coasterbill

Looking good!!!

Yeah I saw that too but it took me a minute. It really did look like a 4 car train but I guess they just park really close to each other.

Congratulations again on Holiday in the Park. It's probably safe to assume it'll be the best addition to this park in over a decade. They do an incredible job with it.

You beat me to it but yeah... they had Summer Shandy through Fright Fest and possibly even Holiday in the Park but I didn't check. This alone makes Six Flags amazing.

That sounds great but whenever I go to Busch Gardens though I always feel like I should drink Budweiser. I feel like a dick drinking anything else, lol.

Since customer service has come up... Of all the parks I've been to I've seen the best customer service at Dollywood... even edging out Universal, Disney, SeaWorld and Knoebels (which are all ridiculously great). On our first visit a few years ago we were on the last train of the night on Wild Eagle in December at park close and we had the train to ourselves because apparently boring people don't like riding coasters when it's 38 degrees. We were over by Tennessee Tornado when a ride op showed up who thought we left a souvenir cup in the bin and ran down the stairs, down the ramp and around the photo building to see if it was ours. It wasn't but he gave it to us and said "Okay, well free cup then. Thanks for coming to Dollywood". That guy was amazing. In our other visits to the park we saw things like the Blazing Fury crew opening a bunch of employee gates to make it easier for a 100 year old woman to get into the train. Then they declared her the "Fire Captain" for the train and made a big deal about it so the whole station was cheering and then they opened up a bunch more restricted gates so she wouldn't have to walk up the ramp. We've also experienced over-the-top friendly employees at Tennessee Tornado and Thunderhead and Season Pass Processing. The people that work at this park are world class.

In all seriousness I'm not sure why anyone would invest a significant amount of money to be at the opening of a new ride when you know there's a risk there. We've gone to some opening days (like Fury last year or some rides at our local parks) but only when we can drive and don't have to book anything more than a day or two out. We had thought about going to Dollyood opening day and making the 12 hour drive. I get it, they open a week earlier than most parks and options are limited but now we're going to Williamsburg instead and we'll go to Dollywood later this year. I really don't suggest flying to go to the opening day of a ride or booking in advance. It'll only stress you out. But to be fair even if you did exactly that Dollywood is a killer park. If you haven't been there before you're going to love the place and now you have an excuse to go back (cough... Smoky Mountain Christmas).

For everyone going on opening day just try to focus on the important things... like the fact that now you have more time to journey through the misty mystery mine.

I think they'll respond much better and much more politely than the entitled enthusiasts will.

They decided that about 10 minutes ago? I figured that would have been part of every testing process since the beginning of time. "Hey does this thing work?". "I don't know open it up and let's find out." Translation: a bunch of coaster enthusiasts have clogged up the phone lines all with the exact same question.

I enjoy Vortex and think without the standup gimmick it would be pretty dull so I hope they keep it the way it is. It's the only standup I've ridden that I enjoy.

Holy crap, check out that themed flat ride. I'll be honest, I have some crow to eat.

Looking good! (From the SFNE Online Facebook)

I think my favorite part of March is watching the leaves change color. Awesome picture! Next weekend we're going leaf-peeping. I hope I'm not disappointed. That picture set the bar really high for March foliage.

That's about what I expected. They redid the entire thing like 10-15 years ago. Before that it was a level of awful not seen since... well since Zombie Castle. I assumed they let this version go to hell too. So cool, now the Derby Racer and Log Flume (which isn't even that great a flume) are truly the only rides worth doing.

^ Basically this... the Old Mill used to be good but I imagine they've let it go to hell.

Not that you asked but... Kumba... back row, right seat (the one closest to the exit platform). You're welcome, get ready to fly.

Oh dear God no Im missing something........ Not sure if this is a joke or an unfortunate pun. Lol

Zombie Castle is terrible and should have been removed 20 years ago.

Yeah I completely and utterly disagree. Log Flumes are the best type of water ride in existence. They get you wet, they don't get you soaked, they're not like stupid Rapids rides that only get the lower half of your body and your shoes wet (which nobody wants) or you end up soaked under a waterfall (which sucks). You know what you're getting, a fun ride experience that gets you moderately wet and can run from Opening Day until the end of October and still get plenty of riders. Usually it takes you through the woods, or through some cool theming and log Flumes always have mass appeal and long lines on hot days. As they age their popularity seems to remain high no matter what. It's not because of nostalgia, it's because they're great.

There's a shaky Livestream going on now in the park if anyone wanted to watch the Blair Witch Project, Great Adventure Edition. All screengrabs are of course courtesy of that Livestream that I linked to. Also a few things to note - Apparently Nitro's supports and Batman got some paint during the offseason. - Nitro is testing today with 2 trains and 1 in pieces. I would assume it will open with 2 to start the season... fine by me. That may happen with Holiday in the Park coasters and if so I have no complaints. - Blackbeard won't open with the park (who cares?) Really hard to tell here. Also the ride's testing which is always exciting to see. The ridiculously short off season is just about over. Why so serious? Joker Progress Another angle Sorry for the quality but the view has really opened up from the Joker queue area. Great open sight lines of the Skyway and some other crap.

I didn't hate Europe in the Air but I think it's a one-and-done ride. Once you ride it once you never need to re-ride it.

lol thanks, I don't know when the Journal News became such a minefield of clickbait and landing pages so this is pretty helpful.

I was under the impression that Renegade was running like hell based on trip reports. I hate to go on enthusiast reviews since enthusiasts are convinced Gatekeeper and Mystery Mine are rough but since I haven't ridden it that's unfortunately all I have to go on.

Well done but I have zero faith in Cedar Fair's ability to maintain a GCI.