302 replies to this topic

[Ryan Shrout]

On Half Pipe at Elitch Gardens, a kid yelled at the ride-op to "Make it do a kick-flip!" I just laughed.

[Kings Island Fan]

^Haha that's funny.

I went to Kings Island with my 3rd grade neighbor and his family, and we decided to go on the Racer. It was about 9:30 and nobody was on the ride except for us and about 3 other people. So, we rode it about 9 times in a row without getting off. Then, my little neighbor asked one of the employees if we broke the record for most times on the Racer. Do I even have to repeat what the employee said to him?

[Nessie]

A minute ago on the Smithsonian Channel-

"Drop Zone is the steepest drop tower on the east coast"

Technically he's right-It's tied with every other drop tower on the east coast at a 90 degree drop.

[The BeastFan]

I'm pretty sure Don Heblig (KI's current park manager) holds the record for consecutive Racer rides and total Racer rides (topping 30,000).

[steel-Rock]

^ We let's see, that's 40 rides per day x 750 days !

Or maybe it was just 20 rides per day x 1500 days.

This could be done, but this is still stupid.

(I know, that's the whole idea.)

[The BeastFan]

I heard a lot of mistaken identity cases when it came to people finding rides on Friday...

One was inline for Vortex, they were trying to find Racer, say the big white design on the map, then pointed to Racer, slightly paused guessing they guessed wrong, and then they were right. I mean..how can you not know which one is Racer...two tracks, white, etc? Fail...

Secondly, there was an incident just before my night excursion on Beast. A mother was pointing out rides to kids, points up (at Vortex, Beast's plaza is below the 2nd hill area), and says that's Beast, with the Beast sign and lift clearly shown to their right (though, I can imagine a name switch, however unlikely)

In Backlot's queue, I witnessed someone trying to re-enter the line (aka cutting). The funny thing is...well...if you've been on a Backlot clone, you notice some signs that point fun at related items, like speed limit at .35 mph (walking speed), no chickens, etc. The sign by said attempting line cutter stated "No Line Cutting Zone". I was going to catch it on camera if she tried it again, but alas, she declined...(where's park security when you need 'em?)

Also, apparently, someone guessed that the cars on Invertigo twist around as it changes direction, and Delirium stops turning as it peaks...

There were 2 incidents involving park staff. On Flight of Fear, the ride op was messing with people before the launch, doing mis-counts, sped up counts and other shenanigans (which was hilareous viewing the GP reactions). On Adventure Express, the op did a clever stats run through. "This ride has not one, not two, not three, but 0 loops!!!" A lot of people still questioned if the ride had inversions...

[at5626]

^LOL Magnum's crew uses the same line about the 0 inversions!

Kinda off topic-

One of my favorite ride op stories was when I was in line for Gemini. The guy was just dissing the Mine Ride! I don't know why, but he just was!

[biZarRo]

In line for Thunderhawk at Dorney, someone said that the black train on steel force was the fastest.

And in line for Backlot at KI, someone said it was 140mph.

[greatbearrush]

Yesterday wasn't really anything a GP member said, but....
While waiting for Storm Runner, the train came into the station and the ride-op, like always, told everyone to unbuckle their seatbelts and lift up on the restraints. Well, one lady didn't understand that you had to unbuckle the seatbelt BEFORE lifting up your restraint, so after a few failed attempts at lifting her OTSR, she yelled "WHATS HAPPENING?!?!" and started crying. There were about 3 different people trying to get her seatbelt unbuckled. As soon as she got up from the ride she immediately stopped crying and went on like nothing happened....

PA at it's best, I guess.

[biZarRo]

Yesterday at Hersheypark, when I was about to get in line for SDL, someone said that the line was 40 min, when they looked at the sign that said "Approxmitaly 40 Minute Wait when Queue is Full." The wait for it was actually no where near out of the station.

[Reapers Ashes]

When I was at Kings Island yesterday, a guest said flight of fear goes 0 to 60 in 30 seconds.

And every steel roller coaster runs on magnets.

Edited by deathfearsnone, 14 July 2011 - 04:54 PM.

[Vater]

When I was at Kings Island yesterday, a guest said flight of fear goes 0 to 60 in 30 seconds.

I think you're mistaken. Clearly they were talking about my wife's minivan.

[The BeastFan]

Ok, I want to dispel a rumor on KI that's been around for quite a while.

Vortex isn't sinking. People will refer to the fact the footers are below ground, but that's due to the erosion of the area on which its built. Its built at the top of what drops down to be a small valley, at the bottom of which, Beast's 2nd drop lurks. The erosion has made dirt cover the footers, so it isn't sinking. Also, if ANY coaster were sinking (including Magnum in this category), the track would be taking some serious damage as I imagine the rides wouldn't sink evenly.

That is all.

[MorganFan]

I heard someone say yesterday that, "Boomerang isn't a roller coaster. Roller coasters go up, down and around. This one doesn't even finish!"

Also, "Poltergeist is the best because it goes faster than Krypton Coaster."
(^^Look this one up.)

And last but not least, "Fiesta Texas has the most roller coasters of any roller coaster park."

The GP annoys me.

Edited by Daniel Westfall, 15 July 2011 - 06:36 PM.
Removed Class 2 offense from post.

