GaryWilson

Okay, I'm back in America and living in Evansville, Indiana. I was looking at buying a season pass for Six Flags as I am hoping to visit a few of the parks this year. I'm about equal distance to both Kentucky Kingdom and Six Flags Saint Louis. I've found that I can purchase a "play pass" ($29.95) at KK which is valid for admission to all the parks or the season pass there for $39.95, which includes the coupon book. But if I purchase the season pass at Six Flags Saint Louis then it is $49.95. I will probably be at the Saint Louis park far more than KK, so my question is if it makes sense to spend the extra $20 for the season pass from Saint Louis? I know the season pass comes with 5 free tickets but what sort of other values come in the coupon book? Disregarding the 5 free tickets, is it worth to spend the extra $20 and get the coupon book? thanks for any and all help, Gary.

Im much more tolerant of Vekoma coasters and rough coasters in general than people on here seem to be (I really enjoy Boomerang´s) but even as far as SLCs go this one was ROUGH to the point where I left the park with a headache even an hour after I had ridden it. SLCs are very visually impressive with such a cool, compact and tight layout but the ride really leaves something to be desired.

And the second set:

I was lucky enough to be able to visit Santiago de Chile this October. What an absolutely incredible city. If you get a chance then you should for sure visit. It’s like Buenos Aires in a lot of respects but without the rampant corruption, hookers and litter everywhere. Fun nightlife, great food, lots of culture and perhaps most importantly, for this forum, a nice amusement park called Fantasilandia. There are five credits to be had at the park. The line-up is not going to drop any jaws or anything but everything at the park is ran very well. In fact the park operation is easily the best of any park I have ever been to. Cedar Fair should come and take lessons from these guys. There are two Vekomas, a Boomerang model and a SLC (this seems to be a recurring theme in my life). There is also a Galaxi model, a Zamperla Spinning Wild Mouse and a powered kiddie coaster. This trip was kind of special for me as well, because I would be obtaining my 100th credit as well. I decided that since my very first credit was the Galaxi at Indiana Beach, that another Galaxi should be my 100th credit. The park also has really nice collection of rides as well. One of the highlights for me was an old school style Haunted Mansion ride that was really, really well taken care of with all the effects working really well and a nice little drop in it to boot. Really a great ride. There was also an upcharge Haunted Castle walkthrough that was really well done. All of the employees for the ride were in costume and character at all times. The cost of the walkthrough was 1USD and there were two paths. I went through twice to hit both paths. Really, really well done. There were scenes recreated from Blair Witch, The Grudge, Saw, Friday the 13th, and many that I´m forgetting and just a ton of actors throughout the house. Then there was also the South American low-rent Disney knock-off, Piratas del Caribe, which was amusing for what it was. There was also a great show called Monga that took place in a faux-pyramid. The plotline was about a princess cursed by a witch that turns into an ape. The princess was stunningly beautiful and in a really provocative belly dancer’s get up that I don’t think would go over so well in the states. There was also a Disko, a small launched free fall, some water rides and various other flat rides. My favorite of which was Tagada, one of the tub type rides that spins and flings everyone about without restraints that doesn´t seem like the safest thing in the world. The park also just got all the small details right. There was decorations everywhere for Halloween (which is not really celebrated in South America), Costumed characters throughout the park, and nice little plant displays from around the world with placards telling you were each of the plants was from- Food was good and cheap. And most importantly, as there was a HUGE crowd there, all of the lines moved very fast and the employees were on top of everything. First set of pictures is below.

Well, I went back to the park again yesterday, I´ll post more photos in about a week or so. Had an interesting day to say the last. The SLC was running one train, with about 25% of the rows closed, so the line was three hours long. To top it off the train was stalling every other time that it made it up the lift hill, climbing up the crest of the hill in super-slow motion. It appeared almost like a car with a parking brake on but running anyway. So then the train wouldn´t pìck up speed until it was about half down the hill and then felt like it was struggling to make it through the first inversion. When I rode it, it was literally stopped for five minutes at the top of the lift hill. I was terrified and it didnt help that roommate next to me began saying the lord´s prayer (it was only his second time on a rollercoaster). Sooo yeah, that was quite a ride. But it is by far the smoothest SLC that I have ever ridden. Like so smooth you wouldn´t believe it was a Vekoma. Regarding the walk-through dark rides there are four of them with a fifth one closed. One is themed to an abandoned mine, one is themed to hell, one is themed to an enchanted forest type thing, and one is themed to ancient Egypt. There appears to be another that is only open for private parties. T o be honest, I have only been in two of them because generally the lines are ungodly long. The enchanted one is a maze with special effects and some actors throughout it. The mine was has a few little scenes in it and actors as well. I have heard good things about the Egypt one I and Im planning on taking the train up there on Friday to give it a walk through. Then there is an upcharge attraction of some sort themed to fighting terrorism. I have no idea what it is, I will see on Friday I suppose. There is also a musuem type attraction that has some history of the area and explains the basic physics of a rollercoaster and then another that I haven´t entered yet which appears to have recreations of famous world monuments or something, Im not sure. My Spanish is not perfect so sometimes I lose a little something in the translation.

