bill_s
-
Posts
855 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by bill_s
-
-
I couldn't fully tell you because I haven't been to a park on a Saturday in years, and intend to keep it that way.
-
2
-
-
^^-- they make the Vekomas in Europe and S&S in US so there is surely some price difference. They are significantly different coasters though overlapping niche.
It can take years to plan and complete a project, and their improved reputation is fairly recent so there is still hope.
-
23 minutes ago, coasterbill said:
They sent a letter to shareholders begging for votes, but this is a nearly-insurmountable hurdle.
Impressive, but from 2010 -- maybe you meant this as an example?
-
4 hours ago, Zand said:
I can't imagine leaving Busch Gardens Williamsburg and thinking "I don't want their food, employees, or operating procedures at Kings Dominion."
I'd love to hear an elaboration on this because I'm genuinely curious.
There is now a widespread opinion and evidence that Busch is getting worse and Cedar Fair getting better. For example, CF's new coasters are well themed, Seaworld's is relatively lacking -- although they built more, and are finally opening them. Food at BG has become inconsistent, KD's opening another reimagined restaurant. Whether CF has caught up or not, that's the trend.
The merger would decrease competition and probably involves increased total debt. Rich guys getting richer., card houses reaching higher.
-
1
-
-
You don't have to go down to 19 degrees. Here in VA we have lots of over 40 in Dec., so that the parks cut coasters at 40 is only annoying. On New Year's Day eve it was in the 60s, 2 days later I shoveled snow and began 3 days without power.
-
1
-
-
Continuing payment makes it harder to raise prices. I don't know if they still offer(ed) a better price if you try to end your Membership -- I halved my payment back in 2015 and may never end it -- but now they can just threaten loss of legacy status and a price increase.
I actually tried to spend a little at SFA for a while in 2020, but had trouble finding anything I wanted, or didn't want to wait in line.
-
On a Sunday morning, getting off the highway by 11 AM, KD to SFA is easy. I would prefer going mid to late afternoon depending on hours, but this will be stressful at the least. A late return is usually fine. Weekdays are more complicated.
I caution against any park visit on a Saturday, but I can see wanting a day off. If you have season's pass, maybe get out of there and take it easy middle of the day, go back at night and stay until close, and rope drop it for a awhile, or close it again, Sunday.
Richmond does have historical home tours and the like. The James River and Bell's Island is no Niagara., but is a good outing, and much better for kayaking.
-
I liked Ricochet and was ready for every brake except the sneaky one at the end.
KD improved the brakes on their mouse with the 2018 name change, much smoother.
-
1
-
-
On 12/31/2021 at 12:01 AM, Mike240SX said:
-Rides Ridden: I did get on Dominator, before the official opening at 5:00, for the first public train of the day (front row, left wing). I'm now convinced that this is a front-row ride; the back just has too much rattle. I also got two laps on Twisted Timbers, a three train wait for the front and a train-and-a-half wait for the back. I guess I hit them at the right time, since they were posting 60 minute waits in the app when I left.
queue-times has been posting 60 minutes or closed on the coasters all this event, and the wait times at the entrance usually are 60 min. also, and this has been almost always wrong. More like max. 30, less off peak, rerides towards close.
I mostly ride Dominator back row, row 6 is the roughest, right side is hard on your neck.
Yeah donut burger was good.
LAST DAY of Winterfest is Jan 9 !!!
-
Really, at any better park you should be sure to experience the night portion, however, the logistics of a road trip are complicated. HP at night is also great, and one case it might be worth the preview session is if you can't stay late the main HP day.
-
On 11/7 they ran JDC to close, probably just below 40 degrees, but it had been running all day. Saw one interruption for about 10-15 minutes messing with a sensor connection. I got 8 rides, but still have to ride anywhere near the back, as I overdid waiting out the crowd, and trains were going out mostly empty. My front row solo ride in those temps seemed maybe the fastest, even though it wasn't it still performs OK.
This coaster is an interesting comparison to their B&M loopers. Except for JDC having a mix of airtime in with the inversions, they do comparable things. Bizarro (my hero now) is a little longer and Batman is both shorter and not as tall, but I hesitate in calling it "smaller" as it has that big train feel; also Batman is actually the crazier ride of the 3. Jersey Devil is in a sense redundant, and yet very different due to the single rail format.
I found the restraints comfortable enough -- far better than some -- but could see if there was much stronger ejector air they wouldn't be. The stall is the best I've ridden yet (of not many), it starts off close to a float but hangs you more as it goes. I'd like to try a floatier one, maybe when running faster this does that. The train cars are really cute, being as small as Lil' Devil's but much more serious at the same time.
Speaking of Lil' Devil, got the credit, but the worst of these little Zamperla's I've ridden. Great Chase is also oddly profiled, but in a more fun way, and Cocoa is rather nice, as long as you sit on the outside.
-
Seems to me that large building rides are a waste of the setting, but I haven't seen the balance as LR keeps breaking down.
