Colossus
Giga Poster
So after many many late nights drinking Redbull, trying to organize this 17 day trip to the United States, it's Friday 5th July and after a 3 hour drive from Kings Lynn to Hemel Hempstead to stay with family, it's time to get some sleep as the countdown to the trip has come to an end and it's finally time to see if all my planning will work and enjoy myself.
Saturday 6th July - Hemel Hempstead to Boulder Dash
So after about 20 minutes of sleep it is 4 in the morning, so we head to Heathrow Terminal 5 to prepare for our flight which departs at 08;30. After arriving at what is a real impressive building we take normal procedures and after a few hours we're ready to board.
I had planned to sleep on the flight but again that didn't happen, I tried everything possible to nod off but to no avail, so after watching a film and a repeat of the British Grand Prix we finally touchdown at JFK after (apart from no sleep) what was a pleasant flight.
We get off the plane and after a long queue at the US customs we finally collect our bags and are free to go about 12pm. The first thing on the agenda is to go outside for a cigarette and we're immediately stunned by the heat, as soon as we walkout to doors it was almost suffocating, so after running back in for a cold drink we had our cigarette and headed to Alamo to pick up our hire car.
We arrive to collect our car, we had ordered a standard sized car as it was the best we could have with Tash being the sole driver and under the age of 25, however when we arrived they and collected our car they had actually given us the size above with no extra charge.
We had a brand new 2013 Ford Fusion with 0.5 miles on the clock, this car was incredible, so spacious, luxurious, powerful, just a real beautiful car and a pleasure to have for a couple of weeks, I cannot pick a single minor fault with it.
After a couple of days we named the car (because it's cool to do that) Murray, after Andy Murray, obviously.
After just over 2 hours on the road we arrive at our hotel in Southlington, CT. Credit to Tash for completing what must have been a daunting task of driving on the opposite side of the road in a car way more powerful than she is used to, in New York of all places, with no issues at all, shes a real good little driver and she showed this throughout, so well done to her. None of this would be possible without her taking one for the team as prior to the trip she was very nervous about it.
So after what has been a real long day we're both stupidly tired, me especially as I have been awake for well over 36 hours the day is nowhere near done as it's time to ride what is arguably the best coaster in the world.
We arrived at about 5pm so as to get in cheaper, 5 hours should be more than enough time to do what we need to. So we take some time walking around looking for you know what, the park looked really nice with the sun shining, the water park looked impressive and was stupidly busy. It didn't take long in a park this size to find what we were looking for, just head for the roar on the hill.
We queued no more than about 15 minutes and we boarded around the middle of the train. As we headed up the lift the realization kicked in that we are not only about the experience this highly spoken of ride, but all of the rides to come are going to be reality instead of a YouTube video. Speaking of YouTube, I have watched pov's of this ride and I have to say the drop looks significantly higher in real life.
So upon the drop the craziness of this rides kicks straight in, relentless forces and airtime, all was incredible until we turned the last curve near the chairlift (more on that later) then it started to hurt, like really hurt, I felt real pressure on the back of my head, it felt like somebody was trying to crush it, we got back to the station to catch a breath and although the last stretch hurt like hell (I attributed this to lack of sleep) it was still a truly incredible experience.
Re-rides couldnt happen just yet because my head was spinning and there was more creds to get.
So next was Wildcat, less said about this the better, it also hurt, to be fair this may not have been totally the rides fault, my post Boulder Dash headache probably contributed to this.
So whats the best way to get rid of a headache? Paracetamol? Rest? Or a Vekoma Boomerang?
So Zoomerang would have to be done next to clear the creds for the day, (didn't fancy the kiddie cred) so that's exactly what happened, needless to say it was just a boomerang and needless to say if I didn't have a mild concussion before the ride, I did now.
So we decided to take it slow for a while and give my head a rest before we get some more Boulder Dash rides in, we have a look near the back and see the log flume, which looked rubbish and a Rush (I will call all Screamin Swing's a Rush) which was only operating 1 arm, so I planned to hit it up later on when my head felt better.
One thing we did find here, and this was one of the most incredible finds in any park, the discovery of free drinks! Yes, free drinks, there are pop / soda dispensers all around the park, so you can grab a drink whenever you please, genius!
So we grabbed some grub, which was quite good actually chicken tenders from a restaurant overlooking the lake and water park.
