Clementon Lake

On Friday the 4th of July I finally made it to Clementon Lake Park. I have tried to make it to this park five different times. The first four times I tried to make it there we called ahead and the coaster was closed or just down for maintenance. So I picked a big summer holiday like the 4th of July to go and at last we got there and I got to ride Hellcat. The morning started off at a local McDonalds where we found eight dollar off coupons, so we certainly took advantage of that. I was a bit shocked to find that they now had a parking charge, I had heard they didn’t, when did this change? But there was a 6 buck charge. There was a long line to get into the park, most of the people looked to be heading to the small water park they offered. We were there only about 10 mins after park opening and I kept looking towards Hellcat hoping to see a train go up the lift, no luck. So before we paid out money to get in, I wanted to make sure it was going to run. We did manage to get someone from operations to tell us that it was not open yet, but they were walking the track and getting it ready. We did see two men walking down the lift, so there was hope. We used the coupons and paid our money and entered the park. I was really stunned at how small this park is, I knew it was small, but I didn’t know it was this tiny. I had no clue that the Hellcat was at the far end of the park from the entrance, yet only took about a min to walk to it. We stood at the entrance to the queue and waited for it to open. About 9 people waited behind us. The coaster finally opened at 12:15, which honestly I think is pathetic considering it was an hour and fifteen mins after park opening ON a holiday… The coaster wasn’t “down” for maintenance; they just didn’t bother to get it ready on time. I think that is really sad… Janis and I took our first ride in the front seat. The new brakes didn’t hit on the way down the drop, which made us happy and we got a full speed ride. I liked the helix in the middle; it was partial up and then partial downward. The ride is in need of some track work, but overall for its size the Hellcat packed a punch. There was enough to fill the train when we got back to the station, so down and around and back up the stairs we went. We rode the back this time, the brakes were on this time and we found they were hit and miss all afternoon. I wonder why they are on sometimes and off sometimes and differs from ride to ride. There was only one person in the station and they wanted the front seat, we asked if we could stay on, they said no, we had to go around. Yeah, that was a bit frustrating, but what made it worse was that they held the train up from running until a certain number of people were there to ride. So the one guy in the front seat was still sitting there when the three people in my party made it back to the station. So I wonder, what was the point??? We rode about 10 times or so in the two and a half hours we were there. We also rode the train ride and I took some pictures of the old Jackrabbit area, nothing there but sand and some plastic animals for the train ride. We also took a spin on the Yo Yo swings, which they don’t want you to “yo” on… The park was small, dirty and run down. I will say the employees were very friendly though. Honestly I am shocked that this park is still making it, could it be in its last few years? I certainly hope not, but it looks like it could be in trouble.

Woah...can you please click on the 'edit' link and separate your trip report into paragraphs? It would improve the readability.

Thanks :)

Is the Hellcat the white roller coaster? That thing went off the tracks at least twice since I was old enough to remember. You're braver than I am! LOL Typically if something has a track record of more than one accident involving DERAILMENT, I'm not going to ever ride it. If this is a new coaster, I hope they're taking better care of it to ensure that something like the past incidences do not occur again.

Hellcat was J2, which was Tsunami in 2004. I think it uses the steel support structure, so it's gray.

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Mamoosh said:
Woah...can you please click on the 'edit' link and separate your trip report into paragraphs? It would improve the readability.

Thanks

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I do every post, it just won't for me... *sigh*

Switch to the plain text editor.

^^^derailments were on the defunct Jack Rabbit, and it was basically due to the very important fact that John Miller's patent on the upstop wheels and associated top laminate overhang were not yet patented, so nothing was preventing a derailment *** Edited 7/11/2008 6:27:10 AM UTC by Rye.D.Ziner***

Ah, thank you Rye.D.Ziner. I like your handle, by the way. :) I went on RCDB and took a look at the pictures for Hellcat. Looks like a really decent ride. Still likely NOT going to travel to get to Clementon Park though. LOL

I don't know anyone that calls it Clementon Lake unless they're out by the body of water in front of it.

The park just changed ownership so it's looking better than it did before. The parking charge is new and under their guidance.

There's always going to be complaining about waiting or not being able to stay on when hardly anyone is around. Let the crew develop a constant policy for the day and get some exercise! Go around. I don't mind most of the time. If I ask and I could stay nice, but I don't mind if I have to go around as well. The queue there is not that long.

I'm glad to hear the brakes aren't too bad and they were not consistent. I'm surprised someone confused Hellcat for Jack Rabbit. That ride Jack Rabbit is long gone since December. The new name is to distance itself from the now departed Jack Rabbit. No more J2! With the brakes on/off there's a chance the ride could be just as crazy as Tsunami. *** Edited 7/8/2008 2:42:45 PM UTC by CHILLERLC1*** *** Edited 7/8/2008 2:44:50 PM UTC by CHILLERLC1*** *** Edited 7/8/2008 2:45:45 PM UTC by CHILLERLC1***

I only confused the two because I haven't really kept up on my Clementon knowledge. I didn't even know they closed Jack Rabbit. Based on my inferior knowledge of the park, I thought maybe they just renamed Jack Rabbit as Hellcat and painted it or something like that. Really didn't think a park of that size and reputation would have the money to get a new coaster.

Hellcat aka J2 aka Puma aka Tsunami (the name when I had my only rides) was once a furious coaster with an insanely-paced intense ride. From what I gather, it's now an insanely-braked rough ride. I think that was predicted in October of its opening year (the name changes, however, were NOT)... ;)

Anyone who got a ride on Tsunami (when it was the name) will tell you it was insane and was trying to destroy itself with each lap. I loved my laps I got opening season.

Once the name changed to J2 I will say my rides weren't as fun. I think a jackhammer couldn't do that much abuse to a body. So the brakes were probably needed.

I am not planning on stopping in this season to ride it with the third name (I think no one rode it when it was called Puma).

^IIRC, the only time the name "Puma" came to light was because of some signage at a factory tour (PTC perhaps?)

The original name should have been "Jersey Devil". Now, based on reports not personal rides, it doesn't deserve that name...

The Puma name was also on the park's website for a short time.

I do like the name "Jersey Devil" for a coaster.

On opening weekend, it was still a top ten woodie for me. The brakes were on very light, so it was almost as good as the Mini-Voyage it once was. I haven't been back since then, so I can't say how it's doing, but management had planned to slow it down even further from what it was at that point.

The ride is not that rough, Bill. The good ride you and I had on Predator was far worse! :)

I think so much depends on the train you ride. For instance, I went to Hershey to see what the Millenium Flyer trains would do to a rough and painful coaster like Wildcat, and I was impressed by its extraordinary smoothness. However, the next time I went to Hershey and was expecting a pleasant ride, I was instead treated to a free chiropractic adjustment courtesy of Wildcat. I sat in the same seat both times, and the differences were SOOO noticeable.

I wish I could ride Predator again. I rode it in...gosh, 93? LOOOONG time ago, and it was SO much fun. I don't remember it being rough at ALL. I wish I could kind of compare...typically I take people's word for it though because Wildcat has been doing so poorly lately and other than my nice ride at the beginning of the season, it equals a waste of space in my book at this time.

The brakes added seem to be be limited to the top of the first drop, however (can't believe I'm admitting this), the ride has vastly improved as a result the added brake - the tight twister layout is negotiated at the proper pace now instead of the blink of an eye and is definately much less rough as a result. I love this ride now in it's current state, but sorely miss the Jack Rabbit which was deceptively fantastic on all levels :(

The Hellcat logo is really cool - great name for a coaster. Forgot about that short lived Puma name! Can't wait to see what it's call next year!