Coaster Con XXVIII, or my first visit(s) to SFGAm..

[colincoon]

Okay, being semi new to this site (joined almost a year ago, but had not been to the park yet), I though I would share my Coaster Convention experence with all of you, as it was also my first couple visits to SFGAm. So here is goes, enjoy....

SUNDAY:

After checking in at the Mariott Lincolnshire Resort for this years ACE Coaster Convention, I headed on my way to the park. I met David, Jeff, Nolan and Dan at the exit of Demon at around 4:30. We took a ride on AEB, my first SFGAm credit by the way, and was suprised on how smooth and fun it was.

We headed over to B:TR, which was closed when we arrived, but opened shortly after. B:TR has always been one of my favorite cloned coasters, and it was nice to ride the origional one itself. After that, we hit IMS and V2. IMS was just like any other flume I've been on, and V2 really wasn't great.

It was about 7:30 and Nolan, Jeff and I headed to the ACE dinner at Picnic Grove, only to find that the ACEr's that beat us there, had taken almost all of the food. After having to settle for a few greasy chicken wings and meatballs, we headed over to B:TR and V2 for ERT. We got 9 rides total for B:TR, and 6 on V2 (plus a few ERC and Whirlygig rides). At 10:30, I mom picked me up and I wen to sleep, looking forward to Monday's morning ERT on Raging Bull and Viper.


MONDAY:

I got to the park around 8:00 a.m. and headed over to RB, the coaster I was most excited about riding the whole trip. I arrived to find that all 3 trains wre running! Very nice of SFGAm to do. I boarded the teal train, and headed out of the station. On the lift, I saw Nolan on the red train when it crossed the MCBR. The rest of my rides, we waved to each other like a couple of kids, but eh we were having fun. But anyways, I was a little let down by RB. It looks more forceful than it is, and the drop was a little weak in the front, but it was pretty good in the back. But don't get me wrong, I still think it's an awsome ride and I rode a total of 18 rides that morning.

Breakfast was next up for me that morning, but just like the previous night, 99* of the food was gone. So I headed over to Viper a little angry that I did not get any food. Anyways, Viper is a very smooth, fast paced and is awsome in 1.3. It's my #3 woodie, but was #1 untill I rode Avalanche and Hades, but that's not untill later. After getting some 4 rides on viper, I met Nolan and tried to get a hold of Jeff, as he was supposed to be at the ERT. Turns out he slept in and missed it.... But we met him just as we got off of Jeza.

Later in the day, B:TR was given the ACE landmark plaque. We all had a trivia session and were given prises if we answered a question right. One of them was wrong (How many B&M built coasters are at SF parks in America? I said 7, they said 8. Of course, they counted B:TR at SFMexico, which is not only not in America, but not a B&M). The plaque presentation was nice and even Ron Seifert (sp?) came to say his piece about B:TR.

Next we had a group lunch at PG again, this time with food which was a nice change. There was a raffle for 10 people to see the offices of SFGAm, and all three of us bought a ticket at a dollar a piece. Nolan wanted it really badly and said he would hate me if I won, as I am from FL and he would miss an opprotunity to see the backstage of his home park. My ticket was drawn, and Nolan was pissed. But being the nice guy I am, I gave it to Nolan. I became his favorite Acer!! After lunch, all the ACEr's went for a group photo at Home Town Station....Nothing like a bunch of fat sweaty ACEr's crammed into eachother to brighten up your day.

Jeff, Nolan and I hung around the park untill ERT, which was on RB, Demon and De Ja Vu. Raging Bull was great at night and ran better in my opionion... Demon was interesting, as the ride op pressed the lift stop button when there was no train on the lift. Although I rode it earlier that day, Demon is one Arrow that aged well, except for my favorite transition that leads into the corkscrews. De Ja Vu was a good way to finish up the night, getting about 10 rides in total including the last dispatch. The crew on De Ja was really great and is one of the best crews I have ever seen. Dispatching was quick, sometimes under two minutes.

Once again, this time at 11:00, ERT ended and I headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep....Tomorrow morning ERT would be on Whizzer, Iron Wolf, American Eagle, Spacleys, and Revolution.

Okay now to Continue with the TR:

TUESDAY:

Okay this was by far my favorite day of the whole Con. I headed straight to AEB for ERT. After a few rides I spotted Nolan on red train and switched over to ride with him. We rode maybe 5 times, then headed over to meet Jeff who was late (again) for ERT at Iron Wolf. Now this is the part where it gets ugly. After two rides, I got a headache and then Jeff convinced me to ride Revolution. Not only did I feel sick, but I missed almost the rest of ERT due to my headache....Not cool. I started feeling better and the three of us went over to spacleys, then Whizzer for the last half hour of ERT.

Now the fun begins! Nolan stayed behind to ride Whizzer a few more times, while Jeff and I tried to beat the GP to De Ja before the park opened. Now, we were the first ones in line, with two other ACEr's showing up a few minutes later. Jeff spotter two of his friends (who I had not met yet) Zack and Ally, who were pretty angry that they couldent get 1A like we did....

