CP on 5/16 - Crazy/Beautiful
Associated parks:
None
Got to the causeway about 9:00am and used the advice to park at Soak City. What a wonderful perspective, seeing some of my favorite rides in a whole new way! I will never park in front again. Gates open at 10:00, we get in line and wait only 80 minutes for....
Top Thrill Dragster
Highs: THE LAUNCH, looking down on all of Millie, the awesome body-chopper on the twist, the themeing.
Lows: Um...ahhh....errr....how about only getting one lap?
The Verdict: Every other ride is now just secondary
I've had the fortune of riding both Xcelerator and TTD within a 2 week period. Some things I noticed between the two;
- The launches don't feel much different, it's just that TTD's lasts almost twice as long, so those last 1.7 seconds are just insane.
- On TTD, you can feel launch, release, pull-up, where on Xcelerator it's just launch, pull-up.
IMHO, TTD should be kept a unique, "crown-jewel" type ride. I would put an Xcelerator clone everywhere.
RIDE ADVICE: In line for TTD, when you hit the queue split on the ramp up to the station, take the left side. As the gold train is still MIA, every third pair of trains has the right side (which goes to the back train) empty.
Next, over to get a Freeway hand stamp and wait 45 minutes for our first lap on....
Millenium Force
Highs: The drop, greater floater air in the middle hills, fun overbanked turns.
Lows: With the lift so fast, you don't get the initimdation factor of that long climb up to your doom.
The Verdict: If TTD is a dragster, then Millie is an Indy Car (speed, high-banked turns, get it?).
It's funny. After waiting in line for TTD and watching the brake run, MF actually seems slow as it goes by you in the queue line. Well, next up was only 10 minutes for....
Wicked Twister
Highs: After two standard Impulses, the backwards twist is a nice surprise.
Lows: Waits for this thing must bite during busy days
The Verdict: A cool variation on a great ride, but capacity at a place like CP raises questions.
We grabbed some lunch at Macaroni's, and then over to my favorite green machine...
Raptor
Highs: The best inverted lap I've ever had as the MCBR was OFF. She was crankin' through the back half!
Lows: She's looking a little worse-for-wear. Give 'er a paint job guys.
The Verdict: My favortie looping ride, only better.
As the nearby line was low, a couple minutes and we were on....
Blue Streak
Highs: A good, old out-and-back woodie.
Lows: I miss the old single buzz-bars.
The Verdict: Fun, but would be better if they went back to the old-school restraints (or lack thereof).
Up the strangely-open Corkscrew midway we went to find almost no line for....
Magnum XL-200
Highs: The long climb up, the great view on top, the serious ejector air on the bunny hills:
Lows: With that much force, the lap bars should have better designed padding.
The Verdict: If you want steel that feels like wood, this is your ride.
After putting some stuff in the car (without going to the front of the park. How cool is that!), we head over to ride my first love on which I lost my coaster virginity.....
Gemini
Highs: The smoothness, the great head-chopper.
Lows: The new station paint job SUCKS, no red train operation, the last helix is getting a little rough.
The Verdict: Still a fun, fun ride, even after 25 years.
Upon seeing Freeway in operation for the first time, I think that CP has nailed it once again. No extra cost, no feelings of unfairness, just good crowd management. Afterwards, we got a couple rides on Power Tower, and one more lap each on Millie and Maggie, and then outta there. All in all, it was a great, great day!
Later,
EV
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Remember that if you're one in a million, that means that there are 5000 other people on Earth just like you.
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I play in a really awful garage band, but it's still fun.
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http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~bnoble/
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Goccvp1
SFGAm...When you need a good example of a SF park, this is where you look.
Later,
EV
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Remember that if you're one in a million, that means that there are 5000 other people on Earth just like you.
But as you guys said new lapbars would make a world of difference.
Imagine SROS at dl/america's third hill with maggies trains....ouch!
A lot of people love the ejector seat, but with all these new coasters these days that feel like you're riding in a sofa, a lot of people just can't take it. Magnum hasn't changed - you guys have! The ride is the same right now as it was in 1998 when I first rode. Maybe it was different before that, but I can't speak to that. If Magnum is causing you pain, I suggest taking a ride in the middle row of one of the cars - preferably toward the back of the train - like 5-2 or 6-2. Of course the first drop is much better toward the back, the air is still stong, but not ejector seat strong, and it just seems a bit less intense.
Oh - also - about Raptor's paint. Still looks pretty good to me. The ride was painted during the 2000/2001 offseason and looks MUCH better than it did in 2000 and for the few years before. I honestly think the new paint is lasting much better than the old stuff. Still waiting for them to paint Magnum though... :(
-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew
2003 Magnum Crew
*** This post was edited by MDOmnis 5/19/2003 7:56:14 PM ***
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