GuyWithAStick
Captain Basic
Not with that attitude
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Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk
Canada&USA;LaR/SFNE/SFGE/Quassy/Compounce/Coney/Knoebels/Cedar Point/Waldameer/Niagara/CanWonderland
- Thread starter davidm
- Start date
Snoo
The Legend
Facts.
davidm
Strata Poster
Thursday 14th June
So my original plan was to do Seabreeze this morning and then head back to Niagara to do the parks there and then head up to Toronto. However
when I started to look at the route a bit closer and figured it would take me 2 hours to get to Seabreeze (and thus 2 hours to get back again)
and then having to cred run two parks (with a border crossing between them) and I was somewhat losing enthusiasm for that plan.
So (with apologies to Joey who I'd tentatively planned to meet up with at Seabreeze for an hour) I didn't make the stupid early start needed
for that plan and instead had a reasonably simple trip a couple of miles (over that stupid toll bridge again though, but this time I'd worked
out how to pay the toll) to Fantasy Island.
I'd driven past this place on my previous visit to this area but had not stopped in (not really sure why not to be honest, think I might just
have been a but strapped for time and wanted to do a but more touristy stuff instead that day). So this was all-new to me.
Place was very quiet, probably only one school groups there that day and a few small family groups (ie families with pre-school kids) wandering
around.
First coaster you encounter near the entrance to the park was a big apple ; Max's Doggy Dog Coaster. Great.
Moving on, the park itself was a bit shabby, the rides looked OK but there was a lot of fenced off areas looking like they were under some
construction but with very little signs of any construction.
Plonked down at the far end of the park was a spinning wild mouse ; Crazy Mouse. Great.
But back spanning most of the length of the park was the real reason to come here, a nice CCI woody Silver Comet which looked a lot
older than its age (1999).
And to my surprise I really quite liked this.
I mean it doesn't do a lot, it's not very big or fast or full of air, but it was just a fun little ride.
So I rode that a few times and I was done. I was going to ride their mini sky flyer but they had a daft "no single riders" policy and there
were obviously no spare people hanging around so I baled on that.
They had a few other flats, as I said they looked OK but mostly they were just standard, probably portable models just plonked down on the
tarmac.
Oh well, worth popping in for the woody if you are driving past then - I seem to recall getting in cheap as well for some reason that I forget
now, maybe it was a special offer day or something but it was less than the advertised price on the website anyway.
Back in the car and the next park is only a couple of miles away but it takes rather too long to get there because of big wait at the border
crossing - just slow operations on the few booths that were open I think, probably took an hour to get through that. Boo.
Couple ofmiles kilometres South then is Marineland - another place I'd skipped in the past but this one
had quite intrigued me in the intervening years to be honest as I read up on the daft Arrow coaster they have here.
First impressions of the place were odd, scrappy car park, but the entrance buildings were all quite well maintained (this place was not so
cheap to get into either). But then once you walk past the few buildings near the entrance (gift shop, sea-creature show pool) you end up
walking into basically nowhere - scrub lands with little sign of any rides or anything.
Follow a sign to the kiddy area and come across a few kiddy rides, no least of which is a junior Tivloli Lady Bug Coaster. It was
awesome obviously.
Ride op did laugh at me ; getting used to that now.
Wandering back into the parkland you walk a few hundred yards between anything ; I mean like there's a sign then you walk a 100 yards, then
there's a bench and then you walk a few 100 yards and then there's a (closed) drink stall then you walk another 100 yards and there's a ride
being ridden by a bunch of Amish people.
then you walk a few 100 more yards and there is another shop and then a pool full of Beluga whales.
What I'm trying to say is that place is vast, yet full of nothing.
I do a lap of the (vast) park deliberately to see it all before I head into the main attraction. Even this was an odd entrance as you find
the entrance way and a ride-op greets you but then you walk anther couple of hundred yards until you find the actual ride building and the
queue entrance. Space is not at a premium here.
So that is the entrance to Dragon Mountain and I don't mind saying I was very excited, in a big-goon way, to be heading into it!
Once inside that understated entrance you are almost in pitch black and stumble around trying to find where to go, then suddenly a gap
opens in the cave-walls - ahhh the drama of it, fantastic.
Busy you can tell!
Ride the front first then
And the ride is just bonkers.
Lets be clear though; this is not a "good roller coaster". It's old, it's uncomfortable, the lift hill takes an age, there's no airtime,
it's full of pointless meandering sections and you feel it could be condemned at any moment.
But it is just wonderful.
The lift hill is built on the side of a hill (well it all looks like it is man-made hill from a nearby quarry to be honest, that would explain
how they would have built the ride at least) so it's really a terrain-hill - and I do like that a lot. It's really REALLY slow though, but
eventually you round the corner at the top (much like how Nemesis goes up it's hill yet you are never far from the ground, then you turn that
corner and all hell brakes loose). Well this one doesn't have the skill of Nemesis but it does then drop you down and into a double loop
that just pokes above the tree line.
After that brief moment of excitement it meanders around a bit, then heads out 'backstage' (in that you can't see that side of the ride
from the main park) where it just gets weird ; there's a big fake Volcano out there inside which we helix around for a bit before diving into
a tunnel.
Popping out of the tunnel we are still in the backstage area and it's back to meandering around as the course takes in a scenic route around
the edge of a very un-scenic patch of land (I believe the intention was to have a big fake replica of the Niagara Falls here that the ride
would travel through, but that was never built so it's all just wasteland out there).
But then there's another tunnel that takes us back through the mountain again - this is pretty fab as they are proper dark tunnels and this
one is angled downwards so we pick up speed racing through the dark.
Straight out of the tunnel and into the other inversion, the ride's famously unique bowtie element.
And after that it's more meandering through some less than smooth transitions and back to the station.
Loved it for all its (many) faults!
Rode it a few times, after the first time the ride-ops were surprised I came back but when I started asking to just stay on (train was mostly
empty of course) we started chatting and they stopped judging me I think.
Back in the park, more sparse areas with the odd ride hiding amongst the trees, this one an abandoned topple-tower that they seemingly can't
even be bothered to remove.
