steel Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Hey there, TPRers. Day 2 of Con today. It is unspeakably hot. I might die. Taking a break from the park right now, so I'll post part one. Day One: Silver Dollar City - 91*F, 47% humidity Eight-hour drive from Des Moines to Branson. Blah, boring. Registered at the hotel and checked in to our room. Ate lunch at Pizza Hut. Yum. Headed to the park at about 4:00 pm. This was my first time at SDC. VERY impressed by the park. Beautiful theming. Friendly employees. Great food. Solid coasters. Thunderation was first. I rode it forward to begin with. Fantastic mine train! Probably the best I've been on. It uses the terrain well, there's an exciting helix, and there's even some airtime thrown in. Got lost in Grand Exposition, my least favorite section of the park. Not as much shade and pretty bland rides. This park is as confusing as BGE. Rode the Giant Swing and the weird pull-yourself-up ride. Fun. Finally got to the big coasters. Wildfire first. First of all, the view is INCREDIBLE! The ride is wonderful, too, but even if it weren't, the view from the top of the hill would be worth the wait. As for the ride itself, it has good transitions and it goes fast. The first two inversions are the most fun. I wish it had one more corkscrew, though. Then Powder Keg. Loved the launch and the first four hills. The stuff after the lift hill is less fun, but the first half of the ride makes up for it. Beautiful view here, too (actually, it's the same one). Powder Keg is a perfect family coaster. It proves that "family coaster" does not mean slow and boring. It moves fast and it packs quite a punch. I wish more parks would get similar rides. Then the park closed and we had an opening ceremony in the Opry House. Saw a magician, which would have been very cool if magicians didn't irritate me, I'm sure. Thanks for coming, thanks for having us, have a t-shirt, blah, blah, blah. And then the good part - made-from-scratch skillet meals for dinner. So, so good. Loved it. At first I thought it was kind of annoying that they didn't start ERT until after dinner, even though the park was closed, but it gave it a chance to get nice and dark. ERT was on Wildfire, Powder Keg, Fire in the Hole, American Plunge, and Giant Swing. Wildfire is good at night, but Powder Keg is excellent. Especially in the front row. I recommend the right-hand side. Then sleep. Stay tuned for Days 2-7. Pictures once I get home, probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 Day 2: Silver Dollar City - 100*F, 87% humidity OMG IT IS SO HOT. *dead* Delicious breakfast at the park. Morning ERT was on ThuNderaTion, Flooded Mine, Waterboggan, and something else that I can't remember. This was horrible ERT. Thunderation is fun, but not as the only coaster. I've never liked shooting dark rides, and Flooded Mine was no different. Can't stand water rides, so I didn't do the other two. At one point, they decided to take the second train of Thunderation, so that took forever. Just not a very good ERT overall. Today was so ridiculously hot. I could feel myself losing water. Got a bunch of great rides on Wildfire. The back row is the best. Same on Powder Keg. Front row is better there. Finally rode Fire in the Hole. It was okay. Nothing special. Clearly, the people at Adventureland (IA) rode this and wanted the same thing, so they built Underground (which fails epically). Ate lunch at the mine restaurant toward the front of the park. Delicious food. Interesting atmosphere. I recommend the mashed potatoes. Yum. Before night ERT, we were herded into a building to watch a weird show while they cleared the park. Then we had nothing to do for a half hour while the midway olympics were going on. ERT was on everything at Grand Exposition tonight, including the kiddie coaster (#193, the last new coaster of the trip - it's painful how close to 200 I am), which was nothing new. There's a weird outdoor himilaya kind of ride, but it goes really, really fast. That was an experience. But I urge you from the bottom of my very soul to ride the kiddie ride known as the Happy Frogs. It's insane. I was laughing my head off the whole time. I can't even describe how awesome it is. Do it. There was also a massive dessert bar with scrumptious SDC specialty desserts. Loved that. Tomorrow - more ERT on good rides, group photo, farewell to SDC, and banquet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarmor Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 ok...you dont like water rides but complain about the heat...I would have got on those water rides...several times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Wish I was there... Good to hear you liked SDC. I forgot how confusing getting around the park was. It's supposed to be so simple, being as most of the park is a solid loop - but it sure doesn't look like it when you're in there with all the trees and winding paths. At least there are lots of good shops to stop and cool off in. Edit - Hey, did they say anything about the new splash battle? I've been curious to hear some of the new details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj snow Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 DO NOT MISS THE CAVE! It's nice and cool underground, it's a nice long tour, and it's awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidcoaster 2 Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Con has been great so far and the Cave tour was something else. Hey steel keep an eye out for me Name Badge =Ken Jones and not to be confused with the other Ken Jones (Yes there are 2 Ken Jones here!