Rotura Violenta

The way it works is that you buy your discounted season pass online, print the receipt and head off to the park (tell the parking guy that you'll be upgrading to gold and they'll let you park for free). Trust me, Trust me, Trust me Your getting no parking from the parking guy at toll gate until you either pay cash or charge or present your gold parking season pass. Showing your piece of paper is nothing until it has been processed and that covers parking. Your best bet is allow some time and pull into guest pick / up drop / off area and drop a person off and have them go get their gold season pass and come back to car and let that person then go take the car and park it in parking lot while the other person gets their season gold pass and meets you back at a predetermined area. Nope, not true. I went through this yesterday and even called ahead to make sure I wouldn't need to do anything like what you outlined. I called and asked to make sure I could get the free parking in order to process my pass (which was confirmed) and then when I pulled up to the booth, the guy simply scanned the printout and sent me on in.

The way it works is that you buy your discounted season pass online, print the receipt and head off to the park (tell the parking guy that you'll be upgrading to gold and they'll let you park for free). Go to the turnstile and they'll scan your printout and give you a new card. That card is then scanned again, and apparently, that's the gold upgrade. It's all done in one spot. There's no coupon book, no aplomb, just a plastic card with your name sharpied onto it. The coupons and stuff are online and you can access them once you register your pass. The expiration date you see is the last day to upgrade to gold.

This was my experience as well. I was blown away and completely surprised by the ride Nitro gave (not a B&M fan here) and found El Toro to be good, but not great. Different strokes, I guess, but I found myself going back to Nitro more than El Toro.

I don't know, but it was a bit awkward on Superman.

Despite living in SoCal, I don't go to SFMM that often. The last time I was there was right before Lex Luthor opened, and before that, it was for the opening of Terminator/Apocalypse. Anyhow, because that labor day gold pass offer was such a good deal, I figured it would be worth it to grab one—especially given that I'll at least head out for Colossus next year (I assume). Anyhow, I know that TPR is holding an event there tomorrow, but I wanted to swing by today, process my pass, jump on a few rides that I hadn't had the chance to ride yet, and maybe take a few pictures. I'd actually planned on spending more time with my camera, but I misjudged how hot it would be and wasn't fully prepared. My DSLR is pretty old now and doesn't behave as well as it should, but I still enjoy the process. Consequently, my apologies for the graininess of some of them; again, I misjudged just how bright and hot it was going to be and didn't pack any lens hoods. But before that, a couple of quick thoughts: The park wasn't too busy, but Tatsu, X, and Full Throttle all had decent sized lines. I really don't care much for the B&Ms at SFMM, so I skipped all those this time and just rode Goliath, Lex Luthor, Ninja, Apocalypse, Superman, and Full Throttle. I planned to be in and out within a few hours. Goliath has always been a favorite since it opened. That first drop is one of few first drops anywhere that still "gets me" every time. While I find the camelback to be a bit of a letdown (I think it's a tad too spread out), it consistently provides a good ride and is still very smooth given its age. Lex Luthor was new to me and I rode both sides. Drop towers still freak me out, and this one was no exception for the first ride. You can feel the tower wobbling around, even without Superman powering up it. I found the drop to be forceful, but it didn't affect me in the same way that the old Freefall drop used to. Supreme Scream is the same—fun, but doesn't give me that same feeling of an actual freefall. This felt like much more of an aggressive drop—a serious pull downward and you really feel the force of the brakes as well. It's great to drop for long enough to pay attention to what's going on, but I found it to be more entertaining than truly scary. It's a great addition though, and something I'd ride again for sure. Superman in reverse was new to me and what a difference that made! I used to skip that ride in the past because it just never seemed worth it, but I'd often wonder what it might be like to face the other way. Now I know, and it's far, far better. The launch was great and the sense of height makes all the difference. Apocalypse was as rough as the last time I rode it (I think it was still Terminator then), but it's not that bad. I think it looks worse than it feels as much of the wood has bleached out and it looks a bit ragged now. A pretty aggressive ride today with several out-of-the-seat moments, but it only jack-hammered on that last figure-8 section—a section I've always considered pointless. It's still a solid layout though and pretty fun overall. Although I didn't ride it, Green Lantern was sending out seriously unbalanced cars and I watched one spin repeatedly throughout most of the ride. I despise that ride, and it's one that I don't see myself even getting on again, but it's fun to watch and seemed to have a consistent line throughout the day. Full Throttle was far more fun than I anticipated and the hanging loop was fantastic. Getting to watch someone's sunglasses drift to the ground from the upside down position hammered home just how high up it was. The flip/reverse launch thing was fun—especially in the back seat (I'm sure that element has a name that I'm unaware of—inverted camel-toe or something.) Cresting the hill and the subsequent drop didn't do much for me though. I sat in the back and hoped there'd be some air there but there was really nothing—just a tilt forward into the brakes. I could see why those uncomfortable shin protector things were in place for that part though. The launch was surprisingly tame as well I found, but the overall ride was really enjoyable. The music in the queue was unfortunate though. Skipped Tatsu and X as I really don't care much for either (unless they're a walk-on). Anyhow, a few pictures: YOLO loop YOLO hill Superman—it was going pretty high up the tower as well. The last time I rode it, it wasn't going that high at all. On the way up . . . Pause . . . And back down. Ouch OUCH! This is how unbalanced it was—this is a car on the lift hill. Yeah, no thanks. Call an ambulance? More YOLO Riddler, crawling through its loops. Flipped. Reverse Inverted Gooseneck Turn Inverse Snout Roll Himalayan Cobra Dive I swear, Tatsu looks like it's doing about 20mph through most of the track. Of course it's not, but you know what I mean. YOLO again And again Stupid sun in the way Some hairtime, I think Hanging . . . . . . it's a pretty photogenic coaster. Not a fan of the flyer concept, but these folks seem to like it. As do these folks The classic, and still one of my personal favorites. Yeah. It does nothing for me. I rode this when it opened. Still kind of dislike it to this day. Looks cool, though. Best part of the ride? Keep off the track. Watch your backs . . . Makes for a great skyline though.

