Theme Park Families

You remember when Jim Reid Anderson donned a chef's cap and gave us the information for Six Flags' new 2020 ride additions? Maybe not, so we bring you our reactions to the announcements from the day the video came out. Locked in the Theme Park Families' vaults for all these months, we're happy to refresh your memories of what the parks are getting. What did we like and what did we find surprising? Lots! So let's take a trip down memory lane and see if these rides do open in 2020!

In this episode, we have a huge exclusive, as we are pleased to announce that a new celebrity is starting his own theme park-Joe Exotic with his Exoticwood! Find out what exciting rides his new park will have! We also discuss our epic trip to Arizona and California, culminating with our first ever trip to Magic Mountain. How does it fair against Cedar Point? Andrew's News looks at Knott's memberships, Dolly being Dolly, and Wild Water West's Raptor! Our Ride of the Day gives you a new vantage point and our Tip of the Day looks at future membership issues. Who likes to party? Joe does!

This was an episode recorded in July of 2019 and finally uploaded for your enjoyment! Our next TPF Quest looks at your suggestions for changes you'd make to make coasters better! We thank our participants who helped us with the Star Wars skit! Such talent! Andrew's News looks at new coaster openings and Great Adventure changes! We review Airtime from Holiwood Nights! Our Ride of the Day is a hopping good time and our Tip of the Day helps you to not miss out on that elusive credit. Enjoy!  

After a lengthy hiatus, we are back! Bored with the coronavirus isolation. We are back to help you through these tough times! We have our shortest Andrew's News in history. Andrew and I will explain what's been going on and why we haven't recorded in so long! Our Tip of the Day looks to relieve the boredom a bit! We've got numerous episodes coming very soon! Enjoy and thanks for sticking around!

On this episode, we welcome back friends from In the Loop, Clint and Shari Novak to discuss Funland of Fredericksburg news and his experience at Coney Island. Andrew's News looks at two theme park lawsuits and the Sea World teaser video. We discuss our trip to Fantasy Island in New York, a few attractions in the Niagara Falls entertainment center on the Canada side, and the Novaks' first trip to the wonderful park, Canada's Wonderland. Our Ride of the Day is one of the weirdest looking flat rides, and our Tip of the Day looks at Clint's park.  Enjoy!

We are so pleased to give our audience an exclusive look at the wonder that is Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland which opens next month. We start with Andrew's News which examines Hershey's possible new coaster name, Kennywood's progress with Steel Curtain, and continued King's Island coaster rumors.  As new Coaster Crew members, we share our experience at Carowinds for the club's event and review Copperhead Strike. We had a great time with great people and had lots of Fury rides, which makes any trip great! We play the exclusive audio that an important contact sent us revealing some of the new experiences at Galaxy's Edge, with never heard before footage. Our Ride of the Day gets a bit bumpy and our Tip of the Day examines helping nervous riders with a slow and steady pace. Enjoy and thanks for listening!

We start by discussing all of the new coasters that have opened so far. Andrew's News looks at Dolly's fast new car, Disney's bathroom break, and a Blue Streak tunnel! We spend plenty of time discussing our trip to Canada's Wonderland where we attended the media day for the opening of Yukon Striker, the world's tallest, fastest, longest dive coaster (we loved it). We play two interviews we conducted, one with new friend of the show, Grace Peacock, Director of Communications, and Sophie Bolliger, director of sales for Bolliger and Mabillard. For our Ride of the Day, our brains get scrambled and for our Tip of the Day, take a trip on the wild side. Join us next episode where we'll feature our trip to Carowinds with the Coaster Crew and play an exclusive from Galaxy's Edge. 

First we listen to a trip report to Carowinds sent from our show friend, Dave from Ohio, who has some hot takes about his time at opening weekend- don't get burned! We talk to Ryan Freund about his love for El Toro at Great Adventure. His reason for marathoning this beloved wooden coaster is very emotional. We chat about our recent experiences at Great Adventure, Carowinds with the Coaster Crew, and Kings Dominion with friends, which will talk about in our next few episodes We are excited about going to this week's media day coming at Canada's Wonderland for Yukon Striker! Report coming soon!

