azza29

^The cycle they run on that ride is insane! Turbo mode!!!

Visited today for the first time. Great park! Phoenix was running exceptionally well, and Twister gave some great rides too. It was a tickets-only day so lines were short, I think we went through about $40 of tickets each, and that was plenty. Really enjoyed all the flat rides I'd never seen before - especially Looper (even if we had to work pretty hard to get our hamster wheel spinning). Snapped our fair share of flyers too, helped a bit by the breeze. Black Diamond didn't disappoint, but given the accolades it's received I was expecting more from the Haunted Mansion - ride looked like it needs a little attention to touch up some of the effects and props. I dis get to see Flying Turns testing on the track, full chassis with just the front 'sled' attached. So maybe they aren't too far away from getting it open. Looks like a great ride. Oh, and the food was incredible.

Agree with this. In the 18 months between my last two visits (November 2011 and May 2013) the parks seem significantly more crowded and frenetic. Obviously Cars Land and DCA 2.0 are the drivers of this, and possibly the time of year, but even so there are definitely more crazy "gotta have the perfect visit" type guests. As far as the actual ticket prices go, for foreign visitors (like me) a few dollars extra isn't going to make any difference anyway after you factor in flights, hotels and all the other costs associated with travel. For locals, $20/year is what, 40 cents a week? Ouch...

In the queue for Garfield's Nightmare at Kennywood, a woman is asking if it goes upside-down. As she watches the boats float past.

All of the crews seemed to be doing a good job this week, GK and Maverick were the two that stood out as having plenty of hustle and getting the trains out quickly. Keep up the good work!

Having had a couple of rides on GK this week, this is pretty much what I expected and experienced from the ride - simply put, it feels like flying. The great thing is the coaster manages to do this without ever being boring, despite the lack of hard G-forces throughout. My new #1 coaster? Probably not. Unique and thrilling? Definitely.

After riding it on Monday Waldameer's is my new favourite. Sudden, forceful drop that I haven't found on any other towers yet.

So first trip to the Island today, not too busy so managed to get in plenty of rides even without Fast Lane. Scored three rides on Diamondback during the first half hour, loved every second. The Beast was a pleasant surprise - not nearly as rough as I was expecting and the drop after the second lift hill is one of the best I've ever seen on a woodie. After riding Iron Dragon I wasn't hugely excited for Flight Deck, but I couldn't have been more wrong. This is far more forceful! Rode in the front and we had some insane swing-time. Even with the official licensing gone, influences from the Paramount days still add some nice touches to a lot of the rides, especially Adventure Express and Flight of Fear. Backlot Stunt Coaster was good but would be nice to see all of the effects restored. Park would benefit from a bit more shade on the midways and certain queues. Even with the sails I was cooked fairly well while waiting in line for Firehawk. The kids area is one of the best I've seen at a large park - great selection of rides, not just the usual collection of spinning flats you see at a lot of parks. The log flume had some serious speed to it! Overall a really good collection of coasters, not really a bad one in the entire park and Diamondback alone made the trip worthwhile. Will definitely stop in for early entry tomorrow to get in a few extra rides!

I wouldn't normally make a special trip for a waterpark, but this might be an exception. There are at least five or six rides that would be headliners at most other parks. With the sheer number that are going in, this place will have a huge capacity!

So I take it this Pirates attraction is Busch Gardens' answer to Captain EO? I'll be sure to check it out when I visit next week...

^^We had to go around 3pm, so at least we didn't just miss it. Leaves something for next time anyway. Got two rides on Maverick yesterday with <15 minute waits, so didn't bother when I saw a 1.5 hour line today. But was rewarded for waiting 20 minutes outside Raptor, got on the first train when it finally opened up. Loved it. Batman at SFNE was my favourite B&M for all of three days until I rode Raptor. An unacceptable amount of man boobage on display in the rapids/flume area today. Shirts dry quickly. Just sayin'. Quite a few marching bands circling the park in the morning. Kind of funny when two of them passed each other on the midway and completely lost track of what they were playing. Comment of the day was on exiting Mantis, girl says "so glad I don't have a penis right now!" Guy behind her proceeds to start an informal biology lesson, specifically which parts of the male anatomy are at risk on a standup coaster...

