Denver Colorado Trip Report: Part I

Hello there :}

Welcome to the first installment of my Denver, Colorado Trip Report featuring American Coaster Enthusiast's Preservation Conference 2013!!! 

If this is your first time visiting Thrillography, welcome! I'm so pleased you made it.

If you've been here before, welcome back! I'm so glad my crappy photos of "The Great Six Flags Over Georgia Monsoon of '13" didn't leave you awkwardly inching away from the scene like a person who gambled on a fart and lost. 

While Six Flags Over Georgia's Spring Fling was dampened by ridiculous amounts of unwelcome moisture, we were blessed with fabulous weather throughout my Denver trip.

Joining me for complete the duration of the trip is Steven, a new ACE friend from Texas, and Michael, reprising his role from the Spring Fling trip report. 

Michael and I flew to Denver together at the ass-crack of dawn & met Steve at the Denver airport at around 7:30am. After procuring our rental car, we set off for Glenwood Springs; a mountain town about 3 hours from Denver. There we would visit Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, an exciting family park at an elevation of over 6,000 ft above sea level.

Let's begin, shall we?

Only 3 hours until roller coasters!

 This trip marks the begging of what I've decided to call "The Year of 100 Coasters". By a stroke of luck, all of the national ACE events planned this year are in places I've never been. In an even greater stroke of luck, I'm attending 3 of the 4! That means I'm on track for over 100 NEW coasters this year! We'll be counting them off together as my Year of 100 Coasters unfolds.

We have arrived! See those cables? Those shall be our chariot to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park!

Our Colorado ACE friends were waiting for us at the cable car station for registration.

More ACE friends Tom, Beth, and Deb are ready for our 1,000 ft Cable Car Ride of Death!

Like ships passing in the night.

Being hoisted up to the highest amusement park in the world made me think of my dad. Though an avid coaster lover, my dad prefers not to refuses to ride cable cars, ferris wheels, or any other sort of tall, slow-moving ride. Typically, a ride on a cable car ride involves my dad following us down below and meeting up with us at the other end. However, in this scenario my dad would be SOL. The only way the public can get to Glenwood Caverns is by this dangling death-trap.

Hooray! We made it!

Glenwood Caverns recently acquired the SDC Windstorm coaster from the shuttered Celebration City in Branson, MO. They decided to perch the ride at the park's summit, making it the highest-elevated roller coaster in the world.

The route to the coaster is a rustic dirt path with 360º scenic views! And of course, I wore flip flops. 

After a few years of dormancy and a bleak future, the freshly re-monikered Cliffhanger coaster is now a proud world-record holder!

Credit #1 of 2013! Cha-ching!!

The view from the lift hill is a breathtaking expanse of Colorado mountains, with a 1,000+ ft valley directly below. Of all of the amusement park rides by the name of "Cliffhanger" that I've ridden, this is by far the most aptly-named. To the right of the ride is an immediate (vertical, in some places) drop-off towards the winding river below. 

Just the view from the coaster's station. Nothing special. Moving on...

We were about 86.9% sure that the park's interior labrynth walls were composed of recycled portable toilets. I can't remember what the maze was called, but we gave it a new name:  

                                                 _.~*'The Port-A-Potty Maze'*~._

I wish RollerCoaster Tycoon's hedge maze attraction came with a Port-A-Potty option. My life would be so much more complete.

After marveling at the portable toilet labyrinth for a bit, we decided to go for a ride on the park's eagle-tied-to-an-elevator-cable-type-thing.

We got in line and watched as the alpine coaster and the eagle thing whizzed by us. So much activity!

 

This picture is weird. It covers a lot more ground that it appears to at first. The cable cars area actually reeeeally far away.

Ride ops were kind enough to let us take pictures from the grip of their eagle, as Michael demonstrates.

The ride shook a little bit while we were in the station. At first I thought it was one of the ride's motors, but it was actually Tom trembling in fear. 

There's some dispute over whether alpine coasters are "true" coasters or not.  To look at the ride, I couldn't think of any reason not to count it as a credit, therefor determining that it is a "true" coaster. If you don't agree with me, then your opinion is wrong and you are a Silly-Willy*. :}


*the views and opinions expressed in this photo caption are those of a screwball coaster enthusiast and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Thrillography, Glenwood Caverns Adventures Park, the American Coaster Enthusiasts, or the State of Colorado.

