coneyislandchris

Can confirm. First ride front row is the nuts.

I'm sure they still have some work left to do, but it looks like the tunnel after the first drop is covered by a giant slice of yellow American cheese. Thanks for sharing the photos, boldikus. It's definitely looking great, and I can't wait to make it back up Massachusetts way this season!

Be careful; the wristband they have for $24 is the normal one, not the one that includes the extreme rides. They're only selling the extreme rides as a pair of two for $80 at the moment. In regards to the value of a $70 wristband, I absolutely agree that it's way too expensive when compared to what you can get at other parks, especially with only a limited number of rides on their top two coasters. That being said, the other three rides that are included in this are routinely upcharges at other parks. Luna Park typically charges $22 per ride on their Sling Shot -- if you factor that in ALONE, you could save $40 alone from solely using the wristband on that. (Not that you'd want to.) At $40, it's a decent deal for what it is. I will definitely be using that credit to get five rides in on the Cyclone (or maybe four, plus one on the Thunderbolt), and use the rest of the four hours on their other flats. I'm really looking forward to getting on that Endeavor, since I missed it in testing last year.

Bad news/good news regarding the "extreme thrill" wristbands as mentioned earlier. Bad news -- it is NOT $35 as was originally suggested. The retail price of the wristband, which includes 4 hours of unlimited rides on all non-extreme attractions along with five rides of your choice on Cyclone, Thunderbolt, Raceway, Slingshot, and/or Zenobio... is $70. Which isn't TERRIBLE, but still manages to cement Luna Park as one of the most expensive places in the Northeast. The good news? For the next nine hours, Groupon is running a promotion where you can get two extreme wristbands for $80, total. At $40 per wristband, it ends up being an unbelievable deal, especially considering the price-per-ride of the attractions included. You can get yours from here: https://www.groupon.com/deals/coney-island-luna-park-10 I hope some of you regulars see this before it expires!

Shocking that plans for redeveloping the Letchworth Village property fell through due to NIMBYism. OK, so people don't want to see a huge amusement park with millions of visitors a year... but you'd rather have empty, decrepit, abandoned buildings not doing anything? Makes PERFECT sense to me.

Unless your glasses are adjusted for a perfect fit and don't slide around on your face at all, I'd strongly recommend getting the strap regardless. I almost always use one myself for peace of mind. (Then again, I have glasses that are loose as heck and five years old, so maybe it's time to invest in a new pair.)

Oh, you were serious... I dunno, I think Shockwave was plenty photogenic, and pretty easy on the eyes. Unfortunately, that was about the only thing it was easy on.

Some more construction porn photos from this article over on Press of Atlantic City:

If you're going to be spending a night in Hershey, I strongly recommend staying at the Lodge. The hour of early access that you get is ridiculously worth it; you could easily get your fill of re-rides on Skyrush, SDL and Comet during the first hour, and then be first in line for Laff Trakk or Fahrenheit when they open the rest of the park.

It seems they are making some progress on converting the old Childs Restaurant space into an open-air amphitheatre, according to the New York Times and TheRealDeal. Not that I'm against this, but it just seems a bit strange to me that they're creating a new space for concerts and shows when they already have a minor league baseball stadium that's more than capable of handling the brunt of that. *shrug*

My wife got her wisdom teeth pulled yesterday, so, yeah. Fantastic V-Day. >_>

Wow, I feel kind of glad I got to see the Chiller station back during HITP. Part of me was hoping they'd keep it for the rumored T-Rex dueler, but y'know, I can't complain. Also, regarding the Blackbeard/Harley Quinn rumor, I'm totally on board with that. It makes a lot of sense considering the placement of Joker. It's also one of my son's favorite rides, and he really likes all the DC characters, so I'm sure he'll be thrilled

The single rider line for Bizarro/Superman at SFNE has even that beat; it's not until you get to the top of the steps, pass through the turnstile, and are inside the station itself. I would LOVE something like this implemented.

I swear to God, I'm not addicted to the construction blog or anything, but it seems like every time I check it they add new photos. Here's the latest, current as of 11:40 AM yesterday; It looks as if they are hauling some serious booty on this, and I remain optimistic they will have it up and running ahead of schedule!

Oh, COME ON. ...you know damn well they would.

Somehow missed this post from earlier; A decent idea, but if I go out to Vegas WITHOUT my wife, she might just kill me in my sleep when I return. In any case, the return flight is already set to leave from SFO, so I have to make my way up that way anyway. Might as well make some use of my Six Flags pass while I've got it, after all. And since the flight doesn't leave until way late, I'll use the spare time to get some quality food, probably the biggest thing I miss about the Bay Area.

