JG-77

My front row rides on Wildcat have been fine. Definitely shaky, but those seats are very well padded, and it didn't bother me. I even got mild pops of air thanks to the profiling on some of the entrances into the banked turns.

Man you've been lucky. I was closed for a very large chunk of 2019 iirc due to needing a replacement part, and I've seen it closed on several other occasions. Still glad they keep it around, as I really do enjoy it, and it is quite a large draw to the dry park.

Damn! I've noticed dispatches have been improving in the last few years, but sub 60-second dispatches on Batwing is impressive for any park, especially this place. Great to hear. Would be very interested to see how fast they can move the line if they ever put the 2nd train back on.

I actually had the same experience on Ragin Cajun. It wasn't frightening thanks to the redundant safety features as everyone's always mentioned, but several times the lapbar came up about half a foot if not more. I'd be very curious what causes that to happen mechanically, this is the first time in my visits anything like that happened. It's also worth noting that both Bill and I had this experience on the same day, so for all we know it could be fixed by now, but I can certainly imagine it freaking some people out.

I think the ride I was thinking of was Little Dipper at Little Amerricka, which I had heard had good airtime for a ride of it's size, but looking back that clue was stupidly vague and could be many coasters, so here's a better set of clues for a different coaster: -It's in the USA, east of the Mississippi river -This ride shares its name with a kiddie coaster over 1500 miles away -That kiddie coaster happens to sit right next to a different rollercoaster with the same exact layout as my coaster, but made by a different manufacturer -Variants of this ride's same exact layout have been made by at least three different manufacturers according to RCDB

Appears so, I've never seen two train operation with just one station in action.

Among my 1-1.5 dozen visits, I've seen Batwing run two trains exactly twice, I think most recently in 2018, maybe 2019. I think the reason is staffing rather than maintenance, since you need a crew twice the size. However, for whatever reason, I don't think I spotted Batwing's 2nd train (or ME and JJ's FWIW) anywhere on the track.

It's a good park, just not a great park. Some people have had bad experiences here, but I always enjoy my visits.

Don't get me wrong, it's still rough, jerky and headbangy, it's mostly the shoulder-banging that it improved for me, making the ride less painful. With that said, I have a higher tolerance than many for roughness and awkward transitions, so take my experience with a grain of salt, you may still end up hating mind eraser.

Wow it seems like everyone was at SFA yesterday! I arrived there with my brother around 3:30 and stayed until close, so I'll give my little report (no pictures, sorry). For a Sunday in March during Covid, I was impressed with how busy the park seemed to be, so I'm looking forward to SFA continuing with this extended operating schedule in the future. Luckily the vast majority of people I noticed actually wore their masks correctly, which made me feel a lot better considering that there was no row-by-row distancing even for the woodies. We pulled up around 3:20. I was worried based on other's experiences that we could have trouble with vaccination traffic, but luckily that was not an issue. Vaccinations used what I assume is an employee entrance a block from the main entrance, and there was plenty of signage and cops to ensure everything flowed smoothly, which was good to see. We attempted to ride RC, Wild One, and Ragin Cajun, but skipped all 3 for the time being because of lines, closed for maintenance, and lines respectively. This made Superman our first ride. Superman: We ended up doing this ride 3-4 times across the front, 2nd, and back rows. Not much has changed in my opinion since the last time I rode it, but it seemed a tad sluggish, perhaps because it was early in the season and it hadn't warmed up much yet. I'm glad to report that after the blue train sat disassembled backstage most of 2020, both trains were in action yesterday, and not only that, but there were four ops checking restraints, leading to quite efficient operations! I was hoping to get some night rides before I left, but I forgot that because of the daylight savings time shift, the park now closes before sunset Around this point, we considered trying Batwing, but the line was down the stairs through a switchback, with one train ops. Actually I didn't even see the 2nd train anywhere on the ride. Even if the park was running it remarkably efficiently, that's still going to be a longer wait than it's worth considering I can return to this park fairly regularly, so we skipped Batwing, and then it promptly went down for the day. Better luck next time, as I actually quite like Batwing. Firebird: By this point, JJ still had a line, Wonder Woman was down for wind (understandably so, it was very windy all day), and RC joined Wild One in being closed. So Firebird it was. We waited longer than we ever had for Firebird: an entire 10-ish minutes for the 2nd to back row. I took a middle seat, and actually got one of my better rides on Firebird. The drop and vertical loop are actually a ton of fun IMO, and somehow the only headbanging I got was in the dreaded corkscrew, and even that wasn't as bad as I remembered it, so I suppose I got lucky. This ride ran 1 train, and the fire effect was not running (perhaps because of that wind). Roar: We took one front row ride on Roar, and it was pretty fun. Certain parts could use some trackwork, but I enjoyed the ride I got, which featured some fun transitions, a few pops of floater, and fun laterals. Not as awesome as the rides we got during HITP nights, but still fun enough that I'd prefer a Raptor over an RMC roar. This ride actually ran both trains, despite having a very short line. Mind Eraser: This ride seems quite polarizing. Some people consider it one of the better SLC's, while others swear it's the worst. This is my only one, so I can't really comment. I actually braved the back row for this one. I had heard that to avoid shoulder-banging I should actually staple myself. Shoulder banging has been my biggest gripe with this ride because the OSTR's have these weird flanges covering your shoulders to prevent you from lifting your hands up, presumably because of how close the seats are to the track. By stapling myself, the shoulder thingies actually remain in contact the whole time, preventing my shoulders from bouncing around. The headbanging is still there, but the restraints are padded well enough that it doesn't hurt me too much. I actually like the layout of this ride, and with better trains (looking at you SFNE) this could be an awesome ride. Cyclone: I don't know if all the other scrambler's I've been on are just crap, but I love SFA's scrambler, they just run it stupid fast, and it lasts fairly long. My brother and I kept being pushing into the middle of the seat before being violently flung to the side, and if that doesn't sound like a well run scrambler, I don't know what does! Voodoo Drop: Solid Intamin drop tower with a resonably powerful drop with nice float on the way down, even if it's fairly short. Despite being a walk on, they actually ran all three sides, which I almost never see! Joker's Jinx: Good news, the line has died down, and we grabbed the 2nd row. Running as great as it usually does, with awesome, intense inversions, fun twistiness, and it looks fabulous with the repaint. Unfortunately the 2nd train was nowhere to be seen, hopefully they can get it on later this year. Wild One: Look who finally decided to open up! Apparently there was an issue with the lift's power or something along those lines. Got three rides on this thing across row 2, 2nd to back, and 3rd to back. Hauls through the course as usual with fun floater and wicked laterals. Fairly rough, but in the fun bumpy way instead of the painful headache way like back seat Roar. If you want a smoother ride, take a non-wheel seat (middle seat of each car), but I didn't have many issues with wheel seats. This ride also ran both trains, which is nice to see. Personally I prefer the back of the train, but the front is great too, and it's all a matter of personal preference. Ragin Cajun: Got one ride on this. Queue was just under halfway full, but with pretty good ops and four cars on the course we got though in like 12 minutes. This thing spins like a teacup, and we had a great ride. I also quite like how while most rides trim you toward the end, Ragin Cajun has a mini tire launch, which is just a single fast rotating tire that gives you a little speed boost before the finale! Overall, despite some ride closures in the beginning of our visit, he had a lovely day at SFA, and I look forward to returning in the not too distant future!

