Photo TR: The Kiwis Take On North East/Road to Cedar Point

Last August, Andrew and I returned from TPR's awesome Mid-America trip with heavy hearts, since we weren't planning to do another globe-trotting coaster trip until 2012. Then in April an email arrived saying spots were open for the North East trip...

 

Sigh! North East and Road to Cedar Point were the two 2011 trips that we wanted to do so badly after Mid-America, but didn't think we could afford. Out of interest, I sent an email to Robb and Elissa asking if there was a possibility of spots opening up on Road to Cedar Point. Sure enough, spots opened... Andrew and I looked at each other and realised we had to make our dream trip become a reality!

 

We honestly didn't think any trip could top Mid-America 2010, but North East/Road to Cedar Point back-to-back was a truly epic experience. North East was the more relaxed trip, with two buses journeying through the smart, leafy corner of America (not to mention Canada) to visit some very nice, smaller parks and ride some of the best coasters in the world (Boulder Dash, Bizarro). Road to Cedar Point on the other hand was completely insane! We had a very full itinerary as the parks kept offering TPR more and more perks. As I have been telling people who think we're crazy, a TPR trip may be exhausting but they're also oddly re-invigorating. Kind of like great sex.

 

The Intamin gods smiled on TPR for both trips. The times it did rain were at the parks with tolerant rain policies (Knoebels, Kennywood), and even at Cedar Point the expected storm on day three held off right to the end.

 

Thanks Robb and Elissa for all your hard work behind the scenes and for all those little things you do that may sometimes go unnoticed by the group. Thanks especially for not being able to say "no" when parks offer us cool stuff!

 

We joined in the pre-add on day before the North East trip began - Coney Island - see below.

 

Wellington to Coney Island (scroll down)

Quassy to Lake Compounce

Six Flags New England

Palace Playland to Funtown Splashtown

Canobie Lake to Canada

La Ronde

The Great Escape to Magic Forest Park

Six Flags Great Adventure

Morey's Piers

Knoebels

Hersheypark

Dorney Park

Kennywood

Kings Island to Columbus Zoo

Cedar Point

Disney California Adventure

Disneyland

Our journey starts in Wellington, New Zealand. The new 'pumpkin' terminal looks great.

30+ hours later, and we're in Newark. Love the view from the runway.

Our chariots await. So cool to have our driver from last year - the awesome Brian - back for more!

The drive to Coney Island was fascinating. New York is jam-packed with character.

It all sort of looks like you could still get mugged in this city. Thank God Rudy Giuliani couldn't completely take the badass-ness outta here.

The New York of my TV-watching childhood lives on!

Hehe. Poon.

We were first riders on Cyclone for the day. I was a little intimidated by this old classic.

A New York City icon.

Awesome! First coaster of our trip!

We found it a fun ride - very bouncy but just this side of "not too rough".

Cyclone did shear the skin off my fingers a smidgen when I slammed my hands into the front of the car. Yay! First coaster-related injury of the trip!

The boardwalk area looked very nice. We heard the city has cleaned it up a lot.

I really don't want the city to put those tacky food vendors behind me out of business though. It's a boardwalk, it's not supposed to offer five-star dining experiences.

The old parachute tower is another icon of the area. Bit of a shame it doesn't operate anymore.

We ventured into the new 'Scream Zone' for two new credits. This is the bizarre lift-hill on Soarin' Eagle.

Doesn't it look like fun?!

TPR found this to be pretty good! We had never been on a Zamperla Volare so were relieved it didn't do strange things to our internal organs.

The other coaster in Scream Zone is called Steeplechase, a nice throwback to an old ride at Coney Island.

It's David and JP in the back!

Gary got a whole train to himself. He put his arms up on the launch and by the looks of it almost broke his back!

We wandered over to Deno's to ride the world famous Wonder Wheel.

Fun facts!

We went swinging with Gary.

Nice views from up here as we creaked around the wheel...

The Tickler down at the new Luna Park. We'll get to you later.

Definitely must try out the original Nathan's hot dogs too...

