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DTCM's Northwest Adventure

Let us know how your day at the park was.
Postby Dan The Coaster Man on August 5th, 2017, 10:56 pm
Hello all! I apologize for my inactivity as of late. Our desktop at home stopped working properly about a year ago or so and my phone has been a major pain in my life the last 6 months or so, so whenever I posted I was often times using a school computer. And because I havnt had access to school computers this summer, I have seldom posted. I'm pleased to say I'm back, as we bought a new desktop for home right before we left for vaca, and I will be getting a new phone when I get home in a few days, so I will be a lot more active.

Currently as I'm typing this, I'm in the middle of nowhere Wyoming with no signal. I thought I would occupy myself to go in depth as I can about the amusement park side of my current vacation. I'm not a huge guy for going in depth but I know some of you guys will appreciate it and I probably owe y'all for being inactive. So here's my best shot at going in depth.

My parents goal was to camp overnight in all 50 states, and after tonight (driving to Colorado right now) they have accomplished just that. After tonight I'll have been to 48, with Nevada and New Mexico leftover. Anyways, my parents needed Colorado and all the northwestern states so that's how I ended up in northern Idaho. We stayed 2 nights in Coeur d'Alene, which is an amazingly beautiful place. I would go as far to say it's the most beautiful place I've seen that isn't Oceanside or a national park. Our first night we got there around 5 local time and relaxed.

The next morning we drove 20 minutes north to Hayden and visited the Rocky Mountain Construction plant. So a few months ago we called RMC and set up a tour of the entire plant. After we looked 10 minutes for the offices, we walked in and they had an adorable small dog greet us, what a cutie. RMC has an adorable watch dog :P. So RMC was expecting us because I swear we were the only tour of the week, I'm not sure how many they normally get from enthusiasts but we walked in and the secretary already knew what was up. So shortly afterwards Amy Grubb came out and turns out she was giving us the tour! I already had a hunch she was going to be giving the tour because a few years back when I wrote a letter to Alan she wrote me back and sent me a beanie and a seat pad. I guess from this point on the tour is just like the one that is on Coaster Force's channel, but I'll still tell. So she told us about how her dad started out and then talked about the topper and ibox. I knew all of this, my dad knew a little, but my mom and sister (not coaster enthusiasts) were hearing it for the first time and were amazed. We then left the office into the back where they built NTG entirely as you all know, and let me say it's amazing NTG was built in that small of space when they have two other ginormous buildings now. This space is now used for the trains. Perhaps the coolest part was how they take these chunks of material and put them in these machines that carved out pieces for the train. We talked to a machinist who just started on a piece as we were walking by, and he said each piece typically takes about 2 hours. We walked out the back of the office/train warehouse and they had a piece of raptor track with the train on it. Amy told us about the raptor track and then said we could test out the train they got for it. I gotta say, it's definitely different! No shin guards, enough room for tall people's legs, but it's a lot different just sitting by yourself you know. The seat was comfortable sitting there, but the OTSR couldn't be pulled down so I can't tell y'all how that part feels. But from what I experienced it's definitely a thumbs up. We then went down the street to the biggest building they have, where the track is made. We started outside though with the prototype. It was really cool seeing a prototype at a plant like that. I didn't get to ride but it looked impressive in person, the overbank seemed above average from what I saw. We walked through the warehouse there then. Let me just say, it was HUGE. lots of stuff going on in there with lots of bright lights and big machines. They were working on 3 different projects at the same time, and I thought that was amazing. After that we went to the other less big building across the street and got to see some track being painted, that was cool too. After that we went back to the office but upstairs to see the offices with computers and whatnot. I got to see what they called "nesting" and some computer diagrams, it was pretty cool. The tour ended then, it was about an hour long and it was amazing to see how much work goes into it. Amy Grubb is a fantastic person, and we really appreciate her giving us the tour. Felt very welcome there.

