RCCGB - USA 2008 : Koaster Krazy

Trip Report - USA 2008 : Koaster Krazy

The USA Koaster Krazy Mini Trip started on Saturday 7th June when members met up at Heathrow Airport for the flight across to Newark in New Jersey. Some members had flown out a week earlier and all met up at Newark Airport for our small drive to Bensalem in Pennyslvania. There it

was time to recover from jet lag, have a few drinks and do what we are good at, Socialising! Later that evening it was back on the coach for the short journey to the Casino where some of us tried our luck to win some more bucks, and generally failed so don't gamble with what you haven't got! After this it was back to the Hotel for some well earned sleep in readiness for Day 2 our first riding day.

Day 2 started with a short journey to Six Flags Great Adventure which was Tour Shirt Day. We gathered at the entrance for a group photo which was followed shortly by entrance into the park and our first ride of the trip, Intamin's El Toro and by were we in for a treat. This started after leaving the station with one of the fastest lift-hills we've ever been on. Not to disappoint the ride was extreme providing great thrills and airtime, something we all crave for and of course it's made of Woooooooood!" and what is Wood? "Flamable!"

Shortly after this it was the second ERS of the day on Kingda Ka. The 128mph launch was a bit disappointing as it was a staggered launch which wasn't very smooth. However the views and the height of the ride were very impressive. After this we all went into a various groups as we do and explored more of the park. The park was empty as the heat was keeping the locals away, it was a horrendous heat so we were having to drink plenty of fluids to keep us hydrated! Due to this there was plenty of time to explore the whole of the parks 13 Coasters. AT 6PM we were treated to a concert by the legendary Blondie, all included with the price of the admission ticket. We stopped for the late night parade where our luminous shirts were going to stand out!

Day 3, our second riding day was at a small family run theme park in Elysburg, Pennsylvania, Knoebels. We

started the day there with a great lunch followed by a presentation to Dick Knoebel, a Ruby Wedding Anniversary Plate. We were hoping to ride their new Coaster, The wooden bobsled ride Flying Turns, however this was still having a few teething problems so we got the next best thing, a walk of the ride. This took it out of us, as again it was extremely hot! After we had finished we gathered together for a group photo in the structure of the ride. Then it was off to enjoy the rest of the park. We took in the Flying Scooters powered by a great Chevy engine then the great Twister ride built in-house. Our Driver for the trip Bob "Auto-Bob" needed cooling off so he went on the Log Flume in the front seat not realising what was about to happen. Dan went on Skloosh and got totally soaked but that's normal for him!

More of the park was explored before we all met up for the legendary RCCGB Ice Cream Challenge on the kids High Speed Thrill Coaster Ride. Well, what can we say, we have never laughed so much, ice cream was going everywhere but where it should have gone. There were 2 teams due to the popularity of this challenge and after the event the ride was down for the day for cleaning. Even the locals had so much fun watching us Krazy Brits having fun! At the end of the day it was off to The Phoenix for our evening ERS on a great woodie! If you're lucky enough to get the 3rd seat from the front then you're in for a treat, known as The Ejector Seat,

the airtime here is awesome and is our president's favourite seat on the ride. After our ERS it was off to our hotel for time to relax, have a drink before the next day's events.

Day 4 started back at Knoebels, with an early morning ERS on their other great woodie, Twister. A number of us headed over to the Water Bumper Boats and had a great time and nearly tipping over! then we went for a relaxing trip on the Cable Car ride, a teriffic view and a lot of our members decided to ride. We sat down for their legendary lunch and it was great! We had to leave the park early to head off for our next hotel and park, and boy oh boy, what a shocker we were about to see. As we arrived the reception desk was getting ripped out, a number of rooms hadn't been finished. One of our members was given a room but the only access was over wet cement!! It was right out of the comedy film "Carry on Abroad", and yes we called the hotel Els Bells! It was a short Taxi ride into town so most of the gang were off shopping and dining. Some of us, well 2 in fact decided to dine at the Indian restauant next door to the hotel. With bad weather coming in fast the group for the restaurant got bigger and bigger, in fact a total of 12 of us ended up at the same table. Dave Perry shocked everyone with his order of "Chicken Vindaloo" but an extremely great night was

had by all. It was back to the Hotel Els Bells ready for our next day.

