Timberman
Posts: 845
Registered: 9/21/2004
Rank: Gold Critic
|
 8/6/2005 12:19:57 AM
I'm jonesing really bad here, guys and gals. The Wisconsin Dells trip put me in a bad way (in a good way), and I need to hit the road for another fix. I'm trying to select my next objective, and I've narrowed it down to Tsunami at Clementon or Thunderhead at Dollywood.
Thunderhead, of course, needs no introduction. I've heard nothing but good things about it, and the structure looks amazing. Also, I grew up in Appalachia, among other places, so I'm sure I'd feel right at home in Pigeon Forge. Finally, even though she's looking a bit waxen these days, I can still remember a smoking-hot Dolly Parton sitting on that swing and promising, in song, that she would always love me. Years after that declaration, which was broadcast nationally but of course targeted specifically at me, she's building coasters to tempt me into her environs. I can't stay away much longer. My only reservation is those damnable Millennium Flyers. The last time I rode a coaster with those trains (Lightening Racer), I felt like I was eating Thanksgiving dinner with a massive headcold: I just couldn't enjoy the delicacies spread before me. But this is, after all, Dolly we're talking about. She wouldn't build me a wood coaster without any heart.
As for the Tsunami, I recently read a profile of this ride in which the writer, a veteran of 672 coasters, repeatedly referred to it as the most terrifying and intimidating roller coaster he has ever ridden. That wouldn't necessarily have impressed me, but in the same publication the same writer referred to Avalanch as a family ride. If Avalanch is this guy's idea of a family ride, I'd love to see what he considers the ride "that changes the world order of coasters." The way I see it, the only drawback to going to Jersey would be that I'd probably feel some sense of duty to drag myself onto High Karate, or whatever they call that big new ride they built at Great Adventure.
So what do you think? Do I head south or east?
|
WAR2174
Posts: 1067
Registered: 3/6/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
8/6/2005 12:32:04 AM
I don't know about you, but I like the unknowns better. Many people have ridden Thunderhead (granted for a reason). Not too many people know Tsunami. In fact, you know it very little yourself. It has a new name, J2. It only has 3 reviews on this site. That's the one I would pick.
That said, Dollywood is a great park and Thunderhead is awesome. I still would go with the unknown. Onward to Clemonton.
Message updated 8/6/2005 12:33:43 AM by WAR2174
|
hrrytraver
Posts: 1270
Registered: 7/16/2005
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
8/6/2005 12:54:48 AM
thank you for putting tsuedonym J2 to my attention. i am a mere two hours away and i hadn't even heard tell of this one. looks like a rude little ride. in fact i would meet you for a spin on it, short hop that it is for me. i've been pondering the high karate myself, though the queue sounds nasty.
|
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
|
8/6/2005 1:41:35 AM
Something tells me that you would prefer Tsunami. Political correctness aside, it seems to be more your kind of ride: intense, fairly rough, PTC's not Flyers, a bit of everything (out and back elements with some twister mixed in). While I loved Thunderhead, I think you would prefer Tsunami. Thunderhead is a great coaster with all sorts of fun: wickedly banked turns that only Hades has bettered, top of its class pacing, decent pops of air throughout, laterals that would make a crash test dummy set off the alarm, an anticipation-builder in the fly-through, and a wonderful setting. However, visitors to Dollywood have long been more to the gentle side, which is why this project went to GCI. It is smoother than some of today's $15 million Intamins and B&Ms, which I would imagine is not apealing to you, but that's just to please the target audience. However, I still think its fun 
Oh yea, if you go to Jersey and try out that "new ride", perhaps you can get your first taste of Intamin wood next year too and judge for yourself.
--------------------
Where are the seatbelts?
