Finally, Total Mayhem Hits Six Flags Great Adventure!

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For the first time in a long time, there's something to get excited about at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey.  One of the busiest and most profitable parks in the Six Flags family hasn't really added any truly exciting attractions since the openings of Kingda Ka in 2005 and El Toro in 2006.  Now, a long wait is over as Total Mayhem is about to be unleashed.

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Total Mayhem is being dubbed as a 4D Free-Fly Coaster, a wicked wicked type of ride where riders spin forward and backwards perched along the sides of the track, occasionally catching glimpses of the terrified faces of fellow riders.  Oh, just watching the video is enough to whet ones appetite at the prospect.    

The new ride is set to open next spring.  I can't wait...

Dollywood Announces Lightning Rod, The World's Fastest Wood Coaster

There's a new trend in the theme park industry and their ongoing coaster wars that generate mega bucks at the gates, and I'm not sure if I like it, but it does get me excited nonetheless.  Whereas in recent years, amusement parks have been saving their big coaster announcements for the dreary, inactive winter months, new ride press releases have been coming out in the summer months, sometimes up to a couple of years in advance of the newest, baddest roller coaster.  With Cedar Point's teasing of a big announcement on August 18th, Tennessee's biggest theme park attraction, Dollywood, has already made a big one.  Lightning Rod will strike in March 2016.

 

Lightning Rod is a huge announcement for Dollywood, The new record-breaking coaster stands as the park's largest investment ever, coming in at a cool $22 million.  That signifies a seriousness in the parks desire to become one of the beacons of coaster coolness, adding to their already respectable line-up of great roller coasters.

Here's what the theme park has to say about the new Lightning Rod coaster on their website:

Themed after a tricked out 1950s-era hot rod, Lightning Rod launches riders from zero to 45 mph more than 20 stories up its lift hill to one of the ride’s first airtime moments. At the crest of the hill, riders face twin summit airtime hills before tackling the daring first drop. Lightning Rod races down the 165-foot drop and propels guests along its 3,800-ft. track to a top speed of 73 mph, the fastest speed for a wood coaster in the world. 

Located in Dollywood's Jukebox Junction, Lightning Rod rockets riders around its massive wooden structure on an adrenaline-charged lap through the trees in the hills and valleys surrounding Dollywood. During the ride, guests experience nearly 20 seconds of airtime. The coaster train is comprised of 12 cars, carrying two passengers each, for a total of 24 people per train.

Sounds pretty exciting, no?  2016 is already sounding ike it's already going to be a great year! Check out a video simulation of the new ride and stay tuned for more...

The New World's Tallest Roller Coaster, Skyscraper, Unveiled

Yesterday, new video footage of what will soon be the world's tallest roller coaster was released and it's just enough to whet a coaster enthusiast's appetite so soon into the dormant winter months.  It was just about a year ago that Skyscraper was first introduced to the world as the newest record-breaker in the ever evolving coaster wars.  The new coaster is set to open in 2017 and will break the record long held by Six Flags Great Adventure's Kingda Ka as the world's tallest roller coaster.

When the original plans were unveiled, this coaster enthusiast was a skeptic.  It didn't hurt my pessimism either that Kingda Ka resides at my home amusement park, but from the original sketches and description of the coaster, it didn't look like it wouldn't be as thrilling as the King of Coasters. Now that I've seen the video, I'm still skeptical that it is a true thrill-seeking competitor for its predecessor, but it does look pretty cool nonetheless and will certainly induce butterflies within the stomachs of impending riders.

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Skyscraper, known as an all new prototype, Polarcoaster, will stand at a whopping 570 feet above the ground along Orlando's strip at the future site of the all new Skyplex Entertainment Center.  That's more than 100 feet taller than Ka.  Though it's not the thrill em fast and high that the current record holder is, it does have a few elements that make it its own unique experience, including almost four minutes of high-flying twists, turns and inversions.  I tell ya, I hadn;t planned on going back to Orlando anytime in the near future, but after checking out this video, Skyscraper has got me rethinking that notion...

  

Washout at Six Flags

Fairgrounds:Outatthepark

Last night was the 12th Annual Fairgrounds Out at Night event at Great Adventure and probably the 8th or 9th time I've gone.  Unfortunately, after a week of sunshine and warm temperatures, a cold front was passing through and the night ended up being a washout.

I should've known the night wasn't going to be the same from the get go, as only four of us ended up making it as opposed to the group of six we had last year.  At one point, we'd had up to ten going, but our number was whittled down to just us as the others had to decline for one reason or another.  Of course, the night wasn't completely bad, Rich, Gary, Sean and I did enjoy our time together, but getting to take only three rides during the whole excursion was kind of a bummer!

