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How is that far fetched at all???? It seems naive to believe being short staffed in maintenance would never lead to shortcuts being taken or things accidentally overlooked, whether on an individual or management level. This happens throughout daily life, and it's not done on purpose. Airplanes fall from the sky, cars crash, and buildings collapse, often times because there wasn't enough time or resources to catch errors or do things right. If I give you two widgets a day to inspect, test, and clear for quality, and it takes 3 hours to inspect each widget thoroughly, the job will probably be done right, in your 8 hour day. I had 10 people working in my widget factory, and now I only have 5. Now, you have to inspect four widgets a day. You might be able to get them all inspected on your checklist, but you may not have had time to be as thorough. But, you completed the checklist, so #safe. I have no idea if this was applicable to this accident.

^ What you and other police officer are going through is a bunch of b.s..... all I'll say is a few poor choices by a certain few does not represent the majority.

Dorney's line-up is unfortunate because it's full of solid supporting coasters, but doesn't have a single stand-out attraction (though I'm sure in the late 90's/early 2000's, Steel Force seemed pretty spectacular to the community). It has the exact opposite problem of Carowinds and Canada's Wonderland. I'd still place Steel Force as my favorite coaster at Dorney, but I also think Talon and Hydra are quite fun. They both have unique layouts, but are relatively forceless (aside from Talon's finale).

Talon is easily the best coaster there, by far. Sit in the back row. Steel Force is probably number 2 or 3. I kinda like the front for speed on those type of coasters, but you can get some good air in the back, especially if you leave some gap between your body and the bar. The "Magnum Trick" (slide forwards while they're checking the restraints, then slide back on the lift) kinda works here, but the tightness of the seatbelts doesn't matter as much since the hills aren't shaped like triangles. Oh, and don't waste time on Wild Mouse until you've done everything else you might want to do. It's the only ride in the park that gets a substantial line (showing 60 minutes right now LOL).

Yeah, the log flume is awesome. You will get wet, especially if the boat is laden down. If you split into two groups (one adult, two kids per boat) you might be only slightly dampened and not completely drenched. As for Hyrdra, the back is the best for forces, but the front will probably give you a smoother ride. Either way, it's worth it for the jo-jo roll.

Hopefully it proves the need for support rides and Alton will actually replace some of the spin rides they've removed over the years.

Get well soon Toro

Just packing up our stuff! We have about a 6 hour drive so will head out late morning tomorrow. Looking forward to hanging out with everyone.

Sure sounds like it derailed. The wheels were no longer on the rails. De-railed. It didn't come completely off the track but this is still, quite literally, a derail. They even say it three times after denying it.

It just says this summer. One thing some people have pointed out that people are taking as a reason we might see this expanded to other places is the name is 'Disney Premier Access,' the same name they use for the up-charge movies on Disney+. So people are thinking this could become an official name across the board for anything Disney does that is a paid add-on.

Just getting caught up on everything since being away and this is a great TR! The sunscreen flying at you is hilarious but also terrifying. I think you got very lucky with crowds, weather, and operations! Happy to see them still trying for food options inside the park.

Fair enough. One of us will miss it.

I actually sorta would. The last time I got on Wildcat, it was running better than I've ever heard it given credit for, not even what I'd call rough at all, and I genuinely really liked it. I guess that makes one of us.

1980's Cedar Point

I can't believe how much Toverland has grown through the years, yet still retained so much of what made them super fun in the beginning!

Sounds like a Kings Island accomplishment rather than a Cedar Fair one.

Great report! I haven't been to any of those places for way too long.

Prob 30ish minutes, which included a 5-10 minute breakdown. The line never stops moving. For all the whining about capacity w/ these raptors, the crew had all four trains on and were absolutely chewing through the line.

Park is packed today, we’re actually leaving it’s so crowded. Did finally manage a back seat ride on JDC, my first raptor… fantastic!

Yes, the racing thing is insane! Hopefully this is good news for Toro and they're inspecting and working on it and it's not just closed off and ignored the rest of the season.

Current Toro status Also just raced a Ka train on Zum and what an upgrade that is.

To no one's surprise, yes, it was slammed. A gorgeous sunny day outside, so of course the park is heavily attended today! I dropped by for an hour just to get two quick laps on Storm Chaser, and get a certain loaf to take home to family! Entered at noon. It felt like the majority of guests hit up the water park since it's pretty hot outside. I got my two laps on Storm Chaser with very short waits! Since I had just come in from out of town and had junk in my car's trunk, I couldn't stay long. So on my way out, I made a mandatory pit-stop to a newly opened building! A sample of sweet offerings from the new Bluegrass Bakery. And the moment we've all been waiting for. The coveted Herschend-style CINNAMON BREAD! It comes with either classic icing, apple glaze, or a bourbon glaze. I took my lidded loaf home, warmed it back up in the oven for a few minutes and enjoyed that suuuper sweet and soft bread! VERY worth getting! The portion is big enough to share or take home to save.

Shivering Timbers reopened today. Only one train is available. Some new wood can be seen going into the station.

