactly kick my ass and made me scream in orgasmic bliss (well maybe Ka did sorta...lol.) I am disappointed that Tsunami now has a wussy name like "J2" though. ;-)

My biggest disappointment? Not being able to ride Insanity. :-/ We were THISCLOSE. Oh well.

3) What coasters, rides, or parks are you looking most forward to visiting later in the year? This one's pretty self-explanatory - but a "Why?" would be nice.

I am VERY much looking forward to the Dells woodies, namely Avalanche and Hades. I have NEVER been to that area. Bill and I have a week-long thing planned, which also includes Vallefair, Mall of America (which I have ALWAYS wanted to visit) as well as the Iowa parks.

New, uncharted territory. ;-) I also look forward to revisiting the Branson parks later this fall (haven't been to SDC since I was like 12...never been to CC) and hopefully FINALLY getting to IOA and Tampa in November.

-Tina

*** Edited 7/12/2005 10:20:02 PM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

Meeting Gonch is like claiming to see Bigfoot or Nessie or a UFO. Even with 'proof' most people won't believe it. ;)

Imagine my surprise when I caught a show on National Geographic debating my existence.

Next time we have a "sighting" we will get video, AND photos of your face. I am sure National Geographic will pay top dollar for them ;-)

-Tina

And imagine the shock when the "Gonch" in the grainy years-old footage turned out to be a guy in a monkey suit. ;)

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coasterqueenTRN said:
Next time we have a "sighting" we will get video, AND photos of your face. I am sure National Geographic will pay top dollar for them ;-)

-Tina

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darn, I knew I should have got a pic of Gonch and the Gonchlings at CBCon, I could be rich.

Surprises? You mean, like, OTHER than running into Gonch! ;)

The flats at PCW, they were even better than expected. If only the Splashover had *misters* instead of SOAKERS, I'd have gotten ALL of their unique flats. That park RULZ!!! Honestly, best "big park" operations outside of CP/SFoT/SFGAm...word up, eh? ;)

Staying north of the border, the Togo stand-upat PCW...they should move THAT to PCar, and get rid of that B&M dud! ;)

Waldameer's Steel Dragon...LOVE that ride. Spinning coasters are where it's at! (Looking forward to Cypress' new ride)...

Niagara Falls...just WOW!

SheiKra....not really a 2005 surprise since it's kinda what I expected ride-wise...but getting THAT built in Tampa? :)

Conneaut, and Grandma... :)http://www.pbase.com/rollergator/image/44765485

Finding a few flats run in INSANE mode, like the Wave Swinger at VisionLand...need more of that!

Silver Bullet...not sure WHERE the love is for that ride? One of my favorite B&Ms, not quite up to S:KC or TG:TJC status, but *really solid* with innovative trackwork and an exciting finish.

Getting stranded on The Force, LOL!

RAMPAGE! Just wow! RRR next year anyone? :)

LegoLand...yes, I'm serious... :)

Disappointments:
Missing Stricker's yet AGAIN! Someday...

Supes being down at SFDL...well, SFDL itself...LOL!

The number of police *required* at Waldameer...

Belmont's Dipper DDM...

High Hopes: *user begins salivating*
"The Drop on 'Clops", Hades, Puyallup, TrEmOrS and Cornball (nothing creates high hopes like experience, LOL), MoA's TT/Hexentanz, AdventureLand, Arnold's Legend...

And, of course, *Paula's gig* tomorrow... ;)

1) Gl WWK--and its not even 1/2 done!
2) I have to go with CP in general. IMO this park is starting to decline, not improve. Sure they've added more rides...but the park is starting to lose its charm. Im really interested to see how this park will do with the increase comp. from GL and KW as well as with Kinzel leaving soon.
3)As always, Im looking forward to my KW trip (6 more days) This park is what an amusement park should be, and i cant wait to get on thunderbolt!

^Ah yes, can't forget the Steel Dragon (and Seabreeze's Whirlwind). HUGE surprises. VERY fun coasters......weeeee!

Grandma was Da Bomb at Conneaut, and don't forget the Hotel Conneaut.....VERY nice bonus. I need to ghost-hunt there sometime. ;-)

I also want to mention Marineland as an EXTREMELY nice surprise, minus the painful Arrow. :-)

-Tina

*** Edited 7/13/2005 6:11:49 AM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

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crazyforcoasters said:
darn, I knew I should have got a pic of Gonch and the Gonchlings at CBCon, I could be rich.

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I just think 'gonchlings' is the cutest thing ever.

Hell, we'd have posed* for a pic. Just ask. :)

*currently attending AWA (attentions whores anonymous) meetings

1.) Based upon the lukewarm response (in some circles), I was floored by how awesome Silver Bullet at KBF is. Must've rode just about every seat during Fri night ERT at Solace.

X was even more amazing than I anticipated. Wouldn't recommend marathoning it, though maybe on an inner seat up front?

I finally got on Speed this year. Far more fun than my jaded self was expecting.

The Screamin Swings at Knott's don't get enough praise, btw...

And ToT at DCA blows any and all previous drop rides away. OMG, too much fun!

2.) I know the Scandia Screamer is supposed to be "good in all the 'wrong' ways", but that was nothing but pain (NOT the enjoyable type). The dispatch process at the park wasn't doing anything to endear the ride to me either.

On a related story, Scream at SFMM doesn't do a thing for me. But to all who stand by it, knock yourself out.:) I'll take Medusa up north any day.

3.) Silverwood and the Puyallup Fair in September hold high anticipation, as I re-visit 3 top-rate wooden classics! A return trip to KBF for my first Knott's Scary Farm is also getting me jazzed up.

Of course, a return to DL for Haunted Mansion Holiday and SM:V.2 can't be written off.

Hey, I coined 'Gonchlings', and I'm charging any non-Gonches $5 per use!

;)

JoPhish -

There were signs all over the ride that said you either have to use a strap to secure your glasses or take them off. They *were* enforcing it too. It doesn't bother me because I use a strap as a rule but I understand some people really get upset about it.