Leaderboard

Did I call this or what? Anyway, I did better side-by-side comparison for you.

This whole discussion reeks of "they slowed Skyrush down" and I really am NOT here for it.

That's awesome that you got to ride this already. Also, how do you rank Taron?

Got on the first public train. First impression: It's smooth. Really smooth. Didn't seem quite as intense. Still a ton of fun. Approx 5000 dead trees all over the backside of the hills.

How can you even pretend that it doesn't? Even my 5 year old knows putting racing stripes on things makes them go faster. I mean sure his paint of choice is somehow play-dough but....but... SCIENCE!

If operating Kraken (SWO) taught me anything, it's that run times vary GREATLY depending on weather/weight/etc. There is a timer for every cycle that showed on the screen and it always shocked me how big of a variance there was from a cold morning to a sunny afternoon. A 2 second difference in the videos you saw doesnt mean anything. Just as any other coaster I'd assume you'll see a much wider variance than two seconds even during the same day for the exact same ride so comparing the two isn't really a fair comparison if it's only 2 seconds because I'm sure you can find two POVs on the old lightning rod or two POVs on the new lightning rod and see the same variance. All of that being said, looking forward to trying this again! As someone else said, visibly I've seen el toro crawl through the layout on a windy day (and subsequently valley near the end of the ride, lol) which is unheard of to most people.

Considering Lightning Rod was running at 0 mph for a large amount of its life, I don't care if it's 1-2 mph slower if it means the ride is open more often. That being said, this POV was probably taken in the worst possible conditions (empty train, not warmed up, cold day) and it's still hauling by the end.

The only update I can give is to say the ride opened three years ago

I know it can be just plain boring to do, but I remember that I kept checking every couple of days, on their site, to find out when tix became available. I'm retired, so that helped I know, with my getting tickets. Still, I suspect they'll release packages by the end of March, if not a little bit before hand. Maybe. Good luck to ya, getting them.

I really can't stress enough how people have been saying since half-way through the first season that the ride has been slowed down, the launch is slower and whatever else. I'm not saying that people should be happy with a diminished ride experience and suck it up so it operates, I'm saying that it's **probably** not diminished and the "I rode it when it was better" crowd is lying to themselves so they feel cool for being one of the six people to successfully ride it when it first opened. I have no doubt that the day the ride opens and the train is half empty for social distancing and it's cold and crappy out these people will be blowing up the internet talking about how much better it used to be but let's wait and see if that's actually even true. I'm optimistic that it won't be. PS: everyone also complained about a pothole endlessly that won't exist any more, so maybe it will actually be better! Now Mystery Mine? That's a different story. lol

I mean I didn't expect Maverick! But did expect intense and forceful. It's Orlando I should've known better XD Honestly, long as its a step up from Copperhead Strike I will be happy! That was one that really let down from what I expected. Dang those pictures are just amazing. That scenery is awesome and I've seen some clips of it running at night. What a beautiful ride. In all regards, Universal killed it with this one. Super excited, and yeah gunna be one helluva FL trip with this Ice Breaker, Iron Gwazi and I need to hit the Fun Spots!

^ I'm sorry, but the launch up the lift hill looks EXACTLY the same. it's slower cresting the hill because of an empty train (and the cold). I see no difference in the launch speed.

Hope this plays out well for that park! Anytime a closed Schwarzkopf gets a new lease on life, it's a win in my book.

Knott's emailed that they plan to finish Boysenberry Festival until May 2nd without rides and then open the amusement park rides/theme park sometime later in May. I am so excited considering the only coater I have ridden in the past year is Desert Storm in Phoenix. I do get to go to Circus Circus for a weekend next month to ride their coasters for the first time in 10 years. Are there any masks that filter the smell of cigarette smoke? Knott's email: "We are encouraged and excited by the recent announcement that came out of the California Governor's office regarding the reopening of theme parks in the state. We know that it's been a long year, and as our most loyal guests, you have been incredibly patient with us as we have navigated through this difficult time together. As we look forward to reopening our gates, we still have some work to do. From hiring and training new associates, to working with Government officials on finalizing guidelines, we will work hard to ensure that we can reopen our park safely for all to enjoy. Our plan is to welcome you back to Knott's Berry Farm this May. For now, we are humbled by the astounding response we have received on our Tasting events. Currently our Taste of Boysenberry Festival is underway and will continue to receive guests as planned until May 2. As announced earlier this year, season passes purchased prior to park opening will be valid for the remainder of 2021, plus a day-for-day extension in 2022 for the number of days the park was closed in 2021. We can't wait to celebrate 100 years of original family fun with you during our Knott's Anniversary Celebration this summer. We especially look forward to creating new treasured memories as we once again open our gates and welcome our family back to the farm. We'll see you all real soon"!

