SFOG July 13th 2007

Associated parks:
None

Never been to an SF park before and I was feeling rather anxious to see if the parks were as bad as people on here make them out to be.

Started with Goliath, and I think this is my favorite B&M hyper. It seems more intense and air-time filled than either Nitro or AC. Me and my girlfriend really enjoyed this ride.

Ninja is a disaster, I had a roller coaster calendar from like 1996 and it had Ninja featured so I figured it had to be ok. I was wrong, it was the worst steel coaster I've ever ridden. Was Drachen Fire as rough as this? I used to always dream about riding DF, but if its anything like Ninja, I'm glad its dead.

Deja Vu was closed :(

Superman: Ultimate Flight was my favorite ride of the day I think. I was so ready to hate Flyers and call them a gimmick, but getting on this ride, and experiencing that pretzel loop, I was completely in love. I wish somebody would make dueling flyers now. I want to see if Tatsu has the intensity I crave now after getting a taste of the Flyer with the tame S:UF

Mind Bender is a classic, I don't know if this forum really enjoys this coaster or not, but I think me and my date rode this one at least 10 times. The intense loops, and neato scenery were enough to turn me into a major fan of this ride. Are there any coasters built these days that feel similiar to an Anton? My previous experience with his coasters was limited to Scorpion at BGT and I'm very glad I got to enjoy this one to change my tune.

Anyways, lines were weak all day, I waited maybe 15 max(Goliath and S:UF had longest lines). The park was clean and I liked the fact they still have an area named after the Confederate States of America.

FTW said:
Never been to an SF park before

It seems more intense and air-time filled than either Nitro or AC.

How have you ridden Nitro without going to a Six Flags park? *** Edited 7/14/2007 4:25:13 PM UTC by person***

AC and Nitro were both built at similar times, and their layouts seemed alot alike. Having ridden Apollo's Chariot several times, I didn't see anything in Nitro that looked much different. Seemed to be the same speeds etc. Granted, I shouldn't have made that judgement, but it seemed reasonable at the time when comparing it to what I have read about comparisons between nitro and Apollo's chariot.

Trust me, Nitro's good. So is Goliath. Tuff call which is better. Far as I am concerned, SFOG is the best park in the chain. Others may argue that SFOT is better. Some others come and go in & out of favor, SFGAm is doing really well lately and I actually like Magic Mountain a lot, just wish operations there were better. Anyway, I am at least one person around here who thinks Mindbender is a classic. It is probably my favorite steel coaster, I've been riding it since the year it was built. (I'm old.) They've invented some incredible coaster machinery in the 29 years since then, but Mindbender holds up beautifully. There were not a lot of custom Schwarzkopf installations in the US back then - basically Mindbender, Shock Wave, Revolution, and Sooperdooperlooper. Mindbender is my favorite, and Revolution could be if it did not have the overheads. I only rode it twice without them, the ride was SO much better. Shock Wave is probably the airtime champ but the layout kinda bores me. Too flat. Sooperdooper is closest to home for me. I'm also a big Whizzer fan, I miss the Zambezi Zinger a lot, and am dying to try Lisebergbanen. As for the rest of SFOG - What other park has so many good rides that are so short? Until Goliath, nothing was over 122 feet (not counting dead-end spikes). Cyclone, Scream Machine, Scorcher, Batman, Superman, and Mindbender are all someone's favorites, and even Ninja doesn't suck as much as some of those other looping giants all over the map. Drachen Fire was probably just about as bangy on a bad day, but one thing to say for both DF and Ninja - they're originals and have (or had) their merits. SFOG has so many other finer points that make it for me - lots of shady spots, the Riverview Carousel on top of the hill, Monster Plantation, the train ride, the sky ride (how many of those are left?), and just lots of character. Worst part: the steep hills, and that they keep taking out some favorite rides - Air Racer, Great Gasp, Viper, MoMo, Phlyrpus, Barrels, Mini Mine Train, the better of the two flumes. But what park doesn't do stuff that someone won't like? Can't please everyone, but SFOG comes closer than many. *** Edited 7/15/2007 5:47:27 AM UTC by Seahawk & the Wave***

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