Just got back from KI and while there were a few minor quirks (Mystic Timbers seemed to be having issues, Flight of Fear’s FL+ line was out the door of the UFO room and yes, the food lines were crazy), I still had a great time. Rode Orion in the front… that was like a religious experience. Absolutely love this ride. Glass smooth, so fast and the airtime hill delivered in spades. Took my first ride of the season on The Beast and man has it gotten rough, even in a non-wheel seat. And Banshee is actually even worse than The Beast. And it’s taken 16 years, but Backlot Italian Coaster is sooooo awesome. I absolutely love the launch, the sharp turns, and the final tunnel is crazy dark. It has become a must ride for me now, especially since I bypassed a full queue and walked right on with FL. And one observation. There was a poster in one of the men’s washrooms that was promoting a 2021 season pass. At the bottom it said that it includes the upcoming Grand Carnival event, the Tricks and Treats Fall Fest, and Winterfest. Found it interesting that Haunt wasn’t mentioned. Oh, and the Blue Ice Cream beer was weird. Not bad weird, just unusual. Definitely enjoyed it though!

Rock & Roller. I was the dude that met you (Friend of your co-worker). Great Beautiful days to be at CP. Kennywood was great too. Although we got trapped in the heat. I was really blown away by Steel Curtain. I guess my expectations going in were pretty low. It looks like an SLC... but it rode like an RMC. Smooth as glass, air or hang time on every element.

While I agree fully, it’s not so much the closing down for rain that’s the aggravation though… it’s the “we need to wait and make sure it’s not going to start raining again so we’re just going to keep everything closed even though it’s not raining anymore” that takes anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. If the rides never close down then you can make your own decision if you want to jump in line and get pelted by rain drops or not. But Cedar Point is apparently content with their rain policy, which they say is in the name of “safety” to the detriment of the entire experience.

Literally everything from Dragster (a ride with 10,000 drive tires) to Wicked Twister (a ride that uses 100% magnetic brakes) would have shut down in that amount of rain. CP is a s-show when there's the slightest mist, meanwhile I had an amazing time at KI a few weeks ago with off-and-on showers - nothing at all closed down or even went to reduced capacity in the rain. Amazing how two parks owned by the same chain in the same state can have such wildly different rain policies...

I really appreciate their ride / rain policy. Very different from the "big house" up north - Cedar Point.

I've just got back from Alton Towers and to be fair the Retro Rides worked very well to spread the crowds about, and keep the queue lines in the main attractions lower than they would normally be.

Fixed that for you. That being said, I love Steel Vengeance, too. Great report, Adam.

Funny how Cedar Fair's business model of loading up their rides with staff for maximum efficiency has the unintended consequence now of ride closures. Whereas Six Flags has always run with a skeleton crew, so no change in service level. When you never hired enough people no matter what, I guess a shortage of labor doesn't affect you as much.

Yeah not so sure about "very soon" https://www.nj.com/ocean/2021/07/rear-wheels-moved-out-of-position-in-six-flags-roller-coaster-derailment-report-finds.html A Department of Community Affairs incident report obtained by NJ Advance Media shed some more light on what happened when a train on the El Toro rollercoaster at Six Flags Great Adventure partially derailed last week. The ride remained shut down this week as officials continued to probe what caused the incident. However, the report contained more details about what happened last week at the Jackson amusement park. On June 29 at 4:23 p.m., a train on the El Toro ride failed to return to the station after it stopped a few yards before the “brake run” and the ride was locked down three minutes later before it was cleared at 4:45 p.m., the report stated. Video of the incident posted to YouTube showed a train of six empty cars stopped on the tracks just ahead of an incline. People were on the ride during the mishap, but a spokeswoman for the Jackson theme park, Kristin Fitzgerald, said no guests were hurt and said the carts did not derail. While the ride was in motion, the rear wheels of “Car A6″ of the train “came out of their normal position on the rails,” according to the report. It was unclear exactly when this happened but the train traveled most of the ride with the wheels in this position. During the ride, an axle of the vehicle damaged its rear wheel assembly, as well as the wood and steel bolts of the track, officials said. The report stated that the cause of the partial derailment had not yet been identified and that a “detailed track gauge and track steel inspection” was still in the works. “El Toro will not reopen until DCA is provided with a report by the ride manufacturer indicating what caused the derailment as well as how to mitigate the issue,” DCA spokeswoman Lisa Ryan said last week.

Welcome to the new normal. Summer work nights have consisted of babysitting hundreds of people blocking the streets in our downtown bar district. Our goal is to prevent shootings. 8 guns seized. This past weekend we dodged fireworks shot/thrown at us, while listening to the gunshots a block away trying to add more intimidation. We were called everything in the book, while trying to work a traffic crash with injuries, which required cops from three surrounding agencies to keep the crowd from mobbing in after they tried to catch one of the cars on fire. There are some neighborhoods where it's unsafe for us to go in with less than 5-6 people, bare minimum. Keep in mind, the city in which I work has a population of only about 30k people. This is the worst I've ever seen in the general public, period. It's no wonder it translates into private businesses. The new Illinois anti-police legislation that went into effect July 1st doesn't help. There's your Tuesday pick-me-up.