Photo TR: The Johnson's Coaster Vacation (2006)

Day 6:

Six Flags Great Adventure.

We really liked this park quite a bit, though the weather was really crappy while we were there. The weather kept the crowds away so we did not have to get a Flash Pass/Q*bot. I got to give the park credit in that they still ran all the coasters (except Kingda Ka, and those that were closed) in the rain. We were able to earn Batman, Nitro, Skull Mountain, Blackbeard, and Medusa rather quickly (and without Flash Pass). After lunch we did then get Rolling Thunder as well as Great American Scream Machine before we called it quits for the day because the weather was simply terrible. Lucky for us we did plan an extra day for the park...just in case.

Though our hotel did have a nice Greek place to eat.

No Kingda Ka credit for us today.

We decided to leave the park, those cars were prety much all that was in the parking lot.

Though Superman got stuck for a long time. We did here some yell, "I got to go poopie!" He still hung there for another 20 minutes.

After Rolling Thunder and GASM, we went over to Superman.

We had five credits by lunch.

We were all very hungry. Leanne also picked up a new friend for her collection.

We decided to go get some lunch.

We spent some time in here waiting for the rain to slow down.

Awww, no western show today.

We got more wet during this part of the ride instead of the spash down.

Why not? No line and we were already soaked.

Onto Medusa. Medusa Mining Company? Oh, that is why Medusa is in this area of the park.

While you don't see it in this picture. They were testing El Toro in the rain. That thing looks great.

We walked over here, we left our map in the car so we just kinda wandered around the park.

Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train.

Nope, not open today.

Yeah we got a little bit wet.

Yeah, sitting on the front row while it was raining pretty hard was a really good idea. So we rode it three times in a row.

Ok onto Nitro.

We all spent some time in here, we preety much got all the stains out.

Batman made a mess of our clothes, at least the ride ops warned us.

First credit of the day, Batman.

Yeah, its a world wide celebration at Six Flags. But for 45 years??

How many Superman logos do you see here?

Day 7:

Back to Six Flags Great Adventure.

Instead of going to Dorney we decided to give SFGAdv a second try to see if we could earn those Superman, Kingda Ka, and the kiddie credit I totally forgot about. Batman & Robin: Chiller was still closed as well as the Mine Train so there was no chance for those, and yes we did miss he opening of El Toro by 3 days. It is ok though, we will most certainly make it back to this park again.

Here is some of the benefits. Thanks SF Great Adventure, you rocked.

You can enjoy these benefits, for a mere $99 a person.

At least I rode The Great Gasp last year, because this was closed today.

Pretty cool Go-Kart track, too bad it is an upcharge ride.

Ok, this was junk.

I posted this one for you tortoise lovers.

Close up of Kingda Ka.

Nice Kitty.

I did not think Kingda Ka operated well with a lot of water.

So did they name the coaster after the tiger, or the tiger after the coaster?

It is still running, cool!

The show is about to begin.

All about Tigers.

Everyone likes Tigers! Right?

See, its Kingda Ka through the trees/bushes.

Yeah, this is the extent of my POV video.

Weeeeee...we got the credit.

Do you think we got the credit? You decide.

Oh this looks good.

Oh please let us ride!

We then walked through this gate.

We proceeded to get a KK ticket, because they load the loading platform as groups instead of a constant line.

Since the rain stopped, we walked over to this area.

Instead of a gum wall or tree, they have a gum platform. Yeah we got the credit, only one more S:UF credit to go now.

Cool, they got Superman running.

Ok, where to now?

The ride-ops were nice enough to allow us to ride.

OK, time to get the kiddie credit.

It ended up being my favorite coaster in the park.

We liked Nitro so much, we decided to try it without rain.

LOL! Skull Mountain.

Yeah we already know.

Let's Go!

It looks like they adjusted Tweety's costume a bit.

The Looney Toons did the song and dance thingy.

Then we sang the national anthem with Slyvester.

It was almost 10:00.

Superdork was doing his thing.

Sob! No Batman & Robin credits this trip.

The rain really slowed down by this time.

Batbear.

Awwwww...I miss Pedroland.

Still about 15 minutes until park opening, so we walked in here.

It does not look very good again this day, but its not raining as hard.

It was still a bit rainy when we first got there. Rain = No Kingda Ka.

Nope, not even testing when we got there.

It looks like you were really lucky to get on KK with the way the weather was in addition to the regular chance of KK having non rain problems. It's too bad you didn't get to Dorney especially because even with just doing the twilight admission (or whatever it is called), you could probably get all 8 credits there (everything but the Little Laser which is strictly under 54" only) in less than 2 - 2 1/2 hours.

