Arthur_Seaton

^ Good point! It's a particularly-wet water ride as well.

I did see your pics! It looks like the young women you're sharing a flume ride with would benefit from hearing that message a little louder It was really only the Wonder Woman crew who were announcing the mask mandate today, and it didn't have a great deal of impact for anyone in that queue or on the ride.

To be honest, that's what came to mind while I was there: they're doing the best they can. I'm assuming they've had to scale back to a skeleton crew, and that was perceptible on rides like iRat that appeared to be running trains with just two ride ops, one of which was both checking restraints and manning the controls. Given the circumstances, I couldn't help but think how challenging it must be to work under those conditions, with that kind of a crowd. It was disappointing to see employees with masks worn incorrectly, and I suspect that an increased security presence might prompt a little more pressure to uphold the rules. But I think it really comes down to the fact that peoples' experience of the pandemic and their response to it is all over the map.

^^ It was today, Bert — from about 11:15am to 2:00pm. The mask business was bad. I'm over getting bent out of shape about such things, but I did get a few stealth-creeper snapshots to send to friends. I'm not posting them here because, in a couple of cases, the masks were emblazoned with political messages and, well, not worn on the face. I did get a few general panos of rope drop / super-spreader pens as well. I must say, though, I stopped by the outlets on my way back to Austin, and it was the same business there, mask-wise.

I visited the park today — my first time back to this or any park since quarantine. My expectations were low, and the visit was more of a reconnaissance mission to assess how SFFT is handling restrictions. The trip was predicated on the clause that if I sensed guests were being too reckless or park protections seemed sketchy, I'd bail. I did indeed end up bailing after just two hours, but that was really because the park was more crowded than I find tolerable in or out of quarantine. I try to keep in mind that folks' experience and concerns about safety varies, and that perhaps not everyone will be as cautious as I've been since lockdown. I’d say that I felt relatively safe in the park — largely due to the open areas — but there were a few moments that raised concern. One of these moments was a rope-drop, which I didn't anticipate having to contend with and I'm not sure is a wise idea for the park to encourage such a thing. I signed up for an 11:15am registration slot only to find that the main sections of the park didn't actually open until 12:00pm. In the 45 minutes it took to access the splinter pathways, the various plaza areas grew increasingly packed with folks not social distancing at all and many who'd apparently ditched their face masks upon entering. Once open, I legged it over to iRat and had maybe 30 or so people in front of me. There was no distancing at all in the queue line, and no distancing on the train (or any of the rides I went on). In fact, when I boarded, a total stranger with their mask in their pocket plopped right down next to me. They do have plexiglass screens in some stations now, but I’m not sure what good that’d do. Over the course of two hours, I got one ride each on iRat, Superman, Wonder Woman, Fireball, Pandemonium, Poltergeist, and Goliath. This was my first time on Fireball as it’s never looked that appealing, and I don’t fancy riding face-to-face with strangers on it. Since there was no-one in line, I jumped on for no other reason than to check a box. It’s what I expected: basically the equivalent of being pushed slowly around a loop in a janky shopping cart. I ventured back round to try and score some more rides on iRat and Superman (the park’s best rides, in my opinion, and examples of RMC and B&M’s best as well), but the lines were now seemingly long. By this point, more and more people were flooding in, so I decided that was enough and time to head out. On my way out, I noticed that the Fast Pass building by Boomerang had developed a line well beyond the barricades, so I assume that was a sign of a busy day. From what I could tell, the rides were operating well — all running good amounts of trains. In terms of social distancing, the experience wasn’t great. Guests were not paying much attention to markers when waiting for rides, and the rope-drop business was akin to attending an outdoor concert. Although it did seem like the ops were trying to minimize the amount of people on the platforms, there was no separation on the rides themselves whatsoever. In terms of face coverings, despite what the website says, they’re not required. Plenty of guests were boarding rides and chatting with employees with masks below their nose or off altogether. The Wonder Woman crew seemed a little more diligent about this, but I even saw employees in the carnival stands by Superman with their masks off, too. From a purely observational standpoint, I’d say that about 50% of guests were wearing adequate face coverings. The other 50% were either wearing them below the nose, around the chin, or dangling from an ear. There were, sadly, more than a few who appeared to take this to a performative level as though wanting to make a statement. Again, my reasons for leaving were really because the park was too busy. Even with seemingly-solid operations, the lines were more than I prefer to deal with. As noted, social distancing was poor, and guests’ willingness to show conscientiousness was as bad as can be expected. Having said that, I do think that it’d be possible for someone concerned about their health and/or the wellbeing of others to still visit and potentially work around these issues. For me, I’d rather return on a quieter day.

