southpuddle

One thing is for sure, the four trees that are within 500 feet of Wicked Twister are toast.

PLOT TWIST: they’re just reversing the trains and painting it purple But in all seriousness, I’m a little sad because it was the first ride I ever operated when I worked there, but I truly do not care for the ride at all.

There’s literally all day for it to open up. Don’t give up hope.

While I agree fully, it’s not so much the closing down for rain that’s the aggravation though… it’s the “we need to wait and make sure it’s not going to start raining again so we’re just going to keep everything closed even though it’s not raining anymore” that takes anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. If the rides never close down then you can make your own decision if you want to jump in line and get pelted by rain drops or not. But Cedar Point is apparently content with their rain policy, which they say is in the name of “safety” to the detriment of the entire experience.

Literally everything from Dragster (a ride with 10,000 drive tires) to Wicked Twister (a ride that uses 100% magnetic brakes) would have shut down in that amount of rain. CP is a s-show when there's the slightest mist, meanwhile I had an amazing time at KI a few weeks ago with off-and-on showers - nothing at all closed down or even went to reduced capacity in the rain. Amazing how two parks owned by the same chain in the same state can have such wildly different rain policies...

They were probably suspiciously closed “due to covid” - a lot of businesses used that as an excuse to close their bathrooms when there was zero reason or mandate. You may have luck this time around, but for the next year I suspect businesses will use “staffing shortage” as their go-to for not providing service to customers.

Had a wonderful day yesterday at the park - much better than I had anticipated considering the weather forecast. It rained off and on, but nothing closed due to weather as far as I could tell and everything was full or near full capacity despite the nonexistent crowds. A stark contrast to what would have happened at CP given the same conditions. Not sure why two parks owned by the same chain in the same state would have such wildly different rain policies. At one point Orion was running in a downpour, cranking out all three trains, which was awesome to see. Orion was awesome - tons of fun and butter smooth. That speed hill was the highlight for me - darn near ejector! Can’t wait to return when Vortex’s replacement opens, whatever and whenever that may be.

Thunderation at SDC is everything Adventure Express wants to be, but I do still enjoy Adventure Express.

On the topic of the topper track being dead: I’m at Silver Dollar City for my first visit today and rode Outlaw Run as my first topper track RMC. First ride was in the front row, and it was great - a little bumpy but definitely nothing this 34 couldn’t handle. Then we rode in the back row (row 12). Holy eff. That ride hurt me in a way I’ve never in my life been hurt on a coaster. It was brutal. Several pot holes that I swear compressed my spine a quarter inch or so. It took me by complete surprise to the point that I didn’t really even remember most of the ride because I was too focused on it being over. I’ve done several other RMCs - Steel Vengeance, Twisted Colossus, New Texas Giant, Twisted Cyclone - all obviously IBox, and Lightning Rod this year, which is mostly IBox now (and you can tell a different in the sections that were redone). But Outlaw Run today was night and day when compared to every other RMC I’ve done. It was unpleasant in the back to say the least. I did give it another try in a non-wheel seat in the middle of the train, and it was tolerable again, but yikes - if this is how topper track RMCs are going to age, it makes complete sense that no park would want anything to do with installing a new one. I also wonder if Outlaw Run being the first topper track had anything to do with its roughness, and if Wildfire, their most recent installation, will age better, but damn. I’ve always considered myself “not a wimp” when it comes to roughness - Magnum is one of my all time favorites, I’ve never been put off by a B&M rattle, and usually find traditional woodies fun when they jostle me around a bit. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

It would be a more surprising headline to read that her wig stayed on. I mean, does she stick her head out the window going down the freeway with that thing on her head?

I'm totally fine with most every wooden coaster in the world getting either this new 208 RetraK (god, RMC needs to come up with a catchy name for this) or the GCI titan track. A few parks can manage to maintain their woodies properly, but for any park that just can't seem to get a handle on it, I'd much rather enjoy a smooth coaster that's technically a steel coaster than have to pretend to enjoy the "rough and tumble" experience (i.e. pain) of a true wooden coaster.

I’m fully aware - I worked at the park for 5 summers and I guarantee you management doesn’t give two effs that everyone is working open to close - especially right now when the park is only open Friday-Sunday. They’re closing lines early because last year was a financial disaster and this is the year they’re playing catch-up.

What does closing lines early have to do with understaffing? The crew is there. This just screams of being cheap and saving on employee hours.

Slowly but surely both of the rides that Riddler was built around have all been scrapped. RIP Freefall and Tidal Wave

Slowly but surely both of the rides that Riddler was built around have all been scrapped. RIP Freefall and Tidal Wave

New paint job for Batman?! To what??? Please be back to the original

In the same way that MM isn't checking for proof of residency, I'd be astounded if they actually checked for vaccination status by doing anything more than asking "Are you vaccinated?" or making you click a box somewhere.

We could rename it to “I have a hunch it’s conveniently going to *insert park closest in proximity to me* ... The Thread!

Yeah, you’re much better off just thoroughly washing your hands every couple of hours while you’re at a theme park than you are relying on a half-assed “sanitizing” of ride vehicles. Not just from covid, but you know, the common cold, flu, etc. Thanks for the report, Vekomakid. Hopefully by June when the governor out there says all covid restrictions can be lifted, we won’t have to deal with reservations/cut capacity/blocked rows, etc.

I’ve been *pretty* good for the last year with following guidelines, and now that I’m fully vaxx’d, I’ll 100% take advantage of not having to wear a mask when I’m not required to while walking around Dollywood. I hope other parks loosen up mask requirements while walking around midways (queues and shops I totally understand) but I understand that makes it a million times harder to enforce.

I’m not sure what incident you’re referring to with MF, but the Magnum accident happened in 2007 - after 18 seasons of operating in torrential downpours with no issue. Either the rain was especially wet that day or it was a maintenance issue that was conveniently blamed on the rain.

The single best change that CP could possibly make would be to relax their atrocious rain policy. As it stands now, if you are unfortunate enough to visit the park and there is the slightest mist from the heavens, you'll be lucky to ride anything without major operational delays/removal of trains/flat out ride closures.

While I agree with this sentiment and yes, of course all guests should follow the park rules, we’ve all been dealing with this for a year now, and it should come as no surprise to anyone that compliance and enforcement of mask policies is going to be hit or miss. We see it at the grocery store, the gym, the mall, hell even on airplanes where rule following is traditionally excellent. It’ll only get worse this summer as more and more people get vaccinated and cases/deaths drop, because I’m sure masks and distancing will be with us at all parks for the entire 2021 season. So if anyone here is the type of person to get bent out of shape over a mask being worn under a nose, or a 16 year old kid park employee not telling a grown man to wear their mask properly, or if you insist on telling the group behind you to please stand on their blue dot, maybe you should rethink your park plans this summer as well. - Me, who just wore his mask properly outdoors walking through downtown Seattle to the gym even though no one would have said anything had I not, and who’s had his vaccine. *None of that was directed toward u4icmusic specifically, just a blanket statement for all 2021 parkgoers.

Nothing like cutting down a wild grove of trees to create a land themed to a wild grove of trees

Judging rides before they open is literally half the reason this website exists, so maybe don't reprimand people for doing it. Fact is it looks slow AF thru much of the first part of the ride - you don't need to experience the ride firsthand to notice this. Now the question of whether or not this is a good or bad thing is completely up to the individual rider. I think it'll be cool to have a scenic jaunt around the rockwork and other theming at a slower pace in the first half, which will give good separation between the two halves, but not everyone will have the same opinion.