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Goliath513

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  • Birthday 05/13/1990

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  1. Sidewinder and Tower of Doom at Elitch Gardens. Station side Far side
  2. Star Flyer opened today for the season pass holder preview, and is a huge hit. It is very fast and has a nice long cycle. The ride is covered with LEDs, including on the seats, so this is sure to look incredible at night. I'm excited the park finally has a thrilling swing ride.
  3. Sidewinder at Elitch Gardens was my favorite because it's the most enjoyable coaster at the park and also meant working on the far side. Communicating with either side was a unique aspect of dispatches, and the attendant position was easy too. Both op panels offered great views of the park with the mountains in the background. Next best was Tower of Doom since it was fun to operate and test ride.
  4. Having operated Elitch's Brain Drain last season, I doubt these would be changed from manual. The ride is controlled by a joystick and is up to the operator to know when the train has enough momentum to keep going or change direction. The drive system is pretty simple and only can tell if a directional change is too fast (makes a "pew" laser sound). The difference in weight of the train has a huge effect on operation, so an empty train can go around many more times than full for the timed cycle. Automatic mode would require a complete redesign of the ride.
  5. Apparently CNL sold the park to local owners! http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_28260454/local-investment-team-led-by-kroenke-buys-elitch?source=top_stories_bar
  6. As landlocked as they are now, the new park is much bigger and still has good potential. Moving Elitch's when they did, not such a good idea. I have always thought if they waited a few more years, they could have built it where the former Stapleton airport was since that closed the same year as the original park.
  7. Yeah, when are you guys going to add a new coaster? The talk is 2017. Mega coaster with station where the Volare was behind Elitch arena. Any truth to the rumor about it replacing the VIP lot too? I was hoping that "major thrill ride" to go there would be next year. That would be the perfect spot for a Chance Hyper GT-X since the park could really use some good airtime. Another park of ours needed a ride addition and slidezilla has some similar aspects so corporate decided to send edge away. Darien Lake's 2016 project?
  8. This will be great for the water park and the big crowds all summer. I like how it extends the ride time of a bowl slide, which is already awesome on its own but over too soon. It will be built next to Tube Top and is replacing one of the pavilions. A new water slide should hold over the water park for a few years so the rides side can get some more attention.
  9. Just got back from the park with some pictures of Brain Drain. First off, let me say this ride far exceeded my expectations since my only prior ride like this was an old Ring of Fire carnival ride. This turned out to be a relaxing thrill ride with great hang time. Rode it three times today and the best ride I got was in one of the front rows. Elitch's did a great job brightening up this section of the park with the new ride. A huge improvement over the dilapidated Rainbow site here before.
  10. Looking at the trip date and the weather in the pictures, this was actually the day we were there. Mind Eraser was running great due to the cold and rainy weather, even in the back of the blue train which is usually beyond painful. It's always fun to read trip reports from here, especially ones with a positive outlook on the park. To clear things up about the Rapid Ride/VIP, seating choice when I worked there was usually guests' choice. It caused the most problems at Mind Eraser when they would always choose the front, which already had a long line and often angered guests in line. At Half Pipe, VIP was supposedly through the exit and Rapid Ride through the single rider line (I have never seen it actually used for single riders), but most often both would just come through the exit. Seats are also assigned here to ensure no groups get separated on either side of the ride. Ghost Blasters' Rapid Ride line is usually chained off to avoid confusion since its often mistaken for the ride entrance. Rapid Ride/VIP signs do not seem to cause as many problems as the labeling on the actual passes does. You would be surprised how often people came up to Sidewinder to use their pass, only to be shocked to see it's not listed on there, or they think its a different ride (one time someone was convinced it was Disaster Canyon).
  11. Until last summer when I was vising some parks out east, I thought beer sales at American parks was something widespread and was surprised to find parks that did not sell it. Elitch Gardens sells beer and some mixed drinks, and I never saw any real problems with guests drinking in the time I worked there. People get a 21 and up must get a wristband before they can buy drinks, and can carry them throughout the park. Pretty much the only catch to that is they must either finish their drink or have a non-riding person in their group with a wristband hold it while they are on a ride so it is not unattended at all. I don't understand why some think drinking responsibly is so bad for the family environment at parks when foul-mouthed teens and line jumpers are the ones actually causing more damage to that family friendly atmosphere. Besides, at $8 or $9 for a beer, really helps limit consumption and cut back on problems. And like has been mentioned, many people have only couple drinks at most, which still brings in a huge amount of revenue.
  12. I worked at Elitch's in 2010 as a ride operator and 2011 as a rides trainer. I'm living in Fort Collins, which is about an hour north of the park, but I lived in Golden when working during those two summers.
  13. Why should that determine whether the trip would be worth it or not? Last summer I did a trip to BGW and KD and had a great time without Big Bad Wolf since they have a great coaster collection and enough to enjoy a full day at the park. Keep in mind there is a rumored Intamin launched coaster for 2012, but the park is still great as it is now. SFNE/Lake Compounce would be another great choice too.
  14. To echo what I've figured out... 1. I thought there were only 7 mat slides. The two closed ones were Plunge and Flash Flood. The 5 remaining ones were Subway, High Tide, Turbulence, Cyclone and Out of Bounds. There might have been one removed earlier, but I've never found anything on it. 2. My guess is V-Max was 70 to 80 ft high since it looks about the same size as the similar speed slides at Denver's Water World. 3. I have never heard that reason. Rising operational costs are what I hear killed the park. They did however use lake water for the slides early on in the park's life.
  15. Absolutely amazing day that was at Busch Gardens. These pictures sure bring back the memories...especially our U-haul that could be seen in the parking lot from the top of Apollo's Chariot! I'm excited to see the pictures from Kings Dominion.
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