They have a number of veggie options, one of which is at the Full Throttle Sports Bar (or whatever it's called). Ultimately, it's still all theme park food, but they do have a better selection of "healthy" food than some of the other parks I've visited.

While I share your view that The Big Apple Coaster isn't nearly as bad as it's made out to be (it's more weird than anything), Desperado is pretty brutal. It's still a must-ride for coaster dweebs, but it jack-hammers like crazy after the first drop and the bunny hills really suffer from old-school Arrow's inability to make curved track. The best ride in Vegas was Speed, and it's a shame nobody snapped that one up after it was dismantled.

I have to lean into that restraint when it comes down and then readjust once it locks, otherwise, it does the same to me. In terms of the ride experience, I do find it significantly more intense than other pendulum rides I've been on, and that's not necessarily good. I like the ride and always ride it when there's no line, but I think I still prefer Knotts' tiny little La Revolucion in terms of fun.

What a bummer! It's not a ride I'd travel to a park for, and I'm not a fan of super-splashy soakers. I think it'd be a fun ride to watch, though, and it'll definitely be a super-popular one with the GP. If ever make it back to SFOT and the line happens to be short, I'd probably give it a go.

The ride looks great and the location in the park is perfect. Was it ever determined whether or not this would have turntable loading? I suspect that the ride is going to be hugely popular given the weather, and I assume it'd churn through crowds that way.

That's too bad. I also visited when the park was running poorly (three or so years ago) and didn't get to ride Cornball (missing bits of the track) or Lost Coaster (just broken). I ended up leaving after just a couple of hours and heading to Cedar Point. Even though the place was pretty run down when I was there, I could still imagine how good it would have been in its heyday. Glad I got to go through Frankenstein's Castle and ride the Lost Thieves ride, though.

It's almost impossible to say as there are a number of variables involved. A safe assumption, though, is that weekends will be very busy with the potential for long lines whereas weekdays won't be. If it's a one-off trip, and a weekend is the only option available to visit, I'd assume the place will be pretty packed and hope to be surprised.

I'm surprised to hear that there were any complaints about the pitstop or pacing at all (not that I've actually heard these complaints myself). I rode it a bunch of times before it officially opened, and that part of the ride was consistently fast. I don't think there were any instances in which the pitstop lasted more than 10 seconds (operations were excellent). Of course, I suppose any delays there would be due to incoming riders struggling to understand how coaster trains work and/or where they are (akin to TC). There was nothing in that particular section when I rode it aside from a few scattered tools, a video of some random douchey-looking people, and some loud vroom-vroom sounds. It seemed that the ride sat longer on the launch track than in the pitstop to me.

It’s not a top 5 coaster at the park for me, but I really enjoyed it. I would probably rank it around #7 or #8. It’s definitely one of the best themed rides here. The ride itself is fairly mild, but delivers decent forces at a couple of points - particularly the high five. The dueling aspect is fun, but you don’t really notice the other train as much as on Twisted Colossus. I'm in a similar boat as joelwee (in fact, I think we even rode it together a few times on xmas eve). I came around to it a bit the more I rode it. I think it serves its purpose in the park as a visual spectacle and will pull in the summer crowds well, but it's not a ride that I'd go out of my way to ride. It's a bit of an uneven mashup of sections that feel laughably tame (the initial launches, the "airtime" hills), and sections that feel borderline jarring by comparison (the high-five, the abrupt second launches). As noted, the racing sensation is somewhat absent unless you're craning your neck and actively looking for the other train. (If you watch an online POV, and you don't see the other train enter the shot, that's basically the same experience of riding it as well). In terms of personal preference, I'd rank it lower than joelwee's placement. In terms of thrills, I'd say it's somewhere between Goldrusher and Revolution. But a more apt comparison to my mind is that it feels like a combination of Knotts' Pony Express and Hang Time. One of the ride ops described it as "family ride-plus," and that seems about right.

