What trips are you planning for 2017?

Shane;

Yes I did. It is a good S&S drop ride, but I have ridden taller and more thrilling rides. Some of the water slides were cool, but all in all the park is lackluster. I was able to do everything I wanted to do in 4 hrs.

^Dollywood was new to us last October and it's a good time to visit except for the Gospel music festival. We want to return to see their regular shows.

^^The new Triple Towers at Hersheypark give 3 different ride programs and height. All our exhilarating. The tallest is my favorite because it runs both the blast up and shot down like SFNE's.

RLRCSTR FAN said:

Shane;

Yes I did. It is a good S&S drop ride, but I have ridden taller and more thrilling rides. Some of the water slides were cool, but all in all the park is lackluster. I was able to do everything I wanted to do in 4 hrs.

He was talking about the skyride.

I am about two weeks from my first trip to Canada's Wonderland. I'm pretty excited by how incredibly cheap it is, if nothing else.

Raven-Phile said:Spending 3 nights and 2 days at Dollywood in October.

Dollywood is an amazing park! You'll have a great time.

Andy and Shane

Sorry about not getting the sarcasm. I need to stop reading these posts at work so I can actually pay attention to the words not the pretty pictures. As to whether the comment was too soon, not at all. The "accident" was human error (stupidity) and no one was seriously hurt so it was not in bad taste. I do wonder if the man who caught the girl could sue the girl's family for injuries. If the police deem the cause was rider error, does he have a case?

I'll be in Japan 9/9-9/23 so while there I'll be hitting up:

Disneyland and Sea
Fuji Q
LaQua
Cosmoworld
Space World
Nagashima Spa Land
Universal Japan
Tobu Zoo
Yomiuriland

And possibly a few others. I'm only spending 2 open to close days at parks (Disney) and the rest are okay by ear because the last thing I want is to go to Japan fir two weeks and JUST ride coasters.

That's a good trip Tek. I have so many in the states to get yet, but Europe, China, Japan and many other countries are in the bucket list not just for coasters. My wife has me beat. She's already been through Europe, Australia, and Hawaii. Those are on my list too.

Possibly rearranging my Cedar Fair fall trips to

-Cedar Point Labor Day weekend 9/1-9/4; No HalloWeekends (and no Midnight Syndicate) but we will get an extra visit to CP Shores and the Ride Nights are very tempting!

-Dorney Park 9/15-9/17; KOA does a promo where you buy Friday night and get Saturday night free this weekend so camping will cost <$60. I've been told by numerous people that 1+ day at Dorney is more than enough and it's close enough that we can do the trip on a "normal" weekend. Plus HAUNT starts this weekend so we will get the extra night hours.

-Kings Island 10/5-10/9; 7hr Drive according to Google means 8hrs+ pulling the camper with the wife and kid so this loooong weekend allows plenty of drive time without rushing. Looking forward to KI for the first time! Oh, and more HAUNT!

I am going to California's great America

We're leaving tomorrow for Sandbridge Beach (just south of VA Beach) in Virginia for a few days, then hitting up Kings Dominion on the trek back up to Ohio. Having never been, we're looking forward to finally riding another Intamin giga. Unfortunately I have read that Volcano has been down for a pretty big run of days, and is now listed as "temporarily closed" on their website.

Is it typical for this ride to go down for stretches of time? Oh well...this is the one ride, of course, that was #1 on the "can't wait to try list".

I've never heard of frequent, extended down time with it, it just may be your unlucky week. And maybe by the time your vaca is over it'll be back good as new.

The only trouble I've ever had with it is just getting on. Long lines and slow op make for an interminable wait. The station is hosed up, too. This may have gone by the wayside, but the last time I was there they actually pushed carts from the load to the unload for personal stuff. They probably do the forced locker thing now.
It's a great, unique ride and when that second launch fires it gets me every time. The slow rolls up in the air provide a couple of good "oh s#*t" moments as well.
I hope you get on it- go early, like the minute you get there.

We've done Va. Beach and the parks there before, and I love that part of the country. I always drive home from Richmond via 64- 81- 64 to 77 and up. It's lengthy, but one of the most beautiful drives I've ever taken. The mountains are awesome.
Have fun, be safe.

