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I<3RMC

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  1. Yes of course, thank you for the helpful reminder Going with a passholder and we are getting their early with a game plan and use the express passes on the big waits. Then after we survive universal its time for Hollywood Studios on Sunday to try out Genie.
  2. Okay that's what I thought. So with my regular ticket my night would end at 5 pm at Universal and then 8 pm at IOA? Looking for opinions if it is worth it to go to HHN.
  3. Likely a dumb question, but I am visiting Universal Orlando this upcoming Saturday the 23rd. Is admission to HHN separate from my ticket for the parks during the day?
  4. Well, it's probably the thinner air, starving their brains for oxygen. That combined with the low hanging cloud of reefer fumes. But no,seriously, if you think about it Mind Eraser is the greatest coaster ever built if that's all you know. There is a certain crowd out there that hates woodies. I know so many. I knew a guy who said he would never go to Holiday World because 3 of their four coasters are wooden. I told he was missing out but whatever. So if you only like steelies and your choices are between Mind Eraser, Sidewinder, Boomerang and Half Pipe, most people would choose Mind Eraser. They'd be wrong but again, thin air combined with weed. And it because of remarks like that I hate that we legalized it. (Or at least started first, remember Washington also did the same year.) To be honest I see more tourist than locals doing it but that is a topic for another day. (Air has little to nothing to do with it around here unless you are on alcohol, and people are surprised how fast they get drunk. lol) No need to correct people. If all they know about Colorado is weed then they aren't missing much Glenwood Springs is a great place to visit! And the rides are fun and offer great mountainside views with minimal effort.
  5. I always feel like comments like these are made by people who don't have a single clue on how the amusement park industry operates. You got me, I have absolutely no idea how the amusement park industry operates. I'll be honest, as others in this thread have pointed out I really am looking for better rides. Rides like
  6. Yeah, I do think Elitch Gardens is an embarrassment to Denver. I do agree with you though, Lakeside is worse, but Lakeside is not adjacent to Denver's downtown. Unlike Lakeside, Elitch Gardens is there for all who visit Denver to see (or not to see). Just because Elitch Gardens has a crowd does not make it a good theme park. It is an asphalt nightmare where the best ride for negative G-forces is the Sidewinder. In my opinion Elitch Gardens needs serious work before I would consider going there again. I have been to carnivals with better value.
  7. Elitch Gardens building new office, commits to staying in downtown Denver It appears that Elitch Gardens will look to stay in their current location in downtown Denver. They say the park is doing well, but I wonder if that is the truth. They also claim they continue to add new attractions, but the newest ride is the star flyer (which is a fun experience) and a giant "rethemed" fireball carnival ride. I would personally like to see a total overhaul of this park or completely different use of this area. In my opinion, Elitch Gardens in its current form is an embarrassment to the city of Denver. The park could stand to use a major overhaul or that property could be used in much more productive ways. Anyone else have different opinions? What do people think?
