Crowds: Moderate
Weather: Very warm and humid with rain and storms around 2 or 3.
Rides Closed Today(on board): Ice Mountain Splash, DejaVu
Yet another trip to the 2nd happiest place on Earth! We arrived at the park around 1 and got in real quick. Lines weren't that bad at all. My friends and I decided to ride what came our way.
First up was the Whizzer. The line was in the station and it was only a 10 minute wait. I just hate it when people don't go onto the ride when the gates open. They just wait for their group. Talk about inconsiderate. The ride was good and the ride was running 2 trains.
Now we went and rode Viper and waited 20 minutes. They were using the announcing system to block people from coming into the station. It didn't always work. But we did get row 1:3 which is by far the best seat on the ride. No lies. While in line, it broke down for a short period and during that period, Raging Bull added its 3rd train, which is a little late considering the 1st queue house was full when we got off Viper. We skipped it.
At this time, the clouds looked really threatening for rain and storms. We decided to ride a couple of flats(which were walk-on). First off was Chubasco which was very tame our first ride due to my friend not wanting to spin right away. We opted to ride again. This time we spun the whole ride and it was wicked! You have to spin on it. Next was Richochet. This ride is fun and relaxing. Not much more to say there. The op did say that it was suppose to start pouring rain in about 25 minutes.
So we went to Demon, where it was running 2 trains(yellow and black). The line was 10 minutes long. We decided tp ride 6:1 and determined that it was the row that gives the best and smoothest ride on the Demon. Still no tunnel lights and sound effects. Now we decided to ride AER. The line was 5 minutes long. My friend said that a small piece of wood hit him in the face during the ride. He showed me it and it looked like a woodchip(size-wise). I guess he's ok.
Now the rain looked to be coming and it was about 3. We went to Farmer's Market to get some free cups of water and an order of cheese fries. We sat in the covered building to the left of the food court. Then it just started pouring. Everyone came near us. It was funny. And we were dry.
After about 25 minutes the rain and storms let up to about a light drizzle. We went to Raging Bull to see a short line outside the entrance. The line inside was cleared and some more people were leaving.
After a half an hour. They tested and re-opened. Then we only waited 10 minutes. Most everything else started to re-open, except the few that never opened and the few that ran during the rain and storms. Bull was awesome(in the back) as always. At this time, we noticed a worker fixing something on the second tower's cable of DejaVu.
Now we wanted to ride Iron Wolf. The line was pretty short and we waited 15 minutes for the front row. The ride is great and smooth in the front. One thing I noticed is that the fastlane worker was right at the entrance to fastlane and punching tickets. Maybe they are going to re-do the stairs for a front row line and put the fastlane at the bottom of the stairs?
Time could tell. It might happen. Also, I love it when the speaker on the lift says, "Please remain seated at all times." It's a stand-up coaster for crying out loud! 
Now V2 and Batman's lines were too long for us, so we thought we could ride King Chaos to see if it is any better with the new program. So we get into what could be a 20 minute line. So the next group of riders start their ride and I get excited when I saw it flip many times in a row and it was already longer than before, even before half way through. Then I heard a huge and loud thump as the gondola went by the platform. It almost looked as if it hit the bottom.(It may not of.) So the riders were stopped at the top for 25 minutes. Maintenance couldn't get it going real fast. The gondola finally went down. Then the restraints wouldn't open. It was fun to watch. Then we were told to leave the line because the ride would not re-open. Maintenance didn't look too happy. I wish I was on the ride because all the riders got exit passes.
So it was about 6, so we met my dad at the drop-off zone for dinner and to rest at the Hampton. We had Wendy's and cooled off in the room. The view from the room is amazing! I could see Iron Wolf, AE, Dare Devil Dive, Stargate, Superman, Batman, V2, DejaVu, Viper, STT, Raging Bull, Columbia Carousel, Giant Drop and the Demon. It was neat. At 7:15 we went back in the park and were walking behind some drunk people who were stomping in all the puddles and receiving glares from other people. It was hilarious!
