scooterdoug

Yesterday, 12/22, was the ideal day. It rained in the morning, but stopped before the park opened. The result: a very quiet park. I'm talking riding the front of Superman 9 times in a row without getting off. The ride ops were clearly amused, and actually helped me get the most out of my marathon. Since I was the only rider on most rides, they simply checked my restraint, then sent the train right back out. I was in the station for mere seconds before launching yet again. It was great! All day long, the only lines were for the front of any given ride. And even still, I walked right to the empty front row of Superman at various points throughout the day. I can't wait for days like this next year, when there's a kick-a$$ RMC available. Speaking of which, I may or may not have a picture or two of a very steep and curvaceous first drop. It looks cool in pictures, but it's even more dramatic in person. The curve to the right is seriously tight and sharp. I can imagine many coaster enthusiasts will prefer the back row, left side in the train once it's open, as it looks like that drop will eject you straight out of your seat before throwing you to the left. In other construction news, the pre-lift section looks completely different than what's shown in the concept animation. Instead of series of flat turns bookended by bunny hops, it's now a series of small twisting hills, similar to Twisted Colossus. It looks very cool. There isn't any track in the parking lot at the moment. And, the ledgers for the first inversion are up. That's all this time around. Enjoy the pictures! -Doug A rather crappy quality picture of the changing skyline. This is the only iPhone picture on the TR. I used my digital camera for all the rest. Like I said, steep and curvaceous. The twist to the right is seriously sharp. I find this to be an acceptable amount of steepness. A first inversion will go here, hopefully soon. I believe that scientists call it a Step-Up Under Flip. Lift hill. Workers doing something or other to said lift hill. Itty bitty twisty hills. I definitely prefer this to a bunch of flat turns. From the other side. That's all for now. I'll try to get more pictures once more track goes up.

They are hauling a$$! I'll be visiting next week...and bringing my camera with me.

I took another trip to the park today. It was cold and overcast, with occasional showers. It made for an incredibly dead park. Superman was a walk-on even at 3pm, no line ever formed. I took my friend Odette with me. She rode Superman for her first time and loved it, though spent a significant portion of the first ride panicking...as well as cursing me for bringing her on there. Characters were out. A reindeer came and danced with Odette as we walked through the park. It was cool to see the people in the costumes having fun with it. Some animals were getting walked when we were there: otters and a penguin. And, of course, there was all sorts of green and purple track to see (and photograph). So, enough about me, on to the pictures! This fellow was hanging out in the entrance plaza when the gates opened. We also saw a few of these guys. They were seriously cute. Odette said she wants one for a pet. I said that she wants most animals for pets. She said that she drew the line at a walrus. It's good to have limits. Reindeer were roaming the park as well. Odette got to get real close to one. I thought it was unsafe to have wild animals roaming freely in a family amusement park. Enough with this animal nonsense, you say? Perhaps some dual colored RMC track is more your speed. Purple and green banking out of the station. From another angle. There's now track leading from the brake run into the station. Track going up on the brake run as well. I spy a little pre-lift bunny hop. There are some ledgers at the bottom of the first drop as well. That's all for this update. Further bulletins as events warrant.

I just clicked on the link, and found an update at the top of the article stating that "All effected parks have now removed the restriction from their site." Perhaps this was a response to customer backlash?