After our ride, we went to Demon, then met Zack and Ally at the Farmers Market (I think that's what it's called) as they got a re-ride.
We met Nolan the hit IMS, where a tame water war happened. Being a little saturated, we hit B:TR. Ally had to put something ina a friends bag, so we walked over with her. Zack and Ally spotted one of their other friends who was waiting for a show (apparently she never misses a show) and tried to pull her away...It didn't work.... So after she dropped off the "package", we went to Sky Whirl and sang along with the annoying but catch music. Jeff was getting tired, so we headed over to the Pictorium to watch the Nascar Imax movie....He fell asleep 5 times....

So later after the movie, we went to Whizzer, then American Eagle. Nolan got tired, so he went home for a few hours... Then after we got off AE, Jeff and I acted like we lost Zack and Ally, but we really just hid behind the video games in the corner. We found them getting a funnel cake sunday, so being hungry myself, we all possied over to Mooseburger where I enjoyed the best piece of shoe leather I have ever had. We hit Raging Bull, then viper after lunch. If I remember right, we went out to the parking lot to get stuff out of Nolan's car to put into David's car before they left. Jeff, being the tru gentleman that he is, gave almost all of his stuff to Ally for her to carry to David's car.....

We headed back to the park, rode Stargate, which has to be the worst simulator ever, but is HILLARIOUS!!!! Random chants of "I HAVE THE GATE KEY!!!" occoured throught the day. After stargate, Jeff went and did something while the rest of us went into carousel gifts, and tried to set off as many Mr. Six plush dolls as we could, even the slow ones. After making fun of random T-Shirts and whatnot, we hit B:TR then Ally left us.

ERT was in about two hours, so we wwandered aroudn the park hitting a few ride on the way. ERT time came, and Zack, not being an ACEr, stood around the Whizzer entrance while Jeff, Nolan and I rode Whizzer, Cajun, Jesters (which was AWSOME!!!), BEB, and even SUF a few times. ERT ended at 10:30 and I went back to the hotel.

WENSDAY:

Okay today was an Interesting, but awsome day. I met Jeff and Nolan at Whizzer for ERT around 8:05. After a few rides, Jeff and I went to Rue Le Dodge where we had a solo ride, which was AWSOME!!! After a couple rides on RLD, we headed over to SUF. We got a ride in front row as nobody was there because of the rumor that Whizzer was being removed. So second ride, we move to second row as people were just stating to fill the que lines, still it was only myself, jeff, the complete front row, and two people next to us on the train. So Jeff wants the ride op to say his speil, and she did but of course it broke the ride down. Coming into the helix prior to the inline roll, we noticed that the other train had not entered the station. Can anyone say E-Stop!!! We were halted on the first brake run for about 20 minutes, as apparently the other train did not line up with the little push lever things that rotate the seats. So we recieved exit passes and went back to Whizzer for the last few minutes of ERT and met up with Nolan.

Danny met us at the front gates and we all headed over to HH. It's a nice waterpark, one of my favorites, if not my favorite. Skull Island was the best play area I have ever seen! Although the water was ICE COLD, we still managed to have some fun including a "lazy river from hell" circuit. The best part of the whole water park, WAFFLE FRIES!!!! They were good, even though Danny thought I was "a little wierd" for mixing them with katcheup and mayo.....Tasty!

Okay, so after thhe water park got un-bareably crowded, we went back into the park, met Zack, then used our exit passes on Vu. After that we went to AER/B, the took the train...."Pirate Ships! Water Slides! Adventure! Ahoy!!!". Best. Slogan. Ever.

At about 5:00, Jeff, Nolan and myself went to the Mariott Lincolnshire for the annual banquet. There was some cool stuff going on, like live auctions that included two 1992 park maps and a blueprint of American Eagle. Later in the night, we saw the video contest winners which were pretty cool, but "Doonna Does Canobie" was by far the best and that's why she won! She was a cool lady to talk to, as we did later in the week. The pictures people took for the contest were pretty cool aswell, but not spectacular.... Then the big shots came and talked to us. Bob Mape from B&M talked to us and shared a Q&A where everybody's indivudial table asked a question. Then he showed us the "Build Me a Batman" video that was SPECTACULAR!!!! Before hand, a guy (who's name draws a blank right now) from PTC came and chatted with us, and clearing up rumors people had about their future plans.

Now it was late, and everything was over so I went off to bed. Next day, Nolan, Jeff and I would be going to Little A-Ghetto-A...Er...A-Merikk-A, Mt. Olympus, and Timber Falls.

