GAdv. 4/12/03

Hrm. IE didn't like my old TR so I'll make this short and sweet.

Everything was running pretty well, especially Nitro which is running all 9 rows on A and B trains (although I think one of the seat (second from right) on 9th row of B might not be working. Never really paid too much attention).

I hadn't ridden Nitro in the front in so long, I forgot how much air you can get. It really is a sweet ride. Great pops over all the hills. Almost reminds me of S:RoS SFNE (How I miss you ;)).

Chiller went down mid afternoon and ran a ton (about an hr's worth) of empty trains. It was running pretty well once we managed to get on. Feels a little bit faster (top speed, acceleration seems the same) but it could just be me.

Medusa was somehow stacking a 2 train-op and Batman and Medusa had horrible cycle times. It's a good thing everything was pretty much a walk-on or I would've been pretty frustrated. The ops were clearly not excited about being there. We took a back row ride on Medusa and walked into the station (about a two train wait). By the time we got off, the line was down the stairs, out past the overhang under the entry to the zero-g, out into the big cattle pen and almost out into the midway. It was pretty awful.

We didn't get to take a lap on Rotting Blunder due to single train op and the line that came out around the station, under the brake run and nearly out to the midway. I wasn't really in the mood for that kind of wait. The ride was running really well last weekend, but not *that* well. You could also hear the train screeching its way around the last bend all the way from the boardwalk.

S:UF cycled with water dummies (in two seats per row. Seems like they should run it "full" for testing, doesn't it?)

I got to meet Brent (Magnum Force) and Tim (vacoasterfreak) which was awesome. Hoping to see Tim for the ERT on Thurs. and bumping into them again later in the season (PPP?). For those folks who are shy and haven't had the opportunity to meet up with other enthusiasts at parks, I highly recommend taking the initiative and e-mailing folks via the meeting calendar. It really makes the day that much more fun.

Yeah, so much for short and sweet, but a great day at the park. Looking forward to seeing y'all at S:UF's opening.

Edit: another thing to note was a missing section of track on Viper. On the turn up into the twist and dive there was about a 2 ft. section of one of the rails that just wasn't there. Looks like Viper will be out of comission for a while.
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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"faster, cheaper, and more often" that's somebody's new sig -UpsideDawnGrrrl
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*** This post was edited by ApolloAndy 4/14/2003 7:48:38 PM ***

Will be there, all be it a little late (6 or so), some of us have to work you know ;)

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"If you make it too smooth, it'll be like sitting in your living room."
-Bill Cobb - Designer, Texas Cyclone

I was there the same day for a few hours.....I was extremely dissappointed in Rotting Lumber. It was bad when I rode it in 99. I was excited that they were going to work on it for this season. It was worse, much worse :( On the turnaround it made a noise I have never heard, that no woodie shouls make.

It was a good, albeit quick visit.....a few rides on every coaster (sans Viper) and we were done at 1:30 or 2 (Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in B'more sounded better than staying in the park :) )

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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson