GCS

Hey guys looks like we are headed to San Diego in July for business so I think we are going to fly into LAX and then spend a day at SFMM since we may never get to the West Coast again (VA guy here). Looking for a cheap hotel near the park that isn't too filthy. Probably getting in on Friday 7/13 and will hit the park all day on Sat 7/14. I know it will be busy but we intend to pony up for the Flash pass to maximize our ride time. I hate to spend the $$ on it but when you get one shot at a park I want to make the best of it. We used one at SFNJ and it really made the day with multiple rides on everything. Suggestions? Thanks in advance. Greg EDIT - Also you CA natives what kind of nightmare am I facing for the drive from LA to SD on Sunday after we hit up SFMM?

Finally made it to KD for the first time this year. Below is my take on Intimidator. Quick general observations on the park. Good and clean. Not very busy on Sunday 9/26/10 but the Fair just started so that was to be expected. That being said what sucked was every ride was a 1 train op except Shockwave. This made wait times ridiculously long for no reason. Dominator 30 mins, Volcano 45+, Stunt Track 30, etc etc. All woodies had no wait times neither did FOF or Shockwave. All rides including the woodies (except Grizzly) were running quite well. I was surprised at how little I got beat up on RY, Hurler, and Shockwave (still a crappy ride). Grizzly still beat me up badly so this may be my last ride on it (the back cannot handle it). Overall things were pretty good and not too hot. Rain held off until we left around 5pm. Intimidator - very little to no wait except for front car which was about 20 mins maybe. One train op but they were hustling. Rode 4 times (once in front, once in the back and 2 in the middle). Area -- very nicely done actually. It really helped the FOF area look more complete. I would have liked for a some additional expansion in the area to add a shop or 2, a restroom, and maybe a food stand but perhaps in the future this will happen. It also would have been nice if they took down the shops/food right in front of the FOF area. It would have opened things up a lot and made the are look less closed off but that's just my opinion. The ride -- quite impressive actually. Very fun but by no means the best I have ever ridden IMHO. The restraints are great even if they do scrape your ears going into place but they are very comfy -- way better then the ones on Fahrenheit (old Intimidator restraints). What i like - restraints, first big turn, 3rd hill, the headchopper, and the speed. That's about it. The main hill is completely killed off by the trims. They are on HARD REALLY HARD. On my rides the train gets thrown over the top nicely and then damn near comes to a dead stop by the trims. These are not trims, they are brakes. I am surprised how much they slowed the ride down. The turn at the bottom is awesome. I love these low to ground high speed turns. Next hill was pitiful - nothing happened. The third hill was a great airtime hill and very enjoyable. I did not like the twisties. While I did not experience any headbanging thanks to the restraints the harshness of the transitions are a little too much for me. I would have preferred a little more gradual change of direction. Overall it is a very good ride. Not for everyone though. The trims really hurt the ride but I am not sure that 2nd half of the ride would be bearable at a faster speed. As is they were tough for me. Does this mean I think the ride is crap, NO! Is the best around, NO! Is it top 5 or 10 ... yes. After yesterday I would have to rank my rides as: Millenium Force El Toro Montu Nitro Griffon (yes it is too short but I really like this ride) Intimidator Volcano Thunderhead (Dolly World) Kraken Apollo's Chariot I think KD has a really nice signature ride for the park and they should be quite pleased with this addition. I will happily ride this every time I go there but I would not wait 2 hours for it. I am glad my home park got this over a standard hyper. Thanks to CF and KD for a nice addition and for what was a nice experience yesterday (sans the 1 train ops unfortunately). Greg

Pretty cool. I have a feeling with 4 launches (rumored of course) that this will probably launch go through and element or 2 into an animal area and pause for you to look at the animals/attractions and then do the same thing again, then again and then finish with one final launch through elements home. Think several of the fastest animals around. Perhaps with the cheetah being the last one. Each launch would be increasingly faster (ie #1 - 40mph, #2 - 50, etc etc ending with the cheetah at what 65mph I think is what it does) I dunno just throwing that out there. Greg

Wish I could be going but alas I will have just left for Vegas and cannot go. Maybe next time Greg

