East Coast Photo TR - Updated Page 6

[chadster]

5.30.10, went one last time by KD to see about another ride on the I305, no chance in hell of that happening. With cheap/free tickets for the military and being so close to many bases, the parking lot was in tears as it was over flowing with cars and the park was over flowing with guests. Wanting to at least watch the fireworks, I stuck around and rode an incredible 5 times, in a row, same seat, on a Cedar Fair coaster (so as not to get anyone in trouble should KD Management glance at this, I'll refrain from naming the ride) I was so shocked and excited about getting multiple re-rides, I almost had to change my pants!

 

The fireworks show was very nice, lasted a good 15 minutes of which I was pleasantly surprised. The park actually stayed open later than advertised to accomidate the crowds. Reports from various people told me ride lengths for I305 at 1.5 to 2 hours (they have a very very short queue line there if you haven't been before) and security was actually turning people away once the line reached the entry signage by the photo hut. Flight of fear was over 2 hours long, however, the woodies were less than 20 minutes, Rebel Yell was walk on. I also found them to have the best crew. The other crews were beat down and most had been there since park opening. Not sure if I agree 100% with 12+ hour shifts in the temp and humidity that the area was experiencing, but then again, I'm just an arm chair QB.

[chadster]

Wow, frustrating, had everything typed out and then the internet connection dies, crap. I'll post pictures tomorrow evening from SFA, my last stop. Plane delayed out of Dallas for several hours for who knows why reason, guessing weather in other parts of the county. I will say, the park looks cleaner than ever and that they are at least putting forth some effort into cleaning it up a bit. Maybe something their canned CEO had put in place? Who knows, who cares, it's being done which is what it needs.

Here we are ready to go, more tomorrow!

[chadster]

Pics and stuff from Six Flags America 5.31.10

Wow, I can hardly wait, I want to ride the balloons....

Seperate Season Pass lines, cool, not seen this at a SF park

I have seen bagless lines at some parks, wish they all had them

under funstruction

just inside, looks clean and fresh

the fountain is all polished up and running well

walking around, taking it all in...

hmmmm, i know where my woody is, guess I'm not hungry...

lets head over to gotham city

wow, what a mess, just as I remember it, and guess what, ride #1 down for the count, also just as I remember the park

yep.

here we are at superman

all trains on deck, but must say, it's quite the boring ride, many sections of straight flat track that don't curve or go up and down, the only thing it has going for it is the first drop.

death machine, some kid try to convince me it was the best ride ever...I want some of what he is smoking.

thomas town trying to make an advertised June 5 opening

it's gonna be tight.

the back of the park (gotham city) is kinda blah here, I don't think Thomas Town will be enough to liven it up

more papa johns

hey look, old faithful!

this doesn't look good

yep, closed

they've put up new fencing

they are trying to clean it up

say it isn't so...

wait for it...

yep, closed too. Funny, no ride ops were even close to any of the closed rides.

ROAR, nice ride.

yep, I found the big woody, must not be hungry

honestly I don't think it would cost much to tear down these old slides, the supports are wood

but at least they added fencing to try and hide them, last year you could walk right up to them

it's not like they will ever use them again, so, for now, it's s smoke hole

[Capitalize]

The slides haven't been removed because of zoning. Apparently if they are removed and something new isn't put up immediately they can't put anything up at all. Someone with more background knowledge can explain it better, from me its all hearsay anyways.

 

I respectfully disagree about SROS. The first drop, first turn, third-epic airtime-hill and final three hills before the station are all pretty sweet in my opinion. The straight portion after the first helix and the second helix's slow pace put a damper on things, but I think its still a very solid ride all in all.

[JEAPUgrad]

The slides haven't been removed because of zoning. Apparently if they are removed and something new isn't put up immediately they can't put anything up at all. Someone with more background knowledge can explain it better, from me its all hearsay anyways.

 

Correct.

 

If the park were to remove the slides, and not replace that plot of land with anything else, they would be forbidden to add an attraction there in the future as a small creek that runs through the the land that the slides sit on.

 

What sense this makes I have no idea.

 

Many are speculating that the slides will come down in 2011 with the new for 2011 attraction being placed in the spot of the slides/ the old Around the World in 80 Days that was rehabbed and placed into TT.

 

The fencing at Wild One has been there for years.

