Mr Stratosphere

I hope for everyone that everything turns out alright. I havent cancelled my trip to California because of the Fires. Wednesday night we are leaving Vegas, Thursday is Disney, and Friday is SFMM. Hopefully everything goes well. We did cancel our trip to San Diego because of how bad it is down there. Again I hope for the best for everyone John

Desperado, The First Drop Fake cracked wood, The Helix Mountain, And the final drop under the train tracks. www.rcdb.com/ig103.htm?picture=15

10/19 and 10/20 Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest

Psyclone SFMM Lightning Bolt (Indoor) MGM Grand Adventures Las Vegas Lightning Bolt (Outdoor) MGM Grand Adventures Las Vegas High Roller Stratosphere Tower Las Vegas Flashback SFMM

A couple of true stories from SFMM: Superman: The Escape We had a ride where the car didn't slow down on the return trip. We zoomed backwards through the station and hit the black flaps. I remember everyone on the ride going "WOAHH!!" The ride attendant came out and asked us, "Has anyone been on this ride before?" We all responded, "Yes" So she said, "Okay good so you know this isn't supposed to do this right?" I thought that was hilarious.. Tidal wave.. We were waiting in the station and they dispatched a boat. A few minutes later the attendant whispered to the attendant at the control panel. "Jeremy where's the boat!?!? It's been gone a long time" Jeremy said, I don't know. The attendant went running up the stairs because the boat got stuck at the turn around before the drop.. Maint ran up and kicked the boat and it came down. That was fun lol.. John TatsuFan@aol.com

Vegas.. Best: Speed: The Ride Worst: Desperado and The Roller Coaster At New York New York (Was: Manhattan Express) Tie. Desperado hasnt aged well at all..

X then Tatsu Six Flags Magic Mountain.. Had to end the trip on a high note. John TatsuFan@aol.com

Im posting some photos from My trips to the mountain last year. Im still working on the photos from my trip a couple of weeks ago. But since I finally have a fast Internet connection I wanted to share some photos with you all. Some are from early spring 2006, and Tatsu Opening Weekend. I will also be posting a video later of Deja Vu when the train failed to catch on the first tower on the return trip to the Station. Kinda neat seeing the train rock back and fourth to a stop. John TatsuFan@aol.com I will post more photos when I get back from work.. Resizing takes a while.. Tatsu.bmp And some Tatsu Shots from Public opening day.. I'll post some more when i get back from work tonight.. Psyclone.bmp Psyclone was cycling on Tatsu's Openeing day to the public.. A few mintues later the ride valleyed.. Dejavu Stuck.bmp Yep another kid getting stuck in the seat on DeJa Vu. Took them about 20 mins to get him out. X Clouds.bmp This is my favorite picture.. Look how X stands out amongst the black clouds.. Broken.bmp They made it painfully obvious that the seat was out of order.. Revy.bmp I love the paint job for Revy here.. Its like old meets new!! X.bmp Dispatches were fast that day.. only 1 person on the bridge.. NICE!! Wheels.bmp Can I have one?? Nemo.bmp Can you find Nemo?? Viper.bmp I really like this shot.. happened by mistake It took a few shots to get this to come out right. Someone will appreciate this more!! Someone will appreciate this.. Eat Out Loud.bmp We didnt EAT OUT LOUD that day.. sign.bmp I noticed this last year, Did they ever change the height requirement or is this just a typo. Fortunately before the end of the year they fixed this sign at Batman Batman.bmp Batman had a nice short wait, this was where the line was at as well a couple of weeks ago. Riddlers.bmp It wasnt Busy at all at Riddlers that day.. Line was moving slow, and they were stacking.. UGH

The sign at the entrance said 1 Hour, but we waited 45 mins. It wasn't that bad once they started dispatching faster. Pictures will be coming soon.. Computer is having problems lol John TatsuFan@aol.com

We didnt use and Flash Pass on this trip. Our longest wait was for Tatsu. So it was no biggie. I also got a phone call this morning from Six Flags for a phone survey on my visit. They stopped me before at the entrance but this is the first time they actually called me back, I was kinda suprised. John TatsuFan@aol.com

