jcgoble3's Opening Day Trip Report

[jcgoble3]

Last year, I didn't get up to the metal detectors until almost 9:00 and was well back in line, so this year I had two new strategies to get first train of the year. The first was to leave Xenia a half-hour earlier, and the second was to go to Invertigo first instead of Diamondback, figuring that most would go to DB and thus I would have a better chance at scoring first train.

I arrived at the gate in front of the toll booth at 8:15, and they let us in at 8:25. After parking, I jogged up to the ropes in front of the turnstiles and was about sixth in my line. From there I waited until I saw employees come out and supervisors begin assigning them to turnstiles. Now, there was a rope between the restrooms and the first pillar that nobody was lined up at. I saw them assign employees to those turnstiles and immediately jumped over there to form a new line. I ended up being the first one through that rope.

I took off on a light jog toward Invertigo, turned my head to look behind me, and there was literally nobody following me. I flashed my pass at the gold pass entrance, and the lady there told me to walk. So I fast-walked the rest of the way to Invertigo. When I got there, the entrance was blocked by trash cans. I got the attention of a ride operator, who told me to go on in. I pointed out that the entrance was blocked, so he came out the Fast Lane entrance and ambled over there to move the trash cans. I walked up to the station and into the front seat (forward first), my preferred seat. I had trouble getting the seat belt to release, but finally got it loose and sat down. I go into all this detail to point out that even with the fact that I wasn't moving very fast, the delay at the entrance, and the trouble with the seat belt, I was seated with my seat belt buckled before anyone else even got to the station. So I easily claimed first rider of the year on Invertigo.

After that I rode DB, after which I ran into Gator. Neither of us recognized the other at first, even though we've met twice before, but we eventually figured it out. After that, I headed back into Action Zone to try to get first train on Flight Deck. When the rope was dropped, I was the first one back there, only to discover that it was down. I wandered up toward Coney Mall and discovered that The Racer was down but about to open. I got in line and claimed first blue train of the year in the second row.

After that, I got my ride on Flight Deck (it was open by the time I got off The Racer) and took a lap on the train. I also tried out one of the new cheesesteaks. It was $8 and change ($8.69, I think) for the cheesesteak and chips; I ordered it without the chips and paid less. They come with onions and peppers, but I ordered it without those. The cheesesteaks are made to order, so I had to wait for a couple minutes to get it. It tasted good; while I've had better, it takes a truly awful one for me to not like a cheesesteak. I give it a B+.

About this time, it began raining. Diamondback went down with mechanical problems, so I went back to The Beast only to find them herding people out the entrance. A ride op there told me they were going down due to lightning. I tried BLSC, thinking that it might still be open because it wasn't as tall, but no dice. I started to get in line for Shake, Rattle, and Roll, but thought better of it and opted to take cover in one of the arcades in Coney Mall. Good thing I did: right as a came up to it, there was a big flash of lightning and the rain started coming down.

After waiting out the storm and blowing $5 worth of tokens, I went back to The Beast. They got the all-clear a few minutes later and re-opened the line. The station was very crowded; while there was a separator, he made absolutely no attempt to control the flow of people into the station, and so it was Packed with a capital P. After riding that, I walked around a little bit and decided lines were a bit too long for my taste, so I walked out to my car and got my camera. I bought a brand-new Nikon Coolpix L120 last month, with 14 megapixels, 21× zoom and 720p HD video capability, and this was my first real chance to put it to work. I ended up snapping about 80 photos and about 5 minutes of video. Some of my favorite photos are below. The full album of photos is here. The videos will be uploaded to YouTube tomorrow or Tuesday.

Repainted slides in Soak City:


The Flight of Fear fort is still Fort Kinzel.


A duck or goose (I can never tell them apart) sitting on a fountain in Coney Mall, with the area around it closed off and another duck/goose prowling the ground below it. I can only assume she's protecting a nest.


Invertigo in all of its repainted glory:

[bkroz]

Very nice pictures! I'm wondering... Is there a new sign for Invertigo, or is it still red and yellow?

Also, what if anything is blocking the Crypt? Any signs out front advertising a new Haunt? Or just an empty cave mouth with the line blocked by trash cans and no sign out front?

[coasterfanatic83]

No, the sign is still red and yellow. Which looked quite awkward... And I believe there was a photobooth in front of the Crypt entry.

[Jasper]

Very nice pictures! I'm wondering... Is there a new sign for Invertigo, or is it still red and yellow?

Also, what if anything is blocking the Crypt? Any signs out front advertising a new Haunt? Or just an empty cave mouth with the line blocked by trash cans and no sign out front?

I noticed the red and yellow sign myself, kind of sticks out, so does the new Fast Lane system that goes directly through the boomerang and into the station.

As for the Crypt, doors are closed to the ride, blanket type cover thrown over the ride logo, ride sign torn down, a couple of trees in pots and a photo booth out in front and not any trace of what is coming up for Haunt.

[bkroz]

Cool, thanks guys!

[standbyme]

Thanks for sharing your report...and the pictures!

(The goose "incident" is interesting...I applaud the park for their consideration.)

[The Interpreter]

If you mean the fence, I believe that has been there for years.

[standbyme]

^If you look at Jonathan's photo you will also see a temporary fence.

[The Interpreter]

Hard to see on an iPhone!

Terp, who some day, perhaps soon, will find a more permanent nest near a district.

(oh, the metal crowd control device)

[jcgoble3]

Yeah, they had temporary fences blocking access to the area around the fountain from all four sides. As standbyme said, the park should be applauded for their consideration.

Thanks for reading, everyone, and thanks for the likes, Terpy and ziplock!

[BB1]

Good TR simialar to mine, now the lady said to not run? Where does that sound familar? Hmmmmm. By the way, thanks for getting DUT pics of the slides, didnt get the photos i wanted of BB rebranding.

[jcgoble3]

No problem. I had to take a second lap on the train to get those shots because they were only visible for a few seconds and I missed them the first time around. As for not running, I probably could have walked all the way from the gate to Invertigo and still been first. That said, I wonder if they made any attempt to slow down the people running to Diamondback and if so, whether anybody there listened.

[jcgoble3]

Videos are uploading now. Here's the two that are done:

Diamondback's transfer track:

Diamondback in action:

The other two videos are of Flight of Fear's station and Drop Tower. Those are still uploading and will be posted here when they are done.

[jcgoble3]

And the final two videos finished faster than I thought they would.

Flight of Fear's station:

Drop Tower:

[BB1]

Man i was expecting something better than that for the opening of FoF... Still great videos, thanks!

[The Interpreter]

A thread well worth bumping.

Especially now.

[jcgoble3]

I was just going through all of my trip reports about two hours before you bumped this.

 

Though I do have to wonder precisely what prompted you to bump it. Your bumps often have some hidden meaning that nobody figures out until much later...

[malem]

Many would have been very glad to wait "a couple minutes" to get food on Opening Day this year.

And Goble being told not to run in the park?! Nowadays, he'd be doing the telling.

How things change.

[marth555]

4 years later and they still haven't changed the sign