CaptainUnknown

On weekdays, there's a sign that the queue closes as early as 9pm. For my 2 days at the park this week, it closed at 9 on Tuesday, about 9:30 on Wednesday. Standby hovered around 2 hours all day. FL+ 30-45 minutes. And standby is mostly uncovered. Side note: AlpenFury was my 300th coaster.

Water Park additions usually have a higher ROI than roller coasters. It's a cheap way to get a lot of people into the park. Also, 2027 would be the park's 50th operating season since it didn't open during 2020.

Ozzy Osbourne, 76. I heard while in line for Wonder Mountain Guardian.

Yesterday was my first visit to the park. Ride of Steel is great. Bookended my day by riding back, then front. Weird seeing Batman and Wonder Woman merch in its gift shop with no S-shield in sight. Rode Predator front row and the retracked sections are bizarrely smooth. Boomerang crew didn't realize a couple restraints didn't unlock and left the riders there for a couple minutes. Saw Mind Eraser test, but don't know if it ever opened or not. The park has an interesting layout and an identity crisis. Be interesting to see how the merged company takes it going forward. Also, the slice of pizza I got next to Predator was better than I thought it would be. Cost was still outrageous, though. It was also my first time using my Valleyfair branded pass at a Six Flags branded park.

Hell yeah! Now stay open until I can ride on the 22nd/23rd.

Only 2.5 hours, even with bad ops? This makes me feel somewhat better about my trip in a couple weeks. This park will be my first stop after an early flight into BUF. There's a good chance I'll be awake 24 hrs straight by the time I get into the park. Should be able to speed run through and get to my hotel and crash.

Weird Al on his Bigger and Weirder tour. Getting out of the venue was a nightmare, though.

Alternatively, I might suggest Little Amerricka. Maybe 15 minutes out of the way, could speed run in under an hour (with rerides), and have a much better time.

Fellow American also visiting for the 1st time in mid-july. Heard there's a marketing shoot scheduled for July 1. But I also heard that official media day just got postponed. I don't know either date of that or if marketing filming has been delayed. Fingers crossed for us all.

For what it's worth, all US Intamin straddle coasters are down right now. DarKoaster, Wave Breaker, and Arctic Rescue. Not sure if it's related.

Because it would be an Orion-sized troll towards enthusiasts and it's fun to watch people's heads explode.

...it came from Six Flags Great America. I doubt they'd want it back.

Is Howl-o-Scream a separately ticketed event? I'm looking at going on a Saturday in early October.

With the 2025 season now underway, just wanted to give a couple thoughts on the state of the park and what could happen in the future. I visited on Passholder preview on Saturday 5/10. Park president at enthusiast events has stated that a new coaster is a "when," not an "if." Park needs infrastructure improvements before that happens. While he hasn't elaborated, I'm guessing this includes in part: the entry experience (parking tolls/parking lot/park entrance), dealing partly with the Flood Plain, upgrading certain facilities such as restrooms, and food service upgrades. I didn't see that much noticeable work on any of these during my visit. And it's worth noting how many closed--as in, shuttered, food service locations there are around the park. Ride signs for select attractions could be updated. Renegade's sign is extremely faded. Wild Thing could use new sign to go with its paint job. The starflyer and Disk'O only have the ride safety sign and could use a logo sign. Per maintenance: No titan track planned for Renegade. Wild Thing MCBR unlikely to ever turn off/down--final brake run too short. Park pres wants more limited time events a la Grand Carnivale, though none are currently scheduled. I remember getting a survey on this a couple years ago. Park pres is excited for the park's 50th anniversary. While the park opened in 1976, it didn't open at all in 2020. Either 2026 or 2027 could be used to celebrate. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a 2 year celebration. The Skycoaster has been removed from the park. The footings for the arch have been removed. The back spike footer still seems to be there. The op booth is still up. The concrete path has been torn up. I picked up a Worlds of Fun Mamba hat in a gift shop. It was tucked in among Wild Thing hats.

Express is better than single rider. Velocicoaster standby is better than single rider. In park counter service is shit. CityWalk can be better. I remember getting some good grub at Hard Rock hotel when I stayed in 2022. Didn't have a car for that trip, though. Take the boat to/from the hotel. Your feet will thank you. I believe adults can ride pteranadon flyers only during special after hours events.

The lift is drive tires. The ride cannot operate in rain. The roof will keep it dry.

I touched the weiner.

I was at a con this weekend and got to meet David Howard Thornton in character as Santa Art while I was dressed as my own clown: Chortlez, The Mad. I went back later and got the printed photo signed. There was also a 360 photo booth I went in. video.mp4

I am quite intrigued by this news. I have yet to decide if it's going to be a net positive, neutral, or negative thing. I know a lot of people don't like Palace. But aside from Steel Curtain being down for my day at Kennywood and a Karen encounter at Idlewild, I've had positve experiences at their parks. While SDC is the only Herschend park I've visited yet, I can not spend enough time there. Herschend doesn't do High Thrill Halloween events. As soon as they bought Kentucky Kingdom, it got axed a year or two after it began. Will the relevant Legacy Palace park (Kennywood, Adventureland, Lake Compounce) keep their events, or will they switch to the more family friendly events? Herschend has done very little with Wild Adventures since picking it up in 2007. They're really only now touching Kentucky Kingdom. Show of hands: who remembers they had Darien Lake for a minute? How are they going to treat the new parks? I'm a big fan of the Palace Potato Patch fries. I hope they keep those/spread them to Legacy Herschend parks. Also, spread the Cinnamon Bread to Palace. Prior to this news, I would've put money down that Herschend would have acquired Six Flags Frontier City and/or Lost Island. Adventureland recently announced they're converting the onsite Adventureland Inn to employee housing (accompanying campground and restaurant will still be public). Depending on how long this deal was in the works, I wonder which company made that decision; and if it was Palace, will Herschend reverse it?

What's in the shed?

Since the seats can rotate (at least for load/unload), I wonder if this will be an inverted version of the Cosmic Rewind trains. Can it rotate for some show scenes, or will be it static forward for the main layout?

I'm expecting a full retracking with new trains. Likely from Gravity Group. Though I wouldn't be all too surprised if they went the RMC Iron Horse route.

Slight correction: the retrack is being done by RMC. They're just adding GCI trains.

You ever see Ocean's 11?

Looks like it's coming along nicely. I am curious however as to how the theming will play from rows 2 on back. B&M invert trains don't have the same sight lines as the old Arrow suspended.