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That makes a lot of sense actually! Schilke mentioned in a video interview for Wicked Cyclone that the ride will pick up a lot more speed once the paint comes off...! I wonder why they have to pull the trains out mid-day though? Would it hurt the performance or trains that bad if they just waited until end of day to do the maintenance?

Glad you finally got on the ride, but I'm surprised this happened on media day! The same thing happened to a few of us during the filming days (particularly Tuesday's filming), but I figured they wouldn't pull that on Media Day :/

^ after two filming days, I'd still like to go tomorrow (not Friday). I wonder if it'll be crowded for the gold pass preview... HMMMMM.... definitely not going over the weekend.

Which is not only completely possible, but probably also easy as fudge to set up. ^ the green chain was already slowed down considerably during the 2 train filming... The blue chain was always running quickly. I can't imagine how much slower the green chain can go. If it can go slower, it'll only buy them a few seconds more, not enough to take into account unloading/loading new passengers, personal belongings, readjustments... etc

^ I don't think it's necessarily about their groove, I think (like what jtaudio said) it's about the dispatches needing to be too quick for the trains to match up at the lift. The only way I see that working is if the green chain can be slowed down A LOT more than it was for the two days of filming, and the blue chain sped up a lot to meet with the green-side train. If you were at the filming (I was both days), you can see how hard it was for them to get it to align... and that's with them TRYING their best AND no one getting off the train. Even adding a 3rd train doesn't mean they have more time to dispatch, they still need to turn it around quickly. The ride is amazing even without the dueling, but it really makes it extra special when it does duel. Will it duel in the real world when you have the GP taking their time and not feeling rushed (like at the film shoots)? It's highly doubtful. Or at best, rarely. Is the ride amazing without dueling? Hell yes!

Some interesting tidbits I randomly heard from management today: (1) there will eventually be a real ride seat in front of the station for riders to check if they can fit on the ride (2) apparently, on NTAG, despite warnings about loose articles, they keep a tally of how many phones are dropped out of that ride, and they counted over 11,000 phones in one year, and regularly swoop up 200-300 phones in a single day (3) they wanted to market/announce the last time they were running Colossus backwards (Fright Fest exclusive), but couldn't because of TC (so obviously plans were already in motion all the way back in 2013) (4) the guy who designed the artwork on the trains and the Screampunk district was there today and rode TC (forget his name, starts with a D if I remember right?), Bonnie rode yesterday (I was on the train that dueled with her, that was fun ) (5) apparently some of the management will be arriving to start setup at 4am for media day, ouch! (6) there were at least two people who lost their phones on TC today

YES, yes, and YES .... that blue hill out of the high-five, that nice airtime hill after it (for some reason I was expecting the little airtime hill after the drop was gonna be better, but this one is), and that airtime hill under the stall ... back to back to back (that sequence is my favorite series of elements of the entire ride)... but overall, I would still SLIGHTLY give the edge to the green side.... slightly!

Besides the drops, mine is solidly that blue hill coming out of the high-five... WOW (from the back seat)!!!

For me, the only 'bumpy' part on TC is that last half of the green double-down, as it sets up to the stall. For some reason, every time, the train kinda makes this jerky maneuver to the right at that part. Nothing drastic, but it stands out compared to the perfection of the rest of the ride

^ I noticed that too... they were difficult to lift, but obviously not that bad, it's different from other rides. The seats are comfortable, albeit a touch small. I enjoyed TC so much I've decided to wake up at 6:30am for the 2nd day's shoot! Their next coaster can't possibly live up to TC, can it? Was on this train in the video, w00t

^ agreed, I don't think in practice TC will ever/rarely duel, and here's why... they were running two trains today, and most of the time they were trying to get it to duel to capture on film. The first train would leave, and the 2nd train on the block brakes outside the station would come in, and they would dispatch it pretty soon after the 1st train went down the lift, and even then they would sometimes miss it and it wouldn't duel... and that's with NO riders coming on/off the trains. I highly doubt when you add in the GP to this mix that they'll be able to dispatch quick enough. One lap around is too fast. I don't even think Cedar Fair could pull that off, let alone SF. They POSSIBLY could have a shot if they force users to leave their stuff in storage before the ride (like X2 @ SFMM). When it does duel, it's super fun!!! Seeing the other train run that close to you through all of the elements is very interesting, and truly does add that extra dimension/excitement to the ride!

