Board index Theme Park Discussions Theme Park Trip Reports Jimmy's Continuous Trip Reports

Jimmy's Continuous Trip Reports

Visited a theme park and have a wild time?!? Post your trip report here and tell us all about it!

Post August 10th, 2005, 2:06 pm

Posts: 891
Points on hand: 2,510.00 Points
Location: Highland, Illinois, USA

Wow, what a week. I'll start with St. Louis on Wednesday.

It was my friend Jon and me for the day. He went back to Germany for school on Friday so we decided to get in one more Six Flags trip. We got to the park at about 10:30 and after checking in, ran straight to Boss. It was closed... I found out later that night that some of the wood tracking was cracked and had to be replaced. We then ran to Freeze and being a Wednesday, walked right on. I think we got 4th car that time. Anyways, it was a great ride and after getting off and getting some video of it, jumped right back on.

Mr. Freeze 7/10

This coaster is really nice with the lap restraints and hangtime on the top hat and spike. The overbank doesn't do much for me but I guess it has to be there. The launch isn't real powerful but its better than a lift. I wish it was open more and not a closed tunnel. I have no feeling of speed in it.

Next we headed back to Boss because we had seen it running....with people. The line was non-existent and we picked back. You only have to ride Boss once in back and you'll never ride it anywhere else. The airtime on EVERY hill is ejector and amazing.

The Boss 8/10

Most people say this ride is horrible and way too bumpy. Well, there wrong about the first half. Its very bumpy and painful. I can only ride it twice in a row. After that, I'm bent over walking and gasping for breath. Its a pretty ride to look at though and the layout is great. I love how the track comes together at one place in that little ravine. The drops are actually smooth, its the end helix that tears you up.

After doing Boss one more time, we headed over to Eagle. A nice ride for Allen's last but I think its lost some of its thrill.

Screamin Eagle 6/10

This ride is fun but its almost boring. I'd say theres NO negative air. Its not rough because its got no lats but for being built 20 years ago, its great. A nice and entertaining out-and-back. They've rebuilt the last strech of track with new wood so its real nice.

Working our way around the park we hit Ninja next. My favorite Arrow. The line was a walk-on and we hit the back row.

The Ninja 9/10

What a great ride. Its not fast or high but it makes up with lots of inversions and fast pacing. The back is by far the best seat. Air in the back on the first drop, neat seeing the first car above you in the loop and in my case, greying out between the loop and immelman so that when I can see again, the chain-return is right in my face. Great feeling. The corkscrews are nice though the entrance hurts, and the helix is fast and low. A great ride all-in-all.

With Ninja down, walked to a resteraunt to grab some pizza. Sat for awhile trying to get rid of our naseua and talking about Germany and coasters and Nirvana. After filling out gut, we walked onto Batman with no line at all. In fact, we didnt stop walking until we sat in our seats in the 3rd row.

Batman: The Ride 7/10

I personally don't like the ride for its roughness and fact that you can't see **** unless your in the front row. I grey out every time on the first drop and loop, so I don't like that either. The ride is very fast paced and the wingovers and ground-cutting turns are intense. Nice compact ride that I don't like that much.

Well, After riding that 3 or 4 times in a row, we hit some of our favorites again; Boss, Freeze, and Ninja. Got in a total of 13 coasters that day. Great day, left at 7:00pm so Jon could catch his flight to Germany.


Well, I had one day between SFStl and SFGAm so Thursday I went boating. Great fun on the kneeboard and wakeboard. Finally got my barrel-roll down on the kneeboard and jumped the wake 4 times in a row! Took me all summer but I got it.


On Saturday, my aunt, cousin, and myself got in our car and started the 5 hour drive to Gurnee, IL, AKA, SFGAm. We left at 3:30am and got there at 10:00am. We headed for Deja Vu and waited for the park to let people in. After running to beat the crowd to Vu, we jumped on the only walk-on for the 2 days we were there. Good thing we got on though cause later that day, it broke down. Didn't open the rest of the time we were there.

Deja Vu 9/10

A great ride, the hang-time on the first spike is awesome and the cobra roll is suprisingly smooth. I greyed out on the valley into the loop so I didn't get to see those footchoppers from the station but the loop was great. The return run is rougher and more painful but still a thrilling ride.

Getting off Vu, we ran to Bull. About a half hour line was acceptable and we got in the back row.

Raging Bull 10/10

Amazing ride. Back row is the only good ride on it though. The first drop is sooo awesome. Ejector air all the way down. I'm not a fan of tunnels but this one was great. Every hill has ejector air so I can't complain about the trims. The figure-8 helices are nice for me because I don't grey out on them! A great ride during the day, twice as good at night.

Viper was next on our list so we waited out the 20 minute line.

Viper 9/10

A great cyclone, Viper isn't fast or tall but man is it twisted. Amazing headchoppers and supports flying everywhere all around you. I can't stress enough how many headchoppers there are. Great ride, and not rough at all.

Superman was next on line so we headed over and stood in the 2 hour line. The ride is worth it though. Simply amazing.

Superman: Ultimate Flight 10/10

This ride is not real intense but it is extremely thrilling. The pretzel loop is now my favorite element. The feeling is so odd. You have to ride in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd car because in the little hill just before the loop, you get a pop of air that is so cool when you hit the loop itself. Another thing about this ride is the supports that are such good head, foot, hand, everything choppers. They feel like there right there!

Working our way around the park, we saw that V2 was down. Apparently a burnt LIM or 2. We hit Iron a couple times in a row with 1 hour waits.

Iron Wolf 4/10

Stand-ups are just as intense as sitdowns in my mind. The first time you ride it, its neat but the rest is painful, bumpy, jerky and just plain ****ed up. I hate this ride with a burning passion. Nothing I like about it other than the end brake run. The Corkscrew is worse than an Arrow cork!

Being beat by the wolf, we limped over to American Eagle. A great racer, that doesn't really race. We did both sides front and back.

American Eagle 8/10

A monstrous out-and-back woodie that is fast, tall, and intense. The drop going backwards feels like it never ends and the huge helix is not even a racing one but its still fun. Great floater air and monster hills.

Well, thats all the coasters that we did, Demon isn't worth the wait and is not a fun ride anyways, and Ragin Cajun had a long line since its a family ride. We did several re-runs of the coasters and got in 15 total, 5 alone being Bull. SFGAm is a great park with great theming and music. Lots of sideshows and rides to choose from. A great variety of coasters too. Even the woodies are completely different. Huge crowds, first day we got in 8 coasters in 12 hours. On Sunday we got in 7 in 6 hours. Doesn't add up to me. LOL!

Next week, Six Flags St. Louis (again), Six Flags Over Texas, and Cedar Point!!!

Pics of SFGAm that I took, expect a vid on rollercoasterpro and weeweeslap and maybe here if they take it, soon.

http://img322.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 6059ep.jpg

http://img125.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 5742if.jpg

http://img322.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... nce8us.jpg

http://img322.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fulllot2dn.jpg

http://img322.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... iew6dl.jpg

http://img322.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... ank8vt.jpg

http://img322.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... oop5rz.jpg

http://img322.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... own7si.jpg

http://img322.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... own1ny.jpg
Last edited by jimths08 on August 22nd, 2005, 12:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Post August 22nd, 2005, 3:51 am

Posts: 891
Points on hand: 2,510.00 Points
Location: Highland, Illinois, USA

Well, once again we went this weekend to SFStl. Did it on Sunday. We got to the park at 10:00am after stopping at Steak n' Shake for some lunch. It was my aunt, cousin and myself as usual. We went through the gates and went straight to Boss. It was a beutiful day and we weren't expecting many crowds. We were right about the crowds, the most crowded it got was just after Hurrican Harbor closed. We did Boss in the back once, then got out and hit the front. I figured out that Boss insn't completely tunnel tested. I can touch most of the supports in the double down and the hill up into the MCBR. I guess its logical to keep my hands in the car but it was more laterals than myself. Back again twice, then 1:2. After that run, the 5th, my stomach was cramping up but I figured I could handle one more run. I was almost wrong. Back row, first drop was fine, but as soon as we got some laterals, my stomach was completely twisted. With 4000' left to go, I just held on for dear life. The helix came and went and I was actually happy to see the end brake run. For the first time in my life, I thought I was going to get sick on a coaster. It was overwhelming. I was hunchback down the exit and all the way to Mr. Freeze. It also was a walk-on which almost upset me being I hadn't recovered from Boss yet. We clambered into the back row and I got out the camera to take some pics. Great ride with powerful gs and a great tophat. The ride did me fine and I got off feeling great.



Walking down the exit, my cousin realized he didn't have his wallet, being the 13 year old he is. It was lost on Boss with his coupon book, and $18. I decided to stay and take pics of Freeze while they went back to Boss to look for it. 15 minutes later they showed back up w/o a wallet. Slightly depressed we headed for Ninja. Headbanging and pain while I took pics was the story. I got a real nice picture of the chain return/amazing headchopper though. Getting off of that more grouchy than we got on, we headed for Batman. It was a walk-on to the back. Surprisingly, the back is the least powerful row on the ride. With the front being the most powerful. A nice ride that lasted as long as i can hold my breath. They headed over to Joker while I snappedshotted Batman. Joker is one of those things that is like a boat that swings you back and forth with lots of weightlessness. Sorry that I don't know what its called.