(And we are not related)) Ken Jones Sharon Pa Conneaut Lake Park Blue Shirt. Hope to meet ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 I don't mind getting wet, I mind BEING wet. The initial splash is great and it cools you down, but then it's just as hot and you have to walk around with heavy clothes for an hour. ^Oh, that was you? Ken Jones is my dad. I took your picture, lol. Didn't get a chance to do the cave tour, but I wish I had. No word on the splash battle, but the location is really nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidcoaster 2 Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Oh lol your Sam Jones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel Posted June 24, 2009 Author Share Posted June 24, 2009 ^That's me. Day 3: Silver Dollar City - 104*F, 84% humidity Woke up and jogged over to the park (not literally, of course, but we could have - the hotel is like a block away) for a morning tour of Fire in the Hole's basement. Fascinating stuff. Then we had an incredible skillet breakfast with delicious pastries before ERT, which was on American Plunge, Fire in the Hole (lights on), Wildfire, and Powder Keg. Fire in the Hole was interesting with the lights on. Actually, there were several areas that didn't have any lights at all. But the parts that did were cool. Wildfire is still a great little coaster. Just a little short. Maybe a tad rough toward the end. But fun - intense air and some good inversions. Powder Keg was running well. Got on it twice during ERT before it stalled on the lift and some very lucky ACErs got evacuated. It was down until a while after the park opened. Group photo and "Con intermission party" was at ten in the huge amphitheatre. It was so ridiculously hot. I am amazed that no one went down. They gave us free drinks and (inexplicably) kettle corn to enjoy in the heat. They also gave us special t-shirts specifically made for ACErs at this Con. That was cool. Until they made us put on the new shirts for the picture. Over our other clothes. In 100-degree heat. > And that's pretty much it. Got on Powder Keg four more times and then went back to the hotel for a glorious few hours before the banquet, which was nothing new. P.S. Going to Kansas City today - there's an extreme heat warning and KC is right in the middle of it. Grr... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsterfan99 Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Fun report so far. Be sure to stay cool in KC. Looks be be around 100 for the next 3 days with T-storms for the next too. Such weird weather for the Midwest, you would think if was FL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sros1fan Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Wheres all the pics? if its over 100 degrees wouldnt you just be wearing shorts and a t-shirt so why would you not want to ride the water rides which you would be dried off in about 20mins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 ^I don't have time to post pictures yet! Or the equipment, actually. I just don't like water rides, deal with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 Day 4: Worlds of Fun - 104*F, 96% humidity I got to sleep in yesterday. Woo! Four-hour drive from Branson to KCMO, but we made great time. Didn't actually go over to the park until 4:30. I've been to WoF countless times, but we were with people who had never been before, so I got to give the tour. Supper was at 6:00. Standard chain park food: chicken, hot dogs, beans, potato salad, chips, cookies, etc. Then there was a silent auction and a raffle. And it started pouring rain, so a bunch of people went over to check out the special WoF museum at the All Star Grill. I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH, Heart of America reps! Jennifer, Jeff, everybody else: great job! The museum was outstanding! I loved it! Before supper, I had done Spinning Dragons, Patriot, and Timber Wolf. Dragons was fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Patriot is running just as beautifully as ever. The zero-g roll still puts it higher than Raptor for me, even after three years. This was my first time riding Wolf this season. I had heard a lot of people saying that it was out-of-control rough and terrible, so I thought maybe something had changed since last year. Nope. I see no difference. If anything, it's a little better. Y'all are wimps (and hypocrites, but I won't get into that now, we don't need an argument). TW may not be the best coaster in the world. It is not particularly fast. It is absolutely extremely rattley and bouncy. Call it rough if you want. But it really isn't painful at all. Truly, it isn't bad. I'm in more pain getting off of Voyage than TW (don't get me wrong, Voyage is a far superior ride and TW is definately rougher, but Voyage can be more painful than TW). Okay, anyway, after the rain finally ended, I went to ride Wacky Worm (which I have actually done a bunch of times now) with some credit-getters. Then Mamba, which is always heaps of fun in the dark. They aren't slamming the MCBR as much as they have in the past, so that's nice. Boomerang was still closed when we walked past it (thank God, I didn't have to ride it right away), so we made our way to Prowler for ERT. They gave out some fun freebies - a Prowler bottle and a coupon for a free on-ride