JJLehto

Thanks all. As always the tips and info are priceless. Sadly the time slot is non negotiable so yeah I hope Ghostrider stays open. That's one of the rides I'm more excited about.

Going to CA in Early Sept, what are the crowds like at KBF on a weekday vs weekend? Is there any capacity difference on a weekday? Ive heard SFMM despite being much less crowded, has such slow/1 train ops its more worth going a weekend.... any issue like that here?

So, my time off has been approved and I am planning my West Coast trip. Lagoon is not really near CA, but its not near anything really and since I apparently get out west every 6 years, I figure might as well make my layover Salt Lake City and check it out? Cannibal and the Schwarzkopf's alone seem worth it! What crowds can be expected on a Sept weekend (like the Sat the 7th or Sun the 8th)? Earlier I was not sure on dates but now Im 99% certain it'll be one of those days. In general, how much time is needed to do the park and in general what can be expected? I recall earlier some were saying there is reliable, easy public transport to get from the airport to lagoon without any need for rental car/uber/etc?

After saying I will just wait till 2020 Finally sees a POV of riders Contemplates booking a flight to KW this year Skyrocket is opening back too? Now definitely booking a flight lol Steel Curtain looks pretty nuts

Great review! I am relieved to hear the ride is excellent. Though it just makes me wish I could get to it this year.

I was really not sure how I felt about this ride, I was afraid the air hill would be nothing, the roll SO fast you may not notice and given its very short length, perhaps a lackluster ride (obvs the launch is epic, Hypersonic XLC was still one of the most intense experiences Ive had) but I feel somewhat higher on this ride now. The air hill does seem lacking (confirm?) but if the ride is intense, as it seems to be, it will make up for the shortcomings. Regardless Ill be out here in 2020 as part of a great northern trip!

Finally!

That. Basically says all ya need right there. I wont lie, not super sure why theres even any debate going on lol It seems pretty obvious (if not outright fact) what happened and yeah its a travesty. It is kind of a coward move, to borrow what an above comment said, but yeah I guess who can blame em? Imagine the reaction if they did speak the truth. And hey if that's the deal they worked out with Rowling guess it is what it is. But yeah we know what this is, lots of older rides have fallen out of popularity, require too much upkeep or simply are old and the park wants something newer, none of that applies here. Whenever I go to Universal next gunna be hard to ride the new coaster and not be a bit bummed thinking about it all

Indeed, but per the earlier comment there doesn't seem to be mention of what rides will be on ERT. Regardless, going this year. Deff gunna check out Knoxville, Gatlingburg etc while there! Maybe the Great Smoky Mountains, as a big fan of hiking I reckon that's gotta be top tier. BOOKING TRIP NOW

Whoa there's an event? I had no idea. Hmmm yes if anyone can provide any info on this (not seeing concrete on the site) I would be greatly interested. I too was planning on going later (prob Oct) or perhaps this summer and use fast pass, but if there's an ERT event... Cause yeah hell or high water I wanna finally do Lightning Rod and I hear nothing but great things about this park.

Early September the park is empty. You wouldn't need a flash pass. Be aware that Fright Fest begins September 14, which means every Saturday, the park will be packed till November. That was miserable. I went the last Saturday of September thinking people wouldn't be going to Fright Fest till October, big mistake. I had a gold flash pass and still had to wait a whole hour for some of the rides. Week days are empty. Awesome, that works well because it would likely be the first week of Sept. Thanks for the help! This deff confirms I'll go for a weekday

Im kind of excited to try here, even if its mostly for Joker and Batman (I hear these types of spinners are the best) I know it goes to weekend hours in Sept, is it likely to be crowded?

Well, I am going back to CA this year! Bad news is that mean 1 train ops and dealing with Six Flags-ness Only/last time I went was for an event so had ERT and the park kind of ran itself well. No such luck this time I was thinking early Sept. What crowds can be expected, though I assume fast lane is necessary? Would crowds be any better on a week day?

Youre deff right in your overall point, theres no "expiration date" like hey this has 20 years of use then its "spoiled" but with age you always start to see signs. I may be naïve but isn't it basically all about maintenance? When I went to SFMM apocalypse was only a few years old and it was already rough to the point of bordering on taking away the enjoyment, Phoenix still feels great. Some B&Ms the age is showing, Kumba was 25 years old and I felt it wasn't really rough at all.

*Said will wait till 2020 and tack it on w my annual CP trip* Sees completed photo *Starts looking at flights for this year to Pittsburgh*

Well, assuming I take a trip home this Summer, prob July, I will likely go to SFGadv for the first time in like 6 years, and I might swing by Lake Compounce just because it's not only been ages but when I went it was cloudy/drizzly and not even 60 so Boulder Dash was a tad underperforming. I wanna experience it fully warmed up

That is truly wild. Ugh I so want to ride it this year!

Yeah it looks beautiful. No kidding though, I like a rough ride but damn, I didn't even feel any airtime because I just being shook so much. It was the kind of rattling where my ass was being thrown up and down constantly...I can take rattling, being thrown around, some violent moves but yeah that felt I did bodily damage to myself. Oh Pandemonium was great. I love those rides personally and cool theming indeed. I should say, I also did my first Larson Super Loop while there I mean it WAS fun enough but lol @ calling it a coaster.

One of the CA Bay area parks in Sept, most likely. May try and slip to Busch Gardens though

Yeah...and THAT kind of feels crappy, because when a park makes a decision even if we dont like it, I mean OK but that's one person, who's not even "in the industry" feels more random, like her whims basically were behind it and as Robb said its hard to imagine the park on its own making this choice, (I mean how many old crappy rides hang around surely they'd have kept Dragons) but oh well. Like I said I try not to dwell on it.

