Skycoastin Steve

Hence why it's REALLY pathetic when you see how slow some crews move, especially with B&M coasters (not including flyers).

^Or an ice cream cone that cost $5.50.

Had a good one at BGW today. I was sitting and enjoying an ice cream cone when some teenage girls walk up to one of the big park maps and start trying to figure out where they are. That's when one of them points at the train track on the map and says, "WOAH! Which coaster is THAT??" I almost threw my ice cream at her.

Spent some time at the park this afternoon, crowds were pretty light up until about 2, which is when I left. Back right seat on Apollo is pure airtime bliss. Anywho, here's a quick update on a few things. Here we have the baby Clydesdale that was born recently feeding off mama out in the grassy area behind the stables. Not quite as cute as a yellow lab puppy playing with a baby cheetah, but still cute enough. Mach Tower hasn't seen any more vertical construction, but Dave Chappelle's twin brother was painting the bottom portion gold. This guy was painting, too. I'm pretty sure the vertical columns are going to be blue. So yeah, still waiting on more vertical stuff to go up, but for now, painting is all we've got.

To hammer home the point about Griffon's crew vs. Sheikra, here's a video I shot today of Griffon's crew doing a fantastic job getting the train dispatched quickly. This wasn't even their best dispatch time, as they were getting the train out of the station as the one before it was hitting the splashdown on a regular basis. The Devil would be building snowmen in his backyard before that ever happened at Sheikra.

^I guess he wasn't working any of the last 5 or 6 times I went. Being a long-time park employee myself, that crew probably aggravates me more than any other crew I've seen recently, especially given how fantastic the Griffon crew is. Dive machines aren't that tough to dispatch quickly, yet when they have only two trains on the track, the 2nd train is finished with its cycle and sitting on the brake run for long periods of time about 98% of the time. Easily the worst crew I've ever seen, and I've seen some BAD ones in my time (that includes most SF parks).

Don't forget Sheikra's crew. I've seen 95-year-olds using walkers run a marathon faster than they can dispatch a train.

I rode X2 three times during WCB last year. The first two were during morning ERT, and it was pretty smooth given its reputation. The third was during night ERT, and it basically kicked my ass like Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal combined. However, I was willing to let that one slide and put it at #4 in my rankings.

Why not just call Cheetah Hunt the Big Dipper?

Ummmmm................Dominator on Sunday.

^I highly doubt they planned the new cars to be rougher than the old ones. As far as capacity is concerned, who knows?

This thread is already winning!

^Well, you're a Gator, that says it all. And you know your coaster stuff, at least. All the rest of the crap in the world is secondary.

^Also another good point. I hate when the smart folk of TPR make excellent opposing points. It's so much easier when one smart person makes a good point against a much less intelligent person.

Agreed, that would look fantastic.

^Teehee.

And the Timberliner is on the track! Courtesy of TGG's facebook

I was in the park today for a couple hours, even had my Club TPR shirt on. However, my jacket covered it up so I was in stealth mode. I do have one big identifying trademark though, but that's for everyone else to figure out. 305 is still awesome, but repeat rides are rather difficult. Volcano had its back two rows closed off and the line was moving about as fast as a snail glued to the sidewalk. Rebel Yell racing was a nice surprise, racing coasters are tenfold more fun when they actually race. And I stayed away from Shockwave like it was infected with yellow fever, plague, malaria, and syphilis at the same time.

Two stations being used = two crews being used = two crews being paid. And that's about it.

^I know, but believe me, the trims on 232 can have just as big an impact on the ride as the first drop trims did on 305. Sometimes even worse. There were times I rode it last year and never came out of my seat because of how hard the trims grabbed. Somehow those have gotten overlooked, but they're still there and ruining the occasional ride.

^To be fair, both Intimidators still have trim brakes.

Robb, it's just something else they'll blame you for when Y-coaster is ranked higher than X-coaster. Take it with a very, very, very fine grain of salt.

Definitely looking forward to giving this a few spins on the NE Trip.

^^To add on to what Elissa said, if you've paid your $165 for the pass, you are a passholder. Don't let them tell you otherwise. My guess is the best they will do is give you a comp ticket. You'll still have to get your pass processed at CP when you get back, KD won't give you a "hard copy" of your pass, but there's no way they can deny you entry to the park if you are a Platinum Pass holder. You've paid the money, so they have to let you in. I had a similar issue last year on KD's opening day, and after some confusion at the Guest Relations window, they just printed me a comp ticket.

^The only time I've been there, we ate at Casa Rio, it's a Mexican place (I believe the oldest on the river). I remember it being pretty damn tasty.