jerryd

Last night I noticed that one car is very smooth, another is on the rough side and one is between the two. Unfortunately I can not ride Splat, nor do I expect to anytime soon with the seat belts. The Human airgates are still present, but not as much in your face as on Saturday. Each OTSR has prox switches, however the seat belt was less forgiving than the switch in the seat I rode in, causing me to have to staple myself down. Jerry

Longest line we waited in was about 1:15 otherwise 45 min to hour was the norm. Time went quick with the group.. Ghostblasters is the sally dark ride shooting game and its currently still there. Jerry

Some quick comments.. It was possible to hike up the hill to the park from the Hilton Garden Inn, however you need to be very aware of barricades and hazards. I visited MM on Saturday as a normal guest with low expectations and was impressed with all the changes right off. Being I did a season pass renewal online prior to my visit, I did not have a coupon book I needed to exchange a coupon. So I asked the person outside season pass processing about this coupon, she immediately asked inside. I just had to go in the exit to the first person who took the coupon, and scanned my pass. Later I found a temp credit transaction for $50 from them. This raised the question if I ended up with parking?? It cleared after 7 days so no big deal in the end, however it does point out that the online system retains credit card info. It also made me question for a week if I had received parking on the season pass that I may or may not even use again this this season. I was blown away by the improvements that day. Sunday morning we did drive up to the park for the event and was waived through the toll plaza. Overall comments I spent was too much time on Tatsu during the ERT sessions! Sky tower right at sunset was very nice, went up in elevator with the lights off as not to draw attention. Came down just as the park was closing.. Headed to Superman as I did not know if I would be able to ride it, as I do not fit on any of the other intamin rides due to short seatbelt. First ride attempt was in row 2. Expecting not have much luck I pulled down the lapbar, no green so one of the crew came over and looked told me that I needed to be down just abit more. It was so close that I barely touched the bar and it was good, so off we go. I exited as this was still normal park patrons. I re-entered as it was now ERT receiving 6 more launches with 2 riders total for some nice rides. Overall I had a great time, thanks to Chris, Robb and the SFMM staff making this one of the best events I have seen to date. I wish I could come back during the summer however that is currently not in the plans. Jerry

I had a great time despite the crowds.. Nice to meet up with some of the locals again. I arrived at the mall at about 8:30 am getting a front row parking spot near a door with no problem. Entered the park via the north entrance near guest relations where I meet up with another local enthusiast who ended up spending the day with me. Some comments... On our first ride on Sponge Bob there was a youngster who was uncertain about waiting and questioning his mental ability to ride it. He did not want the end and wanted the security of riding in the middle of the car between . He liked it so I suspect there is going to be alot of youngsters who get in over there heads. Avatar is very good, providing a better ride that it appears. based on 2 rides balance is important on each of the 6 passenger clusters for a good spinning action. Did not ride Splatospere as queue was too long and I'm probley not compatible with the seating. Rode orange streak a couple of times, Fairly Odd Coaster twice. Same coasters just different names and logo's. NU did a pretty good job coping with the crowds on opening day Jerry

I should be there. Plan on showing up in the morning. Will probley be going out after work next Thursday night. KMSP is doing a live shot from NU right now. Jerry

I'm open for any of the choices. I suspect opening day will be packed, so the weeknights may be a better choice for getting some rides in. Jerry

Some pictures from this morning. http://rockopilot.com/nick2/ A teaser!

Some more pictures from my visit today. http://www.rockopilot.com/nick1/ It was Government on Display at the Mall so there where some exhibits from various agency's including the US Navy so there are couple of pictures from the divers and one of the military bands with a large US flag in the back round. Jerry

I found a interview with Franz on the Mystery Mine site, very good possibility that it was him. I did not have my camera with me at the time. If you want the real high res pictures for use as wallpaper PM me and I will send you the full size file. Jerry

Mystery Mine Ride at Mall of America was a Iwerks motion theater. The person I spotted had a jacket from Dollywood so I suspect he was with Gerstlauer. Jerry

It looks much more impressive when you visit the construction site in person! I stopped by this morning to abuse Twister for afew rides, ok 45 min worth at park opening till it got crowded Need to make the best of the last month of my season pass. When I walked around looking at the site, there was a person who was surveying the site and checking the blueprints wearing a Mystery Mine jacket. Got a few photos(73), I have not deleted duplicates, rotated or titled them. http://www.rockopilot.com/nick Jerry

In the past years you would take your non KBF pass to Guest Relations, they copy it, have you sign a log and then give you a comp ticket. I have done it several times over the years, including 2007. Not sure about the Max Pass, but I suspect its similar. VF passes are valid to March 31 of the following year and marked as such so if you question it, call KBF GR and ask. Jerry

Link to video done by the Minneapolis Star Tribune news. http://www.startribune.com/10103/rich_media/1329008.html Not sure if registration is required or not to view. I'm in the front seat of the train, got a sound bite and a comment in on video. This morning's paper also has a picture. If Renegade' performance last night did not make any attendee's top 10 list, I would question that list! Jerry

I will be present for the day. Based on my rides on Renegade last Tuesday from 9:30PM to 10:00PM the night ERT session should be good. Yes, Renegade impressed me at night! Jerry

Non smoker here.. My policy on smoking: If I smell smoke, assume fire and act accordingly Where is the closest CO2 fire extinguisher. The reason for CO2 is no mess to clean up, however the victim will have frostbite and by the time he recovers I will be long gone.

