Kentucky Kingdom Storm Chaser Construction Update and Trip Report Labor Day Weekend 2015

Today we take a look at the construction of Kentucky Kingdom's new RMC Storm Chaser, coming to the park for the 2016 season in place of the park's former dual tracked CCI Twisted Twins coaster. Construction is coming along nicely and any day now we should see some track starting to be installed. In the mean time, the bare steel supports are looking pretty cool. Once Storm Chaser is completed, Kentucky Kingdom will be the first park to have two coasters designed by Ride Centerline. Lightning Run was also designed by Ride Centerline. The organization consists of the design team of: 

• Alan Schilke: formerly of S&S Arrow, designer of RMC coasters
• Ned Hansen: formerly of S&S Arrow
• Joe Draves: formerly of GCI and the designer of the park's Chance Lightning Run Hyper GT-X Coaster

 No new footers or supports present in this section. 

 The outline of the supports from Twisted Twins is still recognizable.

 The first drop should be pretty awesome

 The bare ends look strange. I am excited to see what it will look like once it is done. 

 That is one giant mess of coaster supports.

 You can still make out the old structure pretty well.

 It will be neat to see the turn and first drop from this angle next year.

 Now on to the park's current newest coaster, Lightning Run, in its second season of operation. I was not sure what to expect from this Chance Rides and Joe Draves creation.

 In the mean time, here are the trains for the old Greezed Lightnin' Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop that was removed when the park reopened with the addition of Lightning Run. It surprised me that they held onto the trains. Was all of the track scrapped? I wonder why they have held onto the old trains.

 Heading to the entrance and ready to rush in to ride this!

 It is hard to tell that this park was closed for five years with how well the park has been rejuvenated and taken care of.

Almost there!

 Take heed of the warning, I am certain that this is the end result of not securing your electronic devices. This ride is certainly powerful enough.

 Airtime galore!

 This entire ride is ejector airtime galore. Wicked ejector air, fun maneuvers, and a feeling of great height, even with the ride not exceeding 100 feet tall. 

 Joe Draves and Ride Centerline did a great job designing this coaster for Chance Rides and I hope to see more of them get built. 

 The transitions are smooth AND intense

This mini version of the large overbanked turn on Phantom's Revenge is one of my favorite maneuvers on a steel coaster. The twisted nature of this ride is something else and it instantly places within my top tier favorite steel coasters. 

 The other thing that gets me about this ride is that the airtime seems to get more intense as the layout unfolds. 

 Lightning Run is a winner.

 Now for a moment to dip our feet into the wave pool.

Thunder Run time! I am not sure what John Fetterman, Summers, and RMC restoration did to this coaster that International Coasters Inc. was unable to do for Wayne and Garth and the Hurler coasters, but I will take it! Thunder Run delivers some excellent airtime.

 T3! New paint job and new trains. Looking great!

 The 121 foot Deep Water Dive, the world's tallest body slide.

 Now back to Lightning Run, the snap into that 80 degree drop is spectacular

The Ferris Wheel in the center of the park gives some awesome views.

 Now for some more rides on the world class Lightning Run!

We can't wait to see what the next Ride Centerline designed attraction, Storm Chaser, will be like. Just like their design with Lightning Run, Storm Chaser should also be a winner.

Now available is our 2016 Roller Coaster Calendar!

2016 Roller Coaster Calendar and Book Prices

2016 Roller Coaster Calendar $9.99 USD  "Great Pennsylvania Parks Road Trip" (153 B/W Pages, No Refunds) $21.95 USD  Calendar and Book Combo - No Refunds $24.99 USD

 

Lakemont Park August, 2015

Today we take a look at our visit to Lakemont Park on Saturday. This amusement park is an Altoona staple, with roots as a trolley park dating back to 1894. We always have a blast at this nice little park. Our first stop was on the park's classic Eli Bridge Ferris Wheel. 

 Skyliner is beckoning though!

There was no baseball game going on, but the views of the ballpark from the coaster makes the location of this coaster pretty awesome. This John Allen PTC coaster is an underrated gem. It dates back to 1960, and it was originally built at Roseland Park in Canandaigua, New York, at the northern tip of Canandaigua Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in New York. The park closed in 1985 and Skyliner was disassembled and then rebuilt at Lakemont for opening in 1987. 

Brit had enough after a bunch of rides in the front. I rode a bunch more times in the back. The crowds were really light, so we probably ended up riding the Skyliner about twenty times throughout the night. Works for me for the ride offers some of the strongest ejector airtime out there. The front seat has one huge pop of ejector airtime heading into the first turn around. The backseat had tremendous ejector time down almost every hill! It was running the best that I have ever experienced it. This ride feels like a totally different ride from front to back. Sitting in the same seat for several rides in a row, you can really feel the way that wooden coasters give a wide variation of rides on each individual ride. You can never quite predict what will happen next, which is one of the reasons that I am drawn towards wood coasters. You can ride a wooden roller coaster twenty times in a day and it will give a vastly different ride each time. From day to day the rides are radically different. Skyliner was really hauling during this visit. Very few coasters pack in that much ejector airtime, especially on almost every hill. This is definitely a backseat ride, but the front is pretty awesome too. There you get a better appreciation of the manner in which John Allen designed the transitions on this ride. There is not one part of the ride with a straight airtime hill. All of the smaller hills are designed in a twisted manner, not one bit of straight grading in the airtime hills. This is one great coaster that proves that even with a drop of only 60 feet and a length of only 2400 feet, you can build a pretty wicked ride that is more powerful than rides that are immensely larger. 

 All I can say is wow! This picture really shows how powerful that backseat airtime was.

 The PTC train is beautiful too. The wooden running boards, dark green side panels, and deep maroon interiors really make the train look great. 

 Now on to Brit's favorite game, the Goblet Pitch

And the park's Eyerly Spider is ridiculously fast. We were flat out shocked at how strongly it was running. We always have a great time on it, but this felt was pulling some serious G's this time around. About as intense of a spinning flat that I can think of. 

And over to the Chance Toboggan, one of the last two toboggans operating within amusement parks. Are there any others on the traveling circuit that anyone knows of. I know the Conneaut one is in storage right now. Anyways, this is a fun ride! The original type of coaster with a vertical lift. The seemingly endless turns down the tower on the way down are lots of fun.

Now onto the world's oldest coaster, Leap the Dips. It is pretty amazing to think that this coaster has been around for 113 years. While the drops are only 9 feet tall maximum height, the coaster offers a thrill without a lapbar or seatbelt.

 The ride operator was kind enough to snap a photo for us. 

 The ACE Coaster Landmark sign. These are great for community awareness about the importance of  these coasters. I would love to see the Skyliner get similar recognition as well.

 We took a break from the rides for a little bit and sat along the water where you are welcome to feed the fish and the geese.

 It was Ford day at the park. While I am not a Ford guy, it was cool to see all of these perfect preserved and restored Fords. Definitely some sweet rides

 Now for a round of mini golf. The rail theming is pretty neat, and a cool recognition to the rail heritage of the region.

 Now that is what I call awesome recycling!

 This is the Gallitzin Tunnel hole, an ode to the tunnels in nearby Gallitzin.

 A view of the midway.

 Had the train to myself for four rides at the end of the night. 

Sunset over the Skyliner. Just another awesome Lakemont day. We always love visiting this relaxed and really inexpensive park. All of the park's rides are fun, but the Skyliner offers some world class airtime in the backseat that is about as good as it gets. We probably took at least twenty rides on it on this visit, and it was all out awesome.