thrillseeker4552

Thank you all for the feedback. I think I will now plan on staying the full day (12pm to 8pm). I just know, based on doing solo park visits in the past, that I tend to always overestimate how much time I need at a park since I move so much faster when doing things myself. What I think takes me a whole day at a park, I get done in the first 3-4 hours. But I know this park is special and should be appreciated outside of just the coasters so I am trusting ya'll! I guess my question still stands if there is any "order of attack" for the park? I imagine Flying Turns and/or Impulse first? The timing will also work out that my 300th coaster will be here, so my current plan is to make Phoenix my 300th!

Alright - all of you Knoebels fans/experts, I need all of your pro-tips. I'll be at the park for the very first time on Sunday 9/4. It's Labor Day weekend so I'm anticipating some crowds, but I've heard this park has good operations so is there anything I should look out for? Would it be safe to assume that Impulse has the worse line in the park and to go there first? I plan on getting there at opening around 12 and staying until late afternoon, maybe 5 or 6, since I need to drive a couple hours that evening. I imagine that's enough time for everything? Also looking for food recommendations. I will likely only eat one meal in the park. I've heard great things about pizza but I'm not a big pizza person (thank you, lactose intolerance), so any other recommendations? This day of my trip I will also be flying solo so if anyone in the area wants to show a first-timer around the park and ride some coasters let me know!

Anyone know if X2 is still running one train? I'll be at the park next Saturday. During my last two visits in April and December it was running one train and had a miserable line.

Lol, I was thinking the same thing. I bought a 2022 Fun Spot pass for this ride. Of course I can use it at the Orlando parks but... I'm getting SeaWorld 2020 vibes. Hopefully they can get it open by the end of the year. I think the park is generally year-round right?

I do wish it were a bit more themed (or really, just landscaped/wooded) but a long, custom family coaster with a very low height restriction is never a bad thing. It will make Wildwood Grove a bit more complete and add some nice capacity to the area so I'm totally on board. Looking forward to *finally* visiting for the first time next Spring - after axing plans on multiple occasions.

Thanks for the tips! I have decided to go with Fast Track. It will just make my day way better, and luckily my friend agreed to get it with me. Fingers crossed Skyrush stays running until then. I've ridden it before and loved it but it's been 6 years and I've ridden a zillion new coasters since then so... we'll see if it still lives up to the hype I have in my memory. Candy also looks fun.

I am going on the Saturday of Labor Day. I know, I know... but that's just how things worked out. Fast Track has got to be worth it right? Should I still expect an absolute clusterf*ck all day at the park? Luckily, I went in 2016... so I'm not trying to "credit grab" and don't really care about riding rides like Laff Track, Wild Mouse, etc. Should I have a plan of attack even with Fast Track if it doesn't do much good? EDIT: Just read boldikus' post on the previous page regarding this, so I guess I posted prematurely - but if anyone has anything else to add I suppose, I'd appreciate it!

LOL. If this is indeed a coaster (literally, any major coaster) then good for them. 2023 could easily have been a year to replace Vortex at KI or Volcano at KD... but if both of those plots are still sitting empty in 2023 and WOF actually gets a major coaster, the Cedar Fair I know will be almost unrecognizable......

It's a little surprising to see no posts in this thread since Guardians opened almost 2 months ago. I'm looking for some advice from the Disney experts out there (which I am most definitely *not*). I do not have an annual pass, however I am looking at purchasing a single day (possibly park hopper) for EPCOT so I can experience Guardians (I am looking at going on a Saturday or Sunday in mid-September). Does anyone know how difficult/easy it has been lately to get a boarding group for the ride? And they are still doing the boarding groups, correct? I would be going to the park alone, so I don't know if being a single rider has any benefits when trying to get on the attraction. Any advice would be appreciated, or any info regarding the current operations of the coaster. It looks awesome. I am just hesitant to purchase a ticket for a day at the park and have a very low chance of actually getting on the ride. Thanks in advance!

Iron Gwazi yesterday. Got on just before the storm rolled in...

Falcon's Fury and Cobra's Curse were closed. Sky Ride still hasn't reopened yet. I have no idea about the train. I will fully admit that my perspective is skewed because if a couple rides are closed, I just think "oh I can do those next time." People traveling afar to visit the park and are hoping to hit all the rides would be more upset that FF and CC were closed, so I get that. But even from a crowd management/general operations perspective, I've never really had a poor experience. Some days are better than others, and of course I'm not trying to discount anyone else's experiences. Let's just say I spent two days at the Disney parks a few weeks ago and that was way more of a frustrating, stressful experience than any of my days at BGT, SWO, or even Universal.

