bert425

AIrtime. He hates airtime. Speaking of which - if you love airtime, boy do we have the ride for you. you really shouldn't speak for me - since 1) we've never actually met & 2) I answered above exactly why I don't care for it. you don't agree? That's perfectly fine. but you shouldn't speak for me, since you really have no idea (those that DO know me? know I love airtime, just not a fan of ejector air. . but that has nothing to do with why I don't like Skyrush)

that it felt like it was trying to throw me out to my death. It wasn't "fun" for me. but that's fine, there are lots of other rides at Hershey that I loved and rode instead (tho I'm sad Stormrunner is still down. thats my favorite in the park). I look forward to trying out Candymonium at some point.

^ I was kidding. . but maybe since I didn't put a there? seriously tho. . Skyrush?

the Monorail is faster? OMG. . . Skyrush is SOOOO overrated!

I bought it at a local comic shop (who apparently opened their case and put them out early, since weren't supposed to be on sale until this week (Sept). . which would explain why they had them all available when I was there on Saturday). I actually commented on the Disney stuff, and the guy behind the counter mentioned that these are usually only exclusives at Disney stores. . .but since the Pandemic, other shops were allowed to order them. So I suspect they will be avail. on Shopdisney. com . . . . and I don't open the Funkos, since they aren't articulated. So I just display them in the boxes.

I'd look for LGBTQ Facebook Groups - they exist in several cites. FB pages lead to local meet & greets. . and since from FB, they tend not to be "hook up" groups, but more truly "social" groups. then once you start talking within the groups, you'll find others with similar interests. I've met MANY LGBTQ theme park / coaster fans as part of the Atlanta Outlanders, the Dragon*con Queerios, or even right here on TPR boards.

Just picked this up!!! (they also had Donald driving Casey Jr. Engine, Donald on a Matterhorn Bobsled, and a solo Mickey, as part of the 65th Anniversary 1st wave. But passed those up). I was *thisclose* to picking up the Haunted Mansion with Butler box set. . but I didn't like the look of the figure, so passed. but this? yeah, Band Leader Mickey w/ Sleeping Beauty's Castle? SOLD

^ as I posted on FB. . . . "In the alternate universe, where Valerie Bertinelli never gave up snorting coke"

Houston is currently getting nothing but wind (per my Dad). looks like as it strengthened, it turned Northwards, and is going to hit more Louisiana than Texas.

Mandatory evacuation, tho many are staying (it's "only" category 3). my Dad is 45 minutes away in Pearland, and he's not leaving - not any of his neighbors. They're expecting lots of rain tho.

Updated my Texas Trip Report thread with a report from my trip to SFFT yesterday. great visit, and the park is doing a good job re: Covid Bunch of pics of the new ride too https://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1942507#p1942507

