Hey, everyone. Got back last night from my 12 day roller coaster vacation. Overall was an amazing experience, and i'm not looking forward to going back to work today after being away for nearly 2 weeks.
A few stats about my trip:
For me there were 9 new parks
About 70 new roller coasters (a few in my top 10/20 ranking)
1 flat tire
3,580 miles
And about 12 days of heat exhaustion.
For this trip my partner and I were originially going to fly, but after looking at the cost for the rental car, and cost of the flight, 2 days before we left we decided to suck it up and drive, some hotels were already booked, and some park tickets were already booked, which is why our itinerary was a bit strange.
Day 1 - Wednesday, June 2nd/ Thursday June 3rd
So we started out our trip at 11:30pm (after I had worked 4am-2pm the same day). We got smoothies at Wawa and then started the drive to Dollywood. I did the first stint, up until about 5am in Macon, GA where my partner took over. We ended up arriving to Dollywood at around 10:20 in the morning (park opened at 10)
After already going to Dollywood the summer prior, the park was still gorgeous, it was rainy and cool, so Lightning Rod was broken when we got there. Lightning Rod was my number 1 coaster going into this trip and after riding it this visit it dropped severely in my rankings.
Tennessee Tornado - One of the best rides in the park, it's such a shame that Arrow went defunct shortly after because the next generation of Arrow is awesome
Wild Eagle - I've ridden better wing coasters, and i remember this ride being better on my last visit
Thunderhead - Also a great ride, although a bit rougher than last time.
We left the park around 2:30 in the afternoon after waiting 30 minutes for Lightning Rod, we grabbed some food and booked it to King's Island
Unfortunately we didn't make it for closing like I had hoped but we had a full day tomorrow for all the great coasters. We checked into our hotel in Columbus at around 9pm, got a drink at the bar and passed out.
Day 2 - Friday, June 5th - Kings Island
King's Island is probably my favorite park I've ever been to. The atmosphere is amazing, the park is gorgeous, the operations are fantastic, and the rides are so so good.
We pretty much rode every coaster, and also a few other rides, new to me and my first new credit from the trip was Orion. This ride is kinda meh to me. They had the full opportunity to have a low to the ground layout that tore through the trees, but opted for large elements that don't really do a whole lot. This ride has like 5 elements in total and it goes through them so quickly.
Most notable rides for me - The Beast, Mystic Timbers and Diamondback.
After the park closed we went back to our hotel in Columbus to try and catch up on some sleep.
Day 3 - Saturday, June 6th - Kennywood
We left the hotel early that morning to get to Kennywood for park opening. Their hours were 10:30 - 7, but we were confused that the rides didn't open with the park and instead opened at 11. Just make your park hours 11-7 then, instead of confusing guests. First ride was Steel Curtain because of their one train operations. This ride is good, didn't wow me but didn't disappoint either.
Their other rides though? Holy Crap.....
After Steel Curtain we rode the Racer, the most tame of their wooden coasters, then Jack Rabbit. Holy Moly.... This ride is 101 years old and is awesome the double down is the high light for me, but the whole ride with just the seat belt is such a cool experience.
Next was Phantom's Revenge... This is my favorite coaster from the whole trip. The open trains and the high speeds and damn near violent airtime was such an amazing experience. And the fact that the trains are Arrow chassis and the ride was as smooth as it was? WOW.
Thunderbolt is also an awesome coaster. I loved the look of the old trains and the ride is so good too. I had a hard time choosing if this or Jack Rabbit is better but I think i prefer this coaster because it's longer.
We also rode Exterminator, their indoor wild mouse, which was a lot of fun, as well as Sky Rocket, which is also a great ride. We also got to ride a lot of their antique flat rides and attractions including the Old Mill, Turtle, Auto Race, and the Whip.
Kennywood was probably one of my favorite days during the whole trip. I was worried going in because I had heard about all the things Palace is doing to screw the park, but I was very impressed and really enjoyed my time here.
We drove to our hotel in Harrisburg, PA and crashed for the night.
*I gotta end it here for now, as this is taking me much longer to type than I thought and I gotta get ready for work :/ *
