shepp

Face it: The place needs a Gay Day...

Just got back from a trip to the East Coast, and it turns out that SFGAdv's Rise & Scream early entry for season passholders is, well, great - at least this early in the season. On Monday, we got there at 9:30 and joined all of maybe a dozen other riders at El Toro. We scored 7 rides in around 45 minutes, and could have done more, but we needed a breather or two. (Medusa was also open early.) On Tuesday, R&S rides were supposed to be El Toro and Nitro, but the bull was having problems, and Ka was open instead. Same deal - damn near nobody was there. Three consecutive front row rides with a one-train wait: not too shabby... As it got toward 10:30 opening time for the GP, there were a few more passholders straggling in, but both rides were, at least in some rows, walk-ons till the GP stampede. As the summer goes on, the park gets more crowded, and word gets around, R&S might not be quite so amazing, but for now... So just a heads-up: getting up an hour earlier is really worth it.

So, not to keep dragging this OT, but to be clear here...as a matter of policy, TPR threads won't be locked or pulled on account of offensive language or attitudes? I mean, I'm fine with that...just want to be sure...

^ Yeah, I have to say that - at the risk of seeming what one of Jason's sig lines terms a "liberal bedwetter" - the amount of not-so-covert racism in this thread really irks me, too...and I'm white.

Um, in fairness to myself, I never said or even remotely implied "caused," and was not the first person...or even the third...in this thread to suggest that perhaps Jason and his wife's actions might have taken a bad situation and made it worse. And, hey, unlike other folks in this thread, I never said that being cursed at, or otherwise insulted, was justification for physical violence, comes to that. K?

No, I didn't assume you were lying. That's really unfair. What I said, if you re-read my post, is that there are often two sides to a story. And that we humans often, whether consciously or unconsciously, add fuel to fires. From everything I know about from seeing you online, you tend to be combative, though if Robb's right, in person you're a pussycat. But what if you do tend to get feisty? So, in fact, do I...often. That's not necessarily a bad thing. But I'm willing to admit that there are times when, once I've stepped back, I realize that I only made a bad situation worse. As my partner says, "Sometimes you don't realize the vibes you give off when you're angry." I'm not sure how my being verbally threatened with physical violence is "ridiculously uncomparable" to having someone curse at you..but I'll take your word for it. But be fair - I did not, in fact, say or even imply that you as a Republican deserve mistreatment. I do recall that, long ago and far away, when I was on RRC wingeing on about what I regarded as clearly homophobic moments onstage at HHN, as well as being verbally baited at that same event, you said something to the effect of "Stop being so oversensitive. Let go of it." Know what? You were, in fact, right. OK, one bad-tempered, foul-mouthed girl let loose with a common Anglo-Saxonism when she was angry. That's really all that happened, correct? I'm genuinely distressed that sort of thing happens at a theme park - to you, to anyone. But it's hardly an Overarching Symbol of the Decline of Civilization. Let it go, dude.

OK, I really hate queue jumpers, but (with all due respect, Robb) everyone handles conflict in his/her own way. And those of us who've been around Jason (his posts on alt.rec-roller-coaster being one of a number of reasons I migrated over here instead) know that he's a "Screw political correctness" right-wing type fellow (and I'm sure he'd agree) who's, um, prone to combativeness, the sort of guy who's likely to take a case of potty-mouth at DLR as a sure sign of the Decline of Western Civ. OK, I wasn't there, I don't know him personally, the line-jumpers were clearly in the wrong, but I'm thinkin' that in a situation like this, he'd be pretty much the type to (whether consciously or not) add fuel to the fire. There's the "OK, how am I gonna rescue as much of the day as I can?" attitude, and then there's the "How dare some teenager treat a white professional guy like me that way in front of my son?" approach. But, hey, he might have been meek as Gandhi. I honestly have no idea. Blowing the whistle on jumpers is always problematical to me, seeing as how a park is an enclosed environment. Do you want to provoke someone you might end up seeing again and again during the day, then never see again, simply because you're in the right? The worst queue-jumping situation I ever got into was in the unmonitored downstairs of Ghostrider's queue barn, where I was verbally threatened by a (white, 30ish, metalhead-type) guy for objecting to his girlfriend's jumping. (Damn heterosexuals and their sense of privilege - it's the Decline of Western Civ. ) Even if they got their methed-up asses thrown out of the park, I faced being jumped in the parking lot later, so I decided wimping out was the better part of valor and chose to let it slide rather than reporting them, but felt a little paranoid for my last couple of hours at the park. Ah well...

And is a second heart attack added as a separate credit?

Does CP have the Express Pass handstamp program again? I heard they discontinued it, but if it's been reinstated, that's a great idea for TTD. Other than that, your best bet: stay at a CP property for early entry, sprint to TTD, and pray it doesn't break down for 4 hours like it did when I did that. Remember that if they let you in line before closing, you will get to ride. At least, that's how it used to work.