After RMC we drove 15 mins north to hit up Silverwood. Our visit didn't start off well though because right when we pulled in we found out there was a campground on the property. We had no idea that existed. Guess we gotta research better next time. Amusement park campgrounds are super convenient, especially in my family when half the people don't even go inside the amusement parks we travel to. The campground looked pretty nice excluding the fact there weren't a lot of trees for shade. So my mom dropped me and my dad off and we had 5 hours there. First impression we had was that it was very clean. As some of you may or may not know, you park on one side of the highway and walk in an underground tunnel to the other side of the highway where the entrance is. I gotta say, that's one of the cleanest tunnels I've ever been in. The rest of the park is very clean, and there is plenty of foliage so give a very positive vibe. I wasn't a huge fan of the front part of the park though. You walk in and there are buildings that are cute and all but you take a left and then you choose to go left or right, and straight ahead was a stroller rental but behind that was just grass. A fairly big patch of grass... didn't really understand that. And the pathways to the right or left were narrow in my opinion. Very small. That being said though, I liked the layout of the park. If you went to the right, you went to the waterpark. If you went to the left, you head towards all the rides. However, the first section was all of your family/kids rides, including Corkscrew. If you kept walking through, you end up where all the thrill rides are. So essentially the park can be split into thirds and each one is its own audience, and they don't overlap at all. I liked that. When we were walking in I saw Deja Vu running, so we went there first. Now yes it's Aftershock but screw that it's Deja Vu to me. I do need to clarify though, I had never ridden Deja Vu back home. I don't even remember it being there. I would be surprised if I went to SFGAm two times while Deja Vu resided there. However, I do like the nostalgic feeling. It's our parks history. I was dying to ride it, especially after Goliath was closed all day for the two days I was at SFNE. That being said though, I didn't have my expectations high. I was anticipating it to beat me up. My dad can't do rough rides so I went by myself. It was a station wait and I sat in the middle of the train in a middle seat. And I gotta say, I thought it was AWESOME! It wasn't butter smooth but it didn't smash my head or anything like that, it was very smooth. I loved it. I got off and told my dad it wasn't rough, and we got in line and sat in the back in middle seats. And... it was still pretty good, but I didn't find it as marvelous as the first ride. My dad's back was fine so that's kinda the indicator that the ride wasn't rough. It was still a station wait though so I got back in line with out my dad and rode in the front in a middle seat and it was same as my second ride, not marvelous but can't complain. It was time to move on so I got in line for Spin Cycle. Again I was excited because I had never been on a frisbee that rotates all the way around, it was pretty much on my bucket list. And I don't do carnivals or fairs, so amusement parks with fully rotating frisbees was nothing I had ever come up to until Silverwood. And being honest it was a let down. I thought it was extremely anti gravity. Like when you would reach an apex and fall back down, it was a resisted fall. It felt extremely slow. Gravity just wouldn't take over. Was not a fan. So I thought to myself "maybe I should go to the fair and ride the different model at home". A few hours later the Ohio incident happened, so I was reminded why I don't do carnivals. Maybe the one at KK some day..? So both the wooden coasters had lines so I had to wait out one so I waited out Timber Terror. I sat towards the back and I was pleasantly surprised. The first half had some good airtime. The second half was meh but the airtime in the first half had me giving it a thumbs up. So then me and dad waited out Tremors. And I was super excited I've heard it's underrated and CanadaCoasterFan (anyone watch him?) has tremors as his personal shrine it seems at times. And I gotta say it's a good ride, great ride, but I think I had my expectations too high. It was let down. Now like don't get me wrong it was pretty cool. Fast paced, the tunnels are awesome, and some great laterals but it just didn't blow me away. And personally as someone who likes an out and back more than a twister layout, I still can't decide if I like Timber Terror or Tremors more. I have a feeling I'll rank Tremors higher, but Timber Terror really gave a run for its money. After that I rode Corkscrew twice. Standard ride but it's cool to ride a historic coaster like that. I rode in the back my first ride and it was a typical arrow but my second ride I rode in the first row and I didn't think it was half bad. 100 times better than the one at Michigans Adventure. After that we had dinner. The prices are very reasonable here, and the food isn't half bad either. We ate at a Mexican place but got chicken strips and tater tots and the strips were average but the tots were pretty good. But we got it for $6, and that was definitely the selling point. Great value. Even the refillable cup was only $10. Very reasonable. After we ate I went on Deja Vu again and I rode last row on an outside seat and it was the worst ride of the day on Deja Vu. I banged my head a little, it just didn't have that first ride feel at all. After that I rode Timber Terror again, same as my first ride on that. At that point we had to leave which I was upset I couldn't give Tremors another chance but it is what it is (see, if we stayed at the campground, I could've stayed another 5 hours). I did get a pretty cool shirt though for "Aftershock" that true SFGAm people will get a kick out of when I wear it there. So Silverwood was a nice place but even over a week after I'm still confused what I think of their coasters. Deja Vu... it started great but then went downhill. I wasn't aware of "the best seats" if there are any, so maybe that last row outside seat is supposed to be a death trap I don't know. None the less though I think it was my favorite ride there. Bias yeah probably but I enjoyed myself on that more than any other there, even on my last ride. Tremors vs Timber Terror.... I still have no idea. I've been thinking about it all vacation. Corkscrew will be behind those three though.

