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Author SFKK, HW, KI, & CP TR (Photos)
Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003

Rank: Platinum Critic
6/30/2008 7:00:55 PM
^ Acronym fun with that title, huh? Nothing like starting off a TR with a bunch of letters that mean nothing to the man on the street. Anyway…

June 23rd through the 27th marked my first independent road trip to go to parks. I want to keep this as brief as possible, so if I omit anything that anybody wants to know (if anybody is even on this site anymore at all) just ask and I’ll tell you.

I started off with Kentucky Kingdom. My original plan had been to just visit the other 3 parks that I visited after KK, but when I realized that I had to go through Louisville to get towards Santa Claus, I looked into getting a SF Season Pass at KK (my family had already done this once with SF St. Louis several years ago). Sure enough, it was cheaper for me to get the Season Pass at KK than it would have been to visit Great America (my home park, for those unaware) only once. So I stopped for a few hours and got my season pass and rode their small collection. I am in the process of adding reviews for the rides at each park, so I’ll leave the ride details for those postings, but suffice to say that the park was as average as I expected. Twisted Twins is down for the season (it appears that they might be re-tracking?), T² was a typical SLC (although rougher than Infusion at BPB), Thunder Run was a remarkably boring woodie, and Roadrunner Express was a standard wild mouse. Chang was by far the best coaster in the park, but I am not an especially big fan of stand-ups, so there was nothing that special there. Greezed Lightnin’ was actually the only novel experience for me, as I had never ridden a Schwarzkopf shuttle loop before, and it was a decent, if dated, coaster. It was also cool that this happened to be the old Tidal Wave from Great America, which I never rode, but that meant that this coaster is indirectly responsible for giving us the B:TR layout that we all know and love. (It is at this juncture that I feel a public apology to a few members on here might be in order, Joe for sure, and probably some others. I have made an issue in the past out of the practice of “credit whoring,” but I partook in this activity on at least a couple of occasions on this trip, starting with Roller Skater at KK. I now rescind my comments about your rides on Lil’ Shaver, for those that took them. Thank you.)







I rode a few other rides while at the park, including the Rainbow (not as good as IB’s Falling Star, but I still like these nonetheless) and the Penguin’s Blizzard River. All in all…I’m glad that Kentucky Kingdom is not my home park, but I was able to get my season pass and now have the rest of the season to enjoy it as SFGAm, a superior park in all respects save pricing (not that KK was cheap, but you know what I mean).

Before I continue with my narrative, it should be noted that at this point, I was not an especially big fan of wooden coasters, having always preferred the (usually) smoother operation of steel coasters. Despite this, on Tuesday, I journeyed to the middle-of-nowhere to experience Holiday World, and was treated to one of the best new parks I have been to in a long time.

I got to the park shortly before opening, so I was in the initial wave of people to be let through the ropes into the body of the park. Since there were a lot of families and groups that seemed to be congregating near the Halloween section at the front of the park, I headed to the very back for a ride on Voyage.



I believe I got on the second train of the day, and I sat near the back of the train (I don’t think I was in the very back row though). Again, I will leave details for the rev
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001

Rank: Site Moderator
6/30/2008 7:40:04 PM
LOL @ the whoring comment, its all good dude. Congrats on 100 and I also compared Voyage to MF back when I rode it.. nice work, looking forward to the reviews

--------------------
I sleep, drink beer, and ride coasters. That is a summary of my life.
Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003

Rank: Platinum Critic
6/30/2008 8:40:27 PM
Thanks, man, I appreciate it. I hope to have all my reviews done within the next week, maybe sooner if I don't put too much detail into them.
PhantomNik
Posts: 515
Registered: 6/6/2002

Rank: Gold Critic
7/2/2008 12:40:23 PM
Thanks for the awesome trip report! That was a very nice read, and I'm glad to hear you had such a good time. It looks like you had some killer nice weather too, which always helps. Your pics were really great, and I gotta say that the sunset Millennium picture was easily my favorite. Nice work!

I actually traveled briefly into Louisville about 3 weeks ago, and saw SFKK as we exited the airport. I was traveling with others and therefore didn't have my own rental car, or else I would have spent some time there before coming home - especially since we were back at the airport some 6 hours before our scheduled flights! It killed me to just sit in the airport with a park practically across the street! You could see Chang from the Interstate, and I must admit it looked pretty cool. If I'm not mistaken, I believe it is a mirrored design of Mantis at CP?