In Part II, we start by discussing the pure magic that is the Crayola Experience video that has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels on YouTube.  We discuss Drew's favorite ride (REALLY!), Magnum, and he gives some great advice on how to ride this without any pain. He also states why he loves it so much. We discuss Hershey, living in Orlando, 2019 memberships, and things to look forward to in the 2019 theme park season. Drew supplies his own Ride of the Day and Tip of the Day, where we learn about a ride in Indiana and a way to maximize your time at Sea World. Our sign off is an ode to Drew with a favorite pastime that he has had to cut down on since fatherhood started.

Adding to our list of theme park friends, we invite Drew the Intern from the In the Loop Podcast to join us a long discussion that we break up into two episodes. For Andrew's and Drew's News, we discuss Copperhead Strike, Drew's unique cup obsession, Green Lantern leaving Magic Mountain, and Sesame Street's big Orlando opening. We chat about ITL's big event FreeRT that's almost four years in the making. We start to discuss Drew's background about his childhood and how he got his love of coasters and theme parks. From there, we head to college and how he got involved with Disney and In the Loop.  Part 2, next episode, continues from there.

In Part 2 of our minisode series about coaster enthusiasts who marathon a particular coaster over time, we interview McLain Waddell about his coaster love in the Carolinas. His story is very inspirational as he uses his coaster riding as therapy involving music that he prepares specifically for this ride.

On this special episode, we discuss our hour long Facebook live video with Clint Novak, where we helped him to raise an incredible amount of money for such a wonderful charity in Give Kids the World. A number of good friends helped us to smash Clint's goal for the night. Andrew states which new coasters he's most looking forward to this year. Andrew's News looks at two troubled water rides at Over Texas, a troubled coaster in Europe that experienced some wind issues, and the Columbus Zoo adding more attractions. We have a delightful discussion with Steven Amos from Give Kids the World who chats about fundraisers, the Orlando location, and memorable moments. The Ride of the Day looks at Windseekers and the the Tip of the Day examines great spring deals to hop on now. Enjoy!

We take a break from our traditional format to present a series that we will be exploring throughout our podcast. We've always been interested in the concept of people like Mean Streak Henry, who love to marathon a particular coaster. We decided to interview some of these people to discover why they do it and what the experience is like for them. Part 1 of a multi part series has us interviewing a friend from Baltimore, Brianna Simkins, who lets us know about her coaster love. She has some great reasons for marathoning her favorite coaster as you'll hear!  

Alex joins us on this episode as we talk with Matt Morgan from GoSwing LLC to discuss his swing which can make trips for theme park families a lot more fun! We discuss a Pennsylvania critter and some duct work heading to New Jersey. Andrew's News looks at some Busch Gardens Tampa coasters, Rye Playland getting something new after a decade, and Darien Lake's addition and subtraction. Alex picks his Forceful Ride of the Day and inspires our Tip of the Day. Thanks for listening!

People who listen to numerous theme park podcast grow tired of haunt talk in October, so we give you haunt talk in February! Horror icon, The Cryptkeeper, infiltrated our podcast to demand some goulish talk about frights and fears! Shout out to Brian from the Civil Gore Podcast for voicing our evil infil-traitor who starts and finishes the episode. Shout as well to Lucy Larson, of the theme park Larsons, who was excited to hear on the previous episode that we were talking about her family! Andrew's News discusses Sea World's second Mako, Disney's Rise of the Flat Ride, World's of Fun viral advertising, sad Volcano news, BGW's exciting news, KI job advertising, and Universal's Hagrid coaster. We start our October visits with a short trip to Darien Lake (where they did have an event!) and a return to Knoebels for their Phoenix Phall Phunfest to chill with our buddies from In the Loop, Clint and Shari, where we tried a few new rides! We also discuss our Cedar Fair trio of Haunt parks with full house lineup visits to Dorney Park, Cedar Point and Kings Island- that's a lot of houses and mazes! Our Ride of the Week looks at some monstrous fun and Tip of the Week gives a few good Halloween event tidbits. Connected is the lawsuit that a mother and teen filed against Cedar Fair with a Dorney injury. Our next visual video is up on our Youtube page where Andrew auditioned to be a LEGOLAND NY kids reporter.    