Tenements looking over Coney Island.

Deno's is also home to the Spook-a-Rama! No matter how ghetto, I always love these as I tend to 'spook' easily.

On to Nathan's for some food. Maybe not this much though.

I didn't know Nathan's was also a chain now so it was pretty cool to visit the original location.

TPR trash can take-over! We tried the chili dog which was decent.

Outside the freak show TPR members get a bit freaky.

I just wanted to walk up and talk to these people - they all look so interesting.

Andrew outside the nice-looking new entrance to Zamperla's Luna Park.

I loved how Zamperla had their signs and ride names all paying homage to Coney Island's heyday.

We rode Tickler with Jordy the giant from the Netherlands and spun like crazy! (Jordy not pictured.)

Oh my God they have a Star Flyer. We had never been on one of these.

It is these simple seats and restraints (if you can call them that) that makes Star Flyers amazing!

I think the group consensus was that this flat ride was the best at the park. Very fun ride.

Not sure what the fate of the old observation tower might be.

Another view of the Wonder Wheel next door.

We did a take-over of the Electro Spin.

The first of many strange shows on this trip...

The pre-add on day was a great way to begin the trip. The newly cleaned-up Coney Island was fun and I really thought Zamperla has done a great job with their portion of the area.

Many more adventures await us. Stay tuned!

Edited February 26, 2012 by mattnz

Yay, the TR has begun! Robb and Elissa put on an amazing trip and the photos will show that.

Awesome start to the TR and great photos. Can't wait to see more!

Can't wait to see the Kiwi take on the rest of the trip!

 

Hope you guys can continue to keep joining us for random fun!

Thanks so much! We really do hope to come back for much, much more random fun!

It's nice to see the different views everyone had of the trip and it's bringing back some fun memories. I can't wait to see more!

^ Thanks JoAnna!

 

Day one of the official North East trip saw us drive up to Connecticut to visit two very nice, traditional amusement parks - Quassy and Lake Compounce. Quassy was a surprise for me as there was a decent amount of stuff to do there. I think their new junior Gravity Group woodie - Wooden Warrior - surprised everyone, and was just hands up fun all the way. Lake Compounce was one of my favourite parks of the entire trip and is of course the home of Boulder Dash, which did not disappoint! I was very happy to hear reports that it ran exceptionally well for us.

 

The setting of both parks by lakesides started a trend for the North East trip, as most of the parks we visited had lakeside settings. The whole of New England was just beautiful, actually - a little like New Zealand, blanketed in trees. And just like New Zealand, we needed to think some "dry, happy thoughts" on day one, which worked out pretty well for us.

Here we are in New England. Ain't it classy?

Arriving at Quassy we were greeted by the car park Musik Express ride.

First order of the day, TPR got to ride the park's brand new Wooden Warrior (with the local media in tow!)

The Timberliner trains were very roomy and comfortable.

Robb's current filming techniques in action - check out the awesome footage!

Looks like the first riders have given the thumbs up!

Wooden Warrior was very surprising and a whole lot of fun.

It had a lot of airtime I didn't expect it to have.

Moving through the park we saw Quassy's fantastic lakeside location. And tried to think "dry, happy thoughts".

Heading over to the kiddie coaster for Quassy credit #2.

This was one of those old school "watch your back" kiddie coasters.

We LOVE old school back-breaking kiddie coasters!

In the arcade you'll find the old Mad Mouse sign. Looked like a fun coaster.

Yay! The park has my favourite flat ride - the Trabant!

They also have a Yo-Yo ride and for some reason this one was really nuts, swinging back and forth more than it probably should. We loved it!

'Water Wars'. Looked fun.

You can tell you're in a nice, friendly, smaller park when you see signs like these.

Quassy put on a great lunch for us and gave us blocks of wood from Wooden Warrior. Awesome! Not to mention...free beer! This started another trend for the trip - beer and more beer!

TPR devoured the buffet pretty quickly. Fortunately Kimberly did get to eat in due course.

Quassy has two tower rides!

Leaving the park it was good to see the general public enjoying the new coaster.