Deciding they were hungry, we walked over to a little 50's diner and had a late lunch. Being done with that, my aunt decided to go into Hurricane Harbor. Me and Keith, my cousin, decided to stay in the park. We headed over to Freeze. The line was the longest we'd seen all day at about 30 minutes. Searching for water bottles in the queue on the way there, we got in line. Half an hour later we were in the front seat with my cousin holding an empty water bottle in his hand and my holding my camera. We launched and speed into the tophat and overbank. Going into the spike I yelled "UP" and Keith held up the water bottle. Pushed up the spike by the LIMs, we hit the weightlessness and I yelled "GO." He let the bottle go and we watched in awe as it floated there for a second before plumenting 200'. We saw it hit the track and supports on the way down before hitting the ground in a head around 6 or 7 other bottles from yours truly. I guess most would consider doing this imature but originally it was done by me to see how long the weightlessness lasted. I didn't grip the bottle soon enough and we went down while the bottle went up. Since then, I don't ride Freeze w/o grabbing a bottle.



Getting off Freeze, we headed over to Boss for 2 more runs on it. A front run that was fun and smooth and a back run that made me feel as if I needed to have my organs checked. I've found that the rows between 1:1 and 6:2 do alot of vertical vibrations that really hurt. If your going to ride Boss do the very front or the very back. After Boss, we met back up with Gail, my aunt, at Screamin Eagle. The ride was shut down for 15 minutes and she didn't want to do anymore coasters so she went to the car and we went to do the Mine Train once again, Ninja again, and Batman twice. One the Mine Train, Keith asked me what it was like to ride w/o the lapbar. I told him that most ppl think its fun and exciting in thought but once they do it, its hell. Not abiding by me, he slipped out of the lapbar and rode the entire ride un-restrained. Very stupid. For one thing we were in the back which gets a pop of air on a dive hill into a tunnel. He got off the ride shaking and yelling at me for not lecturing him enough...



After Ninja and Batman we met once again with Gail and decided to do one last coaster, Boss. We did the middle train and I was very very worried about it. I almost didn't even ride. The vertical vibrations were killer. I was cramping by the 2nd drop. 3500' to go I told myself. Exciting the park, I bought a neat shirt and cup, and we went out to the truck. I was out before we got out of the parking lot and slept all 30 minutes home. Gail and Keith still had a 2 hour drive ahead of them.


Big turns and lots of lats. Makes you drool for your first 3 rides, after that, its torture.

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 7420wh.jpg

Here's the 4th big drop. Horrible vibrations.

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 7523ay.jpg

Awesome pic from the spike of Freeze, the clouds look so cool.

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 7573ye.jpg

4.8 gs in the front car right here. Very hard to keep your hands up.

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 7694vt.jpg

A zero-g-roll that isn't.

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 7849ea.jpg

Wingover, I think its odd how at the top of these inversions on B&M inverts it jerks real hard.

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 7889bg.jpg

Same wingover.

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 7915te.jpg

I love the heartlining on these things...

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 8028mx.jpg

Yet another great Arrow transition.

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 8087wy.jpg

Is this tunnel tested? I think not. Can't reach anyways with the harness.

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 8129fp.jpg

Some people have said that the headchopper on this ride is barely noticeable, this is not a front seat picture yet its within 3 feet of it. Tell me thats not an awesome headchopper? Note that its not the track in the upper part of the picture, its the chain in the bottom sliver.

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 8205vh.jpg

A Boss dominated background.

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 8301bb.jpg

The best tophat I've ever experienced.

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 8284fw.jpg

In this pic you can see one of Freeze's great headchoppers. Its the support beam on the left side of the picture that looks like it crosses over the track. I am within 4 inches of touching it. When I hold up a bottle, it hits.

http://img381.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 8378pn.jpg

And here is the pic of the weightless bottle. I've got a video of it in action too. I'll post a link when it gets online.

