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Starting off with pics of myself and friends, but I promise will get to the costume stuff. . and to SFOG so. . . after Covid killed off so many plans in 2020, Dragon*con 2021 was actually gonna happen. Dragon*con is a unique convention in that unlike bigger Conventions (like San Diego ComicCon), Dragon*con is "hosted" by 5 hotels in downtown Atlanta, + 4 levels of the Expo Center, 2 levels of the Merchandise Mart, and even takes over the Georgia Aquarium for one night. Because it is hosted by the hotels tho (utilizing multiple grand ballrooms, conference rooms, and event areas), unlike other conventions? Dragon*con runs 24 hours from start on Thursday at 10am until close on Monday at 4pm. That means that at 2am, 3am, 4am, 5am, etc. . there will be multiple things to do: panel, concert, drum circle, dance, rave, performance, anime/video rooms, etc. . . .something that isn't' true of other cons - where once the dealers room closes ~7pm? the con is done for the night unless you've made your own plans to do something away from the convention hall. In 2020, due to the unprecedented health crisis, the State of Georgia issued restrictions that forced cancellation of Dragon*con. DCon actually ignored the "all sales final and non-refundable" fine print, and offered roll-over or refund to those who had purchased badges in 2020. Absolutely not getting political here, but just stating fact, that because Governor Kemp in Georgia refused to issue any mandates as Delta began to surge? Dragon*con was gonna happen this year - even as multiple other conventions/concerts/events around the country started cancelling again. Without any legal shutdown mandate to point to? I believe that if DC did cancel, then likely insurance would not cover them. note: I don't know this, but I do believe it to be true. Anyways, so con was gonna happen. Precautions were put in place: Proof of Vaccine, or neg Covid test (within 72 hours), Masks required at all times in official con spaces (meaning all hotels, exhibitor/vendor hall, gaming halls), reduced capacity (con capped at ~42K instead of the over 85K from 2019), reduced room capacity (chairs spaced out, and only 2/3rds crowd allowed into concerts, dances, dealers room, etc). Less overnight programming (only a couple of things offered instead of many options). They also did not sell 1 day tickets this year, only Thurs/Fri or Sun/Mon. . so no Sat 1 day, which *greatly* would reduce crowding thruout the con on Saturday - which tends to be the day that all the locals swarm DC, due to the Parade Sat morning. I also knew that I have a lovely group of friends, most of them members of a group called "Digitribe" who every year set up the Digitribe Dungeon of Doom - a con-suite that's invite only, where I typically spend a portion of the con, relaxing, drinking, game playing with friends. This year, the head of the group asked that Digisuite be restricted to members only (no guests), and that everyone be vaccinated - meaning that masks could be less restrictive if in Digi. So that made me feel much safer, and I figured I'd be spending way more time in Digi than roaming around the con all hours of the night (as usual) with these precautions in place, and feeling safe enough? I took a deep breath and set off for Atlanta. --> I'm gonna cliff's notes over the horrific week/weekend prior to leaving on Wednesday - when we got a call from my Spouse's Oncologist telling us we needed to rush him to the hospital *NOW* and she had secured him a bed (which was very difficult to do with the hospitals overwhelmed with Covid patients). So he was in Hospital from Friday night until late Monday afternoon.. and was finally able to get him released (with Picc line and daily antibiotic infusiions for the next 8 weeks) on Monday evening. If we hadn't been able to get him out of the hospital? I would not have gone to Atlanta. . but since he was home? I felt ok to leave, and had multiple friends checking up on him while I was gone - as well as talking to him every day multiple times. So the 6 days prior to my leaving were a horror show that left us both stressed the hell out, and concerned, and I didn't' really pack until the day before I left. "Pack" is being kind. . really it was just throwing things into a suitcase, and I figured I'd make "outfits" out of what I ended up bringing. (it did work out OK tho). on Wed I had an early direct flight from Austin and my Spouse insisted on dropping me off at the airport. Really the plane was not full and no issues with Mask compliance at all. We made great time, and I got to Atlanta almost an hour before I had expected to, and before I knew it was off the MARTA and meeting my friends at the hotel (we always stay in a Host hotel. . makes the con so much more enjoyable). Every Year DC chooses a charity, and this year was Big Brothers/Big Sisters Atlanta. One of the events added this year for Charity was a "virtual marathon" where everyone who signed up and donated, would get a virtual runners bib, and an actual "trophy medallion" in the mail. It's a