coasterbill

Knoebels.

Keep calm and Le Scoot on.

^^The question of how many parks was directed at WiCy13, believe me I agree completely with your assessment of SFNE. I bash the park but I still enjoy going there because they have some very good coasters, it could just be so much better if they had decent staff too.

The forecast says "Chance of a Thunderstorm" all week, not rain. That usually means sunny almost all day with one passing storm during the day, and probably lower crowd levels and shorter lines. Low winds too... looks like great weather to me.

Knoebels is much better than every other park you're planning on visiting on this trip. You need to re-evaluate your priorities. You're welcome in advance, if you seriously sacrifice time at Knoebels to spend more time at Delgrossos, Lakemont, or Conneaut lake you're making a huge mistake. Even if you have to cut out one of the 2 days at Carowinds for Knoebels, you should absolutely do it.

... Awesome!, sounds like you had a typical experience at the 5th friendliest park in the country! I'm not trying to be mean or sarcastic so don't take it that way, but I'm really wondering... how many other parks have you been to?

Wow, someone's a little cranky today. I was actually quite encouraged when the ride re-opened this season and it was getting positive reviews, but I've noticed lately that the responses for the ride experience are back to being incredibly negative. I don't think there's anyone out there who doesn't prefer the old train and that's everyone's feedback on the ride so I really don't know why it angers you so much when it's coming from me. lol Edit: Here's someone else who recently said the same thing you just yelled at me for saying but you didn't yell at them when they said it, who was that person? Oh yeah... you.

Speaking of taking a great ride and putting horrendous trains on it that greatly diminish the ride experience, it sounds like the consensus is that Goliath still beats the crap out of you. I'm interested to try it this weekend for myself but I really don't get why they don't put the old trains that everyone liked back on the ride.

The forecast looks fine to me, chance of rain but low winds. The forecast should make for short lines, and it's unlikely that it'll rain all day. Plus the forecast can easily change between now and then. If it does rain, check out Frontier Trail or find the coasters that landed on "Able to Operate in the Rain" when they spun the Rain Policy wheel that morning before the park opened (I'm convinced this is a thing, it's the only explanation for this rain policy).

Every time I watch Dragster roll trains the way it does I can't help but think about Kingda Ka and what a train wreck it is with Zumanjaro. I'm sure Dragster's capacity is more than twice that of Kingda Ka's.

Dragster is guaranteed to break down multiple times every day. That being said it's also open basically every single day for a portion (usually the majority) of the day. When we get in line for Dragster we assume that there's going to be a 20-40 minute breakdown while we're waiting for it and we're usually right, but if you expect it going in it's not a big deal.

Hurry up! You don't have long before it breaks again.

I'd bet money on the fact that they'll open it later today. Tomorrow you have nothing to worry about. They have Dragster on a leash now... it breaks down all the time but it's rarely closed for an entire day unless it's closed due to rain or wind.

Close enough... I'd count that as a credit. lol

This... and ride the chairlift at Lake Compounce. It's one of the more unique rides at any regional park and offers amazing views and a nice long break from walking. SFNE has great coasters but after spending a day there it'll be refreshing to visit a park where the employees actually seem happy that you're there and are slightly interested in their jobs.

Hurler at Carowinds was running great on opening weekend but it's probably turned back into the jackhammer we've come to know and "love" by now. I've ridden worse, but nobody would miss these rides if they were gone.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... Mean Streak is much, much, much smoother than Blue Streak if you ride it like he did. Lean forward... front row. I like Blue Streak and still think it's a better ride but Mean Streak when ridden like he rode it is the smoother ride (though I don't consider Blue Streak rough). Next time ride Blue Streak in a non wheel seat, middle row of any car. It's much smoother in those seats.

With that forecast I'd suggest if you're there for early entry and they're open riding Gatekeeper and Raptor first. The lines for those rides are awful in the morning once the park opens but during Early Entry they're not bad at all. Honestly I think you'll get on Gatekeeper, there's just a 50/50 chance they'll close it for awhile. The good news is they don't give up so when the wind dies down they will open everything, today is a perfect example. Dragster, Gatekeeper and Raptor have been closed basically all day due to wind and they just now started running all of them at 9PM.

I'd be willing to bet Sky Ride, Dragster, Gatekeeper, Raptor and Windseeker will close at some point as the gusts will likely exceed that speed but it doesn't mean they'll stay closed. If you see them open, ride them ASAP.

So are there any trains on Nitro that aren't running like crap? Train A was screwed up at the beginning of the season, now train B and C are running like crap too? Did they ever fix train A?

Obviously you forgot this.

Holy crap, that guy's on the boards? I just came here to post about him. He's awesome.

Are you kidding? I know you asked us to "spare the morality speech" but I'm sorry, that's flat out stealing. If the gold flash pass is doable at 55$ then don't buy it and spend that money getting into the park legally instead. Otherwise don't go.

I would think they would let you into the lot and you'd wait on the road to the toll booths which are all the way in the back. I'm just guessing though. By the way, if you don't have a Season Pass or don't have parking included with your pass don't park in their lot. All of the houses across the street from the park charge you to park in their lawn for like 5 bucks. It's closer, cheaper and you get out a lot faster.

Preach. And that snap into the brake run is the best thing ever.