Harold Perrineau: The star of shows and movies like LOST and the Matrix is also becoming known for his musical talent, as displayed here at Universal Studios Hollywood's CityWalk.
Universal Studios Hollywood recently provided us with the opportunity to talk with one of its recent stars to make an appearance at the park: Harold Perrineau.
Harold is most widely known for his role as Michael on ABC's hit show LOST, and known second for playing Link in the hit movie trilogy the Matrix. However, he's slightly less known for his talent in music that he displayed at Universal's CityWalk, and his love for theme parks.
The star sits down talks to COASTER-net's LA-area correspondent Joe Grable about everything from the challenges of playing the first traitor in the recent show, to ideas for a LOST theme park, to the anger so many fans felt toward his character.
Thanks to the COASTER-net community and all of the LOST fans who submitted questions for the interview!
COASTER-net: How would you like to see a Lost theme park? Harold: That’s such a big question. Lost is such a big thing! A few ideas would be a "Where's Walt?" attraction, creating an entire island for the theme park, a black smoke monster. So much mythology [is involved] that it could be a lot of fun.
COASTER-net: What would a roller coaster named after your character be like? Harold: Really scary. You would have to scream your mama’s name!
COASTER-net: What other movies or shows you've starred in do you think would make good theme park attractions? Harold: The Matrix would be a great one. I'd also like any ride themed after one of my roles to have music. Rides need music!
COASTER-net: Are there any particular friendships you gained on the set of LOST that you think will long outlive the show itself? Harold: Absolutely. I tried to get everyone out here [to Universal Studios]-- Josh Holloway, Daniel, Maggie Grace. We’re going to be friends forever. We got to bond a lot during Season One. Jen and Michael were going to be adversaries but they turned us into friends because we were [in real life].
COASTER-net: How did it feel to play such a dynamic character who faced such a moral dilemma? Harold: Really challenging, but it was even more challenging not knowing what the next week would bring or where it was going!
COASTER-net: Did having a kid help you connect with the role of Michael on LOST? Harold: It helped out a lot because when people got angry with Michael, my wife and I didn’t. We completely understood and it helped me set the dynamics and elemental feeling to protect your kids.
COASTER-net: How did you react to the finale? Did it tie up enough loose ends for you? Harold: I had mixed feelings about it. I loved that it came back to the characters though.
COASTER-net: What was it like to be the first big traitor in the series? Harold: I didn’t mind it at all. People were really, really mad. I usually played characters you just loved, so this was a cool chance to see what that energy was like.
COASTER-net: The scene where "the others" take Walt off your boat, and then shortly afterward -- were those hard emotionally to get into? Harold: It was hard because you didn’t know it was going to happen; you just got a script and pages were missing. You would just find out what was happening the day before. It was in the middle of the ocean [and I'm afraid of sharks], so it was already really heightened in that sense and added on to the natural feel of it.
No fears, I'll let someone else get a blog in...eventually. But I have another TR I need to write. It's to Busch Gardens Europe, so it could technically be fairly routine, but it's not.
As soon as I entered the park, I quickly worked my way to Ireland...only to get stopped by a gate. My sister was entertained by a Clydesdale getting washed, but I watched the gate like a hawk. Finally the clock struck ten, and I beat feet through Ireland, the animals, France, and finally to New France (Canada). Now, why would I go to New France? I mean, it has a Log Ride, but its 70ish degrees, not log weather. Why? Oh, Alpengeist. But why would ride Alpengeist? I mean, Loch Ness Monster scares me. And that's 120ft.
Let me put it like this. In my mind, Loch Ness Monster was a platform about a foot off the ground. Easy to climb, right? Well, Alpie, Griffon, and AC would be about 5' 3" up, which would happen to be my total height. Then, I rode Medusa, which would be about 2 and a half feet above the LNM platform, easy to get on. That would make "The big Three" a basic step up. So to get up to Alpie was...intimidating, but doable. I'll review the coasters at the end of the TR, but I'll get what I did out of the way. Sorry, I didn't bring my camera, but if you need BGE pics, check Kinetic_Industries at Photobucket.
Anyway, Alpie was good enough to reride again. I got two rides in the front and one in the back. But Griffon beckoned. I was nervous, but Mom said she'd ride it if I did, so I did it. I got a back row seat right in the middle, which is a very good place for a first ride, since you can't see out. I got another one in the front row before heading off to AC.
