I’m new to the forum. I am 27 years old from Oklahoma and have been a SP holder for approx. 15 years. I travel to SDC quite often, but Saturday (June 20) I was at the park. Here’s my experience:
I really felt “things” overall were very efficient. The health screening and security check-in was easy and quick and the ticket takers knew what they needed to see, (reservation and ticket). That was the part that had me worried beforehand, thinking it would take a long time.
I come for the rides so that’s what I did. I rode Time Traveler 5 times throughout the day, maybe waited 20 minutes max the first 3 rides and later in the day I walked on. Outlaw run, even though ran one train ops, was fast as usual. NO, ride ops were not spraying to clean the trains after every cycle on any ride, except for FSDL. I was happy to see that for speed reasons only. All rides did give hand sanitizer to every rider before they went through the station gates. That was great!
I ate at the new Riverside Ribhouse and was pleasantly surprised at the quality and quantity. Mystic River Falls looks wicked cool and can’t wait for it to open.
Now here for the slightly less than great reviews. Let’s start with FITH. The queue line was dumb. Even though the dots are on the ground, it’s still quite a tight space. They need to rework that. (Side note, i know it was changed last year, but the new “FIRE IN THE HOLE” voice at the end, has GOT TO GO! It’s horrible!)
The Barn Swing, even though it’s a balance and personnel reason, needs both swings going. Waited 15 minutes in one spot and didn’t move while 2 cycles went through. Ended up not riding today.
BUT, the biggest disappointment was PK! PK is my favorite ride on park and the best IMO! PK should NEVER run one train ops. Regardless of attendance, due to the the length of one ride cycle, (transfer, launch, lift and brake run), the ride time is long, then add switching riders and cleaning, it took a solid hour until I was able to ride. The queue line was no problem, but get people moving through there. For a ride that can run 3 trains, one train is just slow! Only rode once, WOMP!!! The ride ops did spray sanitize the train every once in a while (I’d say 30 mins or so) and send the empty train around, (I guess to dry it, not sure). Another reason to not have one train ops!
Back to the positives. I really felt the park staff all did their best. The ride ops, especially, having to deal with people directly handled the whole situation well. They get an A in my book for today! Overall, my experience was enjoyable and I did like the reduced capacity, even with a mask. If it means wearing a mask and getting to ride my favorite rides and go to my favorite place, I’m all for it! (No, I don’t like wearing it at all, but SDC > Mask, so I wear it). The park gets a B+ from me today.