USA'15:Caro/LWin/HWld/SFStL/SDC/FCity/SFoT/KB/Galv/SFFT/SWSA
- Thread starter davidm
- Start date
davidm
Strata Poster
Re: USA'15: Carowinds/LWin/HW/SFStL/SDC/Frontier City/SFoT .
^ ta!
--
Day 9 : Monday 1/6
So a nice relaxed start to the day (no getting up early to drive stupid places if the theme park is just across the road
from the hotel ), I can just wander across for opening...
I have no cred-anxiety at all since all my +1's were done yesterday*, so my plan is just to work my way around the park for
the day - they are still on non-peak hours through (10:30-18:00), so that was a bit annoying - park was pretty quiet though,
I don't recall Q-ing for anything other than MrFreeze for very long.
(* actually not true - the kiddie-coaster I went to first-thing and was denied again - silly park)
"Batman the Ride" was first up - not a bad way to blow the cobwebs out of your system first thing in the morning;
and "Judge Roy Scream" was next up - a fairly tame out'n'back woody that runs alongside a rather overfilled (because
of the recent weather) lake outside of the park boundary - this is the ride that the view from my hotel was over
MrFreeze (which is in the same general area) was not running at that point, so carried on around the park a bit to where
their two mine trains are - the main one was also shut so I went into the mini-mine train Q - only for them to shut that
down just as I was about to ride - the ride-op wouldn't/couldn't tell us anything why so after 5 mins of lack-of-info I
wandered off...
to the rather fun old Schwarzkopf "Shock Wave"
The park itself is really good, but somewhat of an annoying layout - they have a big rapids ride that is kinda right in the
middle of the park, so you have some odd routes to take to get from one side of the park to the other - I wandered past
the indoor coaster next and that was also shut - I was starting to get a big concerned then ; thats 4 coasters shut so far
and 1 denied out of 7 that I have encountered so far today.
Their bobsled thing "La Vibora" was running though, and had a bit of Q - but there was a sign saying SRQ so I followed
that and walked right onto the ride (no ride-ops bothering to check the SRQ/fastpass Q at all)
I went past the Texas Giant to get to "Titan" which is a bit stuck out of the park really - great ride and no Q so
had a couple of rides on that (seemingly not bothering to take any pics of it though, obviously a bit distracted by the
lovely RMC)
"Wait lets discuss this" - I liked that
After some lunch I picked up a ride on the reopened "Mini Mine Train" (the other one was still shut though) and then
headed into the only real Q of the day - 40 minutes or so in a tin box in the Texas heat later I get onto "Mr Freeze Reverse Blast"
(which has also opened by now) - obviously the same as the one in St Louis a few days ago, but good fun still.
(were only running one loading train though - that explains the Q I guess)
New for 2015 at the park was their spiffy new dark-ride shooter-thingy ; "Justice League : Battle for Metropolis" - I'll try
and do the dark-rides if I can and after the StLouis version not being open for me the other day I was a bit intrigued by
this one. It also had a SRQ, so no burdensome wait - the ride was a bit up and down and the normal Q was a bit long and
slow moving.
Well it was REALLY good. I find that these dark-ride shooters can all be very rubbish and cheap looking ; this was entirely
the opposite ; easily the best one of these types of things I've been on. The cars are a bit like the Spiderman ones, in that
they spin around and have a lot of silly motion to them (not as violent motion as Spidey but still very well done) and then
the 3D screens (like Spidey) are all well done but unlike Spidey you are interacting with the 3D as the thing you are shooting
with is not just firing into the scene (like in the Toy Story Midway Madness things) but affecting oncoming vehicles and
characters in the scene. Awesome stuff, very impressed I was. There is one 3D scene that is not projected onto a screen but
onto one of those mist-walls - that scene you didn't interact with but it really well done and first time through was hard
to realise what was going on. The only bit of the ride that I thought didn't really work was the animatronic Joker, who
was a bit stationary (it moved a bit, but compared to the chaos going on in the 3D scenes, it was a bit stationary).
Rode it a few times (SRQ FTW!) and after realising which people were the "good-guys" and which the "baddies" my score
rapidly shot up (first time through I think I was mainly shooting Batman).
Yeah so really good then - guess these will proliferate across SixFlags parks for a while.
Another closed-ride had opened by now, the indoor "Runaway Mountain"
and the similarly named mine train "Runaway Mine Train" was also running by now (I remembered that this was one of
the better minetrains from my previous visit), so that was nice.
Their observation tower was closed though, which was annoying as I'd fancied getting some pics from up there
"Technical difficulties" pah!
Ok, so had ridden everything else that I cared about by now and there was only 2 hours left of the day - so I used that time
to do the only sensible thing, and ride the Texas Giant over and over again (mostly at the back of course) - probably a
10-15 minute wait each time, but definitely the best way to spend the rest of the time here
Park closed at that annoyingly early time of 6, so I wandered around for a bit seeing some of the areas (but closed attractions
that I had not wandered past during the day) and then back to the hotel for the night
Hotel seen from the park exit - how convenient.
--
Some local bar/restaurant for food later, got talking to the waiter bloke who surprised me when he said he knew England
(since most locals I chatted to tended to know London and little else) ; he said he worked in Barnsley for a while,
which was a bit random I thought!
Great day then, one of the top parks, couple of great rides. Early start in the morning though, some more driving to do...
^ ta!
--
Day 9 : Monday 1/6
So a nice relaxed start to the day (no getting up early to drive stupid places if the theme park is just across the road
from the hotel
), I can just wander across for opening...I have no cred-anxiety at all since all my +1's were done yesterday*, so my plan is just to work my way around the park for
the day - they are still on non-peak hours through (10:30-18:00), so that was a bit annoying - park was pretty quiet though,
I don't recall Q-ing for anything other than MrFreeze for very long.
(* actually not true - the kiddie-coaster I went to first-thing and was denied again - silly park)
"Batman the Ride" was first up - not a bad way to blow the cobwebs out of your system first thing in the morning;
and "Judge Roy Scream" was next up - a fairly tame out'n'back woody that runs alongside a rather overfilled (because
of the recent weather) lake outside of the park boundary - this is the ride that the view from my hotel was over
MrFreeze (which is in the same general area) was not running at that point, so carried on around the park a bit to where
their two mine trains are - the main one was also shut so I went into the mini-mine train Q - only for them to shut that
down just as I was about to ride - the ride-op wouldn't/couldn't tell us anything why so after 5 mins of lack-of-info I
wandered off...
to the rather fun old Schwarzkopf "Shock Wave"
The park itself is really good, but somewhat of an annoying layout - they have a big rapids ride that is kinda right in the
middle of the park, so you have some odd routes to take to get from one side of the park to the other - I wandered past
the indoor coaster next and that was also shut - I was starting to get a big concerned then ; thats 4 coasters shut so far
and 1 denied out of 7 that I have encountered so far today.