Me and a couple of friends decided last week to make a trip to Southern California and hit up SFMM!!! Since this is short notice we ended up staying in Sylmar, Ca. which is about a short 10 min drive to SFMM.. Anyways we left Las Vegas on Monday the 30the. It was about 7:30PM and it was getting stormy out but didn't think much of it at the time. Right when we got out of the city on I-15 it started to pour!! So it was a nice slow down on the trip but nothing bad. When we got to Primm (CA/NEV Stateline) where Buffalo Bill's and the Desperado is at. We saw the sign get struck by lightning which was awesome!! The sign wigged out for a second and turned back on. It was on and off rain and some heavy downpours until we got around the Zzyzzx exit and then it pretty much cleared up for the rest of the trip. We made it into Sylmar around 12:30AM which really wasn't a bad travel time. We checked into the Good Nite Inn which wasn't all that bad. It had free Wi-Fi which was an added bonus. My normal hotel of choice is the Best Western Valencia Inn.. But this was just fine for us. Tuesday morning we didn't know exactly where we were going to go and my friend suggested San Diego i said no biggy and we left. It was about 150 miles on the I-5 and took us about an hour and a half to get there because of traffic. First stop was mission beach. We hopped on the Giant Dipper it was family day and all rides were half off. So my friend and I got on for 3 bucks.. not bad at all. We then spent some time at the beach and headed into the city for some sight seeing. We headed back to the hotel so we could wake up early and head to SFMM.. Wednesday we woke up early and headed to the mountain.. We bought our tickets online so it was only like 35 bucks to head into the park so we jumped onto that deal. I didn't get a season pass this year because I didn't know how many times id be heading up, but since i got a new car its on!!!! We arrived to the parking toll booths around 9:30AM and there were alot of people there.. I was ssupprised because normally around this time they do their block checks on the coasters but there was no motion anywhere. They opened the parking lot around 9:45AM and we got a parking spot right next to the handicapped spaces which was awesome.. My friend and I decided to try and get on every single major coaster at the park in one day so heres how it went.. Heading into the plaza there were many groups waiting to get it but to our relief most were going to Hurricane Harbor.. They opened the gates to the park at 10:30AM but I thought they were supposed to open at 10.. eh no big deal.. It was just hard having to hear "Celebrate" repeat for like 10 minutes. First off was X. They were only running one train at the start. We got into the station and had a 4 train wait. Which took 30 minutes. But it wasn't the attendants fault they were kicking butt. It just seemed that people were being difficult and taking forever putting their loose articles on the floor between the load and unload platforms.. We sat on the back of the train and it was awesome.. Great ride to start the day off with. When we left the queue was already at the sign in the pathway.. I felt bad for them because i knew they were only running one train. We walked passed up viper for later and we wanted to head to Tatsu. Tatsu had a huge line so we passed it up for later. Next up was DejaVu, the crew was working really fast dispatching a train about every 3 minutes. impressive for this ride. We only waited about 5 mminuets for the ride and it was running great!! Weird not seeing Psyclone here.. I wanted to take my friend on it lol.. At least i got to ride it the last season it ever operated.. We decided to get a workout and head up Samurai Summit for Superman, I finally got my left side credit!!!!!! They were also working very fast the wait was only 10 minuets Ninja was up next and boy did it look beautiful with its new sexy paint job!!! Ninja was a walk on so we got a couple of rides in.. It was shocking even though it was really slow they still managed to stack trains. We headed back down the summit to gold rusher, they were running 2 trains and there was no wait.. Gold rusher is a great "breather ride" lol Riddler's Revenge was next, the sign said a 15 minute wait but i guess that was just for the walking to the station. There was a 1 train wait for this ride and we got to ride it a couple of times. I was impressed with the crew as while we were there they NEVER stacked the trains.. On the way out I was pleased to see that freefall was open, I finally got to ride my first ever Intamin 1st Gen Freefall towers.. It was great......Except for the hard stop.. i slammed into the shoulder restraint and my shoulders still hurt lol.. but still i loved it.. Batman was next, we had a 15 minute wait for the front row so it wasn't bad. It was my friends first time on it so it was worth it.. He was shocked how intense this baby is for a small compact coaster. The only bad part was the awful smell in the station lol. They were running 2 trains and of course stacking.. we waited on the transfer table after our ride for about 5 minuets.. Scream was next.. no one in line great ride just a little head banging in the cobra roll lol.. but we all have heard that before. Running 2 trains stacking every so often Colossus was next they were running the right side, still a great ride just bumpy at the bottom of the drops.. 1 train wait for this ride as well. Running two trains. We noticed that Psyclone's old trains are on the transfer table covered with tarps I hope they decided to just keep one side running backwards all year.. only one can hope. Goliath was next.. the queue was back to the bottom of the stairs 10 minute wait for the front row.. great ride as usual. The last time i rode it seemed to attach to the lift rather roughly but nice engagement to the lift this trip. I also noticed that they touched up the logos on the front of the trains. They were running 2 trains and still managed to stack them.. It was about 92 that day so we decided to wait for the Log Jammer.. I love this log ride one of the best i've ever been on. about a 30 minute wait for this and there was no puddled water in our log this time lol.. My friend freaked out after the ride's second lift where it looks like your log will just float out of the channel.. Next up was Revolution.. Only 1 train running so it made for a 20 minute wait.. Flash Pass users were making the wait really long.. We got a seat in row 7.. just hit my head a couple of times. I wish they would just get rid of the OTSR's Montezoomas can do it.. why not Revy!?!?!? Viper was up next I was supprised to see the train with the yellow stripe on the side running.. I haven't seen that train run in forever!!!! They were running two trains.. we decided to wait for the front 2 train wait.. It was kinda rough.. Kinda disappointing because last year was easily re-rideable.. But its okay I still love viper!! I noticed a train is being refurbished in the transfer area.. Looking nice!!!!! It was 6:30PM and time for the last coaster.. Tatsu.. It had an hour wait.. they were only using Station 1.. They were running 2 trains and the 3rd train was sitting in Station 2.. It sucked.. They were dispatching a train about ever 4 minutes.. it sucked!!!!! I was disappointed with the Tatsu Crew.. It was my friends first time on Tatsu so we still decided to wait. While waiting to ride it made me mad because i noticed people using their car keys to scratch their name into the railings..Honestly how much did you pay to get into this park!!?? Don't they have anything else better to do and to tag up other peoples property?? Sure enough 7:15 we got on the ride. they finally started to speed up dispatches to about a train every 2 minutes.. People noticed that when they got back to the station people didn't seem so happy.. But when we got back to the transfer table people were very excited and wanted to go again. But 3minutes later they seemed to get tired of sitting in the flying position and start to complain.. So when they get back to the station they aren't really happy which is understandable. Anyways its a great ride.. To me i say the ride is "Relaxing" until the pretzel loop which is why Tatsu is still one of my favorite coasters. My friend really enjoyed this ride too. After Tatsu we decided to leave the park. About 9 hours later we conquered all of SFMM's major coasters. I'd say it was a great day at Six Flags.. My friend has been there before but had only been there with his high school groups and didnt get to ride much. This made him like the park alot more. He was reluctant to going in the first place but I'm glad my friends decided to go. We went into Valencia and ate at MiMi's diner which was great.. Thursday we checked out of the hotel and drove around LA for a while. Went to Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Santa Monica Beach. After that we headed back to Vegas and got back around 9:30PM.. Not bad considering all of the traffic we went though. It was a short trip but was a blast!! We will be heading back to California later this year.. Hopefully for Halloween to SFMM. This trip I put on 1,069 Miles on my new car!! WOW Thanks for reading!! I will be posting pictures soon. A little tired from the long drive back, so I will post them as soon as possible!! John TatsuFan@aol.com

