Blue Fire Guy

Giant Dipper at SCBB the previous Sunday. Sadly, I rode only once due to the INSANE Labor Day weekend crowds. Come the off-season, I should be able to give it lots more love, especially now that I have my 2013 season pass!

Looks like you all had a lot of fun despite the crowds! By any chance, did the infamous fellow in this video clone himself and send his clone to work Flying Eagles on your visit?

I went there with my family that same day and we all thought the same thing, that it would be a nice little Labor Day weekend getaway...WRONG! Mom and Dad enjoyed their time on the beach while I rode as many rides as possible before noon when the crowds got insane. I got my last Hurricane ride in first thing, and while it was a bit rough, it wasn't too bad. With proper bracing before the transitions (especially the "Schwarzkopf Mockery" drop), it shouldn't really beat you up. I then quickly hit up the Dipper and various flats, all of which had either a walk-on or a 1-3 cycle wait for the time being. By the time I met back up with my parents, the crowds were just INSANE. The lines for all the rides I previously went on were much longer and we all agreed to leave the park, have lunch in town, and head back home. While we all had a great day, the insane crowds made this one of my shortest visits to the boardwalk, at just under 2 hours. Sadly, I forgot to bring my camera for this visit (extreme facepalm), but I do have one picture of something very important! Here it is, at last... *cue Legend Of Zelda treasure chest opening music buildup* ...DAH DAH DAH DAAAAAH! You got a 2013 SCBB Season Pass! Use the control stick to select it in your wallet and press the A-button to show it for an unlimited rides wristband. 2013 CGA Gold Pass, you're next!

Awesome TR, love those nighttime Boardwalk shots! It looks like you all turned Tornado into a certain Viennese S&M device of hot juicy death. Put it in Wipeout's room, add theatrical fog, increase the volume drastically, max out the bass, make the cycle 6 minutes long and you might be able to recreate the experience!

Thanks for sharing Jeff! There can never be enough pics of the Dipper. It's kept in obsessively perfect shape by the park, never runs rough, has some decent back seat airtime, wicked laterals...it's got it all, and to top it all off... ...it smells good too...

I'd just like to point out that I am still stunned looking at the first drop. Notice how the first drop slightly twists to the left near the top, not at the top but a little afterwards when it suddenly gets steeper. Seeing how the back car is yanked down that little twist, it looks like the drop will provide the "Oh s**t!" recipe that consists of simultaneous extreme ejector air and laterals. I don't know if there is anything more OMFG looking than that moment, it looks THAT insane.

^ And you managed to do that on our local Larson, now just imagine what would happen if you hit up Knoebels' flyers! (not that I've been on them, but I know their reputation)

Holy crap this thing looks absolutely sick! Now I just have to decide whether to hit up this or OutRun next year, as all of them look like they would EASILY break my top 5 instantly. I've never been to Texas since my family and I moved from Houston to California in 1999, but I do have fond memories of spending a few days in San Antonio, and this (coupled with Steel Eel) makes me want to pay a visit to San Antonio again, badly! But OutRun and the rest of SDC also look amazing...all right, time for me to start planning my spring break trip. All hail the legendary Alan Schilke, 2013!

At last, the animations! Gold Striker looks like it'll be a blast to ride, and I just love those sexy GCI curves! I wonder what the GCI guys were thinking when they made this (among their other creations) look so...shapely. It looks to have some nice out-of-control pacing as well. In terms of airtime, it doesn't look like it'll produce anything more than moderately strong floater, but in a high quantity (that's GCI for you). After studying both videos carefully, I made a rough analysis of what the air should be like on the ride. Below is a list showing each moment of airtime, how strong it is (1/10 = barely noticable, 5/10 = weak-moderate floater, 10/10 = moderate-strong floater), and which seats will get the most of each. Each out-of-ten rating applies specifically to the mentioned seats. Moment #1: First drop, 8/10, back seat. Moment #2: Speed hill under station, 10/10, every seat. Moment #3: Transition into first dead man's turn, 10/10, front seat. Moment #4: Transition out of first dead man's turn, 6/10, back seat. Moment #5: Shallow dip into Prudential turn (2nd dead man), 4/10, every seat. Moment #6: Transition out of Prudential turn (2nd dead man), 5/10, back seat. Moment #7: Quick twist and slight dip to the left, 3/10, every seat. Moment #8: Long hill into 3rd dead man's turn, 8/10, front seat. Moment #9: Transition into 3rd dead man's turn, 1/10, front seat. Moment #10: Shallow dip into structure, 7/10, back seat. Moment #11: First up of double up, 3/10, front seat. Moment #12: Second up of double up (4th dead man), 5/10, front seat. Moment #13: Transition out of 4th dead man, 2/10, back seat. Moment #14: Transition into final turn, 4/10, front seat. Again, this is just my rough analysis of the layout as I perceived it in the animations, and the real ride may be a bit different. After having ridden Wodan and Roar West, I can't say this will have any ejector, just floater pops...but floater that's cleverly put in at a lot of spots as well! Overall, this looks like a lot of fun and a kick-A$$ addition to the park.

