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WOW! That thing looks insane! I just rode El Toro over the weekend for the first time and I thought it was nuts, and that it had the most extreme airtime that I have ever experienced, but it looks like T-Express puts it to shame! Thanks so much for sharing the video. I have been very interested in this coaster since it was announced. I definitely need to get my butt on an overseas TPR trip in the future. It looks like I always miss out on so many great coasters and a ton of fun!

I was there on Saturday as well. We managed to get 3 front seat rides on El Toro in the morning with out getting out of our seats. We could have had more but we got up to sit in the back. It was awesome! The back seat was good, but I think I like the front seat more. El Toro was also my 200th coaster! Woohoo! I was pretty upset about them closing the park down at 4:00, considering that I drove 12 hours to get to the park. Luckily it was so dead that I was able to ride all the coasters, some of them even multiple times, excluding Kingda Ka... because I procrastinated and they shut it down early. I liked SFGadv WAY better than SFGAm. I think the coaster selection was way better than SFGAm. I don't even think there is a comparison between Nitro and Raging Bull. In my opinion, Nitro blew Raging Bull out of the water! It's a tough call for me to decide whether I like El Toro or Voyage better. They both have some awesome qualities. I think that El Toro is more re-ridable though. Here is a photo of my roommate and I on El Toro with our "nerdy" coaster count signs, haha. (I'm on the left) I don't remember seeing you guys. You'd think that I would remember seeing your group, seeing as how there were like maybe 50 people there in the morning. I would be willing to bet that I have a photo or 2 that has you and your friends in them. P.S. I too, think that the photos of the overweight people were unnecessary. Just my opinion. El Toro! My 200th coaster & my roommates 100th coaster.

I was at the park today and it was SUPER dead! It was so dead in some parts of the park that you felt like you were there after hours or something. it was raining/misting off and on. I drove 12 hours to get to the park, and they ended up closing it down at 4:00 pm. I was quite pissed. I missed out on some prime night time riding! They said that it was because of the approaching weather. It's after 9:00 pm right now and it still hasn't stormed. I was lucky enough to ride El Toro in the front seat 3 times in a row without ever getting out of my seat though. What an AMAZING coaster! Despite the crap weather, and the park closing down at 4:00 pm I was still able to get all the credits in except for one side of Rolling Thunder, and Kingda Ka. Hopefully they don't close down early on you too! I wasn't sure if they were actually closing the park due to the "approaching weather", or because it was so deserted.

What a great update Big Mike! I love what you did with the Moose's Rubber Ducky and Parker's drawing. It just shows once again what a great person you are!

WOW! Your photos are AMAZING! Thanks so much for sharing them. This really makes me want to invest in another SLR and not rely on my point and shoot. Thanks again!

Just to clear things up. I'm not upset or anything, and I guess the word "bashing" wasn't the word that I should have used. Sometimes it's hard to tell how people mean for things to come across on the internet, and I definitely didn't mean it to come across in a negative way, or in a way that seemed like I was complaining. I guess the winking smiley didn't quite work. I have no problems with anything that goes on here. In fact, I find it all pretty funny. I know that I only have 140 posts on here, and I have only been signed up since February of 2006, but I have been reading this website pretty much since it was started. I know a lot about a lot of people on here just from reading about them for years, which is why I know how Robb and Elissa feel about ACE, and I just thought that it was pretty ironic when I saw the link in the new letter. Please don't think that I'm a stick in the mud, haha.

Sorry to dig this thread up again, but I just received the newest ACE news letter and wanted to point something out. Despite all of the ACE bashing that goes on here, on the last page of the ACE news letter there is a link that sounded all too familiar to me. www.rollercoastersintheraw.com which lead me to the TPR store. I've got to say, after all of the ACE bashing that I have read on this site, I was very surprised to see this. Robb, Elissa... did you guys set this up, or did ACE publish this all on their own? P.S. For the record, I'm an ACE member and I LOVE TPR! (Don't bash me! )

^ Thanks for that tip as well. I'll for sure be looking in to that. That would be an awesome bonus!

YoshiFan... you are correct. I don't know where in the hell I came up with the closing weekend thing. Thanks for the tips YoshiFan and larrygator. I'll definitely check those hotels out. I'm willing to drive 15 minutes out of the way.

