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» Trip Reports
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Theme Park Travel Odyssey 2009 Edition
2009 Theme Park Travel Odyssey Time to recap my 2009 theme park trips. This was a busy year with a number of interviews, media days, and fun theme park trips. I’m even going to include a lost trip that I don’t think I’ve referenced on the blog. From the warm tropic atmosphere of Orlando to the mean streets of Manhattan, my travels took me to 10 theme parks. But, it all started ba...
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Busch Gardens Roller Coaster Tour Part 3: Alpengeist & More
The Conclusion of the Busch Gardens Williamsburg Roller Coaster Tour: Alpengeist, Big Bad Wolf, & Apollo’s Chariot The rest of the Roller Coaster Tour felt a bit more brief. I’m not sure if it was because my tour group had fewer questions or because of the nature of the first two stops. The Loch Ness Monster portion was like a crash course in Coasterology 101 where we got insight ...
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Rye Playland Park Review
Rye Playland Park | Amusement Park Review As I was leaving Coney Island, having ridden the legendary Cyclone, I saw a billboard for Playland Park, my next destination. I boarded the northbound subway to Grand Central, then transferred to a train that took me to the out of the city to Westchester County, New York (also home to Professor Xavier’s Mansion for the comic book geeks out there). T...
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Busch Gardens Roller Coaster Tour Part 2: Griffon
Busch Gardens Roller Coaster Tour Part 2: Griffon After an in-depth look at Loch Ness Monster and two quick rides, the tour group headed over to Busch Gardens Europe’s newest roller coaster, Griffon. There, the behind-the-scenes access was taken to a whole new level. The group split up into two smaller groups. One group went to Griffon’s maintenance area while the other took the twe...
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Busch Gardens Roller Coaster Tour Part 1
Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Roller Coaster Tour Part 1: Loch Ness Monster & How Coasters Work 101 If you’re a roller coaster geek like myself, or just curious about how roller coasters work, Busch Gardens Roller Coaster Tour is for you. It gives unparalleled access to the these modern thrill machines as well as a ton of interesting tidbits of knowledge about Busch’s own co...
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Busch Gardens Trip: Farewell Big Bad Wolf & Roller Coaster Tour
Busch Gardens Trip: Farewell Big Bad Wolf & the Roller Coaster Tour For my final trip of the season I’ll be returning to one of my favorite theme parks on the planet: Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I’ll get to take Big Bad Wolf for one more spin in its last days. If you want to ride it before it closes, you have until Monday night (Labor Day) to say goodbye. I’m sad to see it go... -
Wild Adventures Theme Park | Trip Report
Wild Adventures | A Furry, Family Friendly Theme Park In Valdosta, Georgia near the Florida-Georgia border, you’ll find Wild Adventures. It’s a theme park that combines a traditional amusement park, with animal interactions and a water park to create a family friendly summer destination. I spoke with the park’s Public Relations Coordinator, Micha Hogan about what makes Wild Adve...
