June 10, 2015

Kings Island

Welcome to Kings Island.

I started my day off at the Bat.

I really enjoy these old school Arrow suspended coasters.

The way the carts swing out is just so cool.

I wish there were more out there - Cedar Fair owns most of the remaining installations.

Next door is one of the best B&M inverted coasters in the nation - BANSHEE.

The size of this ride is quite impressive.

I love the Banshee scream as the train crests the lift hill.

Love that the loop goes around the lift hill.

Honestly I'll come back to the park just to ride this thing.

Delirium is another "must ride" when I visit the park.

Adventure Express is a great mine train.

The course features some fun thematic elements.

But of course, it's that final lift that is the best part of the entire ride.

The Racer is always fun to ride.

The Red side seemed to win most of the races today.

Flight of Fear is fun - but the midcourse brake is on way too hard.

Firehawk takes forever to load.

It's a fun coaster but I hate the queue waits for it.

Vortex is not getting any smoother.

It gave me quite the headache today.

WindSeeker is a very fun and relaxing ride.

I went into Dinosaurs Alive to get away from the crowds for awhile.

This is a tall dinosaur.  I have no idea what it is called.

Look another dinosaur.

I do know what this is - Triceratops!

The Backlot Stunt Coaster is only fun because of the tunnel finale.

The Beast is still the king of this park, in my opinion.

Especially the night rides.

DiamondBack is a great ride.

It is actually a pretty good night ride too.

The splash finale is really neat looking.

Flying Ace Aerial Chase.

Woodstock's Express.


Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown Log Flume.

Boo Blasters.

The Share A Coke Team was on site today.  You could get your name on a can of Coke.

I went up in the Eiffel Tower next.

I always have a great time here.


June 9, 2015

Busch Gardens Williamsburg



Welcome to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Virginia.

The first hamlet you enter is Britain. 

They have a very nice train here.

Escape from Pompeii is a highly themed shoot d'chutes ride.

We're in the Fiesta Italia section now - home to the newest coaster at the park, Tempesto.

This is a very interesting coaster.  It features a series of 3 launches to get you started.

First you launch forward, then backwards and the forward again which give enough momentum to go up this spire to the top of the ride.

Once at the top you slowly creep through this very high inline twist.

Then you plunge into this non-inverting loop and back to the station.

Next door is the other coaster in the area - Apollo's Chariot.

This B&M built hypercoaster provides a wild out of control ride filled with airtime.

The two coasters really dominate the skyline in this section of the park.

Turkish Delight.

Trade Wind.

They have a great rapids ride in this section called Roman Rapids.

Every time I visit this park, I'm blown away by it's beauty.
The ride in the background is Da Vinci's Cradle.

They do an awesome job at this park.

Leaving the Italian hamlet.

We are now in Germany, home to Mach Tower.

The big rollercoaster in this section is now Verbolten.

This is a highly themed ride that has an indoor effects section.

The indoor effects section ends with a drop track section.

Verbolten stands on the same land that the famous Big Bad Wolf used to reside on.

In tribute to that ride, the finale of Verbolten mimics Big Bad Wolf's dive towards the river.

Probably the best place to eat at the park.

The Legend of DarKastle is a ride through 4D multi-sensory ride.

Heading into the Switzerland hamlet.

This park is seriously beautiful.

The main ride in this section is Alpengeist.

This B&M built inverted coaster is massive.

This coaster goes through some major elevation changes.

I love how this loop just stands out above the trees - Apollo's Chariot is there in the distance.

This is a very intense coaster - but one of the best of its type.

Heading into the Canada section.  Le Scoot is the park's log flume.

It has a nice big drop as a finale.

The France hamlet of the park is dominated by Griffon.

Griffon is a B&M built dive coaster and features the widest trains built to date.

The coaster ends with a splash pool that shoots rooster tails up behind the train.

The first drop features a brake that creeps the cart over the drop before releasing.

Again, these trains are just massive.

The Ireland hamlet only has one ride and it is called Europe in the Air.  It is a simulator ride.

In the Scotland hamlet, the famous Loch Ness Monster resides.

Known for it's interlocking loops, this Arrow built looper has been thrilling guests for years.

It features a very long tunnel where the coaster does a continuous helix.

It is a great looking coaster with an excellent location.

I always have a great time at this park.