DejaVu The Ride
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Posts posted by DejaVu The Ride
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Hampton Inn is pretty good and is like a mile or less from the park. I've actually walked from there.
Also, if you ask nicely, you might get a view of the park. (Which it was awesome falling asleep with the nighttime skyline of Sfgam out the window.)
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You can count me in to go with you guys on the 14th! The only way I wouldn't be there is if I have to end up working.(Which isn't a big deal.)
See you guys there! Jeff. H
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I too like Avalanche better than Hades. You said that Hades seems to maintain its speed. Is it not crawling over the hill after the first tunnel and the hill after the second tunnel anymore? Those 2 spots were dead and uniteresting for me.
Anyways, cool pictures and nice report!
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SfGam is located in Gurnee, Illinois.(Near Chicago)
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Hey, I hope to be there on the Sunday. I still have to check my schedule and stuff, but I should probably be there.
BTW, SfGam offers their Season pass holders a deal in the coupon book that if you buy 2 fastlanes you get a third free.
Hope to see you guys there!
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Here's my suggestions for your trip.
Fri- Riverview, Mt.Olympus and Timber Falls. You should at least check out the 2 new family slides that Mt.Olympus added. They are frickin HUGE! And my friend said the yellow one was the BEST waterslide he has ever ridden.(But that was with a full tube.)
Sat-Wisc. State Fair and SfGam at night. State Fairs are always fun! Wisconsins is usually pretty good. I would HIGHLY suggest visiting SfGam at night if you plan on making the most of Hurricane Harbor on the following day. The waterpark is VERY popular and if you want to get everything done, you want to spend the bulk of the late morning(11 or so) and afternoon.(til about 4 or so). BUT that is if you want to do everything. It is rather small, but you WILL, I repeat WILL spend an hour in Skull Island whether you like it or not. (Which you will probably like it.)
Sun- SfGam and SFHH. Like I said for Sat night, SFHH will most likely be very busy. I would reccomend getting a few morning rides and then heading for HH around 10:45 or so. This will get you in line for opening and you can get on the most popular slides early.
If you haven't noticed, I left Noah's Ark and the Kalahari out. Noah's Ark just isn't too fantastic. The only slides worth mentioning are the Plunge and Black Anaconda.(And Black Anadconda isn't very good at all.) Also, Kalahari is a very neat place with lots of stuff to do, but the Master Blaster is pretty much the only slide that is any different than anything at SfHH.(Also the body slide bowl slide.)
I hope that has helped a little. Any questions, just ask.
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I don't know how true it is, but I have been told that if you want to ride Freefall anymore, the sooner the better.
Funny, no mention of Looping Starship or the Great Gasp.
Oh yeah, B&M hyper, confirmed.(As if you couldn't tell)
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I say Top Gun is gone, but you don't have to believe me.
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Please make mine, "There goes Jeza's floor, you're out the back door!"
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I'd laugh if this doesn't end up being a hyper coaster. Even a B&M coaster. How is this 95% confirmed, are these sources that credible or are we all very wishful thinkers?
I'd love to see exactly how much Six Flags plans on spending in 2006. Cause with all of what I have been hearing, 2006 will be their "coaster year".(Though a couple of tornados will touch land)
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Last coaster was Batman the Ride at SfGam.(Should've been Deja Vu if it wasn't for the darn storms after close.)
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For those who are planning on going to the park, here is a tip. Run to DejaVu first. They have been VERY good and opening it with the park and it is guaranteed to have a long line on a busy day. IMO Superman is not worth running to first. It has gotten rough and the ride just isn't as great as it used to be.
My usual plan of attack. JezaVu-Viper-Raging Bull-Giant Drop-Eagle-Wolf-V2(V2 will probably make you wait a little bit)
You can usually have those done by 11-11:30.(If you are there at opening.) You can hit flats during peak hours. Cajun is always going to have a wait(except at opening) so I advise that you wait til early evening to maybe wait a half hour. You can jump in Superman's line right before closing. Batman and Demon are walk-ons the last hour of the day.
The park is VERY easy to conquer in 1 day. If you want to do the waterpark and theme park in one day, follow the usual plan of attack and head to HH at 10:50 or so.(Stay for a couple hours and continue your loop around the park.) I'd reccomend getting to HH at it's opening time(11am) because for the past few days, the park has been hitting capacity and the wait to get in HH has been rather long. 2 days at the parks would be more than enough, and would provide for a more peaceful visit.
I know the original poster has already visited, but this info is for anyone else who plans to visit. If you have any more specific questions, just ask here or pm me!
