RC98

^ El Toro is easily my favorite ride in the park, hope you enjoy it! Some of the best airtime I've ever experienced.

^ Agreed, given how much this costs it seems easy enough to simply plan ahead and go to the park on days it won't be as crowded to save $400 on flash passes.

^ If it does have to do with the fins, I think having one side be less intense would actually be a cool idea to expand the amount of people who would be willing to ride it.

 

I'm looking forward to trying this, it looks like nothing I've ever ridden before!

Great report and nice pics! I was in the park that day too, since it was my third visit this month already I went at a more relaxed pace though. I tried some of the food trucks, the waffle truck was my favorite!

Swiss Bobs?

^ That would be a cool collectible set, I'd buy it

^ Enjoy it! Ka front row is really awesome!

 

I'm also gonna be in the park for a bit tomorrow, I'm going to go on a few rides and then try out some of the food. Since I'm busy most of May it's my last chance to go until Memorial Day weekend.

It says "food and wine sampling costs an additional fee" but only lists the price of the wine tasting. If you just want food I guess you pay at each truck separately?

Nice report!

 

Wicked Cyclone seems like an awesome ride, I would love to get to ride a RMC. Also after reading your report I'm really glad our park doesn't assign seats.

^ I actually used to gray out on Nitro's helix but for some reason I just grew out of it. Batman's helix came pretty close, that coaster is deceptively intense.

 

Nitro#1, your day sounds like how mine started last week. I guess it's just early season problems, I'd hope that by summer they'll have everything open with the park each day.

Today was another great day at the park. It started off pretty empty and became a lot more crowded as the day went on.

 

I started off going to Kingda Ka since I saw trains running but it went down as soon as I got in line so I left and went to Toro, which had a mostly empty station. I got to ride it 4 times without leaving the station, with the ride ops openly allowing rerides. While I was at Toro I also saw that Zumanjaro had gotten stuck with riders on it.

 

Once Toro’s station filled up I went back to Ka, which had reopened, and waited about a half hour for the front row. It was my first time riding it in the front and I think that’s where I’ll be riding it pretty much all the time now. It’s so much better there that I find it worth the extra wait! Zum was open again so I rode it twice, walking on the first time and waiting one cycle the second. It felt smoother than last week when I rode it.

 

Next I was ready for lunch so I figured I’d check to see if Macho Nacho was open and it was! Service was slow which I expected for its first day open but the food was great, still my favorite in the park.

 

I went to Bizarro next and rode twice with a station wait each time in the second row, the fire worked both times. Next I took the Skyride from the Fort to the other side of the park, with about a 10 minute wait. Both sides were running but it seemed like the line for the left (lake) side was moving faster.

 

Next I rode Nitro in the second row, with about a 15 minute wait from the 30 minute sign. The operations here (and at most of the coasters) were a lot better than last weekend. All the coasters were running all of their trains except for Bizarro which ran two, and all were running efficiently. After riding I checked the line but it was almost out to the switchbacks so I moved on to Skull Mountain, which had about a 10 minute wait for the back row. This time there was some lighting at the bottom of the first drop and some tiny blacklight bulbs on some of the supports about halfway through the ride which weren’t on last week.

 

Next was Batman, which had a 20-25 minute wait for the front row. I think this might be the most underrated coaster in the park, it made me gray out in the first vertical loop while riding in the front. I can’t imagine how intense getting whipped around is in the back!

 

Next I rode the Swashbuckler to do something different. Since a lot of families were at the park the line extended out of the queue space. I ended up underestimating the wait, which ended up being nearly a half hour. It was fun but I wouldn’t wait that long for it again. After this I was getting ready to leave but Skyscreamer opened up from being down right as I was near it so I got in line and waited one cycle to ride. By the time I got off the queue was over half full. At this point the park was getting more crowded so I left after learning the hard way that Cold Stone ice cream isn’t on the dining plan.

 

Ride count

Toro 4x

Bizarro, Zum 2x

Ka, Batman, Skyscreamer, Swashbucker, Skyride, Nitro 1x

 

Pics

The spot where Zum keeps getting stuck, they dropped the cars from this height

 

I found the Adventure Alley bus hidden in the parking lot, taken from Zum's queue

 

Macho Nacho open

 

Bizarro with fireballs

 

 

The Joker's sign, taken from the Skyride. It's a bit small but fits well with the ride

Nice pics! It's cool to see all the changes and rehabs going on.

 

Did the boy scout event have a big effect on crowds? If not I might head up to the park for a bit tomorrow

Adventure Rivers?

