Ensign Chris
Credit Count: 135
Parks Attended Together: 3
Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Kings Dominion, & Six Flags America
Wingman Bio
On March 11, 2019 a Facebook group by the name of Coaster Appreciation Society (CAS) was formed. Oddly enough, I managed to find it on Day One and joined. At the time, I was already following three other roller coaster groups, but I didn’t participate much in any of them. With CAS, however, it was different. The group was small at the time, but people began to follow and I found that the interactions and conversation were a lot more peaceful and friendly than in the other coaster groups. I found myself contributing to CAS more and more as time progressed. Now, I’m on there several times a day, making posts, replying to others, and sharing things I find online.
During the group’s early days, I began talking frequently with Chris, one of the group’s three administrators. He lives in Virginia and is a frequent visitor to Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BWG). I mentioned that one day we should meet up and ride some coasters together, since I’m located just outside Baltimore. Little did I know that we would make that happen only a few months later in October.
Finally Meeting Chris
I planned a visit to BGW for their amazing Howl-O-Scream event and Chris decided to meet me there. I was traveling with Renee, Kayla, and Brad on a rainy morning. We planned to get in all the rides, if we could, before Chris and his wife showed up later that day. They ran a little behind and when they arrived, we were stuck in line for Verbolten due to technical issues. We promised to catch up later on, which we did. That meet up resulted in the group shot on the site’s Flight Crew page with all the CAS members.
Sadly, I wouldn’t get to ride any coasters with Chris that day. We split up to get in our last remaining coasters Apollo’s Chariot and Tempesto. Apollo’s Chariot had been down most of the day, so we didn’t bother to walk over that way until we knew things were up and running. When we finished up with those rides, we tried to find Chris and his wife, but we kept finding ourselves at the opposite ends of the park. Oh well, hopefully another day.
Finally Riding with Chris
Jump ahead to July 2020 and parks were finally starting to open, just not in Virginia. Chris mentioned coming up to Six Flags America (SFA) because he was itching to get in some coasters. SFA was the closest park to him that was currently open and it just so happens, is only 45 minutes away from where I live.
Chris just wanted to ride at this point. The Coronavirus has everything shut down all spring here in Maryland until the end of June, so when Chris saw that SFA was opening, he said he was planning on coming up. Luckily, Sam and I were on vacation that week and made plans to meet Chris and his daughter, Carrie, at the park.
Even though Chris and I live about 4-4.5 hours away from one another, I feel like over time we are going to find ourselves visiting other parks together. It’s not every day that you meet someone online and are able to form a friendship over similar interests. Joining CAS allowed that to happen and even played a major role in my creation of We Were Inverted. It was always something I wanted to do, but the conversations and friendships formed in that group pushed me to make it happen. Now, I have one of the group’s fellow members as one of my Flight Crew and wingman whenever we hit up some parks together. Here’s to getting out to some of the parks that Chris is looking to visit in the future! As long I’m free, I’ll be there.
If you’d like to follow Chris, he runs his own site, The Journey of Ascent, and is also a contributor on the YouTube channel, Thrill Maxx.
Recent Blogs Featuring Chris D.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg – 12 Hours of Non-Stop Rides
I head to Busch Gardens Williamsburg with my friend Jen for an amazing day where we crammed in dozens of rides & several haunts.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg – Kastle Crashing & Pin Buying
Five of us head into the former DarKastle to experience the all-new DarKoaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg before hitting up other favorites.
All the New Credits: 2022 – Who Earned the Most?
A look back at each Flight Crew Member’s 2022 new credits. Who earned the most throughout the course of the entirety of the year?