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Wow! Six Flags does it again!
They are two for two on parking lot expansions this year. Hurricane Harbor Chicago looks great. I think ours in NJ looks http://amusementpics.com/SFHHNJ.htma little better
Well, our trees were JUST put in last week. They need to grow. But yeah, Jersey's waterpark does look good with all the grown trees.(And decent theming.)
Also, the Wahoo Racers aren't exactly the same as PKI's. There is one more drop than theirs.
For the atomic bowl slides, you ride in a tube. You drop into the bowls and go around 3 or 4 times and the jets catch your tube and push you into the opening.
And yes Barry, DejaVu is finally running. It has all year(except on low staffing days.)
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For anyone who plans on heading out to SfGam this summer, make sure you plan some time to head out to their new "historic" waterpark, Hurricane Harbor. The park opened at 11am this Saturday morning. Let me just say that this park is beautiful. It is also the best overall park I have been to.(Even without Skull Island open.) The reason I would rate it better than Noah's Ark is that it is a lot more comfortable and has a much better atmosphere. Noah's Ark may have more slides, but that's all they have going for them.
Basically, I spent about 4 1/2 hours at the park and rode everything more than 3 times. Skull Island was NOT ready, but I heard it was being inspected today. Wahoo Racers(6 lane mat slides) and the Hurricane Mt. opened late along with the family tube slides. All the slides were great with the best being the blue speed slide, the atomic bowls, the inside slides at the Wahoo complex, and the dark blue slide on Hurricane Mt.
I hope to add more info on the new park as time permits! I will also add links to pictures of the waterpark.
BTW, Viper now has fastlane. It is not ready yet, but the exit path of HH will serve as a path to the fastlane op. They are also using the fastlane op as a grouper. This will result in Viper appearing to have a much longer line than it really does.(There are no switchbacks now.)
Also, all new game booths are now open and a new restaurant near Viper should open soon.
The main park was packed, but the park took the capacity very well. Dejavu ran all day. Got the 3 last rides of the night.
The park is looking amazing and is on its way to its ultimate goal. To once again be "Great America" and not just "Good America". Ron Sevart has a good head on his shoulders and if what he promises comes true, Cedar Point better watch out.
HH pics! Credit dmrbug for taking them. http://community.webshots.com/album/355320931fwgNFg
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Date: Tuesday May 24, 2005
So I left my house Tuesday evening with my dad to hopefully get a couple rides in before close. That didn't happen because of traffic, but I did manage to see the last cycles on Giant Drop and Raging Bull.
We got dinner and checked into the Hampton Inn and I went for a walk to the park. I went and walked around admissions and to check out the waterpark. Things looked good and I took a couple of neat pictures.
Went back to the hotel and saw some people who I think worked for corporate or something and saw some girls who were going to be at media day. It was obvious that there were a lot of hotel guests who would be there. I got to sleep around 11.
Date: Wednesday May 25, 2005
I had three means of getting myself up; the hotel wake-up call, my cell phone, and the alarm clock. So I got up at 3:45am and was ready to leave around 4:20am. The short drive to the park was very odd. Went and parked (Inside the barriers next to HH) and learned that there were tons of models from Barbeco(sp?) that would be participating in part of a commercial shoot and that I was invited to participate. So I went in the pretty dark and eerie waterpark and grabbed a beach chair. My dad was with me and decided to take pictures for awhile and then head back to the hotel.
At about 5am everyone was invited to walk around the back part of the park and to enter into Castaway Creek. About 3 or 4 tubes were being allowed to enter at a time and it was freezing cold. I got to go around half of it and then had to exit.(BTW, there were lots of fountains puring out of tiki heads and other things. The other half also looks exciting.) Went back to dry off, but then decided to jump into Hurricane Bay. The water was freezing, but the wave rotation was pretty decent. Just be aware that inexperienced swimmers are not allowed past the black line towards the back of the wave pool. It is also only 5 or 6 feet deep.
Throughout the day, I rode all the slides at the 6 slide complex.They had ride superviors working at the top of the towers. Here's a review of each of the slides:
Toilet bowls: These are fast and fun. The better one of the two is the green one(If I recall) because it has a faster drop into the funnel. Be sure to ride double because that has much more speed than single. You basically go around the funnel 3 or 4 times, depending on the weight of the raft. These were the most popular.
Teal tube slide: This was very good, but my least favorite on the complex. It has a nice drop right off the platform and has 4 waterfalls throughout the course. You even get slight airtime down the final drops.
Gold tube slide: This was great! It had decent speed and a pretty intense part near the middle where you go through one waterfall, then do a quick dip through another one. It was neat.
