BrandonR

If the only reason you want to become an engineer and design coasters is because you think NoLimits is fun to play, then you need to realize playing around in NoLimits is like 1% of actual coaster engineering. The other 99% is tedious calculations and analysis and testing. That's like saying I like to play Call of Duty so I'm going to go join the army. And always have a backup plan. The coaster industry is tiny, and as such the chances of you landing a job being a "coaster designer" is slim to nill. If roller coasters are the only thing about engineering you're interested in, you're going to be severely disappointed after working your butt off for 4+ years (while your friends in other majors have a lot more fun in college) and then finding no openings. So if you do go the engineering route, make sure you do so because you like engineering and you're willing to work in any industry. And even then park maintenance versus engineering are two totally different beasts and paths to take. They're not really related. One requires just working your way up and experience but not necessarily college, and the other requires years of college (and some experience too).

Here's what Steve looks like so you can identify if it was actually him or not: It's somewhat refreshing that the president of the park is someone who has a long, long history of working there. I wonder how much he pushed for Casa Magnetica's return this year?

What was so different about the loading process?

I got there around 10 minutes after opening and headed straight to Giant. Line wasn't that bad, maybe around 50 minutes. But after my one ride the line was filling up at a decent rate, as was the park in general. Ride was running great! Mist was in all 3 tunnels so you tend to get a little wet during the ride.

The log ride (flume 1 specifically) was the first log ride in the world. It was so popular they had to add another one 5 years later to deal with the lines. And just out of curiosity, what made SFoT's guest relation office great? Did you complain about something?

There could be several reasons for cycling a train empty. As a general rule, if the ride gets a trouble light that needs resetting or some other issue comes up, they usually cycle a few trains. Someone could have also gotten sick and they needed to dry a train off after cleaning. Were the ops running the ride pretty efficiently? Any stacking?

I didn't go today but a number of people posted comments on SFoT's official Facebook page which made the lines sound to be about an hour long. Of course this was earlier in the day, when most were still in school (or work).

Well for one the park is attempting to claim the ride as having the steepest drop on a wooden coaster. But yeah, otherwise this argument is pointless when it's already been pointed out a number of times what it is now.

I remember having to wake up at the crack of dawn for Titan's media day. It's a weird feeling being on a coaster as the sun is rising, but a pleasant one nevertheless. Hope y'all have fun! I'll try to get to the park Sunday morning for my own ride, hopefully when all the religious folk are still at church.

Well I just made the journey from San Antonio back to (north) Dallas. In case anyone was wondering, I verified that it took me exactly 4 hours, with no traffic, averaging about 75-80 most of the way. It'd be a long day trip but it's possible.

I fear you may be duplicating some work here. Here's a list someone has already compiled of coaster-related patents: http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/v/a/vac3/table.html

Very true. Loop 1604 in SAn Antonio (the main highway SFFT is off of) has a ton of signs that repeatedly state "Don't slow Texas down! Slower traffic keep right" in addition to the 70mph speed limits. And of course there's this little gem...

You can make the trip from SFoT to SFFT in about 4-4.5 hours, assuming no major traffic hiccups (and you don't take speed limit signs literally). If it takes you over 5 you either went through Austin during rush hour or you drive like a grandma.

Unfortunately...

There is always traffic through Austin on 35. It could be 3am on a Sunday and you'll still probably run into bumper-to-bumper backups. Driving through Austin is hell on earth...

Hell I'm an engineer and the B&M track still intrigues me. Bending a box beam into complex 3D shapes is no easy task. I'm assuming they've come up with some kind of computer program to generate where the bending and welding lines need to be for each track section and then, as mentioned above, have a waterjet machine cut out each section. Then they probably use a press brake (depending on how automated this process is) to bend the sections and then weld it all together. Of course not every bend is welded, you can easily tell which sections are welded due to the raised seam. So the most complex part about B&M track was probably creating the initial program that generates the track's bend/weld sections based on the spline of the course. Beyond that it's pretty simple manufacturing... And FYI, a little digging came up with the company's name who makes B&M's track: http://www.clermontsteel.com/ (whose site shows some supports in their raw(er) state).

So how bad was it?

What, like "Pole Ride"?

And it's quite possible the black train hasn't even been tested yet. The ride does still have another month before opening.

I can only assume they're cycling different trains to get each train's count up to the minimum number of required cycles.

Yep, basically the ride has outlived its operational expectancy so every year they remove track sections and refurb them to try and reverse the effects of metal fatigue. But, given that the park has a two-month off-season, it's usually not enough time to do all the work they need to do. But hey, I'm just glad they're willing to spend the money to do such extensive refurb on the ride. The same can't be said for Adventure Theater (the motion sim theater), as they're not even planning on opening it this season due to all the work that needs to be done and them not willing to spend any money on it.

As mentioned above, spring break crowds are some of the worst crowds of the year, especially on Saturdays... Which is too bad, because if you were able to delay your trip one day and go on that Sunday, the crowds would probably be virtually non-existent. A few years ago I went on the last Sunday of spring break and the park was empty. I'd probably go with a Flash Pass, but never just get one instinctively -- get a feel for the crowds, either from the parking lot or from a few lines. I always see people who wasted money on Flash Passes when most rides are walk-ons anyway. As for food, it's all expensive, so go for quality... And I can most definitely say the best food there currently is probably the corn dogs Newman's sells. If you're really interested in food choices (and prices), last year I took a picture of every restaurant's menu board and put it on my website, which also includes their prices (which may or may not be up-to-date). And that's including the BBQ place mentioned above. In terms of shows, there might be a show going on in the Crazy Horse Saloon right now, and it's probably your best bet. The other "big show" doesn't start til summer, and most of the other shows are geared toward kids. There's also some random tips listed here that might be helpful to you, especially if you've never been to the park before. Enjoy!

Yeah, that would by my concern as well. Maybe you could negotiate with the park that you'd prefer to have all the VIP perks without the guide? For the price they may be accommodating.

To all the people concerned about the lack of Flash Pass on the new Giant, don't forget they also offer the VIP tours. Sure, they're $250 a person, but it does include admission, food, drinks, and front-of-the-line privileges. I'd assume they'd still do it for the Giant. So if you're coming a long way to visit and want to be absolutely sure to fit everything in, they might be worth it for you.

Those are all good reasons, and I didn't mind the lockers themselves. It was the fact that A.) they cost a buck, and B.) you had to get one for every ride, every time. This basically turned the park into a pay-per-ride affair. Considering admission is over $50 (if you pay at the gate) and the cost of everything else in the park, it just seemed like they could find another way to do the lockers without charging people for every use. Why not just make it a dollar deposit and you get a refund if you return within a few hours? It doesn't matter how logical all the reasons behind the lockers were, the implementation was terrible in terms of forcing people to pay for them. Customers were outraged, and I personally heard it numerous times. Of course their outrage was typically misplaced toward the entrance employee rather than customer service... And just to play devil's advocate, for every ride that used these storage devices, they had to have an employee standing at the queue's entrance at all times just to look for loose articles. Let's think about how capacity would have increased had that employee been operating the ride, whether it means adding another train (I know Titan could only run 3 trains if it had an additional employee) or just assisting in lap bars and height checks. I'd argue that would have improved capacity more than ride lockers ever did.