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Patrick Wagner

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CAG Report – November 2021 Recap

November 2021 saw less hours spent at amusement parks than hours spent in Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro. While I did manage to obtain some new credit and even visit a new park last month, my focus over the last 30 days fell to the recently added Galleries section and the site’s YouTube channel. Let’s look at the specifics here, shall we?

It's been great going back through my photos that predate We Were Inverted to share them with you.

Galleries Galore!

A total of 31 new galleries, containing 1,021 total photos, were added to the site throughout November. That bring the site’s current total of galleries to 51, showcasing 1,334 images. I’m still not done yet either, especially with several larger galleries including Knoebels, Dorney Park, and both Six Flags America (SFA) and Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) yet to be published. Expect to see hundreds of more photos making their way onto the site in the weeks to come.

Older, Never-Before-Seen Photos

One of my favorite things to come from adding these galleries to the site has been publishing all the photos I have that pre-date We Were Inverted. These are the first time I’ve shared many of them, although a handful from 2009-10 do appear on the Roller Coaster Database (RCDB).

In addition to those old photos, I’ve been going through the photos from some of the park’s earlier visits and adding in more photos from those dates. My trip reports didn’t always feature the galleries they do now. At most they featured three to four photos. There were plenty more to share and now you’re getting to see them. I’m even pondering on whether I should go back into those blogs and add in each trip’s gallery.

The galleries which made it to the site this past month are a combination of these two, along with the photos from the most recent trips. Check them out for some blasts from the past as well as more current shots down below:

Galleries Added in November

We Were Inverted's Point of View

On Halloween I was given permission by Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW) to film on-ride video content with my chest-mounted Go Pro. I captured point of view (POV) footage on five of the park’s coasters – InvadR, Alpengeist, Tempesto, Griffon, and Apollo’s Chariot. I did begin filming on Verbolten, but my camera turned off for some reason at the start of the ride with a battery still reading 24 percent. I wasn’t able to get a re-ride later so I’ll have to attempt that again another day, along with Loch Ness Monster and some of the park’s other offerings.

All the POV videos, minus Apollo’s Chariot thus far, have been added to the We Were Inverted YouTube channel. I thank all of you who have followed the channel, watched the videos and left comments or likes. It’s been great interacting with you on that platform and hope to see more of you there in the future. I also want to thank everyone for getting the channel to 100 followers last week. It’s a small milestone, but one I am proud of nonetheless.

34 New Pins - Mostly from Busch Gardens & Sea World Parks

Some truly amazing pins made their way into the Pin Collection last month – most of which came from Busch Gardens Tampa (BGT) and the various Sea World locations. A good portion of those pins were obtained through people I met via the Facebook group Sea World, Busch Gardens & Sesame Place Pin Trading. There are some great, trustworthy people there. If you collect pins from those parks, or like, me collect parks from various amusement parks, be sure to check it out.

The only pins I was able to obtain in person last month came from SFGAdv. I was lucky enough to end up at the park on a Lil’ Devil Coaster pin giveaway day for members. It was the first time I’ve been able to visit during one of the pin events. I also found a new pin design for Jersey Devil Coaster that I didn’t have, so I scooped that up as well.

You also probably noticed a few new coasters from Joseph Fells’ Theme Park Collection in the slideshow. Those are his new color variants from his Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) collection that include: Raptor, Nitro, and Hydra: The Revenge. I’m a huge fan of his work and have purchased all of his coaster pins to date, either via Kickstarter or his Etsy shop, Theme Park Collection.

Related link: Q&A: Joseph Fells – The Artist/Enthusiast Behind Theme Park Collection (11.26.2020)

Cristina from the YouTube channel, Cris The Girl, at Dutch Wonderland for Winter Wonderland.

Sweet & Salty (Totally a Pun on the Photo Above)

As much as I love riding coasters and visiting parks, one of the best things to come from this site and all its social media accounts has been all the friendships made along the way. I’ve been regularly chatting with so many people online and have even gotten a chance to meet with a handful of you. Chance and Aaron from the YouTube channel, Cheapthusiast, is a prime example as are Steven and Rocco from Thrill Maxx. Well, it looks like I might be able to add Cristina from the channel, Cris the Girl to this ever-growing list.

In early November, the following comment was left under an Oscar’s Wacky Taxi post on my Instagram account (@WeWereInverted) shortly after I posted the image:

"I was just there today! Very cool ride!!"
@cristhegirl Instagram

That first bit of communication resulted in many more in the month that followed. We have struck up many conversations on Instagram and YouTube, all of which are fun and light-hearted. It was actually on YouTube that I discovered something quite funny too. I decided to check out her Sesame Place video since she walked around much more of the park than I did. I focused on just the coasters before leaving. Still, I was curious to see if at any point during Cristina’s 31 minute-plus video, if I just so happened to be in the background somewhere. And guess what? I was! We both laughed when I shared the screencap to my Instagram with a big arrow and the word, “Me!”