"Temporarily" lol!
There have animals here - seemed to be in big pens, if a little bare of vegetation. (Bit of meandering Dragon track and the volcano in the
background though)
There was one other ride that I wanted to do, their big shot tower (it is big) that's on top of another (presumably man made) hill.
Was a bit of trek up there too
But the view from the top of the tower was very good, all over the falls. Worth the trek up anyway.
I did stick my head into the show-pool place as I left, pool didn't look very big to me.
Anyway I did feel that that was worth stopping in for, despite the relatively expensive (for 2 coasters and a shot ride) entrance price. And
the several miles you have to walk to get around is good for you I guess.
And since I was not spending the day driving back and forth across New York state I then had a couple of hours to do some normal-tourist
stuff on this side of the waterfalls.
Went up the Skylon with my proper camera and a WIDE lens
and a ZOOM lens
then wandered around the falls for a bit before grabbing some food and heading back to Toronto and the last hotel of the trip.
So my original plan was to do Seabreeze this morning and then head back to Niagara to do the parks there and then head up to Toronto. However
when I started to look at the route a bit closer and figured it would take me 2 hours to get to Seabreeze (and thus 2 hours to get back again)
and then having to cred run two parks (with a border crossing between them) and I was somewhat losing enthusiasm for that plan.
So (with apologies to Joey who I'd tentatively planned to meet up with at Seabreeze for an hour) I didn't make the stupid early start needed
for that plan and instead had a reasonably simple trip a couple of miles (over that stupid toll bridge again though, but this time I'd worked
out how to pay the toll) to Fantasy Island.
I'd driven past this place on my previous visit to this area but had not stopped in (not really sure why not to be honest, think I might just
have been a but strapped for time and wanted to do a but more touristy stuff instead that day). So this was all-new to me.
Place was very quiet, probably only one school groups there that day and a few small family groups (ie families with pre-school kids) wandering
around.
First coaster you encounter near the entrance to the park was a big apple ; Max's Doggy Dog Coaster. Great.
Moving on, the park itself was a bit shabby, the rides looked OK but there was a lot of fenced off areas looking like they were under some
construction but with very little signs of any construction.
Plonked down at the far end of the park was a spinning wild mouse ; Crazy Mouse. Great.
But back spanning most of the length of the park was the real reason to come here, a nice CCI woody Silver Comet which looked a lot
older than its age (1999).
And to my surprise I really quite liked this.
I mean it doesn't do a lot, it's not very big or fast or full of air, but it was just a fun little ride.
So I rode that a few times and I was done. I was going to ride their mini sky flyer but they had a daft "no single riders" policy and there
were obviously no spare people hanging around so I baled on that.
They had a few other flats, as I said they looked OK but mostly they were just standard, probably portable models just plonked down on the
tarmac.
Oh well, worth popping in for the woody if you are driving past then - I seem to recall getting in cheap as well for some reason that I forget
now, maybe it was a special offer day or something but it was less than the advertised price on the website anyway.
Back in the car and the next park is only a couple of miles away but it takes rather too long to get there because of big wait at the border
crossing - just slow operations on the few booths that were open I think, probably took an hour to get through that. Boo.
Couple of
had quite intrigued me in the intervening years to be honest as I read up on the daft Arrow coaster they have here.
First impressions of the place were odd, scrappy car park, but the entrance buildings were all quite well maintained (this place was not so
cheap to get into either). But then once you walk past the few buildings near the entrance (gift shop, sea-creature show pool) you end up
walking into basically nowhere - scrub lands with little sign of any rides or anything.
Follow a sign to the kiddy area and come across a few kiddy rides, no least of which is a junior Tivloli Lady Bug Coaster. It was
awesome obviously.
Ride op did laugh at me ; getting used to that now.
Wandering back into the parkland you walk a few hundred yards between anything ; I mean like there's a sign then you walk a 100 yards, then
there's a bench and then you walk a few 100 yards and then there's a (closed) drink stall then you walk another 100 yards and there's a ride
being ridden by a bunch of Amish people.
then you walk a few 100 more yards and there is another shop and then a pool full of Beluga whales.
What I'm trying to say is that place is vast, yet full of nothing.
I do a lap of the (vast) park deliberately to see it all before I head into the main attraction. Even this was an odd entrance as you find
the entrance way and a ride-op greets you but then you walk anther couple of hundred yards until you find the actual ride building and the
queue entrance. Space is not at a premium here.
So that is the entrance to Dragon Mountain and I don't mind saying I was very excited, in a big-goon way, to be heading into it!
Once inside that understated entrance you are almost in pitch black and stumble around trying to find where to go, then suddenly a gap
opens in the cave-walls - ahhh the drama of it, fantastic.
Busy you can tell!
Ride the front first then
And the ride is just bonkers.
Lets be clear though; this is not a "good roller coaster". It's old, it's uncomfortable, the lift hill takes an age, there's no airtime,
it's full of pointless meandering sections and you feel it could be condemned at any moment.
But it is just wonderful.
The lift hill is built on the side of a hill (well it all looks like it is man-made hill from a nearby quarry to be honest, that would explain
how they would have built the ride at least) so it's really a terrain-hill - and I do like that a lot. It's really REALLY slow though, but
eventually you round the corner at the top (much like how Nemesis goes up it's hill yet you are never far from the ground, then you turn that
corner and all hell brakes loose). Well this one doesn't have the skill of Nemesis but it does then drop you down and into a double loop
that just pokes above the tree line.
After that brief moment of excitement it meanders around a bit, then heads out 'backstage' (in that you can't see that side of the ride
from the main park) where it just gets weird ; there's a big fake Volcano out there inside which we helix around for a bit before diving into
a tunnel.
Popping out of the tunnel we are still in the backstage area and it's back to meandering around as the course takes in a scenic route around
the edge of a very un-scenic patch of land (I believe the intention was to have a big fake replica of the Niagara Falls here that the ride
would travel through, but that was never built so it's all just wasteland out there).
But then there's another tunnel that takes us back through the mountain again - this is pretty fab as they are proper dark tunnels and this
one is angled downwards so we pick up speed racing through the dark.
