- June 30th, 2016, 11:21 am
#88657
Last week we took a little trip to the northeast... Well, actually we hit 10 9 parks in 6 days encompassing over 2,500 miles so it wasn't quite so little after all.
Our trip started out as a flop. The goal was to cover the southern Jersey shore and hit Morey's Piers, Gillian's, Playland's Castaway Cove, and Steel Pier on the first day. Strong storms came through closing most of the parks but fortunately a short break in the weather allowed us to do some of it.
The storm took down trees and power to about half of Cape May NJ. Fortunately we weren't in that camping spot.
At least we got to see Steel Pier although the rides weren't operating due to lightning. I have always been very fond of amusement parks on a pier and the setting of Steel Pier did not disappoint.
Next up was Playland's Castaway Cove.
I was looking forward to GaleForce and Wild Waves but they were still under construction.
Whirlwind was running, though, and is my second SBF Visa credit of the year. They are fun rides although they need some work on loading/unloading trains. The design of the trains makes it quite slow and cumbersome.
A 'short' walk down the boardwalk took us to Gillian's Wonderland Pier.
I liked the entrance and the slowly spinning blocks in front of it that spelled out Wonderland.
Runaway is a fun L&T coaster and more enjoyable than I expected.
And I'm never ashamed to get yet another Wacky Worm credit. Lord knows how many of these I've ridden now.
We got up early (4:00 AM) the next morning and headed to Six Flags New England. I don't care what others say, but I kinda like some of the Six Flags sponsor advertising. Who doesn't like M&M steps? (and they were giving out free candy samples #score)
Hey, look! They have a giant swing ride that consistently operates.
I'm not a fan of boomerangs, but Goliath, an giant inverted boomerang rocks! It is by far the best boomerang I have ridden to date.
This is the third Gerstlauer Spinning Coaster I have ridden and they are by far the best spinning coasters in my opinion. Too bad there weren't more of them.
Next up is Wicked Cyclone. This is my fourth RMC hybrid coaster and easily the best to date. Why? Because it has a few unexpected 'trick track' elements, a 200 degree stall that literally floats you through the inversion and tons of airtime.
Heading over to Superman the Ride [RIP Bizarro], it is the first VR coaster we saw. While the VR is cool, it increases load times by 4-5 times so it is kind of a fail at the moment in my book. Based on other reviews, I expected to like this ride. However, it feels like the trains are still running the original wheels, leading to lots of vibration. While I can see the potential, due to the state the ride is in, it didn't even break into my top 10.
Thunderbolt is a great classic wooden coaster but as we see with most corporate parks and woodies, the neglect is apparent. At least the sign is pretty.
Wrapping up our visit to SFNE, here are a couple of observations.
- Six flags ride operations suck across all of their parks that I have been to (8 to date). Dispatch times were awful on just about every single ride.
- I previously bashed Flash Passes based on my experience at SFMM where they merge you way before the station. With the awful operations, lines were long even through they shouldn't have been forcing us to get flash passes. The execution of Flash Passes at SFNE and La Ronde was exceptional, taking us straight to the station making it well worth the money for a trip like this.
Next stop, Sherbrooke, QC, CA. My corporate office is located here so my family got to meet some of my coworkers. Of course, you can't visit the office without trying the slide. It is clearly an 'Intamin' slide as it is v2.0. The first one was way to fast and had to be modified to slow it down. Sound familiar?
The top floor of the office has an open picnic area with great views of Parc Jacques-Cartier and the Magog River.
Just in case you ever need to figure out to cross the street if you are a snowmobile, here are the directions.
While in Sherbrooke we stopped by their large mall and took the opportunity to do some shopping. It's awesome right now with the Canadian dollar being equal to about .77 US dollars, meaning we got an additional 23% off of our purchases. A quick note of advice, use a credit card that will do the exchange for you automatically based on that day's exchange rate without charging you any fees.
