Nitro1118

My suggestion would be to go to Wicked Cyclone and NESS first. NESS, in my experience, has the slowest, most annoying line in the park so getting it out of the way immediately should be priority. WC and NESS are right next to each other, so hot up WC right after. You should be able to get multiple rides on it with almost no wait. After these, hit up Pandemonium as it's also right there and also gets surprisingly long lines. After that hit up Thunderbolt as it runs only 1 train. After that it shouldn't matter what order you ride anything. I'd hit up HH after those 4 rides if you are into waterparks. Their HH is better than ours and before 12 the lines will be very low.

Hope that helps!

The only real question would be its location. There's a pretty decent space near the former spot of the lake grandstand that could be used. I guess the only problem would be the loss of the firework viewing area and then the required tree removal.

There really isn't as much space as you think over there. It is a very thin piece of land that could barely fit Joker.

My bet for the location of the next coaster will be either in RT's old footprint or somewhere around Freefall's old location. The other option is removing a current coaster, which would likely be Bizarro.

I'm not sure if there would be much additional benefit by adding another coaster, unless it were a smaller woodie.

 

Now the question is what flat ride and where??

There would definitely be benefit to another coaster, specifically a relatively high capacity one. The park has only added 2 short clones and a relocated standup the last 10 years, while removing both tracks of Chiller, GASM and both tracks of Rolling Thunder. Thrill rides will always be our park's bread and butter. They have been filling in much needed gaps the last 5 years so a new, big coaster would not be unreasonable. I do feel there are other areas that could use investment before a coaster, but adding a coaster would be far from overkill.

Yeah, GAdv does need loads of TLC. The problem is so many things need attention and/or expansion. Old Country still needs a ton of work to feel complete, the Stunt Arena as mentioned is essentially abandoned and an eyesore, the Mach 1 building is a huge abandoned spot, the Lakefront is completely bare, Main Street is still a dead end smoking section, the Old Country and GK paths are still dead ends, and so many buildings could use paintjobs or complete facelifts. Not to mentioned old, empty ride pads, lack of HH expansion, and no original coaster in 11 years.

It's sad because the park has SO much potential. I will give the new regime credit; they have made some awesome moves in recent years despite a smaller budget. The Safari was an amazing upgrade, Skyscreamer/Zumanjaro/El Diablo were awesome flat ride additions, Joker looks great in in its location compared to the old stadium, the Grandstand needed to go, and JL is an amazing dark ride that brought life to that area. The issue is the Shapiro regime gutted the park and set us back 10 years, so all this time has been playing catch-up. Since SF's capital expenditure is so small and every park every year is seeing additions, it will take another 5-10 years just to fill in many of these gaps.

Red Force at Ferrari Land has the LIM system and gets to a speed of 111mph. I don't see why it couldn't get faster. You are right it might be a "newer" tech buts its a more reliable

 

That's my point; Red Force takes over 1 second longer than Ka to go 15mph less than Ka. The length of KK's launch track was designed for it to go 128mph in roughly 4 seconds, not 128mph in 6 seconds. I don't know if it would even be possible. And let's say it is...why downgrade to a less intense launch? LSM's are more reliable than hydraulics, but they are still faulty. And KK is actually relatively reliable, especially compared to TTD. It's like asking to replace Toro's cable lift with a chain since chain lifts are more reliable. To me, that would take away a bit from the experience, and KK downgrading to LSM's would be even more dramatically disappointing.

I disagree with your first two points. The vest-style ORSR's would benefit many Intamin coasters, but KK isn't one of them. It would SLIGHTLY improve the twisted drop but the ride really has no laterals that give the neck-chopping effect that was problematic with I305 and Maverick. As far as your 2nd point goes, going from hydraulic cable to LSM launch is a downgrade. LSM's are the older, less powerful technology, not vice versa like you seem to think. I don't even know if it would be possible to get the train to top.speed with LSM's and that length of launch track.

Your third point I definitely agree, although S:UF and Nitro need a paintjob worse than KK IMO.

The only thing I would consider is pushing for less bulky trains, which are the main reason the ride has such a bad shuffle. Lap bars would just be an added bonus although I doubt the state will allow it.

Great pictures. It's a shame to hear about Boulder Dash. It is my #1 wooden coaster and it sounds like if I were to ride it again, El Toro would probably overtake it for the #1 spot. I agree 1 train running is annoying. That is probably my biggest frustration with parks. 1 train running on a day when a ride is a walk on or a few train wait, no problem. 1 train on the park's signature ride during summer is not good.

Wicked Cyclone and Superman sound awesome, I really want to get to SFNE to try those coasters.

SFNE is definitely worth the trip. It is a real change of pace from GAdv. It is smaller but much more cohesive and "complete" feeling. Having two amazing coasters definitely helps, too.

