First Trip of the Year:SFFT

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Well we made it out to the park for the first time of the year. Decided of our three local parks (within 3 hours) (SFoT, SFAW, SFFT) we would hit SFFT because it had the cheapest season pass price. I called ahead of time and they were up front that Poltergeist and The Rattler would be closed. Poltergeist for "improvements" which I can only guess are lapbars and will open in Mid-May, the Rattler for undisclosed reasons also to open in May. Upon arriving at the park it was a 45 minute wait to process our season passes, but no big deal. However, upon getting our park map we noticed that Jokers Revenge had been deleted from the map. After getting our ID's, a quick chat with guest relations revealed that Joker's Revenge has been closed permanently for "guest comfort" issues. I had to venture back there to see if the coaster was still standing. It was, but a sign in front of the walkway proclaimed that there would be a new Brutal Planet attraction occupying the funhouse in time for Fright Fest, so I guess the coaster will be coming down shortly. On to the rides. With Spring Break and only 4 coasters running lines were long. S:KC was offering double rides for the spring break promotion. We waited in line for 2 hours to get our 2 rides, but it was great. It was our first floorless, and I was impressed with how forceful it was. I loved the camelback and it has climbed to my second favorite steel coaster. We also did Boomerang and RoadRunner Express, the mine train. Both were funs rides after long waits. Overall the day was fun, but six hours for 3 coasters is a bit long on waits for me. Hopefully, getting Poltergeist and Rattler open will help lines throughout the park. We will be hitting SFoT next, and wait to return to SFFT until after mid-May. One thing that did shock me was how nicely themed the park was. Our homepark has been BGW so we have high standards that SF usually doesn't approach, but SFFT was really a treat, and I'm sure once they get all the coasters running and maybe something new to replace Joker's Revenge it will be a great visit every time.

I'm glad you had a good time at SFFT. When I visited last year all the coasters were open, including Joker's Revenge.

It took you two hours to get 2 rides on Superman:KC? I'm sorry to hear that, last July I managed to get 10 rides on S:KC in one hour. Many were re-rides. Over two days of riding I managed to get 57 laps on S:KC.

As for Joker's Revenge, I rode it only once last year. It was horrible, a backwards Vekoma Windstorm. It was a headbanging bore of a ride, it needs to be removed in the worst way and replaced with something better.

Poltergies is closed for train modifications, namely lapbars. I rode it 12 times during my visit and the headbanging was terrible, hence the lapbars.

Rattler was most likely closed for roughness. I'm not sure if they're going to re-track it or remove it entirely. When I rode it last year it was pretty painfull at times. The tripple helix was a nightmare, slow and rough as hell. The only good thing about this ride was the tunnel in the side of the cliff. Other than that, this was a piece of crap for a woodie.

Did you happen to ride Scream while you were there. I really enjoyed this S&S drop tower ride. It was fun and scary at the same time.
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TITAN RULES!*** This post was edited by DAN-EL on 3/18/2002. ***

*** This post was edited by DAN-EL on 3/18/2002. ***

When was Jokers Revenge built? Did the park buy it brand new?

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Cedar Point gets "twisted for 2002"
Great Escape gets "screwed for 2002"

Don't count on rattler being removed anytime soon.. or ever. It's still one of the tallest woodies, even though the drop got shortened 40 feet and is over breaked. I don't like it much anymore.. it hurts to ride.

I apear to bbe the lone voice in the wilderness against Joker's Revenge being removed.. I like the stupid thing, even if no one else does.

phydeux said:

"I apear to bbe the lone voice in the wilderness against Joker's Revenge being removed.."

Yes you are.

"I like the stupid thing, even if no one else does."

You got that right. "No one else does"
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TITAN RULES!

cowers I liked it, too, Phydeux.

Aw, come on Joker's Revenge is not that bad. I liked it better than Poltergeist. The backwards trains make it interesting, you don't see too many ALL backwards steelies. I looked at RCDB, was JR NEW in 1996 or was it relocated from somewhere else? If it was new, I cannot se a reason to yank such a rescently built coaster.

I hate to make a CP comparison, but isn't JR and CP Corkscrew almost the same ride? I know what the differences are, so please do not waste your typing on filling me in on them. I don't hear people screaming to get rid of the CP Cork, in fact many people love its small stature and nostalgia.

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Nothing... NOTHING... can prepare you for... the Fourth Dimension!

Sorry Sog, but I'm overjoyed to see JR removed. That stupid thing has to be most boring steelie I have ever ridden. Backwards trains may be a novel idea, but not even that can save this piece of garbage.

I understand their removing it because they don't want to have to pay $200,000 for new axles for the trians. Besides, a nice Arrow 4-D would fit in that spot once that moronic piece of junk is removed.

As for Poltergiest, sure it hurt to ride, but at least it wasn't boring as hell. Being painfull is one thing, but being painfull and boring at the same time is an unforgivable sin in a coaster. Besides, lapbars should make Polty better. Nothing can save JR.

As for Corkscrew, I will let you know my opinion of it when I visit CP in June. It dammed well better NOT remind me of Joker's Revenge. If it does I will take great pleasure in spitting on it.

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TITAN RULES!

*** This post was edited by DAN-EL on 3/20/2002. ***

Dan, I might feel differently if JR was at a park near me. And you're right about Poltergeist, it may be a fabulous ride after getting the lapbars.

I'm afraid that the CP Corkscrew may be getting a little wet this summer after you ride it. It did nothing for me.

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Nothing... NOTHING... can prepare you for... the Fourth Dimension!

I've said it before in another topic: The only thing novel or interesting about JR is the fact that the trains are backward. Other than that, it's junk.

Guys you have to realize that a ride on CP's Corkscrew shouldn't be done for its thrill factor as it won't seem as thrilling today as it did 20 some odd years ago. Instead a ride on Corkscrew should be done for the visual impact of going over the midway, and also for the history of the ride. (It did have the most inversions in the world at one time)

Somehow I'm not suprised that CP managed to get in even this thread. ;)

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Excalibur Crew for 2002!

Yeah, I can only imagine how imbarrassng it must be to have CP mentioned in this thread.lol

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TITAN RULES!

FYI, the out of market price for SFoT passes was STILL lower than the SFFT regular price. It pays to call around!

And SFStL wanted me to renew mine for $52.99 (per person when buying 3) when I could get mine for less than that? Yeah right. :)

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S W :) :) S H
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GO HUSKERS!

RCDB says JR cost $4.3 million in '96, so this looks like one of the poorer coaster investments I've seen. I was at SFFT last year in May and they weren't sending out full trains, even with just one train operating. The queue house is quite large and interesting; the actual ride is quite a let-down. Would replacing the train, perhaps getting one without those painful OTSRs make it a better ride, or is it just a poor layout? Does anyone know of any other Vekoma installations of this type in other locations? What do you think SFTP will do with this ride? Would anyone buy it and move it at any price?

I'm not that upset that JR is going away, especially because I strongly believe that it will be replaced by a new coaster next year. I have heard that the coaster is going to south america, but you never know. I can't wait to return when Poltergeist reopens. We rode FoF at PKD last year with lap bars and it was awesome. I'm looking forward to a spaghetti bowl outside.

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