That was kind of my experience with it as well. The collar is very loose, and for as slow and tame as the ride is, some of the elements really do fling you around, which makes the collar slap you around the face / neck.

While it's a major ride to try if you've never ridden it, I'd be hesitant to get on X2 too early in the day. It's profoundly violent in ways that could potentially screw up the rest of your day. There's no coherent rhyme or reason as to how it runs (inside seat, toward the back of the train [front of the station] seems to have some impact, but even then it's impossible to tell what it'll do to you). While the first part of the ride is jerky and rough, and the middle is meandering and dull, the last few moves are absolutely punishing. It slams your head back into the seat while slamming your body up and into the restraints. Worth a ride for the experience, but have some Tylenol on hand. Unless it's a busy day, X2 doesn't really get major lines. You can also get a good sense of how long the wait is by jumping on Viper (which rarely has a line) and checking out the queue from above.

Those pics are great; thanks for posting them! I still dig Superman, even though I've always found it to be a fairly time ride. I remember when it opened and the lines it pulled, but I much prefer the backward launch, too. I also miss Freefall and (believe it or not) Flashback. Freefall was such an intimidating ride as the drop always felt so much more forceful than contemporary drop towers. The clunky mechanism added to the exhilaration. Flashback was just odd, and its oddness always superseded its discomfort for me. I've always enjoyed uniquely compact rides, and this one was kind of a standout in terms of how many maneuvers were packed into a relatively tiny frame.

I don't like B&M stand-ups at all (or B&M flyers, for that matter) but I didn't find this one to be nearly as bad as some folks seem to find it. It was a once-and-done ride for me when I visited the park, but I've had rides on Riddler that have been super head-bangy and awkward as well. I didn't think Green Lantern was any better or worse; more of a flawed concept than anything.

The high-five has a weird, almost-jarring ejector air moment but it’s taken sideways, so it feels more like a snappy twist than a literal airtime moment. That’s about it. There are a few bunny hills that really don’t do anything, and the floater air moments (prior to the 2nd / 4th launch; in the middle of the helix) are kind of like the gentle floater you get on non-hyper B&Ms. The hang time and positive forces are much more apparent. I mean, it’s a family coaster, so it’s about as aggressive as any other smaller-scale / family coaster out there. I don’t think it really aligns with anything else at the park in terms of intensity (I’d place it between Goldrusher and Revolution in this regard); it’s probably closer to bridging Knotts’ Pony Express and Hang Time.

I figured the park would be quiet today (it was), so it seemed like a good moment to drive up and check out the new ride. It was maybe a 10-minute wait to get on, which was nice, and I ended up riding it about 10 times overall. Theming is minimal (some video screens in the station of random mechanics), and some loud rumbles in the midway holding room. A few scattered tools laying around, and another video screen with random tween idols and cars and stuff. Operations are excellent; you feel like you’re only stopped for a short time in the noisy room before you race again. The trains are as cramped as Füll Thröttle’s which makes the overhead restraints hilariously hard to slip into and some particularly-gnarly shin restrains ensure you’re sufficiently uncomfortable. The overhead restraints barely touch you, but they do slap you in the face a few times throughout the course. My first ride was in the very back seat and I found it a bit disappointing. I've kept my expectations fairly low since the design was revealed, and the ride turned out to be what I was expecting overall: a good looking family-style coaster that gestures toward the kind of thrills other rides in the park can offer but doesn’t really thrill that much itself. It’s kind of fun overall, but I didn’t really find the racing to be that compelling because the trains are mainly doing the same thing in the same spots; there’s not a lot of back and forth between them. I warmed to it more with subsequent rides, finding the front seat to offer the best ride by far. Night rides were even better as the ride seemed to warm up a bit then. It’s a ride that looks great in the space, which I think is a major selling point for the GP, but it’s not a ride I’d prioritize when visiting, probably only jumping on if the line’s super short. One of the ride ops described it as “family-ride plus,” and I think that’s pretty accurate. It wouldn’t crack my top-10 at Magic Mountain, but I don’t think that cracking my top-10 list was their priority. In terms of the track and the elements, it’s a mixed bag. The first hi-five element is really great on the white side — a bizarre twisting ejector moment that’s super snappy and throws you around. It’s a great way to start the ride, but the launches leading into that moment are disappointingly tame. Of course, the scale of the ride wouldn’t really allow for anything more, but it’s a bit of a bummer how gradual the acceleration is. There’s quite a bit of hang time on the ride, most notably in the white track’s top-gun stall while the yellow train kind of putters along beneath. The second launches are weird; they’re oddly brief and a bit rough. They feel less like a smooth boost and more like getting kicked from behind. If you’re not braced for it, you’ll hit your head against the head rest. The corkscrews are slow and hangy, and the subsequent helixes are surprisingly forceful. There are several little bunny hop / airtime hill moments throughout that I was looking forward to experiencing, but they don’t seem to produce much of an effect. The first part of the white track is busy and fast-paced; the yellow is more about simple undulations. The helixes are basically the same on both sides — a tight figure-8 for the most part. I also took a couple of rides on Apocalypse having not ridden it for a long time. The ride was running fairly rough IMO, with the final helix’s jackhammering now spread throughout much of the ride. The drop seemed to lack the back seat’s ejector moment, and the area before the first tunnel was rough as hell. It’s such a shame as it really is a great coaster when it runs well. I thought this thing was getting re-tracked? The park was dead, so pretty much everything was a walk-on with multiple re-rides later at night. Furthermore, the park looked fantastic. I’ve seen the Holidays in the Park business before, but it seemed like they stepped it up quite a lot this year in terms of lighting and themed areas. It really did look impressive. Anyhow, I’m looking forward to reading other people’s takes on the new ride. I think it’ll be a hit with the GP, especially in the summer months as that area can hold a good amount of people. A few pics of the new ride:

