My long Summer Vacation. (lots of pics)

[Jason1]

Left on Saturday, June 26th, headed for Carnegie PA, which is just 8 miles from Downtown Pittsburgh. I have relatives there. Didnt do much Saturday, just ate and talked and stuff. Sunday I saw The Day After Tomorrow. I heard a lot of bad things, but I still wanted to see it, and Ive got to admit, I enjoyed it quite a bit. A lot better than people were saying. On monday I went to the Pirates-Cardinals game at PNC park in Pittsburgh. Cardinals lost 2-1, and ended up getting swept by Pittsburgh, who eventually went on to win 10 straight games. But still had a decent time at the game, had awsome seats, 8 rows from the field, I could never get seats like that a Busch or Wrigley. PNC park is also the best Ballpark ive ever been to. This was actually my second time there, and its absolutley amazing. The backdrop of Downtown Pittsburgh looks painted on, dosent even look real. Here are some pics from PNC park.

This first one I took from the Roberto Clement Bridge. They close the bridge off to cars a few hours before a game, and people park on one side of the river then walk across the bridge to get to the ballpark.


This next one was taken from my seats, its of the Scoreboard.



This one was taken again from my seat, it looks out toward the right center field, and the fake looking downtown Pittsburgh background.



On Tuesday we ended up going to this place fairly close by Called Dave and Busters. It was like a restaurant/ Bar/ Video Arcade place. It was pretty cool, they had some decent arcade games...my personal favorite was house of the dead 3. We also went out to eat at a nicer restaurant that night, forgot what it was called. Wensday we went to an early 1PM showing of Spiderman 2. I like it, I definatley liked it, but it somehow just wasnt as good as the first one to me, I cant pinpoint why exactly. Anywho, there is a really neat little amusement park near Pittsburgh called Kennywood. Its a family owned park, has been around for over 100 years, and its totally different than your Six Flags and what not. Ive been going there pretty much every year since I was a little kid. The place really holds a special meaning to me. Like sacred grounds from the past, its really a blast of nostalgia every time I go. Anyways we ended up getting their evening pass, which starts at 6PM, and lasts to closing. One great thing about this park is that they offer general admission, which means anyone that wants to get in the park, but dont want to ride any rides, can do so for only 8 dollars. I dont know of any other parks that offer this, and its a great thing. Kennywood has a really nice collection of rides, especially considering how small they are. And amazing variety. Theyve got a few awsome old rollercoasters, one called the Jack Rabbit which was built in 1921 that offers what is easily the greatest single moment of airtime on any rollercoaster. Another Called the Racer was built in the 40's I believe, and its the only single track racing rollercoaster in the US. This means that if you start out on the right side in the station, you'll end up on the left side when you return. Then theres the Thunderbolt, which was built in the late 60's I believe, probably the best of the 3, it features some really awsome drops down a ravine, some powerful lateral forces, and a 95 foot final drop right before the end, which just happens to be the longest drop on the ride. Not many rides can say their longest drop is the last. Oh and did I mention that neither of these 3 coasters have seat dividers? This means that you'll be slamming into your partner pretty good on the turns, which can be good or bad I guess, depending on who your riding with . Besides that, theyve got the Exterminator, which is a really cool themed indoor wild mouse type coaster, and the Phantoms Revenge, with it's 230foot SECOND drop(right off a Ravine) and its 85MPH top speed. It really seems out of place considering how small the park is, but god what an awsome ride it is. I could talk about Kennywood for hours, but I'll end with a few pictures, some of which I took this year, some I took last.

These first two I took from the Parking lot, of the park itself. Obviously visible are the Phantoms Revenge(green) and the Pitt Fall(yellow and black), a 250 foot drop tower ride. Notice how on the Phantoms Revenge, you can see the first drop and the second hill, but you cant see the bottom of the second drop. Thats the big one that goes into the ravine.





This next one is of part of the Thunderbolt.



This one is of the Phantoms Revenge famous second drop. Theres no way possible to get the whole drop in one picture, inless your across the river, so you cant really get a feel for the size of the drop, but its huge. In 2001, Kennywood remade the Steel Phantom into what it is now, the Phantoms Revenge. They kept the first and second drops the exact same way they were, and re-made the rest of the ride, which were a series of painful loops and twists and turns. They also got new trains for it, now without those painful over the shoulder restraints. The result is a smoother, faster, more airtime filled, and definatley a better ride. Here's something interesting: The Steel Phantom was built in 1991, and it had the longest drop and was the fastest rollercoaster in the world for nearly 10 years.



Besides, the rollercoasters, Kennywood also has quite a good number of unique flat rides. The one shown in this picture is a walk through attraction called Noah's Ark. It was built in the 20's I believe, it has been remodeled several times, but its always kept whats really good. Through the "boat" part of the ride, then entire area you walkthrough tilts quite a bit back and forth, which is neat, and definatley something you wont find anywhere else. In fact, many of these types of rides were built, but Noah's Ark is the last of its kind in America.



Wow. I cant believe I went on for that long about Kennywood alone, which was just a few hours of my trip. Im obviously somewhat obsessed with this place. I couldve kept going on like that for ages, but I'll quit now. I'll post part 2 of my trip maybe later tonight or tomorrow. Stay tuned.

[Typhoid]

Awesome.

You had some pretty good seats for the game.....

*wishes he didnt have to go to Seattle to watch a game*

[Jason1]

Part 2:

So Thursday it was time to head to Hershey, PA. I was there once before, but its been years, probably 10 years or more so I was just a little kid, barely remember it at all. The drive from Pittsburgh to Hershey is normally just over 3 hours, but the damn turnpike had construction like crazy, we were stuck in a traffic jam that set us back about an hour. But all was cool, we still got there at 4, which gave us an hour before we had to get to the park to get the evening passes, which started at 5PM. Got a lot more done that first night than I expected, and we still had the whole day tomorrow. Overall, I had an awsome time at hershey. The crowds were light both days, got a lot of rides and re rides in on everything. I'll post some pics I took complete with captions under them for you guys.


