Skycoastin Steve

QFT!

^Can't really talk about it, but it's going to be a lengthy downtime. Don't expect to see it back up during daily operation, and possibly until 2011.

The Mist had me reeling for days. Not only was the entire movie just completely and utterly f***ed up, the ending put it over the top. Major kick to the nuts.

^Welcome to TPR!!!

Yes they do, but that's not why the restraints are sluggish coming up on Anaconda (or any other Arrow). If you were still working against a ratchet, they wouldn't come up at all. That's the point of a ratchet. Whatever spring mechanism lifts the restraints probably doesn't work that well on those trains, and that's why they don't come up that quickly. The restraints on the Arrow trains on Zoomerang (AA) FLEW up when you stepped on the pedal, and they also had a double-ratchet system.

^Naked flying will NOT happen on my Skycoaster, thank you very much! And to further what you were saying about the beginning of the day, I've been there at opening before, and the lines everywhere but Intimidator are practically walk-ons until well after 11. It would be until about noon before the crowds made it to the back of the park when Nighthawk was still open, but for now it's down so people are making it back there a little more quickly these days.

^Me personally, I still have Intimidator behind Apollo's Chariot, because Apollo gives a more consistently good ride. The only American B&M hyper I haven't ridden is Raging Bull, and I have yet to ride either Canadian one. Overall, I have Intimidator at #10 out of nearly 200 steel coasters. Several others have it as their #1, though.

Is there any chance at all that given the amount of "survey markings" seen around Comet that they may be removing Comet to install whatever this new ride may be? I shudder at the thought, but it's possible, I suppose.

Someone needs to tell the Phantom to chill out.

^Storm Runner was having a lot of issues with failed launches when I went last week. People were actually stuck on the launch track for at least 20-25 minutes at one point (one cycle immediately after I rode). So who knows what the deal is.

Boomerangs will always have enough centripetal force to keep riders in their seats. They pull heinous positive g's going backwards through those loops, and more than enough going through the boomerang. Last year, I was told a story of the former rides manager at AA riding Zoomerang holding a large cup completely full to the brim with ice cubes. By the end of the ride, only two ice cubes had fallen out, mainly due to the roughness of the inversions. Those kids weren't going anywhere.

The night time ERT was awesome for you guys, I've NEVER experienced airtime like that on Intimidator (except for maybe an early morning ride at some point). Once again, it was great meeting all the fellow Club TPR members in attendance and I hope to see some of you guys around again in the near future!

^That late in August, there's no telling what the crowds will be like, but expect at least some waiting in line. Carowinds doesn't have any kind of fast pass system (typically the only day you would even need them is Saturday, and the only rides you would need them at are Nighthawk, Intimidator, and maybe Afterburn). Nighthawk is currently down and may not even be up by that time, and it's a ride that really keeps lines down elsewhere because of its low capacity. The only kind of "early entrance" they do is sometimes for season pass holders they'll let you get in line for Intimidator 10 or 15 minutes early (but you still can't ride until after the national anthem). On a Saturday, they should do the early entry, so I would say get there before 9:30.

I have a SFOG season pass (obviously good for all SF parks), a CF Platinum Pass from Kings Dominion (I also had the trouble with getting the paper pass from KBF in March, but I was able to switch it out at KD a couple weeks later), and a Busch Platinum Pass (good for 2 years from June).

I wonder, given the ride's age, if it still has foot pedals to unlock the restraints, or if it has an automated system to unlock them. I could easily see a foot pedal falling down too early and causing a car's restraints to unlock, but if it's an automated system, that would seem pretty unlikely.

All because Emmitt Brown sold them a shoddy bomb casing filled with used pinball machine parts.

The employees should know it's gonna be hot. It's a volcano. Plus they're working outside in the middle of the summer. The heat index in the sun was approaching 120 at Carowinds yesterday, I was working an all day shift, and I had just worked until midnight the night before for Coaster Stock ERT, and I still treated every guest that rode Sky Flyer like they were royalty. It's not that hard to just build a bridge and get over it when it comes to heat. I really have no sympathy for poor/boring/sluggish/slow/rude ride operators.

^Are you guys going to be on the IntimidaTOUR? I'm most definitely, 100%, without a doubt going to be around for the day TPR is at Carowinds.

A few things. First, you're wrong on the ride signs for those three rides. Second, was it really that hard to find a 305-foot, bright red coaster? Third, you knew the layout of I305 before going, so you knew what to expect. Sometimes you gotta look in the mirror for "problems" such as these. Now on the other hand, I will agree about the clientele and operators, but they've been the exact same way since my first visit in 1994. As has the layout, the asphalt, the food, and the less-than-stellar ride collection. So if you had been there before, even a long time ago, chances are you should have at least remembered some of this.

Thanks everyone! I was just about to start on my photo TR for Hershey, but now that I've made the front page with Kennywood, I'll just have to wait till tonight or tomorrow for that one!

^Is that really where he landed? Or is it one of those rumors that got passed down through the years? (You know how those go)

^I think the height that the cars sit at is around 150. However, in fairness, Carowinds wasn't really a "height" park until Intimidator was built.

^Glad you had a great day, and it was awesome to meet you and other TPR members and share a few trimless rides with you!

It truly is dumbfounding (pun intended).

^Yep! Two of my rides were in row 3, and it was definitely some ejector air. However, sitting on the wheels wasn't doing my back or head any favors, so I opted for rows 1 and 4 on my other rides in the front.