chadster

I'm afraid your story is not exactly correct. The train did not stop on the Midcourse and no e-stop button was pressed while the train was on course. The ride does not have the ability to sense any lapbar issues beyond the ride station. The lapbar was in a locked position as indicated by the seat sensor on dispatch and was in the same, if not slightly lower, position when it returned. All of these details are laid out in the lawsuit and discovery information including depositions which most has been made public in the lawsuit filings.

Prowler, in the rain, for 90 minutes.

This season I've traveled a ton, probably more than any other season. These are trips that were mostly unintended and either for work or because of airfare that was too good to be true. As travel winds down I thought I would share my 'last minute' trips with everyone. And because these trips are mostly short in nature my time in the parks was usually limited, hence 'QuikTrips'. The end result? I hit the highlights at each park in which I'll share with all of you. With my home park being SFOT it's refreshing to get out to other Six Flags parks and see how the chain is doing nationally. This trip took place around the end of May and landed me in Chicago to check out the progress on Goliath at Six Flags Great America and give the RMC guys kudos for their hard work over the harsh winter. Ready? Visual Scan...5,4,3,2,1 clear to see the photos If you took the top three strong points of each park in the chain, added them up, and through them all into a single park, you'd have a stellar park. This board outside the front gates is one of the top 3 things from SFGAm that I'd place at each park. Traditional photo that must be included in any SFGAm report. Wild Mice can be fun, and this one is still fun. After seeing the light into the heavens... I walked over to the Goliath Construction site and waved at the crew. Pretty sure one of them saluted me, but it's ok, I provided them with cheap beer, so jokes on them. Its quite large Which is what she said Anywho the guys had worked hard for 12 hours and it was time to boom down and take a siesta. In just a few more weeks people would be enjoying its high speed thrills and chills. But for now, its time to do something implusive which included getting shot towards the sky Speaking of flying I was disappointed that the effects had been turned off. The fog and water canons really added that missing element to turn blah into not so blah. At least it's still photogenic And its still fun. I've still never been on this I really do like this park. Nice collection of flats and coasters, its well kept, and has nice landscaping. du ne ne ne nenenenenenene BATMAN Still not sure about the World, but it is clean But as this quiktrip to SFGAm came to an end, I went to take a Whiz LOOK! It's Halley's Comet! Adios SFGAm It's been real.

Breaking news: Texas Giant is now down to 5 cars from it's original 6. Don't worry, they are still stacking

If you planned on going to the park to ride NTAG or SkyScream, you'll want to revise your plans. Both rides were damaged during Thursday's severe storms that saw straight line winds hitting 100mph in the Arlington area and ripped a roof off a college dorm. A few miles North where I am we only saw 85mph winds. :/ Flying trees, not cows, made there way across the area.

The moose out front says that the evening shows are adult oriented. I saw him Saturday at WOF and thought he was funny as hell. In other news....land clearing is underway....beside Thunderhawk behind the games buildings....I'll come out of semi-retirement and post a one-off PTR later.

The asphalt was laid down a few weeks ago, expect a haunt to go in this area.

Dream on. Of note, for those of you not from the area Ft. Worth is not Dallas and Ft. Worth residence will punch you in the teeth for referring to them as 'Dallas'. Dallas and Ft. Worth are very much different cities and offer different lifestyles. Ft. Worth has a tremendous amount of land available close to the interstate highway system making it a prime choice for potential development. The Dallas/Ft. Worth market is already home to multiple production studios including Southside Studios who produce the TNT show 'Dallas'. DFW also boasts national shows such as 'Cheaters', 'The First 48', and "30k Millionaire"(Currently in production with no aire date set). So in essence it would not be unusual for a new player to come to town. There are also huge tax incentives being offered for a variety of industries which is evident by the amount of stupid Californian's moving in. Not gonna hold my breath on this one, but if they build it, you'll find me there instead of that other place. We'll not what he really meant to say about that! What he meant is that ever since astroworld closed Texas was getting in bad shape and sucking on it's amusement industry till kemah, and the pleasure pier is built in Texas, and grand Texas, adventure pointe, and dreamvision, is coming to Texas, he's saying that would bring Dallas/ft worth, a great idea especially Texas, or forgive me if I'm wrong! Um, yes, I know what he meant, but thanks for clarifying. The remaining comments were generalized to the rest of the conversation in the thread as a whole.

