Superbatboy

Looking at the two cams simultaneously, GaterKeeper absolutely eats people up compared to MF. There's like a 2.5 train average for every ONE of MFs. Raptor too

Gotta get my cam fix in before work

yes

Dragster back up, this cam thing is crazy addicting

Wish the trains still had the engines and tires on the back The airtime going over the top must've been awesome in the early years

No, people get that totally. Here's the deal: Apparently not, people are regurgitating the same rhetoric over and over. The park is dirty, there's no theming, the employees don't give a f***, the food sucks, Scream is sitting atop a parking lot, there are no flat rides, yada yada. No doubt everyone is entitled to their opinion, but why complain when you knew what you got yourself into the minute you exited the 5 freeway? Anyhoo, I digress LOL

Does your guess come with an engineering degree? No, my guess doesn't come with an engineering degree and it doesn't need one. I have been riding roller coasters long enough to have seen plenty of structural modifications done to rides to have a good idea what works and what doesn't. I won't be surprised if something is added or changed with the supports for the hill in question. A piece of steel was added between the two supports in question, just under the hill that passes through them. You can see it in some photos of Lightning Run on the Photo TR: Tour of Kentucky Kingdom thread. Great observation! Love to see arrogance put in check

Right!?!? I really feel like this is the dark horse for best new ride this year

Which brings it back to my original point, people having unrealistic expectations for SFMM. It's impossible for SFMM to operate like a Cedar Fair, Busch, Disney, Universal company given the circumstances they're under (too many coasters, high state/city tax, bringing in < 3 million guests annually, yada yada). Whether or not the circumstances they're under are self-inflicted or not is moot for the point I'm making. Never was I looking for an "excuse" for the park, I don't own any stake in Six Flags inc

Me too!! What a great advert for the park that coaster show was

A lot depends on what you want to get done that day - if getting most / all big credits is on your agenda then you pretty much have to splurge for Fast Lane Plus. Trust me if the sun is shining it will be crowded. It is also the unofficial Gay Day that day I believe - not sure how this effects crowds. Also, hotel guests and Platinum Pass holders get early entry at 9 AM - Where rides like MF, Maverick, GateKeeper and Iron Dragon are running. So even if you get in the park at opening there will already be a crowd in there. Assuming you don't have a Platinum Pass you could stay at Breakers Express (which is relatively cheap) so that you could get discount tickets and early entry. You mentioned you are going with a co-woker so this probably won't work for you. Either way I like hitting the park through Magnum entrance - just say you are going to Soak City when you enter the parking booth then you can park back there - you can get a jump on the crowd from the front and could get in TTD then Maverick pretty quick (if TTD is running yet). You can sneak out the front entrance later in the day to see how nice the new entrance is and take the obligatory pics. Wait times for MF, TTD and Maverick will most likely be over the 1 hour mark all day - probably longer if it is a gorgeous day. Also TTD has been down with no ETA for when it will be up again. GateKeeper is a people eater - and usually you can get on in under 15 mins later in the day as the crowd moves back into the park. Same w. Raptor. If you just want to check out the park, ride a few rides, etc. then a lot of the lesser coasters are 15 min or less waits - can be 30 mins if there are bigger crowds. The other unknown factor is the fact that the park was closed this weekend due to the water main break - so a lot of folks may return for their make-up trip. Now Sunday evenings tend to be lighter - so if you could somehow stay later the crowds usually start to thin on Sunday nights. Again, I'd need to know what your agenda is and can help you from there. Will you be able to make another trip out before leaving Ohio? Going on a 2nd Sunday you could maybe get in what you missed... I almost forgot - Saturday and Sunday morning's are Millennium Force walk back. Each person must have a current coaster club card - and a photo ID to match the name on the card - you must be at the Marina entrance by 8:50AM - after that you are free to do the other early entry rides! Also it's a good time to wait for a front seat ride on MF as it's usually only a few train wait. You would need to park at the front gate lot - towards the left. Then walk around Blue Streak following the blue pathway outside the park and you will come to the Marina entrance. If you and your co-workers are TPR or another club member this would be your best option - whether you go for Fast Lane or not. Sorry - remembered yet another tip that can help you - assuming Fast Lane is not an option. Spend $20 each and play the GateKeeper Plinko game (trust me don't do the MF or Maverick one's - as they are too "bouncy" - the Gatekeeper pegs are much softer and the chips go down straighter). Every time I've played this year - 5 tries for $10 - I have won at least 2 sets of "line skippies" which gets you front of line access to the big 4 (for a pair of riders) This is even better than Fast Lane Plus - you go in through the exit and get to ride pretty much right away - just can't wait for front seat on some rides. Finally, follow @TonyClarkCP on twitter as he will do a tweetup most likely where you can win things like Fast Lane Plus / line skippies / commemorative coins / free french fries and other cool stuff. This was awesome info, definitely bookmark this for the next time I go

That's really crazy, glad there were no injuries or ride damage

Never seen a photo of Maverick taken from that angle, awesome

Exactly! There was a nice wave of positivity regarding the park in the anticipation of Iron Colossus and people still find a way to bring in negativity and harp on the park's shortcommings.

Which in turn means less funds available for quality control... Not sure how that is "irrelevant" to my original point.

I don't feel that either, I just feel as though people don't acknowledge the possibility MM has higher operating costs than other parks of the same calibre due to it's location and the number of large roller coasters in operation.

I think people have unrealiatic standards for MM. People don't take into account how high MM's taxes probably are being located in LA county, the costly overhead of operating and maintaining 19 roller coasters, not pulling in the same guest numbers as the other big so cal parks, the cost of insuring rides over 150 feet in earthquake land, being part of a parent company with conservative ways after exiting a bankruptcy etc; Quality control costs money, and I don't think MM necessarily has a surplus of capital to bring it up to the standards of say a Cedar Fair park. Perhaps if they bulldoze half the rides and turn it into more of a family park then it'd be different. But that's not what MM is about, the locals love the park so they'll continue to do what works.

Haha, I do this too!!

Wow sounds pretty bad, you'd think considering CP is in such a remote area they'd have a back up or something.

^Agreed! People are so quick to rip a park apaet, just appreciate the fact that this place is finally up and running

Yikes!! Extremely disappointing for the park and guests.

Was watching the live cam earlier, the park looks so amazing at night

Wow the ride looks like it's running extremely well

I'm so obsessed with LR, want to ride it so bad... seems like the closest I'll ever get to riding a mega lite