boardwalk bullet anyone.....

looks like the most insane wooden coaster ever. i cant imagine a coaster w/ over 3000 ft of track built on 1 acre. anyone ride it.

Doesn't sound like the best reviews but HERE you go. Also HERE is a search of the topics to read more.

Check out the girl in the 4th car. I would hate to be sitting behind her.

http://rcdb.com/3757.htm?p=20693

I think if there ever was a coaster that could benefit from Timberliners, this would be it. I haven't ridden it yet, but the consensus seems to be, that the PTC's can't keep up with all of the turning and runs out of steam about 2/3 the way through the ride, so the final portion is not running at design speed. Regardless, from what my friends say about the ride, I would absolutely love the first 2/3 anyway. :)

Hoping to get down there sometime soon when it's running well.

I read recently that the coaster has just undergone some major rehab work, and is currently running smooth and flawlessly.

Let's hope it can stay that way!

I rode it. It doesn't really stand out in my memory as better or worse than any other woodie. Reminded me a whole lot of OzCat, actually.

^Yes, the worst of the TGG rides is actually pretty similar to one of the best GCIs. ;)

I can see that resemblance in how the layout wraps around itself with lots of parallel track and not random crossovers like most GCI's. That is why I always thought it looked distinctly not like a GCI.

I have ridden it twice over the summer of 09. Once in May and once in Sept. The ride in May was great! Fast and fun. The ride in Sept was jarring and painful. Same car, same seat both times. I try really hard to like this coaster, but overall, it just does not measure up. Kemah is a fun destination to visit if you are in the Houston area. It is not worth a special trip if you are traveling from a distance.

I rode it recently for the first time and absolutely LOVED it! The park was not crowded and I got over 20 laps with my unlimited rides wristband even though the ride opened later than other rides (at around 5 PM for a 12 noon opening).

Most of my rides were at night with about 2 thirds of them in the front seat, and the rest in the back car. I could have had even more night rides but opted to take a break from the woodie to spend about an hour getting night rides on the park's other rides, including the drop tower, Aviator, observation tower, train, carousel, Wipeout, and Pharoh's Fury. With a 9 PM close and standard time finally in effect, this still gave me about 2 hours worth of nightime ERT on the coaster!

As for any alleged "roughness", I didn't notice anything, but I have yet to meet a woodie yet that was too "rough" for my taste. All woodies are marathonable for me, with the main thing that distinguishes them from each other in my mind being their thrill factor - speed, intensity, aggression, out-of-control feeling, surprise factor, airtime, etc., - but mostly airtime, more than anything else, is what I love the most.

And Boardwalk Bullet delivered the goods! I counted 7 spots of solid frontseat air and almost as much in the back, though of course some came in different places. In addition to the twisted layout, another thing this has in common with many GCI's is very, very, solid frontseat air, and more moments of frontseat air than backseat air.

The first drop gives a nice float in the back car all the way down the hill, while the two rapid-fire bunny hills after the long right-hand turn at the bottom of the drop provided killer front seat air - the kind where you can land on top of of the seat divider because the track turns while you are airborn. I LOVED it!

I loved the twisted layout, which took me almost 10 laps before I knew what was coming next, which is a lot for me. While the twisted layout reminded me of GCIs, the ride had a more intense, out-of control, unpredictable feel to it than most GCIs I've ridden. The only slow spot was towards the very end. The ride does not hit the final brakes "hot", as others have said and that is the only small "flaw" on an otherwise amazing ride. If the Cyclone and it's clones are a "12 acre ride on a 3 acre site", than Bullet is a "12 acre ride on a one acre site!"

Bullet to me is a perfect example of how a small facility can level the playing field (as far as thrills go) with the large themers by building a woodie than can more than hold its own with, and outclass, many of their woodies. (another example being the Dania Beach Hurricane)

IMO, Kemah Boardwalk and the Bullet is definitely worth visiting, whether because you're in the area or making a special trip to ride it. My one word of caution is to call the park first, especially if making a special trip, because even though the rides at the Boardwalk are open every day of the year (except for Christmas and I think Thanksgiving) there is a chance the woodie could be down for maintainence, particularly in non-peak seasons. So call before you go.

But otherwise, a world-class, kick-ass woodie with an aggressive, unpredictable layout and several solid spots of airtime that is open ALMOST every day of the year AND gives night rides almost every night of the year - what's not to love! ;)

PS. I also have to give props to the new-for-2009 drop tower, the Drop Zone, which had great airtime, floating down the entire drop. The placement is inspiring with a view directly looking at Galveston Bay to the east and the park itself on the other sides. Night rides - staring into the vast blackness of the water with the full moon reflected on the water providing the only illumination - were quite sublime.

Definitely a difference of opinion. I hope to hear from others to find out how their experiences were on the Bullet. Ive definitely had many different experiences on the ride from very good to very bad. Unfortunately for me, there have been more bad then good.

I rode the bullet opening year, in mid September, and my night rides on it will be burned into my memory for as long as the neurons fire in my head.

My rides that night had significant flaws - the ending really slowed down - but my god, that opening series was amazing. The first drop was one of the very few that had me scared (see my TX Cyclone video response), and that simply hasn't happened in a long, long time; only the Rattler in '92 (before the 1st drop got cut) and my first rides on Hades into that tunnel got to me since the old TX Cyclone first drop. Frankly, most first drops just don't do it for me these days, but the bullets definitely did. The combination of a very strong "pop" off the drop along with a change of direction at the bottom of the drop and a very fast, intense passage made it was amazing moment. The climb up to the first point of pause was nice, and the second "phase" of the ride as it headed back out to the bay was amazing. Those first two phases were some of the best trackage I've ever ridden, and based upon the quality of those rides, the bullet got into my top 5. However, the rest of the ride progressed from decent to not so much, and I can only wonder what it would have been like if the entire ride had the pace the first section did.

Unfortunately, the ride has had "issues" and recently, as I understand, while it's been retracked and reworked, the first drop was modified and the "pop" removed and I've heard from guys I tend to trust that while the ride is more ridable these days, that the intensity of the opening series has been diminished. I'd really like to get back there, but it's one of those deals where it's the only thing going in Houston, ride wise, and if the ride wasn't having a good day (which has been a problem) or if the ride has been tamed, it might turn out to be a trip that I wouldn't enjoy. So for me, while I need to get back to see how it is, I'm not sure when that realistically will be. I just know that those night rides a couple of Septembers ago were absolutely bloody fantastic, with that first phase of that ride being some of the best ride experience I've ever had.

-m