I made my final trip to MA today and the park was packed. We got the park about 10:45am and waited to make the dash for Shiv. Timbers. We got two quick trips on ST within 25 minutes. We were ready to go again when ST broke down. Appeared to be a problem with the brakes. So we went to Wolv. Wildcat. Waited apprx 35 minutes which was our longest wait of the day. Rode the very front of WW and I thought it was rather dull.(The back seat is much better on this coaster IMO). Got off WW and ST was up and running again but the line was rather long. Rode the Mad Mouse instead, waited apprx. 25 minutes. I have to say that MA's Mad Mouse is much better than BGW's Wild Maus IMO.
We decided to head back to ST. It began to rain heavily at this point. Waited apprx 25 minutes in the rain. We were one ride away on the platform when a bolt of lightning apparantly hit ST or the station. There was an immediate crash of thunder and the lights flickered in the station. The ride op on the controls shouted out she felt a shock on the controls. They immediately shut down the ride and cleared out the station. (Because of all the metal in the station) We waited under a tree for about 45 minutes when the rain let up and they began running ST again. Got on in 5 minutes. I had the absolute best ride ever on ST. The track was soaked and the train felt like it was going faster than normal. It was outstanding! Got right back in line. Wait about 20 minutes, great ride again but the track was beginning to dry so it was as great as the last trip.
All in all a great trip to MA even though it was very crowded. I looked for the construction markers that supposedly resemble an out and back coaster. I can tell that there is definately nothing there resembling an out and back coaster. I highly doubdt MA is getting a coaster next year. They are clearing some land by Adventure Falls but it was a very small area.
I was there the day before and I couldn't believe how rough ST was running! I don't know if it was me or what. The big thing I noticed about the park was that it was very short staffed. They didn't even open two of the three wave pools due to being so short staffed! Only 2 ride ops on Mad Mouse, St, and 1 on corkscrew!
