markalan

Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay for the RWW event, but thanks to my 36 rides on Friday, I'm now up to 76 rides on DB. Not sure when I'll be back though, so that will have to last me for a while.

Sorry you didn't have a fun day. I had a blast yesterday. I was there from open til close, and racked up 36 rides on Diamondback (thanks to the single rider line). During the "rain" downtime, just hung out with friends I don't get to see often, and waited for things to open up. Diamondback reopened around 7pm, and it was just flying the rest of the night after the rain. FYI, it wasn't just the rain that closed rides, as they do run some rides in the rain, it was due to lightning in the area that closed everything down for the extended time. It was still lightly raining when Diamondback reopened, and all I can say is WOW! What a ride! I went yesterday because I wasn't going to make it to the RW even this weekend due to prior committments.

As of last Sunday I have 37. 8 on opening day, 11 last Sat, and 18 on Sunday (thanks to SRL). I'll be back on Friday, hoping to break 50. Unfortunately I can't stay for RWW. Other family committments And that will probably be my last trip for a while due to unemployment So I'm trying to get my fix in now.

Great pics and TR. I especially love the one of the family on Fairly Odd Coaster. While some of you may say the Single Rider Line is useless, I'm a fan. Of course it's all luck of the draw as to how fast it moves, and how often odd numbered groups in the regular line show up. There were a few times yesterday when the ride op loading the station pulled two people from the SRL, just to fill seats because the regular line was all large groups. I managed many more rides this weekend than I would have if I had waited in the regular queue. There were a few times when the regular queue got short yesterday that the SRL wasn't worth it, but I hope it continues to be used. If they weren't forcefully assigning seats in the regular line (although it's different depending on who's working crowd control), I might be more inclined to wait in the queue to have a better choice of seats, but until that changes, I'll stick with the single rider line!

Of course it's a gathering of Gold/Platinum pass holders, since that's the only ones that get to experience the ERT. And it's worth every minute that I waited. I'll be doing it again this coming weekend. Can't wait!

I've ridden Goliath, and absolutely loved it. But where Goliath has an abundance of floater air, Diamondback is ejector air. My first ride was in the front and it was ok. But once I got my ride in the back row and got pulled up out of my seat on every drop (even though I was pretty stapled into the seat), it quickly moved up my list. I managed to get 8 rides in all yesterday, including 2 at night, and all I can say is AMAZING. It not only lived up to the hype, but exceeded it!

Julie S. from Youngstown, OH won the Ride with Tony & Tyler contest. It was just posted to Facebook a little while ago.

See the thread Official Opening Day Morning Events. Parking lot opens at 6am. Processing starts at 6am.

1) Avatar 2) TG93 3) VortexJunkie 4) Diamondback FOF 5) Goofywdw 6) Ki4life08 7) Beast1979 8) dare-to-fly 9) The Beast Rider 10) coasterguy15 11) Raptor 12)markhudson17 13)need_for_speed 14)wide_load 15) Bravo4460 16) AgentSoB (at about 5:00 have to freakin work mad.gif ) 17) Amber ( and family ) 18)angrybeaver 19)indianapolisman 20) SOBFOF 21) HTCO(with friends) 22)Phantom Theater! (With a friend) 23) CedarPointer 24)G-Force (In the morning and the evening) 25)Skywriter-Family 26)Justin M17 27) FFEKUdawg4life, i have all day 28)catzdrummer09 29) Andrew 30)rotag1299 31) derek9312 (With girlfriend and maybe family) 32) Pkiruler ( by himself but be there about 6 or 7 p.m to closing.) maybe 33)Phantomtheater (the one who wears shorts in a snowstorm) 34) BoddaH1994 35)Ashers (Ashley) 36)kjkjkj(Kyle, Ashley's brother!) 37)RWildman424 (Starting work around 3:30ish) 38) Beast Man 39) tigellinus (w/ non-enthusiast g/f) 40) markalan (and friends) there were a few missing on the last couple of posts, so I tried to make sure I got them all.

It's been discussed quite a bit in this thread: Another Good Reason To Process Your Pass Early

Also check the official site of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/

That's exactly where the test seat is for Maverick at Cedar Point. And that entrance sign also looks a bit like Maverick's sign (except with the Diamondback logo).

Someone call the "wahmbulance". Some of you wouldn't be happy no matter what they did. Could you do better? What did you expect? It's the ride's logo on a sign. I think it looks great. Can't wait to see it in person.

It officially opens May 22.

It looks like it's running again just fine now.

Looks like it has been topped off. Here's a webcam capture from today.

Great PTR. Glad you enjoyed this park, it's one of my favorite SF parks. I'm also missing SFOG as being the end of my off-season this year. My first trip was in 07 for ACE Spring Fling, and I went back again last year. I love Goliath. It will be nice to have a B&M hyper closer to home!

Agreed. It was nothing special as far as the actual ride, but the fact that it was that high made it thrilling. Now the two new extreme rides are something I don't think I'd try.

Thanks for some awesome photos and video. Is it April 18th yet?

When the track is cold and the wheels are cold it causes the trains to run slower as they reach the crest of the hill. Full trains would be too heavy to make it over, so that's why they only run with limited seats open when the ride first opens in the morning during the cold days near the end of the season. Once the trains run for a while, the wheels and track start to warm up and make it easier for the trains to make it over.

On Top Thrill Dragster, the last few rows are not filled when it is cold or windy, to make sure the train does make it over the hill. As the ride warms up, they continue to fill additional rows until they're running full trains. On other rides, there a number of factors as to why certain rows are left empty. It's usually at the beginning of the day, and usually when it's cold or windy. It's certainly not to make the lines longer on purpose for those waiting to ride.

The webcam is working fine for me, and it's showing that one of the white cranes has now moved over to the area where the final piece of track will be installed.

Hmmm..I didnt' know that Gemini and CCMR were woodies. The track is tubular steel, and is not being retracked.

Sweet as suger, and smooth as butter (it's a GCI)

Nice captions Nemo, but Brandon's park is getting more than just sugar. They're getting a Prowler!