Blue body slide: This was the best slide on the complex in my opinion. The speed is amazing and you even feel G-Forces at the end! One of the best waterslides I have been on. The only downpart is that your back will be a little red afterwards.(But not as bad as the Point of No Return at Noah's Ark.)
Purple Body slide: This was also fantastic! It starts off slow but then there is a quick turn and into the final "airtime" hill. And YES, you feel like you are freefalling.(At least I did.) Your back doesn't hurt at all on this one.
(Note: If you are under 5'6 you will be putting your hands behind your neck and if you are above that, you will put your arms across your chest. Also, NO metal rivots on the back of your suit!)
The other slides were expected to open, but never did. First of all, the path contructing one half of the park with the other was not finished in the morning and they had to wait to officially open up the other half of the park. That is where the media food/drink tent was. They had some great Cocoa in there.
Back to the slides. I was told that Hurricane Mountain and Wahoo Racers would "definately" open, but do to contruction issues, that was impossible. The purple and orange family slide was also supposed to open, but they had some problems. The green and blue family slide was just not ready yet. And obviously, Skull Island is not structurally complete.(But might be now.)
Later in the day, they had a press event where Ron Sevart, Michelle Hoffman, the president of Koala playqroup, and the mayor of Gurnee spoke. Basically about stuff most people already know. But also, that Skull Island is 4 times larger than the previously largest complex. And that it is the size of two football fields. The buckets are also supposed to pour water at the same time and every two minutes.(Not 100% sure if the interval of 2 minutes is correct.)
They also served pizza for everyone and had bottles of Coke products sitting out for whoever wanted any.
The "beach" is almost done as they had most of the sand layed out. The beach stage is completed and Dj Bob was entertaining people with beach games and music.
The also had tons of Looney Toons characters walking around in swim suits including Babs Bunny. They also had pirates walking around with real parrots. They will be there opening day along with Mr.Six. But I don't think they will stay all summer.
There is really so much to say about the waterpark. Visually, it looks like it will be one of the best around. I didn't feel like I was at Six Flags. It will definately change your view about the park. It makes it a whole new place.
I'm sure that there is a lot more to tell you. If you have any questions, then just ask, and I will also add more things to say as I think of them.
I had to leave around 11:30 to meet up with my cousin, but soon learned that he wasn't able to make it. He had too much work to do. So I was off to change and head back into the main park.
Earlier in the morning, I was amazed to see DejaVu completed morning test runs! It wasn't supposed to be open today as it is a weekday. But I'll get back to Jeza later.
Rides on the rides closed list: Great America Raceway, Stargate, one of the water rides(or Condor?) and DejaVu. A few others were closed at first, but most reopened before close.
Now I'll just tell you what I rode and how long I waited:
-Sky Trek Tower- Walk-on
-Demon-5-10 minutes in row 6:1. Red and Yellow trains were running.
-Raging Bull-10 minutes with Red and Yellow trains running. Rode row 9.
-Viper-Walk-on. Back row.
-Revolution- Walk-on.
-American Eagle Red(Blue closed.)- 10 minutes. Rode toward the back.
-Iron Wolf- 30 minutes. There was 1 breakdown and 1 guest illness. The wait would have been maybe 10 minutes for the front otherwise.
-Fiddler's Fling- 1 cycle wait.
-Batman-10 minutes for a back row ride.
-King Chaos-Walk-on. Only 4 people were in the back row.
-Big Easy Balloons!- Walk-on for the credit of riding it this year.
-Superman- 25 minutes. Broke down on me again and I waited it out for row 7. This ride is really of piece of you know what now. It is always breaking down.
Met up with my friend Dan.
-Whizzer- 5-10 minutes for a ride towards the back. 2 trains were running.
-Demon- Walk-on for row 6:1. Great ride!
-American eagle Red- Walk-on. We got to ride twice but switched rows. It was seriously hauling today with VERY light trims. There was no trim after the double helix so the drop out provided excellent ejector air!
-Iron Wolf- 1 train wait for front row on the "good" train. One of my best and smoothest rides ever on it.
-Spacely's Sprocket Rocket- Walk-on for row 2!
-V2- 2 train wait for this POS! I don't like it anymore, but it still gives a nice thrill.
-Batman- Walk-on for the front row. One of my best rides ever on it!
-DejaVu- Rode 6 times during the last 50 minutes and got my total for the year to 40. The crew was pretty good tonight with a few things that made me mad(BINGO!!! ) Also, the 1 seat rows really worked to our advantage!