For me it's more the fact that *usually* when a park removes a coaster, it's a ride that is tired, worn out, not running well, people ride once and forget about, or something that was never good to begin with. In the case of Dueling Dragons, that ride has been ranked in the top ten world's best roller coasters! And yes, I know that they stopped dueling it (which I disagree that it couldn't have been made to duel again), but I rode those coasters a week before they closed and I still say they ran just as good as when they opened. OMG. I had a BALLS OUT ride in the back row on Fire Dragon at night about a week before it closed. It was still AWESOME. Easily one of the best inverts out there with the likes of Nemesis, Batman, Montu, and some of the earlier B&M inverts. And that same day, I watched people RUN out of the queue and RUN to get back in line. Here I was in September of 2017 and I watching people run around the queue to "Dragon Hop" just like we did in 1999. Exactly the same. No different. Oh, except instead of running back in line in 1999, in 2017 it was: Run... stop at the metal detector... run some more... I get that rides don't stick around forever, parks aren't museums, and I'm actually "fine" overall with the decision, because parks do what they need to do. It just seemed odd to me that when a park has a ride that has been categorized as "one of the best of it's kind in the world" and people are still RUNNING around to re-ride it, wouldn't you want to do SOMETHING to have that stay in your park? When was the last time a park tore down a "top ten" coaster that was STILL running amazing the day it closed? Agreed 100% there was absolutely no NEED to get rid of it, and they lose a great ride. It was still my fav at Universal, more than Hulk. I also dont know if this is true but I also heard Rowling herself has massive say in the park areas, and she didnt really like the ride so that makes it feel even worse, its like the whim of someone basically outweighs everything else. Its kind of an outrage but Ive tried not to dwell bc I'll be angry/sad about it

Its universal...and harry potter world to boot. Given that, and the stats and few pics/vids we had I expected a fun, though nothing mindblowing, super immersive and well done experience though not anything that intense or WOW in terms of the actual coaster. Seems to be what we have. Which hey, its an Orlando Park and in a more family area. This is a perfect fit. It seems fun, Im not stoked or anything but I cant wait to ride. will not wait 10 hours Edit: and yeah like many others it will be hard for me to get over "this is cool but I cant believe they replaced DD with this" its a shame but well, parks don't cater to us enthusiasts, though they should!

I mean it looks amazing, some other pics Ive seen floatin on the web are just mindblowing. Just cant think of any way to work it into any trips this year, guess 2020 it is

I agree. I give those folks A LOT of credit. You don't really think about it but Cedar Point is actually pretty huge! Doing a lap around the park is quite a trek, or trying to hustle over to Millenium Force from SteeVe for a last minute ride is not for the faint of heart! And I'm in pretty good shape! It's a big reason why a trip to Cedar Point for me just automatically assumes a Breakers reservation for a 1 or 2 night stay. It's just so worth it to have a place for me and my buddies/family to chill for an hour or two whenever you need to, even if it's at different times of the day. It really is huge, I never take it for granted (aka I try not to totally wear myself out the day before). Yeah that's what was great about Coastermania, was able to take a 5 hour break, and still do everything. I did bump into one person who was there at 7 and staying straight to 130 AM they were indeed younger, like last time, so I assume Im just too old now lol And yes Prozach Magnum is still great, and if you mean the "tight belt looser restraint" tip, yeah that works like a charm. Rode it 3 times and not once did it hurt, and honestly the airtime on those bunny hills are superb. At least on Jun 7 it was less bumpy than usual too. MF is still great. Yeah ya cant let enthusiasts bug you, Ive gone what a decade + hearing MF is overrated, sucks, horrible, one of the worst things ever built, while I still prob prefer riding it over Maverick (which I love) so ya know, screw em lol I also prefer Wicked Twister over Raptor, which Im sure will create some rage. Its true though, Raptor is fun but it never wowed me like its supposed to. It still doesn't. I do legit think Wicked Twister is more fun and intense. People get way up their ass with over analyzing and fine details and ya know this footer is somewhat out of place on turn 4 etc etc and I get the need to analyze and etc but I think sometimes people lose track of the fact its an experience, its not a formula or something to be analyzed in the end, its about an experience and MF is still one of the most flat out fun rides out there. On the flipside, after riding Valravyn again this year, I just find it...not real fun. The drop and everything to the MCBR is great, it just kills all the speed and the rest is meh imo Tis a shame. I do like Gatekeeper, at least in the back row. Oh and yes I actually rode TTD for the first time this year front row and I think I'll agree, I don't prefer it. It was a helluva experience but it was kinda painful yeah

Yea I lucked out. Weather said rain would start like 2...so I was rushing to get much done as possible but the rain held off for me. Kept people away though I'm guessing. Crowds were so dead, got to do something I never imagined possible at Six FLags in 2019...was able to ride Goliath multiple times without getting up. No joke 1 train ops (which hey I get) and people throwing up (happened 3 times!) slowed up many lines more than they actually were. thrillseeker4552 Yeah I heard good things about Goliath and damn, what a ride! Their coaster selection overall was pretty decent actually. Georgia Scorcher was actually pretty decent. GASM was good if ya like a rough ride. I do but holy smokes that one pushed it even for me. Blue Hawk was kind of fun. Not great or anything but wasn't bad, I liked all the near misses. Was probably horrible with the old trains and pre track work. Mind Bender was good, glad it's still here. Batman the Ride. Ya know what it is, still fun and crazy intense though. Dare Devil Dive was a let down, totally forceless and lame. Even the drop wasn't so great.