Straight out of the tunnel and into the other inversion, the ride's famously unique bowtie element.
And after that it's more meandering through some less than smooth transitions and back to the station.
Loved it for all its (many) faults!
Rode it a few times, after the first time the ride-ops were surprised I came back but when I started asking to just stay on (train was mostly
empty of course) we started chatting and they stopped judging me I think.
Back in the park, more sparse areas with the odd ride hiding amongst the trees, this one an abandoned topple-tower that they seemingly can't
even be bothered to remove.
"Temporarily" lol!
There have animals here - seemed to be in big pens, if a little bare of vegetation. (Bit of meandering Dragon track and the volcano in the
background though)
There was one other ride that I wanted to do, their big shot tower (it is big) that's on top of another (presumably man made) hill.
Was a bit of trek up there too
But the view from the top of the tower was very good, all over the falls. Worth the trek up anyway.
I did stick my head into the show-pool place as I left, pool didn't look very big to me.
Anyway I did feel that that was worth stopping in for, despite the relatively expensive (for 2 coasters and a shot ride) entrance price. And
the several miles you have to walk to get around is good for you I guess.
And since I was not spending the day driving back and forth across New York state I then had a couple of hours to do some normal-tourist
stuff on this side of the waterfalls.
Went up the Skylon with my proper camera and a WIDE lens
and a ZOOM lens
then wandered around the falls for a bit before grabbing some food and heading back to Toronto and the last hotel of the trip.
Last edited:
Antinos
Slut for Spinners
You got the kiddie cred at Fantasy Island?! I feel completely robbed!
Really odd hearing about Marineland. Your enjoyment of Dragon Mountain and the desire to see this place for myself make me KIND OF want to visit...but not really.
Finally, that wide angle shot of the falls is easily the best part of the report thus far. Absolutely stunning!
Really odd hearing about Marineland. Your enjoyment of Dragon Mountain and the desire to see this place for myself make me KIND OF want to visit...but not really.
Finally, that wide angle shot of the falls is easily the best part of the report thus far. Absolutely stunning!
Youngster Joey
Strata Poster
A Shame we couldn't get things to work but I think you made the right decision. It's a lot of driving. Great Report as always
And I'm surprised you got the kiddie cred at Fantasy Island. They refused us last year when we tried.
And I'm surprised you got the kiddie cred at Fantasy Island. They refused us last year when we tried.
davidm
Strata Poster
Friday 15th June
So last hotel of the trip was up on the outskirts of Toronto, the World Cup had started in a different time zone so go to see a bit of one of
the matches over breakfast (not ideal viewing location, but Eng-ger-land didn't start to play for a few days so no great loss) before I headed
off to the park for the day.
The park obviously being Canada's Wonderland.
Been here before (in 2007), but since it is a big park and has a couple of big (B&M) rides that I had not ridden and I fancied riding a lot
and I also fancied a stress free day (more on THAT later) I had booked a FastLane+ for the day's goonery.
Heading in I thought I'd see if I could get the kiddie cred before any crowds built up, so headed there first...
But they were not having it, so spited.
Nearby is the junior woody Ghoster Coaster, so rode that instead.
Crappy dark ride was on the way out of the kiddie area, was particularly crap I recall
Was a bit miffed to find that my FL+ pass did not include several coasters, but figured I would be saving myself loads of time later in the
day so sucked up a couple of Qs for the boomerang Bat
and the mouse (which is at least a park model mouse which is a nice change from the normal ones) ; Fly
(funny I always get the names of those two mixed up)
Right need a cred now I think, and head off to another ride not on the FL+ (come on, this is getting beyond a joke now, what did I pay that
extra money for?) Wonder Mountain's Guardian;
Was aware that this was more dark-ride than coaster but I did not really know much about it. Liked how it was built into the plastic mountain
with the main coastery bit outside.
But the inside bit was a bit rubbish - just a big shooty thingy as you slowly drift past a big screen effort - screen wasn't very good either,
was quite dim (with your 3D specs on). The bit at the end was quite good though as I didn't realise it did what it did until it did it.
Determined to use my FastLane by now I headed off into the pain zone of the park in order to ride a couple of painful coasters.
First up, a nasty SLC Flight Deck (which had at least been named 'Top Gun' on my previous visit)
Followed by a renamed 'Tomb Raider', now going under the somewhat blander name of Time Warp
(so that's three Volares in just about a week, what does this hobby make us do?)
I clearly needed something GOOD in my life at this point so carried on around the park for a worthy +1 that 'they' had only gone and built
just after the last time I was here ; Behemoth.
And I did like this a lot. Proper big out and back B&M hyper with all the hills and all the floaty airtime. Lovely stuff.
And I skipped quite a large line with the FastLane (smugness intensifies)
Was better than LaRonde's I thought (although pretty similar of course).
After riding that a few times (yay for the FastLane) I popped next door for Back Lot Stunt Coaster (formerly 'Italian Job' where at
least the mini-like cars made sense)
None of the effects were working either so it was a bit useless.
Around now I discovered that this had happened on one of the coasters so far (I was wearing my sunglasses so these were in a pocket)
I would put it down to being stapled a bit on the crappy Stunt Coaster but it could have been any of them after Wonder Mountain to be honest.
This was a bit inconvenient as those were my go-to-glasses for coaster riding as my goon strap fitted them well and held them on tight, whereas
my newer specs were a bit loose and the strap I had didn't even fit onto them. Good job it was very sunny that day anyway as I could wear the
sunglasses since the only other pair I had with me was the newer not fit-for-coaster-riding ones.
Pah.
The park has a couple of reasonably sized old woodys, dating back to when the place first opened . I couldn't recall much about either of them
so tried to make a point of paying particular attention to them this time. First up was Mighty Canadian Minebuster which was bit more
out-and-back than the other one. Its return run takes you under some waterpark equipment which seemed deliberately designed to dump overflow
water on you as you passed beneath it - that was a bit evil.
But before I got to the other woody, took a quick FastLand enabled spin on the suspended coaster Vortex, which was very good indeed.
