Photo courtesy of Joyrides
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After our "porno pole" rides on Visionland's spinning ferris wheel, my hands
have turned into claw-like stumps. I can barely type, but would like to offer
these thoughts on the ACE Spring Con weekend: Early admission on Friday. Cindy Stout and I managed to get into the park Friday morning at 10:00 for a full and fun-filled day with 4,000 elementary school children. We were subjected to 40 degree temperatures, a light rain throughout the day, and one train operation on all the coasters. The Georgia Scorcher and Batman were not running, since most of these children would not have met the height requirements. This disappointed both Cindy and I, as we were looking forward to showing these kids how cool we were ("You're not big enough? We are.") Actually, we had a wonderful time! All the kids we encountered that day were on their best behavior. No line jumping, no acting up - just a bunch of kids enjoying their play day. None of them seemed to mind that only one train was running on every coaster (as Cindy said "most of them don't realize they *could* be moving faster, they only know that they have to wait in line if they want to ride). One advantage of being in the park on elementary day: The Georgia Cyclone! These kids were one ride and out! We got three quick rides on the Cyclone which, by the way, is even better than it was last year! It used to be that the ride kind of petered out at the end. Nuh-uh, not anymore! There is airtime to be had on nearly every hill, and the 7th drop is now every bit as frightening as the fourth! Because of the one train operation, the wait for Mindbender took almost an hour. The wait for Scream Machine looked every bit as long and we chose not to ride. We wondered what the reaction would be that evening if the Spring Con attendees encountered the same one train waits.
The park closed at 3:00 p.m., so we went to The Varsity - Cindy's first time at this Atlanta landmark eatery. Chili dogs, onion rings, a frosted orange and a fried peach pie for dessert. Thank you, Atlanta, you sho' do cook good. Two hours later, it was time for Spring Con to begin. There were so many RRCers present! Robert Ulrich was feverishly working registration and Guest Relations, trying to convince the powers that be that you do *not* want to schedule ERT with one train operation! He managed to get two trains running during ERT on both Scorcher and Batman. Thanks for your behind the scenes maneuvering, Robert!
Before ERT began we made our way to the Great American Scream Machine. Again, with one train operation it made the wait somewhat frustrating. It does seem pointless to schedule a private event only to endure public, Saturday-type waits. The wait was well worth it, though, as the Machine was, indeed, screaming. Everyone - veterans and newcomers alike, unanimously agreed that this coaster was outstanding! Oh, if only Joe Schwartz had been here, he'd have finally gotten that long overdue and well-deserved ride he's been lamenting! Half an hour before the park was scheduled to close, all queues for the coasters were closed and ACEers were instructed to congregate in BatWorld to allow the park to be cleared out and ERT to begin. At first it seemed a logical move, since Batman and Mindbender were two of the coasters scheduled for ERT, everyone figured they would be confined to riding those two coasters while the rest of the park was cleared out. However we were not allowed to ride and instead stood around for over an hour. It turned out to be the longest, most frustrating wait of the day. First they emptied all coasters of any remaining GP, then security made a sweep of the area, checking for name badges. Then money was emptied from the vendor coffers. Finally, we were told that initially only Batman and Mindbender would be open and we should proceed to one of those coasters. It was a very confusing and unorganized process and not a good reflection on the park. They seemed ill-prepared for ERT. It seemed like such an easy thing - rather than make everyone stand around while security walked through Gotham City doing a person to person search, simply let those with badges ride Batman and Mindbender and tell those without badges they can't! In addition, while Batman was running two trains (thanks to Robert Ulrich), Mindbender was not, which made it a less than attractive option. We got three consecutive rides on Batman, then decided to take a chance and head for the Cyclone. Fortunately it was running and there were very few people in line! We got several rides, including the next to last train of the night. They were furious, mean, hateful rides. As Cindy Stout said, "I've never ridden anything that wants me off of it so badly!"
Six Flags Over Georgia really has the best collection of coasters in the United States. Two classic and powerful woodies, and at least four outstanding steel coasters (in my book, five). Throw in a monster plantation, lush landscaping and a beautifully preserved carousel on a hill, and you have the finest Six Flags park as well as one of the best parks in the country. Besides, they have the fastest Batman. The next day we went to Visionland. Visionland hasn't changed a bit. Well, okay, it has changed. The Polyp is gone. All the rides except Rampage have changed their names. The Ice Cream store is now a red barn instead of a pretty yellow sherbet.
ERT on Saturday night ended rather abruptly and in my opinion, badly. All of a sudden and without warning, the ride ops simply said "that's it" and shut down the ride. There was no warning given to anyone waiting in line. I felt particularly sorry for those riders who had been patiently waiting so long for a front seat ride. Can you imagine being the two front seat riders who had waited all that time and were next in line to go? Had any of them been given any notice naturally they would have abandoned the front seat queue for an available row. It wasn't right. What *was* impressive was that, despite this terrible ending, the ride ops were greeted not with whines and complaints but with a rousing round of applause. So much for enthusiasses, I didn't see one of them this weekend!