^That's kind of what I was thinking -- the whole thing will be largely automated so that dueling will be the norm and occasional single launches will occur to allow operations to get back to the norm of dueling. It actually sounds very efficient.

Yeah, that second lift hill looks like it'll play an important role in synchronizing the dueling aspect, perhaps delaying or catching up the train on its second lap with one just leaving the station. My guess is that this will be largely automated, thus minimizing chances of non-dueling rides. Another point is that on the high-five, because it's on a curve here, it seems that one lap could produce positive forces, but the second time through will result in insane negative g's.

Loving your reports!

GL: I rode it once and will never ride it again. Tear it down, keep it, I don't personally care, but I'll stay clear of it.

I loved it as well and never understood the animosity toward it. There was some head-banging involved, but no worse than what you get on Viper, Revolution, X2 etc. today. Totally unique concept and execution, and I recall reading somewhere that these designs were intended to work as enclosed coasters as well. I could see how that might be accomplished. The problem that I had with it was that goofy old Intamin car design in which vision was obscured from almost every seat—including the front.

I just rode Skyrush in June and that last hill had crazy airtime on it, but less violent than the rest. The only point where it felt like it slowed down at all was after the second camel hill thing when it's flipping on its side and stuff. It didn't take that direction change hill as fast as I thought it might, but that final hill was nuts. And I'm with the person who posted a few pages back about the first drop—I found it disappointing for the same reasons.

If you got on El Toro, Skyrush won't be a problem. I'm an average size (5'11", 155lbs), and El Toro felt about right whereas Skyrush felt like it was designed to accommodate some pretty hefty bodies. It never broke down when I was there, and although it did stack a bit, the ops were hammering the trains through.