Their bobsled thing "La Vibora" was running though, and had a bit of Q - but there was a sign saying SRQ so I followed
that and walked right onto the ride (no ride-ops bothering to check the SRQ/fastpass Q at all)
I went past the Texas Giant to get to "Titan" which is a bit stuck out of the park really - great ride and no Q so
had a couple of rides on that (seemingly not bothering to take any pics of it though, obviously a bit distracted by the
lovely RMC)
"Wait lets discuss this" - I liked that
After some lunch I picked up a ride on the reopened "Mini Mine Train" (the other one was still shut though) and then
headed into the only real Q of the day - 40 minutes or so in a tin box in the Texas heat later I get onto "Mr Freeze Reverse Blast"
(which has also opened by now) - obviously the same as the one in St Louis a few days ago, but good fun still.
(were only running one loading train though - that explains the Q I guess)
New for 2015 at the park was their spiffy new dark-ride shooter-thingy ; "Justice League : Battle for Metropolis" - I'll try
and do the dark-rides if I can and after the StLouis version not being open for me the other day I was a bit intrigued by
this one. It also had a SRQ, so no burdensome wait - the ride was a bit up and down and the normal Q was a bit long and
slow moving.
Well it was REALLY good. I find that these dark-ride shooters can all be very rubbish and cheap looking ; this was entirely
the opposite ; easily the best one of these types of things I've been on. The cars are a bit like the Spiderman ones, in that
they spin around and have a lot of silly motion to them (not as violent motion as Spidey but still very well done) and then
the 3D screens (like Spidey) are all well done but unlike Spidey you are interacting with the 3D as the thing you are shooting
with is not just firing into the scene (like in the Toy Story Midway Madness things) but affecting oncoming vehicles and
characters in the scene. Awesome stuff, very impressed I was. There is one 3D scene that is not projected onto a screen but
onto one of those mist-walls - that scene you didn't interact with but it really well done and first time through was hard
to realise what was going on. The only bit of the ride that I thought didn't really work was the animatronic Joker, who
was a bit stationary (it moved a bit, but compared to the chaos going on in the 3D scenes, it was a bit stationary).
Rode it a few times (SRQ FTW!) and after realising which people were the "good-guys" and which the "baddies" my score
rapidly shot up (first time through I think I was mainly shooting Batman).
Yeah so really good then - guess these will proliferate across SixFlags parks for a while.
Another closed-ride had opened by now, the indoor "Runaway Mountain"
and the similarly named mine train "Runaway Mine Train" was also running by now (I remembered that this was one of
the better minetrains from my previous visit), so that was nice.
Their observation tower was closed though, which was annoying as I'd fancied getting some pics from up there
"Technical difficulties" pah!
Ok, so had ridden everything else that I cared about by now and there was only 2 hours left of the day - so I used that time
to do the only sensible thing, and ride the Texas Giant over and over again (mostly at the back of course) - probably a
10-15 minute wait each time, but definitely the best way to spend the rest of the time here
Park closed at that annoyingly early time of 6, so I wandered around for a bit seeing some of the areas (but closed attractions
that I had not wandered past during the day) and then back to the hotel for the night
Hotel seen from the park exit - how convenient.
--
Some local bar/restaurant for food later, got talking to the waiter bloke who surprised me when he said he knew England
(since most locals I chatted to tended to know London and little else) ; he said he worked in Barnsley for a while,
which was a bit random I thought!
Great day then, one of the top parks, couple of great rides. Early start in the morning though, some more driving to do...
davidm
Strata Poster
Re: USA'15: Carowinds/LWin/HW/SFStL/SDC/Frontier City/SFoT .
Day 10 : Tuesday 2/6
A bit of a drive was needed first thing today - Texas is HUGE isn't it?
Driving thru Houston,
and NASA,
and 4 or so hours later I get where I'm going,
Which is Kemah Boardwalk (which didn't exist the last time I was in Texas) and the rather splendid "Boardwalk Bullet",
Ride it in the front, then the middle then the back... and it was just really good. I don't know what I was expecting, I thought
I had read some unkind things about it when it first opened but I had realised that noone on CF who had been on it recently had
disliked it that I could remember.
Its a pretty compact little ride, but not what you'd call "small" because of that - just really well designed - tight layout
with plenty of near-passes of the station as it went around its business, finally diving underneath the station in fact.
And when I rode in the back it was just ridiculous ; barely touching the seat all the way around - great stuff.
The rest of the 'park' - its not really a park though ; its a bunch of restaurants (whole place is owned by the Landry's
restaurant group) - isn't up to much ; its all VERY clean and tidy though, just not a lot there.
Another ring-thing then, just the same as at Frontier City - didn't ride this one though;
There was an nice observation tower thing which once they decided that there were enough people on (place was reasonably
dead) they eventually ran;
See how compact BB is from here then,
I wander around for a bit before deciding that there wasn't much else here for me (I did ride the little sky-spinner thing
and the drop-tower though) - they also had another of those Soarin Eagle zip lines (like I rode in Branson) but this one
looked rather useless in comparison to Branson's - it just zipped up a pole in the car park and back again - meh. (Was a
lot cheaper than the Branson one though!)
Couple more rides on the lovely bullet then, take a few more pictures and off we go...
Like the little logo thing too
--
A short drive (for a pleasant change) later I've checked into my hotel in Galveston - you can tell by the view from the
room why I picked this one then
I'd been to Galveston before, back then though the pier didn't contain any rides, it just housed a hotel in fact - heres
an old pic from 10 years ago to illustrate that;
When I came here 10 years ago I had had it in my mind that I was going to be spending a couple of days in this nice island
resort place - the hotel I was in then was OK and kinda resort-y so I just hung out there for the duration, but I was distinctly
unimpressed with the rest of this 'island resort'. So at least this time I was here I was under no illusions about how run
down, ugly, borderline slummy most of the town was.
However there must be some money in the place, there are a few big resorty hotels, the beach was OK I guess and they
(Landry's again) have certainly pumped money into redeveloping the pier into another nice clean and pleasant attraction
(even if the immediate vicinity of the pier was still quite ugh!)
Clearly the only reason I'm here is for their nice little euro-fighter "Iron Shark"
and I really liked this too. Lap-bar only restraints made it a really pleasant ride; not of the violent head banging of
your normal euro-fighters and as you learned the course you could ride it really comfortably. Its a bit short of course,
but think of it as small but perfectly formed. ;-)
This was the day of the Smiler accident, which I just been reading about on the interweb in the hotel before I went onto
the pier - chatted with the ride-ops a bit to see if they had been told anything but they were clueless.
--
Place was packed as you can tell
I rode their chair-swing things - they have 2, a wave-swinger type and a big tall sky-screamer type (not the tallest but
some great views since you are out in the ocean somewhat)
And another ringy-thing barely 25 miles from the last one ; Landry's must have got a BOGOF on them then.
Didn't ride that though, nor the adjacent pirate ship, I mostly just rode the shark - tried every seat since there was barely
anyone else ever waiting for it (goon - ride-ops laughing at me for that) - middle-front-left was the best I thought (super-goon).
So actually a nice little place, just a shame the rest of the town is pretty horrible - there wasn't really anywhere I could
see within walking distance of my hotel to get some dinner (couple of sea-food places, but I don't get on with sea-food) so I
even ate later on at the pier in the tourist Bubba-Shrimp place since I could get a chicken salad there OK.
