Physical

I would assume that's just what it's capable of, it'll never run that fast though for obvious reasons. Yes, they supposedly ran it that high during testing. That's just what maintenance tells me, I have no idea if it's actually true.

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Does anybody have any idea what coasters will actually be open for SFGadv's Holiday in the Park? I know Hershey is only keeping Sooper Dooper Looper and Wildcat open. Hopefully Six Flags keeps something a little better open to justify the increased price of the tickets (18 bucks for Hershey compared to whatever SF is charging, which will probably be a lot)

That's good news for Demon Drop and Thunderhawk. As I mentioned earlier, Thunderhawk gets its trims turned down when it's cold. Demon Drop just tends to run better in the cold I've found. The heat ruined that ride, made it super unreliable, it's been running flawlessly since it's gotten colder though. Maybe I'll a bring a space heater or something for Demon Drops booth, probably won't work too well consider that booth is open air, but it's worth a shot.

Every time I read this I just think to myself, "Maybe, if I pretend I didn't see that, it'll be warm" 4 layers is the max I can wear and still have enough range of movement to do my job. Hopefully it's enough.

The op that was letting us snap 'em told us this as well. This. So much this. The first time you figure out how to snap them, it's instant addiction. You can't just not snap them. There's a tipping point, once you realize you aren't going to die, and that super violent snaps are actually extremely fun, there's just no going back to riding flyers in a "regular" manner ever again.

I'm not saying you are wrong because obviously you work there and all but according to the website Thunder Creek Mountain's status is "Fall Operating Hours: Saturdays & Sundays during daytime operation only. Weather permitting. " I know it was open during the day when we were there for Haunt last year but that was earlier in the season, in late September. Speaking of which, did Dorney shorten their Haunt this year by a couple of weeks? We went the last weekend in September last year but according to their operating calender Haunt is only 3 weekends this year? It was closed the first week of October this season, I'd be impressed if the ops team tells us to open it, consider all the boats are in the storage area, in various stages of disassembly, the lift belts are removed, and the lower and upper flumes have been drained and winterized. I'm not sure about haunt being shortened though, if the operating calendar says it's shorter this season, then it probably is. I know our operations day is November 1st. I don't recall when haunt started though.

Yeah, under the tower. It's called Desolation. I used to enjoy White Water Landing but they installed trim brakes on it this season. The splash used to reach the midway, and if the breeze was right, you'd get misted on the Waveswinger. Now if the breeze is right, it /just/ hits the midway.

Thunder Creek Mountain is closed for the season. Same with White Water Landing and Thunder Canyon.

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You'll see low crowds next weekend. Coasters will have no waits more than likely. Columbus day weekend is always the busiest for the park during haunt. Stop by three point challenge and say hi to me when you're at the park! and stop by Demon Drop/Tilt-a-whirl/Musik Express and say hi to me as well!

It gets better the colder it is. Maintenance turns the trims down the colder it gets, on some rides you'll be getting great airtime over the final bunny hills on par with Phoenix. The ejector on the first 2 hills, coupled with the air time finale (when the trim is turned down really low or off entirely) makes for a wonderful coaster. I believe from my observations this year that the trims are likely adjusted by the PLC whether its running one or two trains. Since the station was moved back behind the transfer table in the 90s that shorten the brake run. So to make up for that shorten brake run that is reason for the trim on the return run. Up until recently the park almost always run two train even when it wasn't remotely needed. So I'm not sure if they recently changed the way the trims are programmed or if it because I've just never ridden it much with one train running. That said last month I had the best ride I can remember ever having since both trims were basically off. Actually the trims are manually controlled. There's a small locked valve with a pressure reader in the ops booth. Every morning, maintenance times how long the train is taking to complete the course. (From lift release until it stops in the first brake run) It's usually between 35 and 45 seconds, any higher than 45 seconds and it might valley, any lower than 35 seconds and it's causing undue stress on the structure. They manually adjust the trim brakes with the valve in the ops booth until it's hitting a target time. If they add the second train, they turn the trim off completely for a few cycles, until they can adjust the trim to a suitable pressure to hit the target time with both trains.

It gets better the colder it is. Maintenance turns the trims down the colder it gets, on some rides you'll be getting great airtime over the final bunny hills on par with Phoenix. The ejector on the first 2 hills, coupled with the air time finale (when the trim is turned down really low or off entirely) makes for a wonderful coaster.

