Hello again. So, I have been thinking about what's next?
Well... I liked being the roller coaster road tripper this summer. It was a great 8 days... as you already know from reading my blog. It was the time I needed this summer. I really did felt like taking a road trip this summer... on my own... with time to reflect on life. Some warned I would be too lonely on a 2300 mile road trip... but I didn't feel lonely. I was all pumped with adrenaline... had to have been... otherwise there was no way I could have managed to function on little sleep with long days and long drives. I had many of you on the trip with me... I could count on you to keep tabs on me via this blog or on Facebook... and that helped a lot. Your words in comment along the way were precious. I also had a handful of you that I could call during the longer and late night drives... nothing like good a conversation with a friend to help the miles go by. Too bad my favorite friend to talk with (as we could argue about anything and everything for hours) was away in Iraq this summer... but I managed.
Back to my original question. What's next? Well... for now... I might take the occasional trip up to LA to visit Knott's or Magic Mountain... but I had a different idea the other day... what if I take this road trip abroad? Hmmm...
There are some other coasters here in the US that I would like to ride... I am even thinking of heading out to Cedar Point and Six Flags Great Adventure again... and even Busch Gardens... since those parks were so amazing. But... some of the top coasters reside in Europe and Asia... so... maybe... just maybe... next summer I plan an extended trip to Europe to visit the handful of park there. There are parks in Austria, Denmark, Spain, Germany, and Italy... that could make for a fun trip... and maybe... just maybe I will leave time to visit historical landmarks and be a tourist while I am at it.
And then there is Japan and South Korea... both have some cool parks and record breaking rides.
Anyone wanna come along?
So... for now... I will be signing off... I will post to Facebook if and when I update this blog again.
Thank you all again. I hope you enjoyed the ride.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Top Ten Continued
Okay all... sorry for the delay in getting this done. Other aspects of my life have been taking priority. But, I have committed to get this done... so here is the top 5. I hope you enjoy...
5. El Toro - Six Flags Great Adventure, NJ - This ride is touted as the best wooden roller coaster in the United States... and I would have to agree. This was an amazing coaster... it was fast, gave a lot of air time on the hills(9 times in total), crazy switchbacks, and has an amazing 75 degree first drop... which was unprecedented for a wooden coaster (record breaking in fact). I managed to hit this ride 3 times in a row... once in front and 2 times in the back... and I could have rode this all day long if I wasn't at the park with a friend... and all he wanted to ride was the Big Red Car (photos will be posted later).
And here a first person point of view that someone recorded and posted to You Tube:
4. Maverick - Cedar Point - This ride brings us to Cedar Point, home of 3 of the top 4 coasters on my trip. There is a lot to be said for this part as a whole, but let me focus on this ride. The one was very unique as it is driven my electro-magnets called Linear Induction Motors... this made the trip to the top of the 105' first hill happen in like 3 seconds. And... when at the top of this hill, you get dropped back down at 95 degree angle... which is pretty amazing when sitting in the front car and you cannot see the track ahead of you. There were just thrills at every turn on this ride. They even stop you in a tunnel about 1/2 way through... just to accelerate you through the tunnel using these LIMs again... it was cool the first I rode. This ride has won many honors and awards... it was expensive to build... and made well worth the wait to ride this. I managed to get on it 2 times in 2 days... and had to battle the rain to get on. On my second day, I waited just under 2 hours for this ride because of the rain... but I wasn't going to miss not riding it again.
So, in case you wanted to learn more about this ride, here is a wikipedia for this ride. You will learn a lot and understand why this ride is so amazing.
Here is a digital virtual ride video... explains all the ride features and gives you a virtual POV... pretty neat but a little long:
And, here is a POV video produced my Cedar Point:
And, a reverse POV "Point-Cast" from Cedar Point... they went all out.
3. Millenium Force - Cedar Point - This ride was the #1 coaster in the world for a long time. It was the tallest and fastest... and it was amazing to ride... 3 times in total on my trip. It features a 310', 80 degree, 92 mph first drop. In fact, when this ride opened, it broke 12 world records. Impressive! They built the lift mechanism using some new and lighter system so that they could make the first drop 310' tall... other wise it would have been too heavy. Check out the details here. Well over 15 million people have ridden this monster since it opened in 2000. This ride has all the classic elements of a steel coaster except they made them taller, faster and more thrilling. It is the #2 coaster on coasterfanatics.com, even after all these years.
