bert425

your fair pics are fantastic, thanks for sharing. and I'm envious as all hell that you got a carousel ride in the post-park-opening hours! So Jelly!

cool. I just saw SFFT advertise for an evening show with some of the queens from RPDR in August. might go.. tix are ~45

I liked Harley Quinn at SFOT, but in my multiple rides, the only times I really enjoyed it was when sitting at the end of the row - so I was getting "leg chopper" effects at every spin.

thanks Bill. it got a bit too hot, unfortunately, otherwise would have LOVED to have stayed a bit longer, and maybe make it to the Lone Star Spectacular, since the park was open till 10. but since I started so early, by 4pm, I was ready for the drive home in the A/C. yeah the Cliff Walk along the quarry is something that I never thought would be available to me, and enjoyed the hell out of it. I'm sure I'll be back in the next few weeks to get some rides on Joker & SV Swings, but the walk up above the park is most certainly something I'll be remembering for years and years to come.

Looks like you're having a blast on the trip! I'm behind on catching up, so just now seeing your "JAWS" pics. . . absolutely wonderful! Thanks for sharing!

thanks! I have to say, getting so close to Iron Rattler was amazing! and the views of Superman from the canyon wall, really do take one's breath away. it's hard to get it across in the pictures, it was SO cool.

cliff tour continued, as well as "post-event" pics from the rest of my afternoon at SFFT : as we're walking to the platform overlooking Skyscreamer (looks like at some point it was planned as an observation platform of the park maybe from the shopping center area behind us?), as it's not only paved, but has a little fence around it. . .but SFFT simply uses it for these "special" tours). . Superman started to crest the lift hill. .so of course I stopped to take some pics Whee! headed up the trail to the little platform up there Superman train in the turn-around on the quarry wall, about to dive back into the park. . and Wonder Woman train just cresting the lift hill. so weird to be able to get a pic of the carriage at the top of Skyscreamer while only being slightly below it. makes for some very cool pics! Nice overview of what is going to be the "DC Universe" section of the park (that entire "street" leading from Superman, past Joker/Supervillian Swings, past Batman, then to Wonder Woman at the back of the street). the big building at the end of the street is the Rockville High theater. I don't believe that is being rethemed to anything DC (either Wayne Manor or Hall of Justice), tho it would be cool if they did that. However, since they want to keep Hustler and Scream (Drop tower) themed to Rockville? it's expected the theater will remain Rockville High. Me blocking Joker, but getting a nice panoramic shot of the DC Universe, Rockville, and Boardwalk sections. Loop de Loop ! !!! can follow along with the Superman train (it's close to the ground after the 2nd drop, about to head into the inline twist) not a Loop-De-Loop, but an upside down tho. . . Looking at the Kidzopolis section, with Spassburg (and Bugs Bunny Rapids at the far left). . and of course, Batman in the center, with Poltergeist "hiding" behind it. shifting focus over a little to get more of Spassburg, and a look at Goliath (the Batman clone, that is the Dark Blue/Yellow track way at the back). Also if you zoom in? LOOK at that triple width line of cars to get in - from the toll booths (cut off at the far left of the picture), all the way thru the tunnel that gets into the quarry! who knows how far it stretched beyond that, but just what we could see? that's a 45 minute wait just to get in and park. . . holy crap, gonna be a busy day today in the park. train cresting the lift on Batman, so including this pic too. Group photo taken of those of us who were the top 20 fundraisers and were invited on the Cliff Walk, along with Steven from Give Kids the World Village Team TPR, with Superman in the center watching over us from the loop! Headed back down, we passed an area of the Cliff Top where they launch some of the fireworks for the night time show. I'm a Theme Park nerd, so was very interested, and a bit surprised how small this area was (tho I was told when asked, that this was only one of a few areas they shoot off from, so don't be fooled by how small it looked). Snapped a couple of pics, but didn't stray too far from the path, as the warning about the snakes was in my head. . LOL. another view of the fireworks launching mechanism one final pic of Superman diving into the 1st drop, as we're leaving this area, and start to head back. benefit of coming back the way we came? get to take more pics of Iron Rattler! this would be such a better picture without the apartments/condos in the background, but I like that it gives a nice shot of the layout, without me needing to be in a helicopter (or using a drone) to get it. Whee - thru the reeds a pic of the path we're walking on that gives an idea of just how close we got to Iron Rattler's track in some sections does this count as a "hidden Mickey" ? someone lost their Minnie bow on Iron Rattler, and it's just hanging out stuck to the fence - who knows for how long? but I spotted it, so took a pic walking back by, took a few more pics of IR from this unique perspective. such a great 1st drop and here comes the Barrel Roll ! Wheee!! After we got back into the park proper from our tour, we gathered around, and Steven (and Ron) again thanked us for participating, and told us the total raised thus far (and it was noted how close SFFT totals were to beating SFOT total donated). As noted in part 1, the donations links are still active, so maybe enough folks will continue to donate that we can take the lead in donations from the Texas parks. They told us to enjoy the rest of our day, and they would hopefully see us all again next year! and with that, we all gave a round of applause, and folks headed their separate ways into the park - it was