After our Holiday Break, we are back with a long promised TPF Quest where our listeners give their controversial takes involving the theme park industry. First, we welcome the two new theme park babies, Mike from Coasterradio had a daughter, and Drew from In the Loop had a baby Hollenblitz! We take a look at a few more iTunes reviews that we were happy to read! Thanks all. Andrew and I discuss the future of the show and different things we want to try.   Andrew's News looks at Six Flags surveys, Tayto Park's big addition, and American Dream becoming a reality with more coasters than expected. We read everyone's controversial blazing hot takes in the theme park industry- some very cool ideas! Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman from ESPN actually recorded their show "First Take" with a theme park addition! Crazy stuff! Our Ride of the Day looks at the traditional swings and our Tip of the Day involves a physical activity from the holiday season at the parks.

We complete the second half where we left off from the last episode. We discuss Minnesota Mother's call, the rest of our great summer southern and midwest trip. Slater gives us his unique Tip of the Day and Ride of the Day combined. Find his podcast at all places you find podcasts including his website ridethisone.com. Caution!!! Only for those who like adult material.   Thanks Slater for joining us on your fun family adventure!!!

After I've been a guest multiple times on Slater's "adult" theme park podcast, Ride this One, Andrew and I have the pleasure to welcome him and his family friendly views to our show! The episode starts with a surprise call from one of our favorite fans, "Minnesota Mother" who updates us on her family's theme park season. Andrew's News looks at IAPPA's highlights, Knott's Berry Farm's water ride change, and Disney's Rock 'N' Roller Coaster Rumors.   We start to discuss Slater's history with theme parks and how he got into this wonderful hobby including his participation as Executive Producer with Coasterradio.com Episode 27 continues the conversation with Slater since he has so much personality, we couldn't fit in just one episode!

We have the pleasure of talking to our new friend, Kelly, who loved her experience during Haunt at Fiesta Texas. She'll take us through the whole experience from beginning to end! Andrew's News looks at Hershey Park's biggest addition ever, Disney Imagineering's stunt bots that will take over the world, and Silver Dollar City's announcement for next year's additions. Our Tip of the Day critiques the "No Boo" necklaces that one can buy at Halloween Theme Park Events.   Our Ride of the Day looks at a thrilling circular sensation not found at too many parks.   We repeat our call for our next TPF Quest for your ideas about controversial theme park opinions. Be on our next episode!

On this episode, we discuss our first trip to the flagship park in the Six Flags chain, Fiesta Texas in San Antonio. We start with Andrew's News which looks at the progress of a couple of Cedar Fair coasters, Holiday World's 2019 additions, and Kentucky Kingdom's new Gravity Group Coaster. We discuss our two days spent at Fiesta Texas reviewing the sections and the rides. Plenty of highlights and surprises here! Andrew supplies the Tip of the Day with a sleepy suggestion! Our Ride of the Day asks you to hop aboard! We've included our next TPF Quest which asks what is your controversial hot take in the theme park industry?

On this episode we finally discuss our 2018 trip to Holiday World in Santa Claus Indiana for Holiwood Nights, which was themed to the movie Caddyshack, renamed Coastershack. We cover the Golden Ticket Awards looking at the winners and possible controversies. We also discuss the terrific opportunity to be interviewed on Holiday World's Podcast at the end of the summer. Without Andrew's knowledge, I played his performance from last winter's talent show at his school where he played and sang, "I'm Looking through You" by the Beatles. This was inspired by us listening to them at Splashin' Safari at Holiday World last year and we give credit through about three degrees of separation to Will Koch who loved the Beatles.