It's nearing 7pm and my head is still not right so we spot that there's a rapids ride tucked away in the corner so we decide to head over to investigate. We attempted to get some shots of Boulder Dash on the way, most of the pictures turned out rubbish.
We did however have a nice view of the lake.
And this thing.
The most sinister looking chairlift ever, it had something very dark about it, it looked like something out of a horror film, probably just me being an idiot, but I found it quite weird, maybe because it was quiet and non operational? I don't know, whatever, so yeah, creepy chairlift.
We had two goes on the rapids as they let us stay on, you know there's always a couple of people that really "get it" on rapids rides, well that was us, both times, everybody got wet, but we got drenched, this would have been alright if the sun hadn't decided to do one, and the weather turn slightly cold.
Although now soaked my headache has now gone so it is time to hit the main event again.
We near the front of what is a slightly longer queue than before, only for the train to be dispatched and conk out on the lift. Mr Mechanic came along five minutes later, push a button and all was good.
This ride was much more exhilarating with much less pain, the back end was still slightly painful but nowhere near as much.
It's nearing 9 now so after wandering around for a bit I want to get the Rush done, I get over there to find out the ride is down.
Ah well we did get a nice view of the pirate ship, which I thought looked real nice in its location.
So just after 9 and we decide to get our last ride of our first day, a front row on BD, the queue took over half an hour as I think most people in the park wanted that one last ride.
We board the train about 9:40 and get dispatched, as soon as you're on the hill you can see nothing, literally nothing, you can just make out the track and silhouettes of the trees a few shines of light as you turn to take the drop then that is it, for those that have not experienced the ride in the dark at the front, you really have to, it was all the craziness of the 2 rides prior but in total darkness, it took my breathe clean away, simply the most amazing single experience I have had on any ride before and after the whole trip, it really was incredible, those that have also done it will know what I'm saying, totally unbelievable.
Finally after what has been the longest day in my life its time to get back to the hotel for some much needed sleep, so we have a small walk to the shop for some tat, grab a free drink and wave goodbye to what is really a nice park, granted there's not an amazing amount to do other than BD, but it's a real nice quirky park, with the mountainous setting, free drinks, evil chairlift and just all around niceness, friendly staff, clean. Yeah really nice park, a tremendous reward fr the stressful day we had to get there.
Next - Six Flags New England
Saturday 6th July - Hemel Hempstead to Boulder Dash
So after about 20 minutes of sleep it is 4 in the morning, so we head to Heathrow Terminal 5 to prepare for our flight which departs at 08;30. After arriving at what is a real impressive building we take normal procedures and after a few hours we're ready to board.
I had planned to sleep on the flight but again that didn't happen, I tried everything possible to nod off but to no avail, so after watching a film and a repeat of the British Grand Prix we finally touchdown at JFK after (apart from no sleep) what was a pleasant flight.
We get off the plane and after a long queue at the US customs we finally collect our bags and are free to go about 12pm. The first thing on the agenda is to go outside for a cigarette and we're immediately stunned by the heat, as soon as we walkout to doors it was almost suffocating, so after running back in for a cold drink we had our cigarette and headed to Alamo to pick up our hire car.
We arrive to collect our car, we had ordered a standard sized car as it was the best we could have with Tash being the sole driver and under the age of 25, however when we arrived they and collected our car they had actually given us the size above with no extra charge.
We had a brand new 2013 Ford Fusion with 0.5 miles on the clock, this car was incredible, so spacious, luxurious, powerful, just a real beautiful car and a pleasure to have for a couple of weeks, I cannot pick a single minor fault with it.
After a couple of days we named the car (because it's cool to do that) Murray, after Andy Murray, obviously.
After just over 2 hours on the road we arrive at our hotel in Southlington, CT. Credit to Tash for completing what must have been a daunting task of driving on the opposite side of the road in a car way more powerful than she is used to, in New York of all places, with no issues at all, shes a real good little driver and she showed this throughout, so well done to her. None of this would be possible without her taking one for the team as prior to the trip she was very nervous about it.
So after what has been a real long day we're both stupidly tired, me especially as I have been awake for well over 36 hours the day is nowhere near done as it's time to ride what is arguably the best coaster in the world.