about 11:45 at this point, I believe. we had seen from the Lookout point, how quickly Superman was pumping out trains so Garbels and I headed that direction (he had some plans that evening with his family, and wasn't going to be staying much longer but wanted to hit Superman, and once I mentioned Pirates of the Deep Sea, he was wanting to do that too). So we headed to Supes, and found an almost walk on coaster. think we waited maybe 5 minutes? We timed it well, as by the time we got off, the line had stretched pass the Flash Pass merge point, and the FP employee was holding the line there (when we had gotten in line, we walked all the way up the stairs into the station row lines with no wait). upon exiting, stopped to take a pic of the re-themed Superman exit Gift Shop - now renamed the Daily Planet Newsstand (tho still selling the same stuff it had previously: Snacks, T-shirts, Capes, etc). Passing by Joker, snapped a quick additional pic or two. Even tho the park was starting to get crowded, most of the crowd seemed to be dying off as we got closer to the Boardwalk (Wonder Woman queue being the big exception, tho we had ridden the heck out of that already, so no need to wait in line again). but with such light crowds, had no issue getting some great pics, that look like no one's around. I mean. .there were lots of people in the park. . but was able to get this pic from across the walkway with no one in it! This is new! (I asked about it during the Cliff Walk and was told it was installed Friday. . so the day before) . .but I certainly noticed it right away. It's by the toilets, which is an odd decision, but I guess that was due to this angle right here, since you can get the statue and the ride together in one nice pic (and in the shade). people were stopping to take pics with it, so I guess it's really well done move by SFFT. (and whisper was there is likely a Superman version like this coming soon to the area as well, to join the Bats & Wondy statues in this area). I'm not Batman. . but i can stand by him! After we rode Pirates of the Deep Sea, as well as the Crow's Nest (which I REALLY appreciated Garbels riding with me, since SFFT has a "no single riders" policy on it, and my spouse is terrified of heights. . so I *rarely* get to ride it), we said our goodbyes and he headed out to go relax a bit before his evening movie plans - hope it was great, heard good things about "Lion King". by the way, the Crow's Nest is still only loading about 2 cars of every color, so even tho it was almost a walk on, we did have to wait a few minutes. They slowly load the cars, going counter-clockwise to fill up ~2 of each color. . . and then get the wheel rotating clockwise for a good 3-4 full rotations before repeating the cycle. When the wheel is going counter-clockwise to fill the cars? It makes a horrendous squeal. Like it wasn't intended to go in that direction? Maybe something SF wants to look into? I mean, I'm SURE it's not unsafe, but it certainly didn't sound great, and I'll bet caused some folks in line to have a twinge of concern. I mentioned above, that this side of the park wasn't too crowded? well, the Boardwalk was basically dead. Not really sure why, although they don't have any water rides on the Boardwalk and it *was* starting to get hot. Fireball was down (appeared to be a restraint issue, but they were working on it both times I passed by it, so hopefully it eventually opened) but Pirates of the Deep Sea was absolute walk on (and I think Garbels was impressed by the queue, and possibly the ride)? Crow's nest had only a short wait. As did Spinsanity, and Pandemonium, and Hurricane Force 5, and . . . Wave Runner! yep, Wave Runner is back working again, after months of sitting broken. so I grabbed a ride. It's running a fun, intense, cycle too. Johnny Rockets only had 3 people in line, so I decided to get a shake as a "snack" on my dining plan. . sheesh, even with only 3 people in front of me, it still took almost 15 minutes. That will teach me that a shake isn't worth it, LOL. . next time? back in the shorter Icee lines - besides those are slightly better for me health wise anyways. wanted to ride Poltergeist, but once I got out of the boardwalk area (past Scream actually, which I only had a 10 minute wait for), the crowds appeared again. I didn't get close enough to see if they were running 2 trains, but when the line is outside of 1st queue line? yeah, that's a 30 minute wait, and it was just too hot to be in an uncovered queue. so instead, I sat in the shade across from the entrance, and enjoyed the rest of my shake, while watching the construction going on in the grass adjacent to Batman. I've seen some other sites posting that this might be a new ride possibly coming in. .tho the Deck they were building looked to me like maybe restaurant seating for the Burger place, or maybe the Beer/Pretzel stand right there - tho when I asked the girl working that stand, she had no idea (and said, "they don't tell me nothin") I noticed when standing at the fence watching Batman tho, that I was right by where the water jug was for the workers, so just struck up a conversation with them. (mostly about how hot it was getting). .but I slipped in the question if they were building out a deck for restaurant seating, and the supervisor told me that nope, they are improving the BasketBall game, making it a bigger area. And we both laughed when I said "great, more kids bouncing those balls around the park!" thinking about it? yeah, this makes total sense, as the park pulled out the Basketball game that used to be over where Joker is now sitting. . so this is just a replacement for that game area they removed. I took a ride on the Carousel, but wasn't able to get a seat on my preferred animal (the White Rabbit), because it was pretty busy, and there was a kiddo who really wanted the rabbit. So I let her have it and rode a standard horse. Then went next door into the Sangerfest Halle to enjoy the A/C and to figure out if I wanted to eat something (although