On Saturday there were 4 ops that I saw, only one of them was awesome. The dude had longish grey hair, sometimes a hat, and glasses. He was the cool one that a bunch of ACE dudes and myself got for our last few rides. I had my best flyers ride ever with him operating. Then there's who we were referring to as the Snap Nazi. Large dude, bowling pin shaped, bald, with a hat. He was a real jerk. Turning down every single cycle even without snapping, the one ride I had, I really ticked him off. He turned 'em down after about 20 seconds, and I continued to snap them for a solid minute. Eventually he turned it all the way off, and while it was freewheeling around, pointed at me and yelled "YOU! LET GO OF YOUR RUDDER." Once I did he proceeded to run it at about a quarter speed the rest of the time. The excuse he gave me and a few other people, "I let you guys snap 'em but I slow it down if you're getting out of control." What a bunch of bull, if you can snap 'em you're not out of control. rant>

I agree completely. Most of the day I spent just bouncing between Phoenix and the Flyers, hitting any other rides I felt compelled to along the way. Seems like there were two main groups, those that were there to ride the Phoenix, and those that were there to ride the Flyers. It was a very cool experience to get in line with the same group of people over and over and over again and just chat it up while we wait.

It was very awesome, though there was only 1 out of 4 operators on the flyers that would let us snap. At the very end of the night, we had a bit of a snapping contest, and I guess it was loud enough to get the people in the office to come out. When we all got off, somebody wearing an Impulse jacket (if I had to guess, management or some form of upper supervisor) asked me if I was the one snapping really hard. Basically she told me if I ever snap the flyers that hard again, she'll be sure I'll "Never get to ride our flyers ever again"

Sorry for the double post but my plans have changed so I figured I'd bump the thread in hopes of getting a response. If anybody is going tomorrow, and would like to meet up, shoot me a PM. Everybody I was going to go with bailed, and I've already decided to go. Theme parks are more fun with more people.

Still unsure if I can actually make it out to Knoebels. I have to work on Saturday but I'm seriously considering calling off, unfortunately the coworkers I was going to go with aren't too keen on calling off to go to a different theme park. I suppose we shall see. Hopefully I'll see you guys there.

I can't say I'm surprised. I know a few people that would go to Guest Services at SFGadv and claim they had Autism or another disability that isn't immediately obvious just to get an access pass. I would assume this is fairly widespread, I've seen parents use their childs disability pass at Dorney. It seems like there's a fair amount of people taking advantage of a park being accommodating. I don't think a doctors note is too much to ask.

It was placed near where the start/finish line was, the rest of the track that goes under Steel Forces turnaround was untouched. I don't think they knew what to do with it until recently, as the old gas tank is still in place near Thunder Creek Mountain.

i would rather have them not do this because i am inlove with the new cornstalkers so i hope this does not affect that attraction at all It's not going to effect Cornstalkers, that's a brand new attraction for 2015, and they spent a lot of time/money on it. I don't think it'll go anywhere.

That seems (to me) to be a trend with RCCA coasters, between SoB and Rattler, the amount of sway in the structures is astounding. And lets not forget White Canyon over in Japan. To me it seems like the larger RCCA coasters were destined for failure. Just take a look at the infamous .

I /love/ those corkscrews. I must be the perfect height for them, if I'm in the middle 2 seats it feels like the rotation point is right between my eyes. Some of the best corkscrews I've experienced.

Good flyers, no doubt. Nothing compares to getting a few good snaps in. Knoebels is top dog here obviously, but honorable mentions go to the ones at Carowinds. Unfortunately, the one at my home park (Dorney) is an absolute joke. Runner up is probably top spins, however, the restraints sit very poorly on me (See: Directly on top of my man bits) and can be pretty uncomfortable if I don't err... readjust, so to speak.

Is it possible to specify the stopping point on a lift if a train were to stop to prevent a block violation? On all my coasters if I'm doing block checks the second train always stops on the very crest of the lift, sometimes with half the train hanging over the drop and away from the catwalks/evac platform. I was wondering if there's an easy way to stop the train about 3/4ths up the lift instead. I worked out a solution where I split the lift into 2 separate lift sections, with one ending roughly 3/4ths of the way up, then extending the block of the second part all the way through to the mid course brake run. Is this the only solution?