As I explained in an earlier post, the Reids, Brocks and I all decided to swap days and attend Cedar Point the day before Coastermania and SFO the day of. Good decision due to the fact there was bearable crowds at CP and we needed the entire day to do all we wanted. CP provided a great day for us and the anticipation was high for the next leg of our trip.

I had not attended Geauga Lake (now SFO) prior. Knowing it received a large ride package and a lot of publicity kind of made me aware that it might be a bit crowded. The Reids and I arrived before the parking lot opened and were ready to go. We arrived at the main gate in awe of Villain and Superman. The main gate is beautiful and I loved the carved crests that still pay homage to Geauga Lake. Now, what I didn’t know was the main gate is separated from the parking lot by a road. There is a stoplight directly in front with crosswalk signs. Every 30 seconds or so, a bell rings to signify when to walk. But I am getting ahead of myself…

At the admission booth we stopped and asked the attendant how we get in with season passes (just show them, no matter what park they are from) and what time the gate and attractions opened. 10:00am was her firm word, which I again later checked and she repeated. Well let me tell you, 10:00am came and went long before the gates even had SF personnel present. So we stand from about 9:15 to 10:45 while about a million school busses pull up and drop off a seemingly unending amount of kids with little to no supervision. Now the Looney Tunes music that they were playing was so loud we had to talk at the top of our lungs to hear each other, add that annoying crossing bell ringing every 30 seconds and you had the makings of an insane asylum. In the meantime, this poor unsuspecting teenage marketing intern came around taking surveys and walked up to Donna Reid to ask her questions. Luckily Donna bit her tongue, but we did manage to explain what we had been told about opening time. He simply shrugged his shoulders and made no real attempt to care about it other than to say the gates would be opening any minute. Well about a half an hour later they did. And every one of those kids rushed the gates pushing past all of us. We had been the 4&6th cars in the parking lot and because of poor gate management were pushed halfway back into the crowd. Unacceptable.

Ahhh finally in the park, it could only get better right? Nope. No park maps were given, so not being familiar with the layout of the park we had to wait in line again while the only guest relations attendant worked 2 windows at once and finally handed me one. Regardless of the fact there were at least 10 of us standing there (not all with our group) he gave us one single map! So being the pushy American I am (according to the Reids, hee, hee!) I took it upon myself to reach in the window, across the register and grab as many as possible and set them on the window ledge. I never thought I would be performing guest relations for a park in which I was the guest. And the park needs to think about the fact that I could easily reach the register (with the GR person not even concerned) through that window. I am an honest guy and would never do such, but eventually someone dishonest will rip off the park.

So off we go to Villain. I had a feeling it would be running one train, and I knew most of the kids were headed straight for Batman. Well, we get over to the path headed for that area of the park, and an off duty police officer is standing there informing everyone that the rides would not open until 11:00. Once again we were at the head of the pack waiting and watching an apparently overwhelmed officer try to keep all these hooligans from rushing past him. They blatantly attempted to get past him although he had warned all. Now, a simple solution would have been for the park to pull a rope or barrier across the path. But instead the guard had to keep running from side to side with outstretched arms telling kids not to pass him. Our group listened to his words and stayed past the brick pavers as he had asked. Well guess what? Once again when the mob, yes MOB, of immature hooligans were allowed past, we were pushed to the back. We had to grab hands just for fear Adam and Nolan Reid as well as Adam Brock would get separated and trampled. This is absurd, it is unfair and it is dangerous. The park should know better, but yet their disorganization only escalated the problem. What do they do on weekends when there are twice as many people present? That is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Now, after this horrible start, I decided to clear my head and concentrate on the rides rather than the operations. SFO had already flunked guest service in my head. So the only redeeming quality had to be the rides. Here is how they added up.

Villain (x3) – A great CCI. Custom Coasters International is without a doubt the leader in the field of wooden coaster design. This is by far the best steel structure, wooden track coaster I have been on. I actually love the open front Gerstlauer (sp?) trains, but still find Legends trains a bit more eye appealing. There is great air to be had on this ride and like most CCI’s the ride delivers until the final brake run. Obviously it had one train operation all day, so waits grew as the kids moved from the large extreme rides to what I consider the best ride in the park. Villain has the best station theme I have seen in a long time. It is very well done and really suits the area it is in. It ran a tad bit rough, but the first, second and third drops were awesome. The only down time on the coaster comes after the second fan turn when there is a long straightaway before the drop. I appeared to me that they may have added this area for block brakes but decided on two train max operation instead.

Double Loop (x1) – Arrow Looper. Enough said. I did it for the count.

