Behind the Yellow Line report

USfriends · Behind the Yellow Line report

Wow , yet another stellar trip!
Though the weather wasn't perfect, it worked for us , raining mostly at night. Parks were mostly uncrowded, and ERS took care of most big rides.
El Prez always strives for the best, and the most, and gets it!
( A small fluke involving Survivor will henceforth be forgotten)
The sheer amount of ERSs was staggering, plus closed parks, exclusive
piers, and mass meal tickets! The Coaster King Rules!

A few thoughts and opinions:

Nighttime ride sessions kick ass!

Changing Superman to Bizarro added too many gimmicks and changed
something crucial, but intangible.

Ravine Flyer 2 is wicked good, close to the best ever! An hour and a half
and never a seat went empty!!

Great coasters , with great company, in the greatest club in the world!

Perhaps more to say later, just got home , and I'm shattered!

Roll On! Pete

nemesis scribe

WOW!!!!! Another AWESOME trip!!!!!

Well done El Prez Nev for arranging a great trip and keeping us coaster crazy enthusiasts on the staright and narrow for two weeks Laughing

Tooo many highlights to mention without going into Neme Nick territory, but heres a few:

Gret People - It was superb to see and hang out with so many great friends again and to make even more friends!!

Great ERS's - Ravine Flyer, Comet, Griffon, Boulderdash, Bizarro & Behemoth and getting two piers to ourselves, oh and Great Escape park. Also not forgetting the BOOMERANG ERS of which me and 8 others beat the club record and managed 12 'consecutive' goes in one ERS - proving that the boomernag is the best coaster ever made Wink

Great weather - We only had a bit of rain one afternoon. Apart from that it was superb. Some days it rained heavily when travelling to and from parks but the second we got the park, it stopped woo - hoo!!

Great American women - hmmmmm we salute you all!! Very Happy

Xmas in June - Well done to santa's little helpers who transformed the coach into Xmas which made for a very entertaining if surreal journey after great escape. The looks we got from people in their cars etc will never be forgotten.

The survivor show - Well done Pete, haha. Michelle from Basils will be along shortly to give you your prize Wink

Bad luck Nev, BUT it is quite tough picking the wrong colour stone out of a bag Laughing

I could go on, so again thanks to everyone for making a great trip even better!!

Boomerangs rule!!!

Adamski Cool

David Ellis

Will the last few days of the trip be uploaded soon on the website...for those of us who had to enjoy the trip from a distance, it would be nice to read the final few days reports.

Looks like you all had a great time, as usual.

Thanks,

Davdi.

mophead

What a fantastic trip.

My favourite steel coaster suprisingly turned out to be Big Bad Wolf. Tried it in the morning and thought 'that was quite good'. Tried it in the evening and was blown away - one of the fastest and most extreme rides I've ever done.
Favourite wooden coaster was Ravine Flyer 2 - dosen't quite beat the Voyage but possibly now second in my list.
Other ride highlights were Hellcat, The Comet, Alpengeist, Ride of Steel, The go karts at Morneys Piers, Boulderdash, The rapids at Lake Compounce, Volcano, Wild One, and the final ERS on the Wild Beast.

Parkwise I really enjoyed Waldameer, Seebreeze, Lake Compounce and
most of RyePlayland (I could have lived without the ganster rap though). Other noteable parks were Busch Gardens, Kings Dominion and Canada's Wonderland.

Worst coaster was definately Shockwave at Kings Dominion (Togo stand up). The one at Canada's wonderland was quite smooth in comparrison!

But the trip wouldn't have been the same without all the people and Nev at his hilarious best.

Halfway through the trip we had a Karoke night which everyone was talking out through the rest of the trip. I couldn't work out why, must have been Dan and his Chocolate Satly Balls....

Andy Hine MBE

frosty

My 2nd US trip and what a fantastic two weeks.

Two wonderful parks to start with, Bush Gardens and Kings Dominion and the amazing Canada's Wonderland to finish. Bush Gardens and Kings Dominion both made a great early impression on me due to the whole experience - rides, park layout, friendly staff and atmosphere - and losing two hats during the first two days to Apollo's Chariot and Scooby Coaster (oh the shame of that).