great cause, and a great idea, because with so many unable to attend (due to travel restrictions, or simply feeling unsafe in a crowd of 42K) quite a few folks were going to be experiencing the con thru the virtual streaming option. . and this gave them (and attendees as well) another way to participate. They only wanted 3500 steps tho.. LOL. .we did that the 1st day! we could create our own virtual bib. . so here's mine: Austin airport was dead: and before I knew it? was in Atlanta and in the MARTA on the way to Peachtree Plaza - where the Dragon*con Host Hotels are (Hyatt, Marriott Marquis, Hilton, Sheraton, Westin). Such an easy ride from the airport, and only cost $2.50 (vs an expensive cab ride) a quick check in at the front desk (and some schmoozing to get the "special" stuff we like to have. . a benefit of getting there on Tues or Wed before con? the desk clerks are not frazzled from dealing with so many demands and if you're nice to them (and tip them) you can get all kinds of bonus stuff that others don't end up with access to here's the view of the Hyatt Lobby looking up in the main atrium. . . kinda schmaltzy. . but really. . I took this pic, and felt. . "home" (I've been coming to DC since 1997) I quickly made my way up to the room and my friends Marce & Neal - that would be my home and family for the next 7 days and sent "proof of life" pic home to Nick: it was really early (I think maybe 11), so our first course of business was to head down to the mall (that's between all the hotels) and get some coffee from Caribou Coffee. There's a Starbucks across the street, but for Dragon*con? ONLY Caribou Coffee. .they have some amazing flavors on the menu, do special drinks just for Con, and best part? the owner is a big ol nerd, and each day of con there will be a nerdy trivia question that can save you 10cents off your coffee price..LOL. (on the 2nd day he handed me the ring and told me it was "so heavy" and could I carry it for him? Then he kept track of the answers, and I was one of only 6 that kept the ring for myself. . the others carried it to Mordor to toss in Mt. Doom. . LOL. . he showed me the results the next day) coffee secured, we headed back up to the room so I could unpack, relax, update them on what was going on with my spouse, and plan out the rest of the day. some errands had to be run to fix a phone card (since Marce and Neal are Canadian and she needed to go to a Tmobile store to activate something here in the US). And of course, we had the important need to go hit the Vortex for lunch (a tradition), and by coincidence (LOL) go to the Liquor Store and the Publix next door to stock up the room for the next 6 days. Marce brought along an empty Carryon with wheels - which was perfect for transporting way too much liquor back to the room. a hop on MARTA - 3 stops up at Midtown, and we were at the Vortex. another tradition.. the Phallus shrine. Rub on it for luck. (hey, there's a sign right there explaining it :P) I ignored Marce's advice, and went with what my belly was telling me and got my favorite: Hell's Fury (as described on the menu: Pepper jack cheese, Atomic Death Sauce, habanero relish, and a roasted jalapeño. Not for sissies. ) So good, but boy did it burn (going in and going out if ya know what I mean. . . :P) luckily the Acid Trip (a rum / blue curacao drink I love at the Vortex) helps calm the heat. liquor and snacks bought, we headed back to hotel to relax a bit until Marce reminded us there was a BSG (BattleStar Galactica) meetup at Trader Vics at 5:30. I'm not into that fandom, but I had friends who had been pinging me to see when I'd be in and if I'd be at Trader Vic's on Wed night. There was a big meet up from members of the Queerios Group there too, but I didn't want to eat, having just gotten stuffed at Vortex. . but we changed and headed over that way, and I messaged my friend David & Jesse that we were headed that way. we were on 22nd floor of International tower. . and on the way down, the elevator stopped at 10, and who gets on? David and Jesse. Just the kind of stuff that ALWAYS happens at DragonCon. here was are at Trader Vics and here's how "not crowded" it was on this night. . which is HIGHLY unusual. . this bar area is typically *packed* the night before con start. they had removed many of the tables, but didn't seem to be restricting entry. (tho the lack of tables kept people from standing around long, since not anyplace to put down your drink). Marce & Neal visited with the BSG group, and David and I talked. . but Jesse had disappeared. So I asked eventually where he had gone, and David said he had a group he was meeting on the 5th floor of the Hilton (Trader Vics is in the basement). . . so after a while, I said, let's go up and see if we can find him? so we headed up there and found a small group of nerd-ish guys hanging out. . which eventually turned into a group of about 40 guys, an organizer (she was very nice), and one very pretty goth girl. I whispered to David - it's like an Incel meeting! and it turned out? it was one of the DragonCon singles groups that were meeting