If you get a chance, watch her video, “First Trip to Sesame Place, PA! The ONLY Sesame Street Theme Park in the U.S.!” You’ll see me at 27:15 minute mark in my purple Ravens jacket. I was taking what turned out to be my trip report’s cover photo for, “Sesame Place – 2 New Credits! Ah-Hah-Hah!” Small world!

Cristina and I have been tossing around the idea of meeting up and visiting a fun roadside attraction or two. While offering several videos on amusement parks, Cristina doesn’t focus on them entirely. She’s a sucker for fun and relaxing tourist destinations and is looking to add all kinds of new places to her video offerings. A few of the ones I’ve mentioned to her have piqued her interest. Hopefully we can plan something one of these days. I think it would be fun to meet another creative, and by all accounts, sweet person. Now the sub-heading above makes sense, right? The pretzel is sweet and she’s salty… Oh wait, I got that backward! The pretzel is salty! Doh!

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Greg living his best life visiting Six Flags Fiesta Texas for the first time with family.

New Parks & New Credits

Although one of the slower months when it came to park visits, a handful of the Flight Crew were able to get out to some parks and get themselves new credits. Most recently, Greg was able to visit Six Flags Fiesta Texas (SFFT) with his family and grab seven new credits, including: Goliath, Iron Rattler, Pandemonium, Poltergeist, Road Runner Express, Superman Krypton Coaster, and Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster. He had a great time and shared the picture above in a group chat with Sam, Kaylee, and I. I decided to post it so you can see him looking all sexy on that piece of Dr. Diabolical’s Cliffhanger track. Wish I could have been there too, bud!

I was also able to get myself three new credits during the first week of the month when I visited Sesame Place, followed by SFGAdv later that day. I went in expecting to get two new credits with Sesame’s Vapor Trail and Oscar’s Wacky Taxi. My trip to SFGAdv was not planned, but when my evening plans fell through and I saw they were doing the Lil’ Devil Coaster pin giveaway, I made the 35 minute drive. Not only did I get that pin, but I got to ride it and claim my third new credit of the day. And yeah, I helped valley it returning to the station too.

Less than a week later, Kaylee and I, along with her friend, Bernard, found ourselves back at SFGAdv after our visit to Dorney Park was cut short due to rain and low attendance. Thankfully we rode every coaster at Dorney aside from Wild Mouse and Kaylee was able to get her Woodstock Express credit. She then grabbed Lil’ Devil Coaster at Six Flags, but sadly, Jersey Devil Coaster, which she also needs, was closed.

Here is a listing of last month’s trip report blogs if you still need to check them out:

Steven (right) from Thrill Maxx has agreed to do an interview here on We Were Inverted.

A December to Remember

Although I don’t think December is going to be plentiful when it comes to park visits, I am hoping the crew and I can escape to a park or two at some point. Last year we had fun visiting several parks for their winter holiday events. One of those parks, Storybook Land, is one I’ve even mentioned to Cris. It’s been on her radar as well. I’d love to go back to that quaint, family-oriented park. They do an amazing job with their Christmas lights and set up. And by all accounts, I saw what they did during 2020 when parks had to deal with tons of restrictions. I’m betting it will be even better this year.

One of the things I am hoping to bring you this month is an all-new interview with fellow enthusiast and content creator, Steven, from Thrill Maxx. He and I are in constant touch online. We trade park merchandise back and forth from our adventures throughout the United States. I quite honestly could get him to do a much overdue Coaster Collectibles interview as well, but for now, I’m focusing on the two-part interviews I’ve been conducting with the likes of Mike of Canobie Coaster and JD, the Hershey Addict. Those interviews were quite popular and I enjoy listening to and sharing other people’s stories when it comes to this hobby. If you haven’t checked out their interviews, be sure to do so.

Related Link: “Q&A: Canobie Coaster, Pt. 1 – The Enthusiast” (08.08.2021)
Related Link: “Q&A: Canobie Coaster, Pt. 2 – The Creator” (08.13.2021)
Related Link: “Q&A: JD the HersheyAddict, Pt. 1 – The Enthusiast” (04.02.2021)
Related Link: “Q&A: JD the HersheyAddict, Pt. 2 – The Creator” (04.09.2021)

Also expect to be seeing more galleries added to the site. I have some smaller galleries still to add that wouldn’t be too time intensive. It’s parks such as SFA and SFGAdv that are going to take some time. Expect to find hundreds of photos between both those galleries easily once they’re published.

Well, I wish you, your friends, and your family the best here in December. I hope you get a chance to check out everything I mentioned in this CAG Report as well as everything I add to the site here before 2022. As always, I appreciate all of your support.

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