ejot

I actually wouldn't mind TSA-style full body scanners in front of rides. Especially if it meant we could get nice things like Dueling Dragons back. Sounds absurd, and has its drawbacks, but could probably work for the big resort parks. Don't want anyone seeing your anonymous flabby heiny? Fine, don't ride.

^ But that's not a proper single rider line, that's just an asinine policy of granting single riders a free Flash Pass for the ride. Which: (a) doesn't fulfill the purpose of filling in seats that would otherwise remain empty, and (b) would justifiably anger other waiting guests. It *really is* just allowing people to cut for no particular reason. Six Flags being Six Flags, in other words. In the more reasonable, traditional implementation of SRL, IE a separate queue going all the way to the boarding point, with an operator grabbing from it to fill in seats that are left empty by the general queueing/boarding, I agree with ajfelice completely. A group using the lane is abusing nothing. They're giving up seat preference and any chance of riding together in exchange for the benefits of using the lane. Expanding on this, I actually find the term "single rider line" itself to paint the wrong picture. It should be something like "empty seat fill-in line" (I'm sure something more eloquent could be imagined). Then clearly state the terms: By using this line, you give up seat preference and grouping preference. Long as you agree to those conditions, anyone can, and should be, allowed to use it. This should minimize other guests feeling like they're being cut, if they clearly understand their opportunity to use it themselves, should they wish to agree to the terms. This would actually be a very interesting scholarly analysis with properly controlled variables, etc. Can an SRL actually increase throughput in practical use, and is it a positive ROI practice? Either parks have done this, and it's not profitable, or they're lazy/presumptive. I do suspect the latter.

Bringing this back because these awesome machines deserve more discussion. What manufacturer/model is DelGrosso's ride? It's very, very similar. Having ridden it, and then StratosFear (Knoebels) on back-to-back days, multiple times each, DelGrosso's somehow feels superior to me. It's the only ride I've ever experienced the inability to keep a straight face, even after many rerides.

Nrthwnd: Such an awesome picture!! Interesting. A planned investment of $192 per projected first-year guest is very high, getting into Disney territory. Magic Kingdom was $193, DCA $234, Epcot $322 (source). So this should be quite the intricately themed park, should it come to fruition.

Spent a full day at Knoebels alone yesterday and it was glorious as always. Even more so due to low crowds and walk-ons everywhere, including Impulse, which is fantastically fun. Probably rode 10-12 times. Awesome hangtime on the slow roll at the end of the course, best part of the ride IMO. Power surge is reinstalled and it looks absolutely brand new. Flyers was running fulll throttle as usual and even novices were snapping cables! Did the Haunted Mansion for my first time, and it was the first haunted house I've ever genuinely enjoyed. Also did the Skyride for my first time - totally worth it! If you skip this you're missing out on a great, relaxing ride with awesome views. Oh, the seats on Impulse are enormous. Saw a guest ride that I'm pretty sure would fit on no other coaster I've ever seen. They have inserts that snap into the seats to make them smaller for young riders, very cool system for accommodating a huge range of body types. Hmph, the ops were very strict about making me walk around every time, even with station completely empty. Not that it's a long walk but still.... Going to combine my Knoebels pics with a few other parks for a separate photo-TR later, but for now I'll leave a few here. You're now greeted by Impulse upon driving up to the park. These are the "kiddie inserts". It's back! Cobra roll!

So once again Knoebels proves how relentlessly freakin' awesome they are. Well, except at proofreading. Knoebels and Robb operate on the same wavelength!

And when they neglect to do any sort of upkeep, the effect only gets stronger. Brilliant! No seriously, I really think this must have crossed their minds. edit: ^Guy beat me to it, lol There's one sign on the station that they absolutely just beat the crap out of, with a ball-peen hammer or something, to look like hail damage. That must have been fun. And actually they are still finishing up the themeing I guess. The black paint on the building where the airplane is crashing into it wasn't there opening day. Actually I think it's better w/o the paint.

I stopped in at DelGrosso's for a couple hours on Sunday. Rock Start is great, my first of this ride type since 1001's been down so long (still is, btw). Good enough for a couple rerides as there was no line (though the park did seem pretty full). Waterpark expansion is absolutely HUGE. It looks as if it will more than double the overall size. Lot of water = lots of pipes This gives you an idea how much bigger this side of the park will now be.