One thing I was wondering.. Does anyone think there were any warning signs like sounds coming from the train??I know when I visit a park or a ride and i notice something strange I'll say something about it. Or is this just something that is a freak accident that could have not been forseen. Has anyone else been somewhere and noticed something wrong and said something about it? What was done when you did?

The ride was actually at a point where the train was on a down hill slope right before the ride's 225ft vertical spike. If they tried it probally would just shake the train a bit, but would definately wouldn't help at all.. I also noticed something else about Speed and I was wondering if any of the other Premier coasters do this. When speed returns to the station sometimes it stops too soon or stops too late. And they have to manually move the train back into position to unlock the restraints. I just thought it was funny when the ride attendants were pushing the train back to the home position.

Has anyone heard about the status of Flashback?? Haven't heard anything about it in a while.

It reminds me of their spokesperson for the Sahara. They said this has never happened to the ride before, but then went on about the other rides in the city saying that Speed is the safest on the strip

Are there any reports of this happening?? I can get it to do it on NoLimits lol!!

Well it is spring break out here. For all the local grade schools. Everything in Vegas is doing really well. Shows, Grand Slam Canyon (Adventuredome) Manhattan Express...I mean THE ROLLER COASTER..Stratosphere. But unfortunately Speed is just in a location that isnt all that great.. Speed has had low ridership for a very long time now. It really is a shame because it is a decent ride. I bet if this ride was somewhere more south on the strip it would do alot better.