up. . . BWAAAA-HAAAA-HAAAAAAA boy. . did *I* stand out among the introverts. I think I kinda maybe took control, and started talking to the goth girl (as guy after guy came over and awkwardly said hello to her). . . LOL. . I got an IM later thanking me for crashing the meetup and saving her from being bombarded by horny boys who didn't know how to express that they were horny. . . . eventually I decided I was tired (and pretty buzzed. . those Mai Tais at Trader Vic are strong), but swung by the atrium of the Hilton - which was themed to Stranger Things (I have pics later on coming up of that) - to see if the traditional "inflatable Dinosaur Dance Party" that happens in the Hilton on Wed night before the con really starts on Thurs was happening. Disappointingly, there was only 1 or two in the atrium. . but then I heard music, and followed it. . to find they had moved the party outside i guess to make it safer - even tho, yes, most of the participants are sealed within their own inflatable dinosaurs. LOL they were having a good time tho: and then it was time to go back to the room and crash hard. . . it was only ~10:30, but I'd been up since 3am. Tomorrow things would really start with the con, and we'd see how weird things were going to feel this year. to be continued. (with some costume pics coming if not in the next update, then soon after)

Photo TR: A quick stop on Monday, September 6th So, on my way back from SFoG by way of Carowinds, my route took me right by Kings Dominion, and I figured I owed it to the park to stop in for the first time in 2021. After all, I hadn't been on my #2 steel and #2 hybrid since 2019! I got to the park a little after noon with a 11:00 opening, and the lot was already pretty decently packed. Made my way through the front gate and saw a huge line at the redemption center, so ducked into a store to grab my FL wristband, and then made my way over towards the Safari Village construction to check on the progress of Tiki Twirl (yes, I will continue to call it that. Sue me.). But first, I definitely forgot how much better shaded this park's International Street area is compared to Kings Island's. And Woodstock Express got some new paint. As for Tiki Twirl, has there been any actual construction Progress? No. I see you hiding back there, my #3 at this park. Stay rested. What they have done though is decorate most of the walls blocking off access to that area of the park. Hopped on I305, one train wait for row 14. Still awesome. Grabbed another shot of poor, sad Avalanche, only made possible by the sadder removal of Volcano.... And continued down Candy Apple Grove, hoping dearly to finally get some delicious mac & cheese from what is possibly my second favorite theme park restaurant ever... ...but it was not to be. Oh well indeed. Had to settle for some Auntie Anne's pretzels, and then took a lap around the water park to grab some images of the new for 2021 stuff: First off, the permanent food truck circle (only two were open, the bar and pizza): Next, the kiddie-sized wave pool: And finally, the new splash-play area, which is honestly probably the biggest one of these I've ever seen: Made my way back to Twisted Timbers, and found that yes, they have in fact kept running the stupid double-sided locker system like at Steel Vengeance, which merges the Fast Lane and standby queue before them and does not re-separate them. If all of the queue in the station would be used (it wasn't this day), that means that even FL holders get a 30+ minute wait. Not cool, Cedar Fair, not cool. Its not like I didn't just ride another RMC two days ago with zero procedures for loose articles haha. Due to limited crowds, I did get on the back row with only a one train wait, but I blame that more on the lack of a grouper in the station leading to everyone lining up for the front row and the rows right in the middle. Still, an incredible, awesome ride. Oh, and why does a restaurant called "Grain & Grill International Cuisine" serve exclusively Chinese food? After that, eager to get home, I hit the road for the rest of the drive back to Delaware. And that about wraps up my Labor Day Weekend trip, and actually catches me completely up on pending trip reports from this year. Next up is Cedar Point for my first ever Halloweekends experience, September 17 and 18.

Vortex is one of those travel channel restaurants that I've wanted to visit since a teen, haha. Glad to see it's still going and you had a great time!

^Oh yeah, I'm not faulting the ride ops or the park at all until we know what happened. I have seen my fair share of parents forcing screaming kids on rides and I hate it as I know they are creating an unsafe riding environment for their own children. One time in Australia I even stayed with a stranger's kid as the parents were trying to force him on a roller coaster crying and I offered to stay off with him so they could ride together which was apparently more important than their child's safety. I just hope we get a straight answer soon at least confirming if it was a ride related malfunction, rider error, or something else.

