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Cases are rising like they are across the country. You can determine what a "surge" is since it's a made-up arbitrary term that the news likes because it sounds scary... Aside from that we were at the park on opening day. There's not a ton to report. We had a great time but we went in knowing they would be understaffed, that lines would be huge (but we didn't expect to ride much) and that El Toro would be closed. We used our four line skips (Nitro, Kingda Ka twice and Wonder Woman) and otherwise just rode a few rides early (Batman, Nitro stand-by and Justice League) with short waits, Skyway mid-day from the fort side where lines are always shorter and Wonder Woman right at park close. Otherwise we just hung out and enjoyed seeing some friends and enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. The only things of note that Joe didn't cover are that the Flash Pass line is back for Kingda Ka which makes waits shorter in theory (in reality a line behind 25 people to ride Kingda Ka is a 90 minute wait while you watch them cycle brakes, roll trains out, roll trains back, launch test trains, load trains, tell them to unload and everyone to take 2 steps back... all that good stuff. We don't know how long this delay will last and we recommend you check out great rides like Nitro and Superman blah blah blah. Whatever though, we rode it and they let people wait for the front again so it was our first Kingda Ka front seat ride since 2019. We waited 2 hours with a skip-the-line pass. It was worth it. A few shots from opening day: It’s great to be back! Nitro’s line was overflowing. Most coasters were in the same boat. Social Distancing, Great Adventure style! Pour one out for Georgia El Toro was down, but Nitro was picking up the slack Seeing a loaded Ka train being launched on Saturday was like seeing an endangered species in the wild Wild opening day sunset... PS: I didn't walk over to take Jersey Devil pictures because I figured a bunch of nerds had already done that but it looks great.

It was gorgeous on Saturday therefore the park was (apparently) mobbed. It poured on and off yesterday so no clue how things turned out. Notable things re: Saturday: El Toro never opened, most food places were closed and ones that were opened had very long lines, the park had the audacity to change Nitro's station music, people are still smoking weed on the sky ride. I think that about covers it.

It's such a shame that this world-class roller coaster has zero theming and a station that looks like it was made in a day. I know money is really tight so we probably won't see too much more done with it But I think it would be cool if they added some real theming to it down the line and they could even do a re-launch of the ride. It's a stretch but you never know...

I was at the park today and caught the last test train of the day on the way to Apollo's Chariot. Here's a short video and some stills. The outward banked airtime hill looks amazing! Also in case anyone is wondering, Apollo's Chariot closes for 30 mph sustained winds and 40 mph gusts. The ride opened late today for this reason. MVI_5751.MP4

Been a bit, I hope everyone is safe & sound during these times. I've got around visiting Coney Island seeing I haven't been there since mid 2019, I'm looking forward to see these new attractions comes to fruition. Speaking of new attraction, I bet most of you heard that Wild River is completely gone and went to ride heaven or ride hell depending on how you viewed the ride. Now there's some new attractions that taken up the space that Wild River use to be, and a little development on the water attractions take a look at these photos.

Haha that's my photo! (shameless Coaster101 Twitter plug) I was surprised by the little pop of airtime that drop provided. It's deceiving. I didn't even notice the trims until one of the "grumblers" pointed it out. If they were turned on, I didn't notice.

I thought preferred parking was pretty easy to get to compared to Over Texas. Just follow the cones and you'll see the sign along the right side. Make sure to get your preferred parking pass from the original parking booth; they will ask to see that. When I was there a few weeks ago, Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster was eligible for Flash/Skip-the-line passes. Not sure if that was just a spring break thing, though.

My best guess for tickets going on sale is this Thursday April 1. April fools day seems appropriate for Tony to do this... I too agree, they probably will be more limited than before and will go quick. Stay alert

Soooo.. This park will be themed to Avatar: The Last Airbender without being themed to Avatar: TLA. Interesting but not a bad idea, use a popular idea and not pay for the IP. Curious if this causes any copyright issues in the future. Either way, still super excited to see this park being built. Not often we get to see small independent parks built from the ground up these days. Hoping lots of success and growth.

This perfectly sums up my thoughts. Between this and Velocicoaster (not to mention Hagrid's too), I am stoked that Intamin has a new presence in the U.S. I really hope they can form a new relationship with Cedar Fair because that is the only other chain I can see spending the money needed for a large scale Intamin like this. Also, I hate saying things like "[this] will be the best in the world!" but, uh, yeah. That 95-degree drop off the top hat towards the river with no trims is going to be one of the best drops in the world.

