SFNE: 9/29 - some end of the year surprises

Here's just a brief update for those who enjoy lots of weekend riding in Sept./Oct.

Mainly, i wanted to comment on the halloween theming. Whoever says SF can't theme, should really go check this out. I was incredibly impressed at the transformation of the park. Having never been to the park during halloween before, i wasn't expecting the whole park to be transformed, especially for such a late-in-the-year event. Nice work, although we only went for 4 hours so i didn't bother to do the haunted houses. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who has a season pass and is considering retiring it for the year.

As for the coasters, they were all running, although Batman:TDK was the only one running to capacity. It was literally a walk-on: the only wait was to wait for the train to exit the station so we could get the front of the next one. S:ROS was obviously the longest line, but for one-train operation, 45 minutes didn't seem that bad. I'd speculate about the absence of the red train, but there's already a bunch of posts on that. All i can say is after riding the red train 3 weeks before, the blue train really seems like it's dragging butt. But, still a great ride.

Perhaps my biggest surprise was the incredibly fun rides i had on the typically "weak" coasters. I had the best ride on Mind Eraser that i've had on an SLC this year, possibly ever! I sat in the very back row, and just remembered to keep my head back at all costs, and the ride was smooth enough that i actually enjoyed it. Anyone else have this experience lately?

As for Thunderbolt, I had a similarly fun experience. After not riding it all summer due to the line, I realized that it's actually a pretty fun coaster. Nothing world class, but definitely worth a re-ride if you've sworn it off as "mundane" like i had. There's 2 or 3 really good airtime hills, especially in the back, and the speed at which you navigate the turnarounds on top of the rickety-ness of the trains is thrilling in that "I think i'm going to die, but not really" kind of way.

In conclusion, if you have a season pass, it's worth checking the park out simply to see the effort SF put into transforming every section of the park into a scene from a cheesy horror film. Oh, and if you see that zombie woman by the tomahawk, tell her i didn't appreciate her staring at me that long. If you see her, you'll know what i mean.

~me

i rode the Mind Eraser earlier this year and i found it to be enjoyable too. It was smooth and intense with a lot of g's in some places. It was my first SLCand i wasnt let down at all.

Your very right. SF does a great job for the Halloween events. Nice TR.

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-Sean

I also rode the Mind Eraser for the first time last month and didn't think that it was nearly as bad as some others have said. I had a pretty fun ride and you gotta love those foot choppers. They come out of nowhere.