I wasn't hungry, my dining pass is something I didn't want to waste). I ended up deciding that I wasn't hungry enough to eat, so I'd just go over to ChopSix in an hour, and get a salad, and if still wasn't hungry then I'd just take it home. But while in Sangerfest Halle, Bugs, Daffy, and Pepe came in with their handlers for a photo-op. . .so I got in line, and got a pic Bugs Whitewater Rapids (the flume) was pulling a MASSIVE line - water ride on a hot day, so instead of going on it, I decided to head back to the Boardwalk to see if the lines were still short, stopping along the way for another ride on the Carousel. this time I was far enough back in the queue, that I didnt' even have a shot at the White Rabbit (or the Brown one).. was among the first animals taken. oh well, I'm here often enough, and at the end of the day, on a Carousel! but I rode this - 1st time ever even noticing him on the Carousel. he looks mean. . LOL Walking back to the boardwalk, I was surprised to find that it was STILL pretty dead. So waited one cycle for Spinsanity. got this pic of Scream while sitting in my Spinsanity car no one wanted to share, and since it was so light over on the Boardwalk, the SF employees didn't even try to pair me up with anyone. So I sat to one side, on this next gen Tilt-a-Whirl, and off I went. It spun the CRAP out of me. . . glad I hadn't eaten a lunch yet. . . got off pleasantly woozy, but since Pandemonium also had a super short line - maybe 5 minutes? - I went ahead and grabbed a ride on this too. paring up with a large guy while his tiny girlfriend sat alone on the other side. So yeah, we got a crap-ton of spinning on this too . .LOL I walked past Fireball (still trying to get it going), and peeked into the Wonder Woman line - not only all the way thru the overflow queue, but almost all the way up to the entrance plaza! So bizarre, the boardwalk was so dead, but just outside it there were pretty decent lines for everything. peeked into Rockville High, and pleased to see they had started up shows again..but it was just after 2:30pm, and the next show wasn't until 5, so didn't get a chance to see it (I missed the 1pm show, as was riding stuff!) so instead I headed towards Chop Six, passing a *massive* line for Skyscreamer, that filled the entire queue and out into the midway. Glad I wasn't gonna ride this today! Such a lovely park, especially when they have the waterfalls on. Choo-Choo Passing over the bridge in CrackAxle, I noticed Gully Washer was drained, and the queue chained off! oh no, one of the water rides - that had been up earlier - had gone down? oy! Not sure what was going on, as it had been running earlier, but was down now. So I continued around the corner to ChopSix and was met with a massive line (at close to 3PM). What the heck? there were a TON of people over in Crackaxle area, and everything had giant lines, including the bar, and Bubba's Burgers. thinking back on it, I would guess it was due to Iron Rattler's 1 train ops.. . my guess is that people that didn't want to ride, were hanging out in the area waiting for those that were in line to ride. And since only 1 train ops? the wait was a lengthy one, hence so many people in this section of the park. not helped by one of the 3 rides in this area (4 if you count the train), Gully Washer, going down. anyways, so I got in line, and waited almost 30 minutes, only to find out they were out of the Salad (that's pre-packaged and I had planned to just take home). .and it was too late to try to go anywhere else (since the dining plan "lunch" is only until 3:30, so I just ordered something and sat down to eat. won't talk too much about it in this thread, since this is about the GKTW day, but . . it was the worst meal I've ever gotten at ChopSix, actually, worst thing I've ever gotten at any Six Flags. .they should have been ashamed to serve it. I ate some of it anyways, but bleh. the only good thing, is that while i was sitting in the shaded area next to ChopSix, I heard them start making "boarding" announcements for Gully Washer. So once I finished up with lunch, I went ahead and wandered over to the queue - figuring if it was open, i'd get a ride as it was so hot. it was open again, and the flume was full up and pumping, so got in an ~40 minute line (shocking as it had JUST opened, tho by the time I got off the line was all the way back over the raised bridge, so that's at least 2 hour line). I did see a LOT of line cutting in this line, folks cutting thru to meet others in the line. . .I just let it go, tho some of the folks around me were getting angry, and at least 2 of them confronted folks cutting thru, and called the "line jumping #s" posted everywhere in the queue. I never saw any security or anyone show up tho. . and I stayed out of it. at the end of the day? I'm at a theme park, and a few people cutting in front of me isn't going to spoil my day, and I'll get to ride eventually anyways. they had all the waterfalls on (including the one from the railroad bridge), and got a pleasingly soaking ride. Pics from the exit queue. once off the ride, it was just after 4pm, and I was ready to head out. I'd ridden everything I had wanted to (other than Poltergeist), and the lines were a bit too long to get into re-rides for Superman, or a ride on Goliath. besides, I had an hour 1/2 drive back to Austin (which, thanks to folks not knowing how to MERGE onto a Highway from the access road was closer to 2 1/2 hours). all in all tho? had a fantastic day - and got a bit of a sunburn, since never went back out to the car to put on the sunscreen I had brought. Not a bad sunburn, but enough to know I'd been in the sun for 8 hours Was a great cause, and a great day, and i really appreciate Six Flags Fiesta Texas participating! We're all laughing at Cristina taking this pic of Ron, who's taking a selfie of himself and the group. We realized she was snapping the pic, I don't think he did I included this one, as I really like how Skyscreamer dominates the space behind us in this pic.

