cfc Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 ^Agreed. The park is gradually posting information about Howl-o-Scream, so why not discuss it? After all, we're already talking about HHN in California and Florida. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-BONDIcoasterkid Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Because we like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 (edited) Williamsburg shook a a bit thanks to that quake near Charlotteville. I imagine there are some freaked out people e-stopped on a few rides at the moment. Edited August 23, 2011 by cfc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netdvn Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 The ground shook for a bit around here. Not hard enough to do damage though. It probably struck harder by KD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bejackso Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 im in south central richmond, felt it good here. pretty cool imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esvadj Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 via Busch Gardens Facebook: Along with most of the east coast, we felt the effects of today’s earthquake. Park officials have closed all of the major attractions and the rides will be returned to service after each undergoes a thorough inspection. We had some things fall off shelves on my side of VA. Pretty scary stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonskeep Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 We had a pretty good shake many years ago in Ohio. It was cool and scary, reminds you real quick that the rock we live on is alive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saldek Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Update from the park... Busch Gardens All of our attractions have reopened. Thank you for your patience while we inspected them after the earthquake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toro#1 Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 unbelievable, I was at the park yesterday and had a wonderful day, pretty eerie that I was there just a day before this! On the note of Mach Tower, I got on it yesterday and had a fun ride. It's not the best, the effect at the top was quite lame and the drop, while very quick (and some say pointless) was fun, I was most thankful that the breaks worked , overall a nice addition because they needed a bigger flat to go with Darkastle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-BONDIcoasterkid Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Felt a pretty signifigant shake down in Virginia Beach too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bejackso Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 my quick TR from this past sat 08/20: get to the park around 10:30, head straight to mach tower. only waited about 15 min or so. the red/blue/green/yellow loading system is cool and efficient, but the taped-out areas in the queue line have to be temporary because they were getting all torn up/stepped on. the ride itself was better than i expected, but still not as good as the drop tower at KD. breakdown: good: music on the way up, theming, rotating on the way up, placement in the park, color system for quick loading, drop was longer than i thought it would be given how high the brakes come up on the tower bad: vibrating seats right before the freefall (kinda cheesy and also lets you know right when you're going to drop), the rotating on the way up is inconsistent in the vertical direction as well as the spinning direction, drop still isn't long enough got a good view of the construction on verboten (see pic for sign posted near bumper cars, confirmed name seems to be verboten) seems to be coming along nicely, esp the event building. they've cleared significantly back into the drachen fire area. installing a train station back there would be a GREAT idea, because the quickest way to get to the germany section of the park currently is.........walking. lastly, i could NOT get over how EMPTY the park was this past sat. great weather (sunny and 80 or 85), weekend, day after mach tower official opening, and nearly all the rides were walk-ons. it was truly bizarre. the pic i uploaded is the queue line for griffon at about 2pm on a SATURDAY. unreal. verboten - official name griffon queue line at 2pm on saturday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I wasn't sure whether it would be Verboten ("Forbidden") or Verbolten, which is sort of a play on the word to combine the ideas of "forbidden" and "speed." I'm still curious though - just because the sign didn't have the "l" doesn't mean that the ride name won't! After all, the construction zone is certainly forbidden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schotcher Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Yeah what's up with Griffon usually it's a walk into the station but now the line goes into the second room. Griffon ride ops are very slow this year IMO. Anyone else think that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 I never understood how Griffon runs three trains and has a hard time sending one out before the first returns to the station, while some SheiKra videos show five (?) trains running with one dropping as the next is halfway up the lift hill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterLover Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Shiekra loads and checks two trains at the same time, so once one train clears the lift, the second train is already out of the station and heading up the lift (much like how Maverick at Cedar Point loads two trains and the second waits at the bottom of the lift until the first train clears the block). Griffon loads one train at a time, so when the first train is on the way up the lift, the second train still needs to park, unload, reload, and check before it can dispatch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paiging_jen Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 I never understood how Griffon runs three trains and has a hard time sending one out before the first returns to the station, while some SheiKra videos show five (?) trains running with one dropping as the next is halfway up the lift hill. I would be ecstatic if I saw SheiKra operating that fast. It may have in the past, but I haven't seen anything close to that in my many visits over the last year. I can't say much about recent operations at BGW, but the limited times I've been the Griffon crew was on top of their game. I hate to hear that may not be the case recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schotcher Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 I can't say much about recent operations at BGW, but the limited times I've been the Griffon crew was on top of their game. I hate to hear that may not be the case recently. Yeah I go every year been riding Griffon every year since it opened. Usually they are VERY good at loading, very fast, swift, and chill. But this year they were awful. I usually give the Griffon crew a 9/10. This year I give em a 4/10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingadam719 Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 ^^ That is not the confirmed "official" name yet. Go on google translate and "Zutritt Verboten" means "Access Forbidden" or pretty much just saying don't go in there, but in German. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schotcher Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 ^ And also Zierer is a German company so probably some Zierer engineers out there to oversee everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skycoastin Steve Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 I can't say much about recent operations at BGW, but the limited times I've been the Griffon crew was on top of their game. I hate to hear that may not be the case recently. Yeah I go every year been riding Griffon every year since it opened. Usually they are VERY good at loading, very fast, swift, and chill. But this year they were awful. I usually give the Griffon crew a 9/10. This year I give em a 4/10. Um, no. Griffon's crew has been very, very good all year. This is a video I shot in the spring where they have two operators and still get the train out right as the train behind it is pulling in, and that was honestly one of the slowest dispatches they had that day. Sheikra's crew has never been good. Ever. Griffon and Sheikra's crews are complete, polar opposites of one another. I literally avoid riding Sheikra because of how bad that crew is, because I know how long I'll have to wait if I get in line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schotcher Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 When I was there it was awful. Line was longer than usual. It took a solid 2-3 minutes from when people boarded to when the gates opened. Much too long. Occasionally the train would move to far forward for the floors to come up and they would have to wait until the other train got up the lift till they could pull it back. My harness wasn't checked once. My seatbelt wasn't checked once. I don't mean to bitch about all this, but to be honest IMO that's a pretty lousy ride op crew. That's just me. I've never had any problem with Griffon till now. Maybe it was just a bad day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 I've never had any problem with Griffon till now. Maybe it was just a bad day I haven't seen any problems with the Griffon crew this season, but "off days" happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bejackso Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 ok, nm about the official name being verboten. i was pleased to see nessie, griffon, apollo, and alpie all running 3 trains this past saturday with pretty efficient loading/unloading. you wont see that at six flags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netdvn Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 the rotating on the way up is inconsistent in the vertical direction as well as the spinning direction, drop still isn't long enough I've never had problems with the rotation/drop. You can barely feel the brakes slowing down until you reach close to the bottom of the tower. The spinning only really happens on the set of brakes and doesn't let up until you pass them. lastly, i could NOT get over how EMPTY the park was this past sat. great weather (sunny and 80 or 85), weekend, day after mach tower official opening, and nearly all the rides were walk-ons. it was truly bizarre. the pic i uploaded is the queue line for griffon at about 2pm on a SATURDAY. unreal. Crowds really don't start picking up until around 4-5. Even on a busy day like July 4th weekend. All the Season Passholders come in around that time as well as all the vacationers that want to get some rides in before the next day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 ^^Nessie was running three trains?? I didn't even know that still happened. Do they ever manage to loop them at the same time anymore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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