Goliath also goes a hell of a lot faster too.... so..... 30 second ride vs more complete ride experience. I've been on the 30 second balls to the wall ride before, and they are plenty of fun at first, but the adrenaline quickly fades as you get used to it and know what to expect. I'll take the smaller Medusa. The expereince will remain consistent as long as its maintained. I've yet to ride one of the RMCs, but I have to agree—the layout of this looks extremely impressive. The RMC designs , thus far, have struck me as either very cool and forward-thinking or just an exercise in weird elements and the extreme. Although I wouldn't kick it out of bed, Goliath has almost zero appeal to me due to the design, but this looks like the best thing they've done yet. But even if some of their rides don't hold much personal appeal, this is clearly a company that's innovating on a number of levels, and it's fascinating to watch the ideas they crank out. I personally would love to see them focus on more immersive layouts such as this and would even welcome some designs that featured far more modest proportions. Structural interplay seems to be their thing, and that's most evident in designs like this one.

Hmm. I'm not sure it has much to do with personal health. With the forces this ride produces and the way those forces tighten restraints further, having this kind of pressure on abdomen/internal organs seems like it would be a lawsuit waiting to happen—regardless of physical health. If you think about possible alternatives, as far as the restraints go, it really does seem like this is the best they can do without altering the ride itself. Extreme pressure on fat and muscle is probably a more viable option than pressure on lower intestines. They could try the restraint system from Knoebels Phoenix and see what happens

Well, it makes the ride feel open and unrestrained—which I'm assuming adds to the thrill (if you find being flung around a thrill). As the more dangerous forces on the ride seem to come from the sustained upward thrusts (the forward thrust on the drop is extremely brief), these restraints act as the equivalent of someone pushing down on your legs rather than pushing more toward your stomach. Plus, with the force that you hit at the bottom of the first drop, any restraints that are more toward the midsection could cause some real issues if they push that hard against the abdomen. As it stands, the ride feels like it's cutting off circulation by the time you get to the end—that kind of pressure on internal organs could be trouble. Personally, I suspect that the design is somewhat to blame as well as the restraints, but the last thing this ride needs is to have some Yolo-coaster style trims running all the way down the drop.

LOVED the look of that Storm Runner ending, but riding it really didn't do much of anything. The launch and top hat were great, and there was a nice pop of air right before it does that elevated roll thing (there's probably a term for this that I'm unaware of), but other than that, it was a bit of a rattle-fest. Surprisingly intense and dizzying, I found—as did one other rider I saw as the train rolled back into the station and they puked all over themselves. Fun!

I found Storm Runner to be rattly and just weird. I think I may have written about the second half of the B&M inverted one the same way, but Storm Runner felt to me like someone started a ride in RCT3, made the launch and the top hat and then just hit "auto complete" for the rest. It was a strange series of elements to me. I should say that I *loved* the park, even though I probably sound overly critical.

Did you really find Fahrenheit's pacing better than Skyrush's?? I think of the main strengths of skyrush is precisely how fast it is through the entire layout. I don't have anything against your preference, that's your opinion, but I just thought that those two rides couldn't be compared for their pacing. I did! To me, Skyrush was largely just extreme forces left, right, up, and down but the elements themselves weren't that engaging—they were simply there to create the forces. On Fahrenheit, the elements were less aggressive and therefore more enjoyable, but also, they looked cool both on and off the ride. It was as if they were more thoughtfully expressed, if that makes any sense? (I'm probably not the best resource though as I find myself growing more and more cynical about rides that go out of their way to be as extreme as possible—it's almost as if other criteria are left behind in lieu of "how fast and hard can we throw people around?") Plus, I think I must be one of the only people on here who didn't find Fahrenheit to be rough / rattly in the slightest. Skyrush, on the other hand, was jarring at numerous points. I also learned through riding Skyrush, El Toro and Nitro that I'm not impressed by extreme ejector air, but I love floater air! Coming form California where airtime doesn't exist, I always thought that Goliath had some moments of what enthusiasts considered to be "floater air" but now I know that's not the case as the air on Nitro literally felt like I was floating for several seconds. On Goliath, I was more like "was that air? I'm not sure . . . maybe it was?" Ejector air, however, just felt more like getting into a fight or something