From there we headed to La Ronde.
The park is located on an island on the Montreal QC waterfront giving you great views from the lift hills. NOTE: This picture was taken from the monorail and not on a coaster. The views from some of the lift hills are much better.
Because of its location, it has a pit for fireworks that the city of Montreal uses for many of its fireworks shows. Since we were there on 6/23, we did miss the big fireworks show on 6/24 but I planned it that way on purpose. 6/24 is a major Quebec holiday - Jean Baptiste Day. It celebrates Quebec's independence.
Who would have known that they have Red Angus cattle here...
Hey look! Another giant swing that was always in operation...
This is the first of these rides that I have ever seen where some of the people literally get soaked. Normally I see the water as just a teaser.
I have to mention this Vekoma as one of the better corkscrews that I have experienced. It is slow enough that the ride experience is actually very good. Faster isn't always better, especially when the sentence contains the word Vekoma.
Cobra is also one of the better standup coasters. This is the first standup coaster where I have experienced air time. You will note the paint, though, or lack of.
While La Ronde is a nice park with some really good rides, it does have that rundown look with numerous areas of the park abandoned and fenced off.
Someone should have reviewed this sign before having it printed. #awkward
Goliath is a good B&M hyper coaster similar to Intimidator with a great ride. It also received the VR treatment this year (you are in a fighter jet and can shoot targets - awesome!). Execution of the VR video experience was great. Execution of getting riders on the train and dispatched was awful.
Every time I think I have ridden the worst SLC there is, I stumble across another one even worse. That is the case with Ednör - L'Attaque. We knew we were in trouble when we hit the first loop and the entire train shuffled side-to-side through the loop. T3 is much better. (shh, don't tell anyone I sad that)
Le Vampire is yet another Batman clone that I wasn't looking forward to. It has the backwards trains this year.
Boy was I in for a surprise as it was actually much better with the train in reverse. Maybe Six Flags should do this permanently to all of its Batman clones or at least one of the trains.
So we wrapped up an early day at La Ronde. They suffer from the same operations but the staff was very friendly and helpful once you tell them up front that you only speak English. The superbly executed Flash Pass (at a great discount with the exchange rate!) got us through the park in no time.
We left Montreal early the next morning and headed to Six Flags Great Escape. This has to be one of the best maintained Six Flags park that I have seen to date. I ran into the park president while were there and he was very friendly. He appreciated my feedback on the park atmosphere and said it is a 'labor of love' and he takes pride in his park. You may note that his former operations manager now works at Holiday World.
I wish there were more of these out there. They are a great ride and look great as well.
Surprise. This really is a Six Flags park, although targeted towards tweens and toddlers.
Hidden in the back of the park is the Comet - a wooden coaster gem that alone makes a trip to Six Flags Great Escape worthwhile.
In the right of the picture you can see the new wood. The park president let me know that they replaced 240 linear feet of track in the off season. I found one more spot that needs some track work but otherwise this is a great woodie.
Great Escape is easily done in a few hours so we headed straight to Connecticut from there. That night we visited Quassy. Can you tell that it was $.50 hot dogs and soda night?
They have a fun Allan Herschell kiddie coaster that has been operating since 1952. Not ashamed for yet another kiddie coaster credit.
Wooden Warrior was my main reason for stopping here and boy is it a great family coaster. You won't believe the air time that you get before entering the tunnel. It slows down considerably on the return to the station. I do wish it was a little longer but my only real critique is the execution of the train operations. The station entry is too much dependent on the operator and it is easy for them to overshoot the station making it impossible to unlock the restraints. They would then have to send the train out a second time to try again. This happened a few times while we were waiting.
Someone did a good job with a wooden model of Wooden Warrior. I was impressed.
Other than that, there is not much to say about Quassy.
The next day we headed to our favorite park of the trip, and also one that claims the title for the oldest amusement park in America.
The park is very well maintained and in a great setting.