  8. Trip Report Write Up My friend and I arrived at the park just before 3 pm on Sunday afternoon. Fall is finally here in New England and it was a beautifully clear day with a high of 66. We parked at the preferred lot by the entrance and then checked-in and received our "VIP Guest" badges. Now prior to this trip I have only been to Six Flags New England once, back in September 2013. Then Superman was still Bizarro and Cyclone was yet to become Wicked. Besides SFNE, I have only been to two other Six Flags parks although they are no longer owned by Six Flags (Darien Lake and Elitch Gardens). Like most, I'm a big fan of Disney. (Land>>>>World ). Entering the park was a breeze as it was mid-afternoon and we were greeting by the carousel and an arch letting us know we were passing into the "Graveyard." From here and throughout the park there are the usual Halloween decorations, including carved pumpkins, gravestones, headless hunch-men, cobwebs (both real and fake), coffins, zombies, fog machines, bloodied trucks, animated ghoulish looking things and more. Since most of the fun wasn't starting until 6 pm, we headed to Wicked Cyclone to get some rides in. Thanks to the VIP badges we had, we were able to walk right up to the exit gate of each ride and got to choose our seats. This treatment was the best at WC because the attendants let us on the next empty train. While Wicked Cyclone is not the tallest or the fastest of RMC's installations, it is still an incredibly fun roller coaster. To be clear, besides that one time I was standing outside of Neiman Marcus on the edge of a Texas Quarry to catch of glimpse of red topper tracks under construction, this is my first time up close and personal with a RMC machine. During our six hours at the park we rode WC four times, once in the front row and three times in the back. I preferred the back for as soon as you crest the lift to the brake run you are floating between your harness and your seat. The hangtime on these barrel rolls are unreal, the pop that first drop gives you in the back is impressive and the smoothness of the whole experience is only matched (again in my experience) by a B&M. We then moved to ride Thunderbolt, if only out of respect for history. Its almost as slow to load each train as Superman with VR and is more bumpy than trying to ride a unicycle over cobblestones. But it is the oldest roller coaster on Six Flags property so it is worth a ride. We then headed down to the river to ride Superman and attempt to figure out the hype surrounding Virtual Reality on a roller coaster. Personally, I was very skeptical of the benefit wearing a headset while riding a roller coaster. I do have some experience with this technology as I "own" google cardboard and I have demo'd both of the high end headsets on the market, the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. Those expensive headsets are very cool, and while the cell phone VR headsets do mimic this experience it is limited in its quality. First we got a baseline for the ride by going without the headsets. Thanks again to the VIP badge, we only waited two minutes before taking our seats. Everyone else waited upwards of an hour and a half and the queue was rather empty. This ride is great, and the beautiful views it offers of Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut really add to it all. Superman VR uses a Samsung Galaxy S6 as its screen and when we rode with VR it took over five minutes to load the whole train with only half of the train taking headsets. Both my friend and I experience blurriness, even after adjusting the lenses. In the row behind us, the couple who waited in the regular line actually returned their headsets due to their perception of the quality. The blurriness ended up being a minor issue for me, as I found when the ride was in motion and I was moving my head the image was mostly clear. Speaking of the movement, it is very smooth and tracks your head very closely even as the train is flying down the track. VR is honestly a lot of fun to experience while riding a world class coaster. I sat with the headset on for five minutes and practically forgot where I was sitting by the time the train started up the lift hill. I knew in my head what to expect in terms of the forces of the ride, but with the surreal action in front of my eyes really distracts from that knowledge leaving it to become a surprise. I may be mistaken, but the visual experience within the headset is tracked to the rides course for all but the long left turn and crest before the final tunnel. During this section the ride is moving through one of the most tame elements, but in the VR experience you see, and to some degree feel, your world tumble through a barrel roll. With this disconnect between the actual forces and the visual element, it was the only time I "got lost" as to what point in the ride I was on. Overall I am now convinced that VR is not a gimmick on roller coasters and does distinctly change the experience of the ride. As the quality of the headsets increases the VR element will add more value so to speak. That being said, I still felt as though I needed to wash my face after wearing the headset and do enjoy seeing the speed of the ride along with feeling it. By the time we got rides in, it was time for food! Now this being only my second time visiting SFNE, I had not been to Rivers Edge picnic area before. Now this is where four of the five haunted houses are and was also the location of the buffet for the Media event. The food was good and I enjoyed the parmesan chicken with clam chowder. They also had