      

When we first arrived at the park, around 6ish, things were looking alright.  One rainstorm had already passed and though the rides were still closed due to lightning in the area, it looked as if things were going to clear up, which they eventually did.  After waiting out the delay, we headed towards El Toro to get our first ride of the night, but it was only open to another private group until 8:30.  We did the next best thing and headed over to Bizarro.  

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Bizarro is a ride towards the back of the park that is very underrated.  It was once called Medusa, but after a paint makeover and some special effects done a few years back, this floorless coaster definitely packs a punch, with seven inversions and plenty of G's.  Surprisingly, they were running three trains and the line for the ride was virtually non-existent and we actually got to make two circuits continuously.  It appeared as if our night was going to be great after all.  

   

By the time we'd finished our rides on Bizarro, it was still only 8 o'clock, so we grabbed some food before heading towards El Toro once again. For anyone out there who's never been to Great Adventure, but always wanted to go, this is one great, great ride! Our wait for the wooden monster was short (which is why we visit the park on this particular night every year!) and off we went on one of the wildest one minute, forty-two seconds one could ever take. From the quick ascension up the 181 foot lift hill and the terrifying 176 foot drop almost straight down, this wild bull takes riders fast and furious through some major hills, twists and hairpin turns, and leaves you screaming all the way. Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to us, it would be the last ride of the evening.

We headed towards our next target, the king of all coasters, Kingda Ka.  For some strange reason, the park closed off the formerly easy passageway between the two coasters and a long trek had to be made to get from one to the other.  Upon our approach, we could see that the 456 foot tall metal monster wasn't running.  Not one human body stood upon the ride platform.  

The boys moved on while I took a cigarette break, expecting them to come back, but by the time I was finished, they were nowhere to be found.  They had headed beyond the line queue for Ka and on to the park's newest ride, Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom, a 415 foot drop ride nestled within the structure of the record-breaking coaster.  I had already decided I was not doing that anyway, so I didn't mind, but Rich had set his sights on that from the moment we'd discussed this year's outing.  Turns out he was the only one to take the plunge as both Gary and Sean decided to decline the terrifying drop (I totally understand!).  

In the meantime, I had noticed ride operators sending test runs of Kingda Ka and a small line had begun to form.  I immediately texted my pals, who were still waiting on line, and got on this one...just in case.  It was all good as within five minutes of my pal's rejoining me, a park worker announced that the king was about to open.  Hoo-rah!  But that's where the night ended...

We were quickly ushered through the long queue for the ride and stood in line for the most terrifying of rides.  I was excited!  Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.  After sending just three coasters along the circuit, the sky lit up in a big flash.  Lightning!  We were just two trains away from riding.  An operator got on the speakers to say that the ride would be closing and that we could choose to stay if we wanted in case they were to open again. Right!

We decided that by the time lightning left the area, it'd be close to closing time, so we started to head out.  That's when the skies opened up.  We were soaked and freezing by the time we even got to the front of the queue line it was raining so hard.  We ended up staying under the locker area for almost a half an hour as the rain came pouring down.  Once it had slowed to a drizzle and eventually stopped altogether, we decided to not leave just yet (it was already past 11 o'clock) and try our luck riding Nitro, a personal favorite.  

We headed across the park towards the Gotham section where Batman and Nitro stood dark and silent.  A giant lake created by the rains separated all from the entrance to the coaster, which did not seem to have any life going on.  Now it was time to head home.  This was, I think, the first time ever that a visit to an amusement park was completely washed out in this way.  Though it was nice being with my friends, we had some great laughs during the evening, not to mention plenty of eye candy, it was a bummer to think that all we got to ride were two coasters.  Not a great way to end the riding season!

  

It Was an Awesome Summer!

It's that time, again, the precise time of the year when all teacher's are saying to themselves, "what happened to summer?"  Yes, it is Labor Day evening, the very last night before the start of school for many a teacher, including me.  No more sleeping late, no more lounging around, no more fun.  Life as I've known it for the past two months has ceased.  Poor me!  Lol...

Um, wait a second...

Haha, well that was last night.  I started a post, but then got interrupted and never got back to it.  Such is the life of a part time writer.  I thought it was a good intro, so I'm leaving it in here.  The feel of the post I want is that of sadness at summer's end, and since I already went into school today to prep for my year, I don't quite have that same feeling I did last night.  So there, pretend it is still Labor Day evening.

The summer of 2014 was a short one by school summer vacation standards.  Nine weeks...that's about a week shorter than normal.  I guess it's just the way the calendar fell, but I'm not complaining.  I tell my students all the time that they will never in their lives get as much vacation as they do now as students, so they need to appreciate it.  I certainly do.

