Purplepills

Well the worst line I have been in certainly wasn't the longest. I don't actually know what the longest line was but it isn't more than an hour. I was at Thorpe Park, decided I would go on Vortex (KMG Afterburner) as the line was only 20 mins. according to the sign. 45 mins later I was getting near the front and it started to rain. A few people started ditching when the rain got heavier, but by that point I was already wet so figured I might aswell just keep getting wet. I was about 2 rides away, the rain go so heavy they shut every ride in the park bar tidal wave and evac'd the line. The worst part was possibly that I was too wet to spend 2 hours on public transport going home, so had to buy some dry clothes. The only shop I liked there was quiksilver which wasn't cheap. Perhaps down to my own stupidity and stubborness, but meh.

Yes, I speak a tiny bit of french Are you hungry?

I do not own, and probably never will own a tshirt of any kind relating to a theme park, or ride or whatever, but thats my personal choice. The idea of an unspoken rule about tshirts I would've thought is a bit strange, besides which you shouldn't not do something of this nature you want to do beacause someone tells you its uncool or an unwritten rule. At the end of the day if you're an enthusiast, it just means you like coasters/rides/parks and talking about them, I really dont think people mind how you dress! As long as its not the method described up there ^^^ by adreneline rush

Yes. Can you speak french?

A stupid mistake, all for the sake of a hat. Where I have difficulty finding symapthy for such idiocy, I do feel for the family and friends of the man, and hope the girl will be ok.

Of course! Wouldn't you like to be a pepper too?

I have to pay $3 to print my own six flags ticket using my own paper and ink and everything?! Damn you.

We're definitely doing Disney/DCA on Sunday 2nd September, and we will be there from open to close (9am till midnight DL and 10am till 9pm for DCA, park hopping when necessary). Whats the best plan to get the most out of the day? I know its going to be packed, we would like to do all that we can, with the emphasis on the more exciting rides, and I am expecting long lines during a lot of the day. Do you think we will have trouble getting on everything in one day, bearing in mind we'll be there until it closes? Is there a last entrance time for DL, say we were at DCA till 9, theres no problem getting back in? Thanks again S

Well I hope you have a good time, you should'nt have jetlag too much on the way out from UK, as long as you get an early night and sleep well you'll be absolutely fine. Its flying back to the UK it becomes a problem. Asides which the park will probably be quieter on the 7th than at the weekend anyway so you'll get more rides in.

I think by weekday he meant going between the tuesday and friday (monday is labor day), since the kids are back at school on those days. Obviously at the weekend they aren't and you can expect the park to be busier. As dude^ said its open both those days, however on the 8th there is the 'dia de celebracion', which is quoted from website as: A day of our world-renowned roller coasters is topped off with some of the biggest acts in Spanish Christian music. Saturday, September 8. Not sure if that will make it much busier or not, you might be better off going on sunday though.

I've read about the mandatory locker charges on some coasters at a couple of six flags parks, is anything like this either in operation or likely to be in operation at SFMM within the next month? Are there standard lockers you can use all day, if so how much are these and where are they? Do disney have lockers in the parks, and again how much are they? And also are any of you aware of any rides that maybe be closed during the week after labor day at SFMM? Thanks

I used the information below for a project I did, it is a few years old now but things haven't changed that much since 2003. Page 14 onwards details statistics of ride to injury ratios in US amusement parks. Some of you may also find much of the rest of the report interesting, it explains why vertical loops aren't actually circular etc, and ASTM suggested limits for g's against time, which it goes on to say have been adopted by many states as law. Which could go some way to explaining why some rides have OTSR's and perhaps why maverick's roll was removed (asides the fact it might just have been too painful). www.biausa.org/word.files.to.pdf/good.pdfs/BlueRibbonReport.pdf Back on the subject, I hope the girl makes a good recovery given the time...

Check the calender on the park website, it has all the dates and details of all events etc going on at the park.

I dont know I dont live with her. What colour is space?

You might not be 'upside down', but you are still inverted, since you're 180 degrees out from the standard laying on your front position.

An old quiksilver tshirt thats all baggy and out of shape, and my nearly old Thorpe Park quiksilver shorts. I call them that as I was forced to buy them after a massive rainstorm soaked me through whilst there and it was 2 hours on public transport back to my hotel in London. So I went on Nemesis and colossus commmando in my new shorts after the rain stopped

...health and safety violations, and really small....

they had seen it all before, so grabbed some popcorn, stockings and suspenders, a cow, and then went outside to....