Thanks for the advice, all. I've already been on KK several times a couple years ago, so all things being equal, El Toro's the priority. Anyhow, I should have mentioned earlier that I'll be there midweek for 2 Rise and Screams (with the option of a third), so quite possibly that will decide for me.

When I went, all the coasters weren't open first thing - they opened the sections on a staggered schedule. So before you going sprinting all over the park, you might find out what starts running when.

I know it's kinda micromanaging, but I haven't been to SFGAdv since El Toro opened, so...all other things being equal, which is it wiser to make a dash for first? ET, 'cos it's the new one, or Kingda "ride it now, it may break down at any moment" Ka? Which eats crowds better? And if anybody has already done the SP early entry thing, how's that work? Are both rides open then?

Have you looked into a Breakers Express package for the dates you're going? I found the perks (free parking, early entry, etc.) and convenient location worthwhile. Not a bad place, either.

^ That's cool. At least you'll be able to spend your money on coasters rather than reassignment surgery.

^ No, I get that. But biological sex, sexual orientation, and gender identification are (at least) three different things. I, for instance, really love men, but certainly wouldn't describe myself as "a straight woman trapped in a man's body." I'm a gay man, and I believe that my desires are in some significant ways different from those of most of the straight women I know. And I'd venture to say that only a teensy fraction of non-trans lesbians would describe themselves as straight men in women's bodies, or to claim straight guys as sisters under the skin.

^ The DVD thing brings up something interesting. I think one reason 28 Weeks worked so well for me is because I saw it on a big screen in a dark theater. Weeks' relentless visual technique would work a lot less well at home. I've really tried to love Argento, but I too often find his cinematic technique - at least in the badly dubbed versions I've seen - somewhat lacking. Bad zooms, awkward pans, off-target edits. The music's great, though...

Just saw 28 Weeks Later, and found it one of the most frightening films I've ever seen.

I've heard a lot of straight guys say that. So that means you're transsexual, correct? Hey, they've got hormones for that...

Haven't been to my home park yet this season, and it's great to hear they've been making lots of improvements. Sounds like SF will be hanging in there for quite a while. However - I'll say this again - would it be asking too much to hope for a coaster that's less than 6 years old? Any major ride that's less than 6 years old? I'd take a B&M dive machine over new signage any day... Love the walruses, though. They do in fact play with us humans...as you can see from the training sessions. My favorite behavior is when one of them swims up, spits up his food against the glass, sucks it back in, then spits it out again. Big practical joker.

Sorry, but I respectfully disagree. I haven't visited sub-Saharan Africa, but I've been to Egypt and Morocco, as well as all over Europe. BGE's landscaping is lovely, but a lot of its architecture seemed kinda cheesy to me - e.g., much of Italy seemed like pizza-parlor-cliche writ large. (EPCOT does a better job with Italy, France, and Britain. Though, come to think of it, DAK does Africa pretty damn well...) Anyhow, I'll take the faux exoticism of BGA over the faux quaintness of BGE. The rest is kind of a toss-up. Haven't ridden Griffon, but the coaster collections both have strong points, though I'd give the edge to Tampa. BBW uses the terrain and village set really well, but I love the ruins at Montu, too. I really like Alpie, but I found AC inferior to Nitro. Montu and Kumba both rock. Rhino Rally is a yawn, while DarKastle (best architecture at BGE, IMO) is a lot of fun. On the other hand, I could happily live out the rest of my days without ever seeing Irish step-dancing again. I really enjoy Pompeii, but SheikRa diving into the ruins is superb...and they're both too short. Etc. Hey, do I really have to choose? Well, if I did, I'd go back to Tampa.

Out of Riddler, Mantis, Shockwave (KD), and Vortex (KGA), RR by a standup mile. Love the swoops and Gs.

So I'm guessing it's OK with him if you plagiarize stuff for your reports? Glad you had a good time. Nice report.

Actually, my bad attitude has been to blame for Kingda Ka's breakdowns, all those cases of head trauma caused by SF SLCs, and the guy falling off S:ROS. The $15 parking, though, is somebody else's responsibility. "I'd still be refilling the Mr. Six-head souvenir bottle if the cheesy plastic hadn't cracked" Shepp

^ Of course, the ingredients in a big cup of soda probably cost SF less than a nickel, and even factoring in the minimum wage labor cost of filling the cup, at 99 cents, we're still talking about a what, 700% markup? 800%? More? At the non-refill price, the profiteering is astronomical. So it might be hard to feel all that guilty about "cheating."

^ Nope, have the actual card, which is the major reason why I renewed last season. Thanks for the reassurance...it's comforting to hear that from an SFer. Like I said, I just get nervous...