So despite a lot of driving today for only 2 coasters - they were both really good and so a pretty good day.
--
Trick photo of the nice shark to finish with then;
Day 10 : Tuesday 2/6
A bit of a drive was needed first thing today - Texas is HUGE isn't it?
Driving thru Houston,
and NASA,
and 4 or so hours later I get where I'm going,
Which is Kemah Boardwalk (which didn't exist the last time I was in Texas) and the rather splendid "Boardwalk Bullet",
Ride it in the front, then the middle then the back... and it was just really good. I don't know what I was expecting, I thought
I had read some unkind things about it when it first opened but I had realised that noone on CF who had been on it recently had
disliked it that I could remember.
Its a pretty compact little ride, but not what you'd call "small" because of that - just really well designed - tight layout
with plenty of near-passes of the station as it went around its business, finally diving underneath the station in fact.
And when I rode in the back it was just ridiculous ; barely touching the seat all the way around - great stuff.
The rest of the 'park' - its not really a park though ; its a bunch of restaurants (whole place is owned by the Landry's
restaurant group) - isn't up to much ; its all VERY clean and tidy though, just not a lot there.
Another ring-thing then, just the same as at Frontier City - didn't ride this one though;
There was an nice observation tower thing which once they decided that there were enough people on (place was reasonably
dead) they eventually ran;
See how compact BB is from here then,
I wander around for a bit before deciding that there wasn't much else here for me (I did ride the little sky-spinner thing
and the drop-tower though) - they also had another of those Soarin Eagle zip lines (like I rode in Branson) but this one
looked rather useless in comparison to Branson's - it just zipped up a pole in the car park and back again - meh. (Was a
lot cheaper than the Branson one though!)
Couple more rides on the lovely bullet then, take a few more pictures and off we go...
Like the little logo thing too
--
A short drive (for a pleasant change) later I've checked into my hotel in Galveston - you can tell by the view from the
room why I picked this one then
I'd been to Galveston before, back then though the pier didn't contain any rides, it just housed a hotel in fact - heres
an old pic from 10 years ago to illustrate that;
When I came here 10 years ago I had had it in my mind that I was going to be spending a couple of days in this nice island
resort place - the hotel I was in then was OK and kinda resort-y so I just hung out there for the duration, but I was distinctly
unimpressed with the rest of this 'island resort'. So at least this time I was here I was under no illusions about how run
down, ugly, borderline slummy most of the town was.
However there must be some money in the place, there are a few big resorty hotels, the beach was OK I guess and they
(Landry's again) have certainly pumped money into redeveloping the pier into another nice clean and pleasant attraction
(even if the immediate vicinity of the pier was still quite ugh!)
Clearly the only reason I'm here is for their nice little euro-fighter "Iron Shark"
and I really liked this too. Lap-bar only restraints made it a really pleasant ride; not of the violent head banging of
your normal euro-fighters and as you learned the course you could ride it really comfortably. Its a bit short of course,
but think of it as small but perfectly formed. ;-)
This was the day of the Smiler accident, which I just been reading about on the interweb in the hotel before I went onto
the pier - chatted with the ride-ops a bit to see if they had been told anything but they were clueless.
--
Place was packed as you can tell
I rode their chair-swing things - they have 2, a wave-swinger type and a big tall sky-screamer type (not the tallest but
some great views since you are out in the ocean somewhat)
And another ringy-thing barely 25 miles from the last one ; Landry's must have got a BOGOF on them then.
Didn't ride that though, nor the adjacent pirate ship, I mostly just rode the shark - tried every seat since there was barely
anyone else ever waiting for it (goon - ride-ops laughing at me for that) - middle-front-left was the best I thought (super-goon).
So actually a nice little place, just a shame the rest of the town is pretty horrible - there wasn't really anywhere I could
see within walking distance of my hotel to get some dinner (couple of sea-food places, but I don't get on with sea-food) so I
even ate later on at the pier in the tourist Bubba-Shrimp place since I could get a chicken salad there OK.
So despite a lot of driving today for only 2 coasters - they were both really good and so a pretty good day.
--
Trick photo of the nice shark to finish with then;
mouse
Giga Poster
Re: USA'15: CaroW/LW/HW/SFStL/SDC/FCity/SFoT/Kemah/Galveston
That trick photo of iron shark is probably my favourite one yet.
I never realised boardwalk bullet was so compact, it looks really well designed. Really enjoying reading through these reports and looking at the great photography, so thanks!
That trick photo of iron shark is probably my favourite one yet
.I never realised boardwalk bullet was so compact, it looks really well designed. Really enjoying reading through these reports and looking at the great photography, so thanks!
CookieCoasters
Giga Poster
Re: USA'15: CaroW/LW/HW/SFStL/SDC/FCity/SFoT/Kemah/Galveston
I'm loving these updates I've noticed Boardwalk Bullet seems to be getting very popular as of late, whereas a year or so ago I hadn't heard much spoken about it. Really looking forward to riding it later this year now; nearly as much as the RMCs.
I'm loving these updates
I've noticed Boardwalk Bullet seems to be getting very popular as of late, whereas a year or so ago I hadn't heard much spoken about it. Really looking forward to riding it later this year now; nearly as much as the RMCs.
davidm
Strata Poster
Re: USA'15: CaroW/LW/HW/SFStL/SDC/FCity/SFoT/Kemah/Galveston
Day 11 : Wednesday 3/6
Only one roller coaster today and that wasn't even finished yet.
Had a quick drive down the seafront in Galveston, it didn't really improve my opinion of the place, so got out of there as
swiftly as I was done with a McDonalds breakfast.
All I had planned for the day was to get to San Antonio ; so it was whether to get there as soon as possible and do something
in the afternoon there (I fancied a wander up the observation tower that is in the city centre because it was closed when I
was there 10 years ago) - however eventually I decided that could wait until later in the week and a trip around the
NASA site that I had passed yesterday would be a reasonable distraction for a while.
I'd been here as well previously, and remembered it being quite good, but for some reason this time I felt quite uninspired
by the whole place ; I managed to spend a few hours there somehow (waiting around for tours to start, watching dull
films) but can't say I enjoyed it too much this time.
Anyway you are now going to get some pictures of the place whether you care or not.
Started out on one of the tram tours, was impressed by this bit of high-tech-space-age-machinery at the tour start
The tram tour was basically a trip around some office buildings. Exciting stuff?
Tour 1 stopped in one of the dull office buildings where we got to see some dull old space junk
The 'boneyard' was a bit rubbish, couple of old bits of real kit lying around (Florida's boneyard is much better)
BUT they did have a Saturn V rocket in a shed - this was actually pretty good ; highlight of the place. Unlike Florida's
rocket in a shed, this was at ground level (Florida's is hung from the roof) and there isn't much (anything!) else in the
shed other than the rocket ; but it was still pretty cool.
Space-goon;
Shed;
They have a space-shuttle, sat on a plane.
