thrillseeker4552

Yay! The time has finally come! I'll be at SFOT and SFFT next weekend, so I unfortunately cannot go the first days. But I plan on going on the 26th! I love that I will finally ride this ride... 6 days before 2019 ends! lol And yeah, I think a very large majority of guests at SFMM have a membership or season pass, so it definitely isn't "exclusive." I anticipate long lines and heavy crowds during the preview. It's basically open at that point.

Wow, I hadn't realized how cheap the Flash Passes are at SFOT, even on that Saturday (12/21). They're only $40 and $65 for Regular and Gold, respectively. We definitely may do that just to ensure we can ride what we want in those 8 hours, then drive down to SFFT Sunday morning and spend the day there, then drive back home to CA on Monday and Tuesday. This trip was very spur-of-the-moment, but I'm getting excited now. Hopefully both parks have most of their rides running since we're only spending one day at each. If not, it's still better than not going at all. They're both brand new parks for me. Any other tips (for either park) would be appreciated. It'll be our first time in Texas!

Thanks for the tips. The good news is we're driving (and my family is driving independently from my marching band), so we have lots of flexibility. If we have a great 8 hours at SFOT and do everything, we may even pop down to SFFT on Sunday before driving home on Monday. I guess we'll just play it by ear when the time comes. Regardless, I'm excited to get on New Texas Giant and Mr. Freeze. Those are two coasters I've been wanting to ride for years now!

^Great news, thanks. I'm traveling with my university marching band, and our bowl game is in Frisco, TX this year. I already have a Six Flags membership so I'd be stupid not to take an extra day or two and visit SFOT for the first time! I'm hoping for good weather and open rides. EDIT: Also, should I expect heavy crowds that Saturday? Would those 8 hours they're open (2pm-10pm) enough to ride everything, or would I wanna go back on Sunday? I really only care about riding all the major coasters. I can skip a kiddie coaster or two, I'm not a whore. I also wouldn't really care if I skipped Joker since I've ridden other Free Spins. Is that enough time to do everything?

For the locals: There is a chance I will be visiting SFOT for the first time next Saturday (the 21st). From my understanding, every coaster runs for Holiday in the Park except Mr. Freeze, right? That's what their website implies but I honestly don't trust most Six Flags websites when it comes to accuracy. I figured asking TPR people is much more reliable. Thanks!

Nice report! It's crazy how imposing Iron Gwazi is on the skyline. It almost looks like a Giga coaster!

Superman got completely re-painted in 2017 when Justice League opened. They're painting again?

It has been many, many months. Maybe almost a year at this point? I can't remember eating them in recent memory. When was the last time you went to the gym?

Maybe Mindbender's trains are in need of permanent replacement very soon, and Six Flags is experimenting building Revolution-like trains for it, so this is a "trial run"? Weren't the Revolution trains done in house? I just completely pulled that out of my a$$, though. It's interesting nonetheless.

Very interesting. Maybe a local can try to snap a photo next weekend? I'm intrigued.

I am glad they are keeping Viper running too. Eventually it will get removed, we all know that, but I am glad it has lasted as long as it has. I hope it lasts for at least another 5-10 years. I love the ride.

I'm mostly just excited to see SWSD expand with more coasters. I grew up in SoCal, always going to Knott's and Six Flags. We always ignored SeaWorld because we're coaster people more than animal people. They built Manta, which was cool. Then we stopped caring again. Then Electric Eel came, and now their biggest coaster yet with Emperor. I can't wait to go back this summer. I get why the thread is dead. I'm just more excited than most because SeaWorld is not far at all from my family's home in SoCal and it makes me happy to have a brand new, unique-to-the-area B&M so close to home. With all the new 2020 hotness, I can see why Emperor is flying under the radar.

Surprised we aren't talking about Emperor more. The animation looks exciting. It also shows vest restraints, so take from that what you will. This ride looks extremely similar to Valkyria. It's a slightly different layout, but the overall size, scale, and model of Dive Coaster is very comparable. First B&M in California in 14 years! I'm excited. The entire brake run and pre-lift track is also in place already.

