TR of SFMM on 3/31..short due to Blackout!

This is my first post, so be gentle with me.

My friend and I went to SFMM yesterday (3/31) to activate his season pass. We got there about 1:00 pm and the place was crowded. There were cars in the lot all the way up to Scream!

We got in the park and set out for our first line - the Season Pass Activation Line. While he waited in that line, I went over to the Fast Pass both to get 4 fast pass tix. The park was really crowded and we didn't want to have to wait forever.

We finished all the processessing about 1:45 and headed around the park counterclockwise...deciding on Golaith first. We used one of our fast passes so we got into the station right away, even though the line was long. We decided to wait for the front car.

What a pleasant surprise! Goliath isn't a favorite of mine because I try to compare it to MF and it always comes up short (literally). But yesterday it rocked! Sitting in the front was excellent. We went really slow over the first hill and had some hangtime looking down into the tunnel. I was completely airborne over the third hill...one of the best airtime experiences I've ever had! They slowed us down to almost a stop midcourse, but that meant we were hanging over the curve,dive,drop until the rest of the train caught up...it was cool! Great way to start the day!

We were going to go on Colossus next, but the line was too long and we didn't want to waste a fast pass on that (I don't think you can use them on Colossus anyway). So we went to Scream! and again, used a fast pass. We got into the station right away and decided on the back row.

It was a great ride, but a little bit rougher than I remembered. The best part was the zero-g roll before the cobra roll...again I was completely airborne.

WE went over to B:TR, but the line was too long and there was no fast pass, so we decided to go to Riddler's Revenge.

We got so lucky! When you use a fast pass on RR, you end up right by the front row, BUT, the station attendant usually sends you back to the end of the cues in the station. Well...when we got to the station attendant, there happened to be a party of 2 for the front row for the next car, and the attendant let us grab the 2 empty seats without waiting! Front row, RR! It was amazing! That loop is incredible! I am a big Mantis fan, but RR yesterday was much better!

Then, off to Deja Vu, but we got sidetracked. I hadn't been on Ninja in a long time, so we decided to climb up to Samurai Summit and wait for Ninja. The line was semi-long, but we chatted to pass the time...talked about the amazing NCAA tournament. We decided to wait for the front car.

This is where the story gets interesting.

While we were waiting, (we were second to next to go), there was a blackout in the entire park! All the rides stopped! I don't know if anyone got stuck on rides but it was weird. After waiting for about an hour, we realized that the employees were trying to get us to leave. There was a mass exodus to the parking lot!

As we left the park, I noticed a RR car stopped midcourse with the restraints up...those people must of had to climb down.

One weird thing, X was running with nobody on it! I don't know what that was about.

As we left the park, they were handing out free tickets to everyone.

It took about 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot!

I've never heard of this happening! It was weird, but kind of cool in an eerie way!

I thought it would make a good first post!

hey ready2coast, good first post man:) glad to hear you had a good time, depsite the lines and the blackout. i havnt made it to So Cal yet, but im hopin to remedy that one of these days...welcome to Cbuzz:)

The only blackout I've seen was at the ACE event at LeSourdsville Lake a few years ago. About half of the park went out. The sky ride had people stuck on it for some time. As they got off, they were given some cotten candy.

Not my idea of a good time. Luckily, the power came back on before the ERT that night.

I was at CP 2 or 3 years ago when lightning knocked the power out from the midway to Mean Streak.

It was 'surreal'. Of course, no one was on anything as they closed everything down before the storm hit...

Nice TR by the way. Welcome to Coasterbuzz!!!! *** Edited 4/1/2005 6:41:01 PM UTC by SVLFever***

Ahh, power outages are amusing and amazing. The havoc they can cause is interesting, lol. There is no training that can fully prepare you for one.

Just a half second of a dip in power to the park is enough to make a lot of people mad.

I was at CP about two years ago, when suddenly power went out in most of Sandusky. The park didn't kick us out though, after the power come back up, they kept the park open an extra hour.

I bet it can make people mad or bad things happen on launched coasters....

can you say rollback on TTD or get stuck in the cobra roll on The Chiller's Robin side?

Great first post! There are some people on this board that could follow your example.

Anyways, I was at Six Flags St. Louis one time when the power went out. Funny thing was that only half the park lost power. It was explained to me by one of the employees that half the park is in one county and on a seperate power grid, while the rest of the park is in a different county. (Might be city, not county. This was three years ago). They gave out free tix to everyone as they left the park. Saw an interesting mid-course evacuation on Ninja as I was walking out.

Been hearing lots of good things from the Mountain lately. Maybe I need to visit next time I'm out in Cali. Then again...

People pray for rollbacks on TTD!

I know some people pray for rollbacks but for others let's say that would make an unpleasant experience.

Yeah, SFOT is on two seperate power grids also.

Welcome, R2C. I don't know if you lurked for a while or not, but you clearly have a grasp of how things go around here, as evidenced by your TR. Nice work.
On my last trip to the park, just a short bit ago, RR was amazing; I agree with your comparison to Mantis.
Sounds like you managed to have a good time despite the turn of events; cool. :)

Yeah, great first post!

Glad to see you had fun. Does SFMM still have fastpass or is it Q-bot now?

I was at Cedar Point August 14th, 2003 that day of the huge blackout that caused like half the country to be without power.

The first thing that I noticed was the MF stuck 300 feet in the air! I wish I was on it at that time! who's with me. i was towards the entrance of the Magnum when the power went out.

For any of you that have not yet experienced a blackout at a park let me tell it is just so strange. All the music shuts off everyone is walking in one direction, and all the rides are stuck.

Great Posts indeed.

SFMM doesn't have the Q-bot...just the Fast Pass. Yesterday, you could use the FP on Golaith, Riddler, Revolution, Arrowhead Splashdown, and a couple other rides (not including X and Deja Vu).

I should have mentioned that, although the rides were great, the employees are still pretty bad. They spend most of their time talking to each other, joking around, etc. etc, it's amazing that more people don't get hurt! When we were told to leave the park, one of the ride ops for Ninja, hearing the news for the first time, jumped for joy! How's that for sending a nice message to your customers!

Also, the Season Pass Processing center was so unorganized and chaotic....blah, blah, blah,...I could go on...it's no Cedar Fair or Disney park, that's for sure.

Aside from those downers...SFMM has some great coasters!

BTW, I live in Los Angeles and am always looking to find coaster buddies...ones that don't mind traveling the US for a good ride. My friends think I'm nuts.

I'll be at SFGA the May 28-29, do you all think KK will be open by then?

It's actually called the "Fast Lane"...I just remembered that. I know how technical you all are :)

Fast Pass is at Disney.

Great TR, glad you read a SFMM tr that was actually unique, and well written! That would be kinda cool, in an eerie kind of way to be at a park during a blackout. Just to see all the rides come to a halt, and that errie silence of no motors, game noises, and music all being shut off, that'd be pretty neat.