bert425

finally "won" the lotto. . . Austin Public Health announced that they were getting 4000 vaccinations in tomorrow, and they would open up the sign up site at 6:30 pm. my Spouse and i both got online, and waited - they do it by assigning random numbers to everyone logged in, and then they just go in order to see who can sign up. I lucked out with a very low number, and the spouse ended up with a number around 2800 - which was still ok, we reasoned, since they had 4000 appointments available. we both now have appointments for our 1st shot of Vaccinations tomorrow - at the same site, within a 1/2 hour of each other! (so we can go together to do it). FINALLY. . such a relief to be able to get an appointment (it's been rough, since he's so high risk, and had thus far had terrible luck getting an appointment!).

got the TR up! (put it in the "bert goes to Texas Theme Parks thread")

3rd time's the charm! (or is it 4th?) so, TeacherKim and her son were supposed to be coming down to Texas / San Antonio area to hit the parks - this was a rescheduled trip, from 2020, when the parks closed for Covid (literally a week before she was supposed to fly in). I had planned to drive to San Antonio and spend the day with them - even tho it was going to be on Valentine's day (but my Spouse was ok with that), as I had really enjoyed hanging out with Kim when we went o SFStL a couple of years ago. So was excited to show her around my "home park" and then the ice storm hit, followed by SnowPockalypse Texas! So she had to cancel AGAIN, but it was ok, as there was an ACE event the next Saturday (the 20th), and she invited me along for that. .so she just pushed out her flights/hotels for a week. I knew that Bill and Brit had been planning to come to Texas on the 27th, but told them I wasn't sure that I'd be able to meet up with them, as it was going to be 2 weeks in a row leaving Spouse at home. well, the universe stepped in, and literally the day before the ACE event at SFFT on the 20th, the park announced it would not be opening on Saturday due to remaining ice and power issues. (seriously, the universe is just conspiring against Kim ever making it to Texas. . LOL), so she had to cancel again.. which meant that it wouldn't be multiple weeks in a row going, and I could now meet up with Bill & Brit guilt free! There were still some power issues, and the park had warned a few things wouldn't be open (Park President Jeffrey Siebert had noted on FB in the days before they arrived that Poltergiest, DareDevil Dive, and Batman would not be open due to still occurring power issues, but everything else should not be affected). So they were still coming, and I confirmed I'd meet them in the park! Turned out they actually flew into Austin, and offered me an "out" from driving if I just wanted to meet up for dinner here. But due to my Spouse being SO high risk, I just couldn't chance an indoor dining (even tho they kindly offered eat outdoors if I wanted). . but Outside all day at Fiesta (me double masking) would be OK. . so I pointed them to one of my favorite Tex Mex places for them to try out, and made plans to meet up with them at the Park in San Antonio the next morning. I knew it would be either *really* packed (it was last weekend of Mardi Gras festival, the last weekend of Bring-a-Friend for $9, and the first weekend open after being shut down for 2 weeks due to ice/power issues). . . OR it was gonna be *really* dead (because the forecast was for overcast and off-and-on drizzle). But I offered to buy into Flash Pass with em if it looked like was going to be needed, and they had multiple skip the lines with their memberships anyways. - as to Kim. . .gonna try a 4th time, since there's an "event" planned at the park on April 10, and she's made plans to come in for THAT. . . so hopefully will get to do Fiesta with Kim and Son in April I got up Saturday morning and noticed right away how foggy it was - meant my drive was gonna suck - and sure enough, ended up taking me closer to 1:45 minutes to get to the parking lot. What's truly funny, is as I passed the Buccee's just outside of New Braunfels - and I realized I was gonna be at least 25 minutes late, I got a ping from Bill that they were running late. . . . because they had stopped and shopped at Buccee's. LOL. . so we did end up arriving within 10 minutes of each other at the park - still 30 minutes prior to the 10:30 opening. pulling into the SFFT parking lot, it was drizzling. .and tho there was a line of cars, a *lot* of them didn't seem to be going into the actual parking lot, but staying to the right. . .hmmm. . wonder what's up? Oh! Ghetto Parking Lot Animatronic Dinosaur drivethru. no. . . really: and there were quite a few cars (full of kids) doing it too! I asked at the front gate, and apparently, this has been the "draw" during the week, when