PAL

I'll answer my own question. We spotted a crane and a mess of mechanics gathered around the base of the lift and presumably the lift motor. Hopefully Behemoth will be up on Friday, but I strongly suspect this issue will take some time.

Behemoth is unexpectedly closed today. Anyone know why, or whether it should reopen on Friday? I hear it operated yesterday.

Skyrush. Wow. Just wow. It is a rare beast, in small but exclusive company in the USA. This thing smacked me upside the skull on my second lap (back right wing seat, twisty, head meet center seat restraint, see stars), and I still love it. The rush over the top is unparalleled in my experience. It throws the train angrily over the crest. Then free fall, the first of a minute of amazing intensity. Watching from offride, I was stunned at the speed the train roars through the serpentine course. Unrelenting. My son and I were lucky to enjoy a half hour of ERT on this, the class of the 2012 intros. We tried front, middle, wings, center, and settled nigh permanently in the back. The restraints... sheesh, they weren't bad at all. What, you want this brute to throw you? It holds on tight. I slouched in the seat one ride, a mistake I didn't make a second time. A little rough (as in vice grip) on the male anatomy. Sit up straight, no problem. By the end of the 30 minutes my coaster crazed son was hands up through the entire course - he's insane. I could only raise my hands on the straights. Oh the ejector! By all that is right, let this monster remain untamed by trims... please! And yes, there were a few in my group who cried out "too much! Let this thing be tamed." Fie on them. Not every ride should be for everybody. Those are called B&M. Hershey, you have a gem. Leave it as is! (We also tried the untrimmed i305 this trip. Yawn. After riding it with the first drop brakes, I was expecting a vast improvement. Didn't get it.)

I'm feeling fortunate - I caught Dash on Tues. Such a hyped ride. At first it was underwhelming, but improved with each ride. How it holds its speed! Very nice. Wildcat was closed. Oh well, sounds like I didn't miss much.

Ghostrider's deplorable state saddens me. It was incredibly good during its early years. I know the park retracks portions every year. It is far from enough.

^^The park was virtually empty through the early afternoon, so manageable I skipped the Quick Queue Unlimited I'd planned. We didn't hit real lines until after the 4 pm Celtic Fyre show (a great time). A regular QQ saw us through the day. We caught the fireworks while in the Verbolten queue. Right up there with Disney. In short, loved the park. Verbolten is an ideal fit, a vast upgrade to late-year BBW.

It figures you loved Waldameer for its old school charm. How did you like RFII? Make me jealous enough - maybe I'll get there in a couple of weeks.

^^ I gotta pee. This is great stuff Chad. I'll have a civilian to entertain - falling water will do the trick. Jack Rabbit is very interesting. Those little hills are pretty steep. You get any forces on them, or is this hare lazy? I'm looking forward to your take on Martin's Fantasy Island. Other than CP, it could be my only other park visit for this area.

^No! ^^Manta's mounds are now covered with short green fuzz - that's right, the featureless hills of the second half are now grass covered.

El Toro. In the dark. Sceaming down the hills and tearing around the twists. That'd earn your 10/10. Again, very enjoyable read. Thanks for sharing.

Great report. I particularly enjoy the ride reviews. I visited SFA two years ago. We arrived early, were done in two hours, then drove all the way to Cedar Pt to wash away the disappointment. Roar west is much better. Everything at Discovery Kingdom is better! We were hands up three epic rides last weekend. Loved it.

^It's butter! Better stay off Roar.

4 spins and counting at AP Superman ERT. This is a great perk! Maybe 50 people here 30 minutes in. FYI: row 3 is blocked off this morning. Is it just me or is all the air in front?

Needs more tacos! Otherwise, cool report as usual.

^Epic!!! Thanks for posting. I would have been very disappointed to miss this. We're rolling in from SoCal on Saturday. I was planning on hitting the park at opening on Sunday to squeeze in one more ride on Superman, but this is infinitely better.

Yes! I'm in! Tickets bought, hotel booked, let's ride!

^1 train in the bay, 1 parked in the far station, 1 running. Annoying. X2 audio is still unreliable. Only a few speakers working on train 3. The other one was better - didn't catch the number. Drop of Doom queue house is 3/4 full. Not bad. One more quick spin on Goliath and we're out of this toasty park. I have an obnoxious queue jumper tale for later.

X2's queue filled halfway at open. Ugh, 1 train ops at Tatsu this Monday morning.

^There were 25 early entries today, max. We dropped 4 times between two breakdowns, including one that had us hanging at the top for several minutes. Woooo, the unexpected drop was the best. FYI,the front gates opened five minutes late. We bailed on the line at 10:20 to beat the herd to X2. The fall from the top of Drop of Doom is amazing, it goes on and on, faster and faster, then - wham! - into the brakes.

Today's passholder early ride time is nearly empty.

^My son and I are set for the Monday AP preview - our confirmation emails arrived this morning. I'll try to post how it goes. I'm already nervous! (Which is completely awesome - it takes a lot for a ride to give me the twitchies.)

^^Thanks, that's great to hear. I'm paranoid about maximum heights these days, particularly with new rides. And these trains look a lot like Sky Rocket /Kennywood, which had height limits for certain rows early in its history.

Is there a maximum height?

I'm in for two tickets!

THIS!