What's up everyone? So about 2 weeks ago, a few days after financing a new car, I made the decision to take my new Civic and my girlfriend on a road trip. I had 3 options to make a short trip out of; the first option was a KD/SFA trip, the former I hadn't been to in 12 years, and the latter I had to skip after getting into a car accident after a trip to BGW. This trip was enticing because of the opportunity to get a fair share of new credits, including I305. The second trip idea was Hershey, which I had just been to last season. The last idea was a SFNE trip, which I had been to last in 2015. Ultimately, the pull of Wicked Cyclone and the freshly rebranded Superman was too strong for me to decline the trip, and I figured I would hit up Lake Compounce as well for good measure.

Day 1:

After a relatively frustrating post-July 4th ride up the NJ parkway, and an equally frustrating drive thru the never-ending construction of NY and Connecticut highways, we got to Lake Compounce around 1:00pm. Now, I hadn't been to LC since 2004, so I was very excited to get back on my 3rd ranked wooden coaster in Boulder Dash. I was also very excited to get on Phobia as I had never been on one of these Premier models before. Upon arrival I noticed many school buses and a fair amount of cars in the lot, which was a fear of mine considering the holiday the day before. I only had 1 goal, which was to get as many rides on Boulder Dash and Phobia as I could in roughly a 3 hour window.

Rides:

Boulder Dash - 2x - As I mentioned earlier, going into this trip Boulder Dash was my 3rd ranked wooden coaster. After my rides on it today, it definitely dipped a bit in my rankings. Firstly, the 1-train operation turned what should have been a 5min wait into a 25min wait. Overall not too big of a deal, but definitely annoying. Secondly, the first ride I had on it in the back row was quite rough and almost felt sluggish on the "out" portion of the layout. Not anything too violent, but some uncomfortable jackhammering at certain valleys and transitions, which actually made my back ache the rest of the day. My second ride, which was a few row from the front was a much better experience. The jackhammering was less noticable, the pacing felt quicker and it had stronger pops of airtime throughout the layout. The return trip was especially awesome. Overall, Boulder Dash is still an amazing ride 13 years later, but the back rows will definitely be a pass for me in the future.

Phobia -2x - This coaster packed a more intense punch than I expected after seeing POV's. The ride was essentially a walkon both times we got on. The launch went as expected, but the hangtime on the backwards portion was really fun, the inline twist gave great hangtime, and the swooping drops provided really good airtime in the back row. This was a really great addition to the park, giving it an exciting steel coaster to compliment Boulder Dash.

After 2 hours, we decided to leave early to give us extra time to relax at our hotel in West Springfield before hitting up SFNE for a couple of hours. Overall, LC is still a really solid family park with fantastic employees and a world class coaster. I do wish I had more time to soak everything in but I wanted to get rides in on WC and Superman tonight so my day at SFNE tomorrow can be somewhat relaxed.

After the hour drive to my hotel and some relax time, we made the 15min drive to SFNE around 6pm. The parking lot seemed kinda full upon arrival, but lines proved to be mostly non-existant for the coasters. SFNE is a park I have always found to be very underrated. It is a very pretty park with some charm, solid theming, a great location and 2 absolutely incredible coasters. After a quick tram ride we entered the park and immediately went to Superman, which is something I am so happy to be saying for the first time since 2004. Back in 2015 the ride was looking very dull with the faded and chipped purple paint, and the on-ride audio was pretty terrible. Anyway...

Superman: The Ride - 3x - Still a top 3 coaster for me 13 years later. We got 2 rides in the 2nd row and the 3rd to last ride of the night in the front row, all station waits. The new red paint looks stunning, the train redesign is very sleek and those stupid speakers getting thrown in the trash greatly improved the 2nd row experience. As always, great flo-jector or ejector over every single camelback and some strong positive G's on the helices. Our front row night ride was one of the very best I have had on it, including when it was S:RoS back in 2004. It was my first time experiencing the LED shields which surprisingly a really cool effect. I cannot wait to get on it a bunch more tomorrow!

Wicked Cyclone - 3x - My #1 steel.coaster and arguably my #1 overall, over El Toro. In 2015 this thing blew me away and tonight was even better. Back in 2015 the ride would slow down significantly after the bunny hop after the first zero g roll. Today it absolutely ripped through those turns, that weird hill with crazy laterals, it hit the second zero g with speed, and the last outward banked hill and small bunny hop both provided true ejector. The biggest difference from 2015 is they now allow you to choose your own row, so we opted for the back each time. Perfectly smooth and some of the most forceful elements I've ever experienced. The ride was essentially a walkon and I am kicking myself for not doing a mini-marathon, but after such a long day my girlfriend couldn't handle so many re-rides. Oh well, we have 11 hours tomorrow to run the count up.

