More Rain....
Who - John, Becca, Kate, Maggie, Dan, Sarah, Steve
Saturday we started moving around 8:30. The really nice thing about the bedroom in the cabin: it stays dark. The rest of the cabin fills up with light pretty quick but not that bedroom. Anyway, after a wakeup call at 8:30, we got moving. Since the others didn't get in till late, me and Dan left a little earlier and went to the office to get his refund on the parking. We got to the gate and in the park before I realized I still had my wifes pass, so we couldn't go very far.
After everyone got caught up it was decided to head for Raptor. So I let them go ahead while I went to wait for Magnum's opening. This is where I met Jerry (Magnum Candy Man). We got the first ejector seat ride of the day and I had met a new friend. We took another spin on Magnum (discussing various things coaster) before I headed off to catch up with the rest of my group. Snagging a gourmet pretzel on the way I met them as they got off Raptor. We all headed over to maXair.
Dan doesn't like to ride it and I didn't feel like it, so while the others all got in line for it, me and Dan headed to Wicked Twister. Now, Dan has never been on Wicked Twister. He's been working his way up through the coasters because he doesn't like stomach feeling of free falling on a coaster. He came into this trip planning on riding all the stuff he rode last year and nothing new. He was going to do the new stuff on our trip in October. Well, we had a little discussion regarding the drop from the middle of a train and I managed to convince him to ride. I don't think I've ever ridden in the middle, as I prefer the second to last seat, but if it gets him on it we can do it. We waited 2 trains before entering the station and he was having somewhat second thoughts. It didn't help that the train in front of us was a "Launching in 3-2" *LAUNCH* run. After reassuring him that there is only a split second of weightlessness at the apex of each spike it was our turn to ride. I let him go through first, in case hid did want to walk through. But he hopped in the seat and pulled down the restraints. As she counted down the launch, I braced on two expecting the launch, but she got it right and we launched after "1". Every bit of that ride is so much fun. And Dan thought so too.
Our wives had gotten in line a little after we did because maXair had broken down. So when we got off, we headed for Chaos. Another great ride, and thankfully they've added a second op. This makes all the difference, because while one is spieling, the other can be unloading. Once the spieling is done, there are then 2 ops to unload and load. This was a fun ride. After that, we walked towards maXair and Disaster Transport.
We had hoped to ride Disaster Transport, but it was not open yet (it was around 10:30 or 11). However, that did not stop people from LINING UP to ride. That's right, there were people lined up from the entrance, all the way back to the corner of maXair's fence waiting to ride Disaster Transport. I like the ride probably more than anyone else, but dammit, its Disaster Transport. Anyway, Dan and I decided to head to the main arcade as there was this really sweet bowling game I wanted to show him. If any of you have been there, you know what I'm talking about, if you haven't its freaking sweet. Its like mini bowling alley, 10 pins but with a 9-pin sized ball. It was one of the coolest games I have seen in a long time. And I beat Dan by 1 - 146-145.
After re-uniting with the wives, it was determined that it was time for lunch. We settled on Coasters. It was a little overpriced but the food was decent. The biggest problem was finding somewhere to sit as it was quite busy. Just before we got there, this kid whose mom must work there (he left his garbage all over the table) got up from his table, so we went to snag it. We ended up at a booth because my sister thought that would more easily fit 5 people. Oh well, we ate and to give our lunch a chance to digest, we decided to take the train back to FrontierTown. Getting back to FrontierTown, Maggie and I decided to head to MeanStreak.
It was a walk-on for Mean Streak and on top of that the first drop trims were off. As a result, the first half of the ride kicked ass. However, the mid-course grabbed really hard and the second half wasn't quite as fun. The ride was running much smoother than it has in the past. So that was a good sign. After getting off, we headed to the Jitney arcade for a little skiball (I'm a junkie, what can I say).