I see the eagle's nest!

We were about to go to the alpine coaster when something suddenly caught the attention of my friends! What could it be?!!?

It's the Wild West Express, of course! And the first train of the day is lead by none other than our good friend Betty!! Cheryl is there too! And also some other people I don't know. 

Hooray! Credit #2! Unfortunately, after giving its third ride of the day, we grown-ass adults succeeded in breaking the ride. The station breaks failed (a la RollerCoaster Tycoon) and the ride just kept going. Eventually they got it to stop & it proceeded to sit dormant for the rest of the day.  

The alpine coaster, called Canyon Flyer, certainly lived up to its name. If you leave off the breaks for the entire ride, you definitely fly down that mountain. if you leave off the breaks for an entire ride & ride with a friend, you FLY down that mountain! There were a few moments where I thought the seat might pop off the coaster and send us tumbling down. 

After an extremely-lenthly trip down the mountainside, we begin our extremely-tedous ride back to the top.

Yeehaw! Credit #3! With Canyon Flyer under my belt, it brings my coaster count up to 325!!

Here is a SUPER zoomed-in shot of other riders up the lift.

Next up is one of Glenwood Cavern's biggest claims to fame; their S&S Screamin' Swing. Why is it so famous? Because it's on the the edge of a cliff. That's sort of the theme of Glenwood Caverns.

Step 1. Buy basic amusement rides

Step 2. Perch them on the edge of a cliff

Step 3. Scare the wits out of people

Step 4. Profit 

Oh dear God.

On the right we have our friend Donna, calmly enjoying the Screamin' Swing. On the left, we have our friend Jayson, screaming like a 7 year old girl being ripped apart by a bear. 

Smile, Michael! We're just inches away from certain death!

The ride ended up not being too terrifying. The views, if anything, were awe-inspiring. 

Jayson's scream gives my scream a run for its money. If only everyone in ACE could have heard it.

Oh wait.

They probably could. :}

Leo, Geoff, and Donna (on the other side) are ready to ride again! Jayson is not.

My only complaint about Screamin' Swings is that they aren't floorless. The little platform under the seats just seems unnecessary. 

There were several schools having a so-called "Science Day" or something at the park.  This middle-schooler's friends all chickened out, but she rode multiple times. A future ACEr in our midst?

We had about 40 minutes until out cavern tour once we finished up with the Screamin' Swing, so we hit up the Canyon Flyer again! Say hi, Steve!

We figured that we we may as well visit the cavern part of Glenwood Caverns while we were up there.

I just know you came to this blog to look at pictures of rocks. 

...or better yet, pictures of people looking at rocks. 

Here's some "Cave Bacon" (technical term). It's the result of some sort of rock-sediment-type-thing mixing with a different sort of rock-sediment-type-thing & forming in the shape of America's favorite pork product. They also had "Turkey Bacon" (technical term for Cave Bacon with minimal amount of the darker sediment). 

Here we have a series of stalactites. See the reeeeally skinny ones? Those are actually hollow stalactites that, for some reason, manage to maintain a consistently-narrow width as they grow. These special stalactites are called "Soda Straws" (another technical term).

Here is "The Giant Glowing Cheetoh" (More technical stuff. You can't make this sh*t up).

The largest portion of the cavern is roughly the size of a large barn. That has earned this area the moniker "The Barn" (I'm sorry if I'm losing you here with all of these technical terms. Bear with me).

At this point, they took us down to a dark portion of the cave that is locked with a garage door. Do you have any idea how it feels to get herded into a cave & then have a garage door close behind you? For only $25, you can find out for yourself. 

The tour guide gives us a warning and turns off all of the lights. It's really freaking dark. It is literally darker than the inside of your eyelids. Darker than Chris Brown's soul.

Then suddenly, BAM! The lights go on and we're treated to a series of different cave-type things. 

Okay, I've had enough rocks. Get me out of here. 

Hooray!! Daylight! Friends! Mexican food! (Yes, that is my plate of tortilla chips. Don't judge).

Here's the view from our table. Pretty ballin', right?

After our meal, we were all given the opportunity to have a photo-walkback tour of Cliffhanger during our Exclusive Ride Time. Salivating, I went. 