From an episode that we recorded a number of weeks ago, we start out by thanking people for some kind reviews, say goodbye to summer, and welcome in the new school year. Andrew's News discusses some coasters experiencing some long term problems, new park announcements, and some who are staying quiet! We continue discussing our epic Midwest/South Tour for our first trip ever to the first Six Flags park outside Dallas. Many interesting surprises arise at this park. Our Ride of the Day looks at Georgia's new RMC! Our Tip of the Day discusses weather and theme park plans. Thanks for listening!    

No theme song, no intro, no conclusion, no segments! Today we listen to, without previous knowledge, the 2019 Six Flags new ride announcement video and give our thoughts.  

We take a break from our traditional format to bring you stories from mostly people who had been to Silver Dollar City for the first time for the Coasterradio meetup. We talk to many wonderful and famous people like: Reece from In the Loop and the ICEE 4! Brian (Executive Producer for Coasterradio and podcaster from Civil Gore) and his wife Julie. Mike Collins and his brother, former Coasterradio host, Greg K! Slater and Muscle Daddy, Jordan Driver from the Ride this One Podcast Kevin Wilson, one of the "Notorious Wilson Brothers" from Coasterradio and Civil Gore. We end with Goliath from Ride this One as we "Time Travel!" We also discuss Bigfoot on the Strip, Time Traveler, and ANDREW'S 200th coaster!  

1. Last year and this year, TPF visited this iconic Pennsylvania park with EB's family.   2. Mike sends in a trip report about Six Flags over Georgia and talks about his experience on Twisted Cyclone.   3. Andrew's News focused on water, fire, steel, and phones.   4. We talk about our trips to Kennywood and what makes this such a unique park.   5. Our Tips of the Week focus on Kennywood of course.   6. We embark on our trip to Silver Dollar City for the Coasterradio.com meetup as well as a few new other parks. What will Andrew ride for his 200th coaster coming up soon? Stay tuned!  

1. We report on our first trip this year to Cedar Point to ride Steel Vengeance and meet up with our buddies from the In the Loop Podcast. 2. Andrew's News examines Kennywood, Carowinds, and the newest European Intamin. 3. We share a strange experience that we had on Grizzly at Kings Dominion which is similar to a bear eating a kayak. What? 4. Our Tip of the Day looks at how to beat the heat without the water park at Cedar Point. 5. Of course our Ride of the Day is Steel Vengeance. It's also an important number credit for Andrew. What's next? 6. We cool of in the buffet at Cedar Point as we record our thoughts with members of In the Loop. 7. Andrew's got beef with a member of Ride this One and Ride this Too. That person needs to be careful at Silver Dollar City!

We present an event that we've been excited about for years- Andrew is finally tall enough to ride 54" coasters! Which ones did he try out? Find out here!   Andrew's News looks at the fiery start to the theme park year, construction at Kennywood, and the changes at California's Adventure.   We discuss our important spring break trip down South to get some important new credits for Andrew, who is getting taller!   Our Ride of the Day is one that is currently facing big problems in Virginia (glad he got that credit in now!) Our Tip of the Day involves getting social at events! Enjoy!

We finally release an episode we recorded long ago after a battle with computer problems! Yay!   Andrew's News get wacky with a taxi, space tourism, and helpful rooms at parks.   We talk about a brief, but wild, trip to Great Adventure from the spring.   We interview good friend, Chris Foshee, from Carowinds about his new location. The Ride of the Day and Tip of the Day focuses on little ones, or big ones who need help from little ones! Numerous episodes coming soon of our recent experiences!

We take a break from our normal format to talk about our trip to the Fredericksburg, VA destination and bring you an interview with the General Manager, Clint Novak. He tells us all of the improvements that have changed the park radically in the last two years, and for coaster fans, the new credit coming to the park this year.

