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I couldn't really decide if I wanted truck over to Six Flags America this morning or not. I didn't get a lot of sleep this morning and wasn't sure I wanted to put up with big crowds. After, I thought about for a while, I fiqured this weekend would be the last weekend I would have a chance to ride Joker's Jinx until next spring (JJ doesn't run during Fright Fest) and this would give me an oppurtunity to see if the park received alot of damage from Hurricane Isabel. Which it didn't.
Arriving at the park at 11:30 found the parking lot was only half full and security was in the process of putting up the "Row is full" signs. The security guard stopped me and told me the left side of the row closest to the ticket booths isn't really handicap, which I already knew, but thought it was nice that he was letting people know.
The lines were pretty light getting through security and lines at the ticket booths were non-existent. I did notice the park has begun putting up there Frightfest decorations. It seems they have added some things this year but it still isn't to the extent I have seen at other parks. Mostly more netting, alot of the poles have dried corn stalks around them things like that. I did notice a new skull was covering the Six Flags America sign that hovers above the park entrance gates.
I walked through Main Street and headed towards Skull Island, I was going to ride Roar first, but it appeared everyone else wanted to ride with me, so I skipped that ride and headed back to Superman. When I first entered Gotham City I noticed Joker's JInx was a one train wait so I decided to ride it before the line got to long. Lucky I did, because no sooner did I get in line, did the queue begin to fill up. I rode in car 3 left seat. While I like Joker's Jinx, its sister in San Antonio (Poltergeist) still beats it, if they didn't trim the speed when it lauched both coasters would run neck and neck. However, Joker's Jinx does seem to just keep getting faster and faster as you come down the coaster and the roll at the end provides and excellent dose of excitement, as does the sharp curves as you come down the coaster.
After Joker's Jinx, I dashed over to Superman and saw the line out of the station, so I decided to hold off on that for a few minutes and headed toward Batwing to see what was up with it. Batwing is still running one train, but at least it is running consistently, the mechanics are still working on the second train in the station and if working on the last row is any indication of them almost being done with the overhaul of the second train then we may see two train operation return shortly. Notice, I said may, don't hold your breath. The third train has been ravaged for parts. I decided to skip the line for Batwing, I have rode it a couple of times this season already and have determined the only time I will ride this coaster if when I have someone with me for conversation. Since I went to the park by myself today, I decided to skip the coaster. The times I did ride Batwing this season, I found the coaster to be running rough, the loop is a great loop and one of the more intense ones in the park.
After checking Batwing out, I headed back to Superman:Ride of Steel (S:ROS). The line shortened alot since the last time I checked it out so I decided to take it for a spin. S:ROS was running only the blue train and the red train set on the transfer tracks. The line was a short 15 minute wait. The line for the front row was at least 5 or six trains so I decided to take the closest I could get. I decided to ride in car 3 right seat. Going up the lift hill you get a really amazing view of the park. However, the drop still take my breadth away. What a view of, well the ground. I enjoy the right side of S:ROS the most for none other than the twist to the right at the bottom of the drop. To me, that is what makes the right side the bonus. Going up the second hill, I managed to get a taste of someone's hair in my mouth and spent the down side of the second hill trying to spit it out. As we begin to head into the helix, I begin to hear some screaching, the screaching continued in the second helix as well. The third hill gives you so much air and makes this coaster one of the best. However, I have noticed the trains seems to vibrate more in the second helix and the bunny hops back into the station then the rest of the coaster.
After S:ROS, I decided to take a spin on Penguin's Blizzard River. For most of the summer, I have managed not to be the one that got splashed at the bottom of the ride. That is until today. I spent the rest of the afternoon with a wet t-shirt that smelt like, well, fish (joking). Penguin's Blizzard River is a really great flat ride. However, for some reason, I didn't do a lot of spinning. The line wasn't to long for a change.
After Penguin's Blizzard River, I head over to Wild One. I noticed something different about Skycoaster. They are using both sides, that is the first time all summer I have seen them do this. Continuing on my journey over to Wild One, I notice that the problems with Tower of Doom running three sides seem to have been worked out since the past several times I have been there, it has been running all three sides. Two Face The Flip Side (TF:TFS) continues to run consistently since being interviewed (post mortem) on CNN at the end of June. Something else I have noticed as I walk through the park to Wild One, alot of the rides are being operating by transplated water park staff. Couldn't the park get them some Six Flags uniforms to wear?
Arriving at Wild One, I notice the transplanted water park staff seems to do a more efficent job of loading the coaster. I was actually surprised to see them ask for single riders to fill empty seats (this is the second time I saw them does this, the other time was on Penguin's Blizzard River). On Wild One, I rode the blue train, my favorite, in car four left seat. I simply love the blue train on Wild One, to me, it gives the smoothest ride with the most air. Wild One seems to keep putting along and seems to be running smoother than she did earlier this year. I have also noticed it seems like they have eased off on the brake heading into the helix. Also noticed they have replaced a lot of wood this year and the coaster is going to need a good paint job before to long. In fact, the side closest to the entrance of Gotham City, is almost all bare wood. SFA has had a good reputation of keeping their wooden coasters in good shape, I hope this keeps up. The other thing I noticed about Wild One was the amount of Wasps that seemed to find something attractive about the lift hill. I pointed this out to the ride op who said they would report it, we'll see.
After my ride on Wild One I went to Skull Island and ate a couple of slices of pizza at Pieces of Eight and then went to Roar. My decision to pass on it earlier, turned out to be a good one since their only was a one train wait. I also rode in my favorite train this time, the black one, in car three left side. I have decided the center part of the train on Roar is better than either the front or back. The front, to me, seems to run slow, the back just beats the heck out of me. The end of the coaster is a little rough but the rest of the coaster seems to be running great and pretty smooth for a wood coaster. While at Roar, I had a conversation with a couple of people that have never been to the park from West Virginia. They liked the park alot and seemed to be having a good time.
All in all, I had a good time at SFA today. Looking forward to the start of Fright Fest and hoping to see some additions over last years show.
Thanks for reading. I'll catch you on the rails.
How were things at the park as far as frightfest preps? I hear they might actually be making an effort to decorate southwest territory this season,I guess I'll find out when I hit the park come saturday.
One thing they really need to do is have the ops in costume during frightfest,they used to do this in the AW days but havn't done so since 99.
I wouldn't be surprised if we saw more park employees dressed in Costumes this year. The park has established a no costumes allowed in park policy for the general public. I would imagine this would be the case so the public can diferentiate from a park employee and the general public.
Sunday was the lighter of the two days crowd-wise. They were running the red train on S:ROS, which is the better train in my opinion. I also enjoyed a stress free day running Krypton Comet, as opposed to the day before.
There were two evil looking people on stilts walking around by Wild One as a teaser for Fright Fest. One of them kind of looked like the Creeper from "Jeepers Creepers. They also resurrected the clown-topped trashcans from the circus the first year SFA was open, and a big elephant sits where the Batmobile normally sits. I have a hunch that there will be some evil clowns running around in GC (hopefully with chainsaws. You can never have enough chainsaws). I'll find out this weekend. Hope to see you there.
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