After spending a little over an hour at Sesame Place 30 minutes away, Sam and I were at Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) for the first time since July 2025. While we did get to ride a few coasters that day including Flash Vertical Velocity for the first time, several others were closed. One of those closed coasters happened to be El Toro.

It had been a few years since Sam’s last rides on El Toro. Every time she visited the park it was either closed that day or for extended periods for re-track work. I was lucky enough to get in a couple of rides back in 2024 when I visited with my friend, Karah. I thought the ride rode good then, but I, like Sam, was looking forward to seeing what all the track work this off season meant for the ride. Spoiler… it’s running better than it has in a while. It’s the El Toro we remember from years ago before all the issues that seemed to plague this coaster season after season.

For years I was excited to one day ride an RMC Single Rail coaster. Just ask Greg, he’ll tell you how I wanted one at various nearby parks. Then I rode one and it wasn’t quite as memorable as I had hoped it would be. Not bad, but just nowhere near as good as RMC’s other coasters. To date, however, Jersey Devil is my only Single Rail and I hear how much better the smaller, tighter layouts are.

In the years since Jersey Devil’s installment I feel like it has been a mixed bag. Some visits the airtime hits and the ride is quite smooth. Other times, I feel every track joint in the course and that the ride isn’t aging well. This ride was a mix of both those experiences. I was in the second to last row so I did get some good airtime pops. That yank over the top of the first drop was awesome too. I loved both of those things, but I just don’t enjoy the trains, especially when I’m feeling those track joints clanking under that uncomfortable train. Oh, and there’s still that mini-pot hole jolt that has been there from Day 1 that annoys me. Am I the only one who feels that after dropping out of the first turn around?

Last week I was able to visit my first amusement park of 2026 in Kings Dominion. Jen saw the park was open for Spring/Easter break and wanted to go. I asked Greg and Sam if they’d also like to go. Greg was able to, but Sam was not. She really wanted to, but she was scheduled to work that Monday, so it wasn’t in the cards. Little did we know, we’d end up at Sesame Place (Philadelphia) and Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) one week later.

Sam and I were looking to get into something on Monday, April 6, 2026, but didn’t know exactly what. I had some ideas in my head, but out of nowhere Sesame Place popped into my thoughts. I checked their hours and they were open. Years ago when I visited Sesame Place for what was my only visit prior to this one, I paired it up with SFGAdv. Knowing we wouldn’t need a ton of time at Sesame, I decided to see if we could jump over there again when we finished up. Luckily for us, SFGAdv was also open. We had found our plans. Sam was extra happy as she had been going through some coaster withdraw, especially since she couldn’t join us the week before.

After finding out Vapor Trail was closed, we walked over to Oscar’s. When we arrived there was a closed sign out in front of the ride’s queue entrance. Both of our stomachs sank as we intially thought both coasters were going to be closed. We held out some hope though as the sign looked like a temporary one, which it turned out to be. A ride supervisor came down a few minutes after we arrived and told us the ride would open in about 10-15 minutes. And it did.

We decided to do our first ride in the front row. We were the first and only people riding this first train of the day, so why not? Just in case a rush of people came over, we thought that was a good idea, although the park wasn’t at all crowded.

As for the front row ride, it was okay. It was chilly, the first train of the day, and we were the only two people on the train. All those things tend to result in slower than usual rides. I didn’t feel a ton of airtime. At least not like what I remembered getting a few years ago. Those rides were in the summer, with full trains, and after they had been running for a few hours. It was to be expected.

After our ride we went back up for a ride in the back row and would stay on for a third ride since no one else was in the station. These rides were much better and the airtime in the back was much more noticeable – especially on that first drop. This was closer to what I remember.

Sam really enjoyed her rides on Oscar’s, which made our stop worthwhile. We rode Kentucky Flyer last year with when we stopped at Kentucky Kingdom in early June. I told her while that ride was fun, Oscar’s was better. After these three rides, she agrees. Now we have to get her up to Quassy for Wooden Warrior, which I also enjoy.

A few weeks ago Jen messaged me and asked me if I was free on Monday, March 30, 2026. She saw that Kings Dominion was open from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. and thought it might be fun to get down there and ride some coasters. Neither of us had been to a park yet this year, so I quickly said yes. We asked a few other friends and Greg was also up to join us. So we were set, minus the park changing their hours to 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. in the days leading up to the trip. I’m glad I looked again.

Our initial plan was to head to Pantherian first, you know, just in case Intamin wanted to Intamin. We saw the ride listed as open on the park app, but we didn’t see any trains dispatch the entire way to Jungle X-Pedition. Not wanting to risk it, we changed it up and went to Rapterra first and got a couple rides right off the bat.

Both of our initial rides came in the back of the train. I had told Greg how good the back left seats are for the wing over drop after the launch. Since we were directed to the right side first, we went around again and requested the left side. Greg loved them both and saw why I prefer the back left side.

Later on we returned and rode Rapterra some more. Greg ended up with a total of five rides, Jen did four, and I had three because I decided to take some last minute photos at the end of the day. The gray skies had finally turned blue and the sun was in a better place for me to capture some angles I wanted to earlier.

With only a few days left in 2025 the We Were Inverted Crew was itching for some more coaster rides before the parks around here shut down for a few months. With so many parks in the region no longer offering Winterfest or Holiday in the Park events (thanks Six Flags) we were left with two options – Hersheypark for Christmas Candylane or back to Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW) for Christmas Town. Having recently been to BGW for Howl-O-Scream in October and barely using our Hersheypark passes in 2025, Hersheypark was the obvious answer.

