IanKgtr

^^ The water park was absolutely packed Friday. In an ironically-timed turn of events, I ended up working on Roller Soaker that day. (Heck, I might have even told you how long the wait was!) Anyways, the ride is a nightmare to operate. Capacity is horrid, even with all available trains running as efficiently as possible. While I won't go into details, the operator has to run the ride a very specific way to decrease the probability of a breakdown. This decreases capacity even further, and the end result is a lot of unhappy guests who waited over an hour for a very underwhelming ride. Working at frontline, people were shocked at the wait times, and at least two-thirds of prospective riders either turned around right away or got out of line five minutes after getting in. The general consensus is that the ride is leaving very soon; it would have left yesterday if maintenance had anything to do with it. Personally, I'm all for it, and would rather see another slide complex or some other high-capacity attraction designed to deal with the huge crowds the Boardwalk gets. Three-quel, anyone?

Hate to break it to you, but it's been pretty brutal, especially on weekends. Last Saturday the attendance was a little over 39,000 and that was with an all day-concert right next door. Expect some loooooooong waits, unless you perfectly execute "the plan" (it's been posted numerous times in this thread and in others). But don't worry, Skyrush is worth it!

Being an op who has worked the bumper cars in the past, I can't possibly explain how frustrating this is on my end. I have people bring infants through the line and expect to ride with them, and then get angry because they had to stand in the line, which began at the measuring box!

There was a picture posted a few pages back showing that all the wooden supports had been removed, but the concrete footers remained intact. Might RMC still have plans for that part of the ride that don't involve the train moving at 5 MPH?

Millennium Force. Haters gonna hate. It was my first huge coaster, and I was so excited to ride it when I did. That, and it is the defining icon of Cedar Point. I love the sense of balance on the ride itself, and if you catch it in the back seat at night after a hot day, she absolutely flies.

While Kumba has excellent forces through every part of the ride, the Batman clones, IMO, just feel a little more intense. The elements are much smaller, and the ride just feels much faster-paced. Both are undoubtedly on the upper tier of intense B&M's, but the grace of Kumba's huge inversions doesn't quite match Batman's ridiculous pacing. In fact, I find Batman just a tad too intense (I black out after the first loop every ride), and rate Kumba higher because of it.

Superman at SFDK and Sky Rocket both do, but SR's inversions are more zero-g-rolls (crazy ones at that). It adds tremendously to the feeling of danger, which is always good!

Flight of Fear-- The KD one, since the KI one is awful nowadays...

What irks me is that all the supports are the same length. Surely the coaster won't travel at one height (or a multiplier of one height, supports can be stacked) for a long enough period to warrant that many supports of the exact same height. I initially thought of a launch track, but since this coaster is supposedly built to the terrain, even launch track supports would have different lengths to account for changes in topography... I'm stumped

^^ That Madhouse photo would be awesome if coupled with this idea: Think about it-- you're being pulled up through darkness while looking across at other riders, and once at the top, you sit and watch the other cars plunge into darkness, not knowing when you'll do the same! It would be amazing if pulled off right.

I got a chance to try out the new restraints yesterday. They are the exact same shape, size, and color as the old ones, and contact the exact same area of your thighs. The only difference is that the material is a little bit squishier, and it definitely helps. I'll need to go back again when both trains are running to evaluate it again, because we all know that sitting on the brake run behind the station is where the tightness of the restraints really sinks in. Only one train was running yesterday (while the other one was presumably receiving the same modifications), and zooming right back into the station instead of spending two or three minutes on the brake run made all the difference. Although the new restraints help somewhat, off-season modifications are probably necessary.

On the Montu Zero-g roll...

Well, one coaster in and it's not all that bad. The show certainly uses the term "enthusiasts" lightly though...

My biggest year was actually 2006-- it was just when I started getting into coasters, and my dad and I took a week-long road trip through Ohio to visit Kings Island, Cedar Point, Geauga Lake (at the time I didn't know how valuable those credits would become), and Kennywood. In one week, Monday through Friday, I nabbed 33 new credits. It might have been even more, but I wasn't keeping track at that point. Still one of the best weeks of my life!

I would actually advise skipping Fahrenheit on Saturday night-- the line doesn't really die down all that much, and you should be able to ride it at least twice on Sunday morning while everyone else is still in Comet Hollow (or in church). I would recommend either Lightning Racer or Storm Runner (and, of course, Skyrush) for the preview night. And if the lines are short, hit Great Bear and Comet, as both are awesome in the dark.

In the process of planning a trip for Sunday, July 8th with my fam, and was wondering if anyone in the know could suggest a plan of attack. There are four of us (all coaster lovers) and we hit parks hard. I was thinking about buying a Gold Flash Pass, as we want to re-ride everything as much as humanly possible. So, basically my questions are as follows: Is the Gold Flash Pass worth the money, and is it necessary on a Sunday right after July 4th? When should we hit rides that aren't included in the Flash Pass? *If* I only got to ride each major coaster once, where is the best seat on each?