Thanks to OhioStater and RCMAC for reminding me how much I enjoyed Volcano. Started compiling a list of the 10 most intense coasters I've ridden for something I'm posting on a blog and had been considering Volcano; now it's a definite. They were doing the same thing with pushing carts for personal items when I was last at KD. Would love to go back there but it's so hot! The heat and humidity on my last trip were such that for the 1st time I came close to greying out on I305. Doesn't anyone else have a problem with the heat? Maybe it's a function of age. Now that I'm 65 (66 next month) I find it increasingly difficult to cope with high temperatures . Went to Six Flags New England last weekend in the hope that it would be cooler than here but it wasn't and in the 5 hours I spent there got in only 8 rides - with a gold Flash Pass, could have gotten in triple that number - b/c the heat zapped me. And now I'm reconsidering whether I even want to go back to Carowinds this summer.

The last week or two have been pretty mild down here (WV/VA)--in the mid-70s to mid-80s. Unusually cool for July in this part of the country. Humidity has been up and down (when it's up, it's UP).

Yea, apparently it's actually been down for about 2 weeks, from what I have read. Of course, there is no "Dominion-Buzz" to provide a mountain of knowledge about the situation.

Well, we don't arrive at KD until next Wednesday, so there is certainly hope whatever is wrong will be corrected by then, especially given the considerable amount of time it's already been out-of-order.

I also love the drive down to Virginia. From Columbus we would take 77 as we made our way to Williamsburg, but from NE Ohio we are hitting 76, then 70, then 81, and then onto 64.

First time the girls will see the ocean, so it should be a memorable one.

Going to VA Beach from Canton OH, we have always taken 77/64. A few weeks ago on a trip to KD and BGW I got adventurous and took 76/70/270/495/95. I will never do that again. Traffic around DC was horrendous. And I hate the 76/70 non-interchange at Breezewood. I will go back to the usual route from now on even if it is a decent amount of miles longer.

We got tied up in nightmare traffic outside DC on a trip down the coast and vowed never to do that again. I agree with taking 77/64. Longer in terms of distance but typically faster in terms of drive time. And even if the drive time is a little longer, I prefer to be moving at a good clip versus stop and go traffic for miles.

^^^^^ Bobbie1951 I'm 44 and don't like to deal with the heat in the Summer except to go to waterparks. My wife and I typically travel in the Spring in the fall for coaster trips. Less crowds, less heat, equals more enjoyment. Went to Hersheypark last Sunday to float in the Lazy River(Our weekly ritual,) and it was so crowded we had to leave. Luckily Lightning Racer and Storm Runner didn't have a long wait so we got several rides on both. At least it made the trip worth it.

We talked about checking out the rebranded waterpark at CP, and we love Water Country so those will be our two Summer trips. At CP we'd do the early entry, ride all the coasters we can, and then get out before it gets too crowded.

Shades/GoBucks, totally with you about the nightmare that is the DC corridor. We got snared in that same route on our way to and from Williamsburg a few years ago. We vowed, "never again".

So, my initial thought was 77/64, but then I found a route to completely avoid 270 and rejoin 95 well south outside of DC.

Instead of continuing on 70 to 270 to 95, you can get off on route 522 (from 70) just after crossing into Maryland. This takes you on a course that completely bypasses 95 anywhere near DC, and ends up (via route 66 and 17) dumping you onto 95 about 35 miles outside of Richmond. You completely avoid 270, and you rejoin 95 close enough in Richmond that the DC traffic is largely avoided).

I will, of course, let you all know how it goes in a trip report.

We'll see how this all goes. The best laid plans....

And no one who travels from NE Ohio to VA could care less about this. :)

One summer I made what I thought was a well thought out eastern swing in a little over a week's time. My drive to Williamsburg was the usual, long but pleasant, then after a day at BGW I had a day at KD. After that is where the nightmare began. From Richmond to Largo Md., leaving mid-evening, was 100% traffic snarls and endless construction around DC and it took me hours to get there. After my day at SFA was another horrible trip to Dorney with mid-day, dead stop traffic around Baltimore. After I finally broke free from that mess I once again was hours behind. I got to Dorney with about an hour left before the close of their day. I was exhausted but went to the park anyway and it was a good thing I did. The next morning I woke up to a bad, all-day rain storm in Allentown and Dorney shut down early. So I left and headed home via Hershey with more rainy day traffic delays. After a day there I said F it and went home, skipping tentatively scheduled stops in or around Altoona, because my broken ass was so tired of being in a car seat.

This was several years before I had a smart phone, but I'm not sure even a navigation system could've helped me out of that situation. That part of the world is so, so very busy.