the park itself hasn't been open. So I guess this is a "success" ? i mean, there WERE quite a few folks going thru it on this Saturday morning before the park officially opened. as to how crowded was the actual parking lot for the park itself? : (I always park about 1/2 way back under a specific light pole, so I can easily find my car later, and so it's easy to get into the Exit lane I want - the one that turns and lets me get back on the loop (only one of them does at Park close, the force the other lanes to go a different direction). Yup. . even tho early? I could tell at the least it was gonna start out being a pretty dead day. (yay!) On my way to the front gate. . really me, and maybe 12 other people. I expect if the overcast burns off, they will be making full use of this queue (this is past the Temperature station check) but just before going thru the hands free/no touch metal detectors). but about 1/2 hour prior to open? not many here yet. didn't stop them from getting all the decorations fixed. . you'd never know there was ANY damage from ice/snow the other week, as all the decorations still looked to be in great shape. the photogs were out, even with the light crowd, so I stopped for a pic. still almost 1/2 hour until rope drop, but Goliath has started testing (Boomerang had too. .but who cares, right? :p) I wasn't sure when they'd arrive, so I wandered up towards the main square to snap some pics. it was getting a little more crowded, but I could tell, it was gonna be a mostly dead day, as most were staying away to see if the weather would clear. because they can't really do the parades (thanks Covid), instead the park set up the Floats as stages, in different areas of the park. the cast members who usually would be marching in the parades or on the floats, came out and danced and performed in front of these floats in the cordoned off area several times a day. It's a great compromise, and I enjoyed seeing the floats - which looked great once it got darker later and they lit up. Lots of these character/standees and photo ops sprinkled thruout the Lost Festivales & Rockville ares. . so great opportunities to get fun pics. tho for some reason the official Six Flags photogs weren't at THIS one. . . . so a selfie. they WERE standing near one of my favorites tho, and so stopped for a pic there. (and the photographer directed me to remove my mask if I wanted to for the pic) and AS she's snapping my picture, who do I see walking by - headed towards Flash Pass office, to pick up the skip the lines passes? why Bill & Brit (who I'm thrilled I got to meet in person, after interacting with here on the boards in person (Brit too). . and they are just as great in person as I suspected they were gonna be)! I know this because they were immediately willing to pose for a pic with the standee. . .and y'all who know me, KNOW how much i love a photo op with a weird creature. I'm talking the Alligator, not Bill. . . We headed into the Flash Pass building to get the Skip the line passes, and discussed if we should even bother with Flash Pass. . . based on crowd (or lack thereof) it didn't make sense, but if it changed, we were gonna keep that option open. Bill ended up getting all his Skip the Lines for Iron Rattler - since it was confirmed for me that Wonder Woman still is not on Flash Pass *or* usable for Skip the Line. So that gave us a plan of attack for the start of the day: Head towards Wonder Woman 1st - since there was no way to get a shorter line other than 1st of the day. . but on the way we'd pick up timed passes for the new (for this year's Mardi Gras) "Houngan's House of Voodoo" walk thru. It's an overlay of one of the Hallowfest Haunts. Free, but timed passes needed. So rope drop happened, and we headed towards Wonder Woman. . but upon stopping at the entrance to Houngan's. .there was no line. only 3 people in front of us in total. So we looked at each other, and decided - let's just do this now! No pictures allowed inside (as I was politely told - in character- by the greeter out front). . but man, did they do an INCREDIBLE job with this overlay. Bill kept saying - "no way is this a Six Flags". .and I think I heard him mumblng a few times how "Great Adventure would never do this!". a fantastic haunt, and a long one too. . and there were ~6 scare actors in the house. really really well done, and highly recommended if they bring it back next year. here's some pics from the Courtyard out front - which they also overlayed to make it "New Orleans-y" . . complete with Saxophonist performing for those waiting in line (which this morning was just us) the house - which again, is a fairly long one - dumps you out in the main corridor of Spassburg (across from the sadly, closed Bugs Bunny WhiteWater Rapids (sorry Bill, I didn't realize both it and the Gully Washer would be