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Photo TR: TPR USA Trip 2018


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My favorite part of this TR installment was the watering can back at Knoebels. I've just never been a big fan of Hershey. That being said, Storm Runner is ridiculously awesome and underrated. I love that ride and I wish we had more of them!!!

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Zach urged me to be social, so I’ll try. I can always click on the direct link to go back to this thread.

 

I have always loved Hersheypark. It was my favorite family park until I discovered Knoebels. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been to the park for 20 years more or less. I’m sorry that I missed its growth over those years. Wildcat was new when I was there last, and it was actually smooth and fun then. Hersheypark still has those nice family touches, but it’s certainly a good rival for Great Adventure with an overall exciting variety of coasters and rides. Chocolate World and the zoo make it even better.

 

On to the rides...

Comet has always been a great woodie, and it’s neat now that the other rides have grown around it and Sooper. I get frightened by heights where I can feel them, so I freak on drop towers. Still, I forced myself to do the three drop towers from smallest to tallest and loved the combo of effects. Fahrenheit and Storm Runner are great fun, and Hersheypark gets points for keeping some of the classic rides like the monorail and Coal Cracker. I miss the spinning chuck wagon, which didn’t take up much space and should still be there. I’m surprised that they took out the themed Ferris wheel-like ride near the entrance. Times change... The Chocolate World ride has been improved, and you gain five pounds just walking into that building. Laff Trakk was just bad. You can see the entire ride, and it’s boring.

 

My faves of the day were Lightning Racers and Skyrush. Lightning Racers ran perfectly and made me laugh as we ran neck and neck against the other side. At night, it’s absolutely beautiful with the chase lights. It made me feel like I was back on the Boardwalk in my favorite place in the world - Wildwood, NJ. Skyrush challenged me! I loved the speed, launch, layout and airtime. Despite being a seasoned rider, I could not keep my hands up for the whole ride. This monster flings you all over the place in an epic, manic, devious ride like that Betty White thing that Zach said.

 

I must disagree about that dark ride. It’s the worst dark ride that I’ve ever experienced outside of a sketchy carnival. The artwork is only surpassed in its dreadful nature by the animatronic characters. The guns didn’t work, and the targets were stupid - people on poles, people playing sports, people smiling, etc. We just wanted it to be over and put down our guns. Even worse, the restraints are overkill because of some track hills. They are going to retheme it next year. Why bother?! Just give people real guns and grenades, and let them destroy the site.

 

I’ll go back to Hersheypark on my own more often now like I used to do.

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After reading this TR, it occurred to me that you and Alex were on the train before me for a back row ride of Lightning Racer (pretty sure it was the lightning side). I saw your pink wristbands and realized that TPR was there that day Great report!

 

You should have said something, haha. That's too funny. TPR is everywhere!

 

Thanks to you I just started texting buds to make a serious plan to head over for Hersheypark in the Dark - for no other reasons than Troegs and then Skyrush. Fab report of my happy place, thanks for the inspiration.

 

Does this mean I'm an influencer? Hooray I've finally fulfilled my duty as a millennial! I'll log off now

 

My favorite part of this TR installment was the watering can back at Knoebels. I've just never been a big fan of Hershey. That being said, Storm Runner is ridiculously awesome and underrated. I love that ride and I wish we had more of them!!!

 

I could gush about Storm Runner all day. I wish there were more variants too!

 

Fantastic report! Skyrush truly is one of the most intense coasters out there.

 

I've seen Hershey block off the back rows on coasters other than Storm Runner as well. It always seemed to be on less crowded days.

 

That's too bad. They did it on SDL in the morning, but people were still getting into the empty seats by going in through a different gate so there was that. It wasn't a very busy day, but regardless not being able to pick the seat you want is frustrating.

 

Zach urged me to be social, so I’ll try. I can always click on the direct link to go back to this thread.

Oh come on I know you're just itching to get in on the conversation, haha. Grenades and such would make that dark ride more fun. It was just so bad it was good

 

Hey Zach - awesome trip report and I agree about how incredible and thrilling Skyrush is. I loved the back wing seats!

Take care, Paul

Thanks! I agree, they were something else!

 

Just going through the photos makes me want to go on the trip again. Hershy is such a good park full of awsome rides(other then wildcat). It was such a fun day.

 

Drew Brees everybody! Yeah it was an epic trip, I want to go on another please and thank you!

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I have a whole lot of Zach trip report to catch up on. Better get started.

 

From BGW...

 

 

Good morning. Here's a picture of this weird A$$ mirror covered boost mobile store in the middle of nowhere North Carolina. Stay boosted NC!

 

If you aren't at least spending part of your time on a TPR bus ride looking out the windows -- especially when we're driving through the backwoods -- you're doin' it wrong.

 

I love Premier coasters! I didn't love Tempesto!

 

Thank you! And may the phrase "comfort collar" go down in coaster lore for all its wonderful irony!

 

This was a memorable ERT session and I'd like to thank Robb for keeping count of my rides, I would have been lost without you Robb!

 

 

Verbolten ended up being one of the biggest surprises of the trip for me and is my favorite BGW coaster by far.