Message updated 8/6/2005 1:43:17 AM by BobFunland
|
Timberman
Posts: 845
Registered: 9/21/2004
Rank: Gold Critic
|
8/6/2005 1:10:38 PM
Thanks, B-Fun. That was exactly the sort of feedback I needed.
|
CoastrGlxy
Posts: 358
Registered: 5/23/2005
Rank: Silver Critic
|
8/6/2005 7:50:23 PM
You could check out Morey's Piers in Wildwood, NJ. It's about 90 minutes from Clementon. Great White's a really cool woodie that opens with a drop into a tunnel and offers a great view of the ocean on the lift. And I think Great Nor'Easter the Vekoma SLC there is a little different than the standard installations around the country. I'm looking forward to your J2 review.
|
CoastrGlxy
Posts: 358
Registered: 5/23/2005
Rank: Silver Critic
|
8/6/2005 9:27:10 PM
You could check out Morey's Piers in Wildwood, NJ. It's about 90 minutes from Clementon. Great White's a really cool woodie that opens with a drop into a tunnel and offers a great view of the ocean on the lift. And I think Great Nor'Easter the Vekoma SLC there is a little different than the standard installations around the country. I'm looking forward to your J2 review.
|
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
|
8/6/2005 9:59:14 PM
Quote:
Timberman said:
I'm jonesing really bad here, guys and gals. The Wisconsin Dells trip put me in a bad way (in a good way), and I need to hit the road for another fix. I'm trying to select my next objective, and I've narrowed it down to Tsunami at Clementon or Thunderhead at Dollywood.
Thunderhead, of course, needs no introduction. I've heard nothing but good things about it, and the structure looks amazing. Also, I grew up in Appalachia, among other places, so I'm sure I'd feel right at home in Pigeon Forge. Finally, even though she's looking a bit waxen these days, I can still remember a smoking-hot Dolly Parton sitting on that swing and promising, in song, that she would always love me. Years after that declaration, which was broadcast nationally but of course targeted specifically at me, she's building coasters to tempt me into her environs. I can't stay away much longer. My only reservation is those damnable Millennium Flyers. The last time I rode a coaster with those trains (Lightening Racer), I felt like I was eating Thanksgiving dinner with a massive headcold: I just couldn't enjoy the delicacies spread before me. But this is, after all, Dolly we're talking about. She wouldn't build me a wood coaster without any heart.
As for the Tsunami, I recently read a profile of this ride in which the writer, a veteran of 672 coasters, repeatedly referred to it as the most terrifying and intimidating roller coaster he has ever ridden. That wouldn't necessarily have impressed me, but in the same publication the same writer referred to Avalanch as a family ride. If Avalanch is this guy's idea of a family ride, I'd love to see what he considers the ride "that changes the world order of coasters." The way I see it, the only drawback to going to Jersey would be that I'd probably feel some sense of duty to drag myself onto High Karate, or whatever they call that big new ride they built at Great Adventure.
So what do you think? Do I head south or east?
|
I, too, think Tsunami would better fit your style of ride. It is rough and tumble, in the good sort of way, I know it kicked my ass, but here in lies the problem, it is the only thing, and I mean only substantual ride, Clementon has to offer. Personally, I don't like to travel far for one single ride, and then do it again the next year (as in, to ride Great Adventure's new ride).
Now, on the other hand, Dollywood not only offers the fantastic Thunderhead, but also a fantastic park experiance. It is worth the journey. Thunderhead is glass smooth, and will stay that way, but it offers great laterals, fantastic airtime, and little visual tricks that other rides cannot match, and that just WOW the rider. I would do Dollywood this year, and hit Clementon and Great Adventure next year.
BTW, the author you speak of, Paul Ruben, is a hack. Every ride he writes about is "the best ride he has ever been on," or something to that effect. He says what the parks want to here, and never has a bad word about any ride. He is also quite possibly the worst writers I have ever seen.
