I arrived at the SFOT at 1:00pm, crowds were light. Most people were in line for Titan which meant that most other rides in the park were walk on's.
Since it was a hot day I decided to hit Splashwater Falls first. I waited about 15 mins for my first ride of the day. This was one of the few rides besides Titan that had any line at all, probably because it was so hot. The ride was very wet as usual and I got soaked. The perfect way to cool off before a full day of coaster riding.
Next, I headed to the Gotham section. I decided to go on Mr. Freeze first. The ride was a walk on. This has good themeing and a great indoor air-conditioned queue. But today that didn't matter since they were running both sides despite not having much of a line. I walked up to one of the middle seats and got on. The train moved neatly sideways onto the track for launch. Next, the op called out "all clear, launching train". The four most beutifull words in the english language. Next came the familar hiss of the brakes releasing...then suddenly the train rocketed foward pinning everyone to their seats. Awesome launch, then staight up and into the most uniqe inversion I've ever seen on a coaster. Then back down the other side and through the overbanked turn and straight up once again. This time stopping for a mere second before dropping straight back down backwards through the overbanked turn and the uniqe inversion and back into the station. Mean ride, great launch! Rating: 8/10.
Next, onto Batman: The Ride. What can I say, the ride is well themed and packs quite a punch. Like all B:TR's, the pacing of the various elements is perfect, very intense for an inverted. Rating: 8/10.
Next up, the Flashback. This Veckoma Boomerang is getting worse with age. It's very rough and the OTSR's hurt like hell! They need get rid of this baby and put in a V2 type ride. Rating: 4/10
On I went, this time to the Judge Roy Scream. This family style out and back woodie is more than 20 years old and is still remarkably smooth for it's age. The back seat is the place to be for the true coaster enthusiast. The back yields plenty of airtime on every hill. And there's an amazing head chopper effect on the last airtime hill right before you enter the brake run. Rating:6/10
The Runnaway Mine Train was next up. This ride is getting old and I wonder if it will be removed at some point along with it's Mini counterpart across the way. This would leave plenty of room for another coaster to be built. Can you say...Arrow 4th dimension? The ride itself still has a good bit of punch when ridden in the back seat. I love the last drop out of the saloon and into the tunnel. But the ride's time is done, it needs to be replaced. Can you say S&S Thrust Air, 100+mph?!!
Ok, on to Shockwave. For it's age this ride is still quite a bit of fun. The double loops are full of G's and the airtime hills are to die for. I still can't get over that last surprise airtime hill as you enter the brake run. The first time I felt it was in 1978 when the ride first opened, I was a teenager then. That surprise airtime into the barke run still surprises me to this day. Rating: 7/10
Up next, Runnaway Mountain. Awesome themeing make this coster in the dark ride an amazing experience. The ride itself is one of the most fun in the park. It's full of twisting turning surprises in the dark and the Helices are amazingly powerfull. Rating: 8/10
By this time I was pretty hungary. So I decided to try out the new BBQ place immeadiatly adjacent to the Oil Derrick. I ordered up the variety plate which had plenty of beef brisket and sausage along with BBQ beans and cold slaw. Good eatin'!
I caught the new salute to rock n roll show at the palace theater to give myself time to digest before going on any more coasters. I'll have to admit it was a pretty good show with plenty of classic as well as recent songs and exellent dancing. Rating: 8/10
After the show I headed for the Texas section and the Texas Giant. This wooden classic is still a mean ride. The re-tracking and the new trains make it seem smoother than in years past. That "magic carpet" finish is hard to beat. Rating: 9/10.
I decided to skip the Bobsled ride. The last time I was on it, it was still too rough with all the braking and stuff. I hear they're going to remove it in the next couple of years and replace it with something else. Hopefully a water coaster! Yeah Baby!
The time had come to ride Titan. I headed to the new Texas themed area where the orange and teal giant stood. As I suspected, the lines on other rides were so short because everybody was trying to ride Titan. The wait was about 45 mins with two trains running. As I got up to the station I noticed that there were a multitude of people crammed into the waiting areas behind each stall. I made my way to the forth stall from the front which is the first row on the second car. I waited about 10 mins for my turn to ride. I got seated and pulled down my lapbar. As I did, another single rider got into the seat next to me and asked "have you ridden this before?" "Only about 55 times" I replied. The man seemed impressed, he told me it was his first time on Titan. I told him that he was in for the ride of his life. With that the ride op called "All clear, dispatching train". As we made out way to lift hill and started upward, the man tried to ask me something. But the noisy chain lift made it impossible for me to understand him. We reached the top of the lift and edged over the top. Just before we bagan the 255ft drop, the man next to me looked down at the ground below and shouted "OH MY GOD!!!!" Just then we plummeted down 26 stories into the tunnel. Awesome as always. The man next to me seemed blown away by the sheer speed and power of the huge Hypercoaster. "I've never been on anything this big" He said as we plummeted down the second drop. Next we sped up and over the airtime hill, I counted 5 seconds of air before we touched our seats again! Then into the first helix, the head choppers are amazing. I almost could touch them as we went by. Near the top of the first helix I started to grey out, the force in that thing is incredible. We sped out of the helix and onto the MCBR's wich slowed us down a tad. We dropped of the MCBR's picking up speed as we dove down and through a high arcing turn and into the approach for the second helix. By now, my friend in the next seat had white knuckled his lapbar. We sped into the centerfuge, around and around we went, picking up speed as we decended toward the ground. The G's were nearly overwhelming and I greyed out for a longer period of time than in the first helix. We flew out of the centerfuge and into another high arcing turn. We then sped down under some more supports before taking another turn into the final brake run. My friend seated next to me looked as if he'd had the ride of his life. And frankly, I couldn't blame him. That was the exact way I feel every time I ride Titan. Rating: 11/10 Great ride!
I got back in line for Titan two more times before leaving the park. There were a coupla minor break downs with trains getting stuck on the end run brakes. But the exellent crew of mechanics had the ride back up again in no time.
Overall, a great day at the park. SFOT is looking great witha all the new landscaping and re-modeling. And with the addition of Titan the park has become one of the greatest theme parks in the US. I highly recommend this park if your ever in the area.
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TITAN RULES!
*** This post was edited by DAN-EL on 6/12/2001. ***
