bert425

really just Mike, but they just played here a few weeks ago, and he sounded great!

Berlin is amazing live. but that's overall a good enough line up that if I had a pass, would go seem most of em. (heck, I'd even go see Air Supply) Tho just out of respect for Pat DiNizio I wouldn't go to see Smithereens. . yeah, I know the other band members decided to continue after his death, but they just won't be the same without his vocals. interesting song choices listed tho. . .for Richard Marx, would think they would have listed "Don't Mean Nothing". . wasnt that a bigger hit. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

Fiesta Texas on either Wed or Thurs.

wanted to get it in before end of the year, so let's backtrack to Frightfest visit just before Halloween (and Nick went with me this time, since we activated our 2019 passes, including my photopass I got dirt cheap): Here's what I wrote about the visit at the time, over in the Fiesta Texas thread: went to the park yesterday to exchange our Season Pass renewals (+ the upgrades) I had bought during the Labor Day flash sale. gorgeous day, but the park was absolutely packed (they were also doing some membership special event too. . tho it wasn't BAFF or BAF cheaper. . so I can only imagine what Friday or Sunday looked like crowd wise). park was slammed with families with younger kids - which is a good thing in the long run, even if it made the lines for Roadrunner and Bugs Bunny rapids extend out past queue entrances (so we bypassed both, as we'll ride them when there isn't an hour wait). very strange in that Roadrunner had an Hour wait? next door Iron Rattler was a walk on. (yeah.. I rode it a couple of times). odd that several attractions near the haunts close down lines at 5pm (including Pandemonium, and Gully Washer). .but I suppose they have to flush the queue lines so those spaces can be used for exit lines from the haunts. Although everything was operating, we saw a couple of cases where almost 1/2 a rides capacity was down - Spinsanity had only 4 of the 7 cars operating, the other 3 were locked off. Hustler had multiple pool balls locked off, and Fireball was running with a few seats blocked off. Even Wonder Woman, which was running all 3 trains - as opposed to only 1 train a couple of weeks ago. . . even tho 2 of the trains had several seats blocked off. . still, it was nice they were trying to increase capacity). Iron Rattler was running two trains, but the camera wasn't working, so no photo for me (I was hoping to use my new Photo pass. . but we used it for Wonder Woman, and for entrance pics. . so still got some pics I'll post later) I'll likely have a small TR report up in the next few weeks, although we didn't actually go thru any of the haunts as the lines were simply too prohibitive for Nick to stand that long in line (we stayed until ~8pm). the park only got more packed as it got later, and the fog effects thruout the park once it hit 6pm, made it look eerily spooky, so good on them for that. Anyways. . the point of posting now was to talk about the "coffin challenge". . .oh my. I thought it was silly, but dumb, when they announced it. . but seeing it in person at Fiesta? The most idiotic thing I think I've seen, purely based on the execution of it. It was set up in front of the stepts to train station in Crackaxle - so the train could only be boarded in the German section for a full circuit of the park. ok, I GET that we're in Texas, and it's hot. . . but really? the coffins are open at the top. and Fiesta brought out tents to shade the participants from the sun. (which wouldn't be an issue if the lids were closed, would it?). I mean. . they were laying there with sunglasses on, and water/food available on top of the coffin lids (we saw one contestant reach up and take a drink of water and grab some chips. . guess the rule is they can't sit up? ) but they all also had earphones in, and several were playing on phones -- which to be fair, the Emcee took away from them 20 minutes later as we were walking by. but really? open lids, you can have your phone, and shaded by a tent? easy to do. it sounded like they had a LOT of applicants, but I can think of way better use of my time than this easy challenge, especially since i'd expect all 8 are gonna succeed, and the 300 will have to be split. whoop de do, they get to keep the coffin. . . oh well, maybe they are super Halloween fans and wanted a coffin decoration. anyways. . I thought it was idiotic. . but lots of folks did gather around to look at them. here's a picture of it. here are the pics from that trip the Hustler pics are in two sections, because they had to shut it down while we were in line due to a MASSIVE "Protein Spill". . and then once they got that cleaned up? the spritz they used to decontaminate drew *hundreds* of bees. . it was like the movie "the Swarm". .and everyone cleared out quick! when we came back about an hour later, is when we got to ride, so the inside poolball pics are from then. . . .and yes, we avoided the Purple ball which was "patient zero" for the protein spill/bee craziness. and the water dyed red the abovementioned silly "Coffin Challenge" participants the Gully Washer got renamed "Blood Bayou" for FrightFest but Bug's WhiteWater Rapids kept it's white water. .. hey, it says so right in the name of the ride! what is that I spot from Batman's queue? yep, the Carousel is back up and operating! Finally woot woot. . gonna ride the Hustler for the 1st time this year, and Nick will get on it with me. hmm. . why is nothing moving? and they aren't loading? we're smiling, but we are about to be told someone puked all over the inside of the Purple ball, so have to wait for clean up. and then a few minutes later? BEEEEEESSSS!!!! so went over to the Boardwalk to take some artsy pics of a ride I can't go on (Nick won't ride due to fear of heights, and Fiesta won't let single riders on). I've only gotten to ride it once this year, and that's when a group of 3 let me join them in their car. So I'll settle for artsy pics of Hurricane Force 5 thru the Ferris Wheel Poltergeist. . my 2nd Favorite coaster in the park. WonderWoman has displaced it, which bumps Iron Rattler down to a close 3rd. Heading back over to Hustler to see if the bees are gone, but stopping to take pics of Scream, and Wave Runner yep. we're in a Pool Ball! yay! not moving yet, but will be soon. Spinny, Spinny, Spinny wouldn't be a bert photo trip report without a carousel pic, now would it? couldn't get on my bunny, as a kiddo was riding it. . so got me a bear (I think?) official Photo Pass pics from Six Flags! the unframed version really like this guy at the main plaza Wonder Woman Back Row! wheeee