After Idaho we went to Seattle and then went down to Astoria... funny story, we visited Astoria in the morning and then drove to Boise. That night in Boise we were watching tv and the goonies were on... and I had never seen that movie before! It was funny because we were just in Astoria hours before that. Gotta say that movie is pretty awesome, took me too long to see it for the first time. Anyways. So from Boise we drove to Salt Lake City but we only had one night there so I only had that day at Lagoon. It was a five hour drive but there was some traffic... didn't get to Lagoon until 4. This time we stayed at the campground on property. It wasn't the nicest place but it's meant to be convenience to the park and it did that well. Me and my dad went. I like the entrance, there's interactive water fountains and whatnot. first thing we did was Cannibal. We got lucky, the line wasn't out in the midway. But Cannibal was down for 10 mins so I guess that made up for it. First impression: love the restraints. Never seen anything like it. Lap bars... more like lap "shields" or something. They are pretty big but they aren't uncomfortable or anything. There are shin guards but they barely touched me, and I'm a tall guy. Really liked them. So I love the horn on dispatch, but all the rides there seemed to have it, which was still cool. The elevator lift is awesome. I had been on cobras curse but it's cooler indoors. It's massive. First drop is amazing, don't think anyone would be surprised by that. It feels pretty long too, and tunnels are always a plus. The first inversion is really big, drawn out and fun. The second is smaller and more forceful. The whole ride altogether isn't really forceful though. Not to say that's bad though. Anyways, the lagoon roll is hangtime galore, FANTASTIC. And the end helix is even fun, it gets you a little wet which was welcome on a day like when I went, 95 and sunny. Cannibal we'll definitely be in my top 10, but probably 5-10ish. Loved it. After that we did Jet Star 2, and I liked it. Smaller whizzer, but there is this one super tight turn that is pretty cool. No single riders though, and me and my dad are bigger so it was pretty funny sitting together barely fitting. After that we did Air Race, my very first one. Again, very excited to ride as I had never been on one. This was exactly what I anticipated though. It was fun yet a little demanding on my head. I'd give it a thumb that's in between a thumbs up and a neutral thumb. After that we rode the sky ride to the other side of the park to go back to our camper for dinner. I've never liked Sky rides, I don't know why but I've always hated ski lifts and sky rides so it was pretty close to torture to me when we stopped 4 times. When we got to the other side though there was no line for Colossus so I did that. Pretty cool ride!! Forceful loops, and the last helix is pretty cool. Front row ride. We then went to our camper and had some fried chicken from the mall on the other side of the interstate. So I didn't eat anything at Lagoon but the prices looked alike from Silverwood's when I looked. $5 for a double cheeseburger I thought I saw. So after we ate my dad took a nap so I went on the rides he wouldn't go on with me. I did Roller Coaster, which I thought was pretty smooth for its age. Fine ride. Then I did the Bat, I thought it was better than the one at KI. Then I did the wild mouse, in which I barely fit because my legs were against the back seat of the row in front of me. Wild mice are always a pain for me but it's a credit. This one might be the best one I've been on though, I liked the tunnel lol. At this point my dad came back in so we did Wicked, which I thought was pretty cool with flaws. Second half of the ride is nothing. I love a launch though, and a launch like that into a vertical drop was very enjoyable for me. The restraints were wanna-be Cannibal restraints, but there's worse out there I didn't mind them too much. There was no line so I went back in single rider and got on in 5 mins. I then did spider, which was alright. Didn't get a lot of spinning. Next we're rerides on Colossus and Wicked. We then rode the blue family coaster who's name escapes me, which was actually pretty cool for a ride that size in my opinion. At this point my dad went in for the night and I rode cannibal by myself. I was looking for the single rider line and so I went to the attendant in the line and asked where it was and he was like "hmm" and nodded. So I was like "right here?" And he nodded "mmm". Textbook example of someone who didn't care about his job lol. Single rider line was long but the Coaster gods blessed me with a night ride front row ride and it was absolutely amazing. The only flaw was that I got stapled pretty badly. But during the ride I didn't care. It was still better than my first ride on it. Overall Lagoon is a really cool place. It's amazing they have 10 coasters though, each of them are so compact. The one thing I'm upset about was that Samurai was closed the entire day, another flat I've never been on. The King Choas with water ride was open but I don't do water rides so I didn't ride. Lagoon is a pretty cool place, y'all should go if you have the chance!

Once I get home I have to remake my coaster credits on the new desktop. Lagoon was better than Silverwood but both are pretty good. Again not good at in depth stuff hope this wasn't bad. That's my trip reports, hope y'all enjoyed and see y'all on the forums :)
Dan The Coaster Man

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Postby RollingCoasting on August 6th, 2017, 12:58 am
Nice report! The RMC plant tour seems really fun, cool that they even offer it.
RollingCoasting

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