AC made me a little nervous because longer train=more weight=faster acceleration, but it wasn't Griffon, and none of the drops could hold a candle to LNM, but it was fun. I rode it in the middle on the first ride and the back row on the next two.
Then I rode The Battering Ram, which is a lot less terrifying than I remembered it last. I'll put riding it on the extremities on the to-do list. We went through San Marco to get to Germany so my sister could ride the swings and the scrambler (real names not important), I went along and nabbed two more ride on Griffon. Of course, my sister got the short end of the stick, not willing to ride the big rides, but she got Pet Shenanigans (they need to change this show at some point...it’s been like this for 3-4 years now.) and a wolf show. By that point we were exhausted, so we went home.
Reviews (Yay!)
Alpengeist
The front seat in the middle was the smoothest ride and everything else, even front outside, had a nasty rattle. The entire ride was on the verge of you being banged around. The backseat really whipped you around the inversions, but it is hard to overlook the fear of being bashed.
Apollo's Chariot
Okay, ride it in the backseat. I didn't ride the front seat, but in the back, there is air on all of the hills, and on the first and the last hill, there is air until you hit the pullout. The entire ride was perfectly smooth, and the seat is comfy. But Blue Streak, that little 70 foot woodie in Cedar Point, beats it on the fact that the lap bar is a few inches above my lap, leading to literal out of the seat time rather than the concept of flying out of the train.
Griffon
I've got a new favorite coaster...
The view is epic, the drop is INSANE (Though not gut-wrenchingly insane), the immelmann launches you out of your seat, the drop off the brake run (In the back row, which is why I prefer it) provides ejector, the hill provides nice air, the turn is enjoyable, and the last hill, small as it seems, has pure ejector. Call me crazy, but this is an airtime factory. I LOVE IT.
In the coastering world, there are many cloned, formulaic coasters. With so many coasters that are just copies and rip-offs of an originally brilliant idea, sometimes a little uniqueness is nice. Something new, something fresh. In this blog series, I’m not talking about those new, fresh coasters. I’m talking about the coasters so far out in left field that they hit the grandstands. Every week I’m going to highlight one coaster or production model that is so original that I call it an odd or end.
Back in 1953, the country of Japan was devoid of coasters. Then, a little company called Togo opened a coaster which traveled around a little city park that occupies only one block. It was only 36 feet high, but this country was about to get an influx of coasters, many of them by this little company called Togo.
Unfortunately for Togo, for people who knew something about coasters, their inventive ways got a bad rap. While they came up with many innovations for the world, such as stand-up coasters, pipeline coasters, they became more known for uncomfortable restraints and lousy transitions. But even so, here is some of their weirdest ideas in chronological order:
Cyclone Togo was only three coasters into their amusement endeavor when their oddness started to show. There isn’t anything in the layout that is inherently weird about it, but it is impossible to overlook the carpeted trains shaped like logs and the lattice style supports similar to Millennium Force despite that the ride is not even 60 feet tall. Also note the box track that the ride travels on that I’m not even sure is tubular rails.
Dangai There is confusion about which is the first, this, Extreme Roller, or Railblazer, but this was the first to actually receive the stand-up trains. This is odd not just because of the stand-up trains, which were indeed revolutionary, though probably uncomfortable, but for the awkward track transitions, and the hill before the loop. But it only gets odder from here…
Crazy Mouse Togo entered the field of Wild Mice with a bang. Instead of acting standard and doing the same old zig zag, they put a loop. A loop. On a Wild Mouse. They didn’t stop there, however, and put corkscrews on later models. Despite how bad they sound, apparently these are fairly comfortable and enjoyable rides. However, the only one left is at Tobu Park, so you would have to start packing…
Ultra Twister Then there was this…a Togo Pipeline looks different from everything in existence. The cars are single. The rails are on the side of the track with the car in the middle. The entire track is covered in rings. There are no lateral turns, only track switchers. Well, this ride exists for one purpose (besides hurting you, of course): to put you on a perfect heartline roll. They had done this before with Viper at Six Flags Great Adventure, but this did it even better, with not one, but three of them. Not for the squeamish, or the ones who get sick moving backwards and through heartlines (aka me)
Bandit In the 80s, coaster companies were going for more and more inversions. Togo, with its usual “I really don’t care about what anybody cares about” attitude, they went for a coaster designated for airtime, with big hills and helices. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t understand that a lap bar is a perfectly good way of keeping a passenger in their seat, instead vouching for over the shoulder restraints. The coaster had an epic location and used it well, so it’s almost a pity that it had the evil straps.
