Invertalon

Two stops at KI this weekend, and after three Banshee rides I can't believe how bad the ride has gotten. The rattle is downright terrible. This was three different rides and seats, no change... I was a big Banshee fan the past two years (with dozens of rides), but after this weekend it totally dropped to one of my least favorite B&M inverts. Headache inducing by the end of the ride. I hope it gets better by the time we go back later this season.

Was at KK on Sunday... Got to the park at open and was able to enjoy Storm Chaser as a walk on. Rode it four times before heading over to Lightning Run. Personally, Storm totally kills LR! LR was actually very painful for me due to the shin bars (I am 6'6") and each hill put a lot of pressure on my shin. By the end I was thankful it was over. Didn't have that issue with Storm Chaser even though the trains are similar. By the time we made it back to SC, ride was down and eventually reopened one train. Likely due to the slippage on the lift each time with one train which was interesting. Ride ops looked concerned each time it happened. Figured it eventually would be taken off. Even with one train though, only waited like 15mims for front seat for our fifth ride. Couldn't believe how awesome SC was though. Insane air hill after hill. Completely nuts! Way better than Goliath (my only other RMC) and def a top coaster for me. Only part I didn't like was the double down before the final turn. A bit abrupt lol

Hunahpu by Cigar City. Sweet/rich with notes of vanilla bean, chocolate and faint soy sauce like character. Some chili spiciness on the finish from the chili peppers. Really interesting beer. Was very good!

I found Black Widow to be so much more fun than MaxAir, personally... The switch of directions, restraints and I believe it felt faster/more intense. Don't skip it.

The thing with CP is it's impossible to predict crowds, honestly. Last year, we went probably 20 times before August and never really encountered a really busy day. Rode more last year than the past few years by far, it was great. For reference I typically don’t wait more than about 15mins for anything there (spoiled!). Come late July / Early August it finally really picked up. But almost any visit in May/June and most of July was really nice crowd wise. A mix of weekdays, weekends, etc… I have encountered busier days during the week vs. weekends, so there is no real “trend” in my experience. Weather of course is a huge part of it as well. July 4th is really, really bad though. I won’t go the park anymore those days (the firework nights). If you are there on the 6th, you should be fine though. Especially if you have FL+, you won’t really have anything to worry about. Even on normal days I could easily ride all the big rides in a day no problem. With FL+ you can hit up all the rides multiple times if you are there all day, no question. Some tips for those without FL… Hit Maverick first thing during early entry followed by MF and then get over to Dragster to get in line prior to opening. That is an easy trio to hit in that first hour. Following Dragster, make your way over to Magnum -> Gemini -> Mean Streak. Those should all be near walk-on in the morning. So within the first two hours you should hit 6 of the coasters already. If everything is running on time and no unexpected breakdowns, of course. Later in the evening is when you want to hit up the front of the park… Raptor, Gatekeeper, Blue Streak, Wicked Twister, Rougarou, etc… In the last 2-3 hours of the night have very short waits, even on busy nights at the park. The bus groups leave around 7ish and stuff, so the park clears out a bit which helps. CP is very doable without FL, as long as you understand the “flow” of the crowds. But as far as all the crowd predictions, good luck with that… It is completely random in my experience at the park. Days you would expect to be busy are not, and the days you expect to be less busy can be jam packed. It’s worthless to predict anything outside of July 4th (insane) and Saturday’s during Halloweekends in October (insane).

There a certain B&M without a floor that has no height limit (I am 6’5”-6’6”) that my foot hit the steps at the bottom of the lift where the steps radius up to the slope of the lift. Scared me quite a bit. I am thinking an oversight on the design, lol... Now I make sure to lift my legs a bit at that point each time. Yet on all the wing coasters that have 6’6” limits, I don’t seem to be close to anything and they try to enforce that height limit like crazy. I get asked and height checked almost each time on any of them except X-Flight I think. I wish they would open that envelope another 3-4" in design (and maybe another 1-2" in the "limit") on all rides. The only ride though I ever been turned away from due to height though was Green Lantern at SFMM, though.

My last were of my own homebrew! Smoked Robust Porter and Double IPA. Also sampled my currently fermenting Russian imperial stout which will be done sometime in Fall… At 13% ABV, it will be aged on vanilla beans, charred oak and bourbon.

