SfGam Opening Day 2005- Training Day

[DejaVu The Ride]

Well, let me first off say that this was obviously opening day and it truly showed. But that didn't hinder it from becoming the best opening day ever!

Date: 4/30/05

Weather: Pretty chilly and windy at times, but when the sun peaked out it was nice!

Time at Park: 8:50am-8:25pm

Who?- Me and a bunch of friends.

Rides closed for the day: King Chaos, Ice Mountain Splash, Condor, American Eagle Blue

 

I arrived at 8:50 to wait for the gates at the lights to open. They opened at about 9:03 and we were off. The parking lot looked great and they moved the drop off zone closer to the main roads.(Be aware that there are no signs for it now, so pay attention if you use it.) BTW, the bus parking lot is right next to it and they painted in regular parking lines for if there aren't a lot of buses, but if they are in need of spaces for cars.

 

Went to the Season Pass entrance and met a few park regulars. We talked to a very nice ticket person and she informed us that DejaVu was ready to open. Once I was admitted 5 minutes before regular ticket holders, I dashed to the bridge under Hometown Square. I waited and chatted with some of the guys. (Hey ya'll! ) BTW, saw Michelle Hoffman and asked her about media day.

 

Rope drop was at 10, and the crowds were off. I personally ran to DejaVu and made it 8th. The ride was ready at 10am! I rode row 8b for an awesome start to the season! Met up with a couple more friends and rode Vu again. This time it was a 5 minute wait for a ride toward the back.

 

Viper was next and was running great! Walk-on. Next was Raging Bull which was running all 3 trains(which should happen a lot this year!) My back row ride was great and I got some awesome views of the waterpark.(walk-on, basically). Next was Giant Drop which was a walk-on, but broke down. We waited it out and talked with a sup. Maintenance got it up quick and we were off after 15 minutes for another great ride!

 

Demon got a late start, but eventually did open. I got second dispatch, 1st row after waiting 5 or so minutes for the ride to open. A little rough for my likeing.(6:! is the way to go!). Next was Revolution where a girl was scolded for line jumping. But the ride was walk-on and is running the same program as last year.

 

Anerican Eagle Red was next as American Eagle Blue is not yet ready for the season. It was running with a lot less trims, but seemed a little rough.(Walk-on back row) Next was Iron Wolf that seemed to be running great and actually smooth(Yes, it was highly noticeable), but too bad it seemed to be for only one of the trains as the other beat me to hell. (walk-on)

 

After winning a bet , I was allowed to ride Spacelys Sprocket Rocket! The bright and newly painted Spacelys! The ride was walk-on and I truly felt like a credit whore(even though I have already gotten the credit one too many times.)

 

Next was V2, but it was closed. We chose to wait it out. There were a lot of maintenace workers on the ride and it had been down for more than 45 minutes. They finally re-opened and I got first row after 20 minutes. It was great! We opted to ride Batman next caught it just as it had re-opened from a break down. It was walk-on for front row and we opted to go through the line again for a walk-on back row. The ride is running insane!

 

Ragin' Cajun was open with a short line(maybe 15 minutes) but it too chose to break down.(Stuck on lift) We waited it out for 20(or more) minutes and saw John Curty and some other people whom we knew. The ride re-opened after some brake work. The ride was only running 4 cars, but that was enough for today. Hopefully they can get some more on soon!

 

We ate Lunch at the Bayou Grill and then saw the Jug-O Jugglers. They were pretty good and are worth a show.

 

Superman: Ultimate Flight was next, but what do you know? It was closed due to a breakdown. We chatted with a ride op I knew and the ride re-opened soon thereafter. We waited a total of 15 minutes for the back row which was running insane, but this ride is NOT aging well at all. The train exhibits a heavy vibrate and seems to shuffle.(Not too good. )

 

Next was Stargate with a 4-minute wait for an ok ride. The ride op asked everyone if they had a question and I felt a sudden urge to say something very stupid. But I held back. "Get the gate key!" "Attack!".(Ride was only running half the seats.)

