April 2021 was an eventful month that saw an a nice bump in traffic. Most of that traffic came from the first two topics below. They brought in the vast majority of views. The first one surprised me, but the second one did not. Let’s get into the details.
Starting Off with a Spoof
For months I Knew I wanted to write an April Fools Day spoof article for the site. I tossed around a few ideas in my head, but doing one based on Six Flags’ horrible naming conventions felt like the way to go. “Six Flags Rebranding 6 Coasters for 2021,” was the outcome and boy, oh boy, it got a ton of views, and quickly too.
Up to this point, my most viewed writing has been, “Phoenix & the Path it Blazed for Wooden Coaster Relocation.” That piece helped put my site on the map back in September 2020. This spoof piece, however, already has the second most views. Will it overtake the piece on wooden coaster relocation? It’s hard to tell. That is still bringing in views today as well. I guess time will tell.
Now I just have to figure out what spoof article I want to do for next year. I have a few ideas in my head already too. I plan to make it an annual tradition for the site.
Interviews - JD, The HersheyAddict
Since I launched We Were Inverted, it was always a goal of mine to interview other enthusiasts and have them tell their stories. In April I was lucky enough to interview fellow content creator, JD, who we all know as the HersheyAddict on YouTube. We had so much to discuss that I ultimately made the decision to feature his interview in two separate parts.
Part 1 talks about JD growing up to become a coaster and Hersheypark enthusiast. Part 2 discusses what went into opening up his YouTube channel and how things have gone for him along the way. If you haven’t had a chance to read these in depth interviews yet, the links are below. JD went above and beyond, sharing so many wonderful stories. Be sure to give them a read.
- 04.02.2021 – Q&A: JD the HersheyAddict, Pt. 1 – The Enthusiast
- 04.09.2021 – Q&A: JD the HersheyAddict, Pt. 2 – The Creator
Pin Collection Jumps 70 Pins Closer to 500
If you’re a pin collector and regularly check out the Pin Collection portion of this site, you know the pin count went from the low 400’s to the high 400’s in one swell swoop this month. I was lucky enough to be on Facebook at exactly the right time. Someone posted a large amusement park lot of items for sale. The majority of the items were pins, so I contacted them immediately. Thankfully, I was the first to reach out and she gave me first dibs on what I wanted from the lot.
Long story short, I ended up getting 62 pins from the seller. Three of those were for Sam. The other 59 were for me and included a ton of older pins and ones I have never seen before. Pins such as two of the defunct Hercules from Dorney Park, or the Top Gun pin from Paramount’s Kings Island. Those were my favorites of the bunch, but there are so many notable ones included in the slideshow above.
Throughout the rest of the month I also managed to add 12 other pins to the collection through eBay purchases and two Hersheypark finds. According to Hersheypark, those two pins were in the park last season, but I never saw them until last month. I’m glad I did, however, since one features Candymonium and the other shows Comet, Fahrenheit, and Great Bear all on one pin.
New Trip Report Format
Earlier this month I made a change to how I will be formatting all trip reports moving forward. Instead of going into a super in depth, ride by ride, recount of a trip, I am switching to a more streamlined approach. The new format will give a basic overview to begin, some ride highlights, a ride count tally box, and a photo gallery. I think it is better to keep the reports short and sweet, otherwise it’s just too much to read. What are your views on the new formatting? If you haven’t read any with the new formatting, links to all of them can be found in the next section.
Four Park Visits - Hersheypark & Six Flags Great Adventure
Hersheypark (3)
The We Were Inverted crew sure put their passes to use at Hersheypark in April. Sam and I ventured out on Easter for our first visit of the year. Then, the following week, we were back with Renee. The three of us also visited the park last Friday for their Pass Holder Preview Night. Check out the following three trip reports for reviews of each and every visit.