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 8395kl.jpg

Awesome pic of the launch. This is one of the only times I'm glad my shutter w/o flash is slow.

http://img381.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 8414ix.jpg

Here you can see a neat effect I did. I made the train mostly in focus while the ground and scenery is blurred. Looks awesome.

http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 8429kd.jpg

This is Boss's famed rib-cracking 540 deg helix. If you look at the logo on the train I think that the movement is lateral, not forward...

http://img381.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 8455jl.jpg

Post August 22nd, 2005, 6:00 am

Posts: 2171
Points on hand: 1,469.00 Points
Location: La Verne, CA, USA
WOW, top notch pics there. AMAZING quality, sounds like you had a blast.

Post August 22nd, 2005, 11:04 am

Posts: 5852
Points on hand: 5,806.00 Points
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Great trip reports and pictures!
Sounds like you had a great time except for your cousin losing his wallet. Though, I'm not surprised that they didn't find it after 15 minutes of looking. That coaster is monstrous [lol]

Are you still going to SFOT and CP? If so, have fun! SFOT looks like a cool park with a great variety of coasters.

Holy crap!! - http://img322.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fulllot2dn.jpg

Hmm, I think some of these pictures are the ones you sent me, but could I use some of the others? The one of Demon going through the loop is pretty nice.

Post August 22nd, 2005, 11:57 am

Posts: 891
Points on hand: 2,510.00 Points
Location: Highland, Illinois, USA

Yea, I'm still going to SFOT thanksgiving weekend and CP sometime during Halloweekends. Use any of the pics you want. Just PM when you get them up.

Post August 22nd, 2005, 5:30 pm

Posts: 434
Points on hand: 664.00 Points
Wow, I thought I was the only person to grey out on every ride that has inversions!
It sounds like you had a great trip. I have been on SUF at SFOG, and I also noticed the cool feeling you get right at the top of the pretzel. It just feels so awesome to be pushed back into your seat when you are still at the top of the loop, facing the ground. That is probably one of the best moments on any coaster I have ridden.

Post August 22nd, 2005, 5:49 pm

Posts: 891
Points on hand: 2,510.00 Points
Location: Highland, Illinois, USA

I hear ya. Great feeling. Its so odd, the first time I rode, I wasn't expecting it and it actually scared me!

Thanks for all the pro comments everybody!

Post August 22nd, 2005, 6:19 pm

Posts: 243
Points on hand: 200.00 Points
Location: Lancaster, pa, USA

I am glad that you enjoyed your trip to the six flags parks. I like the picters that you have put up on the forms I like the mr freze picters it looks like a fun ride. I am sorry that your bother lost his walt it sounds like you had a good time da va looks relly high and instese I have seen a superman ulmite fligt ride at six flags great adventure I din'nt ride it becuse I don'nt like laydown on a coaster my sister rode the ride I just watched it.

Post August 22nd, 2005, 6:46 pm

Posts: 891
Points on hand: 2,510.00 Points
Location: Highland, Illinois, USA

Yes, SUF is one of those coaster where you either love it or hate it.

Mr. Freeze is a fun ride though its not my favorite launch. Its not real powerful and its an enclosed lauch so theres no sense of speed. the top hat is really the best part with the weightlessness and 2 huge support head choppers.

Post March 3rd, 2009, 11:44 pm

Posts: 2046
Points on hand: 3,043.00 Points
Location: USA

huh, personally, i hate ninja, it gives me such a headache and there's no real thrill to it, unless you love inversions. and i think batman is a really smooth ride, yea on the zero-g it does pull you kind of hard, but i like it that way.

Post March 7th, 2009, 10:58 pm

Posts: 836
Points on hand: 3,207.00 Points
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Screamin Eagle 6/10

This ride is fun but its almost boring. I'd say theres NO negative air. Its not rough because its got no lats but for being built 20 years ago, its great. A nice and entertaining out-and-back. They've rebuilt the last strech of track with new wood so its real nice.


I'm doing a recreation of the original version of this ride, and using my research I want to clear up the ride's name a little:

1. The ride used to be run with heavier 3-bench PTC cars that had a single buzzbar and no dividers in between seats. So the ride paced a little faster, and airtime was more noticeable as the lap bars were not holding you down.

2. From 1976-1990, all of the turns (besides the swoop) were barely banked at all, and had no leadins. According to people I have talked to who rode the ride in its better days, the trains would "slam you into the side of the car."

Then for the 1990 season they added new 4-bench trains and banked the turns to minimize lats. They also flattened a unique double-up in front of the last turn that "lifted the train off of the tracks," or in other words gave a great pop of airtime (similar to the one on left side of this.) Knowing Six Flags, this was probably so they could spend less money re-tracking and maintaining the ride.

Post April 8th, 2009, 12:58 am

Posts: 10
Points on hand: 1,277.00 Points


Return to Theme Park Trip Reports

 


  • Related topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post