We met up with the others and went to grab a ride on Gemini. Very little hand slapping going on, it was quite disappointing. I remember it when everyone on both trains was trying to slap hands. Anyway, our side (red) won the race. Becca didn't really like it. She's been having back problems and the bunny hills were just a bit too much on Gemini.
After this it was time to head back to the cabin and catch a break. A nap while watching Bram Stoker's Dracula and we were back up and ready to hit the park. We got back and took a spin on Corkscrew before heading farther up. Again the girls went to ride something while Dan and I went for Disaster Transport. After waiting and realizing it was again a long wait, we decided it was time to exit. Well, unlike the day before, this exit wasn't the alternate entrance. After a short walk through the haunted house, we got to the exit and outside and there's a bay door. By this point, the door behind us had locked and we were stuck. Going up to the bay door and looking around, we noticed the other exit to our left. Thankfully, this gate was unlocked and we were able to get out. I know probably not CP's preferred exit strategy but hey, even I'm only willing to wait so long for Disaster Transport. After getting out, we found that the girls were only shortly behind us, so we gave them our exit strategy and waited for them.
We grabbed some Cotton Candy and I got a call from CoasterN3rd. Told him where we were and he was coming up to meet us. While we were waiting, we wandered over to Bluestreak for a lap. After a lap there, and a stop in Gameday to check the score, we were wandering back over to the main arcade. CoasterN3rd gave me another call back and we were about 50 feet apart. So we got together just as it really started to rain. It was getting pretty bad, but only at the front of the park, apparently at the back he said it wasn't bad. Anyway, Dan, Becca and I headed back to bowling (I had to play again) and CoasterN3rd said he was going to try and hit some up front rides, we planned to get back together at some point. While we were in the arcade, Kate and Maggie headed towards Millenium. While we were finishing up our game (Dan killed me), I got a text message that nothing was open, and only minutes later that Mantis was testing. Heading back that way we heard that Millenium was open with little wait, so I called CoasterN3rd to let him know and he caught up to us. Well, it went down mechanical as we got to it and that gave my sister an opportunity.
She has been trying for quite a while to get us to do an old-time photo. I didn't really feel like doing it, but the others wanted to. I was saved by the grace of Millie though. She opened back up and I left them to their photo while I went to ride Millennium. Since we walked almost all the way up the ramp before stopping this was looking to be a nice quick ride. Well, we decided with the quick wait we'd go for back seat. The first time I've ridden there as I don't usually like waiting the extra for the "special seats". It was an extra one or two train wait, so it really wasn't bad. We got in and....I waited for help getting the belt fastened. Its not that it doesn't fit, its that I can't see what I'm doing when I try to fasten it. Either way, I fit, and we rode, and once again ducked to avoid the flying change. Again Millie amazes. This ride is really lots of fun. Anyway, I wanted to wait for my group to finish with the photo (they looked so freakin stupid). CoasterN3rd took off to meet up with his cousin and grab some lunch, and I waited for them to finish.
Walking toward FrontierTown, and with the decision to go back to the cabin (for the others, not me) Kate and Maggie were ready to ride Thunder Canyon. Unfortunately for them it was closed, of course, they didn't find this out until after emptying their pockets of all their valuables, so we had to transfer everything back to them. What a waste of time. Well, everyone else decided to continue back to the cabin whilst me and Becca rode SkyHawk.
She hated it.
I don't know if it was she hated it, or that she couldn't relax because of the restraints. It really freaked her out that it was just a lapbar and no shoulder harness. Maybe I'll get her on it next time. I really enjoyed it this time, but she needed a few minutes to regroup. And we meandered around through FrontierTown back towards Magnum. She was tired, but I was ready for night riding so I kissed her goodbye and headed towards Disaster Transport. I should note that CoasterN3rd had left a message saying he was by Dragster a few minutes earlier and I was able to listen to the message just before my battery died, so that sucked. So while looking for him I made the decision to do Transport (with a stop for gourmet pretzel on the way). I got most of the way to it before seeing the most ironic sign in the history of sign making.
