AmyUD06

Well, I finally got around to posting my report from December 9th. Check it out right here.

Day 2: Knott's Berry Farm So on the advice of many, I hit the road super-early to avoid any major traffic. It mostly worked, resulting in my arrival at KBF at around 8:30 for a 10:00 opening. Oh well, plenty of time for pictures! My parking spot, with a little something in the background. Cool fountain out in the Marketplace area. Main entrance. Historical plaque. And chickens! Yes, these chickens were just wandering around, going into shops...quite amusing. At opening, I made my way inside (grabbing my Fast Lane band from the ticket checker guy? Odd) and bee-lined it for the whole reason this trip existed: Montezooma's Revenge. I wasn't sure what the weather was going to do later in the day, and I had no idea about its downtime record, so I wanted to get it out of the way. On the way, I passed by a cute and very old Ferris wheel (not operating): Finally, I had arrived: Montezooma's Revenge: What did I think of the last operating Schwarzkopf shuttle loop in the US? Honestly a little underwhelming. The launch wasn't as forceful as I thought it would be, but you do pull some serious Gs through the loop, and how can you not love that classic Schwarzkopf sound? My first ride was in the front row, and later in the day I'd grab a ride in row 11 to close out the day. Both were walk-ons with FL. 7/10. I then made my way over to the longest family coaster I've ever been on, Jaguar!. Which you couldn't tell the name from the building aside from that super-tiny sign: But I guess you could from the exit? Jaguar!: Why is there an exclamation point in this ride's name LOL? Fun little ride...no real airtime even in the back, but decent laterals. Two lift hills, super-long ride. Walk-on. 5/10. Continuing my walk around, I came across a big ol' "nope" machine right here: But I am surprised that more parks don't have these; the only other one I've ever seen was at Carowinds. I then grabbed a ride on Silver Bullet, and took a TON of pictures of it. Here are a few: Silver Bullet: Okay, I get the story. But why is the only part of the coaster that's silver the supports? Wouldn't it make more sense for the train, or track, to be silver? Whatever haha. A solid B&M invert with snappy transitions. Walk-on ride for the back row initially, with a two-train wait for the front row later in the day. Unlike most B&Ms, I actually preferred this in the front. 8/10. Next coaster up was Pony Express, with these wonky seats/restraints: Pony Express: This was my first time on one of these, and it was pretty fun! I expected the seats/restraints to be uncomfortable (as most Zamperlas are), but there was no discomfort at all! Way too short, but something like this would be a great fit for smaller parks like Dorney or Morey's. Walk-on for the front row. 7/10. Next up was Knott's Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair. KBF: RttF: Note that I have obviously never been on the old version of this. I dug the fact that the whole front of the car slides to act as the restraint. I did not dig the inaccurate gun, odd shooting mechanism (pulling on the thing on the back), or heavily screen-based nature of the ride. That said, it was cute and a fun diversion. I scored 138,000, and noted the best all-time score at the end was over 1 million, so yeah. Two car wait. 6/10. Making my way around the boardwalk area, I then came across HangTime. HangTime: It's no secret that I'm not the biggest fan of these Gerstualer coasters. That said, despite some vibration, it was a fun ride. I have to say though, the dive-drop on B&Ms is a lot better than the slanted-hold-drop of these. Walk-on for the back row. 7/10. Sorry, Chance fans, but Wipeout was MIA: I then hopped on Coast Rider: Whatever, it's a mouse. Entertainingly, they actually allow multiple cars out on the track at once - I didn't think Cedar Fair