michaellynn4

^

^ Yea, aside from a few of the locals, most people around here generally refer to the whole area as Seaside Heights. Here's a comprehensive overhead shot of all the damage:

News 12 TV newscasters just reported that new estimates indicate that the fire is now 65% contained. The first fire trench ended up not holding, so they needed to dig a second trench that appears to be working so far.

The only thing the various outlets are currently saying is that the fire is very slowly starting to get under control. Most at this point are recycling a lot of those points from my last post as well as getting reactions from residents. The rain did come in, but it passed quickly (in and out in around 20 minutes). Radars show more may be coming in later this night.

The most recent post from Casino Pier's Facebook page: News 12 New Jersey reporting that at least 32 businesses have been affected at this point, with over 400 fire fighters reporting to fight the blaze. Here's the link to the live stream of News 12's coverage of the fire: newjersey.news12.com/multimedia/seaside-park-fire-coverage-1.6063723 Also, from NJ.com, here's a list of affected businesses: www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/09/seaside_boardwalk_fire_list_of_businesses_impacted.html

^

This is heartbreaking. This is where my band and I played every month, where my family would go to for a night at the shore, where I met my fiance. Here's hoping they can contain this beast as soon as possible and no one gets seriously hurt in the process. Man, when life hands you lemons, it shoves them up your ass as well.

Park has been closed since it's final operating day. We'll probably get a better idea once the weekend comes around, but I don't anticipate any major progress for a couple weeks.

So if you got there at 6:30, the park closed at 8:00 and you got 4 rides in can I safely assume that Rolling Thunder had pretty much no line at all even though it was it's last day of operation? Despite the outcry on a few other coaster sites I think this is really all we need to know about why this coaster was removed. Not exactly. I waited about 30 minutes for my first ride, then when I got off, I decided to get a ride on El Toro because the line for Rolling Thunder was still roughly the same length (extending about 50 feet past the covered section). I waited about 20 minutes for a ride in the back of El Toro, then went back over to Rolling Thunder. I waited about 20 minutes this time. Most people were waiting for the front, so I took a row in the middle so I could make sure I could ride and get back around before they closed the line for good. I made it back in line around 7:55; the line was still down the staircase, with several groups lingering back letting people go ahead of them, trying to make sure they were on the last ride. Again, most people were waiting for the front, and ride-ops were not being very strict at first about making sure all rows were filled. After my second ride, park was closed, but since I was a single rider, I (along with a couple others) jumped back on, filling in some of the empty rows. I did this twice, and it just so happened that I timed it where I could be one of the lucky ones on the last ride of the night. The station was filled with employees getting ready for their turns to ride the coaster one last time. It was actually a very awesome experience. People were cheering and applauding with each train returning to the station, sharing memories while waiting in the queues. Several of the supervisors traded turns on the mic hyping up the crowd one last time, getting the crowd to chant "Yeehaw!" with them. The ride-ops were very willing to take pictures of people with their phones should they request it, and even had a professional photographer taking photos of the events, who for the last train went up and down taking a photo of each row of the train on its final ride. I would've purchased mine, but I left my wallet in the car (I regret it). So were there mobs of people clamoring to get to the coaster, resulting in two-hour waits with lines extending well beyond the queue's capacity? No. But it was most certainly not a desolate affair with a mere handful of riders and a couple apathetic employees treating it as any other day, then quietly flipping the "off" switch as every other park guest unknowingly strolls by. It was very much like Rolling Thunder itself: nothing too big, nothing too small, but just right, seeping with nostalgia. The park will most definitely survive without its presence, but it will be missed. Please keep in mind that I'm not one of these nuts you're seeing on other forums, crying into their pillows about it or creating and signing petitions. I think it's just as asinine as you. I am, however, really happy that Rolling Thunder received a nice send-off and look forward to what Great Adventure ultimately decides to use the rest of its land for (aside from, you know, that much ballyhooed pathway to Zumanjaro).

Was anyone else there for the last rides on Rolling Thunder to it? I managed to get four rides (got to the park around 6:30) including the final public ride on the coaster.

I had a pretty decent year: - Six Flags Great Adventure (too many times to bother counting) - Dorney Park (3x) - Hersheypark - Kennywood - Kings Island - Holiday World - Six Flags St Louis - Six Flags Great America - Cedar Point Does it count if I drove past Knoebels? It was raining WAY too hard for us to consider visiting for a couple hours, I'm close enough where I'll go next year. I MIGHT go down to Kings Dominion (been there before) and Carowinds (first time) later this month, but not sure yet.

I think he was referring to Six Flags-owned and operated racing woodies.

^ LOL fine, Larry, fine. FINE!! More El Toro for me today, then.

^ I'm at GAdv right now, watching it go with riders. Sorry for the blurriness.

Just finished watching the POV video of Goliath, and all I have to say is... ... .... Looks like I should've planned my Midwest trip for 2014 instead of last month, especially when factoring in Banshee (though mostly for Goliath). Oh well, just one more reason to get back to SFGAm!

How about the view of the park that this ride will now provide? I can already imagine climbing up at dusk, all of the park lights on as the sun gently sets on the horizon in the distance. It will truly be one-of-a-kind. This was why I was really hoping for the ride to be on the front of the tower; all of this would be missing if it were facing any other direction.

This is perhaps what I'm most excited about. I'm really curious to see how this extra land is going to be used in the coming years. Based on it's location, additional rides in both the Golden Kingdom AND Plaza del Carnival are possible! I think a couple family-style flats would fit nicely. This is a valid point, and I'm hoping that it is taken into consideration with whatever they choose to do above. They did a good job addressing this issue a couple years ago with the Adventure Alley expansion, but one more decent family coaster I feel will be needed now that Rolling Thunder is rollin' out to pasture.

I'm really excited for this addition, but I am going to miss Rolling Thunder. So many memories.

................ Well I feel sheepish... GIFSoup

This was posted to SFGAdv's Facebook page about 45 minutes ago: The main takeaway I see? "...our new attraction..." Singular. Maybe we won't see any of those rumored additional rides in Golden Kingdom after all, just the all-but-confirmed drop tower.

/\/\ you took away all the capital letters. now i have nothing left to use for my post. nothing!!

I like it because it'll serve a duel-purpose: give me something new to try out next year AND give the GP another reason to stay in WWK for longer so lines in the main park will remain shorter for longer. This can really help Dorney earn some more money over the next couple of years to prepare for the park's next major addition.

I'm really excited for this addition! I like that it's very colorful; it pleases my inner child.

The ones on Kingda Ka touch mine a lot, if ride-ops push down enough on the restraints (I'm 6'0"). There are times when I'll get thrown into the restraints cresting over the smaller airtime hill, putting extra pressure on my clavicle bones. I had similar experiences on Storm Runner this season, too.

That wouldn't top MY ride list. My shoulders hurt just thinking about going through the top-hat upside-down as slow as it does. I personally don't give any clout to those rumors.