Another update for everyone. I had a delightful visit to the park last Sunday. It was cold and windy...which meant low crowds. I got my first 10-in-a-row ride of the off-season on Superman. A couple of the rides had me the sole rider on the train. There was a significant headwind coming into the top of the ride. That, coupled with a light train due to me being the only one riding, made for VERY slow rides through the barrel roll. Very cool, but slightly unnerving. I was not surprised when they closed the ride due to wind. I spent plenty of time checking out Roar/Joker. I found some new vantage points from which to view the ride and construction, and got several pictures. Some are good, some not as good. Full disclosure: no fences were scaled, nor rules broken to obtain any of said pictures. Construction (or, should I say, deconstruction) is moving along well. The biggest thing is that Roar is now bald, meaning that all but one small portion of track has been removed. Some more ledgers have been installed, including the final brake run and the first of the pre-lift bunny hops. I'm really looking forward to seeing that gorgeous two-tone track go up. Enough from me. I'll let the pictures to the rest of the talking. Enjoy! -Doug Something seems to be missing from this lift hill... There will be a very cool inversion here sometime in the future...not soon enough for my tastes An even cooler inversion will go here...f%&k it's gonna look spectacular. Also, note the removed track on the ground...if you can see it due to my taking the photo with the sun NOT behind me. #photofail Getting cleaned up and prepped in here. Should look cool once track gets installed. Another picture of progress inside the former tangle of track. A pile of ledgers ready to be installed. Speaking of ledgers, they've been installed on the final brake run. And in this craptacular picture, if you look really hard through the sea of supports and squint your eyes just right, you can see the first bunny hop in the pre-lift section. Bad news: Roar is closed. Not to worry, the Dippin' Dots guy said that it should be back up and running next week.

I took a little trip to the Kingdom on 11/1 and took some pictures of The Joker's progress, and only just now got a few minutes to post them. Nothing too exciting happening on the ride, I have a feeling that we're gonna be the last RMC to open next year, though that seems to be the case with Six Flags and their coasters. As long as it eventually opens, they can take all the time they want. They installed some of the crossbar supports (I believe they're called ledgers?) coming into and leaving the station. It looks like the turn out of the station is banked, which it isn't in the video (I know, I know...ride animation isn't completely accurate). It makes me wonder what other differences we'll see as construction progresses. That's about all I got this time around. I think I'll be back there again next Sunday (11/15). If there's anything worth photographing, I'll post some pictures. If not, then I won't. -Doug Into the station. From the brake run into the station. Pre-drop out of the station (note the banking). Out of the station.

Yep.

Count me in for team CoasterDynamix. I've owned tons of their stuff for over a decade, and still love building with it. While I can't speak to K'nex (as I've never worked with their kits), CD has the realism that K'nex doesn't. Contrary to opinion, CoasterDynamix is very easy to build with...it's getting the track shaping to look smooth and realistic that takes time. The learning curve for building with the kit is very short and steep...you'd figure it out in no time. If I was you, I would buy the limited edition Scorpion kit (like, now...seriously, it won't be around much longer), and then use your leftover money to buy some extra parts, such as supports, bases, and/or track (it comes with 6 sections of track, but the energy provided by the 2 foot lift hill can easily get the train through 7-8 sections of track). Just my 2 cents. I love building with CoasterDynamix. It's the best coaster modelling system that's out there.

^ & ^^ Sorry to hear about your lousy visit. My wife actually asked me if I planned on going yesterday (I go roughly every other Sunday during the "off" season). She looked at me funny when I told her that I wasn't, then understood when I said "damn cheerleaders". Sucks to hear about the annoying crowds. Fortunately, that should be about the last of the Sunday crowds. November through February/March is magical...like your own, private ERT session.

I went to SFDK last Sunday. The crowds weren't too bad. I got a half dozen rides in on Superman, one on V2, two on Medusa, and one on Kong. I finally tried Dare Devil for my first time. It certainly feels way too much like a carnival ride, but I enjoyed myself. It was undeniably fun. I enjoyed my day. However, I find it hard to get as excited about going as I usually do, as everything seems so underwhelming compared to what's coming our way next summer. Speaking of which, I checked out Roar/Joker to see the progress. Some track has been removed. Track has been removed from below halfway down the first drop to about half way up the entry into the first turnaround. Part of the drop after the second turnaround has been removed as well. I saw one crane onsite. That's about all I could see happening. I'm looking forward to when they start installing track, but it doesn't seem like it'll be any time soon. I attached some pictures of what progress has been made thus far. Enjoy. First drop getting ready to get significantly steeper. Yay, you won't hurt anymore! Though, to be fair, the recent retracking did wonders for the bottom of the first drop. A view of deconstructed Roar from next to the station. A closer look.