So I drove down to San Antonio bright and early on Saturday Morning to participate in "Coasting for Kids" - the benefit for Give Kids the World Village, a fantastic charitable organization, that was being hosted at Fiesta Texas on 7/20. I participated as a member of Team TPR, which for this particular park consisted of myself, and Garbels (someone I've seen in pics on TPR for many years, but had never met until now.. . if you hadn't figured it out, he turned out to be a really, really cool guy). I had a great time and all in all, we ended up contributing over $2200 towards the over $10.4K raised by those participating! Not bad for our team of two! so really appreciate all those who donated to me over the past couple of weeks! I took over 200 pics, but edited down to less than 100 for this TR - hey, I figured folks wanna see unique pics that aren't often available to general park goers (such as Wonder Woman with no line, or the views of Iron Rattler, Roadrunner, and Superman from the Canyon walking tour we got to take, as both of us made the top 20 fundraisers). here are a bunch of pics, with some comments beneath them Thanks to Robb (& TPR) for not only encouraging us to participate, but offering some incredible support to help us kick off some donations to our pages. and the links will stay active, if anyone still wants to contribute to this fantastic cause! Mine: http://support.gktw.org/site/TR/CoastingForKids/General?px=1417173&pg=personal&fr_id=1887 Garbels: http://support.gktw.org/site/TR/CoastingForKids/General?px=1021158&pg=personal&fr_id=1887 one benefit of getting here ~2 hours before the park opens to the public? I can pull over at the entrance, and get a proper picture of the main sign, without causing any traffic issues! (later in the day, the line of traffic to get into the park was NUTS, but for us? easy-peasy, and got to park way up front too!). thanks to the Six Flags Fiesta Texas staff who came in early to let us in, serve us breakfast, and allow us to ride! all with a smile on their faces. parked, and quick walk to front gate, where we didn't have to show any tickets, just the wristband we got a the checkin just inside the main arch. SFFT did have the Metal Detector and security officers there, but was a breeze to get in (and front gate staff even offered to scan my Season Pass upon entering, so I wouldn't have to come back later to activate it for the meal plan). here at check in! Checking in, and getting my Tshirt/hat/badge from Give Kids the World Development Manager Steven Amos , and the wonderful Cristina Berg, who had been a top fundraiser a few weeks ago at SFOT, and came down to help out here at SFFT too. Steven put on a SPECTACULAR event. and then thru the gates, into the main plaza where we were welcomed (SFFT put out multiple signs thruout the park. . it was a job really well done). I was directed to the restaurant space off the main plaza where we were to have the morning meeting with plans for the day, presentation, and continental breakfast. we had been promised a Continental Breakfast, and that WAS there. . but SFFT went all out, and provided a make your own breakfast taco bar, with eggs, bacon, beans, ham, and all the fixins it was a wonderful, unexpected treat, and really appreciate that SFFT went above and beyond! here's the other tables that had the true "Continental Breakfast" offerings. it looks like a ton of food, but it's really only 2 tacos, with a crapload of bacon I tried to not over-do it, especially since i knew was about to spend some time riding coasters (and wanting to talk to my teammate -- about those folks we'd met in the past from TPR ) Park President Jeffrey Siebert came in to say hello, and made sure to visit with everyone at the welcome breakfast Here he is addressing the Group, and thanking us for coming to participate. that's GKTW's Steven on the left. I think, including a couple of Give Kids the World Village families, we were about 40 participants. these signs were out in the area too. Very cool of them, and I'm totally impressed how quickly they were able to replace "Joker" with "Hustler" as the 4th ride offered. It's a shame Joker wasn't open yet (nor Supervillain swing), but that didn't really take away any of the fun we were about to have for such a great cause. and per the Mgmt I was chatting with during the Cliff walk, they will both open at the same time, per DC Comics/Time Warner direction. . but both are ready to go, as soon as they get word. a quick stop back to the car after changing, to stash my Club TPR shirt I had been wearing, as it was WAY too hot for 2 shirts today. I spotted Garbels (Jake), right away - as noted, I've seen pics of him for years on TPR, and he recognized me as well.. so first thing we had to do was take a pic! he was just as great a person, as i figured he