down. . gotta wonder if it's for refurb or remnants of the freeze that may have damaged some of the water pipes in the water rides). . so it made the most sense to take the right towards Superman, and just get to Wonder Woman that way. what that meant was, that we'd pass right in front of Joker. and the line for that was less than 10 people. I said to them - this is the newest ride that's opened in the park (since DareDevil Dive opening got pushed out to next week). . this ride will end up with an insane line - even if the park is not busy (they are only loading 12 seats per side on each cycle, and most cycles don't even get that many people as the Funhouse Queue has really small groups going thru to get to the ride - instead of groups of 8-10 thanks to Covid). So I said - I know we want to get to Wondy, but I really suggest riding this now, as there's no line. And if the Haunt just impressed you? wait until you see this funhouse queue. I think they were impressed, since expressions of "how can this be a Six Flags??" kept getting mentioned. I noticed while we were waiting for the cycle before us to finish, that SuperVillian Swings across the way seemed to be down - but it came back up a couple of hours later. Something we saw thruout the day - things would go down, but the maintenance folks were able to quickly get things back up and running. also, Batman had started testing. We didn't ride it, but how cool that a ride that had been announced as being down (for power issues), came up anyways? I love this park! oh, and by the time we got off Joker, the queue had already gotten at least 6 times longer than it had been when we got on, and got longer thruout the day. . so we mad the correct call. we finished our ride on Joker - with it's insane floater air, and hang time (it really is NOT about the spinning, and that chassis rotates very slow. . it may look like a Frisbee, but it doesn't spin like one), we headed to Wonder Woman. it had been at least 30 minutes from Rope Drop and we had stopped a couple of times on our way over here.. . I hope the line isn't too bad. nope: Wonder Woman was literally a walk on. really when it's like this? you GOTTA take advantage. . so we got off and immediately got back on for another ride. No on ride pics tho, sadly, as the weather had done something to the camera, so everyone was coming out blurry - fitting, as I had mentioned to Bill, in weather like this (moist and light drizzle) the ride just FLIES. and it did. but they weren't selling the pics, even tho we could look at them. . so what next? why, it was time for a Hurricane, of course. Bill and I both got alcohol versions, and Brit got a virgin one (which they made no problem, and just charged as if it were a bottled water.. I thought that was a great thing for the park to do) Also FYI. . the Texas Six Flags parks *will* give you a large cup of water, free, if you ask at any stand. Many folks don't know that. Even tho it wasn't "hot" on Saturday, we still made use of this perk getting cups of water instead of paying for bottled water, to keep ourselves hydrated. we were by Wonder Woman. . but we had drinks. . so what else to do but pose for pics with them: the Iron Rattler skip the lines, weren't until 2-3 and then 4-5, but we had drinks now, so we decided to walk over towards CrackAxle (now sorta re-themed to "ScreamPunk CrackAxle" - shoulda gotten a pic of the new sign greeting folks to the area from the Gully Washer side) and take a look at the New DareDevil Dive. yup. no power over here. . sign not spinning, fire effects not working, and sing out front noting that official Grand Opening is now next Saturday. but the Dragon on top of the Chop Six sign, was working, and blowing it's smoke from it's nostrils. . .even that bit of theming seemed to be impressive for a Six Flags (but I told them the food is crap, the best thing about ChopSix is that sign. . .LOL) the line for Iron Rattler was only a few ramps, so even tho we had skip the lines for later, we went ahead and got in line, figuring we'd finish our drinks by the time we got to the Station. I think this was the longest line for a ride we actually waited in all day: ~20 minutes. . if you don't count the train (more on that later) no pic of me onride, as I rode with a single woman a few seats up. . so only grabbed the pics for Bill/Brit. Shoulda gotten one of the later rides, as we rode together in the back car. . didn't think of it. . oh well. but here we are on the exit ramp - waving to Nick who texted to ask if my friends had met up? Since we were RIGHT next door, and it was a new credit for them, we went ahead and took a spin on Roadrunner Express - we walked longer in that massive queue to get up to the station, than we waited for our ride. Can't wait to ride it once all the figures are back. It's still a fun family Mine Train