I can't single out favorite steelies and woodies but some great rides that come to mind are Apollo's Chariot, Alpengeist, Griffin, Ride of Steel (the water spray was over done and not necessary), Boulder Dash, Ravine Flyer II - the list goes on and on. The bike coaster, Batwing and flying coasters were new to me but fun. The 272ft drop tower is the largest I've now done. Although I prefer larger parks the piers and smaller parks were also fun and the treatment we received by the management was great.

Adam would be proud to know that I got used to riding Boomerangs and would have been up for the new 12 ride record if not for the other ride that was open. Boomerangs!!!!!!!! Smile

Canada's Wonderland was extremely busy during normal hours. Longer waits for rides was expected but the ride op's on Sky Rider were the only let down on the day - larthargic and spending more time talking to each other and people in the queue than attending to getting the train moving! !hr30 and most of that time stood on the platform. Queue jumping seemed to be very common at this park.

Behemoth was great but if felt a little bland - it needs something adding to it or changing. The late night ERS on Dragon Fire and Wild Beast was intense (we certainly got shook around on both) and enjoyable, especially the participation of the ride op's on WB until the last seconds. Four of us grabbed a late night ride on Behemoth before the dual ride ERS & that certainly got the adrenalin pumping - good during daylight and fantastic at night.

Even Wobbly Bob has started to take a shine to coastering!

Thanks also to all those that encouraged me to take a giant leap and stand and jump on the glass floor of the CN tower - 20 minutes preparation before I was able to do that Smile

Thanks go to Nev for all his hard work throughout the year and for putting in the extra effort during the trip to arrange other add-on's. Thanks go to all the others that put so much effort into arranging the trip throughout the year and for all the park staff and management that made all of us feel so welcome. All these nice touches just add to an amazing experience.

Roll on next year and 'The Voyage'.

bradpeet

Well - firstly I must say thanks to Nev and Mike for arranging a great trip. And to everybody else who contributed whether by being part of the 'support structure' - especially the 2 Gareths for the handling of the luggage and Bobbly for generally looking after us - or just being good company on the trip.

Highlights? There were just so many Laughing

Ravine Flyer II certainly lived up to the hype for me. Although it's still not knocked El Toro off the top spot for me personally. Sorry Nev, but I think it's pushed Phoenix into third place though. (I've still to ride Voyage and the Rattler though Wink

)

Seabreeze really took me by surprise. It's not a big park, but there is so much fun to be had there - and everything is re-ridable. Whirlwind is a good example of it's type. The Bobsleds are unique (by definition) and seem to get more fun each time they are ridden. Jack Rabbit is a good little airtime coaster too.

It was interesting to compare Flight of Fear at Kings Dominion with Jokers Jinx at 6 Flags America. I found the former rough in the back, but a good ride in the front. The latter seemed better in the back. I enjoyed both coasters though

Scooby's Ghoster Coaster at Kings Dominion took me by surprise though - I was expecting something like Zipper Dipper, and got something much better.

Lake Compounce was a great park. Only 4 coasters, but a good selection of flat and water rides too. They also make great use of the lake - with the park railway running round one side, a vintage trolley ride down the other and a boat across the middle. And they have Boulderdash of course Wink

All the Mega coasters were good in their own way, although I found that the Intamin restraints did start to be painful on my thighs after the third ride. Behemoth gave a very smooth ride with a lot of airtime - especially on the very back row with the restraint not tight. But somehow it just felt as if it should have been more exciting. (I have very fond memories of Nitro from the 2008 mini-trip)

Busch Gardens was outstanding for theming though. (And a good selection of rides too Laughing

). None of the others really compared.

Although there is one thing that I definitely learned on ths trip - I'm not a rough rider Wink

As for anybody who complains about AIR, I have to ask whether they have riden a Vekoma or a Zamperla Lay-Down coaster? I don't think I will be riding either of those ever again. (I ride coasters for the experience, not just for a 'tick' Wink

) I don't think I ever need to experience those again!! I think the same might apply to the Vekoma / SLC (689m Standard) (I've just discovered that Kumali at Flamingoland is a different model - that explains a lot Smile

)

EDIT: And extra thanks to Nev for including rides on a sky coaster and a reverse bungee in the price of the trip. I've tried both for the first time now.

David Ellis

Sorry to repeat post...but will the last dew days of the trip be uploaded to the website at some point?
Cheers,
David.

coaster-andy

My second USA trip and my longest one to. Well I could add loads or just mirror others comments which would be far easier to do.