Basically, it was nice to go to Media Day and see people that I knew or now know. It was also nice to go get some rides at the main park, too. Hurricane Harbor is truly going to change the face of SfGam forever. Now for a few random notes.
1. Giant Drop was at half capacity.
2. The Highway sign now entails a huge logo for HH.
3. The gates at the entrance to HH are orange. I almost asked the painters if they were going to re-paint it.
4. The lights in the Batman fan are back on with a few other improvements.
5. Logger's Run was using a couple switchbacks.
6. Vu being open was a nice surprise.
7. The Virtual Reality zone in the Eagle tent now contains 3 news games. A newly placed DDR machine, a HUGE claw game(for big stuffed animals.) and another smaller claw game.
8. Much of Hometown Square was repaved.
9. 2 of the new SWT area games are now open.
10. Mr. Six will be at the opening of HH on Saturday and is doing commercial shoots today and tomorrow.
Until next time.....
Edit: A couple sites with pics.
http://midwestcoastermadness.com/
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http://www.sfgamworld.com/gallery/05212005?page=1
Sfgamworld.com has updated their website with 211 images of the waterpark. Even these don't do the park justice.
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Date: 5/21/05
Basically, ACE members were sent e-mails to particpate in a special Hurricane Harbor tour for last Saturday. That was cancelled and rescheduled for today.
So I get up at 5:30 this morning and head out to Gurnee by 6:15. Arrived at the park by 7:45. The gates weren't open yet, but it appeared that there were TOO many cars. Yes, there were regular park-goers already at the park. Acers(although you didn't really need to be in ACE) were sent into the parking lot and went to parking. We went to the main gate where we were greeted by two of our Pr ladies. (Lisa and Katie) Then Ron Sevart(Gm and tour leader) came out and welcomed us to the tour.
Since there is so much to say, I will just post random thoughts about the tour which consisted of no more than 20 people.
1. Tour was supposed to last only 1 hour(8-9) but lasted all the way to 10:10 or so.
2. It was a very neat experience walking through the main park before the public was even let into the parking lot. There were lots of cars and trucks driving around and getting the park ready for opening.
3. Sevart mentioned that a new sign for Nascar Experience will be added at the Pictorium. It should be up soon.(June?)
4. Much of Hometown Square is expected to be repaved(?) soon. It is to upkeep a lacking area of the park.
5. Many new roofs were added this year.(About $7,000 a roof).
6. The area near Orbit is expected to be the busiest part of the park. Hence the reason that games were stacked in that area.
7. The fountain by Orbit was removed intentionally. Sevart said it didn't meet the park's standards.
8. The 6 new games near SWT are coming along very nicely. Many of the games are already in place and some stuffed animals are already present.
9. It was confirmed that the Shooting Gallery is indeed becoming a restaurant. Nothing special though as it will just be an "everything" snack area. A patio is being contructed next to the restaurant. It is a prime location for a new snack shack.
10. The entrance to Hurricane Harbor is coming along VERY nicely. The pillars sort of form a star and in the middle is a fountain. The whole "pillar" entrance area will be bricked.
11. The Hurricane Harbor path will be split in two parts. An entrance and an exit path.
12. Signs are beginning to appear everywhere. Sevart mentioned that the best ones are yet to be placed.
13. There is an iron entrance gate at the "pillar" entrance.
14. The park pondered over 3 different path locations, but decided on the current one.
15. There is a shelter area right at the end of the path back toward Viper. This will be a stopping area(hopefully only on peak summer days) to hold people who wish to enter a full capacity waterpark.
16. The first thing I noticed is that, the paths aren't just regular concrete. They are special paths which have shapes encripped in them.(IG lobsters, fish, leaves, etc.)
17. The first attraction/shop you encounter is Hurricane Hanks. It is the main gift shop in which will sell many swim products, etc. The highlight of this shop will be the interactive parrot. You can say things to it and it will repeat what you said. The floors will be wooded.(I can't recall what the real name is.)
18. The Pink Flamingo will be the largest food outlet in any system waterpark. It has over seven counter areas. The patio area is also the largest food patio in the system. This area is huge!!!
19. Down the way, you will encounter tube rentals, changing shower rooms, lost parents, etc. We needed a little imagination for this right now.
20. The changing/shower rooms are going to be very high quality with lots of room! It will also contain the hand-dryers that "blow you across the room."
21. Restroom #7 in the main park is going to be continuously revamped.(I think it is the one near Orbit.)
22. Sevart said he has been part of the contruction of 4 different waterparks.(SFGAm, SFGadv, SfNE, and I think Oceans of Fun at WOF.) This is the only one that he feels that was right on schedule.
