BooBuzz 2010: Terror-ific!

Well, I finally got the chance to put my CoasterBuzz Club membership to use event-wise, heading out to BooBuzz 2010. I've gotta say, it was a wonderful experience. So wonderful, in fact, that those of you who don't bail out at this point will get to read all about it.

My uncle and I arrived just in time for the opening event - Millennium Force ERT. All 3 trains were running, but only one was available for us for most of the time, the other two half-loaded with water dummies and I suppose still testing/getting warmed up. No biggie, as pretty much everyone except those in the front and back rows had only a one-train wait. I still enjoy the ride, and I appreciate opportunities to ride it several times without having to deal with really long waits. Last night was no exception, and it was a great way to open the festivities.

The ERT concluded, many attendees went over to Happy Jack's Toy Factory for the tour, but my uncle and I decided to pass and went to get a couple rides in before dinner instead. We headed back to Maverick, which had a pretty short wait at this point. We waited maybe 20-25 minutes for the front row. Maverick was just as good, if not better, than I remembered it, delivering another mind-blowing experience that cemented its position in my top 10. Wild, vicious, and unpredictable, it's easily the park's best ride.

We then headed off to dinner, stopping at Power Tower along the way for a ride on the Space Shot ride. Drop towers still make me nervous, especially ones as tall as Power Tower, but the Space Shot versions aren't so bad because I don't spend much time at the ride's maximum height and I don't have to endure a slow climb. It was good fun, terror-inducement and all.

We joined the whole crew for the dinner at the convention center and chilled there for a bit before heading back into the park for some night-time excellence. At this point, my uncle and I met up with Ensign Smith-Mike and Carrie M.-Carrie (confusing, I know), and wound up spending the rest of the evening with them.

We started off with Wicked Twister, it being the closest major ride. Wicked Twister used to be the scariest coaster out there, IMO, and it's still high on my list (though it doesn't bother me nearly as much as it used to). Nonetheless, me being immature and needing attention, and also trying to find a theme for my humor for the evening (and the ensuing TR), I decided I'd poke fun at the nervousness I still get every now and then on some rides. Wicked Twister is wicked fun, though, and of course we occupied the back row so I could get even more scared than I would have been in the middle. As you'll see throughout the TR, sympathy for my nervousness was hard to find.

MaXair came next. Not having ridden it since I worked at the park four years prior, it was nice to get a ride on it again. Unfortunately, I was in seat twelve, and thus couldn't rely on my fingers alone to remind me of my seat number (Inside joke. Sorry.). MaXair was also a great ride.

After we rode maXair, Carrie suggested a lap on Mantis as she'd never been on it. I was glad about the suggestion, as I was also a Mantis fan. Unfortunately, Mike wasn't, and we remain convinced he must've placed a call and had the ride closed for the evening, something we discovered upon making it over to the ride. Yes, I'm joking about Mike being responsible...or am I...

Anyways, we decided to move on to Maverick instead. Given our location, we decided to head down the Frontier Trail Fright Zone to get to it. Now, I'd never been much of a scare zone guy and hadn't been through many, never being able to justify the wait to get the living daylights scared out of me (which, given my mentality of suspecting that anything and everything can and will jump out at me, hadn't happened until last night). The one time I did get scared, it was more of a slight startle, and any stories about me acquiring a change of pants is a total lie. ;)

Actually, I thought it was totally, completely amazing, and I actually found myself wondering if I had really missed out on something by skipping the tour. Oh well, there's always next year, and Terror Island looked cool enough from Millennium Force that I hope to get the chance to go back and do that one as well soon.

