SFGAm 07/28 - Who Needs A Speedometer?

This is my first TR, so please bear with me. The trip began on Saturday with Arrow Guy arriving in the infamous Goshen, Indiana. I don’t learn my lessons very well, so I decided to go ahead and take my Walley World shirt, which happens to be cursed with the bad luck of the Griswolds. Our first curse came as I was driving home from work Saturday afternoon. I decided to check my speed, when I was shocked to discover I was going approx. –3 mph! Upon arrival at Casa ala Sherman, we tried everything, but the cable that controls the speedometer, odometer and cruise control had apparently come loose. Trying to find a place to fix it put us so late that it was pointless to shoot for Great America that night. So we hoped into the disabled Chevy Cavalier headed to the Chicago area, occasionally glancing at other cars to see how fast we were going. Some people really need to wear shirts while driving. Anywho, we put Raging Trims on hold for 1 day as we took in several nice train watching areas around Chicago, including a massive highway overlooking Union Station. Somehow we survived the chimpanzees that are Chicago drivers and made it to the Super 8 near SFGAm which has a McDonalds practically in the parking lot. And so after about 10 minutes of yelling “what??” into the drive-through order box thingy and waiting about 10 minutes for whatever is in those McNuggets to fully cook, we called it a night.

Sunday morning we made our way to the park at about 9:30, according to my car never faster than –3 mph. The day was full of great rides, very friendly Ride Ops, and lots, and I do mean lots, of stops for water or anything cold. It was extremely humid and the temp reached around 95 for the high.

Here’s a run-down of the coasters:

Whizzer: This alone was worth the trip, and the main reason for it. The Q line is now equipped with a sign that reads “Bon Voyage Whizzer, Thanks For The Memories. Ride It One Last Time Sunday, August 11th” We’ll miss you Whizzer! You’ll live on in RCT 2!

Raging Brakes: Yes the trims are still on, however the vibrations seemed a lot better the entire day through. It was running smooth and fairly fast even in the morning. The crew was once again doing a fantastic job!

American Eagle (or as Arrow Guy says: elgaE) We took a ride on the red side for the first time this year, which is running nice as always with no brakes at the start of the helix. Backwards Blue continues to run great, and they even let up on the brakes quite a bit at the end of the night! Just a tap at the top of the helix and then nothing until the final loop. Rumors indicate they’re considering leaving blue backwards permanently! I hope so!

Viper: It runs better every year, probably because Six Flags can’t find a decent place for a trim! We think that could be the reason for them slowing down the lift at the top, but it’s still a fantastic ride!

Shockwave: Even though Arrow Guy himself didn’t mind if we skipped shockwave (yes this is indeed a sad day) it’s just not a day at Great America without being hurled into small fiberglass cars a few hundred times. I don’t know what they did to this ride, but they need to undo it! It’s running insanely fast! Those poor trains.

Demon: Silly dude, you’re only food! For the DEMON! Bring back the yellow train! It’s still running nicely, although the sounds in the tunnel have evolved to what sound like a fire drill or nuclear meltdown warning.

Iron Wolf, brought to you by AOL. We’ll hook ya up, give ya a bumpy ride and drop ya in 2 minutes flat. Still a great ride, who needs children anyway?

Batman: The Ride: 95 degrees, very humid air, un-cooperative guests, 4 wheelchairs in the very small exit ramp, and puke flyin in the station can create quite the headache, but the crew handled it great! Hats off to them! The first inverted is running as insane as ever!

Delay-Ja Vu: Actually operating! Front row outside for the first time. Great view and great ride

V2; Vertical Swaying: Have you ever noticed how much the back spike sways after it catches and releases the train? I don’t understand why they don’t think its necessary for higher supports. Hope they look for cracks every now and then.

We stayed till close and got 1 last ride on Whizzer, probably the best ride I’ve ever had on it. Long Live Whizzer! All in all a great day. Luckily the Walley World shirt chose not to torture us much further. Or maybe that was because, according to my car… I never left work that day….

*twilight zone music starts to play*

This Trip Report brought to you by the new Code Red Mountain Dew HOT. Just leave your Code Red in the car during a hot day at the amusement park, and when you return you’ll have a pinkish liquid that tastes just a little too much like boiled Sprite and cough syrup! It’s new, It’s HOT, It’s Code Red HOT!

Photos From The Trip

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Troy
My RCT Site

The spikes on V2 sway in order to *prevent* cracking. Steel needs to bend and flex or else it just breaks - remember Vertigo?

-Nate

*** This post was edited by coasterdude318 on 7/31/2002. ***

Viper: It runs better every year, probably because Six Flags can’t find a decent place for a trim!

That is painfully hilarious. :)

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Thank You for challenging TOS: The Ride. We hope you enjoy the rest of your day, here at SFCB.

B&M Guy, here's the real question...did your odomenter work? If not you got all those miles for "free"... ;)

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Goodbye Whizzer, dear friend. You set me rolling many years ago into this fun hobby...

RIP Whizzer: 1976 - 2002

redman: nope it didn't work either. Now is when I should drive cross-country lol

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Troy
My RCT Site

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coasterdude318 said:
"The spikes on V2 sway in order to *prevent* cracking. Steel needs to bend and flex or else it just breaks - remember Vertigo?"

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But umm Nate, Vertigo broke because it WAS bending and flexing. It would have been okay except it happened to flex in tune with the material's resonant frequency and only bad things occur when that happens!
jeremy
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"To get inside this head of mine, would take a monkey-wrench, and a lot of wine" Res How I Do

Gee Troy, now that X will open again soon......are you thinking what I'm thinking? LOL!
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Brad Sherman
BuzzCon Frequent Flyer, responsible for guests fleeing the queue in horror!
Model coasters and rides

Too bad I can't get out to Great America to ride Whizzer. It sounds pretty fun. I find it funny how much the back spike sways too.

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-Sean