I'm looking forward to that outward banked curve and the bit where it heads toward the Rhine River.

Just put up a video from our visit last week! Lots of great coaster footage so check it out!

^ Congrats, you young scholar!

ACE had an excellent tour at the park yesterday. I’ll post a few highlights here of what is going on. -It seems like almost everything that needs paint is getting it. Entire front entrance has been repainted and looks good. At first I thought it was a little too much yellow, but it’s growing on me. The dark blue trims help. Also those chaser lights on Wildcat look really good at night. Also the entry process will be touch less now and security will be moved to the main gate instead of the tunnel. Work on Main Street, will have poles with lights and a new sign. Looks really cool. This concrete slab in the picture will be where the old carousel horse from the entrance is going. Clipper Cove is done being rehabbed. Croc-o-Nile and the wave pool are being painted. The Croc-o-Nile slide, Mammoth Falls and Lights Out will also be repainted. Lights Out will be making a comeback in 2022 after a major renovation. Mammoth is also being painted green and purple. New seating area for Johnny Rockets, will eventually become a permanent building, likely in 2022. Venus Vortex the delayed Waterslide should finish construction by May. The crew arrived yesterday and will start building today or Monday. Most of the train track was re-done due to erosion happening. The track was too close to the water before. Wipeout awaiting its next location A stage will be going here for a new food/drink festival. Few photos from the awesome Ghost Hunt walkthrough. New display with a screen at the end of the first room too. Zoomerang is being painted darker colors. Looks similar to Bizarro. The parkside diner is being converted to Timberjack Chowhouse Few other notes: -Saw Mill Plunge is being painted, station and trough. -Croc Pot/Starlight is being painted. -The bathhouse is being completely re-done and will have a mural painted on the water park side. -Caterpillar train has been removed. -New lights on the Ferris Wheel, SkyCoaster, and Revolution. Hopefully the park has a successful season, tons of projects going on and they are impressive.

I finished my Master of Arts in Professional Creative Writing with a concentration in Professional Dramatic Writing from the University of Denver. Started in summer 2019 and finished mid March 2021. Most of the work was done during the pandemic! And I did this a full 34 YEARS after getting my B.A. Anything is possible! Now (fingers crossed) waiting for my return to work call from Disney....

^ that diving drop in the dark just KILLS. so good. Official "lights on" POV from the park:

well.. . can't really post about it anywhere, because I know so many are suffering right now (certainly not mentioning it on FB). but this thread does seem to be the perfect place. so will just be vague and say that I got an unexpected bonus yesterday. I mean, I knew the company had hit the goal numbers to give employees a bonus, but the actual number is the biggest I've ever gotten in 35+ years of working in the tech industry.

Got two very nice phone calls, earlier today... The first one was from one of the main board members of our annual Vancouver Queer Film Fest, Out On Screen. They got my Holiday Donation and just wanted to thank me for my continued support. Which was nice to hear. They also got a kick out of the "Cats In Wigs" card I sent the cheque in, heh. Made them have a good laugh, and whoever opened it, photo-ed the card and sent it on to other board members. Cool! The second call was from across Canada, in Toronto, from someone with The ArQuives, which is our national LGBQT2+ archives and history place. I sent them a cheque in the New Year, so this was another call thanking me. We ended up chatting about a lot of Vancouver queer history stuff, including my and David's involvement with (original) Gay Radio (1978) in the city, and we were two of the original Board Members for our just-formed Community Centre in1980 ... and other things David and I have both been involved, together and separately. From the mid-1970s to the late 1990's. They were both lovely phone calls. Made my whole day, today.

This was too much fun to just share with a few people I know. So here's a video that pretty much sums up 2020... Enjoy.

