VegasBaby

It probably would be too small for a Hyper without them getting pretty creative with the layout. A Hyper would be my first choice as there are no B&M Hypers on the West Coast and they are capacity monsters. But a dive coaster would be a great option and would give the park something really unique for the region.

If they do get rid of Boomerang, then it better be replaced by a major new coaster. The park has lost Windseeker, Riptide, and Screaming Swing without any replacements. I'm all for removing old rides that don't have good ridership or constantly break down, but they should be replaced by new rides. The Riptide/Boomerang area will be a pretty decent plot of land. It probably won't be enough room for a Hyper, but a Hyper would fit if they got rid of the tower and move Wipeout as someone suggested. Based on the latest attendance numbers, the park is doing very well, so I don't think an investment on the scale of a Hyper should be out of the question. If not a Hyper, then something like a Megalite or a Chance GT-X would be a great fit for the park. Bottom line is that it's been 12 years since a major thrill coaster was put in at Knotts and it's time to add another one, especially if Boomerang gets the axe.

It's great to finally see an opening date and I'm glad it wasn't delayed too long. Those new trains look great too, I really think GhostRider could become a Top 10 woodie once again!

If they got a free spin, it would be a S&S model for sure. I really doubt SF will build any more Zac Spins after how terrible Green Lantern at SFMM turned out. That ride is just plain painful and not fun at all, trust me. The S&S models actually look like fun and have better capacity. The S&S would be a nice addition to SFSTL but it wouldn't solve their problem of not having a "Tier One" ride as Prozach said.

The biggest issue with SFSTL is that it just doesn't have that signature ride that people will travel to the park for. It has a nice lineup of coasters and the JL dark ride was a great addition (hopefully the updates will fix the reliability issues), but it's the only SF park that doesn't have a RMC or a Hyper coaster. HW has Voyage and Thunderbird (plus the water coasters), while SDC has Outlaw Run and is rumored to be getting a major B&M next year. I visit SFSTL because my wife has family in the area and I already have a SF season pass, so it doesn't cost me anything to go to the park when I'm in town. But I certainly wouldn't plan a trip just to go to SFSTL. On the flip side, we are planning a trip next summer just to visit HW, SDC, and KK.

SFMM had a single rider line and a grouper for Twisted Colossus when it first opened, but they abandoned both of them after a few months. A single rider line makes a lot of sense for the Joker, but seeing how they don't have one for Superman (a ride that really needs it), I doubt we'll see one for Joker.

Memorial Day weekend is generally when Six Flags debuts their new rides, but they have been strangely silent about The Joker. If they were opening it in two weeks, then they would've had the media day already scheduled. Since we haven't heard anything about a media day, it doesn't give me much hope that it will open Memorial Day weekend.

I will be in Chicago for work next month and I'm hoping to hit up SF Great America while I'm there. Does anyone know if I will get free parking there with my SFMM Gold Season pass? Also, will my meal plan work there or are they limited to just the park you purchased them at? Lastly, does anyone know if the other SF parks do a Gold early entry like SFMM does? Any advice would be appreciated.

My bad, I thought you were saying it was $150 per ticket higher, not in total. You won't be able to take the Hogwarts Express without the hopper, but that would be the only thing you'd miss.

I think you are reading the numbers wrong, a 2 day park hopper is $220 and a 2 day single park ticket is $170, so that's only a difference of $25 per day. https://www.universalorlando.com/Theme-Park-Tickets/General-Admission.aspx

I agree with this, I could see a 10% bump to around 4 million at most, but a 52% increase is just absurd. They are either including Soak City in those numbers and or they are just plain wrong.

I really hope we see some testing soon. I know they already announced a delay, but I'm hoping the delay is only 2-3 weeks and not 2-3 months like what's happening with Lightning Rod.

I had to watch it after you wrote this, and I face-palmed when he didn't even try to describe what a dive coaster was. Guess she was the prettiest lady he had talked to in a while! As for SFMM... it would be interesting if they tried to get a dive coaster in the next few years because of CP, but as much as I do love dive coasters, I'd be more in favor of them getting something completely new and unique. Of course, it's gotta be record-breaking! I think a dive coaster would be a huge hit for SFMM as I doubt many of the typical SFMM crowd has ever been on one. They could make it a little bigger than Valravn and then market it as the biggest, fastest dive coaster in the world. Although, if SFMM is going to spend money on a major B&M coaster, I'd rather see them get a Giga like Fury 325 than a dive coaster. But if a Giga is out of the question, then a record breaking dive coaster would be my 2nd choice.

Really wish Knott's would've gotten the Hyper/Giga that was rumored. A Hyper/Giga would round out their coaster collection nicely and give them another "thrill" coaster to go along with their Big 3 (Xcelerator, SB, and Ghostrider). I love the full rehab that GhostRider is getting, but the park could really use another major coaster attraction. The last major coaster was SB and that was back in 2004. CF has done a great job with the ride rehabs and park updates over the last 10 years or so, but it's time Knott's got their big time B&M hyper coaster.

