Well I had been after Shaggy to come visit us in Canada ever since our visit to PKI in April. Shaggy finally gave in and agreed to come visit us in the Great white North during the Canadian Thanks Giving Weekend. We decided to also include SFDL into our plans for the weekend. Shaggy wanted to try S:ROS. I prepared directions for him and warned him of the Toronto traffic before a long weekend. Let’s say that Shaggy became very acquainted with the scenery along highways 401 and 400 while stopped in traffic. The site of PCW along 400 drew him onto a side road so he could get a closer look.

Shaggy made one request that we stop off at Niagara Falls. This was a very easy request to fulfill since it was on the way to SFDL. I also thought that Shaggy knew that Niagara Fall was close but, quickly realized that his Canadian sense of geography was lacking when he asked how far Edmonton was. I guess Shaggy figured that we could zip over to the West Edmonton Mall and catch a few rides on Mindbender Friday evening before our trip on Saturday.

Perhaps I don’t have to mention that my first trip to SFDL in May was not the best, but I promised myself that I would arrive with a good attitude and give it a second chance. SFDL did not open until 1:00PM so we spent the morning being tourist around Niagara Falls and got to the SFDL parking lot around 1:45PM. The parking lot did not look to busy and things were starting to look good already. I had a coupon for $19.99 Canadian at par, which was even better than their $14.99 US price. As Shaggy previously mentioned a nice lady gave us three free ticket that meant that the five of us got in for $40.00 Canadian or $26.00 US. This created a big smile on everybody’s face and definitely started the day off right.

We didn’t realize that a lot of the rides were not operating and had planned to hit the back of the park first expecting S:ROS to be busy. We walked up towards S:ROS and knew that there were very few guests in the park. Disappointed that Predator was closed but, happy to see it getting the much needed repairs done. S:ROS the reason why ventured here had no line up. Adam and Nolan could not be convinced to give it a try so Donna stayed with them for the first ride. Both trains were running probably to compensate for the closure of Predator and Mind Eraser. Shaggy and I walked right onto the platform and rode the back of the first car. The was the first time I rode since May which was also about 15 minutes before Mr. Big had fallen out. So the seatbelts were new and didn’t detract from the ride at all. You could leave them lose if you wanted. The ride ops quickly dispatched the trains for the quick trip up the lift hill. The first ride was as exciting as my first and only ride in May. I purchased the On Ride Photo as Donna and Shaggy got back into the queues. They gave me a second print for free because the printer screwed up and were sorry that I had to wait so long. They also gave me the copy of Shaggy and Donna for free also. So here we are only about 30 minutes into our visit and the complete opposite from our May experience is happening and my opinion of SFDL had changed from that point forward. Shaggy and I catch 2 more ride before we headed off to other parts of the park.

For some reason Nolan didn’t want to try Viper (Arrow looper). I could not figure this out since he loves PCW’s Dragon Fyre and rode PKI’s Vortex. Shaggy and I gave Viper a go and were surprised to see both trains operating. There was nobody in the station house. Something I notice on the lift chain of Viper that I have not seen anywhere else. Viper’s lift is not as noisy as other Arrows because the anti roll backs each a piece of leather or material on them to deaden the sound. Kennywood’s Steel Phantom could use some noise reduction. Later in the day Nolan regained his courage and rode Viper with Shaggy and Dad.

The only thing that had line ups were the spook houses. We had no intention of getting in those line ups and waste valuable coaster time. In my two previous visit I had not tried the Boomerang. Shaggy had never seen the Vekoma trains and was used to Vekomarrow(Jersey Joe’s Word) version of boomerang. I told Shaggy this is where Jim worked and I was able to point him out to Shaggy. There were no Nazi tendencies present from Jim and he was quite pleasant. I don’t really like going backward in loops but, I must be getting use to it because I enjoyed the ride and the comfortable Vekoma trains.

We watched the show that Shaggy had mentioned in his TR and we all really enjoyed that. Then it was time to get something to eat. After we ate Shaggy and I had our 1 hour or S:ROS ERT. We were able to get in 5 rides in 4 in the back and 1 in the front. We were going to wait for a front seat but, didn’t want to forfeit the wait time. Shaggy was able to convince me on our second ride from the back seat to raise my arms. What a rush that is when you come of the first drop. Coming out the first helix there is a heading chopping effect and we both laughed when the kid in front of us ducked as we blazed through. I got a total of 8 rides on S:ROS and Shaggy got 9. Shaggy wanted Donna and I to go while he waited with the boys but, Donna had some lame excuse.

We went to the gift shop before we left and I am now proud to wear a SFDL T-shirt. I purchased one for me and one each for the boys. I also purchased the Superman banner that is proudly displayed in my computer room at home. We were back to the van by 8:00PM and we all had a big smile on our faces after a great day. We knew it could only get better because tomorrow we were taking Shaggy to our beloved PCW. We had a great 3 hour drive back from the park and we were able to talk coaster talk all the way back.