Day 5 and we headed off to Hershey Park for our morning ERS on Lightning Racer. This was soon followed by a ride on their new ride Fahrenheit. We heard some members had sneaked off for a ride on Roller Soaker so off we went so we could get them with a ground assault! This was soon followed by Storm Runner, Sidewinder, their Boomerang and a spot of lunch. Queues were getting long but we did join the queue for The Great Bear built by B&M before heading off to what we thought was our next hotel. It was in fact a late night ERS on The Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood. Before we could get into the park we got together, Union Jack as well for a group photo. Phantom's Revenge was the only ride organised for us but what a great ride to finish the day on! Next it was off to our hotel in readiness for our full day at Kennywood.

Day 6, riding Day 5 and we were back at Kennywood for our morning ERS's. First it was on the classic woodie Jack Rabbit, then the legendary Thunderbolt where the biggest person sits on the outside. Then we were all off to Ghostwood Estate, blasters

in hand for a takeover on their new shoot'em up ride. Everyone did their own thing for lunch, but having been to Kennywood before it was off to the Chinese for an "All You Can Eat Buffet" before returning to the park. Everyone got the rides in they wanted to before heading off to our bus and a very dodgy salesman, Auto-Bob!! who was selling those lovely, refreshing cold drinks. It was off to our last hotel of the tour in Sandusky Ohio, just a few minutes off our last park, Cedar Point.

Day 7 was an early start, heading over to Cedar Point where we were greeted with a Souvenir Shirt of our visit containing both the day of the visit and the club's 20th Anniversary Logo. We posed for our last group photo of the trip and then went for our first ERS of the day which was on Millennium Force. Maverick was down all day so we headed over to Top Thrill Dragster and was hoping for a roll back as the ride was cold. We never got it! We did a few more rides, including their Corkscrew and original Demon Drop Tower, Ouch! We did some more riding then headed over to the courtyard for our lunch, however a very nasty storm was coming in so the lunch had to be moved inside for our safety as well as the staff's. Nev was presented with a plaque by John Hildebrandt celebrating the 20 years of the RCCGB. We all signed a large poster which is now in Cedar Point's Museum and then dogged the showers to ride some more rides. This meant some people went back to the hotels, and like us some did the fantastic shows. We got on a lot more rides once they re-opened and then it was our last ERS of the trip and in fact our last ride of the trip and what a tense one it was. With the awful weather we had during the day Top Thrill Dragster was down for most of the day and so was very cold. It was Roll-Back heaven for most of our members, but some unfortunate ones didn't manage one, myself included so it means we'll have to go back! After this we had our usual get together with the Cedar Point Rep which ended with a GROUP HUG! That was it another fantastic USA Trip over, Roll on 2009!


Group Photo	El Toro ERS	Kingda Ka ERS	Cooling off on The Log Flume	Blondie in Concert


Walking the Flying Turns Ride	Group Photo	"Auto-Bob" on the Log Flume	High Speed Thrill Coaster Ice Cream Challenge	Phoenix ERS


Gareth & Christine on Twister	Twister ERS	Chilling on The Cable Cars	Matt's room in the Hotel Els Bells, No Curtains!	Group Photo at A Passage to India


Picture in Picture, an RCCGB Tradition!	Lightning Racer ERS	Lightning Racer ERS	Club members riding Roller Soaker	Tracy & Nancy waiting to ride The Great Bear


Group Photo	Phantom's Revenge Late Night ERS	Jack Rabbit ERS	Thunderbolt ERS	Jeff & Gareth on Turnpike

Join Contact	Welcome to the R C C G B - The Premier Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain !


Group Photo	Millennium Force ERS	Andy & Christine on Top Thrill Dragster	Craig, Harvey & Ryan praying for the rain to stop	End of trip Group Hug, Where's the Cedar Point Rep?!!