Argh! Wish I could be there with you guys on Sunday, as I'm planning to go to SCBB that day to bid farewell to the Hurricane and hit up a bunch of rides. I'm absolutely down for a Haunt meet-up though! (2013 Gold Pass)

This looks like a LOT of fun! This and Au13 both...is there a 2013 Bay Area Bash in the works?

Nice TR there! Au13 is looking lovely as ever. I'm definitely getting a 2013 gold pass when it's time for the Haunt! I wonder what the park may do with the old elephant though...

Many thanks! The suspense leading up to this is just killing me, getting a good-night's sleep won't be easy for me tonight! I'll be heading over to the boardwalk on the 3rd to hit up the Hurricane one last time.

^ Yes, the ACErs will be exclusively introduced to the coaster today. Agreed, now it's just down to hoping for something good!

Excitement is boiling within me, and I've been waiting for this and Au13 for EONS (hard to get anything good built in NorCal with Prudential, Coastal Commission, NIMBYs, and many more). It just seems as if each day leading up to the big reveal of this (and Au13) just keeps getting longer and longer...it's almost agonizing! I am praying deeply for a ZacSpin 32.5m.

*opens top drawer, changes underwear at a lightning fast GCI pace* N-niiiice to see some f-first layers of w-wood for the P-Prudential t-turn...

The whistling tone (one consistent high pitch, several other pitches going either up or down) of LSMs on Maurer Sohne, Premier, Gerstlauer, and Mack launchers.

What I'm looking the most forward to from the announcement is the virtual POV. I'm definitely itching to see how the rest of the layout got tweaked after I saw the modified Prudential turn!

Great TR! Looks like you had fun losing your Tornado virginity there. I've got to visit this place someday to lose mine as well, it's just that I'm a bit far (south bay)! You'll notice the same effect on Great White when you ride it, it really is quite a cool touch! Good luck with Bombs Away! That capsule drop scares the crap out of me every time, that one moment when my body suddenly falls...a definite "Oh poo-poo!" moment for me.

YES! YES! YES YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! OHHHH PLEASE MORE!!! WOOOOOOOO!!! *pant, pant, pant, pant* This thing looks sooooo sexy! The Gravity Group appears to have outdone themselves again, and woodie constructionography is niiiice... I'll have to take hundreds of cold showers looking at constructionography for this, Outlaw Run, Au13/Gold Striker, and White Lightning, all of which are just GORGEOUS...

My apologies for the bump, but I'd like to share my thoughts on the most intense flat of all time: Extasy. Extasy is a VERY INTENSE Soriani and Moser Energy Storm located at Wiener Prater in Vienna, Austria. It has a 5 and 1/2 minute cycle, bewilderingly fast spinning, ridiculously insane sustained laterals, blaring music, lights, fog, and sustained hangtime. Very often, it will combine all of the above to completely disorient the rider. A single ride on it kicked my A$$, leaving me exhausted and nauseous afterwards. Yet at the same time, I loved it for kicking my A$$. All right, time for some photos and an off ride video I took. My dad and I's facial expressions at the end of the video pretty much sum everything up. Are you ready to lose one of your nine lives? NOTED! Seriously, this thing is completely insane. Sorry for the blur, it spins REALLY F**KING FAST! The fog machine doing its job. CRAZY! CRAZY!!! After getting my A$$ handed over to me, I spent a half-hour in this position.

