RCjunkie

And the Thirsty Pony will be open also.

You had me at 'generous open bar'. I'll make sure to save the date. But the real reason I want to go is to hear boldikus DJ your wedding reception and spin all his favorite Billy Joel vinyl. Thanks for sharing yet another fun TR update to this thread. Between your lunch with Shamu last time and now these other animal experiences in Discovery Cove I have to get back to Sea World. I have not been to BGT in over 20 years so looking foward to the next installment.

I hear you! The only thing worse would be a Green Bay Packer coaster at Mount Olympus. At least it is not a Cleveland Browns coaster. That would probably stop on the lift hill 90% of the time or be SBNO within the first year.

^ Also MiA is missing. You, like CF, have completely forgotten about that park.

So does that mean it’s a new credit now?

^ You should probably go since it is only a 3 hour car ride away. Just go with no expectations and you should have a decent time but nothing spectacular. I wish it was a better park since it is so close to us but it is not.

CP's attendance drop is all due to vengeful Mean Streak fanboys boycotting the park because of SV replacing it. You read it here first.

If it is true that attendance is dropping after all this maybe CF will change their focus a little and look at their smaller parks as opportunities for growth. Seriously though, that is a bummer if attendance is dropping after adding an attraction like SV. Wonder how that would affect their thinking for the next few projects at CP. Hope the numbers work out by the end of the season for them.

^ Follow VF15’s advice. Mad Mouse first due to capacity and then follow the rest of it and you should not need a fast pass at all.

Data (metrics). They are tracking data about the usage of FP+ and your visit to help them understand run their business better in the future. After this year they will have data on how much FP+ sales and usage is affected by adding a big new coaster attraction with SV. Then they can compare it to Valravn numbers two years prior to learn more about their business and how FP+ is affected. That is just one example. They will break down this data in many ways and apply it to running their business better to be more efficient and profitable.

And since I am smarter than you I bring you knowledge and great wisdom. It is obviously the flux capacitor that is broken.

You don't have to apologize to me for picking an inferior coaster to SV. That is on you.

^ Thanks for the update, I was just about to post if anybody knew what was happening with the rivers rising again here in Minnesota with all the rain. I have seen VF flood many times over the last 40 years but NEVER this late in the season. If this becomes a trend this will obviously not be good for the park. When they originally built the park they chose this spot because it had highway access and was close enough to the rest of the metro area. Plus it was the cheapest partial of land around at the time that met these requirements. Hope this decision does not come back to haunt the park. Tough location.

^

This wonderful beast. Hopefully I will get to ride it again this fall. Steel Vengeance in all its glory.

Bill actually ranks sky rides ABOVE coasters. That way he doesn't waste his time ranking coasters.

Hey Robb, can you drop some of your retro game knowledge and explain the ATARI 2800 Centipede cartridge? Did they name it 2800 instead of 2600 because it was a Japanese system or was this just a later updated reiteration of the 2600?

I was at CP earlier this week and just finally got a chance to do a little trip report. Well, SV lives up to hype. I was a little wary with praise being heaped on it in the bucket loads and people saying it is their new #1 but I have now joined that tribe after riding it. It is relentless. No let up . It also provides new elements wrapped up in sweet smoothness. The second half of the run is just as good as the first half. Plenty of air time with a great first hill. Got a FP+ on Monday when it was 71 degrees and overcast. Then got a dozen rides on SV alone because the overcast sky's kept some of the crowds away. Only once did we wait more than 15 minutes for SV using FP+. Just a few notes from the trip: - For me, SV is a back row or train coaster. Liked the front. LOVED the back. Not a bad seat though anywhere on this beast. - SV's crew ran a tight ship, great operations. Solid operations throughout the park for everything else I rode except Gatekeeper. - I really liked the way they restored the lights in the Maverick's tunnel. - Saw a Maverick roll back during ERT. We were locked and loaded in the first car still in the loading station when the train ahead of us shot up the ramp, stopped at the top, paused and then proceeded to slowly glide back to the original launch position. They tried to trouble shoot for about 3-4 minutes then thankfully made the call right away to let us out so we could get to other rides. The group out on the track unfortunately had to wait to be unlocked and escorted off. Don't know how long that took. - On Thursday morning we entered at the first Boardwalk entrance and not the Waterpark like the day before and got real lucky. They only had one person there at the entrance after you get past security and he must have been new and not known the drill for early entry. He checked the 15-20 people there to make sure they had either early entry passes or platinum passes which was odd because they already did that before we go into the holding zone. But then he proceeded to let us enter 10 minutes BEFORE the national anthem played instead of after. We got down to a little past the waterpark entrance until we stopped for the national anthem. After that we kept going to SV and got a ride in before 9:24 am (bonus, in the back row). Then went to Maverick for a 1 train wait followed by 2 MF rides with less than 10 minutes waits a piece. We got those four done by 10:00 am. What an ERT hour. - SV is really keeping the ERT lines much shorter than usual for Maverick and MF. - A huge THANK YOU to all of those who in this forum said to ride Cedar Downs. Thanks for getting through to my coaster/thrill ride thick skull to take the time to ride this. This was my fourth visit to CP and I had seen this ride, it looked unique but never had the desire to ride it. But since so many recommended it on this forum we gave it a shot. What a fun little ditty of a ride. A hidden gem. Made everyone smile while riding it. They just don't make them like this anymore. It is now a must do for me once every visit now.

Exactly. It is open and running this morning. If something was structurally wrong or there was a potential safety issue CP would not be running it.

^ Good to hear about the solid operations. On all my visits I have experienced the same thing but with the park having a hard time filling positions this year I was a little worried. I will be there starting Sunday and cannot wait to ride SV.

^ Don't forget about Lou Malnati's in Gurnee also.

Unfortunately we have nothing to talk about, hence the inactivity. Chick-Fil-a is at VF now? That is news to me. Where is it? Must have missed it on my couple visits this year. They haven't shown any effort at all yet. That is why I ask people to post if they see anything, thanks for the update even though it is nothing. Keep looking on visits. The plan to expand the back of the park by moving a service road and adding a parking lot has been publicly know since early 2015 and you know CF started even earlier on this plan to expand. They now have Federal, State and City approval for the project for a little over a year now so you would imagine we should see activity this year or next. But plans can change at any time. I agree with you that this area is now ripe for an overhaul. From the old RipTide location all the way to the train boarding station is now the most outdated and boring part of the park. If they could transform this area like Route 76 it would really improve the park. So much area and great location to work with. Hopefully more water park area. The waterpark is the smallest in the chain and I think if they add more water attractions with a dedicated entrance the park could easily generate more revenue. And with the removal of Excalibur in the plans hopefully a replacement of that coaster. But don't ask me because I have no idea. The park has surprised me the last five years every year (and in a good way) with Route 76. I did not see any of it coming so I am the wrong person to speculate. But with Northern Lights, bringing the antique cars back, refurbs with great lights on old classics like the Scrambler and Tilt-a-Whirl along with North Star and Delirious and how great it turned out I cannot complain at all. My two questions are: If and when will this project be started? And how long will it take? It is a BIG project. Still 90 days left in the season sans Valleyscare so hopefully we see some activity this year in the back. As usual, post if you see anything.

2020 - SkyRide gets extended all the way back to Maverick. coasterbill cuts ribbon at the launch ceremony and gets first public ride. His letter writing campaign pays off.

^ And that is why I am happy CF decided to go with a StarFlyer at VF.