^Based on my visit today and yesterday, expect a light breeze to close TTD, Raptor, Power Tower and Windseeker. We ended up having to leave without the TTD credit because it was never open for more than a few cycles at a time. Gatekeeper and Mean Streak could be iffy too. But MF seemed to keep running even when it was getting a bit windy, and Maverick should be OK too.

Great and powerful title fairy, can you please change my title to 'log flume enthusiast'?

Anyone heading to the park on Thursday and want to meet up?

Had my first visit to the park today, given the forecast I wasn't expecting much to be open but still got the majority of the coasters done by about 2pm. After that a light breeze caused most of the rides to close, and by about 5pm the rain was coming in. I think TTD was open for 5 minutes all day, and Raptor closed regularly as well. Didn't see Windseeker open either. Mean Streak was closed all day - not sure if the was due to the weather or because the ride is broken. Anyway, Millennium Force is as awesome as I'd expected, that first drop is intense! Best ride of the day was on Maverick, we had early entry so the first couple of rides were walk on. Gatekeeper is definitely worth the wait, only got the one ride in but will return tomorrow for a few more. Magnum has some incredible airtime, although my thighs are probably a bit bruised from that one. Heading back tomorrow for more coaster awesomeness and hopefully get the TTD credit!

^It was only as we were about to leave (around 7pm) that I noticed anything going on. Apart from that the crowds seemed pretty good. After the double ride I've had my fill of theusic Express for a little while though!

Visited today for the first time, spent a few hours in the park. Was busy but lines weren't too long, Ravine Flyer II running really well, love the airtime! The log flume was pretty decent as well, and I think I have a new favourite drop tower. Weird stuff going on while we were on the Music Express, first there was some chronic line cutting happening behind us, people were just jumping the fence right near the front of the queue. Fortunately the ride op noticed and they got booted out. Then just as the ride cycle is about to end there is an e-stop, two groups were kicked off and they gave the remaining guests (myself included) a bonus cycle. Overheard park security as I was exiting, sounded like someone had decided to get high while on the ride. So that was an interesting end to our day.

^Thunderbolt was definitely rougher than I thought a "family" woodie could be, and I've done my fair share of old wooden coasters (Roar, Grizzly, Coney Island Cyclone) in the last few weeks. The topper track makes SFNE's Cyclone very worthwhile.

Got there early today and knocked everything over in a few hours. Batman was way better than I was expecting. Cyclone was running nice and smooth (Thunderbolt was definitely not). Bizarro was as awesome as I'd hoped, got in 4 rides and the rear cars seemed better. Nearly got a 5th ride in but lucked out and got a seat with a short seatbelt so it wouldn't quite buckle. This was unexpected since I'd had at least two inches of slack on every other ride but still had a great day.

^Thanks. Why is Goliath closed? Weather?

Alright so my brother and I were planning to hit up Quassy and Lake Compounce today and SFNE tomorrow but since all three parks have shut because of the rain we're going to try to squeeze them into one day. Will be getting to SFNE at open and have about 4-5 hours to get everything in, what coasters should we hit up first to minimise wait times? Goliath and Bizarro? Or are there slower-loading ones that I need to plan around? We'll grab Flash passes if we need to.

OK so in summary, I guess rain = bad news. Fortunately the forecast has improved since I last checked so we might be lucky.

Heading to the park Tues/Wed next week, looks like it might be slightly damp for at least part of that time. Which rides are most susceptible to rain closure? I'll be sure to get to those when it's dry.

I've been taking advantage of my week in New York to see as many shows as possible - the productions back home are professional but we don't have the same touring circuit that exists in the US, so there's not always a lot to choose from. Anyway so far I've seen four shows, all excellent in their own way: Peter and the Star Catcher - very clever play, and some hilarious songs and dialogue. Fun prequel to the sometimes sterile Peter Pan tale. Lucky Guy - I'll admit to seeing this because it had Tom Hanks, and I wanted to see a show with a big-name celebrity. But it's still an excellent piece, and a great tale of how skill and luck can combine to create success, and vice versa. Book of Mormon - not over-hyped. Best musical of the past 20 years? Probably. Also the most money I've ever paid to see a show (and it was a bargain). Newsies - great show. Superb choreography and set design. Good to see Disney do something that doesn't draw on an established big-name franchise for a change.

^News just in: Gold Striker to become CA's first fully enclosed wooden coaster!