if you didn't try it yet, go for Back car. the "whip" effect when it dives off the canyon for the finale is incredible.

glad you're having good luck! once the front came thru this afternoon, wind dropped to nothing.. so with luck, maybe Poltergeist will open (it's my favorite in the park, and I like it better than Joker's Jinx). Another unique flat in the park is Hustler (basically teacups, but done as pool balls). . if coasters do go down, check that out (it's near Wonder Woman and Batman). (oh, and Spinsanity on the boardwalk, is a "next gen" Tilt-a-Whirl. . . and it spins a LOT if you get a good car. .so recommend that too, but again, it's got pretty awful capacity)

I'm proud of you, Sir.

they told me they saw it on Amazon and it screamed "bert"

that's what SFOG was using when I was there in July! Glad to see them rolling them out to the other parks.

Really interesting interview. I love "big fat panda". . . he asks the questions we wanna know about

Just heads up on Fiesta. . on Thurs they are only open from 5-10pm (so expect things that normally are open to NOT be . . I'd be shocked if Poltergeist, the Flume, or Pandemonium will be up, if the park is only open for 5 hours). Same hours on Friday too. . .too bad you aren't going on Sat, since they are open from 2-10pm on that day. but hope you have a great time regardless!

just now getting time to hope on TPR and play catch up. those are some fantastic pictures, Chuck. . and as you, and some others, have said: the Eiffel tower decorations are phenomenal. and absolutely love what KD did to Candy Apple Grove and Carousel area. great job.

never thought they'd get another coaster at this park - which I've yet to go to, but is on my list to swing by if ever in the area. How exciting to have a new 2019 announcement!

I vote for as simple as possible. I loved having all the options available for the Beta last year, but honestly, it *did* become daunting to have to scroll thru in order to rank. I was thinking I might just pick my top 20-30, as well as bottom 10, and just ignore everything else. would that terribly skew the results? (or is this the kind of feedback y'all are looking for)?

GREAT footage, and brings back some wonderful memories of being at the park. thanks Robb!

cool to see the pics from the theater tour. . haven't done that in years (like. . maybe 10 years ago, is when we last did that. . are they back to opening it as part of the behind the scenes tour? or was this a special 1 off deal for you)? glad to see you had a good time at Fiesta!

Oh no! glad I got to ride it a few months ago!

yeah, RoadRunner is pulling long lines mainly for 2 reasons: 1) it was closed down most of 2018 waiting for a part (as Canobie mentioned), and even now that it's back up, they only have one working coaster train (not sure why on that, tho I asked last time I rode it and they told me they only had one train and were using the other for "backup" - which I assume means "parts"). 2) it's one of only 2 "family" coasters in the park (other than Pandemonium). Factor in that HitP attracts families, and you have a lot of younger kids who won't/cant ride the "big" coasters. . that leaves: Pandemonium & RoadRunner as the only true mid-sized coaster in the park. so yeah, it get's lines. also why Boomerang gets lines, tho that one tends to get the older teens more than RoadRunner does.

adding to the chorus of those that LOVE the little autoplay video at the top of the screen right. that's a great addition.

best tip I can give for a Sunday is be there at Opening. the park fills up as the day goes on Sunday, but Mornings are typically slow until after Church. most folks go directly left for Goliath, tho if you see it's walk on, grab a ride. then head around over to Iron Rattler. Wonder Woman and Poltergiest never open with the park when I am there. . so grain of salt. but keep an ear out for Poltergiest running (you'll hear it) and then head over that way, since it will pull a line with only 1 train operations. Wonder Woman, of course, is brilliant. . so either Fast Pass it, or expect to wait. Superman is typically multi train so usually short/no wait, and Batman is almost always a short line too.

Atlanta is a fantastic city with so much to do (and not for nothing, they have one of the best parks in the Six Flags Chain). you'll love it.

that's a shame, but at least they gave some advance warning.

those cotton candy cones look amazing! I certainly would want to take pictures with it once it's done. tho not so sure about the "flavors" or "mix-ins". . . my brain is trained to thing the different colors of cotton candy taste the same, so it would be a shock to get an actual flavor difference. (stares forlornly at my Six Flags tub o cotton candy)

yer welcome, Larry. I really like how the wet ground makes the lights reflect, and the giant tree in Rockville really is so nice. I haven't seen any other HitP reports that note "Home Depot - like" lawn inflatables as part of the Decorations. . LOL. . guess that's an "only in Texas" thing.