Quote:
What followed, and what first shocked this author, was a moment at the top of the 82-foot-tall second hill when riders are being launched skyward. It is now understandable why God created lap bars and seat belts, and why mere mortals check them two times. |
Problem here is, it is missing a line. He never talks about what happens at the top of the second hill. He totally neglects the fact that while you are thrown into the air, the train bounces left, right, left, like a bucking bronco (I hear this was a "defect" and may have been fixed over the winter). I mean, I am no great writer, but I tend not to leave out the most crucial details. And this guy does it all the time, yet they let him write articles for them, and he is a former editor.
All right, I am done ranting now, just wanted to say that no one should be giving this clown any cre
|
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
|
8/6/2005 10:00:21 PM
Quote:
WAR2174 said:
It has a new name, J2. |
To me, it is, and forever will be, Tsunami.
|
WAR2174
Posts: 1067
Registered: 3/6/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
8/7/2005 6:02:08 AM
^ Out of curiosity, did the name change because of what happened in Indonesia around Christmas?
|
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
|
8/7/2005 7:39:29 AM
Quote:
WAR2174 said:
^ Out of curiosity, did the name change because of what happened in Indonesia around Christmas? |
Yeah, they did it to be politically correct. Because the coaster opened so late in the year, they are considering 2005 to be its opening year, and did not want to step on anyone's toes. It is a shame really, the name and the logo were far, far better as Tsunami.
|
larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
8/7/2005 11:58:30 AM
I was not as impressed with J2, I was hoping for more after riding Avalanche. While I can't say enough about Thunderhead and it will jolt you around a lot more than Lightning Racer.
I think Thunderhead is better than J2 and Dollywood is a superior park. It is hard to call Clementon a park at all. Great White at Morey Piers is a very good woodie that has a great location, but I'd you would enjoy Dollywood much more.
--------------------
Mom always said, "Don't play ball in the house".
Message updated 8/7/2005 12:05:36 PM by larrygator
|
WAR2174
Posts: 1067
Registered: 3/6/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
8/7/2005 3:42:02 PM
Thunderhead is amazing. It is too bad that CCI went out of business. They really knew how to build coasters. Hopefully the Gravity Group can be just as good. It will also be interesting to see how S&S Power's wooden coaster section will do. Nothing out of them yet.
Also, I wish theme parks and politics wouldn't meld together. I know alot of people died in the tsunami, but tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes have killed people; and yet there are rides named after those events. Oh well, no biggie.
|
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
|
8/7/2005 4:49:42 PM
Quote:
WAR2174 said:
It will also be interesting to see how S&S Power's wooden coaster section will do. Nothing out of them yet. |
Tsunami, which we are discussing here, was built by S&S. So was Timberhawk in the Pacific Northwest, Avalanche in the Dells and Falken in Europe, so they have indeed pumped out a few coasters over the last couple of years.
|
WAR2174
Posts: 1067
Registered: 3/6/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
8/7/2005 5:14:19 PM
I did not know that. Cool. They have already built some good ones.
|
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
|
8/7/2005 6:26:58 PM
Quote:
WAR2174 said:
Thunderhead is amazing. It is too bad that CCI went out of business. They really knew how to build coasters. Hopefully the Gravity Group can be just as good. It will also be interesting to see how S&S Power's wooden coaster section will do. Nothing out of them yet.
|
What Bob said, but also Thunderhead was built by GCII, not CCI.
|
WAR2174
Posts: 1067
Registered: 3/6/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
8/7/2005 6:45:12 PM
Damn, I knew that.  I don't know why I thought CCI. I usually remember GCI because of the cool millenium flyer trains. This thread is really messing me up.
My experitise and love fall with steel, so I guess that is why I have messed up so much.
