Six Flags Elitch Gardens 7/24

Let me start off by saying this: If your going to go to this park, don't expect much, that way, you won't be disappointed.

I flew into Denver at about 6:00 PM, and got to the park by about 7:00. I immediately went over to the Flying Coaster. Only a 20 minute wait. I could not wait to ride this machine. I remember watching the badly animated video of it back in 2002, and thinking to myself how cool the two inversions looked. Well, I was surprised by how painful this coaster is. It really hurt my shoulders on the turns, and my legs got bruised on the two inline twists. But overall it wasn't a bad experience. I began trying different ways to enjoy myself on this coaster each time I rode it. The best way to ride it is, in my opinion, is to not hang on during the inline twists. The coaster is made so that you supposedly HAVE to hang on. But rules are made to be broken. When you don't hang on, it really feels like your floating inside those weird cars, and feels like you’re going to fall out the back. But I'll take Superman anyway.

Next, we walked over to Twister II. I saw this ride as we were parking, and it looked like a great wood coaster. I was VERY disappointed when I realized it was closed for the day. I don't know if it was just that day, or if it had been closed all season, but I was really looking forward to this ride. Ruined 30 minutes of my day. But, oh well, onto Boomerang we went.

Boomerang wasn't that bad of a ride. It was my first time riding one of these, and I really enjoyed it. It was not worth the 20/30 minute wait though, so we only rode once.

Next up, Mind Eraser. Just like the one I rode earlier in the year at SFA. Good ride, but wouldn't ride more than once a season if it was at my home park. OK, I'm lying. Twice a year...MAYBE.

Last but not least, Sidewinder! My new favorite steel coaster! JK. But, it is still a fun ride. It reminded me of the old Tidal Wave days at my home park SFGAM. The only bad part about the ride is walking up all those stairs to get to the station. It's a theme park, not a fitness club! GEESH!

Anyways, SFEG is a good family park, but if your really into the thrills like I am, and don't live in Denver, don't visit this park more than once in a lifetime. Waterpark also looked cool, but I did not have time to "HIT" it.

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2nd Bunny Hill, Superman: RoS SFA = AIRTIME!
BackSeat of COURSE!
*** This post was edited by BackSeat BULLer 7/29/2003 1:07:10 AM ***

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... Twister II... I don't know if it was just that day, or if it had been closed all season...

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Ouch! I don't know why but that comment just hit me in the wrong way. After awhile the thick skin I have grown with all of the SFEG burns has deteriorated. It has been running fine for most of the season, until a couple days before you arrived. Twister had to go down for some major maintenance. So it hasn't been closed all season. At least you didn't have any major issues with the ride ops, or I'd have some ass kicking to do :)

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J.
Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog.

J.

Any idea how long Twister II will be down? The ACE Preservation Con will be at the park on Saturday and Sunday. This will be my(any many others) first time at the park so I certainly hope it's open.

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Sue Barry
CoasterSue@aol.com

J.

I just didn't want to say that I was disappointed that it was closed, just to find out later that it has major problems and been closed all season. I didn't do my research before going to this park. I only wrote that so in case it is SBNO, I wouldn't of sounded stupid, lol. But I guess it didn't work that way. Ride Ops were very good though! Are you one of them?

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2nd Bunny Hill, Superman: RoS SFA = AIRTIME!
BackSeat of COURSE!

Sue-I have been told that the mechanics hope to have the maintinence done on Twister II by today (Tuesday) or Wednesday. I don't think there will be any trouble for the convention this weekend. I will be working all day on Saturday, so I will most likely see a lot of you at the park. I hope that you guys have fun.

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"Every day is a bad day on Hollywood and Vine!"

Backseat- I'm basically a ride operator, but I usually don't run the rides, I oversee them :). I didn't think you meant to strike pain in my side with your Twister comment.

Sue- I hope you enjoy your ERT on the Teacups! :)

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J.
Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog.

Even though I've heard bad things about SFEG, I'm really looking forward to it. I love Arrow shuttle loops so the Sidewinder alone will be worth it for me. I just wish it was a part of the ERT.

J. or Mustang--does SFEG allow rerides if there's no one waiting in line? I'm mainly asking for the Sidewinder. Those stairs can get to be a pain after a while. :)

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Sue Barry
CoasterSue@aol.com

I saw 3 or 4 mechanics on the top of the lift today but I believe it was still closed all day. I think it's been closed since that power outage we had last Sunday. That really sucks that it was down for your visit as it is one of the two original coasters we have.

