Opening Weekend 2008

[Millennium Force 44]

Opening weekend was awesome. It was great to get back to the park and see many familiar park employees. The weather on Saturday was unbelieveable. The forecast was 100% rain in the morning, but it turned out being a beautiful day. The staff was extremely friendly and the ride operations were smooth for the most part.

Here is my coaster count:

Saturday April 5th
El Toro x5
Kingda Ka x2
Medusa x3
Batman: The Ride x4
Nitro x3
Scream Machine x2
Superman: Ultimate Flight x1
Runaway Mine Train x1
Rolling Thunder (right side) x1
Skull Mountain x2
Black Beard's Lost Treasure Train x1

-rode in the last row of El Toro on the first train to leave the station for the season
-front row on Medusa

Sunday April 6th
El Toro x11
Medusa x1
Batman: The Ride x1
Nitro x4
Scream Machine x1
Superman: Ultimate Flight x1

-beat my previous record of 10 for the number of El Toro rides in one day
-front row on El Toro, Nitro, and the Scream Machine



Here I am anxiously waiting for the gates to open.


Some cool shots of the Scream Machine




No more Space Shuttle


Fly Me To The Moon. Enough said.


NITRO!



El Toro's lift hill. The train is still slowed down at the crest.


I had to take a picture of Black Beard's Lost Treasure Train because i don't believe I have one yet.


The empty midway from the Skyway


The Scream Machine from the Skyway


This picture reminds me of Viper at Six Flags Magic Mountain


One of the few flats


Superman



I thought this picture of Superman would be a really cool desktop background


Thanks to my friend for taking this picture- I am actually sitting in the front row.


Medusa


Rolling Thunder


Kingda Ka was running 2 trains on Saturday


I will leave everyone with a few shots of El Toro





Thanks for reading.

[PcMan]

Nice report and pics
I missed the whole weekend and looks like not many people there

[coastersue]

Geez, it looks like no one is even on Rolling Thunder in that picture.  Was that on Sunday?

[Millennium Force 44]

No, that picture of Rolling Thunder is from Saturday.

[Bubba Z]

Geez, it looks like no one is even on Rolling Thunder in that picture.  Was that on Sunday?

Sue, it went by us 6 times like that. The 7th time was just you and Rich! lol.

[GADVwow]

Well, it was the yellow train, which was playing a game of getting stuck on the lift hill.  By Sunday, it had been sidetracked, quite literally. . .

[CycloneMan]

Great photos Matt. I was there Sunday the whole day, and got to ride everything, except for Medusa and SUF. I had no idea you'd be there on Sunday, if I knew I would have tried to meet up at some point.

-Dainan "But I stayed in hiding " Rafferty

[coastersue]

Sue, it went by us 6 times like that. The 7th time was just you and Rich! lol.

We didn't have any solo rides.  In fact, we only rode it 5 times on Saturday.  We're planning to head back this weekend to rectify that.  

[coastermom]

I am hopeful that the weather for this Saturday changes Sue. We are going to try to get back down there too.

[Bubba Z]

Are you sure?  I only saw you and Rich (in the front row) on the green train at one point, oh Well, I could be wrong.

[coastersue]

I am hopeful that the weather for this Saturday changes Sue. We are going to try to get back down there too.

We're more aiming for Sunday ourselves, but we could do either day if we have to.  Whichever day looks to be the best for keeping crowds away will be the day we'll go. 

Are you sure?  I only saw you and Rich (in the front row) on the green train at one point, oh Well, I could be wrong.

I can definitely say that wasn't us because all of our rides were on the yellow train.  We didn't get a chance to ride the green train.

[WadeJ]

Bubba, have you ridden both the green and yellow train now?  If so was the yellow as good?

[coastermom]

Sundays are too busy here we have to go Saturdays ..

Hey I hav to say Fly me to the Moon had me really missing the little yellow sponge . I would have taken anyother show but that was pretty bad. When we went on Saturday it was a little out of focus ... Yes I had my glasses on and yes it was still a little off .... Anyone else even like it? There were people in the theater chanting BRING BACK SPONGE BOB after it ended. I wonder if they will change it again if the ride doesn't have enough riders after a year of running in compared to other movies they have had.