The good news is that once the foundation work is complete, the track and support structure should rise pretty quickly. Or at least Wonder Woman and Railblazer did. This one is taller and longer, after all.

My best advice for Knott's is to get there EARLY. Before opening. Sometimes they even let people in line for GhostRider before 10am. After GhostRider, head straight to the Boardwalk and do the rides back there. It usually takes an hour or two before crowds reach the back of the park. Although like ^ said, it won't be too crowded that day. GhostRider can still develop a line though. Get there first!

I love the trains. Among the B&M Giga trio, I think Orion's trains are my favorite, believe it or not. The color palette is very nice. Sometimes, for my tastes, less is more. But then again, there isn't a single ugly B&M train in existence.

I have never ridden in a stranger's car. It's either myself driving or riding with friends/family. I have never used Uber or Lyft. When was the last time you rode a launched coaster?

The only defunct coaster I have ridden that I will always miss is Volcano. I am SO grateful it was open during my 2017 visit, and out of all the defunct coasters I got a chance to ride, Volcano is the only one that I will actually miss for many years to come.

Orion and Candymonium have topped off their lift hills. Pantheon making big progress. Iron Gwazi almost done. Other major 2020 coasters well into vertical construction. Six Flags: "I think we should start digging now, right?"

Like Coasterbill said, I would recommend picking a region of the US and sticking to it. I've done trips like this in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019. Here are a few examples of trips we did: 2014: Cedar Point and Kings Island. Round trip out of Cleveland. 2016: Hersheypark, Dorney Park, SFNE, visited NYC, SFGAdv, and SFA (I know, we skipped Knoebels, I regret that to this day). This was round trip out of Washington DC. 2017: One way trip - started in Charlotte, ended in Cleveland. Did Carowinds, Kings Dominion, Kings Island, and Cedar Point. All excellent parks and just needed a single Platinum Pass. 2019: Similar to 2017, but we went back to SFA, did KD and Carowinds again since they each got great new coasters, and tacked on SFOG. One way from DC to Atlanta. Obviously you have different intentions, and being from outside the US I totally get it. I'm not suggesting you "replicate" any of the trips above, but my point is just to stick to a region and do as much as you can in a round-trip out of an airport. America is HUGE and driving across the great plains and midwest sucks. I'm not sure if you're familiar with Theme Park Worldwide, but they did an entire America trip and hit a gazillion parks in a month's time and they encountered many issues with tiredness, grumpiness, barely any sleep, and more. Spending all of your time driving between parks sucks when you could pick a region with EXCELLENT parks and spend ample time and multiple days at them! Do as you please and have fun! Just my two cents.

Is this really steeper than Fury? That would mean it is B&M's steepest drop, excluding Dive Coasters. Did the park officially announce a drop angle?

I rather enjoyed Voyage to the Iron Reef, but I am very happy with this upgrade/retheme. Voyage definitely seemed to lose popularity over the last few years. I visited on a few very busy Saturdays this summer and it hardly had a line. I'm glad to see Knott's continue to go back to their roots and bring back classics. Unfortunately, given that Bear-y Tales will probably use the same vehicles/ride system, capacity will still suck. But otherwise this is a fantastic addition. I have no idea what Bear-y Tales was like and have no personal connection since I was... born in '99, but nonetheless this will definitely make lots of people happy.

I have only been on GateKeeper, but I like it. Like somebody else said, it would nicely compliment the craziness of I305 and Twisted Timbers.

I love the color scheme. I said the same thing about Twisted Cyclone and Hakugei. Something about a classic bright blue and white just looks fantastic on a coaster - especially a B&M. Anyone wanna make a wager that this will open before West Coast Racers?

Copperhead is my second favorite ride in the park too. It's a fantastic addition and I don't understand any of the complaints about it. It's kind of a perfect ride for me. I had the same reaction as you when I rode it in June. I learned to NEVER trust the reviews of "hardcore enthusiasts." They bitch no matter what the ride is.