I will say flight out was a pain took ages but coming back was quicker and less stress full.

Busch Gardens was a great park and Griffin was a great coaster. Others would have ridden Shikra but for me only my second dive coaster and a darn good one if I do says so myself. All coasters were great here but one thing I will says is for some reason beyond our control we always ended back at the place called England. Strange but there we go a great start to a trip.

Kings Dominion was a great park also but all that black tarmac seemed to make for a very hot day & the black bins as I found out when I lent against one. Volcano Blast Coaster was the coaster most looking forward to her and it delivered every time. I had to ride twice as I was not expecting such a great launch that was so quick.

Not all Six Flags were great for me I never really liked Six Flags America it just was not a great park for me though the rides were ok Roar being one of them I never liked it. But I love Six Flags New England and my Loony Tune ticks all day long. I liked Bizzaro though the music could have been turned off or not added to the ride. Something I pointed out to a director who asked my thoughts on ride. That was my only bug with the ride. Others , who ride as Superman, said it was ruined but thats there opinion.

Atlantic City was not my cup of tea but I still tried to enjoy it and Steel Pier was a good little park to add on. Not much there but none the less still got rides and I got my first Sling Shot and what fun that was a great ride to the sky.

Wildwood and Moreys Pier was great day treated really well had some great rides.The Great White woody was just a great coaster I really like wood the more I ride. But not to rough for me but then we all have our beef. I loved all aspects of the rides and I like the fact that the 3 piers open up at different times so you get to do all rides. The welcome we got was great the food was great and now once emailed we get our T Shirts as well.

Walldamer was my favorite coaster park a small park but with so much to find and do. Ravine Flyer 2was the best coaster I have ridden a lovely ride a great addition to the park and one that deserved its crown for best wooden coaster last year and not surprised. We did over 1 hr ers (ERT) on Ravine Flyer 2 the night before and the stff were so great and a great ers. Loved this as well.

Darian Lake was a OK park but still has the Six Flags feel about it. it may be the collection of rides that gives it that but OCC Motorbike Coaster was a lovely little ride and one you could enjoy over and over again.

Seabrezze was another park which surprised me as well. A small park but still had the charm a great selection of old and some new rides. Jack Rabbit was a great woody a lovely little coaster and not to rough. Some old coasters seem to have the rough ride but you can live with it. So much to see and do and a strange bobsled coaster which is not in a trough but on rails in a wooden structure. Lovely and as insane as a wild mouse coaster.

Canada Wonderland was a park which was hard work lots of coaster and very hard to get them all. Started on Bohemouth and it was a good coaster was like this is nothing great. I did ride in dark and liked it more then. Maybe the not seeing helped a bit. Staff here were slow to load and only measure when on ride not before. Training most of staff on busy days slows down the rideing. The food though was the best on the trip cannot fault that park.

So all in all a great trip once again, did I expect it not to be, The answer is no. Andy Hine and all others who help deliver every time so I already new I was to have a great trip. Some parks were not great but still had a good time in them still rode the rides and ate the food. Lots more memory's and roll on the next one in 2010.

One last thing thanks to everyone who made this trip as good as it was for myself and for everyone else who also enjoyed the trip.

nemesis scribe

Coaster Police

nemesis scribe

David Ellis

Many thanks for adding the last few days. It was really appreciated. Fully understand the reason for the delay...it is always tough when you get back straight into work after such a great trip.

Cheers,

David.

Coaster Police

No problem Smile

I am glad you liked them, and hopefully found the level of detail enough to give a good idea of each day's goings on.

Only a few days till the summer bash! See you all there!

c anderson

Well done on completing the reports, shame work comes in the way of completing the reports, but it shows how popular they are that people are waiting for them. They were a success, congratulations.

Rough Rider

Ah well better late than never Laughing

Well where do I start? Very Happy

Great Bud

Great Bud Lite Laughing

Great Coors Laughing

Great Coors Lite Laughing

Great Vodka (pints) and Cranberry Laughing

Great BARS!........Especially the "Reunion Bar" next to Nicks bar.
Oh!....................and also some fantastic coasters Laughing

What a great trip yet again, especially meeting up with everyone again, and also making new friends.
I think we had just as many laughs on the bus, as we did in the parks and bars Laughing

Again a HUGE thanks to Nev for all his hard work in organising the trip (I still don't know how you do it)?
Roll on 2011 "RATTLER" here we come...............................Makes Ravine flyer look like a roundabout Laughing

Hmm!
Where have I heard that saying before Laughing

USfriends

Glad you finally chimed in Ryan.
Also noted the Rattler name drop. A post can't go by without
dropping an "R bomb". You mother rattler , you.