was allowed to do that LOL. Walk-on. 4/10. I then snapped a bunch of pictures of the paint work on Xcelerator, but I guess the recent posts in the KBF thread took care of that, so I'll spare you. After that, I jumped on the Timber Mountain Log Ride: Great long flume with nice scenes, but I did get quite wet, which is never very fun unless it's 80+ degrees out, which it most certainly was not. Walk-on. 7/10. Next up was the Calico Mine Ride. A ride that actually has a true operator! Here's their control station: Calico Mine Ride: This was really, really cool. Nice and long, great animatronics, and the fact that it was a dark ride with an actual driver just blew my mind. About a 10 minute wait (they were only using one train). 9/10. Next up was a lap on the Calico Railroad: This is a full-scale steam train, something you don't see in many parks. Fun fact: When I was a little kid, I was absolutely enamored with steam trains. This was just so cool to me. The actors who interact with the passengers were great too. Only thing that could have made it better was some more scenery/props along the route. 9/10. And some nerd pictures! It was Merry Farm, but you'd generally be hard pressed to tell during the day. Maybe it's just because it wasn't dark, but I didn't notice anywhere near the level of decoration that Kings Dominion does. Some rain had started to come through, which of course closed almost all the major rides. With this downtime, I took a lap on the Grand Sierra Railroad: This is a kiddie-train, smaller in scale, but still a real steam engine, which is always nice. Some cute stationary Snoopy props that told a story, even if the audio came on about 30 seconds after passing the scene it described. 5/10. Once the rain had stopped, I took advantage of my shortness and got a ride on the Timberline Twister: A classic kiddie coaster, but a kiddie coaster none the less. Couple of extremely minor pops of air, but otherwise meh. 15 minute wait for the back row. 4/10. With everything now running again, I made my way over to GhostRider. No pictures, unfortunately (even though it is super-easy to get shots of). WOW! Half-train waits for both front and back row. Insane laterals, smooth ride, nice airtime, tons of speed. I really wasn't expecting this to be as good as it is, but it's a new #4 wooden coaster for me. 11/10. I was still kinda tired, so I grabbed my second rides on Silver Bullet and Montezooma. Here's a video of the entire cycle: VID_20211209_153725592.mp4 To truly close out the day, I grabbed another lap on the Grand Sierra Railroad for the sole purpose of taking some more pictures of Montezooma. Enjoy. Yes, that's the flywheel mechanism behind the fence! So old school cool! And the loop. Something about the way these Schwarzkopf loops look just screams out to me. After that, I headed out and made the drive back to my hotel, took a shower, and then went out for the night in Santa Monica (see above). All in all, Knott's was a very fun park without many standout rides. Aside from GhostRider, nothing really blew me out of the water. The Ghost Town area was cool but not really my scene. None of the typical shows were running (entirely Christmas programming). I am definitely glad I came though, and will be back...I need those credits on Xcelerator and Sierra Sidewinder (which was down for maintenance almost the entire time I was here). Hopefully Montezooma is still around whenever that happens. Now that I've added another CF park to my repertoire, here are my updated rankings (out of the one's I've been to): 1. Kings Island 2. Cedar Point 3. Kings Dominion 4. Carowinds 5. Knott's Berry Farm 6. Dorney Park 7. Michigan's Adventure Next Up: Six Flags Magic Mountain EDIT: Sorry everyone, but I did not try the chicken....it's just not something I regularly eat. I did try the mac & cheese and biscuits from the Chicken-to-Go place, but was rather disappointed in both.