would be. and sure enough, Joker looks completely ready to go. it looks absolutely stunning, and as Garbels kept saying, "you can't even tell there was once a Top Spin here". . it fits into the area THAT well. the little "Villain" signs along the front of the ride are pretty damn cool too. GREAT job on the theming Six Flags Fiesta Texas! it fits right in. . . most of the group stopped at Superman, or seemed to be going to Hustler (Batman didn't appear to be getting any love, but I guess an S&S freespin after just eating breakfast, isn't that great of an idea. . so I suppose it makes sense). but we were headed to Wonder Woman but what a view.. we were literally the first guests in this area. we even stopped for a pic, but it didn't look like the ride was cycling trains? no need to worry tho. . the ride was not only fully staffed, but all three trains were on the track! they just didn't have any "customers" yet - we were the 1st. So was able to get a pic with the stopped train, since all 3 were stacked (2 in station, one on brake run). one of the staff, even offered to take a pic of me with the train! just this is something special to me, as when will I EVER get an opportunity like this again. . literally there is NO ONE there. (we were getting into the train parked in front of it). Now, they did have all 3 trains running, so Kudos to them for that, but be aware: 2 trains have 1 seat not working (the back seat on 1, a middle seat on another), and the 3rd train has the 1st two seats closed off. So if you're going to SFFT, and it's not a regular park for you? I'd highly recommend Flash Pass, as WW is not at full capacity (20 seats vs 24), and Iron Rattler is only 1 train operations. the staff was SO DAMN COOL. . they did not make us leave our seats (unless we wanted to switch around), even tho every train had to have the restraints unlocked and re-locked to allow them to go, for safety reasons. but I think we got 4 laps on the ride, before anyone else from the C4K group showed up to ride. we basically had our own TPR train for multiple laps on this stellar coaster. (and I took this pic with permission to take my phone out on the brake run, since the train in front of us was stopped in the station) I only rode a couple of times in the front, most of my rides were in the back, and my shoulders are feeling it today, LOL! TPR train, coming in after another cycle! (this pic taken by WW Employee as we came into station) then, I needed to get out to stand for a moment, but Garbels wanted to keep going, so he got a solo back seat ride on the coaster, while I walked 1/2 way up the exit ramp to get some pics. YEAH!. . . .owning Wonder Woman! wheee YEAH !! Then it was my turn for a solo ride, while he stretched his legs I'm ready, back seat is the place to be on this coaster. . such extreme ejector are (which usually I don't like), but with the restraints, it's not on your legs/thighs at all, so only shoulder hits. Reminded me very much of Maverick in that respect. my turn to whee! and of course, I had to hands up too. after a couple of more rounds where there actually were a handful of other folks riding with us (tho not on the TPR train), I needed another brief break, and Garbels wanted a front row ride. so I stepped off for a cycle, and he took another solo ride. Steven & Cristina made it over to take a ride! She did NOT want to ride, she doesn't do anything that goes upside-down. . .but I recommended that she give it a ride near the front, to experience the floater air one gets up front. King o the world! or at least this part of the park. Wheeeee! she doesn't look thrilled, but afterwards she thanked me for the recommendation to ride near the front after a few more rounds on Wonder Woman (I think I ended up with 8 or 9 laps, and Garbels ended up with 8)?, we had planned to head over towards the meet up for the Cliff Walk (which was over by Iron Rattler entrance) stopping along the way to ride Superman. but while chatting with *someone* just before our last ride on Wonder Woman, it was mentioned that the park was going to toss in another perk - and let us ride Iron Rattler before going on the walk. ie: be the 1st in line for Iron Rattler when rope-drop happens, since we were meeting for the cliff walk at 10:30. Iron Rattler is only running ONE TRAIN thru August, and we had actually been talking about how we had planned to get on Iron Rattler since we were already in the park, but when we got chosen for the walk? we *had* to do that instead, since that's a rare opportunity. So when Director Ron McKenzie told us that they were gonna hold off starting the walk until anyone who wanted to ride Iron Rattler got an ride? we thanked him profusely, and got in the queue (which was chained off, but literally seconds after we lined up at the chain, the running of the