Sounds like the rest of your trip was decent though.

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"Here's my ten cence, my two cence is free"-Eminem
*** This post was edited by RubberDucky 7/29/2003 10:14:23 PM ***

Sue- Rerides basically vary by the operator. If you are nice and polite they probably won't make you take the 100 steps down and the other 100 steps up.

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We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs,
Drink up, me 'arties, yo ho!
.

I was there once and they made me do it, and there was only like 3 people in line too!

Twister II was open today for a bit and then went down again, not sure if it opened up again or not. They keep saying it has to be open by Saturday for the ACE event so I'm sure it will be.

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"Here's my ten cence, my two cence is free"-Eminem

Hear ye, hear ye! I got a double ride once on Sidewinder. The op asked if anyone wanted to get out (nobody was in line), and nobody did, so we got another spin. By the way, I rode Sidewinder a couple of weeks ago in the very back (over the wheels) and I didn't hit my head once. How's that for smoothness on an Arrow? Awesome ride!

Oh, and ERT on the Teacups? Maybe I'm glad I'll be missing this ACE event seeing as that's the only ride in the park that makes me dizzy.
*** This post was edited by PT300 8/1/2003 12:39:29 AM ***

Sue-Twister re-opened yesterday. J., myself, and others stayed until midnight last night cleaning both trains, so hopefully both will be running for your ERT on Sunday. ;) Double rides on Sidewinder vary, as it is not sensible to do when we have a full line. Your best bet would probably be to power-ride it during the last hour of the night, as lines will not be as long as the rest of the day. If there is a short or nonexistant line you may be able to get a few double rides in. I hope you enjoy Lakeside, and I will see you on Saturday in the park!

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"Every day is a bad day on Hollywood and Vine!"

I am so glad to hear such enthusiasm for Sidewinder. I hear so many people in the park say, "That ride looks to short. Let's ride something else." In my mind, it is worth the 96 stairs up and 96 down (I have counted them three times, J).

I work at SFEG and can tell you that I do allow rerides as long as the people on deck have a place to ride (They did walk all the way up those stairs). Normally, we are told not to, but I try. You also don't want to get a complaint from those people on deck. If there is no one deck, I will definitley do it.

I don't know if Sidewinder will be open for ACE on Saturday or Sunday, but I know all the others will be. I look forward to seeing all you early Sunday, as I won't work night shift on Saturday, but hopefully will work earlier on Sunday. I will try to get on Sidewinder and give you those rerides.

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--Joe

"Keep all arms and legs, and anything else you would like to come back with, inside the ride at all times."

Snocat-You need to count the four concrete stairs at the bottom of the ride, :)

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"Every day is a bad day on Hollywood and Vine!"

Those stairs aren't too bad if you run up them, then it goes by faster and you can rest when you reach the line which usually starts pretty close to the top. They also make for a good seat if you can fine a clean one while waiting in line.

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"Here's my ten cence, my two cence is free"-Eminem

When I went to SFEG last year, Sidewinder was the only ride I wasn't able to ride. Everybody else in our group passed on the ride because they thought it looked short and dumb, but my wife and I wanted to ride it.

There was a line down over half of the structure, and we had a long wait. That was really a pain! Then the ride kept breaking down, so that extended our wait. Finally, we got to the top, only to have the ride break down for good. :( Oh well. I go out there every once in a while (It's the city of my brith!) so maybe I'll get to ride it someday.

Other then that though I thought it was a decent park, and it's cool that it's in the middle of the city. They should have more parks like that!

Sidewinder has always seemed pretty reliable to me. Not to mention it's the oldest coaster in the park and has been moved 3 times.

Next time you come out here don't miss it, it is worth a long wait.

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"Here's my ten cence, my two cence is free"-Eminem

Unfortunately, I didn't get as many Sidewinder rides as I would've liked(only got 4). We went to the park from 9-10 on Thursday night. Sidewinder was closed, but we got on the other 4 coasters with no waits. Sidewinder is by far the best coaster in the park!

We weren't impressed with the op's on Sidewinder Saturday afternoon. They were splitting up couples to fill empty seats. That's total b.s.! Pairing up single riders is fine, but you don't split up couples. We would've refused if they tried to split us up.

Anyway, the event was great and both parks treated us extremely well.

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Sue Barry
CoasterSue@aol.com

Yes, I encountered that same problem. While it was nice that they were doing their best to try to fill the train, I think it's silly to split up a group.