Seems redundant, but I'll chime in anyway. I expected the worst regarding the restraints on Skyrush but didn't find them to be *that* bad. Yes, that first turn is what staples you and starts to cut off the circulation, but I found the whole ride to be about endurance—it was kind of like trying to hold your breath for 60 seconds or so. The fact that they pre-release the restraints on the brake run illustrates just how tight those things get. It was as if I had to physically exert myself in order to enjoy the ride. When I was there, the station was empty pretty much all day but the park was fairly dead. Personally, I didn't think the coaster was that great although I did ride it a lot (15 or so times). It never feel unsafe to me, but it did feel unpleasant and a bit of a wasted opportunity. Ultimately, it is an impressive and extreme coaster, but I had more issues with it than just with the restraints. I personally found Fahrenheit to be a better ride—better pacing, more impressive elements etc. Although I'm no fan of barrel roles and cobra rolls, the lift, drop, pretzel things, drop out of pretzel thingy, and airtime hill at the end were all great. On Skyrush it was more like awesome lifthill, gaaahhhhh!, awesome final airtime hill, gaaahhhhhh!

I was going to visit Dorney when I was in the area but ended up skipping the place as there's just so little there. Steel Force looked fun, but the rest, not so much. I do like those Intamin drop towers, but I've ridden them enough at other parks.

I just visited those three parks myself a few weeks ago, so it's really cool to relive it again through your reports! Like you, I was blown away by Nitro—totally did not see that coming as I generally dislike B&M. In fact, it was my favorite ride out of all three parks, beating both El Toro and Skyrush, largely because it was less of an endurance test. My day at Hershey was also similar—everything was a walk-on all day long and I got an insane amount of rides in on Skyrush even though I wasn't that enamored with it. Great reports!

That's actually not true for me simply because I really don't care about riding flyers at Hershey or Knoebels. Coasters, on the other hand . . .

Ah, I was unaware! My apologies.

It was mainly on that big turn around that it jack-hammered, and it was no worse than something like Ghost Rider (although the added speed probably made it feel worse than it is, too). I would actually have loved to try it when it felt more like a steel coaster as the concept and design are brilliant, but its woodyness doesn't quite allow for it to reach its potential. Although I'm sure it's heretical to complain of such things around these parts, but it really does feel like it's going too fast for the track—especially toward the end. I'm surprised it doesn't have any block segments on it, actually. Nitro was very smooth every time I rode it, but one ride felt like it didn't quiet get the air of the others. The coaster struck me as so well-engineered that it felt like even if you had no restraints, you'd leave your seat on the hills, but it'd catch you again on the other side as opposed to El Toro that would launch you to your death without even blinking an eye.