It has Wildcat, a Herbert Schmeck coaster that has been operating since 1927 and is still in pretty good shape. It is a great, fun, classic wooden coaster.
They also have a wild and phenomenal wooden coaster, Boulder Dash. All I can say is WOW! You have to ride this in the back row and it will blow your mind.
Phobia Phear is their new coaster for 2016 by Premier Rides. While it is a short ride it is a ton of fun. The inline twist pictured here is so slow resulting in an excellent inverted experience. C'mon, parks, we need to see more of these...
They also have fun entertainment and this park guest's dancing was even more entertaining than the entertainers. While he was dancing, my wife and I looked at each other at the same time and thought of coasterbruh.
Imagine that - they have tons of trees and shady areas to relax in.
They also have a Pink's here. Since the prices were more reasonable than other Pink's we have seen, we got our first Pink's credit. I'm not quite sure what all the fuss is about. Their dogs were average at best. Maybe I'm spoiled by all the 21st century gourmet food trucks/stands/restaurants out there.
Lake Compounce was easily our favorite park of the trip and we will return.
Our last stop of the trip was Playland Park. $50 to park the RV? Really?
The landscaping did impress me, though.
I was excited to get my first Zamperla Volare credit although I was slightly anxious about the 'iron maiden' restraints. The ride was actually quite good, aside from the metal steps banging your shins. A little padding would go a long way on the front of those steps....
Heading over to Dragon Coaster, this ACE Landmark coaster is a must do on your list although it needs a lot of work.
It is interesting to note that you can theme a wooden coaster...
They have a wild mouse that is actually a mouse - go figure.
They also have a handful of dark rides. While they are a bit outdated, it is interesting to note that nearly all of the animatronics work. I'll take it.
The Family Flyer has a groundhog that likes to watch the trains go by. Maybe they should theme it to that?
Our trip has come to a close. We had a blast and I picked up many new credits and broadened my experience with some unique rides. While it was exhausting we look forward to our next trip exploring New England and Quebec.
EDIT: Edited for a few typos
Our trip started out as a flop. The goal was to cover the southern Jersey shore and hit Morey's Piers, Gillian's, Playland's Castaway Cove, and Steel Pier on the first day. Strong storms came through closing most of the parks but fortunately a short break in the weather allowed us to do some of it.
The storm took down trees and power to about half of Cape May NJ. Fortunately we weren't in that camping spot.
At least we got to see Steel Pier although the rides weren't operating due to lightning. I have always been very fond of amusement parks on a pier and the setting of Steel Pier did not disappoint.
Next up was Playland's Castaway Cove.
I was looking forward to GaleForce and Wild Waves but they were still under construction.
Whirlwind was running, though, and is my second SBF Visa credit of the year. They are fun rides although they need some work on loading/unloading trains. The design of the trains makes it quite slow and cumbersome.
A 'short' walk down the boardwalk took us to Gillian's Wonderland Pier.
I liked the entrance and the slowly spinning blocks in front of it that spelled out Wonderland.
Runaway is a fun L&T coaster and more enjoyable than I expected.
And I'm never ashamed to get yet another Wacky Worm credit. Lord knows how many of these I've ridden now.
We got up early (4:00 AM) the next morning and headed to Six Flags New England. I don't care what others say, but I kinda like some of the Six Flags sponsor advertising. Who doesn't like M&M steps? (and they were giving out free candy samples #score)
Hey, look! They have a giant swing ride that consistently operates.
I'm not a fan of boomerangs, but Goliath, an giant inverted boomerang rocks! It is by far the best boomerang I have ridden to date.
This is the third Gerstlauer Spinning Coaster I have ridden and they are by far the best spinning coasters in my opinion. Too bad there weren't more of them.
Next up is Wicked Cyclone. This is my fourth RMC hybrid coaster and easily the best to date. Why? Because it has a few unexpected 'trick track' elements, a 200 degree stall that literally floats you through the inversion and tons of airtime.
