Boomers Miami...Dania Beach Hurricaine!

Heading home from guys weekend in Miami. Sitting in airport. Stopped atthis park, so I thought I'd give my first ever trip report. For thosethat don't know, I'm not really a hardcore enthusiast. I likerollercoasters a lot when I get the chance, but I'm more a Disney guy since Ihave little ones. I guess I'm an enthusiast who does not have the chance toexplore this interest much due to kids and a wimpy wife. Once they areolder, I assume I can get to more of these parks.

Anyhow, flew out with a buddy on the Red Eye Thursday 12/2. We do onelong weekend every year to a random city that centers on sports first, and then whatever a city hasto offer that we may enjoy. Did not sleep a wink on the first leg. After the holdoverin Atlanta, I managed to catch one hour on the short flight to FortLauderdale. On one hour sleep, grabbed the rental car and drove to an AirBoat ride in the Everglades (actually right on the edge of Everglades I learnedas the boats are not allowed in the park). We went with a company calledGator Park. They seemed to be an old-school roadside attraction. Had a blast. Lots of learning, gators, birds, turtles, etc. Saw analligator wrestling show. At $20 with a coupon...felt it was goodvalue. Could write a lot about this...but since this is a coasterboard...I will skip the cool airboat stuff in hopes of eventually getting to the coaster discussion.

Getting to evening hours by now...drove all the way back to Fort Lauderdale,checked in to the Sheraton (on the beach). No hot tub atSheraton...BS! Walked beach to Marriott next door to borrow their hottub. It is dark by now, we need food.

My buddy is a lot of fun, but very set in his ways. He wanted RedLobster. Why in the heck somebody travels to south Florida to eat at RedLobster is indeed a debateable subject worthy of criticism in my opinion...butI digress. We put Red Lobster in then GPS and off we go. About 0.5miles from our destination we pass a big wooden coaster from the highway...Isee the turn-around up close and lift hill in the distance. I knew this was probably the Hurricaine that I wanted todo, but was not planning on making a special trip to see since my buddy couldcare a less. Funny it was so close to our hotel. We were tiredstarved, and I told him I'd like to do it If it was open.

After eating...it was somewhere between 8-9 pm by now. My buddy sleeps inthe car while I head off to the park. I go inside Boomers and wait 10 minutes for two parties in front of meto figure out their ticket options inside the arcade. One person working,painfully slow with their multiple options and clueless patrons. Once Iget to my turn, I'm told that coaster ticket purchases were to be madeoutside. Seems a nice sign would have been appropriate. I'm guessing I'mnot the first to waste my time in that inside line.

Walked outside and had a decision to make... I can pay $4 or so to ride once OR $12 for all Iwant. Seemed to be dead so I wanted option two...but I know how this gameis played. I ask lady if they kept the wait artificially long by holding the train until more people came. She assured me that they send them out right away no matter how many are there. I was on 30-40 hours with one uncormfortable hour of airplane sleep by now.

I walk up to the station and find nobody but myself and two operators there. I sat down in the front seat and waited. Of course nothing happened for about 10 minutes...I wanted to scream but felt that any complaints should be done AFTER I ride. I bit my lip. Finally a couple middle school boys came and sat behind me. This had the added bonus of making me feel quite uncormfortable as a single adult in a kid park, but I really wanted to ride.

Moment to note that I've been to some parks, Knott's, Magic Mountain, and World's of Fun (and a few smaller ones) so I'm not blind to thrills. That said, I simply prefer wooden coasters over the higher and typically faster steel stuff. I don't know how common this is...but I just enjoy speed and float time more than loops, that X coaster, stand up, etc...Ghostrider and Prowler are my two favorite rides among the stuff I have done.

So that said, I was excited to try a new wooden coaster that seemed average to slightly larger than average in size. The ride did not disappoint. I would rate it a solid 5 out of 10 and maybe a six. While I would not consider this to be in Ghostrider or Prowler's category, I would consider this to be a ride that would be a nice fit at ANY park. I think most people would wait a decent amount of time to ride this thing at any size park. It has some good speed and a lot of long floating air on some of the hills.

It does seem this ride needs a bit of new love. The lights were dead over 96% of the track, and the spots that had lights were random and free swinging. It actually looked like this thing weathered a Hurricain or two, so maybe they are pawning off the experience as theming/reality. The ratchet bars had no less than 6-8 inches of "give" OR looseness which I considered a bonus for air, but I'm guessing is more a product of neglect. Other notes were that the cars felt very loose in the track. On turns, you could see the cards ahead rotating clockwise/counterclockwise a bit more than typical.

I still enjoyed the ride, and am just noted what I saw and thought. I could also opine that 3 people on a train on Friday night gives me pause to wonder how well the coaster/park are doing?

Now back to the operations. After the first ride they made me get off and walk all the way back to the station where I sat in back. After another 10 minutes a couple came and took the front seat. We took round 2...I prefered the front, the back was a little rough due to that rotation on the curves I talked about earlier.

For my 3rd and final ride I again walked out and back around to sit in the first car. The main operator was smoking a cigarette though the sign said Boomer's was a smoke free park. He told me it would not be long, but he had to wait until the other operator got back from the restroom. This took about 20 minutes. I was grumpy, tired, and mad...but never said anything...just wanted to feel like I got $12 worth of rides so I could get back to the room. Had another good ride and called a night.

I enjoyed it, but would never make a special trip for this ride. I also would not be shocked if this park and ride are not here 5-10 years from now. My 2 cents...getting rushed by flight...that will have to do for now...