Part 1

This was my first time to visit SFFT this year. I haven't been since last year, mid summer. We arrived at the park pretty early. It was around 9 or so. Before that we stopped at a "Valero" gas station to get tickets for 35 bucks. I wasn't going to buy a season pass.

We get to the parking lot and hardly any cars are waiting to get their parking pass or pay. We thought, "Hey this is great no one is here" but it was 9 o'clock and they will probably show up a little later on. We got up to the gates and it was surprising seeing all the characters around. We thought the park was going to open at 10 but the gates opened at 9:30. So we were waiting for the gates to open and then all of a sudden a lady's voices comes on over the PA system (so to speak) and says welcome to SFFT and since today is Independence Day, we will play the National Anthem. I was like “props to SFFT for doing this.” It's just something that you don't think about, but really matters. Kudos to SFFT and SF. Though it was annoying because some people were talking during it. Come on. Its freaking Independence Day and you have no respect for your country. It got be a little upset. So then the lady said the gates will open in 5...4...3...2...1. Everyone was chanting. It was funny. So the gates open and we get in the park. Well there are the typical staff members wanting to take your picture and all that stuff. Plus everyone was taking pictures with the characters. I was just a little shocked there. But hey, I guess they are popular.

We first decide to hit up Superman: Krypton Coaster. You can't go wrong there. We took a left around Boomer and under the train. They said that the rest of the park didn't open til 10. So. I guess gates open at 9:30. The whole park opens at 10. Not bad. Just waited an extra 30 minutes. Finally it struck 10 and everyone runs crazy. I just walked. No big rush. We head over to S:KC. Walked up and they were running 3 trains. Surprising, but good. So we head to the front. We were going to be the second train. First train loads and then they just let the next 2 trains go with out any on them? Why do they do that? It would take longer to load each train with like only a few people going on its train at a time? We wait and finally get on. I set in my favorite seat. Far right. Drop was amazing as usual. This was my first time to see all that La Cantera mall stuff at the top of the cliff. S:KC is a little bumpy and a little rough, but not that bad. The turn up on the cliff was fun. Zero-G-Roll was crazy. I like sitting in the seat I sat in because you get pulled out a lot. Or so it seems. lol. We decided to re-ride it again. We sat second to back row. This time I sat far left. Nice, but not as fun as far right. lol.

Next we decided to do Der Twister. I hate how you have to sit right next to each other. Why is that? You have like no room to breathe. lol. The run was rather short and blah. All we did was a couple spins up top and that was it. We swung back and fourth a few times and them they dropped us over the water. Well the water was supposed to shoot up, but hell they kept us there for like what 3 seconds. It was kind of a waste. It was probably one of the first runs in the morning. No one was waiting. Give us some good stuff!!!

Well it was getting close to 11 and you know what that means. Well you better know. RATTLER. Before we got inline to Rattler we rode Wagon Wheel. This was my first time on it. I wanted to try some new flats, and well this is the only ride that I rode that I haven't been on before. lol. I haven't been on Frisbee. If that says much. That’s like the only one left. Wagon Wheel was fun. I couldn't really tell where I was because it’s hard to see out of those damn cars? I don't even know what they are called. lol. I could feel the g's though. It was pretty cool. Got dizzy. Next we hit up Rattler. We waited outside the gates like everyone else did. Finally opened and we weren't that far back from the front of the line. We waited for the front. My friend sad he barely had any room to fit. He had a tight squeeze. lol. I sat on the right. I prefer the left, but he wanted it. I really like this first drop. It’s sweet. The helix is well you know. ROUGH. But It was that bad as before. I seems like this was the most "tame" I have seen Rattler. The rest wasn't even bad. All that stuff on the top of the cliff. What ever that is called. The "rattle" lol.

Next we hit up Polty. For some reason, the launch didn't seem that fast at all. Isn't it like 60 mph or so? It seemed slooooooooow. Of course polty was fun. We had to wait like 5 minutes. I forgot to mention. Of all the rides I went on so far, I had to wait like 15 minutes and that was for Rattler. The rest were under 5.

Next was Scream! To my surprise. We didn't have to wait like 3 minutes to ride. It was brilliant. I forgot how much fun this was. The G's were sick. I would feel my stomach leaving me for a little once we were dropped from the top. We liked it so much we did it again, and had to wait like 2 minutes.

Next was Scooby-Doo Ghostblasters. This ride/game is always fun. I like trying to get a very high score. Isn't that the point of the game? lol. I think I got like 1300 and my friend got like 1000. Very fun. Next we at Pete's Eats. Good burgers. I think I always eat lunch there.