Went Friday 7/2/2010 and I am not sure we could have had a better time to be honest. Weather - perfect, low 80's and was only hot when sitting in direct sunlight with no shade (can you say Sesame Street area -- holy moley they need some shade over there). Crowds - light in AM, heavy from about 3pm on but not unbearable in any way. Park - very nice and clean and look pretty damn good considering all the heat and NO RAIN we have been suffering here in VA. Rides - everything was up and running with no downtime except Dark Castle went down for about 45 mins around 2pm or so. AC (3 rides) - 20 min wait max, running 3 trains all day - running just fine. Heavily trimmed in the AM but later in the day only trimmed in one maybe 2 spots. Griffon (4 rides) - 10 min wait to start but got up to about 30 min later in the day as it got busy Alpengeist (1 ride) - walk on. Rough as hell though. So much so that my sister sustained a major headache from the headbanging. It was very bumpy and rattled badly. Loch Ness (1 ride) - walk on. Running great especially for it's age. Dark Castle (1 ride) - fun as always although the movie seemed a little blurry for some reason. Eurotrip (2 rides) - really really liked this. Way better than Corkscrew Hill. Nice and smooth. Rode quite a flats as well and all were running just fine. Fireworks show was quite enjoyable and very well done. Good Job BGE!! Greg

I am ok with this as well as GASM was awfully painful to ride when I went last year. It was not enjoyable at all. An X2 clone would be cool as I seriously doubt I will ever make it to the West Coast to ride it and thus having one on this coast would be great for me. Greg

I haven't been able to ride Grizzly for some time now. Too rough. Oddly enough Hurler doesn't thrash me as bad as Grizzly. And yes Dominator in the back has become a major rattler. Greg

Headed to BGE tomorrow. Should be good weather. Crossing my fingers that crowds are not horrendous but with cool temps and a holiday w/e I may be in for some long lines Greg

Ehhh driving in VA is pretty easy and laid back (except the Northern VA/DC area but that's not as bad as big states with big traffic issues). If you are just doing KD just fly into RIC and drive the 30 mins or so to stay at a hotel near KD and you should be all set. If you stay at 1 of the 2 hotels right at KD then you can just walk over to the park and not bother with the car. Greg

Yeah BGE is an easy 45 min drive down 64 from Richmond. You could stay at a hotel in Mechanicsville (essentially on the east side of Richmond) and that would put you a tiny tiny bit closer towards BGE. I live in Mechanicsville and can routinely get to KD in 20 mins from my house (295 - 95N) and BGE in just under 45 mins (295 - 64E). There are 2 hotels in Mechanicsville right off of 295 (Holiday Inn and a Hampton Inn) plenty of places to eat (ie fast food/chain restaurants etc) and its about 12 mins to the Richmond Airport as well. Might be worth looking into for your stay if you want 1 location for your base of travel. Otherwise stay at a hotel right near each park for the days you are there. Avoid staying in Downtown Richmond as it is hectic, more expensive, and not as convenient traffic wise for your destinations. Greg EDIT - Honestly the 45 min drive is not bad at all, pretty easy straight up 64. Just depends on your schedule. If you are spending more than 1 day at BGE then I would say get a hotel near there then stay at a hotel near KD (ie either in Doswell or in Ashland).

Ok fellas I just got in from a visit to KD last night. Not much to report from yesterday's update via Clint. 1 - HOLY SH** that track is MASSIVE!! This is the first time I had seen it "live" and I am shocked at how beefy this stuff is. I have not seen track like it before and it puts the whimpy "Intamin square box" to shame. 2 - No new track on site or supports from yesterday. 3 - No major changes to the construction site either. Some more footers yes. The one thing I will note is that there sure looks to be some serious "underground" work going on running parallel to Ananconda's lift. There is a HUGE square shaped hole dug out with the green backhoe. Maybe 20 - 30 feet wide (L - R) about the same F-B and at least 20 feet deep. Ironically there is another hole dug further down (maybe 50 - 100 feet away) from this spot about the same size/shape. I am betting it is for drainage ditches but it sure seems to be awfully big and square for this purpose. No idea really. 4 - The supposed "splash down" area is nothing more than a runoff/drainage site. It is now lined with green mesh, is sloped all around and has a large run off/storm drain attached to it. This is not for a splash down ... I am 100% positive of this. I did not ride RY so I was unable to see what was going on back there but there is some activity. Rumor Mill/Hearsay: Ok the following are comments from park employees (no one in a tie, or position of authority - nor the dippin' dots guy) so take them for what they are worth. 1 - I don't know details but it is going to be massive and will be largest coaster on the east coast (I think she really meant the Mid Atlantic area) 2 - Management said an announcement will be made on August 20th and that signs will be posted by that time. 3 - The track in the parking lot is only about 1/3 of the total track for the project. 4 - There are some support/extra (her words) pieces currently housed elsewhere on park property (ee did not know where when I asked, just somewhere in the back) 5 - Management won't tell us anything but they all seem very happy that KD is getting this ride and it will really bring in the crowds next season. That's about all I have fellas. Not much of an update but its the best I could do.