Dream on. Of note, for those of you not from the area Ft. Worth is not Dallas and Ft. Worth residence will punch you in the teeth for referring to them as 'Dallas'. Dallas and Ft. Worth are very much different cities and offer different lifestyles. Ft. Worth has a tremendous amount of land available close to the interstate highway system making it a prime choice for potential development. The Dallas/Ft. Worth market is already home to multiple production studios including Southside Studios who produce the TNT show 'Dallas'. DFW also boasts national shows such as 'Cheaters', 'The First 48', and "30k Millionaire"(Currently in production with no aire date set). So in essence it would not be unusual for a new player to come to town. There are also huge tax incentives being offered for a variety of industries which is evident by the amount of stupid Californian's moving in. Not gonna hold my breath on this one, but if they build it, you'll find me there instead of that other place.

Restraints did not come up, her fat roll came over resulting in a gap. Ride station had cameras. The mcbr now has cameras instead of a person sitting there. A staff reduction method.

Well you get the rest. Apparently Humpty took a great fall at Enchanted forest the other day... KGW

^Get use to it, the budget ax has fallen at this one. It's a shame really that they now staff based on projected, or actual at times, attendance at the rides. It's almost as if someone goes up and says, "oh look, people are only waiting two cycles to ride, we need to reduce staff or capacity to get that line back up to our normal wait time of 30 minutes." If you go to any Cedar Fair Park, or even Fun Spot they are always fully staffed at the rides, even if its a down pour or crazy slow day. It only makes good business sense from a customer satisfaction standpoint to keep your customers happy. I can see food and beverage stands cutting back staff based on projected attendance, and even games staff. I compare what No Flags Over Texas is doing to that of going into a restaurant and seeing all these open tables and being told, I'm sorry, there will be a 20 minute wait. Um, what?!?! No one else is in front of me, and you have all these open tables?!?! Sorry sir, but we just don't have the staff to utilize the capacity we have. It will catch up to them as attendance slides along with revenues. The NTAG accident itself did not cause people to stop going to the park, the park caused people to stop going with their ridiculous new policies that no other SF's park has put in place. That tells me as someone who has been to all of their parks that this one might not be safe!!! (We know it is, but perception is everything)

^ 2pm to close and all day July 3rd. It was posted in the newsletter.

The management at Darien Lake is pretty bad even for Herschend owning it. They can't even get 2 trains on an Intamin at once. I think some management changes needs to be made before getting a brand new coaster, non less than a looping one. Herschend doesn't own the park, CNL does, and they hold the purse strings TIGHT. Herschend manages the park under contract with CNL and can only put in new rides when CNL approves the capex.

I guess one could speculate - what parks in America could be lacking a somewhat complete ride package? Are there any parks that could really benefit by having a few if not all of those rides moved there? There are a couple of start-up parks around Houston that could use these on the cheap

Personally I don't have time to dig into this more but I'll give someone who does a nice lead... https://ap.arlingtontx.gov/web/permit/public-search?t_detail=1&t_selected_folderrsn=976791&t_selected_propertyrsn=193442 https://ap.arlingtontx.gov/web/permit/public-search?t_detail=1&t_selected_folderrsn=996427&t_selected_propertyrsn=193442 http://www.qarch.com/ It appears the same guy who designed Bugs Boomtown is also working on this, Arthur Calcaterra, who back around 2000 worked for Six Flags in Planning and Design. Just from looking at the footer location it would appear to be nothing more than piers for an addition to the existing building. I heard last week that the giant swing in the sky is coming out. Might as well, they already have one across the street and about 3 more exist in DFW. If it's taking up space and not making money, smart business says get it the hell outta there and put something in to draw a crowd, like a spectacular shooting dark ride...

2015 Clue

After sitting in quarantine since the incident, the red train has been moved to the gantry bay and is being unhitched this morning to be lifted off.

Looks like the show lone star spectacular is coming soon. I am Texas.

Correct. Batman is down until mid July, or later depending on when the chassis arrives from California and how long it takes them to figure out that this one doesn't install forwards

^^Awesome to hear and thanks for registering! ^Deluge had closed for the day on my visit for technical reasons but was slated to be open the next day.

^In all reality, there really wasn't anything wrong with it other than it needed maintenance. Six Flags at the time shut the back portion of the park down around 2008 which included Mile High Falls and Twisted Twins in an effort to reduce it's maintenance and operating budgets. Keep in mind this was at a point where Shapiro was trying to make the company profitable again, and he did, it was just too little too late and the bankruptcy hammer fell.