And since a process like this would be rather lengthy, we most likely won't see it happen until the off-season. Hershey probably isn't willing to close their star attraction for an indefinite period of time simply to reconfigure the restraints. One possible solution is to reconfigure one train at a time in order to keep the other running, but we already know how poor Skyrush's capacity is during two-train operation. So there's a good chance it won't happen until the off-season.

Not bad at all if you follow the plan posted a few pages back. Do Skyrush after lunch, maybe around 1 or 2.

Show-wise, there aren't really any standouts. Showdown in Cocoa Canyon is especially dull, so I wouldn't advise sitting through it. The best seats (this is highly subjective, of course) on all the major coasters are as follows: Skyrush: Back left is the most intense, I would advise riding somewhere in the middle first to make sure you know what you're getting into. The front seat is amazing, but beware-- there is a separate line on the stairs, and it takes forever. If the noodles bother you, try sitting in the middle seats, as the lap bar tightens less there. Fahrenheit: Front row, all the way. The wait isn't much longer than other rows, and the view is fantastic. Great Bear: Back for forces, front for view. Don't ride in rows 2 or 3,as they lack any forces of any kind. Ride at night for best results. Storm Runner: A must-do front-seater, if the line is short and the ops are good. If not, row 2 has the shortest line. Station waits for this one can be longer than expected. Comet: Do not, under any circumstances, miss a back seat ride here. Occasionally the trims will be off, and it will fly around the second half. Ride this one at night too. No super-unique flats to speak of since the loss of the Giant Wheel (RIP ) Food-wise, the center of Pioneer Frontier (by Storm Runner's launch) has some great options, including Paninis, personal pizzas, and delicious lemonade. Hope this helped!

Planning a trip to the park tomorrow to try and take advantage of early June crowds (or lack thereof). I've already been to the park (once last year), so I'm aware of how to hit the rides. The last few pages don't exactly hurt either The one question I have regards Kingda Ka. I rode it last summer and thought it was awful. Maybe it was running poorly, but my ride was extremely rough and rattly, riding in row 3 or 4. Is there a specific row that gives smoother rides, or is every seat as rough as the one I had?

Don't worry about it. Anyone who calls Mean Streak a "classic" loses most of their credibility from the getgo.

Took a trip over to the park today after taking my last final exam for the year and had a fantastic day. The park was absolutely deserted for the most part, and the longest line I waited in was 20 minutes, and I rode the front seat on three coasters! Some new observations: Avoid Comet Hollow in the morning at all costs. I arrived at the park around 11, and the Hollow was packed. 20 minutes for Comet was the longest, and first, wait of the day. We were worried that the rest of the park would be as crowded, but no other area during any other time even came close. So, for anyone planning a trip, go directly to Fahrenheit first and circle Pioneer Frontier until the Hollow crowds die, most likely around lunchtime. The rows blocked off for Fast Track are a blessing in disguise. Since they are rarely ever used, waits in the rows adjacent to the chained off rows are cut in half, as people fill in the fast pass slots. In my seven visits so far this year, I have only ever seen one group use Fast Track. My friends, and most likely 90% of the GP, had no idea it existed. GP complaints about the Skyrush restraints are never-ending. On almost every train that returned to the station today, a chorus of relieved moans immediately followed the release of the restraints. While it is by no means excruciating pain, I can see their point of view. Guests at amusement parks don't expect to experience pain from any rides, especially the latest, greatest, most-advertised, and most technologically advanced coaster. Again, it doesn't feel like your legs are being cut off, but it kept several in my party from re-riding, and caused many GP to hate the ride. It's too bad. The wing seats, especially the left side, offer a completely insane experience. I rode in the back left today, and it was the most insane ride experience of my life. What kills when riding the wing seats isn't the airtime or floorlessness-- it's the laterals. I was flung out of my seat every which way-- right, left, forward. There is a specific period when the train quickly pulls out of the Stengel Dive where my whole body was thrown left, and just as I regained control and moved my body back into the seat, I was thrown right back out again by the next banked turn. The left side is still the only side where I need to put my hands down and hold on-- always immediately after the aforementioned section. The floored seats feel much more heartlined; you are eased into every turn much like a traditional coaster. I might stick with floored seats for awhile.

After ride number 8 (a front-seat, right wing, pitch-black, wind-whipped blur), I can safely say that Skyrush is now my official #2 coaster, beating out El Toro just by a hair. The airtime isn't quite as good in the front, but the drop and view completely make up for it. For anyone who hasn't ridden at night or in the front yet (better; both), DO IT!

Skyrush just two hours ago, my third of the day.