Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

SteVeUrkle

Members
  • Posts

    134
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by SteVeUrkle

  1. With Magic Mountain as my original home park, I grew up dealing with 1 train operations my entire life. Deja Vu was pretty rough to wait for, but the biggest pain in theass was X/X2 with 1 train operations and about a 6+ minute ride cycle time with 24 guests per train. I would wait 3-4+ hours because friends/girlfriends wanted to ride. (Keep in mind the original X had a separate unload station, so you had to wait and watch the trains lower/unload guests/raise, dispatch to load, lower again, UGH!) So, when Magnum is 1 train operation and cycles are around 3 minutes with a 20 minute station wait, there's really no justification in my mind for complaining about that. To me, it's a walk in the park. Ah, yes. The Millennium Magic Gate. Think we got 3 rides in, one including the front row, and it only took about 10-15 minutes total thanks to that gate the evening of the first day we got there. It's so surreal when you get to cycle rides over and over when typically during the day they would have a line that would take hours. Also got to cycle Valravn 2 times in a row, in the front row, without even getting out of our seats. People even walked into the station as we were sitting there and the ride op was like "Oh well, you guys are going again anyway, they can wait!" LOL. I'm not the biggest fan of Valravn but still, it was pretty awesome to do that with friends and family.
  2. I've seen this on a couple trips before, it's not uncommon. It even happened on my last trip back in late May 2018. Once the station wait got full, they brought another train on in like 5 minutes. It really has to do with the line wait and capacity that day. If they can go a whole day without an additional train on the tracks, that's one less train inspection the mechanics have to do the next morning. Even with 1 train ops, I don't think I've ever had more than a station wait for the ride, which amounts to OH MY GOD maybe 20 minutes? Perfect for me...I'll finish my fresh cut fries with malt vinegar and ketchup... Wow. How have I NEVER noticed that back road to the park? I can't imagine that's just an employee road. Maybe for when they're shipping track of new coasters? Can you take that road as a guest? Seems to be different than the Feedmill Road that Employees take to get to their parking lot at Magic Mountain. So...on my last trip, Steel Vengeance did not go down for ANYTHING weather related. They were pumping out trains rain or shine the only time they stopped was when the ride was broken down for other SteVe reasons. I rode MF in the rain. I rode Valravn in the rain. Now I know people are so used to talking crap on CP operations when so much as a cloud shows up, but that was NOT the case for us in May. I think TTD closed down with the storms during the day, but that was pretty much it, and the people riding or in line just waited for it to clear up. The weather at CP is so sketchy but you can tell when it's just gonna be 30 mins of rain because you can see the clouds move and it'll seem like a butt-ton of storm for like 20 minutes then the sun comes out and it's like nothing happened then they start cycling TTD pretty much immediately. They don't even test run, once the rain is gone, they just load riders and get back to business.
  3. This is absurd! The city knew for 8 MONTHS where the hotel was going to be located, and now they're trying to pull a quick one DAYS before the hearing because the project was moved 1000 feet? It's pretty obvious they just don't want to give them the tax incentives, which is ridiculous. How dumb are these city councilmen? People LOST THEIR JOBS. Businesses were SHUT DOWN. Not just this hotel but the entire resort has brought and still brings an ABSURD amount of revenue and tourism to the entire area, why the hell are they dicking around with Disney like this? Such a petty stupid excuse for obviously a bigger issue they have that they don't want to be upfront about. I wonder if this is something Disney can file a lawsuit for. Think how much revenue they are missing out on with all the things they closed and all the money flushed down the drain with development of the future plans.
  4. Launching, count down, racing, victory...two is better than one... I don't think they're being very vague here. A racing, side by side coaster with 2 separate racing tracks, that launches...does one of these even exist? If not, I can see MM grabbing that as a "first" record, not to mention all the other stuff they could throw in there. I saw a picture of a Vekoma model doing precisely these types of maneuvers today on the Vekoma site. I have a feeling it's going to be a Vekoma. Which isn't a bad thing with all the awesome products they've been releasing lately. Here's a link: https://www.vekoma.com/index.php/family-coasters/single-car-launch-coaster I would have no problem with this if they could get it working as originally intentended.
  5. I will definitely agree. To the SoCal area Goliath is one of those rides that is hoisted up high by the general public.
