Date: 4/30/05
Weather: Pretty chilly and windy at times, but when the sun peaked out it was nice!
Time at Park: 8:50am-8:25pm
Who?- Me and a bunch of friends.
Rides closed for the day: King Chaos, Ice Mountain Splash, Condor, American Eagle Blue
I arrived at 8:50 to wait for the gates at the lights to open. They opened at about 9:03 and we were off. The parking lot looked great and they moved the drop off zone closer to the main roads.(Be aware that there are no signs for it now, so pay attention if you use it.) BTW, the bus parking lot is right next to it and they painted in regular parking lines for if there aren't a lot of buses, but if they are in need of spaces for cars.
Went to the Season Pass entrance and met a few park regulars.
We talked to a very nice ticket person and she informed us that DejaVu was ready to open. Once I was admitted 5 minutes before regular ticket holders, I dashed to the bridge under Hometown Square. I waited and chatted with some of the guys. They were going to go to S:UF but that was running late so they stayed with Vu. I also saw many members from this site. (Hey ya'll! ) BTW, saw Michelle Hoffman and asked her about media day.
Rope drop was at 10, and the crowds were off. I personally ran to DejaVu and made it 8th. The ride was ready at 10am! I rode row 8b for an awesome start to the season! Met up with a couple more friends and rode Vu again. This time it was a 5 minute wait for a ride toward the back.
Viper was next and was running great! Walk-on. Next was Raging Bull which was running all 3 trains(which should happen a lot this year!) My back row ride was great and I got some awesome views of the waterpark.(walk-on, basically). Next was Giant Drop which was a walk-on, but broke down. We waited it out and talked with a sup. Maintenance got it up quick and we were off after 15 minutes for another great ride!
Demon got a late start, but eventually did open. I got second dispatch, 1st row after waiting 5 or so minutes for the ride to open. A little rough for my likeing.(6:! is the way to go!). Next was Revolution where a girl was scolded for line jumping.
But the ride was walk-on and is running the same program as last year.
Anerican Eagle Red was next as American Eagle Blue is not yet ready for the season. It was running with a lot less trims, but seemed a little rough.(Walk-on back row) Next was Iron Wolf that seemed to be running great and actually smooth(Yes, it was highly noticeable), but too bad it seemed to be for only one of the trains as the other beat me to hell.
(walk-on)
After winning a bet
, I was allowed to ride Spacelys Sprocket Rocket! The bright and newly painted Spacelys! 
The ride was walk-on and I truly felt like a credit whore(even though I have already gotten the credit one too many times.)
Next was V2, but it was closed. We chose to wait it out. There were a lot of maintenace workers on the ride and it had been down for more than 45 minutes. They finally re-opened and I got first row after 20 minutes. It was great! We opted to ride Batman next caught it just as it had re-opened from a break down. It was walk-on for front row and we opted to go through the line again for a walk-on back row. The ride is running insane!
Ragin' Cajun was open with a short line(maybe 15 minutes) but it too chose to break down.(Stuck on lift) We waited it out for 20(or more) minutes and saw John Curty and some other people whom we knew. The ride re-opened after some brake work. The ride was only running 4 cars, but that was enough for today. Hopefully they can get some more on soon!
We ate Lunch at the Bayou Grill and then saw the Jug-O Jugglers. They were pretty good and are worth a show.
Superman: Ultimate Flight was next, but what do you know? It was closed due to a breakdown. We chatted with a ride op I knew and the ride re-opened soon thereafter. We waited a total of 15 minutes for the back row which was running insane, but this ride is NOT aging well at all. The train exhibits a heavy vibrate and seems to shuffle.(Not too good.
)
Next was Stargate with a 4-minute wait for an ok ride. The ride op asked everyone if they had a question and I felt a sudden urge to say something very stupid. But I held back.
"Get the gate key!" "Attack!".(Ride was only running half the seats.)
Sky Trek Tower was next, but no spiels yet.
Great view of the waterpark though! Whizzer was next and was a 10 minute wait for me in the front row. It is running fantastic, but the MCBR trims seem to be on a little heavier this year. Now it was time for a mini-marathon on Batman. I got 5 rides all walk-on.(A couple front row rides.) Maybe in the middle of the Batman rides I got two more V2 rides. The ride was a complete walk-on! It included a nice surprise launch for me. Now it was time to say goodbye to a couple of friends and head to Wolf. It was walk-on and I opted for a back-row ride. This is where we rode the complete crap train. It totally sucked and to make things worse, there was a huge noticeable crack sound that came from the train. I reported it to the ride op and I think they handled the situation.