What other coasters are you comparing this to? Either way great to hear I'm one of the few who had X2 at the top of my list, followed by Maverick, Bizarro. Now they are all pushed down one

Each group has gotten to ride about 3-6 times... with two breaks so far for them to change camera positions and for dinner (Panera bread). If you're not part of the group riding, it's a good 20-30 minute wait for them to switch out to the next group.

5 times in a row in the front @ filming. AMAZING!!! They're only running two trains, so syncing up requires both trains to be on the block brakes and no/few passengers getting off. The blue hill downward after the high five is superb with the hand choppers! The stall is great, and the rest of the hills throw you up or lateral (the 2nd dip turns slightly right on the double-down, and the green side flying under the blue-side zero-g roll). May be my new #1 coaster... hopefully will get to ride a few more times this evening before I officially decide. UPDATE: yup, in the back, #1 coaster

cinepro, questions (1) if the train coming out of the station isn't near the lift yet, does the other train come to a stop before the green lift? Or does the blue-green transition train go up the lift no matter if the other train is ready or not? (2) how come they weren't running the front seats on the purple train? (3) how did they light up TC at night? or is it dark? (4) which parts gave you 'ejector' airtime? any floater airtime? sounds like you had an amazing time!

Just got back from Knott's, first time there in 10 years: • Xcelerator is GREAT! Got to go on that in the front and back, loved it! Log ride upgrade is a lot better than what I remember. Montezuma is Montezuma. And Silver Bullet is my new favorite California inverted! • Voyage to the Iron Reef = the 3D was less "immersive" than I thought, and you could totally see the projectors (it would be so easy to hide them!). Some trains did not slide open to let the passengers in (it happened twice out of the 3 times I went on it)! AND my gun, though it was registering my score and vibrated, did not show it's indicator on the screen on one of my rides! (apparently that train was not the only one with a gun firing blanks). Hopefully these bugs are worked out for tomorrow's public opening. With that said, the physical sets inside were nice, and the mid-ride transition was nice to give you time to rest. Oh, and the scoreboard located down the stairs after you ride were completely incorrect (wrong scores matched to the wrong faces). Lots of little things they need to work out, but overall a good addition to the park.

Monday is soooo early.... I opted for Tuesday, and asked if a late arrival on Monday is ok... going to have major FOMO if I have to wait until Tuesday lol UPDATE: they flipped the times around, will be there Monday now still asked about a late arrival on Tuesday, predicting I'll still have major FOMO then

I didn't know I had "riding a rollercoaster at 5am" on my bucket list until now... lol

That's too bad about the cancellation. I wonder if they'll try to do it before the opening, or at this point wait until after? (I guess it may be difficult to do it after if the park is open every day)

Are you bringing clothing to change with the weather, or to change in case they want you in the front of the train? I forgot about the food part... I guess I'll just bring snacks and water, and hope for the best on the rest once there. Thanks for asking about the food part. iPhone I'll bring in I guess... I assume there will be a place we can store our bag? :O Can't wait to plop my a** on that seat!

Does anyone know if bringing your phone to the TC filming is allowed? It says no photography, but also says to bring something to kill time between takes not sure what to do...?

Definitely greedy, but not judging I wanted to do Thursday too, but going to the Voyage to the Iron Reef preview instead ....

Just heard back from SFMM, filming on Wednesday <3

(2) no snacks, just water ... they'll make you throw all snacks away at the metal detectors (5) no, they don't have a separate parking lane for prepaid (that I know of)

Did you ride with friends? Or did they line you up in the order they wanted? What did they do with the footage? Were you interviewed throughout the day?