Its not a real space-shuttle though ; its a replica that used to be in Florida - second-hand space junk then.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shu ... dependence
When I was here before, I remembered the tour being better (the SaturnV was here then but you couldn't see it as it was
not yet on display - it was in the shed all wrapped in plastic - most odd) - there were 2 tours so it must have been the
other one that I took then. So I took it again this time - that tour went inside a big a room full of stuff that they
practice on - it was better than the first tour.
back in the visitor centre I watched a dull IMAX film for a while - standard Discovery channel stuff though - and wandered
around their displays for a while,
Yeah, not sure thats real
Space toilet;
Some bits were ok, a lot was junk though
Gave up after a while, pausing only to look at the fake shuttle from the car park (this is a new exhibit and not opened up
yet - think you'll end up being able to get inside, seem to remember you could when it was in Florida)
The real one at the Smithsonian I was up close to a couple of years ago kinda puts it in the shade a bit.
So NASA Houston - not really recommended anymore ; was all a bit "budget-cuts means no space programme so we don't really have
much to say anymore". Shame.
--
Bit of drive across Texas to San Antonio next then.
Stopped off just outside San Antonio though, just to have a looksee at the little wooden thing that ZDT's are building.
Not too much to see though - looked like they had a LOT of work to do (at the time they were still saying open this summer -
looked unlikely to me ; they've revised that now it seems)
Very impressive how it was packed into a small footprint then ; shame they hadn't got it open for my visit then.
Checked into my hotel in downtown San Antonio ; cool view though (Alamo is in that clump of green in the top-left)
and wandered down to the Riverwalk for some evening beverages and food and a closer pic of the Alamo
Sunset was nice from my room as well
--
Right, San Antonio is all very pleasant, but I'm not really here for nice views and the Riverwalk am I, Fiesta Texas tomorrow...
Day 11 : Wednesday 3/6
Only one roller coaster today and that wasn't even finished yet.
Had a quick drive down the seafront in Galveston, it didn't really improve my opinion of the place, so got out of there as
swiftly as I was done with a McDonalds breakfast.
All I had planned for the day was to get to San Antonio ; so it was whether to get there as soon as possible and do something
in the afternoon there (I fancied a wander up the observation tower that is in the city centre because it was closed when I
was there 10 years ago) - however eventually I decided that could wait until later in the week and a trip around the
NASA site that I had passed yesterday would be a reasonable distraction for a while.
I'd been here as well previously, and remembered it being quite good, but for some reason this time I felt quite uninspired
by the whole place ; I managed to spend a few hours there somehow (waiting around for tours to start, watching dull
films) but can't say I enjoyed it too much this time.
Anyway you are now going to get some pictures of the place whether you care or not.
Started out on one of the tram tours, was impressed by this bit of high-tech-space-age-machinery at the tour start
The tram tour was basically a trip around some office buildings. Exciting stuff?
Tour 1 stopped in one of the dull office buildings where we got to see some dull old space junk
The 'boneyard' was a bit rubbish, couple of old bits of real kit lying around (Florida's boneyard is much better)
BUT they did have a Saturn V rocket in a shed - this was actually pretty good ; highlight of the place. Unlike Florida's
rocket in a shed, this was at ground level (Florida's is hung from the roof) and there isn't much (anything!) else in the
shed other than the rocket ; but it was still pretty cool.
Space-goon;
Shed;
They have a space-shuttle, sat on a plane.
Its not a real space-shuttle though ; its a replica that used to be in Florida - second-hand space junk then.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shu ... dependence
When I was here before, I remembered the tour being better (the SaturnV was here then but you couldn't see it as it was
not yet on display - it was in the shed all wrapped in plastic - most odd) - there were 2 tours so it must have been the
other one that I took then. So I took it again this time - that tour went inside a big a room full of stuff that they
practice on - it was better than the first tour.
back in the visitor centre I watched a dull IMAX film for a while - standard Discovery channel stuff though - and wandered
around their displays for a while,
Yeah, not sure thats real
Space toilet;
Some bits were ok, a lot was junk though
Gave up after a while, pausing only to look at the fake shuttle from the car park (this is a new exhibit and not opened up
yet - think you'll end up being able to get inside, seem to remember you could when it was in Florida)
The real one at the Smithsonian I was up close to a couple of years ago kinda puts it in the shade a bit.
So NASA Houston - not really recommended anymore ; was all a bit "budget-cuts means no space programme so we don't really have
much to say anymore". Shame.
--
Bit of drive across Texas to San Antonio next then.
Stopped off just outside San Antonio though, just to have a looksee at the little wooden thing that ZDT's are building.
Not too much to see though - looked like they had a LOT of work to do (at the time they were still saying open this summer -
looked unlikely to me ; they've revised that now it seems)
Very impressive how it was packed into a small footprint then ; shame they hadn't got it open for my visit then.
Checked into my hotel in downtown San Antonio ; cool view though (Alamo is in that clump of green in the top-left)
and wandered down to the Riverwalk for some evening beverages and food and a closer pic of the Alamo
Sunset was nice from my room as well
--
Right, San Antonio is all very pleasant, but I'm not really here for nice views and the Riverwalk am I, Fiesta Texas tomorrow...
davidm
Strata Poster
Re: USA'15: CaroW/LW/HW/SFStL/SDC/FCity/SFoT/Kemah/Galveston
Day 12 : Thursday 4/6
I'd really liked this place when I came before and there was a fair bit "new to me" since then, so I was pretty much looking
forward to this day of my trip. And it was a good day indeed!
I goon-rushed to the new-for-2015 ride first off ; "Batman The Ride", which is of course most unlike any other
"Batman the Ride"s that you might encounter;
Faced forwards on my first ride - forwards is relative on a spinning ride of course, but meaning I left the station facing
forwards so climbing the lift I was facing away from the ride - so the first drop off the lift hill was all a bit of a
surprise and very confusing. The rest of the ride was also very confusing ; very hard to appreciate what was going on.
Certainly more comfortable than the Intamins (less intense, smoother) but nothing like the Arrow/X style of 4D I thought.
Obviously I raced around straight away for a ride on the other side, this time facing backwards and that was a bit cooler
because you could see the structure of the ride as you went up the hill - was a better ride second time too I think.
Another ride because there was virtually no Q at this point (and them filling single seat from the Q was useful to cut
out the last few trains-worth of Q) then went back to look properly at the main Q building (because I had rushed through
it first thing and on the rerides you didn't need to go all the way out of the ride to get back in line again ; there are
lockers part way through the Q line so you can double-back there)
You enter the Q through a little building, where there is a quite well-done themed room ; really well done hologram thing
in the corner
Then exit the room and there is a batcar;
Then the lockers and then you are in a cattle-pen under the Texan sun before being split off one side of the ride or another.
So the Q building (with the cool theme and hologram) is likely just to be something you walk through and barely part of the
Q experience. Hmmm.
Anyway, all very nice it was - not world-beating or anything like that, but an interesting ride and fun - can see a few
clones/different versions popping up over the next few years but they would probably not make me go out of my way to get
to see them.
Just around the corner from Batman is the park's kiddie area, where there was another +1 for me, the appropriately ((but
grammatically poorly) named kiddie-coaster "Kiddee Koaster".
To my great surprise (having been denied at Carowinds,Frontier City and Over Texas) they let me ride. Yay, big fun.