I recalled it being good, but perhaps not this good. The lift hill takes you up to the top of the plastic mountain and after that its all
a high speed dash around the lake below - fab stuff anyway.
The other woody is Wild Beast and is a bit more compact (but still a pretty big installation)
Liked them both to be honest - neither were great though, old and rough, but fun all the same.
Right I am missing some coasters aren't I ; rode the kiddy invert Silver Streak at some point, which necessitated going back into the
kiddie zone past the spiteful Taxi Jam
Standard model though, nothing much to say about that.
There's an powered mack coaster too, wending its way inside the plastic mountain so I managed to take no pictures of that at all but for what
it was its not a bad one, Thunder Run
and also failing to take any pics today of the old Arrow looper Dragon Fire
(apart from one of the fab statue thing outside it)
And there's one other coaster that we've not mentioned, a bit hard to miss as its HUGE and towers over one end of the park ; Leviathan of course.
Let me tell you about Leviathan.
First thing in the morning when I was in the kiddy area I had seen a train stuck on the lift hill so just ignored the ride for a while,
figuring I'd 'do' the rest of the park first. However during the day that train had seemed to move, but the coaster was suspiciously silent
so far all day. So I'd just been pretending to myself that it didn't exist.
Trains were all parked up and no signs of life. This did not make me happy.
Had a word with the ride-ops and all they could say was that it was down for the moment and they were trying to get it running.
OK, nothing I can do I'll just ignore it for a while longer then. (SPITE feelings intensifying)
Rode some more stuff then, never done one of these types before so did that and I seemed to be the only person who could get it spinning
at all.
Rode the Windseeker too as I like them and I had not ridden Cedar Point's this time
Went back a got some re-rides on the woodys and a few on Behemoth too (lovely that) - and while I was over that side of the park I did see
a train go round Leviathan , but only the one train as no more followed
Was a bit at a loss what to do then. I'd "done" the park and the SPITE with Leviathan had put a bit of a downer on my mood so I was thinking
of calling it a day. Checked back at Leviathan and they were still saying they were trying to get it running so figured I should go and
eat something, give it a couple of hours and see if anything happens.
So rescued some non-sunglasses from the car and stuffed myself with pizza for a while.
Headed back to Leviathan after a while and the story had changed...
...but not for the better, "Closed for the Evening" said the sign. SSSSSPPPPPPIIIIIIITTTTTTTTEEEEEEEE.
There were a couple of manager-type people hanging around as well as the poor ride-ops (they do have my sympathy, having to explain to
disgruntled punters (like me) that their ride is not available and there's nothing they can do) so I start chatting to the manager-peeps to
see what the deal is - like if they'd tell me what was wrong with it and whether it would be likely to run the next day.
Whether it was because I was genuinely interested in it or that I just stuck out as a non-local goon I ended up chatting with the one guy a
bit - there was something wrong with a generator apparently and they were shipping in a replacement overnight with the aim of getting it
running the next day.
I didn't deliberately play the sympathy card, but did mention that I'd come a long way, I was flying home the next day, had bought a FL+ for
that ride today and that it would be the last North American B&M I needed to ride them all (so perhaps I was playing the goon-card a bit).
Anyway since he'd told me it was likely to be running in the morning I thanked him for that and asked whether if I went and had a whinge at
Guest Services whether they'd comp me for a ticket for the next day (I was genuinely mentally preparing myself to paying to come back if it
was running).
To my surprise he said "hold on - let me make a phone call" and I thought that that was what he was doing, just phoning Guest Services to
tell them to comp me - it took a while but he came back to me with a slightly different solution, to go to Guest Services in the morning
and my name would be on a 'solution memo' and that would get me into the park - and I was happy with that.
The other manager-type who was there then over-delivered that 'solution' as he then gave me 3 exit-passes (I think because I'd played the
'FastLane' sympathy angle a bit I suppose). Double happy with that!
But of course that was all reliant on them being able to mend the stupid thing overnight.
Anyway that all put me in a GOOD mood, so re-invigorated I went off and re-rode Vortex and Wonder Mountain again (with a dodgy glasses strap
on my loose fitting new glasses which luckily survived the experience)
Happy goon? Well not quite yet as it depends how it turns out tomorrow really...
Last night away though, so felt I should at least have a couple of local beers in the hotel bar - was the only one in there apart from the
bar staff.
So last hotel of the trip was up on the outskirts of Toronto, the World Cup had started in a different time zone so go to see a bit of one of
the matches over breakfast (not ideal viewing location, but Eng-ger-land didn't start to play for a few days so no great loss) before I headed
off to the park for the day.
The park obviously being Canada's Wonderland.
Been here before (in 2007), but since it is a big park and has a couple of big (B&M) rides that I had not ridden and I fancied riding a lot
and I also fancied a stress free day (more on THAT later) I had booked a FastLane+ for the day's goonery.
Heading in I thought I'd see if I could get the kiddie cred before any crowds built up, so headed there first...
But they were not having it, so spited.
Nearby is the junior woody Ghoster Coaster, so rode that instead.
Crappy dark ride was on the way out of the kiddie area, was particularly crap I recall
Was a bit miffed to find that my FL+ pass did not include several coasters, but figured I would be saving myself loads of time later in the
day so sucked up a couple of Qs for the boomerang Bat
and the mouse (which is at least a park model mouse which is a nice change from the normal ones) ; Fly
(funny I always get the names of those two mixed up)
Right need a cred now I think, and head off to another ride not on the FL+ (come on, this is getting beyond a joke now, what did I pay that
extra money for?) Wonder Mountain's Guardian;
Was aware that this was more dark-ride than coaster but I did not really know much about it. Liked how it was built into the plastic mountain
with the main coastery bit outside.
But the inside bit was a bit rubbish - just a big shooty thingy as you slowly drift past a big screen effort - screen wasn't very good either,
was quite dim (with your 3D specs on). The bit at the end was quite good though as I didn't realise it did what it did until it did it.
drop section
Determined to use my FastLane by now I headed off into the pain zone of the park in order to ride a couple of painful coasters.
