| PKI- day 2 of the big SRM trip
This is again copied, with a few corrections, from the post I made to our email list (meaning if you really want all the nitty gritty, you're not going to find it here. hehe)
Thursday, May 30th
Weather- partially cloudy for most of the day, one major shower while we
were on FOF. very humid.
Crowds- heavy. turns out it was "bring a friend free day" and boy did
they! Parking lot was pretty full to, and if it wasn't I can't imagine
what a full lot would look like.
Scoring- I'm going to use a 1-10 scale with 0's being really bad and
negatives meaning "taer is down now!"
4 of us packed up in one guy's shiny new Mercedes coup from
Wadsworth, OH (near Akron) down to PKI, arriving at about 11:30. We
wanted to get there before opening for the walkbacks, but little things
prevented that from happening (like some people up til 1:30 and others
wanting some sleep before we left). We met up with a fifth at the Eiffel
tower shortly after we entered, and knowing that it was going to be a
busy day from the crowds, cars, and buses pulling in, figured we better
get going. Jon was hobbling a bit due to having hurt his knee a couple
of days before, but outside of the hobbling he fit right into our whacky
little group.
We started out and went right over to The Beast, that classic woodie
that is still the longest wooden coaster in the world. And she was
still running great, popping over the crests of her hills, and rumbling
around the corners. The only slow part of the coaster was the lift hill
which was reported to me as being because they removed a block brake and
now have to use the lift as a block (and boy was it slow). But the
Beast was a blast of a ride and quickly moved itself up onto my list of
favorites (which, by the way, is a major disaster after this trip with
almost 50 new coasters) I can only imagine what it must be like on the
fabled night rides. Score- an easy 8.
Next we wandered around in some disbelief at the size of the crowds
since we figured that during the day on a Thursday it would be a lot
less crowded. We finally stopped over at Flight of Fear. We hopped in
the short line outside the building hoping against hope that the line
inside would be short. Alas, almost every queue line inside was filled
with people. But at least it was air conditioned! After waiting for
about an hour to an hour and a half we started to get into the cramped
trains. They may not have otsr's anymore, but they do have these
crushing foot holders that I ended up with my feet overlapping and one
under the center foot divider. ouch. A little more room would be nice.
As for the coaster itself- incredible. The theming was awesome
throughout the queue and even on the ride itself. But this was also one
of the most disorienting rides that I've ever been on. After the first
couple of loops and dives I literally had no idea what direction I was
going in (except forward) and whether I was up, down, or sideways. It
was a great ride that had only a couple of rough spots. Those would
have been major problems with teh otsr's, but without them it was a lot
of fun. FOF scored an easy 9 on my strange little scale.
We emerged from the ride to discover that there had apparently been a
decent downpour while we were on the ride and in the line but alas that
didn't chase anyone away. While I'm very skeptical of the claims of
some that call the park home that more people come to the park when it
rains, it sure didn't seem to ease the crowds much. But based on the
circumstances (like gnawing hunger) we decided it was time to grab a
bite to eat. One person suggested the Festhaus, but when we realized
that it was a bit busy there was some discussion as to whether or not to
eat there or leave the park for cheaper food. We pretty much decided at
that point that we were to hungry, and Jon's leg to sore, to leave the
park so all but one of us ate there. Food was good- about average park
fare for the price.
From there we tried to hit some more coasters before it got much later.
Next up was Adventure Express, their mine train, whose line wasn't to
long. But this isn't any mine train. The landscaping and theming
throughout the ride are incredible, giving you a feeling of cruising
around an ancient Incan city. Starting off with a drop and some running
around before the first lift was great, and we were close enough to the
plants that both Jeremy and I hit our hands on some of the shrubbery
nearby as we cruised by. This easily became my favorite mine train of
the bunch I've been on (except maybe BTMRR at DL), and scored a 6.5
(very high for a mine train)
Next up was the John Allen Racer, running only one side, that one being
backwards. Here comes the good old, "if you're going to build a racing
coaster Six Flags, then race them!" complaint again. Oh, wait, whoops.
This isn't a Six Flags park either! Blast. Guess they aren't the only
ones guilty of that sin after all. [;-)] Anyways, running backwards
was moderately fun, but there just wasn't much to the Racer anymore.
Some small pops of airtime, but not much to it. A little fun with the
split turnaround, but, well, it might have been a lot better if it was
racing both sides, but even backwards it just wasn't a hugely exciting
coaster for me. A nice middle of the road 5.
Here we split up a bit because I wanted to ride Vortex and Jeremy was
the only one really willing to ride it with me. So the others headed
off and Jeremy hopped onto Vortex, the world's first coaster with 6
loops and built, of course, by Arrow. Unlike the other major
multiloopers, this one doesn't go right into a loop after it's first
drop but instead has another high hill with a turn around before
dropping into 2 vertical loops, and boomerand, and a corkscrew, along
with a few twists and turns. It is also the first real example I've
encountered where Arrow bashing makes some sense. While it's still a
fun coaster, there are some definate moments of head banging on it. It
is not by any means unrideable as some would have you believe, but it
can cause some definate discomfort. And there were some sections of
track that seemed like they didn't mesh with the rest of the track-
where a straight spot would suddenly have a twist on one part of track
before becoming straight again. It looked more like pieces of track had
been replaced, and not done real well, than it looked like a lousy build
job and I would be curious as to how much retracking has happened to the
coaster over the years. In any case Vortex rates around a 3 for me, but
it has the potential to be so much higher.
From here we knew Nate was almost in the park (thank God for cell
phones), so the two of us headed out to meet him. Once he arrived, the
three of us headed over to PKI's second suspended coaster (the first
being the now defunct Bat, built where Vortex now stands). Top Gun is a
fun little ride, not anything great, but very nice the way it sweeps
through the trees, grasses, and shrubbery, with several spots where it
looks like it's going to make a hit. It's only problem is that it's so
short. I would have liked a little more to it. Not a big knock, but
that's the major reason I didn't like it as much as Ninja at SFMM. But
it still rates a good 6.5, and is one that I would like to get more ride
time in.
After this we met back up with the other guys and our group of 6 for the
weekend was complete. Beware- RCT has hit the streets! And our first
place of assault was Son of Beast! In only I'd known in advance just
how badly we were going to lose this battle.
Son of Beast has 2 major problems- jackhammering roughness throughout
the coaster, and the most boring layout that I've ever seen on a
coaster. To sum up the whole coaster it goes like this: the longest
loudest lifthill you've ever seen, big drop into jackhammering helix,
jackhammering helix, surprisingly smooth and fun loop, jackhammering
helix, jackhammering helix, station. Or you could put it this way:
shouting on lift hill, ow, ow, ow, whee, ow, ow, ow, uggggggg. Sad that
a coaster that could be so good is instead so crappy. 2
From here we went over the eiffel tower, took some pictures of the
park, took one more evening ride on the Beast that lasted until park
closing, then headed out to our hotel.
NOTES AND OTHER COMMENTS
I really liked PKI. I didn't like the crowds, and felt that I missed so
much of the park because of it. I never got to see the kids area at all
(one part I really wanted to do) and also it meant no rides on Drop
Zone, Face Off, or several spots that I wanted to experience. But it
was still a great time. I was worried for a bit that we wouldn't get
our money's worth out of our admission but I think it worked out in the
end (ACE discount sure helped to). And hopefully some year in the
future I can make a return trip.
well, end of park 2. Only 5 more to go.........
__________________ Have you read my number 1 best seller? There will be a test! ~God
Life with God is one thrill ride you'll never want to get off of.
My park & coaster photos: Sir Willow's Smugmug pictures |
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