I had more important +1s on the agenda though so headed that way ; only to be distracted by the rather splendid floorless
B&M that they have here "Superman Krypton Coaster" which I remembered as being perhaps the best floorless B&M
that there is.
A couple of rides on that, front and back (no Q ; happy days!) and I don't think that I need to change that opinion ; great
stuff it is. Really nicely placed up against the quarry walls and cool use of the quarry to hold the lift hill and the
main drop - really good ride this is.
But RMC-awaited in the distance...
And its a monster!
I'd ridden the old Rattler and liked it, great drop ; wonderful interaction with the quarry walls (a tunnel through the
walls for crying out loud), but let down buy a boring middle section when you rattled around a big helix on the top of
the quarry (which was just full of pain) before the great end section.
So given that, and the excellent Texas Giant experience of a few days earlier ; I was very much excited about riding the
"Iron Rattler" today.
And of course it was great. I didn't make the noob-error of riding at the front first ; straight to the back this time and
its fantastic stuff. An even more awesome first-drop (and they held you at the top of the lift for a second too just before
it drops, which was cool ) and instead of a rattly turn around into the boring helix section, a smooth swoop around an
overbanked turn and then into a genuine inversion before the replacement for that awful helix section on top of the quarry.
It still has a bit of a meander around the top of the quarry, but this just does it once (the old one did it 3 times) and
spices it up with a little overbank, followed by a part-inversion (actually the worst bit of the ride I thought) a little
hop and then another great drop off the quarry walls back into the park and then into the quarry-tunnel towards the finish.
Rode it couple more times, just to check it was great ; it was. Can't help thinking that RMC have neutered those old woodys
a bit though ; replacing them with these smooth, painless rides seems something of a loss - hmmm.
Next door is a mine-train looking ride "Road Runner Express", which I remembered as being pretty good - it was a bit
rough this time though but definitely one of the more worthy mine-train rides.
I still had +1s to get, so made my way back towards the entrance to pick up one of those, a B&M Batman the Ride, confusingly
named "Goliath" (hmm, perhaps the SixFlags marketing budget was not up to much in 2008 compared to 2015 when they
eventually got around to using the name)
Obviously thats a good ride, but done 2 of them already on the trip (and not finished yet) so I only have the one courtesy
ride to get my +1 and move on.
Another "it'd be rude not to" ride was "Boomerang]", the park's boomerang. Not as painful as many other boomerangs,
but still - its a boomerang, not a lot to say there then.
Small child making friends with Scooby;
I wander past Batman (the new one, not the old unnamed one) and feel smug that I'd got a few rides in early, because the
peeps have all turned up by now and swamped the new-ride
and make my way to the last of the +1s for the day, unfortunately another clone of something I'd ridden a couple of times
already on the trip - another "Pandemonium"
Fun and all, but really do we need so many clones so close together I wonder (in the same state as the last one) ; at least
its not another spinning mouse I guess.
Tony Hawk influence still hanging about on this one;
Rode their dark-ride - essentially what StLouis had ripped out for Justice League. Was awful really.
Batman (the new one) sits right in the middle of the park, so you wander around it all the time,
Needed a bit of a rest for a while, so I let the train take the strain - fairly long ride around the park and you get to
see a few angles you don't from the walkways;
More tunnels - tunnels are cool
The other Soarin' Eagle was here - and the cheapest of the lot at only $7 to season-pass holders. This one at least went
up the quarry walls to near the Superman drop, but I didn't ride it.
The last coaster to ride was their spaghetti-bowl "Poltergeist" - same layout I think as the indoor Flight of Fears
at the ex-Paramount parks ; SixFlags choosing not to put theirs in a shed it appears
Bit underrated these I think - was good fun and being able to see the track ahead makes them a different experience to
the rather disorientating Flight of Fears. had a couple of rides on that then.
OK - park done ; couple of hours left in the day ; the only sensible thing (again) to do is go play on the RMC for a while
I did ride it towards the front (row 2) at one point (I was cycling it for an hour or so) - was definitely duller there, the
back is where its at on these things for sure.
With about 1/2 hour left in the day I figure I'll get another ride on the new Batman, in the end get another 3 as the
Q is as non-existent now as it was at opening - well done me then.
Far-side (as you come in on the Q) facing backwards in the station was the best seat I thought - not that there was much
in it, its all a mess of confusing upside-down-ness - nice job S&S.
And nice job Six Flags Fiesta Texas - another great day at a Texan Six Flags park, they are quite good (RIP Astroworld though)
--
Wander down the Riverwalk in the evening of course, frankly its the reason that there is such a tourist industry in the
city and one of the few US-city centres that is worth spending time "downtown" in (places like NY,SF,Chicago aside).
Some dodgy tourist places that would appeal to Mr Bell
"British Pub" apparently - my local don't look like that!
I succumb to being a tourist then
Oooh and theres that tower I was going on about; hmmm tomorrow then.
--
Today's silly faked shot;
Day 12 : Thursday 4/6
I'd really liked this place when I came before and there was a fair bit "new to me" since then, so I was pretty much looking
forward to this day of my trip. And it was a good day indeed!
I goon-rushed to the new-for-2015 ride first off ; "Batman The Ride", which is of course most unlike any other
"Batman the Ride"s that you might encounter;
Faced forwards on my first ride - forwards is relative on a spinning ride of course, but meaning I left the station facing
forwards so climbing the lift I was facing away from the ride - so the first drop off the lift hill was all a bit of a
surprise and very confusing. The rest of the ride was also very confusing ; very hard to appreciate what was going on.
Certainly more comfortable than the Intamins (less intense, smoother) but nothing like the Arrow/X style of 4D I thought.
Obviously I raced around straight away for a ride on the other side, this time facing backwards and that was a bit cooler
because you could see the structure of the ride as you went up the hill - was a better ride second time too I think.
Another ride because there was virtually no Q at this point (and them filling single seat from the Q was useful to cut
out the last few trains-worth of Q) then went back to look properly at the main Q building (because I had rushed through
it first thing and on the rerides you didn't need to go all the way out of the ride to get back in line again ; there are
lockers part way through the Q line so you can double-back there)
You enter the Q through a little building, where there is a quite well-done themed room ; really well done hologram thing
in the corner
Then exit the room and there is a batcar;
Then the lockers and then you are in a cattle-pen under the Texan sun before being split off one side of the ride or another.
So the Q building (with the cool theme and hologram) is likely just to be something you walk through and barely part of the
Q experience. Hmmm.
Anyway, all very nice it was - not world-beating or anything like that, but an interesting ride and fun - can see a few
clones/different versions popping up over the next few years but they would probably not make me go out of my way to get
to see them.
Just around the corner from Batman is the park's kiddie area, where there was another +1 for me, the appropriately ((but
grammatically poorly) named kiddie-coaster "Kiddee Koaster".
To my great surprise (having been denied at Carowinds,Frontier City and Over Texas) they let me ride. Yay, big fun.
I had more important +1s on the agenda though so headed that way ; only to be distracted by the rather splendid floorless
B&M that they have here "Superman Krypton Coaster" which I remembered as being perhaps the best floorless B&M
that there is.