Fujin Raijin II Expoland was a fairly overlooked park until May 5 2007, when this coaster derailed and killed a woman. The Japanese government soon made new safety laws which closed parks round the country. But this coaster was weird before that. For one, it was a rare stand up without a loop. It also doesn’t have a big drop and takes forever to get to ground level. Weird.
Fujiyama This coaster was made for one reason: To set the height record. But they thought, hey, if we’re gonna make a really tall coaster, we may as well make it decent. To start, they avoided the over the shoulder restraints, which may have helped the ride a little. It ended up having a lot of big elevated turns and not much airtime, leaving it forgotten when it was beaten by Millennium Force four years later.
Roller Coaster (AKA Manhattan Express) Another foray into the hyper coaster for Togo, and this one didn’t pay off either. Instead of trying the lap bar again, they went for over the shoulder harnesses again, but instead of them being completely useless, they added a loop and a dive loop to the ride. It starts with a bunch of hills, which is followed by the loop. While the ride isn’t the best and is quite expensive, it does have a nice façade
Windjammer Surf Racers With Togo’s career coming to a close, they really made a coaster than was there essence. Doing stuff weird and probably wrong. Knott’s Berry Farm was looking for a replacement for an un-replaceable Steeplechase ride, and they went to Togo. First off, the trains have these weird things on the side that are either blimps or surfboards, you can’t tell. Then they make a looping racing coaster with less-than-comfortable restraints. Then Knott’s names it something that gets them sued by a swimwear company. Then, continuing with the suing theme, Knott’s sues Togo for 17 million because of things like misaligned tracks, defective safety restraints, wrinkles in the main frame of the trains, and the fact that the ride couldn’t operate when the wind was higher than 5 miles an hour, which it is a lot.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on whether you like them or not, Togo pretty much had their goose cooked, even though the jury dismissed the suit. They only made two more coasters, with their last one being Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster at DisneySea. You can debate whether this is a sad loss or cause for joy, but whether their rides were comfortable or not, they introduced the stand-up coaster and may have created more innovation for the future.
Join me next week when I explore the weirdness of a Russian Company, PAX rides.
It was a tossup for what amusement park I should go to, and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom won out over Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. At the end of the day it was a good decision, because SFDK is not just an amusement park, but a zoo as well, with some spectacular animal shows. Unfortunately, that means my sister, who is also along for the trip, had to have her enjoyment needs met, which means we had to cut back on rides to hit the shows. Still, at the end of the day, I managed to get all the roller coasters in.
The parking lot was not well kept up, and the trams were really slow. I was a bit skeptical of the interior of the park when I saw the flaking paint on the old tram, but the inside looked really nice, with lush greenery in most of the park. Before they opened the park, there was a really desperate opening show that might have entertained the three kids that were there, since the day I went, the 18th, was the first day of school in Vallejo. Then I realized how bad the layout was. The path to Roar, Tony Hawk's Big Spin, and V2, as well as a few animal shows, is all on a peninsula where if you want to ride the three coasters there, you would have to walk back to the midway to get anywhere else. Maybe I'm just lazy, but it seems like if they looped the path back around here and on the Medusa-Kong path, than you could get places faster.
The ride I wanted to get on was Roar, however, the maintenance man was late, and so I ended up riding Tony Hawk's Big Spin first. While the ride didn't make me too ill, it started the first bit of nausea that would bite me in the rear later. I will review all of the coasters more thoroughly at the end of the report. Since I chickened out on V2, My dad and I sprinted over to Kong for a ride. Despite what kind pain it tried to deal out to me, I actually enjoyed it and rode it three times before the day's end, mostly because it was a walk on all day.
I soon had to get off and head back to a walrus show. It was not spectacular in any way, and I wish I could have done something else with the time. Next was a tiger show, which was a joy to leave. Afterwards, we wandered in the area and rode Boomerang, which was smooth and slightly nauseating, and a rapids ride, which didn't get me very wet but had more rapids and theming than anything I've seen.
