SFNE Fri. 5/10 long...

Me, my friend Rich, his girl Sarah, and our friend Nick left Boston around 8:00 am. We were planning to leave around 7:30 but Sarah is a girl. ;)

On the highway, we see many many big school busses (a few different groups of five or so). What're the odds that all these kids are headed towards Six Flags? More on this later.

So we take a little "detour" through springfield (we got lost) and end up at the gates around 10:00a. The park opened at 9:00, but it's still completely empty. There are literally 4 people in line for tickets. I had my season pass, and we had discount tickets from MIT (where we go to school) so we skip the massive 4 person line
and enter.

Thunderbolt is a walk on and there's a train in the station so we hop on board. Sarah's last coaster was Manhattan Express and she was wearing earrings, so Thunderbolt gives her a little more confidence in the whole coaster riding thing. A nice warm up, but it's definitely time to move on to bigger, better things.

So we decide to hit S:RoS, but Sarah chickens out. She waits by the entrance and reads her book while Nick, Rich and I go in. We tried to tell her that she can wait with us and cross the platform, but she wants to read, so we went in without her. Line is empty: we get past the Superman cutout. Unfortunately, S:RoS is having a little difficulty (maybe it's too early in the morning for him too ;)) and they run some test runs. 3 test runs later (that's 108 wasted rides for all you math majors. ;) I say this out loud and some girl laughs at me) they load again. It's still single train op, so the line is crawling. We get into the station and the line for the front is relatively short (7 trains or so) so we decide to make Sarah wait a little more. Some woman in front of me is wearing a Cedar Point shirt, so I start a conversation. She liked MF better than S:RoS, I disagree. Since there are three of us, and she's a single, I ride with her. Meanwhile, Rich and Nick are giving me funny looks, because they have no idea what we're talking about. So finally, we get on and S:RoS delivers. Only my second front row ride on this (it's my 25th or so overall) and I remember why the wait is worth it. Coming over the top of the first hill, it feels like you're vertical before the back of the train even releases. Then the train pitches forward even more after the release and I swore we were past vertical. Wind roaring in my ears and amazing airtime. I forgot how awesome this ride was. You get a lot of air in the front that you don't get in the back. The dive into the first helix and the second helix are both more floaty in the front and the bunny hills are launching me. We pull into the station and I can't stop laughing. Tears are coming out of my eyes. Probably the best S:RoS has ever given me.

I wait for Rich and Nick at the exit and they come off laughing. They both think it's the best coaster ever. I'm not one to argue. We head back out and it's now around noon. Sarah gives a "What too so long?" But she saw us in the front, so she knew we had taken the extra wait.

We head to B:DK. Line is short (the main queue maze area is closed and we're directly behind the train storage shed) and we start to notice a lot of people wearing music related shirts. Turns out we're there on a band day. We make out way up into the station and wait for the front row. B:DK has the worst station ever. There's not enough room for 28 people in any configuration, and with people waiting for front, it gets awful. The four of us get front row and we all take our sandals off for that "wind between the toes" feeling. Nick is 6'3" and all legs so his feet are dangerously close to the rails. We bust down the first drop and we're all picking out feet up. Everytime I ride a floorless in the front without my shoes on, I'm surprised to return to the brake run with my feet still intact. Nothing special to say about B:DK. It's a nice floorless, but just a little too short. I'll still take S:RoS anyday. Sarah is happy to have gotten in a "real" ride, but she's still not ready for S:RoS.

We decide to head back towards the main park and catch a spin on Flashback. It's a walk-on so we ride. Everytime I ride, I think to myself, "never again." I don't know how I end up on this thing, but it just makes me feel sick. Not my favorite ride.

We head over to Cyclone and take a spin. Sarah sits out because she doesn't like the wood. I'm not really a big fan of wood either and I take the time to look for the S:RoS train. Can't really see too much.

So we head to the funnel cake place by scream and grab 4 funnel cakes. This is not a good idea. Nick is the only one who can finish, and everybody else is feeling sick. We decide that the correct choice is to wait in line for S:RoS and hope things settle by the time we get on. This time Sarah comes with us, but she doesn't want to ride. We pass the place where the disgusting gum tree used to be and I tell the others about it. As we approach the station, we notice that there's a bunch of gum on the wall near the stairwell. Nick decides to take on the of the fortune cookie fortunes he carries in his wallet and stick it to the wall. It says "You are demonstrative with the ones you love." We get on in 7-2. Sarah goes through. Not the best ride I've had, but good. Fast and lots of air.

We head back to B:DK and in line we notice some kids playing with something. Turns out its a physics day also and the kids had some measurement device. We look out into the parking lot and, sure enough, there are rows and rows and rows of big yellow school buses. Looks like the ones we saw on the highway were headed here after all. So we take a spin on B:DK, back row. I like it better than the front. Not as much foot chopping, but nice float in the zero-g and just smoother over all.