Why eat slow? Eat and then go! Howdy pardner. Get yur fastest fork west of the Mississippi!

COASTER SEASON IS OFFICIALLY HERE!!! 1. Andrew's News takes a look at a popular Californian coaster that has finally reopened, the tragic continuation of legal issues with the water park disaster, and a new theme park comedy trailer that dropped this week. 2. Andrew interviewed a ride mascot to a coaster that has encountered some problems trying to open. 3. We give you the full review of the media day at Kings Dominion for the opening of Twisted Timbers including an interview with the new Director of Communications and the Marketing Director. We even got to chat with the two masters of RMC! 4. We talk about the rest of our weekend at Kings Dominion. 5. For our ride of the week, Andrew discusses his experiences on one of the tallest flat rides at Cedar Fair parks. 6. Our Tip of the Week examines how to get onto some coasters, with luck, without as much of a wait.

We're back with a jammed packed episode about many people's favorite park- Cedar Point! 1. In our next installment of Andrew's news we discuss new goodies arriving at KD, Cedar Point, and California's Great America. We also discuss Over Georgia's decision to go backwards. Lastly, we look at the opening of a new park, even if it is just a nine acre park on Branson's famous strip. 2. We hear from the listener's first with our second TPF Quest, or interactive question, about what is your favorite Cedar Point coaster and why? Many people participated with a lot of interesting answers! 3. We discuss Andrew's new experiences with Cedar Point coasters, adding the five new 52" coasters to his list. Which did he like best? Andrew and Adam both cast their votes for favorite coaster as the winner was decided with our two votes! 4. We play the little known Top Ten segment from The David Letterman Show which focused on theme parks. 5. We discuss our new experiences at Kings Island with Banshee and Mystic Timbers 6. Andrew updates his top ten favorite coaster list from the beginning of 2017. Radical changes arise as Andrew added many coasters last year to almost reach the 200 level. Did your favorites make the list yet? 7. Our Tip of the Day focuses on ways to make your Millennium Force experience quicker if you want a view but not the wait!

1. With the school year half over, coaster season is less than two months away! Andrew talks about the new 2018 coasters he is looking forward to. 2. In this installment of Andrew's News, we talk about Peppa Pig in Gardaland, the new cages on Dreamworld's log flume, the death of DarKastle, and a milestone number of days until Cedar Point's opening. 3. The boys discuss their two days at Kentucky Kingdom as the prelude to the Missouri trip. Lots of coaster talk from day one and a feat of bravery at the water park during day two. 4. Our ride of the day focuses on a themed family launched coaster at three of the Cedar Fair parks. 5. Our tip of the day looks at using a park's app on your phone. 6. Our next TPF quest, our interactive question, asks what is your favorite coaster at Cedar Point for our next episode on Ohio parks.

After a brief introduction, we leave our regularly formatted show to discuss Tom's trip to Disney World with his wife and parents. Tom gives many great tips and advice on all of the Orlando parks including rides, dining, and transportation. For Disney lovers or novices, it is a great summary of how to navigate the intricate and expansive world of Disney.   We also announce our next TFP Quest in two episodes, which is what is your favorite coaster at Cedar Point and why?  

We start with Andrew's News looking at Silver Dollar City, Dorney, Kings Island, and Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Next, we discuss our trip to Oceans of Fun and Worlds of Fun in Kansas City. The following day, we go to the underrated Silver Dollar City with the best tour guide in the country, Slater from the Ride this One Podcast. Our buddy, Tom from Louisville, sends us a recording detailing the plans for his trip to Disney with his parents! Our ride of the week focuses on a classic ride in heavy "rotation!" Tip of the Week to make a wet day more enjoyable