Name: Gary Wilson Age: 20 What is your roller coaster count? 95 What is your home park? When I'm at school, it's Parque de la Costa. When I'm at home, it's Holiday World. What is the nearest big city? Buenos Aires, Argentina/ Indianapolis, Indiana What is your occupation? Student, during campaign season I work in politics. About how many times a year do you visit a park (including your home park)? 10 or so About how many times a year do you travel to a park that is not your home park? 5 When you travel do you go primarily to amusement parks or do you also try and hit other sites? I will travel for Amusement parks, but generally theme parks are not my primary reason for taking a trip. What is the farthest you’ve traveled to go to an amusement park? Tomorrow I leave to visit a park in Santiago, Chile. Does roller coaster time get in the way of family time? (Do you choose to miss your children’s or family’s sporting events, holidays, birthdays, etc…) No not really. Most trips are family and friends sort of things. Do you have any other major hobbies? Yes, I work/ write in politics. Do you get feelings of sadness in the offseason? Do you even have an offseason? Do you travel during the offseason? There is no off-season in Argentina. But when I can't visit a park for a large amount of time I begin to really look forward to going back. Sadness is not a good for it, it's more building anticipation. Do you consider yourself friends with someone you met who works at an amusement park? (Or reverse it, if you work or worked and an amusement park have you made friends with enthusiasts?) No Would it bother you to go to an amusement park by yourself? Not at all. Sometimes that makes for a nice peaceful trip. Have you gone to an amusement park by yourself? If so have you ever ran into another enthusiast and tagged along with them? Can't say I have. Do you find it easy to make friends with other enthusiasts? I haven't had any issues. How do you get your coaster news? Screamscape. How many different forum sites do you regularly post on? About five, mainly about politics/sports. If there was a poll that asked a large pool of enthusiasts what their favorite roller coaster is, what do you think would be the top 3 responses be for wood? And for steel? Wood: Voyage, El Toro, Raven Steel: Bizarro, M. Force, Maverick Same scenario but for amusement parks, what would be the top 3? Holiday World (Im biased), Cedar Point, Kennywood Have you ever “stole a kid” to get a credit on a kiddie coaster? No. Do you cut other categories out of your budget to make trips to parks? (Entertainment, fast food, holidays, tobacco or alcohol, etc…) Sometimes yes. Before you visit a new park do you research the park finding the best way to navigate the park, get the best deals, or what days to go? Yes I try to, but I'm not super opposed to just winging it. Do you feel the roller coaster enthusiast community is a warm and accepting community, or a negative and discouraging community? Little bit of both. Do you like to talk about your hobby with people who are not roller coaster enthusiasts if they ask or bring it up/

Are there tentative starting and ending points for the Middle America trip?

I don't have more pictures but I should be back that way in about three weeks so I'll take more. I'll take a lot when I'm at the park in Chile.

This is my first trip report so bear with me if it doesn’t fit the right standards. I’m a student originally from South Bend, Indiana that lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I’m a huge fan of amusement parks so even when I find myself in South America I find myself spending a lot of time in ‘parques de diversions.’ (Let me tell ya, South America is not exactly a hotspot for coasters. Except for maybe Brazil, of which Im not sure about other than that Americans need a visa to visit. Did I read somewhere that TPR is taking a trip to Brazil next year?) I’ve been to this park about a half-dozen times as it’s only a half hour outside of the city by a train and a year-long pass costs a whopping $16USD. “Parque de la Costa” is Spanish for Park of the Coast and as such the park is located in the tourist area of Tigre a large, and quite polluted though beautiful system of river canals. The general area of Tigre is stunningly charming and, at least to me, reminds me of Monticello, Indiana. There all sorts of little restaurants, food stalls and other mom and pop businesses lining the streets. There is also a very large market that sells South American handicrafts and a huge casino just outside of the park. The park is the largest operating amusement park in all of Argentina. The key word there is operating. There is a slightly larger, government owned park within the city limits called ‘Parque de la Cuidad’ (I’ll let you guess what that means). That park has a Schwarzkopf Wildcat, a Jetstar is listed as in storage, three small kiddie coasters, a “Aconcagua” from Schwarzkopf, and a rollercoaster called Vertigorama for Intamin AG that was never completed because of the fall of the Argentine military dictatorship. All are listed as standing but not operating. I’m going to attempt to (legally) gain access to the park grounds to take pictures for University, if I able to and people are interested, I will post them here. (All coaster information is taken for RCDB) Anyway, back to Parque de la Costa, there are three credits to be found. A Vekoma SLC, Boomerrang and one called Vigia which is apparently a Tivoli large model that goes through a fake mountain and around a pond. The Tivoli is probably the highlight of the coasters, it completes two circuits per ride and is quite enjoyable. Not only that, the thing is a capacity beast, holding 40 riders in a train which seems like a lot for a junior coaster. The Vekomas are exactly what you would expect, although the SLC is smoother than others that I have ridden. Outside of the coaster there are about 15 flat rides or so including a Top Spin that was running one of the longest programs of any I’ve ever ridden. There are a handful of fairly entertaining shows within various venues, a huge kiddieland and four or five of walk-through dark ride type things. The park is pretty enjoyable, everything runs fairly smoothly by normal standards (extremely smoothly by Argentine standards with the glaring exception of the SLC which regularly has two hour plus lines. For an SLC. Yuck. )For the money, it really can’t be beat. And it’s the best that Argentina has to offer. Next month I visiting Chile and will be making a stop at Chile’s largest amusement park Fantasilandia. Give me some feedback on how I can improve on the trip report for when I write one on that park. Thanks, Gary.