  6. I think I rode the front seat once or twice. It was forgettable. Going down the first drop, waiting for the rest of the train to dispatch from the lift chain, waiting for the rest of the train to get off the MCBR, did nothing for me. On Goliath I usually wait for the last car (3 rows thanks to the car design) and if the last row is 5-6 dispatches I'll opt for the other last car spots because the experience seems quite the same. You gotta understand, Goliath is really just not that great of a roller coaster. Period. I'd say the huge helix is the best part. Yes, it is 255 feet tall and has a great huge entrance sign and a meaningless tunnel and looks intimidating from the parking lot. But that's pretty much it. I don't know why Six Flags decided to install a Giovanola. They had other options like Intamin Supermans at other parks being installed at the exact same time. A 255 foot Intamin with what they were offering at the time would have killed and been phenomenal. It would have been awesome for 20+ years, and probably still been one of the best, most popular rides at the park. There were only 2 of these types of Goliath rides made and from what it seems, for good reason! Not to mention Magic Mountain got the short end version without the helix before the MCBR.
  7. I love how quickly coaster enthusiasts know exactly what ride was pictured and debunk any kind of dumb social media nonsense. Because that is without a DOUBT Twisted Colossus. Are these really happening on TC trains? Even then, people will go grab for their phones during the ride. I have to say CP's no phone policy sucks, but I don't blame them. You can't have dumbasses with phones being pulled out when a ride is 200 feet tall and constantly going 60-70 MPH. If people could BEHAVE themselves and follow RULES that are set in place for everyone's safety that would be great. But for some reason these days everyone thinks they're an expert, the rules don't apply to them, and they know better, even when they have no effing clue about the industry or what they're talking about.
  8. Flashback was OK when it was first around, but I feel like it got a lot worse over time. It had this terribly designed quick pre-lift drop nobody ever coming, so it was a good way to whack your head before the ride even got started. I believe originally it was an indoor coaster which you rode in the dark, then when Magic Mountain got it they ditched the cover and made it an outdoor ride. They called the inversions "hairpin drops" which were actually pretty unique for its time. And yes, the trains were bad too, you couldn't see anything. If you were in the front seat even, the train had this big high front piece which made it super difficult to see over. Also the trains had both lapbars and OTSR's which were bulky and not soft. It was super loud too. I think my favorite part was the ending helix. And as far as safety, I will tell you it may not appear to be a priority, but they have VERY STRICT safety guidelines, and I believe they have one of the best track records when it comes to rider incidents in the industry. They're really, one of the best.
  9. I've had solo rides on Superman many, many times and yes, they are much better than a car full of riders. If you ride it enough solo, you can feel how the LSM's get fired off in sequential pulses, and it's honestly pretty freakin' cool. Is it typical for flats of this type to rotate you back to the original position? To me that seems irrelevant, but it's strange that you noticed that. I've been on quite a few coasters but I usually pass on the flats, their carnival like movements get me kind of queezy. Also, hearing about the shaking, or rumbling...that...that doesn't sound good. I mean it's a fairly uncomplicated flat. I hope this doesn't become one of those eye-sore SBNO flats. However, who knows with Six Flags. I think that awesome Green Lantern still ain't doin nothing. Just a good old chunk of cash flushed down the terlit with that son of a gun.
  10. I agree the policy sucks. But I feel like people who are against the park in this situation are blowing it out of proportion. After all, this is for peoples safety and obviously the park who deals with thousands of guests on a daily basis decided folks can't be trusted with their goddamn phones. And yes, ONE person got hurt on a ride because of a flying phone and now we're all paying for it, but that's not Cedar Fair's fault. And I get the zipper pocket stuff is pretty safe, but if you let ONE go then it becomes a slippery slope. I also don't buy the "gotta have the phone for muh emergencies!" Come on. You can be without your phone for an hour or two. Believe it or not, teenagers (even ME and my pals!) used to go on day long round trips to theme parks for a whole DAY WITHOUT a phone or adult supervision...and they survived! Imagine a world! Only thing I don't agree with is if you're going to require people stowing their stuff away, at least provide them for free for an hour or two or however long the rides line is. After the allotted time, require payment to get your stuff. I think they do this at some Disney or Universal Parks water rides? Or at least they used to. Also requiring someone to "throw away" a magazine they're carrying is dumb. Let the people put it on the other side of the station for craps sake. This isn't TSA. I feel like it's good for people to get away from their dumbphone for an hour or two. The thing has become way to much of a false security blanket.
