MrSum1_55

When HP found out about the Skyrush complaints, I did fear that they would do something like trim the ride, or add OTSNs to it. I am really glad, as many have said, that they are doing this. And, with the removal of some of the spin bins, it is clear HP does care about the ride experience and enthusiest view. Now, all they need to do is get the crews on all rides to get the lines moving!

One question: How does someone with 494 posts (which takes quite a long time to reach), not know better than to make one like this? In my history of posting, I have said some pretty stupid things, but nowhere near as bad as this. If SFGAm is bad just because they have a lame collection of coasters in your opinion, then does that make Disney parks bad? Most Disney coasters, like California's Space Mountain, don't do much for me, but Disneyland is still one of my favorite parks. Coasters don't make the whole park, and other factors make a park bad. MrSum1"if you think SFGAm has a medocire collection of rides, wait until you see the OTHER Great America"_55 **EDIT** Nevermind, did not see Robb's post. I think that clarifies it enough.

I am excited for tomorrow. Although, I do have one potentially stupid question: how will registration be completed? I did not attend Knott's last year, so, what, exactly, is the process of registration? Also, according to the CFK website, only the first 24 people can participate at Knott's, but we have 26 riders. I would really be thankful if anyone could clarify any of this.

^This just shows how badly designed the station is. 4D coasters and wing riders have the use the same unloading system, of doing so on the same side you board. However, on X2 and the wing riders, the air gates are set far enough back, so the gates can be opened immediately after the train stops. If HP really can't unload on that side of the station, that is fine, as long as they set the air gates on the loading side far enough back to allow plenty of space (which they didn't) And to think I thought S:UF would be the lowest capacity ride of 2012!

Keep in mind, though, that the first few weeks in summer can be VERY crowded. I went the Tuesday after the local schools got out of last year, and I waited 2 hours for Medusa, 1 hour for V2, and 45 minutes for Sky Screamer. The wait for Kong was also around 90-120 minutes, but I passed on that. Surprisingly, the waits for Roar and the (now gone) Pandemonium were only 30 minutes. However, you could just as easily arrive only to see 30 minute waits. I would advise not buying a Flashpass until arrival, as crowds at SFDK can be fairly unpredictable.

I have posted this story before, but I figured that this was the perfect thread to post it. In one day, I was supposed to fly from San Jose to Newark, with a layover in Phoenix to head to SFGAdv the next day. Well, upon arriving in Phoenix, the plane was late, but I still made it on the plane in time. However, my baggage did not, as I found out upon arriving in Newark at 11 pm. Airport staff told me it would be sent to my hotel room the next day. Okay, so all I had with me was my jacket, wallet, and cell phone, and it was pouring rain outside. So, I got in the rental car at 12 am. On my way out the airport, I set out for route 9, followed by getting on the NJ turnpike to get the East Windsor. However, highway signage in New Jersey is about as friendly to an outsider as a lion is to an antelope that hasn't eaten in days. Also, the rain made street signs incredibly difficult to see, after getting lost several times, (being in the Newark area, leaving the car to ask for directions did not seem like a good idea) the 30-minute drive to the hotel took about 3 hours, with no traffic. So, I arrived at the hotel at 3 am, and woke up at 9 am the next morning, wearing the same clothes. Well, I figured El Toro would be worth all the trouble. I left for the park at 12 pm. Well, at the time, I knew very little about the city arrangement of New Jersey. So, I got lost again, this time heading the wrong way down the turnpike in for 30 minutes. Once I got turning around the right way, the other way took an hour, due to traffic because of construction, and the traffic dispersed right as I passed the entrance I was supposed to enter the highway at. So, I was finally on my way to the park. So, it's 1:30 pm. I am finally pulling into the parking lot. I could first see Kingda Ka, which wasn't running due to rain. But, pulling in, I saw an El Toro train run. Yes! It was open! I couldn't believe my eyes! I would finally get to ride El Toro! So, I pulled up to the parking ticket booth operator. I paid my $15 for parking, and began to walk toward the entrance. I had been wearing the same clothes for the past 30 hours, but I didn't care! I was finally here! But, just as I was walking to the gate, I heard the following the announcement: "We're sorry. We are now closing due to rain".

Hmm...This is a tough one to decide. For the Racing factor along, I would actually choose Racer at KW. However, the best ride experience given by a racer wold probably be Lightning Racer. For the best overall experience, I would probably choose Gemini at CP, as it fares well both in the racing factor and the ride experience. My only problem with racers is that usually the same side almost always wins. The only racers I would say actually has a true 50/50 shot are the '70's PTC John Allen racers, like Racer at KI. However, since the track lengths are the exactly the same for both sides, you pretty much know that the first train off the lift is the one that wins.

^Interesting...one of the staff members at SFMM was bragging that only five locations sold dole whip, SFMM being one of the five. I guess he meant one of the five outside Disney parks.

^Because on some rides people have been getting tiny pops of airtime on the final hill.

Uh, guys, I think one thing needs to be brought to attention. Six Flags Magic Mountain has faster operations than this park. And, if you have been reading the SFMM thread lately, you know that is a VERY bad thing.

I am a bit surprised they did not use a GIB-style loading system, where they have 16 airgates instead of eight, two for each car; two riders for winged seats, two for the floored seats. And, they could have signs in the queue explaining the system, to hopefully avoid confusion. Also, the problem with Hersheypark ops, from what I have observed, is that they seem to spend a lot of time doing nothing. They actually move at a descent speed, but, once I visited to see the Great Bear crew waiting for the trains to stack before even starting to check restraints. For some reason, I can see the ops on Skyrush doing the same thing.

