Amusement Park Trip Plans for 2024

 Hello everyone, it's been a while since I've last posted here. The off-season has gone by rather quickly as it wasn't too wintry this year. Over the off-season, I have been planning my amusement park trips for 2024. As you may know, I had visited nine different parks last year, which was a record for me! Well, this year I plan to break that record again and visit 11 different amusement parks this year! Three of the 11 amusement parks I will be visiting this will be new to me, while the other eight will be parks I have visited 6+ years ago. The 2024 season looks to be quite exciting!

My first amusement park visit of 2024 will be at Knoebels on their opening weekend on April 27th and 28th, 2024. My first and only visit to Knoebels was in July 2018 during my first major US amusement park road trip. I instantly fell in love with the nostalgia at Knoebels as they have a lot of vintage amusement rides, three wooden roller coasters, and an amazing setting! I am really looking forward to revisiting this April!

Twister at Knoebels as seen from the Skyway in July 2018.

In May and early June I plan on making a few visits to my home park, Canada's Wonderland before heading off on another amusement park road trip in June! Unfortunately I will not be able to visit on opening weekend this year, but I will definitely get to Canada's Wonderland as soon as possible!

Wonder Mountain at Canada's Wonderland as seen on May 6th, 2023.

In June, I am planning to visit four different amusement parks as I travel for one week through New Jersey and Pennsylvania! The trip will start off with a visit to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey (previously visited for two days in July 2018), followed by a visit to Dorney Park in Allentwon, Pennsylvania (first visited in June 2015). 

I am excited to get back to these two parks, as while the new for 2024 roller coaster, Flash: Vertical Velocity (Vekoma Super Boomerang) at Six Flags Great Adventure more than likely won't be ready, I am really looking forward to hopefully riding the Jersey Devil Coaster, an RMC single rail Raptor Track coaster that opened in 2021! Also, Six Flags Great Adventure is celebrating 50 years in 2024! 

Me (John) after my first ride on Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in July 2018. 

As for Dorney Park, I am really looking forward to riding Iron Menace, the B&M Dive Coaster opening this Spring! The theming and storyline behind the Iron Menace is really cool and I am happy that they finally got a new roller coaster after all these years! I am also looking forward to (hopefully) finally getting a ride on the extremely rare Intamin First Generation Freefall, Demon Drop as I didn't get to ride it in 2015.

Dorney Park skyline as seen from across the street in June 2015.

After visiting Six Flags Great Adventure and Dorney Park, I'll be off to two new-to-me parks, HersheyPark and Kennywood! I am really looking forward to visiting both of these parks as they both have a unique collection of rides and roller coasters of both old and new! 

Since there is a lot to see and do at HersheyPark, I plan on visiting the park for two days. I am hoping to get on all of their roller coasters and many flat rides, including the Sooperdooperlooper, a classic Schwarzkopf Looping roller coaster that has been operating at HersheyPark since 1977. This will be my first Schwarzkopf Looping roller coaster! 😄 Obviously I am also really excited for HersheyPark's newest roller coaster, Wildcat's Revenge, an RMC conversion that opened in 2023 as I have really enjoyed all of the RMC coasters I have been on to date!

After two days at HersheyPark, I will spend one day at Kennywood getting on as many rides and roller coasters as possible! I really want to try to ride all of their classic wooden roller coasters, but I may not be able to ride Thunderbolt as it requires a partner to ride. 😢If you're in the area when I am at Kennywood, please reach out to me as I would love to be able to ride the Thunderbolt! 😂 While at Kennywood, I also want to ride two rare flat rides, Turtle, the World's last remaining Tumble Bug ride that dates back to 1927 and Kangaroo, the last remaining Bartlett manufactured Flying Coaster ride. I love how many of the amusement parks in Pennsylvania still have vintage amusement rides operating to this day! 😊

After hopefully squeezing in another visit to Canada's Wonderland, I'll be off on another road trip in July, this time to five different amusement parks in Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts! Four out of the five parks I plan on visiting on this road trip will be parks I have visited in the past, with the first park of the trip being new to me, that being Waldameer of Erie, Pennsylvania!

Waldameer is home to five roller coasters, one of them being the legendary Ravine Flyer II that opened in 2008! This wooden roller coaster pays homage to the original Ravine Flyer that operated at the park from 1922 to 1938. Waldameer is also home to many classic rides and attractions such as the Spider (Eyerly Spider) and Whacky Shack (Bill Tracy dark ride) that have been operational at the park since 1977 and 1970, respectively. 