photo anywhere in the park. Before I get to the good stuff, let me just say that I did end up doing Boomerang once during ERT, and it was just as bad as it was the last time I rode it, if not worse. Alright, here we go. Night ERT on Prowler was so intense that I get excited just thinking about it. It was a great ride when it opened. Top ten or twenty without too much work. It is a near-perfect ride now. I cannot think of anything that I would change about it. It's smooth, it's packed with airtime, it's relentless, and it is *very* dark. I don't even know how many times I rode it last night, but it just got better and better. Everyone needs to come to KCMO and ride this thing. You have no idea what you're missing. That's all I've got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel Posted June 26, 2009 Author Share Posted June 26, 2009 Day 5: Worlds of Fun - 103*F, 89% humidity Really long day. Morning ERT was on Patriot, Skyliner (the Ferris wheel), and Spinning Dragons, and breakfast was actually pretty good. I don't have any idea how many times I rode Patriot. There wasn't even a line for the back row and they were running both trains. After ERT was the walkback tour of Prowler. That was fun, but we didn't stay back there very long. RipCord was doing a special for us so that we could fly for $15 all day. So I did that (and it was a good ride, as always). Lunch at All Star Grill was surprisingly good, and we got 50% off, so it was also reasonably priced, if not just a tad expensive. Then I met up with my church's youth group, which was there all day. My youth director's daughter wanted to ride Prowler with me. That was so much fun. She's at that age where she likes roller coasters, but they're still scary. So it's all very exciting for her. She also convinced me to ride Fury of the Nile (and she is probably the only person on Earth who could do that). Then Mamba a couple times before heading back to the hotel for a while. When we got back, Skills USA's kids were all in the park, which meant about 15,000 kids. So WoF threw a luau for us in Oceans of Fun with water slide ERT. I just ate and went back to Prowler, which somehow had no line. Night ERT on Timber Wolf, Detonator, Cyclone Sam's, and Mamba. Fun, fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel Posted June 27, 2009 Author Share Posted June 27, 2009 Day 7: Worlds of Fun - 101*F, 94% humidity Morning ERT on all the big coasters - Spinning Dragons, Patriot, Timber Wolf, Mamba, Boomerang, and Prowler. I literally walked on to the front row of Patriot and there still was nobody in line when I got back into the station. Same thing with Mamba. Everyone was at Prowler of course, which is a perfectly acceptable use of time, IMO. I think I was just a little too tired for Prowler, though. It sort of beat me up. After ERT was an End-of-Coaster-Con "Ceremony." They gave more stuff away (they must have given out thousands of dollars worth of stuff this week) and fed us chicken. Didn't stay at the park after that. We wanted to get to St. Louis and take a nice break from coastering. Had a decent supper at Applebees. The hotel is SFSL's next-door neighbor. We could have had an awesome view, but we actually just look out over the indoor pool. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 Good grief, I'm really beating myself up for not getting in on this now. I can't believe how well the parks are treating you. That's more coaster-riding than I will get in 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel Posted June 29, 2009 Author Share Posted June 29, 2009 Day 8 (last day): Six Flags St. Louis - 108*F, 93% humidity My last day of coastering for a while. Con was over, but a lot of us (including me) went to Daredevil Daze at SFSL. Morning ERT was just on Evel Knievel, which was not a good move on SF's part, IMO, since all of us only had one choice of ride. I rode twice before deciding it was too hot to continue. Thankfully, they opened up Mr. Freeze at about 10:00, so I got a ride on that before the crowds, too. I've been to SFSL, but, as with WoF, I was with people who hadn't, so I got to ride everything again. After Freeze, we went to Big Spin, then The Boss, then Screamin' Eagle, then River King Mine Train, then Ninja, then Batman. None of the waits were bad at all (though I swear I will never ever ride Ninja ever again - what a horrible ride) until we got to Batman, which was about 50 minutes. It was already ridiculously hot, too, so the rare spots of shade in the queue were welcome. We were looking forward to getting into the station, where it would be cooler. Wrong - it was easily 110* in that building. Not just annoying, but medically risky. It was torture for us. Just imagine the toll that must take on the employees. This is a good B:TR, but it isn't worth that. Lunch was actually pretty good for a big chain park. The popsicles were great. After lunch, we just could not take the heat anymore, so we took a break at the hotel (Holiday Inn at Six Flags, I highly recommend it - good quality rooms (some with views), great pool area, and a free shuttle to and from the park) until 8:00 pm. First thing I did when I got back to the park was Mr. Freeze. I love that ride and I didn't wanted to do it again. No outside line (thank God), and the inside queue is air conditioned. So is the station. Usually. Not today, though. Today it was even hotter than the Batman queue. Well, yesterday, actually, but who cares? Anyway, I was an idiot and decided