Just here to pay my respects to Mystery Mine. I never had any issues with keeping my head forward to prevent any headbanging, and that drop was truly terrifying. Still an all around great ride, but it's crazy to see them go to that effort to rebuild that section. One less element, meh glad they are committed to keeping MM around for a long time. Lap bars would be a welcome add but with the finale I think it would scare off the GP.

If the only change was that they painted the cars a new color you'd still get people claiming it rides different.

The trains have arrived: source

I grew up close to Lightwater Valley and rode that coaster a lot when it first opened as The Rat. Now I live in Austin, so it's kind of funny that it'll be down the street from me once more. Granted, what made The Rat stand out was the subterranean queue and whatnot. But still, nostalgia . . .

Oh yeah I know the launch was slowed down years ago, but that never seemed to be a problem everyone always said it hauled ass and noticed no difference sans a less airtimey first hill but the ride was unchanged. If any did gripe that was too much "neutrering" yeah that was deff online ego stroking lol Nah I was worried it may have been slowed even more so this offseason, to the point where it would be noticeable. But yeah probably not. EDIT: Someone nerdier than me actually crunched the numbers. Eyes do deceive. The latest video, despite it being a cold morning empty train, is at worst 2 seconds slower and by the end actually was a second faster. Go figure. So yeah its certainly slower through that first half but 1-2 seconds isnt much. Should deff be unchanged/unnoticeable at full speed. I broke this open so here's my apology. lol Mystery Mine. You are one of the few people who seem to like it but even that, I can't experience its full glory XD