I didn’t quite feel the love for this park in the way that others on this board seem to. It struck me as somewhere between sketchy carnival and flea market with a few rides scattered around. It was a damp day, but that didn’t stop people from showing up in herds. I arrived early and got to watch the park come alive. I spent the 30 minutes or so acclimating myself to the park’s layout, and as soon as tickets were available, I bought a book and headed over to join the Flying Turns line that had started to form. Once the park officially opened, the Flying Turns line was held at a standstill as the ride was running into some problems following the first test runs—issues with the sensor, it seemed. 20 minutes later, the ride still hadn’t opened, but I suspected that it would be the one attraction most susceptible to getting shut down in the rain (apparently rain makes it run slower), so I opted to wait a little longer. 10 mins later, we were told it might take another 45 minutes, so at that point I took off to try out the rest of the rides with the hope of returning later. I did get to ride it eventually, but it was quite a wait at that point. Anyhow, some reviews and thoughts about what I did try out: Phoenix (3 rides): I had read about it and had seen the TPR video with folks getting launched up in the air. I figured that was perhaps exaggerated, but that’s exactly what the ride did. The lack of seatbelt and a high up restraint allowed for some crazy airtime that, on my first ride, felt pretty terrifying, but on subsequent rides, I found to be more hilarious than anything. I was told by another operator that I should ride it in the rain, and that I did. No lines for this one during the day, so I rode three times (front, back, middle). I found it fairly smooth for a ride of its age, and was surprised by how fast it took the unbanked turns. The airtime hills were crazy, starting with the double up/down section and then moving into the consecutive hill section. The front was certainly smoother than the back, but I didn’t really find much of a difference aside from that—it was airtime madness throughout. Overall, a great ride that certainly lived up to its reputation. 9/10. Twister (2 rides): Fascinating layout with impressive visual appeal. The double lift-hill was unique and the first drop was fun, but I found much of the rest to be too brutal and worn down to enjoy. The color of the track and structure suggested that the first drop had been reconstructed at some point, but the rest of the ride could probably benefit from some work, too. Overall, an interesting design with some articulate parts, but it could really use some TLC. 5/10. Haunted Mansion (3 rides): I’m sort of obsessed with these old school dark rides and had been looking forward to this one for a while. I ended up riding it three times, even though I was pretty familiar with the layout and the tricks. I loved it, but it did feel smaller than I’d imagined—quite compact and perhaps even more “old school” than I had expected. Fantastic, though, and far more funny than terrifying. You can tell that the park really cares about authenticity with rides like this. 9/10. Black Diamond (2 rides): See above re: obsession. I was especially curious about the layout of this, and it’s a nice sized ride inside. They really made good use of the space, and the track is spread out economically. Lots of old-school effects that had been perked up a bit without making it feel too Disney or something. Plenty of cheese, but the cheese was well-served. I was quite surprised by the quasi-intimidating downward slopes as, given that the ride is clearly not set up to run like a coaster, there are moments when it feels like it’s about to become one. The drops are braked, but they grab and release which makes the train hurtle down parts of the slope and take the turn at the bottom a little faster than it seems like it should. A great ride that you can tell was restored with love. 9/10. Flying Turns (1 ride): I really rode this for the credit—even though I don’t collect credits. It’s just one of those things that you have to say you did, I guess. As far as rides go, it’s not very good—short, boring, with terrible throughput. As far as structure and technology goes, it’s beautifully anachronistic and a real pleasure. Absolutely worth a ride despite it pulling the biggest line in the park (45 min wait for me), but just don’t expect much from the ride itself. 6/10. Satellite (1 ride): I was planning on heading up to Sylvan Beach later in the week to re-ride their Laffland ride, and I knew they had this one there, but figured I’d try it out while at Knoebels. This was a little more intense and unnerving than I expected with some minor air as it looped over the top of its arc. Once I’d secured myself a bit, not expecting it to be quite as intense as it was, I enjoyed it more. But then it flipped on its side and I found that I had to fight to keep from getting launched into the mesh door. For those who haven’t ridden it, when the rotation shifts to horizontal, the cages still tilt back and forth. So, at one point, you’re in a comfortable, gravity-friendly position, but then it flips you so you’re facing outwards while it spins. That part sucked. Either way, a fun ride that I’m glad I got to take a ride on as I’d learn a couple of days later that Sylvan Beach wasn’t starting its season until late June. A fun, scary piece of machinery that looks more industrial than anything. 7/10. Many of the other rides I watched but didn’t bother getting on. The fliers looked great, but I rode the ones at Hershey and so skipped it at Knoebels even though it looked better. A few other flats looked like they’d be kind of cool too, but I really was there for the coasters and the dark rides, and my attention was spent on them. A nice enough park, but more backwoods than I’d expected. The crowd was “interesting” and, at times, I couldn’t help but feel like some of the more Deliverence-style folks were actually in costumes to add authenticity to the place. Also, I don't eat greasy or fried food in any capacity (which tends to render theme park food out of the question), and here I grabbed a baked potato—nothing special whatsoever. But I suppose they're hardly catering to the more discernible palate. Fun place overall, but not the kind of place I'd return to.