tho. Beep-Beep. . I got Roadrunner ass in my face! this really did come out as a great picture tho! Even if we're all hanging on for dear life - on a Mine Train. . . . BWAAAA-HAAAA-HAAAAA! After our coasters, it was time for another drink. . we peeked into the Bar over here in CrackAxle, but decided that we'd head over to the Superman area and see how the line was. . it looked long enough that we could drink while waiting in line. we weren't hungry just yet, and it was surprising to realize it was only ~12:45, since we had done so much already today, but we figured we'd check out some of the food stands to decide what we'd get after Superman. This guy was hanging out near one of the Mardi Gras stages - where they drew a bit of a crowd every time they had a performance - singing/dancing group. Drinks in Hand, we got in the Superman Queue, only to discover that it only LOOKED long, because they were holding it back by the photo booth/flash pass entrance. So after less than 5 minutes, we were good to go. . but we still had drinks. What to do? Chug! and a young man (I would guess 14) complimented Bill on his Chugging Ability. . . HA!!! a B&M floorless, and no one wanted the back row? more Gs for us, whee! tho I WAS disappointed when I saw this pic, and realized the 3 idiots in front of us had all lowered their masks for the picture. (clearly they knew where the camera was). I mean I'm glad we have ours on. . but we're sitting DIRECTLY behind them, on a moving coaster. . germs directly at us . . idiotas! better. . can't see them in THIS wrap. Pics purchased, it was time to eat lunch: offerings over by Spassburg: I got the Bacon Wrapped Boudin Balls (so did Brit) and Bill got the Crab Cakes. all were really good. by the time we were done eating, and relaxing a bit, it was almost time for our 1st skip the line on Iron Rattler, so we headed back over to CrackAxle. . there was quite a bit of "streetmosphere" despite it not being a jam packed crowd today. had another amazing ride on Iron Rattler - back car. . this is a back seat coaster all day! we had been talking about the custom dark shooter, Pirates of the Deep Sea over on the Boardwalk. Since were in CrackAxle, and that section of the train goes thru the tunnel. . we decided to get on the train to take it to Spassburg and walk to the Boardwalk from there. So we got to the station, and waited for the train. . and it came, and the line moved, and we got all the way to the VERY front, and weren't able to board, as the train was full. (due to covid, they have placed plexiglass between each row. . so each row of double benches - facing each other - only gets one group. . . and when you have solo people riding the train? yeah. . the rows fill up fast). So they closed the gate on us, told us the next train will be back in ~10 minutes. . and the train took off. so we're waiting. . and waiting.. . and after about 20 minutes I'm thinking, this is weird, the loop doesn't take that long. . so maybe they stopped to disinfect at Spassburg station? Eventually an employee comes into the station (from another ride! LOL), and gets on the loud speaker and announces that the train is experiencing mechanical issues, and they are not sure how long it will be down, but those of us in the station are welcome to continue waiting. we gave it an additional 5 minutes while everyone else bailed (hey, they were showing cartoons in the station, and we were talking anyways, so not like we were bored) and Bill wondered out loud: "how does one break a train?" the answer of course is: "Six Flags!" (it's a wonderful park, but at the end of the day, SFFT *is* still a Six Flags). So we decided to just walk over to the boardwalk to get a ride on Pirates - after all, the park isn't that huge regardless. Theming by the Train Station in CrackAxle. De-powered Daredevil Dive from the Train Station (and the Dragon over the ChopSix Sign that blows smoke) So we get to boardwalk, and we head to Pirates, which has no line (it rarely does. . folks just really don't seem to know it's here). and after a few moments, they make an announcement that the ride is down. Holy. . thought we used up our "ride is down" chip on the train. . LOL. . and what's funny is when I was last here in October, meeting up with Connor and his Dad? Pirates broke down while we were in line then too! we gave it a few moments, and then decided to check out the rest of the boardwalk. the Crows Nest ferris wheel, and Pandemonium were down at this point too, but everything else was up and running. even tho it's a Batman clone, decision was made to head to Goliath at the front of the park, as that seemed like a fun thing to do next. . . . as we were passing by the Spassburg Train station, the train was there. . . so a quick decision was made to run up the stairs to try to get on it as there was lots of room now. BUT we