  11. I don't know why, but hearing Mack just makes me think of a Helix style coaster with the magnitude of the sheer size rumors. It just seems to fit to me. Station back in the corner where Deja Vu was, either follow the Southern line or Western line of the park. I hope they don't take out Roaring Rapids. The park needs its water rides. In fact, it would be nice if the park did a water ride back there, like a worlds first Hyper-Aquatrax LOL.
  12. Honestly, I'm not sure if Cedar Point changed their policy about the rain, but enthusiasts used to joke that they'd close any and all rides pretty much IMMEDIATELY once a rain cloud even appeared. I don't think that's the case any more, or if it was a one off but: I'd go on the on and off storms day with lighter crowds. When I was there at the end of May, I don't think anything but TTD closed because of the rain. They kept dispatching trains on SteVe, none of the B&M's went down, and we got an end of the day double ride on Millenium Force when it was raining. It kinda hurt going 90+ MPH sitting in the front seat, but there didn't even seem to be a mention of the ride being closed by the OPS. I think we even got a double ride on Valravn without even getting out of our seats, and it was definitely raining. Get a poncho if you need to!
  13. Am I correct that the ride originally had air-filled rubber ride tires, which kind of contributed to the roughness factor? As much fun as it must be, it still looks like the ride is quite rough, does anyone know if they're still using the original tire/wheel set up? This ride is awesome. Definitely on my bucket list. I don't mind the tophat to loop change. Also, I believe this is the only steam powered launcher in the world right? Same system they use on aircraft carriers if I'm not mistaken...
  14. I would not expect a preview night from SFMM for a flat ride that belongs at a carnival. Actually, I might but...really, who cares? Not shocked at all. Put that dumb ride out of its misery with a fire burndown. Or let Intamin plug-n-play the track, or just give RMC $10 Mill to make it better. That ride has been through so much and just sucks.
  15. Not to mention the hydraulic johnson rod supplementing the dual valve turbo exhaust chamber. Rear automatic sequential intake transmissions are a bitch. Especially pulling 400 pounds of horsepower only using an archaic 3 wheel drive. But who am I kidding, everyone knows that. Atleast the 8 point seatbelts are illustrious and give that "soft but should be hard" feeling. I don't know how anybody does without it.
  16. I would be so down with this. And to add to what Jew said, Magic Mountain simply does not have the resources to maintain a wooden ride like this with all the other coasters in it's arsenal. Knott's is a different story, they have way less coasters, and Ghostrider is an icon. An El Toro style plug and play retrack or RMC conversion like Joker at SFDK would be sweet. The ride has a TON of potential, it's just not lived up to it past it's first couple years, and it HAS to be a headache for the park to maintain. They JUST paid some 3rd party wooden coaster restoration company a bunch of money to do extensive track work and give it TLC, and shortly after running for a couple months, the ride has basically been stagnant anyway. For whatever reason to me, the ride has always felt out of place. It does have some cool elements, but even when I rode it for the first time I didn't really get what they were going for. Yeah it was sponsored temporarily by a movie, and it had a soundtrack shortly removed after, not to mention no last row. The whole thing was some presentation that us enthusiasts who know the park knew would never last. So now it's just kind of...there. I'm not quick to tear down coasters at all, but Ghostrider is in a whole 'nother ballpark. That ride had been great for almost 2 decades before it had to be gutted and redone. It's an icon of the park. It's a GREAT coaster. Terminator/Apocalypse not so much. I'm not sure many guests would even know if the ride was gone. That whole corner of the park needs a lot of work, and while I'm not really a big fan of how Six Flags "re-does" its areas, it is nice to know they're atleast going to give it a shot. I'm praying for a Mack or Intamin. A Time Traveler type ride would be OK, but at this point I'm not sure it'd bring me back to the park, and I'm not sure it fits with what the park needs. Man, I miss Deja Vu!
  17. Uhhhhh... Oh yay! They open it for a week just to close it again! Honestly I wouldn't have a problem if they tore that thing down. This park has no business maintaining a wooden coaster, and they can't seem to keep it open consistently. Really not THAT great of a ride either. You ever walked around a park with a map in your pocket all day? Those things get beat up! Especially if you get on a water ride! Get ready for an improvement in that corner of the park, featuring: Less trees and MORE concrete!
  18. I was served inside the bar just before it closed (11:30pm) and got plastic for both: the rum and coke (short plastic), and long island (tall plastic), which the bartender let me keep. They both had the Sand Bar logo on them. I do enjoy drinking out of the glasses, don't get me wrong, but being able to keep the plastic cups was nice. It's just a shame if they're throwing away plastic ones they're serving that nobody cares about keeping. Seems like a big waste.