 

Sky Trek Tower was next, but no spiels yet. Great view of the waterpark though! Whizzer was next and was a 10 minute wait for me in the front row. It is running fantastic, but the MCBR trims seem to be on a little heavier this year. Now it was time for a mini-marathon on Batman. I got 5 rides all walk-on.(A couple front row rides.) Maybe in the middle of the Batman rides I got two more V2 rides. The ride was a complete walk-on! It included a nice surprise launch for me. Now it was time to say goodbye to a couple of friends and head to Wolf. It was walk-on and I opted for a back-row ride. This is where we rode the complete crap train. It totally sucked and to make things worse, there was a huge noticeable crack sound that came from the train. I reported it to the ride op and I think they handled the situation.

 

Next up was AER where we saw some of my friends and we rode the new red train. It ran very well(Complete Walk-on) Next we rode Raging Bull twice more. On toward the back(walk-on) and one in the front(10-15 minutes) It was very windy, but worth it. The girls got some food, and a couple people from the group(plus me) went to ride Viper. There was hardly anyone in the station and I rode front row. We wanted to ride Vu one last time, so we headed over there.(7:30) To our surprise, Vu was a complete walk-on. Did I say walk-on? Actually, there was absolutely no one on the station! I rode 7 times before park closing with only getting off once(for 1b). The ride ran amazingly for the whole day!(Maybe 1 breakdown for 5 minutes and that was it.) So I talked to some of my friends as I walked out and I left. I'm so tired and sick right now. But I had a blast!

 

Here are some random notes for the day and on park improvements:

1. New Shaggy character in Camp Cartoon Network.

2. Only one guy who sings(?) in Looney toons Party, along with the characters.

3. Every coaster seemed to be broken down at least once except AER and Spacelys. Various flats also closed throughout the day.

4. It was obviously a good training day for everyone. The ops were slower than usual and I saw maintenance every 5 minutes. (But they did a great job with everything and nothing closed down for the day after breaking down.)

5. Giant Drop went down to half capacity in the evening.(Raging Bull went down to 2 trains.)

6. AEB wood/track work seemed to be completed. Test dummies were next to AER and only 3 cars of one AEB train were sitting on its transfer track.(It might be open next weekend.)

7. Whizzer and Demon(Black) didn't have their third trains on site, but will surely use them this year.

8. Spacely's Sprocket Rocket was painted(Green and White, same) and boy did it look bright.

9. Was Carousel Plaza repaved? It looked like it had a new concrete design.

10. New bus lot with regular car spaces fixed into the bus spaces.

11. Repaved main and overflow parking.

12. Moved drop-off zone.

13. Superman wasn't ready for opening and hasn't been at least once so far for the buyouts.

14. New Mr.Six signs up in front of the pool.

15. New games where a fountain once stood by the Orbit and new games still under construction on the way to SWT from the Orbit.(6 in total)

16. Viper switchbacks are gone(to be replaced by something new )

17. New Viper switchback construction might be under construction, but a sup didnt think so.

18. HH path leading from next to the Viper entrance. It should be paved soon. It also looks like they are starting on some of the theming.

19. Ride ops have more power with the mic! "Are you ready?" "Welcome back (name of ride) riders, how was your ride?" For Vu "There goes the floor, so there you go out the back door." It gives them more personality. They seemed a little confused with what to say, but I see them getting used to it come summer. (Think Cedar Point if you don't get what I'm saying.

20. Sky Trek Tower's and the Train's spiels are not yet ready.

21. New AER train!

22. Viper has new individual seatbelts!(AE's didn't seem to change yet.)

23, AE's queue was repainted the same color and you can already see the chipping.