^ New word filters maybe? Loose Articles = Potatoes (Thanks to the ride ops for inspiring this one.) Au13/Gold Striker = Coaster Man Dumping Waffle (It would be really awesome if the coaster was actually named that!)

^Another great TR rolls in, and the onslaught of Au13 construction photos continues! Ohhhhh, this is WONDERFUL. Shower #3, commence! (In case you haven't noticed already, I easily soil myself looking at woodie construction and track work)

Great TR Jeff! I feel that no amount of photos or videos will ever be able to do Au13 justice, it's just too sexy for words! For me, the 29th will only be just the beginning. Ohhhhh, I-I...c-can't wait t-to...r-ride it. It will be m-MARVELOUS, ohyesss it will... ...oh, excuse me, I need another shower.

Yesterday was really fun! Had a great time hanging out with Angry_Gumball, JeffyJosephNorCal, robman, rolercstrluvr, and mewtwo007. The park was quite busy, with many lines spilling out into the midway by the afternoon, but there were many crazy moments that made up for that! This was my first visit to the park since 2008, when I was once excited for the GCI when it was supposed to be opened in 2009. Then Prudential began to whine about noise, then the 49er's issue came about, then the near-sell to JMA Ventures...by 2011, I had lost my faith in the park and had no hope for the GCI at all. It wasn't until I saw the vertical construction pics of Au13 a few weeks back that I felt a need to visit the park again, and what better way to do that than with TPR members! The day began as we headed over to the Star Tower to get some Au13 shots (we got on it later), but it was closed and deserted for the time being (Shiriki Utundu?). So we headed over to the SkyFlyer to drool at the Prudential turn, at which point I deeply regretted not bringing several towels with me. After a tunnel-vision inducing ride on Flight Deck, we went to take over Flying Eagles. We all flew high and dived as hard as we could, but to no avail...that is, until halfway through the cycle when *THUNK, shhhingshingshiiinnng*, and Angry_Gumball was snapping like crazy! He said it was his best Flying Eagles session yet, too bad we couldn't hit it up again due to its low capacity. We gave Anton (Orbit) some love, and He did wonderful as always, raising us up to get our attention before pushing us back down HARD. And it was good...ohyesyesyes it was good. What's there not to love about Him? We then hit up Demon, and it ran quite well with no headbanging, just a little shaking around. I gave a quick prayer to Berserker, and then we headed over to Drop Tower to give Intamin some love. This ride on Drop Tower further confirmed to me that a 70' ARM/Larson I rode at San Mateo County Fair packed more of a punch...sometimes, size isn't everything! We then headed over to Down Under Thunder where Angry_Gumball and I got some crazy airtime going over the hump. Angry_Gumball went for a re-ride with mewtwo007, and they too got crazy airtime, but then something even crazier happened...you'll have to see my video to find out! We had our fill of lunch, gave Anton more love, rode Flight Deck again, and then the best part of the day was about to begin... We met up with Ryan, one of the park staff (the other TPR members knew him, but I didn't), who led us into a backstage area for an extreme nerd moment. We all began to snap photos of Au13 from just outside the base of the drumstick, an unexpected and completely magical experience. A BIG thanks to Ryan for that special nerd session. I needed a cold shower after that moment, and what better way to clean myself than a Dan unfriendly clench-and-squish ride (5 people) on Logger's Run! While in line, we encountered a few line jumpers...YUCK! It wasn't a very pleasant experience, but we soon made it aboard. To say the least, that was quite an end to my day, and next time I'll sit in the back half for the true clench-and-squish experience. To wrap this up, here are a few random photos I took, as well as the video that may be second to Robb's Twin Peaks wipeout video for overall craziness. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_doo988mS0 We'll start immediately with a NERD SHOT! Gotta give old-school B&M some love! More old-school B&M love. Flight Deck doing it's thing. "THROUGH THE TREES!!!" Wait...are your sunglasses THAT valuable?! The now complete drumstick from a backstage view. I felt extremely dirty taking this photo. Now that I've posted it, I am going to have to take another cold shower. NERDS! To finish, we have the parrot that pees and lactates simultaneously.