June 27th TR. Long read...

So, we get on the bus at around 5:45am and leave at 6. It took 3 and a half hours to get there. We got there around 9:30, so we entered the park, and walked up to the barrier they had set up. About 9:55, they played God Bless America, and let us into the park.

Raptor was closed in the morning, so everyone took off towards Millennium Force and Maverick. Instead of following everone else, we walked down the other side of the park. As we walked by TTD, we seen the line was pretty short.

1st ride: Top Thrill Dragster(2nd row)- The best ride I have ever had on TTD. It was just great. When we went over the top hat, I did take a look at Maverick.

We got off, looked at our pictures, and continued towards the back of the park. As we walked back, we checked on Magnum's line. The sign said 15 min, so we got in line.

2nd ride: Magnum(3rd row)- A crazy ride on Magnum. We rode it in the ejector seat, and the trims were off. They started running Magnum with half full trains. We were the 2nd train that was loaded full. Lots of airtime, but I kept hitting my knees on the seat in front of us. Overall, a nice ride.

We got off, and walked back towards Maverick. We noticed that Gemini wasnt racing, so we skipped that. We then went to check on Maverick's line. It was huge. It was way out past of the queue, so we figered we might as well jump on Mean Streak while we were back there.

3rd ride: Mean Streak(front row)-We rode front row just to survive. It wasnt that rough, but it was pretty boring. The trims on the drop kill the ride. There was no airtime anywhere.

After we got off, we went back to Maverick. The line was much shorter(1hr45min) so we got in line.

4th ride: Maverick(2nd row)- WOW. I dont know how to explain it. The first hill takes you by surprise. It goes a lot faster than it looks. The first drop is sweet. The first airtime hill is sweet. The twisted horse shoe roll is nice. The tunnel is my favorite part of the ride. The mist was on, and the lights they have in there are great. The water bombs were also on, and the s curve was nice. THe heartline would have been painful. THe stengel dives were cool, and the last airtime hill gave lots of airtime. I love Maverick.

We exited, and went to SkyHawk. Line was like 10 min, so we got in line.

5th ride: SkyHawk(seat 20-outside left) Fun as always. Great airtime.

Then, we were beginning to get hungry, and a bit tired of standing, so we decided to go get some lunch. We headed over towards Macaroni's. We got in and were seated. Our food was good, but it took a while. So we left there, and headed over to Wicked Twister.

6th ride: Wicked Twister(Back row)- It was fun, but the launch didn't feel very forcefull after Maverick and TTD. I will always ride WT in the back row.

After WT, we went to check on Raptor's line. It was only 1/2 hour, so we got on.

7th ride: Raptor(6th row)- I will have to say that I was disapointed. It was really rough and jerky through the cobra roll and wing overs. The helix was nice, but the turn onto the brake run was crazy. The train shook like crazy, and everyone complained. It is the only time I have left with a headache from Raptor. I am hoping that it was just a bad day Raptor.

After Raptor, we headed over to Millenium Force. The wait was around an hour, so we got in line.

8th ride: Millennium Force(3rd row)-Great as always. I did the bouy trick, where you stare at a bouy on the lake and it makes it feel like free fall. It worked great. The airtime was great on the airtime hills. An overall great ride.

Well, having done everything we wanted to, we decided to head back and ride Maverick again. The line was shorter now, so we were glad.

9th ride: Maverick(back row)-Even better than before. The airtime was great. I just can't get enough of Maverick.

After Maverick, we decided to hit up TTD again. The line was around a half hour, so that was good.

10th ride: Top Thrill Dragster(3rd row)-Once again a great ride. It moved up to #3 on my top 10.

Well, we had around an hour and a half left in the park, so we decided to go to MF again. The sign said 45 min, so we got in line.
We decided to wait for the front row, as it would be the last ride of the year. When we were about 5 cars away, they closed the ride. When they closed it, we got in the 2nd row, where there was no one. People were screaming at the ride ops and cussing them out. I felt bad for them. I tried to explain to the people that rain at 90mph isnt fun, but they didn't listen. So, we sat in the station for about a half hour. Eventually, we ran out of time and had to leave. We walked towards the front, and bought some Dippin Dots. Then we walked out and got on our bus.

Notes:
MF and Raptor opened late.
Magnum was back to normal.
Raptor was roughish
Maverick is amazing
Gemini wasnt racing

Overall, a great day

An hour and forty-five minutes! Thats the longest I've heard yet. Were there breakdowns or something because I've heard an average of an hour.(Maverick)

^ I saw the Maverick wait at an hour and 45 minutes on June 6th. It was like that all afternoon, and not because of breakdowns. I have a picture of the sign.

Nice TR. It sounds like you had a good time. Too bad you didn't get your last ride on MF, though.

What the sign says and what the wait actually is are two very different things.

Jeff is right. If you are in the queue and not on the Midway, as long as 6 trains are running continuously you will be on in under 90 minutes. *** Edited 6/29/2007 7:18:55 PM UTC by Josh M.***

I have waited over 90. opening day for Maverick was my shortest wait... roughly 1 hour.

The line was out of the queue a little ways that day. I didn't want to wait in it so I don't know how long it actually was. I'd have to estimate it was more than 90 minutes, though. I waited about 30 minutes one morning. That was the shortest line it had all three days I was there.

I'm glad somebody else is feeling the roughness of Raptor. I kept thinking it was my imagination, but that used to be a ride I could marathon but that second half really beats me up this year. This used to be one of my favorite rides but for that reason has dropped considerably. :-(

^I was praying that it was just a bad day. I don't remember it being like that last year.

It really was 1hr45min the first time. I checked the time on my phone about every 15 min. It looked like trains were stacking though. At times, there were 3 trains waiting on the brakes. Also, they were only running 5 trains. One of them was on the transfer track.

My second ride on Mav was about an 1hr10min wait.

Overall, a great day. I almost bought a Maverick sweat shirt, but I didn't feel like carying a sweatshirt around in really hot weather. The price wasn't too bad on them, and I like the way they look. I was going to pick one up on the way out, but it was raining.:( I may just order one...
*** Edited 6/30/2007 3:52:27 AM UTC by raptorTDC***

Another bad review for Raptor. I thought it was fantastic when I rode it this year but trip report after trip report is rough, jerky, boring, disappointing. Is Raptor getting old and beat up or has everyone's expectations increased that much?

I thought Raptor was great this year, too. At least no different than other years.

I have always thought that Raptor's final turn into the brake run was rough. It was rough in 1995. I notice no difference.

I was there on the 26th and I thought Raptor was smoother than ever.