This one is a nice shot with Great Bear, a nice inverted coster on the left, and looming in the background is Storm Runner, new at Hershey for 2004. More on that one later.


Here's a really nice picture of Wildcat taken at sunset. This is one of 2 really awsome wooden coasters hershey has. This one was just really fast and exciting the whole way through, with lots of great airtime.


This is a shot I took at night of Lightning Racer, the other amazing wooden rollercoaster at Hershey. I took it at night without the flash, which means that if there is any camera movement at all the whole shot will blur. So I sat it on a cement border thing and set the timer. Turned out pretty good I think. You cant really tell by this picture, but Lightning Racer is a racing coaster. To trains are dispatched at the same time on seperate tracks, and they race throughout the twisted course. Besides being probably the smoothest wooden coaster ive ever been on, it also had some nice air, a tunnel, and it was all that more exciting with the racing aspect.


Here she is, Hershey's brand new Rocket Coaster, Storm Runner. Its one of only 3 in the world to use a special new type of Hydrolic Launch. Very powerful. Ive been lucky enough to now have gotten on 2 of the 3 in the world that use this type of launch(more on that in part 3). Anyways in this shot is the station, its got a cool dual loading station, loads from both sides, it really speeds up the loading process. You can see the two openings where the trains come through before they are launched on the right and left sides of the station. Also just barely visible on the far right of the picture is a train about to be launched. The launch was very powerful, 0-72MPH in 2 seconds flat. It then goes into a 150foot top hat, does a few awsome iversion elements, and its over, all in about 40 seconds. But man, its one hell of a 40 seconds. Here are a few other shots of various parts of the ride.







The most amazing thing about Storm Runner was how short the line usually was, and how quickly it moved when it was long. First time I rode the line was completley full, and I still got on in 40 minutes, which is great for a ride this good, especailly considering its brand new. On Friday I got re rides on everything, the crowds were light all day, it was awsome. Saturday we drove to Canton Ohio and on Sunday we visited the Pro Football hall of fame. It was alright, overall I think the baseball hall of fame is better, more to see, but it wasnt bad. After that we drove to Sandusky, OH, which was only an hour and a half drive. Part 3 of my trip report will be the last, and it will cover Cedar Point, the best amusement park in the world, and my experience there, it being my 4th time being there. But thats for another day.

[GameMaster]

You took pictures while on the roller coasters, that's cardboard awesome, +rep.

[Jason1]

Originally Posted by GameMaster

You took pictures while on the roller coasters, that's cardboard awesome, +rep.

Eh...no I didnt. I took pictures of the rollercoasters from the ground...I never took any while riding. Thats against park rules. I would never do that. Besides being pointless, its dangerous to others riding and people on the ground as well. Go ahead and minus rep me if you want, but thats not somthing I did or ever would do.

[Typhoid]

Those are some nice pics my friend, + rep just for the hell of it all.

[GameMaster]

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I'd never -rep ypu though, you're a good friend.

[Jason1]

Part 3: Cedar Point.

Got to our hotel in Sandusky at around 4ish on Sunday, July 4th. Its a Ramada Inn, we stayed in the exact same hotel last year, its pretty decent, they have a pretty nice outdoor pool. There weather was picture perfect for swimming, so me and my bro took a dip in the pool for an hour or so. Afterwards, we ate at a Ruby Tuesdays. Their Deep Fryer broke after we had all allready ordered, which sucked because my brothers and my food was both chicken which apparently required the use of the deep fryer, so we had to order something else. Anyways there are a few Minigolf-Go Kart places around there, so my and my brother decided to go ahead and play one of the mini golf courses. Twas a pretty fun course with some neat holes, I of course killed my brother, getting 3 hole in ones, 2 of them in the first 4 holes.

on Monday we got to Cedar Point as it was opening and overall I had a great day. I just wish that it wouldnt have been quite so crowded. What follows are pictures with captions, some taken this year, some last year.



This first one is of course Top Thrill Dragster, the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the world. It is 420 feet tall and goes from 0-120mph in 4 seconds. While it is quite a rush, its too short of a ride, only lasts about 15 seconds, and its just not as good overall as several other rides at Cedar Point. Besides that, it has all kinds of problems, often times its not even running at all. So I guess I was lucky to get another ride on it, but it wouldnt have been the end of the world If I hadnt.



Here is another view of Dragster. On the way up, it just makes a 90 degree turn to the left, on the way down, it rotates 270 degrees to the right, eventually ending up point in the oppisite direction in which it came.



I didnt take this one, but I just had to post it because its such an awsome picture. Really gives you a feel for just how high this thing really is.



I took this one last year, it shows the view as your driving to the park. A pretty neat view I think, almost like a city of rollercoasters rising up out of the water.



This one is of the Mellinnium Force, which is probably the best rollercoaster ive ever been on. It opened in 2000, and when it was built was the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the world. Its a nice long ride, almost a mile long, and it pretty much has it all. Its fast all the way through, its got awsome drops and some nice airtime, and the high speed turns are overbanked to 122 degrees, which is almost upside down.



This is the final turn on Millennium Force. You can see just how banked the turn is. I took this near the end of the queue line, before you board. You can see the rest of the line underneath.



Here you see the 300ft first drop and first overbanked turn on Millennium Force.

Besides those two, Cedar Point has 14 other rollercoasters(16 total). Its a pretty amazing place I think. This ends my trip report, I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing.