n1ch0las
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Posts posted by n1ch0las
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If you're going when school is in session on a offpeak weekday Sept-Feb the place will be absolutely dead. When this happens they will rotate ride ops between rides so watch out for this and plan your riding accordingly. That being said you won't wait more than one cycle for just about everything so the amount of rides won't ever be a problem.
I always liked visiting here in Mid-Feb when you're just itching to ride something for an afternoon when the regular season is still a ways off. No lines and plenty of fun when you bring some friends. Since you won't spend all day there I'd also recommend walking around the mall, eating tons at the food court and visiting the aquarium.
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I wish all TR's were this well written. Sounds like a really nice event with plenty of rides, tours and fun.
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Looks like the bankruptcy plan filing is imminent, hopefully they can report good revenues for 2015's main season.
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See...I agree with you, but I think it's poor business logic for the park to take the stand of "come back to reality" and to accept "maybe next year" after a rather long drought of dry, high-thrill rides. Really, I'm not trying to come across as an expert here, but I do know that a significant amount of VF attendance each year comes from group sales. The MSP metro has a significant amount of large corporate offices. Having new, exciting additions to talk-up really helps with that process.
I know VF is near the bottom of the CF milkshake, but maybe sometimes in this industry you have to spend big(ger) to earn big. I'm not sure of the park's numbers back in the mid-90's, but perhaps the Wild Thing investment was seen as a risk at the time...and that investment arguably put VF on the proverbial map. Just some food for thought.
I agree with spending money to make money. What I meant was that anyone who was following the signs leading up to the announcement and actually thought a coaster was on the way wasn't living on the same planet as you or I.
I think a front gate coaster would do loads for this park, MSP is a growing metro area and VF could and should continue investing into the park to bring in new business.
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The complaints are strong with this thread.
Flying Eagles are really fun attractions for the whole family, so that's a great addition. All Wheels Extreme is also a really cool show, so that's also a nice one. Anyone who was actually expecting a coaster this year probably needed to come back to reality. Maybe next year, maybe the year after that, who knows. At least they are taking care of a spot that's needed refurbishment for years.
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I think the problem is that most of them are built too big. Shows in theme parks have been losing popularity, and people have been coming more for the rides and water park than anything. When the parks want to build a new attraction, amphitheaters take up a large amount of room and are a good choice for removal. It's all about popularity vs running costs.
I think its all about the investment into shows that parks put in. When many of these amphitheater buildings are first put up, a pretty great show comes with them and usually has the budget to last for a few years. When parks show quality decreases for whatever reason, or they just stop using them completely other than for dance competitions etc they become eye sores and deteriorate quickly. The VF amphitheater has needed to go for years now, happy to see it demo'd for something better.
I will say this - the permit just got applied for 2 days ago and they pushed back their announcement date. I bet something wasn't 100% sure until this week or something changed to make those two things happen so late in the game. Either way I wouldn't expect anything huge, as anything huge needs to be in the works for a solid 8-12 months before an announcement!
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Sounds like an awesome time at Waldameer - totally agree with your assessment of the park's wooden coasters; they are so well taken care of its really awesome to see. RFII at night is just one of the best experiences as well, that thing feels so fast at night and just runs so smooth. Was just outside my Top 10, but a great ride.
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I remember doing a Friday night haunt at Dorney back in 2010 and being flat out amazed at the quality (and quantity!) of the walkthroughs. Everything from super scary to story driven experiences that you don't really see at regional parks. Plus, no lines! Really great night there.
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#342 last weekend was Hades 360. My lower back is still recovering.
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There was also the time that Chang from SFKK began showing up in the park's lots, permits/approvals were granted by the town, and wound up going to New Jersey in favor of more crap for the water park. As a big fan of B&M Standups, this sucked. Then, Iron Wolf was removed a year later and it sucked even more.
This was a pretty amazing example of horrible planning at corporate back then. Can you imagine changing all your plans less than a month before you're supposed to announce your ride to the public?
But their original plan was to market a brand new stand up coaster to a public that already hated the current stand up coaster, so they probably made the right call.
Anyways, my vote goes to Buccaneer Battle replacing Deja Vu the year they finally got it running consistently.
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Nice shots of the Blue Streak. Did you end up riding it at night until 2AM? That would've been an experience for sure. I was at CLP back in August and was pleasantly shocked with the shape the rides were in. Started on the Tumblebug and was really concerned for my safety, but that eventually wore off.
I'd bet that they are rehabbing the benches and buzzbars in the first car. On my first ride the bench detached from the train at the bottom of the first drop, slamming me into the front of the car. Definitely the first time that's ever happened to me on a coaster! Also noticed that the first brake run didn't function at all and they had to completely rely on the curved brakes to stop the train - was it still like that on your visit?