So. . 1st time back in the park since end of January! (1st time in ANY park, really, since Covid). wow. . really can see the difference in the pics in prior update for DareDevil Dive and the complete ride from yesterday (8/22).. can likely also see the difference in me, since I'm 43 lbs lighter now. LOL. . but the mask hides my slimmer face anyways, some quick take aways before the pics: - of COURSE for the 1st time in months, central Texas got heavy rain today in the morning - so the park was way more crowded than I had hoped for, since no one really went into the waterpark until after the afternoon sun heated things up ~3pm. So yeah, there were some pretty long lines resulting in my bypassing some coasters (Goliath, Superman), and some flats (Joker). -- the Halloween Decorations are already up in the main plaza (in August!) - everything other than the mini-teacups, Pirates of Deep Sea, and Supervillain Swings was operating (the swings were up and down thruout the day, and they were *trying* to get it running. . but something mechanical going on. I happened to Notice Park President Jeffery Siebert looking at it while I was in the Joker line earlier in the day (before bailing) and waved him over to say hello, compliment him on how great the new ride looks, and ask about Supervillain Swings, and he told me they were working on getting it up). But it went down again while I was in line for it. -- the park is doing a fantastic job in terms of Covid steps: -Hand Sanitizer stations *everywhere* . -Flats sprayed down every hour with sanitizer spray (then cycled to dry off) -Several areas set up to remove masks if needed for a short time. -Extra outdoor seating set up near restaurants that have indoor dining rooms. -Announcements on rides, reminding people they must wear masks at all times, including DURING the ride, and please maintain distance in line. of course, they can't police selfish guests - so there were many (MANY) walking around with masks off (sipping beer or soda - to get around the mask loophole of "not needed while eating or drinking"). And just as many wearing mask below their nose - despite every announcement saying "mask must cover mouth AND nose". So yeah. . did my best to avoid these morons, tho hard to do in a ride line. -- Speaking of Covid precautions - the distancing on rides is *really* impacting capacity. Even with many coasters running 2 trains - with every other row blocked? the lines move slow. -Wonder Woman only has 2 trains right now(the 3rd is being refurbed) - and any group of 3 or more get their own train. it's painful to watch 5 empty seats go out, when there's a long line - some flats also impacted: Joker (which seats 40 I think) was cycling with 12 or less riders - depending on how the groups were coming in (that's why I ditched the line and went to WW instead). The Disc-O had a similar issue (tho I waited and rode that anyways, as the line was pretty short). -- so yeah. If it's a rare opportunity to visit SFFT? I'd recommend spend the $$ for FlashPass -- the new ride looks AMAZING. And completely ready to go. I won't be surprised if it opens in the next few weeks (quietly). Fantastic theming - even if I still say Steampunk is weird for CrackAxle area. Even the sign is automated - the Propeller Spins. a bunch of pics of it below. my Reservation was for 11 (the park opened at 10:30), and tho I pulled into the lot ~11:10 - drizzle most of the ride, combined with heavier storms once I hit loop 1604 in San Antonio delayed me a little bit - I was shocked to see how full the parking lot was. turned out that every other spot (double spots) were blocked with cones. . so tho it LOOKED really full, it wasn't too busy. at least it stopped heavy rain, and was just a light drizzle. I didn't HAVE to park this far back, by the way. I just always park pretty far back (near the security stand) for the steps. the "new entrance" - where they direct the crowd thru these tents for the temperature screen before you get to the main entrance/metal detectors - and then onto the main gates. going into the Temperature Check tent. . . you don't even stop, just walk thru and they scan you from a little kiosk at the end. So all in all, took less than 10 seconds, and I was onto the main entrance. where there is a touch free, no-stop/no-empty pockets Metal detector. Again, took less than 5 seconds. I really liked this, and hope they KEEP this technology even when Covid is under control. the whole time there are recorded messages and signs telling folks to wear masks at all times, covering Mouth & Nose. All guests over the age of 2. Since nothing really operated until ~12:15 (once the storms cleared out and things dried off). . I wandered and took some pics in the overcast early day. huh. .it appears the have Halloween stuff up already. Yup. . they have the FrightFest stuff up. the new paintjob on Boomerang does look good, but no, I didn't bother riding it today. so weird. . LOL Even tho the rain had gone to just a light drizzle? people were acting like it was a huge downpour, huddling under umbrellas and wearing ponchos. they had opened up the kiddie rides here in CrackAxle - as the heavy rain stopped, but everything else was still closed. lots of folks hiding under shop overhangs.. leaving lots of open space in the pathways. . . so I decided to wander down thru CrackAxle to take a look at the progress for the new ride. Wow. the ride is DONE. theming is Done Lighting packages are Done (this thing is going to look AMAZING at night, with tons of red & purple LEDs not only around the ride, but also in