If you want to spin, put the heavy rider in first on the right side, followed by the next heaviest. Then on the left side put the light weights in, small brave kids that want to spin usually work best on that side. Once you learn how it wants to spin, leaning into the proper turns also helps out. Now if you can get only 2 riders on the right side and the left empty, heaviest in first. I have had some rides on TT that have spun the whole way and others that do not spin at all. Alot depends on how the car is loaded, what car it is and the moon phase. Same goes for smoothness. Now if you do not want to spin, sit diagonally from each other I have also heard there are plans for a half pipe.

Renegade was down on Sunday, with a train sitting on the lift so its possible that it has been down since Saturday night when it broke down. I feel sorry for the RCGB group.

Each ride is based on tickets, no wristbands or PoP plan. So yes it can get expensive! Do not ask how much I spent on tickets over the years. There are some discount days where rides are discounted by 1-2 tickets. Last year the ride tickets where priced at $.40 to $.60 each depending on when and how many you purchased. Each ride takes 3-6 tickets based on thrill value and popularity. Top Scan and Crazy Mouse where 6 tickets each as I recall.

As Paul posted a link to my picture collection from last year, I will say that was only a small part of what I took at the MNSF. The midway is based on whats called a independent midway, where each ride operator bids on up to 5 spaces on the lot and the fair board selects each piece based on past history and other factors. The Top Scan is defiantly one of the main attractions that does quite well. We had a crazy mouse along with the old holiday world's Firecracker in 2006. There are some dark rides that come to the lot. Also there is a haunted house attraction outside of the midway. We also have http://www.yeoldmillmn.com/ that is a old dark boat ride attraction. If you come up do plan to spend 2 days as there is alot of things to do and look at not mention eat if your so inclined. The Minnesota State Fair tries to show the diverse culture in the state ranging from farming and livestock to home improvement stuff for the metropolitan area. Lets not forget to mention the fair's website http://www.mnstatefair.org Jerry

Spent the day out at Valleyfair with some friends. Some comments.. Started out the day on Renegade, as some of you know there is a variation of lapbar locking points so I'm somewhat careful in my seat selections. Renegade opened with 1 train operation with the blue train that I had no experience with yet. So with friends in row 1 (who report that the front left seems to lock at the correct point) I score a ride in row 2 right with no problems. Being early in the morning its performing well so we take a second ride and say we will return later in the day. Later in the around 3PM we find a 30 min queue, note 2 train operations and trains that had a very bad squealing as they traveled the course! We only took one ride due to the noise and a noticeably slower ride. This was a big disappointment. Maintainance was sighted listening to it, so hopefully it gets corrected before long. Total of 3 rides for the day out of 3 attempts. Excalibur, nothing too much as changed here.. Overall still a underrated coaster in my book. Wild Thing, still nothing has changed here. Ride in the front car for airtime, back if you want that first drop yank down the hill. High Roller, seems to be running much better so far this season. Corkscrew, the new on ride video system is not in use yet. Extreme swing seems to have a longer ride cycle with 1 more swing than last year. Always fun to ride next to a first time rider and listen to the comments. Steel Venom, 2 rides with no seatbelt issues. Back seat riders do not always hear the launch countdown, this time was no exception and caught them by surprise. Mad Mouse, no changes there. In short, a very good visit with moderate crowds in the afternoon with a max wait of arround 25-30 for Renegade and Extreme Swing. Jerry

Some of my more recent photos Renegade Timberland Twister Tulip Maybe he will not see me here.. Feed me mom!

Thanks to everyone who was there today! Due to some early morning lapbar locking point checks by the group we now know where some correctly aligned seats are located and I was able to ride multiple times towards the back and front. The row I attempted yesterday is defiantly 2-3" lower than the seats I rode in. Overall I had a much better time at VF today than yesterday.

As a person who did not fit Renegade, yet had no issues on Thunderhead last fall I do see a problem for VF this coming summer. There does appear to be some differences from seat to seat, as I was able to get the top of the lapbar down lower than the person next to me. Not sure about where it was in reference to the side of the seat though, something to look at on my next attempt in a different seat. Also it was suggested that being the seat cushions are new and need to be broken in with time. So now Steel Venom is no longer the tightest fitting ride in the park! At least I have Voyage to look forward to at the end of the week!

I booked off the Hilton garden Inn website with the lowest online rate that was available. This was a non-changeable pre-paid rate.

I got 2 nights for $103 night so I must have got a deal during the off season!