First up, a nasty SLC Flight Deck (which had at least been named 'Top Gun' on my previous visit)
Followed by a renamed 'Tomb Raider', now going under the somewhat blander name of Time Warp
(so that's three Volares in just about a week, what does this hobby make us do?)
I clearly needed something GOOD in my life at this point so carried on around the park for a worthy +1 that 'they' had only gone and built
just after the last time I was here ; Behemoth.
And I did like this a lot. Proper big out and back B&M hyper with all the hills and all the floaty airtime. Lovely stuff.
And I skipped quite a large line with the FastLane (smugness intensifies)
Was better than LaRonde's I thought (although pretty similar of course).
After riding that a few times (yay for the FastLane) I popped next door for Back Lot Stunt Coaster (formerly 'Italian Job' where at
least the mini-like cars made sense)
None of the effects were working either so it was a bit useless.
Around now I discovered that this had happened on one of the coasters so far (I was wearing my sunglasses so these were in a pocket)
I would put it down to being stapled a bit on the crappy Stunt Coaster but it could have been any of them after Wonder Mountain to be honest.
This was a bit inconvenient as those were my go-to-glasses for coaster riding as my goon strap fitted them well and held them on tight, whereas
my newer specs were a bit loose and the strap I had didn't even fit onto them. Good job it was very sunny that day anyway as I could wear the
sunglasses since the only other pair I had with me was the newer not fit-for-coaster-riding ones.
Pah.
The park has a couple of reasonably sized old woodys, dating back to when the place first opened . I couldn't recall much about either of them
so tried to make a point of paying particular attention to them this time. First up was Mighty Canadian Minebuster which was bit more
out-and-back than the other one. Its return run takes you under some waterpark equipment which seemed deliberately designed to dump overflow
water on you as you passed beneath it - that was a bit evil.
But before I got to the other woody, took a quick FastLand enabled spin on the suspended coaster Vortex, which was very good indeed.
I recalled it being good, but perhaps not this good. The lift hill takes you up to the top of the plastic mountain and after that its all
a high speed dash around the lake below - fab stuff anyway.
The other woody is Wild Beast and is a bit more compact (but still a pretty big installation)
Liked them both to be honest - neither were great though, old and rough, but fun all the same.
Right I am missing some coasters aren't I ; rode the kiddy invert Silver Streak at some point, which necessitated going back into the
kiddie zone past the spiteful Taxi Jam
Standard model though, nothing much to say about that.
There's an powered mack coaster too, wending its way inside the plastic mountain so I managed to take no pictures of that at all but for what
it was its not a bad one, Thunder Run
and also failing to take any pics today of the old Arrow looper Dragon Fire
(apart from one of the fab statue thing outside it)
And there's one other coaster that we've not mentioned, a bit hard to miss as its HUGE and towers over one end of the park ; Leviathan of course.
Let me tell you about Leviathan.
First thing in the morning when I was in the kiddy area I had seen a train stuck on the lift hill so just ignored the ride for a while,
figuring I'd 'do' the rest of the park first. However during the day that train had seemed to move, but the coaster was suspiciously silent
so far all day. So I'd just been pretending to myself that it didn't exist.
Trains were all parked up and no signs of life. This did not make me happy.
Had a word with the ride-ops and all they could say was that it was down for the moment and they were trying to get it running.
OK, nothing I can do I'll just ignore it for a while longer then. (SPITE feelings intensifying)
Rode some more stuff then, never done one of these types before so did that and I seemed to be the only person who could get it spinning
at all.
Rode the Windseeker too as I like them and I had not ridden Cedar Point's this time
Went back a got some re-rides on the woodys and a few on Behemoth too (lovely that) - and while I was over that side of the park I did see
a train go round Leviathan
, but only the one train as no more followed Was a bit at a loss what to do then. I'd "done" the park and the SPITE with Leviathan had put a bit of a downer on my mood so I was thinking
of calling it a day. Checked back at Leviathan and they were still saying they were trying to get it running so figured I should go and
eat something, give it a couple of hours and see if anything happens.
So rescued some non-sunglasses from the car and stuffed myself with pizza for a while.
Headed back to Leviathan after a while and the story had changed...
...but not for the better, "Closed for the Evening" said the sign. SSSSSPPPPPPIIIIIIITTTTTTTTEEEEEEEE.
There were a couple of manager-type people hanging around as well as the poor ride-ops (they do have my sympathy, having to explain to
disgruntled punters (like me) that their ride is not available and there's nothing they can do) so I start chatting to the manager-peeps to
see what the deal is - like if they'd tell me what was wrong with it and whether it would be likely to run the next day.
Whether it was because I was genuinely interested in it or that I just stuck out as a non-local goon I ended up chatting with the one guy a
bit - there was something wrong with a generator apparently and they were shipping in a replacement overnight with the aim of getting it
running the next day.
I didn't deliberately play the sympathy card, but did mention that I'd come a long way, I was flying home the next day, had bought a FL+ for
that ride today and that it would be the last North American B&M I needed to ride them all (so perhaps I was playing the goon-card a bit).
Anyway since he'd told me it was likely to be running in the morning I thanked him for that and asked whether if I went and had a whinge at
Guest Services whether they'd comp me for a ticket for the next day (I was genuinely mentally preparing myself to paying to come back if it
was running).
To my surprise he said "hold on - let me make a phone call" and I thought that that was what he was doing, just phoning Guest Services to
tell them to comp me - it took a while but he came back to me with a slightly different solution, to go to Guest Services in the morning
and my name would be on a 'solution memo' and that would get me into the park - and I was happy with that.
The other manager-type who was there then over-delivered that 'solution' as he then gave me 3 exit-passes (I think because I'd played the
'FastLane' sympathy angle a bit I suppose). Double happy with that!
But of course that was all reliant on them being able to mend the stupid thing overnight.
Anyway that all put me in a GOOD mood, so re-invigorated I went off and re-rode Vortex and Wonder Mountain again (with a dodgy glasses strap
on my loose fitting new glasses which luckily survived the experience)
Happy goon? Well not quite yet as it depends how it turns out tomorrow really...