the trees around the entrance pointing to it). it looks like it could be open right now. I expect the only reason it's not? is because they want to hold off advertising till after Covid calms down so they can really promote it. but yeah. .this ride is completely ready to go. The Gear in the sign spins, with the propeller attached to it, so the propeller spins too. Test seat ready to go. I still don't really "get" the Steampunk theming, and I really don't think it "fits" well here in CrackAxle - but who knows, maybe they are going to increase the Steampunk feel thruout this section? I mean, Iron Rattler trains are kinda/sorta Steampunk, so it would only be a light overlay to make it all fit better together. but this ride looks absolutely fantastic. The colors, the attention to detail. . . I wish I could have seen it testing while I was there, but yeah. .it's ready to go. and the attention to detail in the Queue. 1st SFFT impressed me with the Pirates of the Deep Sea queue. then they blew me away with the funhouse in the Joker queue. and now this queue looks pretty amazing as well! Couldn't really tell what is "hidden" in the covered portion, but Mr. Siebert did say it was "interactive". . so there must be doo-dads to touch/play with (a big no-no right now, so that also might be factoring into holding off official opening right now). so well done the covered portion of the queue - it goes back and forth between these displays, that LOOK like the gears are going to be moving (otherwise, why enclose them in plexiglass - to protect fingers). Can't wait to see this queue in action. even the electrical boxes are "hidden" behind themed elements. Really good job SFFT. . . looking down behind the covered portion of the queue to note some "signage" on the walls around the ride, as they did in the Iron Rattler queue as well. views in this location is wonderful, giving those who aren't riding, something to watch. Since the covered queue used to be the covered seating for Chop Six, there are now more outdoor tables here for that restaurant (pic from the Chop Six deck). more theming glare, and my reflection. . but trying to get a better look at the gears, in the covered portion of the queue. I had heard Iron Rattler and Roadrunner starting to test, and at this point, I caught one of Rattler's trains zooming by, so I headed back towards the entrance to see if they had opened the line yet. Nope - tho really, this wasn't much of a line as they hadn't opened the queue, so I went ahead and got in line. it took about 20 minutes (and lots of cycles) before they opened up the queue entrance - and meanwhile right behind us, Roadrunner Express was doing the same thing. Result was that this area of the path got really crowded - no social distancing possible. . for a good 20 minutes (which was a real shame, as they were TRYING to keep folks separated once you got INTO the queue, but prior to that? One big jam packed section). I almost got out of line and left, to keep myself "safe". . but as you can see, with one glaring exception - not right next to me - everyone was wearing masks. . so just stayed where I was, and tried not to get too close to anyone even if they were right on top of me. more like 2 feet (or less) apart than 6 tho. it was hard to tell how they were handling the seating, since the trains were all running empty till this point. . but they WERE running two trains on IR. Eventually they chain dropped, and let us into the queue proper tho. they were holding the line at the Flash Pass entrance, and only allowing into the station enough to fill each train at a time. as you can see in this pic, they have every other row blocked off. so even with two trains running, and me being there at the ride open, it still took about 25 minutes to get my ride. all in all tho, not TOO bad. the *do* let you pick your own row, tho if the row you want already has someone in it? you will be directed to fill an empty row (remember, they are filling the station only for the next train each time - so you can't wait in the station for the next train to get the row you want if it's already full). I ended up in row 3 (the 2nd usable row), since the rows towards the back were already full. after getting the pic stuff as resolved as possible while in the park, I decided to head to Aztek Nacho to grab lunch. turned out it wasn't open - I would guess it was because the Superman line was ALL THE WAY out into the walkway and snaking past the Aztek Nacho stand. (that was because the Superman line absolutely was observing social distancing of 5-6 feet between groups, so it made that line long). Also, again, because no one had yet gone into the waterpark - it was still overcast. So the "dry" parts of the park had some pretty long lines. Joker didn't seem to have too long of a line, and it was really spaced out - also keeping the 5-6 feet between groups - tho they WERE using the funhouse. I questioned the guy placing more queue stanchions outside the main ride, that I was surprised they were using the indoor portion, instead of just routing folks around it? And he said they only let one group thru at a time, so since I'm alone? I should expect to go thru alone. oooo-kay then. so got in line. and barely moved for a couple of cycles. I couldn't figure out what was going on, then realized that for every few cycles, they were sanitizing, then cycling the ride to dry it off. ok, that seems smart enough, no big deal. while waiting, I noticed that Supervillain Swing was chained off, and I saw someone who looked like Park President Jeffery Siebert (hard to