  19. ^Are those real glasses or the clear plastic ones? Because when we were there in late May we got the plastic ones and got to keep them. But in that picture they really look like glass! I'm not sure which I'd prefer but I do still use both the plastic ones we were able to keep. BTW what kind of drink is that? Typically I'd go for the Long Island but that looks delicious!
  20. Don't know about the FLP wristband, but my group had the 2 day pass and they gave me my tickets at the Breakers Front Desk. This was before our room was ready. I believe somewhere in the wording it said we could pick up our tickets as early as 8am, but we showed up at Noon. We left our bags in the lobby with the very friendly lobby gentlemen, then left for the park. When we came back they all took good care of us, took our bags up, answered other questions, they will take very good care of you. You may have to get the FLP in the park, the Front Desk will let you know. The 4 of us had 1 ticket for 2 days. I imagine they will give you 1 ticket for all 4 days, it'll say on the ticket "4 day pass." If there are any lines you run into, and they aren't for food, all of them are pretty manageable and decent at Cedar Point. I'll be honest with yah, 4 days is a while to be there, so I wouldn't worry about rushing, you'll have plenty of time to do plenty of things plenty of times. And if you have any questions or issues, all you have to do is go to the front desk in the lobby at Breakers and they pretty much will tell you right then and there what you're gonna need to do and where you're gonna need to go, and they'll point it out on the park map, and answer any questions you may have with more certainty and day-to-day accuracy than you'll get on here. Our stay was really effortless and fun and there weren't any stupid nuances, besides not being able to walk around with 2 beers lol.
  21. While it sounds like something they'd do, it also makes absolutely no sense from a park's marketing point of view. You're already investing millions of dollars into a ride! You're paying for engineering, design, landscaping, a launch system, new trains, footers, and track. How much more could it possibly cost to make Full Throttle another 1,000 feet long and have a helix, or some airtime hills around High Sierra Territory to make the ride 100 times better? Ugh this kind of stuff drives me nutso!
  22. One things for sure: if the ride is running, there's nothing to be concerned about. Cedar Point takes safety on their coasters VERY seriously. Makes no difference. It would be pretty far fetched to think they ignored pulling out and testing the wood. They replaced any of it that needed replacing. If you look closely at the vast structure while waiting in line you can see very very random spots where new wood was replaced, where bolts were removed, re-drilled, re-fastened. Even in places where you wouldn't even think it mattered. It wouldn't surprise me if they inspected EVERY SINGLE PIECE of wood and bolt on the entire structure, seeing as they had 2 years for the retrofit. Not to mention I would bet the steel track has made the structure *stronger* rather than weaker. They practically took I-beams and permanently fastened the entire thing together. Not sure if they were always there, but there were definitely cables attached to the section of the structure where the first inversion starts to where it goes through the lift hill. That section was really swaying pretty good, but nothing that seemed out of the ordinary for a wooden supported coaster. One thing I'm not sure about with RMC's is if they weld the track after bolting it? That's one thing I can think of which would be a problem with so much flexing, you might see some welding cracks, and in that case they might be up on lifts getting those repaired. Or to check the gauge spacing between track pieces. I would not doubt that they track walk the entire structure 7 sections at a time throughout the entire 7 day week. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. Used to be a mechanic at a couple theme parks, track walking and finding a weld crack to fix for a ride that's going to open the same day is really just par for the course.
  23. Yeah if you want fries the best place to go is by the Happy Friar location shown above. They were making them so fresh when I was there at the end of May, we actually had to wait a couple minutes and they were so hot we had to let them cool or they'd burn our mouths. Also, I would suggest trying them plain with just salt, malt vinegar, and ketchup (which is how I used to eat them with my grandparents back in the 90's). They're pretty much the best fresh cut fries ever. Uhhhhh. Call me crazy, but I don't think there were online theme park forums in 1993... Anyone at the park see how many switchback are filled up with a 90 minute wait and 2 train operations at Steve? Has it been up and running pretty consistently all day?
  24. lol SERIOUSLY Knott's you can't invest in putting any trees, or umbrellas, or permanent shade or ANYTHING covering that food line? If I know Knott's food operations, you're gonna get a sunburn just standing in that line for an hour! Wouldn't hurt to shove off with the never ending landscapes of flat concrete. How much could something like this cost? $1000? $2000? Sometimes I can't even imagine what they are thinking
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/