Canobie Fan Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 So after going to PKD I went down to BGE(w) for the first time in 7 years. Apollo's Chariot in 1999 was my #1 coaster.. Its still a great ride but its to hard for me to place coasters.... Escape From Pompeii broke when I rode it.. So as our boat went around all the safe-lights were on and all the fire and stunts were off.... The ride closed for few hours after we got off. Apollo's Chariot's sexy B&M trains The park was DEAD the day I went... Almost everything was a walk on.. Even front rows. lolz.. I had read about people who waited HOURS for DarKastle... I got a car to myself when I rode it. That little kid looks way to happy... Alpengeist was owning... It was sooo much better then it was in 99 I took my first and I guess last ride on Lemans.... As the ride is now closed for good. Mmm.. Zero-G roll Big Bad Wolf is still cool.. But I like PKIs topgun better Loch Ness Monster is still super-smooth... But was way over trim'd I like how the hanging ball acts as a censor... Alpengeist just owns its area of the park LNM...woo My "one of a kind" NEVER been done photo of LNM.... :rolleyes: Big Bad Wolfs 'good' drop. Apollo's first drop. Ok.. I dont do simrides most of the time because I dont think they are fun.. But someone told me Corkscrew Hill was great so I did it.. As we rode some kid barff'd all over the place.. The ride stop'd and we sat in the room for about 5mins before we got moved to a different room and got a re-ride (btw the ride did own.. and was way cooler then DarKastle).. Oh and if you look in this photo you can kinda see the barff... Take a look at that fine ass... Mmmmm.... And one more photo of AC because its that good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 great pics! thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 The park was DEAD the day I went... Almost everything was a walk on.. Even front rows. I assume you weren't there on July 4, then. Weekdays (other than that one, of course) are a good time to hit BGE; Saturday is usually nuts (Sunday not too bad). Glad you had a good time--I'll probably amble over there tomorrow night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfne2005 Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 You actually like one of their coasters? No kidding? I am surprised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apollo210 Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 3 of there coasters are in my top 5! It makes me want to go back! It's a great place with no rough rides! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKlockster Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Nice photos. I'm glad you had fun on Alpengeist this time. How many times have you been to DC now anyways? at some of your descriptions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Sabo Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Whoo! Good pics. I visited there last month (first time in 4yrs or so). Missed working on those rides. All the coasters now heavily-trimmed, because of the changes in operations and maintenance personell now. Actually, the park as a whole still seems the same, but wow! the difference in the employees, ride capacity, friendliness, ride tuning has dwindled quite a bit over the years. Been offered a job to go back to work for the park and will most likely take it and move back to VA (Hawaii just too damn expensive to live now..lol). Hopefully, I can address some of my quirks on issues I believe have declined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 ^The CMs do seem a bit off this season. The crew for Apollo's Chariot was spending so much time asking the crowd "Are you ready to ride?" and "How was your ride?" that they seemed to forget they were supposed to dispatch trains--they were stackin' em like pancakes at IHOP. Never have I heard the word "reset" so many times in one afternoon. They have since improved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Fan Posted July 7, 2006 Author Share Posted July 7, 2006 I assume you weren't there on July 4, then. Nah. It was the last week of June. You actually like one of their coasters? No kidding? I am surprised. I only like good rides How many times have you been to DC now anyways? I went the last week of May and the last week of June this year. But my family loves the VA,DC area so I have been... A lot. the crew for Apollo's Chariot was spending so much time asking the crowd "Are you ready to ride?" and "How was your ride?" that they seemed to forget they were supposed to dispatch trains Yeah that happened when I was at the park as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 the crew for Apollo's Chariot was spending so much time asking the crowd "Are you ready to ride?" and "How was your ride?" that they seemed to forget they were supposed to dispatch trains Yeah that happened when I was at the park as well. A few years ago, this older gent was in charge of AC, and he was all business--didn't stack trains, kept the crew hopping. But they have him working the locomotives now--too bad. The young crew has improved a bit since opening day, at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Sabo Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 ^Part of the reason(s) why the park appears to stack the trains (on ALL of the coasters their now) is because they are putting the dispatching system into "rain-mode". What I mean by that statement is when inclement weather is present around the park perimeter (10-18 miles I believe if still in effect-Weather 2) it is standard policy (per ride mfg manuals) to have 1 train nearly complete its circuit-run before dispatching the second train. This is in the event that a brake-failure or weather-related incident in stopping a train becomes a problem. But, I am not sure why they are using the "rain-mode" dispatching when I haven't experienced any weather-related issues when I was at the park last month (and previous times). I am not the only one that noticed this. All of my former bosses (I was in mid-level mgmt. at the time) and I noticed that this was occuring. In my opinion, the park is really struggling to find good employees (especially supervisory to mid-managers) to run the daily operations within the park. I noticed that many of the ride procedures have changed (dramatically) and how "automated" everything is now. Even