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Capitalize

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  1. I've definitely gotten plenty of re-rides at KD and KI in the past; so it may be just some CF parks that don't allow re-rides. A lot of times those decisions differ between parks. For example, I know Six Flags by and large allows re-rides. However during a visit to SFGAdv a couple years back they weren't allowing re-rides on Nitro despite there being no line. Apparently this was because someone fell and hurt themselves while trying to get back on for a re-ride earlier in the season...
  2. I think its a great idea. By catering to season pass holders, giving them an atmosphere that is fun and allows some down time during a busy day at an amusement park, you encourage more return visits AND encourage them to spend more time at the park which can result in more in-park spending. Seems like a very neat idea for the guests and park. Hopefully it works out well and it will make an appearance at more parks in the next couple years.
  3. I'm jealous about the Monster Jam World Finals! I've been wanting to go for ages and ages now... Some day. Until then I'll be stuck going to the small shows that come to the DC/Baltimore area.
  4. Not true, they ran both trains from the late afternoon until closing.
  5. My review of KD today: My fiancee and I showed up at about 2pm. I told myself I would get there when the park opened, but being a tiny big hungover and working all week resulted in us waking up at noon - so scratch that. In any case, I was still pumped after waking up that I was going to get a ride on I305 that afternoon/evening after a long off season of anticipation. We first went to Avalanche... It seems stupid, I know, but I made the mistake of telling my lady about people blacking out on I305 and saying it was an intense ride. She was a bit freaked out having not been on a ride for several months, so she felt she needed a warm up ride to get the blood flowing before plummeting 300 feet. Avalanche was running one train, so it was a very, very, long wait... Still a fun ride... After this warm up we headed over to the main attraction - Intimidator. It was closed... So we waited, we took a look around the gift shop, I took plenty of time to simply gawk at how amazing this ride looked. Then we sat down under the tunnel and waited a while until I saw the op's checking restraints then we joined the line as they began test runs. After they started boarding the trains we were close to the station in no time. I was incredibly excited to wait for the front and have the best steel coaster ride of my life - then the attendant told me I was riding in row 14. I said "we want to wait for the front." They shook their head and said "No we don't allow that." Then a manager person escorted us to our row and I told him "I want to wait for the front!" He said "Sorry sir, we don't allow that." I rolled my eyes and said oh well. I was more than a tiny bit annoyed because I have literally pictured my first day at Kings Dominion this season since this ride first had track show up, I would wait for the front for the first ride, then get a ride in the back at night for my second ride... So we ride in row 14. What a ride! The first drop was incredible, the first turn was silky smooth yet forceful. Then I got tunnel vision and things got a bit dark as we speed up the 150 foot hill in broad day light. My vision returned as I was flying upwards over the apex and getting incredible airtime. The following flurry of epic transitions at an incredible speed left me howling for more. The 3rd hill gave a nice bit of air and the final S-turn just capped off an incredible, unforgettable ride. As we were slowed on the brakes my head was swimming, I was trying to run back through everything that just happened and try to place the ride in my top 5-10 coasters. I first tried to place it in my top 5 steel rides, I went line by line down the list and decided it was the best steel coaster I've been on (this is coming from someone who has never been Bizarro/SROS at SFNE and has only been on one coaster - Dragon at Ocean Park in Hong Kong - outside of the USA, so take that for what it's worth). I was overwhelmed. So happy that such an amazing ride is within driving distance to my home. Its been said - but this ride KILLS Millennium Force. Take the best parts of Millennium Force and multiply it by 10, and you are still a bit off from the sheer power of Intimidator 305. Suffice it to say I long forgot my disappointment over assigned seating. After this we hit up Dominator which had a nice short line. We followed this up with Grizzly which gave a good, smooth ride in the front seat with some nice airtime. Next we got on Rebel Yell which was decent despite its attempts to realign my spine in the back car. Some dinner was followed up with a ride on Volcano in the front. Then it was