Looty

^Well said. I don't place blame upon the operators. It's up to management to make sure everyone is ready and things are running smoothly.

Wow, everyone settle down. Basically, we had a bad time due to lack of efficiency on behalf of the operations (with the exception of the Diamondback crew who did a good job given the crowds). The park was not "jammed" all day, and the efficiency never improved. The lines were manageable but most of the crews were inefficient. LACK OF EFFICIENCY. BamBam, I never "compared" the two parks, I simply said that we had a better time at SF. I understand the circumstances were different, but it is what it is. KI sucked and we had a good time at SF. BTW...The handicapped person I mentioned ended up sitting in the back; not the front. Now, can't we all just get along?

I work at a park myself and I can understand new employees not being fast and guests being difficult and the occasional stack, but the Beast crew was stacking like crazy! I also think its poor business to expect guests to understand that the crew is inexperienced and therefore slow. I never hear about similar problems at Disney parks.

Hi Everyone, Some friends and I decided to hop in the car and go ride some coasters this past weekend. We originally planned on heading down to Worlds of minimal Fun to check out Prowler, but it wasn’t ready. After some brief planning, we decided to go to Kings Island to check out Diamondback on opening day. Let me just say that Diamondback is a fantastic ride that provides some excellent airtime and you all should go check it out. I still give the edge to Goliath at SFOG when it comes to B&M hypers, but Diamondback is a very close second (and it is way better than Behemoth!). With that said, we had a fairly miserable day at Kings Island. It was extremely busy and operations (besides the Diamondback crew) were absolutely terrible! There were 2+ trains on everything, yet the ride ops were moving at Mt. Olympus speed (that’s a bad thing). I wouldn’t say that the park was out of control busy, the crews just seemed to be quite rusty (waiting 40-45 minutes to ride Flight Deck when the line was just at the bottom of the staircase going up to the station). On Sunday, we packed up and decided to drive to SFStL to check out Evel Knieval. The park was absolutely deserted due to crappy weather! I believe I counted 29 cars in the parking lot from the ferris wheel. All of the employees rocked and seemed really friendly and enthusiastic. As a result of the lack of people at the park that day, we were able to stay on all of the coasters for multiple re-rides. We were able to ride everything we wanted to in 3 hours before leaving. EK is a really fun ride. It’s nothing special when it comes to statistics, but it provides plenty of air, laterals, and it moves at a quick pace. We had a much better time at SF than we did at KI the day before. Enjoy the pics! Thanks for reading. So long SF. Thanks for an awesome time! Batman needed some love too. Sexy! When we walked by the Boss, there were 4 girls waving us over. They wanted to ride but the employee said the ride can't run unless 8 or more people are in the train. Ok sure I guess we'll ride... Where is everyone? Tony Hawk's Meat Spin! Lots of airtime! EK was awesome! ...Except Robin. "Even I'm not gay enough to dance like that." The employees at SF seemed to be having a good time. As a result, the park was empty! The next day we drove to St. Louis and were greeted by some awesome weather. Thanks for a mediocre day Kings Island! I finally got my SOB credit. My first trip to KI was a week after "The Accident." Good Ride...Awful Crew! People still waiting for season pass procesing. More photos from the Eiffel Tower We didn't ride until close to 4, but we still got our free shirts! Everyone having fun? Here is some Diamondback love for ya. We decided to finally bite the bullet around 4 and score our first ride. Diamondback has a single rider line, but you have to be single to use it. My friends and i were willing to split up and sit wherever if that would save us 1+ hours in line. The entrance lady informed us that if you are with people that you know, you have to wait in line. There was a mentally handicapped man in front of us who had to wait in line because he was with his caretaker. The caretaker didn't want to ride; just get him on the ride...but they had to wait to. This is possibly one of the most ridiculous policies I have ever heard of. I only grew more annoyed by watching train-after-train go by with multiple empty seats! WTF! Oh what's that I see? The awesome Beast crew managed to stack all three trains yet again! This happened a lot and was quite annoying. How do you consistently stack all three trains on a ride that lasts 5 minutes??? We enjoyed our ride after waiting forever. I love The Beast...especially at night. Backdoor Stunt Coaster entertaining. The crew here was pretty good too. We decided to skip Vortex considering that my first two rides were Vekoma's Yay for long lines and slow ops who weren't fully trained. Since we were all in the park now and "having fun", we decided to go hit up a ride right away that has a terrible capacity before the crowds got there. We waited about an hour and a half. We heard the line for Diamondback was like 36 hours long so we decided to check that out later. While Rachel and Cameron waited in the GR line, Sam and I went to check out Invertigo. The ride ended up opening 10 minutes late. We made it on the second train which stopped on the lift. While sitting there, I noticed that the season pass processing line went past the 8 or so buses and was forming in the parking lot! We got off the ride finally by 10:30...so just to recap, Invertigo sent two cycles within the first 30 minutes of it being open! What a beautiful day. Sam and I had tickets and got right in. Rachel and Cameron got there season passes at VF and guess what?...they didn't work at the turnstiles. They were directed to go wait in the Guest Relations line that extended back to the parking lot and was easily a 60 minute wait. Apparently an employee had to wait in the line too because his ID didn't work. Cam and Rachel eventually got in and when they complained in GR, the not-so-nice GR lady instructed them that they have all day to have fun so "Have Fun!" Check out the new buses. The next morning we arrived at KI 30 minutes before the park opened to a nearly full parking lot. Today is going to be a good day... OMG there it is! We also noticed nerds camping out at the parking booth. Here is our room. The door handles make fantastic bottle openers We stayed at the Hyatt Place near Kings Island. It was actually a pretty nice place besides the Thought Control working at the front desk. Driving through Indiana was a real hoot. Bye Chicago. Oh no! Here comes the home of countless cheese, porn, and firework shops. If you are in the mood for some fine swiss and desire to blow a load.....of money on fireworks that is, then Wisconsin is for you. Oh and they have porn too if that's what you're into So long Minneapolis. "Hey guys wait for.." - Shut up Steel Venom!...Nobody loves you anymore. Oh god!...Rachel's driving! I better put on a second seatbelt. We decided to grab a quick bite at Lions Tap near Valleyfair (on the other side of the river). If you are visiting Valleyfair, make sure you stop and eat here. Best burgers around! "Hey guys hey...come ride me. I promise I'll go easy on your testicles this time I swear. Wait...where are they going? Oh man I need a drink." Cameron and Rachel needed to get their CF Platinum Passes so everything would go according to plan and our day at KI would be flawless. Oh boy... First stop Kings Is...err I mean Valleyfair? ...and me (with my tongue looking particularly nasty here). Here's the crew: Sam, Cameron, and Rachel.