Sorry to bring this up, but I didn't want to start another topic about this and get slammed for it. I need some help! My roommate and I are going to SFGAdv on September 27th, which is the Saturday of closing weekend. We both have Season Passes. The park is open from 10:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. I know that no one can predict the future, but I know there are some SFGAdv regulars on here that I would assume usually head to the park for closing weekend/day. Do you guys know if the park is usually busy on closing weekend? Neither of us has ever been to the park, and we want to make sure that we get every credit possible! Do you think that we should get Gold Flash Passes? We could care less about haunt attractions, flat rides, or shows. I'm pretty torn on this one. We went to SFOG for opening day and wasted money on Gold Flash Passes, cause I assumed that it was going to be packed. There were practically no lines at all, and I don't want this to happen again. Here is my most important question. Where in the world is there to stay around the park? I can't find a hotel closer than an hour and a half away for under $150.00 a night, and there is no way in hell I'm paying that much for a hotel. The closest thing that I can find that is reasonably priced is an hour and forty minutes away! I would prefer to not driver any further east. Due to a tight work schedule, and my roommates school schedule, SFGAdv is the only park that we are going to, and driving out of the way to not visit another park doesn't seem too appealing to me. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance!

That's an odd lift hill. I've never seen anything like it.

I received an update today from ACE on the status of the Serpent. "Kokomo's (Michigan) Serpent roller coaster not opening until 2009" "I spoke again recently with Hal Shilling, the owner of Kokomo's Family Fun Center in Saginaw, MI, and he said that the Grand Opening of The Serpent (S.D.C. Galaxi from Americana Park (defunct), OH) will be postponed until next year. They may have a few test runs, but that's it. The chain, cars, and brakes still need to be installed." Here is a link as well that re-iterates the news. Serpent News at MLive.com

My heart just sank! I had fun playing the Rubber Ducky game while it lasted. Thanks for doing such awesome things for your readers Big Mike! Congrats to all the people that are moving on to the 3rd round. That sucks about the X-Coaster. I know there's nothing you can do about it, but it's still pretty disappointing when you travel to ride coasters and they are broke down. I guess it just makes collecting the credits more, shall i say, challenging?

^ I really hope you're wrong!

Another great update! The caption "No outside food", had me laughing my ass off. Be careful of those non-locking restraints over there. That's scary business! This has nothing to do with the China trip, but I remember a few years ago while riding Thunderhawk at Geauga Lake, my roommates restraint came unlocked at the top of the lift. Thank god for those good 'ole seatbelts!

^ I'm pretty sure that CP_RULES was joking.

^ Uh oh... Hopefully he should be sad!

These updates are amazing! Thanks for taking time out of your trip to share them with us. I'm not sure if I could use those sinks. It would be a little embarrassing to get aroused while washing your hands, haha. I know I'm a little new here so I hope I don't get bashed for saying this, but is Hot Fuzz Rich just eating those cheerios cause they look like mini donuts? I'm really looking forward to the rest of the updates! Thanks again!

Yes! Rubber Duckies Round 3 here I come! It seems the Ducky by the Thunderation sign is going to be the one that most people missed. I studied that thing with blurry eyes at like 8:00 in the morning. I wasn't 100% sure, but I guess I was sure enough to count it, and I'm glad that I did! You picked some great hiding spots Big Mike. I'm looking forward to the next round! Do you have any Michigan plans set in stone yet?

This looks like it's going to amazing, as all GCI's are! It definitely reminds me of a mixture of Lightning Racer and Voyage, which is a good thing if you ask me. I love both of those coasters. Lightning Racer was my #1 woodie for quite a while. I'm really looking forward to this. I'm also excited that Cedar Fair seems to be building a relationship with GCI. Hopefully we'll be seeing a GCI at Cedar Point in the near future.

^ I don't know the answer to your question, but I do know that I have been to the park many times and never even knew it was there. Maybe that's the reason?

This is a really nice TR! You took some great photos. So far, my favorite is Sunset II. What a beautiful photo. The ship on the horizon just makes it perfect! I agree about the Everglades being boring. I was there in January and did a lot of driving for not a lot of things to see and do. I was expecting a lot more. I was at least hoping to see a panther after seeing all of the panther signs. At least there were no mosquito's when I was there though. I also loved Montu. While I don't have it ranked #1, it is definitely near the top of my steel rankings. I'm really looking forward to the rest of your TR. Thanks for sharing!

They have been working on this thing since at least January, maybe even December. It's a slow moving build, and it's driving me nuts! I know it's not a huge thrilling coaster, but it's about 2 minutes from my work and it will be pretty exciting when I'm having a terrible day at work and I can take my lunch and run over there and take a spin.

That really sucks about the tripod situation! I've never heard of not being able to take a tripod into a park. I've only tried to take one into Cedar Point though, and I had no problem there. Your videos are definitely quite nice the way they are, but using a tripod would have made them perfect! I really enjoyed them though. Thanks a lot for sharing! P.S. Excellent choice in music for the Park Overview Video!