The Joker - 1x - Being that we have a clone at my homepark, I got on this mostly to get the credit. The queue/station is mostly the same, although I find GAdv's color scheme and location much more appealing. However, maybe it was a fluke, but the ride experience felt more intense than any of my rides on Joker at GAdv. We got purple, which from what I've read offers less full flips than green. We ended up.getting zero full flips, but the thing felt more out of control than my 3-4 flip rides. We got two 3/4 flips, where we were past inverted and then quickly snapped back up right, and a couple of more half flips. I am not sure what it was but it definitely was more intense than GAdv's. I will take another lap on it tomorrow to see if that experience can be matched.

Below are some pics I took today. I am writing this half-asleep so I am sorry for the half-assed writing portion of the TR. I got another day at SFNE tomorrow and will likely be getting FP. I will update with a report from that day on Friday.

Day 2:

Instead of writing a long-winded TR detailing every movement I made today, I am just going to do a ride count and random notes and observations from the day...

Wicked Cyclone: 5x

Superman: 2x

Joker: 1x

NESS: 1x

Thunderbolt: 1x

Batman: 1x

Pandemonium: 1x

Goliath: 1x

Blizzard River: 1x

Typhoon: 2x

Tornado: 1x

Bonzai: 1x

-Mind Eraser was closed both days on this trip. In one of the photos below I snapped a crane next to one of the trains on the transfer track with a couple of employees working on it.

-Superman was up and down throughout the day. One of the times it was down a crew was mounting a camera on the front of the train for what I assume is for on-ride footage. I got a back of the train ride while the camera was mounted. We were told we were being filmed for a TV spot, which I believe will be for a commercial as all of the crew were SF employees. The ride broke down around 6pm and never reopened during the rest of my stay (left around 7).

-Lines were mostly moderate. We did opt for a standard flash pass for the 2nd half of the day, which definitely helped with some of the lower capacity credits (Thunderbolt and Pandemonium specifically) and WC rerides.

-Once again we got purple side of Joker and did not fully flip. And once again it was a great ride with a 3/4 flip, which is the best sensation I have gotten on either model I have experienced.

-WC and Superman were hauling A$$ just like last night.

-GAdv's HH could really use a water coaster like Typhoon. That ride is an absolute blast and I can safely say I prefer it to many regular coasters out there. SFNE's HH in general is a very solid waterpark.

-JB's was fantastic! I really enjoy the sports bar feel of the inside and the food was really solid. GAdv would really benefit with a similar restaurant.

-We left 2 hours early to see Spiderman at Rave Cinemas in West Springfield, which was a last second decision. I am so happy we made that call as the movie was awesome. Lots of humor and a very entertaining movie overall. Definitely a perfect cap to a great mini-vacation!

Pics below. Thanks for reading!

I would start by removing the old Autobahn building and Batman Stunt Arena. I would place a Frisbee where the Autobahn arena is, and a GCI wooden coaster or Wicked Cyclone sized RMC I-Box in the arena/old Freefall footprint. I would give the Showcase Theater a facelift inside and out, putting daily shows in there throughout the year. Lastly, I would update the backlot Macho Navho and retrofit it with a sitdown bar area like in PDC.

This would ideally take place from 2018-2020. JL was a great step but the area still feels very incomplete and empty. This would go a great way in restoring the area.

Very interesting. Hopefully we start seeing some construction clues pop up in the park soon. After my visit today I really hope they continue to rehab and expand the Old Country/JL area.

Finally made my first visit to the park today. JL definitely exceeded my expectations. I saw a POV of one of its clones last year, however POV's do not do this thing justice. There were a lot more practical effects than I expected, and those last few scenes offered some great vehicle movement that synced perfectly to the screen. The exterior and queue were also very nice aesthetically.

There were a couple of issues, though. First, and this has nothing to do with the ride itself, but the area around the ride is extremely empty and bare. They did a good job of repainting/retheming buildings on that strip but there is so much empty concrete space. The fact that the cut through to the Big Wheel is still blocked off make it even more...odd. I have obviously been rooting for a new coaster next year, but in all honesty they need to funnel that money into adding more flats, shops and landscaping to this area. Secondly, there should really be an attendant where the line splits for groups of 1-2/3 or more. It kept backing up there as people were checking to see which line appeared shorter as opposed to following direction. Lastly, there were technical issues during my 2nd ride. It had a 10min breakdown while I was in line, and on the last screen where the scores were displayed the graphics stayed frozen.

Overall, amazing addition to the park. We have needed a dark ride for years and this really blows away almost every non-Universal/Disney dark ride I have been on.

Does anyone know what the Rocky Mountain Construction logo on a t shirt would look like? When I was att he park yesterday there where two guys walking around, contractor looking men. Boots, shorts and black t shirts that seemed to have a logo on the back that looked like a mountain. Couldn't make out what it said as I wasn't THAT close to them. but they seemed to be walking around "scoping" things out

Where were they walking around?