I was admitted into a Graduate Program at Brown University (yeah this fool who rambles about roller coasters and doesn't bother with grammar on the internet somehow got the Ivy League to take him....and I didn't even bribe anyone!) Needless to say am super stoked, and I've already moved from FL to NJ for this month and Aug 1 I move to Providence, RI After years of feeling stuck and NO avenue I tried panning out, finally gunna make the career changes I want. OH and its nice to be back where a ton of parks are within 4 to 8 hours, unlike FL where it was 4 to the nearest

So. . yesterday was my Mom's Yahrzeit (the anniversary of her Death). it's been 3 years, but is still a really tough day for me. So instead of just sitting at home and staring at the candle i lit in her memory (and being depressed), I hopped in the car, and headed to Fiesta Texas - Spouse didn't come with, as we're having some work done at the house, and he wanted to stay here to monitor as I put it on Facebook: "think I'm gonna drive down to Fiesta Texas for a couple of hours and ride a roller coaster, instead of being depressed." they were only open from 10:30- 6pm (but were hosting some Membership benefit from 6-7), so figured I'd stay 3-4 hours, and try some of the Mardi Gras food offerings, since on dining plan. Ended up being the perfect day to go. . . not only the typically dead Sunday mornings (pre-church), but it never did get busy (if members were coming out for the ERT, they waited until late afternoon to show up), and as the weather was absolutely GORGEOUS - 1st nice day this year. . . folks apparently did other things rather than go to a theme park. petty much everything was walk on (I rode WW 4X and twice didn't even have to get out of my seat to walk around, since no one was in line). . . Iron Rattler twice (sadly, they are still running only 1 train, so even station wait took a good 15 minutes. .it was nuts!. . .but when I got back and the guy I was sharing with got out, I asked if I could stay in the seat since no one was waiting in my row - 3rd from back - so got two rides in a row). Joker was almost walk on too, tho it went down a few times while I was there, and I ended up waiting ~15 minutes for them to reset and cycle a few times. People will NEVER learn not to pull down on the restraint, even tho they announce that over and over. Superman, Poltergeist, Skyscreamer.. pretty much EVERYTHING was walk on. the only rides that were down? Gully Washer (rapids), and the Train. did a lap of the park, riding things. . . ate lunch, met Sylvester and Tweety, and then headed out by 3:30 pm. all in all, I left my house at 10:15 am, got to park at 11:45. . . left park at 3:30, and pulled into the house right at 5pm. And got a good amount of rides in. checked out the construction for the new Daredevil Dive "air-race" type ride - foundation is poured, and checked out the refurbs they have been doing on Bug's Whitewater Rapids (all animatronics on the flume working, and the new queue looks GREAT) as well as Pirates of the Deep Sea (all targets working, new guns - tho hard to aim, at least they are period appropriate - and repainted cars that look fantastic). on to the pics: I'm here. . selfie sent home to let spouse I made it OK (he was worried about me driving on this day) parking lot was pretty empty since the park is year round now, they are celebrating Mardi Gras from 1/18-early March the signage/decorations look great looking puffy. .which is nuts, since i haven't eaten yet today. I blame the camera angle look how dead the park is behind me! they had been open almost an hour and 1/2 at this point. the Cajun Croc statue is up again in front of the main plaza. there were a ton of photo-ops set up thruout the park, but no park photographers to take pics! Since I was solo, didn't stop to get really any of em, as I didn't want to hand my phone to a stranger for a solo pic. I did get a handler with Sylvester and Tweety later to take a pic of me, and I mentioned the lack of Photogs, and he admitted he didnt' know what was up, since they are "supposed to be out" as I was leaving, I did see a few roaming around the main plaza. . but since wasn't gonna hang around for an hour for the digital pic to download to the photo-stand? still didn't get any. in line for Iron Rattler Sadly, still running 1 train ops (i was shocked to see this). .and due to "holding the line" prior to flash pass merge, was on a ramp, even tho it was really a station wait. looking down at Iron Rattler's empty queue. holding the phone up over the construction walls to get some pics of the new ride going in. you can see the placement of it (over where the old Wagon Wheel Enterprise used to be). this is gonna visually be stunning when they start to go vertical. but the foundations are poured already. here's a better shot of the poured foundation for the central "stalk" that will support the ride a walk on to Skyscreamer (that NEVER happens), and the Hawks were out too. . so cool to be swinging above the hawks - followed by a walk on to Superman. Here's Skyscreamer from Superman's queue. surprising to see empty seats. oh. . how full was Superman's queue? here. PERFECT day to go, wish you were here with me. event tho dead, they were running 2 trains. So got this pic of the 2nd train in the loop, as was going down exit ramp from my ride. I had seen from the brake run that Joker had NO line as well. so headed there. got stuck in this spot, since the