Awesome to hear that someone else was impressed with HW. I was blown away when I visited for the first time last year, and I really don't buy the whole notion that it "feels corporate" as some say. To me it's the anti-chain park, and it really is refreshing to have employees that are so kind and friendly to guests. Their wooden trio is truly top-notch, and Voyage totally blew me away and vaulted to my #1 overall coaster spot, where it remains today. If only the place wasn't 8-9 hours away from me!!

KI looks like a nice enough park, and although I've never been there yet, I figure next year might be the time to go with the new coaster, rumored to be a B&M hyper, which seems to be the one thing their lineup lacks - a big, signature steel coaster.

As for CP, I love it there, so I'm probably one of those who just likes it for what it is. I love the setting out on the peninsula, as it is like an oasis away from the real world for thrill seekers. Their coaster collection, to me anyway, is pretty darn great, and I love those same three coasters you mentioned (MF, TTD, and Maverick) to death. Some knock TTD as a one-trick pony, but I don't care, it rocks anyway for me and absolutely does not grow old. That front seat on that is something else, isn't it? And although it may not be the best for the body, I put my arms up every single time....but I'm goofy that way I guess!

Glad you had such a nice time, and here's hoping we can meet up at Great America in August!

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I'd rather be coaster riding!
yfz450
Posts: 1743
Registered: 3/13/2004

Rank: Platinum Critic
7/2/2008 1:08:03 PM
Good trip report. Holiday world sounds great, with short lines and reasonable prices. Sometimes it sucks to live in Minnesota, all we have is Valleyfair.

Glad you had a great time though.
Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003

Rank: Platinum Critic
7/7/2008 7:50:36 PM
Thanks for the comments, guys!

As it turns out, I will be returning with my family to Holiday World to spend 1 1/2 days at the park at the end of this month...my testimony was apparently convincing enough that they now feel the need to go, and I'm certainly not complaining! I can't wait to see their expressions after their first ride on Voyage!
Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003

Rank: Platinum Critic
7/21/2008 6:11:05 PM
For anyone interested, there is an updated MF review from me on Page 7 (the coaster that I spent the most time writing an updated review for).
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001

Rank: Site Moderator
7/29/2008 10:54:57 AM
hey I know the site is dead and all but will this TR be finished?
Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003

Rank: Platinum Critic
8/1/2008 8:19:55 PM
It was finished, but it has now disappeared, as well as all the photos from the rest of the trip. The site is now doing this with both TRs and reviews...when they reach a certain length (I'.m not sure what length that is), they simply cut off mid-sentence. Further proof that no one really cares about this site anymore at all (and that comment is in no way directed at you, Joe...indeed, you are one of the few that comes on here at all anymore).

I am currently in the process of copying all of my reviews on here into a Word document, so that in case one day the site doesn'.t wake up, I will not have lost years worth of material.
Timberman
Posts: 845
Registered: 9/21/2004

Rank: Gold Critic
8/2/2008 7:59:47 PM
Yeah, I'.ve been trying to post a TR for several days now, only to be bounced out to the log-in screen whenever I hit ".post message.". I'.ve also noticed that several of my longer reviews have suddenly lost a few paragraphs. Has anyone been able to post any new threads in the last few days? Are we still under attack? Should we get the Joint Chiefs of TPC together to plan a counter-offensive?
Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003

Rank: Platinum Critic
8/3/2008 2:36:46 PM
I think the Joint Chiefs of Staff are MIA. Another weird thing that seems to be happening is the addition of a period whenever a quotation mark is used. (It happened in both Timber'.s and my post above.)
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001

Rank: Site Moderator
8/4/2008 8:55:05 PM
There were some problems with people throwing malicious code into the site, and Mark has been working on it but it sucks to think that great posts have been lost. bummer!
Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003

Rank: Platinum Critic
8/4/2008 9:55:43 PM
Indeed...those with the gift of brevity should be in OK shape...sadly, I do not count myself among that group.
Timberman
Posts: 845
Registered: 9/21/2004

Rank: Gold Critic
8/25/2008 10:01:36 PM
It is indeed a bummer, especially with the truncating of great reviews like hrrytraver'.s epochal Cyclone tribute. Like far too many roller coasters themselves, the reviews have been neutered and reprofiled.
Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003

Rank: Platinum Critic
8/25/2008 11:05:32 PM
Yes, they now all fit neatly into the same mold, none longer than any other (because that just wouldn'.t be fair!). And as in real life, this containment has led to a great loss of creativity and expression...so unfortunate.
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