Yes, I am aware of this. I lived in the Bay Area for four years, and have done the LA-SF road trip several times before, though not so much with a focus on amusement parks. While I've visited Santa Cruz in the past, I never made it out to Marine World at the time. Cheers. The plan was primarily based around the hours of operation for each place during this off-season. Still considering reorganizing this, or just cutting out SD completely for this trip as several people seem to think is the wisest course of action. Thanks for the feedback regardless!

Very cool -- thanks for sharing your itinerary on a similar trip! I probably won't cross the border this time around, but it's good to know the option is there. Hadn't even considered Gilroy, and after checking out a few pictures, I'm definitely going to try to figure out a way to fit it in. Thanks again! That's a very good point, and one that I will strongly take under consideration. My plan isn't to kill myself, after all. It's just a basic structure that, if time permits, I can use as a guide to get me from point to point. The only thing written in stone at this point are the times of my flights, so if I end up feeling completely wiped out after SFMM, I will definitely get a room and do the drive in the morning. I don't want this to be a straight-up credit-whoring trip, which is why I'm not going after every little kiddie coaster along the way or trying to cram in Disney/Universal; I'm just looking to take three days off from work to enjoy myself, relax, and hopefully get some coasters in. Again guys, thanks for all your help and suggestions!

Wicked Cyclone ERT up next on the schedule, pencilled in for Saturday, August 13th from 10:30-11:30 AM. Nothing on the Six Flags website yet, but they created a Facebook event for it.

Although coasters are my top attraction, I do enjoy checking out other rides. I do tend to enjoy log flumes on a really hot day, and always enjoy seeing some unique or classic flats. Not so much into shows, as those are more of a thing for when I'm with the family, and the food is more of a "if I absolutely need to sustain myself" sort of thing. I haven't heard anything about Castle or Scandia at all, so I will definitely look into both of those as potential options. I'd have loved to go to CGA -- in fact, that was my original plan -- but I discovered that during the time I'm going to be out there, the park will be closed. It is what it is. *shrug* The price of the tickets for air travel pretty much necessitated this weekend and this weekend alone. And no, don't worry at all about the "totally different" thing, that's why I was asking for folks' opinions! My experience with West Coast theme parks is so minimal, I'd like to get as much advice as possible, even if it's "what you thought was a good idea isn't that good of an idea". Thanks again for the suggestions and I will do some more research into these to see how feasible it will be for me! It's really appreciated.

Mostly alone doesn't mean alone. I miss it too.

I can't complain about that either. I'm definitely trying to get more exercise when and where I can. I'll make it a point to ride Zum every time I visit the park this season

Yeah, that is definitely a concern -- prior to putting this together I wasn't really thinking that the distance between LA and SD was that great. I don't particularly mind driving that much, I'm used to doing road trips over here on the East Coast due to my location, but it would suck to get down there just in time for it to be closed. Do you think it'd be a better idea to possibly start the day down there, then work my way north? Oh, didn't know about that! Though, checking the website, it looks like the hours conflict with everything else. Perhaps I'll figure out a way to pencil it in. Regardless, thanks for the idea!

Hey guys, So, it looks as if I'm going to be in California for 3 days at the beginning of the next month, with access to a rental car. I'm currently trying to plan out how to hit as many different coasters in that timeframe as possible. Here's what I have so far. Friday, March 4: - Land at LAX early morning - 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM: Knott's Berry Farm - 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM: Belmont Park (worth the drive down to San Diego? doable with LA traffic?) - 10:00 PM to 12:00 AM: Pacific Park Saturday, March 5: - 10:30 AM to 8:00 PM: Six Flags Magic Mountain (is this doable in its entirety in one day?) - Drive north to the Bay Area Sunday, March 6: - 11:00 AM: Santa Clara Boardwalk (potentially; have ridden Giant Dipper in the past, but not Undertow) - 1:00 PM-6:00 PM: Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (enough time for what's currently open? Or should I skip the boardwalk and just head straight here?) - Fly out from SFO late night I'm excluding Disney and Universal from this list, because I've been to both before and would rather return with the whole family in tow when the kids are a little bit older. I also know certain rides and parks are closed at the moment due to refurbishment/conversion, but the time frame isn't negotiable, it has to be this particular weekend. I'll have to save Ghost Rider, Joker, and New Revolution for a future return trip (and hopefully check out California's Great America then as well). With that being said, just wondering if there's anything that's absolutely can't-miss that I've left out? Also, any other tips or things I should know about any of the parks? Thanks in advance for all your advice!