I suspect it's for ADA reasons. I know that ramps can't be steeper than a certain amount to meet ADA standards, and I suspect the signs are there to let people know when the walkways exceed that amount. I don't know why these signs were only put in now. Perhaps it's a change in park policy or local regulations, who knows.

Thanks for the brief report! Anything of note closed?

As of last November, unfortunately yes. No single riders on the rodeo. The falling star has that rule too. I know the scrambler does not have that rule, as I rode it alone without issue last November.

Enjoy your visit! For what it's worth, here's my row recommendations as someone who considers this their home park: Wild One: Front row or 2nd to back, left hand side. Front vs. 2nd to back is personal preference, but I absolutely recommend sitting on the left side to make the helix's laterals comfortable Roar: Very front. Avoid the very back row, as that consistently gives me a headache. You might be able to get away with a ride toward the back if you ride in a non-wheel seat (the front row of each 2-row car) Firebird: Back two rows, preferably inner seats. For whatever reason, the back runs smoother than the front. No, I don't know why. Joker's Jinx: I prefer front, but all rows are pretty good IMO Superman: Very front, IMO, is best. Back row is better for the drop, but front is better for everything else because of the sense of speed, wind, and sustained airtime over the duration of the 4 ejector hills instead of just on one half of them. Batwing: I don't have any strong preferences, but I guess if I had to choose I'd say front, probably the smoothest. This ride can be quite polarizing as it is somewhat rough and is also the most intense ride in the park. I personally love it, but I know some people despise it. Ragin Cajun: Not a row recommendation as it obviously has just 1 row, but I suggest that if you ride w/o someone directly next to you, that you place your feet on the sloped metal plate by your feet, and use it to push yourself into the seat, which keeps you from sliding around erratically. If you dislike teacup style spinning, avoid this ride. Have fun! Oh btw if you have extra time, I personally find they run their scrambler quite fast, and usually make a point of giving it a go when I visit. It may just be because all the other scrambler's I've ridden lately have been run more slowly, but I thought I'd mention it.

I may be totally wrong, but I hear this was actually because they were waiting on a custom part from Vekoma, or something along those lines.

Ace Midatlantic recently uploaded this 2021 update video from the SFA management. It covers various updates among all aspects of the park, Harley Quinn progress, various improvements, and even teasers regarding possible ride additions and removals.

I'm not sure that SFA is worth a 5hr round trip. I'd wait at least 1-2 weekends of the park being open to get a sense of what's open and how well it's running this year before committing to a trip. Edit: Just to clarify, I do like SFA and would recommend if you're within an hour away, just not 2.5hr each way

I was really hoping to make it out here, huge bummer. Hopefully they're successful in finding that new location.

Unfortunately, several of the mine trains (like HP's Trailblazer) weren't available for ranking, so the list will be incomplete.

Well... not all

I believe the way it works is that as long as a ride makes the cutoff for minimum number of riders, the number of votes is, in theory, irrelevant. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Glad to see the list finished, though I think PNE's coaster being so far behind Phoenix is pretty silly.

Firebird: the 1st and only floorless coaster in all of...Maryland. The best part is that there are 3 other floorless coasters not far from SFA (Dominator, Hydra, Bizzarro), so they can't actually go any larger than just Maryland!

I've heard SFOT is pushing back Aquaman to 2022 to add a turntable, so I suppose that counts.

Ragin Cajun, and presumably its sister clones. Ok first half, but once that thing starts spinning, it goes insane. You can even get spinning airtime if you're lucky on the bunny hop.