Photo TR: Sunday, September 5th, 2021 Knowing that long drives are always less fun when you're headed away from your destination, I decided to split up the trip home from Atlanta and SFoG with a quick stop in the Fort Mill, SC/Charlotte, NC area for Carowinds, a park I hadn't been to since 2019. I arrived at a little before 10:00, for an 11:00 opening, and was decidedly not first here. I got in, parked, and marveled at the mass of B&M visible from the parking lot. Intimidator's new paint looks great. And Fury, as actually intimidating as always. Man did it feel good to be back at a CF park. Anyway, made my way in, grabbed my Fast Lane wristband, and camped out at Intimidator, waiting for it to open. I was on the first public train of the day. Back row left seat. Did not disappoint. I could've sworn I rode this during my 2019 trip, but my spreadsheet didn't show it, so here it is now. Good amount of airtime, despite the trims. I then hopped on Woodstock Express, to see if the rebuild had done any good....and was again on the first public train of the day. Back row. The rebuild has improved it, but amusingly they only did the back half of the ride, leaving it two different shades of purple. That said, it seemed to be entirely new wood everywhere that was worked on. My next stop was Afterburn, again for the first public train of the day. Back row left. Totally forgot how intense this is., Then I took a ride on Boo Blasters; I had never been on this one and now realizing that the KI and KD ones were different, wanted to try it out. Much more like the KD version, without the rotating seats. Got a score of 1318, and amusingly was required to wear a mask since it was indoors. Next up was a walk-on for the back row of Copperhead Strike. I can't remember if I got on the back row during the 2019 trip, but it was definitely good. Love the hangtime and little pops of air. The park was setting up for Monster Jam... ...and Scarowinds. Took a lap on Carolina Cyclone to try out the "new" Vortex trains. Front row. The Vortex trains definitely improved it, but it's still an old Arrow looper. Can't imagine what that one pop of airtime that slammed me into the OTSRs would be like in the back row. Then got on Scream Weaver, my first Schwarzkopf Enterprise. SOO much better than the Huss models. Ran a lot faster, got virtually completely vertical, and stayed there for like 10 rotations. Completely missing any sort of lighting package, but it doesn't matter when the ride is that awesome. The operator could certainly use some work though...after the previous cycle ended, he walked the entire queue, asking people how many were in their group and how many cars they'd be sitting in, keeping a count of how many people he would need to let through onto the next cycle. Why not just do that as you're loading and save the time? Oh well, still an awesome ride. Nerd shot: After that, it was time for my #4 steel, in Fury 325. Front row, awesome speed machine. Nothing more needs to be said, but here's a picture of it's awesome logo: I went to grab some food from the awesome build-your-own Mac & Cheese place that used to be near the Skytower, but it has apparently since been turned into a burrito joint, so I had to settle on some from Harmony Hall. It was still quite good. I then waited 40 minutes for Ricochet, the only adult coaster here not on FL, and also my only missing credit from this park. Whatever, it was a wild mouse, and I'd been on the identical Ricochet/Apple Zapple at KD. The line probably would have only taken 30 minutes or less if it weren't for the slowest crew I've ever seen. I do think this station and sign are a lot nicer though. At around 2:00, I ventured into the water park (my 2019 trip was during Scarowinds and it was closed), to find the lazy river and one of the tube slide towers closed. Spent some time in the wave pool and did the two tube slide towers that were running, then headed out around 4:00 to check in to my hotel. Parked in front of me was a SUV with a quite comical stick figure family on the rear window: After check-in, it was totally my intent to go back to the park and get some more laps on Fury, but I was beat. The past two nights of 4 and 5 hours of sleep had taken its toll, and I was in bed by like 8:00. All in all, a good stop at a park I don't get to visit anywhere near enough.

Not quite...it's actually closer to a Huss Break Dance in that the cars appear to be free-spinning.

Might of missed the post I talked about this in, but yes, there are cameras monitoring the ride including the top. (I want to say four in total if I remember right.) The argument then becomes when do you shut it down? There is plenty of squirming going on a regular basis so what's the line here? I would agree at some point you would see they are breaking free but it might be too late. The floor retracts within about five-ish seconds after the show sequence begins. At this point if you break free it's a straight fall. The ops can hit the emergency stop but it won't bring the floor back. That will have to be another button press and time. I can't see a requirement requiring the floor to be called immediately on the e-stop as that could lead to other serious consequences. I'm not sure the ops could of caught her in time, at least one person should have eyes on the cameras at all time. But trying to pick her out and seeing if she is really escaping would be hard to tell. Like I said, people get squirmy all the time. It also might have happened right at the drop in which case it would be impossible for ops to prevent. In this case they would watch in horror. In regards to Soaring Eagle's liability the waiver isn't a 100% clear and they could capitalize on that possibly. The full waiver is online FYI on the site so read up if you'd like. It will almost certainly clear the Caverns. (Read the seat belt especially.) Am I saying this is all alright if the park is found negligent? No, and I would like to think they would help pay but that opens a whole can of legal worms. One other thing that annoys me about some of these articles that are now popping up with this attorney is this: “What is the incentive for them to make sure you as a patron is going to be safe?” he said. “The answer is none. They have no incentive.” What an absolute load of B.S., at least for amusement parks. The incentive is that you don't have a park with a body count. Of course they want to be safe, who would go to a park that reported five deaths in a week? That statement is just a bunch of saltiness.