Quite possible and something I have been saying since this "bigger" track showed up. I think that we will see a different kind of Intamin train ... 4 across I dunno but it will be something new IMHO

Video of Day 45 of KD's new coaster. Lots of cool shots of some odd track.

Here is one more reason to believe it is a giga http://www.kdfansite.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=53&pos=200

Some crazy looking track and supports showing up on site. Also the footers poured have one odd configuration to them. Start here and scroll through all the pics to see what KDFansite uncovered today. http://www.kdfansite.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=53&page=16

After riding it on Friday it would have to be the one and only El Toro.

yup

Lift hill crest folks. http://www.kdfansite.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=929&fullsize=1 Look at that beefy track!

Nope. Smooth as can be IMHO, super great ride. Our first ride of the day the trim brakes were completely off and that 3rd hill launched my arse right out of the seat ... it was great!! Subsequent rides the trims were on in all spots and the ejector air I got the first time was still there but lessened a bit. Really it was just a great ride. I am shocked to say I am listing it in front of Apollo's Chariot but for some reason I just really liked this one (perhaps because it is new and I have ridden AC lord only knows how many times).

Sorry about your bad experience. I was the guy out there who let you guys off. The ride had the worst day ever that day (I left that night shaking and almost in tears...no lie! I got a booklet of guest complaints about ME at GR). If we could have let you out, we would of. But maintnence and management were trying to figure it out! It costs us alot of downtime to evac, so if we could have restarted it, we could have! July 3rd was trully the worst day of my life. EVERYONE ganged up on me, and not a single kind guest was there. -Dainan "July 4th went by smoothly" Rafferty Not your fault and I wasn't blaming anyone. I have been through this kind of stuff before and know the procedure. My groups only problem was that it was getting late and we were starving. We had not eaten and when we hopped on RT it was just after 1pm and we figured np we'll hit this ride and then grab a bite. Little did we know it would 2:30 almost 3 by the time we got to actually eat. At no time did we think the ops were rude, mean, etc etc. The frustration was simply being stuck on a ride that was all of about 50 feet from the station and not being allowed out. FP - wait times on 7/3/09 -- I should be clear about all my wait times. These times were based on when I "reserved" a ride. As you all know this was done the instant we were scanned at a ride que for check in so by the time we rode our ride and walked to the next one we reserved we were walking right into the station to ride. We could have gotten a fair bit more rides in as well if we had been a a little more efficient with our selection as we opted to ride everything once and then come back for rerides. In the AM we could have easily reridden Batman and Nitro 2 or 3 times back to back using the FP with very little wait time. I have to give ride ops credit as none of them were goofing off at the park they were all busting a$$ and loading/unloading as efficient as I have seen anywhere. I was pretty impressed especially on the big 3 (El Toro, Nitro, Bizarro). Lines -- Bizarro was backed up down the path out the entrance (i.e. the Bizarro sign) and almost to the concert area most of the day. Nitro's que was full and spilling out down the pathway most of the day as well. El Toro was backed up all the way down to the bridge area where you can crossover from Bizarro.