Frontier City Frontier City was the final Six Flags park for me to visit and I finally accomplished that in 2020 not once, but twice. While the park may have the weakest ride lineup of all the Six Flags parks, it's among the best-themed parks in the chain. While most parks have just a small western area, Frontier City maintains that western theme through the entire park. And it offers a lot of shade for a Six Flags park, which is great considering how hot Oklahoma gets in the summer. My first visit occurred in the summer and it was marred by ride closures. Let's run through the list. Diamond Back. This was the one that stung the most considering how rare Arrow shuttle loops are. Mystery River looked like a neat log flume with an extended indoor section, but the maintenance team was working atop the lift all day. Renegade Rapids was closed as well. That one was closed for the entirety of the 2020 season for some work. Gunslinger was also closed. I also think that one was closed for all of 2020. Power Surges are weird. Half seem to run without a hitch, but the other half are extremely unreliable. Frontier City's is in the latter group. I was stunned Frontier City had a rotor. Those rides are extremely rare and I was stunned a Six Flags park still had one. Turns out the website was outdated and the ride will never run again. It was a mask relaxation zone for 2020 and all of the ride's signage had been removed. The signage had not been removed for the park's former Nightmare Mine, even after 2 decades. The most popular ride in the park is Wildcat, the park's classic wooden roller coaster that was relocated from Kansas City's Fairyland Park. This ride is smoother than you'd expect for an older wood coaster at a Six Flags park and it has a great setting in the woods, but the reprofiling in the late 1990s appears to have really neutered the ride. Now, the ride has no airtime in the back car and only a few meager pops in the front row. But maybe the new RMC trains the ride is getting for the 2021 season will help the ride run faster. 5 out of 10 Silver Bullet is the original Schwarzkopf looping star. It bounced around before finding a long-term home at Frontier City. This Schwarzkopf is still remarkably smooth and it dabbles in a little bit of everything. It has some strong laterals at points, a few spots of strong positive Gs, and even a pop of airtime. 6 out of 10 Steel Lasso is one of the first newer Vekomas. This was when the company began its transition from building coasters that would crush you to rides enthusiasts would have a crush on. Steel Lasso has a rather tame layout, but the ride is glass smooth and great for families. 5 out of 10 The last operating coaster was Frankie's Mine Train, a Zamperla kiddie coaster I had no shame riding. These Zamperla kiddie coasters vary wildly in quality. Some are quite shaky. Others are decently smooth. This one fell into the latter group. I ended up leaving the park early due to all the closed attractions and instead made my way to Wonderland. But flash forward to December 2020. I was driving between Silver Dollar City and Six Flags Fiesta Texas. My route would take me right past Oklahoma City, so I decided to give Frontier City a shot for redemption. I figured the water rides would be closed for Holiday in the Park, but my goal was to ride Diamond Back. But I was admittedly nervous leading up to my visit since temperatures were expected to hover around 40-45 degrees. I wouldn't think twice visiting a park like Great Adventure in temperatures like that, but I was more nervous about a southern Six Flags park. Thankfully, the park opened for their very short hours (5-9). And the park had a nice collection of lights throughout the park. All of the rides closed in my summer visit were again closed except for one, Diamond Back. It was a refreshing sight seeing this Arrow launched loop operating. I had ridden Revolution at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, but that one only had a 4 car train. By all accounts, those who had ridden both Revolution and the remaining US launched loops said the US ones had more power. Backwards ejector airtime is exceedingly rare and Diamond Back delivers it. Riding in the front car delivers one of the most intense moments of any coaster on that backwards drop. The vertical loop also caused me to start greying out going both forwards and backwards. This coaster was short, but it packed a punch. I spent half the day riding this coaster. The ride was down for the other half of the day. If you haven't been able to tell from my summer trip and this visit, Diamond Back is notoriously unreliable. 8 out of 10 Wildcat was the coaster most sensitive to the cold. The park didn't start testing until an hour after the park opened and it was crawling, even more than it was in the summer. It did open for the last two hours and the ride's setting resulted in a pitch black night ride. The ride had even less airtime than it did over the summer though due to the cold. Frontier City is probably the weakest Six Flags park due to the ride lineup, but it is a nice looking park. I don't know when I'll be back since the uptime of the park's best ride is an issue, but if my route takes me past Oklahoma City, I'll be sure to pop in for a few hours.

I made a side-by-side comparison of the new POV with a previous one filmed in the same position by the same team. http://www.youtubemultiplier.com/604a8689ebd50-lightning-rod-comparison.php New on the left, old on the right. New one seems a lot slower over the top and first drop, and generally through the layout? Obviously some of that is gonna be because it's new and cold, but it's still a fair difference to make up! The old video is 30 seconds shorter, and some of that will be fluff like station and credits faff, but it's still big gap?

Well I was there this past Sunday; temperatures were about 45 degrees which kept the crowds minimal. Everything (except for Ragin Cajun) was one train operations. Early in the season, I was surprised at how quick they was moving, though Superman: Ride of Steel did get stuck on the brake run a couple of times! (it's currently running the Red train, the blue one is on the transfer track). The Macho Nacho place does have the shrimp quesadillas/shrimp tacos, but oddly enough I was NOT able to use my dining pass on either of those; specifically I was told that those items weren't even on the meal plan! I was thinking internally to myself "Look numb-nuts, those items are listed on your board as being able to use the dining pass on!". But I just walked away .... thinking "maybe early in the season, their systems aren't updated yet". Yeah it's the 2nd GCI ever built (and the ONLY one that runs with PTC trains as far as I'm aware) which means it's bumpy as frick; but in colder weather, I can tolerate this coaster. And I'm also aware that said trains are shipped up to PTC in the off-season for refurbishment. I'm hoping for a future makeover (whether it's Millennium Flyer trains and Titan Track by GCI, Iron Horsed by RMC or even retracked and Timberliner trains by Gravity Group). Thumbs up to the Wild One; first roller coaster I ever did solo at the age of 7 (back in the Wild World era and way before I learned to sit in the middle rows of 2 x 3 x 4 PTC trains!).

So what you're trying to say is that Dollywood has baffled Baffles?

Park was buzzing today. Lines on everything, however one train ops. Great opening day. As promised a few months back here is some more shots of Spinsanity

Missed out on Big Bad Wolf. Such is life.