Last night away though, so felt I should at least have a couple of local beers in the hotel bar - was the only one in there apart from the
bar staff.
Last edited:
Snoo
The Legend
Dang! It was the same situation for me last week at Lightning Rod, but the ignorant, apologetic staff at the entrance didn't know a thing. I would've stayed another night but it was closed the next day anyway
Let's hope it's not closed the next day for you!
To be fair, most don't actually know whats going on with the ride. And they also have to deal with 100's if not 1000's of people like yourself asking the same question. As Dave demonstrated, being patient and chatty with the individual in charge, if there is one, may get you somewhere but in most cases, nope.
EpochEmu
Mega Poster
Its not exactly like I had high hopes for it to be open, considering it'd been closed every day of the week before.
Howie
Donkey in a hat
If I didn't already know the outcome, that would have been an incredibly suspenseful way of ending that 'chapter'. "Ooh did he or didn't he get the last of the B&M's? Tune in next week to find out..."
Gripping stuff. You're like the Dan Brown of trip reporters, or sumat.
But yeah, Behemoth tho. Sooooo good. Still my favourite hyper.
Gripping stuff. You're like the Dan Brown of trip reporters, or sumat.
But yeah, Behemoth tho. Sooooo good. Still my favourite hyper.
SilverArrow
Certified Ride Geek
Some parks train their staff to not give away details and say they don't know so could be this also rather than being 'ignorant'.Dang! It was the same situation for me last week at Lightning Rod, but the ignorant, apologetic staff at the entrance didn't know a thing. I would've stayed another night but it was closed the next day anyway
Let's hope it's not closed the next day for you!
EpochEmu
Mega Poster
I know that, but it’s also possible I might be frustrated? Maybe?
davidm
Strata Poster
Right then, lets get this finished with...
Saturday 16th June
Going home today, but flight isn't until the evening and I have a bit of unfinished business to take care of.
The manager-chap yesterday had said to get to the park early as it was going to be busy, so I turned up at 9am and parked up. A promising sight
greeted me;
Closer inspection and I was starting to feel a bit optimistic...
Yep it's warming up for the day!
But I'm not in the park yet.
Hang around until someone opens up the Guest Services window and give them my "my name is on a solution memo" spiel. It started to get a bit
complicated after that though - what I had understood the chap had arranged was for them to just give me a ticket and I'd then use that to
get into the park and use the exit-passes to get a few rides in - all seems sensible doesn't it?
Only the Guest Services chap didn't quite interpret it that way, something to do with "let into the park to ride Leviathan" confused him and
off he went to confer with some other people. 10 mins later he says "can't let you in now as there was a special thing happening, come back at
10am and we'll sort it then". Fair enough, if some group had an hours buy-out let them do that but I didn't quite see why he couldn't have
just given me a ticket there and then. Anyway not complaining really, just confused.
Walked around outside the park then for a while, taking some snaps of the ERT-ers playing on the big toy.
Lamest tunnel ever though
OK head back to Guest Services for 10am (which of course has a massive line by now, but he told me to skip the line when I came back) and
it turns out that what they want to do is get someone to escort me into the park, escort me over to the ride, let me ride and then escort me
out of the park. Hmmm ok, still not complaining of course, but it does seem like that they are over-complicating the situation even more now.
So I have to wait around a bit until someone can come and escort me and eventually this terribly bored looking security guard turns up and
discusses what she has to do with the guest services people. Clearly not impressed with her work assignment, she lets me into the park
and we start walking towards the ride. I mention that I hope she realises that I'm going to need to ride it more than once - I mentioned it
really just as some small talk to see if I could get some conversation out of her rather than anything else, but at this she stops dead in
her tracks and says as far as she is concerned all she has to do is take me there, let me ride it and then escort me out.
Well, that's no good is it?
So I get out my exit passes and explain that I thought the deal was that I'd just be let into the park and then I had the passes to get me a
few quick rides in. This confounds here somewhat as this is conflicting with her orders.
So back to Guest Service we go and she takes my exit passes and heads back inside for some further discussion.
A few minutes later she returns and we agree that I can have 3 rides on it.
So in somewhat stony silence she marches me over to the ride and up the exit ramp we go and she goes off to explain to the ride-ops what
is going on.
The ride-ops are a LOT more friendly that she was though and they explain to me that I should just wait at the exit and when they spot a
single seat they'll load me into it - no waiting for front or back or anything. And of course I am entirely happy with this.
A spot opens up near the front (row 3 I think) and I'm on.
So Leviathan then - its bloomin' big and bloomin' fast. Didn't quite have the oomph that Fury325 has I thought but had moments of
airtime (not a lot though) that are lacking in Fury somewhat. Think the problem with it is perhaps that it is too fast, so the ride is over
pretty quickly even for something that is that huge.
Anyway it was good, if not great. The fact that I got to ride it was pretty great though.
Get off it and they load me on the next train towards the back but I get on the other side of the train at least this time for a bit of
variety. Being a smart arse I count the number of people in the front-row line and spot that there will be a group of 3 by the time that I
get back - what timing eh?
So second ride - yeah good stuff, prefer Behemoth but still a very worthy ride indeed.
Get off the ride and the op who is looking after me starts to look for a spare seat - I tell her that I think there's one on the front (since
there was, I am that goony that I can count groups of 3 you know).
She lies to me then and says explicitly "no there are 4", I think because only 3 people had come onto the row I just exited and it was
easier for her just to put me back on that row. Anyway I'm not going to argue with her as I am an imposition on what they are doing and
they are really doing me a huge favour and the normal Q-line is absolutely rammed by now so they are busting their guts to get dispatches
happening quickly.
So I get my third (last) ride in the same row again.
I thank them all when I get off and my frosty security guard reappears to escort me out.
I make what I feel is a fantastically amusing observation as I am marched back through the park, in that in my years of attending parks all
around the world, this was the very first time that I'd been escorted off a park by park security. She doesn't even break into a smile at my
witty observation and marches me to the exit.
I thank her profusely as I leave and apologise for making her perform such a useless task on he shift this morning ; at least she smiled
slightly at that, or perhaps she smiled at finally being rid of the stupid English-goon. I suspect the latter.
