Steel Vengeance

Well that's just great. With SV on the list, I feel like people would only get FL+ for Steel Vengeance.

With FL+ you don't really save any time. Both lines had the same wait time today. The line has slowed considerably today since FL+ was added. They do one train of normal line and the next one FL+. It's still basically the same as one train operation wait time wise.

Really, FL+ line was just as long as GP? At least it's the same wait, I was a bit worrisome it could be slower. Sounds like a fair enough method doing FL+ one train and doing GP next. I'd be interested to see how it works out on the weekdays.

I walked from the parking lot back to the far entry by Cedar Shores (as did lots of the resort folks) on the boardwalk/sidewalk for early entry this morning for one last ride for this trip (Got 6 yesterday during Coastermania and early afternoon including one front row) and did the stampede to the ride with everyone else.

Got there only to discover it was down for mechanical reasons. That scared a few folks off but it wasn't long before they ran a couple cycles. 15 minute wait for me to get on and when I got off it was already over a 2 hour wait according to the sign. The FL line was huge when I got off but they weren't letting any of them on yet at that point. Shortly after they started cycling a few of them in. Can't imagine what the wait went to when the GP got in at 10.

Well here's my observations for today. I have a rule, never, ever wait in a long line for a coaster. It can breakdown at any moment for maintenance and then you are stuck and have zero information to make a good decision. I usually buy a fast lane or do early entry. Well my wife was planting deer food today (some call them flowers) so I headed out. I arrived and looked at the app which said Gate Keeper was closed. But my eyes disagreed, so I walked on. Then headed over to WT which was only a 10 min wait. After that, I walked back to RMC mean streak (sorry, I just love that name) and disregarded the app since it was obviously unreliable today. The wait said 90 min. I was skeptical after looking at the fast lane line which was long, but said screw it and got in line. I waited exactly 120 minutes before I was called to my lane and noticed that each train had a row not available which obviously reduced capacity on a already reduced capacity coaster. So as I was waiting for the gate to open which took a while the the announcement was made...SV was down for maintenance. I thought to myself "you deserve this since you know better" I mean, what are the chances? I had no choice, but waited and after 30 minutes it reopened. I noticed no trimming on the break run and rode it during the charity first ride and on opening day. Best coaster I've ever rode, absolutely no doubt.

At the beginning of Steel Vengeance ERT I was on the stairs when they launched the first train. The operator with the headset called the ride RMC Mean Streak.

That's actually a rule I have. I mostly do early entry so I can get on some of my favorites before everyone else does. Seriously, why is that app so inaccurate?

I have learned to not trust the app at all which either lists a totally open ride as closed or ridiculously overestimates the wait time.

I don't mind waiting up to 2 hours on SV, it's worth the wait and often times gives me a break just to stand in line. Occasionally I'll do the early entry running of the bulls but I love to marathon Millennium Force too much. So far going on weekdays I've waited less than 2 hours most of the time for SV. Of course Summer season is beginning, I learned from last year to expect more crowds on weekdays even during peak in July/Early August.

So, then what days are the least populated? I also wonder when SV is going to run 3 trains.

Halloweekends Saturdays

Okay, thanks. I mean the normal summer season. I'm planning on Monday or Tuesday to go. Is this when the crowds don't give you an abysmal waiting time?

Simple, look at the days the park is promoting. Tuesday’s is when ERTs are. It’s the park’s slowest day.

Well last week I would say Thursday was a lot less crowded than Tuesday, and I put that in the rain chance. Maybe people still had an extra day off from Memorial Day too.

And now what I seriously think of course, it's simple really, May, yeah first half of June, and late August weekdays are your best bet for low attendance. When I went to HalloWeekends Fridays, so many days were in the 70s, not super packed but had decent attendance. As soon as it got colder or rain chance, crowds went away.

When I went in July and first half of August even the weekdays had good crowds. Of course this is only my 2nd year as a Platinum pass holder so I don't consider myself an expert.

I have been to one HalloWeekends Saturday years ago in 2012, it was a very cold day. Didn't matter, by far the most crowded I have ever seen the park.

Halloweekends Saturdays are generally extremely busy.

We are gonna give the last Sat-Tues in August a go this summer. I’ve heard it’s usually pretty slow that week. The park closing at 8pm would reinforce that notion. That week leads into Labor Day weekend, which was absolutely SLAMMED last year.

I have done that week before - it is great! Saturday will probably be a bit busy (although nothing like a Saturday at the beginning of the month) but I used to do that Sunday-Monday as my last trip of the year when I was in college and we would head back on the Thursday before Labor Day. It was always a great two days for riding and low crowds. That was 12-13 years ago, but I am sure the crowd pattern is still similar.

Yesterday, Sunday, was perfect! Very few FL+ users so, the longest line for SV all day was the early entry period. It was 45 minutes. After 10, the longest we waited MIGHT have been 30 minutes.

I also noticed that, of the trains I was on, we were ready to be dispatched before the train on the course passed the station for the last lap. They waited to dispatch us as the other train hit the final brakes. So, hopefully, they get whatever issue resolved that is preventing 3 train operation. Surprisingly to me, there is plenty of time to have a 3rd train on the train on the track.

Ok, but when they do how are they going to handle fastlane?

They need to get a handle on FastLane all over the park. It should be a merge point, not a right of way. We were at the top of the stairs for Valravn and not only did we they let the entire FL group in front of us, we also had to wait for a group coming up the FL stairs.

^They need a set of guidelines that need to be strictly followed. Allow this many FL users per ride, period. Their new scanners could do it for them so kids wouldn't be the ones who determine how many are allowed in the station at a time. Kids should not be expected to enforce this. Most don't want to deal with conflict.