Invertalon

I am surprised Blue Streak has not be retrofit with magnetic brakes yet... That would eliminate any/all of the risk associated with running in the rain as the performance would not be changed in rain vs. dry conditions. They already got rid of the skid brakes, so the purists have already been disappointed... So why not step up to the magnetics now? You would still maintain a final section of friction brakes, but reduce all of the speed with the magnetics prior to that holding block.

I may be in the minority here, but those motels near the park are beyond creepy. I am surprised a larger chain hotel has not been built (Hilton for example), likely due to the seasonal nature of the area. Breakers Express was nice though when we stayed overnight when working at the park. I would never stay at any of the budget motels myself though... Yes, it is just a place to sleep... But I want it to be VERY clean and know there are standards being followed in terms of cleanliness. I would gladly pay more for that comfort. Curious how Breakers will look after the renovations... We may have to check it out next year when it is complete on a weekend when we are there. I only live an hour away though, so staying over is never really required. But it could be nice on a weekend.

Thanks, I really appreciate that! Ahhh yes, that makes more sense! When/if you eventually do upgrade to a full-frame body, you will love it. You just get so much more clarity, high ISO performance and less depth of field (for isolation of subjects). They have some cheaper options now as well, such as the 6D or if you can find a nicely used 5D Mark II for around the same price. I will be at the park again this weekend if anyone has "requests" for photos they would like to see, as long as the weather and everything cooperates!

5D? If so, you are using full-frame. All of the 5D series bodies were full-frame sensors. The 1D series have been mixed, depending on model between full frame and 1.3x "crop" sensors. Thanks everyone! Glad you are all enjoying the photos.

Yeah, they did look great. They don't feel great, though! Too bad the mayflies and other critters will ruin the clean trains in a few short weeks. There was already clouds of insects during our dusk MF rides. Had a nice bug collection on my arms/face afterward.

Canon 5D Mark III with a variety of lenses. For this visit, 90% of all the shots were with my 300mm f/2.8 II IS lens (along with 1.4x and 2.0x extenders for 420mm and 600mm when desired) and a few wider ones with my 24-70 II. I also have a 17-40 f/4 and 70-200 f/2.8 II IS, but those did not come in the bag this visit. Next weekend I will likely be using my 17-40 a majority of the time to get more ambient photos.

No problem! It was good it was pointed out to me as they looked fine in Lightroom prior to upload on Flickr, and I really did not pay close attention once they were uploaded. But I do see now that my default pre-sets no longer work with this specific lens. I re-uploaded my entire set on Flickr with reduced sharpening at export (usually at "normal" but now "low"). I also reduced my sharpening in Lightroom to account for the lens, which again, is new for me this season and I suppose I have to adjust my workflow a bit for its insane sharpness/resolution (good problem to have, I suppose!). I did not notice any artifacts or anything prior to upload before, but Flickr does add additional sharpening on upload which pushed it over the top. They should be a bit better now. I replaced all the images and also added more to the collection on here. Appreciate the compliments everyone. I will likely have more next weekend which I will add to this post instead of making another post. More wide/ambient shots and probably way too many of the petting farm that was updated... Speaking of which, they did awesome with that! No longer is it just goats on a cement slab, but individual stations with many more animals! Alpacas, goats, llama, bunnies, chickens, ducks, turkeys, cows and others. They did a really great job with it! They added a feed station where you can buy food for $1 and everyone was loving it. Sunday was amazing for riding. We heard it was dead so made sure to get to the park. Arrived at 5pm (closed at 8pm) and the park was DEAD! Ended up with 1x gatekeeper ride, 2x Dragster (4 train wait front seat, walkon everywhere else), 1x Maverick, 1x Mantis (I never had such a bad ride on this) and around 8x MF rides with exit-gate cut through... Basically had ERT from 7:15 to 8pm. Was running INCREDIBLE last night. Maverick was as well, I don't remember it running so smooth since opening year. Mantis was the only oddball for the night, being unbearable with rattle/shuffle and anything else it could throw at you. I generally enjoy a few rides a season on it, but I think I will avoid it this year!