After a day at Waldameer, I'll be making my annual visit to Six Flags Darien Lake as it is on the way to the other parks on this road trip! Prior to the pandemic, I had visited Darien Lake in 2017 and twice in 2019 (May and August). It was nice being able to visit Six Flags Darien Lake again in August 2023 as there are some nice rides and roller coasters at the park! I am also looking forward to seeing the additional improvements made on the Predator as over the last few years it had received Gravity Group steel titan track on the rough spots, which has greatly improved the overall ride experience on the Predator.

Entrance to Six Flags Darien Lake- May 10th, 2019.

Following a day of thrills at Six Flags Darien Lake, I'll be revisiting the charming Seabreeze Amusement Park of Rochester, New York. The first time I visited Seabreeze Amusement Park was in August 2017. Seabreeze is home to the classic 1920 Jack Rabbit wooden roller coaster that provides a decent amount of airtime as I recall. Seabreeze is also home to the unique bobsled hybrid roller coaster and the thrilling Whirlwind, a spinning steel roller coaster! It'll be great to visit this lovely historic amusement park on the edge of Lake Ontario again!

The Carousel at Seabreeze at night on August 30th, 2017.

Up next will be Six Flags Great Escape, a park I first visited in July 2018. The star of Six Flags Great Escape is the legendary Comet that previously operated at the long gone Crystal Beach Amusement Park near Fort Erie, Ontario. The Comet has called Six Flags Great Escape home since 1994, where it reopened and has been thrilling visitors since! 

New for 2024 at Six Flags Great Escape is the Bobcat, a Gravity Group manufactured family wooden roller coaster that will be constructed where the former Alpine Bobsled operated. Bobcat will feature many airtime filled hills along its 1,412 feet of wooden track! I am really looking forward to getting on this new wooden roller coaster when I visit in July!

The Comet at Six Flags Great Escape on July 5th, 2018.

The final amusement park of the road trip in July will be Six Flags New England. I am looking forward to visiting Six Flags New England again as I greatly enjoyed it on my road trip in July 2018. While my visit to Six Flags New England in 2018 was a bit damp by rain showers in the morning, it turned out to be a great time overall as the staff were super friendly and the roller coasters and rides were great, including the views from the 400 foot tall New England SkyScreamer! From what I recall, Six Flags New England also had some nice theming of America's past with the Rockville section.

Since my last visit to Six Flags New England, two new flat rides, Cyborg: Hyper Drive and Supergirl Sky Flyer opened in 2019 and 2021, respectively. As a lover of flat rides, I am looking forward to taking these two rides for a spin during my upcoming visit! I am also looking forward to re-riding all of the park's roller coasters too as they were all quite fun, especially my first RMC roller coaster, the Wicked Cyclone! Six Flags New England in my opinion is a perfect park to end the trip.

Rockville section at Six Flags New England on July 6th, 2018.

For the remainder of the 2024 season, I look forward to making multiple visits to Canada's Wonderland with family and friends, maybe even making a surprise day trip with some friends to the US in August!

Be sure to follow me on my adventures this season through my blog, Amusement Views and on social media via Instagram and X! If you happen to see me at any of the amusement parks I plan on visiting this summer, be sure to say 'hi' as I love meeting fellow enthusiasts! 😄 

Here's to a fun and thrilling 2024 season! 🎢

From The Vault: SkyRider at Canada's Wonderland - August 11th, 2014

Since I have not been able to visit an amusement park this year so far due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), I decided to keep my blog active by looking back at photos on an older memory card that I had taken at Canada's Wonderland and a few fairs prior to the creation of my blog Amusement Views in the Spring of 2016. Today, I am going to share some photos of the former SkyRider stand-up roller coaster that were taken a few weeks before it ceased operation at Canada's Wonderland on September 1st, 2014.

For those who are unaware or have possibly forgotten, SkyRider was a stand-up roller coaster manufactured by Togo of Japan that operated at Canada's Wonderland from 1985 through 2014. When SkyRider debuted in 1985, it was advertised as Canada's first and only stand-up roller coaster and held that title until 1995 when La Ronde in Montreal, Quebec opened Cobra. La Ronde's stand-up coaster continued to operate until the end of the 2016 season.