 

The fencing of the slide area is to hide the foundation from ATWIED.

[angryemobeaver]

From the looks of PTRs from previous years, and now more current years, SFA looks alot better. It really does have potential to be one of the better Six Flags parks is they would just give it a new signature coaster and maybe try to fix up Gotham City and that back area by adding trees and maybe some flat rides through out the years!

[Goliath513]

At least they put a fence around those closed slides. Two years ago, they were right out there in the open with the disgusting half drained pool and everything for guests to easily see. They did the same with fencing off Flying Coaster at Elitch's which has been closed as long as these slides have. Surprisingly, it's almost a forgotten attraction which many don't even know exists despite being right on the parking lot, so I can assume that will probably be the case with these slides too. Hopefully the new 2011 attraction will replace these slides since the area is big enough for something big, and the park won't look as run down as before. I enjoyed your trip reports.

[chadster]

Thanks for the clarrification on SFA, knowledge is power.

 

Capitalize - I will agree the first drop and turn are nice elements, it's the two straight sections that kill it for me, sort of like the multiple straight sections on The Beast at KI. Regardless, I will still ride them both if they happen to be in front of me

 

Here is a spread sheet of my opinions of each of the parks I visited, while I'm sure not everyone will agree with me, it may be useful or at the least, interesting to others. Hope to meet up with a TPR event next year, possibly the bay area bash, that would be cool.

[Montuman99]

I've really enjoyed these photos so far. I'm surprised Boulder Dash was only "ok". When we (TPR) rode it, it was beyond amazing! Did they add the rumored trim breaks or something? Wildcat was pretty terrible for us too. Everything else in the park was great. The free sodas were great to have too.

There is NO trim brake besides the one on the turn-around. I rode it 5 times yesterday. 2 Times in the front, 2 in the middle and 1 in the back. I should know. The ride just cooks the whole way through and never stops.

[larrygator]

^^I really like the ratings spreadsheet approach especially when you show multiple parks next to each other.

Edited June 22, 2010 by larrygator

[chadster]

^^

Thanks! As I was flying back home and looking at all of my photos, I thought, hey it might be cool to list my experiences and realted ratings for others to compare their experiences to or judge what they might expect at a particular park(s). I hope to venture out on at least one more multi-park trip to CA and possibly two (Texas) by the end of season. If that indeed happens, I'll be sure to make up another comparrison sheet!

[davisal771]

Great pictures! I would love to take a trip like that some day. Just driving around and enjoying coasters. Sounds like sooo much fun

El Toro's trains are indescribably awful looking. I also like the comparison sheet! Very informative. I have to hit BGE and Hersheypark soon. They look amazing.

[808Freq]

I've never been there, but I do agree (by looking at current, and past TRs) that they are doing quite a nice job of cleaning the park up. I saw that several of the attractions were closed. How normal is that for SFA? It is actually a park I've thought about going to during my upcoming DC trip, but had never heard great things about it. Definitely don't want to pay the entrance fee if half the rides are shut down.

[chadster]

As I've only been to SFA 3 times, I can't really say if it's normal for several rides to be down or not, but each time at least three rides have been down, and each time the chute was down. the SFA thread might provide more insight to ride up time.

[PAL]

Great TR! I read it front to back, as you hit a lot of the parks I plan to visit next month.

 

Did you drive back and forth as much as it appears? Why did you choose to skip Knoebels, or did I overlook it?

 

Thanks very much for the superb read.

[bgwfreak777]

Chad,

 

I see that you did the tour at BGW, what is the difference in the observer and the particpant experience? I see they are about $40 difference and was curious.

 

I just noticed too that you were at KD on 5/15 when I was there too.

[chadster]

The observer tour doesn't allow for you to go to the top of Griffon or ride any of the coasters. It's strictly a walk around and look at the coasters and maintenance areas. The participant tour is really good and I highly suggest it.

[chadster]

Great TR! I read it front to back, as you hit a lot of the parks I plan to visit next month.

 

Did you drive back and forth as much as it appears? Why did you choose to skip Knoebels, or did I overlook it?

 

Thanks very much for the superb read.