got there just after the engine blew it's whistle, and even tho the Castmember working the station (and who rides on the back of the train) remembered us from 50 minutes earlier - telling us we'd get on next train.. he wasn't allowed to open the gate to let us on - no allowed after the whistle blows. LOL.. I'm totally NOT complaining. I get it.. just think it's funny as hell how it wasn't meant to be! no train for us! So we continued on to Goliath. . which was a total walk on. I even asked the lady working fast lane if the ride had been down and just came back up? and she said "nope, it's been like this all day" so a hike to get to the station, but then immediately on the next train. a shot of the parking lot while going up the ramps. (looks more full than it is, since every other spot is blocked by cones) and a shot of one of the poor dead palm trees, that the winter storm killed the other week. . . Whee! Even for a Batman clone, this ride pulls some serious G's. it's a mirror, but still 2nd to last row near the back are the magic seats. so intense Bill's nose came out to play! I was on the other end of this row. Whee! we headed back to CrackAxle for another ride on Iron Rattler. . but the intensity of Goliath was starting to do me in..and I claimed "old man" pass, so i could sit on a bench, remove mask, and hydrate, while Bill & Brit went for a front row ride on Iron Rattler. A pic I snapped of the "Cash exchange" kiosk outside of the Saloon in CrackAxle - since SFFT has gone Cash free. . if you only have cash, you need to exchange it for a Visa Card at one of these machines to buy anything in the park. We debated taking the train, but again, looked like we were gonna miss it, so decided to head towards Rockville and grab some dinner from the Mardi Gras options there. They both got the Gumbo (or maybe it was the Crawfish Etouffee?) with cornbread. I had been texting with Kim about how fun the park was today, and she told me if I sent a picture of a Beignet then we were no longer friends. . heh, so instead I got Cheescake with Pecan drizzle for my evening meal - tho ended up not eating it anyways. at this point I wasn't really hungry (headache started from not hydrating enough all day. . so TOTALLY my fault), and I had stopped pulling my camera out for pics. But I think we may have ridden a few other things (sadly Hustler seemed to be down too.. as that Pool Table themed Teacups ride is so fun). I did see Jeffrey walk by tho, and pointed him out to them - I knew we'd see him in the park today! After resting, and eating, we headed over the Boardwalk again, and Pirates was back up - and almost a walk on. if you haven't been on this ride? the queue is AMAZING. It's an old Skool shooting dark ride. The ride itself? is needing a little TLC (most of the "doors" between rooms are a bit broken and don't completely close anymore. and the pirate animatronic from the queue (who somehow looks like he's drunk AND melting at the same time) is missing at the moment - I would assume being refurbed).. but still. . for an inhouse build? it's way better than any other Six Flags Dark ride, except for maybe Monster Mansion. Pirates is a shooter tho, so that comparison isn't fair - it's mostly it's a combination of wood cutouts, projections, and physical props. Really really love this ride tho. And yes, I like it better than Justice League. I was fading pretty fast at this point (and still had a drive back to Austin. .I think it was close to 6:20pm), so I said my goodbyes, and how great it was to meet them - they are great people. and so while they took off to ride Wonder Woman, and Superman again, I headed to the front gates - of COURSE stopping to ride my bunny on the Carousel (and once again seeing Jeffrey passing by, tho this time stopping him to say what a wonderful day we'd had at the park today. That's how I know it was close to 6:20, since when I mentioned I was headed out by my friends went to get "last rides' he said "last rides? they still have 40 minutes to ride!" such a great park. I also stopped to make sure the "professional" pics we took on the way in, were loaded on my photopass (they actually had all the photo windows open, so that was nice) and a quick selfie with Mardi Gras Bugs - who was Covid Safe behind barriers, but he was out! and then it was time for a drive, with a headache (from bright headlights). . yay OLD! . . . I had a great day, and was so glad I went and got to meet up with such great folks. TPR folks really are, for the most part, the best folks on the Internets. So good day, good drinks, good food, and great company. oh, and I got home and was in bed by 9pm, and slept thru until after 10:20 the next day. . LOL. . so yep, I guess I needed the sleep from "partay-ing". . I'm for sure back on 4/10 to meet up with Kim, but likely back at some point in March too!

