chadster Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Made my first visit to SFSL this past weekend (April 17-18, 2010) and also swung by Worlds of Fun for opening weekend. Thought I would try out my new little camera. I usually don't take pictures as I hate to carry around my equipment and then find a locker, or, several trips to the car, or then something gets lost or broken, but this little dude slides nicely and securely in my pocket. So without further blabbing: Welcome to SFSL Please pay toll, unless you have a pass w/parking. First on my list, Evil Kenevil. Love the station fly by's, and GCI woodies for that matter. Here comes my ride...yeah! There was a Cardinals game in town on this particular day, and upon my arrival at park opening at 10:30 there was no waiting to get in, and no waiting in the ride lines. It stayed this way until noon. There was a cheer comp going on for some middle schoolers, which was about the only crowd on this really nice cool day. I got an amazing 6 continuous rides on the Kenevil before I had to get off due to others wanting to ride. (how dare them) Too bad Cedar Fair won't let you re-ride. Now, on to the Mr. Freeze. Entrance, I had no idea the trip to get to the ride would require a snack break. A common theme I encountered on many rides at this park. Looks similar to the one at SFOT, I like the two tone paint better at the one at SFOT though. Theme-ing is not as nice as SFOT, but the ride is just as good! Might as well Ride the Tony Hawk (for credit reasons of course) This was a fun little ride, rode with a dad and his son who was scared out of his mind. No trim braking either, made it nice No waiting. Closed for repairs It did re-open later) This is probably one of the best out and back traditional woodies I've been on in a while. I'll pass. Time for "The Boss" There goes the boss I love the helix on this one, not over intense, a really good portion of the ride Mini-Rocket.nltrack I see you batman, I'll tackle you later. And then there was this thing. Yes, I rode the NINJA to get the credit, but wished I wouldn't have. I still have a bruise from it. Clean up on Train 2. Somone actually got sick on this ultra intense mine train ride... Batman!!!! Love the B&M's. And this was no exception. Weeeeeeeeee Back to The Boss Checking in on Superman... That doesn't look good at all. It never re-opened after going down around noon and I never got to ride it One last trip on the Eveil Knevil (second on my favorite list next to Prowler) Thought I would snap this interesting picture, automated chain oiling. Not sure why I took the pic, just thought it was neat. This is a really nice park, though it will quickly let you know how out of shape you are with all the line queue walking and hills, I would recommend everyone come here at least once. I mean they have everything here including: A Dick Clark production and old coaster cars wonder where those came from... ok, we don't have to wonder, but I will let you guess I'd come back for sure. Next stop on my weekend tour, Worlds of Fun. Being as this is my first post, if I broke any rules, let me know. Tried to read them all. Superman was powerless, I'll check back on it later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbilly Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 wow nice report and welcome to the forums man! I really want to head out to Missouri because of the great looking parks out there, I have hit nearly everything here on the east and midwest out to Chicago, but never Missouri, thanks for the pictures, in your opinion how do Prowler and Evil Knievel compare to each other?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted April 19, 2010 Author Share Posted April 19, 2010 coasterbilly: Thanks for the welcome! I have rode on prowler probably 60 times including preview and opening days. I haven't upped my pics and report yet for WOF (working on it) but I can say i terms of the "wow" factor they both rank equal, I'd say 9.5 out of 10. Both are smooth, Prowler seems to have weathered in nicely in the off season and broken in well, it's slighlty rougher than last year but that's to be expected somewhat. Both aslo get much faster at night, I'd say anywhere from 4-6mph faster. Powler sits low to the ground and keeps you at a constant turn, never level in terms of east to west. Evil Kenevil is similar but has a small track of camel humps that seem more level than the set on Prowler. All in all, if I had to pick, I would pick Prowler, just because it maintains it's speed better throughout the ride. (Evil Kenevil also broke my phone, shattered the sceen, but that was my fault) If you go, ride in the morning, then at night once the sun goes down, there is a huge difference in speed and the way the ride reacts. While the front is fun, the back on both rides gives you a better sense of the speed and gforces these baby's pull, don't expect much airtime, built for speed. I'm headed to the east coast in mid may, hitting about 9 parks in 15 days. Any suggestions? I've been to KD and SFA, plan on SFNE, Hershey, Kennywood, Coney Island for the Cyclone, Darien Lake to name a few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOCTOR DOOM!!! Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 I went to SFStl yesterday and I must say everything was running smooth and wonderful except a few rough transitions on Ninja! None of the coasters were rough like I thought they was gonna be! While the rides were fun, the service sucked just a little bit! A lot of the staff seemed rude or had no knowledge of the park or rarely both. (i.e. Where season pass processing ma'am, I DONT KNOW IN THE FRONT AT GUEST RELATIONS I GUESS!!!) Also, after about 3, some of the coasters switched to one train operation. (Boss, Screamin Eagle, Ninja for example) Im MAD that I missed Twisted Twins trains!!! I would have loved to take a picture myself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted April 20, 2010 Author Share Posted April 20, 2010 (edited) After waking up at 5AM, I made the 3.5 hour journey from St. Louis to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City. This was opening weekend which if history repeats itself, the rides should be walk on. So, without further chatter... Patriot!!! Tops Batman the Ride without a doubt. Can't wait to get inside! Waiting patiently in line to get in 10 minutes early for being a plat pass holder. Prowler wasn't open when I got there. Was disappointed, drove all that way and then bam, not open. The mechanics were still walking the track. Waited about 20 minutes, but after the track walk they had to send for the electrician to energize the ride. Was told I'd be better off trying something else. That's cool, it'll be there later. The verkoma thingy that everyone has. The best part of these is going backwards. Fury of the Nile Nile sitting empty. Water rides here don't open until 11AM Most of the games apparently don't open until later in the day on Sunday's either. Probably a smart move, not a lot people around at 10:30. Park opened at 10 Mamba wasn't open yet either, what's the deal WoF?? Waiting for Mamba to Open Mamba's open! I got the first ride on Train 2. The lone train in operation. Here is train number 3 But no train 1. In October I noticed train 1 was missing, wonder where it went to? the wolf is checking ride heights today the other train is MIA. Even with some of the track re-work, this is still a back breaker if you sit in the back of the train. Yes!! The smoothest B&M Invert ever!! This one sports magnetic breaks when coming into the break run at the end of the ride, a very smooth slow down. No head sloshing here. I could ride it all day. Train1 taking a break. WoF always starts off with one train on Sunday's. Then, if they have to add a train, it slows the lines down even more. I'd rather start with two and work my way down, but then again, today was dead. The spinning coaster, it's an ok ride. They have a log ride An octopus and a sea dragon, old school, but they are still fun. and lets not forget about the Zulu, AND what's behind the Zulu...could it be running??? wait for it, wait for it.... Yes!!!! 6 rides, yipeeeee!!! Only running one train, the other one is patiently awaiting the need for it's services. Six Flags has cedar fair beat hands down on food and beverage. Drinks at SF: 3.49, 3.89 @ WoF. Popcorn, 7.99 for a bucket with 1.99 refills at WoF. SF: 4.99 and 1.99 refills. Vending machine cokes, 4.00 at WoF, 3.50 at SF. Cedar fair needs to wake up. I leave the park with pictures of the new light show being put together more lights lights and the "Junkyard" Who'd want to eat at the junkyard which happens to be located in "Africa" (I think it was renamed this year) Lights. And one last ride on Patriot I really hate to say it because I am a big fan of Cedar Fair, and a unit holder, but their staff seemed very disorganized. I did see several returning ride op's who were trying their best with their trainees, but it just didn't seem to click on certain rides. Some seemed like they didn't want to be there, but had to. Ride loading was slow and ride opening was slow all over. Mamba, Timerwolf and Prowler were all closed upon arrival, but all later opened up. Comaprable to SF, Food and Beverage pricing is also out of control, most people were caught in the parking lot eating and drinking (and the parking lot is quite a journey to get to at this park) Lower the price, advertise as such, and really lower the price, not just by 10 cents. 3.00 for a drink is acceptable, 4.00 is not. 6.50 for chicken tenders and fries is acceptable, 8.99 is not, and so on and so forth. That's just my opinon. I will give them a break being opening weekend, it just seems training was a little lacking this year. Management, however, greeted me where I went. Maybe it helped I had my CF VIP shirt on, maybe not. Edited April 20, 2010 by chadster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted April 20, 2010 Author Share Posted April 20, 2010 Dr. Doom: you had to really hunt for the train cars, after the ride exit you turn left, their isn't anything drawing you to the right. I noticed them from on the ride. I like to look around from the sky on at least one trip on each coaster to see if there is anything I've missed. I had a fairly good experience with most of the staff, especially on Mr. Freeze, those guys were a hoot. Eveil Kenevil were friendly in the morning, then they switched over, and not as friendly, but not rude either. They too were doing alot of on the job traning like WoF, but seemed overall better trained than the new WoF staff members. My overall experience at both parks was positve, they just have some kinks to work out before the height of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoshiFan Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Too bad Cedar Fair won't let you re-ride. That has got to be my least favorite Cedar Fair policy, it is so annoying and a waste of time to have less than 10 people waiting in the station or some some cases a completely empty station and being forced to walk around after each ride. I really wish they would change it to allow re-rides but I know it will never happen with how strict CF is when it comes to those kind of rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailBlazer Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 (edited) The second train from Timber Wolf was indeed MIA, but it is also red, not white. I was at the park Saturday for opening day and all coasters had two trains on, with the exception of Timber Wolf, as park had a great turnout with the nice weather. Edited April 20, 2010 by RailBlazer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbesx2 Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 That's a shame... normally there's great service at worlds of fun. Maybe you just caught it on a bad day, when they are just getting warmed up. I hope you had a good time there at least, it really is a fantastic park. Nice pictures too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsasamccormick Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Wow! Great Pics! I want to go to worlds of fun someday soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted April 20, 2010 Author Share Posted April 20, 2010 hobbesx2: I always have a good time and do usually get good service there, I have been there dozens of times the last two years, and this was the first time they seemed off. They'll get their acts together, I'm confident of that. Railblazer: For some reason I thought that train was white, maybe becuase I hardly ever see it running. It's nice to hear they had a great turnout on Saturday. Sunday's for any park is usuallys slow, so I wasn't too worried, especially given it was opening weekend. I don't want anyone to take anything wrong, WoF is a great park, it was just an off day is all. Everyone was probably a little slow from opening day the day before, that's all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted April 20, 2010 Author Share Posted April 20, 2010 itsasamccormick: You should, Patriot and Prowler, Tops!