-
1
-
-
9 hours ago, Haymaker said:
If they dont fail financially, id say theres a good chance it re-opens. Ride of Steel at SFDL had a paraplegic Army veteran thrown from it because of operator error and it re-opened that same season.
And as others have mentioned, where were the parents in this? My kids are 9 & 11 and I still make sure theyre strapped in before I strap myself in.
I'm guessing the parents were having their own freakout riding that thing. All the more reason operators must be vigilant and/or designs foolproof. So much pain to go around now.
Regarding SFDL, he was told multiple times he could not ride.
-
Parks make the most money when people go in groups. 2 people may care most about the shows, the kids care most about the rides, others may want both. One person may only go if there's a place to smoke, Cedar Fair. Grandma may not get to see her show if LRod goes down for an extended time.
This accident sounds like a worse turn. I was just thinking rollback might be the most complicating aspect of the design. Maybe they just need mechanical ones, think how loud that would be!
-
In August 2019, LRod was rated better uptime than Steel Vengeance (i.e. when I went to CP, grr). Not progress.
As LR was closed ~all of Labor Day weekend, it surely isn't (all) intentional. WTF is the real problem? Is their security really that good or do they just not know? Maybe they need another extreme launch coaster so they can just do that lift hill. Hire the Steel Curtain programmers so that won't work either.
-
15 hours ago, Mike240SX said:
Oh, and why does a restaurant called "Grain & Grill International Cuisine" serve exclusively Chinese food?
Has anyone told the Naan bread, hummus, Au Gratin potatoes, apple salad with feta cheese, or steak with Chimichurri sauce?
They do have Hoisin pork, but their rice is basmati, maybe they eat that somewhere in China, they do go together wonderfully.
While I miss Panda Express, the G&G is turning out to be about as good a always-open restaurant, except a bit slower due to the options.
-
One thing I've done is a 13 month membership. The best thing of the year -- haunts, earlier opening season, or whatever you like most -- you get 2 years in a row, for barely more than the price of one year. However my SF membership is so cheap after the attempted quit deal that I've only used that at Busch Gardens, which is now open year-round so they probably got me fully hooked too.
-
If I don't know about the major attractions, I'm not going to want to go to a park. Have too tight a budget to just wing it. Have only sprung for fastpass once in my life (CP) but haven't made any trips this year. Strategies are essential since most distant parks are more crowded than my local ones (frankly the local parks tend to be a better experience, but there's an excitement to something new).
First thing is figure out the trip. Parks up to 4.5 hours away I now do as day trips. The one time I didn't, didn't sleep for crap. My next 2 likely parks are a bit of a problem in that regard being a bit too far away. When I did CP, traveled all day and got 4 hours (6-10) in the evening of the first day. My mistake was not planning to stay until close (8) the next day, despite getting FL+. Although it can help with the trip plan, the awkward part about splitting your visit to 2 partial days is fastpass and ticket costs. Most of my trips have been to chains where I have a pass therefore.
Then I read/watch trip tips and spend time on Google Maps satellite view.
-
1
-
1
-
-
^ That's a good suggestion and I did have in mind one might find some other things to do while "not doing much" but that's not you would need QQ for, unless you want to be able to throw strategy out the window. Crowds can affect everything though -- expect to wait a long time for food if you insist on eating near normal lunchtime on a crowded day with the current staffing. Most of the show casts are back in masks too right now.
I can't tell you if Colonial W is very affected by Saturday, but I'm certain the park is.
-
^^-- 3 days is a lot for a 8 coaster park. They've been crowded but if you don't expect to do much mid-afternoons, get to it at rope drop and work the late night, shouldn't really need QQ with that much time ... except for Saturday. I'd suggest skipping Sat. entirely if it can work, they'll probably be out to the overflow lot. Thursday would be ideal.
-
Yes the price varies per day. FL+ was $100 on 8/26/19, $80 with Platinum pass discount.
-
Seems like a socially distanced train, huge for its capacity, due to the ATV motif on every car. Strange.
-
2 hours ago, ytterbiumanalyst said:
And your assertion that unemployment payments were the thing that was keeping people from accepting work is belied by the labour force participation rate not increasing in the states that removed the federal unemployment benefits.
If it's say, $100 a week plus the 300 federal = 400, that's equal to Dollywood's starting $10 an hour and at $12 that's $2 an hour over staying home, not counting expenses. There may be people higher up the pay scale that can't get anything suitable, but for theme park employees how can it not be relevant?
That article says Tennessee is one of the states cutting benefits, so we'll be finding out. This has been going on for long enough I think they should have been able to figure out how much people actually need and isn't giving them a raise. I worked all last year, in person, for less, so not sympathetic.
-
1
-
-
From what I've seen, the front of the park gets more crowded at the beginning of preview hours, and is least crowded just before. Useful both days.
On Lightning Racer, watch the other train, so fascinating. If you ride it like a normal coaster it's a bit forceless, but smooth. Wildcat was terribly rough a few years ago, not so much now, but a great layout either way IMO.
Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
The best times for crowds are often mid-Spring through early June except Memorial Day. Mother's Day is good, not all holidays are bad...