There are some great POV and animations on the official website, so just check those out.
2. Griffon - Busch Gardens Williamsburg - This ride trumped Millenium Force for the #2 slot. At first, I wasn't planning to visit BGW but I am glad I did. This ride blew me away. My first ride on this was on the 2nd row... and after that I had to hop back on for another trip in the 1st row. This ride was just exhilarating! This ride is amazing because it was designed to give you chills and thrills. It is also the most unique ride of my trip. 1 car, 3 rows of 10 people... it's a behemoth of a coaster. The best element of this ride is the first drop... they intentionally hang you off the first drop before releasing you down the first drop. That is why they call this ride a "drop coaster". While hanging there, all your weight is on the harness that is holding you in your seat... a very nice feeling... very exhilarating ride... unique... and after riding it 6 times. Definitely a favorite.
Here are some videos...
This is a great one... professionally done... with a good play by play.
This video is funny. The screams are precious.
And... this video is a little more of an emotional reflection on what makes this ride so amazing. I mean... you might understand why some people have an emotional connection with these thrill rides.
The other thing that impressed me about this ride was how professionally run it was. They kept the ride moving at a fast pace, engaged the riders in conversation as they loaded the ride and did their safety checks. And, at the end of the night... the lead ride attendant thanked his fellow employees for a job well done... commended them on their energy and attention. I liked hearing that... it made me feel special because they actually care about their jobs and want to ensure riders have a good experience. (As opposed to Six Flags New England... pooh pooh on them.)
And finally... the number 1 ride of the trip...
1. Top Thrill Dragster - Cedar Point - The name of this ride almost speaks for itself. There are very few words I can share about this ride... it too was record breaking. They don't even call this a roller coaster... they call it a stratacoaster... it even has strobe lights on it so that planes don't hit it at night. When it first opened it was the fastest coaster at 120mph and the tallest at 420'. Both of these records were broken by the big brother to this ride named Kingda Ka (at Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ). I was not able to ride Kingda Ka since it got struck by lightning back in May and has been out of commission since then.
So, why is this one #1. Well... just from the shear magnificence of this ride and from the overall thrill of going 120 miles an hour in just under 3 seconds and then to be shot 420 feet straight up and right back down again... in a word... Thrilling! I rode the smaller, slower version of this at Knott's Berry Farm... but it just wasn't the same. So... maybe I will let the video show you how immense this ride really was.
Check em out...
This one covers all angles:
Half of this ride is the initial anticipation. And, as the guy says at the end... this ride is "off the chisel".
Funny promo video.
And, in case you are wondering... the crest of the ride is pretty awesome... you almost feel like you are going to come to a stop at the top... but you don't. It only adds to the thrill of coming back down again. My only regret... was only riding this one time. But... I will be back to Cedar Point... oh yes... I will be back.
Okay... so there is the top ten from my trip. I hope you enjoyed them all... and as much as I did. There will be more to this blog. In the days ahead... so keep checking back periodically.
Thank you again my friends... for coming along on this trip with me.
5. El Toro - Six Flags Great Adventure, NJ - This ride is touted as the best wooden roller coaster in the United States... and I would have to agree. This was an amazing coaster... it was fast, gave a lot of air time on the hills(9 times in total), crazy switchbacks, and has an amazing 75 degree first drop... which was unprecedented for a wooden coaster (record breaking in fact). I managed to hit this ride 3 times in a row... once in front and 2 times in the back... and I could have rode this all day long if I wasn't at the park with a friend... and all he wanted to ride was the Big Red Car (photos will be posted later).
And here a first person point of view that someone recorded and posted to You Tube:
4. Maverick - Cedar Point - This ride brings us to Cedar Point, home of 3 of the top 4 coasters on my trip. There is a lot to be said for this part as a whole, but let me focus on this ride. The one was very unique as it is driven my electro-magnets called Linear Induction Motors... this made the trip to the top of the 105' first hill happen in like 3 seconds. And... when at the top of this hill, you get dropped back down at 95 degree angle... which is pretty amazing when sitting in the front car and you cannot see the track ahead of you. There were just thrills at every turn on this ride. They even stop you in a tunnel about 1/2 way through... just to accelerate you through the tunnel using these LIMs again... it was cool the first I rode. This ride has won many honors and awards... it was expensive to build... and made well worth the wait to ride this. I managed to get on it 2 times in 2 days... and had to battle the rain to get on. On my second day, I waited just under 2 hours for this ride because of the rain... but I wasn't going to miss not riding it again.