Haha, no problem at all! Currently using a 5D Mark III Lenses: 35mm f/1.4L II 24-70mm f/2.8L II 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS 300mm f/2.8L II IS 1.4x III extender (for the 70-200 and 300 when needed)

Thanks! Typically I just use Adobe Lightroom for all my image editing. If not familiar, think photoshop but optimized for processing photos vs. graphic design. Very easy to edit large amounts of photos - many great tools to speed up the process. For example, if you have 50 photos in a row with the same lighting/subject or whatever, you spend a few minutes just editing one and then batch process the remaining 49 with the same edits. Stuff like that helps speed the process along and then you can just take a quick look and adjust any small things as needed. I shoot RAW format in-camera, which allows for the most latitude with editing. I would say on average I spend 1-2 minutes per image tweaking. There are a few oddballs due to poor lighting or exposure that may take more time to edit if the shot is worthy. But to give an idea, each of these sets (media day and the first rider) took me about 1 to 1.5hrs or so to sort, pick the ones I wanted to upload, edit and upload. Editing wise, typically, it is a crop/level adjustment to ensure horizons are flat/level, white balance adjustment if needed, then I go after the levels (bright/mid/dark tones), black level and contrast and finish with sharpening/noise reduction. Usually very minimal noise reduction and standard sharpness, usually default. But I will adjust the “masking” of the sharpening for higher ISO images to reduce the noise in the skies and stuff… Masking just refines the area that the sharpening is applied to higher contrast areas, basically. Useful for making things “pop” at times and reducing the noise of the image when shooting higher ISO’s. Taking photos of coasters and riders are actually the easiest in terms of camera settings… Usually maintaining a shutter speed of 1/1000 or higher (ideally) when using telephotos. When doing wider stuff you can get away with a lower shutter speed. ISO is adjusted to whatever is needed to get those shutter speeds. Servo AF tracking of course. Usually composition is the most difficult part of it, which is why I like to shove other rides in the foreground or background when possible to make it more interesting (which is why I used Raptor in the foreground and dragster/MF/Rougarou in the background). I think there are many other better perspectives of Valravn from around the park, but we had to stay in the ride plaza for both events. Looking forward to going back this coming weekend for more unique vantage points. But send me a PM or something if you want to go into more detail, be happy to help and discuss further.

Hahaha. No toppings available at this event. Just plain fries. Plus, the garlic sauce is where it's at!

Some photos from the First Rider Benefit! 1B5A4586.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4589.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4591.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4595.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4596.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4597.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4599.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4601.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4607.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4612.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4617.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4626.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4630.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4638.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4649.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4660.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4671.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4674.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4676.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4686.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4715.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4695.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4745.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4806.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4769.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4772.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4823.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4776.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4777.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4827.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4781.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4706.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4819.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4778.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A4784.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr

Thanks everyone! There should be more photos up tomorrow or Saturday as I will be attending the first rider benefit at the park tonight, so I plan to take more photos (ceremony and other things going on)... Especially if lighting is better than it was yesterday, hope to grab more photos around the ride area. I will post an update in this topic if weather cooperates.

Valravn is actually surprisingly quiet! I really think that it is less noisy that WC was, so if anything an improvement on the noise pollution in that area of the park. Raptor is far louder next door!

Posted a photo TR in another topic for those interested: http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=71835

EDIT: First Rider Benefit Photos Added! CLICKY! Today we had been given the opportunity to attend the media preview for Valravn... The park staff, as always, put on a fantastic event for everyone to check out the new B&M steel towering above the park. Throughout the day, I ended up riding it ten times... 4x front, 5x back and 1x middle. Riding each corner of the train, my favorite seat would be front right, followed by back right. Mainly for that awesome zero-g roll! Front for visuals, backseat for the more intense air down the drops. One notable "feature" of the ride is the sway of the structure at the top of the lift and at the MCBR... You can feel it rocking back and forth, a strange sensation, but definitely adds to the experience. The drops of course, are amazing! But the best part of the ride aside from the initial drop is that zero-g-roll... You just float all awkwardly through the element, falling to the side before taking the rest of the following helix. The final airtime hill is fun, better than I expected (which should get even better when the temps are warmer!). Overall, the ride has a far more "complete" feel to the layout, in comparison to Sheikra for example. The ending sequence is fun and really adds to the main feature of the ride, the drops! As expected, the views up top are unreal. Not only do you get that panoramic view of the entire park and surrounding area, you actually have time to enjoy that amazing view. Early AM the sun was rising over the lake straight ahead and it was just awesome. The location is absolutely perfect for this ride. The ride plaza looks great... The visuals of the ride all around you is unlike any other ride at CP. Very interactive. Again, well thought out and really adds to that section of the park. Now you also get the fantastic visuals of the neighbor, Raptor (which looks AMAZING by this year! Looks like the ride is sporting a new LED lighting/strobe package under the cobra roll for this year too!). Still some work going on with the lighting around Valravn, but I have no doubt when complete the lighting will be unreal (especially in the queue line). I have many more, high-res photos up at my Flickr page: HERE! Enjoy!