And it looks like attendance is pretty good today. Glad to see it - Quassy was a nice surprise, and a great start to the North East trip.

Onwards to Lake Compounce! This is the entranceway, where we caught up with some old friends from last year's Mid-America trip.

I loved the park entrance with Wildcat overhead.

Oh joy. First boomerang of the trip.

I seemed to remember this one being 'OK'.

Across the way is the park's Pirate Ship.

Lake Compounce has a new Disko.

Alas, I'm guessing it was the replacement for their old Rotor ride.

We got a few rides in on Boulder Dash just in case night ERT got stormed out.

Lift hill up the mountainside.

Racing down the mountainside.

Turnaround. These are Andrew's photos now by the way. He is a Hanno fan and wannabe!

This a unique and really fun coaster. Pretty fearsome. You kind of want to hold on tight and prepare for those changes of direction. I foolishly kept my hands up for an entire ride and have bruises to prove it!

This is the utterly insane triple up which was my favourite part of the ride.

I'm guessing the girls in front are posing for the on-ride camera.

Boulder Dash isn't the only ride at Lake Compounce that uses the mountainside terrain.

The park also has a Turbo Drop which provides some nice views.

Wildcat is the 'other' woodie at Lake Compounce. For some reason Andrew and I rode it three times. You DO want to ride this toward the front.

Toward the front of the train Wildcat was honestly quite fun.

The park had a nice-looking water play area with slides, etc, by the lakeside.

To get to lunch we had to wander right along the lake past the really-out-of-the-way rapids ride. We found it very strange how far away this ride was from everything else!

Lunch was great. When in New England...gotta try the Clam Chowder!

More free beer!

What's up guys? (Seriously, what's going on here?!)

It's Patrick aka DJ PJ!

Is this the boulder whose namesake is one of the best woodies in the world?

Remember those dry, happy thoughts I talked about earlier? They worked! It rained during lunch, then the fog came in to cover the park just in time for night ERT!

Unfortunately the Sky Ride was closed on our visit. It looked really cool.

Walking along the lake I was taken aback by how the park managed to fit Boulder Dash into this setting.

That's pretty incredible if you ask me!

As daylight started to fade it was time to get some more rides in.

The park has a Wipe Out which they ran on a fantastic programme.

This was a lot of fun!

By the way, Lake Compounce offers FREE Pepsi products, much like Holiday World. Andrew and I loved this because of...Sierra Mist! It's been too long!! (They don't have the bloody stuff in New Zealand.)

As night fell we got a few arty shots of the Enterprise. Who needs Windseeker, eh?

And the day ended with the aforementioned night ERT on Boulder Dash. What a great ending to an awesome first day.

Wow great pictures and yes that YO-YO at Quassy was insane! I think you were the one infront of me who I was slamming into right?

^ I think so! But that's OK - it was quite hard not to slam into each other!

That Yoyo was unexpectedly fun. I don't remember the one at Indiana Beach being as good. I felt like I was going to be thrown out of my chair at times!

TPR's next stop on the North East trip was Six Flags New England. This was probably the fullest day of the trip as we started out with morning ERT before park opening and had some legendary night ERT after park closing also. Andrew and I missed the water park ERT on Tornado and Typhoon (two awesome looking ProSlide rides) which I later regretted as it was a scorching hot day and we had more than enough time to get everything done. Lesson learned! We also had a great lunch with park management in attendance, more free beer, TPR quest (yay!) and a great backstage tour making for a very full and fun Bizarro Bash.

 

Bizarro did not disappoint. It had so many fantastic elements, especially the first drop into a tunnel and its extreme airtime hills. The ride really hauled ass during night ERT and my favourite ride was certainly front row in the dark with the amazing light effects in full swing. Second favourite ride for me at the park was probably Cyclone which had some rather extreme airtime moments! The new track work seems to have helped out the ride a lot.

