coasterbill

Looking at the live webcam, you can see a lot of activity going on around Dragster's hydraulic room (the door is wide open and there are a lot of people walking in and out). As of now though Top Thrill Dragster is still closed. PS: I hate these live cams, because of them I've become so unproductive. I can't stop watching.

I would also suggest the pretzels in the place across from Verbolten. They're amazing. Also, ride Apollo in the very back row. It will deliver way more airtime than any B&M should (translation: still not in the same league as Intamin but really, really good). Don't miss Escape from Pompeii either. It won't get you nearly as wet as similar rides in other parks and the theming is great. If you ride it in the front you barely get wet at all.

The bathroom is a guest bathroom, the only guest bathroom on the Safari ride and it's in a trailer. It couldn't be more public... it's built for guests. Rolling Thunder is clearly visible to guests and while Rolling Thunder's line is obscured by an ugly mismatched fence complete with the posts for it's old sign that looks terrible, it's still very visible if you know where to look. And like I said... the fence obstructing it is just as ugly. While we're on the subject of the park caring how things look though, check out what they just did to the #1 coaster in the world. ... looks klassy

lol, well that picture was also taken back in 2008. It didn't start sucking until last year.

I can see it now, "World's Tallest freestanding Roller coaster! Right here at Six Flags Great Adventure!" Saying that you have the tallest drop of any coaster in the world is still very impressive. I'd personally word it that way, but they don't really have to worry about that as they rarely mention the fact that Kingda Ka is the world's tallest coaster anyway. If I had the world's tallest coaster I'd erect a billboard next to it like Cedar Point did but there's very little signage in the park focusing on Kingda Ka's record. As far as this new coaster, I really didn't need another reason to go back to Orlando but it looks like I'm getting one anyway. Awesome

They all look exactly the same but on the side of the train each row has a letter and a number on it (it's fairly large so you'll be able to see it when you're 1 or 2 trains away). The letter is the same for the whole train and the number is the row number. Just make sure the letter is A or B and you'll have a great ride. This is the train that sucks.

Great report! Thanks for sharing.

Hershey actually is located RIGHT near Harrisburg too which isn't a major city by any stretch but it's a decent base of locals... the Harrisburg metro area is the 49th largest metro area in the U.S. and is home to 1,228,559 people. The park really isn't quite as "in the middle of nowhere" as it appears to be.

I was just reading about this on a Cedar Point fansite because I was wondering the same thing. This is now third hand information but apparently the park is referring to it as a "significant mechanical issue" and they're hopeful it will be open by the weekend but they're not sure. It apparently broke down during the day on Monday and the trains haven't even left the transfer tracks since. In short, they're not saying what's wrong with it or how long it's going to take (which is pretty standard) and nobody on the inside has given out any more information than that.

Same here... but great report regardless.

I think the Orlando Eye will do just fine since they'll probably offer bundles with the MADAME TUSSAUDS and Sea Life Aquarium that they're building. Both of those things will likely be huge draws, especially the wax museum.

Thunderbolt at SFNE does that and always has. I wouldn't say it's common but there are definitely coasters that do it, and I actually think it's kind of cool.

I don't either... they're high capacity, smooth coasters with great capacity that are very popular. Like any good nerd I was watching the new Cedar Point video cam yesterday at rope drop and the majority of people ran right for Gatekeeper (Dragster has been closed for at least 3 days or some people may have gone there I guess). Enthusiasts generally don't like them (I actually really enjoy them myself) but everyone else seems to as they usually have long lines despite their great capacity. They are very expensive though so I'd be surprised if Holiday World went that route.

If you're planning on filling those lines make sure you add a ton of tv's or entertainers or people are going to hate your park.

For El Toro I and many others would say middle row, car 6. It isn't a wheel seat, so it is smooth as butter and equal airtime to the last row. For Nitro, many prefer front row for the view and speed factors. The airtime is similar throughout the train on Nitro- it is mostly floater airtime. Also, watch out for train C on Nitro- avoid the back of that train. I haven't ridden the back on that train, but many say it is jarring and has a severe rattle. I couldn't agree more with those tips. Especially the train C thing. If you see that you're going to be on train C just find people to ride in front of you or if you have to just let the row go empty.

That airtime hill looks great. Wow!

Hershey isn't huge corporate backing? Am I correct in assuming that they're still backing the Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company that owns the park, arenas and teams that play in them along with a ton of hotels? Personally I find it more shocking that Canada's Wonderland, Kings Island, Cedar Point and Hersheypark beat Magic Montain which is open all year while all of those parks are seasonal. Cedar Point's numbers are particularly impressive as that park doesn't even open until May when some other regional parks (like BGW) have already been open for up to 2 months. Canada's Wonderland's proximity to Knott's is really surprising too as Knott's is not only open all year, but it's open 364 days out of the year (unlike Magic Mountain which goes to weekend operations in the winter) and during the month of October they collect day admission and a separate admission for Knott's Scary Farm. I'm assuming the size of the parks plays a role though as Knott's is pretty small.

How did you get that price? Was it on the Cedar Point website? Whenever I look the prices are much, much higher than that. Good for you.

Don't be scared by the name (it sounds disgusting)... they're old bay and some other seasoning with a side of cheese. There's no crab, just seasoning that belongs on crab. All of their other food is good too.

Chickie and Pete's is the best addition to Dorney since H̶y̶d̶r̶a̶ ever. Those Crab Fries are amazing... I actually prefer the sit down restaurant near Hydra but if you're in a time crunch then the counter service location is the way to go.

Not really since they're open 364 days out of the year, if I remember correctly Cars Land hurt them a lot last year... they couldn't help but rebound a little this year.

Since you haven't ridden Kingda Ka or Top Thrill Dragster I'd actually suggest staying the extra day to ride Kingda Ka. Until a few years ago I didn't care for it but honestly there's nothing like a front seat ride on Kingda Ka (except for a front seat ride on Dragster). If you ride it anywhere else you'll be underwhelmed, this ride is a different animal in the front and you won't regret going out of your way to ride it. El Toro is still the better coaster by a mile but Kingda Ka is a great experience.

Any insight as to why Busch / SeaWorld took such a beating last year? SeaWorld Orlando was down 5% despite opening a major new ride. SeaWorld California was down 3% Busch Gardens Tampa was down 6% Busch Gardens Williamsburg was down 4.5%