Stop everything for a sec. What is the name of the woman sitting next to David Finkelstien? I talked to her but I didn't catch her name. She is awesome. Help me out here, ACErs.

Having grown up around a SDC Windstorm (Hurricane, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk), I'm quite fond of these rides. This one rode a little rough, but it's still a solid ride. 

I hope you like this picture. I almost killed myself standing on a weird-shaped rock to get it. 

Our time eventually came to depart from Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. This place is superb. Canyon Flyer, regardless of whether or not qualifies as a true roller coaster, is excellent. Go ride it & stuff.

Story time: Growing up in the Bay Area, my family and I often visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Down the street from the aquarium is family-favorite restaurant Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. For much of my life, I've been enamored with the restaurant because of my nostalgic childhood memories, my love of the film, my and obsession with shri-ump. I noticed that there were not one, but TWO Bubba Gumps in central Colorado when I was doing research for this trip. Steven and Michael were kind enough to humor me, so on our way back to Denver from Glenwood Springs we stopped in Breckenridge for dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. The city was a ghost town (it's the off-season, after all) and almost everything was closed for the day, but Bubba Gump's was open!

Despite being hundreds of feet closer to sea level than we were at Glenwood Caverns, Breckenridge was rather chilly. 

*squeeeeee*

The food was awesome. We had shrimp 6 different ways between the 3 of us. When I went to the gift shop to get a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. keychain, however, the place was deserted. After about 15 minutes, we flagged down a chef who sent a waitress to ring up my purchase. They were all quite friendly.

The remainder of this absurdly-long day involved navigating Steve through Denver construction at 10pm to find our hotel, which Apple Maps just couldn't find. Siri is such a rotten whore. On top of all of that, I got an e-mail saying that my summer class (which started in 4 days) had been cancelled. In the midst of all of the hotel-hunting chaos, I somehow managed to find & register for a replacement class (which has been really awesome so far [it's a documentary class!!]) from my cell phone. Everything was all taken care of by the time we scuttled into the Double Tree parking lot, which was flanked with construction rubbish. Basking in the triumphs of the evening was quite satisfying. :}

That's it for Part I of my Denver Trip! In Part II, we'll actually do something in Denver (Elitch Gardens), and there will be a 100% decrease in pictures of rocks. I promise. 

Spring Fling '13 at Six Flags Over Georgia Trip Report

Hello and welcome to Thrillography! 

............

LOOK YOU GUYS! I have a BLOG!!!


About a year ago, I decided that I wanted to start posting my trip reports somewhere new; somewhere that wasn't Facebook. Why? Because Facebook chews up high-definition photos and spits out server-friendly edits. Also, my photo captions were getting out of hand. I decided it was time to make this JUST as much about words as it is about photos. The story-telling aspect of trip reporting is more important than dinky photo captions would suggest, so here we are on Blogspot. Now you get photo captions AND additional commentary. Aren't you just teeming with joy?? lol


First trip of 2013 was ACE's Spring Fling at Six Flags Over Georgia. I cannot tell you how pleased I am to launch my new blog on a trip report filled with crumby, gray photos taken during Atlanta's record-breaking rainfall monsoon.

Bare with me, here.

Let's begin, shall we?

Michael and I are eager to take on the park on this, the loveliest of days.

Michael, my companion in this endeavor, shows up a lot in this report. He's always power-walking his way to the next coaster & I'm always lagging behind to line up a camera shot. Sometimes I'd yell "Ok, smile Michael!!" and he'd turn around look pretty for a picture. I think I did this about 11 or 12 times that day. He was a good sport about it.

We were a little concerned about whether or not we would be able to ride...well...anything that day, but Georgia Cyclone and Goliath both appeared to be cooperating.

Here we have a bunch of cold, wet ACErs picking up their registration packets for Spring Fling.

I AM CYCLONE. HEAR ME ROAR!

After we got our packets, we folded them up into our trusty plastic baggies (for safe keeping against the rain) and moseyed on over to season pass processing to get Michael's season pass.

We admired the park entrance as we walked by. It was having a lovely shower this morning & would continue having one for about another 30 hours.

I didn't tell Michael to look at the camera this time, apparently.

Ahh, Season Pass Processing. Such a special place. A magical place. A place where flattering paint schemes and flattering identification photos don't exist.