the Lockers at SFFT are closed off (all the ones at the front of the park have caution tape over the rental kiosks). I would suspect due to Covid, they don't want so many folks touching so many doors (and being so closed into the locker area). - or more likely, dont' want to put forth the $$ to have someone standing there with a spritz bottle wiping down every locker every time someone comes into that area. will be interesting to see how they proceed in Whitewater Bay once that opens for the season. . as you kinda HAVE to use the lockers there. But those are more "open air" covered locker areas, rather than just tucked away in an enclosed area - such as at Iron Rattler (never used), Superman (never used) and the ones at the front gates. and because I miss it, since no filters in NU-TPR: FLUFFY FLUFFY BUNNIES FILLED WITH MEDICINE AND GOO !!!!!!

I've been to this park exactly ONCE - and it was only for 4-5 hours with a group from TPR (and we had option to stay longer, and all voted to leave early. .LOL). But happy to give my 2cents: the Good: Wild One was a quite good woodie. Rajun Cajun is an excellent spinning mouse (one of the better I've ever been on) Voodoo Drop , tho not as tall as many others I've been on, packs a helluva punch. I liked it a lot. Jokers Jinx - best coaster in the park (but I love Poltergeist at SFFT, so of course I feel that way about this Premier Spaghetti Bowl LIM Launch coaster - and no MCBR) Rodeo, Round-up, & Scrambler flats, all ran excellent programs -- not quite to traveling carnival level, but better than standard Six Flags programs. the rest: Superman was pretty boring. . sorry to say, but big long sections of "straight track" and then some big helixes. . one and done. Roar is really rough, try to sit in front car, non-wheel seat and you'll get a good ride. Mind-Eraser is a terrible coaster. I mean, SLCs have the reputation for a reason. . .and it's awful. I'd skip it. Firebird hadn't been converted to floorless yet when I was there, but I chose to skip the stand up version. if I ever were to go back, I'd ride the floorless version. Batwing was down during my visit, but I did get to ride the Vekoma Flyer at Carowinds a day or so later. . . so if a similar ride? I didnt' care for the "laying on your back" aspect, and likely would skip it if offered chance to ride. But your nausea level may vary. I do know the water park got a pretty good thumbs up - tho if I recall, someone in our group cut their foot on the bottom of the lazy river? hope you have fun. . .