We arrived at about 5pm so as to get in cheaper, 5 hours should be more than enough time to do what we need to. So we take some time walking around looking for you know what, the park looked really nice with the sun shining, the water park looked impressive and was stupidly busy. It didn't take long in a park this size to find what we were looking for, just head for the roar on the hill.
We queued no more than about 15 minutes and we boarded around the middle of the train. As we headed up the lift the realization kicked in that we are not only about the experience this highly spoken of ride, but all of the rides to come are going to be reality instead of a YouTube video. Speaking of YouTube, I have watched pov's of this ride and I have to say the drop looks significantly higher in real life.
So upon the drop the craziness of this rides kicks straight in, relentless forces and airtime, all was incredible until we turned the last curve near the chairlift (more on that later) then it started to hurt, like really hurt, I felt real pressure on the back of my head, it felt like somebody was trying to crush it, we got back to the station to catch a breath and although the last stretch hurt like hell (I attributed this to lack of sleep) it was still a truly incredible experience.
Re-rides couldnt happen just yet because my head was spinning and there was more creds to get.
So next was Wildcat, less said about this the better, it also hurt, to be fair this may not have been totally the rides fault, my post Boulder Dash headache probably contributed to this.
So whats the best way to get rid of a headache? Paracetamol? Rest? Or a Vekoma Boomerang?
So Zoomerang would have to be done next to clear the creds for the day, (didn't fancy the kiddie cred) so that's exactly what happened, needless to say it was just a boomerang and needless to say if I didn't have a mild concussion before the ride, I did now.
So we decided to take it slow for a while and give my head a rest before we get some more Boulder Dash rides in, we have a look near the back and see the log flume, which looked rubbish and a Rush (I will call all Screamin Swing's a Rush) which was only operating 1 arm, so I planned to hit it up later on when my head felt better.
One thing we did find here, and this was one of the most incredible finds in any park, the discovery of free drinks! Yes, free drinks, there are pop / soda dispensers all around the park, so you can grab a drink whenever you please, genius!
So we grabbed some grub, which was quite good actually chicken tenders from a restaurant overlooking the lake and water park.
It's nearing 7pm and my head is still not right so we spot that there's a rapids ride tucked away in the corner so we decide to head over to investigate. We attempted to get some shots of Boulder Dash on the way, most of the pictures turned out rubbish.
We did however have a nice view of the lake.
And this thing.
The most sinister looking chairlift ever, it had something very dark about it, it looked like something out of a horror film, probably just me being an idiot, but I found it quite weird, maybe because it was quiet and non operational? I don't know, whatever, so yeah, creepy chairlift.
We had two goes on the rapids as they let us stay on, you know there's always a couple of people that really "get it" on rapids rides, well that was us, both times, everybody got wet, but we got drenched, this would have been alright if the sun hadn't decided to do one, and the weather turn slightly cold.
Although now soaked my headache has now gone so it is time to hit the main event again.
We near the front of what is a slightly longer queue than before, only for the train to be dispatched and conk out on the lift. Mr Mechanic came along five minutes later, push a button and all was good.
This ride was much more exhilarating with much less pain, the back end was still slightly painful but nowhere near as much.
It's nearing 9 now so after wandering around for a bit I want to get the Rush done, I get over there to find out the ride is down.
Ah well we did get a nice view of the pirate ship, which I thought looked real nice in its location.
So just after 9 and we decide to get our last ride of our first day, a front row on BD, the queue took over half an hour as I think most people in the park wanted that one last ride.
We board the train about 9:40 and get dispatched, as soon as you're on the hill you can see nothing, literally nothing, you can just make out the track and silhouettes of the trees a few shines of light as you turn to take the drop then that is it, for those that have not experienced the ride in the dark at the front, you really have to, it was all the craziness of the 2 rides prior but in total darkness, it took my breathe clean away, simply the most amazing single experience I have had on any ride before and after the whole trip, it really was incredible, those that have also done it will know what I'm saying, totally unbelievable.
Finally after what has been the longest day in my life its time to get back to the hotel for some much needed sleep, so we have a small walk to the shop for some tat, grab a free drink and wave goodbye to what is really a nice park, granted there's not an amazing amount to do other than BD, but it's a real nice quirky park, with the mountainous setting, free drinks, evil chairlift and just all around niceness, friendly staff, clean. Yeah really nice park, a tremendous reward fr the stressful day we had to get there.
Next - Six Flags New England