tell with mask from across the way) heading into the ride, and talking with someone at the main stalk when he came back out the entrance, I waved him over - and he came over right away (he's just that nice and personable), and his name tag confirmed it was him. I asked him about the ride, and he told me they were trying to get it up. and I complimented him on how great DDD looked (I think he really appreciated I didn't ask when it was going to open. . LOL), and how much I was loving the Covid precautions, even tho I know it impacts capacity pretty bad. He thanked me for my comments, told me it was nice seeing me again (not sure if he remembers me from 6 months ago. . but probably, he's that good with Customers) and wished me "a Six Flags Day". . .LOL at this point, I had gotten to the main entrance of the ride (till now had been in the overflow stanchions) and noticed that they were cycling Joker with only 10-12 people on the ride. the lady behind me said. . that's weird, must be only for this ride. But from where we were, I could see how they were loading standby for the next cycle - and again was only 4-6 people on the side nearest us. quickly doing the math, I realized it was going to be at least an hour until I made it to the ride, so bailed and instead headed to Batman - which only took maybe 5 minute wait to get a ride. then continued on to Wonder Woman. which looked to not have much of a line at all. especially since the WW queue was truly enforcing the 6 ft between groups. I ended up waiting about 20 minutes for Wonder Woman, because it turned out (as noted in the opening comments), they are only running 2 trains. And due to Covid? any group of 3 or more? get their own train. so yeah. . capacity is terrible at the moment for this, and if you want to ride it? I'd budget for Flash Pass, unless you don't mind standing in line for a bit. it's worth waiting for. at this point, I was hungry, so headed over to Sangerfest Halle to grab lunch with the meal plan. I was worried maybe I had made a mistake coming to SFFT today (due to Covid and wanting to keep my Spouse - who's high risk - safe). . but I knew 100% I made a mistake here with my choice for lunch: Chimichanga with Chilli & Cheese, guac & Sour Cream. not only not healthy? but sheesh. . . so many "runs" to the toilet last night! LOL oh well, at least when it goes thru ya that fast, no calories can stick No trays or open plates at the moment - everything comes in to-go containers, and you have to ask for a sealed silverware/napkin pack at the register) inside Sangerfest Halle - they removed a few tables, spread out those still there (including taking over where the seating would have been for the shows, if they had been doing them). .and took out benches from every other table, to ensure distancing. yes, it was inside, but it was pretty open (they keep the doors open too), and I felt safe enough to remove my mask in here to relax and eat something. this is how they are handling the drinks - at the side of the Sangerfest Halle opposite the food service: You give the counter lady your order, and she gets the drink for you, be it beer, soda, or water. once I had eaten (badly), of COURSE I was going right next door to ride my beloved Carousel. They didn't have any animals marked as "off limits" but they WERE spraying down the entire Carousel every hour on the hour, then cycling it to dry off. (I asked the operator while we were waiting for the disinfecting spraydown - since of COURSE i timed it that I got there right at the top of the hour). funny tho, I happened to be at the perfect angle to catch the disinfector spraying down "my" white Rabbit. and I got to ride him, since I was at the front of the line, so went directly to him. you can "See" the smile, even thru the mask. I had knocked off Rattler, Batman, and Wonder Woman off my list today, so the next coaster I wanted to hit was Poltergeist. they were only running 1 train, and with every other row blocked off, I knew this would be a 30-40 minute wait. . . but I wanted to let the food settle anyways, so just got in line. (I was off just a little - it took ~28 minutes total). Scream from Poltergeist line. (I was headed towards the boardwalk after, so would hit this next) Poltergeist was only running 1 train. . . so I was used to this line taking a long time. Tho wish they had both on,since with 1/2 the seats empty, they could easily cycle both trains (the reason they don't seems to be the loading time is so long due to the weird restraints. .so the 2nd train ends up sitting on the brake run in the sun). but oh well..I'm just happy I get to ride it. I've missed this ride. and man. . was it hauling! i dont' know if it's because the train was lighter with half the seats empty (so the launch felt faster?). . but it was the fastest I've ever felt this coaster go. I rode towards the back, and there is definitely a rattle towards the back of the train. Not terrible, and maybe it too, because the train was 1/2 empty. but great ride. after a stop at Scream (10 minute wait), I made it to the boardwalk, and JUST MISSED Wave Runner . . she ran it with 3 cars (4 people). . even tho a few of us walked up before she had finished checking the cars, and could have added us. not a big deal. . but while it was running? one of the disinfect folks came up the exit. . and yep. . . he then took 10 minutes to disinfect every car, and then they cycled it to dry before we could ride. don't get me wrong. . it's great they are doing this. . just venting frustration. by this time of day, the sun had absolutely come out, it