The second set of LIM's failed to accelerate the train, there is a little bit of a down slope after the Lim's so not enough energy to get back to the mid course Launch/Break so it valleyed there. Its not the first time so I'm wondering if the media decided to make it a big deal because it is spring break.

Im sorry that I never got the chance to ride it before the quake. The last time I rode it was last August the front was horrible but you could tolerate the back car. I always laughed watching everyone get shaken about lol. I just wonder, since Psyclone is closed, they should operate one side of Colossus backwards all the time and the other forwards. I think that would be awesome!

I know that this is a little off topic, but in regards to Psyclone, has anyone ridden it prior to the 1994 Northridge Quake? Because I know the ride was damaged in the quake, but how was the experience on the ride before it?

A post from Screamscape.com Stratosphere Tower - (1/3/07) Screamscape has heard an interesting story from Vegas visitors lately. As horrible as it sounds, it seems that the famous Big Shot atop the mighty Stratosphere Tower has been neutered somewhat. Sources tell us that the ride underwent a large rehab not long ago and that several changes were made, though the problem may be that these changes were conducted by Interactive Rides and not S&S Power, the ride’s manufacturer. This wouldn’t seem like that big of a deal at first given that Interactive Rides was started by former S&S Power employees, but the fact remains that the unfortunate side effect of certain ‘upgrades’ to the ride system has lessened the power of Big Shot.

Manhattan Express at New York New York in Las Vegas When I first rode this it was a very decent ride.

I don't know for sure, they were saying low ridership, out with the old, a new ride..so many things were going on about it, no one knows for sure

Okay, further back in this thread someone asked what exactly was bad about the Manhattan Express in Vegas. The old trains, they sounded like there were loose bolts and screws in the trains. The train just feels like its not solidly attached to the track, or the track is really that rough. To me the worst part of the ride is the loop. The most head-banging happens there. But to be the ride does have a redeeming quality, the heartline twist and dive is great and the "smoothest" part of the ride. The new trains were not that bad when they were first put on, but it seems like they have been broken in.......literally. But I still would have to say there are worst rides out there. Someone also said the Canyon Blaster definately at the Adventuredome. I would have to disagree with that one, if you ride a train that has been running for a while and doesnt have new wheels on it, then maybe, but after a train has been rehabed its a ride that isnt that bad. Sure the ride is an old arrow looper, but it has the best climate conditions for any coaster. The same temprature year round, it has it made. But there are definately worst rides than the Canyon Blaster. Worst wood I would say is Psyclone at SFMM in the front row. Alot of the bunny hills slam you into the restraint and can be quite painful.. Desperado in Primm Nevada at Buffalo Bills can be bad too, its just a coaster in extreme heat and not aging well Just a word of advice do not sit in the very front or the very back of any car. Sit in the middle row of the car, avoid sitting on top of a load bearing wheel. John

If you want a ride that will not close in any weather, ride Speed: The Ride. I've seen the windiest days, stomy days with heavy rain and lightning and that thing is still running. Adventuredome is great..unless it rains, the dome leaks like crazy!!! They have to close the bumper cars for safety!! Some other rides close as well. I guess the dome is great for hot days..not rainy ones Yeah, Desperado is weird too because it is only open 5 days a week, unless it's a holiday week. The hours always change, and you have to wait for 10 passengers so you could be sitting around for a while.. If driving by and the shed door where the track enters the building is closed.......the ride is closed. But if you are really lucky they may have Turbo Drop open, and this one is still my favorite of the Turbo Drop towers. I've had some interesting things happen when I decide to ride the desperado. 1. Stuck on the mid course. Wait for engineering to drive there. (mid course is kinda far away from the station) and we had to walk down the staris..it was a hot day and there was a power outage. 2. Waiting in the station.. the power goes out, they just say the ride is closed for the rest of the day. 3. Decided to take some friends out there. We drive up, engineering is working on the mid course (air leak). Come up to ticketing and they said they should be opening in an hour, so we decided to wait. The ride attendants were falling asleep on the entrance stairs. Great touch. 3 hours go by and they said any time now. so we waited another hour and gave up. When we decided to leave driving home on I-15 they decided to finally test run the ride..Perfect waste of the day.. 4. Waiting in line and an attendant was drinking a soda at the control panel. He spills the soda all over the console so I report it to the manager and I got a so..what do you want me to do about it..so i left yet again.. John Who rode a roller coaster on Christmas Day..Man I love Vegas.. Manhattan Express (Today marks 1 year since the High Roller at the Stratosphere made its last circuit)