 

Six Flags New England in general does have that corporate Six Flags feel to it, with advertising everywhere you look and urban hip-hop pumped throughout the park. But the park also has a great setting (yep - by a lake!), a diverse ride collection (nice rapids ride, Houdini's Great Escape, the weird S&S Sky Swatter) and they treated TPR very well! (Edit: Except some of our taller people; check out Skycoastin' Steve's TR for a different take on the day.)

Next stop on the North East trip was Bizarro Bash at Six Flags New England!

This way to ERT. Comparison: Look closely at this photo...

This is the same angle later in the day. It's a Saturday in late July, but TPR has fantastic ERT sessions planned and Q-Bots to beat the crowds!

We opted to ride Batman - The Dark Knight first up. I got a bit of an ear bashing I didn't expect... The trim between the loop and zero-G roll made for some good 'hang time' which was fun.

View of the ride from later in the day. There was actually a queue for the water park.

Batman was fun in the front row where you can actually appreciate the floorless concept and prepare for these interlocking corkscrews which were a little rough on me.

Gotham City Gauntlet was open for morning ERT so we took a quick spin on it.

This was very, very difficult with Bizarro also open for ERT and looming over us!

And finally...we got to ride! Bizarro was an instant new favourite roller coaster for me. An Intamin masterpiece.

After meeting up with our Q-Bot group (hi Chad and Laura!) we got this thing out of the way. It was mine and Andrew's very first SLC. We sat in the front. It was 'OK'.

The 'New England Skyway' had a nice-looking station.

When Elissa described this as the 'Christmas decoration' ride she wasn't kidding!

Cute!

Second Vekoma Boomerang of the trip.

These really aren't fun AT ALL...and yet the general public seem to like them.

Now Gerstlauer spinning coasters I do enjoy.

These TPR members don't look so sure!

The park's oldest coaster - Thunderbolt. I heard it was down earlier this year for refurbishment so was happy to see it up and running again. (It's rather hard to photograph!)

Cyclone had a late opening.

I was looking forward to this ride.

Fun facts in the queue. (Comet - we'll get to you later in the trip!)

Laura and Chad dared to ride the back row.

I loved this coaster. It had at least two spectacular moments of 'oh my God!' airtime.

It took a few attempts to get on this. At least we can say we rode it... I would like to say it was fun but it had killer restraints that really spoiled the overall ride experience.

The park had a great rapids ride (Blizzard River) and it was certainly hot enough to give it a spin.

Also kind of hard to photograph from the pathways!

These fun little water play structures are a great idea.

We found out the park's kiddie coaster didn't have a maximum height restriction.

Yay!

Is it just me or do Andrew and Laura kind of look like a cute couple in this photo?!

Lunch was in a beautiful picnic setting across a stream.

We enjoyed the Q&A with park management.

Also - free beer!

And TPR Quest! (TPR loves man boobs!)

New for 2011: The Six Flags version of the Blue Man Group?

New for 2011: Ninjas?

This is the entrance to Houdini's Great Escape, our first 'Mad House'. It was actually a lot of fun. Cool to see it up and running.

The park has a decent selection of flat rides, like Tomahawk.

"This way children!"

This was our failed attempt to get the Bizarro signature shot.

Speaking of my new favourite roller coaster, it's time for an exclusive backstage tour!

Prepare for some more of Andrew's Hanno-esque photos!

"Ooo!"

"Ahh!"

Needless to say, this is really a freakin' awesome ride.

Up close and personal.

Even more close and personal.

British shenanigans.

Mind Eraser upskirt shot.

Careless paint job shot. (Or is it art?)

We also got some great views of Batman.

Fun in the front.

"Nerds!"

Just a wonderful ride.

Hands up = fun!

After a very long afternoon, night falls on New England and the park looks great.

Thunderbolt's sign looking pretty.

Night ERT on Bizarro was simply amazing.

Thanks for reading. Next up: TPR goes to Maine!

Edited February 28, 2012 by mattnz

Awesome pics! I'm so jealous I didn't get to see you guys this year! Hopefully next year's TPR trips

Great pics!

 

I have yet to ride Catapult. I always stand there watching/debating but have never gone on. I always hear how uncomfortable it is, so I end up walking away going "eh, maybe next time."