Photo TR: My first visit to SFoG, September 4th, 2021 After several planned mega-trips this summer that were cancelled for a variety of factors, I managed to swing a trip to Georgia for SFoG and to visit my friend who I haven't seen since 2014 over Labor Day Weekend. Anticipating major crowds, I splurged for the Platinum Flash Pass, but probably would have been fine with the Gold at the end of the day. Anyway, on to the report. First off, the drive. Google told me 11-14 hours to drive from Delaware, not counting bathroom stops, so I was definitely anticipating closer to the 14. Thankfully, it only took me 12 (including stops), which marks a new record of longest consecutive drive for me. Being from the northeast, I was definitely getting annoyed in NC, SC, and GA....everyone just chills in the left lane under the speed limit, randomly jabs their brakes for no reason, no one understands what a flash of the high-beams from behind means, and my biggest gripe of all - NO ONE uses cruise control. It's so annoying to be cruising along at XX mph, you go to pass someone slower, then they're passing you back, and back and forth for 50 miles. Ugh. I've driven to GA before but didn't recall the drivers in these southern states being so terrible. Second off, the hotel. Wow. Nothing but praise for the Brick Lodge Norcross/Atlanta. It's about 20 minutes northeast of the city proper, so about 40 minutes from the park, but this was hands down the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in outside of Las Vegas or Atlantic City. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but man were the rooms quality. Oh, and there was this in my room, totally unexpectedly: After the 12 hour drive, I spent about 30 minutes in this thing. Wonderful. My only two gripes with the hotel were that the elevator was super slow, and the tubs didn't have a stopper mechanism to enable baths. Okay, enough about ancillary stuff. here's what you're really here for: the park! I arrived at around 8:45 for a 10:00 park opening, thinking that they open the parking gates an hour early like very other SF park I've been to. First one in line for the "small" lot, which I would later learn is the preferable lot to be in due to the shorter walk. Alas, they didn't open the parking gates until around 9:30. I will say, I appreciated the scenery of coasters on my walk into the park. They opened the main entry gates at around 9:50, and I bee-lined it over to the Flash Pass building to cash in my voucher (none of that "on the phone" nonsense for me, thank you!), and then snapped some pictures of the entry way. I'll say this, the park offers plenty of shade, and is quite scenic, especially for a SF park. Clearly, they were setting up for Fight Fest. A nice fountain/stage that was not in use. See? Plenty of shade. I made my way towards Dare Devil Dive, learning here that it tends to be the slowest operating of all of the coasters, and made it to the station (first one!)... ...only to have it break down, with the employee tester stuck on the vertical lift hill. I didn't stand there and watch, but she was still up there around 30 minutes later when I passed by again. Anyway, at this point I met up with @Kyndmusicand we wandered a bit, discussing the parks history, trying to find something that was actually running aside from Georgia Scorcher. He did turn me onto Monster Mansion, which I'm glad he did because I probably would have skipped it, but I'll talk about that when I got on it. Great to meet you, sir. As of approximately 10:30, pretty much nothing in the park was running aside from Scorcher, so I went to find something that I sorely miss from Cedar Fair Parks: The park has a pretty nice atmosphere.... ...with plenty of shade... ...but is still Six Flags. Are they going to reinstall the Sky Ride at some point or what? LOL After wandering around for a while, I decided to make my way back over to Gotham City to see if anything was running back there. That poor ride op was still up there... Got into Gotham City... ...and proceeded to grab a whole bunch of pictures of the good assortment of flats, most of which were not running. Joker (one of two rides here that bear his name), not running and wouldn't run all day. Crime Wave, not running and wouldn't run all day. But I gotta give it to the park here, they really nailed the theming on this one. Toxic Spin. Wild Whirl, not running. Maybe ran later in the day? And finally, Catwoman Whip, which I would ride later in the day. For now, though, it was time for Batman! I would wait 13 minutes because I couldn't find the Flash Pass entrance. Back row, right edge. Definitely smoother than the one in NJ, and I like this paint scheme better (still not as good as the original black/black with silver rails though). Amusingly, in the station the two back rows were blocked by a giant fan, but they were still letting people board them from the other rows' chutes. Just too lazy to move the crap out of the way? And this brings me to a good time to talk about the staff. While none were downright rude, and they were doing countdowns in the station to try to hurry people up ("You have 10 seconds to board your seat...9....8...."), most didn't seem to really care to be there. The only enthusiasm I would see from employees was at Mindbender later in the day. They also frequently did not have anyone manning the merge points for Flash Pass/general queue, meaning that the investment was largely a complete waste. I get it, short staffed blah blah (the panel operator at many coasters was also checking restraints!), but come on. Anyway, on with it. After Batman, Mindbender was still not running, so I headed back to Dare Devil Dive, which was now running. Walk on for front row (with Flash Pass). Interesting ride, only my second Gerstlauer. Very intense restraints though...they power-lower when you're in the station and clamp you right in. Did I wander into a Cedar Fair park? I then decided to hit Georgia Scorcher, since I was right there. 