Going back to SkyRider, it thrilled nearly 23 million passengers during its 29 years of operation at Canada's Wonderland! SkyRider featured an 84 foot drop, allowing the two 24-passenger trains to reach a maximum speed of 82 km/h (51 mph) before entering the coaster's only inversion a vertical loop, followed by a series of helixes, a trick track element, and airtime-filled hills all contained within 2,210 feet of track and all done while standing up! SkyRider's trains secured passengers using a unique and adjustable "butterfly" restraint system consisting of D-shaped shoulder bars with a seat belt, a lap bar, and a bicycle seat which passengers straddled to remain in a standing position throughout the duration of the ride. If a passenger where to not adjust the height of their restraint/seat properly, it could result in a rather uncomfortable ride for some as the seat was not meant to be sat on.

Despite being an uncomfortable ride for some, SkyRider created a love for stand-up roller coasters for others due to its immersive amount of airtime and only inversion, a vertical loop! I for one greatly enjoyed my rides on SkyRider as they were smooth and filled with airtime, something many amusement park and roller coaster enthusiasts crave! Prior to the 2014 season, I had not rode SkyRider due to being intimidated by its riding position. Luckily for me I had gotten over that fear in the early part of the 2014 season as I had greatly enjoyed my nine rides (eight of those done with my hands up) on SkyRider, for what we would later discover to be its final season at Canada's Wonderland.

After the park had made the announcement of its removal, I decided to capture some photos and a very short video clip of SkyRider on August 11th of that year. Be sure to enjoy the photos below!

The entrance to SkyRider was located just over the bridge in Action Zone on your way to Splash Works, Canada's Wonderland's water park.

The test 'seat' located just before the entrance sign of SkyRider stated "To Ride SkyRider you must be able to straddle the seat with your feet flat on the ground". In the above photo you can see that the seats on SkyRider resembled that of a bicycle seat.

Who in their right mind would go to an amusement park wearing high heeled shoes?!? I have heard that some visitors had over the years!

For the 2013 season, SkyRider received a blue coat of paint on its running rails. Prior to the 2013 season SkyRider featured a green and orange colour scheme.

SkyRider was quite compact when compared to other stand-up roller coasters. It was modeled after the former King Cobra at Kings Island, a stand-up coaster also manufactured by Togo. King Cobra operated from 1984 through 2001.

Here is a look at SkyRider's iconic vertical loop from the path in front of Splash Works.

SkyRider's station featured an elevated operators booth that was situated above the track, allowing the ride operator to have a clear view of the trains and passengers within the station.

As the train went up the lift hill, a ride attendant would start their safety spiel by saying "Welcome to SkyyyRiderrr!" The exaggerated pronunciation became quite iconic and memorable for many park-goers. Unfortunately during the time I had captured these photos, SkyRider had temporarily gone down resulting in many tests runs before reopening, hence the empty trains.

Once the train descended the 88 foot tall hill, it would quickly zip through the vertical loop!

Near the end of SkyRider's layout, the trains would enter a series of bunny hills before hitting the final brake run!

Here is the orange train ascending the lift hill.

Whether you rode on the yellow or orange train, you were still able to experience the thrill of standing up while going upside down through the vertical loop!

The final bunny hills were filled with pops of airtime!

Above is a very short clip of the yellow train going through the only inversion on SkyRider!

After the removal of SkyRider in the Fall of 2014, it would thankfully be sold and relocated to Cavallino Matto in Italy where it has been operating as "Freestyle" with a vibrant highlight yellow colour scheme since July 2015! Luckily this great stand-up coaster received a new lease on life!

For the next few seasons, the land where SkyRider had previously operated would sit vacant until the construction for Yukon Striker, the World's fastest, longest, and tallest Dive Coaster, began in January of 2018. In the Spring of 2019, Yukon Striker opened to thrill seekers.

While SkyRider has been making new memories in Italy as Freestyle for the past five years now, the memories of it at Canada's Wonderland still live on and will continue to do so for many years to come! I hope you enjoyed looking at these photos of SkyRider that I had captured on August 11th, 2014! Stay tuned for more From The Vault features in the following weeks and months! :-)

Canada's Wonderland - May 21st, 2019

Tuesday, May 21st marked my fourth visit of the 2019 season to Canada's Wonderland! During my 18 days since my last visit to the park, a few small changes regarding Yukon Striker had occurred, which is good to see. Also the weather has since greatly improved since my previous visit! During this visit, I managed to capture some historical comparison photos of the park's past that some may enjoy!

If you would like to see more historical photo comparisons of Canada's Wonderland, let me know and I'll see what I can do! Be sure to enjoy the photos below!

After entering the park just after the front gates opened for the day, I captured this photo. 

Not too much has changed on International Street since 1981, except for the addition of a fence around the Royal Fountain and the trees have grown over the past 38 years. Also note that the wonderful landscaping crew was setting up the floral Canadian Flag during my visit.