[Bubba Z]

Bubba, have you ridden both the green and yellow train now?  If so was the yellow as good?

Nope,  just the green train with you.   

[Robert T Ackerman]

Nice pics sir. I'm surprised we missed each other. Next time you go and we're going, you'll have to let us know!

11 rides on Toro seems like a nice accomplishment too.

[coastersue]

Now I'm curious if the green train is giving better rides than the yellow.  I wouldn't really say I noticed much difference riding the yellow train--it was as good as it's always been in my mind.  Hopefully the green train will be running tomorrow and we'll get a chance to ride that one.

[PcMan]

Who's going to the park tomorrow ?
I may try to get there

[coastersue]

We'll be there at opening and staying for a couple hours only.  I'm sure you know where to find us, Tom. 

[darkridedan]

Now I'm curious if the green train is giving better rides than the yellow.  I wouldn't really say I noticed much difference riding the yellow train--it was as good as it's always been in my mind.  Hopefully the green train will be running tomorrow and we'll get a chance to ride that one.

Maybe it's something in the Kool Aid. 

[Ogolo]

Bubba, have you ridden both the green and yellow train now?  If so was the yellow as good?

I got a ride on Yellow on my short trip this morning before the storms rolled in.
Yes it was as good as the green train.
Now they just have to open the left side!

The Dark Knight is starting to take shape. (Sorry no pictures)
The outside are of the preshow area has a new facade.

They also had park wide announcments to let you know the rides were closed for the storms.
Did they ever do that before?

[rjholla2003]

Yes. but it was nowhere NEAR AS LOUD! haha

[coastermom]

Bubba, have you ridden both the green and yellow train now?  If so was the yellow as good?

I got a ride on Yellow on my short trip this morning before the storms rolled in.
Yes it was as good as the green train.
Now they just have to open the left side!

The Dark Knight is starting to take shape. (Sorry no pictures)
The outside are of the preshow area has a new facade.

They also had park wide announcments to let you know the rides were closed for the storms.
Did they ever do that before?

The announcements were great and kept everyone informed . I do have to say the only downer about Saturday this weekend was that KK had issues as well as it being down for the rain. By the time it got really going we were on our way out it was about 7 or even after that . We tried to get on 3 different times during the day. I heard MANY people complaining about the lockers and the new Cup system. The only issue with the cups now is that the new workers have to get use to looking for the year on the cups. I had to explain to one guy that you didn't need a wrist band to refill it all season .  We did have a great trip on SM . It was down due to the storm and then it opened and we got to re-ride there was NO LINE . Two trips around and i didn't even have to get up .

Not a bad day .  NOt a great day either . One thing I did notice people  were stashing their stuff in the bushes next to ET just outside of RT by the drink stand there . It is not a smart thing to do but I seen two seperate people do it . i am thinking they really don't want to pay the buck for the locker . Also here is something funny now not too many people winning big prizes as now there is no where to leave them if you win them. They don't fit in lockers and you can't leae them in the station . This is going to be an issue now too .

[coastersue]

We had a chance to ride RT's green train today and it seemed the same as the yellow train to us.  Unfortunately, we didn't get many RT rides since the crew up there was so slow that they might as well have been going backwards.  We rode 6 times without leaving the station and it took 50 minutes to get those 6 rides!

I wish the B:TR crew could teach the RT crew how to dispatch a train.  The 2 girls checking the restraints on Batman were amazingly fast.  It's rare for Batman not to stack, but they managed to get the trains out with only a quick stop in the brakes.

The crew on Nitro was also doing a great job.  In our 12 rides, there was only one time where we didn't advance right into the station without stopping.

[Millennium Force 44]

Yes, the Batman crew is doing great this year. They are quicker then ever.

[darkridedan]

Nice TRs. The new cup rule was in effect for years. Sorry to hear about RT again. John and James from last year's crew were great last week. Batman's crew was good last week too.  I too wonder  what guests will do with stuffed prizes if they dont utelize package pickup.