Part 2

Next we decided to meet up with our other friends who have been in the water park all day and pretty much stayed all day except the afternoon. We just ate, so we had to let our food settle. It was a hot day. Surprise Surprise. It was just hot sitting around doing nothing. So I decided to get in the big Texas Size Wave pool. I like the waves. They come up really high. After that, I did some exploring of the new rides. I didn't realize that "Hill Country Racer" was so far up in the front of the park. I didn't ride it just yet.... I first wanted to check out "Big Bender" and "Whirlpool". Heck, this is at the way far back of the water park. It was kind of like a maze getting there. I was just trying to follow all the bright colors. I think I took the longest route to get there. Finally I got there and saw two lines. Everyone was in line for Whirlpool. I wonder why? Looks like the most fun. So I decided to try out Big Bender first since it had a way shorter line. This slide was pretty cool. It was really fast, though it was hot in the tunnel. It felt like a sauna. It was steaming. I like the quick drops on this ride. I next wanted to ride Whirlpool, but not alone. So I go back and get my friend to ride it with me. So me and her rode whirlpool. I didn't know what to expect on this ride. Never been on something like it. IT was really cool. I liked going around in circles. It was fast for most of the time. It was crazy because we left the bowl going backwards. I don't know how we ended up going backwards but we did. We probably had to wait 5 minutes for Big Bender and like 10-15 for Whirlpool. Then I asked her to ride Big Bender with me because the line was so short. It seems a little faster with more weight. lol. Still a fun ride. Note: These rides came from SFAW. Well I think they did. Lol. After we got back to the wave pool where all the chairs are located I decided to ride Hill Country Racer. What a fun ride. The waiting was kind of long but I guess it’s worth it. I beat the other 5 riders. This ride is fast. After that we decided to leave the water park.

We then decided to watch a show at Rockville. It’s not worth going to SFFT and not watching a show!! The shows at Rockville are always good and funny. The cheerleader/yell leader are always funny.

Next we decided to ride Rattler. The line was shorter from that in the earlier day. Dark clouds seemed to form.... I got pissed though at Rattler. We got through the line and all and then went past the little checker thing. Counts how many people went through.... Well.. I head for the front and their were already two people in that line and one of the ride op's tells me NO. Go to an empty line. I was like WTF. Why can't I pick wherever I want to sit? I didn't say that, but I thought that in my mind. He was making sure every spot was filled up. And only letting 2 people go at each car slot at once. Like 2 people would go to number 1 and 2 go to number 2 and so on. It made me mad. His name was Gabriel I think. lol. Don't know If he did that on his own, but I think you should be able to sit where every you want. You don't wait in the line for some one to tell you where to sit. Maybe he was trying to speed up capacity, but he could have been smart and like let me switch with some one else. But earlier in the day, the Ride Ops, didn't care and plus the line was longer in the morning. We finally get in the car and are ready to go. And then we hear "sorry we have to close to the ride due to lightning in the area" What? All this waiting and hassle and we have to get off? That sucks. So we ended up going to the 7 o'clock show of "Xcelleration. I liked the show last year. It pretty much has the same storyline and tricks as last year, but no biggie. I sucked because the Skateboarders couldn’t land anything to save their lives. I'm not saying they suck, but they just couldn't land anything. I bet it was frustrating. I wanted them to land some stuff. Skateboarding seems to be the hardest sport out of all the “extreme” sports. Every time they would fall they would just acknowledge the crowd. I wish they would of landed something. Oh well. One of the dudes seemed like he go hurt on one of the last stunts. Hope he is all right. I freaking love it when that one dude goes soaring in the crowd and spins. It looks cool. So after the show is over there are even more black clouds and then it starts to pour down rain. We had to wait for my friend’s parents to pick us up. We waited for like a good hour up at the front gates....

All in all, I had a good time at the park. Glad to see all the characters in the park and everything. White Water Bay looked good. We didn't stay for the fireworks because of the rain. I don't even know if they even had them. I was shocked to see that the park wasn't even that crowded. Longest wait was like 15 minutes on Rattler I suppose. It was great. I could of rode more, but I didn't feel too good in the afternoon. lol.

Wagon Wheel was fun. I didn't know what to expect because I've never been on it before. It was pretty cool. Yah, I was really surprised that the park wasn't packed at all.

So you enjoyed one of the best SF parks?

I had the pleasure of going to Lake Compounce a week ago Thursday. My Sister had won two tickets on the radio. I stopped by the park while in CT to see my family. I am always thunderstruck by the changes it has undergone since the days I worked there in 1989-91 seasons. Its clearly first class since Kennywood took it over. I headed right to the Wildcat and rode the back seat which is still my fav sorry Boulderdash. I rode their power tower very intense drop. The view was oustanding. Thunder and Lightning was quite an experience at least from the ground. I kind of have to be good my doc has told me this, no upside for me anymore. I rode the Music Express and took a ride on the Giant Wheel to get another oustanding view. I took the Trolley around the lake to the rapids ride and the Chairlift where I spent 45 quality packed minutes stuck on top of the mountain four years ago. I came back down and ate at the historic Croc Pot Cafe formerly Croccidile Cafe. I was suprised to see the Carousel moved up the hill somewhat to make way for the Pirate Ship part of the waterpark. I really had a great time and good memories of the rides I worked at when I was at Compounce. As always I took a good swim in the lake and enjoyed the waterpark. Next Time SFNE. I have not been since 97 the year after I went to Ohio for my real job. SFNE then Riverside, will always be the best park I ever worked for.

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