So, in case you wanted to learn more about this ride, here is a wikipedia for this ride. You will learn a lot and understand why this ride is so amazing.
Here is a digital virtual ride video... explains all the ride features and gives you a virtual POV... pretty neat but a little long:
And, here is a POV video produced my Cedar Point:
And, a reverse POV "Point-Cast" from Cedar Point... they went all out.
3. Millenium Force - Cedar Point - This ride was the #1 coaster in the world for a long time. It was the tallest and fastest... and it was amazing to ride... 3 times in total on my trip. It features a 310', 80 degree, 92 mph first drop. In fact, when this ride opened, it broke 12 world records. Impressive! They built the lift mechanism using some new and lighter system so that they could make the first drop 310' tall... other wise it would have been too heavy. Check out the details here. Well over 15 million people have ridden this monster since it opened in 2000. This ride has all the classic elements of a steel coaster except they made them taller, faster and more thrilling. It is the #2 coaster on coasterfanatics.com, even after all these years.
There are some great POV and animations on the official website, so just check those out.
2. Griffon - Busch Gardens Williamsburg - This ride trumped Millenium Force for the #2 slot. At first, I wasn't planning to visit BGW but I am glad I did. This ride blew me away. My first ride on this was on the 2nd row... and after that I had to hop back on for another trip in the 1st row. This ride was just exhilarating! This ride is amazing because it was designed to give you chills and thrills. It is also the most unique ride of my trip. 1 car, 3 rows of 10 people... it's a behemoth of a coaster. The best element of this ride is the first drop... they intentionally hang you off the first drop before releasing you down the first drop. That is why they call this ride a "drop coaster". While hanging there, all your weight is on the harness that is holding you in your seat... a very nice feeling... very exhilarating ride... unique... and after riding it 6 times. Definitely a favorite.
Here are some videos...
This is a great one... professionally done... with a good play by play.
This video is funny. The screams are precious.
And... this video is a little more of an emotional reflection on what makes this ride so amazing. I mean... you might understand why some people have an emotional connection with these thrill rides.
The other thing that impressed me about this ride was how professionally run it was. They kept the ride moving at a fast pace, engaged the riders in conversation as they loaded the ride and did their safety checks. And, at the end of the night... the lead ride attendant thanked his fellow employees for a job well done... commended them on their energy and attention. I liked hearing that... it made me feel special because they actually care about their jobs and want to ensure riders have a good experience. (As opposed to Six Flags New England... pooh pooh on them.)
And finally... the number 1 ride of the trip...
1. Top Thrill Dragster - Cedar Point - The name of this ride almost speaks for itself. There are very few words I can share about this ride... it too was record breaking. They don't even call this a roller coaster... they call it a stratacoaster... it even has strobe lights on it so that planes don't hit it at night. When it first opened it was the fastest coaster at 120mph and the tallest at 420'. Both of these records were broken by the big brother to this ride named Kingda Ka (at Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ). I was not able to ride Kingda Ka since it got struck by lightning back in May and has been out of commission since then.
So, why is this one #1. Well... just from the shear magnificence of this ride and from the overall thrill of going 120 miles an hour in just under 3 seconds and then to be shot 420 feet straight up and right back down again... in a word... Thrilling! I rode the smaller, slower version of this at Knott's Berry Farm... but it just wasn't the same. So... maybe I will let the video show you how immense this ride really was.
Check em out...
This one covers all angles:
Half of this ride is the initial anticipation. And, as the guy says at the end... this ride is "off the chisel".
Funny promo video.
And, in case you are wondering... the crest of the ride is pretty awesome... you almost feel like you are going to come to a stop at the top... but you don't. It only adds to the thrill of coming back down again. My only regret... was only riding this one time. But... I will be back to Cedar Point... oh yes... I will be back.
Okay... so there is the top ten from my trip. I hope you enjoyed them all... and as much as I did. There will be more to this blog. In the days ahead... so keep checking back periodically.
Thank you again my friends... for coming along on this trip with me.
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