time for a final ride on Intimidator before heading home. We got in line around 7:30 and found an almost full line. It took around 30-40 minutes to get through the line and ending up in the second row. While close to the station I was a bit annoyed to see the front having a slightly longer line than the other rows and the person in front of me argue his way into being allowed to wait for the front. I personally think that is crap - assign seats or don't arbitrarily decide who makes a strong enough case to wait for the front, or simply who bitches the most. I think they need to figure out a better solution for this personally. Anyways, the second row was even more amazing. I got a sense of the speed and had tears running down my cheeks from the wind (also maybe joy due to just how incredible this ride is). After this it was after 8 and the park was closed so we headed home. Basically Intimidator 305 is an amazing ride. Non-stop intensity and a beautiful mix of positive, negative and lateral forces. I'm a fan of intense rides that shake you up a bit and give you some intensity (perhaps just on the borderline of being uncomfortable for most people), so I thought this ride was simply incredible. I'd say its my number one steel coaster as of now and 3rd overall (behind El Toro and Phoenix). Kings Dominion has a real winner on their hands, hopefully it can keep up the insane speed and incredible smoothness over the years. On that note, after my last ride a guest on the train before ours was apparently so "blown away" by the experience she was about as close to unconscious as you can get while still being "there". This actually made me mad. The guest seemed far from enthusiastic to to ride in the first place, and the ride clearly tells guests in line that if they aren't sure, "DON'T RIDE. You know your limitations, WE DON'T." The last thing I like to see is someone miserable or traumatized after a ride, but I also don't want to see this ride neutered because a bunch of stupid GP get on while ignoring the warnings that this ride is incredibly intense and not for everyone. Once again...and I think I've written this like 5 times in the last 20 pages, I didn't have a problem at all with the restraints. The transitions were fine. Totally awesome. Completely smooth. Very enjoyable. I'm really not convinced this ride would actually better with lap bars only. This doesn't seem like one of those rides that would really benfit from it. If anything I was glad that I had something to grab tightly onto! And It just doesn't matter that much to me. I don't get why so many people made such a huge deal out of it. Personally, I think there are many people out there who flat out don't like OTSR restraints and will say a ride is terrible with them even if they know damn well it's just fine. And I305 is just fine with these restraints. I sat at the exit ramp for about an hour today shooting video and probably had a good thousand people walk by me. I heard a ton of comments about the ride and I don't recall anyone complaning that the ride was rough. Stand at the exit of Gouderix and see if you get the same results! --Robb I was a restraint hater from day one when the animations came out (and was essentially a hater on this ride for a good bit until I warmed up to it over the winter). I have to say you were right in your judgements about the trains since day one as I have no gripes at all about them now. Yep, too true! I'm going down to Carowinds this May, but after riding KD's Intimidator I'm honestly not feeling very excited about riding theirs as I have already more or less rode that ride countless time over the past decade since my first rides on Apollo's Chariot and Nitro... I'll give it a good number of rides and I'm sure it will be a good coaster, but I just don;t see it impressing me very much right now.
  6. yikes! Hopefully tomorrow won't be too bad....
  7. Totally agree. The good news about that is I don't even notice any significant difference between El Toro with the lift slowed and when it sped right over. Tomorrow is going to be the longest day of my life... Can't wait to go down there Saturday and see how it ranks among my favorites. Based on rides like Maverick and Kumba always being among my top 5 steel rides I feel like a ride with a similar but elevated level of insane intensity will have to be a winner in my book. The reverse POV calmed my fears that the transitions would be terribly painful. Looks absolutely incredible. I hope Saturday I can get on the front and back... Will have to see what the line is like, though.
  8. We should start seeing the first reviews and some more pictures/video by this afternoon.
  9. I go to local parks alone a lot. Mostly SFA. I like to just go over and kill sometime there. Being alone gives me some peace and quiet as well. If its a park far away or with long lines I will go with someone else. So its not too boring and lonely.
