SFFT Opening Day!!!

Okays, before I write the TR, lemme say some things, like:

I was the FIRST freakin' rider on THBS. I participated in the "walking of the bulls" and came out victorious. Yup, I was on the very first public car. Go me! Anyways, the entire area around THBS was fantastic. The ride is rasied to be level with the boardwalk, and because of that and the ride's colors, SFFT made THBS look intimidating. It was awesome! I loved it. The station was GREAT, the q-line was one of the best I've ever seen in a SF or any park for that matter. The music choise was sweet aswell...I need to find out what song it was. It's sooo addicting. Also, the ride had nice signage, as there was a halfpipe design with a rotating (flipping upside down) Tony Hawk. There was also a large TV on the outiside. Inside the q, there was many TV's, and cool skatepark theming that included sweet colors and nice fences, that sorrounded really nice boards that had all kinds of stuff on extreme sports on them. I was really, really impressed. Way to go SFFT!

Here are some things I also noticed on my trip:

-New Johnny Rockets to open on the boardwalk
-New Panda Express close to opening in Crackaxle Canyon
-Cold Stone Creamery opened in Rockville
-Wii Experience to open in Rockville
-New Paint on Scream
-Poltergeist's 2nd train, which didn't run at all last year, was running along with it's bro
-New wood for the boardwalk

And there were a few negatives:

-Rattler only partially opened (I was on the first train of the season @ 2 P.M.)
-Restuarants not open
-Train was "squeaking" as loud a hell
-Periodic downtime, which is understandable for opening day

Sorry, my camera broke, so no pictures. They will come Monday or Wednesday, I promise.

TR to come...

Sweet! I am headed to San Antonio on Wednesday with the family for 8 days (my wife's family all live there) and hope to make an appearance at SFFT this weekend! Thanks for the info mate!!

Originally posted by TConwell

Sweet! I am headed to San Antonio on Wednesday with the family for 8 days (my wife's family all live there) and hope to make an appearance at SFFT this weekend! Thanks for the info mate!!

Sounds great Tcon. I'll be heading out a few days over Spring Break. I would reccomend going to THBS as soon as the park opens, as I got 6 rides in in just 30 minutes. When I left the park, the line was like 3 hours long. After that I'd head to SKC and Polty, as today I got on both without waiting after my THBS rides. Once again, they had very long lines when I left at 3:30.

re: Poltergeist's second train didn't run at all last year

It ran at least one day. They had both trains up and running the one day I went last year. Lines were nonexistant.

Weird...I went 10 times, and not once was the purple and yellow train on the track, or even the transfer. When did you visit?

TR:

I arrived at the park at 9:20 A.M., but interstingly enough, they were allowing people to enter through the main entrance. I wondered through Las Festivales, and proceeded on the path toward the South section of the park, but as I went down the hill past Boomerang, a few employees and security gaurds were waiting. They stopped me, and said that I could not enter the rest of the park until 10 A.M. I asked the security dude if THBS and the Boardwalk would open with the park, and he answered with a yes. Usually, the boardwalk doesn't open until 11 A.M. So I pulled out my cell phone for 30 minutes.
30 minutes went by slow...but eventully the time on my phone turned to 9:59. Over that time, people had started to gather around the area I was in, so I moved toward the security guy. There were some obvious enthusiasts there, including a guy with a Tatsu shirt on. Anyways, everyone was talking about running, but when we got the signal, the security officer exclaimed the fact that running was prohibited. So, I ended up participating in the "walking of the bulls." I carried a ferocious pace, and made my way to the Boardwalk. I made note of all the obvious changes. Every single peice of wood had been replaced, Crow's Nest Cafe had been removed, and a spinning attraction was long gone. I also saw the sign telling me that Johnny Rocket's was to opened on that spot. But as I turned the corner, THBS emerged from the buildings before.
The first thing I noticed was how big and intimidating it looked. I remember Pandemonium looking so much smaller, and it had a rather playful paint scheme. This alternate version of the ride was raised, and had a wicked red and black paint sceme, which looked killer on the rather compact ride. I have to say it looked intimidating and completely awesome. I put these thoughts aside though, as I was in an insane walking race. I found the entrance immediataly, located in the same spot as Joker's previous one. I entered, and had claimed my spot at the front of the line.
As I walked down the long wooden bridge over the Go Karts, I noticed that the ride consisted of two buildings. The one I was headed into was the que and the transfer track house. The front face of the que building, which was Joker's old station, displayed a large television, and a large halfpipe type decoration that had a Tony Hawk character doing black flips. The sides of the buildings had silver box structures that looked like something you'd see on a rock concert's stage. On the very top there were wicked 3d TH logos. On the bottom of the entrance building was black metal, with Tony Hawk Big Spin painted on in a "punkish" way. Six Flags tried to make this ride badass, and somehow they really did. I entered the que house eventually, which was painted black with different variants of brown and yellow. That may sound strange, but it was painted in dark variations of both colors and looked striking. Throughout the que there were large display boards on the walls and in the middle of all the railings. They were sorrounded by chain link fences...that may sound cheesy, but they looked soooo good. Enough of the que though, I wanted to ride.
To get to the second building, the station, you cross a small bridge. The station itself is a small structure with a silver base, red and black railings, and a orange/red roof. The color choices looked GREAT together. Anyways, I walked across the bridge, and up to the yellow line were an op was standing. The restraints on both cars in the station opened, and they let 2 individuals and myself into the first car. Some high ranking staff member of the park climbed into the second card. They closes our restraints, cleared, and the op pushed the big shiny green button.
This version of the Gerstlauer spinners is different, and in a good way. The turn to the lift contains a block in the middle of it, so 2 trains may be loaded and unloaded simultaneously in the station. This allows for very smooth operation of the 6 cars on the track. While the first train climbed the lift, the second waited on the block. Once the first cleared, the second made the climb. Once it was off the block, the next two cars were dispatched. The layout is also slightly different when it comes to the lift. The other models turn right at the bottom, and then right at the top. Both turns are approx. 180 degrees. On this model, the first turn before the lift is about 210* degrees, so the top of the lift lines up with the center of back of the station. The turn at the top then goes left, not right. The rest of the layout is pretty much the same, but I think the drop off the 3rd block is different. I think it's a little bigger, as the ride is raised to be level with the boardwalk. I think this because the hill after had much more noticable air than I recall on Pandemonium. The brake run was also different, as it was straight, and then took a small right hand turn to the station. The other models have a left turn and then a right turn after the brakes to reach the station.