"This ride closed due to weather conditions". For those of you that don't know, Disaster Transport is an indoor bobsled coaster. Raptor was down as well (probably because of wind) so I decided, WTF, I've got an hour, and a short marathon on Maggie (the ride, not my friends wife) is in order. Walking back to Maggie, there were still people in the Dragster station. This is a ride that had been closed since 5pm (its now around 9) due to weather and yet people are still waiting. Besides, its not like the park is so crowded that you couldn't get to it quickly should it have reopened. What a waste of time, especially with other great rides running with no problem.
I got there and was getting in line as CoasterN3rd and Jerry were getting back to the line. CoasterN3rd headed for corkscrew as me and Jerry headed for ejector seat. Now usually when I've ridden with people, the conversations are done from the top of the lift till just about the station. This time, it was from the top of the hill to the bottom of the hill. We talked about plenty of stuff, Shivering Timbers, Voyage, Mean Streak (and how it could be so much better). After one trip where it was just us and someone left the trims on, we convinced them that they should turn them off. So we got a good 3 or 4 trimless rides in to finish the day. If you want a fun ride, be one of two people in the train, at night, with the trims on. You CRAWL through the pretzel. It is really interesting because you feel very close to not making it. CoasterN3rd caught up to us for the last couple rides of the night.
After putting Maggie to bed (again, the ride, not the wife) we headed out and said our goodbyes. CoasterN3rd gave me a ride to the cabin and we converted him to Lighthouse Pointer. The cabins are really that nice, all you need is to see the inside of one and you won't stay anywhere else. He took off, and I just kinda chilled for a bit before going to bed. People were still up playing cards, and I caught the end of the race.
After cleaning up the grill (I didn't eat, but I wasn't really hungry either) I headed off to bed. I will say, if you stay at LHP, take a small propane grill. It is a million times easier than waiting for charcoal. Especially after a long day.
Saturday we started moving around 8:30. The really nice thing about the bedroom in the cabin: it stays dark. The rest of the cabin fills up with light pretty quick but not that bedroom. Anyway, after a wakeup call at 8:30, we got moving. Since the others didn't get in till late, me and Dan left a little earlier and went to the office to get his refund on the parking. We got to the gate and in the park before I realized I still had my wifes pass, so we couldn't go very far.
After everyone got caught up it was decided to head for Raptor. So I let them go ahead while I went to wait for Magnum's opening. This is where I met Jerry (Magnum Candy Man). We got the first ejector seat ride of the day and I had met a new friend. We took another spin on Magnum (discussing various things coaster) before I headed off to catch up with the rest of my group. Snagging a gourmet pretzel on the way I met them as they got off Raptor. We all headed over to maXair.
Dan doesn't like to ride it and I didn't feel like it, so while the others all got in line for it, me and Dan headed to Wicked Twister. Now, Dan has never been on Wicked Twister. He's been working his way up through the coasters because he doesn't like stomach feeling of free falling on a coaster. He came into this trip planning on riding all the stuff he rode last year and nothing new. He was going to do the new stuff on our trip in October. Well, we had a little discussion regarding the drop from the middle of a train and I managed to convince him to ride. I don't think I've ever ridden in the middle, as I prefer the second to last seat, but if it gets him on it we can do it. We waited 2 trains before entering the station and he was having somewhat second thoughts. It didn't help that the train in front of us was a "Launching in 3-2" *LAUNCH* run. After reassuring him that there is only a split second of weightlessness at the apex of each spike it was our turn to ride. I let him go through first, in case hid did want to walk through. But he hopped in the seat and pulled down the restraints. As she counted down the launch, I braced on two expecting the launch, but she got it right and we launched after "1". Every bit of that ride is so much fun. And Dan thought so too.