those annoying recorded speils are everywhere now. I miss the days when (when I was in ride ops in the 80's) WE had to talk-the spiel (especially on the BBW/LNM/DF). Now, the ride ops crews barely look "up" at any of the guests, they do not watch the train(s) dispatching and entering the station, some even "forget" to check the harnesses (auto-termination), and most of the ride ops are asking their supervisors: "when is my break/ so-and-so was late for his/I'm tired"..etc. Case in point: notice the Pompei crew/A-C crew/RR.....and so on.... It is a scary time for the park, because if an incident (or accident) happened, there will be complete chaos among the employees (and ride sup's.) I already addressed this with GM and hope to address it again when I begin work there next month after my move to VA. (It will take the entire winter-time just to recommend fixes..lol). But, I still love the park/atmosphere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Fan Posted July 7, 2006 Author Share Posted July 7, 2006 Now that you say the rain thing.. On the way down to the park it looked like thunder storms were in the area.. But never hit. It was just really hazzy at the park (Thats why the sky is white/gray in most of the photos) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Sabo Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 That may been part of the reason, but the day(s) I went to the park it was sunny and no clouds in the sky. A few other people (and friends on other forum sites-including the BGEscape site) noticed that the dispatching system was the same (and they also said it was sunny). So, it must be a new operations method now. I am curious if you had experienced 3 train operation on any of the coasters? I believe all coasters are only operating 2 trains (maximum) now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 ^The last time I was there (a Sunday in early June), they were running three trains on all coasters. BBW was running pretty smoothly (not much stacking at all), as was Nessie--but they were stacking all three on AC and Alpie. Another TPR member works on Alpie--maybe I'll pick his brain about this. It was a clear day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx2112 Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 how is DarKastle?...i've never been to BGW and i feel like im missing out on a good park Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Fan Posted July 8, 2006 Author Share Posted July 8, 2006 I dont know... Last year people talked about it as if it was the god of all darkrides.. I didnt think it was that great. I liked Spiderman at IOA better then DK.. And I didnt even know what was going on when on Spiderman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 ^^I think DarKastle is pretty damn good, although not as good as Spider-man, which also had the advantage of working with established characters. It was a pretty bold move on BGE's part, and they deserve a lot of credit for taking the dark-ride plunge in such a big way. It adds a new dimension to the place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Fan Posted July 8, 2006 Author Share Posted July 8, 2006 Well im not a big fan of dark rides. I ride them and stuff... But if I miss a dark ride because I went for a coaster... I wouldnt feel bad about missing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 ^"Different strokes for different folks." "And variety is the spice of life." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apollo210 Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I thought that DarKastke would be amazing. It was the only big ride that my bro. wwent on and he thought it was amazing! But (That's right) I didn't like it! It wasn't scary, Thwe efects were so fake, and The ride part of it was way better! I liked Corkscrew hill better for many reasons (including that I'm Irish, LOL). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Fan Posted July 9, 2006 Author Share Posted July 9, 2006 I also liked Corkscrew Hill better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Sabo Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Bring back Questor! Corksrew hill was a fun ride, but it could be tweaked a little (both in story and added scenery). Doesn't anyone else notice that the timing on the ride is off? Guess I can tell/feel it because I had to work on the ride when Questor was in action. But, in C-H version, there are about 3 scenes that are off sequence from the ride platform/motion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 ^I agree. Although I think Corkscrew Hill is OK and beats the hell out of its predecessor, King Arthur's Challenge of the Fuzzy, Low-Res Computer Graphics, Questor was the best of BGE's simulators. The queue had a good animatronic preshow; besides, I miss the puppet dinosaurs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Sabo Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 ^ I also miss that show located at the corner (right side as you leave towards the Eagle/Gray Wolf area). I can't remember the name of the current show there, but way back then they had the show where the 'Apprentice' was trying to immitate his master (magic) and things went awry and those gargoyles sitting on the statues came to life and the special effects were quite fun. They even had that dragon-pet that came to life and so on... Do you remember that (and the name of the show)? That show rocked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkdcoaster Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Very nice pics Canobiefan, I am glad to see that I am not the only one that noticed BGW going downhill lately since 2000. I am surprised anybody likes Corkscrew hill Questor WAS THE BOMB!! best simulator I have ever been on. Yes, Alpengeist is far better than it was in 1998-1999 but still a far cry from the total Awesomeness it was in 1997 when it was pretty much brakeless. Hopefully kumba9 will influence management to bring back the old maintenance guys I have a question for you Kumba9, If you were working there in 1998. opening weekend did Alpengeist have a mishap (collision?) cause the following events in the next few months lead me to believe it did and sadly the ride has never been as kick ass as it was that weekend. TIA JEFF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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