Next was a Killer Whale show, which was a step up for the shows. After that my parents tried to coarse me into riding Medusa...and succeeded. I'm glad they did, though, as the ride was very fun and led me to feel invincible for the rest of the day. Roar had opened up by that time, so after watching an ad-heavy dolphin show and an impressive sea lion show, I went over to Roar and V2 for a ride. Roar had the longest line of the day, and while it was worth it, I wasn't blown away. V2 had a non-existent line, but the op insisted on us getting a trivia question right (How many funnel cakes does Six Flags make in a year?) so it was ten minutes before launch. The twist was cool, though it made me ill.
My sister then wanted to go on Waveswinger, for some reason, which effectively knocked out my stomach, and I was on the edge of throwing up. I got a pretzel, and my sister looked at some fairly average animal exhibits. We did that until the closing, where I got one more ride on Medusa.
Now, to the review the coasters:
6th-Tony Hawk's Big Spin-At the end of the day, it is a fairly tame wild mouse with spinning cars. And the spinning cars were really sickening rather than thrilling
5th-Boomerang-One of the smoothest rides in the park, but the backwards part made me a bit sick. Not memorable.
4th-Roar-Rough. Thanks to padding, it wasn't painful, but it was nearly forceless and lacked any kind of kick
3th-Vertical Velocity-The launch was fun, the ride was smooth, the heartline was fun, but it made me a bit ill
2nd-Kong-Ow? The ride was entertaining. It was a war with you pitted against the ride, trying to avoid injury. Because of it, I was all smiles.
1st-Medusa-Fun, fast, enjoyable, didn't hurt me, intense, and (for once) didn't make me sick, this is a real winner.
And now the shows:
Tiger show-THE SCRIPTING! IT HURTS!
Walrus Show-Once the novelty of a walrus moving wears off, there isn't anything to take its place
Orca Show-Pretty nice, but not as good as the others
Dolphin Show-More spectacular with insane tricks, but the Hawaiian airline advertisement was way too forced and annoying ont he principle of it
Sea Lion/Seal show-The script wasn't great, but wow...that sea lion needs an award for training.
Overall, I loved the park and would visit again (without my sister) and recommend it. There are probably better parks, but this is well themed, has nice rides, and good shows. So that's my trip report, check the "Nessie's Travels" thread soon for some photos and more discussion of the park! See ya!
My Interview with John Hildebrandt The General Manager of Cedar Point
Last Friday I had a chance to be in an interview with the General Manager of Cedar Point, John Hildebrandt. Being a Point fan myself, coupled with it being my job, I decided to attend and ask some rather prying questions about the new ride for 2011.
Like any good reporter (lol), I got into the video chat room to see if there was any early action. Unfortunately, there was a different guest being interviewed, and it turned out that Hildebrandt wouldn't be there for another half an hour.
The guest turned out to be the Sandusky City Commissioner, Diedre Cole. I did manage to ask her one question, that being, "What percentage of decisions on the Sandusky Board relate to Cedar Point". Her answer was that Sandusky is a great stand-alone town, and Cedar Point is just a great addition to an already fun town. I was somewhat unsatisfied with the answer, as I was looking for a straight percentage, or something to that effect. The mood would remain throughout the entire interview, including the one with John Hildebrandt.
When Hildebrandt took over the Commissioners spot on the video interview, the amount of guests in the chatroom skyrocketed. Although there were a large amount of unintelligent questions, there were several that really got me thinking.
Question 1: Can you guarantee that the ride will indeed be a thrill ride?
Answer: In my opinion, yes. It will be geared toward the teen crowd.
Question 2: What ride do you [John Hildebrandt] think is the scariest currently at Cedar Point?
Answer: I really do not find many of them scary at the moment, though I can tell you that I may not be riding this new ride for that very reason. [scariness]
Question 3: Does the ride type involve the word "star" in any way? [going along with the star flyer rumor]
Answer: Not that I know of.
Question 4: Will the new ride majorly change the skyline of Cedar Point?
Answer:(laughs) That's a sly question. I could easily be tricked into answering that. It depends on where you're looking from.
Question 5: Will it be a water ride?
Answer: No.
Question 6: Will the ride involve any parts underground or underwater?
Answer: No, the ride will remain above ground at all time.
The interview then ended, leaving all of us dissatisfied with our questions and also with his answers. We couldn't help but wonder if any of those answers hid a clue or not. All we knew was that we would have to wait until the next hint revealed itself to come closer to the answer. I did get a few things out of the interview, though. We learned that it would be extremely scary, as Hildebrandt himself said he may not ride it, even though he rides every other ride in the park without getting scared. All we can do is wonder as to what that means. We can all guess as to what it could be, but we all know that there is only one answer, and that answer will probably be the last thing we could expect.
