TR:Went to Great America today. Beautiful day out in the 70's. We headed to Superman first, and got there by 9:40. We were waiting right in front of Condor, and by 10:00 the line had stretched all the way back to the Columbia Carousel. Well, Superman did not open on time.. Some people got impatient and left the line. One thing that would have been nice is if a staff member - even if they couldn't really say when it would be open - go through the line and advise everyone about how S:UF might not be open for awhile. Basically, everyone was expecting it to open "any minute" up until 10:15, but it took till 10:45 for the ride to finally open. On to the rides....S:UFWent on this plenty of times at the ERT, and I waited for the front today. Two of the people I were with hadn't been on it and heard mediocre things about it, so I kind've just went along with it to keep their expectations low. Well, they loved it! And it was a great ride today. The first problem was the crew wasn't as efficient as I had seen before and there was some stacking. The other problem was we were on the train that got stuck in the block brakes when a break down happened and were stuck in the flying position for about 10-15 minutes. The ride-ops handled it well though, one of the girl ride-ops was even joking around with us...Batman: The RideGreat ride today in the second row, as noted in other TR's, one train is still without wheel covers.Raging BullTwo train operation when I got on at 1:30, and the line stretched out to the midway (didn't go through any switchbacks though.) When we got to the station, I saw a mechanic checking out the teal-colored train in the block brake house. I was a little disapointed that they didn't have the third train transferred by now, but it looked like the mechanic was fixing or inspecting something on it. Got stapled in the station by an overzealous ride-op. The red line was clearly visible when I lowered the bar, and it was a couple clicks past that... she said "nice try", then pushed the lap bar all the way down. One of my friends thought it was hilarious and nicknamed her Helga... The first drop was still awesome though, and the last trim wasn't on since it was in two-train operation, so the helixes were fast instead of slow and boring. I wish when they would run 3 trains then let it stay like this...ViperRode in 1.3. What a ride! This ride can be moody sometimes, but it majorly delivered today. The crew was awesome too! Two girls operating and they were doing a great job and dispatching trains as soon as they could. Very nice and full of air...Roaring Rapids:The line went out to the midway with no switchbacks open. Not that big of a suprise... but what was a suprise was how slowly the line itself moved, a few paces every 5 minutes. There were numerous line jumpers, but they were caught by security by the re-entry gate - nice job!! But it turns out that only 4 boats were being used, and 7 were in the holding bay. Some people around me were pretty pissed -- the unused boats are in plain view through most of the queue and the line was very sluggish. I told my friends it's because it was because of staffing issues, and they need more ops to efficiently run more boats. My friend Brian asked one of the ops anyway, but he was really cool about it, I'm sure others have asked him all day as well. He explained that a lot've the other ride ops are still in high school till June, and they need another op if they added more boats. Then he went on to say that during the summer, they have up to 12 boats and have 3 people strictly dedicated the loading platform. A pretty honest and nice guy. The funniest part of the ride was when we came around to the coin-op sprayers, and one of the kids tried spraying us, and I said "Is that all you got?!" Then the jet hit me right in the face! Seriously! It was hilarious, and everyone on the boat laughed, and so did that kid... And by the way, that alien "theme" in the cave definitely needs some work. It looks really bad, and a pirate theme of some sort would definitely be better...V2: Vertical VelocityNice ride. Rode in the second-to-the-last row. My friends and I made a game to focus on someone when we got in the station and watch their expression once the train launched (since there is no countdown it is unexpected). Got some pretty good laughs that way! The ride itself was great also.Eagle: Backwards BlueRode in the last car to leave the station. I love this ride. The first drop and the hills after it are great. First time I rode in this car since the retracking (I rode in other rows), so I could see the helix, and see/feel the difference. The crew here was good also, except they had to close down the ride for about 10 minutes because someone threw up on a train.One other thing... what happened to all the lemon chills at the park!? I looked all around for an open stand, and not only is there less stands then last year, but the few that we did find were all closed. Dip n' dots and italian ice are no match for a good ol' lemon chill either... We left the park at 6:00... A few little quirks here and there, but overall a fun day at the park.
Well, other than Deja Vu....Ice Mountain Splash - Expected, it's usually only open weekends.River RockerRed Side of the Eagle (at least when I rode at 3:00)OrbitThat's all that I noticed was closed, but I didn't check out Hometown Fun Machine which tends to only be open on the weekends.
Deja-Vu: Still a monument.Ice Mountain Splash: Been closed since the park opened this year. When staffing increases, it will only be open weekends.River Rocker and Orbit: I have no clue, both of those are usually open constantly. Must be a maintenance issue.Eagle Red: Closed during the week until staffing increases.Hometown Fun Machine: Only open weekends permanently. Sign says so in front of ride.
I finally retired the Sarah Palin signature because she is now 100% irrelevant.
StealthNet wrote:The first drop was still awesome though, and the last trim wasn't on since it was in two-train operation, so the helixes were fast instead of slow and boring. I wish when they would run 3 trains then let it stay like this...
Each time I went on it this year they were running three trains and the trim wasn't on any of those times.
And by the way, that alien "theme" in the cave definitely needs some work. It looks really bad, and a pirate theme of some sort would definitely be better...V2: Vertical VelocityNice ride. Rode in the second-to-the-last row. My friends and I made a game to focus on someone when we got in the station and watch their expression once the train launched (since there is no countdown it is unexpected). Got some pretty good laughs that way! The ride itself was great also.Eagle: Backwards BlueRode in the last car to leave the station. I love this ride. The first drop and the hills after it are great. First time I rode in this car since the retracking (I rode in other rows), so I could see the helix, and see/feel the difference. The crew here was good also, except they had to close down the ride for about 10 minutes because someone threw up on a train.One other thing... what happened to all the lemon chills at the park!? I looked all around for an open stand, and not only is there less stands then last year, but the few that we did find were all closed. Dip n' dots and italian ice are no match for a good ol' lemon chill either... 