Finally out of the woods (no pun intended, but if you laughed, good), we found ourselves staring down an hour wait for Maverick. Such was life, and as far as I'm concerned, if there are any rides out there that justify the wait, Maverick is one of them. It didn't even seem that long in retrospect, and the good company made the time pass by quickly. Maverick at night was a completely different experience, being more rambuctious and unpredictable than it was during the day. I especially liked how the flash from the camera in the tunnel destroyed my night vision for a few moments, preventing me from really seeing what was going on from the moment it flashed until after coming out of the first Stengel dive. Sure, it prevented me from leaning into the turns to minimize hitting my neck against the restraints, but the sheer out-of-control feeling it delivered more than compensated for it.

We followed up Maverick with Magnum XL-200. It was as good as it's always been in my book, and I liked the chance to experience it at night again.

After Magnum, we had wanted to ride Top Thrill Dragster, but we discovered it had been down for most of the evening and would likely remain that way. Thus, we headed to Power Tower instead (see the part above about there being no sympathy for my nervousness ;) ). We rode the Turbo Drop side first. It was just as terrifying as I remembered it, and I made sure to broadcast that fact as much as possible. The Space Shot followed next, and that was about the only time in my life a Space Shot had been a reprieve. I actually think the fear enhances the rush, so I did enjoy it, in case any of the guilty parties were wondering. ;)

Seeing as Top Thrill Dragster still wasn't running, we headed towards the front toward Raptor. While Mike and Carrie were getting some fries first, my uncle and I noticed that the launch lights on tower had lit up. They proceeded to do so with enough frequency to make us suspect Dragster had reopened. We all decided giving Dragster a chance was more important than getting another lap on Raptor, especially as Carrie had never been on Dragster before. As we walked by, we noticed a station full of people, and so we went for it.

We got in line to find a rather short wait ahead of us, which was great news. We spent our time in line watching trains blast through the wall of fog from machines throughout the park that had shrouded the base of the top hat in mist. It was cool in that you could see the flash of the cameras at the base of the tower go off just a moment before the train, previously invisible, screamed out of the fog at 120 miles per hour. Excellent.

Finally on board, we proceeded to enjoy the greatest rush on Earth in total darkness. Now that all is said and done, I can admit that I opted to go to the back half of the station only to leave us more time waiting in the launch position and wallowing in anticipation, not out of any actual preference for one part of the station or the other. Consider it my revenge for Power Tower and Wicked Twister (both of which I admittedly enjoyed, or in the case of the latter, REALLY enjoyed).

Dragster at midnight concluded our evening at Cedar Point. To Carrie, great hanging out with you again. To Mike, great meeting you for the first time and hanging out. To Gonch and Jeff, it was great meeting you all as well, even if I didn't have the chance to ride stuff with you. And to Jeff, again, many thanks for putting this event on. I had a great time and look forward to more events in the future!

I can attest that you didn't acquire a change of pants. As far as what happened in the pair you already had on, I think I'll remain agnostic. ;)

Of course, I needed my own pair after Power Tower down. Drop towers will always get me.

It was great meeting and hanging with you and your uncle, Justin. And Carrie, too (natch).

Oh, and words to the wise. If you're going through a haunted house tour and you see what looks like a doorbell on a wall, do NOT push it. And watch out for urinating infants.

Ensign Smith said:
And watch out for urinating infants.

Always good advice. :)

I had a really great time hanging out with you guys. Thanks.

No worries about the back half of the station set up on TTD, Justin. I actually enjoyed having the extra time to soak up the moment. I'm so glad I rode it!

I wish I could say I felt bad about Power Tower... but I just don't. :)

Wow, we took the same ride trajectory up to MaXair. We did Raptor and Blue Streak afterward. I'm envious of your TTD ride.....we were stalking it the whole time and only witnessed the rollback.

Carrie was definitely braver going up MF's lift than I was going up Power Tower. And I'm okay with that. :)

A 4 year-old on a Skycoaster would probably be braver than I was climbing Power Tower. Great ride, though.

Power Tower and the S&S towers don't bother me as much (Downtime did a little, though), especially on PT if I'm facing another tower. For whatever reason I like the restraints and seats more on the S&S versions.

I prefer shot towers, though.