I'm CPF, bringing you one step closer to knowing Cedar Point's yearly secret. Read more speculation in the forums! See you there!
Coasters With Odd Supporting The acknowledgement of some creative yet often unheard of supports
Among many of the everyday coasters that are built with normal supports, there are certain ones which have certain restrictions to them as far as the space they occupy. These coasters have supports which completely go out of the ordinary in order to fit those restrictions. And it is these coasters that make up the following list...
Great Bear at Hersheypark - When Great Bear was to be constructed at Hershey, B&M had to fit the coaster around, above and even under several existing attractions. These attractions include their log flume Coal Cracker, and Sooperdooperlooper. And not only did B&M have to create an interesting layout that worked around the space limitations, but they also had to work around the restriction of not being able to place supports in Spring Creek. Expectantly, this called for some unique and almost impossible-looking supports when the layout came close to the creek. The left-most support in the picture to the right is just the beginning to how convoluted the supports become.
Ninja at Six Flags Over Georgia - Besides the fact that Ninja is built entirely over water, it is noticable that its supports are shaped oddly. This is due to the fact that Ninja, like a lot of compact coasters at Six Flags parks, had another home before it ended up in Georgia. That home was up the coast in Wildwood, NJ, where Ninja was known as Kamikaze. After Hunt's Pier was changed into Conko's Party Pier in 1989, Vekoma was recruited to design Kamikaze. However, they had to build it over a rapids ride and a bumper boats attraction. So, not only did this call for a very compact layout (having been built on a pier) but also supports that were designed to be placed around the rapids ride. Because of that, they are very unique yet very odd, having bents in them. Even the loop supports are quirky. And so, when Conko's Party pier was changed into Dinosaur Beach in 1992, a lot of rides including Kamikaze were removed. Kamikaze was picked up by Six Flags, and sent to Six Flags Over Georgia where it is known as Ninja. So, that is the reason the supports are odd, and also the reason why it qualifies for this list.
Shockwave at Drayton Manor - Shockwave is a very interesting coaster that is, like Ninja was, built over a rapids ride. As a result of course, it has... you guessed it, odd supports, on sections of the ride. Perhaps the most intruiging supports on the ride are the ones pictured to the right. Not only do they hold up a zero-g roll, but they also are forced to be built around the rapids ride, which is named Splash Canyon. It is obvious that if Splash Canyon wasn't there, the supports would be much different. And in fact, if the supports on Shockwave weren't enough... the station for the ride is built right on top of the turntable for Splash Canyon.
These three coasters are, in my opinion, the pinnacle of all odd supporting known to mankind. Their supports are so twisted that it is nearly mind boggling how they were able to be designed in the first place, yet how perfectly they fulfil their purpose. These coasters ultimately have... odd supporting.
As you likely read here or heard elsewhere, Will Koch, former President and Owner of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, passed away a couple of months ago after drowning, likely due to complications from diabetes.
The loss of Will Koch struck home with me, as I always found him to be a bit of a role model in terms of the way he ran Holiday World. He managed to put the park on the map of amusement destinations, without ruining the traditional family appeal of the park, combining the old with the new…no small feat. It’s one of the parks that I always used as a model and influence for my own “dream park,” should I ever find the means and money to open it. Free parking, free soda, free sunscreen, great wooden coasters, a great selection of other rides, clean, friendly, and good food…what more could you ask for?
As an ACE member, I have a great appreciation for traditional-style and family owned parks, as they have an atmosphere which the big-thrill and corporate parks just can’t match. I have an even greater respect for the families who continue to run the parks for the love of the business and industry, rather than strictly the bottom line (though obviously they MUST consider this to stay in business).
After his death, I contacted several ACE Representatives as well as others who I thought may have had experiences with Will they might want to share. I wanted to create this blog in remembrance of Will and all he did for the amusement industry.
ACE has always had a special relationship with the staff of Holiday World, so his death, no doubt, comes as a huge loss for both Holiday World and ACE. When asked about Will’s relationship with ACE, Mark Cole, current ACE President, said “ACE and Will have had a good relationship over the years. He looked to ACE when they were building Raven to ask what kind of cars would we like to see on the coaster. We were asked to participate in many activities at the park.” Similarly, Anthony Tanner, Asst. Regional Rep for the Midwest Region, responded that “Will greatly understood us crazy ACE'ers and we greatly appreciated Will. The manner in which he ran Holiday World & Splashin' Safari were exactly what ACE was looking for…ACE loves Holiday World because of Will Koch.”
