FeelTheFORCE

I'm jealous of everyone who gets to ride this regularly! I'm a big fan of Monster at Adventureland, and this looks just as fun, if not more!

That was more of a "there's a better chance of people losing interest in Harry Potter than dinosaurs" comment, I wasn't insinuating that interest in HP is waning. That said, I don't know if I'd consider HP that iconic. I'd put it more on par with Lord of the Rings. Many people have seen it, but there are still a whole lot that haven't.

I think being immersed in a dino world on a ride will remain popular long term, no matter which movie it's themed after. Every kid learns about dinosaurs in school growing up, and goes to museums to see the fossils and bones. I'd be more concerned about how much interest people will still be showing in Harry Potter in 15 years, than people losing interest in dinosaurs.

I'm really liking how that looks at night over the water!

^ It could be any number of things. From needing X amount of test runs to be cleared by the state, to multiple parties completing an investigation, to perhaps needing extensive reprogramming or sensor replacement. Obviously the weather may play a factor in everything also. I'm confident that CP, RMC, and Irvine Ondrey Engineering are working as fast as they can to get this thing up and running at full capacity. Pretty excited to ride SV tomorrow, but I fully expect to only get one ride, with anything more being a bonus. I'll probably book it there first thing to see if they're handing out boarding passes, then go somewhere else until that initial surge dies down. If they didn't hand them out today though, I doubt they will tomorrow.

It looks like this weekend is going to be shot from the weather anyway, so not much of a loss there.

I'm excited to "graduate" to a larger RMC when I ride SV this weekend. Joker and Goliath are fun, but I'm sure they'll feel like intermediate RMCs afterwards.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day you're golden. I avoid this park like the plague outside of those times though. Pre-FL was a different story, but it is nice now how you don't have to strategically plan so much anymore with CP and dread going on a Saturday. Some of my best times at CP were in early May around the mid to late 2000s. The park was an absolute ghost town, and they were so desperate to attract people, they offered specific early May weekday package deals to the Breakers that were a steal. The package included your stay for two nights, a starlight ticket and full day ticket for two people, around $50 in "munch money," and a whole slew of other coupons in a booklet. I can't remember the exact price without digging up old receipts, but I know it was less than $300. I remember frequently being the only ones walking on pathways, but everything was still open, so no complaints there. But in recent years (the past 5 years or so), we've been going on Mother's Day, which has been the second weekend they're open. I think maybe once it fell on the Sunday of opening weekend, but I don't recall ever having an opening day-like experience.

You must not have been around executives much, man. Their daddies didn't pay for their Yale education--ahem, for a smart poor kid to do their Yale homework for them--so they can "labor." It’s their park, they should be able to do what they want. Don’t like it, don’t go. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I chuckled at your reply to me, so all was not lost, haha.

Looks like they ditched the boarding passes and at one point started just letting everyone in line.

That Boardwalk looks amazing! I can't wait to see what else they're planning. It's definitely a shame that this is a problem year after year, and I've related to the frustration of many during early season visits, but I can understand their reasons for the issues. Maybe they can add some sort of disclaimer that the park is still in "technical rehearsal" for the summer season, and everyone's patience is appreciated?

I think there's too much of an "honor system" aspect, and could definitely see the system being heavily abused in the US for line jumping as well.

Those damn executives. How dare they enjoy the fruit of their labor. And how dare one of the many moving parts of a complicated system malfunction at a time like this. It's all a conspiracy, man.

Sort of reminds me of Magnum's incident a few years back. At least after today they'll have until Friday to work everything out with no pressure of people waiting to ride. EDIT: Sounds like according to Twitter, it spent most or all of exclusive ride time testing, and is now open with single train operations. Boarding passes are also being handed out with a time window to enter the line.

I do like how KI markets Racer as "vintage," themed loosely after the 50s/60s with that same type of music in the station as well.

I don't know what you guys are talking about...putting my "Gatekeeper 12th ever public rider" plaque as my Tinder profile picture has gotten me so many dates. CP used to jump right into daily operations, but adding that "trial run" opening weekend a week before they normally opened was a great decision. The people who *have* to be there at opening have already gotten their fill, and a lot of the opening day bugs in the operations are worked out. Weekend 2 is honestly the way to go if you're not coming from far away and weekdays are not an option. I thoroughly enjoyed how many times I was walking right on Valravn at will with FL+ in it's opening year, when just a week before poor saps were waiting X amount of hours in line.

It's not my cup of tea either. I agree that it makes my somewhat self-conscious personality feel even a little more dorky about this hobby. Even so, people seem to enjoy it and these little themeing and story elements also appear to be appreciated by coaster lovers. If it's for the greater good I'm all for it. I think they're very hit or miss. Most of them are cheesy add-ons that no one will remember or even ever know about, but some aren't bad once you dig into the backstory a bit, especially on the smaller coasters. Even though I'm assuming it was mainly so you had something to look at while they were intentionally stacking two trains, I actually really liked the creativity of Mystic Timbers' backstory once I read into it. But that was just it, I had to actively research it, the first few times I rode it I was lost. While a nice touch (I guess?), TT and SV definitely are different breeds that don't need any supporting backstories to make them better.

That's pretty awesome!

The Beast on Saturday night under a full moon.

The Beast was unreal last night right before closing, with a full moon.

Awesome report and coverage, Robb! Really looking forward to my visit in a couple of weeks!

Amazing coverage of media day to everyone all around! I spend Mother's Day with my mom at Cedar Point every year, and this year is going to be one for the books. I'm really excited to ride this with her for the first time!

I'm with AJ. I don't think there's any doubt that Kennywood made the right decision there.

If you look at the Lakeside Midway section in blue on the right side, it lists the "Lake side stage" in box H12, the previous location of the Stadium. I take it that some sort of stage will be built there and finished sometime in the Summer?? EDIT: Here we go There was always a stage in that location underneath the stadium in front of fixed benches. I'm guessing they just decided to keep that part and maybe dress it up a bit. Perhaps so there isn't a giant void in the area while they are constructing whatever will go there.