Finally got in a visit to the park to rival some of my old SoCal off-season days at Knotts at Magic Mountain. From about 12pm to 3pm today, Fiesta was dead and almost all of the rides were walk-ons. The ops were allowing immediate re-rides, so I got quite a few consecutive laps in on iRat (always amazing), Wonderwoman (rough spots emerging), Superman (as solid as ever), Poltergeist (potholes temporarily filled?), and Road Runner Express (best mine train ever). Several rides didn't open at all today (Sky Screamer and Fireball), and a couple of others were up and down. Because it was so quiet — surprising, given how beautiful a day it was — I was finally able to get on The Joker. The funhouse queue was a nice touch but (and I couldn't put my finger on what it was) it somehow felt tamer than Crazanity (maybe the rotations?). Rode Hurrican Force 5 for the first time as well. Not something I'd feel compelled to ride again, but the ride experience itself was different to what I was expecting. Boomerang was open today, so I got a ride in on that, too. I don't mind boomerangs and will usually always ride them. This one was pretty smooth with restraints that sat below ear level. Aside from that, it was your standard-fare boomerang. The place started picking up around 4pm and lines started to emerge, so at that point, I bounced. I'm not as enamored with this park as others (possible a result from being spoiled by the SoCal parks), but I'm glad this one's relatively close to where I'm living right now as I dig a few of the rides. Also, I dropped by that mall right next door and was surprised to see how close several of the coasters get to its parking lot. iRat from Neiman Marcus

I really never found Manhattan Express to be that bad either. It's far from smooth, but I've been on much worse. It's more bizarre than anything, I find, turning from a pretty decent-sized coaster into something that resembles a compact traveling coaster midway through. It's a shame that Speed: The Ride hasn't been reassembled somewhere as that was the best coaster in Vegas.