  10. He confirmed that they were looking at something the "tweens" who visit the park would like.
  11. I agree that SFA has a real issue with their line system, but holding people back from the station is not the issue imo. All the lines for the coasters at SFA are in the station of the rides, I personally have never waited for any ride outside of the line with-in the station. They should simply not have lines within the stations. Like you said, people waiting for the back of the train/front of the train or wherever else will slow the line down, people get impatient, see an empty row, and cut the line. I've never seen a park like SFA where so much of the line is literally in the ride's station on EVERY ride. For a ride like Wild One it wouldn't be practical, but for SROS, and Jokers Jinx its simply idiotic to have a line in the station as the line is already constructed outside. Just let people line up for their row there. If you have people waiting in line right next to where people line up for their row they will see an empty or nearly empty row and run to it, even though it cuts infront of dozens of people who might want to ride there. I don't think adding a new role for an employee is the right route, but the issue being faced is the same. To SFA credit I forgot to mention that today for the very first time I had an attendant at Batwing ask for single riders. I raised my hand and was on the second row immediately. I REALLY hope that continues! I have always HATED waiting in line for Batwing all by myself while watching loads of empty seats go by. This was AWESOME! If anyone from SFA reads these boards I hope they take note that I really liked this and will continue to do that... A full train is a good thing!
  12. Most people around DC prefer to make the drive to KD, BGE, or even HP because SFA is just a bit infamous for not living up to people's expectations over the past decade or so.
  13. Considering that the rides at SFA rarely have more than a one-two train wait in the station I strongly doubt they would want to spread their already thinly staffed rides department even more by having someone assigning rows... Doesn't seem very practical for the park at all at this time. The closest thing I really see to cutting in line at SFA is kids jumping under the rails to get to the train faster, if they happen to do that and take the row I want I just politely tell them that they took the row I wanted and I was walking in the line before them. I actually think line breaking is a MUCH bigger problem at other parks in the region (KD, SFGAdv, and even HP in my experiences are all bad for people cutting in line). I went to the park today from about 2:30 to 4:30 to get some rides and see what is different. I thought it was pretty funny to be honest. Everything new or different has a "COMING SOON!" banner by it currently. What exactly have they been doing all off season? Thomas Town is just now having dirt moved around, other than the old ferris wheel no other rides appear to be back there. All the new restaurants and such are still closed... Just seems funny like they didn't do anything over the winter to get stuff ready. Jokers Jinx was running the yellow train empty all day, I didn't see the purple train anywhere. SROS' blue train was stuck at the bottom of the lift with some water dummies in the first few rows, I didn't see any sign of the red train. I never saw anyone working on the ride so I'm not sure what is the problem there. The new paint job looks fantastic. Mind Eraser also only had one train with no sign of the other train. Octopus is keeping Ultra Twister company out in the field by Batwing. A rockwall was put up where Cyclone was. Riddle Me This got a new sign that looks nice and they changed the location of the op platform. The area where Avalanche was is now home to lots of tables with shade for people to sit while eating. Cyclone got a new paint job that looks nice to go along with its new location. Roar received a good bit of re-tracking in some of the more rough valleys of the ride, it felt a bit smoother. Batwing was running one train with the other on the transfer track by the lift. The park's ride staff is now giving every rider a high five after checking their restraint and sometimes while exiting... I'm not sure I like this... I saw a new less creepy looking Mr Six walking around and the train conductor guy from Thomas the Tank Engine. They threw up a couple character meet and greet areas, one by the front of the park and another in Gotham City. I can't recall anything else at this time. Crowds were very light with no lines anywhere all day. I was disappointed with SROS not being open. But oh well, its only March, it will be good to see the new stuff start to open as the summer approaches and the park hits its stride. Forgot to mention Two Face. Some of the station is still standing, but the line and just about everything from the station is now gone, not much left at all there.