Has a nice ring to it Twisted Evil

Coaster Chick

My thanks also to everyone for making the trip so good. Well done Nev for all the good ERSs and the bonuses along the way. Thanks Mike for all the work you do with the hotels and great to see Wobbly Bob again!!!

I agree Ryan - lots of fun on the bus (although I did seem to suffer a lot from turbulence) - or was that you having too much beer? Oooh dear - I'm having a vision!!!! Laughing

You were right about Nick's bar - first time I've had 'buy one drink get 4 free' - very impressive. Smile

Well done Matt and Dave for the huge amount of work you did keeping the website up to date - don't know that everyone realised how time consuming it was but I can vouch for that.

Thanks to Matt and Adam for all the fun and in particular the souvenirs I found in my bag when I got home. Rolling Eyes

Great meeting up with lots of old friends, getting to know some a lot better and really good meeting Dave and Alan - the 2 newbies on tour. Glad you both enjoyed yourselves so much.

Sorry to have missed you at Flamingoland but the flu kept me away (oink oink).

Bye for now and roll on Hot Tracks Tour.

Coaster Chick

PS

I forgot to mention the coasters - was that what we went for?? Rolling Eyes

Great coasters - might not haave been the top coaster on tour but I LOVED the ERS on Comet. I also really liked Boulder Dash and of course Ravine Flyer II - awesome. Very Happy

Top steelie had to be Volcano.

But sorry Adam - you will not get me over to the dark side - you can keep your boomerangs - although there was one ride worse than that - the Mind Eraser and there were several of them!!! I'd rather put my arm down the toilet than ride that again. Embarassed

And as for the first Togo stand up coaster - well that was rather painful. My new name for that would not be allowed on the message board but quite a few of you know what I thought of it. Strangely enough the one in Canada was a lot better.

Lots of great rides once again. Very Happy

Steven Burns

Due to the heat and the slow loading of the Togo stand up, i nearly passed out on that ride. Plus i was so trapped into it being a bigger rider. Worst ride of the trip.

Coaster Police

And what did you nickname the Togo Standup Heather? Fanny Basher wasn't it. LOL

frosty

I just received the feedback letter and what a great read. Even this adds that little something to the trip.

It's a safe bet placing a name against the comment 'All the boomerangs were superb' - lol, and I also found them to be enjoyable.

The lunches that Nev arranges are always very much appreciated although one freebie snack not arranged by Nev was not so pleasant (a mouthful of flies I received on my first ride on Bizarro). Some fry's would have been nice Smile

The surprise evening ERS on Ravine Flyer II was unexpected and a really nice thing for Nev and the park management to arrange. I've no idea how many rides I got in but it was lots!

Night time ERS's are so cool - Phamtom's Revenge and TTD stand out from last year and the final ERS on Wild Beast was so much fun (even for a ride that for me was quite rough and not so enjoyable earlier in the day). The ride op's joining in the fun and sharing a ride was great. One last ride on Behemoth at 11pm just before this twin ERS made for a fantastic end to the main part of the trip. The darkness, lights and cool air rushing past sure added to the ride.

A fantastic trip, so many great parks and some good parks and yet another wonderful experience with great people. Roll on next year.

coaster-andy

I forgot to fill mine in again I am not good with remembering to do things.

I must say though I had a great time and so many things were good for me. I would not ask for Andy to change a thing as everything was 100% for me the rides picked for ers was great the food supplyed was good last one was the best. Dark rides were great and the extra for Ravine Flyer 2 was the best thing for me to remember.

Great trip sorry I did not return mine but I will try to in future. Laughing

As for Bomerang challange the best ride by for Laughing

bradpeet

I did send mine in, although I was *LATE* Shocked

I've not received the feedback letter - so maybe I'm not on the list now Sad

nemesis scribe

[quote="frosty"]
It's a safe bet placing a name against the comment 'All the boomerangs were superb' - lol, and I also found them to be enjoyable.
quote]

Hmmmmmm i wonder who did write that Wink

Glad you like them Frosty!! Very Happy

I wonder who wrote there were too many boomerangs?? Grrrrrr i ill hunt that person down to the ends of the Earth as you can never have too many boomerangs lol Very Happy

I guess the feedback proves that no matter how hard you try you cannot please everyone Confused

Also i cannot see how people can moan about Atlantic City as it was on the itinerary so it wasnt a 'surprise' place to visit lol.