16 minute wait for row 7 left edge with the Flash Pass. Surprisingly smooth for a B&M standup, not terrible at all. Now that the park was starting to open up, I made my way to Goliath (back row inner right). Very impressive, nice bit of ejector air on the hill and substantial positive Gs at the helix turn-around. Better than Nitro and even Mako in my opinion. Next up was Monster Mansion. How this continues to exist in a SF park blows my mind. Super-cute, awesome animatronics, very long, great visual effects (the evil face projected onto the wall of fog was great). With some research after the fact I learned that this was one of the original rides in the park, and most recently underwent a major refurb in 2009, right in the middle of the RedZone bankruptcy phase. Impressive. Next up was Joker Funhouse Coaster. A better ride than Blackbeard Quinn's Lost Crazy Train at SFGAdv, but still a kiddie coaster at the end of the day. Took some time to just peruse the park's shaded, but hilly, terrain, and came across this: The remnants of the old splash boat ride, just hanging out and deteriorating. Closed for three years now, this just looks horrible from a guest perspective. And worst off, it still shows on the park map in the Six Flags app. This is the Six Flags I know. This definitely isn't: a 1908 carousel, perched at a a top of a hill overlooking another section of a park, completely shaded by trees. Made my way into Metropolis (got enough DC-themed areas here, SFoG?) and rode Great American Scream Machine, my second coaster with that name. I don't get what everyone complains about. Rode in the front, found it to be very smooth and a great classic coaster. Next up was Superman: Ultimate Flight, the OG. 17 minutes for the back row. Only one train running; second was in the never-used other loading station and the third was disassembled in the storage area. Definitely better than it's NJ counterpart, entirely due to the use of the terrain as opposed to being installed in a parking lot. Next up was the mine train, which I found to be better than expected as well. Front row, 17 minutes. Three lift hills, nice and long. Came across this nice monument to Angus Wynne, Jr, the founder of the company. And yet another shaded walkway. And then it was time for coaster #200, Twisted Cyclone. Train shot and nerd shot in one! The wild pre-lift area. 21 minutes for the back row. Wildest pre-lift section that I've seen yet on a RMC. Too short, but a good ride...that inverted-cobra-roll whatever they call it was awesome. Better than Wicked Cyclone at SFNE, but just barely scrapes into my top 5 hybrid rankings. After that, I made my way back to Blue Hawk, which was now running. Very picturesque coaster here, and I think the blue/grey paint scheme works great over the water. 23 minutes for front row. Very intense, especially the butterfly element. Wish it would have stayed in Wildwood. I also noticed this: Like, seriously, that just looks like shit. I get not cleaning the rails around the whole course, but in the station where everyone sees it? Just looks horrible. After Blue Hawk, I had ridden everything I figured I was going to here. The log flume was closed, as was Acrophobia, and I don't do spin-and-swings like Pandemonium. So, I made my way back into Gotham to see if Mindbender's preview period had started yet, and it had! Awesome!. 26 minutes for the front row, and I'll just copy-paste my review from a few posts earlier here: -The whole operating system has been replaced. Brakes, sensors, drive tires, lift chain, presumably the PLC, basically everything except the track itself appeared to me to be brand new. Even the track *appears* brand new, because of the paint, but we all know its not. -Capacity was great. They were chugging through the trains, and the ride ops here actually seemed to have some enthusiasm for the job (can't say the same for the rest of the park). Since it was just preview, Flash Pass wasn't an option, but I waited 26 minutes for the front row, with about 4-5 trains where I didn't move since exit-pass people jumped to the front. Probably would have been under 10 minutes had I gone for any other row. Notably, I entered the line maybe 10 feet out of the station. SFOG's lack of groupers didn't help here, so the station got very crowded and at one point a group of people waiting for the front blocked the entire line and some empty rows went out before they made an announcement to fill in the station. -The trains: Yes, they are lab-bar only. Yes, there are seat belts. Yes, there are carve outs for your butt with the little bit that goes between your thighs. I have to imagine it was better with the original Schwarzkopf trains, but as it stands these trains were not bad at all. Yes, there are only 5 cars, but there are 3 trains (though they double-stacked every cycle I saw). -The ride itself: It's a Schwarzkopf, which means positive Gs. And you get them in the loops here, even the "non-loop" in the middle of the ride. No grey-outs for me, but it did force my arms down at the entry to the two true loops and at the bottom of the non-loop. That said, it is what I believe to be tamer than it once was (entirely speculating here); the lift slows considerably before cresting, and each of the trim/block brakes at the start of the turns definitely took off some some speed. Without those, this ride would be absolutely insane, but even with them it was still pretty damnned good. and the fact that they chose to invest so much into this instead of just scrapping it wins a lot of points me with. And here's some nice action shots: Catwoman Whip (I still say it should have a 's in it) was