  14. The region's are very similar demographics and as a you allude to, both are very big into NASCAR and have race tracks in their back yards. I'm sure Cedar Fair got a good deal to put up Dale Sr's name and likeness in two rides so they went with it since it worked for both parks. As a NASCAR fan I think its a good theme. I personally know I'll be there memorial day weekend Saturday to get my ride on Intimidator because I'll be on vacation to Carowinds and the Coke 600 on Sunday. Elissa was only talking about how it looks on the cars and the coaster. I agree with her. I get that its supposed to look like a NASCAR car, and I get that teams have to pay for their car somehow...but it all looks cheap and tacky. The train (and cars) would probably look a lot better without all the logos tacked on. Oh, and a Babe Ruth coaster would be AWESOME. Cigars, Booze, and sex related things would take the place of the tacky NASCAR logos! So in short, everyone is for extensive, realistic theming as long as its something they like. Otherwise, rather than good theming, its "tacky". I kind of think that's what Elissa was getting at. In that case, ok! NASCAR is a silly theme regardless, even if it does make sense for the area. Next they should have an infield inside the layout where overweight, sunburned, drunken men can park their RVs and get even drunker. Holy stereotypes, Batman. Its a GREAT THEME FOR THE AREA. Most NASCAR teams are based only miles away from Charlotte, so the theme makes perfect sense.
  15. I honestly think the parks quality compared to other parks in the region is quite great. Having essentially no waits for any roller coaster all season, a great water park, lots of shows, and plenty of rides for all ages. All around seems like a winning combination to me. Gonna have to disagree with this, as parking at Angel stadium is a pretty decent $8, and $5 if you decide to walk a little bit. $15 is a bit steep, in my opinion. Its one thing if you're at Disneyland and you get a quiet, smooth tram ride all the way to the entrance of the park. But at Six Flags the trains are so old and the tram roads are so bumpy, that the trains rattle, bang and bump the entire ride to the park entrance! So if the park pulls 1000 cars, they're pocketing $15000, and I know Mark says it, but it certainly doesn't seem that they've invested that dough on parking lots very efficiently. I haven't seen a tram at SFA or SFGAdv in any of my past several visits, which is very disappointing. I think Six Flags criteria for "best park" means something more along the lines of profit for their expenses and most exemplary in displaying operating procedures... Not the enthusiasts' POV which would equate to "all their coasters are clones and they haven't received a new coaster in nearly a decade now, they are definitely much worse then most other parks in the chain."
  16. I know what you mean about wanting it be as dark as possible, though. I think it will be a good night ride, there isn't very many rides or paths out there, so it should be pretty dark.
  17. When else would lift lights be on? During the day?
  18. Absolutely beautiful ride. This seriously might be the absolute coolest looking coaster ever, imo.
  19. Can't wait to see what this season will be like for SFA starting this Saturday. The park has been improving every year for the past few seasons. I definitely think the management changes are to think for much of that.
  20. It was listed for sale a while back, I'm not sure what happened with that, though.
  21. Eh, I really don't miss any of the flats that much. I do miss Two Face... A family coaster could be a nice addition. There isn't really a coaster for riders between the great chase and wild one. Anyone going for opening weekend? I'll be there...
  22. I simply hope the transitions aren't too brutal with these restraints. Who knows, if the ride is a pain in the neck (literally) with these restraints maybe they make a change in the future, if they aren't then great - the ride will be a blast.
  23. Too bad 305 doesn't have a 95 degree drop. That would have been insane! Very true
  24. There's no real reason to be scared of coasters because of height... Think about it this way - a hyper coaster like Diamondback is already pushing 230ft. What is another 70-80 feet? 70 feet is the height of a smaller wood coaster. Its just a number...
  25. Even with those restraints, the ride is basically Maverick on steroids with what looks like plenty of airtime and some wild, quick transitions. Since Maverick is easilly in my top 3 steel rides I gotta believe a 300 foot tall version is going to be pretty good...
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