an open bar which is never a bad thing. This area is beautiful and separate from the main area of the theme park. Now that we had food in our bellies it was time to watch the opening ceremony for the evenings haunts. We arrived to find plenty of security and the character Mort counting down to The Awakenings start time at 6 pm while keeping the crowd entertained. Mort is a use coffin salesman with his own show, but here was his chance to launch his campaign for mayor against the incumbent Mayor Slayer. With comments such as "I don't build walls, I tear them down!" and "I don't delete emails, I send SPAM!" he was a great way to make sure people walking by understood why people were crowding this area of the park. The Awakening has Mayor Slayer being brought to the stage in the back of a hearse where he proceeds to welcome all of the ghouls, zombies and monsters to come out. It really is a fun moment when all of these actors come running from all sides through the crowd to scare the guests. It was really chaotic and between the actors and the guests lots of people were running and screaming! Now at this point I had taken plenty of pictures and used my phone to the point where it was dead. But it was already after six and the park no longer allowed reentry!! No problem, we had Patrick from security to ensure that I could get my portable battery from the car (along with my jacket brrrr) to keep updating the outside world to each minute of my life. After making sure we were ready for the night we headed towards Midnight Mansion. This house actually opens at 4 pm and is the most tame out of the five houses. Entering into the house in groups of 5-7, we are greeted and told the rules about not touching the actors or sets then screamed at to leave and enter the house. Quickly you are asked to pay your respects to the deceased owner of the estate as you pass by his coffin. The path then goes through a portrait hallway, quickly out into the graveyard in the back and then back inside. My favorite scenes here were the hallways of doors, as they actors run through opening them and slamming them shut behind them, along with the butchers room with some gruesome meat hanging everywhere. MM is fairly standard and really the tamest experience. Heading back to Rivers Edge, we went for the other two inside houses as we waited for the sky to go fully dark. Both Psycho-Path Haunted Asylum and Slasher Circus 3D are housed under the same roof, which is used normally for open air picnic tables. Equal in size, they wind through temporary plywood structures painted black. First was Psycho-Path Haunted Asylum. Here, like the rest of the houses, guests are grouped up into parties. PPHA is unique here as the leader is handed a flashlight attached to a rope which they ask you to hold. The flashlight is rather dim, but it does change colors between white, red and green along with modes where it flashes or switches off in a dark hallway before a strobe light on the wall goes off. While the smart flashlight was cool, it was really only experienced by those in the front. The rope led to PPHA being the only Conga line experience of SFNE's Fright Fest. Once we exited the Asylum, we headed right next door to Slasher Circus 3D. Like their other indoor houses, this experience includes the standard jump scares. What is nice about this house is the effects. Its very colorful and has a whimsical feel. Here is the video again showing this house. It was filmed just before the park closed at 9 pm and I think I was the first person to walk through the house in a while. I also think a couple of their actors went home as I tried to film walls where I knew actors would pop out of and scream. Finally came the two outdoor "houses." The Aftermath: Zombie's Revenge is a tour through the scenic backwoods of a wilderness park that has been invaded by zombies. Like I mentioned earlier, the Rivers Edge area is very scenic and although it is dark out it is nice to take a stroll through the wood and be chased by zombies. Here, the open spaces allow for more story telling. First you are greeted by a weapon outfitter who gets attacked by a roaming zombie at full speed. You continue along and meet deranged survivors and redneck zombies. Between the design of the sets and the way you are quite literally left in the dark as to where the next zombie will attack you from, this was my personal favorite house. That might also be the outdoor junkie in my speaking. The last house is Wicked Woods. This seemed to be their "premiere" haunt, and it also has a corporate sponsor. I can spoil some of the key elements of the experience if there is interest, but know that this was the only house that actually surprised me. It takes a lot to make me even flinch (running up to my face and screaming definitely does not), but this house had two moments that caught me off guard and it was a lot of fun because of that! With that I can conclude my first trip report for TPR! It was an awesome time and I have to give big thanks to Robb for making it happen! I've been following the craziness of this site for years and now I finally had my opportunity to participate! Until next time! Finally, there are the two outdoor Beautiful both to ride and to look at Thank you and goodnight SFNE! Here is the Fright Fest guide with general information and the show schedule Other side with the map showing where each show and house is located
