A look at the Monster’s dinosaurs

As noted earlier this week by Dee and Anna on the Facebook group, two dinosaurs have appeared on the grounds of The Monster roller coaster. They are very difficult to see from ground level.

You can see this velociraptor (?) near the corner of Chicken Shack:

Velociraptor (?) at The Monster.

Seeing it behind the barbed wire seems very Jurassic Park-ish.

If you go down a bit further, you can catch a glimpse of this triceratops (?):

Triceratops (?) at The Monster.

To get a better look, Dee and Anna took photos from the nearby Storm Chaser:

(Photo by Dee and Anna.)

The Sky Ride is probably an easier way to see them, so that’s what we tried. Traveling from the County Fair station, you can see them as soon as you get near The Monster.

Dinosaurs at The Monster, as seen from the Sky Ride.

Here’s a closer look.

Hello, dino.

And he has a friend…

Hello, other dino.

He’s ready for his close-up.

Marvelous!

Coming from the other direction, or by doing a technique called “turning around,” you can see his better side.

Is this your good side?
Yep. It’s a dinosaur alright.

Here’s a look at both of them.

Twice the prehistoric fun.

A friend of mine, Kevin, who works with magician Ben Ulin posted that he heard these dinosaurs were in storage at the park for awhile, and they just decided to set them out.

The Monster zooms by…

Very neat.

What other surprises are lurking in the park this year?

Dinosaur spotted at Adventureland?

When I just saw a reference to dinosaurs at Adventureland, I immediately thought of the Sinclair gas station dinosaur that used to be in the park near where the Frog Hopper is today.

Sinclair gas station dinosaur mascot in 1998.

But apparently that is not what was meant by Facebook group posters Dee and Anna.

They posted a photo today that would make a cryptozoologist giddy. It showed the twisted track of the Monster roller coaster with what sure does appear to be a dinosaur of some kind deep inside of it…

What do you see? (Photo compliments of Dee and Anna L.)

Is it April 1st again?

They took a ride on the Sky Ride Storm Chaser to get a better look.

(Photo compliments of Dee and Anna L.)
(Photo compliments of Dee and Anna L.)

It looks like we need to send out an exploratory team to see what is going on.

 

Tornado and Dragon receive new storage bins

When The Monster opened last year, it had strict rules about what can be taken with you on the ride:

NOTHING

Cameras, hats, and pretty much anything not attached to you could not be brought on the ride. With a ride that goes 65 miles per hour and does many inversions, something could easily get tossed out of the ride vehicle. And, with the Sky Ride passing through the coaster, there would be people through the track while the ride is in operation.

Shortly after opening on Juny 4, 2017, the park installed nice storage bins for riders to place their stuff:

The Monster storage bins.

For 2017, similar bins have now been installed at The Dragon and The Tornado. Here’s the Dragon’s:

The Dragon’s new storage bins for 2017.

It’s nice to see rides that have been in the park for decades (Tornado opened in 1978!) get some modern conveniences like this — especially with 40 years of riders being just fine with leaving things on the floor.

The Outlaw remains bin-less for now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it joins the bin club in the future.