SFGADV opening Day 3/25

Hi All,

I went out to SFGADV on Friday about noon. Sky was overcast and it was a bit chilly. Pulling into the park I didn't have to pay for parking. The guy waved me right through, than the preferred parking guy let me right up to the front.

Entering the gates they now have a quick gate where people with-out bags or stroller and stuff can go right though. Once in the park there was a bunch of Characters out posing for pics and stuff. Even some new character's walking around a pirate and Captain Hook.

Our first trip was to the season pass line. I already had mine from SFA but my girlfriend needed her so we waited 40 mins.

After getting that we headed to Rolling Thunder. Rode second seat and waited 2 trains. From the station you can see a lot of construction of Golden Kingdom going on. Which is fenced off. But since the station is higher than the fence you can see it all. Also Viper is gone. Sign is gone and the Q is all fenced off. Rolling Thunder gets a 5-10.

Next we headed to Superman. Rode 2nd to last row as a walk on. Was a decent ride but just isn't as fun as a Vokema. 7-10

Next we headed to Sponge Bob Square pants. I love that ride cause I love Sponge Bob! I wish they would turn the volume down in the prep area. 8-10.

Next we headed to Batman. Rode 2nd to last row as a walk on. Looks like they cleaned up the trains for this year. Last year they painted but left the trains looking beat up. Fun ride and the crew was decent and let us re-ride.

Nitro was up next. Waited about 15 mins and rode the 3rd row. Crew was good and fast moving. Rode 5th row. Super cold and froze my ass off but it was good. 9-10.

Skull Mountain was calling our name after Nitro. We headed there and walked right on to the 4th row. Besides some little kids being stupid and scream curse words the coaster was fun. 6-10

We hit Blackbeard Lost Treasure train after that. Reminds me of Skull Mountain just not in the dark. 6-10.

We went into Dolphin Discovery and they have redone the show. Its based on like a Hawaiian theme or something with all kinds of tiki men and surf boards behind the pool. They said they got new dolphins about 6 months ago. Anyone know what happen to the old set? I liked last year show better than this years. 5-10.

We headed straight to Medusa after that. Rode last row as a walk on. Decent ride and fun stuff. Was a little pissed I couldn't re-ride even though the host said I could the lead said no. There wasn't even anyone in our row. Dick! Oh well 6-10 cause the crew was bad.

That was pretty much our day. They redid all the landscape by Taz Twister on the water front and added a new carousel next to Taz. Its a little one but its was neat looking.

Whats new at the park.

New paint ball place where you can shoot paint balls. Kind of expensive $8 for a reg tube and $10 for a super tube. If you get a season pass you get a free upgrade to the turbo tube when you buy a reg tube. New carousel by the water front. At least 5 new security booths. I heard rumors that Mine Train was gonna get new trains this year however, the old trains are still sitting on the track.The added a new show in Wild West Frontier across from the Tee Pee. Its like 2 people singing called Runaway Country. Was pretty decent. New show at the stage by the lake front across from where McDonald's use to be. Loony Toons show. They already done the re-theming of the old Mexican area thats now gonna be Golden Kingdom. They removed the Old Wild West Photo and Giant Chair pic place. They opened up the taco stand and that other taco stand by Rolling Thunder should be open soon. Did they get a liquor license? Anyone know? I see liquor signs all over the park now.

All and all the park is looking good. A lot so landscaping changes and a lot more personal working already this season, should prove to be a excellent season at SFGADV.

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Crashmando said:
Also Viper is gone.

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Dismantled????
(Heading to the liquor cabinet to get a shot of Bacardi)

Yeah.....unless they dismantled the ride in 5 days, the aerial photos taken on March 20th by GA Source show Viper still in place....

I ment will be gone. Not gone yet. I'm sorry. The sign is down and the Q is all blocked up. So all rumors about it being taken down point to true. Sorry for the confusion

On GADV.com, and on XtremeCoasters.com, there are photo galleries which both include pics that have Viper in them (or parts of Viper) which still show it standing.