 

Griffon is right there with it, but those two are my tops at BGW.

 

From KD...

 

Day 6 - Twilight Zone Kings Island

 

I mean, yeah, that's a great way to describe it as a Cincinnati / KI veteran!

 

...there's the Dominator/Volcano/I305 area that provides plenty of evidence of where Paramount and Cedar Fair added on. If they could blend those parts of the park in with the rest of the layout I think the park would leave me with nothing to pick on. There were just too many stretches of pavement/no shade and dead ends with no bathrooms/food/drink spots that left me feeling like I had stepped into a completely different park.

 

That section of the park is weird. It's got some big attractions as you mentioned, but it's not cohesive at all. It's like it doesn't tie into the rest of the park. With that said, it's nice to head to the "back left" and find that Flight of Fear is joined by a much better coaster than Firehawk. Though, maybe we'll get to say that at home in a couple years too...

 

Andy once again showed off his skills and called out precisely when the rain moved in and when the rain moved out, which thankfully cooled things down to a tolerable level in the evening.

 

Skills honed by years of intense study, physics equations, and actually knowing how to correctly interpret my chosen radar app.

 

From SFA...

 

Superman was great! I only rode in the front seat and I thought it maintained its speed well and was more fun than a B&M hyper coaster.

 

...

 

I didn't ride in the back, where reports were different.

 

Quite different!

 

If I want to be disappointed by an Intamin, I'd rather just wait for one to break down than to ever have to ride that craptacular "hyper"-coaster again.

 

"If I don't make it back take care of my camera.."

 

ACTUAL QUOTE!

 

The changing booths were barely covered up by a shower curtain and most were barely hanging on by 1 or 2 rungs.

 

And the ones that were hanging up had big holes chopped out of them, too.

 

Well, that was a park! It had flags! An arbitrary number of flags not to be exceeding six.

 

Some fun updates, Zach. More catch-up to come later...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks everyone! Alright I've let this skate long enough, time to wrap this up real quick.

 

I'm no stranger to Cedar Point and it's always a treat to spend time there, but it was extra sweet with TPR! We had 2 hours of SV ERT for the first two nights and Maverick power hour ERT to end the trip. UhhhhhhhhhhMAZING! Big shout out to Robb and Elissa who orchestrated a memorable finale.

 

Cedar Point added Steel Vengeance and it's just as wild as everyone says it is. It's a ride that, due to its length, makes it tough to keep your arms up the whole ride but that's for sure the way to go. I probably rode in every single seat and enjoyed the front the most. Favorite element no doubt is the wave turn over the brake run in the structure. It's probably right there with Outlaw Run as my favorite RMC, but I still think Twisted Timbers is the most aggressive RMC I've experienced. Steel Vengeance was perfectly re-rideable and had me giggling on every ride!

 

Maverick is still the sheriff of Frontier Town in my opinion. It does it all! The refreshed train scene is a nice touch and those stengel dives are wild. The launch has a great kick to it. The airtime hills are killer. The trains are comfortable.

 

I found a row I liked in the middle of Magnum's train, but too close to the front or back and it's an uncomfortable ride.

 

Food options are fine now - the bbq smoking by Steel Vengeance smelled soooooo good!

 

The glaring issue now - the bathrooms. Coped from my initial post in August:

Dear lord they're stinky, messy, old, don't have paper towels, no hot/cold water option, and some don't even have doors to keep in air conditioning in or keep the bugs out (!!!!). It's not just a "needs cleaning more often" issue. I really hope they concentrate on this part of the park soon. I'm not sure if this hasn't been addressed yet because of the plumbing beneath + sand and how difficult that might be I have no idea about the level of difficulty there. Of all the parks on the trip and the parks I've visited in recent memory, I can't think of a worse example. They're on Ukrainian Village grungy dive bar levels.

 

And Elissa said the woman's side is just as bad.

 

Cedar Point is such a great place for roller coasters. I really hope the put a log flume in at some point and a dark ride - even a clone of Voyage to the Iron Reef would be welcome. Another thrilling flat ride wouldn't hurt either.

 

That wraps it up! I loved every minute of this TPR USA 2018 journey. Everything I expected happened - reconnecting with old friends, making new friends, some quality nerd talk, new favorites, some ugly sights of stupidity in America, seeing beautiful new parts of America, great beer, delicious food, water up my nose, inside jokes, a fantastic bus + driver, rodent affinity, weird smells, new record walking distances, and endless happiness.

 

Thanks everyone!

-Zach/Zz

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We're here!!

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Wow, what a big night at CP!

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Others..not so much :p

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Just having a blast on one incredible coaster.

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Some of the first rides on SV!

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Some of us are experts at timing the photos..

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Maverick in the front row. Ahhhhmazing.

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View from the hotel room.

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SV was so 6 hours ago, let's start the day on the front row of TTD

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The look of relaxation - it's what you feel when you've got a FL+ at CP! Take it easy.

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The weather was awesome. Raptor still kicking ass.

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Melt has great food, excellent beer, and even better service!

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What a classic. Still thrilling and honestly, a nice break from the sheer intensity of RMC/Intamins we've spent time with the past 12 days

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We love this big blue Intamin!