23. Sevart stressed that the waterpark may look like a long way off, but that it will go to the crunch time and open as ready as it's going to be.
24. The lazy river is ready to be filled. They were cleaning the lazy river today and washing it down. It is expected to be filled (I forget, today?) and will take 24 hours to be filled.
25. The family raft slides are on the same system, so they should be ready to be filled soon, too.
26. Hurricane Mountain's pool was filled.
27. Banking was added to the bottom of the green and blue family slide.
28. They were working hard on the other family slide. A piece was slid off for some work.
29. Sevart expects the green and blue family raft ride to be more popular than the other.
30. The raft lift was installed, but ended up being 8 inches too short. It will work out somehow.
31. There were TONS of workers working, even at 8am!
32. There are tiki fountains in the lazy river that will shoot water, along with many other surprises. The rock sides of the lazy river look amazing!
33. The area near the wave pool is actually rather small, with quite a few shading units outlining the "beach" area. The park expects most families to claim "base" near Skull Island.
34. The atomic coasters have undergone slide testing and a few slight modifications are expected to be made.
35. There are two entrances for this complex. One for the body slides and the other for the tube slides.
36. We were invited to climb the 6 slide tower. There were some amazing shots from up there. There will also be shade units at the top of each tower.(This is something you don't see too often at waterparks.)
37. We were led to the back part of the wavepool. This is something that most people will never do.
38. Speed boats are placed right behind the wavepool. 2 of the three of them are expected to be painted.
39. The lounge chairs are going to be high-quality. Not the normal lounge chairs you see at waterparks.(I can't really describe what he said.)
40. Saltwater Sals is a Tiki Bar. This is expected to be very popular. There are bathrooms right behind it.
41. Behind Saltwaters Sals. I believe they will be adding cabana rental with servers from Saltwater Sals attending to your cabana.
41. There will be a stage right in this general area. There will be 3 or 4 different bands each day. One will include a Bob Marley type guy.
42. Slide testing for Hurricane Mountain is expected to take place today.
43. Wahoo Racers should be slide testing soon.
44. About 75-80 percent of concrete work is done.
45. Skull Island is massive and the waterslides look great. This will NOT be ready for Wednesdays media day but IS expected to be ready for opening day.(They will be working down to the last minute, along with the rest of the park.
46. The seating area for Skull Island as well as Bucaneer Bay is also massive. There is also tons of shade already in place.
47. A huge Funnel Cake stand is being added near the changing facilities.
48. The park is really pushing for atmosphere. They are trying to make it feel like you are not withing walking distance of roller coasters. Sevart was also asking for requests for park music.
49. Here's a huge surprise. There will be tons of sand all over the park. You will be allowed to take shade and "base" in a few of the beaches that will be made with real sand.
50. Many acers were videotaping/taking pictures of the tour.
51. The park has hired landscaping designers. Palms were sent in by refrigerated trucks from Florida. The first batch are currently being stored in the parking lot. Some of them are as much as 25 feet high. Many plants have already been planted. There will be tons of trees and palms everywhere! 4 more huge truckloads are expected to arrive soon.
52. The last parts for Skull Island arrived around 9:30.
53. We were allowed to go into the wavepool and put our feet in. I jumped at the chance and I believe I was the first member of the GP to step foot in the wave pool. Even Sevart hasn't even done it. Dan(DanHockey04) was second. (Dan told me it sounded as if we were one of the first if not the first people to actually go in.) BTW, it was only a few inches deep.
54. Wave programs are expected to be tested tomorrow I believe.
55. Condor now has its birds back on and is expected to open soon.
56. Sevart is very optimistic about the parks. He wants it to be the best in the whole system and believes it will once again be "Great America" and not just "Good America."
57. He is very open to ideas or requests.
58. Sevart talked a lot about the tolls.
59. The highway sign should be updated with HH's logo. A rodent(?) was killed by the sign. That's why the sign was not lit the last few days.
60. It was neat seeing Am tests! Every ride was doing some testing.
61. Warning, Warning, Warning! Take Cover! It's coming. (It wasn't confirmed, but it obviously wasn't denied. I was actually surprised we were even focused in this area.
62. The not so mystery catch pool has been filled with sand and the park expects to create a sitting area for the time being. This is the only area where sod should be used.
63. There will be a "summer stage" near Skull Island. I forget what this will be used for.
64. The games near Orbit that replaced the fountain are expected to become "Whack a Mr.Six" Corporate needs to finalize this one.
There is so much more to say and I hope I didn't forget anything.
