Chrisrad

Yeah, the fact that it's not a chain swing definitely eliminates any thought of the ride being a 'hokey ass carnival kind of ride'; I told myself I would never ride one after hearing about the one at Knott's, but ended up riding two of them on the East Coast trip. Compared to drop rides or 'scary coasters', you really don't hear anyone screaming on the Windseekers. And, at least during my rides, nobody wanted to get off right away. But yeah, I totally understand that some people are afraid of heights.

Most awkward ride of my life... But Piers, you weren't the one tearing up on the ride.. That person isn't here right now. As Robb and Elissa have said, definitely an observation tower type of ride. It would be awesome to have a 'cameras are allowed' ERT Windseeker session next year at WCB (you know, the same time we'll be riding the new giga).

After going to Cedar Point, I say screw the title of 'having the most coasters' - while they don't have X2 (one of 2 4Ds, right?), and Tatsu (better than other flyers because it's on a hill), they seem to have more of what tourists might want - a resort/scenery/etc. When I first saw Cedar Point, I couldn't believe people actually compared the two, and felt that SFMM had a chance at being better than Cedar Point. While you can't necessarily compare the rides at each park, it's the fact that Cedar Point is just a better place to be. So yeah.. they'll lose their 18th coaster... I guess people won't be complaining about how it's never open anymore. I'm excited.. maybe there is something better in the future.

Honestly, Colossus is boring - just a giant kiddie coaster; it's not necessarily rough, but seems to really slow down around the curves. With a makeover, it can be re-marketed, and will bring life to that area of the park. See.. this is how the GP would respond; make Colossus worth riding again, and SFMM can draw people from out of the area, which is what they desperately need to do (cough, drop-off the kids for cheap babysitting, cough) So honestly, I'm perplexed by your response.. Knott's Ghost town is a 'classic', but doesn't cater to the demands of today's crowds. Same with Colossus.. it used to be so awesome that people were ejected from it; now, it simply provides views of the parking lot to see how busy the park is.

It was quite interesting - definitely not small enough while covered to cause claustrophobia. The spinning was just fast enough to make it exciting. As for Canobie as a whole, it was a very neat little park - the train ride, some of the flats, Untamed, the employees, etc. - I liked it just as much as Compounce. The dark ride, on the other hand... Umm.. That was one hell of a random history lesson with multiple centuries and geographic locations.

I like your trip report! Looks like a pretty decent afternoon, despite cars being all the way out in the gravel lot. However, after being on the two east coast TPR trips, and with SFMM being my home park, I don't see myself going back to that place for a long time - perhaps not until WCB 2012. Is that a bad thing? I guess I just don't feel excited about going to there to be inundated with ads every five feet, paying $15 for a meal, etc..

^ No, I pussied out for some reason - the whole 'tallest/fastest' thing kind of got to me. Fortunately, people that rode it said it was shaky, so, I guess I didn't miss much. Dragster was quite fun; as a car guy, I loved the race theming!

Yeah, I'd have to say El Toro for wood, and Dragster for steel.

Hey!! Yep, they were quite fun! The flyers were more entertaining, though - the operator didn't 'yell' when I tried snapping them, but he simply said 'hey'.. Place was awesome! So much randomness and old school rides!

QFT! Yeah, Compounce was a neat park; until experiencing the awesomeness that is Knoebels, it was my favority 'family' park on the trip. And yeah, Wildcat... I managed to get through two rides.

AWESOME!! That's great news! Reverting back to the Log Jammer discussion, why would they removed a 'themed' ride (nice station that fits well with surroundings, full-grown trees, a woodsy feel in the area, etc.), and leave Jet Stream with a dilapidated station that needs some serious attention? Jet stream just seems like a better candidate if they were going to remove a water ride - it doesn't fit with the surroundings anymore (Psyclone Bay is pretty much gone, right?).

Holy crap man, that's incredible! Most people take the easy way out with surgery/lipo, but you've proven that it's possible with hard work and determination. You remind me of Jared from Subway, but I heard he's a prick in real life so I wouldn't want to compared anyone to him. But yeah, wow.. awesome job!!