Message updated 8/8/2005 8:16:19 AM by WAR2174
|
coasterSS
Posts: 3249
Registered: 10/1/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
8/9/2005 8:56:12 PM
Okay, my opinion most already know. But just to add to it a little if you did go to Dollywood you not only have the Thunderhead an extremely beautiful, smooth, and just plain out fun coaster. But you also have the Tennessee Tornado with a 128 foot drop through the side of a mountain through a tunnel only to find yourself in the middle of a 100+ foot loop, with some EXTREME banking and two back to back loops. Short but sweet!! Also you have Blazing Fury which is an electrically driven indoor coaster that has some pretty fun dips and drops along with some awesome theming. Not to mention the Mountain Slidewinder which is completely original water ride that is more fun than intense. And also Daredevil Falls which is a flume ride mixed with a river raft ride with a 70 foot Drop!!! And also a ride worth while is The Dizzy Disk which is just awesome! But how could you go to Dollywood without riding the Dollywood Express, this offers a trip through Dollywood and actually takes you within 10 feet of the Thunderhead's layout and it also takes you near Dollywood's 2006 expansion area where Timber Tower will be located! You will absolutely love Dollywood, it will give you a feeling that you are at home. And the employees including the ride ops are really nice and friendly but also do their job right and efficently, I have never had to wait in line for any of the rides for over 15 minutes, so there is another up side. If you pick Dollywood, it will be very worth while.
Don't forget about Ober Gatlinburg and the Alpine Slides!!
|
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
|
8/11/2005 11:50:52 AM
I change my opinion, go to Clementon, and here is why:
In an email from NJ ACE-
Quote:
Hi Everyone --
As you may remember from the June newsletter or from info posted on the
ACE NJ Region web site (
http://home.ix.netcom.com/~dooley7
), we had
tentatively planned an ACE NJ Region event at Clementon Amusement Park,
with ERT on J2 (formerly Tsunami) for Saturday, 17 September 2005. At
the time we planned the event, the park was scheduled to be open on
weekends after Labor Day through the end of October.
The park has modified their operating schedule for the end of the
season. They will NOT be open to the public after Labor Day weekend.
Also, the Halloscreams dates have been cancelled for 2005 (late
September through the end of October) according to park management (yes
-- we are aware that Halloscreams dates still appear on the calendar
that is on the park's web site, but management told us that they are
not keeping the park open for it in 2005).
However, Clementon will be open for a couple of private groups on
Saturday, 10 September 2005 between the hours of 11 AM and 7 PM. They
have offered to hold a small ACE event on that day if enough people are
interested in attending. You would arrive in the late afternoon (after
5 PM but before 7 PM) via the back group gates and "share" the park
with the private groups already there for the regular operating day
(i.e. they will leave at 7 PM). Everything in the park should be open
between 5 and 7 PM (except the water park, which won't be open to
anyone that day). After the park is officially closed and the other
groups have left, we will have two hours of ERT on J2 (until 9 - 9:30
PM, depending on when they start operating the coaster for us). The
cost for everyone (ACE members and their guests) is $10 per person. For
those of you who attended last year's event at Clementon, it should be
similar to it.
We would certainly like to hold this event on September 10th, but
before we finalize the plans with Clementon we'd like to get an idea
how many of you would be interested in attending it. Unfortunately,
September 10th is also the date for another long-standing coaster event
that's held not too far from New Jersey: OcBoulderFest at Lake
Compounce Amusement Park in Bristol, Connecticut. We realize that many
people attend that event each year and it's not our intent to draw
people away from it, but there may be enough people who are not
planning to travel to New England that weekend who might be interested
in a small, local event. Which is why we're asking for your input.
Please reply by Monday, 15 August 2005 if you would be interested in
the event at Clementon, to be held Saturday, 10 September 2005. Reply
both to Dana Schwartz AND Joe Krapf: danaschwa...@optonline.net and
jkth...@optonline.net. By indicating your interest you're not
committing to attending the event -- again, we're putting out feelers
to determine whether or not there is enough interest in this event to
go forward with the planning.
Thank you! |
This does not sound good at all for Clementon Park.
|
Timberman
Posts: 845
Registered: 9/21/2004
Rank: Gold Critic
|
8/16/2005 12:45:46 AM
Bummer. Please keep us informed, Cyclonic.
|