This is a great surprise from the people at CoasterDynamix. The availability of their customizable kits is sporadic and infrequent (since they're currently focusing their efforts on other products), and these kits are their best. If anyone is thinking about buying one and has the money, just buy it immediately. I can't imagine they'll last long.

I'll be there this Sunday as well, for the same purpose. I hope the crowds are decent, as it's supposed to be sunny and 80. Still, better than Jamz. That really is an awful time to go to the park.

I find it amazing how many people complain about this in the comments of the Facebook post. I've heard about this from other parks who RMC their rides (Twisted Colossus), but I've never seen it myself. These people have no idea how lucky they are.

I think the computer that controls the lift hill was not working properly, preventing duels. Out of 8 rides on TC, I only dueled twice (as in, once on the blue side and once on the green side). The ride operators were on point and quick. We ERT riders were also prepared and ready to go. Trains were dispatching quickly. The blue side would climb the lift hill and catch up to the green side train before the crest of the hill. At this point, it looked like a perfect duel would take place. But then, the blue side would crest the hill while the green side would go over slowly, finally cresting the hill several seconds after the blue train went. Since all the ride ops and riders were doing their part (it was ERT, after all), and since I don't think (though I could be wrong) that the ride operators control the speed of the lift hill, it seems to me that the computer was at fault for such inconsistent duels, unless I'm missing something. There were just a lot of rides that should have dueled (both trains meeting up on the lift hill), only to see the blue train burn past the green train.

This was a really nice surprise for me. I was getting all geared up to do some sort of running of the bulls, but it didn't happen. Instead, it was calm, civilized, and completely pleasant. I loved that the day started out this way. Instead of arriving at TC all out of breath, I got to enjoy some nice conversation with my friend during a leisurely walk. Definitely a great way to start the day. I'll join everyone else in giving a big thank you to Robb and Elissa. The event was great, and the amount of work put into it was quite evident. Thank you again, can't wait until next time!

It's bible-thon on Saturday. It'll be insanely packed. In 2013 it wasn't that bad. The crowd for the concerts arrived in the afternoon. With all of the ERT, I was able to ride everything without any issue, and my group left the park for about 5-6 hours in the middle of the day to go drink. There was a Christian concert event in 2013? If so, then it really didn't make the waits bad at all. I hope that happens this year as well. If not, I might just bite the bullet and get a Flash Pass. We'll see.

I doubt they'll sell out, as that really only happens on the busiest of days (Saturdays during the summer, holiday weekends, etc.). You should be safe waiting until you get to the park to purchase. Even then, you might not want to purchase anyways. I went to WCB 2013, which was also on a Saturday. I found the crowds to be surprisingly manageable...and I'm someone who HATES waiting in line. So, if crowds tomorrow are like they were back then, you should be able to have a good day at the park without the use of a Flash Pass. That, and the insane amount of ERT we have, should get you all the rides you could want.

I love that our quiet little corner of TPR has suddenly blown up. It seems that RMC has that effect...

Every year I read park announcements with jealousy, wishing that my home park could get something crazy awesome like other parks get. This year, I'm just blown away that our humble little SFDK is receiving what amounts to pretty much the greatest gift from the roller coaster gods that one can ask for. I can't wait for those dead days in winter when I can just marathon this thing. The Joker looks stunning!

I visited SFFT and Lockhart a month ago, so this brought back warm (both figuratively and literally) memories. I'm glad that you tried two of the BBQ places, as I only ate at Black's. It looks like I made the right choice. The fatty brisket was easily the best I've ever had...same for the baby back ribs. I'm reluctant to eat BBQ again, as it's bound to disappoint after Black's. I'd like to visit again. I really enjoyed my time there. Thanks for the great TR! -Doug P.S. - Did you ride Iron Rattler in the back? While I preferred Texas Giant, I found the airtime in the back row on the final hill to be my favorite RMC moment...absolutely the strongest (and most sustained) airtime I've ever felt.