Its cool, because we went to another park during the twilight hours instead, which totally rocked. I will catch Dorney whenever we hit New Jersey again. Just gives us something else to look foward to. Also the weather in that area seemed like it was pretty bad as well. We were not sure if Dorney runs its rides in the rain.

Here is a short 3 minute raw-footage video of a brand new dark ride that opened at the next park we visited. I bet you know where it is.

ReeseXchallenge..zip

Reese Xtreme Cup Challenge.

Hersheypark. That ride looks pretty fun.

Awesome pictures Erik! Looks like you had some fun on Kingda Ka

Yeah after watching the Tiger show we left New Jersey to hit Hershey Park in PA. We got there to experience the magical time at the park, which is known as 6:00-10:00 PM. We were able to earn every credit in the park, except Roller Soaker which we got the next day, in a little over two hours. The park was very empty and the weather was just about perfect. I did not take any pictures or video at this time, but I sure did the next day and here they are!

We want to ride some coasters now, even freaky ones like Storm Runner.

Oh yeah, we are at Hershey's, I forgot.

Anyone know what this building is used for?

I guess the fur coat of this Buffalo is now on someone's floor.

Yeah its good to follow to rules.

Yeah, it had a few animals.

The zoo was medium sized.

Here we go again.

You have to leave HersheyPark and cross this bridge to go to the zoo, but its included in the ticket price.

As well as a zoo, which is something to do when all the rides are down.

Hershey Park has all kinds of theming and stores.

Yep, even Storm Runner.

While we did get to ride Roller Soaker, they closed all the rides soon after due to lightning.

We headed over to the water ride area.

See.

Yeah, this was a must do ride.

Hello Mr. Hershey.

Yeah, it is still there.

Seems like a nice park already.

Yeah, we are tall enough to ride all the rides, even though we earned all the credits last night. (Well, we still needed Roller Soaker.)

Ok, onto Hershey Park.

We got candy at the end of the ride.

They need to start making more Peppermint Patties.

Ride vehicle.

"Hershey's, Hershey's Milk Chocolate."

Moooo!

Well since it is now rodents instead of donkeys.

For $10, you can work in the fake chocolate factory.

Everyone loves chocolate.

Yeah, its not the real chocolate factory.

There is the newly revamped dark ride here.

Our first stop of the day, Chocolate World.

Yeah we took the tram into the park.

Through the parking booths we go.

But, there you go.

Yeah, you would not expect a park in this area.

We were really happy with this hotel at exit #72.

Yeah, I finally got around to wearing this one.

Wow, Im jealous, looks like you gus had a lot of fun.

More Hersheypark.

Though the coaster was a trimmed too much.

Here is the lift hill.

See, there it is.

Yeah, though it only has one vertical loop.

Ok, one final Great Bear photo.

I thought it was strange that Hersheypark was selling cars as well.

Though it does have a vertical loop.

Even in the back row.

Not too intense with minimal forces.

Yeah, its pretty much your "family inverted B&M" coaster.

It is Great Bear.

Look, there are more coasters down there.

You get a nice view of the park from up here.

OK, sure.

So it is called, "The Kissing Tower".

So we waited.

The observation tower ride was still closed.

I smell chocolate.

Aww what happened to the Condor or whatever its called in the last pic.

At HP it was called the Flying Falcon and it was being dismantled when I was there on May 24th and form Erik's pics it looks to be completely gone now.

JEFF

I don't know if I skipped over it, but there was no mention of the Avalanche at PKD. Did you ride it? Those Mack bobsleds are quite rare---in fact, the one at PKD is the only one in North America.

And, by the way, great Photo TR!

Eric

More Hersheypark.

Bye Hersheypark, we liked you quite a bit.

Any idea why they have these seatbelts connected to the queue railing?

While no airtime of these, they dueling aspect was really well done.

Yeah the racers were a lot of fun. It was our first GCII with Millennium Flyer trains.

Construction #1

Yeah, it looks like they are adding more "water park" type slides at HP.

We thought Wildcat was also a lot of fun.

Is for....my #100th credit?

They keep the ride moving at all times, amazing operations on this one, plus the top section is trimless.

The Wild Mouse kicked butt.

Yeah, another flyers credit for us.

I wonder how many people come to HB to burn calories.

The track layout certainly was very unique.

While on the short side, Storm Runner was an intense crazy fun ride.

OK, the rain stopped and they are running Storm Runner again.

I liked how the loading station sloped downward.

The Comet was my third favorite wooden coaster of the trip.

It started to rain yet again, I am glad we already have all the coaster credits.

They gave away full sized candy at the end of the ride.