bulls arrived, and the general public swarmed in behind us). Because we were at the chain when Ron officially opened the ride, most of us were on the 1st train of the day, with a handful on the 2nd train. By the time we got off, it was pulling - easily - an hour + line (as even in a station queue, the wait is gonna take 20-25 minutes with only one train). so absolutely, this was a fantastic additional perk! Thanks SFFT, and Ron! this pic is of Roadrunner while waiting for the 2nd train of folks to get off Iron Rattler. Director Ron McKenzie, who (along with some support folks), led us on an amazing behind the scenes tour up on the canyon wall. they also gave us little "goodie bag" backpacks with bottled water in them, and he encouraged us to hydrate as the walk is all with no shade. They also had a med cart with us during our walk that had refills for more water if we needed it. Really enjoyed chatting with him during our walk, as it turns out Ron came to SFFT from SFStL (so got to talk about that, since just got back from there), and previously he worked at Astroworld! so that was all kinds of cool stuff we got to chat about while hiking. NOTED! (but ignored, since with Director Ron's group) stopping for a quick pic, behind the walls! Looking up at some signage, that I'm not sure is visible from within the park? Maybe one can see it from Roadrunner's queue? We're walking up the trail under Roadrunner's lift hill. get some really unique views of this Custom mine train going up the hill and lot of prickly pear cactus everywhere too. I wish that the SFFT folks hadn't warned us to stay on the trail due to the rattlesnakes that hang out back there. . it made me nervous!. . tho we didn't see (or hear) any on our trek. beep beep, goes the RoadRunner Express! we're here, in the Texas Sun, going up a hill, to walk along the top of SFFT! it's fascinating to get this close to the coasters, in unique view. It looks like such a twist of track from this angle! would be cooler with a train in the pic (sorry), but you get an interesting perspective of the park from over here. and if you're playing "count the coasters" - track from most coasters in the park (Goliath, Boomerang, Poltergeist, RoadRunner Express, Batman, Superman) can be seen in this pic. There's Iron Rattler. . .with a look at the lift hill from this side of the park. yeah. . NOW Roadrunner comes up the chain-lift, after we've walked past the perfect view of it. . LOL Beep Beep ! These riders were all thinking - who the hell are they? and why are they taking pictures of us? Iron Rattler's barrel roll, thru the reeds. and yes, that is Neiman Marcus behind it. Unique perspective of Iron Rattler's post drop, barrel roll, and dive off the cliff. wanted to wait for the train, but with only 1 train, didn't want to fall so far behind the group while waiting. The track is pretty damn sexy on it's own anyways! the park is just as lovely up here as it is down inside the quarry. sexy, sexy, RMC track. here comes the IR train! it looks so damn fine from this angle such a steep drop roaring thru the 90 tilted turn and here it comes thru the quarry top "snake" layout. . headed right to us. . . to let us get some great pictures, while these folks too wonder: "who the hell are these people, and why are they taking pictures of us?" but a lot of them did wave to us, and they look like they are having a blast! (on Iron Rattler? of COURSE they are) Noted! (that's my 'sneaky' face. . as I feel like I'm doing something I'm not supposed to) we've now gone around most of Iron Rattler's track, headed towards Superman - and we're at the top of the turnaround after the drop. So again, an opportunity to get some great, and unique pictures Whee! This one is among my favorite pics I took. never realized just how "mean" the train looks, when it's headed right at you! Love it. it looks so open in this pic, till you realize that your standing on a canyon wall, and just below you is Gully Washer. . . Looking back at Iron Rattler. . .wow, we really did do quite a walk, and we're not yet where we are headed to - a lookout pad, that by the top of Skyscreamer. first, we gotta get up this hill, to the Man of Steel. (and hey, look.. got a train in this pic) lovely setting, and that loop is so big. such a unique look at Superman's layout - all that twisted track, and in the back there? Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster. i have about 40 more pics, I'd like to share from the rest of the Cliff Walk, and the rest of my day at SFFT, but it's getting late here, so will continue with "Part II" tomorrow bert Here's the group photo we all took, before being walked back - they even did a mini-rope drop for us prior to leading us back thru Spassburg over towards Superman! (before putting it back up for the General Public Crowd)

