coasterbill

Unless there's a slight breeze. Then you'll be able to hear a pin drop.

According to the Nitro greeter I asked the other day it hasn't even been discussed and unless there's snow and ice on the tracks or very high winds the "keep calm and dispatch on" policy should be in full effect. They don't care... I love them. Also you should be excited, it's a great event.

We all need to just stop and admire this post. Look... there's a thing as jumping the shark and beating something into the ground but as far as I'm concerned we haven't done that yet so keep the Skull Mountain love-fest going. I almost didn't open this thread because I figured all the posts would be unbearably stupid but I'm glad I did just for this post alone. I almost pissed myself laughing at it. Well done.

Lol...

I didn't bother asking. I counted Poinsettia Peak as 10 new credits.

Fixed No lol I got them over by Johnny Rockets right at the big tree.

That grouper should be fired immediately.

Make the trip... this event is incredible. I'm still shocked that Six Flags has put on an event with this level of quality. It's worth the trip for the waffles and Christmas tree show alone.

These are the keys to the event being a fiscal success I hope the park can pull in at least 2,500 - 3000 attendees per day. I think Ryan is probably right about the 15,000. Attendance yesterday was pretty strong. (A few pictures were posted a few pages back, the last 2 are from Great Adventure History)

For most people you're right, but if they would have done nothing but go to Wal Mart, buy one 3 foot a pre-lit pop up tree, put it at the front gate, forget to plug it in, do nothing else holiday related but let us ride a hyper coaster in New Jersey in January I would think many enthusiasts would make the drive. I know I would. I agree with this completely. I know they don't but coasters always feel faster in the cold to me.

^^I'd suggest giving it a chance, it's the best Christmas light display I've seen possibly anywhere. The only coasters open are Nitro, Batman, Green Lantern, Superman, Skull Mountain and Dark Knight. Nitro was running fine as it warmed up (the trims didn't kick on except on the mid course so the speed is fine), it delivered plenty of floater air, the other coasters all seemed to be running at a decent pace (though we didn't ride Green Lantern because f**k Green Lantern) and Batman was completely hauling... I mean hauling. To each his own but I'm still on a Holiday in the Park high. I never expected this incredible level of quality from Six Flags. The "Polar Point" area looks insane and the Christmas tree... holy hell.

Holiday in the Park is going to bring out a different crowd than other events. There were a lot of strollers and long lines for all of the family rides, the food and the holiday shows and events. Skull Mountain and Dark Knight were pretty much killing it and always had a steady stream of people moving in. The same thing happens at Dollywood, generally the coaster lines aren't that long even though the park is packed (except Firechaser Express) because it's not the major draw. The coasters are still popular but they're not the draw... generally stations were full all day yesterday but I don't know how many Flash Passes they're going to sell until they copy Dollywood's formula and realize they can give people priority show seating and use it for the Santa Meet and Greet. Flash Pass was over staffed but that's really about it, they have a slightly different type of crowd. The good news is they got a lot of families and families spend money. There were huge lines for foods, everyone was buying those Holiday in the Park drink cups, everyone was buying the smores and the Christmas ornaments were flying off the shelves. They have El Toro ornaments now BTW... just throwing that out there. Everybody go get one.

Based on your posts I guess you work at the park? I'm not questioning you but this number doesn't even seem close to being right. The midways were very crowded last night even during shows... So let's say there were 500 people in the theater at a time (seems close to being right, when we went they just about filled it), coaster trains were generally full even if it was re-rides so Nitro would have about 72 people on it at a time, Batman 32, Green Lantern 32, Superman 32, Skull Mountain 56 (2 trains) and Dark Knight was filling it's pre-show last night so let's say that's 30 people. So just if we count people on the coasters and I'm the theater at any given time that's above 750... So that would mean at any given time half the people in the park (assuming they were all there at the same time and nobody left) was sitting in coaster trains or in the theater. Maybe you take a few off because each coaster will have some empty seas for groups of 1/2/3 that's don't even out but not many. Plus Skull Mountain and Batman had full station waits for most of the day and at one point Nitro's line was back to the old hot dog cart so that's about a 20 minute wait or more. Now how can that number explain crowded midways, long food lines everywhere, long lines for most of the flats, the people on the flats, the people in the stores, the long line to meet Santa. The Mrs. Clause show that was almost always just about filled... Again I'm not questioning you but that number doesn't add up. Not even close... I mean look at the pictures on the last page (and a report of an hour wait to see Santa around 4 which is the same time Nitro's line was at it's longest point). Nitro ran well... Earlier in the day it was a little sluggish but as it kept running it really sped up. The greeter said they plan to keep switching between warm weather and cold weather wheels as needed for the event too (maybe Ryan can shed some light on how that works). Last night the mid course was even kicking on which it doesn't do when the ride really crawls.