Nice Photos! I was there on Saturday too. One ridiculous thing I experienced is the single rider line. You truly have to be single to use the line and if you know the people around you, you can't use it! My friends and I were more than willing to split up to save 1+ hours and we couldn't. It really pissed me off considering that more than half of the photos I have seen of this coaster have all had at least one empty seat. The line seemed to move pretty quick though...

Does anyone else feel like the splashdown is pointless on this ride? I don't really see an observation area where people can get close or possibly wet. Sheikra and Griffon both utilize the splashdown effect perfectly and I often see people standing and watching train-after-train go through the splashdown. Not to mention too that the trains on Diamondback are so long that the front of the train is almost to the brakes when the back half dips low enough to create the splash. I think the overall ride looks fantastic, but the splashdown just seems pointless to me on this ride.

I'm driving out there this weekend from Minneapolis so it better be good! I have a feeling it will...hopefully it'll be better than Behemoth which I found to be quite generic and boring.

When and where did Kinzel say that? Besides TTD, have the others really been unreliable??? I guess I haven't seen anything regarding the CP Intamins being down for unscheduled maintenance (again I realize TTD frequently craps out). MF and Maverick are two of the most popular rides there and without them, CP wouldn't have the success that they have had. I don't think I have heard anything about any of the Intamin woodies not working properly either.

ZacSpin's look like so much fun...and in such a small location. Perhaps my GM at NU should look into one of these

Ok I love GCI and all, BUT WHY AREN'T MORE PARKS BUILDING INTAMIN WOODIES!?! Seriously, El Toro is the best roller coaster I have ridden and I've heard nothing but GREAT reviews of Balder, Colossos, and T Express. CP's last four coasters have all been Intamins. Hopefully they continue the trend and build a Intamin woodie.

WTF!...Raging Bull's new sign looks absolutely terrible!!! It looks like someone (probably a toddler) cut out the logo from somewhere and glued it on to that giant piece of wood. The old sign was much better!