Superman had a straight away for the line, so we decided to wait. The ride broke down and then re-opened after 3 minutes. Then it took 30 minutes to get to the station. Then the op at fastlane tried to block a bug from getting away which was pretty funny. She was nice too. Then we headed for the back row and let a couple go ahead of us to make the train ahead of us full. Then another train came into the station and stopped, but it wouldn't get back into the seated position. So maintenance was called and the op went on the brake track to tell riders what was wrong. Then maintenance came and finally released the train to the seated position. The train shook really badly and sort of "jumped" the track. They sent it through. Then unloaded the other train. When the other train came back, they transfered it off. The line would be double now! We got lucky. We got on and had an intense and fun ride. It is always great.
We went through Mardi Gras and Yankee Harbor next. We rode Batman and waited 10 minutes.(This is for Ilovthevu) For the first time, I heard an announcement about moving to the left for rows 2-8. I never said this hasn't happened, but that I just never heard it before. Maybe it is the same operator.
The ride packed a punch.
Now it was a little passed 9 so we headed to Iron Wolf to see if anyone was there from here. Maybe I missed you(B&M Floorless Wanter) or I didn't look hard enough. Maybe you weren't there, but no biggie. We were going to ride it anyways. We waited 4 minutes for the back and it was intense. The wolf is just awesome at night! Half the ride is pitch black!
It was almost 9:30 so we hight tailed to Ragin' Cajun to just get in the line before they closed it off and put us in the actual queue. For a note, they added a wait time sign that lists it 1 hour when full. We also saw the whole parade while waiting in line. Some of the floats were very clever. I.E. Porky Pig at the end with the big circle thingys like in the cartoons and Tweety in the bird cage. We waited 20 minutes for an awesome night ride on Ragin' Cajun. We spun the whole time. The ride was also running 4 cars(which it ran 3 last Wednesday). The line was onto the bridge for CAD at this point.
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Coasters After Dark 7/21/04-7/22/04(oh yeah!)
Time in Park: almost 2 1/2 hours(10-12:25)
Crowds:Very moderate
Weather: Lightning off and on(I'm surprised they kept the rides open), slight breeze but still very humid
Rides closed that should have been open: Giant Drop, Revolution(were probably open at one point, but by 11, both were closed.)
After Ragin' Cajun, we headed for V2 and saw that the line looked very long. We walked all the way back by the bridge and to a sitting area that I have never seen before. It had good theming too. It probably looked neat with the lighthouse right there. At 10, the ride opened and we only waited 10 minutes in a half full station for our ride. It's been awhile. It was fun! The line got pretty long now. During the day I noticed something new to the ride. At the holding brake on the tower, it had a big new yellow piece behind it. If someone can confirm something different, that would be great.
Now we waited 5 minutes for a great night ride on Iron Wolf. Awesome. Now we wanted to ride Revolution and some people were on it(maybe ops?) and the line was closed. I didn't care to stay to see what happened. We went to AEB for a 'regular' front row ride. What would have been a 5 minute wait turned into 20 minutes due to someone throughing up. They were quick at cleaning up. While waiting, we talked to 2 guys who seemed to be enthusiasts. They talked about Dragster and stuff. It made the wait go faster. This row is awesome and AE at night can only be beaten by Iron Wolf or Viper. We now passed by Giant Drop, which looked to be closed for the night. Bull's line was really long, so we went to Viper for a 15 minute wait for 1:3. Like I said, Viper OWNZ at night. Viper can't be missed. (Plus 1:3 always has the shortest line)
Now we had 5 minutes for one more ride so 1 of my friends and I went to Demon while the other two went to Heroes to get some stuff. We made it just in time for Demon to get the last ride of the night, along with 7 other people. Up the lift, it smelled like cow maneur and we decided it was coming from Southwest Territory(jk) It was fun and they had a row of white lights on the right side of the tunnel on our ride. And only 1 of the red eyes on the corkscrew rock tunnel were on. It was a great way to end the day. We walked around and left at 12:25. Then at 1, I went to bed with a great view of the park outside my window!
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Day: July 22, 2004(9:45-3:15)
Crowds: Moderate
Weather: Sunny and humid until 2 where it became overcast with sometimes a light drizzle
Rides closed today(on board): DejaVu, Ice Mountain Splash, King Chaos
We woke up at 8:30(after I wanted to be up by
and ate breakfast at the free buffet downstairs. Then we went to the park and arrived at 9:40 and got in 5 minutes later. Then we went under the bridge to get to Bull. At 10, we ran to Bull. We already had a handicap since we were starting toward the back of the pack. Then we sprinted and got to the ride in 8th place. We beat over 200 people and would have been 1st if we were up front because we got there just after the 1st people. We waited for the back which got us on 2nd train of the day(They opened with 3 trains). That resulted for a 3 minute line right after for another great ride! It has been running great these days.(Just to note, The red train shakes and rattles the most.)
