Danrarbc

Either way, I had a few frighteningly fast rides on the Beast 1987-1989 (including during the Beast 10th anniversary party in March of '89... in the rain and snow!) People argue endlessly about how the Beast used to be (which usually includes the 1979 POV of the ride, fresh and tight, running very slow during a test run). The discussion is usually ... "well, you were young and you just remember if faster!" No. It was definitely faster on a regular basis. If you got a brakeless Beast ride back then, you knew it. If it went past half-way up the 2nd lift, you got what was (back then) considered a brakeless or near-brakeless ride. 1989 was my last fast ride on Beast. By 1992 (we would drive over from Cedar Point on days off), it seemed Beast lost all it's bite. Forward to the 2000s, and another big step-down in speed. Still fun, and will always be special to me, but not but a shade of what it used to be. Bummer to me, but it's life. Since we are in the Great America thread... there is the case of a brakeless American Eagle! What a treat that was. When the track is in top condition AND the brakes are off, I call that "Voyage meets Phoenix." True magic. You could get a taste of that around 2009-2010 when Shapiro was in charge. Eagle was his favorite coaster in the chain, and made sure it was kept in good condition and ran fast, albeit for a short period. It's back to it's usual self, but I still love it. Late 80s was horrible as the wooden track on the out run made it nearly un-rideable. Then they added the hybrid track; it's got that vibration, but it still runs fairly well. It's kinda impressive how wrong every paragraph is.

Electrical for Catwoman has been going in over the last couple of weeks. Interesting choice to put it at the far end of the kart track like this.

I'd say it mostly replaces Blackout as an intermediate haunt. And is better than it in every way. It has a theme besides 'dark room with a couple people that'll scream', it carries the theme throughout, and has some fun obstacles along the way. Camp Killamore is in a new location this year - and WAY worse than ever. If I paid for a single haunt and that was the one I paid for I'd demand my money back. Back to Blood Bank. I said there wasn't much theming and that probably sounded like a complaint. I actually like that they didn't go overboard - it's pretty chill.

I was in the park last night but never really left 1904 and DC Comics so no picture updates. Those areas look same as always. I did walk in the Blood Bar but forgot to take picks. They've put a couple arcade machines in but not a ton of theming.

I've had these pics for 3 weeks or so but I haven't seen anyone say anything so I suppose they're still relevant. Early in the season I noted the park removed many light strands as opposed to just removing bulbs as it did previous seasons. New strands were already being installed a month ago concurrent with Fright Fest prep. They've also gotten fans with mist capability for the entrance. Good addition on hot days. And a new haunt in a new location.

Actually it's only been three years since Fireball was added. Ban him!!!!

Not an upcharge by the way.

The park posted a Facebook video. That's pretty official but I'll refrain from posting the link because the rule here seems pretty firm.

Man I just had the worst thought. If the guy that said the 2020 addition is unique to the chain isn't full of it there's a ride unique to the chain currently being loaded on trucks... Please don't be the Zacspin...

That teaser really doesn't leave much to the imagination on the name does it? Unless they're literally not even including a clue in their teaser.

That definitely happens, because revenue is revenue, and SFSL is a low tier park. But I don't think that means the park should (or will) be sold to any other company, beyond some kind of ownership deal with Six Flags. I feel like the "we're so neglected, imagine if we were owned by Cedar Fair" argument comes up once every few moons and I don't think that any kind of new ownership, especially from a local company, would change much. Worlds of Fun, Michigan's Adventure, Valleyfair and Dorney Park should be a decent indication that Cedar Fair ownership may not change much for the better. Maybe the maintenance budget could improve - but you could also get far fewer new rides. Both companies have issues and both neglect the smaller parks in their care. As for the donations issue I definitely believe Six Flags should pay for it and clearly the corporate park improvement budgets aren't working well for some parks. But I take issue with the idea there's something wrong with someone wanting a piece of history cared for by other means even if it meant donations.Though if donations were taken I'd probably want ownership of the carousel transferred to a third party and have the park lease it, so you could have a formal ongoing maintenance agreement.

Better than saying you'd donate to a historic ride restoration? I'd donate too. I'd donate at least a months worth of my membership directly to it. It is historic, and the current condition of it is an embarrassment not just to the park, management or Six Flags corporate but the entire region. It needs restored and regular maintenance. The current condition of it is ridiculous.

Not that I know of. Which would suggest nothing large incoming (not a big leap of a prediction for this park anyway).

There's definitely room for additional rides, but no not much for Midway expansion. On the east side there's more than enough room to build two hypers west of the graveyard (one station at Tidal Wave, the other at Ninja) or a giga - that land isn't useful for much else actually an out and back hyper is perfect for it. The west side is definitely harder to add to but you could turn Freeze Island into a new area with one or two flats and potentially a coaster entrance with a smaller coaster itself being able to work around west of Freeze station building and use the land north of Freeze. You might be able to reconfigure the area around Justice League and Log Flume and fit two flats instead of just Shazam. Our biggest issue is money, not space. Look at how SFoG managed to squeeze Goliath in to the park. Half the ride is built over existing midways and over the parking entrance. I'm of both minds. I did like the classic ride cycle, but the continuous operation makes for a longer ride and is more relaxing. Also the continuous cycle should increase capacity.

You could pay one person to spray people with a firehose for the same experience with half the man hours.

Would we have the only operational Chute in the chain if indeed Tidal Wave reopens? Guess that rules out removal anytime soon too. Still feel like the closure of ours for a whole season the exact season multiple others are getting removed is awfully coincidental. And it's mid-July with no work going in to it - at this point you only have two extra months to work on it than you would have if you opened it.

The lighting package really pops back here.

Supergirl is running with two seats disabled. Fully. The light package isn't even on for that pair. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] Boy does the bright new LED lighting change the feel of the Mr Freeze station.

Work is well underway on the Membership center at the entrance. They've brought in a temporary trailer to house Membership services for now. Walls are up around the work area. Looks to be more extensive than I thought it would be. Not sure what this lighting aimed at Colossus is about since it has its own floodlights.

I heard from a Mooseburger cashier's 3rd cousin twice-removed that a Mack giga is coming in 2020. But the funnel cake guy's grandpa says it is a Vekoma giga with inversions. Screamscape is totally writing an article about the debate now.

If you want to whine about Maxx so damn much we'd KILL for that ride in STL.

I'm not sure how much one has to do with the other. I'm sure a contractor installed Supergirl, while the park maintenance team refurbishes Xcalibur.

Almost none of the rides have a merge point with Flash Pass. You either go through exits or you enter the stations at a different door than the normal entrance and exit.

It's a vomit machine like the one here at SFOT. Don't be surprised if this thing has a lot of down time due to the seats needing to be cleaned out. Fling was pretty effective at that too. At least these should be easier to clean.

Went to the park today. Don't know if this was in in my last trip but fresh Mooseburger's Freestyle sign. Joker's nice new paint. Zero signs of rehab on Tidal Wave. No supplies. No tools. At least one extra boat is in the graveyard. A couple alternative angles of Supergirl's status (head on is covered above). Queue railing installed at Macho Nacho and Colonnades.