I guess it's about time I posted this report LOL. So here we go, my first time to California, December 8-11, 2021. Day 1: The Flight Out and Santa Monica My flight out was mostly uneventful, but I do have a few notes: -Flying out of BWI (Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport) was quite nice compared to Philadelphia. Might help that I was there super-early in the morning, but I didn't encounter much of any security line and the airport itself is laid out well. Parking was slightly cheaper (but you did have to take a bus to the airport), and plenty of outdoor smoking zones. Unfortunately, for me, there are about $15 dollars in tolls round-trip, so it only makes fiscal sense to fly out of there (compared to PHL) if the trip is 5 days or more. -I had a 45 minute layover in Chicago Midway, which is kinda close to Soldier's Field, for anyone who is really into overhead views of football stadiums: -That 45 minutes was barely enough time to get off the first plane, hit the bathroom, and get in line for the second plane's boarding. I don't know how people make change-plane layovers shorter than that. -Hollywood Burbank Airport was something else. Super-tiny (only one story), and there aren't even any sky-bridges - you have to board/depart the aircraft on an outdoor ramp - and extremely limited food and beverage options. On the plus side, everything in there is "street priced," meaning no typical airport markup. -Hertz left something to be desired. Yeah, I get it, there's a rental car shortage, but that doesn't mean the screen for Gold members has to be down nor that a Gold member should have to wait in a 30-minute line. By the time I was approached by an agent and directed to the cars, I had only one choice: a Ford Fiesta. -The car was nice enough I guess...drove straight and got 35mpg on my trip; a little light on power and the satellite radio wasn't hooked up, though. Anyway, after a quick pit stop at a supermarket for enough Red Bulls to get me through the trip, I began my drive to my hotel. Holy crap is gas expensive out here! I saw everything from $4.25 to $5.25 for regular; back in Delaware it's around $3.30. Good thing I got an economical car, I guess. My hotel was the Sea Shore Motel, around a block and a half off the beach in Santa Monica. Sadly, I neglected to grab any pictures, but the place was decent for what I paid. It reminded me a lot of the beach-town motels from NJ. WiFi was kinda spotty, and the AC unit was super loud, but at least the beds were hard (as I prefer). After getting settled in, I made my way down to the beach. Man, was it pretty. Though it was a bit too cold to actually lay out or go in the water (around 65 degrees), I did of course stick my toes in the Pacific Ocean just to say I did. I continued my walk northbound towards the pier...there it is! Is there where I go up? Apparently not....the only way on to the pier from beach level were the stairs on the south side, about halfway down. I took in the street performers and vendors, and marveled at the amount of homeless people just chilling, and made my way to the official park entrance. I had a good idea of what was here, so I didn't really need to walk around, but here's two pictures of the ride prices, which honestly don't make much sense to me. "I'm not paying that much to go on Scrambler 1!" Anyway, I bought a rides card with $10 of credits, and made my way over to my whole reason for being here: Nerd shots: Seriously though, who makes these trains? They had restraints like Morgans but something about them just felt off. Anyway, what did I think of the smallest, most-boring, Morgan "hyper" layout ever? Surprisingly I had a couple of pops of air in the back row, but yeah, it's a kiddie coaster disguised as an adult ride. Got two laps, at least. Ferris Wheel? Psh, the one in Grand Theft Auto 5 looks better. On that note, I was very much expecting a plethora of shops to line the beach/boardwalk area, as is seen in GTA5's rendition of Santa Monica, and was sorely disappointed. Anyway, I took a walk up to street level to grab a picture of the famous sign... ...and then grabbed some food and made my way back to my hotel via one of those awesome app-rental electric scooters like I had first experienced in Indianapolis. Seriously, every city needs these. Once I got back to my hotel, I pretty much passed right out. I had been awake for something close to 20 hours, and was definitely feeling it. Bonus: 3rd Street Promenade This actually didn't happen until the second night of my trip, but while I'm talking about the city I might as well talk about this here. Thanks to the recommendation of @ryder, I spent some time walking around this open-air shopping plaza. Plenty of street performers here too, including one awesome female vocalist on a guitar that I had to drop $10 into the case for. Surprisingly, a ton of homeless here too - I would've expected the local constabulary to keep the tourist area free of them. Most of the shops were well out of my price range, but it was cool to see. Here's two pictures: I didn't make it up to the West Hollywood area during my trip (sorry @ryderand @Nrthwnd), but did pop in to Rick's Tavern on Main and Circle Bar for some quick adult beverages. Amusingly enough, I didn't have to show my COVax card or wear a mask in any of these places. This really surprised me for the LA-Area of California, especially given that most of my bars in Philly have been requiring vaccination for months now. Do they just assume everyone has gotten the jab? Anyway, that about does it for city exploration. I wish I had more time to explore the area and check things out, but it just wasn't to be on this trip. Next up: Knott's Berry Farm