Did Fahrenheit track get a new color? Didn't see it until after dark, but the track looks much yellower than the orange I remember. Got the 2nd to last ride on Laff Trakk tonight. The queue was filled thru four of the six switchbacks in the outside area when I arrived at 10. Ride was down until 10:20, and I rode at 11:15. The operators were FLYING through the line, you could see how badly they wanted to get done for the night. Still, if there was really a 2h+ wait for this, must have been spilling into the midway. The cars are a little smaller diameter-wise than your standard four-in-an-arc spinning mouse cars, and they're two rows of two seats facing away from each other. The upper body part of the seats are roomy and very comfortable, but legroom is very cramped (for reference I'm 6'0"). The lap bars didn't feel too good; they kind of hit my thighs at an odd angle. Wider guests should fit pretty well, taller guests may be uncomfortable. Height limit is 6'5" to ride. My thoughts? I was expecting a decent coaster with trippy, mind-blowing effects. In reality, the coaster itself (layout, elements, etc) is excellent - actually quite thrilling - but the effects were slightly underwhelming. The main problem for me is, there's so much glow, the whole building is basically lit up. Nothing at all like the animated POV with the pitch black background. You can see all the track and the supports, and it kills the "dark ride" aspect of it. In the animated POV one of coolest parts IMO where the cars spun through a segment of huge mirrors toward end of ride. In reality, the mirrors are much smaller, and they're on the brake run where the car is not even spinning any longer, but realigned and locked in place. The queue line is fun. I won't spoil what's inside. Nothing new or crazy, but it kept people engaged. Had I not seen their animated video when the ride was announced, I'd probably have nothing but good things to say. But that video built it up so much for me. GP feedback was very polarized - I've never heard so many people commenting on a ride experience coming out the exit. 80% "that was soooo fun" and 20% "I waited all that time for... THAT?" All in all, I think it will be a successful addition.

Shoot, now I am going to have to get down there after all. I kept planning and then canceling Carowinds trips. I'm a huge fan of Rebel Yell so this is sad news indeed.

^ That would also explain the difference in our (yours vs mine) initial perceptions of the airtime, so I'm thinking you're on track. I did hear lots of screeching Friday as well, worsening in the PM. I didn't think it lost much at the end of the course, but I can't compare to media day ...

This was the very first lap after WC opened to public. They look happy!! Hey, row three: Get 'em up!

^I'm certain he means you just can't stay in your seat for an immediate reride. "Underwhelming" implies an emotionally disappointed response, which I most certainly did not feel: The airtime (which was all over the course) perfectly complemented the rest of the experience. I'm not of the camp that believes the craziest, most sudden airtime is the absolute be-all, end-all of a ride. And no, I didn't feel Skyrush or Toro air, and that was just fine with me. Maybe I was too belted/stapled in to get the full effect ... maybe the seats I got weren't the airtime sweet spots ... maybe the three Aleve I took to knock down a 100 fever and sore throat numbed my senses...? Who knows. Just my impression. I would prefer that the takeaway from my review be: This thing is glorious, I have NO complaints or disappointments about the ride experience itself, and EVERYONE needs to get in a car or on a plane or boat and get on this thing!