So I made may first ever journey to SFGADV (and first SF park ever) on 7/3/09. We left Richmond, VA around 6:45pm on Thursday and the trip should have taken 5 hours took 7, what a nightmare!! Anyway we finally made it to Holiday Inn in East Windsor around 2am. Exhausted and beat to a pulp we crashed immediately (myself, my sister, her husband, and their oldest son (11)). Hotel -- nice clean hotel, no problems, no complaints other than no Complimentary breakfast but the rate was only about $80 a night so I won't complain. Friday AM we got up and headed out at about 9:15 or so. Stopped at WAWA near the park for some breakfast sandwiches. This place was out of control nuts and took us 30+ mins to get food and get out of the parking lot. We ate in the car and headed on to the park. After turning over my online parking receipt to a super nice attendant we were parked and walking to the main gate. We arrive at the main gate around 10:15am to find it ridiculously packed up front. We waited in line for about 15 mins not realizing we didn't need to (we had printed online tickets and could have just gone on around and walked into the park vs. standing at the ticket line (ooops my bad)). First stop in the park FLASH PASS pick up. I had already paid for it online and just had to watch the video and pick it up. ***SIDE BAR -- the Flash Pass IMHO is completely worth it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion on the matter but if you are heading to the a park once and most likely only once this is the only way to handle a big park. Yes it is costly but it made the day very enjoyable and more fun than we would have had without it. So on to the rides and the day ... Weather -- beautiful 70 degree day. Not too hot, not too cold. We got whacked by a couple rainstorms twice in the day (more on that later) but they were pretty short and did not hurt the day much. Park -- pretty busy up until about 1pm and then it was PACKED!! Park was very clean and tidy (except the Bathroom by the end of the day) and staff was nice, polite, and friendly. No complaints about the park at all. With Flash Pass in hand we hit the park .. First stop Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train (no reservation needed it so we reserved Dark Knight while we hit this) -- ehhh what can I say about the ride .. it's there, we rode, didn't ride again --- 1 Ride total. Next Dark Knight -- 10 min wait via Gold Flash Pass so we walked right in after we got to it. Nice themeing, nice decor, nice preshow, so-so ride. Heh it's a glorified Wild Mauss and not a great one either. As before it's there, we rode, didn't ride again --- 1 Ride total. Next Batman: The Ride -- 10 min wait via FP so again we walked right on. Nice solid invert, very enjoyable, very rerideable and a nice starter to the "big coasters" in the park. Rode this a second time late at night in the dark and was just as much fun. I would rate this third behind Montu and Talon as far as B&M Inverts - 7 out 10 --- 2 Rides total. Next NITRO!! - 15 min wait via FP. Main wait line was already packed back to a 90 min wait (according to the sign). We hoped on the ride in the 2nd car from the back and off we went. This ride was excellent excellent air time on the 1st and 3rd hill (the one after the left turn) and all the "bunny hop" hills after the MCBR were air time pleasers as well. Great freakin' ride and easily moved to being my #1 B&M Hyper. Ride Ops were kickin' a$$ and taking names. 3 train op and they were rocking all day. They always had 1 train on the course, 1 headed up the lift hill and one loading. Only hold ups were when folks did not fit in the ride. We got 3 rides during the day and 1 in the pitch black night (which kicked a$$!!). 9 out of 10 --- 4 Rides total. Next up Skull Mountain - 15 min wait via FP. Main wait line was 60 mins. Ehhh what can I say about the ride .. it's there, we rode, didn't ride again --- 1 Ride total. Next up the Sky Ride to the other side of the park -- hey it's a sky ride what do ya wanna know ... Next Bizarro - 20 min wait via FP. Main wait line was 90+ mins. Themeing -- gotta say I really like the Bizarro theme a lot. Love the look, love the idea, and overall it just worked for me. First ride was midtrain. Tons of fun on this ride, no pain, no roughness, no rattles, nothing but fun for me. Soundtrack was hard to hear (i.e. dialog) but having it playing for the ride did add to the experience. I did like the logo tunnel and the flame throwers as well. Just 100% enjoyable. Again ride Ops were kickin' a$$ and taking names. 