During Season Pass Sneak Preview Night, I had noticed that the international Showplace had a canopy once again. It went without one during the 2018 season due to an ice storm that hit southern Ontario in April of last year. 

Here I am standing outside my old work location at Canada's Wonderland while being a Maze Usher during Halloween Haunt last October. For those who don't know, this is the location of the Ruin and Blackout mazes which are located in the basement of Wonder Mountain.

Since my last visit to Canada's Wonderland (May 3rd), Yukon Striker's tunnel was painted brown in order to make it darker. It was quite bright when it was just plain concrete. I applaud this decision as a tunnel should be dark.

After catching a ride on Yukon Striker to kick off a start to a great day, I captured a few summer-like photos of Yukon Striker.

Since it was quite windy in the morning, the trains on Yukon Striker moved a tad slower. This allowed passengers to experience a great amount of hang time on Yukon Striker's inversions, which made the ride experience quite unique!

While the first drop on Yukon Striker is the main draw, the second drop after the mid-course brake run is quite thrilling as it features a pop of airtime before the train heads into the final helix.

Timberwolf Falls and White Water Canyon opened last Friday for the season. I took a ride (or two) on both today. White Water Canyon and Timberwolf Falls are celebrating 35 and 30 years of operation, respectively this season.

Here's a view of Vortex today with a view of Vortex from 1991. The nearby trees have certainly grown over the past 28 years! Also, Wonder Mountain's Guardian opened overhead in 2014, five years ago.

Here's a look at Klockwerks with a view of the former Bayern's Curve in 2000. While both Klockwerks and Bayern's Curve were both original attractions at Canada's Wonderland when the park opened in 1981, Klockwerks had operated across the "street" until the end of the 2000 season, in order to make room for Shockwave. Bayern's Curve was ultimately removed from the park in order to accommodate a relocated Klockwerks.

In the photo of Arthur's Baye in Medieval Faire from 1981, you can see quite a few similarities in the view of today as Viking's Rage, Wilde Knight Mares, and Wilde Beast still operate at the park. Also, a performance structure still exists in Arthur's Baye, although no longer a pirate ship. Today, Drop Tower and Leviathan dominate the skies in the section of the park.

The beautiful blossoms were coming out at Canada's Wonderland with the arrival of seasonal temperatures.

After another great day spent a Canada's Wonderland, it was time for my Mom and I to head home. Thanks for checking out my photos of our great day! :-)

Six Flags Great Adventure- July 8th, 2018

From July 5th to July 9th, my Mom and I had visited four amusement parks in the US Northeast, those being Great Escape (Six Flags), Six Flags New England, Six Flags Great Adventure (Day 3 & Day 4), and Knoebels.


Day Four- July 8th, 2018:


We found ourselves again at Six Flags Great Adventure for another whole day of fun! This time around I rode more a few more roller coasters at the park including the Dark Knight, Batman the Ride, and the Joker as well as a few rides I did not ride the day before. I also got in many re-rides in during our second visit. Now, let's get on with the photos!

Since season pass holders get in slightly earlier than ticket holders, I took the time to quickly ride the Sky Screamer, a 250 foot Star Flyer manufactured by Funtime. Once the gates opened, I met up with my Mom and we ventured over to the Movie Town section of the park. She sat nearby as I rode the Dark Knight indoor Mack wild mouse coaster and Batman The Ride, a B&M inverted roller coaster.

After riding those, I took another ride on Nitro, and then rode Congo Rapids next door. After that, I took another ride on Skull Mountain before taking a spin on the Jolly Roger, pictured here. It was a fun flat ride manufactured by Zamperla.

After taking in more rides, and the sights and sounds, we decided to stop by the Tortoise exhibit along the path to Kingda Ka. The pair of tortoises have been at Six Flags Great Adventure since 1974 and age from 60-75+ years in age! Here is one taking a swim in the water. 

Here is a look at the Parachute Training Center: Edwards AFB Jump Tower through the trees.

Over in the Movie Town section of the park by a gift shop are some plaques which were put in place when Batman The Ride was new at the park in 1993. Here is one of the defunct Great American Scream Machine which was a giant Arrow Dynamics looping coaster that operated at the park from 1989 until 2010. it was replaced by Green Lantern which opened in 2011. The Green Lantern had formerly operated at Kentucky Kingdom as "Chang" from 1997-2009.

Another defunct ride/section featured in the star attractions of fame is Adventure Rivers, which was a section of the park added in 1990 featuring many dingy slide complexes. The area was a precursor to the water park, Hurricane harbor that was added in 2000. The Adventure Rivers section was dismantled in 1998. For more information about the Adventure Rivers section, please visit http://www.greatadventurehistory.com/Adventure%20Rivers.htm.