Back in 2020 I visited Storybook Land for the first time during an American Coaster Enthusiast (ACE) event. It took place during the park’s annual Christmas event. Long story short, I loved the park so much that I went home and told both Sam and my father about the park. The three of us went back a few weeks later. You can read about both those trips in the trip reports below:

• (12.05.2020) Storybook Land – A Tale of “Enchanted” Memories
• (12.31.2020) Storybook Land – Sharing the Story w/ Sam & My Dad

I had wanted to visit Storybook Land for a couple of years prior to those visits. My plan was to do so while hitting up some other nearby parks in the New Jersey region, but when that ACE event presented itself, I took full advantage. Ever since then, I have gone on to tell a bunch of other people about the park, especially those who love the nearby Dutch Wonderland in Pennsylvania or who have memories of the former Enchanted Forest here in Maryland. One of those people I told was Jen.

When I showed Jen my photos from Storybook Land she immediately wanted to take her kids. We talked about doing it last year, but we were unable to make time to do it. That turned out to work in our favor though as this year the park opened a brand new roller coaster called Cinderoller Coaster – an SBF Visa Spinner. How could I pass that up? So back to Storybook Land for Christmas I went and once again, showing the park off to people who have never been before.

I’ve spent the last decade-plus watching videos on different parks on YouTube that I’ve never visited before. Because of this I’ve naturally made a bucket list parks in my head that I really want to visit. For years Mt. Olympus Theme Park was high up on that list and here I was on this trip finally getting to check it out.

Yes, I had heard countless stories about how horrible operations are at this park in the Wisconsin Dells and even how rough most of the coasters run. Still, there was just something appealing about all those wood coasters going over and under each other, and in Hades 360’s case, under the parking lot too. I wanted to check this place out for myself, even if I turned out not to like it one bit. I’ve already heard underwhelming things about one park I visited on this trip and I had a lot of fun there. That park was Michigan’s Adventure. Hopefully the same would hold true for Mt. Olympus too.

After starting off our day at Little Amerricka and then heading to wrapping the nearby Wisconsin Dells Mountain Coaster and Tom Foolerys for Sky Rangers, it was time for our final new credit of the day called Roller Coaster at Knucklehead’s. Like with Tom Foolerys, I had to email Knuckleheads before our trip since I wasn’t sure if we could ride the coaster being adults. As you can see, the answer was also yes.

I know for some, visiting a location for a kiddie coaster credit is eye rolling. For others, it’s a must. Well, for me, if it’s nearby, I’m all for it. I’m not driving hours on end for one. That’s reserved for things like Zippin’ Pippin earlier in this trip. For a kiddie coaster like Tom Foolerys Sky Rangers, not so much.

Luckily for Jen and me, we had a few hours to kill after riding the Wisconsin Dells Mountain Coaster before calling it a night and visiting Mt. Olympus Theme Park the next morning.

Over the last few years I have been on a quest to ride as many mountain coasters as I can find during my travels. In 2024 I was able to add a bunch to my credit count when Sam, Jen, and I visited Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tenn. And earlier this year, Sam and I grabbed a few more in Branson, Miss. and just over the Illinois state line. During this trip, there was only one for Jen and I to visit, but it was brand new and located in the Wisconsin Dells called, the Wisconsin Dells Mountain Coaster. With plans to visit the Dells for Mt. Olympus, you best bet we were going to find time for it. And we did, first thing upon entering the Dells.

When I decided to add Santa’s Village to our trip’s itinerary, it ended up pushing things back ever so slightly. Thankfully I left us a day to move things around should we need it. My initial plans called for us visit Safari Land, then head to Little Amerricka, and then end our day at Bay Beach. By adding Santa’s Village, there was no way for us to do all four locations unless we rode everything once and ran off to the next spot. Even then, I’m not sure would have worked.

What we ended up doing instead was visiting Safari Land, Santa’s Village, and Bay Beach on Thursday, July 3. That night we drove to Marshall, Wisc. to be near Little Amerricka for the next day, the Fourth of July. How fitting, right? And since it closed at 5 p.m., it would also allow for us to head toward the Wisconsin Dells afterward. We could then grab a few of the extra credits close to our next major destination, Mt. Olympus Theme Park before calling it a night.

With all this said, I’m so very glad that things worked out this way and we were not rushed. You know how much I loved Safari Land, Santa’s Village, and Bay Beach. Well, add Little Amerricka to that list. I swear, this place was so charming and fun. We ran back and forth getting in so many rides and of course, I made sure to buy a Meteor shirt before leaving. I’m going to wear it proudly at some of the parks I visit back home.

Believe it or not, this ride was one of the ones I was most excited to ride during this trip. I’m lucky enough to have ridden a few of these during my lifetime. Two of those experiences came as a kid. The first was at Trimper Rides in Ocean City, Md. They used to have one next to Tidal Wave, their Vekoma Boomerang. I also rode another at a local carnival less than 15 minutes from my house sometime in the 80’s.

The third one would come years later at Lakemont Park. I was able to ride this two separate times in 2014 and 2015. The first time was with my brother, Brian, and the second came with Mindy. My brother and I also saw another one that same day, a few hours later, at Conneaut Lake Park. Theirs, however, was sitting, but not operating (SBNO) and was in pieces.

If you’re wondering why in the world I would be excited to ride this having been on three of them before, even a couple times as a fully grown adult, well… I don’t know. Maybe it was to relive some memories of my childhood? Maybe it is the fact that this is the last one in operation in the United States? Who knows. I just wanted to ride it. And I did a few times, including an extra ride while Jen was busy on the bumper boats.

As for the ride, I had fun. Yes, it’s stuffy inside that train. Yes, it’s janky coming off the spiral descent. Who cares though? Seriously. Go ride this and have fun.