Timmyuk

We got down to SFDK friday of the easter weekend and it was an all round success, Roar was a little rough for my liking but the rest were all good, Medusa was very smooth yet still forcefull and the queue times were minimal all day even with what seemed like a busy park, it seems all the shows keep people busy. Now back in the UK but had a great holiday in California, top notch all the way Cheers for the advice

Sounds good, re-paint and all, always a shame when a park let things look tatty over time, looking forward to it. They could of atleast removed the car park lines underneath it though lol Silver star at Europa park in Germany was a bit of a car park coaster but i was not dissapointed by that at all, so my experience of car park coasters so far is all good. http://www.rcdb.com/ig1414.htm?picture=17 And its an over road Coaster too http://www.rcdb.com/ig1414.htm?picture=20

SFDK only it is then, i really can only squeeze one park in, we have loads of other stuff already planned, but i have convinced the girlfriend we can fit just one in, the conversation with her went something like, "come on its the US of A, surely the natural home of the theme park, atleast one trip has to be squeezed in somehow, and its my birthday while we are out there too" Does Medusa still looks like this, it just looks unfinished http://www.rcdb.com/ig617.htm?picture=9 That's a car park coaster in it's finest form

That sounds like the plan, even though i think SFDK actually sounds like a better park, i think the combo of CGA in the morning then Santa Cruz in the evening is better as a whole, especially as we are staying south of San Francisco so we are very close to CGA already and further from SFDK. Whats Santa Cruz like as a place? the Boardwalk sounds good obviously, i'm sure i used to have a mountain bike called Santa Cruz!

Thanks for all the input, thats alot of information. I think realistically we will probably only get the time to do one park which makes this decision quite hard, Gillroy and Santa Cruz sound great for atmosphere but the temptation of Six Flags DK and Great America for big rides is just too much, Medusa and Top Gun (sorry, flight deck) both sound great at either park, i'm a big fan of B&M Coasters and would like to try out some of these. Think my real priorities are becoming clear now, atmosphere would be great, B&M coasters would be better So Six flags or Great America? Might be able to squeeze in a trip down Route 17 to Santa Cruz anyway on top of this, but its a time thing really, won't know until we are there, but for sure either Six flags or Great America?

Sorry for not being very specific on my preferences, bit of a silly question without saying what i'm looking for. Quality of rides really, Smooth coasters, they don't have to be harsh to be forcefull, Flat rides like KMG afterburners, water rides if the weathers good. The Girlfriend (fiance by the time we leave SF) is not keen on tall rides like drop towers and we both like well themed rides and well presented parks, we also prefer a park with a nice atmosphere, would take nicer atmosphere over better rides, and preferably lots of old people so i feel young at 28 Does that help? Looks like Gillroy Gardens could be worth a go considering the above points and Six Flags assuming for Coasters? if its a nice enough place. Thanks guys

thanks for that But are either of them any good? and if not is there any worth travelling a bit further for? Cheers Tim

Hi guys I am visiting my brother for 2 weeks in April and I'm looking for recomendations for Theme Park related stuff to do in the San Francisco area, can't visit the US without a TP trip, i do have a hire car so happy to travel a few hours or more if its worth it? Looking forward to visiting the US again, i have only been to Florida before, Tampa, Orlando, Keys. Thanks Tim

No Waterviper mentioned Goliath in the post above mine, saying it was very intense, i know this is a europa topic about Eurosat.

Goliath sounds good, any ride some people pass out on has to be pretty intense. Anyway i'm going to Europa in early June from the UK, i'm really looking forward to it but i still dont really know what to expect, the more i look into it the better it all looks, i'm thinking apart from a few rides most do not look that intense though, might be a little tame for me but probably keep the wife happy, however the themeing looks excellent and the hotels look fantastic.

so many options I think i am going to have to make a few trips to your land over the coming years, too much to do.

Yes you can and i think your right, if i get the chance to visit the US again i can go to some other places then which are not so obvious.

Thats lots of information guys thank you very much, i have been to Florida but not since 1992 when i was 12. As you can imagine I am keen not to be mugged or shot on my trip, that type of excitment is just not for me. I think i will go to Florida, its been so long it will be a new experience anyway and interesting to see if i remember anything, plus hopefully i wont get mugged or shot there Plus Sheikra looks good, i really like Oblivion at Alton Towers and this looks bigger and better (not that bigger and better is always the case)

I know you all have a valid point, stick to Florida, if i have more time and cash go further out to more parks, you have so many and i have been to so few, Busch Gardens being one of them but when i was only about 12 years old, bit different experience for me now i expect.

Sounds like Florida it is then, but thats what everybody does and six flags magic mountain looks so good though, even including car park Coasters (i am oddly interested to what thats like) Decisions Decisions

Sounds like Florida it is then, but thats what everybody does and six flags magic mountain looks so good though, even including car park Coasters (i am oddly interested to what thats like) Decisions Decisions

Thats my problem, you guys are spoilt for choice and the US is a big place, Busch Gardens was a choice. but Tatsu (at the coaster capital of the world i heard) looks good and so does Kingda Ka if its working.

I am from the UK and thinking of visiting the US, i'm not going to have the time or the money to travel about to lots of parks, so i wanted to know what park (maybe a few parks if there are a few close together somewhere) would you visit? Whats the best basically?

Things and stuff you say, thats quite specific, i think you should be more general.

I thought the train was weighed before launch to calculate how fast the train needs to go to get the train over the top hat. I dont think its that simple though, i have noticed on Stealth in the UK they slowly fill the train up very time it goes round for the first runs in the morning, 2 people on run 1 then 4 on run 2 and so on until full, its to get round the problem of a full train was getting rollbacks within the first 10 launches, apparently building the wieght up slowly enables it to calculate the required power better, so maybe going from all to nothing with the wrong calculations caused a problem, all speculation again of course.

oh crap i knew that would happen, already been discussed, would be good though.

I appreciate all your site and your fine work plus i'm sure your very busy but any thoughts on a regular podcast from yourselves that we can subscribe too, so like when you do tasters for your full length dvds or random stuff like the coaster video contest entries we can automatically check them out on the Ipod. Just a thought

I am really interested to see if Thorpe Parks Stealth has similar problems being its half the size and therefore half the strain, I hope it does not have so many problems, it should be all relative, like the bigger versions have bigger cables etc, i get the feeling this is not the case.

I dont see a problem with every other weekend, thats ideal i reckon, escpecially if your in a region where parks are not open all year round.

Gtaylor yours sounds ideal, plenty of visits and quite a few different parks, i would be quite happy with 20+ visits, if only.