RMC has been spotted at the park before as they were the ones that were contracted to construct El Toro. I'm guessing they are the ones who are called for various maintenance work.

Been pretty quiet in the rumor department so far this season, especially compared to the last two seasons where we had survey markers/land clearings already.

Not a fan of two huge show buildings sitting right next to each other. Hopefully I'll warm up to it when everything's finished.

I wonder if the park ever got their bang for the buck with The Chiller? As unique and as much of a draw as it was, it was also a publicity black eye for a good portion of its existence. I can't even imagine how many millions of dollars they had to pour into that ride over ten years, trying to get it up and running, with all the problems with valleying, LIMs and having to replace portions of the track. I would think except for the hardcore roller coaster enthusiast, most patrons avoided it due to the harshness of the ride. Certainly your average person didn't try to repeat ride it.

It was a very popular ride when it was actually open. People used to run to it first thing before Nitro opened and it routinely had some of the longest lines in the park until its last year or two. After they got rid of the OTSR's I never heard anyone complaining about the ride at all.

Overrated- Superman. Very fun ride but it does not warrant the attention it receives. I do believe its popularity mostly has to do with location; most visible ride before entering the park and it is at the dead end of a popular midway.

Underrated- The Chiller. These were two awesome coasters that provided a very unique experience and intensity to the park. Back in 06/07 there were days where I'd look forward to riding it more than any coaster in the parks besides Toro. I also miss its presence in the skyline and midway.

I have to disagree, even with a short line, the operations were so bad that it would take a good 30 minutes, easily, until you got on the ride.

 

I rarely waited anywhere near that. But you are right, any lines were from terrible operations. As I said, it was rather unpopular.

People get nostalgic about RT, but despite it being in that special 44" category that everyone thinks we so badly need, it was an unpopular ride. Since I began visiting the park in 1999 the coaster rarely broke 15min even on busy days, even with the occasional 1 train ops. More people came off it with headaches as opposed to smiles.

With our last 3 additions having a 48" requirement, plus the additions of JLBFM, Sky Screamer and the new Safari ride, I feel the park has done plenty to suit kids between the ages of 7-12 in the last 5 years. We were in the gutter quality and quantity wise for years, but I feel like the park is in much better shape now.

Hopefully the next addition is a full-scale coaster. Since Toro we've only had 1 that fits the bill, and it is a 20 year old relocated standup. It's time...

I was actually lucky enough to experience the original queue once. It was about a week after it opened and we waited 4 hours at the ride entrance before the ride finally opened. I remember the cross under the launch track, the canopy switchback areas as well as the massive size of the queue. In retrospect it is a good thing they shortened the queue so much. I think when people now hit the switchbacks so early they assume the line is longer than it really is, so a lot of people turn away. With the old queue that wouldn't be the case.

I figure it'd have to be 2 coasters from the same company....maybe Lightnin' Loops and GASM?

I'd love to remove bizzaro, but I don't know if they will. I think the reason the lines are so short is simple: location. Bizzaro has maybe the worst location of any ride in the park. It's so far back, I don't know if some people want to go all the way over there to get to it. Not from a enthusiast point of view, but a GP one i mean. I think bizzaro is a good ride for the park. As for GL, I think it's too new for anything to be done yet. It's the second newest coaster in the park, and it has pretty consistent lines. I dont think it'll get the floorless treatment because we already have one. I would like to see superman get removed or replaced though. (personal opinion I know it'll never get removed.

A big new coaster and a couple flats/retheme would do that area wonders. Medusa was very popular the first few years, and Toro and Safari both get big lines and are right near it...I think the location is more lucrative than most people think.

They will not remove Batman any time soon. I don't believe there has been a single B&M coaster that has been demolished (besides Hulk, which they completely rebuilt). Batman is a workhorse, still popular, very reliable, and still provides a very comfortable ride.

As I said before, RT's old footprint/behind Toro is prime real estate. As another poster said, a coaster could fit in multiple spots going over various walkways/existing rides. Lastly, Bizarro takes up a very big plot of land and it's low popularity makes it a mark for relocation to various smaller parks.

GAdv has a bunch of land with RT's old footprint/behind Toro heading towards the old safari entrance. I think that is definitely the logical place for the next addition/expansion.

I'm definitely excited for JL. The park has badly needed a dark ride for a long time, and this fits the bill. I am most excited for that area of the park reopening and getting the shot of life it has needed for years. Between Joker and JL revitalizing dead areas of the park, GAdv will feel a lot more complete than it did just a season or two ago.

I'm expecting flats. With no coasters this year beyond Joker clines, it's hard to even get behind any coaster rumor.