Great report/pictures! I'm looking forward to a Fall visit with lighter crowds.. I can't wait to ride Green Lantern!

I'm not saying that I agree with the rumor regarding ride closures and water canon relocations, but if they move those to Jet Stream, I won't be riding it anymore - I have too much water canon karma that's going to bite me in the ass.

^^^ Log Jammer is the one by Mooseburger, right? If so, I've never ridden it - I simply use the 25 cent water canons for the riders - number one to be precise. I can easily spend $5 getting people wet with an unacceptable amount of wetness.

I find it very thrilling and enjoyable, and a good way to check on X2's lines (while going up the lift). Forgive me for forgetting names, but one of the SFMM executives said the ride would be staying for quite a while because his family enjoyed it (please don't quote me on that word for word, but it was along those lines). I expect a 20+ year old coaster to have some roughness - for its age, it rides quite well and still packs quite a punch.

Everyone in my family (including a personal injury lawyer and a few teachers) is saying the same thing - they're not even mentioning how the ride might have been unsafe (it's not, but most people from the GP would blame this on the ride). EDIT: Crap, I didn't read the last page of comments regarding suicide as a possibility. With my post, I was not implying suicide, but simply mentioning that fact that people who randomly heard/read about the story (before hearing about it from me) felt that it might have been the case for someone who has already been through so much.

^^^^^ Thanks for the report! For a summer Monday, following the weekend, those wait times seem pretty manageable. I've never felt that Scream is rough, but I know there's some vibration at the bottom of the first drop. Otherwise, it's a pretty fun ride - it never has a huge line (for the most part), and it has quite a few enjoyable elements.

I'm relieved to hear about audio on one of X2's trains, but it's unfortunate to hear about Tatsu and Goliath - hope it's nothing major.

It is really sad to hear about something like this, especially when he gave so much for our country. But, at the same time, we all know our limits. Someone who has suffered a heart attack might not ride certain rides because, well, they have a medical condition. Someone who is too large might not ride a certain ride because they are too big (and I've read the rule signs where this is stated). Somebody screwed up big time.. the operators? Or? I know everyone is sue happy in our society, and quick to point their finger, but wow, how was he let on this ride? Aren't there rules that state (at least for certain rides) that you must be physically able to put your self on the actual ride, without any assistance? That was clearly not the case with this guy.

Yeah, Enter Sandman on the lift, and other audio effects (heartbeat,etc) really build up the adrenaline - it really makes you think "oh crap, what am I doing..this is crazy." On another note, when people report that Green Lantern is breaking down, just what is it that breaks down? I know this is common for new coasters because it the test/adjust phase, but is there something that's common with all new coasters that cause these break-downs? Is it simply electrical/software related? I'm just curious, that's all.

Just an FYI for those who need to renew their passes - My premium pass was up on July 19th so I stopped at the renewal center to ask why I hadn't received any documents in the mail regarding my expiration. The lady told me that for the month of July, they are honoring last year's prices for renewal. So, the new $499 price for the premium ended up costing me $439. The same logic should apply to other passes as well (at least that's what she told me). So, I almost gave up this time around because I didn't want to spend $500, but I got lucky.

Yesterday at DCA on California Screamin' - some woman (30s) with her two young kids - she was livid that they 'forced' her on the ride. The whole time she kept 'screamin' ( ) that she was going to have a heart attack, the ride is unsafe, and then she told her kids, "Hold on - this is dangerous," and, "These things are death traps." Guess what happened when we returned to the station? She wanted to ride again. Once you break your coaster virginity, there's just no turning back.

I guess I'm confused (thanks to Bert's wonderful description on the show ) - how does the triple down work? It's obviously in a tunnel, and you go down, but is it a first drop and you think you're done, and then there are 2 more drops? It seems interesting. And it's obviously not something that would show on a POV.

They're both there - one was on the other side of the float. I tried to take the picture while walking, then jumped under the rope for a second to take this picture. I have to tell you, I'm happier with the camera on my 2 year old Droid than the real camera I used today - a Panasonic Lumix. I thought I would take some 'better' pictures for a TR, but it looks like I'll be going back to my phone.