went and looked for you: it's at the top of the SFOT page, he just typoed and meant to put 7/21, and instead he put 7/2. he's talking about the cloud bouncer ride. . . but really, he often makes errors, and "borrows" his info from other sources. So I'd take anything with a grain of salt from that site.

will have a "Coasting for Kids" report up (hopefully in next 24 hours or so), but a couple of new things regarding the "DC Universe" Area during the fantastic day yesterday in the park. -- New Batman statue popped up, very similar to Wonder Woman statue in front of Golden Lasso Coaster (I asked about it during our time with Mgmt, was told it was just installed Friday). . . also strongly hinted there *might* be a similar Superman statue popping up too. (and got a laugh when I pointed out there already IS a Superman - standing on top of the loop on Krypton Koaster - but I guess they mean one near the entrance to the ride so people can pose with it). -- speaking of Krypton Koaster, the gift shop at the Exit, has been renamed "the Daily Planet" -- Supervillian Swings is ready to go, but they are not going to open it until Joker opens. (direct from someone in Mgmt: they have been directed that both rides open up at the same time). Both rides are ready to go, they are just waiting on an 'all clear" (not sure from whom, but probably someone in maintenance?), they didn't give me a date as to when they will open, but I did hear a mention that "they could open tomorrow, if we got the all clear). -- also, if you have heard about construction happening over by Batman, on the Poltergeist side, into that grassy area? it's NOT a new ride, or a new eating deck. They are upgrading the Basketball game, and expanding out the court into the grassy area (I got this info by chatting with one of the workmen who was out in the heat, laying down the wood "deck" area). anyways, a handful of pics, and will get full report up (and will link here) hopefully in the next day or so.