to wait for the front. They were running both sides. It's a cool idea, and at first I really liked it, but it makes the line move so agonizingly slow that it isn't worth it. So I was in this station for a good 25 or 30 minutes waiting for the stupid front seat. I cannot imagine how horrible it must be to work in there. That is seriously unhealthy and could become dangerous very fast. I'm going to be emailing the park about that. So I was in a bad mood after getting off Freeze, even though the ride was wonderful (there is almost no relief greater than that of being launched out of that boiling hot station into less boiling hot air outside - no lie, it actually felt nice and cool going outside after being in there for so long). I love their drop tower, Superman, so I did that next. What a horrible line. For whatever reason, they've decided to use only one side of the tower, so the line moves half as fast as it should. And it is pretty hot in there. Bad mood only worsened. After a quick trip on Xcalibur, which has to be one of the strangest rides I've been on, I decided to ride The Boss, since ERT was about to start and I was right there. Got to the station and up to the front of the line for the first row and the ride assists told us that this would be the last train of the night. I assumed they meant before ERT, so I let the GP couple behind me cut in front. Then I got there and they told me that it was okay if they did a couple more trains before they closed. The woman behind me (also there for Daredevil Daze) thought they must mean because of weather if not just for GP - there was some lightning way off in the distance. But no, I got in the train and the op said that there would only be one more train and that if people wanted to ride, they would have to spread out. There was even a security guy there ready to shut the ride down. So I asked. I showed them my schedule. I said they could ask their superiors if they wanted - we had ERT on The Boss, Screamin' Eagle, and Evel Knievel from 10-11:30. They honestly had no idea. Nobody bothered to even tell the crew that they were going to have to work for an hour and a half longer than they had planned. Completely ridiculous. This is also going in my email to the park. Then they decided to take of one of the trains for ERT. The difference between Cedar Fair and Six Flags, huh? Very, very bad mood now. Screamin' Eagle was great at night. That helped a little bit. Then I paid $3.50 for a tiny water bottle. I threw my change in the trash. Normally, I wouldn't have gone that far, but I was not a happy camper. Then I only got to ride Evel twice before they closed because of lightning. So I left the park in a really bad mood. Shame, SFSL is a pretty decent park. Overall, the event was great, but they screwed up toward the end. I had an awesome week. Looking forward to my next coaster vacation. (Pictures soon?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirouettes907 Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 I’m not interested in starting a pointless argument with you, steel, but I must say your TR of SFStl seems unnecessarily negative and exaggerated. I was there for Daredevil Daze on Saturday and had a fantastic time. Sure, it was crazy hot (with an actual temperature of about 97 and an average heat index of 103-4, not 108) but you should have known that going in. You chose to go that day; furthermore, you received a bargain admission for that particular day’s event, so your excessive complaints about things like the weather and long waits for the front seat seem a little trite. A few other things: --I don’t know what you’re talking about with Mr. Freeze’s line moving so slowly. Two-train operation works very well for this ride; all day long I saw and heard trains dispatch quickly. You chose to wait a little longer for the front seat in the stuffy station for your evening ride. If the temperature was such a problem during your wait, you could have picked another seat. For that matter, I was very impressed with roller coaster operations the entire day. The stairwell for Batman’s queue may have been toasty, but I bet you weren’t in there that long. That being said, I do sympathize with you for all employees working outside on a day like that, but at least every summer day isn’t that oppressively warm. I’m sure it was uncomfortable for them, but I did not witness any of them ever letting it get in the way of being polite to riders and customers. --Misunderstandings and miscommunications happen, as in the case of nighttime ERT on The Boss. I wasn’t there for that, so I don’t know the details of it, but there were two other coasters operating for you if The Boss wasn’t. --Bottled water is a necessary evil at parks. $3.50 seems about normal. Yeah, it’s overpriced, but when it’s hot, you deal with it—and if you didn’t want to deal with it, there were water fountains. --At least there was some nighttime ERT. So what if it was cut short; that was some of the most spectacular lightning I have ever seen in my life and it more than made up for it. I realize that just because I enjoyed myself doesn’t mean everyone did, but your complaints seem petty and such actions like throwing away your change are immature in light of the fact that the day’s activities—ERT, walkback tours, lunch and the popsicles you were positive about—were offered for only $10. Along with that, the park was clean, operations were efficient and employees smiled, were friendly and seemed