Skycoastin Steve

There are actually already three small trims on Skyrush's course. However, not one of them has any noticeable impact on the ride's speed.

^Goodness gracious, I have 200 to upload to facebook, then I'll start cranking out the trip reports here. It was a weekend full of ups and downs (and that's not even a roller coaster joke!), but it was still tons of fun. And Skyrush was ridiculous. But rest assured, it shouldn't be long!

I miss the pizza tour. And Lombardi's.

^I think that was the original plan, but they said they were changing it to make it more extreme.

305 has the height, speed, length, and positive g's over Skyrush. Skyrush has the airtime and lapbars over 305. If we're talking about which ride's restraints tighten down more during the ride, that's honestly a wash, because they both do. However, if 305 had lapbars, you would see some major injuries occur because of those lateral transitions. All that aside, I still think 305 is better, but not by much. Skyrush is a phenomenal ride, though.

^The restraints definitely tighten down during the ride. Both times I rode, it was during the turn after the 2nd hill. However, some people are just bigger babies about it than others.

^Rode the ride the same places you did, didn't have anywhere near the amount of pain you did. And it had some of the best airtime I've experienced on any coaster, El Toro included (which also has tight lapbars). And I'm overjoyed that Skyrush doesn't have 305's restraints.

You guys can expect pretty regular construction updates on this puppy once it starts going up. The last time I checked, they still hadn't cleared any land out, but I imagine that should start pretty soon.

Post invalidated, better luck next time.

Kennywood is a fantastic park, I absolutely love it. And Sky Rocket blew me away when I rode it opening year, such a surprising little coaster!

You must not have ridden that many coasters then.

Yeah, I reported one of the Storm Runner operators that was sitting on a stool with her feet up on the control panel near the E-stop while the ride was operating. Here's one of the pictures.... But would you believe me if I told you that not only was she not fired (she was apparently given a "three day vacation"), she is still employed by the park this year!!! We saw her at Fahrenheit, and she was still exuding about the same enthusiasm level as she was that day last year. And we wonder why the operations are worse than most SF parks.

When the previous train is parked LONG before the gates are opened for the next guests to board the train, that's a HUGE problem. When dispatches average over four minutes (and they did), that's a HUGE problem. I know you would rather cut your hair off than say something even remotely negative about HP, but there's absolutely nothing positive about their operations or efficiency on that ride (or any other ride for that matter).

The only real, actual complaint I have about Skyrush is the station design, which could be one of the worst I've ever seen. What crazy drunken Swiss lunatic thought it would be a good idea to load and unload on the same side of the station? Was there absolutely no way to unload on the other side? It absolutely MURDERS dispatch times, and at a park that already struggles mightily with capacity, that's pretty bad.

And I live about five minutes from there. Color me excited!

Magnum is nowhere near as good as Skyrush, but I still love it like I would love my terribly misbehaved little cousin with slight mental retardation.

Watch what you say about Magnum, I know where you live!

The lapbars tighten down during the ride like every other modern Intamin. The only time it became uncomfortable for me was at the end when we were waiting on a four minute dispatch while the circulation was slowly stopping below my thighs. During the ride I honestly didn't notice them that much. But it's just like I say to people who complain about Magnum, airtime that hurts your thighs is a GOOD thing!

Just got in line!

What's funny is Jen and I were talking about how funny it would be if that video popped up while we were walking by on Saturday, bummer we missed t!

This is all rumor at this point, but I heard the reason for the downtime is they are adding a 4th, much more terrifying storyline to the event building. All I have heard is it's about a deranged steel cable from Switzerland that will chop random body parts off randomly. Once again, it's all rumors, but my sources are solid.

Well here's some potentially good news. We stopped by guest relations for some season pass stuff and asked them what the chances were of Verbolten being open tomorrow, and they said they are expecting it to be up and ready in the morning. Seems like they had to overnight a part of some kind. Now we all know some things don't go according to plan, so we'll see.

We rode Wildcat Friday night about 3 or 4 rows from the back, and it certainly wasn't as rough as last year (which was the worst I've experienced on that ride). I'm chalking it up to offseason maintenance, so it might be bad again bu the time TPR rolls through there.

Any word on whether or not the yellow train incident was caused by an Intamin cable? Seems likely.

Kinda sucks considering I'm going there today. Maybe it'll somehow be open tomorrow morning so I can ride before my flight back to Orlando.