Children’s coaster (x0) – Sorry don’t know the name. Closed. All day. How is it? Couldn’t tell ya.

Raging Wolf Bobs (x0) – Closed. All day. Even though guest relations promised it would open by 4:00pm. How is it? Couldn’t tell ya. I was very disappointed by this.

Batman Knight Flight (x1) – My first floorless and my first Batman theme coaster. I love Batman, even more than coasters, so the combination of the two rates high in my book. We waited for front seat since that seems to be the best place to get the true flying feeling. I am still amazed at the floor folding from underneath you, but being there just a few days after the "incident" mad me a bit uneasy walking across it. The ride ops did a great job of hustling and you could tell they were being very careful. Especially the driver. "Front clear, Back clear, all clear." They were running just two trains and continually stacking them, but I could tell the restraint system as well as added safety precautions was the cause. The ride itself felt much like an invert to me, but not as extreme. The inversions were good, and I actually found myself relying on the restraint to hold me in when the front of the train slowed in the loop. There is a trim located at the entrance to the cobra roll that was not in operation, but it is threatening future use. The drop from the brake run actually produced some air for me. However the large lift drop was not nearly as tall as I expected. I looked at it from Villain’s lift and it appears maybe just a few feet taller. I do not know the exact height. The corkscrews were the most intense part of the ride for me, and I felt a little fuzzy after the last inversion. I still prefer B&M’s hypers and Inverts but I really liked it. And I will ride again.

Giant Dipper (x2) – By the time we were in the station queue, it had begun to pour rain. I was on a limited time schedule (had to leave by 4:00pm) so I opted to hop on to get at least one ride. OUCH! The ride was great, but the rain made it unpleasant the first time around. It was hot that day so I didn’t mind getting soaked, but the pelting of the downpour overshadowed the elements of the ride. As fate would have it, it cleared up within minutes and I rode again. I like the coaster and think it has some brutal forces especially the drop/turn headed to the fan turn. It is fun and still has those classic trains.

Superman the Escape (x2) – This ride remained a 5 minute wait all day. I expected it to be the longest wait, and it was actually the shortest. I can only rationalize the reason for the short waits two ways. 1-It is at a remote corner of the park. 2-It is obviously intimidating to a lot of people. This is my second Intamin invert. Obviously it is not full circuit, but the forwards-backwards-forwards-backwards-forwards-backwards combo made it a good circuit. First ride was with Kevin in the second seat. I absolutely love the twist up. It is so much fun you cannot imagine. Seeing the track twisting ahead of you really gives you a funny sensation. And then falling backwards while twisting is great fun. Going backwards is good too, especially the fact that you are completely vertical. The second shot up the twist goes nearly to the top and takes the cake. The final shot backwards was the worst part of the ride to me. Why? I was absolutely petrified falling into the restraint when the brakes stop the train at the top of the hill. We rode again at the very back and I did not like it. I am sorry, but falling into the restraint at a very high height was not my idea of fun. I love the front and will ride it again hopefully soon. The back will not be a future choice for me mostly because you miss most of the enjoyable part of the ride, the twist.

Mr. Hyde’s Nasty Fall – I had to ride since I have always been a fan of Intamin 1st Generation Free Falls. Well, after way too many Drop Zone Rides, this can hardly tickle my tummy any more. It is very rickety, and I doubt has a long future at the park.

Boomerang (x0) – I wanted it for the count, but it closed right when we walked up to it. How was it? Couldn’t tell ya. But can a boomerang be much different from others?

I left early thankful that I had opted to spend my short day here instead of CP as originally planned. SFO has potential. They have the rides that make it a good park, it’s too bad they do not have the good organizational skills to take it to the next level. I am actually pretty worried now. Why? Many have told me that SFO is running much better than SFA, which I will be attending soon. I hope, for my sake, that is an exaggeration. Here is a good example of why I have a poor opinion: I did not eat at the park, but I did decide to get something to drink a seemingly simple task right? Wrong. I did not feel like standing in line so I opted to pay the $2.75 for the iced tea out of a machine. Well, I got the tea but the machine was not cooling the drinks. It came out as hot as boiling soup. So I then waited in that line (not that long though – I got pushy and forced my way up) for a cup of ice. Guess what, NO ICE! Unacceptable.

Bottom line, I like the rides. I will return based on the attractions, and mostly for Villain and Superman as well as to hopefully catch a ride on RWB. I detest the poor service, the bad quality, and the unorganized operations. I plan on making the park aware of this, and I will attend only in the future with very low expectations. That way they can only improve in my book.

Shaggy