Gotta say I'm a little nervous about the changes to the big helix, but keeping my fingers crossed.

Typically you want all of the wheels on the track, y'know. But maybe that's just me.

Haha, I largely agree. I have a sore spot for SFGAdv like you wouldn't believe. As soon as I enter the parking lot this wave of desolation just washes over me. So many unpleasant memories of my time working there...not to mention the Six Flags Experiences that I can't help but have every time I go back. El Toro, Nitro, and Ka can't really counteract that.

Yeah, car rentals out there were pretty cheap when I went in mid-December for some reason. It's funny that you mention your reasoning as going as concern that Viper or X2 would be torn down; that was almost exactly my motivation for my LA-area trip, except for me it was Montezooma at Knott's. Anyway, have fun!

Hey now, Great Adventure tries too, running all trains possible on everything except Mine Train (2 out of 3 possible) and Kingda Ka (1 or 2 out of 4 possible) haha.

As of this moment, I only have two major road trips tentatively planned: June: Dollywood, Tail of the Dragon (an awesome driving road near the NC/TN border), Lake Winnepesaukah, Alabama Adventure, a day in Atlanta with a friend (possibly hitting Fun Spot if their RMC is open), and Family Kingdom in Myrtle Beach. These are all new parks to me. July: Camden Park, Kentucky Kingdom, Beech Bend, Holiday World, and a stop at Kings Island just to break up the drive home. Except for KI, these are all new parks to me as well. I'm also planning a few days down in Ocean City, MD, to hit their parks which somehow I've not yet done. I also want to get back to Orlando for Iron Gwazi/Ice Breaker/Velocicoaster at some point, and will of course be doing my normal monthly daytrips to Kings Dominion, Dorney, or Morey's. Likely a few weekend trips to Kings Island or Cedar Point. I'll probably also squeeze in a day trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg...haven't been since 2009 so there's a bunch that's new. Those two big trips might not even happen. I've got some other non-trip things planned that may eat up my budget.

+1. I think if we were seeing similar posts in other SF threads (hint: almost every park has employees on these forums), there might be cause for concern that something is going south at the Corporate level. Also, consider that its quite a regular thing in the corporate world for a new boss to give the boot to all of the old people occupying key positions and bring in their own people. Just because these individuals were fired, it doesn't necessarily mean their positions have been eliminated.

I would not object to CF, SEAS, or even Herschend buying up any of the SF parks. Even St. Louis...Mr. Freeze would fit right in at Michigan's Adventure. To the second quoted point, I would argue that SF has been running circles around CF since around March of 2020.

Grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter if he's right or not. I wasn't planning on a SF pass next year or any SF park visits so its no skin off my back. But again, I ask, what are these moves and changes and what is your source? I'm as big of a CF fanboy as they come, and even I can admit that SF has been majorly owning all of the other park chains since the pandemic started (especially CF); I find it very hard to believe that the stock holders don't like that direction for the chain.

Still sounds like a whole lot of baseless speculation from low-post-count members with no backing proof of their theories. What are these "changes/firings" of what you speak and what is your source?

Surprise opening. Maybe because Superman is still closed as of 2:00?

Holy shit is Ghost Rider insane. New top 5 woodie without question. That is all. TR of my first time at this park coming eventually, I just had to say this LOL.

Well, I got in to CA yesterday and hit up the Santa Monica Pier and their coaster. Unfortunately I was dead tired after that and went right to bed, sleeping 13 hours. Now at KBF a little early .. I didn't hit as much traffic as expected driving down from Santa Monica LOL.

Yeah, I didn't have any trouble understanding what was meant either.

Thanks @joelwee, @Nrthwnd, and @coneyislandchris for the extra tips. I fly out tomorrow, so I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes.

Nah, there's more to it than that. The four large holes are for the height, one per 100 feet, so we're looking at a Strata. The 7 medium holes indicate 7 inversions. The 15 small holes mean it'll have 15 moments of airtime. And of course, the plain white background means that it'll be a flyer. (sarcasm, of course)

Nothing but good news there. Coming together nicely.