^I try it on weekend nights, and my strategy is to repeat in your mind over and over before you fall asleep "I am dreaming". I have only tried this once, but it actually worked for me. Lucid dreaming is awesome, but it is difficult to stay asleep. Some say it helps to dream that you are spinning, in order to stay asleep.

^I have found the experiences to be very similar, just of flying in circles, nothing more. Although, starflyers do have better restraints in my opinion, and give a more open-air feel, since the seats are spaced farther apart. A 300 foot starflyer probably gives a better ride experience than a Windseeker of the same height, but, with this model only being 240 feet tall, it is probably a bit less thrilling than a Windseeker. Still, both are definitely worth a >30 minute wait, but I would be disappointed if I had to wait more than an hour for one of these.

I'm not alone! I seriously like the relatively unpopular B&M hyper-twisters and quasi-hyper-twisters (Raging Bull, Diamondback) a lot better than their highly rated out-and-back hypers (Nitro, Goliath). This even though the airtime is good, and the fact I don't exactly hate all out-and-back hypers... The out and back design works best on wood coasters, or Intamin hypers. Ironically, B&M, a company whose coasters are better as twister layouts, is generally hired to mke out and backs, while Intamin, who generally does out and backs better, is usually hired for twisters. Anyway, here is my list (from what I have ridden): GCI: Wildcat B&M: Vortex (CGA) Intamin: Disaster Transport Honorable mentions: CGI: Roar (SFDK) B&M: Scream, Riddler's Revenge, Diamondback (my most recent rides on these were all quite rough) Intamin: Kingda Ka (It gave me a bigger headache than Anaconda at KD)

Can Frightmare Hills be added to the queue? That is one of my favorites. Also, I have been having the same problem with Mel's World, with the invalid data error. It looks like this file is nothing but trouble.

Iron Horse is now complete! themeparkreview.com/game_exchange/track.php?id=2684 iron horse.bmp This is the finished product. Overall, I am glad how it turned out, and it is probably one my my best themed rides.

Mine is not 100% complete yet, as I am adding some finishing touches to it. Anyway, here is my wingrider: Iron Horse. SCR12.BMPSCR13.BMPSCR14.BMPSCR15.BMP

^^I do believe that this whole "new attraction every year" thing will ultimately have a negative effect on the chain, due to parks having to fork up more cash to go to new rides as opposed to keeping the parks clean. That sounds like Premier Parks logic. In addition, you will always have the cheap parks like SFMM who will install low-capacity rides just to meet the requirements, or SFDK, who will build a launch coaster that could and should have a dual load platform, but doesn't. It is no secret that SFMM has been on the downward spiral, but how has the rest of the chain been doing? Can the rest of the chain cope just fine, or is SFMM just the only one going downhill? So far, SFMM is the only SF park I have visited this year, so I am not sure how SFDK is doing right now.

^/^^Same to me as well.

I went in Spring of last year and saw someone get arrested in the parking lot for drug possession. Sad to think that this is exactly the kind of stuff Jay Thomas hated to see. Oh SFMM...

I did check out some clips of My Little Pony... And had no desire to watch more! I think I am immune to the MLP virus!

I once had a strange dream of which I was at Disneyland, on a normal day. The park was not crowded at all, and, I decided to ride BTMR, since there was no wait (there were even one or two empty rows on the train). Most of the ride was normal, except for one thing. All of the tunnels were COVERED in graffiti. It will say that it was quite creepy. One of the best dreams I ever had, though, occurred a few years ago. Yet, it was so awesome, I still remember it. Cedar Point decided to modify Blue Streak, and extended the layout to an L shape out and back. However, the difference was that they restored the old buzz bar trains, but did not add seatbelts (like the trains on Phoenix). Also, some of the existing hills were modified to have more airtime. Once I got on it, though, I realized how insane the airtime was on this dream-Blue Streak. The airtime was probably as strong as El Toro, but with restraints like on Phoenix. On some hills, I felt like I had to grab on the buzzbar to keep from flying out. Total airtime heaven!

^10/10. Who doesn't love the Dippin Dots guy!?

The reason why SFMM has had more bad than good days in the past years is due to the interaction with management and SFI. Whenever the park gets a bad manager, SFI simply ignores the situation as long as the park is continuing to make a profit. Whenever the park gets a good manager, like Jay, SFI takes notice to how well he is running the park, and promotes him to upper management. As a result, the park has now re-entered a never-ending cycle. My prediction is that if you give the place a few years, and a new, good manager will be hired, only to see him be promoted to upper management, because of how well he/she fixes up the neglected park. As for the current management, I will need to see quite a few improvements before I can be convinced that the park is being run well.

Still, I do not think Superman's lack of ridership will counter the capacity. Remember when Kong used to run one train all the time? Well, the capacity of that ride is about 1,000 per hour, and that is with two trains and dispatching right as the blocks clear. With one train and a slower crew, the capacity can be about 400 per hour, same as Superman. When Kong runs one train, the wait can reach an hour even when only the switchbacks in the station are full. Superman will probably be as bad as this. I really hope SFDK puts up an hour wait sign somewhere in the queue, as most of the GP will not want to wait longer than that. Even with 30 second dispatches, the capacity will still be only about 480 per hour. This line is going to be long.