SFGRAm 5-26-2012

[Stoogie]

Left the house about 8 A.M. Had to wait for the wife to get ready. Stopped at Big Apple to get breakfast. Weather was calling for 30% chance of storms, so we're on the road in my '05 Sunfire and it was kinda looking stormy by Franklin Park. About 3 miles for the Lake Oasis it starts pouring rain like it's nobodies business. I decided to keep going, you know being crazy for coasters. All of a sudden my car's gas gauge goes to empty and all my lights and radio go off. The car is still running and then the anti theft and service lights come on but all the electrical comes back on and I'm like holy cow..lol. So i just keep going. Got to the park at 10:30 A.M. and made our plan. We went to the left side of the park, no rain in sight and she wants to ride Dark Knight. What is with the effects on here? No more pre show and was basically a walk on. All the effects were on for the coaster though. My wife loves this ride, i give it a 2.
Next was My favorite invert Batman. Man this ride is still a hell of alot of fun! I was wearing my Gravity Group hat and the op made me take it off and throw on the table? When did they get these? I was seriously hoping my hat would still be there as they don't have them in their online store anymore. What a ride! Sat row 4 right outside. It's still one of my favs at this park. Next we heard someone talking about a picnic in the park for 14$. I told my wife lets get our Season passes and see about the picnic as the damn food in the park is so expensive and we were kind of limited in our funds. got the Season passes and there was a coupon in it for 2bucks off. So we got our tickets for it.
The food was really good except the fried chicken was a little overcooked. I saw something that looked familiar off to my right and had to go explore. I had no idea what is involved with producing the Maus at Fright Fest. Saw Area shelter without all it's walls up. Really strange. After that it was time for AE. I made the stupid mistake of sitting over a wheel. Blue side was the only side up and while we were waiting red came back online. They ran 2 trains of empty red and then it was our turn to ride and we got to race a full red train. Always really fun. When I got off though my back, neck and right shoulder felt like I had just got off SOB. Man I felt like heck. Had to sit down. Needless to say I won't ever be sitting over a wheel on a wood coaster ever again. I should have known better.
Next up was Raging Bull row 4 outside left. YAY my wife was doing the Rachel Ray hand clap as RB is her fav and mine too. I love RB as it's just an all around fantastic fun coaster. One thing I noticed though is, after the second drop toward the station the track felt rough. Still a 10 in my book. We went to see "screams and Dreams part 2. really cool. Next up was Demon. row 2 right side. UGH i forgot what a head banger this is. A 2 just for theme. Used to be in my top 5. We didn't get to X-Flight or Superman this day. We have our passes so we're thinking when ever we go, we can take our time and really enjoy the park. Got a funnel cake sundae. And left for the day. Had a blast.

[CoasterDemon]

Barry, don't ride Demon in the back of any cars (ie, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 (however, 12 is the smoothest of the bunch)). 2nd seat is probably the worst, as it's at the back of the car, and it also gets shoved into the corkscrew the hardest (compared to the middle or back, which has slowed by the time they enter the cork.)

Very back is better than the back of the other cars... as it doesn't have the push/pull/up/down of the hitch of the next car... Second to back is usually best for me. Much more visual room, leg room, and slightly smoother.

[Stoogie]

The Wheel thing again huh? You also said hitch, and that makes alot of sense. Thanks!

[CoasterDemon]

The Wheel thing again huh? You also said hitch, and that makes alot of sense. Thanks!

You bet Barry... sometime, we can hang at the park and I can *geek explain* things easier while we are looking at coasters. Notice how butter smooth the Whizzer and other Anton coasters are. That's b/c they have many joints built into the track - whereas Demon is all welded together. I know you know about that stuff So... on Whizzer most of the vibration and *hits* are absorbed by the structure itself. On the Demon, it's all directed into the train, seat, and then YOU! So... not so comfy.

[Stoogie]

And you know what? I knew that too, but forgot all about it.