24. Dejavu's paint job is almost completed and looks great! Just a few more touch-ups to go and a few other details!

25. You can see Hurricane Harbor from the Highway.

26. Iron Wold received new supports and some paint touch-ups(nothing major or totally noticeable.

27. There is a concrete slab next to Revolution with benches surrounding it. Maybe for new trees or a fountain?

28. More benches in Orleans Place near Superman.

29. The parking booklets were jam packed with stuff.

30. Employees were very friendly and asking me about my day.

31. There is a new paintball shooting gallery. It was Very popular.(I'm sure going to try it out!)

32. Hurricane Harbor should be ready for its May 28 opening with Media Day a few dats before it. The 6-slide complex was almost completed as of today and the wave pool and lazy river are completed.(basically) Skull island has 2 buckets up along with a few towers and some slides starting. The Wahoo Racers and gradually taking shape and the family slides should be done by mid-week. Hurricane Mountain has one piece left and the building look to be structurally ready.

33. No more photo opportunity at Stargate.

34. New theming in Stargate holding area.

35. Condor cars now appear to be Royal blue.

36. Fiddler's FLing received a small reahb with new paint on on some of it.

37. There was more than enough staff at the park today!

38. King Chaos had some ropes on it and a few crates in the back row. The structure is up, but I don't think it is ready to run yet.

39. Ops were actually cleaning during lenghty ride breakdowns. Good job!

40. Preferred Parking gone.(at least for now)

41. The park is looking amazing!

 

PM me if you ever want to meet up at the park!

Welcome 2005!

 

Until Next time...

_________________

Next SfGam visit: May 7

[SharkTums]

Nice Report!

 

I'm looking forward to getting back to great america this year! And I'm going to hold you personally responsible if I don't get on Deja Vu this year (my 3rd attempt!)

 

Yay for Raging Bull running 3 trains!

 

Elissa "post pix of Hurricane Harbor for us Waterpark dorks!" Alvey

[DejaVu The Ride]

I don't think you will have a problem getting on Vu this year.

 

Here are some links to photos of opening day, inluding Hurricane Harbor.

 

http://www.sfgamworld.com/gallery/04302005

 

http://community.webshots.com/album/334069684MAmVym

 

2 of my favorites include:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/334069684/335531524QZuEeO

 

http://www.sfgamworld.com/gallery/04302005/SFHH_Construction4

 

DejaVu "If you look carefully, you can see a surprise! " The Ride

[coasterfreak11]

I went today and I had a great time! Walk-ons are nearly every ride. The weather wasn't too nice, but it sure was interesting riding RB in the sleet/rain. I took a few pics of HH but Dejavu The Ride's pics are much better than mine. I even managed to get a Mr. Six bobblehead and a key chain!

 

 

-CF11

[Bob O]

Raging Bull is a great ride, but painful in the rain!!!!

Wish i could have been there and would have if not for work!!

[socalMAN123]

Nice and very detailed TR! Looks like SF is off to a good start this year! Walk-ons on every ride is so not SFMM!

---Brent 8)

[DejaVu The Ride]

I went today and I had a great time! Walk-ons are nearly every ride. The weather wasn't too nice, but it sure was interesting riding RB in the sleet/rain. I took a few pics of HH but Dejavu The Ride's pics are much better than mine. I even managed to get a Mr. Six bobblehead and a key chain!

 

 

-CF11

BTW, the pics are not mine. I give credit to sfgamworld.com and to my friend Amber.(I'm even in one of the Dejavu pics.)

 

Dejavu "I like the Mr. six shirts that say "Screamer" and have a baby picture of him." The Ride

[M_Force_4_ever]

Nice TR, I said Hi to you in the Deja Vu line after running of the bulls!

heres a pic for Elissa

[DejaVu The Ride]

Did anyone notice the surprise(or not) in one of 2 of my favorite pictures?

 

DejaVu "It's actually odd." The Ride

[josephwanek]

I was there today too, the very short lines were awesome. However, the weather was not. Had a great time though. We got to ride almost all the coasters about 3 times. Although I still have no idea why people rate Raging Bull so highly. I think it is so forceless that it feels like you're about to roll back on some of the hills.

 

 

Joseph "Its more like a Baby Bull" Wanek

Joey and I with Daffy and...whatever the cat's name is. After we took this picture with them, we passed them twice later in the day and both times they got really excited and waved at us and tryed to get us to dance with them. Crazies...

Ok, I also don't know what's so great about Viper but I appear to be having fun anyway.