We came out of Season Pass Processing to more rain & more Goliath!

Because this is ACE, the first order of business once inside the park was to get food. Our Exclusive Ride Time for the morning included Georgia Cyclone, Georgia Scorcher, Goliath, and Mindbender.

What delicacies await us??

Hey! It's Ronny and Richard! Save me some cheese danish, guys!

After breakfast, I got bored and started taking pictures in the dining room.

Finally it was time to venture out into the park for our first ride. Stop #1 was Georgia Cyclone. Over the last couple of years, Six Flags Over Georgia has been doing some track work on the ride in an effort to make it feel less like riding a wooden crate down a staircase. 

Georgia Cyclone is my favorite ride at Six Flags Over Georgia. I've been seeing a few psychiatrists about that.

Here we are in the bustling station of Georgia Cyclone.

FABULOUS ride. The combination of that fresh track & riding in the rain made for an excellent first coaster of the season!

After we got off Georgia Cyclone, we headed to Georgia Scorcher, but then we realized it was almost time for our behind-the-scenes tour of Monster Mansion, so we headed in that direction.

This is by far the prettiest....umm...whatever this thing is...that I've ever seen! Michael agrees.

I don't think Six Flags Over Georgia gets enough credit for its aesthetic. The natural beauty of this park rivals that of the more manicured parks whose grounds are more lauded.

The surprisingly un-amusement-park-looking Monster Mansion. One would never guess that its corridors are populated with Six Flags's critically-acclaimed answer to Disneyania.

Frolicking in the lush, squishy landscape of the Monster Plantation we find all sorts of fluffy creatures committing shenanigans left and right.

Here we see Michael & others not only committing shenanigans of their own, but enabling the shenanigans of others!

It's technically not hooking if it's free, right?

I love this game.

The river was drained for our walk-through. The boats were all bottomed-out at about half way through the course.

DON'T GO INTO THE MARSH. DO NOT GO INTO THE MARSH! OHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

The marsh is full of scaaaaaaarrrrry monsters! Not the friendly monsters frolicking in the Monster Mansion!

*is scared*

OHH MY GOD IT'S....IT'S.........Oh! It's only Michael. Phew!

We made it out of the Marsh alive!

We decided to go get some more rides on coasters before any other monsters tried to kill us.

Off to Goliath!

As you can see, Spring Fling was highly-attended this year.

Goliath was running awesome in the rain. Great airtime as usual, but maybe just a *little* bit more swiftness. We got 3 rides in the back seat without moving. On the 3rd ride, we felt on our faces the sting of the rain becoming more solid.

Nothing about this pictured turned out right. You can't see Michael, I look constipated, Richard's lap bar is up, and Ronny isn't even paying attention.

All subsequent self-shots were taken with the iPhone. It's better this way. After Goliath, we attacked Gotham City.

Mindbender was superb in the rain. Once again, 3 consecutive rides in the back seat without having to move.  Rainfall somehow made the ultimate smooth ride even smoother.

(^^) The Ride was also giving kick-ass rain rides. 

Riding roller coasters in the rain is really a unique experience. I've ridden all of these coasters many times, but riding them in the rain definitely amped up the intensity.

I wasn't planning on any of these pictures turning out particularly well, but I'm actually pretty satisfied with some of these given the circumstances.

I'm not sure what possessed me to give this picture a B&W filter, but I like the way it turned out. I have the color version of the picture to, but it looks kind of lame. 

See? Lame. B&W for the win!

We also did Gotham City Crime Wave. Normally these kinds of rides are great for drying off after getting soaked on a water ride. Riding them in the rain kind of defeats the purpose.

By this time, the general public had started seeping into Gotham City. We dashed over to Georgia Scorcher to get a ride before it got too crowded. By this point, the rain was getting progressively stronger.

Train wraps are GONE! I liked the Georgia Natural Gas wraps, but I've missed the old train scheme! They need a little TLC now, though.

About half way through our ride, a the rain graduated into  downpour. Despite feeling like we were being pelted with stones, its was another excellent rain ride. VERY squirrelly during the back half. We rolled into the station dripping wet. 