Heading over to Superman the Ride [RIP Bizarro], it is the first VR coaster we saw. While the VR is cool, it increases load times by 4-5 times so it is kind of a fail at the moment in my book. Based on other reviews, I expected to like this ride. However, it feels like the trains are still running the original wheels, leading to lots of vibration. While I can see the potential, due to the state the ride is in, it didn't even break into my top 10.
Thunderbolt is a great classic wooden coaster but as we see with most corporate parks and woodies, the neglect is apparent. At least the sign is pretty.
Wrapping up our visit to SFNE, here are a couple of observations.
- Six flags ride operations suck across all of their parks that I have been to (8 to date). Dispatch times were awful on just about every single ride.
- I previously bashed Flash Passes based on my experience at SFMM where they merge you way before the station. With the awful operations, lines were long even through they shouldn't have been forcing us to get flash passes. The execution of Flash Passes at SFNE and La Ronde was exceptional, taking us straight to the station making it well worth the money for a trip like this.
Next stop, Sherbrooke, QC, CA. My corporate office is located here so my family got to meet some of my coworkers. Of course, you can't visit the office without trying the slide. It is clearly an 'Intamin' slide as it is v2.0. The first one was way to fast and had to be modified to slow it down. Sound familiar?
The top floor of the office has an open picnic area with great views of Parc Jacques-Cartier and the Magog River.
Just in case you ever need to figure out to cross the street if you are a snowmobile, here are the directions.
While in Sherbrooke we stopped by their large mall and took the opportunity to do some shopping. It's awesome right now with the Canadian dollar being equal to about .77 US dollars, meaning we got an additional 23% off of our purchases. A quick note of advice, use a credit card that will do the exchange for you automatically based on that day's exchange rate without charging you any fees.
From there we headed to La Ronde.
The park is located on an island on the Montreal QC waterfront giving you great views from the lift hills. NOTE: This picture was taken from the monorail and not on a coaster. The views from some of the lift hills are much better.
Because of its location, it has a pit for fireworks that the city of Montreal uses for many of its fireworks shows. Since we were there on 6/23, we did miss the big fireworks show on 6/24 but I planned it that way on purpose. 6/24 is a major Quebec holiday - Jean Baptiste Day. It celebrates Quebec's independence.
Who would have known that they have Red Angus cattle here...
Hey look! Another giant swing that was always in operation...
This is the first of these rides that I have ever seen where some of the people literally get soaked. Normally I see the water as just a teaser.
I have to mention this Vekoma as one of the better corkscrews that I have experienced. It is slow enough that the ride experience is actually very good. Faster isn't always better, especially when the sentence contains the word Vekoma.
Cobra is also one of the better standup coasters. This is the first standup coaster where I have experienced air time. You will note the paint, though, or lack of.
While La Ronde is a nice park with some really good rides, it does have that rundown look with numerous areas of the park abandoned and fenced off.
Someone should have reviewed this sign before having it printed. #awkward
Goliath is a good B&M hyper coaster similar to Intimidator with a great ride. It also received the VR treatment this year (you are in a fighter jet and can shoot targets - awesome!). Execution of the VR video experience was great. Execution of getting riders on the train and dispatched was awful.
Every time I think I have ridden the worst SLC there is, I stumble across another one even worse. That is the case with Ednör - L'Attaque. We knew we were in trouble when we hit the first loop and the entire train shuffled side-to-side through the loop. T3 is much better. (shh, don't tell anyone I sad that)
Le Vampire is yet another Batman clone that I wasn't looking forward to. It has the backwards trains this year.
Boy was I in for a surprise as it was actually much better with the train in reverse. Maybe Six Flags should do this permanently to all of its Batman clones or at least one of the trains.