had started to get hot, and the Boardwalk was pretty dead. . everyone had started to go into the waterpark it seemed. I killed time waiting for the disinfect cycle by playing on my phone and taking pics. as I noted, Pirates of the Deep Sea (as an indoor ride) was closed. . and I forgot that Crows Nest Ferris Wheel was closed too - this one I suspect due to the rules they have that no single riders allowed. And since can't pair up strangers? it just wasn't worth the grief to have to argue with folks who wanted to ride. So easier just to close it.. .at least I suspect that. yay. . finally on Wave Runner this one too was absolutely HAULING. . ever since it came back from refurb last year (it was down for a long time), this has been running a hell of a great cycle. So if you're at SFFT, I recommend not to pass this ride up. I was going to head over to Spinsanity (next gen tilt a whirl), but as I exited Wave Swinger, I saw the disinfectant guy heading up the exit ramp there . . so instead went over to Hurricane Force 5 (outward facing Disc-O). I'm not a fan of these rides, but since the boardwalk was dead, it was a walk-on, so grabbed a ride. he was still spraying down Spinsanity, so I went and grabbed a solo ride on Pandemonium (LOTS of spinning, when I'm the only one in the car) - that took 10 minutes, and only because a larger guest a couple of cars in front of me was having trouble getting the restraint to click "green". . so the operator stopped the loading until they could manage to get it down far enough (it involved moving them around within their car, and a 'two operator press' to get it to click, but she did get to ride). by this time, Spinsanity was up and running again, so I made it onto the next cycle there, and spun so much, I actually felt myself turning green. LOL but that didnt' stop me from a ride on Fireball - the 10 minute wait gave my stomach a chance to calm down. Not the smartest move, since it still involved inversions. it "hinked" me up enough that I decided to skip Hustler this trip. as I passed the funnel cake place across from Batman, I figured "oh well. . I have to use my snack credit even tho I'm not hungry.. .and in for a penny with that Chimichanga earlier. . . . . " so here ya go: Cinnamon Apple funnel cake sundae. at least I didn't eat all of it! I continued around the outside of the park - stopping to ride Zoom Jets (love this ride, and it never has a line. . yes, it's basically Dumbo, but it's fun!). Superman line was now zig-zagging back and forth in the queue - even with 2 trains, so skipped it. Checking the Skyscreamer line? it was really long, and with them only loading every other seat? yeah, skippedi t this trip too. So instead, I headed over to see if the Iron Rattler line had shortened (it hadn't). I wasn't quite ready to go home yet, so a 20 minute wait for Roadrunner Express was a good back up plan. I had planned to ride the train, but just missed it.. so instead walked back over towards Skyscreamer, cut thru to the German section and grabbed on more ride on Poltergeist (this time a 15 minute wait). I headed to the front, dealt with the Photo Booth (and get the print out of my Iron Rattler pic), and tho took a peek at Goliath? decided the line was simply too long. it was about 5:45, and I'd been in the park for just over 6 hours. . so with that? I headed home, after a fun day. it was more crowded that I expected - with Covid restrictions - but again, think that was mainly because of the rain in the morning keeping the waterpark section empty for a good chuck of my day there. I got a bunch of rides in, tho no re-rides, other than Poltergeist. can't wait to go back again in the next few weeks. . if things calm down maybe can even get spouse to come with. whee! mask on, hands up. (this is a picture of the hard pic - so sorry if blurry). I was having issues with my photo pass: every time I tried to scan a picture, it would throw an error saying my card was invalid. Even tho it is. I went up to the photo counter at the front and spoke to a manager who showed me that the pics WERE on the card, so even tho the system said they were not on there? they were. I stopped on my way out to confirm the pics I had gotten thruout the day were on my card, and tho they DID show up when they scanned the card? it also threw the same error saying the card was invalid. the manager told me several folks were having the same problem, and not to worry about it. He also gave me his email to contact him if I had issues when I got home. not that I didn't trust him, but to ensure I at least got the Iron Rattler pic, I used my 1-a-month free pic, to get a print out of that shot (choosing IR over WonderWoman). . so that's what this pic of a pic is. oh, and of course, when I got home? the system doesn't recognize my card, and won't log me in. I reported it to Six Flags, and also emailed the Manager.. we shall see if I ever get those pics. even tho it's extremely difficult to social distance in the Iron Rattler queue itself, just due to the "narrow hallway" layout. we're maybe 4 feet apart while in this queue. Most with masks on tho. and it IS all outside (although covered). I made a conscious effort not to lean on any handrails, or touch anything (keeping my hands folded in front of me) while in the queue. Something (amazing to me) that others did NOT do - everyone was leaning on the rails that the folks in front of them had also leaned on. so strange. but I felt safe enough. the spacing was enough that even tho there weren't that many folks in front of me? It filled up 4 entire ramps.