It is standing. I have a ton of pics of it from yesterday. The Q is complete fenced off and the sign has been removed. I think its safe to say that it will be removed at some point.

When will Kingda Ka be open?

I heard Mid-April!

I got to Great Adventure about 4:30 yesterday.
Walked on Superman and Rolling Thunder.
Saw a train in the Kingda Ka station, but it doesn't look close to testing. There was a lot of work still going on in the Golden Kingdom. Next I went down to Nitro. Took 16 mins. Dispatching was a little slow and I couldn't locate the "A" train. I didn't see it in the station either, but then again I had been up since 0330 and was tired. I did notice a larger security force in the park and a few drink stands had been turned into little security booths. Overall I was pleased with my 1 hour in the park. And my crystal ball says Kindga Ka will open around April 25, just
because I'll be out on the west coast. Seriously, I'm hoping it will open for their Coasters After Dark I think thats April 22

3rd or 4th week in April, that's when Kingda Ka will be open...that's what I heard online on this radio show from a PR rep.

This is SF after all so keep in mind KK may not open as scheduled.

I remember back when Batwing was wrapping up construction in 01 asking employees (including the GM) when the coaster would open to the public & was given at least two different dates.....of course the coaster missed both opening dates & it wasn't until june 16th that it was finally opened to the public.

What about the Chiller? Was it opened and did you ride it? What rides were not open?

I didn't spend much time in Movie Town but one side of the chiller was running and I think it was Robin. Ride that weren't open were Viper,The log FLume behind Batman,Congo Rapids,Spin Mister,Stunt Man Free Fall, and Run away Mine Train. The might have been a few others but thats all I can remember.

My new girlfriend never been on a Upside Roller Coaster so Friday was her first day. She did pretty good and rode Batman and Medusa. She still a little scared of the Chiller so we didn't go on it.

There is a new Henna Shop at the exit of Skull Mountain its huge! There is a big presents of Security all over. There are the Line Cutter chairs at all the big rides and Superman has a DJ both set up.

The henna shop by skull mountain opened in August i believe. The batman side of chiller is missing its train. It was not in the station and not in the holding area. The inside of the chiller building was also painted.And the park has been selling liquor for years they just got some new signs.

Nitro did not open with the park. It opened about 11:30. Nitro is also missing train A. It was not in the shed nor was it running on the track. The padding on nitro's lapbars was replaced and looks good.

Mine trains track has a bunch of orange marks on it. Looks like they did alot on it this winter. It was closed Friday but i herd that it was testing on saturday.

Scream machine looks good with its new paint job and also received new padding on its restraints. *** Edited 3/27/2005 5:32:07 PM UTC by medusa3232***

Hey All,

I was back at the park today 3/27. Some more updates. Scream Machine did get paint and the red train got new restraints. Robin Q for the Chiller got new paint too. Its all red and black. Looks like they did the same to Batman side cause across in the station they are now the same color. Great Escape is still not open. A lot of landscaping has been done all over the park. I also have a few pics of people working on KK today. 1 group up in a bucket and anther 2 climbing the track. I went through the Safari and was able to get real close to the tower of KK when leaving. Big Wagon food stand also got some paint. It looks really good. The Run Away train was open today but only running 1 train.

I also noticed that in line today 3/27 and 3/25 a lot of parents with younger kids were very upset about Bugsy Bunny Land. Comments like " I didn't think they would remove the whole Bugsy Bunny Land" or "Why the heck would they remove it"

/\ Those are probably the same people that complained last fall that BBL was closing which prevented the park from getting started on Golden Kingdom early. As a result, they are a month behind. They should have closed it anyway because people will remember the new section opening late more than the old one closing early.

Batman Chiller's train just isn't finished it's winter rehab as are a few other rides. They are also painting the shell to match the new paint color for the Batman side which delayed it a bit. It ran fine throughout frightfest last fall so it will be fine once it is back on the track.