Will was responsible for many innovative amusement park ideas, such as the aforementioned free sunscreen, free parking, and free sodas—things rarely seen at ANY amusement parks these days. This, however, is only a small piece of his legacy. He added three world class wooden coasters, helped the park break one million visitors annually. Tanner summed it up with a simple phrase, “My personal opinion is that his biggest legacy is Holiday World.” He went on to say that “free parking, free soda, worlds best wooden coasters would all be signature topics of a park, but will did it all. Every aspect of Holiday World is his legacy.”
Tanner recalls one of his few encounters with the legendary Will Koch at the Holiday Hustle event at Holiday World this past year. He mentions that the National Geographic Channel, school bands, and ACE were all there on the same day, and Will had a wedding to attend that day. Despite all of this going on in one day, Tanner was impressed that he still made an appearance at the event. “I was amazed that he had all kinds of things going on at the park and a wedding, but he felt it was important to tell us goodnight at the end of our event. Great man!”
To many, this is just another simple example of the kind of man Will was, and his and his family’s close relationship with ACE and those who love the industry. I have never heard anyone say anything bad about Will ever, and I doubt I ever will. Too often, the charm of a park is lost in its corporate budget, its search for the “next biggest thing,” or an owner who cares more about the bottom-line than the park itself, its atmosphere, and fully satisfied customers. Will was proof that if you truly love the industry you work in, and strive to make things better and make sure your customers are satisfied, success will follow. His brother Dan, now the new owner and manager of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, has some big shoes to fill, but given the family’s history, I feel confident for the future of the park.
Trip to Kennywood! I have not been there in a few years
So I got a free moment this past weekend from camps and other things and so I decided to go to Kennywood. Its only about 2 hours away from my house so decided to take a drive. I must say that Kennywood is a much better park then my home park Cedar Point. Now I love Cedar Point and all the Cedar Fair parks with everything I have but wow there is a BIG difference. Let me explain a few things.
1. The park is much more smaller and everything but the employees are very nice and even giving! I ask questions the day I went and every questions was answered very well and nicely. It was also nice to see all Americans working there and can understand them unlike at Cedar Point when you get a foreign person that is hard to understand.
2. The prices are AMAZING! I bought a 32oz Pepsi, chicken fingers fries and cheese all for the price around $8 now if I was at Cedar Point I would have just spent $8 on the chicken fingers and fries no cheese. Also the amount you get for your money is great. One thing you would always see is lines for everything, ice cream, drinks, food. It was from when they opened to when they closed. Cedar Point does not have much of that anymore.
3. Rides I love old rides but you can tell they take good care of them there and maintain them very well. I am not saying Cedar Point does not do that well but on there wood coasters at Kennywood there is a huge difference. I also loved how they would have signs telling you about how old the ride was and how it used to be like.
Closing, I wish that Cedar Point would do the little things like they used to like Kennywood is doing. The food prices need to come down or if not get better quality and quantity with the food.
My Recent Cedar Point Trip With bonus Shoot the Rapids review!
Well, with the start of college only a month away and summer drawing to a close my friends and I decided that it was a great time to head on down to Sandusky for a trip to Cedar Point. We were all excited to get going, but we had a major delay as my friend hit a rather large raccoon that caused enough damage to his car to necessitate reporting it to the police for insurance reasons. Naturally since we were in a hurry the process took a lot longer than expected and we ended up leaving around an hour after we had hoped. After a few stops along the way we ended up arriving to the park at around 11:30 AM.
After pulling into the Soak City lot we headed to Top Thrill Dragster to get ourselves going for the day with a nice 120mph launch. Unfortunately the line had quite a huge line, so we turned around and opted for Magnum XL-200 instead. I've always been a huge fan of the painfully intense airtime on the return to the station, and this time was no different. The trims at the turnaround were on, but not too much, so the train was still carrying some serious speed.
After Magnum we headed to Gemini since we saw it was racing, but the line was longer than our liking so we skipped it and headed to Maverick. To our dismay this line was also incredibly long. The line was outside of the permanent queue, but we were tired of walking around to no avail and we got in line. As always, the back row serves up some airtime that is to die for. Maverick has cemented itself firmly into my #1 spot for sure.