Our wives had gotten in line a little after we did because maXair had broken down. So when we got off, we headed for Chaos. Another great ride, and thankfully they've added a second op. This makes all the difference, because while one is spieling, the other can be unloading. Once the spieling is done, there are then 2 ops to unload and load. This was a fun ride. After that, we walked towards maXair and Disaster Transport.
We had hoped to ride Disaster Transport, but it was not open yet (it was around 10:30 or 11). However, that did not stop people from LINING UP to ride. That's right, there were people lined up from the entrance, all the way back to the corner of maXair's fence waiting to ride Disaster Transport. I like the ride probably more than anyone else, but dammit, its Disaster Transport. Anyway, Dan and I decided to head to the main arcade as there was this really sweet bowling game I wanted to show him. If any of you have been there, you know what I'm talking about, if you haven't its freaking sweet. Its like mini bowling alley, 10 pins but with a 9-pin sized ball. It was one of the coolest games I have seen in a long time. And I beat Dan by 1 - 146-145.
After re-uniting with the wives, it was determined that it was time for lunch. We settled on Coasters. It was a little overpriced but the food was decent. The biggest problem was finding somewhere to sit as it was quite busy. Just before we got there, this kid whose mom must work there (he left his garbage all over the table) got up from his table, so we went to snag it. We ended up at a booth because my sister thought that would more easily fit 5 people. Oh well, we ate and to give our lunch a chance to digest, we decided to take the train back to FrontierTown. Getting back to FrontierTown, Maggie and I decided to head to MeanStreak.
It was a walk-on for Mean Streak and on top of that the first drop trims were off. As a result, the first half of the ride kicked ass. However, the mid-course grabbed really hard and the second half wasn't quite as fun. The ride was running much smoother than it has in the past. So that was a good sign. After getting off, we headed to the Jitney arcade for a little skiball (I'm a junkie, what can I say).
We met up with the others and went to grab a ride on Gemini. Very little hand slapping going on, it was quite disappointing. I remember it when everyone on both trains was trying to slap hands. Anyway, our side (red) won the race. Becca didn't really like it. She's been having back problems and the bunny hills were just a bit too much on Gemini.
After this it was time to head back to the cabin and catch a break. A nap while watching Bram Stoker's Dracula and we were back up and ready to hit the park. We got back and took a spin on Corkscrew before heading farther up. Again the girls went to ride something while Dan and I went for Disaster Transport. After waiting and realizing it was again a long wait, we decided it was time to exit. Well, unlike the day before, this exit wasn't the alternate entrance. After a short walk through the haunted house, we got to the exit and outside and there's a bay door. By this point, the door behind us had locked and we were stuck. Going up to the bay door and looking around, we noticed the other exit to our left. Thankfully, this gate was unlocked and we were able to get out. I know probably not CP's preferred exit strategy but hey, even I'm only willing to wait so long for Disaster Transport. After getting out, we found that the girls were only shortly behind us, so we gave them our exit strategy and waited for them.
We grabbed some Cotton Candy and I got a call from CoasterN3rd. Told him where we were and he was coming up to meet us. While we were waiting, we wandered over to Bluestreak for a lap. After a lap there, and a stop in Gameday to check the score, we were wandering back over to the main arcade. CoasterN3rd gave me another call back and we were about 50 feet apart. So we got together just as it really started to rain. It was getting pretty bad, but only at the front of the park, apparently at the back he said it wasn't bad. Anyway, Dan, Becca and I headed back to bowling (I had to play again) and CoasterN3rd said he was going to try and hit some up front rides, we planned to get back together at some point. While we were in the arcade, Kate and Maggie headed towards Millenium. While we were finishing up our game (Dan killed me), I got a text message that nothing was open, and only minutes later that Mantis was testing. Heading back that way we heard that Millenium was open with little wait, so I called CoasterN3rd to let him know and he caught up to us. Well, it went down mechanical as we got to it and that gave my sister an opportunity.
