singemfrc

Yes they ran it backwards during Fright Fest. I rode it and really liked that it was backwards, of course I never got a chance to right it forwards

Well, one side is abandoned, so wouldn't there only be one side running backwards and one side closed, like how Colossus operated in Fright Fest 2013? That's how it's been in recent seasons. I'm assuming they will be running both B&M trains on one side and nothing on the other. I'm guessing it would require quite a bit of work to get the other side open at this point because it looks like it hasn't been touched (read: inspected or maintaned) for a long time, the chain isn't even lubricated anymore it's all rusted.

^ Don't hold your breath, it's very unusual for a park to do that unless it's a total make over such as NTAG/Iron Rattler/Medusa.

Wow thanks for that update, I'm anxious to see how much of an improvement the retracking on Roar will bring!

I don't think this is "a sad excuse to revamp a coaster" at all. It's not even a permanent change. It's not like Batman was extremely unpopular and this is their way of trying to make it "new" or something. The backwards chassis is touring the chain and it's SFMM's turn for a limited run...it's just something a little different and it should be fun. To my understanding this chassis is owned or leased by Six Flags and it's the only one, so that would at least partially explain why at least for now Cedar Fair can't do the same thing with their B&M inverts. (The thought of Raptor backwards though is definitely intriguing)

Because Stealth is a trademark movie title that Paramout owned. Like this Coaster http://rcdb.com/3081.htm They didn't trademark the name Stealth. Unless CGA themed the ride after the movie, there's nothing wrong with it. Also the movie came out 2 years after the ride was moved to Carowinds.

Re: NYNY's policy about cameras and phones on Manhattan Express, I don't think they're concerned with you dropping it so much as they are concerned about making money from their photos. Obviously if you're taking your own you are less likely to buy theirs. I'm sure they'd search you if they could, but they know they can't so as soon as they see the phone they demand it be locked up.

No, because there's no way for them to tell if the tickets were bought for that day or not. They aren't dated, so yeah. Pre-purchased flash passes are for a specific day only. I wonder if those are refunded/rescheduled if the park closes unexpectedly.

I liked that artsy photo of X2 through Viper's loop.

Ive never used Steam before, how/where do you input the key? I only see where to purchase for $30.

^ Wasn't there an old queue for Revolution that is part of a Fright Fest queue now? Parts of the queues for Ninja and Viper just SEEM abandoned because there's rarely enough people to fill them that far , but it sounds this was one of those rare weekends I'm guessing what NAMTABSFGAm is thinking of might be the Old Dragon Station since I believe the top station is part of the current Ninja queue.

Have to add to the agrees here...I've never been that tempted to stop by Mooseburger before but I'm very intrigued about this new sports bar. I'll certainly stop by the next time I'm there. The big question is will any of us go back a second time?

Thanks for that clarification, I didn't realize there were two backwards chassis. I wonder if they will probably start doing the first one now and then start doing The second one after the first one is up and running

From what I've heard they've been running BTR with one train...I assume the other (or one of the others? Cant remember if it has 2 or 3 total) is being fitted with the namtab chassis. I sure wish the park would officially announce the start date so I can book my flight.

I've stayed at that HGI several times, it's my preferred hotel when I travel down there. The Courtyard by Mariott that's close by isn't bad either.

Yeah absolutely. I love all three standups I've ridden. I was told all three were uncomfortable and on all three I found it to be mostly untrue. A little common sense to wear your restraints correctly and they are just fine. I actually found Mantis to be the most comfortable and I was warned it would be the worst! On any standup I find if you stop just short of standing up straight you don't end up with your weight on the bicycle seat (bad for men) yet you can still stand without crouching, and close the OTSR tightly so you arent banging around, the ride is mostly enjoyable. Vortex has some headbanging issues that can be worked around and so does Riddler, but I didn't experience it on Mantis (granted I only rode Mantis once). If you stand up all the way like the ops usually tell you to, you're gonna have a really bad time. If you don't close your restraint tightly, you're going to have a bad time (and I find thats true of most OTSRs). Beyond just Standups I find very few coasters to be truly uncomfortable and when they are it's usually due to wear and tear (X2) or modifications (Revolution). I have that middle of the road average guy body shape though, so some rides are more uncomfortable for people of different shapes and sizes. Green Lantern isn't the slightest bit uncomfortable for me but it seems if you are too short or too small it can be painful.

There might be something to that because when I rode Mantis the ops were very strict about making sure everyone stood up as straight as possible before the restraints were locked whereas for Riddler's and Vortex (at CGA) they just make sure anyone is not sitting too low to stand up.

Oh I might be misremembering. Maybe I was thinking they only had one because one was always being rehabbed so they only had one of two running at any given time. I know they were running two when I was there a few months ago, I didn't look to see if a third was parked.

For quite a while SFMM only possessed one train for Riddlers (which really made the line suck especially combined with it's rideops being low on the totem pole and thus usually pretty uninterested in quick dispatches), the one that was recently sent back gave them a total of two now. The last time I was there Riddlers operations had been drastically improved. Quick tip: if you find the Riddlers line too long and you arent with a large group, use the Single Rider entrance. You can basically walk onto the ride on even the busiest days as long as you don't mind not riding next to others in your group. Riddlers and Green Lantern First Flight have by far the biggest wait reductions by using the single rider queues. Lex has one but sometimes you can still wait 20+mins to get on, Viper and Revolution have them but they're usually useless.

Agree. With the flats that SFMM has it's no wonder no one cares about them, they're everywhere. When I was at Cedar Point last summer there was considerable interest in MaxxAir which had a pretty long line (and apprently does so regularly enough to warrant a FastLane queue), and while I was standing near the non-operating Skyhawk there was a steady stream of people walking up, finding out it was down, and making disappointed remarks about wishing it was open. I was pretty disappointed myself that it was down, I would have loved to have ridden that one. If SFMM would get some unique or even unusual flats I would think they could do pretty well with them, but when it comes to flats its like they either have no imagination or no faith, or both.

From the Q&A, the question is answered!:

I think that's highly dependent on what music is chosen. I think the sound effects on X2 at SFMM are distracting and pretty random (With the exception of the "Going Down" Aerosmith clip which is awesome), most rides' onboard audio is not even audible in my experience, but there are some good ones. Disney unsurprisingly has done a good job on the ones that I've experienced. The audio on California Screamin and Space Mountain in Anaheim really does add to the experience, and even when they temporarily used Chili Peppers songs I thought it worked just as well. It's really a matter of choosing the right soundtrack to go along with the ride experience. It's audio theming is what it is, so if this were Six Flags, I would cringe...but it's not, so I'm optimistic.

I wonder if they were giving directions to other parks for people looking for family rides

^^ Incidentally for good milkshakes there's a Chick Fil-A down the road from SFMM, despite opinions of their ownership they do make very good shakes.

This is 100% true. An actual Johnny Rockets restaurant has fantastic burgers. The ones inside SFMM (and SFDK) are not even Johnny Rockets burgers, it's just a generic burger stand that has paid to use the Johnny Rockets logo. I understand that JR likes the money they get for licensing but to me seems like serious damage would be done to their brand if someone had never eaten at a restaurant had an in the park burger and thought thats what all their restaurants were like. Back when it was still a novelty to me I used to think In-N-Out was the greatest thing ever, but now that there's a dozen of them up here in Sacramento including one across the street from where I live I've plateaued on my opinion of them. They're still very good, especially for the price, but I only seem to go there anymore in the late night when everything else is closed.