^ free parking, does that mean the are upgrading to Gold for free? if yes, GRAB it. . that gives you free parking at all SF parks.

^ those are Hurricanes (they had them both frozen and on the rocks), as well as a whole list of other drinks/beers avail. https://www.neworleans.com/drink/cocktails/hurricane/ Traditional Hurricane Recipe 2 oz. light rum 2 oz. dark rum 2 oz. passion fruit juice 1 oz. orange juice ½ oz. fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon simple syrup 1 tablespoon grenadine Garnish: orange slice and cherry Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a hurricane glass filled with ice. Garnish with a cheery and an orange slice. SFFT is an alcohol inclusive park - you can get all kinds of beer (tap/can), mixed or frozen drinks at several places in the park (and walk with them). . . but since this is last weekend of Mardi Gras, they had all the Mardi Gras drinks avail too. I have a pic of one of the drink menus on my phone. . I'll post it in a bit, once I get them transferred. Edit. . added drink menu. . .this one is from the "full bar" stand. . the beer stands offered the on the Rocks Hurricanes, and the frozen Hurricanes had their own booth.

I would say the answer is "no" I saw a press release last week, referring to "Spring Opening" and mentioning brand new trains. and a quick check just now at SFOG website, doesn't even show Mindbender (or Riddler Mindbender) listed on the Rides list. so. . yeah. . it won't be open till later in the year. ETA: it absolutely could just be shitty Six Flags Website. . as I notice Pandemonium isn't on the rides list either. . that certainly hasn't been removed or closed.

^ oh I slept 12 hours last night. . I be OLD. (nope, not blaming the Hurricanes at all)

I'll have pics up from the visit yesterday in the near future (I met up with Bill & Brit and we had a fantastic day. . light crowds due to overcast/drizzly weather). the only rides that were officially down were Daredevil Dive & Poltergeist (both due to power issues). . but sadly the Bugs Bunny Whitewater rapids were down too (sorry Bill!), and the Gully Washer - which makes sense, since DDD was down for power issue, Gully Washer station is on that same circuit. Batman was supposed to be down, but by mid morning was testing, and ended up running (we didn't ride it tho). Pretty much everything else came up during our day there. . . Pandemonium seemed to be up and down, but we were only on the boardwalk a couple of times to get to Pirates (which went down the first time while we were waiting on it. . . . but it came back up late in the day). reason for update, is to note to @anonymouscactus that we captured a pic of Wonder Woman's "cage" restraint from the tester seat. . so wanted to post for ya (thanks Brit for the picture. it's awesome ) you can see how it comes down over your head and clicks at the crotch. also on Roadrunner Express - looks like they've swapped out the old skool trains, so instead of a flat bench with a lap bar that comes down across both? it's now individual "bucket" type seats, with individual waist restraint. Still very "fluffy friendly" tho. more pics from the day coming later, including some of the Mardi Gras food/atmosphere. (and hopefully onride pics! hysterically the Wonder Woman camera was messed up and so everyone came out blurry. . but it was just flying in the drizzle, so I thought that was appropriate anyways. . but they weren't selling those blurry pics).

my only input is that it's SUPPOSED to feel like it could be dangerous, but I've never felt unsafe on it. and tho they do stop it in cases of high wind (which happens a LOT), even on calmer days, the seats sometimes do that "flip around" thing, just from the spinning motion of the ride (and it's always a bit windy up there). it's a fun ride.

Nice report thus far, and glad you had a good time at BGT, even if you were a bit underwhelmed. as animal (and "show") people, we loved BGT, and it ranks way up there in list of park favorites - we even loved that idiotic ice skating show that's across from the Crocodiles. enjoyable read of your trip/pics - tho I personally wont' go out of my way (ever) to hit a Fun Stop - simply because of the owner's antics/disregard of safety protocols during early months of Covid. Feel the same way about a local chain here called Pinballz, that had the same attitude of the Fun Stop owners (tho for me, Pinballz is worse, as they are indoor, packed to the rafters with pinball machines/games. . . at least the Fun Spots are outdoors). but interesting to see what you thought of your visit.