Head back to S:RoS and Sarah decided it's finally time to try this thing. On the way, we see a guy with 6 of the HUGE stuffed animals sitting with them around a picnic table. Sarah decides she wants one, so she asks Rich to try to win one. We walk around to try to find a game that Rich can win and that has good prizes. Sarah spots a Pikachu at a Whack-A-Mole so Rich joins in a game with 2 people we don't know. He goes crazy on the moles and destroys the competition. I don't know where he learned to whack moles, but he gets Sarah her Pikachu. Since we're here, Sarah wants to ride on the wave swings. We get in and it's a lot more fun (and nauseating) than I thought it would be. Mostly because Nick ends up spinning around two or three times and when we land he ends up backwards and all tangled up.

So we finally get to S:RoS and while we're waiting in line we notice that EVERYBODY going up into the station is reading the fortune we posted earlier. Glad to provide a little entertainment in the long line. Sarah and Rich head towards the middle since Sarah isn't ready for front or back and Nick and I take 9-2. While waiting in the station, Nick looks out at the transfer track and comments, "That thing is pretty cool." I say, "The transfer track. Yeah it is pretty cool, but you know what would make it a lot cooler? If there were a second train on it!!!!!!" So we take our back seat ride, which kicks booty. Sarah is hunched over the whole way up, but once we crest the first hill, she having a great time.

We head into Lex Luther's arcade and one of the crab arm things steals some tokens. Oh well.

Time for another trip on S:RoS. This time, Nick and Sarah want to go see what else there is to do in the park, so they wander off leaving Rich and me. It's 4:22 and we decide to meet in an hr. and looking at the line, Rich and I think we can get in two rides and be at most five minutes late. We get into the station by 4:35 and decide to take the back row. Get in line for a five train wait. Watching the time carefully to see if we have time for a second. With about two pairs ahead of us, the train stops into the brake run and the calipers open to let the train into the station. Then they immediately close. Ride-ops have no clue what to do, so they call the mechanic. Time is slipping by. While waiting Rich looks at the transfer track and says, "That thing is pretty cool." I say, "The transfer track? Yeah. You know what would be cooler? If there were a second train on it!!!!!!!!" It's now 4:55, so we can still get in a second and only be a few minutes late. The mechanic comes and fixes whatever was the problem (at the main console, he didn't even have to walk out onto the brake platform). By the time we get off, it's 5:15, so we meet back up with Nick and Sarah. We decide it's time to go back to B:DK for our third spin. While they were waiting for us, Pikachu had a little accident and one of his ears popped. Sarah is a little upset, but he looks funny. It's nothing she can't fix when she gets home though. As we approach B:DK, we notice that only one train is running. Line is slow and the guy in front of us is telling a story about how one of his friends beat the crap out of some guy. Great. In the station I ask the op what the deal is with the other train. She says it needs to be inspected by the mechanic and then a whole bunch of other people and will probably not be resurfacing for the rest of the day.

So we get on the second row for another good but not outstanding ride. We notice a lot of the buses are have left the parking lot, so we decide it's time to end with some power laps on S:RoS.

Nick wants to stop at the Mind Eraser which we have renamed the Ear Abraider. Rich for some reason finds this hilarious. What I find amusing is that the new Corn Nuts sign says "Scream Zone: Hold on to your ears." I recommend holding on to your ears, but not for the same reason. So Rich Sarah and I sit out and Nick takes the walk on. He gets off and says it was a little rough, but he liked it. He was tall enough that he got neck banging instead of head and ear trauma.

We get back to S:RoS at 7:15. The queue is going to close at 8:00, but the line is on the stairs now. If we're lucky, we can take 2 rides and get back into the queue at 7:59. So Nick and I take 2-1 and Rich and Sarah take the middle again. I get some nice room in the restraint this time and I'm flying out of my seat. I still don't understand why the front gives better air than the back.

We all get out and Sarah decides she wants a huge stuffed dragon so Rich is off to try to win it for her. Nick and I decide to try for two more trips. When we get into the station, it's looking empty. We're in at 7:45. We look around for the shortest row which at the time only had 1 pair in it, but someone cuts into the station around us and takes it. Things don't look good. We opt for 2-1 again and decide to make it the last run of the night. It's getting dark out, but it's still not dark enough to be a night ride. The ops are in hurry mode so they can get home, so I get tons of room. Coming over the first hill, I swear I'm going to fall out. I get massive air on every hill and I start to get bruises on my thighs from flying into the restraint so much. Another of my best rides on S:RoS. I can't get enough of this coaster.

On the way out, we notice a huge sea of white stuff in the parking lot. It's kind of hard to figure out what it is, but when we get up close it looks like little white balls. Kinda like dippin' dots. Upon further inspection, it turns out that someone popped one of the huge stuffed animals in the parking lot and now the filling is ALL over the place. Crazy people.

So we head home.

A great day on a really really great coaster. Next time I go hopefully the second train will be on and it'll be with someone who's been before so we can just power on S:RoS all day.
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AC?, RB?, MF?, DD?, PR? Who can keep track of it all?

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Hey man. Wanna buy some weed? Crack? Freepass on Millennium Force? I got the hook up...

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AC?, RB?, MF?, DD?, PR? Who can keep track of it all?

Andy, for those of us who live too far away but would LOVE to power-ride S:ROS with ya.... enjoy it for us!

Fantastic TR. I really enjoyed reading it. I took forever to do mine for SFoG, but it was worth it when I got the responses back.

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Sorrrrrrrry folks! Parks closed. The moose out front should have told you.