You could definitely tell they are rehabbing the ride slowly but surely as time and funds become available, I do hope it sticks around because some of those rides in the back row were full of terrifying airtime. Can't imagine what that'd be like on the original Vettel train without restraints!
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I'm a huge fan of the vest restraints for this ride. One of the biggest issues I have with the original B&M OTSRs was the fact that it was very difficult for an entire row to have their hands up because there is little space between the huge restraints. The new B&Ms are comfy, have better hand holds and don't even allow for head banging. Really think they'll work great when you're hanging there for 4 seconds over the first drop.
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Pretty sure I saw your group at Hersheypark last month. I remember thinking how flipping awesome it would have been to go on that summer camp when I was younger! Looks like they picked a good selection of parks with great coasters to enjoy.
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For anyone whose followed Mt Olympus since their near accident earlier this summer, you'd know that the park has been on a firesale the rest of the summer. Tickets have been at $5 for the past two weeks and we were in the area over Labor Day Weekend, so we chose to abandon all logic and get there for opening on Sunday.
It was scary busy there by the time we left.
Got there about 15 minutes before opening, they held us by that little area where you can easily climb onto Cyclops' track area, once they dropped the rope we went to Hades which was running a test train with water dummies. Luckily when everyone saw it was closed they left the queue and we ended up with a quick 15 minute wait. It was my first ride since 2008.
Hades had pros (surprisingly!) and cons for me. Loved the Timberliner trains - much more comfortable than the PTCs. The track area around the loop was butter smooth and worked really well into the ride after the first part of the tunnel. The tunnel itself was shaking like a leaf the whole way, I didn't mind so much but everyone else hated it.
Cons included just about everything else. After the pre-lift segment my wife nearly asked me for a divorce for getting her on the ride. It tracked terribly bad and those places that were so good back in 2005 when it opened were horrible. It's a 5/10 ride that should be a 9/10.
We popped onto Cyclops since the crowds weren't there yet, had a ride in the back row and while it's not as bad as Hades, the reprofiled the "drop of death" just isn't the same as it used to be. Still fun, and now I can keep my hands up without really fearing for my life which is a plus.
After the coasters we hit the wave pool. This was a highlight of the trip. For those of you who have not been - let me show you the one video I took of the wave pool before I realized there should be no loose articles allowed!
[youtu_be]
[/youtu_be]We weren't even half way up to the rope and the wave knocked us back a solid 15 feet with everyone else. It's so dangerous, but a lot of fun. As the park filled up there had to be 1000 people in the pool which was flat out scary.
By 1PM there wasn't a chair in sight, every line was at least an hour for everything and you could barely walk against the crowds that were still streaming into the park. The main road into the park was backed up about a mile due to cars trying to get into the nearly full parking lot - never seen anything like it before.
All in all I'd say I got my $5 worth with rides on two coasters and that wave pool, although we got the heck outta dodge before the trip was going to go south.
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I'll actually use SFGAm as an example, but for different reasons than have been discussed.
I'm not the type to let one visit change my entire opinion about a park, especially one I've visited a few times. SFGAm was the park I grew up in, and for a long time it was regarded as one of (or best of) the best Six Flags parks in the chain in terms of Operations and ride selection. While the rides are still pretty diverse and quality, I've had a few visits each of the past several summers that have turned me off to the park entirely. They've made so many cuts to the staffing levels and hours of operation that when you add in the increased Flash Pass sales it's changed the lines dramatically. 10 years ago having a full queue house at Raging Bull meant about 45-50 minute wait, now its at least 90. Stacked trains, slow ops and poor management have decreased satisfaction.
And actually, the rides aren't the worst part. Food Operations cannot handle the volume that the dining pass has brought them, and so frequently you wait in line 30-45 minutes for an awful quality burger or piece of pizza. The park is slowly falling apart, and while I'm sure the bottom line looks awesome due to increased attendance (and $4 water, and $25 (!!!) parking) it's going to hurt them in the long run.
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Really great shot of the lighting and the coasters lit up, not an easy shot to take! Must have been a hell of a storm to get 3 shots with cloud to ground bolts! What I'd give to have CP as my home park, you're a lucky person.
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I think a dark ride is a great addition to SFGAm. Many people have been calling for one of these for years now, especially once Space Shuttle America met its demise. I get the worries about capacity, and with Flash Pass/EAP lines in the summer will probably get pretty rough. I do hope they add a dedicated single rider line ala Men In Black at USF, because with 6 person cars there will be plenty of empty seats to fill.
Knoebels Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
^Right? I waited a solid 45 minutes for it the first time, the second time when I came through the ticket host asked if I was a single rider and directed me right on in!
It's not signed too well and since they usually sit in the front of that line its easy to miss, but it really makes your wait a lot shorter.