June 4, 2006 - 30 Rides, Famous Daves, and FIREWATER!

Yesterday was quite the marathon day for me. I knew this was one of the last Sundays with really light crowds to the fall, so I wanted to make a full day of it. I woke up at 4:45 AM and headed to the park. I arrived with my college roommate at 9:15 and headed to the Soak City lot. An off an on rain and many low clouds had us somewhat concerned, but we knew it was not supposed to be a washout. It actually would turn out to be a fantastic day with minimal lines, and beautiful weather. In addition I got to meet up with some of my great friends from the MF crew and spend the day riding with them as well! Heres some of the details and the Ride Count...

Skyhawk - 6 Rides (Walk-On for 5, 20 minutes for the last)
Went right to this when we got in the gate at 9:30. This is really the way to do it if you want to ride multiple times. We got 5 of our 6 rides one after the other, with only one cycle between. We easily could have done several more, but it was 10 and we knew the other rides were opening. Yesterday's rides solidified my decision that I like Skyhawk better than maXair. As has been mentioned elsewhere, at this time both arms were operating, but it was clear that the right arm was having trouble stopping. Sometimes the lapbars would release while it was still rocking back and forth slightly. Later in the day, the arm was shut down, and it still remains this way... I'm curious to see what the problem is.

Magnum - 8 Rides
Magnum was a walk-on nearly all day, and most of the time trains were sent with empty seats. Early in the day this made for some great trimless rides. A ride later in the day got us a block stop outside the 3rd tunnel. That was a treat (a painful sudden treat). All in all still my favorite coaster in the park.

Millennium Force - 3 Rides (approx 15-30 minute waits)
When we drove around the park around 9:15 AM, MF had not opened for resort guests and maintenence was still examining the lift motor. The ride opened around 10:15 with 2 train operation, and didn't go up to 3 train until around noon. It's clear that the catch car is traveling much slower both up and down the lift, and is not speeding up near the top when the Waiting block clears. I'm sure these issues will be ironed out, but even with the new motor, the ride is still magnificent.

Top Thrill Dragster - 1 Ride (30 minute wait)
We ended up having to wait twice to ride; as the first time we left the line after the ride had gone down mechanical. It looked like an issue with the catch car brakes, as maintenence was inspecting that portion of the ride for around an hour. When we came back later we got our ride, and I don't know if it's just me, but the launch is starting to feel more rough than I remember. The trains seem to vibrate a lot more near the end of the launch than in years past. Maybe it's just me...

Other than the rides mentioned, everything was a walk-on. In the time I was at the park I also got rides on:
Blue Streak – 1
Disaster Transport – 1
Gemini – 1
Iron Dragon – 1
Mean Streak – 1
Mantis – 1
Raptor – 1
Wicked Twister – 2
Chaos – 1
maXair – 1
Power Tower (Down) – 1

I was a bit annoyed when I rode DT. Although it was a walk-on there were some teens in the queue, hiding and jumping out trying to scare the guests. It really caught us off guard, and wasn't too terribly funny.

I also take back my previous statements about Mean Streak running better this year... It isn't... Where's my matches and gasoline at?

Blue Streak also seems to be losing the joys of it's makeover from a couple of years ago. It feels much more rough and slower than it has in years past....

Gemini was only running one side later in the day, but we did get a trimless ride with a full train... That helix is nuts...

Other notes from the day:

Had a wonderful lunch at Famous Daves, but I have a question. Is that place ever busy? I have been there many many times over the past 2 years, and I never seen it even 50% full. Maybe I have just missed the rush. For the price and the quality, its always my stop for lunch, it just seems not many other people share my love of Bar-B-Q...

Saw Rock the House for a second time... I'm still not overly impressed. The instrumental side of the show is very solid, but the vocals and choreography leave something to be desired. The male vocals are a bit better than the female vocals, but it is just not a show that blows me away... Perhaps I am just too critical.

Finally, as has been discussed in the General section, I got to see Hot Summer Lights... And I was not impressed. If you want to read my full review, check out the second page of the Hot Summer Lights thread... it's not worth typing out again here.

The day ended with a wonderful meal at Friendly's and a horrific 3 hour drive back to South Bend... I got back at 3:10 AM, and could barely walk up to my apartment. The whole day lasted 22 hours, and although I am sore and exhausted today, I wouldn't trade it for anything...

Thanks Kara, Matt, Chris, Amanda, Chris, James, and Jeanine for a great day at the park...

MORE FIREWATER!!

It was good to see you again Josh. Glad you made it home okay last night. We went back to the park for a few more hours today. I think the only rides we rode were Magnum (which is all we were really planning to ride), the train, and Skyride. We also had fun watching people play that new basketball game! :) The park was substantially more busy today than on Sunday. MF's lift still looked to be in slow motion today.

Josh M. said:

Had a wonderful lunch at Famous Daves, but I have a question. Is that place ever busy? I have been there many many times over the past 2 years, and I never seen it even 50% full. Maybe I have just missed the rush. For the price and the quality, its always my stop for lunch, it just seems not many other people share my love of Bar-B-Q...

That's interesting because I've mostly had to wait for a table at Famous Dave's. Sometimes 45min to an hour. But, I think it is more of a dinner place, since the few times I didn't have to wait was earlier in the afternoon.

I feel ya on the drive there and back. I'm just glad I have family an hour south in Mansfield, so if we need to stop, there is a place to. Sounds like a good day overall. I'm hoping next Wed. won't be too bad crowd wise.