I had to leave by 10:30 so I was only able to ride 2 rides. I rode DejaVu with a 10-15 minute wait. Then I hopped on Demon for a quick ride and left. Today was Joyfest, and the park was beginning to get REAL busy. Condor, IMS, and Roaring Rapids were the only rides expected to be closed. Bull had 3 trains running and Whizzer had 2, but I can only assume that they would add the third.
Until Next Time...
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If that ends up being early June, then lines shouldn't be too bad. You might want to check Cajun out if you have time. Some of the cars appear to be going right through the hard trim.(Resulting in one crazy ride. ) Just be aware that a full queue is one hour with 5 cars running.
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I've done marathons on Raging Bull(15 times) and Superman: Ultimate Flight(10+). (All at SfGam)
Over the course of one day however, I did ride Avalanche at Timber Falls over 60 times! Boy did I have bruises the next day!
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I guess I'll update on the park in this topic.
1.Raging Bull is running 3 trains on every remotely busy day.
2. Whizzer and Demon are expected to run 3 once the waterpark opens.(At least Whizzer will and has.)
3. King Chaos has opened for the season.
4. There is no more waiting under the Hometown Square bridge. They are making you stop near the Aunt Marthas Boarding House restaurant. This lets them open Season Pass processing early and will also eventually allow them to open the games early too.
5. The waterpark WILL open on time. The wavepool is now full of its water and the atomic coaster splash pool is now full. Even two of the slides were running with water. All slides should be ready by Friday.
5. Skull Island is the main thing they are now working on. They were working past daylight to do some welding.
6. DejaVu is running to perfection. There were only a couple breakdowns this weekend.
7. American Eagle Blue is still on one train op.
8. The new freedom at the mic is amazing. The ops are really getting into it with entertaining spiels.
9. The Hurricane Harbor entrance will be neat with a fountain in the middle.
10. The Lucky Shot shooting gallery is being turned into a new food location.(restaurant possibly.)
11. Ragin Cajun is finally back to 5 car op and is actually hitting a good capacity.
12. Superman is turning into the old Dejavu. It even has paint blotches on its supports.
13. DejaVu should be using a grouper a lot this season. Be aware that they line could look long because of this.
14. If you plan to ride DejaVu first and it doesn't look like it has tested yet, still run to the ride. They do Am's real early and the safety check was done by 9:45 yesterday. It will normally test only once after 9.
That's it for now. I will update more if I think of stuff. It is home stretch for the waterpark! Media Day May 25 with Opening Day May 28! I will be able to get a sneak peak of the waterpark this Saturday, so I will for sure update you then.
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BTW, American Eagle's transfer tracks were re-done.
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Date: Saturday, May 7, 2005.
Weather: Cloudy or sunny with cool temps and a short period of light drizzle.
Time at park: 8:57am-8:35pm.
Who?: Me, Ally, Jerome. Dan left at 4 while Zach(m_force_4_ever), and Eric joined us around 4:30.
Rides closed for the day: Hometown Fun Machine, Condor, King Chaos, Roaring Rapids, IMS
Crowds: Heavy("Overflow" lot was used and it was Scouts Day, Music in the Parks, and there were prom groups at the park). Lots of buses.
So I went to prom on Friday night with Ally in Itasca. It was for Elgin-Larkin. That was lots of fun, but you guys probably only want to hear about the day at the park.
We arrived at about 8:57 at the drop off zone and went straight to admissions. Thats where we were about 7 or 8 people back in the early admission line. Saw Dan and Jerome and others. Talked around, got surveyed, had the park close around 3 times before it opened , and heard the "good" rendition of the National Anthem.(Dan is death. )
We were let in at about 9:30 and we went to the Hometown Square chains. We waited as the herd behind us grew. We were heading to Vu. We also noticed Whizzer testing early and were informed that they were going to open the day with the third train running empty to get the required amount of tests. We were also informed that Vu was down for about 2 hours on Friday night. (I guess it deserves at least one major breakdown. ) The worker out front did a spiel about no running and then heading to the ride of choice once all chains were done. Only one of those were listened to. I guess it was a fair race.
I ended up getting second to Vu' right behind Dan and we got first dispatch in 1A. I heard the great new spiel and we were off. It was a great first ride of the day. BTW, it wasn't even a full train. When we returned to the station, we went over to 2A and 2B and re-rode. Again a great but a little more rough ride. No one in our row, so another re-ride. First three trains of the day! Our group was no made up of Me, Ally, Jerome, and Dan.
