Nitro1118

Just like I posted on GAH...Thunderbird had a price tag SF hasn't invested on a single attraction in many years. If they do any kind of reimagining to that area, we are talking what will likely be about 1/3 of the entire chain's investment capital on one area. I just do not see this happening. My bet is on a more moderately priced RMC, S&S freefly or Premier launched, along with a revampment of Old Country. I think between the price, critical reception and recent partnerships with those companies, that is from whom we will see our next coaster. Which I am happy with. All 3 fit our collection better than a 6th B&M that won't offer anything terribky unique to the park. However, a 4D or RMC with inversions would definitely add a new element to our collection, be cheaper and likely offer better ride experiences.

My only rides on Voyage were during its opening season, in August. I had 3 rides on it; my front row ride was smooth and one of the greatest single runs I've ever had in my life. The 2nd ride, just 2-3 rows back was jarring and overwhelming, while the third ride in the 2nd row was once smooth. So, even back in 2006, it had a Jekyll and Hyde personality, depending on which row/car/train you sat on. I agree with Robb that this is a perfect RMC candidate. I don't feel they should even mess with the layout or use I-box track. Keeping its original layout in tact but topper tracking it would do wonders for its ride-ability and longevity.

For a first lap in the spring with no riders that kept teerific speed through the course. Once this thing is warmed up and opens it will really be one of the best coasters in the world, no doubt.

My top 3... #1) El Toro- pound for pound the best coaster I've ever ridden. #2) Voyage- Front row was arguably the greatest ride on a coaster I've ever had, but a couple rows back was rough enough to take my attention from the amazing elements, which knocked it comfortably below El Toro. #3) S:RoS at SFNE- Luckily, I had the opportunity to ride this back in 2004 before the conversion. It was the most complete coaster I've ever ridden...mixture of height, speed, floater airtime, extended and abrupt ejector, positive G's in the first helix, and 2 underground tunnels with mist. Easily my favorite steel coaster.

I did a topic search but had no luck in answering this question...has the stipulations of WC's flash pass availability been addressed? On SFNE's website it states WC will be platinum-only, but does not say if re-rides will be allowed, or if it has the SFGAm Goliath rule of only one ride per visit. I plan on visiting at the end of June and would like to reserve my flash pass online ahead of time, but if there is a one ride limit I will save my money on a gold flash pass instead.

I went to the park today for the first time this season. Some notes... -Season pass processing is very easy now. They scan the barcode on your phone/paper receipt, give you your season pass, then right after you enter there is a table set up where they authenticate the pass and have you sign the pass...and that's it! So much easier than in the old, irritating method of processing. -Right from the start I knew operations were going to be an issue. At 10:15 I saw no coasters even testing. I used the early entry (which is poorly setup and involves one security guard trying to hold back regular visitors at the rope while simultaneously granting SP holders early entry) to head for Movietown first, where Batman nor Nitro were even testing. 10:30 came and went so we headed for El Toro...which was also not operating. After about 20min they let guests through the entrance, and then after a 15min hiccup and painfully slow operations that turned a 2 train wait into another 20min, we were on. Later, Zumanjaro broke down for about 15min when I was next in line, and KK was down until maybe 230ish. Overall, it was a very rocky start to the day, but once the day broke in the operations picked it up. -El Toro, due to the beautiful weather, was running in top form during my 2nd ride in the afternoon. Been waiting 7 months for that back row airtime! I will say, though, that in rode in 5-3 on that 2nd trip and I did get my roughest ride ever on it, which shook quite a bit through the turnaround. Nothing too bad, but very noticable. -El Diablo looks a little better now that I've seen it in person. Still looks like a cheap attraction, especially using RT's old switchbacks as a queue, but in person it does look a bit tallee than I was expecting. Honestly not a fan of the flames, though...hopefully they add some other theme elements to it prior to opening. -The Old Country path was open today. It was nice being able to walk that area again, even if its deserted. I know some people noticed some spraypainted markings on the ground of the pathway. I noticed them, but they didn't seem as plentiful or important as they did in pictures. Time will tell, but the one thing that is for sure is that Old Country is prime real estate for a major revamp. -The parking lot is a sea of potholes. Be very careful as you are driving around looking for spots! Overall, I had a fun first visit. Crowds were moderate to heavy, but that did not stop my girlfriend and I from enjoying ourselves.

GL is a solid ride and way more of a crowd pleaser than GASM was. It is my least favorite B&M in the park, but as a replacement to what was probably the worst coaster in the park when it was removed, GL isn't too bad. I definitely check it out when the line is under 15min. My issue with the GL addition is has been our only major coaster addition in the last 10 years, while they essentially removed 5 coasters (both sides of Chiller, GASM and both sides of RT) in that timeframe. So, while GL was a direct replacement to GASM, it feels like they swapped it for all those coasters, and that leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Still, if you asked me exactly 10 years ago if I could have an Intamin pre-fab with no other brand new coasters for the next decade, I'd say yes and still stand by that. We are a spoiled fanbase so I struggle to complain too much about additions like GL and El Diablo. I just hope 2016 is a big year for us.