In Movie Town there is a replica of the Batmobile prominently placed in front of Batman The Ride.

Here is the entrance to The Dark Knight, an indoor wild mouse coaster manufactured by Mack Rides themed to Batman. This roller coaster debuted in 2008.

As we walked throughout the park, the new for 2018 ride, Cyborg Cyber Spin was indeed open! As a huge flat ride fanatic I am, I quickly got in line to ride.

The Cyborg Cyber Spin, is one of only a few Tourbillon rides manufactured by ABC Rides of Switzerland. The ride itself operates like one giant gyroscope.

Cyborg Cyber Spin is a great ride that offers a whole ton of flipping and spinning! 

After taking a spin on the Battle for Metropolis dark ride (which in my opinion was awesome), I took flight on the Skyway, a Six Flags Great Adventure original attraction.

The Skyway, manufactured by Von Roll gives visitors who ride a wonderful relaxing ride high above the ground as it travels from Dream Street to Frontier Adventures. Here is a sideways view of the Big Wheel.

As I got higher on the Skyway, the views only got better! Here is a almost straight on view of the Kingda Ka and Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom.

Here is a close view of the fun 4-D coaster, the Joker. it was added to Six Flags Great Adventure in 2016.

To your left on the Skyway from the far side, you can get a nice view of Superman Ultimate Flight, Green Lantern, and the Parachute tower.

As you get closer to the other station, your view begins to become more wiry.

Here is the El Toro as seen from the Skyway. I believe it was temporarily down at the time of this photo.

To your right is a nice view of the Saw Mill Log Flume.

Here is another view of the Green Lantern from the Skyway.

Without knowing that my Mom had walked to the other end of the park just in time to meet me, I had captured this photo of the Saw Mill Log Flume. After coming home, I realized she was in this photo looking up at the gondola I was in!

Once I got off the Skyway, I decided to take another ride on the Saw Mill Log Flume. Here I am waving to my Mom. ;-)

And here I am coming back after a relaxing and somewhat wet ride! 

Saw Mill Log Flume doesn't get you soaked, but it does have quite the splashdown effect, making way for some great photos.

After a while we headed back over to El Toro. After I got off from another great ride, I managed to capture this unique shot.

Here is the Twister, A Huss Top Spin ride which has been operating in the park since 1999. It provided a decent amount of flipping.

Unfortunately Superman Ultimate Flight was the other roller coaster that had evaded me. This was the closest I had gotten to this flying coaster!

I went 250 feet up on the Parachute Training Center: Edwards AFB Jump Tower. This observation parachute tower ride has been operating at the park since 1983.

Here is a plaque providing the history of the Parachute Training Center: Edwards AFB Jump Tower.

A while later, my Mom and I took a spin on the 1881 Carousel at Six Flags Great Adventure. She rode a rooster while I rode a horse.

Here is a look at the animals on this antique carousel.

Here is the plaque explaining the history of the Carousel, which has called Six Flags Great Adventure home since 1974.

The Swashbuckler is a classic Hrubetz Super Round-Up that has operated at the park since 1974.

As geeky as I am, I never pass up an opportunity to sit in a wooden roller coaster train with buzz bars, even if it is only for a Wyndham Rewards promotion. ;-)

Here is a view of the Deja Vu, a classic Scrambler ride added to the park in 2012. It features the park's earlier logos on the car prior to when it was a Six Flags park and when it became a Six Flags park. As the ride operates, it plays some music tracks from the 1970s.

Here is another star that I found in Movie Town on the other side of the same gift shop. This one is of Stuntman's Freefall which was an Intamin First Generation Freefall ride that operated from 1983 until 2006. While the ride is long gone, its memory still lives on in this plaque. 

Here is one for Batman The Ride which opened in 1993 and continues to operate to this day.

I decided to take another ride on the Skyway as my Mom walked across the park yet again to meet me at the other end. Here is Parachute Training Center: Edwards AFB Jump Tower in action.

Here is a bird eye's view of the Main Street fountains from the Skyway.

Here is another view of El Toro with a train descending the first drop.

Here is another view of the Runaway Mine Train as seen from the path behind El Toro. This classic mine train coaster is very photogenic.

Here is the Carousel with its lights on as the darkness of the evening began to arrive.

After a second great day at Six Flags Great Adventure, we decided it was time to head out for the evening. Up next are photos of our visit to Knoebels! Stay tuned!