SFWoA 5/4/03 A Great Start to 2003!

My friend and I arrived at Aurora at 9:30 in the morning, utilizing the nice season pass parking lane, parking among the first 20 cars and getting his pass processed. I had already done so about 2 weeks ago, so I was ready to go. After about a 15-20 minute wait we were all processed and with the bulky calendar, we had to make a trip back to the car. We dropped it off and returned to the park, entering and turning right for X-Flight. We hit the bathrooms, which were completely spotless!, and returned to the gate blocking the entrance to the right side of the park. The national anthem was played, and the park opened! The rent-a-cop shouted, don't run! and we the crowd went crazy for X-Flight, all 50 of them. We walked at a fast pace and made it up to the platform as the first people, and we were ready for the first train. To our disbelief someone came up behind us and grabbed us by the arm and said "I saw you guys running!" and had about 8 people rounded up. We truly weren't running, but we had to do what the man said. We forfeited our seats and had to walk all the way down the exit ramp, without a ride, and all the way back to the gate that we had just waited at, touch it, and walk all the way back. What a start to our day at Six Flags!

So mad at the rent-a-cop, we knew we had to put it behind us. We went back up to the platform, and after about 5 minutes we were on the ride. One train operation. Decently fast loading, faster than last year. We ascended the hill with the sun in our eyes, and flipped over! I will never forget that sensation of flipping over and only having the "vest" holding your upper body in. Truly a spectacular feeling! Gotta love X-Flight. After our ride, we were disappointed to see that Superman was down, with its train off the track, so we went to Mind Eraser. Also, this ride was down for the count... opening later though - and a good thing it did!.

So my friend and I hit the Big Dipper. Only running one train, and afraid we'd have a wait we were really surprised. The train was sitting in the station and no one was up there. We took a ride up front and a couple more people jumped in with us. The airtime on this coaster is great, truly an underrated marvel! They sure knew what they were doing back in 1926! Very pleased we exited and quickly caught the next ride, getting the back seat. This coaster is so different from front to back, and it's really one you can't pass up. I'd count it two different coasters in my coaster count if I could, just because of the variation! Very satisfied, we continued on through the park. We stopped at Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall and got a very rough ride. Are any of the Intamin Free Fall rides smooth? We headed down to Serial Thriller.

Only one train was running on Serial Thriller and we had the longest wait of the day, 10 minutes. We waited for the front and had a great ride. A little bit rough, I could do without the head banging, but I do love the SLC's. Good ride. We progressed on to a smaller ride, the Double Loop. Once on the platform we literally stepped in to the front seat while most everyone else was getting off. I did see one man that I recognized that I see every year at the park and he is there almost every day. He was sitting on the Double Loop and didn't budge for half the day, anyone know who he is? So we got a mediocre ride, I like it just because it's Arrow and those rides can't be passed up.

So we visited next door and got a ride on the Villain. Pretty rough ride, only one train. Seems rougher than last year, I was surprised. The picture stand wasn't open so our posed picture wasn't viewable. Those G-Trains don't allow for any airtime when you're stapled down. Oh well, there are plenty of other wooden coasters in the park.

By now it was about 10:45 and it was evident there wasn't going to be lines at all. We decided to try a ride on the Roadrunner Express. Decent little kiddie ride. Has a little bit of force to it. That's one huge train though, 20 cars! I've been on this before with my little brother and sisters, but just as two teenagers riding it, it wasn't the same.

I had hyped Batman Knight Flight up all morning and all week for my friend. He was really truly excited and I told him he had to ride in the front seat. So when we got up to the platform and saw they were running 2 trains, and that there wasn't a line for any particular seat, we chose the front. What a ride! That wind is really something, and my eyes were watering. The first loop is phenomenal. It doesn't matter how many times I ride it, I'm always going to be impressed with the track being right there! The picture turned out good, and my friend bought it, very impressed with the coaster. We rode again, in the back and really felt the airtime after the break run and the nice first drop in the back. Great ride, but I like the front better.

So we went to Raging Wolf Bobs. What happened to this ride?! What a mistake Six Flags made. I don't want to sound like I contradict myself but "That ride is so rough- That ride is way too smooth!" The beginning and end are like night and day. The beginning beats the crap out of you because you are stapled down in those trains. Every bump and turn are magnified 500x by those trains. I liked the PTC's a great deal more. You weren't so tied down to the track. The second half though, is uneventful and like riding on glass. I can't decide if I like that or not, but I definitely don't like that ride anymore. Way too rough.