It's not as simple as calling up PTC and ordering a new train. The ride was not engineered to run two trains and would need to be modified to do so in many areas, something that financially almost doesn't make sense. A new PTC train you are looking at around 300k if not more, then add on a new PLC, track work, new mechanicals, transfer table, maintenance bay, and the list goes on. Easily in the $1 million range. It would be more feasible to use that money to add additional attractions that would in turn scatter people throughout the park and reduce wait times. This will come as they open T2 among other improvements next year and then the back portion of the park in 2016. The water park was the main focus this year as well as to get the rides park open. For adding 5 new flats, a roller coaster, rehabbing all of the existing rides, landscaping, refurbishment of all the buildings, and getting all new systems in place (six flags left the place in shambles) I'd say they done damn good. Its easy to nitpick about a sign not being in place, but that's all it is, nitpicking. After visiting with park officials this weekend, trust me, they know where they need to improve, they know things are not yet in place, and they know they are not done. You will continue to see improvements throughout the season and especially next season. The future is bright for Kentucky Kingdom.

Last week I was in Chicago visiting a good friend of mine who works in the industry. I mentioned that I was looking to visit Kentucky Kingdom to test out RMC's remake of Thunder Run as well as the new Lightning Run. Next thing I know a phone call was made(many thanks to my friend yet again!) and I was on my way to meet with Bill Hargrave, Kentucky Kingdoms Technical Services Operations Director, and Marketing Director John Mulcahy. Having followed the re-birth of Kentucky Kingdom via the parks social media, I had an idea of what to expect. But what I didn't expect to see were the thousands of people that had packed the park, after all the only time I had visited the park was the last year it had ran and it was pretty much empty. This was quite the sight to see. If I had to guess, there were at least 500 people in line to process their season passes, a line that was steadily and quickly moving. Contrary to some reports of 4-5 hour lines, the park tells me the lines have been no more than an hour, usually less, and provide water to those waiting in line. They have 16 people processing season passes and they are the first park to offer you the opportunity to upload your photo to their website to speed up that process. If you uploaded your photo then all you need to do is pick your card up at the park. Easy. This year Kentucky Kingdom added several rides and vastly expanded the water park. The expanded water park sits on the site of what was formerly occupied by Chang (for those that are not aware, it was harvested by Six Flags and relocated to their New Jersey park before they gave control of Kentucky Kingdom back to the fairgrounds during bankruptcy). The expansion area of the water park could stand on it's own featuring a mini wave pool, river, slides, a bar area, etc. So in essence you are getting two water parks and an amusement park, for the price of one admission. Here are a few bullet point items before we get to the photos, which is probably what you want to see anyway. [*]In 2015 T2 will re-open. Had the park been able to secure the lease sooner, it would have been open this year. Other enhancements will also be made [*]In 2016 the back half of the park will re-open, those plans are still being finalized [*]The park has 'Ambassadors' stationed throughout the park. These are basically customer service people who are also part of the eyes and ears for the park and communicate regularly with the parks command center. If you need something, they can help. [*]Louisville PD is onsite and throwing out line cutters, people with saggy britches, vulgar shirts, spitting, excessive swearing, and line cutters, did I mention line cutters? They are not playing around either. I watched at least a dozen people shown the door for line cutting, misbehaving, etc. [*]Landscaping should be in by the end of the week. The park was very concerned this was not in place opening weekend, but honestly it didn't look that bad. [*]According to news reports over 30k people visited opening weekend (Memorial Day Weekend) and on my visit on June 1st it was estimated that about 12k people visited. A very large portion of those crowds were in the water park. Ok, so lets look around! Welcome to the new Kentucky Kingdom This was the season pass processing line when I arrived around 2:30 in the afternoon. It was steadily moving, however if you didn't feel like waiting in line you could get an entry voucher from guest relations and come back at a later time. Note: Parking is controlled by the fairgrounds and is NOT included in your season pass price. You can however purchase a parking pass from the fairgrounds if you so choose. Lets go inside, shall we? First stop, season pass processing. They have two areas setup for this task, each have 8 stations. This would be the main area. And this the secondary. Once you leave season pass processing you can either go home (why would you do that) or enter the park from season pass processing. This is all the park needed to do to win me over. Coca-Cola. Season pass holders can enjoy a 32oz Coke for $1, likewise those who buy a souvenir bottle can do the same. The first new ride on our tour was from our friends at Larsen. And it was very popular with the locals. Across from Fear Fall is the newly refurbished breakdance John tells me they went through each and every building painting, repairing, upgrading, and doing what ever was necessary to make them functional. In total, over 100 buildings were rehabbed. The kiddie area received several new rides The tea cups weren't ready yet but were expected to be soon. Nothing wrong here at all, its just the parks priority was getting