At least I felt the sting?

I don't know. I'd been lazy and kinda sitting on this post for like.. 2 years.... But in light of new photos showing the destructive removal of Stinger at Dorney Park... I felt the need to go on a slight ramble.

So Dorney Park announced it was gonna be removing its Stinger coaster and then went ahead and blow-torched the ride to death...

Yup.

So uh, Stinger

One of the four Vekoma built Invertigo coasters.
(I've tracked down 3 of them :D )

The ride opened at Dorney in 2012.. But was often closed and spent almost all of 2014 SBNO
(it almost spent a full year closed while in California)
((It had run at Great America from 1998 to 2010))

Five years after it was built, the ride was removed the park.. And cut into pieces...

So.... that makes Stinger the first Invertigo to be scrapped.
(and possibly the first boomerang of any type to be scrapped as well)

In 2016 I made the trek to go get the coaster. It had been some 7 years since my last visit... and as I knew the ride would be open.. I left Great Adventure early and made the 2 hour drive to the park.

I bought an 'After 4' ticket for the park online and got to the park some 20 minutes before the ticket was valid...and proceeded to stress myself out the entire time... It had been off and on raining at Great Adventure but Six Flags is pretty good about running rides in the rain. Cedar Fair parks.... not so much. So as I wait to enter the park.. I watch the storm clouds rolling in..... As soon as 4 hits... I head to the entrance where I'm warned there is no rain check and that thunder storms were moving into the area... So I ran down to the coaster, a walk on, thankfully and got my credit ride. As soon as I exited the ride, I went for a second lap as there was no line. By the time I made it off... The entire park closed for rain.
So...with my "$34" (more like $45 ticket after the *convenience fees*) and some $18 for parking...Making my 2 ride...1 credit, less than an hour visit to Dorney Park total
$63.......

Uh... but at least I got 2 rides on it?
(+1, #840-something)
Oh, Stinger.
#RIP
...In the long run.. it was probably for the better, since after leaving the park I still had a +5 hour drive to my parents house in Massachusetts and now that I was leaving way earlier than expected, I'd be getting there around 10, rather than the midnight arrival I had planned. 

(Also, the Cedar Fair rain policy is the stupidest park policy I've ever come across... and its screwed me over on at least 2 other park visits... One leading to a nearly SEVEN HOUR wait for Maverick at Cedar Point because of off-and-on rain)

It might have taken forever.......but

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is now....
 open at the Magic Kingdom!

So after what seemed like forever-ever... and ever some-more... the all new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train coaster is now open and... its pretty fun too! The wait may have been long but the ride looks pretty flawless and its more fun than I expected. It may be a little on the short side but you gotta remember, its in Fantasyland, an area of the park that until Storybook Circus became part of, had ZERO rides with a height limit. The only real complaint I have would be the dark ride in the middle being a bit short... but there wasn't much room to work with I guess.

Some off ride photos...

and a few on-ride photos too!

Oh hey look, a photo of me as well!

Sweet.... now to just get my SMAC post up.. and that Dinosaur World one too.

:D

Vekoma Quest...

One mans mission to ride every Vekoma coaster in the state of Florida.... in the same day TwitPicing along the way.

My lovely pointless day started with a quick bike ride over to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure and  Flight of the Hippogriff (Flying Unicorn). Meh, one train op meant the line took forever... And for a family coaster? Not worth it...but I was on a quest. After waiting far too long for that crap.. I walked on over to Universal Studios Florida to find out it would be over an hour until Woody opened... So I jumped on the Simpsons ride... Ouch, my neck. Anyways.. Once I got off Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster had opened for the day, yay... Time to bike back home and head over to Disney. First up was Hollywood Studios where I walked in to find Rock'n'Roller Coaster to be down, great. Amazingly it reopened right as I sat down and I ended up being the first person in line. It must have been down a while as I walked all the way to the load area and got in row 1 without ever seeing another guest. I was tempted to jump on Tower real quick.. But instead I headed off to the Magic Kingdom where I was quickly able to get on Goofy's Barnstomer, Move it Shake it, Celebrate it was going on and I guess had most peoples attention at the moment.  Four down, one to go.. And possibly the only one worth riding too.. After a lovely lunch it was off to Animal Kingdom for some Expedition Everest... Yay Vekoma Quest was a success... 5 different coasters in 5 different parks (Every Vekoma in the state of Florida) for no real reason other than... Just because I CAN.

Vekoma Quest

What is this crap?

Vekoma Quest - On a mission to ride all 5 Vekoma's in the Greater Orlando area. Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster, Flight of the Hippogriff, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Barnstormer, and Expedition Everest all in the same day.. Just because I can.