A Sunday Afternoon Drive to SFEG (9/22/02)

Some time ago, my usual park going friend, Trevor, asked if I wanted to join him at SFEG one Sunday after church. I, being someone to never refuse a day at the park, said yes. So this Sunday we finally went. After some confusion at the church, we were finaly on our way.

We arrived at the park around noon and imediately began wandering through the park. We had not wandered far when the carosel screemed to us. We had so much fun on that, a true feat of engineering, that we were called to ride again. Once off that beauty, we began to amuse ourselves by shouting, "Hey!" whenever a stack of it would come into sight. Very, and I mean very, soon, this got old so we headed towards Batwing, the Chance Aviator to give it a try. After reading the memo on how to fly the "airplanes," we got on the ride and flew into the wild blue yonder like our friendly neighboorhood Batman!

Once our flight had ended, we decided to head over to one of the most exciting rides, the Sea Dragon. I proceeded to try and have fun on the swinging ship and did succeed. No clue how but when you laugh histericaly out of the blue, everything is fun. The ship soon stopped and the operator told us to get off so we did and headed to Shake, Rattle & Roll. This top spin still is fun and as usual I have the restraint bruises to prove it.

Twister II was next on our agenda and had barely any line despite it's usual one train operation. The front seat had the shortest line so Trevor convinced me to give it a ride. I will say it is not as wild as the back but does have incredible floater air on the second hill. Throughout the ride we called for "Charles" to save us, a tradition that transfered from the tilt a' whirl when we heard some kids seriously calling for Charles to save them.

When away from the white wonder, we decided to take a spin on Hollywood & Vine. This ride is much too short and seems to end right when it gets started. What is really wierd is the no single riders policy that they so strictly enforce. The op grabbed someone that was just standing on the side to ride with somebody. What is the real reason for this? Anyway, we next headed over to Sidewinder. The line was short as usual and the back row was easy to get. nobody notices it because of bad placement but it provides the best ride IMO. While we were loding on I heard the wierdest conversation. The guy in the row in front of me asked the ride op how fast this ride went in comparison to boomerang. He replied by saying that they were about the same. The man proceeded to ask how fast tower of doom went. The ride op kind of confused to the point of this man answered with a guess of about 60 mp/h. The man told him confidentely that the op there had said it went 265. I couldn't take so butted in and said that freefall was nowhere near that speed and since the ride is only dropped, not thrown down, this was impossible. The man proceeded to confidentely say that freefall was 200 and then grunted and shut up. Maybe it wasn't that wierd, but it would seem so if you were there. Well, the ride was fun and I still love the backwards airtime in the back seat.

From there, we headed over to Tower of Doom, This was my first time on a drop tower because I have an extreme fear of heights. The only reason I did it was because I had made a promise to. While we were in line I overheard a teenager ask his dad how the boat ride was running if there was no water. Shipwreck Falls and it's lagoon have been drained, but this kid was pointing at the Sea Dragon. Sometimes I wonder. Well, I followed through and did the ride and found it to be fun, not scary. I am very proud of myself for doing this and now I will trust people about rides.

Anyhow, after that expirence, I headed for the Rainbow for a quick ride. The wasn't nearly filling it up so it took longer than expected. The op looked stressed so I decided not to ask him. Does anyone know why they would do this? Is it a weight issue? Well, we headed to Chaos for our last ride of the day. It was fun and the expirence was the usual. We left at three to be back for night church so I am happy with what we accomplished with such a short time.

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After being cancelled more times than I can count with one finger, the main event of my summer o-three:
5 people vs. 15 parks & 103 costers

No Mind Eraser? It was running really smooth on Saturday. I rode five times in a row without getting off!
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TOGO!
Is AOL just trying to annoy me?

I'm not the biggest fan of the SLC and SFEG's has always been painful. Yet, you say it is running smooth? If this really is true I would ride it again before the season ends. Tell me, what row did you ride in to get this smooth ride?

I was there too on Sunday from about opening to 4. I have never found Mind Eraser to be too bad, but that doesn't mean I don't bring some Advil along.

It looks like you didn't get to ride TFC either, I wonder what was wrong with it all day?

That was your first time on Tower of Doom? What did ya think? I love that ride, its the only ride that actually scares me, the others are just fun.

I did hear people saying they saw TFC testing, but it never opened, atleast while I was there.

I had tons of fun on Tower of Doom. Drop rides are great and once I got past my fear of heights, not nearly as scary as I thought.

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After being cancelled more times than I can count with one finger, the main event of my summer o-three:
5 people vs. 15 parks & 103 costers and counting

Yeah, I saw TFC testing almost all day. But it was all screwed up, sometimes it was stuck on the lift and other times I saw it stuck at the top, and people were working on it all day.

From everything I've read about TFC, it looks like Six Flags gambled and lost. Why the frequent downtime? Even the Deja Vu triplets are in working order now...

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Never Has Gravity Been So Uplifting.

SF did not really loose with it. They got what they wanted, people in the park paying a $32 price tag for adult admission. This park is noticablly more populated this year. However, the craze will not go for long, I have heard a lot of people saying it sucks. So even the GP can recognize it. But when someone comes to the park, they have no idea weather the ride will be open or not, so they still pay the admission.

I agree though, the downtime is a little stupid. But it isn't down all that often. The problem is it can't operate in rain, any rain at all.

Sunday was the first time we had a lot of problems with TFC in a very long time. It had been running very well until then. The biggest problem is that it is very weather-sensitive, and the cold weather we had on Saturday night/Sunday morning messed it up. This isn't a Deja Vu weather problem either, its not like it is going to valley. I believe the clod screwed up the control system.

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"Standing in line to see the show tonight and there's a light on, heavy glow, by the way I tried to say I'd be there."-The Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Flying Coaster has been running pretty well this summer, with the occassional problems that do take awhile to fix. It looks like I missed a fun day of work on Sunday, but staffing had to be good with four extra operators to spread around.

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Big Bucks, No Whammies, and Stop.

I rode in the front for my first time, which was not too bad at all. For the next four rides I sat in the back seat. It was a little smoother there, but about the same. I think most people say that the back is the smoothest seat, so I'd go there.

One thing for sure, ride it very early in the day. That can make all the difference in the world!
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TOGO!
Is AOL just trying to annoy me?

Ha HA. You would like to think that, wouldn't you J. UNfortunately, we sent the four operators who would be on that ride home. You should have seen the sparks fly when TFC finally opened later that night. ;)

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"Standing in line to see the show tonight and there's a light on, heavy glow, by the way I tried to say I'd be there."-The Red Hot Chili Peppers

It will probably take quite a bit of work to open TFC next season. Even though we are in the middle of a drought, it still gets cold in the winter.

The seatbelt thing on IW and B:TR are one of the most annoying things you can do to an op...it won't win you any points, trust me.

What seatbelt thing?

TFC seems like it definetely will have problems starting up next year. I think SF should just put it inside and *maybe* give it some sort of theme in there.

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After being cancelled more times than I can count with one finger, the main event of my summer o-three:
5 people vs. 15 parks & 103 costers and counting

It would be hard to build a building around it, but the problem is they brag about how it gives a few of Denver and how the skyline has "changed." But if it was themed it would be cool.

The problem seems to be with the brakes, at least that is what I have seem them working on a lot during my visits. I am sure they could make some sort of "cover" or something for them.