Awesome trip in my opinion !! Atlantic City and boomerangs rule!!!! Laughing

Oh and well done Lake Compounce Very Happy

Adam la Boomerang Man Cool

stevencaine

Steven Burns

I would have to say the best memory of the trip would be from Nev. When he went out of his way to get that extra park for us at the last minute. Martin`s Fantasy Island. To see him at Seabreeze working away to get us all in. He did it, then it all fell through at the last minute due to the weather and the park closing early. But the fact that he did this for us and the fact he offered to spend his Atlantic City winnings on all of us and get us all in the park on Nev. I just thought that was a class act and although it never happened, it says tons. Thank you Nev.

I have to agree with the negative comments about Atlantic City. It was a sleazy hell hole. I think Steel Pier made up for alot and the staff treated us great. Nice time for a small pier. Nev did us great getting the exclusive Pier session. As for the town and the hotel and the atmosphere, i was pleased to move on. The hotel and the staff were the worst I've ever stayed in, and it was the biggest place I've ever stayed. Maybe interesting f you like gambling, and i did win a bit of cash but defo not for me.
I went down the coast and got 6 more coasters at Ocean City, which was tons better.

Clementon was a great add on as well, that made that portion of the trip for me.

As for the feedback letter, i`m also really bad and lost it, never even opened it lol. I only just got round to sorting out Oakwood.

I only disliked Atlantic City and that hotel. Everything else was great. My only negatives were with a few individuals and nothing that spoiled the trip.

USfriends

We haven't received the letter yet, but if the last Airtime was any indication...we should have it by Christmas! lol.

P.S. Has anyone received the t-shirt from Wildwood yet?

frosty

Pete, no I haven't received the t-shirt yet. There may be a few issues to sort out before the final product is available.

coaster-andy

Pete if you waited so long for Airtime then you should receive it by Christmas 2010 Laughing

I have not had mine as yet either.

Rough Rider

I also forgot to send off the feedback form (I actually did fill it in though)
Sorry Nev Crying or Very sad

But just to let you know I thought the whole trip was FANTASTIC!! Laughing

Can't wait till 2011 and "RATTLER" it will make all previous USA trips seem tame Laughing

I am already excited thinking about a "WHOLE HOUR'S" ERS on "RATTLER"
I bet Pete & Lisa can't wait either Laughing

......Oh! and Magic Laughing

Andy Hine MBE

This time next year (Sunday) we'll be waking up ready to have our ERS on Shivering Timbers!! Very Happy

frosty

nemesis scribe

bradpeet

coaster-andy

I am all ready shivering in anticipation of next USA trip.

frosty

USfriends

Andy Hine MBE

This time next year we'll be heading to Indiana Beach (when we get up in a few hours)!

bradpeet

If Nev keeps plugging next years trip like this we might need 3 coaches Shocked

And apparently my feedback wasn't too late - I've been quoted Embarassed

EDIT:The feedback letter arrived this morning Wink

USfriends

Coaster Police

frosty

Andy Hine MBE

This time next year we'll be at Holiday World! Very Happy

Andy Hine MBE

This time next year we'll be in Kings Island Very Happy

Morey's Piers T-shirt update.

All shirts are being sent in the next couple of days (from USA)

frosty

nemesis scribe

Excellent news on the t-shirts.

And . . . the t-shirt has a piccy of a boomerang on it!! Woop woop!!!

Cool

Andy Hine MBE

This time next year we'll be at Cedar Point! Very Happy

Get those SAE's ready!

bradpeet

Nev's still promoting this trip like mad.

