SFA /4/27-what a great start to the season.

Well after waiting two long weeks I finally managed to get on out to SFA for a great day of coaster riding.Upon arriving at the park at just after 11 am this morning my friends and I made our way over to Wild one,which was testing for what seemed forever,we had been told by staff at the ride that they were going to be testing for 15 minutes or so which turned into an hour so we decided to head on over to gotham instead and try our luck on S:ROS.The lines were moderate this morning and the crews were loading fairly well howver they were stapling to no endI got stapled to my seat and as a result recieved absolutely zero airtime not even the third hill could produce any air the way I was stapled,another note for some reason S:ROS has become a little rough through parts of the course,you would expect this from a vekoma but an intamin come on? Batwing was up next and as expected it was only running 1 train the good news is that the recline system works and is a bit "freaky " to me and they've added fastlane to it this season.The slow loading due to 1 train operation as well as a few breakdowns cost us at least 1.5-2 hours in wait time and the ride has become rather rough as well.After Batwing we headed back to Wild one only to find it stuck on the lift,the new sign looks great though,so desperate to ride some wood we next headed to Roar which had a moderate wait but great speed as well as mondo airtime the whole way through,this ride just gets better & better with age.Next on the list was Mind eraser which was surprisingly smoth for an SLC I don't know why people hate this ride so much cuz the head banging was almost nonexistent today it was actually smoother than S:ROS.After a quick pizza break it was on to Wild one for the third attempt finally after a long wait in line we were up in the front seat for a great ride on this classic coaster,the ride was rather slow for the first half of the course but once we rounded the turn that's when Wild one kicked into high gear with massive amounts of air time all the way back to the station,this coaster has served SFA very well and they have really taken pride in the amount of care it recieves.Now after our great ride on Wild one it was time to hit the flats first up flying carousel followed by iron eagle,while on the iron eagle I got a good view albeit upsidedown of sky escaper's former site,the main wheel is still there but the cars were nowhere to be seen.It was late in the day when we got done with the flats so we headed on back to gotham for one last ride on Batwing and S:ROS which was our first choice,this time we got up in the front seat and no stapling this time around.I finally got that air time that was lost on my first ride of the day.Next up Batwing which was my last ride of the day upon entering the que the ride had broken down yet again and we were treated to a half hour to an hour wait it seems that the trtain was stuck on the lift again and after restarting we had to wait through several test runs before they began loading again,now let this be a lesson to those who decide to have a drink while in line cuz while waiting in line through this delay my friend and I had been drinking lemonade and by the time we got on the ride he had a major bladderbuster,by the time we got back in the station he could barely walk to the restroom over by jokers jinx,while riding Batwing I noticed that some pipes were pplaced under the drop possibly to reroute the creek back in that area and the clearing loks a little bigger,I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a new coaster back there sometime soon.All in all it was a great day and I'm finally glad to get back into coaster season,I sure got my coaster fix today. :-)

Just out of curiosity, did you see any more Joker's Jinx cars? I'll be toughing out the rain tomorrow if anybody else is going.

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"On the East Coast we ride until we die!"
-Good Charlotte, East Coast Anthem

I was there a week ago and noticed the same thing about S:ROS as far as how rough it was first thing in the morning. I rode it again at the end of the day and it was very smooth though. I didn't see it in the TR, but did you ride it again in the afternoon, and if so, did it seem smoother than the morning?

Yes I did ride S:ROS late in the afternoon,it was my 2nd to last ride of the day and it was still a bit rough around the edges,I think what they need to do is maybe replace the road wheels.As far as JJ is concerned I caught a glimpse of at least 4 of the cars as it was rather hard to see through the fence near JJ's exit area which we were'nt supposed to even be at.I snapped off a few shots of the cars with my digital camera but I'm having trouble uploading the pic's to my computer at the moment.I'll be going out to SFA on may 11th and I'll have an update on JJ's status in my next TR,I think it'll be a while before we see JJ up and running again.

First off (and this is nit-picky) paragraph breaks would be nice =]. Second, I've never considered S:ROS to be "smooth". It's always had some vibration to it, some days more than others yes, but the vibration is always there. Third, if you had ridden two face, you'd have seen the sky escaper's cars. They are tucked back in the little area next to where they had the Brutal Planet thing two seasons ago.

BTW: What do you consider a "moderate" wait? You see, IMO, a standard wait for a coaster should be about 45min-hour, a short wait would be 20-30min and a "walk-on" would be anything less than 15min. But that comes from me being used to going to parks like SFGAm and CP on weekends. I've always considered the lines @ SFA to be extremely short (excepting Batwing most days). And only on Latino/Latina day last year did I *ever* see ROAR's line extend past the ramps (still not that long of a wait).

I think we SFAers are spoiled with shorter waits.
jeremy
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"Nobody writes about the planes that land." Steve Salerno Washington Times 7-10-01

I'll be there on the fourth! I'm excited about the reclinin on the lift! How far up the lift does it recline?

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"POOJAX TO THE PEOPLE"!

www.geocities.com/poojaxland

It starts reclining usually by the time the third or fourth car is on the lift.It was kind of nerve racking on our second ride however because we were near the top of the lift in car #1 and our seat wasn't completely down and locked but of course it did lock in place just seconds before cresting the lift,once you ride it like that you'll see what I'm talking about.

I consider a moderate wait 20 min. I'm spoiled because at SFgadv I rode Nitro 10 times without getting off and I could have done more but I had to go. You can usually either stay in your seat or move somewere else.

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-Sean Newman
80 coasters and soon to be more Life is a roller coaster Ride It

Besides paragraph breaks, how about putting a space between your periods BFSFA?
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The word "definitely" is definitely the most misspelled word on the buzz.