to make the best of the weather. It’s not like you had already deposited a massive sum towards this that might make you feel compelled to get your money’s worth from it. It also doesn’t sound like any of the things you complained about were maliciously targeted toward you specifically. Like I said, I don’t want to start an argument. It’s just that you chose to go and it’s your responsibility to deal with the consequences of those actions instead of blaming the ever-ambiguous “they” with such statements as “…they screwed up towards the end.” ~Megan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel Posted June 30, 2009 Author Share Posted June 30, 2009 Wow, I didn't think it came off that negative. I said the event was great. The park is not bad, either. There are some wonderful rides. I had a great time most of the day. Before I start, I should say that the 108*F is what it felt like outside according to weather.com, not what the actual temperature was. It isn't perfectly precise, but it is the heat I was dealing with, so it's accurate enough. I don’t know what you’re talking about with Mr. Freeze’s line moving so slowly. Two-train operation works very well for this ride; all day long I saw and heard trains dispatch quickly. You chose to wait a little longer for the front seat in the stuffy station for your evening ride. If the temperature was such a problem during your wait, you could have picked another seat. For that matter, I was very impressed with roller coaster operations the entire day. The stairwell for Batman’s queue may have been toasty, but I bet you weren’t in there that long. That being said, I do sympathize with you for all employees working outside on a day like that, but at least every summer day isn’t that oppressively warm. I’m sure it was uncomfortable for them, but I did not witness any of them ever letting it get in the way of being polite to riders and customers. They were dispatching quickly, but the problem with the two train system is that capacity is slightly improved at the cost of line movement. If they only ran one train, it would take slightly longer to get on the ride, but the line would move much faster, which is a price I'm willing to pay. The station was not just stuffy, it was dangerously hot. Same deal with Batman's stairwell. I was with a nurse most of the day. She agreed that it was a dangerous amount of heat, even for as short a time as you are in it. My complaint isn't about the fact that I was hot, it's about the fact that SF exposed its guests and, more importantly, its employees to risky temperatures for prolonged periods of time. The risk of heat exhaustion was high enough outside. It must have doubled in those buildings, and tripled for the employees doing physical work inside them. They (the ride crews) handled it very well. They aren't the problem, they're the victims. Misunderstandings and miscommunications happen, as in the case of nighttime ERT on The Boss. I wasn’t there for that, so I don’t know the details of it, but there were two other coasters operating for you if The Boss wasn’t. You're right, misunderstandings and miscommunications do happen. However, I find it completely ridiculous that no one bothered to inform the ride crew that they would be working an hour and a half longer than they had planned. Once again, the crew was the victim, not the problem. Furthermore, I had no intention of riding The Boss more than once during ERT. It's a fun ride, but I'd rather be on Evel. I was more worried about the other people who wanted to enjoy ERT. Bottled water is a necessary evil at parks. $3.50 seems about normal. Yeah, it’s overpriced, but when it’s hot, you deal with it—and if you didn’t want to deal with it, there were water fountains. That wouldn't be a problem for me normally, but I wasn't near any water fountains, I was getting dehydrated quickly, and I was already in a bad mood from the heat and the Boss stuff (and countless employees telling me to have a "Six Flags" day, whatever that means), so that was just a line I didn't want to have to cross. At least there was some nighttime ERT. So what if it was cut short; that was some of the most spectacular lightning I have ever seen in my life and it more than made up for it. You're right, I got two great rides on Evel as well as dark night rides on Boss and Eagle. And the lightning was beautiful. I do understand that the park couldn't do anything about it, and I'm not complaining that I had to leave early. But the lightning was cool. Sorry if I didn't make it clear enough that I had a good time. Most of the problem was that I was completely exhausted after a week of Coaster Con in 90- and 100-degree heat and Six Flags operations almost always get me frustrated. I agree that it is a fantastic deal. But I'm sure you've had imperfect days at parks, too. I hope that makes it clearer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Having attened the Con and the SF event, I thought that Worlds of Fun treated us the best. The ops there were the most efficient and seemed to really enjoy the ERT sessions. They also ran multiple trains on everything that had them for ERT and allowed rerides. SDC was a let down with 1 train ops on Wildfire and no rerides allowed during ERT on any rides. I agree about that group photo. I normally like to be in them, but no way was I putting on an extra dark color shirt to pose for the picture in that heat. Plus, with everyone wearing the same shirts, good luck ever