That would be correct. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grizzly

The vest restraints on the B&M flyers are pretty different from those on the wing/dive/inverted coasters. The seats are less wide and the lap-bar portion is a bit bulkier, and actually latches into position on the sides. Those silver bars you see in this image? The lap-bar part actually clicks into those. Then of course there's the aforementioned ankle restraints. As for if it will cause an issue for you @Hasseman, I'd say probably not. Though the seats are a tighter fit, it is impossible for the vest/lap-bar to tighten over the course of the ride, as it can in the other applications of B&M vests. I'm pretty sure there's a test seat out front of the queue, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Dorney's 2022 pre-Labor Day operating calendar has been posted, at least for the dry park. https://www.dorneypark.com/calendar-and-hours . Opening day is Friday 5/13, daily operations begin Memorial Day, with 9 PM weekend / 7 PM weekday closings until the third full week of June when they move to 9PM closings all the time. At least they're not closed on Mondays and Tuesdays like last year? "Waterpark and Fall operating hours will be announced at a later date."

If they've gotta get equipment that wont fit through the access tunnel into the infield of the coaster, then yeah they can take it all the way down. That looks like a lot though, and all the better. While downright fun in the front row (it is still my #1 wood after all), other rows, especially wheel seats, can be brutal. So long as they're not changing the layout or RMC'ing the thing, I'll be content.

