Rai Fox

Just a quick mini-TR; didn't have time to take a lot of pictures or anything since I was running around with a group and trying not to hold them up. Just got back from the park; ended up being a pretty great day. I went in with low expectations knowing what parks are like in general this summer, but SFNE is really doing an impressive job handling everything, and, really, hiding the worst of it. Weather kept the crowds to a minimum at the beginning of the day, but they slowly built up to what I'd say is probably nearly normal for a sunday on another summer. The park seemed nearly fully staffed; most of the rides had full crews, all food stands and stores were open. Operations were decent for the most part, which is to say better than usual for a Six Flags park. Virtually everything was open; Houdini and Tomahawk opened a bit late, but did open. Fireball was still down; I don't think it's reopened since the storm damage, and I realize now I never checked Kontiki, but I don't remember anything else (besides Goliath) down after early afternoon. Lines were mostly pretty tolerable; we didn't bother with Fastpass this time and had no problem getting on every major ride, multiple times when we wanted, without rushing at all. The only real slowdowns or issues at all we ran into was Cyborg; with it being an indoor ride, the park still seems to be using COVID protocols, loading half the seats and wiping stopping to disinfect frequently. Probably wise since there's no real airflow or sunlight in there. Wicked Cylone gave the best rides I've ever had on it with the track wet; felt like someone strapped a rocket to the back of it. Superman is running reasonably well; a little shuffle but not so bad; similar with batman. Riddler is a mixed bag; it's definitely rough as hell, but I don't really find it to be too unpleasant with the new restraints, and it's absolutely hauling despite the bouncing around. Thunderbolt...could use a bit of track work. Supergirl isn't quite a replacement for an Enterprise if you ask me, but pretty great on its own. Harley Quinn is still the best flat out there, if you ask me. The new mexican stand that replaced Aztec Nachos, down by Batman, is pretty solid. I tried the jalapeno ranch nachos and they were definitely at the upper end of what I expect at a Six Flags park; not spicy at all despite the HOT label, but quite good. Run by an outside company, though, so not on the meal plan or eligible for any discounts, so some tradeoff compared to the old place. Just in general, the park seems to be doing a pretty good job of hiding the issues the industry is dealing with; I really would have had a hard time seeing it as anything but an ordinary July weekend there today. I'm impressed.

It's a good day to come by the park. A bit of rain supposed to stop soon and...

It's a big, and great park, with a ton of things you're going to want to do, preferably more than once. Fastpass+ is definitely going to be your friend if you're just getting one day to spend here. If you can afford it, it'll make your day so much more fun. Without, you're likely going to have to pick and choose what you want to get in in one day, and there isn't really much you want to skip here.

So, absent a lot of other information to troubleshoot with, that pretty likely means your IP has been blocked by the server. That doesn't mean that /you/ actually were, but most residential internet doesn't have static IPs...someone else could have gotten blocked for one reason or another, and then your ISP decided to go ahead and reallocate IPs and give you that one that had been blocked. On most ISPs you can get it to give you a new one by just unplugging your cable modem for a bit (overnight if you want to be sure); when you reconnect the modem it should give you a new address, and more than likely that solves that issue. If it doesn't, there are other things to look into, but that's the low effort way to fix the majority of those errors.

Not sure how they're doing it at MM but SFNE doesn't have set days this season; it's just "one bring a friend free pass, any day during the operating season." Should be able to check that on the pass/member portal easily enough.

I actually sorta would. The last time I got on Wildcat, it was running better than I've ever heard it given credit for, not even what I'd call rough at all, and I genuinely really liked it. I guess that makes one of us.

I'm not sure when they were opened but Knoebels seems to have some new cottages available now, and at least one of them looks really nice. I know when I did the trip a couple years back, a few people around here had mentioned that they might be interested if the cottages were a little classier inside. Take a look at the interior pictures for the Conway now. https://www.knoebels.com/stay/knoebels-cottages I've got the Glass House booked again later this summer, and I'll be happy to get back, but I admit I'm a bit jealous looking at that one now. Maybe next time!

There's video of it. I don't remember if we're not supposed to link to videos on Facebook, or just certain other sites, so I won't direct link, but it's at https://www.facebook.com/groups/TexasThrillSeekers/

There's video, just shy of 30 seconds, and it's upside down for the entirety of it, while the rest of the ride is not moving, so it's not that. Hopefully it wasn't much longer than that for the sake of anyone caught on it in the heat now, but it definitely wasn't an ordinary ride cycle.

Got it! Should be able to take those suggestions easily enough! Good thing I like catfish too! Yeah, I'll fuel up before I leave the KC area; I found a decent looking little motel in Branson so I'll just make that trip in one shot and not worry about any questionable stops on the way.

I really know nothing at all about any of the areas I'm heading to outside Chicago itself, so that's very helpful, thanks! I'll plan on leaving WoF early then and find somewhere close to SDC. Shouldn't be too difficult. The ABVI is the one in St. Robert; I'll stay with that then. Going to try to book these places Monday, so if anyone else knows anywhere I should be avoiding, please let me know! Also, anywhere along the route I really should be going out of my way to stop for food? (Or food at the parks?)

I really would love to, but I'm having a hard time thinking of any practical way to make that happen with Voyage with Holiday World right in the middle of the "line" of parks. I think it'd required switching up which parks I get to, and since I'll be getting to the Ohio Cedar Fair parks in October...I might just have to settle for missing the night rides this time. Outlaw Run should be no problem, SDC is open late according to their calendar!

Possibly, but I think I'm going to be coming to them from the west. Holiday World is also only open short hours at the time; as much as I'd love to get there for night rides, it's going to be in the middle of the trip, so there's just no way I'm getting there on the weekend. Also given that it's going to be in the middle of a long trip with a lot of long hours and driving, I think I'll just take them on two separate days, and if I have a little extra time those days to rest up, that will probably be for the best. Helpful advice for Holiday World though, I'll definitely keep that in mind.

Bloomington Indiana, between Holiday World and Indiana Beach. Too bad, I'm always up for good Mexican!

It's tempting, but adding another park and a full day drive means dipping into another week of vacation time, so probably not. Adventureland will probably have to wait for another year. BBQ though, that's a definite.