coasterbill

This thread is awesome. I'm so jealous.

This. Operations are always terrible the first few weeks of the season and all rides seem to suffer a ton of down time, they're generally understaffed also.

Alright, so yesterday we went to Holiday in the Park not sure what to expect. We weren't sure if Nitro would run and we weren't sure if anyone would show up but it turned out to be another awesome day! Since it's come up, let's talk about crowds. I expected the weather to keep people away yesterday. 40 degree highs aren't unusual for this time of year but when you mix in 40 MPH gusts that makes for a really cold day. "Feels Like" temperatures were in the 20's and I did think that would keep people away but the turnout wasn't bad at all. I was impressed. Were they packed? No. But they weren't dead either and the cold weather forced people into gift shops, restaurants, arcades, the fire pit areas and the hot chocolate stands... basically any place where the park would make money. As always the atmosphere was awesome and people all seemed to be having a great time. Now let's talk about rides. Despite the high winds and temps below 40 degrees as soon as we pulled in at 1:00 we saw those crazy lunatics sending Nitro trains up the lift. I often joke that the weather policy is "run it until it valleys" but it's not a joke anymore. That's really the policy. We immediately booked it to Nitro knowing it might not be long before they had to bring out a cherry picker and saw them only loading the first 4 rows of the train (not a bad idea). A few times we had slow, but normal-ish rides. The trims never kicked on at all but that made for some great air on the return run. Sometimes though when a gust hit the ride crawled. A few times we barely made it over the hill before the swooping drop into the helix. On the helix itself there was one ride where it couldn't have even been going 5mph when it got to the mid course. At one point we were all waiting to ride and everyone on the train (instead of sitting down) was turned around watching the other train try to make it through the course on a particularly windy ride. Security and the ride ops were all watching it too, the op at the panel had her faced covered because I guess it got to the point where she couldn't even watch it any more it was so close to valleying. I know it sounds like I'm exaggerating but trust me, it was nuts and I wish I took video. It can't have gone through the turn before the helix at more than a few MPH. Once the train came back somehow we expected them to tell us to exit to our right but no... they checked the train and sent it. lol I love them. To their credit by the end of the night Nitro was running great as the wheels warmed up and the winds died down a bit, they opened all rows and we could go back to enjoying our rides instead of just rooting for the ride to make it back to the station. They took a train off at one point, probably to ensure that they wouldn't have to send an empty one at the end of the night as it probably wouldn't have come back if they did. They left the train in the station after the last ride, they didn't worry about sending it to transfer off. The other coasters didn't seem to be having any issues. At one point we rode Batman near the end of the night and we had to wait a few minutes for people to show up (after about 8 it got really cold and the ride lines really emptied out). They said that due to low temps they had to have a certain amount of riders. Of course we figured it would crawl but when they finally sent a train with only 3 rows full in high winds, in near freezing temps Batman proceeded to do what it always does and blow through the course at such ridiculous speeds that it felt like a summertime night ride. Interestingly enough when we got back we couldn't even re-ride because there were people waiting for every row... go figure lol. Overall we had an amazing time. The atmosphere of Holiday in the Park really makes it seem like an entirely different park. It's a great event and everyone needs to go check it out. I know I've said this before but this event has really changed our opinions of Six Flags. They did an absolutely amazing job with this event. I still can't get over those blue lights in Polar Point. And hats off to them for working miracles to get Nitro running.

The keep calm and dispatch on policy is in full effect. Nitro is running and only loading the first half of the trains, most of the time the ops watch the trains in amazement hoping the ride doesn't valley, then when it comes back they dispatch the next one. I love this park, they're insane! Sometimes it goes through the course at a decent clip but when the wind picks up as it heads down the drop it really struggles. We got 6 rides already, still great air on the return run.

Last weekend was unseasonably warm, but at park close 2 weeks ago it was below freezing and they were slammed.

Ride wise or crowd wise? I don't think the event needs to be tested crowd-wise after the last 2 weekends.

They didn't advertise the fact that they would be open tonight at all, I didn't even see anything on Facebook. I don't know why they expected anyone to show up.

Gatekeeper is awesome, and basically everyone likes it except a few whiny enthusiasts.

Skyrush, but I still ride it once a visit because it's such a unique ride experience.

1) Montu 2) Raptor 3) Afterburn 4) Alpengeist 5) This is tough but probably Batman, I'm tempted to say Talon, Fire Dragon or even Great Bear... Banshee, Silver Bullet, Ice Dragon and maybe a few I'm forgetting would be a little lower but every invert is great.

That wasn't directed at you. Also lighten up.

Nitro says hi Tell Nitro I said "hi" back. I'm not sure what Nitro has to do with a conversation about forceful B&M coasters though... other than the fact that it's sitting next to one and shares a color scheme with it. I love Nitro but it's not forceful at all, and before someone brings up the helix go ride any Intamin or 90's B&M. Just pick one... any one will do.

We rode Steel Force over 30 times in a row without getting off during Coasting for Kids. Eventually I lost count... I probably couldn't have done that with a forceful coaster but between the long lift hill and the uneventful layout it was easy.

Wooden coasters aren't missing a damn thing. The Phoenix is almost 70 years old and beats the hell out of 99% of modern steel coasters. Rides like El Toro and Outlaw run do too. Some of the best coasters in the world are wood coasters.

We better call up those professionals ASAP and let them know how they should be doing their job. Thank god for coaster enthusiasts, otherwise these professional engineers who do this every day for a living, have degrees in it and spent years perfecting their skills would be screwed.

Since this park appeals to families I think a standard B&M hyper with floater air is the perfect choice for them. I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun. Also after riding Fury I'm prepared to be surprised by the level of intensity... I don't expect it but you never know. Fury is a complete beast of a coaster.

I'm 6'4 also and now I rarely find any Arrow coasters rough... Vortex is one of the few exceptions though, it's awful.

I know you're kidding but I just wanted to point out that Gemeni is perfect, I hope they never mess with it.

Yeah that was actually pretty great.

Looking good...

Dorney's 2016 Schedule is released. Opening day is April 30th.

That looks like a great flume, I really need to get to Moreys.

Pffft whatever... Bask in the glory... bask in it.

Sorry for the double post but this looks awesome. From Cedar Point's Facebook. ... awesome, awesome paint job. The dive coaster's cool too.

On one hand those were awful compared to these, but on the other hand the Pagoda cam was focused on Sky Ride 100% of the time and after all Sky Ride cam is the best cam.