JG-77

As AmyUD said, it's been like this for a very long time, this is nothing new. I do share disappointment at the early closing times.

Yes, I believe this is accurate, it was not running when I visited on Oct 30th, and an acquaintance of mine who works at the park mentioned there was a maintenance issue they ran into that will keep the ride down until next season. When I go the Adventure Park USA website, they list some hours for the outdoor rides, but when I go to the section of the websites on outdoor rides there's a big banner that says "Outdoor rides will reopen next spring" so I would assume that overrules the hours posted elsewhere on the site.

Black Diamond actually has some scenes based on this. I think you pass a sign saying you're entering Centralia PA right before you head into that red spinning tunnel.

A friend I have worked for SFA for several years, and apparently Vekoma no longer sells parts for Flying Dutchman, so SFA must fabricate parts themselves or with local machine shops.

Just for fun I ran the numbers, and if my calculations are correct it would need to complete a full revolution a little over every 1.5 seconds to go more than 70mph! In actuality, each rotation takes about 4 seconds at full speed, for a top speed of approx 27mph. Note for my calculations I'm assuming a 50ft diameter (measured with google map's measure distance tool).

Just curious, where did you hear this? This is news to me, I assumed that the heavier trains allowed for a top speed increase.

Visited this park this past Saturday, and had a good time. Some notes from my visit: -Harely Quinn is a great addition to the park. Ton of fun, with strong positive G's followed immediately by blissful floater, super happy to have it in the lineup. -I think I might like JJ more than superman now. To be fair, I only got 2nd row rides on superman this time, no first row rides, but I forgot just how intense and whippy JJ can be. -I tried Roar in the back row for the first time in years. The last time I came off with a headache, but at least for me, this time I was spared, and actually enjoyed the extra whip in the drops, as well as the extra legroom compared to the front row. I did lean forward a little bit in an attempt to reduce the vibrations, so perhaps that helped. -Batwing too was smoother than I remember, tho perhaps that had to do with getting the front row (this wasn't intentional, just worked out that way) -Firebird is way overhated IMO, that first half inthe back row is actually a lot of fun, especially the loop and drops, and the corkscrew didn't feel as bad as in prior years. -Pretty much all the crews were doing surprisingly good jobs two trains on everything except Roar and Batwing (which opened late, but still opened). Superman in particular often dispatched just as the 2nd train hit the brakes, sometimes even earlier! There were also employees at Batwing and Superman who would fill up the queue lines for each row for the next train while the current train was being loaded. -Crowds started out light-moderate, with sub 10 minute waits on most rides, but certainly not dead, and got more and more crowded as the day went on. By the time I left around 8, JJ's line was well past the bottom of the stairs, and the station for Wild One was pretty much full. -Plenty of security guards throughout the park, including on the midways and in the parking lot, more than I recall in the past. I think some of those groupers I mentioned earlier might have also been security guards, not sure. At no point did I feel like I was in any sort of danger due to patrons. -They also had a very thorough bag check, most of the pockets in my backpack were opened, and the guy checking by bag actually pulled my sweater and raincoat out to ensure there wasn't anything underneath (he put them back, but in the wrong pocket). I didn't really mind this, but some people were wondering what measures the park had taken since the incident a couple weeks ago, so I thought I'd report on what I experienced.

I can't find mention of it either, so my guess would be no, however if you want to be certain, I recommend you email the park.

Granted, PG county is probably the cheapest of the inner DC suburbs to live in, but using a special exemption to get away with paying less than minimum wage feels malicious. They should really be paying at least state minimum wage, though I think for an expensive place like the DC metro area (even if it's cheap-ish by DC standards), they should be paying somewhere around $15/hr. If Six Flags Great Adventure can do it, I don't see what's stopping SFA.

Thanks for the update, shame there are so many staffing issues during such a busy year for parks.

What a shame, I wonder where the machines will end up. I was in Roanoke VA a few weeks ago and there was an awesome pinball museum there where you paid like $12.50 for unlimited play.

Depending on who you ask, the best row is either 1, 3, or 12. Personally, I find the front row is the most consistently great, but others disagree, and YMMV

One last obligatory note is that if it is open, which it may not be because of staffing, the 5 for $5.75 (assuming the price is the same) Pierogi's at the roast beef stand are some of the best food in the park, according to many people (myself included). They're great pierogi's bathed in a pool of butter and onions. I'll post a link to coasterbill's famous map to the pierogi place: https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/6203-knoebels-discussion-thread/?do=findComment&comment=1860075

Also worth keeping in mind that if you happen to be staying at a hotel in NYC, Coney Island is very accessible via Subway, with four separate lines terminating right by the park.

I know one major difference I noticed between Knoebels and SFA's flyers construction-wise is Knoebels's sail is made of fabric, and I think SFA's is made of thin metal or plastic (or maybe some sort of composite, IDK). I suspect Bisch-Rocco has more lightweight 'vehicles' compared to Larson, making snapping easier as the wind is able to toss the Bisch-Rocco seats around more.