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Skycoastin' Steve's 2012 Season Extravaganza!!


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That is a decent looking little FEC, too bad it's in the middle of freaking no where. I've never been one to go too far out of the way for a kiddie coaster credit but more power to you if that's what your into. Pretty decent looking steak, especially for an amusement park/FEC.

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Pretty decent looking steak, especially for an amusement park/FEC.

 

I think Deadwood is the favorite "local" restaurant to a 50 mile radius (not like there is much else to choose from). There was definitely a nice crowd of families and couples out for dinner. And the food is decently priced and not bad. The whole experience was...well, interesting and hilarious.

 

And I was THIS close to winning our putt-putt match. One stupid hole ruined it for me!

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Definitely one of the strangest parks I have ever been to. I can't remember how many times he sent me around that coaster, but I know I eventually said, "Ok, thats enough." And there is no shame in driving long distances for a kiddie coaster; I just got back from a 18 hour round trip that was based on kiddie coasters. Anyways, great pictures as always, it was nice to revisit my personal trip to Wood of Deadness. Keep the pictures coming.

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Alrighty, time for Day #2 of our Memorial Day Weekend adventures. Today we visit Ocean City, Maryland, in hopes of some serious credit whoring. There are six total credits that adults are allowed to get in the city, and if all goes according to plan, we'll get the six credits so Skyrush can be Jen's 300th credit! It was a 400-mile trip through 5 states with many twists, turns, and shenanigans. Would we be successful? You have to read to find out..........

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Our day would start with a trip across the 17-mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel!

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And while I know that about 90% of the people on this forum are violently allergic to anything that doesn't have to do with roller coasters, I'm still going to showcase some pictures from the bridge. This were all taken from a rest stop at the beginning of the first tunnel.

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GO AMERICA!

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Birds and a sailboat. Not quite Boats and Hos, but close.

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I wonder if this guy knew I was taking pictures of him?

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This is an outcropping of rocks that shows where the roadway is while it's still lowering under the water and into the tunnel. It's there to prevent any boats from colliding with the tunnel (obviously).

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The other side!

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In case you forgot where we were......

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USA! USA! USA!

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I do rather like this picture.

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Shortly after taking this picture, that giant orange boat crushed that yacht and exploded. True story.

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Fishing pier.

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Map of the layout. And my reflection.

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TAKE THE TUNNEL!!!

 

(See? I got a coaster reference in there for those of you who are bored!)

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The only thing missing here is a speeding car crashing into a toxic waste truck that blows up and implodes half the tunnel, thereby killing almost everyone except a lucky few who have to be rescued by a shamed former EMT who bares resemblance to Sylvester Stallone. He then brings everyone to Daylight and saves the day!

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We made it!

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And here we are in Ocean City! Our first stop is Baja Amusements, a place that mostly features go karts.

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How rude!

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Time to get wacky!

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He looks drugged out of his mind.

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Employees wearing sleeveless shirts? Seems legit.

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Moving further into the city, it seems they have a giant display on Medieval torture right on the water!

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However, the complex housing this giant torture device will not be opening until 6 tonight (even though the website said NOON). In other words, we'll be long gone before that happens. Two credits missed, so Jen will have to wait on 300. :(

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Moving right along, we see our next destination is not far away.

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It's Jolly Roger at the Pier, and they seem to be open!

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To ride the Looping Star (ouch), you need at least four people or the ride could valley. So we waited for about 10 minutes until a couple employees volunteered to get beaten to smithereens with us. Credit!

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In case you didn't know, there's a beach in Ocean City. It's a city on the ocean. Duh!

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For our last stop, we get to the other Jolly Roger, which is on 30th street. The website said the rides open at 2 today.

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However, we asked an employee, and she said they don't open till 5. So two more credits missed. This day has taken a turn for the horrific. That means we have to come back.........

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Only 2 out of 6 credits earned, Jen won't hit 300 on Skyrush (although she still has a chance to hit it with Verbolten!), and all that way for basically nothing. The whores have been shamed.

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HOWEVER! Our day got better as we reached Hershey and cashed in our single day tickets for a preview the night before Skyrush's opening day!

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Earlier in the thread, you learned about the new species in Tennessee, "Eagleus Wildus." Today, we see Eagleus Wildus' younger, much more badly behaved cousin, Skymus Rushimus Maximus, waiting rather impatiently for opening day.

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Skymus Rushimus Maximus wants to be unleashed upon the world to crush wimpy enthusiasts' thighs everywhere, and to provide the tougher of the lot the most insane rides EVAR!

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Run from the storm!

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Or run with the storm? What exactly is a "storm runner," and what does it have to do with horses??

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Who cares? No matter what it does, it looks good at sunset!

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We would get three rides on this beast before closing.

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For another ride that looks terrific at sunset.......

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We have Fahrenheit!