Next we headed over to the Demon where I rode in 6:1. It was running 2 train op and there was no wait in the station. We almost weren't allowed to re-ride, but the op knew better. So yeah, we got two quick and relatively smooth rides on the Demon. Next up was Viper where it was a couple train wait for 1:3. It was running great and the ride is actually different than in the past. I don't know what it is. Just different kind of air in different places. 1 ride with a 2 train op.
We noticed Bull's Teal train was just being added(10:40 or so) which resulted in a little line, so we went to walk-on at Giant Drop. Great drop and awesome view of the waterpark! Bull was next because the line died down a bit. It was about a 10/15 minute line for the back row. 3 train op. It was running pretty good!
We next headed for a short flat ride fix with Richochet and Chubasco. We all rode Richochet which had about a one cycle wait. It was good and then Dan and I rode Chucbasco. Let me just say that this was the best Chubasco ride ever! My head felt like it was going to fall off. A ride with Dan on this ride is not for the weak of heart or stomach.
Since we noticed American Eagle Blue was open for the season, we headed there next. The wait was a 2 train wait in the station, but since the second train was nowhere in site, it resulted in a little longer wait than normal. Nice shinny new Blue train! Let's just say that the new tracking made for a smooth lift hill and a nice trimmed ride. We went back around for a short 2 train wait for American Eagle Red. 2 trains running and we got a ride on the nice shinny new red train. Too bad I almost got a little too excited and went through the air gates a little too early to get a seat. oops!
Next was Iron Wolf which we ended up waiting 5-10 minutes for the back row of the bad train. Oh well, it was still a great ride with a 2 train op! We wanted to ride the train(like everytime we rode Wolf today), but we ended up missing it(like every other time we were at Wolf.) So next we headed over to Hometown Square to first get my parking pass(which could be bought at the parade doors) and then to eat pizza at the Firehouse. Great food and pretty fast service. No napkins that I could see though. We all talked and had a fun time.
Next up was Sky Trek Tower(which didn't even have the song this time) but Dan filled in for the spiel. It was a walk-on BTW. Next was Batman The Ride where the wait was into the Gotham City Park. Not too bad of a wait. Maybe about 25-30 minutes for back row. It was running great!
It was time for yet another Iron Wolf ride because lines were actually long for everything else. The wait was about 20 minutes for another ride on the cruddy train. I really got beat up on this one! Next up was another Raging Bull ride in the back row.Wait was about 25 minutes(because one train got stuck on the MCBR for a little bit) and again, it was another great ride. (BTW, saw John.) Now we headed to Guest Relations for some fun and then headed back to the Columbia Carousel(Top). We waited one cycle and were let on. Fun times! Dan had to leave now, so he left and we rode a couple flats. We waited maybe 2 cycles for East River Crawler and got a spinny ride. Next was Whirligig where it was "fun" to say the least. Now we met up with Zach and Eric and we went to wait for V2. It was about a 20-25 minute wait for a ride in row 13. The ride e-stopped during our wait in the swtichbacks. I don't think it broke down, because it was basically a system re-set and they let that train re-ride without getting off.
After our ride, it started to drizzle for just a bit and we headed for another Iron Wolf ride. This time we got the "good" train and waited about 15 minutes for a relatively smooth ride. Bull was calling again and we decided to wait for the front since its queue was pretty short. We ended up waiting 15/20 minutes for front and saw John again. Viper was next where we were greeted with a 15-20 minute wait for row 1:3 again.(Zach's new money spot and Viper. He didn't believe me that you actually got ejector air in that row! 8) )
It was now time for Whizzer. It had a short 10 minute queue and was running all 3 trains with passengers! And it is only the second weekend of operation! (If only Demon would get its third on soon and Cajun with cars 5-7 then the park's coasters will be at highest capacity.) BTW, Whizzer was running great with the trim on not as much as opening day. Giant Drop was next where we waited 2 cycles. On the one before us, someone dropped there shoe on purpose about 50-70 feet above ground. Let's just say that they shoe hit the ground VERY hard and the ops did nothing.
We wanted to ride Bull a few times, but it still had at least a 15 minute wait, so we headed to Vu to see everyone leaving the line. I asked a girl if she was "told" to leave or if she "chose" to leave. She "chose" to leave so we hopped in line just before the ride closed sign appeared out front. People kept leaving the line and we had some fun with it. Someone's restraint would not open and it took about 15 minutes once we made it to the station to re-open. Everyone cheered! The station was full of energy! We opted for a ride toward the back, but I noticed that if we planned it right, we could get the second to last train of the night. Ally was holding one row, while I was in the other. We went in hers to make it for the second to last ride of the night! But wait. Why did I want second to last train out? So we could fill the last train of the night too! We had 2 GREAT "night" rides to end the day.(35 or so minute in all.)