Next up was Giant Drop, which was a complete walk-on. One of my friends is freaked out by it, but he liked it this time. Up there, we saw Cajun testing earlier than usual. Interesting.(It was operating with 3 1/2 cars today. I think.) Next we went under the misters in SWT because it was hot. It felt like dust was falling. It wasn't very cool.
Revolution was ending a cycle and there was NO line, so we went on that and enjoyed yet another ride on it with maybe 9 other people.Iron Wolf was calling so we hopped on that. The wait was almost a walk-on. Powerful and fierce. AER was next for us where we went to ride the front row. Tight! Nothing else to say that this is just as good as the back row.
Just for a note, they added new games where the old on ride photo booth use to be.
So we got some free water and started making jokes about how DejaVu will never open up again and that the ride is a dormant piece of ....well you know what I mean. Then all of a sudden it started to test. We run over there to see maintenance and one ride op. We just hung out in the area. They were testing really fast and only at most 1 minute betwen tests.
We went to Demon and waited 15 minutes for a great ride toward the back. This is the only ride I know of(maybe PGA's Demon) that has a waterfall for a headchopper! DejaVu continued to test. At this time, I saw 3 people who looked to be enthusiasts. They talked about Magic Mountain and Cedar Point and stuff. It was a fun conversation because all we were doing was standing in front of DejaVu. Then on one of the tests, the brakes after the station slowed the train down and it rolled back and forth through the station. Fun to watch. Then more tests followed and I decided to sit on a bench while my friends went to watch the Six Flags Party. They eventually rode Superman with someone's fastlane.(The had 3 left-over and they were leaving so the girls gave my friends a chance to ride.)
I stayed by DejaVu and talked to my new friends. It kept testing and they eventually left. I was just taking everything in. Then something very weird happened. I have seen the train stuck vertically before, but this time it was different. The train made it through the course and back and caught on the tower. It went up and then it started to come down and all of a sudden, there was a loud screech and thump and the cables shook and sort of 'whipped'. The train jolted and a hug cloud of smoke came from the cables(and where the motor is). The train was up there for awhile(maybe 30 minutes). I left right after they slowly moved it down. Even slower than last time it was stuck.
It was 1:45 and my friends came back and we decided to see the Magic Show. I have already seen it but my friends haven't. Before the show they show you clips from all the shows and give the different times they start(They also show this on tvs in the queue lines). They also have trivia. One was "Which coaster in the park is the tallest, fastest, and longest?" It is Raging Bull, but it said it goes 75mph, maybe they were rounding. Then there was a question about the festival in October(Fright Fest). Now the coolest thing that the park has ever done started. A 3 1/2 minute video with awesome techno started showcasing ALL of the coasters at Great America. It had POV's of almost every coaster and cool shots of Iron Wolf and V2 from a helicoptor. It was just the coolest. It had Cajun on it too. Then after that video, they mentioned the ride of your life and showed Revolution footage for 30 seconds. It was neat.
Now the show started. David, the magician, said "I'm sorry to take you out of your busy day at six flags, but....." I laughed because you are suppose to be having playtime. Whatever. The show was nice with a few "wardrobe malfunctions"
(No, not that kind of malfunction ) and the tricks are for the most part good.
It was almost 3, so we rode the (Orleans)! Orbit and enjoyed a quick walk-on ride. We had to go so my friends went to a gift shop quick and I checked the Mardi Gras lines. Cajun had a bout an hour wait. I didn't bother looking at V2 and Batman today.
Overall, it was an awesome trip and the park NEVER ceases to amaze me!
Just a few things-
1. maintenance has new 'scooters' to get to the scene faster.
2. Superman had only one train today(Thursday).
3. You know those cut-out things where you out your head in and you look like someone else? Well you can be King and Queen Jester of Mardi Gras.
4.There is a lot of parking lot security.
5. CAD was busy but tolerable.
It rained on the way home and there was a lot of traffic. I left at 3:15 so other rides could have closed or re-opened.
Make sure you read all of the report! No cheating!
Until next time.........