SFDL 6/20

**Marcus** · #1 06-21-2003, 05:32 PM

I like the idea of having the variety of 3 parks in 1, but SFWOA falls well short of accomplishing anything close to that concept. So TA2KX and I decided to make our own coaster trip through Canada and New York. After reading Bryan Wood's trip report, we devised a plan to visit SFDL,ML, and MFI in the cheapest way, while still getting the most rides, and still being able to drive home without being tired and crashing.

I woke up, ohh wait no I didn't. The day started at midnight with me playing The Wind Waker for four hours trying to get the damn Master Sword. 4:30 comes around and I gladly jump in the car and pass out for a good 3 hours. Eventually we make it to SFDL 30mins before opening. We were about the 5th car into the parking lot so we jumped out of the car and made for the opening gate. Lucky us we were the first people in line for the season pass entrance. 9:50 they take the passes and I run like a mad man for Superman.

"WHHHHAYAHH WHHHHHHAAAYAHHHHHHH I"M GONNA GET THE FIRST TRAIN YES! YES! YES! OHHH THIS DAY IS GONNA BE AWES...SON OF A BI**H!!!"

Standing in front of me is an old man with control of a yellow rope that is extend from one pole to another, blocking my advance. Now seriously, why would SF do this. It's only going to make me push and hurt more small children when the rope is dropped.

10:10 comes around the finally the rope is released and I take off. The security lady said no running, but I think the only response she got was my "Suck my ....!" Studying the map I saw Superman entrance was just left of the front fountain toward the picnic area, this is also what the lady in the front had said. I went under the bridge and OH NO! Picture people......
"Please sir stop so I can take your picture?"
"I...HATE....PICTURE PEOPLE!!!! BLAKLAKLAKLAKLAKLAKLAKLAHHHHHH!"

I came at the guy like the Tazmainian Devil on crack. Lucky for him, he stepped aside. But it wasn't the end. Mascots jumped out from the shadows. Daffy Duck opened his arms to intercept me with a hug.
"No time for you duck.....ArgArgArgARGARGARGERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRR.............POOH CHI-CHI MAMA...nnnnnn' WHABAAAAAAAAAAAM!"

Needless to say, the duck was down. Finally I was in the front and saw the fountain and made a left for the picnic area, yet I slowed down to ensure the people behind me followed to make sure I was going to right way. But after a while I didn't see the entrance and I panic and I think I got in line for for some barbacue ribs stall. I looked to blame the people who followed me, but they just shrugged obviously confused as I was. I went back to the main path and saw an old man with a cane pass by me. I ran as fast as I could, but only able to get the fifth front row on Superman. Maybe it was for the best, because it seemed like the first couple of rides were extremly slow.

Superman: Ride of Steel
Front row: One of the better things about Six Flags coasters is there lack of safety, as the operator let me have my lapbar probably twice as high as I could ever get it on Millennium Force. So you pull out the station and you can really see how the track resemble a steel mini track. It just seems so, I don't know, not wide I guess. The view is nice and you can look out much longer than MF and take in all the scenery. The drop was steep and the speed was intense. A heavily banked turn reminded me of the extreme turn felt after the loop on B:KF. The next hill had some airtime, but slowed too much at the top. The helix, as it appears, is really fast and full of G forces. Then comes a straightaway which you really feel the wind on your face. The ride continues with another helix and some negative G hills. But the thing that bothered me was I felt the trains weren't hitting the hills very hard, so you almost had a STOP and GO effect on each hill. Lack of speed consistency puts this coaster below MF. But overall it is the 5th best steel coaster on my list.
Back row: The back is somewhat similar and different in each area. The one big difference is the amount of airtime on the first hill. Unlike the cable lift, the chain lift pulls you over the hill at a slower speed, so the back of the train is whipped over the top. The airtime is beyond and so is the rest of the ride. But in the back, the SPEED UP, SLOW DOWN effect is really felt. On a separate note, TA2KX put his hands up on the head-chopper effect before you enter the second helix and hit the top of his fingers on the support. His fingers went numb, but hey, the sign said keep your arms, hands, and life inside the train. 9/10