Nope, no filter. That image required quite a high shadow push in post, which brings out noise and artifacts. If you only see it on that image (or a few others like it), that is why! But my sharpening process has been the same for a long long time. It could also be because the lens I was using this day is also one of the highest resolving lenses Canon makes currently (300mm f/2.8L II IS), and my default sharpening process is now over-sharpening them. I may re-export them tomorrow with a lower export sharpening level and it should improve. It is once Flickr adds additional sharpening that artifacts do appear, so I will have to dial my end down a bit to balance it out. They look fine at full resolution on my end, it is once they are exported and resized, and flickr adds additional sharpening when uploaded (usually OK, but not in all cases).

If you only rode Gatekeeper prior to about late June, it really changed since then. It went from just "OK" media day and the start of last year to being my top ride at the park afterward. I never thought it got too bad rattle wise last year, even at the end of the season. Only if you got a bad seat, but it was isolated. I ride in the outside seats most of the time. Last year, I would estimate I rode it a solid 30 times or more throughout the season. Yesterday it was very smooth with minimal rattle. It also has much better pacing than it did when it first opened. Once they got the wheel combos worked out it really helped the ride.

I am going to just add to this thread instead of making a new topic each time since I go so often... This original post is the original Photo TR from opening day 2014. Links will be posted directly below to each update: 5/20/2014 - Click! 6/2/2014 - Click! - First Luminosity performance! 6/6/2014 - Click! - Coastermania! 6/30/2014 - Click! - Small update with some long exposure stuff. 9/12/2014 - Click! - Opening night of HalloWeekends 2014! 9/17/2014 - Click! - HalloWeekends Part 2... Mantis, Hotel Breakers, Midway Decor! 6/12/2015 - Click! - Start of 2015 Season 11/2/2015 - Click! - Valravn Construction! 11/10/2015 - Click! - Closing Day 2015 --------- Opening Day TR: We arrived at CP at around 5pm to perfect weather, fairly light crowds (I thought) and another incredible season to look forward to. Spent a few hours taking photos before putting the gear away in the car around 8:30pm and heading in for some riding. Stopped by Gatekeeper first and waited just over 10mins for the front left seat. Running really well this year! Headed right over to Raptor afterward, walking right on. Still one of my favorite rides of all time. Headed to Gatekeeper (again) for another front seat ride on the right side, waiting about 15 mins this time around. At this point, it was about 4min until 10pm and we wanted to get to Dragster before closing. Did a bit of a speedwalk and arrived at the entrance to Dragster at about 4mins after. Got in and waited about 3 trains. Amazing ride! All in all, it was a picture perfect day. So happy coaster season is back! Here are some photos from the day.... 100+ photos can be seen at my Flickr page: Enjoy! 5D3_9456.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9458.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9462.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9467.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9495.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9510.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9524.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9526.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9481.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9549.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9568.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9572.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9579.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9586.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9589.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9598.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9601.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9617.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9619.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9621.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9627.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9641.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9648.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9649.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9651.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9665.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9666.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9670.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9672.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9682.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9688.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9693.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9715.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9724.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9733.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9738.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9740.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9702.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9746.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9760.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9774.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9777.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9785.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9799.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9812.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9816.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9823.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9829.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9831.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9837.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9852.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9855.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9861.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9882.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9886.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9900.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9906.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9912.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9921.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9923.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9938.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9941.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9946.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9948.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9964.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9965.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9969.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9975.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9983.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9985.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9990.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_9998.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_0005.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_0012.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_0020.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 5D3_0044.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr

90mph is a bit of a stretch. At around 140ft on that "gentle" of a slope downward, maybe 60-65mph.

