Photo TR: Coaster Palooza 2008 - UPDATE P. 23

Sticky Nicky · April 25, 2008

I know Firefall didn't have fire effects when it was at Geauga Lake, but did it have water effects?

Kingbooba · April 25, 2008

I know Firefall didn't have fire effects when it was at Geauga Lake, but did it have water effects?

Nope.

Anyway, Firefall looks pretty cool!

robman97 · April 25, 2008

Wow Firefall looks great to bad it isn't opening this weekend I looked forward to riding it.

ChrisCrowder · April 25, 2008

I swear if I ever go on a top spin I will be sick. Violently. But fire effects should be well cool.

Angry_Gumball · April 26, 2008

Wow! That looks really nice. I'm impressed with what they have done with it...Last I remember seeing it, it was all just dirt and ride.

dpxtreme · April 26, 2008

I don't want to ruin it, but I think everyone will be very impressed with the fire and water effects when the ride opens. And the themeing around the ride is really nice. I was really surprised at how nice the ride area looks.

BeemerBoy · April 26, 2008

Rick, thanks a ton for the hockey portion of the updates! I love "The Tank" for several reasons. For starters, as far as modern arenas go, the tank is the closest anyone's gonna come to what the Boston Garden was like. On our visit in '97, I was really impressed by how "small" it felt in comparison to most of the other newer arenas around the league. It definitely makes a huge difference in the noise output!

By the way, props for the old school Friesen sweater! Not a Sharks fan, but I always loved watching that guy play when he was there.

Oh, and there's also that other reason the tank is sentimental to me.....

A certain question was asked later in the evening....although not at the game.

Look, Justin....a hat!

Big Mike · April 26, 2008

That was a good day indeed then!

Peace, Big Mike

Coaster Palooza · April 26, 2008

^^I remember you telling us about a certain question after a Sharks game while we were in Georgia. I'm glad you didn't ask it at the tank.

By the way, you two haven't changed a bit in 11 years!

Thanks for the other comments in the thread. I am sorry to be the person to report that Firefall wasn't ready. I was very disappointed yesterday to find out it wasn't going to be operational because the part hasn't arrived yet.

Angry_Gumball · April 27, 2008

I'll most likely be there tomorrow. (Any TPR member that may spot me, I'll most likely be wearing a green Top Gun shirt (from last season). Thanks for making us aware of the ride being not open yet because yesterday, I kept thinking 'oh yea! firefall opens today' and found it's not. I would also like to check out some other stuff going on as Nor Cal Coasters mentions about some more stuff going up, improving a certain area. (I'll leave it up for surprise for those who want to also see for themselves, or skip over to Nor Cal Coasters to see more about it) I will include it in a TR after my visit if I make it out there tomorrow. Still waiting to ride Top Flight After Gun Deck Burn this season.

Sunfire · April 27, 2008

Don't worry, Flight Deck will most likely be open. It's just that the first weekend, there were lot's of bugs. But now they have it working fine, sometimes. The only thing that sucks is that they took out all the audio.

dpxtreme · April 27, 2008

The audio is still there. It just might not have been turned on. I walked by there last week and it was still playing.

Angry_Gumball · April 27, 2008

Don't worry, Flight Deck will most likely be open. It's just that the first weekend, there were lot's of bugs. But now they have it working fine, sometimes. The only thing that sucks is that they took out all the audio.

Audio as in Top Gun music? Or the screaming jet sounds? I heard plenty of jet sounds on opening day when we rode the rapids.

dpxtreme · April 27, 2008

Well, last time I walked by it I heard the jet sounds, but I wasn't paying attention to see if the Top Gun music is still there.

Sunfire · April 27, 2008

The Top Gun music defenitely was NOT there. I'm gonna miss it.

However, maybe the queue audio just wasn't working, and the station audio, because I didn't hear any of it.