A Big Weekend Starts Off a Big Summer

I had an awesome summer, and I think it went by so quickly not only because of the calendar, but because I spent about 22 days of it away from home, and that's not counting day trips. There were some great memories to be had, right from the start, too, as I began the summer fun on the Eve of the last day of school spending some quality time at Corey Creek Vineyards with two very special ladies, Heather and Terry.

The fun continued at Cherry Grove as me and one of my best besties, Laura Kim, celebrated the start of summer with an overnight stay in Cherry Grove.  My pal Rich joined us for dinner and great food and plenty of laughs were had. 

      Happy much?  Ah, good times! 

A Very Special Reunion

On Saturday night, I hosted a reunion of three other very special ladies with whom I worked a long, long time ago at Citibank.  My friend Linda, who now lives in South Carolina, was coming to Long Island for a visit, which prompted a get together at my house, with Joann and Caroline.  The four of us hadn't seen each other in a few years, but you would never have known it.  We picked up right where we left off and had a blast.  My summer got off to a great, great start!  

  

You're a tiiiiger!

                               Mr. Bill 

Spank me good baby!

Roller Coaster Road Trip 2014

On Sunday, July 6th, my pals Rich, Eddie and I set off on a nine-day trip that took us over 3,000 miles through nine states, riding too many roller coasters to count, zip-lining in a cave, bourbon tasting, sight-seeing, cave exploring and a whole lot more!  This Roller Coaster Road Trip 2014 was one full of laughs, surprises, and a whole lot of awesomeness.  Stay tuned for more posts on that trip, but for now take a look at some of what we saw...

P-Town and a Sailing Adventure

In August, I took a very different kind of trip, one that allowed me to revisit a place I had had so much fun in last summer along with a whole new type of adventure.  I've written extensively about my Sailing Adventure to Acadia National Park in Maine, but I hadn't written too much about P-Town.  Yes, that trip was still fun, but disappointing, not quite living up to last year, and being deathly ill didn't help.  But thankfully I was given the gift of this sail to Maine and it not only was one of the most thrilling things I did all summer, it matches up to almost anything I've done in my life.   

The look on my face sums up how 

I felt about P-Town the Sequel 

Everything In Between

The rest of the summer was interspersed with other fun stuff, like evening trips to Fire Island, wine tasting, drag shows, lots of dinners with friends, and of course, more roller coasters.  Yes, the summer of 2014 was probably one of the busiest and most leisurely one I've ever had, and I am grateful to have had it.  I always say, enjoy every moment of life, and appreciate all of the good things to the fullest!  I leave now with a few more photos of some of my other fun moments of summer.  I hope yours was as good as mine because you deserve it! For now it's time to jump back in the teaching saddle and get back to work!

  

Roller Coaster Road Trip 2014: Kentucky Kingdom and the Louisville Highlands

There are a couple more things I wanted to talk about concerning Louisville.  It was our home base for four-plus days and it was chosen because it was where Kentucky Kingdom, the former Six Flags park, had just reopened, and it was also centrally located to all of the parks we wanted to visit, including Kings Island and Holiday World.  Like everyplace we go on a road trip, we always try to find things to do in the area, local attractions or places that we think might be cool, and so Louisville definitely had some of that, including the Big Four Bridge, the Mega Cavern and a couple more cool spots we got to enjoy.  I wanted to share these with you in case you ever find yourself in Louisville and are looking for something to do...

Kentucky Kingdom

Kentucky Kingdom first opened in May 2007 and provided great amusements for locals for the better part of 22 years.  Its most recent owner, Six Flags, decided to close the park in 2009 and it remained that way for the next five years.  When I'd heard they were reopening this year, the news was what jump started this year's road trip.

Kentucky Kingdom is not a large park at all.  It was even smaller than Holiday World and we only needed a couple of hours to get through it all.  There were only two roller coasters, well three really, but one of them won't open until next season.  The two that were open were pretty good, actually.  There was a steel one called Lightning Run and a woodie, Thunder Run, which I liked very much.  In fact, take a look below and catch a ride...it's not that bad, especially on video...

All in all, Kentucky Kingdom is a fun place.  The water park area of the joint looked pretty cool and there were plenty of non-coaster rides to go around, as well.  If I lived in the area, I could see myself buying a season pass for those summer nights when there's nothing to do.  Here are a few pics from the place...

The Highlands

One night Rich, Eddie and myself found that we had some free time.  It was right after we'd walked the Big Four Bridge and I was looking online for something to do when I found the Highlands.  In short, the Highlands is a neighborhood that's hip, artsy, neighborhood with lots of cool shops (used record and CD stores, too!) and restaurants.  It was just what we needed to pass the evening away with shopping and dining.  Again, if you ever find yourself in Louisville and are looking for something to do, check out the Highlands.

Here are some photos I took there...