We sought shelter in the gift shop near Goliath. Much merry shopping was to be had. I collect keychains, so I bought a couple that were new this season & stuffed them into my cargo pants. I also called my mom because I'm a momma's boy. I told her all about our sopping-wet adventure thus far. Still dripping wet, Michael and I headed back out into the monsoon to take on the rest of the park.

Because we didn't get enough monster shenanigans from our walk-through, we decided to check it out again the old-fashioned way.

After Monster Mansion, I, in my infinite wisdom, decided that blowing on my camera lens would be the most efficient way to rid it of raindrops.

Bad idea. 

Oops.

So yeah. I put the camera away for a bit to wait for the evil condensation to subside. The rain had let up a bit by this time. Michael and I rode the Dahlonega Mine Train, but sadly, I have no photo documentation of it. :(

Here, have this crappy picture of SkyScreamer. 

We stumbled upon the water test dummies during their daily yoga session.

Ninja was being possessed by evil sprits and would not be operating for the rest of the day.

Just kidding! It's just a crappy picture of Ninja. 

My camera's lens was improving, but the conditions in the park were not. Great American Scream Machine was closed as well.

The train was still open, but things weren't looking too hot for a lot of the other outdoor rides.

"Let's ride the Carousel!" said Michael.

After our carousel ride, it was time for our catered lunch at the Crystal Pistol. We got to have a Q & A session with Six Flags Over Georgia's current & former general manager! (And no, they could not make the rain go away.)

The Crystal Pistol still has its original red wallpaper & Delta Airlines sponsor plaques.

After lunch we returned to the back of the park to see if the any of the coasters would open.

We basically putzed around in the covered games area for over an hour, watching the coasters like hawks for any signs of life. We wasted time in the Superman gift shop & gawked at prizes in the various claw games scattered about.

Sad Skull Island is sad.

Because there was nothing else to do, we got in line for the bumper cars.

Did I say bumper cars? I meant Atlanta Rush Hour Traffic: The Ride.

After the traffic jam was cleared, Michael and I rode the bumper cars & then retreated to the front of the park to look for more rides that were actually open.

While waiting in line for our 2nd ride on Monster Mansion, the skies ripped open and the rain fell so hard that we almost couldn't hear each other. 

Oh look. More rain. Awesome. You know it's bad when they close Monster Mansion on a count of rain. We stood under the awning near the station & visited with people while waiting for the weather to calm down a bit.

Eventually we decided to head back to the front of the park and hide out in the large stores. We waited around inside the dining room of Primo's Pizza, ringed out our wet socks, and hoped for better weather. Unfortunately, the rain never subsided and the park announced its closure at 5pm. *sigh*

While the ending to our day was lame, Michael and I at least got our several awesome rain rides during Exclusive Ride Time and the first few hours of public operation. 

The next morning, the weather was much more agreeable, so I decided to get some out-of-park shots because I'm an insatiable nerd. 

So close, but so far away.

Acrophobia, which was showing no signs of life the day before, was now alive & well.

I keep giving Georgia Scorcher the shaft. I didn't take any good pictures of it on my last trip, and I failed to do so once again. However, unlike last time, I actually remembered to ride it. When we left the park last time, we walked by it & I was like "Oh sh*t. I knew I forgot something".

Goliath was getting a lot more patronage than it did during Spring Fling ERT.

Bird: "I wish to ride the Georgia Scorcher."

Goliath: "No! You cannot, for you are only a bird. Plus you haven't paid for admission."

Bird: "Oh, crumbs."

Georgia Cyclone sure rides great, but it looks rough. Hopefully they'll re-paint after they complete the trackwork.

Here, on the last photo of this update, I just realized that I forgot to mention the status DareDevil Dive (that little stump at the bottom of Goliath's drop). Roller coasters like DareDevil Dive ("Gerstlauer Euro-Fighters") don't play well with rain, so it was totally dormant the entire weekend.

So my Six Flags Over Georgia trip didn't go exactly as planned, but those rain rides were awesome! I'd say I at least broke even this time around. Goodbye, Six Flags! See ya next year!

As for you, my valued blog reader, I hope you enjoyed this trip report of crappy gray photos and snarky commentary. 

Next time on Thrillography: ACE's Spring Conference, Featuring Glenwood Caverns, Elitch Gardens, Lakeside, and general Denver shenanigans! Stay tuned!

:}