shepp

Actually, it's not.

I think the official reason for downtime usually has to do with lift hill tire problems, raining or not. I have seen it running, even with multiple trains, but it tends to open midday (if at all). Another possible reason: lack of riders. Even the rotten SLC gets a lot more ridership, and it's small wonder. Anyone who's queued for Zonga has heard the frequent post-ride complaints of folks getting off. I'll take the word of folks who rode pre-SFMW that it was a masterpiece. In this incarnation, with its nasty restraints, zero knee room, and general roughness, it's really unlovable. Word has gotten around, and few people want to ride it, fewer still to re-ride.

The front row of the Villain at GL. What had been just a rough ride when dry became totally, transcendently out of control while being pelted by cold rain.

Yeah, the theming on TTD (and XCelerator) certainly fit the ride more neatly than KK's. A 45-story metal dingus in the jungle? WTF? On the other hand, theming at TTD is really kinda minimal, especially since they took the wheels off the trains: Xmas tree, launch spiel, checkered flags. To give SFGadv its due, the ride will be the centerpiece of a whole new, heavily themed area. "Look, Tarzan, it's some train or something going through the jungle really, really fast."

I'm sorry...I think you misunderstand. What I love about enthusiasts is their breadth of knowledge, willingness to share info, and their...enthusiasm. But there can be this weird strain of snobbishness, because, after all, anybody with 50 bucks and a strong stomach can ride any coaster out there, and a low coaster count doesn't make the airtime on S:ROS any the less enjoyable. When Robb said, "I'm sure the GP will EAT IT UP," one might have reasonably inferred, whatever was intended, that those of us IN THE KNOW about what makes a good ride are beyond that sort of silliness. But I was hanging out at alt.rec.roller-coaster (which is pretty hardcore enthusiast, more so than this site, IMO) when TTD opened, and there was great interest before, during, and after. And I noticed that Robb didn't include XCelerator (which I believe he likes) in his list of one-trick ponies. Is that because of the overbanks at the end? No, there are no prerequisites to take part in a coaster poll, but when every poll out there shows that more people love TTD than California Screamin', I'm not sure why you (I think it was you) posted that CS is "better" than TTD. You like CS more, and that's your absolute right. Hell, I like DD:Ice more than DD:Fire. That doesn't make Ice "better," and it's fine if most people, including self-described enthusiasts, prefer Fire. Different strokes... Acttually, I'm not a CP partisan. I had a great time there, loved MF and TTD, wasn't all that crazy about Raptor or Magnum. But I have a SF pass, and had a great time at SFMM, too, which is the near-universal object of enthusiasts' scorn. (Granted, I did visit on one of the few occasions when X and Deja Vu were both running.) Actually, my favorite park is IOA, which makes me kind of a coaster wuss, I guess. Hey, since you're the one who's initiated two anti-KK threads before it's even opened, maybe you're the one not being "open minded?" Peace.

As a gay man, let me reassure you that all of all the thousands of queer men I've run across in my life, not a single one has expressed the slightest interest in stair-jumping. So rest easy: Your hetero manhood is secure.

Um, well, okay. What do you base that on? Surely not the Internet Roller Coaster Poll, where TTD placed in the top 10 steels two years running, nor the Coasterbuzz poll where almost 75% of respondents called TTD the best new steelie of the year. Not to sound argumentative, but there's a difference between "I don't like" and "people don't like/it isn't good." I really didn't enjoy Magnum - I found it too punishing for a hyper. But hey, people like it. "Enthusiasts" in particular like it - just not as much, if the polls are to be at all trusted, as they like TTD. I'll be heading to SFGAdv in a couple of months. Yes, I've been aching to ride Nitro, but the opening of KK is what caused me to finally drop the dime and head for Jersey. If that makes me a member of the dreaded GP, who are apparently too ignorant to know what they should and shouldn't be enjoying, then I guess I'll just have to live with it.

Well, who knows about airtime at this point? But one of the complaints about TTD was that it was a one-trick pony. At least KK will be a one-and-a-half-trick pony.

Yesterday, first row of Medusa West, as it's been the past couple of seasons. Later in the day somebody barfed on it, so I'm glad I got my rides in when I did.