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I love the station music.

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Who are you and what are you doing with our planet?!

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From one big blue to another.

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They...liked it!

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The view up there is stunning.

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We're happy to be here!

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Sun starting to set so you know what that means..

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Steel Vengeance take overrrr!!

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Amazing every time.

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When you know when to smile for the camera you've been on it a lot.

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thanks RMC and CP!

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Hey Dragster! See you in a few hours.

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Told ya! Once again able to walk to the front row of TTD at opening.

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Hey Josh!

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This is one of my favorite views.

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Meanwhile in Frontier Town..

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Watching a seagull inhale a fresh cut fry like an anaconda is something else.

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The front row on Millennium. So. Much. Fun.

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*support wiggle*

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The area around the resort at night is really well done. Beachy.

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Underrated!

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How Jared drives: no hands!

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they have jesus chicken here?! I'm pulling over.

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This is where the trip ends. What a way to do it.

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Awesome report, Zach - thank you for sharing your awesome adventures!

 

And yeah...about that insect. I am pretty sure that the only time that I have seem something like that was in the movie 'The Mist' where they would wrap that tail around someones head/throat and pierce it. Creepy!

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It's cool to see that you think Maverick is still the dominant ride in Frontier Town. I don't know that I've arrived at a final conclusion, but I think I'm leaning towards Maverick myself. Steel Vengeance had so much to it, but there's just something about that punchy nature of Maverick that really makes it almost unmatched in its greatness.

 

Glad you had a great trip!

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CP did such a good job the last few years with the entrances, hotel upgrades, food upgrades, and of course rides. It's now overdue to bring the bathrooms out of the campground 70's theme and to modern times.

 

Also, as I mentioned in several places the bugs this time were out of control. Not something I expected in August. In the past I had only seen swarms like these in May/June. Poor KT and I in the front row of SV at dusk was a painful experience.

 

Great report, looking forward to having you join us again next year!

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Awesome! I agree on Melt, Fast Lane Plus, and all the...er...wildlife encounters. Don't know what's up with Lake Erie this year, but the bugs are outrageous. Of course, that made the spiders in Steel Vengeance's queue quite happy, but most of the humans in that queue didn't take that as an improvement.

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From Knoebels...

 

The entire TPR group took over the Flyers and bumper cars after we got the ride wristbands. There were obvious experts (JOE!!!! Laura, Andy, etc) and novices like Alex and I.

 

First time I've ever been called an expert at the Flyers! Honestly, I just got lucky a few times at the beginning of my cycle. For my money, Laura was pretty much ruling the skies.

 

At this point the rain had ended and it was time to take in the park at night. Colin and I realized we hadn't done Cozmotron yet, and we were treated to the perfect Cozmotron song Dragon Force's Through the Fire and the Flames.

 

I've been on Cosmotron several times, and it's always been a mix of modern and classic pop music. Well, on this day, they went full on metal. Was not expecting that!

 

 

Fascination changed my life. I'm leaving the city to pursue botany.

 

Whatever floats your boat!

 

From Hershey...

 

 

Andy in the perfect place at the perfect time. Nice fake smile Franklin!!!

 

That is the face of a broken man!

 

From Cedar Point...

 

I found a row I liked in the middle of Magnum's train, but too close to the front or back and it's an uncomfortable ride.

 

I rode Magnum twice, both in the same row. The first ride was awesome, the second ride (the next day) was horrible. As I've heard said before, there are tricks for Magnum, but they're never guaranteed to actually work.

 

The glaring issue now - the bathrooms. Coped from my initial post in August:

Dear lord they're stinky, messy, old, don't have paper towels, no hot/cold water option, and some don't even have doors to keep in air conditioning in or keep the bugs out (!!!!). It's not just a "needs cleaning more often" issue. I really hope they concentrate on this part of the park soon. I'm not sure if this hasn't been addressed yet because of the plumbing beneath + sand and how difficult that might be I have no idea about the level of difficulty there. Of all the parks on the trip and the parks I've visited in recent memory, I can't think of a worse example. They're on Ukrainian Village grungy dive bar levels.

 

CP did such a good job the last few years with the entrances, hotel upgrades, food upgrades, and of course rides. It's now overdue to bring the bathrooms out of the campground 70's theme and to modern times.

 

Thirded. They're long past due to dump some money into this!

 

 

SV was so 6 hours ago, let's start the day on the front row of TTD

 

That was really funny, just walking past TTD and seeing you two up front and basically nobody else anywhere near the ride.

 

And that's it!

 

But wait, you forgot the part where your flight got cancelled and you somehow ended up with the coolest chauffeur in all of Ohio!

 

OK, now that's it!

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  • 2 years later...

Recently we toured the main cities of the USA with friends. We got the most impressions in New York. This is a city where there is no time to get bored. Lots of ideas for where to go. On the first day, we went to various museums and parks. And the next we tried various other entertainments. One of the most interesting museums I've been to is the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. We also really enjoyed the food at 24-Hour Sarge's Delicatessen & Diner. Great emotions, New York is definitely made for tourists!

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