John Knotts

I went through something simliar a few years ago. It was so bad that I almost gave up riding...it was very depressing. Well I can honestly say my marathoning days are over, sadly. However I have come up with several ways to make coaster riding not such a problem anymore. 1) lots of sleep before a day at the park. 2) limit (or completely eliminate) coffee and caffinated drinks. The combination of coffee and extreme forces on the stomach do not mix as you get older. It's unfortunate but true. 3) Dramamine. I never set foot in a park without it. 4) lose weight, especially around the midsection. A build up of muscle in that area will give you extra stamina. If not, try to tighten your stomach muscles right as you hit those positive g's. Finally... 5) Get your inner ear checked. If it's an equilibrium problem. Your doctor can pinpoint the cause, because it might be something that can be treated. It know it sounds very high maintainance to do all this stuff, but trust me it works!

The Thrillshot location was a rumor I heard at last WCB. If they chose.that location, the surrounding area would need to be cleared. However, a better location would be atop the mountain near Tatsu. That way they could claim not only the height of the tower itself, but also the total height above sea level.

Something like AtmosFear would be awesome!

Lines up with the rumors I have heard that Thrillshot will be removed this fall, and something else will be "falling" in it's place. We'll see what happens!

There would be no need to run more than 2 trains on Revolution any longer. Most days it's one of the shortest waits of any coaster in the park. I would love to see what SFMM and maybe a company like Mack Rides would be able to do to restore this classic. Imagine restraints like the ones used on Blue Fire, some fresh paint, reprofilling here and there and the removal of the trims.

Why bring them back when you can just replace them with cardboard cut outs. lol

Best laid plans...

Yeah, sorry for people who made plans around the 18th, I know how that is. For me this is really no big deal, Superman:EFK is totally worth a trip by itself. It really is GOOD. I wasn't planning to ride GL until July anyway, and whenever I go, no matter the cost, I'm buying the gold flashpass.

Riptide at Knotts seems closed twice as often as its open. I've only ridden the Damn thing once. Surprisingly drop towers seem the most reliable of flats. S&S manufactures my personal favorite flat rides.

. Nah...just say something negative about Cedar Fair and he'll have nothing but positive things to say! That's mainly because ignorance runs rampant when it comes to people talking about CF. They hear one or two common misconceptions from everyone on the board and then they run with it, whether they know the actual truth or not. Either that or they spend a day or two at KBF and think they know everything about CF. I'm usually there to set the misconception straight. Prime example is someone who thought CF was the only company that didn't allow head-on collisions for their bumper cars, when TONS of parks have that policy. I mean hell, I worked for them for four years, and they aren't anywhere near as bad as anyone makes them out to be. It's the Cedar Point effect, just like the rankings. If all things were the same with that chain, but Cedar Point or Dick Kinzel weren't a part of it, then nobody would have even half as many negative things to say about it. What's really funny is when someone starts bashing on CF and has never even been to one of their parks. I know Cedar Fair isn't all good (better food please?), just like I know Six Flags isn't all bad (Flash Passes are amazing!), but when I see something that SFMM management said about how they'll basically build nothing but coasters, and then people defend it? Especially when the last thing that park needs is more coasters? That's just laughable. Just like every time CF management tries to justify cutting down more trees at one of their parks. You wonder what on Earth could they be thinking? I guess I just don't get the SF love on this board. I'm the kinda guy who could have a good time doing literally nothing, and yet, I've rarely ever had a good time at a SF park. Those parks just suck the life right out of me. What's to get though? People like what they like, because its what they like, just like you. Like you said, no cooperate company is perfectly run, so you find things you do like, or move on,to something else,that's more your scene. But asking people in a SFMM thread to justify why they like SF is a waste of time and energy imo. It's like wondering why people chose their cell phone provider because you chose something else. Obviously they find value in it you don't, and there is nothing wrong with that. I don't think you'll find a single person on this board who doesn't find fault with Six Flags. Not one. So stop it with the extremes. Some of us don't like to dwell on negativity 24/7. Especially when this company does crazy things like making their older coasters ridable again, and making stride towards better customet service. SFMM still has plenty of improvements to make before I'm happy with the park, heck I'm not happy with my Atlanta Braves either, but as long as they continue putting a team on the field I enjoy watching, I always stick with them. But I hate when people try to make me feel guilty for liking something imperfect, when everything is imperfect, just because they don't. And for the record, no one is saying all coasters and very little else is ok. But that is the reality, and has been for years.