A couple of rides on that, front and back (no Q ; happy days!) and I don't think that I need to change that opinion ; great
stuff it is. Really nicely placed up against the quarry walls and cool use of the quarry to hold the lift hill and the
main drop - really good ride this is.
But RMC-awaited in the distance...
And its a monster!
I'd ridden the old Rattler and liked it, great drop ; wonderful interaction with the quarry walls (a tunnel through the
walls for crying out loud), but let down buy a boring middle section when you rattled around a big helix on the top of
the quarry (which was just full of pain) before the great end section.
So given that, and the excellent Texas Giant experience of a few days earlier ; I was very much excited about riding the
"Iron Rattler" today.
And of course it was great. I didn't make the noob-error of riding at the front first ; straight to the back this time and
its fantastic stuff. An even more awesome first-drop (and they held you at the top of the lift for a second too just before
it drops, which was cool ) and instead of a rattly turn around into the boring helix section, a smooth swoop around an
overbanked turn and then into a genuine inversion before the replacement for that awful helix section on top of the quarry.
It still has a bit of a meander around the top of the quarry, but this just does it once (the old one did it 3 times) and
spices it up with a little overbank, followed by a part-inversion (actually the worst bit of the ride I thought) a little
hop and then another great drop off the quarry walls back into the park and then into the quarry-tunnel towards the finish.
Rode it couple more times, just to check it was great ; it was. Can't help thinking that RMC have neutered those old woodys
a bit though ; replacing them with these smooth, painless rides seems something of a loss - hmmm.
Next door is a mine-train looking ride "Road Runner Express", which I remembered as being pretty good - it was a bit
rough this time though but definitely one of the more worthy mine-train rides.
I still had +1s to get, so made my way back towards the entrance to pick up one of those, a B&M Batman the Ride, confusingly
named "Goliath" (hmm, perhaps the SixFlags marketing budget was not up to much in 2008 compared to 2015 when they
eventually got around to using the name)
Obviously thats a good ride, but done 2 of them already on the trip (and not finished yet) so I only have the one courtesy
ride to get my +1 and move on.
Another "it'd be rude not to" ride was "Boomerang]", the park's boomerang. Not as painful as many other boomerangs,
but still - its a boomerang, not a lot to say there then.
Small child making friends with Scooby;
I wander past Batman (the new one, not the old unnamed one) and feel smug that I'd got a few rides in early, because the
peeps have all turned up by now and swamped the new-ride
and make my way to the last of the +1s for the day, unfortunately another clone of something I'd ridden a couple of times
already on the trip - another "Pandemonium"
Fun and all, but really do we need so many clones so close together I wonder (in the same state as the last one) ; at least
its not another spinning mouse I guess.
Tony Hawk influence still hanging about on this one;
Rode their dark-ride - essentially what StLouis had ripped out for Justice League. Was awful really.
Batman (the new one) sits right in the middle of the park, so you wander around it all the time,
Needed a bit of a rest for a while, so I let the train take the strain - fairly long ride around the park and you get to
see a few angles you don't from the walkways;
More tunnels - tunnels are cool
The other Soarin' Eagle was here - and the cheapest of the lot at only $7 to season-pass holders. This one at least went
up the quarry walls to near the Superman drop, but I didn't ride it.
The last coaster to ride was their spaghetti-bowl "Poltergeist" - same layout I think as the indoor Flight of Fears
at the ex-Paramount parks ; SixFlags choosing not to put theirs in a shed it appears
Bit underrated these I think - was good fun and being able to see the track ahead makes them a different experience to
the rather disorientating Flight of Fears. had a couple of rides on that then.
OK - park done ; couple of hours left in the day ; the only sensible thing (again) to do is go play on the RMC for a while
I did ride it towards the front (row 2) at one point (I was cycling it for an hour or so) - was definitely duller there, the
back is where its at on these things for sure.
With about 1/2 hour left in the day I figure I'll get another ride on the new Batman, in the end get another 3 as the
Q is as non-existent now as it was at opening - well done me then.
Far-side (as you come in on the Q) facing backwards in the station was the best seat I thought - not that there was much
in it, its all a mess of confusing upside-down-ness - nice job S&S.
And nice job Six Flags Fiesta Texas - another great day at a Texan Six Flags park, they are quite good (RIP Astroworld though)
--
Wander down the Riverwalk in the evening of course, frankly its the reason that there is such a tourist industry in the
city and one of the few US-city centres that is worth spending time "downtown" in (places like NY,SF,Chicago aside).
Some dodgy tourist places that would appeal to Mr Bell
"British Pub" apparently - my local don't look like that!
I succumb to being a tourist then
Oooh and theres that tower I was going on about; hmmm tomorrow then.
--
Today's silly faked shot;
davidm
Strata Poster
Re: USA'15: CW/LW/HW/SFStL/SDC/FCity/SFoT/KB/Glv/SFFiestaTex
Day 13 : Friday 5/6
So last full day of the holiday (Saturday is just going to be travel)
First up, the wacky amusing motivational signs in my hotel - sigh.
and then off to Seaworld of course, the other big park in San Antonio ; I had quite enjoyed my visit here 10 years ago, but
for some reason wasn't that looking forward to it today.
Hadn't ridden the kiddie-cred on my previous visit, so +1'd "Shamu Express" first thing. Even for a kiddie cred this
was particularly unworthy.
Almost immediately I started getting pissed off with the place, I had wandered towards the only really big thing that was
new to me (the supersplash) and they were holding the crowds (I use the word lightly, about a dozen people) back from that area
of the park for a while, so I just sat around. When they eventually opened it (1/2 hour after the park had opened) the ride
wasn't even working ; so I carried on around the lake to the next Batman but not Batman that San Antonio is blessed with;
"Great White".
Again, good and all, but there was one in the last park and thats only about 10 miles away (I blame SixFlags for this stupid
state of affairs rather than Seaworld but still...)
At least its walk-on to the front row, the only row anyone is bothering riding
Wandered all the way around the big lake that this park sites around, and the place is still dead ; but noticed that the
supersplash had at least started running by then
However there was a whale show about to start, so I went to watch that for a while - this was the allegedly less-showy
and more educational show - was OK I guess.
I exited the show rapidly, beating the crowd (since some had turned up by then) back to "Journey to Atlantis" - which
I had smugly timed to be walk-on for me, but a ~30min Q for the slow-moving people exiting the Shamu show behind me.
Wasn't even as good a supersplash as the one at Europa - this one was lacking the little hill after the drop, otherwise pretty
much the same though
Got barely moist on it though, and the stupid hot Texan sun dried that off in moments too.
Still feeling somewhat "meh" by the whole place - figured I only wanted to ride the big hyper coaster and maybe watch another
show or two then I would be done.
This must have been the dolphin & beluga whale show
Quite liked these "art" things dotted around the park though ; all made from junk picked up in the sea
Figured that the big coaster "Steel Eel" might improve my mood, so went and played on that for a while ; no Q
so I could just sit on it for 1/2 hour or so cycling around - and it worked, really enjoyed that - I do like these big
lumbering Morgan-hypers for some reason - not very subtle, not very clever but they do what it says on the tin - great
fun.