I am convinced that the Busch Gardens I see people report on the internet is completely different than the Busch Gardens I visit. I showed up this morning, a summer Saturday, at 9:45am (10am opening) and breezed right through security (multiple lanes open). Longest line today was Cheetah Hunt which was posted at 70 minutes but was actually only about 50 minutes. 4 trains and both stations running with semi-decent dispatches. Iron Gwazi was also barely outside the station queue once the morning rush died down. Multi train ops on everything and we had a blast. Even if today was a fluke, I guess I get lucky? I visit this park every 3-4 weeks and exclusively on weekends-only due to my job schedule (mostly Saturdays too) and I've always had an awesome experience. I don't think I've ever seen one train ops on anything during the weekend. I don't really know. I must live in an alternate reality? I absolutely love this park.

Hopefully this is a Hulk-stye replacement and the "new" coaster is identical in profiling. They have Jaguar running through the loop so it can't change profiling *too* much, right? But yeah, that original track is not going back based on how it was cut it seems. Very excited to see how this unfolds but I'll admit I'm a little nervous! Monte is an extremely sentimental ride for me. First inversion, first launch, first big coaster in general. I knew it wouldn't last in its original form forever, and frankly I'm surprised it has lasted this long given its age and intense operating calendar. But nonetheless I am glad the park is keeping the coaster around in some form or another.

This is what I am thinking too. I love RMC as much as the next person, but it would be very cool to see GCI introduce their version of a full hybrid conversion with those new trains we've seen at IAAPA a few times now. And since this was GCI's first coaster it would be a cool full-circle moment. I will still be stoked if this is an RMC (and am already planning a 2023 visit regardless), but we also have a million RMCs around this country and as good as they are, many of the medium-smaller ones feel quite similar. I would love to see something unique here.

I've heard a lot of chatter recently about how that's one of the best B&M Inverts, which is a little surprising given it is "new age B&M." The layout looks very solid though. For me, it was Velocicoaster a little over a week ago!

^Thanks. So they are redesigned, interesting. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that the Orlando Freefall used those same Gerstlauer OTSRs. Maybe Gerstlauer is doing away with them for new rides entirely. And the park probably went away from lapbars (I think it was announced to have lapbars initially?) because of the Haunted Mine Drop incident and the associated bad press from the very minimal restraints. Either, or both, would make sense. Excited to ride this someday. The location can't be beat.

That was quick. I believe the first test run was just a little over a week ago. Also, for those curious, this coaster has OTSRs. From afar they look redesigned and not like your typical Gerstlauer Eurofighter OTSR, but I'm not sure since I haven't found an up-close photo of the trains.

I hate to be a party pooper, but I can't really see either B&M being relocated. They are both some of B&M's earliest creations and are 30+ years old (or will be when CGA closes). They both also use a bit of terrain, which isn't the end of the world but is still a factor nonetheless. Given that Cedar Fair hasn't relocated any rides within their chain in the last 10 years, I have a feeling the only plausible relocation will be Railblazer since it is fairly new and seemingly easy to relocate and reconstruct, and it is still highly marketable. That would be an excellent fit at Valleyfair.

Sad news, but I can't say I'm too surprised. I think their lack of following their ambitious expansion plan from a few years ago (which includes nixing the B&M hyper and giving it to Kings Island instead, which Cedar Fair confirmed themselves) was a sign. Given their debt from the pandemic and the extremely, extremely valuable land CGA sits on, I suppose it all makes sense. Railblazer will almost certainly be relocated since it's new and easily constructible. Everything else is sort of a wild card in my opinion. The two B&Ms are both quite old and could be approaching their service lives, and they both use the terrain slightly. Gold Striker is probably in decent shape but relocating woodies is pretty rare. I think it's safe to say Demon and Grizzly are getting scrapped. Who knows about anything else. Also, yeah, I doubt it's running for 11 more years. I'm guessing until 2024 or 2025.

Nearly all S&S and Intamin towers have had secondary seatbelts for 20+ years. It's nothing new and will not affect the ride experience a single bit, and likewise won't really affect operations either since it clips to the outside. It's a no-brainer move in my opinion.

I also stayed at Tru when I visited over Memorial Day weekend. Overall I was quite pleased with the hotel too. You can't beat the location and the price was surprisingly decent considering the holiday weekend. It will be my future go-to when visiting the park again.

^I agree it was one of their best moves. Can't believe it's already been 10 years.

Fury 325 today. Such an excellent, excellent coaster. Running like a bat outta hell in this heat and very fast dispatches too.

Great news. I just rode Flying Cobras at Carowinds today and it's amazing how much more tolerable (and dare I say enjoyable) the Boomerangs are with those trains. Mr. Siebert is doing everything right with this park.

That's a bit of a bummer to hear for us nerds but I greatly appreciate the park (and city) being transparent. And to be fair, those site plans looked very good and looked equivalent in quality to the leaked plans for previous Cedar Fair projects like Orion, Copperhead Strike, Yukon Striker, etc. There was no reason to believe they were true but also no reason to necessarily believe they were false either. Either way, oh well. Maybe someday. I will say though that Knott's attendance is just astronomical for the size the park is, so I hope another high capacity attraction in the future is still up for speculation.