3 train op and they were rocking all day. They always had 1 train on the course, 1 headed up the lift hill and one loading. Only hold ups were when folks did not fit in the ride. Ops delivering the ride message were into their speeches and got the crowds pumped before and after their ride. I would rate this as 2nd in the floorless line behind Kraken and Dominator 3rd. We rode 3 more times varying between front and back. 8.0 out of 10 --- 4 total rides. Next EL TORO!!!!! - 20 min wait via FP. Main wait line 90+ mins. I'll start the review by saying HOLY F@$&*%G S%@T that was freaking phenomenal!!!!!! I now know what all you guys have been talking about for so long. This ride was fast, smooth, had ejector air and was just out and out blast to ride. The speed is right on and the ride is on the edge of being completely out of control. The best part is she is super smooth!! We rode near the front and the back and in the middle -- there is no bad seat on this ride. I cannot say enough about this ride, clearly the #1 woodie for me ... by a long shot. Again Ride Ops were kickin' a$$ and taking names. 2 train op and they were rocking all day. They were loading and dispatching as fast as possible - couldn't have been faster. Only hold ups were when folks did not fit in the ride. Ops delivering the ride message got the crowds pumped before and after their ride (not that it was necessary LOL!). You gotta love a ride that has riders clapping and cheering on the way out and on the way in ... you know you have something special when that happens. 10 out of 10 --- 5 Total rides (1 at night). **Side note -- one of our rides was in a massive downpour. Wow what an experience. The rain hit our faces so hard you had to close your eyes and hold up a hand for protection. Truly a crazy moment. Next Rolling Thunder - 10 min wait via FP (40 min regular wait). Decent old woodie, nothing special but nothing bad either. 6 out of 10 --- 1 total ride on side 1 only. This was our only bad ride experience as side 2 was brokedown when we got on the ride and then on our ride (coming into the station) side 1 brokedown. We got stuck waiting under the storage area to come into the station to unload for more than 30 mins. They refused to let us off for the longest time saying they had to bring us into the station. After much delay maintenance guys came and let us all out and walked us down the planks where we had to then waste a bunch of time filling out an incident report. When all was said and done it cost us an hour!! Next was GASM -- 10 min wait via FP (60 min regular wait). OUCH!! That was no fun. It didn't leave me bruised and battered but it just wasn't enjoyable. 4 out of 10 --- 1 total ride Next was Superman: Ultimate Flight -- 30 min wait via FP (90 min regular wait). Wait time was bad because the ride went down in order to add a second train. This was my first flyer and what a crazy experience it was, very weird. There is not much I can say about the ride as I have no real basis for comparison. It was not painful or bad in any way it was just weird. I did enjoy the ride a fair bit and I look forward to my next flyer. 7 out of 10 -- 2 rides total We also rode the rapids ride and the log flume -- we got absolutely soaked on both. Overall we had a great time at the park. No issues or problems to report. Park was clean, staff was great and we have some great memories. Would love to go back when Ka is running but I had ridden dragster before so I wasn't completely destroyed about not riding it (my nephew was really bummed though). I say kudos to SFGADV for a great job especially considering how ridiculously busy the park was that day.

Very good. We'll probably bounce out for lunch then and then hit the Safari after we eat. Once finished up there we'll go back in the park for some more rides til they close! Thanks everyone.

I could easily ride MF all day long. Griffon, Apollo's Chariot, Volcano, Space Mountain, Montu, and Talon are easy rerides also. Gemini & Lightning Racer I could reride many times as well so long as there is a group of folks on BOTH trains. I love the rides but the interaction with "racing" another train just adds to the fun and makes you want to go around again. Honorable Mention goes to Dueling Dragons for similar reasons. I could not and would not ever do multiple rides on Kumba as many have mentioned - I really did not care for this ride at all. Also no way I can do more than about 4-5 rides in a row on launchers like TTD & Storm Runner.

We are headed to GADV for the first time this Friday. Sadly Ka is down for who knows how long but we will make do with all the other rides!! We've got the tickets, the gold flash pass, parking, and hotel all straight. Which places are the best to eat within the park? Is there somewhere decent/close by if we exit say midday and eat and then do the Safari to come back in the park afterwards? I would assume this may be our best choice. Thanks in advance for your advice. Greg

Rode a week and 1/2 ago and the brakes do slow it down some but they don't kill the bunny hops. It's probably not as good as it used to be but it still gave a good ride for me.