 

Your very welcome. Unfortunately I did drive back and forth that much and it had a lot to do with the parks operating schedules at the time and I made a few adjustments based on my last minute ambitions. I skipped Knoebels because of their schedule at the time and distance from where I was and where I needed to go, plus, I am hopeful that they will get the Flying Turns open by next year and will do another trip to the area hitting up Holiday World, the Dells, Darien Lake, Knoebels, and whatever else I can get myself into

 

I think I read your post about going out that direction. If I where you, I would head out to KD on day one and BGW after that, then start your way back up to PA and over to the point and not look back. The back of the park at KD will be mostly dead with the longest wait being for Volcano. Intrimidator's line goes pretty fast with both trains, maybe 45 minutes if you are at the entrance to the line) The coaster tour at BGW lasts until about 11-11:30, and if you stay until 3 or 4pm (after being their at 7:45 you will welcome it) you should make it back to KD in about 75 minutes or less. I see now that you are going to run into the same issues I had with parks not being open during the week which takes it's toll (literally in some cases!) One full day at the point may be plenty and you should be able to ride everything, but the park will leave you with wanting to go back for a second day. Kings Island has a get in early pass for Dimanondback and The Beast if you are a plat pass holder, so be sure to take advantgae of that if possible. After that, 4-5 hours should be plenty of time to ride everything a time or maybe two or three. One thing you might want to consider is coming back part ways Wed. evening. If you get to Baltimore too early, there is an outlet mall about 1.5 miles from the car rental return place (I would not reccomend going into DC with less than 6 hours before needed arrival at the airport, set yourself up for missed flights) One thing to also mention is that if you don't want to go back to KD for a second half day, Virginia Beach is nice and only about 45 miles for BGW, traffic tho can be crazy.

 

Hope that's not too overwhelming and helps somewhat in your trip planning. I ended up cutting out three parks, Coney Island, Darien Lake (cut out before I got there because of travel distance) and Knoebels.

[PAL]

^Chad, we are thinking on much the same terms, which is reassuring since you've got one of these self-driven coaster crawls under your belt.

 

Scheduling BGW on a day the coaster tour is offered causes all kinds of logistical issues. I'm sure it'll be worth it.

 

I'm leaning towards dumping SFA altogether due to the lackluster reviews. The main draw is SROS and convenience. My flight in doesn't arrive until midnight, so its tempting to sleep in and then roll 30 lazy minutes to SFA to start the trip. Heading straight to KD whatever the time makes a lot of sense. Is there anything you liked at SFA, or that might be unique? Thanks for the suggestion.

 

More in line with your trip, how did you determine where to stay and when to drive? Did you preplan some of your motels / hotels, or look for a place that same day? In particular, where did you stay near KD, and would you recommend it?

 

Yep, I know about the KI and CP Platinum Pass perks, and built the trip around them.

 

How did you break up your long drives? I'd already planned on leaving KI by the early evening to get a jump on the long drive to BWI. Moving GADV to the end of the trip doesn't really work and adds an estimated 6 hours of drive time. I'm just going to live dangerously on that return flight.

 

Thanks again!

[bgwfreak777]

One ride I never hear mentioned that I found to be very good at SFA was the break dance over near Mind Eraser. Finally rode it this year and loved it almost as much as the one at Freestyle.

[Capitalize]

I'm leaning towards dumping SFA altogether due to the lackluster reviews. The main draw is SROS and convenience. My flight in doesn't arrive until midnight, so its tempting to sleep in and then roll 30 lazy minutes to SFA to start the trip. Heading straight to KD whatever the time makes a lot of sense. Is there anything you liked at SFA, or that might be unique? Thanks for the suggestion.

Wild One is a very underrated coaster, I think SFA is worth a stop if possible if only for Wild One and SROS if you've never gotten to ride Darien Lake's version.

[chadster]

Just thought I would take a moment and provide a brief update on a letter I received. I had written BGW to let them know of the wonderful time I had at the park especially on the coaster tour. Today when I checked the mail, I had revived a letter from the Vice President of park operations, Mark Pauls. In the letter is very appreciative of the time taken to write the review and to write to the park and let them know of my experiences and says he has shared my comments were shard with their leadership team members.

 

I felt that this a class act that the Vice President of Park Operations would take the time to send to me a personal letter via U.S. Mail. This just reenforces the experience I had and the quality of their staff and commitment to their guests. I can say I will definitley revisit this park when I return to the area.