ride went down for ~10 minutes as i walked up. But I just waited for it. I mean, it's due to the restraints, and I was in the shade anyways ok. . cycling (3-4 times) after every downtime. . that's what makes the wait on this ride lengthy sometimes. Looking up from my spot in line, as it cycled for the 3rd time. . just before they sent us thru the funhouse. but still got a fantastic ride on it after a short wait. I bypassed Batman since wasn't in a "flipping" mood so soon after Joker, and instead was really shocked to see THIS was the queue for Wonder Woman. I mean. . I knew the park was pretty dead, but I've never (outside of ERT) seen the Wonder Woman queue like this. they weren't even batching riders, and as noted, got to ride it 4 times in a row, twice without having to get out of my seat, since there was no one in line when my train got back! ended up with Jambalaya/cornbread - which is counted as a "snack" on the meal plan! it was ok, but not nearly spicy enough. And I loved interacting with the folks working the food booths. They were kinda bored since it was so quiet, but we had a lot of fun chatting while they were making up my food. Even they commented they wished it was spicer - but I realize they have to "dull it down" for the masses. and to be honest? it did kinda give me the craps later last night. but it was good at the time the Mardi Gras street performers seemed to outnumber the guests in some parts of the Park. but all were in a great mood, and seemed to be having a good time interacting with everyone. i'm guessing the beautiful day helped. took a walk over to the Boardwalk for a ride on Pirates of the Deep Sea. they've done some quiet refurb on it, as all targets are now working, the cars all have the same "pirate-style" guns, and the cars have been repainted and look great! didn't want to ride any of the spinning rides on the boardwalk, so headed over for a ride on Bug's Whitewater Rapids flume. along the way, passed Mardi Gras Tweety & Sylvester out - with a handler who KNOWS how to frame a pic, so got this fantastic pic in front of Sangerfest Halle Bug's still has the sign in front noting "pardon our dust". . it's been over a year! but they actually are doing a ton of work on the queue. the figures are still mostly missing, but the scenes that are there, are looking fantastic. the empty sad throne, now is lit with LED diamonds, and a sparkling LED curtain behind. it really looks fantastic! they've varnished and painted all of the poles in the queue, and hung a lot of new, and touched up shields thruout. again, looks great Sam is back and sleeping. . and a bunch of new, fancily adorned, jousting equipment is next to him. Dragon is still sleeping. .and blowing smoke as he snores. interestingly, none of the TVs in the queue were on, or even noticeable. but it doesn't seem as if they are moving away from "the Singing Sword" cartoon theming. oh. .these are new - they have re-routed some of the inside rooms, taking the queue a slightly different direction. and have installed Medieval Stocks as part of the queue divider. This is great! another re-done room. . now opened up so you can see thru into the room next door, and hear the splashing water from the flume (since the load station is just back there). and what are those up along the top? air blowers! thank goodness, this queue was always very dank and humid. HUGE difference today, and I can imagine that will help with the summer days too. Logs are still 2 across seating. and you only really get soaked in the front seat (tho the spitting dragon will get the whole boat on that 1st turn after the mini-drop). speaking of Dragon.. they now have Sam on Dragon really well lit as you pull out of the station. and Sam crushed by the drawbridge on the other side of the station, as you return from your ride hard to see, but Joker swinging by thru the trees, as I sat and ate my meal credit before heading out. yep. . got the Apple Cinnamon Caramel Funnel Cake Sundae - which is considered a "snack". . but I used my meal credit for it. was still really sweet, but I was able to eat more of it than I had of the strawberry one that I tried in Sept (that was way too sweet). and I drank water with it. . gotta even out the calories. Wouldn't be a trip to Fiesta without a ride on the Carousel. . or on my (different colored eyes) Bowie-Bunny. it was a really long cycle (if I had to guess? he ran a double cycle), and the operator waited maybe 7 minutes before starting it to fill up as many seats as he could. trying not to think about Mom, and instead focus on having fun. oh.. they're painting Boomerang (tho it was running today). looks like a dark orange, and dark teal. you can see the new colors on the spikes, and the new teal on the Batwing element closest to us - tho they haven't painted these supports yet. headed out, but stopped for a moment to watch the stilt walkers dancing with kiddos to the brass band in the central plaza. they put on a good show, with lots of energy, despite the lacking crowd. on to some ride pics. whee!!! and hysterically, since was in the back seat? it cuts off my arms. . LOL I like the 2020 themed border options tho. from my 2nd ride on Iron Rattler, after my seatmate left, but they let me ride again since no one was in the queue. back seat on Wonder Woman, as usual. back row on Superman too .. no wait, walk on. without the frame, you catch Poltergeist in the background. never noticed that!

I love Intamin