I love Griffon (and its sister Sheikra), and this looks like a better version of it. I am really hoping to finally get to CP this summer and check this bad boy out (along with all of their other incredible coasters). There's rumors of SFMM getting one of these next year, so it would be awesome to finally have a dive machine on the West Coast. I doubt many of the SFMM crowd has ever been on one, so I think it would be a huge hit for the park.

I believe that LA schools get out on June 10th, so I would expect weekdays to be crowded from June 13th until school resumes in mid-August.

This is good advice, I would also recommend doing X2, Tatsu, Superman to start off your day. The FullThrottle line is always around 45-60 min, but doesn't get as long as X2, Tatsu, or Superman. As long as TC is running 3 trains, the line moves really well and will be around 30-45 min as was previously mentioned. I wouldn't skip Goliath though, it's a fun hyper with a great first drop, a big floater airtime hill, and a really forceful helix at the end. Plus, it is incredibly smooth and the probably one of the most comfortable coasters ever built. It's a backseat ride for me, so that's where I'd recommend sitting. Also, if you want to get one last ride before closing, just make sure you are in line before closing time and you will get to ride. They chain up the lines at closing time but everyone already in line gets to ride.

If we don't get a coaster, a giant frisbee would be a great choice. They are probably my favorite flat ride and would be a huge hit with the GP.

That's great news, I love both of those coasters and I can now save some money by not having to get the Platinum flash pass. Yolo's line moves slow because they hold people back and then let a bunch through at a time. But the wait is hardly ever over an hour and that's with the Yolo plaza completely full. During spring break, our average wait times for Yolo was around 45 minutes. (Except when it had a rollback when we were in line and that added another 15 minutes or so.) I think the Yolo crew is one of the better crews in the park and they do a great job with a low capacity but very popular ride. Since X2 was only running one train, I heard people saying they waited 2-3 hours during Spring Break. We hit X2 at early entry and got two rides in before most of the GP even got into the park. People love to hate on X2, but I still love it and try to ride it multiple times each visit. I have also been impressed with TC's crew my last few visits and it seems like they are making an honest effort to get the trains to race. However, the GP still doesn't get it and my racing experience has been less than 50% lately--mostly due to people having to put stuff on the side once they've already been seated.

If SFSTL is going to spend $9-10 million on a coaster, I'd much rather see them get something like a Chance Hyper GT-X. Lightning Run at KK only cost $7 million and from all accounts, it's a terrific ride. Eurofighters are fun, but the capacity issues keep them from being in larger parks. I don't think we will see SF install more of them after their experience with DDD. An Intamin Meglite would be another great choice for SFSTL and I think they run about $10 million. Mack and Premier are also making some fun new coasters than don't break the bank. So there are some great options out there for the park if a $20 million B&M is out of the question.

They should be feeling the heat, HW just added the world's first launched wing coaster (which I hear is awesome), and SDC is supposed to be getting a major B&M next year. SFSTL really needs a new steel coaster to keep up with the competition.

The Starflyer at SFDK is only 150 feet tall because that park has a height limit. It must not be an OSHA issue because it's been in operation for 5 years, so I don't see any reason SFMM can't get a 300 foot version.

I guess you missed the Funtime Starflyer that SFDK has been operating since 2011.

Personally, I'd skip Knott's this time since two of the best rides (Xcelerator and GhostRider) will be closed.

Still get a wristband with the Platinum pass. It's for letting you re-ride immediately if you wish. We never used that feature when we there back during Spring Break. I sorta felt bad enough jumping the queue as it was!! haha That reminds me, it was the week before Easter, on a Wednesday we went. Parked the car right on park opening, but we didn't even get on our first coaster till after 1pm. Spent so long in the Will Call line to get our LA Go passes processed and then so long in the line to actually get in the bloody park, and then another massive line to get the Flash Pass. Was kicking myself I didn't purchase them the day before at the very least. The re-ride feature is one of the overlooked bonuses of the Platinum Flash Pass. Like another poster mentioned, just don't sit in the front or back car if you want to be able to re-ride. You can't re-ride on Lex Luther, but you can just reserve another ride on it as soon as they check you in. I would always recommend buying the Flash Pass online as it guarantees you one in case they sell out and there's a special line for online purchases (and it's way shorter). My typical strategy is to hit X2 once or twice at opening and then grab my Flash Pass. My personal record using the Platinum Flash Pass is 48 rides: X2 2 FT 1 Tatsu 10 Viper 2 Apocalypse 2 Goliath 8 Superman 1 Green Lantern 2 (never riding it again, I gave it two chances and both sucked) Riddler 4 Batman 4 Lex Luther 4 Scream 4 TC 4 Towards the end of the day, I had ridden all of the Flash Pass rides so much that I decided to end the night on TC. I got in line around 8:30pm and got 3 rides on TC to cap off a crazy day (park closed at 10pm). So other than my two rides on X2 at opening and my 3 additional rides on TC at the end of the day, I didn't wait in any lines. I don't think I'll ever do this many rides in one day again, but it was fun to see how many I could get using the Platinum Flash Pass.