Beacuse the point of business isn't to make money. Why is there only one monopoly commission?

Thanks to both of you for the help so far especially the food details too, that should help a lot, so thats great. What sort of wait times should I be expecting, bearing in mind its midweek late in the season, and are the kids back in school by then? I know it sounds like a bit of a silly question, but I wouldn't want to be underprepared would I...If I have a backpack with me are there lockers I can put it in, or alternatively theres no problem carrying it around all day and leave it in the station during rides? Oh and are there any rides which have regular reliability problems? Only since it might be the only time in my life I get to go to the park, if something's likely to break down I'll get to it earlier in the day.

From RCDB, the definition of inversion is: Inversions - the physical number of inversions on a roller coaster. This will be half the number traveled on a shuttle roller coaster with inversions. To counted as an inversion the element must turn rides a full 180° upside-down.* I assume Guiness must count inversions as the number of times the rider goes upside down. As has been said in the other posts, it really is a matter of personal opinion. For me, I would count a Boomerang as having 3 inversions not 6, solely as its the same three parts of track ridden through twice. On the point of racing coasters, I would count that as 2 different coasters, even though they are basically cloned. *Edit: They do still appear to count inclined loops such as the one on Riddler's Revenge as inversions though, even if by their definition its technically not one.

Nowadays there isn't really any coaster or other ride that scares me, unless I look at it and it looks as though it might fall apart. If I think I am going to be safe I haven't any fear atall. The coster I did put off for the longest when I was younger was the Black Hole at Alton Towers, probably from hearing about its 'pitch black vertical drop' and various other scary stories. I eventually plucked up the courage when I was in line for the Beast and overheard someone saying it was just the Black Hole outdoors. It became one of my favourite rides, just a shame its no longer there.

OK so we're going to LA in September for 7 days (from UK) and I'm wondering if some of you lovely people can help me with my trip planning. Its not just a coaster trip, we're planning on going to Universal, Magic Mountain, Sea World, Disney, and doing the whole Hollywood thing etc. The only bad thing is that we arrive on the 1st, and the 3rd is Labor(?) day, so wherever we go then I'm guessing it will be packed. I basically have some questions, if anyone can help it is much appreciated! Oh and I know about Knotts but we're aren't planning on going, unless its a last minute thing. Magic Mountain: How long is it likely to take to drive there from Anaheim (its opening at 10am)? I was thinking the best day to go to avoid the crowds would be either Wednesday 5th or Thursday 6th, is this sensible, and is it worth getting flash passes aswell? When we get to the park, where should we go first? My preferred rides are: X, Tatsu, Riddlers, Goliath and Scream. Oh and I've read about the expensive food/parking and all that, but I'm not too worried about the cost of it all, so we will eat in the park. Disney: We are either brave or foolish, and are probably going to Disney on Labor day, or maybe go in there on Sunday 2nd. We will probably get 2 day park hoppers so if it gets too busy we can go and do something else, and come back a different day in the week to do anything we missed. Plus I figured the park is very close to where we're staying, and it opens early and closes very late on those days, so out of all the attractions it made the most sense to do Disney on the busiest days. Even if the lines will be massive in the middle of the day. How long does it take to walk between the entrances of Disneyland and Californian Adventure? Also I was reading up about the flash pass equivalent for Disney, got a bit confused as there was conflicting information. Can someone explain them to me please! I'm pretty sure they would be worth getting on those days, can you buy them separately if you already have a park hopper ticket? Everything else: We're likely to do Sea World on Sunday 2nd or Tuesday 4th, Universal and Magic Mountain on Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th, then anything else whenever it fits in. If there's anything else about any of the places including Universal and Sea World you think it might be useful for us to know, that would also be appreciated. Many thanks in advance!

Hi I'm Steve from the UK (and if you read this Chris I recognise you from Southparks), I've also been lurking for a bit but decided to post today. A little about me...I've been riding coasters for the last 20 years, but unfortunately due to distance and money I don't get to parks that often, but at least try to make it once a year. I haven't been to that many different parks, have been lucky enough to go to the states and did a few over there, also going again in September so looking forward to that. Other than coasters I don't actually do anything that interesting I'm a mechanical engineer who would like to work with coasters or buildings but unfortunately I have the wrong degree to get anywhere near anything structural! Anyway I'm at work so I better do some more 'working' Steve

Oblivion at Alton Towers last September! Its been far too long.