My prediction for Great Adventure.... 2016: Clone of B:TR at SFFT, located in a newly revamped Old Country. 2017: Justice League dark ride located in the old simulator building. 2018: New waterslide at HH, small dry park improvements. 2019: Bizarro is removed and relocated to smaller SF park, with a new RMC taking its place. 2020: Small flats package.

Actually, the ride did have a surprisingly great first drop, and the heartline roll was fun. The rest of the coaster, specifically the transitions and shoulder restraints, was awful.

So, apparently the Old Country path has been reopened, and some markings on the pavement have been found. Most likely nothing, but there seems to be quite a few of them, and including arrows and abbreviated terms. Let the 2016 rumorv speculation begin! Photos courtesy of GAHistory.

As I mentioned yesterday, there is no question Chiller (2 totally different tracks), GASM and RT (2 similar but different tracks) are better than a Ring of Fire, a themed Wild Mouse that is already dated where the effects only work half the time, and a hand-me-down of B&M's worst style of ride. That's basically going down from 5 to 2 coasters, with 5 of the 6 best of those attractions being the ones we lost. With that said, as I mentioned, the park has made big leaps in the flat department, made improvements to HH, made the Safari a WONDERFUL attraction, and started refurbishing some of the weaker areas of the park. A nice new coaster, dark ride/simulator, new show or two, and connecting some of the park's dead ends will push this park to a new peak in its history. All very feasible goals that the park has positioned itself in by a 3-4 year run of solid additions that have boosted the park in subtle areas of need

The park needed flats (they can call it whatever, it's a flat), and got it with this attraction. They definitely have filled out the emptiness that was left from the removal of nearly all the War On Lines rides. The Adventure Alley rides, Zumanjaro, SORA and this are solid additions that definitely rounded out the park's offerings, with HITP and Namtab being icing on the cake. New shows and a dark ride would really make GAdv a very complete park, although I'm REALLY itching for 2016 to be a coaster year. I am still very sour they essentially swapped Chiller, GASM and RT for a wild mouse, Ring of Fire and a decade old hand-me-down standup (B&M's worst variety of coasters) over the course of 8 years.

I think it's funny people are still arguing so much over this ride. Anyone who has ridden a few B&M hypers knows what to expect...a smooth and comfortable ride which can give mild to strong floater airtime, and if you're lucky you'll get a few spots of moderately strong positive G's. As Robb said, the GP will eat it up, while most enthusiasts will have more lukewarm reactions because...let's face it...enthusiasts who travel the world are by and large adrenaline junkies. By our nature, we are attracted to the most extreme rides out there, and B&M doesn't cater to these people with their hyper/giga designs. With all that said, I have met some seasoned riders who prefer B&M to Intamin, so it really does come down to personal preference. Then we can break airtime down even more; for instance, I prefer sustained airtime over short pops, so I prefer El Toro's camelbacks over the RT crossover hill, even if the airtime is weaker. But I digress Bottom line is let's enjoy the ride for what it is and stop getting on each other for having different opinions than our own.

Judging by the pics and removal of Musik Express, it really looks like that will be the location for a 2016 coaster. I don't think it's a total coincidence, either, that they would be able to show it off to the public during the first HITP, either. From Chiller's old top hat/cobra roll to the Musik Express is a pretty large piece of land. A Goliath-sized RMC, wing rider, dive coaster and GCI are all possible with that space. The park looks very good to start the season! Can't wait to head down and process my season pass.

I generally prefer ejector airtime to floater, but what's just as important to me is how sustained it is. That's why I prefer El Toro, SFNE's S:RoS' 2nd and third camelbacks, and MF's first drop in the back row over any Skyrush element. To me, sustained airtime, whether strong floater or ejector, is a much more enjoyable experience than quick, intense jabs into the lap bar. Height, speed, length, laterals, element variety, spacing and setting are also major factors, with airtime and pacing leading it for me. Fury325 looks pretty incredible. Besides wishing the speed turns were a little less elevated to give even greater speed sensation, and maybe a tighter helix, it looks pretty flawless as far as what B&M can offer in the giga department. Apollo's Chariot eadily ranks in my top 10 overall, with Nitro not far behind, so I'm sure I would have a blast. Hopefully I get a chance to make the trip soon... At least after I get my Wicked Cyclone credit, which is my most anticipated credit in years!