We briefly discuss our trip to Great Adventure with Clint and Co. which ended up being an episode on the In the Loop Podcast. We play a lovely call from the lovely Mrs. Schultz, a listener from Minnesota (hope she's staying warm!) In this installment of Andrew's News, we cover:  1. A possible re-theming of a ride at SFNE  2. Mystic Timber and InvadR both valleying in the same weekend  3. Holiday World's exciting new additions to their water park and wooden coasters, as well as some new entertainment.  4. "The World's Largest Snowball Fight" is cancelled due to...   Listeners came out in droves to answer our first TPF Quest(ion) What were some of your most momentous coaster rides or memorable numbered rides? We discuss the first leg of our Missouri trip from August with a trip to Six Flags St. Louis. Our Ride of the Day focuses on a ride that sadly closed for good at the end of the summer. Our Tip of the Day is timely for all of us winter coaster riders!

We received a great call from a dad/daughter combo with her first 54" coaster and what a ride it was (Andrew's jealous)! Exciting installment of Andrew's News with a big announcements from Central Park Funland, Darien Lake, and American Dreams, and a scary rumor from BGW's Curse of DarKastle. The family takes its first trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg on spooky Friday the 13th for the Coasterradio fall meetup. We go to Kings Dominion the next day to experience a busy day and shockingly get all of the Haunt houses done (with help from coaster celebrity)! Heading back north on Sunday, we introduce Melissa, Alex, and Maddie to Six Flags America with very little competition from other patrons. Awesome coaster from Branson for our Ride of the Day and keep those items secure for our Tip of the Day! Send us an email, record an MP3, or respond on Twitter or Facebook for our interactive question- What momentous numbered coasters stick out to you whether it was number 1, 100, 1000 or any other number that was memorable and why? Send to themeparkfamilies@gmail.com or reply to the posts @themeparkfam on Twitter and Facebook

1. After a long hiatus, Andrew and Adam are back for their first installment of their Park of the Month at their "home park" where they discuss the park's history, location, parking, food, employees, rides, and coasters. 2. Two young coaster enthusiasts discuss their trip to Kings Island with a great amount of enthusiasm! 3. For Andrew's News, the guys recorded their reaction to Six Flags 2018 ride announcements on the day the video was released. 4. We interviewed Kristin Siebeneicher, Director of Communications, who fills us in on some tasty morsels for news at Great Adventure. 5. Andrew takes on line cutters in this episode's installment of the Tip of the Day. 6. The family is excited for the Coasterradio.com meetup in Virginia!

After a long break from traveling, Andrew and Adam return with lots to discuss! -Andrew's news including Great Escape problems and the return of the alpine slide. -We discuss our first trip to Michigan's Adventure with Eb and kids. -EB and children provide us some observations and tips including EB's Three Keys! -We report on our first trip to Six Flags Great America, aided by a new buddy! - A mole provides us with secretive audio from a Cedar Fair executive meeting! - We finish with our ride and tip of the day! - For our first interactive topic, send us an mp3 or message about an important number coaster for you that had special meaning to you, whether it was your 1st, 50th, 100th, or 1000th! You can comment on our Facebook page, Theme Park Families, or send a message or audio to our email address, themeparkfamilies@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!

- We start with Andrew's News - We report on Coaster Radio's meetup at Carowinds - We chill with members of the  In the Loop crew at Kings Dominion - Andrew has an important experience at Dorney Park - Why is Sting on our podcast? - Unique Ride of the Day for this week - Tip of the Day to help the timid - Goodbye and what's up for the next episode!

We take a break from our "regular" format to focus exclusively on our trip to Holiday World for HoliWood Nights. The Holiday World Podcast gang or the PodSquad graciously spend some time chatting with Adam and Andrew about their award winning park!

We have our first regular formatted episode starting with Andrew's News. The family takes a trip to busy Canada's Wonderland. A surprising story was recorded from a boy at Carowinds. We let you know our list of exciting new parks for the summer. Andrew drops his top ten list which could be radically different by the fall. We finish with the ride of the week and tip of the day!

Adam and Andrew introduce themselves, how they got into the hobby of theme parks and, what future shows will be like. The show ends with an exciting hello from an entertainment juggernaut.