When I was at BotW it seemed like they were having a hard time keeping up with the amount of people ordering burgers but whenever someone ordered anything else it was ready quickly.

. . . and because I'm curious, what did you have and how was it?

I had a grilled chicken sandwich and fries and it was ok--good quality but rather plain. I can't wait until Macho Nacho opens for the season, I really liked their food last year.

It was an awesome day. Crowds were light and operations improved as the day went on.

 

Since most of the coasters were still closed at park opening due to the cold, my first ride of the season was Skull Mountain. I got to stay in the back row for three straight rides without getting up. Next was a walk on for Skyscreamer, which I find underrated. I try to ride it whenever I’m in the park. I also saw the Harley Quinn train parked on the lift when I was in the area.

 

At that point, Nitro opened up with two trains so I went over to it and rode three times without leaving the station--once in the back, once in the middle, and once in row 3. In the past I always rode Nitro in the back but I actually liked riding near the front more than I expected so I’ll be riding it there more often. Next was Batman, which had a longer wait for the front row since only one train was running. Great ride as always though!

 

At that point the park app said that Zumanjaro and Toro had opened so I walked right onto the Skyride (which was running both sides) to the other side of the park and went to Toro, which went down as I was in the train waiting to dispatch. They spent 20 minutes kicking three different people off of the ride to try to get the sensors to clear but it still ended up going down. When I was around this area I also noticed that Macho Nacho is still closed, I hope it opens soon since it’s one of my favorite places to eat in the park.

 

I left and went to Zumanjaro, which had no line, and I got to ride three times without leaving the ride area. It felt oddly rough going down the drop, which doesn’t make much sense to me since it’s just a straight track. It was still really fun though, the sheer length of the drop makes this one my favorite. Next I went to Bizarro and rode twice without leaving the station, the fire worked on both rides.

 

After having lunch at Best of the West, Toro was running again so I went back over and got to ride twice in the second to last row with a station wait both times. It was running well since it had time to warm up a bit, and I was reminded of why I love this coaster so much. Next I went to Ka, where I was denied a ride since it went down to switch out trains and then went down again right after reopening. After leaving I walked onto Superman and rode twice without leaving the station, and then walked on to the Parachutes since I was passing by and wanted to get a view of what was going on at Ka.

 

Ka ran a train while I was on the parachutes, so I went back over again to see Zumanjaro stuck halfway up the tower with people on it. Once the cars were lowered, Ka reopened and I got in line. It’s amazing how fast its line moves with Zum closed. I rode twice with short waits each time in the third row. I still want to try it in the front row sometime, next time I go to the park I’ll get to it at opening so I can try it out.

 

At this point I had to leave, but I had a great day and am looking forward to returning!

 

Final ride count

Skull, Nitro, Zum--3x

Toro, Bizarro, Ka, Superman--2x

Skyscreamer, Batman, Skyride, Parachutes--1

I was at the park today and saw the train parked on the lift but didn't see it test, I meant to take a pic but forgot to so I'm glad you took some.

 

I'm looking forward to trying out Joker too, it's different from anything I've ever done before!

I'm going Sunday too for my first trip of the year, it's supposed to be about 50 and sunny with no wind. Looking forward to it!

^ To me the problem with smoking is having to smell it while walking around the park. I know it won't have any lingering effects but the smell is really unpleasant to me so I just hold my breath until I pass by it but it's still an inconvenience. It also probably serves as a bad example for families with children in the park.

I haven't seen any tv commercials yet but I did hear a radio one a couple of weeks ago advertising opening day and spring break at the park.

Wow I don't think I've ever seen pics of the park that empty before. I actually almost headed out to the park that day but decided not to at the last minute. Looks like this weekend will be my first trip of the year.

The theming in the old queue looks really well done, it would have been cool if the theming was extended to the ride itself so some of it could still be there now.

 

I'm also a bit curious about Kingda Ka's original queue. How different was it from the queue today, and do you have any pics of it?

I've been on 83 coasters. A pretty good count but ready for more!

Although I don't love the amount of trees being cut down for this, I'm glad the park will be running on clean energy well into the future. Also hoping the money they save long-term will get us some bigger ride additions

^ Ok then, well one can hope they have Old Country plans right?

 

Also, was some of the landscaping removed from Harley Quinn's infield? It kind of looks like it, if so some theming put around the ride track would be cool.

I'm impressed with how Joker looks near the lake, and I like the view opened up where Grandstand used to be.

 

Also, I find it curious that they've removed the drink stand and old Music Express queue in Old Country, in addition to the old Chiller station. The fact that they're spending the money to remove all this from an unused section of the park makes it seem like they have plans for the area in the near future.