Check out the video I posted at the start of the Hershey section of this Photo TR.

You get to shoot a bunch of stuff.

The chocolate and peanut butter teams ride in different cars, but they are connected.

Oh yeah!

OK, time to experience the new dark ride.

Yeah, they got swings.

I don't know if I skipped over it, but there was no mention of the Avalanche at PKD. Did you ride it? Those Mack bobsleds are quite rare---in fact, the one at PKD is the only one in North America.

 

And, by the way, great Photo TR!

 

Eric

Yeah we did, it actually was Leanne's 2nd favorite coaster on the trip. I just forgot to take pictures of it, though I got plenty of video.

I always assumed those buckles were there so people could practice how to buckle their belts before they get on the ride. Of course thinking about it that way seems kinda silly.

Do all riders get candy after the new dark ride, or only the winning car?

Half of me wants to watch the video, but half of me wants to wait until I ride it myself this summer.

Everyone gets the candy.

OK last park of the trip. Yes you guessed it, Knoebels.

Its also right next to the newest ride at Knoebels.

It should be a cool, fun ride.

The have a bunch of pieces ready to be placed on the main supports.

How along has it been since a Flying Turns ran in the United States?

They have made some progress on the ride, but they still have more to do.

Even though it was a Saturday, they were working on the new ride.

Yeah, Knoebels is building a new ride.

The Phoenix instantly became my #1 coaster.

Phoenix shook Leanne up quite a bit, she found the amount of ejector airtime very scary.

Yeah we sat in the front row for our ride. No seat belts with buzz bars equals extreme ejector airtime.

So that is what the big chain lift wheel looks like.

It seems so innocent as it leaves the station.

Phoenix was the very last coaster of the trip.

OMG! Nothing prepared us for this one.

OK, where to now?

Certainly one of the better coasters of the trip.

This coaster was a lot of fun.

They added another train once the line got long.

2nd credit of the day, Twister.

Pets are allowed in the park.

They had these signs about the '96 flood all over the park. I guess it was pretty bad.

I had no idea that these things could create airtime, lol!

First ride of the day.

With tickets in hand, we were ready to ride some rides.

You get all kinds of park information at this place.

While free, it takes a lot longer for the tram to get to the front of the park than walking.

Yeah, there were a lot of people at Knoebels that day.

So that's how they are able to get all that wood for the park's rides.

Yep, only 3 more miles till Knoebels.

Yes, it is downtown Elysburg.

But if you are not into scenic routes, Just take 54 off of I-81.

Another small town on the way.

While it is in the middle of nowhere, with good planning its easy to find.

Yeah we took the long way around because I always wanted to visit Frackville.

More Knoebels.

Yeah, someday we hope to return.

Yeah, its the wooden rodent.

It certainly was a great park to finish the trip on.

Yeah, Knoebels certainly has a lot of charm.

This was a nice ride, it is also the most expensive at $3.

Yep, we are tall enough.

Yummy!

Ramming speed!!

The water takes you right through the middle of the kiddie coaster's layout.

Yep.

There is a surprise under this bridge.

Time for the motor boat ride.

Plus you got to duel other trains.

Lots of woods.

The track is 1.2 miles long.

While not a steam train, this one had a much better track layout.

Ok, it was time for the other train ride.

This is where the music comes from.

No brass ring for any of us.

Dang it, they all look normal to me. Oh well.

So will we get lucky and find the brass ring?

This sign leads you right to the brass ring carousel.

Lots of singing and dancing.

We also found a rodent.

It took a little while, but we did find it.

If you can't snap these, there is no hope for you.

Oh yeah, they have my favorite flat ride, Flyers.

These things hit hard, it was also fun to spin out other people.

Yeah, these certainly deserves all the praise.

Oh yeah, this park has amazing skooters.

It also went through some woods.

Yeah it was a real working steam train.

Here are the seats.

This was the first train ride of the day.

The have a really old kiddie carousel.

There are quiet a few one-of-a-kind shops at Knoebels.

We thought the pizza was quite tasty.

Time for some lunch, we were hungry.

Yeah it was pretty cool.

This ride had some length to it, how did they fit it all into this building?

Yeah, it was time for the dark ride.

Ok, so I earned 46 new credits, and this is what I thought of them.

Busch Gardens Europe.

Credit #61 Loch Ness Monster. Pretty good, especially for its age. The helix in the dark was a real surprise.

Credit #62 Big Bad Wolf. My favorite coaster at BGE, its also really great at night.

Credit #63 Alpengeist. Very tall and fast. Other than the first drop its not very intense. While the theming was top notch, its just an above average B&M invert.