Exactly! I overheard quite a few people "bashing" Gatekeeper at the Banshee media day and I was surprised. Especially once I heard the only time they rode it was media day or very early on in the season (on three of the people in this group). The ride IMO changed quite drastically about mid-summer. Not only with the locking vest being fixed, but the ride was also going much quicker once they nailed down the wheel combo it appears. At media day, the train was just barley chugging around the course and the MCBR did not hit at all. By June/July, the ride actually had airtime on the 2nd hill and it got more forceful. The MCBR now actually has to slow the train down before the helix finale. Media day and the time around opening day, I thought the ride was just OK. I really enjoyed it, but it was nothing that special to me. However, by the end of the season it was my top ride in the park. It really did break in well. I suggest those who only rode it at the start of the season last year to give it another try.

I mean this with all the respect, but can you explain why you love it so much? I love plenty of rides that most find terrible so I am not trying to say I am right/wrong in any regard, but the Beast really is one ride that baffles me with its popularity... It is practically long straight away after straightaway with slight turns inbetween and trim brakes. So what do people find interesting about the ride (aside from the only decent part of the ride, the helix)? To consider that ride one of the best in the US just blows my mind

I still felt the trims into the final helix if I recall correctly. As well as a few other parts of the ride.

The Beast was running well, for what it is. It was very smooth and ending helix was great when we rode on Saturday. However, I still can’t help but feel it is a relatively boring ride. Maybe when I ride it at night in a few months it will make it somewhat more interesting.

My photos from Media Day:

Well if they did, it would have to stop on the lift to await the final block to clear. So sure, it's probably possible but there really is no point. I doubt 38 seconds to fully unload and load the train, as well. It seemed on Saturday, normal operation was when train 1 was in the in-line roll, train 2 would be dispatched. Train 3 would move into position and start unloading. They always stack one of the trains outside of the station, but the 3rd train still benefits capacity as it has an extra 20 seconds (guesstimate) or so to start unloading versus 2 trains if they run it well.

I assume although it functioned fine, the computer was faulting out when they ran it with people. Explains why they would test it, reopen, and as soon as a loaded train hit the brakes they cycled the people off and went back to work. Either way, after the 2nd delay it was back up and AFAIK did not have any other issues all day? Side note: The crews were so bad on opening day, IMO... Stacking like crazy. However, on Saturday it was MUCH improved and they were hitting close to interval (train clearing final block when train 2 was midway on lift and train 3 was unloading/loading). They won't get much better without stopping on the lift to wait for the final block to clear. They also had the GM in the station along with another higher-up and additional staffing which probably helped...

More like an hour before the brake issue was cleared up... The B&M guy and (4) guys on the maint. team was working on the final friction brakes. They had it open in between to run two trains with people on it, but shut down quickly again and they went to work again on it. Not a big deal, but it was not 15mins As far as the ride goes, I love it. B&M inverts are my favorite style of coaster with many in my top 10. Between Raptor, Great Bear, Silver Bullet, Talon, Montu, Dragons, BTR's, etc... I think this takes the top spot. We ended up with 10 rides total... 7x front, 1x row 2, 1x row 7 and 1x row 8. As you can tell, front was my favorite (front left, specifically). At media day, opening day and Saturday we always just requested front and they always nice enough to give it to us. BTW, I will have a photo update posted to my flickr/facebook page tonight hopefully. So far, the collection has 110 images that I need to do a final editing pass on. Keep a look out! www.flickr.com/invertalon

It's not long at all. I count eight people only waiting at the top of the steps right now.

It is. They have a FL+ entrance.

The FL+ line stretches to the entrance of the normal line. It's not that bad considering.

Beast, Firehawk and Diamondback all full queue currently.

Just reopened again at 1:05pm

In line now... B&M guy and Maint crew working on final friction brakes the last 45min it has been down. Line I would estimate at 4-6hrs easily at this point. Running three trains but stacking so bad when it is up it is practically one train op. It did reopen but ran two trains with people and down again. Work in progress on final brakes.