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPmaverick Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Too bad Cedar Fair won't let you re-ride. That has got to be my least favorite Cedar Fair policy, it is so annoying and a waste of time to have less than 10 people waiting in the station or some some cases a completely empty station and being forced to walk around after each ride. I really wish they would change it to allow re-rides but I know it will never happen with how strict CF is when it comes to those kind of rules. I re-ride all the time at Kings Island, so I don't think it is a Cedar Fair policy. At CP however, becides during ride nights, I have only had one re-ride in over 10 years of visiting the park . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted April 20, 2010 Author Share Posted April 20, 2010 CPmaverick: The only time I have been able to re-ride at Kings Island was during ERT for passholders on Diamondback, the rest of the time they've made me get off. While it is indeed a CF Policy, some ride ops tend to break that policy to keep the guests happy and them from not being bored....CF not only considers it line jumping but they also claim it messes up their turnstile numbers for rides given. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPmaverick Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 ^I know for a fact it is not a CF policy, according to higher up KI management. Last year on Labor Day I was able to re-ride Firehawk multiple times in a row, with people still coming into the station. I just kept taking any empty seats. The ride ops said as long as there was an open seat, I could re-ride as long as I wanted (an hour of a Vekoma was all I could handle). Also I can't think of one ride at KI that has a turnstyle. I agree with you when talking about CP but not with CF as a whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoshiFan Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Maybe it's just at the non Paramount CF parks that don't allow re-rides? I have only been allowed to get a re-ride once at Dorney and according to another employee on another site they were breaking the rules (the ride op asked me if I wanted to re-ride, I didn't ask since I stopped asking after I found out it wasn't allowed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOCTOR DOOM!!! Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Dr. Doom: you had to really hunt for the train cars, after the ride exit you turn left, their isn't anything drawing you to the right. I noticed them from on the ride. I like to look around from the sky on at least one trip on each coaster to see if there is anything I've missed. I had a fairly good experience with most of the staff, especially on Mr. Freeze, those guys were a hoot. Eveil Kenevil were friendly in the morning, then they switched over, and not as friendly, but not rude either. They too were doing alot of on the job traning like WoF, but seemed overall better trained than the new WoF staff members. My overall experience at both parks was positve, they just have some kinks to work out before the height of the season. I agree about Mr Freeze's staff. They were all having fun. I do wish the park would have done something about this during the offseason' Gum, hairties, coins and other trash on rooftops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryerson Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Maybe it's just at the non Paramount CF parks that don't allow re-rides? I have only been allowed to get a re-ride once at Dorney and according to another employee on another site they were breaking the rules (the ride op asked me if I wanted to re-ride, I didn't ask since I stopped asking after I found out it wasn't allowed). I'm going to with an above poster that I don't think it's a CF policy. I have had many a re-ride at WoF, especially last year. Maybe it just depends on the crew you get, but last year my wife and I rode Timber Wolf for about 35 minutes before we got off. (BTW if you ride Timber Wolf, second from the last row is the money spot) I've also had luck with re-rides on Patriot and Mamba. Anyways, great trip report. I like seeing people's TR on my home park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willh51 Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Kings Dominion definitely allows re-rides, as I rode Dominator about 20 times just moving around the train last spring. I've actually done it at Cedar Point on Mantis, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capitalize Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 I've definitely gotten plenty of re-rides at KD and KI in the past; so it may be just some CF parks that don't allow re-rides. A lot of times those decisions differ between parks. For example, I know Six Flags by and large allows re-rides. However during a visit to SFGAdv a couple years back they weren't allowing re-rides on Nitro despite there being no line. Apparently this was because someone fell and hurt themselves while trying to get back on for a re-ride earlier in the season... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pufferfish Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 *Edit, a lot of people suddenly asked/answered my same question. Anyways, great Photo TR, both of these parks are pretty high on my "must visit" list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted April 20, 2010 Author Share Posted April 20, 2010 Yummy picture you have there Dr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted April 20, 2010 Author Share Posted April 20, 2010 *Edit, a lot of people suddenly asked/answered my same question. Anyways, great Photo TR, both of these parks are pretty high on my "must visit" list. Thanks! They are both great parks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOCTOR DOOM!!! Posted April 21, 2010 Share Posted April 21, 2010 Yummy picture you have there Dr. Thanx! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goetz20 Posted April 21, 2010 Share Posted April 21, 2010 Imagine if The Boss or B:TR or even Mr. Freeze had a no re-ride policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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