Bizarre Day at SFGAm- 5/30/04

I took a gamble and headed back to SFGAm today knowing full well it probably would rain, which as the poster of the other TR said, it did indeed rain.

They actually did let the SP holders into the park (from the special marked entrance) a few minutes before the general public today and I was told that was to be the norm now. Still, you're stuck at the chains until the park opens.

As I walked back to Raging Bull the sprinkles started but I did get a couple rides on the Bull before the rain really started. The crowd was small to start with and the rain chased a bunch of what was left away.

Back to the parking lot, I fired up the laptop and caught up on some work I needed to do. I finished a couple hours later just as the rain subsided. The park slowly crawled back to life but the place was an absolute ghost town.

I rode Raging Bull 7 times without getting off (The back row was really bucking today), 5 rides on Viper, a couple rides on American Eagle and on and on.

Strangely a while after things reopened fog decended on the place and from the top of the Raging Bull lift you couldn't see a thing. Because of "visibility issues" Bull shut down for a bit.

I also got in one ride on Ragin Cagun and I must say for something this small it does pack a punch.

I friend I was with wanted to catch the 3:15 Magic Show (As the other poster said it's kind of lame-Choregraphy needs serious work). As we were leaving the show they announced that due to the earlier inclement weather and more bad weather approaching the park would be closing soon. They also directed people to Guest Relations if they had "concerns".

Given the conditions and the fact there was no one in the park to speak of, I gues closing early was the best option. I would guess there were less than 300-400 people in the park at best. I've never seen a park look that deserted.

Anyway, they handed everyone (even SP holders) a free ticket on the way out, which I'm sure was cheaper than keeping the park open.

Judging by the heavy rain I hit West of the Chicago area on the way home it looks like a good choice. I don't ever pull off the road for hard rain but this time I had too. I've never driven in that hard of rain. I-88 looked like a parking lot.

Anyway, even with the weather it was still a great day once it quit raining the first time.

Hi, new here.

Anyway, yeah, today was bizarre. And quite a treat for those who decided to stick it out and wait for the rain to end. It's funny, we started out on Raging Bull too, and just as we stood in the back row for our third ride, it was shut down. A little lunch, a little trip to Wal Mart for some new socks, and we were back in business. I've never had a better day at the park, in fact.

We missed out on Ragin Cajun but got plenty of spins on everything else. The free tickets were a nice bonus.

I was mad when they shut down, because I'm greedy for walk-ons, but then I was glad because the heavens opened back up again two hours later. C'est la vie.

Glad you posted about sp holders getting in a little early. I thought it was wierd that they added the sp entrance this year again like they had done in the past. It just didnt make any sense this year since you can go thru any line. Now I know- thanks. Nice report also.

Well, it's the last day of May and the weather here in Chicago has sucked all month. Certainly isn't good news to the folks at SF who hoped for better this year. Another annual report that blames weather for declining profits could be devastating - if it's true or not.

Hoping the weather the rest of the summer is sunny, warm and coaster-perfect!