They were allowing unlimited FP access today. One guy marathoned it all day long thru flashpass, we'd see him go buy us two or three times for each of our rides. One of my group sat next to him around 6pm and he mentioned he was on ride 25. Now, this was a gold pass preview day, so no guarantee this will be the policy for standard public operation, but I strongly suspect it will be. There were a ton of school groups today and I actually felt kind of bad for the kids who got to see WC run all day with screaming riders but got denied whenever they tried to get in line. They needed a staff of 3-5 security at two stations to keep non-pass holders out of the line. I saw at least ten people try to sneak in but they all got caught. Was thrilled to see waits under a 1/2h all the way up to 2pm, so decided to head over for a "quick ride" on Bizarro. Ugh, one train running, slow ops, line cutters all over, and a wait pushing 100min for front or back of train. When we ended up back at WC around 4:45 the wait was about 75min. Part of the themeing has a "weather forecast" on the "news" announcing the "wicked cyclone" coming. It was pretty cool because the last names of the anchors, meteorologists, etc were nods to people involved with the original or rethought rides: Cobb, Schilke. There were other names but I didn't recognize them. The other impressive themeing element is the plane crashing into the station - it's a real plane! The 1ockers are set up horribly, and one of the two booths was not even working. That made for a real cluster. My only other beef is the assigned seating for the ride. I guess I'm just too sensitive to this, but it really does irk me. I ended up with one ride in row 2 and four rides in rows 8-10. Of course the ride was absolutely phenomenal from anywhere, but there was some definite disappointment in not getting a chance at front row or back car. The course itself is just indescribably blissful. Due to always riding hands up all the way, my first couple laps I kept smacking my ride partner right in the noggin, haha. There are just so many quick snappy turns that catch you totally off guard until you really get to know the course. Love coasters that trick me. The inversions are more pleasurable than any other I've experienced, short of pretzel loops. The airtime is not quite as dramatic as I was anticipating, but on a ride this good, it doesn't NEED to be the main point of focus. The twists and rolls are so much fun that it took me a couple rides before airtime was even on my mind. The park has a winner. They just need to let people pick their own &$#% seats for the whole experience to shine to its full potential.

The ride is fantastic! Truly a unique experience for the northeast. Only downside they are assigning seats, and it appears this will be standard operating procedure . Line for passholder preview is only 20-30 min. They're having some issues with restraints staying stuck closed after unlocking. Full TR later.

Quassy Park is about a 1/2h from Lake Compounce and directly en route to Great Adventure. It's a free-admission / pay-per-ride park with a small but very fun Gravity Group woodie called Wooden Warrior. Open till 10pm on the day you're passing through. It would add less than an hour to your trip for a stop off and 1-2 laps on the coaster, so I'd definitely recommend it. The park is very small and nothing else is a must-do, although their new fully inverting frisbee-type ride runs a great program.

I don't follow. Why did TC prevent them from announcing backwards Colossus for FF2013? Why were they able to announce it backwards for last spring?

IKR? This conversation had to have happened: Hershey: We'd like you to build a new coaster here. *points to map* Intamin: Uh... where? Hershey: Right where I'm pointing. Intamin: But... but... that whole area is covered with rides. Hershey: Yeah.......? Intamin: Okay, we'll just build one directly on top of that one. *points to Comet* Hershey: Cool, cool, and while you're at it, just go ahead and make it the best ride ever created, okay? Intamin: Sure thing. And thus Skyrush was born.

I rode a Wacky Worm (my first!) that Strates Shows travels with at a local fair on Sunday. After the fourth lap, I started becoming concerned the ride would never stop. But it did.

SFNE of course for WC opening! Followed right up by Lakemont/DelGrosso, Hershey, and Knoebels for some LaffTrakk and Impulse hotness. I'll call it the "newest-to-oldest-to-newest" road tour.

I'd like to see one at GAdv simply to geek out on the technology in the trains. They're beautifully engineered, and it seems that effort plays a particularly large roll in the positive response. Simple concept, difficult to perfect ... looks like they've done it.

^If one of the trustees hits the powerball, the park would probably get out of the hole. So there's a solid 1 in a couple hundred million chance. Not sure how I missed following up on this but...... drumroll, please.... The park will be opening!! Source. The bankruptcy court approved one of the loans (really??), and gave them until Aug 1 to file their bankruptcy reorganization plan. Which will of course be laughable, sadly. It's really painful to watch because I do like the park and their coaster is shockingly good. Unfortunately, they need $5-7million immediately invested to bring this back to sustainable operation. If anyone was interested, they'd have already done it. A shame, because I do believe with that amount and some proper management, it could be profitable, and resume normal operation. Anyway, I'm just happy for the chance for a few more Blue Streak rides.

Cool! Looking forward to watching this. While you're in the Hershey area, you'd REALLY be missing out if you didn't take at least half a day (much more preferrably) to stop in at Knoebels Amusement Resort. It's very different from the big chain parks and may not seem like much on paper - but in real life it's just ... It even ranks up near the top of many enthusiast's favorite overall parks in the country! Enjoy the last bits of planning and the building anticipation, and safe travels!

Less than a week!! So. Freaking. Excited.

Kentucky Kingdom and Beech Bend Park are always options too, and much closer than IB.