I hope this doesn't mean that Bob's being buying up Boris's rejected bendy buses Shocked

c anderson

I thought that Bob was already driving a bendy bus

Rough Rider

frosty

Wildthing

Frosty, if you read the Feedback Results letter, at the end on the picture of the Hot Tracks record in small print on this record, it says the list of 5 parks + A BONUS TRACK( meaning a surprise park??) Very Happy

So all will be revealed next year, can not wait to find out what the final park will be? Laughing

bradpeet

How far is it from Cedar Point to Knoebels? Wink

(PHOENIX!!!!!!! Very Happy

)

stevencaine

frosty

coaster-andy

Nemesis Nick

Wow! I've read all days of the official USA 2009 report on the main site. Reading the text and seeing the pictures gave me an insight into the fun you had, even though I wasn't there. Here's my comments on selected days:

Day 2 Busch Gardens
Griffon - I saw pics of this a few weeks ago, and spoke to some members at the Summer Bash about this. I've noticed a lot of empty seats during the evening ERS on Griffon though, did some members give that a miss?

Apollo's Chariot - that's taller than treetop height. That wouldn't be allowed at Alton Towers. Amazing what parks are allowed to build in the USA. If only Alton Towers could get the green light for that sort of thing.

Loch Ness Monster - that looks exciting, with lots of loops.

Day 3 - Kings Dominion
Group photo - everyone was wearing the same official trip T-shirt. Were they included in the price of the trip? Was that the only day you were given a trip T-shirt? If so why that day rather than any other?

The Crypt - so basically that's like Ripsaw at Alton Towers, but it has fire as well as water. What's it like to ride compared to Ripsaw which I rode during Loopahthon AT 2005 and 2006?

Ricochet - I take it that's a bog standard steel wild mouse ride, like the Crazy Mouse at South Pier Blackpool, or the Wild Mouse at Flamingo Land?

Day 4 - Six Flags America
I read that you had to leave here at 15:30. That seems early to be leaving. Did you all have enough time to do all the rides? The day of the Summer Bash this year, had I left at 15:30 I wouldn't have had time to have done Splash Battle, Flip Flop, Kumali, Voodoo, Wild Mouse, Lost River Ride or Mumbo Jumbo, despite having entered around 9:40.

Day 5 - Wildwood "Morey's Piers"
The first day to not be spent at a theme park as such, but instead three seaside piers with rides on. I thought each day of a USA trip was at a theme park. Still this made a change, seaside piers can feature coasters worth riding, e.g. when I went to this year's Blackpool Bash, I rode Crazy Mouse on South Pier between leaving Pleasure Beach Blackpool and setting off home.

EPS (Exclusive Pier Session) - this must be the first time the Club has used this term.

Sky Coaster - is that a bungee type ride?

Days 8 to 10
When will the photos for these days appear? It would be great to see pictures of what happened those three days.

Day 11 - Seabreeze
Bear Trax looks a decent sized family steelie to me, surprised you'd normally need a child with you to ride that. Did everyone ride Bear Trax during the ERS?

15:30 departure again. Was there time to ride everything in the Park?

Day 12 - Darien Lake
European Coaster Club on the tickets - they made a mistake there. What did Nev think when he saw them?

Moto Coaster - a motorbike coaster. How does it compare to Velocity at Flamingo Land?

Viper - that looks great fun with its loop.

Day 14 - Canada's Wonderland
15 Coasters - that's a lot. Did everyone ride them all? At least those who wanted to ride every coaster were given the chance to ride Taxi Jam after 21:00.

Behemoth - that looks exciting. No over the shoulder restraints though, are there not any inversions on this?

Canadian Mine Buster - a woodie. How does it compare to Big Dipper and Grand National at Pleasure Beach Blackpool?

Time Warp - from the photos that's a similar looking ride to Super Flight at Rye Playland on day 7. How do the two compare?

Hokey Cokey and group hug - a fun way to round off your day. Does the sing-song and group hug following the evening ERS at Drayton Manor include hokey cokey? Funnily enough I did hokey cokey with other guests and Dina the Dinosaur at Devon's Crealy on day 2 of my Devon Dash in June.

Day 15 Toronto
So your flight home wasn't until the evening? Wouldn't it have been better to have spent the final day somewhere with rides, before setting off to the airport to catch the plane?

Now I see what Nev means about the intensity of USA trips. Some days you had early rises and/or late bedtimes, and some days had long distances travelling. Not sure I could stick a trip of this nature somehow.

Magic

Nick, I didn't do this years USA trip but having been a few and having visited most of the parks I can answer a few of your questions.

Griffon ERS
I suspect there were empty seats because there were more seats than people. Each train seats 30 people, I think there were 60 on the trip, so only 2 trains would use the whole group. I bet they were running 3 or 4 trains, if not more. Non UK trips often result in empty seats on trains as the groups are always smaller and parks usually run to as high a capacity as possible during the ERT's.