Airtime hill is good! I bet it is even better once it's warmer outside. Feels similar to GK's big hill. They opened the front right seats so we were able to ride each corner of the train. My favorite seat is front right, followed by back right. Front for visuals, back for those drops. Huge fan of the coaster! Will for sure be a must ride every visit. More intense than I expected as well, greyed out a few times on the pullout of the first drop. The reactions have been great from everyone else here today too. Really nice addition for the park, it really does add another wonderful ride to their already fantastic lineup. Merch selection in the gift shop is really cool as well! Loving all the additions and changes/improvements to CP the past few years! Park is better than it ever has been and continues to get even better.

Yup... Colors can be changed and tied into the other rides like Power Tower and the Ferris Wheel. And Valravn definitely has a nice pacing. It doesn't feel as sluggish like the others. Post-MCBR is a huge improvement over the others in the US... Actually has some substance to it. Just had back seat, right side... better than left side for sure! Especially in that zero-G! I would expect front right to be the money seat! Sadly can't get on that as cameras are blocking the far right two seats.

As of now the building after the dive loop is just a observation area for people to watch. They are still working on it, so maybe there will be more once complete. Lots of LED lights in the queue area, but not used this morning (not ready?). I expected it will be real nice when done!

Fastlane goes right to the station, like Fury/Banshee. No merge until that point. Queue line secret sounds fun, but I can't say anything right now. Still under wraps. Sounds like an awesome concept, though.

One cool "feature" is the amount of sway the structure has at the top of the lift and MCBR. You feel it sway side to side while on it when you are at the holding brake and slow down on the mid course. Again, the ride is very smooth and I didn't notice any rattle personally. Front seat of course is best, but backseat has some fantastic pops of air on the drops. As far as the better side, so far of my five rides, always have been seated on the left. Hope to get a few right side seats to compare.

At the park now... Valravn is fantastic. Extremely smooth as expected, the g-roll is a highlight for sure as Tony has claimed. The views are unreal from the two taller portions of the ride. I personally am not a huge fan of the restraints as they feel more restrictive on this type of coaster, for me at least (6'6" tall). I feel like I got more airtime on the drops on Sheikra with the classic OTSR's. Loading is cool... There is a TV screen that displays interval for the crew and visual reference for which seats are locked and ready to go. No doubt that the crews will be flying on this ride! The ride area is beautiful. It also looks like Raptor got some new lighting/strobes under the cobra roll. I have some pictures up from today Here!

Yep! March of Dimes as well. That slipped my mind. Raptor looked stunning with its new paint and riding better than ever. Last season it felt a bit off to me for some reason, but today it felt like its good old self again. Silky smooth. Valravn is very quiet when going around the course! It really zips around the layout quickly, I can't wait to get on it! Love the transformation of the skyline as well, from practically everywhere in the park. The whole ride plaza area looks fantastic, look forward to walking thru and most of all seeing this ride at night! Wish the weather was a bit better, but it was really nice to walk around the park again!

It is a family/friends preview day with a few select rides open (not Valravn). I am actually headed there now and will be posting pictures to my photo facebook page of anything new/exciting while walking around the park.

You can't deny that CP has the best location in the country as far as I am concerned for views/sunsets. Magical moments when riding Raptor late evening and taking a look down the midway at sunset against all the other steel in the sky. It's crazy. Excited as hell for Valravn... Huge fan of B&M dive coasters.

Have you ridden it this year? I mean seriously, if people actually think it's running good I must be out of my mind. Mean Streak, Wildcat at Hershey, Gwazi, Villain in its rougher years, etc... Those are/were fine for me... But Thunderhead? It's downright bad. My neck/spine were abused after two laps. Rode front and back.