sfmman2000

Interestingly enough, in the event of a fire the evacuation plan does not involve climbing down the stairs and instead there is an “open air” holding area just under the main floors. https://www.firehouse.com/home/news/10544018/the-stratosphere-tower

^ The Boardwalk's video makes a lot more sense after watching that!

The new Fright Walk is COMPLETELY awesome! A lot of the effects were designed in-house and most of it's quite unique. Maybe not the world's scariest walk-through maze, but certainly an enjoyable one with plenty of jumps. The park recently posted a short behind-the-scenes "making of" video (possible spoilers): Speaking of videos, the park also posted a really cool animated video of the park "springing" to life in a steampunk sort of way. It's hard to explain, but definitely worth a watch:

Ripsaw Falls at Islands of Adventure does it too and Great Adventure's flume used to do it a long time ago but it's definitely a really unique feature. Hersheypark's flume has a small uphill section at the bottom of the first drop, but it's fairly minor. Jetstream at Magic Mountain used to, but that element was removed. There's also Splash Mountain's indoor drop, but those uphill sections seem more coaster-y and less water-y.

That's a lot of CRT monitors!

Cool, glad you enjoyed it! Here's a link to the TR I posted in 2012 that has some "under-the-boardwalk" photos: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1188906#p1188906

I wonder if SFMM's model will be the same ride hardware as other installations, except programmed to swing slightly higher. That would account for the marginal height and speed increase, since the 147/172 ft heights don't refer to the structure itself, just the maximum height of the swing.

I've been a fan of the Giant Discovery ever since riding Kennywood's version several years ago. Excited to have yet another one in California. Does anyone else think that 172 ft height is really just 172 ft "combined" if you take into account the height at the base of the ride vs the base of the Boardwalk area? Thinking this might be the case. Kind of like how SFDK's Skywarp is advertised as 70mph combined if you take into account the speed of both trains. Unless Zamperla has designed a new version for SFMM.. AFAIK, Zamperla has only produced one version of the Giant Discovery 40 that tops out at 147 ft on a full swing: http://www.zamperla.com/products/giant-discovery/

Yep, same. Even going back to "repeat" the gag was unnerving.

I think there's a chance it could open. It's not listed on the ride wait times page as being closed for the day, but it was listed yesterday. http://dw.dollywood.com/RWTimes/allRidesmob2017.html edit: and.... it was just updated, now listed as closed for the day

Lightning Rod is testing today, Friday 6/2/17

Great article in the SF Chronicle about the Fright Walk renovation: http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Terror-takes-time-off-at-Santa-Cruz-amusement-park-9201380.php?t=a8ef4e9e247d4f3860&cmpid=fb-premium

^Yeah, I agree - the old Haunted Castle was way better than the new one. Although props to the Boardwalk for realizing that and continuing to invest in the new one. Many gags have been added since it opened and the lighting has been tweaked for a creepier effect. I always thought the Fright Walk was more on the legitimately scary side, but maybe I'm just easily spooked

I highly doubt that.

Arrow Mad Mouse at Valleyfair from: http://arrowdevelopment.blogspot.com/2016/05/teenage-wild-mice.html

^ It doesn't. The Joker music is basically out-of-tune funhouse music that plays continuously in a loop.

I can't even imagine yesterday then, haha. It seems today (Saturday) they had a hard time dispatching trains consistently. But it's not as if the ops were working slow -- they weren't. I'd say the infrastructure and procedures are more to blame. Full rows were going out empty because they weren't letting enough people in the station. Lap bars are basically triple checked and are not to be pulled down by the rider. Mobs of people with exit passes crowd the exit stairs for "priority boarding" not leaving much room for exiting riders. And how could I forget, the visual scan in which every op strains their neck looking left to right, and then... does it all over again. It all adds up to not a lot of capacity. However, there are positives! The ride is amazing. The theming is decent. The employees were friendly. However, I do feel they are handicapped by Six Flags' policies and procedures. Another plus, Medusa's line was only about 10 minutes long (this was around 2pm). The ride's 3 person crew was hauling ass, barely stacking trains at all.

^ What do you want to know? It looks like the line has shortened since 1pm passed. BTW, rode two more times in the back (first ride was also in back). Feels much faster already. This thing hauls. First drop is Maverick-style ejector air.

^ I've seen a number of people with the t-shirts. They're $14-$16, which is a better price than I thought (or maybe I'm just numb to Six Flags pricing). FYI, I'm in line right now and the ride went down at around 11:30am. It's noon now and the ride is still down. No announcement or communication of any kind was made to those waiting in line. They've cycled a few trains empty, and that's about it. Waiting in tunnel, the music here could make someone go crazy. I did get in one ride earlier today with about a 40 minute wait. It's a pretty darned good ride! So far, I'd give Wicked Cyclone the edge for intensity and speed, but once the Joker warms up I bet they'll be about even.

It sounds like anyone who buys the shirt can ride from 1-9pm.

Here's a new control panel to add: This is the bumper cars panel at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It's a fairly simple panel. Some highlights: ride timer, from 0-5 minutes. Speed control from 1-5. Stays on 2 for normal operations, requires a key for speeds 3-5. Speed increase is only allowed for private events and employee parties. With a speed of 5, these cars FLY so one-way driving is a must and hard bumps tend to get bumpers lodged on top of each other. It's nuts.

This accident made me curious to see how a Boomerang operates going up the chain lift. Robb's footage of Zoomerang at Lake Compounce shows this with good detail in the reverse POV ( ). The moment the train passes the set of brakes after the loop, the brakes close. The train then hooks onto the chain and gets pulled up the lift. But interestingly, when the chain "drops", the brakes don't start opening until the moment the train approaches. Seems like very little room for error (for the train to avoid being slowed/stopped). Not speculating about the cause of the accident, just examining how a Boomerang operates.. edit: Also interesting to compare an Arrow vs. Vekoma train engaging/disengaging the chain: - The Arrow train wobbles and and has some lateral movement: - The Vekoma train is completely smooth:

Have you already seen this footage? Also, there are few photos on this page: http://www.wildwood365.net/2015/04/moreys-piers-kicks-off-47th-season.html Are you looking more for photos with the train visible?

I hope the ride planners go ride Journey to Atlantis and come to their senses before considering that.

Here's a few from the Haunted Mansion control room and control panel from: http://www.davelandweb.com/hauntedmansion/hm_ac.html