seeing yourself in the picture. $10 was a bargain for SF, but with the way it turned out, we hardly felt we got our money's worth. Morning ERT on EK had a longer line than that coaster normally has during regular park hours. We also made the mistake of going to Boss first for ERT. They were trying to take a train off and finally decided to just run it empty which they should've done in the first place. We took 1 ride before heading to Eagle where we were ready to dispatch when they got the call to close. Our ERT consisted of 1 horrible ride on the Boss. Although there was lightning very far in the distance, we felt they jumped the gun in closing everything since we've been on coasters at other parks where it was much closer and they were still running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 SDC never allows re-rides - it's a company policy that's come to be after many near-fights and a lot of incidents with kids running around and grabbing seats they shouldn't be taking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel Posted June 30, 2009 Author Share Posted June 30, 2009 Having attened the Con and the SF event, I thought that Worlds of Fun treated us the best. The ops there were the most efficient and seemed to really enjoy the ERT sessions. They also ran multiple trains on everything that had them for ERT and allowed rerides. That's interesting. I thought SDC treated us best, but WoF clearly has more experience with coaster events. SDC had incredible food, a ton of free stuff, and outstanding employees. WoF had lot's of raffles and well-done ERT. I forgot to mention in the TR that they ran all three trains for night ERT on Mamba. That was the first time I'd ever seen them run all three. SDC was a let down with 1 train ops on Wildfire and no rerides allowed during ERT on any rides. I agree about that group photo. I normally like to be in them, but no way was I putting on an extra dark color shirt to pose for the picture in that heat. Plus, with everyone wearing the same shirts, good luck ever seeing yourself in the picture. One-train Wildfire was not cool, I agree. That ride is more than long enough to warrant multiple trains. I sat right in the front, so I will find myself in the picture. $10 was a bargain for SF, but with the way it turned out, we hardly felt we got our money's worth. Morning ERT on EK had a longer line than that coaster normally has during regular park hours. We also made the mistake of going to Boss first for ERT. They were trying to take a train off and finally decided to just run it empty which they should've done in the first place. We took 1 ride before heading to Eagle where we were ready to dispatch when they got the call to close. Our ERT consisted of 1 horrible ride on the Boss. Although there was lightning very far in the distance, we felt they jumped the gun in closing everything since we've been on coasters at other parks where it was much closer and they were still running. Were you possibly the woman behind me in line for the front row of Boss when they were having all of those difficulties? Maybe not. A bunch of people were coming in the entrance to the ride as I was leaving. The reason they closed so early was that there was an actual lightning strike not too far away. That's what they said at Evel Knievel, at least. Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I will try to put pictures up tomorrow or Wednesday. If not then, it won't be for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedten Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Post them as soon as you can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 SDC never allows re-rides - it's a company policy that's come to be after many near-fights and a lot of incidents with kids running around and grabbing seats they shouldn't be taking. I can understand if they don't allow rerides during regular park hours, but it would be nice if they made an exception for ERT. For example, Dorney is a park that NEVER allows rerides, but they do allow them during ERT sessions. No, I wasn't in line for the front seat on Boss during ERT. We hardly ride the front of any coaster during ERT sessions since the line is longer than it is during regular park hours. We went in row 4 so that we could get our 1 ride right away and then move on to the 2 much better woodies (which never happened). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 FINALLY getting around to photos. This isn't nearly all of them, but it's a representation. Enjoy. That's all. "theming" Prowler>>>>>>>>Evel Knievel Too hot to take many pictures at SFSL Zoom... Moving right along ACErs taking pictures Prowler! Pretty Mamba These skies+3 hours until the park closes=incredible Prowler ERT with no light and wet track until 12:30 am. See? On to WoF. They put up these nifty banners for us at all the coasters (except maybe Boomerang, I'm not sure). I really wanted to see it roll back, but it never happened. Powder Keg ... ... Fire in the Hole Walkthrough The Happy Frogs! Seriously, ride it. Giant Swing and High-Low Silos Wildfire gets really close to the path. I don't know if I have ever seen a more photogenic ride. Proof that SDC is pretty. I don't know what's going on with the little kid on the ground. Thunderation station (lol) Flooded Mine was underwhelming Powder Keg station Powder Keg entrance building Wildfire love Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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