I just got back from a trip to the two Six Flags parks in Texas last week. I'm glad to see that you plan on going to Black's in Lockhart, because that's where I went. While I have no other BBQ joints to compare it to, I can say that I've had a fair amount of BBQ in my life, and Black's what the absolute best. I did try the brisket, and it was outstanding. When I walked into the cafeteria/serving room, it was filled with wonderful smelling smoke. I'm sure you already know this, but brisket can be ordered "lean" or "fatty". I chose fatty, and was not disappointed. It was incredibly juicy, tender, rich, and flavorful. If you have a choice, go for fatty brisket. I don't think I'll be able to go back to lean after that.

This. I get the feeling those of you saying Roar shouldn't have an inversion is because you haven't tried an RMC inversion yet. Definitely different! If your reasoning is that it would make it worse for families with little kids scared of loops... Sorry, this is gonna be the wrong coaster for those types of people. SFDK will have to get a family coaster for that. If your reasoning is you want a thrill ride without inversions... I don't think you'll be disappointed if Roar does have them and I think it will. Agreed! To add to this, it's not like the lack of inversions will magically give Roar a lower height requirement either. It's a weird thing to rally against here. I have full trust in whatever the mysterious coaster gods over at RMC will grant me for 2016! I agree as well. If Six Flags is bringing in RMC, then it won't be to make a gentle family coaster. Whatever happens to Roar, it will be an intense thrill ride...inversions or no inversions. It's just what happens when RMC modifies an existing wooden coaster.

I just visited SFOT for my first time last week. I had a good time there (though felt like I spent the day staying one step ahead of dehydration). Definitely a solid collection of roller coasters. I got to ride everything once, except for NTAG, which I rode 16 times. On a whole, I enjoyed the park and the coasters. La Vibora was fun, though those entries into the various brake runs were jarring. I enjoyed getting to experience the classic Arrow mine train as well. Judge Roy Scream was a fun little woodie. I thought that Mr. Freeze was very unique, going through the inside Top Hat was a unique sensation. Titan was great: just like Goliath at SFMM, except with the extra helix to make you feel even more drained when you exit the ride. Smooth as can be. I also enjoyed Shock Wave. It really amazes me how smooth of a ride Anton could design by hand. A definite classic. Runaway Mountain was also enjoyable. Very smooth, and the air conditioning was a very welcome treat. Batman and Pandemonium were enjoyable clones. I've ridden both before in other parks, but they were still enjoyable. Of course, the undeniable star of the day (and my primary reason for visiting) was Texas Giant. This ride blew me away. It certainly lived up to the ample hype, and ended up my #2 coaster (behind Intimidator 305). I was amazed at how smooth and quiet the ride ran. And, holy s#&t, the airtime! I loved how it was just one airtime hill after the other, all producing significant airtime...none of the floater nonsense. I didn't expect the hill before the MCBR to kick up THAT much. It was glorious. Overall, the ride just felt complete: generous airtime, laterals, steep drop, overbanked turns, a funky angled airtime hill, and even an awesome corkscrew hill thrown in for good measure. After my day there, I slept like the dead. The next morning, I was set to drive down to San Antonio. My only real need for the day was to stop in Lockhart for some good barbecue at Black's (which, by the way, was unquestionably the best barbecue I've ever eaten). I was checked out of my hotel and ready to go at 11:30. Still plenty of time (I didn't want to get to Lockhart for a 3pm dinner), so I had some time to kill. I thought of going to Zero Gravity in Dallas to try out their SCAD tower (it was suggested to me by another forum member), but decided against it. Instead, I figured I'd just go back to SFOT for some more NTAG love (hey, I've got a season pass, so it was free). I got a few more rides in before the ride broke down around 2. I figured that was my cue to start driving south. I picked up my quick La Vibora credit on the way out (it was closed the previous day) and headed out. On my drive down, I stopped in Lockhart solely for the barbecue. I stopped at Black's to get baby back ribs, fatty brisket, and a sausage. I inhaled my food, as it was that good. Like I said before, it was the best barbecue I've ever eaten. I didn't bother with any sauce, the meat was absolutely perfect on its own. I would have happily driven several hours out of my way to eat that. Fortunately, I didn't have to, as it's on the way to San Antonio (just a small detour). All in all, a good day and a half. Like I said before, I felt like I was staying one step ahead of dehydration all day. I was aggressive about drinking water, stopping at numerous food vendors to get cups of water (and many refills), as well as stops at the (unfortunately) few drinking fountains for huge drinks of water. I went though several liters of water that day, and never had to use the bathroom once (I was sweating every ounce that I drank). There were a couple of lightheaded moments that subsided quickly after I drank. Seriously, I've never felt like I was flirting with bona fide dehydration like I did during my full day there. That heat is just incredible. For Mad Hatter (who I see from a few posts previous will be visiting soon): DRINK WATER. Seriously, stop at every drinking fountain and drink lots...even if you don't feel thirsty. Any food establishment that has a soda fountain will give you a free cup of ice water. Drink lots of them, and get refills. I had three glasses at every stop I made. Just drink like mad! A great time. I miss NTAG already...especially those front row rides. I hope to go back again some time.