That screenshot is from when a day or two before announcement day people found hidden caches with the press releases. If I remember correctly, they were spot on with every announcement for each park except backwards Batman.

To dig a little deeper, I think you have to look at the meaning behind the ride's restrictions...accidents. Since the early-mid '00's there has been a very steep decline in Intamin additions at SF parks (US parks in general, too). A lot of it has to do with the list of accidents they have had, which is a dangerous risk in a sue-happy country like the US. Add to that the reliability factor with some of their cutting edge technology, along with SF's new direction of cutting cost, and it isn't too surprising we haven't seen much Intamin the last couple of years at SF parks. With that said, I do believe if Toro was built 2-3 years earlier, we would have seen 1 or 2 more Plug N Play's pop up throughout the chain.

Not true. GK looked its best when it was brand new. The plants, music, theming of the buildings and live animals are/were well-above normal SF quality.

I used to think this way but I much rather ride Batman's short intense layout and face it's assault of inversions and tight turns than Nitro's drawn out mile long course at this point. It is all personal preference. Kingda Ka, no never. I would way rather ride Batman than wait on line for an hour just for a launch. Batman is intense, but lacks variety. Two loops, 2 corkscrews, zero g, and some snappy turns. It doesn't have height or speed in its favor compared to other inverts, and they took out most of its theming. Nitro has height, speed, length, great scenery, abundance of floater and an intense helix. I am all about intensity, but Nitro is one of those mild rides that is just extremely fun. As for Ka, I rarely ride anywhere but front row, so that's definitely the driving force for that argument. As you said, it's all personal preference.

I love Batman. It was my first looper, and it's been the one constant since I started my coaster obsession 15 years ago. Hell, in all those years, I don't ever remember it being down...not once. With that said, I can't put it above Toro, Nitro or Ka. Nothing I've ever ridden quite matches up with Toro, Nitro is a mile long and very well diverse (despite no ejector), and Ka's launch is more breathtaking than B:TR's extended intensity. Nothing wrong with #4, though

Cedar Point has always done that on Friday's in September and October and they make sure everyone is very aware of it. I don't have a problem with parks closing rides early or not opening them if they tell their guests about it ahead of time before they buy their tickets. And if the park is open until Midnight then the rides should be too because that's how it works in pretty much every other park. I know Kennywood was brought up earlier but they don't post closing times so I don't see that as an issue either. Not everyone checks online beforehand...most guests go and just expect the rides to be open. Hours of operation for the rides inside the park are never guaranteed. To me, keeping a handful of flats closed in slow times of the season (many parks), or closing a list of coasters every Friday is more inconvenient than closing some lines 20min before closing. As I said, it's not ideal, but things like this are not uncommon in the industry, and really not much of a big deal. A little disappointing, but that's it.

What if those hours are being saved for busier days during FF when a ride like Ka is approaching a 2 hour wait at park closing and they need to extend the employee schedules? Fine, but then don't say the park is open until Midnight. Do what you did last year and say it's open until 11 and if you're crowded announce that the park will remain open until Midnight. I had never heard of this happening at Six Flags until recently but ever since they reported down attendance there are reports coming from everywhere that the park is closing rides early (They close the Log Flume hours before the park closes now even on the day we went where the line at night was over an hour long), running rides at reduced capacity (Skyway) and cutting lines off before park closing. This has been happening at Six Flags New England too. The fact is Cedar Fair would never do this without at least posting signs and letting guests know that a ride may close early and as I said earlier many parks leave rides open late as a grace period. There is no reason Six Flags can't continue to operate their parks in the same way. The park was open until midnight, that promise was fulfilled....rides however aren't guaranteed. I used my example of HW doing this in the middle of the summer, and not just 15-20min early. Also, I've had days at Dorney where they opened the park and the smaller rides at a certain time, but not opened the rest until a half hour later. Also, I've heard CP has only been running certain coasters on Friday during September. Even if they posted it online, that would be far more irritating then closing some rides 20min early.

What if those hours are being saved for busier days during FF when a ride like Ka is approaching a 2 hour wait at park closing and they need to extend the employee schedules? 15-20min isn't a huge deal, and I've never had this issue at SF. I remember at my trip to HW in 06 they closed Voyages line 45min before closing in the middle of summer...I was NOT happy with this but it does ensure the ride op's get home close to when they are supposed to.

I think closing the queue had more to do with the state not wanting patrons near the launch track than simply only crossing under it.

I did once, within the first 2 weeks it was open. One of the nicer SF queues I've been in but it was extremely long. If I recall it had 2 huge sets of switchbacks under canopy, plus the switchbacks they still use for the ride. Ironically, I didn't have to wait through it as I camped at the entrance the first 3 hours the park was open while the ride was still closed.