Predator
Well I rode Thunder Run and that was a diamond in the hole known as Dinn. So I had some expectations, but reminded myself of other Dinn coasters that proved not so happy. The coaster was rough, but not as bad as I expected it to be. There wasn't any spots were I was getting tunnel vision, so for a Dinn it was good. 5/10

Boomerang: Coast to Coaster
Hey why not. This coaster had some very unique trains. I went front row and I was glad to see you could extend your legs into the hollow front. But like every other boomerang, this was the same, not too much head banging though because of well designed restraints. 6/10

Viper
I hate Arrow Loopers. But this coaster looked dangerous and had a weird layout so I went for it. Back row allowed me to get the only good part of the ride, the drop, which similar to Superman, yanked you over. But then came the loop and I give it an extra 1 point for a blackout effect as my head is stapled to the back of the headrest. Everything else was the same as any Arrow Looper, but it was fairly rough and I would not ride it again. 4/10

Brain Teaser
I tried to get on this ride.
"Hey man, can I get on this"
"No you have to be under 54'"
"But that fat girl is on that ride and I know she weighs more than me."
"Well she's under 54'"
"FINEEEEE"
N/A/10

Mind Eraser
I should of taken this title literally. Another SLC, but this one rougher than Serial Thriller and T2. I want nothing more than to melt this coaster in the scrap it was made from. A top 5 worst coasters ever. Bring some ear muffs if you go on. 1/10

SFDL Overall- Well that concluded the park and after one more ride on Superman, to end everything on a good note, we were off to Marineland. The park itself was disappointing, because even SFKK has at-least 3 good coaster. This park has only 1 worth going too. As for how clean the park is, it is not. I stepped in multiple types of unidentifiable goo. My advice is to ride everything once, which is accomplished in 2 hours, and then leave for another park. Six Flags once again neglects a park at the enthusiasts expense and fails to impress me. 3/10

To be continued...Marineland and Martin's Fantasy Island

**Phil** · #2 06-21-2003, 06:40 PM

Superman looks fun, but the way you described it, it doesn't sound too great. I want the trains to speed over the hills.

Calvin · #3 06-21-2003, 09:48 PM

What's "Brain Teaser"?

Ta2KX · #4 06-21-2003, 10:07 PM

Brain Teaser is just a crappy little kiddy coaster they have at SFDL, its a Zierer tivoli type coaster on a very small scale, it has about 2 hills and its so small they will send you around about 5 times.
Marineland's kiddy coaster is identical to this one and the park will allow grown people to ride. The ride is a joke, maybe the last seat has some lateral force but i was stuck in the second row so i wudnt know. I wouldn't say this coaster is uncomfortable to ride, but I will say that plastic trains are a bad thing.

Calvin · #5 06-22-2003, 12:02 AM

Ooo, sounds terrifying. I think we have one here at our family fun center called "Roller Coaster". It's actually slightly scary because it's set on the side of a big steep hill. The coaster doesn't actually go up and down on the hill, but it's set on top of the hill. Basically, it goes up, 180* twisting drop to the left, over two tiny bunny hops, then does two more bunny hops while navigating a 180* turn into the station. The only good seats are the back and the front, both give somewhat wild negative g's and some slammer laterals. They run you through 5 times. Before each run, they ask if you want a:
1) mild ride
2) fun ride
3) wild ride.
The operator controls the lift hill speed, so the ride can actually be exciting.

**BryanWood** · #6 06-22-2003, 02:01 PM

You must've hit it on a bad day. Ridiing a major coaster like S:RoS before it "warms up" usually means you won't get the best rides until afternoon(which is how it is with most Intamin coasters I have come to find). I spent a whole day at SFDL and got amazing afternon/evening rides where there was no "stop and go", which I did experience in my morning rides on S:RoS. Had you ridden it later in the evening, I bet you would like it a lot. S:RoS blows MF away.

CoasterKid23 · #7 06-23-2003, 12:29 PM

Hey I was @ SFDL on this day but chances are we couldn't have seen you, we got there at 11:30 so you we're probably at the back of the park while we were @ Pred. and SROS.