We rolled out of the rack at 5am, hit the shower, and were off to the park. Morning ERT was schedules to be MF, Maverick and Skyhawk. We had all of those, and Raptor was added, as well. Riding MF in the back seat at 6:15am is a wonderful way to wake up!
We met up with Wes, and headed back to Skyhawk. As usual it is a great ride that almost was. The quality of the ride is outstanding, but the cycle time is still way too short. It needs at least one more swing each direction.
Since we were in the area, we decided to get another lap on Maverick. It was great, but not quite as enjoyable as the night ride we'd had the day before. I'm not sure if I bruised my arm on this lap or on the one the night before, but halfway through this ride, I was done with the hands up idea for Maverick. Still, I love this coaster. It slides in at my
3rd or 4th favorite in the park.
We got a quickie lap on Raptor at the end of ERT, and Wes left to go back to his room for a nap. he did this because he is SMART. Unlike some people (yours truly) who want to go all out, all day, Wes paced himself nicely.
During the early hour for CP resort guests, we took another ride on MF, this time in the front seat. This was Lori's first fronty on MF, and she loved it!
During the rest of the morning, and on into the afternoon, we avoided the longer lines, and rode coasters with shorter lines, and some things we hadn't ridden before.
Iron Dragon- bash away, this isn't a bad coaster at all, especially in front. My wife has a special place in her heart for this coaster, as it was one she could ride when she couldn't fit in most of the coasters. It's my least favorite of the three suspended coasters I've ridden (Top Gun and the Bat at KI), but I still like it.
Troika- A million miles better than Fun Spots. It might not be better than Shake, Rattle and Roll at KI, but it's been so long since I was at KI- it's hard to say.
Chaos- Lori's first ride on a Chaos, and she's heard me rave about them for years. In typical CP fashion, the cycle time is just too short.
Witches Wheel (Enterprise) - It had been a long time since I'd ridden an Enterprise, and this one was great until the end of the cycle when it was lowering. There was a jolt, and I just happened to have my head near on of the bars, and I bashed my head so hard I thought for a moment that I might have split it open. Other than the concussion, it was a nice ride.
Corkscrew- I politely disagree with Andrew. I like riding this one in back, as it gives a couple of pops of airtime back there. It's also fun to see the people on the midway looking up as you fly over the top of them. I swear that wasn't me holding his hand over his mouth and making barf sounds. Honest
Of course, during this time, we also took some more laps on some favorites that I discussed in the Thursday report. Mainly Magnum, because.... well, it's Magnum, the best coaster at CP While we were in line to ride the giant wheel, Wes called to let us know he was on his way back, and he met us as we got off.
A threesome once, again, we hit several things that would be closing before evening ERT:
Monster- The Monster at KI was always my father's favorite ride. I have to ride this one every visit in his honor. I wear a small gold star with his initials on my necklace in his memory, and I held it as we rode. Surprisingly, the cycle time was quite long. The unloading was slow, and our arm was the last to unload. I actually dozed off while we were hanging in the air, LOL
Demon Drop- clunk, squeak, BANG, clunk squeak BANG! It's still a lot of fun, just remember to not hold your head against the headrest or restraints, and you'll be fine. Also remember to put your change in a pocket that buttons, or it will all come out.
Wildcat- a nice ride, except for the bone jarring stops just before dispatch and at the end of the ride. Wildcat is like a Corvette in a garage full of Porsches and Ferraris. It's not bad, but it keeps such good company that it fades into the background.
Power Tower- it was sceduled for ERT, but it was a walk-on, and we figured there were better things to use our ERT on. We took a couple of rides on the launch side. it's great, but I still prefer the turbo drop.
Wicked Twister- It's a decent ride, but it's one I refuse to wait in much of a line for. It was short enough and we got a nice ride.
Big thanks to Wes for humoring Lori and I while we did our sunset walk on the beach. The lake is really pretty, and at sunset, it's a nice romantic, mostly deserted place to be. It was also nice to get my shoes off, and get my feet into the cool sand, and cooler water.
Evening ERT almost became a debacle. They usually schedule 3-4 coasters and a flat. This year, it was Magnum, TTD and Power Tower- that's it. Add to this the fact that Power Tower was pretty much walk-on in the morning and early evening, and you've got a bunch of coaster geeks converging on Magnum and TTD. NOW- add in the fact that Magnum had a breakdown just before ERT. Not good at all. We'd avoided TTD all day, figuring that if the wait was an hour during the day, it would be pretty quick to get on during ERT. WRONG- ERT was prety much the longest the line had been all day! To try to keep us at bay, they opened Wicked Twister while they worked on Magnum. Big freakin' deal: Wicked Twister instead of Magnum. Yay. Wow. I'm underwhelmed. I told Lori and Wes that if they didn't get Magnum up pretty quickly, the rabid ACErs would probably set something on fire. Wes responded with one of the funniest lines of the day: "Let's hope it's Mean Streak." I had a funny vision of a couple thousand coaster geeks standing around the burning Mean Streak, holding hands and singing "Kum Bah Yah."
At any rate, Lori had mentioned she wanted her next ride on TTD to be a front seat ride, so we decided this was the time for it. It took a bit of waiting, but it was SOOOOOOO worth it. 120 mph wind in yourface with nothing in front of you to break it is quite a rush! Wes had decided to wait and get his own fronty instead of timing things to ride right behind us. As soon as i got off, I raced around to the launch area, where he was about to go. I had to let him know he was 20 seconds away from being VERY glad that he decided to try the front. To anyone who has yet to try the front of TTD, do it. especially at night.
As we were about to board TTD for our fronty, they announced that Magnum was fixed, so we went to it for a couple of rides. I rode 1-3, Wes rode a but further back, and Lori sat it out as she was nursing a well-earned headache. One of my biggest disappointments of the day was the fact that they didn't turn off the trim brake at the entrance to the turnaround, which they have done in the past. Bastards. On my second ride, the nitwit next to me loose-belted, and darn near came out during the ejector hills. I'll bet he got some nice thigh bruises for his idiocy. As for me, I made sure that the belt was tighter than the lapbar, as Lori and I were heading to GL the next day, and I really wanted to be able to walk. After the Magnum laps, there was about five minutes left in ERT, so Wes and I headed over to TTD for one last shot, if we could get there before they closed the line. We barely made it- the line host's phone rang as we walked past him- it was the call to close the line. maybe a dozen people made it in after us. We rode mid-train, as they were making us fill the trains after the line was closed. It was still a great ride.
We said our goodbyes with Wes, and headed out. I suggested a trip down to Steak and Shake for some grub, but Lori was so wiped that she said "We have a can of Pringle's in the room, I think that's enough. With my new bruise on my arm, lump on my head, and two nice new blisters on my foot, I agreed. Back to the hotel and CRASH!
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