We then headed over to SkyHawk, but the whole queue was full. From experience I knew that a full queue meant a long wait, so we skipped it and headed to Shoot the Rapids. We put all of our valuables and electronics in a locker and hopped in line. After waiting around a half hour, we boarded the train and began our journey. The ride begins in a cool, mist filled tunnel which really sets the tone for the ride. After exiting the tunnel and meandering through some turns you climb the first lift. The first drop is cool, and upon reaching the bottom the car skims across the top of the water giving you the hope that you will stay dry. All of this hope is crushed once you slow down a bit and water rushes over the front of the car. After the drop, you glide through some canyons which have waterfalls on both sides to get you even more drenched. Upon exiting the canyons, its time for the second lift and drop, which provide a bigger splash than the first despite being shorter. After the drop you head back to the station along side the queue so everyone waiting in line can get a good look at how soaked you are. All in all its a fun ride on a hot day, and a great addition to Cedar Point.
We left Shoot the Rapids pretty darn soaked, so we figured Millennium Force would be a nice way to dry off. Of course it was, and we had a nice ride. The airtime was nice and it was smooth as glass as usual. After MF we headed over to Mantis, which had the longest line I had ever seen for that ride. We decided to wait though, since I was craving some intense g's. I got what I was looking for and then some. The forces in the first half of the ride were crazy, and I even started to lose my vision for a second. Despite all of the negative comments floating around out there, I still really like Mantis.
Well it was around the time of day thatRaptor usually has short lines, so we made the trek up to the front of the park. Sadly we were wrong, as the queue was the most full I had seen it in a long time. Fortunately the Raptor Crew was doing an amazing job hitting their dispatch times and the line was moving really quickly. The ride was nice, and I still absolutely love Raptor's helix. After we got off the ride some of my friends headed over to maXair, but since I don't do well with multi-axis rotation I sat it out and went hunting for stakes around that area. I found what I was looking for over by Ocean Motion. I know one stake isn't much, but with Ocean Motion supposedly being up for sale it could be evidence leading to something in the future.
Once they got off the ride I met up with them again for a trip on Wicked Twister. The ride was fun, but it felt a bit boring after being put through g-force fiestas on our last two rides, which were surprisingly enough both B&M creations. This proves that B&M is capable of putting out the forces and often gets a bad reputation of being forceless that isn't exactly accurate. After Wicked Twister we grabbed walk on rides on the red side of Power Tower and Corkscrew.
We then walked back to get our ride on Gemini that we missed out on earlier. Despite a minor delay due to a mechanical issue we got on fairly quickly. This was definitely the most fun ride I had ever had on Gemini. Two of my friends rode in opposite trains, so we high fived in the corners and talked some smack throughout the whole ride. We even got some other people to row the train like a canoe in the corners with us. Fortunately our train, the red train, won and we celebrated and heckled our friends on the other train. After our ride we were exhausted so we headed to the car.
Overall our trip was fun, but the extremely large crowds put a bit of a damper on our day. Despite the large crowds the crews on the rides did amazing jobs for the most part keeping the lines moving really fast despite their lengths.
Top 5 Most Cramped Parks Exploring parks with little space and how they get around it
There are several parks that have very little space, but have come up with interesting ways to pile as much into it as possible. These parks have their rides and coasters so intertwined that it's a wonder how they did it in the first place. Join me as we explore the Top 5 Most Cramped Parks.
#5 Hersheypark, Hershey, PA - Hersheypark is very talented at crafting their coasters to fit into as little space as possible, including very recent examples such as Fahrenheit. And some of their most diabolical work involves Great Bear, Sooperdooperlooper, and Coal Cracker, the park's log flume. Sooperdooperlooper, the blue coaster to the right, has two sections which travel over Coal Cracker. And Great Bear, the black coaster to the right, engulfs certain sections of Sooperdooperlooper. Let me elaborate a little. As partially illustrated in the photo to the right, Great Bear travels over Sooperdooperlooper while approaching its first drop. And after it exits the Zero-G Roll (after it has traveled through the loop and immelmann), it travels again over Sooperdooperlooper, this time its break run. And after running parallel with the creek, it goes right into a corkscrew that just barely misses the bottom of Sooperdooperlooper's lift hill. The remainder of the ride weaves its way around Sooperdooperlooper's loop, and barely misses Coal Cracker's station. You can imagine that Great Bear really put Bolliger and Mabillard through the ringer when they were designing it. And to make matters worse, while planning the coaster in 1998, Hersheypark failed to get approval to place supports in Spring Creek, the creek that runs through the park. So, Bolliger and Mabillard created very interesting looking supports that go every which way other than in the creek.