The second (more-showy) Shamu-show was on next, so watched that - more tricks than the one in the morning, was better this
time
Wandered around the park for a while (must have watched another show too - the one with acrobats and stuff rather than
fish - was a bit "meh" again)
Sealion bit was quite nice (didn't watch that show though, was a bit fed up of them by now)
Struggled to find some alligators that were marked on the map - eventually found them hiding behind a cafe on the lakeside
though - wasn't spectacular
So that was it - pretty rubbish last park of the trip, saved only by Steel Eel being rather super.
I still didn't manage to leave the place until mid-afternoon, but that gave me time to wander around the citycentre and the
Riverwalk a bit more, so I got my trip out to the big tower
Big views, but the city is in the middle of rather flat terrain, so a lot of bland is visible from up there (apart from
the city centre itself)
Alamo from the tower;
Miles of bland;
There was some 4D-show included with the tower-ticket ; only it wasn't 4D since something had broken - something that the
guy neglected to tell us until literally the film was about to start - so that was a waste of waiting around for 20 mins
for the thing to start. Pah!
Walked all around the central bit of the Riverwalk though in order to build up a thirst/appetite for some food ; that was a
really pleasant stroll - all very nice walking around all the bars and restaurants that line the river (which if you don't
realise is below street level so you don't even get interrupted on your stroll by the traffic - really cool place)
Best named restaurant chain ever (didn't eat there though ; its a bit posh/expensive)
Tacky tourist-tat on the streets though
--
Day 14 : Saturday 6/6
So that was that then; next day just a trip to the local airport, drop of the rental car (put just under 2400 miles on it
in 2 weeks and had to pay a huge amount of $$$ extra for the one-way drop-off), fly to Newark...
...fly home.
--
Really good trip all in all I think - a few excellent coasters, a few too many clones perhaps; the parks were mostly all
good (even the chain-corporates were much more pleasant that they had been in the past) - bit too much driving than I'd liked
but you gotta put the miles in if you want to get around a bit I guess!
Day 13 : Friday 5/6
So last full day of the holiday (Saturday is just going to be travel)
First up, the wacky amusing motivational signs in my hotel - sigh.
and then off to Seaworld of course, the other big park in San Antonio ; I had quite enjoyed my visit here 10 years ago, but
for some reason wasn't that looking forward to it today.
Hadn't ridden the kiddie-cred on my previous visit, so +1'd "Shamu Express" first thing. Even for a kiddie cred this
was particularly unworthy.
Almost immediately I started getting pissed off with the place, I had wandered towards the only really big thing that was
new to me (the supersplash) and they were holding the crowds (I use the word lightly, about a dozen people) back from that area
of the park for a while, so I just sat around. When they eventually opened it (1/2 hour after the park had opened) the ride
wasn't even working ; so I carried on around the lake to the next Batman but not Batman that San Antonio is blessed with;
"Great White".
Again, good and all, but there was one in the last park and thats only about 10 miles away (I blame SixFlags for this stupid
state of affairs rather than Seaworld but still...)
At least its walk-on to the front row, the only row anyone is bothering riding
Wandered all the way around the big lake that this park sites around, and the place is still dead ; but noticed that the
supersplash had at least started running by then
However there was a whale show about to start, so I went to watch that for a while - this was the allegedly less-showy
and more educational show - was OK I guess.
I exited the show rapidly, beating the crowd (since some had turned up by then) back to "Journey to Atlantis" - which
I had smugly timed to be walk-on for me, but a ~30min Q for the slow-moving people exiting the Shamu show behind me.
Wasn't even as good a supersplash as the one at Europa - this one was lacking the little hill after the drop, otherwise pretty
much the same though
Got barely moist on it though, and the stupid hot Texan sun dried that off in moments too.
Still feeling somewhat "meh" by the whole place - figured I only wanted to ride the big hyper coaster and maybe watch another
show or two then I would be done.
This must have been the dolphin & beluga whale show
Quite liked these "art" things dotted around the park though ; all made from junk picked up in the sea
Figured that the big coaster "Steel Eel" might improve my mood, so went and played on that for a while ; no Q
so I could just sit on it for 1/2 hour or so cycling around - and it worked, really enjoyed that - I do like these big
lumbering Morgan-hypers for some reason - not very subtle, not very clever but they do what it says on the tin - great
fun.
The second (more-showy) Shamu-show was on next, so watched that - more tricks than the one in the morning, was better this
time
Wandered around the park for a while (must have watched another show too - the one with acrobats and stuff rather than
fish - was a bit "meh" again)
Sealion bit was quite nice (didn't watch that show though, was a bit fed up of them by now)
Struggled to find some alligators that were marked on the map - eventually found them hiding behind a cafe on the lakeside
though - wasn't spectacular
So that was it - pretty rubbish last park of the trip, saved only by Steel Eel being rather super.
I still didn't manage to leave the place until mid-afternoon, but that gave me time to wander around the citycentre and the
Riverwalk a bit more, so I got my trip out to the big tower
Big views, but the city is in the middle of rather flat terrain, so a lot of bland is visible from up there (apart from
the city centre itself)
Alamo from the tower;
Miles of bland;
There was some 4D-show included with the tower-ticket ; only it wasn't 4D since something had broken - something that the
guy neglected to tell us until literally the film was about to start - so that was a waste of waiting around for 20 mins
for the thing to start. Pah!
Walked all around the central bit of the Riverwalk though in order to build up a thirst/appetite for some food ; that was a
really pleasant stroll - all very nice walking around all the bars and restaurants that line the river (which if you don't
realise is below street level so you don't even get interrupted on your stroll by the traffic - really cool place)
Best named restaurant chain ever (didn't eat there though ; its a bit posh/expensive)
Tacky tourist-tat on the streets though
--
Day 14 : Saturday 6/6
So that was that then; next day just a trip to the local airport, drop of the rental car (put just under 2400 miles on it
in 2 weeks and had to pay a huge amount of $$$ extra for the one-way drop-off), fly to Newark...
...fly home.
--
Really good trip all in all I think - a few excellent coasters, a few too many clones perhaps; the parks were mostly all
good (even the chain-corporates were much more pleasant that they had been in the past) - bit too much driving than I'd liked
but you gotta put the miles in if you want to get around a bit I guess!