What are you going on about? lol No one has suggested the park couldn't use more flats, and not a single person is "foaming" as you call it. What you or I think is best for the park is one thing. what the park thinks is their best business model is something else. That was all I was suggesting. Baiting internet terms like "fanboy" really have no place in this discussion.

^ Not really. 10 years ago they were buying parks left and right, and then adding 18 million dollar coasters to them. Adding coasters to their core parks never put them in any danger. Besides, the approach now is different. $10 milion for Terminator, $ 7 million for Green Lantern, and them re-marketing former troubled coasters, is miles more efficient than what they were doing before. The last $20 million dollar coaster the company built was back in 2006 (Tatsu).

^ Agreed. Also, there is no rule book that says you have to run your park the way everyone else runs theirs. Maybe they just don't like flats, and want to almost exclusively cater to coaster fans. There is no theme park "law" that says you can't do that.

At WCB, they said that they rather spend on a rollercoaster because a flat ride cost as much as a coaster. Yeah that was a really weird statement. They also said rollercoasters are better marketing machines. Generally, they seemed stuck in the 90's. Today's flats are as awesome as any coaster. They did say they would consider one along with a coaster addition in the future. I honestly feel that as long as a few key people are running SFMM, its going to be 90 percent coasters. It's like a drug.

^ Ugh...not good. No excuse for one train operation on anything on a Memorial Day weekend. Are they nuts?

I spent a good 20 minutes speaking with Neal T at WCB, and although he didn't go into detail, he did say the park is heading back towards themes areas, and away from random placement of attractions. He also said there is a multi year plan in place that will address long standing issues.

^ At the very least that would make a good spot for a flat with a desert theme. There are several places that could use a sprinkling of family rides, including County Fair, the back of the park near Jet Stream and the new DC Universe. The park could also use some live entertainment with a grassy area just to sit and take a break.

That should be a good thing, especially for us! I'll be a happy camper if people continue to run for X2 and Tatsu, and I can get early morning rides on GL. As for 2012, it's really hard to tell what SFMM will do if Knotts adds that rumored big ride, plus Universal and Disney. The company still seems unwilling to shell out $18-$20 mill on one ride like they used to. But with the major stuff opening next year, can they really stand pat with Green Lantern for next year?

It will be interesting to see how much the crowd splits in the morning, once Green Lantern opens. I hope they have something cool planned for next year to split the crowds even further.

As I've said before, this is about MUCH more than just what coaster "needs" a rocky mountain makeover. This is also about which coasters are "marketable" enough to earn a quick return on investment. It's also about potential reduced maintanance costs to a park. Colossus may not really "need" the total change to steel, but SFMM is not only the park that started this whole "re-launching" trend, but I can only imagine the yearly budget it takes to maintain such a massive "double" tracked structure. So you have to look at more than just a "rough" wooden coaster when trying to predict which coasters might get this treatment. I'd be willing to bet most parks could care less if their wooden coasters are considered rough. What they do care about is bringing more guests through the turnstyle, and cutting maintanance budgets.

I think that looks fantastic sitting next to Batman. I love all the twisted track. The trackwork should be done in just a few days.

Colossus also fits the bill as an iconic coaster that would be a dream for the park to re-market as a return to glory. I bet its in the planning stages as we speak.

Unfortunately, flat rides can't compete with all the big projects opening in so-cal in 2012, at least that's the way the park will see it. I can only hope they'll start adding them in along with the bigger projects, kind of like what's happening with Roadrunner. A decent sized drop tower, an S&S swing and a sprinkling of smaller family style flats would do wonders for SFMM.

Six Flags parking is getting out of hand? No, the price of everything is getting out of hand. Why would theme parks be any different?