the park open. Weather played a part in the delay. Behind it you see the Zeppelin which was formerly located up towards the front of the park close to where Lightning Run is today. John(who previously worked for KK) tells me the ride didn't see much business up front as it was more or less out of the way. Now it's become very popular. You should check it out, pretty cool ride. Zamperla was the supplier of their new kiddie rides and they are very happy with them, and so are the kids. You can even have your picture taken while sitting in the Kings chair And now we have arrived to the water park. The first thing you will notice is that you can now walk directly down to the water park, no need to zig zag down a boardwalk to get to it. Huge improvement and increased traffic flow. You will also notice that the pool is PACKED. Thousands of people everywhere. I have to admit, I was very happy for the park, seeing this puts a smile on their faces. The freshly painted wheel looks stunning. The park also has several grassy areas in the water park that you can lay out on, don't see that in too many places! Now this is the old entrance to the water park where you could drive up and drop off or enter. But no more! As we turn around... We see this! Yup, all new. Here are a few of the slides they put in. And the new river they put in. Notice all of the stone work, this theme has been carried out throughout both the existing and new water park attractions. It looks very modern and clean, a resort feel if you will. This is also where Chang use to sit. Turning around we find the other slide tower that was installed. The river runs around the area and drops you off at the parks second wave pool, all connected together with a waterfall. The wheel is the focal point of the park IMHO Here are more of the eateries before we make our way back to the older part of the water park I never knew this was here before, the waterfall looks stunning. Innertubes are provided at no charge and are required for floating this particular river. As you can tell, the stone theme continues And of course you can check out Thunder Run while you float. Here is another view from the bridge of the new section where Chang was. It really is a whole nother water park over here. And don't forget, they have free sunscreen, so don't be like me, use it. And they have beer and cocktails Over the river and through the woods we find... Mile High Falls, the ride Six Flags said couldn't be saved. Strange, because it looks like it's running to me! I see you tornado. And what, what is this? Thunder Run?!?! The ride performs exceptionally well, in fact Bill and John indicated its the best it's ever ran, ever. It has plenty of airtime and terrific forces. Highly re-ride-able unlike what it was before, a rough, hunting, bumpy ride. These guys looks ready to ride! With a fancy new sign to go with the RMC rehab work it received. This ride easily had the longest line in the park and the line the was closed off first at about 7:15pm as the lines was estimated at 1:40 Keep in mind it was originally built for single train operation, but when word got out how incredible the ride is now, people queued up to take a spin. This train powered by super fists Wow, the first drop, amazing. No need to worry about getting beat up, just throw your hands in the air and enjoy a comfortable ride. It is! RMC once again outdid themselves and proves they can pretty much fix anything. Keep up the great work guys!! So the bumper cars were moved near the Himalaya And here they are running in their new home. And here is the Himalaya. For a park that had zero soft opening and whose first day was on Memorial Day Weekend, typically one of the busiest weekend for any park, I give park operations a B. They are looking at ways to improve and are tweaking procedures daily. Within a few weeks everything should be ironed out and running smooth. The 5D Cinema is sponsored by LG&E who also stepped up and provided the content for the show promoting conservation. The only ride down in the park. Pretty good for a park that's been sitting for 5 years. Sometimes you can do all the testing in the world and find something out during the course of operation that needs to be corrected. Mmmmm, tacos. So the bumper cars use to be straight out there, with them gone, the area is opened up. And we can't forget about our Credit Whores. You will enjoy a freshly painted and refurbished Roller Skater. Finally we checked out the Chance Rides Inc Lightning Run It looks like a baby ride But it isn't. It certainly has that Chance feel to it. And provides some nice forces And pops of air The line did spill outside of the queue which appeared to be designed for about a 30 minute wait, but everyone wrapped in front of the not yet opened BBQ restaurant. From the tailend of the line in front of the BBQ place, it took about 40 minutes to queue. Not bad really. Standing in line. Entry. RIP Anton. 2 test seats for you testing pleasure. Happy riders returning. Hopefully we will see more of these compact rides in the near future. In closing I just want to say the park has only been open a handful of days after being closed for years and a long battle with the fairgrounds to re-open. They had a short time to get everything done for Memorial Day, and all things considered they've done a damn fine job. The park recognizes they can't stop now, and vow to move forward, improving each and every day. The staff and Mr. Hart are committed to making Kentucky Kingdom a great success and economic engine for Louisville. With the obvious support of people of Louisville and surrounding cities, I don't think they will any trouble at all in succeeding. If you have any questions please post them here, if I don't know the answer, I will find out for you. Many thanks and appreciations to Kentucky Kingdom for having me out and taking time out of their extremely busy day to show me around! Thanks for reading and be sure to put Kentucky Kingdom on your places to visit this summer list!