davidm
Strata Poster
Re: USA'15: CW/LW/HW/SFStL/SDC/FCity/SFoT/KB/Glv/SFFiestaTex
Final Score
Route;
Carowinds
Afterburn
Carolina Cobra (relocation)
Carolina Cyclone
Carolina Goldrusher
Flying Ace Aerial Chase
Fury 325
Hurler
Intimidator
[strike]Lucy's Crabbie Cabbie[/strike] - denied
Nighthawk
Ricochet
Thunder Road
Vortex
Woodstock Express
Lake Winnepesaukah
Cannon Ball
Wacky Worm
Wild Lightnin'
Holiday World
Howler
Legend
Raven
Thunderbird
Voyage
Six Flags St. Louis
American Thunder
Batman The Ride
Boomerang (relocation)
Boss
Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast
Ninja
Pandemonium
River King Mine Train
Screamin' Eagle
Silver Dollar City
Fire In The Hole
Grand Exposition Coaster
Outlaw Run
Powder Keg: A Blast in the Wilderness
Thunderation
Wildfire
Frontier City
Diamond Back
Silver Bullet
Steel Lasso
[strike]Wild Kitty[/strike] - denied
Wildcat
Six Flags Over Texas
Batman The Ride
Judge Roy Scream
La Vibora
Mini Mine Train
Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast
New Texas Giant
Pandemonium
Runaway Mine Train
Runaway Mountain
Shock Wave
Titan
[strike]Wile E. Coyote's Grand Canyon Blaster[/strike] - denied
Kemah Boardwalk
Boardwalk Bullet
Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier
Iron Shark
Six Flags Fiesta Texas
Batman: The Ride
Boomerang
Goliath
Iron Rattler
Kiddee Koaster
Pandemonium
Poltergeist
Road Runner Express
Superman Krypton Coaster
SeaWorld San Antonio
Great White
Journey to Atlantis
Shamu Express
Steel Eel
So thats 66 coasters, but only +25 (2 relocations though so really +23)
Final Score
Route;
Carowinds
Afterburn
Carolina Cobra (relocation)
Carolina Cyclone
Carolina Goldrusher
Flying Ace Aerial Chase
Fury 325
Hurler
Intimidator
[strike]Lucy's Crabbie Cabbie[/strike] - denied
Nighthawk
Ricochet
Thunder Road
Vortex
Woodstock Express
Lake Winnepesaukah
Cannon Ball
Wacky Worm
Wild Lightnin'
Holiday World
Howler
Legend
Raven
Thunderbird
Voyage
Six Flags St. Louis
American Thunder
Batman The Ride
Boomerang (relocation)
Boss
Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast
Ninja
Pandemonium
River King Mine Train
Screamin' Eagle
Silver Dollar City
Fire In The Hole
Grand Exposition Coaster
Outlaw Run
Powder Keg: A Blast in the Wilderness
Thunderation
Wildfire
Frontier City
Diamond Back
Silver Bullet
Steel Lasso
[strike]Wild Kitty[/strike] - denied
Wildcat
Six Flags Over Texas
Batman The Ride
Judge Roy Scream
La Vibora
Mini Mine Train
Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast
New Texas Giant
Pandemonium
Runaway Mine Train
Runaway Mountain
Shock Wave
Titan
[strike]Wile E. Coyote's Grand Canyon Blaster[/strike] - denied
Kemah Boardwalk
Boardwalk Bullet
Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier
Iron Shark
Six Flags Fiesta Texas
Batman: The Ride
Boomerang
Goliath
Iron Rattler
Kiddee Koaster
Pandemonium
Poltergeist
Road Runner Express
Superman Krypton Coaster
SeaWorld San Antonio
Great White
Journey to Atlantis
Shamu Express
Steel Eel
So thats 66 coasters, but only +25 (2 relocations though so really +23)
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
Re: USA'15:Caro/LWin/HWld/SFStL/SDC/FCity/SFoT/KB/Galv/SFFT/
UGH worst park to end a trip on! I hated it. The shows were decent but the rides and the park were awful.
UGH worst park to end a trip on! I hated it. The shows were decent but the rides and the park were awful.
davidm
Strata Poster
Re: USA'15:Caro/LWin/HWld/SFStL/SDC/FCity/SFoT/KB/Galv/SFFT/
^ yeah you are not wrong (apart from Steel Eel, which is fab of course!)
I had though of doing SFFT on the Friday (i.e. last on the trip) but eventually figured it would be better to do it sooner rather than later (RMC-anxiety and all that). Seaworld is not cheap to get into either is it - hard to justify it just as a credit-run (and potentially ignore the big shows) when you pay that much, perhaps best just not to bother going at all (but then you miss out on the Eel) - such a goon-dilemma. I used to quite like all the Seaworld parks, but find they don't have much return-appeal to me anymore I think.
--
anyway, heres a processed tourist shot;
^ yeah you are not wrong (apart from Steel Eel, which is fab of course!)
I had though of doing SFFT on the Friday (i.e. last on the trip) but eventually figured it would be better to do it sooner rather than later (RMC-anxiety and all that). Seaworld is not cheap to get into either is it - hard to justify it just as a credit-run (and potentially ignore the big shows) when you pay that much, perhaps best just not to bother going at all (but then you miss out on the Eel) - such a goon-dilemma. I used to quite like all the Seaworld parks, but find they don't have much return-appeal to me anymore I think.
--
anyway, heres a processed tourist shot;
Howie
Donkey in a hat
Re: USA'15:Caro/LWin/HWld/SFStL/SDC/FCity/SFoT/KB/Galv/SFFT/
Great trip, great report and some really great photos in there, thanks for sharing.
The more I think about it, the more I'd like to do a trip like this. Y'know, on yer own like. Just me, driving around America from park to park, at my own pace for a week or two. It'd be awesome!
For example, those photographs of a washed out and deserted SDC. Most people would wanna run for the hotel in situations like that, but not me, I'd want to linger round taking atmospheric pictures of rain-soaked roller coasters n stuff! I even posted a poll about travelling to theme parks alone cos I wanted to gauge whether or not it would be something I'd like to do.
And I've made my mind up. I'd definitely like to do it!
Great trip, great report and some really great photos in there, thanks for sharing.
The more I think about it, the more I'd like to do a trip like this. Y'know, on yer own like. Just me, driving around America from park to park, at my own pace for a week or two. It'd be awesome!
For example, those photographs of a washed out and deserted SDC. Most people would wanna run for the hotel in situations like that, but not me, I'd want to linger round taking atmospheric pictures of rain-soaked roller coasters n stuff! I even posted a poll about travelling to theme parks alone cos I wanted to gauge whether or not it would be something I'd like to do.
And I've made my mind up. I'd definitely like to do it!
davidm
Strata Poster
Re: USA'15:Caro/LWin/HWld/SFStL/SDC/FCity/SFoT/KB/Galv/SFFT/
Just do it then! Its pretty easy - as long as you appreciate the travel/logistics involved in moving from place to place you'll be fine - but there are plenty of routes than involve less travel than I just did. (First time I did anything like this, I booked the first hotel and a hire car and then made the rest up over 3 weeks - I plan a lot more these days as I'm a bit wiser (and goonier)).Howie said:
davidm
Strata Poster
Re: USA'15:Caro/LWin/HWld/SFStL/SDC/FCity/SFoT/KB/Galv/SFFT/
A few more processed pics...
Batman (SFoT) fake;
Thunderbird (clouds not helping much that day)
Texas Giant
Mr Freeze fake;
Batman (St Louis) fake
Furie;
RMC
My usual Wave Swinger shot, this one from Galveston;
1xp HDR from Galveston too
(had not taken my DSLR with me on the trip, so everything is from my compact Panny-TZ60 camera)
A few more processed pics...
Batman (SFoT) fake;
Thunderbird (clouds not helping much that day)
Texas Giant
Mr Freeze fake;
Batman (St Louis) fake
Furie;
RMC
My usual Wave Swinger shot, this one from Galveston;
1xp HDR from Galveston too
(had not taken my DSLR with me on the trip, so everything is from my compact Panny-TZ60 camera)