#4 Nickelodeon Universe, Bloomington, MN - Nickelodeon Universe, previously known as the "Park At Mall of America", and earlier, "Camp Snoopy", is located inside a mall. And as such, there is a slight restriction on space, including the roof. Nonetheless, Nickelodeon Universe has crammed five decent sized coasters in the mess, as illustrated to the left (Six total). Pepsi Orange Streak, the green coaster with the long orange train, makes its way around the park, loops around certain flat rides and even tunnels through the mountain for the log flume. Fairly Odd Coaster, the orange coaster, is built over and even under Pepsi Orange Streak (perhaps they should have named Fairly Odd Coaster 'Orange Streak' instead). The blue coaster to the left in the image, SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge, is squeezed into a very small space. And Avatar Airbender, the dark blue one, had to be built a few feet below the park in order to fit the spikes under the roof.
#3 Pleasure Beach Blackpool, Blackpool, England - Pleasure Beach Blackpool, formerly known as Blackpool Pleasure Beach, sits on 42 acres of land situated by the Irish Sea. It is roughly a third of Hersheypark's size, and yet has nearly the same amount of coasters, 10. You can tell by the photo to the right that it is pretty much equivalent to sardines in a can. Big Dipper, the wooden coaster, actually has a tunnel (hidden under the first turnaround after the lift hill), and is built over part of the park's train and Tom Sawyer lake. Infusion, the blue coaster, was somehow wedged in the space previously taken up by the park's log flume. And Pepsi Max Big One, the red and blue coaster, is built over a lot of things, including a few shops on the road next to the park. It also swoops under Big Dipper and tunnels under a shop in the park. To top it off, the park's Arrow Steeplechase ride actually travels over sections of Big Dipper, and the park's train travels in between rides and buildings, featuring a few tunnels of its own.
#2 Morey's Piers, Wildwood, NJ - Morey's Piers consists of three separate piers that are connected to Wildwood's boardwalk, which features the famous tram car that announces "Watch the tram car please" every now and then. Now naturally any amusement pier lacks all that much space, but Morey's Piers capitalizes on every single inch of every pier. Starting on the Adventure Pier, to the right of the pier pictured to the left, a Custom Coasters International woodie is shoehorned above buildings and go-kart tracks, and tunnels under the pier. Moving on to the Surfside pier, to the left of the one pictured, this pier features a Suspended Looping Coaster, Great Nor' Easter, that is much like Blackpool's. It is wedged in and around the log flume, as well as various water slides-- keeping in mind that the log flume and water slides were built first. And finally, saving the most cramped for last, the middle pier, Mariner's Landing Pier. This pier is an absolute piece of work. Morey's Piers has on Mariner's Landing a boomerang, Sea Serpent (the first boomerang in the US), which towers over flat rides and a shop. But that isn't enough... farther up in the pier is a ship-like structure, that houses the station for a Sky Ship attraction and part of a miniature golf course. On top of it, there are various water slides, and below it, there is a go-kart track and more water slides. If that wasn't enough, the miniature golf course comes so close to the water slides that you can reach up and touch the bottom of them.
#1 Indiana Beach, Monticello, IN - Indiana Beach is situated on a narrow peninsula in Lake Shafer. Five of their six coasters are either built over the lake, a building, a ride, or a restaurant. Take for instance, Hoosier Hurricane, the white wooden coaster in the picture. It is built over the water for the first half, and over the rest of the park for the second. Cornball Express, the tan and gray wooden coaster in the background, is also shoehorned over attractions and even shoots through a boat dock. Tig'rr, the red and white coaster, which is surrounded by Cornball Express, is placed completely on the roof of a restaurant. And the park's Galaxi is not only built on a pier, but is completely surrounded by water slides. To top it off, the park even has a train in all that mess.
And so, the list comes to an end. These five parks are each unique in their attractions, as well as how they pile them on top of each other. But of course these parks have two things in common, the fact that they have limited space and the fact that they are undisputedly... cramped!
