Nitro1118

To go to GAdv on a Saturday night during FF means you are courting amusememt park hell. I avoided it for 15 years and decided to give it a try on the last Saturday before Halloween in 2015...huge mistake. It took 1 hour just to get from Wawa to the parking lot. The lot was full and we had to park at the very back of the HH parking lot. After walking through multiple teenage groups passing blunts and across 2 parking lots, we were greeted with a 45min line just to get into the park. Inside the park it was almost too crowded to walk. We tried El Toro, but the line was out to the bridge by Bizarro. We stepped out of line and left the park with 0 rides under our belt. So yeah, avoid those Saturday's like the plague.

Yeah, it's one thing to take drone footage from over the lake (which I'm sure is still frowned upon by CP), but going like 15ft directly above the lift hill is very ballsy and illegal. Still, that is some stunning footage.

Glad you guys had fun! On my trips in 2004 and 2015 I had a blast. WC and STR make up 2/3 of my top 3. The park is actually pretty nice and the waterpark is fantastic. Hopefully the ops have improved as they were horrible in 2015. I'll be heading back up to SFNE in two weeks so I'm eager to see the full trip report.

Finally made my first visit to the park today. JL definitely exceeded my expectations. I saw a POV of one of its clones last year, however POV's do not do this thing justice. There were a lot more practical effects than I expected, and those last few scenes offered some great vehicle movement that synced perfectly to the screen. The exterior and queue were also very nice aesthetically. There were a couple of issues, though. First, and this has nothing to do with the ride itself, but the area around the ride is extremely empty and bare. They did a good job of repainting/retheming buildings on that strip but there is so much empty concrete space. The fact that the cut through to the Big Wheel is still blocked off make it even more...odd. I have obviously been rooting for a new coaster next year, but in all honesty they need to funnel that money into adding more flats, shops and landscaping to this area. Secondly, there should really be an attendant where the line splits for groups of 1-2/3 or more. It kept backing up there as people were checking to see which line appeared shorter as opposed to following direction. Lastly, there were technical issues during my 2nd ride. It had a 10min breakdown while I was in line, and on the last screen where the scores were displayed the graphics stayed frozen. Overall, amazing addition to the park. We have needed a dark ride for years and this really blows away almost every non-Universal/Disney dark ride I have been on.

Great update! I am really digging the new theming and the ride looks great in that location. One question, though- did the fence separating JL and Old Country look permanent? I am hoping it was just to control crowds since it was a SP preview because it'd be a bummer if that still ended up being a dead end.

Thank you! Just not everyone is into trip reports, I guess Your trip report was fantastic, it's much appreciated.

Actually, glass bottles aren't permitted in the waterpark area: http://mobile.castawaybay.com/public/learn/policies/index.cfm If people want to risk dropping glass in a place like a waterpark play area, where there is a high chance it could slip out of their hands and inconvenience other people who spent a fair amount to be there, that's fine...at that point they open themselves to the criticism.

Odd choice if all of Movietown is converting, considering it has 2 Batman rides, a Batman themed stunt arena and our Superman themed coaster is in a totally different area of the park. Hopefully if this is the case they at least put halfway decent effort in the theming.

Steel Force us very hit or miss. 90% of the time it is void of any intensity. However, in summer 2015 I got a ride in row 2 or 3 at sunset with a full train and it had borderline ejector airtime on the return trip bunny hops. Regardless of the airtime the ride is still enjoyable. Very smooth, long and the massive helix is neat.

I actually like Goliath's location. It is a very intimidating presence and being directly in the center of the midway gives you great vantage points both on and off the ride. The kiddie area revamp is absolutely hideous, though. Overall, SFNE is actually pretty charming for a SF park. I really love the location, cobblestone walkways, and the entire stretch from the entrance gate to NESS. Hopefully they do more with the Joker and its surrounding area than GAdv did with ours. It will definitely be a welcomed change to that end of the park.

Correct. And they did this version of "racing" quite often the first 3 years or so.

Glad it's staying. I lived 15min from it for 8 years and while I visited only a handful of times, it would still suck to see it close. Fun little park.

I would turn KK's spiral drop into a simple turn and drop like Xcelerator. It would greatly enhance the sensation of the drop and airtime.

KK's scheme was a lot better when the paint was fresh and the softer colors really popped. Still, I really enjoy it. I really hate both of Great Nor'Easter's color schemes. All pinkish red and all white are just hideous. Same colored track + supports, aside from all black like original scheme on some of the B: TR clones, are just a bad combo.

Took the words out of my mouth. The safari is so far beyond typical SF standards it's ridiculous. Besides the whole issue of not getting your car ripped to shreds by the baboons (which was a highlight if you weren't taking your own car), the old safari was boring. The new ride is so much better with the neat ride vehicles, excellent tour guides that actually explain what the hell you are looking at, and Camp Aventura is a great way to break up things up and has some cool interactive features.

I've always had a soft spot for Dorney. "Sterile" is a perfect word, but as you said, it has very few weaknesses. The coasters are solid for a mid-tier park, flat collection is pretty great, food is ok, operations are decent, the place is clean, theming is typical CF, etc... Every time you go you get the same experiemce, which is a huge plus compared to GAdv, which can be a crapshoot when it comes to crowds and operations. I also love Talon. I think that middle section breather of the ride is actually a nice twist and beats a hard-hitting MCBR like on Montu or Alpengeist. The ending is fantastic as well. Steel Force is very inconsistent. I've had some laughably tame rides on it which killed my impression of it. Last season, I went on it around 8pm with a full train in the 3rd row and it had legitimate ejector on the return bunny hops. Easily my best ride on it in the 14 years I've gone to the park, and it probably was due to being warmed up with a full train giving it extra weight. I only visit Dorney once every few years so I can't wait to see if the same holds true next visit. Possessed is solid and I found Stinger surprisingly fun. Hydra is just an abomination as far as B&M's are concerned.

Thanks so much for the super high quality El Toro POV, Robb! It is one of the most filmed coasters on Youtube but lacked a POV quite like that one.

Knoebels. It's a very unique park, but I came away disappointed back in 2008. It felt like someone plopped a permanent carnival somewhere in the mountains. The classic flats are cool and Phoenix is amazing, but I guess I was expecting something more similar to Holiday World.

That and the old grey track/black support scheme of SFMM's Batman were always my two favorite color combos for that ride. Our Batman's yellow is too bright and almost plastic-looking for my taste. Would love a new paint job, although Nitro needs that TLC $ far more.

I agree, very weird choice. Love Macho Nacho and its a welcome addition to Movietown, I just wish they switched up the theming and colors to match the area. I am so excited to see what that area looks like next year after JL opens.

Couple I took at SFGAdv last week...

Thanks to Harry from GAH for the pic. Justice League it is...

What room along the Lakefront? The old Grandstand spot is a small parcel of land, with BBNP on one side and Joker on the other. And the sim building + Go Karts can't fit much...it's roughly the size of S:UF.

RT's old footprint, to the right of Zumanjaro's queue. Only logical location that requires zero removals/relocations. That isn't necessarily true. That footprint is very tight so you'd be restricted with what you could do coaster wise. Way more likely for a midway with games and flats to go there. Next coaster expansion will most likely be anchoring Old Country. If you look below, RT's footprint plus the area behind El Toro's lift and next to Zumanjaro's queue is a HUGE portion of land. If JL is added to Chiller's spot, OC is now pretty landlocked as far as major coasters go. Courtesy of Flyin Phil

RT's old footprint, to the right of Zumanjaro's queue. Only logical location that requires zero removals/relocations.