  9. Time for the Haunted Houses! First house of the night was Midnight Mansion. Guests are invited to celebrate the life, and death, of the murdered owner After being welcomed into the house you are asked to pay your respects to the gracious host After a brief stint inside, we make a visit to the backyard. Those shovels are loud on the pavement!! Pick a door, any door. 13131313 Nice stuffed animal collection you have there. Neon and blacklights are put to good use here and in Slasher Circus I've stabbed myself and I can't get up Me: "What's on the menu tonight?" Butcher: "You!" He hasn't washed his hair in two weeks, dedicated to the cause of scaring guests! Back at Rivers Edge Picnic Area for the newest haunted house, Psycho-Path Haunted Asylum. Guests are grouped up into parties and travel through the house with a smart flashlight and a rope. The flashlight switches modes depending on the part of the house guests are in Unsure if the medicine administered or the strobe light gave this haunt their siezure Shhhhh just sleep, it will all be okay I believe this clown received that lovely facial reconstruction right next door from the Haunted Asylum's Doctor Like in the Midnight Mansion, Slasher Circus has an introduction portion of the house to prepare you for the horrors within Would you like to play a game? All of the sets and lights within this house are designed to disorient and confuse! This clown has a green light that, combined with the 3D glasses, will obscure your vision as you search frantically for the exit Did you bring your hiking boots? Too bad solider, you've got a zombie problem to take care of! The Aftermath takes you through the woods on property at SFNE. This and the Wicked Woods were fan favorites with everyone we spoke to While this trail map is posted it won't help you fend off the zombies "I'm here to help make sure you make it through these woods alive" "mmhh redneck brains" welp there goes our guide No need to break trail or set up camp, its already been done! Nothing but five star service at Camp Killya Officer Smokey the Bear here to say "If you see green goo, don't drink it. It'll turn you into a zombie." Plenty to see outside in the woods Fog is put to good use as there may or may not be something hiding within this tunnel Wicked Woods is the only haunted house that has a sponsor. I will leave this house unspoiled as there are certain elements and surprises that you have to experience in person!
  10. SFNE's Fright Fest Media Event! This past weekend was the opening weekend for haunts throughout the country, and Six Flags New England is in on the action. Yesterday, Sunday September 25th, was the media event and TPR was there to see all they had to offer! Some quick details about the event before I get into the details about yesterday's event. SFNE's is open on weekends with Fright Fest and the park's season running until October 30th. With all of the regular roller coaster running, Fright Fest brings nine "Monstertainment" shows to the park along with free "Haunt Zones" scattered around. There are five Premium Haunted Houses for this years event, the new Psycho-Path Haunted Asylum, and returning haunts including: The Aftermath: Zombie's Revenge, Midnight Mansion, Wicked Woods, and Slasher Circus 3D. Here you can get an idea of what to expect from Slasher Circus 3D! I will talk more about their haunted houses in subsequent posts, but know that this attraction is entirely different when experienced in person with the 3D glasses on. Below are pictures from the day. Enjoy! Found the entrance and was greeted by a lovely ghoul and his entourage of Six Flags employees checking guests in for the event. Thanks Jennifer! I wonder what he uses that respirator for Year round screaming on the Scream Tower. The Emporium is the sight of "The Awakening" that kicks off the haunting each night It's alive!!!! Many photo opportunities for guests were setup throughout the park Hmmmmm tough choice here on which coaster to ride first. Can you guess which one I chose? Outside of the Haunt Zone "Undead Alley" this truck is animated in all sorts of ways after dark Walked by Mayhem Mission: Ghoulish Gameshow during the day Four of the five haunted houses are down in the Rivers Edge Picnic Area. We will be back later for food and screams! Where is Superman's VR Headset? VR really does slow down the boarding process, and having to wait upwards of five minutes here in the sun was a little uncomfortable Still, it does not change the fact that this coaster is awesome! Shout out to the couple in the front row ready for their close ups Speaking of close ups Ummmm.... Is this what they call "Cross Brand Promotion?" I wonder if that water tastes like cherries Poor Butch A number of their flat rides received minor face lifts for the Halloween season. Here the bumper cars have plenty of neon paint that looked great under the blacklights For those who guessed "Wicked Cyclone" earlier, you are correct! WC popped my RMC cherry and it is one fast ride! Wicked Cyclone is smooth and relentlessly fast! Rivers Edge is a beautiful area of the park! Picturesque New England woods along the Connecticut River. I really have to appreciate the use this area receives, especially with two of the haunted houses! More on that to come Wouldn't be a proper event without buffet food and an open bar. YUM! Here's Mort, the local used coffin salesman! He'll give you a great deal and even has his own show repeating during the night Mayor Slayer himself! The Awakening ceremony has some great lines and an awesome moment when the hordes of monsters come running through the crowd!! I see you With the Awakening over the fun for the night can begin! Next up we will check out all of the haunted houses
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