Park is heaving with people to get in as I get out
Pausing only to take a few more snaps.
Right, despite the faff, that was all pretty cool and I am one happy goon. All North-American B&Ms ; done. All B&M hypers ; done.
I drive into Toronto then for some tourist activity, for some reason my satnav insists on taking me down some surface streets rather than the
freeway when I get near the city, but I don't care, in my happy goon-state I just suck up the traffic until I eventually get near the
CN Tower. Had been up it before but it seemed like a reasonable thing to do to occupy a while before my flight.
Glass bottom floor
About a 1/4 of the main observation level was being refurbed so they had the top level observation pod open for free (its usually an upcharge)
to compensate, but it was a timed ticket for that and the next time was like 3 hours away so did not bother this time.
Views from the main bit are OK though
Back at ground level, exit through the (huge) gift shop
Had a bit of a wander around the area near the tower for a while (since when I'd been here 2 weeks ago all I did was go to the pub) - wasn't
too exciting though.
Looked promising, but I was still driving so no go for me.
Right then I'm done. Drive back to the airport, took too long to find a gas station to fill up the car, drop off the car, check in (no 5 hour
delay this time thankfully) and
achievement unlocked ; watch the World Cup in a foreign airport bar
(truth be told, only saw about 10 minutes, may have had >1 beer though as I waited for the plane)
So see ya Canada (and the US) you've been fab, off home now.
Saturday 16th June
Going home today, but flight isn't until the evening and I have a bit of unfinished business to take care of.
The manager-chap yesterday had said to get to the park early as it was going to be busy, so I turned up at 9am and parked up. A promising sight
greeted me;
Closer inspection and I was starting to feel a bit optimistic...
Yep it's warming up for the day!
But I'm not in the park yet.
Hang around until someone opens up the Guest Services window and give them my "my name is on a solution memo" spiel. It started to get a bit
complicated after that though - what I had understood the chap had arranged was for them to just give me a ticket and I'd then use that to
get into the park and use the exit-passes to get a few rides in - all seems sensible doesn't it?
Only the Guest Services chap didn't quite interpret it that way, something to do with "let into the park to ride Leviathan" confused him and
off he went to confer with some other people. 10 mins later he says "can't let you in now as there was a special thing happening, come back at
10am and we'll sort it then". Fair enough, if some group had an hours buy-out let them do that but I didn't quite see why he couldn't have
just given me a ticket there and then. Anyway not complaining really, just confused.
Walked around outside the park then for a while, taking some snaps of the ERT-ers playing on the big toy.
Lamest tunnel ever though
OK head back to Guest Services for 10am (which of course has a massive line by now, but he told me to skip the line when I came back) and
it turns out that what they want to do is get someone to escort me into the park, escort me over to the ride, let me ride and then escort me
out of the park. Hmmm ok, still not complaining of course, but it does seem like that they are over-complicating the situation even more now.
So I have to wait around a bit until someone can come and escort me and eventually this terribly bored looking security guard turns up and
discusses what she has to do with the guest services people. Clearly not impressed with her work assignment, she lets me into the park
and we start walking towards the ride. I mention that I hope she realises that I'm going to need to ride it more than once - I mentioned it
really just as some small talk to see if I could get some conversation out of her rather than anything else, but at this she stops dead in
her tracks and says as far as she is concerned all she has to do is take me there, let me ride it and then escort me out.
Well, that's no good is it?
So I get out my exit passes and explain that I thought the deal was that I'd just be let into the park and then I had the passes to get me a
few quick rides in. This confounds here somewhat as this is conflicting with her orders.
So back to Guest Service we go and she takes my exit passes and heads back inside for some further discussion.
A few minutes later she returns and we agree that I can have 3 rides on it.
So in somewhat stony silence she marches me over to the ride and up the exit ramp we go and she goes off to explain to the ride-ops what
is going on.
The ride-ops are a LOT more friendly that she was though and they explain to me that I should just wait at the exit and when they spot a
single seat they'll load me into it - no waiting for front or back or anything. And of course I am entirely happy with this.
A spot opens up near the front (row 3 I think) and I'm on.
So Leviathan then - its bloomin' big and bloomin' fast. Didn't quite have the oomph that Fury325 has I thought but had moments of
airtime (not a lot though) that are lacking in Fury somewhat. Think the problem with it is perhaps that it is too fast, so the ride is over
pretty quickly even for something that is that huge.
Anyway it was good, if not great. The fact that I got to ride it was pretty great though.
Get off it and they load me on the next train towards the back but I get on the other side of the train at least this time for a bit of
variety. Being a smart arse I count the number of people in the front-row line and spot that there will be a group of 3 by the time that I
get back - what timing eh?
So second ride - yeah good stuff, prefer Behemoth but still a very worthy ride indeed.
Get off the ride and the op who is looking after me starts to look for a spare seat - I tell her that I think there's one on the front (since
there was, I am that goony that I can count groups of 3 you know).
She lies to me then and says explicitly "no there are 4", I think because only 3 people had come onto the row I just exited and it was
easier for her just to put me back on that row. Anyway I'm not going to argue with her as I am an imposition on what they are doing and
they are really doing me a huge favour and the normal Q-line is absolutely rammed by now so they are busting their guts to get dispatches
happening quickly.
So I get my third (last) ride in the same row again.
I thank them all when I get off and my frosty security guard reappears to escort me out.
I make what I feel is a fantastically amusing observation as I am marched back through the park, in that in my years of attending parks all
around the world, this was the very first time that I'd been escorted off a park by park security. She doesn't even break into a smile at my
witty observation and marches me to the exit.
I thank her profusely as I leave and apologise for making her perform such a useless task on he shift this morning ; at least she smiled
slightly at that, or perhaps she smiled at finally being rid of the stupid English-goon. I suspect the latter.
Park is heaving with people to get in as I get out
Pausing only to take a few more snaps.
Right, despite the faff, that was all pretty cool and I am one happy goon. All North-American B&Ms ; done. All B&M hypers ; done.