I just visited for my first time last Thursday. I loved the park. I thought it was charming, nicely themed, had a great coaster collection, and had a great backdrop of the sheer quarry cliffs. I focused on the roller coasters (as I usually do) and was not disappointed. I rode all the coasters (except for the kiddie variety) once, with the exceptions of Batman (2x) and Iron Rattler (18x). I started the day keeping in the front of the running of the bulls for Batman. I really enjoyed it. It reminded me of Green Lantern at SFMM, except that the seats actually spun, and it didn't leave me in pain. By the time I got off, there was a significant line, so I went around the park trying out the other coasters. I enjoyed Superman, especially the way it interacts with the cliff. Poltergeist was surprisingly fun. I would have enjoyed another ride on it, but it didn't open until much later in the day, and I was lucky to get to score a front row ride on it just before the park closed. The mine train was the best I've been on, a nice surprise. Pandemonium was identical any other Gerstlauer spinner...fun, but nothing to write home about. I tolerated Boomerang to pick up the credit, I found it to be surprisingly tolerable. Of course, the big hit of the day was Iron Rattler. I expected it to be good, but I didn't expect it to be THAT good. I'm usually a front row rider, but only 3 of my rides were in the front (and it was only a station wait for the majority of the day). The other 15 were in the back. The airtime was unbelievable. That first drop was a jarring opening to the ride, but it was nothing compared to the last drop. That was the single greatest airtime moment I've ever experienced. That made the ride for me. I also enjoyed the Zero G Roll with only a lap bar. It was a perfect weightless moment. Even the hill into the brake run surprised me. That ride really tries to buck you off! Iron Rattler easily made it's way into my number 3 spot. Just incredible. To add to it, the operations were great. Unless guests did something dumb, they cranked trains out of there with no stacking. Sometimes, I had a hard time comprehending that I was actually at a Six Flags park. I ended my day with an obscenely huge order of nachos at Chacho's (got the idea from the Good Eating Outside of Theme Parks thread). It was delicious. I'm glad I only got the medium, as the large could feed the entire city of San Antonio. I'd love to come back...we'll see if and when I do. I'm glad I got to go, and had a great time. You locals are very lucky to have such a great park in your backyard.

Thank you for the info. I figured that 2+ train operation during the summer is the norm, but I just wanted to make sure...I don't like 1 train surprises. I've already got a Platinum Flash Pass budgeted into my visit, so I'm prepared to get one if the lines are too long for my tastes. I figure that it's safe to say that they won't be selling out on a Thursday, so I'll just wait until I get there to decide whether or not to purchase one. Thanks again.