So now it was about 11:30 and we had been on every coaster in the park except the Mind Eraser. So we decided to go eat lunch and check on it later. Exiting the park and heading back to the car we grabbed a bite to eat. My friend is a giant wuss and couldn't really handle all that much. It wasn't until 3 again until we would even attempt a coaster with his stomach. So from 12-3 we were over on the "Sea World" side of the park. We rode a the motion simulator, went to the shark encounter, visited the penguins, saw many birds, stopped and saw the tigers, and even climbed in the infamous nets. I didn't mind it, but the deal was that he would ride a flat ride. We rode the swinging ship and this truly was a mistake. He hated it and it messed his stomach up.

We returned to the rides side of the park and hit Raging Wolf Bobs again. Same as before, rough. Heading across the park, we rode the Big Dipper again. Apparently, wooden coasters don't bother his stomach. We finally caught a ride on the Mind Eraser, and he puked. Big mistake, but he insisted we did it. The rest of the afternoon was lounging and water rides. I went on a few without him. Not until about 6 did he ride the Batman again, and this messed him up again. He retired for the day and got a slushie, funnel cake, dippin dots, and an ice cream cone. Gee, why on earth was he sick all day? Maybe the park food!

There were scattered rides all day, but we went to one of my favorites to finish the day on. We found the maintenance report for the Mind Eraser and gave it to the ladies. They were very pleased and I took the seat I wanted. This was ride 1 of 10 in a row. I love this ride, mainly for the backwards drop into the loop. That is one of my favorite sensations on a ride. The blonde operator was really cool and we talked quite a bit. She was very friendly and filled me in with what's going on with S:UE. Apparently it will open once the back spike can get inspected and the pieces the ordered for it are installed. So I rode this ride over and over, swapping seats with guests that wanted the front or back, but I think I ended on 7 rides in the front, 3 in the back. Each time on the drop in unison the girl would yell with me " 3-2-1 drop!" after we heard the brakes release in the station, it was a lot of fun. Don't miss the Mind Eraser! I love the boomerang rides, I just have to catch a ride on Deja Vu this summer. So we stayed until 7 and then we left. Totals for the day were:

The Villain - 4

BKF - 5

RWB - 4

ME - 11

X-F - 2

Log Ride - 3

BD - 4

So all in all, it was a very nice day and everything was pretty empty. Any ride could have easily been ridden 100 times, but my friend held me back from that. It was a nice day and I can't complain. Perfect weather, and SFWoA is looking very sharp for the 2003 season! Glad I can call it my home park and I will be returning this Saturday.

I'd never ride ME that many times. I would get sick badly.

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A.K.A. Batman Bastard

I may have missed this somewhere, but do they still have the Season Passholders Only restaraunt on the Sea Life side where you get deep discounted meals? I am so looking forward to that if they do!

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Top Thrill Dragster -- The most intense, unbelievable, and spectacular fifteen seconds on any coaster, anywhere, ever.

They have a Season Passholders Only restaurant on the Ride Side. I think it is called Beachcommers or something like that. It is in the waterpark,.

Woohoo, thanks for the info NLC...now any idea what they have on the menu and how much the schtuff costs? Thanks!

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Top Thrill Dragster -- The most intense, unbelievable, and spectacular fifteen seconds on any coaster, anywhere, ever.

hey hey! this is a shout out to zak. (this is the girl from the mind eraser.) i just wanted to say thanks the good comments. that day was really fun for me too. i'm glad to hear you guys had an awesome day. i'll expect to see you back before the summer is over!

Legendary, I'm sorry I dont really know what they have there or what it costs. I have never been there myself I have just heard about it from other topics on this site.

I was there on Saturday the 3rd and it was the total opposite....it got VERY crowded very fast and all the coasters were running one train as far as I could see. I know a lot of people hit SFWOA and CP on the 4th, but it's still amazing what one day can do!

-Tina

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Feel The Adrenaline....
www.intenserides.com

I'm glad you had a great time at SFWoA. This ear we're off to a great start from getting 2 new flat rides and new waterslides and 1/2 new bobs we're off to a great start

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Jay Vending the Best Amusement Park Job

I'd be very careful who you call a rent-a-cop at SFWoA. About 90% of security are Geauga County Deputies with the authority to arrest you.

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SFWoA TL 2003!

Trust me, this guy was a rent a cop and he was a total jerk. I'm always very respectful of authority, but this guy pushed his limits.