Mighty Axe is a ride that requires a lot of maintenance and NU is pretty good at keeping it maintained. The problem is that the ride is a piece of pooh! NU has to "tame" it down to enhance the longevity of the ride. It use to run fast and insane, but beat the hell out of itself. It now runs a lot slower and never really completely flips upside down which results in a lame ride experience which results in lower ridership which results in less money. Basically, the ride experience and resulting revenue is not worth the investment to keep it open. One of the last times it stopped upside down, the fire department had to come in with the Jaws of Life to cut the bolts in the harnesses and ended up denting the Jaws of Life!

^I guess I enjoyed the thrust more than the airtime

Really?...I actually liked it.

I believe they would take out the 4U store on the west side and maybe even the Great Lakes Ballroom. I also still am hearing rumors about Mighty Axe (Tak Attack) eventually leaving.

Perhaps I should clarify a little bit. I wouldn't expect anything along the lines of a SLC...perhaps a roller skater or a junior suspended like Reptar. Many of us wouldn't consider that a "major" addition like NU would i guess. I also heard something a month or so ago that mgmt was looking into the idea of adding a "ropes course" where Kidsquest was (above Ghost Blasters) which would include a zipline.

Sounds like the next major addition will come in 2011 or 2012. It sounds like Vekoma is currently involved as well.

^The riders get a 15 minute break every hour.

We did Runaway Mtn. and JRS...I didn't take any good photos so I didn't post them. Runaway Mtn. was actually kinda cool. I really like indoor/dark coasters and the fact that you can't see where you are going (especially Exterminator at KW).

We were there the week before the "big" spring break crowds and it was absolutely dead so I can't imagine how hoppin those parks must have been the week after we were there.

Here is a youtube video of the contest thus far: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVPAJby7TBc

Very nice report. I absolutely love Busch Gardens Africa. I love the collection of animals they have and their coasters are pretty good too. If they had a hyper, then I would give Africa the edge...until then Europe is slightly better.

You go down that small dip backwards and then you turn again and go down the big drop facing forwards (all while listening to the Amy Grant music that is playing over the speakers up there ) Overall, it's not nearly as great (nor similar) as JTA in Orlando.

^Or you will see a large number of people walking around looking ridiculous wearing those stupid capes!