She has been trying for quite a while to get us to do an old-time photo. I didn't really feel like doing it, but the others wanted to. I was saved by the grace of Millie though. She opened back up and I left them to their photo while I went to ride Millennium. Since we walked almost all the way up the ramp before stopping this was looking to be a nice quick ride. Well, we decided with the quick wait we'd go for back seat. The first time I've ridden there as I don't usually like waiting the extra for the "special seats". It was an extra one or two train wait, so it really wasn't bad. We got in and....I waited for help getting the belt fastened. Its not that it doesn't fit, its that I can't see what I'm doing when I try to fasten it. Either way, I fit, and we rode, and once again ducked to avoid the flying change. Again Millie amazes. This ride is really lots of fun. Anyway, I wanted to wait for my group to finish with the photo (they looked so freakin stupid). CoasterN3rd took off to meet up with his cousin and grab some lunch, and I waited for them to finish.
Walking toward FrontierTown, and with the decision to go back to the cabin (for the others, not me) Kate and Maggie were ready to ride Thunder Canyon. Unfortunately for them it was closed, of course, they didn't find this out until after emptying their pockets of all their valuables, so we had to transfer everything back to them. What a waste of time. Well, everyone else decided to continue back to the cabin whilst me and Becca rode SkyHawk.
She hated it.
I don't know if it was she hated it, or that she couldn't relax because of the restraints. It really freaked her out that it was just a lapbar and no shoulder harness. Maybe I'll get her on it next time. I really enjoyed it this time, but she needed a few minutes to regroup. And we meandered around through FrontierTown back towards Magnum. She was tired, but I was ready for night riding so I kissed her goodbye and headed towards Disaster Transport. I should note that CoasterN3rd had left a message saying he was by Dragster a few minutes earlier and I was able to listen to the message just before my battery died, so that sucked. So while looking for him I made the decision to do Transport (with a stop for gourmet pretzel on the way). I got most of the way to it before seeing the most ironic sign in the history of sign making.
"This ride closed due to weather conditions". For those of you that don't know, Disaster Transport is an indoor bobsled coaster. Raptor was down as well (probably because of wind) so I decided, WTF, I've got an hour, and a short marathon on Maggie (the ride, not my friends wife) is in order. Walking back to Maggie, there were still people in the Dragster station. This is a ride that had been closed since 5pm (its now around 9) due to weather and yet people are still waiting. Besides, its not like the park is so crowded that you couldn't get to it quickly should it have reopened. What a waste of time, especially with other great rides running with no problem.
I got there and was getting in line as CoasterN3rd and Jerry were getting back to the line. CoasterN3rd headed for corkscrew as me and Jerry headed for ejector seat. Now usually when I've ridden with people, the conversations are done from the top of the lift till just about the station. This time, it was from the top of the hill to the bottom of the hill. We talked about plenty of stuff, Shivering Timbers, Voyage, Mean Streak (and how it could be so much better). After one trip where it was just us and someone left the trims on, we convinced them that they should turn them off. So we got a good 3 or 4 trimless rides in to finish the day. If you want a fun ride, be one of two people in the train, at night, with the trims on. You CRAWL through the pretzel. It is really interesting because you feel very close to not making it. CoasterN3rd caught up to us for the last couple rides of the night.
After putting Maggie to bed (again, the ride, not the wife) we headed out and said our goodbyes. CoasterN3rd gave me a ride to the cabin and we converted him to Lighthouse Pointer. The cabins are really that nice, all you need is to see the inside of one and you won't stay anywhere else. He took off, and I just kinda chilled for a bit before going to bed. People were still up playing cards, and I caught the end of the race.
After cleaning up the grill (I didn't eat, but I wasn't really hungry either) I headed off to bed. I will say, if you stay at LHP, take a small propane grill. It is a million times easier than waiting for charcoal. Especially after a long day.
posted by John at 4:45 PM
1 Comments:
Sounds like a great day at the park. (Found your blog from your sig on PointBuzz)
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