Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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 9/1/2006 8:47:36 PM
Well folks, it’s here (finally). Sorry this is tardy, but I have been incredibly busy ever since I got back from our vacation, and have had little down time of any kind, save time for actually writing a TR. So this one is going to be shorter and less-detailed than past TRs (I can sense the disappointment coming from all of you, I’m touched), but I assure you I’ll still give you an overview and attempt to actually make this a document that some of you may want to read in the wee hours when attempting to fall asleep.
Kennywood
Our first stop on this trip was Kennywood. I had heard plenty of praise for Kennywood over the years, and since it is one of the great classic amusement parks in the the U.S., I had high hopes, given how my family and I enjoyed Blackpool Pleasure Beach, one of Britain’s great classic amusement parks.
The park opened at 10, but the rides didn’t start till 11. We ended up getting there at about 10:30, entered, and made our way towards Phantom’s Revenge to the start the day off with a bang. A few minutes after 11, we were let in and managed to get on the 2nd or 3rd train of the day. The lift was long and slow, as is the case with most old Arrow’s. The first hill is only about 150 feet high, but it creates a lot more speed than one would think, so that you are really moving by the time you hit the straightaway before the 2nd hill. My family were occupying the last two rows of the train, with my mom and I riding in the very back. Well, the best way to describe this coaster is vicious. It never lets up the whole way, the speed is blistering and kept up throughout most of the ride, and the airtime hills that replaced the inversions when it was altered did not have very smooth transitions, but did provide great ejector air. Overall, in the back, you really get your money’s worth, though my family thought it was almost too much. I thought it was fine, but that it suffered from choppy transitions and almost uncontrollable forces.
On to the next order of business. Since we were in the corner of the park, we decided to tackle the other rides in that area. We started with the Wave Swinger, a set of swings that were a walk-on, which seemed to be run much faster here than at other parks where we have ridden these. Good fun, and then on to the Exterminator. My mom and dad decided to let myself and my sister ride first, since both of them are not especially fond of spinning and found Ragin’ Cajun at SFGAm to be rather nauseating. My sister and I waited about 10 minutes and then got to enjoy what was a very disorienting and quite forceful mouse. Once the actual spinning starts, you are in virtually total blackness, so it definitely feels out of control. The theming in the building, though fairly tame, was a nice touch. We reported back to our parents that they could probably ride it, but we decided to all give the Whip a try first. The only other time we had ridden one, and indeed even been to a park with one, was Pleasure Beach, and it seemed to me that this one was a bit slower than its British counterpart. Regardless, it was good fun, and my dad and I tried to up the forces a bit by leaning into the turns in order to generate a bit more inertia. 
Following the Whip, we all went for the Exterminator. After waiting about 15 minutes, we were on and my parents enjoyed it. My dad was a bit dizzy afterwards, but still liked it, and both my parents shut their eyes during the spinning portion to minimize any nausea that may have tried to sneak up on them.
After our journey in the dark (LotR homage intended  ), we headed for the Pitt Fall. Towers remain the type of amusement ride that make me the most nervous, and this one appeared to be plenty large. Still, I think it’s good for me to go on these devices, and we all rode and enjoyed our 250-foot drop (according to the ride ops, anyway). Of note is the fact that a couple of the sides were broken when we were the
Message updated 9/5/2006 8:18:07 AM by Animan1
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adriahna
Posts: 4692
Registered: 6/4/2003
Rank: Site Moderator
Skooter Junkie
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9/1/2006 10:15:06 PM
Niiiiice, Animan - very cool, quick yet thorough TR. I love that you made it to Coney, and enjoyed the hell-for-leather character of the Cyclone, and unique experience offered by the Wonder Wheel. Really, really cool.
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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9/1/2006 10:17:50 PM
Quick?  Thanks, I tried, but it was still 7 solid pages on my word processor. But thank you, and obviously I am also very glad that we were able to make it to Coney Island. It was definitely a very unique experience.
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adriahna
Posts: 4692
Registered: 6/4/2003
Rank: Site Moderator
Skooter Junkie
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9/1/2006 10:37:46 PM
Awesome. Oh, and believe it or not, it actually was a pretty quick report, when you consider everything that you covered. There's a lot of information in this TR...
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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9/2/2006 8:58:03 AM
Well, I'm glad that at least one person found it to be relatively quick - that gives me some hope for the rest of my audience. I'll try to get my Cyclone and Wonder Wheel reviews up first so that you can get my more detailed thoughts on each experience over there.
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hrrytraver
Posts: 1270
Registered: 7/16/2005
Rank: Platinum Critic
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9/2/2006 10:39:39 AM
^nice work animan. the three parks you visited were very wise choices for a mid-westerner to hit while east. however, next time, go to knoebel's.
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RCGenius
Posts: 1180
Registered: 12/23/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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9/2/2006 8:34:08 PM
And Dorney Park too, but excellent TRs without a doubt Animan1. It looks like you had a great time at the park I used to work at, my #1 favorite park in PA Kennywood, & the historical Coney Island of New York.
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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9/2/2006 9:15:46 PM
Yes, I would definitely like to hit up Knoebels and Dorney Park at some point too, plus some of the smaller parks in the state, but I thought this was a good start nonetheless. Thanks to everybody for their positive feedback.
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Danny
Posts: 6316
Registered: 5/23/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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9/2/2006 11:59:06 PM
Awesome TR Animan. I'm looking forward to your Cyclone review.
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Timberman
Posts: 845
Registered: 9/21/2004
Rank: Gold Critic
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9/3/2006 1:01:28 AM
Great trip report, Animan1. I agree that Sidewinder is one of the better Boomerang installations. Sorry to hear that Wildcat seems not to be aging well, however.
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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9/3/2006 9:37:22 PM
Quote:
Danny said:
Awesome TR Animan. I'm looking forward to your Cyclone review. |
Thanks, the the review is now up.
Quote:
Timberman said:
Great trip report, Animan1. I agree that Sidewinder is one of the better Boomerang installations. Sorry to hear that Wildcat seems not to be aging well, however. |
Yep, it is unfortunate, seeing as how Wildcat was a fairly highly ranked woodie when it was younger, if I'm not mistaken. Like I say, I think a train switch would really help the coaster a lot, as the Millennium Flyer trains seem to provide a smoother-than-average ride for a wooden coaster.
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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9/4/2006 9:21:58 PM
Animan1 - glad you got to go to some great parks and a great TR.
Just a suggestion to make it easier to read. Start the section from each park/destination with bolding and underlining like this: Kennywood
Oh, it looks like you skipped The Kangaroo at Kennywood, bummer
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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9/5/2006 8:15:16 AM
Thanks for the comments and suggestion. I've edited the TR to include that addition. And I did skip the Kangaroo, I don't even recall seeing it, actually, though I wasn't looking for it either. Oh well.
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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9/5/2006 7:02:17 PM
Just a quick note that the Kennywood reviews are now up in addition to the Coney Island ones. Hopefully I can will get the Hershey ones up tomorrow.
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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9/8/2006 1:56:42 PM
Alright, all of the reviews are now complete. The only thing left for me to do is edit my Top 10. Also, I have uploaded all of my photos (including SeaWorld Orlando from back in March) and they are ready for viewing. They need a little re-organizing so that they can be viewed in an orderly fashion, but I'll get to that when I get to it. Just so you know, all the Coney Island photos were taken by my mom, and the photo from on the Pitt Fall was taken by my dad. Enjoy!
Gallery
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