I drive into Toronto then for some tourist activity, for some reason my satnav insists on taking me down some surface streets rather than the
freeway when I get near the city, but I don't care, in my happy goon-state I just suck up the traffic until I eventually get near the
CN Tower. Had been up it before but it seemed like a reasonable thing to do to occupy a while before my flight.
Glass bottom floor
About a 1/4 of the main observation level was being refurbed so they had the top level observation pod open for free (its usually an upcharge)
to compensate, but it was a timed ticket for that and the next time was like 3 hours away so did not bother this time.
Views from the main bit are OK though
Back at ground level, exit through the (huge) gift shop
Had a bit of a wander around the area near the tower for a while (since when I'd been here 2 weeks ago all I did was go to the pub) - wasn't
too exciting though.
Looked promising, but I was still driving so no go for me.
Right then I'm done. Drive back to the airport, took too long to find a gas station to fill up the car, drop off the car, check in (no 5 hour
delay this time thankfully) and
achievement unlocked ; watch the World Cup in a foreign airport bar
(truth be told, only saw about 10 minutes, may have had >1 beer though as I waited for the plane)
So see ya Canada (and the US) you've been fab, off home now.
davidm
Strata Poster
Final Score
Wild Water and Wheels
Pipeline Express
La Ronde
Dragon
Goliath
Monstre
Super Manège
Toboggan Nordique
Vampire
Ednör - L'Attaque (relocated)
Boomerang - down
Marche du Mille-pattes - kiddie cred, denied
Six Flags New England
Wicked Cyclone
Great Chase
Joker
Batman - The Dark Knight
Catwoman's Whip
Flashback
Gotham City Gauntlet Escape from Arkham Asylum (relocated)
Riddler Revenge
Pandemonium
Superman the Ride
Thunderbolt
Goliath - down
Great Escape
Alpine Bobsled
Canyon Blaster
Comet
Flashback
Steamin' Demon
Frankie's Mine Train - kiddie cred, denied
Quassy Amusement Park
Little Dipper
Wooden Warrior
Lake Compounce
Boulder Dash
Phobia Phear Coaster
Wildcat
Zoomerang
Kiddie Coaster - kiddie cred, denied
Playland Park
Crazy Mouse
Family Flyer
Dragon Coaster
Super Flight
Kiddy Coaster - kiddie cred, denied
Luna Park
Cyclone
Tickler
Circus Coaster
Steeplechase
Soarin' Eagle
Thunderbolt
Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park
Sea Serpent
Knoebels
Flying Turns
Kozmo's Kurves
Impulse
Black Diamond
Phoenix
Twister
Conneaut Lake Park
Blue Streak - spite, rain
Devil's Den
Little Dipper - kiddie cred, would have been denied even if it were not raining
Cedar Point
Steel Vengeance
Valravn
Wilderness Run
Blue Streak
Cedar Creek Mine Ride
Corkscrew
GateKeeper
Gemini
Iron Dragon
Magnum XL-200
Maverick
Millennium Force
Raptor
Rougarou
Top Thrill Dragster
Wicked Twister
Woodstock Express
Waldameer
Steel Dragon
Comet
Ravine Flyer II
Ravine Flyer 3 - could not be bothered
Fantasy Island
Max's Doggy Dog Coaster
Crazy Mouse
Silver Comet
Marineland
Lady Bug Coaster
Dragon Mountain
Canada's Wonderland
Taxi Jam - kiddie cred, denied
Behemoth
Leviathan
Wonder Mountain's Guardian
Back Lot Stunt Coaster
Bat
Dragon Fire
Flight Deck
Fly
Ghoster Coaster
Mighty Canadian Minebuster
Silver Streak
Thunder Run
Time Warp
Vortex
Wild Beast
--
That's 88 coasters, (+48, 2 relocations)
--
Actual route (subtly different to the original plan anyway)
Wild Water and Wheels
Pipeline Express
La Ronde
Dragon
Goliath
Monstre
Super Manège
Toboggan Nordique
Vampire
Ednör - L'Attaque (relocated)
Six Flags New England
Wicked Cyclone
Great Chase
Joker
Batman - The Dark Knight
Catwoman's Whip
Flashback
Gotham City Gauntlet Escape from Arkham Asylum (relocated)
Riddler Revenge
Pandemonium
Superman the Ride
Thunderbolt
Great Escape
Alpine Bobsled
Canyon Blaster
Comet
Flashback
Steamin' Demon
Quassy Amusement Park
Little Dipper
Wooden Warrior
Lake Compounce
Boulder Dash
Phobia Phear Coaster
Wildcat
Zoomerang
Playland Park
Crazy Mouse
Family Flyer
Dragon Coaster
Super Flight
Luna Park
Cyclone
Tickler
Circus Coaster
Steeplechase
Soarin' Eagle
Thunderbolt
Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park
Sea Serpent
Knoebels
Flying Turns
Kozmo's Kurves
Impulse
Black Diamond
Phoenix
Twister
Conneaut Lake Park
Devil's Den
Cedar Point
Steel Vengeance
Valravn
Wilderness Run
Blue Streak
Cedar Creek Mine Ride
Corkscrew
GateKeeper
Gemini
Iron Dragon
Magnum XL-200
Maverick
Millennium Force
Raptor
Rougarou
Top Thrill Dragster
Wicked Twister
Woodstock Express
Waldameer
Steel Dragon
Comet
Ravine Flyer II
Fantasy Island
Max's Doggy Dog Coaster
Crazy Mouse
Silver Comet
Marineland
Lady Bug Coaster
Dragon Mountain
Canada's Wonderland
Behemoth
Leviathan
Wonder Mountain's Guardian
Back Lot Stunt Coaster
Bat
Dragon Fire
Flight Deck
Fly
Ghoster Coaster
Mighty Canadian Minebuster
Silver Streak
Thunder Run
Time Warp
Vortex
Wild Beast
--
That's 88 coasters, (+48, 2 relocations)
--
Actual route (subtly different to the original plan anyway)
Youngster Joey
Strata Poster
Great report. Glad to see it ended on a high note!
It was a pleasure meeting you
It was a pleasure meeting you