So we walked out to the exit and thought we would call it a night. I was tired(because of prom) but I guess we all decided to meet at Burger King.(We decided after Jerome left but saw him there anyways!) We talked and had some fun for awhile. What a weird restroom situation. I wasn't able to figure out which bathroom was which so I almost touched the Braile dots to figure it out(I don't know Braile. ) Thank god for the girls walking out of their restroom! ) We left about 10:30 or so.
What a great day!
Random notes:
1. There is a new national anthem sung by a girl. She was pretty good and even went from real "low" to real "high".(Yes Dan, that is normal. )
2. There was continued work on the new games in SWT.
3. "Are you guys ready to have some fun? Great cause DejaVu is ready in 3-2-1!" New spiel at Vu'.
4. The Whizzer crew was very good, but please don't complain about stacking. The train was ready to leave early, but they looked as if they couldn't send the train until another cleared a certain part of the track.(3 train op) They were also very interactive which was cool.
5. Strength game is now open next to Aunt Martha's.
6. Nice flowers being planted.
7. The DDR is hooked up in the County Fair arcade.
8. Saw the Hurricane Harbor theming behind the SWT ampitheater. It includes a sailboat and some fountains.
9. The funniest thing of the day. This kid saw the fastlane sign for Batman.(The sign is also next to a bathroom.) The kid said, "Mommy, look! They have fastlane for the bathroom too!"
10. Giant Drop is now using all 6 airgates. It worked out pretty well while I was there.
11. S:UF got yet another late start.
12. A mechanic was working on King Chaos. The ropes and barrel that were in the back row last week are now gone!
13. Logger's Run opened up in the afternoon.
14. Hometown Fun Machine did not open at all, even though it wasn't on the ride closed list. Mechanics were all over it all day and appeared to take a part at the base of the ride off to work on it. (It has seemed to be closed a lot so far this year.)
15. They will have various SWT shows throughout the summer including a diving show, a Paul Bunyan act, and an alligator show. There is a sign of all events outside of the SWT ampitheater.
16. The spiel for park closing came on 3 different times before we went through the gates.
17. The park spiels were a little off as the spiels for "10 minutes for showtime" for Nascar Experience were too close together.
18. Batman was stopped on the lift at one point, as was Eagle.
19. American Eagle Blue's ugly brown wood was painted blue at the top lift area.
20. DejaVu used a grouper in the afternoon.
21. There were a few closed shops and restaurants at the park.
22. Never got on the train.
23. Lots of excitement throughout the park(like the commercials promise. )
24. I kept saying "It's still running.", everytime I saw DejaVu run. Let's just say that it was a lot, so it gave a great title to my trip report.
25. I am now at 14 Vu rides in 2 park visits and am really understanding this "great ride". You can really feel the G's, especially during the second half of the ride.
26. The ops and other employees are fantastic this year. The guest interaction is great!
27. We saw them crown one of the family slides and do a lot of work today.
28. Hurricane Mountain, the family slides, the 6-slide complex, and Hurricane Bay all seem to be structurally complete.
29. Wahoo Racers are going to be complete by next weekend and Skull Island and Castaway Creek should be finished real soon.
30. The entrance to Hurricane Harbor is looking great and the path leading to the new waterpark is now mostly paved.(with asphalt )
31. BTW, DejaVu's paint job is complete and looks amazing! Look at the catch cars for a nice surprise.(A green flame is on each side.)
If I think of more, I will add them later. If anyone ever is at the park and wants to meet, that would be cool.
Until next time...
DejaVu "Elissa, you're definately getting your credit on this Vu'! " The Ride
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There's a catch pool in the middle of the lazy river that will NOT house a slide this year.(New for 2006! )
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Well, you already had lived to see the day!
DejaVu "It was open for 4 hours opening day 2004." The Ride
Quick Six Flags Great America TR
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
I can report that DejaVu re-opened today at 12pm. I was shocked to hear this as yesterday, I saw the train either on tower 2 or between tower 2 and the vertical loop more than I saw it in the station.(Between 11-4 or so).
V2, errr, well, it's been down for a couple weeks now. It tested last week for a little bit, but right now the train is sitting on the launch track.
Revolution and the Scenic Railway were also both on the list yesterday, however both opened up.(SR at opening and Revy sometime in the afternoon.)
Also, Eagle Red is running absolutely insane. It glided through the trims and provided a look into its glory days.