I'll continue soon...my fingers are tired.

I wish i could go to a park early like you . Too bad Gadv doesn't open until April 2

Originally posted by Jakizle

Weird...I went 10 times, and not once was the purple and yellow train on the track, or even the transfer. When did you visit?

The date stamp on the pics I took that day say 5/29/06

re: purple and yellow train

Until you said that, I never realized that the two trains had different color schemes. Looking at my pics, I see that one train is purple with yellow and the other is purple with a pseudo-green. Ick.

Yup, the Purple and Green train was the only one that ran while I visited.

Sorry if I went into to much description of THBS, I was just really excited. It exceeded all of my expectations.

[Dirk_Ermen]

Any pictures from the ride? Since i would like to see it how it looks... [:)]

Tomorrow, if not Wednesday. I'm going to really try to stop by tomorrow though...

[coolbeans326]

boo! I don't appreciate your camera being broken![:(!]

I guess words will have to suffice. I'll fill in the pictures with my imagination.

Originally posted by Jds03

I wish i could go to a park early like you . Too bad Gadv doesn't open until April 2

Woooo, im going April5th and 6th [:)]

Anyways, sounds awesome, I didn't really think THBS would be anything great, but it sounds pretty sweet!

Okays, I'm beginning to upload 80 photos...yay!

And Gerstlauer lures in the love once again

Yeah, I have to take the same statement as CG77. I really thought nothing of the actual ride, but I knew theming was going to be above decent. The way you describe it Jake, the music, the skate-ramps, the queues, the television, the station, man! It all sounds so thematically overwhelming! Really lookin' forward to the pics because that thing sounds like one hell of some eye candy!

Let me just say, it's so much better in person. But I think I have some purty pictures...I do have one of Poltergeist and Scream that's just amazingly nice too. They should all be up in a hour!

Just out of curiousity (or ignorance) what ride is Scream at Fiesta Texas?

Triple S&S combo tower. Fun ride, and just got repainted...gawd I love that photo.

If anyone wants the .zip with large versions of the pics just leave yo' email. If you only want one that's cool too.

Ohh, I see now, a Tower Drop ride. I was thinkin' it was a roller coaster that wasn't listed anywhere

Anyway, that paint job is tremendously artistic! Never seen any ride with such great appearence. Too bad the seats don't face into the tower, or else the riders would experience a wonderful colorfade effect!

I still have yet to go, but it's a long drive. I think we should plan a meet up there, Jake.

That would be cool. Don't come anytime soon though, the park has been packed beyond belief lately!

Gerstl, the tower offers amazing views of the park, so I think the seats are perfectly fine the way they are.

Pics are about done, but photobucket killed the amazing quality. I'm going to make them available for download and ya'll can see for yourself if you want.

OK photos are on the first page here, and the rest are on the following link:

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a53/Jakizle/
http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a53/Ja ... %20Update/

I would heavily reccomend waiting until the high quality pics are up!

Ok, click on the pic to view it, and then click again for high quality!