SaweetDude04
-
Posts
57 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by SaweetDude04
-
-
Hey everyone, I'm going to be in LA August 10-12. I am hoping to get up to SFMM on Thursday, August11th. I'm going solo right now, but if anyone would like to join, it would be great to have company for my first time to SFMM since 2003!
-
I could see them removing Wildcat for a Zac-Spin. Wildcat is on the old side, so it could be up for replacement. The Zac-Spin would take up the same amount of land, possibly less. Does anyone know the hourly capacity of Wildcat? I would assume it would be around the same, the only issue would be where to put a longer queue. Is there space behind the ride? They wouldn't want to take up too much midway space since that is where they have the end of the night show.
-
I feel that in order to generate any significant interest in SOB, they need to find a way to bring the loop back. The loop was basically the whole point to the ride.
-
Looks like it didn't take long for New Jersey to crack down
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/14/new.jersey.ferris.wheels/index.html?hpt=us_c2
-
^Top Thrill Dragster runs 5 trains with dual stations
-
I'm sure as the season goes on, operations will get better, just seems like this season it's taking longer for the park to get into the swing of things. The path that connected Kingda Ka to El Toro has made it more of a trek to get to KK and El Toro. I believe this path is closed since the tigers are no longer being displayed in the park. Hopefully operations will get better as the schools let out and the park can get staffing levels up to par.
-
Seems like they don't have the best luck with opening 4D coasters...X was delayed quite a bit, luckily GL isn't delayed as much. Can't wait to ride this in September!
-
I was there today as well. The day started off poorly with Kingda Ka and Green Lantern not opening with the park. As the day went on, Kingda Ka was constantly down (at least three times) and crowds continued to grow. Started off with El Toro, Bizarro, and Nitro, not having to wait for any. Next was Kingda Ka with a half hour wait. The new station set up seemed to be working, as trains were constantly launching, when it was open. Afterwards, went to Green Lantern and waited 1 hr 45 minutes. The only issue I have with Green Lantern's queue is that the section by the station is not shaded at all and got to be pretty scorching today. They were constantly stacking the three trains despite having 6 attendants, mainly due to guests bouncing in the seats and having to re-lock the cars multiple times. Green Lantern seemed to have a full queue all day, with other rides ranging from one hour (Kingda Ka, El Toro) to walk-ons (Superman). Overall it seemed to be an average day at Great Adventure.
-
I'm anxious to see how capacity is on GL. I'm sure it will depend on a number of things (reliability, etc), but I think the two main points will be how fast the crew is and whether they will be running it like Cedar Point (everyone must be standing) or SFMM (standing or basically sitting). Either way, it looks like a great ride and I can't wait to ride it this summer!
-
I must be one of the few left that doesn't really mind there not being a flash pass at Cedar Point. While it's nice to pay extra and skip the lines, I've never had an issue with not being able to ride all of the rides that I want to when I visit Cedar Point. Sure I may only get on them once or twice per visit, but I find that I still have just as much fun as I do at SFGAdv using a flash pass. I also find myself wanting to visit Cedar Point more, possibly due to not being able to marathon ride everything. Maybe this is a possible reason Cedar Fair has steered clear of the charge extra to skip the line systems?
-
I remember seeing in the video in the KBF thread that their Windseeker wasn't opening until summer because they needed to do structural analysis for earthquakes due to the disaster in Japan. Maybe they are doing the same for GL?
-
I know this is quite a stretch and highly unlikely, but with the topper track, would bringing back the loop be possible? I know they would need the heavier trains back since the current ones are much lighter, but it would be incredible to see the return of the loop, since the main point of the ride was the only looping wooden roller coaster in the world.
-
Not sure if it has been discussed yet or not, but randomly today I was thinking about my trip in early August to Cedar Point and noticed a few coasters missing their third trains. Mantis' was obviously sitting underneath the breaks as always, however Mean Streak (gold train) and Corkscrew (i think white train) were no where to be seen. Has it been like this for a while?
'
-
I jsut got back from a quick trip to SFNE with some interesting news. An employee at Bizarro informed me that the flame cannons from Bizarro will be heading down to Texas, I'm assuming for this ride. They said it costs $6 per shot per cannon and SFNE just can't afford it, which would explain why the fire hasn't worked in quite some time. They said they are using the remaining propane in the tank and that once its finally empty and the park is closed, they will start to dismantle the flame system. Not sure how much of this I believe, but I guess we will find out!
-
...
But I honestly don't see them retheming Scream. Sadly, it wasn't built in the best spot.
Superman meanwhile could definitely be rethemed and I'd love to see what they do with that.