Clearly, the 2nd of its kind is going to be less astonishing. That being said, unlike you, I (and the folks who take part in coaster polls) loved TTD. I'm headed to SFGAdv in June, not only for KK, but for Nitro and a bunch of other East Coast coasters I haven't ridden. I don't suspect that I'll notice the difference between 120 and 128 mph, and I don't think the hill will seem that much bigger than TTD's. (Certainly not like the difference between TTD's and XCelerator's hills.) But a "bunny hill" that's higher than many coasters' lift hills should be fun. And if you find TTD comparisons "quite annoying," why did you bother comparing it to California Screamin' a few days ago, hmm?

as far as rides Hit up the far end of the Strip ( Speed The Ride, Stratosphere and Adventuredome) you can pretty much hit all of these in a single day. Then spend the rest of the time roaming around, most of the Hotels are worth going in and wandering around, and the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay is worth doing, just watch out for the Togo death machine and New York New York And if you're into simulator rides, the one at Caesar's Palace is particularly cool. It's in 3-D and IMAX. Just did my first SFMW visit today, but it's only 40 miles away. In June: SFGAdv, SFA, PKD, BGW. Prolly a midweek jaunt to SFMM and KBF later this summer, and SCBB sometime.

Top Thrill Dragster dies and I am next in the queue. Should I go to pee?

Yeah. When I was there, it seemed like they were always dickin' around with the mechanism that raised and lowered the magnetic braking fins, and that's a hydraulics problem, right?

According to rcdb, the Tidal Wave/GL was 137 feet tall. That's 13 feet under the SFMW height limit, and shorter than both V2 and Medusa. And yeah, I understand that SF doesn't own the thing, so does anyone know just why it ended up in their parking lot?

One other thing: I know you want to ride the rides, but don't be so involved in running from one queue to the next that you miss the little things. With the possible exception of parts of DAK, IOA is hands-down the best immersively themed park I've been to. From the signage at Port of Entry to the talking fountain, the details are part of what make the park so amazing. (Sometimes, as in the notorious mile-long DD queue, the theming is almost TOO much.) So take some time to look around. I always try to be in the back of the park at closing time so I can slowly make my way through the near-deserted islands on my way out. Oh, and yet one more thing: Don't wear a poncho on DDR: on the final drop, it'll blow up over your head and make you feel like a total wanker. I learned the hard way.

A rela shame, though I can see why Marine World, which already has a Boomerang and V2, wouldn't want to add a shuttle loop. Or, comes to that, an old Schwartzkopf, considering the problems they had with Zonga. Oh well, at least PGA has a new swimming pool. And the Grizzly. Sigh.

For sheer jackhammering misery: Psyclone at SFMM. Root canal was less painful. And more thrilling.

Well, this is somewhat OT, but I'd suggest that stats are not all. And some of us prefer one thing, some another. I'm a big B&M fan, but I prefer their swoopier layouts (Medusa West, say) to the shake-and-bakers (like the Batclones). Some reasons Hulk remains in my Top 10, along with MF, S:ROS (DL), Montu, X, and TTD? (And consistently places in the top 20 in polls, btw.) --- *Going up that tube and then into a barrel roll as soon as you hit the air...great. *Topnotch theming and effects that actually add to the ride experience. *Great visuals. *What I feel is excellent pacing. Exhilarating, not nauseating. *Excellent rerideability. *And ride ops who really know what they're doing. On the other hand, why CoasterFanatic wants to ride Zonga is beyond me. SFMW is my home park, and I've tried, really tried, to like it. I've ridden in every car, braced, leaned forward...it still remains pure pain, and I'll reckon most who ride it agree. But hey, if you want to ride Schwarzkopf, you want to ride Schwarzkopf. Far be it from me to suggest otherwise. Back on topic, since I'm going East in May, might as well want to ride the coasters I will indeed ride (the goddess of breakdowns willing): KingdaKa Nitro S:ROS (SFA) Alpengeist Apollo's Chariot oh, and if someone will send me a plane ticket, GeForce.

Maybe the problem is Epcot's split personality. It's supposed to be educational as well as entertaining, and that's proved a tough combination to maintain. And Future World is built around huge pavillions, each featuring a single E-ticket experience. Mission:Space is certainly the very best kinetic attraction that Epcot has, much better than the lamentable Test Track (which is somehat less thrilliing than riding my motorcycle down the freeway). It's big, it's amazing, abd it's technologically accomplished. Unfortunately for Epcot, it's simply not appealing to a majority of the park's visitors, most of whom are more focused on eating overpriced foreign food or keeping track of Junior's diaper bag than exploring the far reaches of the galaxy.

Okay, the DC Comics brandiing of SFWOA's coasters may have been cliched, but the featureless generics CF came up with for the re-Geauga-Laking are even worse. Dominator? C'mon...

Different strokes, I guess. While the coaster elements on ROTM are, yeah, fun, I'd trade them all for those 10 seconds leaving Hulk's gamma ray tube.

SFMW is my home park, so I've ridden Medusa West many, many times. It's always been remarkably smooth, so when I rode Scream shortly after it opened, I was surprised at how rough it was. The elements seemed more tightly placed, so maybe that has something to do with it? I'll be going to SFGAd in June, so then I'll be able to compare all three...