hey Larry, here's the signage up at "Joker: Carnival Of Chaos!" from Six Flags Fiesta Texas today

here you go. . and yes, it's the stuff of nightmares. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] stellar cast, but man, this is a bomb-bomb-bomb. it will have a good afterlife as a midnight movie (with lots of alcohol) tho.

Really looking forwards to being at the park tomorrow to participate in Coasting for Kids. unfortunately, Joker still is not gonna be ready to go - but all is good, they added Hustler as the 4th ride open for us for ERT before the park opens! and i got an email that I "secured a spot" on the "Clifftop Walking Tour" . . so hoping to get some really unique pics from the top of the Canyon walls looking down into the park! Gonna be a fun, but very hot, day!

^ I don't know that I EVER will be.. I look in the mirror and see "fat". . . it's hard to get that out of my head.

always love seeing pics from Knoebels. love that place, and seeing pics makes me smile! thanks for sharing, looking forwards to continuation.

even tho this week involved eating out several times, I tried to be on good behavior. I kept up my walks every day (at least an hour a day, usually more), and I went dancing on Sunday night (so despite a few Crown & Cokes, I still danced for over 3 hours non stop). weighed myself just now (post exercise, and not having eaten yet today), and I'm down ~2 1/2 lbs since last Friday. so: started back on plan on 4/1 at 218 lbs 1st check in was on 4/14 at 211.6 lbs 2nd check in was on 4/22 at 208.2 lbs 3rd check in was on 4/28 at 206.2 lbs 4th check in was on 5/10 at 201.8 lbs. 5th check in was on 5/18: 199.2 lbs. 6th check in was on 5/26: 198 lbs. 7th check in was ~ 6/13: 191.8 lbs 8th check in was 7/5: 192.4 lbs 9th check in was 7/12: 189.0 lbs and today, 7/19? 186.4 lbs so in total? down 31.6 lbs since going back on my plan post Quad injury. (and only ~1 1/2 lbs from my goal, and 6 1/2 from my stretch goal for Dragon*con at the end of August

will try to get the Grant's Farm final day of our trip up by end of weekend. but first I have all day Sat Coasting for Kids at Fiesta Texas! meanwhile, I realized I have a pic of the magnets I got for a buck each at SFStL. . so posting those here too. woulda been nice if they said Six Flags on em other than on the price sticker on the back, but still, nice art and good size magnets:

if I had to guess? that last one is a "Pink Thing" and yeah, I was gonna point out that was Mr & Mrs Pac Man. . but don't recall them being used in the park ever.

glad you had such a great time at my Home park. . sorry I missed y'all when you were here (but didn't know you were here) Wonder Woman is insane in the back, but the front is fantastic too if you like floater air. did you get a lot of spins on Batman? since Fiesta's in the original, I've found it's a bit more "spinny" than the clones. looking forwards to the rest, Bill.

that's pretty close to what I do anyways, tho I refuse to do "daily progress" (either photos or weigh ins). . . I do once a week , or close to that. and I do drink occasionally. . but the others I do. My daily walk, is between 50 minutes and 1:15

^ hey, 2lbs is 2lbs. that's great

really good report! I'm not familiar with this park, and would love to check it out someday.

very welcome, and glad you're liking my TR. I've honestly been on rougher coasters and enjoyed them. if it hadn't been for that 1 lateral that caught me in the side, I likely would have ridden it again. but the truth is, there are two better (one, American Thunder), MUCH better coasters right there in the same park. So I would rather ride those more instead. I wish Excalibur had been open, I would have loved to try it out. Oh well.. if we ever get back! LOL. . . no, it was that awful transition from the 2nd loop into the corkscrew! it's burned into my memory, I remember it well.. . LOL

really great report and pics. Lightning Run certainly looks like a ton of fun. Storm Chaser looks so naked tho. . surprised there's not more landscaping around it.

I don't know how much more it could slow it down, but that lateral still slammed me pretty good