Hi Everyone, Some friends and I decided to go down to Texas a few weeks ago for spring break. We had a great time and rode some awesome coasters. The temp was in the 70's & 80's the whole trip, yet it was extremely overcast which resulted in some rather dark photos. All of the parks were empty (every coaster we went on was a walk-on) which allowed for multiple re-rides. I must say that I was extremely impressed with both SFOT & SFFT. All of the employees were friendly and warmly greeted us at all of the rides. Keep it up SF! In fact, I actually found most of the texans we encountered on our trip to be quite friendly. Anyways...on to the photos! Enjoy! BTW...everyone in Texas does say "y'all" Thanks for reading. Us on the train. Make sure you take the train to get a good look at the boardwalk and "watch out for loose women" in the tunnel. They were installing this ride while we were there (the wipeout I believe). Most rides at Kemah were closed and under construction. In fact, I believe there were more people there rebuilding than visiting. Lots of foliage. The rest of Kemah is gorgeous. Ok so here are my thoughts: My first ride was in the front and I can say that it was incredibly intense and tolerable. My next ride was in the back and I can say that it was one of the worst rides I have been on. It has crazy moments where it just hauls and then there are moments when it slows down so much that you kind of fall into the person next to you because the banking is off around some turns. Not only does it pop you out of your seat, but it also throws you to the side while you are being ejected which results in a beating your floating ribs have never experienced before. It was quite painful and disappointing and I'm pretty sure that BB almost tore me a new one. Lucky for us, the Houston Colon & Rectal Reconstruction Clinic was down the road. I spy coaster nerds. Down the first drop. The terrible crowds followed us to Kemah too. I think this is where we go in. Boardwalk Bullet was the real reason why we came. It also was fresh out of rehab...would we survive? We made it! Reliant Stadium. Home to the Houston Texans and Janet Jackson's boob malfunction Downtown Houston. The next (and last) day we woke up early and drove to Houston to check out Kemah Boardwalk. I wish we had something this cool in Minneapolis. Oh well...I guess the giant spoon with the cherry will do for now. Who doesn't love Hooters? The Riverwalk was next and totally awesome. I highly recommend doing it if you are in the area. There are shops and restaurants all along it that you are able to see if you take the boat ride. We did it at dusk and it was really neat to see all of the lights come on and illuminate the canal. This was probably one of the highlights of the trip. We decided to go see the Alamo and the Riverwalk that evening. Shamu showing off. The last act of the show was cancelled because one of the whales wouldn't leave the pool. Oh well...so long Sea World. Believe was entertaining. One more ride on Great White just because it's so awesome. Definitely one of the better Batman clones. Orca whales are the deadliest predators in the sea...until now!!! You get pretty wet though. JTA. It wasn't bad...but not great. I personally thought the whole turntable/backwards aspect was kinda lame. Steel Eel from across the lake. Yay for cloudy conditions! Great White was awesome! I don't know why, but this one seemed to haul major ass! Steel Eel is a nice coaster and offers some nice air (especially in the back), but I would put it towards the bottom of the Morgan resume. It also features the worst location for a MCBR if you ask me. We decided to give Steel Eel a try. Now who could have possibly eaten all of the fish? The Sea lion show was vey entertaining. Active Eels...Underwater Adventures take note. Poisonous Frogs Piranhas! I think this guy is lost. Fish! These guys heard about all the action goin on over in the dolphin tank and wanted to give everyone a show. This dolphin wanted to mix up his diet a bit and try little children. Did you know that dolphins are the only other mammals (besides humans) to have sex for pleasure as well as reproductive purposes?...now you do. Rachel and I feeding the dolphins which was actually really cool. Sea World was nice but I strongly prefer Orlando's. I guess I just feel like there isn't a lot to do and see at Sea World San Antonio. The next day was Sea World! We conquered SFFT so we decided to leave. The crowds really picked up later. Poltergeist decided to malfunction before we boarded so we had to wait 10 minutes. It was alright i guess... Rachel trying her luck at Guitar Hero. I really liked the boardwalk setting. Sexy! The sun decided to come out for a little bit in the afternoon. "You spin me right round baby right round" Ladies this here is Frank "The Golden One." He's in his 50's, drives as well as Stevie Wonder, and hates melted cheese. Frank can be all yours if the price is right. Rachel and I on the antiques. Overview from the ferris wheel. Road Runner was quite a surprise. I really wasn't expecting much and it totally blew me away. Rattler and Road Runner together...lucky me. Rattler was rough, but not as rough as everyone says it is (although we did ride in the front seat). Zero G! I love how it sits up against the rock quarry. Not even Superman could penetrate the dark clouds. Superman was awesome. Not as good as Kraken, but still really good. Some lovely SFFT scenery. Goliath is a good ride for SFFT. It was terribly busy. The next day we went to SFFT (one of the nicer SF parks IMO). Pussy Willows! We drove down to San Antonio after SFOT and checked into our lovely hotel complete with... ...as well as the new Dallas Cowboys spaceship! Down the road is the Texas Rangers field. Thanks for an awesome day SFOT! The extra helix really adds to this ride. I definitely liked it better than Goliath. Titan was good. It broke down when we entered the station so everyone left. We stayed and it opened 10 minutes later with an empty station. SFOT has some nice scenery. Shockwave was closed for rehab. I certainly hope it regains its confidence. Texas Giant was really awful. I sure hope $10 million can save it. Freeze's station was actually really hot and humid. Freeze and Superman. Mr. Freeze and Batman with random woman mooning us. Rachel and Frank testing their luck in the TNT Shack. Superman was fun. I prefer these combo launch/drop towers over the regular ones. The boomerang wasn't that bad. I believe I only fractured one rib this time so it was a good day. First stop was Tony Hawk's Meat Spin! The next day we went to SFOT! We ate at Saltgrass that evening. Our food was delicious although our waiter set a new record for longest time it takes to check an I.D. when a young person orders a beer. Yay...I survived. Unfortunately Frank drives worse than most high school girls. Here is the gift shop where J.R. parks his car. I think he was shot here too. J.R. was shot while attending this wedding too! I'm standing on the balcony where J.R. was probably shot again. Perhaps he was shot in that pool as well. Here is the back of the house where J.R. was shot. First stop...Six Fl...err I mean that ranch where they filmed exterior scenes for that old, boring show. I was the only one in our group that didn't want to tour it so I was overruled. The next few photos feature more Dallas ranch boringness so stay with me...we can get through this. We had to choose between a Impala or a Transformer Antagonist. We chose the Charger! We had to take a taxi to our rental car office. I think our crazy cab driver has an issue with throwing things away. That's better! Here's me showing off my rather large cheeks (I think I'm 1/16 gerbil!). Here's the crew. Frank (more to come on him), John, & Rachel. Everyone looks so excited huh?