Photo TR: November 27th, 2021 On the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, I hit up Kings Dominion for their Winterfest event. Disclaimer: I generally hate Christmas music, but do appreciate a good stage show and very much dig Christmas lights (fun fact: I once decorated my office at work with 4,700 lights in an area like 350 square feet). So, Google maps tells me that Kings Dominion should be a 3 hour drive from my home. Knowing Virginia traffic can be nuts just south of DC, I left at 12:45 for a 5:00 opening, thinking I'd still be able to get there around 4:30. How mistaken I was...the traffic was even worse than normal, and I arrived at the park at around 5:05. Though still twilight, the main entrance was nicely decorated. Grabbed my Fast Lane band (yes, Kings Dominion does offer FL during Winterfest and honors the all-season pass add-on), and made my way to the bandstand just in time for the end of the Tree Lighting Spectacular show. Made my way down Artisan's Alley, where various craft-makers were selling their wares... ...and across the Old Virginia bridge, where the skull was replaced by a glowing sphere.... ...ducking past the Kings Dominion Theater momentarily... ...for a quick lap on Blue Ridge Tollway (walk-on), which for the holidays is transformed into 12 Days of Christmas. This drive-through features light-up decorations for each of the 12 days, and I actually managed to sync my timing with the song, which plays on an endless loop. I feel bad for those employees LOL. After that, I took in the Charlie Brown's Christmas Spectacular show, which while no different from the last time I saw it in 2019, was still a nice production featuring a ton of costume changes. Here's a bunch of pictures: After that, I strolled down to the entrance of Candy Apple Grove and the Twisted Timbers area... Unfortunately these LED sequenced lights that are on the trees were not as well synchronized with the music as in 2019. ..to take in the Holly Jolly Trolly show. Impressive enough, but yeah remember the disclaimer above? Not really my scene musically. Nice costumes though. I also hung around for The Mistletones show which immediately followed, but apparently neglected to grab a picture. I took in some more of the sights... See, we're not just about Christmas! Hard to tell because of the light, but left to right that's a dreidel, a menorah, and a kinara. Note that these were the only non-Christmas decorations in the entire park. Get with the times, KD...I want to see a Festivus pole next year! Grabbed a bite to eat at Mac Bowl (er, "Vixens Fixins") and made my way back up to the front the park, passing through the Jack's Frost Zone (yes, this is what it's called...I think the possessive is in the wrong place too). There he is... They had some cool plaster snow angels in various sizes for various people: Here's a shot of where you can rent an igloo, which I guess is a thing? Personally I didn't see the point...the event is only 5 hours long, and if you want to see all of the shows and get on some rides you really don't have a lot of time to spare. They had these completely-open fire pits scattered throughout the park. How the Fire Marshall allows this, I'll never know. The Four Drummers Drumming show. Live drummers playing to a techno backing track. Entertaining enough, but not enough for me to hang around. Now this really impressed me. The area seen in the next photo is way off the beaten path, en route to the designated smoking zone, outside the park gates, and is probably only viewed by a handful of people each night. Still, KD decided it was worth it to put some lights here...a very nice touch. Cool Yule Christmas was a show. Tons of typical Christmas songs, with a couple of nice lyrically-tweaked renditions of The Chordette's 1958 Mr. Sandman (modernly known for it's role in Back to the Future), and The Flintstones theme. Talented singers, and nice costumes with plenty of changes, but again...not really my thing. Here's some pictures and a few quick videos: VID_20211127_191216477.mp4 VID_20211127_191457986.mp4 The Flintstones theme rendition: VID_20211127_191707602.mp4 I then took a trip into Planet Snoopy, which was decorated as per usual, with the dim but huge lights up in the trees... ...and light-up Peanuts character bushes. The next show on the agenda was Tinker's Toy Factory. Though clearly aimed at kids, it opened with some Trans-Siberian Orchestra music, so how could I not love it? I had never seen this before and was impressed with another KD show with a cohesive plot. Lots of renditions of Christmas classic songs, but some original songs too. Despite its target demographic, it was a very cute story and I even teared up once. Bonus? The male lead was the awesome performer who was also the male lead in the Heads Will Roll Haunt show! Enjoy some pictures and videos. VID_20211127_193227348.mp4 I just love this guy. VID_20211127_193649245.mp4 VID_20211127_195453089.mp4 After that, I ducked back up in to Old Virginia to take a look at the Jingle Jazz show. Again, not my taste in music, but talented enough performers. I grabbed a walk-on ride on Bad Apple, and then some Auntie Anne's pretzels (which was my longest wait of the day at 20 minutes). It was now nearing 9:00, so I staked out a good place in Candy Apple Grove to watch the Winterfest Wonderland Parade. Very well done, with a ton of floats, characters (including some from every stage show), songs, and audience participation (sing-along and candy canes being thrown at you). Here's two clips containing the entirety of the parade show, for anyone not able to make it. They stop twice, once in Candy Apple Grove and then again around the Eiffel Tower. VID_20211127_210936572.mp4 VID_20211127_211513801.mp4 Now that I had taken in almost all of the shows the park had to offer (I completely skipped the Sounds of the Nativity and Peanuts' Guide to Christmas shows), it was time to hit some coasters! Er...maybe not? Twisted Timbers was totally dark, without even a greeter at the front of the queue to tell people what's going on. So, I made my way back to the front of the park to see if I might have better luck at Dominator, and grabbed this cool clip from inside the base of the Eiffel Tower: VID_20211127_214521435.mp4 Captured some of the cool blue lighting in the Berserker/Dominator area... And then was greeted with this sight: *sigh* Oh, Cedar Fair. It was only 35 degrees. So yeah, if you're planning on going to Winterfest with hopes of riding either coaster that's running, I highly recommend you do that first thing upon arrival lest the ambient temperature drop below 40 (confirmed with guest relations) and Kings Dominion does its nonsensical thing. I could rant here about Six Flags and operating temperatures, but there's really no point. Cedar Fair is gonna do what it does and be happy about it. And you know what, that's okay too. Not everyone is a coaster enthusiast, and this event is clearly not for coaster enthusiasts. Judging by the crowd, they're doing just fine with that decision. I did some shopping at the vendors, and bought a funny tote bag and a cute bracelet... ...made my way out of the park... ..and began my three hour drive home. Overall impressions of Winterfest 2021? Very well done. Much better than the "Taste of the Season" event from last year, bringing back all of the shows (and then some) and lighting effects of pre-2020 years. Though as I said, I'm not a fan of Christmas music, all of the shows were entertaining, and the lights were great. I'll definitely be back at least one more time before the season's through. Thanks for reading, everyone!