There are some really amazing shots in there! Looking forward to seeing the rest of the trip reports!

This is a great report! I wish I would have found more time to talk and hang out with you guys, other than the few words that we exchanged. Next time. There's always next time! Looking forward to the rest of your photos!

Thanks all. And yes Brian - we will be back for more I'm sure!

Is it just me or do Andrew and Laura kind of look like a cute couple in this photo?!

 

They kinda look like bother and sister. Nice report.

The Wonder Wheel with you guys was fun! Certainly a unique and awesome ride. Great PTR so far! Looking forward to seeing the rest!

 

-Gary

Thanks Gary! We went to Disneyland Resort at the very end of our trip and went on Mickey's Fun Wheel which was even crazier than Deno's Wonder Wheel but not as old and creaky which I thought somehow made the ride scarier. Definitely a unique experience!

^^ Thanks Gary!

 

Next up on the North East itinerary was Maine and two small parks - Palace Playland at Old Orchard Beach and Funtown Splashtown U.S.A. We had an absolutely beautiful day and it was wonderful visiting the beach and putting our feet in the ocean before wandering down the pier for a beer, making our stop at Palace Playland much more than just a quick credit run. We had plenty of time to experience Funtown Splashtown and got a lot of rides in. I agreed with the general consensus that Excalibur had a great first half. Lots of airtime on this ride, and though it petered out toward the end it's definitely a solid coaster. Funtown Splashtown was also the home of the attacking gulls from Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds' which made eating lunch quite interesting! And I also found some peanut butter ice cream which was very nice indeed.

 

It was at this point on the trip that Andrew's freckles started to multiply and I started turning brown. Always a sign of a great summer!

Our lunch stop today was at Jimmy the Greek's.

Simple set-up, great food!

Old Orchard Beach was a very cute seaside town. And it was HOT out.

Or are we in Shelbyville?

Entrance to Palace Playland.

Quite a few carnival-style rides here.

Log flume by the beach.

This flat ran a fierce programme.

First credit today was an SDC Galaxi, the first coaster model I ever rode!

Lining up for credit #2 - Orient Express.

Not a ride to overload with TPR members

We wandered by the fun house.

It was too hot for psychic readings today.

The beach looked very nice. As I was putting this TR together I suddenly noticed in this photo... Is that...

...Piers?!

We put our feet in the Atlantic. Everyone thought the ocean was cold. We thought it was beautiful!

Heading up to the pier.

Lots of interesting stalls and lots of seafood.

Yep - we found the bar.

Looking back at the crowded beach. I could see myself vacationing here...

Onwards to gay-friendly Funtown Splashtown U.S.A!

Our first ride was on the Wild Mouse.

Pretty much your standard mouse.

Yay - another trabant!

On our way to Excalibur.

Nicely themed station (and area for that matter).

These signs outside the station were nice and convenient.

Lift hill shot.

The hard-to-photograph awesome first drop!

Excalibur was a very solid CCI woodie that deserves more recognition than it probably gets.

Enjoyable ride with a good layout.

I thought the whole of Funtown Splashtown could use a bit more recognition. It would make a great little home park.

They had a decent log flume too.

Not the best photo but you can kind of see how it gets a bit speedy at certain points.

Hey guys! (Hey David! David?!)

TPR did an Astrosphere take-over!

First you wait in this strange tunnel...

And then things get really funky! Check out Robb's awesome footage.

We rode Dragon's Descent, the park's S&S Turbo Drop.

As night fell TPR also did a take-over of the tea cups before night ERT on Excalibur. Great end to a nice, relaxing day on the North East trip!

I love your photos! Can't wait to see more.

These photos are great and that day in Maine was probably one of the best days for me on the trip I think. That cute little bar looking out onto the water was a plus!

Great pics so far! I miss this trip!

Great report so far! I'm liking your perspective on the US!

 

 

Also, it was great meeting you two - I'm sure we'll run into each other on another trip someday!

Thanks everyone!

 

Great meeting you too Chris. You can definitely count on seeing us again on a future trip.