Apollo's Chariot
There are still strict planning laws in the US, and a lot of Nimbyism. Busch Gardens Europe is in a rural location with some distance from housing estates, so there's less issues with complaints. It's not just the US that has coasters like Apollo's Chariot as we have Silver Star at Europa Park in Germany, although they recently had to add shields on the first drop due to complaints from the houses next door. On a similar scale in terms of height there's also the likes of Expedition GeForce and Pepsi Max Big One in Europe.

T-Shirt
The USA trips usually include 1 tour t-shirt in the trip price. The decision for which day everyone wears them is decided by Nev. I believe he takes into account whether a park has a suitable group photo point, and if there is any media attention. It's also normally near the start of the trip as everyone buys t-shirts in the parks to keep them going.

Non Park Day
The club pretty much does do a park every day. Not just theme parks but amusement parks too. Morey's Piers certainly fits into the amusement parks category. Depending on your standards you might argue that Busch Gardens Europe was the only theme park on the trip with all the others being amusement parks.

EPS
It might have been the first Exclusive Pier Session, but the club has had a few Exclusive Park Sessions.

Sky Coaster
It is on the lines of a bungee jump but is more a giant swing on the end of a wire. Think Vertigo at Oakwood. http://www.skycoaster.com/home.html

Moto Coaster
Having ridden Orange County Choppers Moto Coaster at Darien Lake and Moto Coaster at Jin Jiang Action Park Shanghai I can honestly say they're far superior to the Velocity the Vekoma Booster Bike. Whilst the Zamperla model may be more compact and slower it gives a much better ride that feels more like swooping around on a motorbike. In my mind the Booster Bike is a launched coaster that has the gimmick of being on a motorbike, the MotoCoaster better simulates racing around on a motorbike. The MotoCoaster bikes are much more comfortable, the track is smoother and they are a cheaper.

Behemoth
Behemoth is the same style of coaster as Apollo's Chariot, namely a B&M Speed Coaster. So no there aren't any inversions. The only difference is the seating layout that makes the Behemoth trains longer and gives riders a more exposed ride thanks to the arrow seating formation. For me Apollo's Chariot is the better of the two, but Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia is even better.

Canadian Mine Buster
How does it compare, it's a lot rougher and a very lively ride. Brace yourself well and it's still a fun ride.

Time Warp
Yes it's the same as Super Flight at Rye Playland. They're both Zamperla Volares. They compare identically in that both are rough and hideously nasty.

Flight Home
Not sure if they would have been on the 1900 or the 2000 flight, but taking into account being at the airport 3 hours before departure they'd have been at the airport at 1600 or 1700. Other than Canada's Wonderland the next nearest park with a notable coaster is Marineland in Niagara, 90 minutes away, meaning they'd have left the park at 1400 or 1500. From experience the outer ring road of Toronto gets heavily congested during peak times, the times they'd be going to the airport, so they;d have to allow a lot more time than the 90 minutes drive time. So really they'd have to leave at 1300 or 1400. Since they were in Toronto for Canada's Wonderland they'd have to go back the way the came when the left Waldameer 2 days earlier. Again travelling at rush hour they'd have left their hotel at 7am to get to Marineland for 10am to spend 3 or 4 hours in the park. There's no way they could have done Canada's Wonderland on the last day either, imagine trying to do the whole park and having to leave around 1500. So basically it's not practical to visit a park on the last day. I can't think of a trip when we have done that, the park would have to be very local to the airport and sufficiently small enough to allow for a short time in the park.

JamesC

It's great reading through all your reports. Makes me jealous! Razz

I'd love to make it out to the US one day, and get a load of coasters done. Maybe next years trip, seeing as the dates are better for me......

Andy Hine MBE

ccp

Morey's Piers T-shirt update.

they will be posted tomorrow fri 21st Smile

there was a delay due to morey's waiting for all members orders!
so who do we blame!...
chris

USfriends

nemesis scribe

bradpeet

frosty

nemesis scribe

ccp

USfriends

So any word on t-shirts from Moreys?
Now that our shirts have travelled internationally, the chances
of getting them back are distant.

Say Nev, maybe we could hook up somewhere here in the states,
and the shirts could make it in the luggage....... Cool