SFGAm - 10/6/02

robocoasterdude · #1 10-06-2002, 11:53 PM

I must say that today came very close to being my best Fright Fest trip yet. The only thing missing was Fright Fest. Most of the decorations were in place, but the larger ones were not: Iron Werewolf sign, Southwest Scaritory sign, American Eagle Spiders (unless I just missed those...coming from Milwaukee instead of Chicago, I never got a good look at the south side of the helix), and the zombies. There were some zombies in the Southwest Territory and some by Batman, but not anywhere near the amount that I remember from last year. It was good to see the Necropolis back. Last year it was not so good. I found the Mausoleum of Terror to be quite tame this year too, though being in the lead position, I may have just missed most of the effects. I was a bit disappointed that the surprise ending was changed though.

I keep reading threads telling me to never go to the park for Fright Fest because it is crowded beyond belief. Usually I get "lucky" and go when it is cold and somewhat rainy. Today was an absolutely gorgeous day while the sun was up, aside from a couple of 5 minute spittings. Despite this terrific weather, the park was empty! I could not believe it. Based on this observation, I urge everyone and their mother to go to SFGAm's Fright Fest! Just how empty was it? Take a look at this:

Get the part at 1:30.
Whizzer: 5-10 minute wait, seemed a bit faster than usual. Two trains.
Deja Vu: The line was only a quarter full, so I estimated about a half hour. Three breakdowns later, we finally get our ride in front after a total of 1 hour 45 minutes. The train would catch on the second tower, climb, but then lower back down slowly. This happened twice. The third break down had the first tower sled go up slowly and come down slowly, without the train. The ride closed around 5 or 6 due to the cold.
Viper: 20 minute wait for back row. Good ride (no squealing trains either!) as usual.
Raging Bull: 20 minute wait for back row. Three train operation. Always will be a great ride.
Giant Drop: No wait!
Demon: 5 minute wait. The lights were on in the pre-lift tunnel and the waterfall was not running (probably because it was so windy - the riders would have been soaked!) but a good ride otherwise. This was special because it was my 100th coaster for the year (just rides, not different coasters).
American Eagle: 15 minute wait. Blue side only. Very squeaky on the pre-lift run. NO TRIMS!
Iron Wolf: 10 minute wait for front. Great view of the new track (I have a great picture, I hope, but no scanner).
Vertical Velocity: 15 minute wait for 2nd row.
Batman: 10 minute wait for middle, 5 minute wait for 3rd. Great in the dark. When riding, pay attention to the ride so that you don't jam your neck when searching for your friends on the ground =)
Viper: 7:00 at night, no line whatsoever. Riders coulr re-ride till their hearts were content. I only rode once because I had time for one last ride on...
Raging Bull: 20 minute wait, two trains only (three earlier in the day). NO TRIMS!!! I'm not sure if they were on earlier in the day, but this is the first time I can recall riding without the thrid hill trim or the finale trim. GREAT AIR! FREEZING COLD! This was also special because it became my 300th lifetime ride.

All in all, this was a great day. Fearanoia is an awesome promotion - there is no reason not to try it. Today was not the actual game however; instead you just put the bottom part of your toe tag in the barrel and they drew one randomly each hour for the season passes. They told you you had to wear the tag, but since nobody was looking for you, I don't think it mattered. My guess is that all the zombies aren't staffed yet, so there weren't enough people to be "bodytaggers."

The last note is Shockwave. All track from the MCBR through the corkscrews is laying on the ground next to the drop off area. All the supports are still up. I didn't get to see the station, so I'm not sure if the trasfer track is gone or not. It was a side sight, especially since they always did good things for Fright Fest.

RCD

P.S. I heard a bunch of thispagecannotbedisplayeders were supposed to be at the park today, but I wouldn't know if I ran into anyone. I purposely wore my Millennium Force shirt because of that and had a few people talk to me about it, but I don't know if those were CBers

aero737 · #2 10-07-2002, 11:04 AM

HEY..i was there....but nobody knows me...i got there at 930 and i was on the first dejavu train of the day! and yes...the trim brakes on raging bull were on earlier in the day. Im surprised you waited so long for V². I only waited 5 min. And that was for second row. Seemed like more people were going for the back. All in all i rode 16 coasters, and i was only there for 6 hours. I thought it was a great day!

intamin101 · #3 10-07-2002, 04:32 PM

I was there too. Yeah I saw the track too. I am not sure if there is more there, but there seems to be a lot. It was pretty empty, but the spiders were up. And they didn't theme the train this year! I was so mad. But what made me even madder was that stupid wall! I just wanted to see the track for the new ride, but there was this big wooden wall in the way. Darn. Oh and there were like no decorations besides the front gate. Fright Fest? No. Try lame fest.

coasterlove · #4 10-09-2002, 01:16 AM

Fearanoia sounds cool but it sounds like crap that the park isn't themed as much for Fright Fest this year so far. I can't wait to go so I can take a pic with ShockWave on the ground. I wish now that I had bought an on-ride photo of ShockWave when I was there earlier this year.

robocoasterdude · #5 10-09-2002, 12:21 PM

I was really disapointed about Fright Fest decorations too...I went the first day last year and everything was perfect. This was the second day and there was hardly anything. Hopefully things will be better by the time I get there again...but I'm not sure when that will be, if at all.

As for shockwave, I took some really cool on ride pictures last year and if I ever get a scanner or find one on campus, I'll post them in the proper thread. I've got a really good one from in the corkscrew where the picture looks upside down, but thats just because I was =)

RCD