Judging by the length of the queue, I dont think they were expecting huge crowds for Scream from day 1.
-
This park just keeps getting better and better. Keep up the great work!
-
I believe that S:UF gets the 2nd longest line due to low capacity more than anything else. Last season it always started with two trains, then by the end of the day it was down to one train with a nearly full line, and this was during the week when I went. While it is sad to see any coaster go, at least GASM is (possibly) being replaced with another large looping coaster as opposed to getting replaced with something not as impressive (i.e. Shockwave -> S:UF)
-
with all of these wheel problems, it seems like it's MF's opening all over again. If I remember, they got larger wheels for MF, could the same be done for Intimidator 305? It looks like Intimidator 305 uses the same blue wheels that Bizarro at SFNE does and a friend who works on the ride has said that the blue wheels tend to wear down a lot faster than the older wheels. In any case, I cannot wait to ride what looks to be like the best coaster on the East Coast this summer!
-
Thats great news! The last time I was at BGA, while I rode every other coaster multiple times, one time on Gwazi on one side was enough for me. It's good to know that management is at least trying to come up with a solution for Gwazi's roughness.
-
Some friends and I are planning on a springtime weekend trip in April. We were thinking of going to Hershey but I was just wondering what to expect from the event. I know that not all of the rides are open. I was wondering what the crowds are like during the event, do Fahrenheit and Storm Runner operate in the cold? The other options we were thinking of were BGW, SFGAdv, or Kings Dominion. We are planning on driving to whichever destination on Friday, spend Friday night and all of Saturday at the park, then drive back on Sunday.
-
^As people have stated before, the Dive Machine was first introduced in 1998. Aside from one clone a year or two later, it took until Sheikra opened in 2005 for the Dive Coaster to really take off, and since then it has. Griffon followed, along with the ones in China and who knows how many more are in the works. And since 1998, the technology has improved from a simple drop into a tunnel followed by a couple of curves (granted Alton Towers height limits may have been a set back, I believe they could have done more...look at Nemesis and Air) to giant 100+ foot tall immelmans and splashdowns. Sheikra really showed what the concept was able to do. It was able to demonstrate the capabilities of this class of coaster. It takes years to perfect their designs and as these styles of coaster get more complex (4D, accelerator) the longer it will take to get parks on board.
Another reason for the length of time could simply be the economy. Parks are focusing more on families and less on thrill seekers as of lately. Families spend more when they visit or whatever the reason may be, thats what's going on. Frankly, the most likely parks to install a 4D coaster would be a large Six Flags park from the Kieran Burke days looking to one up the competition in an extravagant way. That's pretty much the main target customer. Since those parks are now looking towards families, as well as having very rounded out coaster collections, the 4D concept was put on the side lines. Now that the economy is beginning to turn around and parks are investing more, Six Flags' 50th anniversary coming up, and of course all the new parks in China opening, I expect to see at least renewed interest in the concept.
X, X2 and to some extent Eejanaika were the prototypes. They demonstrated that the concept could be built and that the general public loves the ride. Their problems were capacity and reliability. This new model needs to demonstrate that S&S has been able to overcome these issues. If it cannot do this, then unfortunately the concept will be dead before the first year of operation is over. I believe the main problem is that X set the bar too high, too early. Both Six Flags and Arrow pushed the design way too far in the prototype model. If X was on a smaller scale, I don't think it would have had nearly as many issues, the ride would still be known as X, and the original trains would still be working fine, but you can't change the past.
-
I personally love X/X2. While it can be rough, I don't find it to be downright painful and it most certainly doesn't detract from the ride imo. Many wooden coasters are more rough than any ride I've taken on X/X2 such as SOB, Mean Streak, SFNE's Cyclone, Gwazi etc. Eejanaika sounds like it is much rougher than its American sibling. If this new 4D proves itself, I can see this style of coaster take off, but if it fails, then back to the drawing board for tomorrow's biggest thrill. Needless to say I strongly believe that this style of coaster with its current train design is a good 10-20 years ahead of its time and down the road I see it being perfected by another company (unless of course the China model proves itself). Needless to say there is now one more thing to add on to the list of things riding on what happens in China
-
^ wasn't sure. In the video update, it looks as though it is still there.
-
With almost every piece of track in place, are they going to remove the 'temporary support' or is it turning into a permanent support now? It doesn't really detract from the ride, not to mention it was painted to look like every other support on the ride itself.
Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
This sounds an awful lot like the way Deja Vu's station is set up. If so, I expect there to be a lot of confusion about who's waiting for which seat. Hopefully Hershey manages to figure out a better way to load these trains than Six Flags did with Deja Vu