Went to Knott’s last night for Haunt. Since we’re kind of over Universal (too crowded, too pricey, too gimmicky, too repetitious), we used the money we saved and upgraded to a fast lane combo — a wise decision as the place seemed absolutely slammed. A number of the mazes had waits over an hour, most of the rides were similar, and, by 11pm, Ghost Rider was at three hours. The pass got us on pretty much everything we wanted to ride with ease as well as all of the mazes. While we could take our time in the park, we still only *just* covered all of the big attractions. It’s hard to gauge just how bad the lines felt for non-fastlane guests; they didn’t seem to let up at any point of the night. And, while Knott’s could easily be filed under “same old, same all” (like Universal), we think it’s far more charming and creative — a much better all-round experience overall. A few thoughts on this years’ mazes: Dark Entities: This was pretty terrible last year (underpopulated and overly lit). There seemed to be better lighting control and more fog this time, making the maze feel more claustrophobic and effective. Nothing else about it has changed. While it’s certainly not the best maze the park has (lots of unpopulated scenes), it seemed like some of last years’ problems were at least addressed. It’s now an effective, gory maze through a fairly claustrophobic set. Dark Ride: Still a great and ambitious concept for a maze with great design throughout. Yet, something about it never feels like it’s connecting. Unless you’re familiar with the dark ride concept, it’d be easy to get lost in terms of the narrative. A slight redesign of the ending this year cemented the fact that it’s definitely one of more sophisticated and fun mazes, but perhaps it just needs a little more in terms of staffing it and setting up strategic live-actor scares. Origins—The Curse of Calico: This replaced the old Red Barn maze (which I always liked more than most). For a new maze, it’s not that elaborate and seems to borrow from some of the previous mazes’ set design (no spectacular set pieces). It wasn’t fully clear what the narrative was as it seemed to veer from the “Old West” to “Witches Lair” to “Spooky Forest.” So, more like a patchwork of older mazes than something new and unique. Personally, I thought Red Barn was better, but I always liked that one. Waxworks: The other new maze for this year that also didn’t feel like it quite came together this time around. This was in the same spot as last years’ Trick or Treat — which, we felt, was a better maze overall, especially in the dark. This one feels more like a reboot of the older Doll Factory maze but with more gross-out effects than uncanny valley. There were some cool set pieces in this one, but it also felt a bit understaffed in places (there’s one corridor clearly meant to house fake/real waxworks, but there was nobody in it at all). Strong overall design, but Trick or Treat was more impactful in terms of creepiness and scares. Pumpkin Eater: Same as previous years, it’s a great and elaborate set more than anything else. This maze seems to have had a continued issue of “not much happening” inside, even though the set and lighting effects are stellar. As with a few of the other mazes, it could benefit from a little more staffing inside as a number of the rooms were left empty. Shadowlands: This hasn’t changed at all, and it’s fairly easy to see why it’s being retired at this point. Still, the design of the maze allows for some sudden interactions with the scare-actors, making it one of the more effective mazes in terms of jumps. Special Ops: Infected: Again, largely the same as previous years but with what seemed to be a few new forking paths (including a crawling section that’d benefit from adding scares). It works fine, and it’s a pretty chaotic, but it’s fairly clear that its inefficient in terms of how much management it needs to run well. The Depths: I found this a bit incoherent in its opening year (a mine theme that suddenly turns oceanic?) The layout is exactly the same this year, as is the incoherent mine/oceanic plot jump, but it’s still one of the better mazes in terms of set design and large-scale set pieces (the rocking boat is a great effect). Of course, guests go nuts for the liquid laser room, which creates some slight traffic congestion. Paranormal Inc.: Still the reigning champion of the park. This was such a well-conceived and sophisticated maze when it opened, and it still carries much of that same charm. Each year, though, more and more of it seems to get hacked off. This year, it felt like a sizable chunk of the ending had been removed entirely. Given how popular this one is (90-minute lines when we were there), it’s fairly clear that they need to make it more economical in terms of shuttling people through. Almost all of the first half remains the same, but the bizarre and random scenes after the red-light corridor have mostly been removed. Log Ride: The old Halloween overlays are still missed as they (along with the overlays in the mine train) were super effective. The new seating arrangements in the log is awful, squishing one rider so close to the front that they can’t escape any of the splashes. While the impulse to fix the ride was right-minded, and it’s good that the park didn’t have to really rethink the ride system, the compromise is certainly felt. A great night overall for a group who was very familiar with Haunt’s history. Again, the park seemed to be especially busy, making fast-lane a must if you want to cover all the mazes and rides on a Friday or a Saturday night. In my experience, there’s no longer any real logic as to when Haunt doesn’t require a fast-lane pass, so our choice to visit on a busy time and splurge made the most sense.

"Piggy Blood Shed" (from the previous page) is a great name at least!

Crazanity at MM still gets massive lines too. The fact that they're genuinely good rides probably contributes as well! To be honest, I wasn't that keen on the ride when I rode it last time, so it's no big loss for me. I can't help but wonder if there's a better system they can institute though? It is great that they keep it cycling, but it is bizarre that so many trains are dispatched with so many empty seats.