coasterbill

Absolutely... according to the operations manager of the park No really... I'm not joking. I think this is the page where this came up initially.

So did the ride re-open by any chance? We were planning to go and ride it next weekend but we might hold off if there's a high probability that it won't be open.

Crowds on Sunday are pretty reasonable... even on a Saturday you can ride everything though the lines for rides like El Toro and Kingda Ka can be about 45 minutes to an hour. If possible I'd still get a flash pass as it allows for some re-rides. Everything you mentioned generally has a reasonable wait except for Safari which is always a nightmare (but it's a cool experience). Superman usually has a ridiculously long line so if you do want to ride it it might be a good idea to ride it first... otherwise ride Kingda Ka first (if it's open, sometimes it opens a little later in the morning) just because it's not the most reliable ride in the world and you're protecting yourself from a late-in-the-day breakdown and missing out on the ride (though it's a lot more reliable than it used to be). If possible, get a night ride on El Toro, it's amazing.

Busch Gardens Tampa is an awesome park with a ton of great animal exhibits and an awesome coaster collection. I highly recommend going there. How can you miss out on the best coaster in Florida (Kumba)? By the way, I also recommend Fun Spot in Orlando one night after you leave one of the parks. White Lightning is a really good ride and they run all of their flat rides on awesome programs with really long cycles. I also highly reccomend spending some time at Universal Citywalk after the parks close because it's awesome.

All I can think of as far as B&M accidents are the Dominator and Raging Bull deaths caused by pre existing conditions that had nothing to do with the ride.

Why? Oh well... it probably won't have any impact on the ride but it will probably slow down dispatches. This is a ridiculously stupid move by the park but they love seatbelts almost as much as they love trash cans so I'm not shocked I guess.

^^God Bless 'Merica.

That would be a horrible dream. Scorpion is a little Schwarzkopf, but it's still a Schwarzkopf with by default makes it awesome. We loved the coaster when we rode it a few months ago, and it's a great starter coaster for people not quite ready to ride the awesomeness that is Kumba or Montu.

I agree with this also, the Skyride is also very historic as it operated at the 1964 World's Fair in Queens, NY and is the only operating double skyride in the U.S. (and maybe the world, does anyone know? I know there is one in Madrid that used to be a double sky ride but it now only runs one side). It's also a pretty long skyride.

This

Well I would argue that the park took it lightly, so why can't I? I say this because they didn't do anything to prevent this from happening again... what would you possibly do? It's a freak thing and luckily he was fine. Also, there's no way he heard a car alarm going off when he was on a coaster traveling at 128 MPH. I don't think he's lying or anything, I just think it was probably early in the launch when the ride wasn't anywhere near that speed (it's a really drawn out launch).

I'd never seen that story or video before but doesn't this line copied from the story kind of cover why writing a story in the first place or going to his house to film a news segment is a little stupid? I mean... that was it. He was fine, but it hurt for 3 seconds. The media is deplorable sometimes. They didn't come at this with an over-the-top, "Theme Parks are Dangerous" angle which I give them credit for I guess... but this wasn't ever a story.

I really thought this was going to be the one from SFNE when I heard about it initially. The ride looks really cool.

Honestly I don't think you'd want to ride Kingda Ka in any type of rain in any seat. Those El Toro rides were amazing but they really hurt, and on the third ride I could barely keep my eyes open. We both had red dots all over our face and hands (we had them up of course) after riding it. I couldn't imagine riding something that went 58 MPH faster in those conditions.

^^I'm not sure if it does or not but it absolutely seems that way. Last year we went on a day where there were periods of sun and ten minutes later there could be a torrential downpour. From about 4PM to 6PM it was absolutely pouring (I don't think it's possible that it could have rained any harder) and because of that El Toro's line got down to about 15 minutes. We rode it 3 times in the rain and while it really hurt... it was absolutely amazing. I'll never forget those rides... I can't even explain how awesome they were. We also had out best rides ever on Rolling Thunder in the rain that day, but they still left a lot to be desired. After that we took the Skyride over to Nitro and as soon as we got to the entrance there was a flash of lightning and the ride closed so we never got to ride that in the rain. We waited around for 3 more hours but the lightning never stopped so the tall rides never opened (they kept most of the low to the ground flats open as well as Skull Mountain and Dark Knight). Basically if there's not lightning they'll keep the coasters open as long as the park isn't totally dead. Kingda Ka closes in a light drizzle (as it should) but as far as I know that's the only coaster that closes in the rain.