The weather even killed the blow-up Mr. Six!

This is pretty much all the cars in the parking lot.

[Scaparri]

^I must say I'm a bit surprised by your opinion of Raging Bull. When I rode it last year, it was giving amazing rides. They had the final trims before the figure-8 finale turned off which made it fly through. We all have our differing opinions though.

 

That waterpark is looking amazing. I never realized how big it was going to be. I also didn't realize that is where they are putting it. This makes me really excited to be heading back to SFGAm this summer. Not to mention it's nice to hear that Deja Vu is actually running. In all my trips to the park, I've only made it on the ride once.

[Coasterkid20]

^^ I REALLY do have to agree, it is the most forceless B&M I've been on (Silver Bullet included), but still love it becasue you just can't get much better then that first drop in the back seat. So much airtime, even though the positive forces suck.

 

Hey Raging Bull could be worse, it could be like Millenium Force! :shock:

[josephwanek]

^ Well, actually, I love Millennium Force because I get so much airtime. Raging Bull just feels too safe and smooth. To me it feels like a small train ride. I've actually gotten more thrill from a kiddie coaster. Same thing with Nitro though, I just get no thrill from it. But you're right, to each his own!

 

P.S. I do think it somewhat has to do with the trims. Especially after them, I feel like the train is crawling.

[coasterfreak11]

I see my parents car in that picture of the parking lot!!

 

 

^ What does your sweatshirt actually say? I'm thinking I saw you, if you went yesterday.

[benzo41190]

I went on Sunday with my family except my camera was not fixed.I am going next week and I got a new palm camcorder and I am going to sneek it on rides but I am afraid it will get takin away. Is there a way I could get permission to take it on the rides? I really want to take some videos of the park especialy now that the camera is twise as small as my last one.

[DejaVu The Ride]

I actually agree on Raging Bull. It's running on the slow side right now. Just wait until it gets warmer out.

 

Viper received new lap-bars on one train and not the other. The one with the new lap-bars is running horrible with minimal airtime while the other train is Viper in its true form.

 

Same thing happened with Iron Wolf and American Eagle Red. One train got a total rehab, while the other train will be rehabbed soon. Iron Wolf is now smooth and American Eagle was running fantastic.(It only depended on what train you rode. )

[coasterfreak11]

Did anyone notice the surprise(or not) in one of 2 of my favorite pictures?

 

DejaVu "It's actually odd." The Ride

 

Is the suprise the empty VU station?

[DejaVu The Ride]

Well, that really surprised me, but the true surprise is in the other picture.

[Cameron]

I was there on Sunday as well .. arrived during the brief snow-storm .. but loved the empty park it created. I could only stay for about two hours, but I was still able to hit every coaster there, some multiple times.

 

I didn't see any breakdowns (well, everything was down when I arrived, because of the rain). Even Deja Vu seemed to be running constantly, the station heaters were cranked .. it was nice!

 

Things did seemed a little sluggish, probably due to the cold, but in general I was happy with what I saw .. and suspect that this will be a pretty great season.

 

Cameron.

[DejaVu The Ride]

http://www.sfgamworld.com/gallery/04302005/SFHH_Construction4

 

I guess I'll point out that you can clearly see construction for next year's Hurricane Harbor Construction.

 

DejaVu "Just look in the middle of the lazy river. " The Ride

[pgathriller]

Deja Vu was open on opening day! :shock: :shock: :shock: I ner thought I would live to see the day of it!

[DejaVu The Ride]

Well, you already had lived to see the day!

 

DejaVu "It was open for 4 hours opening day 2004." The Ride

[coaster1]

Wonder if it's possible that I can ride all 3 Vu's in the same year .. maybe I should start making plans to fly to Chicago.

[Cameron]

I guess I'll point out that you can clearly see construction for next year's Hurricane Harbor Construction.

 

OK .. I give up.

 

What the heck are you talking about?!

 

Cameron.

[DejaVu The Ride]

There's a catch pool in the middle of the lazy river that will NOT house a slide this year.(New for 2006! )