- 04.07.2021 – Hersheypark – Easter was Sooper
- 04.12.2021 – Hersheypark – No Storm or Storm Runner
- 04.25.2021 – Hersheypark – Pass Holder Preview Night
Six Flags Great Adventure (1)
During Six Flags Great Adventure’s (SFGAdv) spring break hours, Sam and I made our way north the day after our Easter visit to Hersheypark. We were looking for some rides on Nitro, Bizarro, Batman the Ride, and more. We were also keeping our fingers crossed that El Toro would be open. It was!
This is the same trip where Sam and I met up with Kaylee, the Six Flags America (SFA) employee we met online back in March. Kaylee follows the site’s Instagram (@WeWereInverted) and saw us riding Penguin Blizzard River on our rain soaked visit. She mentioned that she was going up to SFGAdv for a couple of days. I asked her if she’d be up for Sam and I coming up and riding some coasters with her. She said to come on up and that’s exactly what we did. It was a great time and I hope to have Kaylee along for some other park trips whenever she has free time.
- 04.07.2021 – Six Flags Great Adventure – Coasters with Kaylee
Planning for Future Trips
Hersheypark with the Cheapthusiast
In April, Chance, from the YouTube channel, Cheapthusiast, was supposed to meet up with Sam, Renee, and myself at Hersheypark. The weather was looking horrible that day, so they decided to catch up with us at a later date. Well, Chance invited me out to Hershey tomorrow and I’m going to go up solo and ride some rides with him and his crew once again. We had a great time when we met up at SFA in March and I’m looking forward to doing it again.
Kennywood Opening Day & Jack Rabbit Celebration
In July of last year I wrote, “I Won a 2021 Season Pass to Kennywood.” In it, I explained how I had entered a content themed to memories of their historic woodie, Jack Rabbit. Well, long story short, the park reached out to me about the prize and attending a special event before the park’s Opening Day on Saturday, May 8.
Sam and I will be attending and are looking forward to getting out to a park we have yet to visit together. I’ve been several times, but not since Steel Curtain was built. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’ll be running that day. For Sam, everything will be a new credit. Anyone else planning on being at Kennywood for Opening Day?
Jersey Shore Destinations
Over the last month, Sam, Greg, Renee, and I all took advantage of several ticket and wristband sales for the parks located up and down the Jersey shore. I’m the only one who has credits from any of these parks, but I’m still missing a good deal of them. Between newer ones built since my last visit, or ones from small parks I have yet to attend, I’ll be picking up some new credits too. For Sam, Renee, and Greg, I believe everything will be a new credit.
Expect to see different Jersey Shore themed park reports hitting the site all summer long. The parks are too spread out and the hours varying too much to try to bang them all out in a day. Adding in some other stops inside New Jersey, this will probably take three different trips to complete. Plus, I’d love to experience some of these parks and not just bounce out after 15 minutes.
Birthday Plans
Last year was one of the first years I was unable to go to an amusement park on, or around my birthday. I was hoping that this year would be different. Sadly, many parks are closed on weekdays during the week of my birthday – the first week of June. I was hoping to head back down to Kings Dominion for the first time in a while, or maybe even head out to a park that’s a little out of our wheelhouse. Sadly, that doesn’t look like it’s going to be the case.
Right now, tentative plans are to visit both Hersheypark and Knoebels that week. Maybe in July we can start getting out to some of the other parks we didn’t visit in 2020. On our “hopeful” list of parks to visit are Kings Dominion, Luna Park, Adventureland, Rye Playland Park, Six Flags New England (SFNE), Lake Compounce, and Quassy. A few others have been discussed, but these seem to be the most likely candidates.
A Big Thank You
Before closing out this installment of the CAG Report, I’d like to take a moment to say thank you to everyone. Whether you stop by to read my blogs, check out my pin collection, watch some of videos on the site’s YouTube, chat we me and/or like my social media posts, or if you picked up merchandise from the site’s TeePublic store, it’s greatly appreciated. These last few months have seen more interaction than ever before across the board for this site. I’ve even been recognized at some of the parks, which has been totally unexpected. It makes me feel great as I only ever opened this site to be an extension of my hobby. So once again, thank you!