Angry_Gumball · April 27, 2008

I would *almost* beg to differ on that. Heading toward FD on opening day (Before being greeted by an attendant guarding the FD entrance), I heard the top gun theme being played...I thought to myself "Why? This is torture! They're teasing us!" This was being played on the park's speakers spread throughout the area by the bumper cars and Flight Deck plaza.

Coaster Palooza · May 4, 2008

Here is another non-coaster update. We do Pat's Run every year, third year. The run is for Pat Tillman. We actually walk it.

The website for the run is here:

www.patsrun.com

They have one in San Jose at Leland High School and one in Tempe Arizona at ASU Sun Devil Stadium.

I will let the pictures show the action.

Their backyard is huge!!! That's all for now. Hopefully I will hit an amusement park soon...

Back at Tim & Tori's for some cool refreshments.

Parting shot of the stadium.

Her daughter, my neice, Tori actually ran the race.

Yay!!! Shana made it too.

My final time. A friend of ours is just below the clock too.

This is Tim & Tori...

Go Gyendolynne!!!!

Partial lap around the track and it will end at the 42 yard line.

The stadium is coming up.

Only .2 more miles...

Home stretch...

Just over a mile to go...

Another quote

YAY!!! Mile Marker 2. Holy crap am I slow this year.

and uphill...

Goin' uphill...

Comin' around the bend...

Hi Gyendolynne!!!!

There are many quotes and pictures of Pat throughout the race.

My brother's fraternity sponsored Mile Marker 1.

Here is another person I only see once a year. Her dad coached Little League back in the day.

Woohooo!!!

Now we're moving.

Are we there yet?

This is my sister-in-law, Shana. They're walking too! This race is kind of a reunion of sorts for me. I see a lot of people that I don't normally see.

It took us 5 minutes just to get through the start.

The race has begun!

Gyendolynne does her best "Where's Waldo" impersonation.

This race had a lot of people this year.

This is where we will begin.

Where the race begins. That is Alex Garwood pointing at me. He used to run the Pat Tillman foundation. He is Pat's brother-in-law and best friend.

They have many sponsors at the race. Fireman, Policeman, Paramedics all volunteer their time. Here is the Sharks' Fire truck.

We're in the backyard on our way to Leland High School.

Tim and his son Cameron getting ready for the race.

They have an incredibly huge house!

My friend's , Tim & Tori throw a party before and after the race.

Coaster Palooza · May 25, 2008

This is a late update for this, but I wanted to get this into my Trip Report. I will have a roller coaster update next.

My friend, Jim, houses a minor league ballplayer for the San Jose Giants every year, until this year. The first person he had stay with him was Brian Burres. The pitcher was picked up by the Baltimore Orioles a few years ago and he is pitching in the big leagues for them now. We went to see him pitch against the Oakland A's a few weeks back. Despite the loss, I think he is a very good pitcher and I hope he stays in the big leagues for a number of years.

Good Luck Brian!!!

Onto the pics...

Group photo. It was truly great meeting Brian. I look forward to the next time. Good luck!

last stop for the night.

First stop after the game...

Going down the ramp to our secret location.

Waiting for Brian to come out. This took forever!

That's Jim and Brian's friend, Lindsay. I hope I spelled it right.

Brian's night is done...

Here are some game photos.

I wonder why?

I usually will take a couple pics of the umpires...

Once again, Jim is too happy!

It means, time to go to work...

at this point I would say something like, "time to make the donuts."

Time for the catcher to get ready to warm him up.

Jim was very happy to see him.

but you have to get ready...

to be the starting pitcher...

Sometimes it's lonely...

There's Brian

Why do hot dogs always taste better at a ballgame?

Not a bad seat in the house.

This is a beautiful place to see a ballgame.

It was windy and cold that night.

Random attendant

mission accomplished, thanks Jim, and Brian!

First stop, gotta get tickets...

We are arriving in our double secret location for parking at the Oakland Coliseum. Gyendolynne, Jim, and his wife Aggie.