THURSDAY:

On the way over to the Hampton where Jeff was staying, and where we were meeting to trek up to the Dells, I picked up a dozen Krispy Kream doughnuts straight off the machine... Can you say fresh doughnuts?!?! Anywho, we all met at the Hampton around 9:30 and headed on our way at about 9:45. At 11:00 we arrived to Little A-Merikk-A, or Ghettoville U.S.A. Apon our arrival, we waited for 20 minutes for their kiddy coaster, which kept misparking as it was not only manual but had wooden planks for brakes. So on my ride, I got 5 circuits...

Next was Wild and Wolly Tobbagon (sp?), which was broken down. We waited about 15 minutes while the guy in the lift tower (who's feet were hanging out like a dead chicken) tried to get the lift going. Most ACER's left for food, leaving me 4th to ride with Nolan, Jeff and the coolest lady ever, Donna, behind me. It was interesting, and scary!

Earlier, Jeff and I took a ride on Roll-O-Plane, where I was crushed into the side of the "car", which left two bruses on my side. It was fun, but not a two person ride...

At lunch, we noticed the first hot ACEr chicks we had seen all week!!! That made our day. We hit Mad Mouse, an old wild mouse with no lapbar or seatbelt, which included fancy new Pool Noodles for the bumpers and padding. at 1:15, we left and headed over to Mt. Olympus.

Mt. Olympus! What a cool park to see in the Dells! We met David, Danny, Kyle, Scott (thanks Jeff), and Danny in the park. Hades was first. Hades is interesting, very cool, but lacked in some places. Still my #2 Woodie though.

We hit all the coasters, a few flats, and then made our way over to the ACE dinner thingy. We wondered back over to the hotel real quick like, only to spot Andrew Hartman pimping in the pool...Then drove over to Timber Falls.

Timber Falls, which is home to my #1 woodie, Avalanche. Avalanche just blew me away! Airtime everywhere, and fast paced plus the fact nobody was there! I got 12 ride in about a half an hour. We played an interesting game of mini golf, where David scored a whopping 360, then rode the flume. Apon leaving we talked to the GM, and complemented him on Avalanche. He was a really cool guy to talk to about Avalanche and everything.

We walked back to Mt. Olympus where we rode Hades, Cyclops, Pegasus, and Zeus a few more times, befor the whole 10:00 fiasco broke out. Read Danhockey04's TR to find out what happened. So anyways, for our night time ERT, they were nice enough to turn on the lights in the tunnel. It is by far the coolest thing I have ever seen on a coaster! It's an amazing thing to see, and if you miss out on seeing the guts of Hades, you truly have not experienced the coolness of Hades.

Well after heading back to the hotel, we had some pizza, then I went to bed. I woke up early, 4:45 early, to leave for PKI and Indiania where I would be flying out of. Let's just say that PKI is no SFGAm, it's full of wanna-be white gangsters, and wanna-be gangster sluts (no offence to anyone out there who might have been offended).

So that ends my Coaster Con TR. I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to next year's con at WDW, and my road trip up to SFGAm! I met alot of really cool people, and shared some quality moments, like when I stepped in gum with my sock at HH! And when Jeff and Nolan hid my souveiner cup!

Colin'COMPLETED!!!!"C

[mschulz5]

Sounds like a great way to discover the greatness of SFGAm. I'm glad you had a good time, and I'm glad to see a new good poster on this board.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your report.

[m-force 4 ever]

nice TR, cant wait to hear wensday's =)

[Danhockey04]

So how was your ride on tenacious teal on Bull's train? Good TR, glad to see that you think our park is great and now realize that BGT is not good at all compared to SFGAm.

[diggerg56]

Nice report Colin....There was actually a misunderstanding about the food for Sunday night. The itinerary called it dinner, however it was really only supposed to be appetizers. No one had eaten figuring it was supposed to be dinner so they took bigger portions.

One thing you'll learn...Get there early, there's some healthy eaters out there in ACE land.

Fortunately the other parks and the Marriott over fed us didn't they!

[DejaVu The Ride]

^^^ Yeah, Little A-Merrick-A only expected about 75 Acers to show up! How litttle did they know.

[LAFFfan4lyfe]

grrr....I wasn't happy i had to leave on tuesday either! blah to all of you ACERs!

[colincoon]

Okay I updated last night.... Dan: Tenatious teal was pretty good, I liked b-a-n-a-n-a-s train better...

Little A-Merikk-A was Ghetto fabulous... The bumpers on the train for Mad Mouse were made from pool noodles!!! I was crushed by Jeff on the Roll-O-Plane, and the brakes on their kiddy coaster were tow pieces of wood that pinched the train to make it stop!!!

Colin"but the cemetary in the next plot was interesting!"C

[DejaVu The Ride]

Hey! You forgot to mention who shot an even par at the Timber Falls mini golf course!

[colincoon]

^Okay! Jeff did!

Colin" I finished 3rd with 10 over, boo yah!"C

[Danhockey04]

I finished second with 3 over par.

I won at Noah's Ark shooting 2 over par, while Jeff goes and shots an amazing 8 over par.

[colincoon]

^ I bet you feel pretty prod of yourself, here have a cookie --> O. N'joy...

Colin C