So we wrapped up an early day at La Ronde. They suffer from the same operations but the staff was very friendly and helpful once you tell them up front that you only speak English. The superbly executed Flash Pass (at a great discount with the exchange rate!) got us through the park in no time.
We left Montreal early the next morning and headed to Six Flags Great Escape. This has to be one of the best maintained Six Flags park that I have seen to date. I ran into the park president while were there and he was very friendly. He appreciated my feedback on the park atmosphere and said it is a 'labor of love' and he takes pride in his park. You may note that his former operations manager now works at Holiday World.
I wish there were more of these out there. They are a great ride and look great as well.
Surprise. This really is a Six Flags park, although targeted towards tweens and toddlers.
Hidden in the back of the park is the Comet - a wooden coaster gem that alone makes a trip to Six Flags Great Escape worthwhile.
In the right of the picture you can see the new wood. The park president let me know that they replaced 240 linear feet of track in the off season. I found one more spot that needs some track work but otherwise this is a great woodie.
Great Escape is easily done in a few hours so we headed straight to Connecticut from there. That night we visited Quassy. Can you tell that it was $.50 hot dogs and soda night?
They have a fun Allan Herschell kiddie coaster that has been operating since 1952. Not ashamed for yet another kiddie coaster credit.
Wooden Warrior was my main reason for stopping here and boy is it a great family coaster. You won't believe the air time that you get before entering the tunnel. It slows down considerably on the return to the station. I do wish it was a little longer but my only real critique is the execution of the train operations. The station entry is too much dependent on the operator and it is easy for them to overshoot the station making it impossible to unlock the restraints. They would then have to send the train out a second time to try again. This happened a few times while we were waiting.
Someone did a good job with a wooden model of Wooden Warrior. I was impressed.
Other than that, there is not much to say about Quassy.
The next day we headed to our favorite park of the trip, and also one that claims the title for the oldest amusement park in America.
The park is very well maintained and in a great setting.
It has Wildcat, a Herbert Schmeck coaster that has been operating since 1927 and is still in pretty good shape. It is a great, fun, classic wooden coaster.
They also have a wild and phenomenal wooden coaster, Boulder Dash. All I can say is WOW! You have to ride this in the back row and it will blow your mind.
Phobia Phear is their new coaster for 2016 by Premier Rides. While it is a short ride it is a ton of fun. The inline twist pictured here is so slow resulting in an excellent inverted experience. C'mon, parks, we need to see more of these...
They also have fun entertainment and this park guest's dancing was even more entertaining than the entertainers. While he was dancing, my wife and I looked at each other at the same time and thought of coasterbruh.
Imagine that - they have tons of trees and shady areas to relax in.
They also have a Pink's here. Since the prices were more reasonable than other Pink's we have seen, we got our first Pink's credit. I'm not quite sure what all the fuss is about. Their dogs were average at best. Maybe I'm spoiled by all the 21st century gourmet food trucks/stands/restaurants out there.
Lake Compounce was easily our favorite park of the trip and we will return.
Our last stop of the trip was Playland Park. $50 to park the RV? Really?
The landscaping did impress me, though.
I was excited to get my first Zamperla Volare credit although I was slightly anxious about the 'iron maiden' restraints. The ride was actually quite good, aside from the metal steps banging your shins. A little padding would go a long way on the front of those steps....
Heading over to Dragon Coaster, this ACE Landmark coaster is a must do on your list although it needs a lot of work.
It is interesting to note that you can theme a wooden coaster...
They have a wild mouse that is actually a mouse - go figure.
They also have a handful of dark rides. While they are a bit outdated, it is interesting to note that nearly all of the animatronics work. I'll take it.
The Family Flyer has a groundhog that likes to watch the trains go by. Maybe they should theme it to that?
Our trip has come to a close. We had a blast and I picked up many new credits and broadened my experience with some unique rides. While it was exhausting we look forward to our next trip exploring New England and Quebec.
EDIT: Edited for a few typos
370 Coasters