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The Coaster Critic Meets The Cyclone – NYC Trip
This year for my birthday trip, I’m headed to New York City to ride the legendary Coney Island Cyclone. While I’m in the area I’m also checking out Rye Playland. In true Coaster Critic fashion I’m going to cram it all into one day. Hopefully my subway, train, and city bus research pays off. This trip is really more about the experience than the number of new coasters. Fo... -
Myrtle Beach Trip
I’m off on another coaster trip. This time I’m taking the family to Myrtle Beach, SC. While we’re there I hope to re-visit the revamped Freestyle Music Park. It will be interesting to see all of the changes the park has undergone from when it was Hard Rock Park. I’d also like to go to Family Kingdom Amusement Park, so that I can ride the classic wooden coaster Swamp Fox. Wh... -
Return Trip to Waldameer
Tomorrow I’ll be returning to Waldameer in Erie, PA. It’s home to the 2008 Golden Ticket Winner for ‘Best New Ride’ Ravine Flyer 2. I liked Ravine Flyer 2 so much last year that it landed at 8th on my Top Coasters list and 5th on my favorite wooden coasters. Read my full Ravine Flyer 2 review. Last year, I was lucky enough to get a private tour of Ravine Flyer 2. This yea... -
Back from Orlando
I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I’ll have a Manta review and my exclusive interview with the Creative Director of Hollywood: Rip Ride Rockit up soon. On my way back from Florida, I also stopped at Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Georgia. It was a great trip and I’ve got some really cool content to put up. For now, here’s a picture of Manta’s dive t... -
SeaWorld & Universal Orlando Trip
Next week I’m headed down to Orlando for SeaWorld’s grand opening of Manta. It’s been open for over a week, but the Media Day will include the ‘Manta Cam’. It will basically be a personal camera pointed at me while I ride. It’s also supposed to include other point of view shots and angles. Now that I think of it, it sounds a lot like the on-board video feature o... -
Carolina Cobra Review & Media Day at Carowinds
It was a rainy day, but the Carolina Cobra media day had a positive feel and pointed to a bright future for Carowinds. The event was attended by the local media, park officials, live snakes, and some Nick characters. A local cover band played a few crowd-pleasers while Dora, Diego, and the Rugrats entertained guests. Next, the park addressed the media. Then, an official ribbon cutting was followed... -
Live Tweets from the Carolina Cobra Opening
This Friday: Live Updates from Carowinds Carolina Cobra Event This Friday morning I’ll be tweeting live from the Carolina Cobra Media Day. So follow me on Twitter to get all of the live updates. I’m not a texter and don’t have unlimited texting, so I will be using SpinVox to send out my tweets. SpinVox is a service that translates voice mail messages into Facebook statu... -
Theme Park Travel Odyssey 2008 Edition
I figured I’d recap my 2008 theme park trips all in one post including my favorite and worst rides of the year. Thanks to reader Daniel for the idea after he recapped his year. If you have trip reports you’d like to share for last year or in the future feel free to send them in and I’ll post them. 2008 was a great year and I hope to visit at least three or four parks in 2009. Har... -
California Theme Park Trip Report – Part 2
California Theme Park Trip Report – Part 2 The Conclusion of the SoCal Theme Park Blitz featuring A Night at Knott’s BerryIt was getting late and I figured if I was going to squeeze in Knott’s it was time to head to X2 (4:40) and face my long wait fate. Luckily, the wait was drastically reduced. Instead of over 2 hours it was only about 50 minutes. Halfway through my wait in the... -
California Theme Park Trip Report – Part 1
My Insane 11 Hour Blitz of the Los Angeles Theme ParksPart 1 – Pacific Park at the Santa Monica Pier & Six Flags Magic MountainThanks to all of the readers and those on the various message boards out there for the tips. I landed at LAX at around 10:30 in the morning on Thursday, August the 14th. After finding out how close the airport was to the beach and Pacific Park I figured I’d... -
Michigan’s Adventure Photos
Loyal reader Judy P in Pgh, sent in these photos from her trip to Michigan’s Adventure in Muskegon. New for 2008, the park unveiled the relocated inverted coaster Thunderhawk from Geauga Lake. Michigan’s Adventures’ signature ride is Shivering Timbers. It’s a massive wooden coaster that boasts almost 5,400 feet of track. Check out these photos that Judy took on her trip: H... -
Rampage @ Alabama Adventure | Coaster Reviews
A Lost Treasure, Rampage is a Wooden Gem in the Deep SouthAlabama Adventure (formerly Visionland) is just west of Birmingham, AL. It’s a small park with three coasters, a water park, and a number of flat rides. The only real draw from for me, as The Coaster Critic, was Rampage. Between Bobfunland’s glowing, but fair review over at ThemeParkCritic and the 14th place ranking in the lates... -
Scarowinds Trip Report Part 2
Scarowinds Trip Report Part 2 County FairThe County Fair section had the feel of a busy carnival. It was full of bright lights, music, and games that were actually attracting customers. It was also home to the wooden racing coaster Thunder Road. Normally, it races one train with forward facing cars and one train with backward facing cars. This night, only the forward facing side was operable. It h...
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