We got to the park about 45 minutes before opening time, fortunately they opened the gates about 30 minutes early. Of course as luck would have it everyone in our group set off the metal detectors, but we eventually made it through. We decided since there was a chance of rain that we would wait to see how the crowds were before we decided on using Lo-Q. They actually started running Scorcher early so we headed for that first. The crew seemed to be in slow motion, and the main ride-op was having to fill out some paper work so the line moved slower than usual. And once again people didn't figure out the difference between the front seat line and the line for the rest of the seats, so the queue backed up quickly. We got a front seat ride on Scorcher. Like usual, a sweet ride, just a little too short. We then hit Freefall, I recommend this ride for one reason, it gives you a breathtaking view of Deja Vu, which I'll mention more later.
We then headed to Gotham and rode on Batman and Mindbender. It rained a little while we were in line for Batman, but fortunately it stopped before they had to shut down the coasters. These two coasters are easily my two favorite in the park. Mindbender was running a little faster than I remembered last time and delivered some surprising airtime at the tops of the second and fourth hill if you were sitting toward the front.
We then headed over to ride the Georgia Cyclone. We were able to get a front seat ride with a 20 minute wait, not too bad. I found a new love with this coaster from the front seat, it was amazing. Not near as much airtime as in the back seat, but that first drop is definitely worth riding in the front. You could see where Acrophobia was going to be from here. They had two sections of the tower up and were preparing a third section, which ended up being up by the end of the day. I'd say the tower is between 1/3 and 1/2 done. The bottom section is about the same color blue as the supports for Deja Vu, however the section above that one is purple and the one they were prepping to be installed was blue. I wonder if its going to be an alternating color scheme?? After the Cyclone it was time for lunch. We ate at the outdoor eating area right near the parachute drops, the food was OK, but like usual, too expensive for the quality.
After lunch we decided to head towards the back of the park and ride those coasters. Here's the big news. Deja Vu is almost finished, all that's left is the for the station and queue to be built and the trains installed. There were some guys up on the cobra roll doing something, but vertical towers are finished and the cable lift system appears to be finished. I talked with the person at the ticket booth and asked when Deja Vu was to be finished. She said they would probably be testing it by the end of this week or the beginning of next and it would probably open during the latter half of April. This coaster is going to be amazing, I can't wait to ride it.
We then headed to the back of the park and caught two rides on GASM. I love the airtime on this coaster. My sis and her boyfriend went before me and my girlfriend on our last ride on GASM. Some idiot decided to unbuckle their seatbelt close to the top of the lift hill which caused the coaster to stop. The ride-ops then had to climb the lift hill to tell him to buckle it back up. Kind of funny now, but it freaked my sister out for a few minutes afterwards. Viper was also open so I finally got to ride this one, its been closed every other time I went. Of course there was almost no line so we rode it twice. I'm glad they didn't tear this one out like it was rumored to. This ride really surprised me, I thought it was great. We passed on Ninja because the line was too long and we weren't ready for a headache yet.
We then took some time to rest. We rode the Sky Buckets and the Monster Plantation. And just walked around the park for a while. We then went back and re-rode Batman and Mindbender. Batman's line was almost completely full, but fortunately the ride-ops were quick so it only a little over an hour for a backseat ride. Major kudos to the afternoon ride-ops on Mindbender. They were running the ride about as efficient as possible.
After that my girlfriend wanted to ride Ninja because she never had before so I went back with her and rode in the next to the last seat. It was as rough as ever, and we both had headaches when we got off. The things we do for the people we love. :) We then went back to the front to catch one last ride on Scorcher.
By now the park was going to be closing in a little over an hour so we went back to catch a few last rides on Mindbender. This coaster is great at night. Going through the trees with the lights along the track make it a whole new experience. By that time we were ready to leave, I stopped by and bought a Deja Vu shirt as a souvenir. All in all a good day. Our ride count was:
Scorcher-2
Mindbender-4
Batman-2
GASM-2
Viper-2
Ninja-1
Cyclone-1
We decided early in the day that we didn't want to do Lo-Q since the park wasn't too busy. It did appear to be operating on all the rides except Viper(it may be in use at Viper I just didn't remember seeing a sign for it). I would recommend using this only if the park is busy since you don't get to choose which seat you want on most of the rides. Here is a list of where I remember the seats were for each ride.
Ninja-You get to choose, you go up the exit and enter the queue at the station.
GASM-Last two rows
Cyclone-Towards the back
Mindbender-Last two rows
Batman-Next to last row
Scorcher-Last Row
Another tip: If its not busy and you decide to not use Lo-Q you might get on a little quicker if you use the line next to the reserved car. If there isn't anyone in Lo-Q they'll let you get in that car. Not much quicker but on rides like Scorcher and GASM, if you want to ride in the back this works.
P.S. I took pictures of Deja Vu and Acrophobia but I won't be able to get them developed and scan them until next weekend, but I'll get them as soon as I can.
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Full of unintended consequences.
*** This post was edited by SyntaxError on 4/1/2001. ***
Excellent t.r. Can't wait to see those pictures of Deja Vu and Acrophobia.
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Al has been transformed into Canyon Blaster:)
