TR:SFEG and famous guest...

Yesterday i went to Six Flags Elitch Gardens! (Most of you know) Well here's my trip report.

Ok we left our house around 9:45. We arived to the park about 11, 1 hr after opening the gates. First we tried Mind Eraser. Broke down as soon as we got in the queue. Ok I just have to say I feel a little sorry for the park because yesterday(Tues) they were having a lot of trouble with the rides. Then we went to Halfpipe. I noticed something diffrent, very diffrent about the queue.(1)Misters were added and (2) there was no annoying speil going off every 10 seconds! Anyways I give HalfPipe a 10/10, but this only comes up to were you are sitting. We made our way back to Boomerang. 9.5/10, weird, I like this ride. Then senice it was getting very very hot I went and got in line for Disaster Canyon. I stood in line for about 45mins-1hr. Then 3 boats away from loading, lightning. The ride closed down and well, most the rides were shut down except spider and trokia. I layed down next to a tree and "rested" a while before being woken up by colorado's first ohio rain! Ohio rain-rain were you and everything around you is soaked in less than 3 seconds. When they finally started opening up rides about 2hrs later I headed straight for Twister II. I'm not that dumd. Everyone knows you ride a woodie following a rain storm. 10/10 this is a clasic woodie. And for some reason it seems to be running faster and smoother than last year. And the rain ride was very intense. Sence it has been windy all day, Tower of Doom was opening and closing. I waited for over 1hr to get on the ride. And as soon as the /=\ started coming down, BOOM! just like that. 50 more people in the queue. Tower of Doom gets a 9/10. Next Mind Eraser for the second time. We finally got on! we got the terquoise train and in front. The ride in much much better in the front. 7/10 for roughtness and a way to long wait. Ok fast forward to about 8. Sidewinder, I have been coming to this park for 6years and most everyweekend, and have never gottin to sit in front of Sidewinder. The first time I sat in very back. Then the next time I got 3rd car. Third time I finally got the front! It was horable in the front. I just wasnt I thought it was. but sence there was only one person in line we got to go again. But we had to move. 10/10 reason? Climbing up the 6 storys you could see Ryan(Ashlee Simpsons boyfriend playing an opening act. He said he has an album to be relesed mid augest.) Next Jessica Simpson! Well we heard her warming up in the parking lot and waiting for the rain to stop. It was pretty cool. she sounds the same live. Ok we left the park around 9:45pm. It felt so good to sit in a padded chair.

All in all i loved this trip because I got to see the park at night.

Dude, break up your paragraphs.

-Tina

Well said, Tina.

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I'm not that dumd.

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Ah...thanks. THat was my good laugh for the day :)

Twister being a 10/10 was a chuckle too, but I wrote that one off to "to each his own"

Well, he is a preppy stud 4evar! ;) That has to count for something.

Are you that 11 year old kid who's mom got in trouble because she dropped him off at the park alone? You spell like one..

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Left%20Alone *** Edited 7/21/2004 10:02:00 PM UTC by ucdaap42***

Twister...a classic woodie? Remember you said that when you're old enough to travel outside of Colorado and ride some real wooden coasters.

mOOSH

*** Edited 7/21/2004 10:12:08 PM UTC by Mamoosh***

When Mind Eraser went down a little after 11, it was for a wet clean up, not a break down. And just to be picky, the rides were down for lightning for around 50 minutes, not 2 hours. :)

Come on Moosh. Piss poor mid-90s recreations of wood coasters are always classics ;)

Wow, now I'm REALLY looking forward to Twister II in two weeks. I knew those "seasoned" enthusiasts were wrong and this really IS a good ride. 10 out of 10 wow, that's like one away from perfect or something!!

Call me dumd but I am really looking forward to SFEG!!!1! *** Edited 7/21/2004 10:38:55 PM UTC by bassististist***

Wow...their boomerang is also a 9.5/10 That's one hell of a magic 'rang. The dozen other I've ridden were solid 1-2/10....there's must be something ;)

In all fairness his ratings are spot on. Just subtract 7 from each...and I'm not kidding about that one :) Even for halfpipe....man was that thing bumpy when we rode it! *** Edited 7/21/2004 10:54:15 PM UTC by Peabody***

Moosh, don't forget our friend justcazisaidso prefers SFEG over Lakeside. People are entitled to their opinions (different strokes, etc.), but if he has ever actually been to Lakeside and ridden the Cyclone, he should know better than to call Twister II a classic...

--Kevin

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Kevin Knapp, Colorado Springs, kknappcyclone@aceonline.org
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Well said Kevin. The Cyclone is very much so to ride and even more so in atmosphere, the very definition of a classic.

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Mamoosh said:
Remember you said that when you're old enough to travel outside of Colorado and ride some real wooden coasters.

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Dude, at least ours are still made out of wood, unlike yours in SoCal. ;)

I took my first spins on Halfpipe today, and I while I agree that it was a little rough, I thought it was a lot of fun. Just hope your “pod” gets some good spinning going!

And I also prefer Elitch’s to Lakeside. All they need is more shade...And at least they’re trying with all the covered queues, misters (everywhere!), fans etc. *** Edited 7/22/2004 3:02:44 AM UTC by PT300***

I've been outside CO, I've been to CP.

I'm 13, not 11.

Halfpipe's "cars" will not spin if it just rained or is wet on the ground. If you notice, halfpipe has 4 sets of tires that are 2 for each "car" and are hiddin under the exit/entrance areas. The spinning of the cars are controled by them. the cars spin by the wheels being pressed up aginst the metal wheel under the board. when wet there is no grip so that = no spinning

wow that was hard to follow....

ok so maybe i over exargerated on the rain time. I have no clue. I fell asleep under the tree next to Sidewinders entrance. We even saw the umbrella fly off of sidewinders dock. he he

This tire theory does not address why the spinning of each "car" seems to be directly related to the weight distribution of the riders. While waiting in line, you can see significant variance between the spinning of each car, and it varies by passenger load.

One time the car on the yellow and blue end might spin significantly more than the other car on the magenta end; then the next ride it might be the opposite. From my observation, the most spinning occurs on cars that are obviously unbalanced (an empty seat, or large people vs. small people).

I'll take a closer look the next time I am at SFEG, but I don't remember seeing any tires. I know that the cars are locked while riders are loading and unloading, and I had a ride op explain to me during the opening day that when they unlock it, that is why the cars spin right before the ride starts. There is no mechanism to spin the cars right at the begining of the ride; that is just gravity taking effect when the hub is unlocked.

--Kevin

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Kevin Knapp, Colorado Springs, kknappcyclone@aceonline.org
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The line to ride with my fat ass forms behind me...

Halfpipe in 16 days!!!

No I'm pretty sure it isnt weight distrabution. And I'm pretty sure there cant be the "exact" same weight in the same car over 10 times...there are tires that are on the side of the station. Next time you watch the ride look at the bottom of the board and you can clearly see the metal hub/wheel that the tires spin

Let's all have a moment of silence for our dear departed friend, justcazisaidso. Now let's hope he doesn't pull a CPNUT!

Okay, Bassististist, I am amused enough that I hereby dub you the arbiter. When you come out to visit the great state of Colorado in two weeks, please let us know if the Halfpipe cars (a) spin under the control of the tires in the station, or (b) spin freely based on weight distribution.

*ROTLF*

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Kevin Knapp, Colorado Springs, kknappcyclone@aceonline.org
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*** Edited 7/25/2004 12:43:08 AM UTC by Kevin Knapp*** *** Edited 7/25/2004 12:43:39 AM UTC by Kevin Knapp***