Credit #64 Apollo's Chariot. The setting of this coaster was amazing. Not my favorite B&M Hyper, (Goliath is) but we especially enjoyed our front row ride.

Paramount's King's Dominion

Credit #65 Hypersonic XLC. The launch was really great as well as the airtime hill. The rest of the ride was a bit rough.

Credit #66 Rebel Yell. A decent out-and-back older style dueling woodie.

Credit #67 Ricochet. Not my favorite mouse because of the trims, but it does have that unique drop at the start of the ride.

Credit #68 Hurler. I really don't like either Hurler, though this one was better than Carowinds's version.

Credit #69 Italian Job Turbo Coaster. Great family launched coaster with some nice theming.

Credit #70 Volcano, The Blast Coaster. I really liked this one, it also was my very first Intamin coaster.

Credit #71 Avalanche. Much more fun than I expected. I understand its the only Mack Bobsled coaster in the U.S.

Credit #72 Anaconda. The first drop that takes you underwater was fun, but I really did not care much for this one.

Credit #73 Scooby-Doo's Ghoster Coaster. While it is a junior wooden coaster, it was my favorite woodie in the park.

Credit #74 Shockwave. The Togo Death Machine (My first). 2nd worst coaster on the trip. The first drop and vertical loop were fine, the rest was not.

Credit #75 Grizzly. I really did not care much for the old Grizzly, sorry.

Six Flags America

Credit #76 Batwing For some strange reason I like Vekoma Flying Dutchman coasters. I thought this one was better than the Borg/Stealth one.

Credit #77 Wild One This one was my 2nd favorite woodie on the trip. The coaster was running really great, plus some great airtime can be had in the front row.

Credit #78 Two Face: The Flip Side It was a pretty fun Vekoma Intertigo coaster. Kinda fun to try to have a staring contest on this one.

Credit #79 Roar It was pretty good, a few good moments but nothing really special.

Credit #80 Mind Eraser Hands down the worst coaster I have ridden so far. A really crappy Vekoma SLC.

Credit #81 The Great Chase A small Kiddie coaster, kinda rough for us big people but good for a laugh.

Credit #82 Superman - Ride of Steel. While it is a good ride, this coaster seems to be falling apart. They had a lot of problems with it while we were there.

Six Flags Great Adventure

Credit #83 Batman: The Ride. I always liked these smaller intense B&M inverts.

Credit #84 Nitro. I really like this one, probably my favorite steel on the trip.

Credit #85 SKull Mountain. LOL!!!

Credit #86 Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train. A decent mid-sized kiddie coaster. Nothing really special.

Credit #87 Medusa. The world's first B&M floorless. I like Kraken much better.

Credit #88 Rolling Thunder. Nothing special about this woodie IMO.

Credit #89 Great America Scream Machine. Ummmm, junk.

Credit #90 Road Runner Railway. Its the same exact model as the Great Chase at SFA.

Credit #91 Superman--Ultimate Flight. I now find that I can handle the pretzel loops better now, though that element is still intense.

Credit #92 Kingda Ka. Fun coaster, though the launch is not as intense as Hypersonic's.

Hersheypark

#93 Sidewinder Not the best boomerang I have been on, kinda made me dizzy for some reason.

#94 Storm Runner This was fun and totally messed up. I wish it was longer though.

#95 Trailblazer Ummmmmm......Kids would like it.

#96 Great Bear B&M tried to do something a little different with the start of the ride, but still nothing really great.

#97 Sooperdooperlooper Damn trimmed Schwarzy....

#98 Comet This was running really great when we rode it, we liked it a lot.

#99 Wildcat Actually this turned out better than I thought it would. We liked it quite a bit, especially the first drop.

#100 Wild Mouse My favorite mouse coaster so far, the top half was trimless.

#101-102 Lightning Racers While no airtime is to be had on these, the dueling aspect was very well done and fun.

#103 Roller Soaker Always a lot of fun, especially for the people below you...

Knoebels

#104 High Speed Thrill Coaster Surprisingly fun Kiddie coaster with some quick short airtime.

#105 Twister A good solid fun wooden coaster.

#106 Phoenix My new #1 coaster (Both wood and steel). The amount of ejector airtime was a real surprise. You almost fear for your life on this one....

Nice TR Erik! your trip was pretty similar to the trip I took last year, minus Knobels, and I went to Dorney instead of SFA. Its a great group of parks they have up there. Glad to see you guys got the Kingda Ka credit!

Awesome Photo Tr Erik!!! Glad you all had a great time and boosting your coaster credits sky high!!

But one thing that boggles my mind in one of your pics.....

WHITE BROCCOLI?

^^ White Broccoli? I must have missed something or have short term memory.