^ I want to echo this even though I usually hate to agree with Flyers fans . The ride operators at Knoebels are great all around, and operations on Phoenix and Twister are probably the best of any major coaster in America. This is mostly due to the fact that neither coaster has air gates, seatbelts or individual lap bars. They can easily unload, load and dispatch a train in 30 seconds. Last time we were there Phoenix block stopped on top of the lift because the other train didn't even reach the brake run yet. Most rides at Knoebels move the lines really quickly because of their great operations combined with their lack of unnecessary safety devices.

While I'm not a doctor, I think I'd ride Intimidator before a lot of the other coasters there. It's very smooth, it won't rattle you around at all and it doesn't have a ton of extreme forces like Nighthawk and Afterburn. I'm glad to hear your doctor gave you the okay to ride coasters again though, that must have been great news for you.

I've heard Coastermania was always insanely crowded so I've never made much of an effort to go. Is there any truth to that?

Yeah that does look pretty bad (especially the piece sticking out on the side)... but I guess it's not the end of the world. At least it's not Scream. The coaster itself looks great though.

Yes, and that operates as a totally separate entity. You're absolutely right about the financial aspect of this though... but I think it holds true for every park mentioned in this thread. If a park with the financial resources to add a coasters hasn't added one then it's probably because they didn't think it was a good investment. That being said as enthusiasts (and consumers, though we are a small percentage of the consumer base) it doesn't mean we can't voice our displeasure. That's just my two cents.

Great Adventure doesn't care about rain so it doesn't really matter. The only coaster that closes in the rain is already closed.

The lines for every ride in the front of the park die down at night. Even Raptor which is a spectacular coaster in my opinion has a very short line at night because people have already ridden it and because Dragster, Millennium Force and Maverick are the most popular rides in the park that people will likely want to have their "last rides" on. I still think Gatekeeper is a very good ride though, and it's short line at night is more of a product of it's location in the park than anything else. I don't know if the first part was sarcasm or if you're just insane. We're talking about rides at Cedar Point in the Cedar Point topic... I think it's a relevant debate and clearly a lot of other people do to.

The weird thing is that saving money can actually be kind of fun and rewarding. I'm not advocating being a complete cheapskate (for example... don't try to cut costs by doing things like putting a burden on your friends when you're "splitting the cost of something" or leaving poor tips for good service), but saving money isn't always as hard as it seems. For example... if you have a week where you really don't have many plans or bills, do something like this. Take out a set small amount of money from your bank account (let's say $100), that can be your money for the week. Don't use debit or credit cards (unless you absolutely have to... keep them with you in case of an emergency) for that week and you'll be amazed at how quickly you start doing small things that end up saving you a lot of money and how many fun things there are to do that cost you little or nothing. We do this from time to time and it actually encouraged us to do things we never do like go on hikes and walks around our house (which cost nothing, are great exercise, are a lot of fun and help you appreciate your community in ways you never have before). You'll also start trying new things for meals because you'll need to make creative dishes out of the food you already have in the house rather than going out and buying groceries when you really don't need to. If you can complete a week and stick to your goal it's a great feeling... and once you get into the habit of being smarter with your money it's a hard habit to break.

I don't agree with this at all. While Westchester County has a higher average income per person than most counties in the U.S., the cost of living is astronomical so the majority of residents are far from rich. In 2010, property taxes in Westchester were the highest in the country, with the average person paying $8,404. That's completely insane. Link. Many people live in Westchester because it's a necessity if you work in the city. Living on Long Island, in New Jersey or in Putnam / Fairfield / Dutchess / Rockland would lead to a horrible commute, taking 2-3 hours on some days EACH WAY. The average household income in Westchester is $80,297 which is actually lower than every other Northeastern county on that list I linked to earlier... but they pay the highest taxes. Before anyone jumps on me for talking about $80,297 like it's not a lot of money... let me explain why it's not when you live in Westchester. According to these numbers, the average Westchester household brings in $80,297 per year before taxes. Once you add in state and federal taxes, almost $10,000 for property taxes, an average monthly housing cost of over $3,000 (including utilities and mortgage payments) Link which adds up to another $36,000 per year, more ridiculous taxes (like the MTA tax), obscene commuting costs where you're faced with the choice of either taking Metro North to NYC for hundreds of dollars per month and paying to park at the train station or paying to park in the city for an average of about $400 per month (and we didn't even get into the fact that Westchester has some of the highest gas prices in America). Oh... and don't forget tolls which range from $5 per day to almost $25 per day depending on what bridge you go over to get to Manhattan (unless you take the third avenue bridge... shhhhh). Once you're done paying for all of that, Westchester residents on average aren't all that rich... and people are absolutely looking for a great bargain like Playland.