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Hello, moon!

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I do really love this element, it's just too bad it's on a fairly boring coaster.

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And while it takes terrific pictures........

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It sucks to ride. So we didn't ride it either day. Thanks for reading, check back later for Skymus Rushimus Maximus' unveiling to the world!

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The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel looks awesome and is something I've always wanted to see. I'm seriously considering a trip to Busch gardens Williamsburg and Kings Dominion later this summer and if it happens I'm definitely taking the extra couple of hours to go drive through that thing.

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The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel looks awesome and is something I've always wanted to see. I'm seriously considering a trip to Busch gardens Williamsburg and Kings Dominion later this summer and if it happens I'm definitely taking the extra couple of hours to go drive through that thing.

 

I live 24 miles from the south entrance to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and what most people see as awesome, I see as a pain in the rear. There are NO discounts for anyone. For people that live on Virginia's Eastern Shore (like me), you have to cross that bridge to get to civilization. I had to take some college classes at ODU one semester and had to cross the bridge every day. At the time it was $10 one way with no discount for a return trip.

 

Ambulances don't even get a free toll. Before they installed the EZ-Pass system, EVERY Ambulance had to stop and pay the toll - regardless of the patient. Now they can roll through a little faster with the addition of the EZ-Pass lane. I have a lot of friends that work for the CBBT, they get to cross the 18 mile bridge for free - as long as they are in their primary car and traveling with direct family members.

 

On a side note: going to Ocean City MD next week. I have heard Trimper's enclosed their Bumper Cars and added black lights. I always thought they had great Bumper Cars second only to Knoebles. If its now enclosed with black lights it will be awesome.

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^ Yeah I see how that could be a complete PAIN for locals, and now that I know that it might cost $20 to drive over and back, I might just settle for the scenic overlook, besides a tunnel is a tunnel right?

 

I never realized there was so much in Ocean City, MD, looks like a pretty decent beach to spend a day at and the credits are a nice bonus!

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Only 2 out of 6 credits earned, Jen won't hit 300 on Skyrush (although she still has a chance to hit it with Verbolten!), and all that way for basically nothing. The whores have been shamed.

 

Such a shame the day started so promising and had this massive hiccup in the middle. I've never seen you fail like this but it was a good one. Hopefully you make up for it!

 

Oh, and for anyone curious, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel is definitely cool. I recommend checking it out if you can.

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Hello again, everyone! We have finally reached Hersheypark for Skyrush's opening day. I'm sure by now you've all read various rider accounts of Skyrush, and I'm sure several of you have already ridden it. So what did I think of it? Let me put it this way. On a scale of 1 to 10, it ranks at about OMFGWTF. It had INSANE airtime, maybe the best airtime of any coaster I've ever been on (yes, even more than El Toro). It was incredibly smooth (I didn't get any rattling that some people are speaking of, I think they were still vibrating from riding Fahrenheit and thought that Skyrush was doing it), and while the lap bars did get rather tight on both rides, it was nowhere near as bad as Bizarro's lap bars (which are the standard setters for horrible lap bars). As far as steel rankings go, it only came in behind MF and 305 on my list (shut up about MF, it'll never not be #1 on my steel list).

 

As for the rest of HP, I can only shake my head in utter disbelief. They easily had the worst operations staff I've ever seen at a non-Six Flags park, and they were dangerously close to crossing the SFNE/La Ronde threshold for shittiness. It was that bad. Slow, uninterested ride ops, idiotic procedures (like the wait till the station empties of every last living soul before opening the gates for the next train, although that's nothing new), zero ability to adapt to situations like guests being too large for restraints (we watched as the Roller Soaker crew took probably 5 minutes to figure out what to do when someone was too big). There was also a time when SDL, Wildcat, Lightning Racer, Roller Soaker, and Sidewinder were all not operating. So at that point, 5 of their 12 coasters were closed on what was easily the most crowded day they've probably had in a while. It's a good thing HP has rides like Skyrush, Storm Runner, and Lightning Racer that are good enough to get me to come back. Because if they didn't, I can guarantee it would take another new ride to get me to go back.

 

Anyway, back to the good stuff. I really hope we start seeing more of these Intamin "wing" coasters in the States. I hope it doesn't turn out to be like El Toro where it's still the only one of its kind in the country 5 or 6 years down the road. Now on to the pictures!

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As we arrived to Hersheypark in the morning, I noticed a sign for Fast Lane. BOYCOTT!!!!!!

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This is what the crowd at the front gate looked like an hour prior to opening. It's safe to say people were excited about the new ride.

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Time to wait!

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A look at SDL's new trains. We didn't get to ride it. When it was actually open, the line was pretty bad, so we just skipped it.

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Obligatory ride sign photo.

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I think this was the 2nd train of the day. They were dispatching at about an average of four minutes per train (thanks to the worst station design in the universe).