I actually prefer these versions of "flying coasters" over the Vekoma ones. . riding up the lift hill laying flat on one's back (as you do on Batwing at SFA, or Nighthawk at Carowinds) really makes me nauseous. and sitting on the brake run laying on your back? I really thought I was gonna puke on Nighthawk. but I love the "suspended" face down feel on Manta, Flying Dinosaur, Superman, and even Acrobat (Manta Clone at Nagashima Spaland, that felt way more intense than Manta to me)

The figures have been gone for YEARS at this point. Seriously, this makes me SO happy. . the Park is really doing some fantastic things:

^ absolutely not my experience using the single rider. I've always gotten placed very quickly from that station queue. guess it just depends on the crew working that day.

hmm. .. I honestly can't recall purposely skipping something that I later regretted not riding (not even that stand up coaster they removed from Kings Dominion). tho I do feel sad I only got 1 ride on Steel Vengeance - and absolutely do need to get back to CP at some point in the future so I can ride it again (I had an injury, and tho I'm glad I forced myself to ride at least once, it was pretty excruciating, and can't really tell you anything about the ride itself). But I *did* ride it.

Nagashima Spaland is way, way up there too. not only for Hakugei and Steel Dragon 2000. . . but it's also a "greatest hits" from many North American parks (Manta clone, S&S Freespin, Mine Train). .it has TWO Schwarzkopf looping coasters. . . I loved this park.

Several Coasters have Single Rider queue (most importantly Twisted Cyclone & Goliath). *but*. . they might not be operating them curing Covid (using single riders to fill every seat). if they ARE using them? keep an eye out for them when you get to the station - you have to wait in the main queue along with everyone else, but when you get to the station, check to see if single rider line is open. If it is, hop in it, you'll get on much quicker, tho you won't get to chose what row they put you in to fill an open seat.

^ I thought it factored in, since some coasters don't make the list for not having enough riders. I'm sure AJ will weigh in with the info to set me straight (so to speak )

doesn't the amount of riders voting for it factor in? WAY more people have ridden Phoenix than Coaster (Phoenix is at the top of my Wooden Coaster list). I've been to Vancouver four times.. . and have yet to ride Coaster, as PNE has been closed every freaking time I'm there. so have to factor in the ridership when looking at the rankings.

^ they have one other than the PTC 35 (the one that's being refurbished)? I've never seen a 2nd one listed on any Carousel sites (and yes, I checked before our visit to St. Louis to make sure I didn't miss any. . . even got to ride the one at Grant's Farm and the one at the St. Louis Zoo).

^ yes, it IS a rare ride. the Version at SFOT is a double seater -as is the version that is not yet open as SFNE. - so the one at SFStL is the same as the one at SFOG (single seats). That means TWO parks have this ride in the USA. . so yes, it's a rare ride. you want to whine, so nothing I give you as a fact is going to change that you feel the way you do. In my eyes, it's a great park, and in the eyes of my Spouse, who *isn't* an "Enthusiast" - and doesn't ride roller coasters (the only one he rode there was Pandemonium with me) - it's a great park. We plan a trip back so I can ride Excalibur, as it was down for refurb while we were there. so you have a great park, you just want to complain because you don't get "new" things.

I'm sorry, but I simply do NOT agree. it's the only park in the SF chain with three woodies - all kept in pretty decent condition. Ya'll got Supergirl - a rare ride in the SF chain *AND* they just spent more than 2 years refurbing Excalibur (and have been working on the Carousel) - both of these things are expensive, and would have been WAY cheaper to just pull the rides out and replace with cheaper flats, instead of pouring $$ into problematic rides - and in the case of Excalibur, likely one that doesn't have very high ridership. yes, I get y'all are disappointed the park doesn't get new new new stuff every season. . but c'mon. it's a really good park, with several very good coasters (at least two of the woodies, the Batman clone, and Mr. Freeze are all very good), a fantastic huge Ferris wheel, several unique flats that most other parks dont' have at all (Supergirl, Splash Battle, Justice League, Excalibur). . . several decent family coasters (the mine train, Pandemonium, and arguably Boss), and a great looking, if shitty, coaster in Ninja. so I really just don't get the complaining.

and that one has probably been sitting there since 2008