running now as well, so I hopped on that. A poor replacement for a real Enterprise. As with most Zamperla rides I've been on, the seat/restraints are just not comfortable...and me being super short (26" inseam) had some struggles getting in and out of the seat. I did not particularly like how the swinging of the seats "locks" into place when the ride gets to its max elevation; spin it faster if you don't want the seats to fall over. After that, I decided to hit the road at around 4:00. It was hot (85 and no breeze) and I was exhausted from the hills. I did take a glance in their tiny water park, and decided to pass based on the lack of things to do. A note on food before I wrap it up: Every where I went had massive, massive lines. Often, the line for mobile-order-pickup was just as long as the standard line and was taking just as long. Also, food and beverage here is STUPIDLY expensive. $6 for a 20oz drink out of a machine (though "only" $4.25 for water), $8 for a shitty pretzel, etc.) I don't know if all SF parks are like that these days, since I try not to spend any money when I'm in SFGAdv or SFA, but wow. In closing, this park is tough to describe. It's definitely Six Flags, but some rides like Monster Mansion are decidedly not modern Six Flags. Decent coaster collection, but nothing that really stands out as incredible. Very scenic in most places with lots of shade, but the remnants of the splash boats and Skyride detract from that. That said, probably my favorite Six Flags park overall. I think Great Adventure has the better ride lineup, but the overall experience at SFoG is top notch (for Six Flags LOL). I probably won't be back until their next major ride (thanks, Six Flags, for your new Season Pass policy), but still my favorite park in the chain. And now, some rankings: Coasters at SFoG 1. Twisted Cyclone 2. Mindbender 3. Goliath 4. Batman 5. Blue Hawk 6. Great American Scream Machine 7. Superman: Ultimate Flight 8. Georgia Scorcher 9. Dahlonega Mine Train 10. Dare Devil Dive 11. Joker Funhouse Coaster Six Flags parks (that I've been to) 1. over Georgia 2. New England 3. Great America 4. Great Adventure 5. America Thanks for reading!

I didn't know they sold turkey legs over there.

^ They removed three large, adult-friendly flat rides to replace them with multiple kiddie flats. Hardly an improvement, IMO. Also, they just killed a kid. I'm not exactly hyped about a visit to this place. Give them some more time and we'll have a new Mount Olympus.

^I am only speculating of course, but I don't think Illinois will go full shutdown again anytime soon. Just today Pritzker sounded very optimistic (for him) and said the cases in Illinois hospitals are starting to flatten. Well over half of Illinois is vaccinated, and even though the delta variant is surging, we are in a better place than last fall. The positivity rate is just over 5% and dropped today, but was around 20% when we went full shutdown last year. I am a public school teacher here, and 4 weeks into the new school year, we have not had one case in our district of almost 4000 students and over 300 faculty and staff. The schools who are having outbreaks are not usually more than 5 cases per school, I just read this week. I think the indoor mask mandate will be the height of the mitigations for the time being, and right now that is the only place SFGAm is requiring masks, indoors. Hopefully you will be okay to take your trip out here. Have fun if you come!

Hey Everyone! A few weeks ago I managed to escape the coaster desert to the east coast and visited three parks (In case you couldn't tell that's a big deal for me...)! Unfortunately, I've been kinda busy lately so I'm just getting around to the trip reports so there a little old but still good! The first park we visited (if you haven't already guessed) was Knoebels!! Now, this was my second visit to the park so I knew what to expect but Knoebels seems to be a place that surprises you even when you know what to expect... Last time we came on a weekday, but were forced into a weekend this time around. We got out tickets at a Weis grocery store on the way, which I highly recommend to anyone visiting on a weekend to do. Although (as I feared) the park WAS PACKED, and I mean PACKED with people, this place must have a magic recipe for making people disappear because I don't think I waited more than 15 minutes for anything, and this was with like 10 rides closed! Knoebels operations truly are world class. I was legit worried that the park wouldn't be able to handle the big crowds but handle it they did! Now on to the pictures (and my thoughts...)! First off I'm gonna address the elephant in the room...is Phoenix the best wooden coaster in the world? When I first visited a couple years ago, the answer would have been yes. But since that time I have ridden more rides, and have really refined what (in my mind) should be the best coaster in the world, and...I don't think Phoenix fits that bill at all. Don't get me wrong, Phoenix is still an amazing ride, but I don't think it should be a "Top Wooden Coaster in the World". Heck I'm not even sure it's the best coaster in the park, but more on that later... For me, while Phoenix's accurately legendary almost semi-scary airtime is great, where the ride suffers is in it's layout. Drop, turn, drop, airtime hill, turn, drop, airtime hill, etc. just doesn't interest me. I've found that I really enjoy unique layouts, and while Phoenix is a good wooden coaster, I wouldn't call it the best simply because I find the layout to be a little on the boring and uninspired side. Also, is it just me or does the new station look just scream "OVERRATED!!"