When I told Sean Flaharty about it he, too, was shocked. So on Saturday Sean, Dave, Tim Melago (another first-timer) and I all got on the ferris wheel. Sean was first to grab the porno pole (so dubbed because of it's stickiness) when he commented "it's not sticky." Then the ride op informed us we couldn't spin the car! WHAAAAAAAAAAAT???? What are you talking about? What kind of a park puts in a spinning ferris wheel then says you can't spin it? Sean wondered if the bumper cars wouldn't allow you to bump! I swear, you have never seen two more dejected people than Sean and I were on that porno pole. It was was the most miserable ride of my life. After we got off we told an extremely unimpressed Cindy Stout that we were moving so fast it looked like we were standing still. Uh, yeah. She ain't no dummy. That night, standing near the ferris wheel while waiting for ERT, I said we should just go over and ask them to let us have one ride. So I walked up to the entrance and asked a supervisorial looking man if we could have one ride that spins? He thought about it for a second then threw his arms out and said "You can spin it all you want!" YEA!!!! We hopped on board, and the ride op even gave us a courtesy spin (a good one, too)! Tim jumped right in and attacked the porno pole with both hands while Dave sat back looking like a man near death. He refused to sully his hands by placing them on the porno pole and helping to spin. "Hey, I said I'd ride the thing, I didn't say I'd participate!" Finally Sean, Tim and I got into it and really got the car spinning furiously (Tim actually grew horns and yelled out "YEAH!!! !" as he ravaged the porno pole). Once we got the car going really fast Dave seemed to regain his confidence and even helped us spin it! It was a great ride and a very impressive display of machismo by Dr. Sandborg! The next day Sean and I got Sam Ulrich and Cindy Stout on the porno pole. Robert Ulrich videotaped it for posterity. Sam wasn't the least bit afraid and gave it his best effort. He even strategically figured out a more efficient way to get maximum spinnage! At first Cindy helped us spin, but all of a sudden she went "Oh my God........OH........................MY................GOD......." and slowly sat back, trying in vain to grab onto something besides the porno pole. Once Sam's spinnage theory was put to the test WHOA!!! We REALLY got it going! And this seemed to help Cindy as well. It helps to spin so fast you can't see where you're going! Anyway, both rides were really fun, but I spun the porno pole so hard I ended up pulling a muscle in my finger and now hands are like claws that wont straighten out! I applaud both Cindy and Dave's courage. These two *really* hate ferris wheels! The Rip Roarin' Rampage Synchronized Bumper Car Team was reassembled for another show of synchronized stupidity! Our fearless leader, Mark Fluharty, led the team, and this time we added a few new members to our roster. The "beaching" was sucessful and took place at the opposite wall this year. Fortunately the ride ops thought the whole thing was funny and the bumper car was quickly put back into action, where we all enjoyed a rousing free-for-all. Visionland gave me a chance to get to see and talk to more RRCers - Craig Arbor, Mark Brunner (ACEREPMARK), CoryPA, Doug Wilson and his son Brent. Mark regaled us with his typical "child's parent doesn't understand why said child can't ride" scenario and subsequent responses. I found the whole thing very funny. One sad note to Spring Con was the absence of those wishing to attend who were unable to for personal reasons. Dana and Dooley Schwartz and Joe "Mine Car Buddy" Krapf were forced to stay in New Jersey as Dana's mother had a heart attack, and Tom Kelley was called away after Day One of the Con as his mother, too, unexpectedly became seriously ill. Tom was visibly distraught, both about leaving and out of concern for his mother. I felt very sorry for him, and Dana and company as well. You guys were missed! Finally, to end this report on a high note, let me just say that the time we spent at Lake Winnie was pure, out and out fun!!! I L-O-V-E this park! It's the nicest traditional park I've been to since Knoebels. They actually have an original Shoot The Chutes, the kind that actually goes out into a real lake! I had no idea any of them even existed anymore! The whole park is blessed with that kind of magic. All the rides are in good shape (except for the double ferris wheel, which was down) and the park is gorgeous and well kept. And the smells! Robb Alvey asked me what I liked so much about it and I immediately said "It smells SO GOOD!" Cindy just *had* to eat here! Curt Hassinger suggested I start with the hot dog stand and work my way down through the various food booths ending with the sno cone stand for dessert!
Well, that's it for Spring Con. It was a great time, and it was great to see so many RRCers together again. I was really impressed by the number of enthusiasts attending this event - Robert told me it was 350. And even though it might have cost me a few extra rides on Rampage, I'm glad to see people supporting ACE events like this. It was also great seeing the absence of "enthusiasses" despite being put to the test on several occasions. I had a wonderful time with everybody and can't wait for the next big event! Let's go uh-GIN!!!
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RunawayMT
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Email: MarkinArk@earthlink.net