A few thoughts on Holiday in the Park... 1) The crowd levels seemed pretty high, much higher than I expected since they did basically no advertising besides in-park and social media promotions. The ride lines never got too long but the midways were slammed with people looking at the lights, it almost felt like trying to walk around during Fright Fest. 2) The lights themselves were amazing, especially the area around the Carousel and the area around Sky Screamer. Those blue trees were breathtaking, the lights themselves are probably on-par with Dollywood's. I was really, really impressed. Combine that with the "snow machines" and fire pits and the atmosphere all around the park was awesome. 3) It seemed like all of the outdoor coasters were down 1 train with none in transfer so they seem to be in rehab. This was never an issue though. Understandable so no complaints here... 4) The Christmas tree is amazing and the show is insane. It's not so much a "tree lighting" show as a "holy crap look what our tree can do" show and it's really cool. I suggest getting one of those delicious waffles and then checking it out. 5) Before our last ride on Nitro we noticed it was in the 30's so we asked the greeter if he knew what temperatures would require them to close the coasters. He said that there was no temperature limit so as long as there was no snow / ice on the tracks or high winds it hadn't been discussed and they would probably run the coasters. I love this park 6) It's great to have Batman running forwards again. The ride was absolutely hauling despite the low temps. Anyway, this event seems like it'll be a huge success. They did an awesome job and I hope they continue doing this every year. Great job Six Flags!!!

Midways are slammed now, the lights are really blowing me away. I would never have expected this from Six Flags.

Crowds are picking up... Nitro has about a 20 minute wait even with multiple trains and the midways are pretty crowded. There are a lot of families... It's a fun atmosphere. It's not packed but the crowds are pretty solid. I'm impressed. Oh and yes, the death metal and skeletons are in full force inside "Pointsetta Peak". Lol

We tried to ride it earlier but it was down. Looks like 1 train ops on all outdoor coasters except Nitro which has two... Got to rehab those trains I guess, no complaints here. So far were having a great day. I can't wait to see this park at night. The crowds are low but the cars keep coming in, the place is far from dead. It's strange, this is one of the only times I'm hoping for crowds. This event is awesome and they need to keep doing it. It's so surreal waiting for Superman and listening to music from the Grinch. Lol

[fbvideonew][/fbvideonew] Keeping the rails unpainted keeps the classic feel to Gemini. Painted rails or unpainted rails, I don't see Gemini leaving anytime in the near future. I hope Gemeni runs forever. It's a great ride with mass appeal that has great capacity and is very unique which is hard to accomplish in a park with as many coasters as Cedar Point has. It seems to be a real crowd pleaser too, besides enthusiasts who whine about everything I've never heard a single complaint when getting off of Gemeni.

In some cases I wouldn't chalk it up to nostalgia as much as I would uniqueness. This doesn't apply to Apollo or Nitro but rides like Beast and Magnum rank like they do because there's nothing else like them. Some of the rides you mentioned that have dropped have dropped because similar rides have beat them at their own game... Rides like El Toro and Outlaw run blow Shivering Timbers and Raven away and while it doesn't make those rides any less great, they now have comparable rides that are much better that will cause them to rank lower. The fact is, there's no other coaster that can compare to Magnum XL 200. Don't take that out of context as if I'm saying it's the best coaster in the world... I'm not, but it's so unique that nothing will ever beat it at its own game so people that love it will always love it and will keep it ahead of other coasters in the rankings. No ride delivers the type of airtime that Magnum does. Rides like El Toro and Skyrush have insane, maybe better airtime but it comes in the form of parabolic hills. You can feel the hills cresting and the airtime coming on... It's awesome but Magnum is unique. On Magnum you have airtime hills that are almost triangular so one minute you're riding along and with no warning at all in a fraction of a second (especially in the tunnels) you're flung into the lap bar and convinced you're going to die (lol). It's not everyone's cup of tea, but if that's what you're into then Magnum is the best in the world at delivering it. As far as the Beast goes, it ranks highly for 2 reasons... first of all it's a very unique ride. It's one of a kind and nothing else does what it does with the 2 lifts, ridiculous ride time and the feeling of being alone deep in the woods. The other reason though is that the Beast at night is a legendary experience. I've never had a better ride on any coaster ever than I did in the front row of the Beast at night last year. Other coasters drop in the rankings because they're great, but something bigger and better comes along and tops them. The more B&M hypers that get built, the more they all sort of blend in. The more Intamin hyers that get built, the more rides like Biazrro and Superman ride of Steel blend in. They're still awesome but there are other similar rides that beat them at their own game. With Magnum and Beast though there's still nothing else like them and every new B&M hyper tha gets built just makes these rides feel more and more unique because they do things that those new rides don't do.

This brings joy to my heart.

Yeah I feel like they're having the Tempesto marketing team help them out with this. I can't believe they haven't advertised it at all to anyone except their current customer base with social media and in-park marketing. Who knows though... Maybe that'll work out for them.

Well judging by the fact that they've never held this event before we have absolutely no idea. I wouldn't be surprised if the coasters were walks ons, I wouldn't be surprised if they had 45 minute waits. It's impossible to even begin to answer that question.

I don't mind the old lights, I mind that half the bulbs are burned out and have been for half a decade. LED's would be better but I'd be perfectly content with regular lights that worked.