azza29

I couldn't believe they've kept that thing running - I was laughing through the whole ride at how awful it was! I'd get rid of Roar at SFA. 3 weeks later and my back still hasn't forgiven me.

^If Jaguar is replaced I imagine another family coaster would go in its place. Too bad they already have Pony Express because an Intamin motocoaster would be perfect for that spot.

^You might see it testing but as others have said, don't hold your breath for a ride. They do have a noticeboard set up next to the ride explaining why it's taken so long - basically nobody has built one of these in many years and they have a lot of kinks to work out.

^I find it difficult to judge because you're in the dark. Seems like ToT has a lengthier cycle than most Intamin/S&S towers. I was underwhelmed by Lex Luthor and the Drop Towers at KI/KD - for sheer forcefulness (and a superb view of Lake Erie) my favourite is definitely Waldameer's X-Scream.

Mind Eraser (SFA) or Mind Eraser (SFNE)

Developed a mild addiction to Swedish Fish while I was in the USA. Fortunately nobody sells them in Melbourne!

BGW and Kings Dominion, both chain parks.

^I'm enjoying the series but do wonder where they found some of these "coaster enthusiasts". Based on their reactions it's as though some of them never rode anything more intense than a wacky worm before!

I305 Green Lantern (SFGAdv) or Green Lantern (Movie World)?

From the POVs and photos it looks pretty solid to me, but I'll reserve final judgment until I've had a chance to ride. Definitely a good addition to the park - perhaps not what diehards were hoping for but at least it's not a boomerang (frankly it's impressive that SFMM have so many coasters without a boomerang, Vekoma SLC or wild mouse in sight!). As for landscaping, plants will take some time to grow into their location - even Disneyland had this problem when it opened!

How many rides did you get on it?

Great POV Robb - Gravity Max is definitely on my ride bucket list now!

^Say a train is cresting a hill: when the front car hits the top the train is losing momentum from going uphill and slowing, however by the time the rear car is at the same point of track gravity is pulling the train down, causing it to go faster. Hence why back cars have more airtime and feel faster. The front and back cars are never going faster or slower than each other at any point in time, however they can traverse individual points of track at different speeds.

^^Last time I visited it was a very wet morning, and the park did a great job of getting every ride up and running as soon as possible after the rain had passed. Most rides were open within 15 minutes, although Kingda Ka took a little longer (possibly due to wind). So even if the weather looks iffy you should still be OK. Some of the Safari trucks have rain protection on the sides as well, although you won't stay completely dry as the roof drips.

New trains make your spine feel every bump and jolt in the track. Previous incarnation was much easier on the bones.

Best steel: Xcelerator. Flight Deck/Top Gun a close second. Worst steel: Revolution Best wood: Apocalypse Worst wood: Grizzly.

Xcelerator - zero wait on Fathers' Day. Sweet! And two days after I returned home from my trip I'm already going through coaster withdrawal.

Possibly, but SFMM don't have the sort of capital Universal and Disney are able to put into their dark rides. I mean, RSR cost $200m and Transformers was $100m against Yolocoaster's $6m. So the park will have to find other ways to bring in the crowds. If I was running the park the first thing I'd do is improve the operations. I'd add a staff member to the more popular coasters to assign rows and maximise capacity (as is the current practice on GL and X2). On my last visit it wasn't uncommon to see 6-8 empty seats on some trains simply because some rows only had 1 or 2 riders. Extrapolate that across an hour (assuming one train dispatches every 2 minutes) and you could potentially get another 200-250 people on the ride, which would have a huge impact on wait times. Cost would be minimal, and it would actually make Flash passes more valuable since you wouldn't end up with 30 minute station waits after skipping the queue.

Home from my trip and realised I forgot to pick up some KI maps to add to my collection. If anyone would be willing to send me a couple, I can offer some Australian park maps in return!

Man of Steel: Just like The Avengers and Transformers 3, this is a film about aliens destroying New York. I really liked the first hour and a half, Russell Crowe makes an excellent Jor-El and Michael Shannon gave General Zod much more depth than your average comic book baddie. The real problem with this film is the ending. The big climactic battle leads into... a smaller, less climactic battle, third-Matrix Neo vs Agent Smith style. However it's still better than most comic-book films so I'd recommend.

Middle of July? Will probably be busy. Get there are opening and do the studio tour first thing, then head to the lower lot and work your way through Transformers, Mummy and JP. This will give you plenty of time to see the shows, which are all well worth seeing. If you've seen Shrek 4D at a different park already I'd probably skip it. Make sure you arrive about 20 minutes before each show is supposed to start and you'll get good seats. Or just pay for the front-of-line pass - single-use only on each of the rides but you really do skip the entire queue and get straight on. I was there on the weekend - 110 minute wait for Transformers was probably a 3 minute wait with the front-of-line card. If money is no object book the VIP tour. It's not cheap (about $300/person) but you get a great backlot tour where you actually get to walk around the sets and prop warehouse as well as the usual flood/Jaws/King Kong attractions. It also includes unlimited front-of-line perks - again, you get straight onto the ride, not just skipping part of the queue like at Six Flags or Disney.

^Based on my experience at a few SF parks lately (DK, NE, MM) the Gold pass makes you wait about 25% of the posted wait time (e.g. if posted wait time is 2 hours you will wait about 30 minutes). However the amount of queue you actually get to skip really depends on the ride, as some stations can hold 7-8 trains' worth of riders.

People using phones on dark rides. What is so important that it (a) happened since you got out of line and onto the ride and (b) can't wait TWO MINUTES?!

^Green Lantern was a pleasant surprise for me as we'll - nowhere near as rough as I'd heard, but it is very intense when your car is unbalanced.

Did the full 8am-midnight yesterday. Both parks were very busy (no surprise) but still managed to get on RSR with a 5 minute wait thanks to the single rider line. We skipped ToT - 80 minute wait and no fastpasses available, even at 9am. Space Mountain was also very busy with 90 minute queues all day. I've never been to DL on a reasonably crowded day before, props to the CMs for keeping the crowds moving smoothly - Disney operations are easily a cut above every other park we've visited on this trip! Caught a performance of Mickey and the Magical Map as well - very professional and just the sort of high-capacity crowd pleaser DL needs. Seems like it's set up to swap out and add different musical numbers over time, which will keep the APs happy I guess. I can also highly recommend the short rib at the Blue Bayou - forget the food coma-inducing monte cristo, this dish is easily the best I've ever had at a theme park!