Coaster Palooza · May 25, 2008

Now...the moment you all have been waiting for...FINALLY a roller coaster update!!!

If you haven't seen it already, here is the link to Tony Hawk's media day.

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43823

We went to Coasters After Dark on Friday, May 23. The park was extremely crowded that day. There were over 10,000 people in attendance. Luckily they were clearing out at 6pm so we could ride from 7-10pm. The Coasters After Dark event is for season pass holders only. I hope this becomes a yearly tradition! Thanks SFDK.

Here are the photos. There aren't too many, so if you want more photos of the park, click on this link.

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42498&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=20

It was so windy, the Medusa sign had to be moved so it didn't blow away! That's it for now. I will say that the park operations are great at SFDK. The park is clean, even after having 10,000 people there today. It was great haiving 3 hours of ERT on all the coasters and some flat rides as well. Thanks so much SFDK

The next few photos were signs that they had up in front of every coaster.

We decided to wait around 20 minutes for our first ride on THBSC at the end of the night (6pm).

Signs were everywhere telling the guests about the season pass holder event.

This is the station.

I can't say enough about the new ride. It is so smooth.

You needed a wrist band to be able to ride for the event.

I didn't take a lot of photos early, but this was the first one. Gyendolynne already has a beer!

Big Mike · May 26, 2008

Very nice my friend!

I think I missed Great Advennture's already.

Peace, Big Mike

RIP Psyclone · May 26, 2008

I actually thought you were being sarcastic, and 10,000 people would be a light day at SFDK. (Disneyland averages over 40,000 guests per day.) I quickly realized, however, that you were being serious! Anyway, looks like the after hours event was a lot of fun, and I hope to make it out to SFDK sometime soon.

YoshiFan · May 27, 2008

I wish they would have done the wristbands for Coasters After Dark at Great Adventure. The park was closed the day of the event (Physics Day) and the event was 5 - 10. They let the schools who wanted to, stay for Coasters After Dark even though Physics Day ended at 6. Lines were still very short but it would have been nice to really have it exclusive to SP holders.

CHILLERLC1 · May 27, 2008

That happened last year but there are so few people in the park left for CAD I don't think the Physics Day kids would have hurt the event. They're usually the good students in class that get to go.

Big Mike · May 27, 2008

Your correct. That is exactly what happened last year, and I thought to myself that they should do a better job clearing the park next time. I guess they didn't.

Peace, Big Mike

Coaster Palooza · July 1, 2008

Hi All,

I know it's been a while since I have updated. We went to SFDK with my neices in early June. Our trip was really great because we arrived early enough. They only had one person taking money for parking!

Once we got in, we noticed that the cars were really backing up. A tip here, staff the parking lot booths with enough stations on a Saturday! We were already through it, but I could see how others might have gotten a little agitated by that.

We also saw Odin the tiger fight with Keesa (sp?) the tiger. One of the trainers got between them and broke up the fight! We couldn't believe what we saw. Unfortunatley, we didn't capture it on tap...

Onto the photos, I hope you enjoy.

It wasn't me...that's it for now though!

I think these 2 looks say it all about the "parade"

Float #3...

Float #2...

I'm posting all the photos to show you how big the parade is...

Float #1...

Here it comes...the excitement builds.

I talked them into waiting for the great SFDK parade.

Here's the loot they won!

The girls played other games as well.

YMCA, I think...

I understood that it was really good cape weather that day at SFDK. The girlies won capes later on in the day.

She got to pet the porcupine.

This was the first time we saw this show. They bring a lot of animals out and interact with the audience.

We saw the sharks next.

You really get soaked on this ride!

Tori decided to ride the rapids while we waited for Gyendolynne and Taylor to get finished with the butterflies.

They have a butterfly area at SFDK too.

This was after the fight. The trainer behind Odin broke up the fight. We separate our cats when they fight, but I couldn't see getting in between two 400lb. + tigers. It was very risky to us.