and now I can answer, the last coaster I rode was: Poltergeist at SFFT. the end of a day that included: Iron Rattler, Wonder Woman, Pandemonium, and Road Runner Express as well.

hey Larry - here's some pics of the new ride (not yet open) at SFFT DareDevil Dive:

^ it's terrifying. . . like it's trying to kill you. and yes, it HURTS. (not as much as Wildcat.. Wildcat just sucks, with zero redeeming qualities. . at least Skyrush LOOKS amazing).

I couldn't remember! (tho I suspect it was Wonder Woman at SFFT). and that made me sad. . .so just booked a trip (finally) to go to SFFT tomorrow. Surprisingly, all reserve spots were available. . so maybe the park will be pretty dead.

Today is exactly 6 months since I got back on my healthy plan, to drop the ~40 lbs I had put back on since dropping the 70lb total. yep, I started my daily walks on 2/18, and other than a few days here and there, I've gone every day the past 6 months. Today I weighted in at 174.5 - so below that *magic* 175lb I had in my head. A total of 43 1/2 lbs) I wish I could see it, but even in pics, all I see is "fat' - and I think I'm always gonna see that when I see myself. at least the hysterical "tan" I've gotten keeps me distracted.. . nice 'only mid-leg', and 'wifebeater' tan lines i've got going. LOL

wonderful report, and great pics (tho I disagree with you on Skyrush, and HATE Wildcat. . but that's one less person in line when you're there ) thanks for posting.

good update, and glad you got your Coaster fix.

not sure but heres the link to it, so you can ask them: https://cedarpointonlineshop.com/collections/150th-anniversary/products/150th-anniversary-book I know some folks here have bought it, so hopefully some of them can answer since they have received it.

what a fun report. . even with only a portion of the park open, it looks like you had a great time. interesting they didn't move the open area just a smidge more to allow for Le Scoot, or Alpengeist to run. . but as has been noted: some coasters are better than none. great plan by BGW to open up a portion of the park and get some folks in. and I'd totally have bought that Black Forest Cake pin - and turned it into a magnet

how fun I'm sure someone will hit you up for em. I'd love to have them, but my Spouse would KILL me. . . LOL (I have a "comic room" filled with thousands of things yet to read)

and here are the Magnet goodies I got in the mail today - found on EBAY from 1 seller who cut me a deal to purchase all 4 (he was asking $16 each, and I offered him $50 for all for, so got em for $12.50 each. . not bad at all, since they retail for ~$8 each). Not sure if these are brand new, or older. They certainly weren't avail. when we were there last year, or would have immediately snagged them from TDS. I suspect there are 3 more magnets. I would guess: Chip & Dale for the Wilderness Trails; Daisy Duck for Arabian Coast; and Duffy for Triton's Undersea Kingdom. . .but just a guess. anyways. . LOVE these, and as noted would have grabbed them if I saw them. So happy I was able to notice them on EBAY.

last little batch of Halloween specific stuff, and some Magnets a squeezie mickey ghost keychain blind box set of "Spooky" keychain figurines here are the ones included in the set, but if you bought the whole box (as I did) you were guaranteed the "chase" figure. lovely mt. Fuji magnet the Castle, and one of the "demon boots" statues (as I called them, since they look like Gene's boots, and I'm sure that's where he got the inspiration from for his KISS boots) FujiYama magnet. . not my favorite coaster there, but my favorite magnet option from Fuji-Q Highland Shibuya crossing magnet temple (with dangling lantern) magnet Arashi (with SD2K in the background) from Nagashima Spaland go-go bandit go! From Yomiuriland