RCCGB FORUM

Wildthing · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:27 pm Post subject:

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

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bradpeet · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:57 pm Post subject:

How far is it from Cedar Point to Knoebels? Wink

(PHOENIX!!!!!!! Very Happy

)
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Now counting my coasters at http://www.coastercounter.com/bradpeet - which even has the snails Smile

stevencaine · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:23 pm Post subject:

frosty · Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 5:02 am Post subject:

coaster-andy · Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 6:49 am Post subject:

Nemesis Nick · Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 4:07 pm Post subject:

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 · Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 6:24 pm Post subject:

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.
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JamesC · Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 6:53 pm Post subject:

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 · Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 9:17 pm Post subject:

ccp · Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 6:13 pm Post subject:

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
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No1 woodie - Voyage (holiday world)
No1 steelie - Top Thrill Dragster (cedar point)
No1 thrill ride - Big Shot (las vegas)
No1 seaside park - Morey's piers

USfriends · Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 3:23 am Post subject:

nemesis scribe · Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 7:50 am Post subject:

bradpeet · Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:43 am Post subject:

frosty · Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 11:14 am Post subject:

nemesis scribe · Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:18 pm Post subject:

ccp · Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:33 pm Post subject:

USfriends · Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 5:24 am Post subject:

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

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Rollback Queen Lisa