silver2005

I live in a cul-de-sac near a lot of woods, and for about every leaf I see on trees, there's a cicada attached. They're swarming like angry (or some other adjective that's against the TOS) bees here on the west side. Its also loud enough to where you can't hear yourself think.

The members of the RCB are about as pro as you can get. I know one of the trumpet players (who essentially put the band together), and he's played occasionally with the Cincinnati Pops, including solo work with Aretha Franklin when she performed with them a while back. He also works with the UC Band. He's one of the best trumpet players you'll see perform live. Wouldn't expect anything less. Looking forward to hearing them on my next visit. Also, I would LOVE to perform with them.

^Does that make @VortexBFForever the official keeper of the 11th Commandment?

The nature of this thread ad infinitum.

Is it rational to be nervous about CF as a whole right now? Between the events last Saturday at KI, the disaster going on at Sandusky, and the negligence I see with how they're running KD, I am starting to feel that way.

^I saw a lot of training on the spot on about every ride, too. I think it's more new employees getting used to the job. I also don't get why some rides have you check your own restraints while others have the ops do it, also a factor in stackings (mostly on Bat, Racer and AE from what I saw).

Call me crazy, but I like the rattle. I feel DB is running a bit more aggressively this season, in a good way.

Trip is all booked. Got decent hotels in my price range right next to Carowinds and right on the Pigeon Forge strip. Hitting Carowinds on a Monday, Dollywood on a Thursday. Going July 11-17. EDIT: Routing is very convenient- there is one route I can take to Carowinds that goes by Gatlinburg. Makes navigation easy.

^But the roof of the station? That's where the buckets, tarps, cones and flags, and pulley were located. The wood in the dumpster appeared to be mostly poles and some of the plywood. More of the grey plywood was sitting next to the dumpster and a pile was also seen under Bat's brakerun. I would check the SOB station for missing Wolfpack bits though.

Part of me thinks all that was a little planned a bit given the scale of it all.

I think they were potentially staving off an incident today as I saw 6 Mason PD units outside the front gate (the walk in gate). I think that's a little more than the usual Mason presence at the park around closing.

A few notes from today- - LOVE the TLC they did to Adventure Express. The tunnels being brought back to life, especially the last one, is a great refreshing touch. Also love the Tomb Raider music in the station. Loved that music building up the ride back in the day. - Spotted signs of potential painting and other things going on at Bat, cones with flags on top of the station along with brown and white tarps along with buckets and even a pulley. Also a dumpster with wood and plywood panels around underneath the station and brake run, plywood was grey (from Wolfpack or Blackout maybe?) - Heat made all the steel coasters haul a** today -Impressed with the staff overall for being this early in the season, glad I didn't let last night deter me from going, had a good day

45-60 minutes is about par for the course on waits today. Food lines look long but are moving well.

Daily operations can't get here soon enough.

Might be a tad crowded today. Nothing out of the ordinary. EDIT- Orion is at about an hour wait.

I think I'm going to book on my next off days. Still have to wait on Dollywood's calendar to reach the days I want to reserve. I didn't expect to find hotels in my price range right in the thick of PF and Gatlinburg. Will definitely have some extra money to splurge a bit. Also, reminder to future self- get Dollywood's cinnamon bread. EDIT: I'm also crossing my fingers regarding Carowinds in hopes they're not in as bad a spot as CP is right now.

Could be they're dropping the reservation system altogether.

Early in its life, I feel I expected Delirium to be down for a lengthy period at least once a year, or at least, that's what it seemed to me.

^Doesn't CF have a similar sign for Delirium now? I always hate to see it down. Tis my current favorite non-coaster ride at KI.

The thing that gets me about walking by the site is not only the loss of the massive structure and the ride in action, but that area of the park feels eerily quiet now.

Banshee has Raptor-itis, whereas Banshee will be crowded early in the day and not be later in the day, much like Raptor and GateKeeper.

Well, I was entertaining a short CP trip this season, but not so much anymore.

^Probably, but the current issue is they aren't offering reservations to the dates I want yet. I'm going in mid-July and their reservations only go through June. I'll probably pounce on the day(s) I want when they become available though. I'm also planning on bringing a decent camera as well, particularly for the day I spend in GSMNP. Going to try and get some decent trail walking in. If anyone had to narrow down 2-3 alpine coasters, which are the ones to go with?

So apparently, I have to wait to reserve a date for Dollywood since they only go a month or so. Carowinds I can reserve anytime. Kinda sucks with the former since, with me being in the area 3 days, I would like some flexibility due to weather (I understand why I can't though). Glad I'm likely going in the middle of the week at least. At least I'm finding decent hotels in my price range on the G-burg strip.

To me, coasters are a form of art that, as previously stated, is subjective, like music, movies, paintings and sculptures. It's an art form that involves the sense of touch and our nervous systems are all wired differently. Enthusiasts need to heed that when learning of others' perspective when giving opinions and need to know the difference between opinions and facts. It's a lovely community when that comes together. Unfortunately, the more obnoxious ones such as the Intamin fanboys ruin conversations. As I've said on another thread, I've yet to meet a huge fan of Intamin who wasn't obnoxious and they always use the same talking points. It's a weird cycle.