Next up was AER where we saw some of my friends and we rode the new red train.(They liked the shiny new red train
) It ran very well(Complete Walk-on) Next we rode Raging Bull twice more. On toward the back(walk-on) and one in the front(10-15 minutes) It was very windy, but worth it. The girls got some food, and a couple people from the group(plus me) went to ride Viper. There was hardly anyone in the station and I rode front row. We wanted to ride Vu one last time, so we headed over there.(7:30) To our surprise, Vu was a complete walk-on. Did I say walk-on? Actually, there was absolutely no one on the station! I rode 7 times before park closing with only getting off once(for 1b). The ride ran amazingly for the whole day!(Maybe 1 breakdown for 5 minutes and that was it.) So I talked to some of my friends as I walked out and I left. I'm so tired and sick right now. But I had a blast!
Here are some random notes for the day and on park improvements:
1. New Shaggy character in Camp Cartoon Network.
2. Only one guy who sings(?) in Looney toons Party, along with the characters.
3. Every coaster seemed to be broken down at least once except AER and Spacelys. Various flats also closed throughout the day.
4. It was obviously a good training day for everyone. The ops were slower than usual and I saw maintenance every 5 minutes.
(But they did a great job with everything and nothing closed down for the day after breaking down.)
5. Giant Drop went down to half capacity in the evening.(Raging Bull went down to 2 trains.)
6. AEB wood/track work seemed to be completed. Test dummies were next to AER and only 3 cars of one AEB train were sitting on its transfer track.(It might be open next weekend.)
7. Whizzer and Demon(Black) didn't have their third trains on site, but will surely use them this year.
8. Spacely's Sprocket Rocket was painted(Green and White, same) and boy did it look bright.
9. Was Carousel Plaza repaved? It looked like it had a new concrete design.
10. New buslot with regular car spaces fixed into the bus spaces.
11. Repaved main and overflow parking.
12. Moved drop-off zone.
13. Superman wasn't ready for opening and hasn't been at least once so far for the buyouts.
14. New Mr.Six signs up in front of the pool.
15. New games where a fountain once stood by the Orbit and new games still under construction on the way to SWT from the Orbit.(6 in total)
16. Viper switchbacks are gone(to be replaced by something new
)
17. New Viper switchback construction might be under construction, but a sup didnt think so.
18. HH path leading from next to the Viper entrance. It should be paved soon. It also looks like they are starting on some of the theming.
19. Ride ops have more power with the mic! "Are you ready?" "Welcome back (name of ride) riders, how was your ride?" For Vu "There goes the floor, so there you go out the back door." It gives them more personality. They seemed a little confused with what to say, but I see them getting used to it come summer. (Think Cedar Point if you don't get what I'm saying.
20. Sky Trek Tower's and the Train's spiels are not yet ready.
21. New AER train!
22. Viper has new individual seatbelts!(AE's didn't seem to change yet.)
23, AE's queue was repainted the same color and you can already see the chipping.
24. Dejavu's paint job is almost completed and looks great! Just a few more touch-ups to go and a few other details!
25. You can see Hurricane Harbor from the Highway.
26. Iron Wold received new supports and some paint touch-ups(nothing major or totally noticeable.
27. There is a concrete slab next to Revolution with benches surrounding it. Maybe for new trees or a fountain?
28. More benches in Orleans Place near Superman.
29. The parking booklets were jam packed with stuff.
30. Employees were very friendly and asking me about my day.
31. There is a new paintball shooting gallery. It was Very popular.(I'm sure going to try it out!)
32. Hurricane Harbor should be ready for its May 28 opening with Media Day a few dats before it. The 6-slide complex was almost completed as of today and the wave pool and lazy river are completed.(basically) Skull island has 2 buckets up along with a few towers and some slides starting. The Wahoo Racers and gradually taking shape and the family slides should be done by mid-week. Hurricane Mountain has one piece left and the building look to be structurally ready.
33. No more photo opportunity at Stargate.
34. New theming in Stargate holding area.
35. Condor cars now appear to be Royal blue.
36. Fiddler's Fling received a small reahb with new paint on on some of it.
37. There was more than enough staff at the park today!
38. King Chaos had some ropes on it and a few crates in the back row. The structure is up, but I don't think it is ready to run yet.
39. Ops were actually cleaning during lenghty ride breakdowns. Good job!
40. Preferred Parking gone.(at least for now)
41. The park is looking amazing!
PM me if you ever want to meet up at the park!( I met up with some Lafffreaks(lol), DejaVugurl, and many other people today! It was a lot of fun.
Welcome 2005!
Until Next time...