[TwiDragon]

Not coaster related but

"Oh Ireland, thats where them lucky charms come from" - Some girl responding to my Ireland shirt.

[MorganFan]

(Waiting in line to ride a Batman...) "I'm still a little bit afraid of being upside-down the whole time."

(Also, watching the Mr. Freeze...)
Friend: "Look! The train is stuck at the part where it goes straight up!"
Me: "That's not he train, that's-"
Friend: "Yeah, its probably the machines that switch the wheels so it can go backwards."
Me: *Facepalm*

[Tori Finlay]

In line for Thunderhawk at Dorney, someone said that the black train on steel force was the fastest.

That's actually true - the black train runs slightly faster than the other two trains. No idea why.


Anyway, we had one train at Talon for a coupla days 'cause our transfer motor broke and I had a field day operating. I would say such awesome facts as "It is scientifically proven that riding Talon at night is 10 times better." "10 out of 10 doctors agree that Talon is better than Hydra" "Talon has been voted the best coaster at Dorney Park for 10 years running, and this is its 10 year anniversary!" And just all around bashing Hydra. I miss doing that, I used to do that on Steel Force all the time. It's a lot more difficult on Talon, though, because I'm in a glass booth and separated from the queue by the train.

[The BeastFan]

Apparently, a guest in line for a Beast night ride I talked to swore that Firehawk would be extended to take up the Son of Beast area, with two 490 ft lifts and all sorts of insane maneuvers (including a recreation of Beast's double helix). Not only that, it would be cloned and sent to Cedar Point, Knotts and Kings Dominion. Cedar Point in the process would have its parking lot moved inland to make more land available. (all for 2012) O.o Also, apparently Cedar Fair will buy out Six Flags by 2020... (this guy had some imagination).

Edited by The BeastFan, 13 August 2011 - 08:20 PM.

[MorganFan]

Apparently, a guest in line for a Beast night ride I talked to swore that Firehawk would be extended to take up the Son of Beast area, with two 490 ft lifts and all sorts of insane maneuvers (including a recreation of Beast's double helix). Not only that, it would be cloned and sent to Cedar Point, Knotts and Kings Dominion. Cedar Point in the process would have its parking lot moved inland to make more land available. (all for 2012) O.o Also, apparently Cedar Fair will buy out Six Flags by 2020... (this guy had some imagination).

I agree with the Six Flags part on some levels, because Six Flags is bound to go out of business soon or at least sell a lot more of their parks within the next 8 years.
Well, it is plausible...

[Tori Finlay]

Yeah, but after the Paramount buy out, I doubt Cedar Fair will be much into the buying other parks business until they at least get back on their feet completely.

Edited by Epinephrine, 14 August 2011 - 02:38 PM.

[Vater]

I agree with the Six Flags part on some levels, because Six Flags is bound to go out of business soon or at least sell a lot more of their parks within the next 8 years.
Well, it is plausible...

Six Flags is on quite the upswing. All reports I've heard over the last two or three years is that all the parks are cleaner, more efficiently run, and better staffed. In fact, if Kinzel wasn't retiring next year, I'd predict Cedar Fair failing long before Six Flags would

Everyone needs to stop thinking of Six Flags as the Six Flags from the pre-Shapiro days. It's a whole different animal now.

[MontagnaMagica]

I agree with the Six Flags part on some levels, because Six Flags is bound to go out of business soon or at least sell a lot more of their parks within the next 8 years.
Well, it is plausible...

Six Flags is on quite the upswing. All reports I've heard over the last two or three years is that all the parks are cleaner, more efficiently run, and better staffed. In fact, if Kinzel wasn't retiring next year, I'd predict Cedar Fair failing long before Six Flags would

Everyone needs to stop thinking of Six Flags as the Six Flags from the pre-Shapiro days. It's a whole different animal now.

Vater, you always say exactly what I am thinking before I can even say it! I totally agree with you. Six Flags has really improved recently.

[steel-Rock]

I don't think that either business is able to expand their parks right now much beyond water rides or family themed areas.
This year, I was at two Cedar Fair and two Six Flags (Carowinds, Valleyfair / SF Over Georgia, SF Great America). It was
pretty obvious in all four that there was land that could be used for something more coaster-like but it was not being done.
On a more happy note, all were clean and staffed well. I would say that they are run efficiently, but the way they work their
"fast pass" type system still makes the regular line run longer than it might otherwise.

Back to people saying things without thinking. When in line for SF Great America's Batman: The Ride, why on earth would
someone say "I heard that a person was killed on this ride" ? Of course, that really took place in Georgia and was totally
the fault of a kid that went over a fence. By the way, the fences near most rides at SF parks seem higher now and there are
even signs promising jail time to anyone who thinks they should mess with them!

[Vater]

I don't think that either business is able to expand their parks right now much beyond water rides or family themed areas.
This year, I was at two Cedar Fair and two Six Flags (Carowinds, Valleyfair / SF Over Georgia, SF Great America). It was
pretty obvious in all four that there was land that could be used for something more coaster-like but it was not being done.

So if I understand you correctly, if there's available land in a park that a coaster could be built on, and there is no coaster being built on it, the park is unable to build a coaster?

[The BeastFan]

Sheesh, I found the rumor of CF buying SF from a guy who was drunk off his . Didn't know it would evolve into this.