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The staircase on the left is the line for the front row. No thanks.

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I always like when coaster construction doesn't infringe on nature like this. They trimmed the tree down a bit, but didn't have to rip it out.

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For some perspective, our wait started between the last two trees on the right, and we ended up waiting just short of 90 minutes. By the time we got off the ride, the line was another 50 yards or so down the sidewalk.

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Worst. Station. Ever.

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Crazy airtime in the back!

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Crazy airtime everywhere!

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I love the fact that they built the walkway under the ride, makes for great photo opportunities!

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The fountains were a nice touch, too.

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Fantastic first drop.

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Lots of twisties!

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The mini airtime hill at the end had probably the strongest moment of airtime I can remember on any ride. AND it's trimmed.

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And here we have a perfect example of how Hersheypark has ZERO clue when it comes to capacity or efficiency. NINE empty seats on the new coaster when the line is over two hours long.

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Current computer background.

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I always like a good silhouette pic.

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Skyrush was so good, it knocked someone's socks off!

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No seriously, these socks flew off someone's feet and landed in the landscaping below. This time it really IS a true story!

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The other fountain.

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You can ride the dam coaster after waiting in the dam line and climbing the dam stairs to the dam station and sitting in your dam seat.

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The pull out of the first drop was pretty intense. So intense that when riding in the back right seat on my first ride, I got bent sideways over the side of the train and just about broke every rib in my body. Lesson learned: HANG ON.

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I particularly like this picture. And YES, IT IS A STENGEL DIVE. Debate over.

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I also really like this picture, but you can see the abundance of empty seats..........again.

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All in all, great effing ride.

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I couldn't give Skyrush just one stamp, so it got multiple stamps of approval!

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HOWEVER! The Stamp Nazi did NOT approve of Hersheypark on this trip. Better luck next time.

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Why did everyone look happy? Were they actually enjoying the ride? All i hear is all the bitching about "its so painful". Haha

 

Good report. Does look like a heck of a machine.

 

Also, you mean to tell me that 8+ empty seats hurts capacity?

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It really is a beautiful installation. Does that path under the coaster go anywhere, or is it just a big lop/dead end? I know that wasn't there when I was at Hershey last and I'm just curious if it ties in to the main entrance somewhere.

 

The Ride Logo sign looks like it is made out of a football goal post.

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Love the pictures. The comment about the almost getting torn to shreds on the first drop was right on for me as well. The whole ride was intense-possibly my new favorite over Maverick-but that part was an "oh shit" moment, if ever there was one.

 

On a side note, odd how many people were happy on the ride. If you believed the Interwebz, you'd know that most were immobilized for days afterwords.

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It really is a beautiful installation. Does that path under the coaster go anywhere, or is it just a big lop/dead end? I know that wasn't there when I was at Hershey last and I'm just curious if it ties in to the main entrance somewhere.

Yep, when you go through the main entrance, the path starts just to the right of the main midway and connects directly to the start of the Skyrush queue. It's a HUGE relief for what could have been a pretty ugly stampede down into Comet Hollow on a daily basis. So at least they got that right.

 

Love the pictures. The comment about the almost getting torn to shreds on the first drop was right on for me as well. The whole ride was intense-possibly my new favorite over Maverick-but that part was an "oh poo-poo" moment, if ever there was one.

 

On a side note, odd how many people were happy on the ride. If you believed the Interwebz, you'd know that most were immobilized for days afterwords.

Yeah, I saw nothing but happy faces that day. I will say, I pulled a muscle in my side trying to sit back up when I was bent over the side of the train, which was sore for a few days, but at least it wasn't my thighs!

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It really blows my mind that they are sending trains out with that many empty seats while the line is over even a half hour wait. I can see one, maybe two, but NINE! That's ridiculous on all levels. Seems to me like the ops just don't care to put in the effort to do their job and fill them. It looked like a whole row was empty in one of the pics!

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It really blows my mind that they are sending trains out with that many empty seats while the line is over even a half hour wait. I can see one, maybe two, but NINE! That's ridiculous on all levels. Seems to me like the ops just don't care to put in the effort to do their job and fill them. It looked like a whole row was empty in one of the pics!

 

One would think that with the reported slow dispatch times they were making an effort to fill the train all the way. Guess not.........

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Nice report and pictures. Amazed you survived what everyone else is calling a death machine of leg severing hell. Or are perhaps people overreacting? Can't imagine that having on the internet...

 

I have nothing but my own observations to back this up, but to me the drop in quality of ride operations happened at about the same time the water park was installed. It proved to be so popular that people will flock to Hersheypark no matter how bad the operations and food are (and yes, I think Hersheypark has absolutely horrible food). You'd think they'd want to have decent operations, especially on their new coaster. Nine empty seats is really, really bad.

 

dt

Edited by Meteornotes
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