? I think I really liked the old unassuming station better, but I digress. All that being said, I do enjoy Phoenix, it is smooth (although admittedly not as smooth as I remember), and it's fun, but not necessarily deserving of the title of the Best Wooden Coaster in the World. Next, up is Impulse! Since both Flying Turns (which I knew about) and Black Diamond (Dang it! I LOVE that ride!! Grrrr!!) were closed, I was left to ride the 3D motion simulator...I mean lone large steel roller coaster at the park. I actually skipped Impulse last time due to my enumeration with Phoenix (which is a theme for a certain other ride at this park...what was it called again....???...can't remember now....), so this was a new experience for me. And...I'm gonna be honest...this poor ride... Not only does it have to compete against 3 incredible/unique wooden coasters, two good dark rides, fun tasty food, and a bunch of classic or rare flats, it also has THE WORST RESTRAINT THAT I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED ON A ROLLER COASTER...so far...(which by my coaster count isn't saying TOO much). I didn't experience the ride with the old trains, but I was very disappointed with the restraint on the new ones. It kinda felt like someone was pushing a cafeteria tray down on my lap the whole ride. Yeah...not good... It didn't even hurt that much it was just very uncomfortable, and made what I would otherwise consider a fun and unique ride, into something that wasn't very fun at all. Other than the bad restraint, I thought the ride was fun. It just seems a little bizarrely out of place at a park full of so many unique rides, to have a modern Eurofighter knock off. I almost wish that Knoebels would replace or supplement it with a relocated Schwarzkopf or something along those lines. I think that would be a far better (and more fun) fit for this park. Last...but certainly not least...was Twister! Like Impulse, I was so entranced by Phoenix that I didn't give it a try the first time I visited Knoebels...and man I am disappointed I did. THIS RIDE IS FUN!!!! I wouldn't call it the best wooden coaster in the world by any means, but after riding it several times this visit I think I might be in the "Twister is better than Phoenix crowd". And I think that's for the exact reason that I don't think that Phoenix is the best wooden coaster in the world, Twister had a VERY unique layout. From that weird split lift hill, to the slightly awkward transitions, to the random (and noticeably cold) tunnel this thing fits the "unique layout" bill almost perfectly. It doesn't have the amount of airtime that I would prefer, which is mainly why I don't think it's a best in the world or a top 10 necessarily, but it hands down is the best coaster in the park for me! Also, a night ride on this thing is where it's at! If I ever came on a weekday that the park was open late one, you'd find me lapping night rides on this thing all night long, it's just an incredible night ride hands down! Flying Turns (and Black Diamond, BOO!!! If you couldn't tell I love that ride!) were both closed on the days we went, but that was it as far as rides that I would have wanted to ride that were closed. And too be honest, I think Flying Turns is gonna be closed for the rest of this season, it just ain't gonna happen at this point I think. Some other tidbits... This was my first time riding the Haunted Mansion...which was good??? (I think) I wouldn't call it my favorite regional park dark ride, in fact I think Black Diamond might actually be better in my opinion. (Which, I can't confirm because it wasn't open! Sorry I'm just bummed that Black Diamond wasn't open.) I realized and enjoy that it's a classic ride, but I don't know, I think it just wasn't quite my style. I was impressed with how well maintained it was, and I enjoyed that they still had many of the classic effects (and a few modern ones) sprinkled in there. Rode the bumper cars, which were fun, but I think I actually prefer the RDC bumper cars more. The Lusse ones are great, but I just find the RDC one's more fun all around. Finished on the Pioneer Train, which I thought was cool. I like trains (it's my other passion besides theme/amusement parks), so the journey through the woods was fun, and I enjoyed the uniqueness. For food: OH MY GOODNESS KNOEBELS FOOD IS SO GOOD!!!! We had the pierogi's from the oasis, which I thought were good...but the winner for me is the Boom-Shak-A-Lak burger from the Phoenix Junction Steakhouse. This thing is soo good! I would highly recommend it to everyone who visits the park! It was so good in fact that I copied Coaster Bill (Thanks for the inspiration!) and made a "Boom-Shak-A-Lak Burger Map" so you don't miss it! Also had a sundae at the Old Mill, and that was AMAZING!!! Although it also destroyed any desire for me to have ice cream for the rest of the trip...(Cinnamon Bread to the Rescue!) Also, fun fact...Dick Knoebels has been at the helm of Knoebels for as long as my home park has been around...which is either amazing or embarrassing depending on who you ask... All in all I think Knoebels is an amazing park, and if you're anywhere near the area you HAVE to go check it out. Definitely an "A list park" for me, and I can't wait to go again. I don't know when I'll be able to escape the coaster desert to that part of the country again, but something tells me that a Knoebels 100th Anniversary Celebration might give me all the reasons I need. Looking to the future for the park, I know that they have the Bayern Curve (Any word on where that project is at?), but I would personally love to see them either relocate Blue Streak from Conneaut Lake (Because let's face it, at this rate that ride is doomed...) or attempt to resurrect like an old school Virginia Reel coaster, like they did with Flying Turns. Now that would be fun! Alright, enough about Knoebels. Thanks for reading, I have two more of these reports in the works that I hope to put out soon! See you then!